the Netherlands For 1. if it had been so Garnet would most certainly have pleaded after that manner and not as he did I thought said Garnet it had been an idle question though afterwards I did verily think he intended something that was not good Here is not a word of a War or of the Low-Countries or of his going thither Nay Garnet saith expresly only Mr. Catesby asked him in general the question But 2. if this had been the case and that it was so propounded by Catesby as they would have it yet what needed so great a privacy that he should come to Garnet by way of secret Confession Since the Case as they now dress it up is what might be put in any place or company 3. If the Case was such what needed Catesby to be so solicitous in it and after the first resolution of it by Garnet to come again upon the same business 4. Especially considering that Garnet knew very well if Catesby had put it after that manner that he was not in earnest for there was another reason for his pretence of obtaining a Regiment and going to Flanders as hath been before observed 5. It s a sign that the Case was not so put by Catesby since it is acknowledged by Garnet that he did verily think that he in that queston intended something that was not good Now how could he well discern so much from thence if Catesby had pretended only scruple of Conscience about what he might lawfully do now he was going to serve in the Wars The question if put after that manner hath in it nothing but what is fair and gives no reason to suspect any thing that is not good and therefore its likely to avoid the objection that might be made against this way of framing the Case it is that More adds that Garnet discovered that Catesby had some great Design by frequent converse with him And that indeed is also true and it is as true that the Case was never so put under the disguise of a War For lastly Garnet himself doth acknowledg that Catesby in his name and by his authority did satisfie the rest of the lawfulness of the Fact Now it cannot be supposed that Catesby did not understand Garnet from whose side he never was as they say or that he should abuse his friend that trusted him above all the rest from the knowledg and experience he had of him It 's certain that when Rookwood made it a matter of Conscience to take away so much blood Catesby replied that he was resolved and that by good Authority as coming from the Superior of the Jesuits that in Conscience it might be done yea though it were with the destruction of many Innocents rather than that the Action should quail In like manner was Keys satisfied So Sir Everard Digby doth say For my keeping it secret it was caused by certain belief that those which were best able to judge of the lawfulness of it had been acquainted with it and given way unto it And of this we have a clear proof from him For whereas there was a Breve obtained from the Pope by Garnet for quieting some broils amongst the Papists in Wales in May. 1605. or rather upon the pretence of such broils as Eudaemon would have it which some now would make us believe were to forbid all Insurrections and Conspiracies whatsoever and which it seems some did then so understand we are told the meaning of it in Sir Everard's Papers who writes thus Before I knew any thing of this Plot I did ask Mr. Farmer i.e. Garnet what the meaning of the Pope's Brief was he told me that they were not meaning the Priests to undertake or procure Stirs but yet they would not hinder any neither was it the Pope's mind they should that should be undertaken for Catholick Good And he presently adds This answer with Mr. Catesby's proceedings with him and me gave me absolute beliefe that the matter in general was approved though every particular was not known By which means he came to so great satisfaction in it that he saith I could give unanswerable reasons for the good this would have done the Catholick Cause But Garnet was not alone though his Opinion and Judgment in the case was of greatest Authority for others also did follow him in the same practice So Greenwel whose true name was Tesmond but who abroad went under the name of Beaumont did satisfie Bates Mr. Catesby's Servant when he feard the unlawfulness of the Action assuring him that it was no offence to conceal it nor sin to do it for a good Cause They tell us that Bates recanted of this Information for it was he that accused Greenwel But 1. that is no credit to them for in that Letter which he is said to have written to his Confessor he recants also that he had seen Greenwel and Garnet which he doth there declare to be true in it self 2. This report was spread of him at the first when all could bear witness of the falsness of it he not recanting to nor at his death So Gerard did absolve and give the Sacrament to the five first of the Conspirators The Author of the Catholick Apology doth say that he did deny both by a publick writing in which he called God to witness that he knew not of the Plot no not so much as in Confession and also upon Oath at Rome when examined by the General of his Order He did also saith another appeal to his familiar Friend Sir Everard Digby But in confutation of this we have the Confession of Faux and Thomas Winter the only survivers of the five that did thus receive the Sacrament of Gerard and were absolved by him whom though they did deny at the first to name yet did afterward accuse him of it and that he was thus charged by some Sir Everard saith he was told As for his Appeal to Sir Everard he knew that he might do it with safety and confidence since that Gentleman had again and again satisfied them that he would not confess his knowledg of any Priest nor of Him above any And if he could work thus upon another person to protest and deny even to the death it may well be supposed that he himself was not without those principles which be had furnished another with nor would be wanting in the use of them when his own life and reputation and the honour of his Religion was concerned to have it remain a Secret And this also is no new thing for we find Fitz-Herbert taking the same course for his own vindication in a charge of the like Nature Hammond the Jesuit is another whom we find concerned in this capacity who did absolve the Conspirators at the house of Rob. Winter when they were in actual Rebellion And for which the Apologist hath nothing
