INDEX

Aldobrandino, Cardinal, report by the Nuncio at Paris to, 151

Bancroft, Archbishop, informs Salisbury that Percy had ridden towards Croydon, 23

Banishment of the priests, 160

Barlow, Bishop, mistaken reference to a book of, 84

Barneby, reports to the Nuncio at Paris, 153

Bartlet, George, said to have stated that Catesby visited Salisbury House, 11

Bates, Thomas, arrest of, 47;
examination of, 179;
value of the evidence of, 182-189;
charge brought against Greenway by, 189

Baynham, Sir Edmund, mission of, 195

Brewer, Mr. H. W., author of a conjectural view of the neighbourhood of the old House of Lords, 93

Brick, softer in 1605 than at present, 97

Bright, Mrs., evidence of, 28.
See Skinner, Mrs.

Buck, Master, alleged statement by, 7

Bufalo, del, see Nuncio in Paris

Capon, William, mistakes the position of Percy’s house, 77;
worthlessness of the evidence of, 107

Catesby, Robert, said to visit Salisbury, 11;
cannot have given information, 121;
informs Greenway of the plot, 177;
his relations with Garnet, 192

Cecil, Sir Robert, corresponds with James on toleration, 143-148;
forwards James’s reply to the Nuncio’s overtures, 156;
has no motive for inventing Gunpowder Plot, 160.
See Cranborne, Viscount, and Salisbury, Earl of

Cellar, the, Fawkes antedates the hiring of, 18, 20;
new door made into, 25;
evidence on the lease of, 28;
supposed bargain between Ferrers and Percy for, 30;
Fawkes’s account of the hiring of, 34;
Winter’s account of the hiring of, 65;
partly let to Mrs. Skinner, 100, 101;
leased to Percy, 105;
the miners said to be ignorant of the position of, 105;
Capon’s evidence on the details of, 107;
new door into, ib.;
entrances into, 110;
alleged public access to, 111;
Knyvet’s visit to, 129;
Suffolk’s search in, 131

Clement VIII., Pope, writes to James, 150;
annotates a report from the Nuncio at Paris, 151, 152;
rejects James’s proposals, 158;
his conduct towards James, 167;
Lindsay’s report on the proceedings of, 168

Cobham, Lord, reports a saying of James I., 8

Coe, Thomas, as informer, 175, note 1

Coke, Attorney-General, conducts the first examination of Fawkes, 17;
attends the commissioners for the examination of the plot, 25;
his fishing inquiry, 40;
omits a passage in Fawkes’s confession, and brings a false charge against Gerard, 178

Cornwallis, Salisbury’s letter to, 31

Cranborne, Viscount, his conversation with the Venetian ambassador, 162-166.
See Cecil, Sir Robert, and Salisbury, Earl of

Davies, an informer, 173

Devonshire, Earl of, a commissioner to examine the plot, 24

Digby, Sir Edward, misstatement about the knighting of the sons of, 10;
arrest of, 47;
writes to Salisbury, 169;
receives a letter about an otter hunt, 175, note 1;
his evidence against Garnet, 192

Digby, Sir Kenelm, alleged statement by, 10

Doubleday, Edmond, secures Fawkes, 135-137

Dunchurch, hunting-match at, 30

Edinburgh Reviewer, the, negative criticism of, 3;
his summary of the story of the plot, 14

Edmondes, Salisbury’s letter to, 31

Favat, Salisbury’s letter to, 183, 184

Fawkes, Guy, first examination of, 17;
assumes the name of Johnson, 18;
shields his companions by false statements, 19;
alleged alteration of the examination of, 20;
confesses the whole of the design, 21;
second examination of, 25;
third examination of, 26;
fourth examination of, 30;
threatened with torture, 32;
fifth examination of, 33;
relation of the fifth examination of, with that of Nov. 17, 37;
his declaration under torture, 43;
gives the names of the plotters, 44;
examined on the hints given to noblemen to absent themselves from Parliament, 48;
a watch bought for, 49;
doubts as to the genuineness of his full account of the plot examined, 50-54;
capable of directing mining operations, 78;
ascertains that the cellar is to be let, 109;
alleged discrepancies in the accounts of the seizure of, 127;
arrest of, 132-136

