Volume II 1603-1660 - The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

INTRODUCTION. xi
a member of the inn. These gentlemen, having been formerly in
the service of Sir Thomas Tresham, were now in that of his eldest
son Francis. The extent of this gentleman's participation in the
plot, and the part which he actually played, are involved in some
obscurity, and have been the subject of much discussion. Professor
S. R. Gardiner believes him to have written the celebrated letter to
Lord Monteagle, who had married his sister, and he gives good
reasons in support of his views.' The plot having been fully
discovered on the 4th November, 1605, Francis Tresham was not
summoned by the Privy Council and committed to the Tower until
Tuesday, i2th November, up to which date I presume he had been
living in the Temple. Early in December the depositions of Francis,
Lewis, and Edward Tresham and of George and William Vavasour
were taken by Sir Edward Coke as attorney general, who also
searched their chambers. In those of George Vavasour in the Inner
Temple he discovered the celebrated pamphlet by George Blackwell,'
the archpriest, against lying and dissimulation. It was in the handwriting
of George Vavasour, having been copied by him from the
original belonging to Francis Tresham, during the time that Lewis
Tresham was expelled from the inn, and while he and Vavasour
were living together at Cole's house. The pamphlet was originally
entitled " A Treatise of Equivocation," but was afterwards altered,
as was alleged by Garnet, to " A Treatise against Lying and
Fraudulent Dissimulation," and was much pressed against Garnet
at his trial.' The examinations showed that the Treshams had for
some generations been active catholics, and that they had been
engaged in intrigues not only during the few years of King James,
but also during the long reign of Queen Elizabeth.' They were
cousins of Catesby and of the two Winters, the former of whom was
shot at Holbeach, and the two others executed in London. Francis
Tresham was never brought to trial, having died in the Tower on
the 22nd December, 1605. So long as he lived he was treated with
consideration, being attended by his wife and his servant, George
Vavasour. After his death, however, his estates were confiscated,
"James I.," vol. i., p. 24o : " What Gunpowder Plot was," p. 122. S. R. Gardiner,
London, 1897.
" State Papers Dom. Jac. I.," vol. xvii., No. zo ; Gardiner, " James I.," vol. i., p. 256.
" State Trials," vol. ii., p. 234.
1 Gardiner, " James I.," vol. i., p. 235.