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diff --git a/old/40029-0.txt b/old/40029-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8d47fbd..0000000 --- a/old/40029-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14805 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's -Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter - Being a Proof, with Moral Certitude, of the Authorship of - the Document: Together with Some Account of the Whole - Thirteen Gunpowder Conspirators, Including Guy Fawkes - -Author: Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -Release Date: June 18, 2012 [EBook #40029] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Note: The original publication has been replicated -faithfully except as shown in the TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS near the end of -the text. To preserve the alignment of tables and headers, this etext -presumes a mono-spaced font on the user’s device, such as Courier New. -Words in italics are indicated like _this_. But the publisher also wanted -to emphasize names in sentences already italicized, so he printed them in -the regular font which is indicated here with: _The pirates then went to -+Hispaniola+._ Superscripts are indicated like this: S^{ta} Maria. -Numerically-tagged footnotes are in the FOOTNOTES: section near the end of -the text. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: PLOWLAND HOUSE, HOLDERNESS, E.R. YORKSHIRE.] - - - - - THE GUNPOWDER PLOT - - AND - - LORD MOUNTEAGLE’S LETTER; - BEING A PROOF, WITH MORAL CERTITUDE, OF - THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT: - - TOGETHER WITH - - SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE THIRTEEN - GUNPOWDER CONSPIRATORS, - INCLUDING - GUY FAWKES. - - - BY - - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - (_A Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England_). - - - LONDON: - SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD. - - YORK: - JOHN SAMPSON. - - 1902. - [_All rights reserved._] - - - “_Veritas temporis filia._ Truth is the daughter of Time, - especially in this case, wherein, by timely and often - examinations, matters of greatest moment have been found - out.”——SIR EDWARD COKE (_the Attorney-General who prosecuted the - eight surviving conspirators_). - - “Suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which - History has the power to inflict on Wrong.”——LORD ACTON. - - “History, it is said, revises the verdicts of contemporaries, - and constitutes an Appeal Court nearest to the ordeal of - heaven.”——DR. JAMES MARTINEAU. - - - TO - - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES LINDLEY - SECOND VISCOUNT HALIFAX - - OF HICKLETON AND GARROWBY - IN THE COUNTY OF YORK - ONE OF YORKSHIRE’S MOST GIFTED AND DISTINGUISHED SONS - THIS BOOK - WHICH - AMONGST OTHER THINGS - TELLS OF SOME OF THE WORDS AND DEEDS - OF CERTAIN YORKSHIREMEN IN - THE DAYS OF SHAKESPEARE - IS - (BY KIND PERMISSION) - MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED - BY THE AUTHOR. - - - BLAND’S COURT, - CONEY STREET, - YORK. - - TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE - VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - - My Lord, - -The book which your characteristic generosity has permitted me to dedicate -to you wears a two-fold aspect. For it is as to one portion——and -predominantly——an Inquiry taking the form of a discourse with questions -and proofs, propositions and demonstrations. While as to another -portion——but subordinately——it is a History taking the form of a narrative -of events, a relation of mental occurrences, a statement of concrete -facts. Now these twain aspects will be found duly to play their respective -parts in the course of the subsequent pages, in accordance with a selected -order and method. - -With most of the allegations of fact and the inferences therefrom, and -with many of the assumptions and conclusions which this work contains, -your Lordship will agree. From others you will disagree. Whilst in the -case of a third class, it may be that you will deem a suspension of -judgment to be the part which wisdom and justice alike enjoin. - -Speaking for myself, both as a man and as a native of our great County of -Yorkshire——whose sons are at once speculative and practical, imaginative -and concrete——necessity, in the form of an imperative sense of duty, has -been laid upon me, to declare, with unmistakable emphasis and -straightforward directness, what I hold to be the Truth governing the -subject-matter wherewith I have sought to deal. For TRUTH IS THAT WHICH -IS, AND ITS CONTRADICTORY IS ERROR. This line of action I have pursued -with the greater determination, inasmuch as daily observation of external -events——and, if less frequent, still actual reflection thereupon——has -strongly convinced me, even against my will, that much of the “forcible -feebleness” and most of the “stable instability” of modern British -Statesmen and Politicians have their origin and rise in nothing else than -this:——lack of clarity of thought and want of knowledge of those, fixed -fundamental intellectual, moral, and political principles which ought to -be the sure inheritance of the human Race. And pre-eminently of that -portion of the Race which is conscious of a lofty imperial mission. “For -evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart.” - -The ancient Stagyrite ranked Poetry above History, because the former -bequeaths to Man universal principles of action, whereas the latter -bestows upon Man only a relation of individual facts. - -But the History of the Gunpowder Treason Plot rises to a higher unity. -Because for a man to have read and mastered an impartial record of that -deliberate and appalling scheme of “sacrilegious murder,” which happily -Destiny first frustrated, and afterwards, through Nemesis, her unerring -executioner, signally avenged in the sight of all men, is to have -witnessed, with the eye of the historic imagination, a drama that is a -poem in action. - -Nay, more; it is to have had a personal, experimental realization, through -the historic feeling, of what is meant, in the realm of Moral actualities, -by the infliction of Retribution, the working out of Expiation, the -regaining of Justness, the restoration of Equality between outraged Right -and outraging Wrong, and the attaining by the tempestuous, passionate -human heart of final tranquillity, rest, and peace. - -For one of the greatest recorded Tragedies in the world is the History of -the Gunpowder Treason Plot, regard being had to the intellectual and moral -ends effected by that history’s recital. - -The man who has truly, if indeed but commemoratively, through force of the -medium of language merely, taken his part in this great Action, even at a -distance of well-nigh three hundred years, will have had his soul cleansed -and purified by cleansed and purified pity and terror. Then will he have -had that soul soothed and healed. He will have been first abased and then -exalted. - -For so to act is to weep with a Humanity that weeps. Then with that same -Humanity to join in a triumphant pæan of victory that has for its -universal and glorious theme this reality of realities which cannot be -broken, namely, that Universe——whereof Man, though not the measure, -constitutes so large a part——is primevally founded and everlastingly -established in Goodness, Being, and Truth. - -Trusting that your Lordship will crown your gracious kindness by pardoning -the great length of this Introductory Letter, - - I beg to remain, - My dear Lord Halifax, - Yours sincerely and gratefully, - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - - _Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - - * * * * * - -Tragedy primarily implies imitation of Action by action, not by language, -although of course language forms a constituent part. - - See the “_Poetics of Aristotle_,” chap. vi. - - -“Although it is by no means proved to be impossible that this nobleman -[Lord Mounteagle] was a guilty confederate in the Plot, the weight of -evidence is at present in his favour. It is, however, a most curious State -mystery: and I am persuaded that, if the truth is ever discovered, it will -not be by State papers, or recorded confessions and examinations. When -such expert artists as Bacon and Cecil framed and propagated a State -fiction in order to cover a State intrigue, they took care to cut off or -divert the channels of history so effectually as to make it hopeless, at -the distance of three centuries to trace the truth by means of documents -which have ever been in their control. If the mystery should hereafter be -unravelled, it will be probably by the discovery of some letters or papers -of a domestic nature, which either slumber in private repositories, or -remain unnoticed in public collections.”——_Letter by David Jardine, Editor -of_ “Criminal Trials,” _to Sir Henry Ellis, F.R.S._, “Archæologia,” _pp. -94-95. Dated 30th November, 1840._ - - - - - PREFACE. - - -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 History. - -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 _causa causans_, therefore it is of perennial interest to -governors and governed. - -The _causa causans_, 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 -allow freedom of human action, and yet faithfully to maintain Absolute -Truth concerning the Infinite and the 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 reasoning from necessary or probable philosophical -assumptions, the writer has designedly interspersed, both in the Text and -in the Notes, matter of a Biographical and Topographical nature, -especially such as hath relation to the author’s honoured 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 by 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: _Cf._, “_The Ethic of Free-thought_,” by Professor Karl -Pearson. (Adam and Charles Black, 1901.)] - -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 days of King James I.——the -British Solomon——down to the days of Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, the -renowned historian of the early English Stuarts, the author’s answer and -plea must be——for it can only be——that by the decrees of Fate, _his_ eyes -first saw the light of the sun in a County whose history is an epitome of -the history of the English people; and in a City which is an England in -miniature. - -In conclusion, the writer would be fain to be pardoned in saying that he -has not had the advantage 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,”[A] has been “the high -white star of Truth. THERE he has gazed, and THERE aspired.”[B] - -_Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - -[Footnote A: Wordsworth.] - -[Footnote B: Matthew Arnold.] - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX vii - - PREFACE xiii - - PRELUDE xxxv - - Three movements against Government of James I. 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 I. 1 - - Reasons given why subordinate conspirator, Francis Tresham, cannot - have “discovered” Plot——True principles laid down to guide mind - of Inquirer into _personnel_ of (1) Revealing Conspirator, (2) - Penman of Letter. - - CHAPTER 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 III. 6 - - Who was Lord Mounteagle?——Ancestry——Father: Lord Morley——Title, - Mounteagle, derived through mother, Honourable Elizabeth - Stanley, heiress of William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle—— - Mother akin to Howards through Leybournes of Westmoreland. - - CHAPTER IV. 9 - - Lord Mounteagle receives Letter 26th October, 1605, between “six - and seven of the clock,” at Hoxton, near London——Opened by - Mounteagle——Read by a member of his household, Thomas Ward——Full - text of Letter given——27th 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 - Secretary of State——28th October, Winter repairs to White Webbs - by Enfield Chase, ten miles north of Westminster——Informs - Catesby that “game was up”——Catesby says “would see further as - yet”——Guy Fawkes sent from White Webbs to view cellar under - House of Lords——Finds all marks undisturbed——Thirty-six barrels - of gunpowder, wood, and coal all ready for fatal Fifth——Fawkes - returns at night safely——Thomas Winter meets (or is met by) - subordinate conspirator, Christopher Wright——Fawkes captured - early on Tuesday, November 5th——Christopher Wright announces to - Thomas Winter Fawkes’ capture. - - CHAPTER V. 14 - - In reign of Queen Elizabeth and early part of James I., “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 VIII.’s religious - “change” and that of his progeny, King Edward VI. and Queen - Elizabeth, unlikely to be acceptable “all on a sudden” to bulk - of English people——Why?——Penal Legislation against Papists on - part of Government——Jesuits in England, 1580——Campion and - Parsons——Three Classes of English Jesuits——Mystics, _or_ - Politicians——Mystics _and_ Politicians——The thirteen Gunpowder - plotters well-disposed towards Jesuits——But plotters only - Politicians. - - CHAPTER VI. 19 - - Sir William Catesby (father of the arch-conspirator Robert - Catesby) and Sir Thomas Tresham (father of Francis Tresham), - fine old English gentlemen——Types of best class of Elizabethan - Catholic gentry——Both persecuted by Government——Sir Thomas - Tresham for more than twenty years pays for Fines equal in our - money to £2,080 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 - Gunpowder Treason Plot. - - CHAPTER VII. 21 - - All thirteen plotters “gentlemen of name and blood” (save Thomas - Bates, a respectable serving-man of Catesby)——Names of plotters - as follow:——Robert Catesby (Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire)—— - Thomas Winter (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)—— - Thomas Percy (Beverley, E.R. Yorkshire)——John Wright (Plowland, - Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)——Guy (or Guido) Fawkes (York)—— - Robert Keyes (Drayton, Northamptonshire)——Christopher Wright - (Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)——Robert Winter, - (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)——Ambrose Rookwood - (Coldham, Stanningfield, Suffolk)——John Grant (Norbrook, - Warwickshire)——Sir Everard Digby (Gothurst, near Newport - Pagnell, Buckinghamshire)——Francis Tresham (Rushton, - Northamptonshire)——Four out of conspirators natives of - Yorkshire: Thomas Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and - Guy (or Guido) Fawkes——Five others indirectly connected with it: - Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Grant, Robert Keyes, and - Ambrose Rookwood——Thomas Winter and Robert Winter, grandsons of - distinguished Knight, Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley Castle, - near Knaresbrough 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 Huddersfield. - - CHAPTER VIII. (same continued) 26 - - CHAPTER IX. 32 - - Jesuit Father Edward Oldcorne a native of York——Oswald Tesimond - most probably a native of York likewise——Before going to Rheims - and Rome Oldcorne studied medicine. - - CHAPTER X. 35 - - Further analysis of problem as to what conspirator would be likely - to “discover” Plot——A subordinate plotter——Introduced late into - Plot——One 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 Go-between with - Government——Christopher Wright, Edward Oldcorne, Thomas Ward. - - CHAPTER XI. 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 Wright sworn - in to help in mining work “soon after”——Text of conspirators’ - secret oath. - - CHAPTER XII. 40 - - Christopher Wright’s family further described——Father: Robert - Wright, Esquire, of Plowland, Holderness——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, Margaret Wright, possibly _née_ - Margaret Ward, of the Wards, of Mulwith. - - CHAPTER XIII. 45 - - Edward Oldcorne described——A native of St. Sampson’s Parish, York—— - A student of medicine——Goes to Rheims 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 the 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 - mental equipoise. - - CHAPTER XIV. 48 - - “The Letter” critically examined. - - 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 Ward?——Almost certainly - brother-in-law to Christopher Wright——Proofs of this assertion—— - Entry of marriage in St. Michael-le-Belfrey’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 “Marjory 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 Wright and Thomas Warde, at least between years 1589 - and 1590 inclusive——Thomas Warde probably in diplomatic service - of Queen Elizabeth, under Sir Francis Walsingham——Probably sent - on mission to Low Countries in 1585. - - CHAPTER XVIII. 63 - - Proof that William Ward, 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. - - CHAPTER XIX. 68 - - Inference drawn that Christopher Wright, Thomas Warde, and Lord - Mounteagle were personally acquainted. - - CHAPTER XX. 70 - - Marmaduke Ward at Lapworth, in Warwickshire——Arrested by - Government——Released——Inference that he had a powerful friend at - Court. - - CHAPTER XXI. 74 - - Suggested proof of how Mounteagle came to be associated with - Thomas Ward——Biographical and Topographical evidence adduced in - support. - - CHAPTER XXII. (same continued) 76 - - CHAPTER XXIII. (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 Ward. - - CHAPTER XXV. 87 - - Thomas Ward sees Thomas Winter, one of the chief conspirators—— - Suggested inference that Christopher Wright had bidden Thomas - Ward so to do——In order to compass flight of rest of - conspirators. - - CHAPTER XXVI. 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 XXVII. 92 - - Tresham tells Winter that Government knew of existence of _the - mine_——How had Government such knowledge?——Suggested - concatenation of evidence that Christopher Wright told fact to - Thomas Ward (or Warde); Ward to Lord Mounteagle; Mounteagle to - Francis Tresham; Tresham to Thomas Winter. - - CHAPTER XXVIII. 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. 96 - - Quotation from “_King’s Book_”——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, 4th November——Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder - stored ready for firing by Fawkes on fatal Fifth. - - CHAPTER XXX. 99 - - Quotation from the “_Hatfield MSS._,” giving account of meeting at - Fremland, Essex, in July, 1605——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 Roman - Catholic gentleman——Belike of the swashbuckler type. - - CHAPTER XXXI. 102 - - Christopher Wright. - - CHAPTER XXXII. 104 - - Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie (or Newby), near Ripon, comes up to - Lapworth, in Warwickshire——Lapworth, the birthplace of - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby——One of the large Catesby - Warwickshire possessions——In May, 1605, Lapworth let by Catesby - to John Wright——Marmaduke Ward, brother-in-law to John Wright - and Christopher Wright, arrives at Lapworth about 24th October, - 1605——Suggestion that Marmaduke Ward was sent for by Thomas - Ward——In order, haply, to prevail upon brothers Wright to - abandon scheme of insurrectionary stir in Midlands. - - CHAPTER XXXIII. 107 - - What _objections_ against hypothesis that Christopher Wright was - Revealing conspirator?——What _objections_ against hypothesis - 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 XXXIV. 110 - - Evidence of a certain Dr. Williams, of reign of Charles II., - author of pamphlet purporting to be History of the Gunpowder - 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 Vaux, one of the daughters of - William Lord Vaux of Harrowden——Story told, examined, and - disposed of. - - CHAPTER XXXVI. 116 - - 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 - perspicacity. - - 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 XXXVIII. 124 - - Old Dutch print, published immediately after detection of Plot - (reprinted in “_Connoisseur_” for November, 1901), shows - Christopher Wright in act of engaging in earnest discourse with - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby——Slightly tends to confirm - tradition that (1) Christopher Wright first ascertained that - Plot was discovered, and that (2) Christopher Wright counselled - that “each conspirator should betake himself to flight in a - different direction from any of his companions.” - - CHAPTER XXXIX. 126 - - 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 Robinson, Christopher Wright’s - London landlady, as to padlocked hampers, evidently containing - fresh gunpowder. - - CHAPTER XL. 131 - - Conspirators are “shriven” and “houselled” at Huddington by Jesuit - Father Nicholas Hart——Ambrose Rookwood——Rookwood “absolved” by - the Jesuit priest “without remark”——Reason why suggested. - - CHAPTER XLI. (same continued) 134 - - CHAPTER XLII. 136 - - Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of - State, instructs Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, _to disclaim - that any of these wrote 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 Gunpowder 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. - - CHAPTER XLV. 148 - - Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court), in Warwickshire, ancestral - home of grand old English Roman Catholic family of Throckmorton—— - Father Henry Garnet, Superior of English Jesuits, harboured here - from 29th October, 1605, to 16th December, 1605——Father Oswald - Tesimond at Coughton on Wednesday, 6th November——Bates sent with - letters from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father Garnet and - Lady Digby——Bates despatched from Norbrook, in Warwickshire—— - Arrives at Coughton——Fathers Garnet and Tesimond have conference - for half-an-hour——Garnet gives leave to Tesimond to proceed to - Huddington, in Worcestershire——Whither conspirators and rebels - were come, early on Wednesday, 6th November——Tesimond arrives at - Huddington——Psycho-electrical will force of Catesby works on - mind of Tesimond——Tesimond inspired with rebellious ardour - against Government——Dashes on to Hindlip, within five miles of - Huddington. - - CHAPTER XLVI. 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——Rides off - towards Lancashire in hope of rousing to arms dwellers in that - Catholic county. - - CHAPTER XLVII. 154 - - Who and what was Father 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. - - CHAPTER XLVIII. (same continued) 157 - - CHAPTER XLIX. 160 - - At the end of August, 1605, Garnet leaves London for Gothurst—— - Famous pilgrimage to St. Winifred’s Well, Flintshire, North - Wales, about 5th September, made from Gothurst——Lady Digby, - Ambrose Rookwood and his wife, the Honourable Anne Vaux, and - upwards of thirty others, join the pilgrim-band——Father Garnet - and Father Percy, chaplain to Sir Everard Digby, lead the - cavalcade——Away about a fortnight. - - CHAPTER L. 165 - - Pilgrims return from St. 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. - - CHAPTER LI. 167 - - 4th October, 1605, Father Garnet at Great Harrowden——Pens a long - letter to Father Parsons in Rome. - - CHAPTER LII. 169 - - 21st October, Father Garnet at Gothurst (most probably)——Pens a - short _post scriptum_ 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 LIII. (Chapters XLV. and XLVI. with more particularity) 172 - - Sir Everard Digby rents Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire——Sir - Everard to be in command of Midland Rising against Government—— - Many Catholic gentlemen from Midland counties expected to rebel - by reason of galling anti-Catholic persecution——Sir Everard - Digby, on Sunday, 3rd November, rides to Dunchurch, near Rugby, - in Warwickshire——Robert Winter, of Huddington, joined by Stephen - Littleton, of Holbeach, Staffordshire, also by latter’s cousin, - Humphrey Littleton——Tuesday, November 5th, Cousins Littleton, - Sir Robert Digby (Coleshill), younger Acton (Ribbesford), 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 Wrights, and - Ambrose Rookwood rush into ancient mansion-house of Catesbies - at Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire——Announce capture of - Fawkes——Hold short council of war——Snatch up weapons of warfare—— - North-westwards that November night——Arrive at Dunchurch Inn—— - Digby 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 Warwick by - three of the clock on Wednesday morning——From stables near - Warwick Castle take fresh horses, leaving their own steeds in - exchange therefor——Dash on towards John Grant’s “moated grange,” - Norbrook, Snitterfield (where Shakespeare’s mother held - property)——At Norbrook “take bite and sup”——Rest their fatigued - limbs awhile——On saddle-back once more——This time bound for - Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, the seat of Robert - Winter——Arrive there probably about twelve o’clock noon of - Wednesday (some authorities say two o’clock in the afternoon)—— - Tesimond 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——Whole company “shriven and - houselled”——Before daybreak all on march again north-westwards—— - Halt at Whewell Grange, seat of the Lord Windsor——There help - themselves to large store of arms and armour——Plotters and - rebels then numbered about sixty all told——Cross the River - Stour, in flood——A cart of gunpowder rendered “dank” in - crossing——Proceed to Holbeach House, in Staffordshire—— - Mansion-house of Stephen Littleton, Esquire, a Roman Catholic - gentleman of ancient lineage. - - CHAPTER LIV. 177 - - High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire with _posse - comitatus_ 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 to prayers—— - “Litanies and such like”——Make an hour’s “meditation”——About - eleven of the clock on Friday, 8th November, Sheriff of - Worcestershire and “hue and cry” surround Holbeach——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 mortally wounded——Percy grievously wounded——Dies a day or - two afterwards——Ambrose Rookwood wounded——Sir Everard Digby - apprehended——Rest taken prisoners, except Stephen Littleton and - Robert Winter, who escape. - - CHAPTER LV. 181 - - Father Henry Garnet changes his mind——Does not go up to London—— - But from Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, goes down to Coughton, in - Warwickshire, on the 29th October——All Saints’ Day (November - 1st) at Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court)——Mass “offered” by - Father Garnet. - - CHAPTER LVI. 185 - - Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the - Master of Huddington, harboured at Rowley Regis, in - Staffordshire, by a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, Esquire, of - Hagley, Worcestershire, 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 Reply to Littleton _in extenso_. - - CHAPTER LVIII. 190 - - Reply analyzed——Divisible into two distinct parts——First part: - gives an answer sounding in abstract truth alone, in other - words, leaves Littleton in abstracto——Second part: disclaims - knowledge of _end_ plotters had in view and _means_ they had - recourse to. - - CHAPTER LIX. 193 - - Metaphysical Argument grounded on Oldcorne’s Reply to Humphrey - Littleton——Argument seeks to demonstrate that from tenour and - purport of Oldcorne’s Reply, the Jesuit must have had a special - interior knowledge of the Plot. - - CHAPTER LX. (same continued) 195 - - CHAPTER LXI. (same continued) 198 - - CHAPTER LXII. (same continued) 200 - - CHAPTER LXIII. (same continued) 201 - - CHAPTER LXIV. (same continued) 204 - - CHAPTER LXV. (same continued) 208 - - CHAPTER LXVI. (same continued) 210 - - CHAPTER LXVII. (same continued) 212 - - CHAPTER LXVIII. (same continued) 215 - - CHAPTER LXIX. (same continued) 220 - - CHAPTER LXX. 222 - - Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne captured at Hindlip Hall the last week - of January, 1605-6——Conveyed to the Tower of London——Father - Oldcorne “racked five times, and once with the greatest severity - for several hours”——On 7th April, 1606, at Redhill, near - Worcester, Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, hanged, - drawn, and quartered as a traitor——Brother Ralph Ashley, his - servant, hanged at the same time and place. - - CHAPTER LXXI. 224 - - True inferences to be drawn from Father Oldcorne’s “last dying - speech and confession.” - - CHAPTER LXXII. 227 - - Edward Oldcorne——Ralph Ashley. - - CHAPTER LXXIII. 229 - - Thomas Ward. - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENTS, AND CONCLUSIONS. 233 - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. 239 - Guy Fawkes. - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. 260 - Letter of Lord Bishop of Worcester (Dr. Bilson), to Sir Robert - Cecil, as to Diocese of Worcester. - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. 264 - Thomas Ward (or Warde). - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. 271 - Mulwith, near Ripon. - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. 279 - Plowland, Holderness. - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. 287 - Equivocation. Letter of the Rev. George Canning, S.J., Professor - of Ethics, St. Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst. - - APPENDICES. - - APPENDIX A 295 - Circumstantial Evidence defined. (a) Evidence generally: (by Mr. - Frank Pick, York). - - APPENDIX B 299 - Discrepancy as to date when immaterial (per Lord Chief Justice - Scroggs, _temp_. Charles II.). - - APPENDIX C 300 - List of those apprehended for Plot in Warwickshire, &c. (a) List - of those frequenting Clopton (or Clapton) Hall, - Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. - - APPENDIX D 304 - Richard Browne (servant to Christopher Wright), his evidence. - - APPENDIX E 306 - William Grantham (servant to Hewett, Hatter), his evidence. - - APPENDIX F 307 - Robert Rookes (servant to Ambrose Rookwood), his evidence. - - APPENDIX G 308 - John Cradock (Cutler), his evidence. - - APPENDIX H 310 - Lord Chief Justice Popham’s statement as to Christopher Wright. - - APPENDIX I 312 - Sir Richard Verney, Knt., John Ferrers, William Combe, Bart. - Hales (Warwickshire Justices): Joint Statement to Earl of - Salisbury, as to Mrs. John Grant and Mrs. Thomas Percy. - - APPENDIX J 313 - Paris (boatman), his evidence, as to taking Guy Fawkes to - Gravelines, France, during “vacation,” 1605. - - APPENDIX K 314 - Miss Emma M. Walford, her opinion as to resemblance between - Edward Oldcorne’s original Declaration of 12th March, 1605-6, - and original Letter to Lord Mounteagle (both in Record Office, - Chancery Lane, London, W.C.). - - APPENDIX L 315 - Professor Bertram C. A. Windle, M.D., F.R.S., his opinion as to - distances between certain localities in Warwickshire, - Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, and Buckinghamshire. - - APPENDIX M 318 - Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Carmichael as to same. - - APPENDIX N 319 - Order of Queen Elizabeth in Council, dated 31st December, 1582, - addressed to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of York. - - NOTE (as to authenticity of Thomas Winter’s Confession) 323 - - NOTES (1-180) 327 - - FINIS 411 - - - - - ERRATA. - - -The author regrets to have to request his indulgent readers to be kind -enough to make the following corrections [Transcriber’s Note: These have -been applied.]:—— - - Page 19, line 14 from top.——Put ) after word “conspirators,” _not_ - after word “_Tresham_.” - - Page 77, line 9 from top.——Read: and “great great grandfather of - Philip Howard Earl of Arundel,” _instead of - “great-grandfather.”_ - - Page 79, in note, line 5 from top.——Read: “ninth Earl of - Carlisle,” _instead of “seventh Earl of Carlisle.”_ - - Page 87, in note, line 8 from bottom.——Read: “Burns & Oates.” - - 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 - “inccarerated.”_ - - Page 285, in note, line 2 from top.——Read: “kinswoman,” _instead - of “kinsman.”_ - - Page 321, line 16 from top.——Read: “Deprave,” _instead of - “depeave.”_ - - - - - PRELUDE. - - -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 Roman Catholic recusants in the year 1605. The first of -these movements was a general wave of insurrectionary feeling, of which -there is evidence in Yorkshire as far back as 1596; in Lancashire about -1600; 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——who were, 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 moment believe. - -All students of English History, however, are greatly indebted to the Rev. -John Gerard, S.J., for his three recent critical works on this subject; -but still that the main outlines of the Plot are as they have come down to -us by tradition, to my mind, Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner abundantly proves -in his book in reply to the Rev. John Gerard. - -The names of the works to which I refer are:——“_What was the Gunpowder -Plot?_” the Rev. J. Gerard, S.J. (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.); “_The -Gunpowder Plot and Plotters_” (Harper Bros.); “_Thomas Winter’s Confession -and the Gunpowder Plot_” (Harper Bros.); and “_What Gunpowder Plot was_,” -S. R. Gardiner, D.C.L., LL.D. (Longmans). - -The Articles in “_The Dictionary of National Biography_” dealing with the -chief actors in this notable tragedy are all worthy of careful perusal. - -“_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_,” by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), contains a -chapter on the Gunpowder Plot; and the Plot is referred to in Major Hume’s -recent work, entitled, “_Treason and Plot_” (Nisbet, 1901). - - - - - CHAPTER 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 Royal 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 Gunpowder 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 guilty_ of concealment. - -Now, as a rule, “all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Therefore -it is impossible, in the face of this direct testimony of Tresham, 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.[1][2][A] - -[Footnote A: See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in [ ].] - -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-day 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 says: “_Ubi res adsunt, 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,[B] and consists of two classes of acts. One of these -classes leads up 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 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 -responsibility of being the originating Cause of the Document; in the -latter case, of being the Agent for its physical production. - -[Footnote B: As to the nature of Circumstantial Evidence——see Appendix.] - -Before we begin to collect our Evidence, and, _à 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 -fundamentals 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 which, if allowed, shall -redound, in respect of courage and integrity, to the praise and honour of -Man. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 the same. -For although it is, of course, physically possible that the work may have -been accomplished by one and the same person, yet that there was a -division of labour in the two-fold transaction is infinitely 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 his co-partners in guilt, should he have rashly -adventured to be his own 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 number of persons in the -secret:——it being a rule of common prudence in such cases that confidences -must not be unnecessarily multiplied. - -Therefore it follows that, supposing there was a second person in the -confidence of the “discovering” or revealing conspirator to pen the -Letter; and supposing 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-between, an “_interpres_,” 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. - -_Experientia docet._ Experience teaches. A man has knowledge 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. Relationship 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 Gunpowder 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 who 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 consideration. We will begin by saying a few -words respecting the Lord Mounteagle, whose name, at least, the Gunpowder -Treason will have for ever enshrined in the remembrance of the British -people. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - -William Parker,[3] the son and heir of Lord Morley, whose barony had been -created by 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 (1605) 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 -Rushton, Northamptonshire, a high-minded, scholarly Roman Catholic -gentleman of great wealth, who had been knighted at Kenilworth 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 princely Lancashire House, the Stanleys Earls of Derby, to whom -he was related in both the paternal and maternal 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 Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and -to her sister the Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of “Belted Will Howard”[4] -of 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 heiress 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[5] of Lumley -Castle in the County Palatine of Durham, whose wife was Jane, daughter of -Henry Fitzalan 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 Royal House of Tudor herself. - -Lord Mounteagle consorted much with English Roman Catholics, and, in some -sense, prior to the year 1605, was of that religion himself. He had been -present with his wife’s brother Francis Tresham a little after the -Midsummer of 1605 at Fremland 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 warning speech with Catesby respecting a general -question propounded by Catesby to Garnet about a month or six weeks -previously (_i.e._, the beginning of Trinity Term, 1605), and from the -answer to which general question Catesby shamefully 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 wavering -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.[A] Yet certainly he was no mere -titled fool, with a head-piece like a windmill. Far from it: he was -probably a man of sufficient, though not, I think, of the very highest -intelligence, good-natured, easy-going, and of very engaging manners.[B] - -[Footnote A: It is curious and amusing to hear that the following was the -opinion of Robert Catesby concerning the peerage of his day:——“He made -account of the nobility as of atheists, fools, and cowards; and that lusty -bodies would be better for the commonwealth than they.”——See “_Keyes’ -Examination_,” Record Office.] - -[Footnote B: A certain English periodical, a few years ago, spoke -admiringly of Lord Mounteagle’s twentieth century connection, the present -Duke of Devonshire, as being one’s _beau-ideal_ of the “you-be-damned” -type of Englishman. Probably the same periodical would have found, had it -been in existence in the seventeenth century, a similar contentment in the -contemplation of the fourth Lord Mounteagle.] - -By his contemporaries, it is evident that even prior to 1605 Mounteagle -was made much of and greatly courted. But less, I opine, on account of the -intellectual and moral qualities 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 the present, concerning the now famous William Parker -fourth Baron Mounteagle, whom History has crowned with a wreath of -immortals. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - -On Saturday, the 26th of October, ten days before the intended meeting of -Parliament,[A] Lord Mounteagle, we are told, unexpectedly and without any -apparent reason or previous notice, directed a supper to be prepared at -his mansion at Hoxton, where he had not been for more than a twelve-month -before that date. - -[Footnote A: Parliament had been prorogued from the 3rd of October to the -5th of November. Lord Mounteagle was one of the Commissioners. - -The “_Confession_” by Thomas Winter, which I regard as genuine, I have -also drawn upon freely in my relation of facts.——See Appendix.] - -It will be well, however, to relate the history of what occurred in the -exact words provided for us in a work 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. “_The Discourse_” says:——“The Lord Mounteagle, 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 met by an unknown man of a reasonable tall -personage[6] who delivered him a Letter charging him to put it in 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 one of -his men unto him for helping him to read it. But no sooner did he conceive -the strange contents thereof, although he was somewhat perplexed what -construction to make of it ... yet did he as a most dutifull and loyall -subject conclude not to conceal it, whatever might come of it. Whereupon -notwithstanding the latenesse and darknesse of the night in that season of -the year, he presently repaired to his Majesties palace at Whitehall and -there delivered the same to the Earle of Salisbury his majesties -principall secretarie.” - -The Letter was as follows:—— - -“My lord out of the loue 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 deuys 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 retyere youre self -into youre contri wheare yowe maye expect the euent in safti for -thowghe[7] theare be no apparance of anni stir yet i saye they shall -receyue a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not sei who -hurts them this councel is not to be contemned because it maye do yowe -good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe -have burnt the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good -use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe.” - -(Addressed on the back) to “the ryght honorable the lord mouteagle.” - -The full name of the member of Lord Mounteagle’s household who read the -Letter to Lord Mounteagle, we learn, was Thomas Ward.[8] - -Ward was acquainted with Thomas Winter, one of the principal Gunpowder -plotters; for Winter himself had formerly been in Mounteagle’s service, -and at the time of the Plot was almost certainly on amicable terms with -the young nobleman. - -On the 27th of October, the day following the delivery of the Letter, -_Thomas Ward came to Thomas Winter_ (being Sunday at night) and told him -that a Letter had been given to Lord Mounteagle, which the latter -presently had carried to Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury.——“_Winter’s -Confession._” - -Winter, thereupon, the next day, Monday, the 28th October, went to a house -called White 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 woods, near Enfield Chase, ten miles -north of Westminster. - -At this secluded spot Thomas Winter had speech with Catesby, the -arch-conspirator, “assuring him withal that the matter was disclosed and -wishing him in anywise to forsake his country.”——“_Winter’s Confession._” - -Catesby told Winter, “he would see further as yet and resolved to send Mr. -Fawkes to try the uttermost protesting if the part belonged to himself he -would try the same adventure.”——“_Winter’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, wood, and coal were stored in readiness for -the bloody slaughter purposed for November the Fifth. - -Fawkes returned to White Webbs at night, at which the conspirators “were -very glad.” Fawkes had found in the cellar his “private marks” all -undisturbed. - -“The next day after the delivery of the Letter,” says Stowe (though as a -fact it was probably five days after the delivery of the momentous -document, namely, on the following Thursday), _this self-same “Thomas -Winter told Christopher Wright”_——a subordinate conspirator,——“that he -(Winter) understood an obscure letter had been delivered to Lord -Mounteagle, who had conveyed it to Salisbury.”[9] - -_Hence, most probably, either Thomas Winter went in search of Christopher -Wright to afford him this piece of information; or Wright went in search -of Winter to obtain it._ - -At about five o’clock in the morning of Tuesday, November, the Fifth, -about five hours after Fawkes’ apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet and his -men,[10] the said Christopher Wright went to the chamber of the said -Thomas Winter and told him that a nobleman (_i.e._, the Earl of Worcester, -Master of the Horse) “had called (_i.e._, summoned) the Lord Mounteagle, -saying, ‘Rise and come along to Essex House,[11] 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,[12] that “he was the -first to ascertain that the Plot was discovered.” Probably this refers to -the information he (Christopher Wright) obtained as the upshot of his -interview with Winter on (probably) Thursday, the 31st October. - -Christopher Wright was, likewise, the first to announce the apprehension -of Fawkes on the morning of the 5th of November. - -It is also further said of Christopher Wright by one[13] who wrote during -the last century, that “He advised that each of the conspirators should -betake himself to flight in a different direction from his companions. -Had this been followed several of them would have probably succeeded in -making their escape to the continent. The conspirators, however, adopted -another course, which issued in their discomfiture in Staffordshire, where -Christopher Wright was also killed.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - -During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and during the earlier part of the -reign of King James I., almost all those castellated castles, moated -halls, and gabled manor-houses which to-day, still standing more or less -perfect, “amidst their tall ancestral trees o’er all the pleasant land,” -go to constitute that “old England” which her sons and daughters (and -their brethren and kinsfolk beyond the seas) know and love so well; during -the reign of Elizabeth and during the earlier part of the reign of James -I., these now time-honoured, ivy-clad abodes and dwellings of English men -and English women, over whom the grave has long since closed, but who in -their day and generation were assuredly among the heroic and the supremely -excellent of the earth, were the sheltering, romantic roof-trees of those -who clung tenaciously to the ancient religious Faith of the English race. - -This Faith was indeed that faith which had been taken and embraced by -their “rude forefathers” of long ages ago, in the simple hope and with the -pathetic trust that it might “do them good.”[A] And this their hope, they -believed and knew, had been not in vain, neither had been their trust -betrayed. - -[Footnote A: See the beautiful apologue of the Saxon nobleman of Deira, -delivered in the presence of St. Edwin King of Northumbria; given in -Bede’s “_Ecclesiastical History_.”] - -In the days of the second Henry Tudor——_fons et origo malorum_——the -fountain-head and well-spring of almost all of England’s many present-day -religious and social woes——the men and women of England and Wales knew -full well, whether they were of Cymric, Saxon, Scandinavian, or Norman -race (or a mixture of all four), that to that assemblage of ideas and -emotions, laws and rules, habits and customs, which had come to them from -men of foreign blood and alien name, dwelling on the banks of the far-off -“yellow Tiber” and under sunny, blue Italian skies——these men and women, I -repeat, knew full well that to their religious Faith they owed almost -everything that was best and truest and most enduring, either in -themselves or their kith and kin.[A] - -[Footnote A: Yorkshire, being the greatest of English Shires, had among -the inhabitants of its hills and dales and “sounding shores,” -representatives of the various races which compose the English nation. In -the West Riding especially, those of the old Cymric or British stock were -to be found. (Indeed, I am told, even now shepherds often count their -sheep by the old British numerals.) This strong remnant of the old British -race in the West Riding probably accounts for the marvellous gift of song -wherewith this division of Yorkshiremen are endowed to this day, just as -are the Welsh. In none other portion of England was there such a wealth of -stately churches and beautiful monasteries as in Yorkshire, the ancient -Deira, whose melodious name once kept ringing in the ears of St. Gregory -the Great, of a truth, the best friend the English people ever had. But -Yorkshire realised that “before all temples” the One above “preferred the -upright heart and pure.” Therefore, canonized saints arose from among her -vigorous, keen-minded, yet poetically imaginative sons and daughters. York -became sacred to St. Paulinus and St. William; Ripon to St. Wilfrid, the -Apostle of Sussex; also to St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Holland; -Beverley was hallowed by the presence of St. John of Beverley; Whitby by -the Saxon princess St. Hilda, the friend of Caedmon, the father of English -poetry. The moors of Lastingham were blest by the presence of St. Chad and -St. Cedd; and Knaresbrough by St. Robert, in his leafy stone-cave hard-by -the winding Nidd.] - -Now regard being had to the indisputable fact that for well-nigh a -thousand years England had been known abroad as “the Dowry of Mary and the -Island of Saints,” by reason of the signal manifestations she had -displayed in the way of cathedrals and churches, abbeys and priories, -convents and nunneries, hospitals and schools (which arose up and down the -length and breadth of the land to Northward and Southward, to East and -West, thereby, by the aid of art, adding even to England’s rare natural -beauty), it was never at all likely that the bulk of the English people -would, all on a sudden, cast off their cherished beliefs and hallowed -affections respecting the deepest central questions of human life.[14] - -Moreover, it may be taken as a general rule, to be remembered and applied -by princes and statesmen, all the world over and for all time, that Man is -a creature “full of religious instincts:”——“too superstitious,” should it -be thought more accurate and desirable so to describe this undoubted habit -and bent of the human mind. - -Thence it follows that it is the merest fatuous folly for princes and -statesmen if and when they have got themselves entangled in a false -position, from some external cause or causes having little or no relation -to the Invisible and the Eternal, to bid their subjects and denizens, -“right about turn,” at a moment’s notice: however “bright and blissful” -such mental evolutions may be deemed to be by those who have unwisely -taken it into their foolish head to issue the irrational command.[A] - -[Footnote A: That able and strong-minded Englishman, Dr. Temple, -Archbishop of Canterbury, said (in 1901) in the House of Lords, during the -debates on that pathetically ridiculous document, the Sovereign’s -Declaration against Popery, when speaking on Lord Salisbury’s proposed -amended form, that England was resolved “to stand no interference with her -religion from the outside.” It is a good thing that the heathen Kings -Ethelbert and Edwin were _less abnormally patriotic_ 1300 years ago. For -the idea of “independence” has to be held subject to the “golden mean” of -“nothing too much.” A fetish must not be made of that idea, especially by -a people conscious of lofty imperial destiny. And “unity” must there be -between ideas that are controlling fundamentals——in other words, between -ideas intellectual, moral, and spiritual.] - -Now, in the days of Queen Elizabeth[A] those whom religious loyalty -prompted to worship supremely “the God of their fathers” after a manner -that those eager for change counted “idolatry,” were marked by different -mental characteristics. This was so throughout England; but especially was -it so in those five northern counties which comprised what was then by -Catholics proudly styled “the faithful North.” - -[Footnote A: The mother of Queen Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, died reconciled -to the Church of Rome. Her daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, was brought -up in the tenets of that Church; but, like one type of the children of the -Renaissance, Elizabeth was unconsciously “a Tribal Deist.” Margaret Roper, -the daughter of Sir Thomas More, was equally “cultured,” but she accepted -the Catholic tradition in its letter and in its spirit. I may here state -that I have a great intellectual admiration for Queen Elizabeth, whose -virtues were her own, while her faults, to a large extent, were her -monstrous father’s and her Privy Counsellors’, _who told her not what she -ought to do but what she could do, which no really faithful adviser of a -Sovereign ever does_.] - -Some of these English “leile and feile,” that is loyal and faithful, -servants of Rome were, on the subjective side, retained in their -allegiance to the Visible Head of Christendom by bonds formed by mere -natural piety and conservative feeling——dutiful affections of Nature which -are the promise and the pledge of much that is best in the Teutonic race. - -Others were mainly ruled by an overmastering sense of that lofty humility -which foes call pride, but friends dignity. - -Whilst a third class were persuaded, by intense intellectual, moral, and -spiritual conviction that——“in and by the power of divine grace”——come -what might, nothing should separate them from those hereditary beliefs -which were dearer to them far than not merely earthly goods, lands, and -personal liberty, but even than their very life. - -This last-mentioned class, from and after the year 1580, “the year of the -Lord’s controversy with Sion,” as the old English Catholics regarded it, -who loved to recall that “good time” when Campion and Parsons “poured out -their soul in words,” especially Campion, who was remembered in the north -for three generations: this last-mentioned class, I say, were oftentimes, -though certainly not always, found to be greatly attached to the then new -Society of Jesus, which, in England, was in the glow and purity of its -first fervour. - -This last-mentioned class——I mean the Jesuitically-affected class of -English Catholics——were also again sub-divided into three sub-divisions. -One sub-division was composed of Mystics; another of Politicians; and a -third of those who, realising a higher unity, were at once Mystics _and_ -Politicians——or, in other phraseology, _they were Men of Thought and Men -of Action_. - -Now, the Gunpowder conspirators belonged to the last-mentioned class, and -to the second division of that class. That is to say, they were mere -Politicians, speaking broadly and speaking generally. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - -It hath been truly observed by one of the most knowing and candid of -modern students of Elizabethan biographical literature, that Sir William -Catesby, the father of the arch-gunpowder conspirator, Robert Catesby, in -common with the great majority of the country gentry throughout England, -who were resident upon their own estates, and unconnected with the -oligarchy which ruled in the Queen’s name (_i.e._, Queen Elizabeth’s) at -Court, threw in his lot with the Catholic party, and suffered in -consequence of his conscientious adherence to the old creed.[A] - -[Footnote A: Dr. Augustus Jessopp: Article——“Robert Catesby,” “_National -Dictionary of Biography_.”] - -While Sir Thomas Tresham (the brother-in-law of the last-mentioned Sir -William Catesby and father of Francis Tresham, one of the subordinate -conspirators), was so attached to the ancient faith of the English people -that, we are told, he not only regularly paid——by way of fines——for more -than twenty years, the sum of £260 per annum, about £2,080 a year in our -money, into the Treasury rather than not maintain what (to him) was “a -conscience void of offence,” but he also spent at least twenty-one years -of his life in prison, after being Star-Chambered in the year 1581 along -with Lord Vaux of Harrowden and his brother-in-law, Sir William Catesby, -on a charge of harbouring Campion. - -The Fleet prison in London, Banbury Castle and Ely——his “familiar prison,” -as Sir Thomas Tresham pleasantly styled the last-named place of -incarceration——were the habitations wherein he was enabled to make it his -boast in a letter to Lord Henry Howard, afterwards the Earl of -Northampton, writ in the year 1603, “that he had now completed his triple -apprenticeship in direst adversity, and that he should be content to serve -a like long apprenticeship to prevent the foregoing of his beloved, -beautiful, and graceful Rachel; for it seemed to him but a few days for -the love he had to her.”[A] - -[Footnote A: Quoted from papers found at Rushton in Northamptonshire, the -seat of Sir Thomas Tresham, which he himself designed, being an architect -of some skill.] - -Well may the spiritual descendants to-day of these grand old Elizabethan -Catholics exclaim:——“_Their_ very memory is pure and bright, and our sad -thoughts doth cheer!” - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - -The men known to history as the Gunpowder Plotters were thirteen in -number. - -They were at first Robert Catesby, already mentioned, Thomas Winter, -Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. - -Subsequently, there were added to these five——Robert Keyes, Christopher -Wright (a younger brother of John Wright), and lastly Robert Winter (an -elder brother of Thomas Winter),[A] Ambrose Rookwood, John Grant, Sir -Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, and Thomas Bates. - -[Footnote A: Lord Edmund Talbot, brother to the present Duke of Norfolk, -K.G., Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, is allied to Robert Winter, -through the latter’s marriage with Gertrude Talbot, the daughter of John -Talbot, Esquire, of Grafton in Worcestershire. The brother of Gertrude -Winter became Earl of Shrewsbury. John Talbot had married a daughter of -Sir William Petre. Lord Edmund Talbot, I believe, now owns Huddington.] - -Of these thirteen conspirators, all, with the exception of Thomas Bates, a -serving-man of Robert Catesby, were, as Fawkes said, “gentlemen of name -and blood.” - -Thomas Percy was the eldest of the conspirators and in 1605 was about -forty-five years of age. - -Sir Everard Digby was the youngest, being twenty-four years of age, whilst -the ages of the others ranged betwixt and between.[15] - -Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the -East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was -the son of Edward Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader -of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest -figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a “kinsman” of -Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the -Earl himself,[16] and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made -Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary——Gentlemen of Honour——in attendance -at Court. At the time of the Plot, too, Thomas Percy——the Constable of -Alnwick and Warkworth Castles——acted as officer or agent for his noble -kinsman’s large northern estates, at Alnwick, Warkworth, Topcliffe, -Spofforth, and elsewhere. - -Robert Catesby, the arch-conspirator, was——as we have seen already——the -son and heir of Sir William Catesby, whose wife was a daughter of Sir -Robert Throckmorton of Coughton in Warwickshire. - -Sir William Catesby was a gentleman of ancient, historic and distinguished -lineage, who had large possessions in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and -Warwickshire, yielding him about £3,000 a year, or probably from £24,000 -to £30,000 a year in our money. - -These large estates his ill-fated son Robert Catesby succeeded to in -expectancy in 1598.[17] - -Catesby, the younger, diminished his annual revenue very considerably by -involving himself in the rising of the brilliant Robert Devereux, second -Earl of Essex (1601), who had given to Catesby a promise of toleration for -Catholic recusants, who chafed greatly under a system of -politico-theological persecution, at once galling, cruel and despicable. - -But this promise of toleration was conditioned by the very vital condition -precedent that the insurrectionary movement of the gallant but rash Essex -against the Government of Elizabeth had a successful issue. - -The movement, however, was emphatically not smiled on by Fortune, that -fickle goddess, with the result that Catesby found himself locked up in -prison, and was only ransomed by payment of a sum of £3,000. - -This heavy fine, together with the fact that in the year 1605 his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, was living at Ashby St. Legers in -Northamptonshire, and owned for life all rents of the estates, except -Chastleton near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, seems to have been the -cause that, at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, Catesby had not any very -great amount of ready money in hand. - -Besides this, until some four or five years prior to 1603, the year of the -death of Queen Elizabeth, when he began to practise the religion which in -1580 his father, Sir William Catesby, had embraced or re-embraced, and for -which the latter had suffered imprisonment and heavy fines, Robert Catesby -“was very wild; and as he kept company with the best noblemen of the land, -so he spent much above his rate, and so wasted also good part of his -living.” - -“He was of person above two yards[18] high, and though slender, yet as -well proportioned to his height as any man one should see.” He was, -moreover, reputed to be “very wise and of great judgment, though his -utterance was not so good. Besides, he was so liberal, and apt to help all -sorts, as it got him much love.” - -At the time of the Plot Catesby was about thirty-five years of age. He had -married Catherine Leigh, a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, of Stoneleigh, a -Protestant gentleman of wealth and influence in Warwickshire. The Parish -Register of Chastleton has the following entry:——“Robert Catesbie, son of -Robert Catesbie, was baptised the 11th day of November, 1595.”[19] He had -only this one surviving child, who is said to have married the only child -of Thomas Percy. - -Catesby had the misfortune to lose his wife by death before the year 1602, -and at the time of the Plot his home seems to have been with his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, at Ashby St. Legers in the County of -Northampton, the family ancestral seat. For in 1602 he had sold his -residence, Chastleton, in Oxfordshire. - -Now, as Robert Catesby, it seems by many circumstances, was the first -inventor and chiefest furtherer of the Plot, it is worth while thus -lingering on a description of what manner of man he was. - -It, however, may be asked how came it to pass that this one person gained -such prodigious ascendency over twelve other persons so as to make them, -in the event, as mischievously, nay fatally, deluded as himself? - -The answer is manifold: for besides the wrongs which these ruthless -plotters sought to avenge, they 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.[20] - -For a proof of Catesby’s immense influence over others, it may be -mentioned that Ambrose Rookwood, one of those whose blood afterwards -stained the scaffold at the early age of twenty-seven for his share in the -wicked scheme, says of Catesby that “he (Rookwood) loved and respected him -as his own life.”[21] - -Four things seem to have caused those who came in contact with Robert -Catesby to have been carried captive at his will, if from the first they -were at all well affected towards him——his personal appearance, his -generosity, his zeal, and his skill in the use of arms. - -We are told that Tesimond (alias Greenway), another contemporary of -Catesby, says that “his countenance was exceedingly noble and expressive. -That his conversation 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.”[22] - -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.”[23] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -Thomas Winter came of a Worcestershire family. His father, George Winter -(or Wintour), had married Jane Ingleby, the daughter of Sir William -Ingleby, a Yorkshire knight of historic name, whose ancestral seat was -Ripley Castle, near Knaresbrough[24] in Nidderdale, one of the most -romantic valleys of Yorkshire. - -Jane Winter’s brother, Francis Ingleby,[25] a barrister, and afterwards a -Roman 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 story of his life and death -must have often thrilled the hearts of his sister’s children. - -Would that they had taken him as their model. For of all those many Roman -Catholic Yorkshiremen[A] 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.[26] - -[Footnote A: At least 49 persons, priests and laymen, suffered death in -York alone for the Pope’s religion, between the reigns of Henry VIII. and -Charles II. inclusive. The place of execution was usually the Tyburn, -opposite Knavesmire, near Hob Moor Gate, in the middle of the Tadcaster -High Road. In the reign of Philip and Mary no Protestant was burned to -death in Yorkshire. Archbishop Heath, of York, like Bishop Tunstall, of -Durham, and the great Catholic Jurist, Edmund Plowden, who, for conscience -sake, declined the Chancellorship when offered to him by Elizabeth, did -not think they could “save alive” the soul of a “heretic” by roasting -“dead” his body at the stake. And they were right.] - -Thomas Winter, the ill-fated nephew of him just 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 by 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. Robert Catesby. 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.”[27] He seems to have been unmarried. - -Sir Everard Digby was a tall, handsome, singularly generous, charming -young fellow, and like Ambrose Rookwood, previously mentioned, had won the -loving favour of all who knew him. Digby had two estates in the County of -Rutlandshire (Tilton and Drystoke), 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[A] (now Gayhurst) -in the parish of Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, still one of England’s stately homes.[28] - -Francis Tresham was married to a Throckmorton, and was connected with many -English families of historic name, high rank, and great fortune. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst), resembles in its style of architecture, The -Treasurer’s House, York, on the North side of the Minster, the town-house -of Frank Green, Esquire. Walter Carlile, Esquire, now resides at -Gayhurst.] - -He was a first cousin to Robert Catesby through his mother——a -Throckmorton. Tresham and the Winters were also akin. - -Francis Tresham, like his cousin, Robert Catesby, had been involved in the -Essex rising, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had to pay a ransom of -at least £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 Tower, and afterwards Earl of Suffolk.[29] - -John Grant was a Warwickshire Squire, who had married Robert and Thomas -Winter’s sister Dorothy. Grant’s home was at Norbrook, near Snitterfield, -a walled and moated mansion-house between the towns of Warwick and -Stratford-on-Avon.[30] Grant was a taciturn but accomplished man, who had -been likewise fined for his share in the Essex rising. - -John Wright and Christopher Wright 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 Mallories of -Studley Royal near Ripon. Hence were they related to Thomas Winter, Robert -Winter, 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 Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. - -Through his Roman Catholic mother, Keyes was related to Lady Ursula -Babthorpe, the daughter of Sir William Tyrwhitt[31] of Kettleby, near -Brigg, Lincolnshire, and wife of Sir William Babthorpe, of Babthorpe and -Osgodby, near Selby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire Sir William Babthorpe -was “the very soul of honour,” one of the most valiant-hearted gentlemen -in Yorkshire, and himself, likewise, related to the Mallories, the -Inglebies, the Wrights, and the Winters. His sister was Lady Catherine -Palmes, the wife of Sir George Palmes, of Naburn, near the City of York. - -Ambrose Rookwood, 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Edward Rookwood, of Euston Hall, Suffolk, was cousin to -Ambrose Rookwood. At Euston in 1578 Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously -entertained by Edward Rookwood.——See Hallam’s “_Constitutional History_,” -and Lodge’s “_Illustrations_.”] - -Of the engaging Ambrose Rookwood 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 family, 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.”[32] - -Guy Fawkes was also a Yorkshireman, being born in the year 1570, in the -City of York. - -His baptismal register, dated the 16th day of April, 1570, is still to be -seen in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, hard-by the glorious -Minster. - -Probably that one of four traditions is true which 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 Transept of the Minster, and at the top of the mediæval street -called Stonegate.[A] - -[Footnote A: The house I refer to is occupied by the Governors of St. -Peter’s School (where Fawkes was himself educated), by Mr. T. H. Barron, -and Mr. Matkins. It is still Minster property. It is a brick Elizabethan -house refaced. Fawkes’ grandmother, Mrs. Ellen Fawkes, almost certainly -lived in a house in High Petergate, on the opposite side of the road, -probably. His father may have had a house also at Bishopthorpe.——See -Supplementum I.] - -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 ancient Parish of Farnham, between Knaresbrough and Ripley, -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 highly intelligent, direct of purpose, simple of heart, -well-read, and, as a soldier of fortune in the Netherlands, not only -“skilful in the 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. - -Fawkes held a post of command in the Spanish Army when Spain took Calais -in 1596, and gave promise of becoming, like his friend and patron, Sir -William Stanley, an ideal “happy warrior,” and one of England’s greatest -generals.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is interesting and instructive to compare the Forty Years’ -War between Spain and the Netherlands 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 commencement of the struggle. -It arose out of a chafing under the sovereignty of Spain, and a dispute -about tenths. In fact, many Catholics fought against 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 Relief of Mafeking (19th May, 1900).] - -It is said by an old writer, “Winter and Fawxe are men of excellent good -natural parts, very resolute and universally learned.”[33] 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. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - -Let us deal with the inferences from the Evidence, and ascertain to what -further suggestions those inferences give rise. - -Now, among the first things that must strike the reader of the list of -actors in the Gunpowder tragedy is the large 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 Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. While -five of the other intending perpetrators of an action which, if -consummated, would have indeed “damned them to everlasting fame,” -indirectly had relations with it. - -Nay, more; of the four members of the clerical profession whom the -Government sought to charge with complicity in this nefarious designment, -namely: Fathers Garnet, Tesimond, Gerard, and (subsequently) Oldcorne——two -out of the four, Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne, were likewise -Yorkshiremen.[A] - -[Footnote A: The late Bishop Creighton, in his fine illustrated work -entitled, “_The Story of some English Shires_” (Religious Tract Society), -says:——“Yorkshire is the largest of the English shires, and its size -corresponds to its ancient greatness.”] - -Edward Oldcorne was certainly a native of the City of York, and it is very -likely indeed that Oswald Tesimond was a native also.[34] - -Moreover, Oswald Tesimond, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy Fawkes -were all educated at the Royal 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 Bootham 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Strafford, the representative of Charles I. in Ireland, -was in after years Lord President of the North. In his day the King’s -Manor was known as the Palace of the Stuart 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 Yorkshireman, 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 -Wilberforce’s direct heir, William Basil Wilberforce, Esquire, resides at -Markington Hall, near Ripon. - -The Earl of Huntingdon was a scion of the House of York, and had Elizabeth -become reconciled to the Church of Rome the Puritans would have probably -rallied round Lord Huntingdon as their King. The Honourable Walter -Hastings, the Earl’s brother, was a Roman Catholic. They were, of course, -akin to Queen Elizabeth, and were descended from the “Blessed” Margaret -Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury.] - -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.”[35] - -Before going to Rheims and Rome 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 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 awful a catastrophe was deep as hell and high as heaven. - -And well might it be, regard being had to the indisputable facts of -English History from the year 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 conspirators had taken: a -conspirator 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 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 trustworthy friend who would act as penman of any document he -might wish to use as a means of communicating 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 “_interpres_”——a -go-between——to drive home the full 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. - -Regard 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, yet -strong as iron,” which were the outcome of kinship, friendship, 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 Wright_ was the conspirator who revealed the Plot, and that -his worthy aiders and honourable abettors were, first, _Thomas Ward_, the -gentleman-servant (and almost certainly kinsman) of Lord Mounteagle -himself, _amicus secundum carnem_; and, secondly, _Edward Oldcorne_, -Priest and Jesuit, _amicus secundum spiritum:——friends according to the -flesh and to the spirit respectively_. - - - - - 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 majestie, for releife of the Catholique cause, and not -invented or propounded by myself. And this was first propounded unto me -about Easter last was twelve-month,[36] 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 howse -at Westminster ... neare adjoyning the Parlt. howse, and there wee beganne -to make a myne about the XI. of December, 1604. The Fyve that entered -into the woorck were Thomas Percye, Robert Catesby, Thomas Wynter, John -Wright, and myself, and soon after[37] we tooke another unto us, -Christopher Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the sacrament for -secrecie.”[38] - -Therefore Christopher Wright must have become a confederate about ten -months after Fawkes himself and the other prime movers in the nefarious -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 was -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 presumptively known by his friends, still more -may it be presumptively known by his progenitors; and in the light of this -principle I therefore answer the foregoing question emphatically in the -affirmative. - -But what was the form of the oath taken by all these conspirators save -one, namely, Sir Everard Digby, who was _specially_ “sworn in” on the hilt -of a poniard? - -It was this:——“You shall swear by the Blessed Trinity and by the Sacrament -you now propose to receive, never to disclose, directly 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 with their hands laid upon -a primer.”[39] - -Immediately after the oath had been taken,[40] we are told, Catesby -explained to Percy, and Winter and John Wright to Fawkes, that the project -intended was to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder when the King -went to the House of Lords.[41] This would include the Queen, the Commons, -Ambassadors, and spectators who would be present during 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 Robert Wright and Ursula his wife, who was the -daughter of Nicholas Rudston, Esquire (of the Rudstons, Lords of -Hayton,[A] 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 William Mallory, of Studley Royal, near Ripon.[42] - -[Footnote A: It is gratifying to the historic feeling to know that the -Manor of Hayton is still owned by a member of this ancient family, the -present possessor being T. W. Calverley-Rudston, Esquire, J.P., of -Allerthorpe Hall, Pocklington.] - -Christopher Wright was born about the year 1570, the year after the Rising -of the North[43] under “the Blessed” Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland, -and Charles Neville Earl of Westmoreland, in which movement many of -Christopher Wright’s mother’s relatives and connections (notably “old -Richard Norton,” his sons, and the Markenfields) were implicated.[44] - -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, was -doubtless 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 Patrington and the pretty village of -Welwick. When Robert 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 Ripon, the ancestral seat of the Markenfields, -heroes of Flodden and kinsmen of the Wrights, Wards, Nortons, Mallories, -and numberless others amongst the ancient and wealthy Yorkshire gentry. - -Christopher Wright and his elder brother John were educated, along with -Guy Fawkes and Oswald Tesimond, at the Royal Grammar School (as we have -already stated) in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, in the City of York. - -Their master was the Reverend John Pulleyn, who probably belonged to the -ancient and honourable West Riding family of the Pulleyns (or Pulleines), -of Killinghall, near Bilton-cum-Harrogate, and of Scotton, in the Parish -of Farnham, near Knaresbrough. - -The two Wrights’ parents were stanch Roman 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 President 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 Ripon; another, named -Martha, was married to Thomas Percy, Gentleman, the Gunpowder -conspirator. - -It is said of John Wright, Christopher Wright’s brother, and of his -brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, that they were formerly Protestant, and -became Catholic about the time of the rebellion of the Earl of Essex. But -it is certain John Wright and Thomas Percy[45] must have been both brought -up Roman Catholics in the days of their childhood; although they probably -ceased to practise their duties as such until about the year 1600. For it -is incredible that the son and son-in-law of Robert Wright 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 friend 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,[A] fatter in the face and of a -lighter-coloured hair. “Yet,” says Gerard, “was he very like to the other -in conditions and qualities and both 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.”[46] - -[Footnote A: It is, however, possible that John Wright may have come under -the influence of the Blessed William Hart (styled the Apostle of York and -the second Campion), a priest who suffered death at the York Tyburn in -1583. Because Hart was indicted for (amongst other things) “reconciling” a -“Mr. John Wright and one Cooling.”——See Challoner’s “_Missionary -Priests_.” If so, John Wright would then be about fourteen years of age. -It, however, may have been another John Wright; perhaps of Grantley and -one of the brothers of Robert Wright, the father of John Wright, the -conspirator. Cooling was probably Ralph Cowling, of York, a shoemaker, the -father of Father Richard 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. Ralph 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.] - -Christopher Wright was married. His wife’s name, we know, was -Margaret.[A][47] I strongly suspect that Mrs. Christopher Wright was a -sister of both Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish -of Ripon; yet of this there is only, perhaps, slight evidence, so that no -positive argument can be grounded upon it, _considered by 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 Wright had “a brother” in -London. - -[Footnote A: See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 89.] - -When Guy Fawkes was examined in the Tower of London, in the forenoon of -the 6th of November, he said, in answer to a question——“You would have me -discover my friends; the giving warning to one overthrew us all.” - -Now, if Guy Fawkes eventually revealed the conspiracy by reason of the -agony caused by 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 the case of the intended murder) most -horrible crimes against the offended Majesty of Heaven? - -I think not. - -_Therefore_ I conclude that it is antecedently probable that in the heart -of Christopher Wright, emotions, not only of compassion but also of -compunction, _were_ 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 diabolical designment known to History as the -Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Had Christopher Wright any entirely trustworthy friend, one who not only -would prove a healing minister to a mind diseased with the leprosy of -crime, but also be an able and ready helper for giving effect to an all -but too late repentance? Was there anyone to whom he could have recourse, -who was at once wise of head, sympathetic 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 years one who was not only the trusted spiritual guide of -Thomas Abington, Esquire, and the Honourable Mary (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 -Rome in 1582, aged twenty-one, for the higher studies. He was most -probably at the Royal School in the Horse Fayre, in York, and he may have -been there at the same time as Oswald Tesimond,[48] John Wright,[49] -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 -_and_ Politicians. His equipoise of mind shows him to have been a very -great man——indeed, on account of his combination of mental gifts and -graces, I think the greatest, in reality, of _all_ the early English -Jesuits. For “he saw life steadily and saw it whole.”[A] - -[Footnote A: Matthew Arnold.] - -“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.”[50] Again, a MS. Memoir[51] 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.”[52][B] - -[Footnote B: See Supplementum II.] - -Now, Father Oldcorne was the spiritual adviser of Robert 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[53] in the country thereabouts who -flocked to him for conference and to have his exhortations.[54][C] - -[Footnote C: Evidence of the practical side of Oldcorne’s mind is -furnished by the fact that we are told he often begged leave in Rome 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 through 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 Gerard’s -“_Narrative_,” p. 272.] - -Again, Christopher Wright appears to have been especially friendly with -two other conspirators, namely, Thomas Winter and Ambrose Rookwood. And it -is worthy of notice that Huddington Hall, in Worcestershire, the seat of -Robert Winter (of which place Thomas Winter is also described), and -Clopton Hall, in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon (whither Ambrose -Rookwood removed soon after Michaelmas, 1605), were easily accessible 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The site of Shakespeare’s new residence, which he built and -called New Place, at Stratford-on-Avon, had belonged to the Clopton -family. - -Clopton 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 Rookwood repaired for -temporary residence soon after Michaelmas, 1605, was by road twenty-three -miles from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne resided. - -Ambrose Rookwood and Christopher Wright were particular friends. Rookwood -was a man of very tender conscience, which, however, unhappily failed him -at the most crucial moment of his life, namely, when he 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -Let us now examine the Letter itself. - -The first thing to be noted is that no reprint that I have seen of the -famous Letter, whether in ancient or modern continuous Relations 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.[55] But, this notwithstanding, it can be still detected in the -original document, happily, even to this day, to be seen in the Record -Office, London. - -Now the fact that this word “yowe” is crossed out in this mysterious -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[56] use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe,” makes 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 yowe -have burnt the letter,” is in one sense fairly clear. For as Wilson says, -in his “_Life of James I._” (1653), p. 30, “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.”[57] - -This must be the, at least, _ostensible_ meaning. For it is obvious that -neither Wright nor Oldcorne (_ex hypothesi_) would, for different but most -potent reasons, wish the penman of the Letter to be known to the then -public, 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 compassing 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.[58] - -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.[A] For it is a -fact of human nature that every man seeks to instruct his conscience by -some objective rule or standard of Truth and Right; but that instincts -and emotions oftentimes finally rule men rather than reason and -argumentative proof. - -[Footnote A: The English 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 were -compelled to pay £20 per lunar month. Many of the English nobility, -gentry, and yeomanry were 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; -individual Protestants often sought to mitigate the miseries of their -fellow-countrymen from whom they differed in religion. Being reconciled to -the See of Rome was death, and to be a popish priest was by the terrible -Statute 27 Eliz. to be “a traitor” and to be liable to be hanged, cut down -alive, bowelled, and quartered. To say Mass was to be liable to a fine of -200 marks _and_ imprisonment for life (a mark was 13s. 4d.). To hear Mass -was to be liable to a fine of 100 marks _and_ imprisonment for life. To -harbour a priest was death and forfeiture of property.] - -It was, furthermore, incumbent upon Oldcorne to recollect that more harm -than good is frequently occasioned 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 Rookwood 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 allowances have to be made for this poor woman, inasmuch -as her husband and children were all the world to her. But still the -following recorded statement proves that the _tendency_ was for even the -best of the average English Catholics of that day, of whom Mrs. Rookwood -is a fair type and specimen, to centre their sympathies on the wrong-doers -rather than on the wronged. - -This was natural enough; for man’s disposition is to be led by his -unconscious instincts and emotional sympathies rather than by drawn-out -reason and cool argument, as has been mentioned above. - -It was the bounden duty of Oldcorne to hold that disposition strictly in -check and to keep himself absolutely master of the tendency. But, on this -being assured, he was bound likewise to remember that the tendency -existed, and that he lived in a world not of angels, nor of machines, but -of _men_——of men indeed who were not totally depraved, nor utterly -corrupt, yet who were sorely wounded and weakened in intellect, heart, and -will. - -The crying want of the present day——as of Oldcorne’s day——is not only for -men but for men who are statesmen. And no man can be a statesman unless he -has a wide and profound knowledge of human nature, and who, while he -pities human nature and loves it, never makes the mistake of expecting too -much from it. In other words, we require men who are humanists and -humorists, as I cannot but think was the character of Edward Oldcorne. - -Now, no man in England knew better nor recognised more fully (for he knew -the virtually omnipotent transforming power of the precedent conditions of -person, time, and circumstance) the truth of the propositions I have just -enunciated than did Father Oldcorne. But this notwithstanding, I hold it -was _not_ the truth of the foregoing propositions ALONE——indisputable -doubtless as he regarded them——that finally controlled the motives that -ruled the action——in substance and in form——at the most critical moment of -the existence of this acute, disciplined, high-minded Yorkshireman, when -by Fate he was called upon to contemplate, _after the fateful November the -Fifth_, the bloody, prodigious Gunpowder Plot, and the mighty feat which -Destiny had imposed upon him for helping to spin the same right round on -its axis, even though well-nigh at the eleventh hour.[59] - -What finally controlled the motives, the positive _not_ negative motives, -that ruled that beneficent and never-to-be-forgotten action of this -Yorkshire Priest and Jesuit in that supreme moment——the Plot having then -become, through his instrumentality, as a mere bubble-burst——will be -discovered in due course of this Inquiry. - -The remark of Mrs. Rookwood to which I have referred is given in Gerard’s -“_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 219. Thomas Winter, Rookwood, -Keyes, and Fawkes were drawn on their hurdles from the Tower to the Yard -of the old Palace of Westminster over against the Parliament House. - -“As they were drawn upon the Strand, Mr. Rookwood had provided that he -should be admonished when he came over against the lodging where his wife -lay: and being come unto the place, he opened his eyes (which before he -kept shut to attend better to his prayers), and seeing her stand in a -window to see him pass by, he raised himself as well as he could up from -the hurdle, and said aloud unto her: ‘Pray for me, pray for me,’ She -answered him also aloud: ‘I will; and be of good courage and offer thyself -wholly to God. I for my part do as freely restore thee to God as he gave -thee to me,’” - -This was Friday, the 31st day of January, 1605-6. - -On the previous day in St. Paul’s Churchyard had been likewise hanged, cut -down alive, drawn, and quartered, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John -Grant, and Thomas Bates. - -Catesby, John Wright, and Christopher Wright had been slain at Holbeach on -the 8th of November previously. - -Thomas Percy died of wounds there received the next day. - -Father Tesimond had proceeded to Huddington, doubtless mainly in the hope, -let us trust, of stirring up in the hearts of these desperate creatures -sorrow——that great natural sacrament——for their awful crimes that, not in -vain, had cried to Heaven for vengeance! For truly the guilty suffer and -the blood-guilty man shall not live out half his days. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - -Now there is a sentence in the Letter whose wording is peculiar, but -which, I submit, is pre-eminently a wording likely to be used by two -natives of Yorkshire. - -I mean the sentence, “I would aduyse yowe as yowe _tender_ your lyf to -deuys some excuse to _shift off_ youer attendance at this parleament,” -meaning thereby, “I would advise you as you _have a care_ for your life to -devise some excuse to _put off_[60] your attendance at this parliament.” - -Once more, a comparison of the Letter sent to Lord Mounteagle with a -Declaration not only signed by Father Oldcorne but entirely in his -handwriting, dated the 12th of March, 1605-6,[61] reveals this remarkable -fact that there is, first, a general similarity between the penmanship of -both documents; and, secondly, there is a particular similarity in the -case of the following letters:——the small c/s, l/s, i/s, b/s, w/s, r/s, -long s/s (as initials), and short s/s (as terminals); also the m/s and n/s -are not inconsistent with being written by one and the same hand. The -handwriting in the Letter is, for the most part, not in round hand, but in -roman character. The letters do not all lean at the same angle to the -horizontal. Evidently the writer had endeavoured “painfully” to disguise -his handwriting, but conscientious carefulness and a disciplined will -emphatically characterise both documents.[62] See Appendix. - -Now Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was, I -maintain, the intermediary——the diplomatic intermediary——through whom -Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) acted in communication with -Mounteagle. And this, with the express knowledge and consent of Father -Edward Oldcorne, who was, almost certainly, well acquainted with Thomas -Ward.[63] - -In short, the revelation was a curvilinear triangular movement. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -Mounteagle, we are told, knew there was a Letter to be sent to him before -it came.[64] - -Lingard says the conspirators suspected that Tresham had sent the Letter, -and that there was a “secret understanding between him and Lord -Mounteagle,[A] _or at least the gentleman who was employed to read the -Letter at the table_.” (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: It is to be recollected that the conspirators themselves -suspected that there was a secret understanding, at least between the -gentleman-servant of Mounteagle and Tresham, whom they thought was the -revealing conspirator.——See Greenway’s MS., quoted by Lingard.] - -In a letter dated 19th November, 1605, of a certain Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmondes, the King’s Ambassador at Brussels, after giving an -account of the discovery of the Plot, Hoby says:——“Such as are apt to -interpret all things to the worst will not believe other but that -Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing the -discovery already of the letter, the rather that one Thomas Ward, a -principal man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the conspiracy.” - -Now there is evidence which creates a moral certainty that Christopher -Wright and a certain Thomas Ward (or Warde, for the name was spelt either -way at that time) were closely allied by virtue of at least one marriage -(if not indeed more than one) subsisting between certain (virtually -undoubted) relatives of theirs then living. - -Christopher Wright’s sister, Ursula, was (as has been already mentioned) -the wife of one Marmaduke Ward (or Warde), of Mulwith, in the Parish of -Ripon, in the County of York. - -A lady of high family named Winefrid Wigmore, the daughter of Sir William -Wigmore, of Lucton, in the County of Herefordshire, says, in her “_Life of -Mary Ward_,” the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula, his wife: -“Mary Ward was the eldest daughter of Mr. Marmaduke Ward, of Givendale, in -the County of York. Mulwith and Newby were Manor-houses of his.”[65] - -Now in the Parish Register, which was published in the year 1899, -belonging to the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York, is -to be found the following remarkable entry: “_Weddinges 1579.——Thomas -Warde of Mulwaith in the p’ishe of Rippon, and M’rgery Slater, S’vant to -Mr. Cotterell, maried xxixth day of May._”[66] - -But for only eleven years (lacking nine days) were Thomas Warde and -Margery his wife destined to be united in the bonds of wedlock. For the -Register of Ripon Minster records “_the burial_,” under date “_May the -20th, 1590, of Marjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwaith_.”[67] - -They do not seem to have been blessed with offspring. At any rate there -are no names of any children of these two spouses entered in the Register -of Christenings still kept at Ripon Minster. Although, of course, there -may have been such baptized at home[A] “secretly,” or even at some other -church than at the chapel of the Skelton Chapelry, or than in Ripon -Minster, the mother church of the great Parish of Ripon. - -[Footnote A: But see Supplementum III. _postea_, and the evidence there -given; evidence which is also interesting as showing how, at any rate -sometimes, “the oracle was worked,” with reference to that curious -historical problem, the apparent baptism of the children of papists by the -minister of the parish church. In Ireland, I have been told, at one time -the authorities of the then establishment accepted the mere “allegation” -that certain rites had been complied with by the popish clergy. - -Dr. Elzé is grossly wrong in arguing that _because_ Shakespeare’s name is -found in the Register of Christenings in the parish church of -Stratford-on-Avon, _therefore_ Shakespeare’s father was a Protestant. Such -a conclusion founded on such proof is simply ludicrous.——See Elzé’s “_Life -of Shakespeare_” (Bell & Sons), p. 457. One really is disposed to distrust -many of the _conclusions_ of “German learning” when Elzé argues like this. -To my mind, much of “the critical” work (so called in a certain -department) may be hereafter found to be full of flaws from building on -too _narrow a foundation_ of evidence. How little man can know of the Past -which affords him evidence to hang even a dog on with absolute, as -distinct from moral, certitude! (I wish especially not to be thought to -imply any disrespect towards the great German people, whose love for him -who is for all nations and all time fills me with the profoundest -admiration. But Truth is no respecter of persons when it detects errors, -or the probabilities of errors, on the part of such as should be “masters -of those that know.”) - -For even the Rigmaydens, of Woodacre Hall, Garstang (harbourers of Campion -in 1581), in the most Catholic part of Lancashire, _apparently_ had at -least some of their children baptised at the parish church.——See Colonel -Fishwick’s “_Parish of Garstang_” (Chetham Soc.)] - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -Now we know that Marmaduke Warde was of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the year -1585. For the “_Life_” of his daughter Mary expressly states that she was -born at Mulwith in that year. And if _a_ Thomas Warde was of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith) only six years prior to 1585, and again of Mulwith in 1590, when -he lost his wife, the inevitable inference is that the said Marmaduke -Warde and the said Thomas Warde belonged to one and the same family, and -that, in all probability, they were akin to each other as brothers.[68] - -Again, the Register of Ripon Minster records on the 6th day of October, -1589, the baptism of Edward,[A] the son of a certain Christopher Wright, -of Bondgate, Ripon. - -[Footnote A: If this Edward Wright is the same as a certain Prebendary -Edward Wright, of Ripon Minster, who received his nomination from King -James I. on the 26th of March, 1613, then at least one cousin of Mary Ward -must have conformed to the Established Church.——See “_Memorials of -Ripon_,” in 3 vols. (Surtees Society.) - -He would be about 23 years of age when the royal favour was thus -vouchsafed to him. - -An Edward Wright was Mayor of Ripon in the year 1635.——Gent’s -“_Ripon_.”——Probably the son of Prebendary Edward Wright. - -Another cousin of Mary Warde, I find, had likewise conformed——a Dr. Warde, -the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He belonged, I think, to -the Wardes, of Durham, descended from a brother of Sir Christopher Ward.] - -On the 23rd day of July, 1594, of Eliza, daughter of Christopher Wright, -of Newbie.[69] - -The baptism on the 12th day of July, 1596, of Francis, son of Christopher -Wright, of Newbie. - -And furthermore, on the 3rd day of February, 1601, the baptism of -Marmaduke, the son of Christopher Wright, of Skelton. - -Now, when we recollect that _a_ Marmaduke Warde was certainly -brother-in-law to _a_ Christopher Wright; and when we recollect that we -have proof that _a_ Thomas Warde and _a_ Marmaduke Warde were, -respectively, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the Parish of Ripon, and that -_a_ Christopher Wright was of Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton, all likewise -in the Parish of Ripon; and when we further recollect that these three -gentlemen were of these several places in the closing decades of the years -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, only one conclusion is forced upon the -mind of even the most sceptical, namely, that the said three gentlemen -must have known, and been known to, one another personally, without the -shadow of any reasonable doubt. - -And again; that between those years, 1589 and 1590 inclusive, the said -_Thomas Warde_ and the said _Christopher Wright_ had known each other -intimately, by meeting within the bounds of the Parish of Ripon,——nay even -within the chapelry of Skelton——is surely one of the likeliest things in -the world. - -Furthermore, it is possible that the Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith), was in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth in the -Netherlands, along with Queen Elizabeth’s well-known diplomatist and -Treasurer of the Chamber, Sir Thomas Heneage, the step-father of Lord -Southampton, Lord Mounteagle’s friend, as well as Shakespeare’s patron. - -For I find that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter dated from -“the Court,” the 24th of March, 1585——six years _after_ the marriage of -Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory Slater, and five years _before_ her -lamented death——that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter to the -Earl of Leicester, “Lord Lieutenant-General of Her Majesty’s Forces in the -Low Countries,” speaks of _a_ “Mr. Warde.”[A] - -[Footnote A: See the “_Leicester Correspondence_” (Camden Soc.), p. 187.] - -Now we know for certain from Winwood’s Memorials[B] that a Mr. Walter -Hawkesworth, of the Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth Hall, in the Parish of -Otley, in the County of York, was in the diplomatic service of King James -I., and that, according to Foster’s “_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_” he -was poisoned at Madrid when on an embassy there. - -[Footnote B: See also Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers. Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -Hence, is it quite within the bounds of possibility that his remote -kinsman, Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, may have been in the diplomatic service -of Queen Elizabeth. The Hawkesworths and the Wardes had, in days long gone -by, twice formed alliances by marriage, so that the families were -distantly akin. Indeed it was from Sir Simon Warde, of Esholt, in the -Parish of Otley, and of Givendale, in the Parish of Ripon, that the -Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth had by marriage alliance gained the -Hawkesworth Estate.——See Foster’s “_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_.” - -But is there any evidence that links Thomas Ward (or Warde), of Mulwaith -(or Mulwith), and the Ward (or Warde) family in general, of Givendale, -Newby and Mulwith, with the Lord Mounteagle?[C] - -[Footnote C: It will be seen as this narrative further unfolds itself that -it is almost certain that Thomas Warde (or Ward) was in the service of the -Government as a Catholic diplomat under Walsingham. And, moreover, it will -appear probable that the servant Warde (or Ward) “had as much, off” as the -master Walsingham.] - -And, first of all, is there any evidence to show that Marmaduke Ward ever -had a brother in London, who lived at Court? - -There is. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -For in Foley’s “_Records_”[70] we are told that Father George Ward, alias -Ingleby, was a son of Marmaduke Ward, Esquire, of Newby, near Ripon, by -his wife Ursula Wright.[A] And in a note at the foot of the self-same -page, it is stated that William Ward entered the English College at Rome -in the name William Ingleby vere Ward, 4th October, 1614, at the age of -twenty-three; that the family was of distinction in the county, _and his -uncle lived at Court_. (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: I am, however, inclined to think that Ursula Ward died early -in the year 1588, after the birth of her son, probably George, and that -the Elizabeth Ward, who is mentioned in Peacock’s “_List of Roman -Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_” as the wife of a Marmaduke Ward, of the -Parish of Ripon, was the mother of Elizabeth Ward, Teresa (or Ann) Ward, -William Ward, and Thomas Ward. Indeed, the mother of all Mary Warde’s -father’s children, except Mary herself, Barbara, John, and George. - -I think, moreover, that Elizabeth Ward was a Sympson, probably of Great -Edston, near Kirbymoorside, Rydale, in the North Riding of the County of -York. The Sympsons, of Edston, had a daughter Elizabeth at this time.——See -Foster’s Ed. of “_Glover’s Visitation_.” - -In the Ripon Minster Registers there is certainly the entry under date -15th May, 1588, of a wedding between a “Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth -Sympson.” Now Mary Warde, the eldest child of Ursula Warde, was born the -23rd day of January, 1585-86, and Barbara in the year 1586; so that if -Ursula Warde died in the year 1588 (at the early part) after giving birth -to George Warde, Marmaduke Warde might be conceivably married again in -May, 1588. Sir Thomas More’s case would afford a precedent for so early a -second marriage. The marriage of Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth Sympson may -have taken place at Ripon from the house of friends, in the presence of -some semi-popish conforming Vicar. Winefrid Wigmore styles George Ward -Mary’s “owne brother,” implying that there was at least one -half-brother.——See “_Life of Mary Ward_” vol. i., p. 427. John Ward, the -elder brother, died from wounds received in a duel. He must have taken -after his uncle John Wright, who was one of the most expert swordsmen of -his time, and never happy but when sending a challenge to some swordsman -or another who specially boasted himself of skill in the use of that -ancient weapon.] - -Moreover, there is evidence tending to prove, with absolute certitude, -that the “Ward” or “Warde” family, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith were -connected with the family of Mounteagle, both on his mother’s side through -the Mounteagles, and on his father’s side through the Barons Morley.[71] - -Also is there evidence tending to prove, with moral certitude, that either -through the Stanleys or the Morleys, or some other family or families, the -Wards (or Wardes) were connected by marriage and actually related to Lord -Mounteagle by blood. - -The proof is this:——In the “_Life of Mary Ward_,” [72] by Mary Catherine -Elizabeth Chambers, it is stated that Mary Ward was in some way related to -the before-mentioned lady of high family, Winefrid Wigmore, of Lucton, -Herefordshire, who was an accomplished woman, speaking five languages -fluently. - -Now it is known that Winefrid Wigmore’s father, Sir William Wigmore, had -married Anne Throckmorton, one of the daughters of Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton. Now Lady Wigmore, through the Throckmortons and the -Treshams, “was connected with the families of Lord Mounteagle, Morley, -Berkeley, and Vaux.”[73] - -Hence it follows that, through the Wigmores,[A] the Throckmortons, and the -Treshams, there was a connection of some kind or another between Mary -Ward’s family and the families of Mounteagle, Morley, Berkeley, and -Vaux.[74] - -[Footnote A: Since the text was written, I have found out that Winefrid -Wigmore, through her mother, was a cousin once removed to Elizabeth, Lady -Mounteagle (_née_ Tresham).——See Notes 30 and 76 _postea_.] - -Again, Mary Ward was related to Mary Poyntz (pronounced Poynes), a lady -whose ancient family had come over with William the Conqueror.[75] Mary -Poyntz, herself a lovely woman, was the daughter of Edward Poyntz, -Esquire, of Iron Acton and Tobington Park, in the County of -Gloucester.[76] - -Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who was living in 1580, the father of Edward Poyntz, -had married Margaret Stanley, the daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. This -lady was the mother of Edward Poyntz, the father of Mary Poyntz, the -relative of Mary Ward. - -Now I find (from Burke’s “_Extinct Peerages_”) that Henry Parker Lord -Morley, the grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, had -married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. - -Hence the Poyntz and the Mounteagles were cousins. Again, the Wards were -in some way or other related to the Poyntz family. Hence it follows that -through the Poyntz the Wards were related in some sort with Lord -Mounteagle, by means of the Stanleys, Mounteagle’s father’s ancestors and -mother’s ancestors.[77] - -For 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, Mounteagles, and Wards through the -great House of Neville. - -(We may be sure that a young nobleman like the fourth Lord Mounteagle -would be glad to recognise the Wards of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale as -“Cousins” if such were the fact, and to treat them in every respect as -being on an equality with him.) - -Therefore the combined Evidence so far gives us this conclusion:—— - -That a Christopher Wright was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, of -Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon. - -That Marmaduke Ward was of the same place——Mulwith (or Mulwaith)——as a -person named Thomas Warde, who was married in a church in York in the year -1579, and whose wife died in the year 1590, and whose burial is recorded -to this day at Ripon Minster. - -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,[78] in the Parish of Ripon, between the years 1594 -and 1596 inclusive, and in the neighbourhood of the City of Ripon, and -within the boundary of its parish, from the year 1589 to 1601. - -That Marmaduke Ward’s son, William, had an uncle who lived at Court.[A] - -That the Wardes were connected with, and related to Lord Mounteagle by -common family ties.[79] - -[Footnote A: The fact that a Christopher Wright who lived at Newbie in -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 Wright was the -brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward. - -At this time there was also a Francis Wright at Newbie, and a John Wright -at Grantley. They may have been the children of John and Christopher -Wright, _the uncles_ of John and Christopher Wright, the Gunpowder -plotters. And, of course, it is _possible_ that the Christopher Wright who -lived in Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton between the years 1589 and 1601 -_may have been a cousin or other kinsman_ of Christopher Wright the -plotter, or even of different families altogether. But in the Register of -Welwick Church are the following entries of Burials: “13 October 1654 -ffrauncis Wright Esquire and 2 May 1664 ffrauncis Wright Esquire” -(communicated by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, M.A., Vicar of Welwick), entries -which tend to prove that the Newby Wrights and the Plowland Wrights were -one and the same persons, and, therefore, of one and the same clan. - -There seem, from the “_Memorials of Ripon_,” vol. iii. (Surtees Soc.), to -have been “Wrights” in Ripon and the neighbourhood for many generations, -certainly long before the reign of Henry VIII., when the grandfather of -the plotters is said to have come from Kent into Yorkshire.——See Foster’s -“_Glover’s Visitation of Yorkshire_.” Possibly the Wrights of Kent -originally sprang from Yorkshire. - -“A Christopher Wright” lived at South Kilvington, near Thirsk, in the -nineteenth century.——See the tablet to his memory in the church of that -parish.] - -Hence, from the foregoing evidence, the conclusions are inevitable, first, -that Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, who married Marjory (or Margery) Slater[A] -in 1579, was almost certainly a connection and relative of Lord -Mounteagle, in whose household Warde held an honoured and honourable -position; or, as doubtless we should say nowadays, was the young peer’s -private secretary: and, secondly, that, through the said Thomas Warde, -Christopher Wright likewise was almost certainly by affinity connected -with, if not related by blood to, the same highly-favoured English -nobleman. - -[Footnote A: This marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory (or -Margery) Slater, “servant to Mr. Cotterill,” of the Parish of St. Wilfrid, -York, forcibly reminds one of the romance which Lord Tennyson has -immortalized in his charming little poem, “The Lord of Burleigh.” -Moreover, it is worthy of remark that there was a family connection -between the family of Cecil and a family of Ward, most probably the Wards -of Mulwith, or those akin to them.——See Hatfield’s “_Hist. MSS._” (Eyre & -Spottiswoode), pt. viii., p. 553, where it says, “Pedigree connection of -the Cecil and Ward families, partly in Lord Burleigh’s hand,” pt. i., -204-289.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -But again, seeing that we know that a certain Thomas Ward lived at Court, -by reason of his being a member of the household of Lord Mounteagle, who -had been admitted to Court ever since the accession to the throne of James -the First, by this point also I know not how to escape from these several -probable conclusions: that the Thomas Warde (or Ward), the -gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was the brother of Marmaduke Warde -(or Ward); that, by consequence, he was the connection of Christopher -Wright; and that by remoter consequence, Christopher Wright himself was a -connection of Lord Mounteagle likewise. - -Now, granting the family connection between Thomas Warde and Wright, there -is no antecedent improbability, but the contrary, in the supposal that -Christopher Wright, if and when stricken with remorse at the thought of -his sworn part and lot in the iniquitous Gunpowder Plot, had recourse to -this Thomas Warde, who was his connection, for trustworthy and effectual -help in saving from a sudden and cruel death, haply himself and his -confederates, but certainly his Sovereign and the Senators of his -Fatherland, along with Heaven alone knows whom else beside! - -Furthermore, if there were any antecedent improbability in such a supposal -as that Christopher Wright should have recourse to this particular -Yorkshireman, Thomas Warde, in the hour of his need, it should be had in -continual remembrance——as a self-evident proposition from the constitution -of human nature——that the person or persons to whom a Yorkshireman like -Christopher Wright (supposing him to have been the revealing plotter) -almost certainly would have recourse would be, if possible, some tried and -constant native of his own County, whose intellect, he would think, there -was some guarantee for being shrewd and practical, his heart not devoid of -fellow-feeling with a “brother in adversity,” and his will at once -indomitable and energetic.[80] One who indeed laughs at alleged -impossibilities and who cries: “_It shall be done!_” - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - -Lastly, there is proof, indirect indeed but very telling, that Thomas -Warde must have been closely akin to Marmaduke Warde, and that both must -have been related to Lord Mounteagle. - -This proof is contained in the following “Examination of Marmaduke Warde, -Gentleman, in the County of Yorke, taken at Beauchamp Court before Sir -Fulke Grevyll, Knight, and Bartholmewe Hales, Esq^{re.}, on Wednesday, the -6th day of November, the day following the arrest of Fawkes and the flight -of the others of the conspirators from London towards Dunchurch, in -Warwickshire:—— - - “GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——PART I., NO. 47.[81] - - “The examinacion of Marmaduke Warde, gent. of Newbie in the - countie of yorke taken before S^{r.} ffowlk Grevyll[A] Knight - and Bartholmewe Hales esq^{r.} - - “This ex^{t} beinge demaunded when he came into this Countreye - saith a fortnight since & hath since continued at Mr Jo: Writes - at Lapworth, where Mr Write discontynuinge the space of on weeke - past his sister in lawe Mrs Write intreated him (beeinge - accompanyed w^{th} on Marke Brittaine her man) to goe to Mr - Winter w^{th} a horse to Huddenton where as theye past by - Alcester about an hower after the troope past this ex^{t} was - apprehended but the saide Brittaine beeinge well horst escapt - hee further saith hee knewe not of the companies passinge y^{t} - way vntill they came to Alcester nor of theire purpose any - thinge at all.” - -[Footnote A: This was the celebrated Sir Fulk Greville, the friend and -biographer of Sir Philip Sidney. Greville was afterwards created Lord -Brooke. His tomb, with a famous inscription, is in the church of St. Mary, -Warwick.] - -Now, from the “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 91, it is evident, first, -that Marmaduke Warde got into no trouble of any kind, notwithstanding that -for a fortnight he had been actually dwelling under the roof-tree of one -of the principal conspirators, and when apprehended was even in the act of -taking a horse from Lapworth to Huddington, the mansion of Robert Winter, -one Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel, who was also the brother of another -Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel——the latter, indeed, being among the -very chiefest of the traitors and rebels. - -It is evident, secondly, that on reaching London town the Master of -Newbie, in the County of York, lodged in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, -apparently as a matter of course. - -Moreover, the marvel of the whole thing is enhanced by the fact, first, -that Marmaduke Ward’s name is bracketed along with Richard Yorke (a -follower of Robert Winter) and Robert Key (doubtless Robert Keyes), the -Gunpowder traitor, who was arrested in Warwickshire by himself and not in -the company of the others (it is supposed he had been to Turvey, in -Bedfordshire, to see his wife and children at Lord Mordaunt’s, and was -making his way towards Holbeach); and by the fact, secondly, that the -said Marmaduke Ward, Richard Yorke, and Robert Key are specially described -as “suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Grant, and Mr. -Rookwood’s.”[A] - -[Footnote A: See add. MS. 5874, fo. 322, British Museum. See also Appendix -for the list of suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter’s, Mr. -Grant’s, and Mr. Rookwood’s. - -Mr. Winter’s house would be Huddington, in Worcestershire; Mr. Grant’s, -Norbrook, in Warwickshire; Mr. Rookwood’s would be Clopton Hall (or -House), Stratford-on-Avon. Mabie’s “_Life of Shakespeare_” (Macmillan, -1901), p. 393, contains a picture of the dining-hall at Clopton.] - -Now the inferences that I draw from these two truly astounding -circumstances are these following:——That Marmaduke Warde must have had -literally “a friend at Court,” or his lodging when he reached the great -Metropolis, as a matter of course, would have been not——emphatically -_not_——Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, but, of a surety, the Tower of London. - -That this “friend” must have been very closely allied to him in some way -or another. - -And that this “friend” must have been a very powerful friend indeed, -especially when one remembers the punishment that was inflicted after the -Plot had become a mere bubble-burst by the Court of Star Chamber upon -Marmaduke Warde’s own connection (through the Gascoignes), Henry Earl of -Northumberland,[82] and upon the Lords Montague, Mordaunt, and Stourton, -the latter of whom had married a daughter of good Sir Thomas Tresham; and -the prosecution of Marmaduke Warde’s other connection, Sir John Yorke, of -Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidderdale, as late as the year 1612, on a charge of -complicity in the Plot.[83] - -Now, from all these three inferences, surely the further inference is -inevitable, that the probabilities are so high as to amount to moral -certitude, that Thomas Warde and Marmaduke Warde were each allied, in -blood, to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -And “probability” that amounts to moral certitude is, as every-day -experience, as well as philosophy, tells us, “the very guide of life.” - -Therefore the historical Inquirer henceforward is warranted in reason in -pursuing his inquiries into this matter on the following assumption, at -the very least, namely, that Christopher Wright, Marmaduke Warde, Thomas -Warde, and Lord Mounteagle had common family ties subsisting between them -in the year 1605. - -And, consequently, upon such an assumption the Inquirer may justifiably -build his hypothesis respecting the revelation of the Gunpowder Treason -Plot.[84] - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - -But, it may be asked, is there any Evidence, however remote, to show how -it is possible that Mounteagle may have been brought into personal contact -with his morally certain kinsman, Thomas Warde (or Ward)? - -There is. - -For it is to be remembered that although Mounteagle seems to have spent -most of his time in London and Essex, his grandmother, Elizabeth Lady -Morley, the wife of Henry Parker Lord Morley, was, as we have seen, of the -then well-nigh princely house of the Stanleys Earls of Derby, she being, -in fact, a daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby, as was Margaret Lady -Poyntz, the wife of Sir Nicholas Poyntz,[A] of Iron Acton, in the County -of Gloucester, the father of Edward Poyntz, Esquire, the relative of the -Wardes of Yorkshire. - -[Footnote A: It is a remarkable fact that Sir Thomas Heneage (whose name -frequently occurs in the correspondence of Sir Francis Walsingham with the -Earl of Leicester when in the 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 -“_Visitation of Essex, 1612_” (Harleian Soc.) under “Poyntz.”——Sir Thomas -Heneage is described as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and -Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Thomas Heneage married for his -second wife the Dowager Countess of Southampton, the mother of -Shakespeare’s friend and patron. Now this Earl of Southampton, like the -Earl of Rutland, was an intimate friend of Lord Mounteagle.] - -Besides, as we have also seen, this was not William Parker fourth Lord -Mounteagle’s only relationship with England’s “North Countrie,”——that -birthplace and home of so much that is most original and energetic in the -English race. For this happily-circumstanced young peer was related doubly -to the great Lancashire house of Derby, being, indeed, the heir and -successor to the honours and estates of the Stanleys Lords Mounteagle, of -Hornby 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 Ripon, in the County of -York, must have known personally, and certainly all of whom they must have -greatly honoured. - -I refer to the Prestons, of Levens and Preston Patrick, in the County of -Westmoreland, and of Furness and Holker, in Lancashire, “North of the -Sands,” and to the Leybournes (or Labourns), of Cunswick, Skelsmergh, and -Witherslack,[A] in the County of Westmoreland, and of Nateby-in-the-Fylde, -in the west of the County of Lancaster.[85] - -[Footnote A: The modern Witherslack Hall, in Westmoreland, is the property -of the present Earl of Derby. It is situated in 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.”——_Winter’s Tale._ - -Witherslack is reached from Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange-over-Sands. - -The old Witherslack Hall of the Leybournes is now a farm-house.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - -Lastly, it should be remembered, in endeavouring to trace out by -inevitable inference the nature of the tie or ties, manifestly very -strong, that bound Mounteagle to Marmaduke Ward (and therefore to Thomas -Ward), that the ancestors of both Mounteagle and the Wards had, in the -year 1513, fought together at the great battle of Flodden Field, in -Northumberland, in which the Scots were led by 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 Edward Stanley (whose mother was a Neville),[A] turned -the fortunes of the day in favour of the English by attacking with his -archers the rear of the Scottish centre——which centre, led by King James -himself in person, was assaulting, with some success, the English forces, -whose vanguard was led by Lord Thomas Howard, in 1514 created the Earl of -Surrey. - -[Footnote A: The first Lord Mounteagle’s mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, -the sister of Richard Neville, so well known to history as “the King -Maker.” The Wards were related to the Nevilles in more than one way.——See -“_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., the earlier chapters. - -In Staindrop Parish Church, three miles from Winston, Darlington, are -still to be seen the monuments of the great Ralph Neville and his two -wives. This was the first Neville who bore the title Earl of Westmoreland. -There are also the monuments of Henry Neville fifth Earl of Westmoreland, -and two out of his three wives. His son Charles was the last Neville who -bore this title.——See Wordsworth’s “_White Doe of Rylstone_.” I visited -Raby Castle, Durham, with its famous Hall and Minstrels’ Gallery, on the -1st of July, 1901. Raby Castle is owned now by Henry De Vere Vane ninth -Lord Barnard, who also owns Barnard Castle, overlooking the Tees, -celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in “Rokeby.”] - -This Earl of Surrey was afterwards the second Duke of Norfolk, of the -Howard line of the Dukes of Norfolk, and great 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[A] -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 own right Baroness Mowbray and Segrave, -and also in her own right Countess of Norfolk. This lady was contracted in -marriage to Richard, afterwards created Duke of Norfolk, a son of King -Edward IV., but they had no issue. - -[Footnote A: The first Earl of Norfolk was Thomas of Brotherton, a brother -of King Edward II. The date of this ancient Earldom was 1312. It fell into -abeyance on the death of Richard 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, 1901) the -House of Lords has under consideration a claim by Lord Mowbray Segrave and -Stourton that he be declared senior co-heir to the Earldom of Norfolk -created in 1312. (A case of great historic interest.)] - -The second of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, the hero of Flodden Field, was -the father of Thomas third Duke of Norfolk, commonly called the “old Duke -of Norfolk.” - -He was that Duke of Norfolk, under Henry VIII., who opposed the insurgent -Yorkshire and Lancashire “Pilgrims of Grace” (1536) led by the gallant -Robert Aske,[A] of Aughton, on the banks of the Yorkshire Derwent, when in -the event Aske was hanged from one of the towers of the ancient City of -York——probably Clifford’s Tower——and many of his followers tasted of Tudor -vengeance. - -[Footnote A: Representatives of the family of Robert Aske are still to be -found at Bubwith, near Aughton, and, I believe, at Hull. Aughton is -reached from the station called High Field on the Selby and Market -Weighton line. Aughton Parish Church is a fine mediæval structure. Hard-by -is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle of the Askes, showing also -evident traces of two large moats which had surrounded the fortified -buildings on the hill which constituted the Aughton Hall of days gone by.] - -“The old Duke of Norfolk” was the father of that illustrious scion of the -house of Howard who, under the name Earl of Surrey, has left a deathless -memory alike as warrior, statesman, and poet. - -The Earl of Surrey’s son was Thomas Howard fourth Duke of Norfolk, who is -the common ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk and the present Earl of -Carlisle. - -The fourth Duke of Norfolk’s head fell on the scaffold, by reason of the -Duke’s aspiring to the Royal hand of Mary Queen of Scots.[B] - -[Footnote B: Slingsby Castle, 28 miles north-east of York (now -dismantled), is associated with the Mowbrays Dukes of Norfolk, they giving -the Vale near the Howardian Hills and Rydale the title, Vale of Mowbray. -While Sheriff Hutton Castle, 10 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 then Lord Dacres of the North, “who dwelt on the Border” at Naworth -Castle,[A] near Carlisle, was likewise a sharer in the renowned laurels of -Flodden Field. - -[Footnote A: The Howards Dukes of Norfolk give their name to the Howardian -Hills, through Lord William Howard, who married the Honourable Anne -Dacres, of Naworth 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 ninth Earl of Carlisle, -whose gifted wife, Rosalind Countess of Carlisle (_née_ Stanley of -Alderley), is akin to the famous William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, of -the days of James I.] - -This before-mentioned Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley -first Earl of Derby, was 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[86] 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 consequence -of his ancestor’s prowess in that historic fight, his mother’s family -received from Henry VIII. 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 Lancashire_,” vol. iv., ed. 1836, that -Hornby Castle, in the Vale 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 II. (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. Baines also says that Sir Edward -Stanley first Lord Mounteagle (who married Anne Harrington, daughter of -Sir John Harrington) successfully petitioned Henry VII. for the Hornby -Estates, in consequence of the attainder of James Harrington, apparently -his wife’s uncle. - - - - - CHAPTER 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,[A] the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was the -first wife of Thomas second Lord Mounteagle, whose second wife was Ellen -Leybourne (_née_ Preston), the mother of Anne, the wife of William third -Lord Mounteagle, who died in 1584. - -[Footnote A: Lady Mary Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon 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 “_History of Sacrilege_” -(Masters, ed. 1853), p. 228.] - -Ellen Preston’s father was Sir Thomas Preston; her mother was a -Thornborough, of Hampsfield Hall, Hampsfell, in the Parish of Cartmel, -North Lancashire. The Thornboroughs (or Thornburghs) had held some of the -following manors from the time of Edward III.:——Hampsfield Hall, Whitwell, -Winfell, Fellside, Skelsmergh, Patton, Dallam Tower, Methop, Ulva, and -Wilson 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 -V.), the arms of Harrington, Leybourne, Fleming de Rydal, Strickland, -Middleton, and Redmayne, most of which houses of gentry of “the North -Countrie” were more or less allied to the fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -Sir Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle was in possession of Hornby -Castle and its broad acres at the date of Flodden Field, 1513.[A] This is -interestingly evidenced by the two following stanzas from the old “Ballad -of Flodden Field”:—— - -[Footnote A: In the battle of Flodden Field, which caused such -lamentation, mourning, and woe in Edinburgh, several citizens of York -behaved themselves valiantly under Sir John Mounville. Among English lords -in this fight were the Lords Howard (Edmund 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 “_Ripon_,” -p. 143. - -It is said that the gallant Northumbrian Heron knew all the “sleights of -war.”] - - “Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred, - With weapons of unwieldly weight; - All such as Tatham Fells had bred, - Went under Stanley’s streamers bright. - - From Silverdale to Kent Sand Side,[87] - Whose soil is sown with cockle shells; - From Cartmel 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 Hiding of Yorkshire about Guiseley, Esholt, and -Ripon. - -For, as the grand old “Ballad of Flodden Field” again tells us, the -English arms were reinforced - - “With many a gentleman and squire, - From Rippon, Ripley, and Rydale, - With them marched forth all Massamshire, - With Nosterfield and Netherdale.” - -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 Mounteagle 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, -who——as we have proved by evidence and inevitable inferences therefrom——it -is all but absolutely certain must have been Thomas Warde,[A] of Mulwith, -the brother of Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale.[88] - -[Footnote A: Sir Edward Hoby is the only contemporary, so far as I 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.] - -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 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 Stuart 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 arrangement 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] a -town which Ward possibly took on his leaving Lapworth, in Warwickshire, -whither, I surmise, he repaired some time between the 11th of October and -the 26th of that month. - -[Footnote A: It is possible that Mounteagle and Catesby may have been -together at Bath between the 12th of October, 1695, and the 26th October. - -See a curious letter dated 12th October, but without date of the year, -from Mounteagle to Catesby (“_Archæologia_,” vol. xxviii., p. 420), -discovered by the late Mr. Bruce. - -There is a copy of this “_Archæologia_” in the British Museum, which I saw -in October, 1900.] - -(2) That Thomas Ward’s was the guiding mind, the dominant force, or, to -vary the metaphor, the central pivot upon which the successful -accomplishment of the entire revelation turned, inasmuch as, I submit, -that Ward must have received from the conscience-stricken conspirator a -complete disclosure of the whole guilty secret, with 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 _profitable_ 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 history, called upon this young nobleman to play. - -If Ward (or Warde) were born about the beginning 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 Warde, by his superior age and experience of men and -things, well fitted to play “the guide, philosopher, and friend” to -Mounteagle in the matter.[A] - -[Footnote A: If Thomas Warde were sent to the Low Countries, as I think it -almost certain he was sent, although I cannot prove it, belike he may have -been one of those Elizabethan gentlemen Shakespeare had in mind when he -wrote in the “Two Gentlemen of Verona”: - - “Yet hath Sir Proteus ... - Made use and fair advantage of his days: - His years but young, but his experience old: - His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe; - And, in a word (for far behind his worth - Come all the praises that I now bestow) - He is complete in feature and in mind, - With all good grace, to grace a gentleman.” - -It sheds some very faint corroborative light on the supposal that Thomas -Ward was the “Mr. Warde” mentioned by Sir Francis Walsingham 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 Mary Ward_” (Burns & Oates, 2 vols.) - -Also a “Mr. Wade” mentioned, by Walsingham to Leicester in a letter dated -3rd April, 1587, may have been really “Warde.”——See Wright’s “_Elizabethan -Letters_,” vol. ii., p. 335. - -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 Robert Hungate and wife _v._ John Hoare and John -Shawe, in the year 1583.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - -Now what is the Evidence to support the preceding paragraphs (1), (2), and -(3)? - -As to paragraph (1), the Evidence is direct. - -There was a tradition extant that _Mounteagle expected the Letter, told to -a gentleman named Edmund Church his confidant_.——See Gardiner’s -“_Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 10. - -Moreover, the fact that the footman was in the street at about seven of -the clock when the missive was given to him _is strongly suggestive of the -fact that he had been anxiously sent thither by some one, so that he might -be ready at hand to receive the document immediately on its arrival_. - -As to paragraphs (2) and (3), the 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 back from his -errand of mercy on that dark night of Saturday, the 26th day of October, -1605, 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 -Salisbury, the King’s principal Secretary of State.[A] - -[Footnote A: The days of the week and the dates of the month run parallel -for the years 1605 and 1901. Thus both the 26ths of October are on a -Saturday. _What was the condition of the moon on that memorable Saturday -night?_] - -That Lord Mounteagle had imparted to Thomas Ward almost all, if not quite -all, that had passed between Lord Salisbury and himself on the delivery to -the latter of the peerless document to my mind is clear from the fact -_that the faithful Ward, the very next day (Sunday) repaired to Thomas -Winter_, one of the principal conspirators, _and told Winter that the -Letter was in the hands of Salisbury_!——“_Winter’s Confession._” - -Assuming that Thomas Ward was a Ward of Mulwith, he would be a family -connection of Thomas Winter as well as of Christopher Wright through -Ursula Ward and Inglebies, of Ripley, in Nidderdale. - -Now, what is proved by this very significant fact of _Thomas Ward’s_ so -unerringly darting off to _Thomas Winter_, one of the prime movers in this -conspiracy of wholesale slaughter, when he (Ward) had all the adult male -inhabitants of London and Westminster to make his selection from? - -Plainly this: that the revealing conspirator (whoever he was) _must have -“primed” Thomas Ward by previously telling Thomas Ward that Thomas Winter -was one of the chiefest of those involved in the conspiracy_. - -Again; as Winter had been formerly in Mounteagle’s service (a circumstance -doubtless well known to the revealing conspirator), _that revealing -conspirator_ would naturally, nay inevitably, _bid Ward_ put himself _not -only into speedy communication with Mounteagle_, in order to reach -Salisbury, the principal servant of the King, _but, this done, also into -speedy 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 their -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - -Now, I maintain that there is Evidence, from a very unexpected quarter, -that Thomas Ward had received from the revealing plotter a complete -disclosure of every one of the material facts and particulars of the Plot, -including the existence of the mine, the hiring of the cellar, the storing -therein of the gunpowder, and even the names of the conspirators. And -that, moreover, Thomas Ward had received the fullest power “to discover” -to his master, Lord Mounteagle, all that had been told to him (Ward) by -the revealing plotter, _if_, in the exercise of his (Ward’s) uncontrolled -diplomatic discretion, he deemed it necessary in order to effect, -_primarily_, the temporal salvation of the King and his Parliament, and, -this done, in order to effect, _secondarily_, the escape of the -conspirators themselves. - -The Evidence to which I refer is deducible from the testimony of none -other than Francis Tresham, Evidence which he gave to Thomas Winter in -Lincoln’s Inn Walks on Saturday night, the 2nd day of November, just one -week after the delivery of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, and just one day -after the Letter had been shown by Salisbury to the King.[89] - -Thomas Winter, in his “_Confession_,” writes thus: “On Saturday night I -met Mr. Tresham again in Lincoln’s Inn Walks, where he told such speeches -that my Lord of Salisbury should use to the King, as I gave it lost the -second time, and repeated the same to Mr. Catesby, who hereupon was -resolved to be gone, but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up whose consent -herein we wanted. On Sunday night came Mr. Percy and no ‘nay,’ but would -abide the uttermost trial.”[90] - -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 break down and sweep away the barriers -formed by the strong affection which he naturally must have harboured for -the pet scheme and the darling project that had cost himself and his -companions the expenditure of so much “slippery time,”[91] so much sweat -of the brow, and so much treasure of the pocket? Yea, indeed, to what -purport can these “speeches” have been? - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - -In the King’s Book, after describing Salisbury’s first visit to James in -“the privie gallerie” of Whitehall Palace, it is stated that it was -arranged that there should be another meeting on the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November. - -The precise words of the Royal Work are these: “It was agreed that he -[_i.e._, Salisbury] 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 Chamberlaine should, according -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 -Chamberlaine being present thereat; and I suggest that, most probably, -Mounteagle himself was, if not then actually within ear-shot, yet not afar -off. - -Now it is evident from Lingard’s “_History_” that Tresham had told Winter -that the Government had already intelligence of the existence of “the -mine.”[92] - -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 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,[A] and that the same -information probably that very day (Saturday) would be imparted to the -King’s Government likewise.[93] - -[Footnote A: 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, with no -link missing.] - -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 unhappy 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.[94] - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -Again, on Monday, the 4th instant, Mounteagle offered to accompany his -distant connection, the Earl of Suffolk, to make the search in the cellar. - -Whyneard, keeper of the King’s wardrobe, 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——probably in an unguarded -moment——words to the effect that perhaps Thomas Percy had sent the Letter. - -Now, guarded or unguarded, to my mind, the fact that Mounteagle, in any -shape or form, mentioned Percy’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.[95] - -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. - -To this end the young peer watched and measured the relative value and -effect of every move on the part of the Government like 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 _primary and supreme duty_, -namely, the saving of the King and Parliament from being rent and torn to -pieces in a most hellish fashion, truly “barbarous and savage beyond the -examples of former ages,” Mounteagle actually himself told Salisbury to -inform Sir Thomas Knevet and his band of armed men to keep a sharp lookout -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 custody_ 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 “_Gunpowder Plot_,” pp. -132-136. - -The dark lantern, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was left burning -in the cellar by Fawkes. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - -Let me now make two quotations. - -One is from the King’s Book, giving an account of the procedure followed -by the Earl of Suffolk the Lord Chamberlain, and the Lord Mounteagle, the -champion, protector, and hero of the England of his day, in whose honour -the “rare” Ben Jonson[96] 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, Mounteagle, and Father 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, 1605, in general treasonable 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, but withal shrewd and generous, young nobleman was -perfectly innocent. - -These two quotations show, first, how zealously and faithfully Mounteagle -of the Janus-face, looking both before and after——as henceforward we must -regard him——kept his hand on the pulse of the Government at the most -critical hour of his country’s annals, with a view to doing what both he -and his mentor deemed to be 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 be known as Lord -Mounteagle’s Letter, to the Earl of Salisbury 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,[97] -the Lord Chamberlain] went to the Parliament House accompanied with my -Lord Mounteagle, 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 roumes 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 what 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 was Guido Fawkes the owner of -that hand which should have acted that monstrous tragedie.”[98] - -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 Mounteagle had told -him, that he no sooner heard Thomas Percy[A] named to be possessour of -that house, but considering both his backwardnes in Religion 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, where -Thomas Percy had so seldome occasion to remaine; as likewise it gaue him -in his minde that his man looked like a very tall and desperate -fellow.”[99] - -[Footnote A: I think that Lord Mounteagle or Thomas Ward (or both) must -have given some member of the Privy Council a hint that a Christopher -Wright was a probable conspirator, for it is noticeable that on the 5th of -November several persons testified as to Christopher Wright’s recent -whereabouts. Ward 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_, the Government may have -procured Christopher Wright’s name from some paper or papers found in -Thomas Percy’s London house, on the 5th 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 the -case may be brought before an ordinary magistrate.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - -Shortly after Midsummer (_i.e._, July), 1605, Father Garnet was at the -Jesuit house at Fremland, in Essex. Catesby came there with Lord -Mounteagle and Tresham. - -At this meeting, in answer 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.” - -“No,” said Garnet, “assure yourself they will do nothing.” - -“What!” said my Lord Mounteagle, “will not the Spaniard help us? It is a -shame!”[A] - -[Footnote A: If Mounteagle was in the company of Catesby at Fremland in -the summer of 1605, these two may have been together at Bath 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.] - -Then said Father Garnet, “You see we must all have patience.”[100] - -It is also to be remembered that when Sir Edmund Baynham, a -Gloucestershire Catholic gentleman of good family——but of whom Winter -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, 1605, Mounteagle appears to have written certain letters of -introduction or of general recommendation, 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.”[101] - -I think that it is morally certain he was not. - -Sir Edmund Baynham[A] was intended by the prime conspirators to be at Rome -to justify (_if he 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.” - -[Footnote A: Father Garnet was also employing Sir Edmund Baynham as _his_ -diplomatic intermediary with the Pope in order “to gain time,” so that -meanwhile the plotters might find space for repentance! Garnet was -apparently one of those men who though possessed of a profound knowledge -of Man know little or nothing of men. Whereas Oldcorne seems to have had -practical reason as well as theoretical wisdom. Oldcorne, I take it, had a -good, strong, clear, practical head on his shoulders, which included in -its armoury _will_, in the sense of _power_, as well as intellect and -heart, and “_where there’s a will there’s a way_.”] - -Guy Fawkes probably was authorised to impart and possibly actually did, -under the oath, impart some knowledge of the Plot to Captain Hugh Owen, a -Welsh Roman Catholic soldier of fortune serving in Flanders under the -Archdukes.[102] 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. - -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - - -Now, when deep within the depths of the moral being of Christopher Wright -there first arose that tender day-spring, a realization of guilt and -shame: that crimsoned dawn, a sense of grief and sorrow for those two high -crimes whereby his wretched conscious-self had been 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 sublimely 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 to him Destiny has allotted for his guerdon, -in that 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.[103] - -I furthermore opine that, although it was the personal dawning -consciousness of Christopher Wright himself that _primarily_ prompted the -happy step of recourse to Father Edward Oldcorne,[104] yet Christopher -Wright, in my judgment, already had confided the 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 Ward, who, belike, heightened and -strengthened his connection’s laudable resolve.[105] - -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, promiscuously “to work good unto all -men,” voluntarily offered to pen the immortal Letter; _provided he were -released from the obligations of that solemn secrecy imposed by “the seal -of the Confessional”: released by the Penitent himself, in whom alone -resided the prerogative of granting or withholding such a release_. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - - -Again; I think that probably Thomas Ward had either at Hindlip, 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 Mounteagle, 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.[106] - -It appears to me that the moral certitude is so strong that Thomas Ward -was brother to Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, that it -seems practically almost the mere extravagance of caution to express a -doubt of it.[A] - -[Footnote A: It will be remembered that we have evidence that William -Ward, a son of Marmaduke Ward, _had an uncle who lived at Court_. - -This evidence is of the greatest value and importance in identifying -Thomas Ward, the secretary and friend of Lord Mounteagle, and should be -continually borne in mind by all my readers. - -It should be also remembered that Edmund Neville, the claimant of the -Earldom of Westmoreland, was the man who accused Dr. William Parry of a -plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Now this Neville became a suitor for -the hand of Mary Ward, though about double her age. Neville would be -related to the Wards, and perhaps knew Thomas Ward when in 1584 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 Ward there -might be a clue to the Parry mystery.] - -Now, the suggestion that Thomas Ward was probably in the Midland counties -of Warwickshire and Worcestershire sometime about the 11th of October, -1605,[107] 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 afterwards, and that he was bracketed with -those who were said to have been at the houses of John Wright, Ambrose -Rookwood, and John Grant at that time.[A] - -[Footnote A: See the List of the names of conspirators, insurgents, and -others arrested in the Midlands given in the Appendix.] - -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, what 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 Ward, 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 might use his counsels and entreaties to -induce his late wife’s combative brother, John Wright,[108] the -close-natured Christopher Wright, the gallant Ambrose Rookwood, and the -strong-willed John Grant, to abandon all designment of insurrectionary -stirs. - -For Thomas Ward, from the experience of a man at Court aged forty-six, who -knew from the daily observation of his own senses, how firmly James’s -Executive was certainly established, must 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is to be borne in mind that hereafter proof may be -forthcoming that Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward, the sister of -Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. I _think_ that they had another sister named -Ann Ward, who married a Marmaduke Swales.——(See Ripon Registers). There -was an old county family called Swales at Staveley Hall, near Farnham and -Scotton. They were Roman Catholics. They are the same, I opine, as the -Swales (or Swale) family, of South Stainley, between Ripley and Ripon, -whose descendants are of the ancient faith in Yorkshire to this day. - -The late Sir James Swale, Bart., of Rudfarlington, 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 Harrogate——himself of an old West Riding family -that “had never lost the Faith.”] - -And this the rather, when it is remembered that, the names of John and -Christopher Wright were already unfavourably 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 in some wild, fierce dash for liberty.[109] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -We have now considered the Evidence leading up to the commission of the -respective acts that this Inquiry, at an earlier part, has attributed -severally 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, _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by Christopher Wright and the penning of the same by Father -Oldcorne, these two Yorkshiremen were conscious of having performed the -several parts attributed unto them, let us deal with certain _objections_ -that may be put forward as preliminary objections fatal to the contentions -of this Inquiry. - -Now, there is an objection which, with a _primâ facie_ plausibleness, may -be advanced against the hypothesis that Christopher Wright was the -dictating, repentant, revealing conspirator, through whom primarily the -Plot was frustrated and overthrown. - -And there is also a second objection that may be urged against the -hypothesis, with even still greater _primâ facie_ plausibleness, that -Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, was the meritorious Penman of -the dictated Letter. - -Each objection must be 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 certain William Handy, servant to Sir Everard Digby, on the 27th -day of November, 1605, before (among others) Sir Julius Cæsar, Kt., Sir -Francis Bacon, Kt.,[110] and Sir George More, Kt., High Sheriff of Surrey -and Sussex, deposed (among other things) the following:—— - -That early on Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, as the fugitives -were proceeding from Norbrook to Alcester, he (Handy) heard the younger -Wright 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, -which were commonly Mr. John Grant, the younger Grant, and Ambrose -Rookwood.”[111] - -Now, Christopher Wright _may_ 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 hypothesi_) he had become as -one morally resurrected from the dead. - -For it is to be remembered that Christopher Wright was the brother of John -Wright, and the brother-in-law of Thomas Percy, Thomas Percy having -married Martha Wright, of Plowland Hall. Now, concerning John Wright and -his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, the following traits of character are -chronicled by their contemporary, Father John Gerard.[112] - -“It was noted in him [_i.e._, Thomas Percy] and in Mr. John Wright (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, was rapidly drawing to its -shattered close. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -What objection, then, can be brought against the hypothesis that Father -Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, and native of the City of York, was -the Penman of this most momentous perhaps 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 1680,[113] purporting to be a History of the Powder Treason, with -a parallel between the Gunpowder Treason and the Titus Oates’ 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, _she writ the aforesaid letter to him_, to give him so much -notice of the danger as might warn him to provide for his own safety, 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. _This account Mr. -Habington himself gave to a worthy person still in being._” (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, of course, if Mrs. Habington (or Abington), of Hindlip Hall, near -Worcester, where Father Oldcorne was domesticated for sixteen years, -actually wrote the Letter, then Father Oldcorne did not. There can be no -two opinions about _that_, even with the most sceptical. - -But did she? - -I submit that this testimony of Dr. Williams, second,[114] third, or -fourth hand possibly, is hopelessly inadequate for the establishing of any -such conclusion. - -First, let it be noted that, although “the worthy 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 -year 1680 (or thereabouts), _his thrice-important name is not divulged by -the learned author, neither is the faintest hint given as to where 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. - - -Now, if Dr. Williams 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, the case would have been _a good -way_ 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. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he knew his wife had writ -the Letter because he saw with his own eyes the lady do it_, then the case -would have been _also a good way_ towards being established. - -Or, if _Mr. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he believed his wife had -writ the Letter because she had told him (Abington) she 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 only shred or patch of evidence we have to support the -stupendous article of belief that Mrs. Abington accomplished the immortal -feat is an uncircumstantial, uncorroborated allegation by Dr. Williams -that _some person or another unknown_ (on the most favourable view) _told -him_ (Williams) that Mrs. Abington had writ the Letter _merely because her -husband said so_, then the case for Mrs. Abington’s authorship of the -document is _in no way_ towards being established. - -And, therefore, the story falls to the ground. - -And, therefore, it should be, in reason, henceforward consigned to the -limbo of exploded myths and idle tales. - -It is true that Dr. Nash in his work on Worcestershire,[115] 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 “_History_.” 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 “_Narrative_,” published in the year 1857, and to -which reference has been already frequently made in the course of this -Inquiry, says,[116] “No contemporary writer alludes to Mrs. Abington as -the author of the Letter.” - -And 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 £700 a year for life, equal to nearly £7,000 a year in our money. - -For if £700 a year was the guerdon of _him_ that _merely delivered_ this -Letter of Letters, what should have been the guerdon of _her_ that -actually _penned_ the peerless treasure? - -But the hypothesis that Mrs. Abington penned the Letter of Letters has -absolutely no foundation in contemporary evidence. For there is not the -faintest echo of an echo of testimony, nor the merest shadow of a shade of -proof that _either_ she _or_ Mr. Abington had the remotest previous -knowledge of the 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. - -Mr. 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 -“_Narrative_,” p. 212.[A] - -[Footnote A: The splendid Elizabethan mansion known as Hindlip Hall, four -miles from Worcester, with a large and magnificent prospect of the -surrounding country, was demolished early in the nineteenth century. A -picture of this mansion is in the Rev. Ethelred Taunton’s book, “_The -Jesuits in England_” (Methuen & Co.). The present Hindlip Hall is the seat -of the Lord Hindlip.] - -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. - -Jardine mentions the singular hypothesis that this famous Letter was -penned by the Honourable Anne Vaux, at the dictation of the Honourable -Mrs. Abington. - -Now, the Honourable Anne Vaux was one of the daughters of the Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, in Northamptonshire, at whose house Father Henry Garnet (the -chief of the Jesuits in England) lived for many years, from 1586, when -Garnet returned to England from Rome. Anne Vaux and her sister, the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, were high-minded women who lived at White -Webbs, Stoke Pogis,[A] Wandsworth, and other places of Jesuit resort, -rendering, along with Edward Brookesby,[B] Esquire (the husband of Eleanor -Brookesby), the members of the Jesuit Society in England signally devoted -service. - -[Footnote A: 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 a Country -Churchyard,” sojourned at the place.] - -[Footnote B: Edward Brookesby was of Arundel House, Shouldby, -Leicestershire. Frances Brookesby (his sister, probably, and one of Queen -Anne’s Maids of Honour), became a devoted friend of Mary Ward.——See “_Life -of Mary Ward_,” vol. ii., p. 23.] - -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.”[117] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -Now, regard being had to the fact that “there is seldom smoke except there -be, at least, some little fire, the question arises: Is it possible to -account, on rational grounds, for any such statement of the worthy person -still in being in 1680 as Dr. Williams credits him with? - -(Nash’s evidence, in the absence of proof of a _continuous_ tradition, is -not one whit more worthy of credence than Dr. Williams’ impalpability.) - -It is possible. - -For, it is well within the bounds of rational probability that what Mr. -Abington said to some person or persons unknown (assuming that he ever -said anything whatever) was _not_ that his wife _“had writ the Letter,” -but that_ his wife “_knew, or thought she knew, who had writ the Letter_.” - -The way in which to test the matter is this: Supposing, for the sake of -argument, that my hypothesis be true, and that Father Oldcorne _did_ -actually pen that Letter which was the instrument, not only of the -temporal salvation of Mrs. Abington’s brother, the Lord Mounteagle, but -also of her father, the Lord Morley, together with many others of her -kinsfolk, friends, and acquaintance, as well as of her lawful Sovereign -and His Royal Consort, _is it, or is it not, probable that Mrs. Abington -would guess, in some way or another, the mighty secret_? - -It is probable. - -For let it be remembered who and what Mrs. Abington was. - -The Honourable Mary Parker, the daughter of Edward Parker Lord Morley and -the Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, was the mother of William Abington, the -well-known poet[118] of that name, who was born, in fact, on or about the -5th of November, 1605. - -Therefore Mrs. Abington was the mother of a son who was a man of -distinguished intellectual parts. - -Moreover, seeing that usually it is from the mother that a son’s -capabilities are derived rather than from the father, it is more, rather -than less, likely that Mrs. Abington herself was a naturally clear-minded, -acute, discerning woman, gifted with that marvellous faculty which -constitutes cleverness in a woman——sympathetic, imaginative insight. - -Now if this were so, Mrs. Abington’s native perspicacity would be surely -potent enough to enable her to form a judgment, at once penetrating and -accurate, in reference to such a thing as the penmanship of the great -Letter——a document which had come home, as events had proved, with such -peculiar closeness to her own “business and bosom.”[119] - -In these circumstances, may the Lady of Hindlip not, in after days, when -the tragic scenes of those fateful years 1605 and 1606 had become a sad, -pathetic memory merely, have recalled to mind certain special aspects in -the play of the countenance, in the tone of the voice, aye, in the general -mien of Father Edward Oldcorne that she had noted shortly from and after -the Michaelmas of that unhappy year 1605, forming evidence whence she -might draw her own shrewd, wise conclusions? - -May not this honourable woman——honourable by nature as well as by -name——have recollected that _she_ 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” Christmastide, 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 _warranted_ in thus speaking. - -Again; did he not _then_ manifest a disposition, remarkable even in _him_, -to act in diametrical opposition to the ordinary way of men, which is so -well expressed by the 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 -“_ineluctabile fatum_,” that resistless decree of the Universe——“The -guilty suffer.” - -Now, I submit, with sure confidence for an affirmative answer, to the -judgment of my candid readers——of my candid readers that know something of -_human_ nature, its workings, its windings, and its ways——the question: -Whether or not it is not merely possible, but probable, that Mrs. Abington -_divined that stupendous secret_, through and by means of the subtle, yet -all-potent, _mental sympathy_, which must have subsisted betwixt herself -and the disciplined, exalted, stately soul, who, as a Priest——aye! as a -very Prophet——this high-born 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 years?[120] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -Let us finally consider the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions -therefrom which tend to prove that _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by the contrite, repentant Christopher Wright, _and subsequent_ to -the penning of the Document by the deserving, beneficent Edward Oldcorne, -each of these two Englishmen, aye! these two Yorkshiremen, _were conscious -of having performed_ the several functions that these pages have -attributed unto them. - -Let us take, then, the case of Christopher Wright first. - -Now, the Evidence that tends to show that Christopher Wright was conscious -of having been the revealing plotter and dictating conspirator[121] 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 Christopher -Wright, or Christopher Wright must 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 Letter, told -Christopher Wright that he understood of an obscure letter delivered to -the Lord Mounteagle, advising him not to appear at the Parliament House -the first day, and that the Lord Mounteagle had no 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.”[122] - -(2) Poulson says, in his account of the Wrights, of Plowland (or Plewland) -Hall, in his “_History of Holderness_,” vol. ii., p. 57, that Christopher -Wright “was the first who ascertained that the plot was discovered.” - -(3) Christopher Wright 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 must have been taking such brief repose as he did take at the -inn known by the name of “the Mayden heade in St. Gyles.”[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: The Strand is not far from the Church of St. -Giles-in-the-Fields. This well-known church has now two district churches, -Christ Church, Endell Street, and Holy Trinity, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. -(Communicated by Mr. J. A. Nicholson, Solicitor, York.) In 1891 the -population of St. Giles’s Parish was 15,281.] - -This we know from the testimony of William Grantham, servant to Joseph -Hewett, deposed to on the 5th of November, 1605,[B] taken before Sir John -Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England. - -[Footnote B: See Appendix.] - -Moreover, the Lord Chief Justice Popham[C] reported to Lord Salisbury on -the 5th of November as follows: “Christopher Wright, as I thyncke, lay -this last night in St. Gyles.”——“_Gunpowder Plot Book_,” Part I., No. 10. - -[Footnote C: Of the Leyborne-Pophams, of Littlecote, Co. Wilts.] - -(4) Again; from the following passage in “_Thomas Winter’s Confession_” it -is evident that Christopher Wright, at a very early hour in the morning of -Tuesday, November 5th, must have been _in very close proximity to -Mounteagle’s residence_, in order to ascertain so accurately——either -directly, through the evidence of his own senses, or indirectly, through -the evidence of the senses of some other person (presumably of Thomas -Ward)——what _there_ took place a few hours 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[A] called the Lord Mounteagle, saying, ‘Rise -and come along to Essex House, for I am going to call up my Lord of -Northumberland,’ saying withal ‘the matter is discovered.’ - -[Footnote A: It was Edward Somerset Earl of Worcester, Master of the -Horse, I believe, an ancestor, lineal or collateral, of the Duke of -Beaufort. Worcester was a Catholic.] - -“‘Go back, Mr. Wright,’ quoth I, ‘and learn what you can at Essex Gate.’ - -“Shortly he returned and said, ‘Surely all is lost,[123] 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 being answered “No,” he rode as fast up -Fleet Street as he can ride.’ - -“‘Go you then,’ quoth I, ‘to Mr. Percy, for sure it is for him they seek, -and bid him be gone: I will stay and see the uttermost.’” - -(5) Furthermore; Lathbury, writing in the year 1839,[A] asserts that -Christopher Wright’s advice was that each conspirator “should betake -himself to flight in a different direction from any of his -companions.”[124] - -[Footnote A: Lathbury’s little book, published by Parker, is a very -careful compilation (_me judice_). 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 Gunpowder 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 confirming this statement of Lathbury, is the -fact that in an old print published soon after the discovery of the Plot, -which shows the conspirators Catesby, Thomas Winter, Percy, John Wright, -Fawkes, Robert 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. Christopher 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.[125] - -(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 somewhere_.) - -In connection with Christopher Wright’s propinquity to Thomas Ward -possibly, and to Thomas Winter possibly likewise, on the Sunday -immediately 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 had been -shown to the King, who made great account of it, but enjoined the -strictest secrecy.” - -_This individual was Thomas Ward._——(Jardine.) - -Now, we have seen already that Stowe’s “_Chronicle_” records “the next day -after the delivery of the Letter” there was a conjunction of the -planets——Thomas Winter and Christopher Wright. - -This conjunction at or about this period I hold to be a very significant -fact, tending to show that _either_ the one or the other must have sought -his confederate out, as has been remarked already. - -But from the following important Evidence of William Kyddall, servant to -Robert Tyrwhitt, Esquire,[A] brother of Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood, and kinsman -of Robert Keyes, it is evident that it was physically impossible for -Christopher Wright to have met Thomas Winter on Sunday, the 27th of -October; inasmuch as Christopher Wright was then at Lapworth, only twenty -miles distant from Hindlip Hall.[B] - -[Footnote A: Robert Tyrwhitt and William Tyrwhitt and one of Thomas -Winter’s uncles, David Ingleby, of Ripley (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. -Father Garnet is known to have been at Twigmore.] - -[Footnote B: For the information as to the distances between Coughton and -Hindlip; and Stratford-on-Avon and Hindlip; also between Lapworth and -Hindlip, I am indebted to Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross, near -Coughton; the Rev. Father Atherton, O.S.B., of Stratford-on-Avon; and -George Davis, Esq., of York.] - -Yet this does not disprove the material _fact_ of the meeting itself, the -date or circumstance of time not belonging to the essence of the -assertion. (See Appendix.) - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——PART I., NO. 52. - - “The examinacon of William Kyddall of Elsam in the Countie of - Lincolne s^{r}vant to Mr. Robert Turrett of Kettleby[A] in the - said Com. taken the viii^{th} daie of November 1605 before S^{r} - Richard Verney Knighte high Sherriff for the Com. of Warr. S^{r} - John fferrers & Willm Combes Esq^{r} Justices of peace there - saith as followeth. - -[Footnote A: Kettleby is near Brigg, in Lincolnshire. Twigmore, where John -Wright had lived, is also near the same town. (Communicated by R. H. -Dawson, Esq., of Beverley, a descendant of the Pendrells, of Boscobel.)] - -“That he was intreated of Mr. John Wrighte, who was dwellinge at Twigmore -in the Countie of Lincolne, to bringe his daught^{r} beinge eight or nine -yere old to Lapworth to Nicholas Slyes[B] house where he hath harbored -this half yere. He brought the child to Lapworth the xxiiii^{th} of -October, and there was Mr. John Wrighte and his wife and Mr. Christopher -Wrighte and his wife, soe he continued at Lapworth from Wednesdaie to -Monday, from thence he goeth to London w^{th} Mr. Christopher Wrighte and -came to London on Wednesdaie betwixt two & three a Clocke to St. Giles to -the signe of the Maydenhead from whence Mr. Wrighte wente into the Towne -and he stayed at the Inn, uppon ffriday one Richard Browne s^{r}vant to -Mr. Wrighte wente downe into Surrey, and on ffriday at night Browne -returned and he & Browne wente uppon Sattersdaie for the Child to a Towne -he knoweth not about Croydon Race and broughte it to the Maydenhead at St. -Gyles to Mr. Wrighte the ffath^{r} who seeinge the child too little to be -carried sent them backe w^{th} 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. Wright to come awaie w^{th} 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[A] -William Ward nephew to Mr. Wrighte downe to Lapworth in Warwickshire_ -whither they were now goinge. He saith he lefte Mr. Wright at London and -knoweth not the causes why he came not away w^{th} 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. - -[Footnote B: Probably Nicholas Sly and his house were well known to -Shakespeare. John Wright appears to have gone to Lapworth (which belonged -to Catesby) about May, 1605. Who Mrs. John Wright was I do not know.] - -[Footnote A: William Ward, one of the sons of Marmaduke Ward, _it will be -remembered, had an uncle who lived at Court_. This surely must have been -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; but I do not think so, otherwise we -should have been told the fact in Kyddall’s evidence, most probably. (The -italics are mine.)] - - “Richard Verney.[B] - Jo: fferrers.[C] - W. Combes.”[126][D] - -[Footnote B: Sir Richard Verney, Knt., would be a friend, belike, of Sir -Thomas Lucy, Knt., of Charlcote (a Warwickshire Puritan gentleman).] - -[Footnote C: Of the Ferrers, of Baddlesley Clinton (a very old Catholic -family).] - -[Footnote D: From whom Shakespeare bought land. To John Combes, brother to -William, the poet bequeathed his sword by Will.] - -(No endorsement). - -Mistress Dorothie Robinson, Widdow, of Spur Alley, on the 7th of November, -1605, also deposed as follows:—— - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——PART I., NO. 41. - - “The examinacon of Dorathie Robinson[127] widdow of Spurr Alley. - - “Shee sayeth that one Mr. Christopher Wright gent did lye in her - house about a Moneth past for xviii^{en} dayes together and no - more. And there did come to him one Mr. Winter w^{ch} did - continually frequent his Company and about a moneth past the - said Winter brought to her house two hampers[A] locked w^{th} - two padlockes, and caused them to be placed in a little Closet - at the end of Mr. Wright’s Chamber. But what was in the said - hamps, was privately conveyed away by Winter w^{th}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^{ch} were in the hamper as well as - Mr. Winter. - - “Shee sayeth that Mr. Winter by report of his man, was a - Worcestershire man, and his living Eight score poundes by the - yeare at the lest. - - “_The said Mr. Wright hath a brother in London,[B] whose servant - came to him in this woman’s house, and the same morning of his - going away, w^{ch} was a Moneth on Tuesday last._ - - “That the said Wright was to seeke his loding againe at this - woman’s house; but she tould him her lodgings were otherwayes - disposed of. And then he went his wayes. And since that tyme - shee never saw him. - - “_She sayeth that shee saw Mr. Winter uppon Sunday last in the - afternoone. But where he lodgeth she knoweth not._ (The italics - are mine.) - - “I can find no manner of thing in this woman’s house whereby to - geve us any incouragem^{t} to proceede any further. - - “The said Mr. Wright did often goe to the Salutation to one Mr. - Jackson’s house; And one Steven the drawer as shee thinketh will - tell where hee is.” - -[Footnote A: These hampers contained 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.] - -[Footnote B: _Who was this brother?_ I _suggest_ that by brother is meant -brother-in-law, and that as a fact Christopher Wright _had_ married -Margaret Ward, the sister to both Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. If this be -correct, then we have demonstrative proof of the servant of Thomas Ward -calling upon Christopher Wright (probably with a message from Thomas Ward) -the very same morning as, I hold, that Christopher Wright went down into -Warwickshire, where he would be within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne. -This evidence is important. The word _came_, too, is noticeable, implying, -I think, a habit of coming, a frequentative use of the past tense of the -verb. Observe also “_and the same morning_,” implying _cumulative_ acts of -“_coming_,” the visit of that day being the last of a series of visits.] - -Mr. Jackson also deposed:—— - - “He sayeth that he knoweth Mr. Wright very well, _But it is - about a fortnight past,[128] since he ws at his house, and since - that tyme he knoweth not what is become of him._ (The italics - are mine.) - - “He sayeth further that he knoweth not any other of his Consorts - or Companyons, yf hee did he would reveale it. - - (Endorsed) “The examinacon of Dorathy Robinson Widdow of Spurr - Alley.” - -Furthermore, we have the following Evidence of Mistress Elizabeth More:—— - -7 Nov: 1605. - -STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC——JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 13. - -“The Declaracon of Elizabeth More the wief of Edward More taken the 5th of -November 1605. - -“She saieth that the gent that lay at her howse w^{th} Mr. Rookwood this -last night and the night before his name is Mr. Keyes and he took upp the -Chamber for the said Mr. Rookwood. - -“And she saieth that uppon ffryday night last Mr. Christofir Wright came -to this exaite howse w^{th} the said Mr. Rookwood and lay that night in a -chamber on the said Mr. Rookwoode Chamber. - -(Endorsed) “5th No: 1605. - - “The Declaracon of Elizabeth More.” - -Mistress More, I find, lived near Temple Bar.[A] - -[Footnote A: Where was Spur Alley? and how far were Temple Bar and Spur -Alley from the town-house in the Strand of the Lord Mounteagle, and -therefore of his Lordship’s secretary, Thomas Ward? - -It will be noted by the judicious reader that the conjectured fact that -Christopher Wright’s London lodgings were within a short distance of -where, doubtless, his——I suggest——_brother-in-law_ (Ward) was to be found -tends to support my theory.] - - - - - CHAPTER XL. - - -Before we well-nigh finally take our leave of Christopher Wright, I should -like to bring before my readers two pieces of Evidence, from each of -which, at any rate, may be drawn the inference that it was one of the -conspirators themselves that revealed the tremendous secret. - -That Christopher Wright was that revealing conspirator, the manifold -considerations which the preceding pages of this Inquiry have established, -I trust, will satisfy the intellect of my readers, seeing that those -considerations, I respectfully but firmly urge, must be held to have built -up a “probability” so high as to amount to that “moral certitude” which is -“the very guide” of Man’s terrestrial life, in that it furnishes Man with -those sufficient rules which direct his daily action.[129] - -But, in bringing the first piece of Evidence to which I allude before the -eyes of my readers, I desire, with great respect, to say that I am keenly -conscious that I run the risk of incurring the condemnation implied in the -words: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” - -But, since “circumstances alter cases,” I feel warranted (under -correction) in adventuring, in this one instance, upon a particular line -of argument which I feel is, as an affair of taste, _primâ facie_ -unseemly, and, as a matter of feeling, a line of action, in ordinary -cases, to be rigorously eschewed. - -Yet, seeing that such a course of conduct cannot be held to be morally -wrong, my plea is——and I respectfully submit my all-sufficient plea -is——that an Inquiry, having for its purpose the elucidation of the -hitherto inscrutable mystery as to who revealed, or who were instrumental -in revealing, so satanic an enterprise as the Gunpowder Plot, being far, -far removed beyond the range of mere logic-chopping, dry-as-dust, -non-human investigations, justifies the following, in one instance, of a -course of action which unquestionably would clash with mere, decorous -taste, and would collide with mere delicate feeling, except, by the case -being altered, it were lifted into the realm of the categories of the -extraordinary and the special. - -_Then_ the nature of the act _or_ action composing that course of conduct -would be, in a sense, fundamentally and meritoriously changed. And, -_therefore_, it would be, by a double title, morally justifiable. - -Now, when the Gunpowder conspirators were at Huddington, the mansion-house -of Robert Winter, on Thursday, the 7th day of November, certainly most of -the conspirators, and probably all of them, received the Sacrament of -Penance through the ministry of a Jesuit Father, named Nicholas Hart -(alias Strangeways and Hammond), who besides being an _alumnus_ of -Westminster School, and for two years a student of the University of -Oxford, had, prior to his becoming a Priest and a Jesuit, “studied law in -the Inns of Court and Chancery in London.”[130] - -Now, William Handy, the serving-man of Sir Everard Digby (of whom we have -already heard), further deposed as follows:[131] - -“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, which 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[132] -that he confessed to Hammond at Huddington, on Thursday, the 7th of -November, that he was sorry he had not revealed the Plot, it seeming so -bloody, and that after his confession Hammond absolved him 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^{r} sinnes to one Mr. Hamonde Preeste, - at Mr. Robert Wintour his house, and amonges other my sinnes I - did acknowledge my error in concealing theire intended - enterprise of pouder agaynste his Ma^{tie} 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^{r} p. Edw. Coke - W. Ward.” - (Endorsed) - - “... pouder - xx^{th} 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 lips, avowing the commission in _desire and thought_ of -“murder most foul as at the best it is”[A] (and “we know that no murderer -hath eternal life abiding in him”[B]), 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”[C] (to say -nothing of his avowal of the commission _in act and deed_ of the crime of -sacrilege,[D] in taking a secret, unlawful oath contrary to the express -prohibitions of a visible and audible Institution which that Priest and -that Penitent alike believed was of divine origin), I firmly, though with -great and all-becoming deference, draw _these_ conclusions, namely, that -_one of the plotters_ 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. - -[Footnote A: Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote B: St. John the Divine.] - -[Footnote C: Sophocles.] - -[Footnote D: Of course the Gunpowder Treason Plot was a “sacrilegious -crime,” because it sought to compass the death of a king who was “one of -the Lord’s anointed,” _as well 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 Inn, “near the principal -street in London called the Strand.”——See “_The Confessions of Thomas -Winter and Guy Fawkes_.” This house was probably the London lodging of -Father John Gerard, S.J. Winter and Fawkes said that the conspirators -received the Sacrament at the hands of Gerard. But “Gerard was not -acquainted with their purpose,” said Fawkes. Gerard denied having given -the conspirators the Sacrament.——See Gardiner’s “_What Gunpowder Plot -was_,” p. 44. One vested priest is very much like another, just as one -soldier in uniform is very much like another. So Fawkes and Winter may -have been mistaken. Besides, they would not be likely to be minutely -examining the features of a priest on such an occasion.] - -Furthermore; that it was _because_ of the possession by Hammond of this -happy intelligence, early on that Thursday 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 chiding him——in fact -“without remark.”[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Suwston 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 “_Records_,” 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 whose “future” -I should like to follow up. Was he the same as a certain “Dr. Singleton” -who figures in the “_Life of Mary 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 conspirators themselves that -revealed the Plot_ is this:—— - -Jardine gives in his “_Criminal Trials_”[133] a certain Letter of -Instructions to Sir Edward Coke,[134] the Attorney-General who conducted -the prosecution of the surviving Gunpowder conspirators at Westminster -Hall[135] before a Special Commission for High Treason, on the 27th day of -January, 1605-6. - -This very remarkable document is in the handwriting of Robert Cecil first -Earl of Salisbury. - -It is as follows:—— - - “These things I am commanded to renew unto your 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 - men 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. - - “_Next, you must in any case, when you speak of the Letter which - was the first ground of discovery, absolutely disclaim that any - of these wrote it, though you leave the further judgment - indefinite who else it should be._ (The italics are mine.) - - “Lastly, and you must not omit, you must deliver, in - commendation of my Lord Mounteagle, words to show how sincerely - he dealt, and how fortunately it proved that he was the - instrument of so great a blessing as this was. To be short, sir, - you can remember how well the King in his Book did censure[A] - 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 abundanti_, 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.” - -[Footnote A: The word “censure” here means, formed an opinion of his -lordship’s part. From Lat. _censeo_, I think.] - -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:——[136] - -“The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this -treason, _which was by one of themselves_, _who had taken the oath and -sacrament, as hath been said, against his own will; the means was by a -dark and doubtful letter sent to my Lord Mounteagle._”[A] (The italics are -mine.) - -[Footnote A: “Truth will out!”] - -Now, regard being had (1) to what Salisbury bade Coke _not say_; and (2) -to what Coke as a matter of fact _did say_, I infer, first, that it _was_ -one of the conspirators who revealed the Plot; because of just scruples -that his conscience had, well-nigh at the eleventh hour, awakened in his -breast: that, secondly, not only so, but that the Government, through -Salisbury, Suffolk, 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 themselves,[137] but also, I -hold, of the subsequent _comparatively_ mild treatment of the recusants -generally throughout the country.[138] - -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, indisputably, the Government abstained from following after, and from -reaping the 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 forfeited. And this, -regard being had 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 circumstance pregnant with the greatest possible -suspicion that there was some great mystery in the background.——See -Lathbury’s “_Guy Fawkes_,” pp. 76, 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 Privy 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. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 incarcerated in the Tower of London, either to -seek to save his life when awaiting his trial in Westminster 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, Westminster, to seek to save his life, _by divulging the -mighty secret respecting his responsibility for the Letter of Letters, had -anyone of them in point of fact penned the document. For “skin for skin -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 be found amongst -that small band of four who 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 point of honour” may have stayed and restrained -one of the nine conspirators from “discovering” or revealing his share in -the laudable 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 _ought, 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 had none of them, anything to tell_. - -Moreover, I suggest that what Archbishop Usher[139][A] 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,”[140][B] was -this:—— - -[Footnote A: Protestant Archbishop of Armagh.] - -[Footnote B: Such 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. For it tends to demonstrate the existence -of a realm 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-minded 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.] - -_That it was “the Papist Doctrine” of the non-binding force of a secret, -unlawful oath that (Deo juvante) had been primarily the joint-efficient -cause of the spinning right round on its axis of the hell-begotten -Gunpowder Plot._ - -It is plain that King James’s Government[A] were mysteriously stayed and -restrained in their legislative and administrative action after the -discovery of the diabolically atrocious Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -[Footnote A: It is the duty of every Government to see that it is true, -just, and strong. Governments should confine their efforts to the calm and -faithful attainment of these three ideals. Then they win respect and -confidence, 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 the two extremes, injustice and hysterical generosity, which is a -sure sign of a lack of consciousness of absolute truth, justice, and -strength.] - -And illogical and inconstant as many English rulers too often have been -throughout England’s long and, by good fortune, glorious History, this -extraordinary illogicalness 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 what? - -Unhesitatingly I answer: _Of that Government’s not daring, for very -decency’s sake, to proceed 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 -human beings, 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 demonstrates, this fact, -namely, that the then British Government realized that _it was an -essentially Popish Doctrine of Morals which had been the primary motive -power for securing their temporal salvation. That doctrine being, indeed, -none other than the hated and dreaded “Popish Doctrine” of the -“non-binding force” upon the Popish Conscience of a secret, morally -unlawful oath which thereby, ipso facto, “the Papal Church” prohibited and -condemned._ - -Hence, that was, I once more suggest, what Archbishop Usher referred to, -in 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 Gunpowder Plot?_” p. 160. - -For the Plot _was_ “his father’s contrivance,” considered 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! And the whirligig of Time brings round -strange revenges!_” - - - - - CHAPTER XLIV. - - -We 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 tending to prove that -_subsequent_ to the penning of the Letter by Father Edward Oldcorne, he -was _conscious_ of having performed the meritorious deed that, I maintain, -the Evidence, 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) _not only a general similarity_ in the handwriting of the -Letter and Father Oldcorne’s undoubted handiwork——the Declaration of the -12th day of March, 1605-6——_a general similarity_ in point of the size of -the letters and of that indescribable something called style,[141] _but -(2) a particular similarity_ in the formation of the letters in the case -of these following, namely, the small c/s, l/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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Bentham aptly terms the comparison of Document with Document, -“Circumstantial real Evidence.”——See Best’s “_Principles of the Law of -Evidence_,” and Wills on “_Circumstantial Evidence_.” See Miss Walford’s -Letter (Appendix).] - -Moreover, there is (3) this fact to be remembered, that in both the Letter -and in the said Declaration, the name “God” is written with a small “g,” -thus: “god.” - -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 Englishmen in the year 1605. - -Still, it was certainly _not by them universally so written_. For in the -fac-simile of “_Thomas Winter’s Confession_” the word “God” occurs more -than once written with a handsomely made capital G,[142] 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[143] 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 language one way, wherein a rigid -Roman 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 _knew_ for certain that it could be considered as -a clear transparency only——as a defecated cluster of purely intellectual -acts.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is manifest that if, _in intent_, Oldcorne by his own -Letter had destroyed the Plot, he, of all other people in the world, would -have _the prerogative_ of regarding the Plot as a clear transparency; -_while of the Plot as a transparency_, he would feel a freedom to write -“god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme.” If -the Writer had not the prerogative of regarding the Plot as a clear -transparency then these results follow——that he regarded Him (Whose Eyes -are too pure even to behold iniquity) as _concurring_ in the designment of -a most hellish crime, nay, of participating in such designment; _for he -couples God with man_. Now 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 the Writer of the Letter can have been regarded as no -crime. But it was obviously a crime, _unless and until_ it had been -defecated of criminous quality, and so rendered a clear transparency. Now, -as the Writer 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_, I maintain, proves that the Writer -had a special interior knowledge of the Plot “behind the scenes,” that is, -deep down within the depths of his conscious being.] - -Furthermore, in reflecting on these preliminaries to the general -discussion of the Evidence tending to prove a consciousness on Edward -Oldcorne’s part, _subsequent_ 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 have burnt the letter and i hope god -will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i -contend yowe._” (The italics are mine.) - -Now, I opine that what the Writer intended _to hint 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 be destroyed.[144] Because -it is highly probable that (apart from other reasons) the Writer must 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 virtually all-important, adjective?[145] - -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.”[146] 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.”[147] - - - - - CHAPTER XLV. - - -Having dealt with the _preliminary_ Evidence, we now come to the -discussion of the _main_ Evidence which tends to show that _subsequent_ to -the penning of the Letter 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 6th, 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, who had married Miss Gertrude Talbot, of Grafton. The -Talbots, like the Throckmortons, were a people who happily managed to -reconcile rigid adherence to the ancient Faith with stanch loyalty to -their lawful Sovereign.[A] - -[Footnote A: I believe that the grand old Catholic family of Throckmorton -still own Coughton Hall, which is twelve miles from Hindlip.] - -Tesimond, leaving behind him his Superior Garnet at Coughton, 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, bygone days——the brothers John and Christopher -Wright.[148] - -Now, to Father Tesimond, as well as to Father Oldcorne, Hindlip Hall[A] -and Huddington[B] (in Worcestershire), Coughton,[C] Lapworth,[D] -Clopton,[E] and Norbrook[F] (in Warwickshire), must have been thoroughly -well known; for at Hindlip Hall for eight years Tesimond likewise had been -formerly domesticated. - -Where resided either temporarily or permanently:—— - -[Footnote A: Thomas Abington.] - -[Footnote B: Robert Winter and Thomas Winter.] - -[Footnote C: Thomas Throckmorton.] - -[Footnote D: John Wright and Christopher Wright.] - -[Footnote E: Ambrose Rookwood.] - -[Footnote F: John Grant.] - -Dr. Gardiner’s “_History of James I._” (Longmans) contains a map showing -the relative positions of these places. - -On Wednesday, the 6th November, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond were at -Coughton. Catesby, along with Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Sir -Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, 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.” - -Catesby and Digby urged Garnet to make for Wales.[A] - -[Footnote A: Catesby 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 Tesimond, 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 projected 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 11th of -October, I think.] - -After half-an-hour’s earnest discourse together, Father Garnet gave leave -to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington to administer to the wretched -fugitives the rites——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 conference——Tesimond -himself denounced, if he did not reproach, as being phlegmatic. - -Tesimond, evidently, had been commissioned by Catesby,[B] at Huddington, -to incite Mr. Abington, his household, and retainers, including (I take -it, if possible) Oldcorne himself, to join the insurgents at Huddington, -Holbeach, Wales, 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. - -[Footnote B: 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 -Bilney’s confessor. These afford striking examples of the power of -psycho-electrical will force.] - -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 more 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 -Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne’s was a _mens conscia recti_——a mind conscious -of rectitude——aye, a mind conscious of superabounding merit and virtue. - -So important evidentially do I think the diverse demeanour[149] of -Tesimond and Oldcorne on this occasion, that I will transcribe from -Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_”[150] Oldcorne’s testimony of what took place -at Hindlip Hall at this interview:——[151] - -“Oldcorne confesseth that upon Wednesday, being the 6th of November, about -two of the clock in the afternoon, there came Tesimond (Greenway) from -Huddington, from Mr. Robert 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 discovered a day or two before; and now -they were gathered together some forty horse at Mr. Winter’s house, naming -Catesby, Percy, Digby, and others; and told them, ‘their throats would be -cut unless they presently went to join with them.’ And Mr. Abington said, -‘Alas! 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 confesseth that upon the former speeches -made by this examinate and Mr. Abington to Tesimond, alias Greenway, the -Jesuit, _Tesimond said in some heat ‘thus we may see a difference between -a flemmatike [phlegmatic] and a choleric person!’, and said he would go to -others, and specially into Lancashire, for the same purpose as he came to -Hindlip to Mr. Abington_.” [152][153] (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER XLVII. - - -Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the English Jesuits, left London at the -end of August, 1605,[154] and proceeded towards Gothurst (now Gayhurst), -in the Parish of Tyringham, three miles from Newport Pagnell, -Buckinghamshire.[A] - -[Footnote A: The seat of Walter Carlile, Esquire, as has been already -mentioned. I have to thank this gentleman for his courteousness in -informing me that Gayhurst (formerly Gothurst) is three miles from Newport -Pagnell. An excellent picture, together with descriptive account, of -Gayhurst, is given in the “_Life of Sir Everard Digby_,” 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 Vaux.] - -Now, who was Henry Garnet, whom 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 around whose 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 Rome, where the great Cardinal -Bellarmine was 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 the beginning of -Trinity Term (_i.e._, the 9th June, 1605), Catesby, in Thames Street, -London——_outside the Confessional_——had propounded to Garnet a question, -_which ought to have put the Jesuit expressly upon inquiry_. For that -question was, in case it were lawful to kill a person or persons, whether -it were necessary to regard the innocents which 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 Review_,” for July, 1888, and largely quoted in -the Rev. 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 Rome, -addressed to Father Aquaviva, the General of the Jesuits.——See “Father -Gerard’s Narrative,” pp. 76, 77, in “_Condition of Catholics under James -I._,” edited by Rev. 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 be shown to the King, and so all Catholics may be -compelled to take arms._” - -Garnet then proceeds: “_Wherefore, in my judgment, two things are -necessary, first, that His Holiness should prescribe what in any case is -to be done; and then, that he should forbid any force of arms by the -Catholics under Censures, and by Brief, publicly promulgated; an occasion -for which can be taken from the disturbance lately raised in Wales, which -has at length come to nothing._ It remains that as all things are daily -becoming worse, we should beseech His Holiness soon to give a necessary -remedy for 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 Rome’s tenets, the special means devised by the -Founder of Christianity whereby Man is united to “the Unseen -Perfectness.” - - - - - CHAPTER XLVIII. - - -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 probably in the Confessional even did not at first know 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 -explosives which it was further intended were to be ignited, when -Parliament met, by Guy Fawkes, booted and spurred, by means of a -slow-burning match, which would give him one quarter-of-an-hour’s grace to -effect his escape to a ship in the Thames bound for Flanders: and 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. - -But this able, learned, sweet-tempered, yet weak-willed, unimaginative, -irresolute man _knew enough outside the Confessional_——which is the point -we have to deal with here——to render himself liable to have been sent to -the galleys by the Pope, if His Holiness could have laid hold of him, -when, notwithstanding this atrocious knowledge, he actually refused to -give ear to the arch-conspirator, even although Catesby, on Father -Gerard’s own admission, “offered sometimes to tell him [Garnet] that they -[Catesby and his friends] would not endure to be so long so much 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 _might have learned all the -particulars about that purposed violence_ had 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 _up to the -24th of July, 1605, 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 or 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 Sovereign power of his Country_. Although, being a priest, he -ought to have been ecclesiastically “_degraded_” first, according to the -provisions of the Canon law, and then handed over to the secular arm for -condign punishment, according to the law of the outraged State. - -For, “_Id certum 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 “_Narrative_,” pp. 78, 79. - -Now Garnet[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Garnet was a profound mathematician and accomplished -linguist, amongst other acquirements.] - -But as Garnet’s moral character was 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: After Father Tesimond had told Garnet (with Catesby’s leave) -of the Plot, thereby bringing the matter as a natural secret indirectly -under the seal of the Confessional, Garnet could not sleep at nights. Now, -sleeplessness, combined 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 25th 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 _knowledge_ he had received _in the -Confessional from Tesimond_, but because he did not reveal _general -knowledge_ he had _from Catesby outside the Confessional_. This, in -fairness to James I., Salisbury, and the King’s Council, should be -faithfully borne in mind. Moreover, according to one school of Catholic -moralists, in _either case_ the Government ought to have been communicated -with _if_ Garnet could have done so without risk of divulging Tesimond’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 _both views_ into practical effect. -_Therefore Garnet, to my mind, was eminently justified in not divulging -the particular knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession. For -according to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, the Christian Aristotle, a -natural secret may be indirectly_ protected by the seal of the -Confessional if the priest _promises_ so to protect it. I conclude, -however, that (1) according to the dictates of right reason the promise -may be _either implied or expressed_, and (2) that in the case of -overwhelming necessity the promise may be broken, as in the case of High -Treason, _if the priest_ can avoid, _with 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XLIX. - - -At the beginning of the month of September, 1605, Father Garnet was at -Gothurst,[A] three miles from Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, and about the 5th of September from this still standing -stately English home there proceeded the nucleus of a pilgrim-band bent -for the famous well of St. Winifred, the British Saint, situated at -Holywell, in North Wales. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst) is twelve miles from Northampton and -from ten to fifteen miles from Great Harrowden. Weston Underwood and -Olney, immortalized by William Cowper, are not far from both places. The -poet would be distantly related to young Lord Vaux of Harrowden, 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 Northampton. Cowper was, it will be -recollected, the intimate friend of the Throckmortons of his day.] - -Sir Everard Digby, 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 Vaux, Edward Brookesby, -Esquire, of Arundell House, Shouldby, Leicestershire, and his wife the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, together with her sister the Honourable Anne -Vaux. - -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 Everard and Lady Digby and was their intimate and honoured -friend, as well as the friend of the Dowager Lady Vaux of Harrowden and -her family, did not join the pilgrimage. - -Father Gerard was most probably in Yorkshire at this time. 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: See “_The Condition of Catholics under James I._” Edited by -John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872), p. 257.] - -The following abstracts from the Evidence of two of Sir Everard Digby’s -serving-men, who accompanied their devout, charming young mistress on -this now famous pilgrimage, will give the best account of what took place -on this occasion.[A] They are as follow:—— - -[Footnote A: St. Winifred’s Well is at Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, and is -sacred to St. Winifred of Wales, an early British Virgin and Martyr. Her -“Life” will be found in Butler’s “_Lives of the Saints_,” under date -November 3rd, her Feast Day. The waters of the Well are of healing -quality, very copious and icy cold. There is an elegant mediæval 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 and sire of the English race, -the Italian Pope Gregory the Great and the Italian Benedictine Monk -Augustine.)] - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——NO. 153. - - [Abstract.] - - ii. Dec. 1605 - - [In Cal. 11 Dec. 1605.] - - “Th’examination of James Garvey serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby - - * * * * * - - “Saieth about Bartholmew tide last his ladie roade to St. - Wenefred’s Well from Gotehurst: first daie to Deyntrie:[A] 2 to - Grantz:[B] 3 to Winters:[C] 4 to Mr. Lacon’s:[D] 5 to - Shrewsberie: 6 to holte:[E] 7 to the well: they staied at the - well but one night: and retorned the first day 2 to holt 2 to - Mr. Banester’s at Wen[F] 2 to Mr. Lacon’s againe and so retorned - to Gotehurst. - - [Footnote A: Daventry, Northamptonshire.] - - [Footnote B: John Grant’s, at Norbrook, Snitterfield, - Warwickshire.] - - [Footnote C: Huddington Hall, near Droitwich, Worcestershire.] - - [Footnote D: Most probably at Kinlet Hall, about five miles from - Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire.] - - [Footnote E: Holt, in Denbighshire.] - - [Footnote F: Wem, Shropshire.] - - “Saieth ther were in that jorney the ladie Digby, Mrs. Vaux,[B] - Mr. Brookysby and his wief Mr. Darcy[C] one Thomas Digby[D] a - tall gentleman: one fisher[E] a little man: S^{r} frauncis Lacon - and his daughter and two or 3 gentlemen more went with them from - Mr. Lacon’s to the well, &c., &c. - - [Footnote B: Miss Anne Vaux.] - - [Footnote C: An alias of Father Garnet; Farmer was another of - Garnet’s aliases.] - - [Footnote D: An uncle of Sir Everard, belike.] - - [Footnote E: An alias of Father Percy, afterwards famous for his - historic controversy with Archbishop Laud.] - - (Endorsed) “11 Dec. 1605. - - “The Exam^{n} of James Garvie srv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby.” - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——No. 121. - - [Abstract.] - - “Th’examination of William Handy servaunte to S^{r} Everard - Digby taken the xxvij^{th} of November 1605 - - * * * * * - - [Par. 4]——“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: Vaux 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 and at Shrosbury in an Inn and - at a Castle in the Holte in Denbeghe or Flintshire, and at St. - Wynyfride’s Well in an Inn, from whence the gentlewomen went - barefoote to the said well and in their retourne from the said - well at one Farmer’s howse about 7 miles from Shrosbury, and - from thence to Mr. Lacon’s where they had masse whereat S^{r} - Frauncis Lacon was from thence to Mr. Robert Winter’s and from - thence to Mr. Graunte’s from thence to Deyntree and from thence - to S^{r} Everard Digby at all which places they had masse.[A] - - [Footnote A: The reason why the Examiner who took down the - Evidence was particular to inquire about Masses was that for a - priest to say (or offer) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of - 200 marks (a mark being 13s. 4d.) _and_ imprisonment for life; - while for a lay person to hear (or assist at offering) Mass was - to be liable to a penalty of 100 marks and imprisonment for - life. To harbour a priest was felony and the penalty was - hanging, but without the cutting down alive, drawing and - quartering. This last was the portion of the priests who, by - remaining in England 40 days, were held _ipso facto_ guilty of - High Treason without proof of the exercise of priestly - functions. This last penalty, of course, rendered unnecessary - the having recourse to the penalty of 200 marks fine _and_ - imprisonment for life, since the greater included the less.] - - * * * * * - - (Endorsed) “27 Nov. 1605. - - “Th’examination of Wm. Handy serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby.” - - - - - CHAPTER L. - - -The pilgrim-band numbered about thirty souls, and included Ambrose -Rookwood 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 “_Life_” of that well-favoured but misguided knight there -is an admirably-written 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 Vaux and the young Lord Vaux. - -Great Harrowden Hall appears to have been rebuilt by the guardians of the -youthful baron a little before the year 1605. For in “_The Condition of -Catholics under James I._,” 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 for that same purpose, and built us separate -quarters close to the old Chapel.... 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 Roger Lee were there oftentimes to be found.[A] - -[Footnote A: The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, in the course of a most -courteous reply to various historical questions the writer ventured to -propound to him, says, in a letter dated 15th November, 1901, that his -residence, Harrowden Hall, was erected in the year 1719. It will, -therefore, not be the self-same mansion as that wherein Fathers Garnet, -Gerard, Fisher, Roger Lee, etc., were wont to be harboured by his -Lordship’s distinguished ancestors. - -None of the grand old English Catholic families, those “honourable -people,” if such were ever known to mortal, have a better right than the -Lords Vaux of Harrowden, to take as their motto those fine words of Gerald -Massey:—— - - “‘They wrought in Faith,’ and _not_ - ‘They wrought in Doubt,’—— - Is the proud epitaph that we inscribe - Above our glorious dead.” - -The name “Vaux of Harrowden” 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 Wardour, Stafford, -Clifford of Chudleigh, and Herries, the name “Vaux of Harrowden” was -appended to “the Roman Catholic Peers’ Protest,” dated from the House of -Lords, 14th February, 1901, addressed to the Earl of Halsbury, Lord High -Chancellor of England, anent “the Declaration against Popery,” that Our -Most Gracious King Edward VII. was compelled, by Act of Parliament, to -utter on the occasion of meeting His Majesty’s first Parliament.] - - - - - CHAPTER LI. - - -On the 4th of October, Father Garnet wrote a long letter to Father Parsons -in Rome, who was then virtually the ruler of the Catholics of England, -though that sturdy Yorkshireman, Father John Mush,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Mush may have been of the Mushes, of Knaresbrough, stanch -Catholics, but in humble circumstances.——See Peacock’s “_List_.”] - -This letter of Father Garnet’s, to which reference has been just made, is -a remarkable production. It begins as follows:—— - - - “My very loving Sir, - - “This I write from the elder Nicholas[A] his residence where I - find my hostess with all her posterity very well; and we are to - go within few days nearer London.” - - [Footnote A: Father Nicholas Hart, S.J., as distinguished from - Brother Nicholas Owen, S.J.] - - The letter then says:—— - - “The judges now openly protest that the King will have blood and - hath taken blood in Yorkshire.”[B] - - [Footnote B: The “Venerable” Thomas Welbourn and John Fulthering - suffered at York on the 1st August, 1605; and William Brown at - Ripon on the 5th September.——See Challoner’s “_Missionary - Priests_.” Ed. by T. G. Law (Jack, Edinburgh).] - - 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 Octobris._” - - The fourth paragraph then continues:—— - - “My hostesses both and their children salute you. Sir Thomas - Tresham is dead.”[C] - -[Footnote C: The hostesses would be those valiant women, Elizabeth Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden (_née_ Roper), the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, -and the Honourable Anne Vaux. William Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -harboured Father Parsons in 1580-81, had married for his second wife a -sister of Sir Thomas Tresham. This Lord Vaux’s eldest son Ambrose, a -priest, resigned his title in favour of his half-brother the Honourable -George Vaux, afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The first wife of William -Lord Vaux was Elizabeth Beaumont, of Gracedieu, Leicestershire. She was -the mother of Ambrose, Elizabeth, and Anne Vaux. Father Garnet for many -years lived at Harrowden, from 1586 as the guest of William Lord Vaux, -whose son, George Lord Vaux of Harrowden, married Elizabeth Roper, -daughter of the first Lord Teynham. This lady was the above-named Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden, mother of Edward Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -became as “noble a confessor for the Faith” as were his numerous other -relatives. (The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, whose family name is -Mostyn, is descended from the above-mentioned Lords Vaux, through the -female line.)] - -_Here ends the body of the letter._ - - - - - CHAPTER LII. - - -_After the body of the letter there is a post scriptum._ - -Now, there are nine words in the _post scriptum_ 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, 1605, _and_ the 21st day of October, -Garnet had received from somewhere _intelligence to the effect that -machinery was being put into motion whereby the Plot would be squashed_. - -For the _post scriptum_ to this letter of Father Garnet is as follows:—— - - - “_21º Octobris._ - - “This letter being returned unto me again, FOR REASON OF A - FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted 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, with 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 were my subjects, and we have our faculties - also for Ireland, for the most part. I pray you procure them a - general grant for their comfort.” - -The letter and the _post scriptum_ are alike unsigned. The letter and the -_post scriptum_ are still in existence, and, I believe, are preserved in -London in the archives of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. - -I am indebted for my copy to the work entitled, “_A True Account of the -Gunpowder Plot_,” by “Vindicator” (Dolman), 1851——taken from Tierney’s -Edition of “_Dodd’s Church History_.” - -The Claude referred to in the _post scriptum_ is Father Claude Aquaviva, -the then General of the Jesuits, who lived in Rome. - -(Irish Catholics will not fail to notice the interest this afflicted, -much-tried Englishman took in their 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 compass of some participation in 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.” - -Again; respecting Ralph Ashley, the Jesuit lay-brother and servant of -Father Oldcorne, Gerard says, on p. 271: “Ralph was also indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about -this conspiracy.” - -_Now, my deliberate conjectures are these: That Edward Oldcorne had indeed -sent “Letters” which his servant Ralph Ashley had carried concerning “this -conspiracy.” That one of those Letters was sent and carried to Henry -Garnet. And another to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle._ - -On the 12th of March, 1605-6, Father Garnet, when a prisoner in the Tower -of London, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Edward Coke, Sir -William Waade (Lieutenant of the Tower), and John Corbett, “confessed that -Father Parsons wrote to him certain letters last summer [_i.e._, 1605] -_which he received about Michaelmas last_, wherein he requested this -examinat to advertise him what plotts the Catholiques of England had then -in hand; _whereunto for that this examinat was on his journey he made no -answere_.” - -Yea, indeed, this was a part of the truth, no doubt. _But the remainder of -the truth, I suggest, was that the Plot of Plots Garnet had learned, a few -days after the aforesaid Michaelmas, was being assuredly squashed by -Edward Oldcorne._ - -Poor Henry Garnet, a sorry, pathetic figure in the history of his Country, -surely. Yet, because _much_ 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 was his point of honour as a Priest of the Catholic -Church._[A] - -[Footnote A: How many a gallant soldier and sailor in our own day, young -and old, has been sustained in life and death by the consoling _infinite -thought of fidelity to the commands of a lawful superior_; by the -comforting _transcendental thought of duty 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_ (Macmillan); also Wordsworth’s -magnificent “Ode to Duty.”] - - - - - CHAPTER LIII. - - -Sir Everard Digby had rented Coughton, near Alcester, in Warwickshire, -from Thomas Throckmorton, Esquire, as a base for the warlike operations, -which were to be conducted in the Midlands as soon as intelligence had -arrived from London that the King, Lords Spiritual and Temporal, together -with the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, “were now no more.” - -On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the young knight rode from Coughton to -Dunchurch, near Rugby. - -Robert Winter the same day left Huddington and, sleeping on the Sunday -night at Grafton, at the house of his father-in-law, John Talbot, Esquire, -rode on to Coventry, in company with the younger Acton, of Ribbesford, and -attended by several servants. - -At Coventry, Robert Winter was joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach -House, in Staffordshire, just over the borders of Worcestershire; and also -by his cousin, Humphrey Littleton, brother to the then late John -Littleton,[A] of Hagley House, Worcestershire, who had been engaged in the -Essex rising. - -[Footnote A: All the Littletons were descended from the great Judge -Littleton, author of “_Littleton on Tenures_.” The present Lord Lyttelton -belongs to the same family.] - -On the following Tuesday, November the 5th, the whole party proceeded -towards Dunchurch, the armed cavalcade continually increasing in numbers. - -The plan was, that at Dunsmore Heath, under a feigned 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. - -Robert Winter left the cousins Littleton at “the town’s end” of Dunchurch, -and rode on to Ashby St. Legers, the ancestral seat of the Catesbies, -where, indeed, the Dowager Lady Catesby was then residing. - -Here Robert 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 the 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 -miles 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 them into the hedge to ride the more swiftly.[155] - -About six o’clock in the evening of Tuesday, just as Lady Catesby, Robert -Winter, 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 Wright, and Ambrose Rookwood. Their -announcement was the capture of Guy Fawkes early that Tuesday morning. - -After holding a short council of war, the whole band of conspirators, -snatching up all the weapons of warfare they could lay their hands on, -took horse again and rode off to Dunchurch. - -Sir Everard Digby, his uncle (Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill), Stephen -Littleton, Humphrey Littleton, and many others were awaiting their arrival -at Dunchurch, in an inn. - -The six fugitive conspirators, all bespattered 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 by the ringleaders to make for Wales; for the Catholics -of the Principality were then very strong,[A] and the Counties of Warwick, -Worcester, and Stafford were to be traversed, from all of which valuable -reinforcements were expected. - -[Footnote A: It is a curious fact that 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 Rome. It was -the lack of a Welsh College in Rome which, causing the supply of priests -to fail, gradually caused the interesting Cymric people to lose the Faith -which they of all the inhabitants of the British Isles were the first to -embrace. - -It is to be remembered, however, that there has always been a remnant in a -few of the valleys of Wales faithful to the See of Rome; and Dr. Owen -Lewis, the Bishop of Cassano, a Welshman, aided Cardinal Allen to found -Douay College, in 1568. Several of the Martyrs of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, too, were Welsh. - -At the English College at Rome the Welsh and the English students had -violent and, to read of, amusing quarrels. Evidently the Welsh, students -looked down upon their Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging to a -comparatively inferior race.] - -About ten o’clock on Tuesday night the full company, now about thirty -strong, set out for Norbrook,[A] the house of John Grant. - -[Footnote A: At Warwick, _en route_ for Norbrook, 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.] - -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 Digby 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 Wednesday, the 6th. Sentinels were posted at -the passage of every way at Huddington, possibly by the order of John -Winter, half-brother to Robert and Thomas Winter. - -Here they were joined by Thomas Winter, who had come down from London with -the latest news; 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 Confession, and -received, at the Jesuit’s, hands, what most of them from their childhood -had been taught to believe was “the Bread of Angels,” and “the Food of -Immortality.”[B] - -[Footnote B: Certainly Man’s nature _needs_ these things; but the question -is: Can it get them? “Aye, there’s the rub.”] - -Before daybreak of Thursday the fugitives were on the 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 Holbeach 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 Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, and the rest, -John Talbot, of Grafton, drove Thomas Winter and Stephen Littleton from -his door when they sought his aid for the rebellion.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Jardine’s “_Narrative_,” p. 112, to which I am indebted -for this account; also Handy’s evidence, Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_,” -vol. ii., pp. 165, 166.] - -And Sir Everard was constrained to avow that of the wealthy Catholic -gentry “not one man came to take our part though we had expected so -many.”[B] - -[Footnote B: Jardine’s “_Narrative_,” p. 112. Holbeach House is no longer -standing.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIV. - - -The High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with their _posse -comitatus_, were in pursuit of the fugitives, who arrived at Holbeach -House at ten of the clock on Thursday night. - -At Holbeach they prepared to make their last stand. And alack! never more -were the brothers John and Christopher Wright destined to behold Lapworth, -Twigmore, Ripon, Skelton, Newby, Mulwith, York, or Plowland,[A] nor any of -those scenes around which must have clung so many endearing associations -and sacred memories.[156] - -[Footnote A: For an account of recent visits to Mulwith and Plowland, see -Supplementum IV. and Supplementum V. - -To the generosity of my friend, Miss Burnham, the lady of Plowland, my -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 Humber towards the south. The gabled -buildings in the rear are ancient, and behind them are a few mossy Gothic -stones, evidently belonging to the old chapel. Behind the 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 conspirator.] - -Early in the morning of Friday some of the company went out to descry -whether or not reinforcements were in sight. Others began to prepare their -shot and powder. - -Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant were severely burnt in the face, especially -the two latter, with some damp or dank gunpowder which they were drying -on a platter before the kitchen fire, and into which a hot cinder fell. - -This 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, in reply to his question, -“We mean here to die.” - -Winter thereupon replied, “I 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, 1605, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire arrived with the whole power -and force of the county, 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. - -Christopher Wright was mortally wounded. - -Ambrose Rookwood was wounded in four or five places. - -John Grant was likewise disabled. - -Catesby and Thomas Percy, each sword in hand, and “standing before the -door” close together, were mortally wounded by two successive shots fired -by one musketeer, who afterwards boasted of his resolute carriage of -himself on that eventful day.[A] - -[Footnote A: The man’s name was John Streete. He received a pension of two -shillings a day for life, equal to about sixteen shillings a day in our -money. Gerard’s “_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_” p. 155.] - -Catesby, before receiving his fatal shot, we are told by Father Gerard in -his “_Narrative_,” p. 109, “took from his neck a cross of gold, which he -always used to wear about him, and blessing himself with it and kissing -it, showed it unto the people, protesting there solemnly before them all -it was only for the honour of the Cross, and the exaltation of that Faith -which honoured the Cross, and for the saving of their souls in the same -Faith that had moved him to undertake the business; and seth he saw it was -not God’s will it should succeed in that manner they intended, or at that -time, he was willing and ready to give his life for the same cause, only -he would not be taken by any, and against that only he would defend -himself with his sword. - -“This done, Mr. Catesby and Mr. Percy turned back to back, resolving to -yield themselves to no man, but to death as the messenger of God. - -“None of their adversaries did come near them, but one fellow standing -behind a tree with a musket, shot them both with one bullet,[A] and Mr. -Catesby was shot almost dead, the other lived three or four days. - -[Footnote A: It was with one musket, but two successive bullets.] - -“Mr. Catesby being fallen to the ground, as they say, went upon his knees -into the house, and there got a picture of our Blessed Lady in his arms -(unto whom he was accustomed to be very devout), and so embracing and -kissing the same, he died.”[B] - -[Footnote B: The mind of each of the thirteen Gunpowder conspirators -affords the intellectual philosopher and the moral philosopher rich food -for thought. What a reflection from human nature is not the soul of these -men, one and all——especially Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winter, Guy -Fawkes, Ambrose Rookwood, and Christopher Wright. I would especially point -out the strange superstition that Catesby exhibited in wishing to blow up -the _Parliament House_, because it was _there_ the iniquitous laws had -been made against the Catholics. He primarily wished, like some pagan, to -be revenged on the _material object_, which had been the unconscious and -irresponsible instrument of his kinsfolk’s and friends’ hurt. - -Moreover, how true to daily experience is the behaviour of Catesby in his -last moments: of one who in his youth had been very wild, but who, on -reaching maturer years, had grown to have a great devotion to _her_ whom -Wordsworth has so beautifully styled “our tainted nature’s solitary -boast.” - -Again; the dying soldier’s flying for protection to, and the kissing in -his last agony, when the light of life was about to be quenched in his -mortal eyes for ever, a picture of _her_ who is “the Mother of Christ,” -and whom millions hold to be likewise “the Refuge of sinners,” is -startlingly true to human nature. - -But——“Close up his eyes, and let us all to meditation.” For “_In la sua -volontade è nostra pace_”——“Only in the Will of God is man’s peace.” And -the essence of that Will is the Everlasting Moral Law.] - -On the 9th of November Sir Edward Leigh wrote to the Privy Council that -the Wrights were not slain as reputed, but wounded. Not till the 13th was -their death certified by Sir Richard Walsh, High Sheriff of -Worcestershire.——See Gerard’s “_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_” pp. 153, -154. - -Whatever was the case with John Wright, it seems clear that the weight of -evidence inclines to show that Christopher Wright did not expire on -Friday, the 8th November, but that he lingered at least a day or two. The -exact day of Christopher Wright’s death, and what became of his remains, -may be ascertained facts hereafter, possibly. At present, they are -unknown.[157] - - - - - CHAPTER LV. - - -Father Garnet did not go nearer London than Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, -between ten and fifteen miles distant from Great Harrowden. - -We know that he was at Gothurst when Catesby was there, on Tuesday, the -22nd of October, one day after the date of the _post scriptum_ mentioned -in the last chapter. Probably the _post scriptum_ 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 grandfather was Sir Thomas -Beaumont, Master of the Rolls, was a level-headed woman of acute mental -perceptions as well as of great moral ardour and intense spiritual -exaltation.[A] - -[Footnote A: The psychologist will have observed that these qualities are -not seldom combined in a certain order of minds. _Cf._, Shakespeare’s -“great wits to madness are near allied”——some thinkers will be inclined to -say.] - -Miss Vaux 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 -foreboding, 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 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 Vaux 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 themselves 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.”[A] - -[Footnote A: Garnet’s examination of the 12th March. Foley’s “_Records_,” -vol. iv., p. 157.] - -At Coughton, Father Garnet said Mass on the 1st of November, All Saints’ -Day. - -There “assisted” at this Mass the Lady Digby,[B] Mr. and Mrs. Brookesby, -Miss Anne Vaux, and almost the whole of Sir Everard Digby’s Gothurst -household. - -[Footnote B: Lady Digby had been brought up a strong Protestant, and, like -most converts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the Church of -Rome from Calvinistic Puritanism, she became an ardent devotee of the -Jesuits. (The point of contact was probably a common interest in the -problems of the mystical life, and a tendency towards a grave, sober, -strict regularity of “daily walk and conversation.”) George Gilbert, a -gentleman of high Suffolk family and great wealth, was likewise a convert -from Calvinism, through the instrumentality of the Jesuit Fathers, -Darbyshire and Parsons. Gilbert, as a young man, daily “waited upon the -ministry” of the once celebrated Puritan Divine, Dering, the 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 Blessed” 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 pictures of some of “the English -Martyrs,” although “old Richard Norton,” of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, -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 13th October, 1900, through the kind courtesy of the Right Reverend -Monsignor Giles, D.D., Rector of the English College, copies of these -remarkable pictures, copies which are painted on the walls of that very -College where Father Oldcorne himself had been educated. - -The original pictures on the walls of the Church 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 Martyrs -already beatified, including “the Blessed” Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland, who suffered death at York in 1572.——See the “_Acts of the -English Martyrs_,” by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).] - -At Gothurst, however, was Sir Everard himself, busy making his final -preparations for the war he was 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 were 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 offering 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 some -allusion to the then wretched condition of the unhappy English -Catholics.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Letter to Miss Anne Vaux, dated 2nd March, 1605-6, quoted -in Foley, vol. iv., p. 84, where Garnet says: “There is a muttering here -of a sermon which either I or 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 Mr. Attourney saith he hath more.”] - -Now, I infer that all this tends to demonstrate that Father Henry Garnet -felt that a great burden or load had been 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 the Plot finally swept -away. - -Again, in the Mass for All Saints’ Day there is a hymn, one verse of which -is: “Take away 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 -_Parliament_ would be in _existence_ to work mischief! _And this once more -proves that he knew the Plot would be squashed and finally swept away._ - - - - - CHAPTER LVI. - - -Soon after Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant had been injured by the exploded -gunpowder at Holbeach House (as has been already mentioned in Chapter -LIV.), Robert Winter, the Master of Huddington, 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 early in the morning to the house -of one Perkes, in Hagley. After an extraordinary 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,[158] a Protestant lady, to whose children the place apparently -belonged. - -Mrs. Littleton was herself either in, or on the way to, London at this -time, so the two traitors were harboured without the lady’s knowledge or -consent. - -By the treachery, however, of the man-cook at Hagley, or rather, in -justice it should be said, by his diligent zeal in the service of his -sovereign lord the King, Stephen Littleton and Robert 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 gentleman, 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 company of horse to Flanders to fight, with 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, whatever might be the tenour or purport of Oldcorne’s -answer——mischief among either Catholics or Protestants.[159] - -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 his -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.[160] - - - - - CHAPTER LVII. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Vol. II., No. 202. - - “The voluntarie declaration of Edward Oldcorne alias Hall - Jesuite 12 Mar. 1605 [_i.e._, 1605-6]. - - A. - - “Mr. Humfrey Litleton[A] telling me that after Mr. Catesbie saw - him self and others of his Companie burnt w^{th} powder, and the - rest of the compnie readie to fly from him, that then he began - to thinke he had offended god in this action, seeing soe bad - effects follow of the same. - - [Footnote A: I do not know the exact point of time when Humphrey - Littleton thus spoke to Father Oldcorne, except that it was - certainly after the fatal 5th of November, 1605.] - - B. - - “I answeared him that an act is not to be condemd or justified - upon the good or bad euent that follow^{th} 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 wher the - 11 tribs of Israel weare comannded by god to make warrs upon the - trib of Benjamin; and yett the tribe of Benjamin did both in the - first and secound battaile overthrow the other 11 tribs. The - like said I wee read of Lewis King of france who went to fight - against the Turks and to recouer the hoolye Land, but ther he - loost the most of his armie, and him self dyed ther of the - plague the like wee may say when the xtianes defended Rhoodes - against the turks wher the Turkes preuayled and the xtianes - weare overthrowne, and yet noe doubt the xtians cause was good - and the turks bad and thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. - Catesbie’s it is not to be approved or condemned by the euent, - but by the propper object or end, and meanes w^{ch} was to be - vsed in it; and bycause I know nothinge of thes I will neither - approve it or condeme it but leave it to god and ther owne - consciences and in this warie sort I spake to him bycause I - doubted he came to entrap me, and that he should take noe - advantage of my words whither he reported them to Catholiks or - Protestants. - - “(Signed) Edward Oldcorne. - - “Acknowledged before vs - - “J. Popham.[A] - Edw. Coke.[B] - W. Waad.[C] - John Corbett.” - -(The A and B at the left side of the Declaration are Coke’s own marks.) - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -[Footnote B: Afterwards the celebrated Lord Chief Justice of England, and -Editor of “_Littleton’s Tenures_.” This Humphrey Littleton, mentioned in -the Text, was a descendant of Sir John Littleton, Author of the immortal -legal work.] - -[Footnote C: Lieutenant of the Tower of London.] - - - - - CHAPTER LVIII. - - -We are now come to the crux of this Inquiry. - -To every philosophical thinker who takes the trouble to ponder the matter -it must be evident that the ethical principles enunciated in the first -part of the Declaration, given _in extenso_ in the preceding chapter, are -intellectually irrefutable and morally irreproachable; although their -obviousness, certainly, will not be palpable to “the man in the street.” - -The answer of this clear-sighted, strong-headed Yorkshireman, is indeed -the answer that is the resultant of exact ethical knowledge, that is, of -moral science. _For what is science, either in the realms of the -intellectual, the moral, the political, or the physical, but “exact -knowledge.”_ - -Moreover, these principles are the resultant of abstract moral science, or -exact ethical knowledge pure and simple. - -Now, “Morality is the science of duty.”[161] But, just as it is most -mischievous _indiscriminately_ to apply abstract principles of morality, -however faultless in themselves, to the complex affairs of individuals and -of States, so is it most dangerous to strew broadcast statements of the -abstract principles of ethics for the untutored mind of the _merely_ -practical man——first of all, to misunderstand; and, secondly, to wrest to -his own undoing and that of his equally unfortunate fellow-men. - -This is certainly so in the present stage of the world’s imperfect -education. Though one lives in the hope that sooner or later that “ampler -day” may dawn, when, from the least unto the greatest, men shall come to -have a happy conscious realization of the truth of the poet’s dictum: -“_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_;”[162] “Happy is he who hath -been able to learn the causes of things.” - -Still, _truth——that which is——is truth_. - -_And partial truth is not less true, according to its measure and in its -degree, than the full orb of truth._[A] - -[Footnote A: Strategy in war has for its intellectual and moral -justification the fact that partial truth is not less true, in its measure -and in its degree, than the full orb of truth.] - -Furthermore, “Wisdom is justified by all her children;” even although some -of those children are tardy in realizing and in expressing their sense of -such justification. - -Now, although all this stands to reason——nay, because it is true, is even -the perfection of reason——it was an enunciation of principles by Father -Oldcorne, which it was more than probable would be misinterpreted by two -sets of people, the intellectually stupid and the morally malicious. - -Nay, it may be allowed that even persons of the highest intelligence and -of the utmost good faith——such as, in the last century, the late David -Jardine[163]——might easily enough think that Edward Oldcorne deserved -condemnation and chiding for thus apparently showing such a marked -disposition to look at this grave matter, the moral rightness or wrongness -of the Gunpowder Plot, as though it were as purely abstract and -scholastic a question as that famous moot of the middle ages: “How many -angels can dance on the point of a needle?”[A] - -[Footnote A: Oldcorne had special private knowledge that the Plot would -never be a Plot _executed_, because (1) he knew Christopher Wright had -resolved to reveal it; because (2) he knew that his own personal act had -ended the Plot by his penning the Letter.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIX. - - -Now, the contention is this: That regard being had to the extraordinary -heinousness of the Gunpowder Plot, in point of underhand stealthiness and -secrecy as well as of deliberateness, malice, magnitude, and cruelty, no -man of moral uprightness and intellectual keenness could be——without doing -a violence to his human nature that is all but incredible——so unspeakably -reckless and utterly insane as to fling broadcast to the winds, for the -wayfaring man and the fool to pick up and con for their own and their -hapless fellow-creatures’ moral destruction, an _oral statement_ as to -this diabolical Plot, that expressed ways of looking at the Plot merely -speculative and simply in the abstract,[A] _save and except_ on one -condition only, namely, that such speaker had had both from without and -from within, _et ab extra et ab intra_, a special _knowledge_. - -[Footnote A: It is to be noted that in this momentous Declaration of the -12th March, 1605-6, Oldcorne in the first part reserves or conceals -“_partial truth_;” that is to say, in _this_ case, _truth in the concrete, -or truth in action_. While in the second part of the Declaration Oldcorne -orally disclaims, denies, or dissembles integral truth, that is here a -special and particular knowledge of the end the plotters had in view, and -the means they purposed to adopt. The knowledge he had received was of a -nature _official_, and at least conditionally, though not absolutely, -_private_ knowledge.] - -Furthermore, _a special knowledge, with absolute certitude_, which -_warranted_ the speaker in mentally surveying that Plot not merely as it -_then_ was at the moment when he was giving utterance to his speculative -statement concerning it, but, as he full well knew, at some point of time -prior to that fateful day, November the 5th, 1605, it had been destined to -be perpetually, namely, A PLOT _ante factum in æternum_, a mere abstract -mental plan for ever. Aye, a mere abstract mental plan to all eternity; -because transmuted and transformed by some process wherein that speaker -had himself taken a primal, an essential, a meritorious part.[A] - -[Footnote A: The argument is that a man at once good and clever, like -Edward Oldcorne, would not, according to the rules that govern human -nature and daily experience, have clothed in words and then let loose to -wander about the world seeking whom it might fall in with and victimize, a -bare abstract proposition regarding the Plot, _unless_ he had been first -absolutely certain that the foundation-thing, the Plot itself, was too -attenuated and ghost-like to work hurt or mischief to any human creature. - -Now, since Littleton propounded his question _after_ the 5th of November, -Oldcorne had an _ordinary_ ground for allowing himself to speak of the -defunct Plot purely in the abstract. But this was an obviously very -dangerous thing to do, both for Littleton’s sake, the general public’s -sake (Catholic or Protestant), and for the speaker’s own sake. Therefore -the fact that Oldcorne did so speak postulates something _more than -ordinary_. Hence, as Oldcorne was a man of virtue both intellectually and -morally, the reasonable inference is that Oldcorne _had an extraordinary -ground_ for his answer which endued him with a special liberty of abstract -speech in regard to the matter. _That extraordinary ground, I maintain, -was based deep down within the depths of his own interior knowledge._] - - - - - CHAPTER LX. - - -But it may be objected that instead of assuming that Father Oldcorne was a -man not only of mental keenness but also of moral uprightness, and -proceeding forthwith to build an argument on such an assumption, the -writer ought in truth and justice to have proved, by evidence or reason, -the latter part of the proposition. And this the rather, seeing that so -many of the co-religionists both in our own day as well as in the days of -Father Oldcorne have regarded that society, whereof Oldcorne was a -distinguished English member, with not merely unfeigned suspicion but with -sincere dislike, and even with genuine loathing.[A] - -[Footnote A: The most formidable adversaries of the Jesuits far and away -have been Roman Catholics of a particular type of mind. Blaise Pascal, -that colossal genius, has been probably their most successful enemy.] - -Now, the unbiased historical philosopher is content not only to let the -dead bury their dead but also to let theologian deal with theologian. To -the historical philosopher, a Jesuit is a man and nothing more: nothing -more, that is, so far as his being entitled to receive at the former’s -hands the benefit of all those natural rights which belong to all members -of the human species. For all men (including Jesuits) are, in the mind of -the philosopher, “born free and equal.” - -Hence it follows that when, amid the chances and changes of this mortal -life, the historical philosopher is thrown across the path of a Jesuit, he -looks at him, as a matter of duty, straight in the face, just as he looks -at any other rational creature; and then seeks to ascertain, by dint of -normal touchstones and tests, what manner of man the person is whom that -philosopher, by the ordinances of fate, has then and there confronted. - -Now, in the case of Edward Oldcorne, the Text of this Inquiry, and also -the Notes thereunto, supply abundant proof that Oldcorne came of a good, -wholesome, Yorkshire stock——hard-working, honest, and honourable; that his -own mental nature was broad, rich and full, high-minded, just, and -generous.[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Henry Garnet, S.J., landed in England in 1586 along -with the gifted Robert Southwell, whose prose and poetical works belong to -English literature. Father Weston was then the Jesuit Superior. Father -John Gerard landed, along with Father Edward Oldcorne, off the coast of -Norfolk, in August, 1588, shortly after the decisive fight with the -Spanish Armada, off Gravelines. As illustrating the conscientiousness and -courage of this Yorkshire Elizabethan Jesuit, the following quotation from -Foley, vol. iv., p. 210, may be of interest: “Father Oldcorne was employed -sometime in London by Father Garnet, diligently labouring in the quest and -salvation of souls. He was ever of a most ready wit, and endeavoured as -far as possible to adapt himself to the manner of those with whom he -lived. There were exceptions, however, in which, consumed with an ardent -zeal of asserting and defending the Divine honour, he could not refrain -from correcting those whom he heard uttering obscene and injurious -language either towards God or their superiors. When in London, in the -house of a Catholic gentleman, he struck with his fist and broke into -pieces a pane of stained or painted glass representing an indecent picture -of Venus and Mars, which he considered wholly unfit for the eyes of a -virtuous family.” - -[The curious philosopher wonders whether this Elizabethan Catholic -gentleman, having been deprived of his “Venus and Mars” in such a -high-handed fashion, afterwards became anti-Jesuitical.]] - -Therefore is it, alike by evidence and reason, borne in upon the mind of -the philosopher that, on grounds of probability so high as to afford -practical certitude, he may proceed to build his argument upon the -assumption that Edward Oldcorne was a man not only of intellectual acumen -but also of moral integrity, as has been already predicated of him. - - - - - CHAPTER LXI. - - -Now, in the first part of his Declaration, Father Oldcorne uttered -concerning the Gunpowder Plot a proposition which expressed partial truth -alone. Because he expressed truth in the abstract only, not truth in the -concrete also, concerning that nefarious scheme. - -In other words, Father Oldcorne severed in thought the two kinds of truth, -the two aspects of truth, the two parts of truth, which being _unified_ -gave the _whole_ truth respecting the moral mode of judging the Gunpowder -Treason Plot. - -Oldcorne severed concrete truth from abstract truth,[A] practical truth -from speculative truth, and so far as his hearer, Humphrey Littleton, was -concerned, held that concrete truth, that practical truth, suspended at -the sword-point over Littleton’s head. - -[Footnote A: Or, it may be said, Oldcorne separated concrete truth from -abstract truth, practical truth from speculative truth, holding the former -in solution, and putting into the hands of Littleton the latter alone, in -the form of a dangerous precipitate.] - -Now, I maintain that, regard being had to the terrific danger of -Littleton’s occasioning mischief, either through stupidity, malice, or -both, a man of the intellectual and moral calibre of Edward Oldcorne would -have never suffered his tongue to give utterance to a proposition -dividing, as with a sword, concrete truth from abstract truth, practical -truth from speculative truth, and then holding the former suspended above -the head of his questioner, _unless and until_ that great Priest and -Jesuit had been first possessed of the living consciousness that he had -had, and then was, at that very instant of time when speaking, having that -Plot, which represented “the sum of all villainies,” in that it involved -“sacrilegious murder,”[A] _firmly and unconquerably crushed under his -feet_.[164] - -[Footnote A: This phrase is used by Shakespeare in “Macbeth” (1606), I -suggest, with indirect reference to the Gunpowder Plot, which Shakespeare -must have followed with the most breathless, absorbing interest. For -Norbrook was in Snitterfield, where his mother (Mary Arden) had property; -while Coughton was the home of the Throckmortons, the Ardens’ relatives. -Clopton House, where Ambrose Rookwood was living from Michaelmas, 1605, -Lapworth, where John Wright resided from May, 1605, and where Christopher -Wright and Marmaduke Ward visited him (all of which places were in that -“garden of England,” Warwickshire), must have been as familiar to the poet -almost as his own Stratford-on-Avon. - -I find the name “Robert Arden,” of Pedmore, Worcestershire, 1-1/2 miles -from Stourbridge, down as “a popish recusant” for the year 1592, in the -“_Hatfield MS._,” part iv.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXII. - - -And how could this be? - -It could be only by dint of a _two-fold knowledge_, a two-fold, -warranting, justifying, vindicating knowledge, which this Priest and -Jesuit held stored-up deep down within the depths of his conscious being, -a knowledge _passive_ or receptive which had come to him “from without,” -_ab extra_; a knowledge _active_ or self-caused which he had bestowed upon -himself “from within,” _ab intra_. - -Now, the passive knowledge “from without” was the knowledge Oldcorne had -had from the penitent plotter of that penitent’s resolve to reveal the -Plot to his lawful Sovereign by the most perfect means for so doing that -by the human mind could be devised. - -The active knowledge “from within” was the knowledge that Oldcorne had -possessed, and was at that moment possessing, of his own sublimely -conceived and magnificently executed act and deed: although even this -active knowledge “from within” was itself _indirectly_ traceable to that -penitent plotter’s repentant resolve and repentant will.[A] - -[Footnote A: We know on the authority of Sir Edward Coke himself that one -of the conspirators was supposed to have revealed the Plot, and indeed -such _must_ have been inevitably the case. Now, the proved position of -Thomas Ward in the work of communicating with Thomas Winter suggests that -Ward was the diplomatic go-between. But it is obvious that Ward cannot -have himself penned the Letter; for if he had been in the service of -Elizabeth’s Government his handwriting would be known to the Government. -Now, circumstantial evidence tends to prove that Father Oldcorne did. -Therefore the relationship of priest and penitent and the machinery of the -Tribunal of Penance is forthwith, naturally and easily, brought into play. -Now, in these days of “_emancipated and free religious thought_,” it is -difficult for us readily to realize the _stupendous_ force that the -alleged supernatural facts of historical Christianity had upon _the mind -of all those who lived consciously_ hemmed in, as it were, by an alleged -supernatural tradition of Christianity, _whether_ Calvinistic _or_ Roman -Catholic, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Those alleged facts -were assumed and deliberately calculated upon as among the ruling and -controlling _realities_ of daily life. Now, a Yorkshire Roman -Catholic——especially one brought up in the Wright, Ward, Babthorpe, -Ingleby, Mallory circle——might be easily frightened, nay, terrified, into -confession and avowal of his crimes, and _therefore_ into satisfaction, -and _therefore_ into reversal, by the mere fact that about the Feast of -St. Michael and All Angels, 11th October (old style), 1605, when -“examining his conscience” he came to realize the tremendous and awful -wickedness of his two crimes, sacrilege and murder. For the Archangel -“_Michael——who is like unto God_”——would be to _him_ a being as real and -living and of transcendently greater _power_——an important -consideration——than even the stern reality of the hangman of the -gallows-tree and the ripping knife; while a close-natured, thoughtful -Yorkshireman like Christopher Wright would vividly realize, with his -shrewd instinct for values and tendencies, that, _unrepentant_, his -ultimate fate——either here or hereafter——was not worth while the risking. -For, on the one hand, he may have peradventure, consciously or -unconsciously, argued there is the certainty of falling, sooner or later, -into “the Hands of the Living God,” and of being by Him consigned to the -charge of Michael, the Minister of His Justice; while, on the other, there -is the going, _not_ to the chill, viewless wind, but to a sympathetic -rational creature with a brain, heart, eyes, hands, and feet, and the -getting _him_, in the solid reality of flesh and blood, to put a speedy -stop, here and now, to the whole unhappy business, and so save further -trouble. (A man of middle age, well educated, belonging to an old -Yorkshire Roman Catholic family that “had never lost the Faith,” told a -relative, not long ago, that “after being on the spree” he should have -certainly committed a great crime had he not been stayed by the knowledge -that, if he did so, “_he would go plump into Hell_.” I mention this to -show how, at least, sometimes the Catholic conscience works even in these -“enlightened” days. Hence, the antecedent probability of the truth of my -suggested solution of _how_ the revealing conspirator was motived to -reveal the conspiracy. For an Inquiry into the Gunpowder Plot is a great -philosophical study of human _motives_ as well as of _probabilities_; and -the case of Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) is, in relation to the -example just cited, an _à fortiori_ case.)] - - - - - CHAPTER LXIII. - - -But, it may be plausibly objected, if it were of such dangerous tendency -_indiscriminately_ to give utterance to bare, abstract, moral principles -only, how came it to pass, then, that Oldcorne, who was a good man, -morally, as well as a clever man, intellectually, suffered himself _thus_ -to act when questioned by Humphrey Littleton respecting the moral -lawfulness, or otherwise, of the Gunpowder Plot? - -Now, Oldcorne, as we have already seen in his Declaration quoted above, -has recorded a——that is one——reason why he left Littleton _in -abstracto_——that is furnished with truth in the abstract merely. And -beyond a doubt, as subsequent events so signally proved, the astute -Jesuit’s judgment of Littleton’s character had not erred one whit. - -Littleton, as Oldcorne justly feared, was a “dangerous fellow,” one who -was likely to entrap the innocent, and one who was, therefore, not -entitled, either in Justice or in that more refined kind of justice called -Equity, to have his question dealt with by anything other than a flanking -movement; or, in other words, by anything other than such an intellectual -manœuvre as would _turn aside the question_ Littleton had elected to -propound to the great mental strategist——as would turn aside the question -Littleton had elected to propound, on the face of it, probably, and as the -event proved, certainly, from sinister motives and with crooked aims. - -Hence, _partly_ because of his questioner’s inferred insincerity and -pernicious purposes _did Oldcorne sever speculative truth in thought from -concrete truth in action_; or, in other words, _Oldcorne gave to Littleton -an answer “sounding” in partial truth alone_. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIV. - - -Now, _partial truth_, as has been affirmed already, _is not, in its -proportion, less true than the full orb of truth_.[A] And many are the -times and many are the circumstances in this strangely chequered human -life of ours, with its endless movements and its perpetual -vicissitudes, when apparently conflicting and antagonistic duties can -be in justice, equity, and honour reconciled on one condition only, -namely, that man shall leave to Omniscience alone, “from Whom no -secrets are hid,” a knowledge of the full orb of certain degrees of -some particular kind of truth, governing some particular -subject-matter under consideration.[165][B] - -[Footnote A: _It is never morally lawful to tell a lie_, that is, to speak -contrary to one’s mind, or to deceive by word contrary to that law of -justice which bids a man render to all rational creatures their due. - -_To act a lie_ is as base and wicked as to tell a lie, and often more -unmanly and contemptible besides: else might the deaf and dumb be unjustly -deceived with impunity.] - -[Footnote B: The noble science of casuistry is founded on the fact that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -A knowledge of casuistry, that is, of the principles of moral science -scientifically applied to the living facts of the living present, will be -of primal necessity to British statesmen in the twentieth century, which -will be a century of few, but strong, principles, and of few, but strong, -men to apply those principles. - -Efficiency, and efficiency through scientific exactitude, will be the -characteristic aim of all the great Imperial Powers of the world in the -near future. Here, in England, with all our intellectual, moral, and -physical virtues (which indeed are neither few nor contemptible), we have -been too apt to allow a number of persons to speak for us, able in their -way, no doubt, but of limited mental vision, and hopelessly incapable of -grappling with the problems that confront a world-wide Empire, embracing a -fifth (some say a fourth) of the human race. A democratic Empire must -choose leaders that are _wise_, just, self-controlled, courageous; and -then that Empire must entrust freely and fearlessly their destinies with -such leaders, who must not be afraid faithfully to go “full tilt” against -ignorant prejudice or short-sighted prepossession. - -Now, wisdom (or prudence) is the cardinal virtue which presides over all -the other three virtues. And wisdom (or prudence) tells us that strategy -in war, that sometimes necessary evil; diplomacy betwixt the -representatives of nations; and above and beyond all the imparting to the -general body of the people only so much knowledge of the tendencies of -current events as is for the common good, can have intellectual and moral -justification on this one fundamental ethical principle only, namely, that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -Again; where a sound intellectual and moral basis is not consciously held, -man, by the rules that govern his rational nature, will not “walk -sure-footedly.” Moreover, it is impossible for a self-respecting free -people to allow that essential _unity_ does not prevail betwixt the -fundamental principles of both private action and public action. _For just -wars and politics are not the pawns of a game that has been devised and -patented by the devil._ Just wars and politics are ethics working in the -living present, in the wider field of human conduct. And, properly -understood, they are, after their kind, and must be, if they are lawful to -rational creatures, as noble and as much under the reign, rule, and -governance of the _Ideal Man_ as are those solemn acts of life which have -been (amongst other purposes) devised to remind man of the transcendental -nature of his origin and destiny.] - -Just as on some wild, tempestuous night, the full orb of the silvery moon -is obscured to the eye of the gazer by a dark, driving cloud. - -Now, it has been said that, partly, _because_ Oldcorne inferred -insincerity of heart in Humphrey Littleton, and, partly, _because_ -Oldcorne inferred in his questioner pernicious purposes in propounding the -question he did propound respecting the moral lawfulness, or otherwise, of -the Gunpowder Plot, _therefore_ Oldcorne gave Littleton an answer sounding -in partial——that is, in this case, in abstract, in speculative——truth -alone. - -Oldcorne’s own expressed words are as follow:—— - -“_In this warie sort I spake to him bycause I doubted he came to entrap -me_, _and that he should take no advantage of my words whither he reported -them to Catholics or to Protestants._” - -Unquestionably, this must have been _a_ reason——_one_ reason, that is——for -Father Oldcorne’s flanking, evasive reply, sounding in partial——that is, -in this case, in abstract, in speculative——truth alone. - -For otherwise a man of such approved goodness and established character -would have never declared it to be a reason. The contrary supposal it is -impossible to entertain. - -But because Oldcorne’s declared reason was undoubtedly _a_ reason, it does -not follow——regard being had to persons, times, and circumstances——either -from the demands of universal reason or moral fitness, that it was _his -only and sole reason_, nor (still less) that it was his _paramount and -predominant reason_ for his action in question, that is, for his mode of -couching the aforesaid Declaration in partial truth alone. - -What leads to the conclusion with resistless force that Oldcorne’s alleged -reason cannot have been his paramount, his predominant, reason is the -simple, indisputable fact that such an aim so egregiously miscarried. - -Therefore, in the case of so astute and clever a man, as all the evidence -we have concerning Oldcorne to demonstration proves him to have been, it -is rendered probable, to the degree of moral certainty, that the great -casuist had some far stronger reason latent within him than the reason he -chose to put forth for couching an answer to Humphrey Littleton, sounding -in partial truth alone. - -Besides the sufficient, indeed, _yet inferior reason_, grounded on the -primal instinct of personal self-preservation, or, in other words, to put -the matter bluntly, the mere brute instinct of not being entrapped, wisdom -suggests that Oldcorne must——his moral character being what we know it -was——have had a reason latent deep down within the depths of his conscious -being, which was not only a sufficient but _superior reason_, not only a -true but a sublime reason, for severing in this grave matter, and holding -suspended, truth _in thought_ from truth _in action_. - -Yea, Father Oldcorne, I maintain, gave Humphrey Littleton the flanking, -evasive answer that he did give him, notwithstanding the inevitable, -possible, and even probable dangers attendant thereon, because he -(Oldcorne) felt within himself, “to the finest fibre of his being,” a -_freedom_, a _three-fold freedom_, which warranted, justified, and -vindicated him in so answering. - -Now this freedom was a three-fold freedom, because it was a -thrice-purchased freedom. - -_And it was a thrice-purchased freedom because it had been purchased by -the merits_:—— - -(1) Of the personal, actual repentance of the revealing plotter himself. -By the merits - -(2) Of the imputed (or constructive) repentance of that penitent’s -co-plotters. And by the merits - -(3) Of the laudable action of Oldcorne himself. - - - - - CHAPTER LXV. - - -Now, Oldcorne, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he -was good, manifests from the inherent nature of his answer to Humphrey -Littleton a sense, a consciousness, an assurance of freedom from the -restraints and obligations which would have undoubtedly stayed and bound -him had he not been already freed from their power. - -Now, it is a superior power that countervails, that renders impotent an -inferior power. - -_Now, Oldcorne would be freed from the restraining power of moral -obligations, as to the user of a particular character of speech, if he had -had residing within him a power of superior, of sublimer, that is, of -countervailing force._ - -_Now, Oldcorne, in his answer to Littleton, manifestly gives evidence of -power, of countervailing power._ - -_Knowledge gives power: gives countervailing power._ - -_Therefore it follows that the presence of power, of countervailing power, -in Oldcorne proves likewise the strong probability of knowledge, of -countervailing knowledge likewise._ - -_And what kind of knowledge can such two-fold knowledge have been, save a -meritorious knowledge of what aforetime had been, but which was then no -longer, the Gunpowder Treason Plot?_ - -For, from the very moment of Oldcorne’s becoming conscious that the Plot -as a plot had vanished into thin air by (1) personal, actual repentance; -by (2) imputed or constructive repentance; by (3) a personally heroic act: -had vanished like the morning mists before the beams of the rising sun, -Oldcorne would feel himself, so to speak, immediately to be endued with an -extraordinary power: with a power that would straightway cause him to grow -to a loftier stature than all his fellows: with a power that then would -enable him, as it were, to scale the heights, and, at length, to mount up -to the very top of what aforetime had been the baleful Plot, but which -Plot Oldcorne full well knew would be henceforward and for ever emptied -and defecated of and from all murderous, criminous, sacrilegious -quality.[166] - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in viewing and -surveying “the fact of Mr. Catesbie’s” simply speculatively and purely in -the abstract. - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in leaving -Humphrey Littleton _in abstracto_, after the latter had propounded to him -his dangerous question: of leaving the doubter with an answer sounding in -partial truth alone. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVI. - - -Now, this conclusion leads inevitably to the further conclusion that -Edward Oldcorne must have had latent within him, deep down within the -depths of his conscious being, a particular knowledge, _as distinct from a -general knowledge, a private knowledge as distinct from a public -knowledge_, not indeed of this Plot as a plot, but of the Plot _after_ it -had been, _when_ it had been, and _as_ it had been _first transmuted and -transformed, by the causes and processes hereinbefore mentioned: -transmuted and transformed into an instrument, sure and certain for the -temporal salvation of his fellow-men_. - -Yea, _because_ Edward Oldcorne’s noblest mental faculty, his conscience, -gazing with eagle-eye, sun-filled, yet undazzled and undismayed, upon -absolute truth was able unshrinkingly and calmly to bear witness to the -other indivisible parts of his rational nature, that _his_ mind in -relation to that fell enterprise, which from first to last must have “made -the angels weep,” was a mind not only of passive innocence, but of active -rectitude, _therefore_ must he have felt himself to be not barely, but -abundantly _free_. Free, because he knew there was no mortal in this -world, and no being in the world to come, to condemn _him_ at the bar of -eternal Justice; nay, none rightly even to be so much as his accuser: free -to survey the baleful scheme purely speculatively: free, orally to express -the results of that survey, _either as to whole or part, in abstracto, in -the abstract merely; and this notwithstanding the risk of -misinterpretation from his questioner’s “want of thought,” or “want of -heart_.” - -For everlastingly was it the truth, that none could gainsay nor resist, -that in relation to _this_ matter, at any rate, it was the lofty privilege -of Edward Oldcorne——indeed a man, if ever there were such, “elect and -precious”——to have been made “a white soul:” to have been made a soul like -unto “a star that dwelt apart.” - -_Res ipsa loquitur._ Yea, the words of Edward Oldcorne speak for -themselves. And from those words evident is it that it was the kingly -prerogative of this disciplined, self-repressed, humblest of men, _to know -the truth as to the once atrocious plan: to know the truth and to be -free_. - -For his language implies, and, his mind and his character being what they -were, his language is intelligible on none other supposal than this: That -at the very moment when his tongue gave utterance to this now famous -flanking, evasive answer to his inquirer, _he, even he, had possession of -a power, a knowledge, a living consciousness, that he had been exalted to -be the chosen agent of that Supreme Power of the Universe_, to Whom by -infinite right, Vengeance belongs: _the chosen agent whereby the -aforetime, but then no longer, stupendous Gunpowder Treason Plot had been, -to all eternity, overthrown, frustrated, and brought to nought_.[167] - - - - - CHAPTER LXVII. - - -Hence may we say, of a surety, has it been proved that Edward Oldcorne, -Priest and Jesuit, used words which imply that, as a fact, he viewed the -Plot _ante factum_, before the fact, and in the abstract merely. - -That, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he was good, -he must have had his warranting reasons, his justifying reasons, his -vindicating reasons for so doing, when such a course of action was -obviously likely to be attended with danger from misinterpretation from -both the fool and the knave; from both the man lacking thought and from -the man lacking heart. - -That such warranting reasons, such justifying reasons, such vindicating -reasons would be found in the fact that Oldcorne knew the Plot was no -longer a plot, but a scheme emptied and defecated of all evil, all -murderous, all criminous, all sacrilegious quality. Nay, that it was a -scheme sublimated and transfigured by his (Oldcorne’s) own superabounding -merit and virtue in relation to the once diabolical, but then repented of, -prodigious plan. - -Therefore is the inevitable conclusion pressed upon us with resistless -force, that, according to the changeless laws which govern man’s -intellectual and moral nature, Oldcorne must have had some _official or -semi-official particular and private knowledge_ of the thirteen Gunpowder -traitors’ heinous project, as distinct from and in addition to that merely -personal, general knowledge, which he necessarily cannot have failed to -possess in his capacity of an ordinary English citizen: some professional -or quasi-professional special, private knowledge, as distinct from that -general, public, common knowledge, which every sane man then a subject of -the British Crown could not help not being possessed of, at that very -instant of time when Humphrey Littleton propounded to the great casuist -Humphrey Littleton’s aforetime unhappy question.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is quite clear to my mind that Christopher Wright, the -revealing plotter, must have himself expressly freed his confessor from -the obligation to _absolute_ secrecy, which the seal of the Confessional -would impose. It may have been that Oldcorne made this a condition -precedent to his agreeing to pen the Letter. Or, it may have been that -Wright’s own strong Catholic instincts and natural sense of justice -suggested the necessity of this course. As already remarked, a natural -secret, that is, a something that is not a sin, which alone forms matter -for Sacramental Confession, may _indirectly_ come under the seal, if the -confessor promises expressly or impliedly to accept the natural secret -under the obligations of the seal. But in Wright’s case there could be no -question of his communication being in the nature of a natural secret -protected _indirectly_ by the seal by reason of Oldcorne’s promise. And -though _freed_ by the penitent from the duty of absolute secrecy, Oldcorne -would be still under a positive duty _of discretion_.] - -I say advisedly _aforetime unhappy question_. - -For, I respectfully maintain that the ratiocinative faculty to-day, of a -surety, demonstrates that in the majestic cause of impartial, severe, -historical truth, the act of this frail, erring child of man, Humphrey -Littleton, has proved itself now to be thrice happy. - -“_O felix culpa!_” “O happy fault!” Out of bitterness is come forth -sweetness. - -Humphrey Littleton was not pardoned by King James, his Privy Council, and -Government, notwithstanding the invaluable disclosures he had made.[168] - -This high-born English gentleman was executed at Redhill, Worcester, on -the 7th day of April, 1606, along with (among others) another open rebel, -John Winter, the half-brother of Robert Winter and Thomas Winter, the -Gunpowder traitors. - -Humphrey Littleton, we are told by his contemporary, Father John Gerard, -asked forgiveness of Father Oldcorne more than once, and said that he had -wronged him much. - -He also asked forgiveness of Mr. Abington, who, though condemned to death, -was ultimately pardoned at his wife’s and Lord Mounteagle’s intercession. - -Humphrey Littleton “died with show of great repentance, and so with sorrow -and humility and patient acceptance of his death made amends for his -former frailty and too unworthy desire of life.” - -Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach——who had likewise joined in the -rebellion in the Midlands, under Sir Everard Digby, which grew out of the -Gunpowder Plot, although a distinct movement from it, albeit connected -with the Plot——was made a public example of in his native County of -Staffordshire, _in terrorem_, as a terror to evil-doers: this unfortunate -English gentleman suffering the extreme penalty of the law, according to -his contemporary, the aforesaid Father John Gerard, in the ancient town of -Stafford. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVIII. - - -We now come to the second and latter part of Father Oldcorne’s Declaration -to Humphrey Littleton, from the whole of which Declaration Littleton drew -the conclusion that Oldcorne answered “the action was good, and seemed to -approve of it.”[A] - -[Footnote A: By thus disclaiming knowledge of “_these_”——that is, the -object the plotters had in view in their nefarious Plot, and the means -they purposed having recourse to, to attain their object——Oldcorne -deliberately throws a veil over the full orb of truth. But Littleton might -have discerned, had he taken the trouble so to do, that Oldcorne was -equivocating under a sense of prior obligation; and the clue was afforded -by the person of the speaker and the tenour of the answer itself. In the -former part of the Declaration, by leaving Littleton _in abstracto_, he -had thrown a veil over a portion of the full orb of truth. Just as the -silvery moon, on some tempestuous night, may be first partially obscured, -by a thick, dark, driving cloud, and then afterwards wholly obscured, from -the view of the gazer.] - -“And thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. Catesbie’s; it is not to be -approved or condemned by the event, but by the proper object or end, and -means which was to be used in it; _and because I know nothing of thes_, I -will neither approve it or condeme it, but leave it to god and ther owne -consciences, and in this wary sort I spoke to him bycause I doubted he -came to entrap me; and that he should take noe advantage of the words -whither he reported them to Catholics or Protestants.”[B] - -[Footnote B: Oldcorne’s full answer to Littleton would be, “and because I -know nothing of these [that I am at liberty to tell you, Humphrey -Littleton”]: _these last words being interiorly expressed, perhaps_.] - -Now, in the first place, let it be remembered that these words were spoken -_not before but after_ Wednesday, the 6th of November, when, as Oldcorne -himself has left on record, and which indeed we have seen already, Father -Tesimond came from Coughton to Huddington, and from Huddington to Hindlip; -and when “_he said that there were certain gentlemen that meant to have -blown up the Parliament House, and that their plot was discovered a day or -two before_.”[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Oldcorne says that Tesimond reached Hindlip at two -o’clock. Now, as Tesimond came _from_ Huddington, where, already, he had -had an interview with Catesby, the conspirators must have reached -Huddington _before_ two o’clock; probably they reached the mansion-house -at twelve o’clock mid-day. Bates says that Tesimond was at Huddington -half-an-hour; but Jardine says two hours. Query, what does “_Greenway’s -MS._” say?] - -Again; Fawkes, we are told by Eudæmon-Joannes,[169] explained at the Trial -of the conspirators why the prisoners pleaded “‘Not guilty,’ which was -that the Indictment contained ‘many other matters, which we neither can, -nor ought to countenance by our assent or silence,’ though none of them -meant to deny that which they had not only voluntarily confessed before, -_but which was quite notorious throughout the realm_.”[170] (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, seeing that Oldcorne told Littleton that “_he knew nothing_” as to -the “_end or object_” the plotters had in their Plot, nor “_the means -which was to be used in it_,” when the whole of England, not to say -Europe, had been ringing with a knowledge of _not only the end or object, -but also the means_, for the last past few days, and perhaps weeks, at the -very least, I draw this inevitable conclusion:—— - -That because Oldcorne was a man as morally good as he was intellectually -clever, _he must have met his questioner’s inquiry with this nescience, by -reason of some antecedent, official, and professional duty; or, at least, -semi-official and quasi-professional duty, which had been imposed upon -him, ab extra, from the outside, prior in time to Humphrey Littleton’s -coming to him to be resolved of his doubts as to the moral rightness or -wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot_.[171] - -In other words, that Oldcorne felt instinctively that he could recognise -in _a private individual, like Humphrey Littleton_, no valid right, title, -claim, or demand to call forth an answer, which might discover or disclose -to Littleton the secret of the repentant Christopher Wright. - -Yea, neither in Justice, nor in Equity, nor in Honour could the grand -Yorkshireman betray to Humphrey Littleton the secret of trust that in a -semi-official, quasi-professional mode or fashion had come to be entrusted -to him by another, as that other’s private property and exclusive -possession. - -_That other was Christopher Wright, the penitent revealing plotter, and -whomsoever he had, explicitly or implicitly, willed should share a -knowledge of the mighty secret. But to none other or others beside. And -certainly not to men probably prompted by sinister motives and crooked -aims._ - -For a knowledge of truth in action, truth in the result, truth in the -event, truth in the external, and every other kind of truth in relation to -the Gunpowder[A] Plot, _integral or partial, was irrevocably held in -trust_ by Edward Oldcorne, not for Humphrey Littleton, or the like of him, -but for Christopher Wright and men that were true of heart. - -[Footnote A: THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS: NEITHER CAN A MAN OR A -WOMAN DO EVIL THAT GOOD MAY COME. But Oldcorne would contend that, in -perfect Reason, Truth may be concealed, subject to certain limitations -and, regard being had to person, time, and circumstance, the -clue-affording possibilities; and this whether partial truth or whole -truth, _in pursuance of a prior and superior moral obligation_. And so -would say all modern diplomatists and commanders in the field, however -conscientious and upright they might be, unless they wished to court -defeat, or to give away their Country, and (if justice be meted out to -them) to be cashiered. Now, _unity at all times and in all places must -prevail. For all men are subject to the one Moral Law of Right Reason, and -nowhere will you find men without souls_, notwithstanding that certain -members of the English middle classes sometimes seem to labour under a -delusion to the contrary. - -Equivocation cannot be had recourse to in matters of Contract, nor for -pecuniary gain, nor sordid profit. Remember _that_, O all ye worshippers -of Mammon! For, “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 Reason and -Moral 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 the cause, whether those -witnesses be the parties themselves to the cause, or strangers -“subpœnaed” to give testimony therein. Such persons would be justly -punishable for perjury who professed that, when bearing insufficient or -inadequate witness in a Court of Justice by not telling “the whole” truth, -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 copper-coloured, contrary to the primary obligations of -Justice, which bid man render unto _all men_ their due. Nor with reference -to Divine Truth can equivocation be used. (Hence the piteous absurdity of -the Royal Declaration against Popery.) - -By 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. Such a -person equivocates by pleading “_not guilty_.” - -_Because_ I believe the ethical doctrine which justifies equivocation, -when properly taught, to be true and not false, _and because_ I -furthermore believe that, in the interests of my Country and of Humanity -at large, it is of practical consequence, as well as mentally salutary, -that a knowledge of equivocation, its foundation principles, extents, and -limitations, should be “understanded” by all those that have the -guardianship of the People, whether in the senate, in the field, or at -sea, _therefore_, I have requested one, who has a competent mastery of the -subject, to explain the matter to my readers. This has been kindly done in -a letter, which will be found in Supplementum VI. For “_Melius petere -fontes_,” the jurist as well as the poet has it. “_Better is it to have -recourse to the fountain-head._” - -The philosophical explanation of the fact that, under the pressure of -necessity, certain combatants can and do exhibit in action at the theatre -of war the highest strategetical skill, in spite of their knowing nothing -of the scientific doctrine of equivocation, springs from the law of reason -that, as a rule, _doing_ is the condition precedent _to knowing_; -experience to cognition. See Ferrier’s “_Institutes of Metaphysic_” -(Blackwood), p.15.] - -This 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.” - -The Jesuit could never that trust, that confidence betray. If needs be, he -must be “true till death.” For it was not necessary that he should live. -But it was necessary that he should live undishonoured. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIX. - - -Again; to all those that are “knowing” enough, the facts of this woeful -tragedy “observingly” to “distil out,” the form and substance of this -document of the 12th March, 1605-6, under the hand of Edward Oldcorne, -alike afford evidence——conclusive evidence——that Father Oldcorne regarded -the Gunpowder conspirators as repentant conspirators, through the virtual -_representative_ repentance of one of their own number. - -And though it is true that, by the inexorable decree of the Universe, “The -Guilty suffer,” each man for himself and not another, temporal punishment, -searching, terrible, and keen, yet this is not the whole of the truth -governing the perfected ethics of the matter. For “Man learns by -suffering.” And guilt is pardoned on repentance, that is, on the -observance and on the performance of certain equally decreed conditions. - -These conditions are (1) confession, (2) contrition, which implies sorrow -and regret, and (3) satisfaction or “damages,” which involves amendment, -withdrawal, or reversal. And when all three conditions have been observed -and performed, then - - “Whoso with repentance is not satisfied, - Neither to earth nor heaven is allied.” - -Hence, could the great moralist, by a _complexus_ of intellectual acts, -personal and vicarious, justly regard the whole band of plotters as -transgressors released from the abstract guilt of their double crime. For -it is a dictate of reason that the release of one joint debtor operates -derivatively to the release, _ipso facto_, of all the rest. - -Now, if Oldcorne possessed a conscious realization that, through the -_repentance, personal and representative_, of the Gunpowder plotters, that -Plot was no longer a plot, then, to speak after the manner of men, he must -have had that realization as the resultant of two particular kinds, -aspects, or sides of _knowledge: ab extra_, from without, that is, passive -knowledge, or communicated, in the _first_ step; and _ab intra_, from -within, that is, knowledge active, or self-bestowed, in the _second_ step. - -Now, both passive knowledge and active knowledge here would imply, in the -final analysis, a communication by some external mental agency, the agency -of some living, intelligent being. - -It would be implied in the first case, directly; in the second case, -indirectly. But, directly or indirectly, the source would be the same. - -Now, who can that aforesaid living, intelligent being, which reason -demands, have been, if not _a repentant plotter himself_? - -Therefore, by irresistible inference, the Letter is surely, with moral -certitude, traced home at last. - - - - - CHAPTER LXX. - - -Father Edward Oldcorne was racked in the Tower of London, “five times, and -once with the utmost severity for several hours,”[172] in order that, -haply, information might be extracted from him that would prove him to be -possessed of a guilty knowledge of the Plot. But this princely soul had -nothing of that kind to tell, so that King James and his Counsellors -wreaked their lawless severity in vain.[A] - -[Footnote A: Torture, for the purpose of drawing evidence from a prisoner, -was contrary to the Law of England. Brother Ralph Ashley, the servant of -Father Oldcorne, who, I maintain, carried the warning Letters to Father -Henry Garnet and Lord Mounteagle, was tortured, but without revealing -anything apparently. Brother Nicholas Owen, the great maker of priests’ -hiding-places and secret chambers in the castles, manor-houses, and halls -of the old English Catholic gentry, was tortured with great severity; but -he, too, seems to have revealed nothing. Owen “died in their hands,” but -whether he was tortured to death or committed suicide in the Tower is a -mystery to this day. One would like to see this mystery bottomed.] - -On the 7th day of April, 1606, at Redhill, one mile from the City of -Worcester, on the London Road, “the silver cord was loosed, the golden -bowl was broken, the pitcher was crushed at the fountain, the wheel was -broken on the cistern.” For on that day, at that spot, the happy spirit of -Edward Oldcorne mounted far, far beyond the fading things of time and -space.[173] - -It may be objected that Father John Gerard’s relation of the last dying -speech and confession of the great Jesuit Priest and Martyr is hostile to -the hypothesis that Oldcorne penned the great Letter, “_Litteræ -Felicissimæ_.” - -Gerard’s reported words are these; but, I contend, we have no absolute -proof that they are the _ipissima verba_ of Father Oldcorne, though he may -have uttered some of these words, and something resembling them in the -case of the others.——See Gerard’s “_Narrative_” p. 275. - -“He declared unto the people that he came thither to die for the Catholic -faith and the practice of his function, seeing that they neither had, nor -could prove anything against him which, even by their own laws, was -sufficient to condemn him, but that he was a Priest of the Society of -Jesus, wherein he much rejoiced, and was ready and desirous to give his -life for the profession of that faith which he had taught many years in -that very country, and which it was necessary for everyone to embrace that -would save their souls.[174] _Then being asked again about the treason and -taking part with the conspirators_, he protested there again that he never -had the least knowledge of the treason, and took it upon his death that he -was as clear as the new-born child from the whole plot or any part -thereof. Then commending his soul, with great devotion, humility, and -confidence, into the hands of God and to the Blessed Virgin, St. Jerome, -St. Winifred, and his good Angel, he was turned off the ladder, and -hanging awhile, was cut down and quartered, and so his innocent and -thrice-happy soul went to receive the reward of his many and great -labours.” (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER LXXI. - - -Now, in the first place, it is to be noticed that Father Oldcorne made the -special disclaimer of ever having had the least knowledge of the Plot only -_after being asked again about the treason and taking part with the -conspirators_. - -My respectful submissions to the judgment of my candid readers, therefore, -are these:—— - -First, that we have no exact, that is, no scientific, proof[175] that -Father Oldcorne, as a fact, employed these _precise words_. - -And, secondly, that, even if he did so employ them, what he meant to -convey to his hearers’ mind by the words was, I maintain, that he had no -criminal, no traitorous knowledge of the ruthless Gunpowder enterprise; -or, in other words, _no guilty knowledge, no knowledge that his King and -his fellow-subjects had any right, title, claim, or demand, in Reason, -Justice, Equity, or Honour, to obtain or to wring from him_. - -For “_Qui prior est tempore potior est jure_.” “He who is first in time is -the stronger in point of right.” - -Again; “There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than -Parliament or King.” And that is the Human Conscience, instructed by Truth -and Justice. _Her_ rights are invincible and eternally sacred. - -Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne “followed Ralph, his faithful -follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great -devotion and fervour, as may be guessed by this one action of his; for -whilst Father Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing himself 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 his -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 God, was turned off the ladder and -changed this life for a better.”——See Gerard’s “_Narrative_,” pp. 27, -5276.[176] - -Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 269 of his “_Narrative_,” as we -have seen already, that “Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed -that one might see they much 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 Relation, or that of anybody else, what -offences were proved against him. Probably, 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 Rome as possible; (2) on his -providing, through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for Robert -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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The reason why 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 the -Government, in the hope of getting a respite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and -Oldcorne, were being concealed at Hindlip. - -Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable -Anne Vaux, on the 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the -last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne, together with the -lay-brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by -Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, a Worcestershire magistrate, in -pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The -captives were all four solemnly conveyed to the Tower of London. Miss Vaux -was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. This -unconquerable lady seems to have “come to her grave in a full age, like as -a shock of corn cometh in in its season.” For, as late as the year 1635, -we find her name being reported to the Privy Council of Charles I., for -helping certain Jesuits to carry on a school for the education of the sons -of the English Catholic nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley -Grange, about six miles from Derby.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXXII. - - -Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his -lawful Sovereign that he had been (_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 the 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. - -First, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling -Thomas Ward, in some way 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, _by virtue and as a -result of the releasing act of his Penitent_, Christopher Wright, had -come, _practically_, to _receive a knowledge 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 -Confessional, _sigillum confessionis_——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 way, 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”[A]——Edward Oldcorne -had been taught long years ago “_to adjust his compass at the -Cross_.”[177][178] - -[Footnote A: Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 204.] - -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, which 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. - -Father 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 Ashley “was indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had 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. - - - - - 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 Inquiry, my own -opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart -to his connection, 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, undertook 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 Hoby[179] 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 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 Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle - did, and concealed it ... - - “Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; _and Ward - walketh up and down_.”[180] (The italics are mine.) - -Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward “walked up 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 we 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 Government were very much obligated to the -gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker -fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it_.[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the -name “Thomas Warde” from time to time in the “_Household Books of Lord -William Howard_” (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to -think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire -Jesuit, who was _socius_, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and -subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by -the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord -William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde -(or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of -Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile -from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled -down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now -Castle Howard. Fryton 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, R.N., of -Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of -Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.] - -From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have -already learned, a payment of £700 a year, equal to nearly £7,000 a year -in our money.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Mounteagle’s reward was £300 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 first and only means” the -Government had to discover that “most wicked and barbarous Plot.” -Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The title Lord Morley and -Mounteagle 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 Mounteagle 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.] - -But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of -Donne,[B] and other wits of the once far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread -Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still -insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the -young peer’s honour, the following stately epigram:—— - -[Footnote B: John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean -of St. Paul’s, and author of the once well-known “_Pseudo-Martyr_,” which -Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For 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 Rheims to study for the -priesthood, in consequence of the impression made upon him by Campion, who -was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount St. John; -Campion there wrote his famous “_Decem Rationes_.” 