A COPIE OF A LETTER LATELY SENT BY a Gentleman student in the lawes of the Realme to a frende of his concernyng D. Story ACcording to your request you shal hereby vnderstand what you may truely saye auowe vpon such questions as it scemeth you haue harde of the late execution of D. Storie who suffred at Tiburne the first of Iune last It is notorious howe euyll and vnloyally he behaued hym selfe here in Englande before he departed the Realme and howe earnest a persecutor afterward he was of all the good subiectes of Englande hauyng cause to be in the lowe countreys both before the arrest made of late by the Duke of Alua as sence that tyme a multitude of honest marchauntes knowe it both Englyshe others and a great number haue felt it by imprisonment procured by hym and by seasyng and confiscatyng of their goodes so as there is no doubt to be made but that he was to his power as earnest an enemie to the state of Englande his naturall countrey and the Queenes Maiesties good subiectes as any man borne in this Realme coulde be Neuerthelesse because at the place of his execution before his death he vsed long many speeches to moue some of simple vnderstandyng or that dyd not knowe his rancor and malice agaynst the Queenes Maiestie and the state of this Realme and for that it was not then conuenient nor at least coulde be imagined aforehande that he woulde haue vsed suche speeches at that tyme and so he was suffred to speake altogether without contradiction whereby the trueth percase may be made to you obscure you shall vnderstande of what detestable crymes he was gyltie and therewith shoulde haue ben particulerly charged at the tyme of his arraignement in the Kynges Benche but that he craftyly and traytorously knowyng by his examination wherwith he was to be charged and howe much he hym selfe had confessed in the Towre and beyng wrytten in certayne leaues of paper had subscribed with his owne hande wrytyng refused to haue any tryall made thereof alleaging that he ought not to answere nor would answere because he was subiect to the Kyng of Spayne and not subiect to the Queenes Maiestie the crowne of Englande and so although he was charitably earnestly and reasonably required at his arraignment to answere to the matters wherwith he was charged by inditement as a borne subiect of this Realme yet he woulde not but traytorouslye refused to answere thereto in such sort as if he had ben indyted of felonie as he was of hygh treason he should for his not answeryng haue suffred the payne of pressyng to death which maner of iudgemēt is not vsed in cases of treasō by the lawes of the Realme but was adiudged gyltie of the treasons conteyned in the inditement as of necessitie and iustice he ought to be for other iudgement coulde not be geuen and so by iustice of lawe he was iudged to the death which he suffred But for that it may serue to the satisfaction of all men to consyder howe farre he was gyltie of the treasons conteyned in his indytement hereafter foloweth a true iuste and playne report of the matters both wherof he was accused and examined and which also he did confesse in the Towre He was to be charged that he dyd traytorously conspire agaynst the Queenes Maiestie with one Prestall an Englyshe man who was a fugityue and principall deuisor of the first Treason intended by the young Pooles xi yeres past and therof was indited and outlawed and afterwarde of late tyme he practised an other great treason with certayne persons wherof one disclosed the same to the Duke of Norfolke who also verye duetifullye reuealed the same to the Queenes Maiestie wherevpon the sayde Prestal beyng sought for to be apprehended fledde into Scotiande where also he ioyned hym selfe with the Englyshe rebelles and there attempted sundry treasons against her Maiestie and from thence he fledde into Flaunders With this maner of Traytor had this D. Storie a continuall intelligence to further his treasons insomuche as he sayde not long before he came into Englande to one that for dueties sake disclosed it is redy to proue it that Prestall shoulde or it were long be the leader of .xl. thousand men into Englande agaynst that woman whiche toke vpon her to be Queene and ◠the same Story I woulde to God she were in the bottome of the sea with other vile and reprochfull wordes not meete to be reported With which traytorous speeches he should haue ben charged yf he woulde haue abydden tryall accordyng to the lawes of the Realme The sayde Storie sayde also in the presence of two persons of English byrth who were redy to haue charged hym therewith yf he woulde haue stande to tryall that he had written letters to Bruxels that yf the matters conteyned therein shoulde be reuealed where he shoulde be charged therewith he shoulde be hanged drawen quartered And immediatly after this speeche he went to Bruxels with Prestall where he and Prestall were rewarded with money and there Prestall declared to certayne persons redy also to haue auowed the same that he had opened his whole purposes to D. Story whereto D. Story was sworne to kepe the same secrete But of the thynges intended