  | CHAP. | | PAGE | | I. | The State of the Question | 1 | | Disclosure of the Plot—Arrest of Guy Faukes—Flight of his associates—Their abortive insurrection—Their fate—The crime charged on Catholics in general—Garnet and other Jesuits proclaimed as the ringleaders—Capture of Garnet—Efforts to procure evidence against him—His execution—Previous history of the Plot as traditionally narrated; Proceedings and plans of the conspirators—Manner of the discovery.
Reasons for suspecting the truth of this history—Previous plots originated or manipulated by the government—Suspicious circumstances respecting the Gunpowder Plot in particular—Essential points of the inquiry. | | | II. | The Persons Concerned | 19 | | Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury—His character variously estimated—Discreditable incidents of his career—Contemporary judgments of him—His unpopularity—His political difficulties largely dissipated in consequence of the Plot.
His hatred of and hostility towards the Catholics—Their numbers and importance—Their hopes from King James, and their disappointment—The probability that some would have recourse to violence—The conspirators known as men likely to seek such a remedy—Their previous history—Difficulties and contradictions in regard of their character. | | | III. | The Opinion of Contemporaries and Historians | 42 | | The government at once suspected of having contrived or fomented the Plot—Persistence of these suspicions, to which historians for more than a century bear witness—No fresh information accounts for their disappearance. | | | IV. | The Traditional Story | 54 | | The old House of Lords and its surroundings—House hired by the conspirators—They attempt to dig a mine beneath the Peers' Chamber—Difficulties and improbabilities of the account—The "Cellar" hired—Its position and character—The gunpowder bought and stored—Further problems concerning it—The conspirators' plans—Contradictions respecting them—Their wild and absurd character—Impossibility of the supposition that the proceedings escaped the notice of the government. | | | V. | The Government Intelligence Department | 93 | | Evidence that the government were fully aware of what was in progress—Various intelligence supplied to them—Cecil's uneasiness on account of the spread of Catholicity, and the king's communication with the pope—His evident determination to force on James a policy of intolerance—He intimates that a great move is about to be made, and acknowledges to information concerning the conspirators and their schemes—His political methods illustrated. | | | VI. | The "Discovery" | 114 | | Importance of the letter received by Lord Monteagle—Extraordinary prominence given to it—Monteagle's character—He receives the letter—Suspicious circumstances connected with its arrival—It is shown to Cecil—Hopeless contradictions of the official narrative as to what followed—Impossibility of ascertaining what actually occurred—The French version of the story—The conduct of the government at variance with their own professions—Their inexplicable delay in making the discovery—They take no precautions against the recurrence of danger—The mystery of the gunpowder—Incredibility of the official narration. | | | VII. | Percy, Catesby, and Tresham | 147 | | Probability that the government had an agent among the conspirators—Suspicious circumstances regarding Percy—His private life—His alleged intercourse with Cecil—His death.
Catesby and Tresham likewise accused of secret dealings with Cecil—Catesby's falsehood towards his associates and Father Garnet—Tresham's strange conduct after the discovery—His mysterious death.
Alleged positive evidence against the government. | | | VIII. | The Government's Case | 163 | | A monopoly secured for the official narrative, which is admittedly untruthful—Suspicions suggested by such a course, especially in such a case—The confessions of Faukes and Winter, on which this narrative is based, deserve no credit—Nor does the evidence of Bates against Greenway—Indications of foul play in regard of Robert Winter—The case of Owen, Baldwin and Cresswell; assertions made respecting them of which no proof can be produced—Efforts to implicate Sir Walter Raleigh and others—Falsification of evidence—The service of forgers employed.
Catholic writers have drawn their accounts from the sources provided by the government. | | | IX. | The Sequel | 209 | | Cecil well informed as to the real nature of the conspiracy, and apprehends no danger from it—At once turns it to account by promoting anti-Catholic legislation—Honour and popularity resulting to him—Ruin of the Earl of Northumberland—Cecil's manifesto—His alleged attempt to start a second plot.
The popular history of the Plot, and how it was circulated—Singular suitability of the Fifth of November for the "Discovery."
Summary of the argument. | | | Appendix A. Notes on the Illustrations | 235 | | Appendix B. Sir Everard Digby's letter to Salisbury | 245 | | Appendix C. The Questi
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