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08 - Blessed Edmund Campion by Louise Imogen Guiney · Blessed Edmund Campion

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eight A Blessed Edmund Campion. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All Librivo's recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Blessed
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  Speaker 1: Edmund Campion by Louise Imogen Guinea Inispitable Home, fifteen eighty.
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  Speaker 1: Sir Francis Walsingham had a wonderfully well organized spy system,
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  Speaker 1: far superior, as Simpson remarks to the attempts of the
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  Speaker 1: Spaniards in the same line. Therefore, each of the missionaries
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  Speaker 1: was cautioned to travel under a name other than his own.
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  Speaker 1: Campion fell back upon his beloved alias of mister Patrick,
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  Speaker 1: as he had done for the brief visit to Geneva.
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  Speaker 1: His friends made him drop it as they neared the channel,
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  Speaker 1: being irish. It was doubly dangerous. Sincere at Reims, the
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  Speaker 1: homegoers got their first tardy news of the so called
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  Speaker 1: Geraldine Insurrection in Ireland, acted upon in July fifteen seventy nine,
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  Speaker 1: and crushed almost as soon by the massacre at Sermwick
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  Speaker 1: in Kerrie. It had been nursed by European feelings against
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  Speaker 1: Elizabeth's policy in Flanders and her piracies on the high seas,
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  Speaker 1: and the great religious grudge found it a convenient opening.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Nicholas Sander, who was not a papal legate, but
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  Speaker 1: stood none the less for the Pope's act of goodwill
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  Speaker 1: in the matter, joined the expedition with James Fitzmorris, Spanish soldiers,
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  Speaker 1: Roman officers, ships and supplies. That expedition did not, as
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  Speaker 1: we know, dislodge Jezebel from her throne, but it gave
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  Speaker 1: sufficient heartbreak to our messengers of the Gospel of Peace,
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  Speaker 1: who we are now sure to be mixed up with it.
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  Speaker 1: In the popular mind, the situation was certainly an awkward one.
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  Speaker 1: It gave unique plausibility to Walsingham's claim that, to quote
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  Speaker 1: Father Poland, the preaching of the Old Faith was only
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  Speaker 1: a political propaganda. Father Robert Parsons faced the future on
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  Speaker 1: behalf of the rest in the spirit of a brave man.
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  Speaker 1: Seeing that it lay not in our hands to remedy
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  Speaker 1: the matter, our consciences being clear, we resolved ourselves with
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  Speaker 1: the Apostle, through evil report and good report, to go
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  Speaker 1: forward only with the spiritual action we had in hand.
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  Speaker 1: And if God had appointed that any of us should
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  Speaker 1: suffer in England under a wrong title, as himself did
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  Speaker 1: under the case of a malefactor. We should lose nothing thereby,
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  Speaker 1: but rather gain with him who knew the truth, and
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  Speaker 1: whom only in this enterprise we desired to please. Danger
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  Speaker 1: was a spur and not a bridle to Campion's devote
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  Speaker 1: at will. But he began to foresee little fruit from
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  Speaker 1: laborers on his native ground, with so much fierce misunderstanding
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  Speaker 1: against him, and to fear that he had not done
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  Speaker 1: well in so gladly laying down what was after all
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  Speaker 1: steady and successful work in Bohemia. With this buzzing scruple,
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  Speaker 1: he went to the President for advice. Alan replied that
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  Speaker 1: the work in boham Land, excellent at all points as
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  Speaker 1: it had been, yet, could be done by an equally
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  Speaker 1: qualified person, or at least by two or three such persons,
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  Speaker 1: whereas in his own necessitous England, Campion would be given
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  Speaker 1: strength and grace to supply for many men. At Reims,
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  Speaker 1: during his waiting time, Campion preached one of his famous
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  Speaker 1: sermons to the students. It gave him a pathetic pleasure
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  Speaker 1: to be complimented upon his ready English, of which he
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  Speaker 1: had spoken little in private, and not a word in
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  Speaker 1: public for eight years. His text is reported to have
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  Speaker 1: been Luke twelve forty nine. I am come to send
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  Speaker 1: fire upon the earth, and what will I but that
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  Speaker 1: it shall be kindled. And at one point he cried
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  Speaker 1: out in so earnest a manner, fire, fire, fire, fire,
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  Speaker 1: that those outside the chapel ran for the water buckets.