Ferrers, or Ferris, Henry, gives up his house to Percy, 29;
agreement for the lease by, 89

Fulman’s Collection, notes on the plot preserved in, 9

Garnet, Henry, receives information of the plot from Greenway, 177;
Digby’s evidence against, 192;
his knowledge of the plot, 193-199

Gerard, John (Jesuit in the 17th century), not to be trusted when in ignorance of the facts, 7;
said to have given the sacrament to the conspirators, 44;
probably ignorant of the plot, 177;
false charge brought by Coke against, 178

Gibbons, Mrs., has charge of the house, 28

Goodman, Bishop, thinks Salisbury contrived the plot, 7

Grant, John, his name erroneously given as digging the mine, 73

Greenway (alias for Oswald Tesimond), informs Garnet of the plot, 177;
said to have been informed of the plot by Bates, 180;
discussion on Bates’s evidence against, 183-192;
his relations with Garnet, 195-198

Grene, Father, reports a saying of Usher’s, 8

Gunpowder stored by the plotters, exaggerations about the amount of, 112;
disposal of, 113

Holbeche House, capture or death of the plotters at, 46

House hired by Percy, the, Fawkes’s statement about, 18;
in charge of Mrs. Gibbons, 28;
evidence on the lease of, 29;
situation of, 77-91;
alleged smallness of, 91;
alleged populousness of the neighbourhood of, 92;
position of the garden belonging to, 96;
powder brought to, 102;
a carpenter admitted to, 104

House of Lords, the old, description of, 100

James, Roger, evidence of, 91

James I. said to have called November 5 Cecil’s holiday, 8;
orders the use of torture, 26;
said to have interpreted the Monteagle letter by inspiration, 114, 125, 126;
his relations with the Catholics, 141-142;
refuses to sign a letter to the Pope, 143;
corresponds with Cecil on toleration, ib.;
letter falsely attributed to, 150;
interruption of Lindsay’s mission from, 151;
receives overtures from the Nuncio at Brussels, 151;
his position towards the recusants, 153;
is assured of the Pope’s desire to keep the Catholics in obedience, 154;
banishes the priests, 160

Keyes, Robert, inquiry into the movements of, 24;
arrest of, 47;
confusion about his working in the mine, 71;
acknowledges that he worked at the mine, 74;
mistake in the ‘King’s Book’ about, ib.;
brought from Lambeth, 102

‘King’s Book,’ the, erroneous account of Robert Winter’s proceedings in, 74;
probable date of the issue of, 74, note 1

Knyvet, Sir Thomas, visits the cellar, 128, 136

Lenthall said to have been told that Salisbury contrived the plot, 10;
Wood’s character of, 12

Lindsay, Sir James, carries a letter from the Pope to James, 150;
is unable to return with the answer, 151;
starts for Italy, 156;
Cranborne’s opinion of, 162;
reports from Rome, 168

Mar, Earl of, is a commissioner to examine the plot, 24

Mine, the, silence of Fawkes about, 20;
Mrs. Whynniard ignorant of, 29;
the Government ignorant of, 30;
first mentioned by Fawkes, 33;
described by Winter, 63;
position of, 96;
made through the wall of Percy’s house, 97;
alleged inexperience of the makers of, 98;
precautions to avoid noise in, 99;
penetrates the wall under House of Lords, 102;
disposal of the earth and stones from, 103;
the Government ignorant of the position of, 104

Montague, Lord, sent to the Tower, 48

Monteagle, Lord, the letter addressed to said to have been known beforehand, 10;
false statements about the interpretation of, 114;
Salisbury said to have been previously informed of, 115;
delivery of, 122;
taken to Salisbury, 123