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 Harsnett’s “_Popish Impostures_,” a -book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Guy Fawkes, -through Guy’s paternal grandmother, Ellen Harrington, of York.] - -“TO WILLIAM LORD MOUNTEAGLE. - - “Lo, what my country should have done (have raised - An obelisk, or column to thy name; - Or if she would but modestly have praised - Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same). - I, that am glad of thy great chance, here do! - And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds, - Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too, - But thine: for which I do’t, so much exceeds! - My country’s parents I have many known; - But saver of my country, thee alone.” - - - - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENT, 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 _pleaded_ 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 Yorkshiremen._ - -(6) Ralph Ashley was the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord -Mounteagle’s page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier -arrived. - -_Perhaps a Yorkshireman._ - -(7) Mounteagle 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 Winter, 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. - -(9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapworth when the Letter was delivered, -and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas Winter some little -time subsequent to the delivery 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 conspiracy.” - -(16) 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 Littleton, after November 5th. - -(18) Hence, the facts _both before and after_ the delivery of the Letter -are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by -this Inquiry to be proved. - -(19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright displayed a strangely marked -disposition to “hang about” the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, _after_ -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 scriptum_ of 21st -October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father -Garnet to Father Parsons, in Rome[A]: “This letter being returned unto me -again, FOR REASON OF A FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted out some words -purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do -apart:”——The word “stay” here being used to signify “check.” _Cf._, -Shakespeare’s “King John,” II., 2: and see Glossary to Globe Edition -(Macmillan). - -[Footnote A: This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the -archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 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, S.J., thought they had not. But on this 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. - -Father Morris contends that for Father 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 first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general -particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605_, was a very -weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the -most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of -eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying -circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons. - -I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James’-tide), Garnet had, -by way of confession, the _general particulars_ of the Plot, because I -think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at -Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, -after the return from St. Winefrid’s Well, in Flintshire, Wales. - -It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, -Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in -consequence of Garnet’s sending for Tesimond _after_ he (Garnet) had -received “_the friend’s stay in the way_.” For the old tradition was that -Garnet _first_ had particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about -the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard’s “_History_.”) -But, of course, this was an error by _three months_, Garnet first -receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of -July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on “_Garnet -after the 21st October, 1605_,” but at present I have not space to pursue -this matter further.)] - - - - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. - - GUY FAWKES. - -The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in -the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster’s “_Yorkshire Families_,” under -Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley. - -Guy’s grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady, -Ellen Harrington.[A] - -[Footnote A: Ellen Harrington’s father was Lord Mayor of York, in the -reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.] - -William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop -of York, and died between the years 1558-1565. - -William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters——Thomas Fawkes, 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 was the mother of four children——two sons and two -daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man’s estate, and this was the -hapless Guy. - -(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guy _possibly may_ -have had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in -November, 1605.) - -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 the north side, adjoining -the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at -Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates’ tradition. -But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing. - -My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in -York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City’s -antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, -that in old Thomas Gent’s “_Rippon_” (1733) there is mention made of -Bishopthorpe as being Guy’s birthplace. Gent says, “The house opposite the -church[A] is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux.” - -[Footnote A: _I.e._, the _old_ Bishopthorpe Church. The present -Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the -entrance to the village from York.] - -Mr. Camidge continues: “I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of -the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that 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 that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was -born in the 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. Elzé has pointed out in his “_Life -of Shakespeare_,” a child would be _baptized on the third day after -birth_. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe -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 much 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 -the 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. - -Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in -York’s antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert -Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, 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, 1901, 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 years ago I was working at the same house when an - old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house - where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and - watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the - Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house. - - “It is an Elizabethan[A] 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.” - -[Footnote A: In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, -tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is -descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, -the father of “the Venerable” Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered -martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder -Plot was hatched.] - -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, 1578-9. About -twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen’s thrice hapless -child——by nature a tall, athletic man, but then, by 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 second 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 Roman Catholics, and their names (along -with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in -Peacock’s “_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire 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 impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a -creature of circumstances. - -Yorkshire abounded in Roman 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 Ripon. -And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen had suffered a bloody death for -their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and -Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at -such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes.——See -Challoner’s “_Missionary Priests_” and Pollen’s “_Acts of the English -Martyrs_,” already frequently referred to. - -[“The Venerable” martyrs, Robert 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, “O 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.” -His society was “sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes’ -camp for nobility 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, _in 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 what? - -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 was -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’ “_Fawkeses, of -York_,” 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 “heíred” from his own father, Edward -Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York. - -In “_The 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 most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in -York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told -me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in “_The Connoisseur_” of the -“Conveyance” is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw _more than -half a century ago_. - -The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (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 Otley. One -branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which, -embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from -Harrogate,[A] through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. 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 Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_.” - -[Footnote A: How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright, -balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from -all sides the traveller’s eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in -the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the -left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!] - -Flower’s “Pedigree” shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried -with the Ruddes, of Killinghall; 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 and all old Yorkshire Catholic -gentry. - -Flower also shows in his “Pedigree” of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that -James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, 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 William, both Roman -Catholic priests. - -The “_Douay Registers_” (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained -priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He -was educated at Cardinal Allen’s[A] 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 with her -spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret -Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of -1586. - -[Footnote A: Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during -the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of -Rossall, near Blackpool.] - -In 1578 the College of Douay was 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 _postea_ where -Reims is mentioned in connection with the popish missionary priests it -was then sending forth into the City of York.[A] - -[Footnote A: Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield, -Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th -May, 1901, that from the _inq. post mortem_ the above-named Walter Pulleyn -died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before -his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock’s -“_List for 1604_”) was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to -have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish -recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. -(Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles -Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr. -Thrackray.)] - -There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is -pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, 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 Roman 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 Wetherby, -where dwelt the family of Roos, 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 handwriting 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[A]——must have visited, I -opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe -(where had been in mediæval 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.[B] - -[Footnote A: “_The Connoisseur._”] - -[Footnote B: Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border -Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died.——See “_Sir -Ralph Sadler’s Papers_,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.] - -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 Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the -Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see _ante_). The Ribston branch of -the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century——Sir Harry -Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and -Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near -Knaresbrough. - -From _“The Fawkes Family of York.”_ - - This Indenture 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 Faith, - &c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of - Yorke gentilman 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 farme letten, and by theis presentes doth demyse - graunt and to farme lett, unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one - barne and one garth on the backside of the said barn, with the - appertenaunces, scytuate lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the - suburbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half - of one acre of arrable lande, 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 - Newe-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 afforesaid, 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 holde the said barne, garth, three - acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre - of medowe, and all other the premisses, with all and singuler - the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto - the sayd Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, from the - feast of St. Martyne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, - nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of - twentye and one yeres from 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 Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie - and two shillinges of lawfull 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 - demaunded, by even and equall 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 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 term of twenty and one - yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged, - or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe - his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases, - grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the - rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis - presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley, - 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 seales - the daye and yere above written. - - GUYE FAWKES. L.S. - - Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us——DIONIS - BAYNEBRIGGE——JOHN JACKSON——CHRISTOPHER HODGSON’S marke × - -This Indenture maide the firste daie 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, &c. Betwene Guye -Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne -Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other -partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of -the sum of xxix^{li} xiij^{s} iiij^{d} of good and lawfull English moneye -to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewlie contentid and paid by the -said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, -whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie -satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and -dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened -bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye -geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir -heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the -appurtenaunces, 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 liinge 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 adjoyninge 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 Clifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in -the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the -Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a -hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, 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 appurtenaunces to the same -perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid -grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid -to one Cristofer Lumleye 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 Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date -the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our -Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; -together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge -and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, 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 -deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie 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 solld (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 same, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her -heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, -for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and -graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, -the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said -messuage tenement and farme-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 -perteyninge 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 lawfull 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 -appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, -and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand -clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the -said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all -former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, -feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, -writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, -forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and -all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and -services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely -exceptid. And also the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores -and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne -Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward -Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese -Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, -which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to -the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, -interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of -for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie 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 premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, -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, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or -vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or -otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by 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 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. - -Seallid and delyverid in the presence of——GEORGE HOBSON——WILLIAM -MASKEWE——LANCELOT BELT——THOMAS HESLEBECKE——CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE——IHON LAMB -marke ×——JOHN HARRISON——JOHN CALV’LEY. - -Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit -Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor’ generosus et Edetha uxor -ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium -Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et -heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye -de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor’ spynster in sua plena pacificaque -possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et -assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et -demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu -quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio -sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel -selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor’ -predicto ac de et in una roda terræ arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in -campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et -terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terræ jacente in -les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram -Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terræ jacente in Longwandilles inter -terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali et terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente -inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte -australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente in lez -shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram -nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington -buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti -Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terræ jacente in Lupstone Carre in le -Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris -prati jacentibus in fine 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 Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in -tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra -terræ et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel -nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis -terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes -generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terræ cum pertinentiis in campis de -Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone -modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), -ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum -uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis -seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, -titulum, clameum, usum, interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio -sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel -selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton -et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde -parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, -clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni -actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde -habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde -penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius -Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes 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 -heredes 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^{mo} die -mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe 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 GRANGE——JAMES RYDING. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. - - HATFIELD MSS.——Part VI. - - [Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil. - -1596, 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[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: This letter will be read with interest, as affording -independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester -during the period of Father Oldcorne’s labours.] - -Besides, Warwick[B] 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. - -[Footnote B: This is interesting as showing that in the native county of -Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the -influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and -Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.] - -How weak ordinary authority is to do any good on either sort long -experience hath taught me, excommunication 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,[A] as in other places of like importance is used, I will -do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the -uttermost of my power. - -[Footnote A: Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.] - -First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions; -next, by 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 further 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 please you to acquaint her -Majesty; I will render you all due thanks, 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 Recusants in Worcester -diocese:—— - - The Lady Windsor, with her retinue. - M^{r} 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^{r} 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. - Rowse Woolmer, gent. - John Woolmer gent. of Kingston. - M^{r} 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. - 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 wife of John Jeffreys gent. - Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent. - Mary wife 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. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. - - THOMAS WARD. - -It is probable that diligent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers -will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or Warde) than I have been able -hitherto to gain. - -The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was -a younger son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, and Susannay, his wife. That -Marmaduke Ward’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 VIII. -after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (1536). - -Thomas Ward was just the sort of man (_me judice_) that Queen Elizabeth -would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John Ward was on the side of -the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, commonly -called the Rising of the North, or the Earls’ Rebellion (1569). - -Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir Ralph Sadler, who was a -distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a -Yorkshire gentleman, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, -would have no difficulty in obtaining an _entrée_ at Elizabeth’s Court, -who, as is well known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct -probably, favourably inclined to those Catholics whose leaning was -towards the easy side of things.[A] - -[Footnote A: See “_Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers_,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. -It is observable that although the Nortons and the Markenfields were for -the Earls, yet members of the following Yorkshire Catholic Families (many -of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who was not then -excommunicated:——The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables, -the Tempests, the Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the Ellerkers, and the -Wilstroppes. - -For these Families and their alliances see the “_Visitations of -Yorkshire_,” by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe. -Also “_Dugdale_” (Surtees).] - -Now, if Thomas Ward became a member of Elizabeth’s diplomatic service -under 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 say, yet I am constrained to allow that the following -two pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many -possibilities:—— - -HATFIELD MSS.——Part VI., p. 96. - -Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots. - -1585, Mar. 30./Ap. 9. Informs her of his apprehension at the request of -the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward’s negotiation to procure his being delivered -up into England. Requires 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 was a Catholic of a -sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a -Ward, of Ripon and York, was the very man the subtle Walsingham would -employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of -Morgan’s intellectual and moral characteristics; for Ward most likely had -known Morgan at York.] - - * * * * * - -Thirteen years later we find the name “Ward” again in the “_Hatfield -MSS._” - - HATFIELD MSS.——Part VIII., p. 295. - -1598 Aug. 4. Steven Rodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to -Italy to go over to accompany M^{r} 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 _Ward_ M^{r} Paget’s, solicitor, because I refused to -carry his[A] letters that was so lately “jested” with high treason, and -might father all the faults I am charged with.” - -[Footnote A: Whose letters? Paget’s or Ward’s?] - -[Who or what Mr. Steven Rodwey was, 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 -Morgan, 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.] - -But here, for the present, we must 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 “_Household Books of -Lord William Howard_,” as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates.[A]——See Note to p. 231 _ante_. - -[Footnote A: The Rev. A. S. 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 Churchyard, perhaps may have -had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable -that there should have been Wards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of -James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas Ward, 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 Ward. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire, -the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no -such tradition. (I am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September, -1901.)] - -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 “_Household Books of Lord William -Howard_” (Surtees 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, which makes mention of the name Ward; but whether or not -that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon, I cannot say:—— - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC——ELIZ., Vol. ccxxxviii., 126 I. - A. D. 1591. - - Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the - permission of these maters followinge - -Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye communion at which time -he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he -excepteth sume particuler persones whose names are under written and of -them taketh money. - -M^{r} Wardes[A] Two daughters. - -M^{r} Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M^{ris} Marye and a man -called Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money -and in my knowledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx^{s} in -goulde. - -M^{r} Saunders and his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money. - -Besides M^{ris} Gerrat being delivered of a doughter aboute Twoe yeares -since he did forbeare to cristen yt beinge 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. - -[Footnote A: What Mr. Warde can this have been? Not Thomas Ward (or -Warde), of Mulwith, I think. For the presumption is that he had no -children, for none are registered at Ripon Minster; 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 much more than the latter. Moreover, in 1591 any daughters -that Thomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age. -His wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.)] - - * * * * * - -Norris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse -and Norris hath receved in ye way of borrowinge of sume V^{s} of others -more. But Watson by vertue of a comission from my L. of Cant. hath latly -serched Gerates house and M^{r} Wardes where he found nothinge at all they -being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M^{r} Wardes house -theire did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye stares within -a nayled boarde divers bookes [not 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 amungst 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 theyre -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. - -[On p. 76 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is stated that the first -Lord Mounteagle’s mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Richard -Neville, the King-maker. But I find that, under “Stanley,” in Flower’s -“_Visitation of Yorkshire_,” Ed. by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc.), _the great -grandfather_ of Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, namely, Thomas Lord -Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to Richard Nevell Earl -of Salisbury. _Their_ son is given as George Lord Stanley; _his_ son as -Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby; and _his_ son as Edward Stanley first -Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas -Vaughan, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle. - -But the “_National Dictionary of Biography_” (under “Stanley Earl of -Derby”) says that Eleanor Countess of Derby (_née_ 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 Vaux of Harrowden was a descendant of Sir Thomas More. - -But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady -Vaux of Harrowden, was _only distantly connected_ with Sir Thomas More. -For she was descended from _Christopher_ Roper, a younger brother of -William Roper, who 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.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GIVENDALE, NEWBY, AND MULWITH, - ANCIENTLY IN THE CHAPELRY OF SKELTON, IN THE PARISH OF RIPON, IN - THE WEST RIDING OF THE COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Sunday, the 22nd 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York and Apostle of Sussex -(634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle -of Holland.] - -“Hail, smiling morn!” 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 the most part, no longer to 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, -the golden celandine, who are pre-eminently faithful watchers by the -dead. For steadfastly will _they_ remain watching until the daybreak of an -endless day.[A] - -[Footnote A: This exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the daughter, it -will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and, -consequently, the niece of Christopher Wright and, I maintain, of Thomas -Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Lord Mounteagle. Mary Ward -died at the old Manor House, Heworth, on the 20th January, 1645-46, and is -buried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but -touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing number of her -admirers, Protestant and 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 poore, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise with -them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived 60 years and 8 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; I hope; I love”). The Rev. -F. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the -gravestone of Mary Ward with the most commendable care.] - -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 Ripon, I 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 Ure, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale, -flows through Ripon; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and laving -“the green fields of England,” in front of Mulwith, hurries on towards -Boroughbridge; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and -Swale, the Ouse[A] is formed, that majestic flood, 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. - -[Footnote A: The winding Nidd, 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.] - -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 the blood,”[B] - -[Footnote B: Tennyson’s “In Memoriam.”] - -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 Phœbus in his strength.”[C] - -[Footnote C: Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale.”——Shakespeare may have possibly -known, or at least heard of, Father John Gerard, 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 carefully study -the “_Spiritual Combat_.” It will repay his pains. - -Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that prison -along with Gerard during the night of 8th 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 the mysterious -Somerville-Arden-Hall 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 Wilmcote, his wife’s -family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, were of -the 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 Wilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall -(both in Warwickshire), 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 the England of “Good Queen Bess”——and of -every other England too.] - -Yea, before my mind’s eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding -towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to west, and -from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan -gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Ripon spurs; aye, and of -Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated -gown. - -Sometimes 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 equipped externally as they. The breviary, -crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy, lay concealed -within the last-named’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 my 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 the gate leading to the dwelling-house -to-day known as Givendale——that historic name. The old hall 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 VIII., -describes it as “a fair manor place of stone.” Lovely views does Givendale -command of the valley of the Ure,[A] looking westward towards the sister -valleys of the Nidd and Wharfe and Aire. - -[Footnote A: Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the -reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards’ principal seat near Ripon; -for Sir Simon Ward is described as of “Givendale and Esholt.” Esholt is in -the Parish 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 Hawkesworths, of Mitton, near Clitheroe.] - -A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me -the way to Skelton, Newby, 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 faithful following towards the south-east of the high road, running -parallel with the woods of Newby on my right, brought me in due course to -Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the -West Riding of Yorkshire. - -I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of -Newby 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 year, “after long imprisonment,” it is probable -that Marmaduke Ward——though not Elizabeth, his wife, nor Mary, nor any of -his other children——“against his conscience” went to hear 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 lunar month by way of fine for -“popish recusancy.”[A] - -[Footnote A: This would be about £160 in our money. Thirteen of these -payments in one year would amount to about £2,080. Father Richard Holtby, -S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided Mary Ward’s -“vocation” in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, London, after Marmaduke Ward had -been released from his brief captivity in Warwickshire. (See “_Life of -Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 89.) Holtby speaks of Mary as “my daughter -Warde.” Now, Father Holtby, of Fryton, near Hovingham, has recorded that -“after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, Westmoreland, no -doubt], _Mr. Warde_, Mr. Trollope [of Thornley, in the County of Durham, -no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Brandsby, 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 “_Troubles_,” third series, p. 76.) This would be -in the years 1593-94-95, or previously. Peacock’s “_List_” for 1604, under -“Ripon,” gives “Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward,” _but ominously no_ -Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like his relative Sir William Wigmore, -Marmaduke Ward, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish -church (contrary to what he deemed “the highest and best”) perhaps once or -twice a year. Poor fellow! 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 Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a -grand structure, having been designed by Sir Christopher Wren about the -year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial Church, 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in Westminster Abbey, one of -his beautiful and pathetic “Laments,” after the sorrowful tidings reached -England that this fine young Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed -into the world of the “Unseen Perfectness.”] - -One mile from Newby is Mulwith.[A] It is reached by what evidently has -been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses. - -[Footnote A: R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most -Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., of Studley Royal, Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and -Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Ripon, and can be also -reached from Boroughbridge.] - -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 Ripon, at the present day. -There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, we know from the “_Life of -Mary Ward_.” And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and -never afterwards rebuilt.[B] - -[Footnote B: Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see _ante_, p. 59). -Among her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or to -her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each -respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those -names.——See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vols. i. and ii.] - -To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof. -It is a two-storied, six-windowed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and -orchards all adjoining.[C] - -[Footnote C: My friend Mr. Renfric Oates, 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 “_Life of Mary -Ward_,” by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), 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 the famous pictures in the -Painted Life is one representing Mary, at the age of thirteen, making her -first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidderdale. (I visited Harewell -Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Ripley, as in the days of -Mary Ward, on Wednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown -round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The River Nidd flows at the -foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.)] - -In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient days, the historic -waters of the Ure.[A] On almost every side the eye is gladdened with -woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that “sylvan scenery which -never palls.”[B] - -[Footnote A: 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 River Ure, then swollen high through -February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many a -long day. (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy -catastrophe took place, and well does he remember the grief depicted on -the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad -disaster.)] - -[Footnote B: Lord Beaconsfield.] - -Hence, at last I was come to my journey’s end. For I had reached Mulwith, -or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Ripon, whereof “Thomas Warde” is described, -who married M’gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York, -on the 29th day of May, 1579. - -Mrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly conducted me round the place -once more; for I 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 high, “for tears.” - -“_Many waters cannot quench Love; neither can the floods drown it._” - - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GREAT PLOWLAND (ANCIENTLY PLEWLAND), IN - THE PARISH OF WELWICK, HOLDERNESS, IN THE EAST RIDING OF THE - COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happiness of -accomplishing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a -visit to Great Plowland (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 Riding 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 1605, the second year of the reign of James I., King of England, -Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and predecessor of our own -Most Gracious King Edward VII. Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred -Imperial Monarch: and in Justice may his house be established for ever![A] - -[Footnote A: How full of happy augury for the future of our Empire was the -fine speech of His Royal 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 shores, after their -historic sojourning, during the year 1901, in His Majesty’s loyal -Dominions beyond the seas.] - -The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland) -somewhat 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, maybe, 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[A] was the Sir -Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all -Nations and all Time. - -[Footnote A: The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with -Homer and Dante, as one of the world’s three Poet-Kings.] - -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 Walsingham, the Earl of -Leicester, Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the ill-fated Robert -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 with the historic imagination alone for the -sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time; of -Christopher Wright, who 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,[A] 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 6th -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.[B] - -[Footnote A: The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman.] - -[Footnote B: 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.] - -Soon was the compact made that that very evening, ere darkness came on, -“mine host” should drive me to the site of where John Wright and -Christopher Wright first beheld the light of the sun. (In view of the fact -that the circumstantial evidence to-day available tends to prove that -Christopher Wright was the repentant conspirator who revealed the Plot and -so saved King James I., his 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 1580, 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 Burnham, of -Plowland House, came forward, and, with frank, pleasant courtesy, never to -be forgotten, assured me that I was at liberty to see the place where the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, had lived when -boys. - -I alighted from my vehicle, and being joined by Miss Burnham, sister to -Mr. Burnham, the owner of the estate, we all three examined the evident -traces of the moat, the remains of what must have been 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 Richard -Wright, Esq., of Knaith, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. One of that -gentleman’s descendants is _Robert Wright_ Burnham, the eldest brother to -the present owner of Plowland and his sister. The name _Richard_ Wright is -found in the Register of Christenings at Ripon Minster, under date 29th -March, 1599, as the son of one _John_ Wright, of _Skelton_.] - -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 Welwick. A short survey of this characteristically East Riding -Yorkshire village and its grey old Gothic church in its grave-yard, where -John and Christopher Wright were christened, no doubt, brought the -historical travels and explorations of Monday, May 6th, 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 Guilty suffer,’ but -also_ once the home of some of the supremely excellent of the earth. -Farewell, Plowland, where Mary 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 Mulwith, 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 -VIII., owing to John Wright, 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). Robert 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 Nidderdale, and the -Markenfields, of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, to mention none others -beside.[A][B][C][D] (This is shown by the Ripon Registers.) - -[Footnote A: The Most Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., Viceroy of -India (1880-85), and the Most Honourable the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., -are akin to John Wright and Christopher Wright, through the Mallories of -Studley Royal.] - -[Footnote B: The Right Honourable the Lord Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, -is akin to the Wrights, through his ancestor, Francis Norton, the eldest -son of brave old Richard Norton; the Mallories; the Inglebies; and many -others.] - -[Footnote C: Sir Henry Day Ingilby, Bart., of Ripley Castle, is likewise -akin to the Wrights, the Winters, and indeed to almost all the other -ill-fated plotters. I may mention also that Sir Henry is likewise related -to the exalted Mary Ward, who (as was the case with her great kinswoman -and friend, Lady Grace Babthorpe) lived at “lovely Ripley” in her -childhood, with the Inglebies of that day, on more than one occasion, as -we find recorded in Mary’s “_Life_.”] - -[Footnote D: At Grantley a John Wright resided in the time of Elizabeth. -He was probably brother to Robert Wright, the father of John and -Christopher Wright. Grantley Hall nestles in a leafy hollow of surpassing -beauty. The swift, gentle, little River 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.] - -Robert Wright (the second Wright who owned Plowland) had been married -before his marriage to Ursula Rudston. His first wife’s name was Anne -Grimstone. She was a daughter of Thomas Grimstone, Esquire, of Grimstone -Garth. Robert Wright and Anne Grimstone had one son who “heired” Plowland. -His name was William Wright. He married Ann Thornton, of East Newton, in -Rydale, a lady who was related to many old Rydale and Vale of Mowbray -families in the North Riding 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Mass was said at Ness Hall, near Hovingham, not far from East -Newton, during the early part of the nineteenth century. _I think_ that -this was owing to the old Catholic family of Crathorne owning Ness 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 Established Church.] - -William Wright was half-brother to Ursula Ward, the wife of Marmaduke -Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Ripon, 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 Charles I. William Wright (or Wryght, as the -name is spelt on the brass in Welwick Church) was also half-brother to the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, who were slain at -Holbeach House, Staffordshire, a few days after the capture of Guy Fawkes -by Sir Thomas Knevet, early in the morning of November 5th, 1605. - -The late Rev. John Stephens, Rector of Holgate, York, and formerly Vicar -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, the Wrights, Fawkes, and Tesimond were old -school-fellows at St. Peter’s School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, -York,[A] which had been re-founded by Philip and Mary, who likewise -founded the present Grammar School at Ripon. - -[Footnote A: John Wright, Christopher Wright, Guy Fawkes, and Oswald -Tesimond must have many a time and oft passed through Bootham Bar, leading -towards Clifton, Skelton, and Easingwold, along the great North Road. And -besides the King’s Manor to the left of Bootham Bar, Queen Margaret’s -Gateway, named after Queen Margaret (grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), -must have been to them all a thrice-familiar object. Queen Margaret, it -will be remembered, was wife to King James IV. of Scotland, who fell at -Flodden Field in 1513, fighting against the forces of the brother of the -Scots’ Queen, King Henry VIII. - -In 1516, Henry VIII. invited his widowed sister to London, “and good Queen -Katerine sent her own white palfrey” for her poor sister-in-law’s “use.” -On this memorable occasion the bereaved daughter of King Henry VII., -through whom His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII., 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 northern -capital.——See Dr. Raine’s “_York_” (Longmans), p. 98. - -In the month of July, 1900, at the Treasurer’s House, on the north side of -the Minster, our Most Gracious Sovereign and His Beloved Consort (then the -Prince and Princess of Wales) together with the present Prince and -Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of York), graciously -sojourned for a brief season: an event memorable and historic even in the -proud annals of the second city of the British Empire.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. - - St. Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst, - Blackburn, 5th October, 1901. - -... You are quite correct in saying 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, whether 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 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 are circumstances in which words -must be used that are _primâ 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, which -estimates Right and Wrong _merely_ by the consequences of an action. The -peripatetic philosopher, on the other hand, who maintains the _intrinsic_ -moral character of certain actions, and who holds _mordicus_ 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 _Equivocation_——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 affair. - -“_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 phrase rather than the second, or _vice versâ_. - -No sensible man would consider a prisoner to be “lying” in his 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 _legal_, innocence. Yet the plea may mean either both or -only the latter. - -Similarly, an impertinent ferretter-out of an important secret needs -blame none but himself if he conceives the answer “_No_” to intimate -anything else than that he should mind his own business. - -As to such _facts_ there is, I should say, an overwhelming 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 upon the not inapt one of -_Equivocation_. - -The malice of lying consists, according to Utilitarian Philosophy, in the -destruction of that mutual confidence which is so absolutely necessary for -the proper maintenance and development of civilized life. But the -Scholastic, while fully 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 -formula:——The first would define a lie as “_speaking with intent to -deceive_;” whereas the second defines it “_speaking contrary to one’s -thought_” (_locutio contra mentem_), even where there is no hope (and -therefore no intent) of actual deception. The latter is clearly the -stricter view, yet very closely allied with, and supplementing, the -former. For we may perhaps say with Cardinal de Lugo——and _à la_ -Kant——that the malice of the discrepancy mentioned above lies in the -self-contradiction which results in the liar, between his inborn desire -for the trust of his fellow-men 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 mutual confidence, such malice -cannot exist. An enemy, a burglar, a lunatic, an impudent questioner, -etc., are, _in their distinguishing character_, beyond the pale of mutual -confidence——_i.e._, 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 folly.” If a burglar asks where is your -plate, you may reply at random “_In the Bank_,” or “_At Timbuctoo_,” or -“_I haven’t any_.” If a lunatic declares himself Emperor of China, you may -humour him, and give him _any_ information you may imagine about his -dominions, etc. - -Such is the teaching of, _v.gr._, 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 they would not be rightly -considered to imply _speaking_ 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 Reservation_ 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 -circumstances, and are therefore _logical_ equivoques. Thus to the -question: “_What do people think of me?_” one might diplomatically reply: -“_Oh! they think a great deal!_” which leaves it undetermined whether the -thinking be of a favourable or unfavourable character. - -But more commonly words, apart from special circumstances, have one -definite meaning, _e.gr._, “_Yes_” or “_No_.” When Sir Walter Scott -denied, as he himself tells us, the authorship of “_Waverley_” with a -plain simple “_No_,” 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 _moral_ equivoque. The -Scholastics call it _broad mental reservation_ (_restrictio late -mentalis_). 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 they 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 the public is concerned_,’” or something similar. - -When this addition could not be conjectured by the hearer, it received the -name of _pure mental reservation_ (_restrictio pure_ [or _stricte_] -_mentalis_): as when one might say “_John is not here_” (meaning in his -mind “not on the exact spot where the speaker stood”), though John was 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_.” - -I trust I have made it sufficiently clear that the doctrine of -Equivocation, properly understood, has been devised in the interests of -Veracity. That we may find in some writers, whether St. Alphonsus de -Liguori or Professor Paulsen, particular applications in which we do not -concur, surely does not affect the validity of the principle. - -I may add that _all_ Catholic theologians with whom I am acquainted limit -its use by requiring many external conditions: _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 -mutual 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 I 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The above lucid explanation of the much and (_me judice_) -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 the Professor of Ethics at St. Mary’s Hall, -Stonyhurst, so I am informed by the Rev. Bernard Boëdder, S.J., Professor -of Natural Theology, at that seat of learning, whom I have had the honour -of meeting in York on more than one occasion. “Wisdom builds her house for -_all_ weathers.” But England, relying too much on a long course of -prosperity in her ruling classes, and in the protected classes immediately -beneath her ruling classes, has neglected the Truth and Justice contained -in this eminently rational doctrine of Equivocation. 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 _versus_ -Catholic, but of Wise Noddle _versus_ Foolish Noddle. This is a distinct -gain.] - - - - - APPENDICES. - - - APPENDIX A. - - CIRCUMSTANTIAL 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,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: By sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.] - -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 _specially_ 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. - -It implies the _inferring_ of the unknown from the known; but from a known -which has been itself transmuted from the unknown, at some point of time -anterior to the making of the successive stage of advancement 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:—— - -Evidence is the collective term used to denote the facts whereby some -proposition, statement, or conclusion is sought to be established or -confirmed. - -While, as thus defined, the term Evidence primarily denotes the actual -_known_ facts themselves which form the basis 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 better, “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 proceed; and the nature or proximity of the -relation which they bear to the proposition, statement, or conclusion to -be supported. - -As regards the character or quality of its source, evidence is -distinguished into primary 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 same 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 authenticated, the conduct reasoned. And in every case partiality, -bias, and prejudice are grounds not to be neglected in the ascertainment -of accuracy and trustworthiness. - -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 necessarily follow. - -This inferential method is especially involved in Circumstantial Evidence. -In all evidence there is a presumption open more or less to rebuttal, and -evidence on this account is qualified as, _e.g._, _primâ facie_, -conclusive. In Direct Evidence there is the presumption of the truth of -the proposition, statement, or conclusion from the proven facts. In -Circumstantial Evidence there is first an inference of directly 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 -established facts. - - - APPENDIX B. - - DISCREPANCY AS TO DATE WHEN NOT MATERIAL TO ISSUE, - NO DISPROOF OF TRUTH OF THE REST OF THE ASSERTION. - -The above doctrine of the law of Evidence applies, of course, to whatever -may be the nature or purpose of the Inquiry, whether conducted in a Court -of Law, in the library 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 _mistake only in point of time_, it destroys not the -evidence, _unless you think it necessary to the substance of the thing_. - -“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, _but it -does not invalidate the truth of the thing itself_, which may be true in -substance, though the circumstance of time differ; and the question is, -_whether the thing be true?_” Quoted in Morris’s “_Troubles: The Southcote -Family_,” first series, p. 378 (Burns & Oates). (The italics are mine.) - - - APPENDIX C. - - - PART I. - - BRITISH MUSEUM——ADD. MS. 5847, FO. 322. - - _List of such as were apprehended for the Gun-Powder - Plot._ - - _The names of such as were taken in Warwicke and - Worcestershire, & brought to London._ - - S^{r} Everard Digby, Knight - Rob^{t} Winter - John Winter - John Grant - Tho: Percy - Tho: Winter - Rob^{t} Acton - Henry Morgan - Christopher Litleton - Lodwicke Grant, who was taken the _9 of Novemb_: - & confessed there was lodged in _Holbage House_ to the - number of _60 Persons_. - Tho: Grant - Will^{m} Cooke - Rob^{t} Higgins - Christopher Wright - Rob^{t} Rookwood - M^{r} Henry Hurleston, Sonne & Heire of _Sir Edward - Hurleston_[A] - Tho: Anderton[B] - John Clifton[C] - Mathy Batty, late Servant to the _Lord Monteagle_ - Willm Thornberry} Servants to _Mr. Hurleston_ - Henry Sergeant } - Stephne Bonne} - Richard Daye } Servants to _S^{r} Everard Digby_ - Willm Eadale } - James Garvey } - Rob^{t} Abram - Rob^{t} Osborne - Christopher Archer - Ambrose Fuller - Willm Howson - Francis Grant - Richard Westberry - Tho: Richardson - Edward Bickerstaffe - Will Snow - John Facklins - Francis Prior - Tho: Darler, Servant to _M^{r} Rob^{t} Monson_ - Reginald Miles, Servant to _Sir Willm Engleston_ - Tho: Rookwood, of _Claxton_, in _Warwickshire_ - Richard Yorke } _Suspected Persons_ usually resorting - Marmaduke Ward} to _M^{r} Winter_, _M^{r}_ - Rob^{t} Key } _Grant_ & _M^{r} Rookwoods_ - Rob^{t} Townsend, of St. Edmund Berry - The Lord Mountacute} Are all comitted to the - The Lord Mordant } _Tower_ - M^{r} Francis Tressam} - -[Footnote A: Sir Henry Huddleston, as he afterwards became, the son and -heir to Sir Edmund Huddleston, of Sawston Hall, Cambridge, not Edward as -in Text. Sir Henry Huddleston married the Honourable Dorothy Dormer. He -was reconciled to the Church of Rome by Father Gerard, S.J.] - -[Footnote B: This was Father Thomas Strange, S.J., a cousin to Thomas -Abington, of Hindlip.] - -[Footnote C: This was Father Singleton.] - -The Earle of North: is in the Custody still of the _Lord Archbishop of -Canterbury_. - -This was Henry _Percy Earl of Northumberland, W.C._ - - _Gentlewomen_ - - My Lady Mordant - M^{ris} Dorothy Grant - M^{ris} Helyn Cooke - M^{ris} Mary Morgayne - M^{ris} Anne Higgins - M^{ris} Martha Percy - M^{ris} Dorothy Wright - M^{ris} Margaret Wright - M^{ris} Rookwood - -See Mr. Dod’s “_History of Catholick Church_,” vol. ii., p. 331, W.C. - -[N.B.——This MS. consists of extracts from the Collections of the Rev. Mr. -Rand, Rector of Leverington and Newton, in the Isle of Ely.] - - - PART II. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——PART I., NO. 12. - - [Frequenters of Clopton (or Clapton), Stratford-on-Avon.] - - Ther hath bine at Clapton[A] w^{th} M^{r} Ambrous Rucwod - Mr. Jhon Grant ther is with m^{es} Rucwood M^{es} Ceo (?) m^{es} munson - and others and to of his britherin - m^{r} Wintor - m^{r} Bosse - m^{r} Townesend - m^{r} Ceo (?) w^{th} on m^{r} Thomas a Cynesman of M^{r} Rucwoode - m^{r} Ryght - Allso mye pepeoll hath seene ther - Se^{r} Edward bushell - m^{r} Robeart Catesbee - with diuers others which I can not nam unto youer honer. - -(Endorsed) Clopton. - -[Footnote A: Clopton Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, was likewise styled Clapton -Hall. Lady Carew, afterwards the Countess of Totnes, was (with her sister, -Anne Clapton, the wife of Cuthbert Clapton, Esquire, of Sledwick, County -Durham) the co-heiress of the Claptons (or Cloptons), of Warwickshire. -Lady Carew was a Protestant, but her sister and brother-in-law 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. -326, 327.] - - - APPENDIX D. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Part I., No. 25. - - The Examination of Richard Browne taken the 5^{th} of - Novemb^{r} 1605. - -This Examinat sayith that xpofer Wright cam to S^{t} Gilis in the ffeild -to the Maydenhead there vpon Weddnesday laste & sent Wilt Kiddle (that cam -vp w^{t} him as his man) to Westm the same night for this Examinat to come -& speek w^{th} him, which this Examinat did com thither vpon Thursday -morning, when Wrights request was to him to fetch his child which he had -at nurss some 13 myles off. And Kiddle & this Examinat went vpon ffriday -brought the child vpon Satterday to St. 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^{t} Gyles to speak w^{t} M^{r} Wright only vpon Kiddle’s intreaty & not -fynding M^{r} Wright there he retorned towards London & mett M^{r} Wright -in S^{t} Clem^{t} ffeilds, at which tyme Wright sent this Examinat to -S^{r} ffrancis Manners w^{th} a message concerninge a kinsman of M^{r} -Wrights that serveth M^{r} Manners after which tyme this Examinat did not -see the sayd Wright. - -This Examinat sayeth that he saw the sayd Wright onely 4 tymes since -Wright last coming to London, viz., vpon Thursday morning when he came -first vnto him upon Satterday night when he brought his child, vpon Sonday -morning when he carryed the child away, and vpon monday at noone when he -mett of the back syd of S^{t} Clem^{t}s - - mark - × - Richard Browne - - (Endorsed) Examination of Richard Browne - 6 Nov. 1605 Concerning Wright. - - - APPENDIX E. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Part I., No. 15. - - The Examynacon of Willum Grantham servaunt to Josephe Hewett taken - before S^{r} John Popham Knighte L: Cheife Justyce of England - the 5 of November 1605. - -He sayeth that yesterdaye aboute three of the Clocke in the afternoone one -m^{r} wryght was at this Ex masters howse And there boughte three beaver -hatts and payde xj^{£}[A] for them This Ex went w^{th} the sayde wryght -and caryed the hatts to wrighte lodgyng at the Mayden heade in S^{t} Gyles -where m^{r} wryght & this Ex went into the howse And then wryght 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 -readye 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^{r} Wryghte -Chamber and delyvered the hatts to him And wryght dyd looke uppon the -hatts and gave this Ex vj^{d} for his paynes and then he depted. - -[Footnote A: Unmistakably £11 (E.M.W.).] - - William Grantham. - - (Endorsed) 5 November 1605. William Grantham Ex. - - - APPENDIX F. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC——JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 11. - - The Examon of Robert Rookes taken the 5^{th} of November 1605. - -He saieth that his Master M^{r} Ambrose Rookewood whoe dwelleth at -Coldhame Halle in Suff came from thence uppon Wensday last and noe more -w^{th} 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^{th}out Temple Barre and thear lay w^{th} him the last night and -the night before a talle gent having a reddish beard.[A] - -[Footnote A: This was Keyes.——See “Elizabeth More’s Evidence.”] - -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 morowe. - -He saieth his M^{rs} as he hath hard lyeth in warwick shere whear he -knoweth not for he hath not benn w^{th} his M^{r} that nowe is aboue a -senight. - - (Endorsed) 5^{o} No. 1605. - - The Ex of Robte Rokes M^{r} Rookwoode boy. - - - APPENDIX G. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC——JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 16. - - The declarn of John Cradock cutler the vj^{th} of - November 1605. - -He sayeth that M^{r} Rockwood whos father marryed M^{r} Tirwhyte mother -about the Begynyng of the last Som vacac dyd bespeke the puttyng of a -Spanyshe Blade off hys into a Sword hilte and appoynted the hylth to have -the Story of the passyon of Christ Richly Ingraved, and now w^{th}n these -Syxe dayes cawsed that hylth being enamlled and Rychly sett forth to be -taken of and the handle to be new wrought of clere gold and the former -hylth w^{th} hys story to be putt on agayne and delyvered yt unto m^{r} -Rockewood upon Monday last at xj of the Clocke at nyght at his Chamber at -m^{r} Mores and m^{r} Wynter a pp Gentylman of about xxx yeares or vpward -who lyeth at the Syng of the Docke an Drake beyond putrycke in the Strand -and ys a great Companyon w^{th} m^{r} Catesby m^{r} Tyrwhyt and m^{r} -Rockwood hadd a Sword w^{th} the lyke Story and was delyvered hym on -Sunday last at nyght but not so Rychly sett forth as the form for w^{ch} -he payed in all xij^{£} x^{s} pt about a quarter of a yeare past at the -bespeken thereof and the Rest on Sonday last and this term an other -Gentylman of that Cupany being a Blacke man of about xl yeares old bespake -a lyke Sword for the story & shuld pay vij^{ti} for yt gave hym x^{s} in -Ernest he ys yet out of Towne and the Sword remayneth w^{th} thys Exam -Christopher Wryght was often w^{th} thys M^{r} Rockwood at thys Exam -shoppe and he hadd the said Wryghte jugmet for the worcke and Syse of the -Blade. - - Jo Cradock - - Ex p - J. Popham - - (Endorsed) Cradocke. - - - APPENDIX H. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Part I., No. 10. - -I have sent vnto yo^{r} L. herin Inclosed the Copye off the declarac off -Mr Tatnall, off two that passed the fylde thys mornyg wherof some -Suspycyon may be gathered off confederacy he observed them so as he hopeth -he may mete w^{th} them and therfore I have gevin hym a warrant to attach -them a lyke note yo^{r} L shall receave herin off an expectacn that M^{rs} -Vaux 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 chefest place of their accesse and therfore lyke she -may knowe Some what both M^{r} Wenman hym selff & the lady Tasbard do -knowe of this wherfore howe farre forth thys shalbe fytt to be dealt in I -humbly leave to yo^{r} L consyderacn Chrystoffer Wright and M^{r} Ambrose -Rokewood were both together yesternyght at x of the Clocke and vpon -ffryday last at nyght they were together at M^{r} Rokwoode lodgyng and -this forenoon Rokwood Rode away into Suffolke about xj of the clocke alone -leavyng both hys men behynd hym one Keyes a Gentylma that lay these two -last nyghte w^{th} m^{r} Rokewood and gave hym hys lodgyng went away also -about eight off the clocke for w^{ch} Keyes I have layed weyet This -Rokwood ys of Coldham hall in Suffoke one of the most dangerous houses in -Suffolke he marryed m^{r} 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 -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 Gentylman that was w^{th} -hym he thyncks that Gentylman was called Wynter but I dowbt that mans name -ys mystaken Ther cam a yong Gentylman w^{th} this wryght w^{th}in these -fewe dayes that gave to Cutler here by xix^{£} xv^{s} 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^{r} L at Serienty Inn the v^{th} of -november 1605. - - yo^{r} L very humbly - - Jo Popham.[A] - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -(P.S.) I have this mornyg the vi^{th} noveber dyscovered where Wynter [is] -w^{th} the matter which I have delyverd to m^{r} Att^{r}ney wherof happely -yo^{r} L may make good vse I wyll see yf I can mete w^{th} m^{r} Wynter -Walley the jesuyt and Strang as I am Informed are now at ffrance Brownes -pcke 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^{r} - L Ch. Justice - - (Addressed) To the Ryght - honorable and my - very good L the - Earle of Sarysbury. - - (Declaration enclosed——short.) - - - APPENDIX I. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Part I., No. 75. - -O^{r} humble dutyes remembred. We have this day apprehended & deliwed to -his Ma^{ty} messenger Berrye the bodie of M^{ris} Graunt, from whom we -gathered that Percyes wief was not farre of, whervppon wee made search in -the most lykely place and have even since night apprehended her in the -house of M^{r} John Wright, and have thought fitt to take this -opportunitie to send vpp to yo^{r} honors’ w^{th} the said M^{ris} Graunt -aswell the said M^{res} 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. - -M^{r} Sherief taketh care & charge of these woomens children vntill yo^{r} -honors pleasures be further knowne. - - ffrom Warr this xij^{th} of November 1605 - yo^{r} honors most humbly at comaundment - in all service. - - Richard Verney - Jo: fferrers - W^{m} Combe - Bar: Hales - - (Endorsed) 12 9bre 1605 - S^{r} Rych: Verney and other Justices to me - - (Addressed) To the right honorable my especyall good - Lord the Earle of Salisbury & the rest of - his Ma^{ty} most honorable privie Counsayle - - w^{th} all speed. - - - APPENDIX J. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS——Part II., No. 130. - -This Last Vacatio Guy faux als Jhonson did hier a barke of Barkin the -owners name Called paris wherein was Caried over to Gravelinge a ma[A] -supposed of great import he went disguised and wold not suffer any one ma -to goe w^{th} him but this Vaux[B] nor to returne w^{th} him This paris -did Attend for him back at Gravelyng[C] sixe weekes yf Cause quier there -are severall proffs of this matter. - -[Footnote A: Contraction for “man.”] - -[Footnote B: _I.e._, Faux.] - -[Footnote C: Gravelyng would be Gravelines in France. Most probably “the -man supposed of great import,” who “went disguised,” accompanied by -Fawkes, was one of the principal conspirators, perhaps Thomas Winter or -John Wright. I suspect their errand was to buy fresh gunpowder through -Captain Hugh Owen. Notice “Vacation,” 1605.] - - (Endorsed) Concerninge one Paris that caried faukes to - Gravelyng and others. - - - APPENDIX K. - - 45, Bernard St., - Russell Square, - London, W.C., - 30th October, 1901. - - Dear Sir, - -The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle’s Letter. - -I well remember accompanying you to the Record Office, Chancery Lane, -London, W.C., on Friday, the 5th of October, 1900, when we saw the -original Letter to Lord Mounteagle and the Declaration of Edward Oldcorne -of the 12th March, 1605-6. - -As soon as I began to compare the two documents I noticed a general -similarity in the handwritings; although 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. - -I have for the last seventeen years had great experience in transcribing -documents of the period of Queen Elizabeth and James I.; and, in my -opinion, it is at least probable that the Letter to Lord Mounteagle and -the Declaration of the 12th March, 1605-6, signed by Edward Oldcorne, were -by one and the same hand. - - Yours truly, - Emma M. Walford. - - To H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor, York. - - - APPENDIX L. - -Having recently learnt that Professor Windle, M.D., F.R.S., Dean of the -Faculty of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, had written two books -descriptive of the Midland Counties, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with -part of Herefordshire, “_Shakespeare’s Country_,” and “_The Malvern -Country_” (Methuen & Co.), I ventured to write to him respecting the roads -from Lapworth to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, I conjecture, 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 21st 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, S.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 Vicar of Great -Harrowden, Northamptonshire, for certain information which the latter -likewise most readily vouchsafed to me a few months ago.) - - “The University, - Birmingham, - Dec. 22, 1901. - - “My dear Sir, - -... - -“With respect to the distances which you wish to know, I have taken them -out as well as I can, and I think they will be exact enough; but, of -course, I have had to work from modern maps, and I cannot 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 you 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. Lapworth to Hindlip——as the crow flies, nineteen——via Tutnal and -Bromsgrove I make it twenty-two miles, and I think this is the most likely -route. There were Catholic houses at both Tutnal and Bromsgrove. - -“2. Coughton to Hindlip——twelve as the crow flies——about fourteen I make -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 be -taken. - -“3. Huddington is four from Hindlip as the crow flies; going by road by -Oddingley I should make it five. - -“4. By the _route_ I should go, if I were cycling, I should take - - Worcester to Stratford-on-Avon 23 miles. - Stratford-on-Avon to Warwick 8 ” - Warwick to Daventry 19 ” - Daventry to Northampton 12 ” - Northampton to Newport Pagnell 12 ” - ———— - 74 miles. - ———— - -“It would be about the same distance from Hindlip; 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. - - “I am, - Yours very truly, - Bertram C. A. Windle.” - - - APPENDIX M. - -Since hearing from Professor Windle, M.D., of Birmingham, I have received -the following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, 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 by 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. - -“Adverting to your letter of the 14th inst., _re_ the above, I am -forwarding you, as under, the required distances (by road), which are as -accurate as I can possibly ascertain, viz.:—— - - Hindlip distant from Huddington, - near Droitwich 3-1/4 miles. - - Do. from Coughton, near Alcester, - Warwickshire 17-1/2 ” - - Do. from Lapworth, 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.” - - - APPENDIX N. - - EXTRACT FROM YORK CORPORATION HOUSE BOOK——Vol. - xxviii., f. 82. - - 4 Jany vicesimo - quinto Elizth. - -Assembled in the Counsell Chamber upon Ousebridg the day and year -abovesaid when and where the Queen’s Maties Comission to my Lord Maior and -Aldermen directed was openly redd to these present the teno^{r} wherof -hereafter enseweth word by word:—— - -By the Queene - -Right 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^{th}in this -o^{r} Realme and other our dominions haith ben notoriouslie knowen unto -all o^{r} Subjects aswell by sundry lawes & ordinances maid and published -for the true serving of god and adminstracon of the Sacraments As 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^{r} 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 Semynaries & Jesuits where -being trayned upp and as it were full fraught with all erronious and -detestable doctrine they have and do dailie repare over disguised and in -most secreet manner into this o^{r} Realme and especiallie into this o^{r} -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 our good -subjects in matters of religion but also have practised most unnaturailie -trayterouslye to wthdraw them frome their naturall dewties and allegiance -towards us Sowing even according to the name they have receved abroad the -vere sede of all sedicon and conspiracye amongst o^{r} people. And all be -it we conceved that ther Rebellious harts and practises being thoroughlie -discovered as well by the lait trayterous attempts of some of them in -o^{r} Realme of Irland as by the treasonable actions of others w^{th}in -this our Realme And ther obstinate and sedicious manner of dyeing when -being justlie condempned by our lawes they have suffered death for the -same Yow 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^{r} wholl State and to the p’ticuler saftie of every of our good -subjects: and the rather for that our pleasure on that behalf haith often -and sundry wayes ben signified unto yow And for the execucion wherof yow -have not wanted sufficient authoritie. Yet notwithstanding, smale care or -none at all haith ben had to annswere o^{r} expectacon 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 yo^{r} duties for some other -respect than for want of good affection to our service. We have thought -good therfor oftsons to renew unto yow the remembrance of yo^{r} duties, -and do hereby straightlie charge and command yow and ev’ye of yow to have -a greater care & moare continewall circumspection on that behalf and by -all the good and discreet meanes yow may to make diligent enquirie and -searche w^{th}in yo^{r} severall wardes and devisions for all manner of -popish preasts, Jesuits Semynaries and such like psons as yow shall have -vehement cause to suspect to 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 willinglie absent -themselves from the church or shall any way deprave the order of comen -praer & of the holie sacraments now established w^{th}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^{th} according to o^{r} Lawes wherein -o^{r} 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 we 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^{r} -favo^{r}. Geven under o^{r} Signet at o^{r} Cyttie of Yorke the last of -December 1582 the 25^{th} yeare of o^{r} reigne. - -And by hir Counsell. - - (Addressed to) To our right trustie and welbeloved the - Maio^{r} of our Cittie of Yorke and to the Aldermen his - bretheren. (On the back.) - - * * * * * - -M^{r} Harbart M^{r} Robinson Maister Maltby M^{r} Appleyard M^{r} Trew & -M^{r} May, Aldermen, are appoynted by these presents to view the Chambers -upon Ousebridge & Monckbarr 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 intent the same may be forthwith repared for that -purpose.[A] - -[Footnote A: Leave was given me to print the aforesaid Order of Queen -Elizabeth in Council by the authorities of the York Corporation, on the -3rd day of June, 1901; the Lord Mayor for that year being Alderman the -Right Honourable E. W. Purnell; and John Close, Esquire, J.P., Sheriff; J. -G. Butcher, Esquire, K.C., and George Denison Faber, Esquire, -Representatives in Parliament——the first Parliament of His Most Gracious -Majesty King Edward VII.] - - - _Note as to authenticity of “Thomas Winter’s Confession,” - at Hatfield._ - -Whilst greatly admiring the erudition and dialectical skill displayed by -the Rev. 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 “a great gulf be fixed” between “Thos. -Wintour,” the free-born gentleman, and “Thomas Winter,” the inchoately -attainted traitor_. - -Moreover, the name Winter, or Wynter, _was_, 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 Yorkshire_,” Edited by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc., -London), Jane Ingleby is stated to be the “Wyff to George _Wynter_ son and -heyr of _Robert Winter_ of Cawdwell in Worceshyre.” - -One would like to see from the pen of the Rev. John Gerard a translation -of Father Oswald Tesimond’s Italian Narrative, known as “_Greenway’s -Manuscript_.” Tesimond, it is almost certain, knew the bulk of the -plotters more intimately than did the seventeenth century Father Gerard. -Therefore, Tesimond’s Narrative, _pro tanto_, must surpass in value even -the work of the Father Gerard of three hundred years ago. - - - - - NOTES. - - -[Footnote 1:——The following quotation is from the “_Calendar of State -Papers Domestic, 1603-1610_,” p. 254:——“Nov. 13 (1605) Declaration of -Fras. Tresham——Catesby 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——_Litteræ Felicissimæ_——he would have never addressed his Sovereign -thus. He 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 _by 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 they feared not the course of Justice. The Earl of Suffolk was a -son of Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, Margaret Audley, -the heiress of Sir Thomas Audley, of Walden, 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 Fitzalan. She -left one son, Philip, who became the well-known Philip Howard Earl of -Arundel and Surrey.] - -[Footnote 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 Queen Elizabeth, thinks that the proposal that Mary Stuart -should be married to Norfolk came from the Scottish side at York on this -occasion. Whatever may be the true history and character of Mary Queen of -Scots, in clearness of mind she excelled her Royal cousin of England, that -wonderful child of the Renaissance, poor, pathetic, lonely, yet -marvellous, “Bess,” who for 342 years, even from the grave, has ruled one -aspect of English ecclesiastical life.[A] Moreover, I am of opinion that -the Scots’ Queen showed a singular tolerance of spirit towards the holders -of theological opinions the contradictory of her own, whilst at the same -time continuing constantly established in her own tenure of what she -believed to be the Truth: indeed a tolerance of spirit, combined with a -personal steadfastness, reached only 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 that know (and therefore -believe) they have a living possession of the Absolute and Everlasting -Truth. In the interests of our common Humanity, all who think that their -strength is as the “strength of ten,” because their “faith” (whatever may -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 many of its concrete results, of religious -toleration: a principle which England has exhibited in its practical -working to the world: but rather 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 Right imply a oneness or _unity_. Now unity is the -opposite of multiplicity, and, _therefore_, the contrary of division and -distinction. One must rule men by virtue of the prerogatives of Truth and -Right when these are ascertained. The problem at the root of the terrible -conflict on the veldt of South Africa since 11th October, 1899, to the -present time, 26th October, 1901, involves this question of the unity that -is implied in the ideas of Truth and Right. For those ideas are the -originating causes, the moving springs, the ultimate justification, and -the final vindication of all true and just claims to paramountcy and -sovereignty everywhere. But who is to determine which side has Truth and -Right, 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 because _first_ they have themselves obeyed princely ideals of -the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Nothing short of this can satisfy -the universal conscience of mankind. - -What have our men of light and leading been about that 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!] - -[Footnote A: See “_Life of Mary Queen of Scots_,” by Samuel Cowan -(Sampson, Low, 1901); also “_The Mystery of Mary Stuart_,” by Andrew Lang -(Longmans, 1901).] - -[Footnote 3:——Lord Mounteagle had been a party to the sending of Thomas -Winter and Father Oswald Tesimond into Spain in 1601 to negotiate with -King Philip III. 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 Catesby at White -Webbs, by Enfield Chase, near London; so he was then at liberty. On 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 Wright 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 part -or lot in despatching the second mission. (It is important 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 Morley, was living in 1605. 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. “Mounteagle,” says -Father Oswald Tesimond, alias Greenway, “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 the -religion of his ancestors, though his wife (_née_ Tresham) continued -constant herein, and brought up her children Catholics; but Mounteagle -“died a Catholic.” - -Jardine thinks that Mounteagle held some ceremonial office at Court, -probably in the Household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., who -was at heart a Roman Catholic, though most probably never received into -that Church.——See “_Carmel in England_” (Burns & Oates, 1899), p. 30. We -hear of Mounteagle about ten days before the 5th November, 1605, calling -at the Palace at Richmond to kiss the Prince’s hands (_i.e._, Henry Prince -of Wales). Thomas Winter told Catesby that Mounteagle, at that time, -gathered from what he heard at the Royal 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.] - -[Footnote 4:——The Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard were -half-brothers. (Lord William Howard was “the Belted Will 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 sons 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 Faith.” Though -their father was a strong Protestant (being a pupil of John Fox, the -author of Fox’s “_Book of Martyrs_”) both his sons, Philip and William, -became strong Roman Catholics, as did his daughter, Margaret Lady -Sackville. Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, losing his father when only -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 1581, while still a mere courtier and votary of pleasure, it happened -he was present, we are told, at “the disputation in the Tower of London in -1581, concerning divers points of religion betwixt Fr. Edmond Campion of -the Society of Jesus and some other Priests of the one part; Charke, Fulk, -Whitaker, and some other Protestant Ministers of the other.” We are -further told by his biographer, an unknown Jesuit writer of the -seventeenth century, “By that he saw and heard there, he easily perceived -on which side the Truth and true Religion was, tho’ 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 the time of his 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 Robert Howard, in the reign of Henry VI., married the Lady Margaret -Mowbray, daughter of Thomas De Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, and -grand-daughter, maternally, of Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel (“_Law -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 sed non valeo_”——“I am willing, but I -am not able.” - -The Earl of Arundel was “reconciled” by Fr. 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. Robert 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 highly 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 the great Florentine poet’s -ideal of “the truly noble,” in that _they_ 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 wife_” (Hurst -& Blackett), and the “_Household Books of Lord William Howard_” (Surtees -Society).] - -[Footnote 5:——Lord Mounteagle would be also akin to Lord Lumley (who had -estates at or about Pickering, I believe), through the great House of -Neville. Lord Lumley’s portrait, from a painting in the possession of the -Right Hon. the Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of -Yorkshire, is to be found in Edward Hailstone’s “_Yorkshire Worthies_,” -vol. i. Edward Hailstone, Esquire, of Walton Hall, Wakefield, was a rich -benefactor to the York Minster Library, and his memory should be ever had -in grateful remembrance by all who “love Yorkshire because they know -her.”——See Jackson’s “_Guide to Yorkshire_” (Leeds).] - -[Footnote 6:——It should be remembered that (i.) the page’s evidence goes -to show that the man 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 up to him with the document. - -Hoxton is about four miles from Whitehall. I opine that Mounteagle -proceeded from Bath to Hoxton, and that the supper had been pre-arranged -to take place at Hoxton on the evening of the 26th of October, 1605, by -Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, who indeed read the -Letter 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.] - -[Footnote 7:——The letters “wghe” are not, at this date (5th October, -1900), clearly discernible.] - -[Footnote 8:——See letter dated November, 1605——Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmonds. Add. MSS. in British Museum, No. 4176, where name “Thomas -Ward” is given.] - -[Footnote 9:——Stowe’s “_Chronicle_,” continued by Howes, p. 880. Ed. 1631. - -From the evidence of William 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. Wright reached London -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 II.] - -[Footnote 10:——Fawkes was apprehended at “midnight without the House,” -according to “_A Discourse of this late intended Treason_.” Knevet having -given notice that he 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 Royal Presence. This was at about four o’clock -in the morning of Tuesday, the 5th of November. - -Fawkes showed the calmest behaviour conceivable in the Royal 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!” (See “_King’s Book_.”) - -Whitehall Palace had been a Royal Palace since the reign of Henry VIII.; -it was burned down in the time of William and Mary. 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 Gracious Majesty King Edward -VII. 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 Ripon, the Lord -Mowbray and Stourton, and the Lord Herries, including other peers and -representatives of the English Roman 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!] - -[Footnote 11:——Essex House was between the Strand and the River 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.] - -[Footnote 12:——By Poulson in his “_History of Holderness_,” Yorks. (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 local tradition, though he -mentions no kind of authority.——See also Foster’s Ed. of Glover’s -“_Visitation of Yorkshire_,” Also Norcliffe’s Ed. of Flower’s “_Visitation -of Yorkshire_” (Harleian Society). - -See Supplementum for account of my visit to Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, -in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, on the 6th of May, 1901.] - -[Footnote 13:——See “_Guy Fawkes_,” by Rev. Thomas Lathbury, M.A. (J. W. -Parker, 1839), p. 21. Lathbury does not give his authority for this -interesting statement respecting this conspirator, Christopher Wright. It -is presumed, however, that he had some ground for the statement; for it is -antecedently improbable that his “imagination” should have provided so -circumstantial an assertion. Then, whence did he derive it? - -Query:——Does Greenway’s Narrative make any such statement? Apparently -Jardine had a sight of the whole of this invaluable MS., and possibly -Lathbury (who appears to have been a clergyman of the Established Church) -may have seen it likewise through Canon Tierney, the Editor of “_Dodd’s -Church History_.”] - -[Footnote 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 privilege -to behold. - -Mr. Thomas Graves 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 High Commission are of -extraordinary interest, because 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.] - -[Footnote 15:——So that bad as they were, they were not hoary-headed -criminals, if we except Percy who 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 Roman -Catholics of Yorkshire in 1604_.” - -The Percy Arms are in Welwick Church. (Communicated by Miss Burnham, of -Plowland, Welwick.)] - -[Footnote 16:——I have seen the statement in a letter of the Earl (who was -one of the most scientific men of his age) which he wrote after the -discovery of the Plot. The letter is in Collins’ “_Peerage_.” The Earl 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 avowal, was no papist. Salisbury’s native perspicacity, however, -told him that Northumberland, from every point of view, was alike to the -Royal 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 Northumberland would have thought -that the papists’ support was well “worth a Mass,” just as did King Harry -of Navarre, the father of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I., a -few years previously. (An ancient portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is in -the possession of the York Merchant Adventurers, York.) Then again, -Salisbury had a personal grudge against the proud Percy. For the latter -evidently in his heart scorned and rejected Salisbury, not only as a -_novus homo_——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 whom the great Northern 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 _carpe 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 _has_ made true moral -progress than the contrast presented by the present Prime Minister and the -present First Lord of the Treasury and their ancestors of “Great Eliza’s -golden time” and the days of James Stuart.)] - -[Footnote 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 Dictionary of -Biography_.”) - -Had Catesby an estate at Armcote, in Worcestershire, not far from Chipping -Norton?] - -[Footnote 18:——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, Newby, and Givendale, most -probably, for he was the early and life-long friend of Mary Ward.——See the -“_Life of Mary Ward_,” by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & -Oates).] - -[Footnote 19:——Sir Thomas Leigh settled considerable property to the uses -of the marriage. Jardine says that only Chastleton actually came into -Catesby’s possession.] - -[Footnote 20:——S. T. Coleridge, speaking of the age of Elizabeth, says -that, notwithstanding its marvellous physical and intellectual prosperity, -“it was an age when, for a time, the intellect stood superior to the moral -sense.” “_Lectures on Shakespeare_,” Collier’s Ed. (1856), p. 34.] - -[Footnote 21:——What a lesson to us all, of every creed and philosophy, is -the just, yet terrible fate of these personally charming men, “to hug the -shore” of plain Natural Ethics, of solid Moral Virtue, 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 -with happy augury for the twentieth century.] - -[Footnote 22:——Jardine’s “_Narrative_,” pp. 31, 32.] - -[Footnote 23:——Gerard’s “_Narrative_,” p. 56.] - -[Footnote 24:——Knaresborough, Knaresbrough or Knaresburgh, is thus -pleasantly celebrated in Drayton’s “_Polyolbion_”:—— - - “From Whernside Hill not far outflows the nimble Nyde, - Through Nytherside, along as sweetly she doth glide - Tow’rds Knaresburgh on her way—— - Where that brave forest stands - Entitled by the town[A] who, with upreared hands, - Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands crown - The river passing by.”] - -[Footnote A: The allusion is to the ancient Forest of Knaresbrough -belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. (As to the extent and history of the -Forest, see Grainge’s “_Forest of Knaresbrough_.”)] - -[Footnote 25:——“The Venerable” Francis Ingleby’s portrait is still to be -seen at Ripley Castle, an ideal English home, hard-by the winding Nidd.] - -[Footnote 26:——For the facts of Francis Ingleby’s life, see Challoner’s -“_Missionary Priests_,” edited by Thomas G. Law; and “_Acts of the English -Martyrs_” (Burns & Oates), by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J.] - -[Footnote 27:——From Father Gerard’s “_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_,” -p. 59.] - -[Footnote 28:——See the admirably written life of Sir Everard Digby, under -the title “_The Life of a Conspirator_,” by “One of his descendants” -(Kegan Paul & Co., 1895). The learned descendant of Sir Everard Digby, -however, 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 as the high-minded -spouse of Mary Mulsho himself——_honourable, of course, I mean after their -kind_.——Jardine’s “_Narrative of Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 67.] - -[Footnote 29:——Sir William Catesby and Sir Thomas Tresham were excellent -types of the English gentry of their day. Each was “a fine old English -gentleman, one of the olden time.” They had both become “reconciled” Roman -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 forming 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 coming of age” of the son and -heir of each of these gallant knights and stately dames. And we may easily -conceive of the bright hopes that either of the gentlewomen (especially -the two sisters), in their close-fitting caps, laced ruffs, and gowns -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! through the evil will of man, for the pathetic vanity of human -wishes.] - -[Footnote 30:——Jardine, in his “_Narrative_,” p. 51, says that John -Grant’s ancestors are described in several pedigrees as of Saltmarsh, in -Worcestershire, and of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire; that Norbrook -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 Throckmorton family——owned -property. Moreover, through his mother, Shakespeare was distantly -connected with several of the plotters. For Catesby and Tresham, as well -as Lady Wigmore, of Lucton, Herefordshire, were all first cousins to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton (the father of Francis Throckmorton, who was executed in the -reign of Elizabeth) having three daughters whom he married to Sir William -Catesby, Sir Thomas Tresham, and Sir William Wigmore.——See Jardine’s -“_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 11; also Foley’s “_Records of the -Jesuits in England_” (Burns & Oates), vol. iv., p. 290. - -Probably Shakespeare knew Grant personally, and not only Grant, but -Catesby, Percy, the Winters (Robert and Thomas Winter were likewise akin -to the Throckmortons), and Tresham. That the bard of Avon knew Lord -Mounteagle, the associate of his friend and patron the Earl of -Southampton, is even still more probable. - -How is it that Shakespeare never in his writings sought to make political -capital (as the sinister phrase goes) out of the Gunpowder Plot? For -several reasons: first, his heart (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 Shakespeare, we -may discern additional proof of the nobleness of the man, supposing that -he knew personally any of the plotters. He would not kick friends that -were down, when those friends were even traitors. He could not approve -their action——far from it. He might have condemned with justice, and with -the world’s applause. But upon himself a self-denying ordinance he laid, -tempting as it must have been to him to perform the contrary, especially -when we recollect the course then followed by his brother-poet——Jonson. -But 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 -hangman’s bloody hands”——“Macbeth,” 1606——and that sufficed for him. - -Since writing the above note I find it stated in “_The Religion of -Shakespeare_,” by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Burns & Oates, 1899)——chiefly -from the writings of that great Elizabethan scholar, the late Richard -Simpson——that “among the chief actors in the so-called Gunpowder Plot were -Catesby; the two Bates; John Grant, of Norbrook, near Stratford; Thomas -Winter, Grant’s brother-in-law; all Shakespeare’s friends and benefactors” -(p. 103); 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 Winters, and Tresham, but distantly -with the Earl of Southampton himself, who was a relative of Lord -Mounteagle. Hence it is still more probable that Shakespeare knew -Mounteagle personally. - -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 Shakespeare_” (Smith & Elder), p. -233.——If this were so, then it is well-nigh certain that 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 -Collins’s “_Ephemera Critica_” (Constable) as to religion of -Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote 31:——The name is also spelt Tirwhitt. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, Lady -Ursula Babthorpe’s grandfather, had entertained Henry VIII. at the old -Hall at Kettleby. A new Hall was built in the time of James I., but this -was pulled down about 1691, I believe. The Tyrwhitts, of Kettleby, were -allied to such as the Tailboys, Boroughes, Wymbishes, Monsons, Tournays, -Thimbelbies, Thorolds, and other Lincolnshire houses. They were rigidly -Roman Catholic. The marriage between Sir William Babthorpe and Ursula -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 1581. It -was continued through Sir Ralph Babthorpe, who married that “valiant -woman” (the only daughter and heiress of William Birnand, the Recorder of -York), Grace Birnand by name, of Brimham, Knaresbrough, and York. Lady -Grace Babthorpe’s active and contemplative life was one long singing of -_Gloria in excelsis_. Sir William Babthorpe and Lady Ursula his wife, like -their noble parents, Sir Ralph Babthorpe and Lady Grace, “for conscience -sake” became voluntary 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 remarkably gifted. Mary 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 Mother-General of -the Nuns 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 Nuns. The story of the Babthorpes is a veritable English “_Un -Récit d’une sœur_.”——See “_Life of Mary Ward_.”——The Wards——like the -Inglebies, of Ripley; the Constables, of Everingham;[A] the Dawnays, of -Sessay; and the Palmes, of Naburn——were related to this “family of -saints.”——See also “The Babthorpes, of Babthorpe” (one of whose ancestors -carried the sword before King Edward III. on entering Calais in 1347), in -the late Rev. John Morris’s “_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_,” -first series (Burns & Oates). - -For “the Kayes,” of Woodsome, see Canon Hulbert’s “_Annals of Almondbury_” -(Longmans). - -“The Venerable” Richard Langley, of Owsthorpe and Grimthorpe, near -Pocklington, in the East Riding 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.)] - -[Footnote 32:——“_Greenway’s MS._,” quoted by Jardine, “_Narrative of the -Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 151.] - -[Footnote 33:——Hawarde, “_Reportes of Star Chamber_.” - -See “_The Fawkeses, of York_,” by Robert Davies, sometime Town Clerk of -York (Nichols, Westminster, 1850); and the “_Life of Guy Fawkes_,” by -William 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 the 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. -Since August, 1900, York Castle has been used as a Military Prison. All -the old Indictments that are in existence, whether at York, Worcester, or -other Assize towns, would be of interest and value re the Gunpowder Plot -_if the affair is to be thoroughly bottomed_. - -The York 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 referred to Popish recusants, and those 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: “_The Quakers unmasked and clearly detected to be but -the spawn of Romish Frogs, Jesuites, and Franciscan Fryers._” Now, Prynne -was not far wrong either, the erudite historical philosopher knows very -well, who has studied the genesis of the remarkable system developed by -Fox, Barclay, and Penn. - -Was there a Grimston near Mount St. John, Feliskirk, near Thirsk? Or was -it Grimston Garth, Holderness? or was it North Grimston, between Malton -and Driffield, that Thomas Grimstone came from; or Grimston, three miles -east of York? - -Since writing the preceding note I have come to the conclusion that the -Grimston was, most likely, the Grimstone some twelve miles from Mount St. -John, in the Parish of Gilling East, near Hovingham and Ampleforth, in the -Vale of Mowbray, and near Gilling Castle, once the seat of the Catholic -branch of the Fairfaxes, now the seat of George Wilson, Esquire, J.P. This -Grimstone would be a spot very suitable for harbouring Campion after he -had been at Babthorpe, near Selby; Thixendale, near Leavening, east of -Malton; and Fryton, west of Malton, near Hovingham. - -(How wonderful to think that the probabilities are in favour of the -supposal that these tranquil, sequestered nooks, each with its own fair -summer beauty, once rang with the golden eloquence of Edmund Campion, “one -of the diamonds of England,” in the days of Shakespeare.) - -Guy Fawkes was also connected with another Roman Catholic martyr, “the -Venerable” William Knight, yeoman, of South Duffield, Hemingbrough, Selby, -East Yorkshire, who suffered death at the York Tyburn in 1596, for -“explaining to a man the Catholic faith.”——See Challoner and Foster’s -“_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_” (“Fawkes, of Farnley”).] - -[Footnote A: The Constables, of Everingham, are one of those old English -Roman 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 Riding of Yorkshire, Lord Herries, 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 Robert Aske, -of Aughton on the Derwent, in the time of Henry VIII. (1536). 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, either -Clifford’s Tower or possibly the tower of All Saints’ Church, The -Pavement, York. After the movement 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 Lumley, of Lumley Castle, was burned alive at -Smithfield.——See Burke’s “_Tudor Portraits_.”] - -[Footnote 34:——Father Morris, S.J., in “_The Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_” (York volume), says that Father Tesimond was a Yorkshireman; -though in Foley’s “_Records_,” in one place, he is said to have been born -in Northumberland, perhaps a translation of the Latin “Northumbria,” -intended to represent the name “Yorkshire.” There were, at least, three -families of Tesimond in York in the reign of Elizabeth, namely, Robert -Tesimond, a butcher, of Christ’s Parish; Anthony Tesimond, a cordyner; and -William Tesimond, a saddler, both of St. Michael-le-Belfrey’s Parish. I -incline to think that Father Oswald Tesimond was the son of William -Tesimond, who lived in the Parish of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York. Oswald -Tesimond was born in 1563; but as the Register books of St. Michael’s -Church, unfortunately, begin in 1565, two years afterwards, there are no -means of verifying my supposal. William Tesimond was, for a great part of -his life, a rigid Catholic, suffering imprisonment for his faith, although -eventually he appears to have yielded. Margaret Tesimond, the wife of -William Tesimond, also bore a more than lip testimony to the ancient -religion by suffering imprisonment for it. Whether William Tesimond died -“reconciled” or not, I cannot say. Perhaps further researches will clear -the matter up as to this and the exact parentage of Father Tesimond. In -the very learned and deeply lamented Dr. James Raine’s admirable book on -the City of York (Longmans, 1893), on p. 110, is the following:——“Whilst -the Earl of Northumberland’s head was lying in the Tolbooth on Ouse -Bridge, William Tessimond cut off some hair from the beard. He wrapped it -in paper, and wrote on the outside, ‘This the heire of the good Erle of -Northumberland, Lord Perecy.’ For this he got into great trouble.” This -must have been about the 22nd August, 1572, as Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland was beheaded on that day, at three o’clock in the -afternoon, in The Pavement, York, for his share in the Rising of the -North. The Church Register of St. Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, -contains an entry of the death of the Earl of Northumberland. The Percy -family had property in Walmgate at that time. The Earl is now “the Blessed -Thomas Percy,” one of “the York martyrs.” The Lady Mary Percy, of Ghent, a -well-known Benedictine Abbess, was his daughter. She would be probably -named after her aunt Mary, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of Scriven Hall, -near Scotton. There is a fine monument in the Parish Church of -Knaresbrough to the memory of Francis Slingsby and Mary Percy, his wife. -The Slingsbies were Roman Catholics till many years after the reign of -Elizabeth; in fact, Sir Henry Slingsby, who was beheaded during the -Commonwealth, was himself a Roman Catholic. - -The Half Moon Hotel, in Blake Street, York, perhaps derives its name from -the well-known device of the Percy family.] - -[Footnote 35:——Quoted from Father Gerard’s “_Narrative_,” p. 278.] - -[Footnote 36:——So that the Plot was first hatched about Easter, 1604.——See -Dr. S. R. Gardiner’s “_What Gunpowder Plot was_,” as to the decisive -causes of the Plot.——Jardine, in his “_Narrative_” (pp. 45 and 46), thinks -that the Star-Chambering of that aged but charming Roman Catholic -gentleman, Thomas Pounde, Esquire, of Belmont, Hampshire, contributed to -the causes of the Plot. This is very probable. Pounde was first cousin to -the father of the Earl of Southampton, the patron and friend of -Shakespeare. Pounde was a devoted friend of Campion, and himself a Jesuit -lay-brother. He spent a large part of his life in prison. He was attired -in prison as became his rank and fortune, and was, besides being a -“mystical” Catholic, a most accomplished Elizabethan gentleman.——See -“_Jesuits in Conflict_” (Burns & Oates).] - -[Footnote 37:——_I.e._, according to Winter, about two months after.] - -[Footnote 38:——See pp. 269 and 271 of the Rev. John Gerard’s, S.J., work, -“_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_” (Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co., 1897).] - -[Footnote 39:——_I.e._, a Prayer Book. Sir Everard Digby appears to have -been sworn in by Robert Catesby on the cross formed by the hilt of a -poniard.——See “_Life of Sir Everard Digby_.”] - -[Footnote 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 “_The Month_,” No. 369, pp. 353, 4.——This would be to make -assurance double sure. But, happily, the “best laid schemes o’ men gang -aft agley.” “For 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 anathenas” (John Henry Newman). Also, “Conscience is the -knowledge with oneself of the better and the worse” (James Martineau).] - -[Footnote 41:——See Jardine’s “_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_,” p. 41.] - -[Footnote 42:——The Most Hon. the Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., 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. - -Of what manner of men these Mallories were, the puissant owners of Studley -Royal, is evident from what we are told concerning that Sir William -Mallory, “who was so zealous and constant a Catholic, that when heresy -first came into England, and Catholic service commanded 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 Babthorpe,” Morris’s “_Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_,” first series, p. 227.——The Church referred to must 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 the 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 grey ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of -St. Mary, Fountains, laved by the musical little River Skell. (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 VI., 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 -the reign of the Seventh!] - -[Footnote 43:——The promoters of the Rising of the North wished:—— - -(1) To restore to her kingdom Mary 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 Mary Stuart on the throne of England. - -(4) Above all, to restore “the ancient faith,” which they did in Durham, -Staindrop, 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 North in 1569 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 Lancashire -(especially the neighbourhood of “Wigan and Ashton-on-Makerfield, and, -above all, the Fylde, that region between Lancaster and Preston, whence -“the great Allen” sprang) is “the Rome of England” to this day. It is said -that the Parish Church of Bispham (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 -Jerome Allen, uncle to the Cardinal. In the white-washed yeoman dwellings -of the Fylde 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 Ripon, 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 -idyllic hamlet betwixt Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, that is still -a stronghold of “the ancient faith,” which, as in a last Yorkshire -retreat, has _there_ never died out), has the writer recalled the -following lines from the old “Ballad of the Rising 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 shining all so fair; - The Nortons ancyent had the Cross - And the Five Wounds Our Lord did beare.” - -Norton Conyers, in the Parish of Wath, near Ripon, was forfeited by the -Nortons after the Rebellion of 1569. It is now, I believe, the property of -Sir Reginald 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 Markenfields, -and, being forfeited by them, granted to Francis Norton, the eldest son of -old Richard Norton.——See “_Sir Ralph Sadlers Papers_,” Ed. by Sir Walter -Scott.——The present Lord Grantley is descended from Thomas Norton, who was -sixth in descent from old Richard 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 -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 Cockermouth Hall, waited on the -Scots’ Queen when she first landed at Workington. Henry Fletcher -“entertained” the Queen at Cockermouth Hall (17th May, 1568), “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’ “_History of Cumberland and -Westmoreland_.” - -As to the Nortons and Markenfields, see Wordsworth’s “_White Doe of -Rylstone_”; “_Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569_” (1840); Froude’s -“_History of England_”; “_Memorials of Cardinal Allen_”[A] (Ed. by Dr. -Knox, published by Nutt, London); and J. S. Fletcher’s “_Picturesque -Yorkshire_” (Dent & Co.). In Hailstone’s “_Portraits of Yorkshire -Worthies_” (two magnificent volumes published by Cundall & Fleming) are -photographs of old Richard Norton and of his brother Thomas, and of the -former’s seventh son, Christopher. The photographs 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 Ripon Minster Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, it is -plain that, between the years 1589 and 1601, a “Norton,” described as -“_generosus_,” lived at Sawley, close to Bishop Thornton and Grantley, -near Ripon.] - -[Footnote 44:——In 1569 the Norton Conyers estate seems to have been vested -in a Nicholas Norton, probably as a trustee.——See “_Sir Ralph Sadler’s -Papers_,” and see _ante_, Supplementum III. - -The Winters were also related to the Markenfields, their aunt, Isabel -Ingleby, having married Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield. - -The Wrights and Winters were also, through the Inglebies, connected with -the Yorkes, of Gowthwaite, in Nidderdale, of which family, most probably, -sprang Captain Roland Yorke (who introduced the use of the rapier into -England——see Camden’s “_Elizabeth_”), the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, in -the Netherlands.——See Foster’s Edition of “_Glover’s Visitation of -Yorkshire_”; “_The Earl of Leicester’s Correspondence_” (Camden Soc.); -also “_Cardinal Allen’s Defence of Sir William Stanley’s Surrender of -Deventer, 29th January, 1586-87_” (Chetham Soc.). - -The Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, were related to the Nortons, -old Richard Norton’s grandmother being Margaret, daughter of Roger 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 Whitwell, 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_.”)] - -[Footnote A: 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 Riding of the -County of York, is the representative of this ancient Yorkshire family of -Lister. Lord Masham is a representative of a younger branch of the same -family. - -By a remarkable coincidence, on the 16th 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.] - -[Footnote 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, however, singularly enough married Martha Wright, Mary Ward’s -aunt.——See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers -(Burns & Oates, 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 very trusty man. A photograph of a -painting of him is in Hailstone’s “_Yorkshire Worthies_,” taken 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, but utterly failed to do so. He eventually became a Priest -of the Society of Jesus. He petitioned James to restore to him the Neville -estates, but without avail; so that historic Middleham and Kirbymoorside -(in Yorkshire), and Raby and Brancepeth (in Durham), finally passed from -the once proud house of Neville, one of whom was the well-known Warwick, -the King-maker, owing to the chivalrous, ill-fated Rising of 1569. This -Rising first broke out at Topcliffe, between Ripon and Thirsk, where the -Earl of Northumberland was then sojourning at his palace, the site of -which is pointed out to this day. Topcliffe is situated on the waters of -the River Swale, which (like the East Riding 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 people ever had. - -The first Pilgrimage of Grace, under Robert Aske, of Aughton, 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 “_York: the History of its Walls -and Castles_”), kindly refers me to “_Letters and Papers, Foreign and -Domestic, Henry VIII., 1537_,” p. 87, for evidence tending to prove that -Robert Aske was executed “on the height of the castle dungeon,” where the -High Sheriff of Yorkshire had jurisdiction, and _not_ 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, most probably, settled -the point by his discovery of this important letter of “the old Duke of -Norfolk” to Thomas Cromwell.] - -[Footnote 46:——Father Gerard’s “Narrative of Gunpowder Plot” in -“_Conditions of Catholics under James I._” Edited by Father Morris, S.J. -(Longmans, 1872).] - -[Footnote 47:——The “very imperfect proof” to which I refer is contained in -a certain marriage entry in the Registers at Ripon Minster. The date is -“10th July, 1588” (the year and month of the Spanish Armada), and _seems_ -to me to be as follows: “Xpofer Wayde et Margaret Wayrde.” Now, “Margaret” -was a family name of the Wardes, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, and the -clergyman making the entry _may_ have written “Wayde” instead of Wright. -We 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) papers 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 1605, suggests to my mind many far-reaching -supposals. Marmaduke Ward seems to have died before the year 1614, but the -“burials” of the Ripon Registers are lost for this period apparently.] - -[Footnote 48:——Born 1563. Father Oswald Tesimond was for six years at -Hindlip Hall, along with Father Oldcorne. Ralph Ashley, a Jesuit -lay-brother, was Oldcorne’s servant.] - -[Footnote 49:——John Wright was born about 1568. Christopher Wright was -born about 1570. Had they a brother Francis, living at Newbie (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 Wright, 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 ffrauncis -Wright, Esquire, and of another ffrauncis Wright, under date 2nd May, -1664, both at Welwick. (Communicated to me by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, -M.A., Vicar of Welwick.) Probably the Francis Wrights, of Newby (or -Newbie), are those buried at Welwick, being father and son respectively. -Certainly the coincidence is remarkable.——See _ante_.] - -[Footnote 50:——Foley’s “_Records of the English Province of the Society of -Jesus_,” vol. iv., pp. 203-5 (Burns & Oates, 1878).] - -[Footnote 51:——Quoted in Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 213.] - -[Footnote 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 alias of Oldcorne] for us, -and desire him to help us to some resting place.”——See Jardine’s -“_Criminal Trials, Gunpowder Plot_,” vol. ii., p. 146.] - -[Footnote 53:——Schismatic Catholics were those Catholics that went to Mass -in private houses, and then, more or less, frequented their parish church -afterwards to escape the fines. They were further divided into -Communicants and Non-communicants. Very often the men of a family were -Catholics of this sort, and the womenkind strict Catholics. Indeed, it was -mainly the women and the priests that have kept “the Pope’s religion” -alive in England: although, of course, _many_ men of great mental and -physical powers were papists of the most rigid class. The practice of -“going to the Protestant church,” as English Roman Catholics term the -practice to this day, was deliberately condemned by 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: the Jesuits, and especially their extraordinarily able leader, -Father Parsons, thought that the Secular Priests required watching. And so -they did; and so do all other human creatures. But 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.] - -[Footnote 54:——“_Collecti Cardwelli_,” Public Record Office, Brussels Vitæ -Mart, p. 147. - -In Foley’s “_Records_,” 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, with St. William’s Chapel -(at present the site of which is occupied by Messrs. Varvills’ -establishment). St. Sampson’s Church, the ancient church which gave the -name of the parish 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,” Margaret Clitherow lived. Oldcorne must have known that -great York citizen well. She was born in Davygate, and was the second wife -of a butcher, named 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, by birth: and the Church of -Rome, ever mindful of her own, declared in 1886 (just three hundred years -after the martyr’s death in the Tolbooth, on Old Ouse Bridge) that -Margaret Clitherow, a shrewd, honest, devout York tradeswoman, is one of -the Church’s “Venerable Servants of God,” by grace.——See J. B. Milburn’s -Life of this extraordinary Elizabethan Yorkshire-woman, entitled, “_A -Martyr of Old York_” (Burns & Oates, London).] - -[Footnote 55:——This crossing-out of the word “yowe” is noticed in Nash’s -“_History of Worcestershire_.”] - -[Footnote 56:——The word “good” is omitted in the copy of the Letter given -in the “_Authorised Discourse_,” which is remarkable. I think it was done -designedly, in order to minimize the merit of the revealing plotter.] - -[Footnote 57:——King James’s interpretation of these enigmatical words was -simply fantastical. It may be read in Gerard’s “_Narrative_,” and in most -contemporary relations of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 58:——I am of opinion that one of Father Oldcorne’s servants, -Ralph Ashley by name, a Jesuit lay-brother, was the person that actually -conveyed 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 Ralph 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 Ashley, which is negative 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 -Campion_”——whom the genial orator playfully called “his little -man”——“_homulus_”; and in the 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 halls, -up and down the country, he constructed most ingenious secret places for -the hiding of priests. - -Ralph Ashley had acted in some humble capacity at the English Catholic -College of Valladolid, which had been founded in Spain from Rheims, -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 “_The Life of the -Venerable John Roberts, O.S.B._,” by the Rev. Bede Camm, O.S.B. (Sands & -Co.)——Father Roberts founded the Benedictine College at Douay, still in -existence. Cardinal Allen’s secular priests’ College is now used as a -French Barracks. Ushaw College, Durham, and St. Edmund’s College, Ware, -are the lineal successors of Cardinal Allen’s College at Douay. - -(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. Lingard -died at Hornby, near Lancaster, not far from Hornby Castle, the seat of -the once famous Lord Mounteagle.) - -Brother Raphael (or Ralph) Ashley, was possibly akin to the Ashleys, of -Goule Hall, in the Township of Cliffe, in the Parish of Hemingbrough, in -the East Riding 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 his being the chosen companion of the two Yorkshire Jesuits, -Oldcorne and Tesimond. - -This Jesuit lay-brother was acquainted with London; and as, _Qui facit per -alium facit per se_, it was pre-eminently likely that Oldcorne would -employ his confidential servant to perform so weighty a mission as the one -I have attributed unto him. - -Again, since “he who acts through another acts through himself,” it is -unnecessary for me to treat at large in the Text concerning my supposal -respecting the part that Brother Ralph Ashley played in the great drama of -the Gunpowder Plot. Ashley being identified with his master, Father -Oldcorne, shares, in his degree, his master’s merits and praise. - -Professor J. A. Froude thought that Ralph Waldo Emerson was of the same -stock as Brother Ralph Emerson. It is quite possible. For after the -Gunpowder Plot, I opine that the younger Catholics in many cases became -Puritans, and in some cases, later on, Quakers.] - -[Footnote 59:——Notwithstanding the endless chain of the causation of human -acts and human events, man’s strongest and clearest knowledge tells him -that he is “master of his fate,” nay, that “he is fated to be free,” -inasmuch as at any moment man can open the flood-gates that are betwixt -him and an Infinite Ocean of Pure Unconditioned Freedom: can open those -flood-gates, and in that Ocean can lave at will, and 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.] - -[Footnote 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).] - -[Footnote 61:——“_Gunpowder Plot Books_,” vol. ii., p. 202.] - -[Footnote 62:——It is impossible to describe 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 with 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 afternoon. -He desires to place on record his sense of obligation for the courteous -civility with which he was treated by the authorities at the Record -Office, London, on this occasion.] - -[Footnote 63:——Oldcorne, being a Jesuit, would from time to time go to -White Webbs, Morecrofts (near Uxbridge), Erith-on-the-Thames, Stoke Pogis, -Thames Street (London), and other places of Jesuit resort where Mounteagle -and Ward had the _entrée_. 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 -house known as Dr. Hewick’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 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 had so wronged, _in act and in desire_, -and themselves; and a happy thing for the men, as well as for others, that -Destiny did so enable them whilst there was yet time. - -(In October, 1900, I was informed that the present mansion, known as White -Webbs, belongs to the Lady Meúx.)] - -[Footnote 64:——Known by Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant.] - -[Footnote 65:——See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 1.] - -[Footnote 66:——M’rgery Slater most probably belonged to a Ripon family, as -I find 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 -Warde” may have been a relative of Mr. Cotterell, as I find in the St. -Michael-le-Belfrey Register the entry of the burial (1583) 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 church, -whose site is to-day (1901) occupied by the official lodgings of the -King’s Judges of Assize when on circuit. For the “subsidy” of 1581, a Mr. -James Cotterell of that parish was assessed in “Lande” at £6 13s. 4d. -(among the highest of the York assessments). There was a Mr. Cotterell “an -Examiner” for the Council of the North in the time of Elizabeth, and I -have no doubt that “Mistress Warde’s” late master was this very gentleman. -Whether the young woman whom “Thomas Ward, 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, I do not know. -Let us hope, however, that alike in gifts of personal attractiveness and -graces of character she was not unworthy of one who came from so truly -“gentle” a people as the Wardes, of Mulwith, Givendale, and Newby. If -M’gery Slater did hail from Ripon, this “faithful following” of her to -York, and from the house of her master, publicly making her, in the face -of all the world, his “true and honourable wife, as dear to him as were -the ruddy drops that visited his own heart,” bears early witness to an -idealism of mind in this Yorkshire 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 Warde, who -was also of Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and -from _this_ picture we may imagine _that_.] - -[Footnote 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 that country [_i.e._ Yorkshire] for his exceeding comeliness 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 with 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 Royal, near Ripon, the present seat of their descendants, the Most -Hon. the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon. - -The above quotation is taken from the “_Life_” of Marmaduke Ward’s eldest -daughter, Mary, who was one of the most 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. I -think the Old Heworth Hall was built _behind_ 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 Gunpowder plotters “were at Old Heworth Hall” -(communicated to me in 1890 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, 1901, the outhouse or hay chamber (of brick 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-Hill. The last of the English -martyrs was Father Thomas Thwing, of Heworth, who was executed at the York -Tyburn, 1680. His vestments belong to the Herbert family, of Gate -Helmsley. 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 with the past are those beautiful, but fading, priestly -garments. - -The following letter of Mr. Bannister Dent will be read with interest, as -helping the concatenation of the evidence. It is from a York solicitor who -for many years was Guardian for the old Parish of St. Wilfred, in the City -of York:—— - - - “York, - 21st March, 1901.” - - “OLD PARISH OF ST. WILFRED.” - - “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. I have made 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.”] - -[Footnote 68:——Margery Warde (born Slater) was probably the sister of one -Hugo Slater, of Ripon, who, subsequently to 1579, had a daughter, Margery, -and a son, Thomas.——See Ripon Registers. - -John Whitham, Esq., of the City of Ripon, has been so kind as to place at -my disposal the Index, which is the result of his researches into the -Ripon Registers. There seems to be no entry of the baptism of Mary (or -Joan or Jane) Ward in 1585-86, nor of John Ward, William Ward, nor Teresa -Ward. George Warde’s baptism is recorded: “18th May, 1595 [not 1594], -George Waryde filius M’maduci de Mulwith.” Then under date 3rd September, -1598, occurs, three years afterwards, this significant entry: “Thomas -Warde filius M’maduci _de Nubie_.” This naming of his son “Thomas” by -Marmaduke Warde, I submit, _almost_ suffices to clench the proof that -Marmaduke and Thomas Warde were akin to each other _as brothers_. - -If proof be required that the name “Ward” was spelt both Ward and Warde, -it is contained in the following entries in the Ripon Minster Registers of -the baptism of Marmaduke Ward’s daughters, Eliza and Barbara[A]: “30 April -1591——Eliza, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith;” “21 November -1592——Barbara, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith.” The entries are in -Latin. In some subsequent entries Marmaduke Warde is described as of -Newbie, _e.g._: “5 Nov. 1594——Ellyn, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of -Newbie.”] - -[Footnote A: Eliza was probably Elizabeth Warde, and Ellyn——Teresa -Warde.] - -[Footnote 69:——Newby was spelt “Newbie” at that time. Newby adjoins the -village of Skelton. Mulwith is about a mile from Newby.] - -[Footnote 70:——See vol. v., p. 681.] - -[Footnote 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, -brought up a Roman 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 Morley barony was created in 1299.——See Burke’s -“_Extinct Peerages_,” and Horace Round’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 Yelverton (one of the -well-known Yelvertons, of Norfolk) is described at the 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 for his -priesthood at the York Tyburn, 7th April, 1595, in the thirty-sixth year -of his age. Rome, in 1886, declared Henry Walpole to be “a Venerable -Servant of God.”] - -[Footnote 72:——See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 73:——See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 74:——See vol. i., p. 238.] - -[Footnote 75:——See vol. i., p. 237.] - -[Footnote 76:——Edward 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 Cromwellian 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 Warde, the daughter of -Marmaduke Warde, and niece of Thomas Warde.——See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” -vol. i. - -Winefrid Wigmore, already mentioned, was cousin, once removed, to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Wigmore, -Winefrid’s father, having married her aunt, Anne Throckmorton, a daughter -of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. Lady Catesby was another daughter.——See Note -30 _supra_.] - -[Footnote 77:——As slightly supporting the contention that Lord Morley, the -father of Mounteagle, was related to, or at least connected with, the -Wards, it is to be observed that John Wright, the elder brother by the -whole blood of Ursula Ward, 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 John -and Christopher Wright were evidently called after two uncles who bore -these two names respectively.——See Norcliffe’s Ed. of Flower’s -“_Visitation of Yorkshire_” (Harleian Soc).] - -[Footnote 78:——To-day (April, 1901) Newby-cum-Mulwith forms one township. -Givendale is a township by itself. Along with Skelton they form a separate -ecclesiastical parish. Skelton Church, in Newby Park, is one of the most -beautiful in the county, having been erected by the late Lady Mary Vyner, -of Newby Hall. The Church is dedicated under the touching title of -“Christ, the Consoler.” - -Formerly the Parish of Ripon included no less than thirty villages. At -Skelton, Aldfield, Sawley, Bishop Thornton, Monckton, 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 -“_generosus_”) 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. Wheelhouse’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 “_Records_,” 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 off. 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 Bishop -Thornton, once the home of the stanch old Catholic family of Walworth. -Then Mass was said in the top chamber, running the whole length of the -priest’s present house. Afterwards (about 1778) followed the present stone -Chapel. Clare Lady Howard, of Glossop, built the Schools at Bishop -Thornton a few years ago. - -F. Reynard, Esquire, J.P., of Hob Green, Markington and Sunderlandwick, -Driffield, now owns Raventoftes Hall, which has a splendid view towards -Sawley, How Hill, and Ripon. It is rented by a Roman Catholic, named Mr. -F. Stubbs, who is akin to the 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 Norton, 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 Bishop -Thornton, where Miss Lascelles, Miss Butcher, and others of Mary Ward’s -followers, lived a semi-conventual life during the reign of Charles II., -previously to their taking up their abode near Micklegate Bar, York.——See -“_Annals of St. Mary’s Convent, York_,” Edited by H. J. Coleridge, S.J. -(Burns & Oates).——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, -in the eighteenth century, from his sister, who was the wife of Colonel -Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now Stourton Castle, near Knaresbrough, the -seat of the Lord Mowbray and Stourton) and of Old Thornville, Little -Cattal, now the property of William Machin, 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 part of the nineteenth century the Darnbroughs rented Dole Bank, the -present tenant being Mr. Atkinson.] - -[Footnote 79:——I think that Thomas Warde may have been born about the -beginning 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 -his birth about the year 1558. Early marriages were characteristic of the -period. Mounteagle, for example, was married before he was eighteen. The -Ripon Registers begin in fairly regular course in 1587, though there are -fragments from 1574, but not earlier. If Christopher Wright, the plotter, -lived in Bondgate, Ripon, 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 they render the poet’s -marriage with Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was little more than eighteen -and a-half years old, less startling.——See Sidney Lee’s “_Life of -Shakespeare_,” 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 Vaux’s -“_Catechism_,” Edited by T. G. 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 Vaux, who was a former Warden of -the Collegiate Church at Manchester, and with “the great Allen” and men -like Vivian Haydock——see Gillow’s “_Haydock Papers_” (Burns & -Oates)——retained Lancashire in its allegiance to Rome——so that “the -jannock” Lancashire Catholics style their county, “God’s County” even unto -this day.] - -[Footnote 80:——The strong and, within due limits, admirable spirit of -“clannishness” 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.R.H. The Prince of Wales, -December, 1901), and that typical Yorkshireman, Viscount Halifax, for -President. The Earl of Crewe, Lord Grantley, Sir Albert K. Rollit, Knt., -M.P., _cum multis aliis_, are members. May it flourish _ad multos annos_!] - -[Footnote 81:——In the Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.] - -[Footnote 82:——The Earl of Northumberland was fined by the Star Chamber -£30,000, 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 -released in 1621. He was the son of Henry Percy eighth Earl of -Northumberland, and nephew of “the Blessed” Thomas Percy seventh Earl of -Northumberland, and of Mary Slingsby, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of -Scriven, near Knaresbrough. Although the Earl of Northumberland that was -Star-Chambered was by his own declaration no papist, he was looked up to -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 “_Calendar of State Papers, James -I._” - -Lord Stourton compounded for £1,000. - -Lord Mordaunt’s fine was remitted after his death, which took place in -1608. 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 Government construed into a charge of Concealment 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 V.” - -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 Ampleforth, the Gascoignes were greatly -attached to the ancient Benedictine Order, which took such remarkable root -in England through St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, and his forty -missionaries, all of whom were Benedictines.——See Taunton’s “_The English -Black Monks of St. Benedict_” (Methuen & Co.); also Dr. Gasquet’s standard -work on “_English Monasteries_” (John Hodges). - -It may be, perhaps, gratifying to the historic feeling of my readers to -learn that the influence of these old Yorkshire Roman Catholic families, -the Gascoignes, the Inglebies, and the Plumptons, is still felt at Bentham -and in the old Benedictine Missions of Aberford, near Barnbow, and of -Knaresbrough, near picturesque Plumpton, 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 Vale of -Mowbray, will long perpetuate the memory of the Fairfaxes, of Gilling; H. -C. Fairfax-Cholmeley, Esquire, J.P., of Brandsby Hall, now represents this -ancient family.] - -[Footnote 83:——See “_Condition of Catholics under James I._,” by the Rev. -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 Yorke at Gowthwaite Hall, after the Gunpowder Treason. Gerard -left England in 1606, and there is no evidence whatever that he had -anything to do with the Plot. I do not know, for certain, how Sir John -Yorke 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 Yorkes, 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 persecution,” is -about to be pulled down to make way for the Bradford Reservoir. 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 Yorkshire_” (Dent & -Co.), which latter work contains a picture of the place, a structure “rich -with the spoils of time,” but, alas! destined soon to be “now no more.” - -Ripley Castle, the home of the Inglebies, at the entrance to Nidderdale -(truly the Switzerland of England), still rears its ancient towers, and -still is the roof-tree of those who worthily bear an honoured historic -name for ever “to historic memory dear.” - -“_From Eden Vale to the Plains of York_,” by Edmund Bogg, contains -sketches of both Ripley Castle and Gowthwaite Hall. Lucas’s “_Nidderdale_” -(Elliot Stock) is also well worth consulting for its account of the -dialect of this part of Yorkshire which, like the West Riding generally, -retains strong Cymric traces. There are also British characteristics in -the build and personal appearance of the people, as also in their -marvellous gift of song. The Leeds Musical Festival and its Chorus, for -example, are renowned throughout the whole musical world.] - -[Footnote 84:——It is, moreover, possible that Mounteagle may have met his -connection, and probably kinsman, Thomas Warde, at White Webbs, about the -year 1602. Mounteagle, at that time, like the Earl of Southampton and the -Earl of Rutland, was not allowed to attend Elizabeth’s Court on account of -his share in the Essex tumult. He was, in fact, then mixed up with the -schemes of Father Robert Parsons’ then-expiring Spanish faction among the -English Catholics. If a certain Thomas Grey, to whom Garnet at White Webbs -showed the papal breves (which the latter burnt in 1603, on James I. being -proclaimed King by applause), were the same person as Sir Thomas Gray, he -would be, most probably, a relative of Thomas Warde. For the Wardes, of -Mulwith, certainly were related to a Sir Thomas Gray.——See “_Life of Mary -Ward_,” vol. i., p. 221, where it is said that, “through the Nevilles and -Gascoignes,” the Wards were related to the families of Sir Ralph and Sir -Thomas Gray.[A] - -As to father Garnet showing the breves to Thomas Grey, see Foley’s -“_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 159, where it says:——Garnet “confesseth that in -the Queen’s lifetyme he received two Breefs (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 White Webbs; whereof they seemed to be -very glad and showed it (_sic_) also unto Thomas Grey at White Webbs -before one of his journies into Scotland in the late Queen’s tyme.” - -It will be remembered that Thomas Percy, who married Martha Wright, Ursula -Warde’s sister, was one of those who waited upon James VI. 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 Percy_,” 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 stupendous determination “to see the Plot -through,” a fact which I have always been very 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 with emphasis on the fact that it was “the _despised_ -beauty”——“_spretæque_ injuria _formæ_”——of Juno, the goddess, that spurred -her to such deathless hatred against the ill-starred house of Priam. What -a knowledge of the springs of human action does not this portray!] - -[Footnote A: Were Sir Ralph and Sir Thomas Gray of the Grays (or Greys), -of Chillingham, Northumberland? It may be remarked that, about the year -1597-98, Marmaduke Ward and his wife and some of his family went to live -in Northumberland, maybe at Alnwick; and as Thomas Percy was connected -with Marmaduke Ward, it is at least possible that Marmaduke Ward went -himself into Scotland on the mission to King 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 Jane Howard, daughter of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey. -Lady Margaret Neville was married to Sir Nicholas Pudsey, of -Bolton-in-Bowland, Yorkshire, I think. Lady Anne Neville was married to -David Ingleby, of Ripley, a cousin of Marmaduke Ward and of Ursula Wright. -Lady Margaret Neville conformed to the Establishment, but afterwards, I -believe, the lady relapsed to popery.——See the “_Hutton Correspondence_” -(Surtees Soc.), and “_Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers_,” Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -[Footnote 85:——Interesting 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 North 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, “North of the Sands.”——See Stockdale’s -“_Annales Caermoelenses_,” p. 410, a work, I believe, now out of -print.——Stockdale says that in the old Holker Hall (which seems to have -been built by George Preston, in the reign of James I.), 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-of-arms, namely:——Those of (1) King James I., -with the lion and unicorn as supporters. (2) The Preston family, younger -branch; from whom, through an heiress, the Dukes of Devonshire to-day own -the Holker estates. The younger branch of the Prestons, viz., those of -Holker, 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 Manor Furness, -were strict Roman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis -Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. The 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 “_Records_,” -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 -provided for, 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 impaling Dacre; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel -having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of -the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Lord William 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 Hinderskelfe (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 parents of Lord Mounteagle, 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; William -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 Leybourne, of -Cunswick; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord -Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law, William Stanley third Lord -Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne Leybourne, and who was the -grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham. (9) -Cavendish impaling Keighley; William Cavendish first Earl of Devonshire -having married Anne Keighley, daughter of Sir Henry Keighley, of Keighley, -Yorks. (10) Keighley impaling Carus; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having -married Mary Carus, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11) -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.[A] - -Fittingly does that great master of English, Frederic Harrison, quote -approvingly, 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 never found in -the books of general history.” 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.] - -[Footnote A: 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 1686, the reign of James II. - -The last Lord Morley and Mounteagle died without issue. The issue of two -aunts of the deceased baron were his representatives. One aunt was -Katherine, who married John Savage second Earl of Rivers, and had issue; -the other aunt was Elizabeth, who married Edward Cranfield. - -The present Earl of Morley, Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, -though a Parker, is of the Parkers of Devonshire, a different family from -the Parkers of Essex.] - -[Footnote 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 -Scotland” of the “woeful fight” of Flodden Field. At the funeral of that -gallant soldier and fine Scotsman, the late General Wauchope, of the -Regiment known as the Black Watch, the pipers played this plaintive air, -“The Flowers of the Forest.” Who does not hope that those funereal strains -may be prophetic that, through the power of far-sighted wisdom, human -sympathy, and the healing hand of Time, there may be a reconciliation as -real and deep and true betwixt England’s kinsman-foe of to-day and herself -as there is betwixt herself and her kinsman-foe of the year 1513——the year -of Flodden Field! - -See also Professor Aytoun’s “Edinburgh after Flodden,” in his “_Lays of -the Scottish Cavaliers_” (Routledge & Sons); also, of course, Sir Walter -Scott’s well-known “Marmion.”] - -[Footnote 87:——It should be remembered that Baines says that Nichols, in -his “_Progresses of James I._,” describes Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, by -mistake, for the one in Lancashire. - -The sunny, balmy, health-giving watering-place of Grange-over-Sands, built -at the foot of Yewbarrow, 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 be read with interest by -those who are privileged to know that golden land of the westering sun, -the paradise of the weak of chest. - -About three miles from the Grange——so called because here was formerly a -Grange, or House, for the storing of grain by the Friars, or black Canons, -of the Augustinian Priory at Cartmel——is the square Peel Tower known as -Wraysholme Tower. In the windows of the 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 -Harringtons, which likewise became a portion of the Mounteagles’ Hornby -Castle estates. All this portion of the north of England abounded in -adherents of the ancient faith up to about the time of the Gunpowder Plot. -The Duke of Guise had planned that the Spanish Armada should disembark at -the large and commodious port of the Pile of Fouldrey, in the Parish of -Dalton-in-Furness, “North of the Sands.” This rock of the Pile of -Fouldrey, from which the port took its name, was not only near Adlingham -and Gleaston, but also near the Manor Furness, the seat of the elder -branch of the Prestons, from whom Mounteagle, on his mother’s side, was -descended.[A]] - -[Footnote A: William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle’s great-great-uncle, -James Leybourne (or Labourn), of Cunswick and Skelsmergh, in the County of -Westmoreland, was hanged, drawn, and quartered by Queen Elizabeth, in the -year 1583.——See “_The Acts of the English Martyrs_,” by the Rev. J. H. -Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).——James Leybourne is not reckoned “a Catholic -martyr” by Challoner, because he denied that Elizabeth was “his lawful -Queen.” There has been a doubt as to where this gentleman suffered “a -traitor’s death.” Baines says that he was executed at Lancaster, that his -head was exposed on Manchester Church steeple, and that prior to his -execution Leybourne was imprisoned in the New 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 what 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 representative of this ancient Westmoreland family died -on the 9th December, 1737, aged sixty-nine years, evidently reconciled to -the faith of his ancestors.] - -[Footnote 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 1521, -but left no male heir. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Francis Neville, -of Thornton Bridge, in the Parish of Brafferton, near Boroughbridge; his -second daughter, Johanna, married Edward Musgrave, of Westmoreland; and -his third daughter, Margaret, married John Lawrence, of Barley 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.). - -I find that, along with Thomas Hallat, one Edmund Ward was Wakeman (or -Mayor) of Ripon, 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 “_Guiseley_,” Yorks. (Hamilton Adams), and the “_Life of Mary -Ward_,” 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 Ripon -Registers, under date the 16th December, 1594, of the burial of “Susannay -wife of Marmaduke Wayrde of Newby.” (At least, so I read the entry.) When -this Marmaduke died I 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 Ripon_” (Surtees Soc.) occur -the names of Edmund Ward and Ralph Ward, both as paying dues for lands in -Skelton (p. 333). Also the “Fabric Roll for 1542” (in the same work) has -the name Marmaduke Ward. This would be the husband of Susannay, who died -in 1594, probably. So that, most likely, Marmaduke and Susannay Ward were -the parents of Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, if the latter were -brothers, as it is practically certain they were. - -I am inclined, on the whole, to think that Edmund 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.); but -it sheds no light on this question of the parentage of any of the Wards. -From Slater’s “_History 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 Pulleins, of -Scotton, tells me that in the “Subsidy Roll for 1379” the names -occur:——“Johannes Warde et ux ej. ijs. Tho. Warde et ux ej. vjd Johannes -fil. Thomae Warde iiij d.” So that the names John and Thomas were -evidently hereditary in the various branches of the Wardes, of Givendale -and Esholt. (18th April, 1901.)] - -[Footnote 89:——From the “_Authorised Discourse_,” or “_King’s Book_,” we -learn that the King returned from Royston on Thursday, the 31st day of -October; that on Friday, All Hallows Day, Salisbury showed James the -Letter in the “gallerie” of the palace at Whitehall. On the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November, Salisbury and the Earl of Suffolk, 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 Suffolk and -Mounteagle, when they saw Fawkes, who styled himself “John Johnson,” -servant to Thomas Percy, who had hired the house adjoining the Parliament -House and the aforesaid cellar also. - -Now, Mounteagle, almost certainly, must have known that there would be -this 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 opinion is -that Mounteagle _saw_ and _spoke_ to Tresham _between_ the conference of -the King, Suffolk, and Salisbury (Mounteagle being made acquainted with, -by either Suffolk or Salisbury, if he were 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, November the 2nd.] - -[Footnote 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 -which? Possibly it may have been at this meeting that Christopher Wright -recommended the conspirators to take flight in different directions. It is -observable that, so far as I am aware, Christopher Wright and John Wright -do not appear to have expressed a wish that any particular nobleman should -be warned, except Arundel. Whereas Fawkes wished Montague; Percy, -Northumberland; 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 I. in 1644. - -(Since writing the above, I have ascertained that there is no report in -any of Guy Fawkes’ Confessions of this statement of Christopher Wright, -nor in his written “Confessions” does Fawkes refer to his own mother.)] - -[Footnote 91:——“_Labile tempus_”——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-Fylde, and -Rufford. Edmund Neville, one of the suitors of Mary Ward, was brought up -with the Heskeths, of Rufford. In 1581 the Mains Hall branch of the -Heskeths harboured Campion.] - -[Footnote 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 the entrance to the mine -was sealed up. No useful purpose would be served by either Mounteagle or -Ward telling the Government about the mine, which then was an “extinct -volcano.”] - -[Footnote 93:——The exact words of Lingard are these:——“Winter sought a -second interview with Tresham at his house in Lincoln’s Inn Walks, and -returned to Catesby with the following answer: That the existence of the -mine had been communicated to the Ministers. This Tresham said he knew: -but by whom the discovery had been made he knew not.” - -Lingard does not give his authority, but probably he got the material for -this important passage from “_Greenway’s_ (_vere_ Tesimond’s) _MS._” It is -an historical desideratum that this MS. should be published. Mounteagle, -conceivably, may have falsely told Tresham that the Government 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, whatever may have been their precise nature. -Mounteagle possibly said something about “the mine,” and that the -Parliament Houses would be with minuteness searched far and near. This -would be quite sufficient to inflame the already heated imagination of -Tresham, and he 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 the distraught Tresham as one reads -the relation of his second interview with Winter. Then from the pulsations -of _one_ human heart, O, Earth’s governors and ye governed, learn _all_. -For the study of true History is big with mighty lessons and “he that hath -ears let him hear.” Let him hear that Truth and Right, 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 his heart and will. And _these_ two faculties are -likewise of divine original and have severally a voice which perpetually -bids man, poor wounded man, “be pitiful, be courteous” to his fellows. For -human life at best is “hard,” is “brief,” and “piercing are its sorrows.”] - -[Footnote 94:——The meeting between Catesby, Winter, and Tresham, at -Barnet, on the road to White Webbs, was on Friday, the 1st of November, -the day the Letter was shown to the King.] - -[Footnote 95:——Or, Mounteagle may have thought that, as it would be -meritorious in Percy supposing he 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 -Percy were involved in the meshes of the law for the part that, I hold, -Mounteagle _by_ Christopher Wright _through_ Thomas Warde then _knew_ for -a fact, Percy, and indeed all his confederates, had taken in the nefarious -enterprise. Such a train of thought may have flashed through 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 Warde’s and his own connections: for Percy, as well as the Wrights, -would be a connection of Mounteagle, through the Stanleys, Percies, -Gascoignes, Nortons, Nevilles, and Wardes, who were all more or less -allied by marriages entered into within the last few generations. Percy -would be about Thomas Warde’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 Warde 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 -wisdom that Warde would carry with him up to the great metropolis from his -“native heather” of Yorkshire.] - -[Footnote 96:——Ben Jonson was “reconciled” to the Church of Rome either in -1593 or 1594. After, and probably on account of, the Plot he left the -Church, whose “exacting claims” he had “on trust” accepted. Possibly it -was under the influence of Jonson’s example that Mounteagle wrote the -letter to the King, given in the Rev. John Gerard’s “_What was the -Gunpowder Plot?_” p. 256. Mounteagle, however, died in the Church of Rome, -and the Article in the “_National Dictionary of Biography_” says that he -had a daughter a nun. Belike, she was a member of the Institute of “The -English Virgins,” for the name “Parker” is mentioned in Chambers’ “_Life -of Mary Ward_.”[A] There has been recently (1900) published a smaller -“_Life of Mary Ward_,” by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), with a Preface -by Bishop Hedley, 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 & Oates), with a Preface by the late Henry James Coleridge, -S.J. (brother to the late Lord Coleridge). May I express the hope that -these two learned authoresses will cause the Ward Papers, at Nymphenburg, -near Munich, in Germany (that are extant), to be carefully examined afresh -to see if they contain anything about Thomas Warde, Mary’s uncle, and -anything further about her connection, through the 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 the -truest eloquence——the eloquence of Fact——it teaches mankind for all time.] - -[Footnote A: 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.] - -[Footnote 97:——Born Lord Thomas Howard, brother to Lord William Howard, of -Naworth, 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_.”] - -[Footnote 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 -“_King’s Book_” 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 what a perfect tutoring Mounteagle had received -from his mentor to qualify him to play so well his part in life at this -supreme juncture. Thomas Ward was evidently a consummate diplomatist. If -he had been trained under Walsingham he would certainly “know a thing or -two.”] - -[Footnote 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, duly noted by -the small and timid, yet sharp, mind of James. But 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 Book_,” for the most part, is drawn up. A re-publication of the -“_King’s Book_,” and of “_The Fawkeses, of York_,” by R. Davies, sometime -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 anybody (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 -outhouse adjoining the 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, would be carried in -first._) - -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 -Westminster.——See Nichols’ “_Progresses of James I._,” vol. i., p. -582.——Escrick is now the seat of the Lord Wenlock.] - -[Footnote 100:——“_Hatfield MS._,” 110, 30. Quoted in “the Rev. J. H. -Pollen’s S.J., thoughtful and learned booklet, entitled “_Father Garnet -and the Gunpowder Plot_” (Catholic Truth Society’s publication, London).] - -[Footnote 101:——See Jardine’s Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., -Feb., 1841, in “_Archæologia_,” vol. xxix., p. 100. This letter should be -carefully read by every serious student of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 102:——Sir William Stanley, of Hooton (in that strip of Cheshire -between the Mersey and the Dee), was not seen by Fawkes between Easter and -the end of August, 1605, when Fawkes went over to Flanders for the last -time in his career so adventurous and so pathetic. Sir William knew -nothing of the Gunpowder Plot. It was said that he surrendered Deventer in -pursuance of the counsel of Captain Roland Yorke, 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 business, and one -would like the whole question to be thoroughly and severely searched into -again. As to Roland Yorke, see Camden’s “_Queen Elizabeth_.” - -Captain Roland Yorke, like his patron Sir William Stanley, was an able -soldier. He 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 Robert second Earl of Essex. She became a Roman Catholic, like her -kinsman, the gifted and engaging Father Walsingham, S.J. Frances -Walsingham, the only child of Sir Francis Walsingham, became a Catholic, I -think, through her third marriage with Richard De Burgh fourth Earl of -Clanricarde, afterwards Earl of St. Albans. He was also known as Richard -of Kinsale and Lord Dunkellin. He 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 whether or not there was a -_Thomas Warde_ 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. Warde” mentioned by Walsingham, in -his letter to the Earl of Leicester, must have been this Thomas Warde, and -one and the same man with Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith). It is to -be remembered, too, that the Gunpowder conspirator, Thomas Winter, had -served in the Queen’s forces against the Spanish King for a time. The -names Rowland Yorke, Thomas Vavasour, Sir Thomas Heneage, and Thomas -Winter are very suggestive of the circle in which a Warde, of Mulwith, -Newby, and Givendale, would move. Besides, there was a family connection -between the Parkers, Poyntzes, and Heneages.——See “_Visitation of Essex, -1612_” (Harleian 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_,” p. 92, also says that Thomas Ward was an intimate -friend of several of the conspirators, and _suspected_ to have been an -accomplice in the treason. That would imply that Ward was suspected to -have had at least a _knowledge_ of the treason.] - -[Footnote 103:——Mary Ward, the daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula -Wright, lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Ursula Wright (_née_ Rudston, of -Hayton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire), between the years 1589-94 at -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Holderness, Yorkshire; and between the years -1597-1600 at Harewell Hall, in the township of Dacre, Nidderdale, with her -kinswoman, Mrs. Katerine Ardington (_née_ Ingleby). Mrs. Ardington, as -well as Mrs. Ursula Wright, had suffered imprisonment for her profession -of the ancient faith. We 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 much 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., p. 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 Rivers Wharfe and Ouse known as the Ainsty of the -City of York. This dungeon was, according to Gent’s “_History of York_,” -under the York City Council Chamber on Old Ouse Bridge, to the westward of -St. William’s Chapel.——See also J. B. Milburn’s “_A Martyr of Old York_” -(Burns & Oates).——The Old Ouse Bridge was pulled down in 1810.——See -Allen’s “_History of Yorkshire_”——After the Kidcote was demolished, the -York 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 William 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. William 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 -City lock-up prison about the year 1836, soon after which year it was -pulled down. The late Mr. Richard Haughton, 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——“_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 17——that one day -Mary came to her grandmother, “who was singing some hymns,” and the child -asked the old lady whether she would not send “something again to the -prisoners,” a question, we are told, which “pleased” Mrs. Wright “very -much.” - -Lastly, the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and the niece of Thomas -Ward, bears this striking testimony concerning one aspect of her aged -relative’s gracious life, that “so great a prayer was she” that during the -whole five years that the child lived with her grandmother, the most of -which time she lodged in the same chamber, she “did not remember in that -whole five years she ever saw her grandmother sleep, nor did she ever -awake when she perceived her not at prayer” (p. 15).] - -[Footnote 104:——Maybe Christopher Wright, from his earliest school-days, -had with reverence looked up to Edward Oldcorne, for the latter was the -senior of the former by no less than ten years, so that when Oldcorne was -a clever youth of fifteen years Christopher would be a little fellow of -five, “with his satchel and shining morning-face,” though we may be -permitted to hope that little Kit Wright did not “creep like snail -unwillingly to school.” For it was at a school second to none in England -that the future ill-fated Yorkshireman learned to con his “_hic, hæc, -hoc_.” It was a school originally founded by Egbert, Archbishop of York, -in the eighth century, and which, as the Cathedral Grammar School, had -been rendered famous by Alcuin himself, the tutor of Charlemagne. It was a -school re-founded and re-endowed in the Horse Fayre, now Union Terrace, on -the left-hand side going down Gillygate, outside Bootham Bar, by King -Philip and Queen Mary, especially for the training of priests for the -northern parts.——See in Leach’s “_Endowed Schools of Yorkshire_” for an -account concerning St. Peter’s School, Clifton, York, but no register of -scholars of this ancient seat of learning now exists prior to the year -1828. (Title deeds and writings lent by Mrs. Martha Lancaster, of York, -have enabled me to identify the site of the old school.) - -It is, I take it, furthermore possible that Edward Oldcorne may have -taught Christopher Wright; and if the relation of pedagogue and scholar -ever subsisted between them, a bond of mutual regard would be created -which the lapse of long years would not weaken. For an account of the kind -of education given in a Grammar School in “the spacious days of Good Queen -Bess,” see Dr. Elzé’s “_Life of Shakespeare_” (Bell & Sons), also H. W. -Mabie’s very recent and able American “_Life of Shakespeare_” -(Macmillan).] - -[Footnote 105:——“_Surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam ei: Pater, -peccavi in cælum et coram te!_” “I will arise.”] - -[Footnote 106:——Possibly the Earl of Northumberland. He was (it will be -remembered) the son of Henry the eighth Earl, and nephew to “the Blessed” -Thomas Percy the seventh Earl, and likewise nephew to Mary Slingsby, of -Scriven, Knaresbrough. Sir Kenelin Digby, the eldest son of Sir Everard -Digby, married the beautiful Venetia Stanley, who was descended from “the -Blessed” Thomas Percy. The helmet and gauntlets of this nobleman were kept -at the handsome old Church of St. Crux, in The Pavement, York, which was -pulled down a few years ago. Thomas Longueville, Esquire, of Llanforda -Hall, Oswestry, Salop, through the Lady Venetia Digby, is descended from -“the Blessed” Thomas Percy, as are several other families, including the -Peacocks, of Bottesford Manor, Lincolnshire, I believe. Mr. Longueville is -the learned author of the “_Lives_” of his ancestors, Sir Everard and Sir -Kenelm Digby.] - -[Footnote 107:——We know that on the 5th day of October, two days after the -prorogation of Parliament, Christopher Wright quitted his lodging, in Spur -Alley, where he had been for eighteen days prior to the 5th October.——See -“Evidence of Dorathie Robinson,” p. 128 _ante_.] - -[Footnote 108:——John Wright was acknowledged to be one of the most expert -swordsmen of his time. He was commonly known as “Jack Wright,” and his -brother as “Kit Wright.” Father Garnet says, in a voluntary statement that -he made in the Tower——Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 157——“‘These are -not God’s knights, but the devil’s knights.’ And related how Jack Wright -had sent a challenge by Thomas Winter to a gentleman.” The duel, however, -did not come off, though Winter measured swords. Winter appears to have -fulfilled the happy office of peace-maker on the occasion. (What “strange -mixtures” these English and Yorkshire papist gentlemen were, to be sure!)] - -[Footnote 109:——See Article in “_National Dictionary of Biography_” on -“John Wright” (citing Camden in “_Birch Original Letters_”) second series, -vol. iii., p. 179.] - -[Footnote 110:——Afterwards the great Viscount Verulam, commonly known as -Lord Bacon. Bacon’s particular friend and familiar was Sir Toby Matthews, -the eldest son of Dr. Tobias Matthews, in 1606 created Archbishop of York. -Sir Toby translated Bacon’s “_Essays_” into Italian.——See Spedding’s -“_Life of Bacon_,” and Alban Butler’s “_Life of Matthews_.”——Sir Toby -Matthews (in the February of 1605-6, just after the Plot) was converted to -popery by Father Robert Parsons, who was then at the English College, -Rome; and Matthews’ was, without doubt, the most remarkable and -interesting of all the conversions effected by that strong-minded and most -able Jesuit. Parsons’ intellect was one of marvellous range, reach, -versatility, and power. He was a spiritual or mystical man in his way, -too; but his spirituality or mysticism not seldom failed to control his -action in daily life. It was shut up, as it were, in a watertight -compartment. This (_me judice_) sums up, approximately, the truth about -Parsons. Of all the men in Europe, Parsons was the man Burleigh, -Walsingham, and Salisbury most feared. He died in 1610. A really impartial -Life of Parsons, if possible, by a learned lawyer and politician, is a -desideratum. In some of his political ideas this Jesuit was a progressive -born prematurely——“a man before his time.” For he believed thoroughly in -the sovereignty of the People, and in the desirableness of universal -education. In this latter respect he resembled “that good lady, Mary -Ward,” the daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and niece of Thomas Ward (_ex -hypothesi_). Campion, the Jesuit, who died a martyr in 1581, was much the -more amiable and attractive character. But Campion was no politician. -Oldcorne, I maintain, was the greatest of all the three, because of his -extraordinary mental equipoise and balance. - -“_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_,” by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), in some sort -supplies a Life of Robert Parsons. But evidently the Jesuit Society is an -enigma to Father Taunton, as to so many papists. A man must be a jurist -and a statesman to understand the Jesuits. For their aim (_me judice_), -their noble aim, ever has been to make the “Kingdoms of the world the -Kingdoms of God and of His Christ.” - -If a delusion, surely a delusion merely, not a crime, the most puissant -spirit among us must allow. - -James Robert Hope-Scott, Q.C., thought that the Jesuits were the backbone -of the Church of his adoption. And Dr. Christopher Wordsworth (no mean -judge) thought that Hope-Scott might have become a more popular Prime -Minister than even W. E. Gladstone, had he chosen a political career. -Wordsworth was Hope-Scott’s tutor at Oxford.——See Dr. Christopher -Wordsworth’s “_Autobiography_.”——He was Bishop of St. Andrews, N.B., and -as a classical scholar almost without a peer.] - -[Footnote 111:——See Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_,” vol. ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 112:——“_Narrative_” p. 57. As appears from the Lives of Mary -Ward, Father Gerard had known Mary Ward when a child in Yorkshire. Hence -he probably knew her uncles, John and Christopher Wright, and also Thomas -Percy. - -Mary Ward was one of the greatest women-educationists and, in a sense, -women’s rights advocates England has ever seen. She ought to figure in the -Supplement to the “_National Dictionary of Biography_.” The following -word-portrait of Mary Warde we owe to the skilful hand of her kinswoman, -the gifted Winefrid Wigmore, a cousin once removed to Lady Mounteagle. It -is as Mary Ward, that wonderful Yorkshire-woman, appeared in the year -which witnessed the death of Shakespeare (1616). Perhaps the poet knew -her; if so, no wonder he knew how to describe queenly souls. “She was -rather tall (was Mary), but her figure was symmetrical. Her complexion was -delicately beautiful, her countenance and aspect most agreeable, mingled -with I know not what which was attractive.... Her presence and -conversation were most winning, her manners courteous. It was a general -saying ‘She became whatsoever she wore or did.’ Her voice in speaking was -very grateful, and in song melodious. In her demeanour and carriage, an -angelic modesty was united to a refined ease and dignity of manner, that -made even princes[A] find great satisfaction, yea, profit, in conversing -with her. Yet, these were withal without the least affectation, and were -accompanied with such meekness and humility as gave confidence to the -poorest and most miserable. There was nothing she did seem to have more -horror of than there should be anything in herself or hers that might put -a bar to the free access of any who should be in need of ought in their -power to bestow.” - -No wonder that——with a brother to the right of him like Marmaduke Ward, -and with a niece to the left o£ him like Mary Ward, “that great soul,” who -in after years, “in a plenitude of vision planned high deeds as immortal -as the sun”[B]——Thomas Warde, the husband for eleven brief years (lacking -nine days) of Margery Warde (born Slater), was instrumental, under Heaven, -in giving effect to the all but too late repentance of the penitent, -Christopher Wright!] - -[Footnote A: Mary Ward was the friend or acquaintance of some of the -greatest men and women in Europe. She was a friend of Queen Henrietta -Maria, the wife of Charles I. and daughter of Henry Bourbon, better known -as “King Harry of Navarre.”——See Macaulay’s poem, “_Ivry_.”] - -[Footnote B: Line borrowed from Lord Bowen.——See his magnificent poem, -entitled, “Shadowland,” p. 214 of his “_Life_,” by Sir Henry Stewart -Cunningham, K.C.I.E. (Murray).] - -[Footnote 113:——The second Edition is dated 1681. The Pamphlet was by a -Dr. Williams, afterwards Bishop of Chichester.——See “_National Dictionary -of Biography_.”] - -[Footnote 114:——The report would be at least second-hand, and it might be -much more. For example, if Mr. Abington saw his wife write the Letter and -told the worthy person what he (Abington) had by the evidence of his own -eyes ascertained, then the worthy person would have the evidence at -first-hand. Any person to whom the worthy person conveyed the intelligence -would have it at second-hand, and so on. But if Mr. Abington had not seen -his wife write the Letter, but had only been told by his wife that she had -writ the Letter, then, although Abington would be a witness at first-hand -_as to the bare fact of such a report having been made_, he would be only -a witness at second-hand _as to the truth of the report_; for Mrs. -Abington, in herself reporting, might have spoken falsely either wilfully -or through mental defect.] - -[Footnote 115:——Vol. i., p. 585.] - -[Footnote 116:——Jardine’s “_Narrative_,” p. 83.] - -[Footnote 117:——Jardine’s “_Narrative_” p. 84.] - -[Footnote 118:——William Abington’s chief poem was “Castara,” sung in -praise of his wife, the Honourable Lucia Powys. In the recent “_Oxford -Book of English Verse_,” selected by Quiller-Couch (Clarendon Press), -there is a fine philosophic poem of the younger Abington (or Habington), -entitled “_Nox nocti indicat scientiam_.” John Amphlett, Esq., has edited -the elder Abington’s (or Habington’s) “_Survey of Worcestershire_,” with a -valuable introduction, for the Worcestershire Historical Society.] - -[Footnote 119:——It is, moreover, possible that, through her brother’s good -offices with the Government, Mrs. Abington had a sight of the Letter -itself. If so, she would have been almost sure to detect the general -similarity of the handwriting, notwithstanding the disguise, with the -handwriting of Father Oldcorne, handwriting she must have known familiarly -enough, to say nothing of the particular similarity in the case of certain -of the letters. - -As showing that, when at Hindlip, Father Oldcorne came into Mrs. -Abington’s company, the following quotation may be given from one of -Father Oldcorne’s Declarations, dated 6th March, 1605-6:——“Both Garnett -and he when there were no straungers did ordinarilye dyne and supp with -Mr. Abington and his wyfe in the dyninge chamber.”] - -[Footnote 120:——Some idea of the feeling that Mrs. Abington and her -husband must have had for this able and upright Jesuit, a true Jesuit in -whom there was no guile, may be gathered from the following, which is -taken from Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 213:——“Father Edward -Oldcorne, S.J., came to Hindlip in the month of February or March, 1589, -Mr. Richard Abington keeping house there at the time, who by the advice of -other Catholics, then sojourning with him, sent into Warwickshire for the -said Father to talk with Mrs. Dorothy Abington, his sister, about her -religion, who, at the time living in the house with her brother Richard, -was a very obstinate and perverse heretic, and had left the Court of -Elizabeth, where she was brought up, to come and live with her brother -principally.” We are told that Miss Abington desired to have speech on the -subject of religion with some more than ordinarily learned Catholic. -“Father Oldcorne being sent for to that end, and after some earnest -discourses with her for the space of two days, and having yielded her full -satisfaction in all points of religion, and showed such gravity, zeal, -learning, and prudence in his proceeding with her that she was astonished -thereat, and was unable to make any reply of contradiction to what he -propounded to her.”——From a MS. at Stonyhurst, Anglia, vol. vi., -attributed to Father Thomas Lister, S.J. - -Another manuscript account of Father Oldcorne says that he fasted and -prayed for three days for the sake of this lady’s conversion to the -Catholic faith; after the third day he fell down from exhaustion, and yet -a fourth day’s fasting followed. Then the lady was converted and “became a -sharer and participant in the incredible fruit which he reaped in that -county,” _i.e._, Worcestershire.——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. -213. - -Father Gerard, in his “_Narrative_” of the Plot, says that the Government -accused Father Oldcorne “of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should -seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their act.” The -Government had this report from a certain Humphrey Littleton, concerning -whom we shall learn more hereafter. - -Richard, Thomas, and Dorothy Abington were brothers and sister -respectively to Edward Abington, who suffered, in 1587, as one of the -fellow-conspirators of Anthony Babington, a distinguished and captivating -gentleman from Dethick, a chapelry or hamlet in the Parish of Ashover, in -the County of Derbyshire. In the Parish Church of Ashover may be still -seen monuments to members of the Babington family. (Communicated to me by -my partner, Mr. G. Laycock Brown, Solicitor, of York.) - -The history of the romantic but ill-fated Babington conspiracy requires to -be impartially re-written, and to this end diligent search should be made -to find, if possible, the alleged contemporary history of that curious, -ill-starred movement, which is said to have been written by the gifted -Jesuit martyr, “the Venerable” Robert Southwell, S.J., the author of that -exquisitely imaginative and tender poem, “The Burning Babe,” an -Elizabethan gem of the highest genius.——See the “_Oxford Book of English -Verse_;” also Dr. Grossart’s Edition of Southwell’s Poetical Works, and -Turnbull’s Edition likewise.——A good Life of Southwell is a desideratum.] - -[Footnote 121:——It is obviously unnecessary either in the former part or -in the latter part of this Inquiry to assign separate logical divisions -for the case of Thomas Ward. His evidence is common to both, and will -appear in due course of this investigation.] - -[Footnote 122:——Thomas Winter lodged apparently at an inn known by the -sign of the “Duck and Drake,” in St. Clement’s Parish, in the Strand. This -fact is proved by the testimony of John Cradock, a cutler, who deposed on -the 6th of November, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, that he had -engraved the story of the Passion of Christ on two sword hilts for Mr. -Rookwood and Mr. Winter, and on a third sword hilt for another gentleman, -“a black man,” of that company, of about forty years of age. The Winter -here referred to, no doubt, was Thomas, not Robert, the elder brother. - -For Cradock’s evidence _in extenso_, see Appendix; also for evidence of -Richard Browne, servant to Christopher Wright; also for letter of Popham, -the Chief Justice to Salisbury, as to Christopher Wright; also for -evidence of William Grantham as to purchase by Christopher Wright of -beaver hats at the shop of a hatter, named Hewett.] - -[Footnote 123:——This emphatic “surely all is lost,” of Christopher Wright, -is worthy of notice, as indicating the certitude of his frame of mind. -Now, “certitude” is the offspring of knowledge, and therefore of belief, -and when it is not the life is the death of Hope, an emotion Wright had -then clearly abandoned. Hence we may justly infer a special consciousness -on Christopher Wright’s part as to the genesis of the fact that the game -was indeed up, thanks to the infatuated behaviour of his brother-in-law, -Thomas Percy: “up” to all and singular the plotters’ fatal undoing; yet, -after all, traceable back indirectly to Christopher Wright’s own repentant -act and deed! Truly the repentant wrong-doer suffers temporal punishment -by the everlasting Law of Retribution, which lives for ever!] - -[Footnote 124:——Was this said by Christopher Wright on Sunday, the 3rd of -November, at the meeting behind St. Clement’s? There is none such -statement recorded by Fawkes in any of his Declarations or Confessions in -the Record Office, London.] - -[Footnote 125:——See H. Speight’s “_Nidderdale_” (Elliot Stock), p. 344. -The title of this interesting work is “_Nidderdale and the Garden of the -Nidd; A Yorkshire Rhineland_”: being a complete account, historical, -scientific, and descriptive, of the beautiful Valley of the Nidd.——See -also “_Connoisseur_” for November, 1901.] - -[Footnote 126:——Christopher Wright must have known well the great family -of Hildyard, of Winestead, near Patrington. General Sir H. J. T. Hildyard, -K.C.B., is a scion of this ancient house. The Hildyards are mentioned in -the “_Hatfield MSS._”] - -[Footnote 127:——This good woman’s evidence proves that on the 5th of -October Wright left her lodgings. Now, my suggestion is that Christopher -Wright, after quitting Spurr Alley, went down into Warwickshire, probably -to Lapworth. That thence he repaired to Hindlip Hall, four miles from -Worcester, to have his interview with Father Oldcorne. Rookwood went to -Clopton, close to Stratford-on-Avon, and not far from both Lapworth and -Hindlip, soon after Michaelmas, _i.e._, the 11th of October (old style). -That about Michaelmas the diplomatic Thomas Warde came into Warwickshire -and Worcestershire to interview Father Oldcorne, and give full assurance -to the Jesuit that he, Warde, as diplomatic go-between, would vouch for -the conveyance of the Letter, on receipt of the same, to the Government -authorities. That the shrewd, diplomatic Warde, all eyes and ears, from -what he was ear-witness and eye-witness of at Lapworth, sent post-haste -for his brother, Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie. Most probably William Ward, -Marmaduke Ward’s son, was at this time on a visit to his uncle Thomas in -London.——See Kyddall’s evidence as to “William Ward, nephew to Mr. -Wright.”——The boy was sent down to Lapworth on November the 5th, the fatal -Tuesday, in the charge of Kyddall. It is possible that William Ward, -however, came up into Warwickshire along with his father and half-sister -Mary. If so, he must have gone up to London between Marmaduke Ward’s going -to Lapworth and the flight of “uncle Christopher” on the 5th; for there is -no evidence that William Ward accompanied Christopher Wright and Kyddall -up to London on Monday, the 28th of October. Kyddall styles William Ward -“nephew to Mr. Wright.” Now, this designation would be, by common usage, -accurate if Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward; otherwise, supposing -William Ward’s mother was Elizabeth Sympson, it would not be; for Ursula -Wright would be naught akin to William Ward.] - -[Footnote 128:——Mr. Jackson, “mine host” of “the Salutation,” probably -meant between a week and a fortnight when he said “about a fortnight.” -“Many things had happened since then,” so Mr. Jackson might easily fancy a -longer time had elapsed than was really the case. For Kyddall’s evidence -shows that Christopher Wright was at Lapworth on the 24th October, and -that he did not reach London till the 30th (Wednesday). On Wednesday -Wright may have again called for his quart of sack or for the foaming -tankard of the nut-brown ale, partly with a view to ascertaining whether -or not any tidings had “leaked out” as to the Letter received by -Salisbury, though, as a fact, it was not shown to the King until Friday, -the 1st of November. Christopher Wright’s last visit to “the Salutation” -was, belike, what is styled nowadays “a pop visit.” - -At Patrington, in Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, there is -to-day (May, 1901) an ancient hostelry known by the sign of the “Dog and -Duck.” At this house, I doubt not, both John and Christopher Wright full -many a time and oft had quenched their thirst and heard and discussed the -rural gossip of their day; for Plowland Hall was only about a mile distant -from the “Dog and Duck” and its good cheer. The “Hildyard Arms” and the -“Holderness” Inn, Patrington, may have been likewise, belike, favourite -haunts of theirs, for human nature is pretty much the same generation -after generation. And even our social habits bind us to the Past. What -thoughts crowd into the mind when one makes a visit to the “Dog and Duck,” -at Patrington, within a short walk of Plowland Hall! - -It is possible that, between the reigns of Elizabeth and Victoria, -Plowland Hall was reduced to smaller proportions than it had been in the -days of John and Christopher Wright. This was the case with Ugthorpe Hall, -the seat of the Catholic Ratcliffes, near Whitby, situate in a lovely -little dingle or dell amid the Cleveland Moors; also it was the case with -Grosmont House, the seat of the Catholic Hodgsons, near Whitby, situate -near and almost laved by the rushing waters of the Yorkshire Esk.] - -[Footnote 129:——Father Henry Garnet knew John Wright, but, according to -Garnet’s testimony, he did not know Christopher Wright, a fact which alone -tends to show that the younger Wright was essentially a subordinate -conspirator; for certainly Father Garnet knew, more or less, all the -principal plotters, namely, Catesby, Thomas Winter, John Wright, Percy, -and even Fawkes, whom he once saw, and to whom he gave letters of -introduction when Fawkes went to Flanders, in 1605, to see Stanley and -Owen.] - -[Footnote 130:——Father Hart was captured, along with Father John Percy -(alias Fisher, afterwards famous for his controversy with Archbishop Laud, -who could not “abide” the Jesuits), at the house of Lord Vaux of -Harrowden. Hart was banished for a time, but died in England, in 1650, -aged seventy-two. - -Query——Did Hart make any communication to Bellarmine or Eudæmon-Joannes, I -wonder?] - -[Footnote 131:——See Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_;” vol ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 132:——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. i., p. 173, citing -“Gunpowder Plot Book,” No. 177. Eudæmon-Joannes, in his “_Apologia_” for -Henry Garnet, gives reasons why Father Hart, S.J., may have thus acted. -Dr. Abbott, in his “_Antilogia_,” in reply to Eudæmon-Joannes, answers -Joannes at great length.] - -[Footnote 133:——Vol. ii., p. 120. It may be here stated that by the Common -Law of England a confessor was obliged to reveal the fact to the -Government in the case of his receiving from a penitent the confession of -the heinous crime of High Treason. - -Garnet said that “the priest is bound to find all lawful means to hinder -and discover it, but that the seal of the Confessional must be saved, -_salvo sigillo confessionis_.”——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. -162.——It seems to me that this statement of Garnet is of the utmost -importance.] - -[Footnote 134:——Afterwards the well-known Lord Coke, the famous Editor of -Judge Littleton’s work on “_Tenures_.”——For a diverting account of Coke -and his domestic infelicities see Lord Macaulay’s Essay on “Lord Bacon.”] - -[Footnote 135:——Catesby, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Thomas Percy -were already dead; the two first were slain at Holbeach; Christopher -Wright and Thomas Percy both were wounded unto death at the same place; -but certainly Percy and possibly Christopher Wright actually breathed -their last a day or two afterwards. Query——Where were the bodies of these -four men interred? Were they first quartered as traitors according to law? - -Tresham died in the Tower, but his body was quartered, and its members -exposed at Northampton in the usual way.] - -[Footnote 136:——Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_,” vol. ii., p. 135. This of -the learned Attorney-General reminds one of the late Lord Bowen’s witty -saying: “Truth will out; even in an Affidavit!”] - -[Footnote 137:——Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the Jesuits in England, -said that he considered the authors of the Gunpowder Treason were not only -deserving of the punishment that some of them had undergone, but even a -more severe one, if possible.——See Foley’s “_Records_.”] - -[Footnote 138:——Fonblanque, in his “_Annals of the House of Percy_,” in -the chapter dealing with Thomas Percy, expresses the opinion that the -Government’s behaviour was comparatively mild, regard being had to the -atrocious nature of the designment against the King and Parliament. Such -is candidly my own opinion, and this, although I remember that James’s -Oath of Allegiance and very tyrannical anti-recusant legislation were the -dire consequences of the Plot, which (_me judice_)——far more than the -Marian burnings, the Elizabethan Acts of Supremacy, of Uniformity, -Constructive Treason, and the Spanish Armada, all put together——led -finally to England’s being “bereft” of what to a Roman Catholic is “the -one true faith.” - -In regard to James’s Oath of Allegiance (1609), it is to be recollected -that while strict Roman Catholics, whether “Jesuitized” or not, refused to -take the oath, some Catholics thought they might lawfully take it. Among -such was the Arch-priest, Blackwell, who, however, was deposed from his -office, as, in general terms, Rome condemned the oath. “The sting” of this -famous oath was “in its tail;” inasmuch as it not only contained a -disclaimer of the deposing power of the Pope, but declared that the -doctrine of the deposing power was “impious, heretical, and damnable.” It -is remarkable that all the Roman Catholic peers took the Oath of -Allegiance, except Lord Teynham, a collateral descendant of William Roper, -the husband of Margaret More. - -“An apostate” Jesuit, named Sir Christopher Perkins, aided in framing this -searching test, so the Government knew exactly how to get the unhappy -papist recusants tightly within their grip. (Perkins, like Sir Edwin -Sandys, a philosophic friend of Sir Toby Matthews, was an incipient -rationalist. Shakespeare may have known Sir Toby Matthews.) - -For valuable information (derived from an unpublished manuscript) as to -the working of this Oath of Allegiance, see the late Richard Simpson’s -Article, entitled, “A Glimpse of the Working of the Penal Laws,” in “_The -Rambler_,” vol. vi., p. 401 (1856). If this Article has not been printed -separately, it ought to be. In it occur the names Middleton, Gascoigne, -Ingleby, Whitham, Cholmeley, Vavasour, Dolman, Mennell (or Meynell), and -Catterick, of Yorkshire; Preston and Towneley, of Lancashire; Tichbourne, -of Hampshire; Wiseman, of Essex; Gage, of Sussex; Vaux, of -Northamptonshire; Throckmorton, of Warwickshire; Tregean, of Cornwall; -Plowden, of Shropshire; Morgan, of Monmouthshire; Edwards, of Flintshire; -together with other English and Welsh names, which can be only described -as synonymous with honour, high-mindedness, heroism, and all goodness.] - -[Footnote 139:——James Usher[A] (1581-1656), Protestant Archbishop of -Armagh, was an Anglo-Irishman, who was “learned to a miracle,” so the -great English Jurist, Seldon, said.——See “Usher,” “_National Dictionary of -Biography_.”——Usher was, through his mother, who became a Roman Catholic, -a grandson of James Stanihurst (Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the -Irish House of Commons), whose family were the patrons of Edmund Campion, -when in Ireland. The great orator wrote his history of that country after -leaving Oxford, and before going to Douay. Usher crossed over to England -in 1602. He held in the University of Dublin, in 1607, a divinity -professorship, worth £8 a year, which was founded by Mr. James Cotterell, -who died in York. Now, I find from the Register of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, -York, that there is a record of the burial of a “Mr. James Cotterell——in -the mynster——the 29th day of August, 1595.” This, I have no doubt, was the -self-same gentleman as the “Mr. Cotterell,” from whose house, on the 29th -day of May, 1579, Thomas Warde made M’gery Slater “his true and honourable -wife;” and the same Mr. James Cotterell as founded the Dublin divinity -professorship. Dr. Usher knew personally Lord Mordaunt, the son of the -Lord Mordaunt who died in the Tower in 1608; and also, according to the -“_National Dictionary of Biography_,” Father Oswald Tesimond. If so, it is -_possible_ that Usher knew personally Lord Mounteagle and Thomas Warde, -and it may be it was from them that he gathered hints upon which he -founded his oracular statement. (I desire here to express my sense of -obligation to the Rev. E. S. Carter, M.A., the Vicar of St. -Michael-le-Belfrey, York, who most kindly and generously gifted me with a -copy of his singularly valuable “_Parish Register_” Part I., edited by Dr. -Francis Collins, from which I have obtained that item of domestic -information so valuable as a leading clue for the purposes of this -Inquiry, namely, the marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith.)] - -[Footnote A: “_The Life of Archbishop Usher_” by Barnard (1656), however, -does not bear out the statement of the Author of the Article on “Usher” in -the “_National Dictionary of Biography_.” For Barnard says that the Jesuit -who debated at Drayton, in Northamptonshire, with Archbishop Usher, was -called “Beaumond,” but that his real name was Rookwood, and that he was a -brother of Ambrose Rookwood, the Gunpowder plotter. The debate was -arranged by Lord Mordaunt (afterwards the Earl of Peterborough), to the -end that his wife, the Lady Mordaunt, a daughter of the Earl of -Nottingham, might become convinced of the soundness of the exacting claims -of the Church of Rome. The upshot was that not only was the Lady Mordaunt -_not_ convinced, but that the Lord Mordaunt himself became a Protestant! -The topics for discussion were:——Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, -Images, and the Visibility of the Church. According to Barnard, Beaumond -at the third day of meeting sent to excuse himself, saying, “That all the -arguments he had framed within his own head, and thought he had them as -perfect as his _‘Pater noster_,’ he had forgotten and could not recover -them again; that he believed it was the just judgment of God upon him thus -to desert him in the defence of His cause for the undertaking of himself -to dispute with a man of that eminency and learning without the licence of -his superior.” - -If it were a Rookwood, probably it was Robert (S.J.)] - -[Footnote 140:——The “_Oliver Cromwell_,” by John Morley (Macmillan, 1900), -contains a picture of Usher, taken from the original portrait by Sir Peter -Lely, in the National Portrait Gallery. The face is one of great keenness -and power.] - -[Footnote 141:——“Style” in handwriting is its genius, its ethos, its air, -its aroma, its active, its essential principle. “Style is the man.”] - -[Footnote 142:——See the Rev. John Gerard’s published fac-simile.] - -[Footnote 143:——“Shift off,” no doubt, is meant as “_The Kings Book_” -gives it. (I should like to say that a gentleman, a member of Trinity -College, Cambridge, the Rev. Edmond Nolan, B.A., suggested to me in -August, 1900, when I had the pleasure of meeting him in York, that -probably “shift of” was really “shift off.”)] - -[Footnote 144:——This enigmatical sentence partook of the nature of a -clever sleight of mental strategy or of a skilful manœuvre of mental -tactics. In the case of a man of Oldcorne’s combination of the mystical -and the practical, it is probable that there would be wheels within -wheels, and depths below depths, which are beyond the reach of us ordinary -mortals to detect or to fathom. But all this mystery would tend to grip -hold of the attention of the reader by compelling him to peruse and weigh -the document again and again, and so would tend to beat its warning -message into his brains, and so impel beneficent action.] - -[Footnote 145:——Gerard’s “_Narrative_” likewise omits the word “good,” -which shows us that the Jesuit was indebted to the Royal Author for his -copy of the document.] - -[Footnote 146:——The Mounteagle Letter is a remarkably clever composition. -Its liveliness, its pithiness, its directness, and its force, in spite of -its designed obscurity, gain upon one more and more the oftener one -ponders it. But Father Oldcorne was a very clever man. His combination of -qualities, theoretical and practical, shows him to have been a man of -distinct genius. - -In Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., there is, as has been already remarked, -a portrait of this great Yorkshire Jesuit, showing a portion of Old Ouse -Bridge, York, and St. William’s Chapel in the left-hand corner. The face -depicted betokens an intellect of great acumen, a heart of great -benevolence, both controlled by a will strong with the strength of -persistent discipline. The keenness of the countenance portrayed struck a -distinguished Oxford friend of mine forcibly the moment he beheld the -picture, for he remarked forthwith, “He has an acute look!” The -countenance, moreover, as another Protestant friend in effect observed, -has that look of infinite patience, of calm resignation, and of sweet -melancholy, which was so characteristic of the best of the old English -Roman Catholics during “troublesome times.” - -This phrase, “troublesome times,” was used in my hearing about the year -1890 by an ancient lady, the late Mrs. Ann Matterson, widow, of -High-field, Bishop Thornton, near Ripon. Mrs. Matterson was an interesting -specimen of the solid, calm, old, Garden-of-the-Soul type of English -Catholic, or as they proudly and touchingly put it, “Catholics that have -never lost the Faith.” My informant said she was the daughter of one -Francis Darnbrough——a family well known in that part of Yorkshire, a -Darnbrough being Wakeman (or Mayor) of Ripon in 1542: that her father’s -branch of the Darnbrough family had regained the Catholic Faith through -marriages with the Bishop Thornton Hawkesworths, hereditary Catholics, who -were formerly tenants under the Lords Grantley and Markenfield, of -Markenfield Hall. Mrs. Matterson furthermore told me on that occasion that -she was distantly connected (through the marriage of her aunt with a Mr. -William Bickerdyke) with one of the York Catholic Martyrs, whose cause of -canonization had been, in 1886, introduced at Rome, namely, with “the -Venerable” Robert Bickerdyke, a gentleman born at Low Hall, near Scotton, -in the Parish of Farnham, near Knaresbrough, and who suffered at the York -Tyburn, in 1586, for being “reconciled to the Church of Rome.” The aged -lady also said that her uncle, William Bickerdyke, had lived at Brampton -Hall, on the River Ure, close to Mulwith: that Brampton Hall had belonged -to the ancient and now extinct Yorkshire Catholic family of Tankard, or -Tancred——one branch of which had their seat at Whixley: and that at -Brampton Hall there had been a place to hide the priest in during -“troublesome times.” - -For an interesting work on priests’ hiding-places see “_Secret Chambers -and Hiding-places_,” by Allen Fea (Bousfield, 1901).] - -[Footnote 147:——The following letter (1599, probably), which ends with the -words: “I comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection,” etc., will be -read with interest. It was written by Richard Collinge, Coolinge, or -Cowling, a Jesuit, who was a native of York, being the son of a certain -Raulf Cowling (then pronounced Cooling), whose name appears in the York -Elizabethan “Subsidy Roll for 1581” as of “St. Olave’s parish and -Belfray’s without Bootham Bar,” and as being assessed in goods at the sum -of £3, which shows him to have been a well-to-do citizen. Raulf Cowling -died a captive in York Castle for his profession of the Catholic Faith. - -This valuable letter (for which I am indebted to the great generosity of -Dr. Collins, of Pateley Bridge) was written probably in 1599, and -intercepted by the Government. From the document we learn that Father -Richard Collinge, S.J., was not only a cousin to Guy Fawkes, but also to -the Harringtons, of Mount St. John. William Harrington, the elder, who -harboured “the Blessed” Edmund Campion for ten days in the spring of 1581 -at that secluded, tranquil, and lovely spot, Mount St. John, near the -Hambleton Hills, Thirsk, Yorkshire, would be not only father to “the -Venerable” William Harrington, the martyr for his priesthood at the London -Tyburn, but uncle to Father Richard Collinge, and cousin once removed to -Guy Fawkes himself. Guy’s mother married for her second husband Denis -Bainebridge, of Scotton, a Roman Catholic gentleman connected with the -ancient and honourable Roman Catholic family of Pulleyn (Pullein, or -Pulleine), of Killinghall and Scotton, by reason of the marriage of Denis -Bainbridge’s mother to Walter Pulleyn, Esq., as her third husband. We -learn also from Father Collinge’s letter that, belike, Mr. Denis -Bainbridge, Guy Fawkes’ step-father, was one of those gentlemen that are -“ornamental” rather than “useful.” He was, however, certainly a papist, -and his name, together with that of his wife, occurs in Peacock’s “_List -for 1604_,” under the Parish of “Farnham.” There is a blank left for the -name of the wife of Denis Bainbridge, probably because Mr. Peacock could -not decipher the name indicated. I think that Mrs. Denis Bainbridge must -have sprung originally from Nidderdale or Wharfedale, and that she was -akin to the Vavasours, of Weston and Newton Hall, near Ripley; to the -Johnsons, of Leathley; and the Palmes, of Lindley; both of the two last in -that part of the Forest of Knaresbrough which is near to the town of -Otley. But further researches may solve the problem as to the maiden name -of her who gave birth to Guy Fawkes. - -Guy Fawkes called himself “John Johnson” when accosted by the Earl of -Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle in the cellar under the House of Lords, on -Monday, the 4th November. Possibly, therefore, his mother was a Johnson. -Query——Does the Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer, of Chicago, U.S.A., know of any -tradition hereon? - - “Good Sir,——I pray you lette me intreate y^{r} favoure and - frendshippe for my Cosen Germane Mr Guydo Fawks who serves S^{r} - William (Stanley) as I understande he is in greate wante and - y^{r} worde in his behalfe may stande him in greate steede. I - have not deserved aine such curtesie at y^{r} handes as for my - sake to helpe my friendes but assure yrselfe that yf there be - aine thinge I can doe for you, you may commande me for the - respecte I beare to our ould friendshippe but also by this - meanes you shalle bynde me more unto you. He hath lefte a - prettie livinge here in his countre which his mother being - married to an unthriftie husbande since his departure I think - hath wastied awaye.[A] Yet she and the reste of our friends are - in good health. I durste not as yet goe to them but this sommer - I meane to see them all God willinge lette him tell my Cousin - Martin Harrington that I was at his Brother Henries house at - _the mounte_ but he was not then at home he and his wyfe are - well and have manie prettie children. Mr D. Worthington’s - brother hath wrote a letter unto him desiringe a speedie answere - he is a good honeste and devoute man I often mete with him for - nowe I am residente at his Cozens house in that province which - is fallen to my lotte they expecte therefor for some helpe - nothinge is wanting but a beginner amonge them so they saye for - the redemption of Israel. Remember I pray you my commendacons to - my good and honourable godmother my L. Marie[B] (Percie) and the - twoe devoute sisters in her companie. Mr Roberte Chambers[C] - writte to me for his mother, the charge is geven to Mr - Duckette[D] to inquire for her for she is in his vicinitie tho - four Sirsbies of his companie as [? are] here very well. Within - this week I have sene both Cor^{n} & Gould and Batte, to-morrowe - I shall mete w^{th} John Lassells. Thinges goe well forwarde - here o^{r} enemies persecute us all more than ever and are in - particulare feare or rather looke for some what more from o^{r} - owne malcontents. Thus requesting y^{r} favoure in my suite and - remembrance in y^{r} beste memories as you shall have myne _I - comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection_ this St John - Baps^{t} Eve.——Yours in Christe Richard Collinge. - - “Lette D. Kellison know that his brother Valentine is in goode - healthe and a well wisher but noe Catholike.” - - Addressed thus:—— - - “All Molto Mag^{co} Sig^{re} - il Signiore Guilio - Piccioli a - Venezia” [_i.e._, Venice]. - - (Endorsed) Fugitives. - - Vol. cclxxi., No. 21. - -_Cf._ also a letter of Father Richard Holtby, S.J., of Fryton, Hovingham, -North Riding of Yorkshire, to Father Parsons, dated 6th May, 1609, -ending:——“_I commit you to our sweet Saviour His keeping._”——Foley’s -“_Records_,” vol. iii., p. 9.] - -[Footnote A: Guy Fawkes’ little patrimony was situate in Gillygate and -Clifton, then in the suburbs of the City of York.——See Robert Davies’ -“_Fawkeses, of York_,” and William Camidge’s pamphlet, “_Guy Fawkes_” -(Burdekin, York). - -Miss Catharine Pullein, of Rotherfield, Sussex, and Edward Pulleyn, Esq., -of York and Lastingham, I have reason to believe, likewise belong to this -ancient family so long settled near Knaresbrough.——See Flower’s -“_Visitation of Yorkshire_,” and Glover’s “_Visitation_,” for a pedigree -of the family in the time of Elizabeth.] - -[Footnote B: The Lady Mary Percy was niece to Francis and Mary Slingsby -(daughter of Sir Thomas Percy), of Scriven Hall, whose monuments are still -to be seen in the Knaresbrough Parish Church. Dr. Collins tells me that -“Sirsbie” was then “a Knaresbrough name,” and occurs in the Knaresbrough -Parish Church Registers of that period. The name “Sizey,” which is given -in Peacock’s “_List_,” under “Knaresbrough,” is probably the way “Sirsbie” -was pronounced, just as “subtle” is pronounced “su(b)tle.”] - -[Footnote C: I incline to think that this Robert Chambers is the same as -the Robert Chambers mentioned in the “_Douay Diary_,” edited by Dr. Knox -(David Nutt); the name, Robert Chambers, appears as one of the students at -the English College, Rome. Gould and Batte (or Bates) were probably also -the names of priests who had been at this College. Corn may have been -Father Oldcorne, S.J., who came to England as a missionary in 1588 with -Father John Gerard; or he may have been Father Thomas Cornforth, S.J., a -native of Durham, and a great friend of Edward fourth Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, whose mother was Elizabeth Roper, a daughter of Sir John Roper -first Lord Teynham. Father Cornforth became a Jesuit in 1600. He was at -the English College at Rome, and came to England in April, 1599.] - -[Footnote D: The Duckette here mentioned was doubtless Father Richard -Holtby, S.J., who succeeded Garnet as Superior of the English Jesuits. -Holtby was born at Fryton——in the Parish of Hovingham, in the Vale of -Mowbray——between Slingsby and Hovingham, where his brother, George Holtby, -lived.——See Peacock’s “_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_;” -also Foster’s Edition of Glover’s “_Visitation of Yorkshire_.”——It was -Richard Holtby, then a secular priest, who found for Campion secluded, -lovely Mount St. John. I think it is probable that, after being harboured -by Sir William Babthorpe, at Babthorpe Hall or Osgodby (or both), Campion -would proceed through the Vale of Ouse and Derwent to Thixendale, in the -Parish of Leavening, to the house of a Mrs. Bulmer; thence, I opine, to -Fryton, in the Parish of Hovingham; thence to Grimston Manor, in the -Parish of Gilling East; thence through the Vale of Mowbray, by Coxwold, to -Mount St. John, the home of the Harringtons, who seem to have quitted the -place soon after the year 1603, because the Gregory family are found -recorded in the Parish Registers shortly after that date, and they -certainly resided at Mount St. John. (Communicated to me by the Rev. Henry -Clayforth, M.A., Vicar of Feliskirk, near Thirsk.) Near Mount St. John are -Upsal Castle, magnificently situated, and Kirby Knowle Castle (commonly -called New Building). These were ancient Catholic houses, formerly of a -branch of the Constable family. In Kirby Knowle Castle, embosomed in -trees, is still to be seen a priests’ hiding-place. During the -early part of the nineteenth century a skeleton was found in this -hiding-place——possibly that of a priest. (Communicated to me by the late -Very Rev. Monsignor Edward Canon Goldie, of York, about the year 1889.) -George S. Thompson, Esquire, now lives at Kirby Knowle Castle, or New -Building. This gentleman married a Miss Elsley, of York, whose family, I -believe, formerly owned Mount St. John, through their relatives, the -Gregories, who seem to have succeeded the Harringtons, harbourers of the -great Campion, whom Lord Burleigh himself styled “one of the diamonds of -England.” Campion’s guides through Yorkshire were Mr. Tempest (probably of -Broughton Hall, near Skipton-in-Craven), Mr. More (probably of Barnbrough -Hall, near Doncaster, which came to the descendants of Sir Thomas More, -through the Cresacre family), Mr. Smyth (brother-in-law of William -Harrington, the elder), and Father Richard Holtby.——See Simpson’s “_Life -of Campion_,” second Edition (Hodges, London).——In recent years the Walker -family have owned Mount St. John, but I believe that to-day (1901) Sir -Lowthian Bell is the owner. When I visited this historic and ravishing -spot, the Honourable Mrs. Bosville was the lessee, and the writer has a -pleasant recollection of that lady’s gracious courtesy (1898).] - -[Footnote 148:——Jardine, in his “_Narrative_” p. 37, has the following -exceptionally interesting paragraph: “Sir William Waad in a letter to Lord -Salisbury, reporting a conversation with Fawkes, says, ‘Fawkes’s mother is -alive and re-married, and he hath a brother in one of the Inns of Court. -John and Christopher Wright were school-fellows of Fawkes and neighbours’ -children. Tesimond, the Jesuit, was at that time schoolfellow also with -them. So as this crew have been brought up together.’”——State Paper -Office, Add. Papers No. 481, Jardine (now Record Office). - -Probably what Fawkes said was that _he_ (Fawkes) _and Tesimond_ were -neighbours’ children; for John and Christopher Wright’s parents were of -Plowland Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, as we have seen. -Two explanations, however, are possible, which will reconcile this -statement that, after all, Fawkes may have _said that he and the Wrights -were neighbours’ children_. One is that possibly the young Wrights boarded -with some citizen dwelling in St. Michael-le-Belfrey’s Parish, York, -whilst they were at the Royal School of St. Peter, then in the Horse -Fayre, Gillygate (but now in Clifton), York; the other explanation is that -possibly a portion of the fourteen years during which the mother of John -and Christopher Wright was (as we have seen already _ante_) imprisoned for -her resolute profession of the Catholic religion was spent in company with -her husband, Robert Wright, in some private gentleman’s house in the -Belfrey Parish, in the City of York——a thing then very common. For -example, Dr. Thomas Vavasour, a physician, of Christ’s Parish, who——_or -whose wife_, Mrs. Dorothy Vavasour——favoured Campion, and probably -harboured him in 1581, was for a time imprisoned in the house of his -brother. This was probably Mr. Edward Vavasour, a Protestant gentleman, -who resided in “the Belfray” Parish, and was a freeman of York and one of -its tradesmen, being, I find, a hatter. In the York “Subsidy Roll for -1581” Edward Vavasour’s name appears as being assessed in goods at £8. Dr. -Thomas Vavasour’s name does not appear in the Subsidy Roll. I believe he -was then in prison, at Hull, for his persistent refusal to conform to the -Queen’s demands in matters of faith. - -Query——Did Father Oldcorne learn his “medicine” from Dr. Vavasour, of the -Parish of Christ? What was the system of medical training in the “golden -days”?] - -[Footnote 149:——As revealing the interior state (1) of Oldcorne’s mind in -relation to the Gunpowder enterprise, and (2) of Tesimond’s mind, -respectively, the former stands in sharp contrast with the latter, and -must be pregnant with significance to the discerning and judicious -reader.] - -[Footnote 150:——Vol. ii., pp. 285, 286.] - -[Footnote 151:——“_Somers’ Tracts_,” Edited by Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii., -p. 106, says: “Tesimond severely censured Hall (alias Oldcorne) for his -timidity on the occasion, calling him a phlegmatic fellow.” - -Dr. Abbott’s “_Antilogia_” confirms Jardine’s report of Tesimond’s -denunciation, _although Foley most improperly omits it_.] - -[Footnote 152:——The diverse demeanour on this critical occasion of these -two Jesuits (both natives of the same City, most probably, and -fellow-scholars in the then recently re-founded Grammar School belonging -to York Minster) is very striking, and reminds one of the following -sagacious remark of that clear writer, Dr. James Martineau: “In human -psychology, feeling when it transcends sensation is not without idea, but -is a type of idea.”——“_Essays and Addresses_,” vol. iv., p. 202 (Longmans, -1891).——Such feeling then is _mens cordis_——the mind of the heart.] - -[Footnote 153:——Hindlip Hall, about four miles from Worcester, was built -on an eminence in 1572 and the following years of Elizabeth’s reign. It -had a large prospect of the surrounding country, and contained many -conveyances, secret chambers, and priests’ hiding-places, perhaps more -than any house in England. The old Hall of the Abingtons was pulled down -at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The present mansion was built -by the Lord Hindlip’s family, I believe. This demesne is one of the most -historic spots in the kingdom, owing to its memorable associations with -Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne, Garnet having left Coughton at the request of -Oldcorne, in December, 1605. The two Jesuits were nourished, after -Salisbury instituted his search, during seven days, seven nights, and some -odd hours, mainly by broth and other warm drinks, conveyed to them through -a quill or reed passed “through a little hole in a chimney that backed -another chimney into a gentlewoman’s chamber.” Doubtless Mrs. Abington and -Miss Anne Vaux (the devoted friend of Father Garnet, who, along with -Brother Nicholas Owen, accompanied him to Hindlip) had administered this -food to the two famishing Jesuits detained in durance.] - -[Footnote 154:——Father Garnet’s house in Thames Street, London, had been -broken up, this place of Jesuit sojourning having become known to the -Government. Consequently, Garnet, at the beginning of September, 1605, -went down to Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, the seat of Sir Everard and -Lady Digby. - -Christopher Wright, it will be remembered, quitted his lodging near Temple -Bar, on October the 5th, and, I opine, then went down to Lapworth, or -Clopton, near Stratford-on-Avon. Catesby was born at Lapworth. - -It will be remembered that the Ardens, the relatives of Shakespeare’s -mother, were allied to the Throckmortons, and therefore to Francis -Throckmorton, the friend of Mary Queen of Scots. It is a remarkable -coincidence that the great dramatist was, through both the Ardens and the -Throckmortons, connected with those whose quartered remains he may have -had in his mind’s eye (in addition to those of the Gunpowder conspirators) -when in 1606, in “Macbeth,” he writ of “the hangman’s bloody hands.” - -For an account of the Somerville-Arden and the Francis Throckmorton -alleged conspiracies against the life of Queen Elizabeth, see Froude’s -“_History_.” For an account of Shakespeare’s family, including the Ardens, -see Mrs. C. C. Stope’s recent book (Elliot Stock, 1901).] - -[Footnote 155:——In the “_Life of Sir Everard Digby_,” by “One of his -descendants” (Kegan Paul), is to be found a vivid and historically -accurate account of the proceedings of November the 5th and afterwards. -The conspirators’ line of flight would be nearly parallel with the London -and North Western Railway from Euston Station to Rugby.] - -[Footnote 156:——The country crossed by these unhappy fugitives is -undoubtedly the very “heart of England,” and in spring and summer is one -of the gardens of England. As those then flying, on that gloomy November -day, from the Avenger of blood, were probably almost all men of strong -family affections, and certainly all ardent lovers of their country, how -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, et placens - Uxor: neque harum, quas colis, arborum - Te, praeter invisas cupressos, - Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.”——_Horace._[A] - -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 his brother’s wife, £80, and take £20 -himself:”——Wright owing Bates some money.] - -[Footnote A: - - “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.”] - -[Footnote 157:——Does Greenway’s “_Narrative_” clearly state how many of -these conspirators received from Tesimond the sacraments? If so, what -sacraments were they? - -The Government would have had a clear case of inciting to open rebellion -against Tesimond if they had caught him, but he escaped to Flanders. He -was “a very deep dog,” was Master Tesimond, and no mistake. But he was -wholly under the finger and thumb (_me judice_) of Catesby, which shows -what a powerful man of genius Catesby must have been. - -Father Henry Garnet, at his trial, allowed that Tesimond had acted “ill,” -in seeking to rouse the country to open rebellion.] - -[Footnote 158:——This lady was 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 Reign of James I._” - -For a true estimate of the second Earl of Essex, see Dr. R. W. Church’s -“Bacon” (Macmillan).——See also Major Hume’s “_Courtships of Queen -Elizabeth_ (Fisher Unwin) and his “_Treason and Plot_” (Nesbit).] - -[Footnote 159:——How well-grounded Oldcorne’s suspicions of Littleton were, -and how soundly he had discerned the man’s spirit, is proved from the fact -that after Littleton had been condemned to death for harbouring his -cousin, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the Master of -Huddington, Littleton sought to save his life by telling the Government -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 preach in the house of the -said Mr. Abington, at which time he seemed to confirm his hearers in the -Catholic cause.”——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 219.] - -[Footnote 160:——On the 5th of October, 1900, I saw this Declaration by the -courtesy of the authorities at the Record Office, London, and compared it -with the Letter to Lord Mounteagle. Miss Emma M. Walford was present the -while.——See Appendix.] - -[Footnote 161:——This luminous definition is by that great writer, Frederic -Harrison.] - -[Footnote 162:——It is not less dangerous to indulge in Irony. For an -emphatic proof of this see the “_Life of Lord Bowen_,” p. 115 (Murray), by -Sir H. S. Cunningham, K.C.I.E. - -_Cf._ the great Stagyrite’s discountenancing the study by the -inexperienced (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 Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle_,” book i. See also -Professor Muirhead’s “_Chapters from the Ethics_” (Murray). - -Hector, in “Troilus and Cressida,” act ii., scene 2, speaks of “Young men, -whom Aristotle thought unfit to hear moral philosophy.”] - -[Footnote 163:——Jardine thinks that Oldcorne manifests a disposition “to -hesitate and argue about the moral complexion” of the Gunpowder Treason; -and this 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, 233. - -But it is evident that, for the nonce, the London Magistrate’s judicial -temper of mind had deserted him, when he sniffed too closely the moral 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. Nor 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.] - -[Footnote 164:——In this connection the following words of the 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, “He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but never -effected.” - -_Cf._ Wordsworth’s Sonnet on the Gunpowder Plot, which is very -penetrating.] - -[Footnote 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 known by them, _but no more_. The late Right 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 -VII., denominated Mr. Gladstone in the House of Lords, when 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 ruby so lovely; while _partial Truth_, according to its degree, is not -less true than the full orb of Truth.] - -[Footnote 166:——This phrase, “sacrilegious murder,” is used by Shakespeare -in “Macbeth,” and so precisely does it express the double crime of the -Gunpowder plotters that I feel certain that from this allusion——as well as -from the evident allusion to the well-known 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 knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell” are an allusion -to the mysterious warning bell that the plotters thought they heard whilst -working in the mine.——See Jardine’s “_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_,” -p. 54. - -Compare also Mr. H. W. Mabie’s description of the tragedy of “Macbeth” in -his very recent and valuable “_Life of Shakespeare_” (Macmillan & Co.). -Mr. Mabie’s account sounds in one’s ears like a very echo of a recital of -the facts and purposes of the Gunpowder Plot.] - -[Footnote 167:——Now, as the conspirators were engaged in a -joint-enterprise, it must be evident to every clear-minded thinker that -the repentance of _any one of the joint-plotters_ must have shed an -imputed beneficent influence over and upon all the band. For just as no -man liveth only to himself, and no man dieth 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 -Oldcorne, 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 same in deed, through the earnest and part -performance he 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, I 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 and stand once more with head erect and in marching order——that -noble posture and manly attitude which is ever the reward, sure and -certain, of a recovered sense of justice, sincerity, truth.] - -[Footnote 168:——The Government, it is said, appointed a special Commission -to try Humphrey Littleton and some others at Worcester. The following -quotation is taken from “the Relation of Humphrey Littleton, made January -26th, 1605-6,” written by one Sir Richard Lewkner to the Lords of the -Privy Council. Lewkner was one of the Commissioners. - -This sentence is to be specially noted in this “Relation”:——“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 Ralph 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 Government 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 could be done by one who was not a Jesuit lay-brother. The -Government 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. Wynter at May next -shall be three yeares, and sould him againe.” Examination, 5th March, -1606.——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv., p. 224. - -According to Foley’s “_Records_,” Oldcorne was indicted at Worcester for—— - -(1) Inviting Garnet, a denounced traitor, to Hindlip. - -(2) Writing 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 Newton, 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.] - -[Footnote 169:——A learned Cretan Jesuit, Father L’Henreux, who was -appointed by Pope Urban VIII. Rector of the Greek College at Rome, wrote a -powerful “_Apologia_” in behalf of Father Henry Garnet, which was -published in 1610. In 1613 Dr. Robert Abbott, a Master of Balliol College, -Oxford, and Regius Professor of Divinity at that University, wrote his -“_Antilogia_” as a reply to Eudæmon-Joannes’ “_Apologia_.” It would be a -boon to historical students if both the “_Apologia_” and the “_Antilogia_” -were “Englished” by some competent hand. Abbott was made Bishop of -Salisbury, partly on account of the learning he displayed in his -“_Antilogia_.” He was a Calvinist, and a vigorous writer, being styled -“the hammer of Popery and Arminianism.” - -Dr. Lancelot Andrewes (in answer to Cardinal Bellarmine) and Isaac -Casaubon also contributed to the literature of the controversies anent the -Plot, and modern editions of their works with notes are desiderata. -Casaubon is best known, at the present day, through his “_Life_,” by Mark -Pattison; Andrewes, through the late Dr. R. W. Church’s “Lecture,” now in -“_The Pascal_” volume (Macmillan) of that judicious and learned man.] - -[Footnote 170:——See Jardine’s “_Criminal Trials_,” vol. ii., p. 120, -quoting “_Apologia_,” p. 200. - -Sir Everard Digby was the only conspirator who pleaded “guilty,” and he -was arraigned by a different Indictment from that which charged the rest -of the surviving conspirators.] - -[Footnote 171:——My contention is that the conclusion is inevitable to the -discerning mind that the sphinx-like nescience——the face set like a -flint——with which Oldcorne met Littleton’s inquiry, displays indisputable -evidence of a sub-consciousness on Oldcorne’s part, of what? Of a -_special_, _private_, _official knowledge_ (as distinct from a general, -public, personal knowledge) of what had been intended to be the executed -Gunpowder Plot, but which Oldcorne himself had thwarted, and so prevented -everlastingly any one single human creature being able, even for the -infinitesimal part of an instant, to contemplate “_post factum_”——after -the fact——and in the concrete; which, indeed, judged “from the outside,” -and as the bulk of mankind are entitled to judge it, was the only side or -aspect of the baleful enterprise that was of practical and, therefore, to -them, of paramount personal consequence. The conspirator John Grant -expressed the state of the case exactly when he said in Westminster Hall, -after being asked what he could say wherefore judgment of death should not -be pronounced against him, “He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but -never effected.”] - -[Footnote 172:——See Butler’s “_Memoirs of English Catholics_,” vol. ii., -p. 260. See also Gerard’s “_Narrative_.”——It is possible (according to -Gerard) that Oldcorne may have been even still more cruelly tortured, -namely, as Dr. Lingard says, during five hours for each of five successive -days; but to me, humanly speaking, this is incredible.] - -[Footnote 173:——Father Edward Oldcorne and Brother Ralph Ashley are both, -along with others, now styled by Rome, “Venerable Servants of God.” The -Decree introducing the cause of these “English Martyrs,” dated 1886, and -signed by the present Pope, Leo XIII., is kept in the English College at -Rome, where Oldcorne had himself entered as a student a little more than -three hundred and four years previously, namely, in 1582. - -Through the truly kind courtesy of the Right Rev. Monsignor Giles, D.D., -President of the English College, Rome, the writer was privileged to see, -along with the Rev. Father Darby, O.S.B., and some other gentlemen, this -Decree in the afternoon of Saturday, the 13th of October, 1900, the Feast -of St. Edward the Confessor, King of England. In the forenoon of the same -day the first great band of the English Pilgrims for the Holy Year, the -Year of Jubilee, had received, in St. Peter’s, the Papal Blessing, amid -great rejoicing, the apse or place of honour in this, the largest Church -in Christendom, being graciously accorded to these fifteen hundred British -Catholic subjects of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.] - -[Footnote 174:——As to the precise teaching of the theologians of Father -Oldcorne’s Church respecting the famous dictum of St. Augustine of Hippo, -“_Extra ecclesiam nulla salus_,” see the book of the once celebrated Douay -theologian, Dr. Hawarden, entitled, “_Charity and Truth; or Catholics not -uncharitable in saying that none are saved out of the Catholic Communion, -because the rule is not universal_” (1728). And, again, that great -Yorkshire son of St. Philip Neri, Dr. Frederic William Faber, an -ultramontane papist of the ultramontane papists, has thus recorded his own -potent testimony on this subject in his singularly able and beautiful -work, entitled, “_The Creator and the Creature_,” first edition, p. 368. - -Dr. Faber says: “We are speaking of Catholics. If our thoughts break their -bounds and run out beyond the Church, nothing that has been said has been -said with any view to those without. I have no profession of faith to make -about them, except that God is infinitely merciful to every soul; that no -one ever has been, or ever can be, lost by surprise or trapped in his -ignorance; and as to those who may be lost, I confidently believe that our -Heavenly Father threw His arms round each created spirit, and looked it -full in the face with bright eyes of love in the darkness of its mortal -life, and that of its own deliberate will it would not have Him.”] - -[Footnote 175:——Either from the phonograph or even the shorthand scribe.] - -[Footnote 176:——Are the Indictments in existence of Father Oldcorne and -Ralph Ashley, who seem to have been tried in the Shire Hall, Worcester, at -the Lent Assizes of 1606? If so, they and extracts from any Minute Books -still extant bearing on the subject would be of great interest and value -to the historical Inquirer, if published.] - -[Footnote 177:——Oldcorne realized experimentally, in the final action of -the great tragedy, what it means, as Goethe has it, for a man “to adjust -his compass at the Cross.” - -And than Oldcorne no human creature ever lived that had a better right to -anticipate those magnificent words of triumph over death of one of -Yorkshire’s supremest geniuses: “_If my barque sink, ’tis to another -sea._”] - -[Footnote 178:——In Morris’s “_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_,” -third series, p. 325, we read: “In 1572 John Oldcorne is one of the four -sworn men against the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected -of papistry, for St. Sampson’s parish.” - -Again, under date April 10th, 1577, we read: “And now also John Oldcorne, -of St. Sampson’s parish, who cometh not to the church on Sundays and -holidays, personally appeared before these presents, and sayeth he is -content to suffer the churchwarden of the same parish to take his -distresses for his offence.” - -There is also for January, 1598, the following pathetic entry concerning -the mother of Father Oldcorne:—— - -“Monckewarde Saint Sampson’s, Elizabeth Awdcorne, alias Oldcorne, old and -lame a recusant.” - -York is now divided into six wards for the purposes of municipal -government, namely: Bootham, Monk, Micklegate, Walmgate, Guildhall, and -Castlegate. Until the nineteenth century there were only the first four -wards, which, indeed, corresponded to the four great Gates or chief Ways -for entering the City. - -The writer remembers with pleasure that, now some years ago, his -fellow-citizens of Micklegate Ward, on the west side of York, did him the -honour of electing him to occupy a seat, for the term of three years, in -the Council Chamber of his native City, which, he is proud to remember, -was the City wherein first drew the breath of life Edward Oldcorne; one, -he has every reason to believe, whose keen, sane mind, and ready, skilful -hand were instrumental, under Heaven, in penning that immortal document -which saved the life, certainly, of King James I., of His Royal Consort -Queen Anne of Denmark, of Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles Duke of York, -afterwards King Charles I., as well as the life of the Lords Spiritual and -Temporal, the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, and many Foreign -Ambassadors, in the year of grace 1605, now well-nigh three centuries ago. - -As some readers may be, perchance, interested in a few particulars -concerning the ancient Parish of St. Sampson, which is in the heart of the -City of York, close to the Market Place, I propose to mention a few. First -of all, then, the ancient parish church which bears the name of the old -British Saint, St. Sampson, is pre-eminently one of “the grey old churches -of our native land,” whereof in the reign of King Henry V. (Shakespeare’s -ideal English monarch) there were in the City of York and its suburbs no -less than forty-one, though in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the -number was reduced. That forty-one was the number originally we know from -a subsidy of Parliament which granted to King Harry, in 1413, two -shillings in the pound leviable on all spirituals and temporals in the -realm for carrying on the then war with France.——See Drake’s “_Eboracum_,” -p. 234. - -St. Sampson’s Church consists of a lower nave and chancel with north and -south aisles to both, extending nearly to the west base of the tower. The -architecture of the church is in the decorated and the perpendicular -styles. King Richard III., in 1393, granted the advowson of this church to -the Vicars Choral of York Minster. The present Vicar (1901) is the Rev. -William Haworth, one of the Vicars Choral of the Minster, to whom I am -indebted for information respecting the Registers of St. Sampson’s Church -and the Church of Holy Trinity, King’s Court, or Christ’s. - -Mr. Councillor John Earle Wilkinson, “mine host” of the “Garrick’s Head” -Hotel, Low Petergate, York, who was the Guardian of the Poor for the old -Parish of St. Sampson (as he is now the Guardian for Ward No. 2 of the -United Parish of York), kindly informed me on the 10th July, 1901, that -the following streets are in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Sampson. -Hence we may conclude that it was in a house in one of these streets that -were spent the earliest years of Edward Oldcorne, the son of John -Oldcorne, Tiler, and of Elizabeth, his wife:—— - -(1) Church Street, a street between the Market Place (which Market Place -is formed by St. Sampson’s Square and Parliament Street) and Goodramgate -towards Monk Bar. Here is St. Sampson’s Church. - -(2) Patrick Pool, to the east of St. Sampson’s Church. - -(3) The right-hand side of Newgate, leading into High Jubbergate (formerly -Jews-Gate). - -(4) Little Shambles and Pump Yard. - -(5) That part of Parliament Street on the south-west which includes the -site of the York City and County Bank. - -(6) That part of Parliament Street on the north-east which includes Mr. F. -H. Vaughan’s “Clock” Hotel. - -(7) Silver Street, to the west of St. Sampson’s Church, connecting Church -Street with High Jubbergate. - -(8) On the north side of Church Street, opposite St. Sampson’s Church, -Swinegate. - -Finkle Street. - -(9) Back (or Little) Swinegate, between Swinegate and Finkle Street. - -(10) That part of Little Stonegate which includes the back part of the -premises of Messrs. Myers and Burnell, Coachbuilders, and the Model -Lodging House opposite. - -(11) Coffee Yard. - -(12) The top part of Grape Lane (leading into Low Petergate), which -adjoins Coffee Yard and the north end of Swinegate. - -(13) St. Sampson’s Square (forming part of the Market Place). - -Some of the old Elizabethan dwelling-houses and shops in these streets and -yards, built of oak (doubtless from the famous Galtres Forest, northward -of York), with their projecting stories of lath and plaster, happily, are -still standing, “rich with the spoils of time,” and the eyes of Edward -Oldcorne must have, many a time and oft, gazed upon them at that momentous -period of life when “the child is father of the man.” - -Besides these ancient dwelling-houses and shops, relics of the Past, the -grey old Parish Church of St. Sampson must have been one of the sights -which, from the earliest dawn of reason, entered into the historic -“imagination” of the great Elizabethan Englishman, who was destined to -become a learned student at Rheims and Rome and “to see much of many men -and many cities” before he came to England, in the year 1588, the year of -the Spanish Armada. - -Another familiar object to the future honoured friend and trusted -counsellor of Mr. and Mrs. Abington and the highest in the land would be -also the old Market Cross, which stood in the middle of St. Sampson’s -Square, then, and even still sometimes, called Thursday Market.——See -Gent’s “_York_.” - -The fact that during the month of December, 1901, the claim of the ancient -City of York to be specially represented, through its Lord Mayor, on the -occasion of the forthcoming Coronation of His Most Gracious Majesty King -Edward VII., was considered by the Court of Claims next after the claim of -the City of London, is interesting evidence to show that the City of -Edward Oldcorne is still counted the second City of the British Empire, -notwithstanding that such claim was disallowed.] - -[Footnote 179:——Sir Edward Hoby was a man of parts, a learned diplomatist -and able Protestant controversialist.——See “_National Dictionary of -Biography_.”] - -[Footnote 180:——Nichols’ “_Progresses of James I._,” pp. 584-587. (The -italics are mine.)] - -_Sub-note to Note 178._ - -In 1572 John Oldcorne, we are told, was one of the four “sworn men against -the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected of papistry, for -St. Sampson’s parish.” This is very interesting; for on the 22nd day of -August, 1572, at three o’clock in the afternoon, “the Blessed” Thomas -Percy, “the good Erle of Northumberland,” was beheaded in The Pavement, at -the east end of All Saints’ Church. He was buried in old St. Crux Church, -adjoining The Pavement; and it is possible, I conjecture, that John -Oldcorne may have been sworn in as a special constable to help to keep the -peace on the occasion of the beheading of the Earl, who held the hearts of -nine-tenths of the people of York and Yorkshire, as well as of “the North -Countrie” generally, at the time of his long and deeply lamented death. - -The York “Tyburn,” in the middle of the Tadcaster High-road, opposite Hob -Moor Gate, Knavesmire, was abolished at the beginning of the nineteenth -century. - -John Oldcorne, the father of Father Edward Oldcorne, is described as a -Bricklayer as well as a Tiler. I think he was a “Master,” in partnership, -maybe, with his brother, Thomas Oldcorne, a great sufferer for the -Catholic Faith, whose wife, Alice, died——a prisoner for her conscience——in -the Kidcote, on Old Ouse Bridge, and whose body was buried on Toft Green, -near to Micklegate Bar.——See Foley’s “_Records_,” vol. iv.——The name -Oldcorne is not now found in the City of York. - - - - - FINIS. - - -A task at once pleasurable and laborious is at length accomplished, and -the writer humbly sends forth into the world his modest contribution -towards the literature of the Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Errors, whether in matters of Fact or in points of Reasoning and Argument, -the author will be gratefully obliged by his readers at an early date -pointing out to him. - -Should his book be read by any of our kith and kin in His Most Gracious -Majesty’s Dominions beyond the seas, whom “the stern behests of Duty” have -bidden “with strangers make their home,” as well as by professed students -of History and the general citizen reader in the United Kingdom of Great -Britain and Ireland, then will be the writer’s joy great indeed. - -The author desires to tender his respectful and cordial thanks to the -Authorities of the following Libraries for the use of their valuable, and -not seldom invaluable, works:——(1) The Minster Library, York; (2) the -Minster Library, Ripon; (3) the British Museum, London; (4) the Free -Library, York; (5) the Free Library, Leeds; (6) the Free Library, Preston; -(7) the Free Library, Wigan; and (8) the Albert Library, York. - -Also the like thanks to the following persons of divers nationalities, -creeds, and parties. Their aid and assistance have been of various kinds: -sometimes the loan of rare and costly books for a twelve-month together; -in certain cases, advice and counsel; in other cases, the revising of -proof sheets, the translation from foreign tongues, and the transcription -of Elizabethan and Jacobean documents:—— - -To the Rev. F. A. Russell, York, formerly of India; the Rev. Edmond Nolan, -B.A., St. Edmund’s House, Cambridge; the Rev. Richard Sharp, S.J., -Skipton-in-Craven, Yorks.; the Rev. George Machell, York; the Rev. Louis -Tils, York, formerly of Germany; the Rev. H. Rawlings, M.A., York, -formerly of South Africa; the Rev. T. Harrington, Brosna, Co. Kerry, -Ireland; the Rev. H. A. Geurts, Bishop Thornton, Ripon, Yorks., formerly -of Holland; the Rev. E. J. Hickey, Lartington, North Yorks.; A. E. -Chapman, LL.D., York; A. Neave Brayshaw, B.A., LL.B., York; Oswald C. B. -Brown, York, Solicitor (author of “_The Life of the Venerable Richard -Langley: a Martyr of the Yorkshire Wolds_”); G. Laycock Brown, York, -Solicitor; Miss Emma M. Walford, 45, Bernard St., Russell Square, London, -W.C.; Miss Georgina Kirby, York House, Middlesbrough, Yorks.; Mr. Ralph -Currie, York; and Mr. John Sampson, York. - -Lastly, to all other kind friends who may have rendered assistance, but -whose names do not occur _either_ in the work itself _or_ in the -above-mentioned list, the writer begs to offer his sincere -acknowledgments. - - - PRINTED BY - THE YORKSHIRE HERALD NEWSPAPER COMPANY, LIMITED, - YORK. - - * * * * * - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS - - -Transcriber’s Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Footnotes with -alphabetic tags now generally follow the referencing paragraph. Footnotes -with numeric tags are located near the end of the work. The publisher’s -inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been corrected. -Duplicative book and chapter front matter has been removed. - -The following list indicates any additional changes made. The page number -represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext -except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. - - Page Change - - 2 See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in ( )[[ ]] - 2 ['Local' footnotes are indicated with A-Z, not numerals.] - 168 This lady was the the[Delete.] above-named Dowager - 174 Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging [to] a comparatively inferior - 176 his aid for the rebellion.[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 192 the point of a needle?”[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 248 owned by the Rev. Charles Slingsby Slingsby[Delete.], - 251 and from tyme to to[Delete.] tyme, - 306 William Grauntham[Grantham]. - 387 Again; Fawkes, we are told by Endæmon[Eudæmon], - - * * * * * - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - -***** This file should be named 40029-0.txt or 40029-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/2/40029/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/40029-0.zip b/old/40029-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index eb1282e..0000000 --- a/old/40029-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/40029-8.txt b/old/40029-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 91eb7c8..0000000 --- a/old/40029-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14803 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's -Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter - Being a Proof, with Moral Certitude, of the Authorship of - the Document: Together with Some Account of the Whole - Thirteen Gunpowder Conspirators, Including Guy Fawkes - -Author: Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -Release Date: June 18, 2012 [EBook #40029] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated -faithfully except as shown in the TRANSCRIBER'S AMENDMENTS near the end of -the text. To preserve the alignment of tables and headers, this etext -presumes a mono-spaced font on the user's device, such as Courier New. -Words in italics are indicated like _this_. Superscripts are indicated -like this: S^{ta} Maria. Numerically-tagged footnotes are in the -FOOTNOTES: section near the end of the text. [oe] represents the oe -ligature. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: PLOWLAND HOUSE, HOLDERNESS, E.R. YORKSHIRE.] - - - - - THE GUNPOWDER PLOT - - AND - - LORD MOUNTEAGLE'S LETTER; - BEING A PROOF, WITH MORAL CERTITUDE, OF - THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT: - - TOGETHER WITH - - SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE THIRTEEN - GUNPOWDER CONSPIRATORS, - INCLUDING - GUY FAWKES. - - - BY - - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - (_A Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England_). - - - LONDON: - SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD. - - YORK: - JOHN SAMPSON. - - 1902. - [_All rights reserved._] - - - "_Veritas temporis filia._ Truth is the daughter of Time, - especially in this case, wherein, by timely and often - examinations, matters of greatest moment have been found - out."--SIR EDWARD COKE (_the Attorney-General who prosecuted the - eight surviving conspirators_). - - "Suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which - History has the power to inflict on Wrong."--LORD ACTON. - - "History, it is said, revises the verdicts of contemporaries, - and constitutes an Appeal Court nearest to the ordeal of - heaven."--DR. JAMES MARTINEAU. - - - TO - - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES LINDLEY - SECOND VISCOUNT HALIFAX - - OF HICKLETON AND GARROWBY - IN THE COUNTY OF YORK - ONE OF YORKSHIRE'S MOST GIFTED AND DISTINGUISHED SONS - THIS BOOK - WHICH - AMONGST OTHER THINGS - TELLS OF SOME OF THE WORDS AND DEEDS - OF CERTAIN YORKSHIREMEN IN - THE DAYS OF SHAKESPEARE - IS - (BY KIND PERMISSION) - MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED - BY THE AUTHOR. - - - BLAND'S COURT, - CONEY STREET, - YORK. - - TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE - VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - - My Lord, - -The book which your characteristic generosity has permitted me to dedicate -to you wears a two-fold aspect. For it is as to one portion--and -predominantly--an Inquiry taking the form of a discourse with questions -and proofs, propositions and demonstrations. While as to another -portion--but subordinately--it is a History taking the form of a narrative -of events, a relation of mental occurrences, a statement of concrete -facts. Now these twain aspects will be found duly to play their respective -parts in the course of the subsequent pages, in accordance with a selected -order and method. - -With most of the allegations of fact and the inferences therefrom, and -with many of the assumptions and conclusions which this work contains, -your Lordship will agree. From others you will disagree. Whilst in the -case of a third class, it may be that you will deem a suspension of -judgment to be the part which wisdom and justice alike enjoin. - -Speaking for myself, both as a man and as a native of our great County of -Yorkshire--whose sons are at once speculative and practical, imaginative -and concrete--necessity, in the form of an imperative sense of duty, has -been laid upon me, to declare, with unmistakable emphasis and -straightforward directness, what I hold to be the Truth governing the -subject-matter wherewith I have sought to deal. For TRUTH IS THAT WHICH -IS, AND ITS CONTRADICTORY IS ERROR. This line of action I have pursued -with the greater determination, inasmuch as daily observation of external -events--and, if less frequent, still actual reflection thereupon--has -strongly convinced me, even against my will, that much of the "forcible -feebleness" and most of the "stable instability" of modern British -Statesmen and Politicians have their origin and rise in nothing else than -this:--lack of clarity of thought and want of knowledge of those, fixed -fundamental intellectual, moral, and political principles which ought to -be the sure inheritance of the human Race. And pre-eminently of that -portion of the Race which is conscious of a lofty imperial mission. "For -evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart." - -The ancient Stagyrite ranked Poetry above History, because the former -bequeaths to Man universal principles of action, whereas the latter -bestows upon Man only a relation of individual facts. - -But the History of the Gunpowder Treason Plot rises to a higher unity. -Because for a man to have read and mastered an impartial record of that -deliberate and appalling scheme of "sacrilegious murder," which happily -Destiny first frustrated, and afterwards, through Nemesis, her unerring -executioner, signally avenged in the sight of all men, is to have -witnessed, with the eye of the historic imagination, a drama that is a -poem in action. - -Nay, more; it is to have had a personal, experimental realization, through -the historic feeling, of what is meant, in the realm of Moral actualities, -by the infliction of Retribution, the working out of Expiation, the -regaining of Justness, the restoration of Equality between outraged Right -and outraging Wrong, and the attaining by the tempestuous, passionate -human heart of final tranquillity, rest, and peace. - -For one of the greatest recorded Tragedies in the world is the History of -the Gunpowder Treason Plot, regard being had to the intellectual and moral -ends effected by that history's recital. - -The man who has truly, if indeed but commemoratively, through force of the -medium of language merely, taken his part in this great Action, even at a -distance of well-nigh three hundred years, will have had his soul cleansed -and purified by cleansed and purified pity and terror. Then will he have -had that soul soothed and healed. He will have been first abased and then -exalted. - -For so to act is to weep with a Humanity that weeps. Then with that same -Humanity to join in a triumphant pan of victory that has for its -universal and glorious theme this reality of realities which cannot be -broken, namely, that Universe--whereof Man, though not the measure, -constitutes so large a part--is primevally founded and everlastingly -established in Goodness, Being, and Truth. - -Trusting that your Lordship will crown your gracious kindness by pardoning -the great length of this Introductory Letter, - - I beg to remain, - My dear Lord Halifax, - Yours sincerely and gratefully, - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - - _Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - - * * * * * - -Tragedy primarily implies imitation of Action by action, not by language, -although of course language forms a constituent part. - - See the "_Poetics of Aristotle_," chap. vi. - - -"Although it is by no means proved to be impossible that this nobleman -[Lord Mounteagle] was a guilty confederate in the Plot, the weight of -evidence is at present in his favour. It is, however, a most curious State -mystery: and I am persuaded that, if the truth is ever discovered, it will -not be by State papers, or recorded confessions and examinations. When -such expert artists as Bacon and Cecil framed and propagated a State -fiction in order to cover a State intrigue, they took care to cut off or -divert the channels of history so effectually as to make it hopeless, at -the distance of three centuries to trace the truth by means of documents -which have ever been in their control. If the mystery should hereafter be -unravelled, it will be probably by the discovery of some letters or papers -of a domestic nature, which either slumber in private repositories, or -remain unnoticed in public collections."--_Letter by David Jardine, Editor -of_ "Criminal Trials," _to Sir Henry Ellis, F.R.S._, "Archologia," _pp. -94-95. Dated 30th November, 1840._ - - - - - PREFACE. - - -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 History. - -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 _causa causans_, therefore it is of perennial interest to -governors and governed. - -The _causa causans_, 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 -allow freedom of human action, and yet faithfully to maintain Absolute -Truth concerning the Infinite and the 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 reasoning from necessary or probable philosophical -assumptions, the writer has designedly interspersed, both in the Text and -in the Notes, matter of a Biographical and Topographical nature, -especially such as hath relation to the author's honoured 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 by 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: _Cf._, "_The Ethic of Free-thought_," by Professor Karl -Pearson. (Adam and Charles Black, 1901.)] - -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 days of King James I.--the -British Solomon--down to the days of Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, the -renowned historian of the early English Stuarts, the author's answer and -plea must be--for it can only be--that by the decrees of Fate, _his_ eyes -first saw the light of the sun in a County whose history is an epitome of -the history of the English people; and in a City which is an England in -miniature. - -In conclusion, the writer would be fain to be pardoned in saying that he -has not had the advantage 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,"[A] has been "the high -white star of Truth. THERE he has gazed, and THERE aspired."[B] - -_Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - -[Footnote A: Wordsworth.] - -[Footnote B: Matthew Arnold.] - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX vii - - PREFACE xiii - - PRELUDE xxxv - - Three movements against Government of James I. 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 I. 1 - - Reasons given why subordinate conspirator, Francis Tresham, cannot - have "discovered" Plot--True principles laid down to guide mind - of Inquirer into _personnel_ of (1) Revealing Conspirator, (2) - Penman of Letter. - - CHAPTER 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 III. 6 - - Who was Lord Mounteagle?--Ancestry--Father: Lord Morley--Title, - Mounteagle, derived through mother, Honourable Elizabeth - Stanley, heiress of William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle-- - Mother akin to Howards through Leybournes of Westmoreland. - - CHAPTER IV. 9 - - Lord Mounteagle receives Letter 26th October, 1605, between "six - and seven of the clock," at Hoxton, near London--Opened by - Mounteagle--Read by a member of his household, Thomas Ward--Full - text of Letter given--27th 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 - Secretary of State--28th October, Winter repairs to White Webbs - by Enfield Chase, ten miles north of Westminster--Informs - Catesby that "game was up"--Catesby says "would see further as - yet"--Guy Fawkes sent from White Webbs to view cellar under - House of Lords--Finds all marks undisturbed--Thirty-six barrels - of gunpowder, wood, and coal all ready for fatal Fifth--Fawkes - returns at night safely--Thomas Winter meets (or is met by) - subordinate conspirator, Christopher Wright--Fawkes captured - early on Tuesday, November 5th--Christopher Wright announces to - Thomas Winter Fawkes' capture. - - CHAPTER V. 14 - - In reign of Queen Elizabeth and early part of James I., "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 VIII.'s religious - "change" and that of his progeny, King Edward VI. and Queen - Elizabeth, unlikely to be acceptable "all on a sudden" to bulk - of English people--Why?--Penal Legislation against Papists on - part of Government--Jesuits in England, 1580--Campion and - Parsons--Three Classes of English Jesuits--Mystics, _or_ - Politicians--Mystics _and_ Politicians--The thirteen Gunpowder - plotters well-disposed towards Jesuits--But plotters only - Politicians. - - CHAPTER VI. 19 - - Sir William Catesby (father of the arch-conspirator Robert - Catesby) and Sir Thomas Tresham (father of Francis Tresham), - fine old English gentlemen--Types of best class of Elizabethan - Catholic gentry--Both persecuted by Government--Sir Thomas - Tresham for more than twenty years pays for Fines equal in our - money to 2,080 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 - Gunpowder Treason Plot. - - CHAPTER VII. 21 - - All thirteen plotters "gentlemen of name and blood" (save Thomas - Bates, a respectable serving-man of Catesby)--Names of plotters - as follow:--Robert Catesby (Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire)-- - Thomas Winter (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)-- - Thomas Percy (Beverley, E.R. Yorkshire)--John Wright (Plowland, - Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)--Guy (or Guido) Fawkes (York)-- - Robert Keyes (Drayton, Northamptonshire)--Christopher Wright - (Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)--Robert Winter, - (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)--Ambrose Rookwood - (Coldham, Stanningfield, Suffolk)--John Grant (Norbrook, - Warwickshire)--Sir Everard Digby (Gothurst, near Newport - Pagnell, Buckinghamshire)--Francis Tresham (Rushton, - Northamptonshire)--Four out of conspirators natives of - Yorkshire: Thomas Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and - Guy (or Guido) Fawkes--Five others indirectly connected with it: - Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Grant, Robert Keyes, and - Ambrose Rookwood--Thomas Winter and Robert Winter, grandsons of - distinguished Knight, Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley Castle, - near Knaresbrough 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 Huddersfield. - - CHAPTER VIII. (same continued) 26 - - CHAPTER IX. 32 - - Jesuit Father Edward Oldcorne a native of York--Oswald Tesimond - most probably a native of York likewise--Before going to Rheims - and Rome Oldcorne studied medicine. - - CHAPTER X. 35 - - Further analysis of problem as to what conspirator would be likely - to "discover" Plot--A subordinate plotter--Introduced late into - Plot--One 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 Go-between with - Government--Christopher Wright, Edward Oldcorne, Thomas Ward. - - CHAPTER XI. 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 Wright sworn - in to help in mining work "soon after"--Text of conspirators' - secret oath. - - CHAPTER XII. 40 - - Christopher Wright's family further described--Father: Robert - Wright, Esquire, of Plowland, Holderness--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, Margaret Wright, possibly _ne_ - Margaret Ward, of the Wards, of Mulwith. - - CHAPTER XIII. 45 - - Edward Oldcorne described--A native of St. Sampson's Parish, York-- - A student of medicine--Goes to Rheims 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 the 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 - mental equipoise. - - CHAPTER XIV. 48 - - "The Letter" critically examined. - - 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 Ward?--Almost certainly - brother-in-law to Christopher Wright--Proofs of this assertion-- - Entry of marriage in St. Michael-le-Belfrey'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 "Marjory 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 Wright and Thomas Warde, at least between years 1589 - and 1590 inclusive--Thomas Warde probably in diplomatic service - of Queen Elizabeth, under Sir Francis Walsingham--Probably sent - on mission to Low Countries in 1585. - - CHAPTER XVIII. 63 - - Proof that William Ward, 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. - - CHAPTER XIX. 68 - - Inference drawn that Christopher Wright, Thomas Warde, and Lord - Mounteagle were personally acquainted. - - CHAPTER XX. 70 - - Marmaduke Ward at Lapworth, in Warwickshire--Arrested by - Government--Released--Inference that he had a powerful friend at - Court. - - CHAPTER XXI. 74 - - Suggested proof of how Mounteagle came to be associated with - Thomas Ward--Biographical and Topographical evidence adduced in - support. - - CHAPTER XXII. (same continued) 76 - - CHAPTER XXIII. (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 Ward. - - CHAPTER XXV. 87 - - Thomas Ward sees Thomas Winter, one of the chief conspirators-- - Suggested inference that Christopher Wright had bidden Thomas - Ward so to do--In order to compass flight of rest of - conspirators. - - CHAPTER XXVI. 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 XXVII. 92 - - Tresham tells Winter that Government knew of existence of _the - mine_--How had Government such knowledge?--Suggested - concatenation of evidence that Christopher Wright told fact to - Thomas Ward (or Warde); Ward to Lord Mounteagle; Mounteagle to - Francis Tresham; Tresham to Thomas Winter. - - CHAPTER XXVIII. 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. 96 - - Quotation from "_King's Book_"--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, 4th November--Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder - stored ready for firing by Fawkes on fatal Fifth. - - CHAPTER XXX. 99 - - Quotation from the "_Hatfield MSS._," giving account of meeting at - Fremland, Essex, in July, 1605--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 Roman - Catholic gentleman--Belike of the swashbuckler type. - - CHAPTER XXXI. 102 - - Christopher Wright. - - CHAPTER XXXII. 104 - - Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie (or Newby), near Ripon, comes up to - Lapworth, in Warwickshire--Lapworth, the birthplace of - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby--One of the large Catesby - Warwickshire possessions--In May, 1605, Lapworth let by Catesby - to John Wright--Marmaduke Ward, brother-in-law to John Wright - and Christopher Wright, arrives at Lapworth about 24th October, - 1605--Suggestion that Marmaduke Ward was sent for by Thomas - Ward--In order, haply, to prevail upon brothers Wright to - abandon scheme of insurrectionary stir in Midlands. - - CHAPTER XXXIII. 107 - - What _objections_ against hypothesis that Christopher Wright was - Revealing conspirator?--What _objections_ against hypothesis - 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 XXXIV. 110 - - Evidence of a certain Dr. Williams, of reign of Charles II., - author of pamphlet purporting to be History of the Gunpowder - 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 Vaux, one of the daughters of - William Lord Vaux of Harrowden--Story told, examined, and - disposed of. - - CHAPTER XXXVI. 116 - - 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 - perspicacity. - - 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 XXXVIII. 124 - - Old Dutch print, published immediately after detection of Plot - (reprinted in "_Connoisseur_" for November, 1901), shows - Christopher Wright in act of engaging in earnest discourse with - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby--Slightly tends to confirm - tradition that (1) Christopher Wright first ascertained that - Plot was discovered, and that (2) Christopher Wright counselled - that "each conspirator should betake himself to flight in a - different direction from any of his companions." - - CHAPTER XXXIX. 126 - - 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 Robinson, Christopher Wright's - London landlady, as to padlocked hampers, evidently containing - fresh gunpowder. - - CHAPTER XL. 131 - - Conspirators are "shriven" and "houselled" at Huddington by Jesuit - Father Nicholas Hart--Ambrose Rookwood--Rookwood "absolved" by - the Jesuit priest "without remark"--Reason why suggested. - - CHAPTER XLI. (same continued) 134 - - CHAPTER XLII. 136 - - Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of - State, instructs Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, _to disclaim - that any of these wrote 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 Gunpowder 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. - - CHAPTER XLV. 148 - - Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court), in Warwickshire, ancestral - home of grand old English Roman Catholic family of Throckmorton-- - Father Henry Garnet, Superior of English Jesuits, harboured here - from 29th October, 1605, to 16th December, 1605--Father Oswald - Tesimond at Coughton on Wednesday, 6th November--Bates sent with - letters from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father Garnet and - Lady Digby--Bates despatched from Norbrook, in Warwickshire-- - Arrives at Coughton--Fathers Garnet and Tesimond have conference - for half-an-hour--Garnet gives leave to Tesimond to proceed to - Huddington, in Worcestershire--Whither conspirators and rebels - were come, early on Wednesday, 6th November--Tesimond arrives at - Huddington--Psycho-electrical will force of Catesby works on - mind of Tesimond--Tesimond inspired with rebellious ardour - against Government--Dashes on to Hindlip, within five miles of - Huddington. - - CHAPTER XLVI. 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--Rides off - towards Lancashire in hope of rousing to arms dwellers in that - Catholic county. - - CHAPTER XLVII. 154 - - Who and what was Father 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. - - CHAPTER XLVIII. (same continued) 157 - - CHAPTER XLIX. 160 - - At the end of August, 1605, Garnet leaves London for Gothurst-- - Famous pilgrimage to St. Winifred's Well, Flintshire, North - Wales, about 5th September, made from Gothurst--Lady Digby, - Ambrose Rookwood and his wife, the Honourable Anne Vaux, and - upwards of thirty others, join the pilgrim-band--Father Garnet - and Father Percy, chaplain to Sir Everard Digby, lead the - cavalcade--Away about a fortnight. - - CHAPTER L. 165 - - Pilgrims return from St. 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. - - CHAPTER LI. 167 - - 4th October, 1605, Father Garnet at Great Harrowden--Pens a long - letter to Father Parsons in Rome. - - CHAPTER LII. 169 - - 21st October, Father Garnet at Gothurst (most probably)--Pens a - short _post scriptum_ 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 LIII. (Chapters XLV. and XLVI. with more particularity) 172 - - Sir Everard Digby rents Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire--Sir - Everard to be in command of Midland Rising against Government-- - Many Catholic gentlemen from Midland counties expected to rebel - by reason of galling anti-Catholic persecution--Sir Everard - Digby, on Sunday, 3rd November, rides to Dunchurch, near Rugby, - in Warwickshire--Robert Winter, of Huddington, joined by Stephen - Littleton, of Holbeach, Staffordshire, also by latter's cousin, - Humphrey Littleton--Tuesday, November 5th, Cousins Littleton, - Sir Robert Digby (Coleshill), younger Acton (Ribbesford), 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 Wrights, and - Ambrose Rookwood rush into ancient mansion-house of Catesbies - at Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire--Announce capture of - Fawkes--Hold short council of war--Snatch up weapons of warfare-- - North-westwards that November night--Arrive at Dunchurch Inn-- - Digby 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 Warwick by - three of the clock on Wednesday morning--From stables near - Warwick Castle take fresh horses, leaving their own steeds in - exchange therefor--Dash on towards John Grant's "moated grange," - Norbrook, Snitterfield (where Shakespeare's mother held - property)--At Norbrook "take bite and sup"--Rest their fatigued - limbs awhile--On saddle-back once more--This time bound for - Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, the seat of Robert - Winter--Arrive there probably about twelve o'clock noon of - Wednesday (some authorities say two o'clock in the afternoon)-- - Tesimond 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--Whole company "shriven and - houselled"--Before daybreak all on march again north-westwards-- - Halt at Whewell Grange, seat of the Lord Windsor--There help - themselves to large store of arms and armour--Plotters and - rebels then numbered about sixty all told--Cross the River - Stour, in flood--A cart of gunpowder rendered "dank" in - crossing--Proceed to Holbeach House, in Staffordshire-- - Mansion-house of Stephen Littleton, Esquire, a Roman Catholic - gentleman of ancient lineage. - - CHAPTER LIV. 177 - - High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire with _posse - comitatus_ 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 to prayers-- - "Litanies and such like"--Make an hour's "meditation"--About - eleven of the clock on Friday, 8th November, Sheriff of - Worcestershire and "hue and cry" surround Holbeach--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 mortally wounded--Percy grievously wounded--Dies a day or - two afterwards--Ambrose Rookwood wounded--Sir Everard Digby - apprehended--Rest taken prisoners, except Stephen Littleton and - Robert Winter, who escape. - - CHAPTER LV. 181 - - Father Henry Garnet changes his mind--Does not go up to London-- - But from Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, goes down to Coughton, in - Warwickshire, on the 29th October--All Saints' Day (November - 1st) at Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court)--Mass "offered" by - Father Garnet. - - CHAPTER LVI. 185 - - Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the - Master of Huddington, harboured at Rowley Regis, in - Staffordshire, by a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, Esquire, of - Hagley, Worcestershire, 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 Reply to Littleton _in extenso_. - - CHAPTER LVIII. 190 - - Reply analyzed--Divisible into two distinct parts--First part: - gives an answer sounding in abstract truth alone, in other - words, leaves Littleton in abstracto--Second part: disclaims - knowledge of _end_ plotters had in view and _means_ they had - recourse to. - - CHAPTER LIX. 193 - - Metaphysical Argument grounded on Oldcorne's Reply to Humphrey - Littleton--Argument seeks to demonstrate that from tenour and - purport of Oldcorne's Reply, the Jesuit must have had a special - interior knowledge of the Plot. - - CHAPTER LX. (same continued) 195 - - CHAPTER LXI. (same continued) 198 - - CHAPTER LXII. (same continued) 200 - - CHAPTER LXIII. (same continued) 201 - - CHAPTER LXIV. (same continued) 204 - - CHAPTER LXV. (same continued) 208 - - CHAPTER LXVI. (same continued) 210 - - CHAPTER LXVII. (same continued) 212 - - CHAPTER LXVIII. (same continued) 215 - - CHAPTER LXIX. (same continued) 220 - - CHAPTER LXX. 222 - - Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne captured at Hindlip Hall the last week - of January, 1605-6--Conveyed to the Tower of London--Father - Oldcorne "racked five times, and once with the greatest severity - for several hours"--On 7th April, 1606, at Redhill, near - Worcester, Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, hanged, - drawn, and quartered as a traitor--Brother Ralph Ashley, his - servant, hanged at the same time and place. - - CHAPTER LXXI. 224 - - True inferences to be drawn from Father Oldcorne's "last dying - speech and confession." - - CHAPTER LXXII. 227 - - Edward Oldcorne--Ralph Ashley. - - CHAPTER LXXIII. 229 - - Thomas Ward. - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENTS, AND CONCLUSIONS. 233 - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. 239 - Guy Fawkes. - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. 260 - Letter of Lord Bishop of Worcester (Dr. Bilson), to Sir Robert - Cecil, as to Diocese of Worcester. - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. 264 - Thomas Ward (or Warde). - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. 271 - Mulwith, near Ripon. - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. 279 - Plowland, Holderness. - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. 287 - Equivocation. Letter of the Rev. George Canning, S.J., Professor - of Ethics, St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst. - - APPENDICES. - - APPENDIX A 295 - Circumstantial Evidence defined. (a) Evidence generally: (by Mr. - Frank Pick, York). - - APPENDIX B 299 - Discrepancy as to date when immaterial (per Lord Chief Justice - Scroggs, _temp_. Charles II.). - - APPENDIX C 300 - List of those apprehended for Plot in Warwickshire, &c. (a) List - of those frequenting Clopton (or Clapton) Hall, - Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. - - APPENDIX D 304 - Richard Browne (servant to Christopher Wright), his evidence. - - APPENDIX E 306 - William Grantham (servant to Hewett, Hatter), his evidence. - - APPENDIX F 307 - Robert Rookes (servant to Ambrose Rookwood), his evidence. - - APPENDIX G 308 - John Cradock (Cutler), his evidence. - - APPENDIX H 310 - Lord Chief Justice Popham's statement as to Christopher Wright. - - APPENDIX I 312 - Sir Richard Verney, Knt., John Ferrers, William Combe, Bart. - Hales (Warwickshire Justices): Joint Statement to Earl of - Salisbury, as to Mrs. John Grant and Mrs. Thomas Percy. - - APPENDIX J 313 - Paris (boatman), his evidence, as to taking Guy Fawkes to - Gravelines, France, during "vacation," 1605. - - APPENDIX K 314 - Miss Emma M. Walford, her opinion as to resemblance between - Edward Oldcorne's original Declaration of 12th March, 1605-6, - and original Letter to Lord Mounteagle (both in Record Office, - Chancery Lane, London, W.C.). - - APPENDIX L 315 - Professor Bertram C. A. Windle, M.D., F.R.S., his opinion as to - distances between certain localities in Warwickshire, - Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, and Buckinghamshire. - - APPENDIX M 318 - Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Carmichael as to same. - - APPENDIX N 319 - Order of Queen Elizabeth in Council, dated 31st December, 1582, - addressed to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of York. - - NOTE (as to authenticity of Thomas Winter's Confession) 323 - - NOTES (1-180) 327 - - FINIS 411 - - - - - ERRATA. - - -The author regrets to have to request his indulgent readers to be kind -enough to make the following corrections [Transcriber's Note: These have -been applied.]:-- - - Page 19, line 14 from top.--Put ) after word "conspirators," _not_ - after word "_Tresham_." - - Page 77, line 9 from top.--Read: and "great great grandfather of - Philip Howard Earl of Arundel," _instead of - "great-grandfather."_ - - Page 79, in note, line 5 from top.--Read: "ninth Earl of - Carlisle," _instead of "seventh Earl of Carlisle."_ - - Page 87, in note, line 8 from bottom.--Read: "Burns & Oates." - - 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 - "inccarerated."_ - - Page 285, in note, line 2 from top.--Read: "kinswoman," _instead - of "kinsman."_ - - Page 321, line 16 from top.--Read: "Deprave," _instead of - "depeave."_ - - - - - PRELUDE. - - -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 Roman Catholic recusants in the year 1605. The first of -these movements was a general wave of insurrectionary feeling, of which -there is evidence in Yorkshire as far back as 1596; in Lancashire about -1600; 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--who were, 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 moment believe. - -All students of English History, however, are greatly indebted to the Rev. -John Gerard, S.J., for his three recent critical works on this subject; -but still that the main outlines of the Plot are as they have come down to -us by tradition, to my mind, Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner abundantly proves -in his book in reply to the Rev. John Gerard. - -The names of the works to which I refer are:--"_What was the Gunpowder -Plot?_" the Rev. J. Gerard, S.J. (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.); "_The -Gunpowder Plot and Plotters_" (Harper Bros.); "_Thomas Winter's Confession -and the Gunpowder Plot_" (Harper Bros.); and "_What Gunpowder Plot was_," -S. R. Gardiner, D.C.L., LL.D. (Longmans). - -The Articles in "_The Dictionary of National Biography_" dealing with the -chief actors in this notable tragedy are all worthy of careful perusal. - -"_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_," by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), contains a -chapter on the Gunpowder Plot; and the Plot is referred to in Major Hume's -recent work, entitled, "_Treason and Plot_" (Nisbet, 1901). - - - - - CHAPTER 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 Royal 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 Gunpowder 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 guilty_ of concealment. - -Now, as a rule, "all that a man hath will he give for his life." Therefore -it is impossible, in the face of this direct testimony of Tresham, 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.[1][2][A] - -[Footnote A: See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in [ ].] - -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-day 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 says: "_Ubi res adsunt, 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,[B] and consists of two classes of acts. One of these -classes leads up 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 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 -responsibility of being the originating Cause of the Document; in the -latter case, of being the Agent for its physical production. - -[Footnote B: As to the nature of Circumstantial Evidence--see Appendix.] - -Before we begin to collect our Evidence, and, _ 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 -fundamentals 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 which, if allowed, shall -redound, in respect of courage and integrity, to the praise and honour of -Man. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 the same. -For although it is, of course, physically possible that the work may have -been accomplished by one and the same person, yet that there was a -division of labour in the two-fold transaction is infinitely 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 his co-partners in guilt, should he have rashly -adventured to be his own 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 number of persons in the -secret:--it being a rule of common prudence in such cases that confidences -must not be unnecessarily multiplied. - -Therefore it follows that, supposing there was a second person in the -confidence of the "discovering" or revealing conspirator to pen the -Letter; and supposing 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-between, an "_interpres_," 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. - -_Experientia docet._ Experience teaches. A man has knowledge 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. Relationship 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 Gunpowder 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 who 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 consideration. We will begin by saying a few -words respecting the Lord Mounteagle, whose name, at least, the Gunpowder -Treason will have for ever enshrined in the remembrance of the British -people. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - -William Parker,[3] the son and heir of Lord Morley, whose barony had been -created by 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 (1605) 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 -Rushton, Northamptonshire, a high-minded, scholarly Roman Catholic -gentleman of great wealth, who had been knighted at Kenilworth 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 princely Lancashire House, the Stanleys Earls of Derby, to whom -he was related in both the paternal and maternal 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 Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and -to her sister the Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of "Belted Will Howard"[4] -of 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 heiress 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[5] of Lumley -Castle in the County Palatine of Durham, whose wife was Jane, daughter of -Henry Fitzalan 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 Royal House of Tudor herself. - -Lord Mounteagle consorted much with English Roman Catholics, and, in some -sense, prior to the year 1605, was of that religion himself. He had been -present with his wife's brother Francis Tresham a little after the -Midsummer of 1605 at Fremland 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 warning speech with Catesby respecting a general -question propounded by Catesby to Garnet about a month or six weeks -previously (_i.e._, the beginning of Trinity Term, 1605), and from the -answer to which general question Catesby shamefully 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 wavering -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.[A] Yet certainly he was no mere -titled fool, with a head-piece like a windmill. Far from it: he was -probably a man of sufficient, though not, I think, of the very highest -intelligence, good-natured, easy-going, and of very engaging manners.[B] - -[Footnote A: It is curious and amusing to hear that the following was the -opinion of Robert Catesby concerning the peerage of his day:--"He made -account of the nobility as of atheists, fools, and cowards; and that lusty -bodies would be better for the commonwealth than they."--See "_Keyes' -Examination_," Record Office.] - -[Footnote B: A certain English periodical, a few years ago, spoke -admiringly of Lord Mounteagle's twentieth century connection, the present -Duke of Devonshire, as being one's _beau-ideal_ of the "you-be-damned" -type of Englishman. Probably the same periodical would have found, had it -been in existence in the seventeenth century, a similar contentment in the -contemplation of the fourth Lord Mounteagle.] - -By his contemporaries, it is evident that even prior to 1605 Mounteagle -was made much of and greatly courted. But less, I opine, on account of the -intellectual and moral qualities 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 the present, concerning the now famous William Parker -fourth Baron Mounteagle, whom History has crowned with a wreath of -immortals. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - -On Saturday, the 26th of October, ten days before the intended meeting of -Parliament,[A] Lord Mounteagle, we are told, unexpectedly and without any -apparent reason or previous notice, directed a supper to be prepared at -his mansion at Hoxton, where he had not been for more than a twelve-month -before that date. - -[Footnote A: Parliament had been prorogued from the 3rd of October to the -5th of November. Lord Mounteagle was one of the Commissioners. - -The "_Confession_" by Thomas Winter, which I regard as genuine, I have -also drawn upon freely in my relation of facts.--See Appendix.] - -It will be well, however, to relate the history of what occurred in the -exact words provided for us in a work 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. "_The Discourse_" says:--"The Lord Mounteagle, 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 met by an unknown man of a reasonable tall -personage[6] who delivered him a Letter charging him to put it in 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 one of -his men unto him for helping him to read it. But no sooner did he conceive -the strange contents thereof, although he was somewhat perplexed what -construction to make of it ... yet did he as a most dutifull and loyall -subject conclude not to conceal it, whatever might come of it. Whereupon -notwithstanding the latenesse and darknesse of the night in that season of -the year, he presently repaired to his Majesties palace at Whitehall and -there delivered the same to the Earle of Salisbury his majesties -principall secretarie." - -The Letter was as follows:-- - -"My lord out of the loue 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 deuys 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 retyere youre self -into youre contri wheare yowe maye expect the euent in safti for -thowghe[7] theare be no apparance of anni stir yet i saye they shall -receyue a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not sei who -hurts them this councel is not to be contemned because it maye do yowe -good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe -have burnt the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good -use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe." - -(Addressed on the back) to "the ryght honorable the lord mouteagle." - -The full name of the member of Lord Mounteagle's household who read the -Letter to Lord Mounteagle, we learn, was Thomas Ward.[8] - -Ward was acquainted with Thomas Winter, one of the principal Gunpowder -plotters; for Winter himself had formerly been in Mounteagle's service, -and at the time of the Plot was almost certainly on amicable terms with -the young nobleman. - -On the 27th of October, the day following the delivery of the Letter, -_Thomas Ward came to Thomas Winter_ (being Sunday at night) and told him -that a Letter had been given to Lord Mounteagle, which the latter -presently had carried to Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury.--"_Winter's -Confession._" - -Winter, thereupon, the next day, Monday, the 28th October, went to a house -called White 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 woods, near Enfield Chase, ten miles -north of Westminster. - -At this secluded spot Thomas Winter had speech with Catesby, the -arch-conspirator, "assuring him withal that the matter was disclosed and -wishing him in anywise to forsake his country."--"_Winter's Confession._" - -Catesby told Winter, "he would see further as yet and resolved to send Mr. -Fawkes to try the uttermost protesting if the part belonged to himself he -would try the same adventure."--"_Winter'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, wood, and coal were stored in readiness for -the bloody slaughter purposed for November the Fifth. - -Fawkes returned to White Webbs at night, at which the conspirators "were -very glad." Fawkes had found in the cellar his "private marks" all -undisturbed. - -"The next day after the delivery of the Letter," says Stowe (though as a -fact it was probably five days after the delivery of the momentous -document, namely, on the following Thursday), _this self-same "Thomas -Winter told Christopher Wright"_--a subordinate conspirator,--"that he -(Winter) understood an obscure letter had been delivered to Lord -Mounteagle, who had conveyed it to Salisbury."[9] - -_Hence, most probably, either Thomas Winter went in search of Christopher -Wright to afford him this piece of information; or Wright went in search -of Winter to obtain it._ - -At about five o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, November, the Fifth, -about five hours after Fawkes' apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet and his -men,[10] the said Christopher Wright went to the chamber of the said -Thomas Winter and told him that a nobleman (_i.e._, the Earl of Worcester, -Master of the Horse) "had called (_i.e._, summoned) the Lord Mounteagle, -saying, 'Rise and come along to Essex House,[11] 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,[12] that "he was the -first to ascertain that the Plot was discovered." Probably this refers to -the information he (Christopher Wright) obtained as the upshot of his -interview with Winter on (probably) Thursday, the 31st October. - -Christopher Wright was, likewise, the first to announce the apprehension -of Fawkes on the morning of the 5th of November. - -It is also further said of Christopher Wright by one[13] who wrote during -the last century, that "He advised that each of the conspirators should -betake himself to flight in a different direction from his companions. -Had this been followed several of them would have probably succeeded in -making their escape to the continent. The conspirators, however, adopted -another course, which issued in their discomfiture in Staffordshire, where -Christopher Wright was also killed." - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - -During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and during the earlier part of the -reign of King James I., almost all those castellated castles, moated -halls, and gabled manor-houses which to-day, still standing more or less -perfect, "amidst their tall ancestral trees o'er all the pleasant land," -go to constitute that "old England" which her sons and daughters (and -their brethren and kinsfolk beyond the seas) know and love so well; during -the reign of Elizabeth and during the earlier part of the reign of James -I., these now time-honoured, ivy-clad abodes and dwellings of English men -and English women, over whom the grave has long since closed, but who in -their day and generation were assuredly among the heroic and the supremely -excellent of the earth, were the sheltering, romantic roof-trees of those -who clung tenaciously to the ancient religious Faith of the English race. - -This Faith was indeed that faith which had been taken and embraced by -their "rude forefathers" of long ages ago, in the simple hope and with the -pathetic trust that it might "do them good."[A] And this their hope, they -believed and knew, had been not in vain, neither had been their trust -betrayed. - -[Footnote A: See the beautiful apologue of the Saxon nobleman of Deira, -delivered in the presence of St. Edwin King of Northumbria; given in -Bede's "_Ecclesiastical History_."] - -In the days of the second Henry Tudor--_fons et origo malorum_--the -fountain-head and well-spring of almost all of England's many present-day -religious and social woes--the men and women of England and Wales knew -full well, whether they were of Cymric, Saxon, Scandinavian, or Norman -race (or a mixture of all four), that to that assemblage of ideas and -emotions, laws and rules, habits and customs, which had come to them from -men of foreign blood and alien name, dwelling on the banks of the far-off -"yellow Tiber" and under sunny, blue Italian skies--these men and women, I -repeat, knew full well that to their religious Faith they owed almost -everything that was best and truest and most enduring, either in -themselves or their kith and kin.[A] - -[Footnote A: Yorkshire, being the greatest of English Shires, had among -the inhabitants of its hills and dales and "sounding shores," -representatives of the various races which compose the English nation. In -the West Riding especially, those of the old Cymric or British stock were -to be found. (Indeed, I am told, even now shepherds often count their -sheep by the old British numerals.) This strong remnant of the old British -race in the West Riding probably accounts for the marvellous gift of song -wherewith this division of Yorkshiremen are endowed to this day, just as -are the Welsh. In none other portion of England was there such a wealth of -stately churches and beautiful monasteries as in Yorkshire, the ancient -Deira, whose melodious name once kept ringing in the ears of St. Gregory -the Great, of a truth, the best friend the English people ever had. But -Yorkshire realised that "before all temples" the One above "preferred the -upright heart and pure." Therefore, canonized saints arose from among her -vigorous, keen-minded, yet poetically imaginative sons and daughters. York -became sacred to St. Paulinus and St. William; Ripon to St. Wilfrid, the -Apostle of Sussex; also to St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Holland; -Beverley was hallowed by the presence of St. John of Beverley; Whitby by -the Saxon princess St. Hilda, the friend of Caedmon, the father of English -poetry. The moors of Lastingham were blest by the presence of St. Chad and -St. Cedd; and Knaresbrough by St. Robert, in his leafy stone-cave hard-by -the winding Nidd.] - -Now regard being had to the indisputable fact that for well-nigh a -thousand years England had been known abroad as "the Dowry of Mary and the -Island of Saints," by reason of the signal manifestations she had -displayed in the way of cathedrals and churches, abbeys and priories, -convents and nunneries, hospitals and schools (which arose up and down the -length and breadth of the land to Northward and Southward, to East and -West, thereby, by the aid of art, adding even to England's rare natural -beauty), it was never at all likely that the bulk of the English people -would, all on a sudden, cast off their cherished beliefs and hallowed -affections respecting the deepest central questions of human life.[14] - -Moreover, it may be taken as a general rule, to be remembered and applied -by princes and statesmen, all the world over and for all time, that Man is -a creature "full of religious instincts:"--"too superstitious," should it -be thought more accurate and desirable so to describe this undoubted habit -and bent of the human mind. - -Thence it follows that it is the merest fatuous folly for princes and -statesmen if and when they have got themselves entangled in a false -position, from some external cause or causes having little or no relation -to the Invisible and the Eternal, to bid their subjects and denizens, -"right about turn," at a moment's notice: however "bright and blissful" -such mental evolutions may be deemed to be by those who have unwisely -taken it into their foolish head to issue the irrational command.[A] - -[Footnote A: That able and strong-minded Englishman, Dr. Temple, -Archbishop of Canterbury, said (in 1901) in the House of Lords, during the -debates on that pathetically ridiculous document, the Sovereign's -Declaration against Popery, when speaking on Lord Salisbury's proposed -amended form, that England was resolved "to stand no interference with her -religion from the outside." It is a good thing that the heathen Kings -Ethelbert and Edwin were _less abnormally patriotic_ 1300 years ago. For -the idea of "independence" has to be held subject to the "golden mean" of -"nothing too much." A fetish must not be made of that idea, especially by -a people conscious of lofty imperial destiny. And "unity" must there be -between ideas that are controlling fundamentals--in other words, between -ideas intellectual, moral, and spiritual.] - -Now, in the days of Queen Elizabeth[A] those whom religious loyalty -prompted to worship supremely "the God of their fathers" after a manner -that those eager for change counted "idolatry," were marked by different -mental characteristics. This was so throughout England; but especially was -it so in those five northern counties which comprised what was then by -Catholics proudly styled "the faithful North." - -[Footnote A: The mother of Queen Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, died reconciled -to the Church of Rome. Her daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, was brought -up in the tenets of that Church; but, like one type of the children of the -Renaissance, Elizabeth was unconsciously "a Tribal Deist." Margaret Roper, -the daughter of Sir Thomas More, was equally "cultured," but she accepted -the Catholic tradition in its letter and in its spirit. I may here state -that I have a great intellectual admiration for Queen Elizabeth, whose -virtues were her own, while her faults, to a large extent, were her -monstrous father's and her Privy Counsellors', _who told her not what she -ought to do but what she could do, which no really faithful adviser of a -Sovereign ever does_.] - -Some of these English "leile and feile," that is loyal and faithful, -servants of Rome were, on the subjective side, retained in their -allegiance to the Visible Head of Christendom by bonds formed by mere -natural piety and conservative feeling--dutiful affections of Nature which -are the promise and the pledge of much that is best in the Teutonic race. - -Others were mainly ruled by an overmastering sense of that lofty humility -which foes call pride, but friends dignity. - -Whilst a third class were persuaded, by intense intellectual, moral, and -spiritual conviction that--"in and by the power of divine grace"--come -what might, nothing should separate them from those hereditary beliefs -which were dearer to them far than not merely earthly goods, lands, and -personal liberty, but even than their very life. - -This last-mentioned class, from and after the year 1580, "the year of the -Lord's controversy with Sion," as the old English Catholics regarded it, -who loved to recall that "good time" when Campion and Parsons "poured out -their soul in words," especially Campion, who was remembered in the north -for three generations: this last-mentioned class, I say, were oftentimes, -though certainly not always, found to be greatly attached to the then new -Society of Jesus, which, in England, was in the glow and purity of its -first fervour. - -This last-mentioned class--I mean the Jesuitically-affected class of -English Catholics--were also again sub-divided into three sub-divisions. -One sub-division was composed of Mystics; another of Politicians; and a -third of those who, realising a higher unity, were at once Mystics _and_ -Politicians--or, in other phraseology, _they were Men of Thought and Men -of Action_. - -Now, the Gunpowder conspirators belonged to the last-mentioned class, and -to the second division of that class. That is to say, they were mere -Politicians, speaking broadly and speaking generally. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - -It hath been truly observed by one of the most knowing and candid of -modern students of Elizabethan biographical literature, that Sir William -Catesby, the father of the arch-gunpowder conspirator, Robert Catesby, in -common with the great majority of the country gentry throughout England, -who were resident upon their own estates, and unconnected with the -oligarchy which ruled in the Queen's name (_i.e._, Queen Elizabeth's) at -Court, threw in his lot with the Catholic party, and suffered in -consequence of his conscientious adherence to the old creed.