THE TRADITIONAL STORY.
THE history of the Gunpowder Plot prior to its discovery, as related
with much circumstantiality by the government of the day, has, in all
essential particulars, been accepted without demur by the great majority
of modern writers. We have already seen that those who lived nearer to
the period in question were less easily convinced; it remains to show
that the internal evidence of the story itself is incompatible with its
truthfulness.
The point upon which everything turns is the secret, and therefore
dangerous, character of the conspiracy, which, as we are told,
completely eluded the vigilance of the authorities, and was on the very
verge of success before even a breath of suspicion was aroused, being
balked only by a lucky accident occurring at the eleventh hour, in a
manner fitly described as miraculous.
On the other hand, however, many plain and obvious considerations
combine to show that such an account cannot be true. It is not easy to
believe that much which is said to have been done by the conspirators
ever occurred at all. It is clear that, if such things did occur, they
can by no possibility have escaped observation. There is evidence that
the government knew of the Plot long before they suddenly "discovered"
it. Finally, the story of the said "discovery," and the manner in which
it took place, is plainly not only untrue, but devised to conceal the
truth; while the elaborate care expended upon it sufficiently indicates
how important it was held that the truth should be concealed.
There are, moreover, arguments, which appear to deserve consideration,
suggesting the conclusion that the Plot was actually set on foot by the
secret instigation of those who designed to make it serve their ends, as
in fact it did. For our purpose, however, it is not necessary to insist
greatly upon these. It will be enough to show that, whatever its origin,
the conspiracy was, and must have been, known to those in power, who,
playing with their infatuated dupes, allowed them to go on with their
mad scheme, till the moment came to strike with full effect; thus
impressing the nation with a profound sense of its marvellous
deliverance, and winning its confidence for those to whose vigilance and
sagacity alone that deliverance appeared due.
That we may rightly follow the details of the story told to us, we must
in the first place understand the topography of the scene of operations,
which, with the aid of the illustrations given, will not be difficult.
[Illustration: HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN THE TIME OF JAMES I.]
[Illustration: INDEX. PARLIAMENT HOUSES IN THE TIME OF JAMES I.
A. The House of Lords.
B. Chamber under the House of Lords, called "Guy Faukes' Cellar."
C. The Prince's Chamber.
D. The Painted Chamber.
E. The "White Hall" or Court of Requests.
F. The House of Commons (formerly St. Stephen's Chapel).
G. Westminster Hall.
H. St. Stephen's Cloisters, converted into houses for the Tellers of the
Exchequer.
I. Garden of the Old Palace (afterwards called "Cotton Garden").
J. House built on the site of the Chapel of "Our Lady of the Pew"
(called later "Cotton House").
K K K. Houses built upon ruins of the walls of the Old Palace.
L. Vault under the Painted Chamber.
M. Yard or Court into which a doorway opened from Guy Faukes' Cellar.
N. Passage leading from the same Yard or Court into Parliament Place.
O. Parliament Place.
P. Parliament Stairs (formerly called "The Queen's Bridge").
Q Q. The River Thames.
R. Old Palace Yard.
S. Westminster Abbey.
T. St. Margaret's Church.
U V W. Buildings of the Old Palace, called "Heaven" (or "Paradise"),
"Hell," and "Purgatory."
X. New Palace Yard.
Y. Bell Tower of St. Stephen's.
Z. The Speaker's Garden.]
The old House of Lords[129] was a chamber occupying the first floor of
a building which stood about fifty yards from the left bank of the
Thames, to which it was parallel, the stream at this point running
almost due north. Beneath the Peers' Chamber, on the ground floor, was a
large room, which plays an important part in our history. This had
originally served as the palace kitchen,[130] and though commonly
described as a "cellar" or a "vault" was in reality neither, for it
stood on the level of the ground outside, and had a flat ceiling, formed
by the beams which supported the flooring of the Lords' apartment
above.[131] It ran beneath the said Peers' Chamber from end to end, and
measured 77 feet in length, by 24 feet 4 inches in width.
At either end, the building abutted upon another running transversely to
it; that on the north being the "Painted Chamber," probably erected by
Edward the Confessor, and that on the south the "Prince's Chamber,"
assigned by its architectural features to the reign of Henry III. The
former served as a place of conference for Lords and Commons,[132] the
latter as the robing-room of the Lords. The royal throne stood at the
south end of the House, near the Prince's Chamber.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE SCENE OF ACTION.]
Originally the Parliament Chamber and the "cellar" beneath it were
lighted by large windows on both sides; subsequently, houses raised
against it blocked these up, and the Lords were supplied with light by
dormers constructed in the roof. The walls of their apartment were then
hung with tapestry, representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Although precise information on the point is not easy to obtain, it
would appear that this did not occur till a period later than that with
which we are concerned.[133]
Such was the position to be attacked. As a first step, the conspirators
resolved to hire a house in the immediate neighbourhood, to serve them
as a base of operations. Thomas Percy was selected to appear as the
principal in this part of the business, for, being one of the king's
pensioners, he had frequently to be in attendance at Court, and might
naturally wish to have a lodging close at hand. The house chosen was
one, or rather a part of one,[134] standing near the Prince's Chamber,
and on the side towards the river.[135]
In treating for the lease of this tenement Percy seems to have conducted
himself in a manner altogether different from what we might have
expected of one whose object required him, above all, to avoid
attracting notice. He appears, in fact, to have made the greatest
possible ado about the business. The apartments were already let to one
Ferrers, who was unwilling to give them up, and Percy eventually
succeeded in his purpose, after not only "long suit by himself," but
also "great intreaty of Mr. Carleton, Mr. Epsley, and other gentlemen
belonging to the Earl of Northumberland."[136] These gentlemen were
never said to have been privy to the Conspiracy, and one of them, the
well-known Dudley Carleton, afterwards Viscount Dorchester, was not only
at this time secretary to Sir Thomas Parry, the Ambassador in France,
but was "patronised" by Cecil himself.[137]
[Illustration: THE OLD HOUSE OF LORDS, FROM THE EAST OR RIVER SIDE,
SHOWING THE GARDEN.]
