exulting in the achievement, (for few people expected that the miser would ever be persuaded to make a will,) old Gripe called after him, "I shall get better, boy; I shall keep the gold, boy," and, so exclaiming, his spirit took its flight. And now old Gripe lies in his grave, stripped of the wealth for which he toiled throughout a weary and joyless existence, and for the possession of which he sacrificed more than life itself. He was followed thither by no weeping eye; no one in life had loved him, and in death no one missed or lamented him. And yet on the stone which perpetuates his memory in our village churchyard, alas! this epitaph is inscribed :"If honesty e'er claimed a man's good word, Industry, likewise, here it lies interr'd: A husband, father, dear, to all a friend, Who ne'er was known an idle hour to spend: O reader, copy him! and meet reward, THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. PART III.-DISCOVERY OF THE CONSPIRACYEXECUTION OF THE TRAITORS. As the day approached, several of the conspirators began to feel anxious for the safety of their friends, many of whom would be in their places in parliament, and, unless they were by some means induced to absent themselves, would be involved in the common destruction. Several of the nobility were mentioned :—the lords Stourton and Mounteagle, who had married sisters of Tresham, the earl of Northumberland, the earl of Arundel, and some others. How to save them without risking the discovery of the enterprise, was the difficulty. Catesby had little compunction on the subject. He wished, he said, as much as the others, "that all the nobles that were Catholics might be preserved, and that tricks should be put upon them to that end; but," he added, "with all that, rather than the project should not take effect, if they were as dear unto me as mine own son, they also must be blown up!" It was at length concluded that nothing more should be done than by such individuals as chose to persuade their friends to abstain from attending parliament, by the plea that as they would be utterly unable to make head against the majority, or to prevent the enactment of severe measures against the Papists, it would be better to stay away. What was done by the other conspirators, is not known; but the attempt made to save the life of lord Mounteagle, most probably by Tresham, led to the discovery of the plot. was As lord Mounteagle was at supper on Saturday, October 26, a letter brought to him by one of his servants, who said that it was given him by a stranger, with a charge "to deliver it into his master's own hands, as it contained matters of importance." The letter was as follows: My lord, out of the love i beare to some of youer frends, i have a caer of youer preservacion, therefor i would advyse yowe as yowe tender youer lif to devyse some excuse to shift of youer attendance at this parleament, for god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickedness of this tyme, and thinke not slightlye of this advertisement, but retyere youreself into youre contrie, where you may expect the event in saftie; for thoughe there be no apparance of anni stir, yet i saye they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament, and yet they shall not seie who hurts them. This councel is not to be contemned, because it may do yowe good, and can do yowe no harme, for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter; and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it, to whose holy proteccion i commend yowe." The letter was addressed, "To the right honourable the lord Mounteagle." The letter was taken by lord Mounteagle, the same evening, to the lord high treasurer, Cecil, earl of Salisbury, (son of the celebrated lord Burleigh,) and other lords of the council; but nothing was done till the return of the king, who was hunting in Cambridgeshire. He came back to London on Thursday, October 31, and on the following day the letter was put into his hands. Several members of the council had already expressed a suspicion that some awful destruction, by means of gunpowder, was intended;* and the "We," the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, "both conceived that it could not, by any other way, be like to be attempted than with powder, while the king was sitting in that assembly; of which the lord chamberlain conceived more probability, because there was a great vault finder the said chamber."-Winwood's Memorials, ii. 171. king, who read the letter repeatedly, and | taken place. Catesby and John Wright with much concern, entirely concurred arranged to leave London on Monday, with them. At a subsequent meeting of November 4, to join sir Everard Digby, the council, on the following day, it was at Dunchurch. Fawkes took his station therefore resolved to institute a thorough at the cellar. The others held themsearch of all the premises in the neigh- selves in readiness to start at a moment's bourhood of the parliament house; it was warning, further agreed that "nothing should be done to interrupt any purpose of theirs that had any such devilish practice; but rather to suffer them to go on to the end of the day;" and for this reason, the search was delayed till the day