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The Fifth of November
Label- "Primitive Methodist Sunday School, Bogthorn
- Presented to for good attendance &c
- name scratched out 1889 or 1887
- The Fifth of November or
- Romish Plotting for Popish Ascendency
- An Address to the Youth of England
- London:
- T. Woolmer, 2, Castle Street, City Road, E.c.;
- Sold at 66, Paternosterr Row, E.c.
- Nayman Brothers and Lilly,
- Printers,
- Hatton House, 113, Farringdon Road,
- London, E.C.
THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER.
Dear Young Friends,
There are many commemorative days of far less importance than the Fifth
of November; but whether it should be observed by kindling bonfires, or
letting off squibs and crackers, we have not now time to decide: I shall
only in passing advise you to be very cautious in making sport with fire.
Many people, who are older than you, have repented playing with gunpowder:
their scarred faces to this day show their carelessness. It is to be hoped
that, when you lads become men, you may be able to employ in honest labour
all the limbs and faculties which God has given you. It will be no sport
to lose either a finger or an eye; and no pleasant reflection afterwards,
that you lost them by your own fault. When God suffers us to be deprived
of health or limb, we must patiently submit to His will; but never should
we throw away any of His mercies.
It has appeared to me, that many who on the fifth of November carry
about their old Pope or Guy Fawkes are in ignorance of the event
commemorated on that day: so that if the boys and girls of some Popish
school were to laugh at them for spending their money on fireworks, or
were to ask them the reason, they would not be able fairly to meet their
gibes or answer their questions. We must always have a good reason for
what we do: then, if any have been so presumptuous as to think us fools,
we can soon show them that we are quite as rational as they. It is your
Minister's wish that you, the young people of their charge, should be even
wiser and better than others of your age. You have as great advantages for
improving your mind as any of your station. Try, then, to increase in
wisdom and piety beyond all others.--I have spoken of the Romanists, but
not to excite enmity against them. We must love all, even though their
sins and follies be very great. We must pity them, and try to do them
good. If you see a poor little Romish boy without shoes, or with a ragged
jacket, it would be a good thing to buy and give him such articles of
clothing, if you thought his parents would be thankful for them, and allow
him to wear them: and it would be still better, also, to show your pity by
giving him a New-Testament, or some tracts, which he could take home and
read. But while you pity him, and are thankful that you were not trained
up in such errors as darken his mind, you ought to hate the system of
Popery, and the sins and cruelties which it leads to.
The Romanists, say that the old Priest whom they call their Pope, and
who lives in a large palace at Rome, surrounded by soldiers, has authority
from our Lord Jesus Christ to rule over all Christian people; and he is so
arrogant as to claim the right: so that you and I, having been baptized
into the Christian church, are, if this be true, his subjects, and are
bound to obey him. They even say that all people of England, including our
beloved Queen, owe him submission. Was there ever a more impudent
pretension? It almost makes one angry. They say, that he and former Popes
are the successors, in a direct line, of St. Peter, who, they affirm, was
the first Bishop of Rome: yet they cannot prove that Peter ever visited
the place. I think if our lord had made St. Peter a Bishop, we should read
about it in His life, as given by the Evangelists, who write a great deal
about Peter also: and that if he had been one of the first to preach the
Gospel in Rome, St. Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, would state
as much. It is most likely that the "strangers of Rome," who were present
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, had the honour of introducing
Christianity into that far-famed city on their return from Judea. It is
one of the most absurd things imaginable for these Popes to put forth a
claim to rule the church, on the ground of a descent from Peter; for if we
were to admit that he was the first Bishop of Rome, the most clever
Romanist cannot make out an unbroken line from him to Pius the ninth, the
present Pope. This is a question they cannot answer: If Peter was the
first, who was the second? Some have named, as the second in succession,
Linus; others he named Anacletus, or Cletus; and some have contended that
Clemens was. But, at best, the chain of succession is so broken that no
strength and skill can mend it; for the bishopric of Rome has been
actually vacant many times. It appears to have been once filled by a bad
woman, Pope Joan.
(Note: This has been strenuously denied, but not disproved. She is said
to have succeeded Leo IV, who died in the year 855; and it does not appear
that the existence of Pope Joan was denied for 500 years after that time.)
During many centuries our country was under the domination of these
Popes: and the people, with the Kings and Queens at their head, were
Papists. But it was not so from the beginning. Chritianity was brought
hither in the first century; and some able historians have thought that
the great Apostle of the Gentiles, St. Paul, was the first who preached it
to our forefathers. Of this, however, we have no sufficient proof.
Christianity had great opposition to the struggle with, and, at the time
of the popish Mission to this country, was confined principally to Wales
and Cornwall, in consequence of the Saxon invasion: but our land was not
lying, as the Romanists have represented, in the unmixed gloom of
Paganism. There is abundant evidence to prove that even during the fullest
triumph of Saxon Paganism in England, Christianity continued to shed its
pure and hallowing influence over a large portion of the western part of
the island, and was maintained by a zealous, devoted, and self-denying
ministry. The Monk Augustine, and his companions, were at this period sent
over by the Bishop of Rome, to teach the doctrines, and establish the
practices and ceremonies, which then prevailed in the Romish Church. For,
before the close of the sixth century, opinions, usages, and ceremonies
had been transferred from Heathenism into the bosom of the Christian
church'; and errors of the most fatal kind were mingled with the truth of
the Gospel. Think of this!--an attempt made to commingle Chritianity and
Heathenism! What fellowship hath "light with darkness, and Christ Belial?"
