superior of the Jesuits, some of the more extreme men undertook a new
plot against the king. The leading spirit in the enterprise was Robert
Catesby, a gentleman of Warwickshire, whose father had suffered for
his adhesion to the old faith. He planned to blow up the Parliament
House at the opening of the session of Parliament when king, lords,
and commons would be assembled. Hence his plot is known as the
Gunpowder Plot. His followers had to be ready to rise when the results
of this awful crime would have thrown the government into confusion.
They were to seize the children of the king and to assume control of
the kingdom. The scheme was so utterly wicked and impracticable, that
it is difficult to understand how any man could have conceived it or
induced others to join in its execution. Unfortunately, however,
Catesby secured the assistance of Thomas Winter, Guy Fawkes, an
Englishman who had served in the Spanish army, John Wright, Thomas
Percy, cousin of the Earl of Northumberland, Sir Everard Digby, and
Francis Tresham. A mine was to be run under the House of Commons
charged with gunpowder, which Fawkes undertook to explode. An
adjoining house was secured, and the cellar stretching under the
Parliament buildings was leased. Everything was arranged for the
destruction of the king, lords and commons at the opening of
Parliament fixed finally for the 5th November 1605, but Tresham,
anxious to save his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, sent him a letter
warning him to absent himself on the occasion. By means of this letter
the plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes was arrested. The other
conspirators fled to Wales, where they hoped to stir up an
insurrection, but at Holbeche where they halted they were surrounded
by the forces of the sheriff of Worcester. In the struggle that ensued
Catesby and several of his followers, who defended themselves with
desperate courage, were killed, and the remainder were put to death
before the end of the month (Nov. 1605).