The Year 1595

ROBERT SOUTHWELL, Priest, SJ *

Robert SOUTHWELL was of a family of good repute, born at St. Faith's, in Norfolk, and was sent over young to Doway, where he was for some time alumnus of the English College or Seminary in that University; from thence he went to Rome, and there was received into the Society of Jesus when he was but sixteen years of age. Having finished his noviceship, and g^ne through his course of philosophy and divinity with very great satisfaction of his superiors, he was made Prefect of the Studies in the English College of Rome, and took that opportunity of applying himself to the study of his native language, in which he proved no small proficient, as the elegant pieces, both in prose and verse, which he has published in print abundantly demonstrate.

In 1584 he was sent upon the English mission, and there laboured with great fruit in the conversion of many souls, and amongst them several persons of distinction, till the year 1592, when he was¹ betrayed and apprehended in a gentleman’s house at Uxenden, in Middlesex, within seven miles of London, and was then committed to a dungeon in the Tower, so noisome and filthy, that when he was brought out at the end of the month to be examined, his clothes were quite covered with vermin. Upon this his father presented a petition to the Queen, humbly begging. That if his son had committed anything for which hy the laws he had deserved death, he might suffer death; if not, as he was a gentleman, he hoped her Majesty woidd be pleased to order that he should he treated as a gentleman, and not he confined any longer to that filthy hole. The Queen was pleased to have regard to this petition, and to order Mr. Southwell a better lodging, and to give leave to his father to supply him with clothes and other necessaries, and amongst the rest with the books which he asked for, which were only the Holy Bible and the works of St. Bernard.

He was kept in prison three years, and at ten several times was most cruelly racked, till at length a resolution was taken on a sudden in the Council to have him executed. Some days before his execution, he was removed from the Tower to Newgate, and there put down into the hole called Limho, from whence he was brought out to suffer on account of his priesthood, the 21st of February, 1594-5, having been condemned but the day before. Care was taken not to let the people know beforehand the day he was to die, to hinder their concourse on that occasion; and a famous highwayman was ordered to be executed at the same time in another place, to divert the crowd from the sight of the last conflict of the servant of Christ. But these precautions availed nothing; great numbers, and amongst them many persons of distinction, flocked to Tyburn to be witnesses of his glorious martyrdom. Hither Mr. Southwell was drawn on a sled through the streets, and when he was come to the place, getting up into the cart, he made the sign of the cross in the best manner that he could, his hands being pinioned, and began to speak to the people those words of the apostle {Rom. xiv.). Whether we live, we live to the Lord; or whether we die, we die to the Lord: therefore, whether we live or die,^we belong to the Lord. Here the Sheriff would have interrupted him, but he begged leave that he might go on, assuring him that he would utter nothing that should give offence. Then he spoke as follows: — I am come to this place to finish my course, and to pass out of this miserable life, and I beg of my Lord Jesus Christ, in whose most precious passion and blood I place my hope of salvation, that He would have mercy on my soul. I confess I am a Catholic priest of the Holy Roman Church, and a religious man of the Society of Jesus, on which account I owe eternal thanks and praises to my God and Saviour. Here he was interrupted by a minister telling him, that if he understood what he had said in the sense of the Council of Trent, it was damnable doctrine. But the minister was silenced by the standers by, and Mr. Southwell went on, saying. Sir, I heg of you not to he troublesome to me for this short time that I have to live. I am a Catholic, and in whatever manner you may please to interpret my words, I hope for salvation hy the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as to the Queen, I never attempted nor contrived or imagined any evil against her, but have always prayed for her to our Lord; and for this short time of my life still pray that, in His infinite mercy. He would he pleased to give her all such gifts and graces which he sees in His divine wisdom to be most expedient for the welfare both of her soul and body, in this life and in the next. 1 recommend, in like manner, to the same mercy of God my poor country, and I implore the Divine bounty to favour it with His light and the knowledge of His truth, to the greater advancement of the salvation of souls, and the eternal glory of His Divine Majesty. In fine, I beg of the Almighty and Everlasting God, that this, my death may be for my own and for my country's good, and the comfort of the Catholics my brethren.

Having finished these words, and looking for the cart to be immediately drove away, he again blessed himself, and, with his eyes raised up to heaven, repeated with great calmness of mind and countenance those words of the Psalmist, In manus tuas, etc. — Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, — with other short ejaculations, till the cart was drawn off. The unskilful hangman had not applied the noose of the rope to the proper place, so that he several times made the sign of the cross whilst he was hanging and was some time before he was strangled; which some perceiving, drew him by the legs to put an end to his pain; and when the executioner was for cutting the rope before he was dead, the gentlemen and people that were present cried out three several times. Hold, hold! for the behaviour of the servant of God was so edifying in these his last moments, that even the Protestants who were present at the execution were much affected with the sight. After he was dead he was cut down, bowelled, and quartered.

Two Letters of Father Southwell, written before his apprehension to a friend of his at Rome, translated from the Bishop of Tarrasond*s History, p. 647.

THE FIRST LETTER.

‘ I. As yet we are alive and well, being unworthy, it seems, of prisons. We have oftener sent than received letters from your parts, though they are not sent without difficulty, and some we know have been lost.

‘ 2. The condition of Catholic recusants here is the same as usual, deplorable and full of fears and dangers, more especially since our adversaries have looked for wars. As many of ours as are in chains rejoice and are comforted in their prisons, and they that are at liberty set not their hearts upon it, nor expect it to be of long continuance. All, by the great goodness and mercy of God, arm themselves to suffer any thing that can come, how hard soever it may be, as it shall please our Lord, for whose greater glory and the salvation of their souls they are more concerned than for any temporal losses.