The Romish Church is guilty of the sin and folly of attempting to go in
Belial with Christ. At an early period she practiced the invocation of
saints and martyrs, and showed an idolatrous veneration for their pictures
and images, and relics; thus adopting that kind of worship which had
formerly prevailed in Heathen Rome. Indeed to the present day, you see in
Rome itself standing memorials of that sin, and of the adroitness of
Romanism in accommodating itself to Paganism. The Christian churches there
just took the place of Heathen temples. As the Heathen temples were
dedicated to deified heros, so are the Romish churches to canonized
saints. Where Minerva had her temple, there stands one dedicated to Mary.
Offerings and vows like those that were made to the former, are now paid
to the latter. As the Heathens expressed their reverence for the gods by
kissing them, so the Christians kiss images of saints. The very statue of
Peter was originally that of Jupiter; and, in some instances, the very
same statue that received reverence from the Heathen, receives it, as the
representative of a saint, from the Christians. As to relics, Gregory I.,
the very Pope who sent Augustine to this country, pretended that he
possessed some of the hair of John the Baptist, some of the wood of the
true cross, and the chain of St. Peter. Parts of these he sent as presents
to different illustrious personages, to be by them venerated, and to
defend them from the enemy.
At the same period it was taught that the effect of baptism was the
certain salvation of the soul; and many foolish ceremonies were observed
when that sacrament was administered; and also in the sacrament of the
Lord's supper, which was regarded as a sacrifice, and the sacrificial
ceremonies of the Jewish dispensation were supposed to be in harmony with
the spirit of that sacred ordinance. Indeed, just as doctrinal errors
increased, was there an increased use of imposing ceremonies borrowed from
the worship of the Jews or of the Heathen. The dead were prayed for at the
time of celebrating this perverted sacrament; and hence comes the custom
of the Priests saying masses for the dead, which is a source of abundant
income to their Church. Nor must I omit to name, as growing up in those
times, the despotism of the Romish priesthood. When the people were
brought to believe that the Priest should give to the baptismal water a
mysterious influence, by which its application actually secured the
regeneration of the soul; and that, by the same ministerial agency, the
bread and wine of the Lord's supper were either miraculously transformed
into, or mysteriously associated with the real body and blood of Christ;
they were prepared to put themselves wholly under the control of a
priesthood that had acquired by this means unbounded influence. That
influence was soon taken advantage of. The Priests impudently asserted,
that salvation was impossible without partaking of those "tremendous
mysteries" at their hands. And it was soon believed that they had the
power to shut any person out of the kingdom of heaven by refusing him the
sacraments. What an engine of torture and of tyranny the priesthood then
possessed, and still possesses, in the fallen Church of Rome! Such was the
Church that sent Missionaries to convert the inhabitants of this country,
who possessed at that time a Christianity much purer than Rome could
teach. And she employs the same means still. Wherever Christianity is
planted, and makes converts among the Heathen, she goes to "blast the
blooming work of grace," and, backed by the cannon of Roman Catholic
powers, she tries to force her dogmas upon the natives.
At this time, that is to say, about the close of the sixth century,
came the Romish Missionaries to England; but found, on their first landing
on the coast of Kent, both a Church and a Bishop. They settled at
Canterbury, and were very successful among the Heathen population: but it
must not be forgotten that it was not simply the religion of the Apostles
and the Bible that they taught, but also the errors we have described; and
that the Pope strongly recommended his Missionaries to accommodate their
customs to the rites of the Pagans, in order that they might the sooner be
induced to embrace Christianity. Having made many converts from Heathenism
among the Saxons, they turned their attention to the ancient British
Christians, and sought a union with them; but demanded as its basis that
they should observe the Roman time of holding Easter, adopt the Roman form
of baptism and other ceremonies, and co-operate with the Roman Clergy in
converting the Saxons. The Britons replied, that they would do none of
these things, no receive Augustine as their Archbishop (for to that office
he had been lately appointed by the Pope;) and they kept their resolution
the more firmly, because of the threats employed by Augustine, and his
haughty demeanor. Thus did they maintain their independence. But from this
time the Romish influence increased, although checked at intervals. The
Pope's Missionaries, having come accredited by him and by various
continental Kings, continued to increase their power among the Saxon
invaders of our island; and as these were stronger politically than the
Britons who had refused the Romish yoke, that power was, through them,
made to be felt by the noble-minded and simple British Christians.
Augustine and his successors never lost sight of the authority given them
by the Pope, though it was not recognized by the Britons, and they seized
every favorable opportunity to exercise it. At length, the Saxon King of
the Northumbrians, who with his people had been converted to Christianity
by the Scots, and who had presented one of the mightiest barriers to Rome,
was induced to declare in favour of the Roman time of keeping Easter, and
thus virtually to submit his kingdom to the authority of that power. Then
the Bishop of York must go to Rome for consecration, and after him, the
Archbishop of Canterbury: but even in the eighth century the Saxon Kings
had not so far given up their power as to submit implicity to the Pope;
for in the instance of Wilfrid there was a rejection of his appointment to
he archbishopric of York; yet, when the Pope threatened to withhold the
sacrament of the Eucharist, the Northumbrians made terms with Rome by
admitting Wilfrid to the bishopric and abbey of Hexham. Thus you see there
was a course of events gradually breaking down all resistance to the Papal
authority, and the agents of Rome knew too well how to take advantage of
them. We now see the Saxon kingdoms under her sway. Not so the British
churches; for even in the time of Bede they resisted it. Yet were they
compelled at length, by fear of bloodshed, to a partial submission. It was
not until the Saxons were united under one Sovereign, and that one at the
disposal of Priests and Monks, that the great apostasy spread its baneful
influence to all parts of the island. At this period, then, the Pope gains
the ascendancy and with him the most debasing superstitions.
