Page:A history of the gunpowder plot-The conspiracy and its agents (1904).djvu/314

 CHAPTER XXIV THE OFFICIAL STORY OF THE PLOT

OT long after the execution of the conspirators, an official record of the discovery of the plot and its various ramifications was drawn up by order of the King. This account went by the title of The Kings Book, and it was given out to the world that James I. was the actual author. That he was the author, however, is not correct, although he evidently perused the contents before going to press, and interpolated into the text several suggestions and alterations of his own, at Cecil's advice. The Book was eventually included in Bishop Montague's collected edition of the King's works, whence I have transcribed that portion of the version rendered below.

The Book bears ample evidence of having been written under the direct supervision of Lord Salisbury, who saw the necessity of publishing an official account of the plot, which, whilst claiming recognition as the most accurate