soon after died in Amsterdam having few or no other Companions of the last part of his Life but several miserable English and Scotch Fugitives who had formerly been the Instruments of his Trayterous Practises and were forc'd to fly the stroke of Justice on that Account So that he could not but know that all those about him in his Sickness and Death had Just reason to hate and curse him as their principal Seducer and cause of their Ruine Nor can such an end of such a Life be justly reflected on without a special Adoration of the secret Counsels of the Divine Providence That he who a little before was generally esteem'd the Head and Protector of all the Factious in the Kingdom whom he vouchsafed to distinguish and Honour by the Title of Worthy Men and the Terror and Scourges of all the Good and the Loyal whom he mark'd out and design'd for Destruction and Slaughter under the Name of Men worthy He who in his own conceit had so much the absolute disposal of the Hearts and Hands of all the Disaffected as to be able to subvert the Establish'd Government when he pleased and had really once gone very far to effect it had not his own Presumption Defeated his Malice That this very Man having seen all his hopes and contrivances dash'd in Pieces at home should have nothing left to do but to take shelter in that Commonwealth which in his former Greatness he had so mortally provok'd there to lead a Life of Disgrace and Misery and to Dye neglected in a Country of which he had formerly express'd so great a Hatred And yet still retaining so much Venemous Rancour against his most Gracious Master as to profess with his last Breath that he had deservedly receiv'd his Deaths Wound meaning the bruise in his Side and now his Death in that Country where he had done his own so much Mischief When he was one of the Commissioners sent thither in the Year 1660 to invite his Majesty home freely and without Terms After this though the Earl of Shaftsbury was gone yet the impressions of Mischief he had left behind on the minds of the Confederates would not so easily vanish They soon reflected on his last advise that so many having been made Conscious to the Design they should certainly find more safety in pushing it on boldly than in too late a Retreat Upon this immediately they recover'd their Spirits and Resolution which his hasty flight had somewhat Damp'd thenceforth they renewed their Consultations with greater vigour than before The Principal Managers having their frequent Meetings as also the inferior Instruments theirs whilst some of each Number gave secret intimations to the other of what was passing in their separate Assemblies Of the great Council of Six the Consults that have been hitherto plainly testifi'd and sworn to were those at Mr. Hambdens at the Lord Russels and at Mr. Shepherds The Subordinate Cabals were kept in divers places in and about the City As in the December of that Year at Colonel Romzey's House in the Soho Square in the next February at West's Chamber in the Temple about which time it was agreed that Ferguson should be sent for as he was and came over accordingly Then their Meetings were more frequent upon the Kings being at Newmarket and after Usually at West's Lodgings for the conveniency of its situation Or in common Taverns As at the Miter within Aldgate The Horse-Shooe on Tower-Hill The Fortune at Wapping The Syracusa-House The Kings-head in Atheist-Alley the Salutation and the George in Lumbard-Street on June the Twelfth the very Day of the Discovery they met at the Sun-Tavern behind the Exchange on June 14 they met at Bailly of Jerviswood's Chamber and again in Bartholomew-Lane and at the Green-Dragon on Snow-hill and so continued to do some where or other till they totally dispers'd from Walcot's Lodging in Goodman's Fields Their Meetings being so generally in places of Publick Entertainment Therefore to prevent the Observation of Drawers and Servants they often discours'd of their whole Bloody Business in a Canting Language of their own making The King was sometimes call'd the Church-Warden of Whitehall The King and Duke the Black-Bird and the Gold-Finch the Captain and Lieutenant Provisions of Arms as Blunderbusses Muskets Pistols were talk'd of under the disguis'd Names of Swan-Quills Goose-Quills Crow-Quills The Insurrection was styled the General Point the Assassination the Lopping Point and striking at the Head And because several of the Conspirators were Lawyers it was sometimes agreed that their wicked intentions against the King and the Duke should be veil'd under the terms of Disseising him in Possession and barring him in Remainder At other times the Killing of both pass'd for executing a Bargain and Sale as being a short manner of conveyance and the Rising in Arms as the longer and more tedious way for executing a Lease and Release The Villains thus wantonly abusing the Innocent Terms of the excellent Profession of the common Laws of England to cover their horrid Designs against