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  Speaker 1: But a careful reading of what was then spoken suggests
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  Speaker 1: quite a different passage of Holy Scripture as present in
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  Speaker 1: Campion's mind. His theme was the ruin wrought by the
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  Speaker 1: conflagration of heresy, now attacking a third generation of Christian souls,
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  Speaker 1: and to be put out, he says, by water of
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  Speaker 1: Catholic doctrine, milk of sweet and holy conversation, blood of
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  Speaker 1: potent martyrdom isac dyas sixty four eleven runs our holy
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  Speaker 1: and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised, thee is
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  Speaker 1: burned up with fire, and all our pleasant things are
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  Speaker 1: laid waste. This very passage had been alluded to in
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  Speaker 1: one of Campion's former exhortations, and may have been a
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  Speaker 1: favorite with him. The whole trend, indeed, in every part
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  Speaker 1: of this Rehem's sermon bear out the thoughts not of
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  Speaker 1: the apostles page, but of the prophets, Bishop Goldwell and
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  Speaker 1: doctor Morton, the highest in office of the missionary party,
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  Speaker 1: remained at Rhems. Three englishmen, a late professor of law
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  Speaker 1: and two priests joined in to fill up the gap,
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  Speaker 1: and another Jesuit who had been laboring in Poland. This
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  Speaker 1: was Father Thomas Cottam, ordered home to restore his health,
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  Speaker 1: but destined, as were so many of his comrades, for martyrdom.
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  Speaker 1: The little band of fifteen divided and sailed from different ports.
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  Speaker 1: Campion with parsons and one lay brother, Ralph Emerson, headed
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  Speaker 1: for Calais as their point of departure, going by way
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  Speaker 1: of Saint Omer's. Not a little encouraged to think that
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  Speaker 1: the first mission of Saint Augustine and his fellows into
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  Speaker 1: our island was by that city. Here there was another
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  Speaker 1: Jesuit college. The Flemish fathers croaked friendly warnings in their ears,
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  Speaker 1: for it was common rumor in Saint Omer's that the
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  Speaker 1: Queen's Council had full information of the appearance, dress and
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  Speaker 1: movements of the exiles, and had officers posted to waylay them.
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  Speaker 1: On arrival. They had come on foot nearly nine hundred
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  Speaker 1: miles and were not likely to give up the object
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  Speaker 1: of their journey, but they took precautions. It was decided
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  Speaker 1: that Parsons should go first in military attire, accompanied from
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  Speaker 1: the low countries by a good youth who passed as
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  Speaker 1: his man George and that of Parsons, and got safely
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  Speaker 1: to Dover. He was to sent for Campion, and the
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  Speaker 1: faithful little soul. Ralph Emerson, an English gentleman living overseas,
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  Speaker 1: for his conscience, brought Father Parsons his fine disguise, nothing
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  Speaker 1: less than a captain's uniform of buff leather with gold lace,
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  Speaker 1: big boots, sword, hat, plum and all Campion. When he
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  Speaker 1: had gone set down to write to the General of
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  Speaker 1: the society about him with his inevitably pictorial touch, Father
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  Speaker 1: Robert sail from Calais after midnight. They got him up
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  Speaker 1: like a soldier, such a peacock, such a swaggerer, such duds,
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  Speaker 1: such a glance, such a strut. A man must have
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  Speaker 1: a sharp eye. Indeed, he adds to catch any glimpse
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  Speaker 1: of the holiness and modesty that lurks there underneath it all.
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  Speaker 1: He goes on to explain how he is laying out
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  Speaker 1: money to buy numerous and silly clothes to dress up
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  Speaker 1: myself and Ralph, whereby to cheat the madness of this world.
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  Speaker 1: Father Parsons, like Campion himself in lesser roles, must have
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  Speaker 1: been a dramatic genius for arriving at Dover on the
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  Speaker 1: twelfth of June, and falling into the hands of the searcher,
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  Speaker 1: he so won him over by the mere swagger and
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  Speaker 1: strut aforementioned as not only to be passed without inquiry,
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  Speaker 1: but to be helped to a horse to carry him
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  Speaker 1: to Gravesend. Thereupon, the captain was quick to bespeak the
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  Speaker 1: interest of so unexpectedly polite a functionary in his friend
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  Speaker 1: mister Edmonds, described as a jewel merchant lying at Saint Omer's,
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  Speaker 1: and he gave the searcher a letter recommending London as
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  Speaker 1: a good market, to be forwarded post haste to that gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: and to be shown to the searcher again by mister
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  Speaker 1: Edmunds himself when he came over. And by the reception
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  Speaker 1: of that letter, Campion learned that Father Parsons was scot free,
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  Speaker 1: and speeded on his way on the feast of his
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  Speaker 1: old college patron, Saint John the Baptist, Mister Edmonds, followed
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  Speaker 1: by brother Ralph his supposed servant, boarded the vessel bound
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  Speaker 1: for Dover. At daybreak, they stepped ashore under the White cliffs,
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  Speaker 1: and there, kneeling a moment in the shadow of a rock,
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  Speaker 1: Campion renewed his offering of himself without reserve or condition,
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  Speaker 1: to the God of Hosts for the dark warfare which
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  Speaker 1: lay before him. Meanwhile, the dispositions of the searcher, who
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  Speaker 1: evidently put in no appearance, had undergone a forced change.
