The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter Part 27

Father Edward Oldcorne was racked in the Tower of London, "five times, and once with the utmost severity for several hours,"[172] in order that, haply, information might be extracted from him that would prove him to be possessed of a guilty knowledge of the Plot. But this princely soul had nothing of that kind to tell, so that King James and his Counsellors wreaked their lawless severity in vain.[A]

[Footnote A: Torture, for the purpose of drawing evidence from a prisoner, was contrary to the Law of England. Brother Ralph Ashley, the servant of Father Oldcorne, who, I maintain, carried the warning Letters to Father Henry Garnet and Lord Mounteagle, was tortured, but without revealing anything apparently. Brother Nicholas Owen, the great maker of priests'

hiding-places and secret chambers in the castles, manor-houses, and halls of the old English Catholic gentry, was tortured with great severity; but he, too, seems to have revealed nothing. Owen "died in their hands," but whether he was tortured to death or committed suicide in the Tower is a mystery to this day. One would like to see this mystery bottomed.]

On the 7th day of April, 1606, at Redhill, one mile from the City of Worcester, on the London Road, "the silver cord was loosed, the golden bowl was broken, the pitcher was crushed at the fountain, the wheel was broken on the cistern." For on that day, at that spot, the happy spirit of Edward Oldcorne mounted far, far beyond the fading things of time and s.p.a.ce.[173]

It may be objected that Father John Gerard's relation of the last dying speech and confession of the great Jesuit Priest and Martyr is hostile to the hypothesis that Oldcorne penned the great Letter, "_Litterae Felicissimae_."

Gerard's reported words are these; but, I contend, we have no absolute proof that they are the _ip.i.s.sima verba_ of Father Oldcorne, though he may have uttered some of these words, and something resembling them in the case of the others.--See Gerard's "_Narrative_" p. 275.

"He declared unto the people that he came thither to die for the Catholic faith and the practice of his function, seeing that they neither had, nor could prove anything against him which, even by their own laws, was sufficient to condemn him, but that he was a Priest of the Society of Jesus, wherein he much rejoiced, and was ready and desirous to give his life for the profession of that faith which he had taught many years in that very country, and which it was necessary for everyone to embrace that would save their souls.[174] _Then being asked again about the treason and taking part with the conspirators_, he protested there again that he never had the least knowledge of the treason, and took it upon his death that he was as clear as the new-born child from the whole plot or any part thereof. Then commending his soul, with great devotion, humility, and confidence, into the hands of G.o.d and to the Blessed Virgin, St. Jerome, St. Winifred, and his good Angel, he was turned off the ladder, and hanging awhile, was cut down and quartered, and so his innocent and thrice-happy soul went to receive the reward of his many and great labours." (The italics are mine.)

CHAPTER LXXI.

Now, in the first place, it is to be noticed that Father Oldcorne made the special disclaimer of ever having had the least knowledge of the Plot only _after being asked again about the treason and taking part with the conspirators_.

My respectful submissions to the judgment of my candid readers, therefore, are these:--

First, that we have no exact, that is, no scientific, proof[175] that Father Oldcorne, as a fact, employed these _precise words_.

And, secondly, that, even if he did so employ them, what he meant to convey to his hearers' mind by the words was, I maintain, that he had no criminal, no traitorous knowledge of the ruthless Gunpowder enterprise; or, in other words, _no guilty knowledge, no knowledge that his King and his fellow-subjects had any right, t.i.tle, claim, or demand, in Reason, Justice, Equity, or Honour, to obtain or to wring from him_.

For "_Qui prior est tempore potior est jure_." "He who is first in time is the stronger in point of right."

Again; "There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than Parliament or King." And that is the Human Conscience, instructed by Truth and Justice. _Her_ rights are invincible and eternally sacred.

Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne "followed Ralph, his faithful follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great devotion and fervour, as may be guessed by this one action of his; for whilst Father Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing himself to die, Ralph, standing by the ladder, suddenly stepped forward, and takes hold of the good Father's feet, embracing and kissing them with great devotion, and said, 'What a happy man am I, to follow here the steps of my sweet Father!' And when his own turn came, he also first commended himself by earnest prayers unto G.o.d, then told the people that he died for religion and not for treason, whereof he had 'not had the least knowledge; and as he had heard this good Father, before him, freely forgive his persecutors and pray for the King and Country, so did he also....' He showed, at his death, great resolution joined with great devotion, and so resigning his soul into the hands of G.o.d, was turned off the ladder and changed this life for a better."--See Gerard's "_Narrative_," pp. 27, 5276.[176]

Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 269 of his "_Narrative_," as we have seen already, that "Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed that one might see they much desired to have drawn him within the compa.s.s of some partic.i.p.ation of this late treason; to which effect they first did seem to suppose it as likely that he should send letters up and down to prepare men's minds for the insurrection.... Also they accused him of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their fact, and, withal that speaking with Humphrey Littleton in private about the same matter, he should advise him not to judge of the cause, or to condemn the gentlemen by the event."

Although Father Oldcorne was found guilty and sentenced to death, it is not clearly shewn, from Gerard's Relation, or that of anybody else, what offences were proved against him. Probably, reliance was mainly placed (1) on the fact of his being a notorious Priest and Jesuit, reconciling as many of the King's subjects to the See of Rome as possible; (2) on his providing, through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for Robert Winter and Stephen Littleton, two of the fugitives from Justice; and (3) on his aiding and abetting the concealment of his Superior, Father Garnet, a proclaimed traitor, at Hindlip.[A]

[Footnote A: The reason why Humphrey Littleton, at his execution, begged pardon of Mr. Abington, as well as of Father Oldcorne (see _ante_ p. 214), was that Humphrey Littleton, when in Worcester Gaol, had reported to the Government, in the hope of getting a respite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and Oldcorne, were being concealed at Hindlip.

Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable Anne Vaux, on the 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne, together with the lay-brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by Sir Henry Bromley, of Holt Castle, a Worcestershire magistrate, in pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The captives were all four solemnly conveyed to the Tower of London. Miss Vaux was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. This unconquerable lady seems to have "come to her grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in its season." For, as late as the year 1635, we find her name being reported to the Privy Council of Charles I., for helping certain Jesuits to carry on a school for the education of the sons of the English Catholic n.o.bility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley Grange, about six miles from Derby.]

CHAPTER LXXII.

Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his lawful Sovereign that he had been (_Deo juvante_) a joint efficient cause of that Sovereign's temporal salvation and the temporal salvation of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, Commons of England, Amba.s.sadors, and Heaven only knows whom, and how many else beside. For King James, with all his faults, was averse from shedding the blood even of popish Priests and Jesuits. But Oldcorne did not do so. And I hold that he had two all-sufficient reasons for not so acting.

First, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling Thomas Ward, in some way or another, as an accessory, at least, after the fact, in the meshes of the Law of that unscrupulous time: the time, be it remembered, of the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission.

And, secondly, although this great Priest and Jesuit, _by virtue and as a result of the releasing act of his Penitent_, Christopher Wright, had come, _practically_, to _receive a knowledge of the tremendous secret as a Friend and as a Man_, and not as a Priest, yet, _because_ that Man and that Friend _was a Priest_; and _because_ it was impossible for that Priest in practice, and in the eyes of men, to bisect himself, and make clear and manifest the different sides and aspects in which he had--subsequent to the Penitent's release from the seal of the Confessional, _sigillum confessionis_--thought and acted in relation to the revealing plotter, _therefore_ did Oldcorne, I opine, deliberately--because, according to his own principles, he was predominantly "a Priest," and that "for ever"--_therefore_ did he deliberately choose the more excellent way, aye! in the chamber of torture and upon the scaffold of death, the way of perfect self-sacrifice for the good of others.

For, by a Yorkshire Catholic mother, dwelling in a grey northern city--and who in January, 1598, is described as "old and lame"[A]--Edward Oldcorne had been taught long years ago "_to adjust his compa.s.s at the Cross_."[177][178]

[Footnote A: Foley's "_Records_," vol. iv., p. 204.]

Brother Ralph Ashley, too, possibly might have saved his life, had he disclosed that, whatever other letter or letters he had carried to and fro, he had carried that great Letter, that Letter of Letters, which had proved the sheet-anchor, the lever, of his Country's temporal salvation through the temporal salvation of its hereditary and elected rulers.

But Brother Ralph Ashley knew he had a duty to perform of strict fidelity to his master, a duty which, though unknown to man, would not escape the Eye of Him to advance Whose greater glory this humble Jesuit lay-brother was solemnly pledged.

