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The cellar was hired in the name of Percy, and a quantity of gunpowder deposited there, under a heap of coals and fire wood, which covered the barrels; and some articles of furniture were stowed in the vault.

The conspirators then separated, but during the summer further measures were taken, by sending Fawkes to communicate with the Spanish rulers in Flanders, and an agent to Rome, to procure aid for an insurrection, which was immediately to follow the atrocious deed. These proceedings caused rumours, which were communicated to Cecil from abroad; but he could not learn any particulars of the precise nature of the design, in which the active English Papists then seemed to be engaged.

Parliament was again prorogued to November 5; the conspirators were alarmed at the farther delay; but Winter attended the prorogation, and as the commissioners evidently were utterly unconscious of any danger, they resolved to proceed. Their plan was now enlarged. A number of Romanists were to be collected by sir Everard Digby in Warwickshire, under pretence of a hunting match, and directly the result of the explosion was known, prince Charles and the princess Elizabeth, then in that neighbourhood, were to be seized, and a government formed in the name of the prince. Tresham and several others were admitted into the conspiracy during the summer.

The final arrangements were made. Fawkes, who had long been fixed upon to fire the train, was to leave the cellarinstantly after he had lighted it, and crossing the river, was directly to embark in a vessel for Flanders, which was prepared for the purpose, that he might obtain military assistance from thence. It was also agreed that some members of both houses should be prevented from attending the fatal meeting. Some further hesitation was shown by Tresham, who not only pleaded earnestly that his relative, lord Monteagle, a moderate Papist, should be spared, but even urged that the explosion should be deferred to the end of the session.

On October 27, lord Monteagle sent to Cecil a letter he had received, which advised Monteagle to be absent from the parliament, as that assembly would receive a terrible blow, and yet not see who hurt them a remarkable expression was added, "the danger is past as soon as you have burned the letter." It appeared that lord Monteagle had gone the preceding evening to his country house at Hoxton, then some distance from London, to sup there with his attendants, though this was not his usual custom. While at his meal, a servant brought him the above-mentioned letter, which had just been left by a tall man, who instantly disappeared in the darkness. Lord Monteagle gave it to one of his gentlemen to read aloud, and the next day took it to the secretary of state.

On the same day, the gentleman who had read the letter, called upon Winter, knowing him to be active among the Romanists, and admonished him to take care for his safety, if he had any design in hand. Winter and Catesby conferred with Tresham; but were reassured, by his answers to their questions, and by Fawkes reporting that the secret marks he had made on the door of the cellar had not been disturbed: they fondly hoped that the letter was too obscure to give the clue to their plot, and resolved to proceed, though Tresham evidently sought to alarm them, so that they might give up the attempt, and seek safety in flight.

The king and the council examined the letter, when, by some means, James was led to express a suspicion, from the sentence above quoted, that some explosion, by gunpowder, was intended. Cecil, however, prevented any immediate search from being made, and the conspirators were thereby rendered secure.

The

On the evening of the 4th, the lord chamberlain, while examining the parliament house, entered the cellar. Fawkes was there at the time, and represented himself as the servant of Percy. lord chamberlain merely remarked upon the large provision of fuel Percy appeared to have made, and went away. Fawkes told Percy what had passed, and returned to watch in the cellar.

About two o'clock in the morning of November 5, Fawkes went into the street, where he was seized by a magistrate, who was waiting for the purpose, and on searching the cellar, the gunpowder was discovered. He was immediatly carried before the council, and afterwards tortured

to force a disclosure of his associates. The leading conspirators hearing that Fawkes was apprehended, took horse, and joined sir Everard Digby. But most of those assembled for hunting dispersed, while the conspirators retired across the country, endeavouring to gather associates. Being pursued to Holbeach house, in Worcestershire, they were there taken. Catesby, Percy, and the Wrights resisted till they were slain, some of the number were disabled by an accidental explosion of a part of their gunpowder.