While our country was under his government, many examples are to be
found of Romish pride, arrogance, and meddling. When there were not as
many Bishops in the land as would please Pope Formosus, his curse and
excommunication were sent over, and King and subjects were placed under
interdict.
(Note: An interdict is a prohibition of worship, sacraments, and all
religious rites, even that of Christian burial. Often have provinces, and
even nations, when placed under interdict on account of a quarrel between
the Pope and their Sovereign, rebelled against the latter, and so forced
him to submit.)
So, also, when King John refused to accept Stephen Langton as
Archbishop of Canterbury, he was by name excommunicated, and his people
suffered to live and die like dogs, without worship, without sacraments,
and without those other ceremonies before and after death, which the
Romanists believed were necessary to salvation; until John at
length--terrified by the Pope's anger, by foreign enemies, and by his own
people--assigned over to His Holiness (Innocent III.) the whole kingdom of
England and Ireland, and consented to receive it back from him in gift.
The crown which John had handed to the Pope's Legate, was five days after
given again to him. Thus by the deepest humiliation was he instructed that
he must consider himself the servant of Rome.
The history of the English Church from this period to the time of Henry
VIII, is a history of Papal interference and usurpation.-a history of
superstitious practices without end,-a history of the grossest impostures
palmed upon the people by Monks and Priests.
But the days came when the Papal yoke should be cast off by King and
people, and with it the unscriptural doctrines and practices of the Church
of Rome. As early as Edward III., a few gleams of light came in upon the
darkness of the Church by the doctrines of Wycliffe; but measures were
soon adopted to exclude them. That Reformer's bones were taken from his
grave and burnt, after they had lain in it forty-four years, and the ashes
were thrown into a river. This was ordered by the Popish Council of
Constance, which declared him a heretic. Truth does not die, but as the
grain deposited in a mummy retains the vital principal when ages have
elapsed, and, under proper influences, shoots up, and produces full corn
in the ear, ripe and fit for food, so the doctrine of Wycliffe. His ashes
were mingled with the waters of the Avon, but as those flowed into the
Severn, and from the Severn into the narrow seas, and thence into the main
ocean, so his doctrine has at length been dispersed through the wide
world.
When Henry VIII. was upon the English throne, a Reformation from Popery
began in earnest. Luther took the lead as a Reformer on the Continent, and
his books soon found their way to this country, where they were widely
dispersed, and produced a mighty effect on men's minds. He was led first
of all to attack the Popish doctrine of indulgences, --a contrivance which
was bringing immense wealth into the Pope's coffers. It was boldly taught
by the Pope and his Priests, that the. souls of the departed enter a place
called purgatory, where they are purged by fierce fires from all of the
sins remaining on them at death, and thus are prepared for entering
paradise. It was also taught, that by the purchase of what they called an
indulgence, a safe and speedy deliverance from purgatory might be obtained
for the souls of departed relatives; and the people believed this. So that
when in Germany the Pope's agent, Tetzel, was hawking these letters of
indulgence, he cried, "Hark, how your parents and their friends who have
died, call to you from the depth of the abyss: 'We are suffering a
horrible martyrdom! A small sum given us as alms will deliver us: it is in
your power to bestow this, and yet you will not!'" People shuddered; and
when he went on to say, "The very instant that the money chinks at the
bottom of the strong box the soul escapes from purgatory, and soars to
heaven," the people piously hastened to release their friends, who, they
imagined, were burning in the fire. But, worse than this, the impious Pope
and his wretched agent, Tetzel, taught that by the payment of certain
fixed sums a sinner might be released from his obligation to suffer the
punishment due to his crimes. An indulgence for polygamy cost six ducats;
sacrilege and perjury nine ducats; murder eight; and witchcraft two.. So
much for killing a child, and so much for the murder of a parent!
This abominable traffic aroused Luther; and as the Lord had opened his
eyes, and the eyes of Zwingle, Melancthon, and others, not only to the
enormities of Popery, but to discover the cardinal doctrine of Holy
Scripture,---that a sinner can be justified by faith in the merits of
Christ only, --they began to preach this doctrine with uncommon boldness
and with great effect.