Mordaunt, Lord, sent to the Tower, 48

Northampton, Earl of, a commissioner to examine the plot, 24;
is a Catholic, 25

Nottingham, Earl of, a commissioner to examine the plot, 24;
his relations to the Catholics, 25

Nuncio at Brussels, the, makes overtures to James, 151

Nuncio at Paris, the, reports on James’s proceedings, 151;
writes to Parry on the Pope’s desire to keep the Catholics in obedience, 154;
writes to James, 155;
James’s reply to the overtures of, 156;
sends the reply to Rome, 157

Osborne, Francis, thinks the plot a device of Salisbury, 7

Owen, Hugh, not a priest, 60, note 1

Parry, Sir Thomas, draft of a letter to, 22;
uncertainty when Salisbury’s letter was sent to, 31;
receives overtures from the Nuncio, 154

Percy, Thomas, Fawkes’s statement about the hiring of the house and cellar by, 18;
proclamation for the apprehension of, 23;
rumours about the movements of, ib.;
search of his house, 24;
enters into possession of the house and cellar, 29;
reward offered for the apprehension of, 44;
the Sheriff of Worcestershire announces the death of, 44;
buys a watch for Fawkes, 49;
Winter’s account of the proceedings of, 62-69;
agreement for the lease of the house to, 85;
not likely to be turned out when Parliament met, 86;
takes the cellar, 105;
alleged bigamy of, 115;
said to have visited Salisbury, 117;
displays his connection with the Court, 118;
receives a pass for post-horses, ib.;
alleged secret orders to kill, 119

Pope, the (see Clement VIII.)

Popham, Chief Justice, examines Fawkes, 17;
sends to Salisbury a rumour of Percy’s movements, 23;
makes inquiries into the movements of Catholics, 24;
a commissioner to examine the plot, 25

Priests, the banishment of, proclamation for, 160

Privy Councillors, form of publishing the signatures of, 40

Recusants, their fines remitted, 149;
fines reimposed on, 161

Rokewood, Ambrose, examination of the landlady of, 24

Salisbury, Earl of, alleged to have invented the plot, 7;
said to have told his son that he had contrived the plot, 10;
writes an account of the plot to Parry, 22;
is a commissioner for the examination into the plot, 24;
his letter to the ambassadors, 31;
cannot have deceived his fellow-commissioners, 41;
said to have known of the plot before the Monteagle letter, 115;
said to have received visits from Percy, 117;
said to have issued orders not to take Percy alive, 119;
the Monteagle letter delivered to, 123;
probably knew nothing of the plot independent of the letter, 124;
was the probable interpreter of the letter, 125;
receives a letter from Sir E. Digby, 169;
has no motive for inventing the plot, 172;
expects plots, 176;
writes to Favat, 183;
failure of the charge against, 200

Shepherd, John, evidence of, 77

Skinner, Mrs., gives up the cellar to Percy, 28, 105

Spedding, James, his canon of historical evidence, 5

Speed, John, his statement that Percy’s house was only to be let when Parliament was not sitting, 85

Standen, Sir Anthony, mission of, 158

Suffolk, Earl of, a commissioner for examining the plot, 24;
friendly to the Catholics, 25;
sent to search the cellar, 131

Talbot of Grafton, John, summoned before the Council, 48

Tresham, Francis, informed of the plot, 66;
probably informs the Government, 121;
his connection with the letter to Monteagle, 122

Usher, language used about the plot by, 8

Vaux, Mrs., committed to the charge of an alderman, 48

Vowell, Peter, said to assert the plot to have been invented, 10

Waad, Sir William, gives information of Percy’s movements, 23;
pronounces Fawkes obstinate, 32;
informs Salisbury that Winter is ready to confess, 70

