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ther, as he pretended at his arraignement; there was some other cause. When he was apprehended, he had a casket couered with green veluct, very cunningly conueied out of his chamber by a maide seruant of the house, taken vp under a beds side in his chamber, (one of the gentlemen who were sent to apprehend him then being in the chamber, and vnknowing thereof) which casket, not long after his apprehension, was, by one Iohn Meredith, a follower of Frauncis Throckmorton, conueied to the handes of the Spanish ambassadour: and why to him? If the matters therein might well haue abidden the light, why shoulde not the casket haue bene kept still at home? And if not there, why not sent to some other place of safetie, as well as to the Spanish ambassadour? It is to be conceiued, that this casket was not conueied thither without the direction of Frauncis Throckmorton, though caried by Meredith, who did well knowe of what moment the matters were, that were within the casket, and of what danger to Throckmorton, if they had bene disclosed; and therefore meant to bestowe them in a safe place, where they could not readily be had, as he thought, and with a person not vnacquainted with the qualitie of them. After the deliuerie of the casket, Meredith fledde; for, in trueth, he was priuie to the treasons, and a fellowe practiser in them; to whom Frauncis Throck morton, being taken short at the time of his apprehension, and forced to runne vp a staire to deface a letter which he was then in writing to the Scottish Queene in cipher, as he hath confessed, being suddenly apprehended, and so forced to depart away presently out of his house, deliuered priuily, into the hands of Meredith, either the cipher by which he was writingh is letter to the Scottish Queene, or a letter in cipher by him written vnto her; therefore he trusted Meredith, as a man priuie to his doings. You are also to vnderstande, that Throckmorton was in very great fear of the discouering of this casket, after his apprehension; for, remayning two or three daies prisoner in the house of one of the gentlemen that were sent to apprehend him, before he was committed to the Tower, he was permitted to talke with a sollicitor of his lawe causes, who brought him certaine bookes drawen, or other like papers written, which he made showe to peruse: But that was not the matter why he sent for his sollicitor; for, in perusing the bookes, he conueied into them a little piece of paper, vpon the which he had written with a cole, I would faine know whether my casket be safe, or to the like effect. The sollicitor departing from him, and resorting to Throckmortons house, not farre distant from the place where he remained prisoner, opening his papers, did shake out this piece of paper, which he took up and deliuered to one of Frauncis Throckmortons men, but the casket was alreadie conueied to the Spanish ambassadour: whereby you will perceiue what care he had of the casket, and how much it might import him to haue the writings, or matters, within the same concealed. He being examined, touching the casket, and what was in the same, he denied, at the first, that euer he had any such casket; but, finding afterwards that the casket was discouered, he confessed the casket, and said that there were certaine letters therein, that came to his hands for the Scottish Queene from

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Thomas Morgan at Paris, and other letters and papers, but confessed not all, as it is supposed.

That Charles Paget came ouer into the realme to euill purposes, as Throckmorton doth declare in his confession, could not be inuented; for, euen at the same time that he mentioneth, Paget came ouer, in secrete and suspitious manner, staied not aboue fifteene dayes, indeuoured in a sorte to finde the disposition of William Shelley, Esquier, how he might stand affected to giue assistance to the treasons, although Paget discouered not directly his traiterous intents to Shelley; therefore all Throckmortons confessions were not forged or inuented.

But because the two papers, produced at his arraignement, containing the description of the hauens, for the commodious landing of forces, do most apparently condemne him, and are a manifest argument of his priuity to the whole treason: you may not forget, that he acknowledged one of the papers, written in the Secretarie hand, to haue bene of his owne doing, but denyed the other written in the Romane hande; in the which, under the title of Cheshire, &c. is said; Vpon the landing of forraine supplies, Chester shal be taken.' what, in your opinions, might be vnderstoode by that sentence, Chester shall be taken, when you shall compare the paper in Secretarie hand with the other written in the Romane hand, intituled, The Names of Noblemen and Gentlemen, in euery Countie, fit to be dealt withall in this Matter; which, in trueth, were both one, although the Romane were somewhat more inlarged. The question is to be asked, What Matter? The answere followeth necessarilie, 'To assist the forraine forces that shall come to inuade the realme;' for that there is an other title in that paper, ouer the names of the hauens, &c. Hauens in euery coast fitte for the landing of forces. Now iudge you, to what end these names of men, and descriptions of hauens, their entries, capacities, what windes bring vnto them from Spaine, Fraunce, and Flanders, were written and set downe by Throckmorton: The papers are both of his owne hand writing, and the Secretarie, but a proiect or copie of the Romane.