In England, several events conspired to destroy the Papal authority,
and to reform the Church; among which, the translation of the Scriptures
into English by Tyndal, Coverdale, and their fellow-labourers, was one of
the most important. Another event was the quarrel of Henry with Rome,
which led to a determination, on his part, to throw off the Pope's yoke,
and to declare himself head of the English Church. So that a blow was
struck at the Pope's supremacy even in this reign, which he could never
fully recover. The youthful King, Edward VI, made amazing progress in
Church reformation. As soon as he came to the throne, being then but ten
years of age, he sent throughout the land instructions for the rooting out
of superstition; and, that the work might be the better accomplished,
ordered that a translation of the Scriptures should be read in the course
of each year in the churches as a principal part of Divine service. Next
to Edward VI . came Mary,--"the bloody Queen Mary;" and, for a time, the
cause of truth was sadly depressed. She revived the Pope's authority,
restored convents and religious orders, and burned Protestants for their
adherence to God's most holy word. Yes, they who dared to deny that
Christ, in body, soul, and divinity, was present in the mass, were cruelly
tortured and put to death. After her came Queen Elizabeth, who repealed
the laws of Mary, and restored those of Henry and Edward. We now see our
land rid of the Pope; and, to a great extent, cleared of these
superstitions and impostures. Under this reign, England became Protestant.
What a deliverance!
And, now, as I have to enlarge upon the Gunpowder-Plot,--one of several
plots which the Papists laid for bringing England again under the
blighting influence of Rome, --I shall introduce my narrative with an
account of previous unsuccessful attempts made by the pope to win back
England. The Papacy lost a kind friend when bereaved of England. Its
revenues were gone! They could no longer sell their consecrated trinkets
here. There was no market for them. The first-fruits were of course
withheld by the English Clergy. Rome now received nothing for giving
sentence in high controversies; for there were no appeals to her court.
They got nothing more for dispensations to marry relatives, or for the
illegitimate sons of Priests to succeed to their father's livings; nothing
for indulgences; no Peter's pence. From the time of Ina, King of the West
Saxons, this had been an important part of the Pope's revenue from
England,--a penny for every hearth. Nothing from English pilgrims visiting
Rome,--for people began to be of Luther's opinion, who said, "If there be
a hell, Rome is built over above it; it is an abyss whence all sins
proceed." Indeed , all that the Pope had received from this country cannot
be truly counted. It was, no doubt, annually more than the King's
revenues. And what shall be said of his Priests and Monks? They, also were
losers by this Reformation. Until Henry VIII., as you well know, they were
in possession of the richest lands in all England, besides wealth in other
forms. But now, alas! The whole fraternity of Pope, and Priests, and
Friars of all colours, have seen their best days. "England," I can imagine
I hear them say, "O England, is it thus you serve us? Cruel England! After
your great kindness!--after petting us for our valuable services, for our
praying your dead out of purgatory, for our indulgences of your
infirmities, and pardon of your sins, and, in short, for admitting you by
Peter's keys into heaven;-is it thus you treat us? Ungrateful England!"
Ah, these Popes! when they are told that we wish to have no dealings
with them, because they would seize upon our liberties; when we object to
their interference, and dare them to meddle with the affairs of these
realms; even then they basely plot, and employ all their cunning and power
to recover lost ground, and to grasp again that influence in Church and
State which had been wrested from them. They know full well how valuable
to them a conquest of England would be.
What did the Pope do in Queen Elizabeth's day? He, who had
excommunicated the father, attempted to entice the daughter into
compliance with his pleasure. He wrote her a letter, filled with the most
tender words; and promised that, if she would return into the bosom of the
Church, an thing she might desire of him for the establishing and
confirming of her princely dignity should be granted. As though it had
been in his power to confirm the kingdom in her hands!
Again, the next year, he made a similar attempt: but the Queen was
steadfast, and refused. His partisans, also, plotted for him, and even
openly rebelled against the government of Elizabeth: the Earls of
Northumberland and Westmoreland, for example, with their numerous tenants,
rose in the north of England, and, in some places, succeeded for a short
time in setting up the mummeries of the mass. Then came the celebrated
sentence of damnation and excommunication, from "our Lord Pope Pius V.,"
against Elizabeth, Queen of England, and her adherents; wherein her
subjects are declared absolved from the oath of allegiance, and every
other thing due unto her whatsoever; and those who from hence forth obey
her are involved in the same sentence of anathema. This sentence calls her
"the pretended Queen of England, the servant of wickedness, lending
thereunto her helping hand;" and, after complaining that she had seized
the kingdom, usurped the chief authority in the Church, forbidden the
exercise of the "Catholic religion," removed from her councils "Catholic
Lords, " bestowed Church-livings upon heretics, forbidden all
Ecclesiastics to acknowledge his authority, and prohibited the Nuncios of
Rome from entering her dominions, it went on to say; "We do, out of the
fullness of our apostolic power, declare the aforesaid Elizabeth, being a
heretic and favourer of heresies, and her adherents in the matters
aforesaid, to have incurred the sentence of anathema, and to be cut off
from the unity of the body of Christ. And, moreover, we do declare her to
be deprived of her pretended title to the kingdom aforesaid; and of all
dominion, dignity, and privilege whatsoever. And also the nobility,
subjects, and people of the said kingdom, and all other which have in any
sort sworn to her, to be for ever absolved from any such oath, and all
kind of duty, fidelity, and obedience; as we do also by authority of these
presents absolve them and do deprive the same Elizabeth of her pretended
title to the kingdom, and all other things above said. And we do command
and interdict all and every the noblemen, subjects, people, and others
aforesaid, that they presume not to obey her, or her monitions, mandates,
and laws; and those which shall do to the contrary, we do involve in the
like sentence of anathema." And now what think you of Popery and the Pope?
I will challenge you young historians to bring another such specimen of
shameless insolence. Perhaps the next to it in quality are the documents
of Pius IX., who has presumed to send over a Cardinal, and to parcel out
our kingdom into Romish bishoprics.