[A] - -[Footnote A: Dr. Augustus Jessopp: Article--"Robert Catesby," "_National -Dictionary of Biography_."] - -While Sir Thomas Tresham (the brother-in-law of the last-mentioned Sir -William Catesby and father of Francis Tresham, one of the subordinate -conspirators), was so attached to the ancient faith of the English people -that, we are told, he not only regularly paid--by way of fines--for more -than twenty years, the sum of 260 per annum, about 2,080 a year in our -money, into the Treasury rather than not maintain what (to him) was "a -conscience void of offence," but he also spent at least twenty-one years -of his life in prison, after being Star-Chambered in the year 1581 along -with Lord Vaux of Harrowden and his brother-in-law, Sir William Catesby, -on a charge of harbouring Campion. - -The Fleet prison in London, Banbury Castle and Ely--his "familiar prison," -as Sir Thomas Tresham pleasantly styled the last-named place of -incarceration--were the habitations wherein he was enabled to make it his -boast in a letter to Lord Henry Howard, afterwards the Earl of -Northampton, writ in the year 1603, "that he had now completed his triple -apprenticeship in direst adversity, and that he should be content to serve -a like long apprenticeship to prevent the foregoing of his beloved, -beautiful, and graceful Rachel; for it seemed to him but a few days for -the love he had to her."[A] - -[Footnote A: Quoted from papers found at Rushton in Northamptonshire, the -seat of Sir Thomas Tresham, which he himself designed, being an architect -of some skill.] - -Well may the spiritual descendants to-day of these grand old Elizabethan -Catholics exclaim:--"_Their_ very memory is pure and bright, and our sad -thoughts doth cheer!" - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - -The men known to history as the Gunpowder Plotters were thirteen in -number. - -They were at first Robert Catesby, already mentioned, Thomas Winter, -Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. - -Subsequently, there were added to these five--Robert Keyes, Christopher -Wright (a younger brother of John Wright), and lastly Robert Winter (an -elder brother of Thomas Winter),[A] Ambrose Rookwood, John Grant, Sir -Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, and Thomas Bates. - -[Footnote A: Lord Edmund Talbot, brother to the present Duke of Norfolk, -K.G., Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, is allied to Robert Winter, -through the latter's marriage with Gertrude Talbot, the daughter of John -Talbot, Esquire, of Grafton in Worcestershire. The brother of Gertrude -Winter became Earl of Shrewsbury. John Talbot had married a daughter of -Sir William Petre. Lord Edmund Talbot, I believe, now owns Huddington.] - -Of these thirteen conspirators, all, with the exception of Thomas Bates, a -serving-man of Robert Catesby, were, as Fawkes said, "gentlemen of name -and blood." - -Thomas Percy was the eldest of the conspirators and in 1605 was about -forty-five years of age. - -Sir Everard Digby was the youngest, being twenty-four years of age, whilst -the ages of the others ranged betwixt and between.[15] - -Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the -East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was -the son of Edward Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader -of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest -figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a "kinsman" of -Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the -Earl himself,[16] and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made -Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary--Gentlemen of Honour--in attendance -at Court. At the time of the Plot, too, Thomas Percy--the Constable of -Alnwick and Warkworth Castles--acted as officer or agent for his noble -kinsman's large northern estates, at Alnwick, Warkworth, Topcliffe, -Spofforth, and elsewhere. - -Robert Catesby, the arch-conspirator, was--as we have seen already--the -son and heir of Sir William Catesby, whose wife was a daughter of Sir -Robert Throckmorton of Coughton in Warwickshire. - -Sir William Catesby was a gentleman of ancient, historic and distinguished -lineage, who had large possessions in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and -Warwickshire, yielding him about 3,000 a year, or probably from 24,000 -to 30,000 a year in our money. - -These large estates his ill-fated son Robert Catesby succeeded to in -expectancy in 1598.[17] - -Catesby, the younger, diminished his annual revenue very considerably by -involving himself in the rising of the brilliant Robert Devereux, second -Earl of Essex (1601), who had given to Catesby a promise of toleration for -Catholic recusants, who chafed greatly under a system of -politico-theological persecution, at once galling, cruel and despicable. - -But this promise of toleration was conditioned by the very vital condition -precedent that the insurrectionary movement of the gallant but rash Essex -against the Government of Elizabeth had a successful issue. - -The movement, however, was emphatically not smiled on by Fortune, that -fickle goddess, with the result that Catesby found himself locked up in -prison, and was only ransomed by payment of a sum of 3,000. - -This heavy fine, together with the fact that in the year 1605 his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, was living at Ashby St. Legers in -Northamptonshire, and owned for life all rents of the estates, except -Chastleton near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, seems to have been the -cause that, at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, Catesby had not any very -great amount of ready money in hand. - -Besides this, until some four or five years prior to 1603, the year of the -death of Queen Elizabeth, when he began to practise the religion which in -1580 his father, Sir William Catesby, had embraced or re-embraced, and for -which the latter had suffered imprisonment and heavy fines, Robert Catesby -"was very wild; and as he kept company with the best noblemen of the land, -so he spent much above his rate, and so wasted also good part of his -living." - -"He was of person above two yards[18] high, and though slender, yet as -well proportioned to his height as any man one should see." He was, -moreover, reputed to be "very wise and of great judgment, though his -utterance was not so good. Besides, he was so liberal, and apt to help all -sorts, as it got him much love." - -At the time of the Plot Catesby was about thirty-five years of age. He had -married Catherine Leigh, a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, of Stoneleigh, a -Protestant gentleman of wealth and influence in Warwickshire. The Parish -Register of Chastleton has the following entry:--"Robert Catesbie, son of -Robert Catesbie, was baptised the 11th day of November, 1595."[19] He had -only this one surviving child, who is said to have married the only child -of Thomas Percy. - -Catesby had the misfortune to lose his wife by death before the year 1602, -and at the time of the Plot his home seems to have been with his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, at Ashby St. Legers in the County of -Northampton, the family ancestral seat. For in 1602 he had sold his -residence, Chastleton, in Oxfordshire. - -Now, as Robert Catesby, it seems by many circumstances, was the first -inventor and chiefest furtherer of the Plot, it is worth while thus -lingering on a description of what manner of man he was. - -It, however, may be asked how came it to pass that this one person gained -such prodigious ascendency over twelve other persons so as to make them, -in the event, as mischievously, nay fatally, deluded as himself? - -The answer is manifold: for besides the wrongs which these ruthless -plotters sought to avenge, they 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.[20] - -For a proof of Catesby's immense influence over others, it may be -mentioned that Ambrose Rookwood, one of those whose blood afterwards -stained the scaffold at the early age of twenty-seven for his share in the -wicked scheme, says of Catesby that "he (Rookwood) loved and respected him -as his own life."[21] - -Four things seem to have caused those who came in contact with Robert -Catesby to have been carried captive at his will, if from the first they -were at all well affected towards him--his personal appearance, his -generosity, his zeal, and his skill in the use of arms. - -We are told that Tesimond (alias Greenway), another contemporary of -Catesby, says that "his countenance was exceedingly noble and expressive. -That his conversation 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."[22] - -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."[23] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -Thomas Winter came of a Worcestershire family. His father, George Winter -(or Wintour), had married Jane Ingleby, the daughter of Sir William -Ingleby, a Yorkshire knight of historic name, whose ancestral seat was -Ripley Castle, near Knaresbrough[24] in Nidderdale, one of the most -romantic valleys of Yorkshire. - -Jane Winter's brother, Francis Ingleby,[25] a barrister, and afterwards a -Roman 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 story of his life and death -must have often thrilled the hearts of his sister's children. - -Would that they had taken him as their model. For of all those many Roman -Catholic Yorkshiremen[A] 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.[26] - -[Footnote A: At least 49 persons, priests and laymen, suffered death in -York alone for the Pope's religion, between the reigns of Henry VIII. and -Charles II. inclusive. The place of execution was usually the Tyburn, -opposite Knavesmire, near Hob Moor Gate, in the middle of the Tadcaster -High Road. In the reign of Philip and Mary no Protestant was burned to -death in Yorkshire. Archbishop Heath, of York, like Bishop Tunstall, of -Durham, and the great Catholic Jurist, Edmund Plowden, who, for conscience -sake, declined the Chancellorship when offered to him by Elizabeth, did -not think they could "save alive" the soul of a "heretic" by roasting -"dead" his body at the stake. And they were right.] - -Thomas Winter, the ill-fated nephew of him just 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 by 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. Robert Catesby. 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."[27] He seems to have been unmarried. - -Sir Everard Digby was a tall, handsome, singularly generous, charming -young fellow, and like Ambrose Rookwood, previously mentioned, had won the -loving favour of all who knew him. Digby had two estates in the County of -Rutlandshire (Tilton and Drystoke), 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[A] (now Gayhurst) -in the parish of Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, still one of England's stately homes.[28] - -Francis Tresham was married to a Throckmorton, and was connected with many -English families of historic name, high rank, and great fortune. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst), resembles in its style of architecture, The -Treasurer's House, York, on the North side of the Minster, the town-house -of Frank Green, Esquire. Walter Carlile, Esquire, now resides at -Gayhurst.] - -He was a first cousin to Robert Catesby through his mother--a -Throckmorton. Tresham and the Winters were also akin. - -Francis Tresham, like his cousin, Robert Catesby, had been involved in the -Essex rising, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had to pay a ransom of -at least 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 Tower, and afterwards Earl of Suffolk.[29] - -John Grant was a Warwickshire Squire, who had married Robert and Thomas -Winter's sister Dorothy. Grant's home was at Norbrook, near Snitterfield, -a walled and moated mansion-house between the towns of Warwick and -Stratford-on-Avon.[30] Grant was a taciturn but accomplished man, who had -been likewise fined for his share in the Essex rising. - -John Wright and Christopher Wright 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 Mallories of -Studley Royal near Ripon. Hence were they related to Thomas Winter, Robert -Winter, 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 Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. - -Through his Roman Catholic mother, Keyes was related to Lady Ursula -Babthorpe, the daughter of Sir William Tyrwhitt[31] of Kettleby, near -Brigg, Lincolnshire, and wife of Sir William Babthorpe, of Babthorpe and -Osgodby, near Selby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire Sir William Babthorpe -was "the very soul of honour," one of the most valiant-hearted gentlemen -in Yorkshire, and himself, likewise, related to the Mallories, the -Inglebies, the Wrights, and the Winters. His sister was Lady Catherine -Palmes, the wife of Sir George Palmes, of Naburn, near the City of York. - -Ambrose Rookwood, 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Edward Rookwood, of Euston Hall, Suffolk, was cousin to -Ambrose Rookwood. At Euston in 1578 Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously -entertained by Edward Rookwood.--See Hallam's "_Constitutional History_," -and Lodge's "_Illustrations_."] - -Of the engaging Ambrose Rookwood 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 family, 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."[32] - -Guy Fawkes was also a Yorkshireman, being born in the year 1570, in the -City of York. - -His baptismal register, dated the 16th day of April, 1570, is still to be -seen in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, hard-by the glorious -Minster. - -Probably that one of four traditions is true which 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 Transept of the Minster, and at the top of the medival street -called Stonegate.[A] - -[Footnote A: The house I refer to is occupied by the Governors of St. -Peter's School (where Fawkes was himself educated), by Mr. T. H. Barron, -and Mr. Matkins. It is still Minster property. It is a brick Elizabethan -house refaced. Fawkes' grandmother, Mrs. Ellen Fawkes, almost certainly -lived in a house in High Petergate, on the opposite side of the road, -probably. His father may have had a house also at Bishopthorpe.--See -Supplementum I.] - -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 ancient Parish of Farnham, between Knaresbrough and Ripley, -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 highly intelligent, direct of purpose, simple of heart, -well-read, and, as a soldier of fortune in the Netherlands, not only -"skilful in the 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. - -Fawkes held a post of command in the Spanish Army when Spain took Calais -in 1596, and gave promise of becoming, like his friend and patron, Sir -William Stanley, an ideal "happy warrior," and one of England's greatest -generals.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is interesting and instructive to compare the Forty Years' -War between Spain and the Netherlands 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 commencement of the struggle. -It arose out of a chafing under the sovereignty of Spain, and a dispute -about tenths. In fact, many Catholics fought against 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 Relief of Mafeking (19th May, 1900).] - -It is said by an old writer, "Winter and Fawxe are men of excellent good -natural parts, very resolute and universally learned."[33] 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. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - -Let us deal with the inferences from the Evidence, and ascertain to what -further suggestions those inferences give rise. - -Now, among the first things that must strike the reader of the list of -actors in the Gunpowder tragedy is the large 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 Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. While -five of the other intending perpetrators of an action which, if -consummated, would have indeed "damned them to everlasting fame," -indirectly had relations with it. - -Nay, more; of the four members of the clerical profession whom the -Government sought to charge with complicity in this nefarious designment, -namely: Fathers Garnet, Tesimond, Gerard, and (subsequently) Oldcorne--two -out of the four, Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne, were likewise -Yorkshiremen.[A] - -[Footnote A: The late Bishop Creighton, in his fine illustrated work -entitled, "_The Story of some English Shires_" (Religious Tract Society), -says:--"Yorkshire is the largest of the English shires, and its size -corresponds to its ancient greatness."] - -Edward Oldcorne was certainly a native of the City of York, and it is very -likely indeed that Oswald Tesimond was a native also.[34] - -Moreover, Oswald Tesimond, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy Fawkes -were all educated at the Royal 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 Bootham 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Strafford, the representative of Charles I. in Ireland, -was in after years Lord President of the North. In his day the King's -Manor was known as the Palace of the Stuart 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 Yorkshireman, 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 -Wilberforce's direct heir, William Basil Wilberforce, Esquire, resides at -Markington Hall, near Ripon. - -The Earl of Huntingdon was a scion of the House of York, and had Elizabeth -become reconciled to the Church of Rome the Puritans would have probably -rallied round Lord Huntingdon as their King. The Honourable Walter -Hastings, the Earl's brother, was a Roman Catholic. They were, of course, -akin to Queen Elizabeth, and were descended from the "Blessed" Margaret -Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury.] - -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."[35] - -Before going to Rheims and Rome 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 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 awful a catastrophe was deep as hell and high as heaven. - -And well might it be, regard being had to the indisputable facts of -English History from the year 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 conspirators had taken: a -conspirator 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 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 trustworthy friend who would act as penman of any document he -might wish to use as a means of communicating 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 "_interpres_"--a -go-between--to drive home the full 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. - -Regard 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, yet -strong as iron," which were the outcome of kinship, friendship, 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 Wright_ was the conspirator who revealed the Plot, and that -his worthy aiders and honourable abettors were, first, _Thomas Ward_, the -gentleman-servant (and almost certainly kinsman) of Lord Mounteagle -himself, _amicus secundum carnem_; and, secondly, _Edward Oldcorne_, -Priest and Jesuit, _amicus secundum spiritum:--friends according to the -flesh and to the spirit respectively_. - - - - - 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 majestie, for releife of the Catholique cause, and not -invented or propounded by myself. And this was first propounded unto me -about Easter last was twelve-month,[36] 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 howse -at Westminster ... neare adjoyning the Parlt. howse, and there wee beganne -to make a myne about the XI. of December, 1604. The Fyve that entered -into the woorck were Thomas Percye, Robert Catesby, Thomas Wynter, John -Wright, and myself, and soon after[37] we tooke another unto us, -Christopher Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the sacrament for -secrecie."[38] - -Therefore Christopher Wright must have become a confederate about ten -months after Fawkes himself and the other prime movers in the nefarious -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 was -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 presumptively known by his friends, still more -may it be presumptively known by his progenitors; and in the light of this -principle I therefore answer the foregoing question emphatically in the -affirmative. - -But what was the form of the oath taken by all these conspirators save -one, namely, Sir Everard Digby, who was _specially_ "sworn in" on the hilt -of a poniard? - -It was this:--"You shall swear by the Blessed Trinity and by the Sacrament -you now propose to receive, never to disclose, directly 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 with their hands laid upon -a primer."[39] - -Immediately after the oath had been taken,[40] we are told, Catesby -explained to Percy, and Winter and John Wright to Fawkes, that the project -intended was to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder when the King -went to the House of Lords.[41] This would include the Queen, the Commons, -Ambassadors, and spectators who would be present during 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 Robert Wright and Ursula his wife, who was the -daughter of Nicholas Rudston, Esquire (of the Rudstons, Lords of -Hayton,[A] 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 William Mallory, of Studley Royal, near Ripon.[42] - -[Footnote A: It is gratifying to the historic feeling to know that the -Manor of Hayton is still owned by a member of this ancient family, the -present possessor being T. W. Calverley-Rudston, Esquire, J.P., of -Allerthorpe Hall, Pocklington.] - -Christopher Wright was born about the year 1570, the year after the Rising -of the North[43] under "the Blessed" Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland, -and Charles Neville Earl of Westmoreland, in which movement many of -Christopher Wright's mother's relatives and connections (notably "old -Richard Norton," his sons, and the Markenfields) were implicated.[44] - -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, was -doubtless 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 Patrington and the pretty village of -Welwick. When Robert 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 Ripon, the ancestral seat of the Markenfields, -heroes of Flodden and kinsmen of the Wrights, Wards, Nortons, Mallories, -and numberless others amongst the ancient and wealthy Yorkshire gentry. - -Christopher Wright and his elder brother John were educated, along with -Guy Fawkes and Oswald Tesimond, at the Royal Grammar School (as we have -already stated) in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, in the City of York. - -Their master was the Reverend John Pulleyn, who probably belonged to the -ancient and honourable West Riding family of the Pulleyns (or Pulleines), -of Killinghall, near Bilton-cum-Harrogate, and of Scotton, in the Parish -of Farnham, near Knaresbrough. - -The two Wrights' parents were stanch Roman 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 President 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 Ripon; another, named -Martha, was married to Thomas Percy, Gentleman, the Gunpowder -conspirator. - -It is said of John Wright, Christopher Wright's brother, and of his -brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, that they were formerly Protestant, and -became Catholic about the time of the rebellion of the Earl of Essex. But -it is certain John Wright and Thomas Percy[45] must have been both brought -up Roman Catholics in the days of their childhood; although they probably -ceased to practise their duties as such until about the year 1600. For it -is incredible that the son and son-in-law of Robert Wright 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 friend 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,[A] fatter in the face and of a -lighter-coloured hair. "Yet," says Gerard, "was he very like to the other -in conditions and qualities and both 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."[46] - -[Footnote A: It is, however, possible that John Wright may have come under -the influence of the Blessed William Hart (styled the Apostle of York and -the second Campion), a priest who suffered death at the York Tyburn in -1583. Because Hart was indicted for (amongst other things) "reconciling" a -"Mr. John Wright and one Cooling."--See Challoner's "_Missionary -Priests_." If so, John Wright would then be about fourteen years of age. -It, however, may have been another John Wright; perhaps of Grantley and -one of the brothers of Robert Wright, the father of John Wright, the -conspirator. Cooling was probably Ralph Cowling, of York, a shoemaker, the -father of Father Richard 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. Ralph 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.] - -Christopher Wright was married. His wife's name, we know, was -Margaret.[A][47] I strongly suspect that Mrs. Christopher Wright was a -sister of both Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish -of Ripon; yet of this there is only, perhaps, slight evidence, so that no -positive argument can be grounded upon it, _considered by 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 Wright had "a brother" in -London. - -[Footnote A: See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 89.] - -When Guy Fawkes was examined in the Tower of London, in the forenoon of -the 6th of November, he said, in answer to a question--"You would have me -discover my friends; the giving warning to one overthrew us all." - -Now, if Guy Fawkes eventually revealed the conspiracy by reason of the -agony caused by 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 the case of the intended murder) most -horrible crimes against the offended Majesty of Heaven? - -I think not. - -_Therefore_ I conclude that it is antecedently probable that in the heart -of Christopher Wright, emotions, not only of compassion but also of -compunction, _were_ 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 diabolical designment known to History as the -Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Had Christopher Wright any entirely trustworthy friend, one who not only -would prove a healing minister to a mind diseased with the leprosy of -crime, but also be an able and ready helper for giving effect to an all -but too late repentance? Was there anyone to whom he could have recourse, -who was at once wise of head, sympathetic 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 years one who was not only the trusted spiritual guide of -Thomas Abington, Esquire, and the Honourable Mary (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 -Rome in 1582, aged twenty-one, for the higher studies. He was most -probably at the Royal School in the Horse Fayre, in York, and he may have -been there at the same time as Oswald Tesimond,[48] John Wright,[49] -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 -_and_ Politicians. His equipoise of mind shows him to have been a very -great man--indeed, on account of his combination of mental gifts and -graces, I think the greatest, in reality, of _all_ the early English -Jesuits. For "he saw life steadily and saw it whole."[A] - -[Footnote A: Matthew Arnold.] - -"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."[50] Again, a MS. Memoir[51] 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."[52][B] - -[Footnote B: See Supplementum II.] - -Now, Father Oldcorne was the spiritual adviser of Robert 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[53] in the country thereabouts who -flocked to him for conference and to have his exhortations.[54][C] - -[Footnote C: Evidence of the practical side of Oldcorne's mind is -furnished by the fact that we are told he often begged leave in Rome 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 through 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 Gerard's -"_Narrative_," p. 272.] - -Again, Christopher Wright appears to have been especially friendly with -two other conspirators, namely, Thomas Winter and Ambrose Rookwood. And it -is worthy of notice that Huddington Hall, in Worcestershire, the seat of -Robert Winter (of which place Thomas Winter is also described), and -Clopton Hall, in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon (whither Ambrose -Rookwood removed soon after Michaelmas, 1605), were easily accessible 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The site of Shakespeare's new residence, which he built and -called New Place, at Stratford-on-Avon, had belonged to the Clopton -family. - -Clopton 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 Rookwood repaired for -temporary residence soon after Michaelmas, 1605, was by road twenty-three -miles from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne resided. - -Ambrose Rookwood and Christopher Wright were particular friends. Rookwood -was a man of very tender conscience, which, however, unhappily failed him -at the most crucial moment of his life, namely, when he 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -Let us now examine the Letter itself. - -The first thing to be noted is that no reprint that I have seen of the -famous Letter, whether in ancient or modern continuous Relations 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.[55] But, this notwithstanding, it can be still detected in the -original document, happily, even to this day, to be seen in the Record -Office, London. - -Now the fact that this word "yowe" is crossed out in this mysterious -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[56] use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe," makes 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 yowe -have burnt the letter," is in one sense fairly clear. For as Wilson says, -in his "_Life of James I._" (1653), p. 30, "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."[57] - -This must be the, at least, _ostensible_ meaning. For it is obvious that -neither Wright nor Oldcorne (_ex hypothesi_) would, for different but most -potent reasons, wish the penman of the Letter to be known to the then -public, 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 compassing 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.[58] - -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.[A] For it is a -fact of human nature that every man seeks to instruct his conscience by -some objective rule or standard of Truth and Right; but that instincts -and emotions oftentimes finally rule men rather than reason and -argumentative proof. - -[Footnote A: The English 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 were -compelled to pay 20 per lunar month. Many of the English nobility, -gentry, and yeomanry were 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; -individual Protestants often sought to mitigate the miseries of their -fellow-countrymen from whom they differed in religion. Being reconciled to -the See of Rome was death, and to be a popish priest was by the terrible -Statute 27 Eliz. to be "a traitor" and to be liable to be hanged, cut down -alive, bowelled, and quartered. To say Mass was to be liable to a fine of -200 marks _and_ imprisonment for life (a mark was 13s. 4d.). To hear Mass -was to be liable to a fine of 100 marks _and_ imprisonment for life. To -harbour a priest was death and forfeiture of property.] - -It was, furthermore, incumbent upon Oldcorne to recollect that more harm -than good is frequently occasioned 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 Rookwood 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 allowances have to be made for this poor woman, inasmuch -as her husband and children were all the world to her. But still the -following recorded statement proves that the _tendency_ was for even the -best of the average English Catholics of that day, of whom Mrs. Rookwood -is a fair type and specimen, to centre their sympathies on the wrong-doers -rather than on the wronged. - -This was natural enough; for man's disposition is to be led by his -unconscious instincts and emotional sympathies rather than by drawn-out -reason and cool argument, as has been mentioned above. - -It was the bounden duty of Oldcorne to hold that disposition strictly in -check and to keep himself absolutely master of the tendency. But, on this -being assured, he was bound likewise to remember that the tendency -existed, and that he lived in a world not of angels, nor of machines, but -of _men_--of men indeed who were not totally depraved, nor utterly -corrupt, yet who were sorely wounded and weakened in intellect, heart, and -will. - -The crying want of the present day--as of Oldcorne's day--is not only for -men but for men who are statesmen. And no man can be a statesman unless he -has a wide and profound knowledge of human nature, and who, while he -pities human nature and loves it, never makes the mistake of expecting too -much from it. In other words, we require men who are humanists and -humorists, as I cannot but think was the character of Edward Oldcorne. - -Now, no man in England knew better nor recognised more fully (for he knew -the virtually omnipotent transforming power of the precedent conditions of -person, time, and circumstance) the truth of the propositions I have just -enunciated than did Father Oldcorne. But this notwithstanding, I hold it -was _not_ the truth of the foregoing propositions ALONE--indisputable -doubtless as he regarded them--that finally controlled the motives that -ruled the action--in substance and in form--at the most critical moment of -the existence of this acute, disciplined, high-minded Yorkshireman, when -by Fate he was called upon to contemplate, _after the fateful November the -Fifth_, the bloody, prodigious Gunpowder Plot, and the mighty feat which -Destiny had imposed upon him for helping to spin the same right round on -its axis, even though well-nigh at the eleventh hour.[59] - -What finally controlled the motives, the positive _not_ negative motives, -that ruled that beneficent and never-to-be-forgotten action of this -Yorkshire Priest and Jesuit in that supreme moment--the Plot having then -become, through his instrumentality, as a mere bubble-burst--will be -discovered in due course of this Inquiry. - -The remark of Mrs. Rookwood to which I have referred is given in Gerard's -"_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 219. Thomas Winter, Rookwood, -Keyes, and Fawkes were drawn on their hurdles from the Tower to the Yard -of the old Palace of Westminster over against the Parliament House. - -"As they were drawn upon the Strand, Mr. Rookwood had provided that he -should be admonished when he came over against the lodging where his wife -lay: and being come unto the place, he opened his eyes (which before he -kept shut to attend better to his prayers), and seeing her stand in a -window to see him pass by, he raised himself as well as he could up from -the hurdle, and said aloud unto her: 'Pray for me, pray for me,' She -answered him also aloud: 'I will; and be of good courage and offer thyself -wholly to God. I for my part do as freely restore thee to God as he gave -thee to me,'" - -This was Friday, the 31st day of January, 1605-6. - -On the previous day in St. Paul's Churchyard had been likewise hanged, cut -down alive, drawn, and quartered, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John -Grant, and Thomas Bates. - -Catesby, John Wright, and Christopher Wright had been slain at Holbeach on -the 8th of November previously. - -Thomas Percy died of wounds there received the next day. - -Father Tesimond had proceeded to Huddington, doubtless mainly in the hope, -let us trust, of stirring up in the hearts of these desperate creatures -sorrow--that great natural sacrament--for their awful crimes that, not in -vain, had cried to Heaven for vengeance! For truly the guilty suffer and -the blood-guilty man shall not live out half his days. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - -Now there is a sentence in the Letter whose wording is peculiar, but -which, I submit, is pre-eminently a wording likely to be used by two -natives of Yorkshire. - -I mean the sentence, "I would aduyse yowe as yowe _tender_ your lyf to -deuys some excuse to _shift off_ youer attendance at this parleament," -meaning thereby, "I would advise you as you _have a care_ for your life to -devise some excuse to _put off_[60] your attendance at this parliament." - -Once more, a comparison of the Letter sent to Lord Mounteagle with a -Declaration not only signed by Father Oldcorne but entirely in his -handwriting, dated the 12th of March, 1605-6,[61] reveals this remarkable -fact that there is, first, a general similarity between the penmanship of -both documents; and, secondly, there is a particular similarity in the -case of the following letters:--the small c/s, l/s, i/s, b/s, w/s, r/s, -long s/s (as initials), and short s/s (as terminals); also the m/s and n/s -are not inconsistent with being written by one and the same hand. The -handwriting in the Letter is, for the most part, not in round hand, but in -roman character. The letters do not all lean at the same angle to the -horizontal. Evidently the writer had endeavoured "painfully" to disguise -his handwriting, but conscientious carefulness and a disciplined will -emphatically characterise both documents.[62] See Appendix. - -Now Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was, I -maintain, the intermediary--the diplomatic intermediary--through whom -Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) acted in communication with -Mounteagle. And this, with the express knowledge and consent of Father -Edward Oldcorne, who was, almost certainly, well acquainted with Thomas -Ward.[63] - -In short, the revelation was a curvilinear triangular movement. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -Mounteagle, we are told, knew there was a Letter to be sent to him before -it came.[64] - -Lingard says the conspirators suspected that Tresham had sent the Letter, -and that there was a "secret understanding between him and Lord -Mounteagle,[A] _or at least the gentleman who was employed to read the -Letter at the table_." (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: It is to be recollected that the conspirators themselves -suspected that there was a secret understanding, at least between the -gentleman-servant of Mounteagle and Tresham, whom they thought was the -revealing conspirator.--See Greenway's MS., quoted by Lingard.] - -In a letter dated 19th November, 1605, of a certain Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmondes, the King's Ambassador at Brussels, after giving an -account of the discovery of the Plot, Hoby says:--"Such as are apt to -interpret all things to the worst will not believe other but that -Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing the -discovery already of the letter, the rather that one Thomas Ward, a -principal man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the conspiracy." - -Now there is evidence which creates a moral certainty that Christopher -Wright and a certain Thomas Ward (or Warde, for the name was spelt either -way at that time) were closely allied by virtue of at least one marriage -(if not indeed more than one) subsisting between certain (virtually -undoubted) relatives of theirs then living. - -Christopher Wright's sister, Ursula, was (as has been already mentioned) -the wife of one Marmaduke Ward (or Warde), of Mulwith, in the Parish of -Ripon, in the County of York. - -A lady of high family named Winefrid Wigmore, the daughter of Sir William -Wigmore, of Lucton, in the County of Herefordshire, says, in her "_Life of -Mary Ward_," the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula, his wife: -"Mary Ward was the eldest daughter of Mr. Marmaduke Ward, of Givendale, in -the County of York. Mulwith and Newby were Manor-houses of his."[65] - -Now in the Parish Register, which was published in the year 1899, -belonging to the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York, is -to be found the following remarkable entry: "_Weddinges 1579.--Thomas -Warde of Mulwaith in the p'ishe of Rippon, and M'rgery Slater, S'vant to -Mr. Cotterell, maried xxixth day of May._"[66] - -But for only eleven years (lacking nine days) were Thomas Warde and -Margery his wife destined to be united in the bonds of wedlock. For the -Register of Ripon Minster records "_the burial_," under date "_May the -20th, 1590, of Marjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwaith_."[67] - -They do not seem to have been blessed with offspring. At any rate there -are no names of any children of these two spouses entered in the Register -of Christenings still kept at Ripon Minster. Although, of course, there -may have been such baptized at home[A] "secretly," or even at some other -church than at the chapel of the Skelton Chapelry, or than in Ripon -Minster, the mother church of the great Parish of Ripon. - -[Footnote A: But see Supplementum III. _postea_, and the evidence there -given; evidence which is also interesting as showing how, at any rate -sometimes, "the oracle was worked," with reference to that curious -historical problem, the apparent baptism of the children of papists by the -minister of the parish church. In Ireland, I have been told, at one time -the authorities of the then establishment accepted the mere "allegation" -that certain rites had been complied with by the popish clergy. - -Dr. Elz is grossly wrong in arguing that _because_ Shakespeare's name is -found in the Register of Christenings in the parish church of -Stratford-on-Avon, _therefore_ Shakespeare's father was a Protestant. Such -a conclusion founded on such proof is simply ludicrous.--See Elz's "_Life -of Shakespeare_" (Bell & Sons), p. 457. One really is disposed to distrust -many of the _conclusions_ of "German learning" when Elz argues like this. -To my mind, much of "the critical" work (so called in a certain -department) may be hereafter found to be full of flaws from building on -too _narrow a foundation_ of evidence. How little man can know of the Past -which affords him evidence to hang even a dog on with absolute, as -distinct from moral, certitude! (I wish especially not to be thought to -imply any disrespect towards the great German people, whose love for him -who is for all nations and all time fills me with the profoundest -admiration. But Truth is no respecter of persons when it detects errors, -or the probabilities of errors, on the part of such as should be "masters -of those that know.") - -For even the Rigmaydens, of Woodacre Hall, Garstang (harbourers of Campion -in 1581), in the most Catholic part of Lancashire, _apparently_ had at -least some of their children baptised at the parish church.--See Colonel -Fishwick's "_Parish of Garstang_" (Chetham Soc.)] - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -Now we know that Marmaduke Warde was of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the year -1585. For the "_Life_" of his daughter Mary expressly states that she was -born at Mulwith in that year. And if _a_ Thomas Warde was of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith) only six years prior to 1585, and again of Mulwith in 1590, when -he lost his wife, the inevitable inference is that the said Marmaduke -Warde and the said Thomas Warde belonged to one and the same family, and -that, in all probability, they were akin to each other as brothers.[68] - -Again, the Register of Ripon Minster records on the 6th day of October, -1589, the baptism of Edward,[A] the son of a certain Christopher Wright, -of Bondgate, Ripon. - -[Footnote A: If this Edward Wright is the same as a certain Prebendary -Edward Wright, of Ripon Minster, who received his nomination from King -James I. on the 26th of March, 1613, then at least one cousin of Mary Ward -must have conformed to the Established Church.--See "_Memorials of -Ripon_," in 3 vols. (Surtees Society.) - -He would be about 23 years of age when the royal favour was thus -vouchsafed to him. - -An Edward Wright was Mayor of Ripon in the year 1635.--Gent's -"_Ripon_."--Probably the son of Prebendary Edward Wright. - -Another cousin of Mary Warde, I find, had likewise conformed--a Dr. Warde, -the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He belonged, I think, to -the Wardes, of Durham, descended from a brother of Sir Christopher Ward.] - -On the 23rd day of July, 1594, of Eliza, daughter of Christopher Wright, -of Newbie.[69] - -The baptism on the 12th day of July, 1596, of Francis, son of Christopher -Wright, of Newbie. - -And furthermore, on the 3rd day of February, 1601, the baptism of -Marmaduke, the son of Christopher Wright, of Skelton. - -Now, when we recollect that _a_ Marmaduke Warde was certainly -brother-in-law to _a_ Christopher Wright; and when we recollect that we -have proof that _a_ Thomas Warde and _a_ Marmaduke Warde were, -respectively, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the Parish of Ripon, and that -_a_ Christopher Wright was of Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton, all likewise -in the Parish of Ripon; and when we further recollect that these three -gentlemen were of these several places in the closing decades of the years -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, only one conclusion is forced upon the -mind of even the most sceptical, namely, that the said three gentlemen -must have known, and been known to, one another personally, without the -shadow of any reasonable doubt. - -And again; that between those years, 1589 and 1590 inclusive, the said -_Thomas Warde_ and the said _Christopher Wright_ had known each other -intimately, by meeting within the bounds of the Parish of Ripon,--nay even -within the chapelry of Skelton--is surely one of the likeliest things in -the world. - -Furthermore, it is possible that the Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith), was in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth in the -Netherlands, along with Queen Elizabeth's well-known diplomatist and -Treasurer of the Chamber, Sir Thomas Heneage, the step-father of Lord -Southampton, Lord Mounteagle's friend, as well as Shakespeare's patron. - -For I find that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter dated from -"the Court," the 24th of March, 1585--six years _after_ the marriage of -Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory Slater, and five years _before_ her -lamented death--that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter to the -Earl of Leicester, "Lord Lieutenant-General of Her Majesty's Forces in the -Low Countries," speaks of _a_ "Mr. Warde."[A] - -[Footnote A: See the "_Leicester Correspondence_" (Camden Soc.), p. 187.] - -Now we know for certain from Winwood's Memorials[B] that a Mr. Walter -Hawkesworth, of the Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth Hall, in the Parish of -Otley, in the County of York, was in the diplomatic service of King James -I., and that, according to Foster's "_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_" he -was poisoned at Madrid when on an embassy there. - -[Footnote B: See also Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers. Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -Hence, is it quite within the bounds of possibility that his remote -kinsman, Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, may have been in the diplomatic service -of Queen Elizabeth. The Hawkesworths and the Wardes had, in days long gone -by, twice formed alliances by marriage, so that the families were -distantly akin. Indeed it was from Sir Simon Warde, of Esholt, in the -Parish of Otley, and of Givendale, in the Parish of Ripon, that the -Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth had by marriage alliance gained the -Hawkesworth Estate.--See Foster's "_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_." - -But is there any evidence that links Thomas Ward (or Warde), of Mulwaith -(or Mulwith), and the Ward (or Warde) family in general, of Givendale, -Newby and Mulwith, with the Lord Mounteagle?[C] - -[Footnote C: It will be seen as this narrative further unfolds itself that -it is almost certain that Thomas Warde (or Ward) was in the service of the -Government as a Catholic diplomat under Walsingham. And, moreover, it will -appear probable that the servant Warde (or Ward) "had as much, off" as the -master Walsingham.] - -And, first of all, is there any evidence to show that Marmaduke Ward ever -had a brother in London, who lived at Court? - -There is. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -For in Foley's "_Records_"[70] we are told that Father George Ward, alias -Ingleby, was a son of Marmaduke Ward, Esquire, of Newby, near Ripon, by -his wife Ursula Wright.[A] And in a note at the foot of the self-same -page, it is stated that William Ward entered the English College at Rome -in the name William Ingleby vere Ward, 4th October, 1614, at the age of -twenty-three; that the family was of distinction in the county, _and his -uncle lived at Court_. (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: I am, however, inclined to think that Ursula Ward died early -in the year 1588, after the birth of her son, probably George, and that -the Elizabeth Ward, who is mentioned in Peacock's "_List of Roman -Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_" as the wife of a Marmaduke Ward, of the -Parish of Ripon, was the mother of Elizabeth Ward, Teresa (or Ann) Ward, -William Ward, and Thomas Ward. Indeed, the mother of all Mary Warde's -father's children, except Mary herself, Barbara, John, and George. - -I think, moreover, that Elizabeth Ward was a Sympson, probably of Great -Edston, near Kirbymoorside, Rydale, in the North Riding of the County of -York. The Sympsons, of Edston, had a daughter Elizabeth at this time.--See -Foster's Ed. of "_Glover's Visitation_." - -In the Ripon Minster Registers there is certainly the entry under date -15th May, 1588, of a wedding between a "Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth -Sympson." Now Mary Warde, the eldest child of Ursula Warde, was born the -23rd day of January, 1585-86, and Barbara in the year 1586; so that if -Ursula Warde died in the year 1588 (at the early part) after giving birth -to George Warde, Marmaduke Warde might be conceivably married again in -May, 1588. Sir Thomas More's case would afford a precedent for so early a -second marriage. The marriage of Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth Sympson may -have taken place at Ripon from the house of friends, in the presence of -some semi-popish conforming Vicar. Winefrid Wigmore styles George Ward -Mary's "owne brother," implying that there was at least one -half-brother.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_" vol. i., p. 427. John Ward, the -elder brother, died from wounds received in a duel. He must have taken -after his uncle John Wright, who was one of the most expert swordsmen of -his time, and never happy but when sending a challenge to some swordsman -or another who specially boasted himself of skill in the use of that -ancient weapon.] - -Moreover, there is evidence tending to prove, with absolute certitude, -that the "Ward" or "Warde" family, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith were -connected with the family of Mounteagle, both on his mother's side through -the Mounteagles, and on his father's side through the Barons Morley.[71] - -Also is there evidence tending to prove, with moral certitude, that either -through the Stanleys or the Morleys, or some other family or families, the -Wards (or Wardes) were connected by marriage and actually related to Lord -Mounteagle by blood. - -The proof is this:--In the "_Life of Mary Ward_," [72] by Mary Catherine -Elizabeth Chambers, it is stated that Mary Ward was in some way related to -the before-mentioned lady of high family, Winefrid Wigmore, of Lucton, -Herefordshire, who was an accomplished woman, speaking five languages -fluently. - -Now it is known that Winefrid Wigmore's father, Sir William Wigmore, had -married Anne Throckmorton, one of the daughters of Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton. Now Lady Wigmore, through the Throckmortons and the -Treshams, "was connected with the families of Lord Mounteagle, Morley, -Berkeley, and Vaux."[73] - -Hence it follows that, through the Wigmores,[A] the Throckmortons, and the -Treshams, there was a connection of some kind or another between Mary -Ward's family and the families of Mounteagle, Morley, Berkeley, and -Vaux.[74] - -[Footnote A: Since the text was written, I have found out that Winefrid -Wigmore, through her mother, was a cousin once removed to Elizabeth, Lady -Mounteagle (_ne_ Tresham).--See Notes 30 and 76 _postea_.] - -Again, Mary Ward was related to Mary Poyntz (pronounced Poynes), a lady -whose ancient family had come over with William the Conqueror.[75] Mary -Poyntz, herself a lovely woman, was the daughter of Edward Poyntz, -Esquire, of Iron Acton and Tobington Park, in the County of -Gloucester.[76] - -Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who was living in 1580, the father of Edward Poyntz, -had married Margaret Stanley, the daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. This -lady was the mother of Edward Poyntz, the father of Mary Poyntz, the -relative of Mary Ward. - -Now I find (from Burke's "_Extinct Peerages_") that Henry Parker Lord -Morley, the grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, had -married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. - -Hence the Poyntz and the Mounteagles were cousins. Again, the Wards were -in some way or other related to the Poyntz family. Hence it follows that -through the Poyntz the Wards were related in some sort with Lord -Mounteagle, by means of the Stanleys, Mounteagle's father's ancestors and -mother's ancestors.[77] - -For 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, Mounteagles, and Wards through the -great House of Neville. - -(We may be sure that a young nobleman like the fourth Lord Mounteagle -would be glad to recognise the Wards of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale as -"Cousins" if such were the fact, and to treat them in every respect as -being on an equality with him.) - -Therefore the combined Evidence so far gives us this conclusion:-- - -That a Christopher Wright was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, of -Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon. - -That Marmaduke Ward was of the same place--Mulwith (or Mulwaith)--as a -person named Thomas Warde, who was married in a church in York in the year -1579, and whose wife died in the year 1590, and whose burial is recorded -to this day at Ripon Minster. - -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,[78] in the Parish of Ripon, between the years 1594 -and 1596 inclusive, and in the neighbourhood of the City of Ripon, and -within the boundary of its parish, from the year 1589 to 1601. - -That Marmaduke Ward's son, William, had an uncle who lived at Court.[A] - -That the Wardes were connected with, and related to Lord Mounteagle by -common family ties.[79] - -[Footnote A: The fact that a Christopher Wright who lived at Newbie in -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 Wright was the -brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward. - -At this time there was also a Francis Wright at Newbie, and a John Wright -at Grantley. They may have been the children of John and Christopher -Wright, _the uncles_ of John and Christopher Wright, the Gunpowder -plotters. And, of course, it is _possible_ that the Christopher Wright who -lived in Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton between the years 1589 and 1601 -_may have been a cousin or other kinsman_ of Christopher Wright the -plotter, or even of different families altogether. But in the Register of -Welwick Church are the following entries of Burials: "13 October 1654 -ffrauncis Wright Esquire and 2 May 1664 ffrauncis Wright Esquire" -(communicated by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, M.A., Vicar of Welwick), entries -which tend to prove that the Newby Wrights and the Plowland Wrights were -one and the same persons, and, therefore, of one and the same clan. - -There seem, from the "_Memorials of Ripon_," vol. iii. (Surtees Soc.), to -have been "Wrights" in Ripon and the neighbourhood for many generations, -certainly long before the reign of Henry VIII., when the grandfather of -the plotters is said to have come from Kent into Yorkshire.--See Foster's -"_Glover's Visitation of Yorkshire_." Possibly the Wrights of Kent -originally sprang from Yorkshire. - -"A Christopher Wright" lived at South Kilvington, near Thirsk, in the -nineteenth century.--See the tablet to his memory in the church of that -parish.] - -Hence, from the foregoing evidence, the conclusions are inevitable, first, -that Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, who married Marjory (or Margery) Slater[A] -in 1579, was almost certainly a connection and relative of Lord -Mounteagle, in whose household Warde held an honoured and honourable -position; or, as doubtless we should say nowadays, was the young peer's -private secretary: and, secondly, that, through the said Thomas Warde, -Christopher Wright likewise was almost certainly by affinity connected -with, if not related by blood to, the same highly-favoured English -nobleman. - -[Footnote A: This marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory (or -Margery) Slater, "servant to Mr. Cotterill," of the Parish of St. Wilfrid, -York, forcibly reminds one of the romance which Lord Tennyson has -immortalized in his charming little poem, "The Lord of Burleigh." -Moreover, it is worthy of remark that there was a family connection -between the family of Cecil and a family of Ward, most probably the Wards -of Mulwith, or those akin to them.--See Hatfield's "_Hist. MSS._" (Eyre & -Spottiswoode), pt. viii., p. 553, where it says, "Pedigree connection of -the Cecil and Ward families, partly in Lord Burleigh's hand," pt. i., -204-289.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -But again, seeing that we know that a certain Thomas Ward lived at Court, -by reason of his being a member of the household of Lord Mounteagle, who -had been admitted to Court ever since the accession to the throne of James -the First, by this point also I know not how to escape from these several -probable conclusions: that the Thomas Warde (or Ward), the -gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was the brother of Marmaduke Warde -(or Ward); that, by consequence, he was the connection of Christopher -Wright; and that by remoter consequence, Christopher Wright himself was a -connection of Lord Mounteagle likewise. - -Now, granting the family connection between Thomas Warde and Wright, there -is no antecedent improbability, but the contrary, in the supposal that -Christopher Wright, if and when stricken with remorse at the thought of -his sworn part and lot in the iniquitous Gunpowder Plot, had recourse to -this Thomas Warde, who was his connection, for trustworthy and effectual -help in saving from a sudden and cruel death, haply himself and his -confederates, but certainly his Sovereign and the Senators of his -Fatherland, along with Heaven alone knows whom else beside! - -Furthermore, if there were any antecedent improbability in such a supposal -as that Christopher Wright should have recourse to this particular -Yorkshireman, Thomas Warde, in the hour of his need, it should be had in -continual remembrance--as a self-evident proposition from the constitution -of human nature--that the person or persons to whom a Yorkshireman like -Christopher Wright (supposing him to have been the revealing plotter) -almost certainly would have recourse would be, if possible, some tried and -constant native of his own County, whose intellect, he would think, there -was some guarantee for being shrewd and practical, his heart not devoid of -fellow-feeling with a "brother in adversity," and his will at once -indomitable and energetic.[80] One who indeed laughs at alleged -impossibilities and who cries: "_It shall be done!_" - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - -Lastly, there is proof, indirect indeed but very telling, that Thomas -Warde must have been closely akin to Marmaduke Warde, and that both must -have been related to Lord Mounteagle. - -This proof is contained in the following "Examination of Marmaduke Warde, -Gentleman, in the County of Yorke, taken at Beauchamp Court before Sir -Fulke Grevyll, Knight, and Bartholmewe Hales, Esq^{re.}, on Wednesday, the -6th day of November, the day following the arrest of Fawkes and the flight -of the others of the conspirators from London towards Dunchurch, in -Warwickshire:-- - - "GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 47.[81] - - "The examinacion of Marmaduke Warde, gent. of Newbie in the - countie of yorke taken before S^{r.} ffowlk Grevyll[A] Knight - and Bartholmewe Hales esq^{r.} - - "This ex^{t} beinge demaunded when he came into this Countreye - saith a fortnight since & hath since continued at Mr Jo: Writes - at Lapworth, where Mr Write discontynuinge the space of on weeke - past his sister in lawe Mrs Write intreated him (beeinge - accompanyed w^{th} on Marke Brittaine her man) to goe to Mr - Winter w^{th} a horse to Huddenton where as theye past by - Alcester about an hower after the troope past this ex^{t} was - apprehended but the saide Brittaine beeinge well horst escapt - hee further saith hee knewe not of the companies passinge y^{t} - way vntill they came to Alcester nor of theire purpose any - thinge at all." - -[Footnote A: This was the celebrated Sir Fulk Greville, the friend and -biographer of Sir Philip Sidney. Greville was afterwards created Lord -Brooke. His tomb, with a famous inscription, is in the church of St. Mary, -Warwick.] - -Now, from the "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 91, it is evident, first, -that Marmaduke Warde got into no trouble of any kind, notwithstanding that -for a fortnight he had been actually dwelling under the roof-tree of one -of the principal conspirators, and when apprehended was even in the act of -taking a horse from Lapworth to Huddington, the mansion of Robert Winter, -one Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel, who was also the brother of another -Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel--the latter, indeed, being among the -very chiefest of the traitors and rebels. - -It is evident, secondly, that on reaching London town the Master of -Newbie, in the County of York, lodged in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, -apparently as a matter of course. - -Moreover, the marvel of the whole thing is enhanced by the fact, first, -that Marmaduke Ward's name is bracketed along with Richard Yorke (a -follower of Robert Winter) and Robert Key (doubtless Robert Keyes), the -Gunpowder traitor, who was arrested in Warwickshire by himself and not in -the company of the others (it is supposed he had been to Turvey, in -Bedfordshire, to see his wife and children at Lord Mordaunt's, and was -making his way towards Holbeach); and by the fact, secondly, that the -said Marmaduke Ward, Richard Yorke, and Robert Key are specially described -as "suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Grant, and Mr. -Rookwood's."[A] - -[Footnote A: See add. MS. 5874, fo. 322, British Museum. See also Appendix -for the list of suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter's, Mr. -Grant's, and Mr. Rookwood's. - -Mr. Winter's house would be Huddington, in Worcestershire; Mr. Grant's, -Norbrook, in Warwickshire; Mr. Rookwood's would be Clopton Hall (or -House), Stratford-on-Avon. Mabie's "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Macmillan, -1901), p. 393, contains a picture of the dining-hall at Clopton.] - -Now the inferences that I draw from these two truly astounding -circumstances are these following:--That Marmaduke Warde must have had -literally "a friend at Court," or his lodging when he reached the great -Metropolis, as a matter of course, would have been not--emphatically -_not_--Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, but, of a surety, the Tower of London. - -That this "friend" must have been very closely allied to him in some way -or another. - -And that this "friend" must have been a very powerful friend indeed, -especially when one remembers the punishment that was inflicted after the -Plot had become a mere bubble-burst by the Court of Star Chamber upon -Marmaduke Warde's own connection (through the Gascoignes), Henry Earl of -Northumberland,[82] and upon the Lords Montague, Mordaunt, and Stourton, -the latter of whom had married a daughter of good Sir Thomas Tresham; and -the prosecution of Marmaduke Warde's other connection, Sir John Yorke, of -Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidderdale, as late as the year 1612, on a charge of -complicity in the Plot.[83] - -Now, from all these three inferences, surely the further inference is -inevitable, that the probabilities are so high as to amount to moral -certitude, that Thomas Warde and Marmaduke Warde were each allied, in -blood, to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -And "probability" that amounts to moral certitude is, as every-day -experience, as well as philosophy, tells us, "the very guide of life." - -Therefore the historical Inquirer henceforward is warranted in reason in -pursuing his inquiries into this matter on the following assumption, at -the very least, namely, that Christopher Wright, Marmaduke Warde, Thomas -Warde, and Lord Mounteagle had common family ties subsisting between them -in the year 1605. - -And, consequently, upon such an assumption the Inquirer may justifiably -build his hypothesis respecting the revelation of the Gunpowder Treason -Plot.[84] - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - -But, it may be asked, is there any Evidence, however remote, to show how -it is possible that Mounteagle may have been brought into personal contact -with his morally certain kinsman, Thomas Warde (or Ward)? - -There is. - -For it is to be remembered that although Mounteagle seems to have spent -most of his time in London and Essex, his grandmother, Elizabeth Lady -Morley, the wife of Henry Parker Lord Morley, was, as we have seen, of the -then well-nigh princely house of the Stanleys Earls of Derby, she being, -in fact, a daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby, as was Margaret Lady -Poyntz, the wife of Sir Nicholas Poyntz,[A] of Iron Acton, in the County -of Gloucester, the father of Edward Poyntz, Esquire, the relative of the -Wardes of Yorkshire. - -[Footnote A: It is a remarkable fact that Sir Thomas Heneage (whose name -frequently occurs in the correspondence of Sir Francis Walsingham with the -Earl of Leicester when in the 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 -"_Visitation of Essex, 1612_" (Harleian Soc.) under "Poyntz."--Sir Thomas -Heneage is described as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and -Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Thomas Heneage married for his -second wife the Dowager Countess of Southampton, the mother of -Shakespeare's friend and patron. Now this Earl of Southampton, like the -Earl of Rutland, was an intimate friend of Lord Mounteagle.] - -Besides, as we have also seen, this was not William Parker fourth Lord -Mounteagle's only relationship with England's "North Countrie,"--that -birthplace and home of so much that is most original and energetic in the -English race. For this happily-circumstanced young peer was related doubly -to the great Lancashire house of Derby, being, indeed, the heir and -successor to the honours and estates of the Stanleys Lords Mounteagle, of -Hornby 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 Ripon, in the County of -York, must have known personally, and certainly all of whom they must have -greatly honoured. - -I refer to the Prestons, of Levens and Preston Patrick, in the County of -Westmoreland, and of Furness and Holker, in Lancashire, "North of the -Sands," and to the Leybournes (or Labourns), of Cunswick, Skelsmergh, and -Witherslack,[A] in the County of Westmoreland, and of Nateby-in-the-Fylde, -in the west of the County of Lancaster.[85] - -[Footnote A: The modern Witherslack Hall, in Westmoreland, is the property -of the present Earl of Derby. It is situated in 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."--_Winter's Tale._ - -Witherslack is reached from Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange-over-Sands. - -The old Witherslack Hall of the Leybournes is now a farm-house.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - -Lastly, it should be remembered, in endeavouring to trace out by -inevitable inference the nature of the tie or ties, manifestly very -strong, that bound Mounteagle to Marmaduke Ward (and therefore to Thomas -Ward), that the ancestors of both Mounteagle and the Wards had, in the -year 1513, fought together at the great battle of Flodden Field, in -Northumberland, in which the Scots were led by 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 Edward Stanley (whose mother was a Neville),[A] turned -the fortunes of the day in favour of the English by attacking with his -archers the rear of the Scottish centre--which centre, led by King James -himself in person, was assaulting, with some success, the English forces, -whose vanguard was led by Lord Thomas Howard, in 1514 created the Earl of -Surrey. - -[Footnote A: The first Lord Mounteagle's mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, -the sister of Richard Neville, so well known to history as "the King -Maker." The Wards were related to the Nevilles in more than one way.--See -"_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., the earlier chapters. - -In Staindrop Parish Church, three miles from Winston, Darlington, are -still to be seen the monuments of the great Ralph Neville and his two -wives. This was the first Neville who bore the title Earl of Westmoreland. -There are also the monuments of Henry Neville fifth Earl of Westmoreland, -and two out of his three wives. His son Charles was the last Neville who -bore this title.--See Wordsworth's "_White Doe of Rylstone_." I visited -Raby Castle, Durham, with its famous Hall and Minstrels' Gallery, on the -1st of July, 1901. Raby Castle is owned now by Henry De Vere Vane ninth -Lord Barnard, who also owns Barnard Castle, overlooking the Tees, -celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in "Rokeby."] - -This Earl of Surrey was afterwards the second Duke of Norfolk, of the -Howard line of the Dukes of Norfolk, and great 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[A] -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 own right Baroness Mowbray and Segrave, -and also in her own right Countess of Norfolk. This lady was contracted in -marriage to Richard, afterwards created Duke of Norfolk, a son of King -Edward IV., but they had no issue. - -[Footnote A: The first Earl of Norfolk was Thomas of Brotherton, a brother -of King Edward II. The date of this ancient Earldom was 1312. It fell into -abeyance on the death of Richard 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, 1901) the -House of Lords has under consideration a claim by Lord Mowbray Segrave and -Stourton that he be declared senior co-heir to the Earldom of Norfolk -created in 1312. (A case of great historic interest.)] - -The second of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, the hero of Flodden Field, was -the father of Thomas third Duke of Norfolk, commonly called the "old Duke -of Norfolk." - -He was that Duke of Norfolk, under Henry VIII., who opposed the insurgent -Yorkshire and Lancashire "Pilgrims of Grace" (1536) led by the gallant -Robert Aske,[A] of Aughton, on the banks of the Yorkshire Derwent, when in -the event Aske was hanged from one of the towers of the ancient City of -York--probably Clifford's Tower--and many of his followers tasted of Tudor -vengeance. - -[Footnote A: Representatives of the family of Robert Aske are still to be -found at Bubwith, near Aughton, and, I believe, at Hull. Aughton is -reached from the station called High Field on the Selby and Market -Weighton line. Aughton Parish Church is a fine medival structure. Hard-by -is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle of the Askes, showing also -evident traces of two large moats which had surrounded the fortified -buildings on the hill which constituted the Aughton Hall of days gone by.] - -"The old Duke of Norfolk" was the father of that illustrious scion of the -house of Howard who, under the name Earl of Surrey, has left a deathless -memory alike as warrior, statesman, and poet. - -The Earl of Surrey's son was Thomas Howard fourth Duke of Norfolk, who is -the common ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk and the present Earl of -Carlisle. - -The fourth Duke of Norfolk's head fell on the scaffold, by reason of the -Duke's aspiring to the Royal hand of Mary Queen of Scots.[B] - -[Footnote B: Slingsby Castle, 28 miles north-east of York (now -dismantled), is associated with the Mowbrays Dukes of Norfolk, they giving -the Vale near the Howardian Hills and Rydale the title, Vale of Mowbray. -While Sheriff Hutton Castle, 10 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 then Lord Dacres of the North, "who dwelt on the Border" at Naworth -Castle,[A] near Carlisle, was likewise a sharer in the renowned laurels of -Flodden Field. - -[Footnote A: The Howards Dukes of Norfolk give their name to the Howardian -Hills, through Lord William Howard, who married the Honourable Anne -Dacres, of Naworth 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 ninth Earl of Carlisle, -whose gifted wife, Rosalind Countess of Carlisle (_ne_ Stanley of -Alderley), is akin to the famous William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, of -the days of James I.] - -This before-mentioned Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley -first Earl of Derby, was 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[86] 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 consequence -of his ancestor's prowess in that historic fight, his mother's family -received from Henry VIII. 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 Lancashire_," vol. iv., ed. 1836, that -Hornby Castle, in the Vale 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 II. (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. Baines also says that Sir Edward -Stanley first Lord Mounteagle (who married Anne Harrington, daughter of -Sir John Harrington) successfully petitioned Henry VII. for the Hornby -Estates, in consequence of the attainder of James Harrington, apparently -his wife's uncle. - - - - - CHAPTER 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,[A] the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was the -first wife of Thomas second Lord Mounteagle, whose second wife was Ellen -Leybourne (_ne_ Preston), the mother of Anne, the wife of William third -Lord Mounteagle, who died in 1584. - -[Footnote A: Lady Mary Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon 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 "_History of Sacrilege_" -(Masters, ed. 1853), p. 228.] - -Ellen Preston's father was Sir Thomas Preston; her mother was a -Thornborough, of Hampsfield Hall, Hampsfell, in the Parish of Cartmel, -North Lancashire. The Thornboroughs (or Thornburghs) had held some of the -following manors from the time of Edward III.:--Hampsfield Hall, Whitwell, -Winfell, Fellside, Skelsmergh, Patton, Dallam Tower, Methop, Ulva, and -Wilson 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 -V.), the arms of Harrington, Leybourne, Fleming de Rydal, Strickland, -Middleton, and Redmayne, most of which houses of gentry of "the North -Countrie" were more or less allied to the fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -Sir Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle was in possession of Hornby -Castle and its broad acres at the date of Flodden Field, 1513.[A] This is -interestingly evidenced by the two following stanzas from the old "Ballad -of Flodden Field":-- - -[Footnote A: In the battle of Flodden Field, which caused such -lamentation, mourning, and woe in Edinburgh, several citizens of York -behaved themselves valiantly under Sir John Mounville. Among English lords -in this fight were the Lords Howard (Edmund 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 "_Ripon_," -p. 143. - -It is said that the gallant Northumbrian Heron knew all the "sleights of -war."] - - "Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred, - With weapons of unwieldly weight; - All such as Tatham Fells had bred, - Went under Stanley's streamers bright. - - From Silverdale to Kent Sand Side,[87] - Whose soil is sown with cockle shells; - From Cartmel 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 Hiding of Yorkshire about Guiseley, Esholt, and -Ripon. - -For, as the grand old "Ballad of Flodden Field" again tells us, the -English arms were reinforced - - "With many a gentleman and squire, - From Rippon, Ripley, and Rydale, - With them marched forth all Massamshire, - With Nosterfield and Netherdale." - -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 Mounteagle 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, -who--as we have proved by evidence and inevitable inferences therefrom--it -is all but absolutely certain must have been Thomas Warde,[A] of Mulwith, -the brother of Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale.[88] - -[Footnote A: Sir Edward Hoby is the only contemporary, so far as I 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.] - -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 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 Stuart 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 arrangement 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] a -town which Ward possibly took on his leaving Lapworth, in Warwickshire, -whither, I surmise, he repaired some time between the 11th of October and -the 26th of that month. - -[Footnote A: It is possible that Mounteagle and Catesby may have been -together at Bath between the 12th of October, 1695, and the 26th October. - -See a curious letter dated 12th October, but without date of the year, -from Mounteagle to Catesby ("_Archologia_," vol. xxviii., p. 420), -discovered by the late Mr. Bruce. - -There is a copy of this "_Archologia_" in the British Museum, which I saw -in October, 1900.] - -(2) That Thomas Ward's was the guiding mind, the dominant force, or, to -vary the metaphor, the central pivot upon which the successful -accomplishment of the entire revelation turned, inasmuch as, I submit, -that Ward must have received from the conscience-stricken conspirator a -complete disclosure of the whole guilty secret, with 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 _profitable_ 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 history, called upon this young nobleman to play. - -If Ward (or Warde) were born about the beginning 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 Warde, by his superior age and experience of men and -things, well fitted to play "the guide, philosopher, and friend" to -Mounteagle in the matter.[A] - -[Footnote A: If Thomas Warde were sent to the Low Countries, as I think it -almost certain he was sent, although I cannot prove it, belike he may have -been one of those Elizabethan gentlemen Shakespeare had in mind when he -wrote in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona": - - "Yet hath Sir Proteus ... - Made use and fair advantage of his days: - His years but young, but his experience old: - His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe; - And, in a word (for far behind his worth - Come all the praises that I now bestow) - He is complete in feature and in mind, - With all good grace, to grace a gentleman." - -It sheds some very faint corroborative light on the supposal that Thomas -Ward was the "Mr. Warde" mentioned by Sir Francis Walsingham 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 Mary Ward_" (Burns & Oates, 2 vols.) - -Also a "Mr. Wade" mentioned, by Walsingham to Leicester in a letter dated -3rd April, 1587, may have been really "Warde."--See Wright's "_Elizabethan -Letters_," vol. ii., p. 335. - -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 Robert Hungate and wife _v._ John Hoare and John -Shawe, in the year 1583.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - -Now what is the Evidence to support the preceding paragraphs (1), (2), and -(3)? - -As to paragraph (1), the Evidence is direct. - -There was a tradition extant that _Mounteagle expected the Letter, told to -a gentleman named Edmund Church his confidant_.--See Gardiner's -"_Gunpowder Plot_," p. 10. - -Moreover, the fact that the footman was in the street at about seven of -the clock when the missive was given to him _is strongly suggestive of the -fact that he had been anxiously sent thither by some one, so that he might -be ready at hand to receive the document immediately on its arrival_. - -As to paragraphs (2) and (3), the 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 back from his -errand of mercy on that dark night of Saturday, the 26th day of October, -1605, 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 -Salisbury, the King's principal Secretary of State.[A] - -[Footnote A: The days of the week and the dates of the month run parallel -for the years 1605 and 1901. Thus both the 26ths of October are on a -Saturday. _What was the condition of the moon on that memorable Saturday -night?_] - -That Lord Mounteagle had imparted to Thomas Ward almost all, if not quite -all, that had passed between Lord Salisbury and himself on the delivery to -the latter of the peerless document to my mind is clear from the fact -_that the faithful Ward, the very next day (Sunday) repaired to Thomas -Winter_, one of the principal conspirators, _and told Winter that the -Letter was in the hands of Salisbury_!--"_Winter's Confession._" - -Assuming that Thomas Ward was a Ward of Mulwith, he would be a family -connection of Thomas Winter as well as of Christopher Wright through -Ursula Ward and Inglebies, of Ripley, in Nidderdale. - -Now, what is proved by this very significant fact of _Thomas Ward's_ so -unerringly darting off to _Thomas Winter_, one of the prime movers in this -conspiracy of wholesale slaughter, when he (Ward) had all the adult male -inhabitants of London and Westminster to make his selection from? - -Plainly this: that the revealing conspirator (whoever he was) _must have -"primed" Thomas Ward by previously telling Thomas Ward that Thomas Winter -was one of the chiefest of those involved in the conspiracy_. - -Again; as Winter had been formerly in Mounteagle's service (a circumstance -doubtless well known to the revealing conspirator), _that revealing -conspirator_ would naturally, nay inevitably, _bid Ward_ put himself _not -only into speedy communication with Mounteagle_, in order to reach -Salisbury, the principal servant of the King, _but, this done, also into -speedy 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 their -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - -Now, I maintain that there is Evidence, from a very unexpected quarter, -that Thomas Ward had received from the revealing plotter a complete -disclosure of every one of the material facts and particulars of the Plot, -including the existence of the mine, the hiring of the cellar, the storing -therein of the gunpowder, and even the names of the conspirators. And -that, moreover, Thomas Ward had received the fullest power "to discover" -to his master, Lord Mounteagle, all that had been told to him (Ward) by -the revealing plotter, _if_, in the exercise of his (Ward's) uncontrolled -diplomatic discretion, he deemed it necessary in order to effect, -_primarily_, the temporal salvation of the King and his Parliament, and, -this done, in order to effect, _secondarily_, the escape of the -conspirators themselves. - -The Evidence to which I refer is deducible from the testimony of none -other than Francis Tresham, Evidence which he gave to Thomas Winter in -Lincoln's Inn Walks on Saturday night, the 2nd day of November, just one -week after the delivery of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, and just one day -after the Letter had been shown by Salisbury to the King.[89] - -Thomas Winter, in his "_Confession_," writes thus: "On Saturday night I -met Mr. Tresham again in Lincoln's Inn Walks, where he told such speeches -that my Lord of Salisbury should use to the King, as I gave it lost the -second time, and repeated the same to Mr. Catesby, who hereupon was -resolved to be gone, but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up whose consent -herein we wanted. On Sunday night came Mr. Percy and no 'nay,' but would -abide the uttermost trial."[90] - -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 break down and sweep away the barriers -formed by the strong affection which he naturally must have harboured for -the pet scheme and the darling project that had cost himself and his -companions the expenditure of so much "slippery time,"[91] so much sweat -of the brow, and so much treasure of the pocket? Yea, indeed, to what -purport can these "speeches" have been? - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - -In the King's Book, after describing Salisbury's first visit to James in -"the privie gallerie" of Whitehall Palace, it is stated that it was -arranged that there should be another meeting on the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November. - -The precise words of the Royal Work are these: "It was agreed that he -[_i.e._, Salisbury] 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 Chamberlaine should, according -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 -Chamberlaine being present thereat; and I suggest that, most probably, -Mounteagle himself was, if not then actually within ear-shot, yet not afar -off. - -Now it is evident from Lingard's "_History_" that Tresham had told Winter -that the Government had already intelligence of the existence of "the -mine."[92] - -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 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,[A] and that the same -information probably that very day (Saturday) would be imparted to the -King's Government likewise.[93] - -[Footnote A: 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, with no -link missing.] - -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 unhappy 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.[94] - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -Again, on Monday, the 4th instant, Mounteagle offered to accompany his -distant connection, the Earl of Suffolk, to make the search in the cellar. - -Whyneard, keeper of the King's wardrobe, 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--probably in an unguarded -moment--words to the effect that perhaps Thomas Percy had sent the Letter. - -Now, guarded or unguarded, to my mind, the fact that Mounteagle, in any -shape or form, mentioned Percy'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.[95] - -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. - -To this end the young peer watched and measured the relative value and -effect of every move on the part of the Government like 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 _primary and supreme duty_, -namely, the saving of the King and Parliament from being rent and torn to -pieces in a most hellish fashion, truly "barbarous and savage beyond the -examples of former ages," Mounteagle actually himself told Salisbury to -inform Sir Thomas Knevet and his band of armed men to keep a sharp lookout -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 custody_ 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 "_Gunpowder Plot_," pp. -132-136. - -The dark lantern, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was left burning -in the cellar by Fawkes. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - -Let me now make two quotations. - -One is from the King's Book, giving an account of the procedure followed -by the Earl of Suffolk the Lord Chamberlain, and the Lord Mounteagle, the -champion, protector, and hero of the England of his day, in whose honour -the "rare" Ben Jonson[96] 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, Mounteagle, and Father 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, 1605, in general treasonable 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, but withal shrewd and generous, young nobleman was -perfectly innocent. - -These two quotations show, first, how zealously and faithfully Mounteagle -of the Janus-face, looking both before and after--as henceforward we must -regard him--kept his hand on the pulse of the Government at the most -critical hour of his country's annals, with a view to doing what both he -and his mentor deemed to be 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 be known as Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, to the Earl of Salisbury 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,[97] -the Lord Chamberlain] went to the Parliament House accompanied with my -Lord Mounteagle, 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 roumes 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 what 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 was Guido Fawkes the owner of -that hand which should have acted that monstrous tragedie."[98] - -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 Mounteagle had told -him, that he no sooner heard Thomas Percy[A] named to be possessour of -that house, but considering both his backwardnes in Religion 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, where -Thomas Percy had so seldome occasion to remaine; as likewise it gaue him -in his minde that his man looked like a very tall and desperate -fellow."[99] - -[Footnote A: I think that Lord Mounteagle or Thomas Ward (or both) must -have given some member of the Privy Council a hint that a Christopher -Wright was a probable conspirator, for it is noticeable that on the 5th of -November several persons testified as to Christopher Wright's recent -whereabouts. Ward 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_, the Government may have -procured Christopher Wright's name from some paper or papers found in -Thomas Percy's London house, on the 5th 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 the -case may be brought before an ordinary magistrate.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - -Shortly after Midsummer (_i.e._, July), 1605, Father Garnet was at the -Jesuit house at Fremland, in Essex. Catesby came there with Lord -Mounteagle and Tresham. - -At this meeting, in answer 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." - -"No," said Garnet, "assure yourself they will do nothing." - -"What!" said my Lord Mounteagle, "will not the Spaniard help us? It is a -shame!"[A] - -[Footnote A: If Mounteagle was in the company of Catesby at Fremland in -the summer of 1605, these two may have been together at Bath 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.] - -Then said Father Garnet, "You see we must all have patience."[100] - -It is also to be remembered that when Sir Edmund Baynham, a -Gloucestershire Catholic gentleman of good family--but of whom Winter -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, 1605, Mounteagle appears to have written certain letters of -introduction or of general recommendation, 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."[101] - -I think that it is morally certain he was not. - -Sir Edmund Baynham[A] was intended by the prime conspirators to be at Rome -to justify (_if he 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." - -[Footnote A: Father Garnet was also employing Sir Edmund Baynham as _his_ -diplomatic intermediary with the Pope in order "to gain time," so that -meanwhile the plotters might find space for repentance! Garnet was -apparently one of those men who though possessed of a profound knowledge -of Man know little or nothing of men. Whereas Oldcorne seems to have had -practical reason as well as theoretical wisdom. Oldcorne, I take it, had a -good, strong, clear, practical head on his shoulders, which included in -its armoury _will_, in the sense of _power_, as well as intellect and -heart, and "_where there's a will there's a way_."] - -Guy Fawkes probably was authorised to impart and possibly actually did, -under the oath, impart some knowledge of the Plot to Captain Hugh Owen, a -Welsh Roman Catholic soldier of fortune serving in Flanders under the -Archdukes.[102] 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. - -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - - -Now, when deep within the depths of the moral being of Christopher Wright -there first arose that tender day-spring, a realization of guilt and -shame: that crimsoned dawn, a sense of grief and sorrow for those two high -crimes whereby his wretched conscious-self had been 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 sublimely 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 to him Destiny has allotted for his guerdon, -in that 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.[103] - -I furthermore opine that, although it was the personal dawning -consciousness of Christopher Wright himself that _primarily_ prompted the -happy step of recourse to Father Edward Oldcorne,[104] yet Christopher -Wright, in my judgment, already had confided the 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 Ward, who, belike, heightened and -strengthened his connection's laudable resolve.[105] - -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, promiscuously "to work good unto all -men," voluntarily offered to pen the immortal Letter; _provided he were -released from the obligations of that solemn secrecy imposed by "the seal -of the Confessional": released by the Penitent himself, in whom alone -resided the prerogative of granting or withholding such a release_. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - - -Again; I think that probably Thomas Ward had either at Hindlip, 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 Mounteagle, 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.[106] - -It appears to me that the moral certitude is so strong that Thomas Ward -was brother to Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, that it -seems practically almost the mere extravagance of caution to express a -doubt of it.[A] - -[Footnote A: It will be remembered that we have evidence that William -Ward, a son of Marmaduke Ward, _had an uncle who lived at Court_. - -This evidence is of the greatest value and importance in identifying -Thomas Ward, the secretary and friend of Lord Mounteagle, and should be -continually borne in mind by all my readers. - -It should be also remembered that Edmund Neville, the claimant of the -Earldom of Westmoreland, was the man who accused Dr. William Parry of a -plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Now this Neville became a suitor for -the hand of Mary Ward, though about double her age. Neville would be -related to the Wards, and perhaps knew Thomas Ward when in 1584 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 Ward there -might be a clue to the Parry mystery.] - -Now, the suggestion that Thomas Ward was probably in the Midland counties -of Warwickshire and Worcestershire sometime about the 11th of October, -1605,[107] 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 afterwards, and that he was bracketed with -those who were said to have been at the houses of John Wright, Ambrose -Rookwood, and John Grant at that time.[A] - -[Footnote A: See the List of the names of conspirators, insurgents, and -others arrested in the Midlands given in the Appendix.] - -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, what 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 Ward, 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 might use his counsels and entreaties to -induce his late wife's combative brother, John Wright,[108] the -close-natured Christopher Wright, the gallant Ambrose Rookwood, and the -strong-willed John Grant, to abandon all designment of insurrectionary -stirs. - -For Thomas Ward, from the experience of a man at Court aged forty-six, who -knew from the daily observation of his own senses, how firmly James's -Executive was certainly established, must 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is to be borne in mind that hereafter proof may be -forthcoming that Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward, the sister of -Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. I _think_ that they had another sister named -Ann Ward, who married a Marmaduke Swales.--(See Ripon Registers). There -was an old county family called Swales at Staveley Hall, near Farnham and -Scotton. They were Roman Catholics. They are the same, I opine, as the -Swales (or Swale) family, of South Stainley, between Ripley and Ripon, -whose descendants are of the ancient faith in Yorkshire to this day. - -The late Sir James Swale, Bart., of Rudfarlington, 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 Harrogate--himself of an old West Riding family -that "had never lost the Faith."] - -And this the rather, when it is remembered that, the names of John and -Christopher Wright were already unfavourably 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 in some wild, fierce dash for liberty.[109] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -We have now considered the Evidence leading up to the commission of the -respective acts that this Inquiry, at an earlier part, has attributed -severally 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, _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by Christopher Wright and the penning of the same by Father -Oldcorne, these two Yorkshiremen were conscious of having performed the -several parts attributed unto them, let us deal with certain _objections_ -that may be put forward as preliminary objections fatal to the contentions -of this Inquiry. - -Now, there is an objection which, with a _prim facie_ plausibleness, may -be advanced against the hypothesis that Christopher Wright was the -dictating, repentant, revealing conspirator, through whom primarily the -Plot was frustrated and overthrown. - -And there is also a second objection that may be urged against the -hypothesis, with even still greater _prim facie_ plausibleness, that -Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, was the meritorious Penman of -the dictated Letter. - -Each objection must be 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 certain William Handy, servant to Sir Everard Digby, on the 27th -day of November, 1605, before (among others) Sir Julius Csar, Kt., Sir -Francis Bacon, Kt.,[110] and Sir George More, Kt., High Sheriff of Surrey -and Sussex, deposed (among other things) the following:-- - -That early on Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, as the fugitives -were proceeding from Norbrook to Alcester, he (Handy) heard the younger -Wright 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, -which were commonly Mr. John Grant, the younger Grant, and Ambrose -Rookwood."[111] - -Now, Christopher Wright _may_ 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 hypothesi_) he had become as -one morally resurrected from the dead. - -For it is to be remembered that Christopher Wright was the brother of John -Wright, and the brother-in-law of Thomas Percy, Thomas Percy having -married Martha Wright, of Plowland Hall. Now, concerning John Wright and -his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, the following traits of character are -chronicled by their contemporary, Father John Gerard.[112] - -"It was noted in him [_i.e._, Thomas Percy] and in Mr. John Wright (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, was rapidly drawing to its -shattered close. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -What objection, then, can be brought against the hypothesis that Father -Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, and native of the City of York, was -the Penman of this most momentous perhaps 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 1680,[113] purporting to be a History of the Powder Treason, with -a parallel between the Gunpowder Treason and the Titus Oates' 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, _she writ the aforesaid letter to him_, to give him so much -notice of the danger as might warn him to provide for his own safety, 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. _This account Mr. -Habington himself gave to a worthy person still in being._" (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, of course, if Mrs. Habington (or Abington), of Hindlip Hall, near -Worcester, where Father Oldcorne was domesticated for sixteen years, -actually wrote the Letter, then Father Oldcorne did not. There can be no -two opinions about _that_, even with the most sceptical. - -But did she? - -I submit that this testimony of Dr. Williams, second,[114] third, or -fourth hand possibly, is hopelessly inadequate for the establishing of any -such conclusion. - -First, let it be noted that, although "the worthy 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 -year 1680 (or thereabouts), _his thrice-important name is not divulged by -the learned author, neither is the faintest hint given as to where 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. - - -Now, if Dr. Williams 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, the case would have been _a good -way_ 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. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he knew his wife had writ -the Letter because he saw with his own eyes the lady do it_, then the case -would have been _also a good way_ towards being established. - -Or, if _Mr. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he believed his wife had -writ the Letter because she had told him (Abington) she 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 only shred or patch of evidence we have to support the -stupendous article of belief that Mrs. Abington accomplished the immortal -feat is an uncircumstantial, uncorroborated allegation by Dr. Williams -that _some person or another unknown_ (on the most favourable view) _told -him_ (Williams) that Mrs. Abington had writ the Letter _merely because her -husband said so_, then the case for Mrs. Abington's authorship of the -document is _in no way_ towards being established. - -And, therefore, the story falls to the ground. - -And, therefore, it should be, in reason, henceforward consigned to the -limbo of exploded myths and idle tales. - -It is true that Dr. Nash in his work on Worcestershire,[115] 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 "_History_." 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 "_Narrative_," published in the year 1857, and to -which reference has been already frequently made in the course of this -Inquiry, says,[116] "No contemporary writer alludes to Mrs. Abington as -the author of the Letter." - -And 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 700 a year for life, equal to nearly 7,000 a year in our money. - -For if 700 a year was the guerdon of _him_ that _merely delivered_ this -Letter of Letters, what should have been the guerdon of _her_ that -actually _penned_ the peerless treasure? - -But the hypothesis that Mrs. Abington penned the Letter of Letters has -absolutely no foundation in contemporary evidence. For there is not the -faintest echo of an echo of testimony, nor the merest shadow of a shade of -proof that _either_ she _or_ Mr. Abington had the remotest previous -knowledge of the 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. - -Mr. 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 -"_Narrative_," p. 212.[A] - -[Footnote A: The splendid Elizabethan mansion known as Hindlip Hall, four -miles from Worcester, with a large and magnificent prospect of the -surrounding country, was demolished early in the nineteenth century. A -picture of this mansion is in the Rev. Ethelred Taunton's book, "_The -Jesuits in England_" (Methuen & Co.). The present Hindlip Hall is the seat -of the Lord Hindlip.] - -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. - -Jardine mentions the singular hypothesis that this famous Letter was -penned by the Honourable Anne Vaux, at the dictation of the Honourable -Mrs. Abington. - -Now, the Honourable Anne Vaux was one of the daughters of the Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, in Northamptonshire, at whose house Father Henry Garnet (the -chief of the Jesuits in England) lived for many years, from 1586, when -Garnet returned to England from Rome. Anne Vaux and her sister, the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, were high-minded women who lived at White -Webbs, Stoke Pogis,[A] Wandsworth, and other places of Jesuit resort, -rendering, along with Edward Brookesby,[B] Esquire (the husband of Eleanor -Brookesby), the members of the Jesuit Society in England signally devoted -service. - -[Footnote A: 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 a Country -Churchyard," sojourned at the place.] - -[Footnote B: Edward Brookesby was of Arundel House, Shouldby, -Leicestershire. Frances Brookesby (his sister, probably, and one of Queen -Anne's Maids of Honour), became a devoted friend of Mary Ward.--See "_Life -of Mary Ward_," vol. ii., p. 23.] - -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."[117] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -Now, regard being had to the fact that "there is seldom smoke except there -be, at least, some little fire, the question arises: Is it possible to -account, on rational grounds, for any such statement of the worthy person -still in being in 1680 as Dr. Williams credits him with? - -(Nash's evidence, in the absence of proof of a _continuous_ tradition, is -not one whit more worthy of credence than Dr. Williams' impalpability.) - -It is possible. - -For, it is well within the bounds of rational probability that what Mr. -Abington said to some person or persons unknown (assuming that he ever -said anything whatever) was _not_ that his wife _"had writ the Letter," -but that_ his wife "_knew, or thought she knew, who had writ the Letter_." - -The way in which to test the matter is this: Supposing, for the sake of -argument, that my hypothesis be true, and that Father Oldcorne _did_ -actually pen that Letter which was the instrument, not only of the -temporal salvation of Mrs. Abington's brother, the Lord Mounteagle, but -also of her father, the Lord Morley, together with many others of her -kinsfolk, friends, and acquaintance, as well as of her lawful Sovereign -and His Royal Consort, _is it, or is it not, probable that Mrs. Abington -would guess, in some way or another, the mighty secret_? - -It is probable. - -For let it be remembered who and what Mrs. Abington was. - -The Honourable Mary Parker, the daughter of Edward Parker Lord Morley and -the Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, was the mother of William Abington, the -well-known poet[118] of that name, who was born, in fact, on or about the -5th of November, 1605. - -Therefore Mrs. Abington was the mother of a son who was a man of -distinguished intellectual parts. - -Moreover, seeing that usually it is from the mother that a son's -capabilities are derived rather than from the father, it is more, rather -than less, likely that Mrs. Abington herself was a naturally clear-minded, -acute, discerning woman, gifted with that marvellous faculty which -constitutes cleverness in a woman--sympathetic, imaginative insight. - -Now if this were so, Mrs. Abington's native perspicacity would be surely -potent enough to enable her to form a judgment, at once penetrating and -accurate, in reference to such a thing as the penmanship of the great -Letter--a document which had come home, as events had proved, with such -peculiar closeness to her own "business and bosom."[119] - -In these circumstances, may the Lady of Hindlip not, in after days, when -the tragic scenes of those fateful years 1605 and 1606 had become a sad, -pathetic memory merely, have recalled to mind certain special aspects in -the play of the countenance, in the tone of the voice, aye, in the general -mien of Father Edward Oldcorne that she had noted shortly from and after -the Michaelmas of that unhappy year 1605, forming evidence whence she -might draw her own shrewd, wise conclusions? - -May not this honourable woman--honourable by nature as well as by -name--have recollected that _she_ 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" Christmastide, 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 _warranted_ in thus speaking. - -Again; did he not _then_ manifest a disposition, remarkable even in _him_, -to act in diametrical opposition to the ordinary way of men, which is so -well expressed by the 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 -"_ineluctabile fatum_," that resistless decree of the Universe--"The -guilty suffer." - -Now, I submit, with sure confidence for an affirmative answer, to the -judgment of my candid readers--of my candid readers that know something of -_human_ nature, its workings, its windings, and its ways--the question: -Whether or not it is not merely possible, but probable, that Mrs. Abington -_divined that stupendous secret_, through and by means of the subtle, yet -all-potent, _mental sympathy_, which must have subsisted betwixt herself -and the disciplined, exalted, stately soul, who, as a Priest--aye! as a -very Prophet--this high-born 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 years?[120] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -Let us finally consider the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions -therefrom which tend to prove that _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by the contrite, repentant Christopher Wright, _and subsequent_ to -the penning of the Document by the deserving, beneficent Edward Oldcorne, -each of these two Englishmen, aye! these two Yorkshiremen, _were conscious -of having performed_ the several functions that these pages have -attributed unto them. - -Let us take, then, the case of Christopher Wright first. - -Now, the Evidence that tends to show that Christopher Wright was conscious -of having been the revealing plotter and dictating conspirator[121] 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 Christopher -Wright, or Christopher Wright must 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 Letter, told -Christopher Wright that he understood of an obscure letter delivered to -the Lord Mounteagle, advising him not to appear at the Parliament House -the first day, and that the Lord Mounteagle had no 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."[122] - -(2) Poulson says, in his account of the Wrights, of Plowland (or Plewland) -Hall, in his "_History of Holderness_," vol. ii., p. 57, that Christopher -Wright "was the first who ascertained that the plot was discovered." - -(3) Christopher Wright 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 must have been taking such brief repose as he did take at the -inn known by the name of "the Mayden heade in St. Gyles."[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: The Strand is not far from the Church of St. -Giles-in-the-Fields. This well-known church has now two district churches, -Christ Church, Endell Street, and Holy Trinity, Lincoln's Inn Fields. -(Communicated by Mr. J. A. Nicholson, Solicitor, York.) In 1891 the -population of St. Giles's Parish was 15,281.] - -This we know from the testimony of William Grantham, servant to Joseph -Hewett, deposed to on the 5th of November, 1605,[B] taken before Sir John -Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England. - -[Footnote B: See Appendix.] - -Moreover, the Lord Chief Justice Popham[C] reported to Lord Salisbury on -the 5th of November as follows: "Christopher Wright, as I thyncke, lay -this last night in St. Gyles."--"_Gunpowder Plot Book_," Part I., No. 10. - -[Footnote C: Of the Leyborne-Pophams, of Littlecote, Co. Wilts.] - -(4) Again; from the following passage in "_Thomas Winter's Confession_" it -is evident that Christopher Wright, at a very early hour in the morning of -Tuesday, November 5th, must have been _in very close proximity to -Mounteagle's residence_, in order to ascertain so accurately--either -directly, through the evidence of his own senses, or indirectly, through -the evidence of the senses of some other person (presumably of Thomas -Ward)--what _there_ took place a few hours 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[A] called the Lord Mounteagle, saying, 'Rise -and come along to Essex House, for I am going to call up my Lord of -Northumberland,' saying withal 'the matter is discovered.' - -[Footnote A: It was Edward Somerset Earl of Worcester, Master of the -Horse, I believe, an ancestor, lineal or collateral, of the Duke of -Beaufort. Worcester was a Catholic.] - -"'Go back, Mr. Wright,' quoth I, 'and learn what you can at Essex Gate.' - -"Shortly he returned and said, 'Surely all is lost,[123] 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 being answered "No," he rode as fast up -Fleet Street as he can ride.' - -"'Go you then,' quoth I, 'to Mr. Percy, for sure it is for him they seek, -and bid him be gone: I will stay and see the uttermost.'" - -(5) Furthermore; Lathbury, writing in the year 1839,[A] asserts that -Christopher Wright's advice was that each conspirator "should betake -himself to flight in a different direction from any of his -companions."[124] - -[Footnote A: Lathbury's little book, published by Parker, is a very -careful compilation (_me judice_). 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 Gunpowder 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 confirming this statement of Lathbury, is the -fact that in an old print published soon after the discovery of the Plot, -which shows the conspirators Catesby, Thomas Winter, Percy, John Wright, -Fawkes, Robert 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. Christopher 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.[125] - -(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 somewhere_.) - -In connection with Christopher Wright's propinquity to Thomas Ward -possibly, and to Thomas Winter possibly likewise, on the Sunday -immediately 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 had been -shown to the King, who made great account of it, but enjoined the -strictest secrecy." - -_This individual was Thomas Ward._--(Jardine.) - -Now, we have seen already that Stowe's "_Chronicle_" records "the next day -after the delivery of the Letter" there was a conjunction of the -planets--Thomas Winter and Christopher Wright. - -This conjunction at or about this period I hold to be a very significant -fact, tending to show that _either_ the one or the other must have sought -his confederate out, as has been remarked already. - -But from the following important Evidence of William Kyddall, servant to -Robert Tyrwhitt, Esquire,[A] brother of Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood, and kinsman -of Robert Keyes, it is evident that it was physically impossible for -Christopher Wright to have met Thomas Winter on Sunday, the 27th of -October; inasmuch as Christopher Wright was then at Lapworth, only twenty -miles distant from Hindlip Hall.[B] - -[Footnote A: Robert Tyrwhitt and William Tyrwhitt and one of Thomas -Winter's uncles, David Ingleby, of Ripley (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. -Father Garnet is known to have been at Twigmore.] - -[Footnote B: For the information as to the distances between Coughton and -Hindlip; and Stratford-on-Avon and Hindlip; also between Lapworth and -Hindlip, I am indebted to Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross, near -Coughton; the Rev. Father Atherton, O.S.B., of Stratford-on-Avon; and -George Davis, Esq., of York.] - -Yet this does not disprove the material _fact_ of the meeting itself, the -date or circumstance of time not belonging to the essence of the -assertion. (See Appendix.) - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 52. - - "The examinacon of William Kyddall of Elsam in the Countie of - Lincolne s^{r}vant to Mr. Robert Turrett of Kettleby[A] in the - said Com. taken the viii^{th} daie of November 1605 before S^{r} - Richard Verney Knighte high Sherriff for the Com. of Warr. S^{r} - John fferrers & Willm Combes Esq^{r} Justices of peace there - saith as followeth. - -[Footnote A: Kettleby is near Brigg, in Lincolnshire. Twigmore, where John -Wright had lived, is also near the same town. (Communicated by R. H. -Dawson, Esq., of Beverley, a descendant of the Pendrells, of Boscobel.)] - -"That he was intreated of Mr. John Wrighte, who was dwellinge at Twigmore -in the Countie of Lincolne, to bringe his daught^{r} beinge eight or nine -yere old to Lapworth to Nicholas Slyes[B] house where he hath harbored -this half yere. He brought the child to Lapworth the xxiiii^{th} of -October, and there was Mr. John Wrighte and his wife and Mr. Christopher -Wrighte and his wife, soe he continued at Lapworth from Wednesdaie to -Monday, from thence he goeth to London w^{th} Mr. Christopher Wrighte and -came to London on Wednesdaie betwixt two & three a Clocke to St. Giles to -the signe of the Maydenhead from whence Mr. Wrighte wente into the Towne -and he stayed at the Inn, uppon ffriday one Richard Browne s^{r}vant to -Mr. Wrighte wente downe into Surrey, and on ffriday at night Browne -returned and he & Browne wente uppon Sattersdaie for the Child to a Towne -he knoweth not about Croydon Race and broughte it to the Maydenhead at St. -Gyles to Mr. Wrighte the ffath^{r} who seeinge the child too little to be -carried sent them backe w^{th} 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. Wright to come awaie w^{th} 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[A] -William Ward nephew to Mr. Wrighte downe to Lapworth in Warwickshire_ -whither they were now goinge. He saith he lefte Mr. Wright at London and -knoweth not the causes why he came not away w^{th} 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. - -[Footnote B: Probably Nicholas Sly and his house were well known to -Shakespeare. John Wright appears to have gone to Lapworth (which belonged -to Catesby) about May, 1605. Who Mrs. John Wright was I do not know.] - -[Footnote A: William Ward, one of the sons of Marmaduke Ward, _it will be -remembered, had an uncle who lived at Court_. This surely must have been -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; but I do not think so, otherwise we -should have been told the fact in Kyddall's evidence, most probably. (The -italics are mine.)] - - "Richard Verney.[B] - Jo: fferrers.[C] - W. Combes."[126][D] - -[Footnote B: Sir Richard Verney, Knt., would be a friend, belike, of Sir -Thomas Lucy, Knt., of Charlcote (a Warwickshire Puritan gentleman).] - -[Footnote C: Of the Ferrers, of Baddlesley Clinton (a very old Catholic -family).] - -[Footnote D: From whom Shakespeare bought land. To John Combes, brother to -William, the poet bequeathed his sword by Will.] - -(No endorsement). - -Mistress Dorothie Robinson, Widdow, of Spur Alley, on the 7th of November, -1605, also deposed as follows:-- - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 41. - - "The examinacon of Dorathie Robinson[127] widdow of Spurr Alley. - - "Shee sayeth that one Mr. Christopher Wright gent did lye in her - house about a Moneth past for xviii^{en} dayes together and no - more. And there did come to him one Mr. Winter w^{ch} did - continually frequent his Company and about a moneth past the - said Winter brought to her house two hampers[A] locked w^{th} - two padlockes, and caused them to be placed in a little Closet - at the end of Mr. Wright's Chamber. But what was in the said - hamps, was privately conveyed away by Winter w^{th}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^{ch} were in the hamper as well as - Mr. Winter. - - "Shee sayeth that Mr. Winter by report of his man, was a - Worcestershire man, and his living Eight score poundes by the - yeare at the lest. - - "_The said Mr. Wright hath a brother in London,[B] whose servant - came to him in this woman's house, and the same morning of his - going away, w^{ch} was a Moneth on Tuesday last._ - - "That the said Wright was to seeke his loding againe at this - woman's house; but she tould him her lodgings were otherwayes - disposed of. And then he went his wayes. And since that tyme - shee never saw him. - - "_She sayeth that shee saw Mr. Winter uppon Sunday last in the - afternoone. But where he lodgeth she knoweth not._ (The italics - are mine.) - - "I can find no manner of thing in this woman's house whereby to - geve us any incouragem^{t} to proceede any further. - - "The said Mr. Wright did often goe to the Salutation to one Mr. - Jackson's house; And one Steven the drawer as shee thinketh will - tell where hee is." - -[Footnote A: These hampers contained 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.] - -[Footnote B: _Who was this brother?_ I _suggest_ that by brother is meant -brother-in-law, and that as a fact Christopher Wright _had_ married -Margaret Ward, the sister to both Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. If this be -correct, then we have demonstrative proof of the servant of Thomas Ward -calling upon Christopher Wright (probably with a message from Thomas Ward) -the very same morning as, I hold, that Christopher Wright went down into -Warwickshire, where he would be within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne. -This evidence is important. The word _came_, too, is noticeable, implying, -I think, a habit of coming, a frequentative use of the past tense of the -verb. Observe also "_and the same morning_," implying _cumulative_ acts of -"_coming_," the visit of that day being the last of a series of visits.] - -Mr. Jackson also deposed:-- - - "He sayeth that he knoweth Mr. Wright very well, _But it is - about a fortnight past,[128] since he ws at his house, and since - that tyme he knoweth not what is become of him._ (The italics - are mine.) - - "He sayeth further that he knoweth not any other of his Consorts - or Companyons, yf hee did he would reveale it. - - (Endorsed) "The examinacon of Dorathy Robinson Widdow of Spurr - Alley." - -Furthermore, we have the following Evidence of Mistress Elizabeth More:-- - -7 Nov: 1605. - -STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 13. - -"The Declaracon of Elizabeth More the wief of Edward More taken the 5th of -November 1605. - -"She saieth that the gent that lay at her howse w^{th} Mr. Rookwood this -last night and the night before his name is Mr. Keyes and he took upp the -Chamber for the said Mr. Rookwood. - -"And she saieth that uppon ffryday night last Mr. Christofir Wright came -to this exaite howse w^{th} the said Mr. Rookwood and lay that night in a -chamber on the said Mr. Rookwoode Chamber. - -(Endorsed) "5th No: 1605. - - "The Declaracon of Elizabeth More." - -Mistress More, I find, lived near Temple Bar.[A] - -[Footnote A: Where was Spur Alley? and how far were Temple Bar and Spur -Alley from the town-house in the Strand of the Lord Mounteagle, and -therefore of his Lordship's secretary, Thomas Ward? - -It will be noted by the judicious reader that the conjectured fact that -Christopher Wright's London lodgings were within a short distance of -where, doubtless, his--I suggest--_brother-in-law_ (Ward) was to be found -tends to support my theory.] - - - - - CHAPTER XL. - - -Before we well-nigh finally take our leave of Christopher Wright, I should -like to bring before my readers two pieces of Evidence, from each of -which, at any rate, may be drawn the inference that it was one of the -conspirators themselves that revealed the tremendous secret. - -That Christopher Wright was that revealing conspirator, the manifold -considerations which the preceding pages of this Inquiry have established, -I trust, will satisfy the intellect of my readers, seeing that those -considerations, I respectfully but firmly urge, must be held to have built -up a "probability" so high as to amount to that "moral certitude" which is -"the very guide" of Man's terrestrial life, in that it furnishes Man with -those sufficient rules which direct his daily action.[129] - -But, in bringing the first piece of Evidence to which I allude before the -eyes of my readers, I desire, with great respect, to say that I am keenly -conscious that I run the risk of incurring the condemnation implied in the -words: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." - -But, since "circumstances alter cases," I feel warranted (under -correction) in adventuring, in this one instance, upon a particular line -of argument which I feel is, as an affair of taste, _prim facie_ -unseemly, and, as a matter of feeling, a line of action, in ordinary -cases, to be rigorously eschewed. - -Yet, seeing that such a course of conduct cannot be held to be morally -wrong, my plea is--and I respectfully submit my all-sufficient plea -is--that an Inquiry, having for its purpose the elucidation of the -hitherto inscrutable mystery as to who revealed, or who were instrumental -in revealing, so satanic an enterprise as the Gunpowder Plot, being far, -far removed beyond the range of mere logic-chopping, dry-as-dust, -non-human investigations, justifies the following, in one instance, of a -course of action which unquestionably would clash with mere, decorous -taste, and would collide with mere delicate feeling, except, by the case -being altered, it were lifted into the realm of the categories of the -extraordinary and the special. - -_Then_ the nature of the act _or_ action composing that course of conduct -would be, in a sense, fundamentally and meritoriously changed. And, -_therefore_, it would be, by a double title, morally justifiable. - -Now, when the Gunpowder conspirators were at Huddington, the mansion-house -of Robert Winter, on Thursday, the 7th day of November, certainly most of -the conspirators, and probably all of them, received the Sacrament of -Penance through the ministry of a Jesuit Father, named Nicholas Hart -(alias Strangeways and Hammond), who besides being an _alumnus_ of -Westminster School, and for two years a student of the University of -Oxford, had, prior to his becoming a Priest and a Jesuit, "studied law in -the Inns of Court and Chancery in London."[130] - -Now, William Handy, the serving-man of Sir Everard Digby (of whom we have -already heard), further deposed as follows:[131] - -"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, which 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[132] -that he confessed to Hammond at Huddington, on Thursday, the 7th of -November, that he was sorry he had not revealed the Plot, it seeming so -bloody, and that after his confession Hammond absolved him 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^{r} sinnes to one Mr. Hamonde Preeste, - at Mr. Robert Wintour his house, and amonges other my sinnes I - did acknowledge my error in concealing theire intended - enterprise of pouder agaynste his Ma^{tie} 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^{r} p. Edw. Coke - W. Ward." - (Endorsed) - - "... pouder - xx^{th} 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 lips, avowing the commission in _desire and thought_ of -"murder most foul as at the best it is"[A] (and "we know that no murderer -hath eternal life abiding in him"[B]), 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"[C] (to say -nothing of his avowal of the commission _in act and deed_ of the crime of -sacrilege,[D] in taking a secret, unlawful oath contrary to the express -prohibitions of a visible and audible Institution which that Priest and -that Penitent alike believed was of divine origin), I firmly, though with -great and all-becoming deference, draw _these_ conclusions, namely, that -_one of the plotters_ 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. - -[Footnote A: Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote B: St. John the Divine.] - -[Footnote C: Sophocles.] - -[Footnote D: Of course the Gunpowder Treason Plot was a "sacrilegious -crime," because it sought to compass the death of a king who was "one of -the Lord's anointed," _as well 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 Inn, "near the principal -street in London called the Strand."--See "_The Confessions of Thomas -Winter and Guy Fawkes_." This house was probably the London lodging of -Father John Gerard, S.J. Winter and Fawkes said that the conspirators -received the Sacrament at the hands of Gerard. But "Gerard was not -acquainted with their purpose," said Fawkes. Gerard denied having given -the conspirators the Sacrament.--See Gardiner's "_What Gunpowder Plot -was_," p. 44. One vested priest is very much like another, just as one -soldier in uniform is very much like another. So Fawkes and Winter may -have been mistaken. Besides, they would not be likely to be minutely -examining the features of a priest on such an occasion.] - -Furthermore; that it was _because_ of the possession by Hammond of this -happy intelligence, early on that Thursday 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 chiding him--in fact -"without remark."[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Suwston 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 "_Records_," 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 whose "future" -I should like to follow up. Was he the same as a certain "Dr. Singleton" -who figures in the "_Life of Mary 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 conspirators themselves that -revealed the Plot_ is this:-- - -Jardine gives in his "_Criminal Trials_"[133] a certain Letter of -Instructions to Sir Edward Coke,[134] the Attorney-General who conducted -the prosecution of the surviving Gunpowder conspirators at Westminster -Hall[135] before a Special Commission for High Treason, on the 27th day of -January, 1605-6. - -This very remarkable document is in the handwriting of Robert Cecil first -Earl of Salisbury. - -It is as follows:-- - - "These things I am commanded to renew unto your 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 - men 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. - - "_Next, you must in any case, when you speak of the Letter which - was the first ground of discovery, absolutely disclaim that any - of these wrote it, though you leave the further judgment - indefinite who else it should be._ (The italics are mine.) - - "Lastly, and you must not omit, you must deliver, in - commendation of my Lord Mounteagle, words to show how sincerely - he dealt, and how fortunately it proved that he was the - instrument of so great a blessing as this was. To be short, sir, - you can remember how well the King in his Book did censure[A] - 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 abundanti_, 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." - -[Footnote A: The word "censure" here means, formed an opinion of his -lordship's part. From Lat. _censeo_, I think.] - -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:--[136] - -"The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this -treason, _which was by one of themselves_, _who had taken the oath and -sacrament, as hath been said, against his own will; the means was by a -dark and doubtful letter sent to my Lord Mounteagle._"[A] (The italics are -mine.) - -[Footnote A: "Truth will out!"] - -Now, regard being had (1) to what Salisbury bade Coke _not say_; and (2) -to what Coke as a matter of fact _did say_, I infer, first, that it _was_ -one of the conspirators who revealed the Plot; because of just scruples -that his conscience had, well-nigh at the eleventh hour, awakened in his -breast: that, secondly, not only so, but that the Government, through -Salisbury, Suffolk, 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 themselves,[137] but also, I -hold, of the subsequent _comparatively_ mild treatment of the recusants -generally throughout the country.[138] - -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, indisputably, the Government abstained from following after, and from -reaping the 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 forfeited. And this, -regard being had 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 circumstance pregnant with the greatest possible -suspicion that there was some great mystery in the background.--See -Lathbury's "_Guy Fawkes_," pp. 76, 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 Privy 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. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 incarcerated in the Tower of London, either to -seek to save his life when awaiting his trial in Westminster 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, Westminster, to seek to save his life, _by divulging the -mighty secret respecting his responsibility for the Letter of Letters, had -anyone of them in point of fact penned the document. For "skin for skin -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 be found amongst -that small band of four who 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 point of honour" may have stayed and restrained -one of the nine conspirators from "discovering" or revealing his share in -the laudable 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 _ought, 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 had none of them, anything to tell_. - -Moreover, I suggest that what Archbishop Usher[139][A] 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,"[140][B] was -this:-- - -[Footnote A: Protestant Archbishop of Armagh.] - -[Footnote B: Such 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. For it tends to demonstrate the existence -of a realm 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-minded 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.] - -_That it was "the Papist Doctrine" of the non-binding force of a secret, -unlawful oath that (Deo juvante) had been primarily the joint-efficient -cause of the spinning right round on its axis of the hell-begotten -Gunpowder Plot._ - -It is plain that King James's Government[A] were mysteriously stayed and -restrained in their legislative and administrative action after the -discovery of the diabolically atrocious Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -[Footnote A: It is the duty of every Government to see that it is true, -just, and strong. Governments should confine their efforts to the calm and -faithful attainment of these three ideals. Then they win respect and -confidence, 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 the two extremes, injustice and hysterical generosity, which is a -sure sign of a lack of consciousness of absolute truth, justice, and -strength.] - -And illogical and inconstant as many English rulers too often have been -throughout England's long and, by good fortune, glorious History, this -extraordinary illogicalness 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 what? - -Unhesitatingly I answer: _Of that Government's not daring, for very -decency's sake, to proceed 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 -human beings, 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 demonstrates, this fact, -namely, that the then British Government realized that _it was an -essentially Popish Doctrine of Morals which had been the primary motive -power for securing their temporal salvation. That doctrine being, indeed, -none other than the hated and dreaded "Popish Doctrine" of the -"non-binding force" upon the Popish Conscience of a secret, morally -unlawful oath which thereby, ipso facto, "the Papal Church" prohibited and -condemned._ - -Hence, that was, I once more suggest, what Archbishop Usher referred to, -in 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 Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 160. - -For the Plot _was_ "his father's contrivance," considered 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! And the whirligig of Time brings round -strange revenges!_" - - - - - CHAPTER XLIV. - - -We 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 tending to prove that -_subsequent_ to the penning of the Letter by Father Edward Oldcorne, he -was _conscious_ of having performed the meritorious deed that, I maintain, -the Evidence, 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) _not only a general similarity_ in the handwriting of the -Letter and Father Oldcorne's undoubted handiwork--the Declaration of the -12th day of March, 1605-6--_a general similarity_ in point of the size of -the letters and of that indescribable something called style,[141] _but -(2) a particular similarity_ in the formation of the letters in the case -of these following, namely, the small c/s, l/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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Bentham aptly terms the comparison of Document with Document, -"Circumstantial real Evidence."--See Best's "_Principles of the Law of -Evidence_," and Wills on "_Circumstantial Evidence_." See Miss Walford's -Letter (Appendix).] - -Moreover, there is (3) this fact to be remembered, that in both the Letter -and in the said Declaration, the name "God" is written with a small "g," -thus: "god." - -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 Englishmen in the year 1605. - -Still, it was certainly _not by them universally so written_. For in the -fac-simile of "_Thomas Winter's Confession_" the word "God" occurs more -than once written with a handsomely made capital G,[142] 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[143] 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 language one way, wherein a rigid -Roman 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 _knew_ for certain that it could be considered as -a clear transparency only--as a defecated cluster of purely intellectual -acts.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is manifest that if, _in intent_, Oldcorne by his own -Letter had destroyed the Plot, he, of all other people in the world, would -have _the prerogative_ of regarding the Plot as a clear transparency; -_while of the Plot as a transparency_, he would feel a freedom to write -"god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme." If -the Writer had not the prerogative of regarding the Plot as a clear -transparency then these results follow--that he regarded Him (Whose Eyes -are too pure even to behold iniquity) as _concurring_ in the designment of -a most hellish crime, nay, of participating in such designment; _for he -couples God with man_. Now 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 the Writer of the Letter can have been regarded as no -crime. But it was obviously a crime, _unless and until_ it had been -defecated of criminous quality, and so rendered a clear transparency. Now, -as the Writer 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_, I maintain, proves that the Writer -had a special interior knowledge of the Plot "behind the scenes," that is, -deep down within the depths of his conscious being.] - -Furthermore, in reflecting on these preliminaries to the general -discussion of the Evidence tending to prove a consciousness on Edward -Oldcorne's part, _subsequent_ 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 have burnt the letter and i hope god -will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i -contend yowe._" (The italics are mine.) - -Now, I opine that what the Writer intended _to hint 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 be destroyed.[144] Because -it is highly probable that (apart from other reasons) the Writer must 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 virtually all-important, adjective?[145] - -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."[146] 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."[147] - - - - - CHAPTER XLV. - - -Having dealt with the _preliminary_ Evidence, we now come to the -discussion of the _main_ Evidence which tends to show that _subsequent_ to -the penning of the Letter 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 6th, 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, who had married Miss Gertrude Talbot, of Grafton. The -Talbots, like the Throckmortons, were a people who happily managed to -reconcile rigid adherence to the ancient Faith with stanch loyalty to -their lawful Sovereign.[A] - -[Footnote A: I believe that the grand old Catholic family of Throckmorton -still own Coughton Hall, which is twelve miles from Hindlip.] - -Tesimond, leaving behind him his Superior Garnet at Coughton, 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, bygone days--the brothers John and Christopher -Wright.[148] - -Now, to Father Tesimond, as well as to Father Oldcorne, Hindlip Hall[A] -and Huddington[B] (in Worcestershire), Coughton,[C] Lapworth,[D] -Clopton,[E] and Norbrook[F] (in Warwickshire), must have been thoroughly -well known; for at Hindlip Hall for eight years Tesimond likewise had been -formerly domesticated. - -Where resided either temporarily or permanently:-- - -[Footnote A: Thomas Abington.] - -[Footnote B: Robert Winter and Thomas Winter.] - -[Footnote C: Thomas Throckmorton.] - -[Footnote D: John Wright and Christopher Wright.] - -[Footnote E: Ambrose Rookwood.] - -[Footnote F: John Grant.] - -Dr. Gardiner's "_History of James I._" (Longmans) contains a map showing -the relative positions of these places. - -On Wednesday, the 6th November, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond were at -Coughton. Catesby, along with Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Sir -Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, 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." - -Catesby and Digby urged Garnet to make for Wales.[A] - -[Footnote A: Catesby 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 Tesimond, 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 projected 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 11th of -October, I think.] - -After half-an-hour's earnest discourse together, Father Garnet gave leave -to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington to administer to the wretched -fugitives the rites--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 conference--Tesimond -himself denounced, if he did not reproach, as being phlegmatic. - -Tesimond, evidently, had been commissioned by Catesby,[B] at Huddington, -to incite Mr. Abington, his household, and retainers, including (I take -it, if possible) Oldcorne himself, to join the insurgents at Huddington, -Holbeach, Wales, 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. - -[Footnote B: 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 -Bilney's confessor. These afford striking examples of the power of -psycho-electrical will force.] - -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 more 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 -Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne's was a _mens conscia recti_--a mind conscious -of rectitude--aye, a mind conscious of superabounding merit and virtue. - -So important evidentially do I think the diverse demeanour[149] of -Tesimond and Oldcorne on this occasion, that I will transcribe from -Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_"[150] Oldcorne's testimony of what took place -at Hindlip Hall at this interview:--[151] - -"Oldcorne confesseth that upon Wednesday, being the 6th of November, about -two of the clock in the afternoon, there came Tesimond (Greenway) from -Huddington, from Mr. Robert 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 discovered a day or two before; and now -they were gathered together some forty horse at Mr. Winter's house, naming -Catesby, Percy, Digby, and others; and told them, 'their throats would be -cut unless they presently went to join with them.' And Mr. Abington said, -'Alas! 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 confesseth that upon the former speeches -made by this examinate and Mr. Abington to Tesimond, alias Greenway, the -Jesuit, _Tesimond said in some heat 'thus we may see a difference between -a flemmatike [phlegmatic] and a choleric person!', and said he would go to -others, and specially into Lancashire, for the same purpose as he came to -Hindlip to Mr. Abington_." [152][153] (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER XLVII. - - -Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the English Jesuits, left London at the -end of August, 1605,[154] and proceeded towards Gothurst (now Gayhurst), -in the Parish of Tyringham, three miles from Newport Pagnell, -Buckinghamshire.[A] - -[Footnote A: The seat of Walter Carlile, Esquire, as has been already -mentioned. I have to thank this gentleman for his courteousness in -informing me that Gayhurst (formerly Gothurst) is three miles from Newport -Pagnell. An excellent picture, together with descriptive account, of -Gayhurst, is given in the "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_," 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 Vaux.] - -Now, who was Henry Garnet, whom 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 around whose 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 Rome, where the great Cardinal -Bellarmine was 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 the beginning of -Trinity Term (_i.e._, the 9th June, 1605), Catesby, in Thames Street, -London--_outside the Confessional_--had propounded to Garnet a question, -_which ought to have put the Jesuit expressly upon inquiry_. For that -question was, in case it were lawful to kill a person or persons, whether -it were necessary to regard the innocents which 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 Review_," for July, 1888, and largely quoted in -the Rev. 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 Rome, -addressed to Father Aquaviva, the General of the Jesuits.--See "Father -Gerard's Narrative," pp. 76, 77, in "_Condition of Catholics under James -I._," edited by Rev. 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 be shown to the King, and so all Catholics may be -compelled to take arms._" - -Garnet then proceeds: "_Wherefore, in my judgment, two things are -necessary, first, that His Holiness should prescribe what in any case is -to be done; and then, that he should forbid any force of arms by the -Catholics under Censures, and by Brief, publicly promulgated; an occasion -for which can be taken from the disturbance lately raised in Wales, which -has at length come to nothing._ It remains that as all things are daily -becoming worse, we should beseech His Holiness soon to give a necessary -remedy for 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 Rome's tenets, the special means devised by the -Founder of Christianity whereby Man is united to "the Unseen -Perfectness." - - - - - CHAPTER XLVIII. - - -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 probably in the Confessional even did not at first know 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 -explosives which it was further intended were to be ignited, when -Parliament met, by Guy Fawkes, booted and spurred, by means of a -slow-burning match, which would give him one quarter-of-an-hour's grace to -effect his escape to a ship in the Thames bound for Flanders: and 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. - -But this able, learned, sweet-tempered, yet weak-willed, unimaginative, -irresolute man _knew enough outside the Confessional_--which is the point -we have to deal with here--to render himself liable to have been sent to -the galleys by the Pope, if His Holiness could have laid hold of him, -when, notwithstanding this atrocious knowledge, he actually refused to -give ear to the arch-conspirator, even although Catesby, on Father -Gerard's own admission, "offered sometimes to tell him [Garnet] that they -[Catesby and his friends] would not endure to be so long so much 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 _might have learned all the -particulars about that purposed violence_ had 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 _up to the -24th of July, 1605, 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 or 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 Sovereign power of his Country_. Although, being a priest, he -ought to have been ecclesiastically "_degraded_" first, according to the -provisions of the Canon law, and then handed over to the secular arm for -condign punishment, according to the law of the outraged State. - -For, "_Id certum 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 "_Narrative_," pp. 78, 79. - -Now Garnet[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Garnet was a profound mathematician and accomplished -linguist, amongst other acquirements.] - -But as Garnet's moral character was 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: After Father Tesimond had told Garnet (with Catesby's leave) -of the Plot, thereby bringing the matter as a natural secret indirectly -under the seal of the Confessional, Garnet could not sleep at nights. Now, -sleeplessness, combined 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 25th 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 _knowledge_ he had received _in the -Confessional from Tesimond_, but because he did not reveal _general -knowledge_ he had _from Catesby outside the Confessional_. This, in -fairness to James I., Salisbury, and the King's Council, should be -faithfully borne in mind. Moreover, according to one school of Catholic -moralists, in _either case_ the Government ought to have been communicated -with _if_ Garnet could have done so without risk of divulging Tesimond'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 _both views_ into practical effect. -_Therefore Garnet, to my mind, was eminently justified in not divulging -the particular knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession. For -according to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, the Christian Aristotle, a -natural secret may be indirectly_ protected by the seal of the -Confessional if the priest _promises_ so to protect it. I conclude, -however, that (1) according to the dictates of right reason the promise -may be _either implied or expressed_, and (2) that in the case of -overwhelming necessity the promise may be broken, as in the case of High -Treason, _if the priest_ can avoid, _with 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XLIX. - - -At the beginning of the month of September, 1605, Father Garnet was at -Gothurst,[A] three miles from Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, and about the 5th of September from this still standing -stately English home there proceeded the nucleus of a pilgrim-band bent -for the famous well of St. Winifred, the British Saint, situated at -Holywell, in North Wales. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst) is twelve miles from Northampton and -from ten to fifteen miles from Great Harrowden. Weston Underwood and -Olney, immortalized by William Cowper, are not far from both places. The -poet would be distantly related to young Lord Vaux of Harrowden, 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 Northampton. Cowper was, it will be -recollected, the intimate friend of the Throckmortons of his day.] - -Sir Everard Digby, 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 Vaux, Edward Brookesby, -Esquire, of Arundell House, Shouldby, Leicestershire, and his wife the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, together with her sister the Honourable Anne -Vaux. - -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 Everard and Lady Digby and was their intimate and honoured -friend, as well as the friend of the Dowager Lady Vaux of Harrowden and -her family, did not join the pilgrimage. - -Father Gerard was most probably in Yorkshire at this time. 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: See "_The Condition of Catholics under James I._" Edited by -John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872), p. 257.] - -The following abstracts from the Evidence of two of Sir Everard Digby's -serving-men, who accompanied their devout, charming young mistress on -this now famous pilgrimage, will give the best account of what took place -on this occasion.[A] They are as follow:-- - -[Footnote A: St. Winifred's Well is at Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, and is -sacred to St. Winifred of Wales, an early British Virgin and Martyr. Her -"Life" will be found in Butler's "_Lives of the Saints_," under date -November 3rd, her Feast Day. The waters of the Well are of healing -quality, very copious and icy cold. There is an elegant medival 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 and sire of the English race, -the Italian Pope Gregory the Great and the Italian Benedictine Monk -Augustine.)] - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--NO. 153. - - [Abstract.] - - ii. Dec. 1605 - - [In Cal. 11 Dec. 1605.] - - "Th'examination of James Garvey serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby - - * * * * * - - "Saieth about Bartholmew tide last his ladie roade to St. - Wenefred's Well from Gotehurst: first daie to Deyntrie:[A] 2 to - Grantz:[B] 3 to Winters:[C] 4 to Mr. Lacon's:[D] 5 to - Shrewsberie: 6 to holte:[E] 7 to the well: they staied at the - well but one night: and retorned the first day 2 to holt 2 to - Mr. Banester's at Wen[F] 2 to Mr. Lacon's againe and so retorned - to Gotehurst. - - [Footnote A: Daventry, Northamptonshire.] - - [Footnote B: John Grant's, at Norbrook, Snitterfield, - Warwickshire.] - - [Footnote C: Huddington Hall, near Droitwich, Worcestershire.] - - [Footnote D: Most probably at Kinlet Hall, about five miles from - Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire.] - - [Footnote E: Holt, in Denbighshire.] - - [Footnote F: Wem, Shropshire.] - - "Saieth ther were in that jorney the ladie Digby, Mrs. Vaux,[B] - Mr. Brookysby and his wief Mr. Darcy[C] one Thomas Digby[D] a - tall gentleman: one fisher[E] a little man: S^{r} frauncis Lacon - and his daughter and two or 3 gentlemen more went with them from - Mr. Lacon's to the well, &c., &c. - - [Footnote B: Miss Anne Vaux.] - - [Footnote C: An alias of Father Garnet; Farmer was another of - Garnet's aliases.] - - [Footnote D: An uncle of Sir Everard, belike.] - - [Footnote E: An alias of Father Percy, afterwards famous for his - historic controversy with Archbishop Laud.] - - (Endorsed) "11 Dec. 1605. - - "The Exam^{n} of James Garvie srv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby." - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--No. 121. - - [Abstract.] - - "Th'examination of William Handy servaunte to S^{r} Everard - Digby taken the xxvij^{th} of November 1605 - - * * * * * - - [Par. 4]--"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: Vaux 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 and at Shrosbury in an Inn and - at a Castle in the Holte in Denbeghe or Flintshire, and at St. - Wynyfride's Well in an Inn, from whence the gentlewomen went - barefoote to the said well and in their retourne from the said - well at one Farmer's howse about 7 miles from Shrosbury, and - from thence to Mr. Lacon's where they had masse whereat S^{r} - Frauncis Lacon was from thence to Mr. Robert Winter's and from - thence to Mr. Graunte's from thence to Deyntree and from thence - to S^{r} Everard Digby at all which places they had masse.[A] - - [Footnote A: The reason why the Examiner who took down the - Evidence was particular to inquire about Masses was that for a - priest to say (or offer) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of - 200 marks (a mark being 13s. 4d.) _and_ imprisonment for life; - while for a lay person to hear (or assist at offering) Mass was - to be liable to a penalty of 100 marks and imprisonment for - life. To harbour a priest was felony and the penalty was - hanging, but without the cutting down alive, drawing and - quartering. This last was the portion of the priests who, by - remaining in England 40 days, were held _ipso facto_ guilty of - High Treason without proof of the exercise of priestly - functions. This last penalty, of course, rendered unnecessary - the having recourse to the penalty of 200 marks fine _and_ - imprisonment for life, since the greater included the less.] - - * * * * * - - (Endorsed) "27 Nov. 1605. - - "Th'examination of Wm. Handy serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby." - - - - - CHAPTER L. - - -The pilgrim-band numbered about thirty souls, and included Ambrose -Rookwood 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 "_Life_" of that well-favoured but misguided knight there -is an admirably-written 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 Vaux and the young Lord Vaux. - -Great Harrowden Hall appears to have been rebuilt by the guardians of the -youthful baron a little before the year 1605. For in "_The Condition of -Catholics under James I._," 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 for that same purpose, and built us separate -quarters close to the old Chapel.... 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 Roger Lee were there oftentimes to be found.[A] - -[Footnote A: The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, in the course of a most -courteous reply to various historical questions the writer ventured to -propound to him, says, in a letter dated 15th November, 1901, that his -residence, Harrowden Hall, was erected in the year 1719. It will, -therefore, not be the self-same mansion as that wherein Fathers Garnet, -Gerard, Fisher, Roger Lee, etc., were wont to be harboured by his -Lordship's distinguished ancestors. - -None of the grand old English Catholic families, those "honourable -people," if such were ever known to mortal, have a better right than the -Lords Vaux of Harrowden, to take as their motto those fine words of Gerald -Massey:-- - - "'They wrought in Faith,' and _not_ - 'They wrought in Doubt,'-- - Is the proud epitaph that we inscribe - Above our glorious dead." - -The name "Vaux of Harrowden" 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 Wardour, Stafford, -Clifford of Chudleigh, and Herries, the name "Vaux of Harrowden" was -appended to "the Roman Catholic Peers' Protest," dated from the House of -Lords, 14th February, 1901, addressed to the Earl of Halsbury, Lord High -Chancellor of England, anent "the Declaration against Popery," that Our -Most Gracious King Edward VII. was compelled, by Act of Parliament, to -utter on the occasion of meeting His Majesty's first Parliament.] - - - - - CHAPTER LI. - - -On the 4th of October, Father Garnet wrote a long letter to Father Parsons -in Rome, who was then virtually the ruler of the Catholics of England, -though that sturdy Yorkshireman, Father John Mush,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Mush may have been of the Mushes, of Knaresbrough, stanch -Catholics, but in humble circumstances.--See Peacock's "_List_."] - -This letter of Father Garnet's, to which reference has been just made, is -a remarkable production. It begins as follows:-- - - - "My very loving Sir, - - "This I write from the elder Nicholas[A] his residence where I - find my hostess with all her posterity very well; and we are to - go within few days nearer London." - - [Footnote A: Father Nicholas Hart, S.J., as distinguished from - Brother Nicholas Owen, S.J.] - - The letter then says:-- - - "The judges now openly protest that the King will have blood and - hath taken blood in Yorkshire."[B] - - [Footnote B: The "Venerable" Thomas Welbourn and John Fulthering - suffered at York on the 1st August, 1605; and William Brown at - Ripon on the 5th September.--See Challoner's "_Missionary - Priests_." Ed. by T. G. Law (Jack, Edinburgh).] - - 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 Octobris._" - - The fourth paragraph then continues:-- - - "My hostesses both and their children salute you. Sir Thomas - Tresham is dead."[C] - -[Footnote C: The hostesses would be those valiant women, Elizabeth Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden (_ne_ Roper), the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, -and the Honourable Anne Vaux. William Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -harboured Father Parsons in 1580-81, had married for his second wife a -sister of Sir Thomas Tresham. This Lord Vaux's eldest son Ambrose, a -priest, resigned his title in favour of his half-brother the Honourable -George Vaux, afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The first wife of William -Lord Vaux was Elizabeth Beaumont, of Gracedieu, Leicestershire. She was -the mother of Ambrose, Elizabeth, and Anne Vaux. Father Garnet for many -years lived at Harrowden, from 1586 as the guest of William Lord Vaux, -whose son, George Lord Vaux of Harrowden, married Elizabeth Roper, -daughter of the first Lord Teynham. This lady was the above-named Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden, mother of Edward Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -became as "noble a confessor for the Faith" as were his numerous other -relatives. (The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, whose family name is -Mostyn, is descended from the above-mentioned Lords Vaux, through the -female line.)] - -_Here ends the body of the letter._ - - - - - CHAPTER LII. - - -_After the body of the letter there is a post scriptum._ - -Now, there are nine words in the _post scriptum_ 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, 1605, _and_ the 21st day of October, -Garnet had received from somewhere _intelligence to the effect that -machinery was being put into motion whereby the Plot would be squashed_. - -For the _post scriptum_ to this letter of Father Garnet is as follows:-- - - - "_21 Octobris._ - - "This letter being returned unto me again, FOR REASON OF A - FRIEND'S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted 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, with 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 were my subjects, and we have our faculties - also for Ireland, for the most part. I pray you procure them a - general grant for their comfort." - -The letter and the _post scriptum_ are alike unsigned. The letter and the -_post scriptum_ are still in existence, and, I believe, are preserved in -London in the archives of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. - -I am indebted for my copy to the work entitled, "_A True Account of the -Gunpowder Plot_," by "Vindicator" (Dolman), 1851--taken from Tierney's -Edition of "_Dodd's Church History_." - -The Claude referred to in the _post scriptum_ is Father Claude Aquaviva, -the then General of the Jesuits, who lived in Rome. - -(Irish Catholics will not fail to notice the interest this afflicted, -much-tried Englishman took in their 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 compass of some participation in 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." - -Again; respecting Ralph Ashley, the Jesuit lay-brother and servant of -Father Oldcorne, Gerard says, on p. 271: "Ralph was also indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about -this conspiracy." - -_Now, my deliberate conjectures are these: That Edward Oldcorne had indeed -sent "Letters" which his servant Ralph Ashley had carried concerning "this -conspiracy." That one of those Letters was sent and carried to Henry -Garnet. And another to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle._ - -On the 12th of March, 1605-6, Father Garnet, when a prisoner in the Tower -of London, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Edward Coke, Sir -William Waade (Lieutenant of the Tower), and John Corbett, "confessed that -Father Parsons wrote to him certain letters last summer [_i.e._, 1605] -_which he received about Michaelmas last_, wherein he requested this -examinat to advertise him what plotts the Catholiques of England had then -in hand; _whereunto for that this examinat was on his journey he made no -answere_." - -Yea, indeed, this was a part of the truth, no doubt. _But the remainder of -the truth, I suggest, was that the Plot of Plots Garnet had learned, a few -days after the aforesaid Michaelmas, was being assuredly squashed by -Edward Oldcorne._ - -Poor Henry Garnet, a sorry, pathetic figure in the history of his Country, -surely. Yet, because _much_ 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 was his point of honour as a Priest of the Catholic -Church._[A] - -[Footnote A: How many a gallant soldier and sailor in our own day, young -and old, has been sustained in life and death by the consoling _infinite -thought of fidelity to the commands of a lawful superior_; by the -comforting _transcendental thought of duty 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_ (Macmillan); also Wordsworth's -magnificent "Ode to Duty."] - - - - - CHAPTER LIII. - - -Sir Everard Digby had rented Coughton, near Alcester, in Warwickshire, -from Thomas Throckmorton, Esquire, as a base for the warlike operations, -which were to be conducted in the Midlands as soon as intelligence had -arrived from London that the King, Lords Spiritual and Temporal, together -with the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "were now no more." - -On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the young knight rode from Coughton to -Dunchurch, near Rugby. - -Robert Winter the same day left Huddington and, sleeping on the Sunday -night at Grafton, at the house of his father-in-law, John Talbot, Esquire, -rode on to Coventry, in company with the younger Acton, of Ribbesford, and -attended by several servants. - -At Coventry, Robert Winter was joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach -House, in Staffordshire, just over the borders of Worcestershire; and also -by his cousin, Humphrey Littleton, brother to the then late John -Littleton,[A] of Hagley House, Worcestershire, who had been engaged in the -Essex rising. - -[Footnote A: All the Littletons were descended from the great Judge -Littleton, author of "_Littleton on Tenures_." The present Lord Lyttelton -belongs to the same family.] - -On the following Tuesday, November the 5th, the whole party proceeded -towards Dunchurch, the armed cavalcade continually increasing in numbers. - -The plan was, that at Dunsmore Heath, under a feigned 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. - -Robert Winter left the cousins Littleton at "the town's end" of Dunchurch, -and rode on to Ashby St. Legers, the ancestral seat of the Catesbies, -where, indeed, the Dowager Lady Catesby was then residing. - -Here Robert 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 the 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 -miles 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 them into the hedge to ride the more swiftly.[155] - -About six o'clock in the evening of Tuesday, just as Lady Catesby, Robert -Winter, 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 Wright, and Ambrose Rookwood. Their -announcement was the capture of Guy Fawkes early that Tuesday morning. - -After holding a short council of war, the whole band of conspirators, -snatching up all the weapons of warfare they could lay their hands on, -took horse again and rode off to Dunchurch. - -Sir Everard Digby, his uncle (Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill), Stephen -Littleton, Humphrey Littleton, and many others were awaiting their arrival -at Dunchurch, in an inn. - -The six fugitive conspirators, all bespattered 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 by the ringleaders to make for Wales; for the Catholics -of the Principality were then very strong,[A] and the Counties of Warwick, -Worcester, and Stafford were to be traversed, from all of which valuable -reinforcements were expected. - -[Footnote A: It is a curious fact that 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 Rome. It was -the lack of a Welsh College in Rome which, causing the supply of priests -to fail, gradually caused the interesting Cymric people to lose the Faith -which they of all the inhabitants of the British Isles were the first to -embrace. - -It is to be remembered, however, that there has always been a remnant in a -few of the valleys of Wales faithful to the See of Rome; and Dr. Owen -Lewis, the Bishop of Cassano, a Welshman, aided Cardinal Allen to found -Douay College, in 1568. Several of the Martyrs of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, too, were Welsh. - -At the English College at Rome the Welsh and the English students had -violent and, to read of, amusing quarrels. Evidently the Welsh, students -looked down upon their Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging to a -comparatively inferior race.] - -About ten o'clock on Tuesday night the full company, now about thirty -strong, set out for Norbrook,[A] the house of John Grant. - -[Footnote A: At Warwick, _en route_ for Norbrook, 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.] - -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 Digby 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 Wednesday, the 6th. Sentinels were posted at -the passage of every way at Huddington, possibly by the order of John -Winter, half-brother to Robert and Thomas Winter. - -Here they were joined by Thomas Winter, who had come down from London with -the latest news; 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 Confession, and -received, at the Jesuit's, hands, what most of them from their childhood -had been taught to believe was "the Bread of Angels," and "the Food of -Immortality."[B] - -[Footnote B: Certainly Man's nature _needs_ these things; but the question -is: Can it get them? "Aye, there's the rub."] - -Before daybreak of Thursday the fugitives were on the 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 Holbeach 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 Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, and the rest, -John Talbot, of Grafton, drove Thomas Winter and Stephen Littleton from -his door when they sought his aid for the rebellion.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 112, to which I am indebted -for this account; also Handy's evidence, Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," -vol. ii., pp. 165, 166.] - -And Sir Everard was constrained to avow that of the wealthy Catholic -gentry "not one man came to take our part though we had expected so -many."[B] - -[Footnote B: Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 112. Holbeach House is no longer -standing.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIV. - - -The High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with their _posse -comitatus_, were in pursuit of the fugitives, who arrived at Holbeach -House at ten of the clock on Thursday night. - -At Holbeach they prepared to make their last stand. And alack! never more -were the brothers John and Christopher Wright destined to behold Lapworth, -Twigmore, Ripon, Skelton, Newby, Mulwith, York, or Plowland,[A] nor any of -those scenes around which must have clung so many endearing associations -and sacred memories.[156] - -[Footnote A: For an account of recent visits to Mulwith and Plowland, see -Supplementum IV. and Supplementum V. - -To the generosity of my friend, Miss Burnham, the lady of Plowland, my -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 Humber towards the south. The gabled -buildings in the rear are ancient, and behind them are a few mossy Gothic -stones, evidently belonging to the old chapel. Behind the 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 conspirator.] - -Early in the morning of Friday some of the company went out to descry -whether or not reinforcements were in sight. Others began to prepare their -shot and powder. - -Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant were severely burnt in the face, especially -the two latter, with some damp or dank gunpowder which they were drying -on a platter before the kitchen fire, and into which a hot cinder fell. - -This 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, in reply to his question, -"We mean here to die." - -Winter thereupon replied, "I 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, 1605, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire arrived with the whole power -and force of the county, 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. - -Christopher Wright was mortally wounded. - -Ambrose Rookwood was wounded in four or five places. - -John Grant was likewise disabled. - -Catesby and Thomas Percy, each sword in hand, and "standing before the -door" close together, were mortally wounded by two successive shots fired -by one musketeer, who afterwards boasted of his resolute carriage of -himself on that eventful day.[A] - -[Footnote A: The man's name was John Streete. He received a pension of two -shillings a day for life, equal to about sixteen shillings a day in our -money. Gerard's "_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 155.] - -Catesby, before receiving his fatal shot, we are told by Father Gerard in -his "_Narrative_," p. 109, "took from his neck a cross of gold, which he -always used to wear about him, and blessing himself with it and kissing -it, showed it unto the people, protesting there solemnly before them all -it was only for the honour of the Cross, and the exaltation of that Faith -which honoured the Cross, and for the saving of their souls in the same -Faith that had moved him to undertake the business; and seth he saw it was -not God's will it should succeed in that manner they intended, or at that -time, he was willing and ready to give his life for the same cause, only -he would not be taken by any, and against that only he would defend -himself with his sword. - -"This done, Mr. Catesby and Mr. Percy turned back to back, resolving to -yield themselves to no man, but to death as the messenger of God. - -"None of their adversaries did come near them, but one fellow standing -behind a tree with a musket, shot them both with one bullet,[A] and Mr. -Catesby was shot almost dead, the other lived three or four days. - -[Footnote A: It was with one musket, but two successive bullets.] - -"Mr. Catesby being fallen to the ground, as they say, went upon his knees -into the house, and there got a picture of our Blessed Lady in his arms -(unto whom he was accustomed to be very devout), and so embracing and -kissing the same, he died."[B] - -[Footnote B: The mind of each of the thirteen Gunpowder conspirators -affords the intellectual philosopher and the moral philosopher rich food -for thought. What a reflection from human nature is not the soul of these -men, one and all--especially Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winter, Guy -Fawkes, Ambrose Rookwood, and Christopher Wright. I would especially point -out the strange superstition that Catesby exhibited in wishing to blow up -the _Parliament House_, because it was _there_ the iniquitous laws had -been made against the Catholics. He primarily wished, like some pagan, to -be revenged on the _material object_, which had been the unconscious and -irresponsible instrument of his kinsfolk's and friends' hurt. - -Moreover, how true to daily experience is the behaviour of Catesby in his -last moments: of one who in his youth had been very wild, but who, on -reaching maturer years, had grown to have a great devotion to _her_ whom -Wordsworth has so beautifully styled "our tainted nature's solitary -boast." - -Again; the dying soldier's flying for protection to, and the kissing in -his last agony, when the light of life was about to be quenched in his -mortal eyes for ever, a picture of _her_ who is "the Mother of Christ," -and whom millions hold to be likewise "the Refuge of sinners," is -startlingly true to human nature. - -But--"Close up his eyes, and let us all to meditation." For "_In la sua -volontade nostra pace_"--"Only in the Will of God is man's peace." And -the essence of that Will is the Everlasting Moral Law.] - -On the 9th of November Sir Edward Leigh wrote to the Privy Council that -the Wrights were not slain as reputed, but wounded. Not till the 13th was -their death certified by Sir Richard Walsh, High Sheriff of -Worcestershire.--See Gerard's "_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" pp. 153, -154. - -Whatever was the case with John Wright, it seems clear that the weight of -evidence inclines to show that Christopher Wright did not expire on -Friday, the 8th November, but that he lingered at least a day or two. The -exact day of Christopher Wright's death, and what became of his remains, -may be ascertained facts hereafter, possibly. At present, they are -unknown.[157] - - - - - CHAPTER LV. - - -Father Garnet did not go nearer London than Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, -between ten and fifteen miles distant from Great Harrowden. - -We know that he was at Gothurst when Catesby was there, on Tuesday, the -22nd of October, one day after the date of the _post scriptum_ mentioned -in the last chapter. Probably the _post scriptum_ 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 grandfather was Sir Thomas -Beaumont, Master of the Rolls, was a level-headed woman of acute mental -perceptions as well as of great moral ardour and intense spiritual -exaltation.[A] - -[Footnote A: The psychologist will have observed that these qualities are -not seldom combined in a certain order of minds. _Cf._, Shakespeare's -"great wits to madness are near allied"--some thinkers will be inclined to -say.] - -Miss Vaux 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 -foreboding, 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 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 Vaux 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 themselves 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."[A] - -[Footnote A: Garnet's examination of the 12th March. Foley's "_Records_," -vol. iv., p. 157.] - -At Coughton, Father Garnet said Mass on the 1st of November, All Saints' -Day. - -There "assisted" at this Mass the Lady Digby,[B] Mr. and Mrs. Brookesby, -Miss Anne Vaux, and almost the whole of Sir Everard Digby's Gothurst -household. - -[Footnote B: Lady Digby had been brought up a strong Protestant, and, like -most converts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the Church of -Rome from Calvinistic Puritanism, she became an ardent devotee of the -Jesuits. (The point of contact was probably a common interest in the -problems of the mystical life, and a tendency towards a grave, sober, -strict regularity of "daily walk and conversation.") George Gilbert, a -gentleman of high Suffolk family and great wealth, was likewise a convert -from Calvinism, through the instrumentality of the Jesuit Fathers, -Darbyshire and Parsons. Gilbert, as a young man, daily "waited upon the -ministry" of the once celebrated Puritan Divine, Dering, the 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 Blessed" 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 pictures of some of "the English -Martyrs," although "old Richard Norton," of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, -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 13th October, 1900, through the kind courtesy of the Right Reverend -Monsignor Giles, D.D., Rector of the English College, copies of these -remarkable pictures, copies which are painted on the walls of that very -College where Father Oldcorne himself had been educated. - -The original pictures on the walls of the Church 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 Martyrs -already beatified, including "the Blessed" Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland, who suffered death at York in 1572.--See the "_Acts of the -English Martyrs_," by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).] - -At Gothurst, however, was Sir Everard himself, busy making his final -preparations for the war he was 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 were 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 offering 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 some -allusion to the then wretched condition of the unhappy English -Catholics.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Letter to Miss Anne Vaux, dated 2nd March, 1605-6, quoted -in Foley, vol. iv., p. 84, where Garnet says: "There is a muttering here -of a sermon which either I or 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 Mr. Attourney saith he hath more."] - -Now, I infer that all this tends to demonstrate that Father Henry Garnet -felt that a great burden or load had been 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 the Plot finally swept -away. - -Again, in the Mass for All Saints' Day there is a hymn, one verse of which -is: "Take away 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 -_Parliament_ would be in _existence_ to work mischief! _And this once more -proves that he knew the Plot would be squashed and finally swept away._ - - - - - CHAPTER LVI. - - -Soon after Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant had been injured by the exploded -gunpowder at Holbeach House (as has been already mentioned in Chapter -LIV.), Robert Winter, the Master of Huddington, 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 early in the morning to the house -of one Perkes, in Hagley. After an extraordinary 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,[158] a Protestant lady, to whose children the place apparently -belonged. - -Mrs. Littleton was herself either in, or on the way to, London at this -time, so the two traitors were harboured without the lady's knowledge or -consent. - -By the treachery, however, of the man-cook at Hagley, or rather, in -justice it should be said, by his diligent zeal in the service of his -sovereign lord the King, Stephen Littleton and Robert 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 gentleman, 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 company of horse to Flanders to fight, with 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, whatever might be the tenour or purport of Oldcorne's -answer--mischief among either Catholics or Protestants.[159] - -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 his -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.[160] - - - - - CHAPTER LVII. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Vol. II., No. 202. - - "The voluntarie declaration of Edward Oldcorne alias Hall - Jesuite 12 Mar. 1605 [_i.e._, 1605-6]. - - A. - - "Mr. Humfrey Litleton[A] telling me that after Mr. Catesbie saw - him self and others of his Companie burnt w^{th} powder, and the - rest of the compnie readie to fly from him, that then he began - to thinke he had offended god in this action, seeing soe bad - effects follow of the same. - - [Footnote A: I do not know the exact point of time when Humphrey - Littleton thus spoke to Father Oldcorne, except that it was - certainly after the fatal 5th of November, 1605.] - - B. - - "I answeared him that an act is not to be condemd or justified - upon the good or bad euent that follow^{th} 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 wher the - 11 tribs of Israel weare comannded by god to make warrs upon the - trib of Benjamin; and yett the tribe of Benjamin did both in the - first and secound battaile overthrow the other 11 tribs. The - like said I wee read of Lewis King of france who went to fight - against the Turks and to recouer the hoolye Land, but ther he - loost the most of his armie, and him self dyed ther of the - plague the like wee may say when the xtianes defended Rhoodes - against the turks wher the Turkes preuayled and the xtianes - weare overthrowne, and yet noe doubt the xtians cause was good - and the turks bad and thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. - Catesbie's it is not to be approved or condemned by the euent, - but by the propper object or end, and meanes w^{ch} was to be - vsed in it; and bycause I know nothinge of thes I will neither - approve it or condeme it but leave it to god and ther owne - consciences and in this warie sort I spake to him bycause I - doubted he came to entrap me, and that he should take noe - advantage of my words whither he reported them to Catholiks or - Protestants. - - "(Signed) Edward Oldcorne. - - "Acknowledged before vs - - "J. Popham.[A] - Edw. Coke.[B] - W. Waad.[C] - John Corbett." - -(The A and B at the left side of the Declaration are Coke's own marks.) - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -[Footnote B: Afterwards the celebrated Lord Chief Justice of England, and -Editor of "_Littleton's Tenures_." This Humphrey Littleton, mentioned in -the Text, was a descendant of Sir John Littleton, Author of the immortal -legal work.] - -[Footnote C: Lieutenant of the Tower of London.] - - - - - CHAPTER LVIII. - - -We are now come to the crux of this Inquiry. - -To every philosophical thinker who takes the trouble to ponder the matter -it must be evident that the ethical principles enunciated in the first -part of the Declaration, given _in extenso_ in the preceding chapter, are -intellectually irrefutable and morally irreproachable; although their -obviousness, certainly, will not be palpable to "the man in the street." - -The answer of this clear-sighted, strong-headed Yorkshireman, is indeed -the answer that is the resultant of exact ethical knowledge, that is, of -moral science. _For what is science, either in the realms of the -intellectual, the moral, the political, or the physical, but "exact -knowledge."_ - -Moreover, these principles are the resultant of abstract moral science, or -exact ethical knowledge pure and simple. - -Now, "Morality is the science of duty."[161] But, just as it is most -mischievous _indiscriminately_ to apply abstract principles of morality, -however faultless in themselves, to the complex affairs of individuals and -of States, so is it most dangerous to strew broadcast statements of the -abstract principles of ethics for the untutored mind of the _merely_ -practical man--first of all, to misunderstand; and, secondly, to wrest to -his own undoing and that of his equally unfortunate fellow-men. - -This is certainly so in the present stage of the world's imperfect -education. Though one lives in the hope that sooner or later that "ampler -day" may dawn, when, from the least unto the greatest, men shall come to -have a happy conscious realization of the truth of the poet's dictum: -"_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_;"[162] "Happy is he who hath -been able to learn the causes of things." - -Still, _truth--that which is--is truth_. - -_And partial truth is not less true, according to its measure and in its -degree, than the full orb of truth._[A] - -[Footnote A: Strategy in war has for its intellectual and moral -justification the fact that partial truth is not less true, in its measure -and in its degree, than the full orb of truth.] - -Furthermore, "Wisdom is justified by all her children;" even although some -of those children are tardy in realizing and in expressing their sense of -such justification. - -Now, although all this stands to reason--nay, because it is true, is even -the perfection of reason--it was an enunciation of principles by Father -Oldcorne, which it was more than probable would be misinterpreted by two -sets of people, the intellectually stupid and the morally malicious. - -Nay, it may be allowed that even persons of the highest intelligence and -of the utmost good faith--such as, in the last century, the late David -Jardine[163]--might easily enough think that Edward Oldcorne deserved -condemnation and chiding for thus apparently showing such a marked -disposition to look at this grave matter, the moral rightness or wrongness -of the Gunpowder Plot, as though it were as purely abstract and -scholastic a question as that famous moot of the middle ages: "How many -angels can dance on the point of a needle?"[A] - -[Footnote A: Oldcorne had special private knowledge that the Plot would -never be a Plot _executed_, because (1) he knew Christopher Wright had -resolved to reveal it; because (2) he knew that his own personal act had -ended the Plot by his penning the Letter.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIX. - - -Now, the contention is this: That regard being had to the extraordinary -heinousness of the Gunpowder Plot, in point of underhand stealthiness and -secrecy as well as of deliberateness, malice, magnitude, and cruelty, no -man of moral uprightness and intellectual keenness could be--without doing -a violence to his human nature that is all but incredible--so unspeakably -reckless and utterly insane as to fling broadcast to the winds, for the -wayfaring man and the fool to pick up and con for their own and their -hapless fellow-creatures' moral destruction, an _oral statement_ as to -this diabolical Plot, that expressed ways of looking at the Plot merely -speculative and simply in the abstract,[A] _save and except_ on one -condition only, namely, that such speaker had had both from without and -from within, _et ab extra et ab intra_, a special _knowledge_. - -[Footnote A: It is to be noted that in this momentous Declaration of the -12th March, 1605-6, Oldcorne in the first part reserves or conceals -"_partial truth_;" that is to say, in _this_ case, _truth in the concrete, -or truth in action_. While in the second part of the Declaration Oldcorne -orally disclaims, denies, or dissembles integral truth, that is here a -special and particular knowledge of the end the plotters had in view, and -the means they purposed to adopt. The knowledge he had received was of a -nature _official_, and at least conditionally, though not absolutely, -_private_ knowledge.] - -Furthermore, _a special knowledge, with absolute certitude_, which -_warranted_ the speaker in mentally surveying that Plot not merely as it -_then_ was at the moment when he was giving utterance to his speculative -statement concerning it, but, as he full well knew, at some point of time -prior to that fateful day, November the 5th, 1605, it had been destined to -be perpetually, namely, A PLOT _ante factum in ternum_, a mere abstract -mental plan for ever. Aye, a mere abstract mental plan to all eternity; -because transmuted and transformed by some process wherein that speaker -had himself taken a primal, an essential, a meritorious part.[A] - -[Footnote A: The argument is that a man at once good and clever, like -Edward Oldcorne, would not, according to the rules that govern human -nature and daily experience, have clothed in words and then let loose to -wander about the world seeking whom it might fall in with and victimize, a -bare abstract proposition regarding the Plot, _unless_ he had been first -absolutely certain that the foundation-thing, the Plot itself, was too -attenuated and ghost-like to work hurt or mischief to any human creature. - -Now, since Littleton propounded his question _after_ the 5th of November, -Oldcorne had an _ordinary_ ground for allowing himself to speak of the -defunct Plot purely in the abstract. But this was an obviously very -dangerous thing to do, both for Littleton's sake, the general public's -sake (Catholic or Protestant), and for the speaker's own sake. Therefore -the fact that Oldcorne did so speak postulates something _more than -ordinary_. Hence, as Oldcorne was a man of virtue both intellectually and -morally, the reasonable inference is that Oldcorne _had an extraordinary -ground_ for his answer which endued him with a special liberty of abstract -speech in regard to the matter. _That extraordinary ground, I maintain, -was based deep down within the depths of his own interior knowledge._] - - - - - CHAPTER LX. - - -But it may be objected that instead of assuming that Father Oldcorne was a -man not only of mental keenness but also of moral uprightness, and -proceeding forthwith to build an argument on such an assumption, the -writer ought in truth and justice to have proved, by evidence or reason, -the latter part of the proposition. And this the rather, seeing that so -many of the co-religionists both in our own day as well as in the days of -Father Oldcorne have regarded that society, whereof Oldcorne was a -distinguished English member, with not merely unfeigned suspicion but with -sincere dislike, and even with genuine loathing.[A] - -[Footnote A: The most formidable adversaries of the Jesuits far and away -have been Roman Catholics of a particular type of mind. Blaise Pascal, -that colossal genius, has been probably their most successful enemy.] - -Now, the unbiased historical philosopher is content not only to let the -dead bury their dead but also to let theologian deal with theologian. To -the historical philosopher, a Jesuit is a man and nothing more: nothing -more, that is, so far as his being entitled to receive at the former's -hands the benefit of all those natural rights which belong to all members -of the human species. For all men (including Jesuits) are, in the mind of -the philosopher, "born free and equal." - -Hence it follows that when, amid the chances and changes of this mortal -life, the historical philosopher is thrown across the path of a Jesuit, he -looks at him, as a matter of duty, straight in the face, just as he looks -at any other rational creature; and then seeks to ascertain, by dint of -normal touchstones and tests, what manner of man the person is whom that -philosopher, by the ordinances of fate, has then and there confronted. - -Now, in the case of Edward Oldcorne, the Text of this Inquiry, and also -the Notes thereunto, supply abundant proof that Oldcorne came of a good, -wholesome, Yorkshire stock--hard-working, honest, and honourable; that his -own mental nature was broad, rich and full, high-minded, just, and -generous.[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Henry Garnet, S.J., landed in England in 1586 along -with the gifted Robert Southwell, whose prose and poetical works belong to -English literature. Father Weston was then the Jesuit Superior. Father -John Gerard landed, along with Father Edward Oldcorne, off the coast of -Norfolk, in August, 1588, shortly after the decisive fight with the -Spanish Armada, off Gravelines. As illustrating the conscientiousness and -courage of this Yorkshire Elizabethan Jesuit, the following quotation from -Foley, vol. iv., p. 210, may be of interest: "Father Oldcorne was employed -sometime in London by Father Garnet, diligently labouring in the quest and -salvation of souls. He was ever of a most ready wit, and endeavoured as -far as possible to adapt himself to the manner of those with whom he -lived. There were exceptions, however, in which, consumed with an ardent -zeal of asserting and defending the Divine honour, he could not refrain -from correcting those whom he heard uttering obscene and injurious -language either towards God or their superiors. When in London, in the -house of a Catholic gentleman, he struck with his fist and broke into -pieces a pane of stained or painted glass representing an indecent picture -of Venus and Mars, which he considered wholly unfit for the eyes of a -virtuous family." - -[The curious philosopher wonders whether this Elizabethan Catholic -gentleman, having been deprived of his "Venus and Mars" in such a -high-handed fashion, afterwards became anti-Jesuitical.]] - -Therefore is it, alike by evidence and reason, borne in upon the mind of -the philosopher that, on grounds of probability so high as to afford -practical certitude, he may proceed to build his argument upon the -assumption that Edward Oldcorne was a man not only of intellectual acumen -but also of moral integrity, as has been already predicated of him. - - - - - CHAPTER LXI. - - -Now, in the first part of his Declaration, Father Oldcorne uttered -concerning the Gunpowder Plot a proposition which expressed partial truth -alone. Because he expressed truth in the abstract only, not truth in the -concrete also, concerning that nefarious scheme. - -In other words, Father Oldcorne severed in thought the two kinds of truth, -the two aspects of truth, the two parts of truth, which being _unified_ -gave the _whole_ truth respecting the moral mode of judging the Gunpowder -Treason Plot. - -Oldcorne severed concrete truth from abstract truth,[A] practical truth -from speculative truth, and so far as his hearer, Humphrey Littleton, was -concerned, held that concrete truth, that practical truth, suspended at -the sword-point over Littleton's head. - -[Footnote A: Or, it may be said, Oldcorne separated concrete truth from -abstract truth, practical truth from speculative truth, holding the former -in solution, and putting into the hands of Littleton the latter alone, in -the form of a dangerous precipitate.] - -Now, I maintain that, regard being had to the terrific danger of -Littleton's occasioning mischief, either through stupidity, malice, or -both, a man of the intellectual and moral calibre of Edward Oldcorne would -have never suffered his tongue to give utterance to a proposition -dividing, as with a sword, concrete truth from abstract truth, practical -truth from speculative truth, and then holding the former suspended above -the head of his questioner, _unless and until_ that great Priest and -Jesuit had been first possessed of the living consciousness that he had -had, and then was, at that very instant of time when speaking, having that -Plot, which represented "the sum of all villainies," in that it involved -"sacrilegious murder,"[A] _firmly and unconquerably crushed under his -feet_.[164] - -[Footnote A: This phrase is used by Shakespeare in "Macbeth" (1606), I -suggest, with indirect reference to the Gunpowder Plot, which Shakespeare -must have followed with the most breathless, absorbing interest. For -Norbrook was in Snitterfield, where his mother (Mary Arden) had property; -while Coughton was the home of the Throckmortons, the Ardens' relatives. -Clopton House, where Ambrose Rookwood was living from Michaelmas, 1605, -Lapworth, where John Wright resided from May, 1605, and where Christopher -Wright and Marmaduke Ward visited him (all of which places were in that -"garden of England," Warwickshire), must have been as familiar to the poet -almost as his own Stratford-on-Avon. - -I find the name "Robert Arden," of Pedmore, Worcestershire, 1-1/2 miles -from Stourbridge, down as "a popish recusant" for the year 1592, in the -"_Hatfield MS._," part iv.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXII. - - -And how could this be? - -It could be only by dint of a _two-fold knowledge_, a two-fold, -warranting, justifying, vindicating knowledge, which this Priest and -Jesuit held stored-up deep down within the depths of his conscious being, -a knowledge _passive_ or receptive which had come to him "from without," -_ab extra_; a knowledge _active_ or self-caused which he had bestowed upon -himself "from within," _ab intra_. - -Now, the passive knowledge "from without" was the knowledge Oldcorne had -had from the penitent plotter of that penitent's resolve to reveal the -Plot to his lawful Sovereign by the most perfect means for so doing that -by the human mind could be devised. - -The active knowledge "from within" was the knowledge that Oldcorne had -possessed, and was at that moment possessing, of his own sublimely -conceived and magnificently executed act and deed: although even this -active knowledge "from within" was itself _indirectly_ traceable to that -penitent plotter's repentant resolve and repentant will.[A] - -[Footnote A: We know on the authority of Sir Edward Coke himself that one -of the conspirators was supposed to have revealed the Plot, and indeed -such _must_ have been inevitably the case. Now, the proved position of -Thomas Ward in the work of communicating with Thomas Winter suggests that -Ward was the diplomatic go-between. But it is obvious that Ward cannot -have himself penned the Letter; for if he had been in the service of -Elizabeth's Government his handwriting would be known to the Government. -Now, circumstantial evidence tends to prove that Father Oldcorne did. -Therefore the relationship of priest and penitent and the machinery of the -Tribunal of Penance is forthwith, naturally and easily, brought into play. -Now, in these days of "_emancipated and free religious thought_," it is -difficult for us readily to realize the _stupendous_ force that the -alleged supernatural facts of historical Christianity had upon _the mind -of all those who lived consciously_ hemmed in, as it were, by an alleged -supernatural tradition of Christianity, _whether_ Calvinistic _or_ Roman -Catholic, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Those alleged facts -were assumed and deliberately calculated upon as among the ruling and -controlling _realities_ of daily life. Now, a Yorkshire Roman -Catholic--especially one brought up in the Wright, Ward, Babthorpe, -Ingleby, Mallory circle--might be easily frightened, nay, terrified, into -confession and avowal of his crimes, and _therefore_ into satisfaction, -and _therefore_ into reversal, by the mere fact that about the Feast of -St. Michael and All Angels, 11th October (old style), 1605, when -"examining his conscience" he came to realize the tremendous and awful -wickedness of his two crimes, sacrilege and murder. For the Archangel -"_Michael--who is like unto God_"--would be to _him_ a being as real and -living and of transcendently greater _power_--an important -consideration--than even the stern reality of the hangman of the -gallows-tree and the ripping knife; while a close-natured, thoughtful -Yorkshireman like Christopher Wright would vividly realize, with his -shrewd instinct for values and tendencies, that, _unrepentant_, his -ultimate fate--either here or hereafter--was not worth while the risking. -For, on the one hand, he may have peradventure, consciously or -unconsciously, argued there is the certainty of falling, sooner or later, -into "the Hands of the Living God," and of being by Him consigned to the -charge of Michael, the Minister of His Justice; while, on the other, there -is the going, _not_ to the chill, viewless wind, but to a sympathetic -rational creature with a brain, heart, eyes, hands, and feet, and the -getting _him_, in the solid reality of flesh and blood, to put a speedy -stop, here and now, to the whole unhappy business, and so save further -trouble. (A man of middle age, well educated, belonging to an old -Yorkshire Roman Catholic family that "had never lost the Faith," told a -relative, not long ago, that "after being on the spree" he should have -certainly committed a great crime had he not been stayed by the knowledge -that, if he did so, "_he would go plump into Hell_." I mention this to -show how, at least, sometimes the Catholic conscience works even in these -"enlightened" days. Hence, the antecedent probability of the truth of my -suggested solution of _how_ the revealing conspirator was motived to -reveal the conspiracy. For an Inquiry into the Gunpowder Plot is a great -philosophical study of human _motives_ as well as of _probabilities_; and -the case of Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) is, in relation to the -example just cited, an _ fortiori_ case.)] - - - - - CHAPTER LXIII. - - -But, it may be plausibly objected, if it were of such dangerous tendency -_indiscriminately_ to give utterance to bare, abstract, moral principles -only, how came it to pass, then, that Oldcorne, who was a good man, -morally, as well as a clever man, intellectually, suffered himself _thus_ -to act when questioned by Humphrey Littleton respecting the moral -lawfulness, or otherwise, of the Gunpowder Plot? - -Now, Oldcorne, as we have already seen in his Declaration quoted above, -has recorded a--that is one--reason why he left Littleton _in -abstracto_--that is furnished with truth in the abstract merely. And -beyond a doubt, as subsequent events so signally proved, the astute -Jesuit's judgment of Littleton's character had not erred one whit. - -Littleton, as Oldcorne justly feared, was a "dangerous fellow," one who -was likely to entrap the innocent, and one who was, therefore, not -entitled, either in Justice or in that more refined kind of justice called -Equity, to have his question dealt with by anything other than a flanking -movement; or, in other words, by anything other than such an intellectual -man[oe]uvre as would _turn aside the question_ Littleton had elected to -propound to the great mental strategist--as would turn aside the question -Littleton had elected to propound, on the face of it, probably, and as the -event proved, certainly, from sinister motives and with crooked aims. - -Hence, _partly_ because of his questioner's inferred insincerity and -pernicious purposes _did Oldcorne sever speculative truth in thought from -concrete truth in action_; or, in other words, _Oldcorne gave to Littleton -an answer "sounding" in partial truth alone_. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIV. - - -Now, _partial truth_, as has been affirmed already, _is not, in its -proportion, less true than the full orb of truth_.[A] And many are the -times and many are the circumstances in this strangely chequered human -life of ours, with its endless movements and its perpetual -vicissitudes, when apparently conflicting and antagonistic duties can -be in justice, equity, and honour reconciled on one condition only, -namely, that man shall leave to Omniscience alone, "from Whom no -secrets are hid," a knowledge of the full orb of certain degrees of -some particular kind of truth, governing some particular -subject-matter under consideration.[165][B] - -[Footnote A: _It is never morally lawful to tell a lie_, that is, to speak -contrary to one's mind, or to deceive by word contrary to that law of -justice which bids a man render to all rational creatures their due. - -_To act a lie_ is as base and wicked as to tell a lie, and often more -unmanly and contemptible besides: else might the deaf and dumb be unjustly -deceived with impunity.] - -[Footnote B: The noble science of casuistry is founded on the fact that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -A knowledge of casuistry, that is, of the principles of moral science -scientifically applied to the living facts of the living present, will be -of primal necessity to British statesmen in the twentieth century, which -will be a century of few, but strong, principles, and of few, but strong, -men to apply those principles. - -Efficiency, and efficiency through scientific exactitude, will be the -characteristic aim of all the great Imperial Powers of the world in the -near future. Here, in England, with all our intellectual, moral, and -physical virtues (which indeed are neither few nor contemptible), we have -been too apt to allow a number of persons to speak for us, able in their -way, no doubt, but of limited mental vision, and hopelessly incapable of -grappling with the problems that confront a world-wide Empire, embracing a -fifth (some say a fourth) of the human race. A democratic Empire must -choose leaders that are _wise_, just, self-controlled, courageous; and -then that Empire must entrust freely and fearlessly their destinies with -such leaders, who must not be afraid faithfully to go "full tilt" against -ignorant prejudice or short-sighted prepossession. - -Now, wisdom (or prudence) is the cardinal virtue which presides over all -the other three virtues. And wisdom (or prudence) tells us that strategy -in war, that sometimes necessary evil; diplomacy betwixt the -representatives of nations; and above and beyond all the imparting to the -general body of the people only so much knowledge of the tendencies of -current events as is for the common good, can have intellectual and moral -justification on this one fundamental ethical principle only, namely, that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -Again; where a sound intellectual and moral basis is not consciously held, -man, by the rules that govern his rational nature, will not "walk -sure-footedly." Moreover, it is impossible for a self-respecting free -people to allow that essential _unity_ does not prevail betwixt the -fundamental principles of both private action and public action. _For just -wars and politics are not the pawns of a game that has been devised and -patented by the devil._ Just wars and politics are ethics working in the -living present, in the wider field of human conduct. And, properly -understood, they are, after their kind, and must be, if they are lawful to -rational creatures, as noble and as much under the reign, rule, and -governance of the _Ideal Man_ as are those solemn acts of life which have -been (amongst other purposes) devised to remind man of the transcendental -nature of his origin and destiny.] - -Just as on some wild, tempestuous night, the full orb of the silvery moon -is obscured to the eye of the gazer by a dark, driving cloud. - -Now, it has been said that, partly, _because_ Oldcorne inferred -insincerity of heart in Humphrey Littleton, and, partly, _because_ -Oldcorne inferred in his questioner pernicious purposes in propounding the -question he did propound respecting the moral lawfulness, or otherwise, of -the Gunpowder Plot, _therefore_ Oldcorne gave Littleton an answer sounding -in partial--that is, in this case, in abstract, in speculative--truth -alone. - -Oldcorne's own expressed words are as follow:-- - -"_In this warie sort I spake to him bycause I doubted he came to entrap -me_, _and that he should take no advantage of my words whither he reported -them to Catholics or to Protestants._" - -Unquestionably, this must have been _a_ reason--_one_ reason, that is--for -Father Oldcorne's flanking, evasive reply, sounding in partial--that is, -in this case, in abstract, in speculative--truth alone. - -For otherwise a man of such approved goodness and established character -would have never declared it to be a reason. The contrary supposal it is -impossible to entertain. - -But because Oldcorne's declared reason was undoubtedly _a_ reason, it does -not follow--regard being had to persons, times, and circumstances--either -from the demands of universal reason or moral fitness, that it was _his -only and sole reason_, nor (still less) that it was his _paramount and -predominant reason_ for his action in question, that is, for his mode of -couching the aforesaid Declaration in partial truth alone. - -What leads to the conclusion with resistless force that Oldcorne's alleged -reason cannot have been his paramount, his predominant, reason is the -simple, indisputable fact that such an aim so egregiously miscarried. - -Therefore, in the case of so astute and clever a man, as all the evidence -we have concerning Oldcorne to demonstration proves him to have been, it -is rendered probable, to the degree of moral certainty, that the great -casuist had some far stronger reason latent within him than the reason he -chose to put forth for couching an answer to Humphrey Littleton, sounding -in partial truth alone. - -Besides the sufficient, indeed, _yet inferior reason_, grounded on the -primal instinct of personal self-preservation, or, in other words, to put -the matter bluntly, the mere brute instinct of not being entrapped, wisdom -suggests that Oldcorne must--his moral character being what we know it -was--have had a reason latent deep down within the depths of his conscious -being, which was not only a sufficient but _superior reason_, not only a -true but a sublime reason, for severing in this grave matter, and holding -suspended, truth _in thought_ from truth _in action_. - -Yea, Father Oldcorne, I maintain, gave Humphrey Littleton the flanking, -evasive answer that he did give him, notwithstanding the inevitable, -possible, and even probable dangers attendant thereon, because he -(Oldcorne) felt within himself, "to the finest fibre of his being," a -_freedom_, a _three-fold freedom_, which warranted, justified, and -vindicated him in so answering. - -Now this freedom was a three-fold freedom, because it was a -thrice-purchased freedom. - -_And it was a thrice-purchased freedom because it had been purchased by -the merits_:-- - -(1) Of the personal, actual repentance of the revealing plotter himself. -By the merits - -(2) Of the imputed (or constructive) repentance of that penitent's -co-plotters. And by the merits - -(3) Of the laudable action of Oldcorne himself. - - - - - CHAPTER LXV. - - -Now, Oldcorne, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he -was good, manifests from the inherent nature of his answer to Humphrey -Littleton a sense, a consciousness, an assurance of freedom from the -restraints and obligations which would have undoubtedly stayed and bound -him had he not been already freed from their power. - -Now, it is a superior power that countervails, that renders impotent an -inferior power. - -_Now, Oldcorne would be freed from the restraining power of moral -obligations, as to the user of a particular character of speech, if he had -had residing within him a power of superior, of sublimer, that is, of -countervailing force._ - -_Now, Oldcorne, in his answer to Littleton, manifestly gives evidence of -power, of countervailing power._ - -_Knowledge gives power: gives countervailing power._ - -_Therefore it follows that the presence of power, of countervailing power, -in Oldcorne proves likewise the strong probability of knowledge, of -countervailing knowledge likewise._ - -_And what kind of knowledge can such two-fold knowledge have been, save a -meritorious knowledge of what aforetime had been, but which was then no -longer, the Gunpowder Treason Plot?_ - -For, from the very moment of Oldcorne's becoming conscious that the Plot -as a plot had vanished into thin air by (1) personal, actual repentance; -by (2) imputed or constructive repentance; by (3) a personally heroic act: -had vanished like the morning mists before the beams of the rising sun, -Oldcorne would feel himself, so to speak, immediately to be endued with an -extraordinary power: with a power that would straightway cause him to grow -to a loftier stature than all his fellows: with a power that then would -enable him, as it were, to scale the heights, and, at length, to mount up -to the very top of what aforetime had been the baleful Plot, but which -Plot Oldcorne full well knew would be henceforward and for ever emptied -and defecated of and from all murderous, criminous, sacrilegious -quality.[166] - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in viewing and -surveying "the fact of Mr. Catesbie's" simply speculatively and purely in -the abstract. - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in leaving -Humphrey Littleton _in abstracto_, after the latter had propounded to him -his dangerous question: of leaving the doubter with an answer sounding in -partial truth alone. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVI. - - -Now, this conclusion leads inevitably to the further conclusion that -Edward Oldcorne must have had latent within him, deep down within the -depths of his conscious being, a particular knowledge, _as distinct from a -general knowledge, a private knowledge as distinct from a public -knowledge_, not indeed of this Plot as a plot, but of the Plot _after_ it -had been, _when_ it had been, and _as_ it had been _first transmuted and -transformed, by the causes and processes hereinbefore mentioned: -transmuted and transformed into an instrument, sure and certain for the -temporal salvation of his fellow-men_. - -Yea, _because_ Edward Oldcorne's noblest mental faculty, his conscience, -gazing with eagle-eye, sun-filled, yet undazzled and undismayed, upon -absolute truth was able unshrinkingly and calmly to bear witness to the -other indivisible parts of his rational nature, that _his_ mind in -relation to that fell enterprise, which from first to last must have "made -the angels weep," was a mind not only of passive innocence, but of active -rectitude, _therefore_ must he have felt himself to be not barely, but -abundantly _free_. Free, because he knew there was no mortal in this -world, and no being in the world to come, to condemn _him_ at the bar of -eternal Justice; nay, none rightly even to be so much as his accuser: free -to survey the baleful scheme purely speculatively: free, orally to express -the results of that survey, _either as to whole or part, in abstracto, in -the abstract merely; and this notwithstanding the risk of -misinterpretation from his questioner's "want of thought," or "want of -heart_." - -For everlastingly was it the truth, that none could gainsay nor resist, -that in relation to _this_ matter, at any rate, it was the lofty privilege -of Edward Oldcorne--indeed a man, if ever there were such, "elect and -precious"--to have been made "a white soul:" to have been made a soul like -unto "a star that dwelt apart." - -_Res ipsa loquitur._ Yea, the words of Edward Oldcorne speak for -themselves. And from those words evident is it that it was the kingly -prerogative of this disciplined, self-repressed, humblest of men, _to know -the truth as to the once atrocious plan: to know the truth and to be -free_. - -For his language implies, and, his mind and his character being what they -were, his language is intelligible on none other supposal than this: That -at the very moment when his tongue gave utterance to this now famous -flanking, evasive answer to his inquirer, _he, even he, had possession of -a power, a knowledge, a living consciousness, that he had been exalted to -be the chosen agent of that Supreme Power of the Universe_, to Whom by -infinite right, Vengeance belongs: _the chosen agent whereby the -aforetime, but then no longer, stupendous Gunpowder Treason Plot had been, -to all eternity, overthrown, frustrated, and brought to nought_.[167] - - - - - CHAPTER LXVII. - - -Hence may we say, of a surety, has it been proved that Edward Oldcorne, -Priest and Jesuit, used words which imply that, as a fact, he viewed the -Plot _ante factum_, before the fact, and in the abstract merely. - -That, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he was good, -he must have had his warranting reasons, his justifying reasons, his -vindicating reasons for so doing, when such a course of action was -obviously likely to be attended with danger from misinterpretation from -both the fool and the knave; from both the man lacking thought and from -the man lacking heart. - -That such warranting reasons, such justifying reasons, such vindicating -reasons would be found in the fact that Oldcorne knew the Plot was no -longer a plot, but a scheme emptied and defecated of all evil, all -murderous, all criminous, all sacrilegious quality. Nay, that it was a -scheme sublimated and transfigured by his (Oldcorne's) own superabounding -merit and virtue in relation to the once diabolical, but then repented of, -prodigious plan. - -Therefore is the inevitable conclusion pressed upon us with resistless -force, that, according to the changeless laws which govern man's -intellectual and moral nature, Oldcorne must have had some _official or -semi-official particular and private knowledge_ of the thirteen Gunpowder -traitors' heinous project, as distinct from and in addition to that merely -personal, general knowledge, which he necessarily cannot have failed to -possess in his capacity of an ordinary English citizen: some professional -or quasi-professional special, private knowledge, as distinct from that -general, public, common knowledge, which every sane man then a subject of -the British Crown could not help not being possessed of, at that very -instant of time when Humphrey Littleton propounded to the great casuist -Humphrey Littleton's aforetime unhappy question.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is quite clear to my mind that Christopher Wright, the -revealing plotter, must have himself expressly freed his confessor from -the obligation to _absolute_ secrecy, which the seal of the Confessional -would impose. It may have been that Oldcorne made this a condition -precedent to his agreeing to pen the Letter. Or, it may have been that -Wright's own strong Catholic instincts and natural sense of justice -suggested the necessity of this course. As already remarked, a natural -secret, that is, a something that is not a sin, which alone forms matter -for Sacramental Confession, may _indirectly_ come under the seal, if the -confessor promises expressly or impliedly to accept the natural secret -under the obligations of the seal. But in Wright's case there could be no -question of his communication being in the nature of a natural secret -protected _indirectly_ by the seal by reason of Oldcorne's promise. And -though _freed_ by the penitent from the duty of absolute secrecy, Oldcorne -would be still under a positive duty _of discretion_.] - -I say advisedly _aforetime unhappy question_. - -For, I respectfully maintain that the ratiocinative faculty to-day, of a -surety, demonstrates that in the majestic cause of impartial, severe, -historical truth, the act of this frail, erring child of man, Humphrey -Littleton, has proved itself now to be thrice happy. - -"_O felix culpa!_" "O happy fault!" Out of bitterness is come forth -sweetness. - -Humphrey Littleton was not pardoned by King James, his Privy Council, and -Government, notwithstanding the invaluable disclosures he had made.[168] - -This high-born English gentleman was executed at Redhill, Worcester, on -the 7th day of April, 1606, along with (among others) another open rebel, -John Winter, the half-brother of Robert Winter and Thomas Winter, the -Gunpowder traitors. - -Humphrey Littleton, we are told by his contemporary, Father John Gerard, -asked forgiveness of Father Oldcorne more than once, and said that he had -wronged him much. - -He also asked forgiveness of Mr. Abington, who, though condemned to death, -was ultimately pardoned at his wife's and Lord Mounteagle's intercession. - -Humphrey Littleton "died with show of great repentance, and so with sorrow -and humility and patient acceptance of his death made amends for his -former frailty and too unworthy desire of life." - -Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach--who had likewise joined in the -rebellion in the Midlands, under Sir Everard Digby, which grew out of the -Gunpowder Plot, although a distinct movement from it, albeit connected -with the Plot--was made a public example of in his native County of -Staffordshire, _in terrorem_, as a terror to evil-doers: this unfortunate -English gentleman suffering the extreme penalty of the law, according to -his contemporary, the aforesaid Father John Gerard, in the ancient town of -Stafford. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVIII. - - -We now come to the second and latter part of Father Oldcorne's Declaration -to Humphrey Littleton, from the whole of which Declaration Littleton drew -the conclusion that Oldcorne answered "the action was good, and seemed to -approve of it."[A] - -[Footnote A: By thus disclaiming knowledge of "_these_"--that is, the -object the plotters had in view in their nefarious Plot, and the means -they purposed having recourse to, to attain their object--Oldcorne -deliberately throws a veil over the full orb of truth. But Littleton might -have discerned, had he taken the trouble so to do, that Oldcorne was -equivocating under a sense of prior obligation; and the clue was afforded -by the person of the speaker and the tenour of the answer itself. In the -former part of the Declaration, by leaving Littleton _in abstracto_, he -had thrown a veil over a portion of the full orb of truth. Just as the -silvery moon, on some tempestuous night, may be first partially obscured, -by a thick, dark, driving cloud, and then afterwards wholly obscured, from -the view of the gazer.] - -"And thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. Catesbie's; it is not to be -approved or condemned by the event, but by the proper object or end, and -means which was to be used in it; _and because I know nothing of thes_, I -will neither approve it or condeme it, but leave it to god and ther owne -consciences, and in this wary sort I spoke to him bycause I doubted he -came to entrap me; and that he should take noe advantage of the words -whither he reported them to Catholics or Protestants."[B] - -[Footnote B: Oldcorne's full answer to Littleton would be, "and because I -know nothing of these [that I am at liberty to tell you, Humphrey -Littleton"]: _these last words being interiorly expressed, perhaps_.] - -Now, in the first place, let it be remembered that these words were spoken -_not before but after_ Wednesday, the 6th of November, when, as Oldcorne -himself has left on record, and which indeed we have seen already, Father -Tesimond came from Coughton to Huddington, and from Huddington to Hindlip; -and when "_he said that there were certain gentlemen that meant to have -blown up the Parliament House, and that their plot was discovered a day or -two before_."[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Oldcorne says that Tesimond reached Hindlip at two -o'clock. Now, as Tesimond came _from_ Huddington, where, already, he had -had an interview with Catesby, the conspirators must have reached -Huddington _before_ two o'clock; probably they reached the mansion-house -at twelve o'clock mid-day. Bates says that Tesimond was at Huddington -half-an-hour; but Jardine says two hours. Query, what does "_Greenway's -MS._" say?] - -Again; Fawkes, we are told by Eudmon-Joannes,[169] explained at the Trial -of the conspirators why the prisoners pleaded "'Not guilty,' which was -that the Indictment contained 'many other matters, which we neither can, -nor ought to countenance by our assent or silence,' though none of them -meant to deny that which they had not only voluntarily confessed before, -_but which was quite notorious throughout the realm_."[170] (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, seeing that Oldcorne told Littleton that "_he knew nothing_" as to -the "_end or object_" the plotters had in their Plot, nor "_the means -which was to be used in it_," when the whole of England, not to say -Europe, had been ringing with a knowledge of _not only the end or object, -but also the means_, for the last past few days, and perhaps weeks, at the -very least, I draw this inevitable conclusion:-- - -That because Oldcorne was a man as morally good as he was intellectually -clever, _he must have met his questioner's inquiry with this nescience, by -reason of some antecedent, official, and professional duty; or, at least, -semi-official and quasi-professional duty, which had been imposed upon -him, ab extra, from the outside, prior in time to Humphrey Littleton's -coming to him to be resolved of his doubts as to the moral rightness or -wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot_.[171] - -In other words, that Oldcorne felt instinctively that he could recognise -in _a private individual, like Humphrey Littleton_, no valid right, title, -claim, or demand to call forth an answer, which might discover or disclose -to Littleton the secret of the repentant Christopher Wright. - -Yea, neither in Justice, nor in Equity, nor in Honour could the grand -Yorkshireman betray to Humphrey Littleton the secret of trust that in a -semi-official, quasi-professional mode or fashion had come to be entrusted -to him by another, as that other's private property and exclusive -possession. - -_That other was Christopher Wright, the penitent revealing plotter, and -whomsoever he had, explicitly or implicitly, willed should share a -knowledge of the mighty secret. But to none other or others beside. And -certainly not to men probably prompted by sinister motives and crooked -aims._ - -For a knowledge of truth in action, truth in the result, truth in the -event, truth in the external, and every other kind of truth in relation to -the Gunpowder[A] Plot, _integral or partial, was irrevocably held in -trust_ by Edward Oldcorne, not for Humphrey Littleton, or the like of him, -but for Christopher Wright and men that were true of heart. - -[Footnote A: THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS: NEITHER CAN A MAN OR A -WOMAN DO EVIL THAT GOOD MAY COME. But Oldcorne would contend that, in -perfect Reason, Truth may be concealed, subject to certain limitations -and, regard being had to person, time, and circumstance, the -clue-affording possibilities; and this whether partial truth or whole -truth, _in pursuance of a prior and superior moral obligation_. And so -would say all modern diplomatists and commanders in the field, however -conscientious and upright they might be, unless they wished to court -defeat, or to give away their Country, and (if justice be meted out to -them) to be cashiered. Now, _unity at all times and in all places must -prevail. For all men are subject to the one Moral Law of Right Reason, and -nowhere will you find men without souls_, notwithstanding that certain -members of the English middle classes sometimes seem to labour under a -delusion to the contrary. - -Equivocation cannot be had recourse to in matters of Contract, nor for -pecuniary gain, nor sordid profit. Remember _that_, O all ye worshippers -of Mammon! For, "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 Reason and -Moral 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 the cause, whether those -witnesses be the parties themselves to the cause, or strangers -"subp[oe]naed" to give testimony therein. Such persons would be justly -punishable for perjury who professed that, when bearing insufficient or -inadequate witness in a Court of Justice by not telling "the whole" truth, -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 copper-coloured, contrary to the primary obligations of -Justice, which bid man render unto _all men_ their due. Nor with reference -to Divine Truth can equivocation be used. (Hence the piteous absurdity of -the Royal Declaration against Popery.) - -By 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. Such a -person equivocates by pleading "_not guilty_." - -_Because_ I believe the ethical doctrine which justifies equivocation, -when properly taught, to be true and not false, _and because_ I -furthermore believe that, in the interests of my Country and of Humanity -at large, it is of practical consequence, as well as mentally salutary, -that a knowledge of equivocation, its foundation principles, extents, and -limitations, should be "understanded" by all those that have the -guardianship of the People, whether in the senate, in the field, or at -sea, _therefore_, I have requested one, who has a competent mastery of the -subject, to explain the matter to my readers. This has been kindly done in -a letter, which will be found in Supplementum VI. For "_Melius petere -fontes_," the jurist as well as the poet has it. "_Better is it to have -recourse to the fountain-head._" - -The philosophical explanation of the fact that, under the pressure of -necessity, certain combatants can and do exhibit in action at the theatre -of war the highest strategetical skill, in spite of their knowing nothing -of the scientific doctrine of equivocation, springs from the law of reason -that, as a rule, _doing_ is the condition precedent _to knowing_; -experience to cognition. See Ferrier's "_Institutes of Metaphysic_" -(Blackwood), p.15.] - -This 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." - -The Jesuit could never that trust, that confidence betray. If needs be, he -must be "true till death." For it was not necessary that he should live. -But it was necessary that he should live undishonoured. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIX. - - -Again; to all those that are "knowing" enough, the facts of this woeful -tragedy "observingly" to "distil out," the form and substance of this -document of the 12th March, 1605-6, under the hand of Edward Oldcorne, -alike afford evidence--conclusive evidence--that Father Oldcorne regarded -the Gunpowder conspirators as repentant conspirators, through the virtual -_representative_ repentance of one of their own number. - -And though it is true that, by the inexorable decree of the Universe, "The -Guilty suffer," each man for himself and not another, temporal punishment, -searching, terrible, and keen, yet this is not the whole of the truth -governing the perfected ethics of the matter. For "Man learns by -suffering." And guilt is pardoned on repentance, that is, on the -observance and on the performance of certain equally decreed conditions. - -These conditions are (1) confession, (2) contrition, which implies sorrow -and regret, and (3) satisfaction or "damages," which involves amendment, -withdrawal, or reversal. And when all three conditions have been observed -and performed, then - - "Whoso with repentance is not satisfied, - Neither to earth nor heaven is allied." - -Hence, could the great moralist, by a _complexus_ of intellectual acts, -personal and vicarious, justly regard the whole band of plotters as -transgressors released from the abstract guilt of their double crime. For -it is a dictate of reason that the release of one joint debtor operates -derivatively to the release, _ipso facto_, of all the rest. - -Now, if Oldcorne possessed a conscious realization that, through the -_repentance, personal and representative_, of the Gunpowder plotters, that -Plot was no longer a plot, then, to speak after the manner of men, he must -have had that realization as the resultant of two particular kinds, -aspects, or sides of _knowledge: ab extra_, from without, that is, passive -knowledge, or communicated, in the _first_ step; and _ab intra_, from -within, that is, knowledge active, or self-bestowed, in the _second_ step. - -Now, both passive knowledge and active knowledge here would imply, in the -final analysis, a communication by some external mental agency, the agency -of some living, intelligent being. - -It would be implied in the first case, directly; in the second case, -indirectly. But, directly or indirectly, the source would be the same. - -Now, who can that aforesaid living, intelligent being, which reason -demands, have been, if not _a repentant plotter himself_? - -Therefore, by irresistible inference, the Letter is surely, with moral -certitude, traced home at last. - - - - - CHAPTER LXX. - - -Father Edward Oldcorne was racked in the Tower of London, "five times, and -once with the utmost severity for several hours,"[172] in order that, -haply, information might be extracted from him that would prove him to be -possessed of a guilty knowledge of the Plot. But this princely soul had -nothing of that kind to tell, so that King James and his Counsellors -wreaked their lawless severity in vain.[A] - -[Footnote A: Torture, for the purpose of drawing evidence from a prisoner, -was contrary to the Law of England. Brother Ralph Ashley, the servant of -Father Oldcorne, who, I maintain, carried the warning Letters to Father -Henry Garnet and Lord Mounteagle, was tortured, but without revealing -anything apparently. Brother Nicholas Owen, the great maker of priests' -hiding-places and secret chambers in the castles, manor-houses, and halls -of the old English Catholic gentry, was tortured with great severity; but -he, too, seems to have revealed nothing. Owen "died in their hands," but -whether he was tortured to death or committed suicide in the Tower is a -mystery to this day. One would like to see this mystery bottomed.] - -On the 7th day of April, 1606, at Redhill, one mile from the City of -Worcester, on the London Road, "the silver cord was loosed, the golden -bowl was broken, the pitcher was crushed at the fountain, the wheel was -broken on the cistern." For on that day, at that spot, the happy spirit of -Edward Oldcorne mounted far, far beyond the fading things of time and -space.[173] - -It may be objected that Father John Gerard's relation of the last dying -speech and confession of the great Jesuit Priest and Martyr is hostile to -the hypothesis that Oldcorne penned the great Letter, "_Litter -Felicissim_." - -Gerard's reported words are these; but, I contend, we have no absolute -proof that they are the _ipissima verba_ of Father Oldcorne, though he may -have uttered some of these words, and something resembling them in the -case of the others.--See Gerard's "_Narrative_" p. 275. - -"He declared unto the people that he came thither to die for the Catholic -faith and the practice of his function, seeing that they neither had, nor -could prove anything against him which, even by their own laws, was -sufficient to condemn him, but that he was a Priest of the Society of -Jesus, wherein he much rejoiced, and was ready and desirous to give his -life for the profession of that faith which he had taught many years in -that very country, and which it was necessary for everyone to embrace that -would save their souls.[174] _Then being asked again about the treason and -taking part with the conspirators_, he protested there again that he never -had the least knowledge of the treason, and took it upon his death that he -was as clear as the new-born child from the whole plot or any part -thereof. Then commending his soul, with great devotion, humility, and -confidence, into the hands of God and to the Blessed Virgin, St. Jerome, -St. Winifred, and his good Angel, he was turned off the ladder, and -hanging awhile, was cut down and quartered, and so his innocent and -thrice-happy soul went to receive the reward of his many and great -labours." (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER LXXI. - - -Now, in the first place, it is to be noticed that Father Oldcorne made the -special disclaimer of ever having had the least knowledge of the Plot only -_after being asked again about the treason and taking part with the -conspirators_. - -My respectful submissions to the judgment of my candid readers, therefore, -are these:-- - -First, that we have no exact, that is, no scientific, proof[175] that -Father Oldcorne, as a fact, employed these _precise words_. - -And, secondly, that, even if he did so employ them, what he meant to -convey to his hearers' mind by the words was, I maintain, that he had no -criminal, no traitorous knowledge of the ruthless Gunpowder enterprise; -or, in other words, _no guilty knowledge, no knowledge that his King and -his fellow-subjects had any right, title, claim, or demand, in Reason, -Justice, Equity, or Honour, to obtain or to wring from him_. - -For "_Qui prior est tempore potior est jure_." "He who is first in time is -the stronger in point of right." - -Again; "There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than -Parliament or King." And that is the Human Conscience, instructed by Truth -and Justice. _Her_ rights are invincible and eternally sacred. - -Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne "followed Ralph, his faithful -follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great -devotion and fervour, as may be guessed by this one action of his; for -whilst Father Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing himself 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 his -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 God, was turned off the ladder and -changed this life for a better."--See Gerard's "_Narrative_," pp. 27, -5276.[176] - -Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 269 of his "_Narrative_," as we -have seen already, that "Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed -that one might see they much 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 Relation, or that of anybody else, what -offences were proved against him. Probably, 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 Rome as possible; (2) on his -providing, through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for Robert -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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The reason why 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 the -Government, in the hope of getting a respite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and -Oldcorne, were being concealed at Hindlip. - -Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable -Anne Vaux, on the 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the -last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne, together with the -lay-brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by -Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, a Worcestershire magistrate, in -pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The -captives were all four solemnly conveyed to the Tower of London. Miss Vaux -was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. This -unconquerable lady seems to have "come to her grave in a full age, like as -a shock of corn cometh in in its season." For, as late as the year 1635, -we find her name being reported to the Privy Council of Charles I., for -helping certain Jesuits to carry on a school for the education of the sons -of the English Catholic nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley -Grange, about six miles from Derby.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXXII. - - -Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his -lawful Sovereign that he had been (_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 the 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. - -First, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling -Thomas Ward, in some way 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, _by virtue and as a -result of the releasing act of his Penitent_, Christopher Wright, had -come, _practically_, to _receive a knowledge 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 -Confessional, _sigillum confessionis_--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 way, 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"[A]--Edward Oldcorne -had been taught long years ago "_to adjust his compass at the -Cross_."[177][178] - -[Footnote A: Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 204.] - -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, which 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. - -Father 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 Ashley "was indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had 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. - - - - - 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 Inquiry, my own -opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart -to his connection, 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, undertook 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 Hoby[179] 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 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 Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle - did, and concealed it ... - - "Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; _and Ward - walketh up and down_."[180] (The italics are mine.) - -Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward "walked up 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 we 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 Government were very much obligated to the -gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker -fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it_.[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the -name "Thomas Warde" from time to time in the "_Household Books of Lord -William Howard_" (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to -think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire -Jesuit, who was _socius_, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and -subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by -the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord -William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde -(or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of -Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile -from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled -down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now -Castle Howard. Fryton 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, R.N., of -Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of -Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.] - -From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have -already learned, a payment of 700 a year, equal to nearly 7,000 a year -in our money.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Mounteagle's reward was 300 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 first and only means" the -Government had to discover that "most wicked and barbarous Plot." -Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The title Lord Morley and -Mounteagle 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 Mounteagle 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.] - -But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of -Donne,[B] and other wits of the once far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread -Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still -insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the -young peer's honour, the following stately epigram:-- - -[Footnote B: John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean -of St. Paul's, and author of the once well-known "_Pseudo-Martyr_," which -Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For 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 Rheims to study for the -priesthood, in consequence of the impression made upon him by Campion, who -was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount St. John; -Campion there wrote his famous "_Decem Rationes_." 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 Harsnett's "_Popish Impostures_," a -book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Guy Fawkes, -through Guy's paternal grandmother, Ellen Harrington, of York.] - -"TO WILLIAM LORD MOUNTEAGLE. - - "Lo, what my country should have done (have raised - An obelisk, or column to thy name; - Or if she would but modestly have praised - Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same). - I, that am glad of thy great chance, here do! - And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds, - Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too, - But thine: for which I do't, so much exceeds! - My country's parents I have many known; - But saver of my country, thee alone." - - - - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENT, 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 _pleaded_ 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 Yorkshiremen._ - -(6) Ralph Ashley was the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord -Mounteagle's page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier -arrived. - -_Perhaps a Yorkshireman._ - -(7) Mounteagle 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 Winter, 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. - -(9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapworth when the Letter was delivered, -and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas Winter some little -time subsequent to the delivery 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 conspiracy." - -(16) 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 Littleton, after November 5th. - -(18) Hence, the facts _both before and after_ the delivery of the Letter -are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by -this Inquiry to be proved. - -(19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright displayed a strangely marked -disposition to "hang about" the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, _after_ -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 scriptum_ of 21st -October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father -Garnet to Father Parsons, in Rome[A]: "This letter being returned unto me -again, FOR REASON OF A FRIEND'S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted out some words -purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do -apart:"--The word "stay" here being used to signify "check." _Cf._, -Shakespeare's "King John," II., 2: and see Glossary to Globe Edition -(Macmillan). - -[Footnote A: This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the -archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 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, S.J., thought they had not. But on this 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. - -Father Morris contends that for Father 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 first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general -particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605_, was a very -weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the -most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of -eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying -circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons. - -I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James'-tide), Garnet had, -by way of confession, the _general particulars_ of the Plot, because I -think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at -Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, -after the return from St. Winefrid's Well, in Flintshire, Wales. - -It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, -Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in -consequence of Garnet's sending for Tesimond _after_ he (Garnet) had -received "_the friend's stay in the way_." For the old tradition was that -Garnet _first_ had particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about -the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard's "_History_.") -But, of course, this was an error by _three months_, Garnet first -receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of -July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on "_Garnet -after the 21st October, 1605_," but at present I have not space to pursue -this matter further.)] - - - - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. - - GUY FAWKES. - -The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in -the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster's "_Yorkshire Families_," under -Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley. - -Guy's grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady, -Ellen Harrington.[A] - -[Footnote A: Ellen Harrington's father was Lord Mayor of York, in the -reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.] - -William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop -of York, and died between the years 1558-1565. - -William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters--Thomas Fawkes, 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 was the mother of four children--two sons and two -daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man's estate, and this was the -hapless Guy. - -(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guy _possibly may_ -have had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in -November, 1605.) - -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 the north side, adjoining -the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at -Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates' tradition. -But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing. - -My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in -York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City's -antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, -that in old Thomas Gent's "_Rippon_" (1733) there is mention made of -Bishopthorpe as being Guy's birthplace. Gent says, "The house opposite the -church[A] is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux." - -[Footnote A: _I.e._, the _old_ Bishopthorpe Church. The present -Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the -entrance to the village from York.] - -Mr. Camidge continues: "I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of -the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that 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 that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was -born in the 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. Elz has pointed out in his "_Life -of Shakespeare_," a child would be _baptized on the third day after -birth_. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe -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 much 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 -the 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. - -Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in -York's antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert -Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, 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, 1901, 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 years ago I was working at the same house when an - old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house - where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and - watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the - Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house. - - "It is an Elizabethan[A] 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." - -[Footnote A: In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, -tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is -descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, -the father of "the Venerable" Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered -martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder -Plot was hatched.] - -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, 1578-9. About -twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen's thrice hapless -child--by nature a tall, athletic man, but then, by 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 second 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 Roman Catholics, and their names (along -with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in -Peacock's "_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire 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 impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a -creature of circumstances. - -Yorkshire abounded in Roman 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 Ripon. -And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen had suffered a bloody death for -their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and -Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at -such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes.--See -Challoner's "_Missionary Priests_" and Pollen's "_Acts of the English -Martyrs_," already frequently referred to. - -["The Venerable" martyrs, Robert 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, "O 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." -His society was "sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes' -camp for nobility 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, _in 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 what? - -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 was -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' "_Fawkeses, of -York_," 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 "hered" from his own father, Edward -Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York. - -In "_The 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 most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in -York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told -me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in "_The Connoisseur_" of the -"Conveyance" is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw _more than -half a century ago_. - -The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (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 Otley. One -branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which, -embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from -Harrogate,[A] through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. 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 Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_." - -[Footnote A: How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright, -balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from -all sides the traveller's eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in -the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the -left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!] - -Flower's "Pedigree" shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried -with the Ruddes, of Killinghall; 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 and all old Yorkshire Catholic -gentry. - -Flower also shows in his "Pedigree" of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that -James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, 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 William, both Roman -Catholic priests. - -The "_Douay Registers_" (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained -priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He -was educated at Cardinal Allen's[A] 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 with her -spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret -Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of -1586. - -[Footnote A: Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during -the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of -Rossall, near Blackpool.] - -In 1578 the College of Douay was 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 _postea_ where -Reims is mentioned in connection with the popish missionary priests it -was then sending forth into the City of York.[A] - -[Footnote A: Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield, -Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th -May, 1901, that from the _inq. post mortem_ the above-named Walter Pulleyn -died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before -his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock's -"_List for 1604_") was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to -have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish -recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. -(Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles -Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr. -Thrackray.)] - -There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is -pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, 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 Roman 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 Wetherby, -where dwelt the family of Roos, 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 handwriting 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[A]--must have visited, I -opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe -(where had been in medival 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.[B] - -[Footnote A: "_The Connoisseur._"] - -[Footnote B: Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border -Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died.--See "_Sir -Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.] - -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 Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the -Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see _ante_). The Ribston branch of -the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century--Sir Harry -Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and -Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near -Knaresbrough. - -From _"The Fawkes Family of York."_ - - This Indenture 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 Faith, - &c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of - Yorke gentilman 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 farme letten, and by theis presentes doth demyse - graunt and to farme lett, unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one - barne and one garth on the backside of the said barn, with the - appertenaunces, scytuate lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the - suburbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half - of one acre of arrable lande, 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 - Newe-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 afforesaid, 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 holde the said barne, garth, three - acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre - of medowe, and all other the premisses, with all and singuler - the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto - the sayd Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, from the - feast of St. Martyne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, - nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of - twentye and one yeres from 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 Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie - and two shillinges of lawfull 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 - demaunded, by even and equall 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 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 term of twenty and one - yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged, - or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe - his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases, - grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the - rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis - presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley, - 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 seales - the daye and yere above written. - - GUYE FAWKES. L.S. - - Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us--DIONIS - BAYNEBRIGGE--JOHN JACKSON--CHRISTOPHER HODGSON'S marke - -This Indenture maide the firste daie 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, &c. Betwene Guye -Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne -Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other -partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of -the sum of xxix^{li} xiij^{s} iiij^{d} of good and lawfull English moneye -to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewlie contentid and paid by the -said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, -whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie -satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and -dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened -bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye -geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir -heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the -appurtenaunces, 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 liinge 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 adjoyninge 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 Clifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in -the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the -Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a -hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, 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 appurtenaunces to the same -perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid -grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid -to one Cristofer Lumleye 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 Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date -the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our -Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; -together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge -and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, 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 -deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie 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 solld (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 same, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her -heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, -for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and -graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, -the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said -messuage tenement and farme-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 -perteyninge 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 lawfull 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 -appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, -and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand -clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the -said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all -former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, -feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, -writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, -forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and -all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and -services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely -exceptid. And also the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores -and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne -Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward -Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese -Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, -which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to -the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, -interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of -for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie 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 premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, -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, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or -vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or -otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by 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 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. - -Seallid and delyverid in the presence of--GEORGE HOBSON--WILLIAM -MASKEWE--LANCELOT BELT--THOMAS HESLEBECKE--CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE--IHON LAMB -marke --JOHN HARRISON--JOHN CALV'LEY. - -Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit -Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor' generosus et Edetha uxor -ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium -Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et -heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye -de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor' spynster in sua plena pacificaque -possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et -assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et -demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu -quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio -sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel -selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor' -predicto ac de et in una roda terr arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in -campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et -terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terr jacente in -les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram -Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terr jacente in Longwandilles inter -terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali et terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terr jacente -inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte -australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terr jacente in lez -shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram -nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington -buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti -Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terr jacente in Lupstone Carre in le -Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris -prati jacentibus in fine 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 Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in -tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra -terr et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel -nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis -terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes -generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terr cum pertinentiis in campis de -Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone -modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), -ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum -uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis -seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, -titulum, clameum, usum, interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio -sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel -selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton -et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde -parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, -clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni -actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde -habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde -penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius -Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes 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 -heredes 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^{mo} die -mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe 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 GRANGE--JAMES RYDING. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. - - HATFIELD MSS.--Part VI. - - [Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil. - -1596, 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[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: This letter will be read with interest, as affording -independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester -during the period of Father Oldcorne's labours.] - -Besides, Warwick[B] 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. - -[Footnote B: This is interesting as showing that in the native county of -Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the -influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and -Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.] - -How weak ordinary authority is to do any good on either sort long -experience hath taught me, excommunication 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,[A] as in other places of like importance is used, I will -do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the -uttermost of my power. - -[Footnote A: Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.] - -First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions; -next, by 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 further 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 please you to acquaint her -Majesty; I will render you all due thanks, 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 Recusants in Worcester -diocese:-- - - The Lady Windsor, with her retinue. - M^{r} 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^{r} 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. - Rowse Woolmer, gent. - John Woolmer gent. of Kingston. - M^{r} 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. - 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 wife of John Jeffreys gent. - Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent. - Mary wife 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. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. - - THOMAS WARD. - -It is probable that diligent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers -will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or Warde) than I have been able -hitherto to gain. - -The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was -a younger son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, and Susannay, his wife. That -Marmaduke Ward'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 VIII. -after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (1536). - -Thomas Ward was just the sort of man (_me judice_) that Queen Elizabeth -would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John Ward was on the side of -the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, commonly -called the Rising of the North, or the Earls' Rebellion (1569). - -Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir Ralph Sadler, who was a -distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a -Yorkshire gentleman, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, -would have no difficulty in obtaining an _entre_ at Elizabeth's Court, -who, as is well known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct -probably, favourably inclined to those Catholics whose leaning was -towards the easy side of things.[A] - -[Footnote A: See "_Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. -It is observable that although the Nortons and the Markenfields were for -the Earls, yet members of the following Yorkshire Catholic Families (many -of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who was not then -excommunicated:--The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables, -the Tempests, the Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the Ellerkers, and the -Wilstroppes. - -For these Families and their alliances see the "_Visitations of -Yorkshire_," by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe. -Also "_Dugdale_" (Surtees).] - -Now, if Thomas Ward became a member of Elizabeth's diplomatic service -under 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 say, yet I am constrained to allow that the following -two pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many -possibilities:-- - -HATFIELD MSS.--Part VI., p. 96. - -Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots. - -1585, Mar. 30./Ap. 9. Informs her of his apprehension at the request of -the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward's negotiation to procure his being delivered -up into England. Requires 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 was a Catholic of a -sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a -Ward, of Ripon and York, was the very man the subtle Walsingham would -employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of -Morgan's intellectual and moral characteristics; for Ward most likely had -known Morgan at York.] - - * * * * * - -Thirteen years later we find the name "Ward" again in the "_Hatfield -MSS._" - - HATFIELD MSS.--Part VIII., p. 295. - -1598 Aug. 4. Steven Rodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to -Italy to go over to accompany M^{r} 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 _Ward_ M^{r} Paget's, solicitor, because I refused to -carry his[A] letters that was so lately "jested" with high treason, and -might father all the faults I am charged with." - -[Footnote A: Whose letters? Paget's or Ward's?] - -[Who or what Mr. Steven Rodwey was, 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 -Morgan, 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.] - -But here, for the present, we must 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 "_Household Books of -Lord William Howard_," as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates.[A]--See Note to p. 231 _ante_. - -[Footnote A: The Rev. A. S. 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 Churchyard, perhaps may have -had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable -that there should have been Wards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of -James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas Ward, 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 Ward. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire, -the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no -such tradition. (I am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September, -1901.)] - -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 "_Household Books of Lord William -Howard_" (Surtees 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, which makes mention of the name Ward; but whether or not -that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon, I cannot say:-- - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--ELIZ., Vol. ccxxxviii., 126 I. - A. D. 1591. - - Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the - permission of these maters followinge - -Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye communion at which time -he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he -excepteth sume particuler persones whose names are under written and of -them taketh money. - -M^{r} Wardes[A] Two daughters. - -M^{r} Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M^{ris} Marye and a man -called Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money -and in my knowledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx^{s} in -goulde. - -M^{r} Saunders and his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money. - -Besides M^{ris} Gerrat being delivered of a doughter aboute Twoe yeares -since he did forbeare to cristen yt beinge 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. - -[Footnote A: What Mr. Warde can this have been? Not Thomas Ward (or -Warde), of Mulwith, I think. For the presumption is that he had no -children, for none are registered at Ripon Minster; 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 much more than the latter. Moreover, in 1591 any daughters -that Thomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age. -His wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.)] - - * * * * * - -Norris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse -and Norris hath receved in ye way of borrowinge of sume V^{s} of others -more. But Watson by vertue of a comission from my L. of Cant. hath latly -serched Gerates house and M^{r} Wardes where he found nothinge at all they -being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M^{r} Wardes house -theire did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye stares within -a nayled boarde divers bookes [not 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 amungst 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 theyre -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. - -[On p. 76 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is stated that the first -Lord Mounteagle's mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Richard -Neville, the King-maker. But I find that, under "Stanley," in Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," Ed. by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc.), _the great -grandfather_ of Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, namely, Thomas Lord -Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to Richard Nevell Earl -of Salisbury. _Their_ son is given as George Lord Stanley; _his_ son as -Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby; and _his_ son as Edward Stanley first -Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas -Vaughan, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle. - -But the "_National Dictionary of Biography_" (under "Stanley Earl of -Derby") says that Eleanor Countess of Derby (_ne_ 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 Vaux of Harrowden was a descendant of Sir Thomas More. - -But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady -Vaux of Harrowden, was _only distantly connected_ with Sir Thomas More. -For she was descended from _Christopher_ Roper, a younger brother of -William Roper, who 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.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GIVENDALE, NEWBY, AND MULWITH, - ANCIENTLY IN THE CHAPELRY OF SKELTON, IN THE PARISH OF RIPON, IN - THE WEST RIDING OF THE COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Sunday, the 22nd 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York and Apostle of Sussex -(634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle -of Holland.] - -"Hail, smiling morn!" 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 the most part, no longer to 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, -the golden celandine, who are pre-eminently faithful watchers by the -dead. For steadfastly will _they_ remain watching until the daybreak of an -endless day.[A] - -[Footnote A: This exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the daughter, it -will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and, -consequently, the niece of Christopher Wright and, I maintain, of Thomas -Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Lord Mounteagle. Mary Ward -died at the old Manor House, Heworth, on the 20th January, 1645-46, and is -buried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but -touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing number of her -admirers, Protestant and 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 poore, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise with -them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived 60 years and 8 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; I hope; I love"). The Rev. -F. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the -gravestone of Mary Ward with the most commendable care.] - -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 Ripon, I 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 Ure, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale, -flows through Ripon; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and laving -"the green fields of England," in front of Mulwith, hurries on towards -Boroughbridge; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and -Swale, the Ouse[A] is formed, that majestic flood, 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. - -[Footnote A: The winding Nidd, 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.] - -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 the blood,"[B] - -[Footnote B: Tennyson's "In Memoriam."] - -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 Ph[oe]bus in his strength."[C] - -[Footnote C: Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale."--Shakespeare may have possibly -known, or at least heard of, Father John Gerard, 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 carefully study -the "_Spiritual Combat_." It will repay his pains. - -Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that prison -along with Gerard during the night of 8th 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 the mysterious -Somerville-Arden-Hall 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 Wilmcote, his wife's -family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, were of -the 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 Wilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall -(both in Warwickshire), 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 the England of "Good Queen Bess"--and of -every other England too.] - -Yea, before my mind's eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding -towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to west, and -from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan -gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Ripon spurs; aye, and of -Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated -gown. - -Sometimes 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 equipped externally as they. The breviary, -crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy, lay concealed -within the last-named'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 my 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 the gate leading to the dwelling-house -to-day known as Givendale--that historic name. The old hall 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 VIII., -describes it as "a fair manor place of stone." Lovely views does Givendale -command of the valley of the Ure,[A] looking westward towards the sister -valleys of the Nidd and Wharfe and Aire. - -[Footnote A: Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the -reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards' principal seat near Ripon; -for Sir Simon Ward is described as of "Givendale and Esholt." Esholt is in -the Parish 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 Hawkesworths, of Mitton, near Clitheroe.] - -A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me -the way to Skelton, Newby, 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 faithful following towards the south-east of the high road, running -parallel with the woods of Newby on my right, brought me in due course to -Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the -West Riding of Yorkshire. - -I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of -Newby 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 year, "after long imprisonment," it is probable -that Marmaduke Ward--though not Elizabeth, his wife, nor Mary, nor any of -his other children--"against his conscience" went to hear 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 lunar month by way of fine for -"popish recusancy."[A] - -[Footnote A: This would be about 160 in our money. Thirteen of these -payments in one year would amount to about 2,080. Father Richard Holtby, -S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided Mary Ward's -"vocation" in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, London, after Marmaduke Ward had -been released from his brief captivity in Warwickshire. (See "_Life of -Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 89.) Holtby speaks of Mary as "my daughter -Warde." Now, Father Holtby, of Fryton, near Hovingham, has recorded that -"after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, Westmoreland, no -doubt], _Mr. Warde_, Mr. Trollope [of Thornley, in the County of Durham, -no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Brandsby, 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 "_Troubles_," third series, p. 76.) This would be -in the years 1593-94-95, or previously. Peacock's "_List_" for 1604, under -"Ripon," gives "Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward," _but ominously no_ -Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like his relative Sir William Wigmore, -Marmaduke Ward, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish -church (contrary to what he deemed "the highest and best") perhaps once or -twice a year. Poor fellow! 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 Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a -grand structure, having been designed by Sir Christopher Wren about the -year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial Church, 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in Westminster Abbey, one of -his beautiful and pathetic "Laments," after the sorrowful tidings reached -England that this fine young Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed -into the world of the "Unseen Perfectness."] - -One mile from Newby is Mulwith.[A] It is reached by what evidently has -been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses. - -[Footnote A: R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most -Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., of Studley Royal, Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and -Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Ripon, and can be also -reached from Boroughbridge.] - -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 Ripon, at the present day. -There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, we know from the "_Life of -Mary Ward_." And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and -never afterwards rebuilt.[B] - -[Footnote B: Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see _ante_, p. 59). -Among her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or to -her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each -respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those -names.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vols. i. and ii.] - -To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof. -It is a two-storied, six-windowed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and -orchards all adjoining.[C] - -[Footnote C: My friend Mr. Renfric Oates, 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 "_Life of Mary -Ward_," by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), 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 the famous pictures in the -Painted Life is one representing Mary, at the age of thirteen, making her -first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidderdale. (I visited Harewell -Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Ripley, as in the days of -Mary Ward, on Wednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown -round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The River Nidd flows at the -foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.)] - -In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient days, the historic -waters of the Ure.[A] On almost every side the eye is gladdened with -woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that "sylvan scenery which -never palls."[B] - -[Footnote A: 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 River Ure, then swollen high through -February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many a -long day. (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy -catastrophe took place, and well does he remember the grief depicted on -the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad -disaster.)] - -[Footnote B: Lord Beaconsfield.] - -Hence, at last I was come to my journey's end. For I had reached Mulwith, -or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Ripon, whereof "Thomas Warde" is described, -who married M'gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York, -on the 29th day of May, 1579. - -Mrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly conducted me round the place -once more; for I 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 high, "for tears." - -"_Many waters cannot quench Love; neither can the floods drown it._" - - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GREAT PLOWLAND (ANCIENTLY PLEWLAND), IN - THE PARISH OF WELWICK, HOLDERNESS, IN THE EAST RIDING OF THE - COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happiness of -accomplishing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a -visit to Great Plowland (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 Riding 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 1605, the second year of the reign of James I., King of England, -Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and predecessor of our own -Most Gracious King Edward VII. Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred -Imperial Monarch: and in Justice may his house be established for ever![A] - -[Footnote A: How full of happy augury for the future of our Empire was the -fine speech of His Royal 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 shores, after their -historic sojourning, during the year 1901, in His Majesty's loyal -Dominions beyond the seas.] - -The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland) -somewhat 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, maybe, 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[A] was the Sir -Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all -Nations and all Time. - -[Footnote A: The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with -Homer and Dante, as one of the world's three Poet-Kings.] - -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 Walsingham, the Earl of -Leicester, Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the ill-fated Robert -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 with the historic imagination alone for the -sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time; of -Christopher Wright, who 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,[A] 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 6th -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.[B] - -[Footnote A: The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman.] - -[Footnote B: 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.] - -Soon was the compact made that that very evening, ere darkness came on, -"mine host" should drive me to the site of where John Wright and -Christopher Wright first beheld the light of the sun. (In view of the fact -that the circumstantial evidence to-day available tends to prove that -Christopher Wright was the repentant conspirator who revealed the Plot and -so saved King James I., his 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 1580, 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 Burnham, of -Plowland House, came forward, and, with frank, pleasant courtesy, never to -be forgotten, assured me that I was at liberty to see the place where the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, had lived when -boys. - -I alighted from my vehicle, and being joined by Miss Burnham, sister to -Mr. Burnham, the owner of the estate, we all three examined the evident -traces of the moat, the remains of what must have been 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 Richard -Wright, Esq., of Knaith, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. One of that -gentleman's descendants is _Robert Wright_ Burnham, the eldest brother to -the present owner of Plowland and his sister. The name _Richard_ Wright is -found in the Register of Christenings at Ripon Minster, under date 29th -March, 1599, as the son of one _John_ Wright, of _Skelton_.] - -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 Welwick. A short survey of this characteristically East Riding -Yorkshire village and its grey old Gothic church in its grave-yard, where -John and Christopher Wright were christened, no doubt, brought the -historical travels and explorations of Monday, May 6th, 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 Guilty suffer,' but -also_ once the home of some of the supremely excellent of the earth. -Farewell, Plowland, where Mary 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 Mulwith, 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 -VIII., owing to John Wright, 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). Robert 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 Nidderdale, and the -Markenfields, of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, to mention none others -beside.[A][B][C][D] (This is shown by the Ripon Registers.) - -[Footnote A: The Most Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., Viceroy of -India (1880-85), and the Most Honourable the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., -are akin to John Wright and Christopher Wright, through the Mallories of -Studley Royal.] - -[Footnote B: The Right Honourable the Lord Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, -is akin to the Wrights, through his ancestor, Francis Norton, the eldest -son of brave old Richard Norton; the Mallories; the Inglebies; and many -others.] - -[Footnote C: Sir Henry Day Ingilby, Bart., of Ripley Castle, is likewise -akin to the Wrights, the Winters, and indeed to almost all the other -ill-fated plotters. I may mention also that Sir Henry is likewise related -to the exalted Mary Ward, who (as was the case with her great kinswoman -and friend, Lady Grace Babthorpe) lived at "lovely Ripley" in her -childhood, with the Inglebies of that day, on more than one occasion, as -we find recorded in Mary's "_Life_."] - -[Footnote D: At Grantley a John Wright resided in the time of Elizabeth. -He was probably brother to Robert Wright, the father of John and -Christopher Wright. Grantley Hall nestles in a leafy hollow of surpassing -beauty. The swift, gentle, little River 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.] - -Robert Wright (the second Wright who owned Plowland) had been married -before his marriage to Ursula Rudston. His first wife's name was Anne -Grimstone. She was a daughter of Thomas Grimstone, Esquire, of Grimstone -Garth. Robert Wright and Anne Grimstone had one son who "heired" Plowland. -His name was William Wright. He married Ann Thornton, of East Newton, in -Rydale, a lady who was related to many old Rydale and Vale of Mowbray -families in the North Riding 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Mass was said at Ness Hall, near Hovingham, not far from East -Newton, during the early part of the nineteenth century. _I think_ that -this was owing to the old Catholic family of Crathorne owning Ness 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 Established Church.] - -William Wright was half-brother to Ursula Ward, the wife of Marmaduke -Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Ripon, 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 Charles I. William Wright (or Wryght, as the -name is spelt on the brass in Welwick Church) was also half-brother to the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, who were slain at -Holbeach House, Staffordshire, a few days after the capture of Guy Fawkes -by Sir Thomas Knevet, early in the morning of November 5th, 1605. - -The late Rev. John Stephens, Rector of Holgate, York, and formerly Vicar -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, the Wrights, Fawkes, and Tesimond were old -school-fellows at St. Peter's School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, -York,[A] which had been re-founded by Philip and Mary, who likewise -founded the present Grammar School at Ripon. - -[Footnote A: John Wright, Christopher Wright, Guy Fawkes, and Oswald -Tesimond must have many a time and oft passed through Bootham Bar, leading -towards Clifton, Skelton, and Easingwold, along the great North Road. And -besides the King's Manor to the left of Bootham Bar, Queen Margaret's -Gateway, named after Queen Margaret (grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), -must have been to them all a thrice-familiar object. Queen Margaret, it -will be remembered, was wife to King James IV. of Scotland, who fell at -Flodden Field in 1513, fighting against the forces of the brother of the -Scots' Queen, King Henry VIII. - -In 1516, Henry VIII. invited his widowed sister to London, "and good Queen -Katerine sent her own white palfrey" for her poor sister-in-law's "use." -On this memorable occasion the bereaved daughter of King Henry VII., -through whom His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII., 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 northern -capital.--See Dr. Raine's "_York_" (Longmans), p. 98. - -In the month of July, 1900, at the Treasurer's House, on the north side of -the Minster, our Most Gracious Sovereign and His Beloved Consort (then the -Prince and Princess of Wales) together with the present Prince and -Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of York), graciously -sojourned for a brief season: an event memorable and historic even in the -proud annals of the second city of the British Empire.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. - - St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, - Blackburn, 5th October, 1901. - -... You are quite correct in saying 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, whether 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 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 are circumstances in which words -must be used that are _prim 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, which -estimates Right and Wrong _merely_ by the consequences of an action. The -peripatetic philosopher, on the other hand, who maintains the _intrinsic_ -moral character of certain actions, and who holds _mordicus_ 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 _Equivocation_--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 affair. - -"_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 phrase rather than the second, or _vice vers_. - -No sensible man would consider a prisoner to be "lying" in his 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 _legal_, innocence. Yet the plea may mean either both or -only the latter. - -Similarly, an impertinent ferretter-out of an important secret needs -blame none but himself if he conceives the answer "_No_" to intimate -anything else than that he should mind his own business. - -As to such _facts_ there is, I should say, an overwhelming 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 upon the not inapt one of -_Equivocation_. - -The malice of lying consists, according to Utilitarian Philosophy, in the -destruction of that mutual confidence which is so absolutely necessary for -the proper maintenance and development of civilized life. But the -Scholastic, while fully 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 -formula:--The first would define a lie as "_speaking with intent to -deceive_;" whereas the second defines it "_speaking contrary to one's -thought_" (_locutio contra mentem_), even where there is no hope (and -therefore no intent) of actual deception. The latter is clearly the -stricter view, yet very closely allied with, and supplementing, the -former. For we may perhaps say with Cardinal de Lugo--and _ la_ -Kant--that the malice of the discrepancy mentioned above lies in the -self-contradiction which results in the liar, between his inborn desire -for the trust of his fellow-men 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 mutual confidence, such malice -cannot exist. An enemy, a burglar, a lunatic, an impudent questioner, -etc., are, _in their distinguishing character_, beyond the pale of mutual -confidence--_i.e._, 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 folly." If a burglar asks where is your -plate, you may reply at random "_In the Bank_," or "_At Timbuctoo_," or -"_I haven't any_." If a lunatic declares himself Emperor of China, you may -humour him, and give him _any_ information you may imagine about his -dominions, etc. - -Such is the teaching of, _v.gr._, 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 they would not be rightly -considered to imply _speaking_ 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 Reservation_ 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 -circumstances, and are therefore _logical_ equivoques. Thus to the -question: "_What do people think of me?