Is it not likely, think you, that he would acquaint the Spanish ambassadour with these papers, as he hath confessed, when he made him partaker of the rest of his traiterous practises and deuices, as you haue heard, and thought his casket of treasons to be most safely committed to his hands? It may bee thought, that there is no man of so simple vnderstanding, that will iudge to the contrarie, vnlesse he be partially affected to excuse the treasons.

And now, to shew unto you what mynd this man hath carried towards her Maiestic, you are to be informed, that Francis Throckmorton, after he had discovered to her Maiestie his course of practising, repenting himselfe of his plain dealing, in the bewraying thereof, sayd to some of the commissioners, vpon occasion of speach, I woulde I had bene hanged, when I first opened my mouth to declare any of the matters by me confessed.' And, being at other times sent vnto by her Maiestie with offer of pardon, if he would disclose the whole packe and complices of the treasons, he vsed this argument to perswade her Ma

iestie that he had confessed all, saying, that, sithens hee had alreadie brought himselfe, by his confessions, within the danger of the lawes, to the vtter ruyne of his house and familie, he wondered why there should be any conceite in her Maiestie, that he had not declared all. But, to perswade such as were sent vnto him for these purposes, the rather to beleeue that he could discouer no more, at one time he vsed these speaches following with great vehemencie : " Nowe I haue disclosed the secrets of her who was the deerest thing to me in the worlde (meaning the Scottish Queene) and whome I thought no torment should haue drawen me so much to haue prejudiced, as I haue done by my confessions: I see no cause why I should spare any one, if I could say ought against him: and, sith I haue failed of my faith towards her, I care not if I were hanged." And when he began first to confess his treasons, which he did most vnwillingly, after hee was entered into the declaration of them, before al the commissioners, vpon aduisement, hee desired he might deliuer his knowledge but to one of them onely, whereunto they yeelded; and therevpon, remouing aside from the place where he sate by the racke, he vsed this prouerbe in Italian, Chi a perso le fede, a perso l' honore, that is, he that hath falsed his faith, hath lost his reputation: meaning thereby, as it may be conceived, that he had giuen his faith to bee a traitor, and not to reueile the treasons, and then began to confesse, as you haue heard.

By this discourse, contayning the principall heads of his treasons, and the proofes and circumstanees of the same, you, that are not transported with vndutifull myndes and affections, will cleerely perceiue howe impudently and vntruely he denyed, at his arraignement, the trueth of his confessions, charging her Maiestie with vntrueths, in their proceedings against him.

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But the cause, that moued him thereunto, was a vaine conceite he had taken, that his case was cleere in lawe, by the intermission of the. time betwene his confession made and his arraignement, grounding himselfe vpon a statute of the thirteenth year of her Maiesties reigne; in the which, there are certaine treasons specified and made, of that nature, that no person shall be arraigned for any of those offences committed within anie of the Queenes Maiesties dominions, vnless the offendor be thereof indicted within sixe monthes' next after the same offence committed, and shall not be arraigned for the same, vnlesse the offence be proued by the testimonie and othe of two sufficient witnesses, or his voluntarie confession, without violence; wherein he was greatly deceiued; for it was made manifest vnto him by the Lord chiefe iustice, and other of the iudges in commission at his trial, that his treasons were punishable by a statute of the twenty-fifth of Edward the Third, which admitted no such limitation of time or proofe.

Herein his skill failed him, and he forgot the aduice giuen vnto him by some of the commissioners, who, pitying his misfortune for sundrie good gifts of the minde appearing in him, assured him, that there was no way so readie for him to redeeme his life, as by submission and acknowledging of his offence; which, for a time after he had confessed his treasons, he was contented to followe, and now eftsoones after his

condemnation, by a new submission to the Queenes Maiestie the fourth of Iune, hath resumed that course. The submission, verbatim, written with his owne hand, followeth.

To her most excellent Maiestie, even to her owne Royall Handes.