‘ 3. A little while ago they apprehended two priests, who have suffered such cruel usages in the prison of Bridewell as can scarcely be believed. What was given them to eat was so little in quantity, and withal so filthy and nauseous that the very sight of it was enough to turn their stomachs. The labours to which they obliged them were continual and immoderate, and no less in sickness than in health; for with hard blows and stripes they forced them to accomplish their task, how weak soever they were. Their beds were dirty straw, and their prison most filthy.

‘ 4. Some are there hung up for whole days by the hands, in such manner that they can but just touch the ground with the tips of their toes. In fine, they that are kept in that prison truly live in lacu miserice et in Into feeds ^ Psalm xxxix. This purgatory we are looking for every hour, in which Topelijfe and Youngs the two executioners of the Catholics, exercise all kind of torments. But come what pleaseth God, we hope we shall be able to bear all in Him that strengthens us. In the mean time we pray that they may he put to confusion who work iniquity^ and that the Lord may speak peace to His people, Psalms xxiv. and Ixxxiv., that, as the royal prophet says, His glory may dwell in our land. I most humbly recommend myself to the holy sacrifices of your reverence and of all our friends. — January 16, 1590.’

THE SECOND LETTER.

‘ I. We have written many letters, but it seems few have come to your hands. We sail in the midst of these stormy waves with no small danger, from which, nevertheless, it has pleased our Lord hitherto to deliver us.

‘ 2. We have altogether, with much comfort, renewed the vows of the Society, according to our custom, spending some days in exhortations and spiritual conferences. Aperuimus ora et attraximus spiritum. It seems to me that I see the beginnings of a religious life set on foot in England^ of which we now sow the seeds with tears, that others hereafter may with joy carry in the sheaves to the heavenly granaries.

‘ 3. We have sung the canticles of the Lord in a strange land, and in this desert we have sucked honey from the rock and oil from the hard stone. But these our joys ended in sorrow, and sudden fears dispersed us into different places; but, in fine, we were more afraid than hurt, for we all escaped. I, with another of ours, seeking to avoid Scylla, had like to have fallen into Charybdis; but, by the mercy of God, we passed betwixt them both without being shipwrecked, and are now sailing in a safe harbour.

‘ 4. In another of mine, I gave an account of the late martyrdoms of Mr. Bayles and of Mr. Horner^ and of the edification which the people received from their holy ends. With such dews as these the Church is watered, ut in stillicidiis hujusmodi Icetetur germinans. Psalm Ixiv. We also look for the time (if we are not unworthy of so great a glory) when our day, like that of the hired servant, shall come. In the mean while I recommend myself very much to your reverence’s prayers, that the Father of Lights may enlighten us, and confirm us with His principal Spirit. Given March 8, 1590.’

An Account of Father SouthweWs Trial, from a Latin Manuscript kept in the Archives of the English College at St. OmeFs.

After Father Southwell had been kept close prisoner for three years in the Tower, he sent an epistle to Cecil, Lord Treasurer, humbly entreating his Lordship, That he might either be brought upon his trial to answer for himself, or at least that his friends might have leave to come and see him. The Treasurer answered. That if he was in so much haste to be hanged, he should quickly have his desire. Shortly after this orders were given that he should be removed from the Tower to Newgate, where he was put down into the dungeon called Limbo, and there kept for three days.

On the 22d of February, without any previous warning to prepare for his trial, he was taken out of his dark lodging and hurried to Westminster, to hold up his hand there at the bar. The first news of this step towards his martyrdom filled his heart with a joy which he could not conceal. The judges before whom he was to appear were Lord Chief Justice Popham, Justice Owen, Baron Evans, and Serjeant Daniel. As soon as Father Southwell was brought in, the Lord Chief Justice made a long and vehement speech against the

Jesuits and Seminary priests, as the authors and contrivers of all plots and treasons which he pretended had been hatched during that reign. Then was read the bill of indictment against Father Southwell^ drawn up by Cook, the Queen’s Solicitor, to this effect: —

‘ Middlesex,

‘ The jury present on the part of our sovereign lady the Queen, that Robert Southwell, late of London, clerk, born within this kingdom of Englafid, to wit, since the Feast of St.John Baptist, in the first year of the reign of her Majesty; and before the ist day of May, in the thirty-second year of the reign of our lady the Queen aforesaid, made and ordained priest by authority derived and pretended from the See of Rome, not having the fear of God before his eyes, and slighting the laws and statutes of this realm of England, without any regard to the penalty therein contained, on the 20th day oijune, the thirty-fourth year of the reign of our lady the Queen, at Uxenden, in the county of Middlesex, traitorously, and as a false traitor to our said lady the Queen, was and remained, contrary to the form of the statute in such case set forth and provided, and contrary to the peace of our said lady the Queen, her crown, and dignities.’

The grand jury having found the bill. Father Southwell was ordered to come up to the bar. He readily obeyed, and bowing down his head, made a low reverence to his judges, then modestly held up his hand according to custom, and being asked whether he was guilty or not guilty, he answered, I confess that I was horn in England, a subject to the Queen's Majesty, and that by authority derived from God I have been promoted to the sacred order of priesthood in the Roman Church, for which I return most hearty thanks to His Divine Majesty. I confess also that I was at Uxenden, in Middlesex, at that time when, being sent for thither by trick and deceit, I fell into your hands, as it is well known; but that I never entertained any designs or plots against the Queen or kingdom, I call God to witness, the revenger of perjury; neither had I any other design in returning home to my native country than to administer the sacraments according to the rite of the Catholic Church to such as desired them.

