Francis Tresham - Monteagle Letter

Monteagle Letter

Tresham attended a meeting later in October with several other conspirators, at which the fates of several notable Catholic peers were discussed. Foremost in Tresham's thoughts were the lives of two brothers-in-law, William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, and Edward Stourton, 10th Baron Stourton. Catesby's answer to this was that "the innocent must perish with the guilty, sooner than ruin the chances of success." However, as the last few details were being finalised that month, on Saturday 26 October Monteagle received an anonymous letter while at his house in Hoxton. It contained the following message:

My Lord, out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation. Therefore I would advise you, as you tender your life, to devise some excuse to shift your attendance at this parliament; for God and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time. And think not slightly of this advertisement, but retire yourself into your 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 condemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm; for the danger is passed as soon as you have burnt the letter. And I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend you.

Uncertain of its meaning, Monteagle delivered it to the English Secretary of State, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury.

Tresham has long been suspected as the letter's author. Mark Nicholls states that Tresham almost certainly wrote it, pointing to the fact that when Catesby was made aware of its existence he immediately suspected Tresham and went with Thomas Wintour to confront him. The two threatened to "hang him", but "with such oaths and emphatic assertions" Tresham managed to convince the pair of his innocence, and the next day urged them by letter to abandon the plot. Antonia Fraser suggests that Catesby and Wintour's decision to believe him should not be disregarded. While making his deathbed confession in the Tower of London Tresham failed to mention the letter; an omission which in her opinion makes no sense if Tresham is to be regarded as its author, especially considering that its recipient was by then being credited as the country's saviour. Author Alan Haynes views Tresham as the most likely culprit, but raises the possibility that Salisbury penned the letter himself, to protect a source.