his Majesties Person and Crown whose Preservation and Prosperity is the great end and sense of all those Laws But for the most part when they were free and amongst themselves they discours'd of the whole contrivance in plain Language and without reserve their common Healths being such as these To the Man who first draws his Sword against Popery and Slavery in defence of the Protestant Religion Confusion to the two Brothers Popery and Slavery explaining the same to be meant of the Royal Brothers of Whitehal And when some of them who were less harden'd in Cruelty express'd some kind of consternation and dread of the Consequences of so dire a Stroak and desir'd the Infamy of it might be thrown on the Papists others particularly Ferguson declared They thought the Action too good to have the Papists carry away the Honour of it and often applauded it as a Glorious Work That it would be an Admonition to all Princes to take heed how they Oppressed their Subjects That he hoped to see the Fact rewarded by a Parliament and the Actors in it have the Honour of Statues erected to them and the Title of Preservers of their Country So also when Nelthrop Walcot and some few others readily declar'd themselves willing to joyn in the Insurrection but shrunk a little at first at the horrour of the Assassination R. Rumbald and R. Goodenough with monstrous impiety maintain'd the Kings and the Dukes Murder as the more pious Design of the two and recommended it as keeping one of the Ten Commandments and the best way to prevent shedding Christian Blood In these their private Cabals the Matters they promiscuously treated of were either a general Insurrection or the Assassination of the Kings and his Royal Highnesses Persons Of the Assassination divers ways were consulted till they fix'd on that of the Rye The Insurrection was proposed to be made at the same time in England and Scotland The
whether English or Scotch the Man to whom next the late Earls of Shaftsbury and Argyle belong'd the chief place and precedence in the whole Diabolical Design was Robert Ferguson a Scotch-Man he had been divers Years a fierce Independent-Preacher in the City of London and had long Brandish'd his Poys'nous Tongue and Virulent Pen against the Government He is manifestly convicted to have had a Hand in the most Scandalous Libels of those Times And was always particularly cherished magnified and maintained by the Party for his peculiar Talent in aspersing the Government and reviling his Majesties Person So that upon all Accounts of his restless Spirit fluent Tongue subtil Brain and hellish Malice he was perfectly qualifi'd to be the great Incendiary and common Agitator of the whole Conspiracy and after Shaftsbury's Death it cannot be denied but he was the Life and Soul of all especially for the carrying on of the Assassination These Persons appear hitherto to have been the principal Contrivers or Instruments of the whole Treason in the Kingdoms of England and Scotland Divers others there are concerning whom more than conjectural Proofs may be given of their being engaged in it But his Majesty is willing to spare particular Names as far as may stand with the Necessary and Just Vindication of his Government It may suffice that of these his Majesty has here allowed to be mention'd the World is abundantly satisfied that the several Shares they undertook in this Conspiracy were very agreeable to their former well known perverse Principles and declared Disaffections to the Government It is therefore certain that in the Year 1682 before and especially after Midsummer-Day when the great Business of Electing the City Sheriffs came of course to be Agitated the whole Factious Interest in and about the Town prepared to employ the Main of their Power and Craft in preventing the Swearing of the True Sheriffs on the Michaelmas-Day ensuing All which time nothing was omitted by the Disloyal Citizens and great Numbers of Strangers unduly mingled with them in all their Assemblies to elude or terrifie the Honest Zeal of the Loyal and to deceive and gain over the doubtful Members of the City Whether by direct or indirect ways it matter'd not For just about that time the New and Devilish Invention came to be most in Vogue by which they made the receiving all Oaths and taking the very Blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper to be only an Instrument for the promoting their pretended Godly Designs Wherefore in that space of time all imaginable prophane and seemingly holy Cheats and Prevarications were practis'd All sorts of Arms never before known to be procured in such Quantities by private Persons such as Blunderbusses Steel Armor cover'd with Silk and the like were carefully sought after and bought up The most improbable false Rumors fill'd every Street That now all true Protestants were to be Massacred in an instant That such Sheriffs were Nominated as had consented to be the Executioners That Popery was speedily to be Introduced barefac'd and in