Here the judge interrupted him, and told him that he was to let all that alone, and plead directly guilty or not guilty. Upon which he said. He was not guilty of any treason whatsoever. And being asked by whom he would be tried, he said. By God and by you. The judge told him he was to answer. By God and his country, which at first he refused, alleging. That the laws of his country were disagreeable to the law of God, and that he was unwilling those poor harmless men of the jury ^ whom they obliged to represent the country^ should have any share in their guilty or any hand in his death. But, said he, if through your iniquity it must be so, and I caniiot help it, be it as you will, I am ready to be judged by God and my country. When the twelve were to be sworn, he challenged none of them, saying. That they were all equally strangers to him, and therefore charity did. not allow him to except any one of them more than another.

The jury being sworn, Mr. Cook began to prove the heads of the indictment, that Mr. Southwell was an Englishmaii and a priest by his own confession, and that his being so young was a demonstration that he was made priest since the time mentioned in the statute, &c. The judge asked him how old he was. He replied. That he was about the same age as our Saviour, viz., thirty-three. Topcliffe, who was present, took occasion from this answer to charge him with insupportable pride in comparing himself to our Saviour. But Father Southwell refuted the calumny, confessing himself to be a worm of the earth, and the work and creature of Christ his Makei'. In fine, after Mr. Cook had declaimed as long as he thought fit against the servant of Christ, and Topcliffe and Lord Chief Justice Popham had loaded him with reproaches and injuries, to which Father Southwell opposed a Christian constancy and modesty, the jury went aside to consult about the verdict, and a short time after brought him in guilty. He was asked it he had anything more to say for himself why sentence should not be pronounced against him. He said, Nothing; but from my heart I beg of Almighty God to forgive all who have been any ways accessory to my death. The judge, Popham, exhorted him to provide for the welfare of his soul whilst he had time. He thanked him for this shew of good-will, saying. That he had long since provided for that, and was conscious to himself of his own innocence. The judge having pronounced sentence according to the usual form. Father Southwell made a very low bow, returning him most hearty thanks as for an unspeakable favour. The judge offered him the help of a minister to prepare him to die. Father Southwell desired he would not trouble him upon that head, that the grace of God woidd be more than sufficient for him. And so being sent back to Newgate through the streets lined with people, he discovered all the way the overfiowing joy of his heart, in his eyes, in his whole countenance, and in every gesture and motion of his body. He was again put down into Limbo at his return to Newgate, where he spent the following night, the last of his life, in prayer, full of the thoughts of the journey he was to take the next day through the gate of martyrdom into a happy eternity, to enjoy for ever the

ALEXANDER RAWLINS sovereign object of his love. The next morning early he was called to the combat, and, as we have seen above, gained a glorious victory.

Mr. SouthwelVs execution is mentioned by Mr. Stow in his Chronicle. ‘ February 20, 1594-5,’ says the historian, ‘ Southwell^ a Jesuit, that long time had lain prisoner in the Tower of London, was arraigned at the Kmg’s Bench bar. He was condemned, and on the next morning drawn from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged, bowelled, and quartered.’

ALEXANDER RAWLINS, Priest.²

Mr. RAWLINS, or RAWLING, was a gentleman by birth, born on the confines of Worcestershire and Gloucester shire,2ind brought up for some time in Oxford, as I conjecture from Bishop Yepez, who by a mistake supposes him to have been a native of that city. Going abroad, he was received an alumnus in the English College, then residing at Rhemes, and from thence was presented to holy orders, and ordained priest at Soissons the i8th of March, 1590, at the same time with Mr. Genings, and with him was sent upon the English mission the 9th of April following. He laboured for some years in those perilous times, keeping himself out of the hands of the persecutors, till God was pleased to reward his labours with the crown of martyrdom. He was apprehended somewhere in Yorkshire, about the time that Father Walpole was sent back from London to York to take his trial, and it was resolved that they should suffer together.

When Mr. Rawlins was brought to the bar, and asked, according to custom, by whom he would be tried, he boggled at the usual answer. By God and my country — where, by the name of the country are meant the twelve men of the jury — declaring. That he looked upon them as no ways qualified, being ignorant laymen, to judge in his case, and that he was unwilling that his blood should lie at their doors. Let the judges — [Beaumont, Hiliard, and Elvin] — who knew better, take it upon their own consciences. This exception put the judges to some stand, who adjourned the cause to the afternoon, but then proceeded to his condemnation. He was sentenced to die merely for being a Seminary priest ordained by the authority of the Bishop of Romey and for returning into England to exercise his priestly-functions, and pervert, as they called it, her Majesty’s subjects. He received the sentence with unspeakable joy, which was pronounced upon him in the usual form on Saturday the 5th of Aprils and prepared himself that night and the following day to die on the Monday.