before the meeting of parliament, that the arrangements might be all finished, and the expected discovery more complete. Thomas Ward, a gentleman in the service of lord Mounteagle, seems to have been privy to the plot. He was present when the letter was delivered, and read it aloud, at lord Mounteagle's command. Next morning he informed Thomas Winter of what had happened, and he carried the intelligence to Catesby. Suspicion immediately fell on Tresham, who had been absent for several days, under the plea of a journey into Northamptonshire. He returned on Wednesday, October 30, and met Catesby and Winter on Enfield Chase. They charged him with writing the letter to lord Mounteagle; but he resolutely denied it, and swore the most solemn oaths in confirmation of his denial. Had he faltered, or betrayed any fear or confusion, they had determined to stab him to the heart on the spot. On their return to London, they sent Fawkes to the cellar, to see if any one had been there. He found every thing undisturbed, and promised to repeat his visit daily till the 5th of November. On Sunday, November 3, Thomas Ward reported to some of the conspirators that the king had seen the letter. Tresham and Thomas Winter met that same evening in Lincoln's Inn Walk, when the former declared his conviction, that the plot was fully discovered, and most earnestly entreated that the purpose might be abandoned, and the safety of the conspirators secured by instant flight. This might have been easily done, as the vessel provided for Fawkes's voyage to Flanders was lying in the Thames, and could be prepared for sailing at a few hours' notice. But an unaccountable infatuation seized them. Flattering themselves that the information possessed by government, would be insufficient for the discovery of the plot, they resolved to act as if nothing had Suffolk, the lord chamberlain, on whom it devolved, by virtue of his office, to see that all the necessary arrangements for the opening of parliament were duly and properly made, visited the vaults and cellars under the parliament house on the Monday afternoon. He was accompanied by lord Mounteagle. Having reached that in which the gunpowder was placed, they observed the large quantity of coals and wood deposited there, and asked Fawkes, who was standing in a corner, to whom the fuel belonged. He told them that the cellar was rented by Percy, and that the fuel was his. When they were gone, he hasted to inform Percy of their visit, and then took his station again in the cellar. The lord chamberlain reported to the council the results of the search; all agreed that the quantity of fuel was much greater than could be wanted by Percy, who had not been known to reside in the house; and it was resolved that the cellar should be more carefully searched that night. Sir Thomas Knevett, a Westminister magistrate, was employed for that purpose. A little after midnight, he and his assistants repaired to the house. Just as they reached it, Fawkes came out, having completed all his preparations, and dressed and booted as for a journey. He was detained while the officers examined the cellar. Thirtysix barrels of gunpowder were found concealed under the fagots. A dark lantern, with a light in it, was discovered in a corner behind the door; and Fawkes was well provided with slow matches and touchwood, to set fire to the train he had laid. He had also a pocket watch, then a rare and expensive article, and which was, doubtless, procured for him, in order that the explosion might be accurately timed. He was immediately taken before the king and council, and briefly examined. To the many questions that were hastily put to him, he answered with perfect calmness, and undisturbed effrontery. He said that his name was John Johnson, and that he was Thomas Percy's servant. He told them, "That when the king had come to the parliament house that day, and the upper house had been sitting, he meant to have fired the match, and fled for his own safety before the powder had taken fire; and that, if he had not been apprehended that night, he had blown up the upper house, when the king, lords, bishops, and others had been there." When the king asked him how he could conspire against his children, and so many innocent persons? he replied, "Dangerous diseases require a desperate remedy." Some of the Scoteh courtiers beginning to question him, he said, "That one of his objects was, to blow them back to Scotland." He refused to mention the names of his fellowconspirators; and, after a lengthened examination, which occupied great part of the night, was committed to the Tower. As soon as Catesby was informed of the lord chamberlain's visit to the cellar, he and John Wright left London in great haste. Percy and Christopher Wright waited till they heard that Fawkes was seized, when they followed their companions. Rookwood and Keyes remained in town till the morning of November 5, and then they also hurried away. Tresham continued in London, as though he was totally unconnected with the affair. He was not apprehended till November 12.