Elizabeth, whatever fault she may have had, possessed a masculine mind.
So that, when the Papists expected that she would sink to the earth in
terror, the majesty of her character appeared, and she treated the
sentence with scorn.
This sentence not succeeding, then came the plot which issued in the
Spanish Armada. The Popish subjects of Elizabeth were restless spirits,
and their restlessness was increassed by Priests and Jesuits, who had
crept about among the people, teaching them that Elizabeth neither had,
nor ought to have, any dominion; and filling the minds of their proselytes
with high opinions of the power of Spain, as the nation designed by Divine
Providence to work out the restitution of their religion in England.
Indeed, Mary Queen of Scots had long before requested the Pope to use his
influence in that direction. And, at length, when it was supposed that the
project was ripe for execution, Spain did interfere. Preparation was made
for the invasion of England; and 130 ships of 57,868 tons, with 19,295
soldiers, 8450 seamen, and 2,088 slaves, besides many other smaller
vessels in attendance, were devoted by Philip of Spain to this service.
Such was the Spanish Armada; compared with which the force that Elizabeth
could employ was insignificant: but "the battle is not to the strong." On
the 29th of May, 1588, the Spanish Armada sailed from Lisbon,
having first been blessed by the Pope, and prayed for by all true
Catholics. God undertook for England and Protestant truth; and by
confounding the counsels of our enemies, by inspiring our brave commanders
and seamen with courage, and by sending boisterous and contrary winds, He
distressed, dispersed, and destroyed the Spaniards and their ships. So
that, defeated on every side, not one half of the boasted Invincible
Armada returned to Spain. Thus was Elizabeth's power greatly increased,
and her dark designing Popish enemies were discouraged. During the
remainder of her reign they acted the part of wisdom or of cunning, and
kept their counsels secret.
After Elizabeth, came James of Scotland to the throne; and as his
mother was zealously devoted to the Pope's interest, and was one on whose
behalf the Pope had interfered, though not successfully, the Romanists
seem to have calculated that he would favour their opinions and practices:
but they miscalculated. "And now, utterly despairing either by flattery to
woe, or force to wrest, any free and public exercise of their religion,
some of them entered into a damnable and devilish conspiracy," says
Fuller, the Church Historian, "to blow up the Parliament-house with
gunpowder." This plan of revenge was first thought of by a gentleman of
the name of Catesby. He communicated his design to Percy, a descendant of
the Earl of Northumberland, who suggested assassination of the King; but
this seemed to Catesby very far from being adequate to their purpose. He
told Percy that the King would be succeeded by his children, who would
also inherit his maxims of government; and that even though the whole
royal family were destroyed, the Parliament, nobility, and gentry, being
all infected with the same heresy, would raise another Protestant Prince
to the throne. His own words were" To serve any good purpose, we must
destroy, at one blow, the King, the royal family, the Lords and Commons,
and bury all our enemies in one common ruin. Happily they are all
assembled on the first meeting of Parliament; and afford us the
opportunity of glorious and useful vengeance. Great preparations will not
be requisite. A few of us may run a mine below the hall in which they
meet; and, choosing the very moment when the King harangues both the
houses, consign over to destruction those determined foes to all piety and
religion. Meanwhile, we ourselves standing aloof, safe and unsuspected,
shall triumph in being the instruments of Divine wrath; and shall behold
with pleasure those sacrilegious walls in which were passed the edicts for
proscribing our Church and butchering her children, tossed into a thousand
fragments; while their impious inhabitants, meditating, perhaps, new
persecutions against us, pass from flames above to flames beneath, there
for ever to endure the torments due to their offenses." This scheme was
approved, and the secret was communicated to a few more. Fawkes, an
officer in the Spanish service, of approved zeal and courage, was fetched
from Flanders by one Thomas Winter; and all the conspirators bound
themselves with a solemn oath, and with the sacrament administered by the
Jesuit Gerard. "A treason without a Jesuit," says Fuller, "is like a dry
wall without either lime or mortar." To such a degree had superstition
effaced every principle of humanity from their minds, that not one of them
ever entertained the smallest compunction for the massacre they proposed
to commit. How to part their friends from their foes, was indeed a
difficult; for a few "Catholics," they supposed, would be in the
Parliament house: but Garnet, the Superior of the Jesuits, soon removed
that scruple, by showing that the interests of religion, in this case,
required the sacrifice of the innocent with the guilty. This happened in
the spring and summer of 1604; when the conspirators also hired a house in
Percy's name, adjoining to that in which the Parliament was to assemble.
