The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-06 00:00:00

impossible or difficult; for, thi:y will assemble c__
meeting of parliament, and afford us an opportunity of a
sure and ample vengeance. A mine may easily be run nnder
the parliament house. and a few barrels of powder properly
placed, will bury all our enemies in one common ruin."
Percy was highly pleased with the contrivance of Catesby,
and it was agreed between them to communicate the design
to a few of their friends, and, among the rest, to Thomas
Winter, who was immediately despatched to Flanders in
search of the notorious Guy Faukes, whose zeal, and des-
perate enterprize they were well acquainted with. Faukes
was soon found, and soon entered into the damnable con-
spiracy, with all the ardour of biggotted enthusiism. A
house was hired in Percy's name, adjoining that in which the
parliament was to assemble; and it was arranged to carry a
mine from the cellar, under the room in which the King was
delivering his speech to both houses, to set fire to the maga-
zine, and destroy the whole assembled parliament by one
dreadful blast ; and thus make, as they said, the very spot
where laws for proscribing the catholic religion had been
made, the scene of this dreadful catastrophe. These con-
sultations were held in the month of December, in the pre-
ceding year; and it being expected that parliament would
meet in February, they began immediately their accursed la-
bour of boring the mine, and carried it on with astonishing
perseverance. Relieving one another by turns, the work
never flagged ; and that no alarm might be given to the
neighbourhood, they took the precaution to enter Percy's
house by night, and carry with them their provisions suffici-
ent to support them. They had also provided themselves
with fire arms, and ammunition, fully determined, in case of
being discovered, to perish rather than be taken. When
they had penetrated a considerable way into the wall which
divided the cellar of Percy's house from that under the
House of Lords, they were greatly terrified at a noise that
seemed to proceed from the other side of the wall; and upon
inquiry it was found that the place whence the noise pro-
ceeded was a large coal vault under the House of Lords, that
the coals were selling off, and that the vault was to be let to
the highest bidder. This opportunity was not to be neglect-
ed. Percy immediately hired the place, deposited in it more
than twenty barrels of powder, and covered the whole over
with faggots. Everything was now ready for the dreadful
blast ; but the parliament being prorogued to the fifth of
November, the conspirators had more time to finish their dia-
bolical undertaking. More faggots were carried into the
vault, and the door boldly thrown open, as if it contained
nothing dangerous, or that ought to be concealed. The
great success which the conspirators had hitherto enjoyed in
their infernal undertaking rendered them confident of suc-
cess, and they began to deliberate on the ensuing part of
their project. The Duke of York, whose tender age prevent-
ed his being present at the opening of parliament, they
agreed must be secured, as well as his sister, the Princess
Elizabeth, who was then at Lord Harrington's, in Warwick
shire. Percy undertook to secure and assassinate the Duke;
and Sir Everard Digby, Ambrose Rokewood, and John
Grant, who were now let into the secret of the conspiracy,
engaged to assemble their friends under pretence of a hunt-
ing match, seize that Princess and immediately proclaim her
queen.. Some proposed to apply immediately to foreign
courts for assistance, but this was thought too dangerous a
step ; and, it was resolved to make no application of that
kind till the plot had taken effect.
The conspirators waited impatiently for their day of ven-
geance, and the horrid secret, though communicated to above
twenty persons, had been religiously kept for almost a year
and a half. No remorse, no pity, no fear of punishment, no
hope of reward. had as yet induced any single conspirator
either to abandon the enterprise, or to disclose the cursed
secret. Popery seemed to have extinguished every generous
feeling in their breasts, when a mere act of private friendship
saved the nation from inevitable destruetion. It was this:—
About ten days before the meeting of parliament, Lord
Monteagle, a Roman Catholic peer, son to Lord Morley, re-
ceived the following letter, which had been delivered to his
servant by a person unknown :
" My Lord,—Out of the love I bear to some of your
friends, I have a care for your preservation ; therefore I
would advise you, as you tender your life, to devise some
excuse to shift off your attendanep at this narliament : for

) punish the wickedness of
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God and man ha.
this fime. And think not slightly of this advertisement

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may do you good, and
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can do you no harm;
have burnt this letter ; and I hope God will give you {
to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend
you."