"MOST excellent Prince, and my most gratious soueraigne, sith to me, the most miserable of all your Maiesties poore distressed subiects, being iustly condemned, by the ordinarie and orderly course of your Maiesties lawes, there resteth no further meane of defence but submission: vouchsafe, most excellent prince, graciously to accept the same, which, prostrate in all humilitie, I here present vnto the hands of your most excellent Maiestie; beseeching the same, that as iustice hath been derived from your highnesse, as from the fountaine, to the triall of mine actions; so I may receiue from the same spring some droppe of grace and mercie for the great and grieuous offence whereof I rest, by your Maiesties lawes, iustly condemned: some part, I say, of that your accustomed gratious elemencie, whereof most of your dis tressed subiects haue tasted, and few haue bene depriued. And albeit the inconsiderate rashness of vnbridled youth hath withdrawen me from that loyal respect, which nature and duetie bounde me to owe vnto your Maiestie, as to my lawfull and naturall dread soueraigne; and that the naturall care in me, of the defence of my life, mooued me lately to the vntrue and vnduetifull gainsaying of some such pointes as had bene before by me, in most humble sorte, confessed: neuertheless, I most humblie beseech your most excellent Maiestie, that, in imitation of God whose image (both in respect of the happie place you holde, as also in regarde of your singular wisedome, and other the rare and singular vertues and perfections, wherewith God and nature hath plentifully endewed you) you represent vnto vs here in earth, it may please your Maiestie to commiserate the lamentable estate of me, now the most miserable of all your Maiesties subiects, and gratiously to graunt vnto me remission and forgiueness, that not only doe most humblie confesse my selfe worthie of death, but also, in shewe of my repentance, and sorrowful afflicted minde, do not craue at your Maicsties handes the prolonging of my life, if the same shall not stande with your gratious good pleasure, but rather desire the trebling of the torment iustly, by your Maiesties lawes, imposed vpon me, if the same may be any satisfaction to your Maiestie, for the haynous cryme whereof I remaine, by your Maiesties lawes, iustly condemned; or any mitigation of your Maiesties indignation worthily conceived against me; that desire not to liue without your fauour, and, dying, will wish from my heart, that my ende may bee the beginning of your Maiesties securitie, and my death the preseruation of your life, and the increase, both to your Maiestie, and to this your most flourishing common wealth, of all the most happie blessings of Almightie God.

Your Maiesties most woful Subiect,

in that he hath offended you,

FRANCIS THROCKMORTON.

He sent vnto her Maiestie, together with the sayd submission, a declaration written likewiss with his owne hand, contayning the effects of the most principall pointes of his treasons formerly confessed: retracting onely the accusation of his father, and some other particularities of no moment to cleare him of his treasons, the effect whereof followeth in his owne words, as he set them downe:

THE only cause why I coyned the practise first by me confessed, and vniustly touched my father, was, for that partly I conceiued that the paper, written so long sithens, could not now by lawe baue touched me: but principally, for that I was willing thereby to colour the setting downe of those names and hauens in Romane hand, which were written long after the time by me confessed, vpon occasion of conference betweene the Spanish ambassadour and me of this later practise.

Mine intelligence with the Scottish Queene began a little before Christmas was two yeres: the cipher I had from Thomas Morgan in Fraunce; the first letter I recciued by Godfray Fulgeam, by whom also came all such others as I after receiued for the most part, vnlesșe it were such as came to me by F. A. * his hands, who, as he tolde me, receiued them of the fellowe, by me spoken of, in my former confessions, whose name, I protest before God, I knowe not, nor whence he is. And for such letters as came vnto me, in the absence of Fulgeam, they were inclosed vnder a couerture from Fulgeam, and were deliuered me by the hands of Robert Tunstead, his brother-in-law, to whom I deliuered such as I had for the Scottish Queene, couered with a direction to Fulgeam; and once I remember or twise I sent, by one of my men called Butler, letters for the Scottish Queene to the house of the said Tunstead, ncere Buckstones, couered with a direction to Tunstead, and vnder a letter to Fulgeam. In such letters as came to me from the Scottish Queene were inclosed letters to F. A. many times and most times some for Thomas Morgan. Her letters to me contayned, &c. but, before I retourned mine answere to her, I vnderstoode of the death of the Duke of Lenox, and withall heard from Morgan, with whom all mine intelligence was (for with my brother I neuer had any, other then that the matters, by me written to Morgan, were by him imparted to my brother most times) that, by the perswasion of the Pope and the King of Spaine, the Duke of Guyse had yeelded to performe the iourney in person, and that it was thought, that the next way to attayne libertie for the Scottish Queene, and to reforme Scotlande, was to begin here in England; and therefore he desired to knowe from me, whether in mine opinion Catholiques woulde not backe any such force as should be sent, considering a demaunde of tolerance in religion for them should insue the wel performing of the said enterprise, and what I thought the force would amount vnto, both of horse and footemen, and where I thought to be the fittest landing. Mine answere was, that, as then, I sawe no great probabilitie of the good successe of such an enterprise, for that the Catholiques were timorous, dispersed, the matter perilous to

e William Ardington.

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