1. For the Persons offending, or by whom, they are of two sorts; either of the Clergy, or Laity: and for each of them there is a several Objection made. Touching those of the Laity, it is by some given out, that they are such Men, as admit just Exception, either desperate in Estate, or base, or not settled in their Wits; such as are Sine Religione, Sine Sede, Sine Fide, Sine Re, & Sine Spe; without Religion, without Habitation, without Credit, without Means, without Hope. But (that no Man, tho' never so wicked, may be wronged) true it is, they were Gentlemen of good Houses, of excellent Parts, howsoever most perniciously seduced, abused, corrupted, and jesuited, of very competent Fortunes and States. Besides that Percy was of the House of Northumberland, Sir William Stanley, who principally imployed Fawkes into Spain, and John Talbot of Grafton, who at the least is in Case of Misprision of High-Treason, both of great and honourable Families. Concerning those of the Spirituality, it is likewise falsly said, That there is never a religious Man in this Action. For I never yet knew a Treason without a Romish Priest; but in this there are very many Jesuits, who are known to have dealt and passed thro' the whole Action: Three of them are Legiers and Statesmen, as Henry Garnet alias Walley, the Superior of the Jesuits, Legier here in England; Father Creswell Legier Jesuit in Spain, Father Baldwyn Legier in Flanders, as Parsons at Rome; besides their cursory Men, as Gerrard, Oswald, Tesmond, alias Greeneway, Hammond, Hall, and other Jesuits. So that the principal Offenders are the seducing Jesuits; Men that use the Reverence of Religion, yea, even the most sacred and blessed Name of Jesus, as a Mantle to cover their Impliety, Blasphemy, Treason and Rebellion, and all manner of Wickedness; as by the help of Christ shall be made most apparent to the Glory of God, and the Honour of our Religion. Concerning this Sect, their Studies and Practices principally consist in two DD's, to wit, in Deposing of Kings, and Disposing of Kingdoms: their Profession and Doctrine is a Religion of Distinctions, the greatest part of them being without the Text, and therefore in very deed, idle and vain Conceits of their own Brains: not having Membra dividentia, that is, all the parts of the division warranted by the Word of God; and ubi lex non distinguit, nec nos distinguere debemus. And albeit that Princes hold their Crowns immediately of and from God, by Right of lawful Succession and Inheritance inherent by Royal Blood; yet think these Jesuits with a Goose-quill, within four distinctions to remove the Crown from the Head of any King christened, and to deal with them, as the old Romans are said to have done with their Viceroys, or petty Kings, who in effect were but Lieutenants unto them, to crown and uncrown them at their pleasures. Neither so only, but they will proscribe and expose them to be butchered by Vassals, which is against their own Canons, for Priests to meddle in cause of Blood. And by this means they would make the Condition of a King far worse than that of the poorest Creature that breatheth. First saith Simanca; Hæretici omnes ipso jure sunt Excommunicati, & à Communione fidelium diris proscriptionibus separati, & quottannis in cœna Domini excommunicantur à Papa: So then every Heretick stands and is reputed with them as excommunicated and accursed, if not de Facto, yet de Jure, in Law and Right, to all their Intents and Purposes; therefore may he be deposed, proscribed and murdered. I, but suppose he be not a professed Heretick, but dealeth reservedly, and keepeth his Conscience to himself; how stands he then ? Simanca answers, Quæri autem solet an Hæreticus occultus incommunicatus sit ipso Jure, & in alias etiam pœnas incidat contra Hæreticos platutas ? Cui quæstioni simpliciter Jurisperiti respondent, quod etsi hæresis occulta sit, nihilominus occultus Hæreticus incidit in illas pœnas. Whether he be a known or a secret Heretick all is one, they thunder out the same Judgment and Curse for both; whereas Christ saith, Nolite judicare, Judge not, which is, saith Augustine, Nolite judicare de occultis, of those things which are secret. But suppose that a Prince thus accursed and deposed, will eftsoons return and conform himself to their Romish Church, shall he then be restored to his State, and again receive his Kingdom? Nothing less: For saith Simanca, Si Reges aut alii Principes Christiani facti sint Hæretici, protinus subjecti & vassalli ab eorum dominio liberantur; nec jus hoc recuperabunt, quamvis postea reconcilientur Ecclesiæ. O but, Sancta Mater Ecclesia nunquam claudit gremium redeunti; our Holy Mother the Church nevers shuts her Bosom to any Convert. It is true, say they, but with a Distinction, Quoad Animam: Therefore so he may, and shall be restored; that is, spiritually, in respect of his Soul's health. Quoad Animam, he shall again be taken into the Holy Church; but not Quoad Regnum, in respect of his Kingdom or State Temporal, he must not be restored. The reason is, because all hold only thus far, Modo no sit ad damnum Ecclesiæ, so that the Church receive thereby no detriment. I, but suppose that such an unhappy deposed Prince have a Son, or lawful and right Heir, and he also not to be touched or spotted with his Father's Crime, shall not he at the least succeed, and be invested into that princely Estate ? Neither will this down with them; Heresy is a Leprosy, and hereditary Disease: Et ex leprosis parentibus leprosi generantur filii; Of leprous Parents, come leprous Children. So that saith Simanca, Propter Hæresim Regis, non solum Rex regno privatur, sed & ejus filii a regni successione pelluntur, ut noster Lupus (who is indeed, Vir secundum nomen ejus, a Wolf as well in Nature as Name) luculenter probat. Now if a Man doubt whom they here mean by an Heretick, Creswell in his Book called Philopater, gives a plain Resolution; Regnandi jus amittit (saith he) qui Religionem Romanam deserit, he is the Heretick we speak of; even whosoever forsakes the Religion of the Church of Rome, he is accursed, deprived, proscribed, never to be absolved but by the Pope himself, never to be restored either in himself, or his Posterity.