Triumph That all faithful Adherents to the Government were but Papists in Mascarade Popery being still made the Word of Alarm to excite and exasperate the Populace Though it is manifest the Authors of all those Clamours against Popery never intended its Suppression For that would not have consisted with their Design which was by the Popular Dread of it upon all Occasions to shake the Crown and undermine the Church of England The Truth is to such a heighth of Arrogance were things grown on their side that whoever shall indifferently reflect on the dangerous Devices slanderous Reports and Writings and other violent Emotions of the whole Party that Summer in the City they will have just cause to conclude that the course of their Proceedings was not so much a Civil Struggle against their Fellow-Citizens for Victory in the Peaceable Choice of Two subordinate Officers of Justice as a Decisive Contention for a Mastery over the whole Government Yet however cunningly the Train was laid it took no effect but on themselves The Noise and Rage of all their Mutinous Routs in Taverns and Coffee-Houses vanish'd into Air. Sir John Moor the Lord Mayor together with the greater number of wiser richer and better Citizens understood rightly and stuck unmoveably to the Kingdoms and their own true Interest Mr. North and Mr. Rich were quietly admitted and sworn Sheriffs at the appointed time with the usual Solemnities Immediately after this the very same Night the Earl of Shaftsbury privately withdrew from his own House redoubling his old Exclamations of Popery Tyranny Superstition Idolatry Oppressions Murders Irish Witnesses of whose Subornation no Man in the three Kingdoms could have given a more exact account than himself Whilst he thus lay secret in the City Romzey Walcot Ferguson Goodenough and others his Complices daily frequenting him they applied themselves with all diligence to expedite the Rebellious Work before projected His Vain-glory and the Conceit of his own Dexterity and his former constant success in making Confusions inclining him to fancy what his Flatterers suggested that the whole City and Kingdom were at his beck and upon the holding up of his Finger would presently rise in Arms to extirpate the two Brothers Slavery and Popery as they were lewdly wont in their private Debauches to style the King and his Royal Highness The said Earl of Shaftsbury had some time before set on foot a Treaty with the Earl of Argyle who after his escape out of Edenburgh-Castle came privily to London held divers Meetings with the Confederates and offer'd that for 30000 l. Sterling he would make a sturdy Commotion in Scotland But the Sum of Money demanded being so considerable and many other Scruples started and unforeseen Difficulties rising which could not so presently be removed as Argyle's pressing danger required he first quitted the Field and retired into Holland with intention there at a greater distance and more security to renew and prosecute the same Proposal About that time also both ways of destroying these Kingdoms were brought under their Consideration the general way of an Insurrection and the more compendious way as they call'd it of Assassinating the King and Duke in their return that October from Newmarket The Insurrection was instantly promoted on all Hands in Town and Country But the Assassination having then not been soon enough thought on went no farther than Discourse to be afterwards resumed and more deliberately provided for against the next Opportunity In the mean while the long expected Michaelmas-Day being thus calmly pass'd and the New Sheriffs having taken a peaceable Possession of that Power whose influence on the whole Nation the said Earl of Shaftsbury well understood no Man better Then he began on a sudden to have a quicker and sharper sense of the urgent State of their common Affairs especially of his own Imminent Peril and to accuse the rest of the Confederates of backwardness if not of Treachery in the
adjusting that part of it which related to Scotland was chiefly under the care of the Council of Six and manag'd by Commissioners of both Nations sitting in London All which Particulars are so circumstantially set forth so often repeated and demonstrably confirm'd in the ensuing Evidences that it will be sufficient here only to direct the Readers Observation by giving a brief Summary of the whole Towards an Insurrection throughout England they laid the greatest stress on the City of London not doubting but if that were once secur'd to them the rest of the Nation must of course fall in taking incouragement and example in this as in many other things from the cursed Methods of the Unnatural Rebellion in the late Kings time The City of London therefore was carefully divided by them into Twenty parts and to that purpose one of the largest Maps of the City and Liberties was hung up in West's Chamber the most usual place of their Rendezvouzes the making the several Partitions and Allotments of