Walsh, Sir Richard, writes to announce the death or capture of the plotters, 45

Whynniard, John, Fawkes’s evidence about his lease to Percy, 18;
position of the house of, 77;
appointed keeper of the Old Palace, 86;
history of the land held by him, 93, 94;
position of the garden of, 95;
leases the cellar to Percy, 105

Whynniard, Mrs., consents to the lease of the cellar, 28

Winter, Robert, arrest of, 47;
incorrectly stated to have worked in the mine, 71;
his name substituted for that of Keyes, 73

Winter, Thomas, inquiry into the movements of, 24;
captured at Holbeche, 46;
doubts as to the genuineness of his full account of the plot examined, 54-67;
his account of the plot, 57-69;
no evidence of the torture of, 70;
explanation of the confusion between Keyes and, 72;
Coke wishes to examine, 74

Wood, Anthony, statements by a correspondent of, 9;
his character of Lenthall, 12

Worcester, Earl of, a commissioner to examine the plot, 24;
is understood to be a Catholic, 25

Wotton, Sir Henry, says that Cecil invented plots, 10

Wright, Christopher, death of, 46, 47;
Robert Winter’s name substituted for, 73

Wright, Henry, an informer, 173, 174

Wright, John, killed at Holbeche, 46, 47

[7] I imagine that the notes in Roman type proceed from Wood’s correspondent, and that Fulman’s marginal questions are omitted; but Father Gerard is not clear on this.

[12] This is a mistake. The fine of 3,000l. was imposed for his part in the Essex rebellion. (See Jardine, p. 31.)

[13] Off and on, a fortnight at the end of January and beginning of February, and then again probably for a very short time in March.

[15] Mrs. Everett Green in her ‘Calendar of Domestic State Papers,’ adds a sixth (Gunpowder Plot Book, No. 50); but this is manifestly the deposition of November 17. It must be remembered that, when she produced this volume, Mrs. Everett Green was quite new to the work. She was deceived by an indorsement in the handwriting of the eighteenth century, assigning the document to the 8th.

[18] Inserted in the same hand as that in which the words about the cellar were written. It will be observed that the insertion cannot serve any one’s purpose.

[20] A mistake for Monday if midnight is to be reckoned with the day preceding it.

[23] Bancroft to Salisbury, Nov. 5. Popham to Salisbury, Nov. 5—G. P. B. Nos. 7, 9.

[25] Popham to Salisbury, November 5. (G. P. B. No. 10.) The P.S. only is of the 6th.

[27] In a letter of advice sent to the Nuncio at Paris, on Sept. 10/20, he is distinctly spoken of as a Catholic, as well as Worcester.—Roman Transcripts, R.O.

[28] On July 20/30, 1605, Father Creswell writes to Paul V. that Nottingham showed him every civility ‘that could be expected from one who does not profess our holy religion.’

[29] The ‘cellar’ was not really hired till a little before Easter, March 31.

[32] “Mrs. Whynniard, however, tells us,” writes Father Gerard (p. 73), “that the cellar was not to let, and that Bright had not the disposal of the lease, but one Skinner.” What Mrs. Whynniard said was that the vault was ‘let to Mr. Skinner of King Street; but that she and her husband were ready to consent if Mrs. Skinner’s good will could be had.’ ‘Mr.’ in the first writing of the name is evidently a slip of the clerk’s, as Mrs. Whynniard goes on to speak of ‘Mrs. Skinner then, and now the wife of Andrew Bright.’—G. P. B. No. 39.

[34] Father Gerard, (p. 91, note 5) accepts Goodman’s assertion that it was said that Whynniard ‘as soon as ever he heard of the news what Percy intended, he instantly fell into a fright and died: so that it could not be certainly known who procured him the house, or by whose means.’ That Whynniard was alive on the 7th is proved by the fact that Susan Whynniard is styled his wife and not his widow at the head of this examination. As he was himself not questioned it may be inferred that he was seriously ill at the time. That his illness was caused by fright is probably pure gossip. Mrs. Bright, when examined (G. P. B. No. 24) speaks of Mrs. Whynniard as agreeing to change the tenancy of the cellar, which looks as if the husband had been ill and inaccessible at least six months before his death.