to refuse their requests It 's likely that it was given out amongst and by themselves that there was such a Petition preparing and if they could but possess their own Party by that means so as to be in expectation of it it might serve to satisfie them about any report of an Insurrection and keep them from enquiring into that which they endeavoured to keep within the breasts of a few And this will serve to give light to what I have before said at the beginning of this Section viz. That more were concerned in this Conspiracy than were at that time publickly known that is more than we read of did know of the very manner of a Plot for the destruction of the King c. as those that were to surprize the next Heir and many more of a Plot to bring in and set up their Religion by force of Arms. To this purpose it was that care was taken at the first for assistance from abroad and that a continual Negotiation was maintained with Spain by the Jesuits as Watson and Clark did depose which they said they were sure tended to nothing but a preparation for a Forraign Commotion It 's true that King James speaks favourably in this case of Forraign Princes and their Ministers but if we may believe Osborn he saith that the King of Spain had an Army then in Flanders to land in the huge mist so black a Cloud must needs have caused over the Nation and that when the people heard that his Catholick Majesty sent an Agent on purpose to Congratulate King James ' s preservation he could not tell it the Cardinal d'Ossat without laughing in his face at so palpable a piece of flattery as he conceived it to be To this purpose was it that Prayers were appointed to be used by those that were Romishly affected throughout the whole Nation as not only Osburn relates but also as it hath been this last year confirmed from Sancta Clara's c. own mouth by Mr. S. in his Depositions before the Council and is yet to be seen in a Book of theirs wrote in the beginning of King James's Reign where are many passages relating hereunto in a consolatory Psalm as it 's there called its said Confirm your hearts in hope for your Redemption draweth nigh The year of Visitation draweth to an end and Jubilation is at hand England shall be called a happy Realm a blessed Country a Religious People Those which knew the former glory of Religion shall lift up their hands for joy to see it returned again Righteousness shall prosper and Infidelity shall be plucked up by the roots Again false Error shall vanish like smoke and they which saw it shall say where is it become The Daughters of Babylon shall be cast down and in the dust lament their ruin Proud Heresie shall strike her Sail and groan as a Beast crushed under a Cart Wheel The memory of Novelties shall perish with a crack as a ruinous House falling to the ground Repent ye Seducers with speed and prevent the dreadfull Wrath of the most Powerable He will come as a flame that burneth out beyond the Furnace his fury shall fly forth as Thunder and pitch upon their tops which maligne him So in the fifth Psalm of his composure They Enemies shall perish in thy Fury and melt like wax before the fire I have repeated the more from this Book because it was made about that season and also because it 's very hard to be got From which we may observe 1. That the Jubilee they expected was very near 2. That this was to be by the destruction of their Enemies 3. That it should be such a destruction as would render the Enemies uncapable of resistance or recovery 4. The manner is as much pointed out as a thing of that nature that was a Secret and charily to be kept as such could be Heresie shall vanish like smoak the memory of Novelties shall perish with a crack he will come as a flame that burneth out beyond a Furnace c. As the time drew on so they were more secure of success and more confident and open in their expectations of it Thus it was abroad for Henry Flood a Jesuit caused the Jesuits at Lisbon to spend a great deal of Money on Powder upon a Festival day a little before the Gunpowder-Treason in England to make experiment of the force of it and perswaded one John How a Merchant whom he had perverted and diverse other Catholicks to go over into England and to expect their Redemption there as he called it a while as we have the relation of it Thus it was also at home for a few days before the appointed time Garnet meets the other Traitors at Coughton in Warwick-shire which was the place of Rendezvouz whither they resorted out of all Countreys And upon the first of November Garnet openly prayeth for the good success of the great Action concerning the Catholick Cause in the beginning of the Parliament adding these Verses of an Hymn in the end of his Prayer Gentem auferte perfidam Credentium de finibus Vt Christo laudes debitas Persolvamus alacriter This Garnet never denied but pleaded that he went thither with a purpose to disswade Mr. Catesby when he should have come down An Answer most absurd as the Earl of Salisbury replied to him seeing he knew Catesby would not come down till the 6 th of November which was the day after the Blow should have been given and Garnet went into the Country ten days before If this had been his Errand it would rather have kept him in London where Catesby was than carried him from it As to the Prayer he used he had prepared this Answer as he told Hall in their secret Conference together It is true saith he that I prayed for the good Success of that great Action but I will tell them that I meant it in respect of some sharper Laws which I feared they would then make against the Catholicks And that answer shall serve well enough In which 1. he plainly grants that he had another end in reciting that verse than he would own to them that should examine him upon it 2. It appears that the end which he did it for was what he was very much afraid to have discovered As is evident from his own Letters in one of which he saith I know not how I shall satisfie them about my Journey to Coughton and in another there is a rumour of a Sermon preached by me at Hall I am afraid it 's that which I made at Coughton And he further said to Hall If I can clear my self of this which I hope to do I care not what otherwise they have to object against me c. And can we then think that it was by chance that he recited those Verses being used in the Octaves of All-Saints day as his Apologist saith