the whole being committed to Richard Goodenough who by reason of his universal acquaintance as having been so often Under-Sheriff was judg'd the fittest Man of the whole Party for that Work The City being thus divided it was agreed that every Division should be assign'd to some one principal Man of greatest Trust Courage and Conduct each of those Twenty was to chuse Nine or Ten or more in whom they could confide These were to have the inspection of the several Under-walks and from time to time to make returns of their Numbers and Strength and when the List was finish'd it was to be communicated to the supreme Managers By this means they made no question but they should have a select Body of at least Eight or Ten Thousand approved and well appointed Men to make the first Onset Goodenough alone having assur'd them that out of seven Divisions only there were 3000 Resolute Men prepar'd to be ready at an hours warning For the increasing their Numbers and drawing in new Converts this one general Rule was carefully prescribed That the bottom of the Design should in the beginning be warily conceal'd from all Persons with whom they treated First their Inclinations were to be try'd by gradual Insinuations and plausible Discourses at a distance till they had gain'd a full assurance of their Fidelity They were to be ask'd What they would or could do in case of a Foreign Invasion When it was answer'd They would readily assist against any Common Enemy Then it was next to be demanded Whether they would contribute the assistance of their Persons or Purses or both That being also determined it was to be farther inquired What Furniture of Arms Horses and Money they had in readiness What Friends they could engage And if these Questions were resolved according to their Minds then the whole Mystery of the Villany was to be frankly disclosed They were to be told in down-right terms That there was already an Oppression and Force upon all they had That there was an actual Invasion on the English Liberties Properties and Consciences That the only Obligation the Subject has to the King is a Mutual Covenant That this Covenant was manifestly broken on the Kings part That therefore the People were free from all Oaths or other tyes of Fealty and Allegiance and had the Natural Liberty restored to them of asserting their own Rights and as justly at least against a Domestick as against Foreign Invaders The way being thus made to sound and prepare the Dispositions of ill Men for any Violent Enterprize the next thing that came under Deliberation was Mony For that several of the particular Conspirators declared they had considerable Sums of their own or deposited with them which were ready and might be call'd for on Occasion That great Subscriptions had been made of divers Thousands of Pounds which when the time of Action drew neer were to be distributed amongst the Chief of the Twenty Divisions That this would be enough to make provision for a sudden Push But if the business succeeded Half a Years Rent of the Chimney-Mony would be due besides what the Excise-Office and the Custom-House might afford That all the Mony and Plate in Lumbard-street and what was in the possession of the Bankers Goldsmiths and other Wealthy Men in London or the Suburbs was either to be seiz'd on as a just Forfeiture or Borrowed under the Name of the Old and Antiquated Cheat of the Publick Faith Particularly Ferguson whose constant Custom it was in all their Consults to out-do all the rest by some peculiar Circumstance of Cruelty of his own Invention added on this Head That little or nothing was to be expected from the Old Rich Cititizens that therefore Five or Six of them were to be kill'd at first and their Estates given to the Mobile to terrifie the rest The next necessary Provision they debated on was Arms. And it is notoriously known the whole Party had for a long time before been gathering great abundance of all Sorts All probably with the same prospect and in the same Proportion for their Parts in the Conspiracy as the Lord Gray had done for his though they happen'd not all to be so manifestly detected For a good while before any Conspiracy was suspected by his Majesty or his Ministers the said Lord was found to have by him hid under other Common Furniture in a dark Garret above Fourscore Compleat Arms in his Private City-House where no open Robbery or Assault could be fear'd and by consequence there could not be the least shadow of pretence that they were laid in there for his own lawful use or defence But besides these Stores which they had every one made for themselves it was resolv'd at the very first to attempt the Publick Magazines in and about the City Particularly that in the Artillery-Ground where a considerable Number of Excellent Arms were commonly kept without a Guard for the frequent exercises of the Citizens Many thoughts also were spent how to engage the Seamen to their Side To this end several Riotous Meetings were made at Wapping the