by Prestal and Story at that tyme neyther of them woulde be then knowen but yet Prestall affirmed that he had an art to poyson any body a farre of beyng not present with them and that none coulde do it but he And to shew some taste of their mischiefes a gentleman belongyng to Courteuile a secretarie to the Duke of Alua tolde an Englyshe man redye also to auowe the same that D. Story and Prestall were about such matters and such vyle treason as the saide partie sayde that no man coulde deuise worse and that D. Story was suche a wicked man as could not be found the like and that he thought veryly they were about murdring of some great persōs in England The sayde Story also receaued certayne letters from Prestall out of Scotland being written in Scottyshe whiche are also to be seene and myght haue ben shewed at the arraignement yf he woulde haue ben tryed Which letters Story translated into latin and caryed the same to Bruxels by whiche it was required that meanes should be made to the Duke of Alua to sende into Scotland certayne Horsmen and a number of dagges to make an entry inuasion into Englande with the Scottes and by the same letter Prestall wrote that the thyng whiche he tolde D. Story in secrete woulde cost a thousande markes and that yf the Regent and the foolyshe boy the young Kyng were dispatched dead the Scottyshe Queene were a mariage for the best man lyuyng Al which wordes are conteyned in the letter translated by D. Story The sayde Story beyng at Bruxels and receauyng a letter from elde Norton a very olde Rebell beyng arryued at Antwerpe dyd sollicite certayne of the counsell about the Duke
for money for the reliefe of the same Norton and his company and wrote to hym to comfort hym by expresse wordes that where he and his company were before but worshipfull nowe they were an honorable state and had wonne double honor perpetuall fame for their late enterprise in Englande and that he woulde come shortly to geue them their welcome to Antwerpe and immediatlye he procured that one D. Saunders with certayne Englyshe fugityues harboured in Louain went to Antwerpe to the Rebelles and there Saunders made to them a solemne long oration in prayse of their actes Story also declared in Antwerpe in presence of such as should haue auowed it at his arraignement yf he woulde haue denyed it that the Rebellion shoulde be renewed in Englande and that at the same instant also Irelande shoulde rebell whereof he sayde he was well assured by aduertisement from an Iryshe bishop that hadde scaped out of the Towre of London and that at the same instant also the Scottes shoulde with an ayde out of Fraunce inuade Englande and set vp the Scottyshe Queene The sayde Story also vsed commonly this maner of prayer after his meates whereof there are diuers persons redy to witnes the same that haue hearde hym and lastly euen in the Roy wherein he was before he came last into Englande in the presence of diuers persōs that yf the Queenes Maiestie whom he woulde neuer tearme but by the name of dame Elzabeth that tooke vppon her to be Queene woulde not speedylye turne to Queene Maries religion he prayed that she myght be ouercome with sworde and fyre and all that woulde take her part And though he myght haue ben charged with sundry other traytorous and haynous conspiracies in the lowe countreys with aydyng of the Rebelles there whereof out of the saide lowe countreys aduertisement was geuen by sundry of good credite yet of set purpose no more is aboue recited but suche thynges only as wherwith he shoulde haue ben charged openly by witnesses at his arraignement who yf he woulde haue denyed the same shoulde haue auowed the whole to his face and in the hearyng of the Iury that shoulde haue tryed hym And howe many of the thynges before recited are to be iudged true probable it is to see by these thynges folowyng whiche are worde by worde extracted out of his owne confessions subscribed with his owne hande and vttered vpon interrogatories without any maner of torture or offer of torture although at the place of execution he vsed speeche to the contrary very vntruly as the worshipful persons that examined hym can well testifie which were Sir Thomas Wroth knight Maister Wilbraham then Recorder of London Maister Peter Osborne the Tresorers remembrancer in the Exchequer so can also the Lieuetenaunt of the Towre as touchyng any torture Extracted out of D. Stories confessions ix December 1570. IOhn Story the day and yere aboue written being examined saith that Iohn Prestall dyd wryte a letter to the sayde Iohn Story of three sydes of a sheete of paper as he remembreth and directed to the sayde Story which letter was inclosed in a letter wrytten to one Hamelton a Scot that lay at Bruxels for hym to peruse seale the same and then to delyuer it to the sayd Story And the same letter the sayde Hamelton read and sealed it vp and told this examinat the effect therof and he bad hym open it and reade it and so the sayde Hamelton dyd vntyll he came to a word Boy or chylde meanyng the King of Scottes to be made away as the said Story tooke it xii December 1570. Item