his hold upon the English people, and of providing for the penniless
followers who accompanied him to his new kingdom. Unfortunately a
brainless plot, the "Bye Plot," as it is called, organised to capture
the king and to force him to yield to the demands of the conspirators,
afforded the more bigoted officials a splendid chance of inducing
James to continue the former policy of repression. Two priests named
Watson and Clarke joined hands with a number of malcontents, some of
whom were Protestants, others Puritans anxious to secure more liberty
for their co-religionists; but news of the plot having come to the
ears of the archpriest and of Garnet the provincial of the Jesuits,
information was conveyed to the council, and measures were taken for
the safety of the king, and for the arrest of the conspirators. James
recognised fully that the Catholic body was not to blame for the
violent undertakings of individuals, especially as he knew or was soon
to know that the Pope had warned the archpriest and the Jesuits to
discourage attempts against the government, and had offered to
withdraw any clergyman from England who might be regarded as disloyal.
James admitted frankly his indebtedness to the Catholics for the
discovery of the plot, and promised a deputation of laymen who waited
on him that the fines imposed on those who refused to attend the
Protestant service should not be exacted. For a time it was expected
that the policy of toleration was about to win the day, and the hopes
of Catholics rose high; but in autumn (1603) when the episcopal
returns came in showing that Catholics were still strong, and when
alarming reports began to spread about the arrival of additional
priests, the wonderful success of their efforts, and the increasing
boldness of the recusants, an outcry was raised by the Protestant
party, and a demand was made that the government should enforce the
law with firmness.[1]