future favours, when he that receives the promises shall not be present to see the performance'!
If Winter failed to obtain the aid sought, his second mission, at any rate, was not absolutely fruitless, for he brought back with him the famous Guy Faukes,[1] with whom he was soon after engaged in planning the great conspiracy.
John Wright, the next of the conspirators on our list, did not possess the remarkable abilities of Catesby and Winter, but he seems to have been well suited to the rough part he played, for he won Catesby's special approval 'for his valour and secrecy in carriage of any business' Born in December, 1567, Wright was the eldest son of a Yorkshire gentleman. He was a good swordsman, and very fond of using that weapon when a young man, being rude and quick-tempered, though slow of speech. According to Gerard, he became a Romanist about 1600-01, but it is far more likely that he had been received into the Church some five years or more before that date, for as far back as 1596 he had awakened the suspicions of the Government by his close friendship with Catesby. This latter fact is especially interesting, since it shows that the leaders among the conspirators had been practically
- ↑ Guy Faukes, whose reputation as a soldier was well-known, was specially invited to England by Thomas Winter to join in 'a' conspiracy, the real nature of which was not revealed to him till after meeting Catesby. Winter may have been the first to propose hatching 'a' plot, but Catesby nevertheless was the first to invent the Gunpowder Treason.
