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, title, 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 God, 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 God, 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 compass
of some participation 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 nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley
Grange, about six miles from Derby.]