Neither does the house appear to have been well suited to serve the
purposes for which it was taken. Speed tells us,[138] and he is
confirmed by Bishop Barlow of Lincoln,[139] that it was let out to
tenants only when Parliament was not assembled, and during a session
formed part of the premises at the disposal of the Lords, whom it served
as a withdrawing room. As the Plot was, of necessity, to take effect
during a session,[140] when the place would thus be in other hands, it
is very hard to understand how it was intended that the final and all
important operation should be conducted.
The bargain for the house was concluded May 24th, 1604,[141] but the
proposed operations were delayed till a much later date, by a
circumstance which clearly shows the public nature of the premises, and
that the lease obtained conferred no exclusive right of occupation. The
question of a union with Scotland, for which King James was very
anxious, was at the time being agitated, and commissioners having been
appointed to discuss it, this very house was placed at their disposal
for their meetings. Consequently the summer and autumn passed without
any farther steps being taken by the conspirators.
At last, in December, they were free to take in hand the extraordinary
scheme they had matured. This was, starting from a cellar of Percy's
house,[142] to dig thence an underground mine to the foundations of the
Parliament House, and through them; and then to construct within,
beneath the Peers' Chamber itself, a "concavity" large enough to contain
the amount of powder requisite for their purpose. On December 11th,
1604, they commenced operations,[143] and in a fortnight, that is by
Christmas, they had tunnelled from their starting-point to the wall they
had to breach; and that this first operation was of no small magnitude,
especially for men who had never before handled pick or shovel,[144] is
shown by the fact that what they contrived to do in so short a time was
quoted as evidence of the extraordinary zeal they displayed in their
nefarious enterprise.[145] Having rested a little, for the Christmas
holidays, they began upon the wall, which presented an unexpected
obstacle. They found that it was not only "very hard to beat through,"
but, moreover, nine feet thick, though since, as we shall see, they
never penetrated to the other side, it is not clear how they were able
to measure it.[146] Up to this point but five persons had engaged in the
work, Catesby, Percy, Thomas Winter, John Wright, and Faukes. In
consequence however of the difficulties now experienced, Keyes was
called in to their aid. He had already been initiated in the Plot, and
appointed to take charge of the powder, which was being accumulated and
stored in a house hired for the purpose across the Thames, at Lambeth.
It was therefore necessary to bring over the powder with him, which
amounted at this time to twenty barrels, and was placed either in
Percy's lodging itself, or in an outhouse belonging to it. About the
same time Christopher Wright was also initiated and took his share of
the labour.[147]
The gang thus composed laboured upon the wall from the beginning of
January, 1604-5, to the middle of March,[148] by which time they had
succeeded in getting only half way through. While the others worked,
Faukes stood on sentry to warn them of any danger.
Meanwhile, it must be asked how proceedings so remarkable could have
escaped the notice, not only of the government, but of the entire
neighbourhood. This, it must be remembered, was most populous. There
were people living in the very building, a part of which sheltered the
conspirators. Around, were thickly clustered the dwellings of the keeper
of the Wardrobe, auditors and tellers of the Exchequer, and other such
officials.[149] There were tradespeople and workmen constantly employed
close to the spot where the work was going on; while the public
character of the place makes it impossible to suppose that tenants such
as Percy and his friends, who were little better than lodgers, could
claim the exclusive use of anything beyond the rooms they rented--even
when allowed the use of these--or could shut against the neighbours and
visitors in general the precincts of so much frequented a spot.
How, then, did they dispose of the mass of soil dug out in making a
tunnel through which barrels and hogsheads were to be conveyed? No man
who has had practical experience of the unexpected quantity of earth
which comes out of the most insignificant excavation, will be likely to
rest satisfied with the explanation officially given, that it was
sufficiently concealed by being hidden beneath the turf in the little
garden adjoining.[150] What, moreover, was done with the great stones
that came out of the foundations? Of these there must have been on hand
at least some sixty cubic feet, probably much more, and they, at any
rate, can scarcely have been stowed away beneath the turf.
What, above all, of the noise made during the space of a couple of
months, in assaulting a wall "very hard to beat through"? It is a matter
of common observation how sound travels in the ground, and every stroke
of the pick upon the stone must have been distinctly heard for more than
a hundred yards all around, constituting a public nuisance. Meanwhile,
not only were there people living close by on every side, but men were
constantly at work right over the heads of the diggers, and only a few
feet from them: yet we are required to believe that neither these nor
any others had any notion that anything unusual was going on.
Neither is it easy to understand how these amateurs contrived to do so
much without a catastrophe. To make a tunnel through soft earth is a
very delicate operation, replete with unlooked-for difficulties. To
shore up the roof and sides there must, moreover, have been required a
large quantity of the "framed timber" of which Speed tells us, and the
provision and importation of this must have been almost as hard to keep
dark as the exportation of the earth and stones. A still more critical
operation is that of meddling with the foundations of a
house--especially of an old and heavy structure--which a professional
craftsman would not venture upon except with extreme care, and the
employment of many precautions of which these light-hearted adventurers
knew nothing. Yet, recklessly breaking their way out of one building,
and to a large extent into another, they appear to have occasioned
neither crack nor settlement in either.
We are by no means at the end of our difficulties. According to the tale
told by Faukes,[151] all the seven miners "lay in Percy's house," never
showing themselves while the work was in progress. This circumstance, to
say nothing of the storage of powder barrels and timber, seems to imply
that the premises were spacious and commodious. We learn, however, on
the unimpeachable evidence of Mrs. Whynniard's servant,[152] that the
house afforded accommodation only for one person at a time, so that when
Percy came there to spend the night, Faukes, who passed for his man, had
to lodge out. This suggests another question. Percy's pretext for laying
in so much fuel was that he meant to bring up his wife to live there.
But how could this be under such conditions?