else to say but who can tell whether Hammond did not oblige them to lay down their Arms before he did absolve them or whether they did not bring such Arguments for continuing in them as might render it probable and then he was bound to absolve them But as to the former it is certainly otherwise for they not only continued in the same posture of Rebellion after absolution which they were in before But also Hammond advised Henry Morgan to defend the Cause to the utmost before he absolved him Which is further confirmed by what Stephen Littleton did say who when asked whether he was absolv'd for the Fact or had his Conscience satisfied by any about it viz. at that time answered that he would rather dye than reveal the secrets of that matter Which doth imply that he had bin thus absolved and was confirmed As to the latter viz. the Doctrine of a probable opinion it serves rather to condemn than excuse them for if the opinion of a Doctor or their own and the good of the Cause shall serve to procure both may make an Opinion probable then Jac. Clemen s and Ravilliac and all the Regicides in the World may be defended and defend themselves But yet even this will not salve the reputation of Hammond for Rookwood believed his concealment of this Treason to be a Sin and confessed it so to him but he absolved him from all his Sins notwithstanding without taking notice of this particular Rookwood thought it to be unlawful and yet Hammond absolved him as if he never had so thought Another of the Jesuits is Hall or Oldcorn who was privy to it and did satisfie Humphry Littleton that did begin to suspect the lawfulness of the Plot and to think God was not pleased with it from the disaster Catesby c. met with But Hall told him that we must not judg the cause by the event and gave him several instances to confirm it This Humphry Littelton did confess But saith the Apologist he did at his Execution beg pardon of Hall for it But if he did he must ask his pardon for what was true for Hall himself in the substance of it did confess what Littelton accused him of But how could that be that he should beg pardon of him at the place of execution when though they suffered the same day at Worcester yet not at the same time and Littelton was dead before Hall came thither 4. The Jesuits did not only satisfie the Consciences of others and absolve them but also were parties in the Treason themselves I shall not here insist upon what Smith the Bishop of Chalcedon said of Gerard that he boasted that he had largely sweat with working in the Mine because I find it not upon Record But there are several things laid to their charge that will sufficiently prove that they were actually concerned in it As 1. We find that at the first beginning they were present at their most private Consultations and so intimate in that juncture was Gerard with Catesby that he lodged with him in Percy 's house as Faux confessed 2 We find that some of them administred the Oath of Secrecy to the Conspirators So Gerard to Catesby c. and Greenwel to Bates 3. They were also busie in buying up store of Horses and Arms and Gerard was more particularly imployed herein as he had skill and pretended to teach the riding of the great Horse 4. That they had frequent consultations about it as Garnet with Catesby and Tresham about the strength of the Catholicks Greenwel with Garnet about a Protector And Garnet Gerard and Greenwel with Sir Everard Digby c. for they seem to be the Three whom Sir Everard is so careful to conceal and whom he therefore is so careful to conceal because of some particular charge that might be brought against them for what was said or done when together with him as may be collected from his Papers 5. When the Conspirators were in Arms Greenwel came to them from Garnet and so had Garnet come likewise but for fear his order might irreparably suffer by his appearance Greenwel went from them to raise a Party and make an Insurrection And Hammond continued with them Now if to satisfie the scrupulous and absolve the guilty and to oblige to Secrecy if Consulting Advising Assisting and accompanying with the Traitors will bring the Priests into the number then they will be guilty And it s not all their own Declarations or Apologies written by others on their behalf will make them innocent as long as such a Charge remains upon Record against them It is no wonder then that Garnet after all his confidence should profess that he would give all the world to clear his Innocency and that he that hoped at the first to escape for Want of proof should have nothing to say for himself when he was overwhelmed as he said with so great a Cloud of Witnesses From which evidence as he did at last confess what they could from other proof charge upon him so from his own confession given under his hand he was when he would have stray'd from the path of Truth at his death forced into it again by the admonition of the Recorder then present For a little to palliate his case and clear himself he said that what he knew in particulars was in Confession which was contrary to what he before had confessed in four points as the Recorder then shewed and how he could thus equivocate or worse and yet behave himself like a faithful Servant of Jesus Christ at his death as the Author of the Catholick Apology saith all mankind but themselves cannot I believe understand SECT IV. This Conspiracy was purely upon the account of Religion AS our Adversaries before have done what they could to cast off the odium of this Conspiracy from the Party in general and from the Jesuits in particular by making a few Gentlemen only and their dependents concerned in it So they use as much Art to clear their Religion from the guilt of it being sensible that if this be found faulty the others are not to be defended but the whole Party must fall under censure Therefore they labour might and main to acquit themselves well herein and tell us that as these persons were few in number so they did proceed upon discontent and not upon the score of Religion Sometimes they plead the King did before his coming into England give them good hopes of the exercise of their Religion which when deceived in they were exasperated Sometimes their Persecutions were so great that they almost hated life it self for their sake Or as the Author of the Catholick Apology words it That which drove these Gentlemen into this wickedness was the want of Christian patience or a despair of any ease by this King from Queen Elizabeth's cruel and horrid