[38] The letter to Cornwallis, printed in Winwood’s Memorials, ii. 170, is dated Nov. 9, as it is in Cott. MSS. Vesp. cix. fol. 240, from which it is printed. That volume, however, is merely a letter book. The letter to Edmondes, on the other hand, in the Stowe MSS. 168, fol. 213, is the original, with Salisbury’s autograph signature, and its date has clearly been altered from 7 to 9.

[41] In ‘The King’s Book’ it is stated that Fawkes was shown the rack, but never racked. Probably the torture used on the 9th was that of the manacles, or hanging up by the wrists or thumbs.

[42] The principal ones were either killed or taken at Holbeche on that very day.

[45] I.e. Catesby. In a copy forwarded to Edmondes by Salisbury (Stowe MSS. 168, fol. 223) the copyist had originally written ‘three or four more,’ which is altered to ‘three.’

[49] Robert Winter. The question whether Keyes worked at this time will be discussed later on.

[53] This is an obvious mistake, as the widow Skinner was not at this time married to Bright, but one just as likely to be made by Fawkes himself as by his examiners.

[63] G. P. B., No. 49. In the Stowe copy the names of the Commissioners are omitted, and a list of fifteen plotters added. As the paper was inclosed in a letter to Edmondes of the 14th, these might easily be added at any date preceding that.

[71] This declaration, therefore, was not, as Mrs. Everett Green says, ‘made to Salisbury.’

[72] If anyone chooses to argue that this examination was drawn up regardless of its truth, and only signed by Fawkes after torture had made him incapable of distinguishing truth from falsehood, he may be answered that, in that case, those who prepared it would never have added to the allegation that some of the conspirators had received the Sacrament from Gerard the Jesuit to bind them to secrecy, the passage:—“But he saith that Gerard was not acquainted with their purpose.” This passage is marked for omission by Coke, and it assuredly would not have been found in the document unless it had really proceeded from Fawkes.

[74] Gerard afterwards denied that this was true, and the late Father Morris (Life of Gerard, p. 437) argues, with a good deal of probability, that Fawkes mistook another priest for Gerard. For my purpose it is not a matter of any importance.

[76] Probably, as Father Gerard suggests, what would now be known as a coursing match.

[78] A late postscript added to the letter to the Ambassadors sent off on the 9th (Winwood, ii. 173) shows that before the end of the day Salisbury had learnt even more of the details than were comprised in the Sheriff’s letter.

[83] The question whether Winter or Keyes was one of two workers will be subsequently discussed.

[84] Mrs. Everett Green suggests Nov. 8 (G. P. B. No. 133), but this is merely a deduction from her mistaken date of the examination of the 17th (see p. 17, note 1). In Fawkes’s confession of the 9th Keyes’s Christian name appears to have been subsequently added.

[85] Extracts from the Council Registers, Add. MSS. 11,402, fol. 108. The volume of the Council Book itself which recorded the transactions of these years has been lost.

[86] G. P. B. No. 101. There is a facsimile in National MSS. Part iv. No. 8.

[90] The erasure of Winter’s name, and the substitution of that of Keyes, will be dealt with later.

[92] Father Gerard appears to show his dislike of Salisbury by denying him his title.

[94] Compare this with Fawkes’s declaration at his second examination (G. P. B. 16, A.) “Being demanded when this good act had been done which must have brought this realm in peril to be subdued by some foreign prince, of what foreign prince he and his compliees could have wished to have been governed, one more than another, he doth protest upon his soul that neither he nor any other with whom he had conferred would have spared the last drop of their blood to have resisted any foreign prince whatsoever.” Are we seriously asked to believe that Salisbury placed this crown of sturdy patriotism on the brows of those whom he wished to paint as the most atrocious villains?