Still more serious is another problem. When the mining operations were
commenced, in December, 1604, Parliament was appointed to meet on the
7th of February following, by which time, as is evident, the
preparations of the conspirators could not have been completed. While
they were working, however, news came that the session was to be
postponed till October. This information the conspirators appear to
have received quite casually before Christmas, for it is said that on
the strength of it, they thought they could afford to take a
holiday.[153] Early in January they were again at work,[154] and they
continued their operations thenceforth, without any circumstance
intervening to interrupt or alarm them, of which we hear anything either
from themselves or from subsequent writers. Nevertheless, it is quite
certain that the Lords actually met on February 7th--that is while the
mining operations were going on--and not only went through the ceremony
of prorogation, but transacted some little business besides, Lord Denny
being introduced and his writ of summons read.[155] It is equally
incomprehensible that the miners should have known nothing of so
startling an occurrence, or that knowing of it they should never have
made the slightest mention thereof. It is even more difficult to explain
how the Peers thus assembled, and their attendants, could have failed to
remark the mine, then actually open, in premises belonging to
themselves, or any suspicious features of earth, stones, timber, or
barrels.
The difficulties presented by the stubborn nature of the foundation-wall
proved well-nigh insuperable, but, as is observed by Father
Greenway,[156] one still more grave awaited the diggers had they
succeeded in making their way through. The "concavity" to be excavated
within, to contain the large number of powder barrels required for their
purpose, would have involved engineering work of the most hazardous
kind, and heavily laden as the floor above proved to be, it must,
according to all rules of calculation, have collapsed, when thus
undermined. But at this juncture, when the wall had been half pierced, a
circumstance occurred, not less extraordinary than others we have
considered, to change the whole plan of operations.
All this time, ridiculous as is the supposition, the conspirators appear
to have been ignorant of the existence of the "cellar," and to have
fancied that they were working their way immediately beneath the Chamber
of the Peers.[157] If such a circumstance be incredible, the
consequences must be borne by the narrative of which it forms an
essential feature. That it is incredible can hardly be questioned. The
so-called "cellar," as we have seen, was a large and conspicuous room
above ground. There are reasons for believing that it served habitually
as a passage between the different parts of the palace. It appears
certain that some of the conspirators, Percy in particular, as being one
of his Majesty's pensioners, must have frequently been in the House of
Lords itself, and therefore have known where it was; and clearly men of
their position were able to attend there when they chose.[158]
The manner in which they came at last to discover the "cellar" is thus
related by Mr. Jardine:[159] "One morning, while working upon the wall,
they suddenly heard a rushing noise in a cellar, nearly above their
heads. At first they imagined that they had been discovered; but Fawkes
being despatched to reconnoitre, found that one Bright, to whom the
cellar belonged, was selling off his coals[160] in order to remove, and
that the noise proceeded from this cause. Fawkes carefully surveyed the
place, which proved to be a large vault, situated immediately below the
House of Lords, and extremely convenient for the purpose they had in
view.... Finding that the cellar would shortly become vacant, the
conspirators agreed that it should be hired in Percy's name, under the
pretext that he wanted it for his own coals and wood. This was
accordingly done, and immediate possession was obtained."[161]
[Illustration: CELLAR UNDER HOUSE OF LORDS.]
It is obvious that Mr. Bright's men must on this, as presumably upon
many previous occasions, have been at work among the coals, while the
miners were hammering at the foundations beneath them, and yet have been
as little aware of what was going on as were the others of the existence
of the "cellar." It must, farther, be noted that the hiring of this
receptacle was, in fact, by no means so easy a matter as the accounts
ordinarily given would lead us to suppose. Faukes, in the narrative on
which the whole history of this episode has been based, is made to say
that he found that the coals were a-selling, and the cellar was to be
let, whereupon Percy went and hired it. Mrs. Whynniard, however, tells
us that the cellar was not to let, and that Bright had not the disposal
of the lease, but one Skinner, and that Percy "laboured very earnestly"
before he succeeded in obtaining it.
[Illustration: VAULT, EAST END OF PAINTED CHAMBER, ERRONEOUSLY STYLED
"GUY FAUKES' CELLAR."]
But, whatever the circumstances and manner of the transaction, it
appears that at Lady-day, 1605, this chamber came into the hands of
those who were to make it so famous; whereupon, we are told, they
resolved to abandon the mine, and use this ready-made cavity for their
purposes. To it, accordingly, they transferred their powder, the
barrels, by subsequent additions, being increased to thirty-six, and the
amount to nine or ten thousand pounds.[162] The casks were covered with
firewood, 500 faggots and 3,000 billets being brought in by hired
porters and piled up by Faukes, to whose charge, in his assumed
character of Percy's servant, the cellar was committed. It is stated in
Winter's long declaration on this subject,[163] that the barrels were
thus completely hidden, "because we might have the house free, to suffer
anyone to enter that would," and we find it mentioned by various writers
subsequently, that free ingress was actually allowed to the public. Thus
we read[164] of "the deep cunning [of the conspirators] in throwing
open the vault, as if there had been nothing to conceal;" while another
writer[165] tells us, "The place was hired by Percy; 36 barrels of
gunpowder were lodged in it; the whole covered up with billets and
faggots; the doors of the cellar boldly flung open, and everybody
admitted, as though it contained nothing dangerous." On the top of the
barrels were likewise placed "great bars of iron and massy stones," in
order "to make the breach the greater."
[Illustration: ARCHES FROM THE "CELLAR" UNDER THE HOUSE OF LORDS.]
We may here pause to review the extraordinary story to which we have
been listening. A group of men, known for as dangerous characters as any
in England, men, in Cecil's own words,[166] "spent in their fortunes,"
"hunger-starved for innovations," "turbulent spirits," and "fit for all
alterations," take a house within the precincts of a royal palace, and
close to the Upper House of Parliament, dig a mine, hammer away for over
two months at the wall, acquire and bring in four tons of gunpowder,
storing it in a large and conspicuous chamber immediately beneath that
of the Peers, and covering it with an amount of fuel sufficient for a
royal establishment--and meanwhile those responsible for the government
of the country have not even the faintest suspicion of any possible
danger. "Never," it is said,[167] "was treason more secret, or ruin more
apparently inevitable," while the Secretary of State himself
declared[168] that such ruin was averted only by the direct
interposition of Heaven, in a manner nothing short of miraculous.
