paper stuck in his hat, inscribed ‘Campion, the seditious jesuit.’ The governor of the Tower, Sir Owen Hopton, at first put Campion in the narrow dungeon known as ‘Little Ease.’ He remained there until the fourth day (25 July), when, with great secrecy, he was conducted to the house of the Earl of Leicester. There he was received by Leicester, the Earl of Bedford, and two secretaries of state, with all honour and courtesy. They told him they had sent for him to know the plain truth, why he and Parsons had come into England, and what commission they brought from Rome. He gave them a truthful account of all passages, and then answered their questions, one by one, with such readiness that he seemed to have convinced them his only purpose was the propagation of the catholic faith and the salvation of souls; so that, seeing, as they said, he had done ill with good intentions, they pitied him, especially the two earls, who had known and admired him in his youth in London and in Oxford. They told him that they found no fault with him, except that he was a papist—‘which,’ he replied, ‘is my greatest glory;’ but he spoke with such modesty and generosity that Dudley sent word to Hopton to give him better accommodation, and to treat him more amiably. Nothing more was known at the time concerning this interview; but at the trial it came out that the queen herself was present, that she asked Campion whether he thought her really queen of England; to which he replied that he acknowledged her highness not only as his queen, but also as his most lawful governess. Whereupon her majesty with great courtesy offered him his life, his liberty, riches, and honours; but under conditions which he could not in conscience accept (Simpson, Biography of Campion, 240, 296).
After this Hopton treated his prisoner less harshly, as he hoped to be able to induce him to recant, and reports were circulated among the public that the jesuit would shortly make a solemn retractation at St. Paul's Cross and burn his own book with his own hands. But Campion disdainfully rejected the proposal that he should go over to the protestant church, and when he had been a week in the Tower Hopton reverted to the severe method of treatment, with the consent of the privy council, who gave orders that Campion should be examined under torture. There is no authentic account of what he said on the first two occasions when he was placed upon the rack (30 July and 6 Aug.) It seems that he really revealed nothing of moment, and his biographer, Mr. Simpson, after a very minute examination of all the facts, arrives at the conclusion that Campion's confessions were merely his acknowledgment of the truth of matters which he perceived were already known to his examiners (Biography, 250). However, it was given out that he had betrayed his friends and divulged the names of the gentlemen who harboured him. A great many catholic gentlemen were arrested in various parts of the country, in consequence, it was alleged, of Campion's confessions. For a considerable time the report of Campion's weakness and even treachery was universally credited among catholics as well as protestants, but ultimately the suspicion that Campion's ‘confessions’ were forgeries was turned almost into a certainty by the constant refusal of the council to confront him with those whom he was said to have accused. On 29 Oct. the council gave instructions that Campion and others should again be ‘put into the rack,’ and this order was executed with all severity.
To make Campion appear intellectually contemptible, and to counteract the effect produced by his ‘Decem Rationes,’ the government deemed it expedient to grant his demand for a public disputation. Accordingly a number of the most able protestant divines, including Nowel, dean of St. Paul's, Dr. William Fulke, Roger Goaden, Dr. Walker, and William Charke, were appointed to meet him and discuss the chief points of controversy. They had all the time they wanted for preparation and free access to libraries, whereas Campion was not informed of the arrangement until an hour or two before the conference began. Then he was placed in the middle of the chapel in the Tower, without books, and without even a table to lean upon. The disputation was afterwards resumed in Hopton's hall, and four conferences were held altogether. Each day's conference began at eight and continued till eleven, and was renewed in the afternoon from two till five. A catholic who was present at the first conference has recorded that he noticed Campion's sickly face and his mental weariness—‘worn with the rack, his memory destroyed, and his force of mind almost extinguished.’ ‘Yet,’ he adds, ‘I heard Father Edmund reply to the subtleties of the adversaries so easily and readily, and bear so patiently all their contumely, abuse, derision, and jokes, that the greatest part of the audience, even the heretics who had persecuted him, admired him exceedingly.’ After the fourth discussion the council ordered the conferences to be discontinued. One of the converts made by Campion at the conferences was Philip Howard, earl of Arundel.
Walsingham and the other members of