Laws c. Now supposing 1. that thus it was that the King had before promised favour to them and instead of that had permitted the horrid and cruel Laws as he calls them to have their course is this sufficient to excuse their cursed Design or to prove that Religion was not concerned in it Was it upon any other account if we grant this than Religion when they hoped for Toleration and was it not Religion that put them upon Rebellion because they had not that Toleration But 2. indeed there was no such reason for their Conspiracy for they had no such assurances from the King Such a report was spread abroad by themselves as Watson doth acknowledge but with what truth will appear not only from Watson's Confession who two days before his death protested upon his Soul to the Earl of Northampton that he could never draw the smallest comfort from him in those degrees but also from Watson's Treason who would never have attempted that if he had been satisfied of the King 's good intentions towards those of his Religion It is not unlikely but that the King who after his coming in did receive them freely and favourably might before treat them after the same manner but how far it was from any promise Watson further declares I could never draw more from the King saith he than that he would have the Catholicks apprehend that as he was a stranger to this state so till he under stood in all points how those matters stood he would not promise favour any way But how far the King was from affording them any such favours as they pretend is further declared in a Memorandum in the Star-Chamber For some of the Puritans having spread a rumour that the King intended to grant a Toleration to Papists the Lords severally declared how the King was discontented with the said false rumour and had made but the day before a Protestation to them that he never intended it and that he would spend the last drop of blood in his body before he would do it and prayed that before any of his Issue should maintain any other Religion than what he truly professed and maintained that God would take them out of the World As false also and less ground is there for that of their Persecution For he was so far from it that he gave honour at his first coming to many of them and did admit all without distinction to his presence upon just occasion of access as the Earl of Northampton shews and took away the Mulcts that were laid upon them And in his first Speech in Parliament Mar. 19. 1603 the King did make a proposal of clearing the Laws of such interpretations as might tend to the hurt of the innocent as well as the guilty as he saith which Speech was made after the Treason of Watson was discovered that not provoking the King to change his behaviour toward any other of them than those that were Confederates in it So that if we truly enquire into the case unless Lenity and Favour is Persecution we shall hardly find what may be so called And so much indeed doth Suarez say that King James's kindnesses inasmuch as they proceeded from political reasons may be well esteemed part of their Persecution But 3. There could be no such reason for this Conspiracy for they had laid the foundation of it and were carrying it on before the King was settled in his Throne This Watson confess'd and it s also manifest for Christopher Wright was dispatched into Spain to engage that Kings assistance immediatly upon Queen Elizabeths death and the Powder Treason it self was formed in the first year of King James's Reign We see then they had no such provocation given them as is pretended and that if they had it doth not at all infer that they engaged upon this Design not upon the account of Religion But if we should grant that they had such a provocation and that the provocation and Religion did not go together in it Yet we have other reasons to shew that it was upon a religious account that this was undertaken and that I shall make evident 1. From the Principles which they went upon 2. From their own Declaration From their Principles As 1. They held that an Heretical Prince might and ought to be deposed So Faux said he was moved to this because the King was not his lawful Sovereign or the Anointed of God in respect he was an Heretick 2. That the Pope had sufficient power by vertue of his Supremacy to depose such This was Catesbye's reason for saith he if the Popes Breves were of force to keep him King James out they are also of no less Authority to thrust him out 3. That it was lawful for the good of the Church and the furtherance of the Catholick Cause to kill and to destroy This was the reason upon which Catesby and all the rest were satisfied and from whence Sir Everard did with a great confidence affirm I could give unanswerable reasons for the good that this would have done for the Catholick Cause Which it seems he was furnished with from a Latin Book that he met with perhaps Delrio If these and the like be not principles of their Religion then we are to seek for them and if these are the Principlss upon which they were satisfied then it was the Cause of Religion that they fought in 2. But if this will not do let us attend to their own Declarations I was moved hereunto said Faux only for Religion and Conscience sake the King not being my lawful Soveraign c. So Sir Everard Digby no other cause drew me to hazard my Fortune and Life but Zeal to Gods Religion From all which we have reason to say with King James that it cannot be denied that it was the only blind Superstition of their errors in Religion that led them to this desperate device And must think the Author of the Catholick Apology let fall a great Truth though against his own mind that when Dr. Stillingfleet had asserted that the Plotters motives were from their Religion doth reply ' T is as true that the Plot had its rise from Clem. 8. Breves For so it had in a great measure as I have before shewed SECT V. THey never gave to the World any real and good satisfaction of their abhorrency of this bloody Design The Catholick Apology doth tell us that Cardinal Bellarmin doth express the Treason not only by the name of Horrid but also adds I excuse not the Fact I abominate King-killing I detest Conspiracies And presently adds of his own Did ever Writer whether Priest or Lay-man English-man or Stranger own the real Plotters not to be Villains But the Question is First who are those he calls real Plotters not the Jesuits or hardly Catesby whom they do so much applaud not only for his Parts but his Piety
Consults for that purpose why was not that Book produced as desired for their Vindication What other overt Acts there were as Coleman's Letters Seals for Commissions upon which Whitebread only answered the taking them out of his Chamber was more than they had power to do and the like I shall not further search after but leave it to what is and will be further made publick by Authority But what hath been said already is sufficient to shew how little truth there is in what the abovesaid Author doth fantastically affirm viz. that the charge of the Plot is only supported by the breath of the Witnesses coined into Oaths 2. He saith that in the Powder-Treason there was the flight of some of the Conspirators and the resistance at their taking But not one Person in this pretended Conspiracy did either fly or abscond except only the Priests who were obnoxious to the Law for their Priesthood nay the greatest part of them upon the first rumour of their accusation came in and render'd themselves But I deny 1 that its an undoubted mark of a person's Innocency that he did not fly when a Treason was discovered and he had an opportunity of making his escape For the case may be that he may not be charged with it and then if he flys he brings it upon himself So Tresham in the Powder-Treason still continued about the Court that he might thereby seem wholly free and innocent as an Author above quoted observes 2. He may stay and yet be guilty upon a presumption that the Charge may not be made good and he may escape for want of proof as Garnet hoped 3. He may stay and yet be guilty as presuming that though the Charge be made good yet he hath persons of power and interest great enough to interpose betwixt him and danger And therefore rather than be declared guilty by flight or betray and discredit his Cause or distrust his Friends he may choose to stay though he be no more innocent than those that fly But after all is it not possible that not one should be found whose guilt or fear did prevail upon him to fly and secure himself c. as he saith it is not He grants the Priests did fly but it was because they were obnoxious to the Law for their Priesthood If that was the reason then there had been no Priest but what would have fled those that were not charged with this Treason as well as those that were for setting aside this new charge all as Priests are alike obnoxious and yet we find all did not alike fly But were there none but Priests that fled then where are those Laymen that were concerned in the charge of Sir Edmund's murther and that are so often mentioned in the Tryals What are become of many persons whom it is not for me to name but are known to have resided beyond Seas ever since the Examination into this business Now if what one of themselves saith be true that flight is a sign of guilt then these are self-condemned that put it upon this issue and say that the stoutest man had he been guilty would have fled upon such warning but the most timerous of Nature did not fly because he was innocent 3. He saith those that were executed for the Powder-Treason did all confess the Fact at the time of Execution Whereas those that have been executed for this Plot have at their Death 's denied the Fact and resisted all temptations of Pardon and Reward c. That the Traytors in the Powder-Treason did confess the Fact we readily own if they mean thereby the Treason as it was at first hatched But that they did thus confess and not persist in the protestation of their Innocency to the Death was not because their Consciences would not dispense with it or their Religion not permit them to be obstinate and for swear themselves as a late Author of theirs would have us believe but for other reasons as I have shewed at large before For I question not but that as Faux did lay the blame at first wholly upon himself so he would have sworn to it also if it had not been the Torture that he stood more in awe of than his Conscience It was upon this score and not his Religion as the Author of the Compendium doth suppose that the Lords laught at his Huffing and Bravadoes since otherwise they would rather have put him to his Oath than to the Rack to have extorted a Confession from him and therefore to make use of his case amongst others as the abovesaid Author doth to oppose to the case of the Persons that were lately executed and that denied the Fact at their Execution is nothing to the purpose Before Their case then will be of use to the vindication of These now they must prove that the whole Plot was at that time confessed by the Conspirators that they never denied any thing which they were upon Oath charged with and that they had no Principles to warrant them if they did But the contrary to these is manifest as hath been already shewed and so can do them little service Without doubt had the Traytors then had as much Power to conceal the whole as they did the greatest part of it and could as well have kept to themselves what they did confess as well as what they did not we had been little the wiser They then were of the same Religion acted upon the same Principles as the others now and therefore that they then did confess and these did not was because their Circumstances were different and not because They were guilty and These were innocent For if the other had been in these Mens condition I do not doubt but they would as obstinately have denied and if These had been in their condition I as little doubt but that they would have confessed according as they did then The others denied as long as Denial would do them good and till they saw it could not be denied having clear proof against them And these did deny and obstinately persist so to do for want of other proof than the Oaths of others and so their denial being opposed to the others affirming their forswearing it to the other Oaths their dying words to the others that were to live they did not question but the World would believe they had Truth on their side And when the Principles and Honour of their Religion their own Credit and safety of their Friends and the fear of Damnation to boot which often prevails with Men more then the hopes of a present Reward do engage them it 's not impossible that they should deny and dye in the denial of what is true 4. The abovesaid Author adds that all persons indifferently both Papists and Protestants c. believed the thing the Powder-Treason and no soul living did deny it Deny it how could they since there
was enough to prepare their Party by some general Intimation but the How or the What or the Where was what the principal Cabal and Consult kept for the most part secret to themselves So much is acknowledged by Sir Everard Digby As I did not know it directly that it was approved by such referring to some Persons of great authority either in point of Dignity Wisdom or Conscience so did I hold it in my conscience the best not to know any more if I might So again This answer of Garnet's with Mr. Catesby ' s proceedings with him and me gave me absolute belief that the matter in general was approved though every particular was not known He that was privy to the main and a principal Undertaker in one great part of the Design which was to seize upon the Princess and head the party that was thereabouts was ignorant in some other things relating to it And what he did not desire to know if he might others its likely might not know if they desired it Those that knew their own work and were assigned to some particular Office might know no more what They did or were to do who were above than every little Officer in a Reigment is acquainted with the Debates and Resolves of a secret Council of War and they that were ready to obey and whose work it was to observe the motions of the Commander in their eye might think no more of killing the King or of blowing up the Parliament than that they should be blown up themselves The good of the Catholick Cause and an Insurrection for promoting it is what perhaps such might be trusted with the knowledg of but the Destruction of the Royal Family excepting one whose name they were to make use of and setting up a Protector might be as little known to them as their Commanders are to us They might have an Intimation of a great Alteration coming on and of the happy days that were approaching and half a sentence might serve to break the business to them whom they would prepare for it and a nod to supply what was farther to be revealed but that should be left till time and success should interpret it Thus speaks Henry Morgan who being asked by Hammond the Jesuit unto whom he amongst the rest made confession what led him to joyn with Winter c. answered I did not saith he well understand it but they told me that Religion and Life was at stake and so it was matter of Conscience induced me to it When therefore the case is thus we can have no better information or understand more from such then they were permitted to understand For the same reason was it that as it was in the Invasion 1588 the Conspirators were not generally known to one another unless those who were of the Cabinet Council Every one knew his immediate fellow or partner and perhaps his Commander but the number and strength or persons otherwise he could in such a case at best but suspect so we find that neither Littleton nor Rookwood knew Greenwell And that they did practise according to this Principle is evident from Winter's Confession where we read that Catesby desired Leave that he with Mr. Percy and a third whom they should call might acquaint whom they thought fit and willing to the business for many said he may be content that I should know who would not therefore that all the Company should be acquainted with their names So Sir Everard Digby I knew saith he that Faux could reveal me for I must make choice of two besides Mr. Catesby which I did of him and Mr. Winter He had a part which he would not have every one acquainted with But above all Garnet was most cautious herein who was wont for a good while to converse only with Catesby and those of his own order about this business insomuch as Sir Everard Digby saith in the place before quoted I did not know it directly that it was approved by such which he principally understands of Garnet for he saith further Before that I knew any thing of this Plot I did ask Mr. Farmer i. e. Garnet for that was one of the six names he was called by what the meaning of the Pope's Brief was he told me that they were not meaning Priests to undertake or procure any stirs c. and this answer with Mr. Catesby's proceedings with him and me gave me absolute belief that the matter in general was approved c. So that he understood Garnet's meaning indirectly only by the answer given to that question and by the account which Catesby also gave him of the Provincial's opinion in the case Catesby being his mouth to the Company and giving them assurance that it was Garnet's Judgment as well as his own This Garnet doth acknowledge in a Letter of his what should I do saith he first of all the other Conspirators did accuse me and again Catesby always made use of my Authority with them by which means he perswaded almost every body to think well of the matter Thus carefully did this subtile Man proceed that he might preserve his own Honour and Life and that which seemed to be as dear to him as both the honour of his Order and Society From all which we see that though the party hung together yet it was by such strings that few could perceive among themselves the clue being in the hands of the Chief of the Conspiracy and that consequently we cannot expect that full and clear Evidence as we might have had had such of them as Catesby and Piercy lived to make discovery or had such of them as lived to be examined and tryed been inclined to it But that we find otherwise For 5. When they were discovered and apprehended they did with great obstinacy deny every thing that either was not forced from or could not be directly proved against them Thus Faux laid all the blame upon himself and would confess none of his complices till he was carried to the Tower and shewed the Rack Thus resolved we find Sir Everard Digby who saith more reasons I had to perswade me to this belief than I dare utter which I will never to the suspicion of any though I should to the Rack for it So again I will do as much as my Partner wisheth and it will then appear that I shall not hurt or accuse one man and however I might in general possess them with fear in hope to do the Cause good yet my care was ever to lose my own Life rather than hurt the unworthiest Member of the Catholick Church Tell her I have ever loved her and her House c. and I will not live to manifest the contrary Where we find that they were much afraid of him who was able to do them a great deal of mischief from the knowledge that he had of the Party and the Design and who perhaps
