What was the Gunpowder Plot? The Traditional Story Tested by Original Evidence by John Gerard (top 10 most read books in the world .TXT) 📕

[375] "Nous avons bien voulu aussy par ces presentes, nous mesmes vous asseurer que ce qu'il [Edmondes] vous en a desja declaré, est fondé sur tout verité; et vous dire en oultre, que ces meschantes Creatures d'Owen et Baldouin, gens de mesme farine, ont eu aussi leur part en particulier a ceste malheureuse conspiration de Pouldre."--Phillipps' MS. 6297, f. 129.

[376] Stowe, 168, 65.

[377] Winwood, ii. 183.

[378] Dom. James I. xix. 94.

[379] 3^o Jac. I. c. 3. On the 21st of June following, Salisbury forwarded to Edmondes a fresh copy of this Act, "because in the former there was a great error committed in the printing." (Phillipps, f. 157.) It would be highly interesting to know what the first version was. In that now extant it is only said regarding Owen, that inasmuch as he obstinately keeps beyond the seas, he cannot be arraigned, nor can evidence and proofs be produced against him. (Statutes at large.)

[380] Stowe, 168, 76; Phillipps, f. 141.

[381] Edmondes to Salisbury, January 23rd, 1605(6). P.R.O., Flanders, 38.

[382] April 19th, 1606, ibid.

[383] Edmondes to Salisbury, April 5th, 1606, ibid.

[384] Phillipps, f. 150.

[385] Phillipps, f. 152.

[386] Dom. James I. xx. 52.

[387] This is obvious from a marginal note in Coke's own hand, arguing that Owen must be guilty in this instance, as he has been guilty on former occasions, and "Qui semel malus est semper præsumitur esse malus in eodem genere mali."

[388] It will be noticed that the confession of Faukes cited against Owen is dated two months after he had first been declared to be proved guilty by Faukes' testimony.

[389] These are dated November 5th, 6th [bis], 7th, 8th [the "draft"], 9th, 16th, 17th, January 9th, 20th, 26th.

[390] Thus, to confine ourselves to the confession of January 20th, with which we are particularly concerned, we have the following variations:

Tanner transcript. "At my going over M^r Catesby charged me two things more: the one to desire of Baldwin & M^r Owen to deal with the Marquis [Spinola] to send over the regiment of which he [Catesby] expected to have been Lieutenant Colonel under Sir Charles [Percy].... He wished me secondly to be earnest with Baldwin to deal with the Marquis to give the said M^r Catesby order for a Company of Horse, thinking by that means to have opportunity to buy Horses and Arms without suspition."

According to Abbot, Faukes was to give instructions that when the time of Parliament approached, Sir Wm. Stanley was on some pretext to lead the English forces in the archduke's service towards the sea, and with them any others he could manage to influence. He also mentions the conspiracy of Morgan, as spoken of by Coke.

In addition to all this, Abbot cites from the same confession the following extraordinary particulars (p. 160): Faukes, when he came to London, with T. Winter, went to Percy's house and found there Catesby and Father Gerard. They talked over matters, and agreed that nothing was to be hoped from foreign aid, nor from a general rising of Catholics, and that the only plan was to strike at the king's person: whereupon Catesby, Percy, John Wright, Winter, and himself, were sworn in by Gerard.

[This is in absolute contradiction to Winter's evidence (November 23rd) that Percy was initiated in the middle of the Easter term, the other four having agreed on the scheme at the beginning of the same term; and to that of Faukes himself (November 17th) that he and Winter first resolved on a plot for the benefit of the Catholic cause, and afterwards imparted their idea to Catesby, Wright, and Percy.]

Sir E. Coke's Version. "After the powder treason was resolved upon by Catesbye, Thomas Winter, the Wrightes, my self, and others, and preparation made by us for the execution of it, by their advise and direction I went into fflanders and had leave given unto me to discover our project in every particular to Hughe Owen and others, but with condicion that they should sweare first to secrecie as we our selves had done. When I arryved in fflanders I found M^r Owen at Bruxelles to whom after I had given the oathe of secrecye I discovered the whole busines, howe we had layed 20 whole barrells of powder in the celler under the parliament howse, and howe we ment to give it fire the first day of the parliament when the King, the prince, the duke, the Lords spirituall and temporall, and all the knights, citizens, and burgesses of parliament should be there assembled. And that we meant to take the Ladye Elizabeth and proclaime hir for we thought most like that the prince and duke would be there with the king. M^r Owen liked the plott very well, and said that Thomas Morgan had once propounded the very same in quene Elizabeth's time, and willed me that by ani meanes we should not make any mencion of religion at the first, and assured me that so soone as he should have certaine newes that this exploit had taken effect that he would give us what assistance he could and that he would procure that Sir W^m Stanley should have leave to come with those English men which be there and what other forces he could procure."

The confession of Faukes in the Record Office, dated the same, January 20th, is thus summarized in the Calendar of State Papers (Dom. James I. xviii. 28): "Talked with Catesby about noblemen being absent from the meeting of Parliament; he said Lord Mordaunt would not be there, because he did not like to absent himself from the sermons, as the king did not know he was a Catholic; and that Lord Stourton would not come to town till the Friday after the opening."

[391] The powder design of Morgan is an instance in point. The Thomas Morgan in question was doubtless the same as the partisan of Mary Queen of Scots.