On which day, being the 7th of April, 1595, he was brought out to the hurdle, on which he and Father Walpole were to be drawn to the place of execution without the city of York, and laid himself down on the left side of the hurdle, saying. That he left the more honourable place for his betters. And here he waited for two whole hours before his fellow confessor was brought out to him, spending his time in prayer to God and in speaking things of edification to the people. He was overjoyed to see him come, for the delay had given him some pain. They tenderly embraced each other; but to prevent as much as could be their pious communications. Father Walpole was ordered to lie down with his head towards the horses’ tail, by the feet of Mr. Rawlins. When they were arrived at the gallows, Mr. Rawlins was first ordered up the ladder, who cheerfully obeyed, and kissed first the gallows, then the ladder, and afterwards the rope, as the happy instruments which were to send him to heaven. He was not allowed to speak in a manner at all, but was quickly turned off, having the sweet name of Jesus in his mouth, and so happily finished his course — Father Walpole being ordered to look on whilst the butchery was performed, in hopes of his being terrified by that scene of barbarity.

He suffered at York, April 7, 1595.

HENRY WALPOLE, Priest, S.J *

Henry WALPOLE was bom of pious and Catholic parents, of an ancient family in Norfolk, and was the eldest of many sons with whom God had blessed them. He was educated partly in Oxford and partly in Cambridge, and then was sent up to London by his father to apply himself to the study of the law, and took chambers in Gray's Inn for that purpose. In the mean time he was a great reader of books of controversy, by which he net only was confirmed in his religion, but was also enabled to maintain it

Generation of a Norfolk House; C.R.S., v.³

against all opponents, and even to gain many proselytes to it, to which the sweetness and agreeableness of his temper did not a little contribute. In fine, having by this means incurred the displeasure of the Government, and being withal desirous to consecrate himself more closely to the service of God and of his neighbours, he went abroad to the College then residing at Rhemes^ the common refuge of those who left England for their religion. Here he arrived on the 7th of July^ 1582, as appears from the Doway Journal, where at his first coming he has this eulogium: 7° die Julij ex Anglia ad nos venit D. Henricus Walpole^ vir discretus^ gravis et pins — On the 7th oijuly Mr. Henry Walpole came to us out of England^ a discreet, grave, and pious man. Here he remained till the following year, when, with four others, he was sent to the College of Rome, where not long after (viz., anno 1584) he, entered into the Society oi Jesus. Three of his brothers some time after followed his example; and a fourth going abroad, also to secure his conscience, became an officer in the Spanish service in the Netherlands.

After some years spent in Italy, that climate not agreeing with Father Walpole's health, he was sent by his superiors to Pont-aMousson, in Lorraine, and from thence into Flanders, where, travelling on foot, he fell into the hands of a party of the Calvinists, then in arms against the King of Spain, and was by them carried into Flushing, in Zealand, where he suffered much in prison for the space of a whole year, at the end of which time one of his brothers procured his liberty. But his suffering on this occasion, so far from diminishing his courage, served only as a fresh spur to excite in him a new and more ardent desire of being sent over into England for the conversion of souls, a happiness after which he had long aspired, hoping here to meet with the crown of martyrdom. But his superiors would not as yet consent to this proposition, but sent him into Spain, where two English Seminaries had been lately established — the one at Seville, the other at Valladolid. He was for some time in both these houses, but longer in the latter, where he had the charge of minister or vice rector. From hence he was sent back again into Flanders, with a commission from the King of Spain to the Council there, in favour of another Seminary, for training up English youths in piety and learning, lately erected at St. Omer's.

At length, having happily discharged his commission, he had leave from his superiors to go upon the English mission. He landed at Flamborough Head, in Yorkshire, being set ashore in the night, the 4th of December, 1593; but had not been above twenty-four hours at land before he was apprehended, with his two companions, in a place called Killam, and three days after was carried prisoner to York. He was examined by the Earl of Huntingdon^ then Lord President of the North, and by the Council, and freely owned himself to be what he was; upon which he was committed close prisoner to York Jail till the 25th of February following, when he was, by orders from the Privy Council, sent up to London, and there committed to the Tower, where he remained for a space of a year; where, besides other hardships, he suffered the torture, according to the custom of that arbitrary reign, no less than fourteen times, as he himself declared a little before his death.

The various examinations that he underwent and his answers, the conferences that he had with the Protestant ministers, the letters he wrote, the particulars of his trial, the endeavours that were used to bring him to a conformity to the religion by law established, and the constancy with which he refused to be rescued out of prison by some friends that would have attempted it, are set down at large by the Bishop of Tarrasona in twenty leaves in quarto, but are too long to be inserted in these Memoirs. The conclusion was, that having been sent back to York to take his trial, he was there sentenced to die as in cases of high treason, on account of his priesthood. He was brought in guilty by the jury on Thursday the 3d of April, and received sentence on the Saturday following, and was ordered to prepare himself to die on the Monday the 7th of the same month. He received the sentence with alacrity and thanksgiving, and was visited by many during the time which was allowed him to prepare for death, who were astonished to see the joy and comfort with which he looked for that happy hour. On the Monday morning he was drawn, as we have seen, to the place of execution with Mr. Alexander Rawlins, who was appointed to suffer first; and when Mr. Rawlins was in quartering, they shewed him to Father 'Walpole, bidding him to be more wise than to follow his example, and offering him his life if he would conform, which offer he generously rejecting, went up the ladder; and there being asked what he thought of the Queen’s spiritual supremacy, freely declared against it. They told him this was treason, yet they hoped he would die in peace, and join in prayer with them. He answered. That by the grace of God he was in peace with all the world, and prayed God for all, particularly for those that were the cause of his death; but as they were not of his religion, he ought not to join in prayer with them; yet he heartily prayed for them, that God would enlighten them with His truth, bring them back to His Church, and dispose them for His rnercy. Then begging the prayers of all Catholics, he lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven and recited aloud the Lord’s Prayer, and after it began the Angelical Salutation, which the persecutors had not the patience to hear, and therefore turned him off the ladder, and quickly cut the rope; and so dismembered, bowelled, and quartered him; a spectacle which drew tears from the eyes of a great part of the beholders, and served not a little to advance the glory of God and the propagation of His Church in those northern parts of the kingdom.

