Robert Abbot, in his _Antilogia_, 1613, pp. 13, 14. emphatically and
at length produces the same book and facts; but they are merely copied
from the _Relation_ of the Powder-treason Trial. Henry Mason, in his
most satisfactory work, _The New Art of Lying, &c._, 1624, has spoken
of the {264} _Treatise_ with the same familiarity (see p. 51.), and
elsewhere, if my memory does not deceive me. Dodd, in his _Church
history_,--when will the new edition begin to move again? Can
Stonyhurst tell?--ascribes the work to Tresham. Hardly any of the
similar works in these times belong to _one_ author. It may just be
added, that Parson's _Mitigation_ contains, perhaps, all the substance
of the Roman equivocation, with not much reserve or disguise. It was
published in answer to Bishop Morton's work in 1607. Foulis has, of
course, substantially all the above, but nothing more.

Now, the questions which I want to have solved are these:--Was the
book ever extant in MS. Or print? Is it now extant, and where? Who
has seen a copy? What is its size, date, and extent? Has the Durham
Cathedral Library, in particular, a copy? Mr. Botfield might have
informed us. In fact, where is any effectual intelligence of the
fugitive to be found?

J.M.

Feb. 8. 1850.

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