undergo some alterations. The Puritan divines were then called in, and being informed of the King's decision, begged that a certain interval should be granted before conformity was enforced. This being conceded, the conference was at an end.

5. Results of the Hampton Court Conference. Very much less was gained by the conference than the Puritans had hoped for. They were indeed greatly dissatisfied with their representatives, who had been chosen without their concurrence, and had not as they thought done justice to their cause. The principal results that followed the conference, were some slight alterations in the Book of Common Prayer; an addition to the Catechism of the latter part respecting the sacraments; that baptism should be administered only by a lawful minister; that no part of the Apocrypha repugnant to Scripture should be read; that the number of judges in the High Commission Court should be limited, and chosen only from the higher classes in the state; and that a new translation of the Bible should be made. In order to give effect to these decisions, the Convocation was directed to frame and incorporate a new body of canons. This was done, but as they were never ratified by Act of Parliament, they are binding only on the clergy.

SECTION IV. PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS, AND THE GUNPOWDER PLOT, 1605.

1. Persecution of the Catholics. The Catholics, like the Puritans, had indulged large expectations from the accession of James, both because they had endured so much on his mother's account, and that James had promised Percy, the relative of the Earl of Northumberland, some favor, for the purpose of attaching the leading Catholics to his cause. Percy, on his return from Edinburgh, represented James as having said to him, "I will dare say no more, but it were pity to lose so good a kingdom, for not tolerating mass in a corner, if upon that it resteth." James however denied this, and when circumstances appeared to make it necessary, he proceeded against the Catholics with great severity. When the new canons were published, many of the clergy refusing to conform were ejected, and in their discontent, accused the king of a leaning towards popery. James, to clear himself of this charge, issued a proclamation banishing all Catholic missionaries; orders were also given to discover all recusants, and to put into immediate execution the penal laws. Lingard says, that in the summer assizes for 1604, the recusants convict amounted to 6,426. As the fines were heavy, and distresses executed with unsparing severity, some of the enraged sufferers entered upon a foul conspiracy.

2. The Gunpowder Plot. The originator of this diabolical affair was Robert Catesby, a gentleman of Northamptonshire, and one of those engaged in the rash attempt of the Earl of Essex in 1601. The design was first communicated to Thomas Winter, a gentleman of Worcestershire, but he objected to enter into it till after they had tried what the mediation of Spain might do for them. To secure this, he passed over to Flanders, and having seen the ambassador, found there was little to hope for from that quarter. At Ostend, he met Guido Fawkes, an officer who had long served in the Netherlands, and brought him over to England. In the meantime, Catesby had engaged two others, Thomas Percy, a relative of the Earl of Northumberland, and John Wright, brother-in-law to Percy. These five being met, took a solemn oath of secresy, and were then informed by Catesby, that his scheme was to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder, the next time the king should go to the House of Lords. They all afterwards in the same house, received the sacrament from Father Gerard, a Jesuit missionary; the conspirators, when they made their confessions, declared that Gerard was not acquainted with their projects.

To carry out their purpose, Percy hired a house, an outbuilding of which leaned against the wall of the Parliament House. Here they undertook to open a mine, and dividing themselves into reliefs, worked uninterruptedly for a fortnight, when they desisted, as the Parliament was prorogued from February till October. During the recess, a house was hired at Lambeth, in which they collected wood, gunpowder, and other combustibles. The conspirators moreover increased their numbers, by admitting Robert Kay, Christopher, the brother of John Wright, Robert, the brother of Thomas Winter, John Grant, and Thomas Bates. Returning to their mining operations, they made what they deemed a fortunate discovery, for it made further digging unnecessary. A vaulted cellar, directly under the House of Lords, was about losing its tenant; this was at once hired by Fawkes, and thirty-six barrels of gunpowder removed into it, from the house at Lambeth. The whole was then carefully concealed by a covering of fagots and billets of wood. It was now the month of May, and the conspirators again separated. Fawkes proceeded to Flanders to procure a supply of military stores, and to intrigue with some English officers in the service of the archduke. Other members were now admitted, Sir Edmund Baynham, who was sent to Rome on a mission, Sir Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, and Francis Tresham. The latter had been the associate of Catesby and Percy in the mad attempt of Essex, but he was known to be fickle and

mean-spirited, and was admitted only because of his having engaged to contribute two thousand pounds.

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The plan of operation embraced the following particulars. That certain peers and commoners should, late in the morning of the explosion, receive a message, withdrawing them a distance from Westminster that Fawkes should fire the mine, and immediately depart in a ship provided for that purpose to Flanders, and invoke the aid of the Catholic powers: that Percy should enter the palace, and decoying away prince Charles, carry him off to the general rendezvous at Dunchurch: that Digby, Tresham, and others, should proceed to Harrington, and obtain possession of the princess Elizabeth: that Catesby should proclaim the heir apparent at Charing Cross, then proceed to Warwickshire and publish a declaration abolishing monopolies, purveyance, and wardships and that a protector should be appointed to exercise the royal authority during the minority of Charles.