It must be remembered that the government thus credited with childlike
and culpable simplicity, was probably the most suspicious and
inquisitive that ever held power in this country, for its tenure whereof
it trusted mainly to the elaborate efficiency of its intelligence
department. Of a former secretary, Walsingham, Parsons wrote that he
"spent infinite upon spyery,"[169] and there can be no doubt that his
successor, now in office, had studied his methods to good purpose. "He,"
according to a panegyrist,[170] "was his craft's master in foreign
intelligence and for domestic affairs," who could tell at any moment
what ships there were in every port of Spain, their burdens, their
equipment, and their destination. We are told[171] that he could
discover the most secret business transacted in the Papal Court before
it was known to the Catholics in England. He could intercept letters
written from Paris to Brussels, or from Rome to Naples.[172] What was
his activity at home is sufficiently evidenced by the reports furnished
by his numerous agents concerning everything done throughout the
country, in particular by Recusants; whereof we shall see more, in
connection with this particular affair. That those so remarkably
wide-awake in regard of all else should have been blind and deaf to what
was passing at their own doors appears altogether incredible.
More especially do difficulties connect themselves with the gunpowder
itself. Of this, according to the lowest figure given us, there were
over four tons.[173] How, we may ask, could half a dozen men, "notorious
Recusants," and bearing, moreover, such a character as we have heard,
without attracting any notice, and no question being asked, possess
themselves of such a quantity of so dangerous a material?[174] How large
was the amount may be estimated from the fact that it was more than a
quarter of what, in 1607, was delivered from the royal store, for all
purposes, and was equal to what was thought sufficient for Dover Castle,
while there was no more in the four fortresses of Arcliffe, Walmer,
Deal, and Camber together.[175]
The twenty barrels first procured were first, as we have seen, stored
beyond the Thames, at Lambeth, whence they had to be ferried across the
river, hauled up the much frequented Parliament Stairs, carried down
Parliament Place, as busy a quarter as any in the city of Westminster,
and into the building adjoining the Parliament House, or the "cellar"
beneath the same. All this, we are to suppose, without attracting
attention or remark.[176]
The conspirators, while making these material preparations, were
likewise busy in settling their plan of action when the intended blow
should have been struck. It was by no means their intention to attempt a
revolution. Their quarrel was purely personal with King James, his
Council, and his Parliament, and, these being removed, they desired to
continue the succession in its legitimate course, and to seat on the
throne the nearest heir who might be available for the purpose; placing
the new sovereign, however, under such tutelage as should insure the
inauguration of a right course of policy. The details of the scheme were
of as lunatic a character as the rest of the business. The confederates
would have wished to possess themselves of Prince Henry, the king's
eldest son; but as he would probably accompany his father to the
opening of Parliament, and so perish, their desire was to get hold of
his brother, the Duke of York, afterwards Charles I., then but five
years old. It was, however, possible that he too might go to Parliament,
and otherwise it might not improbably be impossible to get possession of
him: in which case they were prepared to be satisfied with the Princess
Elizabeth,[177] or even with her infant sister Mary, for whom, as being
English born, a special claim might be urged.
Such was the project in general. When we come to details, we are
confronted, as might be anticipated, with statements impossible to
reconcile. We are told,[178] that Percy undertook to seize and carry off
Duke Charles; and again,[179] that, despairing of being able to lay
hands upon him, they resolved "to serve themselves with the Lady
Elizabeth," and that Percy was one of those who made arrangements for
seizing her;[180] and again, that having learnt that Prince Henry was
not to go to the House, they determined to surprise him, "and leave the
young Duke alone;"[181] and once more, that they never entered into any
consultation or formed any project whatever as to the succession.[182]
Still more serious are the contradictions on another point. We are told,
on the one hand, that a proclamation was drawn up for the inauguration
of the new sovereign--whoever this was[183]--and, on the other, that the
associates were resolved not to avow the explosion to be their work
until they should see how the country took it, or till they had gathered
a sufficient force,[184] and accordingly that they had no more than a
project of a proclamation to be issued in due season. But, again, it is
said[185] that Catesby on his way out of town, after the event, was to
proclaim the new monarch at Charing Cross, though it is equally hard to
understand, either how he was to know which of the plans had succeeded,
and who that monarch was to be,--whether a king or a queen,--or what
effect such proclamation by an obscure individual like himself was
expected to produce; or how this, or indeed any item in the programme
was compatible with the incognito of the actors in the great tragedy.
Amid this hopeless tangle one point alone is perfectly clear. Whatever
was the scheme, it was absolutely insane, and could by no possibility
have succeeded. As Mr. Gardiner says:[186] "With the advantage of having
an infant sovereign in their hands, with a little money and a few
horses, these sanguine dreamers fancied that they would have the whole
of England at their feet."
Such is in outline the authorized version of the history concerning what
Father John Gerard styles "this preposterous Plot of Powder;" and
preposterous it undoubtedly appears to be in more senses than he
intended. It is, in the first place, almost impossible to believe that
the important and dramatic episode of the mine ever, in fact, occurred.
We have seen something of the difficulties against accepting this part
of the story, which the circumstantial evidence suggests. When, on the
other hand, we ask upon what testimony it rests, it is a surprise to
find that for so prominent and striking an incident we are wholly
dependent upon two documents, published by the government, a confession
of Thomas Winter and another of Faukes, both of which present features
rendering them in the highest degree suspicious. Amongst the many
confessions and declarations made by the conspirators in general, and
these individuals in particular, these two alone describe the mining
operations.[187]
[Illustration: CELL IN STAIRCASE TURRET, S.E. CORNER, PAINTED CHAMBER,
OFTEN CALLED "GUY FAUKES' CELL."]