greatest Men amongst them not disdaining there to Feast and Cajole the Rabble often styling that Scum of People they there met with their honest Wapping Friends Besides this some Sea Captains were tamper'd with and a Golden Ball was proposed to be hurl'd upon Black-Heath none questioning but the Seamen assembled at that sport would declare for them as one Man upon a groundless fancy that they were of themselves highly discontented and ready to Mutiny for want of Pay Though it must be said and his Majesty does hereby publickly own that their Practises with the Seamen met with the least success of any Nor is it imaginable the brave Race of English Mariners should ever prove false to his Majesty who has cherish'd incourag'd and promoted that Profession more than all the Kings of England have done since the Conquest his Majesty well understanding that the Safety
Public Cause First communicating his Suspicions and Jealousies to the Lord Howard who had been so lately the Companion of his restraint and Gaol-Delivery The Lord Howard was retir'd some Days before into Essex waiting the result of that great Day in the City whence he receiv'd frequent intimations from his Friends of the Faction in a Style obscure but by him well understood and concerted between them That now the business which had been Transacting so long amongst his Correspondents was coming to good Issue and call'd for his speedy presence That occasioned his return on the same Michaelmas-Day and presently after Walcot came to him from the Earl of Shaftsbury with a Message expressing his earnest desire to speak with him in his Concealment at one Watson's in Woodstreet Accordingly the Lord Howard giving him a Visit the substance of the said Earl's first discourse with him was That finding the Due Elections as he call'd them of the City frustrated and the Pseudo-Sheriffs establish'd he could no longer think any honest Man safe and had therefore hid himself there having first made what Preparations were needful for a sudden Rising That many Thousands were ready in the City to Master the Gates and attack Whitehal That they within were to be assisted from the Countries adjacent with 1000 or 1200 Horse under good Officers Only he complained of the Duke of Monmouth's and the other great Mens backwardness who had promised by Rising in other remote Counties at the same time to give a Diversion to the standing Forces The Sum of this the Lord Howard the next day Communicated to the said Duke who also on his part complain'd of the Earl of Shaftsbury's acting of late on a separate Bottom and that his present Fears had blinded his usual Prudence and therefore he required a speedy Meeting with him to re-establish a better Understanding and Union of Counsels between them all for the future This discourse being reported back to the said Earl he replied His People were impatient of longer delays having advanc'd so far that there was no retreat the Design being imparted to so many that it was impossible but it would quickly take Air. Upon this he proceeded to declare his vehement suspicion of the Duke of Monmouth That his Dilatoriness proceeded from some private Correspondence between him and his Majesty That it was to be fear'd the said Duke acted with a prospect very different from theirs only minding the advancement of himself whereas his own Resolutions were that since it was now manifest their Liberties were no more to be secur'd but under a Commonwealth he alone with his Interest would attempt the Deliverance of his Country If the rest of the Lords would concur with him they might share in the Glory else he hoped he should be able to effect the Work without them by the help of an honest brisk Party in the City Upon this Answer the Duke of Monmouth suspecting that before their People could be ready in the Country the Earl of Shaftsbury's unseasonable Anxiety for his own Safety might put him on attempting some rash Action in London which would be easily quell'd by the form'd and disciciplin'd Guards and so the whole Design might be stifled in a moment he did therefore the more earnestly press the Lord Howard to make another essay to procure an Interview The Lord Howard did so and got from the said Earl a promise of meeting the Confederate Lords the next Day in the Evening which yet when the time came he put off with an excuse by Colonel Romzey However some Days after they did meet their Differences were in some measure piec'd up and they began to act jointly again towards a speedy Insurrection To this purpose several Days were proposed One about the latter end of October but it was delay'd a little longer till the concurrence of the the several Counties could be signified up Then that of Queen Elizabeth being Novemb. 