_" one might diplomatically reply: -"_Oh! they think a great deal!_" which leaves it undetermined whether the -thinking be of a favourable or unfavourable character. - -But more commonly words, apart from special circumstances, have one -definite meaning, _e.gr._, "_Yes_" or "_No_." When Sir Walter Scott -denied, as he himself tells us, the authorship of "_Waverley_" with a -plain simple "_No_," 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 _moral_ equivoque. The -Scholastics call it _broad mental reservation_ (_restrictio late -mentalis_). 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 they 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 the public is concerned_,'" or something similar. - -When this addition could not be conjectured by the hearer, it received the -name of _pure mental reservation_ (_restrictio pure_ [or _stricte_] -_mentalis_): as when one might say "_John is not here_" (meaning in his -mind "not on the exact spot where the speaker stood"), though John was 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_." - -I trust I have made it sufficiently clear that the doctrine of -Equivocation, properly understood, has been devised in the interests of -Veracity. That we may find in some writers, whether St. Alphonsus de -Liguori or Professor Paulsen, particular applications in which we do not -concur, surely does not affect the validity of the principle. - -I may add that _all_ Catholic theologians with whom I am acquainted limit -its use by requiring many external conditions: _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 -mutual 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 I 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The above lucid explanation of the much and (_me judice_) -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 the Professor of Ethics at St. Mary's Hall, -Stonyhurst, so I am informed by the Rev. Bernard Bodder, S.J., Professor -of Natural Theology, at that seat of learning, whom I have had the honour -of meeting in York on more than one occasion. "Wisdom builds her house for -_all_ weathers." But England, relying too much on a long course of -prosperity in her ruling classes, and in the protected classes immediately -beneath her ruling classes, has neglected the Truth and Justice contained -in this eminently rational doctrine of Equivocation. 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 _versus_ -Catholic, but of Wise Noddle _versus_ Foolish Noddle. This is a distinct -gain.] - - - - - APPENDICES. - - - APPENDIX A. - - CIRCUMSTANTIAL 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,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: By sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.] - -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 _specially_ 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. - -It implies the _inferring_ of the unknown from the known; but from a known -which has been itself transmuted from the unknown, at some point of time -anterior to the making of the successive stage of advancement 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:-- - -Evidence is the collective term used to denote the facts whereby some -proposition, statement, or conclusion is sought to be established or -confirmed. - -While, as thus defined, the term Evidence primarily denotes the actual -_known_ facts themselves which form the basis 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 better, "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 proceed; and the nature or proximity of the -relation which they bear to the proposition, statement, or conclusion to -be supported. - -As regards the character or quality of its source, evidence is -distinguished into primary 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 same 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 authenticated, the conduct reasoned. And in every case partiality, -bias, and prejudice are grounds not to be neglected in the ascertainment -of accuracy and trustworthiness. - -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 necessarily follow. - -This inferential method is especially involved in Circumstantial Evidence. -In all evidence there is a presumption open more or less to rebuttal, and -evidence on this account is qualified as, _e.g._, _prim facie_, -conclusive. In Direct Evidence there is the presumption of the truth of -the proposition, statement, or conclusion from the proven facts. In -Circumstantial Evidence there is first an inference of directly 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 -established facts. - - - APPENDIX B. - - DISCREPANCY AS TO DATE WHEN NOT MATERIAL TO ISSUE, - NO DISPROOF OF TRUTH OF THE REST OF THE ASSERTION. - -The above doctrine of the law of Evidence applies, of course, to whatever -may be the nature or purpose of the Inquiry, whether conducted in a Court -of Law, in the library 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 _mistake only in point of time_, it destroys not the -evidence, _unless you think it necessary to the substance of the thing_. - -"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, _but it -does not invalidate the truth of the thing itself_, which may be true in -substance, though the circumstance of time differ; and the question is, -_whether the thing be true?_" Quoted in Morris's "_Troubles: The Southcote -Family_," first series, p. 378 (Burns & Oates). (The italics are mine.) - - - APPENDIX C. - - - PART I. - - BRITISH MUSEUM--ADD. MS. 5847, FO. 322. - - _List of such as were apprehended for the Gun-Powder - Plot._ - - _The names of such as were taken in Warwicke and - Worcestershire, & brought to London._ - - S^{r} Everard Digby, Knight - Rob^{t} Winter - John Winter - John Grant - Tho: Percy - Tho: Winter - Rob^{t} Acton - Henry Morgan - Christopher Litleton - Lodwicke Grant, who was taken the _9 of Novemb_: - & confessed there was lodged in _Holbage House_ to the - number of _60 Persons_. - Tho: Grant - Will^{m} Cooke - Rob^{t} Higgins - Christopher Wright - Rob^{t} Rookwood - M^{r} Henry Hurleston, Sonne & Heire of _Sir Edward - Hurleston_[A] - Tho: Anderton[B] - John Clifton[C] - Mathy Batty, late Servant to the _Lord Monteagle_ - Willm Thornberry} Servants to _Mr. Hurleston_ - Henry Sergeant } - Stephne Bonne} - Richard Daye } Servants to _S^{r} Everard Digby_ - Willm Eadale } - James Garvey } - Rob^{t} Abram - Rob^{t} Osborne - Christopher Archer - Ambrose Fuller - Willm Howson - Francis Grant - Richard Westberry - Tho: Richardson - Edward Bickerstaffe - Will Snow - John Facklins - Francis Prior - Tho: Darler, Servant to _M^{r} Rob^{t} Monson_ - Reginald Miles, Servant to _Sir Willm Engleston_ - Tho: Rookwood, of _Claxton_, in _Warwickshire_ - Richard Yorke } _Suspected Persons_ usually resorting - Marmaduke Ward} to _M^{r} Winter_, _M^{r}_ - Rob^{t} Key } _Grant_ & _M^{r} Rookwoods_ - Rob^{t} Townsend, of St. Edmund Berry - The Lord Mountacute} Are all comitted to the - The Lord Mordant } _Tower_ - M^{r} Francis Tressam} - -[Footnote A: Sir Henry Huddleston, as he afterwards became, the son and -heir to Sir Edmund Huddleston, of Sawston Hall, Cambridge, not Edward as -in Text. Sir Henry Huddleston married the Honourable Dorothy Dormer. He -was reconciled to the Church of Rome by Father Gerard, S.J.] - -[Footnote B: This was Father Thomas Strange, S.J., a cousin to Thomas -Abington, of Hindlip.] - -[Footnote C: This was Father Singleton.] - -The Earle of North: is in the Custody still of the _Lord Archbishop of -Canterbury_. - -This was Henry _Percy Earl of Northumberland, W.C._ - - _Gentlewomen_ - - My Lady Mordant - M^{ris} Dorothy Grant - M^{ris} Helyn Cooke - M^{ris} Mary Morgayne - M^{ris} Anne Higgins - M^{ris} Martha Percy - M^{ris} Dorothy Wright - M^{ris} Margaret Wright - M^{ris} Rookwood - -See Mr. Dod's "_History of Catholick Church_," vol. ii., p. 331, W.C. - -[N.B.--This MS. consists of extracts from the Collections of the Rev. Mr. -Rand, Rector of Leverington and Newton, in the Isle of Ely.] - - - PART II. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 12. - - [Frequenters of Clopton (or Clapton), Stratford-on-Avon.] - - Ther hath bine at Clapton[A] w^{th} M^{r} Ambrous Rucwod - Mr. Jhon Grant ther is with m^{es} Rucwood M^{es} Ceo (?) m^{es} munson - and others and to of his britherin - m^{r} Wintor - m^{r} Bosse - m^{r} Townesend - m^{r} Ceo (?) w^{th} on m^{r} Thomas a Cynesman of M^{r} Rucwoode - m^{r} Ryght - Allso mye pepeoll hath seene ther - Se^{r} Edward bushell - m^{r} Robeart Catesbee - with diuers others which I can not nam unto youer honer. - -(Endorsed) Clopton. - -[Footnote A: Clopton Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, was likewise styled Clapton -Hall. Lady Carew, afterwards the Countess of Totnes, was (with her sister, -Anne Clapton, the wife of Cuthbert Clapton, Esquire, of Sledwick, County -Durham) the co-heiress of the Claptons (or Cloptons), of Warwickshire. -Lady Carew was a Protestant, but her sister and brother-in-law 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. -326, 327.] - - - APPENDIX D. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 25. - - The Examination of Richard Browne taken the 5^{th} of - Novemb^{r} 1605. - -This Examinat sayith that xpofer Wright cam to S^{t} Gilis in the ffeild -to the Maydenhead there vpon Weddnesday laste & sent Wilt Kiddle (that cam -vp w^{t} him as his man) to Westm the same night for this Examinat to come -& speek w^{th} him, which this Examinat did com thither vpon Thursday -morning, when Wrights request was to him to fetch his child which he had -at nurss some 13 myles off. And Kiddle & this Examinat went vpon ffriday -brought the child vpon Satterday to St. 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^{t} Gyles to speak w^{t} M^{r} Wright only vpon Kiddle's intreaty & not -fynding M^{r} Wright there he retorned towards London & mett M^{r} Wright -in S^{t} Clem^{t} ffeilds, at which tyme Wright sent this Examinat to -S^{r} ffrancis Manners w^{th} a message concerninge a kinsman of M^{r} -Wrights that serveth M^{r} Manners after which tyme this Examinat did not -see the sayd Wright. - -This Examinat sayeth that he saw the sayd Wright onely 4 tymes since -Wright last coming to London, viz., vpon Thursday morning when he came -first vnto him upon Satterday night when he brought his child, vpon Sonday -morning when he carryed the child away, and vpon monday at noone when he -mett of the back syd of S^{t} Clem^{t}s - - mark - - Richard Browne - - (Endorsed) Examination of Richard Browne - 6 Nov. 1605 Concerning Wright. - - - APPENDIX E. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 15. - - The Examynacon of Willum Grantham servaunt to Josephe Hewett taken - before S^{r} John Popham Knighte L: Cheife Justyce of England - the 5 of November 1605. - -He sayeth that yesterdaye aboute three of the Clocke in the afternoone one -m^{r} wryght was at this Ex masters howse And there boughte three beaver -hatts and payde xj^{}[A] for them This Ex went w^{th} the sayde wryght -and caryed the hatts to wrighte lodgyng at the Mayden heade in S^{t} Gyles -where m^{r} wryght & this Ex went into the howse And then wryght 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 -readye 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^{r} Wryghte -Chamber and delyvered the hatts to him And wryght dyd looke uppon the -hatts and gave this Ex vj^{d} for his paynes and then he depted. - -[Footnote A: Unmistakably 11 (E.M.W.).] - - William Grantham. - - (Endorsed) 5 November 1605. William Grantham Ex. - - - APPENDIX F. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 11. - - The Examon of Robert Rookes taken the 5^{th} of November 1605. - -He saieth that his Master M^{r} Ambrose Rookewood whoe dwelleth at -Coldhame Halle in Suff came from thence uppon Wensday last and noe more -w^{th} 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^{th}out Temple Barre and thear lay w^{th} him the last night and -the night before a talle gent having a reddish beard.[A] - -[Footnote A: This was Keyes.--See "Elizabeth More's Evidence."] - -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 morowe. - -He saieth his M^{rs} as he hath hard lyeth in warwick shere whear he -knoweth not for he hath not benn w^{th} his M^{r} that nowe is aboue a -senight. - - (Endorsed) 5^{o} No. 1605. - - The Ex of Robte Rokes M^{r} Rookwoode boy. - - - APPENDIX G. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 16. - - The declarn of John Cradock cutler the vj^{th} of - November 1605. - -He sayeth that M^{r} Rockwood whos father marryed M^{r} Tirwhyte mother -about the Begynyng of the last Som vacac dyd bespeke the puttyng of a -Spanyshe Blade off hys into a Sword hilte and appoynted the hylth to have -the Story of the passyon of Christ Richly Ingraved, and now w^{th}n these -Syxe dayes cawsed that hylth being enamlled and Rychly sett forth to be -taken of and the handle to be new wrought of clere gold and the former -hylth w^{th} hys story to be putt on agayne and delyvered yt unto m^{r} -Rockewood upon Monday last at xj of the Clocke at nyght at his Chamber at -m^{r} Mores and m^{r} Wynter a pp Gentylman of about xxx yeares or vpward -who lyeth at the Syng of the Docke an Drake beyond putrycke in the Strand -and ys a great Companyon w^{th} m^{r} Catesby m^{r} Tyrwhyt and m^{r} -Rockwood hadd a Sword w^{th} the lyke Story and was delyvered hym on -Sunday last at nyght but not so Rychly sett forth as the form for w^{ch} -he payed in all xij^{} x^{s} pt about a quarter of a yeare past at the -bespeken thereof and the Rest on Sonday last and this term an other -Gentylman of that Cupany being a Blacke man of about xl yeares old bespake -a lyke Sword for the story & shuld pay vij^{ti} for yt gave hym x^{s} in -Ernest he ys yet out of Towne and the Sword remayneth w^{th} thys Exam -Christopher Wryght was often w^{th} thys M^{r} Rockwood at thys Exam -shoppe and he hadd the said Wryghte jugmet for the worcke and Syse of the -Blade. - - Jo Cradock - - Ex p - J. Popham - - (Endorsed) Cradocke. - - - APPENDIX H. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 10. - -I have sent vnto yo^{r} L. herin Inclosed the Copye off the declarac off -Mr Tatnall, off two that passed the fylde thys mornyg wherof some -Suspycyon may be gathered off confederacy he observed them so as he hopeth -he may mete w^{th} them and therfore I have gevin hym a warrant to attach -them a lyke note yo^{r} L shall receave herin off an expectacn that M^{rs} -Vaux 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 chefest place of their accesse and therfore lyke she -may knowe Some what both M^{r} Wenman hym selff & the lady Tasbard do -knowe of this wherfore howe farre forth thys shalbe fytt to be dealt in I -humbly leave to yo^{r} L consyderacn Chrystoffer Wright and M^{r} Ambrose -Rokewood were both together yesternyght at x of the Clocke and vpon -ffryday last at nyght they were together at M^{r} Rokwoode lodgyng and -this forenoon Rokwood Rode away into Suffolke about xj of the clocke alone -leavyng both hys men behynd hym one Keyes a Gentylma that lay these two -last nyghte w^{th} m^{r} Rokewood and gave hym hys lodgyng went away also -about eight off the clocke for w^{ch} Keyes I have layed weyet This -Rokwood ys of Coldham hall in Suffoke one of the most dangerous houses in -Suffolke he marryed m^{r} 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 -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 Gentylman that was w^{th} -hym he thyncks that Gentylman was called Wynter but I dowbt that mans name -ys mystaken Ther cam a yong Gentylman w^{th} this wryght w^{th}in these -fewe dayes that gave to Cutler here by xix^{} xv^{s} 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^{r} L at Serienty Inn the v^{th} of -november 1605. - - yo^{r} L very humbly - - Jo Popham.[A] - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -(P.S.) I have this mornyg the vi^{th} noveber dyscovered where Wynter [is] -w^{th} the matter which I have delyverd to m^{r} Att^{r}ney wherof happely -yo^{r} L may make good vse I wyll see yf I can mete w^{th} m^{r} Wynter -Walley the jesuyt and Strang as I am Informed are now at ffrance Brownes -pcke 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^{r} - L Ch. Justice - - (Addressed) To the Ryght - honorable and my - very good L the - Earle of Sarysbury. - - (Declaration enclosed--short.) - - - APPENDIX I. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 75. - -O^{r} humble dutyes remembred. We have this day apprehended & deliwed to -his Ma^{ty} messenger Berrye the bodie of M^{ris} Graunt, from whom we -gathered that Percyes wief was not farre of, whervppon wee made search in -the most lykely place and have even since night apprehended her in the -house of M^{r} John Wright, and have thought fitt to take this -opportunitie to send vpp to yo^{r} honors' w^{th} the said M^{ris} Graunt -aswell the said M^{res} 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. - -M^{r} Sherief taketh care & charge of these woomens children vntill yo^{r} -honors pleasures be further knowne. - - ffrom Warr this xij^{th} of November 1605 - yo^{r} honors most humbly at comaundment - in all service. - - Richard Verney - Jo: fferrers - W^{m} Combe - Bar: Hales - - (Endorsed) 12 9bre 1605 - S^{r} Rych: Verney and other Justices to me - - (Addressed) To the right honorable my especyall good - Lord the Earle of Salisbury & the rest of - his Ma^{ty} most honorable privie Counsayle - - w^{th} all speed. - - - APPENDIX J. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part II., No. 130. - -This Last Vacatio Guy faux als Jhonson did hier a barke of Barkin the -owners name Called paris wherein was Caried over to Gravelinge a ma[A] -supposed of great import he went disguised and wold not suffer any one ma -to goe w^{th} him but this Vaux[B] nor to returne w^{th} him This paris -did Attend for him back at Gravelyng[C] sixe weekes yf Cause quier there -are severall proffs of this matter. - -[Footnote A: Contraction for "man."] - -[Footnote B: _I.e._, Faux.] - -[Footnote C: Gravelyng would be Gravelines in France. Most probably "the -man supposed of great import," who "went disguised," accompanied by -Fawkes, was one of the principal conspirators, perhaps Thomas Winter or -John Wright. I suspect their errand was to buy fresh gunpowder through -Captain Hugh Owen. Notice "Vacation," 1605.] - - (Endorsed) Concerninge one Paris that caried faukes to - Gravelyng and others. - - - APPENDIX K. - - 45, Bernard St., - Russell Square, - London, W.C., - 30th October, 1901. - - Dear Sir, - -The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter. - -I well remember accompanying you to the Record Office, Chancery Lane, -London, W.C., on Friday, the 5th of October, 1900, when we saw the -original Letter to Lord Mounteagle and the Declaration of Edward Oldcorne -of the 12th March, 1605-6. - -As soon as I began to compare the two documents I noticed a general -similarity in the handwritings; although 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. - -I have for the last seventeen years had great experience in transcribing -documents of the period of Queen Elizabeth and James I.; and, in my -opinion, it is at least probable that the Letter to Lord Mounteagle and -the Declaration of the 12th March, 1605-6, signed by Edward Oldcorne, were -by one and the same hand. - - Yours truly, - Emma M. Walford. - - To H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor, York. - - - APPENDIX L. - -Having recently learnt that Professor Windle, M.D., F.R.S., Dean of the -Faculty of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, had written two books -descriptive of the Midland Counties, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with -part of Herefordshire, "_Shakespeare's Country_," and "_The Malvern -Country_" (Methuen & Co.), I ventured to write to him respecting the roads -from Lapworth to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, I conjecture, 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 21st 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, S.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 Vicar of Great -Harrowden, Northamptonshire, for certain information which the latter -likewise most readily vouchsafed to me a few months ago.) - - "The University, - Birmingham, - Dec. 22, 1901. - - "My dear Sir, - -... - -"With respect to the distances which you wish to know, I have taken them -out as well as I can, and I think they will be exact enough; but, of -course, I have had to work from modern maps, and I cannot 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 you 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. Lapworth to Hindlip--as the crow flies, nineteen--via Tutnal and -Bromsgrove I make it twenty-two miles, and I think this is the most likely -route. There were Catholic houses at both Tutnal and Bromsgrove. - -"2. Coughton to Hindlip--twelve as the crow flies--about fourteen I make -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 be -taken. - -"3. Huddington is four from Hindlip as the crow flies; going by road by -Oddingley I should make it five. - -"4. By the _route_ I should go, if I were cycling, I should take - - Worcester to Stratford-on-Avon 23 miles. - Stratford-on-Avon to Warwick 8 " - Warwick to Daventry 19 " - Daventry to Northampton 12 " - Northampton to Newport Pagnell 12 " - ---- - 74 miles. - ---- - -"It would be about the same distance from Hindlip; 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. - - "I am, - Yours very truly, - Bertram C. A. Windle." - - - APPENDIX M. - -Since hearing from Professor Windle, M.D., of Birmingham, I have received -the following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, 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 by 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. - -"Adverting to your letter of the 14th inst., _re_ the above, I am -forwarding you, as under, the required distances (by road), which are as -accurate as I can possibly ascertain, viz.:-- - - Hindlip distant from Huddington, - near Droitwich 3-1/4 miles. - - Do. from Coughton, near Alcester, - Warwickshire 17-1/2 " - - Do. from Lapworth, 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." - - - APPENDIX N. - - EXTRACT FROM YORK CORPORATION HOUSE BOOK--Vol. - xxviii., f. 82. - - 4 Jany vicesimo - quinto Elizth. - -Assembled in the Counsell Chamber upon Ousebridg the day and year -abovesaid when and where the Queen's Maties Comission to my Lord Maior and -Aldermen directed was openly redd to these present the teno^{r} wherof -hereafter enseweth word by word:-- - -By the Queene - -Right 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^{th}in this -o^{r} Realme and other our dominions haith ben notoriouslie knowen unto -all o^{r} Subjects aswell by sundry lawes & ordinances maid and published -for the true serving of god and adminstracon of the Sacraments As 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^{r} 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 Semynaries & Jesuits where -being trayned upp and as it were full fraught with all erronious and -detestable doctrine they have and do dailie repare over disguised and in -most secreet manner into this o^{r} Realme and especiallie into this o^{r} -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 our good -subjects in matters of religion but also have practised most unnaturailie -trayterouslye to wthdraw them frome their naturall dewties and allegiance -towards us Sowing even according to the name they have receved abroad the -vere sede of all sedicon and conspiracye amongst o^{r} people. And all be -it we conceved that ther Rebellious harts and practises being thoroughlie -discovered as well by the lait trayterous attempts of some of them in -o^{r} Realme of Irland as by the treasonable actions of others w^{th}in -this our Realme And ther obstinate and sedicious manner of dyeing when -being justlie condempned by our lawes they have suffered death for the -same Yow 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^{r} wholl State and to the p'ticuler saftie of every of our good -subjects: and the rather for that our pleasure on that behalf haith often -and sundry wayes ben signified unto yow And for the execucion wherof yow -have not wanted sufficient authoritie. Yet notwithstanding, smale care or -none at all haith ben had to annswere o^{r} expectacon 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 yo^{r} duties for some other -respect than for want of good affection to our service. We have thought -good therfor oftsons to renew unto yow the remembrance of yo^{r} duties, -and do hereby straightlie charge and command yow and ev'ye of yow to have -a greater care & moare continewall circumspection on that behalf and by -all the good and discreet meanes yow may to make diligent enquirie and -searche w^{th}in yo^{r} severall wardes and devisions for all manner of -popish preasts, Jesuits Semynaries and such like psons as yow shall have -vehement cause to suspect to 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 willinglie absent -themselves from the church or shall any way deprave the order of comen -praer & of the holie sacraments now established w^{th}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^{th} according to o^{r} Lawes wherein -o^{r} 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 we 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^{r} -favo^{r}. Geven under o^{r} Signet at o^{r} Cyttie of Yorke the last of -December 1582 the 25^{th} yeare of o^{r} reigne. - -And by hir Counsell. - - (Addressed to) To our right trustie and welbeloved the - Maio^{r} of our Cittie of Yorke and to the Aldermen his - bretheren. (On the back.) - - * * * * * - -M^{r} Harbart M^{r} Robinson Maister Maltby M^{r} Appleyard M^{r} Trew & -M^{r} May, Aldermen, are appoynted by these presents to view the Chambers -upon Ousebridge & Monckbarr 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 intent the same may be forthwith repared for that -purpose.[A] - -[Footnote A: Leave was given me to print the aforesaid Order of Queen -Elizabeth in Council by the authorities of the York Corporation, on the -3rd day of June, 1901; the Lord Mayor for that year being Alderman the -Right Honourable E. W. Purnell; and John Close, Esquire, J.P., Sheriff; J. -G. Butcher, Esquire, K.C., and George Denison Faber, Esquire, -Representatives in Parliament--the first Parliament of His Most Gracious -Majesty King Edward VII.] - - - _Note as to authenticity of "Thomas Winter's Confession," - at Hatfield._ - -Whilst greatly admiring the erudition and dialectical skill displayed by -the Rev. 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 "a great gulf be fixed" between "Thos. -Wintour," the free-born gentleman, and "Thomas Winter," the inchoately -attainted traitor_. - -Moreover, the name Winter, or Wynter, _was_, 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 Yorkshire_," Edited by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc., -London), Jane Ingleby is stated to be the "Wyff to George _Wynter_ son and -heyr of _Robert Winter_ of Cawdwell in Worceshyre." - -One would like to see from the pen of the Rev. John Gerard a translation -of Father Oswald Tesimond's Italian Narrative, known as "_Greenway's -Manuscript_." Tesimond, it is almost certain, knew the bulk of the -plotters more intimately than did the seventeenth century Father Gerard. -Therefore, Tesimond's Narrative, _pro tanto_, must surpass in value even -the work of the Father Gerard of three hundred years ago. - - - - - NOTES. - - -[Footnote 1:--The following quotation is from the "_Calendar of State -Papers Domestic, 1603-1610_," p. 254:--"Nov. 13 (1605) Declaration of -Fras. Tresham--Catesby 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--_Litter Felicissim_--he would have never addressed his Sovereign -thus. He 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 _by 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 they feared not the course of Justice. The Earl of Suffolk was a -son of Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, Margaret Audley, -the heiress of Sir Thomas Audley, of Walden, 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 Fitzalan. She -left one son, Philip, who became the well-known Philip Howard Earl of -Arundel and Surrey.] - -[Footnote 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 Queen Elizabeth, thinks that the proposal that Mary Stuart -should be married to Norfolk came from the Scottish side at York on this -occasion. Whatever may be the true history and character of Mary Queen of -Scots, in clearness of mind she excelled her Royal cousin of England, that -wonderful child of the Renaissance, poor, pathetic, lonely, yet -marvellous, "Bess," who for 342 years, even from the grave, has ruled one -aspect of English ecclesiastical life.[A] Moreover, I am of opinion that -the Scots' Queen showed a singular tolerance of spirit towards the holders -of theological opinions the contradictory of her own, whilst at the same -time continuing constantly established in her own tenure of what she -believed to be the Truth: indeed a tolerance of spirit, combined with a -personal steadfastness, reached only 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 that know (and therefore -believe) they have a living possession of the Absolute and Everlasting -Truth. In the interests of our common Humanity, all who think that their -strength is as the "strength of ten," because their "faith" (whatever may -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 many of its concrete results, of religious -toleration: a principle which England has exhibited in its practical -working to the world: but rather 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 Right imply a oneness or _unity_. Now unity is the -opposite of multiplicity, and, _therefore_, the contrary of division and -distinction. One must rule men by virtue of the prerogatives of Truth and -Right when these are ascertained. The problem at the root of the terrible -conflict on the veldt of South Africa since 11th October, 1899, to the -present time, 26th October, 1901, involves this question of the unity that -is implied in the ideas of Truth and Right. For those ideas are the -originating causes, the moving springs, the ultimate justification, and -the final vindication of all true and just claims to paramountcy and -sovereignty everywhere. But who is to determine which side has Truth and -Right, 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 because _first_ they have themselves obeyed princely ideals of -the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Nothing short of this can satisfy -the universal conscience of mankind. - -What have our men of light and leading been about that 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!] - -[Footnote A: See "_Life of Mary Queen of Scots_," by Samuel Cowan -(Sampson, Low, 1901); also "_The Mystery of Mary Stuart_," by Andrew Lang -(Longmans, 1901).] - -[Footnote 3:--Lord Mounteagle had been a party to the sending of Thomas -Winter and Father Oswald Tesimond into Spain in 1601 to negotiate with -King Philip III. 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 Catesby at White -Webbs, by Enfield Chase, near London; so he was then at liberty. On 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 Wright 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 part -or lot in despatching the second mission. (It is important 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 Morley, was living in 1605. 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. "Mounteagle," says -Father Oswald Tesimond, alias Greenway, "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 the -religion of his ancestors, though his wife (_ne_ Tresham) continued -constant herein, and brought up her children Catholics; but Mounteagle -"died a Catholic." - -Jardine thinks that Mounteagle held some ceremonial office at Court, -probably in the Household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., who -was at heart a Roman Catholic, though most probably never received into -that Church.--See "_Carmel in England_" (Burns & Oates, 1899), p. 30. We -hear of Mounteagle about ten days before the 5th November, 1605, calling -at the Palace at Richmond to kiss the Prince's hands (_i.e._, Henry Prince -of Wales). Thomas Winter told Catesby that Mounteagle, at that time, -gathered from what he heard at the Royal 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.] - -[Footnote 4:--The Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard were -half-brothers. (Lord William Howard was "the Belted Will 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 sons 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 Faith." Though -their father was a strong Protestant (being a pupil of John Fox, the -author of Fox's "_Book of Martyrs_") both his sons, Philip and William, -became strong Roman Catholics, as did his daughter, Margaret Lady -Sackville. Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, losing his father when only -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 1581, while still a mere courtier and votary of pleasure, it happened -he was present, we are told, at "the disputation in the Tower of London in -1581, concerning divers points of religion betwixt Fr. Edmond Campion of -the Society of Jesus and some other Priests of the one part; Charke, Fulk, -Whitaker, and some other Protestant Ministers of the other." We are -further told by his biographer, an unknown Jesuit writer of the -seventeenth century, "By that he saw and heard there, he easily perceived -on which side the Truth and true Religion was, tho' 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 the time of his 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 Robert Howard, in the reign of Henry VI., married the Lady Margaret -Mowbray, daughter of Thomas De Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, and -grand-daughter, maternally, of Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel ("_Law -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 sed non valeo_"--"I am willing, but I -am not able." - -The Earl of Arundel was "reconciled" by Fr. 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. Robert 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 highly 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 the great Florentine poet's -ideal of "the truly noble," in that _they_ 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 wife_" (Hurst -& Blackett), and the "_Household Books of Lord William Howard_" (Surtees -Society).] - -[Footnote 5:--Lord Mounteagle would be also akin to Lord Lumley (who had -estates at or about Pickering, I believe), through the great House of -Neville. Lord Lumley's portrait, from a painting in the possession of the -Right Hon. the Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of -Yorkshire, is to be found in Edward Hailstone's "_Yorkshire Worthies_," -vol. i. Edward Hailstone, Esquire, of Walton Hall, Wakefield, was a rich -benefactor to the York Minster Library, and his memory should be ever had -in grateful remembrance by all who "love Yorkshire because they know -her."--See Jackson's "_Guide to Yorkshire_" (Leeds).] - -[Footnote 6:--It should be remembered that (i.) the page's evidence goes -to show that the man 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 up to him with the document. - -Hoxton is about four miles from Whitehall. I opine that Mounteagle -proceeded from Bath to Hoxton, and that the supper had been pre-arranged -to take place at Hoxton on the evening of the 26th of October, 1605, by -Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, who indeed read the -Letter 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.] - -[Footnote 7:--The letters "wghe" are not, at this date (5th October, -1900), clearly discernible.] - -[Footnote 8:--See letter dated November, 1605--Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmonds. Add. MSS. in British Museum, No. 4176, where name "Thomas -Ward" is given.] - -[Footnote 9:--Stowe's "_Chronicle_," continued by Howes, p. 880. Ed. 1631. - -From the evidence of William 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. Wright reached London -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 II.] - -[Footnote 10:--Fawkes was apprehended at "midnight without the House," -according to "_A Discourse of this late intended Treason_." Knevet having -given notice that he 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 Royal Presence. This was at about four o'clock -in the morning of Tuesday, the 5th of November. - -Fawkes showed the calmest behaviour conceivable in the Royal 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!" (See "_King's Book_.") - -Whitehall Palace had been a Royal Palace since the reign of Henry VIII.; -it was burned down in the time of William and Mary. 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 Gracious Majesty King Edward -VII. 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 Ripon, the Lord -Mowbray and Stourton, and the Lord Herries, including other peers and -representatives of the English Roman 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!] - -[Footnote 11:--Essex House was between the Strand and the River 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.] - -[Footnote 12:--By Poulson in his "_History of Holderness_," Yorks. (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 local tradition, though he -mentions no kind of authority.--See also Foster's Ed. of Glover's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," Also Norcliffe's Ed. of Flower's "_Visitation -of Yorkshire_" (Harleian Society). - -See Supplementum for account of my visit to Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, -in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, on the 6th of May, 1901.] - -[Footnote 13:--See "_Guy Fawkes_," by Rev. Thomas Lathbury, M.A. (J. W. -Parker, 1839), p. 21. Lathbury does not give his authority for this -interesting statement respecting this conspirator, Christopher Wright. It -is presumed, however, that he had some ground for the statement; for it is -antecedently improbable that his "imagination" should have provided so -circumstantial an assertion. Then, whence did he derive it? - -Query:--Does Greenway's Narrative make any such statement? Apparently -Jardine had a sight of the whole of this invaluable MS., and possibly -Lathbury (who appears to have been a clergyman of the Established Church) -may have seen it likewise through Canon Tierney, the Editor of "_Dodd's -Church History_."] - -[Footnote 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 privilege -to behold. - -Mr. Thomas Graves 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 High Commission are of -extraordinary interest, because 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.] - -[Footnote 15:--So that bad as they were, they were not hoary-headed -criminals, if we except Percy who 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 Roman -Catholics of Yorkshire in 1604_." - -The Percy Arms are in Welwick Church. (Communicated by Miss Burnham, of -Plowland, Welwick.)] - -[Footnote 16:--I have seen the statement in a letter of the Earl (who was -one of the most scientific men of his age) which he wrote after the -discovery of the Plot. The letter is in Collins' "_Peerage_." The Earl 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 avowal, was no papist. Salisbury's native perspicacity, however, -told him that Northumberland, from every point of view, was alike to the -Royal 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 Northumberland would have thought -that the papists' support was well "worth a Mass," just as did King Harry -of Navarre, the father of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I., a -few years previously. (An ancient portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is in -the possession of the York Merchant Adventurers, York.) Then again, -Salisbury had a personal grudge against the proud Percy. For the latter -evidently in his heart scorned and rejected Salisbury, not only as a -_novus homo_--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 whom the great Northern 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 _carpe 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 _has_ made true moral -progress than the contrast presented by the present Prime Minister and the -present First Lord of the Treasury and their ancestors of "Great Eliza's -golden time" and the days of James Stuart.)] - -[Footnote 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 Dictionary of -Biography_.") - -Had Catesby an estate at Armcote, in Worcestershire, not far from Chipping -Norton?] - -[Footnote 18:--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, Newby, and Givendale, most -probably, for he was the early and life-long friend of Mary Ward.--See the -"_Life of Mary Ward_," by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & -Oates).] - -[Footnote 19:--Sir Thomas Leigh settled considerable property to the uses -of the marriage. Jardine says that only Chastleton actually came into -Catesby's possession.] - -[Footnote 20:--S. T. Coleridge, speaking of the age of Elizabeth, says -that, notwithstanding its marvellous physical and intellectual prosperity, -"it was an age when, for a time, the intellect stood superior to the moral -sense." "_Lectures on Shakespeare_," Collier's Ed. (1856), p. 34.] - -[Footnote 21:--What a lesson to us all, of every creed and philosophy, is -the just, yet terrible fate of these personally charming men, "to hug the -shore" of plain Natural Ethics, of solid Moral Virtue, 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 -with happy augury for the twentieth century.] - -[Footnote 22:--Jardine's "_Narrative_," pp. 31, 32.] - -[Footnote 23:--Gerard's "_Narrative_," p. 56.] - -[Footnote 24:--Knaresborough, Knaresbrough or Knaresburgh, is thus -pleasantly celebrated in Drayton's "_Polyolbion_":-- - - "From Whernside Hill not far outflows the nimble Nyde, - Through Nytherside, along as sweetly she doth glide - Tow'rds Knaresburgh on her way-- - Where that brave forest stands - Entitled by the town[A] who, with upreared hands, - Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands crown - The river passing by."] - -[Footnote A: The allusion is to the ancient Forest of Knaresbrough -belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. (As to the extent and history of the -Forest, see Grainge's "_Forest of Knaresbrough_.")] - -[Footnote 25:--"The Venerable" Francis Ingleby's portrait is still to be -seen at Ripley Castle, an ideal English home, hard-by the winding Nidd.] - -[Footnote 26:--For the facts of Francis Ingleby's life, see Challoner's -"_Missionary Priests_," edited by Thomas G. Law; and "_Acts of the English -Martyrs_" (Burns & Oates), by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J.] - -[Footnote 27:--From Father Gerard's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," -p. 59.] - -[Footnote 28:--See the admirably written life of Sir Everard Digby, under -the title "_The Life of a Conspirator_," by "One of his descendants" -(Kegan Paul & Co., 1895). The learned descendant of Sir Everard Digby, -however, 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 as the high-minded -spouse of Mary Mulsho himself--_honourable, of course, I mean after their -kind_.--Jardine's "_Narrative of Gunpowder Plot_," p. 67.] - -[Footnote 29:--Sir William Catesby and Sir Thomas Tresham were excellent -types of the English gentry of their day. Each was "a fine old English -gentleman, one of the olden time." They had both become "reconciled" Roman -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 forming 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 coming of age" of the son and -heir of each of these gallant knights and stately dames. And we may easily -conceive of the bright hopes that either of the gentlewomen (especially -the two sisters), in their close-fitting caps, laced ruffs, and gowns -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! through the evil will of man, for the pathetic vanity of human -wishes.] - -[Footnote 30:--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_," p. 51, says that John -Grant's ancestors are described in several pedigrees as of Saltmarsh, in -Worcestershire, and of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire; that Norbrook -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 Throckmorton family--owned -property. Moreover, through his mother, Shakespeare was distantly -connected with several of the plotters. For Catesby and Tresham, as well -as Lady Wigmore, of Lucton, Herefordshire, were all first cousins to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton (the father of Francis Throckmorton, who was executed in the -reign of Elizabeth) having three daughters whom he married to Sir William -Catesby, Sir Thomas Tresham, and Sir William Wigmore.--See Jardine's -"_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 11; also Foley's "_Records of the -Jesuits in England_" (Burns & Oates), vol. iv., p. 290. - -Probably Shakespeare knew Grant personally, and not only Grant, but -Catesby, Percy, the Winters (Robert and Thomas Winter were likewise akin -to the Throckmortons), and Tresham. That the bard of Avon knew Lord -Mounteagle, the associate of his friend and patron the Earl of -Southampton, is even still more probable. - -How is it that Shakespeare never in his writings sought to make political -capital (as the sinister phrase goes) out of the Gunpowder Plot? For -several reasons: first, his heart (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 Shakespeare, we -may discern additional proof of the nobleness of the man, supposing that -he knew personally any of the plotters. He would not kick friends that -were down, when those friends were even traitors. He could not approve -their action--far from it. He might have condemned with justice, and with -the world's applause. But upon himself a self-denying ordinance he laid, -tempting as it must have been to him to perform the contrary, especially -when we recollect the course then followed by his brother-poet--Jonson. -But 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 -hangman's bloody hands"--"Macbeth," 1606--and that sufficed for him. - -Since writing the above note I find it stated in "_The Religion of -Shakespeare_," by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Burns & Oates, 1899)--chiefly -from the writings of that great Elizabethan scholar, the late Richard -Simpson--that "among the chief actors in the so-called Gunpowder Plot were -Catesby; the two Bates; John Grant, of Norbrook, near Stratford; Thomas -Winter, Grant's brother-in-law; all Shakespeare's friends and benefactors" -(p. 103); 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 Winters, and Tresham, but distantly -with the Earl of Southampton himself, who was a relative of Lord -Mounteagle. Hence it is still more probable that Shakespeare knew -Mounteagle personally. - -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 Shakespeare_" (Smith & Elder), p. -233.--If this were so, then it is well-nigh certain that 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 -Collins's "_Ephemera Critica_" (Constable) as to religion of -Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote 31:--The name is also spelt Tirwhitt. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, Lady -Ursula Babthorpe's grandfather, had entertained Henry VIII. at the old -Hall at Kettleby. A new Hall was built in the time of James I., but this -was pulled down about 1691, I believe. The Tyrwhitts, of Kettleby, were -allied to such as the Tailboys, Boroughes, Wymbishes, Monsons, Tournays, -Thimbelbies, Thorolds, and other Lincolnshire houses. They were rigidly -Roman Catholic. The marriage between Sir William Babthorpe and Ursula -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 1581. It -was continued through Sir Ralph Babthorpe, who married that "valiant -woman" (the only daughter and heiress of William Birnand, the Recorder of -York), Grace Birnand by name, of Brimham, Knaresbrough, and York. Lady -Grace Babthorpe's active and contemplative life was one long singing of -_Gloria in excelsis_. Sir William Babthorpe and Lady Ursula his wife, like -their noble parents, Sir Ralph Babthorpe and Lady Grace, "for conscience -sake" became voluntary 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 remarkably gifted. Mary 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 Mother-General of -the Nuns 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 Nuns. The story of the Babthorpes is a veritable English "_Un -Rcit d'une s[oe]ur_."--See "_Life of Mary Ward_."--The Wards--like the -Inglebies, of Ripley; the Constables, of Everingham;[A] the Dawnays, of -Sessay; and the Palmes, of Naburn--were related to this "family of -saints."--See also "The Babthorpes, of Babthorpe" (one of whose ancestors -carried the sword before King Edward III. on entering Calais in 1347), in -the late Rev. John Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_," -first series (Burns & Oates). - -For "the Kayes," of Woodsome, see Canon Hulbert's "_Annals of Almondbury_" -(Longmans). - -"The Venerable" Richard Langley, of Owsthorpe and Grimthorpe, near -Pocklington, in the East Riding 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.)] - -[Footnote 32:--"_Greenway's MS._," quoted by Jardine, "_Narrative of the -Gunpowder Plot_," p. 151.] - -[Footnote 33:--Hawarde, "_Reportes of Star Chamber_." - -See "_The Fawkeses, of York_," by Robert Davies, sometime Town Clerk of -York (Nichols, Westminster, 1850); and the "_Life of Guy Fawkes_," by -William 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 the 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. -Since August, 1900, York Castle has been used as a Military Prison. All -the old Indictments that are in existence, whether at York, Worcester, or -other Assize towns, would be of interest and value re the Gunpowder Plot -_if the affair is to be thoroughly bottomed_. - -The York 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 referred to Popish recusants, and those 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: "_The Quakers unmasked and clearly detected to be but -the spawn of Romish Frogs, Jesuites, and Franciscan Fryers._" Now, Prynne -was not far wrong either, the erudite historical philosopher knows very -well, who has studied the genesis of the remarkable system developed by -Fox, Barclay, and Penn. - -Was there a Grimston near Mount St. John, Feliskirk, near Thirsk? Or was -it Grimston Garth, Holderness? or was it North Grimston, between Malton -and Driffield, that Thomas Grimstone came from; or Grimston, three miles -east of York? - -Since writing the preceding note I have come to the conclusion that the -Grimston was, most likely, the Grimstone some twelve miles from Mount St. -John, in the Parish of Gilling East, near Hovingham and Ampleforth, in the -Vale of Mowbray, and near Gilling Castle, once the seat of the Catholic -branch of the Fairfaxes, now the seat of George Wilson, Esquire, J.P. This -Grimstone would be a spot very suitable for harbouring Campion after he -had been at Babthorpe, near Selby; Thixendale, near Leavening, east of -Malton; and Fryton, west of Malton, near Hovingham. - -(How wonderful to think that the probabilities are in favour of the -supposal that these tranquil, sequestered nooks, each with its own fair -summer beauty, once rang with the golden eloquence of Edmund Campion, "one -of the diamonds of England," in the days of Shakespeare.) - -Guy Fawkes was also connected with another Roman Catholic martyr, "the -Venerable" William Knight, yeoman, of South Duffield, Hemingbrough, Selby, -East Yorkshire, who suffered death at the York Tyburn in 1596, for -"explaining to a man the Catholic faith."--See Challoner and Foster's -"_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_" ("Fawkes, of Farnley").] - -[Footnote A: The Constables, of Everingham, are one of those old English -Roman 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 Riding of Yorkshire, Lord Herries, 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 Robert Aske, -of Aughton on the Derwent, in the time of Henry VIII. (1536). 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, either -Clifford's Tower or possibly the tower of All Saints' Church, The -Pavement, York. After the movement 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 Lumley, of Lumley Castle, was burned alive at -Smithfield.--See Burke's "_Tudor Portraits_."] - -[Footnote 34:--Father Morris, S.J., in "_The Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_" (York volume), says that Father Tesimond was a Yorkshireman; -though in Foley's "_Records_," in one place, he is said to have been born -in Northumberland, perhaps a translation of the Latin "Northumbria," -intended to represent the name "Yorkshire." There were, at least, three -families of Tesimond in York in the reign of Elizabeth, namely, Robert -Tesimond, a butcher, of Christ's Parish; Anthony Tesimond, a cordyner; and -William Tesimond, a saddler, both of St. Michael-le-Belfrey's Parish. I -incline to think that Father Oswald Tesimond was the son of William -Tesimond, who lived in the Parish of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York. Oswald -Tesimond was born in 1563; but as the Register books of St. Michael's -Church, unfortunately, begin in 1565, two years afterwards, there are no -means of verifying my supposal. William Tesimond was, for a great part of -his life, a rigid Catholic, suffering imprisonment for his faith, although -eventually he appears to have yielded. Margaret Tesimond, the wife of -William Tesimond, also bore a more than lip testimony to the ancient -religion by suffering imprisonment for it. Whether William Tesimond died -"reconciled" or not, I cannot say. Perhaps further researches will clear -the matter up as to this and the exact parentage of Father Tesimond. In -the very learned and deeply lamented Dr. James Raine's admirable book on -the City of York (Longmans, 1893), on p. 110, is the following:--"Whilst -the Earl of Northumberland's head was lying in the Tolbooth on Ouse -Bridge, William Tessimond cut off some hair from the beard. He wrapped it -in paper, and wrote on the outside, 'This the heire of the good Erle of -Northumberland, Lord Perecy.' For this he got into great trouble." This -must have been about the 22nd August, 1572, as Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland was beheaded on that day, at three o'clock in the -afternoon, in The Pavement, York, for his share in the Rising of the -North. The Church Register of St. Margaret's Church, Walmgate, York, -contains an entry of the death of the Earl of Northumberland. The Percy -family had property in Walmgate at that time. The Earl is now "the Blessed -Thomas Percy," one of "the York martyrs." The Lady Mary Percy, of Ghent, a -well-known Benedictine Abbess, was his daughter. She would be probably -named after her aunt Mary, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of Scriven Hall, -near Scotton. There is a fine monument in the Parish Church of -Knaresbrough to the memory of Francis Slingsby and Mary Percy, his wife. -The Slingsbies were Roman Catholics till many years after the reign of -Elizabeth; in fact, Sir Henry Slingsby, who was beheaded during the -Commonwealth, was himself a Roman Catholic. - -The Half Moon Hotel, in Blake Street, York, perhaps derives its name from -the well-known device of the Percy family.] - -[Footnote 35:--Quoted from Father Gerard's "_Narrative_," p. 278.] - -[Footnote 36:--So that the Plot was first hatched about Easter, 1604.--See -Dr. S. R. Gardiner's "_What Gunpowder Plot was_," as to the decisive -causes of the Plot.--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_" (pp. 45 and 46), thinks -that the Star-Chambering of that aged but charming Roman Catholic -gentleman, Thomas Pounde, Esquire, of Belmont, Hampshire, contributed to -the causes of the Plot. This is very probable. Pounde was first cousin to -the father of the Earl of Southampton, the patron and friend of -Shakespeare. Pounde was a devoted friend of Campion, and himself a Jesuit -lay-brother. He spent a large part of his life in prison. He was attired -in prison as became his rank and fortune, and was, besides being a -"mystical" Catholic, a most accomplished Elizabethan gentleman.--See -"_Jesuits in Conflict_" (Burns & Oates).] - -[Footnote 37:--_I.e._, according to Winter, about two months after.] - -[Footnote 38:--See pp. 269 and 271 of the Rev. John Gerard's, S.J., work, -"_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" (Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co., 1897).] - -[Footnote 39:--_I.e._, a Prayer Book. Sir Everard Digby appears to have -been sworn in by Robert Catesby on the cross formed by the hilt of a -poniard.--See "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_."] - -[Footnote 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 "_The Month_," No. 369, pp. 353, 4.--This would be to make -assurance double sure. But, happily, the "best laid schemes o' men gang -aft agley." "For 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 anathenas" (John Henry Newman). Also, "Conscience is the -knowledge with oneself of the better and the worse" (James Martineau).] - -[Footnote 41:--See Jardine's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 41.] - -[Footnote 42:--The Most Hon. the Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., 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. - -Of what manner of men these Mallories were, the puissant owners of Studley -Royal, is evident from what we are told concerning that Sir William -Mallory, "who was so zealous and constant a Catholic, that when heresy -first came into England, and Catholic service commanded 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 Babthorpe," Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_," first series, p. 227.--The Church referred to must 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 the 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 grey ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of -St. Mary, Fountains, laved by the musical little River Skell. (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 VI., 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 -the reign of the Seventh!] - -[Footnote 43:--The promoters of the Rising of the North wished:-- - -(1) To restore to her kingdom Mary 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 Mary Stuart on the throne of England. - -(4) Above all, to restore "the ancient faith," which they did in Durham, -Staindrop, 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 North in 1569 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 Lancashire -(especially the neighbourhood of "Wigan and Ashton-on-Makerfield, and, -above all, the Fylde, that region between Lancaster and Preston, whence -"the great Allen" sprang) is "the Rome of England" to this day. It is said -that the Parish Church of Bispham (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 -Jerome Allen, uncle to the Cardinal. In the white-washed yeoman dwellings -of the Fylde 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 Ripon, 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 -idyllic hamlet betwixt Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, that is still -a stronghold of "the ancient faith," which, as in a last Yorkshire -retreat, has _there_ never died out), has the writer recalled the -following lines from the old "Ballad of the Rising 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 shining all so fair; - The Nortons ancyent had the Cross - And the Five Wounds Our Lord did beare." - -Norton Conyers, in the Parish of Wath, near Ripon, was forfeited by the -Nortons after the Rebellion of 1569. It is now, I believe, the property of -Sir Reginald 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 Markenfields, -and, being forfeited by them, granted to Francis Norton, the eldest son of -old Richard Norton.--See "_Sir Ralph Sadlers Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter -Scott.--The present Lord Grantley is descended from Thomas Norton, who was -sixth in descent from old Richard 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 -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 Cockermouth Hall, waited on the -Scots' Queen when she first landed at Workington. Henry Fletcher -"entertained" the Queen at Cockermouth Hall (17th May, 1568), "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' "_History of Cumberland and -Westmoreland_." - -As to the Nortons and Markenfields, see Wordsworth's "_White Doe of -Rylstone_"; "_Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569_" (1840); Froude's -"_History of England_"; "_Memorials of Cardinal Allen_"[A] (Ed. by Dr. -Knox, published by Nutt, London); and J. S. Fletcher's "_Picturesque -Yorkshire_" (Dent & Co.). In Hailstone's "_Portraits of Yorkshire -Worthies_" (two magnificent volumes published by Cundall & Fleming) are -photographs of old Richard Norton and of his brother Thomas, and of the -former's seventh son, Christopher. The photographs 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 Ripon Minster Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, it is -plain that, between the years 1589 and 1601, a "Norton," described as -"_generosus_," lived at Sawley, close to Bishop Thornton and Grantley, -near Ripon.] - -[Footnote 44:--In 1569 the Norton Conyers estate seems to have been vested -in a Nicholas Norton, probably as a trustee.--See "_Sir Ralph Sadler's -Papers_," and see _ante_, Supplementum III. - -The Winters were also related to the Markenfields, their aunt, Isabel -Ingleby, having married Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield. - -The Wrights and Winters were also, through the Inglebies, connected with -the Yorkes, of Gowthwaite, in Nidderdale, of which family, most probably, -sprang Captain Roland Yorke (who introduced the use of the rapier into -England--see Camden's "_Elizabeth_"), the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, in -the Netherlands.--See Foster's Edition of "_Glover's Visitation of -Yorkshire_"; "_The Earl of Leicester's Correspondence_" (Camden Soc.); -also "_Cardinal Allen's Defence of Sir William Stanley's Surrender of -Deventer, 29th January, 1586-87_" (Chetham Soc.). - -The Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, were related to the Nortons, -old Richard Norton's grandmother being Margaret, daughter of Roger 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 Whitwell, 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_.")] - -[Footnote A: 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 Riding of the -County of York, is the representative of this ancient Yorkshire family of -Lister. Lord Masham is a representative of a younger branch of the same -family. - -By a remarkable coincidence, on the 16th 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.] - -[Footnote 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, however, singularly enough married Martha Wright, Mary Ward's -aunt.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers -(Burns & Oates, 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 very trusty man. A photograph of a -painting of him is in Hailstone's "_Yorkshire Worthies_," taken 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, but utterly failed to do so. He eventually became a Priest -of the Society of Jesus. He petitioned James to restore to him the Neville -estates, but without avail; so that historic Middleham and Kirbymoorside -(in Yorkshire), and Raby and Brancepeth (in Durham), finally passed from -the once proud house of Neville, one of whom was the well-known Warwick, -the King-maker, owing to the chivalrous, ill-fated Rising of 1569. This -Rising first broke out at Topcliffe, between Ripon and Thirsk, where the -Earl of Northumberland was then sojourning at his palace, the site of -which is pointed out to this day. Topcliffe is situated on the waters of -the River Swale, which (like the East Riding 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 people ever had. - -The first Pilgrimage of Grace, under Robert Aske, of Aughton, 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 "_York: the History of its Walls -and Castles_"), kindly refers me to "_Letters and Papers, Foreign and -Domestic, Henry VIII., 1537_," p. 87, for evidence tending to prove that -Robert Aske was executed "on the height of the castle dungeon," where the -High Sheriff of Yorkshire had jurisdiction, and _not_ 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, most probably, settled -the point by his discovery of this important letter of "the old Duke of -Norfolk" to Thomas Cromwell.] - -[Footnote 46:--Father Gerard's "Narrative of Gunpowder Plot" in -"_Conditions of Catholics under James I._" Edited by Father Morris, S.J. -(Longmans, 1872).] - -[Footnote 47:--The "very imperfect proof" to which I refer is contained in -a certain marriage entry in the Registers at Ripon Minster. The date is -"10th July, 1588" (the year and month of the Spanish Armada), and _seems_ -to me to be as follows: "Xpofer Wayde et Margaret Wayrde." Now, "Margaret" -was a family name of the Wardes, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, and the -clergyman making the entry _may_ have written "Wayde" instead of Wright. -We 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) papers 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 1605, suggests to my mind many far-reaching -supposals. Marmaduke Ward seems to have died before the year 1614, but the -"burials" of the Ripon Registers are lost for this period apparently.] - -[Footnote 48:--Born 1563. Father Oswald Tesimond was for six years at -Hindlip Hall, along with Father Oldcorne. Ralph Ashley, a Jesuit -lay-brother, was Oldcorne's servant.] - -[Footnote 49:--John Wright was born about 1568. Christopher Wright was -born about 1570. Had they a brother Francis, living at Newbie (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 Wright, 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 ffrauncis -Wright, Esquire, and of another ffrauncis Wright, under date 2nd May, -1664, both at Welwick. (Communicated to me by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, -M.A., Vicar of Welwick.) Probably the Francis Wrights, of Newby (or -Newbie), are those buried at Welwick, being father and son respectively. -Certainly the coincidence is remarkable.--See _ante_.] - -[Footnote 50:--Foley's "_Records of the English Province of the Society of -Jesus_," vol. iv., pp. 203-5 (Burns & Oates, 1878).] - -[Footnote 51:--Quoted in Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 213.] - -[Footnote 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 alias of Oldcorne] for us, -and desire him to help us to some resting place."--See Jardine's -"_Criminal Trials, Gunpowder Plot_," vol. ii., p. 146.] - -[Footnote 53:--Schismatic Catholics were those Catholics that went to Mass -in private houses, and then, more or less, frequented their parish church -afterwards to escape the fines. They were further divided into -Communicants and Non-communicants. Very often the men of a family were -Catholics of this sort, and the womenkind strict Catholics. Indeed, it was -mainly the women and the priests that have kept "the Pope's religion" -alive in England: although, of course, _many_ men of great mental and -physical powers were papists of the most rigid class. The practice of -"going to the Protestant church," as English Roman Catholics term the -practice to this day, was deliberately condemned by 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: the Jesuits, and especially their extraordinarily able leader, -Father Parsons, thought that the Secular Priests required watching. And so -they did; and so do all other human creatures. But 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.] - -[Footnote 54:--"_Collecti Cardwelli_," Public Record Office, Brussels Vit -Mart, p. 147. - -In Foley's "_Records_," 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, with St. William's Chapel -(at present the site of which is occupied by Messrs. Varvills' -establishment). St. Sampson's Church, the ancient church which gave the -name of the parish 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," Margaret Clitherow lived. Oldcorne must have known that -great York citizen well. She was born in Davygate, and was the second wife -of a butcher, named 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, by birth: and the Church of -Rome, ever mindful of her own, declared in 1886 (just three hundred years -after the martyr's death in the Tolbooth, on Old Ouse Bridge) that -Margaret Clitherow, a shrewd, honest, devout York tradeswoman, is one of -the Church's "Venerable Servants of God," by grace.--See J. B. Milburn's -Life of this extraordinary Elizabethan Yorkshire-woman, entitled, "_A -Martyr of Old York_" (Burns & Oates, London).] - -[Footnote 55:--This crossing-out of the word "yowe" is noticed in Nash's -"_History of Worcestershire_."] - -[Footnote 56:--The word "good" is omitted in the copy of the Letter given -in the "_Authorised Discourse_," which is remarkable. I think it was done -designedly, in order to minimize the merit of the revealing plotter.] - -[Footnote 57:--King James's interpretation of these enigmatical words was -simply fantastical. It may be read in Gerard's "_Narrative_," and in most -contemporary relations of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 58:--I am of opinion that one of Father Oldcorne's servants, -Ralph Ashley by name, a Jesuit lay-brother, was the person that actually -conveyed 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 Ralph 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 Ashley, which is negative 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 -Campion_"--whom the genial orator playfully called "his little -man"--"_homulus_"; and in the 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 halls, -up and down the country, he constructed most ingenious secret places for -the hiding of priests. - -Ralph Ashley had acted in some humble capacity at the English Catholic -College of Valladolid, which had been founded in Spain from Rheims, -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 "_The Life of the -Venerable John Roberts, O.S.B._," by the Rev. Bede Camm, O.S.B. (Sands & -Co.)--Father Roberts founded the Benedictine College at Douay, still in -existence. Cardinal Allen's secular priests' College is now used as a -French Barracks. Ushaw College, Durham, and St. Edmund's College, Ware, -are the lineal successors of Cardinal Allen's College at Douay. - -(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. Lingard -died at Hornby, near Lancaster, not far from Hornby Castle, the seat of -the once famous Lord Mounteagle.) - -Brother Raphael (or Ralph) Ashley, was possibly akin to the Ashleys, of -Goule Hall, in the Township of Cliffe, in the Parish of Hemingbrough, in -the East Riding 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 his being the chosen companion of the two Yorkshire Jesuits, -Oldcorne and Tesimond. - -This Jesuit lay-brother was acquainted with London; and as, _Qui facit per -alium facit per se_, it was pre-eminently likely that Oldcorne would -employ his confidential servant to perform so weighty a mission as the one -I have attributed unto him. - -Again, since "he who acts through another acts through himself," it is -unnecessary for me to treat at large in the Text concerning my supposal -respecting the part that Brother Ralph Ashley played in the great drama of -the Gunpowder Plot. Ashley being identified with his master, Father -Oldcorne, shares, in his degree, his master's merits and praise. - -Professor J. A. Froude thought that Ralph Waldo Emerson was of the same -stock as Brother Ralph Emerson. It is quite possible. For after the -Gunpowder Plot, I opine that the younger Catholics in many cases became -Puritans, and in some cases, later on, Quakers.] - -[Footnote 59:--Notwithstanding the endless chain of the causation of human -acts and human events, man's strongest and clearest knowledge tells him -that he is "master of his fate," nay, that "he is fated to be free," -inasmuch as at any moment man can open the flood-gates that are betwixt -him and an Infinite Ocean of Pure Unconditioned Freedom: can open those -flood-gates, and in that Ocean can lave at will, and 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.] - -[Footnote 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).] - -[Footnote 61:--"_Gunpowder Plot Books_," vol. ii., p. 202.] - -[Footnote 62:--It is impossible to describe 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 with 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 afternoon. -He desires to place on record his sense of obligation for the courteous -civility with which he was treated by the authorities at the Record -Office, London, on this occasion.] - -[Footnote 63:--Oldcorne, being a Jesuit, would from time to time go to -White Webbs, Morecrofts (near Uxbridge), Erith-on-the-Thames, Stoke Pogis, -Thames Street (London), and other places of Jesuit resort where Mounteagle -and Ward had the _entre_. 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 -house known as Dr. Hewick'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 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 had so wronged, _in act and in desire_, -and themselves; and a happy thing for the men, as well as for others, that -Destiny did so enable them whilst there was yet time. - -(In October, 1900, I was informed that the present mansion, known as White -Webbs, belongs to the Lady Mex.)] - -[Footnote 64:--Known by Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant.] - -[Footnote 65:--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 1.] - -[Footnote 66:--M'rgery Slater most probably belonged to a Ripon family, as -I find 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 -Warde" may have been a relative of Mr. Cotterell, as I find in the St. -Michael-le-Belfrey Register the entry of the burial (1583) 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 church, -whose site is to-day (1901) occupied by the official lodgings of the -King's Judges of Assize when on circuit. For the "subsidy" of 1581, a Mr. -James Cotterell of that parish was assessed in "Lande" at 6 13s. 4d. -(among the highest of the York assessments). There was a Mr. Cotterell "an -Examiner" for the Council of the North in the time of Elizabeth, and I -have no doubt that "Mistress Warde's" late master was this very gentleman. -Whether the young woman whom "Thomas Ward, 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, I do not know. -Let us hope, however, that alike in gifts of personal attractiveness and -graces of character she was not unworthy of one who came from so truly -"gentle" a people as the Wardes, of Mulwith, Givendale, and Newby. If -M'gery Slater did hail from Ripon, this "faithful following" of her to -York, and from the house of her master, publicly making her, in the face -of all the world, his "true and honourable wife, as dear to him as were -the ruddy drops that visited his own heart," bears early witness to an -idealism of mind in this Yorkshire 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 Warde, who -was also of Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and -from _this_ picture we may imagine _that_.] - -[Footnote 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 that country [_i.e._ Yorkshire] for his exceeding comeliness 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 with 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 Royal, near Ripon, the present seat of their descendants, the Most -Hon. the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon. - -The above quotation is taken from the "_Life_" of Marmaduke Ward's eldest -daughter, Mary, who was one of the most 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. I -think the Old Heworth Hall was built _behind_ 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 Gunpowder plotters "were at Old Heworth Hall" -(communicated to me in 1890 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, 1901, the outhouse or hay chamber (of brick 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-Hill. The last of the English -martyrs was Father Thomas Thwing, of Heworth, who was executed at the York -Tyburn, 1680. His vestments belong to the Herbert family, of Gate -Helmsley. 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 with the past are those beautiful, but fading, priestly -garments. - -The following letter of Mr. Bannister Dent will be read with interest, as -helping the concatenation of the evidence. It is from a York solicitor who -for many years was Guardian for the old Parish of St. Wilfred, in the City -of York:-- - - - "York, - 21st March, 1901." - - "OLD PARISH OF ST. WILFRED." - - "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. I have made 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."] - -[Footnote 68:--Margery Warde (born Slater) was probably the sister of one -Hugo Slater, of Ripon, who, subsequently to 1579, had a daughter, Margery, -and a son, Thomas.--See Ripon Registers. - -John Whitham, Esq., of the City of Ripon, has been so kind as to place at -my disposal the Index, which is the result of his researches into the -Ripon Registers. There seems to be no entry of the baptism of Mary (or -Joan or Jane) Ward in 1585-86, nor of John Ward, William Ward, nor Teresa -Ward. George Warde's baptism is recorded: "18th May, 1595 [not 1594], -George Waryde filius M'maduci de Mulwith." Then under date 3rd September, -1598, occurs, three years afterwards, this significant entry: "Thomas -Warde filius M'maduci _de Nubie_." This naming of his son "Thomas" by -Marmaduke Warde, I submit, _almost_ suffices to clench the proof that -Marmaduke and Thomas Warde were akin to each other _as brothers_. - -If proof be required that the name "Ward" was spelt both Ward and Warde, -it is contained in the following entries in the Ripon Minster Registers of -the baptism of Marmaduke Ward's daughters, Eliza and Barbara[A]: "30 April -1591--Eliza, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith;" "21 November -1592--Barbara, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith." The entries are in -Latin. In some subsequent entries Marmaduke Warde is described as of -Newbie, _e.g._: "5 Nov. 1594--Ellyn, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of -Newbie."] - -[Footnote A: Eliza was probably Elizabeth Warde, and Ellyn--Teresa -Warde.] - -[Footnote 69:--Newby was spelt "Newbie" at that time. Newby adjoins the -village of Skelton. Mulwith is about a mile from Newby.] - -[Footnote 70:--See vol. v., p. 681.] - -[Footnote 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, -brought up a Roman 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 Morley barony was created in 1299.--See Burke's -"_Extinct Peerages_," and Horace Round'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 Yelverton (one of the -well-known Yelvertons, of Norfolk) is described at the 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 for his -priesthood at the York Tyburn, 7th April, 1595, in the thirty-sixth year -of his age. Rome, in 1886, declared Henry Walpole to be "a Venerable -Servant of God."] - -[Footnote 72:--See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 73:--See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 74:--See vol. i., p. 238.] - -[Footnote 75:--See vol. i., p. 237.] - -[Footnote 76:--Edward 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 Cromwellian 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 Warde, the daughter of -Marmaduke Warde, and niece of Thomas Warde.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," -vol. i. - -Winefrid Wigmore, already mentioned, was cousin, once removed, to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Wigmore, -Winefrid's father, having married her aunt, Anne Throckmorton, a daughter -of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. Lady Catesby was another daughter.--See Note -30 _supra_.] - -[Footnote 77:--As slightly supporting the contention that Lord Morley, the -father of Mounteagle, was related to, or at least connected with, the -Wards, it is to be observed that John Wright, the elder brother by the -whole blood of Ursula Ward, 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 John -and Christopher Wright were evidently called after two uncles who bore -these two names respectively.--See Norcliffe's Ed. of Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_" (Harleian Soc).] - -[Footnote 78:--To-day (April, 1901) Newby-cum-Mulwith forms one township. -Givendale is a township by itself. Along with Skelton they form a separate -ecclesiastical parish. Skelton Church, in Newby Park, is one of the most -beautiful in the county, having been erected by the late Lady Mary Vyner, -of Newby Hall. The Church is dedicated under the touching title of -"Christ, the Consoler." - -Formerly the Parish of Ripon included no less than thirty villages. At -Skelton, Aldfield, Sawley, Bishop Thornton, Monckton, 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 -"_generosus_") 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. Wheelhouse'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 "_Records_," 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 off. 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 Bishop -Thornton, once the home of the stanch old Catholic family of Walworth. -Then Mass was said in the top chamber, running the whole length of the -priest's present house. Afterwards (about 1778) followed the present stone -Chapel. Clare Lady Howard, of Glossop, built the Schools at Bishop -Thornton a few years ago. - -F. Reynard, Esquire, J.P., of Hob Green, Markington and Sunderlandwick, -Driffield, now owns Raventoftes Hall, which has a splendid view towards -Sawley, How Hill, and Ripon. It is rented by a Roman Catholic, named Mr. -F. Stubbs, who is akin to the 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 Norton, 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 Bishop -Thornton, where Miss Lascelles, Miss Butcher, and others of Mary Ward's -followers, lived a semi-conventual life during the reign of Charles II., -previously to their taking up their abode near Micklegate Bar, York.--See -"_Annals of St. Mary's Convent, York_," Edited by H. J. Coleridge, S.J. -(Burns & Oates).--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, -in the eighteenth century, from his sister, who was the wife of Colonel -Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now Stourton Castle, near Knaresbrough, the -seat of the Lord Mowbray and Stourton) and of Old Thornville, Little -Cattal, now the property of William Machin, 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 part of the nineteenth century the Darnbroughs rented Dole Bank, the -present tenant being Mr. Atkinson.] - -[Footnote 79:--I think that Thomas Warde may have been born about the -beginning 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 -his birth about the year 1558. Early marriages were characteristic of the -period. Mounteagle, for example, was married before he was eighteen. The -Ripon Registers begin in fairly regular course in 1587, though there are -fragments from 1574, but not earlier. If Christopher Wright, the plotter, -lived in Bondgate, Ripon, 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 they render the poet's -marriage with Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was little more than eighteen -and a-half years old, less startling.--See Sidney Lee's "_Life of -Shakespeare_," 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 Vaux's -"_Catechism_," Edited by T. G. 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 Vaux, who was a former Warden of -the Collegiate Church at Manchester, and with "the great Allen" and men -like Vivian Haydock--see Gillow's "_Haydock Papers_" (Burns & -Oates)--retained Lancashire in its allegiance to Rome--so that "the -jannock" Lancashire Catholics style their county, "God's County" even unto -this day.] - -[Footnote 80:--The strong and, within due limits, admirable spirit of -"clannishness" 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.R.H. The Prince of Wales, -December, 1901), and that typical Yorkshireman, Viscount Halifax, for -President. The Earl of Crewe, Lord Grantley, Sir Albert K. Rollit, Knt., -M.P., _cum multis aliis_, are members. May it flourish _ad multos annos_!] - -[Footnote 81:--In the Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.] - -[Footnote 82:--The Earl of Northumberland was fined by the Star Chamber -30,000, 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 -released in 1621. He was the son of Henry Percy eighth Earl of -Northumberland, and nephew of "the Blessed" Thomas Percy seventh Earl of -Northumberland, and of Mary Slingsby, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of -Scriven, near Knaresbrough. Although the Earl of Northumberland that was -Star-Chambered was by his own declaration no papist, he was looked up to -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 "_Calendar of State Papers, James -I._" - -Lord Stourton compounded for 1,000. - -Lord Mordaunt's fine was remitted after his death, which took place in -1608. 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 Government construed into a charge of Concealment 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 V." - -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 Ampleforth, the Gascoignes were greatly -attached to the ancient Benedictine Order, which took such remarkable root -in England through St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, and his forty -missionaries, all of whom were Benedictines.--See Taunton's "_The English -Black Monks of St. Benedict_" (Methuen & Co.); also Dr. Gasquet's standard -work on "_English Monasteries_" (John Hodges). - -It may be, perhaps, gratifying to the historic feeling of my readers to -learn that the influence of these old Yorkshire Roman Catholic families, -the Gascoignes, the Inglebies, and the Plumptons, is still felt at Bentham -and in the old Benedictine Missions of Aberford, near Barnbow, and of -Knaresbrough, near picturesque Plumpton, 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 Vale of -Mowbray, will long perpetuate the memory of the Fairfaxes, of Gilling; H. -C. Fairfax-Cholmeley, Esquire, J.P., of Brandsby Hall, now represents this -ancient family.] - -[Footnote 83:--See "_Condition of Catholics under James I._," by the Rev. -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 Yorke at Gowthwaite Hall, after the Gunpowder Treason. Gerard -left England in 1606, and there is no evidence whatever that he had -anything to do with the Plot. I do not know, for certain, how Sir John -Yorke 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 Yorkes, 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 persecution," is -about to be pulled down to make way for the Bradford Reservoir. 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 Yorkshire_" (Dent & -Co.), which latter work contains a picture of the place, a structure "rich -with the spoils of time," but, alas! destined soon to be "now no more." - -Ripley Castle, the home of the Inglebies, at the entrance to Nidderdale -(truly the Switzerland of England), still rears its ancient towers, and -still is the roof-tree of those who worthily bear an honoured historic -name for ever "to historic memory dear." - -"_From Eden Vale to the Plains of York_," by Edmund Bogg, contains -sketches of both Ripley Castle and Gowthwaite Hall. Lucas's "_Nidderdale_" -(Elliot Stock) is also well worth consulting for its account of the -dialect of this part of Yorkshire which, like the West Riding generally, -retains strong Cymric traces. There are also British characteristics in -the build and personal appearance of the people, as also in their -marvellous gift of song. The Leeds Musical Festival and its Chorus, for -example, are renowned throughout the whole musical world.] - -[Footnote 84:--It is, moreover, possible that Mounteagle may have met his -connection, and probably kinsman, Thomas Warde, at White Webbs, about the -year 1602. Mounteagle, at that time, like the Earl of Southampton and the -Earl of Rutland, was not allowed to attend Elizabeth's Court on account of -his share in the Essex tumult. He was, in fact, then mixed up with the -schemes of Father Robert Parsons' then-expiring Spanish faction among the -English Catholics. If a certain Thomas Grey, to whom Garnet at White Webbs -showed the papal breves (which the latter burnt in 1603, on James I. being -proclaimed King by applause), were the same person as Sir Thomas Gray, he -would be, most probably, a relative of Thomas Warde. For the Wardes, of -Mulwith, certainly were related to a Sir Thomas Gray.--See "_Life of Mary -Ward_," vol. i., p. 221, where it is said that, "through the Nevilles and -Gascoignes," the Wards were related to the families of Sir Ralph and Sir -Thomas Gray.[A] - -As to father Garnet showing the breves to Thomas Grey, see Foley's -"_Records_," vol. iv., p. 159, where it says:--Garnet "confesseth that in -the Queen's lifetyme he received two Breefs (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 White Webbs; whereof they seemed to be -very glad and showed it (_sic_) also unto Thomas Grey at White Webbs -before one of his journies into Scotland in the late Queen's tyme." - -It will be remembered that Thomas Percy, who married Martha Wright, Ursula -Warde's sister, was one of those who waited upon James VI. 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 Percy_," 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 stupendous determination "to see the Plot -through," a fact which I have always been very 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 with emphasis on the fact that it was "the _despised_ -beauty"--"_spretque_ injuria _form_"--of Juno, the goddess, that spurred -her to such deathless hatred against the ill-starred house of Priam. What -a knowledge of the springs of human action does not this portray!] - -[Footnote A: Were Sir Ralph and Sir Thomas Gray of the Grays (or Greys), -of Chillingham, Northumberland? It may be remarked that, about the year -1597-98, Marmaduke Ward and his wife and some of his family went to live -in Northumberland, maybe at Alnwick; and as Thomas Percy was connected -with Marmaduke Ward, it is at least possible that Marmaduke Ward went -himself into Scotland on the mission to King 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 Jane Howard, daughter of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey. -Lady Margaret Neville was married to Sir Nicholas Pudsey, of -Bolton-in-Bowland, Yorkshire, I think. Lady Anne Neville was married to -David Ingleby, of Ripley, a cousin of Marmaduke Ward and of Ursula Wright. -Lady Margaret Neville conformed to the Establishment, but afterwards, I -believe, the lady relapsed to popery.--See the "_Hutton Correspondence_" -(Surtees Soc.), and "_Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -[Footnote 85:--Interesting 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 North 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, "North of the Sands."--See Stockdale's -"_Annales Caermoelenses_," p. 410, a work, I believe, now out of -print.--Stockdale says that in the old Holker Hall (which seems to have -been built by George Preston, in the reign of James I.), 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-of-arms, namely:--Those of (1) King James I., -with the lion and unicorn as supporters. (2) The Preston family, younger -branch; from whom, through an heiress, the Dukes of Devonshire to-day own -the Holker estates. The younger branch of the Prestons, viz., those of -Holker, 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 Manor Furness, -were strict Roman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis -Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. The 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 "_Records_," -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 -provided for, 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 impaling Dacre; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel -having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of -the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Lord William 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 Hinderskelfe (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 parents of Lord Mounteagle, 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; William -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 Leybourne, of -Cunswick; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord -Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law, William Stanley third Lord -Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne Leybourne, and who was the -grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham. (9) -Cavendish impaling Keighley; William Cavendish first Earl of Devonshire -having married Anne Keighley, daughter of Sir Henry Keighley, of Keighley, -Yorks. (10) Keighley impaling Carus; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having -married Mary Carus, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11) -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.[A] - -Fittingly does that great master of English, Frederic Harrison, quote -approvingly, 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 never found in -the books of general history." 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.] - -[Footnote A: 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 1686, the reign of James II. - -The last Lord Morley and Mounteagle died without issue. The issue of two -aunts of the deceased baron were his representatives. One aunt was -Katherine, who married John Savage second Earl of Rivers, and had issue; -the other aunt was Elizabeth, who married Edward Cranfield. - -The present Earl of Morley, Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, -though a Parker, is of the Parkers of Devonshire, a different family from -the Parkers of Essex.] - -[Footnote 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 -Scotland" of the "woeful fight" of Flodden Field. At the funeral of that -gallant soldier and fine Scotsman, the late General Wauchope, of the -Regiment known as the Black Watch, the pipers played this plaintive air, -"The Flowers of the Forest." Who does not hope that those funereal strains -may be prophetic that, through the power of far-sighted wisdom, human -sympathy, and the healing hand of Time, there may be a reconciliation as -real and deep and true betwixt England's kinsman-foe of to-day and herself -as there is betwixt herself and her kinsman-foe of the year 1513--the year -of Flodden Field! - -See also Professor Aytoun's "Edinburgh after Flodden," in his "_Lays of -the Scottish Cavaliers_" (Routledge & Sons); also, of course, Sir Walter -Scott's well-known "Marmion."] - -[Footnote 87:--It should be remembered that Baines says that Nichols, in -his "_Progresses of James I._," describes Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, by -mistake, for the one in Lancashire. - -The sunny, balmy, health-giving watering-place of Grange-over-Sands, built -at the foot of Yewbarrow, 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 be read with interest by -those who are privileged to know that golden land of the westering sun, -the paradise of the weak of chest. - -About three miles from the Grange--so called because here was formerly a -Grange, or House, for the storing of grain by the Friars, or black Canons, -of the Augustinian Priory at Cartmel--is the square Peel Tower known as -Wraysholme Tower. In the windows of the 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 -Harringtons, which likewise became a portion of the Mounteagles' Hornby -Castle estates. All this portion of the north of England abounded in -adherents of the ancient faith up to about the time of the Gunpowder Plot. -The Duke of Guise had planned that the Spanish Armada should disembark at -the large and commodious port of the Pile of Fouldrey, in the Parish of -Dalton-in-Furness, "North of the Sands." This rock of the Pile of -Fouldrey, from which the port took its name, was not only near Adlingham -and Gleaston, but also near the Manor Furness, the seat of the elder -branch of the Prestons, from whom Mounteagle, on his mother's side, was -descended.[A]] - -[Footnote A: William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle's great-great-uncle, -James Leybourne (or Labourn), of Cunswick and Skelsmergh, in the County of -Westmoreland, was hanged, drawn, and quartered by Queen Elizabeth, in the -year 1583.--See "_The Acts of the English Martyrs_," by the Rev. J. H. -Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).--James Leybourne is not reckoned "a Catholic -martyr" by Challoner, because he denied that Elizabeth was "his lawful -Queen." There has been a doubt as to where this gentleman suffered "a -traitor's death." Baines says that he was executed at Lancaster, that his -head was exposed on Manchester Church steeple, and that prior to his -execution Leybourne was imprisoned in the New 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 what 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 representative of this ancient Westmoreland family died -on the 9th December, 1737, aged sixty-nine years, evidently reconciled to -the faith of his ancestors.] - -[Footnote 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 1521, -but left no male heir. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Francis Neville, -of Thornton Bridge, in the Parish of Brafferton, near Boroughbridge; his -second daughter, Johanna, married Edward Musgrave, of Westmoreland; and -his third daughter, Margaret, married John Lawrence, of Barley 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.). - -I find that, along with Thomas Hallat, one Edmund Ward was Wakeman (or -Mayor) of Ripon, 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 "_Guiseley_," Yorks. (Hamilton Adams), and the "_Life of Mary -Ward_," 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 Ripon -Registers, under date the 16th December, 1594, of the burial of "Susannay -wife of Marmaduke Wayrde of Newby." (At least, so I read the entry.) When -this Marmaduke died I 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 Ripon_" (Surtees Soc.) occur -the names of Edmund Ward and Ralph Ward, both as paying dues for lands in -Skelton (p. 333). Also the "Fabric Roll for 1542" (in the same work) has -the name Marmaduke Ward. This would be the husband of Susannay, who died -in 1594, probably. So that, most likely, Marmaduke and Susannay Ward were -the parents of Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, if the latter were -brothers, as it is practically certain they were. - -I am inclined, on the whole, to think that Edmund 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.); but -it sheds no light on this question of the parentage of any of the Wards. -From Slater's "_History 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 Pulleins, of -Scotton, tells me that in the "Subsidy Roll for 1379" the names -occur:--"Johannes Warde et ux ej. ijs. Tho. Warde et ux ej. vjd Johannes -fil. Thomae Warde iiij d." So that the names John and Thomas were -evidently hereditary in the various branches of the Wardes, of Givendale -and Esholt. (18th April, 1901.)] - -[Footnote 89:--From the "_Authorised Discourse_," or "_King's Book_," we -learn that the King returned from Royston on Thursday, the 31st day of -October; that on Friday, All Hallows Day, Salisbury showed James the -Letter in the "gallerie" of the palace at Whitehall. On the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November, Salisbury and the Earl of Suffolk, 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 Suffolk and -Mounteagle, when they saw Fawkes, who styled himself "John Johnson," -servant to Thomas Percy, who had hired the house adjoining the Parliament -House and the aforesaid cellar also. - -Now, Mounteagle, almost certainly, must have known that there would be -this 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 opinion is -that Mounteagle _saw_ and _spoke_ to Tresham _between_ the conference of -the King, Suffolk, and Salisbury (Mounteagle being made acquainted with, -by either Suffolk or Salisbury, if he were 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, November the 2nd.] - -[Footnote 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 -which? Possibly it may have been at this meeting that Christopher Wright -recommended the conspirators to take flight in different directions. It is -observable that, so far as I am aware, Christopher Wright and John Wright -do not appear to have expressed a wish that any particular nobleman should -be warned, except Arundel. Whereas Fawkes wished Montague; Percy, -Northumberland; 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 I. in 1644. - -(Since writing the above, I have ascertained that there is no report in -any of Guy Fawkes' Confessions of this statement of Christopher Wright, -nor in his written "Confessions" does Fawkes refer to his own mother.)] - -[Footnote 91:--"_Labile tempus_"--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-Fylde, and -Rufford. Edmund Neville, one of the suitors of Mary Ward, was brought up -with the Heskeths, of Rufford. In 1581 the Mains Hall branch of the -Heskeths harboured Campion.] - -[Footnote 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 the entrance to the mine -was sealed up. No useful purpose would be served by either Mounteagle or -Ward telling the Government about the mine, which then was an "extinct -volcano."] - -[Footnote 93:--The exact words of Lingard are these:--"Winter sought a -second interview with Tresham at his house in Lincoln's Inn Walks, and -returned to Catesby with the following answer: That the existence of the -mine had been communicated to the Ministers. This Tresham said he knew: -but by whom the discovery had been made he knew not." - -Lingard does not give his authority, but probably he got the material for -this important passage from "_Greenway's_ (_vere_ Tesimond's) _MS._" It is -an historical desideratum that this MS. should be published. Mounteagle, -conceivably, may have falsely told Tresham that the Government 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, whatever may have been their precise nature. -Mounteagle possibly said something about "the mine," and that the -Parliament Houses would be with minuteness searched far and near. This -would be quite sufficient to inflame the already heated imagination of -Tresham, and he 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 the distraught Tresham as one reads -the relation of his second interview with Winter. Then from the pulsations -of _one_ human heart, O, Earth's governors and ye governed, learn _all_. -For the study of true History is big with mighty lessons and "he that hath -ears let him hear." Let him hear that Truth and Right, 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 his heart and will. And _these_ two faculties are -likewise of divine original and have severally a voice which perpetually -bids man, poor wounded man, "be pitiful, be courteous" to his fellows. For -human life at best is "hard," is "brief," and "piercing are its sorrows."] - -[Footnote 94:--The meeting between Catesby, Winter, and Tresham, at -Barnet, on the road to White Webbs, was on Friday, the 1st of November, -the day the Letter was shown to the King.] - -[Footnote 95:--Or, Mounteagle may have thought that, as it would be -meritorious in Percy supposing he 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 -Percy were involved in the meshes of the law for the part that, I hold, -Mounteagle _by_ Christopher Wright _through_ Thomas Warde then _knew_ for -a fact, Percy, and indeed all his confederates, had taken in the nefarious -enterprise. Such a train of thought may have flashed through 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 Warde's and his own connections: for Percy, as well as the Wrights, -would be a connection of Mounteagle, through the Stanleys, Percies, -Gascoignes, Nortons, Nevilles, and Wardes, who were all more or less -allied by marriages entered into within the last few generations. Percy -would be about Thomas Warde'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 Warde 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 -wisdom that Warde would carry with him up to the great metropolis from his -"native heather" of Yorkshire.] - -[Footnote 96:--Ben Jonson was "reconciled" to the Church of Rome either in -1593 or 1594. After, and probably on account of, the Plot he left the -Church, whose "exacting claims" he had "on trust" accepted. Possibly it -was under the influence of Jonson's example that Mounteagle wrote the -letter to the King, given in the Rev. John Gerard's "_What was the -Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 256. Mounteagle, however, died in the Church of Rome, -and the Article in the "_National Dictionary of Biography_" says that he -had a daughter a nun. Belike, she was a member of the Institute of "The -English Virgins," for the name "Parker" is mentioned in Chambers' "_Life -of Mary Ward_."[A] There has been recently (1900) published a smaller -"_Life of Mary Ward_," by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), with a Preface -by Bishop Hedley, 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 & Oates), with a Preface by the late Henry James Coleridge, -S.J. (brother to the late Lord Coleridge). May I express the hope that -these two learned authoresses will cause the Ward Papers, at Nymphenburg, -near Munich, in Germany (that are extant), to be carefully examined afresh -to see if they contain anything about Thomas Warde, Mary's uncle, and -anything further about her connection, through the 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 the -truest eloquence--the eloquence of Fact--it teaches mankind for all time.] - -[Footnote A: 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.] - -[Footnote 97:--Born Lord Thomas Howard, brother to Lord William Howard, of -Naworth, 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_."] - -[Footnote 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 -"_King's Book_" 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 what a perfect tutoring Mounteagle had received -from his mentor to qualify him to play so well his part in life at this -supreme juncture. Thomas Ward was evidently a consummate diplomatist. If -he had been trained under Walsingham he would certainly "know a thing or -two."] - -[Footnote 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, duly noted by -the small and timid, yet sharp, mind of James. But 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 Book_," for the most part, is drawn up. A re-publication of the -"_King's Book_," and of "_The Fawkeses, of York_," by R. Davies, sometime -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 anybody (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 -outhouse adjoining the 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, would be carried in -first._) - -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 -Westminster.--See Nichols' "_Progresses of James I._," vol. i., p. -582.--Escrick is now the seat of the Lord Wenlock.] - -[Footnote 100:--"_Hatfield MS._," 110, 30. Quoted in "the Rev. J. H. -Pollen's S.J., thoughtful and learned booklet, entitled "_Father Garnet -and the Gunpowder Plot_" (Catholic Truth Society's publication, London).] - -[Footnote 101:--See Jardine's Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., -Feb., 1841, in "_Archologia_," vol. xxix., p. 100. This letter should be -carefully read by every serious student of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 102:--Sir William Stanley, of Hooton (in that strip of Cheshire -between the Mersey and the Dee), was not seen by Fawkes between Easter and -the end of August, 1605, when Fawkes went over to Flanders for the last -time in his career so adventurous and so pathetic. Sir William knew -nothing of the Gunpowder Plot. It was said that he surrendered Deventer in -pursuance of the counsel of Captain Roland Yorke, 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 business, and one -would like the whole question to be thoroughly and severely searched into -again. As to Roland Yorke, see Camden's "_Queen Elizabeth_." - -Captain Roland Yorke, like his patron Sir William Stanley, was an able -soldier. He 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 Robert second Earl of Essex. She became a Roman Catholic, like her -kinsman, the gifted and engaging Father Walsingham, S.J. Frances -Walsingham, the only child of Sir Francis Walsingham, became a Catholic, I -think, through her third marriage with Richard De Burgh fourth Earl of -Clanricarde, afterwards Earl of St. Albans. He was also known as Richard -of Kinsale and Lord Dunkellin. He 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 whether or not there was a -_Thomas Warde_ 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. Warde" mentioned by Walsingham, in -his letter to the Earl of Leicester, must have been this Thomas Warde, and -one and the same man with Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith). It is to -be remembered, too, that the Gunpowder conspirator, Thomas Winter, had -served in the Queen's forces against the Spanish King for a time. The -names Rowland Yorke, Thomas Vavasour, Sir Thomas Heneage, and Thomas -Winter are very suggestive of the circle in which a Warde, of Mulwith, -Newby, and Givendale, would move. Besides, there was a family connection -between the Parkers, Poyntzes, and Heneages.--See "_Visitation of Essex, -1612_" (Harleian 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_," p. 92, also says that Thomas Ward was an intimate -friend of several of the conspirators, and _suspected_ to have been an -accomplice in the treason. That would imply that Ward was suspected to -have had at least a _knowledge_ of the treason.] - -[Footnote 103:--Mary Ward, the daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula -Wright, lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Ursula Wright (_ne_ Rudston, of -Hayton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire), between the years 1589-94 at -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Holderness, Yorkshire; and between the years -1597-1600 at Harewell Hall, in the township of Dacre, Nidderdale, with her -kinswoman, Mrs. Katerine Ardington (_ne_ Ingleby). Mrs. Ardington, as -well as Mrs. Ursula Wright, had suffered imprisonment for her profession -of the ancient faith. We 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 much 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., p. 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 Rivers Wharfe and Ouse known as the Ainsty of the -City of York. This dungeon was, according to Gent's "_History of York_," -under the York City Council Chamber on Old Ouse Bridge, to the westward of -St. William's Chapel.--See also J. B. Milburn's "_A Martyr of Old York_" -(Burns & Oates).--The Old Ouse Bridge was pulled down in 1810.--See -Allen's "_History of Yorkshire_"--After the Kidcote was demolished, the -York 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 William 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. William 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 -City lock-up prison about the year 1836, soon after which year it was -pulled down. The late Mr. Richard Haughton, 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--"_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 17--that one day -Mary came to her grandmother, "who was singing some hymns," and the child -asked the old lady whether she would not send "something again to the -prisoners," a question, we are told, which "pleased" Mrs. Wright "very -much." - -Lastly, the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and the niece of Thomas -Ward, bears this striking testimony concerning one aspect of her aged -relative's gracious life, that "so great a prayer was she" that during the -whole five years that the child lived with her grandmother, the most of -which time she lodged in the same chamber, she "did not remember in that -whole five years she ever saw her grandmother sleep, nor did she ever -awake when she perceived her not at prayer" (p. 15).] - -[Footnote 104:--Maybe Christopher Wright, from his earliest school-days, -had with reverence looked up to Edward Oldcorne, for the latter was the -senior of the former by no less than ten years, so that when Oldcorne was -a clever youth of fifteen years Christopher would be a little fellow of -five, "with his satchel and shining morning-face," though we may be -permitted to hope that little Kit Wright did not "creep like snail -unwillingly to school." For it was at a school second to none in England -that the future ill-fated Yorkshireman learned to con his "_hic, hc, -hoc_." It was a school originally founded by Egbert, Archbishop of York, -in the eighth century, and which, as the Cathedral Grammar School, had -been rendered famous by Alcuin himself, the tutor of Charlemagne. It was a -school re-founded and re-endowed in the Horse Fayre, now Union Terrace, on -the left-hand side going down Gillygate, outside Bootham Bar, by King -Philip and Queen Mary, especially for the training of priests for the -northern parts.--See in Leach's "_Endowed Schools of Yorkshire_" for an -account concerning St. Peter's School, Clifton, York, but no register of -scholars of this ancient seat of learning now exists prior to the year -1828. (Title deeds and writings lent by Mrs. Martha Lancaster, of York, -have enabled me to identify the site of the old school.) - -It is, I take it, furthermore possible that Edward Oldcorne may have -taught Christopher Wright; and if the relation of pedagogue and scholar -ever subsisted between them, a bond of mutual regard would be created -which the lapse of long years would not weaken. For an account of the kind -of education given in a Grammar School in "the spacious days of Good Queen -Bess," see Dr. Elz's "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Bell & Sons), also H. W. -Mabie's very recent and able American "_Life of Shakespeare_" -(Macmillan).] - -[Footnote 105:--"_Surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam ei: Pater, -peccavi in clum et coram te!_" "I will arise."] - -[Footnote 106:--Possibly the Earl of Northumberland. He was (it will be -remembered) the son of Henry the eighth Earl, and nephew to "the Blessed" -Thomas Percy the seventh Earl, and likewise nephew to Mary Slingsby, of -Scriven, Knaresbrough. Sir Kenelin Digby, the eldest son of Sir Everard -Digby, married the beautiful Venetia Stanley, who was descended from "the -Blessed" Thomas Percy. The helmet and gauntlets of this nobleman were kept -at the handsome old Church of St. Crux, in The Pavement, York, which was -pulled down a few years ago. Thomas Longueville, Esquire, of Llanforda -Hall, Oswestry, Salop, through the Lady Venetia Digby, is descended from -"the Blessed" Thomas Percy, as are several other families, including the -Peacocks, of Bottesford Manor, Lincolnshire, I believe. Mr. Longueville is -the learned author of the "_Lives_" of his ancestors, Sir Everard and Sir -Kenelm Digby.] - -[Footnote 107:--We know that on the 5th day of October, two days after the -prorogation of Parliament, Christopher Wright quitted his lodging, in Spur -Alley, where he had been for eighteen days prior to the 5th October.--See -"Evidence of Dorathie Robinson," p. 128 _ante_.] - -[Footnote 108:--John Wright was acknowledged to be one of the most expert -swordsmen of his time. He was commonly known as "Jack Wright," and his -brother as "Kit Wright." Father Garnet says, in a voluntary statement that -he made in the Tower--Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 157--"'These are -not God's knights, but the devil's knights.' And related how Jack Wright -had sent a challenge by Thomas Winter to a gentleman." The duel, however, -did not come off, though Winter measured swords. Winter appears to have -fulfilled the happy office of peace-maker on the occasion. (What "strange -mixtures" these English and Yorkshire papist gentlemen were, to be sure!)] - -[Footnote 109:--See Article in "_National Dictionary of Biography_" on -"John Wright" (citing Camden in "_Birch Original Letters_") second series, -vol. iii., p. 179.] - -[Footnote 110:--Afterwards the great Viscount Verulam, commonly known as -Lord Bacon. Bacon's particular friend and familiar was Sir Toby Matthews, -the eldest son of Dr. Tobias Matthews, in 1606 created Archbishop of York. -Sir Toby translated Bacon's "_Essays_" into Italian.--See Spedding's -"_Life of Bacon_," and Alban Butler's "_Life of Matthews_."--Sir Toby -Matthews (in the February of 1605-6, just after the Plot) was converted to -popery by Father Robert Parsons, who was then at the English College, -Rome; and Matthews' was, without doubt, the most remarkable and -interesting of all the conversions effected by that strong-minded and most -able Jesuit. Parsons' intellect was one of marvellous range, reach, -versatility, and power. He was a spiritual or mystical man in his way, -too; but his spirituality or mysticism not seldom failed to control his -action in daily life. It was shut up, as it were, in a watertight -compartment. This (_me judice_) sums up, approximately, the truth about -Parsons. Of all the men in Europe, Parsons was the man Burleigh, -Walsingham, and Salisbury most feared. He died in 1610. A really impartial -Life of Parsons, if possible, by a learned lawyer and politician, is a -desideratum. In some of his political ideas this Jesuit was a progressive -born prematurely--"a man before his time." For he believed thoroughly in -the sovereignty of the People, and in the desirableness of universal -education. In this latter respect he resembled "that good lady, Mary -Ward," the daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and niece of Thomas Ward (_ex -hypothesi_). Campion, the Jesuit, who died a martyr in 1581, was much the -more amiable and attractive character. But Campion was no politician. -Oldcorne, I maintain, was the greatest of all the three, because of his -extraordinary mental equipoise and balance. - -"_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_," by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), in some sort -supplies a Life of Robert Parsons. But evidently the Jesuit Society is an -enigma to Father Taunton, as to so many papists. A man must be a jurist -and a statesman to understand the Jesuits. For their aim (_me judice_), -their noble aim, ever has been to make the "Kingdoms of the world the -Kingdoms of God and of His Christ." - -If a delusion, surely a delusion merely, not a crime, the most puissant -spirit among us must allow. - -James Robert Hope-Scott, Q.C., thought that the Jesuits were the backbone -of the Church of his adoption. And Dr. Christopher Wordsworth (no mean -judge) thought that Hope-Scott might have become a more popular Prime -Minister than even W. E. Gladstone, had he chosen a political career. -Wordsworth was Hope-Scott's tutor at Oxford.--See Dr. Christopher -Wordsworth's "_Autobiography_."--He was Bishop of St. Andrews, N.B., and -as a classical scholar almost without a peer.] - -[Footnote 111:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 112:--"_Narrative_" p. 57. As appears from the Lives of Mary -Ward, Father Gerard had known Mary Ward when a child in Yorkshire. Hence -he probably knew her uncles, John and Christopher Wright, and also Thomas -Percy. - -Mary Ward was one of the greatest women-educationists and, in a sense, -women's rights advocates England has ever seen. She ought to figure in the -Supplement to the "_National Dictionary of Biography_." The following -word-portrait of Mary Warde we owe to the skilful hand of her kinswoman, -the gifted Winefrid Wigmore, a cousin once removed to Lady Mounteagle. It -is as Mary Ward, that wonderful Yorkshire-woman, appeared in the year -which witnessed the death of Shakespeare (1616). Perhaps the poet knew -her; if so, no wonder he knew how to describe queenly souls. "She was -rather tall (was Mary), but her figure was symmetrical. Her complexion was -delicately beautiful, her countenance and aspect most agreeable, mingled -with I know not what which was attractive.... Her presence and -conversation were most winning, her manners courteous. It was a general -saying 'She became whatsoever she wore or did.' Her voice in speaking was -very grateful, and in song melodious. In her demeanour and carriage, an -angelic modesty was united to a refined ease and dignity of manner, that -made even princes[A] find great satisfaction, yea, profit, in conversing -with her. Yet, these were withal without the least affectation, and were -accompanied with such meekness and humility as gave confidence to the -poorest and most miserable. There was nothing she did seem to have more -horror of than there should be anything in herself or hers that might put -a bar to the free access of any who should be in need of ought in their -power to bestow." - -No wonder that--with a brother to the right of him like Marmaduke Ward, -and with a niece to the left o him like Mary Ward, "that great soul," who -in after years, "in a plenitude of vision planned high deeds as immortal -as the sun"[B]--Thomas Warde, the husband for eleven brief years (lacking -nine days) of Margery Warde (born Slater), was instrumental, under Heaven, -in giving effect to the all but too late repentance of the penitent, -Christopher Wright!] - -[Footnote A: Mary Ward was the friend or acquaintance of some of the -greatest men and women in Europe. She was a friend of Queen Henrietta -Maria, the wife of Charles I. and daughter of Henry Bourbon, better known -as "King Harry of Navarre."--See Macaulay's poem, "_Ivry_."] - -[Footnote B: Line borrowed from Lord Bowen.--See his magnificent poem, -entitled, "Shadowland," p. 214 of his "_Life_," by Sir Henry Stewart -Cunningham, K.C.I.E. (Murray).] - -[Footnote 113:--The second Edition is dated 1681. The Pamphlet was by a -Dr. Williams, afterwards Bishop of Chichester.--See "_National Dictionary -of Biography_."] - -[Footnote 114:--The report would be at least second-hand, and it might be -much more. For example, if Mr. Abington saw his wife write the Letter and -told the worthy person what he (Abington) had by the evidence of his own -eyes ascertained, then the worthy person would have the evidence at -first-hand. Any person to whom the worthy person conveyed the intelligence -would have it at second-hand, and so on. But if Mr. Abington had not seen -his wife write the Letter, but had only been told by his wife that she had -writ the Letter, then, although Abington would be a witness at first-hand -_as to the bare fact of such a report having been made_, he would be only -a witness at second-hand _as to the truth of the report_; for Mrs. -Abington, in herself reporting, might have spoken falsely either wilfully -or through mental defect.] - -[Footnote 115:--Vol. i., p. 585.] - -[Footnote 116:--Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 83.] - -[Footnote 117:--Jardine's "_Narrative_" p. 84.] - -[Footnote 118:--William Abington's chief poem was "Castara," sung in -praise of his wife, the Honourable Lucia Powys. In the recent "_Oxford -Book of English Verse_," selected by Quiller-Couch (Clarendon Press), -there is a fine philosophic poem of the younger Abington (or Habington), -entitled "_Nox nocti indicat scientiam_." John Amphlett, Esq., has edited -the elder Abington's (or Habington's) "_Survey of Worcestershire_," with a -valuable introduction, for the Worcestershire Historical Society.] - -[Footnote 119:--It is, moreover, possible that, through her brother's good -offices with the Government, Mrs. Abington had a sight of the Letter -itself. If so, she would have been almost sure to detect the general -similarity of the handwriting, notwithstanding the disguise, with the -handwriting of Father Oldcorne, handwriting she must have known familiarly -enough, to say nothing of the particular similarity in the case of certain -of the letters. - -As showing that, when at Hindlip, Father Oldcorne came into Mrs. -Abington's company, the following quotation may be given from one of -Father Oldcorne's Declarations, dated 6th March, 1605-6:--"Both Garnett -and he when there were no straungers did ordinarilye dyne and supp with -Mr. Abington and his wyfe in the dyninge chamber."] - -[Footnote 120:--Some idea of the feeling that Mrs. Abington and her -husband must have had for this able and upright Jesuit, a true Jesuit in -whom there was no guile, may be gathered from the following, which is -taken from Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 213:--"Father Edward -Oldcorne, S.J., came to Hindlip in the month of February or March, 1589, -Mr. Richard Abington keeping house there at the time, who by the advice of -other Catholics, then sojourning with him, sent into Warwickshire for the -said Father to talk with Mrs. Dorothy Abington, his sister, about her -religion, who, at the time living in the house with her brother Richard, -was a very obstinate and perverse heretic, and had left the Court of -Elizabeth, where she was brought up, to come and live with her brother -principally." We are told that Miss Abington desired to have speech on the -subject of religion with some more than ordinarily learned Catholic. -"Father Oldcorne being sent for to that end, and after some earnest -discourses with her for the space of two days, and having yielded her full -satisfaction in all points of religion, and showed such gravity, zeal, -learning, and prudence in his proceeding with her that she was astonished -thereat, and was unable to make any reply of contradiction to what he -propounded to her."--From a MS. at Stonyhurst, Anglia, vol. vi., -attributed to Father Thomas Lister, S.J. - -Another manuscript account of Father Oldcorne says that he fasted and -prayed for three days for the sake of this lady's conversion to the -Catholic faith; after the third day he fell down from exhaustion, and yet -a fourth day's fasting followed. Then the lady was converted and "became a -sharer and participant in the incredible fruit which he reaped in that -county," _i.e._, Worcestershire.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. -213. - -Father Gerard, in his "_Narrative_" of the Plot, says that the Government -accused Father Oldcorne "of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should -seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their act." The -Government had this report from a certain Humphrey Littleton, concerning -whom we shall learn more hereafter. - -Richard, Thomas, and Dorothy Abington were brothers and sister -respectively to Edward Abington, who suffered, in 1587, as one of the -fellow-conspirators of Anthony Babington, a distinguished and captivating -gentleman from Dethick, a chapelry or hamlet in the Parish of Ashover, in -the County of Derbyshire. In the Parish Church of Ashover may be still -seen monuments to members of the Babington family. (Communicated to me by -my partner, Mr. G. Laycock Brown, Solicitor, of York.) - -The history of the romantic but ill-fated Babington conspiracy requires to -be impartially re-written, and to this end diligent search should be made -to find, if possible, the alleged contemporary history of that curious, -ill-starred movement, which is said to have been written by the gifted -Jesuit martyr, "the Venerable" Robert Southwell, S.J., the author of that -exquisitely imaginative and tender poem, "The Burning Babe," an -Elizabethan gem of the highest genius.--See the "_Oxford Book of English -Verse_;" also Dr. Grossart's Edition of Southwell's Poetical Works, and -Turnbull's Edition likewise.--A good Life of Southwell is a desideratum.] - -[Footnote 121:--It is obviously unnecessary either in the former part or -in the latter part of this Inquiry to assign separate logical divisions -for the case of Thomas Ward. His evidence is common to both, and will -appear in due course of this investigation.] - -[Footnote 122:--Thomas Winter lodged apparently at an inn known by the -sign of the "Duck and Drake," in St. Clement's Parish, in the Strand. This -fact is proved by the testimony of John Cradock, a cutler, who deposed on -the 6th of November, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, that he had -engraved the story of the Passion of Christ on two sword hilts for Mr. -Rookwood and Mr. Winter, and on a third sword hilt for another gentleman, -"a black man," of that company, of about forty years of age. The Winter -here referred to, no doubt, was Thomas, not Robert, the elder brother. - -For Cradock's evidence _in extenso_, see Appendix; also for evidence of -Richard Browne, servant to Christopher Wright; also for letter of Popham, -the Chief Justice to Salisbury, as to Christopher Wright; also for -evidence of William Grantham as to purchase by Christopher Wright of -beaver hats at the shop of a hatter, named Hewett.] - -[Footnote 123:--This emphatic "surely all is lost," of Christopher Wright, -is worthy of notice, as indicating the certitude of his frame of mind. -Now, "certitude" is the offspring of knowledge, and therefore of belief, -and when it is not the life is the death of Hope, an emotion Wright had -then clearly abandoned. Hence we may justly infer a special consciousness -on Christopher Wright's part as to the genesis of the fact that the game -was indeed up, thanks to the infatuated behaviour of his brother-in-law, -Thomas Percy: "up" to all and singular the plotters' fatal undoing; yet, -after all, traceable back indirectly to Christopher Wright's own repentant -act and deed! Truly the repentant wrong-doer suffers temporal punishment -by the everlasting Law of Retribution, which lives for ever!] - -[Footnote 124:--Was this said by Christopher Wright on Sunday, the 3rd of -November, at the meeting behind St. Clement's? There is none such -statement recorded by Fawkes in any of his Declarations or Confessions in -the Record Office, London.] - -[Footnote 125:--See H. Speight's "_Nidderdale_" (Elliot Stock), p. 344. -The title of this interesting work is "_Nidderdale and the Garden of the -Nidd; A Yorkshire Rhineland_": being a complete account, historical, -scientific, and descriptive, of the beautiful Valley of the Nidd.--See -also "_Connoisseur_" for November, 1901.] - -[Footnote 126:--Christopher Wright must have known well the great family -of Hildyard, of Winestead, near Patrington. General Sir H. J. T. Hildyard, -K.C.B., is a scion of this ancient house. The Hildyards are mentioned in -the "_Hatfield MSS._"] - -[Footnote 127:--This good woman's evidence proves that on the 5th of -October Wright left her lodgings. Now, my suggestion is that Christopher -Wright, after quitting Spurr Alley, went down into Warwickshire, probably -to Lapworth. That thence he repaired to Hindlip Hall, four miles from -Worcester, to have his interview with Father Oldcorne. Rookwood went to -Clopton, close to Stratford-on-Avon, and not far from both Lapworth and -Hindlip, soon after Michaelmas, _i.e._, the 11th of October (old style). -That about Michaelmas the diplomatic Thomas Warde came into Warwickshire -and Worcestershire to interview Father Oldcorne, and give full assurance -to the Jesuit that he, Warde, as diplomatic go-between, would vouch for -the conveyance of the Letter, on receipt of the same, to the Government -authorities. That the shrewd, diplomatic Warde, all eyes and ears, from -what he was ear-witness and eye-witness of at Lapworth, sent post-haste -for his brother, Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie. Most probably William Ward, -Marmaduke Ward's son, was at this time on a visit to his uncle Thomas in -London.--See Kyddall's evidence as to "William Ward, nephew to Mr. -Wright."--The boy was sent down to Lapworth on November the 5th, the fatal -Tuesday, in the charge of Kyddall. It is possible that William Ward, -however, came up into Warwickshire along with his father and half-sister -Mary. If so, he must have gone up to London between Marmaduke Ward's going -to Lapworth and the flight of "uncle Christopher" on the 5th; for there is -no evidence that William Ward accompanied Christopher Wright and Kyddall -up to London on Monday, the 28th of October. Kyddall styles William Ward -"nephew to Mr. Wright." Now, this designation would be, by common usage, -accurate if Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward; otherwise, supposing -William Ward's mother was Elizabeth Sympson, it would not be; for Ursula -Wright would be naught akin to William Ward.] - -[Footnote 128:--Mr. Jackson, "mine host" of "the Salutation," probably -meant between a week and a fortnight when he said "about a fortnight." -"Many things had happened since then," so Mr. Jackson might easily fancy a -longer time had elapsed than was really the case. For Kyddall's evidence -shows that Christopher Wright was at Lapworth on the 24th October, and -that he did not reach London till the 30th (Wednesday). On Wednesday -Wright may have again called for his quart of sack or for the foaming -tankard of the nut-brown ale, partly with a view to ascertaining whether -or not any tidings had "leaked out" as to the Letter received by -Salisbury, though, as a fact, it was not shown to the King until Friday, -the 1st of November. Christopher Wright's last visit to "the Salutation" -was, belike, what is styled nowadays "a pop visit." - -At Patrington, in Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, there is -to-day (May, 1901) an ancient hostelry known by the sign of the "Dog and -Duck." At this house, I doubt not, both John and Christopher Wright full -many a time and oft had quenched their thirst and heard and discussed the -rural gossip of their day; for Plowland Hall was only about a mile distant -from the "Dog and Duck" and its good cheer. The "Hildyard Arms" and the -"Holderness" Inn, Patrington, may have been likewise, belike, favourite -haunts of theirs, for human nature is pretty much the same generation -after generation. And even our social habits bind us to the Past. What -thoughts crowd into the mind when one makes a visit to the "Dog and Duck," -at Patrington, within a short walk of Plowland Hall! - -It is possible that, between the reigns of Elizabeth and Victoria, -Plowland Hall was reduced to smaller proportions than it had been in the -days of John and Christopher Wright. This was the case with Ugthorpe Hall, -the seat of the Catholic Ratcliffes, near Whitby, situate in a lovely -little dingle or dell amid the Cleveland Moors; also it was the case with -Grosmont House, the seat of the Catholic Hodgsons, near Whitby, situate -near and almost laved by the rushing waters of the Yorkshire Esk.] - -[Footnote 129:--Father Henry Garnet knew John Wright, but, according to -Garnet's testimony, he did not know Christopher Wright, a fact which alone -tends to show that the younger Wright was essentially a subordinate -conspirator; for certainly Father Garnet knew, more or less, all the -principal plotters, namely, Catesby, Thomas Winter, John Wright, Percy, -and even Fawkes, whom he once saw, and to whom he gave letters of -introduction when Fawkes went to Flanders, in 1605, to see Stanley and -Owen.] - -[Footnote 130:--Father Hart was captured, along with Father John Percy -(alias Fisher, afterwards famous for his controversy with Archbishop Laud, -who could not "abide" the Jesuits), at the house of Lord Vaux of -Harrowden. Hart was banished for a time, but died in England, in 1650, -aged seventy-two. - -Query--Did Hart make any communication to Bellarmine or Eudmon-Joannes, I -wonder?] - -[Footnote 131:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_;" vol ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 132:--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. i., p. 173, citing -"Gunpowder Plot Book," No. 177. Eudmon-Joannes, in his "_Apologia_" for -Henry Garnet, gives reasons why Father Hart, S.J., may have thus acted. -Dr. Abbott, in his "_Antilogia_," in reply to Eudmon-Joannes, answers -Joannes at great length.] - -[Footnote 133:--Vol. ii., p. 120. It may be here stated that by the Common -Law of England a confessor was obliged to reveal the fact to the -Government in the case of his receiving from a penitent the confession of -the heinous crime of High Treason. - -Garnet said that "the priest is bound to find all lawful means to hinder -and discover it, but that the seal of the Confessional must be saved, -_salvo sigillo confessionis_."--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. -162.--It seems to me that this statement of Garnet is of the utmost -importance.] - -[Footnote 134:--Afterwards the well-known Lord Coke, the famous Editor of -Judge Littleton's work on "_Tenures_."--For a diverting account of Coke -and his domestic infelicities see Lord Macaulay's Essay on "Lord Bacon."] - -[Footnote 135:--Catesby, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Thomas Percy -were already dead; the two first were slain at Holbeach; Christopher -Wright and Thomas Percy both were wounded unto death at the same place; -but certainly Percy and possibly Christopher Wright actually breathed -their last a day or two afterwards. Query--Where were the bodies of these -four men interred? Were they first quartered as traitors according to law? - -Tresham died in the Tower, but his body was quartered, and its members -exposed at Northampton in the usual way.] - -[Footnote 136:--Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 135. This of -the learned Attorney-General reminds one of the late Lord Bowen's witty -saying: "Truth will out; even in an Affidavit!"] - -[Footnote 137:--Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the Jesuits in England, -said that he considered the authors of the Gunpowder Treason were not only -deserving of the punishment that some of them had undergone, but even a -more severe one, if possible.--See Foley's "_Records_."] - -[Footnote 138:--Fonblanque, in his "_Annals of the House of Percy_," in -the chapter dealing with Thomas Percy, expresses the opinion that the -Government's behaviour was comparatively mild, regard being had to the -atrocious nature of the designment against the King and Parliament. Such -is candidly my own opinion, and this, although I remember that James's -Oath of Allegiance and very tyrannical anti-recusant legislation were the -dire consequences of the Plot, which (_me judice_)--far more than the -Marian burnings, the Elizabethan Acts of Supremacy, of Uniformity, -Constructive Treason, and the Spanish Armada, all put together--led -finally to England's being "bereft" of what to a Roman Catholic is "the -one true faith." - -In regard to James's Oath of Allegiance (1609), it is to be recollected -that while strict Roman Catholics, whether "Jesuitized" or not, refused to -take the oath, some Catholics thought they might lawfully take it. Among -such was the Arch-priest, Blackwell, who, however, was deposed from his -office, as, in general terms, Rome condemned the oath. "The sting" of this -famous oath was "in its tail;" inasmuch as it not only contained a -disclaimer of the deposing power of the Pope, but declared that the -doctrine of the deposing power was "impious, heretical, and damnable." It -is remarkable that all the Roman Catholic peers took the Oath of -Allegiance, except Lord Teynham, a collateral descendant of William Roper, -the husband of Margaret More. - -"An apostate" Jesuit, named Sir Christopher Perkins, aided in framing this -searching test, so the Government knew exactly how to get the unhappy -papist recusants tightly within their grip. (Perkins, like Sir Edwin -Sandys, a philosophic friend of Sir Toby Matthews, was an incipient -rationalist. Shakespeare may have known Sir Toby Matthews.) - -For valuable information (derived from an unpublished manuscript) as to -the working of this Oath of Allegiance, see the late Richard Simpson's -Article, entitled, "A Glimpse of the Working of the Penal Laws," in "_The -Rambler_," vol. vi., p. 401 (1856). If this Article has not been printed -separately, it ought to be. In it occur the names Middleton, Gascoigne, -Ingleby, Whitham, Cholmeley, Vavasour, Dolman, Mennell (or Meynell), and -Catterick, of Yorkshire; Preston and Towneley, of Lancashire; Tichbourne, -of Hampshire; Wiseman, of Essex; Gage, of Sussex; Vaux, of -Northamptonshire; Throckmorton, of Warwickshire; Tregean, of Cornwall; -Plowden, of Shropshire; Morgan, of Monmouthshire; Edwards, of Flintshire; -together with other English and Welsh names, which can be only described -as synonymous with honour, high-mindedness, heroism, and all goodness.] - -[Footnote 139:--James Usher[A] (1581-1656), Protestant Archbishop of -Armagh, was an Anglo-Irishman, who was "learned to a miracle," so the -great English Jurist, Seldon, said.--See "Usher," "_National Dictionary of -Biography_."--Usher was, through his mother, who became a Roman Catholic, -a grandson of James Stanihurst (Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the -Irish House of Commons), whose family were the patrons of Edmund Campion, -when in Ireland. The great orator wrote his history of that country after -leaving Oxford, and before going to Douay. Usher crossed over to England -in 1602. He held in the University of Dublin, in 1607, a divinity -professorship, worth 8 a year, which was founded by Mr. James Cotterell, -who died in York. Now, I find from the Register of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, -York, that there is a record of the burial of a "Mr. James Cotterell--in -the mynster--the 29th day of August, 1595." This, I have no doubt, was the -self-same gentleman as the "Mr. Cotterell," from whose house, on the 29th -day of May, 1579, Thomas Warde made M'gery Slater "his true and honourable -wife;" and the same Mr. James Cotterell as founded the Dublin divinity -professorship. Dr. Usher knew personally Lord Mordaunt, the son of the -Lord Mordaunt who died in the Tower in 1608; and also, according to the -"_National Dictionary of Biography_," Father Oswald Tesimond. If so, it is -_possible_ that Usher knew personally Lord Mounteagle and Thomas Warde, -and it may be it was from them that he gathered hints upon which he -founded his oracular statement. (I desire here to express my sense of -obligation to the Rev. E. S. Carter, M.A., the Vicar of St. -Michael-le-Belfrey, York, who most kindly and generously gifted me with a -copy of his singularly valuable "_Parish Register_" Part I., edited by Dr. -Francis Collins, from which I have obtained that item of domestic -information so valuable as a leading clue for the purposes of this -Inquiry, namely, the marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith.)] - -[Footnote A: "_The Life of Archbishop Usher_" by Barnard (1656), however, -does not bear out the statement of the Author of the Article on "Usher" in -the "_National Dictionary of Biography_." For Barnard says that the Jesuit -who debated at Drayton, in Northamptonshire, with Archbishop Usher, was -called "Beaumond," but that his real name was Rookwood, and that he was a -brother of Ambrose Rookwood, the Gunpowder plotter. The debate was -arranged by Lord Mordaunt (afterwards the Earl of Peterborough), to the -end that his wife, the Lady Mordaunt, a daughter of the Earl of -Nottingham, might become convinced of the soundness of the exacting claims -of the Church of Rome. The upshot was that not only was the Lady Mordaunt -_not_ convinced, but that the Lord Mordaunt himself became a Protestant! -The topics for discussion were:--Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, -Images, and the Visibility of the Church. According to Barnard, Beaumond -at the third day of meeting sent to excuse himself, saying, "That all the -arguments he had framed within his own head, and thought he had them as -perfect as his _'Pater noster_,' he had forgotten and could not recover -them again; that he believed it was the just judgment of God upon him thus -to desert him in the defence of His cause for the undertaking of himself -to dispute with a man of that eminency and learning without the licence of -his superior." - -If it were a Rookwood, probably it was Robert (S.J.)] - -[Footnote 140:--The "_Oliver Cromwell_," by John Morley (Macmillan, 1900), -contains a picture of Usher, taken from the original portrait by Sir Peter -Lely, in the National Portrait Gallery. The face is one of great keenness -and power.] - -[Footnote 141:--"Style" in handwriting is its genius, its ethos, its air, -its aroma, its active, its essential principle. "Style is the man."] - -[Footnote 142:--See the Rev. John Gerard's published fac-simile.] - -[Footnote 143:--"Shift off," no doubt, is meant as "_The Kings Book_" -gives it. (I should like to say that a gentleman, a member of Trinity -College, Cambridge, the Rev. Edmond Nolan, B.A., suggested to me in -August, 1900, when I had the pleasure of meeting him in York, that -probably "shift of" was really "shift off.")] - -[Footnote 144:--This enigmatical sentence partook of the nature of a -clever sleight of mental strategy or of a skilful man[oe]uvre of mental -tactics. In the case of a man of Oldcorne's combination of the mystical -and the practical, it is probable that there would be wheels within -wheels, and depths below depths, which are beyond the reach of us ordinary -mortals to detect or to fathom. But all this mystery would tend to grip -hold of the attention of the reader by compelling him to peruse and weigh -the document again and again, and so would tend to beat its warning -message into his brains, and so impel beneficent action.] - -[Footnote 145:--Gerard's "_Narrative_" likewise omits the word "good," -which shows us that the Jesuit was indebted to the Royal Author for his -copy of the document.] - -[Footnote 146:--The Mounteagle Letter is a remarkably clever composition. -Its liveliness, its pithiness, its directness, and its force, in spite of -its designed obscurity, gain upon one more and more the oftener one -ponders it. But Father Oldcorne was a very clever man. His combination of -qualities, theoretical and practical, shows him to have been a man of -distinct genius. - -In Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., there is, as has been already remarked, -a portrait of this great Yorkshire Jesuit, showing a portion of Old Ouse -Bridge, York, and St. William's Chapel in the left-hand corner. The face -depicted betokens an intellect of great acumen, a heart of great -benevolence, both controlled by a will strong with the strength of -persistent discipline. The keenness of the countenance portrayed struck a -distinguished Oxford friend of mine forcibly the moment he beheld the -picture, for he remarked forthwith, "He has an acute look!" The -countenance, moreover, as another Protestant friend in effect observed, -has that look of infinite patience, of calm resignation, and of sweet -melancholy, which was so characteristic of the best of the old English -Roman Catholics during "troublesome times." - -This phrase, "troublesome times," was used in my hearing about the year -1890 by an ancient lady, the late Mrs. Ann Matterson, widow, of -High-field, Bishop Thornton, near Ripon. Mrs. Matterson was an interesting -specimen of the solid, calm, old, Garden-of-the-Soul type of English -Catholic, or as they proudly and touchingly put it, "Catholics that have -never lost the Faith." My informant said she was the daughter of one -Francis Darnbrough--a family well known in that part of Yorkshire, a -Darnbrough being Wakeman (or Mayor) of Ripon in 1542: that her father's -branch of the Darnbrough family had regained the Catholic Faith through -marriages with the Bishop Thornton Hawkesworths, hereditary Catholics, who -were formerly tenants under the Lords Grantley and Markenfield, of -Markenfield Hall. Mrs. Matterson furthermore told me on that occasion that -she was distantly connected (through the marriage of her aunt with a Mr. -William Bickerdyke) with one of the York Catholic Martyrs, whose cause of -canonization had been, in 1886, introduced at Rome, namely, with "the -Venerable" Robert Bickerdyke, a gentleman born at Low Hall, near Scotton, -in the Parish of Farnham, near Knaresbrough, and who suffered at the York -Tyburn, in 1586, for being "reconciled to the Church of Rome." The aged -lady also said that her uncle, William Bickerdyke, had lived at Brampton -Hall, on the River Ure, close to Mulwith: that Brampton Hall had belonged -to the ancient and now extinct Yorkshire Catholic family of Tankard, or -Tancred--one branch of which had their seat at Whixley: and that at -Brampton Hall there had been a place to hide the priest in during -"troublesome times." - -For an interesting work on priests' hiding-places see "_Secret Chambers -and Hiding-places_," by Allen Fea (Bousfield, 1901).] - -[Footnote 147:--The following letter (1599, probably), which ends with the -words: "I comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection," etc., will be -read with interest. It was written by Richard Collinge, Coolinge, or -Cowling, a Jesuit, who was a native of York, being the son of a certain -Raulf Cowling (then pronounced Cooling), whose name appears in the York -Elizabethan "Subsidy Roll for 1581" as of "St. Olave's parish and -Belfray's without Bootham Bar," and as being assessed in goods at the sum -of 3, which shows him to have been a well-to-do citizen. Raulf Cowling -died a captive in York Castle for his profession of the Catholic Faith. - -This valuable letter (for which I am indebted to the great generosity of -Dr. Collins, of Pateley Bridge) was written probably in 1599, and -intercepted by the Government. From the document we learn that Father -Richard Collinge, S.J., was not only a cousin to Guy Fawkes, but also to -the Harringtons, of Mount St. John. William Harrington, the elder, who -harboured "the Blessed" Edmund Campion for ten days in the spring of 1581 -at that secluded, tranquil, and lovely spot, Mount St. John, near the -Hambleton Hills, Thirsk, Yorkshire, would be not only father to "the -Venerable" William Harrington, the martyr for his priesthood at the London -Tyburn, but uncle to Father Richard Collinge, and cousin once removed to -Guy Fawkes himself. Guy's mother married for her second husband Denis -Bainebridge, of Scotton, a Roman Catholic gentleman connected with the -ancient and honourable Roman Catholic family of Pulleyn (Pullein, or -Pulleine), of Killinghall and Scotton, by reason of the marriage of Denis -Bainbridge's mother to Walter Pulleyn, Esq., as her third husband. We -learn also from Father Collinge's letter that, belike, Mr. Denis -Bainbridge, Guy Fawkes' step-father, was one of those gentlemen that are -"ornamental" rather than "useful." He was, however, certainly a papist, -and his name, together with that of his wife, occurs in Peacock's "_List -for 1604_," under the Parish of "Farnham." There is a blank left for the -name of the wife of Denis Bainbridge, probably because Mr. Peacock could -not decipher the name indicated. I think that Mrs. Denis Bainbridge must -have sprung originally from Nidderdale or Wharfedale, and that she was -akin to the Vavasours, of Weston and Newton Hall, near Ripley; to the -Johnsons, of Leathley; and the Palmes, of Lindley; both of the two last in -that part of the Forest of Knaresbrough which is near to the town of -Otley. But further researches may solve the problem as to the maiden name -of her who gave birth to Guy Fawkes. - -Guy Fawkes called himself "John Johnson" when accosted by the Earl of -Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle in the cellar under the House of Lords, on -Monday, the 4th November. Possibly, therefore, his mother was a Johnson. -Query--Does the Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer, of Chicago, U.S.A., know of any -tradition hereon? - - "Good Sir,--I pray you lette me intreate y^{r} favoure and - frendshippe for my Cosen Germane Mr Guydo Fawks who serves S^{r} - William (Stanley) as I understande he is in greate wante and - y^{r} worde in his behalfe may stande him in greate steede. I - have not deserved aine such curtesie at y^{r} handes as for my - sake to helpe my friendes but assure yrselfe that yf there be - aine thinge I can doe for you, you may commande me for the - respecte I beare to our ould friendshippe but also by this - meanes you shalle bynde me more unto you. He hath lefte a - prettie livinge here in his countre which his mother being - married to an unthriftie husbande since his departure I think - hath wastied awaye.[A] Yet she and the reste of our friends are - in good health. I durste not as yet goe to them but this sommer - I meane to see them all God willinge lette him tell my Cousin - Martin Harrington that I was at his Brother Henries house at - _the mounte_ but he was not then at home he and his wyfe are - well and have manie prettie children. Mr D. Worthington's - brother hath wrote a letter unto him desiringe a speedie answere - he is a good honeste and devoute man I often mete with him for - nowe I am residente at his Cozens house in that province which - is fallen to my lotte they expecte therefor for some helpe - nothinge is wanting but a beginner amonge them so they saye for - the redemption of Israel. Remember I pray you my commendacons to - my good and honourable godmother my L. Marie[B] (Percie) and the - twoe devoute sisters in her companie. Mr Roberte Chambers[C] - writte to me for his mother, the charge is geven to Mr - Duckette[D] to inquire for her for she is in his vicinitie tho - four Sirsbies of his companie as [? are] here very well. Within - this week I have sene both Cor^{n} & Gould and Batte, to-morrowe - I shall mete w^{th} John Lassells. Thinges goe well forwarde - here o^{r} enemies persecute us all more than ever and are in - particulare feare or rather looke for some what more from o^{r} - owne malcontents. Thus requesting y^{r} favoure in my suite and - remembrance in y^{r} beste memories as you shall have myne _I - comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection_ this St John - Baps^{t} Eve.--Yours in Christe Richard Collinge. - - "Lette D. Kellison know that his brother Valentine is in goode - healthe and a well wisher but noe Catholike." - - Addressed thus:-- - - "All Molto Mag^{co} Sig^{re} - il Signiore Guilio - Piccioli a - Venezia" [_i.e._, Venice]. - - (Endorsed) Fugitives. - - Vol. cclxxi., No. 21. - -_Cf._ also a letter of Father Richard Holtby, S.J., of Fryton, Hovingham, -North Riding of Yorkshire, to Father Parsons, dated 6th May, 1609, -ending:--"_I commit you to our sweet Saviour His keeping._"--Foley's -"_Records_," vol. iii., p. 9.] - -[Footnote A: Guy Fawkes' little patrimony was situate in Gillygate and -Clifton, then in the suburbs of the City of York.--See Robert Davies' -"_Fawkeses, of York_," and William Camidge's pamphlet, "_Guy Fawkes_" -(Burdekin, York). - -Miss Catharine Pullein, of Rotherfield, Sussex, and Edward Pulleyn, Esq., -of York and Lastingham, I have reason to believe, likewise belong to this -ancient family so long settled near Knaresbrough.--See Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," and Glover's "_Visitation_," for a pedigree -of the family in the time of Elizabeth.] - -[Footnote B: The Lady Mary Percy was niece to Francis and Mary Slingsby -(daughter of Sir Thomas Percy), of Scriven Hall, whose monuments are still -to be seen in the Knaresbrough Parish Church. Dr. Collins tells me that -"Sirsbie" was then "a Knaresbrough name," and occurs in the Knaresbrough -Parish Church Registers of that period. The name "Sizey," which is given -in Peacock's "_List_," under "Knaresbrough," is probably the way "Sirsbie" -was pronounced, just as "subtle" is pronounced "su(b)tle."] - -[Footnote C: I incline to think that this Robert Chambers is the same as -the Robert Chambers mentioned in the "_Douay Diary_," edited by Dr. Knox -(David Nutt); the name, Robert Chambers, appears as one of the students at -the English College, Rome. Gould and Batte (or Bates) were probably also -the names of priests who had been at this College. Corn may have been -Father Oldcorne, S.J., who came to England as a missionary in 1588 with -Father John Gerard; or he may have been Father Thomas Cornforth, S.J., a -native of Durham, and a great friend of Edward fourth Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, whose mother was Elizabeth Roper, a daughter of Sir John Roper -first Lord Teynham. Father Cornforth became a Jesuit in 1600. He was at -the English College at Rome, and came to England in April, 1599.] - -[Footnote D: The Duckette here mentioned was doubtless Father Richard -Holtby, S.J., who succeeded Garnet as Superior of the English Jesuits. -Holtby was born at Fryton--in the Parish of Hovingham, in the Vale of -Mowbray--between Slingsby and Hovingham, where his brother, George Holtby, -lived.--See Peacock's "_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_;" -also Foster's Edition of Glover's "_Visitation of Yorkshire_."--It was -Richard Holtby, then a secular priest, who found for Campion secluded, -lovely Mount St. John. I think it is probable that, after being harboured -by Sir William Babthorpe, at Babthorpe Hall or Osgodby (or both), Campion -would proceed through the Vale of Ouse and Derwent to Thixendale, in the -Parish of Leavening, to the house of a Mrs. Bulmer; thence, I opine, to -Fryton, in the Parish of Hovingham; thence to Grimston Manor, in the -Parish of Gilling East; thence through the Vale of Mowbray, by Coxwold, to -Mount St. John, the home of the Harringtons, who seem to have quitted the -place soon after the year 1603, because the Gregory family are found -recorded in the Parish Registers shortly after that date, and they -certainly resided at Mount St. John. (Communicated to me by the Rev. Henry -Clayforth, M.A., Vicar of Feliskirk, near Thirsk.) Near Mount St. John are -Upsal Castle, magnificently situated, and Kirby Knowle Castle (commonly -called New Building). These were ancient Catholic houses, formerly of a -branch of the Constable family. In Kirby Knowle Castle, embosomed in -trees, is still to be seen a priests' hiding-place. During the -early part of the nineteenth century a skeleton was found in this -hiding-place--possibly that of a priest. (Communicated to me by the late -Very Rev. Monsignor Edward Canon Goldie, of York, about the year 1889.) -George S. Thompson, Esquire, now lives at Kirby Knowle Castle, or New -Building. This gentleman married a Miss Elsley, of York, whose family, I -believe, formerly owned Mount St. John, through their relatives, the -Gregories, who seem to have succeeded the Harringtons, harbourers of the -great Campion, whom Lord Burleigh himself styled "one of the diamonds of -England." Campion's guides through Yorkshire were Mr. Tempest (probably of -Broughton Hall, near Skipton-in-Craven), Mr. More (probably of Barnbrough -Hall, near Doncaster, which came to the descendants of Sir Thomas More, -through the Cresacre family), Mr. Smyth (brother-in-law of William -Harrington, the elder), and Father Richard Holtby.--See Simpson's "_Life -of Campion_," second Edition (Hodges, London).--In recent years the Walker -family have owned Mount St. John, but I believe that to-day (1901) Sir -Lowthian Bell is the owner. When I visited this historic and ravishing -spot, the Honourable Mrs. Bosville was the lessee, and the writer has a -pleasant recollection of that lady's gracious courtesy (1898).] - -[Footnote 148:--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_" p. 37, has the following -exceptionally interesting paragraph: "Sir William Waad in a letter to Lord -Salisbury, reporting a conversation with Fawkes, says, 'Fawkes's mother is -alive and re-married, and he hath a brother in one of the Inns of Court. -John and Christopher Wright were school-fellows of Fawkes and neighbours' -children. Tesimond, the Jesuit, was at that time schoolfellow also with -them. So as this crew have been brought up together.'"--State Paper -Office, Add. Papers No. 481, Jardine (now Record Office). - -Probably what Fawkes said was that _he_ (Fawkes) _and Tesimond_ were -neighbours' children; for John and Christopher Wright's parents were of -Plowland Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, as we have seen. -Two explanations, however, are possible, which will reconcile this -statement that, after all, Fawkes may have _said that he and the Wrights -were neighbours' children_. One is that possibly the young Wrights boarded -with some citizen dwelling in St. Michael-le-Belfrey's Parish, York, -whilst they were at the Royal School of St. Peter, then in the Horse -Fayre, Gillygate (but now in Clifton), York; the other explanation is that -possibly a portion of the fourteen years during which the mother of John -and Christopher Wright was (as we have seen already _ante_) imprisoned for -her resolute profession of the Catholic religion was spent in company with -her husband, Robert Wright, in some private gentleman's house in the -Belfrey Parish, in the City of York--a thing then very common. For -example, Dr. Thomas Vavasour, a physician, of Christ's Parish, who--_or -whose wife_, Mrs. Dorothy Vavasour--favoured Campion, and probably -harboured him in 1581, was for a time imprisoned in the house of his -brother. This was probably Mr. Edward Vavasour, a Protestant gentleman, -who resided in "the Belfray" Parish, and was a freeman of York and one of -its tradesmen, being, I find, a hatter. In the York "Subsidy Roll for -1581" Edward Vavasour's name appears as being assessed in goods at 8. Dr. -Thomas Vavasour's name does not appear in the Subsidy Roll. I believe he -was then in prison, at Hull, for his persistent refusal to conform to the -Queen's demands in matters of faith. - -Query--Did Father Oldcorne learn his "medicine" from Dr. Vavasour, of the -Parish of Christ? What was the system of medical training in the "golden -days"?] - -[Footnote 149:--As revealing the interior state (1) of Oldcorne's mind in -relation to the Gunpowder enterprise, and (2) of Tesimond's mind, -respectively, the former stands in sharp contrast with the latter, and -must be pregnant with significance to the discerning and judicious -reader.] - -[Footnote 150:--Vol. ii., pp. 285, 286.] - -[Footnote 151:--"_Somers' Tracts_," Edited by Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii., -p. 106, says: "Tesimond severely censured Hall (alias Oldcorne) for his -timidity on the occasion, calling him a phlegmatic fellow." - -Dr. Abbott's "_Antilogia_" confirms Jardine's report of Tesimond's -denunciation, _although Foley most improperly omits it_.] - -[Footnote 152:--The diverse demeanour on this critical occasion of these -two Jesuits (both natives of the same City, most probably, and -fellow-scholars in the then recently re-founded Grammar School belonging -to York Minster) is very striking, and reminds one of the following -sagacious remark of that clear writer, Dr. James Martineau: "In human -psychology, feeling when it transcends sensation is not without idea, but -is a type of idea."--"_Essays and Addresses_," vol. iv., p. 202 (Longmans, -1891).--Such feeling then is _mens cordis_--the mind of the heart.] - -[Footnote 153:--Hindlip Hall, about four miles from Worcester, was built -on an eminence in 1572 and the following years of Elizabeth's reign. It -had a large prospect of the surrounding country, and contained many -conveyances, secret chambers, and priests' hiding-places, perhaps more -than any house in England. The old Hall of the Abingtons was pulled down -at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The present mansion was built -by the Lord Hindlip's family, I believe. This demesne is one of the most -historic spots in the kingdom, owing to its memorable associations with -Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne, Garnet having left Coughton at the request of -Oldcorne, in December, 1605. The two Jesuits were nourished, after -Salisbury instituted his search, during seven days, seven nights, and some -odd hours, mainly by broth and other warm drinks, conveyed to them through -a quill or reed passed "through a little hole in a chimney that backed -another chimney into a gentlewoman's chamber." Doubtless Mrs. Abington and -Miss Anne Vaux (the devoted friend of Father Garnet, who, along with -Brother Nicholas Owen, accompanied him to Hindlip) had administered this -food to the two famishing Jesuits detained in durance.] - -[Footnote 154:--Father Garnet's house in Thames Street, London, had been -broken up, this place of Jesuit sojourning having become known to the -Government. Consequently, Garnet, at the beginning of September, 1605, -went down to Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, the seat of Sir Everard and -Lady Digby. - -Christopher Wright, it will be remembered, quitted his lodging near Temple -Bar, on October the 5th, and, I opine, then went down to Lapworth, or -Clopton, near Stratford-on-Avon. Catesby was born at Lapworth. - -It will be remembered that the Ardens, the relatives of Shakespeare's -mother, were allied to the Throckmortons, and therefore to Francis -Throckmorton, the friend of Mary Queen of Scots. It is a remarkable -coincidence that the great dramatist was, through both the Ardens and the -Throckmortons, connected with those whose quartered remains he may have -had in his mind's eye (in addition to those of the Gunpowder conspirators) -when in 1606, in "Macbeth," he writ of "the hangman's bloody hands." - -For an account of the Somerville-Arden and the Francis Throckmorton -alleged conspiracies against the life of Queen Elizabeth, see Froude's -"_History_." For an account of Shakespeare's family, including the Ardens, -see Mrs. C. C. Stope's recent book (Elliot Stock, 1901).] - -[Footnote 155:--In the "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_," by "One of his -descendants" (Kegan Paul), is to be found a vivid and historically -accurate account of the proceedings of November the 5th and afterwards. -The conspirators' line of flight would be nearly parallel with the London -and North Western Railway from Euston Station to Rugby.] - -[Footnote 156:--The country crossed by these unhappy fugitives is -undoubtedly the very "heart of England," and in spring and summer is one -of the gardens of England. As those then flying, on that gloomy November -day, from the Avenger of blood, were probably almost all men of strong -family affections, and certainly all ardent lovers of their country, how -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, et placens - Uxor: neque harum, quas colis, arborum - Te, praeter invisas cupressos, - Ulla brevem dominum sequetur."--_Horace._[A] - -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 his brother's wife, 80, and take 20 -himself:"--Wright owing Bates some money.] - -[Footnote A: - - "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."] - -[Footnote 157:--Does Greenway's "_Narrative_" clearly state how many of -these conspirators received from Tesimond the sacraments? If so, what -sacraments were they? - -The Government would have had a clear case of inciting to open rebellion -against Tesimond if they had caught him, but he escaped to Flanders. He -was "a very deep dog," was Master Tesimond, and no mistake. But he was -wholly under the finger and thumb (_me judice_) of Catesby, which shows -what a powerful man of genius Catesby must have been. - -Father Henry Garnet, at his trial, allowed that Tesimond had acted "ill," -in seeking to rouse the country to open rebellion.] - -[Footnote 158:--This lady was 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 Reign of James I._" - -For a true estimate of the second Earl of Essex, see Dr. R. W. Church's -"Bacon" (Macmillan).--See also Major Hume's "_Courtships of Queen -Elizabeth_ (Fisher Unwin) and his "_Treason and Plot_" (Nesbit).] - -[Footnote 159:--How well-grounded Oldcorne's suspicions of Littleton were, -and how soundly he had discerned the man's spirit, is proved from the fact -that after Littleton had been condemned to death for harbouring his -cousin, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the Master of -Huddington, Littleton sought to save his life by telling the Government -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 preach in the house of the -said Mr. Abington, at which time he seemed to confirm his hearers in the -Catholic cause."--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 219.] - -[Footnote 160:--On the 5th of October, 1900, I saw this Declaration by the -courtesy of the authorities at the Record Office, London, and compared it -with the Letter to Lord Mounteagle. Miss Emma M. Walford was present the -while.--See Appendix.] - -[Footnote 161:--This luminous definition is by that great writer, Frederic -Harrison.] - -[Footnote 162:--It is not less dangerous to indulge in Irony. For an -emphatic proof of this see the "_Life of Lord Bowen_," p. 115 (Murray), by -Sir H. S. Cunningham, K.C.I.E. - -_Cf._ the great Stagyrite's discountenancing the study by the -inexperienced (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 Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle_," book i. See also -Professor Muirhead's "_Chapters from the Ethics_" (Murray). - -Hector, in "Troilus and Cressida," act ii., scene 2, speaks of "Young men, -whom Aristotle thought unfit to hear moral philosophy."] - -[Footnote 163:--Jardine thinks that Oldcorne manifests a disposition "to -hesitate and argue about the moral complexion" of the Gunpowder Treason; -and this 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, 233. - -But it is evident that, for the nonce, the London Magistrate's judicial -temper of mind had deserted him, when he sniffed too closely the moral 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. Nor 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.] - -[Footnote 164:--In this connection the following words of the 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, "He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but never -effected." - -_Cf._ Wordsworth's Sonnet on the Gunpowder Plot, which is very -penetrating.] - -[Footnote 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 known by them, _but no more_. The late Right 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 -VII., denominated Mr. Gladstone in the House of Lords, when 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 ruby so lovely; while _partial Truth_, according to its degree, is not -less true than the full orb of Truth.] - -[Footnote 166:--This phrase, "sacrilegious murder," is used by Shakespeare -in "Macbeth," and so precisely does it express the double crime of the -Gunpowder plotters that I feel certain that from this allusion--as well as -from the evident allusion to the well-known 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 knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell" are an allusion -to the mysterious warning bell that the plotters thought they heard whilst -working in the mine.--See Jardine's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," -p. 54. - -Compare also Mr. H. W. Mabie's description of the tragedy of "Macbeth" in -his very recent and valuable "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Macmillan & Co.). -Mr. Mabie's account sounds in one's ears like a very echo of a recital of -the facts and purposes of the Gunpowder Plot.] - -[Footnote 167:--Now, as the conspirators were engaged in a -joint-enterprise, it must be evident to every clear-minded thinker that -the repentance of _any one of the joint-plotters_ must have shed an -imputed beneficent influence over and upon all the band. For just as no -man liveth only to himself, and no man dieth 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 -Oldcorne, 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 same in deed, through the earnest and part -performance he 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, I 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 and stand once more with head erect and in marching order--that -noble posture and manly attitude which is ever the reward, sure and -certain, of a recovered sense of justice, sincerity, truth.] - -[Footnote 168:--The Government, it is said, appointed a special Commission -to try Humphrey Littleton and some others at Worcester. The following -quotation is taken from "the Relation of Humphrey Littleton, made January -26th, 1605-6," written by one Sir Richard Lewkner to the Lords of the -Privy Council. Lewkner was one of the Commissioners. - -This sentence is to be specially noted in this "Relation":--"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 Ralph 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 Government 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 could be done by one who was not a Jesuit lay-brother. The -Government 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. Wynter at May next -shall be three yeares, and sould him againe." Examination, 5th March, -1606.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 224. - -According to Foley's "_Records_," Oldcorne was indicted at Worcester for-- - -(1) Inviting Garnet, a denounced traitor, to Hindlip. - -(2) Writing 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 Newton, 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.] - -[Footnote 169:--A learned Cretan Jesuit, Father L'Henreux, who was -appointed by Pope Urban VIII. Rector of the Greek College at Rome, wrote a -powerful "_Apologia_" in behalf of Father Henry Garnet, which was -published in 1610. In 1613 Dr. Robert Abbott, a Master of Balliol College, -Oxford, and Regius Professor of Divinity at that University, wrote his -"_Antilogia_" as a reply to Eudmon-Joannes' "_Apologia_." It would be a -boon to historical students if both the "_Apologia_" and the "_Antilogia_" -were "Englished" by some competent hand. Abbott was made Bishop of -Salisbury, partly on account of the learning he displayed in his -"_Antilogia_." He was a Calvinist, and a vigorous writer, being styled -"the hammer of Popery and Arminianism." - -Dr. Lancelot Andrewes (in answer to Cardinal Bellarmine) and Isaac -Casaubon also contributed to the literature of the controversies anent the -Plot, and modern editions of their works with notes are desiderata. -Casaubon is best known, at the present day, through his "_Life_," by Mark -Pattison; Andrewes, through the late Dr. R. W. Church's "Lecture," now in -"_The Pascal_" volume (Macmillan) of that judicious and learned man.] - -[Footnote 170:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 120, -quoting "_Apologia_," p. 200. - -Sir Everard Digby was the only conspirator who pleaded "guilty," and he -was arraigned by a different Indictment from that which charged the rest -of the surviving conspirators.] - -[Footnote 171:--My contention is that the conclusion is inevitable to the -discerning mind that the sphinx-like nescience--the face set like a -flint--with which Oldcorne met Littleton's inquiry, displays indisputable -evidence of a sub-consciousness on Oldcorne's part, of what? Of a -_special_, _private_, _official knowledge_ (as distinct from a general, -public, personal knowledge) of what had been intended to be the executed -Gunpowder Plot, but which Oldcorne himself had thwarted, and so prevented -everlastingly any one single human creature being able, even for the -infinitesimal part of an instant, to contemplate "_post factum_"--after -the fact--and in the concrete; which, indeed, judged "from the outside," -and as the bulk of mankind are entitled to judge it, was the only side or -aspect of the baleful enterprise that was of practical and, therefore, to -them, of paramount personal consequence. The conspirator John Grant -expressed the state of the case exactly when he said in Westminster Hall, -after being asked what he could say wherefore judgment of death should not -be pronounced against him, "He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but -never effected."] - -[Footnote 172:--See Butler's "_Memoirs of English Catholics_," vol. ii., -p. 260. See also Gerard's "_Narrative_."--It is possible (according to -Gerard) that Oldcorne may have been even still more cruelly tortured, -namely, as Dr. Lingard says, during five hours for each of five successive -days; but to me, humanly speaking, this is incredible.] - -[Footnote 173:--Father Edward Oldcorne and Brother Ralph Ashley are both, -along with others, now styled by Rome, "Venerable Servants of God." The -Decree introducing the cause of these "English Martyrs," dated 1886, and -signed by the present Pope, Leo XIII., is kept in the English College at -Rome, where Oldcorne had himself entered as a student a little more than -three hundred and four years previously, namely, in 1582. - -Through the truly kind courtesy of the Right Rev. Monsignor Giles, D.D., -President of the English College, Rome, the writer was privileged to see, -along with the Rev. Father Darby, O.S.B., and some other gentlemen, this -Decree in the afternoon of Saturday, the 13th of October, 1900, the Feast -of St. Edward the Confessor, King of England. In the forenoon of the same -day the first great band of the English Pilgrims for the Holy Year, the -Year of Jubilee, had received, in St. Peter's, the Papal Blessing, amid -great rejoicing, the apse or place of honour in this, the largest Church -in Christendom, being graciously accorded to these fifteen hundred British -Catholic subjects of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.] - -[Footnote 174:--As to the precise teaching of the theologians of Father -Oldcorne's Church respecting the famous dictum of St. Augustine of Hippo, -"_Extra ecclesiam nulla salus_," see the book of the once celebrated Douay -theologian, Dr. Hawarden, entitled, "_Charity and Truth; or Catholics not -uncharitable in saying that none are saved out of the Catholic Communion, -because the rule is not universal_" (1728). And, again, that great -Yorkshire son of St. Philip Neri, Dr. Frederic William Faber, an -ultramontane papist of the ultramontane papists, has thus recorded his own -potent testimony on this subject in his singularly able and beautiful -work, entitled, "_The Creator and the Creature_," first edition, p. 368. - -Dr. Faber says: "We are speaking of Catholics. If our thoughts break their -bounds and run out beyond the Church, nothing that has been said has been -said with any view to those without. I have no profession of faith to make -about them, except that God is infinitely merciful to every soul; that no -one ever has been, or ever can be, lost by surprise or trapped in his -ignorance; and as to those who may be lost, I confidently believe that our -Heavenly Father threw His arms round each created spirit, and looked it -full in the face with bright eyes of love in the darkness of its mortal -life, and that of its own deliberate will it would not have Him."] - -[Footnote 175:--Either from the phonograph or even the shorthand scribe.] - -[Footnote 176:--Are the Indictments in existence of Father Oldcorne and -Ralph Ashley, who seem to have been tried in the Shire Hall, Worcester, at -the Lent Assizes of 1606? If so, they and extracts from any Minute Books -still extant bearing on the subject would be of great interest and value -to the historical Inquirer, if published.] - -[Footnote 177:--Oldcorne realized experimentally, in the final action of -the great tragedy, what it means, as Goethe has it, for a man "to adjust -his compass at the Cross." - -And than Oldcorne no human creature ever lived that had a better right to -anticipate those magnificent words of triumph over death of one of -Yorkshire's supremest geniuses: "_If my barque sink, 'tis to another -sea._"] - -[Footnote 178:--In Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_," -third series, p. 325, we read: "In 1572 John Oldcorne is one of the four -sworn men against the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected -of papistry, for St. Sampson's parish." - -Again, under date April 10th, 1577, we read: "And now also John Oldcorne, -of St. Sampson's parish, who cometh not to the church on Sundays and -holidays, personally appeared before these presents, and sayeth he is -content to suffer the churchwarden of the same parish to take his -distresses for his offence." - -There is also for January, 1598, the following pathetic entry concerning -the mother of Father Oldcorne:-- - -"Monckewarde Saint Sampson's, Elizabeth Awdcorne, alias Oldcorne, old and -lame a recusant." - -York is now divided into six wards for the purposes of municipal -government, namely: Bootham, Monk, Micklegate, Walmgate, Guildhall, and -Castlegate. Until the nineteenth century there were only the first four -wards, which, indeed, corresponded to the four great Gates or chief Ways -for entering the City. - -The writer remembers with pleasure that, now some years ago, his -fellow-citizens of Micklegate Ward, on the west side of York, did him the -honour of electing him to occupy a seat, for the term of three years, in -the Council Chamber of his native City, which, he is proud to remember, -was the City wherein first drew the breath of life Edward Oldcorne; one, -he has every reason to believe, whose keen, sane mind, and ready, skilful -hand were instrumental, under Heaven, in penning that immortal document -which saved the life, certainly, of King James I., of His Royal Consort -Queen Anne of Denmark, of Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles Duke of York, -afterwards King Charles I., as well as the life of the Lords Spiritual and -Temporal, the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, and many Foreign -Ambassadors, in the year of grace 1605, now well-nigh three centuries ago. - -As some readers may be, perchance, interested in a few particulars -concerning the ancient Parish of St. Sampson, which is in the heart of the -City of York, close to the Market Place, I propose to mention a few. First -of all, then, the ancient parish church which bears the name of the old -British Saint, St. Sampson, is pre-eminently one of "the grey old churches -of our native land," whereof in the reign of King Henry V. (Shakespeare's -ideal English monarch) there were in the City of York and its suburbs no -less than forty-one, though in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the -number was reduced. That forty-one was the number originally we know from -a subsidy of Parliament which granted to King Harry, in 1413, two -shillings in the pound leviable on all spirituals and temporals in the -realm for carrying on the then war with France.--See Drake's "_Eboracum_," -p. 234. - -St. Sampson's Church consists of a lower nave and chancel with north and -south aisles to both, extending nearly to the west base of the tower. The -architecture of the church is in the decorated and the perpendicular -styles. King Richard III., in 1393, granted the advowson of this church to -the Vicars Choral of York Minster. The present Vicar (1901) is the Rev. -William Haworth, one of the Vicars Choral of the Minster, to whom I am -indebted for information respecting the Registers of St. Sampson's Church -and the Church of Holy Trinity, King's Court, or Christ's. - -Mr. Councillor John Earle Wilkinson, "mine host" of the "Garrick's Head" -Hotel, Low Petergate, York, who was the Guardian of the Poor for the old -Parish of St. Sampson (as he is now the Guardian for Ward No. 2 of the -United Parish of York), kindly informed me on the 10th July, 1901, that -the following streets are in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Sampson. -Hence we may conclude that it was in a house in one of these streets that -were spent the earliest years of Edward Oldcorne, the son of John -Oldcorne, Tiler, and of Elizabeth, his wife:-- - -(1) Church Street, a street between the Market Place (which Market Place -is formed by St. Sampson's Square and Parliament Street) and Goodramgate -towards Monk Bar. Here is St. Sampson's Church. - -(2) Patrick Pool, to the east of St. Sampson's Church. - -(3) The right-hand side of Newgate, leading into High Jubbergate (formerly -Jews-Gate). - -(4) Little Shambles and Pump Yard. - -(5) That part of Parliament Street on the south-west which includes the -site of the York City and County Bank. - -(6) That part of Parliament Street on the north-east which includes Mr. F. -H. Vaughan's "Clock" Hotel. - -(7) Silver Street, to the west of St. Sampson's Church, connecting Church -Street with High Jubbergate. - -(8) On the north side of Church Street, opposite St. Sampson's Church, -Swinegate. - -Finkle Street. - -(9) Back (or Little) Swinegate, between Swinegate and Finkle Street. - -(10) That part of Little Stonegate which includes the back part of the -premises of Messrs. Myers and Burnell, Coachbuilders, and the Model -Lodging House opposite. - -(11) Coffee Yard. - -(12) The top part of Grape Lane (leading into Low Petergate), which -adjoins Coffee Yard and the north end of Swinegate. - -(13) St. Sampson's Square (forming part of the Market Place). - -Some of the old Elizabethan dwelling-houses and shops in these streets and -yards, built of oak (doubtless from the famous Galtres Forest, northward -of York), with their projecting stories of lath and plaster, happily, are -still standing, "rich with the spoils of time," and the eyes of Edward -Oldcorne must have, many a time and oft, gazed upon them at that momentous -period of life when "the child is father of the man." - -Besides these ancient dwelling-houses and shops, relics of the Past, the -grey old Parish Church of St. Sampson must have been one of the sights -which, from the earliest dawn of reason, entered into the historic -"imagination" of the great Elizabethan Englishman, who was destined to -become a learned student at Rheims and Rome and "to see much of many men -and many cities" before he came to England, in the year 1588, the year of -the Spanish Armada. - -Another familiar object to the future honoured friend and trusted -counsellor of Mr. and Mrs. Abington and the highest in the land would be -also the old Market Cross, which stood in the middle of St. Sampson's -Square, then, and even still sometimes, called Thursday Market.--See -Gent's "_York_." - -The fact that during the month of December, 1901, the claim of the ancient -City of York to be specially represented, through its Lord Mayor, on the -occasion of the forthcoming Coronation of His Most Gracious Majesty King -Edward VII., was considered by the Court of Claims next after the claim of -the City of London, is interesting evidence to show that the City of -Edward Oldcorne is still counted the second City of the British Empire, -notwithstanding that such claim was disallowed.] - -[Footnote 179:--Sir Edward Hoby was a man of parts, a learned diplomatist -and able Protestant controversialist.--See "_National Dictionary of -Biography_."] - -[Footnote 180:--Nichols' "_Progresses of James I._," pp. 584-587. (The -italics are mine.)] - -_Sub-note to Note 178._ - -In 1572 John Oldcorne, we are told, was one of the four "sworn men against -the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected of papistry, for -St. Sampson's parish." This is very interesting; for on the 22nd day of -August, 1572, at three o'clock in the afternoon, "the Blessed" Thomas -Percy, "the good Erle of Northumberland," was beheaded in The Pavement, at -the east end of All Saints' Church. He was buried in old St. Crux Church, -adjoining The Pavement; and it is possible, I conjecture, that John -Oldcorne may have been sworn in as a special constable to help to keep the -peace on the occasion of the beheading of the Earl, who held the hearts of -nine-tenths of the people of York and Yorkshire, as well as of "the North -Countrie" generally, at the time of his long and deeply lamented death. - -The York "Tyburn," in the middle of the Tadcaster High-road, opposite Hob -Moor Gate, Knavesmire, was abolished at the beginning of the nineteenth -century. - -John Oldcorne, the father of Father Edward Oldcorne, is described as a -Bricklayer as well as a Tiler. I think he was a "Master," in partnership, -maybe, with his brother, Thomas Oldcorne, a great sufferer for the -Catholic Faith, whose wife, Alice, died--a prisoner for her conscience--in -the Kidcote, on Old Ouse Bridge, and whose body was buried on Toft Green, -near to Micklegate Bar.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv.--The name -Oldcorne is not now found in the City of York. - - - - - FINIS. - - -A task at once pleasurable and laborious is at length accomplished, and -the writer humbly sends forth into the world his modest contribution -towards the literature of the Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Errors, whether in matters of Fact or in points of Reasoning and Argument, -the author will be gratefully obliged by his readers at an early date -pointing out to him. - -Should his book be read by any of our kith and kin in His Most Gracious -Majesty's Dominions beyond the seas, whom "the stern behests of Duty" have -bidden "with strangers make their home," as well as by professed students -of History and the general citizen reader in the United Kingdom of Great -Britain and Ireland, then will be the writer's joy great indeed. - -The author desires to tender his respectful and cordial thanks to the -Authorities of the following Libraries for the use of their valuable, and -not seldom invaluable, works:--(1) The Minster Library, York; (2) the -Minster Library, Ripon; (3) the British Museum, London; (4) the Free -Library, York; (5) the Free Library, Leeds; (6) the Free Library, Preston; -(7) the Free Library, Wigan; and (8) the Albert Library, York. - -Also the like thanks to the following persons of divers nationalities, -creeds, and parties. Their aid and assistance have been of various kinds: -sometimes the loan of rare and costly books for a twelve-month together; -in certain cases, advice and counsel; in other cases, the revising of -proof sheets, the translation from foreign tongues, and the transcription -of Elizabethan and Jacobean documents:-- - -To the Rev. F. A. Russell, York, formerly of India; the Rev. Edmond Nolan, -B.A., St. Edmund's House, Cambridge; the Rev. Richard Sharp, S.J., -Skipton-in-Craven, Yorks.; the Rev. George Machell, York; the Rev. Louis -Tils, York, formerly of Germany; the Rev. H. Rawlings, M.A., York, -formerly of South Africa; the Rev. T. Harrington, Brosna, Co. Kerry, -Ireland; the Rev. H. A. Geurts, Bishop Thornton, Ripon, Yorks., formerly -of Holland; the Rev. E. J. Hickey, Lartington, North Yorks.; A. E. -Chapman, LL.D., York; A. Neave Brayshaw, B.A., LL.B., York; Oswald C. B. -Brown, York, Solicitor (author of "_The Life of the Venerable Richard -Langley: a Martyr of the Yorkshire Wolds_"); G. Laycock Brown, York, -Solicitor; Miss Emma M. Walford, 45, Bernard St., Russell Square, London, -W.C.; Miss Georgina Kirby, York House, Middlesbrough, Yorks.; Mr. Ralph -Currie, York; and Mr. John Sampson, York. - -Lastly, to all other kind friends who may have rendered assistance, but -whose names do not occur _either_ in the work itself _or_ in the -above-mentioned list, the writer begs to offer his sincere -acknowledgments. - - - PRINTED BY - THE YORKSHIRE HERALD NEWSPAPER COMPANY, LIMITED, - YORK. - - * * * * * - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S AMENDMENTS - - -Transcriber's Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Footnotes with -alphabetic tags now generally follow the referencing paragraph. Footnotes -with numeric tags are located near the end of the work. The publisher's -inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been corrected. -Duplicative book and chapter front matter has been removed. - -The following list indicates any additional changes made. The page number -represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext -except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. - - Page Change - - 2 See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in ( )[[ ]] - 2 ['Local' footnotes are indicated with A-Z, not numerals.] - 168 This lady was the the[Delete.] above-named Dowager - 174 Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging [to] a comparatively inferior - 176 his aid for the rebellion.[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 192 the point of a needle?"[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 248 owned by the Rev. Charles Slingsby Slingsby[Delete.], - 251 and from tyme to to[Delete.] tyme, - 306 William Grauntham[Grantham]. - 387 Again; Fawkes, we are told by Endmon[Eudmon], - - * * * * * - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - -***** This file should be named 40029-8.txt or 40029-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/2/40029/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter - Being a Proof, with Moral Certitude, of the Authorship of - the Document: Together with Some Account of the Whole - Thirteen Gunpowder Conspirators, Including Guy Fawkes - -Author: Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -Release Date: June 18, 2012 [EBook #40029] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="center" style="width: 20em; margin: auto; border: solid 1px; padding: 1em;"> -Transcriber’s Note: The original publication has been replicated faithfully except as listed -<a href="#Changes" name="Start" id="Start">here</a>.<br /> -<br /> -The text conforms to changes in window size. -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<!--004.png--> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> -<img src="images/illo_000.jpg" width="700" height="390" -alt="Exterior view of a substantial brick countryside manor with -three fireplaces." /> -<span class="caption">PLOWLAND HOUSE, HOLDERNESS, E.R. -YORKSHIRE.</span> -</div> - -<!--005.png--> - -<h1>THE GUNPOWDER PLOT<br /> -<br /> -<small><small>AND</small></small><br /> -<br /> -LORD MOUNTEAGLE’S LETTER;<br /> - <br /> - <br /> -<small>BEING A PROOF, WITH MORAL CERTITUDE, OF<br /> -THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT:<br /> -<br /> -<small>TOGETHER WITH</small><br /> -<br /> -SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE THIRTEEN<br /> -GUNPOWDER CONSPIRATORS,<br /> -<small>INCLUDING</small><br /> -GUY FAWKES.</small></h1> - -<div class="c2"><small>BY</small><br /> -<br /> -HENRY HAWKES SPINK, <span class="smcap">Jun.</span><br /> -<small>(<i>A Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England</i>).</small></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="c5">LONDON:<br /> -SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD.<br /> -<br /> -YORK:<br /> -JOHN SAMPSON.<br /> -<br /> -1902.<br /> -[<i>All rights reserved.</i>]<!--006.png--></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<i>Veritas temporis filia.</i> Truth is the daughter of Time, -especially in this case, wherein, by timely and often -examinations, matters of greatest moment have been found -out.” — <span class="smcap">Sir Edward Coke</span> (<i>the Attorney-General who prosecuted the -eight surviving conspirators</i>).</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which -History has the power to inflict on Wrong.” — <span class="smcap">Lord Acton.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“History, it is said, revises the verdicts of contemporaries, -and constitutes an Appeal Court nearest to the ordeal of -heaven.” — <span class="smcap">Dr. James Martineau.<!--007.png--></span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="c3"><small>TO</small><br /><br /> -THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES LINDLEY<br /> -SECOND VISCOUNT HALIFAX<br /><br /> -<small><small>OF HICKLETON AND GARROWBY<br /> -IN THE COUNTY OF YORK<br /> -ONE OF YORKSHIRE’S MOST GIFTED AND DISTINGUISHED SONS<br /> -THIS BOOK<br /> -WHICH<br /> -AMONGST OTHER THINGS<br /> -TELLS OF SOME OF THE WORDS AND DEEDS<br /> -OF CERTAIN YORKSHIREMEN IN<br /> -THE DAYS OF SHAKESPEARE<br /> -IS<br /> -(BY KIND PERMISSION)<br /> -MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED<br /> -BY THE AUTHOR.</small></small></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--009.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">vii</a></span></p> - -<div class="sig"><span class="smcap">Bland’s Court,<br /> -       Coney Street,<br /> -               York.</span></div> - -<div class="left"><span class="smcap">To the Right Honourable<br /> -             Viscount Halifax.</span><br /> -<br /> -My Lord,</div> - -<p>The book which your characteristic generosity has permitted me to dedicate -to you wears a two-fold aspect. For it is as to one portion — and -predominantly — an Inquiry taking the form of a discourse with questions -and proofs, propositions and demonstrations. While as to another -portion — but subordinately — it is a History taking the form of a narrative -of events, a relation of mental occurrences, a statement of concrete -facts. Now these twain aspects will be found duly to play their respective -parts in the course of the subsequent pages, in accordance with a selected -order and method.</p> - -<p>With most of the allegations of fact and the inferences therefrom, and -with many of the assumptions and conclusions which this work contains, -your Lordship will agree. From others you will disagree. Whilst in the -case of a third class, it may be that you will deem a suspension of -judgment to be the part which wisdom and justice alike enjoin.</p> - -<p>Speaking for myself, both as a man and as a native of our great County of -Yorkshire — whose sons are -at<!--010.png--><span class="pagenum">viii</span> -once speculative and practical, imaginative -and concrete — necessity, in the form of an imperative sense of duty, has -been laid upon me, to declare, with unmistakable emphasis and -straightforward directness, what I hold to be the Truth governing the -subject-matter wherewith I have sought to deal. For <span class="smcap">Truth is that which -is, and its contradictory is error</span>. This line of action I have pursued -with the greater determination, inasmuch as daily observation of external -events — and, if less frequent, still actual reflection thereupon — has -strongly convinced me, even against my will, that much of the “forcible -feebleness” and most of the “stable instability” of modern British -Statesmen and Politicians have their origin and rise in nothing else than -this: — lack of clarity of thought and want of knowledge of those, fixed -fundamental intellectual, moral, and political principles which ought to -be the sure inheritance of the human Race. And pre-eminently of that -portion of the Race which is conscious of a lofty imperial mission. “For -evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart.”</p> - -<p>The ancient Stagyrite ranked Poetry above History, because the former -bequeaths to Man universal principles of action, whereas the latter -bestows upon Man only a relation of individual facts.</p> - -<p>But the History of the Gunpowder Treason Plot rises to a higher unity. -Because for a man to have read and mastered an impartial record of that -deliberate -and<!--011.png--><span class="pagenum">ix</span> -appalling scheme of “sacrilegious murder,” which happily -Destiny first frustrated, and afterwards, through Nemesis, her unerring -executioner, signally avenged in the sight of all men, is to have -witnessed, with the eye of the historic imagination, a drama that is a -poem in action.</p> - -<p>Nay, more; it is to have had a personal, experimental realization, through -the historic feeling, of what is meant, in the realm of Moral actualities, -by the infliction of Retribution, the working out of Expiation, the -regaining of Justness, the restoration of Equality between outraged Right -and outraging Wrong, and the attaining by the tempestuous, passionate -human heart of final tranquillity, rest, and peace.</p> - -<p>For one of the greatest recorded Tragedies in the world is the History of -the Gunpowder Treason Plot, regard being had to the intellectual and moral -ends effected by that history’s recital.</p> - -<p>The man who has truly, if indeed but commemoratively, through force of the -medium of language merely, taken his part in this great Action, even at a -distance of well-nigh three hundred years, will have had his soul cleansed -and purified by cleansed and purified pity and terror. Then will he have -had that soul soothed and healed. He will have been first abased and then -exalted.</p> - -<p>For so to act is to weep with a Humanity that weeps. Then with that same -Humanity to join in a triumphant pæan of victory that has for its -universal and glorious theme this reality of realities which cannot -be<!--012.png--><span class="pagenum">x</span> -broken, namely, that Universe — whereof Man, though not the measure, -constitutes so large a part — is primevally founded and everlastingly -established in Goodness, Being, and Truth.</p> - -<p>Trusting that your Lordship will crown your gracious kindness by pardoning -the great length of this Introductory Letter,</p> - -<div class="sig25">I beg to remain,<br /> -   My dear Lord Halifax,<br /> -       Yours sincerely and gratefully,<br /> -           HENRY HAWKES SPINK, <span class="smcap">Jun.</span></div> - -<div class="left"><i>Saturday, 26th October, 1901.</i></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Tragedy primarily implies imitation of Action by action, not by language, -although of course language forms a constituent part.</p> - -<div class="right">See the “<i>Poetics of Aristotle</i>,” chap. vi.</div></div> - -<!--013.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xi</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“Although it is by no means proved to be impossible that this nobleman -[Lord Mounteagle] was a guilty confederate in the Plot, the weight of -evidence is at present in his favour. It is, however, a most curious State -mystery: and I am persuaded that, if the truth is ever discovered, it will -not be by State papers, or recorded confessions and examinations. When -such expert artists as Bacon and Cecil framed and propagated a State -fiction in order to cover a State intrigue, they took care to cut off or -divert the channels of history so effectually as to make it hopeless, at -the distance of three centuries to trace the truth by means of documents -which have ever been in their control. If the mystery should hereafter be -unravelled, it will be probably by the discovery of some letters or papers -of a domestic nature, which either slumber in private repositories, or -remain unnoticed in public collections.” — <i>Letter by David Jardine, Editor -of</i> “Criminal Trials,” <i>to Sir Henry Ellis, F.R.S.</i>, “Archæologia,” <i>pp. -94-95. Dated 30th November, 1840.</i></p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--015.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">xiii</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p>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 History.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>causa causans</i>, therefore it is of perennial interest to -governors and governed.</p> - -<p>The <i>causa causans</i>, 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 -allow freedom of human action, and yet faithfully to maintain Absolute -Truth concerning the Infinite and the Eternal — or that which is believed -to be Absolute Truth.</p> - -<p>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 -reasoning<!--016.png--><span class="pagenum">xiv</span> -from necessary or probable philosophical -assumptions, the writer has designedly interspersed, both in the Text and -in the Notes, matter of a Biographical and Topographical nature, -especially such as hath relation to the author’s honoured native -County — Yorkshire — and his beloved native City — York.</p> - -<p>The writer has thought out his thesis, and has treated the same without -fear or favour — limited and conditioned only by 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_1">[A]</a> <i>Cf.</i>, “<i>The Ethic of Free-thought</i>,” by Professor Karl -Pearson. (Adam and Charles Black, 1901.)</p></div> - -<p>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 days of King James I. — the -British Solomon — down to the days of Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, the -renowned historian of the early English Stuarts, the author’s answer and -plea must be — for it can only be — that by the decrees of Fate, <i>his</i> eyes -first saw the light of the sun in a County whose history is an epitome of -the history of the English people; and in a City which is an England in -miniature.</p> - -<p>In conclusion, the writer would be fain to be pardoned in saying that he -has not had the -advantage<!--017.png--><span class="pagenum">xv</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The writer’s guide, during the past eighteen months, wherein he hath -“voyaged through strange seas of thought alone,”<a name="FNanchor_A_2" id="FNanchor_A_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_2" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> has been “the high -white star of Truth. <span class="smcap">There</span> he has gazed, and <span class="smcapac">THERE</span> aspired.”<a name="FNanchor_B_3" id="FNanchor_B_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_3" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<p><i>Saturday, 26th October, 1901.</i></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_2" id="Footnote_A_2"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_2">[A]</a> Wordsworth.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_3" id="Footnote_B_3"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_3">[B]</a> Matthew Arnold.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--019.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xvii</span></p> - -<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi"> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">PREFACE</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">PRELUDE</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Three movements against Government of James I. 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER I.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Reasons given why subordinate conspirator, Francis Tresham, cannot have “discovered” Plot — True principles laid down to guide mind of Inquirer into <i>personnel</i> of (1) Revealing Conspirator, (2) Penman of Letter.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER II.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER III.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Who was Lord Mounteagle? — Ancestry — Father: Lord Morley — Title, Mounteagle, derived through mother, Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, heiress of William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle — Mother akin to Howards through Leybournes of -Westmoreland.<!--020.png--><span class="pagenum">xviii</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER IV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Lord Mounteagle receives Letter 26th October, 1605, between “six and seven of the clock,” at Hoxton, near London — Opened by Mounteagle — Read by a member of his household, Thomas Ward — Full text of Letter given — 27th 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 Secretary of State — 28th October, Winter repairs to White Webbs by Enfield Chase, ten miles north of Westminster — Informs Catesby that “game was up” — Catesby says “would see further as yet” — Guy Fawkes sent from White Webbs to view cellar under House of Lords — Finds all marks undisturbed — Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, wood, and coal all ready for fatal Fifth — Fawkes returns at night safely — Thomas Winter meets (or is met by) subordinate conspirator, Christopher Wright — Fawkes captured early on Tuesday, November 5th — Christopher Wright announces to Thomas Winter Fawkes’ capture.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER V.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">In reign of Queen Elizabeth and early part of James I., “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 VIII.’s religious “change” and that of his progeny, King Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth, unlikely to be acceptable “all on a sudden” to bulk of English people — Why? — Penal Legislation against Papists on part of Government — Jesuits in England, 1580 — Campion and Parsons — Three Classes of English Jesuits — Mystics, <i>or</i> Politicians — Mystics <i>and</i> Politicians — The thirteen Gunpowder plotters well-disposed towards Jesuits — But plotters only Politicians.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER VI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Sir William Catesby (father of the arch-conspirator Robert Catesby) and Sir Thomas Tresham (father of Francis Tresham), fine old English gentlemen — Types of best class of Elizabethan Catholic gentry — Both persecuted -by<!--021.png--><span class="pagenum">xix</span> -Government — Sir Thomas Tresham for more than twenty years pays for Fines equal in our money to £2,080 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 Gunpowder Treason Plot.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER VII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">All thirteen plotters “gentlemen of name and blood” (save Thomas Bates, a respectable serving-man of Catesby) — Names of plotters as follow: — Robert Catesby (Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire) — Thomas Winter (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire) — Thomas Percy (Beverley, E.R. Yorkshire) — John Wright (Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire) — Guy (or Guido) Fawkes (York) — Robert Keyes (Drayton, Northamptonshire) — Christopher Wright (Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire) — Robert Winter, (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire) — Ambrose Rookwood (Coldham, Stanningfield, Suffolk) — John Grant (Norbrook, Warwickshire) — Sir Everard Digby (Gothurst, near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire) — Francis Tresham (Rushton, Northamptonshire) — Four out of conspirators natives of Yorkshire: Thomas Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes — Five others indirectly connected with it: Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Grant, Robert Keyes, and Ambrose Rookwood — Thomas Winter and Robert Winter, grandsons of distinguished Knight, Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley Castle, near Knaresbrough 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 Huddersfield.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER VIII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER IX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Jesuit Father Edward Oldcorne a native of York — Oswald Tesimond most probably a native of York likewise — Before going to Rheims and Rome Oldcorne studied -medicine.<!--022.png--><span class="pagenum">xx</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER X.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Further analysis of problem as to what conspirator would be likely to “discover” Plot — A subordinate plotter — Introduced late into Plot — One 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 Go-between with Government — Christopher Wright, Edward Oldcorne, Thomas Ward.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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 Wright sworn in to help in mining work “soon after” — Text of conspirators’ secret oath.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Christopher Wright’s family further described — Father: Robert Wright, Esquire, of Plowland, Holderness — 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, Margaret Wright, possibly <i>née</i> Margaret Ward, of the Wards, of Mulwith.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Edward Oldcorne described — A native of St. Sampson’s Parish, York — A student of medicine — Goes to Rheims 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 the 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 mental equipoise.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XIV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">“The Letter” critically -examined.<!--023.png--><span class="pagenum">xxi</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Further critical examination of “the Letter.”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XVI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Mounteagle “knew there was a Letter to come to him before it came” — Who was his “Secretary,” Thomas Ward? — Almost certainly brother-in-law to Christopher Wright — Proofs of this assertion — Entry of marriage in St. Michael-le-Belfrey’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 “Marjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwith,” in Register at Ripon Minster, about eleven years after, 20th May, 1590.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XVII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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 Wright and Thomas Warde, at least between years 1589 and 1590 inclusive — Thomas Warde probably in diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth, under Sir Francis Walsingham — Probably sent on mission to Low Countries in 1585.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XVIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Proof that William Ward, 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XIX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Inference drawn that Christopher Wright, Thomas Warde, and Lord Mounteagle were personally -acquainted.<!--024.png--><span class="pagenum">xxii</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Marmaduke Ward at Lapworth, in Warwickshire — Arrested by Government — Released — Inference that he had a powerful friend at Court.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Suggested proof of how Mounteagle came to be associated with Thomas Ward — Biographical and Topographical evidence adduced in support.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXIII. (same further continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXIV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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 Ward.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Thomas Ward sees Thomas Winter, one of the chief conspirators — Suggested inference that Christopher Wright had bidden Thomas Ward so to do — In order to compass flight of rest of conspirators.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXVI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Thomas Winter interviews Francis Tresham, one of subordinate conspirators, on Saturday night, 2nd November, one week after delivery of Letter to Lord Mounteagle.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXVII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Tresham tells Winter that Government knew of existence of <i>the mine</i> — How had Government such knowledge? — Suggested concatenation of evidence that Christopher Wright told fact to Thomas Ward (or Warde); Ward to Lord Mounteagle; Mounteagle to Francis Tresham; Tresham to Thomas -Winter.<!--025.png--><span class="pagenum">xxiii</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXVIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXIX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Quotation from “<i>King’s Book</i>” — 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, 4th November — Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder stored ready for firing by Fawkes on fatal Fifth.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Quotation from the “<i>Hatfield MSS.</i>,” giving account of meeting at Fremland, Essex, in July, 1605 — 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 Roman Catholic gentleman — Belike of the swashbuckler type.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Christopher Wright.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie (or Newby), near Ripon, comes up to Lapworth, in Warwickshire — Lapworth, the birthplace of arch-conspirator Robert Catesby — One of the large Catesby Warwickshire possessions — In May, 1605, Lapworth let by Catesby to John Wright — Marmaduke Ward, brother-in-law to John Wright and Christopher Wright, arrives at Lapworth about 24th October, 1605 — Suggestion that Marmaduke Ward was sent for by Thomas Ward — In order, haply, to prevail upon brothers Wright to abandon scheme of insurrectionary stir in -Midlands.<!--026.png--><span class="pagenum">xxiv</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">What <i>objections</i> against hypothesis that Christopher Wright was Revealing conspirator? — What <i>objections</i> against hypothesis 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXIV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Evidence of a certain Dr. Williams, of reign of Charles II., author of pamphlet purporting to be History of the Gunpowder Treason Plot, quoted.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Probable untrustworthiness of Dr. Williams’ reported statement manifested by convincing argument — Singular story that Letter was penned by the Honourable Anne Vaux, one of the daughters of William Lord Vaux of Harrowden — Story told, examined, and disposed of.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXVI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Dr. Williams’ reported statement a faint adumbration of truth — Why? — Because Williams’ report tends to corroborate evidence that Letter <i>emanated</i> from Hindlip Hall — Suggestion made as to whence and how Williams’ report had its origin — The Lady of Hindlip may have <i>guessed truth</i>, through her womanly perspicacity.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXVII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Evidence, deductions, and suggestions finally considered tending to show that Christopher Wright <i>after</i> delivery of Letter exhibited <i>consciousness</i> of having revealed Plot.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Old Dutch print, published immediately after detection of Plot (reprinted in “<i>Connoisseur</i>” for November, 1901), shows Christopher Wright in act of engaging in earnest discourse with arch-conspirator Robert Catesby — Slightly tends to confirm tradition that (1) Christopher Wright -first<!--027.png--><span class="pagenum">xxv</span> -ascertained that Plot was discovered, and that (2) Christopher Wright counselled that “each conspirator should betake himself to flight in a different direction from any of his companions.”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XXXIX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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 Robinson, Christopher Wright’s London landlady, as to padlocked hampers, evidently containing fresh gunpowder.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XL.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Conspirators are “shriven” and “houselled” at Huddington by Jesuit Father Nicholas Hart — Ambrose Rookwood — Rookwood “absolved” by the Jesuit priest “without remark” — Reason why suggested.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLI. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of State, instructs Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, <i>to disclaim that any of these wrote Letter</i> — Reason why suggested.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Archbishop Usher reported divers times to have said “that if Papists knew what he knew, the blame of the Gunpowder 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLIV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Critical examination of the Letter renewed — Writer must have regarded Plot as a scheme defecated of criminous quality — Reason -why.<!--028.png--><span class="pagenum">xxvi</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court), in Warwickshire, ancestral home of grand old English Roman Catholic family of Throckmorton — Father Henry Garnet, Superior of English Jesuits, harboured here from 29th October, 1605, to 16th December, 1605 — Father Oswald Tesimond at Coughton on Wednesday, 6th November — Bates sent with letters from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father Garnet and Lady Digby — Bates despatched from Norbrook, in Warwickshire — Arrives at Coughton — Fathers Garnet and Tesimond have conference for half-an-hour — Garnet gives leave to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington, in Worcestershire — Whither conspirators and rebels were come, early on Wednesday, 6th November — Tesimond arrives at Huddington — Psycho-electrical will force of Catesby works on mind of Tesimond — Tesimond inspired with rebellious ardour against Government — Dashes on to Hindlip, within five miles of Huddington.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLVI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">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 — Rides off towards Lancashire in hope of rousing to arms dwellers in that Catholic county.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLVII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Who and what was Father 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLVIII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER XLIX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">At the end of August, 1605, Garnet leaves London for Gothurst — Famous pilgrimage to St. Winifred’s Well, Flintshire, North Wales, about 5th September, made from Gothurst — Lady Digby, Ambrose Rookwood and his -wife,<!--029.png--><span class="pagenum">xxvii</span> -the Honourable Anne Vaux, and upwards of thirty others, join the pilgrim-band — Father Garnet and Father Percy, chaplain to Sir Everard Digby, lead the cavalcade — Away about a fortnight.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER L.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Pilgrims return from St. 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">4th October, 1605, Father Garnet at Great Harrowden — Pens a long letter to Father Parsons in Rome.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">21st October, Father Garnet at Gothurst (most probably) — Pens a short <i>post scriptum</i> to letter of 4th October — Blots out three lines of letter — Assigns as cause therefor “<span class="smcapac">FOR REASON OF A FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY</span>” — <i>Who was this friend?</i></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LIII. (Chapters XLV. and XLVI. with more particularity)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Sir Everard Digby rents Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire — Sir Everard to be in command of Midland Rising against Government — Many Catholic gentlemen from Midland counties expected to rebel by reason of galling anti-Catholic persecution — Sir Everard Digby, on Sunday, 3rd November, rides to Dunchurch, near Rugby, in Warwickshire — Robert Winter, of Huddington, joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach, Staffordshire, also by latter’s cousin, Humphrey Littleton — Tuesday, November 5th, Cousins Littleton, Sir Robert Digby (Coleshill), younger Acton (Ribbesford), 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 Wrights, and Ambrose Rookwood rush into ancient mansion-house -of<!--030.png--><span class="pagenum">xxviii</span> -Catesbies at Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire — Announce capture of Fawkes — Hold short council of war — Snatch up weapons of warfare — North-westwards that November night — Arrive at Dunchurch Inn — Digby 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 Warwick by three of the clock on Wednesday morning — From stables near Warwick Castle take fresh horses, leaving their own steeds in exchange therefor — Dash on towards John Grant’s “moated grange,” Norbrook, Snitterfield (where Shakespeare’s mother held property) — At Norbrook “take bite and sup” — Rest their fatigued limbs awhile — On saddle-back once more — This time bound for Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, the seat of Robert Winter — Arrive there probably about twelve o’clock noon of Wednesday (some authorities say two o’clock in the afternoon) — Tesimond 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 — Whole company “shriven and houselled” — Before daybreak all on march again north-westwards — Halt at Whewell Grange, seat of the Lord Windsor — There help themselves to large store of arms and armour — Plotters and rebels then numbered about sixty all told — Cross the River Stour, in flood — A cart of gunpowder rendered “dank” in crossing — Proceed to Holbeach House, in Staffordshire — Mansion-house of Stephen Littleton, Esquire, a Roman Catholic gentleman of ancient lineage.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LIV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire with <i>posse comitatus</i> 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<!--031.png--><span class="pagenum">xxix</span> -to prayers — “Litanies and such like” — Make an hour’s “meditation” — About eleven of the clock on Friday, 8th November, Sheriff of Worcestershire and “hue and cry” surround Holbeach — 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 mortally wounded — Percy grievously wounded — Dies a day or two afterwards — Ambrose Rookwood wounded — Sir Everard Digby apprehended — Rest taken prisoners, except Stephen Littleton and Robert Winter, who escape.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Father Henry Garnet changes his mind — Does not go up to London — But from Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, goes down to Coughton, in Warwickshire, on the 29th October — All Saints’ Day (November 1st) at Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court) — Mass “offered” by Father Garnet.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LVI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the Master of Huddington, harboured at Rowley Regis, in Staffordshire, by a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, Esquire, of Hagley, Worcestershire, 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.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LVII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Humphrey Littleton consults Father Edward Oldcorne, the Jesuit, respecting the moral rightness or wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot — Father Oldcorne’s Reply to Littleton <i>in extenso</i>.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LVIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Reply analyzed — Divisible into two distinct parts — First part: gives an answer sounding in abstract truth alone, in -other<!--032.png--><span class="pagenum">xxx</span> -words, leaves Littleton in abstracto — Second part: disclaims knowledge of <i>end</i> plotters had in view and <i>means</i> they had recourse to.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LIX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Metaphysical Argument grounded on Oldcorne’s Reply to Humphrey Littleton — Argument seeks to demonstrate that from tenour and purport of Oldcorne’s Reply, the Jesuit must have had a special interior knowledge of the Plot.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LX. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXI. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXIII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXIV. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXV. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXVI. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXVII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXVIII. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXIX. (same continued)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXX.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne captured at Hindlip Hall the last week of January, 1605-6 — Conveyed to the Tower of London — Father Oldcorne “racked five times, and once with the greatest severity for several hours” — On 7th April, 1606, at Redhill, near Worcester, Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, hanged, drawn, and quartered as a traitor — Brother Ralph Ashley, his servant, hanged at the same time and place.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXXI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">True inferences to be drawn from Father Oldcorne’s “last dying speech and -confession.”<!--033.png--><span class="pagenum">xxxi</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXXII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Edward Oldcorne — Ralph Ashley.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">CHAPTER LXXIII.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Thomas Ward.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENTS, AND CONCLUSIONS.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="center" style="padding-top: 2em;"><big>SUPPLEMENTA.</big></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM I.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Guy Fawkes.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM II.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Letter of Lord Bishop of Worcester (Dr. Bilson), to Sir Robert Cecil, as to Diocese of Worcester.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM III.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Thomas Ward (or Warde).</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM IV.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Mulwith, near Ripon.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM V.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Plowland, Holderness.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">SUPPLEMENTUM VI.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Equivocation. Letter of the Rev. George Canning, S.J., Professor of Ethics, St. Mary’s Hall, -Stonyhurst.<!--034.png--><span class="pagenum">xxxii</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="center" style="padding-top: 2em;"><big>APPENDICES.</big></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX A</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Circumstantial Evidence defined. (a) Evidence generally: (by Mr. Frank Pick, York).</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX B</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Discrepancy as to date when immaterial (per Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, <i>temp</i>. Charles II.).</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX C</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_300">300</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">List of those apprehended for Plot in Warwickshire, &c. (a) List of those frequenting Clopton (or Clapton) Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX D</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Richard Browne (servant to Christopher Wright), his evidence.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX E</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">William Grantham (servant to Hewett, Hatter), his evidence.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX F</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Robert Rookes (servant to Ambrose Rookwood), his evidence.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX G</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_308">308</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">John Cradock (Cutler), his evidence.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX H</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Lord Chief Justice Popham’s statement as to Christopher Wright.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX I</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Sir Richard Verney, Knt., John Ferrers, William Combe, Bart. Hales (Warwickshire Justices): Joint Statement to Earl of Salisbury, as to Mrs. John Grant and Mrs. Thomas Percy.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX J</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Paris (boatman), his evidence, as to taking Guy Fawkes to Gravelines, France, during “vacation,” -1605.<!--035.png--><span class="pagenum">xxxiii</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX K</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Miss Emma M. Walford, her opinion as to resemblance between Edward Oldcorne’s original Declaration of 12th March, 1605-6, and original Letter to Lord Mounteagle (both in Record Office, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.).</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX L</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Professor Bertram C. A. Windle, M.D., F.R.S., his opinion as to distances between certain localities in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, and Buckinghamshire.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX M</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Carmichael as to same.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">APPENDIX N</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi2">Order of Queen Elizabeth in Council, dated 31st December, 1582, addressed to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of York.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">NOTE (as to authenticity of Thomas Winter’s Confession)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">NOTES (1-180)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left" class="hi">FINIS</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_411">411</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--036.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xxxiv</span></p> - -<h2>ERRATA.</h2> - -<p>The author regrets to have to request his indulgent readers to be kind -enough to make the following corrections [Transcriber’s Note: These have -been applied.]: — </p> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 19, line 14 from top. — Put ) after word “conspirators,” -<i>not</i> after word “<i>Tresham</i>.” -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 77, line 9 from top. — Read: and “great great grandfather -of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel,” <i>instead of -“great-grandfather.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 79, in note, line 5 from top. — Read: “ninth Earl of -Carlisle,” <i>instead of “seventh Earl of Carlisle.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 87, in note, line 8 from bottom. — Read: “Burns & Oates.” -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 117, line 5 from top. — Read: “William Abington,” <i>instead -of “Thomas Abington.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 122, in note, line 2 from top. — Read: “Duke of Beaufort,” -<i>instead of “Duke of St. Albans.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 140, line 4 from top. — Read: “incarcerated,” <i>instead of -“inccarerated.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 285, in note, line 2 from top. — Read: “kinswoman,” -<i>instead of “kinsman.”</i> -</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Page 321, line 16 from top. — Read: “Deprave,” <i>instead of -“depeave.”</i> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--037.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxv" id="Page_xxxv">xxxv</a></span></p> - -<h2>PRELUDE.</h2> - -<p>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 Roman Catholic recusants in the year 1605. The first of -these movements was a general wave of insurrectionary feeling, of which -there is evidence in Yorkshire as far back as 1596; in Lancashire about -1600; 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 — who were, 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 moment believe.</p> - -<p>All students of English History, however, are greatly indebted to the Rev. -John Gerard, S.J., for his -three<!--038.png--><span class="pagenum">xxxvi</span> -recent critical works on this subject; -but still that the main outlines of the Plot are as they have come down to -us by tradition, to my mind, Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner abundantly proves -in his book in reply to the Rev. John Gerard.</p> - -<p>The names of the works to which I refer are: — “<i>What was the Gunpowder -Plot?</i>” the Rev. J. Gerard, S.J. (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.); “<i>The -Gunpowder Plot and Plotters</i>” (Harper Bros.); “<i>Thomas Winter’s Confession -and the Gunpowder Plot</i>” (Harper Bros.); and “<i>What Gunpowder Plot was</i>,” -S. R. Gardiner, D.C.L., LL.D. (Longmans).</p> - -<p>The Articles in “<i>The Dictionary of National Biography</i>” dealing with the -chief actors in this notable tragedy are all worthy of careful perusal.</p> - -<p>“<i>The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773</i>,” by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), contains a -chapter on the Gunpowder Plot; and the Plot is referred to in Major Hume’s -recent work, entitled, “<i>Treason and Plot</i>” (Nisbet, 1901).</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--039.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> - -<p>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 Royal Consort, his Counsellors, and -Senators, from a bloody, cruel, and untimely death.</p> - -<p>In every conspiracy there is a knave or a fool, and sometimes, happily, “a -repentant sinner.”</p> - -<p>Now it is well known that the contrivers of the Gunpowder 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>intended</i> to reveal the -treason, and secondly that he <i>had been guilty</i> of concealment.</p> - -<!--040.png--><p><span class="pagenum">2</span></p> - -<p>Now, as a rule, “all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Therefore -it is impossible, in the face of this direct testimony of Tresham, 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.<a name="FNanchor_1_217" id="FNanchor_1_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_217" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><a name="FNanchor_2_218" id="FNanchor_2_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_218" class="fnanchor">[2]</a><a name="FNanchor_A_4" id="FNanchor_A_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_4" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_4" id="Footnote_A_4"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_4">[A]</a> See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in [ ].</p></div> - -<p>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-day 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 says: “<i>Ubi res adsunt, quid opus est verbis?</i>” — “Where facts are -at hand, what need is there for words?”</p> - -<p>The Evidence to be relied on is mainly the evidence known as -Circumstantial,<a name="FNanchor_B_5" id="FNanchor_B_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_5" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> and consists of two classes of acts. One of these -classes leads up 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<!--041.png--><span class="pagenum">3</span> -demonstrate that the Author of the Letter -and the Penman respectively were conscious, <i>subsequent</i> to the commission -of the transaction — in the former case, of having incurred the -responsibility of being the originating Cause of the Document; in the -latter case, of being the Agent for its physical production.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_5" id="Footnote_B_5"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_5">[B]</a> As to the nature of Circumstantial Evidence — see Appendix.</p></div> - -<p>Before we begin to collect our Evidence, and, <i>à fortiori</i>, 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 -fundamentals 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 which, if allowed, shall -redound, in respect of courage and integrity, to the praise and honour of -Man.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--042.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> - -<p>Now, to my mind, it is a proposition so plain as not to require arguing, -that there must have been at least <i>two</i> persons engaged in the two-fold -transaction of dictating the Letter and of being the penman of the same. -For although it is, of course, physically possible that the work may have -been accomplished by one and the same person, yet that there was a -division of labour in the two-fold transaction is infinitely 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 his co-partners in guilt, should he have rashly -adventured to be his own scribe; and this though he feigned his penmanship -never so cunningly.</p> - -<p>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 number of persons in the -secret: — it being a rule of common prudence in such cases that confidences -must not be unnecessarily multiplied.</p> - -<p>Therefore it follows that, supposing there was a second person in the -confidence of the “discovering” or revealing conspirator to pen the -Letter; and -supposing<!--043.png--><span class="pagenum">5</span> -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-between, an “<i>interpres</i>,” between the conspirator -and Lord Mounteagle, these two persons must have been very trustworthy -persons indeed.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><i>Experientia docet.</i> Experience teaches. A man has knowledge 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. Relationship creates bonds, ties, obligations -between the several persons united by it.</p> - -<p>Hence, the practical conclusion is to be drawn that if “the discovering” -or disclosing Gunpowder 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 who 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.”</p> - -<p>Let us now turn to the Evidence to-day available bearing upon the -momentous document under consideration. We will begin by saying a few -words respecting the Lord Mounteagle, whose name, at least, the Gunpowder -Treason will have for ever enshrined in the remembrance of the British -people.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--044.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> - -<p>William Parker,<a name="FNanchor_3_220" id="FNanchor_3_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_220" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> the son and heir of Lord Morley, whose barony had been -created by 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.</p> - -<p>At the time of the Plot (1605) 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 -Rushton, Northamptonshire, a high-minded, scholarly Roman Catholic -gentleman of great wealth, who had been knighted at Kenilworth by Queen -Elizabeth in 1577.</p> - -<p>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 princely Lancashire House, the Stanleys Earls of Derby, to whom -he was related in both the paternal and maternal 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 Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and -to her sister the Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of “Belted Will Howard”<a name="FNanchor_4_221" id="FNanchor_4_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_221" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> -of<!--045.png--><span class="pagenum">7</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Mounteagle was, therefore, through his mother, a near kinsman to the -remarkable Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel, who married Aletheia, the only -child and heiress of Gilbert, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, and god-daughter -of Queen Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<a name="FNanchor_5_222" id="FNanchor_5_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_222" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> of Lumley -Castle in the County Palatine of Durham, whose wife was Jane, daughter of -Henry Fitzalan 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 Royal House of Tudor herself.</p> - -<p>Lord Mounteagle consorted much with English Roman Catholics, and, in some -sense, prior to the year 1605, was of that religion himself. He had been -present with his wife’s brother Francis Tresham a little after the -Midsummer of 1605 at Fremland 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 warning speech with Catesby respecting a general -question propounded by Catesby to Garnet about a month or six weeks -previously (<i>i.e.</i>, the beginning of Trinity -Term,<!--046.png--><span class="pagenum">8</span> -1605), and from the -answer to which general question Catesby shamefully 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 wavering -conscience of any dubious fellow-plotter against whose resurgent sense of -right and wrong he thought he might have to strive.</p> - -<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_A_6" id="FNanchor_A_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_6" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Yet certainly he was no mere -titled fool, with a head-piece like a windmill. Far from it: he was -probably a man of sufficient, though not, I think, of the very highest -intelligence, good-natured, easy-going, and of very engaging manners.<a name="FNanchor_B_7" id="FNanchor_B_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_7" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_6" id="Footnote_A_6"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_6">[A]</a> It is curious and amusing to hear that the following was the -opinion of Robert Catesby concerning the peerage of his day: — “He made -account of the nobility as of atheists, fools, and cowards; and that lusty -bodies would be better for the commonwealth than they.” — See “<i>Keyes’ -Examination</i>,” Record Office.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_7" id="Footnote_B_7"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_7">[B]</a> A certain English periodical, a few years ago, spoke -admiringly of Lord Mounteagle’s twentieth century connection, the present -Duke of Devonshire, as being one’s <i>beau-ideal</i> of the “you-be-damned” -type of Englishman. Probably the same periodical would have found, had it -been in existence in the seventeenth century, a similar contentment in the -contemplation of the fourth Lord Mounteagle.</p></div> - -<p>By his contemporaries, it is evident that even prior to 1605 Mounteagle -was made much of and greatly courted. But less, I opine, on account of the -intellectual and moral qualities 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.</p> - -<p>So much, then, for the present, concerning the now famous William Parker -fourth Baron Mounteagle, whom History has crowned with a wreath of -immortals.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--047.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> - -<p>On Saturday, the 26th of October, ten days before the intended meeting of -Parliament,<a name="FNanchor_A_8" id="FNanchor_A_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_8" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Lord Mounteagle, we are told, unexpectedly and without any -apparent reason or previous notice, directed a supper to be prepared at -his mansion at Hoxton, where he had not been for more than a twelve-month -before that date.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_8" id="Footnote_A_8"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_8">[A]</a> Parliament had been prorogued from the 3rd of October to the -5th of November. Lord Mounteagle was one of the Commissioners. -</p> - -<p> -The “<i>Confession</i>” by Thomas Winter, which I regard as genuine, I have -also drawn upon freely in my relation of facts. — See Appendix.</p></div> - -<p>It will be well, however, to relate the history of what occurred in the -exact words provided for us in a work published by King James’s printer, -and put forth as “the authorised version” of the facts that it recorded. -The work bears the title — “<i>A Discourse of the late intended Treason</i>,” -anno 1605. “<i>The Discourse</i>” says: — “The Lord Mounteagle, 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 met by an unknown man of a reasonable tall -personage<a name="FNanchor_6_223" id="FNanchor_6_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_223" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> who delivered him a Letter charging him to put it in 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<!--048.png--><span class="pagenum">10</span> -one of -his men unto him for helping him to read it. But no sooner did he conceive -the strange contents thereof, although he was somewhat perplexed what -construction to make of it ... yet did he as a most dutifull and loyall -subject conclude not to conceal it, whatever might come of it. Whereupon -notwithstanding the latenesse and darknesse of the night in that season of -the year, he presently repaired to his Majesties palace at Whitehall and -there delivered the same to the Earle of Salisbury his majesties -principall secretarie.”</p> - -<p>The Letter was as follows: — </p> - -<p>“My lord out of the loue 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 deuys 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 retyere youre self -into youre contri wheare yowe maye expect the euent in safti for -thowghe<a name="FNanchor_7_224" id="FNanchor_7_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_224" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> theare be no apparance of anni stir yet i saye they shall -receyue a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not sei who -hurts them this councel is not to be contemned because it maye do yowe -good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe -have burnt the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good -use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe.”</p> - -<p>(Addressed on the back) to “the ryght honorable the lord mouteagle.”</p> - -<p>The full name of the member of Lord Mounteagle’s household who read the -Letter to Lord Mounteagle, we learn, was Thomas Ward.<a name="FNanchor_8_225" id="FNanchor_8_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_225" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>Ward was acquainted with Thomas Winter, one of -the<!--049.png--><span class="pagenum">11</span> -principal Gunpowder -plotters; for Winter himself had formerly been in Mounteagle’s service, -and at the time of the Plot was almost certainly on amicable terms with -the young nobleman.</p> - -<p>On the 27th of October, the day following the delivery of the Letter, -<i>Thomas Ward came to Thomas Winter</i> (being Sunday at night) and told him -that a Letter had been given to Lord Mounteagle, which the latter -presently had carried to Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury. — “<i>Winter’s -Confession.</i>”</p> - -<p>Winter, thereupon, the next day, Monday, the 28th October, went to a house -called White Webbs, not far from Lord Salisbury’s mansion Theobalds.</p> - -<p>White Webbs was a lone and (then) half-timbered dwelling, “with many trap -doors and passages,” surrounded by woods, near Enfield Chase, ten miles -north of Westminster.</p> - -<p>At this secluded spot Thomas Winter had speech with Catesby, the -arch-conspirator, “assuring him withal that the matter was disclosed and -wishing him in anywise to forsake his country.” — “<i>Winter’s Confession.</i>”</p> - -<p>Catesby told Winter, “he would see further as yet and resolved to send Mr. -Fawkes to try the uttermost protesting if the part belonged to himself he -would try the same adventure.” — “<i>Winter’s Confession.</i>”</p> - -<p>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, wood, and coal were stored in readiness for -the bloody slaughter purposed for November the Fifth.</p> - -<p>Fawkes returned to White Webbs at night, at which the conspirators “were -very glad.” Fawkes had found in the cellar his “private marks” all -undisturbed.</p> - -<!--050.png--><p><span class="pagenum">12</span></p> - -<p>“The next day after the delivery of the Letter,” says Stowe (though as a -fact it was probably five days after the delivery of the momentous -document, namely, on the following Thursday), <i>this self-same “Thomas -Winter told Christopher Wright”</i> — a subordinate conspirator, — “that he -(Winter) understood an obscure letter had been delivered to Lord -Mounteagle, who had conveyed it to Salisbury.”<a name="FNanchor_9_226" id="FNanchor_9_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_226" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p><i>Hence, most probably, either Thomas Winter went in search of Christopher -Wright to afford him this piece of information; or Wright went in search -of Winter to obtain it.</i></p> - -<p>At about five o’clock in the morning of Tuesday, November, the Fifth, -about five hours after Fawkes’ apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet and his -men,<a name="FNanchor_10_227" id="FNanchor_10_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_227" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> the said Christopher Wright went to the chamber of the said -Thomas Winter and told him that a nobleman (<i>i.e.</i>, the Earl of Worcester, -Master of the Horse) “had called (<i>i.e.</i>, summoned) the Lord Mounteagle, -saying, ‘Rise and come along to Essex House,<a name="FNanchor_11_228" id="FNanchor_11_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_228" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> for I am going to call up -my Lord of Northumberland,’ saying withal, ‘the matter is -discovered.’” — “<i>Winter’s Confession.</i>”</p> - -<p>Of this conspirator, Christopher Wright, it is said,<a name="FNanchor_12_229" id="FNanchor_12_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_229" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> that “he was the -first to ascertain that the Plot was discovered.” Probably this refers to -the information he (Christopher Wright) obtained as the upshot of his -interview with Winter on (probably) Thursday, the 31st October.</p> - -<p>Christopher Wright was, likewise, the first to announce the apprehension -of Fawkes on the morning of the 5th of November.</p> - -<p>It is also further said of Christopher Wright by one<a name="FNanchor_13_230" id="FNanchor_13_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_230" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> who wrote during -the last century, that “He advised that each of the conspirators should -betake<!--051.png--><span class="pagenum">13</span> -himself to flight in a different direction from his companions. -Had this been followed several of them would have probably succeeded in -making their escape to the continent. The conspirators, however, adopted -another course, which issued in their discomfiture in Staffordshire, where -Christopher Wright was also killed.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--052.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> - -<p>During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and during the earlier part of the -reign of King James I., almost all those castellated castles, moated -halls, and gabled manor-houses which to-day, still standing more or less -perfect, “amidst their tall ancestral trees o’er all the pleasant land,” -go to constitute that “old England” which her sons and daughters (and -their brethren and kinsfolk beyond the seas) know and love so well; during -the reign of Elizabeth and during the earlier part of the reign of James -I., these now time-honoured, ivy-clad abodes and dwellings of English men -and English women, over whom the grave has long since closed, but who in -their day and generation were assuredly among the heroic and the supremely -excellent of the earth, were the sheltering, romantic roof-trees of those -who clung tenaciously to the ancient religious Faith of the English race.</p> - -<p>This Faith was indeed that faith which had been taken and embraced by -their “rude forefathers” of long ages ago, in the simple hope and with the -pathetic trust that it might “do them good.”<a name="FNanchor_A_9" id="FNanchor_A_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_9" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> And this their hope, they -believed and knew, had been not in vain, neither had been their trust -betrayed.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_9" id="Footnote_A_9"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_9">[A]</a> See the beautiful apologue of the Saxon nobleman of Deira, -delivered in the presence of St. Edwin King of Northumbria; given in -Bede’s “<i>Ecclesiastical History</i>.”</p></div> - -<!--053.png--><p><span class="pagenum">15</span></p> - -<p>In the days of the second Henry Tudor — <i>fons et origo malorum</i> — the -fountain-head and well-spring of almost all of England’s many present-day -religious and social woes — the men and women of England and Wales knew -full well, whether they were of Cymric, Saxon, Scandinavian, or Norman -race (or a mixture of all four), that to that assemblage of ideas and -emotions, laws and rules, habits and customs, which had come to them from -men of foreign blood and alien name, dwelling on the banks of the far-off -“yellow Tiber” and under sunny, blue Italian skies — these men and women, I -repeat, knew full well that to their religious Faith they owed almost -everything that was best and truest and most enduring, either in -themselves or their kith and kin.<a name="FNanchor_A_10" id="FNanchor_A_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_10" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_10" id="Footnote_A_10"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_10">[A]</a> Yorkshire, being the greatest of English Shires, had among -the inhabitants of its hills and dales and “sounding shores,” -representatives of the various races which compose the English nation. In -the West Riding especially, those of the old Cymric or British stock were -to be found. (Indeed, I am told, even now shepherds often count their -sheep by the old British numerals.) This strong remnant of the old British -race in the West Riding probably accounts for the marvellous gift of song -wherewith this division of Yorkshiremen are endowed to this day, just as -are the Welsh. In none other portion of England was there such a wealth of -stately churches and beautiful monasteries as in Yorkshire, the ancient -Deira, whose melodious name once kept ringing in the ears of St. Gregory -the Great, of a truth, the best friend the English people ever had. But -Yorkshire realised that “before all temples” the One above “preferred the -upright heart and pure.” Therefore, canonized saints arose from among her -vigorous, keen-minded, yet poetically imaginative sons and daughters. York -became sacred to St. Paulinus and St. William; Ripon to St. Wilfrid, the -Apostle of Sussex; also to St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Holland; -Beverley was hallowed by the presence of St. John of Beverley; Whitby by -the Saxon princess St. Hilda, the friend of Caedmon, the father of English -poetry. The moors of Lastingham were blest by the presence of St. Chad and -St. Cedd; and Knaresbrough by St. Robert, in his leafy stone-cave hard-by -the winding Nidd.</p></div> - -<p>Now regard being had to the indisputable fact that for well-nigh a -thousand years England had been known abroad as “the Dowry of Mary and the -Island of Saints,” by reason of the signal manifestations she had -displayed in the way of cathedrals and churches, abbeys and priories, -convents and nunneries, hospitals and schools (which arose up and down the -length and breadth of the land to Northward and Southward, to East and -West,<!--054.png--><span class="pagenum">16</span> -thereby, by the aid of art, adding even to England’s rare natural -beauty), it was never at all likely that the bulk of the English people -would, all on a sudden, cast off their cherished beliefs and hallowed -affections respecting the deepest central questions of human life.<a name="FNanchor_14_231" id="FNanchor_14_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_231" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p>Moreover, it may be taken as a general rule, to be remembered and applied -by princes and statesmen, all the world over and for all time, that Man is -a creature “full of religious instincts:” — “too superstitious,” should it -be thought more accurate and desirable so to describe this undoubted habit -and bent of the human mind.</p> - -<p>Thence it follows that it is the merest fatuous folly for princes and -statesmen if and when they have got themselves entangled in a false -position, from some external cause or causes having little or no relation -to the Invisible and the Eternal, to bid their subjects and denizens, -“right about turn,” at a moment’s notice: however “bright and blissful” -such mental evolutions may be deemed to be by those who have unwisely -taken it into their foolish head to issue the irrational command.<a name="FNanchor_A_11" id="FNanchor_A_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_11" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_11" id="Footnote_A_11"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_11">[A]</a> That able and strong-minded Englishman, Dr. Temple, -Archbishop of Canterbury, said (in 1901) in the House of Lords, during the -debates on that pathetically ridiculous document, the Sovereign’s -Declaration against Popery, when speaking on Lord Salisbury’s proposed -amended form, that England was resolved “to stand no interference with her -religion from the outside.” It is a good thing that the heathen Kings -Ethelbert and Edwin were <i>less abnormally patriotic</i> 1300 years ago. For -the idea of “independence” has to be held subject to the “golden mean” of -“nothing too much.” A fetish must not be made of that idea, especially by -a people conscious of lofty imperial destiny. And “unity” must there be -between ideas that are controlling fundamentals — in other words, between -ideas intellectual, moral, and spiritual.</p></div> - -<!--055.png--><p><span class="pagenum">17</span></p> - -<p>Now, in the days of Queen Elizabeth<a name="FNanchor_A_12" id="FNanchor_A_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_12" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> those whom religious loyalty -prompted to worship supremely “the God of their fathers” after a manner -that those eager for change counted “idolatry,” were marked by different -mental characteristics. This was so throughout England; but especially was -it so in those five northern counties which comprised what was then by -Catholics proudly styled “the faithful North.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_12" id="Footnote_A_12"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_12">[A]</a> The mother of Queen Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, died reconciled -to the Church of Rome. Her daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, was brought -up in the tenets of that Church; but, like one type of the children of the -Renaissance, Elizabeth was unconsciously “a Tribal Deist.” Margaret Roper, -the daughter of Sir Thomas More, was equally “cultured,” but she accepted -the Catholic tradition in its letter and in its spirit. I may here state -that I have a great intellectual admiration for Queen Elizabeth, whose -virtues were her own, while her faults, to a large extent, were her -monstrous father’s and her Privy Counsellors’, <i>who told her not what she -ought to do but what she could do, which no really faithful adviser of a -Sovereign ever does</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Some of these English “leile and feile,” that is loyal and faithful, -servants of Rome were, on the subjective side, retained in their -allegiance to the Visible Head of Christendom by bonds formed by mere -natural piety and conservative feeling — dutiful affections of Nature which -are the promise and the pledge of much that is best in the Teutonic race.</p> - -<p>Others were mainly ruled by an overmastering sense of that lofty humility -which foes call pride, but friends dignity.</p> - -<p>Whilst a third class were persuaded, by intense intellectual, moral, and -spiritual conviction that — “in and by the power of divine grace” — come -what -might,<!--056.png--><span class="pagenum">18</span> -nothing should separate them from those hereditary beliefs -which were dearer to them far than not merely earthly goods, lands, and -personal liberty, but even than their very life.</p> - -<p>This last-mentioned class, from and after the year 1580, “the year of the -Lord’s controversy with Sion,” as the old English Catholics regarded it, -who loved to recall that “good time” when Campion and Parsons “poured out -their soul in words,” especially Campion, who was remembered in the north -for three generations: this last-mentioned class, I say, were oftentimes, -though certainly not always, found to be greatly attached to the then new -Society of Jesus, which, in England, was in the glow and purity of its -first fervour.</p> - -<p>This last-mentioned class — I mean the Jesuitically-affected class of -English Catholics — were also again sub-divided into three sub-divisions. -One sub-division was composed of Mystics; another of Politicians; and a -third of those who, realising a higher unity, were at once Mystics <i>and</i> -Politicians — or, in other phraseology, <i>they were Men of Thought and Men -of Action</i>.</p> - -<p>Now, the Gunpowder conspirators belonged to the last-mentioned class, and -to the second division of that class. That is to say, they were mere -Politicians, speaking broadly and speaking generally.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--057.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> - -<p>It hath been truly observed by one of the most knowing and candid of -modern students of Elizabethan biographical literature, that Sir William -Catesby, the father of the arch-gunpowder conspirator, Robert Catesby, in -common with the great majority of the country gentry throughout England, -who were resident upon their own estates, and unconnected with the -oligarchy which ruled in the Queen’s name (<i>i.e.</i>, Queen Elizabeth’s) at -Court, threw in his lot with the Catholic party, and suffered in -consequence of his conscientious adherence to the old creed.<a name="FNanchor_A_13" id="FNanchor_A_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_13" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_13" id="Footnote_A_13"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_13">[A]</a> Dr. Augustus Jessopp: Article — “Robert Catesby,” “<i>National -Dictionary of Biography</i>.”</p></div> - -<p>While Sir Thomas Tresham (the brother-in-law of the last-mentioned Sir -William Catesby and father of Francis Tresham, one of the subordinate -conspirators), was so attached to the ancient faith of the English people -that, we are told, he not only regularly paid — by way of fines — for more -than twenty years, the sum of £260 per annum, about £2,080 a year in our -money, into the Treasury rather than not maintain what (to him) was “a -conscience void of offence,” but he also spent at least twenty-one years -of his life in prison, after being Star-Chambered in the year 1581 along -with Lord Vaux of Harrowden and his brother-in-law, Sir William Catesby, -on a charge of harbouring Campion.</p> - -<!--058.png--><p><span class="pagenum">20</span></p> - -<p>The Fleet prison in London, Banbury Castle and Ely — his “familiar prison,” -as Sir Thomas Tresham pleasantly styled the last-named place of -incarceration — were the habitations wherein he was enabled to make it his -boast in a letter to Lord Henry Howard, afterwards the Earl of -Northampton, writ in the year 1603, “that he had now completed his triple -apprenticeship in direst adversity, and that he should be content to serve -a like long apprenticeship to prevent the foregoing of his beloved, -beautiful, and graceful Rachel; for it seemed to him but a few days for -the love he had to her.”<a name="FNanchor_A_14" id="FNanchor_A_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_14" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_14" id="Footnote_A_14"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_14">[A]</a> Quoted from papers found at Rushton in Northamptonshire, the -seat of Sir Thomas Tresham, which he himself designed, being an architect -of some skill.</p></div> - -<p>Well may the spiritual descendants to-day of these grand old Elizabethan -Catholics exclaim: — “<i>Their</i> very memory is pure and bright, and our sad -thoughts doth cheer!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--059.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> - -<p>The men known to history as the Gunpowder Plotters were thirteen in -number.</p> - -<p>They were at first Robert Catesby, already mentioned, Thomas Winter, -Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes.</p> - -<p>Subsequently, there were added to these five — Robert Keyes, Christopher -Wright (a younger brother of John Wright), and lastly Robert Winter (an -elder brother of Thomas Winter),<a name="FNanchor_A_15" id="FNanchor_A_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_15" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Ambrose Rookwood, John Grant, Sir -Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, and Thomas Bates.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_15" id="Footnote_A_15"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_15">[A]</a> Lord Edmund Talbot, brother to the present Duke of Norfolk, -K.G., Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, is allied to Robert Winter, -through the latter’s marriage with Gertrude Talbot, the daughter of John -Talbot, Esquire, of Grafton in Worcestershire. The brother of Gertrude -Winter became Earl of Shrewsbury. John Talbot had married a daughter of -Sir William Petre. Lord Edmund Talbot, I believe, now owns Huddington.</p></div> - -<p>Of these thirteen conspirators, all, with the exception of Thomas Bates, a -serving-man of Robert Catesby, were, as Fawkes said, “gentlemen of name -and blood.”</p> - -<p>Thomas Percy was the eldest of the conspirators and in 1605 was about -forty-five years of age.</p> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby was the youngest, being twenty-four years of age, whilst -the ages of the others ranged betwixt and between.<a name="FNanchor_15_232" id="FNanchor_15_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_232" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the -East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was -the son of -Edward<!--060.png--><span class="pagenum">22</span> -Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader -of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest -figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a “kinsman” of -Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the -Earl himself,<a name="FNanchor_16_233" id="FNanchor_16_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_233" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made -Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary — Gentlemen of Honour — in attendance -at Court. At the time of the Plot, too, Thomas Percy — the Constable of -Alnwick and Warkworth Castles — acted as officer or agent for his noble -kinsman’s large northern estates, at Alnwick, Warkworth, Topcliffe, -Spofforth, and elsewhere.</p> - -<p>Robert Catesby, the arch-conspirator, was — as we have seen already — the -son and heir of Sir William Catesby, whose wife was a daughter of Sir -Robert Throckmorton of Coughton in Warwickshire.</p> - -<p>Sir William Catesby was a gentleman of ancient, historic and distinguished -lineage, who had large possessions in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and -Warwickshire, yielding him about £3,000 a year, or probably from £24,000 -to £30,000 a year in our money.</p> - -<p>These large estates his ill-fated son Robert Catesby succeeded to in -expectancy in 1598.<a name="FNanchor_17_234" id="FNanchor_17_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_234" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>Catesby, the younger, diminished his annual revenue very considerably by -involving himself in the rising of the brilliant Robert Devereux, second -Earl of Essex (1601), who had given to Catesby a promise of toleration for -Catholic recusants, who chafed greatly under a system of -politico-theological persecution, at once galling, cruel and despicable.</p> - -<p>But this promise of toleration was conditioned by the very vital condition -precedent that the insurrectionary movement of the gallant but rash Essex -against the Government of Elizabeth had a successful issue.</p> - -<!--061.png--><p><span class="pagenum">23</span></p> - -<p>The movement, however, was emphatically not smiled on by Fortune, that -fickle goddess, with the result that Catesby found himself locked up in -prison, and was only ransomed by payment of a sum of £3,000.</p> - -<p>This heavy fine, together with the fact that in the year 1605 his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, was living at Ashby St. Legers in -Northamptonshire, and owned for life all rents of the estates, except -Chastleton near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, seems to have been the -cause that, at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, Catesby had not any very -great amount of ready money in hand.</p> - -<p>Besides this, until some four or five years prior to 1603, the year of the -death of Queen Elizabeth, when he began to practise the religion which in -1580 his father, Sir William Catesby, had embraced or re-embraced, and for -which the latter had suffered imprisonment and heavy fines, Robert Catesby -“was very wild; and as he kept company with the best noblemen of the land, -so he spent much above his rate, and so wasted also good part of his -living.”</p> - -<p>“He was of person above two yards<a name="FNanchor_18_235" id="FNanchor_18_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_235" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> high, and though slender, yet as -well proportioned to his height as any man one should see.” He was, -moreover, reputed to be “very wise and of great judgment, though his -utterance was not so good. Besides, he was so liberal, and apt to help all -sorts, as it got him much love.”</p> - -<p>At the time of the Plot Catesby was about thirty-five years of age. He had -married Catherine Leigh, a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, of Stoneleigh, a -Protestant gentleman of wealth and influence in Warwickshire. The Parish -Register of Chastleton has the following entry: — “Robert Catesbie, son of -Robert Catesbie, was baptised the 11th day of November, 1595.”<a name="FNanchor_19_236" id="FNanchor_19_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_236" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> He had -only this one surviving child, who is said to have married the only child -of Thomas Percy.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--062.png--><p><span class="pagenum">24</span></p> - -<p>Catesby had the misfortune to lose his wife by death before the year 1602, -and at the time of the Plot his home seems to have been with his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, at Ashby St. Legers in the County of -Northampton, the family ancestral seat. For in 1602 he had sold his -residence, Chastleton, in Oxfordshire.</p> - -<p>Now, as Robert Catesby, it seems by many circumstances, was the first -inventor and chiefest furtherer of the Plot, it is worth while thus -lingering on a description of what manner of man he was.</p> - -<p>It, however, may be asked how came it to pass that this one person gained -such prodigious ascendency over twelve other persons so as to make them, -in the event, as mischievously, nay fatally, deluded as himself?</p> - -<p>The answer is manifold: for besides the wrongs which these ruthless -plotters sought to avenge, they 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.<a name="FNanchor_20_237" id="FNanchor_20_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_237" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>For a proof of Catesby’s immense influence over others, it may be -mentioned that Ambrose Rookwood, one of those whose blood afterwards -stained the scaffold at the early age of twenty-seven for his share in the -wicked scheme, says of Catesby that “he (Rookwood) loved and respected him -as his own life.”<a name="FNanchor_21_238" id="FNanchor_21_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_238" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> - -<p>Four things seem to have caused those who came in contact with Robert -Catesby to have been carried captive at his will, if from the first they -were at all well affected towards him — his personal appearance, his -generosity, his zeal, and his skill in the use of arms.</p> - -<p>We are told that Tesimond (alias Greenway), another contemporary of -Catesby, says that “his -countenance<!--063.png--><span class="pagenum">25</span> -was exceedingly noble and expressive. -That his conversation 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.”<a name="FNanchor_22_239" id="FNanchor_22_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_239" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>His zeal was of that kind which is contagious and kindles responsive fire.</p> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_23_240" id="FNanchor_23_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_240" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--064.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> - -<p>Thomas Winter came of a Worcestershire family. His father, George Winter -(or Wintour), had married Jane Ingleby, the daughter of Sir William -Ingleby, a Yorkshire knight of historic name, whose ancestral seat was -Ripley Castle, near Knaresbrough<a name="FNanchor_24_241" id="FNanchor_24_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_241" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> in Nidderdale, one of the most -romantic valleys of Yorkshire.</p> - -<p>Jane Winter’s brother, Francis Ingleby,<a name="FNanchor_25_243" id="FNanchor_25_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_243" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> a barrister, and afterwards a -Roman 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.</p> - -<p>He was a man of rare parts, and the heroic story of his life and death -must have often thrilled the hearts of his sister’s children.</p> - -<p>Would that they had taken him as their model. For of all those many Roman -Catholic Yorkshiremen<a name="FNanchor_A_16" id="FNanchor_A_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_16" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.<a name="FNanchor_26_244" id="FNanchor_26_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_244" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_16" id="Footnote_A_16"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_16">[A]</a> At least 49 persons, priests and laymen, suffered death in -York alone for the Pope’s religion, between the reigns of Henry VIII. and -Charles II. inclusive. The place of execution was usually the Tyburn, -opposite Knavesmire, near Hob Moor Gate, in the middle of the Tadcaster -High Road. In the reign of Philip and Mary no Protestant was burned to -death in Yorkshire. Archbishop Heath, of York, like Bishop Tunstall, of -Durham, and the great Catholic Jurist, Edmund Plowden, who, for conscience -sake, declined the Chancellorship when offered to him by Elizabeth, did -not think they could “save alive” the soul of a “heretic” by roasting -“dead” his body at the stake. And they were right.</p></div> - -<!--065.png--><p><span class="pagenum">27</span></p> - -<p>Thomas Winter, the ill-fated nephew of him just mentioned, was a -courageous man and an accomplished linguist.</p> - -<p>He had seen military service in Flanders, in behalf of the Estates-General -against Spain, and in France, and possibly against the Turk.</p> - -<p>We are told by 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. Robert Catesby. 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.”<a name="FNanchor_27_245" id="FNanchor_27_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_245" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> He seems to have been unmarried.</p> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby was a tall, handsome, singularly generous, charming -young fellow, and like Ambrose Rookwood, previously mentioned, had won the -loving favour of all who knew him. Digby had two estates in the County of -Rutlandshire (Tilton and Drystoke), 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<a name="FNanchor_A_917" id="FNanchor_A_917"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_917" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> (now Gayhurst) -in the parish of Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, still one of England’s stately homes.<a name="FNanchor_28_246" id="FNanchor_28_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_246" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p>Francis Tresham was married to a Throckmorton, and was connected with many -English families of historic name, high rank, and great fortune.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_917" id="Footnote_A_917"></a><a -class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_917">[A]</a> Gothurst (now Gayhurst), resembles in its style of architecture, The -Treasurer’s House, York, on the North side of the Minster, the town-house -of Frank Green, Esquire. Walter Carlile, Esquire, now resides at Gayhurst.</p></div> - -<!--066.png--><p><span class="pagenum">28</span></p> - -<p>He was a first cousin to Robert Catesby through his mother — a -Throckmorton. Tresham and the Winters were also akin.</p> - -<p>Francis Tresham, like his cousin, Robert Catesby, had been involved in the -Essex rising, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had to pay a ransom of -at least £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 Tower, and afterwards Earl of Suffolk.<a name="FNanchor_29_247" id="FNanchor_29_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_247" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>John Grant was a Warwickshire Squire, who had married Robert and Thomas -Winter’s sister Dorothy. Grant’s home was at Norbrook, near Snitterfield, -a walled and moated mansion-house between the towns of Warwick and -Stratford-on-Avon.<a name="FNanchor_30_248" id="FNanchor_30_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_248" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Grant was a taciturn but accomplished man, who had -been likewise fined for his share in the Essex rising.</p> - -<p>John Wright and Christopher Wright were younger sons of Robert Wright, -Esquire, of Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Welwick, Holderness, in the East -Riding of Yorkshire.</p> - -<p>They were related to the Inglebies of Ripley, through the Mallories of -Studley Royal near Ripon. Hence were they related to Thomas Winter, Robert -Winter, and Dorothy Grant.</p> - -<p>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 Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.</p> - -<p>Through his Roman Catholic mother, Keyes was related to Lady Ursula -Babthorpe, the daughter of Sir William Tyrwhitt<a name="FNanchor_31_249" id="FNanchor_31_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_249" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> of Kettleby, near -Brigg, Lincolnshire, and wife of Sir William Babthorpe, of Babthorpe -and<!--067.png--><span class="pagenum">29</span> -Osgodby, near Selby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire Sir William -Babthorpe was “the very soul of honour,” one of the most valiant-hearted -gentlemen in Yorkshire, and himself, likewise, related to the Mallories, -the Inglebies, the Wrights, and the Winters. His sister was Lady Catherine -Palmes, the wife of Sir George Palmes, of Naburn, near the City of York.</p> - -<p>Ambrose Rookwood, 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.</p> - -<p>His wife was a Tyrwhitt and sister to Lady Ursula Babthorpe. At the time -of the Plot he was twenty-seven years of age.<a name="FNanchor_A_17" id="FNanchor_A_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_17" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_17" id="Footnote_A_17"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_17">[A]</a> Edward Rookwood, of Euston Hall, Suffolk, was cousin to -Ambrose Rookwood. At Euston in 1578 Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously -entertained by Edward Rookwood. — See Hallam’s “<i>Constitutional History</i>,” -and Lodge’s “<i>Illustrations</i>.”</p></div> - -<p>Of the engaging Ambrose Rookwood 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 family, 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.”<a name="FNanchor_32_250" id="FNanchor_32_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_250" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p>Guy Fawkes was also a Yorkshireman, being born in the year 1570, in the -City of York.</p> - -<p>His baptismal register, dated the 16th day of April, 1570, is still to be -seen in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, hard-by the glorious -Minster.</p> - -<!--068.png--><p><span class="pagenum">30</span></p> - -<p>Probably that one of four traditions is true which 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 Transept of the Minster, and at the top of the mediæval street -called Stonegate.<a name="FNanchor_A_18" id="FNanchor_A_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_18" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_18" id="Footnote_A_18"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_18">[A]</a> The house I refer to is occupied by the Governors of St. -Peter’s School (where Fawkes was himself educated), by Mr. T. H. Barron, -and Mr. Matkins. It is still Minster property. It is a brick Elizabethan -house refaced. Fawkes’ grandmother, Mrs. Ellen Fawkes, almost certainly -lived in a house in High Petergate, on the opposite side of the road, -probably. His father may have had a house also at Bishopthorpe. — See -Supplementum I.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 ancient Parish of Farnham, between Knaresbrough and Ripley, -in Nidderdale.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Fawkes was highly intelligent, direct of purpose, simple of heart, -well-read, and, as a soldier of fortune in the Netherlands, not only -“skilful in the 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.</p> - -<!--069.png--><p><span class="pagenum">31</span></p> - -<p>Fawkes held a post of command in the Spanish Army when Spain took Calais -in 1596, and gave promise of becoming, like his friend and patron, Sir -William Stanley, an ideal “happy warrior,” and one of England’s greatest -generals.<a name="FNanchor_A_19" id="FNanchor_A_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_19" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_19" id="Footnote_A_19"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_19">[A]</a> It is interesting and instructive to compare the Forty Years’ -War between Spain and the Netherlands 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 commencement of the struggle. -It arose out of a chafing under the sovereignty of Spain, and a dispute -about tenths. In fact, many Catholics fought against Philip II. in this -war at the beginning. -</p> - -<p> -I visited Scotton for the first time on the day set apart in York as a -general holiday for the Relief of Mafeking (19th May, 1900).</p></div> - -<p>It is said by an old writer, “Winter and Fawxe are men of excellent good -natural parts, very resolute and universally learned.”<a name="FNanchor_33_251" id="FNanchor_33_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_251" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> 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.</p> - -<p>Guy Fawkes was a son of destiny, a product of his environment, a creature -of circumstances — always saving his free-will and moral responsibility.</p> - -<p>But, dying, he must have remembered his dear York and sweet Scotton.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--070.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> - -<p>Let us deal with the inferences from the Evidence, and ascertain to what -further suggestions those inferences give rise.</p> - -<p>Now, among the first things that must strike the reader of the list of -actors in the Gunpowder tragedy is the large 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 Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. While -five of the other intending perpetrators of an action which, if -consummated, would have indeed “damned them to everlasting fame,” -indirectly had relations with it.</p> - -<p>Nay, more; of the four members of the clerical profession whom the -Government sought to charge with complicity in this nefarious designment, -namely: Fathers Garnet, Tesimond, Gerard, and (subsequently) Oldcorne — two -out of the four, Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne, were likewise -Yorkshiremen.<a name="FNanchor_A_20" id="FNanchor_A_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_20" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_20" id="Footnote_A_20"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_20">[A]</a> The late Bishop Creighton, in his fine illustrated work -entitled, “<i>The Story of some English Shires</i>” (Religious Tract Society), -says: — “Yorkshire is the largest of the English shires, and its size -corresponds to its ancient greatness.”</p></div> - -<p>Edward Oldcorne was certainly a native of the City of York, and it is very -likely indeed that Oswald Tesimond was a native also.<a name="FNanchor_34_253" id="FNanchor_34_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_253" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<!--071.png--><p><span class="pagenum">33</span></p> - -<p>Moreover, Oswald Tesimond, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy Fawkes -were all educated at the Royal 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 Bootham 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_21" id="FNanchor_A_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_21" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_21" id="Footnote_A_21"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_21">[A]</a> Lord Strafford, the representative of Charles I. in Ireland, -was in after years Lord President of the North. In his day the King’s -Manor was known as the Palace of the Stuart 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 Yorkshireman, 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 -Wilberforce’s direct heir, William Basil Wilberforce, Esquire, resides at -Markington Hall, near Ripon. -</p> - -<p> -The Earl of Huntingdon was a scion of the House of York, and had Elizabeth -become reconciled to the Church of Rome the Puritans would have probably -rallied round Lord Huntingdon as their King. The Honourable Walter -Hastings, the Earl’s brother, was a Roman Catholic. They were, of course, -akin to Queen Elizabeth, and were descended from the “Blessed” Margaret -Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury.</p></div> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_35_254" id="FNanchor_35_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_254" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p>Before going to Rheims and Rome Edward Oldcorne had studied medicine.</p> - -<p>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<!--072.png--><span class="pagenum">34</span> -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.</p> - -<p>For the passion — the concentrated, suppressed, yet volcanic passion — that -had purposed so awful a catastrophe was deep as hell and high as heaven.</p> - -<p>And well might it be, regard being had to the indisputable facts of -English History from the year 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.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--073.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> - -<p>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 conspirators had taken: a -conspirator 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 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.</p> - -<p>Still more likely would be a conspirator who, fulfilling the description -just mentioned, adds to that the following, namely — that he possessed an -entirely trustworthy friend who would act as penman of any document he -might wish to use as a means of communicating a secret yet warning note to -a representative of the intended victims.</p> - -<p>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 “<i>interpres</i>” — a -go-between — to drive home the -full<!--074.png--><span class="pagenum">36</span> -intended effect of the document penned -by the hand of the first; and this with the express knowledge and consent -of that first.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Regard 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, yet -strong as iron,” which were the outcome of kinship, friendship, or -business (in a superlatively wide sense), possibly of all three.</p> - -<p>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 -<i>Christopher Wright</i> was the conspirator who revealed the Plot, and that -his worthy aiders and honourable abettors were, first, <i>Thomas Ward</i>, the -gentleman-servant (and almost certainly kinsman) of Lord Mounteagle -himself, <i>amicus secundum carnem</i>; and, secondly, <i>Edward Oldcorne</i>, -Priest and Jesuit, <i>amicus secundum spiritum: — friends according to the -flesh and to the spirit respectively</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--075.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> - -<p>Let us proceed to support these statements with Evidence and with -Argument.</p> - -<p>(1) Now was Christopher Wright a subordinate conspirator, introduced late -into the conspiracy? It is plain that he was, from “<i>Thomas Winter’s -Confession</i>,” 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.”</p> - -<p>Again, in the published “<i>Confession</i>” of Guy Fawkes (17th November, -1605), Fawkes says, that a practice “in general was first broken unto me -against his majestie, for releife of the Catholique cause, and not -invented or propounded by myself. And this was first propounded unto me -about Easter last was twelve-month,<a name="FNanchor_36_255" id="FNanchor_36_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_255" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> beyond the seas, in the Low -Countries of the Archdukes’ obeyance by Thomas Wynter.”</p> - -<p>Fawkes says, in his “<i>Confession</i>” further on: “Thomas Percy hired a howse -at Westminster ... neare adjoyning the Parlt. howse, and there wee beganne -to make a myne about the XI. of December, 1604. -The<!--076.png--><span class="pagenum">38</span> -Fyve that entered -into the woorck were Thomas Percye, Robert Catesby, Thomas Wynter, John -Wright, and myself, and soon after<a name="FNanchor_37_256" id="FNanchor_37_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_256" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> we tooke another unto us, -Christopher Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the sacrament for -secrecie.”<a name="FNanchor_38_257" id="FNanchor_38_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_257" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>Therefore Christopher Wright must have become a confederate about ten -months after Fawkes himself and the other prime movers in the nefarious -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.</p> - -<p>(2) Now, was Christopher Wright a conspirator 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 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?</p> - -<p>If a man’s character may be presumptively known by his friends, still more -may it be presumptively known by his progenitors; and in the light of this -principle I therefore answer the foregoing question emphatically in the -affirmative.</p> - -<p>But what was the form of the oath taken by all these conspirators save -one, namely, Sir Everard Digby, who was <i>specially</i> “sworn in” on the hilt -of a poniard?</p> - -<p>It was this: — “You shall swear by the Blessed Trinity and by the Sacrament -you now propose to -receive,<!--077.png--><span class="pagenum">39</span> -never to disclose, directly 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.”</p> - -<p>This oath was administered to the conspirators by each other in the most -solemn manner — “kneeling down upon their knees with their hands laid upon -a primer.”<a name="FNanchor_39_258" id="FNanchor_39_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_258" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> - -<p>Immediately after the oath had been taken,<a name="FNanchor_40_259" id="FNanchor_40_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_259" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> we are told, Catesby -explained to Percy, and Winter and John Wright to Fawkes, that the project -intended was to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder when the King -went to the House of Lords.<a name="FNanchor_41_260" id="FNanchor_41_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_260" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> This would include the Queen, the Commons, -Ambassadors, and spectators who would be present during the King’s Speech.</p> - -<p>From Fawkes’ “<i>Confession</i>,” 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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--078.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> - -<p>Who and what then, with more particularity, was Christopher Wright?</p> - -<p>He was the third son of Robert Wright and Ursula his wife, who was the -daughter of Nicholas Rudston, Esquire (of the Rudstons, Lords of -Hayton,<a name="FNanchor_A_22" id="FNanchor_A_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_22" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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 William Mallory, of Studley Royal, near Ripon.<a name="FNanchor_42_261" id="FNanchor_42_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_261" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_22" id="Footnote_A_22"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_22">[A]</a> It is gratifying to the historic feeling to know that the -Manor of Hayton is still owned by a member of this ancient family, the -present possessor being T. W. Calverley-Rudston, Esquire, J.P., of -Allerthorpe Hall, Pocklington.</p></div> - -<p>Christopher Wright was born about the year 1570, the year after the Rising -of the North<a name="FNanchor_43_262" id="FNanchor_43_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_262" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> under “the Blessed” Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland, -and Charles Neville Earl of Westmoreland, in which movement many of -Christopher Wright’s mother’s relatives and connections (notably “old -Richard Norton,” his sons, and the Markenfields) were implicated.<a name="FNanchor_44_263" id="FNanchor_44_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_263" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<p>Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, was -doubtless 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<!--079.png--><span class="pagenum">41</span> -Patrington and the pretty village of -Welwick. When Robert 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 Ripon, the ancestral seat of the Markenfields, -heroes of Flodden and kinsmen of the Wrights, Wards, Nortons, Mallories, -and numberless others amongst the ancient and wealthy Yorkshire gentry.</p> - -<p>Christopher Wright and his elder brother John were educated, along with -Guy Fawkes and Oswald Tesimond, at the Royal Grammar School (as we have -already stated) in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, in the City of York.</p> - -<p>Their master was the Reverend John Pulleyn, who probably belonged to the -ancient and honourable West Riding family of the Pulleyns (or Pulleines), -of Killinghall, near Bilton-cum-Harrogate, and of Scotton, in the Parish -of Farnham, near Knaresbrough.</p> - -<p>The two Wrights’ parents were stanch Roman 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 President of the North, <i>i.e.</i>, 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.)</p> - -<p>One of Christopher Wright’s sisters, Ursula, was married to Marmaduke -Ward, Gentleman, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon; another, named -Martha, was married to Thomas Percy, Gentleman, the Gunpowder conspirator.</p> - -<!--080.png--><p><span class="pagenum">42</span></p> - -<p>It is said of John Wright, Christopher Wright’s brother, and of his -brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, that they were formerly Protestant, and -became Catholic about the time of the rebellion of the Earl of Essex. But -it is certain John Wright and Thomas Percy<a name="FNanchor_45_265" id="FNanchor_45_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_265" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> must have been both brought -up Roman Catholics in the days of their childhood; although they probably -ceased to practise their duties as such until about the year 1600. For it -is incredible that the son and son-in-law of Robert Wright 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.</p> - -<p>From the account of the Gunpowder conspirators given by Father John -Gerard, the friend 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,<a name="FNanchor_A_23" id="FNanchor_A_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_23" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> fatter in -the<!--081.png--><span class="pagenum">43</span> -face and of a -lighter-coloured hair. “Yet,” says Gerard, “was he very like to the other -in conditions and qualities and both 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.”