Chapter XXIII: Appendix: M

_Sir William Waad's Memorial Inscriptions._

IN a room of the Queen's House in the Tower, in which the conspirators are supposed to have been examined by the Lords of the Council, Sir William Waad has left a series of inscriptions as memorials of the events in which he played so large a part. Of these the most noteworthy are the following:

I.

Jacobus Magnus, Magnae Britanniae
rex, pietate, justitia, prudentia, doctrina, fortitudine,
clementia, ceterisq. virtutibus regiis clariss'; Christianae
fidei, salutis publicae, pacis universalis propugnator, fautor
auctor acerrimus, augustiss', auspicatiss'.
Anna Regina Frederici 2. Danorum Regis invictiss' filia sereniss^a,
Henricus princeps, naturae ornamentis, doctrinae praesidiis, gratiae
Muneribus, instructiss', nobis et natus et a deo datus,
Carolus dux Eboracensis divina ad omnem virtutem indole,[465]
Elizabetha utriusq. soror Germana, utroque parente dignissima
Hos velut pupillam oculi tenellam
providus muni, procul impiorum
impetu alarum tuarum intrepidos
conde sub umbra.

[This is evidently intended for a Sapphic stanza, but the last two words of v. 3 have been transposed, destroying the metre.]

II.

Robertus Cecil, Comes Sarisburiensis, summus et regis
Secretarius, et Angliae thesaurarius, clariss' patris
et de repub. meritissimi filius, in paterna munera
successor longe dignissimus;
Henricus, comes Northamptoniae, quinq. portuum praefectus et
privati sigilli custos, disertorum litteratissimus, litteratorum
disertissimus;
Carolus comes Nottingamiae, magnus Angliae admirallus
victoriosus;
Thomas Suffolciae comes, regis camerarius splendidissimus,
tres viri nobilissimi ex antiqua Howardorum familia, ducumq.
Norfolciae prosapia;
Edwardus Somersetus, comes Wigorniae, equis regiis praefectus
ornatissimus;
Carolus Blunt, comes Devoniae, Hyberniae prorex et pacificator,
Joannes Areskinus,[466] illustris Marriae comes, praecipuarum in
Scotia arcium praefectus;
Georgius Humius, Dunbari comes, Scotiae thesaurarius
prudentiss'
omnes illustriss' ordinis garteri milites;
Joannes Popham, miles, justiciarius Angliae capitalis,
et justitiae consultissimus:

Hi omnes illustrissimi viri, quorum nomina ad sempiternam eorum
memoriam posteritati consecrandam proxime supra ad lineam posita
sunt, ut regi a consiliis, ita ab eo delegati quaesitores, reis
singulis incredibili diligentia ac cura saepius appellatis, nec
minore solertia et dexteritate pertentatis eorum animis, eos suis
ipsorum inter se collatis responsionibus convictos, ad voluntariam
confessionem adegerunt: et latentem nefarie conjurationis seriem,
remq. omnem ut hactenus gesta et porro per eos gerenda esset, summa
fide erutam, aeterna cum laude sua, in lucem produxerunt, adeo ut
divina singulari providentia effectum sit, ut tam praesens, tamq.
f[oe]da tempestas, a regia majestate, liberisq. regiis, et omni
regno depulsa, in ipsos autores eorumq. socios redundarit.

III.

Conjuratorum Nomina, ad perpetuam ipsorum infamiam et tantae diritatis detestationem sempiternam.

Thomas Winter Thomas Percy
Robert Winter Robert Catesby
_Monachi_ { Henry Garnet John Winter John Wright
_salutare_ { John Gerrard Guy Fawkes Christopher Wright
_Jesu_ { Oswald Tesmond Thomas Bates Francis Tresham
_nom[=e]_ { Ham[=o] Everard Digby, K. Thomas Abbington
_ementiti_ { Baldw[=i] Am' Rookewood Edmond Baineham, K.
John Graunt William Stanley, K.
Robert Keyes Hughe Owen.
Henry Morg[=a]

IV.

Besides the above there is a prolix description of the Plot, devised against the best of sovereigns, "a Jesuitis Romanensibus, perfidiae Catholicae et impietatis viperinae autoribus et assertoribus, aliisq. ejusdem amentiae scelerisq. patratoribus et sociis susceptae, et in ipso pestis derepente inferendae articulo (salutis anno 1605, mensis Novembris die quinto), tam praeter spem quam supra fidem mirifice et divinitus detectae."

There is, moreover, a sentence in Hebrew, with Waad's cipher beneath, and a number of what seem to be meant for verses. The following lines are evidently the Lieutenant's description of his own office:

"Custodis Custos sum, Carcer Carceris, arcis
Arx, atque Argu' Argus; sum speculae specula;
Sum vinclum in vinclis; compes cum compede, clav[=u]
Firmo haerens, teneo tentus, habens habeor.
Dum regi regnoq. salus stet firma quieta,
Splendida sim Compes Compedis usque licet."

This is considerably more metrical and intelligible than some of the rest.

In 1613 Waad was dismissed from his post, one of the charges against him being that he had embezzled the jewels of Arabella Stuart.[467]

In Theobald's _Memoirs of Sir Walter Raleigh_ (p. 16), Waad is described as "the Lieutenant of the Tower, and Cecil's great Creature."

FOOTNOTES:

[464] _Dom. James I._ lvii. 92-93, October 5th.

[465] At the time of the Plot Charles was not quite five years old.

[466] Erskine.

[467] _Dom. James I._ lxxii. 129.