On the other hand, it is somewhat startling to find no less a person
than the Earl of Salisbury himself ignorant or oblivious of so
remarkable a circumstance. In Thomas Winter's lodging was found the
agreement between Percy and Ferrers for the lease of the house, which
was taken, as has been said, in May, 1604. This is still preserved, and
has been endorsed by Cecil, "The bargaine between Percy and Ferrers for
the bloody sellar...." But this contract had nothing to do with the
"bloody sellar," which was not rented till ten months later. Again,
writing November 9th, 1605, to Cornwallis and Edmondes, Cecil says:
"This Percy had about a year and a half ago hired a part of Vyniard's
house in the old Palace, from whence he had access into this vault to
lay his wood and coal, and as it seemeth now [had] taken this place of
purpose to work some mischief in a fit time." When this was written the
premises had been for four days in the hands of the government. It is
clearly impossible that the remains of the mine, had they existed,
should not have been found, and equally so that Cecil should not have
alluded to the overwhelming evidence they afforded as to the intention
of Percy and his associates to "work some mischief," but should, again,
have connected the tenancy of the house only with the "cellar."
It will, moreover, be found by investigators that when exceptional
stress is laid on any point by Sir E. Coke, the Attorney General, a
_prima facie_ case against the genuine nature of the evidence in regard
of that point is thereby established. In his speech on the trial of the
conspirators we find him declaring that, "If the cellar had not been
hired, the mine work could hardly, or not at all, have been discovered,
for the mine was neither found nor suspected until the danger was past,
and the capital offenders apprehended, and by themselves, upon
examination, confessed." That is to say, the government could not,
though provided with information that there was a powder-mine under the
Parliament House, have discovered this extraordinary piece of
engineering; and moreover, after its abandonment, the traces of the
excavation were so artfully hidden as to elude observation till the
prisoners drew attention to them. Such assertions cannot possibly be
true; but they might serve to meet the objection that no one had seen
the mine.
We likewise find that in his examination of November 5th, Faukes is made
to say: "He confesseth that about Christmas last [1604], he brought in
the nighttime Gunpowder _to the cellar under the upper house of
Parliament_," that is some three months before the cellar was hired.
Moreover, the words italicised have been added as an interlineation,
apparently by Cecil himself. Evidently when this was done the mine was
still undiscovered.
Yet more remarkable is the fact that it would appear to have remained
undiscovered ever afterwards, and that no marks seem to have been left
upon the wall which had been so roughly handled. It is certainly
impossible to find any record that such traces were observed when the
building was demolished, though they could scarcely have failed to
attract attention and interest. On this subject we have the important
evidence of Mr. William Capon, who carefully examined every detail
connected with the old palace, and evidently had the opportunity of
studying the foundations of the House of Lords when, in 1823, that
building was removed.[188] He does, indeed, mention what he conceives
to be the traces of the conspirators' work, of which he gives the
following description:
"Adjoining the south end of the Cellar, or more properly the ancient
Kitchen, to the west, was a small room separated only by a stone
doorway, with a pointed head, and with very substantial masonry joined
to the older walls.... At the North side [of this] there had been an
opening, a doorway of very solid thick stonemasonry, through which was a
way seemingly forced through by great violence.... In 1799 it was
asserted that this was always understood to have been the place where
the conspirators broke into the vault which adjoined that called Guy
Vaux's cellar."[189]
But against such a supposition there are three fatal objections. (1)
This places the conspirators on the wrong side of the house, for they
most certainly worked from the east, or river side, not from the
west.[190] (2) It makes the mine above ground instead of below. (3) The
conspirators never broke into the cellar at all, but hired it in the
ordinary way of business.
Such considerations as the above may well make us sceptical in regard to
the mine, and if this element of the story, upon which so much stress
has always been laid, prove to be untrustworthy, it must needs follow
that grave suspicion will be cast upon the rest.
There are, likewise, various problems in connection with the "cellar,"
especially as concerns the means of ingress to it, and its consequent
privacy or publicity.
(_a_) Faukes says (November 6th, 1605) that about the middle of Lent of
that year Percy caused "a new dore" to be made into it, "that he might
have a neerer way out of his own house into the cellar."
This seems to imply that Percy took the cellar for his firewood when
there was no convenient communication between it and his house. Moreover
it is not very easy to understand how a tenant under such conditions as
his was allowed at discretion to knock doors through the walls of a
royal palace. Neither did the landlady say anything of this door-making,
when detailing what she knew about Percy's proceedings.
(_b_) In some notes by Sir E. Coke,[191] it is said: "The powder was
first brought into Percy's house, and lay there in a low room new built,
and could not have been conveyed into the cellar by the old door but
that all the street must have seen it; and therefore he caused a new
door out of his house into the cellar to be made, where before there had
been a grate of iron."
This, it must be confessed, looks very like an afterthought to explain
away a difficulty, but failing to do so. When the door is said to have
been made, the powder was already on the premises, having been brought
there in sight of the whole street and the river. It could hardly, in so
small a tenement, escape the observation of the workmen,[192] while the
operations of these latter in breaking through the wall would have
served yet farther to attract the attention of the neighbourhood.
(_c_) We are told by Faukes and others, that either he or Percy always
kept the key, and that marks were made to indicate whether anyone had
entered the place in their absence.
(_d_) On the other hand, to say nothing of Winter's declaration that the
confederates so arranged as to leave the cellar free for all to enter
who would, Lord Salisbury informed Sir Thomas Parry[193] that the
captors of Faukes entered through "another door," which clearly did not
require to be opened by him; while as to the ordinary door, whichever
this was, the "King's Book" itself plainly intimates, in the account of
the chamberlain's visit, that Whynniard, the landlord, was able to open
it when he chose.