Father Walpole was executed at York, the yth of April, 1595. The Earl of Huntingdon, the great persecutor of the Northern Catholics, did not survive the year. Bishop Yepez relates in his History of the Persecution, 1. 2, c. 9, numb. 4, that he died in great anguish of mind, calling often for his brother, the Honourable Walter Hastings, who was a Catholic, and expressing a most anxious desire of seeing him; but whatever his motive might be for desiring to see his brother, he died without seeing him, in all appearance in the same state in which he lived.

A copy of a Letter of Father Walpole, after his apprehension, to Father Richard, a Missioner of the Society in Yorkshire, from a manuscript at St. OmeFs.

‘ Although your reverence has subscribed no name to your letter, I plainly understand it is from a friend and from a fellow soldier, which gives me a very great ^comfort. I should be overjoyed if I could confer with your reverence by word of mouth about certain concerns of mine. In the mean time, most dear father, I recommend myself to your holy prayers, and those of the rest of our brethren and friends in Christ Jesus our Lord. I know not as yet what will become of me; but whatever shall happen, by the grace of God it shall be welcome; for in every place, north or south, east or west. He is at hand; and the wings of His protection and government are stretched forth to every place where they are who truly serve and worship Him, and study to promote the glory and honour of His most holy and most precious name. I trust that He will be glorified in me, whether in life or death, Qui ccepit perficiet; mihi vivere Christus est et tnori lucrum. Some come to dispute with me, but with clamours and empty words more than with solid arguments. I cannot go on. Gustos adest. I recommend your reverence to our guardian angel, and to the whole court of heaven, and (above all) to our Lord Jesus Christ. Memento meif

Another Letter of Father Walpole to the same, after his examination by Topcliffe.

‘ Your reverence’s letters give me great comfort; but if I could but see you, though it were but for one hour, it would be of greater service to me than I can possibly express. I hope that what is wanting my sweet Lord Jesus will supply by other means, whose heavenly comfort and assistance has always hitherto stood by me in my greatest necessities, and I am persuaded will continue so to do, since His love for us is everlasting.

‘ If I would write down all things that have here passed with our adversaries it would be endless, and the work of a long time. In my examination I gave in writing a long account of my life beyond the seas, of the places where I lived, and of my actions and designs, which, I assured them, had no other butt than the only glory of God, and the increase of the holy Catholic faith. With which view I told them I returned into England^ with a very great desire of the •conversion, not only of the people, but most of all of the Queen herself, and of the whole English nobility, which I plainly assured them I should ever use my best endeavours to bring about with the grace of God.

‘ To their queries concerning others, I refused to answer. And when Topclijfe threatened that he would make me answer when he had me in Bridewell or in the Tower ^ I told him. That our Lord God, 1 hoped, would never permit me, for fear of any torments whatsoever, to do any thing against his Divine Majesty, or against my own conscience, or to the prejudice of justice and the innocence of others.

‘ I have had various conferences and disputations with many of the heretics. And whereas I believed I should have been tried at the last assizes in this city, \York^ I sent in writing to the Lord President all those conferences and disputations, who had ordered me pen, ink, and paper for that purpose. To which I joined a large discourse or treatise, in which I exhorted all to beware of false prophets, and to give ear to the voice of the Holy Church, the spouse of the King, the house, the vineyard, and the city of Christ. One of the ministers complained of me much to the President for being so bold as to put down such things in writing, but he could not refute what was written; and, indeed, they seem to me to be much confounded. Blessed be Jesus, Qui dat os insipienti, cui non possunt resistere sapientes. I want very much to have a book or two for a few hours; but if I cannot have them,^^^?/^, our God and Lord, is at hand, and He is the Eternal Wisdom. Your reverence will be pleased to pray to Him, that He may always stand by me, and that all things may turn out to His glory.

‘ I am much astonished that so vile a creature as I am should be so near, as they tell me, to the crown of martyrdom; but this I know for certain, that the blood of my most Blessed Saviour and Redeemer, and His most sweet love, is able to make me worthy of it, omnia possum in eo qui me confortat. Your reverence, most loving Father, is engaged in the midst of the battle. I sit here an idle spectator of the field; yet King David has appointed an equal portion for us both; and love, charity, and union, which unites us together in Jesus Christ our Lord, makes us mutually partakers of one another’s merits; and what can be more closely united than we two, who, as your reverence sees, simul segregati sumus in hoc ministerium.

‘ The President inquired of me who was the Superior of our Society in this kingdom, whether it was this or the other, or who it was? Topclijfe answered he knew who it was, and named him. I beg your reverence would communicate this letter to all our friends. I desire to give myself to every one of them, and more particularly to all our most dear fathers and brothers of the Society of Christ my Jesus, in whose prayers, labours, and sacrifices, as I have a share, so have I a great confidence. About Mid-Lent I hope my lot will be decided, either for life or death; for then the assizes will be held here again. In the mean while I have leisure to prepare myself, and expect with good courage whatever His Divine Majesty shall be pleased to appoint for me. I beg your reverence to join your holy prayers with my poor ones, that I may walk worthy of that high and holy name and profession to which I am called, which I trust in the mercy of our I.ord He will grant me, not regarding so much my many imperfections as the fervent labours, prayers, and holy sacrifices of so many fathers, and my brothers His servants, who are employed over all the world in His service; and I hope, through the merits of my most sweet Saviour and Lord, that I shall be always ready, whether living or dying, to glorify Him, which will be for my eternal happiness. And if my unworthiness and demerits shall keep me at present at a distance from the crown, I will strive to deserve it by a greater solicitude and diligence for the future; and if, in His mercy, our Lord shall grant me now to wash my garments in the blood of the Lamb, I hope to follow Him for ever, clothed in white.