<a name="FNanchor_46_266" id="FNanchor_46_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_266" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_23" id="Footnote_A_23"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_23">[A]</a> It is, however, possible that John Wright may have come under -the influence of the Blessed William Hart (styled the Apostle of York and -the second Campion), a priest who suffered death at the York Tyburn in -1583. Because Hart was indicted for (amongst other things) “reconciling” a -“Mr. John Wright and one Cooling.” — See Challoner’s “<i>Missionary -Priests</i>.” If so, John Wright would then be about fourteen years of age. -It, however, may have been another John Wright; perhaps of Grantley and -one of the brothers of Robert Wright, the father of John Wright, the -conspirator. Cooling was probably Ralph Cowling, of York, a shoemaker, the -father of Father Richard 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. Ralph 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.</p></div> - -<p>Christopher Wright was married. His wife’s name, we know, was -Margaret.<a name="FNanchor_A_24" id="FNanchor_A_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_24" class="fnanchor">[A]</a><a name="FNanchor_47_267" id="FNanchor_47_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_267" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> I strongly suspect that Mrs. Christopher Wright was a -sister of both Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish -of Ripon; yet of this there is only, perhaps, slight evidence, so that no -positive argument can be grounded upon it, <i>considered by itself</i>; though -the evidence of Mistress Robinson, Christopher Wright’s landlady in -London, indirectly tends to confirm such a suspicion. — See Evidence of -Dorathie Robinson, <i>postea</i>, where she says that Wright had “a brother” in -London.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_24" id="Footnote_A_24"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_24">[A]</a> See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 89.</p></div> - -<p>When Guy Fawkes was examined in the Tower of London, in the forenoon of -the 6th of November, he said, in answer to a question — “You would have me -discover my friends; the giving warning to one overthrew us all.”</p> - -<p>Now, if Guy Fawkes eventually revealed the conspiracy by reason of the -agony caused by the <i>physical</i> 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 <i>moral</i> pains of a pricking conscience, -goading him to madness for having committed <i>in act</i> (in the case of the -unlawful oath), <i>in desire</i> -(in<!--082.png--><span class="pagenum">44</span> -the case of the intended murder) most -horrible crimes against the offended Majesty of Heaven?</p> - -<p>I think not.</p> - -<p><i>Therefore</i> I conclude that it is antecedently probable that in the heart -of Christopher Wright, emotions, not only of compassion but also of -compunction, <i>were</i> 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 diabolical designment known to History as the -Gunpowder Treason Plot.</p> - -<p>Had Christopher Wright any entirely trustworthy friend, one who not only -would prove a healing minister to a mind diseased with the leprosy of -crime, but also be an able and ready helper for giving effect to an all -but too late repentance? Was there anyone to whom he could have recourse, -who was at once wise of head, sympathetic of heart, and skilful of hand?</p> - -<p>There was.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--083.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> - -<p>For at Hindlip Hall, near the City of Worcester, there had dwelt for the -past sixteen years one who was not only the trusted spiritual guide of -Thomas Abington, Esquire, and the Honourable Mary (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.</p> - -<p>This was Edward Oldcorne, a Priest and a Jesuit.</p> - -<p>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 -Rome in 1582, aged twenty-one, for the higher studies. He was most -probably at the Royal School in the Horse Fayre, in York, and he may have -been there at the same time as Oswald Tesimond,<a name="FNanchor_48_268" id="FNanchor_48_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_268" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> John Wright,<a name="FNanchor_49_269" id="FNanchor_49_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_269" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> -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 -<i>and</i> Politicians. His equipoise of mind shows him to have been a very -great man — indeed, on account of -his<!--084.png--><span class="pagenum">46</span> -combination of mental gifts and -graces, I think the greatest, in reality, of <i>all</i> the early English -Jesuits. For “he saw life steadily and saw it whole.”<a name="FNanchor_A_25" id="FNanchor_A_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_25" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_25" id="Footnote_A_25"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_25">[A]</a> Matthew Arnold.</p></div> - -<p>“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.”<a name="FNanchor_50_270" id="FNanchor_50_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_270" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Again, a MS. Memoir<a name="FNanchor_51_271" id="FNanchor_51_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_271" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> 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.”<a name="FNanchor_52_272" -id="FNanchor_52_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_272" class="fnanchor">[52]</a><a name="FNanchor_B_26" id="FNanchor_B_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_26" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_26" id="Footnote_B_26"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_26">[B]</a> See Supplementum II.</p></div> - -<p>Now, Father Oldcorne was the spiritual adviser of Robert 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<a name="FNanchor_53_273" id="FNanchor_53_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_273" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> in the country thereabouts who -flocked to him for conference and to have his exhortations.<a name="FNanchor_54_274" id="FNanchor_54_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_274" class="fnanchor">[54]</a><a name="FNanchor_C_27" id="FNanchor_C_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_27" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_27" id="Footnote_C_27"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_27">[C]</a> Evidence of the practical side of Oldcorne’s mind is -furnished by the fact that we are told he often begged leave in Rome 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 through 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 Gerard’s -“<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 272.</p></div> - -<!--085.png--><p><span class="pagenum">47</span></p> - -<p>Again, Christopher Wright appears to have been especially friendly with -two other conspirators, namely, Thomas Winter and Ambrose Rookwood. And it -is worthy of notice that Huddington Hall, in Worcestershire, the seat of -Robert Winter (of which place Thomas Winter is also described), and -Clopton Hall, in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon (whither Ambrose -Rookwood removed soon after Michaelmas, 1605), were easily accessible 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_28" id="FNanchor_A_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_28" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_28" id="Footnote_A_28"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_28">[A]</a> The site of Shakespeare’s new residence, which he built and -called New Place, at Stratford-on-Avon, had belonged to the Clopton -family. -</p> - -<p> -Clopton 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 Rookwood repaired for -temporary residence soon after Michaelmas, 1605, was by road twenty-three -miles from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne resided. -</p> - -<p> -Ambrose Rookwood and Christopher Wright were particular friends. Rookwood -was a man of very tender conscience, which, however, unhappily failed him -at the most crucial moment of his life, namely, when he 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.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--086.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> - -<p>Let us now examine the Letter itself.</p> - -<p>The first thing to be noted is that no reprint that I have seen of the -famous Letter, whether in ancient or modern continuous Relations 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.<a name="FNanchor_55_275" id="FNanchor_55_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_275" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> But, this notwithstanding, it can be still detected in the -original document, happily, even to this day, to be seen in the Record -Office, London.</p> - -<p>Now the fact that this word “yowe” is crossed out in this mysterious -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<a name="FNanchor_56_276" id="FNanchor_56_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_276" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe,” makes 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.</p> - -<p>Again, the meaning of the words “for the danger is passed as soon as yowe -have burnt the letter,” is in one sense fairly clear. For as Wilson says, -in his “<i>Life of James I.</i>” (1653), p. 30, “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.”<a name="FNanchor_57_277" id="FNanchor_57_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_277" -class="fnanchor">[57]</a><!--087.png--><span class="pagenum">49</span></p> - -<p>This must be the, at least, <i>ostensible</i> meaning. For it is obvious that -neither Wright nor Oldcorne (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) would, for different but most -potent reasons, wish the penman of the Letter to be known to the then -public, either Catholic or Protestant.</p> - -<p>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 compassing 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.<a name="FNanchor_58_278" id="FNanchor_58_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_278" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> - -<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_A_29" id="FNanchor_A_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_29" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> For it is a -fact of human nature that every man seeks to instruct his conscience by -some objective rule -or<!--088.png--><span class="pagenum">50</span> -standard of Truth and Right; but that instincts -and emotions oftentimes finally rule men rather than reason and -argumentative proof.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_29" id="Footnote_A_29"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_29">[A]</a> The English 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 were -compelled to pay £20 per lunar month. Many of the English nobility, -gentry, and yeomanry were 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; -individual Protestants often sought to mitigate the miseries of their -fellow-countrymen from whom they differed in religion. Being reconciled to -the See of Rome was death, and to be a popish priest was by the terrible -Statute 27 Eliz. to be “a traitor” and to be liable to be hanged, cut down -alive, bowelled, and quartered. To say Mass was to be liable to a fine of -200 marks <i>and</i> imprisonment for life (a mark was 13s. 4d.). To hear Mass -was to be liable to a fine of 100 marks <i>and</i> imprisonment for life. To -harbour a priest was death and forfeiture of property.</p></div> - -<p>It was, furthermore, incumbent upon Oldcorne to recollect that more harm -than good is frequently occasioned 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.</p> - -<p>To illustrate my propositions: It is worth while remembering that even so -lofty a soul as Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood 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.</p> - -<p>No doubt special allowances have to be made for this poor woman, inasmuch -as her husband and children were all the world to her. But still the -following recorded statement proves that the <i>tendency</i> was for even the -best of the average English Catholics of that day, of whom Mrs. Rookwood -is a fair type and specimen, to centre their sympathies on the wrong-doers -rather than on the wronged.</p> - -<p>This was natural enough; for man’s disposition is to be led by his -unconscious instincts and -emotional<!--089.png--><span class="pagenum">51</span> -sympathies rather than by drawn-out -reason and cool argument, as has been mentioned above.</p> - -<p>It was the bounden duty of Oldcorne to hold that disposition strictly in -check and to keep himself absolutely master of the tendency. But, on this -being assured, he was bound likewise to remember that the tendency -existed, and that he lived in a world not of angels, nor of machines, but -of <i>men</i> — of men indeed who were not totally depraved, nor utterly -corrupt, yet who were sorely wounded and weakened in intellect, heart, and -will.</p> - -<p>The crying want of the present day — as of Oldcorne’s day — is not only for -men but for men who are statesmen. And no man can be a statesman unless he -has a wide and profound knowledge of human nature, and who, while he -pities human nature and loves it, never makes the mistake of expecting too -much from it. In other words, we require men who are humanists and -humorists, as I cannot but think was the character of Edward Oldcorne.</p> - -<p>Now, no man in England knew better nor recognised more fully (for he knew -the virtually omnipotent transforming power of the precedent conditions of -person, time, and circumstance) the truth of the propositions I have just -enunciated than did Father Oldcorne. But this notwithstanding, I hold it -was <i>not</i> the truth of the foregoing propositions <span class="smcapac">ALONE</span> — indisputable -doubtless as he regarded them — that finally controlled the motives that -ruled the action — in substance and in form — at the most critical moment of -the existence of this acute, disciplined, high-minded Yorkshireman, when -by Fate he was called upon to contemplate, <i>after the fateful November the -Fifth</i>, the bloody, prodigious Gunpowder Plot, and the mighty feat which -Destiny had imposed upon him for helping to spin the same right round on -its axis, even though well-nigh at the eleventh hour.<a name="FNanchor_59_279" id="FNanchor_59_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_279" -class="fnanchor">[59]</a><!--090.png--><span class="pagenum">52</span></p> - -<p>What finally controlled the motives, the positive <i>not</i> negative motives, -that ruled that beneficent and never-to-be-forgotten action of this -Yorkshire Priest and Jesuit in that supreme moment — the Plot having then -become, through his instrumentality, as a mere bubble-burst — will be -discovered in due course of this Inquiry.</p> - -<p>The remark of Mrs. Rookwood to which I have referred is given in Gerard’s -“<i>Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 219. Thomas Winter, Rookwood, -Keyes, and Fawkes were drawn on their hurdles from the Tower to the Yard -of the old Palace of Westminster over against the Parliament House.</p> - -<p>“As they were drawn upon the Strand, Mr. Rookwood had provided that he -should be admonished when he came over against the lodging where his wife -lay: and being come unto the place, he opened his eyes (which before he -kept shut to attend better to his prayers), and seeing her stand in a -window to see him pass by, he raised himself as well as he could up from -the hurdle, and said aloud unto her: ‘Pray for me, pray for me,’ She -answered him also aloud: ‘I will; and be of good courage and offer thyself -wholly to God. I for my part do as freely restore thee to God as he gave -thee to me,’”</p> - -<p>This was Friday, the 31st day of January, 1605-6.</p> - -<p>On the previous day in St. Paul’s Churchyard had been likewise hanged, cut -down alive, drawn, and quartered, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John -Grant, and Thomas Bates.</p> - -<p>Catesby, John Wright, and Christopher Wright had been slain at Holbeach on -the 8th of November previously.</p> - -<p>Thomas Percy died of wounds there received the next day.</p> - -<!--091.png--><p><span class="pagenum">53</span></p> - -<p>Father Tesimond had proceeded to Huddington, doubtless mainly in the hope, -let us trust, of stirring up in the hearts of these desperate creatures -sorrow — that great natural sacrament — for their awful crimes that, not in -vain, had cried to Heaven for vengeance! For truly the guilty suffer and -the blood-guilty man shall not live out half his days.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--092.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> - -<p>Now there is a sentence in the Letter whose wording is peculiar, but -which, I submit, is pre-eminently a wording likely to be used by two -natives of Yorkshire.</p> - -<p>I mean the sentence, “I would aduyse yowe as yowe <i>tender</i> your lyf to -deuys some excuse to <i>shift off</i> youer attendance at this parleament,” -meaning thereby, “I would advise you as you <i>have a care</i> for your life to -devise some excuse to <i>put off</i><a name="FNanchor_60_280" id="FNanchor_60_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_280" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> your attendance at this parliament.”</p> - -<p>Once more, a comparison of the Letter sent to Lord Mounteagle with a -Declaration not only signed by Father Oldcorne but entirely in his -handwriting, dated the 12th of March, 1605-6,<a name="FNanchor_61_281" id="FNanchor_61_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_281" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> reveals this remarkable -fact that there is, first, a general similarity between the penmanship of -both documents; and, secondly, there is a particular similarity in the -case of the following letters: — the small c/s, l/s, i/s, b/s, w/s, r/s, -long s/s (as initials), and short s/s (as terminals); also the m/s and n/s -are not inconsistent with being written by one and the same hand. The -handwriting in the Letter is, for the most part, not in round hand, but in -roman character. The letters do not all lean at the same angle to the -horizontal. Evidently the writer had endeavoured “painfully” to disguise -his handwriting, but conscientious carefulness and a disciplined will -emphatically characterise both documents.<a name="FNanchor_62_282" id="FNanchor_62_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_282" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> See Appendix.</p> - -<p>Now Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was, I -maintain, the intermediary — the diplomatic intermediary — through whom -Christopher<!--093.png--><span class="pagenum">55</span> -Wright (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) acted in communication with -Mounteagle. And this, with the express knowledge and consent of Father -Edward Oldcorne, who was, almost certainly, well acquainted with Thomas -Ward.<a name="FNanchor_63_283" id="FNanchor_63_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_283" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> - -<p>In short, the revelation was a curvilinear triangular movement.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--094.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> - -<p>Mounteagle, we are told, knew there was a Letter to be sent to him before -it came.<a name="FNanchor_64_284" id="FNanchor_64_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_284" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p>Lingard says the conspirators suspected that Tresham had sent the Letter, -and that there was a “secret understanding between him and Lord -Mounteagle,<a name="FNanchor_A_30" id="FNanchor_A_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_30" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> <i>or at least the gentleman who was employed to read the -Letter at the table</i>.” (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_30" id="Footnote_A_30"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_30">[A]</a> It is to be recollected that the conspirators themselves -suspected that there was a secret understanding, at least between the -gentleman-servant of Mounteagle and Tresham, whom they thought was the -revealing conspirator. — See Greenway’s MS., quoted by Lingard.</p></div> - -<p>In a letter dated 19th November, 1605, of a certain Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmondes, the King’s Ambassador at Brussels, after giving an -account of the discovery of the Plot, Hoby says: — “Such as are apt to -interpret all things to the worst will not believe other but that -Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing the -discovery already of the letter, the rather that one Thomas Ward, a -principal man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the conspiracy.”</p> - -<p>Now there is evidence which creates a moral certainty that Christopher -Wright and a certain Thomas Ward (or Warde, for the name was spelt either -way at that time) were closely allied by virtue of at least one marriage -(if not indeed more than one) subsisting between certain (virtually -undoubted) relatives of theirs then living.</p> - -<!--095.png--><p><span class="pagenum">57</span></p> - -<p>Christopher Wright’s sister, Ursula, was (as has been already mentioned) -the wife of one Marmaduke Ward (or Warde), of Mulwith, in the Parish of -Ripon, in the County of York.</p> - -<p>A lady of high family named Winefrid Wigmore, the daughter of Sir William -Wigmore, of Lucton, in the County of Herefordshire, says, in her “<i>Life of -Mary Ward</i>,” the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula, his wife: -“Mary Ward was the eldest daughter of Mr. Marmaduke Ward, of Givendale, in -the County of York. Mulwith and Newby were Manor-houses of his.”<a name="FNanchor_65_285" id="FNanchor_65_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_285" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p>Now in the Parish Register, which was published in the year 1899, -belonging to the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York, is -to be found the following remarkable entry: “<i>Weddinges 1579. — Thomas -Warde of Mulwaith in the p’ishe of Rippon, and M’rgery Slater, S’vant to -Mr. Cotterell, maried xxixth day of May.</i>”<a name="FNanchor_66_286" id="FNanchor_66_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_286" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> - -<p>But for only eleven years (lacking nine days) were Thomas Warde and -Margery his wife destined to be united in the bonds of wedlock. For the -Register of Ripon Minster records “<i>the burial</i>,” under date “<i>May the -20th, 1590, of Marjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwaith</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_67_287" id="FNanchor_67_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_287" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> - -<p>They do not seem to have been blessed with offspring. At any rate there -are no names of any children of these two spouses entered in the Register -of Christenings still kept at Ripon Minster. Although, of course, there -may have been such baptized at home<a name="FNanchor_A_31" id="FNanchor_A_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_31" -class="fnanchor">[A]</a><!--096.png--><span class="pagenum">58</span> -“secretly,” or even at some other -church than at the chapel of the Skelton Chapelry, or than in Ripon -Minster, the mother church of the great Parish of Ripon.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_31" id="Footnote_A_31"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_31">[A]</a> But see Supplementum III. <i>postea</i>, and the evidence there -given; evidence which is also interesting as showing how, at any rate -sometimes, “the oracle was worked,” with reference to that curious -historical problem, the apparent baptism of the children of papists by the -minister of the parish church. In Ireland, I have been told, at one time -the authorities of the then establishment accepted the mere “allegation” -that certain rites had been complied with by the popish clergy. -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Elzé is grossly wrong in arguing that <i>because</i> Shakespeare’s name is -found in the Register of Christenings in the parish church of -Stratford-on-Avon, <i>therefore</i> Shakespeare’s father was a Protestant. Such -a conclusion founded on such proof is simply ludicrous. — See Elzé’s “<i>Life -of Shakespeare</i>” (Bell & Sons), p. 457. One really is disposed to distrust -many of the <i>conclusions</i> of “German learning” when Elzé argues like this. -To my mind, much of “the critical” work (so called in a certain -department) may be hereafter found to be full of flaws from building on -too <i>narrow a foundation</i> of evidence. How little man can know of the Past -which affords him evidence to hang even a dog on with absolute, as -distinct from moral, certitude! (I wish especially not to be thought to -imply any disrespect towards the great German people, whose love for him -who is for all nations and all time fills me with the profoundest -admiration. But Truth is no respecter of persons when it detects errors, -or the probabilities of errors, on the part of such as should be “masters -of those that know.”) -</p> - -<p> -For even the Rigmaydens, of Woodacre Hall, Garstang (harbourers of Campion -in 1581), in the most Catholic part of Lancashire, <i>apparently</i> had at -least some of their children baptised at the parish church. — See Colonel -Fishwick’s “<i>Parish of Garstang</i>” (Chetham Soc.)</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--097.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> - -<p>Now we know that Marmaduke Warde was of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the year -1585. For the “<i>Life</i>” of his daughter Mary expressly states that she was -born at Mulwith in that year. And if <i>a</i> Thomas Warde was of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith) only six years prior to 1585, and again of Mulwith in 1590, when -he lost his wife, the inevitable inference is that the said Marmaduke -Warde and the said Thomas Warde belonged to one and the same family, and -that, in all probability, they were akin to each other as brothers.<a name="FNanchor_68_288" id="FNanchor_68_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_288" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>Again, the Register of Ripon Minster records on the 6th day of October, -1589, the baptism of Edward,<a name="FNanchor_A_32" id="FNanchor_A_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_32" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> the son of a certain Christopher Wright, -of Bondgate, Ripon.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_32" id="Footnote_A_32"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_32">[A]</a> If this Edward Wright is the same as a certain Prebendary -Edward Wright, of Ripon Minster, who received his nomination from King -James I. on the 26th of March, 1613, then at least one cousin of Mary Ward -must have conformed to the Established Church. — See “<i>Memorials of -Ripon</i>,” in 3 vols. (Surtees Society.) -</p> - -<p> -He would be about 23 years of age when the royal favour was thus -vouchsafed to him. -</p> - -<p> -An Edward Wright was Mayor of Ripon in the year 1635. — Gent’s -“<i>Ripon</i>.” — Probably the son of Prebendary Edward Wright. -</p> - -<p> -Another cousin of Mary Warde, I find, had likewise conformed — a Dr. Warde, -the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He belonged, I think, to -the Wardes, of Durham, descended from a brother of Sir Christopher Ward.</p></div> - -<p>On the 23rd day of July, 1594, of Eliza, daughter of Christopher Wright, -of Newbie.<a name="FNanchor_69_290" id="FNanchor_69_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_290" -class="fnanchor">[69]</a><!--098.png--><span class="pagenum">60</span></p> - -<p>The baptism on the 12th day of July, 1596, of Francis, son of Christopher -Wright, of Newbie.</p> - -<p>And furthermore, on the 3rd day of February, 1601, the baptism of -Marmaduke, the son of Christopher Wright, of Skelton.</p> - -<p>Now, when we recollect that <i>a</i> Marmaduke Warde was certainly -brother-in-law to <i>a</i> Christopher Wright; and when we recollect that we -have proof that <i>a</i> Thomas Warde and <i>a</i> Marmaduke Warde were, -respectively, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the Parish of Ripon, and that -<i>a</i> Christopher Wright was of Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton, all likewise -in the Parish of Ripon; and when we further recollect that these three -gentlemen were of these several places in the closing decades of the years -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, only one conclusion is forced upon the -mind of even the most sceptical, namely, that the said three gentlemen -must have known, and been known to, one another personally, without the -shadow of any reasonable doubt.</p> - -<p>And again; that between those years, 1589 and 1590 inclusive, the said -<i>Thomas Warde</i> and the said <i>Christopher Wright</i> had known each other -intimately, by meeting within the bounds of the Parish of Ripon, — nay even -within the chapelry of Skelton — is surely one of the likeliest things in -the world.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, it is possible that the Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith), was in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth in the -Netherlands, along with Queen Elizabeth’s well-known diplomatist and -Treasurer of the Chamber, Sir Thomas Heneage, the step-father of Lord -Southampton, Lord Mounteagle’s friend, as well as Shakespeare’s patron.</p> - -<p>For I find that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter dated from -“the Court,” the 24th of -March,<!--099.png--><span class="pagenum">61</span> -1585 — six years <i>after</i> the marriage of -Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory Slater, and five years <i>before</i> her -lamented death — that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter to the -Earl of Leicester, “Lord Lieutenant-General of Her Majesty’s Forces in the -Low Countries,” speaks of <i>a</i> “Mr. Warde.”<a name="FNanchor_A_33" id="FNanchor_A_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_33" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_33" id="Footnote_A_33"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_33">[A]</a> See the “<i>Leicester Correspondence</i>” (Camden Soc.), p. 187.</p></div> - -<p>Now we know for certain from Winwood’s Memorials<a name="FNanchor_B_34" id="FNanchor_B_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_34" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> that a Mr. Walter -Hawkesworth, of the Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth Hall, in the Parish of -Otley, in the County of York, was in the diplomatic service of King James -I., and that, according to Foster’s “<i>Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families</i>” he -was poisoned at Madrid when on an embassy there.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_34" id="Footnote_B_34"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_34">[B]</a> See also Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers. Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.</p></div> - -<p>Hence, is it quite within the bounds of possibility that his remote -kinsman, Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, may have been in the diplomatic service -of Queen Elizabeth. The Hawkesworths and the Wardes had, in days long gone -by, twice formed alliances by marriage, so that the families were -distantly akin. Indeed it was from Sir Simon Warde, of Esholt, in the -Parish of Otley, and of Givendale, in the Parish of Ripon, that the -Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth had by marriage alliance gained the -Hawkesworth Estate. — See Foster’s “<i>Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families</i>.”</p> - -<p>But is there any evidence that links Thomas Ward (or Warde), of Mulwaith -(or Mulwith), and the Ward (or Warde) family in general, of Givendale, -Newby and Mulwith, with the Lord Mounteagle?<a name="FNanchor_C_35" id="FNanchor_C_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_35" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_35" id="Footnote_C_35"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_35">[C]</a> It will be seen as this narrative further unfolds itself that -it is almost certain that Thomas Warde (or Ward) was in the service of the -Government as a Catholic diplomat under Walsingham. And, moreover, it will -appear probable that the servant Warde (or Ward) “had as much, off” as the -master Walsingham.</p></div> - -<!--100.png--><p><span class="pagenum">62</span></p> - -<p>And, first of all, is there any evidence to show that Marmaduke Ward ever -had a brother in London, who lived at Court?</p> - -<p>There is.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--101.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> - -<p>For in Foley’s “<i>Records</i>”<a name="FNanchor_70_291" id="FNanchor_70_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_291" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> we are told that Father George Ward, alias -Ingleby, was a son of Marmaduke Ward, Esquire, of Newby, near Ripon, by -his wife Ursula Wright.<a name="FNanchor_A_36" id="FNanchor_A_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_36" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> And in a note at the foot of the self-same -page, it is stated that William Ward entered the -English<!--102.png--><span class="pagenum">64</span> -College at Rome -in the name William Ingleby vere Ward, 4th October, 1614, at the age of -twenty-three; that the family was of distinction in the county, <i>and his -uncle lived at Court</i>. (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_36" id="Footnote_A_36"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_36">[A]</a> I am, however, inclined to think that Ursula Ward died early -in the year 1588, after the birth of her son, probably George, and that -the Elizabeth Ward, who is mentioned in Peacock’s “<i>List of Roman -Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604</i>” as the wife of a Marmaduke Ward, of the -Parish of Ripon, was the mother of Elizabeth Ward, Teresa (or Ann) Ward, -William Ward, and Thomas Ward. Indeed, the mother of all Mary Warde’s -father’s children, except Mary herself, Barbara, John, and George. -</p> - -<p> -I think, moreover, that Elizabeth Ward was a Sympson, probably of Great -Edston, near Kirbymoorside, Rydale, in the North Riding of the County of -York. The Sympsons, of Edston, had a daughter Elizabeth at this time. — See -Foster’s Ed. of “<i>Glover’s Visitation</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -In the Ripon Minster Registers there is certainly the entry under date -15th May, 1588, of a wedding between a “Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth -Sympson.” Now Mary Warde, the eldest child of Ursula Warde, was born the -23rd day of January, 1585-86, and Barbara in the year 1586; so that if -Ursula Warde died in the year 1588 (at the early part) after giving birth -to George Warde, Marmaduke Warde might be conceivably married again in -May, 1588. Sir Thomas More’s case would afford a precedent for so early a -second marriage. The marriage of Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth Sympson may -have taken place at Ripon from the house of friends, in the presence of -some semi-popish conforming Vicar. Winefrid Wigmore styles George Ward -Mary’s “owne brother,” implying that there was at least one -half-brother. — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>” vol. i., p. 427. John Ward, the -elder brother, died from wounds received in a duel. He must have taken -after his uncle John Wright, who was one of the most expert swordsmen of -his time, and never happy but when sending a challenge to some swordsman -or another who specially boasted himself of skill in the use of that -ancient weapon.</p></div> - -<p>Moreover, there is evidence tending to prove, with absolute certitude, -that the “Ward” or “Warde” family, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith were -connected with the family of Mounteagle, both on his mother’s side through -the Mounteagles, and on his father’s side through the Barons Morley.<a name="FNanchor_71_292" id="FNanchor_71_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_292" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> - -<p>Also is there evidence tending to prove, with moral certitude, that either -through the Stanleys or the Morleys, or some other family or families, the -Wards (or Wardes) were connected by marriage and actually related to Lord -Mounteagle by blood.</p> - -<p>The proof is this: — In the “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” <a name="FNanchor_72_293" id="FNanchor_72_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_293" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> by Mary Catherine -Elizabeth Chambers, it is stated that Mary Ward was in some way related to -the before-mentioned lady of high family, Winefrid Wigmore, of Lucton, -Herefordshire, who was an accomplished woman, speaking five languages -fluently.</p> - -<p>Now it is known that Winefrid Wigmore’s father, Sir William Wigmore, had -married Anne Throckmorton, one of the daughters of Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton. Now Lady Wigmore, through the Throckmortons and the -Treshams, “was connected with the families of Lord Mounteagle, Morley, -Berkeley, and Vaux.”<a name="FNanchor_73_294" id="FNanchor_73_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_294" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - -<p>Hence it follows that, through the Wigmores,<a name="FNanchor_A_37" id="FNanchor_A_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_37" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> the Throckmortons, and the -Treshams, there was a connection of some kind or another between Mary -Ward’s -family<!--103.png--><span class="pagenum">65</span> -and the families of Mounteagle, Morley, Berkeley, and -Vaux.<a name="FNanchor_74_295" id="FNanchor_74_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_295" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_37" id="Footnote_A_37"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_37">[A]</a> Since the text was written, I have found out that Winefrid -Wigmore, through her mother, was a cousin once removed to Elizabeth, Lady -Mounteagle (<i>née</i> Tresham). — See Notes 30 and 76 <i>postea</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Again, Mary Ward was related to Mary Poyntz (pronounced Poynes), a lady -whose ancient family had come over with William the Conqueror.<a name="FNanchor_75_296" id="FNanchor_75_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_296" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Mary -Poyntz, herself a lovely woman, was the daughter of Edward Poyntz, -Esquire, of Iron Acton and Tobington Park, in the County of -Gloucester.<a name="FNanchor_76_297" id="FNanchor_76_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_297" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p>Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who was living in 1580, the father of Edward Poyntz, -had married Margaret Stanley, the daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. This -lady was the mother of Edward Poyntz, the father of Mary Poyntz, the -relative of Mary Ward.</p> - -<p>Now I find (from Burke’s “<i>Extinct Peerages</i>”) that Henry Parker Lord -Morley, the grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, had -married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby.</p> - -<p>Hence the Poyntz and the Mounteagles were cousins. Again, the Wards were -in some way or other related to the Poyntz family. Hence it follows that -through the Poyntz the Wards were related in some sort with Lord -Mounteagle, by means of the Stanleys, Mounteagle’s father’s ancestors and -mother’s ancestors.<a name="FNanchor_77_298" id="FNanchor_77_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_298" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> - -<p>For it is obvious that families connected with or related to the same -family are connected with or related to each other.</p> - -<p>Again, there was certainly a further marriage connection and a probably -blood relationship between the Morleys, Mounteagles, and Wards through the -great House of Neville.</p> - -<p>(We may be sure that a young nobleman like the fourth Lord Mounteagle -would be glad to recognise the Wards of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale as -“Cousins” if such were the fact, and to treat them in every respect as -being on an equality with him.)</p> - -<!--104.png--><p><span class="pagenum">66</span></p> - -<p>Therefore the combined Evidence so far gives us this conclusion: — </p> - -<p>That a Christopher Wright was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, of -Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon.</p> - -<p>That Marmaduke Ward was of the same place — Mulwith (or Mulwaith) — as a -person named Thomas Warde, who was married in a church in York in the year -1579, and whose wife died in the year 1590, and whose burial is recorded -to this day at Ripon Minster.</p> - -<p>That <i>a</i> 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,<a name="FNanchor_78_299" id="FNanchor_78_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_299" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> in the Parish of Ripon, between the years 1594 -and 1596 inclusive, and in the neighbourhood of the City of Ripon, and -within the boundary of its parish, from the year 1589 to 1601.</p> - -<p>That Marmaduke Ward’s son, William, had an uncle who lived at Court.<a name="FNanchor_A_38" id="FNanchor_A_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_38" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<p>That the Wardes were connected with, and related to Lord Mounteagle by -common family ties.<a name="FNanchor_79_300" id="FNanchor_79_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_300" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_38" id="Footnote_A_38"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_38">[A]</a> The fact that a Christopher Wright who lived at Newbie in -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 Wright was the -brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward. -</p> - -<p> -At this time there was also a Francis Wright at Newbie, and a John Wright -at Grantley. They may have been the children of John and Christopher -Wright, <i>the uncles</i> of John and Christopher Wright, the Gunpowder -plotters. And, of course, it is <i>possible</i> that the Christopher Wright who -lived in Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton between the years 1589 and 1601 -<i>may have been a cousin or other kinsman</i> of Christopher Wright the -plotter, or even of different families altogether. But in the Register of -Welwick Church are the following entries of Burials: “13 October 1654 -ffrauncis Wright Esquire and 2 May 1664 ffrauncis Wright Esquire” -(communicated by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, M.A., Vicar of Welwick), entries -which tend to prove that the Newby Wrights and the Plowland Wrights were -one and the same persons, and, therefore, of one and the same clan. -</p> - -<p> -There seem, from the “<i>Memorials of Ripon</i>,” vol. iii. (Surtees Soc.), to -have been “Wrights” in Ripon and the neighbourhood for many generations, -certainly long before the reign of Henry VIII., when the grandfather of -the plotters is said to have come from Kent into Yorkshire. — See Foster’s -“<i>Glover’s Visitation of Yorkshire</i>.” Possibly the Wrights of Kent -originally sprang from Yorkshire. -</p> - -<p> -“A Christopher Wright” lived at South Kilvington, near Thirsk, in the -nineteenth century. — See the tablet to his memory in the church of that -parish.</p></div> - -<!--105.png--><p><span class="pagenum">67</span></p> - -<p>Hence, from the foregoing evidence, the conclusions are inevitable, first, -that Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, who married Marjory (or Margery) Slater<a name="FNanchor_A_39" id="FNanchor_A_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_39" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -in 1579, was almost certainly a connection and relative of Lord -Mounteagle, in whose household Warde held an honoured and honourable -position; or, as doubtless we should say nowadays, was the young peer’s -private secretary: and, secondly, that, through the said Thomas Warde, -Christopher Wright likewise was almost certainly by affinity connected -with, if not related by blood to, the same highly-favoured English -nobleman.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_39" id="Footnote_A_39"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_39">[A]</a> This marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory (or -Margery) Slater, “servant to Mr. Cotterill,” of the Parish of St. Wilfrid, -York, forcibly reminds one of the romance which Lord Tennyson has -immortalized in his charming little poem, “The Lord of Burleigh.” -Moreover, it is worthy of remark that there was a family connection -between the family of Cecil and a family of Ward, most probably the Wards -of Mulwith, or those akin to them. — See Hatfield’s “<i>Hist. MSS.</i>” (Eyre & -Spottiswoode), pt. viii., p. 553, where it says, “Pedigree connection of -the Cecil and Ward families, partly in Lord Burleigh’s hand,” pt. i., -204-289.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--106.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> - -<p>But again, seeing that we know that a certain Thomas Ward lived at Court, -by reason of his being a member of the household of Lord Mounteagle, who -had been admitted to Court ever since the accession to the throne of James -the First, by this point also I know not how to escape from these several -probable conclusions: that the Thomas Warde (or Ward), the -gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was the brother of Marmaduke Warde -(or Ward); that, by consequence, he was the connection of Christopher -Wright; and that by remoter consequence, Christopher Wright himself was a -connection of Lord Mounteagle likewise.</p> - -<p>Now, granting the family connection between Thomas Warde and Wright, there -is no antecedent improbability, but the contrary, in the supposal that -Christopher Wright, if and when stricken with remorse at the thought of -his sworn part and lot in the iniquitous Gunpowder Plot, had recourse to -this Thomas Warde, who was his connection, for trustworthy and effectual -help in saving from a sudden and cruel death, haply himself and his -confederates, but certainly his Sovereign and the Senators of his -Fatherland, along with Heaven alone knows whom else beside!</p> - -<p>Furthermore, if there were any antecedent improbability in such a supposal -as that Christopher Wright should have recourse to this particular -Yorkshireman, Thomas Warde, in the hour of his need, it -should<!--107.png--><span class="pagenum">69</span> -be had in -continual remembrance — as a self-evident proposition from the constitution -of human nature — that the person or persons to whom a Yorkshireman like -Christopher Wright (supposing him to have been the revealing plotter) -almost certainly would have recourse would be, if possible, some tried and -constant native of his own County, whose intellect, he would think, there -was some guarantee for being shrewd and practical, his heart not devoid of -fellow-feeling with a “brother in adversity,” and his will at once -indomitable and energetic.<a name="FNanchor_80_301" id="FNanchor_80_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_301" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> One who indeed laughs at alleged -impossibilities and who cries: “<i>It shall be done!</i>”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--108.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> - -<p>Lastly, there is proof, indirect indeed but very telling, that Thomas -Warde must have been closely akin to Marmaduke Warde, and that both must -have been related to Lord Mounteagle.</p> - -<p>This proof is contained in the following “Examination of Marmaduke Warde, -Gentleman, in the County of Yorke, taken at Beauchamp Court before Sir -Fulke Grevyll, Knight, and Bartholmewe Hales, Esq<sup>re.</sup>, on Wednesday, the -6th day of November, the day following the arrest of Fawkes and the flight -of the others of the conspirators from London towards Dunchurch, in -Warwickshire: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., No. 47.</span><a name="FNanchor_81_302" id="FNanchor_81_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_302" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> - -<p>“The examinacion of Marmaduke Warde, gent. of Newbie in the -countie of yorke taken before S<sup>r.</sup> ffowlk Grevyll<a name="FNanchor_A_40" id="FNanchor_A_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_40" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Knight and -Bartholmewe Hales esq<sup>r.</sup></p> - -<p>“This ex<sup>t</sup> beinge demaunded when he came into this Countreye -saith a fortnight since & hath since continued at Mr Jo: Writes -at Lapworth, where Mr Write discontynuinge the space of on weeke -past -his<!--109.png--><span class="pagenum">71</span> -sister in lawe Mrs Write intreated him (beeinge accompanyed -w<sup>th</sup> on Marke Brittaine her man) to goe to Mr Winter w<sup>th</sup> a -horse to Huddenton where as theye past by Alcester about an -hower after the troope past this ex<sup>t</sup> was apprehended but the -saide Brittaine beeinge well horst escapt hee further saith hee -knewe not of the companies passinge y<sup>t</sup> way vntill they came to -Alcester nor of theire purpose any thinge at all.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_40" id="Footnote_A_40"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_40">[A]</a> This was the celebrated Sir Fulk Greville, the friend and -biographer of Sir Philip Sidney. Greville was afterwards created Lord -Brooke. His tomb, with a famous inscription, is in the church of St. Mary, -Warwick.</p></div> - -<p>Now, from the “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 91, it is evident, first, -that Marmaduke Warde got into no trouble of any kind, notwithstanding that -for a fortnight he had been actually dwelling under the roof-tree of one -of the principal conspirators, and when apprehended was even in the act of -taking a horse from Lapworth to Huddington, the mansion of Robert Winter, -one Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel, who was also the brother of another -Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel — the latter, indeed, being among the -very chiefest of the traitors and rebels.</p> - -<p>It is evident, secondly, that on reaching London town the Master of -Newbie, in the County of York, lodged in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, -apparently as a matter of course.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the marvel of the whole thing is enhanced by the fact, first, -that Marmaduke Ward’s name is bracketed along with Richard Yorke (a -follower of Robert Winter) and Robert Key (doubtless Robert Keyes), the -Gunpowder traitor, who was arrested in Warwickshire by himself and not in -the company of the others (it is supposed he had been to Turvey, in -Bedfordshire, to see his wife and children at Lord Mordaunt’s, and was -making his way towards Holbeach); and by the -fact,<!--110.png--><span class="pagenum">72</span> -secondly, that the -said Marmaduke Ward, Richard Yorke, and Robert Key are specially described -as “suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Grant, and Mr. -Rookwood’s.”<a name="FNanchor_A_41" id="FNanchor_A_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_41" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_41" id="Footnote_A_41"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_41">[A]</a> See add. MS. 5874, fo. 322, British Museum. See also Appendix -for the list of suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter’s, Mr. -Grant’s, and Mr. Rookwood’s. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Winter’s house would be Huddington, in Worcestershire; Mr. Grant’s, -Norbrook, in Warwickshire; Mr. Rookwood’s would be Clopton Hall (or -House), Stratford-on-Avon. Mabie’s “<i>Life of Shakespeare</i>” (Macmillan, -1901), p. 393, contains a picture of the dining-hall at Clopton.</p></div> - -<p>Now the inferences that I draw from these two truly astounding -circumstances are these following: — That Marmaduke Warde must have had -literally “a friend at Court,” or his lodging when he reached the great -Metropolis, as a matter of course, would have been not — emphatically -<i>not</i> — Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, but, of a surety, the Tower of London.</p> - -<p>That this “friend” must have been very closely allied to him in some way -or another.</p> - -<p>And that this “friend” must have been a very powerful friend indeed, -especially when one remembers the punishment that was inflicted after the -Plot had become a mere bubble-burst by the Court of Star Chamber upon -Marmaduke Warde’s own connection (through the Gascoignes), Henry Earl of -Northumberland,<a name="FNanchor_82_303" id="FNanchor_82_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_303" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> and upon the Lords Montague, Mordaunt, and Stourton, -the latter of whom had married a daughter of good Sir Thomas Tresham; and -the prosecution of Marmaduke Warde’s other connection, Sir John Yorke, of -Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidderdale, as late as the year 1612, on a charge of -complicity in the Plot.<a name="FNanchor_83_304" id="FNanchor_83_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_304" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> - -<p>Now, from all these three inferences, surely the further inference is -inevitable, that the probabilities -are<!--111.png--><span class="pagenum">73</span> -so high as to amount to moral -certitude, that Thomas Warde and Marmaduke Warde were each allied, in -blood, to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle.</p> - -<p>And “probability” that amounts to moral certitude is, as every-day -experience, as well as philosophy, tells us, “the very guide of life.”</p> - -<p>Therefore the historical Inquirer henceforward is warranted in reason in -pursuing his inquiries into this matter on the following assumption, at -the very least, namely, that Christopher Wright, Marmaduke Warde, Thomas -Warde, and Lord Mounteagle had common family ties subsisting between them -in the year 1605.</p> - -<p>And, consequently, upon such an assumption the Inquirer may justifiably -build his hypothesis respecting the revelation of the Gunpowder Treason -Plot.<a name="FNanchor_84_305" id="FNanchor_84_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_305" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--112.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> - -<p>But, it may be asked, is there any Evidence, however remote, to show how -it is possible that Mounteagle may have been brought into personal contact -with his morally certain kinsman, Thomas Warde (or Ward)?</p> - -<p>There is.</p> - -<p>For it is to be remembered that although Mounteagle seems to have spent -most of his time in London and Essex, his grandmother, Elizabeth Lady -Morley, the wife of Henry Parker Lord Morley, was, as we have seen, of the -then well-nigh princely house of the Stanleys Earls of Derby, she being, -in fact, a daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby, as was Margaret Lady -Poyntz, the wife of Sir Nicholas Poyntz,<a name="FNanchor_A_42" id="FNanchor_A_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_42" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> of Iron Acton, in the County -of Gloucester, the father of Edward Poyntz, Esquire, the relative of the -Wardes of Yorkshire.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_42" id="Footnote_A_42"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_42">[A]</a> It is a remarkable fact that Sir Thomas Heneage (whose name -frequently occurs in the correspondence of Sir Francis Walsingham with the -Earl of Leicester when in the 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>Visitation of Essex, 1612</i>” (Harleian Soc.) under “Poyntz.” — Sir Thomas -Heneage is described as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and -Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Thomas Heneage married for his -second wife the Dowager Countess of Southampton, the mother of -Shakespeare’s friend and patron. Now this Earl of Southampton, like the -Earl of Rutland, was an intimate friend of Lord Mounteagle.</p></div> - -<p>Besides, as we have also seen, this was not William Parker fourth Lord -Mounteagle’s only relationship -with<!--113.png--><span class="pagenum">75</span> -England’s “North Countrie,” — that -birthplace and home of so much that is most original and energetic in the -English race. For this happily-circumstanced young peer was related doubly -to the great Lancashire house of Derby, being, indeed, the heir and -successor to the honours and estates of the Stanleys Lords Mounteagle, of -Hornby Castle, near “time-honoured Lancaster.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 Ripon, in the County of -York, must have known personally, and certainly all of whom they must have -greatly honoured.</p> - -<p>I refer to the Prestons, of Levens and Preston Patrick, in the County of -Westmoreland, and of Furness and Holker, in Lancashire, “North of the -Sands,” and to the Leybournes (or Labourns), of Cunswick, Skelsmergh, and -Witherslack,<a name="FNanchor_A_43" id="FNanchor_A_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_43" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> in the County of Westmoreland, and of Nateby-in-the-Fylde, -in the west of the County of Lancaster.<a name="FNanchor_85_307" id="FNanchor_85_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_307" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_43" id="Footnote_A_43"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_43">[A]</a> The modern Witherslack Hall, in Westmoreland, is the property -of the present Earl of Derby. It is situated in a lovely neighbourhood -which instinctively recalls the words of the poet: -</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i6">“Daffodils,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That come before the swallow dares, and take,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The winds of March with beauty.” — <i>Winter’s Tale.</i><br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p> -Witherslack is reached from Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange-over-Sands. -</p> - -<p> -The old Witherslack Hall of the Leybournes is now a farm-house.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--114.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> - -<p>Lastly, it should be remembered, in endeavouring to trace out by -inevitable inference the nature of the tie or ties, manifestly very -strong, that bound Mounteagle to Marmaduke Ward (and therefore to Thomas -Ward), that the ancestors of both Mounteagle and the Wards had, in the -year 1513, fought together at the great battle of Flodden Field, in -Northumberland, in which the Scots were led by 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.”</p> - -<p>In the memorable fight, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley first Earl of -Derby, namely, Sir Edward Stanley (whose mother was a Neville),<a name="FNanchor_A_44" id="FNanchor_A_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_44" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> turned -the fortunes of -the<!--115.png--><span class="pagenum">77</span> -day in favour of the English by attacking with his -archers the rear of the Scottish centre — which centre, led by King James -himself in person, was assaulting, with some success, the English forces, -whose vanguard was led by Lord Thomas Howard, in 1514 created the Earl of -Surrey.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_44" id="Footnote_A_44"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_44">[A]</a> The first Lord Mounteagle’s mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, -the sister of Richard Neville, so well known to history as “the King -Maker.” The Wards were related to the Nevilles in more than one way. — See -“<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., the earlier chapters. -</p> - -<p> -In Staindrop Parish Church, three miles from Winston, Darlington, are -still to be seen the monuments of the great Ralph Neville and his two -wives. This was the first Neville who bore the title Earl of Westmoreland. -There are also the monuments of Henry Neville fifth Earl of Westmoreland, -and two out of his three wives. His son Charles was the last Neville who -bore this title. — See Wordsworth’s “<i>White Doe of Rylstone</i>.” I visited -Raby Castle, Durham, with its famous Hall and Minstrels’ Gallery, on the -1st of July, 1901. Raby Castle is owned now by Henry De Vere Vane ninth -Lord Barnard, who also owns Barnard Castle, overlooking the Tees, -celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in “Rokeby.”</p></div> - -<p>This Earl of Surrey was afterwards the second Duke of Norfolk, of the -Howard line of the Dukes of Norfolk, and great great grandfather of Philip -Howard Earl of Arundel, who died in the Tower of London in 1595.</p> - -<p>The Mowbrays had been the holders of the coveted title Duke of Norfolk<a name="FNanchor_A_45" id="FNanchor_A_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_45" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -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 own right Baroness Mowbray and Segrave, -and also in her own right Countess of Norfolk. This lady was contracted in -marriage to Richard, afterwards created Duke of Norfolk, a son of King -Edward IV., but they had no issue.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_45" id="Footnote_A_45"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_45">[A]</a> The first Earl of Norfolk was Thomas of Brotherton, a brother -of King Edward II. The date of this ancient Earldom was 1312. It fell into -abeyance on the death of Richard Duke of Norfolk and his wife Anne Lady -Mowbray. -</p> - -<p> -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, 1901) the -House of Lords has under consideration a claim by Lord Mowbray Segrave and -Stourton that he be declared senior co-heir to the Earldom of Norfolk -created in 1312. (A case of great historic interest.)</p></div> - -<p>The second of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, the hero of Flodden Field, was -the father of Thomas third Duke of Norfolk, commonly called the “old Duke -of Norfolk.”</p> - -<!--116.png--><p><span class="pagenum">78</span></p> - -<p>He was that Duke of Norfolk, under Henry VIII., who opposed the insurgent -Yorkshire and Lancashire “Pilgrims of Grace” (1536) led by the gallant -Robert Aske,<a name="FNanchor_A_46" id="FNanchor_A_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_46" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> of Aughton, on the banks of the Yorkshire Derwent, when in -the event Aske was hanged from one of the towers of the ancient City of -York — probably Clifford’s Tower — and many of his followers tasted of Tudor -vengeance.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_46" id="Footnote_A_46"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_46">[A]</a> Representatives of the family of Robert Aske are still to be -found at Bubwith, near Aughton, and, I believe, at Hull. Aughton is -reached from the station called High Field on the Selby and Market -Weighton line. Aughton Parish Church is a fine mediæval structure. Hard-by -is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle of the Askes, showing also -evident traces of two large moats which had surrounded the fortified -buildings on the hill which constituted the Aughton Hall of days gone by.</p></div> - -<p>“The old Duke of Norfolk” was the father of that illustrious scion of the -house of Howard who, under the name Earl of Surrey, has left a deathless -memory alike as warrior, statesman, and poet.</p> - -<p>The Earl of Surrey’s son was Thomas Howard fourth Duke of Norfolk, who is -the common ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk and the present Earl of -Carlisle.</p> - -<p>The fourth Duke of Norfolk’s head fell on the scaffold, by reason of the -Duke’s aspiring to the Royal hand of Mary Queen of Scots.<a name="FNanchor_B_47" id="FNanchor_B_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_47" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_47" id="Footnote_B_47"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_47">[B]</a> Slingsby Castle, 28 miles north-east of York (now -dismantled), is associated with the Mowbrays Dukes of Norfolk, they giving -the Vale near the Howardian Hills and Rydale the title, Vale of Mowbray. -While Sheriff Hutton Castle, 10 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.)</p></div> - -<!--117.png--><p><span class="pagenum">79</span></p> - -<p>The then Lord Dacres of the North, “who dwelt on the Border” at Naworth -Castle,<a name="FNanchor_A_48" id="FNanchor_A_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_48" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> near Carlisle, was likewise a sharer in the renowned laurels of -Flodden Field.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_48" id="Footnote_A_48"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_48">[A]</a> The Howards Dukes of Norfolk give their name to the Howardian -Hills, through Lord William Howard, who married the Honourable Anne -Dacres, of Naworth 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 ninth Earl of Carlisle, -whose gifted wife, Rosalind Countess of Carlisle (<i>née</i> Stanley of -Alderley), is akin to the famous William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, of -the days of James I.</p></div> - -<p>This before-mentioned Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley -first Earl of Derby, was created by Henry VIII. Baron Mounteagle, and he -was the great-great-grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, -who married Elizabeth Tresham.</p> - -<p>The story of the battle of Flodden Field<a name="FNanchor_86_309" id="FNanchor_86_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_309" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> 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 consequence -of his ancestor’s prowess in that historic fight, his mother’s family -received from Henry VIII. the famous title whereby he himself had the good -fortune to be known to his King and his fellow-subjects.</p> - -<p>I find from Baines’ “<i>History of Lancashire</i>,” vol. iv., ed. 1836, that -Hornby Castle, in the Vale 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 II. (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.<!--118.png--><span class="pagenum">80</span> -Baines also says that Sir Edward -Stanley first Lord Mounteagle (who married Anne Harrington, daughter of -Sir John Harrington) successfully petitioned Henry VII. for the Hornby -Estates, in consequence of the attainder of James Harrington, apparently -his wife’s uncle.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--119.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> - -<p>The first Lord Mounteagle left Hornby Castle to his son Thomas second Lord -Mounteagle.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Lady Mary Brandon,<a name="FNanchor_A_49" id="FNanchor_A_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_49" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was the -first wife of Thomas second Lord Mounteagle, whose second wife was Ellen -Leybourne (<i>née</i> Preston), the mother of Anne, the wife of William third -Lord Mounteagle, who died in 1584.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_49" id="Footnote_A_49"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_49">[A]</a> Lady Mary Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon 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 “<i>History of Sacrilege</i>” -(Masters, ed. 1853), p. 228.</p></div> - -<p>Ellen Preston’s father was Sir Thomas Preston; her mother was a -Thornborough, of Hampsfield Hall, Hampsfell, in the Parish of Cartmel, -North Lancashire. The Thornboroughs (or Thornburghs) had held some of the -following manors from the time of Edward III.: — Hampsfield Hall, Whitwell, -Winfell, Fellside, Skelsmergh, Patton, Dallam Tower, Methop, Ulva, and -Wilson House, all either in North Lancashire or Westmoreland.</p> - -<p>In the parish church of Windermere, at Bowness, near Lake Windermere, -there is a window containing, besides royal arms (possibly those of Henry -V.), -the<!--120.png--><span class="pagenum">82</span> -arms of Harrington, Leybourne, Fleming de Rydal, Strickland, -Middleton, and Redmayne, most of which houses of gentry of “the North -Countrie” were more or less allied to the fourth Lord Mounteagle.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle was in possession of Hornby -Castle and its broad acres at the date of Flodden Field, 1513.<a name="FNanchor_A_50" id="FNanchor_A_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_50" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> This is -interestingly evidenced by the two following stanzas from the old “Ballad -of Flodden Field”: — </p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_50" id="Footnote_A_50"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_50">[A]</a> In the battle of Flodden Field, which caused such -lamentation, mourning, and woe in Edinburgh, several citizens of York -behaved themselves valiantly under Sir John Mounville. Among English lords -in this fight were the Lords Howard (Edmund 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 “<i>Ripon</i>,” -p. 143. -</p> - -<p> -It is said that the gallant Northumbrian Heron knew all the “sleights of -war.”</p></div> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With weapons of unwieldly weight;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All such as Tatham Fells had bred,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Went under Stanley’s streamers bright.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">From Silverdale to Kent Sand Side,<a name="FNanchor_87_310" id="FNanchor_87_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_310" class="fnanchor">[87]</a><br /></span> -<span class="i2">Whose soil is sown with cockle shells;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From Cartmel eke and Connyside,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With fellows fierce from Furness Fells.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>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 Hiding of Yorkshire about Guiseley, Esholt, and -Ripon.</p> - -<!--121.png--><p><span class="pagenum">83</span></p> - -<p>For, as the grand old “Ballad of Flodden Field” again tells us, the -English arms were reinforced</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“With many a gentleman and squire,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">From Rippon, Ripley, and Rydale,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With them marched forth all Massamshire,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With Nosterfield and Netherdale.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>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 Mounteagle 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, -who — as we have proved by evidence and inevitable inferences therefrom — it -is all but absolutely certain must have been Thomas Warde,<a name="FNanchor_A_51" id="FNanchor_A_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_51" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> of Mulwith, -the brother of Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale.<a name="FNanchor_88_312" id="FNanchor_88_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_312" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_51" id="Footnote_A_51"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_51">[A]</a> Sir Edward Hoby is the only contemporary, so far as I 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. -</p> - -<p> -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. -</p> - -<p> -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 <i>inference</i> -only, <i>not direct proof</i>, that supplies the missing link in identifying -Thomas Ward.</p></div> - -<p>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<!--122.png--><span class="pagenum">84</span> -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 Stuart line.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--123.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For there is Evidence to lead to the following conclusions: — </p> - -<p>(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.</p> - -<p>Moreover, my strong opinion is that this arrangement was made through the -suggestion of Thomas Ward, the diplomatic intermediary, with the express -consent of Mounteagle himself.</p> - -<p>The suggestion, I think, may have been made by Thomas Ward at Bath,<a name="FNanchor_A_52" id="FNanchor_A_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_52" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> a -town which Ward -possibly<!--124.png--><span class="pagenum">86</span> -took on his leaving Lapworth, in Warwickshire, -whither, I surmise, he repaired some time between the 11th of October and -the 26th of that month.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_52" id="Footnote_A_52"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_52">[A]</a> It is possible that Mounteagle and Catesby may have been -together at Bath between the 12th of October, 1695, and the 26th October. -</p> - -<p> -See a curious letter dated 12th October, but without date of the year, -from Mounteagle to Catesby (“<i>Archæologia</i>,” vol. xxviii., p. 420), -discovered by the late Mr. Bruce. -</p> - -<p> -There is a copy of this “<i>Archæologia</i>” in the British Museum, which I saw -in October, 1900.</p></div> - -<p>(2) That Thomas Ward’s was the guiding mind, the dominant force, or, to -vary the metaphor, the central pivot upon which the successful -accomplishment of the entire revelation turned, inasmuch as, I submit, -that Ward must have received from the conscience-stricken conspirator a -complete disclosure of the whole guilty secret, with 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 <i>profitable</i> 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.</p> - -<p>(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 history, called upon this young nobleman to play.</p> - -<p>If Ward (or Warde) were born about the beginning 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 Warde, by his superior age and experience of men and -things, well fitted to play “the guide, philosopher, and friend” to -Mounteagle in the matter.<a name="FNanchor_A_53" id="FNanchor_A_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_53" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_53" id="Footnote_A_53"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_53">[A]</a> If -Thomas Warde were sent to the Low Countries, as I think it -almost certain he was sent, although I cannot prove it, belike he may have -been one of those Elizabethan gentlemen Shakespeare had in mind when he -wrote in the “Two Gentlemen of Verona”: -</p> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Yet hath Sir Proteus ...<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made use and fair advantage of his days:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His years but young, but his experience old:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, in a word (for far behind his worth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come all the praises that I now bestow)<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He is complete in feature and in mind,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all good grace, to grace a gentleman.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - - -<p> -It sheds some very faint corroborative light on the supposal that Thomas -Ward was the “Mr. Warde” mentioned by Sir Francis Walsingham in the “<i>Earl -of Leicester’s Correspondence</i>” (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 -“<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>” (Burns & Oates, 2 vols.) -</p> - -<p> -Also a “Mr. Wade” mentioned, by Walsingham to Leicester in a letter dated -3rd April, 1587, may have been really “Warde.” — See Wright’s “<i>Elizabethan -Letters</i>,” vol. ii., p. 335. -</p> - -<p> -Again, “<i>The Calendar of State Papers</i>,” Domestic Series, 1581-90, gives, -page 93, a Thomas Warde, as an examiner for the Privy Council, taking down -evidence in the cause of Robert Hungate and wife <i>v.</i> John Hoare and John -Shawe, in the year 1583.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--125.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> - -<p>Now what is the Evidence to support the preceding paragraphs (1), (2), and -(3)?</p> - -<p>As to paragraph (1), the Evidence is direct.</p> - -<p>There was a tradition extant that <i>Mounteagle expected the Letter, told to -a gentleman named Edmund Church his confidant</i>. — See Gardiner’s -“<i>Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 10.</p> - -<!--126.png--><p><span class="pagenum">88</span></p> - -<p>Moreover, the fact that the footman was in the street at about seven of -the clock when the missive was given to him <i>is strongly suggestive of the -fact that he had been anxiously sent thither by some one, so that he might -be ready at hand to receive the document immediately on its arrival</i>.</p> - -<p>As to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Evidence is indirect and inferential.</p> - -<p>It is this: — Thomas Ward was manifestly on excellent terms with Mounteagle -on the one hand and with the conspirators on the other.</p> - -<p>For it is evident that no sooner had Mounteagle arrived back from his -errand of mercy on that dark night of Saturday, the 26th day of October, -1605, 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 -Salisbury, the King’s principal Secretary of State.<a name="FNanchor_A_54" id="FNanchor_A_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_54" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_54" id="Footnote_A_54"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_54">[A]</a> The days of the week and the dates of the month run parallel -for the years 1605 and 1901. Thus both the 26ths of October are on a -Saturday. <i>What was the condition of the moon on that memorable Saturday -night?</i></p></div> - -<p>That Lord Mounteagle had imparted to Thomas Ward almost all, if not quite -all, that had passed between Lord Salisbury and himself on the delivery to -the latter of the peerless document to my mind is clear from the fact -<i>that the faithful Ward, the very next day (Sunday) repaired to Thomas -Winter</i>, one of the principal conspirators, <i>and told Winter that the -Letter was in the hands of Salisbury</i>! — “<i>Winter’s Confession.</i>”</p> - -<p>Assuming that Thomas Ward was a Ward of Mulwith, he would be a family -connection of Thomas Winter as well as of Christopher Wright through -Ursula Ward and Inglebies, of Ripley, in Nidderdale.</p> - -<!--127.png--><p><span class="pagenum">89</span></p> - -<p>Now, what is proved by this very significant fact of <i>Thomas Ward’s</i> so -unerringly darting off to <i>Thomas Winter</i>, one of the prime movers in this -conspiracy of wholesale slaughter, when he (Ward) had all the adult male -inhabitants of London and Westminster to make his selection from?</p> - -<p>Plainly this: that the revealing conspirator (whoever he was) <i>must have -“primed” Thomas Ward by previously telling Thomas Ward that Thomas Winter -was one of the chiefest of those involved in the conspiracy</i>.</p> - -<p>Again; as Winter had been formerly in Mounteagle’s service (a circumstance -doubtless well known to the revealing conspirator), <i>that revealing -conspirator</i> would naturally, nay inevitably, <i>bid Ward</i> put himself <i>not -only into speedy communication with Mounteagle</i>, in order to reach -Salisbury, the principal servant of the King, <i>but, this done, also into -speedy communication with Thomas Winter</i>, one of the chief promoters of -the baleful enterprise, in order that by dint of <i>Winter’s</i> 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 their -heels in instant flight.</p> - -<p>Thus the great end aimed at by the curvilinear triangular -movement — wherein (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) 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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--128.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> - -<p>Now, I maintain that there is Evidence, from a very unexpected quarter, -that Thomas Ward had received from the revealing plotter a complete -disclosure of every one of the material facts and particulars of the Plot, -including the existence of the mine, the hiring of the cellar, the storing -therein of the gunpowder, and even the names of the conspirators. And -that, moreover, Thomas Ward had received the fullest power “to discover” -to his master, Lord Mounteagle, all that had been told to him (Ward) by -the revealing plotter, <i>if</i>, in the exercise of his (Ward’s) uncontrolled -diplomatic discretion, he deemed it necessary in order to effect, -<i>primarily</i>, the temporal salvation of the King and his Parliament, and, -this done, in order to effect, <i>secondarily</i>, the escape of the -conspirators themselves.</p> - -<p>The Evidence to which I refer is deducible from the testimony of none -other than Francis Tresham, Evidence which he gave to Thomas Winter in -Lincoln’s Inn Walks on Saturday night, the 2nd day of November, just one -week after the delivery of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, and just one day -after the Letter had been shown by Salisbury to the King.<a name="FNanchor_89_313" id="FNanchor_89_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_313" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> - -<p>Thomas Winter, in his “<i>Confession</i>,” writes thus: “On Saturday night I -met Mr. Tresham again in Lincoln’s Inn Walks, where he told such speeches -that my Lord of Salisbury should use to the King, as I gave it lost the -second time, and repeated the same to -Mr.<!--129.png--><span class="pagenum">91</span> -Catesby, who hereupon was -resolved to be gone, but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up whose consent -herein we wanted. On Sunday night came Mr. Percy and no ‘nay,’ but would -abide the uttermost trial.”<a name="FNanchor_90_314" id="FNanchor_90_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_314" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p> - -<p>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 break down and sweep away the barriers -formed by the strong affection which he naturally must have harboured for -the pet scheme and the darling project that had cost himself and his -companions the expenditure of so much “slippery time,”<a name="FNanchor_91_315" id="FNanchor_91_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_315" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> so much sweat -of the brow, and so much treasure of the pocket? Yea, indeed, to what -purport can these “speeches” have been?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--130.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> - -<p>In the King’s Book, after describing Salisbury’s first visit to James in -“the privie gallerie” of Whitehall Palace, it is stated that it was -arranged that there should be another meeting on the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November.</p> - -<p>The precise words of the Royal Work are these: “It was agreed that he -[<i>i.e.</i>, Salisbury] 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>i.e.</i>, Suffolk] being then present with the King. At what -time it was determined that the said Lord Chamberlaine should, according -to his custom and office, view all the Parliament Houses.”</p> - -<p>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 -Chamberlaine being present thereat; and I suggest that, most probably, -Mounteagle himself was, if not then actually within ear-shot, yet not afar -off.</p> - -<p>Now it is evident from Lingard’s “<i>History</i>” that Tresham had told Winter -that the Government had already intelligence of the existence of “the -mine.”<a name="FNanchor_92_316" id="FNanchor_92_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_316" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> - -<p>Tresham also told Winter that he (Tresham) knew not how the Government had -obtained this knowledge (vol. ix., p. 72).</p> - -<p>The inevitable inference, therefore, that reason demands should be drawn -from these statements of -Tresham<!--131.png--><span class="pagenum">93</span> -is that Mounteagle must have <i>either</i> -sent for his brother-in-law, <i>or</i> 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,<a name="FNanchor_A_55" id="FNanchor_A_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_55" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> and that the same -information probably that very day (Saturday) would be imparted to the -King’s Government likewise.<a name="FNanchor_93_317" id="FNanchor_93_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_317" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_55" id="Footnote_A_55"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_55">[A]</a> 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. -</p> - -<p> -Thus would be the concatenation complete, naturally and easily, with no -link missing.</p></div> - -<p>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 unhappy 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 <i>and</i> Winter.<a name="FNanchor_94_318" id="FNanchor_94_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_318" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--132.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> - -<p>Again, on Monday, the 4th instant, Mounteagle offered to accompany his -distant connection, the Earl of Suffolk, to make the search in the cellar.</p> - -<p>Whyneard, keeper of the King’s wardrobe, 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.”</p> - -<p>Mounteagle, on hearing Percy named, let drop — probably in an unguarded -moment — words to the effect that perhaps Thomas Percy had sent the Letter.</p> - -<p>Now, guarded or unguarded, to my mind, the fact that Mounteagle, in any -shape or form, mentioned Percy’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.<a name="FNanchor_95_319" id="FNanchor_95_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_319" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<!--133.png--><p><span class="pagenum">95</span></p> - -<p>To this end the young peer watched and measured the relative value and -effect of every move on the part of the Government like a vigilant -commander, bent, indeed, on securing what he deemed to be the rights and -interests of the wronged and the wrong-doers alike.</p> - -<p>And, most probably, being driven into a corner at the last and compelled -so to do by the imperious exigencies of his <i>primary and supreme duty</i>, -namely, the saving of the King and Parliament from being rent and torn to -pieces in a most hellish fashion, truly “barbarous and savage beyond the -examples of former ages,” Mounteagle actually himself told Salisbury to -inform Sir Thomas Knevet and his band of armed men to keep a sharp lookout -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.</p> - -<p>Fawkes was probably <i>taken into custody</i> in the court adjoining Percy’s -house and the House of Lords’ cellar, and a few moments afterwards -<i>secured</i> by being bound with such things in the nature of cords as Knevet -and his men had with them. — See Gardiner’s “<i>Gunpowder Plot</i>,” pp. -132-136.</p> - -<p>The dark lantern, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was left burning -in the cellar by Fawkes.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--134.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> - -<p>Let me now make two quotations.</p> - -<p>One is from the King’s Book, giving an account of the procedure followed -by the Earl of Suffolk the Lord Chamberlain, and the Lord Mounteagle, the -champion, protector, and hero of the England of his day, in whose honour -the “rare” Ben Jonson<a name="FNanchor_96_320" id="FNanchor_96_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_320" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> himself composed the epigram transcribed at the -end of this Inquiry.</p> - -<p>The other quotation, collected from the relation of a certain interview -between Catesby, Tresham, Mounteagle, and Father 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, 1605, in general treasonable internal projects, which -indeed only just fell short of particular treasonable external acts.</p> - -<p>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, but withal shrewd and generous, young nobleman was -perfectly innocent.</p> - -<p>These two quotations show, first, how zealously and faithfully Mounteagle -of the Janus-face, looking both before and after — as henceforward we must -regard him — kept his hand on the pulse of the Government at the most -critical hour of his country’s annals, with a view to doing what both he -and his mentor deemed to -be<!--135.png--><span class="pagenum">97</span> -justice in the rightful claims and demands, -though diverse and conflicting, of each group of “clients.”</p> - -<p>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 be known as Lord -Mounteagle’s Letter, to the Earl of Salisbury and, through him, to King -James, his Privy Council and Government, on that Saturday night, the 26th -day of October, 1605.</p> - -<p>The King’s Book says: “At what time hee [<i>i.e.</i>, the Earl of Suffolk,<a name="FNanchor_97_322" id="FNanchor_97_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_322" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> -the Lord Chamberlain] went to the Parliament House accompanied with my -Lord Mounteagle, 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 roumes 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 what 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 was Guido Fawkes the owner of -that hand which should have acted that monstrous tragedie.”<a name="FNanchor_98_323" id="FNanchor_98_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_323" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> - -<p>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 Mounteagle -had<!--136.png--><span class="pagenum">98</span> -told -him, that he no sooner heard Thomas Percy<a name="FNanchor_A_56" id="FNanchor_A_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_56" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> named to be possessour of -that house, but considering both his backwardnes in Religion 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, where -Thomas Percy had so seldome occasion to remaine; as likewise it gaue him -in his minde that his man looked like a very tall and desperate -fellow.”<a name="FNanchor_99_324" id="FNanchor_99_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_324" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_56" id="Footnote_A_56"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_56">[A]</a> I think that Lord Mounteagle or Thomas Ward (or both) must -have given some member of the Privy Council a hint that a Christopher -Wright was a probable conspirator, for it is noticeable that on the 5th of -November several persons testified as to Christopher Wright’s recent -whereabouts. Ward 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. <i>Or</i>, the Government may have -procured Christopher Wright’s name from some paper or papers found in -Thomas Percy’s London house, on the 5th of November, the day of Fawkes’ -capture. -</p> - -<p> -At that time the Privy Council undertook all preliminary inquiries in -regard to the crime of High Treason. It is different now; at first the -case may be brought before an ordinary magistrate.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--137.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> - -<p>Shortly after Midsummer (<i>i.e.</i>, July), 1605, Father Garnet was at the -Jesuit house at Fremland, in Essex. Catesby came there with Lord -Mounteagle and Tresham.</p> - -<p>At this meeting, in answer 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.”</p> - -<p>At this interview Tresham said, “We must expect [<i>i.e.</i>, wait for] the end -of Parliament, and see what laws are made against Catholics, and then seek -for help of foreign princes.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Garnet, “assure yourself they will do nothing.”</p> - -<p>“What!” said my Lord Mounteagle, “will not the Spaniard help us? It is a -shame!”<a name="FNanchor_A_57" id="FNanchor_A_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_57" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_57" id="Footnote_A_57"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_57">[A]</a> If Mounteagle was in the company of Catesby at Fremland in -the summer of 1605, these two may have been together at Bath 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.</p></div> - -<p>Then said Father Garnet, “You see we must all have patience.”<a name="FNanchor_100_325" id="FNanchor_100_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_325" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> - -<p>It is also to be remembered that when Sir Edmund Baynham, a -Gloucestershire Catholic gentleman of -good<!--138.png--><span class="pagenum">100</span> -family — but of whom Winter -said “he was not a man fit for the business at home,” <i>i.e.</i>, the purposed -Gunpowder massacre — went to Flanders and Rome in the first week of -September, 1605, Mounteagle appears to have written certain letters of -introduction or of general recommendation, 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.”<a name="FNanchor_101_326" id="FNanchor_101_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_326" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> - -<p>I think that it is morally certain he was not.</p> - -<p>Sir Edmund Baynham<a name="FNanchor_A_58" id="FNanchor_A_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_58" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> was intended by the prime conspirators to be at Rome -to justify (<i>if he could</i>) 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 <i>en route</i> for “the Eternal City.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_58" id="Footnote_A_58"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_58">[A]</a> Father Garnet was also employing Sir Edmund Baynham as <i>his</i> -diplomatic intermediary with the Pope in order “to gain time,” so that -meanwhile the plotters might find space for repentance! Garnet was -apparently one of those men who though possessed of a profound knowledge -of Man know little or nothing of men. Whereas Oldcorne seems to have had -practical reason as well as theoretical wisdom. Oldcorne, I take it, had a -good, strong, clear, practical head on his shoulders, which included in -its armoury <i>will</i>, in the sense of <i>power</i>, as well as intellect and -heart, and “<i>where there’s a will there’s a way</i>.”</p></div> - -<p>Guy Fawkes probably was authorised to impart and possibly actually did, -under the oath, impart some knowledge of the Plot to Captain Hugh Owen, a -Welsh Roman Catholic soldier of fortune serving in Flanders under the -Archdukes.<a name="FNanchor_102_327" id="FNanchor_102_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_327" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> 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.</p> - -<!--139.png--><p><span class="pagenum">101</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--140.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> - -<p>Now, when deep within the depths of the moral being of Christopher Wright -there first arose that tender day-spring, a realization of guilt and -shame: that crimsoned dawn, a sense of grief and sorrow for those two high -crimes whereby his wretched conscious-self had been 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.</p> - -<p>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 sublimely terrible words of the old Greek -tragedy, “The guilty suffer.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<!--141.png--><span class="pagenum">103</span> -to him Destiny has allotted for his guerdon, -in that proportion does his soul regain its forfeited harmoniousness and -peace.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_103_328" id="FNanchor_103_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_328" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></p> - -<p>I furthermore opine that, although it was the personal dawning -consciousness of Christopher Wright himself that <i>primarily</i> prompted the -happy step of recourse to Father Edward Oldcorne,<a name="FNanchor_104_329" id="FNanchor_104_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_329" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> yet Christopher -Wright, in my judgment, already had confided the just scruples of his -conscience to the ear, not of a “superior” judicial Priest, but of an -“equal” counselling Layman.</p> - -<p>That Layman, I hold, was Thomas Ward, who, belike, heightened and -strengthened his connection’s laudable resolve.<a name="FNanchor_105_330" id="FNanchor_105_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_330" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></p> - -<p>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, promiscuously “to work good unto all -men,” voluntarily offered to pen the immortal Letter; <i>provided he were -released from the obligations of that solemn secrecy imposed by “the seal -of the Confessional”: released by the Penitent himself, in whom alone -resided the prerogative of granting or withholding such a release</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--142.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> - -<p>Again; I think that probably Thomas Ward had either at Hindlip, 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 Mounteagle, to the Government authorities.</p> - -<p>Nay, to make assurance doubly sure, it is even possible that Father -Oldcorne may have insisted on a <i>second Letter</i> being penned and sent to -<i>another nobleman at the Court</i>, the Earl of Northumberland, a man of -ancient lineage and great name, with whom Ward, through the Gascoignes, -would be distantly connected.<a name="FNanchor_106_331" id="FNanchor_106_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_331" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p> - -<p>It appears to me that the moral certitude is so strong that Thomas Ward -was brother to Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, that it -seems practically almost the mere extravagance of caution to express a -doubt of it.<a name="FNanchor_A_59" id="FNanchor_A_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_59" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_59" id="Footnote_A_59"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_59">[A]</a> It will be remembered that we have evidence that William -Ward, a son of Marmaduke Ward, <i>had an uncle who lived at Court</i>. -</p> - -<p> -This evidence is of the greatest value and importance in identifying -Thomas Ward, the secretary and friend of Lord Mounteagle, and should be -continually borne in mind by all my readers. -</p> - -<p> -It should be also remembered that Edmund Neville, the claimant of the -Earldom of Westmoreland, was the man who accused Dr. William Parry of a -plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Now this Neville became a suitor for -the hand of Mary Ward, though about double her age. Neville would be -related to the Wards, and perhaps knew Thomas Ward when in 1584 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 Ward there -might be a clue to the Parry mystery.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--143.png--><p><span class="pagenum">105</span></p> - -<p>Now, the suggestion that Thomas Ward was probably in the Midland counties -of Warwickshire and Worcestershire sometime about the 11th of October, -1605,<a name="FNanchor_107_332" id="FNanchor_107_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_332" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> 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 afterwards, and that he was bracketed with -those who were said to have been at the houses of John Wright, Ambrose -Rookwood, and John Grant at that time.<a name="FNanchor_A_60" id="FNanchor_A_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_60" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_60" id="Footnote_A_60"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_60">[A]</a> See the List of the names of conspirators, insurgents, and -others arrested in the Midlands given in the Appendix.</p></div> - -<p>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, what 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 Ward, 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 might use his counsels and entreaties to -induce his late wife’s combative brother, John Wright,<a name="FNanchor_108_333" id="FNanchor_108_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_333" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> the -close-natured Christopher Wright, the gallant Ambrose Rookwood, and the -strong-willed John Grant, to abandon all designment of insurrectionary -stirs.</p> - -<p>For Thomas Ward, from the experience of a man at Court aged forty-six, who -knew from the daily -observation<!--144.png--><span class="pagenum">106</span> -of his own senses, how firmly James’s -Executive was certainly established, must 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_61" id="FNanchor_A_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_61" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_61" id="Footnote_A_61"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_61">[A]</a> It is to be borne in mind that hereafter proof may be -forthcoming that Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward, the sister of -Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. I <i>think</i> that they had another sister named -Ann Ward, who married a Marmaduke Swales. — (See Ripon Registers). There -was an old county family called Swales at Staveley Hall, near Farnham and -Scotton. They were Roman Catholics. They are the same, I opine, as the -Swales (or Swale) family, of South Stainley, between Ripley and Ripon, -whose descendants are of the ancient faith in Yorkshire to this day. -</p> - -<p> -The late Sir James Swale, Bart., of Rudfarlington, 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 Harrogate — himself of an old West Riding family -that “had never lost the Faith.”</p></div> - -<p>And this the rather, when it is remembered that, the names of John and -Christopher Wright were already unfavourably 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 in some wild, fierce dash for liberty.<a name="FNanchor_109_334" -id="FNanchor_109_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_334" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--145.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> - -<p>We have now considered the Evidence leading up to the commission of the -respective acts that this Inquiry, at an earlier part, has attributed -severally 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.</p> - -<p>But before proceeding with the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions -therefrom, which tend to prove that, <i>subsequent</i> to the dictating of the -Letter by Christopher Wright and the penning of the same by Father -Oldcorne, these two Yorkshiremen were conscious of having performed the -several parts attributed unto them, let us deal with certain <i>objections</i> -that may be put forward as preliminary objections fatal to the contentions -of this Inquiry.</p> - -<p>Now, there is an objection which, with a <i>primâ facie</i> plausibleness, may -be advanced against the hypothesis that Christopher Wright was the -dictating, repentant, revealing conspirator, through whom primarily the -Plot was frustrated and overthrown.</p> - -<p>And there is also a second objection that may be urged against the -hypothesis, with even still greater <i>primâ facie</i> plausibleness, that -Father Edward -Oldcorne,<!--146.png--><span class="pagenum">108</span> -Priest and Jesuit, was the meritorious Penman of -the dictated Letter.</p> - -<p>Each objection must be dealt with separately.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Now, a certain William Handy, servant to Sir Everard Digby, on the 27th -day of November, 1605, before (among others) Sir Julius Cæsar, Kt., Sir -Francis Bacon, Kt.,<a name="FNanchor_110_335" id="FNanchor_110_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_335" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> and Sir George More, Kt., High Sheriff of Surrey -and Sussex, deposed (among other things) the following: — </p> - -<p>That early on Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, as the fugitives -were proceeding from Norbrook to Alcester, he (Handy) heard the younger -Wright 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, -which were commonly Mr. John Grant, the younger Grant, and Ambrose -Rookwood.”<a name="FNanchor_111_336" id="FNanchor_111_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_336" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> - -<p>Now, Christopher Wright <i>may</i> have used these words in the early part of -that November day, and every candid mind must allow that they are <i>not</i> -the words that one would expect to find in a sincerely repentant criminal.</p> - -<p>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 (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) he had become as -one morally resurrected from the dead.</p> - -<p>For it is to be remembered that Christopher Wright was the brother of John -Wright, and the brother-in-law of Thomas Percy, Thomas Percy having -married -Martha<!--147.png--><span class="pagenum">109</span> -Wright, of Plowland Hall. Now, concerning John Wright and -his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, the following traits of character are -chronicled by their contemporary, Father John Gerard.<a name="FNanchor_112_337" id="FNanchor_112_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_337" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> - -<p>“It was noted in him [<i>i.e.</i>, Thomas Percy] and in Mr. John Wright (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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For “Conscience doth make cowards of us all.”</p> - -<p>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, was rapidly drawing to its -shattered close.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--148.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> - -<p>What objection, then, can be brought against the hypothesis that Father -Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, and native of the City of York, was -the Penman of this most momentous perhaps of all Letters ever writ by the -hand of man?</p> - -<p>It is this, that in a pamphlet by a certain Dr. Williams, published about -the year 1680,<a name="FNanchor_113_340" id="FNanchor_113_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_340" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> purporting to be a History of the Powder Treason, with -a parallel between the Gunpowder Treason and the Titus Oates’ alleged -Popish Plot of the reign of Charles II., there occurs the following -statement: — </p> - -<p>“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, <i>she writ the aforesaid letter to him</i>, to give him so much -notice of the danger as might warn him to provide for his own safety, 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. <i>This account Mr. -Habington himself gave to a worthy person still in being.</i>” (The italics -are mine.)</p> - -<p>Now, of course, if Mrs. Habington (or Abington), of Hindlip Hall, near -Worcester, where Father Oldcorne was domesticated for sixteen years, -actually wrote the Letter, then Father Oldcorne did not. There can be no -two opinions about <i>that</i>, even with the most sceptical.</p> - -<!--149.png--><p><span class="pagenum">111</span></p> - -<p>But did she?</p> - -<p>I submit that this testimony of Dr. Williams, second,<a name="FNanchor_114_341" id="FNanchor_114_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_341" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> third, or -fourth hand possibly, is hopelessly inadequate for the establishing of any -such conclusion.</p> - -<p>First, let it be noted that, although “the worthy 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 -year 1680 (or thereabouts), <i>his thrice-important name is not divulged by -the learned author, neither is the faintest hint given as to where he may -have resided</i>.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--150.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> - -<p>Now, if Dr. Williams 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, the case would have been <i>a good -way</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Or, if <i>Mr. Abington</i> had told <i>Williams</i> that <i>he knew his wife had writ -the Letter because he saw with his own eyes the lady do it</i>, then the case -would have been <i>also a good way</i> towards being established.</p> - -<p>Or, if <i>Mr. Abington</i> had told <i>Williams</i> that <i>he believed his wife had -writ the Letter because she had told him (Abington) she had done so -immediately after she alleged she had performed the meritorious deed</i>, the -case would have been some <i>slight way</i> towards being established.</p> - -<p>But when the only shred or patch of evidence we have to support the -stupendous article of belief that Mrs. Abington accomplished the immortal -feat is an uncircumstantial, uncorroborated allegation by Dr. Williams -that <i>some person or another unknown</i> (on the most favourable view) <i>told -him</i> (Williams) that Mrs. Abington had writ the Letter <i>merely because her -husband said so</i>, then the case for Mrs. Abington’s authorship of the -document is <i>in no way</i> towards being established.</p> - -<!--151.png--><p><span class="pagenum">113</span></p> - -<p>And, therefore, the story falls to the ground.</p> - -<p>And, therefore, it should be, in reason, henceforward consigned to the -limbo of exploded myths and idle tales.</p> - -<p>It is true that Dr. Nash in his work on Worcestershire,<a name="FNanchor_115_342" id="FNanchor_115_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_342" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> written in -the eighteenth century and published in 1780, declares that “Tradition in -this county says that she [<i>i.e.</i>, Mrs. Abington] was the person who wrote -the Letter to her brother, which discovered the Gunpowder Plot.”</p> - -<p>But then, obviously, this alleged tradition is absolutely worthless, -unless it can be shown to have been a <i>continuous</i> tradition from the year -1605 down to the time when Nash was writing his “<i>History</i>.” For if the -tradition sprang up at a later date, for the purposes of true history its -value as a tradition is plainly nothing.</p> - -<p>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 “<i>Narrative</i>,” published in the year 1857, and to -which reference has been already frequently made in the course of this -Inquiry, says,<a name="FNanchor_116_343" id="FNanchor_116_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_343" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> “No contemporary writer alludes to Mrs. Abington as -the author of the Letter.”</p> - -<p>And Jardine evidently does not think that the penmanship of the document -can be brought home to this lady.</p> - -<p>Moreover, if Mrs. Abington had written the Letter of Letters, surely she -would have, at least, <i>shared</i> her brother Lord Mounteagle’s reward, which -was £700 a year for life, equal to nearly £7,000 a year in our money.</p> - -<p>For if £700 a year was the guerdon of <i>him</i> that <i>merely delivered</i> this -Letter of Letters, what should have been the guerdon of <i>her</i> that -actually <i>penned</i> the peerless treasure?</p> - -<!--152.png--><p><span class="pagenum">114</span></p> - -<p>But the hypothesis that Mrs. Abington penned the Letter of Letters has -absolutely no foundation in contemporary evidence. For there is not the -faintest echo of an echo of testimony, nor the merest shadow of a shade of -proof that <i>either</i> she <i>or</i> Mr. Abington had the remotest previous -knowledge of the Gunpowder Treason Plot.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Mr. 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 -“<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 212.<a name="FNanchor_A_62" id="FNanchor_A_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_62" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_62" id="Footnote_A_62"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_62">[A]</a> The splendid Elizabethan mansion known as Hindlip Hall, four -miles from Worcester, with a large and magnificent prospect of the -surrounding country, was demolished early in the nineteenth century. A -picture of this mansion is in the Rev. Ethelred Taunton’s book, “<i>The -Jesuits in England</i>” (Methuen & Co.). The present Hindlip Hall is the seat -of the Lord Hindlip.</p></div> - -<p>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 <i>before and after</i> 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.</p> - -<p>And I respectfully submit these same conjectures, surmises, and -suggestions cannot be upset, still less broken, by knowledge commensurate -with zeal.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--153.png--><p><span class="pagenum">115</span></p> - -<p>Jardine mentions the singular hypothesis that this famous Letter was -penned by the Honourable Anne Vaux, at the dictation of the Honourable -Mrs. Abington.</p> - -<p>Now, the Honourable Anne Vaux was one of the daughters of the Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, in Northamptonshire, at whose house Father Henry Garnet (the -chief of the Jesuits in England) lived for many years, from 1586, when -Garnet returned to England from Rome. Anne Vaux and her sister, the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, were high-minded women who lived at White -Webbs, Stoke Pogis,<a name="FNanchor_A_63" id="FNanchor_A_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_63" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Wandsworth, and other places of Jesuit resort, -rendering, along with Edward Brookesby,<a name="FNanchor_B_64" id="FNanchor_B_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_64" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> Esquire (the husband of Eleanor -Brookesby), the members of the Jesuit Society in England signally devoted -service.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_63" id="Footnote_A_63"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_63">[A]</a> 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 a Country -Churchyard,” sojourned at the place.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_64" id="Footnote_B_64"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_64">[B]</a> Edward Brookesby was of Arundel House, Shouldby, -Leicestershire. Frances Brookesby (his sister, probably, and one of Queen -Anne’s Maids of Honour), became a devoted friend of Mary Ward. — See “<i>Life -of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. ii., p. 23.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_117_344" id="FNanchor_117_344"></a><a -href="#Footnote_117_344" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--154.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> - -<p>Now, regard being had to the fact that “there is seldom smoke except there -be, at least, some little fire, the question arises: Is it possible to -account, on rational grounds, for any such statement of the worthy person -still in being in 1680 as Dr. Williams credits him with?</p> - -<p>(Nash’s evidence, in the absence of proof of a <i>continuous</i> tradition, is -not one whit more worthy of credence than Dr. Williams’ impalpability.)</p> - -<p>It is possible.</p> - -<p>For, it is well within the bounds of rational probability that what Mr. -Abington said to some person or persons unknown (assuming that he ever -said anything whatever) was <i>not</i> that his wife <i>“had writ the Letter,” -but that</i> his wife “<i>knew, or thought she knew, who had writ the Letter</i>.”</p> - -<p>The way in which to test the matter is this: Supposing, for the sake of -argument, that my hypothesis be true, and that Father Oldcorne <i>did</i> -actually pen that Letter which was the instrument, not only of the -temporal salvation of Mrs. Abington’s brother, the Lord Mounteagle, but -also of her father, the Lord Morley, together with many others of her -kinsfolk, friends, and acquaintance, as well as of her lawful Sovereign -and His Royal Consort, <i>is it, or is it not, probable that Mrs. Abington -would guess, in some way or another, the mighty secret</i>?</p> - -<p>It is probable.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--155.png--><p><span class="pagenum">117</span></p> - -<p>For let it be remembered who and what Mrs. Abington was.</p> - -<p>The Honourable Mary Parker, the daughter of Edward Parker Lord Morley and -the Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, was the mother of William Abington, the -well-known poet<a name="FNanchor_118_345" id="FNanchor_118_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_345" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> of that name, who was born, in fact, on or about the -5th of November, 1605.</p> - -<p>Therefore Mrs. Abington was the mother of a son who was a man of -distinguished intellectual parts.</p> - -<p>Moreover, seeing that usually it is from the mother that a son’s -capabilities are derived rather than from the father, it is more, rather -than less, likely that Mrs. Abington herself was a naturally clear-minded, -acute, discerning woman, gifted with that marvellous faculty which -constitutes cleverness in a woman — sympathetic, imaginative insight.</p> - -<p>Now if this were so, Mrs. Abington’s native perspicacity would be surely -potent enough to enable her to form a judgment, at once penetrating and -accurate, in reference to such a thing as the penmanship of the great -Letter — a document which had come home, as events had proved, with such -peculiar closeness to her own “business and bosom.”<a name="FNanchor_119_346" id="FNanchor_119_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_346" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p> - -<p>In these circumstances, may the Lady of Hindlip not, in after days, when -the tragic scenes of those fateful years 1605 and 1606 had become a sad, -pathetic memory merely, have recalled to mind certain special aspects in -the play of the countenance, in the tone of the voice, aye, in the general -mien of Father Edward Oldcorne that she had noted shortly from and after -the Michaelmas of that unhappy year 1605, forming evidence whence she -might draw her own shrewd, wise conclusions?</p> - -<p>May not this honourable woman — honourable by nature as well as by -name — have recollected that -<i>she</i><!--156.png--><span class="pagenum">118</span> -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?</p> - -<p>May she not have recalled that at that “last” Christmastide, 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 <i>warranted</i> in thus speaking.</p> - -<p>Again; did he not <i>then</i> manifest a disposition, remarkable even in <i>him</i>, -to act in diametrical opposition to the ordinary way of men, which is so -well expressed by the 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 -“<i>ineluctabile fatum</i>,” that resistless decree of the Universe — “The -guilty suffer.”</p> - -<p>Now, I submit, with sure confidence for an affirmative answer, to the -judgment of my candid readers — of my candid readers that know something of -<i>human</i> nature, its workings, its windings, and its ways — the question: -Whether or not it is not merely possible, but probable, that Mrs. Abington -<i>divined that stupendous secret</i>, through and by means of the subtle, yet -all-potent, <i>mental sympathy</i>, which must have subsisted betwixt herself -and the disciplined, exalted, stately soul, who, -as<!--157.png--><span class="pagenum">119</span> -a Priest — aye! as a -very Prophet — this high-born 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 years?<a name="FNanchor_120_347" -id="FNanchor_120_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_347" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--158.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h2> - -<p>Let us finally consider the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions -therefrom which tend to prove that <i>subsequent</i> to the dictating of the -Letter by the contrite, repentant Christopher Wright, <i>and subsequent</i> to -the penning of the Document by the deserving, beneficent Edward Oldcorne, -each of these two Englishmen, aye! these two Yorkshiremen, <i>were conscious -of having performed</i> the several functions that these pages have -attributed unto them.</p> - -<p>Let us take, then, the case of Christopher Wright first.</p> - -<p>Now, the Evidence that tends to show that Christopher Wright was conscious -of having been the revealing plotter and dictating conspirator<a name="FNanchor_121_348" id="FNanchor_121_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_348" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> has -been already mainly set forth, but let me recapitulate the same.</p> - -<p>It is as follows: — </p> - -<p>(1) That either Thomas Winter must have gone in search of Christopher -Wright, or Christopher Wright must have gone in search of Thomas Winter, -in order that it might be possible for Stowe to record on p. 880 of his -“<i>Chronicle</i>” the following allegation of facts: — </p> - -<p>“T. Winter, the next day after the delivery of the Letter, told -Christopher Wright that he understood of an obscure letter delivered to -the Lord Mounteagle, advising him not to appear at the Parliament House -the first day, and that the Lord Mounteagle had -no<!--159.png--><span class="pagenum">121</span> -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.”<a name="FNanchor_122_349" id="FNanchor_122_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_349" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> - -<p>(2) Poulson says, in his account of the Wrights, of Plowland (or Plewland) -Hall, in his “<i>History of Holderness</i>,” vol. ii., p. 57, that Christopher -Wright “was the first who ascertained that the plot was discovered.”</p> - -<p>(3) Christopher Wright 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.</p> - -<p>Or, if Christopher Wright were not being so harboured, then it is almost -certain he must have been taking such brief repose as he did take at the -inn known by the name of “the Mayden heade in St. Gyles.”<a name="FNanchor_A_65" id="FNanchor_A_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_65" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_65" id="Footnote_A_65"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_65">[A]</a> The Strand is not far from the Church of St. -Giles-in-the-Fields. This well-known church has now two district churches, -Christ Church, Endell Street, and Holy Trinity, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. -(Communicated by Mr. J. A. Nicholson, Solicitor, York.) In 1891 the -population of St. Giles’s Parish was 15,281.</p></div> - -<p>This we know from the testimony of William Grantham, servant to Joseph -Hewett, deposed to on the 5th of November, 1605,<a name="FNanchor_B_66" id="FNanchor_B_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_66" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> taken before Sir John -Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_66" id="Footnote_B_66"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_66">[B]</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<p>Moreover, the Lord Chief Justice Popham<a name="FNanchor_C_67" id="FNanchor_C_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_67" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> -reported<!--160.png--><span class="pagenum">122</span> -to Lord Salisbury on -the 5th of November as follows: “Christopher Wright, as I thyncke, lay -this last night in St. Gyles.” — “<i>Gunpowder Plot Book</i>,” Part I., No. 10.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_67" id="Footnote_C_67"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_67">[C]</a> Of the Leyborne-Pophams, of Littlecote, Co. Wilts.</p></div> - -<p>(4) Again; from the following passage in “<i>Thomas Winter’s Confession</i>” it -is evident that Christopher Wright, at a very early hour in the morning of -Tuesday, November 5th, must have been <i>in very close proximity to -Mounteagle’s residence</i>, in order to ascertain so accurately — either -directly, through the evidence of his own senses, or indirectly, through -the evidence of the senses of some other person (presumably of Thomas -Ward) — what <i>there</i> took place a few hours after Fawkes’s midnight -apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet.</p> - -<p>Thomas Winter says: — </p> - -<p>“About five o’clock being Tuesday came the younger Wright to my chamber -and told me that, a nobleman<a name="FNanchor_A_68" id="FNanchor_A_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_68" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> called the Lord Mounteagle, saying, ‘Rise -and come along to Essex House, for I am going to call up my Lord of -Northumberland,’ saying withal ‘the matter is discovered.’</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_68" id="Footnote_A_68"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_68">[A]</a> It was Edward Somerset Earl of Worcester, Master of the -Horse, I believe, an ancestor, lineal or collateral, of the Duke of -Beaufort. Worcester was a Catholic.</p></div> - -<p>“‘Go back, Mr. Wright,’ quoth I, ‘and learn what you can at Essex Gate.’</p> - -<p>“Shortly he returned and said, ‘Surely all is lost,<a name="FNanchor_123_350" id="FNanchor_123_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_350" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> 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 being answered “No,” he rode as fast up -Fleet Street as he can ride.’</p> - -<p>“‘Go you then,’ quoth I, ‘to Mr. Percy, for sure it is for him they seek, -and bid him be gone: I will stay and see the uttermost.’”</p> - -<!--161.png--><p><span class="pagenum">123</span></p> - -<p>(5) Furthermore; Lathbury, writing in the year 1839,<a name="FNanchor_A_69" id="FNanchor_A_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_69" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> asserts that -Christopher Wright’s advice was that each conspirator “should betake -himself to flight in a different direction from any of his -companions.”<a name="FNanchor_124_351" id="FNanchor_124_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_351" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_69" id="Footnote_A_69"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_69">[A]</a> Lathbury’s little book, published by Parker, is a very -careful compilation (<i>me judice</i>). 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 “<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” (1896), on p. 173, is -a fac-simile of the signature of Edward Oldcorne both before and after -torture.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--162.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2> - -<p>Now, as somewhat slightly confirming this statement of Lathbury, is the -fact that in an old print published soon after the discovery of the Plot, -which shows the conspirators Catesby, Thomas Winter, Percy, John Wright, -Fawkes, Robert 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. Christopher 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.<a name="FNanchor_125_352" id="FNanchor_125_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_352" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> - -<p>(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 -<i>has emanated from somewhere</i>.)</p> - -<p>In connection with Christopher Wright’s propinquity to Thomas Ward -possibly, and to Thomas Winter possibly likewise, on the Sunday -immediately previous to the “fatal Fifth,” the two following items of -evidence are of consequence: — </p> - -<p>(1) In Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” 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<!--163.png--><span class="pagenum">125</span> -had been -shown to the King, who made great account of it, but enjoined the -strictest secrecy.”</p> - -<p><i>This individual was Thomas Ward.</i> — (Jardine.)</p> - -<p>Now, we have seen already that Stowe’s “<i>Chronicle</i>” records “the next day -after the delivery of the Letter” there was a conjunction of the -planets — Thomas Winter and Christopher Wright.</p> - -<p>This conjunction at or about this period I hold to be a very significant -fact, tending to show that <i>either</i> the one or the other must have sought -his confederate out, as has been remarked already.</p> - -<p>But from the following important Evidence of William Kyddall, servant to -Robert Tyrwhitt, Esquire,<a name="FNanchor_A_70" id="FNanchor_A_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_70" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> brother of Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood, and kinsman -of Robert Keyes, it is evident that it was physically impossible for -Christopher Wright to have met Thomas Winter on Sunday, the 27th of -October; inasmuch as Christopher Wright was then at Lapworth, only twenty -miles distant from Hindlip Hall.<a name="FNanchor_B_71" id="FNanchor_B_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_71" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_70" id="Footnote_A_70"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_70">[A]</a> Robert Tyrwhitt and William Tyrwhitt and one of Thomas -Winter’s uncles, David Ingleby, of Ripley (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. -Father Garnet is known to have been at Twigmore.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_71" id="Footnote_B_71"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_71">[B]</a> For the information as to the distances between Coughton and -Hindlip; and Stratford-on-Avon and Hindlip; also between Lapworth and -Hindlip, I am indebted to Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross, near -Coughton; the Rev. Father Atherton, O.S.B., of Stratford-on-Avon; and -George Davis, Esq., of York.</p></div> - -<p>Yet this does not disprove the material <i>fact</i> of the meeting itself, the -date or circumstance of time not belonging to the essence of the -assertion. (See Appendix.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--164.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., No. 52.</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The examinacon of William Kyddall of Elsam in the Countie of -Lincolne s<sup>r</sup>vant to Mr. Robert Turrett of Kettleby<a name="FNanchor_A_72" id="FNanchor_A_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_72" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> in the -said Com. taken the viii<sup>th</sup> daie of November 1605 before S<sup>r</sup> -Richard Verney Knighte high Sherriff for the Com. of Warr. S<sup>r</sup> -John fferrers & Willm Combes Esq<sup>r</sup> Justices of peace there saith -as followeth.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_72" id="Footnote_A_72"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_72">[A]</a> Kettleby is near Brigg, in Lincolnshire. Twigmore, where John -Wright had lived, is also near the same town. (Communicated by R. H. -Dawson, Esq., of Beverley, a descendant of the Pendrells, of Boscobel.)</p></div> - -<p>“That he was intreated of Mr. John Wrighte, who was dwellinge at Twigmore -in the Countie of Lincolne, to bringe his daught<sup>r</sup> beinge eight or nine -yere old to Lapworth to Nicholas Slyes<a name="FNanchor_B_73" id="FNanchor_B_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_73" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> house where he hath harbored -this half yere. He brought the child to Lapworth the xxiiii<sup>th</sup> of -October, and there was Mr. John Wrighte and his wife and Mr. Christopher -Wrighte and his wife, soe he continued at Lapworth from Wednesdaie to -Monday, from thence he goeth to London w<sup>th</sup> Mr. Christopher Wrighte and -came to London on Wednesdaie betwixt two & three a Clocke to St. Giles to -the signe of the Maydenhead from whence Mr. Wrighte wente into the Towne -<!--165.png--><span class="pagenum">127</span>and -he stayed at the Inn, uppon ffriday one Richard Browne s<sup>r</sup>vant to Mr. -Wrighte wente downe into Surrey, and on ffriday at night Browne returned -and he & Browne wente uppon Sattersdaie for the Child to a Towne he -knoweth not about Croydon Race and broughte it to the Maydenhead at St. -Gyles to Mr. Wrighte the ffath<sup>r</sup> who seeinge the child too little to be -carried sent them backe w<sup>th</sup> 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. Wright to come awaie w<sup>th</sup> this examinate uppon -Mondaie morninge but staied because Mr. Wrightes Clothes were not made -till Tuesdaie morninge and then Mr. Wrighte sent this examinate <i>and<a name="FNanchor_A_74" id="FNanchor_A_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_74" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -William Ward nephew to Mr. Wrighte downe to Lapworth in Warwickshire</i> -whither they were now goinge. He saith he lefte Mr. Wright at London and -knoweth not the causes why he came not away w<sup>th</sup> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_73" id="Footnote_B_73"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_73">[B]</a> Probably Nicholas Sly and his house were well known to -Shakespeare. John Wright appears to have gone to Lapworth (which belonged -to Catesby) about May, 1605. Who Mrs. John Wright was I do not know.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_74" id="Footnote_A_74"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_74">[A]</a> William Ward, one of the sons of Marmaduke Ward, <i>it will be -remembered, had an uncle who lived at Court</i>. This surely must have been -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; but I do not think so, otherwise we -should have been told the fact in Kyddall’s evidence, most probably. (The -italics are mine.)</p></div> - -<div class="sig">“Richard Verney.<a name="FNanchor_B_75" id="FNanchor_B_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_75" class="fnanchor">[B]</a><br /> -Jo: fferrers.<a name="FNanchor_C_76" id="FNanchor_C_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_76" class="fnanchor">[C]</a><br /> -W. Combes.”<a name="FNanchor_126_353" id="FNanchor_126_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_353" class="fnanchor">[126]</a><a name="FNanchor_D_77" id="FNanchor_D_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_77" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_75" id="Footnote_B_75"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_75">[B]</a> Sir Richard Verney, Knt., would be a friend, belike, of Sir -Thomas Lucy, Knt., of Charlcote (a Warwickshire Puritan gentleman).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_76" id="Footnote_C_76"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_76">[C]</a> Of the Ferrers, of Baddlesley Clinton (a very old Catholic -family).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_77" id="Footnote_D_77"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_77">[D]</a> From whom Shakespeare bought land. To John Combes, brother to -William, the poet bequeathed his sword by Will.</p></div> - -<p>(No endorsement).</p> - -<!--166.png--><p><span class="pagenum">128</span></p> - -<p>Mistress Dorothie Robinson, Widdow, of Spur Alley, on the 7th of November, -1605, also deposed as follows: — </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., No. 41.</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The examinacon of Dorathie Robinson<a name="FNanchor_127_354" id="FNanchor_127_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_354" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> widdow of Spurr Alley.</p> - -<p>“Shee sayeth that one Mr. Christopher Wright gent did lye in her -house about a Moneth past for xviii<sup>en</sup> dayes together and no -more. And there did come to him one Mr. Winter w<sup>ch</sup> did -continually frequent his Company and about a moneth past the -said Winter brought to her house two hampers<a name="FNanchor_A_78" id="FNanchor_A_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_78" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> locked w<sup>th</sup> -two padlockes, and caused them to be placed in a little Closet -at the end of Mr. Wright’s Chamber. But what was in the said -hamps, was privately conveyed away by Winter w<sup>th</sup>out her -knowledge, and the hamps was geven to her use.</p> - -<p>“Shee sayeth that Mr. Wright could not chuse but know of the -conveying of those thinges w<sup>ch</sup> were in the hamper as well as -Mr. Winter.</p> - -<p>“Shee sayeth that Mr. Winter by report of his man, was a -Worcestershire man, and his living Eight score poundes by the -yeare at the lest.</p> - -<p>“<i>The said Mr. Wright hath a brother in London,<a name="FNanchor_B_79" id="FNanchor_B_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_79" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> whose servant -came to him in this woman’s house, and -the</i><!--167.png--><span class="pagenum">129</span> -<i>same morning of his going away, w<sup>ch</sup> was a Moneth on Tuesday -last.</i></p> - -<p>“That the said Wright was to seeke his loding againe at this woman’s -house; but she tould him her lodgings were otherwayes disposed of. And -then he went his wayes. And since that tyme shee never saw him.</p> - -<p>“<i>She sayeth that shee saw Mr. Winter uppon Sunday last in the afternoone. -But where he lodgeth she knoweth not.</i> (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<p>“I can find no manner of thing in this woman’s house whereby to geve us -any incouragem<sup>t</sup> to proceede any further.</p> - -<p>“The said Mr. Wright did often goe to the Salutation to one Mr. Jackson’s -house; And one Steven the drawer as shee thinketh will tell where hee is.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_78" id="Footnote_A_78"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_78">[A]</a> These hampers contained the fresh gunpowder, no doubt, -mentioned by Thomas Winter in his “<i>Confession</i>” written in the Tower. -This sentence tends to confirm the genuineness of the Confession.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_79" id="Footnote_B_79"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_79">[B]</a> <i>Who was this brother?</i> I <i>suggest</i> that by brother is meant -brother-in-law, and that as a fact Christopher Wright <i>had</i> married -Margaret Ward, the sister to both Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. If this be -correct, then we have demonstrative proof of the servant of Thomas Ward -calling upon Christopher Wright (probably with a message from Thomas Ward) -the very same morning as, I hold, that Christopher Wright went down into -Warwickshire, where he would be within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne. -This evidence is important. The word <i>came</i>, too, is noticeable, implying, -I think, a habit of coming, a frequentative use of the past tense of the -verb. Observe also “<i>and the same morning</i>,” implying <i>cumulative</i> acts of -“<i>coming</i>,” the visit of that day being the last of a series of visits.</p></div> - -<p>Mr. Jackson also deposed: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“He sayeth that he knoweth Mr. Wright very well, <i>But it is -about a fortnight past,<a name="FNanchor_128_355" id="FNanchor_128_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_355" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> since he ws at his house, and since -that tyme he knoweth not what is become of him.</i> (The italics -are mine.)</p> - -<p>“He sayeth further that he knoweth not any other of his Consorts -or Companyons, yf hee did he would reveale it.</p> - -<p>(Endorsed) “The examinacon of Dorathy Robinson Widdow of Spurr -Alley.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Furthermore, we have the following Evidence of Mistress Elizabeth -More:<!--168.png--><span class="pagenum">130</span> — </p> - -<p>7 Nov: 1605.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">State Papers Domestic — Jas. I.</span>, Vol. xvi., No. 13.</p> - -<p>“The Declaracon of Elizabeth More the wief of Edward More taken the 5th of -November 1605.</p> - -<p>“She saieth that the gent that lay at her howse w<sup>th</sup> Mr. Rookwood this -last night and the night before his name is Mr. Keyes and he took upp the -Chamber for the said Mr. Rookwood.</p> - -<p>“And she saieth that uppon ffryday night last Mr. Christofir Wright came -to this exaite howse w<sup>th</sup> the said Mr. Rookwood and lay that night in a -chamber on the said Mr. Rookwoode Chamber.</p> - -<p>(Endorsed) “5th No: 1605.</p> - -<div class="right">“The Declaracon of Elizabeth More.”</div> - -<p>Mistress More, I find, lived near Temple Bar.<a name="FNanchor_A_80" id="FNanchor_A_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_80" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_80" id="Footnote_A_80"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_80">[A]</a> Where was Spur Alley? and how far were Temple Bar and Spur -Alley from the town-house in the Strand of the Lord Mounteagle, and -therefore of his Lordship’s secretary, Thomas Ward? -</p> - -<p> -It will be noted by the judicious reader that the conjectured fact that -Christopher Wright’s London lodgings were within a short distance of -where, doubtless, his — I suggest — <i>brother-in-law</i> (Ward) was to be found -tends to support my theory.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--169.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XL.</h2> - -<p>Before we well-nigh finally take our leave of Christopher Wright, I should -like to bring before my readers two pieces of Evidence, from each of -which, at any rate, may be drawn the inference that it was one of the -conspirators themselves that revealed the tremendous secret.</p> - -<p>That Christopher Wright was that revealing conspirator, the manifold -considerations which the preceding pages of this Inquiry have established, -I trust, will satisfy the intellect of my readers, seeing that those -considerations, I respectfully but firmly urge, must be held to have built -up a “probability” so high as to amount to that “moral certitude” which is -“the very guide” of Man’s terrestrial life, in that it furnishes Man with -those sufficient rules which direct his daily action.<a name="FNanchor_129_356" id="FNanchor_129_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_356" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p> - -<p>But, in bringing the first piece of Evidence to which I allude before the -eyes of my readers, I desire, with great respect, to say that I am keenly -conscious that I run the risk of incurring the condemnation implied in the -words: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”</p> - -<p>But, since “circumstances alter cases,” I feel warranted (under -correction) in adventuring, in this one instance, upon a particular line -of argument which I feel is, as an affair of taste, <i>primâ facie</i> -unseemly, and, as a matter of feeling, a line of action, in ordinary -cases, to be rigorously eschewed.</p> - -<!--170.png--><p><span class="pagenum">132</span></p> - -<p>Yet, seeing that such a course of conduct cannot be held to be morally -wrong, my plea is — and I respectfully submit my all-sufficient plea -is — that an Inquiry, having for its purpose the elucidation of the -hitherto inscrutable mystery as to who revealed, or who were instrumental -in revealing, so satanic an enterprise as the Gunpowder Plot, being far, -far removed beyond the range of mere logic-chopping, dry-as-dust, -non-human investigations, justifies the following, in one instance, of a -course of action which unquestionably would clash with mere, decorous -taste, and would collide with mere delicate feeling, except, by the case -being altered, it were lifted into the realm of the categories of the -extraordinary and the special.</p> - -<p><i>Then</i> the nature of the act <i>or</i> action composing that course of conduct -would be, in a sense, fundamentally and meritoriously changed. And, -<i>therefore</i>, it would be, by a double title, morally justifiable.</p> - -<p>Now, when the Gunpowder conspirators were at Huddington, the mansion-house -of Robert Winter, on Thursday, the 7th day of November, certainly most of -the conspirators, and probably all of them, received the Sacrament of -Penance through the ministry of a Jesuit Father, named Nicholas Hart -(alias Strangeways and Hammond), who besides being an <i>alumnus</i> of -Westminster School, and for two years a student of the University of -Oxford, had, prior to his becoming a Priest and a Jesuit, “studied law in -the Inns of Court and Chancery in London.”<a name="FNanchor_130_357" id="FNanchor_130_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_357" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p> - -<p>Now, William Handy, the serving-man of Sir Everard Digby (of whom we have -already heard), further deposed as follows:<a name="FNanchor_131_358" id="FNanchor_131_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_358" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> - -<p>“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, -which<!--171.png--><span class="pagenum">133</span> -Mass was said by a priest named Harte, a little man -whitely complexioned, and a little beard.”</p> - -<p>Now, Ambrose Rookwood, on the 21st day of January, 1605-6, deposed<a name="FNanchor_132_359" id="FNanchor_132_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_359" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> -that he confessed to Hammond at Huddington, on Thursday, the 7th of -November, that he was sorry he had not revealed the Plot, it seeming so -bloody, and that after his confession Hammond absolved him without remark.</p> - -<p>The precise words of the ill-fated Rookwood hereon are these: — </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books — No. 177.</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The voluntarie declaration of Ambrose Rokewood esquier. 21 -Janu. 1605 [1606]</p> - -<p>“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<sup>r</sup> sinnes to one Mr. Hamonde Preeste, at -Mr. Robert Wintour his house, and amonges other my sinnes I did -acknowledge my error in concealing theire intended enterprise of -pouder agaynste his Ma<sup>tie</sup> 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.</p> - -<div class="sig">“Ambrose Rookewoode.</div> - -<div class="left">“Ex<sup>r</sup> p. Edw. Coke<br /> -       W. Ward.”<br /> -(Endorsed)</div> - -<div class="sig">“... pouder<br /> -       xx<sup>th</sup> of January 1605.<br /> -hamond<br /> -Declaration of Ambrose<br /> -Rookewoode of his own hand.”</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--172.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span></p> -</div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLI.</h2> - -<p>Now, regard being had to the fact that this kneeling young Penitent was, -with his own lips, avowing the commission in <i>desire and thought</i> of -“murder most foul as at the best it is”<a name="FNanchor_A_81" id="FNanchor_A_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_81" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> (and “we know that no murderer -hath eternal life abiding in him”<a name="FNanchor_B_82" id="FNanchor_B_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_82" class="fnanchor">[B]</a>), 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”<a name="FNanchor_C_83" id="FNanchor_C_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_83" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> (to say -nothing of his avowal of the commission <i>in act and deed</i> of the crime of -sacrilege,<a name="FNanchor_D_84" id="FNanchor_D_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_84" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> in taking a secret, unlawful oath contrary to the express -prohibitions of a visible and audible Institution which that Priest and -that -Penitent<!--173.png--><span class="pagenum">135</span> -alike believed was of divine origin), I firmly, though with -great and all-becoming deference, draw <i>these</i> conclusions, namely, that -<i>one of the plotters</i> had <i>already</i> poured into the bending ear of his -breathless priestly hearer <i>glad tidings</i> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_81" id="Footnote_A_81"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_81">[A]</a> Shakespeare.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_82" id="Footnote_B_82"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_82">[B]</a> St. John the Divine.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_83" id="Footnote_C_83"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_83">[C]</a> Sophocles.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_84" id="Footnote_D_84"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_84">[D]</a> Of course the Gunpowder Treason Plot was a “sacrilegious -crime,” because it sought to compass the death of a king who was “one of -the Lord’s anointed,” <i>as well as</i> 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 Inn, “near the principal -street in London called the Strand.” — See “<i>The Confessions of Thomas -Winter and Guy Fawkes</i>.” This house was probably the London lodging of -Father John Gerard, S.J. Winter and Fawkes said that the conspirators -received the Sacrament at the hands of Gerard. But “Gerard was not -acquainted with their purpose,” said Fawkes. Gerard denied having given -the conspirators the Sacrament. — See Gardiner’s “<i>What Gunpowder Plot -was</i>,” p. 44. One vested priest is very much like another, just as one -soldier in uniform is very much like another. So Fawkes and Winter may -have been mistaken. Besides, they would not be likely to be minutely -examining the features of a priest on such an occasion.</p></div> - -<p>Furthermore; that it was <i>because</i> of the possession by Hammond of this -happy intelligence, early on that Thursday morning, before sunrise, that -<i>therefore</i>, in the Tribunal of Penance, “he absolved” poor, miserable -(yet contrite) Ambrose Rookwood “for all in general” — “without any other -circumstances.”</p> - -<p>That is, I take it, without reproaching or even chiding him — in fact -“without remark.”<a name="FNanchor_A_85" id="FNanchor_A_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_85" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_85" id="Footnote_A_85"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_85">[A]</a> 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 Suwston 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 “<i>Records</i>,” 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 whose “future” -I should like to follow up. Was he the same as a certain “Dr. Singleton” -who figures in the “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>” vol. i., p. 443? and was he of -the Catholic Singletons, of Singleton, near Blackpool?</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--174.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLII.</h2> - -<p>The other piece of Evidence that I wish to bring before my readers which -tends to show that it was <i>one of the conspirators themselves that -revealed the Plot</i> is this: — </p> - -<p>Jardine gives in his “<i>Criminal Trials</i>”<a name="FNanchor_133_360" id="FNanchor_133_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_360" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> a certain Letter of -Instructions to Sir Edward Coke,<a name="FNanchor_134_361" id="FNanchor_134_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_361" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> the Attorney-General who conducted -the prosecution of the surviving Gunpowder conspirators at Westminster -Hall<a name="FNanchor_135_362" id="FNanchor_135_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_362" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> before a Special Commission for High Treason, on the 27th day of -January, 1605-6.</p> - -<p>This very remarkable document is in the handwriting of Robert Cecil first -Earl of Salisbury.</p> - -<p>It is as follows: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“These things I am commanded to renew unto your 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 -men 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.</p> - -<!--175.png--><p><span class="pagenum">137</span></p> - -<p>“<i>Next, you must in any case, when you speak of the Letter which -was the first ground of discovery, absolutely disclaim that any -of these wrote it, though you leave the further judgment -indefinite who else it should be.</i> (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<p>“Lastly, and you must not omit, you must deliver, in -commendation of my Lord Mounteagle, words to show how sincerely -he dealt, and how fortunately it proved that he was the -instrument of so great a blessing as this was. To be short, sir, -you can remember how well the King in his Book did censure<a name="FNanchor_A_86" id="FNanchor_A_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_86" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -his lordship’s part in it, from which sense you are not to vary, -but <i>obiter</i> (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.</p> - -<p>“This is but <i>ex abundanti</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>“You must remember to lay Owen as foul in this as you can.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_86" id="Footnote_A_86"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_86">[A]</a> The word “censure” here means, formed an opinion of -his lordship’s part. From Lat. <i>censeo</i>, I think.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For, if he be correctly reported, Sir Edward Coke then said: — <a name="FNanchor_136_363" id="FNanchor_136_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_363" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p> - -<p>“The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this -treason, <i>which was by one of -themselves</i>,<!--176.png--><span class="pagenum">138</span> -<i>who had taken the oath and -sacrament, as hath been said, against his own will; the means was by a -dark and doubtful letter sent to my Lord Mounteagle.</i>”<a name="FNanchor_A_87" id="FNanchor_A_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_87" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> (The italics are -mine.)</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_87" id="Footnote_A_87"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_87">[A]</a> “Truth will out!”</p></div> - -<p>Now, regard being had (1) to what Salisbury bade Coke <i>not say</i>; and (2) -to what Coke as a matter of fact <i>did say</i>, I infer, first, that it <i>was</i> -one of the conspirators who revealed the Plot; because of just scruples -that his conscience had, well-nigh at the eleventh hour, awakened in his -breast: that, secondly, not only so, but that the Government, through -Salisbury, Suffolk, Coke, and probably Bacon, strongly suspected as much: -that, thirdly, this was the explanation not only of their <i>comparatively</i> -mild treatment of the Gunpowder conspirators themselves,<a name="FNanchor_137_364" id="FNanchor_137_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_364" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> but also, I -hold, of the subsequent <i>comparatively</i> mild treatment of the recusants -generally throughout the country.<a name="FNanchor_138_365" id="FNanchor_138_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_365" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For, indisputably, the Government abstained from following after, and from -reaping the full measure of, their victory (to have recourse to a more -dignified figure of speech) <i>either on grounds of principle, policy — or -both</i>.</p> - -<p>Moreover, none of the estates of the plotters -were<!--177.png--><span class="pagenum">139</span> -forfeited. And this, -regard being had 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 circumstance pregnant with the greatest possible -suspicion that there was some great mystery in the background. — See -Lathbury’s “<i>Guy Fawkes</i>,” pp. 76, 77, first Edition.</p> - -<p>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 Privy 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.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--178.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2> - -<p>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 incarcerated in the Tower of London, either to -seek to save his life when awaiting his trial in Westminster 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, Westminster, to seek to save his life, <i>by divulging the -mighty secret respecting his responsibility for the Letter of Letters, had -anyone of them in point of fact penned the document. For “skin for skin -all that a man hath will he give for his life.”</i></p> - -<p>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 <i>anyone of them</i> had saved his King and Parliament.</p> - -<p>Hence, by consequence, <i>the revealing conspirator must be found amongst -that small band of four who survived not to tell the tale</i>.</p> - -<p>Therefore is our Inquiry reduced to within a narrow compass, a fact which -simplifies our task unspeakably.</p> - -<p>If it be objected that “a point of honour” may have stayed and restrained -one of the nine -conspirators<!--179.png--><span class="pagenum">141</span> -from “discovering” or revealing his share in -the laudable deed, it is demonstrable that it would be a <i>false</i>, not a -<i>true</i>, sense of duty that prompted such an unrighteous step.</p> - -<p>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 <i>ought, in justice</i>, to have actuated — and it is -reasonable to believe would have assuredly actuated — a disclosure of the -truth respecting the facts of the revelation.</p> - -<p>But I hold that the nine conspirators told nothing as to the origin of -this Letter of Letters, <i>because they had none of them, anything to tell</i>.</p> - -<p>Moreover, I suggest that what Archbishop Usher<a name="FNanchor_139_366" id="FNanchor_139_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_366" class="fnanchor">[139]</a><a name="FNanchor_A_88" id="FNanchor_A_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_88" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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,”<a name="FNanchor_140_368" id="FNanchor_140_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_368" class="fnanchor">[140]</a><a name="FNanchor_B_89" id="FNanchor_B_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_89" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> was -this: — </p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_88" id="Footnote_A_88"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_88">[A]</a> Protestant Archbishop of Armagh.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_89" id="Footnote_B_89"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_89">[B]</a> Such 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. For it tends to demonstrate the existence -of a realm 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-minded and intelligent Catholics, the weight of -<i>this</i> 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.</p></div> - -<p><i>That it was “the Papist Doctrine” of the non-binding force of a secret, -unlawful oath that (Deo juvante) had been primarily the joint-efficient -cause of the -spinning</i><!--180.png--><span class="pagenum">142</span> -<i>right round on its axis of the hell-begotten -Gunpowder Plot.</i></p> - -<p>It is plain that King James’s Government<a name="FNanchor_A_90" id="FNanchor_A_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_90" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> were mysteriously stayed and -restrained in their legislative and administrative action after the -discovery of the diabolically atrocious Gunpowder Treason Plot.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_90" id="Footnote_A_90"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_90">[A]</a> It is the duty of every Government to see that it is true, -just, and strong. Governments should confine their efforts to the calm and -faithful attainment of these three ideals. Then they win respect and -confidence, 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 the two extremes, injustice and hysterical generosity, which is a -sure sign of a lack of consciousness of absolute truth, justice, and -strength.</p></div> - -<p>And illogical and inconstant as many English rulers too often have been -throughout England’s long and, by good fortune, glorious History, this -extraordinary illogicalness 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 what?</p> - -<p>Unhesitatingly I answer: <i>Of that Government’s not daring, for very -decency’s sake, to proceed to extremities.</i></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -human beings, who, after all, were the persecuted Papists’ -fellow-creatures.</p> - -<p>Therefore, I suggest that this manifest hesitancy to proceed to -extremities sprang from, and indeed -itself<!--181.png--><span class="pagenum">143</span> -demonstrates, this fact, -namely, that the then British Government realized that <i>it was an -essentially Popish Doctrine of Morals which had been the primary motive -power for securing their temporal salvation. That doctrine being, indeed, -none other than the hated and dreaded “Popish Doctrine” of the -“non-binding force” upon the Popish Conscience of a secret, morally -unlawful oath which thereby, ipso facto, “the Papal Church” prohibited and -condemned.</i></p> - -<p>Hence, that was, I once more suggest, what Archbishop Usher referred to, -in his oracular words, which have become historic, but which have been -hitherto deemed to constitute an insoluble riddle.</p> - -<p>For certainly behind those oracular words lay some great State mystery.</p> - -<p>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 “<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” p. 160.</p> - -<p>For the Plot <i>was</i> “his father’s contrivance,” considered as to its broad -ultimate <i>effects</i> 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.</p> - -<p>“<i>’Tis a strange world, my masters! And the whirligig of Time brings round -strange revenges!</i>”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--182.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2> - -<p>We come now to the last portion of this Inquiry — to the last portion, -indeed, but not to the least.</p> - -<p>For we have now to consider what Evidence there is tending to prove that -<i>subsequent</i> to the penning of the Letter by Father Edward Oldcorne, he -was <i>conscious</i> of having performed the meritorious deed that, I maintain, -the Evidence, 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.</p> - -<p>Before considering this Evidence let me, however, remind my readers that -there is (1) <i>not only a general similarity</i> in the handwriting of the -Letter and Father Oldcorne’s undoubted handiwork — the Declaration of the -12th day of March, 1605-6 — <i>a general similarity</i> in point of the size of -the letters and of that indescribable something called style,<a name="FNanchor_141_369" id="FNanchor_141_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_369" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> <i>but -(2) a particular similarity</i> in the formation of the letters in the case -of these following, namely, the small c/s, l/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.<a name="FNanchor_A_91" id="FNanchor_A_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_91" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_91" id="Footnote_A_91"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_91">[A]</a> Bentham aptly terms the comparison of Document with Document, -“Circumstantial real Evidence.” — See Best’s “<i>Principles of the Law of -Evidence</i>,” and Wills on “<i>Circumstantial Evidence</i>.” See Miss Walford’s -Letter (Appendix).</p></div> - -<!--183.png--><p><span class="pagenum">145</span></p> - -<p>Moreover, there is (3) this fact to be remembered, that in both the Letter -and in the said Declaration, the name “God” is written with a small “g,” -thus: “god.”</p> - -<p>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 Englishmen in the year 1605.</p> - -<p>Still, it was certainly <i>not by them universally so written</i>. For in the -fac-simile of “<i>Thomas Winter’s Confession</i>” the word “God” occurs more -than once written with a handsomely made capital G,<a name="FNanchor_142_370" id="FNanchor_142_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_370" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> to mention none -other cases.</p> - -<p>There is to be also remembered (4) the user of the expressions “as yowe -tender youer lyf,” and “deuys some exscuse to shift of<a name="FNanchor_143_371" id="FNanchor_143_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_371" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> youer -attendance at this parleament for god and man hathe concurred to punishe -the wickednes of this tyme.”</p> - -<p>For these expressions are eminently expressions that would be employed by -a man born in Yorkshire in the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p>Again; there is to be noted (5) the expressions as “yowe tender youer -<i>lyf</i>,” and “god and man hathe concurred.” Inasmuch as I maintain that as -“yowe tender youer <i>lyf</i>” 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Once more; (6) the expression “god and man hathe concurred” is -pre-eminently the mode of clothing -in<!--184.png--><span class="pagenum">146</span> -language one way, wherein a rigid -Roman Catholic of that time would mentally contemplate — <i>not</i>, 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 <i>knew</i> for certain that it could be considered as -a clear transparency only — as a defecated cluster of purely intellectual -acts.<a name="FNanchor_A_92" id="FNanchor_A_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_92" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_92" id="Footnote_A_92"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_92">[A]</a> It is manifest that if, <i>in intent</i>, Oldcorne by his own -Letter had destroyed the Plot, he, of all other people in the world, would -have <i>the prerogative</i> of regarding the Plot as a clear transparency; -<i>while of the Plot as a transparency</i>, he would feel a freedom to write -“god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme.” If -the Writer had not the prerogative of regarding the Plot as a clear -transparency then these results follow — that he regarded Him (Whose Eyes -are too pure even to behold iniquity) as <i>concurring</i> in the designment of -a most hellish crime, nay, of participating in such designment; <i>for he -couples God with man</i>. Now 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 the Writer of the Letter can have been regarded as no -crime. But it was obviously a crime, <i>unless and until</i> it had been -defecated of criminous quality, and so rendered a clear transparency. Now, -as the Writer 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 <i>this</i>, I maintain, proves that the Writer -had a special interior knowledge of the Plot “behind the scenes,” that is, -deep down within the depths of his conscious being.</p></div> - -<p>Furthermore, in reflecting on these preliminaries to the general -discussion of the Evidence tending to prove a consciousness on Edward -Oldcorne’s part, <i>subsequent</i> 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: “<i>the -dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter and i hope god -will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i -contend yowe.</i>” (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--185.png--><p><span class="pagenum">147</span></p> - -<p>Now, I opine that what the Writer intended <i>to hint at</i> was a suggestion -to the recipient of the Letter to destroy the document. <i>Not</i>, however, -that as a fact, I think, he really wished it to be destroyed.<a name="FNanchor_144_372" id="FNanchor_144_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_372" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> Because -it is highly probable that (apart from other reasons) the Writer must 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 <i>good</i> use of it”?</p> - -<p>And why should the King himself in his book have omitted the insertion of -this little, but here virtually all-important, adjective?<a name="FNanchor_145_373" id="FNanchor_145_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_373" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_146_374" id="FNanchor_146_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_374" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> 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!</p> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_147_375" id="FNanchor_147_375"></a><a -href="#Footnote_147_375" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--186.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLV.</h2> - -<p>Having dealt with the <i>preliminary</i> Evidence, we now come to the -discussion of the <i>main</i> Evidence which tends to show that <i>subsequent</i> to -the penning of the Letter Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, -performed acts or spoke words which clearly betoken <i>a consciousness</i> on -his part of being the responsible person who penned the document.</p> - -<p>That this may be done the more thoroughly, it will be necessary to ask my -readers to engage with me in a metaphysical discussion.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Now, on Wednesday, November the 6th, 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, who had married Miss Gertrude Talbot, of Grafton. The -Talbots, like the Throckmortons, were a people who happily managed to -reconcile rigid adherence to the ancient Faith with stanch loyalty to -their lawful Sovereign.<a name="FNanchor_A_93" id="FNanchor_A_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_93" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_93" id="Footnote_A_93"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_93">[A]</a> I believe that the grand old Catholic family of Throckmorton -still own Coughton Hall, which is twelve miles from Hindlip.</p></div> - -<!--187.png--><p><span class="pagenum">149</span></p> - -<p>Tesimond, leaving behind him his Superior Garnet at Coughton, 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.</p> - -<p>This was the last occasion when Tesimond’s eyes gazed upon his old York -school-fellows of happier, bygone days — the brothers John and Christopher -Wright.<a name="FNanchor_148_380" id="FNanchor_148_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_380" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> - -<p>Now, to Father Tesimond, as well as to Father Oldcorne, Hindlip Hall<a name="FNanchor_A_94" id="FNanchor_A_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_94" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -and Huddington<a name="FNanchor_B_95" id="FNanchor_B_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_95" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> (in Worcestershire), Coughton,<a name="FNanchor_C_96" id="FNanchor_C_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_96" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> Lapworth,<a name="FNanchor_D_97" id="FNanchor_D_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_97" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> -Clopton,<a name="FNanchor_E_98" id="FNanchor_E_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_98" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> and Norbrook<a name="FNanchor_F_99" id="FNanchor_F_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_99" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> (in Warwickshire), must have been thoroughly -well known; for at Hindlip Hall for eight years Tesimond likewise had been -formerly domesticated.</p> - -<p>Where resided either temporarily or permanently: — </p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_94" id="Footnote_A_94"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_94">[A]</a> Thomas Abington.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_95" id="Footnote_B_95"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_95">[B]</a> Robert Winter and Thomas Winter.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_96" id="Footnote_C_96"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_96">[C]</a> Thomas Throckmorton.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_97" id="Footnote_D_97"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_97">[D]</a> John Wright and Christopher Wright.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_98" id="Footnote_E_98"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_E_98">[E]</a> Ambrose Rookwood.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_99" id="Footnote_F_99"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_F_99">[F]</a> John Grant.</p></div> - -<p>Dr. Gardiner’s “<i>History of James I.</i>” (Longmans) contains a map showing -the relative positions of these places.</p> - -<p>On Wednesday, the 6th November, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond were at -Coughton. Catesby, along with Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Sir -Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, and others, was at Huddington. Catesby -and Digby had sent a letter to Garnet.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<!--188.png--><p><span class="pagenum">150</span></p> - -<p>Catesby and Digby urged Garnet to make for Wales.<a name="FNanchor_A_100" id="FNanchor_A_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_100" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_100" id="Footnote_A_100"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_100">[A]</a> Catesby 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 Tesimond, 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 projected 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 11th of -October, I think.</p></div> - -<p>After half-an-hour’s earnest discourse together, Father Garnet gave leave -to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington to administer to the wretched -fugitives the rites — the last rites — of the Church they had so disgraced -and wronged. Garnet remained at Coughton. Tesimond tarried at Huddington -about two hours.</p> - -<p>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 conference — Tesimond -himself denounced, if he did not reproach, as being phlegmatic.</p> - -<p>Tesimond, evidently, had been commissioned by Catesby,<a name="FNanchor_B_101" id="FNanchor_B_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_101" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> at Huddington, -to incite Mr. Abington, his household, and retainers, including (I take -it, if possible) Oldcorne himself, to join the insurgents at -Huddington,<!--189.png--><span class="pagenum">151</span> -Holbeach, Wales, 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_101" id="Footnote_B_101"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_101">[B]</a> Tesimond, in my opinion, was completely over-mastered by the -more potent will of his penitent (?) Catesby. <i>Cf.</i>, The case of Hugh -Latimer and Thomas Bilney; Bilney made a Protestant of Latimer, who was -Bilney’s confessor. These afford striking examples of the power of -psycho-electrical will force.</p></div> - -<p>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 more than -life.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--190.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2> - -<p>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 <i>this</i> 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 -Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne’s was a <i>mens conscia recti</i> — a mind conscious -of rectitude — aye, a mind conscious of superabounding merit and virtue.</p> - -<p>So important evidentially do I think the diverse demeanour<a name="FNanchor_149_381" id="FNanchor_149_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_381" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> of -Tesimond and Oldcorne on this occasion, that I will transcribe from -Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>”<a name="FNanchor_150_382" id="FNanchor_150_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_382" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> Oldcorne’s testimony of what took place -at Hindlip Hall at this interview: — <a name="FNanchor_151_383" id="FNanchor_151_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_383" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p> - -<p>“Oldcorne confesseth that upon Wednesday, being the 6th of November, about -two of the clock in the afternoon, there came Tesimond (Greenway) from -Huddington, from Mr. Robert 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<!--191.png--><span class="pagenum">153</span> -discovered a day or two before; and now -they were gathered together some forty horse at Mr. Winter’s house, naming -Catesby, Percy, Digby, and others; and told them, ‘their throats would be -cut unless they presently went to join with them.’ And Mr. Abington said, -‘Alas! 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 confesseth that upon the former speeches -made by this examinate and Mr. Abington to Tesimond, alias Greenway, the -Jesuit, <i>Tesimond said in some heat ‘thus we may see a difference between -a flemmatike [phlegmatic] and a choleric person!’, and said he would go to -others, and specially into Lancashire, for the same purpose as he came to -Hindlip to Mr. Abington</i>.” <a name="FNanchor_152_384" id="FNanchor_152_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_384" class="fnanchor">[152]</a><a name="FNanchor_153_385" id="FNanchor_153_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_385" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--192.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2> - -<p>Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the English Jesuits, left London at the -end of August, 1605,<a name="FNanchor_154_386" id="FNanchor_154_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_386" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> and proceeded towards Gothurst (now Gayhurst), -in the Parish of Tyringham, three miles from Newport Pagnell, -Buckinghamshire.<a name="FNanchor_A_102" id="FNanchor_A_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_102" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_102" id="Footnote_A_102"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_102">[A]</a> The seat of Walter Carlile, Esquire, as has been already -mentioned. I have to thank this gentleman for his courteousness in -informing me that Gayhurst (formerly Gothurst) is three miles from Newport -Pagnell. An excellent picture, together with descriptive account, of -Gayhurst, is given in the “<i>Life of Sir Everard Digby</i>,” 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 Vaux.</p></div> - -<p>Now, who was Henry Garnet, whom 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 around whose 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 -Rome,<!--193.png--><span class="pagenum">155</span> -where the great Cardinal -Bellarmine was one of his tutors.</p> - -<p>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 the beginning of -Trinity Term (<i>i.e.</i>, the 9th June, 1605), Catesby, in Thames Street, -London — <i>outside the Confessional</i> — had propounded to Garnet a question, -<i>which ought to have put the Jesuit expressly upon inquiry</i>. For that -question was, in case it were lawful to kill a person or persons, whether -it were necessary to regard the innocents which were present, lest they -also should perish withal.</p> - -<p>And this the rather, when Catesby on that very occasion “made solemn -protestation that he would never be known to have asked me [<i>i.e.</i>, -Garnet] any such question as long as he lived.” — See “Hatfield MS.,” -printed in “<i>Historical Review</i>,” for July, 1888, and largely quoted in -the Rev. J. Gerard’s articles on Garnet, in “<i>Month</i>” for June and July, -1901.</p> - -<p>On the 24th of July, 1605, Garnet had sent a remarkable letter to Rome, -addressed to Father Aquaviva, the General of the Jesuits. — See “Father -Gerard’s Narrative,” pp. 76, 77, in “<i>Condition of Catholics under James -I.</i>,” edited by Rev. John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872).</p> - -<p>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 — “<i>the danger is lest secretly -some Treason or violence be shown to the King, and so all Catholics may be -compelled to take arms.</i>”</p> - -<!--194.png--><p><span class="pagenum">156</span></p> - -<p>Garnet then proceeds: “<i>Wherefore, in my judgment, two things are -necessary, first, that His Holiness should prescribe what in any case is -to be done; and then, that he should forbid any force of arms by the -Catholics under Censures, and by Brief, publicly promulgated; an occasion -for which can be taken from the disturbance lately raised in Wales, which -has at length come to nothing.</i> It remains that as all things are daily -becoming worse, we should beseech His Holiness soon to give a necessary -remedy for these great dangers, and we ask his blessing and that of your -Paternity.” (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<p>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 Rome’s tenets, the special means devised by the -Founder of Christianity whereby Man is united to “the Unseen Perfectness.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--195.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2> - -<p>When Garnet penned this letter to the General of the Jesuits in Rome, he -had, <i>outside the Confessional</i>, a general knowledge of the Gunpowder -project from Robert Catesby.</p> - -<p>Thus much is clear.</p> - -<p>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 “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. -78.</p> - -<p><i>Garnet most probably in the Confessional even did not at first know all -particulars.</i></p> - -<p>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 -explosives which it was further intended were to be ignited, when -Parliament met, by Guy Fawkes, booted and spurred, by means of a -slow-burning match, which would give him one quarter-of-an-hour’s grace to -effect his escape to a ship in the Thames bound for Flanders: and that the -young Princess Elizabeth was to be seized at the house of the Lord -Harrington, in Warwickshire, and proclaimed Queen <i>after</i> her parents and -two brothers, Henry Prince of Wales and Charles Duke of York, had been -torn and rent into ten thousand fragments.</p> - -<!--196.png--><p><span class="pagenum">158</span></p> - -<p>But this able, learned, sweet-tempered, yet weak-willed, unimaginative, -irresolute man <i>knew enough outside the Confessional</i> — which is the point -we have to deal with here — to render himself liable to have been sent to -the galleys by the Pope, if His Holiness could have laid hold of him, -when, notwithstanding this atrocious knowledge, he actually refused to -give ear to the arch-conspirator, even although Catesby, on Father -Gerard’s own admission, “offered sometimes to tell him [Garnet] that they -[Catesby and his friends] would not endure to be so long so much abused, -but would take some course to right themselves, if others would not -respect them or could not relieve them.” — Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 78.</p> - -<p>Truly “Evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart.”</p> - -<p>The fact that Garnet knew violence was likely to be shown to his lawful -Sovereign, coupled with the fact that Garnet <i>might have learned all the -particulars about that purposed violence</i> had 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 <i>up to the -24th of July, 1605, absolutely</i> 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 or 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 -<i>against the Sovereign power of his Country</i>. Although, being a priest, he -ought to have been ecclesiastically “<i>degraded</i>” first, according to the -provisions of the Canon law, and then -handed<!--197.png--><span class="pagenum">159</span> -over to the secular arm for -condign punishment, according to the law of the outraged State.</p> - -<p>For, “<i>Id certum est quod certum reddi potest</i>,” that is, certain -knowledge which can be reduced to a certainty.</p> - -<p>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 “<i>Narrative</i>,” pp. 78, 79.</p> - -<p>Now Garnet<a name="FNanchor_A_103" id="FNanchor_A_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_103" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_103" id="Footnote_A_103"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_103">[A]</a> Garnet was a profound mathematician and accomplished -linguist, amongst other acquirements.</p></div> - -<p>But as Garnet’s moral character was 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.<a name="FNanchor_B_104" id="FNanchor_B_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_104" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_104" id="Footnote_B_104"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_104">[B]</a> After Father Tesimond had told Garnet (with Catesby’s leave) -of the Plot, thereby bringing the matter as a natural secret indirectly -under the seal of the Confessional, Garnet could not sleep at nights. Now, -sleeplessness, combined 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 <i>generally</i> of Catesby’s -diabolical plan “a little before” St. James’-tide (<i>i.e.</i>, the 25th 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 “<i>Criminal Trials</i>” and from Lingard, condemned Garnet <i>not</i> -because he did not reveal particular <i>knowledge</i> he had received <i>in the -Confessional from Tesimond</i>, but because he did not reveal <i>general -knowledge</i> he had <i>from Catesby outside the Confessional</i>. This, in -fairness to James I., Salisbury, and the King’s Council, should be -faithfully borne in mind. Moreover, according to one school of Catholic -moralists, in <i>either case</i> the Government ought to have been communicated -with <i>if</i> Garnet could have done so without risk of divulging Tesimond’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 <i>both views</i> into practical effect. -<i>Therefore Garnet, to my mind, was eminently justified in not divulging -the particular knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession. For -according to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, the Christian Aristotle, a -natural secret may be indirectly</i> protected by the seal of the -Confessional if the priest <i>promises</i> so to protect it. I conclude, -however, that (1) according to the dictates of right reason the promise -may be <i>either implied or expressed</i>, and (2) that in the case of -overwhelming necessity the promise may be broken, as in the case of High -Treason, <i>if the priest</i> can avoid, <i>with absolute certitude</i>, exposing -the name of the depositor of the wicked secret. It was because Garnet -could not avoid exposing Tesimond’s name <i>practically</i> that he was -justified in not acting upon his own <i>abstract</i> principles in relation to -the knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--198.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2> - -<p>At the beginning of the month of September, 1605, Father Garnet was at -Gothurst,<a name="FNanchor_A_105" id="FNanchor_A_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_105" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> three miles from Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire,<!--199.png--><span class="pagenum">161</span> -and about the 5th of September from this still standing -stately English home there proceeded the nucleus of a pilgrim-band bent -for the famous well of St. Winifred, the British Saint, situated at -Holywell, in North Wales.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_105" id="Footnote_A_105"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_105">[A]</a> Gothurst (now Gayhurst) is twelve miles from Northampton and -from ten to fifteen miles from Great Harrowden. Weston Underwood and -Olney, immortalized by William Cowper, are not far from both places. The -poet would be distantly related to young Lord Vaux of Harrowden, 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 Northampton. Cowper was, it will be -recollected, the intimate friend of the Throckmortons of his day.</p></div> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby, 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 Vaux, Edward Brookesby, -Esquire, of Arundell House, Shouldby, Leicestershire, and his wife the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, together with her sister the Honourable Anne -Vaux.</p> - -<p>At least two Jesuits formed part of the cavalcade, Father Henry Garnet and -Father John Percy, the chaplain to Sir Everard Digby.</p> - -<p>Father John Gerard, who had “reconciled to the Church,” as the phrase -went, both Sir Everard and Lady Digby and was their intimate and honoured -friend, as well as the friend of the Dowager Lady Vaux of Harrowden and -her family, did not join the pilgrimage.</p> - -<p>Father Gerard was most probably in Yorkshire at this time. 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_106" id="FNanchor_A_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_106" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_106" id="Footnote_A_106"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_106">[A]</a> See “<i>The Condition of Catholics under James I.</i>” Edited by -John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872), p. 257.</p></div> - -<p>The following abstracts from the Evidence of two of Sir Everard Digby’s -serving-men, who -accompanied<!--200.png--><span class="pagenum">162</span> -their devout, charming young mistress on -this now famous pilgrimage, will give the best account of what took place -on this occasion.<a name="FNanchor_A_107" id="FNanchor_A_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_107" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> They are as follow: — </p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_107" id="Footnote_A_107"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_107">[A]</a> St. Winifred’s Well is at Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, and is -sacred to St. Winifred of Wales, an early British Virgin and Martyr. Her -“Life” will be found in Butler’s “<i>Lives of the Saints</i>,” under date -November 3rd, her Feast Day. The waters of the Well are of healing -quality, very copious and icy cold. There is an elegant mediæval 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 and sire of the English race, -the Italian Pope Gregory the Great and the Italian Benedictine Monk -Augustine.)</p></div> - -<div class="c5"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder -Plot Books — No. 153.</span></div> - -<div class="center"> -[Abstract.] - -ii. Dec. 1605 - -[In Cal. 11 Dec. 1605.] - -“Th’examination of James Garvey serv<sup>t</sup> to S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby -</div> - -<div class="center">*    *    *    *    *</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Saieth about Bartholmew tide last his ladie roade to St. -Wenefred’s Well from Gotehurst: first daie to Deyntrie:<a name="FNanchor_A_108" id="FNanchor_A_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_108" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 2 to -Grantz:<a name="FNanchor_B_109" id="FNanchor_B_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_109" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> 3 to Winters:<a name="FNanchor_C_110" id="FNanchor_C_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_110" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> 4 to Mr. Lacon’s:<a name="FNanchor_D_111" id="FNanchor_D_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_111" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> 5 to -Shrewsberie: 6 to holte:<a name="FNanchor_E_112" id="FNanchor_E_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_112" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> 7 to the well: they staied at the -well but one night: and retorned -the<!--201.png--><span class="pagenum">163</span> -first day 2 to holt 2 to Mr. Banester’s at Wen<a name="FNanchor_F_113" id="FNanchor_F_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_113" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> 2 to Mr. -Lacon’s againe and so retorned to Gotehurst.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_108" id="Footnote_A_108"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_108">[A]</a> Daventry, Northamptonshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_109" id="Footnote_B_109"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_109">[B]</a> John Grant’s, at Norbrook, Snitterfield, Warwickshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_110" id="Footnote_C_110"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_110">[C]</a> Huddington Hall, near Droitwich, Worcestershire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_111" id="Footnote_D_111"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_111">[D]</a> Most probably at Kinlet Hall, about five miles from Cleobury -Mortimer, Shropshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_112" id="Footnote_E_112"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_E_112">[E]</a> Holt, in Denbighshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_113" id="Footnote_F_113"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_F_113">[F]</a> Wem, Shropshire.</p></div> - -<p>“Saieth ther were in that jorney the ladie Digby, Mrs. Vaux,<a name="FNanchor_B_114" id="FNanchor_B_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_114" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> Mr. -Brookysby and his wief Mr. Darcy<a name="FNanchor_C_115" id="FNanchor_C_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_115" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> one Thomas Digby<a name="FNanchor_D_116" id="FNanchor_D_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_116" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> a tall gentleman: -one fisher<a name="FNanchor_E_117" id="FNanchor_E_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_117" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> a little man: S<sup>r</sup> frauncis Lacon and his daughter and two or -3 gentlemen more went with them from Mr. Lacon’s to the well, &c., &c.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_114" id="Footnote_B_114"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_114">[B]</a> Miss Anne Vaux.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_115" id="Footnote_C_115"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_115">[C]</a> An alias of Father Garnet; Farmer was another of Garnet’s -aliases.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_116" id="Footnote_D_116"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_116">[D]</a> An uncle of Sir Everard, belike.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_117" id="Footnote_E_117"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_E_117">[E]</a> An alias of Father Percy, afterwards famous for his historic -controversy with Archbishop Laud.</p></div> - -<p>(Endorsed) “11 Dec. 1605.</p> - -<p>“The Exam<sup>n</sup> of James Garvie srv<sup>t</sup> to S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="c5"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — No. 121.</div> - -<div class="center">[Abstract.]<br /> -<br /> -“Th’examination of William Handy servaunte to S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby -taken the xxvij<sup>th</sup> of November 1605</div> - -<div class="center">*    *    *    *    *</div> - - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>[Par. 4] — “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: Vaux 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 and at Shrosbury in an Inn and -at a Castle in the Holte in Denbeghe or Flintshire, and at St. -Wynyfride’s Well in an Inn, from -whence<!--202.png--><span class="pagenum">164</span> -the gentlewomen went barefoote to the said well and in their -retourne from the said well at one Farmer’s howse about 7 miles -from Shrosbury, and from thence to Mr. Lacon’s where they had -masse whereat S<sup>r</sup> Frauncis Lacon was from thence to Mr. Robert -Winter’s and from thence to Mr. Graunte’s from thence to -Deyntree and from thence to S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby at all which -places they had masse.<a name="FNanchor_A_118" id="FNanchor_A_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_118" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_118" id="Footnote_A_118"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_118">[A]</a> The reason why the Examiner who took down the Evidence was -particular to inquire about Masses was that for a priest to say (or offer) -Mass was to be liable to a penalty of 200 marks (a mark being 13s. 4d.) -<i>and</i> imprisonment for life; while for a lay person to hear (or assist at -offering) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of 100 marks and imprisonment -for life. To harbour a priest was felony and the penalty was hanging, but -without the cutting down alive, drawing and quartering. This last was the -portion of the priests who, by remaining in England 40 days, were held -<i>ipso facto</i> guilty of High Treason without proof of the exercise of -priestly functions. This last penalty, of course, rendered unnecessary the -having recourse to the penalty of 200 marks fine <i>and</i> imprisonment for -life, since the greater included the less.</p></div> -</div> - -<div class="center">*    *    *    *    *</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>(Endorsed) “27 Nov. 1605.</p> - -<p>“Th’examination of Wm. Handy serv<sup>t</sup> to S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby.”</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--203.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER L.</h2> - -<p>The pilgrim-band numbered about thirty souls, and included Ambrose -Rookwood 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.</p> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby was also made a confederate by Catesby alone about this -time, and in the “<i>Life</i>” of that well-favoured but misguided knight there -is an admirably-written account of the unhappy enrolment of the ill-fated -young father of the famous cavalier and diplomatist, Sir Kenelm Digby.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 Vaux and the young Lord Vaux.</p> - -<p>Great Harrowden Hall appears to have been rebuilt by the guardians of the -youthful baron a little before the year 1605. For in “<i>The Condition of -Catholics under James I.</i>,” 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<!--204.png--><span class="pagenum">166</span> -for that same purpose, and built us separate -quarters close to the old Chapel.... 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.”</p> - -<p>The Hall at Great Harrowden contained hiding-places for the priests, -probably contrived by Brother Nicholas Owen, the servant of Father Garnet.</p> - -<p>The priests that resided at Great Harrowden were at that time mainly -Jesuits. And besides Father Gerard himself, Fathers Strange, Nicholas -Hart, and Roger Lee were there oftentimes to be found.<a name="FNanchor_A_119" id="FNanchor_A_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_119" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_119" id="Footnote_A_119"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_119">[A]</a> The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, in the course of a most -courteous reply to various historical questions the writer ventured to -propound to him, says, in a letter dated 15th November, 1901, that his -residence, Harrowden Hall, was erected in the year 1719. It will, -therefore, not be the self-same mansion as that wherein Fathers Garnet, -Gerard, Fisher, Roger Lee, etc., were wont to be harboured by his -Lordship’s distinguished ancestors. -</p> - -<p> -None of the grand old English Catholic families, those “honourable -people,” if such were ever known to mortal, have a better right than the -Lords Vaux of Harrowden, to take as their motto those fine words of Gerald -Massey: — -</p> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“‘They wrought in Faith,’ and <i>not</i><br /></span> -<span class="i0">‘They wrought in Doubt,’ — <br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is the proud epitaph that we inscribe<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Above our glorious dead.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - - -<p> -The name “Vaux of Harrowden” 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 Wardour, Stafford, -Clifford of Chudleigh, and Herries, the name “Vaux of Harrowden” was -appended to “the Roman Catholic Peers’ Protest,” dated from the House of -Lords, 14th February, 1901, addressed to the Earl of Halsbury, Lord High -Chancellor of England, anent “the Declaration against Popery,” that Our -Most Gracious King Edward VII. was compelled, by Act of Parliament, to -utter on the occasion of meeting His Majesty’s first Parliament.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--205.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LI.</h2> - -<p>On the 4th of October, Father Garnet wrote a long letter to Father Parsons -in Rome, who was then virtually the ruler of the Catholics of England, -though that sturdy Yorkshireman, Father John Mush,<a name="FNanchor_A_120" id="FNanchor_A_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_120" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_120" id="Footnote_A_120"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_120">[A]</a> Mush may have been of the Mushes, of Knaresbrough, stanch -Catholics, but in humble circumstances. — See Peacock’s “<i>List</i>.”</p></div> - -<p>This letter of Father Garnet’s, to which reference has been just made, is -a remarkable production. It begins as -follows:<!--206.png--><span class="pagenum">168</span> — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<div class="left">“My very loving Sir,</div> - -<p>“This I write from the elder Nicholas<a name="FNanchor_A_121" id="FNanchor_A_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_121" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> his residence where I -find my hostess with all her posterity very well; and we are to -go within few days nearer London.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_121" id="Footnote_A_121"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_121">[A]</a> Father Nicholas Hart, S.J., as distinguished from -Brother Nicholas Owen, S.J.</p></div> - -<p>The letter then says: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“The judges now openly protest that the King will have blood and -hath taken blood in Yorkshire.”<a name="FNanchor_B_122" id="FNanchor_B_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_122" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_122" id="Footnote_B_122"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_122">[B]</a> The “Venerable” Thomas Welbourn and John Fulthering -suffered at York on the 1st August, 1605; and William Brown at -Ripon on the 5th September. — See Challoner’s “<i>Missionary -Priests</i>.” Ed. by T. G. Law (Jack, Edinburgh).</p></div> - -<p>There were four paragraphs at the end of the letter.</p> - -<p>Now, a short but separate paragraph of three lines is carefully -obliterated between the first and the third of these paragraphs.</p> - -<p>The third paragraph ends thus: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“<i>I cease 4th Octobris.</i>”</p> -</div> - -<p>The fourth paragraph then continues: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“My hostesses both and their children salute you. Sir Thomas -Tresham is dead.”<a name="FNanchor_C_123" id="FNanchor_C_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_123" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_123" id="Footnote_C_123"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_123">[C]</a> The hostesses would be those valiant women, Elizabeth Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden (<i>née</i> Roper), the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, -and the Honourable Anne Vaux. William Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -harboured Father Parsons in 1580-81, had married for his second wife a -sister of Sir Thomas Tresham. This Lord Vaux’s eldest son Ambrose, a -priest, resigned his title in favour of his half-brother the Honourable -George Vaux, afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The first wife of William -Lord Vaux was Elizabeth Beaumont, of Gracedieu, Leicestershire. She was -the mother of Ambrose, Elizabeth, and Anne Vaux. Father Garnet for many -years lived at Harrowden, from 1586 as the guest of William Lord Vaux, -whose son, George Lord Vaux of Harrowden, married Elizabeth Roper, -daughter of the first Lord Teynham. This lady was the above-named Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden, mother of Edward Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -became as “noble a confessor for the Faith” as were his numerous other -relatives. (The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, whose family name is -Mostyn, is descended from the above-mentioned Lords Vaux, through the -female line.)</p></div> - -<p><i>Here ends the body of the letter.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--207.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LII.</h2> - -<p><i>After the body of the letter there is a post scriptum.</i></p> - -<p>Now, there are nine words in the <i>post scriptum</i> that suffice to clench -the argument of this book.</p> - -<p>And why? Because, I respectfully submit, those nine words show that -between the 4th day of October, 1605, <i>and</i> the 21st day of October, -Garnet had received from somewhere <i>intelligence to the effect that -machinery was being put into motion whereby the Plot would be squashed</i>.</p> - -<p>For the <i>post scriptum</i> to this letter of Father Garnet is as follows: — </p> - -<div class="center">“<i>21º Octobris.</i></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>“This letter being returned unto me again, <span class="smcapac">FOR REASON OF A -FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY</span>, I blotted out some words, purposing to -write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do apart.</p> - -<p>“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, with a solemn protestation that the King -never promised nor meant to give toleration.</p> - -<p>“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<!--208.png--><span class="pagenum">170</span> -were my subjects, and we have our faculties -also for Ireland, for the most part. I pray you procure them a -general grant for their comfort.”</p> -</div> - -<p>The letter and the <i>post scriptum</i> are alike unsigned. The letter and the -<i>post scriptum</i> are still in existence, and, I believe, are preserved in -London in the archives of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.</p> - -<p>I am indebted for my copy to the work entitled, “<i>A True Account of the -Gunpowder Plot</i>,” by “Vindicator” (Dolman), 1851 — taken from Tierney’s -Edition of “<i>Dodd’s Church History</i>.”</p> - -<p>The Claude referred to in the <i>post scriptum</i> is Father Claude Aquaviva, -the then General of the Jesuits, who lived in Rome.</p> - -<p>(Irish Catholics will not fail to notice the interest this afflicted, -much-tried Englishman took in their case on the 21st October, 1605.)</p> - -<p>Father Gerard says in his “<i>Narrative of the Plot</i>,” p. 269: “Father -Oldcorne his indictment was so framed that one might see they much desired -to have withdrawn him within the compass of some participation in 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.”</p> - -<p>Again; respecting Ralph Ashley, the Jesuit lay-brother and servant of -Father Oldcorne, Gerard says, on p. 271: “Ralph was also indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about -this conspiracy.”</p> - -<p><i>Now, my deliberate conjectures are these: That Edward Oldcorne had indeed -sent “Letters” which his servant Ralph Ashley had carried concerning “this -conspiracy.” That one of those Letters was sent and carried to -Henry</i><!--209.png--><span class="pagenum">171</span> -<i>Garnet. And another to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle.</i></p> - -<p>On the 12th of March, 1605-6, Father Garnet, when a prisoner in the Tower -of London, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Edward Coke, Sir -William Waade (Lieutenant of the Tower), and John Corbett, “confessed that -Father Parsons wrote to him certain letters last summer [<i>i.e.</i>, 1605] -<i>which he received about Michaelmas last</i>, wherein he requested this -examinat to advertise him what plotts the Catholiques of England had then -in hand; <i>whereunto for that this examinat was on his journey he made no -answere</i>.”</p> - -<p>Yea, indeed, this was a part of the truth, no doubt. <i>But the remainder of -the truth, I suggest, was that the Plot of Plots Garnet had learned, a few -days after the aforesaid Michaelmas, was being assuredly squashed by -Edward Oldcorne.</i></p> - -<p>Poor Henry Garnet, a sorry, pathetic figure in the history of his Country, -surely. Yet, because <i>much</i> was lost, he knew that it did not therefore -follow that <i>all</i> was lost. For this gifted, distraught, erring man still -held “something sacred, something undefiled, some <i>pledge</i> and keepsake of -his better nature.”</p> - -<p><i>That something was his point of honour as a Priest of the Catholic -Church.</i><a name="FNanchor_A_124" id="FNanchor_A_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_124" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_124" id="Footnote_A_124"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_124">[A]</a> How many a gallant soldier and sailor in our own day, young -and old, has been sustained in life and death by the consoling <i>infinite -thought of fidelity to the commands of a lawful superior</i>; by the -comforting <i>transcendental thought of duty done</i>! <i>Cf.</i>, Frederic Denison -Maurice’s fine passage on the inspiring and ennobling idea of Duty, in his -“<i>Lectures on the Epistles of St. John</i> (Macmillan); also Wordsworth’s -magnificent “Ode to Duty.”</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--210.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LIII.</h2> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby had rented Coughton, near Alcester, in Warwickshire, -from Thomas Throckmorton, Esquire, as a base for the warlike operations, -which were to be conducted in the Midlands as soon as intelligence had -arrived from London that the King, Lords Spiritual and Temporal, together -with the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, “were now no more.”</p> - -<p>On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the young knight rode from Coughton to -Dunchurch, near Rugby.</p> - -<p>Robert Winter the same day left Huddington and, sleeping on the Sunday -night at Grafton, at the house of his father-in-law, John Talbot, Esquire, -rode on to Coventry, in company with the younger Acton, of Ribbesford, and -attended by several servants.</p> - -<p>At Coventry, Robert Winter was joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach -House, in Staffordshire, just over the borders of Worcestershire; and also -by his cousin, Humphrey Littleton, brother to the then late John -Littleton,<a name="FNanchor_A_125" id="FNanchor_A_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_125" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> of Hagley House, Worcestershire, who had been engaged in the -Essex rising.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_125" id="Footnote_A_125"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_125">[A]</a> All the Littletons were descended from the great Judge -Littleton, author of “<i>Littleton on Tenures</i>.” The present Lord Lyttelton -belongs to the same family.</p></div> - -<p>On the following Tuesday, November the 5th, the whole party proceeded -towards Dunchurch, the armed cavalcade continually increasing in numbers.</p> - -<!--211.png--><p><span class="pagenum">173</span></p> - -<p>The plan was, that at Dunsmore Heath, under a feigned 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.</p> - -<p>Robert Winter left the cousins Littleton at “the town’s end” of Dunchurch, -and rode on to Ashby St. Legers, the ancestral seat of the Catesbies, -where, indeed, the Dowager Lady Catesby was then residing.</p> - -<p>Here Robert 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.</p> - -<p>Ambrose Rookwood was one of the 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 -miles 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 them into the hedge to ride the more swiftly.<a name="FNanchor_155_387" id="FNanchor_155_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_387" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p> - -<p>About six o’clock in the evening of Tuesday, just as Lady Catesby, Robert -Winter, 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.</p> - -<p>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 Wright, and Ambrose Rookwood. Their -announcement was the capture of Guy Fawkes early that Tuesday morning.</p> - -<!--212.png--><p><span class="pagenum">174</span></p> - -<p>After holding a short council of war, the whole band of conspirators, -snatching up all the weapons of warfare they could lay their hands on, -took horse again and rode off to Dunchurch.</p> - -<p>Sir Everard Digby, his uncle (Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill), Stephen -Littleton, Humphrey Littleton, and many others were awaiting their arrival -at Dunchurch, in an inn.</p> - -<p>The six fugitive conspirators, all bespattered with the mire of November -high roads, with dejected looks and jaded aspect, arrived in due time to -tell their tale.</p> - -<p>Soon Sir Robert Digby departed with one of his sons, then Humphrey -Littleton, and speedily many others of the hunting party.</p> - -<p>It was determined by the ringleaders to make for Wales; for the Catholics -of the Principality were then very strong,<a name="FNanchor_A_126" id="FNanchor_A_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_126" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> and the Counties of Warwick, -Worcester, and Stafford were to be traversed, from all of which valuable -reinforcements were expected.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_126" id="Footnote_A_126"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_126">[A]</a> It is a curious fact that 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 Rome. It was -the lack of a Welsh College in Rome which, causing the supply of priests -to fail, gradually caused the interesting Cymric people to lose the Faith -which they of all the inhabitants of the British Isles were the first to -embrace. -</p> - -<p> -It is to be remembered, however, that there has always been a remnant in a -few of the valleys of Wales faithful to the See of Rome; and Dr. Owen -Lewis, the Bishop of Cassano, a Welshman, aided Cardinal Allen to found -Douay College, in 1568. Several of the Martyrs of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, too, were Welsh. -</p> - -<p> -At the English College at Rome the Welsh and the English students had -violent and, to read of, amusing quarrels. Evidently the Welsh, students -looked down upon their Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging to a -comparatively inferior race.</p></div> - -<p>About ten o’clock on Tuesday night the -full<!--213.png--><span class="pagenum">175</span> -company, now about thirty -strong, set out for Norbrook,<a name="FNanchor_A_127" id="FNanchor_A_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_127" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> the house of John Grant.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_127" id="Footnote_A_127"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_127">[A]</a> At Warwick, <i>en route</i> for Norbrook, 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.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Lady Digby had also a letter from her husband, but the poor young wife, we -are told, could, alas! do naught but cry.</p> - -<p>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 Wednesday, the 6th. Sentinels were posted at -the passage of every way at Huddington, possibly by the order of John -Winter, half-brother to Robert and Thomas Winter.</p> - -<p>Here they were joined by Thomas Winter, who had come down from London with -the latest news; also by the Jesuit, Father Tesimond, whom Catesby hailed -with joy.</p> - -<p>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 Confession, and -received, at the Jesuit’s, hands, what most of them from their childhood -had been taught to believe was “the Bread of Angels,” and “the Food of -Immortality.”<a name="FNanchor_B_128" id="FNanchor_B_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_128" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_128" id="Footnote_B_128"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_128">[B]</a> Certainly Man’s nature <i>needs</i> these things; but the question -is: Can it get them? “Aye, there’s the rub.”</p></div> - -<!--214.png--><p><span class="pagenum">176</span></p> - -<p>Before daybreak of Thursday the fugitives were on the march north-westward -again. For “there is no rest for the wicked.”</p> - -<p>The rebels made for Whewell Grange, the seat of the Lord Windsor, one of -the numerous Worcestershire Catholic families.</p> - -<p>At Whewell Grange the traitors helped themselves to a large store of arms -and armour.</p> - -<p>Then they sped on towards Holbeach 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.”</p> - -<p>To the dire disappointment of Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, and the rest, -John Talbot, of Grafton, drove Thomas Winter and Stephen Littleton from -his door when they sought his aid for the rebellion.<a name="FNanchor_A_129" id="FNanchor_A_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_129" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_129" id="Footnote_A_129"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_129">[A]</a> See Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 112, to which I am indebted -for this account; also Handy’s evidence, Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” -vol. ii., pp. 165, 166.</p></div> - -<p>And Sir Everard was constrained to avow that of the wealthy Catholic -gentry “not one man came to take our part though we had expected so -many.”<a name="FNanchor_B_130" id="FNanchor_B_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_130" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_130" id="Footnote_B_130"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_130">[B]</a> Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 112. Holbeach House is no longer -standing.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--215.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LIV.</h2> - -<p>The High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with their <i>posse -comitatus</i>, were in pursuit of the fugitives, who arrived at Holbeach -House at ten of the clock on Thursday night.</p> - -<p>At Holbeach they prepared to make their last stand. And alack! never more -were the brothers John and Christopher Wright destined to behold Lapworth, -Twigmore, Ripon, Skelton, Newby, Mulwith, York, or Plowland,<a name="FNanchor_A_131" id="FNanchor_A_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_131" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> nor any of -those scenes around which must have clung so many endearing associations -and sacred memories.<a name="FNanchor_156_388" id="FNanchor_156_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_388" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_131" id="Footnote_A_131"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_131">[A]</a> For an account of recent visits to Mulwith and Plowland, see -Supplementum IV. and Supplementum V. -</p> - -<p> -To the generosity of my friend, Miss Burnham, the lady of Plowland, my -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 Humber towards the south. The gabled -buildings in the rear are ancient, and behind them are a few mossy Gothic -stones, evidently belonging to the old chapel. Behind the 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 <i>Edward Wright</i> suggest descent from Edward Wright, the son of -Christopher Wright, the revealing conspirator.</p></div> - -<p>Early in the morning of Friday some of the company went out to descry -whether or not reinforcements were in sight. Others began to prepare their -shot and powder.</p> - -<p>Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant were severely burnt in the face, especially -the two latter, with some damp or -dank<!--216.png--><span class="pagenum">178</span> -gunpowder which they were drying -on a platter before the kitchen fire, and into which a hot cinder fell.</p> - -<p>This 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.</p> - -<p>Thomas Winter was told by Catesby and the rest, in reply to his question, -“We mean here to die.”</p> - -<p>Winter thereupon replied, “I will take such part as you do.”</p> - -<p>“Then they all fell earnestly to their prayers,” says Gerard, “the -litanies and such like.” They also “spent an hour in meditation.”</p> - -<p>About eleven o’clock in the forenoon of that black Friday, November the -8th, 1605, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire arrived with the whole power -and force of the county, and beset the house.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>John Wright was shot dead.</p> - -<p>Christopher Wright was mortally wounded.</p> - -<p>Ambrose Rookwood was wounded in four or five places.</p> - -<p>John Grant was likewise disabled.</p> - -<p>Catesby and Thomas Percy, each sword in hand, and “standing before the -door” close together, were mortally wounded by two successive shots fired -by one musketeer, who afterwards boasted of his resolute carriage of -himself on that eventful day.<a name="FNanchor_A_132" id="FNanchor_A_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_132" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_132" id="Footnote_A_132"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_132">[A]</a> The man’s name was John Streete. He received a pension of two -shillings a day for life, equal to about sixteen shillings a day in our -money. Gerard’s “<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” p. 155.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--217.png--><p><span class="pagenum">179</span></p> - -<p>Catesby, before receiving his fatal shot, we are told by Father Gerard in -his “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 109, “took from his neck a cross of gold, which he -always used to wear about him, and blessing himself with it and kissing -it, showed it unto the people, protesting there solemnly before them all -it was only for the honour of the Cross, and the exaltation of that Faith -which honoured the Cross, and for the saving of their souls in the same -Faith that had moved him to undertake the business; and seth he saw it was -not God’s will it should succeed in that manner they intended, or at that -time, he was willing and ready to give his life for the same cause, only -he would not be taken by any, and against that only he would defend -himself with his sword.</p> - -<p>“This done, Mr. Catesby and Mr. Percy turned back to back, resolving to -yield themselves to no man, but to death as the messenger of God.</p> - -<p>“None of their adversaries did come near them, but one fellow standing -behind a tree with a musket, shot them both with one bullet,<a name="FNanchor_A_133" id="FNanchor_A_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_133" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> and Mr. -Catesby was shot almost dead, the other lived three or four days.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_133" id="Footnote_A_133"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_133">[A]</a> It was with one musket, but two successive bullets.</p></div> - -<p>“Mr. Catesby being fallen to the ground, as they say, went upon his knees -into the house, and there got a picture of our Blessed Lady in his arms -(unto whom he was accustomed to be very devout), and so embracing and -kissing the same, he died.”<a name="FNanchor_B_134" id="FNanchor_B_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_134" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_134" id="Footnote_B_134"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_134">[B]</a> The mind of each of the thirteen Gunpowder conspirators -affords the intellectual philosopher and the moral philosopher rich food -for thought. What a reflection from human nature is not the soul of these -men, one and all — especially Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winter, Guy -Fawkes, Ambrose Rookwood, and Christopher Wright. I would especially point -out the strange superstition that Catesby exhibited in wishing to blow up -the <i>Parliament House</i>, because it was <i>there</i> the iniquitous laws had -been made against the Catholics. He primarily wished, like some pagan, to -be revenged on the <i>material object</i>, which had been the unconscious and -irresponsible instrument of his kinsfolk’s and friends’ hurt. -</p> - -<p> -Moreover, how true to daily experience is the behaviour of Catesby in his -last moments: of one who in his youth had been very wild, but who, on -reaching maturer years, had grown to have a great devotion to <i>her</i> whom -Wordsworth has so beautifully styled “our tainted nature’s solitary -boast.” -</p> - -<p> -Again; the dying soldier’s flying for protection to, and the kissing in -his last agony, when the light of life was about to be quenched in his -mortal eyes for ever, a picture of <i>her</i> who is “the Mother of Christ,” -and whom millions hold to be likewise “the Refuge of sinners,” is -startlingly true to human nature. -</p> - -<p> -But — “Close up his eyes, and let us all to meditation.” For “<i>In la sua -volontade è nostra pace</i>” — “Only in the Will of God is man’s peace.” And -the essence of that Will is the Everlasting Moral Law.</p></div> - -<p>On the 9th of November Sir Edward Leigh wrote to the Privy Council that -the Wrights were not slain -as<!--218.png--><span class="pagenum">180</span> -reputed, but wounded. Not till the 13th was -their death certified by Sir Richard Walsh, High Sheriff of -Worcestershire. — See Gerard’s “<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” pp. 153, -154.</p> - -<p>Whatever was the case with John Wright, it seems clear that the weight of -evidence inclines to show that Christopher Wright did not expire on -Friday, the 8th November, but that he lingered at least a day or two. The -exact day of Christopher Wright’s death, and what became of his remains, -may be ascertained facts hereafter, possibly. At present, they are -unknown.<a name="FNanchor_157_390" id="FNanchor_157_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_390" -class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--219.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LV.</h2> - -<p>Father Garnet did not go nearer London than Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, -between ten and fifteen miles distant from Great Harrowden.</p> - -<p>We know that he was at Gothurst when Catesby was there, on Tuesday, the -22nd of October, one day after the date of the <i>post scriptum</i> mentioned -in the last chapter. Probably the <i>post scriptum</i> 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.</p> - -<p>The Honourable Anne Vaux, whose maternal grandfather was Sir Thomas -Beaumont, Master of the Rolls, was a level-headed woman of acute mental -perceptions as well as of great moral ardour and intense spiritual -exaltation.<a name="FNanchor_A_135" id="FNanchor_A_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_135" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_135" id="Footnote_A_135"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_135">[A]</a> The psychologist will have observed that these qualities are -not seldom combined in a certain order of minds. <i>Cf.</i>, Shakespeare’s -“great wits to madness are near allied” — some thinkers will be inclined to -say.</p></div> - -<p>Miss Vaux 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 -foreboding, that curious sense of swift approaching doom, which have -marked all tragedies written or unwritten since the world began.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the large number of cavalry horses in the stables of Norbrook -and Huddington (those places being -her<!--220.png--><span class="pagenum">182</span> -fellow-pilgrims’ and her own -places of sojourning when <i>en route</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Again; at either Harrowden or Gothurst, Miss Vaux 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 themselves until the burst was past in the beginning of the -Parliament.”</p> - -<p>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.”<a name="FNanchor_A_136" id="FNanchor_A_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_136" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_136" id="Footnote_A_136"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_136">[A]</a> Garnet’s examination of the 12th March. Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” -vol. iv., p. 157.</p></div> - -<p>At Coughton, Father Garnet said Mass on the 1st of November, All Saints’ -Day.</p> - -<p>There “assisted” at this Mass the Lady Digby,<a name="FNanchor_B_137" id="FNanchor_B_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_137" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> Mr. and Mrs. Brookesby, -Miss Anne Vaux, and almost the whole of Sir Everard Digby’s Gothurst -household.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_137" id="Footnote_B_137"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_137">[B]</a> Lady Digby had been brought up a strong Protestant, and, like -most converts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the Church of -Rome from Calvinistic Puritanism, she became an ardent devotee of the -Jesuits. (The point of contact was probably a common interest in the -problems of the mystical life, and a tendency towards a grave, sober, -strict regularity of “daily walk and conversation.”) George Gilbert, a -gentleman of high Suffolk family and great wealth, was likewise a convert -from Calvinism, through the instrumentality of the Jesuit Fathers, -Darbyshire and Parsons. Gilbert, as a young man, daily “waited upon the -ministry” of the once celebrated Puritan Divine, Dering, the 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 Blessed” 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 pictures of some of “the English -Martyrs,” although “old Richard Norton,” of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, -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 13th October, 1900, through the kind courtesy of the Right Reverend -Monsignor Giles, D.D., Rector of the English College, copies of these -remarkable pictures, copies which are painted on the walls of that very -College where Father Oldcorne himself had been educated. -</p> - -<p> -The original pictures on the walls of the Church 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 Martyrs -already beatified, including “the Blessed” Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland, who suffered death at York in 1572. — See the “<i>Acts of the -English Martyrs</i>,” by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).</p></div> - -<!--221.png--><p><span class="pagenum">183</span></p> - -<p>At Gothurst, however, was Sir Everard himself, busy making his final -preparations for the war he was about to levy upon his King.</p> - -<p>We find Sir Everard there also on November 2nd, All Souls’ Day, the last -he and his ill-fated comrades were destined to keep on earth. — See -Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>.”</p> - -<p>On All Saints’ Day, Father Garnet appears to have offered some prayers, or -otherwise advised the offering 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<!--222.png--><span class="pagenum">184</span> -some -allusion to the then wretched condition of the unhappy English -Catholics.<a name="FNanchor_A_138" id="FNanchor_A_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_138" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_138" id="Footnote_A_138"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_138">[A]</a> See Letter to Miss Anne Vaux, dated 2nd March, 1605-6, quoted -in Foley, vol. iv., p. 84, where Garnet says: “There is a muttering here -of a sermon which either I or 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 Mr. Attourney saith he hath more.”</p></div> - -<p>Now, I infer that all this tends to demonstrate that Father Henry Garnet -felt that a great burden or load had been 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 the Plot finally swept -away.</p> - -<p>Again, in the Mass for All Saints’ Day there is a hymn, one verse of which -is: “Take away the faithless people from the boundaries of the faithful, -that we may joyfully give due praises to Christ.”</p> - -<p>Cardinal Allen had induced the Pope “to indulge” the recital of these -words by Catholics for the harmless “intention” of the “Conversion of -England.”</p> - -<p>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 -<i>Parliament</i> would be in <i>existence</i> to work mischief! <i>And this once more -proves that he knew the Plot would be squashed and finally swept away.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--223.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVI.</h2> - -<p>Soon after Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant had been injured by the exploded -gunpowder at Holbeach House (as has been already mentioned in Chapter -LIV.), Robert Winter, the Master of Huddington, deeming discretion the -better part of valour, quitted the ill-fated mansion of Stephen Littleton.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>On New Year’s Day the rebels came very early in the morning to the house -of one Perkes, in Hagley. After an extraordinary adventure there (an -account of which may be read in Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” 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 name="FNanchor_158_391" id="FNanchor_158_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_391" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> a Protestant lady, to whose children the place apparently -belonged.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Littleton was herself either in, or on the way -to,<!--224.png--><span class="pagenum">186</span> -London at this -time, so the two traitors were harboured without the lady’s knowledge or -consent.</p> - -<p>By the treachery, however, of the man-cook at Hagley, or rather, in -justice it should be said, by his diligent zeal in the service of his -sovereign lord the King, Stephen Littleton and Robert Winter were captured -by the lawful authorities, and forthwith conveyed to the Tower of London.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Now, although an English Roman Catholic gentleman, 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 company of horse to Flanders to fight, with 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, whatever might be the tenour or purport of Oldcorne’s -answer — mischief among either Catholics or Protestants.<a name="FNanchor_159_392" id="FNanchor_159_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_392" -class="fnanchor">[159]</a><!--225.png--><span class="pagenum">187</span></p> - -<p>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 his -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.<a name="FNanchor_160_393" id="FNanchor_160_393"></a><a -href="#Footnote_160_393" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--226.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVII.</h2> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Vol. II., No. 202.</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The voluntarie declaration of Edward Oldcorne alias Hall -Jesuite 12 Mar. 1605 [<i>i.e.</i>, 1605-6].</p> - -<div class="left">A.</div> - -<p>“Mr. Humfrey Litleton<a name="FNanchor_A_139" id="FNanchor_A_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_139" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> telling me that after Mr. Catesbie saw -him self and others of his Companie burnt w<sup>th</sup> powder, and the -rest of the compnie readie to fly from him, that then he began -to thinke he had offended god in this action, seeing soe bad -effects follow of the same.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_139" id="Footnote_A_139"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_139">[A]</a> I do not know the exact point of time when Humphrey -Littleton thus spoke to Father Oldcorne, except that it was -certainly after the fatal 5th of November, 1605.</p></div> - -<div class="left">B.</div> - -<p>“I answeared him that an act is not to be condemd or justified -upon the good or bad euent that follow<sup>th</sup> 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 wher the -11 tribs of Israel weare comannded by god to make warrs upon the -trib of Benjamin; and yett the tribe of Benjamin did both in the -first and secound battaile overthrow the other 11 tribs. The -like said I wee read of Lewis King of france who went to fight -against the Turks and to recouer the hoolye Land, but ther he -loost the most of his armie, and him self dyed ther of the -plague the like wee may say when the xtianes -defended<!--227.png--><span class="pagenum">189</span> -Rhoodes against the turks wher the Turkes preuayled and the -xtianes weare overthrowne, and yet noe doubt the xtians cause -was good and the turks bad and thus I applied it to this fact of -Mr. Catesbie’s it is not to be approved or condemned by the -euent, but by the propper object or end, and meanes w<sup>ch</sup> was -to be vsed in it; and bycause I know nothinge of thes I will -neither approve it or condeme it but leave it to god and ther -owne consciences and in this warie sort I spake to him bycause I -doubted he came to entrap me, and that he should take noe -advantage of my words whither he reported them to Catholiks or -Protestants.</p> - -<div class="sig">“(Signed) Edward Oldcorne.</div> - -<p>“Acknowledged before vs</p> - -<div class="left"> -        “J. Popham.<a name="FNanchor_A_140" id="FNanchor_A_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_140" class="fnanchor">[A]</a><br /> -        Edw. Coke.<a name="FNanchor_B_141" id="FNanchor_B_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_141" class="fnanchor">[B]</a><br /> -        W. Waad.<a name="FNanchor_C_142" id="FNanchor_C_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_142" class="fnanchor">[C]</a><br /> -        John Corbett.” -</div> - -<p>(The A and B at the left side of the Declaration are -Coke’s own marks.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_140" id="Footnote_A_140"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_140">[A]</a> The Lord Chief Justice of England.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_141" id="Footnote_B_141"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_141">[B]</a> Afterwards the celebrated Lord Chief Justice of England, and -Editor of “<i>Littleton’s Tenures</i>.” This Humphrey Littleton, mentioned in -the Text, was a descendant of Sir John Littleton, Author of the immortal -legal work.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_142" id="Footnote_C_142"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_142">[C]</a> Lieutenant of the Tower of London.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--228.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVIII.</h2> - -<p>We are now come to the crux of this Inquiry.</p> - -<p>To every philosophical thinker who takes the trouble to ponder the matter -it must be evident that the ethical principles enunciated in the first -part of the Declaration, given <i>in extenso</i> in the preceding chapter, are -intellectually irrefutable and morally irreproachable; although their -obviousness, certainly, will not be palpable to “the man in the street.”</p> - -<p>The answer of this clear-sighted, strong-headed Yorkshireman, is indeed -the answer that is the resultant of exact ethical knowledge, that is, of -moral science. <i>For what is science, either in the realms of the -intellectual, the moral, the political, or the physical, but “exact -knowledge.”</i></p> - -<p>Moreover, these principles are the resultant of abstract moral science, or -exact ethical knowledge pure and simple.</p> - -<p>Now, “Morality is the science of duty.”<a name="FNanchor_161_394" id="FNanchor_161_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_394" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> But, just as it is most -mischievous <i>indiscriminately</i> to apply abstract principles of morality, -however faultless in themselves, to the complex affairs of individuals and -of States, so is it most dangerous to strew broadcast statements of the -abstract principles of ethics for the untutored mind of the <i>merely</i> -practical man — first of all, to misunderstand; and, secondly, to wrest to -his own undoing and that of his equally unfortunate fellow-men.</p> - -<!--229.png--><p><span class="pagenum">191</span></p> - -<p>This is certainly so in the present stage of the world’s imperfect -education. Though one lives in the hope that sooner or later that “ampler -day” may dawn, when, from the least unto the greatest, men shall come to -have a happy conscious realization of the truth of the poet’s dictum: -“<i>Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas</i>;”<a name="FNanchor_162_395" id="FNanchor_162_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_395" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> “Happy is he who hath -been able to learn the causes of things.”</p> - -<p>Still, <i>truth — that which is — is truth</i>.</p> - -<p><i>And partial truth is not less true, according to its measure and in its -degree, than the full orb of truth.</i><a name="FNanchor_A_143" id="FNanchor_A_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_143" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_143" id="Footnote_A_143"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_143">[A]</a> Strategy in war has for its intellectual and moral -justification the fact that partial truth is not less true, in its measure -and in its degree, than the full orb of truth.</p></div> - -<p>Furthermore, “Wisdom is justified by all her children;” even although some -of those children are tardy in realizing and in expressing their sense of -such justification.</p> - -<p>Now, although all this stands to reason — nay, because it is true, is even -the perfection of reason — it was an enunciation of principles by Father -Oldcorne, which it was more than probable would be misinterpreted by two -sets of people, the intellectually stupid and the morally malicious.</p> - -<p>Nay, it may be allowed that even persons of the highest intelligence and -of the utmost good faith — such as, in the last century, the late David -Jardine<a name="FNanchor_163_396" id="FNanchor_163_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_396" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> — might easily enough think that Edward Oldcorne deserved -condemnation and chiding for thus apparently showing such a marked -disposition to look at this grave matter, the moral rightness or wrongness -of the Gunpowder Plot, as though it were as purely abstract and -scholastic<!--230.png--><span class="pagenum">192</span> -a question as that famous moot of the middle ages: “How many angels can -dance on the point of a needle?”<a name="FNanchor_A_144" id="FNanchor_A_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_144" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_144" id="Footnote_A_144"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_144">[A]</a> Oldcorne had special private knowledge that the Plot would -never be a Plot <i>executed</i>, because (1) he knew Christopher Wright had -resolved to reveal it; because (2) he knew that his own personal act had -ended the Plot by his penning the Letter.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--231.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LIX.</h2> - -<p>Now, the contention is this: That regard being had to the extraordinary -heinousness of the Gunpowder Plot, in point of underhand stealthiness and -secrecy as well as of deliberateness, malice, magnitude, and cruelty, no -man of moral uprightness and intellectual keenness could be — without doing -a violence to his human nature that is all but incredible — so unspeakably -reckless and utterly insane as to fling broadcast to the winds, for the -wayfaring man and the fool to pick up and con for their own and their -hapless fellow-creatures’ moral destruction, an <i>oral statement</i> as to -this diabolical Plot, that expressed ways of looking at the Plot merely -speculative and simply in the abstract,<a name="FNanchor_A_145" id="FNanchor_A_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_145" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> <i>save and except</i> on one -condition only, namely, that such speaker had had both from without and -from within, <i>et ab extra et ab intra</i>, a special <i>knowledge</i>.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_145" id="Footnote_A_145"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_145">[A]</a> It is to be noted that in this momentous Declaration of the -12th March, 1605-6, Oldcorne in the first part reserves or conceals -“<i>partial truth</i>;” that is to say, in <i>this</i> case, <i>truth in the concrete, -or truth in action</i>. While in the second part of the Declaration Oldcorne -orally disclaims, denies, or dissembles integral truth, that is here a -special and particular knowledge of the end the plotters had in view, and -the means they purposed to adopt. The knowledge he had received was of a -nature <i>official</i>, and at least conditionally, though not absolutely, -<i>private</i> knowledge.</p></div> - -<p>Furthermore, <i>a special knowledge, with absolute certitude</i>, which -<i>warranted</i> the speaker in mentally surveying that Plot not merely as it -<i>then</i> was at -the<!--232.png--><span class="pagenum">194</span> -moment when he was giving utterance to his speculative -statement concerning it, but, as he full well knew, at some point of time -prior to that fateful day, November the 5th, 1605, it had been destined to -be perpetually, namely, <span class="smcapac">A PLOT</span> <i>ante factum in æternum</i>, a mere abstract -mental plan for ever. Aye, a mere abstract mental plan to all eternity; -because transmuted and transformed by some process wherein that speaker -had himself taken a primal, an essential, a meritorious part.<a name="FNanchor_A_146" id="FNanchor_A_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_146" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_146" id="Footnote_A_146"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_146">[A]</a> The argument is that a man at once good and clever, like -Edward Oldcorne, would not, according to the rules that govern human -nature and daily experience, have clothed in words and then let loose to -wander about the world seeking whom it might fall in with and victimize, a -bare abstract proposition regarding the Plot, <i>unless</i> he had been first -absolutely certain that the foundation-thing, the Plot itself, was too -attenuated and ghost-like to work hurt or mischief to any human creature. -</p> - -<p> -Now, since Littleton propounded his question <i>after</i> the 5th of November, -Oldcorne had an <i>ordinary</i> ground for allowing himself to speak of the -defunct Plot purely in the abstract. But this was an obviously very -dangerous thing to do, both for Littleton’s sake, the general public’s -sake (Catholic or Protestant), and for the speaker’s own sake. Therefore -the fact that Oldcorne did so speak postulates something <i>more than -ordinary</i>. Hence, as Oldcorne was a man of virtue both intellectually and -morally, the reasonable inference is that Oldcorne <i>had an extraordinary -ground</i> for his answer which endued him with a special liberty of abstract -speech in regard to the matter. <i>That extraordinary ground, I maintain, -was based deep down within the depths of his own interior knowledge.</i></p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--233.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LX.</h2> - -<p>But it may be objected that instead of assuming that Father Oldcorne was a -man not only of mental keenness but also of moral uprightness, and -proceeding forthwith to build an argument on such an assumption, the -writer ought in truth and justice to have proved, by evidence or reason, -the latter part of the proposition. And this the rather, seeing that so -many of the co-religionists both in our own day as well as in the days of -Father Oldcorne have regarded that society, whereof Oldcorne was a -distinguished English member, with not merely unfeigned suspicion but with -sincere dislike, and even with genuine loathing.<a name="FNanchor_A_147" id="FNanchor_A_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_147" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_147" id="Footnote_A_147"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_147">[A]</a> The most formidable adversaries of the Jesuits far and away -have been Roman Catholics of a particular type of mind. Blaise Pascal, -that colossal genius, has been probably their most successful enemy.</p></div> - -<p>Now, the unbiased historical philosopher is content not only to let the -dead bury their dead but also to let theologian deal with theologian. To -the historical philosopher, a Jesuit is a man and nothing more: nothing -more, that is, so far as his being entitled to receive at the former’s -hands the benefit of all those natural rights which belong to all members -of the human species. For all men (including Jesuits) are, in the mind of -the philosopher, “born free and equal.”</p> - -<p>Hence it follows that when, amid the chances -and<!--234.png--><span class="pagenum">196</span> -changes of this mortal -life, the historical philosopher is thrown across the path of a Jesuit, he -looks at him, as a matter of duty, straight in the face, just as he looks -at any other rational creature; and then seeks to ascertain, by dint of -normal touchstones and tests, what manner of man the person is whom that -philosopher, by the ordinances of fate, has then and there confronted.</p> - -<p>Now, in the case of Edward Oldcorne, the Text of this Inquiry, and also -the Notes thereunto, supply abundant proof that Oldcorne came of a good, -wholesome, Yorkshire stock — hard-working, honest, and honourable; that his -own mental nature was broad, rich and full, high-minded, just, and -generous.<a name="FNanchor_A_148" id="FNanchor_A_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_148" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_148" id="Footnote_A_148"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_148">[A]</a> Father Henry Garnet, S.J., landed in England in 1586 along -with the gifted Robert Southwell, whose prose and poetical works belong to -English literature. Father Weston was then the Jesuit Superior. Father -John Gerard landed, along with Father Edward Oldcorne, off the coast of -Norfolk, in August, 1588, shortly after the decisive fight with the -Spanish Armada, off Gravelines. As illustrating the conscientiousness and -courage of this Yorkshire Elizabethan Jesuit, the following quotation from -Foley, vol. iv., p. 210, may be of interest: “Father Oldcorne was employed -sometime in London by Father Garnet, diligently labouring in the quest and -salvation of souls. He was ever of a most ready wit, and endeavoured as -far as possible to adapt himself to the manner of those with whom he -lived. There were exceptions, however, in which, consumed with an ardent -zeal of asserting and defending the Divine honour, he could not refrain -from correcting those whom he heard uttering obscene and injurious -language either towards God or their superiors. When in London, in the -house of a Catholic gentleman, he struck with his fist and broke into -pieces a pane of stained or painted glass representing an indecent picture -of Venus and Mars, which he considered wholly unfit for the eyes of a -virtuous family.” -</p> - -<p> -[The curious philosopher wonders whether this Elizabethan Catholic -gentleman, having been deprived of his “Venus and Mars” in such a -high-handed fashion, afterwards became anti-Jesuitical.]</p></div> - -<p>Therefore is it, alike by evidence and reason, borne in upon the mind of -the philosopher that, on grounds -of<!--235.png--><span class="pagenum">197</span> -probability so high as to afford -practical certitude, he may proceed to build his argument upon the -assumption that Edward Oldcorne was a man not only of intellectual acumen -but also of moral integrity, as has been already predicated of him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--236.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXI.</h2> - -<p>Now, in the first part of his Declaration, Father Oldcorne uttered -concerning the Gunpowder Plot a proposition which expressed partial truth -alone. Because he expressed truth in the abstract only, not truth in the -concrete also, concerning that nefarious scheme.</p> - -<p>In other words, Father Oldcorne severed in thought the two kinds of truth, -the two aspects of truth, the two parts of truth, which being <i>unified</i> -gave the <i>whole</i> truth respecting the moral mode of judging the Gunpowder -Treason Plot.</p> - -<p>Oldcorne severed concrete truth from abstract truth,<a name="FNanchor_A_149" id="FNanchor_A_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_149" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> practical truth -from speculative truth, and so far as his hearer, Humphrey Littleton, was -concerned, held that concrete truth, that practical truth, suspended at -the sword-point over Littleton’s head.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_149" id="Footnote_A_149"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_149">[A]</a> Or, it may be said, Oldcorne separated concrete truth from -abstract truth, practical truth from speculative truth, holding the former -in solution, and putting into the hands of Littleton the latter alone, in -the form of a dangerous precipitate.</p></div> - -<p>Now, I maintain that, regard being had to the terrific danger of -Littleton’s occasioning mischief, either through stupidity, malice, or -both, a man of the intellectual and moral calibre of Edward Oldcorne would -have never suffered his tongue to give utterance to a proposition -dividing, as with a sword, concrete truth from abstract truth, practical -truth from speculative truth, and -then<!--237.png--><span class="pagenum">199</span> -holding the former suspended above -the head of his questioner, <i>unless and until</i> that great Priest and -Jesuit had been first possessed of the living consciousness that he had -had, and then was, at that very instant of time when speaking, having that -Plot, which represented “the sum of all villainies,” in that it involved -“sacrilegious murder,”<a name="FNanchor_A_150" id="FNanchor_A_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_150" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> <i>firmly and unconquerably crushed under his -feet</i>.<a name="FNanchor_164_397" id="FNanchor_164_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_397" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_150" id="Footnote_A_150"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_150">[A]</a> This phrase is used by Shakespeare in “Macbeth” (1606), I -suggest, with indirect reference to the Gunpowder Plot, which Shakespeare -must have followed with the most breathless, absorbing interest. For -Norbrook was in Snitterfield, where his mother (Mary Arden) had property; -while Coughton was the home of the Throckmortons, the Ardens’ relatives. -Clopton House, where Ambrose Rookwood was living from Michaelmas, 1605, -Lapworth, where John Wright resided from May, 1605, and where Christopher -Wright and Marmaduke Ward visited him (all of which places were in that -“garden of England,” Warwickshire), must have been as familiar to the poet -almost as his own Stratford-on-Avon. -</p> - -<p> -I find the name “Robert Arden,” of Pedmore, Worcestershire, 1<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> miles -from Stourbridge, down as “a popish recusant” for the year 1592, in the -“<i>Hatfield MS.</i>,” part iv.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--238.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXII.</h2> - -<p>And how could this be?</p> - -<p>It could be only by dint of a <i>two-fold knowledge</i>, a two-fold, -warranting, justifying, vindicating knowledge, which this Priest and -Jesuit held stored-up deep down within the depths of his conscious being, -a knowledge <i>passive</i> or receptive which had come to him “from without,” -<i>ab extra</i>; a knowledge <i>active</i> or self-caused which he had bestowed upon -himself “from within,” <i>ab intra</i>.</p> - -<p>Now, the passive knowledge “from without” was the knowledge Oldcorne had -had from the penitent plotter of that penitent’s resolve to reveal the -Plot to his lawful Sovereign by the most perfect means for so doing that -by the human mind could be devised.</p> - -<p>The active knowledge “from within” was the knowledge that Oldcorne had -possessed, and was at that moment possessing, of his own sublimely -conceived and magnificently executed act and deed: although even this -active knowledge “from within” was itself <i>indirectly</i> traceable to that -penitent plotter’s repentant resolve and repentant will.<a name="FNanchor_A_151" id="FNanchor_A_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_151" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_151" id="Footnote_A_151"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_151">[A]</a> We know on the authority of Sir Edward Coke himself that one -of the conspirators was supposed to have revealed the Plot, and indeed -such <i>must</i> have been inevitably the case. Now, the proved position of -Thomas Ward in the work of communicating with Thomas Winter suggests that -Ward was the diplomatic go-between. But it is obvious that Ward cannot -have himself penned the Letter; for if he had been in the service of -Elizabeth’s Government his handwriting would be known to the Government. -Now, circumstantial evidence tends to prove that Father Oldcorne did. -Therefore the relationship of priest and penitent and the machinery of the -Tribunal of Penance is forthwith, naturally and easily, brought into play. -Now, in these days of “<i>emancipated and free religious thought</i>,” it is -difficult for us readily to realize the <i>stupendous</i> force that the -alleged supernatural facts of historical Christianity had upon <i>the mind -of all those who lived consciously</i> hemmed in, as it were, by an alleged -supernatural tradition of Christianity, <i>whether</i> Calvinistic <i>or</i> Roman -Catholic, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Those alleged facts -were assumed and deliberately calculated upon as among the ruling and -controlling <i>realities</i> of daily life. Now, a Yorkshire Roman -Catholic — especially one brought up in the Wright, Ward, Babthorpe, -Ingleby, Mallory circle — might be easily frightened, nay, terrified, into -confession and avowal of his crimes, and <i>therefore</i> into satisfaction, -and <i>therefore</i> into reversal, by the mere fact that about the Feast of -St. Michael and All Angels, 11th October (old style), 1605, when -“examining his conscience” he came to realize the tremendous and awful -wickedness of his two crimes, sacrilege and murder. For the Archangel -“<i>Michael — who is like unto God</i>” — would be to <i>him</i> a being as real and -living and of transcendently greater <i>power</i> — an important -consideration — than even the stern reality of the hangman of the -gallows-tree and the ripping knife; while a close-natured, thoughtful -Yorkshireman like Christopher Wright would vividly realize, with his -shrewd instinct for values and tendencies, that, <i>unrepentant</i>, his -ultimate fate — either here or hereafter — was not worth while the risking. -For, on the one hand, he may have peradventure, consciously or -unconsciously, argued there is the certainty of falling, sooner or later, -into “the Hands of the Living God,” and of being by Him consigned to the -charge of Michael, the Minister of His Justice; while, on the other, there -is the going, <i>not</i> to the chill, viewless wind, but to a sympathetic -rational creature with a brain, heart, eyes, hands, and feet, and the -getting <i>him</i>, in the solid reality of flesh and blood, to put a speedy -stop, here and now, to the whole unhappy business, and so save further -trouble. (A man of middle age, well educated, belonging to an old -Yorkshire Roman Catholic family that “had never lost the Faith,” told a -relative, not long ago, that “after being on the spree” he should have -certainly committed a great crime had he not been stayed by the knowledge -that, if he did so, “<i>he would go plump into Hell</i>.” I mention this to -show how, at least, sometimes the Catholic conscience works even in these -“enlightened” days. Hence, the antecedent probability of the truth of my -suggested solution of <i>how</i> the revealing conspirator was motived to -reveal the conspiracy. For an Inquiry into the Gunpowder Plot is a great -philosophical study of human <i>motives</i> as well as of <i>probabilities</i>; and -the case of Christopher Wright (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) is, in relation to the -example just cited, an <i>à fortiori</i> case.)</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--239.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXIII.</h2> - -<p>But, it may be plausibly objected, if it were of such dangerous tendency -<i>indiscriminately</i> to give utterance to bare, abstract, moral principles -only, how came it to pass, then, that Oldcorne, who was a good man, -morally, as well as a clever man, intellectually, suffered himself <i>thus</i> -to act when questioned by Humphrey Littleton respecting the moral -lawfulness, or otherwise, of the Gunpowder Plot?</p> - -<p>Now, Oldcorne, as we have already seen in his Declaration quoted above, -has recorded a — that is -one — reason<!--240.png--><span class="pagenum">202</span> -why he left Littleton <i>in -abstracto</i> — that is furnished with truth in the abstract merely. And -beyond a doubt, as subsequent events so signally proved, the astute -Jesuit’s judgment of Littleton’s character had not erred one whit.</p> - -<p>Littleton, as Oldcorne justly feared, was a “dangerous fellow,” one who -was likely to entrap the innocent, and one who was, therefore, not -entitled, either in Justice or in that more refined kind of justice called -Equity, to have his question dealt with by anything other than a flanking -movement; or, in other words, by anything other than such an intellectual -manœuvre as would <i>turn aside the question</i> Littleton had elected to -propound to the great mental strategist — as would turn aside the question -Littleton had elected to propound, on the face of it, probably, and as the -event proved, certainly, from sinister motives and with crooked aims.</p> - -<!--241.png--><p><span class="pagenum">203</span></p> - -<p>Hence, <i>partly</i> because of his questioner’s inferred insincerity and -pernicious purposes <i>did Oldcorne sever speculative truth in thought from -concrete truth in action</i>; or, in other words, <i>Oldcorne gave to Littleton -an answer “sounding” in partial truth alone</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--242.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXIV.</h2> - -<p>Now, <i>partial truth</i>, as has been affirmed already, <i>is not, in its -proportion, less true than the full orb of truth</i>.<a name="FNanchor_A_152" id="FNanchor_A_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_152" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> And many are the -times and many are the circumstances in this strangely chequered human -life of ours, with its endless movements and its perpetual vicissitudes, -when apparently conflicting and antagonistic duties can be in justice, -equity, and honour reconciled on one condition only, namely, that man -shall leave to Omniscience alone, “from Whom no secrets are hid,” a -knowledge of the full orb of certain degrees of some particular kind of -truth, governing some particular subject-matter under -consideration.<a name="FNanchor_165_398" id="FNanchor_165_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_398" class="fnanchor">[165]</a><a name="FNanchor_B_153" id="FNanchor_B_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_153" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_152" id="Footnote_A_152"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_152">[A]</a> <i>It is never morally lawful to tell a lie</i>, that is, to speak -contrary to one’s mind, or to deceive by word contrary to that law of -justice which bids a man render to all rational creatures their due. -</p> - -<p> -<i>To act a lie</i> is as base and wicked as to tell a lie, and often more -unmanly and contemptible besides: else might the deaf and dumb be unjustly -deceived with impunity.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_153" id="Footnote_B_153"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_153">[B]</a> The noble science of casuistry is founded on the fact that -<i>partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth</i>. -</p> - -<p> -A knowledge of casuistry, that is, of the principles of moral science -scientifically applied to the living facts of the living present, will be -of primal necessity to British statesmen in the twentieth century, which -will be a century of few, but strong, principles, and of few, but strong, -men to apply those principles. -</p> - -<p> -Efficiency, and efficiency through scientific exactitude, will be the -characteristic aim of all the great Imperial Powers of the world in the -near future. Here, in England, with all our intellectual, moral, and -physical virtues (which indeed are neither few nor contemptible), we have -been too apt to allow a number of persons to speak for us, able in their -way, no doubt, but of limited mental vision, and hopelessly incapable of -grappling with the problems that confront a world-wide Empire, embracing a -fifth (some say a fourth) of the human race. A democratic Empire must -choose leaders that are <i>wise</i>, just, self-controlled, courageous; and -then that Empire must entrust freely and fearlessly their destinies with -such leaders, who must not be afraid faithfully to go “full tilt” against -ignorant prejudice or short-sighted prepossession. -</p> - -<p> -Now, wisdom (or prudence) is the cardinal virtue which presides over all -the other three virtues. And wisdom (or prudence) tells us that strategy -in war, that sometimes necessary evil; diplomacy betwixt the -representatives of nations; and above and beyond all the imparting to the -general body of the people only so much knowledge of the tendencies of -current events as is for the common good, can have intellectual and moral -justification on this one fundamental ethical principle only, namely, that -<i>partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Again; where a sound intellectual and moral basis is not consciously held, -man, by the rules that govern his rational nature, will not “walk -sure-footedly.” Moreover, it is impossible for a self-respecting free -people to allow that essential <i>unity</i> does not prevail betwixt the -fundamental principles of both private action and public action. <i>For just -wars and politics are not the pawns of a game that has been devised and -patented by the devil.</i> Just wars and politics are ethics working in the -living present, in the wider field of human conduct. And, properly -understood, they are, after their kind, and must be, if they are lawful to -rational creatures, as noble and as much under the reign, rule, and -governance of the <i>Ideal Man</i> as are those solemn acts of life which have -been (amongst other purposes) devised to remind man of the transcendental -nature of his origin and destiny.</p></div> - -<!--243.png--><p><span class="pagenum">205</span></p> - -<p>Just as on some wild, tempestuous night, the full orb of the silvery moon -is obscured to the eye of the gazer by a dark, driving cloud.</p> - -<p>Now, it has been said that, partly, <i>because</i> Oldcorne inferred -insincerity of heart in Humphrey Littleton, and, partly, <i>because</i> -Oldcorne inferred in his questioner pernicious purposes in propounding the -question he did propound respecting the moral lawfulness, or otherwise, of -the Gunpowder Plot, <i>therefore</i> Oldcorne gave Littleton an answer sounding -in partial — that is, in this case, in abstract, in speculative — truth -alone.</p> - -<!--244.png--><p><span class="pagenum">206</span></p> - -<p>Oldcorne’s own expressed words are as follow: — </p> - -<p>“<i>In this warie sort I spake to him bycause I doubted he came to entrap -me</i>, <i>and that he should take no advantage of my words whither he reported -them to Catholics or to Protestants.</i>”</p> - -<p>Unquestionably, this must have been <i>a</i> reason — <i>one</i> reason, that is — for -Father Oldcorne’s flanking, evasive reply, sounding in partial — that is, -in this case, in abstract, in speculative — truth alone.</p> - -<p>For otherwise a man of such approved goodness and established character -would have never declared it to be a reason. The contrary supposal it is -impossible to entertain.</p> - -<p>But because Oldcorne’s declared reason was undoubtedly <i>a</i> reason, it does -not follow — regard being had to persons, times, and circumstances — either -from the demands of universal reason or moral fitness, that it was <i>his -only and sole reason</i>, nor (still less) that it was his <i>paramount and -predominant reason</i> for his action in question, that is, for his mode of -couching the aforesaid Declaration in partial truth alone.</p> - -<p>What leads to the conclusion with resistless force that Oldcorne’s alleged -reason cannot have been his paramount, his predominant, reason is the -simple, indisputable fact that such an aim so egregiously miscarried.</p> - -<p>Therefore, in the case of so astute and clever a man, as all the evidence -we have concerning Oldcorne to demonstration proves him to have been, it -is rendered probable, to the degree of moral certainty, that the great -casuist had some far stronger reason latent within him than the reason he -chose to put forth for couching an answer to Humphrey Littleton, sounding -in partial truth alone.</p> - -<p>Besides the sufficient, indeed, <i>yet inferior -reason</i>,<!--245.png--><span class="pagenum">207</span> -grounded on the -primal instinct of personal self-preservation, or, in other words, to put -the matter bluntly, the mere brute instinct of not being entrapped, wisdom -suggests that Oldcorne must — his moral character being what we know it -was — have had a reason latent deep down within the depths of his conscious -being, which was not only a sufficient but <i>superior reason</i>, not only a -true but a sublime reason, for severing in this grave matter, and holding -suspended, truth <i>in thought</i> from truth <i>in action</i>.</p> - -<p>Yea, Father Oldcorne, I maintain, gave Humphrey Littleton the flanking, -evasive answer that he did give him, notwithstanding the inevitable, -possible, and even probable dangers attendant thereon, because he -(Oldcorne) felt within himself, “to the finest fibre of his being,” a -<i>freedom</i>, a <i>three-fold freedom</i>, which warranted, justified, and -vindicated him in so answering.</p> - -<p>Now this freedom was a three-fold freedom, because it was a -thrice-purchased freedom.</p> - -<p><i>And it was a thrice-purchased freedom because it had been purchased by -the merits</i>: — </p> - -<p>(1) Of the personal, actual repentance of the revealing plotter himself. -By the merits</p> - -<p>(2) Of the imputed (or constructive) repentance of that penitent’s -co-plotters. And by the merits</p> - -<p>(3) Of the laudable action of Oldcorne himself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--246.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXV.</h2> - -<p>Now, Oldcorne, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he -was good, manifests from the inherent nature of his answer to Humphrey -Littleton a sense, a consciousness, an assurance of freedom from the -restraints and obligations which would have undoubtedly stayed and bound -him had he not been already freed from their power.</p> - -<p>Now, it is a superior power that countervails, that renders impotent an -inferior power.</p> - -<p><i>Now, Oldcorne would be freed from the restraining power of moral -obligations, as to the user of a particular character of speech, if he had -had residing within him a power of superior, of sublimer, that is, of -countervailing force.</i></p> - -<p><i>Now, Oldcorne, in his answer to Littleton, manifestly gives evidence of -power, of countervailing power.</i></p> - -<p><i>Knowledge gives power: gives countervailing power.</i></p> - -<p><i>Therefore it follows that the presence of power, of countervailing power, -in Oldcorne proves likewise the strong probability of knowledge, of -countervailing knowledge likewise.</i></p> - -<p><i>And what kind of knowledge can such two-fold knowledge have been, save a -meritorious knowledge of what aforetime had been, but which was then no -longer, the Gunpowder Treason Plot?</i></p> - -<p>For, from the very moment of Oldcorne’s becoming conscious that the Plot -as a plot had vanished into -thin<!--247.png--><span class="pagenum">209</span> -air by (1) personal, actual repentance; -by (2) imputed or constructive repentance; by (3) a personally heroic act: -had vanished like the morning mists before the beams of the rising sun, -Oldcorne would feel himself, so to speak, immediately to be endued with an -extraordinary power: with a power that would straightway cause him to grow -to a loftier stature than all his fellows: with a power that then would -enable him, as it were, to scale the heights, and, at length, to mount up -to the very top of what aforetime had been the baleful Plot, but which -Plot Oldcorne full well knew would be henceforward and for ever emptied -and defecated of and from all murderous, criminous, sacrilegious -quality.<a name="FNanchor_166_399" id="FNanchor_166_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_399" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></p> - -<p>Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in viewing and -surveying “the fact of Mr. Catesbie’s” simply speculatively and purely in -the abstract.</p> - -<p>Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in leaving -Humphrey Littleton <i>in abstracto</i>, after the latter had propounded to him -his dangerous question: of leaving the doubter with an answer sounding in -partial truth alone.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--248.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXVI.</h2> - -<p>Now, this conclusion leads inevitably to the further conclusion that -Edward Oldcorne must have had latent within him, deep down within the -depths of his conscious being, a particular knowledge, <i>as distinct from a -general knowledge, a private knowledge as distinct from a public -knowledge</i>, not indeed of this Plot as a plot, but of the Plot <i>after</i> it -had been, <i>when</i> it had been, and <i>as</i> it had been <i>first transmuted and -transformed, by the causes and processes hereinbefore mentioned: -transmuted and transformed into an instrument, sure and certain for the -temporal salvation of his fellow-men</i>.</p> - -<p>Yea, <i>because</i> Edward Oldcorne’s noblest mental faculty, his conscience, -gazing with eagle-eye, sun-filled, yet undazzled and undismayed, upon -absolute truth was able unshrinkingly and calmly to bear witness to the -other indivisible parts of his rational nature, that <i>his</i> mind in -relation to that fell enterprise, which from first to last must have “made -the angels weep,” was a mind not only of passive innocence, but of active -rectitude, <i>therefore</i> must he have felt himself to be not barely, but -abundantly <i>free</i>. Free, because he knew there was no mortal in this -world, and no being in the world to come, to condemn <i>him</i> at the bar of -eternal Justice; nay, none rightly even to be so much as his accuser: free -to survey the baleful scheme purely speculatively: free, orally to express -the results of that survey, <i>either as to whole or part, in abstracto, in -the abstract -merely;</i><!--249.png--><span class="pagenum">211</span> -<i>and this notwithstanding the risk of -misinterpretation from his questioner’s “want of thought,” or “want of -heart</i>.”</p> - -<p>For everlastingly was it the truth, that none could gainsay nor resist, -that in relation to <i>this</i> matter, at any rate, it was the lofty privilege -of Edward Oldcorne — indeed a man, if ever there were such, “elect and -precious” — to have been made “a white soul:” to have been made a soul like -unto “a star that dwelt apart.”</p> - -<p><i>Res ipsa loquitur.</i> Yea, the words of Edward Oldcorne speak for -themselves. And from those words evident is it that it was the kingly -prerogative of this disciplined, self-repressed, humblest of men, <i>to know -the truth as to the once atrocious plan: to know the truth and to be -free</i>.</p> - -<p>For his language implies, and, his mind and his character being what they -were, his language is intelligible on none other supposal than this: That -at the very moment when his tongue gave utterance to this now famous -flanking, evasive answer to his inquirer, <i>he, even he, had possession of -a power, a knowledge, a living consciousness, that he had been exalted to -be the chosen agent of that Supreme Power of the Universe</i>, to Whom by -infinite right, Vengeance belongs: <i>the chosen agent whereby the -aforetime, but then no longer, stupendous Gunpowder Treason Plot had been, -to all eternity, overthrown, frustrated, and brought to nought</i>.<a name="FNanchor_167_400" -id="FNanchor_167_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_400" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--250.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXVII.</h2> - -<p>Hence may we say, of a surety, has it been proved that Edward Oldcorne, -Priest and Jesuit, used words which imply that, as a fact, he viewed the -Plot <i>ante factum</i>, before the fact, and in the abstract merely.</p> - -<p>That, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he was good, -he must have had his warranting reasons, his justifying reasons, his -vindicating reasons for so doing, when such a course of action was -obviously likely to be attended with danger from misinterpretation from -both the fool and the knave; from both the man lacking thought and from -the man lacking heart.</p> - -<p>That such warranting reasons, such justifying reasons, such vindicating -reasons would be found in the fact that Oldcorne knew the Plot was no -longer a plot, but a scheme emptied and defecated of all evil, all -murderous, all criminous, all sacrilegious quality. Nay, that it was a -scheme sublimated and transfigured by his (Oldcorne’s) own superabounding -merit and virtue in relation to the once diabolical, but then repented of, -prodigious plan.</p> - -<p>Therefore is the inevitable conclusion pressed upon us with resistless -force, that, according to the changeless laws which govern man’s -intellectual and moral nature, Oldcorne must have had some <i>official or -semi-official particular and private knowledge</i> of the thirteen Gunpowder -traitors’ heinous project, as distinct from and in addition to that merely -personal, general knowledge, which he necessarily cannot have failed to -possess in -his<!--251.png--><span class="pagenum">213</span> -capacity of an ordinary English citizen: some professional -or quasi-professional special, private knowledge, as distinct from that -general, public, common knowledge, which every sane man then a subject of -the British Crown could not help not being possessed of, at that very -instant of time when Humphrey Littleton propounded to the great casuist -Humphrey Littleton’s aforetime unhappy question.<a name="FNanchor_A_154" id="FNanchor_A_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_154" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_154" id="Footnote_A_154"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_154">[A]</a> It is quite clear to my mind that Christopher Wright, the -revealing plotter, must have himself expressly freed his confessor from -the obligation to <i>absolute</i> secrecy, which the seal of the Confessional -would impose. It may have been that Oldcorne made this a condition -precedent to his agreeing to pen the Letter. Or, it may have been that -Wright’s own strong Catholic instincts and natural sense of justice -suggested the necessity of this course. As already remarked, a natural -secret, that is, a something that is not a sin, which alone forms matter -for Sacramental Confession, may <i>indirectly</i> come under the seal, if the -confessor promises expressly or impliedly to accept the natural secret -under the obligations of the seal. But in Wright’s case there could be no -question of his communication being in the nature of a natural secret -protected <i>indirectly</i> by the seal by reason of Oldcorne’s promise. And -though <i>freed</i> by the penitent from the duty of absolute secrecy, Oldcorne -would be still under a positive duty <i>of discretion</i>.</p></div> - -<p>I say advisedly <i>aforetime unhappy question</i>.</p> - -<p>For, I respectfully maintain that the ratiocinative faculty to-day, of a -surety, demonstrates that in the majestic cause of impartial, severe, -historical truth, the act of this frail, erring child of man, Humphrey -Littleton, has proved itself now to be thrice happy.</p> - -<p>“<i>O felix culpa!</i>” “O happy fault!” Out of bitterness is come forth -sweetness.</p> - -<p>Humphrey Littleton was not pardoned by King James, his Privy Council, and -Government, notwithstanding the invaluable disclosures he had made.<a name="FNanchor_168_401" id="FNanchor_168_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_401" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> - -<p>This high-born English gentleman was executed at Redhill, Worcester, on -the 7th day of April, 1606, along with (among others) another open rebel, -John Winter, -the<!--252.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> -half-brother of Robert Winter and Thomas Winter, the -Gunpowder traitors.</p> - -<p>Humphrey Littleton, we are told by his contemporary, Father John Gerard, -asked forgiveness of Father Oldcorne more than once, and said that he had -wronged him much.</p> - -<p>He also asked forgiveness of Mr. Abington, who, though condemned to death, -was ultimately pardoned at his wife’s and Lord Mounteagle’s intercession.</p> - -<p>Humphrey Littleton “died with show of great repentance, and so with sorrow -and humility and patient acceptance of his death made amends for his -former frailty and too unworthy desire of life.”</p> - -<p>Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach — who had likewise joined in the -rebellion in the Midlands, under Sir Everard Digby, which grew out of the -Gunpowder Plot, although a distinct movement from it, albeit connected -with the Plot — was made a public example of in his native County of -Staffordshire, <i>in terrorem</i>, as a terror to evil-doers: this unfortunate -English gentleman suffering the extreme penalty of the law, according to -his contemporary, the aforesaid Father John Gerard, in the ancient town of -Stafford.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--253.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXVIII.</h2> - -<p>We now come to the second and latter part of Father Oldcorne’s Declaration -to Humphrey Littleton, from the whole of which Declaration Littleton drew -the conclusion that Oldcorne answered “the action was good, and seemed to -approve of it.”<a name="FNanchor_A_155" id="FNanchor_A_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_155" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_155" id="Footnote_A_155"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_155">[A]</a> By thus disclaiming knowledge of “<i>these</i>” — that is, the -object the plotters had in view in their nefarious Plot, and the means -they purposed having recourse to, to attain their object — Oldcorne -deliberately throws a veil over the full orb of truth. But Littleton might -have discerned, had he taken the trouble so to do, that Oldcorne was -equivocating under a sense of prior obligation; and the clue was afforded -by the person of the speaker and the tenour of the answer itself. In the -former part of the Declaration, by leaving Littleton <i>in abstracto</i>, he -had thrown a veil over a portion of the full orb of truth. Just as the -silvery moon, on some tempestuous night, may be first partially obscured, -by a thick, dark, driving cloud, and then afterwards wholly obscured, from -the view of the gazer.</p></div> - -<p>“And thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. Catesbie’s; it is not to be -approved or condemned by the event, but by the proper object or end, and -means which was to be used in it; <i>and because I know nothing of thes</i>, I -will neither approve it or condeme it, but leave it to god and ther owne -consciences, and in this wary sort I spoke to him bycause I doubted he -came to entrap me; and that he should take noe advantage of the words -whither he reported them to Catholics or Protestants.”<a name="FNanchor_B_156" id="FNanchor_B_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_156" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_156" id="Footnote_B_156"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_156">[B]</a> Oldcorne’s full answer to Littleton would be, “and because I -know nothing of these [that I am at liberty to tell you, Humphrey -Littleton”]: <i>these last words being interiorly expressed, perhaps</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Now, in the first place, let it be remembered that these words were spoken -<i>not before but after</i> -Wednesday,<!--254.png--><span class="pagenum">216</span> -the 6th of November, when, as Oldcorne -himself has left on record, and which indeed we have seen already, Father -Tesimond came from Coughton to Huddington, and from Huddington to Hindlip; -and when “<i>he said that there were certain gentlemen that meant to have -blown up the Parliament House, and that their plot was discovered a day or -two before</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_A_157" id="FNanchor_A_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_157" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_157" id="Footnote_A_157"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_157">[A]</a> Father Oldcorne says that Tesimond reached Hindlip at two -o’clock. Now, as Tesimond came <i>from</i> Huddington, where, already, he had -had an interview with Catesby, the conspirators must have reached -Huddington <i>before</i> two o’clock; probably they reached the mansion-house -at twelve o’clock mid-day. Bates says that Tesimond was at Huddington -half-an-hour; but Jardine says two hours. Query, what does “<i>Greenway’s -MS.</i>” say?</p></div> - -<p>Again; Fawkes, we are told by Eudæmon-Joannes,<a name="FNanchor_169_402" id="FNanchor_169_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_402" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> explained at the Trial -of the conspirators why the prisoners pleaded “‘Not guilty,’ which was -that the Indictment contained ‘many other matters, which we neither can, -nor ought to countenance by our assent or silence,’ though none of them -meant to deny that which they had not only voluntarily confessed before, -<i>but which was quite notorious throughout the realm</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_170_403" id="FNanchor_170_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_403" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> (The italics -are mine.)</p> - -<p>Now, seeing that Oldcorne told Littleton that “<i>he knew nothing</i>” as to -the “<i>end or object</i>” the plotters had in their Plot, nor “<i>the means -which was to be used in it</i>,” when the whole of England, not to say -Europe, had been ringing with a knowledge of <i>not only the end or object, -but also the means</i>, for the last past few days, and perhaps weeks, at the -very least, I draw this inevitable conclusion: — </p> - -<p>That because Oldcorne was a man as morally good as he was intellectually -clever, <i>he must have met his questioner’s inquiry with this nescience, by -reason of some antecedent, official, and professional duty; or, at -least,</i><!--255.png--><span class="pagenum">217</span> -<i>semi-official and quasi-professional duty, which had been imposed upon -him, ab extra, from the outside, prior in time to Humphrey Littleton’s -coming to him to be resolved of his doubts as to the moral rightness or -wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot</i>.<a name="FNanchor_171_404" id="FNanchor_171_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_404" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></p> - -<p>In other words, that Oldcorne felt instinctively that he could recognise -in <i>a private individual, like Humphrey Littleton</i>, no valid right, title, -claim, or demand to call forth an answer, which might discover or disclose -to Littleton the secret of the repentant Christopher Wright.</p> - -<p>Yea, neither in Justice, nor in Equity, nor in Honour could the grand -Yorkshireman betray to Humphrey Littleton the secret of trust that in a -semi-official, quasi-professional mode or fashion had come to be entrusted -to him by another, as that other’s private property and exclusive -possession.</p> - -<p><i>That other was Christopher Wright, the penitent revealing plotter, and -whomsoever he had, explicitly or implicitly, willed should share a -knowledge of the mighty secret. But to none other or others beside. And -certainly not to men probably prompted by sinister motives and crooked -aims.</i></p> - -<p>For a knowledge of truth in action, truth in the result, truth in the -event, truth in the external, and every other kind of truth in relation to -the Gunpowder<a name="FNanchor_A_158" id="FNanchor_A_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_158" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -Plot,<!--256.png--><span class="pagenum">218</span> -<i>integral or partial, was irrevocably held in -trust</i> by Edward Oldcorne, not for Humphrey Littleton, or the like of him, -but for Christopher Wright and men that were true of heart.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_158" id="Footnote_A_158"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_158">[A]</a> <span class="smcap">The end does not justify the means: neither can a man or a -woman do evil that good may come.</span> But Oldcorne would contend that, in -perfect Reason, Truth may be concealed, subject to certain limitations -and, regard being had to person, time, and circumstance, the -clue-affording possibilities; and this whether partial truth or whole -truth, <i>in pursuance of a prior and superior moral obligation</i>. And so -would say all modern diplomatists and commanders in the field, however -conscientious and upright they might be, unless they wished to court -defeat, or to give away their Country, and (if justice be meted out to -them) to be cashiered. Now, <i>unity at all times and in all places must -prevail. For all men are subject to the one Moral Law of Right Reason, and -nowhere will you find men without souls</i>, notwithstanding that certain -members of the English middle classes sometimes seem to labour under a -delusion to the contrary. -</p> - -<p> -Equivocation cannot be had recourse to in matters of Contract, nor for -pecuniary gain, nor sordid profit. Remember <i>that</i>, O all ye worshippers -of Mammon! For, “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 Reason and -Moral 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 the cause, whether those -witnesses be the parties themselves to the cause, or strangers -“subpœnaed” to give testimony therein. Such persons would be justly -punishable for perjury who professed that, when bearing insufficient or -inadequate witness in a Court of Justice by not telling “the whole” truth, -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 copper-coloured, contrary to the primary obligations of -Justice, which bid man render unto <i>all men</i> their due. Nor with reference -to Divine Truth can equivocation be used. (Hence the piteous absurdity of -the Royal Declaration against Popery.) -</p> - -<p> -By 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. Such a -person equivocates by pleading “<i>not guilty</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -<i>Because</i> I believe the ethical doctrine which justifies equivocation, -when properly taught, to be true and not false, <i>and because</i> I -furthermore believe that, in the interests of my Country and of Humanity -at large, it is of practical consequence, as well as mentally salutary, -that a knowledge of equivocation, its foundation principles, extents, and -limitations, should be “understanded” by all those that have the -guardianship of the People, whether in the senate, in the field, or at -sea, <i>therefore</i>, I have requested one, who has a competent mastery of the -subject, to explain the matter to my readers. This has been kindly done in -a letter, which will be found in Supplementum VI. For “<i>Melius petere -fontes</i>,” the jurist as well as the poet has it. “<i>Better is it to have -recourse to the fountain-head.</i>” -</p> - -<p> -The philosophical explanation of the fact that, under the pressure of -necessity, certain combatants can and do exhibit in action at the theatre -of war the highest strategetical skill, in spite of their knowing nothing -of the scientific doctrine of equivocation, springs from the law of reason -that, as a rule, <i>doing</i> is the condition precedent <i>to knowing</i>; -experience to cognition. See Ferrier’s “<i>Institutes of Metaphysic</i>” -(Blackwood), p.15.</p></div> - -<p>This was an obligation, that flowed from the truth expressed by the -luminous maxim, “<i>Qui prior est tempore potior est jure</i>.” “He who is -first in time is the stronger in point of right.”</p> - -<!--257.png--><p><span class="pagenum">219</span></p> - -<p>The Jesuit could never that trust, that confidence betray. If needs be, he -must be “true till death.” For it was not necessary that he should live. -But it was necessary that he should live undishonoured.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--258.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXIX.</h2> - -<p>Again; to all those that are “knowing” enough, the facts of this woeful -tragedy “observingly” to “distil out,” the form and substance of this -document of the 12th March, 1605-6, under the hand of Edward Oldcorne, -alike afford evidence — conclusive evidence — that Father Oldcorne regarded -the Gunpowder conspirators as repentant conspirators, through the virtual -<i>representative</i> repentance of one of their own number.</p> - -<p>And though it is true that, by the inexorable decree of the Universe, “The -Guilty suffer,” each man for himself and not another, temporal punishment, -searching, terrible, and keen, yet this is not the whole of the truth -governing the perfected ethics of the matter. For “Man learns by -suffering.” And guilt is pardoned on repentance, that is, on the -observance and on the performance of certain equally decreed conditions.</p> - -<p>These conditions are (1) confession, (2) contrition, which implies sorrow -and regret, and (3) satisfaction or “damages,” which involves amendment, -withdrawal, or reversal. And when all three conditions have been observed -and performed, then</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Whoso with repentance is not satisfied,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Neither to earth nor heaven is allied.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>Hence, could the great moralist, by a <i>complexus</i> of intellectual acts, -personal and vicarious, justly regard the whole band of plotters as -transgressors released -from<!--259.png--><span class="pagenum">221</span> -the abstract guilt of their double crime. For -it is a dictate of reason that the release of one joint debtor operates -derivatively to the release, <i>ipso facto</i>, of all the rest.</p> - -<p>Now, if Oldcorne possessed a conscious realization that, through the -<i>repentance, personal and representative</i>, of the Gunpowder plotters, that -Plot was no longer a plot, then, to speak after the manner of men, he must -have had that realization as the resultant of two particular kinds, -aspects, or sides of <i>knowledge: ab extra</i>, from without, that is, passive -knowledge, or communicated, in the <i>first</i> step; and <i>ab intra</i>, from -within, that is, knowledge active, or self-bestowed, in the <i>second</i> step.</p> - -<p>Now, both passive knowledge and active knowledge here would imply, in the -final analysis, a communication by some external mental agency, the agency -of some living, intelligent being.</p> - -<p>It would be implied in the first case, directly; in the second case, -indirectly. But, directly or indirectly, the source would be the same.</p> - -<p>Now, who can that aforesaid living, intelligent being, which reason -demands, have been, if not <i>a repentant plotter himself</i>?</p> - -<p>Therefore, by irresistible inference, the Letter is surely, with moral -certitude, traced home at last.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--260.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXX.</h2> - -<p>Father Edward Oldcorne was racked in the Tower of London, “five times, and -once with the utmost severity for several hours,”<a name="FNanchor_172_405" id="FNanchor_172_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_405" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> in order that, -haply, information might be extracted from him that would prove him to be -possessed of a guilty knowledge of the Plot. But this princely soul had -nothing of that kind to tell, so that King James and his Counsellors -wreaked their lawless severity in vain.