he sayth that Hamelton tolde hym that Prestall had written that the matter which Prestall had tolde Story and the sayd Hamelton that an Englyshe man nowe in Irelande could do would not be done without a great summe of money whiche matter was to make the Kyng of Scottes away for Prestall had told this examinat and Hamelton that the Scottes woulde hardlye be reduced to obedience as long as the Queene of Scottes was without an husbande and no man of estimation woulde haue her so long as the Boy lyued and yf he were dead he hoped the Emperours brother woulde haue her and wyshed he myght be an entreater in that matter And further Prestall said that the said man nowe in Irelande had tolde the Pooles and hym the very month the daye and houre that the Queene of Englande shoulde be in hazarde of her lyfe and that the same Englishe man could dispatch the King of Scottes for money And beyng asked what the same Englyshe mans name was Story sayth of trouth he knoweth not but hath forgotten it yet Prestal told it him but whither he is in Irelande or of what estate degree or condition he is of he knoweth not And further that Prestall tolde him he coulde do much with that Englyshe man in Irelande wherein this examinat discouraged hym And the sayde Story sayth he thynketh of his conscience that Prestall would do all the harme that he coulde to this Realme of Englande And further sayth that Prestall tolde hym he woulde take any thyng in hand to inuade Englande so he might haue good assistance and not be vsed as an vnderlyng But Prestall neuer tolde hym by what deuice Englande shoulde be inuaded And more he sayth that Ienny and Markenfelde hath made suite to Courteuile and to Northcarne as Northcarnes secretarie tolde hym for the reliefe of the Nortons and Neuyls and after this Courteuile called this examinat wyllyng hym to byd Markenfeld to come to hym that day at two of the clocke and then this examinat prayed that yf he shoulde come about the money for the reliefe of the Nortons and others that then one Parkar myght be payed for theyr charges and so it myght be delyuered to Parkar He sayth he wrote a letter to the elder Norton from Bruxels and shewed the sayde elder Norton that he woulde be glad to do for hym euen the best that lay in the sayde Stories power to do and that he woulde rather stay his owne suites to the Duke then not to do the best he could for hym and this was all the effecte of his letter to the sayde eldest Norton but afterwarde he called to remembrance he wrote vnto him that he was glad that he and his company were so well come into the catholyke Realme safely arryued there He sayth he doth not remember that he wrote to the sayde Nortons and the reste that where they were before but worshipful they were nowe worthy double honor but he sayth it may be he dyd write so because he thought so and thynkes he dyd wryte vnto them that he woulde come shortly to Antwerpe geue them their welcome because he meant so to do After Markenfelde and Ienny came ouer one Leedes with hym and first they came to Parkers house where the sayde Ienny declared openly at the boorde in the presence of this examinat and others the
order of the sayde late Rebellion And hereupon this examinat made reporte to Northcarnes secretarie that the sayde Ienny was a frende to the Catholykes and the Earles and is a very trusty frende and hath ventured his lyfe for the Catholykes But afterwarde this examinat perceauyng the contrary of Ienny by a Scotte he gaue Northcarnes secretarie warnyng to take heede of Ienny Shortly after this the sayde Story came to Antwerpe to Parkars house where syttyng at dynner the sayde elder Norton and some other of his company came in from the Churche and one saide this is Norton and thereupon this examinat rose and gaue hym place and bad him welcome and so the elder Norton sate downe in the said Stories place After olde Norton shyfted his lodging and this examinat with one Shawe Nortons sonne in lawe went to the sayde olde Nortons lodging to dyner and there dined with hym and that day all their talke was of the suspition that Norton had of Iennys firste commyng to the Rebelles in Englande from the Earle of Sussex and so he tooke hym styl but a spye and to couer hym selfe with to the Duke with labouryng for them He sayth that he hearde by Markenfeldes report that the sayde Nortons and Neuyls their company had two hundred crownes geuen them from the Duke at their firste commyng and shoulde haue two hundred crownes more afterwarde More he sayth that before the Dukes last commyng to Antwerpe the saide Story and Sir Iames Shelley beyng at Louain were there sent for to come to D. Saunders to heare a certayne booke read of the reasons that the Bull late sent ouer into Englande should be obeyed as he suspected and thither the sayde Story promised to come but that after noone he was dryuen to go to Bruxels and so sir Iames Shelley went thyther and brought worde to this examinat being with one Leedes at dyner that yf he had come he shoulde haue hearde goodly reasons that he would haue wel lyked about the booke that Saunders had made Further