‘ I can never end when I get any time to write to your reverence, which I have been seldom able to do; and whether, as long as I live, I shall ever have another opportunity, I know not. I confessed in my examinations, That I had laboured for the increase of the two Seminaries in Spain, and for that of St. Omer’s, and that I had returned hearty thanks to his Catholic Majesty for his great favours to the Seminary of St. Omer’s. I also confessed that all my actions had always in view the good of others, and no one's harm; the procuring peace among all^ and the propagating our holy Catholic faith and the kingdom of Christ to the utmost of my power. This was the sum of my general confession which I gave in writing, signed by my own hand, to the President and to Topcliffe. They asked me what I would do if the Pope should wage war against England. I answered, That the circumstances of that time woidd give me more lights and that I should then have recourse to our Lord God for counsel^ and would think seriously on it before I would anyways intermeddle with things of war. Hcec et hujusmodi^ de quihus postea. May Jesus be always with your reverence. Or emus pro invicem.'

An extract of a Letter of Father Henry Garnet, Superior of the English Jesuits, concerning Father Walpole's treatment in the Tower, and his return to York, written October 23, 1595, translated from the Bishop of Tarrasona's History, pp. 695, 696.

‘ Blessed Father Walpole met in the Tower of London with the greatest misery and poverty, so that the Lieutenant himself, though otherwise a hard-hearted and barbarous man, was moved to inquire after some of the Father’s relations, and told them that he was in great and extraordinary want — without bed, without clothes, without any thing to cover him, and that at a season when the cold was most sharp and piercing, so that himself, though an enemy, out of pure compassion had given him a little straw to sleep on. Besides this, the Father himself in public court, upon occasion of answering some question that was put to him, declared. That he had been tortured fourteen times; and it is very well known how cruel any one of those tortures is which are now in use. For it is a common thing to hang them up in the air six or seven hours by the hands, and, by means of certain irons, which hold their hands fast and cut them, they shed much blood in the torture. The force of this torment may be gathered from what happened last Lent to a laic called James Atkinson, whom they most cruelly tortured in this manner to oblige him to accuse his own master and other Catholics and priests, and kept him so long in the torture that he was at length taken away for dead after many hours’ suffering, and, in effect, died within two hours. Some time after they carried the Father back to York, to be there tried at the Mid-Lent Assizes. In all that journey he never went into bed, or even lay down upon a bed to rest himself after the fatigue of the day, but his sleep was upon the bare ground. When he came to York, he was put into prison, where he waited many days for the judges coming. In the prison he had nothing but one poor mat three feet long, on which he made his prayer upon his knees for a great part of the night; and when he slept, it was upon the ground, leaning upon the same mat. And besides this long prayer in the night, which lasted for the greater part of the night, he spent not a little time in making English verses, in which he had a particular talent and grace; for before he left the kingdom, he had made a poem upon the martyrdom of Father Campiori, which was so much taken notice of by the public, that, the author not being known, the gentleman who published it was condemned by the Council to lose his ears and to pass the remainder of his days in prison, in which, after some years, he made a pious end.’ So far Father Garnet.

Father Walpole's Defence at his Trial, from Yepez, p. 702.

‘ I find, my Lords, I am accused of two or three things.

^ 1st, That I am a Priest, ordained by the authority of the See of Rome.

‘ zdly, That I am 2i Jesuit, or one of the Society oi Jesus.

‘ 3^/y, That I returned to my country to exercise the ordinary acts of these two callings, which are no other than to gain souls to God.

‘ I will show that none of these three things can be treason. Not the being a priest, which is a dignity and office instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and given by Him to His apostles, who were priests, as were also the holy fathers and doctors of the Church who converted and instructed the world. And the first teachers who brought over the English nation to the light of the gospel were also priests; so that were it not for priests we should all be heathens, consequently to be a priest can be no treason.

‘ Judge Beaumont here spoke: Indeed, said he, the merely being a Priest or Jesuit is no treason; but what makes you a traitor is your returning into the kingdom against the laws. If to be a priest, said Father Walpole, is no treason, the executing the office or doing the functions of a priest can be no treason. But if a priest, said the judge, should conspire against the person of his prince, would not this be treason? Yes, said Father Walpole; but then neither his being a priest nor the following the duties of his calling would make him a traitor, but the committing of a crime contrary to the duty of a priest, which is far from being my case.

‘ You have been, said Beaumont, with the King of Spain, and you have treated and conversed with Parsons a7id Holt, and other rebels and traitors to the kingdom; and you have returned hither contrary to the laws, and therefore you cannot deny your being a traitor. Father Walpole replied. To speak or treat with any person whatsoever out of the kingdom can make me no traitor, as long as no proof can be

225 p brought that the subject about which we treated was treason; neither can the returning to my native country be looked upon as a treason, since the cause of my return was not to do any evil, either to the Queen or to the kingdom.