because

The letter was shown by Lord Monteagle to his Majesty,
who conjectured, from the serious and earnest manner of its
style, that something very dangerous and important was in-
tended, and that the effect, which was represented to be at
once both sudden and terrible, seemed to denote some con-
trivance by gunpowder; and his Majesty was therefore of
opinion that search should be made in the vaults under the
parliament-house, on the day previously to the assembling of
its members. Accordingly, on the 4th of November the lord
chamberlain visited all the places about the parliament-house,
and, lo ! in one of the corners of the cellar stood Guy Fawkes,
who passed for Percy's servant. The lord chamberlain was
struck with the appearance of the man, in whose countenance
all the marks of ferocious courage were conspicuously paint-
ed. Percy was known to be a rigid Papist, and to reside
very little in town; and the large quantity of fuel found in
the cellar was therefore considered something extraordinary.
On this account it was thought necessary to make a more
particular inspection of .the cellar, but iu such a manner as
should render the search effectual, without giving the least
alarm. These resolutions being taken, Sir Thomas Knevet,
a justice of the peace, with proper attendants, was sent, about
midnight, to examine the cellar, under pretence of searching
for stolen goods. Fawkes had just finished all his prepara-
tions, and was coming out of the cellar, when Knevet arrived.
The daring conspirator was immediately seized ; and after
removing the billets, the barrels of powder were discovered.
Fawkes had a dark lantern in his hand, and matches, with
every thing necessary for setting tire to the powder, were
found in his pockets. The guilt of this determined conspi-
rator was now sufficiently apparent, and knowing that all de-
nial would he in vain, he avowed the design, and averred that
it would have been executed on the morrow, at the same
time expressing the utmost regret that he had lost the op-
portunity of setting fire to the powder, and of softening his
own death with.the pleasure of perishing with his enemies.
He expressed the same intrepid boldness when examined be-
fore the council,. but shortly afterwards made a full disclo-
sure of the whole plot, and of every person concerned in it.
The conspirators were all Roman Catholics, and the princi-
pal part of them at this time resided in town ; and though
they knew that the letter to Monteagle had alarmed the mi-
nistry, and even that a search was intended to be made by
the lord chamberlain, yet they never abandoned their hopes
of success till they heard that Fawkes was taken. It was
then, indeed, too evident that the whole plot was discovered,
and they fled immediately into Warwickshire, where Sir
Everard Digby, persuaded that the attempt had succeeded,
was already in arms to seize the Princess Elizabeth, who had
prevented their design by taking refuge in Coventry.
The whole country 'was now alarmed, and Sir Richard
Walsh, high constable of Worcestershire, assisted by a great
number of the inhabitants, surrounded the conspirators in
Holbeach, the seat of Sir Stephen Littleton. The number
of the conspirators, including all their attendants, did not ex-
ceed 80 ; but notwithstanding their inferiority, they prepared
for a vigorous defence, determined either to perish or escape.
But misfortune still pursued them ; for having put some
moist powder before a fire to dry, a spark from the coals set
it on fire, and some of them were so burned that they were
scarce able to handle their weapons. Their case was despe-
rate, and no means of escape appearing, unless by forcing
their way through the assailants, they made a desperate sally
for that purpose. Catesby (who first proposed the manner
of the plot) and Percy were both killed. Thomas Winter,
Grant, Digby, Rookewood, and Bates were taken prisoners,
and brought to London, where the former made an ample
confession of the whole conspiracy. Several others were con-
fined in the country, and‘some few, making their escape, fled
to the continent.

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 20.—Charles Napier Bey, optician to
the Pasha of Egypt, who is provided with strong recom-
mendations of his skill, particularly in the cure of squinting,
has been brought before the Gottenburgh police by the town
physician because he had there undertaken to perform opera-
tions. However, Dr. Evert, the prosecutor, has not attempt-
ed to charge him with improper medical practice, or failure
to cure. It appears therefore very injudicious to put impedi-
ments ia the way of so useful an object, especially in a coun-
try where it is a very general complaint that. too many peo-
ple see things awry.---4floublatt.
WHIG PRINCIPLES ILLUSTRATED.—" D—n the loco
focos 1" said a ciderlie the other day, giving an exposition of
his own and his candidate's principles—" they say that all
who do business on borrowed capital ought to break ! That
doctrine is at war with my interest. I'm in favour of the
credit system ; and if I could only borrow a crowbar, how
easy I could open a good grocery somewhere.—Sarannah
Telegraph.
- -

- -
THE QUEEN AND HER PARENTS' DEBTS.-At the con-
clusion of the year 1839, it was found that the Queen, though
not in debt, had expended every shilling of her income, a
fact that led to the knowledge of proceedings on her part
with which, even now, the public are not generally acquainted.
The painful circumstances of pecuniary difficulty in which her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent was left a widow, are
no secret. These circumstances had naturally led to involve-
ment in debt on her own account, which gaSe that excellent
Princess great pain. It was the firm and honourable resolve
of the Royal Victoria, that the name of neither of her be-
loved parents should be discussed in the senate of her coun-
try with requisitions for the payment of debts. After paying
her father's debts with interest, out of the savings of her
maiden reign, she resolved that her living parent's heart should
no longer be loaded with the worst of anxieties. But she
kept her intentions secret, and invited herself to breakfast
the
Duchess, her illustrious mother, on the last birthday of
Duchess, who saw a packet directed to her on the breakfast
table by the side of her plate. On opening it, the Duchess of
Kent found it contained receipts for every outstanding debt
she had in the world. The wisdom of this action, preceding
Majesty's as it did, the premeditated change in her life, was
great ; for expenses. she foresaw, would inevitably increase
upon her after marriage, which might leave her in the painful
predicament of unfulfilled good intentions. Such a position
by no means suits the sterling though unpretending; charac-
ter of our Queen. She could encounter personal privation,
but not the relinquishment of the good she had from child-
hood bent all the energies of her character on doing. Yes,
nothing less than personal privation, for she had set her mind
about this time, on possessing a pair of bracelets of a new
pattern, which had been sent to her for her approval. Their
price amounted but to the humble sum of £25. Just as she
was fitting them on, one of her ladies entered with a petition
from a veteran officer who had served under the Duke of
Kent. The widow and her family were in great and unde-
served distress. The Queen listened to the narrative, took
off the bracelets, replaced them silently in their case, and
handed over the £25 with which she meant to have purchased
them to the relief of the widow. Her honourable and dutiful
feelings towards her parents had first made £25 an object to
her, and she then sacrificed that small sum, which might have
procured her a personal indulgence, to charity.—Closen Vie-
toriafrom her Birth to her Bridal.