kept secret were revealed as may be found in their printed Confessions 2. The Malefactors did accuse their Confessors and therefore certainly they would never have spared others had there been any guilty This cannot be supposed saith another that they had not Tenderness enough to leave any other undiscovered whose Conscience compelled them to expose their own Confessors to their deserved Penalty To which the last Author adds 3. That not one Nobleman or any other of the Catholick Gentry did know or approve of that wicked conspiracy because the Catholick Lords all of them saith the Cath. Apol. were to have undergone the same barbarous Fate with the rest But I cannot conceive the force of the first Argument for what if there were several particulars revealed by them which might easily have been kept secret Might not that be so and yet there be nothing of Sincerity and Conscience in the case Might it not be done for the connexion of one thing to another which often times makes Circumstances to be necessary as it is there Might it not be done to impose upon the Examiners and to let them think that when they are so exact in the less they will not let slip the greater And have we not just cause to think this to be the reason rather than what the Apologist doth offer for it If indeed these printed Confessions had been so exact as he will needs suppose then there had been some colour for what he says but when the contrary is manifest his Argument falls of it self And that this is so appears from what I have before observed for Faux and Winter upon second Examination confessed more and what they did afterward confess was so material as could not be forgotten by them before had they not been willing to have concealed it if they well could But again where is the consequence setting aside the conscience in it that because they did sometimes let fall some things of little importance therefore they must needs also reveal things of an higher nature therefore they must betray those Friends who had not by any overt Acts discovered themselves So that before this Argument must be granted we must grant that Faux and Winter were privy to the whole Plot and that part in which they were not personally concerned as well as what they were We must grant that they made conscience of not concealing any part or particular of it as far as they knew and we must further grant that all these particulars are contained in their printed Confessions Or else we may safely conclude that notwithstanding there are several Particulars revealed in their printed Confessions which might have been easily kept secret they might have a design to save their Friends and there might be more Persons in the Plot than are recorded in their Confessions and which is pity a pretty Argument is thereby lost and which is worse than that it might be a Popish and general Plot notwithstanding But however will they say if they were sincere in those Confessions then a part of it still remains good and what greater Argument can there be for that they were sincere than that they did accuse their own Confessors which is a thing that nothing but the power of truth can force them to and if they did not spare them they would certainly not spare others In answer to which I shall consider 1. Whether they did thus accuse their Confessors 2. Whether if they did their Conscience as is pleaded compelled them to it As to the first 1. It is notorious that there were several of them did not at all accuse their Confessors this is certain as to Sir Everard Digby that he against his own knowledg did all he could upon his Trial to vindicate them And if we peruse the printed Confessions we shall not find a word to that purpose If Faux and Winter did afterwards accuse any it was what they were if not very backward and cold yet very imperfect in For the Earl of Salisbury tells Garnet Let it not be forgotten that this interlocution of yours with Hall overheard by others appears to be digitus Dei for thereby had the Lords some light and proof of matter against you which might have been discovered otherwise by violence and coercion Implying as Morus observes that they had not matter before sufficient to charge him with The great thing charged upon him seems to be that some of the others confessed that his name was used to them by Catesby to justifie the lawfulness of the Act as Garnet in one of his Letters doth say but what he there adds that All did so confess is manifestly false Since besides what is abovesaid of Sir Everard Morus doth declare that nothing was confessed against the Jesuits but what Bates said of Greenwel or Greenway viz. that he was in the company of the Conspirators and which Sir Everard said he heard he should confess of Wally or Garnet So that when these late Apologists say the Traitors did all accuse and expose their Confessors it s more than was true and more than the Jesuits will thank them for For all of them that hitherto pleaded the cause of the Jesuits do say the contrary More shall speak for the rest who saith for ought I can perceive the accusation of the Jesuits hath no other foundation than the Confession of Bates who is said to have accused Greenway c. and he would perswade us also that Persons of good credit reported that while in Prison he confessed that he had accused him falsly How true this is I shall afterward consider but I produce this to shew what contrary things these men will say if it may serve their Cause when in the last age it was pleaded none did accuse the Jesuits and when in ours they would have it that they were accused by all But 2. Supposing they did accuse their Confessors yet it was not because their Conscience did compel them to it This More will have them so far from that he saith Bates did accuse them in hope of life and afterward recanted But whether Bates did so or no yet in point of reason it is evident that it was not from any such motive for then they that thus accused them would have repented of the Eact it self and look'd upon it as an Evil fit to be repented of For what could move them in point of Conscience thus to expose them if it was not that the Fact was evil which their Confessors together with them had been complicated in But this we find them far from acknowledging For Sir Everard Digby though for a little while after his imprisonment he doubted of the warrantableness of it yet being confirmed in it by the Letters of Gerard whom he calls Brother was so well satisfied that he calls it the best Cause Of the like mind were Robert Winter and Faux for having found an opportunity for Conference
