crop was an evil one, and as the unhappy son of an oppressed faith had to eat its bitter food, he had every reason to admit that his lines had not fallen in pleasant places. On all sides the Papist was the object of State inspection and irritating control. He dared not confess to his priest or bend the knee to the Host in his own temples; whilst if he failed to attend a Protestant place of worship on the Sabbath, he was liable to a fine of twenty pounds for every month during which he had absented himself. If he were a priest and attempted to say mass, he could be punished by a forfeiture of two hundred marks and a year's imprisonment. Indeed, such a man had no right at all to enjoy English hospitality. By a statute passed in 1585 it was enacted that 'all Jesuits, seminary and other priests ordained since the beginning of the Queen's reign should depart out of the realm within forty days after that session of Parliament; and that all such priests or othe religious persons ordained since the said time should not com into England or remain there under the pain of suffering death, as in case of treason;' it was also declared that al persons receiving or assisting such priest should be guilty o capital felony.' The Papist who refused to bow down in th house of Rimmon-or, in other words, attend the Sunda services in a Protestant church-was branded as a 'recusant open and on persisting in his refusal was forced to quit the kingdom if he dared to return without leave, he laid himself execution as a felon, without benefit of clergy. It is tru that these harsh laws were not always put into operation yet no Papist ever felt himself safe from becoming one da

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

3

their victim. It was a matter of lenity that he escaped, not
of right.

As the health of Elizabeth began visibly to decline, the
English Catholics looked forward with hope to the arrival of
her successor. It was known that James was the son of
Catholic parents; that he had been baptized by a Catholic
archbishop, and that he had on more than one occasion openly
avowed that he was not a heretic, and that he had not
severed himself from the Church. Even if his faith had been
doubtful, was it to be expected, it was asked, that he would
regard with favour the party which had been the chief agent
in hunting his mother to her death? In addition to these
surmises, James had given positive proof of the toleration he
intended to display. Whilst Elizabeth was lying ill, one
Thomas Percy, a kinsman of the Earl of Northumberland,
and subsequently one of the Powder Plot conspirators, had
been sent on a mission to Scotland, and had returned with
the answer that James, on his accession, would deal well
with the English Catholics. At the same time the King of
Scotland wrote with his own hand a letter to the Earl of
Northumberland, stating that when his Majesty should cross
the Tweed to wear the crown, the Catholic religion would be
tolerated.1 Buoyed up with these hopes, the Catholics of
England warmly supported the cause of James, and were
among the most loyal of those who rallied round the throue
during the first months of the new monarch's reign.

1 State Papers, Domestic, edited by Mrs. Green, November 23, 1605; also, The Gunpowder Plot, by Daniel Jardine: a most careful work, now out of print.

B 2

For a time it appeared as if the reign of persecution had come to an end. The English Catholics were exempt from attendance upon Protestant churches, they were exonerated from the fines for recusancy, and they were appointed t lucrative posts under the Crown. They were informed tha this happy state of things would continue so long as the kept themselves upright and civil in all true carriage toward N the King and State without contempt.' But the wily Jame had only used the policy of toleration for his own ends. sooner did he find himself firmly settled upon the Englis throne, and felt conscious that the national feeling was warml hostile to the Papacy, than he resolved to be independent Catholic support, and to withdraw from the pledge he ha solemnly given. He denied that he had ever returned a favou He had always been a tru able answer to Percy's mission. son of the English Church, and rather than change h religion he would lose his crown or his life. He summone his Council, and assured them that he had never entertaine any intention of granting toleration to the English Catholic and that if he thought his sons would condescend to any su course, he would wish the kingdom translated to his daughte To prove the truth of his words, he issued a proclamatio ordering all Jesuits and priests to quit the kingdom, und pain of being left to the rigour of the laws.

And now, to the dismay and indignation of the dup Catholics, a return to the persecuting policy of Elizabe was openly adopted. The recusancy fines were enforced. A the laws of Elizabeth against Jesuits and priests were order

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THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

5

to be put in execution. A bill was passed, declaring that all persons who had been educated in Catholic colleges on the continent should be incapable of holding lands or goods within the King's dominions. At the same time, any one keeping a schoolmaster who refused to attend a Protestant Church, or who was not licensed by the bishop of the diocese, was liable to forfeit forty shillings for every day he was retained. Thus, practically, Catholic children were to grow up untaught. Their parents declined to entrust them to a Protestant tutor; whilst, if they sent them abroad, they would lose their rights as English subjects. Well might Sir Everard Digby thus write to Lord Salisbury, when he saw promises shamelessly broken and hopes raised only to be cruelly crushed: 'If your Lordship and the State,' he says,1 'think it fit to deal severely with the Catholics, within brief there will be massacres, rebellions, and desperate attempts against the King and State. For it is a general received reason amongst Catholics, that there is not that expecting and suffering course now to be run that was in the Queen's time, who was the last of her line and last in expectance to run violent courses against Catholics; for then it was hoped that the King that now is would have been at least free from persecuting, as his promise was before his coming into this realm, and as divers his promises have been since his coming. All these promises every man sees broken.'

When men are subject to persecution for the sake of their religion, the course they pursue is suggested by the tempera1 State Pavers, Domestic, December, 1605.

The timid shuffle and conceal, the ment each possesses. bold defy the law or seek the overthrow of their oppressors. Such was now to be the conduct of the English Catholics. The weak, though sincere, pandered to the policy of the Court; they worshipped in secret, they attended every Sunday a Protestant Church, and they sent their children to Protestant schools. The more bold refused to dismiss the priests hidden in the secret chambers of their halls and manor-houses, or to follow their religion as if ashamed of it and were content when discovered to pay the penalty. But there were men amongst the number who openly advocated the Catholic faith, who scorned to accept any compromise, who so fully believed in the truth and purity of their religion that they not only professed it, but resolved to brave al dangers to see it freed from persecution and once more reinstated as the faith of England. It was this last clas. which, now that all hopes of relief from the King had to b abandoned, determined to gain its ends by other means and from other agents. In religion, when harassed by persecu tion, there is little patriotism; the interests of the cree dominate over those of the country. looked towards England for aid, so looked towards Spain. Negotiations were reopened wit the King of Spain for money and assistance. His Majest was informed that the condition of the English Catholic was hopeless without his help, and he was invited to land a army at Milford Haven, when the western counties woul rise in his favour, and every Catholic in England woul

The Huguenot now the Catholic