‘ Our laws appoint^ said Beaumont, that a priest who returns from beyond the seas, and does not present himself before a justice within three days to make the usual submission to the Queen's Majesty in matters of religion, shall be deemed a traitor. Then I am out of the case, said Father Walpole, who was apprehended before I had been one whole day on English ground.

‘ Here Beaumont being put to a nonplus, Judge Elvin asked him. If he was ready to make that submission to the Queen in matters of religion which the laws of the kingdom required, viz., to acknowledge her supremacy and abjure the Pope. Father Walpole answered, he did not know what laws they had made in England whilst he was abroad, nor what submission these laws required; but this he very well knew, that no law could oblige any one that is not agreeable to the law of God, and that the submission that is to be paid to earthly princes must always be subordinate to that submission which we owe to the Great King of heaven and earth. Then he added. You, my lords, sit here at present in judgment as men, and judge as such, being subject to error and passion, but know for certain that there is a Sovereign Judge who will judge righteously, whom in all things we must obey in the first place, and then our lawful princes in such things as are lawful and no farther.

‘ Here the Lord President spoke: We deal very favourably with you, Mr. Walpole, said he, when, notwithstanding all these treasons and conspiracies with the persons aforesaid, we offer you the benefit of the law, if you will but make the submission ordered by the law; which, if you will not accept of, it is proper you shotdd be punished according to the law. Father Walpole replied. There is nothing, my Lord, in which I would not most willingly submit myself, provided it be not against God; but may His Divine Majesty never suffer me to consent to the least thing by which He may be dishonoured, nor you to desire it of me. As to the Queen, I every day pray for her to our Lord God that He would bless her with His Holy Spirit, and give her His grace to do her duty in all things in this world, to the end that she may enjoy eternal glory in the world to come; and God is my witness that to all here present, and particularly to my accusers and such as desire my death, I wish as to myself the salvation of their souls, and that to this end they may live in the true Catholic faith, the only way to eternal happiness.’

The court, apprehending the impression the confessor’s words might make upon the people (who by this time could not but perceive that this noise about Treason was but a pretence, and that a submission to the Queen’s religion was all that was insisted upon), thought fit to put an end to the trial. So the judges summed up the evidence against the prisoner, which was no other than his own confession, viz., ‘ That he was a priest and a Jesuit; that he had been with the King of Spain; that he had treated with Father Parsons and Father Holt, and others whom they called fugitives, rebels, and traitors; and that he had returned into England to convert his country, that is, as they interpreted it, to seduce her Majesty’s subjects from the religion by law established, and to reconcile them to the See of Rome.' Then the jury were directed to find him guilty of the indictment; to whom, as they were going out. Father Walpole addressed himself in these words: ‘ Gentlemen of the jury, I confess most willingly that I am a priest, and that I am of the Company of Jesus or a Jesuit, and that I came over in order to convert my country to the Catholic faith, and to invite sinners to repentance. All this I will never deny; this is the duty of my calling. If you find anything else in me that is not agreeable to my profession, show me no favour. In the mean time, act according to your consciences, and remember you must give an account to God. ’

The jury went out, but returned again quickly, and brought in their verdict guilty, which Father Walpole hearing, showed great content and joy, and returned most hearty thanks to the Divine Majesty. This passed on Thursday, but the sentence was not pronounced till the Saturday following, which was executed, as we have seen, on the Monday.

WILLIAM FREEMAN, Priest.^

Mr. freeman, who was some time known by the name of Mason, was born in Yorkshire, and performed his studies in Doway College during its residence at Rhemes. Here he was ordained priest in 1587, and from thence he was sent upon the English mission in the beginning of 1589. The particulars of his missionary labours I have not been able to learn, nor could I any where meet with the account of his life and martyrdom quoted by⁴ the Bishop of Chalcedon in his Catalogue. Dr. Champney ^ who in all probability had seen it, relates that Mr. Freeman^ having intelligence that a neighbouring justice of the peace had a design to make a strict inquisition after priests in that neighbourhood, to withdraw himself further from the danger, went into another county. But as God would have it, he met the danger he sought to fly, and was there taken up upon suspicion and committed to prison, and afterw'ards prosecuted and condemned on account of his priesthood, at the instance chiefly of the Archbishop of Canterbury^ Whitgift. When he heard the sentence pronounced against him, he sung Te Deum^ &c. When he was drawn to the place of execution, he carried a crucifix on his breast, protesting aloud. That if he had many lives ^ he would most willingly lay them down for the sake of Him who had been pleased to die upon a cross for His redemption. When he came to the place of execution, where some others for divers crimes were also appointed to die that day, he petitioned that he might be the first to go up the ladder; but this was refused, the Sheriff being in hopes that the sight of their death might terrify him and bring him to a compliance, in which case his life was to be saved; but this sight, as he declared, had a contrary effect upon him, and only served to give him a more ardent desire of dying for Christ. So that with the royal prophet he cried out. As the hart desires after the fountains of water y so does my soul after Thee^ my God. Oh, when shall I come and appear before Thy face? And so great was the joy of his heart, that it manifestly discovered itself in the serenity and cheerfulness of his countenance, to the admiration and edification of the beholders.

He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Warwick the 13th of August, 1595. Bishop Yepez says in September, 1595.

Molanus, in his Catalogue, signifies that he suffered most cruel torments at or before his death, p. 31. Gulielmus Freemannus Collegii Duaceni Presbyter, post varios cruciatus, et belluinam immanitatem heroice super atam, etc. William Freeman, priest of the College of Doway, died after having heroically overcome divers torments and the brutal cruelty of the persecutors.

