"Here, again, it is impossible to suppose that the all-important point was the one omitted. It is clear, however, that the mention of a confession made to Greenway would _primâ facie_ afford a presumption that this particular matter had been confessed, thus furnishing a foundation whereon to build; and knowing, as we do, how evidence was manipulated, it is quite conceivable that the copy now extant incorporates the improved version thus suggested." Father Gerard has quoted the sentence about Bates and Greenway correctly,[280] but he has not observed that Coke, in his opening speech, is stated on the same authority to have expressed himself as follows:-- "In November following comes Bates to Greenway the Jesuit, and tells him all his master's purpose; he hears his confession, absolves him, and encourageth him to go on, saying it is for the good of the Catholic cause, and therefore warrantable."[281] I acknowledge that Coke's unsupported assertion is worth very little; but I submit that so practised an advocate would hardly have produced a confession which, if it contained no more than Father Gerard supposes, would have directly refuted his own statement. Father Gerard, I fancy, fails to take into account the difficulties of note-takers in days prior to the invention of shorthand. The report-taker had followed the early part of Bates's examination fairly well. Then come the words quoted by Father Gerard at the very bottom of the page. May not the desire to get all that he had to say into that page have been too strong for the reporter, especially as, after what Coke had said earlier in the day, the statement that Bates 'confessed' might reasonably be supposed to cover the subject of confession? 'Catesby ... discovered the project unto him, shortly after which discovery' he confessed. What can he be supposed to have confessed except the project discovered? and, if so, Greenway's absolution implies approval. Father Gerard, moreover, though he quotes from another manuscript Garnet's objection that 'Bates was a dead man,' thereby meaning that Bates's testimony was now worthless, entirely omits to notice that the preceding paragraph is destructive of his contention. A question had arisen as to whether Greenway had shown contrition. "Nay," replied Mr. Attorney, "I am sure that he had not, for to Bates he approved the fact, and said he had no obligation to reveal it to any other ghostly father, to which effect Bates his confession was produced, which verified as much as Mr. Attorney said, and then Mr. Attorney added that he had heard by men more learned than he, that if for defect of contrition it was not a sacrament, then it might lawfully be revealed.