the sayde Story doth say that he was neuer sworne to King Philip nor to the Duke of Alua nor neuer by any meanes was made kyng Philippes subiecte or denizen or otherwyse naturalized to be Kyng Philippes subiect but remaynes only styll a subiect to the Queene of Englande Thus subscribed though he sayd otherwyse at Tyborne Iohn Story xx December 1570. The sayde Iohn Story this .xx. day of December beyng examined sayth that about two yeres sence he dyd deale by wrytyng with Courteusle shewyng vnto hym that the Catholykes in Englande dyd dayly decay and the Scismatykes dyd there daylye encrease and therfore yf the King of Spayne had any meanyng to wryte to the Queene of Englande or otherwise to helpe to restore religion in Englande he shoulde do it betyme or els it woulde be to late and eyther he dyd wryte further or sayde by mouth to the sayde Courteuile that yf the Kyng of Spayne dyd but come into the low countrey out of Spayne with a number of shyppes the Catholykes of Englande would thynke as this examinat thought that he were come to restore religion and would take the Kyng of Spaynes part And the said Story confesseth that he wrote to Courteuile that if about the realme of England there might go a number of shyppes as men went about Ierico then the Catholykes of Englande woulde take courage to prepare entry for them that went so about with the said shyppes To which ende of entry by the Kyng of Spaynes power into Englande the saide Story dyd write to Courteuile many tymes by his letters and perswasions therein hopyng therby that either the King of Spayne woulde write to the Queene of Englande to restore the Catholyke religion or els would make some entry into England refourme religion according as he was bounde by his title of Catholyke Kyng as the sayde Story thought Further the sayde Story sayth that Iohn Prestall at such tyme as he talked with Hamelton and this examinat about the death of the Kyng of Scottes as is aforesayde when Prestall had tolde hym as aforesayde that the Englyshe man that fledde into Irelande had tolde the sayde Prestall of the tyme and houre the Queenes Maiestie should be in peryll of her death as is aforesayde then Prestall sayde that yf the sayde Englyshe man in Irelande myght be plyed he could bryng the Queenes hyghnes to death in deede and sayde he thought surely he coulde do it and then this examinat sayd that was to be done by Necromancie Subscribed Iohn Story It is here to be consydered also howe lykely it is that the thynges whiche he spake at Tiborne for his purgation were true when at the same tyme he woulde haue had by his earnest speeches then vsed all the hearers beleue that he vsed neuer any crueltie in Queene Maries time against any that were then burnt for religion but as he sayde he dyd but only chyde them and that he was no cause of the death of any but that the Bishoppes dyd procure the sentences of death And howe vntrue this speeche of his was in that behalfe as to excuse hym selfe a number of witnesses lyuyng that manifestly saw his extreme cruelties and some that felt thereof are very plenteous And what his hart was towards the Queenes Maiestie may playnly appeare by his traytorous wordes in the parliament house where he sayde that yf his counsel had ben folowed the root should haue ben stryken downe and not the braunches And howe horrible traytorous and monstruous a meanyng he had to refuse to answere at his arraignement by refusyng his naturall allegeaunce to the Queenes Maiestie and this crowne from which no lawe in the worlde coulde separate hym by auowyng that he was a subiecte to the Kyng of Spayne it may appeare in that he sayde at his arraignement for defence of his traytorous refusall of his obedience That Kinges were chosen at the first by the people for their necessitie not the people for their kynges and therfore the people myght leaue their kynges when they hadde no more neede of them And so the conclusion in his opinion serued for hym that he myght refuse his naturall liege lady and Queene And so consequently by that monstruous reason all kynges may be depriued of their subiectes or of as many as woulde enter into that traytorous monstruous error at their pleasure A thyng of it selfe worthy of some monstruous death accordyng to the monstruousnes of the treason Otherwyse to remember the vnworthynes of this D. for his long lewde lyfe in all tymes past is not conuenient because he is dead of whom also nothyng should be now in this sort written but that by his craftye traytorous doynges at his arraignement and by his vntruethes vttered at his death trueth it selfe shoulde take harme by mistakyng misreportyng and only in fauour of trueth haue I collected the premisses for no other purpose so I pray you vse it accordyng as you shal thynke meete For al those thynges which are before recited are manyfestly to be proued partly by the very wrytynges extant and in no worde altered and the rest by sufficient witnesses whereof I haue hadde good regarde euen for truethes sake knowyng that almyghtie God is the auenger of all vntrueth 4. Iunii 1571. God saue the Queene