Father Gerard says, as we have already seen, in his "_Narrative_," that Ralph Ashley "was divers times put upon the torture but he revealed nothing." Gerard furthermore says that Ralph Ashley "was indicted and condemned upon supposition that he had carried letters to and fro about this conspiracy." "But," says Gerard, "they neither did nor could allege any instance or proof against him."--See "_Narrative_," p. 271.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

A few final words as to Thomas Ward (or Warde), who was, I hold, no less than Edward Oldcorne and his Penitent, the joint arbiter of destinies and the controller of fates.

Indeed, as previously stated in an earlier portion of this Inquiry, my own opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart to his connection, Thomas Ward, of whose constancy in friendship he would be, by long years of experience, well a.s.sured, at a time anterior to that at which he unbosomed himself to the holy Jesuit Priest, that skilled, wise, loving minister of a mind diseased.

While Ward, on his part, readily and willingly, though at the imminent risk of being himself charged as a knowing accomplice and accessory to the Plot, undertook the diplomatic engineering of the whole movement, whereby the Plot was so effectually and speedily spun round on its axis, even if well-nigh at the eleventh hour.

In bidding farewell, a long farewell, to Thomas Ward, the following extracts from a letter of Sir Edward Hoby[179] to Sir Thomas Edmunds, Amba.s.sador at Brussels, are important, although some of the pa.s.sages have already appeared in the earlier part of this Inquiry:--

"Such as are apt to interpret all things to the worst, will not believe other but that Lord Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing the discovery already of the letter; the rather that one Thomas Ward, a princ.i.p.al man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the treason. Others otherwise ... some say that Fawkes (alias Johnson) was servant to one Thomas Percy; others that he is a Jesuit and had a shirt of hair next his skin.

"Early on the Monday [_vere_ Tuesday] morning, the Earl of Worcester was sent to Ess.e.x House to signify the matter to the Earl of Northumberland, whom he found asleep in his bed, and hath done since his best endeavour for his apprehension ... Some say that Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle did, and concealed it ...

"Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; _and Ward walketh up and down_."[180] (The italics are mine.)

Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward "walked up and down," and that his brother, Marmaduke, was also at large, with the latter's eldest daughter, Mary, lodging in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn (although we have seen the Master of Newby apprehended in Warwickshire, in the very heart and centre of the conspirators), _tend to demonstrate that the King, his Privy Council, and Government were very much obligated to the gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it_.[A]

[Footnote A: Is it possible that some time after the Plot, Thomas Ward retired into his native Yorkshire, and became the officer or agent for Lord William Howard's and his wife's Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire, Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the name "Thomas Warde" from time to time in the "_Household Books of Lord William Howard_" (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire Jesuit, who was _socius_, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde (or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now Castle Howard. Fryton Old Hall is at present, I believe, occupied by Mr.

Leaf, and is the property of Charles James Howard ninth Earl of Carlisle, the descendant of Lord William Howard. The late Captain Ward, R.N., of Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.]

From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have already learned, a payment of 700 a year, equal to nearly 7,000 a year in our money.[A]

[Footnote A: Lord Mounteagle's reward was 300 per annum for life, and 200 per annum to him and his heirs for ever in fee farm rents. Salisbury declared that Mounteagle's Letter was "the first and only means" the Government had to discover that "most wicked and barbarous Plot."

Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The t.i.tle Lord Morley and Mounteagle is now in abeyance (see Burke's "_Extinct Peerages_"); but let us hope that we may see it revived. An heir must be in existence, one would imagine; for the peerages Morley and Mounteagle would be granted by the Crown for ever, I presume. There is at the present date a Lord Monteagle, whose t.i.tle is of a more recent creation.]

But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of Donne,[B] and other wits of the once far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the young peer's honour, the following stately epigram:--

[Footnote B: John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, and author of the once well-known "_Pseudo-Martyr_," which Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For one of Donne's ancestors _and descendants_, see _ante_ p. 160.

Henry Donne (or Dunne), a barrister, was brother to John Donne. He was, I believe, implicated in the Babington conspiracy along with Edward Abington, brother to Thomas Abington, and about ten other young papist gentlemen, some of very high birth, great wealth, and brilliant prospects.