One place amongst many out of Creswell's Philopater, shall serve to give a Taste of the jesuitical Spirits and Doctrine; which is, Sect. 2. pag. 109.

Hinc etiam infert universa Theologorum ac Jurisconsultorum Ecclesiasticorum schola (& est certum & de fide) quemcunque Principem Christianum, si à Religione Catholica manifesto diflexerit, & alios avocare voluerit, excidere statim omni potestate ac dignitate, ex ipsa vi juris tum humani tum divini, hocque antedictam sententiam supremi pastoris ac judicis contra ipsum prolatam, & subditos quoscunque liberos esse ab omni Juramenti obligatione, quod de obedientia tanquam Principi legitimo præstitissent; posseque & debere (si vires habeant) istiusmodi hominem tanquam Apostatam, Hæreticum, ac Christi Domini Desertorem, & Reipub. suæ inimicum hostemque ex hominum Christianorum dominatu ejicere, ne alios inficiat, vel suo exemplo aut Imperio à fide avertat. Atque hæc certa, definita & indubitata virorum doctissimorum sententia.
That is, this inference also doth the whole School both of Divines and Lawyers make, (and it is a Position certain, and to be undoubtedly believed) that if any Christian Prince whatsoever, shall manifestly turn from the Catholic Religion, and desire or seek to reclaim other Men from the same, he presently falleth from all princely Power and Dignity; and that also by virtue and force of the Law itself, both divine and human, even before any Sentence pronounced against him by the supreme Pastor and Judge. And that his Subjects, of what Estate or Condition soever, are freed from all bond of Oath of Allegiance, which at any time they had made unto him as to their lawful Prince. Nay, that they both may and ought (provided they have competent Strength and Force) cast out such a Man from bearing Rule amongst Christians, as an Apostate, an Heretick, a Backslider and Revolter from our Lord Christ, and an Enemy to his own State and Commonwealth, lest perhaps he might infect others, or by his Example or Command turn them from the Faith. And this is the certain, resolute, and undoubted Judgment of the best learned Men. But Tresham in his Book, De Officio Principis Christiani, goeth beyond all the rest; for he plainly concludeth and determineth, that if any Prince shall but favour, or shew countenance to an Heretick, he presently loseth his Kingdom. In his fifth Chapter, he propoundeth this Problem, An aliqua possit secundam Conscientiam subditis esse Ratio, cur legitimo suo Regi bellum sine scelere moveant? Whether there may be any lawful Cause, justifiable in Conscience, for Subjects to take Arms without Sin, against their lawful Prince and Sovereign? The Resolution is, Si Princeps hæreticus sit & obstinate ac pertinaciter intolerabilis, summi Pastoris divina potestate deponatur, & aliud caput constituatur, cui subditi se jungant, & legitimo ordine & authoritate tyrannidem amoveant. Princeps indulgendo hæreticos non solum Deum offendit, sed perdit & regnum & gentem. Their Conclusion therefore is, that for Heresy, as above is understood, a Prince is to be deposed, and his Kingdom bestowed by the Pope at pleasure; and that the People, upon pain of Damnation, are to take part with him whom the Pope shall so constitute over them. And thus whilst they imagine with the Wings of their light-feathered Distinctions to mount above the Clouds and Level of vulgar Conceits, they desperately fall into a Sea of Gross Absurdities, Blasphemy, and Impiety. And surely the Jesuits were so far ingaged in this Treason, as that some of them stick not to say, that if it should miscarry, that they were utterly undone, and that it would overthrow the State of the whole Society of the Jesuits: And I pray God that in this, they may prove true Prophets, that they may become like the Order of Templarii, so called for that they kept near the Sepulchre at Jerusalem, who were by a general and universal Edict in one Day throughout Christendom quite extinguished, as being Ordo Impietatis, an Order of Impiety. And so from all Sedition and privy Conspiracy, from all false Doctrine and Heresy, from Hardness of Heart, and Contempt of thy Word and Commandment, Good Lord, deliver us. Their Protestations and Pretences, are to win Souls to God; their Proofs weak, light and of no value; their Conclusions false, damnable, and damned Heresies; The first mentioneth God, the second favoureth of weak and frail Man, the last of the Devil; and their Practice easily appeareth out of the Dealing of their Holy Father.

