Philip Marlow Sidney

“ As soon as the King heard this, he sent off two of his best surgeons, and a doctor, to attend the said Percy, and also a litter to convey him to London. His Majesty is extremely anxious to keep him alive, as he hopes to wring from him all the details of the Plot, for up to now he has been considered the leader.'
This extract, from a source above suspicion, proves the absurdity of the Jesuit fable that Percy was killed by orders of Lord Salisbury, and reveals that he was, as I have stated, considered, at first, by the Government to have been the leader among the conspirators. ”

“ Catesby and company, who had arranged to blow up to the skies their enemies at Westminster, were now within an ace of sharing the fate which they had projected for their victims. Some powder, which the rebels had brought with them, had got damp during their dismal march, owing to the bad weather, and whilst drying it, a live coal, jumping out, touched the powder, and caused instant ignition, Although nobody was killed, several had a most narrow escape, and Catesby and Rookewood were severely scorched.
This startling incident completely unmanned the conspirators. ”

“ The conspirators, quickly realizing that there was no time to be wasted, made all haste to be gone. Percy [2] and Christopher Wright rode off first, then Keyes; then Rookewood, whose stud now came in useful, followed, having relays of horses waiting for him between London and Dunchurch. [3] Riding at a most extraordinary rate of speed, he soon overtook and passed Keyes on the road; and at Brickhill, Bucks, came up with Catesby and John Wright, and soon after with Christopher Wright and Percy, who had also been travelling very rapidly. All five then proceeded to Dunchurch, viâ Ashby St. ”

“ With him they soon took to saddle again for Dunchurch, where their dejected looks told Digby that all was up. Of the Roman Catholic 'huntsmen,' the greater number disappeared when Catesby avowed his plan of raising the standard of rebellion, one of the first to depart being Digby's uncle, Sir Robert. After much discussion, Catesby resolved, instead of seeking safety in flight, on marching towards Wales, traversing en route the counties of Warwick, Worcester, and Hereford or Stafford. He expected that the local Roman Catholics would rise and join him, but in this he was bitterly mistaken. ”

“ Keyes was not taken with the rest at Holbeach, but was captured in Warwickshire on November 9. He had parted with his friends at Dunchurch, but what he had been doing in the interval is unknown.
Of the thirteen conspirators originally engaged in the plot, no less than eleven were either captured or killed within a period of four days from the fatal Fifth of November. Of these eleven men, Catesby, [17] Percy, and the Wrights were dead; Guy Faukes was in the Tower; Digby, Thomas Winter, Grant, Keyes, Bates, and Rookewood were on their way thither under arrest. ”

“ Not doubting, but that they all, without regard of their pretence of Religion, will with our hearts and will, employ themselves for the suppressing, apprehending, deterring, and discovering of all sorts of persons any wayes likely to be privie to a Treason so hatefull to God and man, and implying in it the utter subversion of this Realme, and dignitie thereof. ”

“ This proclamation is interesting in the extreme. In it Thomas Percy is denounced as the leader, whilst there is no allusion to Sir Everard Digby, Tresham, Keyes, or Bates. Special reference is made to the fact that the conspirators are acting on their own account, and without being in receipt of any assistance, advice, or approval from the Roman Catholic kingdoms on the Continent. ”

“ Legers. This letter was accompanied by several depositions taken down from the lips of certain persons in the neighbourhood, who had witnessed the movements of Catesby and Percy on their arrival at Dunchurch. Again, in this despatch, as in the royal proclamation, we cannot but remain astonished at the rapidity with which the news of Faukes's attempt to blow up the Parliament House had travelled; for here we have two country gentlemen, writing from Daventry (seventy miles from London) , on the third day only after the 5th, talking plainly of the plot to destroy the Parliament. ”

“ A little after eleven a.m. on November 8, the Sheriff of Worcester, having encompassed Holbeach House, proceeded to storm the little garrison, which, by reason of its want of numbers and lack of ammunition, was unable to offer any prolonged resistance to the attack. ”

“ And wherefore We doe admonish and charge all our Subjects, that they shall not speake of any the Princes our neighbours, or their Ambassadors, otherwise then reverently, upon paine of our displeasure, and to bee punished as persons seeking the disturbance of the Peace, wherein We live with our sayd Neighbours. ”