They commenced operations towards the close of the year, by boring a wall
three yards thick; hoping thus to get in below the house where the
Parliament was to sit. After much labour, they got to the other side, but
were then startled by an unaccountable noise. They found, upon inquiry,
that it came from a vault below the house of Lords, where a magazine of
coals had been kept; and that the coals were then selling of, after which
the vault would be let to the highest bidder. It was immediately hired by
Percy; thirty-six barrels of powder lodged in it; the whole covered up
with faggots and billets; the doors of the cellar boldly flung open; and
everybody admitted as though it contained nothing dangerous. The King, the
Queen, and Prince Henry were expected to be present at the opening of the
Parliament. The Duke, on account of his age, would be absent; and it was
resolved that Percy should seize or murder him. The princess Elizabeth,
likewise a child, was kept at Lord Harrington's house in Warwickshire; and
some others of the conspirators engaged to assemble their friends on the
pretense of a hunting-match, when they were to seize that Princess, and
immediately proclaim her Queen. The day so long wished for at last
approached: the dreadful secret, though communicated to more than twenty
persons, had been religiously kept for a year and a half; when a few days
before the meeting of Parliament, Lord Monteagle, a Romanist, son to Lord
Morley, received the following letter, which had been delivered to his
servant by an unknown hand::--
"My Lord,--Out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a
care for your preservation. Therefore I would advise you, as you tender
your life, to devise some excuse to shift off your attendance at this
Parliament; for God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of
this time. And think not slightly of this advertisement; but retire
yourself into the country, where you may expect the event in safety.. For
though there be no appearance of any stir, yet, I say, they shall receive
a terrible blow this Parliament; and yet they shall not see who hurts
them. This counsel is not to be contemned, because it may do you good, and
can do you no harm: for the danger is past so soon as you have burned this
letter. And I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to
whose holy protection I commend you."
His Lordship, on reading this singular letter, imagined it to be only
an artifice to frighten him. He immediately carried it to Lord Salisbury,
Secretary of State, who laid it before the king on his arrival in town a
few days after. The King looked upon the letter in a more serious light.
From the manner in which it was written, he concluded that some design was
forming to blow up the Parliament house with gunpowder; and it was thought
advisable to search the vaults below. The Lord Chamberlain, to whom this
charge belonged purposely delayed the search till the day before the
meeting of Parliament. He noticed those great piles of woodd and faggots
which lay in the vault under the upper house; and, casting his eye upon
Fawkes, who stood in a corner and passed for Percy's servant, he noticed
the determined courage which was conspicuous in his face, and so much
distinguished this conspirator. Such a quantity of fuel, also, for one who
lived so little in the metropolis as Percy, appeared somewhat
extraordinary; and , upon comparing these circumstances, it was resolved
to make a further search. About midnight, Sir Thomas Knivet, a Justice of
Peace, was sent with proper attendants; and before the door of the vault
finding Fawkes, who had just finished all his preparations, he immediately
seized him, and turning over the faggots discovered the powder. The
matches and everything proper for setting fire to the train were taken in
Fawke's pocket; who seeing now no refuge but in boldness and despair,
expressed the utmost regret that he had lost the opportunity of firing the
powder at once, and of sweetening his own death by that of his enemies.
For two or three days he displayed the same obstinate intrepidity; but,
being confined in the Tower, and the rack shown to him, his courage
failed, and he made a discovery of all the conspirators. The names of
thirteen are known:--Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Sir Everard Digby,
Francis Tresham, Robert Winter, Thomas Winter, John Wright, Christopeher
Wright, Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, John Grant, Thomas Bates,
Catesby's man, and Guido Faux (Guy Fawkes).
Catesby, Percy, and the other criminals on hearing that Fawkes was
arrested, hurried away to Warwickshire, where Sir Everard Digby, imagining
that his confederates had succeeded, was already in arms to seize the
Princess Elizabeth. She had escaped into Coventry; and they were obliged
to put themselves in a posture of defense against the country people, who
were raised from all quarters and armed by the Sheriffs. The conspirators
with all their attendants never exceeded the number of eighty persons,
and, being surrounded on every side, could no longer have any hope of
escaping. Having therefore, confessed themselves to a Priest, and received
his pardon, which was of course readily granted, they resolved to sell
their lives as dearly as possible; but even this miserable consolation was
denied them. Some of their powder took fire, and disabled them from
defending themselves. They were drying it in an inn, when a miller,
casually entering by casting a billet on it, fired the gunpowder which
blew away the chimney, and soundly scorched the faces of Catesby and
Rookwood; and thus, also, were they prevented from making that desperate
resistance which they contemplated. Percy and Catesby were killed. Digby,
Rookwood, Winter, and others, being taken prisoners, were tried, confessed
their guilt, and died by the hands of the common executioner. Garnet
Provincial of the English Jesuits, was arraigned some weeks after, by four
several names, and executed. Fawkes was executed in the Parliament-yard in
Westminster. It is an aggravation of the guilt of these murderous men,
that they had agreed not to own the plot as theirs immediately on its
taking effect, but for the present to father it upon the innocent
Puritans; and then, afterwards, when success should have made all things
secure, to own the action as theirs, and receive the honour of it.
Thus was formed, and thus, by the providence of God, was discovered,
one of the most diabolical attempts of Rome upon our blessed
Protestantism. But can it be traced to Rome? Are we just in charging it
upon the Romish religion? Undoubtedly we are. It is a religion which
enforces persecution upon its professors as a duty. It binds them to
oppose and even extirpate heretics, as Protestants are called: hence, when
Papists have been in power, their dominion has been marked by the
perfidious massacre and wholesale murder of Protestants. The Gunpowder
Plot is not the only example of this . During the persecution under Mary,
to say nothing of the vast numbers who suffered by fines, confiscation's,
and imprisonments, not fewer than 277 persons fell a sacrifice to the
ignorance, bigotry, and malevolence of the Papal hierarchy. Among these
were 1 Archbishop, 4 Bishops, 21 clergymen, 8 lay-gentlemen, 84 tradesmen,
100 husbandmen, 55 women, and 4 children; who were all burnt alive, and
this with circumstances of cruelty and horror which surpassed the
bloodiest persecutions of pagan antiquity. And for what did they suffer?
