receipt of the famous anonymous letter sent to Lord Mounteagle.

But, before dealing with the delivery of this mysterious letter, it should be stated that Mounteagle was by no means the only one of the Roman Catholic peers whom one or more of the conspirators had hoped to save, by giving them a hint to prevent their attending the opening of Parliament. The greater number of the conspirators were naturally unwilling to sacrifice members of their own communion, and were most desirous of giving them warning, without, at the same time, divulging the existence of the conspiracy. Among the names which have come down to us of the peers, Roman Catholic or Protestant, whom certain of the plotters implored Robert Catesby to save, we find mentioned the Earl of Northumberland, Lord Arundel, Lord Mordaunt, Viscount Montague, Lord Vaux, and Lord Stourton. At first, Catesby held out against giving any one of these a hint; declaring that the necessity of secrecy demanded that even the innocent should perish with the guilty, rather than the success of the plot should be endangered by disclosing its existence to outsiders. Of Lord Mordaunt he declared that he would not for a chamber full of diamonds acquaint him with their secret, for he knew he could not keep it.' At last, under pressure, he relented, and promised that those Roman Catholic peers who were likely to be present should be, by some means or

E

other, hindered from putting in an appearance. 'I do not,' records Sir Everard Digby,' 'think there were three worth saving that should have been lost; you may guess that I had some friends that were in danger, which I prevented.' But, by the time Catesby had consented to save some of those for whom intercession had been made by Keyes, Faukes, Digby, and Tresham, the latter had rendered all their good intentions void, by the delivery of the letter to Lord Mounteagle, who passed it on to Cecil, by whom, after examination before the Privy Council, it was handed to King James.

1 Writing, when in the Tower, to his wife. This callous admission-that there were, perhaps, 'three' Catholics who would have been killed-should be quoted in evidence against the fulsome panegyrics which have been lavished by certain writers on the character of Sir Everard Digby.

my lord out of the Love i beare Fo some of youere frends I have a caer of youer presentacion Therfor two aduyse yowe as youhe tender vouer Lyf to deuys fome effense to shift of youer atendance at This par teament for god and ruan hathe cancurred to punifhethe wick dues of this Fyne and Thinke not slightlye of this advertisment but rettere youre (eff into votre contri heare vore.. maye expect the event in fafti for how the Theare be no apparance of anni Eir vet i fage they (Gall recepeaterrible blowe This parléanent and yet they shall not seie ruho hurts them this councer is not to be a contenuned becaus Will we do your good and can do volve to harme for the dangere is passed as soon as youve have burnt the Leffer and i hope god will give yawe The grace to ek good use of it to those holt proteccion iconend yove

Inscribed on

the buck.

To the right honorable
The Lord mowleagre

FACSIMILE OF THE FAMOUS LETTER TO LORD MOUNTEAGLE,

CHAPTER VIII

Ο

THE LETTER TO LORD MOUNTEAGLE

F all the mysterious incidents enveloped in the traditional story of the Gun

powder Plot, none has taken so strong a hold upon the popular imagination as has the famous warning letter, undated and unsigned, written to Lord Mounteagle. The receipt of this letter by Mounteagle is generally understood to have formed the sole means whereby the plot was discovered, and the lives of King, Lords, and Commons were saved; but, as I hope to show later, the Government evidently had some knowledge of what was going on prior to the delivery of the letter to Mounteagle at Hoxton, on Saturday, October 26, 1605. At the same time, it is perhaps rather to wide a definition to refer to all the members of the Government as being possessors of this information. It would be more correct to name instead only Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who seems to have known of the existence of the plot quite six weeks before the receipt of the letter. It may even be argued that he was aware of it as much as three months earlier.

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