The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-04-10
THE BRITISH FOURTH,
EngIand's Equivalent of Our lnde-
pendenoe Day.
THE LEGACY OF GUY FAWkEs.
Fooled In His Attempt to Blow Up the
Houses Of Parliament, the GunPo~der
Plot Conspirator Gave to the English
i3nx JOYOUS Holiday.

FoaleC IN fllS HtISiiiPe ~ bio" Up 1le
Houses Of Parliament, the GunPowder
Plot Conspirator Gave to the English
Boy Joyous Holiday.
The day in England most nearly cor
responding with the American Fourth
of July in its manner Of celebration is
Guy Fawkes day, Nov. 5, the ami
vcrsary Of the attempt to blow up the
British houses of parliament, king,
lords and commons by Guy Fawkes in
1906. The celebration, although grad
ually losing its national and historical
significance, is still observed as a holi-
day by children in many parts Of the
country.
For several weeks before ''the Fifth
the lads scour the countryside for tree
trunks and branches, boxes, barrels,
anything that will burn, in fact, and
they trail their finds to some old barn
miles away, where they are stored in
anticipation Of the great day and
guarded with zeal that often leads
to pretty stiff fights.
Marauders from other localities will,
II not carefully watched, secretly re-
move inviting "chumps," as the logs
are called, and add them to their own
collections.
Between this intermittent warfare
and lodging the police and owners Of
woodland property the younger ele-
ment Of Great Britain has quite live
ly time during the few weeks prior to
Guy Fawkes day.
The day itself is occupied until dusk
in building 6onfres, "cadging" coal,
coke and oil and eating "parkin," a
cake inseparably associated with the
celebrations. This cake Is made Of
molasses, ginger and oatmeal or any
other coarse meal.
AS soon as the first night shadow
falls the fires are lighted, frecrackers
begin to snap, and pyrotechnic displays
Of every description are in evidence in
all directions.
The fun is kept up with vim similar
to our Fourth Of July spirit until far
into the night, when potatoes, roasted
in the fires, are INDUCED in.
The name given to the day is some
what misleading perhaps. and the
whole credit or onus of the plot has
been popularly laid upon the shoulders
Of Guy Fawkes, whereas he was far
from being the most important Of the
plotters and seems to have been chosen
by the chief fconspirators entirely because
Of his superb courage and GOODNESS.
The plan was originated by Robert
Catesby, a man whose natural atmos-
phere was one of plots, but man Of
extraordinary personal charm. The
Roman Catholics had expected great
things from the accession Of James l.
to the throne. The laws of Elizabeth
were cruel and unjust toward them,
and they were led by James to expect
amelioration and tolerance.
Instead Of this, the laws against
them We're enforced with renewed yig-
or, and the great discomfort resulted
in the gunpowder plot. The conspir-
acy was elaborately and carefully con
ceived, and great hardships were IN
dergone to carry it out.
It was not until the conspirators, all
gentlemen unused to physical labor,
had cxcavated through nine feet thick
ness Of stone wall in order to get be-
meath the house Of commons that they
found that a vault underneath the ed
ifice was to let. The vault was taken
in the name Of Guy Fawkes, and the
severe physical work was ended. Un-
der cover Of night thirty-six barrels OF
gunpowder were conveyed to the vault,
and all was in readiness for the meet
ing Of parliament on Nov. 5.
Then came the first weakening which
was to end In the failure ne the
scheme. The conspirators could not
agree upon a plan to warn the Cath
olic lords and members who would 9th
erwise be blown up with the rest.
The plotters were all prominent gen
tlemen and had personal friends among
the apparently doomed legislators. An
anonymous letter was received by
Lord Monteagle, one Of the Catholic
peers, warning him not to be present.
The author Of the letter is not really
known, but 1t is commonly believed
to have been Gresham, in spite Of his
vigorous denial when accused by Gates
by. At all events, this is supposed to
have been the key to the discovery.
Monteagle showed the letter to Sails
bury, who in turn took it to the king,
and all sorts Of ingenuity were exer-
cised to discover its meaning. A close
watch was kept, and in order to take
the plotters redhanded the arrest was
palpably postponed until the dramatic
moment in order to allow Catesby to
escape, though he was shot few days
later while attempting to raise an in
surrection at Worcester.
Guy Fawkes, whose work it was to
uEG luG lI11l, H1S (AhSA S>S @3S w 'eNS
leaving the house through which ac-
cess was gained to the vault, and the
rest of the plotters were either killed
or captured at Dunchurch, to where
they fed.
Fawkes was put to the torture, but
nothing could shake his magnificent
fortitude, though he was so weak from
agony and sickness that he could
scarcely mount the scaffold. The day
(Nov. s. was proclaimed a Gay OF
thanksgiving forever by an act Of par
lament, which was only repealed after
200 years.
For nearly 300 years the celebrations
were carried to riotous excess. Efdgies
Of Guy Fawkes were paraded in towns
and villages all day amid shouting and
singing and burned at night in huge
eonfagra tons to the accompaniment o.
thousands Of fireworks.-Scrap Book.
How TO Avoid Appendicitis.