The "other door" spoken of by Cecil, a most important feature of the
chamber, is nowhere else mentioned.[194]
It appears certain that the conspirators really had a plot in hand, that
they fancied themselves to be about to strike a great blow, and that by
means of gunpowder; but what was the precise nature of their plans and
preparations it is not so easy to determine. Farther discussion of these
particulars must be deferred to a later chapter. Meanwhile, according to
the accepted history, when they had stored their powder there was
nothing more to do but to await the assembling of the intended
victims. Parliament stood prorogued till October 3rd, and was afterwards
further adjourned till the fateful 5th of November. That they might not
excite suspicion, the confederates separated, most of them retiring to
their country seats, and Faukes going over to Flanders.[195] In his
absence Percy kept the key of the cellar, and, according to Faukes,[196]
laid in more powder and wood while he himself was absent.
[Illustration: THE POWDER PLOT. II.]
It is not easy to understand what became of the cellar during this long
interval, and apparently it was left in great measure, with its
compromising contents, to take care of itself, for Percy, amongst other
places, went with Catesby to Bath to take the waters.[197] If the
premises were of so public a nature as the testimony of Winter and
others would imply, it appears impossible that they should have remained
all this time sealed up, or that these astute and crafty plotters should
with a light heart have ignored the probability that they would be
visited and inspected. As Father Greenway observes,[198] it can hardly
be supposed that the landlord[199] had not a duplicate key, while Cecil
himself, in his letter to Sir Thomas Parry, plainly indicates that
access to the cellar could freely be procured independently of the
conspirators. We can only say that the conduct of the confederates in
this particular appears to have been quite in keeping with their method
of conspiring secretly as we have already seen it, and undoubtedly one
more difficulty is thus opposed to the supposition that their enterprise
was chiefly dangerous on account of the clandestine and dexterous manner
in which it was conducted.
FOOTNOTES:
[129] The name "old House of Lords" is somewhat ambiguous, being
variously applicable to three different buildings:
(i.) That here described, which continued to be used till the Irish
Union, A.D. 1800.
(ii.) The "Court of Requests," or "White Hall," used from 1800 till the
fire of 1834.
(iii.) The "Painted Chamber," which, having been repaired after the said
fire, became the place of assembly for the Lords, as did the Court of
Requests for the Commons.
The original House of Lords was demolished in 1823 by Sir John Soane,
who on its site erected his Royal Gallery. (See Brayley and Britton,
_History of the Palace of Westminster_.)
[130] The authority for this is the Earl of Northampton, who at Father
Garnet's trial mentioned that it was so stated in ancient records.
Remains of a buttery hatch in the south wall confirmed his assertion.
The foundations of the building were believed to date from the time of
Edward the Confessor, and the style of architecture of the
superstructure assigned it to the early part of the thirteenth century,
as likewise the "Prince's Chamber."
[131] Brayley and Britton, _History of the Palace of Westminster_, p.
421; J. T. Smith, _Antiquities of Westminster_, p. 39 (where
illustrations will be found); _Gentleman's Magazine_, July, 1800, p.
626.
[132] It was here that the death warrant of Charles I. was signed.
[133] An old print (which states that it is taken from "a painted print
in the Cottonian library,") representing the two Houses assembled in
presence of Queen Elizabeth, has windows on both sides. The same plate,
with the figure of the sovereign alone changed, was made to do duty
likewise for a Parliament of James I. By Hollar's time (1640-77) the
windows had been blocked up and the tapestry hung.
[134] Cecil wrote to Cornwallis, Edmondes, and others, November 9th,
1605, "This Piercey had a bout a year and a half a goe hyred a parte of
Vyniards house in the old Palace," which appears to be Mr. Hepworth
Dixon's sole authority for styling the tenement "Vinegar House."
[135] See Appendix E, _Site of Percy's house_.
[136] Evidence of Mrs. Whynniard, November 7th, 1605. Epsley is
evidently the same person as Hoppisley, who was examined on the 23rd of
the same month.
[137] Birch, _Historical View_, p. 227.
[138] _Historie_, p. 1231.
[139] _Gunpowder Treason, Harleian Miscellany_, iii. 121.
[140] At his first examination, November 5th 1605, Faukes declared that
he had not been sure the king would come to the Parliament House on that
day, and that his purpose was to have blown it up whenever his Majesty
was there.
[141] The agreement between Percy and Ferrers is in the Record Office
(_Gunpowder Plot Book_, 1.) and is endorsed by Cecil, "The bargaine ...
for the bloody sellar." Upon this there will be more to remark later.
[142] Jardine, _Gunpowder Plot_, p. 42.
[143] The 11th of December, O. S., was at that period the shortest day,
which circumstance suggested to Sir E. Coke, on the trial of the
conspirators, one of his characteristic facetiae; he bade his hearers
note "That it was in the entring of the Sun into the Tropick of
Capricorn, when they began their Mine; noting that by Mining they should
descend, and by Hanging, ascend."
[144] "Gentlemen not accustomed to labour or to be pioneers."--Goodman,
_Court of King James_, p. 103.
[145] "The Moles that first underwent these underminings were all
grounded Schollers of the Romish Schoole, and such earnest Labourers in
their Vault of Villany, that by Christmas Eve they had brought the worke
under an entry, unto the Wall of the Parliament House, underpropping
still as they went the Earth with their framed Timber."--Speed,
_Historie_, p. 1232 (pub. 1611).
[146] In Barlow's _Gunpowder Treason_ these foundations are stated to
have been three ells thick, _i.e._, eleven and a quarter feet. _Harleian
Miscellany_, iii. 122.
[147] See Appendix F, _The enrolment of the Conspirators_, for the
discrepancies as to dates. T. Winter (November 23rd, 1605) says that the
powder was laid "in Mr. Percy's house;" Faukes, "in a low Room new
builded."
[148] There is, as usual, hopeless contradiction between the two
witnesses upon whom, as will be seen, we wholly depend for this portion
of the story. Faukes (November 17th, 1605) makes the mining operations
terminate at Candlemas. T. Winter (November 23rd) says that they went on
to "near Easter" (March 31st). The date of hiring the "cellar," was
about Lady Day (March 25th).