1596] ERRINGTON — KNIGHT — GIBSON— ABBOT

George ERRINGTON, William KNIGHT, William GIBSON, and Henry ABBOT, Laymen.

'His year is the first, since 1 580, that passed without the execution of any priest in this kingdom. And yet even this year could

**■ not pass without seeing some Catholic blood shed for religious matters; for I find no less than four Catholic laymen put to death, as in cases of high treason, at York in the latter end of November of this year, barely on a religious account. These were George Errington^ gentleman, born at Herst^ in Northumberland; William Knight^ son of Leonard Knight y a wealthy yeoman of South Duffieldy in the parish of Hemin^roughy in Yorkshire; William Gibson y yeoman, born near Ripon in the same county — a most exemplar and religious man, who for many years had been prisoner, for his conscience, in York Castle; and Henry Abbot y a zealous convert, who lived in Holden in the same county.

Now their case was as follows: — A certain Protestant minister, for some misdemeanour, was put into York Casthy where the three former of the persons above named, and several other Catholics, were prisoners for their recusancy, as, during a great part of this reign, most of the prisons of this kingdom were plentifully stocked with such kind of offenders. This unhappy man, to reinstate himself in the favour of his superiors, took a method that will be justly detested by all honest men of what persuasion soever — which was to insinuate himself into the good opinion of the Catholic prisoners, by pretending a deep sense of repentance for his former life, and a great desire of embracing the Catholic truth; so that they, believing him to be sincere, directed him, after he was enlarged, to Mr. Abboty the zealous gentleman mentioned above, in order to procure a priest to reconcile him. Mr. Abbot used his endeavours, and carried him to Carlton y to the house of Esquire Stapyltony but did not succeed. Soon after, the traitor, having got enough to put them all in danger of the law, accused them to the magistrates to shew his zeal for the Protestant religion. So they were all arraigned for persuading the parson to be reconciled to the Church of Romey which is high treason by the sanguinary laws of this reign. Being brought to the bar, they confessed. That they hady according to their capacity y explained to the traitor the Catholic faith and its necessity to salvation y and withal had exhorted him to a serious amendment of his life^ hut had used no other persuasions. Upon this they were all found guilty by the jury, and had sentence to die, and were executed at York.

They suffered with fortitude and joy November 29, 1596.

Two Catholic gentlewomen were, for the same cause, condemned at the same time to be burnt alive, viz., Mrs. Ann Tesse and Mrs. Bridget Maskew, but they were reprieved, and continued in prison till the Queen’s death; and then, by the means of friends, were pardoned by King James I. Mr. Stapylton also, and his lady, underwent great trouble upon this occasion.

The manuscript, from which I have the greatest part of these particulars, adds a very remarkable history with relation to William Knight^ uncle to the William Knight who suffered, and a great enemy of his nephew and of all Catholics, which I shall here set down in the writer’s own words: — ‘ There happened in Hemminghrough parish a thing worth memory, which was this: There was a Catholic man who had been long confined in York Castle for his conscience, and having procured liberty to return home, after many years’ imprisonment, he went one time to visit an old man of his acquaintance, and perceiving him not likely to live long, entered into some good talk with him concerning his soul, and used some persuasions to move him to provide for death and the salvation of his soul by making himself a Catholic. This came to the knowledge of one William Knight^ [who was uncle to the other of that name, whom I have mentioned before, that was a martyr, and was the first cause of his nephew’s imprisonment, and that upon this occasion. The good youth, coming to man’s estate, went to his uncle about some land that was due to him. Whether his uncle had the land in his possession, or the writings, I remember not; but knowing his nephew to be a Catholic, he took him and sent him to prison, where he remained till he got the crown of martyrdom. If he would have gone to church, his uncle would have given him his land.] This bad William Knight^ hearing of the good counsel this prisoner had given his neighbour, determined to bring him within the danger of the statute of persuasion^ which is treason; and, for that end, took the minister of the parish with him, whose name was Knighton, and some others to be witnesses, determining to take the old man’s oath that the other had persuaded him. As they were going, Knight was forced to stay to untruss, and was in such manner handled that he was obliged to turn back. So the minister and the rest, entertaining no such malice, returned without proceeding any farther. Knighfs disease left him not till he died, which was within a short time — how few days I am not certain. I had this from the minister himself, who acknowledged it to be God’s just judgment upon him.’ So far the manuscript.

IS97] WILLIAM ANDLEBY, ETC.

Footnotes

1. Ven. Robert Southwell. — From Dr. Champney’s Manuscript; the Bishop of Chalcedon’s Catalogue; and the Bishop of Tarrasona’s History of the Persecution, who has transcribed the account of his martyrdom from a letter of Father Garnet’s written the 4th March following, who declares he had his information from eye-witnesses; see also Foley, Records, i.; Catholic Encyclopcedia; D.N.B.; C.R.S., v. ↩

2. Ven. Alexander Rawlins. — From the Douay Diary; the Bishop of Chalcedon’s Catalogue; and Bishop Yepez; see also Lives of E. M.; Catholic Encyclopedia. ↩

3. Ven. Henry Walpole. — From his Life, published by the Bishop of Tarrasona in his History of the Persecution; and from the Douay Diary; see also Lives of E. M.; Catholic Encyclopcedia; Jessopp, One ↩

4. Ven. William Freeman. — From the Catalogue of the Bishop of Chalcedon; from Dr. Champney’s Manuscript History; and from Bishop Yepez; see also Lives of E. M.; Catholic Encyclopcedia; C.R.S., v. ↩