The ramifications of the plot were inquired into. Search was made for the Jesuits. Gerard escaped to the continent; but Garnet and Greenway were, after a long search, found concealed at Henlip, in Worcestershire, where they were secreted in a closet built in one of the chimneys, for more than a week, while the officers abode in the house, searching for them; but hunger, and exhaustion from confinement, at last obliged them to come forth. Garnet denied any knowledge of the plot, excepting by way of confession; but this evidently was equivocation, or at most he might choose to receive as confession what another told him as a direct communication. The jesuitical, or popish doctrine of equivocation was fully exposed in the course of the examination. Tresham died in prison, and before his death, retracted his confession, and declared that he did not know Garnet. Garnet had, however, admitted his knowledge of Tresham, and being asked to explain, said that Tresham probably meant "to equivocate," and did not hesitate to state, "that the speech by equivocation, being saved from a lie, the same speech may be without perjury confirmed by oath, or by any other usual way, though it were by receiving the sacrament, if just necessity so require." Upon this no lengthened remark need to be made. Even the modern Romish historian, skilful as he is in the arts of palliation, and even equivocation, is obliged to admit that "the man who maintained such opinions could not reasonably complain if the king refused credit to his asseverations of innocence, and permitted the law to take its course.' Thus murder and treason are said to be lawful; but the Bible declares the reverse in every page.*

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* A disclosure of the plot was published at that time by authority, and the trial of the conspirators is in the State Trials; but reference to the original examinations, and other documents, has shown that matters were suppressed which might impli

The conspirators were executed amidst the just execrations of the people, and the nation at large called for stricter proceedings against the followers and devotees of a faith, so dangerous and destructive to the rulers and to the people. But the deep atrocity of the plot had not failed to work upon the cowardice of James. He purposed to avoid the repetition of such acts by relaxing his severities against the Romanists, and gave evident indications of this in his speech when the parliament opened on November 9, when he did not hesitate to reflect upon the Puritans as having principles still worse than the Papists! This fully showed the bent of the king's mind. We will not blame his willingness to refrain from severities which would amount to persecution for religion; but his conduct did not arise from such a motive.

The particulars of this atrocious plot have been constantly impressed upon the minds of English Protestants; but of late years the Papists have made some bold attempts to throw discredit upon the history-some even daring to speak of it as a false plot of Cecil's! This has proved beneficial, by producing a careful examination of all the documents connected with the design, and the disclosures give irrefragable evidence against the principles and the practices of popery. Some particulars kept back at the time, from policy, have been disclosed, especially as to the way in which it was found out. There now is little doubt but it was by Tresham's alarm, when the time for executing the deed approached; and there is strong reason to apprehend that Lord Monteagle had some information, if not some guilty knowledge of the plot, and that the letter, and its being received, were planned with his knowledge. If so, how much more commendable the conduct of the peer than that of the Jesuit priest, though not free from duplicity.

When the parliament assembled in January, 1606, the members showed their abhorrence of the late treasonable plot, by directing that the 5th of November should be observed as a day of public cate others whose names were kept back. These are noticed in some recent works on the subject,

particularly in volume two of Criminal Trials by

Jardine. The statement, therein given, is very full and important, and cannot be objected to as partial: the writer investigates the gunpowder plot merely as a legal question, and does not fully expose the principles of Popery. The latter has been done by Lathbury and others; and in the Visitor for last year, will be found a full account of this conspiracy, to which the reader's attention is directed: only a brief sketch could be given in this place.

thanksgiving; and severe enactments | were made against Popery. They were too rigorous to be generally or strictly enforced; but the violent proceedings of the Papists, and their avowed designs against all Protestants, led to these measures. The king, as already stated, did not enforce them: one result of this was, to attach the Romanists to the crown, in opposition to the parliament.

A large supply, yet hardly meeting the royal debts, was voted to the king by this parliament, amounting to nearly half a million; but a desire was also shown to procure the redress of grievances. Against this James endeavoured to guard when the parliament re-assembled in November, by high assertions about his prerogative, and by cautioning the House of Commons to repress any member who might be disposed to enter upon such questions. One of the first measures brought under consideration, was the union with Scotland; this was opposed, and withdrawn by the king's consent. But an important point connected with this subject, was brought forward in another manner. The question of naturalization was submitted to the decision of the courts of law, which solemnly decided, that all persons born as subjects to the crown of England, were entitled to the same privileges wherever its dominion extended: this placed all who were born after the accession of James to the English throne, on the same footing, whether natives of England or Scotland. This decision was not pronounced till 1608; but the unpleasant feelings to which the discussion gave rise, caused James again to close the session of parliament, and to resort to various expedients for raising money, all of which tended to alienate those who had to advance it, particularly levying duties or imposts by the royal authority alone. Cecil found his office far more burdensome than under queen Elizabeth, though he was allowed to exercise greater power. He spoke in strong terms to Harrington of the difference.