Parliament, meanwhile, had been further prorogued to the 5th November, and as that day drew near, the conspirators had several secret conferences at White Webbs, a house near Enfield Chase, where they determined on the detail given in the preceding paragraph. The point which first embarrassed them, and subsequently proved their ruin, was with respect to the individuals to be warned not to attend the House. Tresham pleaded for the Lords Stourton and Monteagle, Percy for the Earl of Northumberland, and others in like manner for those in whom they felt an interest; but Catesby, Winter, and Fawkes, offered strong opposition to any warnings at all. Monteagle, however, and as is supposed, others beside, were warned of coming danger; Monteagle, by means of a letter forwarded to him ten days before the meeting of parliament, intimating the terrible blow which the parliament would receive from unseen hands, and therefore begging him to devise some excuse for being absent. The letter was at once carried to Cecil, but nothing could be done till the king returned to town. The conspirators learnt from Monteagle's servant, that the letter was in the hands of the Secretary, yet they hesitated not in their project. Tresham was charged with being the writer of the letter; this he denied, though without securing the belief either of his friends or of posterity. Nothing seemed to come of the discovery, the cellar was examined, and every secret mark found as it had been left, and Fawkes, though informed that the secret was out, undertook to keep guard over the combustibles. Some of the conspirators now began to waver, and by an alteration_made in their arrangements, Percy and Winter were to stay in London, and Catesby and Wright to repair to the rendezvous in Warwickshire.

James, having arrived in London had, with the aid of Cecil and others, arrived at the conclusion that something was to be attempted with powder, while the king was sitting in parliament. Nothing, however, was to be done to interrupt "the devilish practice," till the night before the king went to the House. On the evening of the 4th, Suffolk, the lord-chamberlain, in the exercise of his duty, went down to the House with Monteagle, and entering the cellar, observed Fawkes, and after enquiring who he was, remarked that his master had laid in a good stock of fuel. When the lords had left, Fawkes hurried off to Percy to tell him of the circumstance, and then returned to his post. About two o'clock in the morning of the 5th, Fawkes opening the door to look about him, was instantly seized by a party of soldiers. On his person were found a watch, some touchwood, tinder, and slow matches; and behind the door, a dark-lantern with a light burning, and a further search discovered the barrels of gunpowder beneath the firewood.

3. The fate of the Conspirators. Guy Fawkes was immediately carried to Whitehall, and interrogated by the king and council. He said his name was Johnson, that he was the servant of Percy, and that his object was to destroy the parliament as the sole means of putting an end to religious persecution, but nothing could induce him to name his associates. Being sent to the Tower, he was by order of the king, put through all the grades of torture, but nothing could shake his firmness, and no disclosure was made till his accomplices had declared themselves by appearing in arms.

Of the conspirators, Tresham alone remained in London, and had the assurance to go to the council to offer his services in apprehending the rebels. The others rode off, and on the same day reached Dunchurch, where a party of Catholics had been drawn together on pretence of hunting, but really for the purpose of improving some mysterious blow expected to be struck in London. As soon as it appeared that the plot had failed, the guests withdrew, and the conspirators resolved to move in the direction of Wales. Traversing with all speed the counties of Warwick and Worcester, they reached Holbeach, the residence of Littleton, one of their associates, on the night of the 7th. Here, as they were pursued by the sheriffs, they resolved to defend themselves, though including servants, they could not muster fifty men. But while making preparations, a spark exploded their gunpowder, severely injuring Catesby and others; under cover of the subsequent confusion, many of the party made their escape. Within an hour after, the sheriff surrounded the house, and being provoked by the resistance, ordered an attack, by which Catesby,

Percy, and the two Wrights fell mortally wounded. The other conspirators were captured and forwarded to the Tower, in which place Tresham also was lodged on the 12th. Bates, less enduring than Fawkes had been, confessed everything, and thus implicated the Jesuits. Tresham, though he did not implicate the priests in the plot, confessed that Fathers Garnet and Greenway had been parties to a treasonable correspondence with Spain in 1602; this confession he retracted before his death, which, happening at this juncture, gave rise to a suspicion of foul play. The trials commenced 27th January, 1606; Digby pleaded guilty, but the two Winters, Rookwood, Grant, Fawkes, Keyes, and Bates, not guilty, for though they admitted their participation in the plot, they objected to many things charged against them in the indictment. Being all condemned as traitors, they were executed with the usual barbarities, a part at the west end of St. Paul's, on the 30th, and the remainder at Westminster, on the 31st of January, 1606.

The Jesuits, Gerard and Greenway, made good their escape to the continent, but Garnet was discovered in a secret chamber at Hendlip, near Worcester. Oldcorne and Owen, Garnet's servants, were taken at the same time; the latter was severely tortured, and to save himself further pain, put an end to his existence. Garnet was a man of extraordinary learning and ability, and though a score times under examination, no case could be made out against him. Craft was now resorted to. One of the warders in the Tower professed himself his friend, and was entrusted with several letters written by him to his catholic friends; but this device yielded nothing of importance. Oldcorne was now removed to the adjoining cell, and told that if he were cautious, he could by means of a concealed door have private conversation with his friend. Cecil, the Secretary, and one of the Tower magistrates, by concealing themselves, overheard what passed between Garnet and Oldcorne, which proved that the former had been connected with the conspirators. They were then charged with their own words, and Oldcorne on the rack confessed to their truth; he was sent down to Worcester, and there with several other persons executed. Garnet would not accuse himself, and was therefore tried by special commission in Guildhall. To the charge of high treason he pleaded that he had done his best to prevent the execution of the plot; but that by the laws of the church, he was not permitted to reveal secrets received under the seal of confession. A verdict of guilty was returned, and six weeks after he was executed as a traitor. Northumberland, Mordaunt, and Montague, were arrested on the ground, that they must have had some knowledge of the plot; they were sen