What was the Gunpowder Plot? The Traditional Story Tested by Original Evidence by John Gerard (good non fiction books to read .TXT) 📖

Your Lordship doth take especial courage in this, that they single you out as the chief and principal watch Tower of your Country and Commonwealth, and turn the strength of their malice to you whom they hold the discoverer of all their unnatural and destructive inventions against their prince and country," etc.

[441] P.R.O. Dom. James I. xviii. 97, February 27th, N.S., 1606. The original, which is in Latin, has been utterly misunderstood by the Calendarer of State Papers.

[442] Stonyhurst MSS., Anglia, iii. 72.

[443] Thomas Howard, cr. 1603.

[444] To the ambassadors.

[445] Father Blount's account is undoubtedly in keeping with what we know of the Earl, and especially of his Countess, who was a sister of Sir Thomas Knyvet, the captor of Guy Faukes. Suffolk, in 1614, became Lord High Treasurer, but four years afterwards grave irregularities were discovered in his office; he was accused of embezzlement and extortion, in which work his wife was proved to have been even more active than himself. They were sentenced to restore all money wrongfully extorted, to a fine of £30,000, and to imprisonment during pleasure.

[446] In this letter all proper names are in cipher, as well as various other words.

[447] Church History, x. 40.

[448] We have four Latin epigrams of Milton's, In proditionem Bombardicam, which, though pointless, are bitterly anti-Catholic. A longer poem, of 226 lines, In quintum Novembris, is still more virulent.

It is somewhat remarkable that the universal Shakespeare should make no allusion to the Plot, beyond the doubtful reference to equivocation in Macbeth (ii. 3). He was at the time of its occurrence in the full flow of his dramatic activity.

[449] See Appendix L, Myths and Legends of the Powder Plot.

[450] Brit. Mus. Print Room, Crace Collection, portf. xv. 28. This is reproduced, as our frontispiece.

[451] There was a new moon at 11.30 p.m. on October 31st.

[452] The reasons assigned in the proclamation for this prorogation are plainly insufficient: viz., "That the holding of it [the Parliament] so soone is not convenient, as well for that the ordinary course of our subjects resorting to the citie for their usuall affaires at the Terme is not for the most part till Allhallowtide or thereabouts." Why, then, had the meeting been fixed for so unsuitable a date?

[453] November 7th, 1605. (Dom. James I.)

[454] Tanner MSS. lxxv. 44.

[455] Ibid.

[456] On his arrival in England, as Osborne tells us (Memoirs, p. 276), King James "brought a new holiday into the Church of England, wherein God had publick thanks given him for his majestie's deliverance out of the hands of Earle Goury;" but the introduction was not a success, Englishmen and Scots alike ridiculing it. Gunpowder Plot Day was more fortunate.

[457] Harleian Miscellany, iv. 251.

APPENDIX A.

 

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Frontispiece. The Powder Plot. I.

FROM the Crace Collection, British Museum, Portf. xv. 20. Thus described in the catalogue of the collection:

"A small etching of the House of Lords. Guy Fawkes in the foreground. W.E. exc. 1605."

This plate is of exceptional interest as having been executed within five months of the discovery of the Plot, i.e., previously to March 25th, 1606, the first day of the year, Old Style.

Guy Faukes is represented as approaching the House of Commons (St. Stephen's Chapel), not the House of Lords, as the catalogue says.

Title-Page.

Obverse, or reverse, of a medal struck, by order of the Dutch senate, to commemorate the double event of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot and the expulsion of the Jesuits from Holland. Drawn from a copy of the medal in pewter, by Paul Woodroffe. The design here exhibited is thus described in Hawkins and Frank's Medallic Illustrations:

"The name of Jehovah, in Hebrew, radiate, within a crown of thorns."

"Legend, chronogrammatic,

Non DorMItastI AntIstes IaCobI"

[which gives the date 1605]

On its other face the medal bears a snake gliding amid roses and lilies [symbolizing Jesuit intrigues in England and France], with the legend Detectus qui latuit. S.C. [Senatus Consulto]."

This is reproduced on the cover.

Group of Conspirators (p. 3).

From a print published at Amsterdam.

Eight conspirators are represented, five being omitted, viz., Grant, Keyes, Digby, Rokewood, and Tresham.

Bates, as a servant, wears no hat.

The Houses of Parliament in the time of James I. (pp. 56-7).

Restored from the best authorities, and drawn for the author by H.W. Brewer.

Ground Plan of House of Lords and adjacent Buildings (p. 59).

Extracted from the "Foundation plan of the Ancient Palace of Westminster; measured, drawn and engraved by J. T. Smith" (Antiquities of Westminster, p. 125)

The House of Lords in 1807 (p. 61).

From J.T. Smith's Antiquities of Westminster.

This sketch, made from the east, or river, side, was taken during the demolition of the buildings erected against the sides of the Parliament House. These were put up previously to the time when Hollar made his drawing of the interior (temp. Charles II.), which shows the walls hung with tapestry, the windows having been blocked up.

According to a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine (No. 70, July, 1800), who signs himself "Architect," in a print of the time of James I. the tapestry is not seen, and the House "appears to have preserved much of its original work." The only print answering to this description which I have been able to find exhibits the windows, but is of no value for historical purposes, as it is a reproduction of one of the time of Queen Elizabeth, the figure of the sovereign alone being changed. This engraving is said to be "taken from a painted print in the Cottonian Library," of which I can find no trace. [B. Mus., K. 24. 19. b.]