in the Tower from the nearness of their Lodgings Robert Winter said to Faux that he and Catesby had Sons and that Boys would be Men and that he hoped they would revenge the Cause Nay that God would raise up Children to Abraham out of stones And they added that they were sorry that no body did set forth a Defence or Apologie of their Action but yet they would maintain the Cause at their deaths And so it 's likely they did for King James saith that some of them continued so obstinate that even at their death they would not acknowledg their fault but in their last words immediately before the expiring of their Breath refused to condemn themselves and crave pardon for their deed except the Romish Church should first condemn it Of this we have a particular example in Grant when being admonished just before his death by a learned and reverend Person to ask pardon of God for his offence he confidently and readily replied That he was so well satisfied that there was no sin in the case that on the contrary he thought that he deserved so well for that generous and brave Attempt that it would abundantly suffice for a satisfaction for all the sins of his whole life So little did they generally repent of the Fact and so little reason have we to think that what they confessed proceeded from compulsion of Conscience but rather that it was from some other reason as fear of the Rack or surprize or because others had confessed or that they themselves had given occasion from what they had before confessed for a further enquiry c. So it happened with Faux and Th. Winter who at the first accused none of the Jesuits but having confessed that they received the Sacrament that led the way to a further Examination about the Priests whom they at last confessed also This Sir Everard foresaw and therefore he took another course as is before observed and denied that he had received the Sacrament at all upon this occasion Now that what I have before said is true will appear from the behaviour of Stephen Littleton who though he had confessed that he sent to Hall after their defeat for advice whither to retire and had with others acknowledged that he and the rest had confessed to Hammond a little before yet he absolutely refused to answer whether he received Absolution from him for the Fact or had his Conscience satisfied by him about it and added that he would rather dye than reveal the secrets of that matter And Robert Winter who had at first confessed that all the Jesuits named were privy to and engaged with them in the Conspiracy yet as is before observed did maintain their Cause and resolve to defend it at his death Truly I find none of them that had any touch of Remorse but Rookwood and Tho. Winter and for the latter it is observable that when he said I shall set down mine own Accusation c. which I shall the faithfuller do since I see such courses are not pleasing to Almighty God Yet was so far from doing so that he speaks there not one word of Gerard whom upon a further Examination he discovered or any other Jesuit so that his Confession at that time seems rather to be owing to his second reason that he there gives than his first and that is because the most material parts had bin already confessed To conclude this when the Traitors did accuse their Confessors either they did this sincerely and because compelled by their Conscience or not if not as I have shewed then what doth the Argument signify that if the tenderness of their Conscience did compel them to expose their own Confessors then they would not have spared others But if they did thus confess them sincerely and out of Conscience then their Confessors were guilty of what these charged them with And then let them take their choice I shall now proceed to the consideration of the last Argument by which they would endeavour to prove that it was not a Popish Plot and that not any besides the abovesaid Conspirators were concerned in this Treason viz. that all the Catholick Lords were to have undergone the same barbarous Fate with the rest Supposing this was true as it is not yet is not the Pope's Interest to be promoted and the cause of the Jesuits maintained though the Nobility of their own way be destroyed Was there not a time when in an intended Invasion to be carried on by force from abroad and a secret Conspiracy at home that it was not the Persons they regarded but Interest It was to make room place and space for my Master said the Duke of Medina And might not this be the case in 1605 as well as it was in 88 And so their Religion be thereby settled and place and space made for the Master of Rome as well as Spain and Authority and Power gain'd to the Society it is no matter though the Innocent perish with the Nocent and Friends as well as Foes fall by the same Stroak This was foreseen in the present Conspiracy and when it was made a case of Conscience by Catesby it was resolved in the affirmative by Garnet that for the good and promoting of the Catholick Cause against Hereticks the necessity of time and occasion so requiring it was lawful among many Nocents to destroy and take away some Innocents also So that it might be a popish Plot though the Catholick Lords and all the Catholick Lords were to perish with the other But notwithstanding what these Writers do say that the Catholick Lords and all the Catholick Lords were to be thus barbarously dealt with yet we shall find that this is a great mistake in matter of Fact also The Confession of Thomas Winter if they had read it would have informed them otherwise for whilst we were in the Vault we discoursed saith he what Lords we should save from the Parliament which was first agreed in general as many as we could that were Catholicks or so disposed but after we descended to particulars And Sir Everard Digby doth give a clear account of this matter I dare not saith he take that course I could to make it appear less odious for divers were to have been brought out of the danger which now would rather hurt them than otherwise I do not think there would have been three worth saving that should have been lost To this purpose one of them that was privy to it took the way of writing to the Lord Monteagle Other Lords as the hour drew on might be admonished of it or called off as an Author of theirs saith they were to be or perhaps such a kind of Letter might have been thought of also as the Author of the Catholick Apology hath drawn up to serve upon such an occasion and which he thinks would certainly have kept the Person to whom