Connecticut western news., 1885-02-04
THE GUY HAWKES. PLOT.
The Infamous Conspiracy to Blow Up th House of Lords Recalled.

The explosions in tho English House of Parliament recall the infamous ''gun- powder plot" of 1905, for which Guy Hawkes. was executed in London, Janu- ary 80, 1906. The event has already been a memorable one in the history of England, and November 5, the day of the disclosure, was set apart as a day of thanksgiving, and is religiously observed in Eogland. The historical features of the affair may be told briefly. Guy Hawkes. was an adventurer, who, at the time the plot of blowing up the House cf Parliament, and thus destroying the King, Lords and Commons, was con ceiyed, was serving in the Spanish army in the Netherlands.
 Upon the accession of James l., the severe penal laws of Elizabeth against Romanists were again put into execu- ton, contrary to the expectations of the followers of that faith. The plot was conceived by Robert Catesby, Roman Catholic of an ancient family, who vowed vengeance against the English rulers for the severity of the penal laws. Guy Hawkes. was the fourth person ad- nitted into the conspiracy. He with the others took the oath of secrecy, and the sacrament was administered by a Jesuit priest. Among the other con- spirators was Thomas Winter, who se- lected Hawkes. to visit Spain and solicit the intervention of the King in behalf of the English Catholics. Hawkes. re- turned to England in 1904, having been unsuccessful in his mission. Shortly afterward Thomas Percy, another one of the conspirators, rented a house ad- icining the one in which Parliament was to assemble, and Hawkes., who was un- known in London, took possession of il under the assumed name of Johnson. Parliament adjourned until Feb. ', 1605, and on Dec. II following, the conspira' tors held secret meeting in the house. The work of excavating a mine was be. gun and seven men were engaged in this labor until Christmas Eve. They never appeared in the upper part of the house, where Hawkes. kept constant watch. When Parliament reassemblcG the work was abandoned, bat finally completed between February and May following. About this time Hawkes. hired a vault beneath the House o Lords, which had been vacated by [ dealer in coal. At night thirty-six bar rels of gunpowder were carried into th' vault and covered with faggots.
 The conspirators then adjourned tC hold O consultation. A number O wealthy men were taken into the plot among whom were Sir Everard Digby Ambrose Redwood and Francis Fresh am. Parliament was 10 meet again ol November 5, and Hawkes. was appointed to fire the mine with @ slow match Some of the new men who had been ad mitted into the conspiracy, desired t save their Catholic friends in the twt houses. Lord Monteagle, a Roman Catholic peer, received an anonymous note cautioning him against attending the meeting of Parliament. The matte was laid before King James, and at mid night, November4 1, a search was made o the neighboring houses and cellars which resulted in the capture of Gu. Hawkes. as he was coming from the eel lar. Matches and torchwood were found in his pockets. Although put to torture he refused to disclose the names of hi confederates. A meeting of the con spirators was convened, and in the ex citement that followed they were al either killed or captured. Guy Fawke and eight others were tried, after whicl they were drawn, hanged and auartered