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  Speaker 1: He and the mayor of the town had been reprimanded
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  Speaker 1: by the council for letting papists slip through their nets. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: there had been furnished by a spy a detailed description
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  Speaker 1: of Cardinal Allen's brother, who was about to pass through
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  Speaker 1: Dover on his way to relatives and lancash And as
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  Speaker 1: Gabriel Allen and Edmund Campion looked very much alike, our
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  Speaker 1: jewel merchant found himself instantly under arrest with an accuracy
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  Speaker 1: which he was not in the least aware of. The
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  Speaker 1: mayor charged him and the lay brother of being foes
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  Speaker 1: to the Queen's religion, in friends to the old faith,
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  Speaker 1: with sailing under false names, and with returning for the
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  Speaker 1: purpose of propagating popery. Campion offered to swear that he
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  Speaker 1: was not Gabriel Allen, but offered in vain. The mayor
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  Speaker 1: had a hasty conference and ordered a mounted guard to
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  Speaker 1: carry both prisoners up to Saint Francis Walsingham and the council.
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  Speaker 1: All this time Campion was praying to God for deliverance
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  Speaker 1: and earnestly begging Saint John the Baptist to intercede for
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  Speaker 1: him and his companion. They were waiting near the closed
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  Speaker 1: door of a room. Suddenly, wrote Campion himself long after
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  Speaker 1: to the father Jife General suddenly cometh forth an old man.
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  Speaker 1: God give him grace for his pains. Well, quoth he
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  Speaker 1: it is agreed you shall be dismissed. Fare you well.
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  Speaker 1: After which the two Jesuits left without further notice or opposition,
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  Speaker 1: and travel as fast as ever they could to London.
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  Speaker 1: Father Parsons had reached the city not without adventure, but
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  Speaker 1: without mishap a fortnight before. Yet, as no word had
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  Speaker 1: been received since from him, Campion had no idea how
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  Speaker 1: to proceed or whither to go, nor could he inquire
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  Speaker 1: without arousing suspicion. Fortunately, Parsons had given to some watchful
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  Speaker 1: young Catholics a description of the jewel merchant, and his man,
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  Speaker 1: Ralph Emerson, was easily recognizable on account of his extremely
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  Speaker 1: short stature. Thus, they had hardly touched the wharf at
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  Speaker 1: the hythe before a stranger, Thomas j. Stepped to the
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  Speaker 1: gangway with a welcoming gesture, saying, mister Edmonds, give me
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  Speaker 1: your hand. I stay here for you to lead you
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  Speaker 1: to your friends. Under this guidance, Campion reached London and
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  Speaker 1: Chancelory Lane, where he was clothed in armed and provided
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  Speaker 1: with a horse. He must have been astonished to learn
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  Speaker 1: under whose roof he was so safe and so comfortable,
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  Speaker 1: for it was none other than that of the chief pursuevant.
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  Speaker 1: Here was indeed a case of the bird nesting in
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  Speaker 1: the cannon's mouth. Saint Augustine warns us that we are
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  Speaker 1: not to think that ungodly men are kept in this
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  Speaker 1: world for nothing, nor that God has no good purpose
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  Speaker 1: of his own to fill through them. One cause of
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  Speaker 1: the miraculous preservation of the ancient faith under Elizabeth lay
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  Speaker 1: in the fact that many an official high and low
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  Speaker 1: of that time serving government was in the pay of
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  Speaker 1: the recusant gentry. A strange situation it was, and by
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  Speaker 1: no means an infrequent one, when some of these brought
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  Speaker 1: before the magistrates would be discharged on the assurance of
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  Speaker 1: the bought over official that the prisoner was an honest gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: thus averting all suspicion from the latter for the time being.
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  Speaker 1: The band of Lake Catholics, some of whom Campion had
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  Speaker 1: known from boyhood, like Henry Vow and Richard Stanerhurst, were
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  Speaker 1: acting as friends, freely lead together as occasion arose for
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  Speaker 1: the helping of priests and the furthering of religion. Their time,
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  Speaker 1: their thoughts, their self sacrifice, their purses were at the service,
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  Speaker 1: particularly of the Jesuits, persons habitually being described by Saint
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  Speaker 1: Walter Mildmay in the Star Chamber as lewd Rennegate's a
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  Speaker 1: sort of hypocrites, a rabble of vagrant friars. The leader
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  Speaker 1: of them all in his inspiring zeal, though not highest
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  Speaker 1: in station, was George Gilbert, a rich young squire only
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  Speaker 1: estates which were confiscated in the end in Buckinghamshire and Suffolk.
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  Speaker 1: He was a convert, a great writer and athlete, dear
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  Speaker 1: to many, but in secret, a lover of Apostolic poverty,
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  Speaker 1: living for others in short, a saint. He spent himself
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  Speaker 1: to the last breath for the faith, as truly as
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  Speaker 1: if he had perished at tyburn Tree in banishment. He
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  Speaker 1: still served the same cause by his forethought and generosity,
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  Speaker 1: and the use of such worldly goods as were left
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  Speaker 1: to him. For he became responsible at Rome for the
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  Speaker 1: series of paintings of the English martyrdoms, which gave their
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  Speaker 1: chief historical standing to the Beatifications of eighteen eighty six.
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  Speaker 1: Thus Gilbert, living and dead, was blessed Edmund Campion's availing
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  Speaker 1: friend and lover end of Chapter eight