For refusing to believe what they could not believe,--that the real
presence of Christ is in the mass, in the wafer and the wine. Ah, the
Roman hierarchy did their work well in that reign. They were very
religious then; for it must be remembered that to persecute is part of
their religion. They take an oath that they will "to their power persecute
and oppose heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our Lord the Pope." And
the Romish Bishops are good servants of the Pope just in proportion as
they keep this oath.
But Rome is guilty of these murders, not only because she requires such
an oath from her hierarchy, but because when they have been committed she
applauds. Her children have done a fine thing when they have assassinated
a few hundreds or thousands of her enemies. What was her course after the
frightful massacre in France, on St. Bartholomew's day? Charles IX., just
at the time when he was deceiving the Protestants by his attention to
their chiefs, and by an edict assuring them of his protection, ordered
general massacre of those very Protestants throughout his dominions. His
order was executed on St. Bartholomew's day, and during the two succeeding
months, and with such strictness that during this period 30,000 of them
were destroyed. This event was hailed at Rome as one of the most joyful
that had happened in the history of that fallen Church. It was made by the
Pope an occasion of the greatest festivity.
The persecuting propensity of the Papists is held in abeyance now, only
because the power is wanting, not because the system is changed. It is
their boast that their religion never changes. The principles upon which
so many have been put to death by them in this and other countries, and
upon which the Gunpowder-Plot was concerted, still exist. They exist in
the authoritative documents of Rome, and in the hearts of her Bishops and
Clergy. I ask, then, is the growth of Popery in this country a matter of
indifference? And are we to sit at ease while Rome is again
plotting,--plotting to make a conquest of the whole land? I can see a
deep-laid plot in the last movement of the Pope; that aggression upon our
beloved Protestantism which has recently aroused the just indignation of
this great country, of all classes, from our Queen and her Prime Minister
down to the humblest of the population. By a Bull from Rome, a Popish
hierarchy of Bishops, under the dominion of a Cardinal-Archbishop, has
been appointed; the land parceled out; and territorial titles given to
these dignitaries. Since the bloody Mary's days until now, no Pope dared
to do this; for, by an Act passed in the reign of queen Elizabeth, death
was made the penalty of even bringing in and putting in execution of
Bulls, Writings or Instruments, or other superstitious things, from the
See of Rome; "and it is still declared by a law of Victoria to be a
punishable offense, but the penalty of death is removed. So tolerant is
Protestantism! But such tolerant Acts are invariably followed by impudent
assumptions on the part of Rome. So, the force of Queen Elizabeth's law
having been broken in 1846 by the law of Victoria, in 1847 the
Vicars-Apostolic, not yet Bishops with titles derived from English towns,
meet and agree to send two of their number to Rome to petition earnestly
for this aggressive measure. Their prayer is granted; yea, more is given
than they confess to the asking: Wiseman is created Cardinal-Archbishop.
Now while the division of our country into sees for Romish Bishops, and
the giving to them of territorial titles by a Bull from Rome, are an
audacious violation of English law, the creation of a Cardinal-Archbishop
of Westminster I will fearlessly denounce as a political plot; and if it
be not at once counteracted, many years will not pass away before it will
show itself such to the dismayed Protestants of England. Wiseman is now
"not only an Ecclesiastic of the Romish Church, but he is a Prince and
Privy-Councillor of the Romish Court; is eligible for the very throne
itself; and, as the conversion of England is now the great desideratum
of the Church of Rome, and is paid and prayed for by the Romish
Propaganda, he stands more eligible for that throne than perhaps any other
Cardinal. He might have been made even Archbishop of Westminster, without
being made a Cardinal; but it was evidently intended to confer on him all
possible influence for the present, and to place him in the most
commanding relationship to the councils and the throne of the Pope, by
making a Cardinal of him. Just let us suppose that, with all the influence
which his title and residence here would give him, and with all the
knowledge of men and things which he would thus obtain, he were placed on
the Papal throne: what may we not suppose would be the result? He could
then, as a temporal Sovereign, plot with those Roman Catholic Sovereigns
who are envious of the greatness of England, and who hate her religion. He
could intrigue with his army of Jesuits, and Priests, and Monks, and Nuns,
and use other means than prayer for our conversion.. That this is now the
great desire of the Romish Church, is no secret. The following is a copy
of a document sold in Italy, at the doors of the churches:--
"' Live Jesus! Live Mary! Pray for the conversion of England.
"' Almighty and Eternal God, Thou who hast put the salvation of man in
the true faith, look down mercifully upon England, which was formerly the
nursery of the saints, and which is, since a long time, in the slavery of
pitiful heresy, and groaning under the yoke of error; chase from her the
darkness of ignorance, destroy a pernicious doctrine, and bring the
spirits to the obedience of a reasonable and true faith, so that they may
enter the bosom of the Holy and Mother Church. Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for England!' &c.
"'N.B.--S.S. Pio IX. has granted 300 days' indulgence to the faithful
who pray especially for England!'"
