August 24 (Canterbury) — A clumsily-hidden cache of arms and gunpowder were seized by forces loyal to Parliament at the Deanery of Canterbury Cathedral, seat of William Laud, the prelate whose devotion to formality in religion is matched only by his dedication to the persecution of those most zealous for Christian liberty, the Puritans.

Soldiers of the Trained-Band of Kent discovered 200 muskets, 100 pikes, and six barrels of powder behind a false wall in a sub-cellar connected to the Deanery's pantry. Kitchen servants, and the Dean of the Cathedral, after initial protestations of ignorance, admitted the arms had been stored there two years ago to defend the Cathedral against those fanatical enemies of England and religion, the burghers of Amsterdam.

“We found their arguments unconvincing,” said Captain Ralph Thomas, of the Kent Trained-Band. “The Dutch? We laughed, to be perfectly honest.”