<a name="FNanchor_A_159" id="FNanchor_A_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_159" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_159" id="Footnote_A_159"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_159">[A]</a> Torture, for the purpose of drawing evidence from a prisoner, -was contrary to the Law of England. Brother Ralph Ashley, the servant of -Father Oldcorne, who, I maintain, carried the warning Letters to Father -Henry Garnet and Lord Mounteagle, was tortured, but without revealing -anything apparently. Brother Nicholas Owen, the great maker of priests’ -hiding-places and secret chambers in the castles, manor-houses, and halls -of the old English Catholic gentry, was tortured with great severity; but -he, too, seems to have revealed nothing. Owen “died in their hands,” but -whether he was tortured to death or committed suicide in the Tower is a -mystery to this day. One would like to see this mystery bottomed.</p></div> - -<p>On the 7th day of April, 1606, at Redhill, one mile from the City of -Worcester, on the London Road, “the silver cord was loosed, the golden -bowl was broken, the pitcher was crushed at the fountain, the wheel was -broken on the cistern.” For on that day, at that spot, the happy spirit of -Edward Oldcorne mounted far, far beyond the fading things of time and -space.<a name="FNanchor_173_406" id="FNanchor_173_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_406" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></p> - -<p>It may be objected that Father John Gerard’s relation of the last dying -speech and confession of the great Jesuit Priest and Martyr is hostile to -the<!--261.png--><span class="pagenum">223</span> -hypothesis that Oldcorne penned the great Letter, “<i>Litteræ -Felicissimæ</i>.”</p> - -<p>Gerard’s reported words are these; but, I contend, we have no absolute -proof that they are the <i>ipissima verba</i> of Father Oldcorne, though he may -have uttered some of these words, and something resembling them in the -case of the others. — See Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>” p. 275.</p> - -<p>“He declared unto the people that he came thither to die for the Catholic -faith and the practice of his function, seeing that they neither had, nor -could prove anything against him which, even by their own laws, was -sufficient to condemn him, but that he was a Priest of the Society of -Jesus, wherein he much rejoiced, and was ready and desirous to give his -life for the profession of that faith which he had taught many years in -that very country, and which it was necessary for everyone to embrace that -would save their souls.<a name="FNanchor_174_407" id="FNanchor_174_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_407" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> <i>Then being asked again about the treason and -taking part with the conspirators</i>, he protested there again that he never -had the least knowledge of the treason, and took it upon his death that he -was as clear as the new-born child from the whole plot or any part -thereof. Then commending his soul, with great devotion, humility, and -confidence, into the hands of God and to the Blessed Virgin, St. Jerome, -St. Winifred, and his good Angel, he was turned off the ladder, and -hanging awhile, was cut down and quartered, and so his innocent and -thrice-happy soul went to receive the reward of his many and great -labours.” (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--262.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXXI.</h2> - -<p>Now, in the first place, it is to be noticed that Father Oldcorne made the -special disclaimer of ever having had the least knowledge of the Plot only -<i>after being asked again about the treason and taking part with the -conspirators</i>.</p> - -<p>My respectful submissions to the judgment of my candid readers, therefore, -are these: — </p> - -<p>First, that we have no exact, that is, no scientific, proof<a name="FNanchor_175_408" id="FNanchor_175_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_408" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> that -Father Oldcorne, as a fact, employed these <i>precise words</i>.</p> - -<p>And, secondly, that, even if he did so employ them, what he meant to -convey to his hearers’ mind by the words was, I maintain, that he had no -criminal, no traitorous knowledge of the ruthless Gunpowder enterprise; -or, in other words, <i>no guilty knowledge, no knowledge that his King and -his fellow-subjects had any right, title, claim, or demand, in Reason, -Justice, Equity, or Honour, to obtain or to wring from him</i>.</p> - -<p>For “<i>Qui prior est tempore potior est jure</i>.” “He who is first in time is -the stronger in point of right.”</p> - -<p>Again; “There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than -Parliament or King.” And that is the Human Conscience, instructed by Truth -and Justice. <i>Her</i> rights are invincible and eternally sacred.</p> - -<p>Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne “followed Ralph, his faithful -follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great -devotion and fervour, as -may<!--263.png--><span class="pagenum">225</span> -be guessed by this one action of his; for -whilst Father Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing himself 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 his -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 God, was turned off the ladder and -changed this life for a better.” — See Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” pp. 27, -5276.<a name="FNanchor_176_409" id="FNanchor_176_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_409" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></p> - -<p>Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 269 of his “<i>Narrative</i>,” as we -have seen already, that “Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed -that one might see they much 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.”</p> - -<p>Although Father Oldcorne was found guilty and sentenced to death, it is -not clearly shewn, from Gerard’s Relation, or that of anybody else, what -offences -were<!--264.png--><span class="pagenum">226</span> -proved against him. Probably, 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 Rome as possible; (2) on his -providing, through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for Robert -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.<a name="FNanchor_A_160" id="FNanchor_A_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_160" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_160" id="Footnote_A_160"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_160">[A]</a> The reason why Humphrey Littleton, at his execution, begged -pardon of Mr. Abington, as well as of Father Oldcorne (see <i>ante</i> p. <a href="#Page_214">214</a>), -was that Humphrey Littleton, when in Worcester Gaol, had reported to the -Government, in the hope of getting a respite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and -Oldcorne, were being concealed at Hindlip. -</p> - -<p> -Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable -Anne Vaux, on the 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the -last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne, together with the -lay-brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by -Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, a Worcestershire magistrate, in -pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The -captives were all four solemnly conveyed to the Tower of London. Miss Vaux -was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. This -unconquerable lady seems to have “come to her grave in a full age, like as -a shock of corn cometh in in its season.” For, as late as the year 1635, -we find her name being reported to the Privy Council of Charles I., for -helping certain Jesuits to carry on a school for the education of the sons -of the English Catholic nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley -Grange, about six miles from Derby.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--265.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXXII.</h2> - -<p>Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his -lawful Sovereign that he had been (<i>Deo juvante</i>) 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 the 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.</p> - -<p>First, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling -Thomas Ward, in some way 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.</p> - -<p>And, secondly, although this great Priest and Jesuit, <i>by virtue and as a -result of the releasing act of his Penitent</i>, Christopher Wright, had -come, <i>practically</i>, to <i>receive a knowledge of the tremendous secret as a -Friend and as a Man</i>, and not as a Priest, yet, <i>because</i> that Man and -that Friend <i>was a Priest</i>; and <i>because</i> 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<!--266.png--><span class="pagenum">228</span> -Confessional, <i>sigillum confessionis</i> — thought and acted in relation to -the revealing plotter, <i>therefore</i> did Oldcorne, I opine, -deliberately — because, according to his own principles, he was -predominantly “a Priest,” and that “for ever” — <i>therefore</i> did he -deliberately choose the more excellent way, aye! in the chamber of torture -and upon the scaffold of death, the way of perfect self-sacrifice for the -good of others.</p> - -<p>For, by a Yorkshire Catholic mother, dwelling in a grey northern city — and -who in January, 1598, is described as “old and lame”<a name="FNanchor_A_161" id="FNanchor_A_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_161" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> — Edward Oldcorne -had been taught long years ago “<i>to adjust his compass at the -Cross</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_177_410" id="FNanchor_177_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_410" class="fnanchor">[177]</a><a name="FNanchor_178_411" id="FNanchor_178_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_411" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_161" id="Footnote_A_161"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_161">[A]</a> Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 204.</p></div> - -<p>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, which had -proved the sheet-anchor, the lever, of his Country’s temporal salvation -through the temporal salvation of its hereditary and elected rulers.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Father Gerard says, as we have already seen, in his “<i>Narrative</i>,” that -Ralph Ashley “was divers times put upon the torture but he revealed -nothing.” Gerard furthermore says that Ralph Ashley “was indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about -this conspiracy.” “But,” says Gerard, “they neither did nor could allege -any instance or proof against him.” — See “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 271.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--267.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXXIII.</h2> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Indeed, as previously stated in an earlier portion of this Inquiry, my own -opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart -to his connection, 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.</p> - -<p>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, undertook 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.</p> - -<p>In bidding farewell, a long farewell, to Thomas Ward, the following -extracts from a letter of Sir Edward Hoby<a name="FNanchor_179_412" id="FNanchor_179_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_412" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> to Sir Thomas Edmunds, -Ambassador at Brussels, are important, although some of the passages have -already appeared in the earlier part of this Inquiry: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“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<!--268.png--><span class="pagenum">230</span> -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.</p> - -<p>“Early on the Monday [<i>vere</i> 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 Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle -did, and concealed it ...</p> - -<p>“Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; <i>and Ward -walketh up and down</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_180_413" id="FNanchor_180_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_413" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> (The italics are mine.)</p> -</div> - -<p>Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward “walked up 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 we have -seen the Master of Newby apprehended in Warwickshire, in the very heart -and centre of the conspirators), <i>tend to demonstrate that the King, his -Privy Council, and Government were very much obligated to the -gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker -fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it</i>.<a name="FNanchor_A_162" id="FNanchor_A_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_162" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_162" id="Footnote_A_162"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_162">[A]</a> 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 Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the -name “Thomas Warde” from time to time in the “<i>Household Books of Lord -William Howard</i>” (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to -think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire -Jesuit, who was <i>socius</i>, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and -subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by -the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord -William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde -(or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of -Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile -from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled -down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now -Castle Howard. Fryton 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, R.N., of -Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of -Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--269.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span></p> - -<p>From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have -already learned, a payment of £700 a year, equal to nearly £7,000 a year -in our money.<a name="FNanchor_A_163" id="FNanchor_A_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_163" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_163" id="Footnote_A_163"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_163">[A]</a> Lord Mounteagle’s reward was £300 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 first and only means” the -Government had to discover that “most wicked and barbarous Plot.” -Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The title Lord Morley and -Mounteagle is now in abeyance (see Burke’s “<i>Extinct Peerages</i>”); but let -us hope that we may see it revived. An heir must be in existence, one -would imagine; for the peerages Morley and Mounteagle 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.</p></div> - -<p>But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of -Donne,<a name="FNanchor_B_164" id="FNanchor_B_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_164" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> and other wits of the -once<!--270.png--><span class="pagenum">232</span> -far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread -Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still -insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the -young peer’s honour, the following stately epigram: — </p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_164" id="Footnote_B_164"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_164">[B]</a> John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean -of St. Paul’s, and author of the once well-known “<i>Pseudo-Martyr</i>,” which -Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For one of Donne’s -ancestors <i>and descendants</i>, see <i>ante</i> p. <a href="#Page_160">160</a>. -</p> - -<p> -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 Rheims to study for the -priesthood, in consequence of the impression made upon him by Campion, who -was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount St. John; -Campion there wrote his famous “<i>Decem Rationes</i>.” 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 Harsnett’s “<i>Popish Impostures</i>,” a -book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Guy Fawkes, -through Guy’s paternal grandmother, Ellen Harrington, of York.</p></div> - -<div class="c5">“<span class="smcap">To William Lord Mounteagle.</span></div> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Lo, what my country should have done (have raised<br /></span> -<span class="i2">An obelisk, or column to thy name;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or if she would but modestly have praised<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same).<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I, that am glad of thy great chance, here do!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">But thine: for which I do’t, so much exceeds!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My country’s parents I have many known;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But saver of my country, thee alone.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<!--271.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span></p> - -<h2>RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENT, AND CONCLUSIONS.</h2> - -<p>(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 <i>pleaded</i> such fact.</p> - -<p>(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.</p> - -<p>(3) Christopher Wright, a subordinate conspirator introduced late in the -conspiracy, was the revealing conspirator.</p> - -<p>(4) Father Edward Oldcorne, S.J., was the Penman of the Letter.</p> - -<p>(5) Thomas Ward was the diplomatic Go-between common to both.</p> - -<p><i>All these three were Yorkshiremen.</i></p> - -<p>(6) Ralph Ashley was the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord -Mounteagle’s page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier -arrived.</p> - -<p><i>Perhaps a Yorkshireman.</i></p> - -<p>(7) Mounteagle knew a letter was coming. Known to Edmund Church, Esq., his -confidant.</p> - -<p>(8) Thomas Ward, on Sunday, the 27th October (the day after the delivery), -told Thomas Winter, 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.</p> - -<!--272.png--><p><span class="pagenum">234</span></p> - -<p>(9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapworth when the Letter was delivered, -and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas Winter some little -time subsequent to the delivery of the Letter.</p> - -<p>(10) Christopher Wright is said to have been the first who ascertained -that the Plot was discovered.</p> - -<p>(11) Christopher Wright is said to have counselled flight in different -directions.</p> - -<p>(12) Christopher Wright announced to Thomas Winter, very early on Tuesday, -the 5th of November, the capture of Fawkes that morning.</p> - -<p>(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.</p> - -<p>(14) Oldcorne was accused by the Government of sending “letters up and -down to prepare men’s minds for the insurrection.”</p> - -<p>(15) Brother Ashley, his servant, was accused of carrying “letters to and -fro about this conspiracy.”</p> - -<p>(16) 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.)</p> - -<p>(17) Father Oldcorne evaded giving a direct answer as to the Plot, when -questioned by Littleton, after November 5th.</p> - -<p>(18) Hence, the facts <i>both before and after</i> the delivery of the Letter -are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by -this Inquiry to be proved.</p> - -<!--273.png--><p><span class="pagenum">235</span></p> - -<p>(19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright displayed a strangely marked -disposition to “hang about” the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, <i>after</i> -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.</p> - -<p>(20) Christopher Wright lived not to tell the tale.</p> - -<p>(21) Hence, the hypothesis is a theory established, with moral certitude, -mainly by Circumstantial Evidence, which latter “mosaics” perfectly.</p> - -<p>(22) Finally, the crowning proof of the theory sought by this Book to be -established is found in these nine words of the <i>post scriptum</i> of 21st -October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father -Garnet to Father Parsons, in Rome<a name="FNanchor_A_165" id="FNanchor_A_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_165" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>: “This letter being returned unto me -again, <span class="smcapac">FOR REASON OF A </span><!--274.png--><span -class="pagenum">236</span><span class="smcapac">FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY</span>, I blotted out some words -purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do -apart:” — The word “stay” here being used to signify “check.” <i>Cf.</i>, -Shakespeare’s “King John,” II., 2: and see Glossary to Globe Edition -(Macmillan).</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_165" id="Footnote_A_165"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_165">[A]</a> This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the -archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 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, S.J., thought they had not. But on this point I am obliged to -differ, <i>in toto</i>, 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 “<i>The Condition of Catholics under -James I.</i>” (Longmans), p. 228. -</p> - -<p> -Father Morris contends that for Father 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.” -</p> - -<p> -But, surely, Father Morris’s argument is feeble in the extreme when regard -is had to the fact that poor Henry Garnet’s mind, <i>from the 25th July, -1605, when he first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general -particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605</i>, was a very -weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the -most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of -eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying -circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons. -</p> - -<p> -I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James’-tide), Garnet had, -by way of confession, the <i>general particulars</i> of the Plot, because I -think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at -Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, -after the return from St. Winefrid’s Well, in Flintshire, Wales. -</p> - -<p> -It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, -Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in -consequence of Garnet’s sending for Tesimond <i>after</i> he (Garnet) had -received “<i>the friend’s stay in the way</i>.” For the old tradition was that -Garnet <i>first</i> had particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about -the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard’s “<i>History</i>.”) -But, of course, this was an error by <i>three months</i>, Garnet first -receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of -July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on “<i>Garnet -after the 21st October, 1605</i>,” but at present I have not space to pursue -this matter further.)</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--277.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span></p> - -<h2>SUPPLEMENTA.</h2> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum I.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Guy Fawkes.</span></div> - -<p>The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in -the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster’s “<i>Yorkshire Families</i>,” under -Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley.</p> - -<p>Guy’s grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady, -Ellen Harrington.<a name="FNanchor_A_166" id="FNanchor_A_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_166" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_166" id="Footnote_A_166"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_166">[A]</a> Ellen Harrington’s father was Lord Mayor of York, in the -reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.</p></div> - -<p>William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop -of York, and died between the years 1558-1565.</p> - -<p>William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters — Thomas Fawkes, 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.”)</p> - -<p>Edward Fawkes married a lady whose Christian name was Edith, but her -surname is unknown. She was -the<!--278.png--><span class="pagenum">240</span> -mother of four children — two sons and two -daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man’s estate, and this was the -hapless Guy.</p> - -<p>(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guy <i>possibly may</i> -have had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in -November, 1605.)</p> - -<p>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 the north side, adjoining -the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at -Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates’ tradition. -But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing.</p> - -<p>My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in -York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City’s -antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, -that in old Thomas Gent’s “<i>Rippon</i>” (1733) there is mention made of -Bishopthorpe as being Guy’s birthplace. Gent says, “The house opposite the -church<a name="FNanchor_A_167" id="FNanchor_A_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_167" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_167" id="Footnote_A_167"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_167">[A]</a> <i>I.e.</i>, the <i>old</i> Bishopthorpe Church. The present -Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the -entrance to the village from York.</p></div> - -<p>Mr. Camidge continues: “I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of -the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that 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 that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was -born in -the<!--279.png--><span class="pagenum">241</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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.)</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Now, in the time of Elizabeth, as Dr. Elzé has pointed out in his “<i>Life -of Shakespeare</i>,” a child would be <i>baptized on the third day after -birth</i>. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe -tradition as to the <i>birthplace</i> of Guy Fawkes.</p> - -<p>It is, however, more than possible that as a babe in arms Guy Fawkes may -have <i>lived</i> at Bishopthorpe. For the Act of Uniformity, whereby the York -Court of High Commission had been established, would bring much 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 -the world.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<!--280.png--><p><span class="pagenum">242</span></p> - -<p>Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in -York’s antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert -Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, held a tradition that -Guy Fawkes’ birthplace was in the house adjoining the Minster Gates.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, some little time afterwards, I wrote to Mr. Watkinson, who at -once kindly replied in a letter, dated 22nd October, 1901, as follows: — </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“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:</p> - -<p>“Some fifty years ago I was working at the same house when an -old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house -where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and -watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the -Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house.</p> - -<p>“It is an Elizabethan<a name="FNanchor_A_168" id="FNanchor_A_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_168" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_168" id="Footnote_A_168"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_168">[A]</a> In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, -tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is -descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, -the father of “the Venerable” Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered -martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder -Plot was hatched.</p></div> - -<p>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, 1578-9. About -twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen’s thrice hapless -child — by nature a tall, athletic man, but -then,<!--281.png--><span class="pagenum">243</span> -by 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.</p> - -<p>Mistress Edith Fawkes, Guy’s mother, was married a second 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 Roman Catholics, and their names (along -with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in -Peacock’s “<i>List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604</i>,” under the -title “Parish of Farnham.” The name Percy, of Percy House, is not found in -Peacock’s “<i>List</i>.”</p> - -<p>[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.]</p> - -<p>It is, therefore, easy to understand how it came to pass that the mind of -young Guy Fawkes became impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a -creature of circumstances.</p> - -<p>Yorkshire abounded in Roman Catholics in the time of Elizabeth (see the -“<i>Hatfield MSS.</i>” and numerous other contemporary records). Such was -especially the case with the district round about Knaresbrough and Ripon. -And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen -had<!--282.png--><span class="pagenum">244</span> -suffered a bloody death for -their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and -Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at -such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes. — See -Challoner’s “<i>Missionary Priests</i>” and Pollen’s “<i>Acts of the English -Martyrs</i>,” already frequently referred to.</p> - -<p>[“The Venerable” martyrs, Robert 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, “O imitators, a servile crowd!”]</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.”<!--283.png--><span class="pagenum">245</span> -His society was “sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes’ -camp for nobility and virtue.” — Quoted by Jardine in his “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. -38.</p> - -<p>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>in intention</i>, 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 what?</p> - -<p>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 <i>three</i> distinct -warnings that the Government had intelligence of the Plot. One warning was -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 -“<i>History</i>.”</p> - -<p>Copies of the three following Deeds given in Davies’ “<i>Fawkeses, of -York</i>,” 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 “heíred” from his own father, Edward -Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York.</p> - -<p>In “<i>The Connoisseur</i>,” for November, 1901, is given a fac-simile of the -“Conveyance.” Thomas Shepherd Noble, Esq., of Precentor’s Court, York, one -of -York’s<!--284.png--><span class="pagenum">246</span> -most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in -York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told -me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in “<i>The Connoisseur</i>” of the -“Conveyance” is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw <i>more than -half a century ago</i>.</p> - -<p>The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (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 “<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>,” Ed. by Norcliffe.</p> - -<p>Flower gives the Pulleyns, of Scotton, first, and then the Pulleyns, of -Killinghall, near Harrogate.</p> - -<p>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 Otley. One -branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which, -embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from -Harrogate,<a name="FNanchor_A_169" id="FNanchor_A_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_169" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. Their son -was William Pulleyn, who married Margaret Bellasis, of Henknoll; and -<i>their</i> son and heir was John Pulleyn, almost certainly the John Pulleyn, -Esquire, of Scotton, given under the Parish of Farnham, in Peacock’s -“<i>List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604</i>.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_169" id="Footnote_A_169"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_169">[A]</a> How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright, -balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from -all sides the traveller’s eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in -the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the -left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!</p></div> - -<p>Flower’s “Pedigree” shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried -with the Ruddes, of -Killinghall;<!--285.png--><span class="pagenum">247</span> -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 and all old Yorkshire Catholic -gentry.</p> - -<p>Flower also shows in his “Pedigree” of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that -James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, 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 <i>their</i> numerous children were Joshua and William, both Roman -Catholic priests.</p> - -<p>The “<i>Douay Registers</i>” (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained -priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He -was educated at Cardinal Allen’s<a name="FNanchor_A_170" id="FNanchor_A_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_170" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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 with her -spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret -Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of -1586.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_170" id="Footnote_A_170"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_170">[A]</a> Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during -the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of -Rossall, near Blackpool.</p></div> - -<p>In 1578 the College of Douay was 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 <i>postea</i> where -Reims is mentioned -in<!--286.png--><span class="pagenum">248</span> -connection with the popish missionary priests it -was then sending forth into the City of York.<a name="FNanchor_A_171" id="FNanchor_A_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_171" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_171" id="Footnote_A_171"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_171">[A]</a> Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield, -Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th -May, 1901, that from the <i>inq. post mortem</i> the above-named Walter Pulleyn -died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before -his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock’s -“<i>List for 1604</i>”) was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to -have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish -recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. -(Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles -Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr. -Thrackray.)</p></div> - -<p>There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is -pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, 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”).</p> - -<p>This tradition is certainly probably authentic; for a Roman 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 Wetherby, -where dwelt the family of Roos, who were, as above stated, allied by -marriage to Guy’s friends, the Pulleyns, of Scotton.</p> - -<p>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 handwriting 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<a name="FNanchor_A_172" id="FNanchor_A_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_172" -class="fnanchor">[A]</a> — must<!--287.png--><span class="pagenum">249</span> -have visited, I -opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe -(where had been in mediæval 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.<a name="FNanchor_B_173" id="FNanchor_B_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_173" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_172" id="Footnote_A_172"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_172">[A]</a> “<i>The Connoisseur.</i>”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_173" id="Footnote_B_173"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_173">[B]</a> Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border -Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died. — See “<i>Sir -Ralph Sadler’s Papers</i>,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.</p></div> - -<p>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 Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the -Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see <i>ante</i>). The Ribston branch of -the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century — Sir Harry -Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and -Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near -Knaresbrough.</p> - -<p>From <i>“The Fawkes Family of York.”</i></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>This Indenture 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 Faith, -&c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of -Yorke -gentilman<!--288.png--><span class="pagenum">250</span> -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 farme letten, -and by theis presentes doth demyse graunt and to farme lett, -unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one barne and one garth on the -backside of the said barn, with the appertenaunces, scytuate -lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the suburbes of the said -cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half of one acre of arrable -lande, 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 Newe-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 -afforesaid, 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 holde the -said barne, garth, three acres and half of one acre of arrable -lande, and the sayd acre of medowe, and all other the premisses, -with all and singuler the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and -Clyfton afforesaid, unto the sayd Christofer Lomley his -executors and assignes, from the feast of St. Martyne the -Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, nexte ensewynge the -daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of twentye and one -yeres -from<!--289.png--><span class="pagenum">251</span> -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 -Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie and two shillinges of -lawfull 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 demaunded, by even and -equall 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 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<!--290.png--><span class="pagenum">252</span> -term of twenty and one -yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged, -or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe -his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases, -grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the -rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis -presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley, -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 seales -the daye and yere above written.</p> - -<div class="sig">GUYE FAWKES. L.S.</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us — DIONIS -BAYNEBRIGGE — JOHN JACKSON — CHRISTOPHER HODGSON’S marke × -</div> - -<p>This Indenture maide the firste daie 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, &c. Betwene Guye -Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne -Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other -partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of -the sum of xxix<sup>li</sup> xiij<sup>s</sup> iiij<sup>d</sup> of good and lawfull English moneye to -him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and -trewlie<!--291.png--><span class="pagenum">253</span> -contentid and paid by the -said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, -whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie -satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and -dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened -bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye -geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir -heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the -appurtenaunces, 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 liinge 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 adjoyninge 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<!--292.png--><span class="pagenum">254</span> -Clifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in -the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the -Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a -hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, 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 appurtenaunces to the same -perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid -grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid -to one Cristofer Lumleye 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 Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date -the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our -Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; -together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge -and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, 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 -deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie 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 solld (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<!--293.png--><span class="pagenum">255</span> -same, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her -heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, -for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and -graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, -the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said -messuage tenement and farme-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 -perteyninge 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 lawfull 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 -appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, -and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand -clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the -said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all -former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, -feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, -writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, -forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and -all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and -services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely -exceptid. And -also<!--294.png--><span class="pagenum">256</span> -the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores -and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne -Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward -Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese -Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, -which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to -the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, -interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of -for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie 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 premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, -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, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or -vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or -otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by 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<!--295.png--><span class="pagenum">257</span> -or assigneis. In witness whereof, the parties abovesaid -unto these present Indentures interchangable have sett there handes and -seall the daie and yere abovesaid.</p> - -<div class="sig">GUYE FAWKES. L.S.</div> - -<p>Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GEORGE HOBSON — WILLIAM -MASKEWE — LANCELOT BELT — THOMAS HESLEBECKE — CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE — IHON LAMB -marke × — JOHN HARRISON — JOHN CALV’LEY. -</p> - -<p>Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit -Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor’ generosus et Edetha uxor -ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium -Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et -heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye -de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor’ spynster in sua plena pacificaque -possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et -assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et -demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu -quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio -sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel -selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor’ -predicto ac de et in una roda terræ arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in -campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et -terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terræ jacente in -les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram -Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terræ jacente in Longwandilles inter -terram Thome Hill ex parte -boriali<!--296.png--><span class="pagenum">258</span> -et terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente -inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte -australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente in lez -shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram -nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington -buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti -Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terræ jacente in Lupstone Carre in le -Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris -prati jacentibus in fine 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 Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in -tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra -terræ et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel -nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis -terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes -generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terræ cum pertinentiis in campis de -Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone -modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), -ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum -uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis -seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, -titulum, clameum, -usum,<!--297.png--><span class="pagenum">259</span> -interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio -sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel -selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton -et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde -parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, -clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni -actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde -habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde -penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius -Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes 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 -heredes 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<sup>mo</sup> die -mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe Dei gratia Anglie, Frauncie, -et Hibernie Regine, fidei defensoris &c. tricesimo quarto.</p> - -<div class="hi"> -DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE (L.S.) — E.B. (L.S.) Seallid and delyverid -in the presence of — GUYE FAWKES — WILLIAM GRANGE — JAMES -RYDING.<!--298.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> -</div></div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum II.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Hatfield</span> MSS. — Part VI.</div> - -<div class="center">[Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil.</div> - -<p>1596, 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<a name="FNanchor_A_174" id="FNanchor_A_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_174" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_174" id="Footnote_A_174"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_174">[A]</a> This letter will be read with interest, as affording -independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester -during the period of Father Oldcorne’s labours.</p></div> - -<p>Besides, Warwick<a name="FNanchor_B_175" id="FNanchor_B_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_175" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_175" id="Footnote_B_175"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_175">[B]</a> This is interesting as showing that in the native county of -Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the -influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and -Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.</p></div> - -<p>How weak ordinary authority is to do any good -on<!--299.png--><span class="pagenum">261</span> -either sort long -experience hath taught me, excommunication 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.</p> - -<p>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,<a name="FNanchor_A_176" id="FNanchor_A_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_176" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> as in other places of like importance is used, I will -do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the -uttermost of my power.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_176" id="Footnote_A_176"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_176">[A]</a> Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.</p></div> - -<p>First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions; -next, by 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.</p> - -<p>Her Majesty hath trusted me fifteen years since to be of the <i>quorum</i> 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 further 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.</p> - -<p>With which my most humble petition, if it please you to acquaint her -Majesty; I will render you all -due<!--300.png--><span class="pagenum">262</span> -thanks, 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.</p> - -<div class="left">London 17 July 1596.<br /> -<br /> -Signed<br /> -<br /> -Encloses: — </div> - -<p>The names and qualities of the wealthier sort of -Recusants in Worcester diocese: — </p> - -<dl class="list"> -<dt>The Lady Windsor, with her retinue.</dt> -<dt>M<sup>r</sup> Talbot.</dt> -<dt>Thomas Abington Esq. and Dorothy, his sister.</dt> -<dt>Thomas Throgmorton, Esq.</dt> -<dt>John Wheeler gent. and Elizabeth his wife.</dt> -<dt>Thomas Bluntt gent. and Bridgett, his wife.</dt> -<dt>John Smyth gent. Thomas Greene, gent.</dt> -<dt>Hugh Ligon gent., and Barbara, his wife.</dt> -<dt>Michael Folliatt, gent., and Margaret, his wife.</dt> -<dt>William Coles gent., and Marie, his wife.</dt> -<dt>M<sup>r</sup> Bluntt, gent. of Hallow.</dt> -<dt>Hugh Day gent. and Margaret, his wife.</dt> -<dt>Lygon Barton, gent.</dt> -<dt>John Taylor, gent., and Ann, his wife.</dt> -<dt>John Midlemore, gent., Hugh Throgmorton gent.</dt> -<dt>Humphrey Packington, gent.</dt> -<dt>John Woolmer gent. of Inkbarrow.</dt> -<dt>Rowse Woolmer, gent.</dt> -<dt>John Woolmer gent. of Kingston.</dt> -<dt>M<sup>r</sup> Busshop gent. of Oldbarrow.</dt> -</dl> - -<div class="right">[Total] — 23.</div> - -<p>The names of the gentlewomen that refuse the church, though their husbands -do not.</p> - -<dl class="list"> -<dt>Margaret, wife of Roger Pen gent.</dt> -<dt>Jane wife of John -Midlemore.<!--301.png--><span class="pagenum">263</span></dt> -<dt>Alice wife of John Hornyhold gent.</dt> -<dt>Margaret wife of William Rigby gent.</dt> -<dt>Mary wife of Thomas Sheldon gent.</dt> -<dt>Dorothy wife of Thomas Rauckford gent.</dt> -<dt>Ann wife of William Fox gent.</dt> -<dt>Joan, wife of Thomas Barber gent.</dt> -<dt>Prudence wife of Thomas Oldnall gent.</dt> -<dt>Frances wife of John Jeffreys gent.</dt> -<dt>Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent.</dt> -<dt>Mary wife of William Woolmer gent.</dt> -<dt>Elizabeth Ferreys widow.</dt> -<dt>Jane Sheldon widow.</dt> -<dt>Katherine Sparks of Hinlipp.</dt> -<dt>Dorothy Woolmer.</dt> -<dt>Jane Mary Eleanor daughters of Anthony Woolmer gent.</dt> -</dl> - -<p>Of the meaner sort: — </p> - -<p>Fourscore and ten several households where the man or wife or both are -recusants, besides children and servants.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--302.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum III.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Thomas Ward.</span></div> - -<p>It is probable that diligent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers -will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or Warde) than I have been able -hitherto to gain.</p> - -<p>The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was -a younger son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, and Susannay, his wife. That -Marmaduke Ward’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.</p> - -<p>I opine that Thomas Ward attached himself to the Court party of Queen -Elizabeth, through the Council of the North, established by Henry VIII. -after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (1536).</p> - -<p>Thomas Ward was just the sort of man (<i>me judice</i>) that Queen Elizabeth -would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John Ward was on the side of -the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, commonly -called the Rising of the North, or the Earls’ Rebellion (1569).</p> - -<p>Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir Ralph Sadler, who was a -distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a -Yorkshire gentleman, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, -would have no difficulty in obtaining an <i>entrée</i> at Elizabeth’s Court, -who, as is well known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct -probably, -favourably<!--303.png--><span class="pagenum">265</span> -inclined to those Catholics whose leaning was -towards the easy side of things.<a name="FNanchor_A_177" id="FNanchor_A_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_177" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_177" id="Footnote_A_177"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_177">[A]</a> See “<i>Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers</i>,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. -It is observable that although the Nortons and the Markenfields were for -the Earls, yet members of the following Yorkshire Catholic Families (many -of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who was not then -excommunicated: — The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables, -the Tempests, the Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the Ellerkers, and the -Wilstroppes. -</p> - -<p> -For these Families and their alliances see the “<i>Visitations of -Yorkshire</i>,” by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe. -Also “<i>Dugdale</i>” (Surtees).</p></div> - -<p>Now, if Thomas Ward became a member of Elizabeth’s diplomatic service -under 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?</p> - -<p>At present I cannot say, yet I am constrained to allow that the following -two pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many -possibilities: — </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Hatfield MSS.</span> — Part VI., p. 96.</p> - -<p>Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots.</p> - -<p>1585, Mar. 30./Ap. 9. Informs her of his apprehension at the request of -the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward’s negotiation to procure his being delivered -up into England. Requires her support. Lord Paget’s money taken in his -(Morgan’s) lodging. Efforts of Charles Paget and Thomas Throgmorton in his -behalf.</p> - -<p>[It is to be recollected that this said Thomas Morgan was a Catholic of a -sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a -Ward, of Ripon and York, was the very man the subtle Walsingham -would<!--304.png--><span class="pagenum">266</span> -employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of -Morgan’s intellectual and moral characteristics; for Ward most likely had -known Morgan at York.]</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thirteen years later we find the name “Ward” again in the “<i>Hatfield -MSS.</i>”</p> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Hatfield</span> MSS. — Part VIII., p. 295.</div> - -<p>1598 Aug. 4. Steven Rodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to -Italy to go over to accompany M<sup>r</sup> Paget into Italy.</p> - -<p>“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 <i>Ward</i> M<sup>r</sup> Paget’s, solicitor, because I refused to -carry his<a name="FNanchor_A_178" id="FNanchor_A_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_178" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> letters that was so lately “jested” with high treason, and -might father all the faults I am charged with.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_178" id="Footnote_A_178"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_178">[A]</a> Whose letters? Paget’s or Ward’s?</p></div> - -<p>[Who or what Mr. Steven Rodwey was, 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.”</p> - -<p>Charles Paget, a younger brother of Lord Paget, and his friend, Thomas -Morgan, figure in all histories of Mary Queen of Scots; also in “<i>Cardinal -Allen’s Memorials</i>,” 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.]</p> - -<!--305.png--><p><span class="pagenum">267</span></p> - -<p>But here, for the present, we must 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 “<i>Household Books of -Lord William Howard</i>,” as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates.<a name="FNanchor_A_179" id="FNanchor_A_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_179" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> — See Note to p. <a href="#Page_231">231</a> <i>ante</i>.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_179" id="Footnote_A_179"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_179">[A]</a> The Rev. A. S. 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 Churchyard, perhaps may have -had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable -that there should have been Wards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of -James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas Ward, 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 Ward. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire, -the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no -such tradition. (I am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September, -1901.)</p></div> - -<p>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 “<i>Household Books of Lord William -Howard</i>” (Surtees 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.</p> - -<p>Lastly; I beg to bring before my readers the following document from the -Record Office, which makes mention of the name Ward; but whether or not -that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon, I cannot -say:<!--306.png--><span class="pagenum">268</span> — </p> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">State Papers Domestic — Eliz.</span>, Vol. ccxxxviii., 126 I.<br /> -A. D. 1591.</div> - -<div class="hi"> -Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the -permission of these maters followinge -</div> - -<p>Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye communion at which time -he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he -excepteth sume particuler persones whose names are under written and of -them taketh money.</p> - -<p>M<sup>r</sup> Wardes<a name="FNanchor_A_180" id="FNanchor_A_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_180" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Two daughters.</p> - -<p>M<sup>r</sup> Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M<sup>ris</sup> Marye and a man called -Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money and in -my knowledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx<sup>s</sup> in goulde.</p> - -<p>M<sup>r</sup> Saunders and his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money.</p> - -<p>Besides M<sup>ris</sup> Gerrat being delivered of a doughter aboute Twoe yeares -since he did forbeare to cristen yt beinge 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_180" id="Footnote_A_180"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_180">[A]</a> What Mr. Warde can this have been? Not Thomas Ward (or -Warde), of Mulwith, I think. For the presumption is that he had no -children, for none are registered at Ripon Minster; 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 much more than the latter. Moreover, in 1591 any daughters -that Thomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age. -His wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.)</p></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Norris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse -<!--307.png--><span class="pagenum">269</span>and -Norris hath receved in ye way of borrowinge of sume V<sup>s</sup> of others -more. But Watson by vertue of a comission from my L. of Cant. hath latly -serched Gerates house and M<sup>r</sup> Wardes where he found nothinge at all they -being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M<sup>r</sup> Wardes house theire -did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye stares within a -nayled boarde divers bookes [not specified] pictures and other folishe -serimonyes.</p> - -<div class="hi"> -Orders amungst ye papistes for ye releyse aswell of prisoners -as of ye porer sorte at libertye. -</div> - -<p>Yt is an order amungst 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.</p> - -<p>Yt is further ordered for ye porer sorte of them beinge at libertie to -have theire dyett at several houses kepinge certen dayes for theyre -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.</p> - -<div class="sig">per me Robartum Weston.<br /> -(Endorsed) 20 April. Robert Weston.</div> - -<!--308.png--><p><span class="pagenum">270</span></p> - -<p>[On p. 76 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is stated that the first -Lord Mounteagle’s mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Richard -Neville, the King-maker. But I find that, under “Stanley,” in Flower’s -“<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>,” Ed. by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc.), <i>the great -grandfather</i> of Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, namely, Thomas Lord -Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to Richard Nevell Earl -of Salisbury. <i>Their</i> son is given as George Lord Stanley; <i>his</i> son as -Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby; and <i>his</i> son as Edward Stanley first -Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas -Vaughan, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle.</p> - -<p>But the “<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>” (under “Stanley Earl of -Derby”) says that Eleanor Countess of Derby (<i>née</i> Neville) was the -<i>daughter</i> of Warwick, the King-maker. So the “learned” must be left to -determine the truth upon the point.</p> - -<p>Again; on p. 160 of Text, in Note at foot of page, I have stated that the -young Lord Vaux of Harrowden was a descendant of Sir Thomas More.</p> - -<p>But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady -Vaux of Harrowden, was <i>only distantly connected</i> with Sir Thomas More. -For she was descended from <i>Christopher</i> Roper, a younger brother of -William Roper, who married Margaret More.</p> - -<p>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.]</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--309.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum IV.</span></h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">An Account of a Visit to Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, -anciently in the Chapelry of Skelton, in the Parish of Ripon, in -the West Riding of the County of York.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>On Sunday, the 22nd 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_181" id="FNanchor_A_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_181" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_181" id="Footnote_A_181"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_181">[A]</a> St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York and Apostle of Sussex -(634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle -of Holland.</p></div> - -<p>“Hail, smiling morn!” 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 the most part, no longer to Man, but to Nature merely.</p> - -<p>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, -the golden celandine, who are pre-eminently faithful watchers by -the<!--310.png--><span class="pagenum">272</span> -dead. For steadfastly will <i>they</i> remain watching until the daybreak of -an endless day.<a name="FNanchor_A_182" id="FNanchor_A_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_182" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_182" id="Footnote_A_182"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_182">[A]</a> This exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the daughter, it -will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and, -consequently, the niece of Christopher Wright and, I maintain, of Thomas -Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Lord Mounteagle. Mary Ward -died at the old Manor House, Heworth, on the 20th January, 1645-46, and is -buried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but -touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing number of her -admirers, Protestant and 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 poore, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise with -them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived 60 years and 8 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: “<i>Credo</i>; <i>Spero</i>; <i>Amo</i>” (“I believe; I hope; I love”). The Rev. -F. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the -gravestone of Mary Ward with the most commendable care.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 Ripon, I 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.</p> - -<p>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 Ure, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale, -flows through Ripon; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and -laving<!--311.png--><span class="pagenum">273</span> -“the green fields of England,” in front of Mulwith, hurries on towards -Boroughbridge; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and -Swale, the Ouse<a name="FNanchor_A_183" id="FNanchor_A_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_183" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> is formed, that majestic flood, 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_183" id="Footnote_A_183"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_183">[A]</a> The winding Nidd, 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.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Thus much is true. And more: for romantic fancy conjured up visions before -my mental gaze during that sunny Rest-Day morning,</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“When all the secret of the spring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Moved in the chambers of the blood,”<a name="FNanchor_B_184" id="FNanchor_B_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_184" class="fnanchor">[B]</a><br /></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_184" id="Footnote_B_184"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_184">[B]</a> Tennyson’s “In Memoriam.”</p></div> - -<p>as I traversed those fair budding country-lanes, “made vocal by the song” -of a thousand warbling birds, and paradisaical</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i14">“With violets dim,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or Cytherea’s breath; pale primroses<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That die unmarried, ere they can behold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright Phœbus in his strength.”<a name="FNanchor_C_185" id="FNanchor_C_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_185" class="fnanchor">[C]</a><br /></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_185" id="Footnote_C_185"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_185">[C]</a> Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale.” — Shakespeare may have possibly -known, or at least heard of, Father John Gerard, S.J., the life-long -friend of Mary Ward, and the first “to English” Lorenzo Scupoli’s -“<i>Spiritual Combat</i>.” Any educated Buddhist or Mohammedan British subject -who wishes to understand the genius of Christianity should carefully study -the “<i>Spiritual Combat</i>.” It will repay his pains. -</p> - -<p> -Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that prison -along with Gerard during the night of 8th 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 the mysterious -Somerville-Arden-Hall 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 Wilmcote, his wife’s -family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, were of -the 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 Wilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall -(both in Warwickshire), 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 the England of “Good Queen Bess” — and of -every other England too.</p></div> - -<!--312.png--><p><span class="pagenum">274</span></p> - -<p>Yea, before my mind’s eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding -towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to west, and -from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan -gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Ripon spurs; aye, and of -Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated -gown.</p> - -<p>Sometimes 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 equipped externally as they. The breviary, -crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy, lay concealed -within the last-named’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.</p> - -<p>But my 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 the gate leading to the dwelling-house -to-day known as -Givendale — that<!--313.png--><span class="pagenum">275</span> -historic name. The old hall 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 VIII., -describes it as “a fair manor place of stone.” Lovely views does Givendale -command of the valley of the Ure,<a name="FNanchor_A_186" id="FNanchor_A_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_186" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> looking westward towards the sister -valleys of the Nidd and Wharfe and Aire.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_186" id="Footnote_A_186"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_186">[A]</a> Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the -reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards’ principal seat near Ripon; -for Sir Simon Ward is described as of “Givendale and Esholt.” Esholt is in -the Parish 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 <i>ante</i>). 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 Hawkesworths, of Mitton, near Clitheroe.</p></div> - -<p>A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me -the way to Skelton, Newby, and Mulwith.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The faithful following towards the south-east of the high road, running -parallel with the woods of Newby on my right, brought me in due course to -Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the -West Riding of Yorkshire.</p> - -<p>I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of -Newby entered from the village.</p> - -<p>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<!--314.png--><span class="pagenum">276</span> -year, “after long imprisonment,” it is probable -that Marmaduke Ward — though not Elizabeth, his wife, nor Mary, nor any of -his other children — “against his conscience” went to hear 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 lunar month by way of fine for -“popish recusancy.”<a name="FNanchor_A_187" id="FNanchor_A_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_187" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_187" id="Footnote_A_187"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_187">[A]</a> This would be about £160 in our money. Thirteen of these -payments in one year would amount to about £2,080. Father Richard Holtby, -S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided Mary Ward’s -“vocation” in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, London, after Marmaduke Ward had -been released from his brief captivity in Warwickshire. (See “<i>Life of -Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 89.) Holtby speaks of Mary as “my daughter -Warde.” Now, Father Holtby, of Fryton, near Hovingham, has recorded that -“after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, Westmoreland, no -doubt], <i>Mr. Warde</i>, Mr. Trollope [of Thornley, in the County of Durham, -no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Brandsby, 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 “<i>Troubles</i>,” third series, p. 76.) This would be -in the years 1593-94-95, or previously. Peacock’s “<i>List</i>” for 1604, under -“Ripon,” gives “Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward,” <i>but ominously no</i> -Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like his relative Sir William Wigmore, -Marmaduke Ward, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish -church (contrary to what he deemed “the highest and best”) perhaps once or -twice a year. Poor fellow! he was, however, very strict in not allowing -his children to do the like. (See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., pp. 30, -31.)</p></div> - -<p>The Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a -grand structure, having been designed by Sir Christopher Wren about the -year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial Church, 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.<a name="FNanchor_B_188" id="FNanchor_B_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_188" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_188" id="Footnote_B_188"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_188">[B]</a> The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in Westminster Abbey, one of -his beautiful and pathetic “Laments,” after the sorrowful tidings reached -England that this fine young Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed -into the world of the “Unseen Perfectness.”</p></div> - -<!--315.png--><p><span class="pagenum">277</span></p> - -<p>One mile from Newby is Mulwith.<a name="FNanchor_A_189" id="FNanchor_A_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_189" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> It is reached by what evidently has -been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_189" id="Footnote_A_189"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_189">[A]</a> R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most -Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., of Studley Royal, Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and -Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Ripon, and can be also -reached from Boroughbridge.</p></div> - -<p>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 Ripon, at the present day. -There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, we know from the “<i>Life of -Mary Ward</i>.” And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and -never afterwards rebuilt.<a name="FNanchor_B_190" id="FNanchor_B_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_190" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_190" id="Footnote_B_190"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_190">[B]</a> Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see <i>ante</i>, p. <a href="#Page_59">59</a>). -Among her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or to -her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each -respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those -names. — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vols. i. and ii.</p></div> - -<p>To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof. -It is a two-storied, six-windowed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and -orchards all adjoining.<a name="FNanchor_C_191" id="FNanchor_C_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_191" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_191" id="Footnote_C_191"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_191">[C]</a> My friend Mr. Renfric Oates, 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 “<i>Life of Mary -Ward</i>,” by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), 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 the famous pictures in the -Painted Life is one representing Mary, at the age of thirteen, making her -first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidderdale. (I visited Harewell -Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Ripley, as in the days of -Mary Ward, on Wednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown -round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The River Nidd flows at the -foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.)</p></div> - -<!--316.png--><p><span class="pagenum">278</span></p> - -<p>In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient days, the historic -waters of the Ure.<a name="FNanchor_A_192" id="FNanchor_A_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_192" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> On almost every side the eye is gladdened with -woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that “sylvan scenery which -never palls.”<a name="FNanchor_B_193" id="FNanchor_B_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_193" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_192" id="Footnote_A_192"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_192">[A]</a> 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 River Ure, then swollen high through -February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many a -long day. (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy -catastrophe took place, and well does he remember the grief depicted on -the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad -disaster.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_193" id="Footnote_B_193"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_193">[B]</a> Lord Beaconsfield.</p></div> - -<p>Hence, at last I was come to my journey’s end. For I had reached Mulwith, -or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Ripon, whereof “Thomas Warde” is described, -who married M’gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York, -on the 29th day of May, 1579.</p> - -<p>Mrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly conducted me round the place -once more; for I had visited Mulwith about ten years previously, with my -sister, then approaching it from the east.</p> - -<p>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 high, “for tears.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Many waters cannot quench Love; neither can the floods drown it.</i>”</p> - -<!--317.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum V.</span></h3> - -<div class="hi"> -<span class="smcap">An Account of a Visit to Great Plowland (anciently Plewland), -in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, in the East Riding of -the County of York.</span> -</div> - -<p>On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happiness of -accomplishing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a -visit to Great Plowland (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 Riding 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 1605, the second year of the reign of James I., King of England, -Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and predecessor of our own -Most Gracious King Edward VII. Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred -Imperial Monarch: and in Justice may his house be established for ever!<a name="FNanchor_A_194" id="FNanchor_A_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_194" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_194" id="Footnote_A_194"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_194">[A]</a> How full of happy augury for the future of our Empire was the -fine speech of His Royal 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 shores, after their -historic sojourning, during the year 1901, in His Majesty’s loyal -Dominions beyond the seas.</p></div> - -<!--318.png--><p><span class="pagenum">280</span></p> - -<p>The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland) -somewhat 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.”</p> - -<p>After viewing the general features of the little town of Patrington, -which, maybe, 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<a name="FNanchor_A_195" id="FNanchor_A_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_195" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> was the Sir -Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all -Nations and all Time.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_195" id="Footnote_A_195"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_195">[A]</a> The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with -Homer and Dante, as one of the world’s three Poet-Kings.</p></div> - -<p>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”.</p> - -<p>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<!--319.png--><span class="pagenum">281</span> -Walsingham, the Earl of -Leicester, Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the ill-fated Robert -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.</p> - -<p>If I had to content myself with the historic imagination alone for the -sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time; of -Christopher Wright, who 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,<a name="FNanchor_A_196" id="FNanchor_A_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_196" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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 6th -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.<a name="FNanchor_B_197" id="FNanchor_B_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_197" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_196" id="Footnote_A_196"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_196">[A]</a> The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_197" id="Footnote_B_197"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_197">[B]</a> 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.</p></div> - -<!--320.png--><p><span class="pagenum">282</span></p> - -<p>Soon was the compact made that that very evening, ere darkness came on, -“mine host” should drive me to the site of where John Wright and -Christopher Wright first beheld the light of the sun. (In view of the fact -that the circumstantial evidence to-day available tends to prove that -Christopher Wright was the repentant conspirator who revealed the Plot and -so saved King James I., his 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.)</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>This, then, was the fair English landscape whereon the eyes of Christopher -Wright had rested in those momentous years, from 1570 to 1580, when “the -child is father of the man!” I exclaimed in spirit.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>On reaching Plowland Hall (now Plowland House), Mr. George Burnham, of -Plowland House, came forward, and, with frank, pleasant courtesy, never to -be forgotten, assured me that I was at liberty to see the place where the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, had lived when -boys.</p> - -<!--321.png--><p><span class="pagenum">283</span></p> - -<p>I alighted from my vehicle, and being joined by Miss Burnham, sister to -Mr. Burnham, the owner of the estate, we all three examined the evident -traces of the moat, the remains of what must have been 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.</p> - -<p>[The Burnhams, of Plowland, are the grandchildren of the late Richard -Wright, Esq., of Knaith, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. One of that -gentleman’s descendants is <i>Robert Wright</i> Burnham, the eldest brother to -the present owner of Plowland and his sister. The name <i>Richard</i> Wright is -found in the Register of Christenings at Ripon Minster, under date 29th -March, 1599, as the son of one <i>John</i> Wright, of <i>Skelton</i>.]</p> - -<p>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 Welwick. A short survey of this characteristically East Riding -Yorkshire village and its grey old Gothic church in its grave-yard, where -John and Christopher Wright were christened, no doubt, brought the -historical travels and explorations of Monday, May 6th, 1901, to a -delightful and profitable close.</p> - -<p>“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 <i>not only</i> of those who ‘knowing the -better chose the worse,’ and who, therefore, verified in themselves that -law of Retribution, that eternal law of Justice, ‘<i>the Guilty suffer,’ but -also</i> once the home of some of -the<!--322.png--><span class="pagenum">284</span> -supremely excellent of the earth. -Farewell, Plowland, where Mary 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 Mulwith, in -the Parish of Ripon, on the banks of the sylvan Ure.”</p> - -<p>The Estate of Plowland came into the Wright family in the reign of Henry -VIII., owing to John Wright, 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.</p> - -<p>John Wright’s son, Robert, succeeded as the owner of Plowland (or -Plewland). Robert 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 Nidderdale, and the -Markenfields, of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, to mention none others -beside.<a name="FNanchor_A_198" id="FNanchor_A_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_198" class="fnanchor">[A]</a><a name="FNanchor_B_199" id="FNanchor_B_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_199" class="fnanchor">[B]</a><a name="FNanchor_C_200" id="FNanchor_C_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_200" class="fnanchor">[C]</a><a name="FNanchor_D_201" id="FNanchor_D_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_201" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> (This is shown by the Ripon Registers.)</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_198" id="Footnote_A_198"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_198">[A]</a> The Most Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., Viceroy of -India (1880-85), and the Most Honourable the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., -are akin to John Wright and Christopher Wright, through the Mallories of -Studley Royal.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_199" id="Footnote_B_199"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_199">[B]</a> The Right Honourable the Lord Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, -is akin to the Wrights, through his ancestor, Francis Norton, the eldest -son of brave old Richard Norton; the Mallories; the Inglebies; and many -others.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_200" id="Footnote_C_200"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_200">[C]</a> Sir Henry Day Ingilby, Bart., of Ripley Castle, is likewise -akin to the Wrights, the Winters, and indeed to almost all the other -ill-fated plotters. I may mention also that Sir Henry is likewise related -to the exalted Mary Ward, who (as was the case with her great kinswoman -and friend, Lady Grace Babthorpe) lived at “lovely Ripley” in her -childhood, with the Inglebies of that day, on more than one occasion, as -we find recorded in Mary’s “<i>Life</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_201" id="Footnote_D_201"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_201">[D]</a> At Grantley a John Wright resided in the time of Elizabeth. -He was probably brother to Robert Wright, the father of John and -Christopher Wright. Grantley Hall nestles in a leafy hollow of surpassing -beauty. The swift, gentle, little River 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.</p></div> - -<!--323.png--><p><span class="pagenum">285</span></p> - -<p>Robert Wright (the second Wright who owned Plowland) had been married -before his marriage to Ursula Rudston. His first wife’s name was Anne -Grimstone. She was a daughter of Thomas Grimstone, Esquire, of Grimstone -Garth. Robert Wright and Anne Grimstone had one son who “heired” Plowland. -His name was William Wright. He married Ann Thornton, of East Newton, in -Rydale, a lady who was related to many old Rydale and Vale of Mowbray -families in the North Riding 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.<a name="FNanchor_A_202" id="FNanchor_A_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_202" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_202" id="Footnote_A_202"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_202">[A]</a> Mass was said at Ness Hall, near Hovingham, not far from East -Newton, during the early part of the nineteenth century. <i>I think</i> that -this was owing to the old Catholic family of Crathorne owning Ness 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 Established Church.</p></div> - -<p>William Wright was half-brother to Ursula Ward, the wife of Marmaduke -Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Ripon, 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<!--324.png--><span class="pagenum">286</span> -Charles I. William Wright (or Wryght, as the -name is spelt on the brass in Welwick Church) was also half-brother to the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, who were slain at -Holbeach House, Staffordshire, a few days after the capture of Guy Fawkes -by Sir Thomas Knevet, early in the morning of November 5th, 1605.</p> - -<p>The late Rev. John Stephens, Rector of Holgate, York, and formerly Vicar -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, the Wrights, Fawkes, and Tesimond were old -school-fellows at St. Peter’s School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, -York,<a name="FNanchor_A_203" id="FNanchor_A_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_203" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> which had been re-founded by Philip and Mary, who likewise -founded the present Grammar School at Ripon.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_203" id="Footnote_A_203"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_203">[A]</a> John Wright, Christopher Wright, Guy Fawkes, and Oswald -Tesimond must have many a time and oft passed through Bootham Bar, leading -towards Clifton, Skelton, and Easingwold, along the great North Road. And -besides the King’s Manor to the left of Bootham Bar, Queen Margaret’s -Gateway, named after Queen Margaret (grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), -must have been to them all a thrice-familiar object. Queen Margaret, it -will be remembered, was wife to King James IV. of Scotland, who fell at -Flodden Field in 1513, fighting against the forces of the brother of the -Scots’ Queen, King Henry VIII. -</p> - -<p> -In 1516, Henry VIII. invited his widowed sister to London, “and good Queen -Katerine sent her own white palfrey” for her poor sister-in-law’s “use.” -On this memorable occasion the bereaved daughter of King Henry VII., -through whom His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII., 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 northern -capital. — See Dr. Raine’s “<i>York</i>” (Longmans), p. 98. -</p> - -<p> -In the month of July, 1900, at the Treasurer’s House, on the north side of -the Minster, our Most Gracious Sovereign and His Beloved Consort (then the -Prince and Princess of Wales) together with the present Prince and -Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of York), graciously -sojourned for a brief season: an event memorable and historic even in the -proud annals of the second city of the British Empire.</p></div> - -<!--325.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Supplementum VI.</span></h3> - -<div class="center">St. Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst,<br /> -Blackburn, 5th October, 1901.</div> - -<p>... You are quite correct in saying that the doctrine of Equivocation is -the justification of stratagems in war, and of a great many other -recognised modes of conduct.</p> - -<p>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, whether 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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>jeu de mots</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>This leads me to a point which I think ought to be insisted upon, namely, -that those features, which -are<!--326.png--><span class="pagenum">288</span> -most objectionable to Englishmen in the -scholastic doctrine were devised by their authors with the intention of -<i>limiting</i> the realm of Equivocation and of safeguarding the truth more -closely.</p> - -<p>All rational men are agreed that there are circumstances in which words -must be used that are <i>primâ facie</i> 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, which -estimates Right and Wrong <i>merely</i> by the consequences of an action. The -peripatetic philosopher, on the other hand, who maintains the <i>intrinsic</i> -moral character of certain actions, and who holds <i>mordicus</i> 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 <i>two</i> meanings — whence the name <i>Equivocation</i> — 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 affair.</p> - -<p>“<i>Not at home</i>” may mean “<i>out of the house</i>” or “<i>not inclined to receive -visitors</i>.” It is the visitor’s own fault if he attaches the first meaning -to the phrase rather than the second, or <i>vice versâ</i>.</p> - -<p>No sensible man would consider a prisoner to be “lying” in his plea of -“<i>Not Guilty</i>,” because a certain juryman, in his ignorant simplicity, -should carry off the impression of the prisoner’s <i>absolute</i>, and not -merely of his <i>legal</i>, innocence. Yet the plea may mean either both or -only the latter.</p> - -<p>Similarly, an impertinent ferretter-out of an -important<!--327.png--><span class="pagenum">289</span> -secret needs -blame none but himself if he conceives the answer “<i>No</i>” to intimate -anything else than that he should mind his own business.</p> - -<p>As to such <i>facts</i> there is, I should say, an overwhelming agreement of -opinion. That they differ from what we all recognise as a sheer “<i>lie</i>” is -pretty evident. It is, therefore, convenient and scientific to label them -with some other name, and the Scholastic hit upon the not inapt one of -<i>Equivocation</i>.</p> - -<p>The malice of lying consists, according to Utilitarian Philosophy, in the -destruction of that mutual confidence which is so absolutely necessary for -the proper maintenance and development of civilized life. But the -Scholastic, while fully 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 -formula: — The first would define a lie as “<i>speaking with intent to -deceive</i>;” whereas the second defines it “<i>speaking contrary to one’s -thought</i>” (<i>locutio contra mentem</i>), even where there is no hope (and -therefore no intent) of actual deception. The latter is clearly the -stricter view, yet very closely allied with, and supplementing, the -former. For we may perhaps say with Cardinal de Lugo — and <i>à la</i> -Kant — that the malice of the discrepancy mentioned above lies in the -self-contradiction which results in the liar, between his inborn desire -for the trust of his fellow-men and his conviction that he has rendered -himself unworthy of it — that he has, in other words, degraded his nature.</p> - -<p>Now, where there do not exist relations of mutual confidence, such malice -cannot exist. An enemy, a burglar, a lunatic, an impudent questioner, -etc., are, -<i>in</i><!--328.png--><span class="pagenum">290</span> -<i>their distinguishing character</i>, beyond the pale of -mutual confidence — <i>i.e.</i>, when acting professionally as enemies, -burglars, etc.</p> - -<p>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 folly.” If a burglar asks where is your -plate, you may reply at random “<i>In the Bank</i>,” or “<i>At Timbuctoo</i>,” or -“<i>I haven’t any</i>.” If a lunatic declares himself Emperor of China, you may -humour him, and give him <i>any</i> information you may imagine about his -dominions, etc.</p> - -<p>Such is the teaching of, <i>v.gr.</i>, Professor Paulsen, of Berlin, in his -“<i>System of Ethics</i>,” 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 “<i>necessary lies</i>,” whereas -we should say they were not lies at all, because they would not be rightly -considered to imply <i>speaking</i> 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.</p> - -<p>The doctrine of <i>Mental Reservation</i> seems to me to differ from that of -<i>Equivocation</i> only in this, that Equivocation implies the use of words -which have a two-fold meaning in themselves, <i>apart from</i> special -circumstances, and are therefore <i>logical</i> equivoques. Thus to the -question: “<i>What do people think of me?</i>” one might diplomatically reply: -“<i>Oh! they think a great deal!</i>” which leaves it undetermined whether the -thinking be of a favourable or unfavourable character.</p> - -<p>But more commonly words, apart from special circumstances, have one -definite meaning, <i>e.gr.</i>, “<i>Yes</i>” -or<!--329.png--><span class="pagenum">291</span> -“<i>No</i>.” When Sir Walter Scott -denied, as he himself tells us, the authorship of “<i>Waverley</i>” with a -plain simple “<i>No</i>,” 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, “<i>Mind your own -business.</i>” This is what I should call a <i>moral</i> equivoque. The -Scholastics call it <i>broad mental reservation</i> (<i>restrictio late -mentalis</i>). The origin of this terminology seems to me to lie in a bit of -purism. Some moralists were not content with merely <i>moral</i> equivoques: -they appear to insist on the junction with them of <i>logical</i> Equivocation; -and so they would have directed the equivocator to <i>restrict</i> (and so -double) the meaning of a word in his own mind. Thus to Sir Walter they -would have said: “Don’t say ‘<i>No</i>’ simply, but add in your own head, ‘<i>as -far as the public is concerned</i>,’” or something similar.</p> - -<p>When this addition could not be conjectured by the hearer, it received the -name of <i>pure mental reservation</i> (<i>restrictio pure</i> [or <i>stricte</i>] -<i>mentalis</i>): as when one might say “<i>John is not here</i>” (meaning in his -mind “not on the exact spot where the speaker stood”), though John was 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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>broad</i> 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), “<i>secrets -apart</i>.”</p> - -<!--330.png--><p><span class="pagenum">292</span></p> - -<p>I trust I have made it sufficiently clear that the doctrine of -Equivocation, properly understood, has been devised in the interests of -Veracity. That we may find in some writers, whether St. Alphonsus de -Liguori or Professor Paulsen, particular applications in which we do not -concur, surely does not affect the validity of the principle.</p> - -<p>I may add that <i>all</i> Catholic theologians with whom I am acquainted limit -its use by requiring many external conditions: <i>v.gr.</i>, 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 -mutual confidence resulting from the hearer’s self-deception should be -less than that which would certainly accrue from the revelation of a -legitimate secret.</p> - -<p>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 I 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.</p> - -<div class="sig">Believe me, Yours very sincerely,<br /> -       George Canning, S.J.<a name="FNanchor_A_204" id="FNanchor_A_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_204" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_204" id="Footnote_A_204"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_204">[A]</a> The above lucid explanation of the much and (<i>me judice</i>) -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 the Professor of Ethics at St. Mary’s Hall, -Stonyhurst, so I am informed by the Rev. Bernard Boëdder, S.J., Professor -of Natural Theology, at that seat of learning, whom I have had the honour -of meeting in York on more than one occasion. “Wisdom builds her house for -<i>all</i> weathers.” But England, relying too much on a long course of -prosperity in her ruling classes, and in the protected classes immediately -beneath her ruling classes, has neglected the Truth and Justice contained -in this eminently rational doctrine of Equivocation. 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. -</p> - -<p> -The question of Equivocation is not a question of Protestant <i>versus</i> -Catholic, but of Wise Noddle <i>versus</i> Foolish Noddle. This is a distinct -gain.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--333.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span></p> - -<h2>APPENDICES.</h2> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix A.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Circumstantial Evidence Defined and Described.</span></div> - -<p>Circumstantial Evidence is indirect, as distinct from direct evidence. It -is likewise mediate, as distinct from immediate.</p> - -<p>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,<a name="FNanchor_A_205" id="FNanchor_A_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_205" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> 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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_205" id="Footnote_A_205"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_205">[A]</a> By sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.</p></div> - -<p>Indirect or mediate evidence is <i>inferred</i> from a relatively minor fact or -relatively minor facts already directly proved.</p> - -<p>This <i>inference</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Hence, Circumstantial Evidence is <i>specially</i> 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.</p> - -<!--334.png--><p><span class="pagenum">296</span></p> - -<p>It implies the <i>inferring</i> of the unknown from the known; but from a known -which has been itself transmuted from the unknown, at some point of time -anterior to the making of the successive stage of advancement in the -knowledge of the facts sought to be proved, and vindicated by some rule of -Law.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The following interesting account of Evidence generally is from the pen of -Mr. Frank Pick, of Burton Lodge, York, a student of the Law: — </p> - -<p>Evidence is the collective term used to denote the facts whereby some -proposition, statement, or conclusion is sought to be established or -confirmed.</p> - -<p>While, as thus defined, the term Evidence primarily denotes the actual -<i>known</i> facts themselves which form the basis 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 <i>Testimony</i>.</p> - -<p>This will be illustrated in Circumstantial Evidence, and in what is -commonly styled “Expert Evidence,” though better, “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.</p> - -<p>The value of evidence, <i>i.e.</i>, 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 proceed; and the nature or proximity of the -relation which they bear to the proposition, statement, or conclusion to -be supported.</p> - -<!--335.png--><p><span class="pagenum">297</span></p> - -<p>As regards the character or quality of its source, evidence is -distinguished into primary and secondary.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Secondary Evidence comprises all the manifold degrees of nearness or -remoteness to primary evidence.</p> - -<p>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 same 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 authenticated, the conduct reasoned. And in every case partiality, -bias, and prejudice are grounds not to be neglected in the ascertainment -of accuracy and trustworthiness.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Direct Evidence comprises those facts from which, if proved, the truth of -the proposition, statement, or conclusion necessarily follows.</p> - -<p>Circumstantial Evidence comprises those facts from which again may be -inferred facts, whence the truth of the proposition, statement, or -conclusion must necessarily follow.</p> - -<!--336.png--><p><span class="pagenum">298</span></p> - -<p>This inferential method is especially involved in Circumstantial Evidence. -In all evidence there is a presumption open more or less to rebuttal, and -evidence on this account is qualified as, <i>e.g.</i>, <i>primâ facie</i>, -conclusive. In Direct Evidence there is the presumption of the truth of -the proposition, statement, or conclusion from the proven facts. In -Circumstantial Evidence there is first an inference of directly 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 -established facts.</p> - -<!--337.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix B.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Discrepancy as to Date when not Material to Issue,<br /> -no Disproof of Truth of the rest of the Assertion.</span></div> - -<p>The above doctrine of the law of Evidence applies, of course, to whatever -may be the nature or purpose of the Inquiry, whether conducted in a Court -of Law, in the library of the historical scholar, or elsewhere.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>“If it should be a <i>mistake only in point of time</i>, it destroys not the -evidence, <i>unless you think it necessary to the substance of the thing</i>.</p> - -<p>“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, <i>but it -does not invalidate the truth of the thing itself</i>, which may be true in -substance, though the circumstance of time differ; and the question is, -<i>whether the thing be true?</i>” Quoted in Morris’s “<i>Troubles: The Southcote -Family</i>,” first series, p. 378 (Burns & Oates). (The italics are mine.)</p> - -<!--338.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix C.</span></h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Part I.</span></h4> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">British Museum — Add. MS. 5847, Fo. 322.</span><br /> -<br /> -<i>List of such as were apprehended for the Gun-Powder<br /> -Plot.</i></div> - -<div class="center"><i>The names of such as were taken in Warwicke and<br /> -Worcestershire, & brought to London.</i></div> - -<dl class="list"> -<dt>S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby, Knight</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Winter</dt> -<dt>John Winter</dt> -<dt>John Grant</dt> -<dt>Tho: Percy</dt> -<dt>Tho: Winter</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Acton</dt> -<dt>Henry Morgan</dt> -<dt>Christopher Litleton</dt> -<dt>Lodwicke Grant, who was taken the <i>9 of Novemb</i>: - & confessed there was lodged in <i>Holbage House</i> to the - number of <i>60 Persons</i>.</dt> -<dt>Tho: Grant</dt> -<dt>Will<sup>m</sup> Cooke</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Higgins</dt> -<dt>Christopher Wright</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Rookwood</dt> -<dt>M<sup>r</sup> Henry Hurleston, Sonne & Heire of <i>Sir Edward Hurleston</i><a name="FNanchor_A_206" id="FNanchor_A_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_206" -class="fnanchor">[A]</a><!--339.png--><span class="pagenum">301</span></dt> -<dt>Tho: Anderton<a name="FNanchor_B_207" id="FNanchor_B_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_207" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></dt> -<dt>John Clifton<a name="FNanchor_C_208" id="FNanchor_C_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_208" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></dt> -<dt>Mathy Batty, late Servant to the <i>Lord Monteagle</i></dt> -<dt>Willm Thornberry} Servants to <i>Mr. Hurleston</i></dt> -<dt>Henry Sergeant }</dt> -<dt>Stephne Bonne}</dt> -<dt>Richard Daye } Servants to <i>S<sup>r</sup> Everard Digby</i></dt> -<dt>Willm Eadale }</dt> -<dt>James Garvey }</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Abram</dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Osborne</dt> -<dt>Christopher Archer</dt> -<dt>Ambrose Fuller</dt> -<dt>Willm Howson</dt> -<dt>Francis Grant</dt> -<dt>Richard Westberry</dt> -<dt>Tho: Richardson</dt> -<dt>Edward Bickerstaffe</dt> -<dt>Will Snow</dt> -<dt>John Facklins</dt> -<dt>Francis Prior</dt> -<dt>Tho: Darler, Servant to <i>M<sup>r</sup> Rob<sup>t</sup> Monson</i></dt> -<dt>Reginald Miles, Servant to <i>Sir Willm Engleston</i></dt> -<dt>Tho: Rookwood, of <i>Claxton</i>, in <i>Warwickshire</i></dt> -<dt>Richard Yorke } <i>Suspected Persons</i> usually resorting</dt> -<dt>Marmaduke Ward} to <i>M<sup>r</sup> Winter</i>, <i>M<sup>r</sup></i></dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Key } <i>Grant</i> & <i>M<sup>r</sup> Rookwoods</i></dt> -<dt>Rob<sup>t</sup> Townsend, of St. Edmund Berry</dt> -<dt>The Lord Mountacute} Are all comitted to the</dt> -<dt>The Lord Mordant } <i>Tower</i></dt> -<dt>M<sup>r</sup> Francis Tressam}</dt> -</dl> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_206" id="Footnote_A_206"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_206">[A]</a> Sir Henry Huddleston, as he afterwards became, the son and -heir to Sir Edmund Huddleston, of Sawston Hall, Cambridge, not Edward as -in Text. Sir Henry Huddleston married the Honourable Dorothy Dormer. He -was reconciled to the Church of Rome by Father Gerard, S.J.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_207" id="Footnote_B_207"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_207">[B]</a> This was Father Thomas Strange, S.J., a cousin to Thomas -Abington, of Hindlip.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_208" id="Footnote_C_208"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_208">[C]</a> This was Father Singleton.</p></div> - -<!--340.png--><p><span class="pagenum">302</span></p> - -<p>The Earle of North: is in the Custody still of the <i>Lord Archbishop of -Canterbury</i>.</p> - -<p>This was Henry <i>Percy Earl of Northumberland, W.C.</i></p> - -<div class="center"><i>Gentlewomen</i></div> - -<dl class="list"> -<dt>My Lady Mordant</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Dorothy Grant</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Helyn Cooke</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Mary Morgayne</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Anne Higgins</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Martha Percy</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Dorothy Wright</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Margaret Wright</dt> -<dt>M<sup>ris</sup> Rookwood</dt> -</dl> - -<p>See Mr. Dod’s “<i>History of Catholick Church</i>,” vol. ii., p. 331, W.C.</p> - -<p>[N.B. — This MS. consists of extracts from the Collections of the Rev. Mr. -Rand, Rector of Leverington and Newton, in the Isle of Ely.]</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Part II.</span></h4> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., No. 12.</span><br /> -<br /> -[Frequenters of Clopton (or Clapton), Stratford-on-Avon.]</div> - -<dl class="list"> -<dt>Ther hath bine at Clapton<a name="FNanchor_A_209" id="FNanchor_A_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_209" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> w<sup>th</sup> M<sup>r</sup> Ambrous Rucwod</dt> -<dt><!--341.png--><span class="pagenum">303</span>Mr. -Jhon Grant ther is with m<sup>es</sup> Rucwood M<sup>es</sup> Ceo (?) m<sup>es</sup> munson and others and to of his britherin</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Wintor</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Bosse</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Townesend</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Ceo (?) w<sup>th</sup> on m<sup>r</sup> Thomas a Cynesman of M<sup>r</sup> Rucwoode</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Ryght</dt> -<dt>Allso mye pepeoll hath seene ther</dt> -<dt>Se<sup>r</sup> Edward bushell</dt> -<dt>m<sup>r</sup> Robeart Catesbee</dt> -<dt>with diuers others which I can not nam unto youer honer.</dt> -</dl> - -<p>(Endorsed) Clopton.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_209" id="Footnote_A_209"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_209">[A]</a> Clopton Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, was likewise styled Clapton -Hall. Lady Carew, afterwards the Countess of Totnes, was (with her sister, -Anne Clapton, the wife of Cuthbert Clapton, Esquire, of Sledwick, County -Durham) the co-heiress of the Claptons (or Cloptons), of Warwickshire. -Lady Carew was a Protestant, but her sister and brother-in-law were -Catholics. A son of the Catholic Cloptons (or Claptons) was made the -“heir” of the Countess of Totnes. — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. vi., pp. -326, 327.</p></div> - -<!--342.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix D.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Part I., No. 25.</div> - -<div class="center">The Examination of Richard Browne taken the 5<sup>th</sup> of<br /> -Novemb<sup>r</sup> 1605.</div> - -<p>This Examinat sayith that xpofer Wright cam to S<sup>t</sup> Gilis in the ffeild to -the Maydenhead there vpon Weddnesday laste & sent Wilt Kiddle (that cam vp -w<sup>t</sup> him as his man) to Westm the same night for this Examinat to come & -speek w<sup>th</sup> him, which this Examinat did com thither vpon Thursday -morning, when Wrights request was to him to fetch his child which he had -at nurss some 13 myles off. And Kiddle & this Examinat went vpon ffriday -brought the child vpon Satterday to St. 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<sup>t</sup> -Gyles to speak w<sup>t</sup> M<sup>r</sup> Wright only vpon Kiddle’s intreaty & not fynding -M<sup>r</sup> Wright there he retorned towards London & mett M<sup>r</sup> Wright in S<sup>t</sup> -Clem<sup>t</sup> ffeilds, at which tyme Wright sent this Examinat to S<sup>r</sup> ffrancis -Manners w<sup>th</sup> a message concerninge a kinsman of M<sup>r</sup> Wrights that serveth -M<sup>r</sup> Manners after which tyme this Examinat did not see the sayd Wright.</p> - -<p>This Examinat sayeth that he saw the sayd Wright onely 4 tymes since -Wright last coming to London, viz., vpon Thursday morning when he came -first vnto him upon Satterday night when he brought his child, vpon Sonday -morning when he carryed the child away, -and<!--343.png--><span class="pagenum">305</span> -vpon monday at noone when he -mett of the back syd of S<sup>t</sup> Clem<sup>t</sup>s</p> - -<div class="sig">mark<br /> -×<br /> -Richard Browne</div> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) Examination of Richard Browne<br /> -6 Nov. 1605 Concerning Wright.</div> - -<!--344.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix E.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Part I., No. 15.</div> - -<div class="hi"> -The Examynacon of Willum Grantham servaunt to Josephe Hewett -taken before S<sup>r</sup> John Popham Knighte L: Cheife Justyce of -England the 5 of November 1605. -</div> - -<p>He sayeth that yesterdaye aboute three of the Clocke in the afternoone one -m<sup>r</sup> wryght was at this Ex masters howse And there boughte three beaver -hatts and payde xj<sup>£</sup><a name="FNanchor_A_210" id="FNanchor_A_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_210" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> for them This Ex went w<sup>th</sup> the sayde wryght and -caryed the hatts to wrighte lodgyng at the Mayden heade in S<sup>t</sup> Gyles where -m<sup>r</sup> wryght & this Ex went into the howse And then wryght 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 readye 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<sup>r</sup> Wryghte Chamber and -delyvered the hatts to him And wryght dyd looke uppon the hatts and gave -this Ex vj<sup>d</sup> for his paynes and then he depted.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_210" id="Footnote_A_210"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_210">[A]</a> Unmistakably £11 (E.M.W.).</p></div> - -<div class="sig">William Grantham.</div> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) 5 November 1605. William Grantham Ex.</div> - -<!--345.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix F.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">State Papers Domestic — Jas. I.</span>, Vol. xvi., No. 11.</div> - -<div class="hi"> -The Examon of Robert Rookes taken the 5<sup>th</sup> of November 1605. -</div> - -<p>He saieth that his Master M<sup>r</sup> Ambrose Rookewood whoe dwelleth at Coldhame -Halle in Suff came from thence uppon Wensday last and noe more w<sup>th</sup> him -but this exaite and Thomas Symons another of his servaunte.</p> - -<p>He saieth his Master hath layen en sithence Thursday last at one Mores -howse w<sup>th</sup>out Temple Barre and thear lay w<sup>th</sup> him the last night and -the night before a talle gent having a reddish beard.<a name="FNanchor_A_211" id="FNanchor_A_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_211" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_211" id="Footnote_A_211"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_211">[A]</a> This was Keyes. — See “Elizabeth More’s Evidence.”</p></div> - -<p>He saieth his Masters horsses stood in drewery Lane at the grey hound.</p> - -<p>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 morowe.</p> - -<p>He saieth his M<sup>rs</sup> as he hath hard lyeth in warwick shere whear he -knoweth not for he hath not benn w<sup>th</sup> his M<sup>r</sup> that nowe is aboue a -senight.</p> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) 5<sup>o</sup> No. 1605.<br /> -The Ex of Robte Rokes M<sup>r</sup> Rookwoode boy.</div> - -<!--346.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix G.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">State Papers Domestic — Jas. I.</span>, Vol. xvi., No. 16.</div> - -<div class="center">The declarn of John Cradock cutler the vj<sup>th</sup> of<br /> -November 1605.</div> - -<p>He sayeth that M<sup>r</sup> Rockwood whos father marryed M<sup>r</sup> Tirwhyte mother about -the Begynyng of the last Som vacac dyd bespeke the puttyng of a Spanyshe -Blade off hys into a Sword hilte and appoynted the hylth to have the Story -of the passyon of Christ Richly Ingraved, and now w<sup>th</sup>n these Syxe dayes -cawsed that hylth being enamlled and Rychly sett forth to be taken of and -the handle to be new wrought of clere gold and the former hylth w<sup>th</sup> hys -story to be putt on agayne and delyvered yt unto m<sup>r</sup> Rockewood upon Monday -last at xj of the Clocke at nyght at his Chamber at m<sup>r</sup> Mores and m<sup>r</sup> -Wynter a pp Gentylman of about xxx yeares or vpward who lyeth at the Syng -of the Docke an Drake beyond putrycke in the Strand and ys a great -Companyon w<sup>th</sup> m<sup>r</sup> Catesby m<sup>r</sup> Tyrwhyt and m<sup>r</sup> Rockwood hadd a Sword -w<sup>th</sup> the lyke Story and was delyvered hym on Sunday last at nyght but -not so Rychly sett forth as the form for w<sup>ch</sup> he payed in all xij<sup>£</sup> x<sup>s</sup> -pt about a quarter of a yeare past at the bespeken thereof and the Rest on -Sonday last and this term an other Gentylman of that Cupany being a Blacke -man of about xl yeares old bespake a lyke Sword for the story & shuld pay -vij<sup>ti</sup> for yt gave hym x<sup>s</sup> in Ernest he ys yet out of Towne and the -<!--347.png--><span class="pagenum">309</span>Sword -remayneth w<sup>th</sup> thys Exam Christopher Wryght was often w<sup>th</sup> thys -M<sup>r</sup> Rockwood at thys Exam shoppe and he hadd the said Wryghte jugmet for -the worcke and Syse of the Blade.</p> - -<div class="sig">Jo Cradock</div> - -<div class="left">Ex p<br /> -J. Popham<br /> -<br /> -(Endorsed) Cradocke.</div> - -<!--348.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix H.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Part I., No. 10.</div> - -<p>I have sent vnto yo<sup>r</sup> L. herin Inclosed the Copye off the declarac off Mr -Tatnall, off two that passed the fylde thys mornyg wherof some Suspycyon -may be gathered off confederacy he observed them so as he hopeth he may -mete w<sup>th</sup> them and therfore I have gevin hym a warrant to attach them a -lyke note yo<sup>r</sup> L shall receave herin off an expectacn that M<sup>rs</sup> Vaux -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 chefest place of their accesse and therfore lyke she may knowe -Some what both M<sup>r</sup> Wenman hym selff & the lady Tasbard do knowe of this -wherfore howe farre forth thys shalbe fytt to be dealt in I humbly leave -to yo<sup>r</sup> L consyderacn Chrystoffer Wright and M<sup>r</sup> Ambrose Rokewood were -both together yesternyght at x of the Clocke and vpon ffryday last at -nyght they were together at M<sup>r</sup> Rokwoode lodgyng and this forenoon Rokwood -Rode away into Suffolke about xj of the clocke alone leavyng both hys men -behynd hym one Keyes a Gentylma that lay these two last nyghte w<sup>th</sup> m<sup>r</sup> -Rokewood and gave hym hys lodgyng went away also about eight off the -clocke for w<sup>ch</sup> Keyes I have layed weyet This Rokwood ys of Coldham hall -in Suffoke one of the most dangerous houses in Suffolke he marryed m<sup>r</sup> -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<!--349.png--><span class="pagenum">311</span> -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<sup>£</sup> 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 Gentylman that was w<sup>th</sup> hym he -thyncks that Gentylman was called Wynter but I dowbt that mans name ys -mystaken Ther cam a yong Gentylman w<sup>th</sup> this wryght w<sup>th</sup>in these fewe -dayes that gave to Cutler here by xix<sup>£</sup> xv<sup>s</sup> 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<sup>r</sup> L at Serienty Inn the v<sup>th</sup> of november 1605.</p> - -<div class="sig">yo<sup>r</sup> L very humbly<br /> -<br /> -Jo Popham.<a name="FNanchor_A_212" id="FNanchor_A_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_212" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_212" id="Footnote_A_212"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_212">[A]</a> The Lord Chief Justice of England.</p></div> - -<p>(P.S.) I have this mornyg the vi<sup>th</sup> noveber dyscovered where Wynter [is] -w<sup>th</sup> the matter which I have delyverd to m<sup>r</sup> Att<sup>r</sup>ney wherof happely -yo<sup>r</sup> L may make good vse I wyll see yf I can mete w<sup>th</sup> m<sup>r</sup> Wynter Walley -the jesuyt and Strang as I am Informed are now at ffrance Brownes pcke -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.</p> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) 5 Novemb<sup>r</sup><br /> -                     L Ch. Justice<br /> -<br /> -(Addressed) To the Ryght<br /> -                       honorable and my<br /> -                       very good L the<br /> -                       Earle of Sarysbury.<br /> -<br /> -(Declaration enclosed — short.)</div> - -<!--350.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix I.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Part I., No. 75.</div> - -<p>O<sup>r</sup> humble dutyes remembred. We have this day apprehended & deliwed to his -Ma<sup>ty</sup> messenger Berrye the bodie of M<sup>ris</sup> Graunt, from whom we -gathered that Percyes wief was not farre of, whervppon wee made search in -the most lykely place and have even since night apprehended her in the -house of M<sup>r</sup> John Wright, and have thought fitt to take this opportunitie -to send vpp to yo<sup>r</sup> honors’ w<sup>th</sup> the said M<sup>ris</sup> Graunt aswell the said -M<sup>res</sup> 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> - -<p>M<sup>r</sup> Sherief taketh care & charge of these woomens children vntill yo<sup>r</sup> -honors pleasures be further knowne.</p> - -<p>ffrom Warr this xij<sup>th</sup> of November 1605</p> - -<div class="sig"><br /> -yo<sup>r</sup> honors most humbly at comaundment<br /> -in all service.</div> - -<div class="sig">Richard Verney<br /> -Jo: fferrers<br /> -W<sup>m</sup> Combe<br /> -Bar: Hales</div> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) 12 9bre 1605<br /> -            S<sup>r</sup> Rych: Verney and other Justices to me<br /> -<br /> -(Addressed) To the right honorable my especyall good<br /> -              Lord the Earle of Salisbury & the rest of<br /> -              his Ma<sup>ty</sup> most honorable privie Counsayle<br /> -                  w<sup>th</sup> all speed. -</div> - -<!--351.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix J.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Gunpowder Plot Books</span> — Part II., No. 130.</div> - -<p>This Last Vacatio Guy faux als Jhonson did hier a barke of Barkin the -owners name Called paris wherein was Caried over to Gravelinge a ma<a name="FNanchor_A_213" id="FNanchor_A_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_213" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -supposed of great import he went disguised and wold not suffer any one ma -to goe w<sup>th</sup> him but this Vaux<a name="FNanchor_B_214" id="FNanchor_B_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_214" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> nor to returne w<sup>th</sup> him This paris -did Attend for him back at Gravelyng<a name="FNanchor_C_215" id="FNanchor_C_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_215" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> sixe weekes yf Cause quier there -are severall proffs of this matter.</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_213" id="Footnote_A_213"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_213">[A]</a> Contraction for “man.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_214" id="Footnote_B_214"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_214">[B]</a> <i>I.e.</i>, Faux.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_215" id="Footnote_C_215"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_215">[C]</a> Gravelyng would be Gravelines in France. Most probably “the -man supposed of great import,” who “went disguised,” accompanied by -Fawkes, was one of the principal conspirators, perhaps Thomas Winter or -John Wright. I suspect their errand was to buy fresh gunpowder through -Captain Hugh Owen. Notice “Vacation,” 1605.</p></div> - -<div class="left">(Endorsed) Concerninge one Paris that caried faukes to<br /> -                     Gravelyng and others.</div> - -<!--352.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix K.</span></h3> - -<div class="sig25">45, Bernard St.,<br /> -   Russell Square,<br /> -       London, W.C.,<br /> -           30th October, 1901.</div> - -<div class="left">Dear Sir,</div> - -<p>The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle’s Letter.</p> - -<p>I well remember accompanying you to the Record Office, Chancery Lane, -London, W.C., on Friday, the 5th of October, 1900, when we saw the -original Letter to Lord Mounteagle and the Declaration of Edward Oldcorne -of the 12th March, 1605-6.</p> - -<p>As soon as I began to compare the two documents I noticed a general -similarity in the handwritings; although 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.</p> - -<p>I have for the last seventeen years had great experience in transcribing -documents of the period of Queen Elizabeth and James I.; and, in my -opinion, it is at least probable that the Letter to Lord Mounteagle and -the Declaration of the 12th March, 1605-6, signed by Edward Oldcorne, were -by one and the same hand.</p> - -<div class="sig">Yours truly,<br /> -Emma M. Walford.</div> - -<div class="left">To H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor, York.</div> - -<!--353.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix L.</span></h3> - -<p>Having recently learnt that Professor Windle, M.D., F.R.S., Dean of the -Faculty of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, had written two books -descriptive of the Midland Counties, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with -part of Herefordshire, “<i>Shakespeare’s Country</i>,” and “<i>The Malvern -Country</i>” (Methuen & Co.), I ventured to write to him respecting the roads -from Lapworth to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, I conjecture, 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 21st 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).</p> - -<p>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, S.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<!--354.png--><span class="pagenum">316</span> -Vicar of Great -Harrowden, Northamptonshire, for certain information which the latter -likewise most readily vouchsafed to me a few months ago.)</p> - -<div class="sig">“The University,<br /> -   Birmingham,<br /> -       Dec. 22, 1901.</div> - -<div class="left">“My dear Sir,</div> - -<p>...</p> - -<p>“With respect to the distances which you wish to know, I have taken them -out as well as I can, and I think they will be exact enough; but, of -course, I have had to work from modern maps, and I cannot 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 you mention, run -approximately North and South, so that you want cross-roads.</p> - -<p>“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: — </p> - -<p>“1. Lapworth to Hindlip — as the crow flies, nineteen — via Tutnal and -Bromsgrove I make it twenty-two miles, and I think this is the most likely -route. There were Catholic houses at both Tutnal and Bromsgrove.</p> - -<p>“2. Coughton to Hindlip — twelve as the crow flies — about fourteen I make -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 be -taken.</p> - -<!--355.png--><p><span class="pagenum">317</span></p> - -<p>“3. Huddington is four from Hindlip as the crow flies; going by road by -Oddingley I should make it five.</p> - -<p>“4. By the <i>route</i> I should go, if I were cycling, I should take</p> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Worcester to Stratford-on-Avon</td><td align="center">23</td><td align="center">miles.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Stratford-on-Avon to Warwick</td><td align="center">8</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Warwick to Daventry</td><td align="center">19</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Daventry to Northampton</td><td align="center">12</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Northampton to Newport Pagnell</td><td align="center">12</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">——</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">74</td><td align="center">miles.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">——</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p>“It would be about the same distance from Hindlip; for from that place you -can get into the Worcester and Stratford-on-Avon road by a bye-road.</p> - -<p>“I hope this information may be of service to you, and if I can help you -any further, pray apply to me.</p> - -<div class="sig">“I am,<br /> -   Yours very truly,<br /> -       Bertram C. A. Windle.”</div> - -<!--356.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix M.</span></h3> - -<p>Since hearing from Professor Windle, M.D., of Birmingham, I have received -the following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, 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 by the turns in the -road, as well as other differences in the basis of calculation.</p> - -<div class="sig">“County Chief Constable’s Office,<br /> -   Worcester,<br /> -       27th December, 1901.</div> - -<div class="left">“Sir,</div> - -<p>“Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle’s Letter.</p> - -<p>“Adverting to your letter of the 14th inst., <i>re</i> the above, I am -forwarding you, as under, the required distances (by road), which are as -accurate as I can possibly ascertain, viz.: — </p> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Hindlip distant from Huddington, near Droitwich</td><td align="center">3<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>4</sub></td><td align="center">miles.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Do. from Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire</td><td align="center">17<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub></td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Do. from Lapworth, Warwickshire</td><td align="center">30</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Worcester from Northampton</td><td align="center">64</td><td align="center">”</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<div class="sig25">“Yours faithfully,<br /> -<br /> -   George Carmichael,<br /> -   Lieut.-Col., and Chief Constable<br /> -   of Worcestershire.”</div> - -<div class="left">“H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor,<br /> -       Coney Street, York.”</div> - -<!--357.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix N.</span></h3> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Extract from York Corporation House Book</span> — Vol.<br /> -xxviii., f. 82.</div> - -<div class="sig">4 Jany vicesimo<br /> -       quinto Elizth.</div> - -<p>Assembled in the Counsell Chamber upon Ousebridg the day and year -abovesaid when and where the Queen’s Maties Comission to my Lord Maior and -Aldermen directed was openly redd to these present the teno<sup>r</sup> wherof -hereafter enseweth word by word: — </p> - -<p>By the Queene</p> - -<p>Right 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<sup>th</sup>in this -o<sup>r</sup> Realme and other our dominions haith ben notoriouslie knowen unto all -o<sup>r</sup> Subjects aswell by sundry lawes & ordinances maid and published for -the true serving of god and adminstracon of the Sacraments As 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<sup>r</sup> 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 Semynaries & Jesuits where -being trayned upp and as it were full fraught with all erronious and -detestable<!--358.png--><span class="pagenum">320</span> -doctrine they have and do dailie repare over disguised and in -most secreet manner into this o<sup>r</sup> Realme and especiallie into this o<sup>r</sup> -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 our good -subjects in matters of religion but also have practised most unnaturailie -trayterouslye to wthdraw them frome their naturall dewties and allegiance -towards us Sowing even according to the name they have receved abroad the -vere sede of all sedicon and conspiracye amongst o<sup>r</sup> people. And all be it -we conceved that ther Rebellious harts and practises being thoroughlie -discovered as well by the lait trayterous attempts of some of them in o<sup>r</sup> -Realme of Irland as by the treasonable actions of others w<sup>th</sup>in this our -Realme And ther obstinate and sedicious manner of dyeing when being -justlie condempned by our lawes they have suffered death for the same Yow -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<sup>r</sup> wholl -State and to the p’ticuler saftie of every of our good subjects: and the -rather for that our pleasure on that behalf haith often and sundry wayes -ben signified unto yow And for the execucion wherof yow have not wanted -sufficient authoritie. Yet notwithstanding, smale care or none at all -haith ben had to annswere o<sup>r</sup> expectacon 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 yo<sup>r</sup> duties for some other respect than for -want of good affection to our service. We have thought good therfor -<!--359.png--><span class="pagenum">321</span>oftsons -to renew unto yow the remembrance of yo<sup>r</sup> duties, and do hereby -straightlie charge and command yow and ev’ye of yow to have a greater care -& moare continewall circumspection on that behalf and by all the good and -discreet meanes yow may to make diligent enquirie and searche w<sup>th</sup>in -yo<sup>r</sup> severall wardes and devisions for all manner of popish preasts, -Jesuits Semynaries and such like psons as yow shall have vehement cause to -suspect to 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 willinglie absent themselves from the church -or shall any way deprave the order of comen praer & of the holie -sacraments now established w<sup>th</sup>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<sup>th</sup> according to o<sup>r</sup> Lawes wherein o<sup>r</sup> 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 we 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<sup>r</sup> favo<sup>r</sup>. -<!--360.png--><span class="pagenum">322</span>Geven -under o<sup>r</sup> Signet at o<sup>r</sup> Cyttie of Yorke the last of December 1582 -the 25<sup>th</sup> yeare of o<sup>r</sup> reigne.</p> - -<p>And by hir Counsell.</p> - -<p>(Addressed to) To our right trustie and welbeloved the -Maio<sup>r</sup> of our Cittie of Yorke and to the Aldermen his -bretheren. (On the back.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>M<sup>r</sup> Harbart M<sup>r</sup> Robinson Maister Maltby M<sup>r</sup> Appleyard M<sup>r</sup> Trew & M<sup>r</sup> May, -Aldermen, are appoynted by these presents to view the Chambers upon -Ousebridge & Monckbarr 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 intent the same may be forthwith repared for that -purpose.<a name="FNanchor_A_216" id="FNanchor_A_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_216" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_216" id="Footnote_A_216"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_216">[A]</a> Leave was given me to print the aforesaid Order of Queen -Elizabeth in Council by the authorities of the York Corporation, on the -3rd day of June, 1901; the Lord Mayor for that year being Alderman the -Right Honourable E. W. Purnell; and John Close, Esquire, J.P., Sheriff; J. -G. Butcher, Esquire, K.C., and George Denison Faber, Esquire, -Representatives in Parliament — the first Parliament of His Most Gracious -Majesty King Edward VII.</p></div> - -<!--361.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>Note as to authenticity of “Thomas Winter’s Confession,” -at Hatfield.</i></h3> - -<p>Whilst greatly admiring the erudition and dialectical skill displayed by -the Rev. 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 (<i>me judice</i>) -to be upset.</p> - -<p>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, <i>to let “a great gulf be fixed” between “Thos. -Wintour,” the free-born gentleman, and “Thomas Winter,” the inchoately -attainted traitor</i>.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the name Winter, or Wynter, <i>was</i>, at that time, certainly spelt -with the “<i>er</i>” as well as with the “<i>our</i>,” just as the name “Ward” was -spelt either with the final “e” or without the same. For instance, in -Flower’s “<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>,” Edited by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc., -London), Jane Ingleby is stated to be the “Wyff to George <i>Wynter</i> son and -heyr of <i>Robert Winter</i> of Cawdwell in Worceshyre.”</p> - -<p>One would like to see from the pen of the Rev. John Gerard a translation -of Father Oswald Tesimond’s Italian Narrative, known as “<i>Greenway’s -Manuscript</i>.” Tesimond, it is almost certain, knew the bulk of the -plotters more intimately than did the seventeenth century Father Gerard. -Therefore, Tesimond’s Narrative, <i>pro tanto</i>, must surpass in value even -the work of the Father Gerard of three hundred years ago.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--365.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span></p> - -<h2>NOTES.</h2> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_217" id="Footnote_1_217"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_1_217">[1]</a> — The following quotation is from the “<i>Calendar of State -Papers Domestic, 1603-1610</i>,” p. 254: — “Nov. 13 (1605) Declaration of -Fras. Tresham — Catesby 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.” -</p> - -<p> -Now surely it stands to reason that if Tresham had penned the -Letter — <i>Litteræ Felicissimæ</i> — he would have never addressed his Sovereign -thus. He 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 <i>by the omnipotence of the impossible</i>; -anybody can see <i>that</i> who reads his evidence. -</p> - -<p> -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 they feared not the course of Justice. The Earl of Suffolk was a -son of Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, Margaret Audley, -the heiress of Sir Thomas Audley, of Walden, 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 Fitzalan. She -left one son, Philip, who became the well-known Philip Howard Earl of -Arundel and Surrey.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_218" id="Footnote_2_218"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_2_218">[2]</a> — 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<!--366.png--><span class="pagenum">328</span> -Queen Elizabeth, thinks that the proposal that Mary Stuart -should be married to Norfolk came from the Scottish side at York on this -occasion. Whatever may be the true history and character of Mary Queen of -Scots, in clearness of mind she excelled her Royal cousin of England, that -wonderful child of the Renaissance, poor, pathetic, lonely, yet -marvellous, “Bess,” who for 342 years, even from the grave, has ruled one -aspect of English ecclesiastical life.<a name="FNanchor_A_219" id="FNanchor_A_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_219" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Moreover, I am of opinion that -the Scots’ Queen showed a singular tolerance of spirit towards the holders -of theological opinions the contradictory of her own, whilst at the same -time continuing constantly established in her own tenure of what she -believed to be the Truth: indeed a tolerance of spirit, combined with a -personal steadfastness, reached only by the very choicest spirits of that -or any succeeding age. -</p> - -<p> -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 that know (and therefore -believe) they have a living possession of the Absolute and Everlasting -Truth. In the interests of our common Humanity, all who think that their -strength is as the “strength of ten,” because their “faith” (whatever may -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 many of its concrete results, of religious -toleration: a principle which England has exhibited in its practical -working to the world: but rather 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 <i>that</i> is. -</p> - -<p> -The ideas of Truth and Right imply a oneness or <i>unity</i>. Now unity is the -opposite of multiplicity, and, <i>therefore</i>, the contrary of division and -distinction. One must rule men by virtue of the prerogatives of Truth and -Right when these are ascertained. The problem at the root of the terrible -conflict on the veldt of South Africa since 11th October, 1899, to the -present time, 26th October, 1901, involves this question of the unity that -is implied in the ideas of Truth and Right. For those ideas are -the<!--367.png--><span class="pagenum">329</span> -originating causes, the moving springs, the ultimate justification, and -the final vindication of all true and just claims to paramountcy and -sovereignty everywhere. But who is to determine which side has Truth and -Right, and, therefore, the true and the just claim to paramountcy and -sovereignty in South Africa? -</p> - -<p> -Surely the answer is that people who have shown that they can rule -Humanity because <i>first</i> they have themselves obeyed princely ideals of -the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Nothing short of this can satisfy -the universal conscience of mankind. -</p> - -<p> -What have our men of light and leading been about that 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!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_219" id="Footnote_A_219"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_219">[A]</a> See “<i>Life of Mary Queen of Scots</i>,” by Samuel Cowan -(Sampson, Low, 1901); also “<i>The Mystery of Mary Stuart</i>,” by Andrew Lang -(Longmans, 1901).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_220" id="Footnote_3_220"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_3_220">[3]</a> — Lord Mounteagle had been a party to the sending of Thomas -Winter and Father Oswald Tesimond into Spain in 1601 to negotiate with -King Philip III. 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 Catesby at White -Webbs, by Enfield Chase, near London; so he was then at liberty. On 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 Wright 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 part -or lot in despatching the second mission. (It is important 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.) -</p> - -<p> -Mounteagle’s father, Lord Morley, was living in 1605. 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. “Mounteagle,” says -Father Oswald Tesimond, alias Greenway, “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<!--368.png--><span class="pagenum">330</span> -the -religion of his ancestors, though his wife (<i>née</i> Tresham) continued -constant herein, and brought up her children Catholics; but Mounteagle -“died a Catholic.” -</p> - -<p> -Jardine thinks that Mounteagle held some ceremonial office at Court, -probably in the Household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., who -was at heart a Roman Catholic, though most probably never received into -that Church. — See “<i>Carmel in England</i>” (Burns & Oates, 1899), p. 30. We -hear of Mounteagle about ten days before the 5th November, 1605, calling -at the Palace at Richmond to kiss the Prince’s hands (<i>i.e.</i>, Henry Prince -of Wales). Thomas Winter told Catesby that Mounteagle, at that time, -gathered from what he heard at the Royal 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_221" id="Footnote_4_221"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_4_221">[4]</a> — The Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard were -half-brothers. (Lord William Howard was “the Belted Will 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 sons 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 Faith.” Though -their father was a strong Protestant (being a pupil of John Fox, the -author of Fox’s “<i>Book of Martyrs</i>”) both his sons, Philip and William, -became strong Roman Catholics, as did his daughter, Margaret Lady -Sackville. Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, losing his father when only -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 1581, while still a mere courtier and votary of pleasure, it happened -he was present, we are told, at “the disputation in the Tower of London in -1581, concerning divers points of religion betwixt Fr. Edmond Campion of -the Society of Jesus and some other Priests of the one part; Charke, Fulk, -Whitaker, and some other Protestant Ministers of the other.” We are -further told by his biographer, an unknown Jesuit writer of the -seventeenth century, “By that he saw and heard there, he easily perceived -on which side the Truth and true Religion was, tho’ 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 the time -of<!--369.png--><span class="pagenum">331</span> -his 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.” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Robert Howard, in the reign of Henry VI., married the Lady Margaret -Mowbray, daughter of Thomas De Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, and -grand-daughter, maternally, of Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel (“<i>Law -Times</i>,” 9th November, 1901). The motto of the Howards Dukes of Norfolk -is, “<i>Virtus sola invicta</i>” — “Virtue alone unconquered.” The motto of the -Howards Earls of Carlisle is, “<i>Volo sed non valeo</i>” — “I am willing, but I -am not able.” -</p> - -<p> -The Earl of Arundel was “reconciled” by Fr. 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. Robert Southwell, the poet, -wrote for the Earl’s consolation, when the latter was in the Tower of -London, that ravishing work, the “<i>Epistle of Comfort</i>.” (The illustrious -House of the Norfolk Howards has been indeed highly 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 the great Florentine poet’s -ideal of “the truly noble,” in that <i>they</i> confer nobility upon their -<i>race</i>. -</p> - -<p> -For further facts concerning those mentioned in this note — who so appeal -to the historic imagination and so touch the historic sympathies — see the -“<i>Lives of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Anne Dacres his wife</i>” (Hurst -& Blackett), and the “<i>Household Books of Lord William Howard</i>” (Surtees -Society).</p></div> - -<!--370.png--><p><span class="pagenum">332</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_222" id="Footnote_5_222"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_5_222">[5]</a> — Lord Mounteagle would be also akin to Lord Lumley (who had -estates at or about Pickering, I believe), through the great House of -Neville. Lord Lumley’s portrait, from a painting in the possession of the -Right Hon. the Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of -Yorkshire, is to be found in Edward Hailstone’s “<i>Yorkshire Worthies</i>,” -vol. i. Edward Hailstone, Esquire, of Walton Hall, Wakefield, was a rich -benefactor to the York Minster Library, and his memory should be ever had -in grateful remembrance by all who “love Yorkshire because they know -her.” — See Jackson’s “<i>Guide to Yorkshire</i>” (Leeds).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_223" id="Footnote_6_223"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_6_223">[6]</a> — It should be remembered that (i.) the page’s evidence goes -to show that the man 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 up to him with the document. -</p> - -<p> -Hoxton is about four miles from Whitehall. I opine that Mounteagle -proceeded from Bath to Hoxton, and that the supper had been pre-arranged -to take place at Hoxton on the evening of the 26th of October, 1605, by -Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, who indeed read the -Letter 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_224" id="Footnote_7_224"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_7_224">[7]</a> — The letters “wghe” are not, at this date (5th October, -1900), clearly discernible.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_225" id="Footnote_8_225"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_8_225">[8]</a> — See letter dated November, 1605 — Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmonds. Add. MSS. in British Museum, No. 4176, where name “Thomas -Ward” is given.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_226" id="Footnote_9_226"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_9_226">[9]</a> — Stowe’s “<i>Chronicle</i>,” continued by Howes, p. 880. Ed. 1631. -</p> - -<p> -From the evidence of William 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. Wright reached London -in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 30th. -</p> - -<p> -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, <i>temp.</i> Charles II.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_227" id="Footnote_10_227"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_10_227">[10]</a> — Fawkes was apprehended at “midnight without the House,” -according to “<i>A Discourse of this late intended Treason</i>.” Knevet -having<!--371.png--><span class="pagenum">333</span> -given notice that he 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 Royal Presence. This was at about four o’clock -in the morning of Tuesday, the 5th of November. -</p> - -<p> -Fawkes showed the calmest behaviour conceivable in the Royal 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!” (See “<i>King’s Book</i>.”) -</p> - -<p> -Whitehall Palace had been a Royal Palace since the reign of Henry VIII.; -it was burned down in the time of William and Mary. It was formerly what -St. James’s Palace is now in relation to royal functions. -</p> - -<p> -It was at St. James’s Palace that His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward -VII. 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 Ripon, the Lord -Mowbray and Stourton, and the Lord Herries, including other peers and -representatives of the English Roman Catholic laity. -</p> - -<p> -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!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_228" id="Footnote_11_228"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_11_228">[11]</a> — Essex House was between the Strand and the River Thames. -</p> - -<p> -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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_229" id="Footnote_12_229"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_12_229">[12]</a> — By Poulson in his “<i>History of Holderness</i>,” Yorks. (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 local tradition, though he -mentions no kind of authority. — See also Foster’s Ed. of Glover’s -“<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>,” Also Norcliffe’s Ed. of Flower’s “<i>Visitation -of Yorkshire</i>” (Harleian Society). -</p> - -<p> -See Supplementum for account of my visit to Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, -in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, on the 6th of May, 1901.</p></div> - -<!--372.png--><p><span class="pagenum">334</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_230" id="Footnote_13_230"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_13_230">[13]</a> — See “<i>Guy Fawkes</i>,” by Rev. Thomas Lathbury, M.A. (J. W. -Parker, 1839), p. 21. Lathbury does not give his authority for this -interesting statement respecting this conspirator, Christopher Wright. It -is presumed, however, that he had some ground for the statement; for it is -antecedently improbable that his “imagination” should have provided so -circumstantial an assertion. Then, whence did he derive it? -</p> - -<p> -Query: — Does Greenway’s Narrative make any such statement? Apparently -Jardine had a sight of the whole of this invaluable MS., and possibly -Lathbury (who appears to have been a clergyman of the Established Church) -may have seen it likewise through Canon Tierney, the Editor of “<i>Dodd’s -Church History</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_231" id="Footnote_14_231"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_14_231">[14]</a> — 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 privilege -to behold. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Thomas Graves 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 High Commission are of -extraordinary interest, because 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_232" id="Footnote_15_232"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_15_232">[15]</a> — So that bad as they were, they were not hoary-headed -criminals, if we except Percy who seems to have been prematurely “grey.” -</p> - -<p> -The name of Thomas Percy’s mother appears under “Beverley” as “Elizabeth -Percye the widowe of Edward Percye deceased,” in Peacock’s “<i>List of Roman -Catholics of Yorkshire in 1604</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -The Percy Arms are in Welwick Church. (Communicated by Miss Burnham, of -Plowland, Welwick.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_233" id="Footnote_16_233"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_16_233">[16]</a> — I have seen the statement in a letter of the Earl (who was -one of the most scientific men of his age) which he wrote after the -discovery of the Plot. The letter is in Collins’ “<i>Peerage</i>.” The Earl 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<!--373.png--><span class="pagenum">335</span> -avowal, was no papist. Salisbury’s native perspicacity, however, -told him that Northumberland, from every point of view, was alike to the -Royal 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 Northumberland would have thought -that the papists’ support was well “worth a Mass,” just as did King Harry -of Navarre, the father of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I., a -few years previously. (An ancient portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is in -the possession of the York Merchant Adventurers, York.) Then again, -Salisbury had a personal grudge against the proud Percy. For the latter -evidently in his heart scorned and rejected Salisbury, not only as a -<i>novus homo</i> — 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 whom the great Northern 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 <i>carpe diem</i> — 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 <i>has</i> made true moral -progress than the contrast presented by the present Prime Minister and the -present First Lord of the Treasury and their ancestors of “Great Eliza’s -golden time” and the days of James Stuart.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_234" id="Footnote_17_234"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_17_234">[17]</a> — 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,” “<i>National Dictionary of -Biography</i>.”) -</p> - -<p> -Had Catesby an estate at Armcote, in Worcestershire, not far from Chipping -Norton?</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_235" id="Footnote_18_235"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_18_235">[18]</a> — 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, Newby, and Givendale, most -probably, for he was the early and life-long friend of Mary Ward. — See the -“<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & -Oates).</p></div> - -<!--374.png--><p><span class="pagenum">336</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_236" id="Footnote_19_236"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_19_236">[19]</a> — Sir Thomas Leigh settled considerable property to the uses -of the marriage. Jardine says that only Chastleton actually came into -Catesby’s possession.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_237" id="Footnote_20_237"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_20_237">[20]</a> — S. T. Coleridge, speaking of the age of Elizabeth, says -that, notwithstanding its marvellous physical and intellectual prosperity, -“it was an age when, for a time, the intellect stood superior to the moral -sense.” “<i>Lectures on Shakespeare</i>,” Collier’s Ed. (1856), p. 34.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_238" id="Footnote_21_238"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_21_238">[21]</a> — What a lesson to us all, of every creed and philosophy, is -the just, yet terrible fate of these personally charming men, “to hug the -shore” of plain Natural Ethics, of solid Moral Virtue, 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 -with happy augury for the twentieth century.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_239" id="Footnote_22_239"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_22_239">[22]</a> — Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” pp. 31, 32.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_240" id="Footnote_23_240"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_23_240">[23]</a> — Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 56.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_241" id="Footnote_24_241"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_24_241">[24]</a> — Knaresborough, Knaresbrough or Knaresburgh, is thus -pleasantly celebrated in Drayton’s “<i>Polyolbion</i>”: — -</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">“From Whernside Hill not far outflows the nimble Nyde,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Through Nytherside, along as sweetly she doth glide<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Tow’rds Knaresburgh on her way — <br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where that brave forest stands<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Entitled by the town<a name="FNanchor_A_242" id="FNanchor_A_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_242" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> who, with upreared hands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands crown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The river passing by.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_242" id="Footnote_A_242"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_242">[A]</a> The allusion is to the ancient Forest of Knaresbrough -belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. (As to the extent and history of the -Forest, see Grainge’s “<i>Forest of Knaresbrough</i>.”)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_243" id="Footnote_25_243"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_25_243">[25]</a> — “The Venerable” Francis Ingleby’s portrait is still to be -seen at Ripley Castle, an ideal English home, hard-by the winding Nidd.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_244" id="Footnote_26_244"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_26_244">[26]</a> — For the facts of Francis Ingleby’s life, see Challoner’s -“<i>Missionary Priests</i>,” edited by Thomas G. Law; and “<i>Acts of the English -Martyrs</i>” (Burns & Oates), by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J.</p></div> - -<!--375.png--><p><span class="pagenum">337</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_245" id="Footnote_27_245"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_27_245">[27]</a> — From Father Gerard’s “<i>Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot</i>,” -p. 59.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_246" id="Footnote_28_246"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_28_246">[28]</a> — See the admirably written life of Sir Everard Digby, under -the title “<i>The Life of a Conspirator</i>,” by “One of his descendants” -(Kegan Paul & Co., 1895). The learned descendant of Sir Everard Digby, -however, 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 as the high-minded -spouse of Mary Mulsho himself — <i>honourable, of course, I mean after their -kind</i>. — Jardine’s “<i>Narrative of Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 67.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_247" id="Footnote_29_247"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_29_247">[29]</a> — Sir William Catesby and Sir Thomas Tresham were excellent -types of the English gentry of their day. Each was “a fine old English -gentleman, one of the olden time.” They had both become “reconciled” Roman -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 forming with Edmund Campion two of the most -powerful extempore preachers that ever gave utterance to the English -tongue. -</p> - -<p> -We may readily picture to ourselves “the coming of age” of the son and -heir of each of these gallant knights and stately dames. And we may easily -conceive of the bright hopes that either of the gentlewomen (especially -the two sisters), in their close-fitting caps, laced ruffs, and gowns -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! through the evil will of man, for the pathetic vanity of human -wishes.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_248" id="Footnote_30_248"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_30_248">[30]</a> — Jardine, in his “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 51, says that John -Grant’s ancestors are described in several pedigrees as of Saltmarsh, in -Worcestershire, and of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire; that Norbrook -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 Throckmorton family — owned -property. Moreover, through his mother, Shakespeare was distantly -connected with several of the plotters. For Catesby and Tresham, as well -as Lady Wigmore, of Lucton, Herefordshire, were all first cousins to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton (the father of Francis Throckmorton, who was executed -in<!--376.png--><span class="pagenum">338</span> -the -reign of Elizabeth) having three daughters whom he married to Sir William -Catesby, Sir Thomas Tresham, and Sir William Wigmore. — See Jardine’s -“<i>Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 11; also Foley’s “<i>Records of the -Jesuits in England</i>” (Burns & Oates), vol. iv., p. 290. -</p> - -<p> -Probably Shakespeare knew Grant personally, and not only Grant, but -Catesby, Percy, the Winters (Robert and Thomas Winter were likewise akin -to the Throckmortons), and Tresham. That the bard of Avon knew Lord -Mounteagle, the associate of his friend and patron the Earl of -Southampton, is even still more probable. -</p> - -<p> -How is it that Shakespeare never in his writings sought to make political -capital (as the sinister phrase goes) out of the Gunpowder Plot? For -several reasons: first, his heart (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 Shakespeare, we -may discern additional proof of the nobleness of the man, supposing that -he knew personally any of the plotters. He would not kick friends that -were down, when those friends were even traitors. He could not approve -their action — far from it. He might have condemned with justice, and with -the world’s applause. But upon himself a self-denying ordinance he laid, -tempting as it must have been to him to perform the contrary, especially -when we recollect the course then followed by his brother-poet — Jonson. -But 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 -hangman’s bloody hands” — “Macbeth,” 1606 — and that sufficed for him. -</p> - -<p> -Since writing the above note I find it stated in “<i>The Religion of -Shakespeare</i>,” by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Burns & Oates, 1899) — chiefly -from the writings of that great Elizabethan scholar, the late Richard -Simpson — that “among the chief actors in the so-called Gunpowder Plot were -Catesby; the two Bates; John Grant, of Norbrook, near Stratford; Thomas -Winter, Grant’s brother-in-law; all Shakespeare’s friends and benefactors” -(p. 103); 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 Winters, and Tresham, but distantly -with the Earl of Southampton himself, who was a relative of Lord -Mounteagle. Hence it is still more probable that Shakespeare knew -Mounteagle personally.<!--377.png--> -</p><p><span class="pagenum">339</span></p> - -<p> -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 “<i>Life of Shakespeare</i>” (Smith & Elder), p. -233. — If this were so, then it is well-nigh certain that 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. — <i>Cf.</i> Churton -Collins’s “<i>Ephemera Critica</i>” (Constable) as to religion of Shakespeare.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_249" id="Footnote_31_249"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_31_249">[31]</a> — The name is also spelt Tirwhitt. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, Lady -Ursula Babthorpe’s grandfather, had entertained Henry VIII. at the old -Hall at Kettleby. A new Hall was built in the time of James I., but this -was pulled down about 1691, I believe. The Tyrwhitts, of Kettleby, were -allied to such as the Tailboys, Boroughes, Wymbishes, Monsons, Tournays, -Thimbelbies, Thorolds, and other Lincolnshire houses. They were rigidly -Roman Catholic. The marriage between Sir William Babthorpe and Ursula -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 1581. It -was continued through Sir Ralph Babthorpe, who married that “valiant -woman” (the only daughter and heiress of William Birnand, the Recorder of -York), Grace Birnand by name, of Brimham, Knaresbrough, and York. Lady -Grace Babthorpe’s active and contemplative life was one long singing of -<i>Gloria in excelsis</i>. Sir William Babthorpe and Lady Ursula his wife, like -their noble parents, Sir Ralph Babthorpe and Lady Grace, “for conscience -sake” became voluntary 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 remarkably gifted. Mary 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 Mother-General of -the Nuns 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 Nuns. The story of the Babthorpes is a veritable English “<i>Un -Récit d’une sœur</i>.” — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>.” — The -Wards<!--378.png--><span class="pagenum">340</span> — like -the -Inglebies, of Ripley; the Constables, of Everingham;<a name="FNanchor_A_252" id="FNanchor_A_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_252" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> the Dawnays, of -Sessay; and the Palmes, of Naburn — were related to this “family of -saints.” — See also “The Babthorpes, of Babthorpe” (one of whose ancestors -carried the sword before King Edward III. on entering Calais in 1347), in -the late Rev. John Morris’s “<i>Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers</i>,” -first series (Burns & Oates). -</p> - -<p> -For “the Kayes,” of Woodsome, see Canon Hulbert’s “<i>Annals of Almondbury</i>” -(Longmans). -</p> - -<p> -“The Venerable” Richard Langley, of Owsthorpe and Grimthorpe, near -Pocklington, in the East Riding 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.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_250" id="Footnote_32_250"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_32_250">[32]</a> — “<i>Greenway’s MS.</i>,” quoted by Jardine, “<i>Narrative of the -Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 151.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_251" id="Footnote_33_251"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_33_251">[33]</a> — Hawarde, “<i>Reportes of Star Chamber</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -See “<i>The Fawkeses, of York</i>,” by Robert Davies, sometime Town Clerk of -York (Nichols, Westminster, 1850); and the “<i>Life of Guy Fawkes</i>,” by -William Camidge (Burdekin, York). Davies was a learned York antiquary. -</p> - -<p> -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 the Justices of Assize at the next Assizes at -York, for harbouring Edmund Campion. — See “<i>Acts of Privy Council, 1581</i>” -(Eyre & Spottiswoode), p. 282. — What was the upshot I do not know. -</p> - -<p> -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.<!--379.png--><span class="pagenum">341</span> -Since August, 1900, York Castle has been used as a Military Prison. All -the old Indictments that are in existence, whether at York, Worcester, or -other Assize towns, would be of interest and value re the Gunpowder Plot -<i>if the affair is to be thoroughly bottomed</i>. -</p> - -<p> -The York 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 referred to Popish recusants, and those 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: “<i>The Quakers unmasked and clearly detected to be but -the spawn of Romish Frogs, Jesuites, and Franciscan Fryers.</i>” Now, Prynne -was not far wrong either, the erudite historical philosopher knows very -well, who has studied the genesis of the remarkable system developed by -Fox, Barclay, and Penn. -</p> - -<p> -Was there a Grimston near Mount St. John, Feliskirk, near Thirsk? Or was -it Grimston Garth, Holderness? or was it North Grimston, between Malton -and Driffield, that Thomas Grimstone came from; or Grimston, three miles -east of York? -</p> - -<p> -Since writing the preceding note I have come to the conclusion that the -Grimston was, most likely, the Grimstone some twelve miles from Mount St. -John, in the Parish of Gilling East, near Hovingham and Ampleforth, in the -Vale of Mowbray, and near Gilling Castle, once the seat of the Catholic -branch of the Fairfaxes, now the seat of George Wilson, Esquire, J.P. This -Grimstone would be a spot very suitable for harbouring Campion after he -had been at Babthorpe, near Selby; Thixendale, near Leavening, east of -Malton; and Fryton, west of Malton, near Hovingham. -</p> - -<p> -(How wonderful to think that the probabilities are in favour of the -supposal that these tranquil, sequestered nooks, each with its own fair -summer beauty, once rang with the golden eloquence of Edmund Campion, “one -of the diamonds of England,” in the days of Shakespeare.) -</p> - -<p> -Guy Fawkes was also connected with another Roman Catholic martyr, “the -Venerable” William Knight, yeoman, of South Duffield, Hemingbrough, Selby, -East Yorkshire, who suffered death at the York Tyburn in 1596, for -“explaining to a man the Catholic faith.” — See Challoner and Foster’s -“<i>Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families</i>” (“Fawkes, of Farnley”).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_252" id="Footnote_A_252"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_252">[A]</a> The Constables, of Everingham, are one of those old English -Roman 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 Riding of Yorkshire, Lord Herries, 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 Robert Aske, -of Aughton on the Derwent, in the time of Henry VIII. (1536). 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, either -Clifford’s Tower or possibly the tower of All Saints’ Church, The -Pavement, York. After the movement 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 Lumley, of Lumley Castle, was burned alive at -Smithfield. — See Burke’s “<i>Tudor Portraits</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_253" id="Footnote_34_253"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_34_253">[34]</a> — Father Morris, S.J., in “<i>The Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers</i>” (York volume), says that Father Tesimond was a Yorkshireman; -though -in<!--380.png--><span class="pagenum">342</span> -Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” in one place, he is said to have been born -in Northumberland, perhaps a translation of the Latin “Northumbria,” -intended to represent the name “Yorkshire.” There were, at least, three -families of Tesimond in York in the reign of Elizabeth, namely, Robert -Tesimond, a butcher, of Christ’s Parish; Anthony Tesimond, a cordyner; and -William Tesimond, a saddler, both of St. Michael-le-Belfrey’s Parish. I -incline to think that Father Oswald Tesimond was the son of William -Tesimond, who lived in the Parish of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York. Oswald -Tesimond was born in 1563; but as the Register books of St. Michael’s -Church, unfortunately, begin in 1565, two years afterwards, there are no -means of verifying my supposal. William Tesimond was, for a great part of -his life, a rigid Catholic, suffering imprisonment for his faith, although -eventually he appears to have yielded. Margaret Tesimond, the wife of -William Tesimond, also bore a more than lip testimony to the ancient -religion by suffering imprisonment for it. Whether William Tesimond died -“reconciled” or not, I cannot say. Perhaps further researches will clear -the matter up as to this and the exact parentage of Father Tesimond. In -the very learned and deeply lamented Dr. James Raine’s admirable book on -the City of York (Longmans, 1893), on p. 110, is the following: — “Whilst -the Earl of Northumberland’s head was lying in the Tolbooth on Ouse -Bridge, William Tessimond cut off some hair from the beard. He wrapped it -in paper, and wrote on the outside, ‘This the heire of the good Erle of -Northumberland, Lord Perecy.’ For this he got into great trouble.” This -must have been about the 22nd August, 1572, as Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland was beheaded on that day, at three o’clock in the -afternoon, in The Pavement, York, for his share in the Rising of the -North. The Church Register of St. Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, -contains an entry of the death of the Earl of Northumberland. The Percy -family had property in Walmgate at that time. The Earl is now “the Blessed -Thomas Percy,” one of “the York martyrs.” The Lady Mary Percy, of Ghent, a -well-known Benedictine Abbess, was his daughter. She would be probably -named after her aunt Mary, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of Scriven Hall, -near Scotton. There is a fine monument in the Parish Church of -Knaresbrough to the memory of Francis Slingsby and Mary Percy, his wife. -The Slingsbies were Roman Catholics till many years after the reign of -Elizabeth; in fact, Sir Henry Slingsby, who was beheaded during the -Commonwealth, was himself a Roman Catholic. -</p> - -<p> -The Half Moon Hotel, in Blake Street, York, perhaps derives its name from -the well-known device of the Percy family.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_254" id="Footnote_35_254"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_35_254">[35]</a> — Quoted from Father Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 278.</p></div> - -<!--381.png--><p><span class="pagenum">343</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_255" id="Footnote_36_255"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_36_255">[36]</a> — So that the Plot was first hatched about Easter, 1604. — See -Dr. S. R. Gardiner’s “<i>What Gunpowder Plot was</i>,” as to the decisive -causes of the Plot. — Jardine, in his “<i>Narrative</i>” (pp. 45 and 46), thinks -that the Star-Chambering of that aged but charming Roman Catholic -gentleman, Thomas Pounde, Esquire, of Belmont, Hampshire, contributed to -the causes of the Plot. This is very probable. Pounde was first cousin to -the father of the Earl of Southampton, the patron and friend of -Shakespeare. Pounde was a devoted friend of Campion, and himself a Jesuit -lay-brother. He spent a large part of his life in prison. He was attired -in prison as became his rank and fortune, and was, besides being a -“mystical” Catholic, a most accomplished Elizabethan gentleman. — See -“<i>Jesuits in Conflict</i>” (Burns & Oates).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_256" id="Footnote_37_256"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_37_256">[37]</a> — <i>I.e.</i>, according to Winter, about two months after.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_257" id="Footnote_38_257"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_38_257">[38]</a> — See pp. 269 and 271 of the Rev. John Gerard’s, S.J., work, -“<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” (Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co., 1897).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_258" id="Footnote_39_258"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_39_258">[39]</a> — <i>I.e.</i>, a Prayer Book. Sir Everard Digby appears to have -been sworn in by Robert Catesby on the cross formed by the hilt of a -poniard. — See “<i>Life of Sir Everard Digby</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_259" id="Footnote_40_259"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_40_259">[40]</a> — 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 “<i>The Month</i>,” No. 369, pp. 353, 4. — This would be to make -assurance double sure. But, happily, the “best laid schemes o’ men gang -aft agley.” “For 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 anathenas” (John Henry Newman). Also, “Conscience is the -knowledge with oneself of the better and the worse” (James Martineau).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_260" id="Footnote_41_260"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_41_260">[41]</a> — See Jardine’s “<i>Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 41.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_261" id="Footnote_42_261"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_42_261">[42]</a> — The Most Hon. the Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., 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.<!--382.png--> -</p><p><span class="pagenum">344</span></p> - -<p> -Of what manner of men these Mallories were, the puissant owners of Studley -Royal, is evident from what we are told concerning that Sir William -Mallory, “who was so zealous and constant a Catholic, that when heresy -first came into England, and Catholic service commanded 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 Babthorpe,” Morris’s “<i>Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers</i>,” first series, p. 227. — The Church referred to must 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 the 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 grey ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of -St. Mary, Fountains, laved by the musical little River Skell. (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 VI., when the -Mass was first put down, and a communion substituted therefor. — See -Tennyson’s “<i>Mary Tudor</i>.” — 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 -the reign of the Seventh!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_262" id="Footnote_43_262"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_43_262">[43]</a> — The promoters of the Rising of the North wished: — -</p> - -<p> -(1) To restore to her kingdom Mary Queen of Scots, who simply fascinated -Francis Norton, and every other imaginative, romantic, Yorkshire heart -that she came in contact with. -</p> - -<p> -(2) To depose Elizabeth, whom they regarded as morally no true claimant -for the throne, until dispensed from her illegitimacy by the Pope. -</p> - -<p> -(3) To place Mary Stuart on the throne of England. -</p> - -<p> -(4) Above all, to restore “the ancient faith,” which they did in Durham, -Staindrop, Darlington, Richmond, Ripon, and some of the churches in -Cleveland, for a very brief season. -</p> - -<p> -It is to be remembered that the Rising of the North in 1569 was not joined -in by <i>all</i> 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 Lancashire -(especially the neighbourhood of “Wigan and -Ashton-on-Makerfield,<!--383.png--><span class="pagenum">345</span> -and, -above all, the Fylde, that region between Lancaster and Preston, whence -“the great Allen” sprang) is “the Rome of England” to this day. It is said -that the Parish Church of Bispham (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 -Jerome Allen, uncle to the Cardinal. In the white-washed yeoman dwellings -of the Fylde 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. -</p> - -<p> -Also, all who travel in Yorkshire, either by road or rail, from -Knaresbrough and Harrogate to Ripon, 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 -idyllic hamlet betwixt Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, that is still -a stronghold of “the ancient faith,” which, as in a last Yorkshire -retreat, has <i>there</i> never died out), has the writer recalled the -following lines from the old “Ballad of the Rising of the North”: — -</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Lord Westmoreland his ancyent [<i>i.e.</i>, ensign] raisde,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The Dun Bull he rais’d on hye;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three dogs with golden collars brave,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Were there set out most royallye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Earl Percy there his ancyent spred,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The half moon shining all so fair;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Nortons ancyent had the Cross<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And the Five Wounds Our Lord did beare.”<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p> -Norton Conyers, in the Parish of Wath, near Ripon, was forfeited by the -Nortons after the Rebellion of 1569. It is now, I believe, the property of -Sir Reginald 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 Markenfields, -and, being forfeited by them, granted to Francis Norton, the eldest son of -old Richard Norton. — See “<i>Sir Ralph Sadlers Papers</i>,” Ed. by Sir Walter -Scott. — The present Lord Grantley is descended from Thomas Norton, who was -sixth in descent from old Richard 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<!--384.png--><span class="pagenum">346</span> -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 Cockermouth Hall, waited on the -Scots’ Queen when she first landed at Workington. Henry Fletcher -“entertained” the Queen at Cockermouth Hall (17th May, 1568), “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’ “<i>History of Cumberland and -Westmoreland</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -As to the Nortons and Markenfields, see Wordsworth’s “<i>White Doe of -Rylstone</i>”; “<i>Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569</i>” (1840); Froude’s -“<i>History of England</i>”; “<i>Memorials of Cardinal Allen</i>”<a name="FNanchor_A_264" id="FNanchor_A_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_264" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> (Ed. by Dr. -Knox, published by Nutt, London); and J. S. Fletcher’s “<i>Picturesque -Yorkshire</i>” (Dent & Co.). In Hailstone’s “<i>Portraits of Yorkshire -Worthies</i>” (two magnificent volumes published by Cundall & Fleming) are -photographs of old Richard Norton and of his brother Thomas, and of the -former’s seventh son, Christopher. The photographs are taken from -paintings in the possession of Lord Grantley, now, I believe, at -Markenfield Hall. -</p> - -<p> -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. -</p> - -<p> -From the Ripon Minster Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, it is -plain that, between the years 1589 and 1601, a “Norton,” described as -“<i>generosus</i>,” lived at Sawley, close to Bishop Thornton and Grantley, -near Ripon.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_263" id="Footnote_44_263"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_44_263">[44]</a> — In 1569 the Norton Conyers estate seems to have been vested -in a Nicholas Norton, probably as a trustee. — See “<i>Sir Ralph Sadler’s -Papers</i>,” and see <i>ante</i>, Supplementum III.<!--385.png--> -</p><p><span class="pagenum">347</span></p> - -<p> -The Winters were also related to the Markenfields, their aunt, Isabel -Ingleby, having married Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield. -</p> - -<p> -The Wrights and Winters were also, through the Inglebies, connected with -the Yorkes, of Gowthwaite, in Nidderdale, of which family, most probably, -sprang Captain Roland Yorke (who introduced the use of the rapier into -England — see Camden’s “<i>Elizabeth</i>”), the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, in -the Netherlands. — See Foster’s Edition of “<i>Glover’s Visitation of -Yorkshire</i>”; “<i>The Earl of Leicester’s Correspondence</i>” (Camden Soc.); -also “<i>Cardinal Allen’s Defence of Sir William Stanley’s Surrender of -Deventer, 29th January, 1586-87</i>” (Chetham Soc.). -</p> - -<p> -The Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, were related to the Nortons, -old Richard Norton’s grandmother being Margaret, daughter of Roger 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. -</p> - -<p> -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 Whitwell, 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 -“<i>Craven</i>.”)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_264" id="Footnote_A_264"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_264">[A]</a> 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 “<i>Memorials of Cardinal -Allen</i>.” — Lord Ribblesdale, of Gisburn Park, in the West Riding of the -County of York, is the representative of this ancient Yorkshire family of -Lister. Lord Masham is a representative of a younger branch of the same -family. -</p> - -<p> -By a remarkable coincidence, on the 16th 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_265" id="Footnote_45_265"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_45_265">[45]</a> — 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, however, singularly enough married Martha Wright, Mary Ward’s -aunt. — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers -(Burns & Oates, 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<!--386.png--><span class="pagenum">348</span> -very trusty man. A photograph of a -painting of him is in Hailstone’s “<i>Yorkshire Worthies</i>,” taken from a -painting at Ripley Castle. -</p> - -<p> -Edmund Neville Earl of Westmoreland, <i>de jure</i>, was afterwards one of the -many unsuccessful suitors for the hand of Mary Ward. — See her “<i>Life</i>,” -vol. i. — The Government would have liked to implicate Neville in the -Gunpowder Plot, but utterly failed to do so. He eventually became a Priest -of the Society of Jesus. He petitioned James to restore to him the Neville -estates, but without avail; so that historic Middleham and Kirbymoorside -(in Yorkshire), and Raby and Brancepeth (in Durham), finally passed from -the once proud house of Neville, one of whom was the well-known Warwick, -the King-maker, owing to the chivalrous, ill-fated Rising of 1569. This -Rising first broke out at Topcliffe, between Ripon and Thirsk, where the -Earl of Northumberland was then sojourning at his palace, the site of -which is pointed out to this day. Topcliffe is situated on the waters of -the River Swale, which (like the East Riding 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 people ever had. -</p> - -<p> -The first Pilgrimage of Grace, under Robert Aske, of Aughton, broke out on -the banks of the Derwent. Hence, each of “the holy rivers” of Yorkshire -inspired a crusade — a thing worth memory. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Thomas P. Cooper, of York (author of “<i>York: the History of its Walls -and Castles</i>”), kindly refers me to “<i>Letters and Papers, Foreign and -Domestic, Henry VIII., 1537</i>,” p. 87, for evidence tending to prove that -Robert Aske was executed “on the height of the castle dungeon,” where the -High Sheriff of Yorkshire had jurisdiction, and <i>not</i> the Sheriffs of the -City of York. -</p> - -<p> -This would be Clifford’s Tower, not The Pavement, where Aske is sometimes -said to have met his fate. I think Mr. Cooper has, most probably, settled -the point by his discovery of this important letter of “the old Duke of -Norfolk” to Thomas Cromwell.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_266" id="Footnote_46_266"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_46_266">[46]</a> — Father Gerard’s “Narrative of Gunpowder Plot” in -“<i>Conditions of Catholics under James I.</i>” Edited by Father Morris, S.J. -(Longmans, 1872).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_267" id="Footnote_47_267"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_47_267">[47]</a> — The “very imperfect proof” to which I refer is contained in -a certain marriage entry in the Registers at Ripon Minster. The date is -“10th July, 1588” (the year and month of the Spanish Armada), and <i>seems</i> -to me to be as follows: “Xpofer Wayde et Margaret Wayrde.” Now, “Margaret” -was a family name of the Wardes, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, -and<!--387.png--><span class="pagenum">349</span> -the -clergyman making the entry <i>may</i> have written “Wayde” instead of Wright. -We cannot tell. Therefore, alone, it is a mere <i>scintilla</i> of evidence to -show that Christopher Wright married a Warde, of Mulwith. -</p> - -<p> -Further research among those of the Ward (or Warde) papers 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 1605, suggests to my mind many far-reaching -supposals. Marmaduke Ward seems to have died before the year 1614, but the -“burials” of the Ripon Registers are lost for this period apparently.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_268" id="Footnote_48_268"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_48_268">[48]</a> — Born 1563. Father Oswald Tesimond was for six years at -Hindlip Hall, along with Father Oldcorne. Ralph Ashley, a Jesuit -lay-brother, was Oldcorne’s servant.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_269" id="Footnote_49_269"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_49_269">[49]</a> — John Wright was born about 1568. Christopher Wright was -born about 1570. Had they a brother Francis, living at Newbie (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 Wright, of Newby, under date 2nd -February, 1592. -</p> - -<p> -The Welwick Church Registers for this period are lost apparently, though -the burial is recorded, under date 13th October, 1654, of ffrauncis -Wright, Esquire, and of another ffrauncis Wright, under date 2nd May, -1664, both at Welwick. (Communicated to me by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, -M.A., Vicar of Welwick.) Probably the Francis Wrights, of Newby (or -Newbie), are those buried at Welwick, being father and son respectively. -Certainly the coincidence is remarkable. — See <i>ante</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_270" id="Footnote_50_270"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_50_270">[50]</a> — Foley’s “<i>Records of the English Province of the Society of -Jesus</i>,” vol. iv., pp. 203-5 (Burns & Oates, 1878).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_271" id="Footnote_51_271"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_51_271">[51]</a> — Quoted in Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 213.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_272" id="Footnote_52_272"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_52_272">[52]</a> — 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>i.e.</i>, 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 alias of Oldcorne] for -us,<!--388.png--><span class="pagenum">350</span> -and desire him to help us to some resting place.” — See Jardine’s -“<i>Criminal Trials, Gunpowder Plot</i>,” vol. ii., p. 146.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_273" id="Footnote_53_273"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_53_273">[53]</a> — Schismatic Catholics were those Catholics that went to Mass -in private houses, and then, more or less, frequented their parish church -afterwards to escape the fines. They were further divided into -Communicants and Non-communicants. Very often the men of a family were -Catholics of this sort, and the womenkind strict Catholics. Indeed, it was -mainly the women and the priests that have kept “the Pope’s religion” -alive in England: although, of course, <i>many</i> men of great mental and -physical powers were papists of the most rigid class. The practice of -“going to the Protestant church,” as English Roman Catholics term the -practice to this day, was deliberately condemned by the Council of Trent. -</p> - -<p> -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: the Jesuits, and especially their extraordinarily able leader, -Father Parsons, thought that the Secular Priests required watching. And so -they did; and so do all other human creatures. But 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_274" id="Footnote_54_274"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_54_274">[54]</a> — “<i>Collecti Cardwelli</i>,” Public Record Office, Brussels Vitæ -Mart, p. 147. -</p> - -<p> -In Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” 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, with St. William’s Chapel -(at present the site of which is occupied by Messrs. Varvills’ -establishment). St. Sampson’s Church, the ancient church which gave the -name of the parish 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,” Margaret Clitherow lived. Oldcorne must have known that -great York citizen well. She was born in Davygate, and was the second wife -of a butcher, named 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, by birth: and the Church of -Rome, ever mindful of her own, declared in 1886 (just three hundred years -after the martyr’s death in the Tolbooth, on Old Ouse -Bridge)<!--389.png--><span class="pagenum">351</span> -that -Margaret Clitherow, a shrewd, honest, devout York tradeswoman, is one of -the Church’s “Venerable Servants of God,” by grace. — See J. B. Milburn’s -Life of this extraordinary Elizabethan Yorkshire-woman, entitled, “<i>A -Martyr of Old York</i>” (Burns & Oates, London).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_275" id="Footnote_55_275"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_55_275">[55]</a> — This crossing-out of the word “yowe” is noticed in Nash’s -“<i>History of Worcestershire</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_276" id="Footnote_56_276"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_56_276">[56]</a> — The word “good” is omitted in the copy of the Letter given -in the “<i>Authorised Discourse</i>,” which is remarkable. I think it was done -designedly, in order to minimize the merit of the revealing plotter.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_277" id="Footnote_57_277"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_57_277">[57]</a> — King James’s interpretation of these enigmatical words was -simply fantastical. It may be read in Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” and in most -contemporary relations of the Plot.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_278" id="Footnote_58_278"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_58_278">[58]</a> — I am of opinion that one of Father Oldcorne’s servants, -Ralph Ashley by name, a Jesuit lay-brother, was the person that actually -conveyed 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 Ralph Ashley -conveyed the Letter will be seen hereafter, in due course of this Inquiry. -</p> - -<p> -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 Ashley, which is negative 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 “<i>Life of -Campion</i>” — whom the genial orator playfully called “his little -man” — “<i>homulus</i>”; and in the 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 halls, -up and down the country, he constructed most ingenious secret places for -the hiding of priests. -</p> - -<p> -Ralph Ashley had acted in some humble capacity at the English Catholic -College of Valladolid, which had been founded in Spain from Rheims, -through the generosity of noble-hearted Spanish Catholics, among whom was -that majestic soul, Dona Luisa de Carvajal. — See her “<i>Life</i>,” by the late -Lady Georgiana Fullerton (Burns & Oates). — See -also<!--390.png--><span class="pagenum">352</span> -“<i>The Life of the -Venerable John Roberts, O.S.B.</i>,” by the Rev. Bede Camm, O.S.B. (Sands & -Co.) — Father Roberts founded the Benedictine College at Douay, still in -existence. Cardinal Allen’s secular priests’ College is now used as a -French Barracks. Ushaw College, Durham, and St. Edmund’s College, Ware, -are the lineal successors of Cardinal Allen’s College at Douay. -</p> - -<p> -(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. Lingard -died at Hornby, near Lancaster, not far from Hornby Castle, the seat of -the once famous Lord Mounteagle.) -</p> - -<p> -Brother Raphael (or Ralph) Ashley, was possibly akin to the Ashleys, of -Goule Hall, in the Township of Cliffe, in the Parish of Hemingbrough, in -the East Riding 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 “<i>Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers</i>,” first -series (Burns & Oates). — If Ashley were a Yorkshireman, one can easily -understand his being the chosen companion of the two Yorkshire Jesuits, -Oldcorne and Tesimond. -</p> - -<p> -This Jesuit lay-brother was acquainted with London; and as, <i>Qui facit per -alium facit per se</i>, it was pre-eminently likely that Oldcorne would -employ his confidential servant to perform so weighty a mission as the one -I have attributed unto him. -</p> - -<p> -Again, since “he who acts through another acts through himself,” it is -unnecessary for me to treat at large in the Text concerning my supposal -respecting the part that Brother Ralph Ashley played in the great drama of -the Gunpowder Plot. Ashley being identified with his master, Father -Oldcorne, shares, in his degree, his master’s merits and praise. -</p> - -<p> -Professor J. A. Froude thought that Ralph Waldo Emerson was of the same -stock as Brother Ralph Emerson. It is quite possible. For after the -Gunpowder Plot, I opine that the younger Catholics in many cases became -Puritans, and in some cases, later on, Quakers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_279" id="Footnote_59_279"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_59_279">[59]</a> — Notwithstanding the endless chain of the causation of human -acts and human events, man’s strongest and clearest knowledge tells him -that he is “master of his fate,” nay, that “he is fated to be free,” -inasmuch as at any moment man can open the flood-gates that are betwixt -him and an Infinite Ocean of Pure Unconditioned -Freedom:<!--391.png--><span class="pagenum">353</span> -can open those -flood-gates, and in that Ocean can lave at will, and so render himself a -truly emancipated creature. -</p> - -<p> -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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_280" id="Footnote_60_280"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_60_280">[60]</a> — The copy in the “<i>Authorised Discourse</i>” 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).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_281" id="Footnote_61_281"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_61_281">[61]</a> — “<i>Gunpowder Plot Books</i>,” vol. ii., p. 202.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_282" id="Footnote_62_282"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_62_282">[62]</a> — It is impossible to describe 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 with 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. -</p> - -<p> -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 afternoon. -He desires to place on record his sense of obligation for the courteous -civility with which he was treated by the authorities at the Record -Office, London, on this occasion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_283" id="Footnote_63_283"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_63_283">[63]</a> — Oldcorne, being a Jesuit, would from time to time go to -White Webbs, Morecrofts (near Uxbridge), Erith-on-the-Thames, Stoke Pogis, -Thames Street (London), and other places of Jesuit resort where Mounteagle -and Ward had the <i>entrée</i>. 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. -</p> - -<p> -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 -house known as Dr. Hewick’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<!--392.png--><span class="pagenum">354</span> -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 had so wronged, <i>in act and in desire</i>, -and themselves; and a happy thing for the men, as well as for others, that -Destiny did so enable them whilst there was yet time. -</p> - -<p> -(In October, 1900, I was informed that the present mansion, known as White -Webbs, belongs to the Lady Meúx.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_284" id="Footnote_64_284"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_64_284">[64]</a> — Known by Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_285" id="Footnote_65_285"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_65_285">[65]</a> — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_286" id="Footnote_66_286"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_66_286">[66]</a> — M’rgery Slater most probably belonged to a Ripon family, as -I find 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 -Warde” may have been a relative of Mr. Cotterell, as I find in the St. -Michael-le-Belfrey Register the entry of the burial (1583) 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 church, -whose site is to-day (1901) occupied by the official lodgings of the -King’s Judges of Assize when on circuit. For the “subsidy” of 1581, a Mr. -James Cotterell of that parish was assessed in “Lande” at £6 13s. 4d. -(among the highest of the York assessments). There was a Mr. Cotterell “an -Examiner” for the Council of the North in the time of Elizabeth, and I -have no doubt that “Mistress Warde’s” late master was this very gentleman. -Whether the young woman whom “Thomas Ward, 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, I do not know. -Let us hope, however, that alike in gifts of personal attractiveness and -graces of character she was not unworthy of one who came from so truly -“gentle” a people as the Wardes, of Mulwith, Givendale, and Newby. If -M’gery Slater did hail from Ripon, this “faithful following” of her to -York, and from the house of her master, publicly making her, in the face -of all the world, his “true and honourable wife, as dear to him as were -the ruddy drops -that<!--393.png--><span class="pagenum">355</span> -visited his own heart,” bears early witness to an -idealism of mind in this Yorkshire 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 Warde, who -was also of Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and -from <i>this</i> picture we may imagine <i>that</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_287" id="Footnote_67_287"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_67_287">[67]</a> — 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 that country [<i>i.e.</i> Yorkshire] for his exceeding comeliness 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 with 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.” -</p> - -<p> -The William Mallery, here spoken of, was one of “the Mallories,” of -Studley Royal, near Ripon, the present seat of their descendants, the Most -Hon. the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon. -</p> - -<p> -The above quotation is taken from the “<i>Life</i>” of Marmaduke Ward’s eldest -daughter, Mary, who was one of the most beautiful and heroic women of her -age. — See M. C. E. Chambers’ “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” 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. I -think the Old Heworth Hall was built <i>behind</i> 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 Gunpowder plotters “were at Old Heworth Hall” -(communicated to me in 1890 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,<!--394.png--><span class="pagenum">356</span> -1901, the outhouse or hay chamber (of brick and -old timber) where this priest was taken on Candlemas Day morning in the -year 1593. — See Morris’s “<i>Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers</i>,” 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-Hill. The last of the English -martyrs was Father Thomas Thwing, of Heworth, who was executed at the York -Tyburn, 1680. His vestments belong to the Herbert family, of Gate -Helmsley. 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 with the past are those beautiful, but fading, priestly -garments. -</p> - -<p> -The following letter of Mr. Bannister Dent will be read with interest, as -helping the concatenation of the evidence. It is from a York solicitor who -for many years was Guardian for the old Parish of St. Wilfred, in the City -of York: — -</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="sig">“York,<br /> -       21st March, 1901.”</div> - -<div class="center">“<span class="smcap">Old Parish of St. Wilfred.</span>”</div> - -<p> -“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. I have made 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.”</p> -</div></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_288" id="Footnote_68_288"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_68_288">[68]</a> — Margery Warde (born Slater) was probably the sister of one -Hugo Slater, of Ripon, who, subsequently to 1579, had a daughter, Margery, -and a son, Thomas. — See Ripon Registers. -</p> - -<p> -John Whitham, Esq., of the City of Ripon, has been so kind as to place at -my disposal the Index, which is the result of his researches into the -Ripon Registers. There seems to be no entry of the baptism of Mary (or -Joan or Jane) Ward in 1585-86, nor of John Ward, William Ward, nor Teresa -Ward. George Warde’s baptism is recorded: “18th May, 1595 [not 1594], -George Waryde filius M’maduci de Mulwith.” Then under date 3rd September, -1598, occurs, three years afterwards, this significant entry: “Thomas -Warde filius M’maduci <i>de Nubie</i>.” This naming of his son “Thomas” by -Marmaduke Warde, I submit, <i>almost</i> suffices to clench the proof that -Marmaduke and Thomas Warde were akin to each other <i>as brothers</i>. -</p> - -<p> -If proof be required that the name “Ward” was spelt both Ward and Warde, -it is contained in the following entries in the Ripon -Minster<!--395.png--><span class="pagenum">357</span> -Registers of -the baptism of Marmaduke Ward’s daughters, Eliza and Barbara<a name="FNanchor_A_289" id="FNanchor_A_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_289" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>: “30 April -1591 — Eliza, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith;” “21 November -1592 — Barbara, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith.” The entries are in -Latin. In some subsequent entries Marmaduke Warde is described as of -Newbie, <i>e.g.</i>: “5 Nov. 1594 — Ellyn, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of -Newbie.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_289" id="Footnote_A_289"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_289">[A]</a> Eliza was probably Elizabeth Warde, and Ellyn — Teresa Warde.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_290" id="Footnote_69_290"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_69_290">[69]</a> — Newby was spelt “Newbie” at that time. Newby adjoins the -village of Skelton. Mulwith is about a mile from Newby.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_291" id="Footnote_70_291"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_70_291">[70]</a> — See vol. v., p. 681.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_292" id="Footnote_71_292"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_71_292">[71]</a> — 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, -brought up a Roman 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 “<i>What was the Gunpowder Plot?</i>” p. 256, it is evident -that (after the Plot, most likely) Mounteagle intended to conform to the -Establishment. The Morley barony was created in 1299. — See Burke’s -“<i>Extinct Peerages</i>,” and Horace Round’s “<i>Studies in Peerage and Family -History</i>,” p. 23 (Constable, Westminster, 1901). — From Camden’s -“<i>Britannia</i>,” the Morleys evidently owned, at various times, estates in -the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, in addition to Essex, Lincolnshire, -and Lancashire. -</p> - -<p> -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 Yelverton (one of the -well-known Yelvertons, of Norfolk) is described at the end of the reign of -Elizabeth as “a Catholic, domiciled in the household of Lord Morley.” — See -Dr. Jessopp’s “<i>One Generation of a Norfolk House</i>,” being chiefly the -biography of the celebrated Jesuit, Henry Walpole, who -suffered<!--396.png--><span class="pagenum">358</span> -for his -priesthood at the York Tyburn, 7th April, 1595, in the thirty-sixth year -of his age. Rome, in 1886, declared Henry Walpole to be “a Venerable -Servant of God.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_293" id="Footnote_72_293"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_72_293">[72]</a> — See vol. i., p. 244.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_294" id="Footnote_73_294"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_73_294">[73]</a> — See vol. i., p. 244.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_295" id="Footnote_74_295"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_74_295">[74]</a> — See vol. i., p. 238.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_296" id="Footnote_75_296"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_75_296">[75]</a> — See vol. i., p. 237.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_297" id="Footnote_76_297"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_76_297">[76]</a> — Edward 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, “<i>The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland</i>,” p. 254, by John -P. Prendergast (McGlashan & Gill, Dublin, 1875). -</p> - -<p> -I have found much information about the Poyntz family in the “<i>Visitation -of Essex</i>” (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 Warde, the daughter of -Marmaduke Warde, and niece of Thomas Warde. — See “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” -vol. i. -</p> - -<p> -Winefrid Wigmore, already mentioned, was cousin, once removed, to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Wigmore, -Winefrid’s father, having married her aunt, Anne Throckmorton, a daughter -of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. Lady Catesby was another daughter. — See Note -30 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_298" id="Footnote_77_298"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_77_298">[77]</a> — As slightly supporting the contention that Lord Morley, the -father of Mounteagle, was related to, or at least connected with, the -Wards, it is to be observed that John Wright, the elder brother by the -whole blood of Ursula Ward, 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 “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 32. — Now, in Foley’s -“<i>Records</i>,” vol. i., p. 627, it is stated that Twigmore, or Twigmoor, and -Holme “were ancient possessions of the Morley family.” The -brothers<!--397.png--><span class="pagenum">359</span> -John -and Christopher Wright were evidently called after two uncles who bore -these two names respectively. — See Norcliffe’s Ed. of Flower’s -“<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>” (Harleian Soc).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_299" id="Footnote_78_299"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_78_299">[78]</a> — To-day (April, 1901) Newby-cum-Mulwith forms one township. -Givendale is a township by itself. Along with Skelton they form a separate -ecclesiastical parish. Skelton Church, in Newby Park, is one of the most -beautiful in the county, having been erected by the late Lady Mary Vyner, -of Newby Hall. The Church is dedicated under the touching title of -“Christ, the Consoler.” -</p> - -<p> -Formerly the Parish of Ripon included no less than thirty villages. At -Skelton, Aldfield, Sawley, Bishop Thornton, Monckton, and Winksley there -were Chapels. Pateley Bridge also had a Chapel, but this was -parochial. — See Gent’s “<i>Ripon</i>.” — At Sawley, I find from the Ripon -Register of Baptisms, there was a William Norton living (described as -“<i>generosus</i>”) 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. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Wheelhouse’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 “<i>Records</i>,” 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 off. 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. -</p> - -<p> -Mass also was said (before the present Roman Catholic Chapel was built at -Bishop Thornton) at Raventoftes Hall, in the Ripon Chapelry of Bishop -Thornton, once the home of the stanch old Catholic family -of<!--398.png--><span class="pagenum">360</span> -Walworth. -Then Mass was said in the top chamber, running the whole length of the -priest’s present house. Afterwards (about 1778) followed the present stone -Chapel. Clare Lady Howard, of Glossop, built the Schools at Bishop -Thornton a few years ago. -</p> - -<p> -F. Reynard, Esquire, J.P., of Hob Green, Markington and Sunderlandwick, -Driffield, now owns Raventoftes Hall, which has a splendid view towards -Sawley, How Hill, and Ripon. It is rented by a Roman Catholic, named Mr. -F. Stubbs, who is akin to the Hawkesworths, the Shanns, the Darnbroughs, -and other old Bishop Thornton and Ripon families. -</p> - -<p> -Peacock, in his “<i>List</i>,” speaks of William Norton as a grandson of -Richard Norton, but, according to Burke’s “<i>Peerage</i>,” 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 <i>his</i> son was William Norton, of Sawley, whose descendant was the -first Lord Grantley. -</p> - -<p> -Gabetis Norton, Esquire, owned Dole Bank, between Markington and Bishop -Thornton, where Miss Lascelles, Miss Butcher, and others of Mary Ward’s -followers, lived a semi-conventual life during the reign of Charles II., -previously to their taking up their abode near Micklegate Bar, York. — See -“<i>Annals of St. Mary’s Convent, York</i>,” Edited by H. J. Coleridge, S.J. -(Burns & Oates). — 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, -in the eighteenth century, from his sister, who was the wife of Colonel -Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now Stourton Castle, near Knaresbrough, the -seat of the Lord Mowbray and Stourton) and of Old Thornville, Little -Cattal, now the property of William Machin, 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 part of the nineteenth century the Darnbroughs rented Dole Bank, the -present tenant being Mr. Atkinson.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_300" id="Footnote_79_300"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_79_300">[79]</a> — I think that Thomas Warde may have been born about the -beginning 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<!--399.png--><span class="pagenum">361</span> -his birth about the year 1558. Early marriages were characteristic of the -period. Mounteagle, for example, was married before he was eighteen. The -Ripon Registers begin in fairly regular course in 1587, though there are -fragments from 1574, but not earlier. If Christopher Wright, the plotter, -lived in Bondgate, Ripon, 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 they render the poet’s -marriage with Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was little more than eighteen -and a-half years old, less startling. — See Sidney Lee’s “<i>Life of -Shakespeare</i>,” p. 18 (Smith & Elder, 1898). -</p> - -<p> -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 Vaux’s -“<i>Catechism</i>,” Edited by T. G. 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 Vaux, who was a former Warden of -the Collegiate Church at Manchester, and with “the great Allen” and men -like Vivian Haydock — see Gillow’s “<i>Haydock Papers</i>” (Burns & -Oates) — retained Lancashire in its allegiance to Rome — so that “the -jannock” Lancashire Catholics style their county, “God’s County” even unto -this day.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_301" id="Footnote_80_301"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_80_301">[80]</a> — The strong and, within due limits, admirable spirit of -“clannishness” 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.R.H. The Prince of Wales, -December, 1901), and that typical Yorkshireman, Viscount Halifax, for -President. The Earl of Crewe, Lord Grantley, Sir Albert K. Rollit, Knt., -M.P., <i>cum multis aliis</i>, are members. May it flourish <i>ad multos annos</i>!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_302" id="Footnote_81_302"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_81_302">[81]</a> — In the Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_303" id="Footnote_82_303"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_82_303">[82]</a> — The Earl of Northumberland was fined by the Star Chamber -£30,000, 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<!--400.png--><span class="pagenum">362</span> -released in 1621. He was the son of Henry Percy eighth Earl of -Northumberland, and nephew of “the Blessed” Thomas Percy seventh Earl of -Northumberland, and of Mary Slingsby, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of -Scriven, near Knaresbrough. Although the Earl of Northumberland that was -Star-Chambered was by his own declaration no papist, he was looked up to -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.” -</p> - -<p> -Lord Montague compounded for a fine of £4,000. Guy Fawkes, for a time, was -a member of this peer’s household. — See “<i>Calendar of State Papers, James -I.</i>” -</p> - -<p> -Lord Stourton compounded for £1,000. -</p> - -<p> -Lord Mordaunt’s fine was remitted after his death, which took place in -1608. Robert Keyes and his wife were members of this peer’s -household. — See “<i>Calendar of State Papers, James I.</i>” -</p> - -<p> -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 Government construed into a charge of Concealment of -Treason and Contempt in not obeying the King’s Summons to Parliament. — See -Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” pp. 159-164. -</p> - -<p> -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 V.” -</p> - -<p> -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 Ampleforth, the Gascoignes were greatly -attached to the ancient Benedictine Order, which took such remarkable root -in England through St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, and his forty -missionaries, all of whom were Benedictines. — See Taunton’s “<i>The English -Black Monks of St. Benedict</i>” (Methuen & Co.); also Dr. Gasquet’s standard -work on “<i>English Monasteries</i>” (John Hodges). -</p> - -<p> -It may be, perhaps, gratifying to the historic feeling of my readers to -learn that the influence of these old Yorkshire Roman Catholic -families,<!--401.png--><span class="pagenum">363</span> -the Gascoignes, the Inglebies, and the Plumptons, is still felt at Bentham -and in the old Benedictine Missions of Aberford, near Barnbow, and of -Knaresbrough, near picturesque Plumpton, 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. -</p> - -<p> -The stately Benedictine Abbey of St. Lawrence, Ampleforth, in the Vale of -Mowbray, will long perpetuate the memory of the Fairfaxes, of Gilling; H. -C. Fairfax-Cholmeley, Esquire, J.P., of Brandsby Hall, now represents this -ancient family.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_304" id="Footnote_83_304"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_83_304">[83]</a> — See “<i>Condition of Catholics under James I.</i>,” by the Rev. -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 Yorke at Gowthwaite Hall, after the Gunpowder Treason. Gerard -left England in 1606, and there is no evidence whatever that he had -anything to do with the Plot. I do not know, for certain, how Sir John -Yorke 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 Yorkes, 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 persecution,” is -about to be pulled down to make way for the Bradford Reservoir. 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 “<i>Nidderdale</i>,” by H. Speight, p. -468 (Elliot Stock); also in Fletcher’s “<i>Picturesque Yorkshire</i>” (Dent & -Co.), which latter work contains a picture of the place, a structure “rich -with the spoils of time,” but, alas! destined soon to be “now no more.”<!--402.png--> -</p><p><span class="pagenum">364</span></p> - -<p> -Ripley Castle, the home of the Inglebies, at the entrance to Nidderdale -(truly the Switzerland of England), still rears its ancient towers, and -still is the roof-tree of those who worthily bear an honoured historic -name for ever “to historic memory dear.” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>From Eden Vale to the Plains of York</i>,” by Edmund Bogg, contains -sketches of both Ripley Castle and Gowthwaite Hall. Lucas’s “<i>Nidderdale</i>” -(Elliot Stock) is also well worth consulting for its account of the -dialect of this part of Yorkshire which, like the West Riding generally, -retains strong Cymric traces. There are also British characteristics in -the build and personal appearance of the people, as also in their -marvellous gift of song. The Leeds Musical Festival and its Chorus, for -example, are renowned throughout the whole musical world.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_305" id="Footnote_84_305"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_84_305">[84]</a> — It is, moreover, possible that Mounteagle may have met his -connection, and probably kinsman, Thomas Warde, at White Webbs, about the -year 1602. Mounteagle, at that time, like the Earl of Southampton and the -Earl of Rutland, was not allowed to attend Elizabeth’s Court on account of -his share in the Essex tumult. He was, in fact, then mixed up with the -schemes of Father Robert Parsons’ then-expiring Spanish faction among the -English Catholics. If a certain Thomas Grey, to whom Garnet at White Webbs -showed the papal breves (which the latter burnt in 1603, on James I. being -proclaimed King by applause), were the same person as Sir Thomas Gray, he -would be, most probably, a relative of Thomas Warde. For the Wardes, of -Mulwith, certainly were related to a Sir Thomas Gray. — See “<i>Life of Mary -Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 221, where it is said that, “through the Nevilles and -Gascoignes,” the Wards were related to the families of Sir Ralph and Sir -Thomas Gray.<a name="FNanchor_A_306" id="FNanchor_A_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_306" -class="fnanchor">[A]</a><!--403.png--><span class="pagenum">365</span> -</p> - -<p> -As to father Garnet showing the breves to Thomas Grey, see Foley’s -“<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 159, where it says: — Garnet “confesseth that in -the Queen’s lifetyme he received two Breefs (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 White Webbs; whereof they seemed to be -very glad and showed it (<i>sic</i>) also unto Thomas Grey at White Webbs -before one of his journies into Scotland in the late Queen’s tyme.” -</p> - -<p> -It will be remembered that Thomas Percy, who married Martha Wright, Ursula -Warde’s sister, was one of those who waited upon James VI. 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 “<i>Annals of the -House of Percy</i>,” 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 “<i>Gunpowder Plot</i>” (Longmans), -and Gerard’s three recent works (Osgood & Co. and Harper Bros.) — Thomas -Percy seems to have shown a stupendous determination “to see the Plot -through,” a fact which I have always been very 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 with emphasis on the fact that it was “the <i>despised</i> -beauty” — “<i>spretæque</i> injuria <i>formæ</i>” — of Juno, the goddess, that spurred -her to such deathless hatred against the ill-starred house of Priam. What -a knowledge of the springs of human action does not this portray!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_306" id="Footnote_A_306"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_306">[A]</a> Were Sir Ralph and Sir Thomas Gray of the Grays (or Greys), -of Chillingham, Northumberland? It may be remarked that, about the year -1597-98, Marmaduke Ward and his wife and some of his family went to live -in Northumberland, maybe at Alnwick; and as Thomas Percy was connected -with Marmaduke Ward, it is at least possible that Marmaduke Ward went -himself into Scotland on the mission to King James VI. in the company of -his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy. -</p> - -<p> -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 Jane Howard, daughter of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey. -Lady Margaret Neville was married to Sir Nicholas Pudsey, of -Bolton-in-Bowland, Yorkshire, I think. Lady Anne Neville was married to -David Ingleby, of Ripley, a cousin of Marmaduke Ward and of Ursula Wright. -Lady Margaret Neville conformed to the Establishment, but afterwards, I -believe, the lady relapsed to popery. — See the “<i>Hutton Correspondence</i>” -(Surtees Soc.), and “<i>Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers</i>,” Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_307" id="Footnote_85_307"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_85_307">[85]</a> — Interesting 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 North 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, “North of the Sands.” — See Stockdale’s -“<i>Annales Caermoelenses</i>,” p. 410, a work, I believe, now -out<!--404.png--><span class="pagenum">366</span> -of -print. — Stockdale says that in the old Holker Hall (which seems to have -been built by George Preston, in the reign of James I.), 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-of-arms, namely: — Those of (1) King James I., -with the lion and unicorn as supporters. (2) The Preston family, younger -branch; from whom, through an heiress, the Dukes of Devonshire to-day own -the Holker estates. The younger branch of the Prestons, viz., those of -Holker, 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 Manor Furness, -were strict Roman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis -Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. The 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 “<i>Records</i>,” -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 -provided for, 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 impaling Dacre; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel -having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of -the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Lord William 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 Hinderskelfe (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 parents of Lord Mounteagle, 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; William -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 Leybourne, of -Cunswick; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord -Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law, William Stanley third Lord -Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne Leybourne, and who was the -grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, -who<!--405.png--><span class="pagenum">367</span> -married Elizabeth Tresham. (9) -Cavendish impaling Keighley; William Cavendish first Earl of Devonshire -having married Anne Keighley, daughter of Sir Henry Keighley, of Keighley, -Yorks. (10) Keighley impaling Carus; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having -married Mary Carus, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11) -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.<a name="FNanchor_A_308" id="FNanchor_A_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_308" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -</p> - -<p> -Fittingly does that great master of English, Frederic Harrison, quote -approvingly, in his charming book, “<i>Annals of an Old Manor House</i>” -(<i>i.e.</i>, 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 never found in -the books of general history.” 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 “<i>The Month</i>” some -years ago.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_308" id="Footnote_A_308"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_308">[A]</a> 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. -</p> - -<p> -The title Morley and Mounteagle is now in abeyance — see Burke’s “<i>Extinct -Peerages</i>” — since the year 1686, the reign of James II. -</p> - -<p> -The last Lord Morley and Mounteagle died without issue. The issue of two -aunts of the deceased baron were his representatives. One aunt was -Katherine, who married John Savage second Earl of Rivers, and had issue; -the other aunt was Elizabeth, who married Edward Cranfield. -</p> - -<p> -The present Earl of Morley, Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, -though a Parker, is of the Parkers of Devonshire, a different family from -the Parkers of Essex.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_309" id="Footnote_86_309"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_86_309">[86]</a> — 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 -Scotland” of the “woeful fight” of Flodden Field. At the funeral of that -gallant soldier and fine Scotsman, the late General Wauchope, of the -Regiment known as the Black Watch, the pipers played this plaintive air, -“The Flowers of the Forest.” Who does not hope that those -funereal<!--406.png--><span class="pagenum">368</span> -strains -may be prophetic that, through the power of far-sighted wisdom, human -sympathy, and the healing hand of Time, there may be a reconciliation as -real and deep and true betwixt England’s kinsman-foe of to-day and herself -as there is betwixt herself and her kinsman-foe of the year 1513 — the year -of Flodden Field! -</p> - -<p> -See also Professor Aytoun’s “Edinburgh after Flodden,” in his “<i>Lays of -the Scottish Cavaliers</i>” (Routledge & Sons); also, of course, Sir Walter -Scott’s well-known “Marmion.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_310" id="Footnote_87_310"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_87_310">[87]</a> — It should be remembered that Baines says that Nichols, in -his “<i>Progresses of James I.</i>,” describes Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, by -mistake, for the one in Lancashire. -</p> - -<p> -The sunny, balmy, health-giving watering-place of Grange-over-Sands, built -at the foot of Yewbarrow, 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 be read with interest by -those who are privileged to know that golden land of the westering sun, -the paradise of the weak of chest. -</p> - -<p> -About three miles from the Grange — so called because here was formerly a -Grange, or House, for the storing of grain by the Friars, or black Canons, -of the Augustinian Priory at Cartmel — is the square Peel Tower known as -Wraysholme Tower. In the windows of the 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 -Harringtons, which likewise became a portion of the Mounteagles’ Hornby -Castle estates. All this portion of the north of England abounded in -adherents of the ancient faith up to about the time of the Gunpowder Plot. -The Duke of Guise had planned that the Spanish Armada should disembark at -the large and commodious port of the Pile of Fouldrey, in the Parish of -Dalton-in-Furness, “North of the Sands.” This rock of the Pile of -Fouldrey, from which the port took its name, was not only near Adlingham -and Gleaston, but also near the Manor Furness, the seat of the elder -branch of the Prestons, from whom Mounteagle, on his mother’s side, was -descended.<a name="FNanchor_A_311" id="FNanchor_A_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_311" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p></div> - -<!--407.png--><p><span class="pagenum">369</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_311" id="Footnote_A_311"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_311">[A]</a> William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle’s great-great-uncle, -James Leybourne (or Labourn), of Cunswick and Skelsmergh, in the County of -Westmoreland, was hanged, drawn, and quartered by Queen Elizabeth, in the -year 1583. — See “<i>The Acts of the English Martyrs</i>,” by the Rev. J. H. -Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates). — James Leybourne is not reckoned “a Catholic -martyr” by Challoner, because he denied that Elizabeth was “his lawful -Queen.” There has been a doubt as to where this gentleman suffered “a -traitor’s death.” Baines says that he was executed at Lancaster, that his -head was exposed on Manchester Church steeple, and that prior to his -execution Leybourne was imprisoned in the New Fleet, Manchester. This is -probably a correct statement of the case. Burke, however, in his “<i>Tudor -Portraits</i>” (Hodges, London), says that Leybourne was executed at Preston. -Though a minute point, it would be interesting to know what the truth of -the matter is. -</p> - -<p> -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 representative of this ancient Westmoreland family died -on the 9th December, 1737, aged sixty-nine years, evidently reconciled to -the faith of his ancestors.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_312" id="Footnote_88_312"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_88_312">[88]</a> — 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 1521, -but left no male heir. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Francis Neville, -of Thornton Bridge, in the Parish of Brafferton, near Boroughbridge; his -second daughter, Johanna, married Edward Musgrave, of Westmoreland; and -his third daughter, Margaret, married John Lawrence, of Barley Court -(probably near St. Dennis’ Church), York. A grand-daughter married a -Francis Neville, of Holt, in Leicestershire. — But see the “<i>Plumpton -Correspondence</i>” (Camden Soc.). -</p> - -<p> -I find that, along with Thomas Hallat, one Edmund Ward was Wakeman (or -Mayor) of Ripon, 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 “<i>Guiseley</i>,” Yorks. (Hamilton Adams), and the “<i>Life of Mary -Ward</i>,” 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. -</p> - -<p> -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 Ripon -Registers, under date the 16th December, 1594, of the burial of “Susannay -wife of Marmaduke Wayrde of Newby.” (At least, so I read the entry.) When -this Marmaduke died I 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 “<i>Memorials of Ripon</i>” (Surtees Soc.) occur -the names -of<!--408.png--><span class="pagenum">370</span> -Edmund Ward and Ralph Ward, both as paying dues for lands in -Skelton (p. 333). Also the “Fabric Roll for 1542” (in the same work) has -the name Marmaduke Ward. This would be the husband of Susannay, who died -in 1594, probably. So that, most likely, Marmaduke and Susannay Ward were -the parents of Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, if the latter were -brothers, as it is practically certain they were. -</p> - -<p> -I am inclined, on the whole, to think that Edmund 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 “<i>Plumpton Correspondence</i>,” pp. 185, 186 (Camden Soc.); but -it sheds no light on this question of the parentage of any of the Wards. -From Slater’s “<i>History of Guiseley</i>” it is evident that a branch of the -Wards settled at Scotton, near Knaresbrough. -</p> - -<p> -Miss Pullein, of Rotherfield Manor, Sussex, a relative of the Pulleins, of -Scotton, tells me that in the “Subsidy Roll for 1379” the names -occur: — “Johannes Warde et ux ej. ijs. Tho. Warde et ux ej. vjd Johannes -fil. Thomae Warde iiij d.” So that the names John and Thomas were -evidently hereditary in the various branches of the Wardes, of Givendale -and Esholt. (18th April, 1901.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_313" id="Footnote_89_313"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_89_313">[89]</a> — From the “<i>Authorised Discourse</i>,” or “<i>King’s Book</i>,” we -learn that the King returned from Royston on Thursday, the 31st day of -October; that on Friday, All Hallows Day, Salisbury showed James the -Letter in the “gallerie” of the palace at Whitehall. On the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November, Salisbury and the Earl of Suffolk, 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 Suffolk and -Mounteagle, when they saw Fawkes, who styled himself “John Johnson,” -servant to Thomas Percy, who had hired the house adjoining the Parliament -House and the aforesaid cellar also. -</p> - -<p> -Now, Mounteagle, almost certainly, must have known that there would be -this second conference with the King, on this Saturday, and from what -Mounteagle (<i>ex hypothesi</i>) 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 opinion is -that Mounteagle <i>saw</i> and <i>spoke</i> to Tresham <i>between</i> the conference of -the King, Suffolk, and Salisbury (Mounteagle being made acquainted with, -by either Suffolk or Salisbury, if he -were<!--409.png--><span class="pagenum">371</span> -not actually an auditor of, all -that had passed), <i>and</i> the meeting with Winter in Lincoln’s Inn Walks, on -the night of that same Saturday, November the 2nd.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_314" id="Footnote_90_314"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_90_314">[90]</a> — See “<i>Winter’s Confession</i>,” Gardiner, pp. 67 and 68. -</p> - -<p> -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 -which? Possibly it may have been at this meeting that Christopher Wright -recommended the conspirators to take flight in different directions. It is -observable that, so far as I am aware, Christopher Wright and John Wright -do not appear to have expressed a wish that any particular nobleman should -be warned, except Arundel. Whereas Fawkes wished Montague; Percy, -Northumberland; 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 I. in 1644. -</p> - -<p> -(Since writing the above, I have ascertained that there is no report in -any of Guy Fawkes’ Confessions of this statement of Christopher Wright, -nor in his written “Confessions” does Fawkes refer to his own mother.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_315" id="Footnote_91_315"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_91_315">[91]</a> — “<i>Labile tempus</i>” — 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-Fylde, and -Rufford. Edmund Neville, one of the suitors of Mary Ward, was brought up -with the Heskeths, of Rufford. In 1581 the Mains Hall branch of the -Heskeths harboured Campion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_316" id="Footnote_92_316"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_92_316">[92]</a> — 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 “<i>Gunpowder Plot</i>,” p. 31. — Probably the entrance to the mine -was sealed up. No useful purpose would be served by either Mounteagle or -Ward telling the Government about the mine, which then was an “extinct -volcano.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_317" id="Footnote_93_317"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_93_317">[93]</a> — The exact words of Lingard are these: — “Winter sought a -second interview with Tresham at his house in Lincoln’s Inn Walks, -and<!--410.png--><span class="pagenum">372</span> -returned to Catesby with the following answer: That the existence of the -mine had been communicated to the Ministers. This Tresham said he knew: -but by whom the discovery had been made he knew not.” -</p> - -<p> -Lingard does not give his authority, but probably he got the material for -this important passage from “<i>Greenway’s</i> (<i>vere</i> Tesimond’s) <i>MS.</i>” It is -an historical desideratum that this MS. should be published. Mounteagle, -conceivably, may have falsely told Tresham that the Government 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, whatever may have been their precise nature. -Mounteagle possibly said something about “the mine,” and that the -Parliament Houses would be with minuteness searched far and near. This -would be quite sufficient to inflame the already heated imagination of -Tresham, and he would readily enough leap forth to the conclusion that the -“mine” must be for certain known to the Government. -</p> - -<p> -One can almost feel the heart-beats of the distraught Tresham as one reads -the relation of his second interview with Winter. Then from the pulsations -of <i>one</i> human heart, O, Earth’s governors and ye governed, learn <i>all</i>. -For the study of true History is big with mighty lessons and “he that hath -ears let him hear.” Let him hear that Truth and Right, although each is, -in its essential nature, a simple unity, and <i>therefore</i> imperially -exclusive in its claims, and <i>therefore</i> 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 his heart and will. And <i>these</i> two faculties are -likewise of divine original and have severally a voice which perpetually -bids man, poor wounded man, “be pitiful, be courteous” to his fellows. For -human life at best is “hard,” is “brief,” and “piercing are its sorrows.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_318" id="Footnote_94_318"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_94_318">[94]</a> — The meeting between Catesby, Winter, and Tresham, at -Barnet, on the road to White Webbs, was on Friday, the 1st of November, -the day the Letter was shown to the King.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_319" id="Footnote_95_319"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_95_319">[95]</a> — Or, Mounteagle may have thought that, as it would be -meritorious in Percy supposing he 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 -Percy were involved in the meshes of the law for the part that, I hold, -Mounteagle <i>by</i> Christopher Wright <i>through</i> Thomas Warde then <i>knew</i> for -a fact, Percy, and indeed all his confederates, had taken in the nefarious -enterprise. Such -a<!--411.png--><span class="pagenum">373</span> -train of thought may have flashed through 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 Warde’s and his own connections: for Percy, as well as the Wrights, -would be a connection of Mounteagle, through the Stanleys, Percies, -Gascoignes, Nortons, Nevilles, and Wardes, who were all more or less -allied by marriages entered into within the last few generations. Percy -would be about Thomas Warde’s own age (forty-six). -</p> - -<p> -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 Warde 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 -wisdom that Warde would carry with him up to the great metropolis from his -“native heather” of Yorkshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_320" id="Footnote_96_320"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_96_320">[96]</a> — Ben Jonson was “reconciled” to the Church of Rome either in -1593 or 1594. After, and probably on account of, the Plot he left the -Church, whose “exacting claims” he had “on trust” accepted. Possibly it -was under the influence of Jonson’s example that Mounteagle wrote the -letter to the King, given in the Rev. John Gerard’s “<i>What was the -Gunpowder Plot?</i>” p. 256. Mounteagle, however, died in the Church of Rome, -and the Article in the “<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>” says that he -had a daughter a nun. Belike, she was a member of the Institute of “The -English Virgins,” for the name “Parker” is mentioned in Chambers’ “<i>Life -of Mary Ward</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_A_321" id="FNanchor_A_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_321" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> There has been recently (1900) published a smaller -“<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), with a Preface -by Bishop Hedley, 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 & Oates), with a Preface by the late Henry James Coleridge, -S.J. (brother to the late Lord Coleridge). May I -express<!--412.png--><span class="pagenum">374</span> -the hope that -these two learned authoresses will cause the Ward Papers, at Nymphenburg, -near Munich, in Germany (that are extant), to be carefully examined afresh -to see if they contain anything about Thomas Warde, Mary’s uncle, and -anything further about her connection, through the 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 the -truest eloquence — the eloquence of Fact — it teaches mankind for all time.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_321" id="Footnote_A_321"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_321">[A]</a> Whilst it is possible that the “Parker” mentioned in the -“<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>” was one of Lord Mounteagle’s daughters, I find, from -a statement in Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” 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 -“<i>Records</i>,” 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_322" id="Footnote_97_322"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_97_322">[97]</a> — Born Lord Thomas Howard, brother to Lord William Howard, of -Naworth, near Carlisle. — For an interesting account of the Tudor Howards, -see Burke’s “<i>Tudor Portraits</i>” (Hodges); also Lodge’s “<i>Portraits</i>,” and -“<i>Memorials of the House of Howard</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_323" id="Footnote_98_323"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_98_323">[98]</a> — 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 -“<i>King’s Book</i>” 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 what a perfect tutoring Mounteagle had received -from his mentor to qualify him to play so well his part in life at this -supreme juncture. Thomas Ward was evidently a consummate diplomatist. If -he had been trained under Walsingham he would certainly “know a thing or -two.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_324" id="Footnote_99_324"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_99_324">[99]</a> — 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,<!--413.png--><span class="pagenum">375</span> -duly noted by -the small and timid, yet sharp, mind of James. But 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 -“<i>King’s Book</i>,” for the most part, is drawn up. A re-publication of the -“<i>King’s Book</i>,” and of “<i>The Fawkeses, of York</i>,” by R. Davies, sometime -Town Clerk of York (Nichols, 1850), are desiderata to the historical -student of the Gunpowder Plot. -</p> - -<p> -I readily allow that it is difficult to believe that neither Salisbury, -nor Suffolk, nor anybody (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 -outhouse adjoining the Parliament House. Still, even if they did know -(whether statesmen or housewife) of the <i>Gunpowder</i>, it does not follow, -either in fact or in logic, that they knew of the <i>Gunpowder Plot</i>. 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 “<i>Winwood’s Memorials</i>,” -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. (<i>The barrels, empty or nearly so, would be carried in -first.</i>) -</p> - -<p> -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 -Westminster. — See Nichols’ “<i>Progresses of James I.</i>,” vol. i., p. -582. — Escrick is now the seat of the Lord Wenlock.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_325" id="Footnote_100_325"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_100_325">[100]</a> — “<i>Hatfield MS.</i>,” 110, 30. Quoted in “the Rev. J. H. -Pollen’s S.J., thoughtful and learned booklet, entitled “<i>Father Garnet -and the Gunpowder Plot</i>” (Catholic Truth Society’s publication, London).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_326" id="Footnote_101_326"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_101_326">[101]</a> — See Jardine’s Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., -Feb., 1841, in “<i>Archæologia</i>,” vol. xxix., p. 100. This letter should be -carefully read by every serious student of the Plot.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_327" id="Footnote_102_327"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_102_327">[102]</a> — Sir William Stanley, of Hooton (in that strip of Cheshire -between the Mersey and the Dee), was not seen by Fawkes between Easter and -the end of August, 1605, when Fawkes went over to Flanders for the last -time in his career so adventurous and so pathetic. -Sir<!--414.png--><span class="pagenum">376</span> -William knew -nothing of the Gunpowder Plot. It was said that he surrendered Deventer in -pursuance of the counsel of Captain Roland Yorke, 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 business, and one -would like the whole question to be thoroughly and severely searched into -again. As to Roland Yorke, see Camden’s “<i>Queen Elizabeth</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -Captain Roland Yorke, like his patron Sir William Stanley, was an able -soldier. He 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 “<i>Earl of Leicester’s Correspondence</i>” (Camden -Soc.). — Sidney’s widow (the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham) afterwards -married Robert second Earl of Essex. She became a Roman Catholic, like her -kinsman, the gifted and engaging Father Walsingham, S.J. Frances -Walsingham, the only child of Sir Francis Walsingham, became a Catholic, I -think, through her third marriage with Richard De Burgh fourth Earl of -Clanricarde, afterwards Earl of St. Albans. He was also known as Richard -of Kinsale and Lord Dunkellin. He was an intimate friend of the Earl of -Essex and of Father Gerard, S.J., the friend of Mary Ward. -</p> - -<p> -It would be interesting if Major Hume, or some other authority on the -reign of Queen Elizabeth, could ascertain whether or not there was a -<i>Thomas Warde</i> 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. Warde” mentioned by Walsingham, in -his letter to the Earl of Leicester, must have been this Thomas Warde, and -one and the same man with Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith). It is to -be remembered, too, that the Gunpowder conspirator, Thomas Winter, had -served in the Queen’s forces against the Spanish King for a time. The -names Rowland Yorke, Thomas Vavasour, Sir Thomas Heneage, and Thomas -Winter are very suggestive of the circle in which a Warde, of Mulwith, -Newby, and Givendale, would move. Besides, there was a family connection -between the Parkers, Poyntzes, and Heneages. — See “<i>Visitation of Essex, -1612</i>” (Harleian Soc.), under “Poyntz.” -</p> - -<p> -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. “<i>Greenway’s MS.</i>,” according to -Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 92, also says that Thomas Ward was an intimate -friend of several of the conspirators, and <i>suspected</i> -to<!--415.png--><span class="pagenum">377</span> -have been an -accomplice in the treason. That would imply that Ward was suspected to -have had at least a <i>knowledge</i> of the treason.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_328" id="Footnote_103_328"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_103_328">[103]</a> — Mary Ward, the daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula -Wright, lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Ursula Wright (<i>née</i> Rudston, of -Hayton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire), between the years 1589-94 at -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Holderness, Yorkshire; and between the years -1597-1600 at Harewell Hall, in the township of Dacre, Nidderdale, with her -kinswoman, Mrs. Katerine Ardington (<i>née</i> Ingleby). Mrs. Ardington, as -well as Mrs. Ursula Wright, had suffered imprisonment for her profession -of the ancient faith. We 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 much 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’ “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 13. -</p> - -<p> -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 Rivers Wharfe and Ouse known as the Ainsty of the -City of York. This dungeon was, according to Gent’s “<i>History of York</i>,” -under the York City Council Chamber on Old Ouse Bridge, to the westward of -St. William’s Chapel. — See also J. B. Milburn’s “<i>A Martyr of Old York</i>” -(Burns & Oates). — The Old Ouse Bridge was pulled down in 1810. — See -Allen’s “<i>History of Yorkshire</i>” — After the Kidcote was demolished, the -York 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 William 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 “<i>Troubles</i>” were sometimes consigned. -This was the Bishop’s prison, commonly called Peter Prison. The writer is -told by Mr. William 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 -City<!--416.png--><span class="pagenum">378</span> -lock-up prison about the year 1836, soon after which year it was -pulled down. The late Mr. Richard Haughton, 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. -</p> - -<p> -Again, we are told — “<i>Life of Mary Ward</i>,” vol. i., p. 17 — that one day -Mary came to her grandmother, “who was singing some hymns,” and the child -asked the old lady whether she would not send “something again to the -prisoners,” a question, we are told, which “pleased” Mrs. Wright “very -much.” -</p> - -<p> -Lastly, the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and the niece of Thomas -Ward, bears this striking testimony concerning one aspect of her aged -relative’s gracious life, that “so great a prayer was she” that during the -whole five years that the child lived with her grandmother, the most of -which time she lodged in the same chamber, she “did not remember in that -whole five years she ever saw her grandmother sleep, nor did she ever -awake when she perceived her not at prayer” (p. 15).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_329" id="Footnote_104_329"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_104_329">[104]</a> — Maybe Christopher Wright, from his earliest school-days, -had with reverence looked up to Edward Oldcorne, for the latter was the -senior of the former by no less than ten years, so that when Oldcorne was -a clever youth of fifteen years Christopher would be a little fellow of -five, “with his satchel and shining morning-face,” though we may be -permitted to hope that little Kit Wright did not “creep like snail -unwillingly to school.” For it was at a school second to none in England -that the future ill-fated Yorkshireman learned to con his “<i>hic, hæc, -hoc</i>.” It was a school originally founded by Egbert, Archbishop of York, -in the eighth century, and which, as the Cathedral Grammar School, had -been rendered famous by Alcuin himself, the tutor of Charlemagne. It was a -school re-founded and re-endowed in the Horse Fayre, now Union Terrace, on -the left-hand side going down Gillygate, outside Bootham Bar, by King -Philip and Queen Mary, especially for the training of priests for the -northern parts. — See in Leach’s “<i>Endowed Schools of Yorkshire</i>” for an -account concerning St. Peter’s School, Clifton, York, but no register of -scholars of this ancient seat of learning now exists prior to the year -1828. (Title deeds and writings lent by Mrs. Martha Lancaster, of York, -have enabled me to identify the site of the old school.) -</p> - -<p> -It is, I take it, furthermore possible that Edward Oldcorne may have -taught Christopher Wright; and if the relation of pedagogue and scholar -ever subsisted between them, a bond of mutual regard would be created -which the lapse of long years would not weaken. For an account of -the<!--417.png--><span class="pagenum">379</span> -kind -of education given in a Grammar School in “the spacious days of Good Queen -Bess,” see Dr. Elzé’s “<i>Life of Shakespeare</i>” (Bell & Sons), also H. W. -Mabie’s very recent and able American “<i>Life of Shakespeare</i>” -(Macmillan).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_330" id="Footnote_105_330"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_105_330">[105]</a> — “<i>Surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam ei: Pater, -peccavi in cælum et coram te!</i>” “I will arise.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_331" id="Footnote_106_331"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_106_331">[106]</a> — Possibly the Earl of Northumberland. He was (it will be -remembered) the son of Henry the eighth Earl, and nephew to “the Blessed” -Thomas Percy the seventh Earl, and likewise nephew to Mary Slingsby, of -Scriven, Knaresbrough. Sir Kenelin Digby, the eldest son of Sir Everard -Digby, married the beautiful Venetia Stanley, who was descended from “the -Blessed” Thomas Percy. The helmet and gauntlets of this nobleman were kept -at the handsome old Church of St. Crux, in The Pavement, York, which was -pulled down a few years ago. Thomas Longueville, Esquire, of Llanforda -Hall, Oswestry, Salop, through the Lady Venetia Digby, is descended from -“the Blessed” Thomas Percy, as are several other families, including the -Peacocks, of Bottesford Manor, Lincolnshire, I believe. Mr. Longueville is -the learned author of the “<i>Lives</i>” of his ancestors, Sir Everard and Sir -Kenelm Digby.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_332" id="Footnote_107_332"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_107_332">[107]</a> — We know that on the 5th day of October, two days after the -prorogation of Parliament, Christopher Wright quitted his lodging, in Spur -Alley, where he had been for eighteen days prior to the 5th October. — See -“Evidence of Dorathie Robinson,” p. 128 <i>ante</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_333" id="Footnote_108_333"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_108_333">[108]</a> — John Wright was acknowledged to be one of the most expert -swordsmen of his time. He was commonly known as “Jack Wright,” and his -brother as “Kit Wright.” Father Garnet says, in a voluntary statement that -he made in the Tower — Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 157 — “‘These are -not God’s knights, but the devil’s knights.’ And related how Jack Wright -had sent a challenge by Thomas Winter to a gentleman.” The duel, however, -did not come off, though Winter measured swords. Winter appears to have -fulfilled the happy office of peace-maker on the occasion. (What “strange -mixtures” these English and Yorkshire papist gentlemen were, to be sure!)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_334" id="Footnote_109_334"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_109_334">[109]</a> — See Article in “<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>” on -“John Wright” (citing Camden in “<i>Birch Original Letters</i>”) second series, -vol. iii., p. 179.</p></div> - -<!--418.png--><p><span class="pagenum">380</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_335" id="Footnote_110_335"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_110_335">[110]</a> — Afterwards the great Viscount Verulam, commonly known as -Lord Bacon. Bacon’s particular friend and familiar was Sir Toby Matthews, -the eldest son of Dr. Tobias Matthews, in 1606 created Archbishop of York. -Sir Toby translated Bacon’s “<i>Essays</i>” into Italian. — See Spedding’s -“<i>Life of Bacon</i>,” and Alban Butler’s “<i>Life of Matthews</i>.” — Sir Toby -Matthews (in the February of 1605-6, just after the Plot) was converted to -popery by Father Robert Parsons, who was then at the English College, -Rome; and Matthews’ was, without doubt, the most remarkable and -interesting of all the conversions effected by that strong-minded and most -able Jesuit. Parsons’ intellect was one of marvellous range, reach, -versatility, and power. He was a spiritual or mystical man in his way, -too; but his spirituality or mysticism not seldom failed to control his -action in daily life. It was shut up, as it were, in a watertight -compartment. This (<i>me judice</i>) sums up, approximately, the truth about -Parsons. Of all the men in Europe, Parsons was the man Burleigh, -Walsingham, and Salisbury most feared. He died in 1610. A really impartial -Life of Parsons, if possible, by a learned lawyer and politician, is a -desideratum. In some of his political ideas this Jesuit was a progressive -born prematurely — “a man before his time.” For he believed thoroughly in -the sovereignty of the People, and in the desirableness of universal -education. In this latter respect he resembled “that good lady, Mary -Ward,” the daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and niece of Thomas Ward (<i>ex -hypothesi</i>). Campion, the Jesuit, who died a martyr in 1581, was much the -more amiable and attractive character. But Campion was no politician. -Oldcorne, I maintain, was the greatest of all the three, because of his -extraordinary mental equipoise and balance. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773</i>,” by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), in some sort -supplies a Life of Robert Parsons. But evidently the Jesuit Society is an -enigma to Father Taunton, as to so many papists. A man must be a jurist -and a statesman to understand the Jesuits. For their aim (<i>me judice</i>), -their noble aim, ever has been to make the “Kingdoms of the world the -Kingdoms of God and of His Christ.” -</p> - -<p> -If a delusion, surely a delusion merely, not a crime, the most puissant -spirit among us must allow. -</p> - -<p> -James Robert Hope-Scott, Q.C., thought that the Jesuits were the backbone -of the Church of his adoption. And Dr. Christopher Wordsworth (no mean -judge) thought that Hope-Scott might have become a more popular Prime -Minister than even W. E. Gladstone, had he chosen a political career. -Wordsworth was Hope-Scott’s tutor at -Oxford. — See<!--419.png--><span class="pagenum">381</span> -Dr. Christopher -Wordsworth’s “<i>Autobiography</i>.” — He was Bishop of St. Andrews, N.B., and -as a classical scholar almost without a peer.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_336" id="Footnote_111_336"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_111_336">[111]</a> — See Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” vol. ii., p. 166.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_337" id="Footnote_112_337"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_112_337">[112]</a> — “<i>Narrative</i>” p. 57. As appears from the Lives of Mary -Ward, Father Gerard had known Mary Ward when a child in Yorkshire. Hence -he probably knew her uncles, John and Christopher Wright, and also Thomas -Percy. -</p> - -<p> -Mary Ward was one of the greatest women-educationists and, in a sense, -women’s rights advocates England has ever seen. She ought to figure in the -Supplement to the “<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>.” The following -word-portrait of Mary Warde we owe to the skilful hand of her kinswoman, -the gifted Winefrid Wigmore, a cousin once removed to Lady Mounteagle. It -is as Mary Ward, that wonderful Yorkshire-woman, appeared in the year -which witnessed the death of Shakespeare (1616). Perhaps the poet knew -her; if so, no wonder he knew how to describe queenly souls. “She was -rather tall (was Mary), but her figure was symmetrical. Her complexion was -delicately beautiful, her countenance and aspect most agreeable, mingled -with I know not what which was attractive.... Her presence and -conversation were most winning, her manners courteous. It was a general -saying ‘She became whatsoever she wore or did.’ Her voice in speaking was -very grateful, and in song melodious. In her demeanour and carriage, an -angelic modesty was united to a refined ease and dignity of manner, that -made even princes<a name="FNanchor_A_338" id="FNanchor_A_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_338" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> find great satisfaction, yea, profit, in conversing -with her. Yet, these were withal without the least affectation, and were -accompanied with such meekness and humility as gave confidence to the -poorest and most miserable. There was nothing she did seem to have more -horror of than there should be anything in herself or hers that might put -a bar to the free access of any who should be in need of ought in their -power to bestow.” -</p> - -<p> -No wonder that — with a brother to the right of him like Marmaduke Ward, -and with a niece to the left o£ him like Mary Ward, “that great soul,” who -in after years, “in a plenitude of vision planned high deeds -as<!--420.png--><span class="pagenum">382</span> -immortal -as the sun”<a name="FNanchor_B_339" id="FNanchor_B_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_339" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> — Thomas Warde, the husband for eleven brief years (lacking -nine days) of Margery Warde (born Slater), was instrumental, under Heaven, -in giving effect to the all but too late repentance of the penitent, -Christopher Wright!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_338" id="Footnote_A_338"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_338">[A]</a> Mary Ward was the friend or acquaintance of some of the -greatest men and women in Europe. She was a friend of Queen Henrietta -Maria, the wife of Charles I. and daughter of Henry Bourbon, better known -as “King Harry of Navarre.” — See Macaulay’s poem, “<i>Ivry</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_339" id="Footnote_B_339"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_339">[B]</a> Line borrowed from Lord Bowen. — See his magnificent poem, -entitled, “Shadowland,” p. 214 of his “<i>Life</i>,” by Sir Henry Stewart -Cunningham, K.C.I.E. (Murray).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_340" id="Footnote_113_340"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_113_340">[113]</a> — The second Edition is dated 1681. The Pamphlet was by a -Dr. Williams, afterwards Bishop of Chichester. — See “<i>National Dictionary -of Biography</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_341" id="Footnote_114_341"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_114_341">[114]</a> — The report would be at least second-hand, and it might be -much more. For example, if Mr. Abington saw his wife write the Letter and -told the worthy person what he (Abington) had by the evidence of his own -eyes ascertained, then the worthy person would have the evidence at -first-hand. Any person to whom the worthy person conveyed the intelligence -would have it at second-hand, and so on. But if Mr. Abington had not seen -his wife write the Letter, but had only been told by his wife that she had -writ the Letter, then, although Abington would be a witness at first-hand -<i>as to the bare fact of such a report having been made</i>, he would be only -a witness at second-hand <i>as to the truth of the report</i>; for Mrs. -Abington, in herself reporting, might have spoken falsely either wilfully -or through mental defect.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_342" id="Footnote_115_342"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_115_342">[115]</a> — Vol. i., p. 585.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_343" id="Footnote_116_343"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_116_343">[116]</a> — Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>,” p. 83.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_344" id="Footnote_117_344"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_117_344">[117]</a> — Jardine’s “<i>Narrative</i>” p. 84.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_345" id="Footnote_118_345"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_118_345">[118]</a> — William Abington’s chief poem was “Castara,” sung in -praise of his wife, the Honourable Lucia Powys. In the recent “<i>Oxford -Book of English Verse</i>,” selected by Quiller-Couch (Clarendon Press), -there is a fine philosophic poem of the younger Abington (or Habington), -entitled “<i>Nox nocti indicat scientiam</i>.” John Amphlett, Esq., has edited -the elder Abington’s (or Habington’s) “<i>Survey of Worcestershire</i>,” with a -valuable introduction, for the Worcestershire Historical Society.</p></div> - -<!--421.png--><p><span class="pagenum">383</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_346" id="Footnote_119_346"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_119_346">[119]</a> — It is, moreover, possible that, through her brother’s good -offices with the Government, Mrs. Abington had a sight of the Letter -itself. If so, she would have been almost sure to detect the general -similarity of the handwriting, notwithstanding the disguise, with the -handwriting of Father Oldcorne, handwriting she must have known familiarly -enough, to say nothing of the particular similarity in the case of certain -of the letters. -</p> - -<p> -As showing that, when at Hindlip, Father Oldcorne came into Mrs. -Abington’s company, the following quotation may be given from one of -Father Oldcorne’s Declarations, dated 6th March, 1605-6: — “Both Garnett -and he when there were no straungers did ordinarilye dyne and supp with -Mr. Abington and his wyfe in the dyninge chamber.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_347" id="Footnote_120_347"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_120_347">[120]</a> — Some idea of the feeling that Mrs. Abington and her -husband must have had for this able and upright Jesuit, a true Jesuit in -whom there was no guile, may be gathered from the following, which is -taken from Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 213: — “Father Edward -Oldcorne, S.J., came to Hindlip in the month of February or March, 1589, -Mr. Richard Abington keeping house there at the time, who by the advice of -other Catholics, then sojourning with him, sent into Warwickshire for the -said Father to talk with Mrs. Dorothy Abington, his sister, about her -religion, who, at the time living in the house with her brother Richard, -was a very obstinate and perverse heretic, and had left the Court of -Elizabeth, where she was brought up, to come and live with her brother -principally.” We are told that Miss Abington desired to have speech on the -subject of religion with some more than ordinarily learned Catholic. -“Father Oldcorne being sent for to that end, and after some earnest -discourses with her for the space of two days, and having yielded her full -satisfaction in all points of religion, and showed such gravity, zeal, -learning, and prudence in his proceeding with her that she was astonished -thereat, and was unable to make any reply of contradiction to what he -propounded to her.” — From a MS. at Stonyhurst, Anglia, vol. vi., -attributed to Father Thomas Lister, S.J. -</p> - -<p> -Another manuscript account of Father Oldcorne says that he fasted and -prayed for three days for the sake of this lady’s conversion to the -Catholic faith; after the third day he fell down from exhaustion, and yet -a fourth day’s fasting followed. Then the lady was converted and “became a -sharer and participant in the incredible fruit which he reaped in that -county,” <i>i.e.</i>, Worcestershire. — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. -213. -</p> - -<p> -Father Gerard, in his “<i>Narrative</i>” of the Plot, says that -the<!--422.png--><span class="pagenum">384</span> -Government -accused Father Oldcorne “of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should -seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their act.” The -Government had this report from a certain Humphrey Littleton, concerning -whom we shall learn more hereafter. -</p> - -<p> -Richard, Thomas, and Dorothy Abington were brothers and sister -respectively to Edward Abington, who suffered, in 1587, as one of the -fellow-conspirators of Anthony Babington, a distinguished and captivating -gentleman from Dethick, a chapelry or hamlet in the Parish of Ashover, in -the County of Derbyshire. In the Parish Church of Ashover may be still -seen monuments to members of the Babington family. (Communicated to me by -my partner, Mr. G. Laycock Brown, Solicitor, of York.) -</p> - -<p> -The history of the romantic but ill-fated Babington conspiracy requires to -be impartially re-written, and to this end diligent search should be made -to find, if possible, the alleged contemporary history of that curious, -ill-starred movement, which is said to have been written by the gifted -Jesuit martyr, “the Venerable” Robert Southwell, S.J., the author of that -exquisitely imaginative and tender poem, “The Burning Babe,” an -Elizabethan gem of the highest genius. — See the “<i>Oxford Book of English -Verse</i>;” also Dr. Grossart’s Edition of Southwell’s Poetical Works, and -Turnbull’s Edition likewise. — A good Life of Southwell is a desideratum.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_348" id="Footnote_121_348"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_121_348">[121]</a> — It is obviously unnecessary either in the former part or -in the latter part of this Inquiry to assign separate logical divisions -for the case of Thomas Ward. His evidence is common to both, and will -appear in due course of this investigation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_349" id="Footnote_122_349"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_122_349">[122]</a> — Thomas Winter lodged apparently at an inn known by the -sign of the “Duck and Drake,” in St. Clement’s Parish, in the Strand. This -fact is proved by the testimony of John Cradock, a cutler, who deposed on -the 6th of November, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, that he had -engraved the story of the Passion of Christ on two sword hilts for Mr. -Rookwood and Mr. Winter, and on a third sword hilt for another gentleman, -“a black man,” of that company, of about forty years of age. The Winter -here referred to, no doubt, was Thomas, not Robert, the elder brother. -</p> - -<p> -For Cradock’s evidence <i>in extenso</i>, see Appendix; also for evidence of -Richard Browne, servant to Christopher Wright; also for letter of Popham, -the Chief Justice to Salisbury, as to Christopher Wright; -also<!--423.png--><span class="pagenum">385</span> -for -evidence of William Grantham as to purchase by Christopher Wright of -beaver hats at the shop of a hatter, named Hewett.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_350" id="Footnote_123_350"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_123_350">[123]</a> — This emphatic “surely all is lost,” of Christopher Wright, -is worthy of notice, as indicating the certitude of his frame of mind. -Now, “certitude” is the offspring of knowledge, and therefore of belief, -and when it is not the life is the death of Hope, an emotion Wright had -then clearly abandoned. Hence we may justly infer a special consciousness -on Christopher Wright’s part as to the genesis of the fact that the game -was indeed up, thanks to the infatuated behaviour of his brother-in-law, -Thomas Percy: “up” to all and singular the plotters’ fatal undoing; yet, -after all, traceable back indirectly to Christopher Wright’s own repentant -act and deed! Truly the repentant wrong-doer suffers temporal punishment -by the everlasting Law of Retribution, which lives for ever!</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_351" id="Footnote_124_351"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_124_351">[124]</a> — Was this said by Christopher Wright on Sunday, the 3rd of -November, at the meeting behind St. Clement’s? There is none such -statement recorded by Fawkes in any of his Declarations or Confessions in -the Record Office, London.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_352" id="Footnote_125_352"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_125_352">[125]</a> — See H. Speight’s “<i>Nidderdale</i>” (Elliot Stock), p. 344. -The title of this interesting work is “<i>Nidderdale and the Garden of the -Nidd; A Yorkshire Rhineland</i>”: being a complete account, historical, -scientific, and descriptive, of the beautiful Valley of the Nidd. — See -also “<i>Connoisseur</i>” for November, 1901.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_353" id="Footnote_126_353"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_126_353">[126]</a> — Christopher Wright must have known well the great family -of Hildyard, of Winestead, near Patrington. General Sir H. J. T. Hildyard, -K.C.B., is a scion of this ancient house. The Hildyards are mentioned in -the “<i>Hatfield MSS.</i>”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_354" id="Footnote_127_354"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_127_354">[127]</a> — This good woman’s evidence proves that on the 5th of -October Wright left her lodgings. Now, my suggestion is that Christopher -Wright, after quitting Spurr Alley, went down into Warwickshire, probably -to Lapworth. That thence he repaired to Hindlip Hall, four miles from -Worcester, to have his interview with Father Oldcorne. Rookwood went to -Clopton, close to Stratford-on-Avon, and not far from both Lapworth and -Hindlip, soon after Michaelmas, <i>i.e.</i>, the 11th of October (old style). -That about Michaelmas the diplomatic -Thomas<!--424.png--><span class="pagenum">386</span> -Warde came into Warwickshire -and Worcestershire to interview Father Oldcorne, and give full assurance -to the Jesuit that he, Warde, as diplomatic go-between, would vouch for -the conveyance of the Letter, on receipt of the same, to the Government -authorities. That the shrewd, diplomatic Warde, all eyes and ears, from -what he was ear-witness and eye-witness of at Lapworth, sent post-haste -for his brother, Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie. Most probably William Ward, -Marmaduke Ward’s son, was at this time on a visit to his uncle Thomas in -London. — See Kyddall’s evidence as to “William Ward, nephew to Mr. -Wright.” — The boy was sent down to Lapworth on November the 5th, the fatal -Tuesday, in the charge of Kyddall. It is possible that William Ward, -however, came up into Warwickshire along with his father and half-sister -Mary. If so, he must have gone up to London between Marmaduke Ward’s going -to Lapworth and the flight of “uncle Christopher” on the 5th; for there is -no evidence that William Ward accompanied Christopher Wright and Kyddall -up to London on Monday, the 28th of October. Kyddall styles William Ward -“nephew to Mr. Wright.” Now, this designation would be, by common usage, -accurate if Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward; otherwise, supposing -William Ward’s mother was Elizabeth Sympson, it would not be; for Ursula -Wright would be naught akin to William Ward.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_355" id="Footnote_128_355"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_128_355">[128]</a> — Mr. Jackson, “mine host” of “the Salutation,” probably -meant between a week and a fortnight when he said “about a fortnight.” -“Many things had happened since then,” so Mr. Jackson might easily fancy a -longer time had elapsed than was really the case. For Kyddall’s evidence -shows that Christopher Wright was at Lapworth on the 24th October, and -that he did not reach London till the 30th (Wednesday). On Wednesday -Wright may have again called for his quart of sack or for the foaming -tankard of the nut-brown ale, partly with a view to ascertaining whether -or not any tidings had “leaked out” as to the Letter received by -Salisbury, though, as a fact, it was not shown to the King until Friday, -the 1st of November. Christopher Wright’s last visit to “the Salutation” -was, belike, what is styled nowadays “a pop visit.” -</p> - -<p> -At Patrington, in Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, there is -to-day (May, 1901) an ancient hostelry known by the sign of the “Dog and -Duck.” At this house, I doubt not, both John and Christopher Wright full -many a time and oft had quenched their thirst and heard and discussed the -rural gossip of their day; for Plowland Hall was only about a mile distant -from the “Dog and Duck” and -its<!--425.png--><span class="pagenum">387</span> -good cheer. The “Hildyard Arms” and the -“Holderness” Inn, Patrington, may have been likewise, belike, favourite -haunts of theirs, for human nature is pretty much the same generation -after generation. And even our social habits bind us to the Past. What -thoughts crowd into the mind when one makes a visit to the “Dog and Duck,” -at Patrington, within a short walk of Plowland Hall! -</p> - -<p> -It is possible that, between the reigns of Elizabeth and Victoria, -Plowland Hall was reduced to smaller proportions than it had been in the -days of John and Christopher Wright. This was the case with Ugthorpe Hall, -the seat of the Catholic Ratcliffes, near Whitby, situate in a lovely -little dingle or dell amid the Cleveland Moors; also it was the case with -Grosmont House, the seat of the Catholic Hodgsons, near Whitby, situate -near and almost laved by the rushing waters of the Yorkshire Esk.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_356" id="Footnote_129_356"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_129_356">[129]</a> — Father Henry Garnet knew John Wright, but, according to -Garnet’s testimony, he did not know Christopher Wright, a fact which alone -tends to show that the younger Wright was essentially a subordinate -conspirator; for certainly Father Garnet knew, more or less, all the -principal plotters, namely, Catesby, Thomas Winter, John Wright, Percy, -and even Fawkes, whom he once saw, and to whom he gave letters of -introduction when Fawkes went to Flanders, in 1605, to see Stanley and -Owen.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_357" id="Footnote_130_357"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_130_357">[130]</a> — Father Hart was captured, along with Father John Percy -(alias Fisher, afterwards famous for his controversy with Archbishop Laud, -who could not “abide” the Jesuits), at the house of Lord Vaux of -Harrowden. Hart was banished for a time, but died in England, in 1650, -aged seventy-two. -</p> - -<p> -Query — Did Hart make any communication to Bellarmine or Eudæmon-Joannes, I -wonder?</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_358" id="Footnote_131_358"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_131_358">[131]</a> — See Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>;” vol ii., p. 166.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_359" id="Footnote_132_359"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_132_359">[132]</a> — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. i., p. 173, citing -“Gunpowder Plot Book,” No. 177. Eudæmon-Joannes, in his “<i>Apologia</i>” for -Henry Garnet, gives reasons why Father Hart, S.J., may have thus acted. -Dr. Abbott, in his “<i>Antilogia</i>,” in reply to Eudæmon-Joannes, answers -Joannes at great length.</p></div> - -<!--426.png--><p><span class="pagenum">388</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_360" id="Footnote_133_360"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_133_360">[133]</a> — Vol. ii., p. 120. It may be here stated that by the Common -Law of England a confessor was obliged to reveal the fact to the -Government in the case of his receiving from a penitent the confession of -the heinous crime of High Treason. -</p> - -<p> -Garnet said that “the priest is bound to find all lawful means to hinder -and discover it, but that the seal of the Confessional must be saved, -<i>salvo sigillo confessionis</i>.” — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. -162. — It seems to me that this statement of Garnet is of the utmost -importance.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_361" id="Footnote_134_361"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_134_361">[134]</a> — Afterwards the well-known Lord Coke, the famous Editor of -Judge Littleton’s work on “<i>Tenures</i>.” — For a diverting account of Coke -and his domestic infelicities see Lord Macaulay’s Essay on “Lord Bacon.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_362" id="Footnote_135_362"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_135_362">[135]</a> — Catesby, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Thomas Percy -were already dead; the two first were slain at Holbeach; Christopher -Wright and Thomas Percy both were wounded unto death at the same place; -but certainly Percy and possibly Christopher Wright actually breathed -their last a day or two afterwards. Query — Where were the bodies of these -four men interred? Were they first quartered as traitors according to law? -</p> - -<p> -Tresham died in the Tower, but his body was quartered, and its members -exposed at Northampton in the usual way.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_363" id="Footnote_136_363"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_136_363">[136]</a> — Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” vol. ii., p. 135. This of -the learned Attorney-General reminds one of the late Lord Bowen’s witty -saying: “Truth will out; even in an Affidavit!”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_364" id="Footnote_137_364"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_137_364">[137]</a> — Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the Jesuits in England, -said that he considered the authors of the Gunpowder Treason were not only -deserving of the punishment that some of them had undergone, but even a -more severe one, if possible. — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_365" id="Footnote_138_365"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_138_365">[138]</a> — Fonblanque, in his “<i>Annals of the House of Percy</i>,” in -the chapter dealing with Thomas Percy, expresses the opinion that the -Government’s behaviour was comparatively mild, regard being had to the -atrocious nature of the designment against the King and Parliament. Such -is candidly my own opinion, and this, although I remember that James’s -Oath of Allegiance and very tyrannical anti-recusant legislation were the -dire consequences of the Plot, which (<i>me judice</i>) — far more than the -Marian burnings, -the<!--427.png--><span class="pagenum">389</span> -Elizabethan Acts of Supremacy, of Uniformity, -Constructive Treason, and the Spanish Armada, all put together — led -finally to England’s being “bereft” of what to a Roman Catholic is “the -one true faith.” -</p> - -<p> -In regard to James’s Oath of Allegiance (1609), it is to be recollected -that while strict Roman Catholics, whether “Jesuitized” or not, refused to -take the oath, some Catholics thought they might lawfully take it. Among -such was the Arch-priest, Blackwell, who, however, was deposed from his -office, as, in general terms, Rome condemned the oath. “The sting” of this -famous oath was “in its tail;” inasmuch as it not only contained a -disclaimer of the deposing power of the Pope, but declared that the -doctrine of the deposing power was “impious, heretical, and damnable.” It -is remarkable that all the Roman Catholic peers took the Oath of -Allegiance, except Lord Teynham, a collateral descendant of William Roper, -the husband of Margaret More. -</p> - -<p> -“An apostate” Jesuit, named Sir Christopher Perkins, aided in framing this -searching test, so the Government knew exactly how to get the unhappy -papist recusants tightly within their grip. (Perkins, like Sir Edwin -Sandys, a philosophic friend of Sir Toby Matthews, was an incipient -rationalist. Shakespeare may have known Sir Toby Matthews.) -</p> - -<p> -For valuable information (derived from an unpublished manuscript) as to -the working of this Oath of Allegiance, see the late Richard Simpson’s -Article, entitled, “A Glimpse of the Working of the Penal Laws,” in “<i>The -Rambler</i>,” vol. vi., p. 401 (1856). If this Article has not been printed -separately, it ought to be. In it occur the names Middleton, Gascoigne, -Ingleby, Whitham, Cholmeley, Vavasour, Dolman, Mennell (or Meynell), and -Catterick, of Yorkshire; Preston and Towneley, of Lancashire; Tichbourne, -of Hampshire; Wiseman, of Essex; Gage, of Sussex; Vaux, of -Northamptonshire; Throckmorton, of Warwickshire; Tregean, of Cornwall; -Plowden, of Shropshire; Morgan, of Monmouthshire; Edwards, of Flintshire; -together with other English and Welsh names, which can be only described -as synonymous with honour, high-mindedness, heroism, and all goodness.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_366" id="Footnote_139_366"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_139_366">[139]</a> — James Usher<a name="FNanchor_A_367" id="FNanchor_A_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_367" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> (1581-1656), Protestant Archbishop of -Armagh, was an Anglo-Irishman, who was “learned to a miracle,” so the -great -English<!--428.png--><span class="pagenum">390</span> -Jurist, Seldon, said. — See “Usher,” “<i>National Dictionary of -Biography</i>.” — Usher was, through his mother, who became a Roman Catholic, -a grandson of James Stanihurst (Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the -Irish House of Commons), whose family were the patrons of Edmund Campion, -when in Ireland. The great orator wrote his history of that country after -leaving Oxford, and before going to Douay. Usher crossed over to England -in 1602. He held in the University of Dublin, in 1607, a divinity -professorship, worth £8 a year, which was founded by Mr. James Cotterell, -who died in York. Now, I find from the Register of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, -York, that there is a record of the burial of a “Mr. James Cotterell — in -the mynster — the 29th day of August, 1595.” This, I have no doubt, was the -self-same gentleman as the “Mr. Cotterell,” from whose house, on the 29th -day of May, 1579, Thomas Warde made M’gery Slater “his true and honourable -wife;” and the same Mr. James Cotterell as founded the Dublin divinity -professorship. Dr. Usher knew personally Lord Mordaunt, the son of the -Lord Mordaunt who died in the Tower in 1608; and also, according to the -“<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>,” Father Oswald Tesimond. If so, it is -<i>possible</i> that Usher knew personally Lord Mounteagle and Thomas Warde, -and it may be it was from them that he gathered hints upon which he -founded his oracular statement. (I desire here to express my sense of -obligation to the Rev. E. S. Carter, M.A., the Vicar of St. -Michael-le-Belfrey, York, who most kindly and generously gifted me with a -copy of his singularly valuable “<i>Parish Register</i>” Part I., edited by Dr. -Francis Collins, from which I have obtained that item of domestic -information so valuable as a leading clue for the purposes of this -Inquiry, namely, the marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith.)</p></div> - -<!--429.png--><p><span class="pagenum">391</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_367" id="Footnote_A_367"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_367">[A]</a> “<i>The Life of Archbishop Usher</i>” by Barnard (1656), however, -does not bear out the statement of the Author of the Article on “Usher” in -the “<i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>.” For Barnard says that the Jesuit -who debated at Drayton, in Northamptonshire, with Archbishop Usher, was -called “Beaumond,” but that his real name was Rookwood, and that he was a -brother of Ambrose Rookwood, the Gunpowder plotter. The debate was -arranged by Lord Mordaunt (afterwards the Earl of Peterborough), to the -end that his wife, the Lady Mordaunt, a daughter of the Earl of -Nottingham, might become convinced of the soundness of the exacting claims -of the Church of Rome. The upshot was that not only was the Lady Mordaunt -<i>not</i> convinced, but that the Lord Mordaunt himself became a Protestant! -The topics for discussion were: — Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, -Images, and the Visibility of the Church. According to Barnard, Beaumond -at the third day of meeting sent to excuse himself, saying, “That all the -arguments he had framed within his own head, and thought he had them as -perfect as his <i>‘Pater noster</i>,’ he had forgotten and could not recover -them again; that he believed it was the just judgment of God upon him thus -to desert him in the defence of His cause for the undertaking of himself -to dispute with a man of that eminency and learning without the licence of -his superior.” -</p> - -<p> -If it were a Rookwood, probably it was Robert (S.J.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_368" id="Footnote_140_368"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_140_368">[140]</a> — The “<i>Oliver Cromwell</i>,” by John Morley (Macmillan, 1900), -contains a picture of Usher, taken from the original portrait by Sir Peter -Lely, in the National Portrait Gallery. The face is one of great keenness -and power.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_369" id="Footnote_141_369"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_141_369">[141]</a> — “Style” in handwriting is its genius, its ethos, its air, -its aroma, its active, its essential principle. “Style is the man.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_370" id="Footnote_142_370"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_142_370">[142]</a> — See the Rev. John Gerard’s published fac-simile.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_371" id="Footnote_143_371"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_143_371">[143]</a> — “Shift off,” no doubt, is meant as “<i>The Kings Book</i>” -gives it. (I should like to say that a gentleman, a member of Trinity -College, Cambridge, the Rev. Edmond Nolan, B.A., suggested to me in -August, 1900, when I had the pleasure of meeting him in York, that -probably “shift of” was really “shift off.”)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_372" id="Footnote_144_372"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_144_372">[144]</a> — This enigmatical sentence partook of the nature of a -clever sleight of mental strategy or of a skilful manœuvre of mental -tactics. In the case of a man of Oldcorne’s combination of the mystical -and the practical, it is probable that there would be wheels within -wheels, and depths below depths, which are beyond the reach of us ordinary -mortals to detect or to fathom. But all this mystery would tend to grip -hold of the attention of the reader by compelling him to peruse and weigh -the document again and again, and so would tend to beat its warning -message into his brains, and so impel beneficent action.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_373" id="Footnote_145_373"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_145_373">[145]</a> — Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>” likewise omits the word “good,” -which shows us that the Jesuit was indebted to the Royal Author for his -copy of the document.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_374" id="Footnote_146_374"></a><a -class="label" href="#FNanchor_146_374">[146]</a> — The Mounteagle Letter is a remarkably clever composition. -Its liveliness, its pithiness, its directness, and its force, in spite of -its designed obscurity, gain upon one more and more the oftener one -ponders it. But Father Oldcorne was a very clever man. His combination of -qualities, theoretical and practical, shows him to have been a man of -distinct genius. -</p> - -<p> -In Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., there is, as has been already remarked, -a portrait of this great Yorkshire Jesuit, showing a portion of Old Ouse -Bridge, York, and St. William’s Chapel in the left-hand corner. The face -depicted betokens an intellect of great acumen, a heart of great -benevolence, both controlled by a will strong with the strength of -persistent discipline. The keenness of the countenance portrayed struck -a<!