Henry III. of France for killing a Cardinal was excommunicated, and after murdered by James Clement a Monk: That Fact doth Sixtus Quintus then Pope, instead of orderly censuring thereof, not only approve, but commend in a long Consistory Oration. That a Monk, a religious Man, saith he, hath slain the unhappy French King in the midst of his Host, it is rarum, insigne, memorabile Facinus, a rare, a notable, and a memorable Act; yea further, it is Facinus non sine Dei optimi Maximi particulari providentia & dispositione, &c. A Fact done not without the special Providence and Appointment of our good God, and the Suggestion and Assistance of his Holy Spirit; yea, a far greater work that was the slaying of Holofernes by Holy Judith.

Verus Monachus fictum occiderat, A true Monk had killed the false Monk; for that, as was reported, Henry III. sometimes would use that Habit when he went in Procession: And for France, even that part thereof which entertaineth the Popish Religion, yet never could of ancient time brook this usurped Authority of the See of Rome; namely, that the Pope had Power to excommunicate Kings, and absolve Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance: which Position is so directly opposite to all the Canons of the Church of France, and to all the Decrees of the King's Parliament there, as that the very Body of Sorbonne, and the whole University at Paris condemn'd it as a most schismatical, pestilent and pernicious Doctrine of the Jesuits; as may appear in a Treatise made to the French King, and set out 1602. intitled, Le franc Discours. But to return to the Jesuits, Catesby was resolved by the Jesuits, that the Fact was both lawful and meritorious; and herewith he persuaded and settled the rest, as they seemed to make doubt.

Concerning Thomas Bates, who was Catesby's Man, as he was wound into this Treason by his Master, so was he resolved, when he doubted of the Lawfulness thereof, by the Doctrine of the Jesuits. For the Manner, it was after this sort: Catesby noting that his Man observ'd him extraordinarily, as suspecting somewhat of that which he the said Catesby went about, called him to him at this Lodging in Puddle-wharf; and in the Presence of Thomas Winter, asked him what he thought the Business was they went about, for that he of late had so suspiciously and strangely marked them. Bates answered, that he thought they went about some dangerous Matter, whatsoever the Particular were: whereupon they asked him again what he thought the Business might be; and he answered that he thought they intended some dangerous Matter about the Parliament-house, because he had been sent to get a Lodging near unto that Place. Then did they make the said Bates take an Oath to be secret in the Action; which being taken by him, they then told him that it was true, that they were to execute a great Matter; namely, to lay Powder under the Parliament-house to blow it up. Then they also told him that he was to receive the Sacrament for the more assurance, and thereupon he went to Confession, to the said Tesmond the Jesuit; and in his Confession told him, that he was to conceal a very dangerous piece of work, that his Master Catesby and Thomas Winter had imparted unto him, and said he much feared the Matter to be utterly unlawful, and therefore therein desired the Counsel of the Jesuit; and revealed unto him the whole Intent and Purpose of blowing up the Parliament-House upon the first day of the Assembly; at what time the King, the Queen, the Prince, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Judges, the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, should all have been there convented and met together. But the Jesuit being a Confederate therein before, resolved and incouraged him in the Action; and said that he should be secret in that which his Master had imparted unto him, for that it was for a good Cause. Adding moreover, that it was not dangerous unto him, nor any Offence to conceal it: and thereupon the Jesuit gave him Absolution, and Bates received the Sacrament of him, in the Company of his Master Robert Catesby and Thomas Winter. Also when Rookwood in the Presence of sundry of the Traitors (having first received the Oath of Secrecy) had by Catesby imparted unto him the Plot of blowing up the King and State; the said Rookwood being greatly amazed thereat, answered, that it was a Matter of Conscience to take away so much Blood: but Catesby replied, that he was resolved, and that by good Authority (as coming from the Superior of the Jesuits) that in Conscience it might be done, yea, tho' it were with the Destruction of many Innocents, rather than the Action should quaile. Likewise Father Hammond absolved all the Traitors at Robert Winter's House, upon Thursday after the Discovery of the Plot, they being then in open Rebellion: And therefore, Hos, O Rex magne, caveto; and let all Kings take heed, how they either favour or give Allowance of Connivance unto them.