DIGBY, EVERARD, was born in 1581 of an ancient, honourable, and wealthy family. His father, who was a Roman Catholic and a man reputed for learning, died in 1592, leaving the estates at Tilton and Drystoke in Rutlandahira to his son, the charge of whose education he had committed to some priests of his persuasion. In 1596 Everard married the only daughter and heiress of William Mulsho, or Moulaoe, of Goathuret in Buckinghamshire, whose parents dying soon after the marriage, he acquired a large estate in right of his wife. In 1603 he was knighted by James I. at Belvoir Castle, which the king visited in his journey from Scotleud to London to take possession of the throne.
The share which Sir Everard Digby took in the Gunpowder Plot is the sole cause of his celebrity. This conspiracy was projected when he was twenty-four years old : the oath of secrecy was administered and the design communicated to him by Catesby about Michaelmas 1605. When Digby first beard of the plot he was averse to it, but forbore to reveal it on account of his oath ; afterwards, when ho found that it was approved by Roman Catholic priests, the religious scruples which he had entertained were removed, and he united cordially in the project, contributing towards its execution a quantity of horses, arms, and ammunition, together with 1500/. in money. Digby was not concerned in the preparation of the vault ; the share of the plot that was allotted to bins was to assemble a number of the Roman Catholic gentry on the 5th of November, at Dunchurch in Warwick shire, under the pretence of hunting on Dunsmoor Heath, from which place, as soon as they had received nutice that the blow was struck, a party was to be deapatched to seize the Princess Elizabeth at the house of Lord Harrington, near Coventry. The princess was to be immediately proclaimed queen in case of a failure in securing the person of the Prince of Wales or the young Duke of York, and a regent was to bo appointed during the minority of the uew sovereign. Digby assembled Ilia party, and rode to Lady Cateaby's at Ashby Ledgers to hear the result of the scheme. In the evening five of the party arrived,
fatigued and covered with dirt, with news of the discovery of the plot and the apprehension of Fawkes. A short consultation was held as to what was beat to be done; and it was agreed to traverae the counties of Warwick, Worcester, and Stafford into Wales, where it was thought that they should find many adherents, exciting as they went along the Roman Catholic gentry to join them in a general insurrection. They carried off fresh horses in the night by stealth from the stable of a breaker of cavalry horses in Warwick ; they seized arms at Lord Windsor's residence at Whewell ; and on the 7th occupied a house at Holbeach belonging to Stephen Littleton. But all hope of accession to their numbers was at an end. " Not oue man," says Sir Everard Digby in his examination, "came to take our part, though we had expected so many." The Roman Catholic gentry drove them from their doors, reproaching them with having brought ruin and disgrace on the Catholic cause by their ill-advised enterprise; while the common people stood and gazed upon their irregular train, and evinced anything but a disposition to join them. Sir Everard Digby forsook his companions at Holbeach, with the intention, as lie stated, of hastening some expected succours : he was overtaken at Dudley, apprehended, and conveyed to London. On Monday, the 27th of January 1605.06, he was tried, with his fellow-conspirators.
No doubt of their guilt was entertained, though written depositions only were given in by the prisoners, and no witness was orally examined : Digby alone pleaded guilty. They were executed on the following Thursday. Sir Everard Digby has been described by Greenway as profound in judgment and of a great and brilliant under standing, but we distrust this partial writer : ha appears throughout this transaction rather as a weak and bigoted young mau, never acting upon his own judgment or impulses, but submitting himself entirely to the control and guidance of the Jesuits. (Abridged from the Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Criminal Trials,' vol. ii.)