[149] The buildings of the dissolved College of St. Stephen, comprising
those around the House of Lords, were granted by Edward VI. to Sir Ralph
Lane. They reverted to the crown under Elizabeth, and were appropriated
as residences for the auditors and tellers of the Exchequer. The
locality became so populous that in 1606 it was forbidden to erect more
houses.
[150] Jardine, _Gunpowder Plot_, p. 48.
[151] November 17th, 1605.
[152] November 7th, 1605.
[153] Winter says: "... We heard that the Parliament should be anew
adjourned until after Michaelmas; upon which tidings we broke off both
discourse and working until after Christmas" (November 23rd, 1605).
Lingard writes, "When a fortnight had thus been devoted to uninterrupted
labour, Faukes informed his associates that the Parliament was prorogued
from the 7th of February to the 3rd of October. They immediately
separated to spend the Christmas holidays at their respective
homes."--_History_, vii. 47 (ed. 1883).
[154] Faukes, as has been said, makes the work upon the wall terminate
at Candlemas. Winter (_ut sup._) says that they brought over the powder
at Candlemas, that is, after they had been some time engaged upon the
wall, and found the need of the assistance of Keyes.
[155] _Lord's Journals_ "A^o 1604(5) 2 Jac.--Memorandum quod hodierno
die, septimo die Februarii, A^o Regis nri Jacobi, _viz._ Angliae (etc.)
2^{ndo}, & Scotiae 38^o, in quem diem prorogatum fuerat hoc praesens
parliamentum, convenere Proceres tam Spirituales quam Temporales, quorum
nomina subscribuntur."
Then follow twenty-nine names, including the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Lords Ellesmere (_Chancellor_), Dorset (_Treasurer_), Nottingham
(_Admiral_), Suffolk (_Chamberlain_), Northumberland, Cranborne (Cecil),
Northampton, etc. It is noted "Lords Montagu, Petre, and Gerard [all
three Catholics] were present, though they were none of the
Commissioners."
[156] _Narrative_ (Stonyhurst MSS.), fol. 44 b.
[157] This absurd supposition is obviously implied by Faukes (November
17th, 1605), and T. Winter (November 23rd), in the only two accounts
furnished by any of the conspirators wherein the episode of the mine is
mentioned. In Barlow's _Gunpowder Treason_ (_Harleian Miscellany_, iii.
123) it is expressly stated that the confederates "came to the knowledge
of the vault" only on the occasion now detailed. Tierney says (Dodd's
_Church History_, iv. 45, note): "At this moment an accidental noise ...
first acquainted them with the existence of the cellar."
[158] On the 3rd of October following, Thomas Winter was sent to be
present at the ceremony of prorogation, and to watch the demeanour of
the assembled peers.
[159] _Gunpowder Plot_, p. 55. This account is based almost entirely on
that of Faukes, November 17th, 1605.
[160] In his Italian version of Father Gerard's history, Father Greenway
interpolates the following note: "Questi non erano carboni di legno, ma
una sorte di pietra negra, la quale come carbone abrugia et fa un fuogo
bellissimo et ottimo" (fol. 44 b).
[161]
"These Pioneers through Piercies chamber brought
Th' exhausted earth, great baskets full of clay;
Thereby t' have made a mighty concave vau't,
And of the house the ground worke tooke away:
But then at last an obstacle they finde,
Which to remove proud Piercy casts in 's mind.
A thick stone wall their passage then did let;
Whereby they cou'd not finish their intent.
Then forthwith Piercy did a sellar get,
Under that sacred house for yearly rent:
Feigning to fill 't with Char coal, Wood, & Beere,
From all suspect themselves to cloake & cleere."
JOHN VICARS, _Mischeefes Mysterie_.
This remarkable poem, published 1617, is a much expanded translation of
_Pietas Pontificia_ (in Latin hexameter verse) by Francis Herring, which
appeared in 1606.
[162] On this point we are furnished with more than the usual amount of
variety as to details. Cecil, writing to the ambassadors (Cornwallis,
Edmondes, etc.), says there were "two hodgsheads and some 30 small
barrels." The King's _Discourse_ mentions 36 barrels. Barclay
(_Conspiratio Anglicana_) says there were over 9,000 lb. of powder, in
32 barrels, and that one of extra size had been placed under the throne,
for treason could not without dread assail Majesty even when unarmed.
The indictment of the conspirators named 30 barrels and 4 hogsheads. Sir
E. Coke always said 36 barrels. Barlow's _Gunpowder Treason_ makes the
extraordinary statement, frequently reproduced, that "to the 20 Barrels
of Powder laid in at first, they added in July 20 more, and at last made
up the number Thirty-six." Faukes (November 5th) said that of the powder
"some was put in hoggesheads, some in Barrels, and some in firkins."
Faukes also says that the powder was conveyed to the place in hampers.
John Chamberlain, writing to Dudley Carleton, November 7th, 1605, says
it was carried in satchels. Barlow (_ut sup._) quotes the amount as
9,000 or 10,000 lb.
[163] November 23rd, 1605.
[164] _The Gunpowder Plot_, by L., 1805. It seems highly probable that
the "cellar" was used as a public passage.
[165] Hugh F. Martyndale, _A Familiar Analysis of the Calendar of the
Church of England_ (November 5th). London, Effingham Wilson.
[166] _Letter to Cornwallis and Edmondes_, November 9th, 1605.
[167] H. F. Martyndale, _ut sup._
[168] Letter to the Ambassadors, _ut sup._
[169] _An Advertisement written to a Secretarie_, etc. (1592), p. 13.
[170] Sir R. Naunton, _Fragmenta Regalia (Harleian Miscellany_, ii.
106).
[171] Blount to Parsons (Stonyhurst MSS.), _Anglia_, vi. 64.
[172] Such letters are found amongst the State Papers.
[173] The amount, it would seem, cannot have been less than this. A
barrel of gunpowder, containing four firkins, weighed 400 lb., and had
the casks in the cellar all been barrels, in the strict sense of the
word, the amount would therefore have exceeded six tons. Some of these
casks, we are told, were small, but some were hogsheads. The twenty
barrels first laid in are described as "whole barrels." (Faukes, January
20th, 1605-6.)