17. was named but rejected because all his Majesties Guards were commonly in Arms to watch and suppress the wonted Tumults of the Rabble on that Day At last the Nineteenth of November was fixt on which happening that Year to be on a Sunday whilst some excepted against it for that reason Ferguson with his usual impious Virulency reply'd That the Sanctity of the Day was suitable to the Sanctity of the Work The Day being thus determin'd they all presently fell to prepare as their several parts were allotted Especially the great Managers held Assemblies to receive Accounts how the Counties were dispos'd and to consult upon surprizing the Guards for which end the Duke of Monmouth the Lord Gray and Sir Thomas Armstrong undertook to view the posture of their Quarters and reported back to their Principals That the seizing them was a thing very feasible which very particular the Duke of Monmouth afterwards confess'd in so many words to his Majesty when he rendred himself In the mean time the Earl of Shaftsbury was very uneasie and weary of lurking in Holes where every sound and breath of Air began to frighten him Wherefore with repeated and importunate Messages he press'd the other Lords to keep to their Day expostulating with them upon their former slowness whereby they had lost so many advantageous Opportunities The case being now so much alter'd that he who once presum'd his driving out the King would prove but a leisurely walk to him when the danger drew near himself was become so apprehensive and rash as not to afford his own wicked Counsels leisure enough to come to any tolerable Maturity At length one Day when their great Council about London was assembled at Shepard's House in Abchurch-Lane the said Earl sent Colonel Romzey to quicken their Debates and once for all to learn the result of their final Determinations But they having just before received several Advices out of the West that their Friends there especially in Taunton and Devonshire could not possibly be ready on so short a warning presently sent him back such word concluding it could not be helpt but he and they must be content to respite the time of Execution to a longer day This positive Answer broke all his Measures and made him instantly resolve to leave England Wherefore first he removed his lodging into Wapping Then the very Night that place was Burnt being also the Night of the same 19th Day of November on which he had expected to set the whole Nation in a Flame he privately sculk'd down the River Attended only by the two chief Complices and Witnesses of his Treasons Walcot and Ferguson the latter of them having been forc'd for some time before to abscond too because of a Warrant out against him for Publishing some one or other of his many Treasonable Pamphlets That was the last considerable Effort made by the Earl of Shaftsbury against the King and Kingdom After this nothing more was heard of him but that being got into Holland in a Panick fright he lived obscurely and
Riches and Honour of this Kingdom depend most on its Maritime Greatness However the Conspirators not in the least doubting but they should have sufficient Numbers to make a stand and give time to others to come in and declare their Rendezvouses were appointed in the chief Piazza's and most of the convenient Posts of London and Westminster whence they might at once Attack the Bridge the Exchanges the Guards the Savoy Whitehal and the Tower and they had ready in Town about 100 of Cromwel's old Officers to Head and Govern the mixt Multitude as soon as they should appear in Arms. At the same time a Party of 500 Horse was to come out of the Country to scour the Streets and immediately Barricadoes were to be made the Horses of Hackney-Coaches and other Strangers were to be seiz'd on the Horse-Guards not actually mounted to be surpriz'd in their several Stables the Churches to be broken open and used as St. Pauls was in the late times Ferguson had also often assur'd them he could promise for three hundred Scots to be ready at a day affirming that such a Number most of them Bothwel-Bridge Men resided about Town as Journey-men in divers Trades and were to be commanded by Ten or Twelve Gentlemen of that Nation Adding that some hundreds more went about the Country with Packs taking that way to get and carry Intelligence as well as for a Livelyhood Upon supposition of this Strength Whitehal was to be assaulted at once by one Party from the Strand by another on the back-side from Westminster and on the River by Water-Men in Boats with Hand-Granadoes And in confidence that his Majesty and the whole Court would speedily either be taken or fly there were distinct Parties assign'd to way-lay them on the Road either to Windsor or Portsmouth Their principal Aim being to surprize the Tower as a place most able to annoy them and where there lay great Magazines and Stores of Ammunition to furnish them they had many Debates of Stratagems proposed on that subject One was to be perform'd by Night by firing a parcel of Fagots to burn down the Gates whilst a strong Party without was to be ready to make a brisk Attack in the first Confusion of the Garison Another to be Executed about Two in the Afternoon thus One party privately