... was the Jesuit Gerard, from whom, after they had heardmass, they received the sacrament. Gerard was probably acquainted with all the particulars of the plot. He wasaware of the designs and ... the head of the confederacy against the queen were the pope and the king of Spain, who hated her with the mostdeadly hatred, the former, because she was the chief stay of the reformation, the latter, ... execution of the deed. They hoped that the king and the assembled lords would fall a sacrifice in the explosion: but then there were the prince of Walesand the duke of York, and how were they to be despatched?...