The profuseness of James contrasted very unfavourably with the care of his predecessor, who seldom troubled her subjects for money. Thereby she prevented those discussions to which such applications gave rise, and which, by causing examination into many matters, tended to limit the power of the crown. He also thereby lost much of the advantage of his pacific disposition; and as causes and effects re-act upon each other, so his

arbitrary disposition and foolish predilection for favourites, were both strengthened by this opposition, and also tended to excite it further.

The king's choice of favourites was among the greatest evils of his reign, and did much to alienate his subjects. After his accession to the throne of England, the first he selected was Philip Herbert, brother of the earl of Pembroke. Herbert was far less obnoxious than his successor, and the sums lavished on him, though large, were less considerable in their amount.

The king's love of pleasure was also marked. He spent whole days in hunting, and concluded them by excesses at the table, refusing to give regular attention to the business of state. The salary of the officer who looked after his fighting cocks, was two hundred pounds, equal to that assigned to the secretaries of state. The queen also indulged in expensive masques and revels; and on a visit from her brother, the king of Denmark, in the summer of 1607, the whole court exhibited disgusting scenes of excess and riot. Harrington describes one of these allegorical exhibitions, when the person representing the queen of Sheba, and also the king of Denmark, were both so drunk, that, on attempting to dance, they rolled on the floor together. Hope was too much intoxicated to speak her part; Faith was hardly able to stagger out of the room; Victory was overcome with liquor, and fell asleep; while Peace, in a similar state, "rudely made war with her olive branch, and laid on the pates of those who did oppose her coming.' He adds, "The lord of the mansion is overwhelmed in preparations at Theobald's, and doth marvellously please both kings with good meat, good drink, and good speeches. I do often say, but not aloud, that the Danes have again conquered the Britons; for I see no man or woman either that can now command himself or herself."

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Conduct so diametrically opposed to the precepts of Him who declares, "By me kings reign and princes decree justice," could not bring down a blessing upon this monarch or his successors.

The policy and principles of James were further shown, by his seeking the marriage of his son, prince Henry, with a Spanish princess. For one situated as James had always been, and now the king of England, to form a family union with a bigoted Papist, plainly manifested

that his affections were set upon the | tinent, was the acknowledgment of the things of this world.

independence of the United Provinces, to which the king of Spain was compelled reluctantly to consent in 1609. This event, so favourable to Protestant

exhibited the fruits of Popish principles -the assassination of Henry V., by Ravilliac, at the instigation of the Jesuits, notwithstanding that prince had outwardly conformed to Popery.

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A few passing events require to be mentioned. The inclosure of waste lands, caused by the improvement of agriculture, and the increase of population, ex-ism, was soon followed by another, which cited partial insurrections in some of the midland counties. The excesses were chiefly the levelling of the newly erected fences; the mobs were speedily dispersed, and the ringleader hanged. The Dutch consented to pay a yearly sum as an acknowledgment for permission to fish on the coasts of England. The necessities of the king disposed him to snatch at any pecuniary benefit, or he would have seen that to disburse an equal sum to encourage the fisheries of his own subjects, would have been far more beneficial to him in the result. A like feeling, probably, was the actuating principle in another important commercial measure, the renewal of the charter of the East India company, and in allowing a scheme for settling colonies of English Protestants on the forfeited estates and lands lying waste in the north of Ireland. The superior condition of the province of Ulster at the present day, compared with the rest of Ireland, shows that still more important benefits would have resulted, had this measure been fully carried into effect, and in a right spirit. Colonies were also sent to North America; these will require special notice. Hudson's Bay was discovered in 1600.

Considerable alarm was excited at the increase of buildings in London; a proclamation forbade any to be erected, on new foundations, within two miles of the metropolis. At that period, the city was densely peopled, and the state of the habitations caused the plague to be always lurking in some corner. In the first two years of this reign nearly seventy thousand persons died of the plague in the city. One important measure for the health and comfort of the metropolis, was begun in 1609, and finished in 1613; the bringing a supply of pure water from Hertfordshire to the north of London, by a canal called the New River. Sir Hugh Middleton, the projector, sunk his whole fortune in the enterprize, which was at last finished by the help of the king. James also engaged in some public buildings at Whitehall and elsewhere; a plan was devised for establishing a college for learned men, and Chelsea college was set apart for that purpose.