Arm'd was to go see the Armory another the Lions The first to return into the Sutler's House by the Gate At the same time some were to come in Coaches on pretence of visiting the Lords then Prisoners Those in the Sutler's House were to Issue out and kill a Horse or overthrow a Coach just in the passage Then both parties to joyn and seize on the Guards and by a sign given upon the Coaches over-turning Two or Three Hundred Men lodg'd in Houses thereby were to come in and Second the rest Another was that some of the Conspirators as Constables and Officers of Justice should bring in others as Offendors and that several should enter feined Actions one against the other in St. Catharines-Court then held in the Tower On the Court Day others were to come in as Plantiffs Defendents and Witnesses who joyning with those that seem'd to come out of Curiosity all these might be seconded by a like party prepar'd from without the over-turning a Coach being likewise made use of in this Case Which soever of these ways should happen to be attempted The Lord Dartmouth Master-General of the Ordnance was immediately to be dispatch'd as one whose Bravery and Courage they fear'd would prompt him to Blow up the Great Magazine of Powder there and so Bury them with himself in the Ruine if he found he could not otherways resist them Besides securing to themselves by these means the Cities of London and Westminster which was their greatest Care they had also under Consideration the Raising Commotions at the same time in divers others parts of England Especially in those Counties of the West and North which they believed the Duke of Monmouth's Progresses had most inclined to their Factious Interest In every County some one Great Man was to put himself at the Head of the Rebellion and divers of them had their proper Stations appointed Particularly of Newcastle they made themselves sure and laid great stress upon it by reason of its vicinity to Scotland and the influence its Coal-Pits have on the City of London In Cheshire they depended on a numerous assistance that being the County in which the Earl of Shaftsbury had formerly advised the Insurrection should begin and a Free Parliament be declar'd for at the time of the Duke of Monmouth's going thither in one of his Mock-Triumphs Portsmouth was to be attempted by some going into the Town on pretence of seeing the place at the same time another Party coming in on the Market-day disguis'd like Country-Men and both together were to fall on the Guards From Taunton they expected great Numbers remembring the old Disloyalty of the Inhabitants which they had evidenc'd by a most remarkable insolence having presumed for some Years after his Majesties most happy Restoration to keep solemnly a Day of Thanksgiving to God for raising the Siege which his Father had laid against the Parliaments Rebellious Forces in that Town In Bristol they had secured a good Party which they doubted not might easily Master the City as manifestly appears by the full Confession of Holloway Citizen of Bristol which he freely made upon his very first Examination and afterwards confirm'd at his Execution when he could not have the least hope of Pardon to be obtain'd thereby At the same time when they were making these Preparations for an Insurrection the other design of Assassinating his Majesty and his Royal Highness kept equal pace with it It is manifest that some of these very Men had often before devised the Kings and his Royal Brothers Murder divers ways For besides what Hone confess'd of the Proposal to shoot them from Bow-Steeple and another Project of destroying them the next Lord Mayor's Day before which was laid aside upon notice that his Majesty and his Brother intended not to be there and besides Richard Rumbald's Invention of blowing up the Play-House when they should both be present the said Rumbald inform'd his Confederates that he and some of his Friends had resolv'd to cut off the King and the Duke in their Journey to or from Newmarket above ten Years before and had layn sometime in ambush to that purpose but without effect because as God would have it his Majesty and his Royal Brother then unexpectedly went the other way through the Forest which as the Wretch himself could not but observe they have seldom or never done before or since And now also upon this occasion divers ways of performing the Assassination were debated One was to make the attempt on them in St. James's Park as they were passing privately and sometimes almost alone to St. James's Another when they should be going down the River
