under the House of
Lords; to place there a large quantity of powder, and to blow up the
whole when the King and his family were there assembled at the
opening of Parliament. On December 11, 1604, they began to dig in the
cellar, and after a fortnight's labor, having come to a thick wall,
they left off work and separated for Christmas.

"Early in January they began at the wall, which they found to be
extremely hard, so that, after working for about two months,[3] they
had not got more than half way through it. They then learned that a
cellar actually under the House of Lords, and used as a coal cellar,
was to be let; and as it was most suitable for their design, Percy
hired it as though for his own use. The digging was stopped, and
powder, to the amount of thirty-six barrels, was brought into the
cellar, where it was stowed under heaps of coal or firewood, and so
remained, under the immediate care of Guy Fawkes,[4] till, on the
night of November 4, 1605--the opening of Parliament being fixed for
the next day--Sir Thomas Knyvet, with a party of men, was ordered to
examine the cellar. He met Fawkes coming out of it, arrested him, and
on a close search found the powder, of which a mysterious warning had
been conveyed to Lord Monteagle a few days before. On the news of
this discovery the conspirators scattered, but by different roads
rejoined each other in Warwickshire, whence, endeavoring to raise the
country, they rode through Worcestershire, and were finally shot or
taken prisoners at Holbeche in Staffordshire."

[3] Off and on, a fortnight at the end of January and beginning of
February, and then again probably for a very short time in March.

[4] Fawkes was absent part of the time.

It is this story that I now propose to compare with the evidence. First
of all, let us restrict ourselves to the story told by Guy Fawkes himself
in the five examinations to which he was subjected previously to his
being put to the torture on November 9th, and to the letters,
proclamations, etc., issued by the Government during the four days
commencing with the 5th. From these we learn, not only that Fawkes'
account of the matter gradually developed, but that the knowledge of
the Government also developed; a fact which fits in very well with the
"traditional story," but which is hardly to be expected if the Government
account of