THE FIRST EARL OF SALISBURY 185
took alarm, and in February, 1604, issued a proclamation for the banishment of the priests. This was followed in July by a severe Act against recusants. Neither of these measures was enforced, but they served to show the Catholics that they had little to hope for from the King, and their anger and disappointment led a section of them to give their sanction to deeds of violence, culminating in the Gunpowder Plot. It has been suggested that Salisbury deliberately egged on the conspirators to their destruction, while others have thought he got wind of the plot at an early stage, but allowed it to proceed so as to gain more credit by a dramatic discovery. On the whole, however, it may be said that " in the judgment of those best qualified to pronounce, the received story of Gunpowder Plot remains more likely to be true than any other." l
The natural result of the plot was the introduc- tion of new and still more stringent penal laws, though once more James prevented their strict enforcement. In this matter Cecil upheld his sovereign, disliking persecution, except in so far as Catholics showed themselves " absolute seducers of the people from temporal obedience and confident persuaders to rebellion." Strongly as one must condemn the severe restrictions placed on the recusants, it must always be remembered that the Church of Rome " was pledged to change the moral and intellectual atmosphere in which Englishmen moved and breathed."
1 Professor Montague, History of England, 1603 1660, p. 31.
�� �
