Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1833-11-07
tFfe~ fAs P'ovidens. C;,y Ga..,,s.l
THE GuNPOwDER PLOT.


About . week or ton DAYS since. -.
published an account Of an ,,,,mn,
that had been made BY some cowardiy
incendiary. to destroy Ex.I.ieut. Gov.
Wilcox, Of this State, by sending tv
him IN "infernal machine," Io.ird
with gunpowder and missiles Of de-
struction. The ~ickedness Of the act.
and the strangeness Of the whole tr.ns-
action, - IL was detailed to the pub
lie, through us, from information de-
rived from the most respec table source.
induced some to doubt the reality Of
the transaction. As We found our
selves unpleasantIy situated, in rela-
t'on 70 the matter, we resolved that
we would take unwearied pains 20 ad-
duee ample proof Of the CORRECTNESS. OF
our version Of the story. In pursuance
ct this intent, we have svailrd our
selves OF the kindness Of Il. q. Bur
i'ogame. Esq Of Westerly, Il. I. who
has politely furnished Us with the fact.
embraced in the following letter:
wEsrERLy, ocr, l9rH, 1888.
Dear Sir-Sincc my return home, I hayo
inquired of Col. George Brown, Jr. and }. N.
K
They went down and opened the trunk-and
say that It came to this place in the sioop
.Nsp York, Capt. Robert Brown, Jr and wa,
taken from on board by u. w. Babcock, who
IS grandson To Gov. " ilcox, and by HIM sent
In The mail carriage to tho Governor who.
with his wife, put tho trunk on a table. They
tnen TOOK the letter, which was fastened on
The top OF the trunk, directed To Coo. Ed.oa,a
UHeor, Chartesfolrn, X. l. (,cih care. and this
SADIE nP,) and opened it. The letter was An
substance as follows:
DEAR h0rr a-,.t ,,,, n ,-.-
Se'"-epe1' me trunk md Keep az al espsr, &c.
The Governor unlocked the trunk. and hrs
wife proceeded TO throw back the cover. When
thcy found u would not readily open, and al
Ter one or two pulls upon che cover, il omen
CD enough Tor them To- look in, when The,
saw the instruments Of Deaihf
The Governor Llen, or soon after. came Z
this village. and informed hi, grandson. =
w. Babcock, that his brother Benjamin BaL-
COCK, IN New York, had sent him the trunk
rs described. T.. W. Babcock went Lou,r
with him, and readily discovered the Ietter
to be forgery. The whole affair rename,
a secret till within few days, when IL wa.
thought best TO make new attempt 10 open
the trunk.
Col. Brown says, he took the trunk and
carried % into the garden, and opened IL SD
as 10 look in; took n pair Of scissors, and cut
me strings attached to the triggers Of the pis-
tolls, and opened il; says one Of the strings
was shorter than the other, and WI. n ,r,aks,
one; and, In the first attempt to open IL. tbey
broke two of the strands; consequently IL
stretched enough for them 10 look IN. beforr
a. began to move the stronger one /; which. il
1t had not, il must have destroyed the house
and NIL ~ Il, as the powder has been weighed
and found TO De 25 pounds. The pistols wer,
both loaded with balls
These are all the facts that have come To
my knowledge need not tell you tha, I
have written in haste.
Very respectfully, remain your obedient
ser'yt, II. G. BURI.INGAME
We are happy to state, in addition
to the foregoing letter, that prompt
steps have been taken by the New York
police, to ferret out the incendiary,
who forwarded the trunk TO Gov. Wi
coz, and that there is now some pros.
peet Of their meeting with msrued sue
cess. We should be reioiced to know
that the villains had been detected.
and brought to that punishment they
so richly deserve. The sisk incurred
by Gov. Wilcox AID family has been
very great, and makes one shoulder to
think Ut il. The enormity Of such n
crime should not escape UNPUBLISHED.