Anonymous

London, 26th October 1605

My lord,

Out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation, therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift of your attendance at this parliament, for God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time, and think not slightly of this advertisement, but retire yourself into your country, where you may expect the event in safety, for though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them, this counsel is not to be contemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm, for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt this letter and I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend you.

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Historical Note:

This letter, delivered by an unknown messenger to Lord Monteagle’s house in Hoxton on October 26, 1605, is one of the most consequential anonymous warnings in history. Instead of burning the letter as advised, Lord Monteagle took it to Robert Cecil, the King’s Secretary of State.

The warning led directly to the search of the Parliament cellars on November 4, 1605, where Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder—enough to completely destroy the Houses of Parliament and everyone inside during the State Opening on November 5th.

The Gunpowder Plot aimed to kill King James I, his eldest son Prince Henry, government ministers, and most members of both Houses of Parliament in a single devastating explosion. The Catholic conspirators, led by Robert Catesby, planned this as the opening move in a wider uprising to restore Catholic rule to England.

The letter’s author remains unknown to this day. The handwriting was described as “disguised,” and various theories exist about who wrote it:

• Francis Tresham: A fellow conspirator with family connections to Monteagle
• Lord Monteagle himself: Some suggest he may have written it to create an alibi
• A government agent: Possibly part of an elaborate sting operation
• A genuine informant: Someone with knowledge who developed cold feet

What we know for certain is that this anonymous letter changed the course of English history. Had Parliament been destroyed with the King and government inside, England would have faced a constitutional crisis of unprecedented scale. The plot’s failure instead led to increased persecution of Catholics and the creation of Guy Fawkes Night, still celebrated every November 5th.

The original letter, catalogued as SP 14/216, survives in the National Archives at Kew and stands as a testament to how a single anonymous warning can alter the fate of nations. Its mysterious author, whoever they were, saved countless lives and preserved the English government from destruction.

This letter reminds us that sometimes the most important documents in history come not from famous figures but from unknown individuals acting on conscience in moments of crisis.