From the surprise which Cardinal Wiseman has expressed at the reception
he has met with in this country, especially from Her Majesty's Ministers,
we may reasonably conclude that he probably expected to be received at the
English Court; and then we should have had all the eclat, if not
all the intrigues, of intercourse with our Court and Queen in favour of
Popery. Would not St. Jame's in that case have witnessed some of Rome's
best specimens of dark designing? She gains an end, to her of incalculable
value, if she can but place a Jesuit near to the ear of Majesty. It was
thus that, under the Stuarts, England was well-nigh won to her deadly
sway. And indeed there is, there can be, no safety for any of our blessed
institutions, if again we are to be inundated by Bulls, "and other
superstitious things," and overrun in the palace and in the cottage by a
class of intruders who have nothing in common with ourselves as Britons,
but all whose sympathies are with a foreign power, and whose influence is
ever insidiously at work to betray us. Such are all Cardinals and Bishops
of the Pope's making. They are sworn to uphold this power,--not the power
of their lawful Sovereign; and indeed, where they imagine that their
fidelity to Rome requires it, they will not, as they never have done,
hesitate to destroy to their utmost the legitimate authority of the
Monarch in whose dominions they are privileged to dwell.. And who cannot
see that the Papists are just now redoubling their efforts to alienate the
subjects of Her Majesty from the principles upon which Her Majesty's
throne is founded,-the principles of Protestant truth? Let that be
accomplished, even to a limited extent, and the elements of confusion and
destruction thus introduced amongst us would at once work in favour of
that kind of interference which the Pope commanded in Elizabeth's days.
And Rome is still able to make the nations drunk with the wine of her
fornication. Thus intoxicated, would they not at her bidding engage in an
enterprise by which their own dominion might perhaps be extended, and the
glory of their religion increased? If France, for example, have shed her
blood in the cause of Popery and Pope Pius IX., what will she hesitate to
do? Are there not many Romanist powers of Europe that, already jealous of
British influence, would willingly take advantage of any scheme for its
destruction? As Christian patriots, then, let us awake, let us inform
ourselves of the real character of Rome, let us be on our guard against
her dark intriguing propensity. We shall arouse ourselves in vain if we do
not awake before she rises to power; then she will rise to destroy us;
then our lives, our liberties, our property, in her hands, will be
forfeited. To arms! To arms! The foe is at the gate! If safety is to be
insured,--the safety of the throne, the safety of our Protestant
institutions, the safety even of our lives,--the present is the time. The
sacred Scriptures must be our principal weapon. It is the sword of the
Spirit. Read the Scriptures. Circulate the Scriptures. Sustain the efforts
of all Bible and Missionary Societies by your efforts, your prayers, and
your benefactions.
My young friends, a struggle has commenced between Protestant truth and
Romish error, in which you will ere long have to take part. You will have
to be the champions of the good cause when your fathers slumber in the
grave. They now place their hope on you. Themselves passing away from the
scene of contest, they commit to you their armor and their weapons. Take
them, and when the time arrives for you to enter the arena, quit you like
men, --be strong. In your youth prepare for the conflicts of manhood.
Prepare to speak with the enemy in the gate; ay, prepare to march forth in
an aggressive war. Who knows but some of the youths whom I address may be
called by the great Head of the church to face the foe even in Rome
itself? In Rome itself there must one day be Missionaries. O that you may
be endued with the spirit of Luther, who, when his friends would have
dissuaded him from attending the Diet at Worms, exclaimed, "I will go, if
there be as many devils there as tiles on the houses!" I want you to be
Martin Luthers, and that not in courage only but in piety. Devote
yourselves to God, and to any duty He may lay upon you. Be impressed,
deeply impressed, with your obligations to the Redeemer. Carry about with
you such a persuasion that you are His, as shall inspire you with feelings
of devotedness and courage in His cause. While you are young, inform
yourselves of the doctrines of Popery, and of the superstitions and cruel
and perfidious practices of the Church of Rome. Inform yourself of her
unscriptural character, by a diligent and prayerful study of God's holy
word, which Rome hates. Read on the same subjects the excellent works now
written for your information. Read the "History of the Reformation" by
D'Aubigne; "Martyrologia," and the "Tracts on Popery," and other works
published by Mr. Mason relating to the same subject; and an excellent
little "Catechism of Popery," written for children by Mr. Leppington.
These are works which parents should purchase for their families.
In conclusion: let us hope in God, that He will soon end the apostasy;
that the Man of Sin, that wicked one, (I speak of the system,) may soon be
destroyed by the breath of His mouth and the brightness of His appearing.
For this, the souls beneath the altar cry unto Him, "How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood?" And do not
millions of mankind, drawn into this vortex as into the depths of hell,
groan out execrations on the system that has been their eternal ruin? Has
not the blood of these millions to be avenged? Ah, Rome! "Mystery, Babylon
the great, Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." thou art
drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus; but thy days are numbered. The Lamb shall overcome both thee and
the nations that have given their power and strength unto thee; "for He is
Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they are that are with Him are
called, and chosen, and faithful."
My friends, view the prophetic scene, and suffer it to give vigour to
your faith, and animation to your hope. Suffer the certainty of Rome's
desolation to awaken all your energies. "I saw," says John, " another
angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was
lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying. Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of
every unclean and hateful bird." "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye
holy Apostles and Prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty
angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea,
saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down,
and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and
musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in
thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more
in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in
thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and
the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all
in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of
Prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven
saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the
Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments; for He hath judged
the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And again they said,
Alleluia. and her smoke rose up for ever and ever."
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