To the left of our illustration is seen the gable of the Prince's Chamber. The door to the right of this opened into the cellar, and by it, according to tradition, Faukes was to have made his exit.

In front of this is seen part of the garden attached to Percy's lodging.

Interior of "Guy Faukes' Cellar" (p. 71).

Two views of the interior of the "cellar," drawn by H. W. Brewer, from elevations in J.T. Smith's Antiquities of Westminster, p. 39.

The remains of a buttery-hatch, at the southern end, testify to the ancient use of the chamber as the palace kitchen; of which the Earl of Northampton made mention at Father Garnet's trial.

The very ancient doorway in the eastern wall, seen on the left of the picture, was of Saxon workmanship, and, like the foundations beneath, probably dated from the time of Edward the Confessor, who first erected this portion of the palace, most of which had been rebuilt about the time of Henry III. By this doorway, according to some accounts, Faukes intended to escape after firing the train, though others assign this distinction to one near the other end.

These two illustrations were originally prepared for the Daily Graphic of November 5th, 1894, and it is by the courtesy of the proprietors of that journal that they are here reproduced.

Vault under the East End of the Painted Chamber (p. 73).

From Brayley and Britton's Palace of Westminster, p. 247.

This has been constantly depicted and described as "Guy Faukes' Cellar."

Arches from Guy Faukes' Cellar (p. 75).

Drawn for the author by H. W. Brewer.

Sir John Soane, who in 1823 took down the old House of Lords, removed the arches from the "cellar" beneath it, to his own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, now the Soane Museum, where they are still to be seen in a small court adjoining the building. They do not, however, appear to have been set up precisely in their original form, being dwarfed by the omission of some stones, presumably that they might occupy less space. In our illustration they are represented exactly as they now stand, with the modern building behind them. Some incongruous relics of other stonework which have been introduced amongst them have, however, been omitted.

The architecture of these arches, and of the adjacent Prince's Chamber, assigns them to the best period of thirteenth century Gothic.

Cell at S.E. corner of Painted Chamber (p. 83).

Often styled "Guy Faukes' Cell."

From Brayley and Britton, op. cit., p. 360.

There appears to be no reason for associating this with Faukes.

The Powder Plot. II. (p. 90).

"Invented by Samuel Ward, Preacher, of Ipswich. Imprinted at Amsterdam, 1621." [British Museum, Political and Personal Satires, i. 41.]

This is the portion to the right of a composition representing on the left the Spanish Armada, and in the centre a council table at which are gathered the Devil, the Pope, the King of Spain, the General of the Jesuits, and others. An eye above is fixed on the cellar. Faukes in this case is going to blow up the Painted Chamber.

Interior of the old House of Lords (Scene on occasion of the King's Speech, 1755) (p. 97).

This plate represents the House in the reign of George II. In the century and a half since the time of the Powder Plot it is probable that the windows in the side walls had been blocked up, and the tapestry hung. The latter represented the defeat of the Armada.

[From Maitland's London (1756), ii. 1340.]

Lord Monteagle and the Letter (p. 115).

From Mischeefes Mystery.

King James enthroned, with crown and sceptre, upon a daïs, at the foot of which stands the Earl of Salisbury. An eagle bears a letter in its beak, to receive which the king and his minister extend their left hands.

The English poem, by John Vicars, embellished with this woodcut, was published in 1617, being a much expanded version of one in Latin hexameters, entitled Pietas Pontificia, by Francis Herring, which appeared in 1606.

Arrest of Guy Faukes (p. 125).

From Mischeefes Mystery.

Guy Faukes booted and spurred, and with his lantern, prepares to open a door at the extremity of the Painted Chamber. Sir Thomas Knyvet with his retinue approaches unseen. The stars and the beams from the lantern show that it is the middle of the night.

Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot (p. 136).

From a print in the Guildhall Library.

Catesby, Faukes, and Garnet (the latter in what is apparently meant for the Jesuit habit) stand in the middle of the street conspiring secretly. Through the open door of the "cellar" the powder barrels are seen.

This illustration (without the coins) stands at the head of Book XVIII. of M. Rapin de Thoyras' History of England, translated by N. Tindal.

"Guy Faukes' Lantern" (p. 139).

Drawn by H.W. Brewer.

This object, the authenticity of which is not unquestionable, is exhibited in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It bears the inscription, "Laterna illa ipsa qua usus est, et cum qua deprehensus Guido Faux in crypta subterranea ubi domo Parliamenti difflandæ operam dabat. Ex dono Robti Heywood nuper Academiae Procuratoris, Ap. 4^o, 1641."

It will be remembered that the honour of having arrested Faukes has been claimed for one of the name of Heywood.

The history of the famous lantern has not escaped the variations which we are accustomed to meet with on other points. Faukes is generally said to have been found with it in his hands, and it has consequently become an inseparable adjunct in pictures of him. On the other hand, we are told, "In a corner, behind the door, was a dark lantern containing a light" (Brayley and Britton, Palace of Westminster, p. 377).

Thomas Percy (p. 149).

From Grainger.

Around the portrait are four small engravings representing:

The arrest of Guy Faukes, who is here called "Thomas Ichrup." The presentation of Thomas Ichrup to the King of Jerusalem (i.e., the British Solomon). The