* It will be remembered, that sir Everard Digby had undertaken the management of that part of the conspiracy which related to the movements in the country. He punctually performed his task. A large party of gentlemen was collected at Dunchurch, under the avowed pretence of a great chase on Dunsmore heath. They all knew, however, that some great blow was to be struck in fa- | vour of their cause, and that they would hear of the result that night. The arrival of Catesby and his companions revealed the secret, and spread general dismay. The company quickly dwindled to a small amount, few being left, except * The discovery of the plot occasioned, as might be supposed, great excitement in London. Horror and indignation, at the diabolical deed, were mingled with gratitude to God for the timely discovery. The princess Elizabeth, then only eight years old, wrote in the following terms to her brother, prince Henry, (the original is in French :) "My dear Brother,-I doubt not that you have rendered thanksgivings to our gracious God for the deliverance which he has vouchsafed to us, as I have also done, and still do on my own account; but I wish to join your vows with my own, and to say with you, If the Lord be for us, who shall be against us? While he keeps me, I will not fear what man can do.'"-Ellis's Original Letters, First Series, iii. 91. | the original conspirators, and some of tleman," Catesby exclaimed, when he "Where Rookwood's wife, Morgan's wife, with some others of the same stamp, met, to rejoice with them for the downfal of heresy; encouraging their husbands to go on, increase their forces, and fight it out to the last."-Foulis's Romish Treasons, p. 510. had already abandoned the enterprise, and none joined them. Finding that they were closely pursued by sir Richard Walsh, sheriff of Worcestershire, who was not, however, aware of the plot, but supposed that he was putting down some trifling insurrection, they determined to make a stand at Holbeach. Thursday night was spent in fortifying the house. The next morning, Littleton, the owner of the house, fled. Sir Everard Digby also left, intending, as he afterwards said, to hasten the arrival of some friends who were expected to join them. He was overtaken near Dudley, apprehended, and conveyed to London. An accident happened soon after the departure of sir Everard Digby, which might have proved fatal to the whole party. A quantity of powder had been wetted, the day before, in passing through a ford of the river Stour, and Catesby, Rookwood, and John Grant, were drying it on a platter by a fire. A coal fell among it, and occasioned a terrific explosion, by which a large bag, lying near, was carried quite through the roof into the court yard. The bag contained about fifteen pounds of gunpowder; had it taken fire, the premises would have been completely destroyed, and the whole party buried in the ruins. As it was, several of them were much burned, and all were filled with fear, deeming it a judgment from Heaven for their wickedness. Catesby himself began to be apprehensive that God was angry with them; and Rookwood and others "perceiving God to be against them, all prayed before the picture of our lady, and confessed that the act was so bloody, as they desired God to forgive them." Sir Richard Walsh, attended by an armed company, reached the house about the middle of the day, and summoned the rebels in the king's name to surrender. A brief encounter followed. Thomas Winter was disabled by an arrow from a cross bow. The two Wrights were mortally wounded. Catesby and Percy were standing back to back, when John Streete, one of the sheriffs' men, fired at them, his musket being doubly loaded, and shot them both through the body.* Catesby crawled into the house, seized an image of the virgin, * John Streete obtained a pension of two shillings a day for this service. embraced it, and died. Percy expired the next day. The rest of the party were soon overpowered and made prisoners. Keyes was apprehended the same day in Warwickshire. Thomas Bates, who had left Holbeach in the morning, was seized a few days after. Robert Winter contrived to elude his pursuers, and was not secured till the following January. The day after his apprehension, Tresham sent a long declaration to the council, professing to give an account of the part he had taken in the plot, and stating, among other things, that by his persuasion the conspirators had been induced to abandon the project, that he had furnished them with money to go beyond sea, and was greatly surprised to find that they had adopted a contrary course. All this was palpably false. He was committed to the Tower, and not examined again till November 29, when he confessed that he had been engaged with Garnet and others in the treasonable correspondence with the king of Spain, a short time before the death of Elizabeth. On December 23, he died in the Tower. In the very article of death he retracted his assertion respecting Garnet, and affirmed that he had not seen him for sixteen years. But the wretched man died with a lie in his mouth; for it was afterwards proved in evidence that "Garnet had been with Tresham continually, until within a few days before the discovery of the plot, not only at White Webbe's, at Erith, and in London, but also at his own house in Northamptonshire." THE SOLDIER BECOME