Philip Marlow Sidney

“ Sir William Stanley, thereupon, returned to the Netherlands, to serve under Parma in the army which was to co-operate with the Armada (of 1588) . After the failure of the Armada, he returned again to Spain in order to endeavour to obtain, once more, Philip's approval of his original scheme for sending troops to Ireland and Milford. From 1590 to 1600 he was serving, off and on, in the Netherlands, whilst making several visits to Madrid, and to Rome, to keep alive his cherished idea of invading England. ”

“ The first word he spoke after he came into our company, was "Shall we always, gentlemen, talk, and never do anything?" Mr. Catesby took him aside, and had speech about somwhat to be done, so as we might first all take an oath of secrecy, which we resolved within two or three days to do; so as there we met behind Saint Clement's, Mr. Catesby, Mr. Percy, Mr. Wright, Mr. Guy Faukes, and myself; and having upon a Primer given each other the oath of secrecy, in a chamber where no other body was, we went after into the next room and heard Mass, [12] and received the Blessed Sacrament upon the same. ”

“ There is one important item in Winter's confession of which, perhaps, insufficient notice has been taken by writers dealing with the Plot, and this is his reference to the probable, if not absolutely certain innocence of Sir William Stanley, as to whom the British Government would have been as glad to prove a guilty connection with the conspiracy as they were similarly to implicate Captain Hugh Owen. ”

“ I wondered at the strangeness of the conceit, and told him that true it was, this struck at the root, and would breed a confusion fit to beget new alterations; but if it should not take effect, as most of this nature miscarried, the scandal would be so great which the Catholic religion might hereby sustain, as not only our enemies, but our friends also would with good reason condemn us. ”

“ Catesby's house, being not far off was a fit place for preparation.
'The next was for money and horses, which if we could provide in any reasonable measure, having the heir apparent and the first knowledge by 4 or 5 days was odds sufficient. Then, what Lords we should save from the Parliament, which was agreed in general as many as we could that were Catholics or so disposed. Next, what foreign princes we should acquaint with this before, or join with after. For this point we agreed that first we would not enjoin princes to that secrecy nor oblige them by oath so to be secure of their promise ”

“ Owen, he might hold good correspondency after with foreign princes. So Mr. Faukes departed, about Easter, for Flanders, and returned, the latter end of August. He told me that, when he arrived at Brussels, Sir William Stanley was not returned from Spain, so as he uttered the matter only to Owen, who seemed well pleased with the business, but told him, that surely Sir William would not be acquainted with any plot, as having business now a foot in the Court of England [19] ”

“ Faukes laid in the cellar, which he had newly taken, a thousand of billets and five hundred of faggots, and with that covered the powder, because we might have the house free to suffer anyone to enter that would. Mr. Catesby wished us to consider, whether it were not now necessary to send Mr. Faukes over, both to absent himself for a time, as also to acquaint Sir William Stanley and Mr. Owen with this matter. We agreed that he should (provided that he gave it to them with the same oath that we had taken before) viz. To keep it secret from all the world. ”

“ Spain is too slow in his preparations to hope any good from in the first extremities, and France too near and too dangerous, who with the shipping of Holland we feared of all the world might make away with us. But while we were in the middle of these discourses, 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. About Candlemas, [18] we brought over in a boat the powder which we had provided at Lambeth and laid it in Mr. ”

“ Percy's, where we might make provision of powder and wood for the mine which, being there made ready, should in a night be conveyed by boat to the house by the Parliament because we were both to foil that with often going in and out. There was none we could devise so fit as Lambeth where Mr. Catesby often lay, and to be keeper thereof, by Mr. Catesby's choice, we received into the number Keyes, [14] as a trusty honest man.
'Some fortnight after, towards the beginning of the term, Mr. Faukes and I came to Mr. ”

“ According to a note in the King's handwriting, in the Record Office copy, this was 'about four thousand pounds. ↑ 'An unclean phrase,' writes the King. ↑ It is astonishing that Winter should not have been forced to mention this person's name. The anonymous 'one' was, however, Warde, which fact strengthens my contention that the Government did their utmost to shield both him and Mounteagle. Had not this 'one' been under Government protection, the Privy Council would have insisted on his name being divulged, because he, by giving notice to Winter, was thereby committing misprision of treason. ”