e, adjoining to that in
which the parliament was to assemble. Towards the end of that year, they
began their operations. That they might be less interrupted, and give
less suspicion to the neighborhood, they carried in store of provisions
with them, and never desisted from their labor. Obstinate in their
purpose, and confirmed by passion, by principle, and by mutual
exhortation, they little feared death in comparison of a disappointment;
and having provided arms, together with the instruments of their labor,
they resolved there to perish in case of a discovery. Their perseverance
advanced the work; and they soon pierced the wall, though three yards
in thickness; but on approaching the other side, they were somewhat
startled at hearing a noise which they knew not how to account for.

{1605.} Upon inquiry, they found that it came from the vault below the
house of lords; that a magazine of coals had been kept there; and that,
as the coals were selling off, the vault would be let to the highest
bidder. The opportunity was immediately seized; the place hired by
Piercy; thirty-six barrels of powder lodged in it; the whole covered up
with fagots and billets; the doors of the cellar boldly flung open; and
every body admitted, as if it contained nothing dangerous.

Confident of success, they now began to look forward, and to plan the
remaining part of their project. The king, the queen, Prince Henry, were
all expected to be present at the opening of parliament. The duke, by
reason of his tender age, would be absent; and it was resolved that
Piercy should seize him, or assassinate him. The princess Elizabeth, a
child likewise, was kept at Lord Harrington's house in Warwickshire;
and Sir Everard Digby, Rookwood, Grant, being let into the conspiracy,
engaged to assemble their friends on pretence of a hunting match, and
seizing that princess, immediately to proclaim her queen. So transported
were they with rage against their adversaries, and so charmed with the
prospect of revenge, that they forgot all care of their own safety; and
trusting to the general confusion which must result from so unexpected a
blow, they foresaw not that the fury of the people, now unrestrained by
any authority, must have turned against them, and would probably have
satiated itself by a universal massacre of the Catholics.

The day so long wished for now approached, on which the parliament was
appointed to assemble. The dreadful secret, though communicate