IV.
Besides the above there is a prolix description of the Plot, devised against the best of sovereigns, "a Jesuitis Romanensibus, perfidiæ Catholicæ et impietatis viperinæ autoribus et assertoribus, aliisq. ejusdem amentiæ scelerisq. patratoribus et sociis susceptæ, et in ipso pestis derepente inferendæ articulo (salutis anno 1605, mensis Novembris die quinto), tam præter spem quam supra fidem mirifice et divinitus detectæ."
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 speculæ specula;
Sum vinclum in vinclis; compes cum compede, clavu
Firmo hærens, 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:
[465] At the time of the Plot Charles was not quite five years old.