The most important event on the con

King James's need of money led to the re-assembling of parliament in February, 1610. Some measures of a conciliatory description were adopted, by way of preparation. Several members, who had been excluded from the office of justice of the peace for their disposition to inquire into grievances, were now placed; and, in his speech, the king even invited the Commons to state their grievances. He appears to have been, in some degree, sincere in his professions of a desire to conciliate the people: his necessities had taught him that this must be done; for he applied for six hundred thousand pounds to meet his exigencies, and a regular increase of revenue of two hundred thousand pounds. It would have been well had this disposition been met promptly and yet firmly, by supplying the king with what was really necessary, and by requiring beneficial measures in return. Such a course might have saved the property of thousands, and the temporary subversion of the monarchy; but the iniquities of the land required chastisement, and bring to our minds the threatenings so repeatedly given by the Lord to Israel of old, "Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols," Ezek. xx. 24. Many passages referring to the national sins of God's ancient people, might well be applied to the guilt and the vices which then prevailed in England. "They have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way.-Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people.-The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place," Isa. xxviii. May not these truths | afford a useful lesson now?

Lord, when thy judgments shake the land,
Thy people's eyes are fixed on thee;
And own thy just uplifted hand,
Which thousands cannot, will not see.

NEWTON.

THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS.

THE preaching of the cross is the power of God to salvation, inasmuch as it is that doctrine alone which lays a firm and solid foundation for peace of conscience,—for a peace of conscience in a man awakened to a sense of his extreme danger. The great use of conviction of sin is to prepare the mind for the reception of mercy; it is the harrow that turns up the fallow ground, and alone fits it to receive the good seed. If it terminated merely in despondency, or any of those efforts which the anxiety of the human conscience might produce, and did not lead the man to depend on the promise of the Divine pardon, it would be all unavailing. But while the cross of Christ is the most calculated to produce serious alarm, and to excite men to flee from the wrath to come, it is the most adapted to give them true peace in believing. We are informed by St. Paul, that the blood of Christ has this effect in a far more perfect manner than the sacrifices of the law had in the removal of outward pollutions; "If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" It is the blood of Christ that purges the conscience, and the design is that we may serve the living and true God; but we cannot serve God until the conscience is first purged; as the ceremonial disqualifications must be removed from the Jews before they could approach the Divine Being, so a hope of Divine favour and mercy must be felt before we can devote ourselves to the service of the great Supreme. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews exhorts us, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near." And the way in which we are to draw near, is "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience." It is the blood of Christ that takes away that condemning sense of the law, that horror arising from a sense of guilt, without the removal of which we can take no steady complacency in the character of God; for, however lovely the Divine Being may be in himself, we cannot take

any steady complacency in a character which appears to be our inflexible and determined enemy. It is necessary that the conscience should be in some degree pacified, before a cheerful obedience is rendered, and this only the cross of Christ inspires. Men attempt in the first instance to seek peace in other quarters; they endeavour to reform what is amiss; they subject themselves to stricter regulations; they multiply the rules of watchfulness, and of temperance and sobriety; they subject themselves, particularly in certain countries, to great severities; but still the sense of guilt returns, and all with which they attempt to cover themselves, and all the shreds by which they endeavour to conceal themselves, will not ayail: they have nothing to shut out the surges of Divine wrath; the bed is too short for them to stretch themselves upon it. They then have recourse to resolutions of future time, hoping they shall be able to make some atonement by a more correct deportment; but, if the law comes, in its purity and extent, they find all this is vain; that it demands nothing short of perfect obedience; that the penalty has been incurred; that the wrath of God has been excited; that they are already in condemnation; that the sentence has already past; that they are already condemned, and that they are only waiting, if the Divine proceedings go on in their usual course, for the season of retribution; that they are shut up, they cannot escape. But no sooner are they enabled, in consequence of the despair of any other remedy, and as they find no other resource, to look to the blood of Christ, as cleansing from all sin, than there they find a solid ground of hope; there the conflict is at an end; and they see that they have nothing to do, but humbly to receive reconciliation. Peace with God has been made, justice has been satisfied, and only waits to see the sinner confessing his sins over the head of that victim, and asking for mercy in that name. — Robert Hall.

THE PERAMBULATOR.
ROME, AND OTHER PLACES.

My last perambulation was an ideal one. Seated by the fire on a gloomy day, with the map of Europe before me, I rambled, as fancy led, through some of the cities of far-famed Italy, making such remarks as memory and reflection

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