A CHRISTIAN. THOMAS CRANFIELD was born in the borough of Southwark. He was sent to the parochial school of St. Mary Overie when seven years of age, and continued Averse to there till he was fourteen. instruction, and impatient of control, he often absented himself, without the knowledge of his parents, for two or three successive weeks, and was, in consequence, severely punished. As he grew older, his evil dispositions became stronger; he was cruel to the brute creation, profane in his language, a breaker of the sabbath, and always foremost in fights and contentions. Again and again he was saved from death; but these interpositions of a gracious Providence left | raised him to the rank of corporal, and no impression on his mind; like "evil men and seducers," he waxed "worse and worse." After absconding from a respectable tailor, to whom he was apprenticed, and being reduced to the greatest distress, he suffered much cruelty from another master, to whom he bound himself. On escaping from him, he met with a recruiting party, and enlisted into the 39th regiment of foot. This being ordered to Gibraltar, from Spain as well as France supporting the Americans in their contest with this country, he proceeded thither in the ship Exeter. As he could now read and write tolerably well, he was considered by his comrades an excellent scholar. His conduct also secured him the favour of his commanding officer; and, as soon as he became master of his exercise, he was employed in making clothes for the regiment. After some time had passed, the Spaniards laid siege to Gibraltar. The town and fortress stand on a rock, which being connected with the continent by an isthmus, or neck of low sand, and almost wholly surrounded by the Mediterranean, forms a promontory, or high cape, of three miles in length. On this isthmus twenty thousand Spaniards encamped, while the garrison was defended by less than six thousand men. All communication was now cut off from the continent; as Spanish armed vessels and gunboats sailed in all directions, to prevent it receiving any supplies. em Cranfield no sooner beheld the enemies of his country, than he requested his commanding officer to allow him to share the duties and dangers of the private soldiers, from which his ployment exempted him. His desire was gratified. The English fired now and then on the Spaniards; and in one case, six thousand thirty-two pound shots were discharged in less than half an hour; but, at length, the Spaniards poured in such a large quantity of shot and shells, that the inhabitants of the town and fortress were filled with the greatest alarm. The oldest soldier declared he had never witnessed so terrible a sight; and to avoid the shells, as they exploded, the men were obliged continually to fall flat on their faces. In the midst of this imminent danger, Cranfield's labour and fatigue were excessive. His general good conduct, however, was noticed by the colonel, who treated him with confidence. Meanwhile, though his old sins and the roaring of the cannon, he says, produced a very hell in his soul, the God, of whom he did not think, covered his head in the day of battle. One instance of preservation must not be omitted. Cranfield was ordered to join the attacking party, and although he usually cared not for danger, his heart quailed on leaving the fortress. The moon, which had been shining very brightly, had now fallen beneath the distant waters of the Atlantic, and all around was dark. No sound of voice or foot was permitted to be heard, and the whole detachment moved forwards towards the Spanish lines. Cranfield's mind, long and fearfully depraved, was awed by these circumstances. thoughts recalled the scenes of his youth; his offences against his parents appeared to rise up, and to set themselves in array before him, and now he had proof that "the way of transgressors is hard;" for it is a "bitter" as well as "an evil thing" to sin against God. "What recompense," thought His he, "have I made my parents? "None! and I shall now never see my father and mother again." The tears had begun to trickle down his cheeks, at these reflections, when he found that he and his party were near the Spaniards. The batteries were set on fire; the mortars and cannon were spiked; the isthmus appeared in a blaze; and the loss of the enemy, in a few minutes, was great. Cranfield's life was exposed, in this encounter, to the utmost peril; but so far from his heart being softened by deliverance, it was the more hardened; and he declared, that there was not a shot in Spain cast for him. His dangers continued; in one hour he counted no less than eighty shells, besides cannon balls, that fell near him. Frequently, when overcome with fatigue, he lay all night on the wet ground, while the water from the heights was running beneath him. Often was he reduced to the greatest extremity for food, so that he was compelled to eat the flesh of cats and dogs, and even rats. At length, the Spaniards put forth their utmost energy. Showers of shells and balls were thrown into every part of the garrison, without ceasing, and seemed to render escape impossible. Still their efforts failed; one battering vessel took fire, and the others |