[174] An interesting illustration of this point is furnished by a
strange piece of evidence furnished by W. Andrew, servant to Sir E.
Digby. Sir Everard's office was to organize the rising in the Midlands,
after the catastrophe, but he apparently forgot to supply himself with
powder till the very eve of the appointed day. Andrew averred that on
the night of November 4th, his master secretly asked him to procure some
powder in the neighbouring town, whereupon he asked, "How much? A pound,
or half a pound?" Sir Everard said 200 or 300 lb. Deponent purchased one
pound. (Tanner MSS. lxxv. f. 205 b.)
One Matthew Batty mentioned Lord Monteagle as having bought gunpowder.
(_Ibid._ v. 40.)
In the same collection is a copy of some notes by Sir E. Coke (f. 185
b), in which the price of the powder discovered is put down as L200,
_i.e._ some L2,000 of our money.
[175] Gunpowder was measured by the _last_ = 2,400 lb. (Tomline's _Law
Dictionary_.) In 1607 there were delivered out of the store 14 lasts and
some cwts. In 1608 the amount in various strong places is entered as:
"_Dover Castle_, 4 lasts; _Arcliffe Bullwark_, 1 last; _Walmer_, 1 last,
8 cwt.; _Deal Castle_, 1 last; _Sandown Castle_, 2 lasts, etc.;
_Sandgate_, 1 last; _Camber_, 1 last."
[176] The position and character of the "cellar" admit of no doubt, as
appears from the testimony of Smith's _Antiquities of Westminster_,
Brayley and Britton's _Ancient Palace of Westminster_, and Capon's notes
on the same, _Vetusta Monumenta_, v. They are, however, inconsistent
with some circumstances alleged by the government. Thus, Sir Everard
Digby's complicity with "the worst part" of the treason, which on
several occasions he denied, is held to be established by a confession
of Faukes, which cannot now be found among the State Papers, but which
is mentioned in Sir E. Coke's speech upon Digby's arraignment, and is
printed in Barlow's _Gunpowder Treason_, p. 68. In Sir E. Coke's version
it runs thus: "Fawkes, then present at the bar, had confessed, that some
time before that session, the said Fawkes being with Digby at his house
in the country, about which time there had fallen much wet, Digby taking
Fawkes aside after supper, told him he was much afraid that the powder
in the cellar was grown damp, and that some new must be provided, lest
that should not take fire."
Seeing, however, that the powder stood above ground, within a most
substantial building, and could be reached by the rain only if this
should first flood the Chamber of the Peers, it does not seem as if the
idea of such a danger should have suggested itself.
Another interesting point in connection with the "cellar" is that the
House of Lords having subsequently been removed to the Court of
Requests, and afterwards to the Painted Chamber, "Guy Faukes' Cellar" on
each occasion accompanied the migration. From Leigh's _New Picture of
London_ we find that in 1824-5, when the Court of Requests was in use,
and the old cellar had completely disappeared, Guy's Cellar was still
shown; while a plate given in Knight's _Old England_, and elsewhere,
represents a vault under the Painted Chamber, not used as the House of
Lords till after 1832. Such a cellar seems to have been considered a
necessary appurtenance of the House.
[177] Afterwards the Electress Palatine.
[178] Gardiner, _Hist._ i. 245; Lingard, vii. 59; T. Winter, November
23rd, 1605.
[179] Faukes, November 17th, 1605.
[180] Harry Morgan, _Examination_ (R.O.), November 12th, 1605.
[181] T. Winter, November 23rd and 25th, 1605. As the information about
Prince Henry was alleged to have been communicated by Lord Monteagle,
the passage has been mutilated in the published version to conceal this
circumstance.
[182] Faukes, November 5th, 1605.
[183] Sir E. Digby, Barlow's _Gunpowder Treason_, App. 249.
[184] Faukes, November 17th, 1605.
[185] Digby, _ut sup._
[186] _History_, i. 239.
[187] There is also an allusion to the same in the confession of Keyes,
November 30th, 1605; but this document also is of a highly suspicious
character. Of the seven miners, none but these three were taken alive;
Catesby, Percy, and the two Wrights being killed in the field. Strangely
enough, though Keyes may be cited as a witness on this subject, on which
his evidence is of such singular importance, the government, for some
purpose of its own, tampered with the confession of Faukes wherein he is
mentioned as one of the excavators, substituting Robert Winter's name
for his, and placing Keyes amongst those "that wrought not in the myne."
See Jardine's remarks on this point, _Criminal Trials_, ii. 6.
[188] His detailed notes and plans are given in _Vetusta Monumenta_,
vol. v.
[189] Page 4.
[190] See Appendix E, _Site of Percy's house_.
[191] Tanner MSS. lxxv. Sec. 185, b.
[192] Faukes, November 6th, uses the same expression, "a low room new
builded," which seems to imply that this receptacle had been constructed
since Percy came into possession of the house.
[193] November 6th, 1605. More will be seen of the important document
containing this information.
[194] According to Smith's plan (_sup._ p. 59) there were four entrances
to the cellar, none of which can have been Percy's "new dore."
[195] We are told that Faukes was selected to take charge of the house,
and perform other duties which would bring him into notice, because
being unknown in London he was not likely to excite remark. In his
declaration, November 8th, however, he gives as his reason for going
abroad, "lest, being a dangerous man, he should be known and suspected."
It is obvious that in the meantime the cellar must either have been left
in charge of others better known, and therefore more likely to excite
suspicion, or have been left unprotected.
[196] November 17th, 1605.
[197] Thomas Winter, November 23rd, 1605.
[198] F. 66.
[199] This, as we have heard, was Mr. Whynniard, who unfortunately died
very suddenly on the morning of November 5th, on hearing of the
"discovery," evidence of great importance as to the hiring of the house
and "cellar" being thus lost. "As for the keeper of the parliament
house," says Goodman, "who let out the lodgings to Percy, it is said
that 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."--_Court of King
James_, i. 107.