--430.png--><span class="pagenum">392</span> -distinguished Oxford friend of mine forcibly the moment he beheld the -picture, for he remarked forthwith, “He has an acute look!” The -countenance, moreover, as another Protestant friend in effect observed, -has that look of infinite patience, of calm resignation, and of sweet -melancholy, which was so characteristic of the best of the old English -Roman Catholics during “troublesome times.” -</p> - -<p> -This phrase, “troublesome times,” was used in my hearing about the year -1890 by an ancient lady, the late Mrs. Ann Matterson, widow, of -High-field, Bishop Thornton, near Ripon. Mrs. Matterson was an interesting -specimen of the solid, calm, old, Garden-of-the-Soul type of English -Catholic, or as they proudly and touchingly put it, “Catholics that have -never lost the Faith.” My informant said she was the daughter of one -Francis Darnbrough — a family well known in that part of Yorkshire, a -Darnbrough being Wakeman (or Mayor) of Ripon in 1542: that her father’s -branch of the Darnbrough family had regained the Catholic Faith through -marriages with the Bishop Thornton Hawkesworths, hereditary Catholics, who -were formerly tenants under the Lords Grantley and Markenfield, of -Markenfield Hall. Mrs. Matterson furthermore told me on that occasion that -she was distantly connected (through the marriage of her aunt with a Mr. -William Bickerdyke) with one of the York Catholic Martyrs, whose cause of -canonization had been, in 1886, introduced at Rome, namely, with “the -Venerable” Robert Bickerdyke, a gentleman born at Low Hall, near Scotton, -in the Parish of Farnham, near Knaresbrough, and who suffered at the York -Tyburn, in 1586, for being “reconciled to the Church of Rome.” The aged -lady also said that her uncle, William Bickerdyke, had lived at Brampton -Hall, on the River Ure, close to Mulwith: that Brampton Hall had belonged -to the ancient and now extinct Yorkshire Catholic family of Tankard, or -Tancred — one branch of which had their seat at Whixley: and that at -Brampton Hall there had been a place to hide the priest in during -“troublesome times.” -</p> - -<p> -For an interesting work on priests’ hiding-places see “<i>Secret Chambers -and Hiding-places</i>,” by Allen Fea (Bousfield, 1901).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_375" id="Footnote_147_375"></a><a -class="label" href="#FNanchor_147_375">[147]</a> — The -following letter (1599, probably), which ends with the -words: “I comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection,” etc., will be -read with interest. It was written by Richard Collinge, Coolinge, or -Cowling, a Jesuit, who was a native of York, being the son of a certain -Raulf Cowling (then pronounced Cooling), whose name appears in the York -Elizabethan “Subsidy Roll for 1581” as of “St. Olave’s parish and -Belfray’s<!--431.png--><span class="pagenum">393</span> -without Bootham Bar,” and as being assessed in goods at the sum -of £3, which shows him to have been a well-to-do citizen. Raulf Cowling -died a captive in York Castle for his profession of the Catholic Faith. -</p> - -<p> -This valuable letter (for which I am indebted to the great generosity of -Dr. Collins, of Pateley Bridge) was written probably in 1599, and -intercepted by the Government. From the document we learn that Father -Richard Collinge, S.J., was not only a cousin to Guy Fawkes, but also to -the Harringtons, of Mount St. John. William Harrington, the elder, who -harboured “the Blessed” Edmund Campion for ten days in the spring of 1581 -at that secluded, tranquil, and lovely spot, Mount St. John, near the -Hambleton Hills, Thirsk, Yorkshire, would be not only father to “the -Venerable” William Harrington, the martyr for his priesthood at the London -Tyburn, but uncle to Father Richard Collinge, and cousin once removed to -Guy Fawkes himself. Guy’s mother married for her second husband Denis -Bainebridge, of Scotton, a Roman Catholic gentleman connected with the -ancient and honourable Roman Catholic family of Pulleyn (Pullein, or -Pulleine), of Killinghall and Scotton, by reason of the marriage of Denis -Bainbridge’s mother to Walter Pulleyn, Esq., as her third husband. We -learn also from Father Collinge’s letter that, belike, Mr. Denis -Bainbridge, Guy Fawkes’ step-father, was one of those gentlemen that are -“ornamental” rather than “useful.” He was, however, certainly a papist, -and his name, together with that of his wife, occurs in Peacock’s “<i>List -for 1604</i>,” under the Parish of “Farnham.” There is a blank left for the -name of the wife of Denis Bainbridge, probably because Mr. Peacock could -not decipher the name indicated. I think that Mrs. Denis Bainbridge must -have sprung originally from Nidderdale or Wharfedale, and that she was -akin to the Vavasours, of Weston and Newton Hall, near Ripley; to the -Johnsons, of Leathley; and the Palmes, of Lindley; both of the two last in -that part of the Forest of Knaresbrough which is near to the town of -Otley. But further researches may solve the problem as to the maiden name -of her who gave birth to Guy Fawkes. -</p> - -<p> -Guy Fawkes called himself “John Johnson” when accosted by the Earl of -Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle in the cellar under the House of Lords, on -Monday, the 4th November. Possibly, therefore, his mother was a Johnson. -Query — Does the Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer, of Chicago, U.S.A., know of any -tradition hereon? -</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -“Good Sir, — I pray you lette me intreate y<sup>r</sup> favoure and -frendshippe for my Cosen Germane Mr Guydo Fawks who serves S<sup>r</sup> -William (Stanley) as I understande he is in greate wante and y<sup>r</sup> -worde -in<!--432.png--><span class="pagenum">394</span> -his behalfe may stande him in greate steede. I have not -deserved aine such curtesie at y<sup>r</sup> handes as for my sake to -helpe my friendes but assure yrselfe that yf there be aine -thinge I can doe for you, you may commande me for the respecte I -beare to our ould friendshippe but also by this meanes you -shalle bynde me more unto you. He hath lefte a prettie livinge -here in his countre which his mother being married to an -unthriftie husbande since his departure I think hath wastied -awaye.<a name="FNanchor_A_376" id="FNanchor_A_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_376" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> Yet she and the reste of our friends are in good -health. I durste not as yet goe to them but this sommer I meane -to see them all God willinge lette him tell my Cousin Martin -Harrington that I was at his Brother Henries house at <i>the -mounte</i> but he was not then at home he and his wyfe are well and -have manie prettie children. Mr D. Worthington’s brother hath -wrote a letter unto him desiringe a speedie answere he is a good -honeste and devoute man I often mete with him for nowe I am -residente at his Cozens house in that province which is fallen -to my lotte they expecte therefor for some helpe nothinge is -wanting but a beginner amonge them so they saye for the -redemption of Israel. Remember I pray you my commendacons to my -good and honourable godmother my L. Marie<a name="FNanchor_B_377" id="FNanchor_B_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_377" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> (Percie) and the -twoe devoute sisters in her companie. Mr Roberte Chambers<a name="FNanchor_C_378" id="FNanchor_C_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_378" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> -writte -to<!--433.png--><span class="pagenum">395</span> -me for his mother, the charge is geven to Mr -Duckette<a name="FNanchor_D_379" id="FNanchor_D_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_379" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> to -inquire for her for she is in his vicinitie tho -four Sirsbies of his companie as [? are] here very well. Within -this week I have sene both Cor<sup>n</sup> & Gould and Batte, to-morrowe -I shall mete w<sup>th</sup> John Lassells. Thinges goe well forwarde -here o<sup>r</sup> enemies persecute us all more than ever and are in -particulare feare or rather looke for some what more from o<sup>r</sup> -owne malcontents. Thus requesting y<sup>r</sup> favoure in my suite and -remembrance in y<sup>r</sup> beste memories as you shall have myne <i>I -comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection</i> this St John -Baps<sup>t</sup> Eve. — Yours in Christe Richard Collinge. -</p> - -<p> -“Lette D. Kellison know that his brother Valentine is in goode -healthe and a well wisher but noe Catholike.” -</p> - -<p>Addressed thus:</p> - -<div class="center"> - “All Molto Mag<sup>co</sup> Sig<sup>re</sup> - il Signiore Guilio - Piccioli a - Venezia” [<i>i.e.</i>, Venice]. -</div> - -<p> -(Endorsed) Fugitives. -</p> - -<div class="center">Vol. cclxxi., No. 21.</div> -</div> - -<p><i>Cf.</i> also a letter of Father Richard Holtby, S.J., of Fryton, Hovingham, -North Riding of Yorkshire, to Father Parsons, dated 6th May, 1609, -ending: — “<i>I commit you to our sweet Saviour His keeping.</i>” — Foley’s -“<i>Records</i>,” vol. iii., p. 9.</p> -</div> - -<!--434.png--><p><span class="pagenum">396</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_376" id="Footnote_A_376"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_376">[A]</a> Guy Fawkes’ little patrimony was situate in Gillygate and -Clifton, then in the suburbs of the City of York. — See Robert Davies’ -“<i>Fawkeses, of York</i>,” and William Camidge’s pamphlet, “<i>Guy Fawkes</i>” -(Burdekin, York). -</p> - -<p> -Miss Catharine Pullein, of Rotherfield, Sussex, and Edward Pulleyn, Esq., -of York and Lastingham, I have reason to believe, likewise belong to this -ancient family so long settled near Knaresbrough. — See Flower’s -“<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>,” and Glover’s “<i>Visitation</i>,” for a pedigree -of the family in the time of Elizabeth.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_377" id="Footnote_B_377"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_B_377">[B]</a> The Lady Mary Percy was niece to Francis and Mary Slingsby -(daughter of Sir Thomas Percy), of Scriven Hall, whose monuments are still -to be seen in the Knaresbrough Parish Church. Dr. Collins tells me that -“Sirsbie” was then “a Knaresbrough name,” and occurs in the Knaresbrough -Parish Church Registers of that period. The name “Sizey,” which is given -in Peacock’s “<i>List</i>,” under “Knaresbrough,” is probably the way “Sirsbie” -was pronounced, just as “subtle” is pronounced “su(b)tle.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_378" id="Footnote_C_378"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_C_378">[C]</a> I incline to think that this Robert Chambers is the same as -the Robert Chambers mentioned in the “<i>Douay Diary</i>,” edited by Dr. Knox -(David Nutt); the name, Robert Chambers, appears as one of the students at -the English College, Rome. Gould and Batte (or Bates) were probably also -the names of priests who had been at this College. Corn may have been -Father Oldcorne, S.J., who came to England as a missionary in 1588 with -Father John Gerard; or he may have been Father Thomas Cornforth, S.J., a -native of Durham, and a great friend of Edward fourth Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, whose mother was Elizabeth Roper, a daughter of Sir John Roper -first Lord Teynham. Father Cornforth became a Jesuit in 1600. He was at -the English College at Rome, and came to England in April, 1599.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_379" id="Footnote_D_379"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_D_379">[D]</a> The Duckette here mentioned was doubtless Father Richard -Holtby, S.J., who succeeded Garnet as Superior of the English Jesuits. -Holtby was born at Fryton — in the Parish of Hovingham, in the Vale of -Mowbray — between Slingsby and Hovingham, where his brother, George Holtby, -lived. — See Peacock’s “<i>List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604</i>;” -also Foster’s Edition of Glover’s “<i>Visitation of Yorkshire</i>.” — It was -Richard Holtby, then a secular priest, who found for Campion secluded, -lovely Mount St. John. I think it is probable that, after being harboured -by Sir William Babthorpe, at Babthorpe Hall or Osgodby (or both), Campion -would proceed through the Vale of Ouse and Derwent to Thixendale, in the -Parish of Leavening, to the house of a Mrs. Bulmer; thence, I opine, to -Fryton, in the Parish of Hovingham; thence to Grimston Manor, in the -Parish of Gilling East; thence through the Vale of Mowbray, by Coxwold, to -Mount St. John, the home of the Harringtons, who seem to have quitted the -place soon after the year 1603, because the Gregory family are found -recorded in the Parish Registers shortly after that date, and they -certainly resided at Mount St. John. (Communicated to me by the Rev. Henry -Clayforth, M.A., Vicar of Feliskirk, near Thirsk.) Near Mount St. John are -Upsal Castle, magnificently situated, and Kirby Knowle Castle (commonly -called New Building). These were ancient Catholic houses, formerly of a -branch of the Constable family. In Kirby Knowle Castle, embosomed in -trees, is still to be seen a priests’ hiding-place. During the early part -of the nineteenth century a skeleton was found in this -hiding-place — possibly that of a priest. (Communicated to me by the late -Very Rev. Monsignor Edward Canon Goldie, of York, about the year 1889.) -George S. Thompson, Esquire, now lives at Kirby Knowle Castle, or New -Building. This gentleman married a Miss Elsley, of York, whose family, I -believe, formerly owned Mount St. John, through their relatives, the -Gregories, who seem to have succeeded the Harringtons, harbourers of the -great Campion, whom Lord Burleigh himself styled “one of the diamonds of -England.” Campion’s guides through Yorkshire were Mr. Tempest (probably of -Broughton Hall, near Skipton-in-Craven), Mr. More (probably of Barnbrough -Hall, near Doncaster, which came to the descendants of Sir Thomas More, -through the Cresacre family), Mr. Smyth (brother-in-law of William -Harrington, the elder), and Father Richard Holtby. — See Simpson’s “<i>Life -of Campion</i>,” second Edition (Hodges, London). — In recent years the Walker -family have owned Mount St. John, but I believe that to-day (1901) Sir -Lowthian Bell is the owner. When I visited this historic and ravishing -spot, the Honourable Mrs. Bosville was the lessee, and the writer has a -pleasant recollection of that lady’s gracious courtesy (1898).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_380" id="Footnote_148_380"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_148_380">[148]</a> — Jardine, in his “<i>Narrative</i>” p. 37, has the following -exceptionally interesting paragraph: “Sir William Waad in a letter to Lord -Salisbury, reporting a conversation with Fawkes, says, ‘Fawkes’s mother is -alive and re-married, and he hath a brother in one of the Inns of Court. -John and Christopher Wright were school-fellows of Fawkes and neighbours’ -children. Tesimond, the Jesuit, was at that time schoolfellow also with -them. So as this crew have been brought up together.’” — State Paper -Office, Add. Papers No. 481, Jardine (now Record Office). -</p> - -<p> -Probably what Fawkes said was that <i>he</i> (Fawkes) <i>and Tesimond</i> were -neighbours’ children; for John and Christopher Wright’s parents were of -Plowland Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, as we have seen. -Two explanations, however, are possible, which will reconcile this -statement that, after all, Fawkes may have <i>said that he and the Wrights -were neighbours’ children</i>. One is that possibly the young Wrights boarded -with some citizen dwelling in St. Michael-le-Belfrey’s Parish, York, -whilst they were at the Royal School of St. Peter, then in the Horse -Fayre, Gillygate (but now in Clifton), York; the other explanation is that -possibly a portion of the fourteen years during which the mother of John -and Christopher Wright was (as we have seen already <i>ante</i>) imprisoned for -her resolute profession of the Catholic religion was spent in company with -her husband, Robert Wright, in some private gentleman’s house in the -Belfrey Parish, in the City of York — a thing then very common. For -example, Dr. Thomas Vavasour, a physician, of Christ’s Parish, who — <i>or -whose wife</i>, Mrs. Dorothy Vavasour — favoured Campion, and probably -harboured him in 1581, was for a time imprisoned in the house of his -brother. This was probably Mr. Edward Vavasour, a Protestant gentleman, -who resided in “the Belfray” Parish, and was a freeman of York and -one<!--435.png--><span class="pagenum">397</span> -of -its tradesmen, being, I find, a hatter. In the York “Subsidy Roll for -1581” Edward Vavasour’s name appears as being assessed in goods at £8. Dr. -Thomas Vavasour’s name does not appear in the Subsidy Roll. I believe he -was then in prison, at Hull, for his persistent refusal to conform to the -Queen’s demands in matters of faith. -</p> - -<p> -Query — Did Father Oldcorne learn his “medicine” from Dr. Vavasour, of the -Parish of Christ? What was the system of medical training in the “golden -days”?</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_381" id="Footnote_149_381"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_149_381">[149]</a> — As revealing the interior state (1) of Oldcorne’s mind in -relation to the Gunpowder enterprise, and (2) of Tesimond’s mind, -respectively, the former stands in sharp contrast with the latter, and -must be pregnant with significance to the discerning and judicious -reader.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_382" id="Footnote_150_382"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_150_382">[150]</a> — Vol. ii., pp. 285, 286.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_383" id="Footnote_151_383"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_151_383">[151]</a> — “<i>Somers’ Tracts</i>,” Edited by Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii., -p. 106, says: “Tesimond severely censured Hall (alias Oldcorne) for his -timidity on the occasion, calling him a phlegmatic fellow.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Abbott’s “<i>Antilogia</i>” confirms Jardine’s report of Tesimond’s -denunciation, <i>although Foley most improperly omits it</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_384" id="Footnote_152_384"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_152_384">[152]</a> — The diverse demeanour on this critical occasion of these -two Jesuits (both natives of the same City, most probably, and -fellow-scholars in the then recently re-founded Grammar School belonging -to York Minster) is very striking, and reminds one of the following -sagacious remark of that clear writer, Dr. James Martineau: “In human -psychology, feeling when it transcends sensation is not without idea, but -is a type of idea.” — “<i>Essays and Addresses</i>,” vol. iv., p. 202 (Longmans, -1891). — Such feeling then is <i>mens cordis</i> — the mind of the heart.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_385" id="Footnote_153_385"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_153_385">[153]</a> — Hindlip Hall, about four miles from Worcester, was built -on an eminence in 1572 and the following years of Elizabeth’s reign. It -had a large prospect of the surrounding country, and contained many -conveyances, secret chambers, and priests’ hiding-places, perhaps more -than any house in England. The old Hall of the Abingtons was pulled down -at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The present mansion was built -by the Lord Hindlip’s family, I believe. This demesne is one of the most -historic spots in the kingdom, owing to its memorable associations with -Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne, Garnet having left Coughton at the request of -Oldcorne, in December, 1605. The two Jesuits were nourished, -after<!--436.png--><span class="pagenum">398</span> -Salisbury instituted his search, during seven days, seven nights, and some -odd hours, mainly by broth and other warm drinks, conveyed to them through -a quill or reed passed “through a little hole in a chimney that backed -another chimney into a gentlewoman’s chamber.” Doubtless Mrs. Abington and -Miss Anne Vaux (the devoted friend of Father Garnet, who, along with -Brother Nicholas Owen, accompanied him to Hindlip) had administered this -food to the two famishing Jesuits detained in durance.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_386" id="Footnote_154_386"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_154_386">[154]</a> — Father Garnet’s house in Thames Street, London, had been -broken up, this place of Jesuit sojourning having become known to the -Government. Consequently, Garnet, at the beginning of September, 1605, -went down to Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, the seat of Sir Everard and -Lady Digby. -</p> - -<p> -Christopher Wright, it will be remembered, quitted his lodging near Temple -Bar, on October the 5th, and, I opine, then went down to Lapworth, or -Clopton, near Stratford-on-Avon. Catesby was born at Lapworth. -</p> - -<p> -It will be remembered that the Ardens, the relatives of Shakespeare’s -mother, were allied to the Throckmortons, and therefore to Francis -Throckmorton, the friend of Mary Queen of Scots. It is a remarkable -coincidence that the great dramatist was, through both the Ardens and the -Throckmortons, connected with those whose quartered remains he may have -had in his mind’s eye (in addition to those of the Gunpowder conspirators) -when in 1606, in “Macbeth,” he writ of “the hangman’s bloody hands.” -</p> - -<p> -For an account of the Somerville-Arden and the Francis Throckmorton -alleged conspiracies against the life of Queen Elizabeth, see Froude’s -“<i>History</i>.” For an account of Shakespeare’s family, including the Ardens, -see Mrs. C. C. Stope’s recent book (Elliot Stock, 1901).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_387" id="Footnote_155_387"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_155_387">[155]</a> — In the “<i>Life of Sir Everard Digby</i>,” by “One of his -descendants” (Kegan Paul), is to be found a vivid and historically -accurate account of the proceedings of November the 5th and afterwards. -The conspirators’ line of flight would be nearly parallel with the London -and North Western Railway from Euston Station to Rugby.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_388" id="Footnote_156_388"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_156_388">[156]</a> — The country crossed by these unhappy fugitives is -undoubtedly the very “heart of England,” and in spring and summer is one -of the gardens of England. As those then flying, on that gloomy November -day, from the Avenger of blood, were probably almost all men of -strong<!--437.png--><span class="pagenum">399</span> -family affections, and certainly all ardent lovers of their country, how -often must the feelings have welled up in their heart, as from some -intermittent crystalline spring, so beautifully expressed by the old Latin -poet: — -</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Uxor: neque harum, quas colis, arborum<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Te, praeter invisas cupressos,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.” — <i>Horace.</i><a name="FNanchor_A_389" id="FNanchor_A_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_389" class="fnanchor">[A]</a><br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p> -Alas! Like many another wrong-doer, before and since, they thought of this -too late. -</p> - -<p> -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 “<i>Narrative</i>,” 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 his brother’s wife, £80, and take £20 -himself:” — Wright owing Bates some money.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_389" id="Footnote_A_389"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_A_389">[A]</a> -</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Land must be left, and home, and charming wife,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And of these trees which you cultivate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">None will follow you, their short-lived owner and lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Save the detested cypress.”<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_390" id="Footnote_157_390"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_157_390">[157]</a> — Does Greenway’s “<i>Narrative</i>” clearly state how many of -these conspirators received from Tesimond the sacraments? If so, what -sacraments were they? -</p> - -<p> -The Government would have had a clear case of inciting to open rebellion -against Tesimond if they had caught him, but he escaped to Flanders. He -was “a very deep dog,” was Master Tesimond, and no mistake. But he was -wholly under the finger and thumb (<i>me judice</i>) of Catesby, which shows -what a powerful man of genius Catesby must have been. -</p> - -<p> -Father Henry Garnet, at his trial, allowed that Tesimond had acted “ill,” -in seeking to rouse the country to open rebellion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_391" id="Footnote_158_391"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_158_391">[158]</a> — This lady was 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 “<i>Memoirs of the Reign of James I.</i>” -</p> - -<p> -For a true estimate of the second Earl of Essex, see Dr. R. W. Church’s -“Bacon” (Macmillan). — See also Major Hume’s “<i>Courtships of Queen -Elizabeth</i> (Fisher Unwin) and his “<i>Treason and Plot</i>” (Nesbit).</p></div> - -<!--438.png--><p><span class="pagenum">400</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_392" id="Footnote_159_392"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_159_392">[159]</a> — How well-grounded Oldcorne’s suspicions of Littleton were, -and how soundly he had discerned the man’s spirit, is proved from the fact -that after Littleton had been condemned to death for harbouring his -cousin, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the Master of -Huddington, Littleton sought to save his life by telling the Government -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>i.e.</i>, Oldcorne] once preach in the house of the -said Mr. Abington, at which time he seemed to confirm his hearers in the -Catholic cause.” — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 219.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_393" id="Footnote_160_393"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_160_393">[160]</a> — On the 5th of October, 1900, I saw this Declaration by the -courtesy of the authorities at the Record Office, London, and compared it -with the Letter to Lord Mounteagle. Miss Emma M. Walford was present the -while. — See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_394" id="Footnote_161_394"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_161_394">[161]</a> — This luminous definition is by that great writer, Frederic -Harrison.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_395" id="Footnote_162_395"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_162_395">[162]</a> — It is not less dangerous to indulge in Irony. For an -emphatic proof of this see the “<i>Life of Lord Bowen</i>,” p. 115 (Murray), by -Sir H. S. Cunningham, K.C.I.E. -</p> - -<p> -<i>Cf.</i> the great Stagyrite’s discountenancing the study by the -inexperienced (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 “<i>The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle</i>,” book i. See also -Professor Muirhead’s “<i>Chapters from the Ethics</i>” (Murray). -</p> - -<p> -Hector, in “Troilus and Cressida,” act ii., scene 2, speaks of “Young men, -whom Aristotle thought unfit to hear moral philosophy.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_396" id="Footnote_163_396"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_163_396">[163]</a> — Jardine thinks that Oldcorne manifests a disposition “to -hesitate and argue about the moral complexion” of the Gunpowder Treason; -and this disposition Jardine regards as exhibiting in Oldcorne, -“apparently a man of humane and quiet character,” a “distorted perception -of right and wrong.” — See “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” pp. 232, 233. -</p> - -<p> -But it is evident that, for the nonce, the London Magistrate’s judicial -temper of mind had deserted him, when he sniffed too closely the -moral<!--439.png--><span class="pagenum">401</span> -air -breathed by a Jesuit. For manifest is it that, <i>e.g.</i>, all acts of -insubordination against an established government are not treasons and -rebellions when that government is hopelessly tyrannical, inhuman, and -corrupt. Nor 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_397" id="Footnote_164_397"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_164_397">[164]</a> — In this connection the following words of the 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, “He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but never -effected.” -</p> - -<p> -<i>Cf.</i> Wordsworth’s Sonnet on the Gunpowder Plot, which is very -penetrating.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_398" id="Footnote_165_398"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_165_398">[165]</a> — 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 known by them, <i>but no more</i>. The late Right 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 -VII., denominated Mr. Gladstone in the House of Lords, when 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 ruby so lovely; while <i>partial Truth</i>, according to its degree, is not -less true than the full orb of Truth.</p></div> - -<!--440.png--><p><span class="pagenum">402</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_399" id="Footnote_166_399"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_166_399">[166]</a> — This phrase, “sacrilegious murder,” is used by Shakespeare -in “Macbeth,” and so precisely does it express the double crime of the -Gunpowder plotters that I feel certain that from this allusion — as well as -from the evident allusion to the well-known 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. -</p> - -<p> -I suggest, too, that the words “The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan? -for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell” are an allusion -to the mysterious warning bell that the plotters thought they heard whilst -working in the mine. — See Jardine’s “<i>Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot</i>,” -p. 54. -</p> - -<p> -Compare also Mr. H. W. Mabie’s description of the tragedy of “Macbeth” in -his very recent and valuable “<i>Life of Shakespeare</i>” (Macmillan & Co.). -Mr. Mabie’s account sounds in one’s ears like a very echo of a recital of -the facts and purposes of the Gunpowder Plot.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_400" id="Footnote_167_400"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_167_400">[167]</a> — Now, as the conspirators were engaged in a -joint-enterprise, it must be evident to every clear-minded thinker that -the repentance of <i>any one of the joint-plotters</i> must have shed an -imputed beneficent influence over and upon all the band. For just as no -man liveth only to himself, and no man dieth 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 -Oldcorne, 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 same in deed, through the earnest and part -performance he 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, I 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 and stand once more with head erect and in marching order — that -noble posture and manly attitude which is ever the reward, sure and -certain, of a recovered sense of justice, sincerity, truth.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_401" id="Footnote_168_401"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_168_401">[168]</a> — The Government, it is said, appointed a special Commission -to try Humphrey Littleton and some others at Worcester. The following -quotation is taken from “the Relation of Humphrey Littleton, made January -26th, 1605-6,” written by one Sir Richard Lewkner to the Lords of the -Privy Council. Lewkner was one of the Commissioners.<!--441.png--> -</p><p><span class="pagenum">403</span></p> - -<p> -This sentence is to be specially noted in this “Relation”: — “The servant -of the said Hall [<i>i.e.</i>, Oldcorne] is now prisoner in Worcester Gaol, and -can, as he thinks, go directly to the secret place where the said Hall -lieth hid.” -</p> - -<p> -Now, what was the name of this servant? It certainly was not Ralph 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 Government that Ashley “had -carried letters to and fro about this conspiracy.” — See Gerard’s -“<i>Narrative</i>,” 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 could be done by one who was not a Jesuit lay-brother. The -Government 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. Wynter at May next -shall be three yeares, and sould him againe.” Examination, 5th March, -1606. — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv., p. 224. -</p> - -<p> -According to Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” Oldcorne was indicted at Worcester for — -</p> - -<p> -(1) Inviting Garnet, a denounced traitor, to Hindlip. -</p> - -<p> -(2) Writing to Father Robert Jones, S.J., in Herefordshire, to aid in -concealing Stephen Littleton and Robert Winter, thus making himself an -accomplice. -</p> - -<p> -(3) Of approving the Plot as a good action, though it failed of effect. -</p> - -<p> -Father Jones had provided a place of concealment at Coombe, in the Parish -of Welch Newton, 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_402" id="Footnote_169_402"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_169_402">[169]</a> — A learned Cretan Jesuit, Father L’Henreux, who was -appointed by Pope Urban VIII. Rector of the Greek College at Rome, wrote a -powerful “<i>Apologia</i>” in behalf of Father Henry Garnet, which -was<!--442.png--><span class="pagenum">404</span> -published in 1610. In 1613 Dr. Robert Abbott, a Master of Balliol College, -Oxford, and Regius Professor of Divinity at that University, wrote his -“<i>Antilogia</i>” as a reply to Eudæmon-Joannes’ “<i>Apologia</i>.” It would be a -boon to historical students if both the “<i>Apologia</i>” and the “<i>Antilogia</i>” -were “Englished” by some competent hand. Abbott was made Bishop of -Salisbury, partly on account of the learning he displayed in his -“<i>Antilogia</i>.” He was a Calvinist, and a vigorous writer, being styled -“the hammer of Popery and Arminianism.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Lancelot Andrewes (in answer to Cardinal Bellarmine) and Isaac -Casaubon also contributed to the literature of the controversies anent the -Plot, and modern editions of their works with notes are desiderata. -Casaubon is best known, at the present day, through his “<i>Life</i>,” by Mark -Pattison; Andrewes, through the late Dr. R. W. Church’s “Lecture,” now in -“<i>The Pascal</i>” volume (Macmillan) of that judicious and learned man.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_403" id="Footnote_170_403"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_170_403">[170]</a> — See Jardine’s “<i>Criminal Trials</i>,” vol. ii., p. 120, -quoting “<i>Apologia</i>,” p. 200. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Everard Digby was the only conspirator who pleaded “guilty,” and he -was arraigned by a different Indictment from that which charged the rest -of the surviving conspirators.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_404" id="Footnote_171_404"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_171_404">[171]</a> — My contention is that the conclusion is inevitable to the -discerning mind that the sphinx-like nescience — the face set like a -flint — with which Oldcorne met Littleton’s inquiry, displays indisputable -evidence of a sub-consciousness on Oldcorne’s part, of what? Of a -<i>special</i>, <i>private</i>, <i>official knowledge</i> (as distinct from a general, -public, personal knowledge) of what had been intended to be the executed -Gunpowder Plot, but which Oldcorne himself had thwarted, and so prevented -everlastingly any one single human creature being able, even for the -infinitesimal part of an instant, to contemplate “<i>post factum</i>” — after -the fact — and in the concrete; which, indeed, judged “from the outside,” -and as the bulk of mankind are entitled to judge it, was the only side or -aspect of the baleful enterprise that was of practical and, therefore, to -them, of paramount personal consequence. The conspirator John Grant -expressed the state of the case exactly when he said in Westminster Hall, -after being asked what he could say wherefore judgment of death should not -be pronounced against him, “He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but -never effected.”</p></div> - -<!--443.png--><p><span class="pagenum">405</span></p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_405" id="Footnote_172_405"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_172_405">[172]</a> — See Butler’s “<i>Memoirs of English Catholics</i>,” vol. ii., -p. 260. See also Gerard’s “<i>Narrative</i>.” — It is possible (according to -Gerard) that Oldcorne may have been even still more cruelly tortured, -namely, as Dr. Lingard says, during five hours for each of five successive -days; but to me, humanly speaking, this is incredible.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_406" id="Footnote_173_406"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_173_406">[173]</a> — Father Edward Oldcorne and Brother Ralph Ashley are both, -along with others, now styled by Rome, “Venerable Servants of God.” The -Decree introducing the cause of these “English Martyrs,” dated 1886, and -signed by the present Pope, Leo XIII., is kept in the English College at -Rome, where Oldcorne had himself entered as a student a little more than -three hundred and four years previously, namely, in 1582. -</p> - -<p> -Through the truly kind courtesy of the Right Rev. Monsignor Giles, D.D., -President of the English College, Rome, the writer was privileged to see, -along with the Rev. Father Darby, O.S.B., and some other gentlemen, this -Decree in the afternoon of Saturday, the 13th of October, 1900, the Feast -of St. Edward the Confessor, King of England. In the forenoon of the same -day the first great band of the English Pilgrims for the Holy Year, the -Year of Jubilee, had received, in St. Peter’s, the Papal Blessing, amid -great rejoicing, the apse or place of honour in this, the largest Church -in Christendom, being graciously accorded to these fifteen hundred British -Catholic subjects of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_407" id="Footnote_174_407"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_174_407">[174]</a> — As to the precise teaching of the theologians of Father -Oldcorne’s Church respecting the famous dictum of St. Augustine of Hippo, -“<i>Extra ecclesiam nulla salus</i>,” see the book of the once celebrated Douay -theologian, Dr. Hawarden, entitled, “<i>Charity and Truth; or Catholics not -uncharitable in saying that none are saved out of the Catholic Communion, -because the rule is not universal</i>” (1728). And, again, that great -Yorkshire son of St. Philip Neri, Dr. Frederic William Faber, an -ultramontane papist of the ultramontane papists, has thus recorded his own -potent testimony on this subject in his singularly able and beautiful -work, entitled, “<i>The Creator and the Creature</i>,” first edition, p. 368. -</p> - -<p> -Dr. Faber says: “We are speaking of Catholics. If our thoughts break their -bounds and run out beyond the Church, nothing that has been said has been -said with any view to those without. I have no profession of faith to make -about them, except that God is infinitely merciful to every soul; that no -one ever has been, or ever can be, lost by surprise or trapped in his -ignorance; and as to those who may be lost, I -confidently<!--444.png--><span class="pagenum">406</span> -believe that our -Heavenly Father threw His arms round each created spirit, and looked it -full in the face with bright eyes of love in the darkness of its mortal -life, and that of its own deliberate will it would not have Him.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_408" id="Footnote_175_408"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_175_408">[175]</a> — Either from the phonograph or even the shorthand scribe.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_409" id="Footnote_176_409"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_176_409">[176]</a> — Are the Indictments in existence of Father Oldcorne and -Ralph Ashley, who seem to have been tried in the Shire Hall, Worcester, at -the Lent Assizes of 1606? If so, they and extracts from any Minute Books -still extant bearing on the subject would be of great interest and value -to the historical Inquirer, if published.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_410" id="Footnote_177_410"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_177_410">[177]</a> — Oldcorne realized experimentally, in the final action of -the great tragedy, what it means, as Goethe has it, for a man “to adjust -his compass at the Cross.” -</p> - -<p> -And than Oldcorne no human creature ever lived that had a better right to -anticipate those magnificent words of triumph over death of one of -Yorkshire’s supremest geniuses: “<i>If my barque sink, ’tis to another -sea.</i>”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_411" id="Footnote_178_411"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_178_411">[178]</a> — In Morris’s “<i>Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers</i>,” -third series, p. 325, we read: “In 1572 John Oldcorne is one of the four -sworn men against the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected -of papistry, for St. Sampson’s parish.” -</p> - -<p> -Again, under date April 10th, 1577, we read: “And now also John Oldcorne, -of St. Sampson’s parish, who cometh not to the church on Sundays and -holidays, personally appeared before these presents, and sayeth he is -content to suffer the churchwarden of the same parish to take his -distresses for his offence.” -</p> - -<p> -There is also for January, 1598, the following pathetic entry concerning -the mother of Father Oldcorne: — -</p> - -<p> -“Monckewarde Saint Sampson’s, Elizabeth Awdcorne, alias Oldcorne, old and -lame a recusant.” -</p> - -<p> -York is now divided into six wards for the purposes of municipal -government, namely: Bootham, Monk, Micklegate, Walmgate, Guildhall, and -Castlegate. Until the nineteenth century there were only the first four -wards, which, indeed, corresponded to the four great Gates or chief Ways -for entering the City. -</p> - -<p> -The writer remembers with pleasure that, now some years ago, his -fellow-citizens of Micklegate Ward, on the west side of York, did him the -honour of electing him to occupy a seat, for the term of three -years,<!--445.png--><span class="pagenum">407</span> -in -the Council Chamber of his native City, which, he is proud to remember, -was the City wherein first drew the breath of life Edward Oldcorne; one, -he has every reason to believe, whose keen, sane mind, and ready, skilful -hand were instrumental, under Heaven, in penning that immortal document -which saved the life, certainly, of King James I., of His Royal Consort -Queen Anne of Denmark, of Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles Duke of York, -afterwards King Charles I., as well as the life of the Lords Spiritual and -Temporal, the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, and many Foreign -Ambassadors, in the year of grace 1605, now well-nigh three centuries ago. -</p> - -<p> -As some readers may be, perchance, interested in a few particulars -concerning the ancient Parish of St. Sampson, which is in the heart of the -City of York, close to the Market Place, I propose to mention a few. First -of all, then, the ancient parish church which bears the name of the old -British Saint, St. Sampson, is pre-eminently one of “the grey old churches -of our native land,” whereof in the reign of King Henry V. (Shakespeare’s -ideal English monarch) there were in the City of York and its suburbs no -less than forty-one, though in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the -number was reduced. That forty-one was the number originally we know from -a subsidy of Parliament which granted to King Harry, in 1413, two -shillings in the pound leviable on all spirituals and temporals in the -realm for carrying on the then war with France. — See Drake’s “<i>Eboracum</i>,” -p. 234. -</p> - -<p> -St. Sampson’s Church consists of a lower nave and chancel with north and -south aisles to both, extending nearly to the west base of the tower. The -architecture of the church is in the decorated and the perpendicular -styles. King Richard III., in 1393, granted the advowson of this church to -the Vicars Choral of York Minster. The present Vicar (1901) is the Rev. -William Haworth, one of the Vicars Choral of the Minster, to whom I am -indebted for information respecting the Registers of St. Sampson’s Church -and the Church of Holy Trinity, King’s Court, or Christ’s. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Councillor John Earle Wilkinson, “mine host” of the “Garrick’s Head” -Hotel, Low Petergate, York, who was the Guardian of the Poor for the old -Parish of St. Sampson (as he is now the Guardian for Ward No. 2 of the -United Parish of York), kindly informed me on the 10th July, 1901, that -the following streets are in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Sampson. -Hence we may conclude that it was in a house in one of these streets that -were spent the earliest years of Edward Oldcorne, the son of John -Oldcorne, Tiler, and of Elizabeth, his -wife:<!--446.png--><span class="pagenum">408</span> — -</p> - -<p> -(1) Church Street, a street between the Market Place (which Market Place -is formed by St. Sampson’s Square and Parliament Street) and Goodramgate -towards Monk Bar. Here is St. Sampson’s Church. -</p> - -<p> -(2) Patrick Pool, to the east of St. Sampson’s Church. -</p> - -<p> -(3) The right-hand side of Newgate, leading into High Jubbergate (formerly -Jews-Gate). -</p> - -<p> -(4) Little Shambles and Pump Yard. -</p> - -<p> -(5) That part of Parliament Street on the south-west which includes the -site of the York City and County Bank. -</p> - -<p> -(6) That part of Parliament Street on the north-east which includes Mr. F. -H. Vaughan’s “Clock” Hotel. -</p> - -<p> -(7) Silver Street, to the west of St. Sampson’s Church, connecting Church -Street with High Jubbergate. -</p> - -<p> -(8) On the north side of Church Street, opposite St. Sampson’s Church, -Swinegate. -</p> - -<p> -Finkle Street. -</p> - -<p> -(9) Back (or Little) Swinegate, between Swinegate and Finkle Street. -</p> - -<p> -(10) That part of Little Stonegate which includes the back part of the -premises of Messrs. Myers and Burnell, Coachbuilders, and the Model -Lodging House opposite. -</p> - -<p> -(11) Coffee Yard. -</p> - -<p> -(12) The top part of Grape Lane (leading into Low Petergate), which -adjoins Coffee Yard and the north end of Swinegate. -</p> - -<p> -(13) St. Sampson’s Square (forming part of the Market Place). -</p> - -<p> -Some of the old Elizabethan dwelling-houses and shops in these streets and -yards, built of oak (doubtless from the famous Galtres Forest, northward -of York), with their projecting stories of lath and plaster, happily, are -still standing, “rich with the spoils of time,” and the eyes of Edward -Oldcorne must have, many a time and oft, gazed upon them at that momentous -period of life when “the child is father of the man.” -</p> - -<p> -Besides these ancient dwelling-houses and shops, relics of the Past, the -grey old Parish Church of St. Sampson must have been one of the sights -which, from the earliest dawn of reason, entered into the historic -“imagination” of the great Elizabethan Englishman, who was destined to -become a learned student at Rheims and Rome and “to see much of many men -and many cities” before he came to England, in the year 1588, the year of -the Spanish Armada. -</p> - -<p> -Another familiar object to the future honoured friend and trusted -counsellor of Mr. and Mrs. Abington and the highest in the land would be -also the old Market Cross, which stood in the middle of St. -Sampson’s<!--447.png--><span class="pagenum">409</span> -Square, then, and even still sometimes, called Thursday Market. — See -Gent’s “<i>York</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -The fact that during the month of December, 1901, the claim of the ancient -City of York to be specially represented, through its Lord Mayor, on the -occasion of the forthcoming Coronation of His Most Gracious Majesty King -Edward VII., was considered by the Court of Claims next after the claim of -the City of London, is interesting evidence to show that the City of -Edward Oldcorne is still counted the second City of the British Empire, -notwithstanding that such claim was disallowed.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_412" id="Footnote_179_412"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_179_412">[179]</a> — Sir Edward Hoby was a man of parts, a learned diplomatist -and able Protestant controversialist. — See “<i>National Dictionary of -Biography</i>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_413" id="Footnote_180_413"></a><a class="label" href="#FNanchor_180_413">[180]</a> — Nichols’ “<i>Progresses of James I.</i>,” pp. 584-587. (The -italics are mine.)</p></div> - -<!--448.png--><p><span class="pagenum">410</span></p> - -<p><i>Sub-note to Note 178.</i></p> - -<p>In 1572 John Oldcorne, we are told, was one of the four “sworn men against -the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected of papistry, for -St. Sampson’s parish.” This is very interesting; for on the 22nd day of -August, 1572, at three o’clock in the afternoon, “the Blessed” Thomas -Percy, “the good Erle of Northumberland,” was beheaded in The Pavement, at -the east end of All Saints’ Church. He was buried in old St. Crux Church, -adjoining The Pavement; and it is possible, I conjecture, that John -Oldcorne may have been sworn in as a special constable to help to keep the -peace on the occasion of the beheading of the Earl, who held the hearts of -nine-tenths of the people of York and Yorkshire, as well as of “the North -Countrie” generally, at the time of his long and deeply lamented death.</p> - -<p>The York “Tyburn,” in the middle of the Tadcaster High-road, opposite Hob -Moor Gate, Knavesmire, was abolished at the beginning of the nineteenth -century.</p> - -<p>John Oldcorne, the father of Father Edward Oldcorne, is described as a -Bricklayer as well as a Tiler. I think he was a “Master,” in partnership, -maybe, with his brother, Thomas Oldcorne, a great sufferer for the -Catholic Faith, whose wife, Alice, died — a prisoner for her conscience — in -the Kidcote, on Old Ouse Bridge, and whose body was buried on Toft Green, -near to Micklegate Bar. — See Foley’s “<i>Records</i>,” vol. iv. — The name -Oldcorne is not now found in the City of York.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<!--449.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span></p> - -<h2>FINIS.</h2> - -<p>A task at once pleasurable and laborious is at length accomplished, and -the writer humbly sends forth into the world his modest contribution -towards the literature of the Gunpowder Treason Plot.</p> - -<p>Errors, whether in matters of Fact or in points of Reasoning and Argument, -the author will be gratefully obliged by his readers at an early date -pointing out to him.</p> - -<p>Should his book be read by any of our kith and kin in His Most Gracious -Majesty’s Dominions beyond the seas, whom “the stern behests of Duty” have -bidden “with strangers make their home,” as well as by professed students -of History and the general citizen reader in the United Kingdom of Great -Britain and Ireland, then will be the writer’s joy great indeed.</p> - -<p>The author desires to tender his respectful and cordial thanks to the -Authorities of the following Libraries for the use of their valuable, and -not seldom invaluable, works: — (1) The Minster Library, York; (2) the -Minster Library, Ripon; (3) the British Museum, London; (4) the Free -Library, York; (5) the Free Library, Leeds; (6) the Free Library, Preston; -(7) the Free Library, Wigan; and (8) the Albert Library, York.</p> - -<p>Also the like thanks to the following persons of divers nationalities, -creeds, and parties. Their aid and assistance have been of various kinds: -sometimes the loan of rare and costly books for a twelve-month -together;<!--450.png--><span class="pagenum">412</span> -in certain cases, advice and counsel; in other cases, the revising of -proof sheets, the translation from foreign tongues, and the transcription -of Elizabethan and Jacobean documents: — </p> - -<p>To the Rev. F. A. Russell, York, formerly of India; the Rev. Edmond Nolan, -B.A., St. Edmund’s House, Cambridge; the Rev. Richard Sharp, S.J., -Skipton-in-Craven, Yorks.; the Rev. George Machell, York; the Rev. Louis -Tils, York, formerly of Germany; the Rev. H. Rawlings, M.A., York, -formerly of South Africa; the Rev. T. Harrington, Brosna, Co. Kerry, -Ireland; the Rev. H. A. Geurts, Bishop Thornton, Ripon, Yorks., formerly -of Holland; the Rev. E. J. Hickey, Lartington, North Yorks.; A. E. -Chapman, LL.D., York; A. Neave Brayshaw, B.A., LL.B., York; Oswald C. B. -Brown, York, Solicitor (author of “<i>The Life of the Venerable Richard -Langley: a Martyr of the Yorkshire Wolds</i>”); G. Laycock Brown, York, -Solicitor; Miss Emma M. Walford, 45, Bernard St., Russell Square, London, -W.C.; Miss Georgina Kirby, York House, Middlesbrough, Yorks.; Mr. Ralph -Currie, York; and Mr. John Sampson, York.</p> - -<p>Lastly, to all other kind friends who may have rendered assistance, but -whose names do not occur <i>either</i> in the work itself <i>or</i> in the -above-mentioned list, the writer begs to offer his sincere -acknowledgments.</p> - -<!--451.png--> - -<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Printed by<br /> -The Yorkshire Herald Newspaper Company, Limited,<br /> -York.</span></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="c3"><a name="Changes" id="Changes"></a>TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS</div> - -<p>Transcriber’s Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Footnotes with -alphabetic tags now generally follow the referencing paragraph. -Footnotes with numeric tags are located near the end of the work. The -publisher’s inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been -corrected. Duplicative book and chapter front matter has been removed. -The book cover image possibly seen in the web pages that access this ebook is -from hathitrust.org. -</p> - -<p>The following list indicates any additional changes made. The page -number represents that of the original publication and applies in this -etext except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been -moved.</p> - -<pre> -Page Change - - 2 See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in ( )[[ ]] - 2 ['Local' footnotes are indicated with A-Z, not numerals.] -168 This lady was the the[Delete.] above-named Dowager -174 Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging [to] a comparatively inferior -176 his aid for the rebellion.[Omitted footnote tag added here.] -192 the point of a needle?”[Omitted footnote tag added here.] -248 owned by the Rev. Charles Slingsby Slingsby[Delete.], -251 and from tyme to to[Delete.] tyme, -306 William Grauntham[Grantham]. -387 Again; Fawkes, we are told by Endæmon[Eudæmon], -</pre> - -<div style="padding-top: 1em;"><a href="#Start">Start of text.</a></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - -***** This file should be named 40029-h.htm or 40029-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/2/40029/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter - Being a Proof, with Moral Certitude, of the Authorship of - the Document: Together with Some Account of the Whole - Thirteen Gunpowder Conspirators, Including Guy Fawkes - -Author: Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -Release Date: June 18, 2012 [EBook #40029] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated -faithfully except as shown in the TRANSCRIBER'S AMENDMENTS near the end of -the text. To preserve the alignment of tables and headers, this etext -presumes a mono-spaced font on the user's device, such as Courier New. -Words in italics are indicated like _this_. Superscripts are indicated -like this: S^{ta} Maria. Numerically-tagged footnotes are in the -FOOTNOTES: section near the end of the text. [oe] represents the oe -ligature. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: PLOWLAND HOUSE, HOLDERNESS, E.R. YORKSHIRE.] - - - - - THE GUNPOWDER PLOT - - AND - - LORD MOUNTEAGLE'S LETTER; - BEING A PROOF, WITH MORAL CERTITUDE, OF - THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT: - - TOGETHER WITH - - SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE THIRTEEN - GUNPOWDER CONSPIRATORS, - INCLUDING - GUY FAWKES. - - - BY - - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - (_A Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England_). - - - LONDON: - SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD. - - YORK: - JOHN SAMPSON. - - 1902. - [_All rights reserved._] - - - "_Veritas temporis filia._ Truth is the daughter of Time, - especially in this case, wherein, by timely and often - examinations, matters of greatest moment have been found - out."--SIR EDWARD COKE (_the Attorney-General who prosecuted the - eight surviving conspirators_). - - "Suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which - History has the power to inflict on Wrong."--LORD ACTON. - - "History, it is said, revises the verdicts of contemporaries, - and constitutes an Appeal Court nearest to the ordeal of - heaven."--DR. JAMES MARTINEAU. - - - TO - - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES LINDLEY - SECOND VISCOUNT HALIFAX - - OF HICKLETON AND GARROWBY - IN THE COUNTY OF YORK - ONE OF YORKSHIRE'S MOST GIFTED AND DISTINGUISHED SONS - THIS BOOK - WHICH - AMONGST OTHER THINGS - TELLS OF SOME OF THE WORDS AND DEEDS - OF CERTAIN YORKSHIREMEN IN - THE DAYS OF SHAKESPEARE - IS - (BY KIND PERMISSION) - MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED - BY THE AUTHOR. - - - BLAND'S COURT, - CONEY STREET, - YORK. - - TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE - VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - - My Lord, - -The book which your characteristic generosity has permitted me to dedicate -to you wears a two-fold aspect. For it is as to one portion--and -predominantly--an Inquiry taking the form of a discourse with questions -and proofs, propositions and demonstrations. While as to another -portion--but subordinately--it is a History taking the form of a narrative -of events, a relation of mental occurrences, a statement of concrete -facts. Now these twain aspects will be found duly to play their respective -parts in the course of the subsequent pages, in accordance with a selected -order and method. - -With most of the allegations of fact and the inferences therefrom, and -with many of the assumptions and conclusions which this work contains, -your Lordship will agree. From others you will disagree. Whilst in the -case of a third class, it may be that you will deem a suspension of -judgment to be the part which wisdom and justice alike enjoin. - -Speaking for myself, both as a man and as a native of our great County of -Yorkshire--whose sons are at once speculative and practical, imaginative -and concrete--necessity, in the form of an imperative sense of duty, has -been laid upon me, to declare, with unmistakable emphasis and -straightforward directness, what I hold to be the Truth governing the -subject-matter wherewith I have sought to deal. For TRUTH IS THAT WHICH -IS, AND ITS CONTRADICTORY IS ERROR. This line of action I have pursued -with the greater determination, inasmuch as daily observation of external -events--and, if less frequent, still actual reflection thereupon--has -strongly convinced me, even against my will, that much of the "forcible -feebleness" and most of the "stable instability" of modern British -Statesmen and Politicians have their origin and rise in nothing else than -this:--lack of clarity of thought and want of knowledge of those, fixed -fundamental intellectual, moral, and political principles which ought to -be the sure inheritance of the human Race. And pre-eminently of that -portion of the Race which is conscious of a lofty imperial mission. "For -evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart." - -The ancient Stagyrite ranked Poetry above History, because the former -bequeaths to Man universal principles of action, whereas the latter -bestows upon Man only a relation of individual facts. - -But the History of the Gunpowder Treason Plot rises to a higher unity. -Because for a man to have read and mastered an impartial record of that -deliberate and appalling scheme of "sacrilegious murder," which happily -Destiny first frustrated, and afterwards, through Nemesis, her unerring -executioner, signally avenged in the sight of all men, is to have -witnessed, with the eye of the historic imagination, a drama that is a -poem in action. - -Nay, more; it is to have had a personal, experimental realization, through -the historic feeling, of what is meant, in the realm of Moral actualities, -by the infliction of Retribution, the working out of Expiation, the -regaining of Justness, the restoration of Equality between outraged Right -and outraging Wrong, and the attaining by the tempestuous, passionate -human heart of final tranquillity, rest, and peace. - -For one of the greatest recorded Tragedies in the world is the History of -the Gunpowder Treason Plot, regard being had to the intellectual and moral -ends effected by that history's recital. - -The man who has truly, if indeed but commemoratively, through force of the -medium of language merely, taken his part in this great Action, even at a -distance of well-nigh three hundred years, will have had his soul cleansed -and purified by cleansed and purified pity and terror. Then will he have -had that soul soothed and healed. He will have been first abased and then -exalted. - -For so to act is to weep with a Humanity that weeps. Then with that same -Humanity to join in a triumphant paean of victory that has for its -universal and glorious theme this reality of realities which cannot be -broken, namely, that Universe--whereof Man, though not the measure, -constitutes so large a part--is primevally founded and everlastingly -established in Goodness, Being, and Truth. - -Trusting that your Lordship will crown your gracious kindness by pardoning -the great length of this Introductory Letter, - - I beg to remain, - My dear Lord Halifax, - Yours sincerely and gratefully, - HENRY HAWKES SPINK, JUN. - - _Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - - * * * * * - -Tragedy primarily implies imitation of Action by action, not by language, -although of course language forms a constituent part. - - See the "_Poetics of Aristotle_," chap. vi. - - -"Although it is by no means proved to be impossible that this nobleman -[Lord Mounteagle] was a guilty confederate in the Plot, the weight of -evidence is at present in his favour. It is, however, a most curious State -mystery: and I am persuaded that, if the truth is ever discovered, it will -not be by State papers, or recorded confessions and examinations. When -such expert artists as Bacon and Cecil framed and propagated a State -fiction in order to cover a State intrigue, they took care to cut off or -divert the channels of history so effectually as to make it hopeless, at -the distance of three centuries to trace the truth by means of documents -which have ever been in their control. If the mystery should hereafter be -unravelled, it will be probably by the discovery of some letters or papers -of a domestic nature, which either slumber in private repositories, or -remain unnoticed in public collections."--_Letter by David Jardine, Editor -of_ "Criminal Trials," _to Sir Henry Ellis, F.R.S._, "Archaeologia," _pp. -94-95. Dated 30th November, 1840._ - - - - - PREFACE. - - -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 History. - -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 _causa causans_, therefore it is of perennial interest to -governors and governed. - -The _causa causans_, 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 -allow freedom of human action, and yet faithfully to maintain Absolute -Truth concerning the Infinite and the 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 reasoning from necessary or probable philosophical -assumptions, the writer has designedly interspersed, both in the Text and -in the Notes, matter of a Biographical and Topographical nature, -especially such as hath relation to the author's honoured 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 by 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: _Cf._, "_The Ethic of Free-thought_," by Professor Karl -Pearson. (Adam and Charles Black, 1901.)] - -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 days of King James I.--the -British Solomon--down to the days of Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, the -renowned historian of the early English Stuarts, the author's answer and -plea must be--for it can only be--that by the decrees of Fate, _his_ eyes -first saw the light of the sun in a County whose history is an epitome of -the history of the English people; and in a City which is an England in -miniature. - -In conclusion, the writer would be fain to be pardoned in saying that he -has not had the advantage 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,"[A] has been "the high -white star of Truth. THERE he has gazed, and THERE aspired."[B] - -_Saturday, 26th October, 1901._ - -[Footnote A: Wordsworth.] - -[Footnote B: Matthew Arnold.] - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX vii - - PREFACE xiii - - PRELUDE xxxv - - Three movements against Government of James I. 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 I. 1 - - Reasons given why subordinate conspirator, Francis Tresham, cannot - have "discovered" Plot--True principles laid down to guide mind - of Inquirer into _personnel_ of (1) Revealing Conspirator, (2) - Penman of Letter. - - CHAPTER 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 III. 6 - - Who was Lord Mounteagle?--Ancestry--Father: Lord Morley--Title, - Mounteagle, derived through mother, Honourable Elizabeth - Stanley, heiress of William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle-- - Mother akin to Howards through Leybournes of Westmoreland. - - CHAPTER IV. 9 - - Lord Mounteagle receives Letter 26th October, 1605, between "six - and seven of the clock," at Hoxton, near London--Opened by - Mounteagle--Read by a member of his household, Thomas Ward--Full - text of Letter given--27th 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 - Secretary of State--28th October, Winter repairs to White Webbs - by Enfield Chase, ten miles north of Westminster--Informs - Catesby that "game was up"--Catesby says "would see further as - yet"--Guy Fawkes sent from White Webbs to view cellar under - House of Lords--Finds all marks undisturbed--Thirty-six barrels - of gunpowder, wood, and coal all ready for fatal Fifth--Fawkes - returns at night safely--Thomas Winter meets (or is met by) - subordinate conspirator, Christopher Wright--Fawkes captured - early on Tuesday, November 5th--Christopher Wright announces to - Thomas Winter Fawkes' capture. - - CHAPTER V. 14 - - In reign of Queen Elizabeth and early part of James I., "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 VIII.'s religious - "change" and that of his progeny, King Edward VI. and Queen - Elizabeth, unlikely to be acceptable "all on a sudden" to bulk - of English people--Why?--Penal Legislation against Papists on - part of Government--Jesuits in England, 1580--Campion and - Parsons--Three Classes of English Jesuits--Mystics, _or_ - Politicians--Mystics _and_ Politicians--The thirteen Gunpowder - plotters well-disposed towards Jesuits--But plotters only - Politicians. - - CHAPTER VI. 19 - - Sir William Catesby (father of the arch-conspirator Robert - Catesby) and Sir Thomas Tresham (father of Francis Tresham), - fine old English gentlemen--Types of best class of Elizabethan - Catholic gentry--Both persecuted by Government--Sir Thomas - Tresham for more than twenty years pays for Fines equal in our - money to L2,080 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 - Gunpowder Treason Plot. - - CHAPTER VII. 21 - - All thirteen plotters "gentlemen of name and blood" (save Thomas - Bates, a respectable serving-man of Catesby)--Names of plotters - as follow:--Robert Catesby (Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire)-- - Thomas Winter (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)-- - Thomas Percy (Beverley, E.R. Yorkshire)--John Wright (Plowland, - Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)--Guy (or Guido) Fawkes (York)-- - Robert Keyes (Drayton, Northamptonshire)--Christopher Wright - (Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire)--Robert Winter, - (Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire)--Ambrose Rookwood - (Coldham, Stanningfield, Suffolk)--John Grant (Norbrook, - Warwickshire)--Sir Everard Digby (Gothurst, near Newport - Pagnell, Buckinghamshire)--Francis Tresham (Rushton, - Northamptonshire)--Four out of conspirators natives of - Yorkshire: Thomas Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and - Guy (or Guido) Fawkes--Five others indirectly connected with it: - Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Grant, Robert Keyes, and - Ambrose Rookwood--Thomas Winter and Robert Winter, grandsons of - distinguished Knight, Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley Castle, - near Knaresbrough 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 Huddersfield. - - CHAPTER VIII. (same continued) 26 - - CHAPTER IX. 32 - - Jesuit Father Edward Oldcorne a native of York--Oswald Tesimond - most probably a native of York likewise--Before going to Rheims - and Rome Oldcorne studied medicine. - - CHAPTER X. 35 - - Further analysis of problem as to what conspirator would be likely - to "discover" Plot--A subordinate plotter--Introduced late into - Plot--One 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 Go-between with - Government--Christopher Wright, Edward Oldcorne, Thomas Ward. - - CHAPTER XI. 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 Wright sworn - in to help in mining work "soon after"--Text of conspirators' - secret oath. - - CHAPTER XII. 40 - - Christopher Wright's family further described--Father: Robert - Wright, Esquire, of Plowland, Holderness--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, Margaret Wright, possibly _nee_ - Margaret Ward, of the Wards, of Mulwith. - - CHAPTER XIII. 45 - - Edward Oldcorne described--A native of St. Sampson's Parish, York-- - A student of medicine--Goes to Rheims 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 the 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 - mental equipoise. - - CHAPTER XIV. 48 - - "The Letter" critically examined. - - 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 Ward?--Almost certainly - brother-in-law to Christopher Wright--Proofs of this assertion-- - Entry of marriage in St. Michael-le-Belfrey'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 "Marjory 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 Wright and Thomas Warde, at least between years 1589 - and 1590 inclusive--Thomas Warde probably in diplomatic service - of Queen Elizabeth, under Sir Francis Walsingham--Probably sent - on mission to Low Countries in 1585. - - CHAPTER XVIII. 63 - - Proof that William Ward, 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. - - CHAPTER XIX. 68 - - Inference drawn that Christopher Wright, Thomas Warde, and Lord - Mounteagle were personally acquainted. - - CHAPTER XX. 70 - - Marmaduke Ward at Lapworth, in Warwickshire--Arrested by - Government--Released--Inference that he had a powerful friend at - Court. - - CHAPTER XXI. 74 - - Suggested proof of how Mounteagle came to be associated with - Thomas Ward--Biographical and Topographical evidence adduced in - support. - - CHAPTER XXII. (same continued) 76 - - CHAPTER XXIII. (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 Ward. - - CHAPTER XXV. 87 - - Thomas Ward sees Thomas Winter, one of the chief conspirators-- - Suggested inference that Christopher Wright had bidden Thomas - Ward so to do--In order to compass flight of rest of - conspirators. - - CHAPTER XXVI. 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 XXVII. 92 - - Tresham tells Winter that Government knew of existence of _the - mine_--How had Government such knowledge?--Suggested - concatenation of evidence that Christopher Wright told fact to - Thomas Ward (or Warde); Ward to Lord Mounteagle; Mounteagle to - Francis Tresham; Tresham to Thomas Winter. - - CHAPTER XXVIII. 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. 96 - - Quotation from "_King's Book_"--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, 4th November--Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder - stored ready for firing by Fawkes on fatal Fifth. - - CHAPTER XXX. 99 - - Quotation from the "_Hatfield MSS._," giving account of meeting at - Fremland, Essex, in July, 1605--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 Roman - Catholic gentleman--Belike of the swashbuckler type. - - CHAPTER XXXI. 102 - - Christopher Wright. - - CHAPTER XXXII. 104 - - Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie (or Newby), near Ripon, comes up to - Lapworth, in Warwickshire--Lapworth, the birthplace of - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby--One of the large Catesby - Warwickshire possessions--In May, 1605, Lapworth let by Catesby - to John Wright--Marmaduke Ward, brother-in-law to John Wright - and Christopher Wright, arrives at Lapworth about 24th October, - 1605--Suggestion that Marmaduke Ward was sent for by Thomas - Ward--In order, haply, to prevail upon brothers Wright to - abandon scheme of insurrectionary stir in Midlands. - - CHAPTER XXXIII. 107 - - What _objections_ against hypothesis that Christopher Wright was - Revealing conspirator?--What _objections_ against hypothesis - 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 XXXIV. 110 - - Evidence of a certain Dr. Williams, of reign of Charles II., - author of pamphlet purporting to be History of the Gunpowder - 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 Vaux, one of the daughters of - William Lord Vaux of Harrowden--Story told, examined, and - disposed of. - - CHAPTER XXXVI. 116 - - 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 - perspicacity. - - 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 XXXVIII. 124 - - Old Dutch print, published immediately after detection of Plot - (reprinted in "_Connoisseur_" for November, 1901), shows - Christopher Wright in act of engaging in earnest discourse with - arch-conspirator Robert Catesby--Slightly tends to confirm - tradition that (1) Christopher Wright first ascertained that - Plot was discovered, and that (2) Christopher Wright counselled - that "each conspirator should betake himself to flight in a - different direction from any of his companions." - - CHAPTER XXXIX. 126 - - 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 Robinson, Christopher Wright's - London landlady, as to padlocked hampers, evidently containing - fresh gunpowder. - - CHAPTER XL. 131 - - Conspirators are "shriven" and "houselled" at Huddington by Jesuit - Father Nicholas Hart--Ambrose Rookwood--Rookwood "absolved" by - the Jesuit priest "without remark"--Reason why suggested. - - CHAPTER XLI. (same continued) 134 - - CHAPTER XLII. 136 - - Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of - State, instructs Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, _to disclaim - that any of these wrote 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 Gunpowder 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. - - CHAPTER XLV. 148 - - Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court), in Warwickshire, ancestral - home of grand old English Roman Catholic family of Throckmorton-- - Father Henry Garnet, Superior of English Jesuits, harboured here - from 29th October, 1605, to 16th December, 1605--Father Oswald - Tesimond at Coughton on Wednesday, 6th November--Bates sent with - letters from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father Garnet and - Lady Digby--Bates despatched from Norbrook, in Warwickshire-- - Arrives at Coughton--Fathers Garnet and Tesimond have conference - for half-an-hour--Garnet gives leave to Tesimond to proceed to - Huddington, in Worcestershire--Whither conspirators and rebels - were come, early on Wednesday, 6th November--Tesimond arrives at - Huddington--Psycho-electrical will force of Catesby works on - mind of Tesimond--Tesimond inspired with rebellious ardour - against Government--Dashes on to Hindlip, within five miles of - Huddington. - - CHAPTER XLVI. 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--Rides off - towards Lancashire in hope of rousing to arms dwellers in that - Catholic county. - - CHAPTER XLVII. 154 - - Who and what was Father 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. - - CHAPTER XLVIII. (same continued) 157 - - CHAPTER XLIX. 160 - - At the end of August, 1605, Garnet leaves London for Gothurst-- - Famous pilgrimage to St. Winifred's Well, Flintshire, North - Wales, about 5th September, made from Gothurst--Lady Digby, - Ambrose Rookwood and his wife, the Honourable Anne Vaux, and - upwards of thirty others, join the pilgrim-band--Father Garnet - and Father Percy, chaplain to Sir Everard Digby, lead the - cavalcade--Away about a fortnight. - - CHAPTER L. 165 - - Pilgrims return from St. 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. - - CHAPTER LI. 167 - - 4th October, 1605, Father Garnet at Great Harrowden--Pens a long - letter to Father Parsons in Rome. - - CHAPTER LII. 169 - - 21st October, Father Garnet at Gothurst (most probably)--Pens a - short _post scriptum_ 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 LIII. (Chapters XLV. and XLVI. with more particularity) 172 - - Sir Everard Digby rents Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire--Sir - Everard to be in command of Midland Rising against Government-- - Many Catholic gentlemen from Midland counties expected to rebel - by reason of galling anti-Catholic persecution--Sir Everard - Digby, on Sunday, 3rd November, rides to Dunchurch, near Rugby, - in Warwickshire--Robert Winter, of Huddington, joined by Stephen - Littleton, of Holbeach, Staffordshire, also by latter's cousin, - Humphrey Littleton--Tuesday, November 5th, Cousins Littleton, - Sir Robert Digby (Coleshill), younger Acton (Ribbesford), 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 Wrights, and - Ambrose Rookwood rush into ancient mansion-house of Catesbies - at Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire--Announce capture of - Fawkes--Hold short council of war--Snatch up weapons of warfare-- - North-westwards that November night--Arrive at Dunchurch Inn-- - Digby 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 Warwick by - three of the clock on Wednesday morning--From stables near - Warwick Castle take fresh horses, leaving their own steeds in - exchange therefor--Dash on towards John Grant's "moated grange," - Norbrook, Snitterfield (where Shakespeare's mother held - property)--At Norbrook "take bite and sup"--Rest their fatigued - limbs awhile--On saddle-back once more--This time bound for - Huddington, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, the seat of Robert - Winter--Arrive there probably about twelve o'clock noon of - Wednesday (some authorities say two o'clock in the afternoon)-- - Tesimond 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--Whole company "shriven and - houselled"--Before daybreak all on march again north-westwards-- - Halt at Whewell Grange, seat of the Lord Windsor--There help - themselves to large store of arms and armour--Plotters and - rebels then numbered about sixty all told--Cross the River - Stour, in flood--A cart of gunpowder rendered "dank" in - crossing--Proceed to Holbeach House, in Staffordshire-- - Mansion-house of Stephen Littleton, Esquire, a Roman Catholic - gentleman of ancient lineage. - - CHAPTER LIV. 177 - - High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire with _posse - comitatus_ 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 to prayers-- - "Litanies and such like"--Make an hour's "meditation"--About - eleven of the clock on Friday, 8th November, Sheriff of - Worcestershire and "hue and cry" surround Holbeach--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 mortally wounded--Percy grievously wounded--Dies a day or - two afterwards--Ambrose Rookwood wounded--Sir Everard Digby - apprehended--Rest taken prisoners, except Stephen Littleton and - Robert Winter, who escape. - - CHAPTER LV. 181 - - Father Henry Garnet changes his mind--Does not go up to London-- - But from Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, goes down to Coughton, in - Warwickshire, on the 29th October--All Saints' Day (November - 1st) at Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court)--Mass "offered" by - Father Garnet. - - CHAPTER LVI. 185 - - Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the - Master of Huddington, harboured at Rowley Regis, in - Staffordshire, by a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, Esquire, of - Hagley, Worcestershire, 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 Reply to Littleton _in extenso_. - - CHAPTER LVIII. 190 - - Reply analyzed--Divisible into two distinct parts--First part: - gives an answer sounding in abstract truth alone, in other - words, leaves Littleton in abstracto--Second part: disclaims - knowledge of _end_ plotters had in view and _means_ they had - recourse to. - - CHAPTER LIX. 193 - - Metaphysical Argument grounded on Oldcorne's Reply to Humphrey - Littleton--Argument seeks to demonstrate that from tenour and - purport of Oldcorne's Reply, the Jesuit must have had a special - interior knowledge of the Plot. - - CHAPTER LX. (same continued) 195 - - CHAPTER LXI. (same continued) 198 - - CHAPTER LXII. (same continued) 200 - - CHAPTER LXIII. (same continued) 201 - - CHAPTER LXIV. (same continued) 204 - - CHAPTER LXV. (same continued) 208 - - CHAPTER LXVI. (same continued) 210 - - CHAPTER LXVII. (same continued) 212 - - CHAPTER LXVIII. (same continued) 215 - - CHAPTER LXIX. (same continued) 220 - - CHAPTER LXX. 222 - - Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne captured at Hindlip Hall the last week - of January, 1605-6--Conveyed to the Tower of London--Father - Oldcorne "racked five times, and once with the greatest severity - for several hours"--On 7th April, 1606, at Redhill, near - Worcester, Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, hanged, - drawn, and quartered as a traitor--Brother Ralph Ashley, his - servant, hanged at the same time and place. - - CHAPTER LXXI. 224 - - True inferences to be drawn from Father Oldcorne's "last dying - speech and confession." - - CHAPTER LXXII. 227 - - Edward Oldcorne--Ralph Ashley. - - CHAPTER LXXIII. 229 - - Thomas Ward. - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENTS, AND CONCLUSIONS. 233 - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. 239 - Guy Fawkes. - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. 260 - Letter of Lord Bishop of Worcester (Dr. Bilson), to Sir Robert - Cecil, as to Diocese of Worcester. - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. 264 - Thomas Ward (or Warde). - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. 271 - Mulwith, near Ripon. - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. 279 - Plowland, Holderness. - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. 287 - Equivocation. Letter of the Rev. George Canning, S.J., Professor - of Ethics, St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst. - - APPENDICES. - - APPENDIX A 295 - Circumstantial Evidence defined. (a) Evidence generally: (by Mr. - Frank Pick, York). - - APPENDIX B 299 - Discrepancy as to date when immaterial (per Lord Chief Justice - Scroggs, _temp_. Charles II.). - - APPENDIX C 300 - List of those apprehended for Plot in Warwickshire, &c. (a) List - of those frequenting Clopton (or Clapton) Hall, - Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. - - APPENDIX D 304 - Richard Browne (servant to Christopher Wright), his evidence. - - APPENDIX E 306 - William Grantham (servant to Hewett, Hatter), his evidence. - - APPENDIX F 307 - Robert Rookes (servant to Ambrose Rookwood), his evidence. - - APPENDIX G 308 - John Cradock (Cutler), his evidence. - - APPENDIX H 310 - Lord Chief Justice Popham's statement as to Christopher Wright. - - APPENDIX I 312 - Sir Richard Verney, Knt., John Ferrers, William Combe, Bart. - Hales (Warwickshire Justices): Joint Statement to Earl of - Salisbury, as to Mrs. John Grant and Mrs. Thomas Percy. - - APPENDIX J 313 - Paris (boatman), his evidence, as to taking Guy Fawkes to - Gravelines, France, during "vacation," 1605. - - APPENDIX K 314 - Miss Emma M. Walford, her opinion as to resemblance between - Edward Oldcorne's original Declaration of 12th March, 1605-6, - and original Letter to Lord Mounteagle (both in Record Office, - Chancery Lane, London, W.C.). - - APPENDIX L 315 - Professor Bertram C. A. Windle, M.D., F.R.S., his opinion as to - distances between certain localities in Warwickshire, - Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, and Buckinghamshire. - - APPENDIX M 318 - Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Carmichael as to same. - - APPENDIX N 319 - Order of Queen Elizabeth in Council, dated 31st December, 1582, - addressed to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of York. - - NOTE (as to authenticity of Thomas Winter's Confession) 323 - - NOTES (1-180) 327 - - FINIS 411 - - - - - ERRATA. - - -The author regrets to have to request his indulgent readers to be kind -enough to make the following corrections [Transcriber's Note: These have -been applied.]:-- - - Page 19, line 14 from top.--Put ) after word "conspirators," _not_ - after word "_Tresham_." - - Page 77, line 9 from top.--Read: and "great great grandfather of - Philip Howard Earl of Arundel," _instead of - "great-grandfather."_ - - Page 79, in note, line 5 from top.--Read: "ninth Earl of - Carlisle," _instead of "seventh Earl of Carlisle."_ - - Page 87, in note, line 8 from bottom.--Read: "Burns & Oates." - - 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 - "inccarerated."_ - - Page 285, in note, line 2 from top.--Read: "kinswoman," _instead - of "kinsman."_ - - Page 321, line 16 from top.--Read: "Deprave," _instead of - "depeave."_ - - - - - PRELUDE. - - -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 Roman Catholic recusants in the year 1605. The first of -these movements was a general wave of insurrectionary feeling, of which -there is evidence in Yorkshire as far back as 1596; in Lancashire about -1600; 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--who were, 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 moment believe. - -All students of English History, however, are greatly indebted to the Rev. -John Gerard, S.J., for his three recent critical works on this subject; -but still that the main outlines of the Plot are as they have come down to -us by tradition, to my mind, Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner abundantly proves -in his book in reply to the Rev. John Gerard. - -The names of the works to which I refer are:--"_What was the Gunpowder -Plot?_" the Rev. J. Gerard, S.J. (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.); "_The -Gunpowder Plot and Plotters_" (Harper Bros.); "_Thomas Winter's Confession -and the Gunpowder Plot_" (Harper Bros.); and "_What Gunpowder Plot was_," -S. R. Gardiner, D.C.L., LL.D. (Longmans). - -The Articles in "_The Dictionary of National Biography_" dealing with the -chief actors in this notable tragedy are all worthy of careful perusal. - -"_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_," by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), contains a -chapter on the Gunpowder Plot; and the Plot is referred to in Major Hume's -recent work, entitled, "_Treason and Plot_" (Nisbet, 1901). - - - - - CHAPTER 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 Royal 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 Gunpowder 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 guilty_ of concealment. - -Now, as a rule, "all that a man hath will he give for his life." Therefore -it is impossible, in the face of this direct testimony of Tresham, 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.[1][2][A] - -[Footnote A: See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in [ ].] - -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-day 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 says: "_Ubi res adsunt, 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,[B] and consists of two classes of acts. One of these -classes leads up 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 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 -responsibility of being the originating Cause of the Document; in the -latter case, of being the Agent for its physical production. - -[Footnote B: As to the nature of Circumstantial Evidence--see Appendix.] - -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 -fundamentals 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 which, if allowed, shall -redound, in respect of courage and integrity, to the praise and honour of -Man. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 the same. -For although it is, of course, physically possible that the work may have -been accomplished by one and the same person, yet that there was a -division of labour in the two-fold transaction is infinitely 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 his co-partners in guilt, should he have rashly -adventured to be his own 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 number of persons in the -secret:--it being a rule of common prudence in such cases that confidences -must not be unnecessarily multiplied. - -Therefore it follows that, supposing there was a second person in the -confidence of the "discovering" or revealing conspirator to pen the -Letter; and supposing 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-between, an "_interpres_," 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. - -_Experientia docet._ Experience teaches. A man has knowledge 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. Relationship 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 Gunpowder 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 who 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 consideration. We will begin by saying a few -words respecting the Lord Mounteagle, whose name, at least, the Gunpowder -Treason will have for ever enshrined in the remembrance of the British -people. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - -William Parker,[3] the son and heir of Lord Morley, whose barony had been -created by 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 (1605) 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 -Rushton, Northamptonshire, a high-minded, scholarly Roman Catholic -gentleman of great wealth, who had been knighted at Kenilworth 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 princely Lancashire House, the Stanleys Earls of Derby, to whom -he was related in both the paternal and maternal 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 Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and -to her sister the Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of "Belted Will Howard"[4] -of 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 heiress 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[5] of Lumley -Castle in the County Palatine of Durham, whose wife was Jane, daughter of -Henry Fitzalan 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 Royal House of Tudor herself. - -Lord Mounteagle consorted much with English Roman Catholics, and, in some -sense, prior to the year 1605, was of that religion himself. He had been -present with his wife's brother Francis Tresham a little after the -Midsummer of 1605 at Fremland 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 warning speech with Catesby respecting a general -question propounded by Catesby to Garnet about a month or six weeks -previously (_i.e._, the beginning of Trinity Term, 1605), and from the -answer to which general question Catesby shamefully 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 wavering -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.[A] Yet certainly he was no mere -titled fool, with a head-piece like a windmill. Far from it: he was -probably a man of sufficient, though not, I think, of the very highest -intelligence, good-natured, easy-going, and of very engaging manners.[B] - -[Footnote A: It is curious and amusing to hear that the following was the -opinion of Robert Catesby concerning the peerage of his day:--"He made -account of the nobility as of atheists, fools, and cowards; and that lusty -bodies would be better for the commonwealth than they."--See "_Keyes' -Examination_," Record Office.] - -[Footnote B: A certain English periodical, a few years ago, spoke -admiringly of Lord Mounteagle's twentieth century connection, the present -Duke of Devonshire, as being one's _beau-ideal_ of the "you-be-damned" -type of Englishman. Probably the same periodical would have found, had it -been in existence in the seventeenth century, a similar contentment in the -contemplation of the fourth Lord Mounteagle.] - -By his contemporaries, it is evident that even prior to 1605 Mounteagle -was made much of and greatly courted. But less, I opine, on account of the -intellectual and moral qualities 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 the present, concerning the now famous William Parker -fourth Baron Mounteagle, whom History has crowned with a wreath of -immortals. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - -On Saturday, the 26th of October, ten days before the intended meeting of -Parliament,[A] Lord Mounteagle, we are told, unexpectedly and without any -apparent reason or previous notice, directed a supper to be prepared at -his mansion at Hoxton, where he had not been for more than a twelve-month -before that date. - -[Footnote A: Parliament had been prorogued from the 3rd of October to the -5th of November. Lord Mounteagle was one of the Commissioners. - -The "_Confession_" by Thomas Winter, which I regard as genuine, I have -also drawn upon freely in my relation of facts.--See Appendix.] - -It will be well, however, to relate the history of what occurred in the -exact words provided for us in a work 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. "_The Discourse_" says:--"The Lord Mounteagle, 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 met by an unknown man of a reasonable tall -personage[6] who delivered him a Letter charging him to put it in 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 one of -his men unto him for helping him to read it. But no sooner did he conceive -the strange contents thereof, although he was somewhat perplexed what -construction to make of it ... yet did he as a most dutifull and loyall -subject conclude not to conceal it, whatever might come of it. Whereupon -notwithstanding the latenesse and darknesse of the night in that season of -the year, he presently repaired to his Majesties palace at Whitehall and -there delivered the same to the Earle of Salisbury his majesties -principall secretarie." - -The Letter was as follows:-- - -"My lord out of the loue 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 deuys 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 retyere youre self -into youre contri wheare yowe maye expect the euent in safti for -thowghe[7] theare be no apparance of anni stir yet i saye they shall -receyue a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not sei who -hurts them this councel is not to be contemned because it maye do yowe -good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe -have burnt the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good -use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe." - -(Addressed on the back) to "the ryght honorable the lord mouteagle." - -The full name of the member of Lord Mounteagle's household who read the -Letter to Lord Mounteagle, we learn, was Thomas Ward.[8] - -Ward was acquainted with Thomas Winter, one of the principal Gunpowder -plotters; for Winter himself had formerly been in Mounteagle's service, -and at the time of the Plot was almost certainly on amicable terms with -the young nobleman. - -On the 27th of October, the day following the delivery of the Letter, -_Thomas Ward came to Thomas Winter_ (being Sunday at night) and told him -that a Letter had been given to Lord Mounteagle, which the latter -presently had carried to Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury.--"_Winter's -Confession._" - -Winter, thereupon, the next day, Monday, the 28th October, went to a house -called White 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 woods, near Enfield Chase, ten miles -north of Westminster. - -At this secluded spot Thomas Winter had speech with Catesby, the -arch-conspirator, "assuring him withal that the matter was disclosed and -wishing him in anywise to forsake his country."--"_Winter's Confession._" - -Catesby told Winter, "he would see further as yet and resolved to send Mr. -Fawkes to try the uttermost protesting if the part belonged to himself he -would try the same adventure."--"_Winter'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, wood, and coal were stored in readiness for -the bloody slaughter purposed for November the Fifth. - -Fawkes returned to White Webbs at night, at which the conspirators "were -very glad." Fawkes had found in the cellar his "private marks" all -undisturbed. - -"The next day after the delivery of the Letter," says Stowe (though as a -fact it was probably five days after the delivery of the momentous -document, namely, on the following Thursday), _this self-same "Thomas -Winter told Christopher Wright"_--a subordinate conspirator,--"that he -(Winter) understood an obscure letter had been delivered to Lord -Mounteagle, who had conveyed it to Salisbury."[9] - -_Hence, most probably, either Thomas Winter went in search of Christopher -Wright to afford him this piece of information; or Wright went in search -of Winter to obtain it._ - -At about five o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, November, the Fifth, -about five hours after Fawkes' apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet and his -men,[10] the said Christopher Wright went to the chamber of the said -Thomas Winter and told him that a nobleman (_i.e._, the Earl of Worcester, -Master of the Horse) "had called (_i.e._, summoned) the Lord Mounteagle, -saying, 'Rise and come along to Essex House,[11] 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,[12] that "he was the -first to ascertain that the Plot was discovered." Probably this refers to -the information he (Christopher Wright) obtained as the upshot of his -interview with Winter on (probably) Thursday, the 31st October. - -Christopher Wright was, likewise, the first to announce the apprehension -of Fawkes on the morning of the 5th of November. - -It is also further said of Christopher Wright by one[13] who wrote during -the last century, that "He advised that each of the conspirators should -betake himself to flight in a different direction from his companions. -Had this been followed several of them would have probably succeeded in -making their escape to the continent. The conspirators, however, adopted -another course, which issued in their discomfiture in Staffordshire, where -Christopher Wright was also killed." - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - -During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and during the earlier part of the -reign of King James I., almost all those castellated castles, moated -halls, and gabled manor-houses which to-day, still standing more or less -perfect, "amidst their tall ancestral trees o'er all the pleasant land," -go to constitute that "old England" which her sons and daughters (and -their brethren and kinsfolk beyond the seas) know and love so well; during -the reign of Elizabeth and during the earlier part of the reign of James -I., these now time-honoured, ivy-clad abodes and dwellings of English men -and English women, over whom the grave has long since closed, but who in -their day and generation were assuredly among the heroic and the supremely -excellent of the earth, were the sheltering, romantic roof-trees of those -who clung tenaciously to the ancient religious Faith of the English race. - -This Faith was indeed that faith which had been taken and embraced by -their "rude forefathers" of long ages ago, in the simple hope and with the -pathetic trust that it might "do them good."[A] And this their hope, they -believed and knew, had been not in vain, neither had been their trust -betrayed. - -[Footnote A: See the beautiful apologue of the Saxon nobleman of Deira, -delivered in the presence of St. Edwin King of Northumbria; given in -Bede's "_Ecclesiastical History_."] - -In the days of the second Henry Tudor--_fons et origo malorum_--the -fountain-head and well-spring of almost all of England's many present-day -religious and social woes--the men and women of England and Wales knew -full well, whether they were of Cymric, Saxon, Scandinavian, or Norman -race (or a mixture of all four), that to that assemblage of ideas and -emotions, laws and rules, habits and customs, which had come to them from -men of foreign blood and alien name, dwelling on the banks of the far-off -"yellow Tiber" and under sunny, blue Italian skies--these men and women, I -repeat, knew full well that to their religious Faith they owed almost -everything that was best and truest and most enduring, either in -themselves or their kith and kin.[A] - -[Footnote A: Yorkshire, being the greatest of English Shires, had among -the inhabitants of its hills and dales and "sounding shores," -representatives of the various races which compose the English nation. In -the West Riding especially, those of the old Cymric or British stock were -to be found. (Indeed, I am told, even now shepherds often count their -sheep by the old British numerals.) This strong remnant of the old British -race in the West Riding probably accounts for the marvellous gift of song -wherewith this division of Yorkshiremen are endowed to this day, just as -are the Welsh. In none other portion of England was there such a wealth of -stately churches and beautiful monasteries as in Yorkshire, the ancient -Deira, whose melodious name once kept ringing in the ears of St. Gregory -the Great, of a truth, the best friend the English people ever had. But -Yorkshire realised that "before all temples" the One above "preferred the -upright heart and pure." Therefore, canonized saints arose from among her -vigorous, keen-minded, yet poetically imaginative sons and daughters. York -became sacred to St. Paulinus and St. William; Ripon to St. Wilfrid, the -Apostle of Sussex; also to St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Holland; -Beverley was hallowed by the presence of St. John of Beverley; Whitby by -the Saxon princess St. Hilda, the friend of Caedmon, the father of English -poetry. The moors of Lastingham were blest by the presence of St. Chad and -St. Cedd; and Knaresbrough by St. Robert, in his leafy stone-cave hard-by -the winding Nidd.] - -Now regard being had to the indisputable fact that for well-nigh a -thousand years England had been known abroad as "the Dowry of Mary and the -Island of Saints," by reason of the signal manifestations she had -displayed in the way of cathedrals and churches, abbeys and priories, -convents and nunneries, hospitals and schools (which arose up and down the -length and breadth of the land to Northward and Southward, to East and -West, thereby, by the aid of art, adding even to England's rare natural -beauty), it was never at all likely that the bulk of the English people -would, all on a sudden, cast off their cherished beliefs and hallowed -affections respecting the deepest central questions of human life.[14] - -Moreover, it may be taken as a general rule, to be remembered and applied -by princes and statesmen, all the world over and for all time, that Man is -a creature "full of religious instincts:"--"too superstitious," should it -be thought more accurate and desirable so to describe this undoubted habit -and bent of the human mind. - -Thence it follows that it is the merest fatuous folly for princes and -statesmen if and when they have got themselves entangled in a false -position, from some external cause or causes having little or no relation -to the Invisible and the Eternal, to bid their subjects and denizens, -"right about turn," at a moment's notice: however "bright and blissful" -such mental evolutions may be deemed to be by those who have unwisely -taken it into their foolish head to issue the irrational command.[A] - -[Footnote A: That able and strong-minded Englishman, Dr. Temple, -Archbishop of Canterbury, said (in 1901) in the House of Lords, during the -debates on that pathetically ridiculous document, the Sovereign's -Declaration against Popery, when speaking on Lord Salisbury's proposed -amended form, that England was resolved "to stand no interference with her -religion from the outside." It is a good thing that the heathen Kings -Ethelbert and Edwin were _less abnormally patriotic_ 1300 years ago. For -the idea of "independence" has to be held subject to the "golden mean" of -"nothing too much." A fetish must not be made of that idea, especially by -a people conscious of lofty imperial destiny. And "unity" must there be -between ideas that are controlling fundamentals--in other words, between -ideas intellectual, moral, and spiritual.] - -Now, in the days of Queen Elizabeth[A] those whom religious loyalty -prompted to worship supremely "the God of their fathers" after a manner -that those eager for change counted "idolatry," were marked by different -mental characteristics. This was so throughout England; but especially was -it so in those five northern counties which comprised what was then by -Catholics proudly styled "the faithful North." - -[Footnote A: The mother of Queen Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, died reconciled -to the Church of Rome. Her daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, was brought -up in the tenets of that Church; but, like one type of the children of the -Renaissance, Elizabeth was unconsciously "a Tribal Deist." Margaret Roper, -the daughter of Sir Thomas More, was equally "cultured," but she accepted -the Catholic tradition in its letter and in its spirit. I may here state -that I have a great intellectual admiration for Queen Elizabeth, whose -virtues were her own, while her faults, to a large extent, were her -monstrous father's and her Privy Counsellors', _who told her not what she -ought to do but what she could do, which no really faithful adviser of a -Sovereign ever does_.] - -Some of these English "leile and feile," that is loyal and faithful, -servants of Rome were, on the subjective side, retained in their -allegiance to the Visible Head of Christendom by bonds formed by mere -natural piety and conservative feeling--dutiful affections of Nature which -are the promise and the pledge of much that is best in the Teutonic race. - -Others were mainly ruled by an overmastering sense of that lofty humility -which foes call pride, but friends dignity. - -Whilst a third class were persuaded, by intense intellectual, moral, and -spiritual conviction that--"in and by the power of divine grace"--come -what might, nothing should separate them from those hereditary beliefs -which were dearer to them far than not merely earthly goods, lands, and -personal liberty, but even than their very life. - -This last-mentioned class, from and after the year 1580, "the year of the -Lord's controversy with Sion," as the old English Catholics regarded it, -who loved to recall that "good time" when Campion and Parsons "poured out -their soul in words," especially Campion, who was remembered in the north -for three generations: this last-mentioned class, I say, were oftentimes, -though certainly not always, found to be greatly attached to the then new -Society of Jesus, which, in England, was in the glow and purity of its -first fervour. - -This last-mentioned class--I mean the Jesuitically-affected class of -English Catholics--were also again sub-divided into three sub-divisions. -One sub-division was composed of Mystics; another of Politicians; and a -third of those who, realising a higher unity, were at once Mystics _and_ -Politicians--or, in other phraseology, _they were Men of Thought and Men -of Action_. - -Now, the Gunpowder conspirators belonged to the last-mentioned class, and -to the second division of that class. That is to say, they were mere -Politicians, speaking broadly and speaking generally. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - -It hath been truly observed by one of the most knowing and candid of -modern students of Elizabethan biographical literature, that Sir William -Catesby, the father of the arch-gunpowder conspirator, Robert Catesby, in -common with the great majority of the country gentry throughout England, -who were resident upon their own estates, and unconnected with the -oligarchy which ruled in the Queen's name (_i.e._, Queen Elizabeth's) at -Court, threw in his lot with the Catholic party, and suffered in -consequence of his conscientious adherence to the old creed.[A] - -[Footnote A: Dr. Augustus Jessopp: Article--"Robert Catesby," "_National -Dictionary of Biography_."] - -While Sir Thomas Tresham (the brother-in-law of the last-mentioned Sir -William Catesby and father of Francis Tresham, one of the subordinate -conspirators), was so attached to the ancient faith of the English people -that, we are told, he not only regularly paid--by way of fines--for more -than twenty years, the sum of L260 per annum, about L2,080 a year in our -money, into the Treasury rather than not maintain what (to him) was "a -conscience void of offence," but he also spent at least twenty-one years -of his life in prison, after being Star-Chambered in the year 1581 along -with Lord Vaux of Harrowden and his brother-in-law, Sir William Catesby, -on a charge of harbouring Campion. - -The Fleet prison in London, Banbury Castle and Ely--his "familiar prison," -as Sir Thomas Tresham pleasantly styled the last-named place of -incarceration--were the habitations wherein he was enabled to make it his -boast in a letter to Lord Henry Howard, afterwards the Earl of -Northampton, writ in the year 1603, "that he had now completed his triple -apprenticeship in direst adversity, and that he should be content to serve -a like long apprenticeship to prevent the foregoing of his beloved, -beautiful, and graceful Rachel; for it seemed to him but a few days for -the love he had to her."[A] - -[Footnote A: Quoted from papers found at Rushton in Northamptonshire, the -seat of Sir Thomas Tresham, which he himself designed, being an architect -of some skill.] - -Well may the spiritual descendants to-day of these grand old Elizabethan -Catholics exclaim:--"_Their_ very memory is pure and bright, and our sad -thoughts doth cheer!" - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - -The men known to history as the Gunpowder Plotters were thirteen in -number. - -They were at first Robert Catesby, already mentioned, Thomas Winter, -Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. - -Subsequently, there were added to these five--Robert Keyes, Christopher -Wright (a younger brother of John Wright), and lastly Robert Winter (an -elder brother of Thomas Winter),[A] Ambrose Rookwood, John Grant, Sir -Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, and Thomas Bates. - -[Footnote A: Lord Edmund Talbot, brother to the present Duke of Norfolk, -K.G., Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, is allied to Robert Winter, -through the latter's marriage with Gertrude Talbot, the daughter of John -Talbot, Esquire, of Grafton in Worcestershire. The brother of Gertrude -Winter became Earl of Shrewsbury. John Talbot had married a daughter of -Sir William Petre. Lord Edmund Talbot, I believe, now owns Huddington.] - -Of these thirteen conspirators, all, with the exception of Thomas Bates, a -serving-man of Robert Catesby, were, as Fawkes said, "gentlemen of name -and blood." - -Thomas Percy was the eldest of the conspirators and in 1605 was about -forty-five years of age. - -Sir Everard Digby was the youngest, being twenty-four years of age, whilst -the ages of the others ranged betwixt and between.[15] - -Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the -East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was -the son of Edward Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader -of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest -figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a "kinsman" of -Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the -Earl himself,[16] and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made -Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary--Gentlemen of Honour--in attendance -at Court. At the time of the Plot, too, Thomas Percy--the Constable of -Alnwick and Warkworth Castles--acted as officer or agent for his noble -kinsman's large northern estates, at Alnwick, Warkworth, Topcliffe, -Spofforth, and elsewhere. - -Robert Catesby, the arch-conspirator, was--as we have seen already--the -son and heir of Sir William Catesby, whose wife was a daughter of Sir -Robert Throckmorton of Coughton in Warwickshire. - -Sir William Catesby was a gentleman of ancient, historic and distinguished -lineage, who had large possessions in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and -Warwickshire, yielding him about L3,000 a year, or probably from L24,000 -to L30,000 a year in our money. - -These large estates his ill-fated son Robert Catesby succeeded to in -expectancy in 1598.[17] - -Catesby, the younger, diminished his annual revenue very considerably by -involving himself in the rising of the brilliant Robert Devereux, second -Earl of Essex (1601), who had given to Catesby a promise of toleration for -Catholic recusants, who chafed greatly under a system of -politico-theological persecution, at once galling, cruel and despicable. - -But this promise of toleration was conditioned by the very vital condition -precedent that the insurrectionary movement of the gallant but rash Essex -against the Government of Elizabeth had a successful issue. - -The movement, however, was emphatically not smiled on by Fortune, that -fickle goddess, with the result that Catesby found himself locked up in -prison, and was only ransomed by payment of a sum of L3,000. - -This heavy fine, together with the fact that in the year 1605 his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, was living at Ashby St. Legers in -Northamptonshire, and owned for life all rents of the estates, except -Chastleton near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, seems to have been the -cause that, at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, Catesby had not any very -great amount of ready money in hand. - -Besides this, until some four or five years prior to 1603, the year of the -death of Queen Elizabeth, when he began to practise the religion which in -1580 his father, Sir William Catesby, had embraced or re-embraced, and for -which the latter had suffered imprisonment and heavy fines, Robert Catesby -"was very wild; and as he kept company with the best noblemen of the land, -so he spent much above his rate, and so wasted also good part of his -living." - -"He was of person above two yards[18] high, and though slender, yet as -well proportioned to his height as any man one should see." He was, -moreover, reputed to be "very wise and of great judgment, though his -utterance was not so good. Besides, he was so liberal, and apt to help all -sorts, as it got him much love." - -At the time of the Plot Catesby was about thirty-five years of age. He had -married Catherine Leigh, a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, of Stoneleigh, a -Protestant gentleman of wealth and influence in Warwickshire. The Parish -Register of Chastleton has the following entry:--"Robert Catesbie, son of -Robert Catesbie, was baptised the 11th day of November, 1595."[19] He had -only this one surviving child, who is said to have married the only child -of Thomas Percy. - -Catesby had the misfortune to lose his wife by death before the year 1602, -and at the time of the Plot his home seems to have been with his mother, -the Dowager Lady Catesby, at Ashby St. Legers in the County of -Northampton, the family ancestral seat. For in 1602 he had sold his -residence, Chastleton, in Oxfordshire. - -Now, as Robert Catesby, it seems by many circumstances, was the first -inventor and chiefest furtherer of the Plot, it is worth while thus -lingering on a description of what manner of man he was. - -It, however, may be asked how came it to pass that this one person gained -such prodigious ascendency over twelve other persons so as to make them, -in the event, as mischievously, nay fatally, deluded as himself? - -The answer is manifold: for besides the wrongs which these ruthless -plotters sought to avenge, they 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.[20] - -For a proof of Catesby's immense influence over others, it may be -mentioned that Ambrose Rookwood, one of those whose blood afterwards -stained the scaffold at the early age of twenty-seven for his share in the -wicked scheme, says of Catesby that "he (Rookwood) loved and respected him -as his own life."[21] - -Four things seem to have caused those who came in contact with Robert -Catesby to have been carried captive at his will, if from the first they -were at all well affected towards him--his personal appearance, his -generosity, his zeal, and his skill in the use of arms. - -We are told that Tesimond (alias Greenway), another contemporary of -Catesby, says that "his countenance was exceedingly noble and expressive. -That his conversation 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."[22] - -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."[23] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -Thomas Winter came of a Worcestershire family. His father, George Winter -(or Wintour), had married Jane Ingleby, the daughter of Sir William -Ingleby, a Yorkshire knight of historic name, whose ancestral seat was -Ripley Castle, near Knaresbrough[24] in Nidderdale, one of the most -romantic valleys of Yorkshire. - -Jane Winter's brother, Francis Ingleby,[25] a barrister, and afterwards a -Roman 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 story of his life and death -must have often thrilled the hearts of his sister's children. - -Would that they had taken him as their model. For of all those many Roman -Catholic Yorkshiremen[A] 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.[26] - -[Footnote A: At least 49 persons, priests and laymen, suffered death in -York alone for the Pope's religion, between the reigns of Henry VIII. and -Charles II. inclusive. The place of execution was usually the Tyburn, -opposite Knavesmire, near Hob Moor Gate, in the middle of the Tadcaster -High Road. In the reign of Philip and Mary no Protestant was burned to -death in Yorkshire. Archbishop Heath, of York, like Bishop Tunstall, of -Durham, and the great Catholic Jurist, Edmund Plowden, who, for conscience -sake, declined the Chancellorship when offered to him by Elizabeth, did -not think they could "save alive" the soul of a "heretic" by roasting -"dead" his body at the stake. And they were right.] - -Thomas Winter, the ill-fated nephew of him just 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 by 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. Robert Catesby. 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."[27] He seems to have been unmarried. - -Sir Everard Digby was a tall, handsome, singularly generous, charming -young fellow, and like Ambrose Rookwood, previously mentioned, had won the -loving favour of all who knew him. Digby had two estates in the County of -Rutlandshire (Tilton and Drystoke), 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[A] (now Gayhurst) -in the parish of Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, still one of England's stately homes.[28] - -Francis Tresham was married to a Throckmorton, and was connected with many -English families of historic name, high rank, and great fortune. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst), resembles in its style of architecture, The -Treasurer's House, York, on the North side of the Minster, the town-house -of Frank Green, Esquire. Walter Carlile, Esquire, now resides at -Gayhurst.] - -He was a first cousin to Robert Catesby through his mother--a -Throckmorton. Tresham and the Winters were also akin. - -Francis Tresham, like his cousin, Robert Catesby, had been involved in the -Essex rising, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had to pay a ransom of -at least L2,000 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 Tower, and afterwards Earl of Suffolk.[29] - -John Grant was a Warwickshire Squire, who had married Robert and Thomas -Winter's sister Dorothy. Grant's home was at Norbrook, near Snitterfield, -a walled and moated mansion-house between the towns of Warwick and -Stratford-on-Avon.[30] Grant was a taciturn but accomplished man, who had -been likewise fined for his share in the Essex rising. - -John Wright and Christopher Wright 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 Mallories of -Studley Royal near Ripon. Hence were they related to Thomas Winter, Robert -Winter, 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 Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. - -Through his Roman Catholic mother, Keyes was related to Lady Ursula -Babthorpe, the daughter of Sir William Tyrwhitt[31] of Kettleby, near -Brigg, Lincolnshire, and wife of Sir William Babthorpe, of Babthorpe and -Osgodby, near Selby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire Sir William Babthorpe -was "the very soul of honour," one of the most valiant-hearted gentlemen -in Yorkshire, and himself, likewise, related to the Mallories, the -Inglebies, the Wrights, and the Winters. His sister was Lady Catherine -Palmes, the wife of Sir George Palmes, of Naburn, near the City of York. - -Ambrose Rookwood, 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Edward Rookwood, of Euston Hall, Suffolk, was cousin to -Ambrose Rookwood. At Euston in 1578 Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously -entertained by Edward Rookwood.--See Hallam's "_Constitutional History_," -and Lodge's "_Illustrations_."] - -Of the engaging Ambrose Rookwood 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 family, 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."[32] - -Guy Fawkes was also a Yorkshireman, being born in the year 1570, in the -City of York. - -His baptismal register, dated the 16th day of April, 1570, is still to be -seen in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, hard-by the glorious -Minster. - -Probably that one of four traditions is true which 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 Transept of the Minster, and at the top of the mediaeval street -called Stonegate.[A] - -[Footnote A: The house I refer to is occupied by the Governors of St. -Peter's School (where Fawkes was himself educated), by Mr. T. H. Barron, -and Mr. Matkins. It is still Minster property. It is a brick Elizabethan -house refaced. Fawkes' grandmother, Mrs. Ellen Fawkes, almost certainly -lived in a house in High Petergate, on the opposite side of the road, -probably. His father may have had a house also at Bishopthorpe.--See -Supplementum I.] - -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 ancient Parish of Farnham, between Knaresbrough and Ripley, -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 highly intelligent, direct of purpose, simple of heart, -well-read, and, as a soldier of fortune in the Netherlands, not only -"skilful in the 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. - -Fawkes held a post of command in the Spanish Army when Spain took Calais -in 1596, and gave promise of becoming, like his friend and patron, Sir -William Stanley, an ideal "happy warrior," and one of England's greatest -generals.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is interesting and instructive to compare the Forty Years' -War between Spain and the Netherlands 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 commencement of the struggle. -It arose out of a chafing under the sovereignty of Spain, and a dispute -about tenths. In fact, many Catholics fought against 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 Relief of Mafeking (19th May, 1900).] - -It is said by an old writer, "Winter and Fawxe are men of excellent good -natural parts, very resolute and universally learned."[33] 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. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - -Let us deal with the inferences from the Evidence, and ascertain to what -further suggestions those inferences give rise. - -Now, among the first things that must strike the reader of the list of -actors in the Gunpowder tragedy is the large 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 Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. While -five of the other intending perpetrators of an action which, if -consummated, would have indeed "damned them to everlasting fame," -indirectly had relations with it. - -Nay, more; of the four members of the clerical profession whom the -Government sought to charge with complicity in this nefarious designment, -namely: Fathers Garnet, Tesimond, Gerard, and (subsequently) Oldcorne--two -out of the four, Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne, were likewise -Yorkshiremen.[A] - -[Footnote A: The late Bishop Creighton, in his fine illustrated work -entitled, "_The Story of some English Shires_" (Religious Tract Society), -says:--"Yorkshire is the largest of the English shires, and its size -corresponds to its ancient greatness."] - -Edward Oldcorne was certainly a native of the City of York, and it is very -likely indeed that Oswald Tesimond was a native also.[34] - -Moreover, Oswald Tesimond, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy Fawkes -were all educated at the Royal 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 Bootham 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Strafford, the representative of Charles I. in Ireland, -was in after years Lord President of the North. In his day the King's -Manor was known as the Palace of the Stuart 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 Yorkshireman, 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 -Wilberforce's direct heir, William Basil Wilberforce, Esquire, resides at -Markington Hall, near Ripon. - -The Earl of Huntingdon was a scion of the House of York, and had Elizabeth -become reconciled to the Church of Rome the Puritans would have probably -rallied round Lord Huntingdon as their King. The Honourable Walter -Hastings, the Earl's brother, was a Roman Catholic. They were, of course, -akin to Queen Elizabeth, and were descended from the "Blessed" Margaret -Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury.] - -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."[35] - -Before going to Rheims and Rome 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 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 awful a catastrophe was deep as hell and high as heaven. - -And well might it be, regard being had to the indisputable facts of -English History from the year 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 conspirators had taken: a -conspirator 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 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 trustworthy friend who would act as penman of any document he -might wish to use as a means of communicating 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 "_interpres_"--a -go-between--to drive home the full 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. - -Regard 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, yet -strong as iron," which were the outcome of kinship, friendship, 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 Wright_ was the conspirator who revealed the Plot, and that -his worthy aiders and honourable abettors were, first, _Thomas Ward_, the -gentleman-servant (and almost certainly kinsman) of Lord Mounteagle -himself, _amicus secundum carnem_; and, secondly, _Edward Oldcorne_, -Priest and Jesuit, _amicus secundum spiritum:--friends according to the -flesh and to the spirit respectively_. - - - - - 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 majestie, for releife of the Catholique cause, and not -invented or propounded by myself. And this was first propounded unto me -about Easter last was twelve-month,[36] 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 howse -at Westminster ... neare adjoyning the Parlt. howse, and there wee beganne -to make a myne about the XI. of December, 1604. The Fyve that entered -into the woorck were Thomas Percye, Robert Catesby, Thomas Wynter, John -Wright, and myself, and soon after[37] we tooke another unto us, -Christopher Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the sacrament for -secrecie."[38] - -Therefore Christopher Wright must have become a confederate about ten -months after Fawkes himself and the other prime movers in the nefarious -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 was -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 presumptively known by his friends, still more -may it be presumptively known by his progenitors; and in the light of this -principle I therefore answer the foregoing question emphatically in the -affirmative. - -But what was the form of the oath taken by all these conspirators save -one, namely, Sir Everard Digby, who was _specially_ "sworn in" on the hilt -of a poniard? - -It was this:--"You shall swear by the Blessed Trinity and by the Sacrament -you now propose to receive, never to disclose, directly 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 with their hands laid upon -a primer."[39] - -Immediately after the oath had been taken,[40] we are told, Catesby -explained to Percy, and Winter and John Wright to Fawkes, that the project -intended was to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder when the King -went to the House of Lords.[41] This would include the Queen, the Commons, -Ambassadors, and spectators who would be present during 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 Robert Wright and Ursula his wife, who was the -daughter of Nicholas Rudston, Esquire (of the Rudstons, Lords of -Hayton,[A] 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 William Mallory, of Studley Royal, near Ripon.[42] - -[Footnote A: It is gratifying to the historic feeling to know that the -Manor of Hayton is still owned by a member of this ancient family, the -present possessor being T. W. Calverley-Rudston, Esquire, J.P., of -Allerthorpe Hall, Pocklington.] - -Christopher Wright was born about the year 1570, the year after the Rising -of the North[43] under "the Blessed" Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland, -and Charles Neville Earl of Westmoreland, in which movement many of -Christopher Wright's mother's relatives and connections (notably "old -Richard Norton," his sons, and the Markenfields) were implicated.[44] - -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, was -doubtless 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 Patrington and the pretty village of -Welwick. When Robert 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 Ripon, the ancestral seat of the Markenfields, -heroes of Flodden and kinsmen of the Wrights, Wards, Nortons, Mallories, -and numberless others amongst the ancient and wealthy Yorkshire gentry. - -Christopher Wright and his elder brother John were educated, along with -Guy Fawkes and Oswald Tesimond, at the Royal Grammar School (as we have -already stated) in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, in the City of York. - -Their master was the Reverend John Pulleyn, who probably belonged to the -ancient and honourable West Riding family of the Pulleyns (or Pulleines), -of Killinghall, near Bilton-cum-Harrogate, and of Scotton, in the Parish -of Farnham, near Knaresbrough. - -The two Wrights' parents were stanch Roman 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 President 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 Ripon; another, named -Martha, was married to Thomas Percy, Gentleman, the Gunpowder -conspirator. - -It is said of John Wright, Christopher Wright's brother, and of his -brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, that they were formerly Protestant, and -became Catholic about the time of the rebellion of the Earl of Essex. But -it is certain John Wright and Thomas Percy[45] must have been both brought -up Roman Catholics in the days of their childhood; although they probably -ceased to practise their duties as such until about the year 1600. For it -is incredible that the son and son-in-law of Robert Wright 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 friend 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,[A] fatter in the face and of a -lighter-coloured hair. "Yet," says Gerard, "was he very like to the other -in conditions and qualities and both 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."[46] - -[Footnote A: It is, however, possible that John Wright may have come under -the influence of the Blessed William Hart (styled the Apostle of York and -the second Campion), a priest who suffered death at the York Tyburn in -1583. Because Hart was indicted for (amongst other things) "reconciling" a -"Mr. John Wright and one Cooling."--See Challoner's "_Missionary -Priests_." If so, John Wright would then be about fourteen years of age. -It, however, may have been another John Wright; perhaps of Grantley and -one of the brothers of Robert Wright, the father of John Wright, the -conspirator. Cooling was probably Ralph Cowling, of York, a shoemaker, the -father of Father Richard 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. Ralph 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.] - -Christopher Wright was married. His wife's name, we know, was -Margaret.[A][47] I strongly suspect that Mrs. Christopher Wright was a -sister of both Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish -of Ripon; yet of this there is only, perhaps, slight evidence, so that no -positive argument can be grounded upon it, _considered by 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 Wright had "a brother" in -London. - -[Footnote A: See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 89.] - -When Guy Fawkes was examined in the Tower of London, in the forenoon of -the 6th of November, he said, in answer to a question--"You would have me -discover my friends; the giving warning to one overthrew us all." - -Now, if Guy Fawkes eventually revealed the conspiracy by reason of the -agony caused by 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 the case of the intended murder) most -horrible crimes against the offended Majesty of Heaven? - -I think not. - -_Therefore_ I conclude that it is antecedently probable that in the heart -of Christopher Wright, emotions, not only of compassion but also of -compunction, _were_ 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 diabolical designment known to History as the -Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Had Christopher Wright any entirely trustworthy friend, one who not only -would prove a healing minister to a mind diseased with the leprosy of -crime, but also be an able and ready helper for giving effect to an all -but too late repentance? Was there anyone to whom he could have recourse, -who was at once wise of head, sympathetic 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 years one who was not only the trusted spiritual guide of -Thomas Abington, Esquire, and the Honourable Mary (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 -Rome in 1582, aged twenty-one, for the higher studies. He was most -probably at the Royal School in the Horse Fayre, in York, and he may have -been there at the same time as Oswald Tesimond,[48] John Wright,[49] -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 -_and_ Politicians. His equipoise of mind shows him to have been a very -great man--indeed, on account of his combination of mental gifts and -graces, I think the greatest, in reality, of _all_ the early English -Jesuits. For "he saw life steadily and saw it whole."[A] - -[Footnote A: Matthew Arnold.] - -"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."[50] Again, a MS. Memoir[51] 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."[52][B] - -[Footnote B: See Supplementum II.] - -Now, Father Oldcorne was the spiritual adviser of Robert 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[53] in the country thereabouts who -flocked to him for conference and to have his exhortations.[54][C] - -[Footnote C: Evidence of the practical side of Oldcorne's mind is -furnished by the fact that we are told he often begged leave in Rome 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 through 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 Gerard's -"_Narrative_," p. 272.] - -Again, Christopher Wright appears to have been especially friendly with -two other conspirators, namely, Thomas Winter and Ambrose Rookwood. And it -is worthy of notice that Huddington Hall, in Worcestershire, the seat of -Robert Winter (of which place Thomas Winter is also described), and -Clopton Hall, in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon (whither Ambrose -Rookwood removed soon after Michaelmas, 1605), were easily accessible 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The site of Shakespeare's new residence, which he built and -called New Place, at Stratford-on-Avon, had belonged to the Clopton -family. - -Clopton 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 Rookwood repaired for -temporary residence soon after Michaelmas, 1605, was by road twenty-three -miles from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne resided. - -Ambrose Rookwood and Christopher Wright were particular friends. Rookwood -was a man of very tender conscience, which, however, unhappily failed him -at the most crucial moment of his life, namely, when he 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -Let us now examine the Letter itself. - -The first thing to be noted is that no reprint that I have seen of the -famous Letter, whether in ancient or modern continuous Relations 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.[55] But, this notwithstanding, it can be still detected in the -original document, happily, even to this day, to be seen in the Record -Office, London. - -Now the fact that this word "yowe" is crossed out in this mysterious -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[56] use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe," makes 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 yowe -have burnt the letter," is in one sense fairly clear. For as Wilson says, -in his "_Life of James I._" (1653), p. 30, "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."[57] - -This must be the, at least, _ostensible_ meaning. For it is obvious that -neither Wright nor Oldcorne (_ex hypothesi_) would, for different but most -potent reasons, wish the penman of the Letter to be known to the then -public, 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 compassing 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.[58] - -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.[A] For it is a -fact of human nature that every man seeks to instruct his conscience by -some objective rule or standard of Truth and Right; but that instincts -and emotions oftentimes finally rule men rather than reason and -argumentative proof. - -[Footnote A: The English 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 were -compelled to pay L20 per lunar month. Many of the English nobility, -gentry, and yeomanry were 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; -individual Protestants often sought to mitigate the miseries of their -fellow-countrymen from whom they differed in religion. Being reconciled to -the See of Rome was death, and to be a popish priest was by the terrible -Statute 27 Eliz. to be "a traitor" and to be liable to be hanged, cut down -alive, bowelled, and quartered. To say Mass was to be liable to a fine of -200 marks _and_ imprisonment for life (a mark was 13s. 4d.). To hear Mass -was to be liable to a fine of 100 marks _and_ imprisonment for life. To -harbour a priest was death and forfeiture of property.] - -It was, furthermore, incumbent upon Oldcorne to recollect that more harm -than good is frequently occasioned 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 Rookwood 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 allowances have to be made for this poor woman, inasmuch -as her husband and children were all the world to her. But still the -following recorded statement proves that the _tendency_ was for even the -best of the average English Catholics of that day, of whom Mrs. Rookwood -is a fair type and specimen, to centre their sympathies on the wrong-doers -rather than on the wronged. - -This was natural enough; for man's disposition is to be led by his -unconscious instincts and emotional sympathies rather than by drawn-out -reason and cool argument, as has been mentioned above. - -It was the bounden duty of Oldcorne to hold that disposition strictly in -check and to keep himself absolutely master of the tendency. But, on this -being assured, he was bound likewise to remember that the tendency -existed, and that he lived in a world not of angels, nor of machines, but -of _men_--of men indeed who were not totally depraved, nor utterly -corrupt, yet who were sorely wounded and weakened in intellect, heart, and -will. - -The crying want of the present day--as of Oldcorne's day--is not only for -men but for men who are statesmen. And no man can be a statesman unless he -has a wide and profound knowledge of human nature, and who, while he -pities human nature and loves it, never makes the mistake of expecting too -much from it. In other words, we require men who are humanists and -humorists, as I cannot but think was the character of Edward Oldcorne. - -Now, no man in England knew better nor recognised more fully (for he knew -the virtually omnipotent transforming power of the precedent conditions of -person, time, and circumstance) the truth of the propositions I have just -enunciated than did Father Oldcorne. But this notwithstanding, I hold it -was _not_ the truth of the foregoing propositions ALONE--indisputable -doubtless as he regarded them--that finally controlled the motives that -ruled the action--in substance and in form--at the most critical moment of -the existence of this acute, disciplined, high-minded Yorkshireman, when -by Fate he was called upon to contemplate, _after the fateful November the -Fifth_, the bloody, prodigious Gunpowder Plot, and the mighty feat which -Destiny had imposed upon him for helping to spin the same right round on -its axis, even though well-nigh at the eleventh hour.[59] - -What finally controlled the motives, the positive _not_ negative motives, -that ruled that beneficent and never-to-be-forgotten action of this -Yorkshire Priest and Jesuit in that supreme moment--the Plot having then -become, through his instrumentality, as a mere bubble-burst--will be -discovered in due course of this Inquiry. - -The remark of Mrs. Rookwood to which I have referred is given in Gerard's -"_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 219. Thomas Winter, Rookwood, -Keyes, and Fawkes were drawn on their hurdles from the Tower to the Yard -of the old Palace of Westminster over against the Parliament House. - -"As they were drawn upon the Strand, Mr. Rookwood had provided that he -should be admonished when he came over against the lodging where his wife -lay: and being come unto the place, he opened his eyes (which before he -kept shut to attend better to his prayers), and seeing her stand in a -window to see him pass by, he raised himself as well as he could up from -the hurdle, and said aloud unto her: 'Pray for me, pray for me,' She -answered him also aloud: 'I will; and be of good courage and offer thyself -wholly to God. I for my part do as freely restore thee to God as he gave -thee to me,'" - -This was Friday, the 31st day of January, 1605-6. - -On the previous day in St. Paul's Churchyard had been likewise hanged, cut -down alive, drawn, and quartered, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John -Grant, and Thomas Bates. - -Catesby, John Wright, and Christopher Wright had been slain at Holbeach on -the 8th of November previously. - -Thomas Percy died of wounds there received the next day. - -Father Tesimond had proceeded to Huddington, doubtless mainly in the hope, -let us trust, of stirring up in the hearts of these desperate creatures -sorrow--that great natural sacrament--for their awful crimes that, not in -vain, had cried to Heaven for vengeance! For truly the guilty suffer and -the blood-guilty man shall not live out half his days. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - -Now there is a sentence in the Letter whose wording is peculiar, but -which, I submit, is pre-eminently a wording likely to be used by two -natives of Yorkshire. - -I mean the sentence, "I would aduyse yowe as yowe _tender_ your lyf to -deuys some excuse to _shift off_ youer attendance at this parleament," -meaning thereby, "I would advise you as you _have a care_ for your life to -devise some excuse to _put off_[60] your attendance at this parliament." - -Once more, a comparison of the Letter sent to Lord Mounteagle with a -Declaration not only signed by Father Oldcorne but entirely in his -handwriting, dated the 12th of March, 1605-6,[61] reveals this remarkable -fact that there is, first, a general similarity between the penmanship of -both documents; and, secondly, there is a particular similarity in the -case of the following letters:--the small c/s, l/s, i/s, b/s, w/s, r/s, -long s/s (as initials), and short s/s (as terminals); also the m/s and n/s -are not inconsistent with being written by one and the same hand. The -handwriting in the Letter is, for the most part, not in round hand, but in -roman character. The letters do not all lean at the same angle to the -horizontal. Evidently the writer had endeavoured "painfully" to disguise -his handwriting, but conscientious carefulness and a disciplined will -emphatically characterise both documents.[62] See Appendix. - -Now Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was, I -maintain, the intermediary--the diplomatic intermediary--through whom -Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) acted in communication with -Mounteagle. And this, with the express knowledge and consent of Father -Edward Oldcorne, who was, almost certainly, well acquainted with Thomas -Ward.[63] - -In short, the revelation was a curvilinear triangular movement. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -Mounteagle, we are told, knew there was a Letter to be sent to him before -it came.[64] - -Lingard says the conspirators suspected that Tresham had sent the Letter, -and that there was a "secret understanding between him and Lord -Mounteagle,[A] _or at least the gentleman who was employed to read the -Letter at the table_." (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: It is to be recollected that the conspirators themselves -suspected that there was a secret understanding, at least between the -gentleman-servant of Mounteagle and Tresham, whom they thought was the -revealing conspirator.--See Greenway's MS., quoted by Lingard.] - -In a letter dated 19th November, 1605, of a certain Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmondes, the King's Ambassador at Brussels, after giving an -account of the discovery of the Plot, Hoby says:--"Such as are apt to -interpret all things to the worst will not believe other but that -Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing the -discovery already of the letter, the rather that one Thomas Ward, a -principal man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the conspiracy." - -Now there is evidence which creates a moral certainty that Christopher -Wright and a certain Thomas Ward (or Warde, for the name was spelt either -way at that time) were closely allied by virtue of at least one marriage -(if not indeed more than one) subsisting between certain (virtually -undoubted) relatives of theirs then living. - -Christopher Wright's sister, Ursula, was (as has been already mentioned) -the wife of one Marmaduke Ward (or Warde), of Mulwith, in the Parish of -Ripon, in the County of York. - -A lady of high family named Winefrid Wigmore, the daughter of Sir William -Wigmore, of Lucton, in the County of Herefordshire, says, in her "_Life of -Mary Ward_," the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula, his wife: -"Mary Ward was the eldest daughter of Mr. Marmaduke Ward, of Givendale, in -the County of York. Mulwith and Newby were Manor-houses of his."[65] - -Now in the Parish Register, which was published in the year 1899, -belonging to the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York, is -to be found the following remarkable entry: "_Weddinges 1579.--Thomas -Warde of Mulwaith in the p'ishe of Rippon, and M'rgery Slater, S'vant to -Mr. Cotterell, maried xxixth day of May._"[66] - -But for only eleven years (lacking nine days) were Thomas Warde and -Margery his wife destined to be united in the bonds of wedlock. For the -Register of Ripon Minster records "_the burial_," under date "_May the -20th, 1590, of Marjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwaith_."[67] - -They do not seem to have been blessed with offspring. At any rate there -are no names of any children of these two spouses entered in the Register -of Christenings still kept at Ripon Minster. Although, of course, there -may have been such baptized at home[A] "secretly," or even at some other -church than at the chapel of the Skelton Chapelry, or than in Ripon -Minster, the mother church of the great Parish of Ripon. - -[Footnote A: But see Supplementum III. _postea_, and the evidence there -given; evidence which is also interesting as showing how, at any rate -sometimes, "the oracle was worked," with reference to that curious -historical problem, the apparent baptism of the children of papists by the -minister of the parish church. In Ireland, I have been told, at one time -the authorities of the then establishment accepted the mere "allegation" -that certain rites had been complied with by the popish clergy. - -Dr. Elze is grossly wrong in arguing that _because_ Shakespeare's name is -found in the Register of Christenings in the parish church of -Stratford-on-Avon, _therefore_ Shakespeare's father was a Protestant. Such -a conclusion founded on such proof is simply ludicrous.--See Elze's "_Life -of Shakespeare_" (Bell & Sons), p. 457. One really is disposed to distrust -many of the _conclusions_ of "German learning" when Elze argues like this. -To my mind, much of "the critical" work (so called in a certain -department) may be hereafter found to be full of flaws from building on -too _narrow a foundation_ of evidence. How little man can know of the Past -which affords him evidence to hang even a dog on with absolute, as -distinct from moral, certitude! (I wish especially not to be thought to -imply any disrespect towards the great German people, whose love for him -who is for all nations and all time fills me with the profoundest -admiration. But Truth is no respecter of persons when it detects errors, -or the probabilities of errors, on the part of such as should be "masters -of those that know.") - -For even the Rigmaydens, of Woodacre Hall, Garstang (harbourers of Campion -in 1581), in the most Catholic part of Lancashire, _apparently_ had at -least some of their children baptised at the parish church.--See Colonel -Fishwick's "_Parish of Garstang_" (Chetham Soc.)] - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -Now we know that Marmaduke Warde was of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the year -1585. For the "_Life_" of his daughter Mary expressly states that she was -born at Mulwith in that year. And if _a_ Thomas Warde was of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith) only six years prior to 1585, and again of Mulwith in 1590, when -he lost his wife, the inevitable inference is that the said Marmaduke -Warde and the said Thomas Warde belonged to one and the same family, and -that, in all probability, they were akin to each other as brothers.[68] - -Again, the Register of Ripon Minster records on the 6th day of October, -1589, the baptism of Edward,[A] the son of a certain Christopher Wright, -of Bondgate, Ripon. - -[Footnote A: If this Edward Wright is the same as a certain Prebendary -Edward Wright, of Ripon Minster, who received his nomination from King -James I. on the 26th of March, 1613, then at least one cousin of Mary Ward -must have conformed to the Established Church.--See "_Memorials of -Ripon_," in 3 vols. (Surtees Society.) - -He would be about 23 years of age when the royal favour was thus -vouchsafed to him. - -An Edward Wright was Mayor of Ripon in the year 1635.--Gent's -"_Ripon_."--Probably the son of Prebendary Edward Wright. - -Another cousin of Mary Warde, I find, had likewise conformed--a Dr. Warde, -the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He belonged, I think, to -the Wardes, of Durham, descended from a brother of Sir Christopher Ward.] - -On the 23rd day of July, 1594, of Eliza, daughter of Christopher Wright, -of Newbie.[69] - -The baptism on the 12th day of July, 1596, of Francis, son of Christopher -Wright, of Newbie. - -And furthermore, on the 3rd day of February, 1601, the baptism of -Marmaduke, the son of Christopher Wright, of Skelton. - -Now, when we recollect that _a_ Marmaduke Warde was certainly -brother-in-law to _a_ Christopher Wright; and when we recollect that we -have proof that _a_ Thomas Warde and _a_ Marmaduke Warde were, -respectively, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith) in the Parish of Ripon, and that -_a_ Christopher Wright was of Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton, all likewise -in the Parish of Ripon; and when we further recollect that these three -gentlemen were of these several places in the closing decades of the years -of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, only one conclusion is forced upon the -mind of even the most sceptical, namely, that the said three gentlemen -must have known, and been known to, one another personally, without the -shadow of any reasonable doubt. - -And again; that between those years, 1589 and 1590 inclusive, the said -_Thomas Warde_ and the said _Christopher Wright_ had known each other -intimately, by meeting within the bounds of the Parish of Ripon,--nay even -within the chapelry of Skelton--is surely one of the likeliest things in -the world. - -Furthermore, it is possible that the Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or -Mulwith), was in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth in the -Netherlands, along with Queen Elizabeth's well-known diplomatist and -Treasurer of the Chamber, Sir Thomas Heneage, the step-father of Lord -Southampton, Lord Mounteagle's friend, as well as Shakespeare's patron. - -For I find that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter dated from -"the Court," the 24th of March, 1585--six years _after_ the marriage of -Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory Slater, and five years _before_ her -lamented death--that the great Sir Francis Walsingham, in a letter to the -Earl of Leicester, "Lord Lieutenant-General of Her Majesty's Forces in the -Low Countries," speaks of _a_ "Mr. Warde."[A] - -[Footnote A: See the "_Leicester Correspondence_" (Camden Soc.), p. 187.] - -Now we know for certain from Winwood's Memorials[B] that a Mr. Walter -Hawkesworth, of the Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth Hall, in the Parish of -Otley, in the County of York, was in the diplomatic service of King James -I., and that, according to Foster's "_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_" he -was poisoned at Madrid when on an embassy there. - -[Footnote B: See also Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers. Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -Hence, is it quite within the bounds of possibility that his remote -kinsman, Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, may have been in the diplomatic service -of Queen Elizabeth. The Hawkesworths and the Wardes had, in days long gone -by, twice formed alliances by marriage, so that the families were -distantly akin. Indeed it was from Sir Simon Warde, of Esholt, in the -Parish of Otley, and of Givendale, in the Parish of Ripon, that the -Hawkesworths of Hawkesworth had by marriage alliance gained the -Hawkesworth Estate.--See Foster's "_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_." - -But is there any evidence that links Thomas Ward (or Warde), of Mulwaith -(or Mulwith), and the Ward (or Warde) family in general, of Givendale, -Newby and Mulwith, with the Lord Mounteagle?[C] - -[Footnote C: It will be seen as this narrative further unfolds itself that -it is almost certain that Thomas Warde (or Ward) was in the service of the -Government as a Catholic diplomat under Walsingham. And, moreover, it will -appear probable that the servant Warde (or Ward) "had as much, off" as the -master Walsingham.] - -And, first of all, is there any evidence to show that Marmaduke Ward ever -had a brother in London, who lived at Court? - -There is. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -For in Foley's "_Records_"[70] we are told that Father George Ward, alias -Ingleby, was a son of Marmaduke Ward, Esquire, of Newby, near Ripon, by -his wife Ursula Wright.[A] And in a note at the foot of the self-same -page, it is stated that William Ward entered the English College at Rome -in the name William Ingleby vere Ward, 4th October, 1614, at the age of -twenty-three; that the family was of distinction in the county, _and his -uncle lived at Court_. (The italics are mine.) - -[Footnote A: I am, however, inclined to think that Ursula Ward died early -in the year 1588, after the birth of her son, probably George, and that -the Elizabeth Ward, who is mentioned in Peacock's "_List of Roman -Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_" as the wife of a Marmaduke Ward, of the -Parish of Ripon, was the mother of Elizabeth Ward, Teresa (or Ann) Ward, -William Ward, and Thomas Ward. Indeed, the mother of all Mary Warde's -father's children, except Mary herself, Barbara, John, and George. - -I think, moreover, that Elizabeth Ward was a Sympson, probably of Great -Edston, near Kirbymoorside, Rydale, in the North Riding of the County of -York. The Sympsons, of Edston, had a daughter Elizabeth at this time.--See -Foster's Ed. of "_Glover's Visitation_." - -In the Ripon Minster Registers there is certainly the entry under date -15th May, 1588, of a wedding between a "Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth -Sympson." Now Mary Warde, the eldest child of Ursula Warde, was born the -23rd day of January, 1585-86, and Barbara in the year 1586; so that if -Ursula Warde died in the year 1588 (at the early part) after giving birth -to George Warde, Marmaduke Warde might be conceivably married again in -May, 1588. Sir Thomas More's case would afford a precedent for so early a -second marriage. The marriage of Marmaduke Warde and Elizabeth Sympson may -have taken place at Ripon from the house of friends, in the presence of -some semi-popish conforming Vicar. Winefrid Wigmore styles George Ward -Mary's "owne brother," implying that there was at least one -half-brother.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_" vol. i., p. 427. John Ward, the -elder brother, died from wounds received in a duel. He must have taken -after his uncle John Wright, who was one of the most expert swordsmen of -his time, and never happy but when sending a challenge to some swordsman -or another who specially boasted himself of skill in the use of that -ancient weapon.] - -Moreover, there is evidence tending to prove, with absolute certitude, -that the "Ward" or "Warde" family, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith were -connected with the family of Mounteagle, both on his mother's side through -the Mounteagles, and on his father's side through the Barons Morley.[71] - -Also is there evidence tending to prove, with moral certitude, that either -through the Stanleys or the Morleys, or some other family or families, the -Wards (or Wardes) were connected by marriage and actually related to Lord -Mounteagle by blood. - -The proof is this:--In the "_Life of Mary Ward_," [72] by Mary Catherine -Elizabeth Chambers, it is stated that Mary Ward was in some way related to -the before-mentioned lady of high family, Winefrid Wigmore, of Lucton, -Herefordshire, who was an accomplished woman, speaking five languages -fluently. - -Now it is known that Winefrid Wigmore's father, Sir William Wigmore, had -married Anne Throckmorton, one of the daughters of Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton. Now Lady Wigmore, through the Throckmortons and the -Treshams, "was connected with the families of Lord Mounteagle, Morley, -Berkeley, and Vaux."[73] - -Hence it follows that, through the Wigmores,[A] the Throckmortons, and the -Treshams, there was a connection of some kind or another between Mary -Ward's family and the families of Mounteagle, Morley, Berkeley, and -Vaux.[74] - -[Footnote A: Since the text was written, I have found out that Winefrid -Wigmore, through her mother, was a cousin once removed to Elizabeth, Lady -Mounteagle (_nee_ Tresham).--See Notes 30 and 76 _postea_.] - -Again, Mary Ward was related to Mary Poyntz (pronounced Poynes), a lady -whose ancient family had come over with William the Conqueror.[75] Mary -Poyntz, herself a lovely woman, was the daughter of Edward Poyntz, -Esquire, of Iron Acton and Tobington Park, in the County of -Gloucester.[76] - -Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who was living in 1580, the father of Edward Poyntz, -had married Margaret Stanley, the daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. This -lady was the mother of Edward Poyntz, the father of Mary Poyntz, the -relative of Mary Ward. - -Now I find (from Burke's "_Extinct Peerages_") that Henry Parker Lord -Morley, the grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, had -married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. - -Hence the Poyntz and the Mounteagles were cousins. Again, the Wards were -in some way or other related to the Poyntz family. Hence it follows that -through the Poyntz the Wards were related in some sort with Lord -Mounteagle, by means of the Stanleys, Mounteagle's father's ancestors and -mother's ancestors.[77] - -For 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, Mounteagles, and Wards through the -great House of Neville. - -(We may be sure that a young nobleman like the fourth Lord Mounteagle -would be glad to recognise the Wards of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale as -"Cousins" if such were the fact, and to treat them in every respect as -being on an equality with him.) - -Therefore the combined Evidence so far gives us this conclusion:-- - -That a Christopher Wright was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, of -Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon. - -That Marmaduke Ward was of the same place--Mulwith (or Mulwaith)--as a -person named Thomas Warde, who was married in a church in York in the year -1579, and whose wife died in the year 1590, and whose burial is recorded -to this day at Ripon Minster. - -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,[78] in the Parish of Ripon, between the years 1594 -and 1596 inclusive, and in the neighbourhood of the City of Ripon, and -within the boundary of its parish, from the year 1589 to 1601. - -That Marmaduke Ward's son, William, had an uncle who lived at Court.[A] - -That the Wardes were connected with, and related to Lord Mounteagle by -common family ties.[79] - -[Footnote A: The fact that a Christopher Wright who lived at Newbie in -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 Wright was the -brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward. - -At this time there was also a Francis Wright at Newbie, and a John Wright -at Grantley. They may have been the children of John and Christopher -Wright, _the uncles_ of John and Christopher Wright, the Gunpowder -plotters. And, of course, it is _possible_ that the Christopher Wright who -lived in Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton between the years 1589 and 1601 -_may have been a cousin or other kinsman_ of Christopher Wright the -plotter, or even of different families altogether. But in the Register of -Welwick Church are the following entries of Burials: "13 October 1654 -ffrauncis Wright Esquire and 2 May 1664 ffrauncis Wright Esquire" -(communicated by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, M.A., Vicar of Welwick), entries -which tend to prove that the Newby Wrights and the Plowland Wrights were -one and the same persons, and, therefore, of one and the same clan. - -There seem, from the "_Memorials of Ripon_," vol. iii. (Surtees Soc.), to -have been "Wrights" in Ripon and the neighbourhood for many generations, -certainly long before the reign of Henry VIII., when the grandfather of -the plotters is said to have come from Kent into Yorkshire.--See Foster's -"_Glover's Visitation of Yorkshire_." Possibly the Wrights of Kent -originally sprang from Yorkshire. - -"A Christopher Wright" lived at South Kilvington, near Thirsk, in the -nineteenth century.--See the tablet to his memory in the church of that -parish.] - -Hence, from the foregoing evidence, the conclusions are inevitable, first, -that Thomas Warde, of Mulwith, who married Marjory (or Margery) Slater[A] -in 1579, was almost certainly a connection and relative of Lord -Mounteagle, in whose household Warde held an honoured and honourable -position; or, as doubtless we should say nowadays, was the young peer's -private secretary: and, secondly, that, through the said Thomas Warde, -Christopher Wright likewise was almost certainly by affinity connected -with, if not related by blood to, the same highly-favoured English -nobleman. - -[Footnote A: This marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith, to Marjory (or -Margery) Slater, "servant to Mr. Cotterill," of the Parish of St. Wilfrid, -York, forcibly reminds one of the romance which Lord Tennyson has -immortalized in his charming little poem, "The Lord of Burleigh." -Moreover, it is worthy of remark that there was a family connection -between the family of Cecil and a family of Ward, most probably the Wards -of Mulwith, or those akin to them.--See Hatfield's "_Hist. MSS._" (Eyre & -Spottiswoode), pt. viii., p. 553, where it says, "Pedigree connection of -the Cecil and Ward families, partly in Lord Burleigh's hand," pt. i., -204-289.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -But again, seeing that we know that a certain Thomas Ward lived at Court, -by reason of his being a member of the household of Lord Mounteagle, who -had been admitted to Court ever since the accession to the throne of James -the First, by this point also I know not how to escape from these several -probable conclusions: that the Thomas Warde (or Ward), the -gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, was the brother of Marmaduke Warde -(or Ward); that, by consequence, he was the connection of Christopher -Wright; and that by remoter consequence, Christopher Wright himself was a -connection of Lord Mounteagle likewise. - -Now, granting the family connection between Thomas Warde and Wright, there -is no antecedent improbability, but the contrary, in the supposal that -Christopher Wright, if and when stricken with remorse at the thought of -his sworn part and lot in the iniquitous Gunpowder Plot, had recourse to -this Thomas Warde, who was his connection, for trustworthy and effectual -help in saving from a sudden and cruel death, haply himself and his -confederates, but certainly his Sovereign and the Senators of his -Fatherland, along with Heaven alone knows whom else beside! - -Furthermore, if there were any antecedent improbability in such a supposal -as that Christopher Wright should have recourse to this particular -Yorkshireman, Thomas Warde, in the hour of his need, it should be had in -continual remembrance--as a self-evident proposition from the constitution -of human nature--that the person or persons to whom a Yorkshireman like -Christopher Wright (supposing him to have been the revealing plotter) -almost certainly would have recourse would be, if possible, some tried and -constant native of his own County, whose intellect, he would think, there -was some guarantee for being shrewd and practical, his heart not devoid of -fellow-feeling with a "brother in adversity," and his will at once -indomitable and energetic.[80] One who indeed laughs at alleged -impossibilities and who cries: "_It shall be done!_" - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - -Lastly, there is proof, indirect indeed but very telling, that Thomas -Warde must have been closely akin to Marmaduke Warde, and that both must -have been related to Lord Mounteagle. - -This proof is contained in the following "Examination of Marmaduke Warde, -Gentleman, in the County of Yorke, taken at Beauchamp Court before Sir -Fulke Grevyll, Knight, and Bartholmewe Hales, Esq^{re.}, on Wednesday, the -6th day of November, the day following the arrest of Fawkes and the flight -of the others of the conspirators from London towards Dunchurch, in -Warwickshire:-- - - "GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 47.[81] - - "The examinacion of Marmaduke Warde, gent. of Newbie in the - countie of yorke taken before S^{r.} ffowlk Grevyll[A] Knight - and Bartholmewe Hales esq^{r.} - - "This ex^{t} beinge demaunded when he came into this Countreye - saith a fortnight since & hath since continued at Mr Jo: Writes - at Lapworth, where Mr Write discontynuinge the space of on weeke - past his sister in lawe Mrs Write intreated him (beeinge - accompanyed w^{th} on Marke Brittaine her man) to goe to Mr - Winter w^{th} a horse to Huddenton where as theye past by - Alcester about an hower after the troope past this ex^{t} was - apprehended but the saide Brittaine beeinge well horst escapt - hee further saith hee knewe not of the companies passinge y^{t} - way vntill they came to Alcester nor of theire purpose any - thinge at all." - -[Footnote A: This was the celebrated Sir Fulk Greville, the friend and -biographer of Sir Philip Sidney. Greville was afterwards created Lord -Brooke. His tomb, with a famous inscription, is in the church of St. Mary, -Warwick.] - -Now, from the "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 91, it is evident, first, -that Marmaduke Warde got into no trouble of any kind, notwithstanding that -for a fortnight he had been actually dwelling under the roof-tree of one -of the principal conspirators, and when apprehended was even in the act of -taking a horse from Lapworth to Huddington, the mansion of Robert Winter, -one Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel, who was also the brother of another -Gunpowder traitor and armed rebel--the latter, indeed, being among the -very chiefest of the traitors and rebels. - -It is evident, secondly, that on reaching London town the Master of -Newbie, in the County of York, lodged in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, -apparently as a matter of course. - -Moreover, the marvel of the whole thing is enhanced by the fact, first, -that Marmaduke Ward's name is bracketed along with Richard Yorke (a -follower of Robert Winter) and Robert Key (doubtless Robert Keyes), the -Gunpowder traitor, who was arrested in Warwickshire by himself and not in -the company of the others (it is supposed he had been to Turvey, in -Bedfordshire, to see his wife and children at Lord Mordaunt's, and was -making his way towards Holbeach); and by the fact, secondly, that the -said Marmaduke Ward, Richard Yorke, and Robert Key are specially described -as "suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Grant, and Mr. -Rookwood's."[A] - -[Footnote A: See add. MS. 5874, fo. 322, British Museum. See also Appendix -for the list of suspected persons usually resorting to Mr. Winter's, Mr. -Grant's, and Mr. Rookwood's. - -Mr. Winter's house would be Huddington, in Worcestershire; Mr. Grant's, -Norbrook, in Warwickshire; Mr. Rookwood's would be Clopton Hall (or -House), Stratford-on-Avon. Mabie's "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Macmillan, -1901), p. 393, contains a picture of the dining-hall at Clopton.] - -Now the inferences that I draw from these two truly astounding -circumstances are these following:--That Marmaduke Warde must have had -literally "a friend at Court," or his lodging when he reached the great -Metropolis, as a matter of course, would have been not--emphatically -_not_--Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, but, of a surety, the Tower of London. - -That this "friend" must have been very closely allied to him in some way -or another. - -And that this "friend" must have been a very powerful friend indeed, -especially when one remembers the punishment that was inflicted after the -Plot had become a mere bubble-burst by the Court of Star Chamber upon -Marmaduke Warde's own connection (through the Gascoignes), Henry Earl of -Northumberland,[82] and upon the Lords Montague, Mordaunt, and Stourton, -the latter of whom had married a daughter of good Sir Thomas Tresham; and -the prosecution of Marmaduke Warde's other connection, Sir John Yorke, of -Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidderdale, as late as the year 1612, on a charge of -complicity in the Plot.[83] - -Now, from all these three inferences, surely the further inference is -inevitable, that the probabilities are so high as to amount to moral -certitude, that Thomas Warde and Marmaduke Warde were each allied, in -blood, to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -And "probability" that amounts to moral certitude is, as every-day -experience, as well as philosophy, tells us, "the very guide of life." - -Therefore the historical Inquirer henceforward is warranted in reason in -pursuing his inquiries into this matter on the following assumption, at -the very least, namely, that Christopher Wright, Marmaduke Warde, Thomas -Warde, and Lord Mounteagle had common family ties subsisting between them -in the year 1605. - -And, consequently, upon such an assumption the Inquirer may justifiably -build his hypothesis respecting the revelation of the Gunpowder Treason -Plot.[84] - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - -But, it may be asked, is there any Evidence, however remote, to show how -it is possible that Mounteagle may have been brought into personal contact -with his morally certain kinsman, Thomas Warde (or Ward)? - -There is. - -For it is to be remembered that although Mounteagle seems to have spent -most of his time in London and Essex, his grandmother, Elizabeth Lady -Morley, the wife of Henry Parker Lord Morley, was, as we have seen, of the -then well-nigh princely house of the Stanleys Earls of Derby, she being, -in fact, a daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby, as was Margaret Lady -Poyntz, the wife of Sir Nicholas Poyntz,[A] of Iron Acton, in the County -of Gloucester, the father of Edward Poyntz, Esquire, the relative of the -Wardes of Yorkshire. - -[Footnote A: It is a remarkable fact that Sir Thomas Heneage (whose name -frequently occurs in the correspondence of Sir Francis Walsingham with the -Earl of Leicester when in the 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 -"_Visitation of Essex, 1612_" (Harleian Soc.) under "Poyntz."--Sir Thomas -Heneage is described as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and -Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Thomas Heneage married for his -second wife the Dowager Countess of Southampton, the mother of -Shakespeare's friend and patron. Now this Earl of Southampton, like the -Earl of Rutland, was an intimate friend of Lord Mounteagle.] - -Besides, as we have also seen, this was not William Parker fourth Lord -Mounteagle's only relationship with England's "North Countrie,"--that -birthplace and home of so much that is most original and energetic in the -English race. For this happily-circumstanced young peer was related doubly -to the great Lancashire house of Derby, being, indeed, the heir and -successor to the honours and estates of the Stanleys Lords Mounteagle, of -Hornby 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 Ripon, in the County of -York, must have known personally, and certainly all of whom they must have -greatly honoured. - -I refer to the Prestons, of Levens and Preston Patrick, in the County of -Westmoreland, and of Furness and Holker, in Lancashire, "North of the -Sands," and to the Leybournes (or Labourns), of Cunswick, Skelsmergh, and -Witherslack,[A] in the County of Westmoreland, and of Nateby-in-the-Fylde, -in the west of the County of Lancaster.[85] - -[Footnote A: The modern Witherslack Hall, in Westmoreland, is the property -of the present Earl of Derby. It is situated in 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."--_Winter's Tale._ - -Witherslack is reached from Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange-over-Sands. - -The old Witherslack Hall of the Leybournes is now a farm-house.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - -Lastly, it should be remembered, in endeavouring to trace out by -inevitable inference the nature of the tie or ties, manifestly very -strong, that bound Mounteagle to Marmaduke Ward (and therefore to Thomas -Ward), that the ancestors of both Mounteagle and the Wards had, in the -year 1513, fought together at the great battle of Flodden Field, in -Northumberland, in which the Scots were led by 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 Edward Stanley (whose mother was a Neville),[A] turned -the fortunes of the day in favour of the English by attacking with his -archers the rear of the Scottish centre--which centre, led by King James -himself in person, was assaulting, with some success, the English forces, -whose vanguard was led by Lord Thomas Howard, in 1514 created the Earl of -Surrey. - -[Footnote A: The first Lord Mounteagle's mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, -the sister of Richard Neville, so well known to history as "the King -Maker." The Wards were related to the Nevilles in more than one way.--See -"_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., the earlier chapters. - -In Staindrop Parish Church, three miles from Winston, Darlington, are -still to be seen the monuments of the great Ralph Neville and his two -wives. This was the first Neville who bore the title Earl of Westmoreland. -There are also the monuments of Henry Neville fifth Earl of Westmoreland, -and two out of his three wives. His son Charles was the last Neville who -bore this title.--See Wordsworth's "_White Doe of Rylstone_." I visited -Raby Castle, Durham, with its famous Hall and Minstrels' Gallery, on the -1st of July, 1901. Raby Castle is owned now by Henry De Vere Vane ninth -Lord Barnard, who also owns Barnard Castle, overlooking the Tees, -celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in "Rokeby."] - -This Earl of Surrey was afterwards the second Duke of Norfolk, of the -Howard line of the Dukes of Norfolk, and great 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[A] -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 own right Baroness Mowbray and Segrave, -and also in her own right Countess of Norfolk. This lady was contracted in -marriage to Richard, afterwards created Duke of Norfolk, a son of King -Edward IV., but they had no issue. - -[Footnote A: The first Earl of Norfolk was Thomas of Brotherton, a brother -of King Edward II. The date of this ancient Earldom was 1312. It fell into -abeyance on the death of Richard 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, 1901) the -House of Lords has under consideration a claim by Lord Mowbray Segrave and -Stourton that he be declared senior co-heir to the Earldom of Norfolk -created in 1312. (A case of great historic interest.)] - -The second of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, the hero of Flodden Field, was -the father of Thomas third Duke of Norfolk, commonly called the "old Duke -of Norfolk." - -He was that Duke of Norfolk, under Henry VIII., who opposed the insurgent -Yorkshire and Lancashire "Pilgrims of Grace" (1536) led by the gallant -Robert Aske,[A] of Aughton, on the banks of the Yorkshire Derwent, when in -the event Aske was hanged from one of the towers of the ancient City of -York--probably Clifford's Tower--and many of his followers tasted of Tudor -vengeance. - -[Footnote A: Representatives of the family of Robert Aske are still to be -found at Bubwith, near Aughton, and, I believe, at Hull. Aughton is -reached from the station called High Field on the Selby and Market -Weighton line. Aughton Parish Church is a fine mediaeval structure. Hard-by -is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle of the Askes, showing also -evident traces of two large moats which had surrounded the fortified -buildings on the hill which constituted the Aughton Hall of days gone by.] - -"The old Duke of Norfolk" was the father of that illustrious scion of the -house of Howard who, under the name Earl of Surrey, has left a deathless -memory alike as warrior, statesman, and poet. - -The Earl of Surrey's son was Thomas Howard fourth Duke of Norfolk, who is -the common ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk and the present Earl of -Carlisle. - -The fourth Duke of Norfolk's head fell on the scaffold, by reason of the -Duke's aspiring to the Royal hand of Mary Queen of Scots.[B] - -[Footnote B: Slingsby Castle, 28 miles north-east of York (now -dismantled), is associated with the Mowbrays Dukes of Norfolk, they giving -the Vale near the Howardian Hills and Rydale the title, Vale of Mowbray. -While Sheriff Hutton Castle, 10 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 then Lord Dacres of the North, "who dwelt on the Border" at Naworth -Castle,[A] near Carlisle, was likewise a sharer in the renowned laurels of -Flodden Field. - -[Footnote A: The Howards Dukes of Norfolk give their name to the Howardian -Hills, through Lord William Howard, who married the Honourable Anne -Dacres, of Naworth 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 ninth Earl of Carlisle, -whose gifted wife, Rosalind Countess of Carlisle (_nee_ Stanley of -Alderley), is akin to the famous William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, of -the days of James I.] - -This before-mentioned Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley -first Earl of Derby, was 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[86] 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 consequence -of his ancestor's prowess in that historic fight, his mother's family -received from Henry VIII. 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 Lancashire_," vol. iv., ed. 1836, that -Hornby Castle, in the Vale 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 II. (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. Baines also says that Sir Edward -Stanley first Lord Mounteagle (who married Anne Harrington, daughter of -Sir John Harrington) successfully petitioned Henry VII. for the Hornby -Estates, in consequence of the attainder of James Harrington, apparently -his wife's uncle. - - - - - CHAPTER 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,[A] the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was the -first wife of Thomas second Lord Mounteagle, whose second wife was Ellen -Leybourne (_nee_ Preston), the mother of Anne, the wife of William third -Lord Mounteagle, who died in 1584. - -[Footnote A: Lady Mary Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon 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 "_History of Sacrilege_" -(Masters, ed. 1853), p. 228.] - -Ellen Preston's father was Sir Thomas Preston; her mother was a -Thornborough, of Hampsfield Hall, Hampsfell, in the Parish of Cartmel, -North Lancashire. The Thornboroughs (or Thornburghs) had held some of the -following manors from the time of Edward III.:--Hampsfield Hall, Whitwell, -Winfell, Fellside, Skelsmergh, Patton, Dallam Tower, Methop, Ulva, and -Wilson 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 -V.), the arms of Harrington, Leybourne, Fleming de Rydal, Strickland, -Middleton, and Redmayne, most of which houses of gentry of "the North -Countrie" were more or less allied to the fourth Lord Mounteagle. - -Sir Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle was in possession of Hornby -Castle and its broad acres at the date of Flodden Field, 1513.[A] This is -interestingly evidenced by the two following stanzas from the old "Ballad -of Flodden Field":-- - -[Footnote A: In the battle of Flodden Field, which caused such -lamentation, mourning, and woe in Edinburgh, several citizens of York -behaved themselves valiantly under Sir John Mounville. Among English lords -in this fight were the Lords Howard (Edmund 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 "_Ripon_," -p. 143. - -It is said that the gallant Northumbrian Heron knew all the "sleights of -war."] - - "Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred, - With weapons of unwieldly weight; - All such as Tatham Fells had bred, - Went under Stanley's streamers bright. - - From Silverdale to Kent Sand Side,[87] - Whose soil is sown with cockle shells; - From Cartmel 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 Hiding of Yorkshire about Guiseley, Esholt, and -Ripon. - -For, as the grand old "Ballad of Flodden Field" again tells us, the -English arms were reinforced - - "With many a gentleman and squire, - From Rippon, Ripley, and Rydale, - With them marched forth all Massamshire, - With Nosterfield and Netherdale." - -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 Mounteagle 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, -who--as we have proved by evidence and inevitable inferences therefrom--it -is all but absolutely certain must have been Thomas Warde,[A] of Mulwith, -the brother of Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale.[88] - -[Footnote A: Sir Edward Hoby is the only contemporary, so far as I 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.] - -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 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 Stuart 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 arrangement 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] a -town which Ward possibly took on his leaving Lapworth, in Warwickshire, -whither, I surmise, he repaired some time between the 11th of October and -the 26th of that month. - -[Footnote A: It is possible that Mounteagle and Catesby may have been -together at Bath between the 12th of October, 1695, and the 26th October. - -See a curious letter dated 12th October, but without date of the year, -from Mounteagle to Catesby ("_Archaeologia_," vol. xxviii., p. 420), -discovered by the late Mr. Bruce. - -There is a copy of this "_Archaeologia_" in the British Museum, which I saw -in October, 1900.] - -(2) That Thomas Ward's was the guiding mind, the dominant force, or, to -vary the metaphor, the central pivot upon which the successful -accomplishment of the entire revelation turned, inasmuch as, I submit, -that Ward must have received from the conscience-stricken conspirator a -complete disclosure of the whole guilty secret, with 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 _profitable_ 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 history, called upon this young nobleman to play. - -If Ward (or Warde) were born about the beginning 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 Warde, by his superior age and experience of men and -things, well fitted to play "the guide, philosopher, and friend" to -Mounteagle in the matter.[A] - -[Footnote A: If Thomas Warde were sent to the Low Countries, as I think it -almost certain he was sent, although I cannot prove it, belike he may have -been one of those Elizabethan gentlemen Shakespeare had in mind when he -wrote in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona": - - "Yet hath Sir Proteus ... - Made use and fair advantage of his days: - His years but young, but his experience old: - His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe; - And, in a word (for far behind his worth - Come all the praises that I now bestow) - He is complete in feature and in mind, - With all good grace, to grace a gentleman." - -It sheds some very faint corroborative light on the supposal that Thomas -Ward was the "Mr. Warde" mentioned by Sir Francis Walsingham 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 Mary Ward_" (Burns & Oates, 2 vols.) - -Also a "Mr. Wade" mentioned, by Walsingham to Leicester in a letter dated -3rd April, 1587, may have been really "Warde."--See Wright's "_Elizabethan -Letters_," vol. ii., p. 335. - -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 Robert Hungate and wife _v._ John Hoare and John -Shawe, in the year 1583.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - -Now what is the Evidence to support the preceding paragraphs (1), (2), and -(3)? - -As to paragraph (1), the Evidence is direct. - -There was a tradition extant that _Mounteagle expected the Letter, told to -a gentleman named Edmund Church his confidant_.--See Gardiner's -"_Gunpowder Plot_," p. 10. - -Moreover, the fact that the footman was in the street at about seven of -the clock when the missive was given to him _is strongly suggestive of the -fact that he had been anxiously sent thither by some one, so that he might -be ready at hand to receive the document immediately on its arrival_. - -As to paragraphs (2) and (3), the 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 back from his -errand of mercy on that dark night of Saturday, the 26th day of October, -1605, 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 -Salisbury, the King's principal Secretary of State.[A] - -[Footnote A: The days of the week and the dates of the month run parallel -for the years 1605 and 1901. Thus both the 26ths of October are on a -Saturday. _What was the condition of the moon on that memorable Saturday -night?_] - -That Lord Mounteagle had imparted to Thomas Ward almost all, if not quite -all, that had passed between Lord Salisbury and himself on the delivery to -the latter of the peerless document to my mind is clear from the fact -_that the faithful Ward, the very next day (Sunday) repaired to Thomas -Winter_, one of the principal conspirators, _and told Winter that the -Letter was in the hands of Salisbury_!--"_Winter's Confession._" - -Assuming that Thomas Ward was a Ward of Mulwith, he would be a family -connection of Thomas Winter as well as of Christopher Wright through -Ursula Ward and Inglebies, of Ripley, in Nidderdale. - -Now, what is proved by this very significant fact of _Thomas Ward's_ so -unerringly darting off to _Thomas Winter_, one of the prime movers in this -conspiracy of wholesale slaughter, when he (Ward) had all the adult male -inhabitants of London and Westminster to make his selection from? - -Plainly this: that the revealing conspirator (whoever he was) _must have -"primed" Thomas Ward by previously telling Thomas Ward that Thomas Winter -was one of the chiefest of those involved in the conspiracy_. - -Again; as Winter had been formerly in Mounteagle's service (a circumstance -doubtless well known to the revealing conspirator), _that revealing -conspirator_ would naturally, nay inevitably, _bid Ward_ put himself _not -only into speedy communication with Mounteagle_, in order to reach -Salisbury, the principal servant of the King, _but, this done, also into -speedy 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 their -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - -Now, I maintain that there is Evidence, from a very unexpected quarter, -that Thomas Ward had received from the revealing plotter a complete -disclosure of every one of the material facts and particulars of the Plot, -including the existence of the mine, the hiring of the cellar, the storing -therein of the gunpowder, and even the names of the conspirators. And -that, moreover, Thomas Ward had received the fullest power "to discover" -to his master, Lord Mounteagle, all that had been told to him (Ward) by -the revealing plotter, _if_, in the exercise of his (Ward's) uncontrolled -diplomatic discretion, he deemed it necessary in order to effect, -_primarily_, the temporal salvation of the King and his Parliament, and, -this done, in order to effect, _secondarily_, the escape of the -conspirators themselves. - -The Evidence to which I refer is deducible from the testimony of none -other than Francis Tresham, Evidence which he gave to Thomas Winter in -Lincoln's Inn Walks on Saturday night, the 2nd day of November, just one -week after the delivery of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, and just one day -after the Letter had been shown by Salisbury to the King.[89] - -Thomas Winter, in his "_Confession_," writes thus: "On Saturday night I -met Mr. Tresham again in Lincoln's Inn Walks, where he told such speeches -that my Lord of Salisbury should use to the King, as I gave it lost the -second time, and repeated the same to Mr. Catesby, who hereupon was -resolved to be gone, but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up whose consent -herein we wanted. On Sunday night came Mr. Percy and no 'nay,' but would -abide the uttermost trial."[90] - -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 break down and sweep away the barriers -formed by the strong affection which he naturally must have harboured for -the pet scheme and the darling project that had cost himself and his -companions the expenditure of so much "slippery time,"[91] so much sweat -of the brow, and so much treasure of the pocket? Yea, indeed, to what -purport can these "speeches" have been? - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - -In the King's Book, after describing Salisbury's first visit to James in -"the privie gallerie" of Whitehall Palace, it is stated that it was -arranged that there should be another meeting on the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November. - -The precise words of the Royal Work are these: "It was agreed that he -[_i.e._, Salisbury] 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 Chamberlaine should, according -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 -Chamberlaine being present thereat; and I suggest that, most probably, -Mounteagle himself was, if not then actually within ear-shot, yet not afar -off. - -Now it is evident from Lingard's "_History_" that Tresham had told Winter -that the Government had already intelligence of the existence of "the -mine."[92] - -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 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,[A] and that the same -information probably that very day (Saturday) would be imparted to the -King's Government likewise.[93] - -[Footnote A: 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, with no -link missing.] - -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 unhappy 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.[94] - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -Again, on Monday, the 4th instant, Mounteagle offered to accompany his -distant connection, the Earl of Suffolk, to make the search in the cellar. - -Whyneard, keeper of the King's wardrobe, 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--probably in an unguarded -moment--words to the effect that perhaps Thomas Percy had sent the Letter. - -Now, guarded or unguarded, to my mind, the fact that Mounteagle, in any -shape or form, mentioned Percy'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.[95] - -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. - -To this end the young peer watched and measured the relative value and -effect of every move on the part of the Government like 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 _primary and supreme duty_, -namely, the saving of the King and Parliament from being rent and torn to -pieces in a most hellish fashion, truly "barbarous and savage beyond the -examples of former ages," Mounteagle actually himself told Salisbury to -inform Sir Thomas Knevet and his band of armed men to keep a sharp lookout -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 custody_ 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 "_Gunpowder Plot_," pp. -132-136. - -The dark lantern, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was left burning -in the cellar by Fawkes. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - -Let me now make two quotations. - -One is from the King's Book, giving an account of the procedure followed -by the Earl of Suffolk the Lord Chamberlain, and the Lord Mounteagle, the -champion, protector, and hero of the England of his day, in whose honour -the "rare" Ben Jonson[96] 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, Mounteagle, and Father 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, 1605, in general treasonable 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, but withal shrewd and generous, young nobleman was -perfectly innocent. - -These two quotations show, first, how zealously and faithfully Mounteagle -of the Janus-face, looking both before and after--as henceforward we must -regard him--kept his hand on the pulse of the Government at the most -critical hour of his country's annals, with a view to doing what both he -and his mentor deemed to be 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 be known as Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, to the Earl of Salisbury 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,[97] -the Lord Chamberlain] went to the Parliament House accompanied with my -Lord Mounteagle, 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 roumes 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 what 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 was Guido Fawkes the owner of -that hand which should have acted that monstrous tragedie."[98] - -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 Mounteagle had told -him, that he no sooner heard Thomas Percy[A] named to be possessour of -that house, but considering both his backwardnes in Religion 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, where -Thomas Percy had so seldome occasion to remaine; as likewise it gaue him -in his minde that his man looked like a very tall and desperate -fellow."[99] - -[Footnote A: I think that Lord Mounteagle or Thomas Ward (or both) must -have given some member of the Privy Council a hint that a Christopher -Wright was a probable conspirator, for it is noticeable that on the 5th of -November several persons testified as to Christopher Wright's recent -whereabouts. Ward 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_, the Government may have -procured Christopher Wright's name from some paper or papers found in -Thomas Percy's London house, on the 5th 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 the -case may be brought before an ordinary magistrate.] - - - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - -Shortly after Midsummer (_i.e._, July), 1605, Father Garnet was at the -Jesuit house at Fremland, in Essex. Catesby came there with Lord -Mounteagle and Tresham. - -At this meeting, in answer 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." - -"No," said Garnet, "assure yourself they will do nothing." - -"What!" said my Lord Mounteagle, "will not the Spaniard help us? It is a -shame!"[A] - -[Footnote A: If Mounteagle was in the company of Catesby at Fremland in -the summer of 1605, these two may have been together at Bath 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.] - -Then said Father Garnet, "You see we must all have patience."[100] - -It is also to be remembered that when Sir Edmund Baynham, a -Gloucestershire Catholic gentleman of good family--but of whom Winter -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, 1605, Mounteagle appears to have written certain letters of -introduction or of general recommendation, 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."[101] - -I think that it is morally certain he was not. - -Sir Edmund Baynham[A] was intended by the prime conspirators to be at Rome -to justify (_if he 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." - -[Footnote A: Father Garnet was also employing Sir Edmund Baynham as _his_ -diplomatic intermediary with the Pope in order "to gain time," so that -meanwhile the plotters might find space for repentance! Garnet was -apparently one of those men who though possessed of a profound knowledge -of Man know little or nothing of men. Whereas Oldcorne seems to have had -practical reason as well as theoretical wisdom. Oldcorne, I take it, had a -good, strong, clear, practical head on his shoulders, which included in -its armoury _will_, in the sense of _power_, as well as intellect and -heart, and "_where there's a will there's a way_."] - -Guy Fawkes probably was authorised to impart and possibly actually did, -under the oath, impart some knowledge of the Plot to Captain Hugh Owen, a -Welsh Roman Catholic soldier of fortune serving in Flanders under the -Archdukes.[102] 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. - -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. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - - -Now, when deep within the depths of the moral being of Christopher Wright -there first arose that tender day-spring, a realization of guilt and -shame: that crimsoned dawn, a sense of grief and sorrow for those two high -crimes whereby his wretched conscious-self had been 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 sublimely 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 to him Destiny has allotted for his guerdon, -in that 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.[103] - -I furthermore opine that, although it was the personal dawning -consciousness of Christopher Wright himself that _primarily_ prompted the -happy step of recourse to Father Edward Oldcorne,[104] yet Christopher -Wright, in my judgment, already had confided the 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 Ward, who, belike, heightened and -strengthened his connection's laudable resolve.[105] - -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, promiscuously "to work good unto all -men," voluntarily offered to pen the immortal Letter; _provided he were -released from the obligations of that solemn secrecy imposed by "the seal -of the Confessional": released by the Penitent himself, in whom alone -resided the prerogative of granting or withholding such a release_. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - - -Again; I think that probably Thomas Ward had either at Hindlip, 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 Mounteagle, 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.[106] - -It appears to me that the moral certitude is so strong that Thomas Ward -was brother to Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, that it -seems practically almost the mere extravagance of caution to express a -doubt of it.[A] - -[Footnote A: It will be remembered that we have evidence that William -Ward, a son of Marmaduke Ward, _had an uncle who lived at Court_. - -This evidence is of the greatest value and importance in identifying -Thomas Ward, the secretary and friend of Lord Mounteagle, and should be -continually borne in mind by all my readers. - -It should be also remembered that Edmund Neville, the claimant of the -Earldom of Westmoreland, was the man who accused Dr. William Parry of a -plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Now this Neville became a suitor for -the hand of Mary Ward, though about double her age. Neville would be -related to the Wards, and perhaps knew Thomas Ward when in 1584 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 Ward there -might be a clue to the Parry mystery.] - -Now, the suggestion that Thomas Ward was probably in the Midland counties -of Warwickshire and Worcestershire sometime about the 11th of October, -1605,[107] 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 afterwards, and that he was bracketed with -those who were said to have been at the houses of John Wright, Ambrose -Rookwood, and John Grant at that time.[A] - -[Footnote A: See the List of the names of conspirators, insurgents, and -others arrested in the Midlands given in the Appendix.] - -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, what 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 Ward, 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 might use his counsels and entreaties to -induce his late wife's combative brother, John Wright,[108] the -close-natured Christopher Wright, the gallant Ambrose Rookwood, and the -strong-willed John Grant, to abandon all designment of insurrectionary -stirs. - -For Thomas Ward, from the experience of a man at Court aged forty-six, who -knew from the daily observation of his own senses, how firmly James's -Executive was certainly established, must 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is to be borne in mind that hereafter proof may be -forthcoming that Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward, the sister of -Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. I _think_ that they had another sister named -Ann Ward, who married a Marmaduke Swales.--(See Ripon Registers). There -was an old county family called Swales at Staveley Hall, near Farnham and -Scotton. They were Roman Catholics. They are the same, I opine, as the -Swales (or Swale) family, of South Stainley, between Ripley and Ripon, -whose descendants are of the ancient faith in Yorkshire to this day. - -The late Sir James Swale, Bart., of Rudfarlington, 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 Harrogate--himself of an old West Riding family -that "had never lost the Faith."] - -And this the rather, when it is remembered that, the names of John and -Christopher Wright were already unfavourably 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 in some wild, fierce dash for liberty.[109] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -We have now considered the Evidence leading up to the commission of the -respective acts that this Inquiry, at an earlier part, has attributed -severally 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, _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by Christopher Wright and the penning of the same by Father -Oldcorne, these two Yorkshiremen were conscious of having performed the -several parts attributed unto them, let us deal with certain _objections_ -that may be put forward as preliminary objections fatal to the contentions -of this Inquiry. - -Now, there is an objection which, with a _prima facie_ plausibleness, may -be advanced against the hypothesis that Christopher Wright was the -dictating, repentant, revealing conspirator, through whom primarily the -Plot was frustrated and overthrown. - -And there is also a second objection that may be urged against the -hypothesis, with even still greater _prima facie_ plausibleness, that -Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, was the meritorious Penman of -the dictated Letter. - -Each objection must be 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 certain William Handy, servant to Sir Everard Digby, on the 27th -day of November, 1605, before (among others) Sir Julius Caesar, Kt., Sir -Francis Bacon, Kt.,[110] and Sir George More, Kt., High Sheriff of Surrey -and Sussex, deposed (among other things) the following:-- - -That early on Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, as the fugitives -were proceeding from Norbrook to Alcester, he (Handy) heard the younger -Wright 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, -which were commonly Mr. John Grant, the younger Grant, and Ambrose -Rookwood."[111] - -Now, Christopher Wright _may_ 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 hypothesi_) he had become as -one morally resurrected from the dead. - -For it is to be remembered that Christopher Wright was the brother of John -Wright, and the brother-in-law of Thomas Percy, Thomas Percy having -married Martha Wright, of Plowland Hall. Now, concerning John Wright and -his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, the following traits of character are -chronicled by their contemporary, Father John Gerard.[112] - -"It was noted in him [_i.e._, Thomas Percy] and in Mr. John Wright (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, was rapidly drawing to its -shattered close. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -What objection, then, can be brought against the hypothesis that Father -Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, and native of the City of York, was -the Penman of this most momentous perhaps 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 1680,[113] purporting to be a History of the Powder Treason, with -a parallel between the Gunpowder Treason and the Titus Oates' 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, _she writ the aforesaid letter to him_, to give him so much -notice of the danger as might warn him to provide for his own safety, 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. _This account Mr. -Habington himself gave to a worthy person still in being._" (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, of course, if Mrs. Habington (or Abington), of Hindlip Hall, near -Worcester, where Father Oldcorne was domesticated for sixteen years, -actually wrote the Letter, then Father Oldcorne did not. There can be no -two opinions about _that_, even with the most sceptical. - -But did she? - -I submit that this testimony of Dr. Williams, second,[114] third, or -fourth hand possibly, is hopelessly inadequate for the establishing of any -such conclusion. - -First, let it be noted that, although "the worthy 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 -year 1680 (or thereabouts), _his thrice-important name is not divulged by -the learned author, neither is the faintest hint given as to where 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. - - -Now, if Dr. Williams 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, the case would have been _a good -way_ 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. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he knew his wife had writ -the Letter because he saw with his own eyes the lady do it_, then the case -would have been _also a good way_ towards being established. - -Or, if _Mr. Abington_ had told _Williams_ that _he believed his wife had -writ the Letter because she had told him (Abington) she 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 only shred or patch of evidence we have to support the -stupendous article of belief that Mrs. Abington accomplished the immortal -feat is an uncircumstantial, uncorroborated allegation by Dr. Williams -that _some person or another unknown_ (on the most favourable view) _told -him_ (Williams) that Mrs. Abington had writ the Letter _merely because her -husband said so_, then the case for Mrs. Abington's authorship of the -document is _in no way_ towards being established. - -And, therefore, the story falls to the ground. - -And, therefore, it should be, in reason, henceforward consigned to the -limbo of exploded myths and idle tales. - -It is true that Dr. Nash in his work on Worcestershire,[115] 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 "_History_." 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 "_Narrative_," published in the year 1857, and to -which reference has been already frequently made in the course of this -Inquiry, says,[116] "No contemporary writer alludes to Mrs. Abington as -the author of the Letter." - -And 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 L700 a year for life, equal to nearly L7,000 a year in our money. - -For if L700 a year was the guerdon of _him_ that _merely delivered_ this -Letter of Letters, what should have been the guerdon of _her_ that -actually _penned_ the peerless treasure? - -But the hypothesis that Mrs. Abington penned the Letter of Letters has -absolutely no foundation in contemporary evidence. For there is not the -faintest echo of an echo of testimony, nor the merest shadow of a shade of -proof that _either_ she _or_ Mr. Abington had the remotest previous -knowledge of the 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. - -Mr. 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 -"_Narrative_," p. 212.[A] - -[Footnote A: The splendid Elizabethan mansion known as Hindlip Hall, four -miles from Worcester, with a large and magnificent prospect of the -surrounding country, was demolished early in the nineteenth century. A -picture of this mansion is in the Rev. Ethelred Taunton's book, "_The -Jesuits in England_" (Methuen & Co.). The present Hindlip Hall is the seat -of the Lord Hindlip.] - -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. - -Jardine mentions the singular hypothesis that this famous Letter was -penned by the Honourable Anne Vaux, at the dictation of the Honourable -Mrs. Abington. - -Now, the Honourable Anne Vaux was one of the daughters of the Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, in Northamptonshire, at whose house Father Henry Garnet (the -chief of the Jesuits in England) lived for many years, from 1586, when -Garnet returned to England from Rome. Anne Vaux and her sister, the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, were high-minded women who lived at White -Webbs, Stoke Pogis,[A] Wandsworth, and other places of Jesuit resort, -rendering, along with Edward Brookesby,[B] Esquire (the husband of Eleanor -Brookesby), the members of the Jesuit Society in England signally devoted -service. - -[Footnote A: 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 a Country -Churchyard," sojourned at the place.] - -[Footnote B: Edward Brookesby was of Arundel House, Shouldby, -Leicestershire. Frances Brookesby (his sister, probably, and one of Queen -Anne's Maids of Honour), became a devoted friend of Mary Ward.--See "_Life -of Mary Ward_," vol. ii., p. 23.] - -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."[117] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -Now, regard being had to the fact that "there is seldom smoke except there -be, at least, some little fire, the question arises: Is it possible to -account, on rational grounds, for any such statement of the worthy person -still in being in 1680 as Dr. Williams credits him with? - -(Nash's evidence, in the absence of proof of a _continuous_ tradition, is -not one whit more worthy of credence than Dr. Williams' impalpability.) - -It is possible. - -For, it is well within the bounds of rational probability that what Mr. -Abington said to some person or persons unknown (assuming that he ever -said anything whatever) was _not_ that his wife _"had writ the Letter," -but that_ his wife "_knew, or thought she knew, who had writ the Letter_." - -The way in which to test the matter is this: Supposing, for the sake of -argument, that my hypothesis be true, and that Father Oldcorne _did_ -actually pen that Letter which was the instrument, not only of the -temporal salvation of Mrs. Abington's brother, the Lord Mounteagle, but -also of her father, the Lord Morley, together with many others of her -kinsfolk, friends, and acquaintance, as well as of her lawful Sovereign -and His Royal Consort, _is it, or is it not, probable that Mrs. Abington -would guess, in some way or another, the mighty secret_? - -It is probable. - -For let it be remembered who and what Mrs. Abington was. - -The Honourable Mary Parker, the daughter of Edward Parker Lord Morley and -the Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, was the mother of William Abington, the -well-known poet[118] of that name, who was born, in fact, on or about the -5th of November, 1605. - -Therefore Mrs. Abington was the mother of a son who was a man of -distinguished intellectual parts. - -Moreover, seeing that usually it is from the mother that a son's -capabilities are derived rather than from the father, it is more, rather -than less, likely that Mrs. Abington herself was a naturally clear-minded, -acute, discerning woman, gifted with that marvellous faculty which -constitutes cleverness in a woman--sympathetic, imaginative insight. - -Now if this were so, Mrs. Abington's native perspicacity would be surely -potent enough to enable her to form a judgment, at once penetrating and -accurate, in reference to such a thing as the penmanship of the great -Letter--a document which had come home, as events had proved, with such -peculiar closeness to her own "business and bosom."[119] - -In these circumstances, may the Lady of Hindlip not, in after days, when -the tragic scenes of those fateful years 1605 and 1606 had become a sad, -pathetic memory merely, have recalled to mind certain special aspects in -the play of the countenance, in the tone of the voice, aye, in the general -mien of Father Edward Oldcorne that she had noted shortly from and after -the Michaelmas of that unhappy year 1605, forming evidence whence she -might draw her own shrewd, wise conclusions? - -May not this honourable woman--honourable by nature as well as by -name--have recollected that _she_ 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" Christmastide, 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 _warranted_ in thus speaking. - -Again; did he not _then_ manifest a disposition, remarkable even in _him_, -to act in diametrical opposition to the ordinary way of men, which is so -well expressed by the 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 -"_ineluctabile fatum_," that resistless decree of the Universe--"The -guilty suffer." - -Now, I submit, with sure confidence for an affirmative answer, to the -judgment of my candid readers--of my candid readers that know something of -_human_ nature, its workings, its windings, and its ways--the question: -Whether or not it is not merely possible, but probable, that Mrs. Abington -_divined that stupendous secret_, through and by means of the subtle, yet -all-potent, _mental sympathy_, which must have subsisted betwixt herself -and the disciplined, exalted, stately soul, who, as a Priest--aye! as a -very Prophet--this high-born 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 years?[120] - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -Let us finally consider the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions -therefrom which tend to prove that _subsequent_ to the dictating of the -Letter by the contrite, repentant Christopher Wright, _and subsequent_ to -the penning of the Document by the deserving, beneficent Edward Oldcorne, -each of these two Englishmen, aye! these two Yorkshiremen, _were conscious -of having performed_ the several functions that these pages have -attributed unto them. - -Let us take, then, the case of Christopher Wright first. - -Now, the Evidence that tends to show that Christopher Wright was conscious -of having been the revealing plotter and dictating conspirator[121] 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 Christopher -Wright, or Christopher Wright must 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 Letter, told -Christopher Wright that he understood of an obscure letter delivered to -the Lord Mounteagle, advising him not to appear at the Parliament House -the first day, and that the Lord Mounteagle had no 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."[122] - -(2) Poulson says, in his account of the Wrights, of Plowland (or Plewland) -Hall, in his "_History of Holderness_," vol. ii., p. 57, that Christopher -Wright "was the first who ascertained that the plot was discovered." - -(3) Christopher Wright 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 must have been taking such brief repose as he did take at the -inn known by the name of "the Mayden heade in St. Gyles."[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: The Strand is not far from the Church of St. -Giles-in-the-Fields. This well-known church has now two district churches, -Christ Church, Endell Street, and Holy Trinity, Lincoln's Inn Fields. -(Communicated by Mr. J. A. Nicholson, Solicitor, York.) In 1891 the -population of St. Giles's Parish was 15,281.] - -This we know from the testimony of William Grantham, servant to Joseph -Hewett, deposed to on the 5th of November, 1605,[B] taken before Sir John -Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England. - -[Footnote B: See Appendix.] - -Moreover, the Lord Chief Justice Popham[C] reported to Lord Salisbury on -the 5th of November as follows: "Christopher Wright, as I thyncke, lay -this last night in St. Gyles."--"_Gunpowder Plot Book_," Part I., No. 10. - -[Footnote C: Of the Leyborne-Pophams, of Littlecote, Co. Wilts.] - -(4) Again; from the following passage in "_Thomas Winter's Confession_" it -is evident that Christopher Wright, at a very early hour in the morning of -Tuesday, November 5th, must have been _in very close proximity to -Mounteagle's residence_, in order to ascertain so accurately--either -directly, through the evidence of his own senses, or indirectly, through -the evidence of the senses of some other person (presumably of Thomas -Ward)--what _there_ took place a few hours 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[A] called the Lord Mounteagle, saying, 'Rise -and come along to Essex House, for I am going to call up my Lord of -Northumberland,' saying withal 'the matter is discovered.' - -[Footnote A: It was Edward Somerset Earl of Worcester, Master of the -Horse, I believe, an ancestor, lineal or collateral, of the Duke of -Beaufort. Worcester was a Catholic.] - -"'Go back, Mr. Wright,' quoth I, 'and learn what you can at Essex Gate.' - -"Shortly he returned and said, 'Surely all is lost,[123] 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 being answered "No," he rode as fast up -Fleet Street as he can ride.' - -"'Go you then,' quoth I, 'to Mr. Percy, for sure it is for him they seek, -and bid him be gone: I will stay and see the uttermost.'" - -(5) Furthermore; Lathbury, writing in the year 1839,[A] asserts that -Christopher Wright's advice was that each conspirator "should betake -himself to flight in a different direction from any of his -companions."[124] - -[Footnote A: Lathbury's little book, published by Parker, is a very -careful compilation (_me judice_). 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 Gunpowder 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 confirming this statement of Lathbury, is the -fact that in an old print published soon after the discovery of the Plot, -which shows the conspirators Catesby, Thomas Winter, Percy, John Wright, -Fawkes, Robert 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. Christopher 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.[125] - -(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 somewhere_.) - -In connection with Christopher Wright's propinquity to Thomas Ward -possibly, and to Thomas Winter possibly likewise, on the Sunday -immediately 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 had been -shown to the King, who made great account of it, but enjoined the -strictest secrecy." - -_This individual was Thomas Ward._--(Jardine.) - -Now, we have seen already that Stowe's "_Chronicle_" records "the next day -after the delivery of the Letter" there was a conjunction of the -planets--Thomas Winter and Christopher Wright. - -This conjunction at or about this period I hold to be a very significant -fact, tending to show that _either_ the one or the other must have sought -his confederate out, as has been remarked already. - -But from the following important Evidence of William Kyddall, servant to -Robert Tyrwhitt, Esquire,[A] brother of Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood, and kinsman -of Robert Keyes, it is evident that it was physically impossible for -Christopher Wright to have met Thomas Winter on Sunday, the 27th of -October; inasmuch as Christopher Wright was then at Lapworth, only twenty -miles distant from Hindlip Hall.[B] - -[Footnote A: Robert Tyrwhitt and William Tyrwhitt and one of Thomas -Winter's uncles, David Ingleby, of Ripley (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. -Father Garnet is known to have been at Twigmore.] - -[Footnote B: For the information as to the distances between Coughton and -Hindlip; and Stratford-on-Avon and Hindlip; also between Lapworth and -Hindlip, I am indebted to Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross, near -Coughton; the Rev. Father Atherton, O.S.B., of Stratford-on-Avon; and -George Davis, Esq., of York.] - -Yet this does not disprove the material _fact_ of the meeting itself, the -date or circumstance of time not belonging to the essence of the -assertion. (See Appendix.) - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 52. - - "The examinacon of William Kyddall of Elsam in the Countie of - Lincolne s^{r}vant to Mr. Robert Turrett of Kettleby[A] in the - said Com. taken the viii^{th} daie of November 1605 before S^{r} - Richard Verney Knighte high Sherriff for the Com. of Warr. S^{r} - John fferrers & Willm Combes Esq^{r} Justices of peace there - saith as followeth. - -[Footnote A: Kettleby is near Brigg, in Lincolnshire. Twigmore, where John -Wright had lived, is also near the same town. (Communicated by R. H. -Dawson, Esq., of Beverley, a descendant of the Pendrells, of Boscobel.)] - -"That he was intreated of Mr. John Wrighte, who was dwellinge at Twigmore -in the Countie of Lincolne, to bringe his daught^{r} beinge eight or nine -yere old to Lapworth to Nicholas Slyes[B] house where he hath harbored -this half yere. He brought the child to Lapworth the xxiiii^{th} of -October, and there was Mr. John Wrighte and his wife and Mr. Christopher -Wrighte and his wife, soe he continued at Lapworth from Wednesdaie to -Monday, from thence he goeth to London w^{th} Mr. Christopher Wrighte and -came to London on Wednesdaie betwixt two & three a Clocke to St. Giles to -the signe of the Maydenhead from whence Mr. Wrighte wente into the Towne -and he stayed at the Inn, uppon ffriday one Richard Browne s^{r}vant to -Mr. Wrighte wente downe into Surrey, and on ffriday at night Browne -returned and he & Browne wente uppon Sattersdaie for the Child to a Towne -he knoweth not about Croydon Race and broughte it to the Maydenhead at St. -Gyles to Mr. Wrighte the ffath^{r} who seeinge the child too little to be -carried sent them backe w^{th} 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. Wright to come awaie w^{th} 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[A] -William Ward nephew to Mr. Wrighte downe to Lapworth in Warwickshire_ -whither they were now goinge. He saith he lefte Mr. Wright at London and -knoweth not the causes why he came not away w^{th} 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. - -[Footnote B: Probably Nicholas Sly and his house were well known to -Shakespeare. John Wright appears to have gone to Lapworth (which belonged -to Catesby) about May, 1605. Who Mrs. John Wright was I do not know.] - -[Footnote A: William Ward, one of the sons of Marmaduke Ward, _it will be -remembered, had an uncle who lived at Court_. This surely must have been -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; but I do not think so, otherwise we -should have been told the fact in Kyddall's evidence, most probably. (The -italics are mine.)] - - "Richard Verney.[B] - Jo: fferrers.[C] - W. Combes."[126][D] - -[Footnote B: Sir Richard Verney, Knt., would be a friend, belike, of Sir -Thomas Lucy, Knt., of Charlcote (a Warwickshire Puritan gentleman).] - -[Footnote C: Of the Ferrers, of Baddlesley Clinton (a very old Catholic -family).] - -[Footnote D: From whom Shakespeare bought land. To John Combes, brother to -William, the poet bequeathed his sword by Will.] - -(No endorsement). - -Mistress Dorothie Robinson, Widdow, of Spur Alley, on the 7th of November, -1605, also deposed as follows:-- - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 41. - - "The examinacon of Dorathie Robinson[127] widdow of Spurr Alley. - - "Shee sayeth that one Mr. Christopher Wright gent did lye in her - house about a Moneth past for xviii^{en} dayes together and no - more. And there did come to him one Mr. Winter w^{ch} did - continually frequent his Company and about a moneth past the - said Winter brought to her house two hampers[A] locked w^{th} - two padlockes, and caused them to be placed in a little Closet - at the end of Mr. Wright's Chamber. But what was in the said - hamps, was privately conveyed away by Winter w^{th}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^{ch} were in the hamper as well as - Mr. Winter. - - "Shee sayeth that Mr. Winter by report of his man, was a - Worcestershire man, and his living Eight score poundes by the - yeare at the lest. - - "_The said Mr. Wright hath a brother in London,[B] whose servant - came to him in this woman's house, and the same morning of his - going away, w^{ch} was a Moneth on Tuesday last._ - - "That the said Wright was to seeke his loding againe at this - woman's house; but she tould him her lodgings were otherwayes - disposed of. And then he went his wayes. And since that tyme - shee never saw him. - - "_She sayeth that shee saw Mr. Winter uppon Sunday last in the - afternoone. But where he lodgeth she knoweth not._ (The italics - are mine.) - - "I can find no manner of thing in this woman's house whereby to - geve us any incouragem^{t} to proceede any further. - - "The said Mr. Wright did often goe to the Salutation to one Mr. - Jackson's house; And one Steven the drawer as shee thinketh will - tell where hee is." - -[Footnote A: These hampers contained 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.] - -[Footnote B: _Who was this brother?_ I _suggest_ that by brother is meant -brother-in-law, and that as a fact Christopher Wright _had_ married -Margaret Ward, the sister to both Marmaduke and Thomas Ward. If this be -correct, then we have demonstrative proof of the servant of Thomas Ward -calling upon Christopher Wright (probably with a message from Thomas Ward) -the very same morning as, I hold, that Christopher Wright went down into -Warwickshire, where he would be within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne. -This evidence is important. The word _came_, too, is noticeable, implying, -I think, a habit of coming, a frequentative use of the past tense of the -verb. Observe also "_and the same morning_," implying _cumulative_ acts of -"_coming_," the visit of that day being the last of a series of visits.] - -Mr. Jackson also deposed:-- - - "He sayeth that he knoweth Mr. Wright very well, _But it is - about a fortnight past,[128] since he ws at his house, and since - that tyme he knoweth not what is become of him._ (The italics - are mine.) - - "He sayeth further that he knoweth not any other of his Consorts - or Companyons, yf hee did he would reveale it. - - (Endorsed) "The examinacon of Dorathy Robinson Widdow of Spurr - Alley." - -Furthermore, we have the following Evidence of Mistress Elizabeth More:-- - -7 Nov: 1605. - -STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 13. - -"The Declaracon of Elizabeth More the wief of Edward More taken the 5th of -November 1605. - -"She saieth that the gent that lay at her howse w^{th} Mr. Rookwood this -last night and the night before his name is Mr. Keyes and he took upp the -Chamber for the said Mr. Rookwood. - -"And she saieth that uppon ffryday night last Mr. Christofir Wright came -to this exaite howse w^{th} the said Mr. Rookwood and lay that night in a -chamber on the said Mr. Rookwoode Chamber. - -(Endorsed) "5th No: 1605. - - "The Declaracon of Elizabeth More." - -Mistress More, I find, lived near Temple Bar.[A] - -[Footnote A: Where was Spur Alley? and how far were Temple Bar and Spur -Alley from the town-house in the Strand of the Lord Mounteagle, and -therefore of his Lordship's secretary, Thomas Ward? - -It will be noted by the judicious reader that the conjectured fact that -Christopher Wright's London lodgings were within a short distance of -where, doubtless, his--I suggest--_brother-in-law_ (Ward) was to be found -tends to support my theory.] - - - - - CHAPTER XL. - - -Before we well-nigh finally take our leave of Christopher Wright, I should -like to bring before my readers two pieces of Evidence, from each of -which, at any rate, may be drawn the inference that it was one of the -conspirators themselves that revealed the tremendous secret. - -That Christopher Wright was that revealing conspirator, the manifold -considerations which the preceding pages of this Inquiry have established, -I trust, will satisfy the intellect of my readers, seeing that those -considerations, I respectfully but firmly urge, must be held to have built -up a "probability" so high as to amount to that "moral certitude" which is -"the very guide" of Man's terrestrial life, in that it furnishes Man with -those sufficient rules which direct his daily action.[129] - -But, in bringing the first piece of Evidence to which I allude before the -eyes of my readers, I desire, with great respect, to say that I am keenly -conscious that I run the risk of incurring the condemnation implied in the -words: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." - -But, since "circumstances alter cases," I feel warranted (under -correction) in adventuring, in this one instance, upon a particular line -of argument which I feel is, as an affair of taste, _prima facie_ -unseemly, and, as a matter of feeling, a line of action, in ordinary -cases, to be rigorously eschewed. - -Yet, seeing that such a course of conduct cannot be held to be morally -wrong, my plea is--and I respectfully submit my all-sufficient plea -is--that an Inquiry, having for its purpose the elucidation of the -hitherto inscrutable mystery as to who revealed, or who were instrumental -in revealing, so satanic an enterprise as the Gunpowder Plot, being far, -far removed beyond the range of mere logic-chopping, dry-as-dust, -non-human investigations, justifies the following, in one instance, of a -course of action which unquestionably would clash with mere, decorous -taste, and would collide with mere delicate feeling, except, by the case -being altered, it were lifted into the realm of the categories of the -extraordinary and the special. - -_Then_ the nature of the act _or_ action composing that course of conduct -would be, in a sense, fundamentally and meritoriously changed. And, -_therefore_, it would be, by a double title, morally justifiable. - -Now, when the Gunpowder conspirators were at Huddington, the mansion-house -of Robert Winter, on Thursday, the 7th day of November, certainly most of -the conspirators, and probably all of them, received the Sacrament of -Penance through the ministry of a Jesuit Father, named Nicholas Hart -(alias Strangeways and Hammond), who besides being an _alumnus_ of -Westminster School, and for two years a student of the University of -Oxford, had, prior to his becoming a Priest and a Jesuit, "studied law in -the Inns of Court and Chancery in London."[130] - -Now, William Handy, the serving-man of Sir Everard Digby (of whom we have -already heard), further deposed as follows:[131] - -"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, which 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[132] -that he confessed to Hammond at Huddington, on Thursday, the 7th of -November, that he was sorry he had not revealed the Plot, it seeming so -bloody, and that after his confession Hammond absolved him 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^{r} sinnes to one Mr. Hamonde Preeste, - at Mr. Robert Wintour his house, and amonges other my sinnes I - did acknowledge my error in concealing theire intended - enterprise of pouder agaynste his Ma^{tie} 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^{r} p. Edw. Coke - W. Ward." - (Endorsed) - - "... pouder - xx^{th} 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 lips, avowing the commission in _desire and thought_ of -"murder most foul as at the best it is"[A] (and "we know that no murderer -hath eternal life abiding in him"[B]), 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"[C] (to say -nothing of his avowal of the commission _in act and deed_ of the crime of -sacrilege,[D] in taking a secret, unlawful oath contrary to the express -prohibitions of a visible and audible Institution which that Priest and -that Penitent alike believed was of divine origin), I firmly, though with -great and all-becoming deference, draw _these_ conclusions, namely, that -_one of the plotters_ 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. - -[Footnote A: Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote B: St. John the Divine.] - -[Footnote C: Sophocles.] - -[Footnote D: Of course the Gunpowder Treason Plot was a "sacrilegious -crime," because it sought to compass the death of a king who was "one of -the Lord's anointed," _as well 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 Inn, "near the principal -street in London called the Strand."--See "_The Confessions of Thomas -Winter and Guy Fawkes_." This house was probably the London lodging of -Father John Gerard, S.J. Winter and Fawkes said that the conspirators -received the Sacrament at the hands of Gerard. But "Gerard was not -acquainted with their purpose," said Fawkes. Gerard denied having given -the conspirators the Sacrament.--See Gardiner's "_What Gunpowder Plot -was_," p. 44. One vested priest is very much like another, just as one -soldier in uniform is very much like another. So Fawkes and Winter may -have been mistaken. Besides, they would not be likely to be minutely -examining the features of a priest on such an occasion.] - -Furthermore; that it was _because_ of the possession by Hammond of this -happy intelligence, early on that Thursday 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 chiding him--in fact -"without remark."[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Suwston 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 "_Records_," 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 whose "future" -I should like to follow up. Was he the same as a certain "Dr. Singleton" -who figures in the "_Life of Mary 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 conspirators themselves that -revealed the Plot_ is this:-- - -Jardine gives in his "_Criminal Trials_"[133] a certain Letter of -Instructions to Sir Edward Coke,[134] the Attorney-General who conducted -the prosecution of the surviving Gunpowder conspirators at Westminster -Hall[135] before a Special Commission for High Treason, on the 27th day of -January, 1605-6. - -This very remarkable document is in the handwriting of Robert Cecil first -Earl of Salisbury. - -It is as follows:-- - - "These things I am commanded to renew unto your 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 - men 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. - - "_Next, you must in any case, when you speak of the Letter which - was the first ground of discovery, absolutely disclaim that any - of these wrote it, though you leave the further judgment - indefinite who else it should be._ (The italics are mine.) - - "Lastly, and you must not omit, you must deliver, in - commendation of my Lord Mounteagle, words to show how sincerely - he dealt, and how fortunately it proved that he was the - instrument of so great a blessing as this was. To be short, sir, - you can remember how well the King in his Book did censure[A] - 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 abundanti_, 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." - -[Footnote A: The word "censure" here means, formed an opinion of his -lordship's part. From Lat. _censeo_, I think.] - -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:--[136] - -"The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this -treason, _which was by one of themselves_, _who had taken the oath and -sacrament, as hath been said, against his own will; the means was by a -dark and doubtful letter sent to my Lord Mounteagle._"[A] (The italics are -mine.) - -[Footnote A: "Truth will out!"] - -Now, regard being had (1) to what Salisbury bade Coke _not say_; and (2) -to what Coke as a matter of fact _did say_, I infer, first, that it _was_ -one of the conspirators who revealed the Plot; because of just scruples -that his conscience had, well-nigh at the eleventh hour, awakened in his -breast: that, secondly, not only so, but that the Government, through -Salisbury, Suffolk, 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 themselves,[137] but also, I -hold, of the subsequent _comparatively_ mild treatment of the recusants -generally throughout the country.[138] - -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, indisputably, the Government abstained from following after, and from -reaping the 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 forfeited. And this, -regard being had 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 circumstance pregnant with the greatest possible -suspicion that there was some great mystery in the background.--See -Lathbury's "_Guy Fawkes_," pp. 76, 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 Privy 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. - - - - - CHAPTER 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 incarcerated in the Tower of London, either to -seek to save his life when awaiting his trial in Westminster 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, Westminster, to seek to save his life, _by divulging the -mighty secret respecting his responsibility for the Letter of Letters, had -anyone of them in point of fact penned the document. For "skin for skin -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 be found amongst -that small band of four who 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 point of honour" may have stayed and restrained -one of the nine conspirators from "discovering" or revealing his share in -the laudable 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 _ought, 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 had none of them, anything to tell_. - -Moreover, I suggest that what Archbishop Usher[139][A] 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,"[140][B] was -this:-- - -[Footnote A: Protestant Archbishop of Armagh.] - -[Footnote B: Such 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. For it tends to demonstrate the existence -of a realm 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-minded 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.] - -_That it was "the Papist Doctrine" of the non-binding force of a secret, -unlawful oath that (Deo juvante) had been primarily the joint-efficient -cause of the spinning right round on its axis of the hell-begotten -Gunpowder Plot._ - -It is plain that King James's Government[A] were mysteriously stayed and -restrained in their legislative and administrative action after the -discovery of the diabolically atrocious Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -[Footnote A: It is the duty of every Government to see that it is true, -just, and strong. Governments should confine their efforts to the calm and -faithful attainment of these three ideals. Then they win respect and -confidence, 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 the two extremes, injustice and hysterical generosity, which is a -sure sign of a lack of consciousness of absolute truth, justice, and -strength.] - -And illogical and inconstant as many English rulers too often have been -throughout England's long and, by good fortune, glorious History, this -extraordinary illogicalness 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 what? - -Unhesitatingly I answer: _Of that Government's not daring, for very -decency's sake, to proceed 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 -human beings, 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 demonstrates, this fact, -namely, that the then British Government realized that _it was an -essentially Popish Doctrine of Morals which had been the primary motive -power for securing their temporal salvation. That doctrine being, indeed, -none other than the hated and dreaded "Popish Doctrine" of the -"non-binding force" upon the Popish Conscience of a secret, morally -unlawful oath which thereby, ipso facto, "the Papal Church" prohibited and -condemned._ - -Hence, that was, I once more suggest, what Archbishop Usher referred to, -in 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 Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 160. - -For the Plot _was_ "his father's contrivance," considered 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! And the whirligig of Time brings round -strange revenges!_" - - - - - CHAPTER XLIV. - - -We 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 tending to prove that -_subsequent_ to the penning of the Letter by Father Edward Oldcorne, he -was _conscious_ of having performed the meritorious deed that, I maintain, -the Evidence, 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) _not only a general similarity_ in the handwriting of the -Letter and Father Oldcorne's undoubted handiwork--the Declaration of the -12th day of March, 1605-6--_a general similarity_ in point of the size of -the letters and of that indescribable something called style,[141] _but -(2) a particular similarity_ in the formation of the letters in the case -of these following, namely, the small c/s, l/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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Bentham aptly terms the comparison of Document with Document, -"Circumstantial real Evidence."--See Best's "_Principles of the Law of -Evidence_," and Wills on "_Circumstantial Evidence_." See Miss Walford's -Letter (Appendix).] - -Moreover, there is (3) this fact to be remembered, that in both the Letter -and in the said Declaration, the name "God" is written with a small "g," -thus: "god." - -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 Englishmen in the year 1605. - -Still, it was certainly _not by them universally so written_. For in the -fac-simile of "_Thomas Winter's Confession_" the word "God" occurs more -than once written with a handsomely made capital G,[142] 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[143] 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 language one way, wherein a rigid -Roman 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 _knew_ for certain that it could be considered as -a clear transparency only--as a defecated cluster of purely intellectual -acts.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is manifest that if, _in intent_, Oldcorne by his own -Letter had destroyed the Plot, he, of all other people in the world, would -have _the prerogative_ of regarding the Plot as a clear transparency; -_while of the Plot as a transparency_, he would feel a freedom to write -"god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme." If -the Writer had not the prerogative of regarding the Plot as a clear -transparency then these results follow--that he regarded Him (Whose Eyes -are too pure even to behold iniquity) as _concurring_ in the designment of -a most hellish crime, nay, of participating in such designment; _for he -couples God with man_. Now 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 the Writer of the Letter can have been regarded as no -crime. But it was obviously a crime, _unless and until_ it had been -defecated of criminous quality, and so rendered a clear transparency. Now, -as the Writer 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_, I maintain, proves that the Writer -had a special interior knowledge of the Plot "behind the scenes," that is, -deep down within the depths of his conscious being.] - -Furthermore, in reflecting on these preliminaries to the general -discussion of the Evidence tending to prove a consciousness on Edward -Oldcorne's part, _subsequent_ 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 have burnt the letter and i hope god -will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i -contend yowe._" (The italics are mine.) - -Now, I opine that what the Writer intended _to hint 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 be destroyed.[144] Because -it is highly probable that (apart from other reasons) the Writer must 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 virtually all-important, adjective?[145] - -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."[146] 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."[147] - - - - - CHAPTER XLV. - - -Having dealt with the _preliminary_ Evidence, we now come to the -discussion of the _main_ Evidence which tends to show that _subsequent_ to -the penning of the Letter 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 6th, 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, who had married Miss Gertrude Talbot, of Grafton. The -Talbots, like the Throckmortons, were a people who happily managed to -reconcile rigid adherence to the ancient Faith with stanch loyalty to -their lawful Sovereign.[A] - -[Footnote A: I believe that the grand old Catholic family of Throckmorton -still own Coughton Hall, which is twelve miles from Hindlip.] - -Tesimond, leaving behind him his Superior Garnet at Coughton, 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, bygone days--the brothers John and Christopher -Wright.[148] - -Now, to Father Tesimond, as well as to Father Oldcorne, Hindlip Hall[A] -and Huddington[B] (in Worcestershire), Coughton,[C] Lapworth,[D] -Clopton,[E] and Norbrook[F] (in Warwickshire), must have been thoroughly -well known; for at Hindlip Hall for eight years Tesimond likewise had been -formerly domesticated. - -Where resided either temporarily or permanently:-- - -[Footnote A: Thomas Abington.] - -[Footnote B: Robert Winter and Thomas Winter.] - -[Footnote C: Thomas Throckmorton.] - -[Footnote D: John Wright and Christopher Wright.] - -[Footnote E: Ambrose Rookwood.] - -[Footnote F: John Grant.] - -Dr. Gardiner's "_History of James I._" (Longmans) contains a map showing -the relative positions of these places. - -On Wednesday, the 6th November, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond were at -Coughton. Catesby, along with Percy, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Sir -Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, 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." - -Catesby and Digby urged Garnet to make for Wales.[A] - -[Footnote A: Catesby 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 Tesimond, 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 projected 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 11th of -October, I think.] - -After half-an-hour's earnest discourse together, Father Garnet gave leave -to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington to administer to the wretched -fugitives the rites--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 conference--Tesimond -himself denounced, if he did not reproach, as being phlegmatic. - -Tesimond, evidently, had been commissioned by Catesby,[B] at Huddington, -to incite Mr. Abington, his household, and retainers, including (I take -it, if possible) Oldcorne himself, to join the insurgents at Huddington, -Holbeach, Wales, 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. - -[Footnote B: 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 -Bilney's confessor. These afford striking examples of the power of -psycho-electrical will force.] - -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 more 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 -Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne's was a _mens conscia recti_--a mind conscious -of rectitude--aye, a mind conscious of superabounding merit and virtue. - -So important evidentially do I think the diverse demeanour[149] of -Tesimond and Oldcorne on this occasion, that I will transcribe from -Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_"[150] Oldcorne's testimony of what took place -at Hindlip Hall at this interview:--[151] - -"Oldcorne confesseth that upon Wednesday, being the 6th of November, about -two of the clock in the afternoon, there came Tesimond (Greenway) from -Huddington, from Mr. Robert 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 discovered a day or two before; and now -they were gathered together some forty horse at Mr. Winter's house, naming -Catesby, Percy, Digby, and others; and told them, 'their throats would be -cut unless they presently went to join with them.' And Mr. Abington said, -'Alas! 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 confesseth that upon the former speeches -made by this examinate and Mr. Abington to Tesimond, alias Greenway, the -Jesuit, _Tesimond said in some heat 'thus we may see a difference between -a flemmatike [phlegmatic] and a choleric person!', and said he would go to -others, and specially into Lancashire, for the same purpose as he came to -Hindlip to Mr. Abington_." [152][153] (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER XLVII. - - -Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the English Jesuits, left London at the -end of August, 1605,[154] and proceeded towards Gothurst (now Gayhurst), -in the Parish of Tyringham, three miles from Newport Pagnell, -Buckinghamshire.[A] - -[Footnote A: The seat of Walter Carlile, Esquire, as has been already -mentioned. I have to thank this gentleman for his courteousness in -informing me that Gayhurst (formerly Gothurst) is three miles from Newport -Pagnell. An excellent picture, together with descriptive account, of -Gayhurst, is given in the "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_," 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 Vaux.] - -Now, who was Henry Garnet, whom 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 around whose 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 Rome, where the great Cardinal -Bellarmine was 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 the beginning of -Trinity Term (_i.e._, the 9th June, 1605), Catesby, in Thames Street, -London--_outside the Confessional_--had propounded to Garnet a question, -_which ought to have put the Jesuit expressly upon inquiry_. For that -question was, in case it were lawful to kill a person or persons, whether -it were necessary to regard the innocents which 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 Review_," for July, 1888, and largely quoted in -the Rev. 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 Rome, -addressed to Father Aquaviva, the General of the Jesuits.--See "Father -Gerard's Narrative," pp. 76, 77, in "_Condition of Catholics under James -I._," edited by Rev. 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 be shown to the King, and so all Catholics may be -compelled to take arms._" - -Garnet then proceeds: "_Wherefore, in my judgment, two things are -necessary, first, that His Holiness should prescribe what in any case is -to be done; and then, that he should forbid any force of arms by the -Catholics under Censures, and by Brief, publicly promulgated; an occasion -for which can be taken from the disturbance lately raised in Wales, which -has at length come to nothing._ It remains that as all things are daily -becoming worse, we should beseech His Holiness soon to give a necessary -remedy for 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 Rome's tenets, the special means devised by the -Founder of Christianity whereby Man is united to "the Unseen -Perfectness." - - - - - CHAPTER XLVIII. - - -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 probably in the Confessional even did not at first know 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 -explosives which it was further intended were to be ignited, when -Parliament met, by Guy Fawkes, booted and spurred, by means of a -slow-burning match, which would give him one quarter-of-an-hour's grace to -effect his escape to a ship in the Thames bound for Flanders: and 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. - -But this able, learned, sweet-tempered, yet weak-willed, unimaginative, -irresolute man _knew enough outside the Confessional_--which is the point -we have to deal with here--to render himself liable to have been sent to -the galleys by the Pope, if His Holiness could have laid hold of him, -when, notwithstanding this atrocious knowledge, he actually refused to -give ear to the arch-conspirator, even although Catesby, on Father -Gerard's own admission, "offered sometimes to tell him [Garnet] that they -[Catesby and his friends] would not endure to be so long so much 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 _might have learned all the -particulars about that purposed violence_ had 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 _up to the -24th of July, 1605, 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 or 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 Sovereign power of his Country_. Although, being a priest, he -ought to have been ecclesiastically "_degraded_" first, according to the -provisions of the Canon law, and then handed over to the secular arm for -condign punishment, according to the law of the outraged State. - -For, "_Id certum 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 "_Narrative_," pp. 78, 79. - -Now Garnet[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Garnet was a profound mathematician and accomplished -linguist, amongst other acquirements.] - -But as Garnet's moral character was 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: After Father Tesimond had told Garnet (with Catesby's leave) -of the Plot, thereby bringing the matter as a natural secret indirectly -under the seal of the Confessional, Garnet could not sleep at nights. Now, -sleeplessness, combined 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 25th 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 _knowledge_ he had received _in the -Confessional from Tesimond_, but because he did not reveal _general -knowledge_ he had _from Catesby outside the Confessional_. This, in -fairness to James I., Salisbury, and the King's Council, should be -faithfully borne in mind. Moreover, according to one school of Catholic -moralists, in _either case_ the Government ought to have been communicated -with _if_ Garnet could have done so without risk of divulging Tesimond'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 _both views_ into practical effect. -_Therefore Garnet, to my mind, was eminently justified in not divulging -the particular knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession. For -according to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, the Christian Aristotle, a -natural secret may be indirectly_ protected by the seal of the -Confessional if the priest _promises_ so to protect it. I conclude, -however, that (1) according to the dictates of right reason the promise -may be _either implied or expressed_, and (2) that in the case of -overwhelming necessity the promise may be broken, as in the case of High -Treason, _if the priest_ can avoid, _with 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.] - - - - - CHAPTER XLIX. - - -At the beginning of the month of September, 1605, Father Garnet was at -Gothurst,[A] three miles from Newport Pagnell, in the County of -Buckinghamshire, and about the 5th of September from this still standing -stately English home there proceeded the nucleus of a pilgrim-band bent -for the famous well of St. Winifred, the British Saint, situated at -Holywell, in North Wales. - -[Footnote A: Gothurst (now Gayhurst) is twelve miles from Northampton and -from ten to fifteen miles from Great Harrowden. Weston Underwood and -Olney, immortalized by William Cowper, are not far from both places. The -poet would be distantly related to young Lord Vaux of Harrowden, 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 Northampton. Cowper was, it will be -recollected, the intimate friend of the Throckmortons of his day.] - -Sir Everard Digby, 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 Vaux, Edward Brookesby, -Esquire, of Arundell House, Shouldby, Leicestershire, and his wife the -Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, together with her sister the Honourable Anne -Vaux. - -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 Everard and Lady Digby and was their intimate and honoured -friend, as well as the friend of the Dowager Lady Vaux of Harrowden and -her family, did not join the pilgrimage. - -Father Gerard was most probably in Yorkshire at this time. 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: See "_The Condition of Catholics under James I._" Edited by -John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872), p. 257.] - -The following abstracts from the Evidence of two of Sir Everard Digby's -serving-men, who accompanied their devout, charming young mistress on -this now famous pilgrimage, will give the best account of what took place -on this occasion.[A] They are as follow:-- - -[Footnote A: St. Winifred's Well is at Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, and is -sacred to St. Winifred of Wales, an early British Virgin and Martyr. Her -"Life" will be found in Butler's "_Lives of the Saints_," under date -November 3rd, her Feast Day. The waters of the Well are of healing -quality, very copious and icy 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 and sire of the English race, -the Italian Pope Gregory the Great and the Italian Benedictine Monk -Augustine.)] - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--NO. 153. - - [Abstract.] - - ii. Dec. 1605 - - [In Cal. 11 Dec. 1605.] - - "Th'examination of James Garvey serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby - - * * * * * - - "Saieth about Bartholmew tide last his ladie roade to St. - Wenefred's Well from Gotehurst: first daie to Deyntrie:[A] 2 to - Grantz:[B] 3 to Winters:[C] 4 to Mr. Lacon's:[D] 5 to - Shrewsberie: 6 to holte:[E] 7 to the well: they staied at the - well but one night: and retorned the first day 2 to holt 2 to - Mr. Banester's at Wen[F] 2 to Mr. Lacon's againe and so retorned - to Gotehurst. - - [Footnote A: Daventry, Northamptonshire.] - - [Footnote B: John Grant's, at Norbrook, Snitterfield, - Warwickshire.] - - [Footnote C: Huddington Hall, near Droitwich, Worcestershire.] - - [Footnote D: Most probably at Kinlet Hall, about five miles from - Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire.] - - [Footnote E: Holt, in Denbighshire.] - - [Footnote F: Wem, Shropshire.] - - "Saieth ther were in that jorney the ladie Digby, Mrs. Vaux,[B] - Mr. Brookysby and his wief Mr. Darcy[C] one Thomas Digby[D] a - tall gentleman: one fisher[E] a little man: S^{r} frauncis Lacon - and his daughter and two or 3 gentlemen more went with them from - Mr. Lacon's to the well, &c., &c. - - [Footnote B: Miss Anne Vaux.] - - [Footnote C: An alias of Father Garnet; Farmer was another of - Garnet's aliases.] - - [Footnote D: An uncle of Sir Everard, belike.] - - [Footnote E: An alias of Father Percy, afterwards famous for his - historic controversy with Archbishop Laud.] - - (Endorsed) "11 Dec. 1605. - - "The Exam^{n} of James Garvie srv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby." - - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--No. 121. - - [Abstract.] - - "Th'examination of William Handy servaunte to S^{r} Everard - Digby taken the xxvij^{th} of November 1605 - - * * * * * - - [Par. 4]--"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: Vaux 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 and at Shrosbury in an Inn and - at a Castle in the Holte in Denbeghe or Flintshire, and at St. - Wynyfride's Well in an Inn, from whence the gentlewomen went - barefoote to the said well and in their retourne from the said - well at one Farmer's howse about 7 miles from Shrosbury, and - from thence to Mr. Lacon's where they had masse whereat S^{r} - Frauncis Lacon was from thence to Mr. Robert Winter's and from - thence to Mr. Graunte's from thence to Deyntree and from thence - to S^{r} Everard Digby at all which places they had masse.[A] - - [Footnote A: The reason why the Examiner who took down the - Evidence was particular to inquire about Masses was that for a - priest to say (or offer) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of - 200 marks (a mark being 13s. 4d.) _and_ imprisonment for life; - while for a lay person to hear (or assist at offering) Mass was - to be liable to a penalty of 100 marks and imprisonment for - life. To harbour a priest was felony and the penalty was - hanging, but without the cutting down alive, drawing and - quartering. This last was the portion of the priests who, by - remaining in England 40 days, were held _ipso facto_ guilty of - High Treason without proof of the exercise of priestly - functions. This last penalty, of course, rendered unnecessary - the having recourse to the penalty of 200 marks fine _and_ - imprisonment for life, since the greater included the less.] - - * * * * * - - (Endorsed) "27 Nov. 1605. - - "Th'examination of Wm. Handy serv^{t} to S^{r} Everard Digby." - - - - - CHAPTER L. - - -The pilgrim-band numbered about thirty souls, and included Ambrose -Rookwood 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 "_Life_" of that well-favoured but misguided knight there -is an admirably-written 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 Vaux and the young Lord Vaux. - -Great Harrowden Hall appears to have been rebuilt by the guardians of the -youthful baron a little before the year 1605. For in "_The Condition of -Catholics under James I._," 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 for that same purpose, and built us separate -quarters close to the old Chapel.... 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 Roger Lee were there oftentimes to be found.[A] - -[Footnote A: The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, in the course of a most -courteous reply to various historical questions the writer ventured to -propound to him, says, in a letter dated 15th November, 1901, that his -residence, Harrowden Hall, was erected in the year 1719. It will, -therefore, not be the self-same mansion as that wherein Fathers Garnet, -Gerard, Fisher, Roger Lee, etc., were wont to be harboured by his -Lordship's distinguished ancestors. - -None of the grand old English Catholic families, those "honourable -people," if such were ever known to mortal, have a better right than the -Lords Vaux of Harrowden, to take as their motto those fine words of Gerald -Massey:-- - - "'They wrought in Faith,' and _not_ - 'They wrought in Doubt,'-- - Is the proud epitaph that we inscribe - Above our glorious dead." - -The name "Vaux of Harrowden" 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 Wardour, Stafford, -Clifford of Chudleigh, and Herries, the name "Vaux of Harrowden" was -appended to "the Roman Catholic Peers' Protest," dated from the House of -Lords, 14th February, 1901, addressed to the Earl of Halsbury, Lord High -Chancellor of England, anent "the Declaration against Popery," that Our -Most Gracious King Edward VII. was compelled, by Act of Parliament, to -utter on the occasion of meeting His Majesty's first Parliament.] - - - - - CHAPTER LI. - - -On the 4th of October, Father Garnet wrote a long letter to Father Parsons -in Rome, who was then virtually the ruler of the Catholics of England, -though that sturdy Yorkshireman, Father John Mush,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: Mush may have been of the Mushes, of Knaresbrough, stanch -Catholics, but in humble circumstances.--See Peacock's "_List_."] - -This letter of Father Garnet's, to which reference has been just made, is -a remarkable production. It begins as follows:-- - - - "My very loving Sir, - - "This I write from the elder Nicholas[A] his residence where I - find my hostess with all her posterity very well; and we are to - go within few days nearer London." - - [Footnote A: Father Nicholas Hart, S.J., as distinguished from - Brother Nicholas Owen, S.J.] - - The letter then says:-- - - "The judges now openly protest that the King will have blood and - hath taken blood in Yorkshire."[B] - - [Footnote B: The "Venerable" Thomas Welbourn and John Fulthering - suffered at York on the 1st August, 1605; and William Brown at - Ripon on the 5th September.--See Challoner's "_Missionary - Priests_." Ed. by T. G. Law (Jack, Edinburgh).] - - 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 Octobris._" - - The fourth paragraph then continues:-- - - "My hostesses both and their children salute you. Sir Thomas - Tresham is dead."[C] - -[Footnote C: The hostesses would be those valiant women, Elizabeth Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden (_nee_ Roper), the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, -and the Honourable Anne Vaux. William Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -harboured Father Parsons in 1580-81, had married for his second wife a -sister of Sir Thomas Tresham. This Lord Vaux's eldest son Ambrose, a -priest, resigned his title in favour of his half-brother the Honourable -George Vaux, afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The first wife of William -Lord Vaux was Elizabeth Beaumont, of Gracedieu, Leicestershire. She was -the mother of Ambrose, Elizabeth, and Anne Vaux. Father Garnet for many -years lived at Harrowden, from 1586 as the guest of William Lord Vaux, -whose son, George Lord Vaux of Harrowden, married Elizabeth Roper, -daughter of the first Lord Teynham. This lady was the above-named Dowager -Lady Vaux of Harrowden, mother of Edward Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who -became as "noble a confessor for the Faith" as were his numerous other -relatives. (The present Lord Vaux of Harrowden, whose family name is -Mostyn, is descended from the above-mentioned Lords Vaux, through the -female line.)] - -_Here ends the body of the letter._ - - - - - CHAPTER LII. - - -_After the body of the letter there is a post scriptum._ - -Now, there are nine words in the _post scriptum_ 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, 1605, _and_ the 21st day of October, -Garnet had received from somewhere _intelligence to the effect that -machinery was being put into motion whereby the Plot would be squashed_. - -For the _post scriptum_ to this letter of Father Garnet is as follows:-- - - - "_21 Octobris._ - - "This letter being returned unto me again, FOR REASON OF A - FRIEND'S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted 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, with 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 were my subjects, and we have our faculties - also for Ireland, for the most part. I pray you procure them a - general grant for their comfort." - -The letter and the _post scriptum_ are alike unsigned. The letter and the -_post scriptum_ are still in existence, and, I believe, are preserved in -London in the archives of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. - -I am indebted for my copy to the work entitled, "_A True Account of the -Gunpowder Plot_," by "Vindicator" (Dolman), 1851--taken from Tierney's -Edition of "_Dodd's Church History_." - -The Claude referred to in the _post scriptum_ is Father Claude Aquaviva, -the then General of the Jesuits, who lived in Rome. - -(Irish Catholics will not fail to notice the interest this afflicted, -much-tried Englishman took in their 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 compass of some participation in 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." - -Again; respecting Ralph Ashley, the Jesuit lay-brother and servant of -Father Oldcorne, Gerard says, on p. 271: "Ralph was also indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about -this conspiracy." - -_Now, my deliberate conjectures are these: That Edward Oldcorne had indeed -sent "Letters" which his servant Ralph Ashley had carried concerning "this -conspiracy." That one of those Letters was sent and carried to Henry -Garnet. And another to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle._ - -On the 12th of March, 1605-6, Father Garnet, when a prisoner in the Tower -of London, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Edward Coke, Sir -William Waade (Lieutenant of the Tower), and John Corbett, "confessed that -Father Parsons wrote to him certain letters last summer [_i.e._, 1605] -_which he received about Michaelmas last_, wherein he requested this -examinat to advertise him what plotts the Catholiques of England had then -in hand; _whereunto for that this examinat was on his journey he made no -answere_." - -Yea, indeed, this was a part of the truth, no doubt. _But the remainder of -the truth, I suggest, was that the Plot of Plots Garnet had learned, a few -days after the aforesaid Michaelmas, was being assuredly squashed by -Edward Oldcorne._ - -Poor Henry Garnet, a sorry, pathetic figure in the history of his Country, -surely. Yet, because _much_ 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 was his point of honour as a Priest of the Catholic -Church._[A] - -[Footnote A: How many a gallant soldier and sailor in our own day, young -and old, has been sustained in life and death by the consoling _infinite -thought of fidelity to the commands of a lawful superior_; by the -comforting _transcendental thought of duty 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_ (Macmillan); also Wordsworth's -magnificent "Ode to Duty."] - - - - - CHAPTER LIII. - - -Sir Everard Digby had rented Coughton, near Alcester, in Warwickshire, -from Thomas Throckmorton, Esquire, as a base for the warlike operations, -which were to be conducted in the Midlands as soon as intelligence had -arrived from London that the King, Lords Spiritual and Temporal, together -with the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "were now no more." - -On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the young knight rode from Coughton to -Dunchurch, near Rugby. - -Robert Winter the same day left Huddington and, sleeping on the Sunday -night at Grafton, at the house of his father-in-law, John Talbot, Esquire, -rode on to Coventry, in company with the younger Acton, of Ribbesford, and -attended by several servants. - -At Coventry, Robert Winter was joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach -House, in Staffordshire, just over the borders of Worcestershire; and also -by his cousin, Humphrey Littleton, brother to the then late John -Littleton,[A] of Hagley House, Worcestershire, who had been engaged in the -Essex rising. - -[Footnote A: All the Littletons were descended from the great Judge -Littleton, author of "_Littleton on Tenures_." The present Lord Lyttelton -belongs to the same family.] - -On the following Tuesday, November the 5th, the whole party proceeded -towards Dunchurch, the armed cavalcade continually increasing in numbers. - -The plan was, that at Dunsmore Heath, under a feigned 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. - -Robert Winter left the cousins Littleton at "the town's end" of Dunchurch, -and rode on to Ashby St. Legers, the ancestral seat of the Catesbies, -where, indeed, the Dowager Lady Catesby was then residing. - -Here Robert 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 the 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 -miles 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 them into the hedge to ride the more swiftly.[155] - -About six o'clock in the evening of Tuesday, just as Lady Catesby, Robert -Winter, 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 Wright, and Ambrose Rookwood. Their -announcement was the capture of Guy Fawkes early that Tuesday morning. - -After holding a short council of war, the whole band of conspirators, -snatching up all the weapons of warfare they could lay their hands on, -took horse again and rode off to Dunchurch. - -Sir Everard Digby, his uncle (Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill), Stephen -Littleton, Humphrey Littleton, and many others were awaiting their arrival -at Dunchurch, in an inn. - -The six fugitive conspirators, all bespattered 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 by the ringleaders to make for Wales; for the Catholics -of the Principality were then very strong,[A] and the Counties of Warwick, -Worcester, and Stafford were to be traversed, from all of which valuable -reinforcements were expected. - -[Footnote A: It is a curious fact that 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 Rome. It was -the lack of a Welsh College in Rome which, causing the supply of priests -to fail, gradually caused the interesting Cymric people to lose the Faith -which they of all the inhabitants of the British Isles were the first to -embrace. - -It is to be remembered, however, that there has always been a remnant in a -few of the valleys of Wales faithful to the See of Rome; and Dr. Owen -Lewis, the Bishop of Cassano, a Welshman, aided Cardinal Allen to found -Douay College, in 1568. Several of the Martyrs of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, too, were Welsh. - -At the English College at Rome the Welsh and the English students had -violent and, to read of, amusing quarrels. Evidently the Welsh, students -looked down upon their Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging to a -comparatively inferior race.] - -About ten o'clock on Tuesday night the full company, now about thirty -strong, set out for Norbrook,[A] the house of John Grant. - -[Footnote A: At Warwick, _en route_ for Norbrook, 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.] - -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 Digby 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 Wednesday, the 6th. Sentinels were posted at -the passage of every way at Huddington, possibly by the order of John -Winter, half-brother to Robert and Thomas Winter. - -Here they were joined by Thomas Winter, who had come down from London with -the latest news; 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 Confession, and -received, at the Jesuit's, hands, what most of them from their childhood -had been taught to believe was "the Bread of Angels," and "the Food of -Immortality."[B] - -[Footnote B: Certainly Man's nature _needs_ these things; but the question -is: Can it get them? "Aye, there's the rub."] - -Before daybreak of Thursday the fugitives were on the 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 Holbeach 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 Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, and the rest, -John Talbot, of Grafton, drove Thomas Winter and Stephen Littleton from -his door when they sought his aid for the rebellion.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 112, to which I am indebted -for this account; also Handy's evidence, Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," -vol. ii., pp. 165, 166.] - -And Sir Everard was constrained to avow that of the wealthy Catholic -gentry "not one man came to take our part though we had expected so -many."[B] - -[Footnote B: Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 112. Holbeach House is no longer -standing.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIV. - - -The High Sheriffs of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with their _posse -comitatus_, were in pursuit of the fugitives, who arrived at Holbeach -House at ten of the clock on Thursday night. - -At Holbeach they prepared to make their last stand. And alack! never more -were the brothers John and Christopher Wright destined to behold Lapworth, -Twigmore, Ripon, Skelton, Newby, Mulwith, York, or Plowland,[A] nor any of -those scenes around which must have clung so many endearing associations -and sacred memories.[156] - -[Footnote A: For an account of recent visits to Mulwith and Plowland, see -Supplementum IV. and Supplementum V. - -To the generosity of my friend, Miss Burnham, the lady of Plowland, my -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 Humber towards the south. The gabled -buildings in the rear are ancient, and behind them are a few mossy Gothic -stones, evidently belonging to the old chapel. Behind the 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 conspirator.] - -Early in the morning of Friday some of the company went out to descry -whether or not reinforcements were in sight. Others began to prepare their -shot and powder. - -Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant were severely burnt in the face, especially -the two latter, with some damp or dank gunpowder which they were drying -on a platter before the kitchen fire, and into which a hot cinder fell. - -This 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, in reply to his question, -"We mean here to die." - -Winter thereupon replied, "I 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, 1605, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire arrived with the whole power -and force of the county, 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. - -Christopher Wright was mortally wounded. - -Ambrose Rookwood was wounded in four or five places. - -John Grant was likewise disabled. - -Catesby and Thomas Percy, each sword in hand, and "standing before the -door" close together, were mortally wounded by two successive shots fired -by one musketeer, who afterwards boasted of his resolute carriage of -himself on that eventful day.[A] - -[Footnote A: The man's name was John Streete. He received a pension of two -shillings a day for life, equal to about sixteen shillings a day in our -money. Gerard's "_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 155.] - -Catesby, before receiving his fatal shot, we are told by Father Gerard in -his "_Narrative_," p. 109, "took from his neck a cross of gold, which he -always used to wear about him, and blessing himself with it and kissing -it, showed it unto the people, protesting there solemnly before them all -it was only for the honour of the Cross, and the exaltation of that Faith -which honoured the Cross, and for the saving of their souls in the same -Faith that had moved him to undertake the business; and seth he saw it was -not God's will it should succeed in that manner they intended, or at that -time, he was willing and ready to give his life for the same cause, only -he would not be taken by any, and against that only he would defend -himself with his sword. - -"This done, Mr. Catesby and Mr. Percy turned back to back, resolving to -yield themselves to no man, but to death as the messenger of God. - -"None of their adversaries did come near them, but one fellow standing -behind a tree with a musket, shot them both with one bullet,[A] and Mr. -Catesby was shot almost dead, the other lived three or four days. - -[Footnote A: It was with one musket, but two successive bullets.] - -"Mr. Catesby being fallen to the ground, as they say, went upon his knees -into the house, and there got a picture of our Blessed Lady in his arms -(unto whom he was accustomed to be very devout), and so embracing and -kissing the same, he died."[B] - -[Footnote B: The mind of each of the thirteen Gunpowder conspirators -affords the intellectual philosopher and the moral philosopher rich food -for thought. What a reflection from human nature is not the soul of these -men, one and all--especially Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winter, Guy -Fawkes, Ambrose Rookwood, and Christopher Wright. I would especially point -out the strange superstition that Catesby exhibited in wishing to blow up -the _Parliament House_, because it was _there_ the iniquitous laws had -been made against the Catholics. He primarily wished, like some pagan, to -be revenged on the _material object_, which had been the unconscious and -irresponsible instrument of his kinsfolk's and friends' hurt. - -Moreover, how true to daily experience is the behaviour of Catesby in his -last moments: of one who in his youth had been very wild, but who, on -reaching maturer years, had grown to have a great devotion to _her_ whom -Wordsworth has so beautifully styled "our tainted nature's solitary -boast." - -Again; the dying soldier's flying for protection to, and the kissing in -his last agony, when the light of life was about to be quenched in his -mortal eyes for ever, a picture of _her_ who is "the Mother of Christ," -and whom millions hold to be likewise "the Refuge of sinners," is -startlingly true to human nature. - -But--"Close up his eyes, and let us all to meditation." For "_In la sua -volontade e nostra pace_"--"Only in the Will of God is man's peace." And -the essence of that Will is the Everlasting Moral Law.] - -On the 9th of November Sir Edward Leigh wrote to the Privy Council that -the Wrights were not slain as reputed, but wounded. Not till the 13th was -their death certified by Sir Richard Walsh, High Sheriff of -Worcestershire.--See Gerard's "_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" pp. 153, -154. - -Whatever was the case with John Wright, it seems clear that the weight of -evidence inclines to show that Christopher Wright did not expire on -Friday, the 8th November, but that he lingered at least a day or two. The -exact day of Christopher Wright's death, and what became of his remains, -may be ascertained facts hereafter, possibly. At present, they are -unknown.[157] - - - - - CHAPTER LV. - - -Father Garnet did not go nearer London than Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, -between ten and fifteen miles distant from Great Harrowden. - -We know that he was at Gothurst when Catesby was there, on Tuesday, the -22nd of October, one day after the date of the _post scriptum_ mentioned -in the last chapter. Probably the _post scriptum_ 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 grandfather was Sir Thomas -Beaumont, Master of the Rolls, was a level-headed woman of acute mental -perceptions as well as of great moral ardour and intense spiritual -exaltation.[A] - -[Footnote A: The psychologist will have observed that these qualities are -not seldom combined in a certain order of minds. _Cf._, Shakespeare's -"great wits to madness are near allied"--some thinkers will be inclined to -say.] - -Miss Vaux 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 -foreboding, 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 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 Vaux 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 themselves 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."[A] - -[Footnote A: Garnet's examination of the 12th March. Foley's "_Records_," -vol. iv., p. 157.] - -At Coughton, Father Garnet said Mass on the 1st of November, All Saints' -Day. - -There "assisted" at this Mass the Lady Digby,[B] Mr. and Mrs. Brookesby, -Miss Anne Vaux, and almost the whole of Sir Everard Digby's Gothurst -household. - -[Footnote B: Lady Digby had been brought up a strong Protestant, and, like -most converts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the Church of -Rome from Calvinistic Puritanism, she became an ardent devotee of the -Jesuits. (The point of contact was probably a common interest in the -problems of the mystical life, and a tendency towards a grave, sober, -strict regularity of "daily walk and conversation.") George Gilbert, a -gentleman of high Suffolk family and great wealth, was likewise a convert -from Calvinism, through the instrumentality of the Jesuit Fathers, -Darbyshire and Parsons. Gilbert, as a young man, daily "waited upon the -ministry" of the once celebrated Puritan Divine, Dering, the 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 Blessed" 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 pictures of some of "the English -Martyrs," although "old Richard Norton," of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, -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 13th October, 1900, through the kind courtesy of the Right Reverend -Monsignor Giles, D.D., Rector of the English College, copies of these -remarkable pictures, copies which are painted on the walls of that very -College where Father Oldcorne himself had been educated. - -The original pictures on the walls of the Church 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 Martyrs -already beatified, including "the Blessed" Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland, who suffered death at York in 1572.--See the "_Acts of the -English Martyrs_," by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).] - -At Gothurst, however, was Sir Everard himself, busy making his final -preparations for the war he was 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 were 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 offering 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 some -allusion to the then wretched condition of the unhappy English -Catholics.[A] - -[Footnote A: See Letter to Miss Anne Vaux, dated 2nd March, 1605-6, quoted -in Foley, vol. iv., p. 84, where Garnet says: "There is a muttering here -of a sermon which either I or 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 Mr. Attourney saith he hath more."] - -Now, I infer that all this tends to demonstrate that Father Henry Garnet -felt that a great burden or load had been 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 the Plot finally swept -away. - -Again, in the Mass for All Saints' Day there is a hymn, one verse of which -is: "Take away 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 -_Parliament_ would be in _existence_ to work mischief! _And this once more -proves that he knew the Plot would be squashed and finally swept away._ - - - - - CHAPTER LVI. - - -Soon after Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant had been injured by the exploded -gunpowder at Holbeach House (as has been already mentioned in Chapter -LIV.), Robert Winter, the Master of Huddington, 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 early in the morning to the house -of one Perkes, in Hagley. After an extraordinary 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,[158] a Protestant lady, to whose children the place apparently -belonged. - -Mrs. Littleton was herself either in, or on the way to, London at this -time, so the two traitors were harboured without the lady's knowledge or -consent. - -By the treachery, however, of the man-cook at Hagley, or rather, in -justice it should be said, by his diligent zeal in the service of his -sovereign lord the King, Stephen Littleton and Robert 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 gentleman, 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 company of horse to Flanders to fight, with 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, whatever might be the tenour or purport of Oldcorne's -answer--mischief among either Catholics or Protestants.[159] - -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 his -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.[160] - - - - - CHAPTER LVII. - - -GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Vol. II., No. 202. - - "The voluntarie declaration of Edward Oldcorne alias Hall - Jesuite 12 Mar. 1605 [_i.e._, 1605-6]. - - A. - - "Mr. Humfrey Litleton[A] telling me that after Mr. Catesbie saw - him self and others of his Companie burnt w^{th} powder, and the - rest of the compnie readie to fly from him, that then he began - to thinke he had offended god in this action, seeing soe bad - effects follow of the same. - - [Footnote A: I do not know the exact point of time when Humphrey - Littleton thus spoke to Father Oldcorne, except that it was - certainly after the fatal 5th of November, 1605.] - - B. - - "I answeared him that an act is not to be condemd or justified - upon the good or bad euent that follow^{th} 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 wher the - 11 tribs of Israel weare comannded by god to make warrs upon the - trib of Benjamin; and yett the tribe of Benjamin did both in the - first and secound battaile overthrow the other 11 tribs. The - like said I wee read of Lewis King of france who went to fight - against the Turks and to recouer the hoolye Land, but ther he - loost the most of his armie, and him self dyed ther of the - plague the like wee may say when the xtianes defended Rhoodes - against the turks wher the Turkes preuayled and the xtianes - weare overthrowne, and yet noe doubt the xtians cause was good - and the turks bad and thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. - Catesbie's it is not to be approved or condemned by the euent, - but by the propper object or end, and meanes w^{ch} was to be - vsed in it; and bycause I know nothinge of thes I will neither - approve it or condeme it but leave it to god and ther owne - consciences and in this warie sort I spake to him bycause I - doubted he came to entrap me, and that he should take noe - advantage of my words whither he reported them to Catholiks or - Protestants. - - "(Signed) Edward Oldcorne. - - "Acknowledged before vs - - "J. Popham.[A] - Edw. Coke.[B] - W. Waad.[C] - John Corbett." - -(The A and B at the left side of the Declaration are Coke's own marks.) - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -[Footnote B: Afterwards the celebrated Lord Chief Justice of England, and -Editor of "_Littleton's Tenures_." This Humphrey Littleton, mentioned in -the Text, was a descendant of Sir John Littleton, Author of the immortal -legal work.] - -[Footnote C: Lieutenant of the Tower of London.] - - - - - CHAPTER LVIII. - - -We are now come to the crux of this Inquiry. - -To every philosophical thinker who takes the trouble to ponder the matter -it must be evident that the ethical principles enunciated in the first -part of the Declaration, given _in extenso_ in the preceding chapter, are -intellectually irrefutable and morally irreproachable; although their -obviousness, certainly, will not be palpable to "the man in the street." - -The answer of this clear-sighted, strong-headed Yorkshireman, is indeed -the answer that is the resultant of exact ethical knowledge, that is, of -moral science. _For what is science, either in the realms of the -intellectual, the moral, the political, or the physical, but "exact -knowledge."_ - -Moreover, these principles are the resultant of abstract moral science, or -exact ethical knowledge pure and simple. - -Now, "Morality is the science of duty."[161] But, just as it is most -mischievous _indiscriminately_ to apply abstract principles of morality, -however faultless in themselves, to the complex affairs of individuals and -of States, so is it most dangerous to strew broadcast statements of the -abstract principles of ethics for the untutored mind of the _merely_ -practical man--first of all, to misunderstand; and, secondly, to wrest to -his own undoing and that of his equally unfortunate fellow-men. - -This is certainly so in the present stage of the world's imperfect -education. Though one lives in the hope that sooner or later that "ampler -day" may dawn, when, from the least unto the greatest, men shall come to -have a happy conscious realization of the truth of the poet's dictum: -"_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_;"[162] "Happy is he who hath -been able to learn the causes of things." - -Still, _truth--that which is--is truth_. - -_And partial truth is not less true, according to its measure and in its -degree, than the full orb of truth._[A] - -[Footnote A: Strategy in war has for its intellectual and moral -justification the fact that partial truth is not less true, in its measure -and in its degree, than the full orb of truth.] - -Furthermore, "Wisdom is justified by all her children;" even although some -of those children are tardy in realizing and in expressing their sense of -such justification. - -Now, although all this stands to reason--nay, because it is true, is even -the perfection of reason--it was an enunciation of principles by Father -Oldcorne, which it was more than probable would be misinterpreted by two -sets of people, the intellectually stupid and the morally malicious. - -Nay, it may be allowed that even persons of the highest intelligence and -of the utmost good faith--such as, in the last century, the late David -Jardine[163]--might easily enough think that Edward Oldcorne deserved -condemnation and chiding for thus apparently showing such a marked -disposition to look at this grave matter, the moral rightness or wrongness -of the Gunpowder Plot, as though it were as purely abstract and -scholastic a question as that famous moot of the middle ages: "How many -angels can dance on the point of a needle?"[A] - -[Footnote A: Oldcorne had special private knowledge that the Plot would -never be a Plot _executed_, because (1) he knew Christopher Wright had -resolved to reveal it; because (2) he knew that his own personal act had -ended the Plot by his penning the Letter.] - - - - - CHAPTER LIX. - - -Now, the contention is this: That regard being had to the extraordinary -heinousness of the Gunpowder Plot, in point of underhand stealthiness and -secrecy as well as of deliberateness, malice, magnitude, and cruelty, no -man of moral uprightness and intellectual keenness could be--without doing -a violence to his human nature that is all but incredible--so unspeakably -reckless and utterly insane as to fling broadcast to the winds, for the -wayfaring man and the fool to pick up and con for their own and their -hapless fellow-creatures' moral destruction, an _oral statement_ as to -this diabolical Plot, that expressed ways of looking at the Plot merely -speculative and simply in the abstract,[A] _save and except_ on one -condition only, namely, that such speaker had had both from without and -from within, _et ab extra et ab intra_, a special _knowledge_. - -[Footnote A: It is to be noted that in this momentous Declaration of the -12th March, 1605-6, Oldcorne in the first part reserves or conceals -"_partial truth_;" that is to say, in _this_ case, _truth in the concrete, -or truth in action_. While in the second part of the Declaration Oldcorne -orally disclaims, denies, or dissembles integral truth, that is here a -special and particular knowledge of the end the plotters had in view, and -the means they purposed to adopt. The knowledge he had received was of a -nature _official_, and at least conditionally, though not absolutely, -_private_ knowledge.] - -Furthermore, _a special knowledge, with absolute certitude_, which -_warranted_ the speaker in mentally surveying that Plot not merely as it -_then_ was at the moment when he was giving utterance to his speculative -statement concerning it, but, as he full well knew, at some point of time -prior to that fateful day, November the 5th, 1605, it had been destined to -be perpetually, namely, A PLOT _ante factum in aeternum_, a mere abstract -mental plan for ever. Aye, a mere abstract mental plan to all eternity; -because transmuted and transformed by some process wherein that speaker -had himself taken a primal, an essential, a meritorious part.[A] - -[Footnote A: The argument is that a man at once good and clever, like -Edward Oldcorne, would not, according to the rules that govern human -nature and daily experience, have clothed in words and then let loose to -wander about the world seeking whom it might fall in with and victimize, a -bare abstract proposition regarding the Plot, _unless_ he had been first -absolutely certain that the foundation-thing, the Plot itself, was too -attenuated and ghost-like to work hurt or mischief to any human creature. - -Now, since Littleton propounded his question _after_ the 5th of November, -Oldcorne had an _ordinary_ ground for allowing himself to speak of the -defunct Plot purely in the abstract. But this was an obviously very -dangerous thing to do, both for Littleton's sake, the general public's -sake (Catholic or Protestant), and for the speaker's own sake. Therefore -the fact that Oldcorne did so speak postulates something _more than -ordinary_. Hence, as Oldcorne was a man of virtue both intellectually and -morally, the reasonable inference is that Oldcorne _had an extraordinary -ground_ for his answer which endued him with a special liberty of abstract -speech in regard to the matter. _That extraordinary ground, I maintain, -was based deep down within the depths of his own interior knowledge._] - - - - - CHAPTER LX. - - -But it may be objected that instead of assuming that Father Oldcorne was a -man not only of mental keenness but also of moral uprightness, and -proceeding forthwith to build an argument on such an assumption, the -writer ought in truth and justice to have proved, by evidence or reason, -the latter part of the proposition. And this the rather, seeing that so -many of the co-religionists both in our own day as well as in the days of -Father Oldcorne have regarded that society, whereof Oldcorne was a -distinguished English member, with not merely unfeigned suspicion but with -sincere dislike, and even with genuine loathing.