[392] E.g.: "Winter came over to Owen, by him and the Fathers to be informed of a fit and resolute man for the execution of the enterprise. This examinate (being by the Fathers and Owen recommended to be used and trusted in any action for the Catholicks) came into England with Winter."--Faukes, November 19th, 1605 (Tanner MSS.).

Abbot, whose whole object is to incriminate the Jesuits, does not mention this remarkable statement.

Again we read, November 30th (ibid.): "Father Baldwin told this examinate that about 2,000 horses would be provided by the Catholicks of England to join with the Spanish forces ... and willed this examinate to intimate so much to Father Creswell, which this examinate did."

[393] Oliver, Collectanea, sub nom.; Foley, Records, iv. 120, note.

[394] Foley, Records, iii. 509; English Protestants' Plea, p. 59.

[395] Dom. James I. xvi. 115.

[396] England's Warning Peece, by T. S. [Thomas Spencer], P.73.

[397] Cotton MSS. Vespasian C., ix. f. 259.

[398] Winwood, Memorials, ii. 178.

[399] Dom. James I. xvi. 104.

[400] William Stanley.

[401] The last words are added in another hand.

[402] "I am in great dispute with myself to speak in the case of this gentleman. A former dearness between me and him tied so firm a knot of my conceit of his virtues, now broken by discovery of his imperfections, that I protest, did I serve a king that I knew would be displeased with me for speaking, in this case I would speak, whatever came of it; but seeing he is compacted of piety and justice, and one that will not mislike of any man for speaking a truth, I will answer," etc.--State Trials.

[403] "For this do I profess in the presence of Him that knoweth and searcheth all men's harts, that if I did not some tyme cast a stone into the mouth of these gaping crabbs, when they are in their prodigall humour of discourses, they wold not stick to confess dayly how contrary it is to their nature to be under your soverainty; though they confess (Ralegh especially) that (rebus sic stantibus) naturall pollicy forceth them to keep on foot such a trade against the great day of mart. In all which light and soddain humours of his, though I do no way check him, because he shall not think I reject his freedome or his affection ... yet under pretext of extraordinary care of his well doing, I have seemed to dissuade him from ingaging himself so farr," etc.--Hatfield MSS., cxxxv. f. 65.

[404] Criminal Trials, ii. 358.

[405] Father Gerard (Narrative, p. 201) denies in the most emphatic terms that he was the priest who said mass on this occasion. The point is fully discussed by the late Father Morris, S. J., in his Life of Father Gerard, pp. 437-438.

[406] The accompanying facsimile of this portion of Faukes' confession exhibits the marks made by Coke, and his added direction in the margin, hucusque ("thus far"). In the original his additions are in red ink.

[407] It is singular that he should not mention Faukes himself as one of those who received the oath from Gerard. There is no mention in any document of Greenway as giving the oath to Bates, or anyone else.

The facsimile of Faukes' signature, appended to his confession of November 9th, though affording unmistakable evidence of torture, gives no idea of the original, wherein the letters are so faintly traced as to be scarcely visible. It is evident that the writer had been so severely racked as to have no strength left in his hands to press the pen upon the paper. He must have fainted when he had written his Christian name, two dashes alone representing the other.

This signature, with other of the more sensational documents connected with the Plot, is exhibited in the newly established museum at the Record Office.

[408] Dom. James I. xviii. 97, February 27th, 1606, N. S. (Latin).

[409] Narratio de rebus a se in Anglia gestis (Stonyhurst MSS.). Published in Father G. R. Kingdon's translation under the title of During the Persecution.

[410] During the Persecution, p. 83.

[411] Court and Character of King James, p. 350 (ed. 1811).

[412] Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, to whose charge the Powder Plot conspirators were committed, was afterwards dismissed from his office on a charge of embezzling the jewels of the Lady Arabella Stuart.

[413] Presumably the same Arthur Gregory who at an earlier period had counterfeited the seals of Mary Queen of Scots' correspondence.

[414] Dom. James I. xxiv. 38.

[415] March 3rd, 1605-6 (Hatfield MSS.).

[416] Eudaemon Joannes cites the renegade Alabaster as testifying to having seen a letter seemingly of his own to Garnet, which he had never written. (Answer to Casaubon, p. 159.)

[417] Narrative, p. 54.

[418] Ibid. p. 113.

[419] Though we have not now to consider the question of Father Greenway's connection with the conspirators, it may not be out of place to cite his own account of this visit (Narrative, Stonyhurst MSS., f. 86 b):

"Father Oswald [Greenway] went to assist these gentlemen with the Sacraments of the Church, understanding their danger and their need, and this with evident danger to his own person and life: and all those gentlemen could have borne witness that he publicly told them how he grieved not so much because of their wretched and shameful plight, and the extremity of their peril, as that by their headlong course they had given the heretics occasion to slander the whole body of Catholics in the kingdom, and that he flatly refused to stay in their company, lest the heretics should be able to calumniate himself and the other Fathers of the Society."

[420] In this, as in some other respects, Mr. Jardine shows himself rather an advocate than an impartial historian. He holds that the complicity of the writer of the Narrative with the plotters is proved by the intimate knowledge he displays concerning them, "their general conduct--their superstitious fears--their dreams--'their thick coming fancies'--in the progress of the work of destruction." (Criminal Trials, ii. xi.)

There is here an evident allusion to the silly story of the "bell