[A] - -[Footnote A: The most formidable adversaries of the Jesuits far and away -have been Roman Catholics of a particular type of mind. Blaise Pascal, -that colossal genius, has been probably their most successful enemy.] - -Now, the unbiased historical philosopher is content not only to let the -dead bury their dead but also to let theologian deal with theologian. To -the historical philosopher, a Jesuit is a man and nothing more: nothing -more, that is, so far as his being entitled to receive at the former's -hands the benefit of all those natural rights which belong to all members -of the human species. For all men (including Jesuits) are, in the mind of -the philosopher, "born free and equal." - -Hence it follows that when, amid the chances and changes of this mortal -life, the historical philosopher is thrown across the path of a Jesuit, he -looks at him, as a matter of duty, straight in the face, just as he looks -at any other rational creature; and then seeks to ascertain, by dint of -normal touchstones and tests, what manner of man the person is whom that -philosopher, by the ordinances of fate, has then and there confronted. - -Now, in the case of Edward Oldcorne, the Text of this Inquiry, and also -the Notes thereunto, supply abundant proof that Oldcorne came of a good, -wholesome, Yorkshire stock--hard-working, honest, and honourable; that his -own mental nature was broad, rich and full, high-minded, just, and -generous.[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Henry Garnet, S.J., landed in England in 1586 along -with the gifted Robert Southwell, whose prose and poetical works belong to -English literature. Father Weston was then the Jesuit Superior. Father -John Gerard landed, along with Father Edward Oldcorne, off the coast of -Norfolk, in August, 1588, shortly after the decisive fight with the -Spanish Armada, off Gravelines. As illustrating the conscientiousness and -courage of this Yorkshire Elizabethan Jesuit, the following quotation from -Foley, vol. iv., p. 210, may be of interest: "Father Oldcorne was employed -sometime in London by Father Garnet, diligently labouring in the quest and -salvation of souls. He was ever of a most ready wit, and endeavoured as -far as possible to adapt himself to the manner of those with whom he -lived. There were exceptions, however, in which, consumed with an ardent -zeal of asserting and defending the Divine honour, he could not refrain -from correcting those whom he heard uttering obscene and injurious -language either towards God or their superiors. When in London, in the -house of a Catholic gentleman, he struck with his fist and broke into -pieces a pane of stained or painted glass representing an indecent picture -of Venus and Mars, which he considered wholly unfit for the eyes of a -virtuous family." - -[The curious philosopher wonders whether this Elizabethan Catholic -gentleman, having been deprived of his "Venus and Mars" in such a -high-handed fashion, afterwards became anti-Jesuitical.]] - -Therefore is it, alike by evidence and reason, borne in upon the mind of -the philosopher that, on grounds of probability so high as to afford -practical certitude, he may proceed to build his argument upon the -assumption that Edward Oldcorne was a man not only of intellectual acumen -but also of moral integrity, as has been already predicated of him. - - - - - CHAPTER LXI. - - -Now, in the first part of his Declaration, Father Oldcorne uttered -concerning the Gunpowder Plot a proposition which expressed partial truth -alone. Because he expressed truth in the abstract only, not truth in the -concrete also, concerning that nefarious scheme. - -In other words, Father Oldcorne severed in thought the two kinds of truth, -the two aspects of truth, the two parts of truth, which being _unified_ -gave the _whole_ truth respecting the moral mode of judging the Gunpowder -Treason Plot. - -Oldcorne severed concrete truth from abstract truth,[A] practical truth -from speculative truth, and so far as his hearer, Humphrey Littleton, was -concerned, held that concrete truth, that practical truth, suspended at -the sword-point over Littleton's head. - -[Footnote A: Or, it may be said, Oldcorne separated concrete truth from -abstract truth, practical truth from speculative truth, holding the former -in solution, and putting into the hands of Littleton the latter alone, in -the form of a dangerous precipitate.] - -Now, I maintain that, regard being had to the terrific danger of -Littleton's occasioning mischief, either through stupidity, malice, or -both, a man of the intellectual and moral calibre of Edward Oldcorne would -have never suffered his tongue to give utterance to a proposition -dividing, as with a sword, concrete truth from abstract truth, practical -truth from speculative truth, and then holding the former suspended above -the head of his questioner, _unless and until_ that great Priest and -Jesuit had been first possessed of the living consciousness that he had -had, and then was, at that very instant of time when speaking, having that -Plot, which represented "the sum of all villainies," in that it involved -"sacrilegious murder,"[A] _firmly and unconquerably crushed under his -feet_.[164] - -[Footnote A: This phrase is used by Shakespeare in "Macbeth" (1606), I -suggest, with indirect reference to the Gunpowder Plot, which Shakespeare -must have followed with the most breathless, absorbing interest. For -Norbrook was in Snitterfield, where his mother (Mary Arden) had property; -while Coughton was the home of the Throckmortons, the Ardens' relatives. -Clopton House, where Ambrose Rookwood was living from Michaelmas, 1605, -Lapworth, where John Wright resided from May, 1605, and where Christopher -Wright and Marmaduke Ward visited him (all of which places were in that -"garden of England," Warwickshire), must have been as familiar to the poet -almost as his own Stratford-on-Avon. - -I find the name "Robert Arden," of Pedmore, Worcestershire, 1-1/2 miles -from Stourbridge, down as "a popish recusant" for the year 1592, in the -"_Hatfield MS._," part iv.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXII. - - -And how could this be? - -It could be only by dint of a _two-fold knowledge_, a two-fold, -warranting, justifying, vindicating knowledge, which this Priest and -Jesuit held stored-up deep down within the depths of his conscious being, -a knowledge _passive_ or receptive which had come to him "from without," -_ab extra_; a knowledge _active_ or self-caused which he had bestowed upon -himself "from within," _ab intra_. - -Now, the passive knowledge "from without" was the knowledge Oldcorne had -had from the penitent plotter of that penitent's resolve to reveal the -Plot to his lawful Sovereign by the most perfect means for so doing that -by the human mind could be devised. - -The active knowledge "from within" was the knowledge that Oldcorne had -possessed, and was at that moment possessing, of his own sublimely -conceived and magnificently executed act and deed: although even this -active knowledge "from within" was itself _indirectly_ traceable to that -penitent plotter's repentant resolve and repentant will.[A] - -[Footnote A: We know on the authority of Sir Edward Coke himself that one -of the conspirators was supposed to have revealed the Plot, and indeed -such _must_ have been inevitably the case. Now, the proved position of -Thomas Ward in the work of communicating with Thomas Winter suggests that -Ward was the diplomatic go-between. But it is obvious that Ward cannot -have himself penned the Letter; for if he had been in the service of -Elizabeth's Government his handwriting would be known to the Government. -Now, circumstantial evidence tends to prove that Father Oldcorne did. -Therefore the relationship of priest and penitent and the machinery of the -Tribunal of Penance is forthwith, naturally and easily, brought into play. -Now, in these days of "_emancipated and free religious thought_," it is -difficult for us readily to realize the _stupendous_ force that the -alleged supernatural facts of historical Christianity had upon _the mind -of all those who lived consciously_ hemmed in, as it were, by an alleged -supernatural tradition of Christianity, _whether_ Calvinistic _or_ Roman -Catholic, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Those alleged facts -were assumed and deliberately calculated upon as among the ruling and -controlling _realities_ of daily life. Now, a Yorkshire Roman -Catholic--especially one brought up in the Wright, Ward, Babthorpe, -Ingleby, Mallory circle--might be easily frightened, nay, terrified, into -confession and avowal of his crimes, and _therefore_ into satisfaction, -and _therefore_ into reversal, by the mere fact that about the Feast of -St. Michael and All Angels, 11th October (old style), 1605, when -"examining his conscience" he came to realize the tremendous and awful -wickedness of his two crimes, sacrilege and murder. For the Archangel -"_Michael--who is like unto God_"--would be to _him_ a being as real and -living and of transcendently greater _power_--an important -consideration--than even the stern reality of the hangman of the -gallows-tree and the ripping knife; while a close-natured, thoughtful -Yorkshireman like Christopher Wright would vividly realize, with his -shrewd instinct for values and tendencies, that, _unrepentant_, his -ultimate fate--either here or hereafter--was not worth while the risking. -For, on the one hand, he may have peradventure, consciously or -unconsciously, argued there is the certainty of falling, sooner or later, -into "the Hands of the Living God," and of being by Him consigned to the -charge of Michael, the Minister of His Justice; while, on the other, there -is the going, _not_ to the chill, viewless wind, but to a sympathetic -rational creature with a brain, heart, eyes, hands, and feet, and the -getting _him_, in the solid reality of flesh and blood, to put a speedy -stop, here and now, to the whole unhappy business, and so save further -trouble. (A man of middle age, well educated, belonging to an old -Yorkshire Roman Catholic family that "had never lost the Faith," told a -relative, not long ago, that "after being on the spree" he should have -certainly committed a great crime had he not been stayed by the knowledge -that, if he did so, "_he would go plump into Hell_." I mention this to -show how, at least, sometimes the Catholic conscience works even in these -"enlightened" days. Hence, the antecedent probability of the truth of my -suggested solution of _how_ the revealing conspirator was motived to -reveal the conspiracy. For an Inquiry into the Gunpowder Plot is a great -philosophical study of human _motives_ as well as of _probabilities_; and -the case of Christopher Wright (_ex hypothesi_) is, in relation to the -example just cited, an _a fortiori_ case.)] - - - - - CHAPTER LXIII. - - -But, it may be plausibly objected, if it were of such dangerous tendency -_indiscriminately_ to give utterance to bare, abstract, moral principles -only, how came it to pass, then, that Oldcorne, who was a good man, -morally, as well as a clever man, intellectually, suffered himself _thus_ -to act when questioned by Humphrey Littleton respecting the moral -lawfulness, or otherwise, of the Gunpowder Plot? - -Now, Oldcorne, as we have already seen in his Declaration quoted above, -has recorded a--that is one--reason why he left Littleton _in -abstracto_--that is furnished with truth in the abstract merely. And -beyond a doubt, as subsequent events so signally proved, the astute -Jesuit's judgment of Littleton's character had not erred one whit. - -Littleton, as Oldcorne justly feared, was a "dangerous fellow," one who -was likely to entrap the innocent, and one who was, therefore, not -entitled, either in Justice or in that more refined kind of justice called -Equity, to have his question dealt with by anything other than a flanking -movement; or, in other words, by anything other than such an intellectual -man[oe]uvre as would _turn aside the question_ Littleton had elected to -propound to the great mental strategist--as would turn aside the question -Littleton had elected to propound, on the face of it, probably, and as the -event proved, certainly, from sinister motives and with crooked aims. - -Hence, _partly_ because of his questioner's inferred insincerity and -pernicious purposes _did Oldcorne sever speculative truth in thought from -concrete truth in action_; or, in other words, _Oldcorne gave to Littleton -an answer "sounding" in partial truth alone_. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIV. - - -Now, _partial truth_, as has been affirmed already, _is not, in its -proportion, less true than the full orb of truth_.[A] And many are the -times and many are the circumstances in this strangely chequered human -life of ours, with its endless movements and its perpetual -vicissitudes, when apparently conflicting and antagonistic duties can -be in justice, equity, and honour reconciled on one condition only, -namely, that man shall leave to Omniscience alone, "from Whom no -secrets are hid," a knowledge of the full orb of certain degrees of -some particular kind of truth, governing some particular -subject-matter under consideration.[165][B] - -[Footnote A: _It is never morally lawful to tell a lie_, that is, to speak -contrary to one's mind, or to deceive by word contrary to that law of -justice which bids a man render to all rational creatures their due. - -_To act a lie_ is as base and wicked as to tell a lie, and often more -unmanly and contemptible besides: else might the deaf and dumb be unjustly -deceived with impunity.] - -[Footnote B: The noble science of casuistry is founded on the fact that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -A knowledge of casuistry, that is, of the principles of moral science -scientifically applied to the living facts of the living present, will be -of primal necessity to British statesmen in the twentieth century, which -will be a century of few, but strong, principles, and of few, but strong, -men to apply those principles. - -Efficiency, and efficiency through scientific exactitude, will be the -characteristic aim of all the great Imperial Powers of the world in the -near future. Here, in England, with all our intellectual, moral, and -physical virtues (which indeed are neither few nor contemptible), we have -been too apt to allow a number of persons to speak for us, able in their -way, no doubt, but of limited mental vision, and hopelessly incapable of -grappling with the problems that confront a world-wide Empire, embracing a -fifth (some say a fourth) of the human race. A democratic Empire must -choose leaders that are _wise_, just, self-controlled, courageous; and -then that Empire must entrust freely and fearlessly their destinies with -such leaders, who must not be afraid faithfully to go "full tilt" against -ignorant prejudice or short-sighted prepossession. - -Now, wisdom (or prudence) is the cardinal virtue which presides over all -the other three virtues. And wisdom (or prudence) tells us that strategy -in war, that sometimes necessary evil; diplomacy betwixt the -representatives of nations; and above and beyond all the imparting to the -general body of the people only so much knowledge of the tendencies of -current events as is for the common good, can have intellectual and moral -justification on this one fundamental ethical principle only, namely, that -_partial truth is not less true, in its measure and in its degree, than -the full orb of truth_. - -Again; where a sound intellectual and moral basis is not consciously held, -man, by the rules that govern his rational nature, will not "walk -sure-footedly." Moreover, it is impossible for a self-respecting free -people to allow that essential _unity_ does not prevail betwixt the -fundamental principles of both private action and public action. _For just -wars and politics are not the pawns of a game that has been devised and -patented by the devil._ Just wars and politics are ethics working in the -living present, in the wider field of human conduct. And, properly -understood, they are, after their kind, and must be, if they are lawful to -rational creatures, as noble and as much under the reign, rule, and -governance of the _Ideal Man_ as are those solemn acts of life which have -been (amongst other purposes) devised to remind man of the transcendental -nature of his origin and destiny.] - -Just as on some wild, tempestuous night, the full orb of the silvery moon -is obscured to the eye of the gazer by a dark, driving cloud. - -Now, it has been said that, partly, _because_ Oldcorne inferred -insincerity of heart in Humphrey Littleton, and, partly, _because_ -Oldcorne inferred in his questioner pernicious purposes in propounding the -question he did propound respecting the moral lawfulness, or otherwise, of -the Gunpowder Plot, _therefore_ Oldcorne gave Littleton an answer sounding -in partial--that is, in this case, in abstract, in speculative--truth -alone. - -Oldcorne's own expressed words are as follow:-- - -"_In this warie sort I spake to him bycause I doubted he came to entrap -me_, _and that he should take no advantage of my words whither he reported -them to Catholics or to Protestants._" - -Unquestionably, this must have been _a_ reason--_one_ reason, that is--for -Father Oldcorne's flanking, evasive reply, sounding in partial--that is, -in this case, in abstract, in speculative--truth alone. - -For otherwise a man of such approved goodness and established character -would have never declared it to be a reason. The contrary supposal it is -impossible to entertain. - -But because Oldcorne's declared reason was undoubtedly _a_ reason, it does -not follow--regard being had to persons, times, and circumstances--either -from the demands of universal reason or moral fitness, that it was _his -only and sole reason_, nor (still less) that it was his _paramount and -predominant reason_ for his action in question, that is, for his mode of -couching the aforesaid Declaration in partial truth alone. - -What leads to the conclusion with resistless force that Oldcorne's alleged -reason cannot have been his paramount, his predominant, reason is the -simple, indisputable fact that such an aim so egregiously miscarried. - -Therefore, in the case of so astute and clever a man, as all the evidence -we have concerning Oldcorne to demonstration proves him to have been, it -is rendered probable, to the degree of moral certainty, that the great -casuist had some far stronger reason latent within him than the reason he -chose to put forth for couching an answer to Humphrey Littleton, sounding -in partial truth alone. - -Besides the sufficient, indeed, _yet inferior reason_, grounded on the -primal instinct of personal self-preservation, or, in other words, to put -the matter bluntly, the mere brute instinct of not being entrapped, wisdom -suggests that Oldcorne must--his moral character being what we know it -was--have had a reason latent deep down within the depths of his conscious -being, which was not only a sufficient but _superior reason_, not only a -true but a sublime reason, for severing in this grave matter, and holding -suspended, truth _in thought_ from truth _in action_. - -Yea, Father Oldcorne, I maintain, gave Humphrey Littleton the flanking, -evasive answer that he did give him, notwithstanding the inevitable, -possible, and even probable dangers attendant thereon, because he -(Oldcorne) felt within himself, "to the finest fibre of his being," a -_freedom_, a _three-fold freedom_, which warranted, justified, and -vindicated him in so answering. - -Now this freedom was a three-fold freedom, because it was a -thrice-purchased freedom. - -_And it was a thrice-purchased freedom because it had been purchased by -the merits_:-- - -(1) Of the personal, actual repentance of the revealing plotter himself. -By the merits - -(2) Of the imputed (or constructive) repentance of that penitent's -co-plotters. And by the merits - -(3) Of the laudable action of Oldcorne himself. - - - - - CHAPTER LXV. - - -Now, Oldcorne, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he -was good, manifests from the inherent nature of his answer to Humphrey -Littleton a sense, a consciousness, an assurance of freedom from the -restraints and obligations which would have undoubtedly stayed and bound -him had he not been already freed from their power. - -Now, it is a superior power that countervails, that renders impotent an -inferior power. - -_Now, Oldcorne would be freed from the restraining power of moral -obligations, as to the user of a particular character of speech, if he had -had residing within him a power of superior, of sublimer, that is, of -countervailing force._ - -_Now, Oldcorne, in his answer to Littleton, manifestly gives evidence of -power, of countervailing power._ - -_Knowledge gives power: gives countervailing power._ - -_Therefore it follows that the presence of power, of countervailing power, -in Oldcorne proves likewise the strong probability of knowledge, of -countervailing knowledge likewise._ - -_And what kind of knowledge can such two-fold knowledge have been, save a -meritorious knowledge of what aforetime had been, but which was then no -longer, the Gunpowder Treason Plot?_ - -For, from the very moment of Oldcorne's becoming conscious that the Plot -as a plot had vanished into thin air by (1) personal, actual repentance; -by (2) imputed or constructive repentance; by (3) a personally heroic act: -had vanished like the morning mists before the beams of the rising sun, -Oldcorne would feel himself, so to speak, immediately to be endued with an -extraordinary power: with a power that would straightway cause him to grow -to a loftier stature than all his fellows: with a power that then would -enable him, as it were, to scale the heights, and, at length, to mount up -to the very top of what aforetime had been the baleful Plot, but which -Plot Oldcorne full well knew would be henceforward and for ever emptied -and defecated of and from all murderous, criminous, sacrilegious -quality.[166] - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in viewing and -surveying "the fact of Mr. Catesbie's" simply speculatively and purely in -the abstract. - -Hence was Oldcorne warranted, justified, and vindicated in leaving -Humphrey Littleton _in abstracto_, after the latter had propounded to him -his dangerous question: of leaving the doubter with an answer sounding in -partial truth alone. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVI. - - -Now, this conclusion leads inevitably to the further conclusion that -Edward Oldcorne must have had latent within him, deep down within the -depths of his conscious being, a particular knowledge, _as distinct from a -general knowledge, a private knowledge as distinct from a public -knowledge_, not indeed of this Plot as a plot, but of the Plot _after_ it -had been, _when_ it had been, and _as_ it had been _first transmuted and -transformed, by the causes and processes hereinbefore mentioned: -transmuted and transformed into an instrument, sure and certain for the -temporal salvation of his fellow-men_. - -Yea, _because_ Edward Oldcorne's noblest mental faculty, his conscience, -gazing with eagle-eye, sun-filled, yet undazzled and undismayed, upon -absolute truth was able unshrinkingly and calmly to bear witness to the -other indivisible parts of his rational nature, that _his_ mind in -relation to that fell enterprise, which from first to last must have "made -the angels weep," was a mind not only of passive innocence, but of active -rectitude, _therefore_ must he have felt himself to be not barely, but -abundantly _free_. Free, because he knew there was no mortal in this -world, and no being in the world to come, to condemn _him_ at the bar of -eternal Justice; nay, none rightly even to be so much as his accuser: free -to survey the baleful scheme purely speculatively: free, orally to express -the results of that survey, _either as to whole or part, in abstracto, in -the abstract merely; and this notwithstanding the risk of -misinterpretation from his questioner's "want of thought," or "want of -heart_." - -For everlastingly was it the truth, that none could gainsay nor resist, -that in relation to _this_ matter, at any rate, it was the lofty privilege -of Edward Oldcorne--indeed a man, if ever there were such, "elect and -precious"--to have been made "a white soul:" to have been made a soul like -unto "a star that dwelt apart." - -_Res ipsa loquitur._ Yea, the words of Edward Oldcorne speak for -themselves. And from those words evident is it that it was the kingly -prerogative of this disciplined, self-repressed, humblest of men, _to know -the truth as to the once atrocious plan: to know the truth and to be -free_. - -For his language implies, and, his mind and his character being what they -were, his language is intelligible on none other supposal than this: That -at the very moment when his tongue gave utterance to this now famous -flanking, evasive answer to his inquirer, _he, even he, had possession of -a power, a knowledge, a living consciousness, that he had been exalted to -be the chosen agent of that Supreme Power of the Universe_, to Whom by -infinite right, Vengeance belongs: _the chosen agent whereby the -aforetime, but then no longer, stupendous Gunpowder Treason Plot had been, -to all eternity, overthrown, frustrated, and brought to nought_.[167] - - - - - CHAPTER LXVII. - - -Hence may we say, of a surety, has it been proved that Edward Oldcorne, -Priest and Jesuit, used words which imply that, as a fact, he viewed the -Plot _ante factum_, before the fact, and in the abstract merely. - -That, being a man as good as he was clever, and as clever as he was good, -he must have had his warranting reasons, his justifying reasons, his -vindicating reasons for so doing, when such a course of action was -obviously likely to be attended with danger from misinterpretation from -both the fool and the knave; from both the man lacking thought and from -the man lacking heart. - -That such warranting reasons, such justifying reasons, such vindicating -reasons would be found in the fact that Oldcorne knew the Plot was no -longer a plot, but a scheme emptied and defecated of all evil, all -murderous, all criminous, all sacrilegious quality. Nay, that it was a -scheme sublimated and transfigured by his (Oldcorne's) own superabounding -merit and virtue in relation to the once diabolical, but then repented of, -prodigious plan. - -Therefore is the inevitable conclusion pressed upon us with resistless -force, that, according to the changeless laws which govern man's -intellectual and moral nature, Oldcorne must have had some _official or -semi-official particular and private knowledge_ of the thirteen Gunpowder -traitors' heinous project, as distinct from and in addition to that merely -personal, general knowledge, which he necessarily cannot have failed to -possess in his capacity of an ordinary English citizen: some professional -or quasi-professional special, private knowledge, as distinct from that -general, public, common knowledge, which every sane man then a subject of -the British Crown could not help not being possessed of, at that very -instant of time when Humphrey Littleton propounded to the great casuist -Humphrey Littleton's aforetime unhappy question.[A] - -[Footnote A: It is quite clear to my mind that Christopher Wright, the -revealing plotter, must have himself expressly freed his confessor from -the obligation to _absolute_ secrecy, which the seal of the Confessional -would impose. It may have been that Oldcorne made this a condition -precedent to his agreeing to pen the Letter. Or, it may have been that -Wright's own strong Catholic instincts and natural sense of justice -suggested the necessity of this course. As already remarked, a natural -secret, that is, a something that is not a sin, which alone forms matter -for Sacramental Confession, may _indirectly_ come under the seal, if the -confessor promises expressly or impliedly to accept the natural secret -under the obligations of the seal. But in Wright's case there could be no -question of his communication being in the nature of a natural secret -protected _indirectly_ by the seal by reason of Oldcorne's promise. And -though _freed_ by the penitent from the duty of absolute secrecy, Oldcorne -would be still under a positive duty _of discretion_.] - -I say advisedly _aforetime unhappy question_. - -For, I respectfully maintain that the ratiocinative faculty to-day, of a -surety, demonstrates that in the majestic cause of impartial, severe, -historical truth, the act of this frail, erring child of man, Humphrey -Littleton, has proved itself now to be thrice happy. - -"_O felix culpa!_" "O happy fault!" Out of bitterness is come forth -sweetness. - -Humphrey Littleton was not pardoned by King James, his Privy Council, and -Government, notwithstanding the invaluable disclosures he had made.[168] - -This high-born English gentleman was executed at Redhill, Worcester, on -the 7th day of April, 1606, along with (among others) another open rebel, -John Winter, the half-brother of Robert Winter and Thomas Winter, the -Gunpowder traitors. - -Humphrey Littleton, we are told by his contemporary, Father John Gerard, -asked forgiveness of Father Oldcorne more than once, and said that he had -wronged him much. - -He also asked forgiveness of Mr. Abington, who, though condemned to death, -was ultimately pardoned at his wife's and Lord Mounteagle's intercession. - -Humphrey Littleton "died with show of great repentance, and so with sorrow -and humility and patient acceptance of his death made amends for his -former frailty and too unworthy desire of life." - -Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach--who had likewise joined in the -rebellion in the Midlands, under Sir Everard Digby, which grew out of the -Gunpowder Plot, although a distinct movement from it, albeit connected -with the Plot--was made a public example of in his native County of -Staffordshire, _in terrorem_, as a terror to evil-doers: this unfortunate -English gentleman suffering the extreme penalty of the law, according to -his contemporary, the aforesaid Father John Gerard, in the ancient town of -Stafford. - - - - - CHAPTER LXVIII. - - -We now come to the second and latter part of Father Oldcorne's Declaration -to Humphrey Littleton, from the whole of which Declaration Littleton drew -the conclusion that Oldcorne answered "the action was good, and seemed to -approve of it."[A] - -[Footnote A: By thus disclaiming knowledge of "_these_"--that is, the -object the plotters had in view in their nefarious Plot, and the means -they purposed having recourse to, to attain their object--Oldcorne -deliberately throws a veil over the full orb of truth. But Littleton might -have discerned, had he taken the trouble so to do, that Oldcorne was -equivocating under a sense of prior obligation; and the clue was afforded -by the person of the speaker and the tenour of the answer itself. In the -former part of the Declaration, by leaving Littleton _in abstracto_, he -had thrown a veil over a portion of the full orb of truth. Just as the -silvery moon, on some tempestuous night, may be first partially obscured, -by a thick, dark, driving cloud, and then afterwards wholly obscured, from -the view of the gazer.] - -"And thus I applied it to this fact of Mr. Catesbie's; it is not to be -approved or condemned by the event, but by the proper object or end, and -means which was to be used in it; _and because I know nothing of thes_, I -will neither approve it or condeme it, but leave it to god and ther owne -consciences, and in this wary sort I spoke to him bycause I doubted he -came to entrap me; and that he should take noe advantage of the words -whither he reported them to Catholics or Protestants."[B] - -[Footnote B: Oldcorne's full answer to Littleton would be, "and because I -know nothing of these [that I am at liberty to tell you, Humphrey -Littleton"]: _these last words being interiorly expressed, perhaps_.] - -Now, in the first place, let it be remembered that these words were spoken -_not before but after_ Wednesday, the 6th of November, when, as Oldcorne -himself has left on record, and which indeed we have seen already, Father -Tesimond came from Coughton to Huddington, and from Huddington to Hindlip; -and when "_he said that there were certain gentlemen that meant to have -blown up the Parliament House, and that their plot was discovered a day or -two before_."[A] - -[Footnote A: Father Oldcorne says that Tesimond reached Hindlip at two -o'clock. Now, as Tesimond came _from_ Huddington, where, already, he had -had an interview with Catesby, the conspirators must have reached -Huddington _before_ two o'clock; probably they reached the mansion-house -at twelve o'clock mid-day. Bates says that Tesimond was at Huddington -half-an-hour; but Jardine says two hours. Query, what does "_Greenway's -MS._" say?] - -Again; Fawkes, we are told by Eudaemon-Joannes,[169] explained at the Trial -of the conspirators why the prisoners pleaded "'Not guilty,' which was -that the Indictment contained 'many other matters, which we neither can, -nor ought to countenance by our assent or silence,' though none of them -meant to deny that which they had not only voluntarily confessed before, -_but which was quite notorious throughout the realm_."[170] (The italics -are mine.) - -Now, seeing that Oldcorne told Littleton that "_he knew nothing_" as to -the "_end or object_" the plotters had in their Plot, nor "_the means -which was to be used in it_," when the whole of England, not to say -Europe, had been ringing with a knowledge of _not only the end or object, -but also the means_, for the last past few days, and perhaps weeks, at the -very least, I draw this inevitable conclusion:-- - -That because Oldcorne was a man as morally good as he was intellectually -clever, _he must have met his questioner's inquiry with this nescience, by -reason of some antecedent, official, and professional duty; or, at least, -semi-official and quasi-professional duty, which had been imposed upon -him, ab extra, from the outside, prior in time to Humphrey Littleton's -coming to him to be resolved of his doubts as to the moral rightness or -wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot_.[171] - -In other words, that Oldcorne felt instinctively that he could recognise -in _a private individual, like Humphrey Littleton_, no valid right, title, -claim, or demand to call forth an answer, which might discover or disclose -to Littleton the secret of the repentant Christopher Wright. - -Yea, neither in Justice, nor in Equity, nor in Honour could the grand -Yorkshireman betray to Humphrey Littleton the secret of trust that in a -semi-official, quasi-professional mode or fashion had come to be entrusted -to him by another, as that other's private property and exclusive -possession. - -_That other was Christopher Wright, the penitent revealing plotter, and -whomsoever he had, explicitly or implicitly, willed should share a -knowledge of the mighty secret. But to none other or others beside. And -certainly not to men probably prompted by sinister motives and crooked -aims._ - -For a knowledge of truth in action, truth in the result, truth in the -event, truth in the external, and every other kind of truth in relation to -the Gunpowder[A] Plot, _integral or partial, was irrevocably held in -trust_ by Edward Oldcorne, not for Humphrey Littleton, or the like of him, -but for Christopher Wright and men that were true of heart. - -[Footnote A: THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS: NEITHER CAN A MAN OR A -WOMAN DO EVIL THAT GOOD MAY COME. But Oldcorne would contend that, in -perfect Reason, Truth may be concealed, subject to certain limitations -and, regard being had to person, time, and circumstance, the -clue-affording possibilities; and this whether partial truth or whole -truth, _in pursuance of a prior and superior moral obligation_. And so -would say all modern diplomatists and commanders in the field, however -conscientious and upright they might be, unless they wished to court -defeat, or to give away their Country, and (if justice be meted out to -them) to be cashiered. Now, _unity at all times and in all places must -prevail. For all men are subject to the one Moral Law of Right Reason, and -nowhere will you find men without souls_, notwithstanding that certain -members of the English middle classes sometimes seem to labour under a -delusion to the contrary. - -Equivocation cannot be had recourse to in matters of Contract, nor for -pecuniary gain, nor sordid profit. Remember _that_, O all ye worshippers -of Mammon! For, "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 Reason and -Moral 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 the cause, whether those -witnesses be the parties themselves to the cause, or strangers -"subp[oe]naed" to give testimony therein. Such persons would be justly -punishable for perjury who professed that, when bearing insufficient or -inadequate witness in a Court of Justice by not telling "the whole" truth, -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 copper-coloured, contrary to the primary obligations of -Justice, which bid man render unto _all men_ their due. Nor with reference -to Divine Truth can equivocation be used. (Hence the piteous absurdity of -the Royal Declaration against Popery.) - -By 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. Such a -person equivocates by pleading "_not guilty_." - -_Because_ I believe the ethical doctrine which justifies equivocation, -when properly taught, to be true and not false, _and because_ I -furthermore believe that, in the interests of my Country and of Humanity -at large, it is of practical consequence, as well as mentally salutary, -that a knowledge of equivocation, its foundation principles, extents, and -limitations, should be "understanded" by all those that have the -guardianship of the People, whether in the senate, in the field, or at -sea, _therefore_, I have requested one, who has a competent mastery of the -subject, to explain the matter to my readers. This has been kindly done in -a letter, which will be found in Supplementum VI. For "_Melius petere -fontes_," the jurist as well as the poet has it. "_Better is it to have -recourse to the fountain-head._" - -The philosophical explanation of the fact that, under the pressure of -necessity, certain combatants can and do exhibit in action at the theatre -of war the highest strategetical skill, in spite of their knowing nothing -of the scientific doctrine of equivocation, springs from the law of reason -that, as a rule, _doing_ is the condition precedent _to knowing_; -experience to cognition. See Ferrier's "_Institutes of Metaphysic_" -(Blackwood), p.15.] - -This 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." - -The Jesuit could never that trust, that confidence betray. If needs be, he -must be "true till death." For it was not necessary that he should live. -But it was necessary that he should live undishonoured. - - - - - CHAPTER LXIX. - - -Again; to all those that are "knowing" enough, the facts of this woeful -tragedy "observingly" to "distil out," the form and substance of this -document of the 12th March, 1605-6, under the hand of Edward Oldcorne, -alike afford evidence--conclusive evidence--that Father Oldcorne regarded -the Gunpowder conspirators as repentant conspirators, through the virtual -_representative_ repentance of one of their own number. - -And though it is true that, by the inexorable decree of the Universe, "The -Guilty suffer," each man for himself and not another, temporal punishment, -searching, terrible, and keen, yet this is not the whole of the truth -governing the perfected ethics of the matter. For "Man learns by -suffering." And guilt is pardoned on repentance, that is, on the -observance and on the performance of certain equally decreed conditions. - -These conditions are (1) confession, (2) contrition, which implies sorrow -and regret, and (3) satisfaction or "damages," which involves amendment, -withdrawal, or reversal. And when all three conditions have been observed -and performed, then - - "Whoso with repentance is not satisfied, - Neither to earth nor heaven is allied." - -Hence, could the great moralist, by a _complexus_ of intellectual acts, -personal and vicarious, justly regard the whole band of plotters as -transgressors released from the abstract guilt of their double crime. For -it is a dictate of reason that the release of one joint debtor operates -derivatively to the release, _ipso facto_, of all the rest. - -Now, if Oldcorne possessed a conscious realization that, through the -_repentance, personal and representative_, of the Gunpowder plotters, that -Plot was no longer a plot, then, to speak after the manner of men, he must -have had that realization as the resultant of two particular kinds, -aspects, or sides of _knowledge: ab extra_, from without, that is, passive -knowledge, or communicated, in the _first_ step; and _ab intra_, from -within, that is, knowledge active, or self-bestowed, in the _second_ step. - -Now, both passive knowledge and active knowledge here would imply, in the -final analysis, a communication by some external mental agency, the agency -of some living, intelligent being. - -It would be implied in the first case, directly; in the second case, -indirectly. But, directly or indirectly, the source would be the same. - -Now, who can that aforesaid living, intelligent being, which reason -demands, have been, if not _a repentant plotter himself_? - -Therefore, by irresistible inference, the Letter is surely, with moral -certitude, traced home at last. - - - - - CHAPTER LXX. - - -Father Edward Oldcorne was racked in the Tower of London, "five times, and -once with the utmost severity for several hours,"[172] in order that, -haply, information might be extracted from him that would prove him to be -possessed of a guilty knowledge of the Plot. But this princely soul had -nothing of that kind to tell, so that King James and his Counsellors -wreaked their lawless severity in vain.[A] - -[Footnote A: Torture, for the purpose of drawing evidence from a prisoner, -was contrary to the Law of England. Brother Ralph Ashley, the servant of -Father Oldcorne, who, I maintain, carried the warning Letters to Father -Henry Garnet and Lord Mounteagle, was tortured, but without revealing -anything apparently. Brother Nicholas Owen, the great maker of priests' -hiding-places and secret chambers in the castles, manor-houses, and halls -of the old English Catholic gentry, was tortured with great severity; but -he, too, seems to have revealed nothing. Owen "died in their hands," but -whether he was tortured to death or committed suicide in the Tower is a -mystery to this day. One would like to see this mystery bottomed.] - -On the 7th day of April, 1606, at Redhill, one mile from the City of -Worcester, on the London Road, "the silver cord was loosed, the golden -bowl was broken, the pitcher was crushed at the fountain, the wheel was -broken on the cistern." For on that day, at that spot, the happy spirit of -Edward Oldcorne mounted far, far beyond the fading things of time and -space.[173] - -It may be objected that Father John Gerard's relation of the last dying -speech and confession of the great Jesuit Priest and Martyr is hostile to -the hypothesis that Oldcorne penned the great Letter, "_Litterae -Felicissimae_." - -Gerard's reported words are these; but, I contend, we have no absolute -proof that they are the _ipissima verba_ of Father Oldcorne, though he may -have uttered some of these words, and something resembling them in the -case of the others.--See Gerard's "_Narrative_" p. 275. - -"He declared unto the people that he came thither to die for the Catholic -faith and the practice of his function, seeing that they neither had, nor -could prove anything against him which, even by their own laws, was -sufficient to condemn him, but that he was a Priest of the Society of -Jesus, wherein he much rejoiced, and was ready and desirous to give his -life for the profession of that faith which he had taught many years in -that very country, and which it was necessary for everyone to embrace that -would save their souls.[174] _Then being asked again about the treason and -taking part with the conspirators_, he protested there again that he never -had the least knowledge of the treason, and took it upon his death that he -was as clear as the new-born child from the whole plot or any part -thereof. Then commending his soul, with great devotion, humility, and -confidence, into the hands of God and to the Blessed Virgin, St. Jerome, -St. Winifred, and his good Angel, he was turned off the ladder, and -hanging awhile, was cut down and quartered, and so his innocent and -thrice-happy soul went to receive the reward of his many and great -labours." (The italics are mine.) - - - - - CHAPTER LXXI. - - -Now, in the first place, it is to be noticed that Father Oldcorne made the -special disclaimer of ever having had the least knowledge of the Plot only -_after being asked again about the treason and taking part with the -conspirators_. - -My respectful submissions to the judgment of my candid readers, therefore, -are these:-- - -First, that we have no exact, that is, no scientific, proof[175] that -Father Oldcorne, as a fact, employed these _precise words_. - -And, secondly, that, even if he did so employ them, what he meant to -convey to his hearers' mind by the words was, I maintain, that he had no -criminal, no traitorous knowledge of the ruthless Gunpowder enterprise; -or, in other words, _no guilty knowledge, no knowledge that his King and -his fellow-subjects had any right, title, claim, or demand, in Reason, -Justice, Equity, or Honour, to obtain or to wring from him_. - -For "_Qui prior est tempore potior est jure_." "He who is first in time is -the stronger in point of right." - -Again; "There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than -Parliament or King." And that is the Human Conscience, instructed by Truth -and Justice. _Her_ rights are invincible and eternally sacred. - -Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne "followed Ralph, his faithful -follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great -devotion and fervour, as may be guessed by this one action of his; for -whilst Father Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing himself 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 his -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 God, was turned off the ladder and -changed this life for a better."--See Gerard's "_Narrative_," pp. 27, -5276.[176] - -Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 269 of his "_Narrative_," as we -have seen already, that "Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed -that one might see they much 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 Relation, or that of anybody else, what -offences were proved against him. Probably, 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 Rome as possible; (2) on his -providing, through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for Robert -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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The reason why 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 the -Government, in the hope of getting a respite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and -Oldcorne, were being concealed at Hindlip. - -Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable -Anne Vaux, on the 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the -last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne, together with the -lay-brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by -Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, a Worcestershire magistrate, in -pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The -captives were all four solemnly conveyed to the Tower of London. Miss Vaux -was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. This -unconquerable lady seems to have "come to her grave in a full age, like as -a shock of corn cometh in in its season." For, as late as the year 1635, -we find her name being reported to the Privy Council of Charles I., for -helping certain Jesuits to carry on a school for the education of the sons -of the English Catholic nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley -Grange, about six miles from Derby.] - - - - - CHAPTER LXXII. - - -Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his -lawful Sovereign that he had been (_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 the 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. - -First, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling -Thomas Ward, in some way 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, _by virtue and as a -result of the releasing act of his Penitent_, Christopher Wright, had -come, _practically_, to _receive a knowledge 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 -Confessional, _sigillum confessionis_--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 way, 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"[A]--Edward Oldcorne -had been taught long years ago "_to adjust his compass at the -Cross_."[177][178] - -[Footnote A: Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 204.] - -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, which 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. - -Father 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 Ashley "was indicted and -condemned upon supposition that he had 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. - - - - - 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 Inquiry, my own -opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart -to his connection, 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, undertook 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 Hoby[179] 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 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 Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle - did, and concealed it ... - - "Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; _and Ward - walketh up and down_."[180] (The italics are mine.) - -Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward "walked up 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 we 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 Government were very much obligated to the -gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker -fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it_.[A] - -[Footnote A: 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 Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the -name "Thomas Warde" from time to time in the "_Household Books of Lord -William Howard_" (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to -think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire -Jesuit, who was _socius_, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and -subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by -the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord -William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde -(or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of -Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile -from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled -down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now -Castle Howard. Fryton 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, R.N., of -Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of -Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.] - -From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have -already learned, a payment of L700 a year, equal to nearly L7,000 a year -in our money.[A] - -[Footnote A: Lord Mounteagle's reward was L300 per annum for life, and -L200 per annum to him and his heirs for ever in fee farm rents. Salisbury -declared that Mounteagle's Letter was "the first and only means" the -Government had to discover that "most wicked and barbarous Plot." -Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The title Lord Morley and -Mounteagle 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 Mounteagle 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.] - -But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of -Donne,[B] and other wits of the once far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread -Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still -insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the -young peer's honour, the following stately epigram:-- - -[Footnote B: John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean -of St. Paul's, and author of the once well-known "_Pseudo-Martyr_," which -Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For 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 Rheims to study for the -priesthood, in consequence of the impression made upon him by Campion, who -was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount St. John; -Campion there wrote his famous "_Decem Rationes_." 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 Harsnett's "_Popish Impostures_," a -book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Guy Fawkes, -through Guy's paternal grandmother, Ellen Harrington, of York.] - -"TO WILLIAM LORD MOUNTEAGLE. - - "Lo, what my country should have done (have raised - An obelisk, or column to thy name; - Or if she would but modestly have praised - Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same). - I, that am glad of thy great chance, here do! - And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds, - Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too, - But thine: for which I do't, so much exceeds! - My country's parents I have many known; - But saver of my country, thee alone." - - - - - RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENT, 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 _pleaded_ 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 Yorkshiremen._ - -(6) Ralph Ashley was the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord -Mounteagle's page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier -arrived. - -_Perhaps a Yorkshireman._ - -(7) Mounteagle 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 Winter, 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. - -(9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapworth when the Letter was delivered, -and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas Winter some little -time subsequent to the delivery 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 conspiracy." - -(16) 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 Littleton, after November 5th. - -(18) Hence, the facts _both before and after_ the delivery of the Letter -are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by -this Inquiry to be proved. - -(19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright displayed a strangely marked -disposition to "hang about" the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, _after_ -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 scriptum_ of 21st -October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father -Garnet to Father Parsons, in Rome[A]: "This letter being returned unto me -again, FOR REASON OF A FRIEND'S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted out some words -purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do -apart:"--The word "stay" here being used to signify "check." _Cf._, -Shakespeare's "King John," II., 2: and see Glossary to Globe Edition -(Macmillan). - -[Footnote A: This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the -archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 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, S.J., thought they had not. But on this 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. - -Father Morris contends that for Father 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 first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general -particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605_, was a very -weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the -most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of -eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying -circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons. - -I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James'-tide), Garnet had, -by way of confession, the _general particulars_ of the Plot, because I -think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at -Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, -after the return from St. Winefrid's Well, in Flintshire, Wales. - -It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, -Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in -consequence of Garnet's sending for Tesimond _after_ he (Garnet) had -received "_the friend's stay in the way_." For the old tradition was that -Garnet _first_ had particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about -the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard's "_History_.") -But, of course, this was an error by _three months_, Garnet first -receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of -July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on "_Garnet -after the 21st October, 1605_," but at present I have not space to pursue -this matter further.)] - - - - - SUPPLEMENTA. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM I. - - GUY FAWKES. - -The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in -the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster's "_Yorkshire Families_," under -Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley. - -Guy's grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady, -Ellen Harrington.[A] - -[Footnote A: Ellen Harrington's father was Lord Mayor of York, in the -reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.] - -William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop -of York, and died between the years 1558-1565. - -William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters--Thomas Fawkes, 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 was the mother of four children--two sons and two -daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man's estate, and this was the -hapless Guy. - -(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guy _possibly may_ -have had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in -November, 1605.) - -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 the north side, adjoining -the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at -Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates' tradition. -But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing. - -My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in -York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City's -antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, -that in old Thomas Gent's "_Rippon_" (1733) there is mention made of -Bishopthorpe as being Guy's birthplace. Gent says, "The house opposite the -church[A] is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux." - -[Footnote A: _I.e._, the _old_ Bishopthorpe Church. The present -Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the -entrance to the village from York.] - -Mr. Camidge continues: "I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of -the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that 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 that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was -born in the 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 "_Life -of Shakespeare_," a child would be _baptized on the third day after -birth_. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe -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 much 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 -the 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. - -Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in -York's antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert -Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, 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, 1901, 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 years ago I was working at the same house when an - old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house - where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and - watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the - Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house. - - "It is an Elizabethan[A] 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." - -[Footnote A: In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, -tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is -descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, -the father of "the Venerable" Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered -martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder -Plot was hatched.] - -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, 1578-9. About -twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen's thrice hapless -child--by nature a tall, athletic man, but then, by 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 second 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 Roman Catholics, and their names (along -with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in -Peacock's "_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire 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 impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a -creature of circumstances. - -Yorkshire abounded in Roman 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 Ripon. -And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen had suffered a bloody death for -their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and -Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at -such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes.--See -Challoner's "_Missionary Priests_" and Pollen's "_Acts of the English -Martyrs_," already frequently referred to. - -["The Venerable" martyrs, Robert 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, "O 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." -His society was "sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes' -camp for nobility 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, _in 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 what? - -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 was -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' "_Fawkeses, of -York_," 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 "_The 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 most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in -York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told -me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in "_The Connoisseur_" of the -"Conveyance" is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw _more than -half a century ago_. - -The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (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 Otley. One -branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which, -embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from -Harrogate,[A] through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. 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 Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_." - -[Footnote A: How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright, -balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from -all sides the traveller's eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in -the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the -left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!] - -Flower's "Pedigree" shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried -with the Ruddes, of Killinghall; 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 and all old Yorkshire Catholic -gentry. - -Flower also shows in his "Pedigree" of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that -James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, 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 William, both Roman -Catholic priests. - -The "_Douay Registers_" (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained -priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He -was educated at Cardinal Allen's[A] 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 with her -spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret -Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of -1586. - -[Footnote A: Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during -the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of -Rossall, near Blackpool.] - -In 1578 the College of Douay was 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 _postea_ where -Reims is mentioned in connection with the popish missionary priests it -was then sending forth into the City of York.[A] - -[Footnote A: Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield, -Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th -May, 1901, that from the _inq. post mortem_ the above-named Walter Pulleyn -died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before -his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock's -"_List for 1604_") was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to -have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish -recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. -(Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles -Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr. -Thrackray.)] - -There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is -pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, 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 Roman 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 Wetherby, -where dwelt the family of Roos, 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 handwriting 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[A]--must have visited, I -opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, 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.[B] - -[Footnote A: "_The Connoisseur._"] - -[Footnote B: Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border -Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died.--See "_Sir -Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.] - -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 Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the -Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see _ante_). The Ribston branch of -the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century--Sir Harry -Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and -Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near -Knaresbrough. - -From _"The Fawkes Family of York."_ - - This Indenture 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 Faith, - &c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of - Yorke gentilman 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 farme letten, and by theis presentes doth demyse - graunt and to farme lett, unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one - barne and one garth on the backside of the said barn, with the - appertenaunces, scytuate lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the - suburbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half - of one acre of arrable lande, 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 - Newe-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 afforesaid, 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 holde the said barne, garth, three - acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre - of medowe, and all other the premisses, with all and singuler - the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto - the sayd Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, from the - feast of St. Martyne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, - nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of - twentye and one yeres from 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 Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie - and two shillinges of lawfull 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 - demaunded, by even and equall 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 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 term of twenty and one - yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged, - or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe - his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases, - grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the - rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis - presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley, - 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 seales - the daye and yere above written. - - GUYE FAWKES. L.S. - - Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us--DIONIS - BAYNEBRIGGE--JOHN JACKSON--CHRISTOPHER HODGSON'S marke x - -This Indenture maide the firste daie 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, &c. Betwene Guye -Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne -Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other -partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of -the sum of xxix^{li} xiij^{s} iiij^{d} of good and lawfull English moneye -to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewlie contentid and paid by the -said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, -whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie -satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and -dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened -bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye -geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir -heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the -appurtenaunces, 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 liinge 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 adjoyninge 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 Clifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in -the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the -Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a -hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, 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 appurtenaunces to the same -perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid -grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid -to one Cristofer Lumleye 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 Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date -the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our -Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; -together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge -and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, 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 -deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie 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 solld (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 same, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her -heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, -for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and -graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires -executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, -the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said -messuage tenement and farme-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 -perteyninge 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 lawfull 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 -appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, -and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand -clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the -said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all -former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, -feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, -writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, -forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and -all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and -services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely -exceptid. And also the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores -and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne -Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward -Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese -Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, -which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to -the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, -interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of -for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said -Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie 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 premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, -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, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or -vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or -otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by 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 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. - -Seallid and delyverid in the presence of--GEORGE HOBSON--WILLIAM -MASKEWE--LANCELOT BELT--THOMAS HESLEBECKE--CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE--IHON LAMB -marke x--JOHN HARRISON--JOHN CALV'LEY. - -Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit -Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor' generosus et Edetha uxor -ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium -Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et -heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye -de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor' spynster in sua plena pacificaque -possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et -assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et -demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu -quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio -sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel -selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor' -predicto ac de et in una roda terrae arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in -campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et -terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terrae jacente in -les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram -Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terrae jacente in Longwandilles inter -terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali et terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terrae jacente -inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte -australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terrae jacente in lez -shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram -nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington -buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti -Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terrae jacente in Lupstone Carre in le -Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex -parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris -prati jacentibus in fine 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 Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in -tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra -terrae et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel -nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis -terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes -generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terrae cum pertinentiis in campis de -Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone -modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), -ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum -uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis -seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, -titulum, clameum, usum, interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio -sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel -selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton -et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde -parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, -clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni -actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde -habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde -penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius -Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes 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 -heredes 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^{mo} die -mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe 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 GRANGE--JAMES RYDING. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM II. - - HATFIELD MSS.--Part VI. - - [Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil. - -1596, 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[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: This letter will be read with interest, as affording -independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester -during the period of Father Oldcorne's labours.] - -Besides, Warwick[B] 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. - -[Footnote B: This is interesting as showing that in the native county of -Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the -influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and -Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.] - -How weak ordinary authority is to do any good on either sort long -experience hath taught me, excommunication 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,[A] as in other places of like importance is used, I will -do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the -uttermost of my power. - -[Footnote A: Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.] - -First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions; -next, by 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 further 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 please you to acquaint her -Majesty; I will render you all due thanks, 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 Recusants in Worcester -diocese:-- - - The Lady Windsor, with her retinue. - M^{r} 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^{r} 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. - Rowse Woolmer, gent. - John Woolmer gent. of Kingston. - M^{r} 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. - 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 wife of John Jeffreys gent. - Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent. - Mary wife 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. - - - SUPPLEMENTUM III. - - THOMAS WARD. - -It is probable that diligent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers -will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or Warde) than I have been able -hitherto to gain. - -The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was -a younger son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, and Susannay, his wife. That -Marmaduke Ward'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 VIII. -after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (1536). - -Thomas Ward was just the sort of man (_me judice_) that Queen Elizabeth -would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John Ward was on the side of -the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, commonly -called the Rising of the North, or the Earls' Rebellion (1569). - -Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir Ralph Sadler, who was a -distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a -Yorkshire gentleman, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, -would have no difficulty in obtaining an _entree_ at Elizabeth's Court, -who, as is well known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct -probably, favourably inclined to those Catholics whose leaning was -towards the easy side of things.[A] - -[Footnote A: See "_Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. -It is observable that although the Nortons and the Markenfields were for -the Earls, yet members of the following Yorkshire Catholic Families (many -of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who was not then -excommunicated:--The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables, -the Tempests, the Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the Ellerkers, and the -Wilstroppes. - -For these Families and their alliances see the "_Visitations of -Yorkshire_," by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe. -Also "_Dugdale_" (Surtees).] - -Now, if Thomas Ward became a member of Elizabeth's diplomatic service -under 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 say, yet I am constrained to allow that the following -two pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many -possibilities:-- - -HATFIELD MSS.--Part VI., p. 96. - -Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots. - -1585, Mar. 30./Ap. 9. Informs her of his apprehension at the request of -the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward's negotiation to procure his being delivered -up into England. Requires 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 was a Catholic of a -sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a -Ward, of Ripon and York, was the very man the subtle Walsingham would -employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of -Morgan's intellectual and moral characteristics; for Ward most likely had -known Morgan at York.] - - * * * * * - -Thirteen years later we find the name "Ward" again in the "_Hatfield -MSS._" - - HATFIELD MSS.--Part VIII., p. 295. - -1598 Aug. 4. Steven Rodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to -Italy to go over to accompany M^{r} 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 _Ward_ M^{r} Paget's, solicitor, because I refused to -carry his[A] letters that was so lately "jested" with high treason, and -might father all the faults I am charged with." - -[Footnote A: Whose letters? Paget's or Ward's?] - -[Who or what Mr. Steven Rodwey was, 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 -Morgan, 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.] - -But here, for the present, we must 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 "_Household Books of -Lord William Howard_," as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire, -Durham, and Westmoreland estates.[A]--See Note to p. 231 _ante_. - -[Footnote A: The Rev. A. S. 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 Churchyard, perhaps may have -had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable -that there should have been Wards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of -James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas Ward, 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 Ward. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire, -the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no -such tradition. (I am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September, -1901.)] - -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 "_Household Books of Lord William -Howard_" (Surtees 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, which makes mention of the name Ward; but whether or not -that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon, I cannot say:-- - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--ELIZ., Vol. ccxxxviii., 126 I. - A. D. 1591. - - Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the - permission of these maters followinge - -Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye communion at which time -he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he -excepteth sume particuler persones whose names are under written and of -them taketh money. - -M^{r} Wardes[A] Two daughters. - -M^{r} Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M^{ris} Marye and a man -called Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money -and in my knowledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx^{s} in -goulde. - -M^{r} Saunders and his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money. - -Besides M^{ris} Gerrat being delivered of a doughter aboute Twoe yeares -since he did forbeare to cristen yt beinge 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. - -[Footnote A: What Mr. Warde can this have been? Not Thomas Ward (or -Warde), of Mulwith, I think. For the presumption is that he had no -children, for none are registered at Ripon Minster; 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 much more than the latter. Moreover, in 1591 any daughters -that Thomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age. -His wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.)] - - * * * * * - -Norris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse -and Norris hath receved in ye way of borrowinge of sume V^{s} of others -more. But Watson by vertue of a comission from my L. of Cant. hath latly -serched Gerates house and M^{r} Wardes where he found nothinge at all they -being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M^{r} Wardes house -theire did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye stares within -a nayled boarde divers bookes [not 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 amungst 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 theyre -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. - -[On p. 76 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is stated that the first -Lord Mounteagle's mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Richard -Neville, the King-maker. But I find that, under "Stanley," in Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," Ed. by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc.), _the great -grandfather_ of Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, namely, Thomas Lord -Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to Richard Nevell Earl -of Salisbury. _Their_ son is given as George Lord Stanley; _his_ son as -Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby; and _his_ son as Edward Stanley first -Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas -Vaughan, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle. - -But the "_National Dictionary of Biography_" (under "Stanley 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 Vaux of Harrowden was a descendant of Sir Thomas More. - -But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady -Vaux of Harrowden, was _only distantly connected_ with Sir Thomas More. -For she was descended from _Christopher_ Roper, a younger brother of -William Roper, who 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.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM IV. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GIVENDALE, NEWBY, AND MULWITH, - ANCIENTLY IN THE CHAPELRY OF SKELTON, IN THE PARISH OF RIPON, IN - THE WEST RIDING OF THE COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Sunday, the 22nd 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York and Apostle of Sussex -(634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle -of Holland.] - -"Hail, smiling morn!" 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 the most part, no longer to 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, -the golden celandine, who are pre-eminently faithful watchers by the -dead. For steadfastly will _they_ remain watching until the daybreak of an -endless day.[A] - -[Footnote A: This exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the daughter, it -will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and, -consequently, the niece of Christopher Wright and, I maintain, of Thomas -Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Lord Mounteagle. Mary Ward -died at the old Manor House, Heworth, on the 20th January, 1645-46, and is -buried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but -touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing number of her -admirers, Protestant and 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 poore, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise with -them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived 60 years and 8 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; I hope; I love"). The Rev. -F. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the -gravestone of Mary Ward with the most commendable care.] - -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 Ripon, I 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 Ure, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale, -flows through Ripon; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and laving -"the green fields of England," in front of Mulwith, hurries on towards -Boroughbridge; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and -Swale, the Ouse[A] is formed, that majestic flood, 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. - -[Footnote A: The winding Nidd, 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.] - -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 the blood,"[B] - -[Footnote B: Tennyson's "In Memoriam."] - -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 Ph[oe]bus in his strength."[C] - -[Footnote C: Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale."--Shakespeare may have possibly -known, or at least heard of, Father John Gerard, 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 carefully study -the "_Spiritual Combat_." It will repay his pains. - -Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that prison -along with Gerard during the night of 8th 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 the mysterious -Somerville-Arden-Hall 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 Wilmcote, his wife's -family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, were of -the 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 Wilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall -(both in Warwickshire), 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 the England of "Good Queen Bess"--and of -every other England too.] - -Yea, before my mind's eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding -towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to west, and -from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan -gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Ripon spurs; aye, and of -Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated -gown. - -Sometimes 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 equipped externally as they. The breviary, -crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy, lay concealed -within the last-named'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 my 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 the gate leading to the dwelling-house -to-day known as Givendale--that historic name. The old hall 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 VIII., -describes it as "a fair manor place of stone." Lovely views does Givendale -command of the valley of the Ure,[A] looking westward towards the sister -valleys of the Nidd and Wharfe and Aire. - -[Footnote A: Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the -reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards' principal seat near Ripon; -for Sir Simon Ward is described as of "Givendale and Esholt." Esholt is in -the Parish 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 Hawkesworths, of Mitton, near Clitheroe.] - -A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me -the way to Skelton, Newby, 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 faithful following towards the south-east of the high road, running -parallel with the woods of Newby on my right, brought me in due course to -Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the -West Riding of Yorkshire. - -I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of -Newby 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 year, "after long imprisonment," it is probable -that Marmaduke Ward--though not Elizabeth, his wife, nor Mary, nor any of -his other children--"against his conscience" went to hear read the Book of -Common Prayer, in order to avoid the terrible penalty of having "to pay -the statute," that is, to pay L20 per lunar month by way of fine for -"popish recusancy."[A] - -[Footnote A: This would be about L160 in our money. Thirteen of these -payments in one year would amount to about L2,080. Father Richard Holtby, -S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided Mary Ward's -"vocation" in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, London, after Marmaduke Ward had -been released from his brief captivity in Warwickshire. (See "_Life of -Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 89.) Holtby speaks of Mary as "my daughter -Warde." Now, Father Holtby, of Fryton, near Hovingham, has recorded that -"after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, Westmoreland, no -doubt], _Mr. Warde_, Mr. Trollope [of Thornley, in the County of Durham, -no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Brandsby, 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 "_Troubles_," third series, p. 76.) This would be -in the years 1593-94-95, or previously. Peacock's "_List_" for 1604, under -"Ripon," gives "Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward," _but ominously no_ -Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like his relative Sir William Wigmore, -Marmaduke Ward, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish -church (contrary to what he deemed "the highest and best") perhaps once or -twice a year. Poor fellow! 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 Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a -grand structure, having been designed by Sir Christopher Wren about the -year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial Church, 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.[B] - -[Footnote B: The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in Westminster Abbey, one of -his beautiful and pathetic "Laments," after the sorrowful tidings reached -England that this fine young Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed -into the world of the "Unseen Perfectness."] - -One mile from Newby is Mulwith.[A] It is reached by what evidently has -been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses. - -[Footnote A: R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most -Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., of Studley Royal, Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and -Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Ripon, and can be also -reached from Boroughbridge.] - -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 Ripon, at the present day. -There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, we know from the "_Life of -Mary Ward_." And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and -never afterwards rebuilt.[B] - -[Footnote B: Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see _ante_, p. 59). -Among her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or to -her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each -respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those -names.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vols. i. and ii.] - -To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof. -It is a two-storied, six-windowed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and -orchards all adjoining.[C] - -[Footnote C: My friend Mr. Renfric Oates, 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 "_Life of Mary -Ward_," by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), 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 the famous pictures in the -Painted Life is one representing Mary, at the age of thirteen, making her -first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidderdale. (I visited Harewell -Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Ripley, as in the days of -Mary Ward, on Wednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown -round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The River Nidd flows at the -foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.)] - -In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient days, the historic -waters of the Ure.[A] On almost every side the eye is gladdened with -woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that "sylvan scenery which -never palls."[B] - -[Footnote A: 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 River Ure, then swollen high through -February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many a -long day. (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy -catastrophe took place, and well does he remember the grief depicted on -the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad -disaster.)] - -[Footnote B: Lord Beaconsfield.] - -Hence, at last I was come to my journey's end. For I had reached Mulwith, -or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Ripon, whereof "Thomas Warde" is described, -who married M'gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York, -on the 29th day of May, 1579. - -Mrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly conducted me round the place -once more; for I 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 high, "for tears." - -"_Many waters cannot quench Love; neither can the floods drown it._" - - - SUPPLEMENTUM V. - - AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GREAT PLOWLAND (ANCIENTLY PLEWLAND), IN - THE PARISH OF WELWICK, HOLDERNESS, IN THE EAST RIDING OF THE - COUNTY OF YORK. - -On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happiness of -accomplishing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a -visit to Great Plowland (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 Riding 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 1605, the second year of the reign of James I., King of England, -Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and predecessor of our own -Most Gracious King Edward VII. Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred -Imperial Monarch: and in Justice may his house be established for ever![A] - -[Footnote A: How full of happy augury for the future of our Empire was the -fine speech of His Royal 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 shores, after their -historic sojourning, during the year 1901, in His Majesty's loyal -Dominions beyond the seas.] - -The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland) -somewhat 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, maybe, 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[A] was the Sir -Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all -Nations and all Time. - -[Footnote A: The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with -Homer and Dante, as one of the world's three Poet-Kings.] - -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 Walsingham, the Earl of -Leicester, Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the ill-fated Robert -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 with the historic imagination alone for the -sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time; of -Christopher Wright, who 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,[A] 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 6th -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.[B] - -[Footnote A: The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman.] - -[Footnote B: 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.] - -Soon was the compact made that that very evening, ere darkness came on, -"mine host" should drive me to the site of where John Wright and -Christopher Wright first beheld the light of the sun. (In view of the fact -that the circumstantial evidence to-day available tends to prove that -Christopher Wright was the repentant conspirator who revealed the Plot and -so saved King James I., his 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 1580, 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 Burnham, of -Plowland House, came forward, and, with frank, pleasant courtesy, never to -be forgotten, assured me that I was at liberty to see the place where the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, had lived when -boys. - -I alighted from my vehicle, and being joined by Miss Burnham, sister to -Mr. Burnham, the owner of the estate, we all three examined the evident -traces of the moat, the remains of what must have been 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 Richard -Wright, Esq., of Knaith, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. One of that -gentleman's descendants is _Robert Wright_ Burnham, the eldest brother to -the present owner of Plowland and his sister. The name _Richard_ Wright is -found in the Register of Christenings at Ripon Minster, under date 29th -March, 1599, as the son of one _John_ Wright, of _Skelton_.] - -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 Welwick. A short survey of this characteristically East Riding -Yorkshire village and its grey old Gothic church in its grave-yard, where -John and Christopher Wright were christened, no doubt, brought the -historical travels and explorations of Monday, May 6th, 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 Guilty suffer,' but -also_ once the home of some of the supremely excellent of the earth. -Farewell, Plowland, where Mary 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 Mulwith, 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 -VIII., owing to John Wright, 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). Robert 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 Nidderdale, and the -Markenfields, of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, to mention none others -beside.[A][B][C][D] (This is shown by the Ripon Registers.) - -[Footnote A: The Most Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., Viceroy of -India (1880-85), and the Most Honourable the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., -are akin to John Wright and Christopher Wright, through the Mallories of -Studley Royal.] - -[Footnote B: The Right Honourable the Lord Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, -is akin to the Wrights, through his ancestor, Francis Norton, the eldest -son of brave old Richard Norton; the Mallories; the Inglebies; and many -others.] - -[Footnote C: Sir Henry Day Ingilby, Bart., of Ripley Castle, is likewise -akin to the Wrights, the Winters, and indeed to almost all the other -ill-fated plotters. I may mention also that Sir Henry is likewise related -to the exalted Mary Ward, who (as was the case with her great kinswoman -and friend, Lady Grace Babthorpe) lived at "lovely Ripley" in her -childhood, with the Inglebies of that day, on more than one occasion, as -we find recorded in Mary's "_Life_."] - -[Footnote D: At Grantley a John Wright resided in the time of Elizabeth. -He was probably brother to Robert Wright, the father of John and -Christopher Wright. Grantley Hall nestles in a leafy hollow of surpassing -beauty. The swift, gentle, little River 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.] - -Robert Wright (the second Wright who owned Plowland) had been married -before his marriage to Ursula Rudston. His first wife's name was Anne -Grimstone. She was a daughter of Thomas Grimstone, Esquire, of Grimstone -Garth. Robert Wright and Anne Grimstone had one son who "heired" Plowland. -His name was William Wright. He married Ann Thornton, of East Newton, in -Rydale, a lady who was related to many old Rydale and Vale of Mowbray -families in the North Riding 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: Mass was said at Ness Hall, near Hovingham, not far from East -Newton, during the early part of the nineteenth century. _I think_ that -this was owing to the old Catholic family of Crathorne owning Ness 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 Established Church.] - -William Wright was half-brother to Ursula Ward, the wife of Marmaduke -Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Ripon, 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 Charles I. William Wright (or Wryght, as the -name is spelt on the brass in Welwick Church) was also half-brother to the -two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, who were slain at -Holbeach House, Staffordshire, a few days after the capture of Guy Fawkes -by Sir Thomas Knevet, early in the morning of November 5th, 1605. - -The late Rev. John Stephens, Rector of Holgate, York, and formerly Vicar -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, the Wrights, Fawkes, and Tesimond were old -school-fellows at St. Peter's School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, -York,[A] which had been re-founded by Philip and Mary, who likewise -founded the present Grammar School at Ripon. - -[Footnote A: John Wright, Christopher Wright, Guy Fawkes, and Oswald -Tesimond must have many a time and oft passed through Bootham Bar, leading -towards Clifton, Skelton, and Easingwold, along the great North Road. And -besides the King's Manor to the left of Bootham Bar, Queen Margaret's -Gateway, named after Queen Margaret (grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), -must have been to them all a thrice-familiar object. Queen Margaret, it -will be remembered, was wife to King James IV. of Scotland, who fell at -Flodden Field in 1513, fighting against the forces of the brother of the -Scots' Queen, King Henry VIII. - -In 1516, Henry VIII. invited his widowed sister to London, "and good Queen -Katerine sent her own white palfrey" for her poor sister-in-law's "use." -On this memorable occasion the bereaved daughter of King Henry VII., -through whom His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII., 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 northern -capital.--See Dr. Raine's "_York_" (Longmans), p. 98. - -In the month of July, 1900, at the Treasurer's House, on the north side of -the Minster, our Most Gracious Sovereign and His Beloved Consort (then the -Prince and Princess of Wales) together with the present Prince and -Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of York), graciously -sojourned for a brief season: an event memorable and historic even in the -proud annals of the second city of the British Empire.] - - - SUPPLEMENTUM VI. - - St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, - Blackburn, 5th October, 1901. - -... You are quite correct in saying 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, whether 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 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 are circumstances in which words -must be used that are _prima 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, which -estimates Right and Wrong _merely_ by the consequences of an action. The -peripatetic philosopher, on the other hand, who maintains the _intrinsic_ -moral character of certain actions, and who holds _mordicus_ 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 _Equivocation_--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 affair. - -"_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 phrase rather than the second, or _vice versa_. - -No sensible man would consider a prisoner to be "lying" in his 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 _legal_, innocence. Yet the plea may mean either both or -only the latter. - -Similarly, an impertinent ferretter-out of an important secret needs -blame none but himself if he conceives the answer "_No_" to intimate -anything else than that he should mind his own business. - -As to such _facts_ there is, I should say, an overwhelming 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 upon the not inapt one of -_Equivocation_. - -The malice of lying consists, according to Utilitarian Philosophy, in the -destruction of that mutual confidence which is so absolutely necessary for -the proper maintenance and development of civilized life. But the -Scholastic, while fully 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 -formula:--The first would define a lie as "_speaking with intent to -deceive_;" whereas the second defines it "_speaking contrary to one's -thought_" (_locutio contra mentem_), even where there is no hope (and -therefore no intent) of actual deception. The latter is clearly the -stricter view, yet very closely allied with, and supplementing, the -former. For we may perhaps say with Cardinal de Lugo--and _a la_ -Kant--that the malice of the discrepancy mentioned above lies in the -self-contradiction which results in the liar, between his inborn desire -for the trust of his fellow-men 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 mutual confidence, such malice -cannot exist. An enemy, a burglar, a lunatic, an impudent questioner, -etc., are, _in their distinguishing character_, beyond the pale of mutual -confidence--_i.e._, 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 folly." If a burglar asks where is your -plate, you may reply at random "_In the Bank_," or "_At Timbuctoo_," or -"_I haven't any_." If a lunatic declares himself Emperor of China, you may -humour him, and give him _any_ information you may imagine about his -dominions, etc. - -Such is the teaching of, _v.gr._, 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 they would not be rightly -considered to imply _speaking_ 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 Reservation_ 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 -circumstances, and are therefore _logical_ equivoques. Thus to the -question: "_What do people think of me?_" one might diplomatically reply: -"_Oh! they think a great deal!_" which leaves it undetermined whether the -thinking be of a favourable or unfavourable character. - -But more commonly words, apart from special circumstances, have one -definite meaning, _e.gr._, "_Yes_" or "_No_." When Sir Walter Scott -denied, as he himself tells us, the authorship of "_Waverley_" with a -plain simple "_No_," 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 _moral_ equivoque. The -Scholastics call it _broad mental reservation_ (_restrictio late -mentalis_). 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 they 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 the public is concerned_,'" or something similar. - -When this addition could not be conjectured by the hearer, it received the -name of _pure mental reservation_ (_restrictio pure_ [or _stricte_] -_mentalis_): as when one might say "_John is not here_" (meaning in his -mind "not on the exact spot where the speaker stood"), though John was 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_." - -I trust I have made it sufficiently clear that the doctrine of -Equivocation, properly understood, has been devised in the interests of -Veracity. That we may find in some writers, whether St. Alphonsus de -Liguori or Professor Paulsen, particular applications in which we do not -concur, surely does not affect the validity of the principle. - -I may add that _all_ Catholic theologians with whom I am acquainted limit -its use by requiring many external conditions: _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 -mutual 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 I 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.[A] - -[Footnote A: The above lucid explanation of the much and (_me judice_) -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 the Professor of Ethics at St. Mary's Hall, -Stonyhurst, so I am informed by the Rev. Bernard Boedder, S.J., Professor -of Natural Theology, at that seat of learning, whom I have had the honour -of meeting in York on more than one occasion. "Wisdom builds her house for -_all_ weathers." But England, relying too much on a long course of -prosperity in her ruling classes, and in the protected classes immediately -beneath her ruling classes, has neglected the Truth and Justice contained -in this eminently rational doctrine of Equivocation. 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 _versus_ -Catholic, but of Wise Noddle _versus_ Foolish Noddle. This is a distinct -gain.] - - - - - APPENDICES. - - - APPENDIX A. - - CIRCUMSTANTIAL 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,[A] 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. - -[Footnote A: By sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.] - -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 _specially_ 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. - -It implies the _inferring_ of the unknown from the known; but from a known -which has been itself transmuted from the unknown, at some point of time -anterior to the making of the successive stage of advancement 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:-- - -Evidence is the collective term used to denote the facts whereby some -proposition, statement, or conclusion is sought to be established or -confirmed. - -While, as thus defined, the term Evidence primarily denotes the actual -_known_ facts themselves which form the basis 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 better, "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 proceed; and the nature or proximity of the -relation which they bear to the proposition, statement, or conclusion to -be supported. - -As regards the character or quality of its source, evidence is -distinguished into primary 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 same 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 authenticated, the conduct reasoned. And in every case partiality, -bias, and prejudice are grounds not to be neglected in the ascertainment -of accuracy and trustworthiness. - -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 necessarily follow. - -This inferential method is especially involved in Circumstantial Evidence. -In all evidence there is a presumption open more or less to rebuttal, and -evidence on this account is qualified as, _e.g._, _prima facie_, -conclusive. In Direct Evidence there is the presumption of the truth of -the proposition, statement, or conclusion from the proven facts. In -Circumstantial Evidence there is first an inference of directly 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 -established facts. - - - APPENDIX B. - - DISCREPANCY AS TO DATE WHEN NOT MATERIAL TO ISSUE, - NO DISPROOF OF TRUTH OF THE REST OF THE ASSERTION. - -The above doctrine of the law of Evidence applies, of course, to whatever -may be the nature or purpose of the Inquiry, whether conducted in a Court -of Law, in the library 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 _mistake only in point of time_, it destroys not the -evidence, _unless you think it necessary to the substance of the thing_. - -"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, _but it -does not invalidate the truth of the thing itself_, which may be true in -substance, though the circumstance of time differ; and the question is, -_whether the thing be true?_" Quoted in Morris's "_Troubles: The Southcote -Family_," first series, p. 378 (Burns & Oates). (The italics are mine.) - - - APPENDIX C. - - - PART I. - - BRITISH MUSEUM--ADD. MS. 5847, FO. 322. - - _List of such as were apprehended for the Gun-Powder - Plot._ - - _The names of such as were taken in Warwicke and - Worcestershire, & brought to London._ - - S^{r} Everard Digby, Knight - Rob^{t} Winter - John Winter - John Grant - Tho: Percy - Tho: Winter - Rob^{t} Acton - Henry Morgan - Christopher Litleton - Lodwicke Grant, who was taken the _9 of Novemb_: - & confessed there was lodged in _Holbage House_ to the - number of _60 Persons_. - Tho: Grant - Will^{m} Cooke - Rob^{t} Higgins - Christopher Wright - Rob^{t} Rookwood - M^{r} Henry Hurleston, Sonne & Heire of _Sir Edward - Hurleston_[A] - Tho: Anderton[B] - John Clifton[C] - Mathy Batty, late Servant to the _Lord Monteagle_ - Willm Thornberry} Servants to _Mr. Hurleston_ - Henry Sergeant } - Stephne Bonne} - Richard Daye } Servants to _S^{r} Everard Digby_ - Willm Eadale } - James Garvey } - Rob^{t} Abram - Rob^{t} Osborne - Christopher Archer - Ambrose Fuller - Willm Howson - Francis Grant - Richard Westberry - Tho: Richardson - Edward Bickerstaffe - Will Snow - John Facklins - Francis Prior - Tho: Darler, Servant to _M^{r} Rob^{t} Monson_ - Reginald Miles, Servant to _Sir Willm Engleston_ - Tho: Rookwood, of _Claxton_, in _Warwickshire_ - Richard Yorke } _Suspected Persons_ usually resorting - Marmaduke Ward} to _M^{r} Winter_, _M^{r}_ - Rob^{t} Key } _Grant_ & _M^{r} Rookwoods_ - Rob^{t} Townsend, of St. Edmund Berry - The Lord Mountacute} Are all comitted to the - The Lord Mordant } _Tower_ - M^{r} Francis Tressam} - -[Footnote A: Sir Henry Huddleston, as he afterwards became, the son and -heir to Sir Edmund Huddleston, of Sawston Hall, Cambridge, not Edward as -in Text. Sir Henry Huddleston married the Honourable Dorothy Dormer. He -was reconciled to the Church of Rome by Father Gerard, S.J.] - -[Footnote B: This was Father Thomas Strange, S.J., a cousin to Thomas -Abington, of Hindlip.] - -[Footnote C: This was Father Singleton.] - -The Earle of North: is in the Custody still of the _Lord Archbishop of -Canterbury_. - -This was Henry _Percy Earl of Northumberland, W.C._ - - _Gentlewomen_ - - My Lady Mordant - M^{ris} Dorothy Grant - M^{ris} Helyn Cooke - M^{ris} Mary Morgayne - M^{ris} Anne Higgins - M^{ris} Martha Percy - M^{ris} Dorothy Wright - M^{ris} Margaret Wright - M^{ris} Rookwood - -See Mr. Dod's "_History of Catholick Church_," vol. ii., p. 331, W.C. - -[N.B.--This MS. consists of extracts from the Collections of the Rev. Mr. -Rand, Rector of Leverington and Newton, in the Isle of Ely.] - - - PART II. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--PART I., NO. 12. - - [Frequenters of Clopton (or Clapton), Stratford-on-Avon.] - - Ther hath bine at Clapton[A] w^{th} M^{r} Ambrous Rucwod - Mr. Jhon Grant ther is with m^{es} Rucwood M^{es} Ceo (?) m^{es} munson - and others and to of his britherin - m^{r} Wintor - m^{r} Bosse - m^{r} Townesend - m^{r} Ceo (?) w^{th} on m^{r} Thomas a Cynesman of M^{r} Rucwoode - m^{r} Ryght - Allso mye pepeoll hath seene ther - Se^{r} Edward bushell - m^{r} Robeart Catesbee - with diuers others which I can not nam unto youer honer. - -(Endorsed) Clopton. - -[Footnote A: Clopton Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, was likewise styled Clapton -Hall. Lady Carew, afterwards the Countess of Totnes, was (with her sister, -Anne Clapton, the wife of Cuthbert Clapton, Esquire, of Sledwick, County -Durham) the co-heiress of the Claptons (or Cloptons), of Warwickshire. -Lady Carew was a Protestant, but her sister and brother-in-law 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. -326, 327.] - - - APPENDIX D. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 25. - - The Examination of Richard Browne taken the 5^{th} of - Novemb^{r} 1605. - -This Examinat sayith that xpofer Wright cam to S^{t} Gilis in the ffeild -to the Maydenhead there vpon Weddnesday laste & sent Wilt Kiddle (that cam -vp w^{t} him as his man) to Westm the same night for this Examinat to come -& speek w^{th} him, which this Examinat did com thither vpon Thursday -morning, when Wrights request was to him to fetch his child which he had -at nurss some 13 myles off. And Kiddle & this Examinat went vpon ffriday -brought the child vpon Satterday to St. 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^{t} Gyles to speak w^{t} M^{r} Wright only vpon Kiddle's intreaty & not -fynding M^{r} Wright there he retorned towards London & mett M^{r} Wright -in S^{t} Clem^{t} ffeilds, at which tyme Wright sent this Examinat to -S^{r} ffrancis Manners w^{th} a message concerninge a kinsman of M^{r} -Wrights that serveth M^{r} Manners after which tyme this Examinat did not -see the sayd Wright. - -This Examinat sayeth that he saw the sayd Wright onely 4 tymes since -Wright last coming to London, viz., vpon Thursday morning when he came -first vnto him upon Satterday night when he brought his child, vpon Sonday -morning when he carryed the child away, and vpon monday at noone when he -mett of the back syd of S^{t} Clem^{t}s - - mark - x - Richard Browne - - (Endorsed) Examination of Richard Browne - 6 Nov. 1605 Concerning Wright. - - - APPENDIX E. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 15. - - The Examynacon of Willum Grantham servaunt to Josephe Hewett taken - before S^{r} John Popham Knighte L: Cheife Justyce of England - the 5 of November 1605. - -He sayeth that yesterdaye aboute three of the Clocke in the afternoone one -m^{r} wryght was at this Ex masters howse And there boughte three beaver -hatts and payde xj^{L}[A] for them This Ex went w^{th} the sayde wryght -and caryed the hatts to wrighte lodgyng at the Mayden heade in S^{t} Gyles -where m^{r} wryght & this Ex went into the howse And then wryght 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 -readye 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^{r} Wryghte -Chamber and delyvered the hatts to him And wryght dyd looke uppon the -hatts and gave this Ex vj^{d} for his paynes and then he depted. - -[Footnote A: Unmistakably L11 (E.M.W.).] - - William Grantham. - - (Endorsed) 5 November 1605. William Grantham Ex. - - - APPENDIX F. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 11. - - The Examon of Robert Rookes taken the 5^{th} of November 1605. - -He saieth that his Master M^{r} Ambrose Rookewood whoe dwelleth at -Coldhame Halle in Suff came from thence uppon Wensday last and noe more -w^{th} 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^{th}out Temple Barre and thear lay w^{th} him the last night and -the night before a talle gent having a reddish beard.[A] - -[Footnote A: This was Keyes.--See "Elizabeth More's Evidence."] - -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 morowe. - -He saieth his M^{rs} as he hath hard lyeth in warwick shere whear he -knoweth not for he hath not benn w^{th} his M^{r} that nowe is aboue a -senight. - - (Endorsed) 5^{o} No. 1605. - - The Ex of Robte Rokes M^{r} Rookwoode boy. - - - APPENDIX G. - - STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC--JAS. I., Vol. xvi., No. 16. - - The declarn of John Cradock cutler the vj^{th} of - November 1605. - -He sayeth that M^{r} Rockwood whos father marryed M^{r} Tirwhyte mother -about the Begynyng of the last Som vacac dyd bespeke the puttyng of a -Spanyshe Blade off hys into a Sword hilte and appoynted the hylth to have -the Story of the passyon of Christ Richly Ingraved, and now w^{th}n these -Syxe dayes cawsed that hylth being enamlled and Rychly sett forth to be -taken of and the handle to be new wrought of clere gold and the former -hylth w^{th} hys story to be putt on agayne and delyvered yt unto m^{r} -Rockewood upon Monday last at xj of the Clocke at nyght at his Chamber at -m^{r} Mores and m^{r} Wynter a pp Gentylman of about xxx yeares or vpward -who lyeth at the Syng of the Docke an Drake beyond putrycke in the Strand -and ys a great Companyon w^{th} m^{r} Catesby m^{r} Tyrwhyt and m^{r} -Rockwood hadd a Sword w^{th} the lyke Story and was delyvered hym on -Sunday last at nyght but not so Rychly sett forth as the form for w^{ch} -he payed in all xij^{L} x^{s} pt about a quarter of a yeare past at the -bespeken thereof and the Rest on Sonday last and this term an other -Gentylman of that Cupany being a Blacke man of about xl yeares old bespake -a lyke Sword for the story & shuld pay vij^{ti} for yt gave hym x^{s} in -Ernest he ys yet out of Towne and the Sword remayneth w^{th} thys Exam -Christopher Wryght was often w^{th} thys M^{r} Rockwood at thys Exam -shoppe and he hadd the said Wryghte jugmet for the worcke and Syse of the -Blade. - - Jo Cradock - - Ex p - J. Popham - - (Endorsed) Cradocke. - - - APPENDIX H. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 10. - -I have sent vnto yo^{r} L. herin Inclosed the Copye off the declarac off -Mr Tatnall, off two that passed the fylde thys mornyg wherof some -Suspycyon may be gathered off confederacy he observed them so as he hopeth -he may mete w^{th} them and therfore I have gevin hym a warrant to attach -them a lyke note yo^{r} L shall receave herin off an expectacn that M^{rs} -Vaux 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 chefest place of their accesse and therfore lyke she -may knowe Some what both M^{r} Wenman hym selff & the lady Tasbard do -knowe of this wherfore howe farre forth thys shalbe fytt to be dealt in I -humbly leave to yo^{r} L consyderacn Chrystoffer Wright and M^{r} Ambrose -Rokewood were both together yesternyght at x of the Clocke and vpon -ffryday last at nyght they were together at M^{r} Rokwoode lodgyng and -this forenoon Rokwood Rode away into Suffolke about xj of the clocke alone -leavyng both hys men behynd hym one Keyes a Gentylma that lay these two -last nyghte w^{th} m^{r} Rokewood and gave hym hys lodgyng went away also -about eight off the clocke for w^{ch} Keyes I have layed weyet This -Rokwood ys of Coldham hall in Suffoke one of the most dangerous houses in -Suffolke he marryed m^{r} 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 -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^{L} 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 Gentylman that was w^{th} -hym he thyncks that Gentylman was called Wynter but I dowbt that mans name -ys mystaken Ther cam a yong Gentylman w^{th} this wryght w^{th}in these -fewe dayes that gave to Cutler here by xix^{L} xv^{s} 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^{r} L at Serienty Inn the v^{th} of -november 1605. - - yo^{r} L very humbly - - Jo Popham.[A] - -[Footnote A: The Lord Chief Justice of England.] - -(P.S.) I have this mornyg the vi^{th} noveber dyscovered where Wynter [is] -w^{th} the matter which I have delyverd to m^{r} Att^{r}ney wherof happely -yo^{r} L may make good vse I wyll see yf I can mete w^{th} m^{r} Wynter -Walley the jesuyt and Strang as I am Informed are now at ffrance Brownes -pcke 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^{r} - L Ch. Justice - - (Addressed) To the Ryght - honorable and my - very good L the - Earle of Sarysbury. - - (Declaration enclosed--short.) - - - APPENDIX I. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part I., No. 75. - -O^{r} humble dutyes remembred. We have this day apprehended & deliwed to -his Ma^{ty} messenger Berrye the bodie of M^{ris} Graunt, from whom we -gathered that Percyes wief was not farre of, whervppon wee made search in -the most lykely place and have even since night apprehended her in the -house of M^{r} John Wright, and have thought fitt to take this -opportunitie to send vpp to yo^{r} honors' w^{th} the said M^{ris} Graunt -aswell the said M^{res} 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. - -M^{r} Sherief taketh care & charge of these woomens children vntill yo^{r} -honors pleasures be further knowne. - - ffrom Warr this xij^{th} of November 1605 - yo^{r} honors most humbly at comaundment - in all service. - - Richard Verney - Jo: fferrers - W^{m} Combe - Bar: Hales - - (Endorsed) 12 9bre 1605 - S^{r} Rych: Verney and other Justices to me - - (Addressed) To the right honorable my especyall good - Lord the Earle of Salisbury & the rest of - his Ma^{ty} most honorable privie Counsayle - - w^{th} all speed. - - - APPENDIX J. - - GUNPOWDER PLOT BOOKS--Part II., No. 130. - -This Last Vacatio Guy faux als Jhonson did hier a barke of Barkin the -owners name Called paris wherein was Caried over to Gravelinge a ma[A] -supposed of great import he went disguised and wold not suffer any one ma -to goe w^{th} him but this Vaux[B] nor to returne w^{th} him This paris -did Attend for him back at Gravelyng[C] sixe weekes yf Cause quier there -are severall proffs of this matter. - -[Footnote A: Contraction for "man."] - -[Footnote B: _I.e._, Faux.] - -[Footnote C: Gravelyng would be Gravelines in France. Most probably "the -man supposed of great import," who "went disguised," accompanied by -Fawkes, was one of the principal conspirators, perhaps Thomas Winter or -John Wright. I suspect their errand was to buy fresh gunpowder through -Captain Hugh Owen. Notice "Vacation," 1605.] - - (Endorsed) Concerninge one Paris that caried faukes to - Gravelyng and others. - - - APPENDIX K. - - 45, Bernard St., - Russell Square, - London, W.C., - 30th October, 1901. - - Dear Sir, - -The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter. - -I well remember accompanying you to the Record Office, Chancery Lane, -London, W.C., on Friday, the 5th of October, 1900, when we saw the -original Letter to Lord Mounteagle and the Declaration of Edward Oldcorne -of the 12th March, 1605-6. - -As soon as I began to compare the two documents I noticed a general -similarity in the handwritings; although 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. - -I have for the last seventeen years had great experience in transcribing -documents of the period of Queen Elizabeth and James I.; and, in my -opinion, it is at least probable that the Letter to Lord Mounteagle and -the Declaration of the 12th March, 1605-6, signed by Edward Oldcorne, were -by one and the same hand. - - Yours truly, - Emma M. Walford. - - To H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor, York. - - - APPENDIX L. - -Having recently learnt that Professor Windle, M.D., F.R.S., Dean of the -Faculty of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, had written two books -descriptive of the Midland Counties, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with -part of Herefordshire, "_Shakespeare's Country_," and "_The Malvern -Country_" (Methuen & Co.), I ventured to write to him respecting the roads -from Lapworth to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, I conjecture, 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 21st 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, S.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 Vicar of Great -Harrowden, Northamptonshire, for certain information which the latter -likewise most readily vouchsafed to me a few months ago.) - - "The University, - Birmingham, - Dec. 22, 1901. - - "My dear Sir, - -... - -"With respect to the distances which you wish to know, I have taken them -out as well as I can, and I think they will be exact enough; but, of -course, I have had to work from modern maps, and I cannot 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 you 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. Lapworth to Hindlip--as the crow flies, nineteen--via Tutnal and -Bromsgrove I make it twenty-two miles, and I think this is the most likely -route. There were Catholic houses at both Tutnal and Bromsgrove. - -"2. Coughton to Hindlip--twelve as the crow flies--about fourteen I make -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 be -taken. - -"3. Huddington is four from Hindlip as the crow flies; going by road by -Oddingley I should make it five. - -"4. By the _route_ I should go, if I were cycling, I should take - - Worcester to Stratford-on-Avon 23 miles. - Stratford-on-Avon to Warwick 8 " - Warwick to Daventry 19 " - Daventry to Northampton 12 " - Northampton to Newport Pagnell 12 " - ---- - 74 miles. - ---- - -"It would be about the same distance from Hindlip; 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. - - "I am, - Yours very truly, - Bertram C. A. Windle." - - - APPENDIX M. - -Since hearing from Professor Windle, M.D., of Birmingham, I have received -the following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, 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 by 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. - -"Adverting to your letter of the 14th inst., _re_ the above, I am -forwarding you, as under, the required distances (by road), which are as -accurate as I can possibly ascertain, viz.:-- - - Hindlip distant from Huddington, - near Droitwich 3-1/4 miles. - - Do. from Coughton, near Alcester, - Warwickshire 17-1/2 " - - Do. from Lapworth, 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." - - - APPENDIX N. - - EXTRACT FROM YORK CORPORATION HOUSE BOOK--Vol. - xxviii., f. 82. - - 4 Jany vicesimo - quinto Elizth. - -Assembled in the Counsell Chamber upon Ousebridg the day and year -abovesaid when and where the Queen's Maties Comission to my Lord Maior and -Aldermen directed was openly redd to these present the teno^{r} wherof -hereafter enseweth word by word:-- - -By the Queene - -Right 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^{th}in this -o^{r} Realme and other our dominions haith ben notoriouslie knowen unto -all o^{r} Subjects aswell by sundry lawes & ordinances maid and published -for the true serving of god and adminstracon of the Sacraments As 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^{r} 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 Semynaries & Jesuits where -being trayned upp and as it were full fraught with all erronious and -detestable doctrine they have and do dailie repare over disguised and in -most secreet manner into this o^{r} Realme and especiallie into this o^{r} -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 our good -subjects in matters of religion but also have practised most unnaturailie -trayterouslye to wthdraw them frome their naturall dewties and allegiance -towards us Sowing even according to the name they have receved abroad the -vere sede of all sedicon and conspiracye amongst o^{r} people. And all be -it we conceved that ther Rebellious harts and practises being thoroughlie -discovered as well by the lait trayterous attempts of some of them in -o^{r} Realme of Irland as by the treasonable actions of others w^{th}in -this our Realme And ther obstinate and sedicious manner of dyeing when -being justlie condempned by our lawes they have suffered death for the -same Yow 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^{r} wholl State and to the p'ticuler saftie of every of our good -subjects: and the rather for that our pleasure on that behalf haith often -and sundry wayes ben signified unto yow And for the execucion wherof yow -have not wanted sufficient authoritie. Yet notwithstanding, smale care or -none at all haith ben had to annswere o^{r} expectacon 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 yo^{r} duties for some other -respect than for want of good affection to our service. We have thought -good therfor oftsons to renew unto yow the remembrance of yo^{r} duties, -and do hereby straightlie charge and command yow and ev'ye of yow to have -a greater care & moare continewall circumspection on that behalf and by -all the good and discreet meanes yow may to make diligent enquirie and -searche w^{th}in yo^{r} severall wardes and devisions for all manner of -popish preasts, Jesuits Semynaries and such like psons as yow shall have -vehement cause to suspect to 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 willinglie absent -themselves from the church or shall any way deprave the order of comen -praer & of the holie sacraments now established w^{th}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^{th} according to o^{r} Lawes wherein -o^{r} 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 we 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^{r} -favo^{r}. Geven under o^{r} Signet at o^{r} Cyttie of Yorke the last of -December 1582 the 25^{th} yeare of o^{r} reigne. - -And by hir Counsell. - - (Addressed to) To our right trustie and welbeloved the - Maio^{r} of our Cittie of Yorke and to the Aldermen his - bretheren. (On the back.) - - * * * * * - -M^{r} Harbart M^{r} Robinson Maister Maltby M^{r} Appleyard M^{r} Trew & -M^{r} May, Aldermen, are appoynted by these presents to view the Chambers -upon Ousebridge & Monckbarr 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 intent the same may be forthwith repared for that -purpose.[A] - -[Footnote A: Leave was given me to print the aforesaid Order of Queen -Elizabeth in Council by the authorities of the York Corporation, on the -3rd day of June, 1901; the Lord Mayor for that year being Alderman the -Right Honourable E. W. Purnell; and John Close, Esquire, J.P., Sheriff; J. -G. Butcher, Esquire, K.C., and George Denison Faber, Esquire, -Representatives in Parliament--the first Parliament of His Most Gracious -Majesty King Edward VII.] - - - _Note as to authenticity of "Thomas Winter's Confession," - at Hatfield._ - -Whilst greatly admiring the erudition and dialectical skill displayed by -the Rev. 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 "a great gulf be fixed" between "Thos. -Wintour," the free-born gentleman, and "Thomas Winter," the inchoately -attainted traitor_. - -Moreover, the name Winter, or Wynter, _was_, 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 Yorkshire_," Edited by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc., -London), Jane Ingleby is stated to be the "Wyff to George _Wynter_ son and -heyr of _Robert Winter_ of Cawdwell in Worceshyre." - -One would like to see from the pen of the Rev. John Gerard a translation -of Father Oswald Tesimond's Italian Narrative, known as "_Greenway's -Manuscript_." Tesimond, it is almost certain, knew the bulk of the -plotters more intimately than did the seventeenth century Father Gerard. -Therefore, Tesimond's Narrative, _pro tanto_, must surpass in value even -the work of the Father Gerard of three hundred years ago. - - - - - NOTES. - - -[Footnote 1:--The following quotation is from the "_Calendar of State -Papers Domestic, 1603-1610_," p. 254:--"Nov. 13 (1605) Declaration of -Fras. Tresham--Catesby 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--_Litterae Felicissimae_--he would have never addressed his Sovereign -thus. He 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 _by 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 they feared not the course of Justice. The Earl of Suffolk was a -son of Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, Margaret Audley, -the heiress of Sir Thomas Audley, of Walden, 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 Fitzalan. She -left one son, Philip, who became the well-known Philip Howard Earl of -Arundel and Surrey.] - -[Footnote 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 Queen Elizabeth, thinks that the proposal that Mary Stuart -should be married to Norfolk came from the Scottish side at York on this -occasion. Whatever may be the true history and character of Mary Queen of -Scots, in clearness of mind she excelled her Royal cousin of England, that -wonderful child of the Renaissance, poor, pathetic, lonely, yet -marvellous, "Bess," who for 342 years, even from the grave, has ruled one -aspect of English ecclesiastical life.[A] Moreover, I am of opinion that -the Scots' Queen showed a singular tolerance of spirit towards the holders -of theological opinions the contradictory of her own, whilst at the same -time continuing constantly established in her own tenure of what she -believed to be the Truth: indeed a tolerance of spirit, combined with a -personal steadfastness, reached only 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 that know (and therefore -believe) they have a living possession of the Absolute and Everlasting -Truth. In the interests of our common Humanity, all who think that their -strength is as the "strength of ten," because their "faith" (whatever may -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 many of its concrete results, of religious -toleration: a principle which England has exhibited in its practical -working to the world: but rather 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 Right imply a oneness or _unity_. Now unity is the -opposite of multiplicity, and, _therefore_, the contrary of division and -distinction. One must rule men by virtue of the prerogatives of Truth and -Right when these are ascertained. The problem at the root of the terrible -conflict on the veldt of South Africa since 11th October, 1899, to the -present time, 26th October, 1901, involves this question of the unity that -is implied in the ideas of Truth and Right. For those ideas are the -originating causes, the moving springs, the ultimate justification, and -the final vindication of all true and just claims to paramountcy and -sovereignty everywhere. But who is to determine which side has Truth and -Right, 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 because _first_ they have themselves obeyed princely ideals of -the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Nothing short of this can satisfy -the universal conscience of mankind. - -What have our men of light and leading been about that 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!] - -[Footnote A: See "_Life of Mary Queen of Scots_," by Samuel Cowan -(Sampson, Low, 1901); also "_The Mystery of Mary Stuart_," by Andrew Lang -(Longmans, 1901).] - -[Footnote 3:--Lord Mounteagle had been a party to the sending of Thomas -Winter and Father Oswald Tesimond into Spain in 1601 to negotiate with -King Philip III. 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 Catesby at White -Webbs, by Enfield Chase, near London; so he was then at liberty. On 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 Wright 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 part -or lot in despatching the second mission. (It is important 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 Morley, was living in 1605. 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. "Mounteagle," says -Father Oswald Tesimond, alias Greenway, "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 the -religion of his ancestors, though his wife (_nee_ Tresham) continued -constant herein, and brought up her children Catholics; but Mounteagle -"died a Catholic." - -Jardine thinks that Mounteagle held some ceremonial office at Court, -probably in the Household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., who -was at heart a Roman Catholic, though most probably never received into -that Church.--See "_Carmel in England_" (Burns & Oates, 1899), p. 30. We -hear of Mounteagle about ten days before the 5th November, 1605, calling -at the Palace at Richmond to kiss the Prince's hands (_i.e._, Henry Prince -of Wales). Thomas Winter told Catesby that Mounteagle, at that time, -gathered from what he heard at the Royal 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.] - -[Footnote 4:--The Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard were -half-brothers. (Lord William Howard was "the Belted Will 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 sons 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 Faith." Though -their father was a strong Protestant (being a pupil of John Fox, the -author of Fox's "_Book of Martyrs_") both his sons, Philip and William, -became strong Roman Catholics, as did his daughter, Margaret Lady -Sackville. Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, losing his father when only -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 1581, while still a mere courtier and votary of pleasure, it happened -he was present, we are told, at "the disputation in the Tower of London in -1581, concerning divers points of religion betwixt Fr. Edmond Campion of -the Society of Jesus and some other Priests of the one part; Charke, Fulk, -Whitaker, and some other Protestant Ministers of the other." We are -further told by his biographer, an unknown Jesuit writer of the -seventeenth century, "By that he saw and heard there, he easily perceived -on which side the Truth and true Religion was, tho' 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 the time of his 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 Robert Howard, in the reign of Henry VI., married the Lady Margaret -Mowbray, daughter of Thomas De Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, and -grand-daughter, maternally, of Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel ("_Law -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 sed non valeo_"--"I am willing, but I -am not able." - -The Earl of Arundel was "reconciled" by Fr. 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. Robert 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 highly 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 the great Florentine poet's -ideal of "the truly noble," in that _they_ 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 wife_" (Hurst -& Blackett), and the "_Household Books of Lord William Howard_" (Surtees -Society).] - -[Footnote 5:--Lord Mounteagle would be also akin to Lord Lumley (who had -estates at or about Pickering, I believe), through the great House of -Neville. Lord Lumley's portrait, from a painting in the possession of the -Right Hon. the Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of -Yorkshire, is to be found in Edward Hailstone's "_Yorkshire Worthies_," -vol. i. Edward Hailstone, Esquire, of Walton Hall, Wakefield, was a rich -benefactor to the York Minster Library, and his memory should be ever had -in grateful remembrance by all who "love Yorkshire because they know -her."--See Jackson's "_Guide to Yorkshire_" (Leeds).] - -[Footnote 6:--It should be remembered that (i.) the page's evidence goes -to show that the man 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 up to him with the document. - -Hoxton is about four miles from Whitehall. I opine that Mounteagle -proceeded from Bath to Hoxton, and that the supper had been pre-arranged -to take place at Hoxton on the evening of the 26th of October, 1605, by -Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, who indeed read the -Letter 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.] - -[Footnote 7:--The letters "wghe" are not, at this date (5th October, -1900), clearly discernible.] - -[Footnote 8:--See letter dated November, 1605--Sir Edward Hoby to Sir -Thomas Edmonds. Add. MSS. in British Museum, No. 4176, where name "Thomas -Ward" is given.] - -[Footnote 9:--Stowe's "_Chronicle_," continued by Howes, p. 880. Ed. 1631. - -From the evidence of William 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. Wright reached London -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 II.] - -[Footnote 10:--Fawkes was apprehended at "midnight without the House," -according to "_A Discourse of this late intended Treason_." Knevet having -given notice that he 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 Royal Presence. This was at about four o'clock -in the morning of Tuesday, the 5th of November. - -Fawkes showed the calmest behaviour conceivable in the Royal 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!" (See "_King's Book_.") - -Whitehall Palace had been a Royal Palace since the reign of Henry VIII.; -it was burned down in the time of William and Mary. 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 Gracious Majesty King Edward -VII. 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 Ripon, the Lord -Mowbray and Stourton, and the Lord Herries, including other peers and -representatives of the English Roman 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!] - -[Footnote 11:--Essex House was between the Strand and the River 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.] - -[Footnote 12:--By Poulson in his "_History of Holderness_," Yorks. (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 local tradition, though he -mentions no kind of authority.--See also Foster's Ed. of Glover's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," Also Norcliffe's Ed. of Flower's "_Visitation -of Yorkshire_" (Harleian Society). - -See Supplementum for account of my visit to Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, -in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, on the 6th of May, 1901.] - -[Footnote 13:--See "_Guy Fawkes_," by Rev. Thomas Lathbury, M.A. (J. W. -Parker, 1839), p. 21. Lathbury does not give his authority for this -interesting statement respecting this conspirator, Christopher Wright. It -is presumed, however, that he had some ground for the statement; for it is -antecedently improbable that his "imagination" should have provided so -circumstantial an assertion. Then, whence did he derive it? - -Query:--Does Greenway's Narrative make any such statement? Apparently -Jardine had a sight of the whole of this invaluable MS., and possibly -Lathbury (who appears to have been a clergyman of the Established Church) -may have seen it likewise through Canon Tierney, the Editor of "_Dodd's -Church History_."] - -[Footnote 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 privilege -to behold. - -Mr. Thomas Graves 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 High Commission are of -extraordinary interest, because 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.] - -[Footnote 15:--So that bad as they were, they were not hoary-headed -criminals, if we except Percy who 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 Roman -Catholics of Yorkshire in 1604_." - -The Percy Arms are in Welwick Church. (Communicated by Miss Burnham, of -Plowland, Welwick.)] - -[Footnote 16:--I have seen the statement in a letter of the Earl (who was -one of the most scientific men of his age) which he wrote after the -discovery of the Plot. The letter is in Collins' "_Peerage_." The Earl 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 avowal, was no papist. Salisbury's native perspicacity, however, -told him that Northumberland, from every point of view, was alike to the -Royal 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 Northumberland would have thought -that the papists' support was well "worth a Mass," just as did King Harry -of Navarre, the father of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I., a -few years previously. (An ancient portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is in -the possession of the York Merchant Adventurers, York.) Then again, -Salisbury had a personal grudge against the proud Percy. For the latter -evidently in his heart scorned and rejected Salisbury, not only as a -_novus homo_--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 whom the great Northern 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 _carpe 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 _has_ made true moral -progress than the contrast presented by the present Prime Minister and the -present First Lord of the Treasury and their ancestors of "Great Eliza's -golden time" and the days of James Stuart.)] - -[Footnote 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 Dictionary of -Biography_.") - -Had Catesby an estate at Armcote, in Worcestershire, not far from Chipping -Norton?] - -[Footnote 18:--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, Newby, and Givendale, most -probably, for he was the early and life-long friend of Mary Ward.--See the -"_Life of Mary Ward_," by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & -Oates).] - -[Footnote 19:--Sir Thomas Leigh settled considerable property to the uses -of the marriage. Jardine says that only Chastleton actually came into -Catesby's possession.] - -[Footnote 20:--S. T. Coleridge, speaking of the age of Elizabeth, says -that, notwithstanding its marvellous physical and intellectual prosperity, -"it was an age when, for a time, the intellect stood superior to the moral -sense." "_Lectures on Shakespeare_," Collier's Ed. (1856), p. 34.] - -[Footnote 21:--What a lesson to us all, of every creed and philosophy, is -the just, yet terrible fate of these personally charming men, "to hug the -shore" of plain Natural Ethics, of solid Moral Virtue, 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 -with happy augury for the twentieth century.] - -[Footnote 22:--Jardine's "_Narrative_," pp. 31, 32.] - -[Footnote 23:--Gerard's "_Narrative_," p. 56.] - -[Footnote 24:--Knaresborough, Knaresbrough or Knaresburgh, is thus -pleasantly celebrated in Drayton's "_Polyolbion_":-- - - "From Whernside Hill not far outflows the nimble Nyde, - Through Nytherside, along as sweetly she doth glide - Tow'rds Knaresburgh on her way-- - Where that brave forest stands - Entitled by the town[A] who, with upreared hands, - Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands crown - The river passing by."] - -[Footnote A: The allusion is to the ancient Forest of Knaresbrough -belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. (As to the extent and history of the -Forest, see Grainge's "_Forest of Knaresbrough_.")] - -[Footnote 25:--"The Venerable" Francis Ingleby's portrait is still to be -seen at Ripley Castle, an ideal English home, hard-by the winding Nidd.] - -[Footnote 26:--For the facts of Francis Ingleby's life, see Challoner's -"_Missionary Priests_," edited by Thomas G. Law; and "_Acts of the English -Martyrs_" (Burns & Oates), by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.J.] - -[Footnote 27:--From Father Gerard's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," -p. 59.] - -[Footnote 28:--See the admirably written life of Sir Everard Digby, under -the title "_The Life of a Conspirator_," by "One of his descendants" -(Kegan Paul & Co., 1895). The learned descendant of Sir Everard Digby, -however, 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 as the high-minded -spouse of Mary Mulsho himself--_honourable, of course, I mean after their -kind_.--Jardine's "_Narrative of Gunpowder Plot_," p. 67.] - -[Footnote 29:--Sir William Catesby and Sir Thomas Tresham were excellent -types of the English gentry of their day. Each was "a fine old English -gentleman, one of the olden time." They had both become "reconciled" Roman -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 forming 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 coming of age" of the son and -heir of each of these gallant knights and stately dames. And we may easily -conceive of the bright hopes that either of the gentlewomen (especially -the two sisters), in their close-fitting caps, laced ruffs, and gowns -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! through the evil will of man, for the pathetic vanity of human -wishes.] - -[Footnote 30:--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_," p. 51, says that John -Grant's ancestors are described in several pedigrees as of Saltmarsh, in -Worcestershire, and of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire; that Norbrook -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 Throckmorton family--owned -property. Moreover, through his mother, Shakespeare was distantly -connected with several of the plotters. For Catesby and Tresham, as well -as Lady Wigmore, of Lucton, Herefordshire, were all first cousins to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. Sir Nicholas -Throckmorton (the father of Francis Throckmorton, who was executed in the -reign of Elizabeth) having three daughters whom he married to Sir William -Catesby, Sir Thomas Tresham, and Sir William Wigmore.--See Jardine's -"_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 11; also Foley's "_Records of the -Jesuits in England_" (Burns & Oates), vol. iv., p. 290. - -Probably Shakespeare knew Grant personally, and not only Grant, but -Catesby, Percy, the Winters (Robert and Thomas Winter were likewise akin -to the Throckmortons), and Tresham. That the bard of Avon knew Lord -Mounteagle, the associate of his friend and patron the Earl of -Southampton, is even still more probable. - -How is it that Shakespeare never in his writings sought to make political -capital (as the sinister phrase goes) out of the Gunpowder Plot? For -several reasons: first, his heart (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 Shakespeare, we -may discern additional proof of the nobleness of the man, supposing that -he knew personally any of the plotters. He would not kick friends that -were down, when those friends were even traitors. He could not approve -their action--far from it. He might have condemned with justice, and with -the world's applause. But upon himself a self-denying ordinance he laid, -tempting as it must have been to him to perform the contrary, especially -when we recollect the course then followed by his brother-poet--Jonson. -But 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 -hangman's bloody hands"--"Macbeth," 1606--and that sufficed for him. - -Since writing the above note I find it stated in "_The Religion of -Shakespeare_," by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Burns & Oates, 1899)--chiefly -from the writings of that great Elizabethan scholar, the late Richard -Simpson--that "among the chief actors in the so-called Gunpowder Plot were -Catesby; the two Bates; John Grant, of Norbrook, near Stratford; Thomas -Winter, Grant's brother-in-law; all Shakespeare's friends and benefactors" -(p. 103); 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 Winters, and Tresham, but distantly -with the Earl of Southampton himself, who was a relative of Lord -Mounteagle. Hence it is still more probable that Shakespeare knew -Mounteagle personally. - -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 Shakespeare_" (Smith & Elder), p. -233.--If this were so, then it is well-nigh certain that 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 -Collins's "_Ephemera Critica_" (Constable) as to religion of -Shakespeare.] - -[Footnote 31:--The name is also spelt Tirwhitt. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, Lady -Ursula Babthorpe's grandfather, had entertained Henry VIII. at the old -Hall at Kettleby. A new Hall was built in the time of James I., but this -was pulled down about 1691, I believe. The Tyrwhitts, of Kettleby, were -allied to such as the Tailboys, Boroughes, Wymbishes, Monsons, Tournays, -Thimbelbies, Thorolds, and other Lincolnshire houses. They were rigidly -Roman Catholic. The marriage between Sir William Babthorpe and Ursula -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 1581. It -was continued through Sir Ralph Babthorpe, who married that "valiant -woman" (the only daughter and heiress of William Birnand, the Recorder of -York), Grace Birnand by name, of Brimham, Knaresbrough, and York. Lady -Grace Babthorpe's active and contemplative life was one long singing of -_Gloria in excelsis_. Sir William Babthorpe and Lady Ursula his wife, like -their noble parents, Sir Ralph Babthorpe and Lady Grace, "for conscience -sake" became voluntary 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 remarkably gifted. Mary 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 Mother-General of -the Nuns 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 Nuns. The story of the Babthorpes is a veritable English "_Un -Recit d'une s[oe]ur_."--See "_Life of Mary Ward_."--The Wards--like the -Inglebies, of Ripley; the Constables, of Everingham;[A] the Dawnays, of -Sessay; and the Palmes, of Naburn--were related to this "family of -saints."--See also "The Babthorpes, of Babthorpe" (one of whose ancestors -carried the sword before King Edward III. on entering Calais in 1347), in -the late Rev. John Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_," -first series (Burns & Oates). - -For "the Kayes," of Woodsome, see Canon Hulbert's "_Annals of Almondbury_" -(Longmans). - -"The Venerable" Richard Langley, of Owsthorpe and Grimthorpe, near -Pocklington, in the East Riding 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.)] - -[Footnote 32:--"_Greenway's MS._," quoted by Jardine, "_Narrative of the -Gunpowder Plot_," p. 151.] - -[Footnote 33:--Hawarde, "_Reportes of Star Chamber_." - -See "_The Fawkeses, of York_," by Robert Davies, sometime Town Clerk of -York (Nichols, Westminster, 1850); and the "_Life of Guy Fawkes_," by -William 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 the 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. -Since August, 1900, York Castle has been used as a Military Prison. All -the old Indictments that are in existence, whether at York, Worcester, or -other Assize towns, would be of interest and value re the Gunpowder Plot -_if the affair is to be thoroughly bottomed_. - -The York 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 referred to Popish recusants, and those 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: "_The Quakers unmasked and clearly detected to be but -the spawn of Romish Frogs, Jesuites, and Franciscan Fryers._" Now, Prynne -was not far wrong either, the erudite historical philosopher knows very -well, who has studied the genesis of the remarkable system developed by -Fox, Barclay, and Penn. - -Was there a Grimston near Mount St. John, Feliskirk, near Thirsk? Or was -it Grimston Garth, Holderness? or was it North Grimston, between Malton -and Driffield, that Thomas Grimstone came from; or Grimston, three miles -east of York? - -Since writing the preceding note I have come to the conclusion that the -Grimston was, most likely, the Grimstone some twelve miles from Mount St. -John, in the Parish of Gilling East, near Hovingham and Ampleforth, in the -Vale of Mowbray, and near Gilling Castle, once the seat of the Catholic -branch of the Fairfaxes, now the seat of George Wilson, Esquire, J.P. This -Grimstone would be a spot very suitable for harbouring Campion after he -had been at Babthorpe, near Selby; Thixendale, near Leavening, east of -Malton; and Fryton, west of Malton, near Hovingham. - -(How wonderful to think that the probabilities are in favour of the -supposal that these tranquil, sequestered nooks, each with its own fair -summer beauty, once rang with the golden eloquence of Edmund Campion, "one -of the diamonds of England," in the days of Shakespeare.) - -Guy Fawkes was also connected with another Roman Catholic martyr, "the -Venerable" William Knight, yeoman, of South Duffield, Hemingbrough, Selby, -East Yorkshire, who suffered death at the York Tyburn in 1596, for -"explaining to a man the Catholic faith."--See Challoner and Foster's -"_Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families_" ("Fawkes, of Farnley").] - -[Footnote A: The Constables, of Everingham, are one of those old English -Roman 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 Riding of Yorkshire, Lord Herries, 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 Robert Aske, -of Aughton on the Derwent, in the time of Henry VIII. (1536). 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, either -Clifford's Tower or possibly the tower of All Saints' Church, The -Pavement, York. After the movement 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 Lumley, of Lumley Castle, was burned alive at -Smithfield.--See Burke's "_Tudor Portraits_."] - -[Footnote 34:--Father Morris, S.J., in "_The Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_" (York volume), says that Father Tesimond was a Yorkshireman; -though in Foley's "_Records_," in one place, he is said to have been born -in Northumberland, perhaps a translation of the Latin "Northumbria," -intended to represent the name "Yorkshire." There were, at least, three -families of Tesimond in York in the reign of Elizabeth, namely, Robert -Tesimond, a butcher, of Christ's Parish; Anthony Tesimond, a cordyner; and -William Tesimond, a saddler, both of St. Michael-le-Belfrey's Parish. I -incline to think that Father Oswald Tesimond was the son of William -Tesimond, who lived in the Parish of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York. Oswald -Tesimond was born in 1563; but as the Register books of St. Michael's -Church, unfortunately, begin in 1565, two years afterwards, there are no -means of verifying my supposal. William Tesimond was, for a great part of -his life, a rigid Catholic, suffering imprisonment for his faith, although -eventually he appears to have yielded. Margaret Tesimond, the wife of -William Tesimond, also bore a more than lip testimony to the ancient -religion by suffering imprisonment for it. Whether William Tesimond died -"reconciled" or not, I cannot say. Perhaps further researches will clear -the matter up as to this and the exact parentage of Father Tesimond. In -the very learned and deeply lamented Dr. James Raine's admirable book on -the City of York (Longmans, 1893), on p. 110, is the following:--"Whilst -the Earl of Northumberland's head was lying in the Tolbooth on Ouse -Bridge, William Tessimond cut off some hair from the beard. He wrapped it -in paper, and wrote on the outside, 'This the heire of the good Erle of -Northumberland, Lord Perecy.' For this he got into great trouble." This -must have been about the 22nd August, 1572, as Thomas Percy Earl of -Northumberland was beheaded on that day, at three o'clock in the -afternoon, in The Pavement, York, for his share in the Rising of the -North. The Church Register of St. Margaret's Church, Walmgate, York, -contains an entry of the death of the Earl of Northumberland. The Percy -family had property in Walmgate at that time. The Earl is now "the Blessed -Thomas Percy," one of "the York martyrs." The Lady Mary Percy, of Ghent, a -well-known Benedictine Abbess, was his daughter. She would be probably -named after her aunt Mary, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of Scriven Hall, -near Scotton. There is a fine monument in the Parish Church of -Knaresbrough to the memory of Francis Slingsby and Mary Percy, his wife. -The Slingsbies were Roman Catholics till many years after the reign of -Elizabeth; in fact, Sir Henry Slingsby, who was beheaded during the -Commonwealth, was himself a Roman Catholic. - -The Half Moon Hotel, in Blake Street, York, perhaps derives its name from -the well-known device of the Percy family.] - -[Footnote 35:--Quoted from Father Gerard's "_Narrative_," p. 278.] - -[Footnote 36:--So that the Plot was first hatched about Easter, 1604.--See -Dr. S. R. Gardiner's "_What Gunpowder Plot was_," as to the decisive -causes of the Plot.--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_" (pp. 45 and 46), thinks -that the Star-Chambering of that aged but charming Roman Catholic -gentleman, Thomas Pounde, Esquire, of Belmont, Hampshire, contributed to -the causes of the Plot. This is very probable. Pounde was first cousin to -the father of the Earl of Southampton, the patron and friend of -Shakespeare. Pounde was a devoted friend of Campion, and himself a Jesuit -lay-brother. He spent a large part of his life in prison. He was attired -in prison as became his rank and fortune, and was, besides being a -"mystical" Catholic, a most accomplished Elizabethan gentleman.--See -"_Jesuits in Conflict_" (Burns & Oates).] - -[Footnote 37:--_I.e._, according to Winter, about two months after.] - -[Footnote 38:--See pp. 269 and 271 of the Rev. John Gerard's, S.J., work, -"_What was the Gunpowder Plot?_" (Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co., 1897).] - -[Footnote 39:--_I.e._, a Prayer Book. Sir Everard Digby appears to have -been sworn in by Robert Catesby on the cross formed by the hilt of a -poniard.--See "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_."] - -[Footnote 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 "_The Month_," No. 369, pp. 353, 4.--This would be to make -assurance double sure. But, happily, the "best laid schemes o' men gang -aft agley." "For 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 anathenas" (John Henry Newman). Also, "Conscience is the -knowledge with oneself of the better and the worse" (James Martineau).] - -[Footnote 41:--See Jardine's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," p. 41.] - -[Footnote 42:--The Most Hon. the Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Lord Lieutenant -of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the Marchioness of Ripon, C.I., 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. - -Of what manner of men these Mallories were, the puissant owners of Studley -Royal, is evident from what we are told concerning that Sir William -Mallory, "who was so zealous and constant a Catholic, that when heresy -first came into England, and Catholic service commanded 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 Babthorpe," Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic -Forefathers_," first series, p. 227.--The Church referred to must 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 the 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 grey ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of -St. Mary, Fountains, laved by the musical little River Skell. (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 VI., 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 -the reign of the Seventh!] - -[Footnote 43:--The promoters of the Rising of the North wished:-- - -(1) To restore to her kingdom Mary 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 Mary Stuart on the throne of England. - -(4) Above all, to restore "the ancient faith," which they did in Durham, -Staindrop, 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 North in 1569 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 Lancashire -(especially the neighbourhood of "Wigan and Ashton-on-Makerfield, and, -above all, the Fylde, that region between Lancaster and Preston, whence -"the great Allen" sprang) is "the Rome of England" to this day. It is said -that the Parish Church of Bispham (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 -Jerome Allen, uncle to the Cardinal. In the white-washed yeoman dwellings -of the Fylde 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 Ripon, 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 -idyllic hamlet betwixt Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, that is still -a stronghold of "the ancient faith," which, as in a last Yorkshire -retreat, has _there_ never died out), has the writer recalled the -following lines from the old "Ballad of the Rising 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 shining all so fair; - The Nortons ancyent had the Cross - And the Five Wounds Our Lord did beare." - -Norton Conyers, in the Parish of Wath, near Ripon, was forfeited by the -Nortons after the Rebellion of 1569. It is now, I believe, the property of -Sir Reginald 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 Markenfields, -and, being forfeited by them, granted to Francis Norton, the eldest son of -old Richard Norton.--See "_Sir Ralph Sadlers Papers_," Ed. by Sir Walter -Scott.--The present Lord Grantley is descended from Thomas Norton, who was -sixth in descent from old Richard 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 -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 Cockermouth Hall, waited on the -Scots' Queen when she first landed at Workington. Henry Fletcher -"entertained" the Queen at Cockermouth Hall (17th May, 1568), "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' "_History of Cumberland and -Westmoreland_." - -As to the Nortons and Markenfields, see Wordsworth's "_White Doe of -Rylstone_"; "_Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569_" (1840); Froude's -"_History of England_"; "_Memorials of Cardinal Allen_"[A] (Ed. by Dr. -Knox, published by Nutt, London); and J. S. Fletcher's "_Picturesque -Yorkshire_" (Dent & Co.). In Hailstone's "_Portraits of Yorkshire -Worthies_" (two magnificent volumes published by Cundall & Fleming) are -photographs of old Richard Norton and of his brother Thomas, and of the -former's seventh son, Christopher. The photographs 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 Ripon Minster Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, it is -plain that, between the years 1589 and 1601, a "Norton," described as -"_generosus_," lived at Sawley, close to Bishop Thornton and Grantley, -near Ripon.] - -[Footnote 44:--In 1569 the Norton Conyers estate seems to have been vested -in a Nicholas Norton, probably as a trustee.--See "_Sir Ralph Sadler's -Papers_," and see _ante_, Supplementum III. - -The Winters were also related to the Markenfields, their aunt, Isabel -Ingleby, having married Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield. - -The Wrights and Winters were also, through the Inglebies, connected with -the Yorkes, of Gowthwaite, in Nidderdale, of which family, most probably, -sprang Captain Roland Yorke (who introduced the use of the rapier into -England--see Camden's "_Elizabeth_"), the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, in -the Netherlands.--See Foster's Edition of "_Glover's Visitation of -Yorkshire_"; "_The Earl of Leicester's Correspondence_" (Camden Soc.); -also "_Cardinal Allen's Defence of Sir William Stanley's Surrender of -Deventer, 29th January, 1586-87_" (Chetham Soc.). - -The Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, were related to the Nortons, -old Richard Norton's grandmother being Margaret, daughter of Roger 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 Whitwell, 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_.")] - -[Footnote A: 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 Riding of the -County of York, is the representative of this ancient Yorkshire family of -Lister. Lord Masham is a representative of a younger branch of the same -family. - -By a remarkable coincidence, on the 16th 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.] - -[Footnote 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, however, singularly enough married Martha Wright, Mary Ward's -aunt.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers -(Burns & Oates, 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 very trusty man. A photograph of a -painting of him is in Hailstone's "_Yorkshire Worthies_," taken 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, but utterly failed to do so. He eventually became a Priest -of the Society of Jesus. He petitioned James to restore to him the Neville -estates, but without avail; so that historic Middleham and Kirbymoorside -(in Yorkshire), and Raby and Brancepeth (in Durham), finally passed from -the once proud house of Neville, one of whom was the well-known Warwick, -the King-maker, owing to the chivalrous, ill-fated Rising of 1569. This -Rising first broke out at Topcliffe, between Ripon and Thirsk, where the -Earl of Northumberland was then sojourning at his palace, the site of -which is pointed out to this day. Topcliffe is situated on the waters of -the River Swale, which (like the East Riding 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 people ever had. - -The first Pilgrimage of Grace, under Robert Aske, of Aughton, 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 "_York: the History of its Walls -and Castles_"), kindly refers me to "_Letters and Papers, Foreign and -Domestic, Henry VIII., 1537_," p. 87, for evidence tending to prove that -Robert Aske was executed "on the height of the castle dungeon," where the -High Sheriff of Yorkshire had jurisdiction, and _not_ 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, most probably, settled -the point by his discovery of this important letter of "the old Duke of -Norfolk" to Thomas Cromwell.] - -[Footnote 46:--Father Gerard's "Narrative of Gunpowder Plot" in -"_Conditions of Catholics under James I._" Edited by Father Morris, S.J. -(Longmans, 1872).] - -[Footnote 47:--The "very imperfect proof" to which I refer is contained in -a certain marriage entry in the Registers at Ripon Minster. The date is -"10th July, 1588" (the year and month of the Spanish Armada), and _seems_ -to me to be as follows: "Xpofer Wayde et Margaret Wayrde." Now, "Margaret" -was a family name of the Wardes, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, and the -clergyman making the entry _may_ have written "Wayde" instead of Wright. -We 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) papers 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 1605, suggests to my mind many far-reaching -supposals. Marmaduke Ward seems to have died before the year 1614, but the -"burials" of the Ripon Registers are lost for this period apparently.] - -[Footnote 48:--Born 1563. Father Oswald Tesimond was for six years at -Hindlip Hall, along with Father Oldcorne. Ralph Ashley, a Jesuit -lay-brother, was Oldcorne's servant.] - -[Footnote 49:--John Wright was born about 1568. Christopher Wright was -born about 1570. Had they a brother Francis, living at Newbie (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 Wright, 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 ffrauncis -Wright, Esquire, and of another ffrauncis Wright, under date 2nd May, -1664, both at Welwick. (Communicated to me by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, -M.A., Vicar of Welwick.) Probably the Francis Wrights, of Newby (or -Newbie), are those buried at Welwick, being father and son respectively. -Certainly the coincidence is remarkable.--See _ante_.] - -[Footnote 50:--Foley's "_Records of the English Province of the Society of -Jesus_," vol. iv., pp. 203-5 (Burns & Oates, 1878).] - -[Footnote 51:--Quoted in Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 213.] - -[Footnote 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 alias of Oldcorne] for us, -and desire him to help us to some resting place."--See Jardine's -"_Criminal Trials, Gunpowder Plot_," vol. ii., p. 146.] - -[Footnote 53:--Schismatic Catholics were those Catholics that went to Mass -in private houses, and then, more or less, frequented their parish church -afterwards to escape the fines. They were further divided into -Communicants and Non-communicants. Very often the men of a family were -Catholics of this sort, and the womenkind strict Catholics. Indeed, it was -mainly the women and the priests that have kept "the Pope's religion" -alive in England: although, of course, _many_ men of great mental and -physical powers were papists of the most rigid class. The practice of -"going to the Protestant church," as English Roman Catholics term the -practice to this day, was deliberately condemned by 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: the Jesuits, and especially their extraordinarily able leader, -Father Parsons, thought that the Secular Priests required watching. And so -they did; and so do all other human creatures. But 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.] - -[Footnote 54:--"_Collecti Cardwelli_," Public Record Office, Brussels Vitae -Mart, p. 147. - -In Foley's "_Records_," 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, with St. William's Chapel -(at present the site of which is occupied by Messrs. Varvills' -establishment). St. Sampson's Church, the ancient church which gave the -name of the parish 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," Margaret Clitherow lived. Oldcorne must have known that -great York citizen well. She was born in Davygate, and was the second wife -of a butcher, named 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, by birth: and the Church of -Rome, ever mindful of her own, declared in 1886 (just three hundred years -after the martyr's death in the Tolbooth, on Old Ouse Bridge) that -Margaret Clitherow, a shrewd, honest, devout York tradeswoman, is one of -the Church's "Venerable Servants of God," by grace.--See J. B. Milburn's -Life of this extraordinary Elizabethan Yorkshire-woman, entitled, "_A -Martyr of Old York_" (Burns & Oates, London).] - -[Footnote 55:--This crossing-out of the word "yowe" is noticed in Nash's -"_History of Worcestershire_."] - -[Footnote 56:--The word "good" is omitted in the copy of the Letter given -in the "_Authorised Discourse_," which is remarkable. I think it was done -designedly, in order to minimize the merit of the revealing plotter.] - -[Footnote 57:--King James's interpretation of these enigmatical words was -simply fantastical. It may be read in Gerard's "_Narrative_," and in most -contemporary relations of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 58:--I am of opinion that one of Father Oldcorne's servants, -Ralph Ashley by name, a Jesuit lay-brother, was the person that actually -conveyed 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 Ralph 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 Ashley, which is negative 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 -Campion_"--whom the genial orator playfully called "his little -man"--"_homulus_"; and in the 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 halls, -up and down the country, he constructed most ingenious secret places for -the hiding of priests. - -Ralph Ashley had acted in some humble capacity at the English Catholic -College of Valladolid, which had been founded in Spain from Rheims, -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 "_The Life of the -Venerable John Roberts, O.S.B._," by the Rev. Bede Camm, O.S.B. (Sands & -Co.)--Father Roberts founded the Benedictine College at Douay, still in -existence. Cardinal Allen's secular priests' College is now used as a -French Barracks. Ushaw College, Durham, and St. Edmund's College, Ware, -are the lineal successors of Cardinal Allen's College at Douay. - -(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. Lingard -died at Hornby, near Lancaster, not far from Hornby Castle, the seat of -the once famous Lord Mounteagle.) - -Brother Raphael (or Ralph) Ashley, was possibly akin to the Ashleys, of -Goule Hall, in the Township of Cliffe, in the Parish of Hemingbrough, in -the East Riding 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 his being the chosen companion of the two Yorkshire Jesuits, -Oldcorne and Tesimond. - -This Jesuit lay-brother was acquainted with London; and as, _Qui facit per -alium facit per se_, it was pre-eminently likely that Oldcorne would -employ his confidential servant to perform so weighty a mission as the one -I have attributed unto him. - -Again, since "he who acts through another acts through himself," it is -unnecessary for me to treat at large in the Text concerning my supposal -respecting the part that Brother Ralph Ashley played in the great drama of -the Gunpowder Plot. Ashley being identified with his master, Father -Oldcorne, shares, in his degree, his master's merits and praise. - -Professor J. A. Froude thought that Ralph Waldo Emerson was of the same -stock as Brother Ralph Emerson. It is quite possible. For after the -Gunpowder Plot, I opine that the younger Catholics in many cases became -Puritans, and in some cases, later on, Quakers.] - -[Footnote 59:--Notwithstanding the endless chain of the causation of human -acts and human events, man's strongest and clearest knowledge tells him -that he is "master of his fate," nay, that "he is fated to be free," -inasmuch as at any moment man can open the flood-gates that are betwixt -him and an Infinite Ocean of Pure Unconditioned Freedom: can open those -flood-gates, and in that Ocean can lave at will, and 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.] - -[Footnote 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).] - -[Footnote 61:--"_Gunpowder Plot Books_," vol. ii., p. 202.] - -[Footnote 62:--It is impossible to describe 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 with 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 afternoon. -He desires to place on record his sense of obligation for the courteous -civility with which he was treated by the authorities at the Record -Office, London, on this occasion.] - -[Footnote 63:--Oldcorne, being a Jesuit, would from time to time go to -White Webbs, Morecrofts (near Uxbridge), Erith-on-the-Thames, Stoke Pogis, -Thames Street (London), and other places of Jesuit resort where Mounteagle -and Ward 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 -house known as Dr. Hewick'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 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 had so wronged, _in act and in desire_, -and themselves; and a happy thing for the men, as well as for others, that -Destiny did so enable them whilst there was yet time. - -(In October, 1900, I was informed that the present mansion, known as White -Webbs, belongs to the Lady Meux.)] - -[Footnote 64:--Known by Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant.] - -[Footnote 65:--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 1.] - -[Footnote 66:--M'rgery Slater most probably belonged to a Ripon family, as -I find 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 -Warde" may have been a relative of Mr. Cotterell, as I find in the St. -Michael-le-Belfrey Register the entry of the burial (1583) 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 church, -whose site is to-day (1901) occupied by the official lodgings of the -King's Judges of Assize when on circuit. For the "subsidy" of 1581, a Mr. -James Cotterell of that parish was assessed in "Lande" at L6 13s. 4d. -(among the highest of the York assessments). There was a Mr. Cotterell "an -Examiner" for the Council of the North in the time of Elizabeth, and I -have no doubt that "Mistress Warde's" late master was this very gentleman. -Whether the young woman whom "Thomas Ward, 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, I do not know. -Let us hope, however, that alike in gifts of personal attractiveness and -graces of character she was not unworthy of one who came from so truly -"gentle" a people as the Wardes, of Mulwith, Givendale, and Newby. If -M'gery Slater did hail from Ripon, this "faithful following" of her to -York, and from the house of her master, publicly making her, in the face -of all the world, his "true and honourable wife, as dear to him as were -the ruddy drops that visited his own heart," bears early witness to an -idealism of mind in this Yorkshire 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 Warde, who -was also of Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and -from _this_ picture we may imagine _that_.] - -[Footnote 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 that country [_i.e._ Yorkshire] for his exceeding comeliness 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 with 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 Royal, near Ripon, the present seat of their descendants, the Most -Hon. the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon. - -The above quotation is taken from the "_Life_" of Marmaduke Ward's eldest -daughter, Mary, who was one of the most 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. I -think the Old Heworth Hall was built _behind_ 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 Gunpowder plotters "were at Old Heworth Hall" -(communicated to me in 1890 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, 1901, the outhouse or hay chamber (of brick 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-Hill. The last of the English -martyrs was Father Thomas Thwing, of Heworth, who was executed at the York -Tyburn, 1680. His vestments belong to the Herbert family, of Gate -Helmsley. 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 with the past are those beautiful, but fading, priestly -garments. - -The following letter of Mr. Bannister Dent will be read with interest, as -helping the concatenation of the evidence. It is from a York solicitor who -for many years was Guardian for the old Parish of St. Wilfred, in the City -of York:-- - - - "York, - 21st March, 1901." - - "OLD PARISH OF ST. WILFRED." - - "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. I have made 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."] - -[Footnote 68:--Margery Warde (born Slater) was probably the sister of one -Hugo Slater, of Ripon, who, subsequently to 1579, had a daughter, Margery, -and a son, Thomas.--See Ripon Registers. - -John Whitham, Esq., of the City of Ripon, has been so kind as to place at -my disposal the Index, which is the result of his researches into the -Ripon Registers. There seems to be no entry of the baptism of Mary (or -Joan or Jane) Ward in 1585-86, nor of John Ward, William Ward, nor Teresa -Ward. George Warde's baptism is recorded: "18th May, 1595 [not 1594], -George Waryde filius M'maduci de Mulwith." Then under date 3rd September, -1598, occurs, three years afterwards, this significant entry: "Thomas -Warde filius M'maduci _de Nubie_." This naming of his son "Thomas" by -Marmaduke Warde, I submit, _almost_ suffices to clench the proof that -Marmaduke and Thomas Warde were akin to each other _as brothers_. - -If proof be required that the name "Ward" was spelt both Ward and Warde, -it is contained in the following entries in the Ripon Minster Registers of -the baptism of Marmaduke Ward's daughters, Eliza and Barbara[A]: "30 April -1591--Eliza, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith;" "21 November -1592--Barbara, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith." The entries are in -Latin. In some subsequent entries Marmaduke Warde is described as of -Newbie, _e.g._: "5 Nov. 1594--Ellyn, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of -Newbie."] - -[Footnote A: Eliza was probably Elizabeth Warde, and Ellyn--Teresa -Warde.] - -[Footnote 69:--Newby was spelt "Newbie" at that time. Newby adjoins the -village of Skelton. Mulwith is about a mile from Newby.] - -[Footnote 70:--See vol. v., p. 681.] - -[Footnote 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, -brought up a Roman 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 Morley barony was created in 1299.--See Burke's -"_Extinct Peerages_," and Horace Round'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 Yelverton (one of the -well-known Yelvertons, of Norfolk) is described at the 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 for his -priesthood at the York Tyburn, 7th April, 1595, in the thirty-sixth year -of his age. Rome, in 1886, declared Henry Walpole to be "a Venerable -Servant of God."] - -[Footnote 72:--See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 73:--See vol. i., p. 244.] - -[Footnote 74:--See vol. i., p. 238.] - -[Footnote 75:--See vol. i., p. 237.] - -[Footnote 76:--Edward 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 Cromwellian 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 Warde, the daughter of -Marmaduke Warde, and niece of Thomas Warde.--See "_Life of Mary Ward_," -vol. i. - -Winefrid Wigmore, already mentioned, was cousin, once removed, to Lady -Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Wigmore, -Winefrid's father, having married her aunt, Anne Throckmorton, a daughter -of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. Lady Catesby was another daughter.--See Note -30 _supra_.] - -[Footnote 77:--As slightly supporting the contention that Lord Morley, the -father of Mounteagle, was related to, or at least connected with, the -Wards, it is to be observed that John Wright, the elder brother by the -whole blood of Ursula Ward, 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 John -and Christopher Wright were evidently called after two uncles who bore -these two names respectively.--See Norcliffe's Ed. of Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_" (Harleian Soc).] - -[Footnote 78:--To-day (April, 1901) Newby-cum-Mulwith forms one township. -Givendale is a township by itself. Along with Skelton they form a separate -ecclesiastical parish. Skelton Church, in Newby Park, is one of the most -beautiful in the county, having been erected by the late Lady Mary Vyner, -of Newby Hall. The Church is dedicated under the touching title of -"Christ, the Consoler." - -Formerly the Parish of Ripon included no less than thirty villages. At -Skelton, Aldfield, Sawley, Bishop Thornton, Monckton, 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 -"_generosus_") 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. Wheelhouse'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 "_Records_," 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 off. 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 Bishop -Thornton, once the home of the stanch old Catholic family of Walworth. -Then Mass was said in the top chamber, running the whole length of the -priest's present house. Afterwards (about 1778) followed the present stone -Chapel. Clare Lady Howard, of Glossop, built the Schools at Bishop -Thornton a few years ago. - -F. Reynard, Esquire, J.P., of Hob Green, Markington and Sunderlandwick, -Driffield, now owns Raventoftes Hall, which has a splendid view towards -Sawley, How Hill, and Ripon. It is rented by a Roman Catholic, named Mr. -F. Stubbs, who is akin to the 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 Norton, 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 Bishop -Thornton, where Miss Lascelles, Miss Butcher, and others of Mary Ward's -followers, lived a semi-conventual life during the reign of Charles II., -previously to their taking up their abode near Micklegate Bar, York.--See -"_Annals of St. Mary's Convent, York_," Edited by H. J. Coleridge, S.J. -(Burns & Oates).--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, -in the eighteenth century, from his sister, who was the wife of Colonel -Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now Stourton Castle, near Knaresbrough, the -seat of the Lord Mowbray and Stourton) and of Old Thornville, Little -Cattal, now the property of William Machin, 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 part of the nineteenth century the Darnbroughs rented Dole Bank, the -present tenant being Mr. Atkinson.] - -[Footnote 79:--I think that Thomas Warde may have been born about the -beginning 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 -his birth about the year 1558. Early marriages were characteristic of the -period. Mounteagle, for example, was married before he was eighteen. The -Ripon Registers begin in fairly regular course in 1587, though there are -fragments from 1574, but not earlier. If Christopher Wright, the plotter, -lived in Bondgate, Ripon, 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 they render the poet's -marriage with Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was little more than eighteen -and a-half years old, less startling.--See Sidney Lee's "_Life of -Shakespeare_," 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 Vaux's -"_Catechism_," Edited by T. G. 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 Vaux, who was a former Warden of -the Collegiate Church at Manchester, and with "the great Allen" and men -like Vivian Haydock--see Gillow's "_Haydock Papers_" (Burns & -Oates)--retained Lancashire in its allegiance to Rome--so that "the -jannock" Lancashire Catholics style their county, "God's County" even unto -this day.] - -[Footnote 80:--The strong and, within due limits, admirable spirit of -"clannishness" 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.R.H. The Prince of Wales, -December, 1901), and that typical Yorkshireman, Viscount Halifax, for -President. The Earl of Crewe, Lord Grantley, Sir Albert K. Rollit, Knt., -M.P., _cum multis aliis_, are members. May it flourish _ad multos annos_!] - -[Footnote 81:--In the Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.] - -[Footnote 82:--The Earl of Northumberland was fined by the Star Chamber -L30,000, ordered to forfeit all offices he held under the Crown, and to be -imprisoned in the Tower for life. He paid L11,000 of the fine; and was -released in 1621. He was the son of Henry Percy eighth Earl of -Northumberland, and nephew of "the Blessed" Thomas Percy seventh Earl of -Northumberland, and of Mary Slingsby, the wife of Francis Slingsby, of -Scriven, near Knaresbrough. Although the Earl of Northumberland that was -Star-Chambered was by his own declaration no papist, he was looked up to -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 L4,000. Guy Fawkes, for a time, was -a member of this peer's household.--See "_Calendar of State Papers, James -I._" - -Lord Stourton compounded for L1,000. - -Lord Mordaunt's fine was remitted after his death, which took place in -1608. 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 Government construed into a charge of Concealment 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 V." - -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 Ampleforth, the Gascoignes were greatly -attached to the ancient Benedictine Order, which took such remarkable root -in England through St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, and his forty -missionaries, all of whom were Benedictines.--See Taunton's "_The English -Black Monks of St. Benedict_" (Methuen & Co.); also Dr. Gasquet's standard -work on "_English Monasteries_" (John Hodges). - -It may be, perhaps, gratifying to the historic feeling of my readers to -learn that the influence of these old Yorkshire Roman Catholic families, -the Gascoignes, the Inglebies, and the Plumptons, is still felt at Bentham -and in the old Benedictine Missions of Aberford, near Barnbow, and of -Knaresbrough, near picturesque Plumpton, 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 Vale of -Mowbray, will long perpetuate the memory of the Fairfaxes, of Gilling; H. -C. Fairfax-Cholmeley, Esquire, J.P., of Brandsby Hall, now represents this -ancient family.] - -[Footnote 83:--See "_Condition of Catholics under James I._," by the Rev. -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 Yorke at Gowthwaite Hall, after the Gunpowder Treason. Gerard -left England in 1606, and there is no evidence whatever that he had -anything to do with the Plot. I do not know, for certain, how Sir John -Yorke 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 Yorkes, 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 persecution," is -about to be pulled down to make way for the Bradford Reservoir. 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 Yorkshire_" (Dent & -Co.), which latter work contains a picture of the place, a structure "rich -with the spoils of time," but, alas! destined soon to be "now no more." - -Ripley Castle, the home of the Inglebies, at the entrance to Nidderdale -(truly the Switzerland of England), still rears its ancient towers, and -still is the roof-tree of those who worthily bear an honoured historic -name for ever "to historic memory dear." - -"_From Eden Vale to the Plains of York_," by Edmund Bogg, contains -sketches of both Ripley Castle and Gowthwaite Hall. Lucas's "_Nidderdale_" -(Elliot Stock) is also well worth consulting for its account of the -dialect of this part of Yorkshire which, like the West Riding generally, -retains strong Cymric traces. There are also British characteristics in -the build and personal appearance of the people, as also in their -marvellous gift of song. The Leeds Musical Festival and its Chorus, for -example, are renowned throughout the whole musical world.] - -[Footnote 84:--It is, moreover, possible that Mounteagle may have met his -connection, and probably kinsman, Thomas Warde, at White Webbs, about the -year 1602. Mounteagle, at that time, like the Earl of Southampton and the -Earl of Rutland, was not allowed to attend Elizabeth's Court on account of -his share in the Essex tumult. He was, in fact, then mixed up with the -schemes of Father Robert Parsons' then-expiring Spanish faction among the -English Catholics. If a certain Thomas Grey, to whom Garnet at White Webbs -showed the papal breves (which the latter burnt in 1603, on James I. being -proclaimed King by applause), were the same person as Sir Thomas Gray, he -would be, most probably, a relative of Thomas Warde. For the Wardes, of -Mulwith, certainly were related to a Sir Thomas Gray.--See "_Life of Mary -Ward_," vol. i., p. 221, where it is said that, "through the Nevilles and -Gascoignes," the Wards were related to the families of Sir Ralph and Sir -Thomas Gray.[A] - -As to father Garnet showing the breves to Thomas Grey, see Foley's -"_Records_," vol. iv., p. 159, where it says:--Garnet "confesseth that in -the Queen's lifetyme he received two Breefs (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 White Webbs; whereof they seemed to be -very glad and showed it (_sic_) also unto Thomas Grey at White Webbs -before one of his journies into Scotland in the late Queen's tyme." - -It will be remembered that Thomas Percy, who married Martha Wright, Ursula -Warde's sister, was one of those who waited upon James VI. 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 Percy_," 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 stupendous determination "to see the Plot -through," a fact which I have always been very 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 with emphasis on the fact that it was "the _despised_ -beauty"--"_spretaeque_ injuria _formae_"--of Juno, the goddess, that spurred -her to such deathless hatred against the ill-starred house of Priam. What -a knowledge of the springs of human action does not this portray!] - -[Footnote A: Were Sir Ralph and Sir Thomas Gray of the Grays (or Greys), -of Chillingham, Northumberland? It may be remarked that, about the year -1597-98, Marmaduke Ward and his wife and some of his family went to live -in Northumberland, maybe at Alnwick; and as Thomas Percy was connected -with Marmaduke Ward, it is at least possible that Marmaduke Ward went -himself into Scotland on the mission to King 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 Jane Howard, daughter of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey. -Lady Margaret Neville was married to Sir Nicholas Pudsey, of -Bolton-in-Bowland, Yorkshire, I think. Lady Anne Neville was married to -David Ingleby, of Ripley, a cousin of Marmaduke Ward and of Ursula Wright. -Lady Margaret Neville conformed to the Establishment, but afterwards, I -believe, the lady relapsed to popery.--See the "_Hutton Correspondence_" -(Surtees Soc.), and "_Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers_," Edited by Sir Walter -Scott.] - -[Footnote 85:--Interesting 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 North 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, "North of the Sands."--See Stockdale's -"_Annales Caermoelenses_," p. 410, a work, I believe, now out of -print.--Stockdale says that in the old Holker Hall (which seems to have -been built by George Preston, in the reign of James I.), 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-of-arms, namely:--Those of (1) King James I., -with the lion and unicorn as supporters. (2) The Preston family, younger -branch; from whom, through an heiress, the Dukes of Devonshire to-day own -the Holker estates. The younger branch of the Prestons, viz., those of -Holker, 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 Manor Furness, -were strict Roman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis -Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. The 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 "_Records_," -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 -provided for, 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 impaling Dacre; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel -having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of -the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Lord William 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 Hinderskelfe (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 parents of Lord Mounteagle, 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; William -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 Leybourne, of -Cunswick; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord -Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law, William Stanley third Lord -Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne Leybourne, and who was the -grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham. (9) -Cavendish impaling Keighley; William Cavendish first Earl of Devonshire -having married Anne Keighley, daughter of Sir Henry Keighley, of Keighley, -Yorks. (10) Keighley impaling Carus; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having -married Mary Carus, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11) -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.[A] - -Fittingly does that great master of English, Frederic Harrison, quote -approvingly, 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 never found in -the books of general history." 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.] - -[Footnote A: 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 1686, the reign of James II. - -The last Lord Morley and Mounteagle died without issue. The issue of two -aunts of the deceased baron were his representatives. One aunt was -Katherine, who married John Savage second Earl of Rivers, and had issue; -the other aunt was Elizabeth, who married Edward Cranfield. - -The present Earl of Morley, Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, -though a Parker, is of the Parkers of Devonshire, a different family from -the Parkers of Essex.] - -[Footnote 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 -Scotland" of the "woeful fight" of Flodden Field. At the funeral of that -gallant soldier and fine Scotsman, the late General Wauchope, of the -Regiment known as the Black Watch, the pipers played this plaintive air, -"The Flowers of the Forest." Who does not hope that those funereal strains -may be prophetic that, through the power of far-sighted wisdom, human -sympathy, and the healing hand of Time, there may be a reconciliation as -real and deep and true betwixt England's kinsman-foe of to-day and herself -as there is betwixt herself and her kinsman-foe of the year 1513--the year -of Flodden Field! - -See also Professor Aytoun's "Edinburgh after Flodden," in his "_Lays of -the Scottish Cavaliers_" (Routledge & Sons); also, of course, Sir Walter -Scott's well-known "Marmion."] - -[Footnote 87:--It should be remembered that Baines says that Nichols, in -his "_Progresses of James I._," describes Hornby Castle in Yorkshire, by -mistake, for the one in Lancashire. - -The sunny, balmy, health-giving watering-place of Grange-over-Sands, built -at the foot of Yewbarrow, 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 be read with interest by -those who are privileged to know that golden land of the westering sun, -the paradise of the weak of chest. - -About three miles from the Grange--so called because here was formerly a -Grange, or House, for the storing of grain by the Friars, or black Canons, -of the Augustinian Priory at Cartmel--is the square Peel Tower known as -Wraysholme Tower. In the windows of the 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 -Harringtons, which likewise became a portion of the Mounteagles' Hornby -Castle estates. All this portion of the north of England abounded in -adherents of the ancient faith up to about the time of the Gunpowder Plot. -The Duke of Guise had planned that the Spanish Armada should disembark at -the large and commodious port of the Pile of Fouldrey, in the Parish of -Dalton-in-Furness, "North of the Sands." This rock of the Pile of -Fouldrey, from which the port took its name, was not only near Adlingham -and Gleaston, but also near the Manor Furness, the seat of the elder -branch of the Prestons, from whom Mounteagle, on his mother's side, was -descended.[A]] - -[Footnote A: William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle's great-great-uncle, -James Leybourne (or Labourn), of Cunswick and Skelsmergh, in the County of -Westmoreland, was hanged, drawn, and quartered by Queen Elizabeth, in the -year 1583.--See "_The Acts of the English Martyrs_," by the Rev. J. H. -Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates).--James Leybourne is not reckoned "a Catholic -martyr" by Challoner, because he denied that Elizabeth was "his lawful -Queen." There has been a doubt as to where this gentleman suffered "a -traitor's death." Baines says that he was executed at Lancaster, that his -head was exposed on Manchester Church steeple, and that prior to his -execution Leybourne was imprisoned in the New 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 what 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 representative of this ancient Westmoreland family died -on the 9th December, 1737, aged sixty-nine years, evidently reconciled to -the faith of his ancestors.] - -[Footnote 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 1521, -but left no male heir. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Francis Neville, -of Thornton Bridge, in the Parish of Brafferton, near Boroughbridge; his -second daughter, Johanna, married Edward Musgrave, of Westmoreland; and -his third daughter, Margaret, married John Lawrence, of Barley 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.). - -I find that, along with Thomas Hallat, one Edmund Ward was Wakeman (or -Mayor) of Ripon, 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 "_Guiseley_," Yorks. (Hamilton Adams), and the "_Life of Mary -Ward_," 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 Ripon -Registers, under date the 16th December, 1594, of the burial of "Susannay -wife of Marmaduke Wayrde of Newby." (At least, so I read the entry.) When -this Marmaduke died I 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 Ripon_" (Surtees Soc.) occur -the names of Edmund Ward and Ralph Ward, both as paying dues for lands in -Skelton (p. 333). Also the "Fabric Roll for 1542" (in the same work) has -the name Marmaduke Ward. This would be the husband of Susannay, who died -in 1594, probably. So that, most likely, Marmaduke and Susannay Ward were -the parents of Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, if the latter were -brothers, as it is practically certain they were. - -I am inclined, on the whole, to think that Edmund 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.); but -it sheds no light on this question of the parentage of any of the Wards. -From Slater's "_History 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 Pulleins, of -Scotton, tells me that in the "Subsidy Roll for 1379" the names -occur:--"Johannes Warde et ux ej. ijs. Tho. Warde et ux ej. vjd Johannes -fil. Thomae Warde iiij d." So that the names John and Thomas were -evidently hereditary in the various branches of the Wardes, of Givendale -and Esholt. (18th April, 1901.)] - -[Footnote 89:--From the "_Authorised Discourse_," or "_King's Book_," we -learn that the King returned from Royston on Thursday, the 31st day of -October; that on Friday, All Hallows Day, Salisbury showed James the -Letter in the "gallerie" of the palace at Whitehall. On the following day, -Saturday, the 2nd of November, Salisbury and the Earl of Suffolk, 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 Suffolk and -Mounteagle, when they saw Fawkes, who styled himself "John Johnson," -servant to Thomas Percy, who had hired the house adjoining the Parliament -House and the aforesaid cellar also. - -Now, Mounteagle, almost certainly, must have known that there would be -this 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 opinion is -that Mounteagle _saw_ and _spoke_ to Tresham _between_ the conference of -the King, Suffolk, and Salisbury (Mounteagle being made acquainted with, -by either Suffolk or Salisbury, if he were 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, November the 2nd.] - -[Footnote 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 -which? Possibly it may have been at this meeting that Christopher Wright -recommended the conspirators to take flight in different directions. It is -observable that, so far as I am aware, Christopher Wright and John Wright -do not appear to have expressed a wish that any particular nobleman should -be warned, except Arundel. Whereas Fawkes wished Montague; Percy, -Northumberland; 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 I. in 1644. - -(Since writing the above, I have ascertained that there is no report in -any of Guy Fawkes' Confessions of this statement of Christopher Wright, -nor in his written "Confessions" does Fawkes refer to his own mother.)] - -[Footnote 91:--"_Labile tempus_"--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-Fylde, and -Rufford. Edmund Neville, one of the suitors of Mary Ward, was brought up -with the Heskeths, of Rufford. In 1581 the Mains Hall branch of the -Heskeths harboured Campion.] - -[Footnote 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 the entrance to the mine -was sealed up. No useful purpose would be served by either Mounteagle or -Ward telling the Government about the mine, which then was an "extinct -volcano."] - -[Footnote 93:--The exact words of Lingard are these:--"Winter sought a -second interview with Tresham at his house in Lincoln's Inn Walks, and -returned to Catesby with the following answer: That the existence of the -mine had been communicated to the Ministers. This Tresham said he knew: -but by whom the discovery had been made he knew not." - -Lingard does not give his authority, but probably he got the material for -this important passage from "_Greenway's_ (_vere_ Tesimond's) _MS._" It is -an historical desideratum that this MS. should be published. Mounteagle, -conceivably, may have falsely told Tresham that the Government 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, whatever may have been their precise nature. -Mounteagle possibly said something about "the mine," and that the -Parliament Houses would be with minuteness searched far and near. This -would be quite sufficient to inflame the already heated imagination of -Tresham, and he 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 the distraught Tresham as one reads -the relation of his second interview with Winter. Then from the pulsations -of _one_ human heart, O, Earth's governors and ye governed, learn _all_. -For the study of true History is big with mighty lessons and "he that hath -ears let him hear." Let him hear that Truth and Right, 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 his heart and will. And _these_ two faculties are -likewise of divine original and have severally a voice which perpetually -bids man, poor wounded man, "be pitiful, be courteous" to his fellows. For -human life at best is "hard," is "brief," and "piercing are its sorrows."] - -[Footnote 94:--The meeting between Catesby, Winter, and Tresham, at -Barnet, on the road to White Webbs, was on Friday, the 1st of November, -the day the Letter was shown to the King.] - -[Footnote 95:--Or, Mounteagle may have thought that, as it would be -meritorious in Percy supposing he 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 -Percy were involved in the meshes of the law for the part that, I hold, -Mounteagle _by_ Christopher Wright _through_ Thomas Warde then _knew_ for -a fact, Percy, and indeed all his confederates, had taken in the nefarious -enterprise. Such a train of thought may have flashed through 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 Warde's and his own connections: for Percy, as well as the Wrights, -would be a connection of Mounteagle, through the Stanleys, Percies, -Gascoignes, Nortons, Nevilles, and Wardes, who were all more or less -allied by marriages entered into within the last few generations. Percy -would be about Thomas Warde'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 Warde 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 -wisdom that Warde would carry with him up to the great metropolis from his -"native heather" of Yorkshire.] - -[Footnote 96:--Ben Jonson was "reconciled" to the Church of Rome either in -1593 or 1594. After, and probably on account of, the Plot he left the -Church, whose "exacting claims" he had "on trust" accepted. Possibly it -was under the influence of Jonson's example that Mounteagle wrote the -letter to the King, given in the Rev. John Gerard's "_What was the -Gunpowder Plot?_" p. 256. Mounteagle, however, died in the Church of Rome, -and the Article in the "_National Dictionary of Biography_" says that he -had a daughter a nun. Belike, she was a member of the Institute of "The -English Virgins," for the name "Parker" is mentioned in Chambers' "_Life -of Mary Ward_."[A] There has been recently (1900) published a smaller -"_Life of Mary Ward_," by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), with a Preface -by Bishop Hedley, 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 & Oates), with a Preface by the late Henry James Coleridge, -S.J. (brother to the late Lord Coleridge). May I express the hope that -these two learned authoresses will cause the Ward Papers, at Nymphenburg, -near Munich, in Germany (that are extant), to be carefully examined afresh -to see if they contain anything about Thomas Warde, Mary's uncle, and -anything further about her connection, through the 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 the -truest eloquence--the eloquence of Fact--it teaches mankind for all time.] - -[Footnote A: 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.] - -[Footnote 97:--Born Lord Thomas Howard, brother to Lord William Howard, of -Naworth, 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_."] - -[Footnote 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 -"_King's Book_" 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 what a perfect tutoring Mounteagle had received -from his mentor to qualify him to play so well his part in life at this -supreme juncture. Thomas Ward was evidently a consummate diplomatist. If -he had been trained under Walsingham he would certainly "know a thing or -two."] - -[Footnote 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, duly noted by -the small and timid, yet sharp, mind of James. But 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 Book_," for the most part, is drawn up. A re-publication of the -"_King's Book_," and of "_The Fawkeses, of York_," by R. Davies, sometime -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 anybody (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 -outhouse adjoining the 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, would be carried in -first._) - -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 -Westminster.--See Nichols' "_Progresses of James I._," vol. i., p. -582.--Escrick is now the seat of the Lord Wenlock.] - -[Footnote 100:--"_Hatfield MS._," 110, 30. Quoted in "the Rev. J. H. -Pollen's S.J., thoughtful and learned booklet, entitled "_Father Garnet -and the Gunpowder Plot_" (Catholic Truth Society's publication, London).] - -[Footnote 101:--See Jardine's Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., -Feb., 1841, in "_Archaeologia_," vol. xxix., p. 100. This letter should be -carefully read by every serious student of the Plot.] - -[Footnote 102:--Sir William Stanley, of Hooton (in that strip of Cheshire -between the Mersey and the Dee), was not seen by Fawkes between Easter and -the end of August, 1605, when Fawkes went over to Flanders for the last -time in his career so adventurous and so pathetic. Sir William knew -nothing of the Gunpowder Plot. It was said that he surrendered Deventer in -pursuance of the counsel of Captain Roland Yorke, 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 business, and one -would like the whole question to be thoroughly and severely searched into -again. As to Roland Yorke, see Camden's "_Queen Elizabeth_." - -Captain Roland Yorke, like his patron Sir William Stanley, was an able -soldier. He 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 Robert second Earl of Essex. She became a Roman Catholic, like her -kinsman, the gifted and engaging Father Walsingham, S.J. Frances -Walsingham, the only child of Sir Francis Walsingham, became a Catholic, I -think, through her third marriage with Richard De Burgh fourth Earl of -Clanricarde, afterwards Earl of St. Albans. He was also known as Richard -of Kinsale and Lord Dunkellin. He 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 whether or not there was a -_Thomas Warde_ 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. Warde" mentioned by Walsingham, in -his letter to the Earl of Leicester, must have been this Thomas Warde, and -one and the same man with Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith). It is to -be remembered, too, that the Gunpowder conspirator, Thomas Winter, had -served in the Queen's forces against the Spanish King for a time. The -names Rowland Yorke, Thomas Vavasour, Sir Thomas Heneage, and Thomas -Winter are very suggestive of the circle in which a Warde, of Mulwith, -Newby, and Givendale, would move. Besides, there was a family connection -between the Parkers, Poyntzes, and Heneages.--See "_Visitation of Essex, -1612_" (Harleian 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_," p. 92, also says that Thomas Ward was an intimate -friend of several of the conspirators, and _suspected_ to have been an -accomplice in the treason. That would imply that Ward was suspected to -have had at least a _knowledge_ of the treason.] - -[Footnote 103:--Mary Ward, the daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula -Wright, lived with her grandmother, Mrs. Ursula Wright (_nee_ Rudston, of -Hayton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire), between the years 1589-94 at -Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Holderness, Yorkshire; and between the years -1597-1600 at Harewell Hall, in the township of Dacre, Nidderdale, with her -kinswoman, Mrs. Katerine Ardington (_nee_ Ingleby). Mrs. Ardington, as -well as Mrs. Ursula Wright, had suffered imprisonment for her profession -of the ancient faith. We 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 much 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., p. 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 Rivers Wharfe and Ouse known as the Ainsty of the -City of York. This dungeon was, according to Gent's "_History of York_," -under the York City Council Chamber on Old Ouse Bridge, to the westward of -St. William's Chapel.--See also J. B. Milburn's "_A Martyr of Old York_" -(Burns & Oates).--The Old Ouse Bridge was pulled down in 1810.--See -Allen's "_History of Yorkshire_"--After the Kidcote was demolished, the -York 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 William 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. William 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 -City lock-up prison about the year 1836, soon after which year it was -pulled down. The late Mr. Richard Haughton, 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--"_Life of Mary Ward_," vol. i., p. 17--that one day -Mary came to her grandmother, "who was singing some hymns," and the child -asked the old lady whether she would not send "something again to the -prisoners," a question, we are told, which "pleased" Mrs. Wright "very -much." - -Lastly, the gifted daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and the niece of Thomas -Ward, bears this striking testimony concerning one aspect of her aged -relative's gracious life, that "so great a prayer was she" that during the -whole five years that the child lived with her grandmother, the most of -which time she lodged in the same chamber, she "did not remember in that -whole five years she ever saw her grandmother sleep, nor did she ever -awake when she perceived her not at prayer" (p. 15).] - -[Footnote 104:--Maybe Christopher Wright, from his earliest school-days, -had with reverence looked up to Edward Oldcorne, for the latter was the -senior of the former by no less than ten years, so that when Oldcorne was -a clever youth of fifteen years Christopher would be a little fellow of -five, "with his satchel and shining morning-face," though we may be -permitted to hope that little Kit Wright did not "creep like snail -unwillingly to school." For it was at a school second to none in England -that the future ill-fated Yorkshireman learned to con his "_hic, haec, -hoc_." It was a school originally founded by Egbert, Archbishop of York, -in the eighth century, and which, as the Cathedral Grammar School, had -been rendered famous by Alcuin himself, the tutor of Charlemagne. It was a -school re-founded and re-endowed in the Horse Fayre, now Union Terrace, on -the left-hand side going down Gillygate, outside Bootham Bar, by King -Philip and Queen Mary, especially for the training of priests for the -northern parts.--See in Leach's "_Endowed Schools of Yorkshire_" for an -account concerning St. Peter's School, Clifton, York, but no register of -scholars of this ancient seat of learning now exists prior to the year -1828. (Title deeds and writings lent by Mrs. Martha Lancaster, of York, -have enabled me to identify the site of the old school.) - -It is, I take it, furthermore possible that Edward Oldcorne may have -taught Christopher Wright; and if the relation of pedagogue and scholar -ever subsisted between them, a bond of mutual regard would be created -which the lapse of long years would not weaken. For an account of the kind -of education given in a Grammar School in "the spacious days of Good Queen -Bess," see Dr. Elze's "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Bell & Sons), also H. W. -Mabie's very recent and able American "_Life of Shakespeare_" -(Macmillan).] - -[Footnote 105:--"_Surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam ei: Pater, -peccavi in caelum et coram te!_" "I will arise."] - -[Footnote 106:--Possibly the Earl of Northumberland. He was (it will be -remembered) the son of Henry the eighth Earl, and nephew to "the Blessed" -Thomas Percy the seventh Earl, and likewise nephew to Mary Slingsby, of -Scriven, Knaresbrough. Sir Kenelin Digby, the eldest son of Sir Everard -Digby, married the beautiful Venetia Stanley, who was descended from "the -Blessed" Thomas Percy. The helmet and gauntlets of this nobleman were kept -at the handsome old Church of St. Crux, in The Pavement, York, which was -pulled down a few years ago. Thomas Longueville, Esquire, of Llanforda -Hall, Oswestry, Salop, through the Lady Venetia Digby, is descended from -"the Blessed" Thomas Percy, as are several other families, including the -Peacocks, of Bottesford Manor, Lincolnshire, I believe. Mr. Longueville is -the learned author of the "_Lives_" of his ancestors, Sir Everard and Sir -Kenelm Digby.] - -[Footnote 107:--We know that on the 5th day of October, two days after the -prorogation of Parliament, Christopher Wright quitted his lodging, in Spur -Alley, where he had been for eighteen days prior to the 5th October.--See -"Evidence of Dorathie Robinson," p. 128 _ante_.] - -[Footnote 108:--John Wright was acknowledged to be one of the most expert -swordsmen of his time. He was commonly known as "Jack Wright," and his -brother as "Kit Wright." Father Garnet says, in a voluntary statement that -he made in the Tower--Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 157--"'These are -not God's knights, but the devil's knights.' And related how Jack Wright -had sent a challenge by Thomas Winter to a gentleman." The duel, however, -did not come off, though Winter measured swords. Winter appears to have -fulfilled the happy office of peace-maker on the occasion. (What "strange -mixtures" these English and Yorkshire papist gentlemen were, to be sure!)] - -[Footnote 109:--See Article in "_National Dictionary of Biography_" on -"John Wright" (citing Camden in "_Birch Original Letters_") second series, -vol. iii., p. 179.] - -[Footnote 110:--Afterwards the great Viscount Verulam, commonly known as -Lord Bacon. Bacon's particular friend and familiar was Sir Toby Matthews, -the eldest son of Dr. Tobias Matthews, in 1606 created Archbishop of York. -Sir Toby translated Bacon's "_Essays_" into Italian.--See Spedding's -"_Life of Bacon_," and Alban Butler's "_Life of Matthews_."--Sir Toby -Matthews (in the February of 1605-6, just after the Plot) was converted to -popery by Father Robert Parsons, who was then at the English College, -Rome; and Matthews' was, without doubt, the most remarkable and -interesting of all the conversions effected by that strong-minded and most -able Jesuit. Parsons' intellect was one of marvellous range, reach, -versatility, and power. He was a spiritual or mystical man in his way, -too; but his spirituality or mysticism not seldom failed to control his -action in daily life. It was shut up, as it were, in a watertight -compartment. This (_me judice_) sums up, approximately, the truth about -Parsons. Of all the men in Europe, Parsons was the man Burleigh, -Walsingham, and Salisbury most feared. He died in 1610. A really impartial -Life of Parsons, if possible, by a learned lawyer and politician, is a -desideratum. In some of his political ideas this Jesuit was a progressive -born prematurely--"a man before his time." For he believed thoroughly in -the sovereignty of the People, and in the desirableness of universal -education. In this latter respect he resembled "that good lady, Mary -Ward," the daughter of Marmaduke Ward, and niece of Thomas Ward (_ex -hypothesi_). Campion, the Jesuit, who died a martyr in 1581, was much the -more amiable and attractive character. But Campion was no politician. -Oldcorne, I maintain, was the greatest of all the three, because of his -extraordinary mental equipoise and balance. - -"_The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773_," by the Rev. Ethelred -L. Taunton, with twelve illustrations (Methuen & Co., 1901), in some sort -supplies a Life of Robert Parsons. But evidently the Jesuit Society is an -enigma to Father Taunton, as to so many papists. A man must be a jurist -and a statesman to understand the Jesuits. For their aim (_me judice_), -their noble aim, ever has been to make the "Kingdoms of the world the -Kingdoms of God and of His Christ." - -If a delusion, surely a delusion merely, not a crime, the most puissant -spirit among us must allow. - -James Robert Hope-Scott, Q.C., thought that the Jesuits were the backbone -of the Church of his adoption. And Dr. Christopher Wordsworth (no mean -judge) thought that Hope-Scott might have become a more popular Prime -Minister than even W. E. Gladstone, had he chosen a political career. -Wordsworth was Hope-Scott's tutor at Oxford.--See Dr. Christopher -Wordsworth's "_Autobiography_."--He was Bishop of St. Andrews, N.B., and -as a classical scholar almost without a peer.] - -[Footnote 111:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 112:--"_Narrative_" p. 57. As appears from the Lives of Mary -Ward, Father Gerard had known Mary Ward when a child in Yorkshire. Hence -he probably knew her uncles, John and Christopher Wright, and also Thomas -Percy. - -Mary Ward was one of the greatest women-educationists and, in a sense, -women's rights advocates England has ever seen. She ought to figure in the -Supplement to the "_National Dictionary of Biography_." The following -word-portrait of Mary Warde we owe to the skilful hand of her kinswoman, -the gifted Winefrid Wigmore, a cousin once removed to Lady Mounteagle. It -is as Mary Ward, that wonderful Yorkshire-woman, appeared in the year -which witnessed the death of Shakespeare (1616). Perhaps the poet knew -her; if so, no wonder he knew how to describe queenly souls. "She was -rather tall (was Mary), but her figure was symmetrical. Her complexion was -delicately beautiful, her countenance and aspect most agreeable, mingled -with I know not what which was attractive.... Her presence and -conversation were most winning, her manners courteous. It was a general -saying 'She became whatsoever she wore or did.' Her voice in speaking was -very grateful, and in song melodious. In her demeanour and carriage, an -angelic modesty was united to a refined ease and dignity of manner, that -made even princes[A] find great satisfaction, yea, profit, in conversing -with her. Yet, these were withal without the least affectation, and were -accompanied with such meekness and humility as gave confidence to the -poorest and most miserable. There was nothing she did seem to have more -horror of than there should be anything in herself or hers that might put -a bar to the free access of any who should be in need of ought in their -power to bestow." - -No wonder that--with a brother to the right of him like Marmaduke Ward, -and with a niece to the left oL him like Mary Ward, "that great soul," who -in after years, "in a plenitude of vision planned high deeds as immortal -as the sun"[B]--Thomas Warde, the husband for eleven brief years (lacking -nine days) of Margery Warde (born Slater), was instrumental, under Heaven, -in giving effect to the all but too late repentance of the penitent, -Christopher Wright!] - -[Footnote A: Mary Ward was the friend or acquaintance of some of the -greatest men and women in Europe. She was a friend of Queen Henrietta -Maria, the wife of Charles I. and daughter of Henry Bourbon, better known -as "King Harry of Navarre."--See Macaulay's poem, "_Ivry_."] - -[Footnote B: Line borrowed from Lord Bowen.--See his magnificent poem, -entitled, "Shadowland," p. 214 of his "_Life_," by Sir Henry Stewart -Cunningham, K.C.I.E. (Murray).] - -[Footnote 113:--The second Edition is dated 1681. The Pamphlet was by a -Dr. Williams, afterwards Bishop of Chichester.--See "_National Dictionary -of Biography_."] - -[Footnote 114:--The report would be at least second-hand, and it might be -much more. For example, if Mr. Abington saw his wife write the Letter and -told the worthy person what he (Abington) had by the evidence of his own -eyes ascertained, then the worthy person would have the evidence at -first-hand. Any person to whom the worthy person conveyed the intelligence -would have it at second-hand, and so on. But if Mr. Abington had not seen -his wife write the Letter, but had only been told by his wife that she had -writ the Letter, then, although Abington would be a witness at first-hand -_as to the bare fact of such a report having been made_, he would be only -a witness at second-hand _as to the truth of the report_; for Mrs. -Abington, in herself reporting, might have spoken falsely either wilfully -or through mental defect.] - -[Footnote 115:--Vol. i., p. 585.] - -[Footnote 116:--Jardine's "_Narrative_," p. 83.] - -[Footnote 117:--Jardine's "_Narrative_" p. 84.] - -[Footnote 118:--William Abington's chief poem was "Castara," sung in -praise of his wife, the Honourable Lucia Powys. In the recent "_Oxford -Book of English Verse_," selected by Quiller-Couch (Clarendon Press), -there is a fine philosophic poem of the younger Abington (or Habington), -entitled "_Nox nocti indicat scientiam_." John Amphlett, Esq., has edited -the elder Abington's (or Habington's) "_Survey of Worcestershire_," with a -valuable introduction, for the Worcestershire Historical Society.] - -[Footnote 119:--It is, moreover, possible that, through her brother's good -offices with the Government, Mrs. Abington had a sight of the Letter -itself. If so, she would have been almost sure to detect the general -similarity of the handwriting, notwithstanding the disguise, with the -handwriting of Father Oldcorne, handwriting she must have known familiarly -enough, to say nothing of the particular similarity in the case of certain -of the letters. - -As showing that, when at Hindlip, Father Oldcorne came into Mrs. -Abington's company, the following quotation may be given from one of -Father Oldcorne's Declarations, dated 6th March, 1605-6:--"Both Garnett -and he when there were no straungers did ordinarilye dyne and supp with -Mr. Abington and his wyfe in the dyninge chamber."] - -[Footnote 120:--Some idea of the feeling that Mrs. Abington and her -husband must have had for this able and upright Jesuit, a true Jesuit in -whom there was no guile, may be gathered from the following, which is -taken from Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 213:--"Father Edward -Oldcorne, S.J., came to Hindlip in the month of February or March, 1589, -Mr. Richard Abington keeping house there at the time, who by the advice of -other Catholics, then sojourning with him, sent into Warwickshire for the -said Father to talk with Mrs. Dorothy Abington, his sister, about her -religion, who, at the time living in the house with her brother Richard, -was a very obstinate and perverse heretic, and had left the Court of -Elizabeth, where she was brought up, to come and live with her brother -principally." We are told that Miss Abington desired to have speech on the -subject of religion with some more than ordinarily learned Catholic. -"Father Oldcorne being sent for to that end, and after some earnest -discourses with her for the space of two days, and having yielded her full -satisfaction in all points of religion, and showed such gravity, zeal, -learning, and prudence in his proceeding with her that she was astonished -thereat, and was unable to make any reply of contradiction to what he -propounded to her."--From a MS. at Stonyhurst, Anglia, vol. vi., -attributed to Father Thomas Lister, S.J. - -Another manuscript account of Father Oldcorne says that he fasted and -prayed for three days for the sake of this lady's conversion to the -Catholic faith; after the third day he fell down from exhaustion, and yet -a fourth day's fasting followed. Then the lady was converted and "became a -sharer and participant in the incredible fruit which he reaped in that -county," _i.e._, Worcestershire.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. -213. - -Father Gerard, in his "_Narrative_" of the Plot, says that the Government -accused Father Oldcorne "of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should -seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their act." The -Government had this report from a certain Humphrey Littleton, concerning -whom we shall learn more hereafter. - -Richard, Thomas, and Dorothy Abington were brothers and sister -respectively to Edward Abington, who suffered, in 1587, as one of the -fellow-conspirators of Anthony Babington, a distinguished and captivating -gentleman from Dethick, a chapelry or hamlet in the Parish of Ashover, in -the County of Derbyshire. In the Parish Church of Ashover may be still -seen monuments to members of the Babington family. (Communicated to me by -my partner, Mr. G. Laycock Brown, Solicitor, of York.) - -The history of the romantic but ill-fated Babington conspiracy requires to -be impartially re-written, and to this end diligent search should be made -to find, if possible, the alleged contemporary history of that curious, -ill-starred movement, which is said to have been written by the gifted -Jesuit martyr, "the Venerable" Robert Southwell, S.J., the author of that -exquisitely imaginative and tender poem, "The Burning Babe," an -Elizabethan gem of the highest genius.--See the "_Oxford Book of English -Verse_;" also Dr. Grossart's Edition of Southwell's Poetical Works, and -Turnbull's Edition likewise.--A good Life of Southwell is a desideratum.] - -[Footnote 121:--It is obviously unnecessary either in the former part or -in the latter part of this Inquiry to assign separate logical divisions -for the case of Thomas Ward. His evidence is common to both, and will -appear in due course of this investigation.] - -[Footnote 122:--Thomas Winter lodged apparently at an inn known by the -sign of the "Duck and Drake," in St. Clement's Parish, in the Strand. This -fact is proved by the testimony of John Cradock, a cutler, who deposed on -the 6th of November, before the Lord Chief Justice Popham, that he had -engraved the story of the Passion of Christ on two sword hilts for Mr. -Rookwood and Mr. Winter, and on a third sword hilt for another gentleman, -"a black man," of that company, of about forty years of age. The Winter -here referred to, no doubt, was Thomas, not Robert, the elder brother. - -For Cradock's evidence _in extenso_, see Appendix; also for evidence of -Richard Browne, servant to Christopher Wright; also for letter of Popham, -the Chief Justice to Salisbury, as to Christopher Wright; also for -evidence of William Grantham as to purchase by Christopher Wright of -beaver hats at the shop of a hatter, named Hewett.] - -[Footnote 123:--This emphatic "surely all is lost," of Christopher Wright, -is worthy of notice, as indicating the certitude of his frame of mind. -Now, "certitude" is the offspring of knowledge, and therefore of belief, -and when it is not the life is the death of Hope, an emotion Wright had -then clearly abandoned. Hence we may justly infer a special consciousness -on Christopher Wright's part as to the genesis of the fact that the game -was indeed up, thanks to the infatuated behaviour of his brother-in-law, -Thomas Percy: "up" to all and singular the plotters' fatal undoing; yet, -after all, traceable back indirectly to Christopher Wright's own repentant -act and deed! Truly the repentant wrong-doer suffers temporal punishment -by the everlasting Law of Retribution, which lives for ever!] - -[Footnote 124:--Was this said by Christopher Wright on Sunday, the 3rd of -November, at the meeting behind St. Clement's? There is none such -statement recorded by Fawkes in any of his Declarations or Confessions in -the Record Office, London.] - -[Footnote 125:--See H. Speight's "_Nidderdale_" (Elliot Stock), p. 344. -The title of this interesting work is "_Nidderdale and the Garden of the -Nidd; A Yorkshire Rhineland_": being a complete account, historical, -scientific, and descriptive, of the beautiful Valley of the Nidd.--See -also "_Connoisseur_" for November, 1901.] - -[Footnote 126:--Christopher Wright must have known well the great family -of Hildyard, of Winestead, near Patrington. General Sir H. J. T. Hildyard, -K.C.B., is a scion of this ancient house. The Hildyards are mentioned in -the "_Hatfield MSS._"] - -[Footnote 127:--This good woman's evidence proves that on the 5th of -October Wright left her lodgings. Now, my suggestion is that Christopher -Wright, after quitting Spurr Alley, went down into Warwickshire, probably -to Lapworth. That thence he repaired to Hindlip Hall, four miles from -Worcester, to have his interview with Father Oldcorne. Rookwood went to -Clopton, close to Stratford-on-Avon, and not far from both Lapworth and -Hindlip, soon after Michaelmas, _i.e._, the 11th of October (old style). -That about Michaelmas the diplomatic Thomas Warde came into Warwickshire -and Worcestershire to interview Father Oldcorne, and give full assurance -to the Jesuit that he, Warde, as diplomatic go-between, would vouch for -the conveyance of the Letter, on receipt of the same, to the Government -authorities. That the shrewd, diplomatic Warde, all eyes and ears, from -what he was ear-witness and eye-witness of at Lapworth, sent post-haste -for his brother, Marmaduke Ward, of Newbie. Most probably William Ward, -Marmaduke Ward's son, was at this time on a visit to his uncle Thomas in -London.--See Kyddall's evidence as to "William Ward, nephew to Mr. -Wright."--The boy was sent down to Lapworth on November the 5th, the fatal -Tuesday, in the charge of Kyddall. It is possible that William Ward, -however, came up into Warwickshire along with his father and half-sister -Mary. If so, he must have gone up to London between Marmaduke Ward's going -to Lapworth and the flight of "uncle Christopher" on the 5th; for there is -no evidence that William Ward accompanied Christopher Wright and Kyddall -up to London on Monday, the 28th of October. Kyddall styles William Ward -"nephew to Mr. Wright." Now, this designation would be, by common usage, -accurate if Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward; otherwise, supposing -William Ward's mother was Elizabeth Sympson, it would not be; for Ursula -Wright would be naught akin to William Ward.] - -[Footnote 128:--Mr. Jackson, "mine host" of "the Salutation," probably -meant between a week and a fortnight when he said "about a fortnight." -"Many things had happened since then," so Mr. Jackson might easily fancy a -longer time had elapsed than was really the case. For Kyddall's evidence -shows that Christopher Wright was at Lapworth on the 24th October, and -that he did not reach London till the 30th (Wednesday). On Wednesday -Wright may have again called for his quart of sack or for the foaming -tankard of the nut-brown ale, partly with a view to ascertaining whether -or not any tidings had "leaked out" as to the Letter received by -Salisbury, though, as a fact, it was not shown to the King until Friday, -the 1st of November. Christopher Wright's last visit to "the Salutation" -was, belike, what is styled nowadays "a pop visit." - -At Patrington, in Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, there is -to-day (May, 1901) an ancient hostelry known by the sign of the "Dog and -Duck." At this house, I doubt not, both John and Christopher Wright full -many a time and oft had quenched their thirst and heard and discussed the -rural gossip of their day; for Plowland Hall was only about a mile distant -from the "Dog and Duck" and its good cheer. The "Hildyard Arms" and the -"Holderness" Inn, Patrington, may have been likewise, belike, favourite -haunts of theirs, for human nature is pretty much the same generation -after generation. And even our social habits bind us to the Past. What -thoughts crowd into the mind when one makes a visit to the "Dog and Duck," -at Patrington, within a short walk of Plowland Hall! - -It is possible that, between the reigns of Elizabeth and Victoria, -Plowland Hall was reduced to smaller proportions than it had been in the -days of John and Christopher Wright. This was the case with Ugthorpe Hall, -the seat of the Catholic Ratcliffes, near Whitby, situate in a lovely -little dingle or dell amid the Cleveland Moors; also it was the case with -Grosmont House, the seat of the Catholic Hodgsons, near Whitby, situate -near and almost laved by the rushing waters of the Yorkshire Esk.] - -[Footnote 129:--Father Henry Garnet knew John Wright, but, according to -Garnet's testimony, he did not know Christopher Wright, a fact which alone -tends to show that the younger Wright was essentially a subordinate -conspirator; for certainly Father Garnet knew, more or less, all the -principal plotters, namely, Catesby, Thomas Winter, John Wright, Percy, -and even Fawkes, whom he once saw, and to whom he gave letters of -introduction when Fawkes went to Flanders, in 1605, to see Stanley and -Owen.] - -[Footnote 130:--Father Hart was captured, along with Father John Percy -(alias Fisher, afterwards famous for his controversy with Archbishop Laud, -who could not "abide" the Jesuits), at the house of Lord Vaux of -Harrowden. Hart was banished for a time, but died in England, in 1650, -aged seventy-two. - -Query--Did Hart make any communication to Bellarmine or Eudaemon-Joannes, I -wonder?] - -[Footnote 131:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_;" vol ii., p. 166.] - -[Footnote 132:--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. i., p. 173, citing -"Gunpowder Plot Book," No. 177. Eudaemon-Joannes, in his "_Apologia_" for -Henry Garnet, gives reasons why Father Hart, S.J., may have thus acted. -Dr. Abbott, in his "_Antilogia_," in reply to Eudaemon-Joannes, answers -Joannes at great length.] - -[Footnote 133:--Vol. ii., p. 120. It may be here stated that by the Common -Law of England a confessor was obliged to reveal the fact to the -Government in the case of his receiving from a penitent the confession of -the heinous crime of High Treason. - -Garnet said that "the priest is bound to find all lawful means to hinder -and discover it, but that the seal of the Confessional must be saved, -_salvo sigillo confessionis_."--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. -162.--It seems to me that this statement of Garnet is of the utmost -importance.] - -[Footnote 134:--Afterwards the well-known Lord Coke, the famous Editor of -Judge Littleton's work on "_Tenures_."--For a diverting account of Coke -and his domestic infelicities see Lord Macaulay's Essay on "Lord Bacon."] - -[Footnote 135:--Catesby, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Thomas Percy -were already dead; the two first were slain at Holbeach; Christopher -Wright and Thomas Percy both were wounded unto death at the same place; -but certainly Percy and possibly Christopher Wright actually breathed -their last a day or two afterwards. Query--Where were the bodies of these -four men interred? Were they first quartered as traitors according to law? - -Tresham died in the Tower, but his body was quartered, and its members -exposed at Northampton in the usual way.] - -[Footnote 136:--Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 135. This of -the learned Attorney-General reminds one of the late Lord Bowen's witty -saying: "Truth will out; even in an Affidavit!"] - -[Footnote 137:--Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the Jesuits in England, -said that he considered the authors of the Gunpowder Treason were not only -deserving of the punishment that some of them had undergone, but even a -more severe one, if possible.--See Foley's "_Records_."] - -[Footnote 138:--Fonblanque, in his "_Annals of the House of Percy_," in -the chapter dealing with Thomas Percy, expresses the opinion that the -Government's behaviour was comparatively mild, regard being had to the -atrocious nature of the designment against the King and Parliament. Such -is candidly my own opinion, and this, although I remember that James's -Oath of Allegiance and very tyrannical anti-recusant legislation were the -dire consequences of the Plot, which (_me judice_)--far more than the -Marian burnings, the Elizabethan Acts of Supremacy, of Uniformity, -Constructive Treason, and the Spanish Armada, all put together--led -finally to England's being "bereft" of what to a Roman Catholic is "the -one true faith." - -In regard to James's Oath of Allegiance (1609), it is to be recollected -that while strict Roman Catholics, whether "Jesuitized" or not, refused to -take the oath, some Catholics thought they might lawfully take it. Among -such was the Arch-priest, Blackwell, who, however, was deposed from his -office, as, in general terms, Rome condemned the oath. "The sting" of this -famous oath was "in its tail;" inasmuch as it not only contained a -disclaimer of the deposing power of the Pope, but declared that the -doctrine of the deposing power was "impious, heretical, and damnable." It -is remarkable that all the Roman Catholic peers took the Oath of -Allegiance, except Lord Teynham, a collateral descendant of William Roper, -the husband of Margaret More. - -"An apostate" Jesuit, named Sir Christopher Perkins, aided in framing this -searching test, so the Government knew exactly how to get the unhappy -papist recusants tightly within their grip. (Perkins, like Sir Edwin -Sandys, a philosophic friend of Sir Toby Matthews, was an incipient -rationalist. Shakespeare may have known Sir Toby Matthews.) - -For valuable information (derived from an unpublished manuscript) as to -the working of this Oath of Allegiance, see the late Richard Simpson's -Article, entitled, "A Glimpse of the Working of the Penal Laws," in "_The -Rambler_," vol. vi., p. 401 (1856). If this Article has not been printed -separately, it ought to be. In it occur the names Middleton, Gascoigne, -Ingleby, Whitham, Cholmeley, Vavasour, Dolman, Mennell (or Meynell), and -Catterick, of Yorkshire; Preston and Towneley, of Lancashire; Tichbourne, -of Hampshire; Wiseman, of Essex; Gage, of Sussex; Vaux, of -Northamptonshire; Throckmorton, of Warwickshire; Tregean, of Cornwall; -Plowden, of Shropshire; Morgan, of Monmouthshire; Edwards, of Flintshire; -together with other English and Welsh names, which can be only described -as synonymous with honour, high-mindedness, heroism, and all goodness.] - -[Footnote 139:--James Usher[A] (1581-1656), Protestant Archbishop of -Armagh, was an Anglo-Irishman, who was "learned to a miracle," so the -great English Jurist, Seldon, said.--See "Usher," "_National Dictionary of -Biography_."--Usher was, through his mother, who became a Roman Catholic, -a grandson of James Stanihurst (Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the -Irish House of Commons), whose family were the patrons of Edmund Campion, -when in Ireland. The great orator wrote his history of that country after -leaving Oxford, and before going to Douay. Usher crossed over to England -in 1602. He held in the University of Dublin, in 1607, a divinity -professorship, worth L8 a year, which was founded by Mr. James Cotterell, -who died in York. Now, I find from the Register of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, -York, that there is a record of the burial of a "Mr. James Cotterell--in -the mynster--the 29th day of August, 1595." This, I have no doubt, was the -self-same gentleman as the "Mr. Cotterell," from whose house, on the 29th -day of May, 1579, Thomas Warde made M'gery Slater "his true and honourable -wife;" and the same Mr. James Cotterell as founded the Dublin divinity -professorship. Dr. Usher knew personally Lord Mordaunt, the son of the -Lord Mordaunt who died in the Tower in 1608; and also, according to the -"_National Dictionary of Biography_," Father Oswald Tesimond. If so, it is -_possible_ that Usher knew personally Lord Mounteagle and Thomas Warde, -and it may be it was from them that he gathered hints upon which he -founded his oracular statement. (I desire here to express my sense of -obligation to the Rev. E. S. Carter, M.A., the Vicar of St. -Michael-le-Belfrey, York, who most kindly and generously gifted me with a -copy of his singularly valuable "_Parish Register_" Part I., edited by Dr. -Francis Collins, from which I have obtained that item of domestic -information so valuable as a leading clue for the purposes of this -Inquiry, namely, the marriage of Thomas Warde, of Mulwaith.)] - -[Footnote A: "_The Life of Archbishop Usher_" by Barnard (1656), however, -does not bear out the statement of the Author of the Article on "Usher" in -the "_National Dictionary of Biography_." For Barnard says that the Jesuit -who debated at Drayton, in Northamptonshire, with Archbishop Usher, was -called "Beaumond," but that his real name was Rookwood, and that he was a -brother of Ambrose Rookwood, the Gunpowder plotter. The debate was -arranged by Lord Mordaunt (afterwards the Earl of Peterborough), to the -end that his wife, the Lady Mordaunt, a daughter of the Earl of -Nottingham, might become convinced of the soundness of the exacting claims -of the Church of Rome. The upshot was that not only was the Lady Mordaunt -_not_ convinced, but that the Lord Mordaunt himself became a Protestant! -The topics for discussion were:--Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, -Images, and the Visibility of the Church. According to Barnard, Beaumond -at the third day of meeting sent to excuse himself, saying, "That all the -arguments he had framed within his own head, and thought he had them as -perfect as his _'Pater noster_,' he had forgotten and could not recover -them again; that he believed it was the just judgment of God upon him thus -to desert him in the defence of His cause for the undertaking of himself -to dispute with a man of that eminency and learning without the licence of -his superior." - -If it were a Rookwood, probably it was Robert (S.J.)] - -[Footnote 140:--The "_Oliver Cromwell_," by John Morley (Macmillan, 1900), -contains a picture of Usher, taken from the original portrait by Sir Peter -Lely, in the National Portrait Gallery. The face is one of great keenness -and power.] - -[Footnote 141:--"Style" in handwriting is its genius, its ethos, its air, -its aroma, its active, its essential principle. "Style is the man."] - -[Footnote 142:--See the Rev. John Gerard's published fac-simile.] - -[Footnote 143:--"Shift off," no doubt, is meant as "_The Kings Book_" -gives it. (I should like to say that a gentleman, a member of Trinity -College, Cambridge, the Rev. Edmond Nolan, B.A., suggested to me in -August, 1900, when I had the pleasure of meeting him in York, that -probably "shift of" was really "shift off.")] - -[Footnote 144:--This enigmatical sentence partook of the nature of a -clever sleight of mental strategy or of a skilful man[oe]uvre of mental -tactics. In the case of a man of Oldcorne's combination of the mystical -and the practical, it is probable that there would be wheels within -wheels, and depths below depths, which are beyond the reach of us ordinary -mortals to detect or to fathom. But all this mystery would tend to grip -hold of the attention of the reader by compelling him to peruse and weigh -the document again and again, and so would tend to beat its warning -message into his brains, and so impel beneficent action.] - -[Footnote 145:--Gerard's "_Narrative_" likewise omits the word "good," -which shows us that the Jesuit was indebted to the Royal Author for his -copy of the document.] - -[Footnote 146:--The Mounteagle Letter is a remarkably clever composition. -Its liveliness, its pithiness, its directness, and its force, in spite of -its designed obscurity, gain upon one more and more the oftener one -ponders it. But Father Oldcorne was a very clever man. His combination of -qualities, theoretical and practical, shows him to have been a man of -distinct genius. - -In Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., there is, as has been already remarked, -a portrait of this great Yorkshire Jesuit, showing a portion of Old Ouse -Bridge, York, and St. William's Chapel in the left-hand corner. The face -depicted betokens an intellect of great acumen, a heart of great -benevolence, both controlled by a will strong with the strength of -persistent discipline. The keenness of the countenance portrayed struck a -distinguished Oxford friend of mine forcibly the moment he beheld the -picture, for he remarked forthwith, "He has an acute look!" The -countenance, moreover, as another Protestant friend in effect observed, -has that look of infinite patience, of calm resignation, and of sweet -melancholy, which was so characteristic of the best of the old English -Roman Catholics during "troublesome times." - -This phrase, "troublesome times," was used in my hearing about the year -1890 by an ancient lady, the late Mrs. Ann Matterson, widow, of -High-field, Bishop Thornton, near Ripon. Mrs. Matterson was an interesting -specimen of the solid, calm, old, Garden-of-the-Soul type of English -Catholic, or as they proudly and touchingly put it, "Catholics that have -never lost the Faith." My informant said she was the daughter of one -Francis Darnbrough--a family well known in that part of Yorkshire, a -Darnbrough being Wakeman (or Mayor) of Ripon in 1542: that her father's -branch of the Darnbrough family had regained the Catholic Faith through -marriages with the Bishop Thornton Hawkesworths, hereditary Catholics, who -were formerly tenants under the Lords Grantley and Markenfield, of -Markenfield Hall. Mrs. Matterson furthermore told me on that occasion that -she was distantly connected (through the marriage of her aunt with a Mr. -William Bickerdyke) with one of the York Catholic Martyrs, whose cause of -canonization had been, in 1886, introduced at Rome, namely, with "the -Venerable" Robert Bickerdyke, a gentleman born at Low Hall, near Scotton, -in the Parish of Farnham, near Knaresbrough, and who suffered at the York -Tyburn, in 1586, for being "reconciled to the Church of Rome." The aged -lady also said that her uncle, William Bickerdyke, had lived at Brampton -Hall, on the River Ure, close to Mulwith: that Brampton Hall had belonged -to the ancient and now extinct Yorkshire Catholic family of Tankard, or -Tancred--one branch of which had their seat at Whixley: and that at -Brampton Hall there had been a place to hide the priest in during -"troublesome times." - -For an interesting work on priests' hiding-places see "_Secret Chambers -and Hiding-places_," by Allen Fea (Bousfield, 1901).] - -[Footnote 147:--The following letter (1599, probably), which ends with the -words: "I comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection," etc., will be -read with interest. It was written by Richard Collinge, Coolinge, or -Cowling, a Jesuit, who was a native of York, being the son of a certain -Raulf Cowling (then pronounced Cooling), whose name appears in the York -Elizabethan "Subsidy Roll for 1581" as of "St. Olave's parish and -Belfray's without Bootham Bar," and as being assessed in goods at the sum -of L3, which shows him to have been a well-to-do citizen. Raulf Cowling -died a captive in York Castle for his profession of the Catholic Faith. - -This valuable letter (for which I am indebted to the great generosity of -Dr. Collins, of Pateley Bridge) was written probably in 1599, and -intercepted by the Government. From the document we learn that Father -Richard Collinge, S.J., was not only a cousin to Guy Fawkes, but also to -the Harringtons, of Mount St. John. William Harrington, the elder, who -harboured "the Blessed" Edmund Campion for ten days in the spring of 1581 -at that secluded, tranquil, and lovely spot, Mount St. John, near the -Hambleton Hills, Thirsk, Yorkshire, would be not only father to "the -Venerable" William Harrington, the martyr for his priesthood at the London -Tyburn, but uncle to Father Richard Collinge, and cousin once removed to -Guy Fawkes himself. Guy's mother married for her second husband Denis -Bainebridge, of Scotton, a Roman Catholic gentleman connected with the -ancient and honourable Roman Catholic family of Pulleyn (Pullein, or -Pulleine), of Killinghall and Scotton, by reason of the marriage of Denis -Bainbridge's mother to Walter Pulleyn, Esq., as her third husband. We -learn also from Father Collinge's letter that, belike, Mr. Denis -Bainbridge, Guy Fawkes' step-father, was one of those gentlemen that are -"ornamental" rather than "useful." He was, however, certainly a papist, -and his name, together with that of his wife, occurs in Peacock's "_List -for 1604_," under the Parish of "Farnham." There is a blank left for the -name of the wife of Denis Bainbridge, probably because Mr. Peacock could -not decipher the name indicated. I think that Mrs. Denis Bainbridge must -have sprung originally from Nidderdale or Wharfedale, and that she was -akin to the Vavasours, of Weston and Newton Hall, near Ripley; to the -Johnsons, of Leathley; and the Palmes, of Lindley; both of the two last in -that part of the Forest of Knaresbrough which is near to the town of -Otley. But further researches may solve the problem as to the maiden name -of her who gave birth to Guy Fawkes. - -Guy Fawkes called himself "John Johnson" when accosted by the Earl of -Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle in the cellar under the House of Lords, on -Monday, the 4th November. Possibly, therefore, his mother was a Johnson. -Query--Does the Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer, of Chicago, U.S.A., know of any -tradition hereon? - - "Good Sir,--I pray you lette me intreate y^{r} favoure and - frendshippe for my Cosen Germane Mr Guydo Fawks who serves S^{r} - William (Stanley) as I understande he is in greate wante and - y^{r} worde in his behalfe may stande him in greate steede. I - have not deserved aine such curtesie at y^{r} handes as for my - sake to helpe my friendes but assure yrselfe that yf there be - aine thinge I can doe for you, you may commande me for the - respecte I beare to our ould friendshippe but also by this - meanes you shalle bynde me more unto you. He hath lefte a - prettie livinge here in his countre which his mother being - married to an unthriftie husbande since his departure I think - hath wastied awaye.[A] Yet she and the reste of our friends are - in good health. I durste not as yet goe to them but this sommer - I meane to see them all God willinge lette him tell my Cousin - Martin Harrington that I was at his Brother Henries house at - _the mounte_ but he was not then at home he and his wyfe are - well and have manie prettie children. Mr D. Worthington's - brother hath wrote a letter unto him desiringe a speedie answere - he is a good honeste and devoute man I often mete with him for - nowe I am residente at his Cozens house in that province which - is fallen to my lotte they expecte therefor for some helpe - nothinge is wanting but a beginner amonge them so they saye for - the redemption of Israel. Remember I pray you my commendacons to - my good and honourable godmother my L. Marie[B] (Percie) and the - twoe devoute sisters in her companie. Mr Roberte Chambers[C] - writte to me for his mother, the charge is geven to Mr - Duckette[D] to inquire for her for she is in his vicinitie tho - four Sirsbies of his companie as [? are] here very well. Within - this week I have sene both Cor^{n} & Gould and Batte, to-morrowe - I shall mete w^{th} John Lassells. Thinges goe well forwarde - here o^{r} enemies persecute us all more than ever and are in - particulare feare or rather looke for some what more from o^{r} - owne malcontents. Thus requesting y^{r} favoure in my suite and - remembrance in y^{r} beste memories as you shall have myne _I - comitte you to sweete Jesus his hole protection_ this St John - Baps^{t} Eve.--Yours in Christe Richard Collinge. - - "Lette D. Kellison know that his brother Valentine is in goode - healthe and a well wisher but noe Catholike." - - Addressed thus:-- - - "All Molto Mag^{co} Sig^{re} - il Signiore Guilio - Piccioli a - Venezia" [_i.e._, Venice]. - - (Endorsed) Fugitives. - - Vol. cclxxi., No. 21. - -_Cf._ also a letter of Father Richard Holtby, S.J., of Fryton, Hovingham, -North Riding of Yorkshire, to Father Parsons, dated 6th May, 1609, -ending:--"_I commit you to our sweet Saviour His keeping._"--Foley's -"_Records_," vol. iii., p. 9.] - -[Footnote A: Guy Fawkes' little patrimony was situate in Gillygate and -Clifton, then in the suburbs of the City of York.--See Robert Davies' -"_Fawkeses, of York_," and William Camidge's pamphlet, "_Guy Fawkes_" -(Burdekin, York). - -Miss Catharine Pullein, of Rotherfield, Sussex, and Edward Pulleyn, Esq., -of York and Lastingham, I have reason to believe, likewise belong to this -ancient family so long settled near Knaresbrough.--See Flower's -"_Visitation of Yorkshire_," and Glover's "_Visitation_," for a pedigree -of the family in the time of Elizabeth.] - -[Footnote B: The Lady Mary Percy was niece to Francis and Mary Slingsby -(daughter of Sir Thomas Percy), of Scriven Hall, whose monuments are still -to be seen in the Knaresbrough Parish Church. Dr. Collins tells me that -"Sirsbie" was then "a Knaresbrough name," and occurs in the Knaresbrough -Parish Church Registers of that period. The name "Sizey," which is given -in Peacock's "_List_," under "Knaresbrough," is probably the way "Sirsbie" -was pronounced, just as "subtle" is pronounced "su(b)tle."] - -[Footnote C: I incline to think that this Robert Chambers is the same as -the Robert Chambers mentioned in the "_Douay Diary_," edited by Dr. Knox -(David Nutt); the name, Robert Chambers, appears as one of the students at -the English College, Rome. Gould and Batte (or Bates) were probably also -the names of priests who had been at this College. Corn may have been -Father Oldcorne, S.J., who came to England as a missionary in 1588 with -Father John Gerard; or he may have been Father Thomas Cornforth, S.J., a -native of Durham, and a great friend of Edward fourth Lord Vaux of -Harrowden, whose mother was Elizabeth Roper, a daughter of Sir John Roper -first Lord Teynham. Father Cornforth became a Jesuit in 1600. He was at -the English College at Rome, and came to England in April, 1599.] - -[Footnote D: The Duckette here mentioned was doubtless Father Richard -Holtby, S.J., who succeeded Garnet as Superior of the English Jesuits. -Holtby was born at Fryton--in the Parish of Hovingham, in the Vale of -Mowbray--between Slingsby and Hovingham, where his brother, George Holtby, -lived.--See Peacock's "_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_;" -also Foster's Edition of Glover's "_Visitation of Yorkshire_."--It was -Richard Holtby, then a secular priest, who found for Campion secluded, -lovely Mount St. John. I think it is probable that, after being harboured -by Sir William Babthorpe, at Babthorpe Hall or Osgodby (or both), Campion -would proceed through the Vale of Ouse and Derwent to Thixendale, in the -Parish of Leavening, to the house of a Mrs. Bulmer; thence, I opine, to -Fryton, in the Parish of Hovingham; thence to Grimston Manor, in the -Parish of Gilling East; thence through the Vale of Mowbray, by Coxwold, to -Mount St. John, the home of the Harringtons, who seem to have quitted the -place soon after the year 1603, because the Gregory family are found -recorded in the Parish Registers shortly after that date, and they -certainly resided at Mount St. John. (Communicated to me by the Rev. Henry -Clayforth, M.A., Vicar of Feliskirk, near Thirsk.) Near Mount St. John are -Upsal Castle, magnificently situated, and Kirby Knowle Castle (commonly -called New Building). These were ancient Catholic houses, formerly of a -branch of the Constable family. In Kirby Knowle Castle, embosomed in -trees, is still to be seen a priests' hiding-place. During the -early part of the nineteenth century a skeleton was found in this -hiding-place--possibly that of a priest. (Communicated to me by the late -Very Rev. Monsignor Edward Canon Goldie, of York, about the year 1889.) -George S. Thompson, Esquire, now lives at Kirby Knowle Castle, or New -Building. This gentleman married a Miss Elsley, of York, whose family, I -believe, formerly owned Mount St. John, through their relatives, the -Gregories, who seem to have succeeded the Harringtons, harbourers of the -great Campion, whom Lord Burleigh himself styled "one of the diamonds of -England." Campion's guides through Yorkshire were Mr. Tempest (probably of -Broughton Hall, near Skipton-in-Craven), Mr. More (probably of Barnbrough -Hall, near Doncaster, which came to the descendants of Sir Thomas More, -through the Cresacre family), Mr. Smyth (brother-in-law of William -Harrington, the elder), and Father Richard Holtby.--See Simpson's "_Life -of Campion_," second Edition (Hodges, London).--In recent years the Walker -family have owned Mount St. John, but I believe that to-day (1901) Sir -Lowthian Bell is the owner. When I visited this historic and ravishing -spot, the Honourable Mrs. Bosville was the lessee, and the writer has a -pleasant recollection of that lady's gracious courtesy (1898).] - -[Footnote 148:--Jardine, in his "_Narrative_" p. 37, has the following -exceptionally interesting paragraph: "Sir William Waad in a letter to Lord -Salisbury, reporting a conversation with Fawkes, says, 'Fawkes's mother is -alive and re-married, and he hath a brother in one of the Inns of Court. -John and Christopher Wright were school-fellows of Fawkes and neighbours' -children. Tesimond, the Jesuit, was at that time schoolfellow also with -them. So as this crew have been brought up together.'"--State Paper -Office, Add. Papers No. 481, Jardine (now Record Office). - -Probably what Fawkes said was that _he_ (Fawkes) _and Tesimond_ were -neighbours' children; for John and Christopher Wright's parents were of -Plowland Hall, in the Parish of Welwick, in Holderness, as we have seen. -Two explanations, however, are possible, which will reconcile this -statement that, after all, Fawkes may have _said that he and the Wrights -were neighbours' children_. One is that possibly the young Wrights boarded -with some citizen dwelling in St. Michael-le-Belfrey's Parish, York, -whilst they were at the Royal School of St. Peter, then in the Horse -Fayre, Gillygate (but now in Clifton), York; the other explanation is that -possibly a portion of the fourteen years during which the mother of John -and Christopher Wright was (as we have seen already _ante_) imprisoned for -her resolute profession of the Catholic religion was spent in company with -her husband, Robert Wright, in some private gentleman's house in the -Belfrey Parish, in the City of York--a thing then very common. For -example, Dr. Thomas Vavasour, a physician, of Christ's Parish, who--_or -whose wife_, Mrs. Dorothy Vavasour--favoured Campion, and probably -harboured him in 1581, was for a time imprisoned in the house of his -brother. This was probably Mr. Edward Vavasour, a Protestant gentleman, -who resided in "the Belfray" Parish, and was a freeman of York and one of -its tradesmen, being, I find, a hatter. In the York "Subsidy Roll for -1581" Edward Vavasour's name appears as being assessed in goods at L8. Dr. -Thomas Vavasour's name does not appear in the Subsidy Roll. I believe he -was then in prison, at Hull, for his persistent refusal to conform to the -Queen's demands in matters of faith. - -Query--Did Father Oldcorne learn his "medicine" from Dr. Vavasour, of the -Parish of Christ? What was the system of medical training in the "golden -days"?] - -[Footnote 149:--As revealing the interior state (1) of Oldcorne's mind in -relation to the Gunpowder enterprise, and (2) of Tesimond's mind, -respectively, the former stands in sharp contrast with the latter, and -must be pregnant with significance to the discerning and judicious -reader.] - -[Footnote 150:--Vol. ii., pp. 285, 286.] - -[Footnote 151:--"_Somers' Tracts_," Edited by Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii., -p. 106, says: "Tesimond severely censured Hall (alias Oldcorne) for his -timidity on the occasion, calling him a phlegmatic fellow." - -Dr. Abbott's "_Antilogia_" confirms Jardine's report of Tesimond's -denunciation, _although Foley most improperly omits it_.] - -[Footnote 152:--The diverse demeanour on this critical occasion of these -two Jesuits (both natives of the same City, most probably, and -fellow-scholars in the then recently re-founded Grammar School belonging -to York Minster) is very striking, and reminds one of the following -sagacious remark of that clear writer, Dr. James Martineau: "In human -psychology, feeling when it transcends sensation is not without idea, but -is a type of idea."--"_Essays and Addresses_," vol. iv., p. 202 (Longmans, -1891).--Such feeling then is _mens cordis_--the mind of the heart.] - -[Footnote 153:--Hindlip Hall, about four miles from Worcester, was built -on an eminence in 1572 and the following years of Elizabeth's reign. It -had a large prospect of the surrounding country, and contained many -conveyances, secret chambers, and priests' hiding-places, perhaps more -than any house in England. The old Hall of the Abingtons was pulled down -at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The present mansion was built -by the Lord Hindlip's family, I believe. This demesne is one of the most -historic spots in the kingdom, owing to its memorable associations with -Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne, Garnet having left Coughton at the request of -Oldcorne, in December, 1605. The two Jesuits were nourished, after -Salisbury instituted his search, during seven days, seven nights, and some -odd hours, mainly by broth and other warm drinks, conveyed to them through -a quill or reed passed "through a little hole in a chimney that backed -another chimney into a gentlewoman's chamber." Doubtless Mrs. Abington and -Miss Anne Vaux (the devoted friend of Father Garnet, who, along with -Brother Nicholas Owen, accompanied him to Hindlip) had administered this -food to the two famishing Jesuits detained in durance.] - -[Footnote 154:--Father Garnet's house in Thames Street, London, had been -broken up, this place of Jesuit sojourning having become known to the -Government. Consequently, Garnet, at the beginning of September, 1605, -went down to Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, the seat of Sir Everard and -Lady Digby. - -Christopher Wright, it will be remembered, quitted his lodging near Temple -Bar, on October the 5th, and, I opine, then went down to Lapworth, or -Clopton, near Stratford-on-Avon. Catesby was born at Lapworth. - -It will be remembered that the Ardens, the relatives of Shakespeare's -mother, were allied to the Throckmortons, and therefore to Francis -Throckmorton, the friend of Mary Queen of Scots. It is a remarkable -coincidence that the great dramatist was, through both the Ardens and the -Throckmortons, connected with those whose quartered remains he may have -had in his mind's eye (in addition to those of the Gunpowder conspirators) -when in 1606, in "Macbeth," he writ of "the hangman's bloody hands." - -For an account of the Somerville-Arden and the Francis Throckmorton -alleged conspiracies against the life of Queen Elizabeth, see Froude's -"_History_." For an account of Shakespeare's family, including the Ardens, -see Mrs. C. C. Stope's recent book (Elliot Stock, 1901).] - -[Footnote 155:--In the "_Life of Sir Everard Digby_," by "One of his -descendants" (Kegan Paul), is to be found a vivid and historically -accurate account of the proceedings of November the 5th and afterwards. -The conspirators' line of flight would be nearly parallel with the London -and North Western Railway from Euston Station to Rugby.] - -[Footnote 156:--The country crossed by these unhappy fugitives is -undoubtedly the very "heart of England," and in spring and summer is one -of the gardens of England. As those then flying, on that gloomy November -day, from the Avenger of blood, were probably almost all men of strong -family affections, and certainly all ardent lovers of their country, how -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, et placens - Uxor: neque harum, quas colis, arborum - Te, praeter invisas cupressos, - Ulla brevem dominum sequetur."--_Horace._[A] - -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, L100, and desired him, as he was a -Catholic, to give unto his wife, and his brother's wife, L80, and take L20 -himself:"--Wright owing Bates some money.] - -[Footnote A: - - "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."] - -[Footnote 157:--Does Greenway's "_Narrative_" clearly state how many of -these conspirators received from Tesimond the sacraments? If so, what -sacraments were they? - -The Government would have had a clear case of inciting to open rebellion -against Tesimond if they had caught him, but he escaped to Flanders. He -was "a very deep dog," was Master Tesimond, and no mistake. But he was -wholly under the finger and thumb (_me judice_) of Catesby, which shows -what a powerful man of genius Catesby must have been. - -Father Henry Garnet, at his trial, allowed that Tesimond had acted "ill," -in seeking to rouse the country to open rebellion.] - -[Footnote 158:--This lady was 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 Reign of James I._" - -For a true estimate of the second Earl of Essex, see Dr. R. W. Church's -"Bacon" (Macmillan).--See also Major Hume's "_Courtships of Queen -Elizabeth_ (Fisher Unwin) and his "_Treason and Plot_" (Nesbit).] - -[Footnote 159:--How well-grounded Oldcorne's suspicions of Littleton were, -and how soundly he had discerned the man's spirit, is proved from the fact -that after Littleton had been condemned to death for harbouring his -cousin, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert Winter, the Master of -Huddington, Littleton sought to save his life by telling the Government -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 preach in the house of the -said Mr. Abington, at which time he seemed to confirm his hearers in the -Catholic cause."--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 219.] - -[Footnote 160:--On the 5th of October, 1900, I saw this Declaration by the -courtesy of the authorities at the Record Office, London, and compared it -with the Letter to Lord Mounteagle. Miss Emma M. Walford was present the -while.--See Appendix.] - -[Footnote 161:--This luminous definition is by that great writer, Frederic -Harrison.] - -[Footnote 162:--It is not less dangerous to indulge in Irony. For an -emphatic proof of this see the "_Life of Lord Bowen_," p. 115 (Murray), by -Sir H. S. Cunningham, K.C.I.E. - -_Cf._ the great Stagyrite's discountenancing the study by the -inexperienced (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 Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle_," book i. See also -Professor Muirhead's "_Chapters from the Ethics_" (Murray). - -Hector, in "Troilus and Cressida," act ii., scene 2, speaks of "Young men, -whom Aristotle thought unfit to hear moral philosophy."] - -[Footnote 163:--Jardine thinks that Oldcorne manifests a disposition "to -hesitate and argue about the moral complexion" of the Gunpowder Treason; -and this 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, 233. - -But it is evident that, for the nonce, the London Magistrate's judicial -temper of mind had deserted him, when he sniffed too closely the moral 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. Nor 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.] - -[Footnote 164:--In this connection the following words of the 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, "He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but never -effected." - -_Cf._ Wordsworth's Sonnet on the Gunpowder Plot, which is very -penetrating.] - -[Footnote 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 known by them, _but no more_. The late Right 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 -VII., denominated Mr. Gladstone in the House of Lords, when 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 ruby so lovely; while _partial Truth_, according to its degree, is not -less true than the full orb of Truth.] - -[Footnote 166:--This phrase, "sacrilegious murder," is used by Shakespeare -in "Macbeth," and so precisely does it express the double crime of the -Gunpowder plotters that I feel certain that from this allusion--as well as -from the evident allusion to the well-known 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 knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell" are an allusion -to the mysterious warning bell that the plotters thought they heard whilst -working in the mine.--See Jardine's "_Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot_," -p. 54. - -Compare also Mr. H. W. Mabie's description of the tragedy of "Macbeth" in -his very recent and valuable "_Life of Shakespeare_" (Macmillan & Co.). -Mr. Mabie's account sounds in one's ears like a very echo of a recital of -the facts and purposes of the Gunpowder Plot.] - -[Footnote 167:--Now, as the conspirators were engaged in a -joint-enterprise, it must be evident to every clear-minded thinker that -the repentance of _any one of the joint-plotters_ must have shed an -imputed beneficent influence over and upon all the band. For just as no -man liveth only to himself, and no man dieth 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 -Oldcorne, 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 same in deed, through the earnest and part -performance he 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, I 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 and stand once more with head erect and in marching order--that -noble posture and manly attitude which is ever the reward, sure and -certain, of a recovered sense of justice, sincerity, truth.] - -[Footnote 168:--The Government, it is said, appointed a special Commission -to try Humphrey Littleton and some others at Worcester. The following -quotation is taken from "the Relation of Humphrey Littleton, made January -26th, 1605-6," written by one Sir Richard Lewkner to the Lords of the -Privy Council. Lewkner was one of the Commissioners. - -This sentence is to be specially noted in this "Relation":--"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 Ralph 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 Government 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 could be done by one who was not a Jesuit lay-brother. The -Government 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. Wynter at May next -shall be three yeares, and sould him againe." Examination, 5th March, -1606.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 224. - -According to Foley's "_Records_," Oldcorne was indicted at Worcester for-- - -(1) Inviting Garnet, a denounced traitor, to Hindlip. - -(2) Writing 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 Newton, 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.] - -[Footnote 169:--A learned Cretan Jesuit, Father L'Henreux, who was -appointed by Pope Urban VIII. Rector of the Greek College at Rome, wrote a -powerful "_Apologia_" in behalf of Father Henry Garnet, which was -published in 1610. In 1613 Dr. Robert Abbott, a Master of Balliol College, -Oxford, and Regius Professor of Divinity at that University, wrote his -"_Antilogia_" as a reply to Eudaemon-Joannes' "_Apologia_." It would be a -boon to historical students if both the "_Apologia_" and the "_Antilogia_" -were "Englished" by some competent hand. Abbott was made Bishop of -Salisbury, partly on account of the learning he displayed in his -"_Antilogia_." He was a Calvinist, and a vigorous writer, being styled -"the hammer of Popery and Arminianism." - -Dr. Lancelot Andrewes (in answer to Cardinal Bellarmine) and Isaac -Casaubon also contributed to the literature of the controversies anent the -Plot, and modern editions of their works with notes are desiderata. -Casaubon is best known, at the present day, through his "_Life_," by Mark -Pattison; Andrewes, through the late Dr. R. W. Church's "Lecture," now in -"_The Pascal_" volume (Macmillan) of that judicious and learned man.] - -[Footnote 170:--See Jardine's "_Criminal Trials_," vol. ii., p. 120, -quoting "_Apologia_," p. 200. - -Sir Everard Digby was the only conspirator who pleaded "guilty," and he -was arraigned by a different Indictment from that which charged the rest -of the surviving conspirators.] - -[Footnote 171:--My contention is that the conclusion is inevitable to the -discerning mind that the sphinx-like nescience--the face set like a -flint--with which Oldcorne met Littleton's inquiry, displays indisputable -evidence of a sub-consciousness on Oldcorne's part, of what? Of a -_special_, _private_, _official knowledge_ (as distinct from a general, -public, personal knowledge) of what had been intended to be the executed -Gunpowder Plot, but which Oldcorne himself had thwarted, and so prevented -everlastingly any one single human creature being able, even for the -infinitesimal part of an instant, to contemplate "_post factum_"--after -the fact--and in the concrete; which, indeed, judged "from the outside," -and as the bulk of mankind are entitled to judge it, was the only side or -aspect of the baleful enterprise that was of practical and, therefore, to -them, of paramount personal consequence. The conspirator John Grant -expressed the state of the case exactly when he said in Westminster Hall, -after being asked what he could say wherefore judgment of death should not -be pronounced against him, "He was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but -never effected."] - -[Footnote 172:--See Butler's "_Memoirs of English Catholics_," vol. ii., -p. 260. See also Gerard's "_Narrative_."--It is possible (according to -Gerard) that Oldcorne may have been even still more cruelly tortured, -namely, as Dr. Lingard says, during five hours for each of five successive -days; but to me, humanly speaking, this is incredible.] - -[Footnote 173:--Father Edward Oldcorne and Brother Ralph Ashley are both, -along with others, now styled by Rome, "Venerable Servants of God." The -Decree introducing the cause of these "English Martyrs," dated 1886, and -signed by the present Pope, Leo XIII., is kept in the English College at -Rome, where Oldcorne had himself entered as a student a little more than -three hundred and four years previously, namely, in 1582. - -Through the truly kind courtesy of the Right Rev. Monsignor Giles, D.D., -President of the English College, Rome, the writer was privileged to see, -along with the Rev. Father Darby, O.S.B., and some other gentlemen, this -Decree in the afternoon of Saturday, the 13th of October, 1900, the Feast -of St. Edward the Confessor, King of England. In the forenoon of the same -day the first great band of the English Pilgrims for the Holy Year, the -Year of Jubilee, had received, in St. Peter's, the Papal Blessing, amid -great rejoicing, the apse or place of honour in this, the largest Church -in Christendom, being graciously accorded to these fifteen hundred British -Catholic subjects of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.] - -[Footnote 174:--As to the precise teaching of the theologians of Father -Oldcorne's Church respecting the famous dictum of St. Augustine of Hippo, -"_Extra ecclesiam nulla salus_," see the book of the once celebrated Douay -theologian, Dr. Hawarden, entitled, "_Charity and Truth; or Catholics not -uncharitable in saying that none are saved out of the Catholic Communion, -because the rule is not universal_" (1728). And, again, that great -Yorkshire son of St. Philip Neri, Dr. Frederic William Faber, an -ultramontane papist of the ultramontane papists, has thus recorded his own -potent testimony on this subject in his singularly able and beautiful -work, entitled, "_The Creator and the Creature_," first edition, p. 368. - -Dr. Faber says: "We are speaking of Catholics. If our thoughts break their -bounds and run out beyond the Church, nothing that has been said has been -said with any view to those without. I have no profession of faith to make -about them, except that God is infinitely merciful to every soul; that no -one ever has been, or ever can be, lost by surprise or trapped in his -ignorance; and as to those who may be lost, I confidently believe that our -Heavenly Father threw His arms round each created spirit, and looked it -full in the face with bright eyes of love in the darkness of its mortal -life, and that of its own deliberate will it would not have Him."] - -[Footnote 175:--Either from the phonograph or even the shorthand scribe.] - -[Footnote 176:--Are the Indictments in existence of Father Oldcorne and -Ralph Ashley, who seem to have been tried in the Shire Hall, Worcester, at -the Lent Assizes of 1606? If so, they and extracts from any Minute Books -still extant bearing on the subject would be of great interest and value -to the historical Inquirer, if published.] - -[Footnote 177:--Oldcorne realized experimentally, in the final action of -the great tragedy, what it means, as Goethe has it, for a man "to adjust -his compass at the Cross." - -And than Oldcorne no human creature ever lived that had a better right to -anticipate those magnificent words of triumph over death of one of -Yorkshire's supremest geniuses: "_If my barque sink, 'tis to another -sea._"] - -[Footnote 178:--In Morris's "_Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers_," -third series, p. 325, we read: "In 1572 John Oldcorne is one of the four -sworn men against the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected -of papistry, for St. Sampson's parish." - -Again, under date April 10th, 1577, we read: "And now also John Oldcorne, -of St. Sampson's parish, who cometh not to the church on Sundays and -holidays, personally appeared before these presents, and sayeth he is -content to suffer the churchwarden of the same parish to take his -distresses for his offence." - -There is also for January, 1598, the following pathetic entry concerning -the mother of Father Oldcorne:-- - -"Monckewarde Saint Sampson's, Elizabeth Awdcorne, alias Oldcorne, old and -lame a recusant." - -York is now divided into six wards for the purposes of municipal -government, namely: Bootham, Monk, Micklegate, Walmgate, Guildhall, and -Castlegate. Until the nineteenth century there were only the first four -wards, which, indeed, corresponded to the four great Gates or chief Ways -for entering the City. - -The writer remembers with pleasure that, now some years ago, his -fellow-citizens of Micklegate Ward, on the west side of York, did him the -honour of electing him to occupy a seat, for the term of three years, in -the Council Chamber of his native City, which, he is proud to remember, -was the City wherein first drew the breath of life Edward Oldcorne; one, -he has every reason to believe, whose keen, sane mind, and ready, skilful -hand were instrumental, under Heaven, in penning that immortal document -which saved the life, certainly, of King James I., of His Royal Consort -Queen Anne of Denmark, of Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles Duke of York, -afterwards King Charles I., as well as the life of the Lords Spiritual and -Temporal, the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, and many Foreign -Ambassadors, in the year of grace 1605, now well-nigh three centuries ago. - -As some readers may be, perchance, interested in a few particulars -concerning the ancient Parish of St. Sampson, which is in the heart of the -City of York, close to the Market Place, I propose to mention a few. First -of all, then, the ancient parish church which bears the name of the old -British Saint, St. Sampson, is pre-eminently one of "the grey old churches -of our native land," whereof in the reign of King Henry V. (Shakespeare's -ideal English monarch) there were in the City of York and its suburbs no -less than forty-one, though in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the -number was reduced. That forty-one was the number originally we know from -a subsidy of Parliament which granted to King Harry, in 1413, two -shillings in the pound leviable on all spirituals and temporals in the -realm for carrying on the then war with France.--See Drake's "_Eboracum_," -p. 234. - -St. Sampson's Church consists of a lower nave and chancel with north and -south aisles to both, extending nearly to the west base of the tower. The -architecture of the church is in the decorated and the perpendicular -styles. King Richard III., in 1393, granted the advowson of this church to -the Vicars Choral of York Minster. The present Vicar (1901) is the Rev. -William Haworth, one of the Vicars Choral of the Minster, to whom I am -indebted for information respecting the Registers of St. Sampson's Church -and the Church of Holy Trinity, King's Court, or Christ's. - -Mr. Councillor John Earle Wilkinson, "mine host" of the "Garrick's Head" -Hotel, Low Petergate, York, who was the Guardian of the Poor for the old -Parish of St. Sampson (as he is now the Guardian for Ward No. 2 of the -United Parish of York), kindly informed me on the 10th July, 1901, that -the following streets are in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Sampson. -Hence we may conclude that it was in a house in one of these streets that -were spent the earliest years of Edward Oldcorne, the son of John -Oldcorne, Tiler, and of Elizabeth, his wife:-- - -(1) Church Street, a street between the Market Place (which Market Place -is formed by St. Sampson's Square and Parliament Street) and Goodramgate -towards Monk Bar. Here is St. Sampson's Church. - -(2) Patrick Pool, to the east of St. Sampson's Church. - -(3) The right-hand side of Newgate, leading into High Jubbergate (formerly -Jews-Gate). - -(4) Little Shambles and Pump Yard. - -(5) That part of Parliament Street on the south-west which includes the -site of the York City and County Bank. - -(6) That part of Parliament Street on the north-east which includes Mr. F. -H. Vaughan's "Clock" Hotel. - -(7) Silver Street, to the west of St. Sampson's Church, connecting Church -Street with High Jubbergate. - -(8) On the north side of Church Street, opposite St. Sampson's Church, -Swinegate. - -Finkle Street. - -(9) Back (or Little) Swinegate, between Swinegate and Finkle Street. - -(10) That part of Little Stonegate which includes the back part of the -premises of Messrs. Myers and Burnell, Coachbuilders, and the Model -Lodging House opposite. - -(11) Coffee Yard. - -(12) The top part of Grape Lane (leading into Low Petergate), which -adjoins Coffee Yard and the north end of Swinegate. - -(13) St. Sampson's Square (forming part of the Market Place). - -Some of the old Elizabethan dwelling-houses and shops in these streets and -yards, built of oak (doubtless from the famous Galtres Forest, northward -of York), with their projecting stories of lath and plaster, happily, are -still standing, "rich with the spoils of time," and the eyes of Edward -Oldcorne must have, many a time and oft, gazed upon them at that momentous -period of life when "the child is father of the man." - -Besides these ancient dwelling-houses and shops, relics of the Past, the -grey old Parish Church of St. Sampson must have been one of the sights -which, from the earliest dawn of reason, entered into the historic -"imagination" of the great Elizabethan Englishman, who was destined to -become a learned student at Rheims and Rome and "to see much of many men -and many cities" before he came to England, in the year 1588, the year of -the Spanish Armada. - -Another familiar object to the future honoured friend and trusted -counsellor of Mr. and Mrs. Abington and the highest in the land would be -also the old Market Cross, which stood in the middle of St. Sampson's -Square, then, and even still sometimes, called Thursday Market.--See -Gent's "_York_." - -The fact that during the month of December, 1901, the claim of the ancient -City of York to be specially represented, through its Lord Mayor, on the -occasion of the forthcoming Coronation of His Most Gracious Majesty King -Edward VII., was considered by the Court of Claims next after the claim of -the City of London, is interesting evidence to show that the City of -Edward Oldcorne is still counted the second City of the British Empire, -notwithstanding that such claim was disallowed.] - -[Footnote 179:--Sir Edward Hoby was a man of parts, a learned diplomatist -and able Protestant controversialist.--See "_National Dictionary of -Biography_."] - -[Footnote 180:--Nichols' "_Progresses of James I._," pp. 584-587. (The -italics are mine.)] - -_Sub-note to Note 178._ - -In 1572 John Oldcorne, we are told, was one of the four "sworn men against -the late rebels and other evil-disposed people suspected of papistry, for -St. Sampson's parish." This is very interesting; for on the 22nd day of -August, 1572, at three o'clock in the afternoon, "the Blessed" Thomas -Percy, "the good Erle of Northumberland," was beheaded in The Pavement, at -the east end of All Saints' Church. He was buried in old St. Crux Church, -adjoining The Pavement; and it is possible, I conjecture, that John -Oldcorne may have been sworn in as a special constable to help to keep the -peace on the occasion of the beheading of the Earl, who held the hearts of -nine-tenths of the people of York and Yorkshire, as well as of "the North -Countrie" generally, at the time of his long and deeply lamented death. - -The York "Tyburn," in the middle of the Tadcaster High-road, opposite Hob -Moor Gate, Knavesmire, was abolished at the beginning of the nineteenth -century. - -John Oldcorne, the father of Father Edward Oldcorne, is described as a -Bricklayer as well as a Tiler. I think he was a "Master," in partnership, -maybe, with his brother, Thomas Oldcorne, a great sufferer for the -Catholic Faith, whose wife, Alice, died--a prisoner for her conscience--in -the Kidcote, on Old Ouse Bridge, and whose body was buried on Toft Green, -near to Micklegate Bar.--See Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv.--The name -Oldcorne is not now found in the City of York. - - - - - FINIS. - - -A task at once pleasurable and laborious is at length accomplished, and -the writer humbly sends forth into the world his modest contribution -towards the literature of the Gunpowder Treason Plot. - -Errors, whether in matters of Fact or in points of Reasoning and Argument, -the author will be gratefully obliged by his readers at an early date -pointing out to him. - -Should his book be read by any of our kith and kin in His Most Gracious -Majesty's Dominions beyond the seas, whom "the stern behests of Duty" have -bidden "with strangers make their home," as well as by professed students -of History and the general citizen reader in the United Kingdom of Great -Britain and Ireland, then will be the writer's joy great indeed. - -The author desires to tender his respectful and cordial thanks to the -Authorities of the following Libraries for the use of their valuable, and -not seldom invaluable, works:--(1) The Minster Library, York; (2) the -Minster Library, Ripon; (3) the British Museum, London; (4) the Free -Library, York; (5) the Free Library, Leeds; (6) the Free Library, Preston; -(7) the Free Library, Wigan; and (8) the Albert Library, York. - -Also the like thanks to the following persons of divers nationalities, -creeds, and parties. Their aid and assistance have been of various kinds: -sometimes the loan of rare and costly books for a twelve-month together; -in certain cases, advice and counsel; in other cases, the revising of -proof sheets, the translation from foreign tongues, and the transcription -of Elizabethan and Jacobean documents:-- - -To the Rev. F. A. Russell, York, formerly of India; the Rev. Edmond Nolan, -B.A., St. Edmund's House, Cambridge; the Rev. Richard Sharp, S.J., -Skipton-in-Craven, Yorks.; the Rev. George Machell, York; the Rev. Louis -Tils, York, formerly of Germany; the Rev. H. Rawlings, M.A., York, -formerly of South Africa; the Rev. T. Harrington, Brosna, Co. Kerry, -Ireland; the Rev. H. A. Geurts, Bishop Thornton, Ripon, Yorks., formerly -of Holland; the Rev. E. J. Hickey, Lartington, North Yorks.; A. E. -Chapman, LL.D., York; A. Neave Brayshaw, B.A., LL.B., York; Oswald C. B. -Brown, York, Solicitor (author of "_The Life of the Venerable Richard -Langley: a Martyr of the Yorkshire Wolds_"); G. Laycock Brown, York, -Solicitor; Miss Emma M. Walford, 45, Bernard St., Russell Square, London, -W.C.; Miss Georgina Kirby, York House, Middlesbrough, Yorks.; Mr. Ralph -Currie, York; and Mr. John Sampson, York. - -Lastly, to all other kind friends who may have rendered assistance, but -whose names do not occur _either_ in the work itself _or_ in the -above-mentioned list, the writer begs to offer his sincere -acknowledgments. - - - PRINTED BY - THE YORKSHIRE HERALD NEWSPAPER COMPANY, LIMITED, - YORK. - - * * * * * - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S AMENDMENTS - - -Transcriber's Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Footnotes with -alphabetic tags now generally follow the referencing paragraph. Footnotes -with numeric tags are located near the end of the work. The publisher's -inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been corrected. -Duplicative book and chapter front matter has been removed. - -The following list indicates any additional changes made. The page number -represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext -except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. - - Page Change - - 2 See Notes at End of Text, indicated by figures in ( )[[ ]] - 2 ['Local' footnotes are indicated with A-Z, not numerals.] - 168 This lady was the the[Delete.] above-named Dowager - 174 Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging [to] a comparatively inferior - 176 his aid for the rebellion.[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 192 the point of a needle?"[Omitted footnote tag added here.] - 248 owned by the Rev. Charles Slingsby Slingsby[Delete.], - 251 and from tyme to to[Delete.] tyme, - 306 William Grauntham[Grantham]. - 387 Again; Fawkes, we are told by Endaemon[Eudaemon], - - * * * * * - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gunpowder Plot and Lord -Mounteagle's Letter, by Henry Hawkes Spink Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNPOWDER PLOT *** - -***** This file should be named 40029.txt or 40029.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/2/40029/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Henry Gardiner and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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