administer'd against the Conspirators as also that it might appear with what weak Cavils Ambiguities and Tergiversations they defended themselves both living and dying For the others who were afterwards brought to condign Punishment it will not be so needful to descend into every minute part of their Tryals Condemnations and Executions which have been already faithfully published especially since those that followed made most of the same Objections in Law and Fact as were before most solidly answer'd It will be enough only to make some few Observations where any new Matter shall arise for the fuller Demonstration of the wicked Design On July the 13th of that Year was John Rouse brought to Tryal Against him there was ample Evidence given First by Thomas Lea That the said Rouse undertook to provide 100 Arms for the City-Divisions That he said Nothing could be done unless the King were seiz'd adding We remember Forty One when the King went and set up his Standard therefore we will seize them that they shall not set up their Standard That he farther said It would be convenient to have a Ball plaid on Black-Heath to that end some Sea-Captains must be spoken to he promising to speak to Ten That when the Ball should be won every Captain might take his Party and tell them they had other VVork and then go with long Boats and Arms to seize the Tower That the said Rouse had several such Discourses and went divers times to view the Tower to that end That after the Discovery he said to Goodenough and Nelthrop Be not discourag'd but let the Business go on That he said Take off the King and the Duke and then no Man can have Commission to fight for them That he also affirm'd He was under an Oath of Secrecy never to trust but one at a time with the Design Then by William Leigh That the said Rouse farther endeavour'd to get Seamen to seize on and Command some of the Kings Ships lying as Guard-Ships at Woolwich and Deptford That being ask'd What he would do with Ships without Powder and Shot with which they could not be provided except the Tower were surpriz'd He reply'd We must secure the Tower and Whitehal both or we can do nothing And farther to prove the said Rouse's former Trayterous Temper of Mind against his Majesties Government it was sworn by Mr. Corbin That upon some discourse concerning the Parliament at Oxford Rouse said He foresaw it would be a short Sessions but that these frequent Prorogations an Dissolutions of Parliament would not avail him For whatever the King has the Parliament gave him and they may take it away when they please That the King had forfeited his Crown and had no more Right to it than he had Against this all the Defence Rouse made was That the words attested by Corbin were spoken upon a Supposition of the Popes Power over Princes That as for William Lea he had nothing to say against him but hoped he was an honest Man and for Thomas Lea that the said Lea himself first began those Treasonable Discourses which Rouse intended to have revealed had not the other got the start of him But this being only supported by his single Yea and Nay without the Credit of any one Witness to strengthen it the Jury presently gave their Verdict that he was Guilty For divers Years before he had been a most Notorious Boutefeu in the City of London and was one of the many scandalous Examples of the gross Corruption and Iniquity of the Ignoramus-Juries of that time he having been unjustly acquitted by them when in the Year 1681. he was Indicted of high Crimes particularly for those Trayterous VVords mentioned in Corbin's Evidence But at last the Divine vengeance overtook him in this manner At his Death among other things he ingenuously confess'd he had deserved the Sentence pass'd against him that he had heard and understood too much in several kinds of Meetings especially of some who though they call'd themselves True Protestants were Ten Thousand times worse than any others On November the 7th of the said Year 1683 was Colonel Algernoon Sydney arraign'd having sued out his Habeas Corpus and on the 21st he was brought to his Tryal He was Indicted for being one of their Great Council of Six for sending Aaron Smith into Scotland and for Writing a most Treasonable Libel against the Government which was found in his Closet on the Table when his Papers were seiz'd As to the said Colonels having been one of their Council of Six and present at and consenting to all their Deliberations at Mr. Hambden's and the Lord Russel's the Lord Howard deposed to the same sense as he had done at the Lord Russel's Tryal adding now one particular which more especially affected Colonel Sydney That the said Colonel the Duke of Monmouth and the Deponent were the first Movers of erecting that Council the Duke of Monmouth undertaking to incline the Lord Russel to it and Mr. Sydney promising for the Earl of Essex and Mr. Hambden Touching the Second Article His sending Aaron Smith into Scotland to invite some Scotch-Men hither the Lord Howard farther witness'd That at their first Meeting at Mr. Hambden's amongst other matters it was chiefly debated how to make a coalition of Councils between them and Scotland That to this purpose it was propos'd some fit Person should be thought on to send thither to unite them and the English Conspirators into one sense and care That this was discours'd of at the first Meeting That at the next which was at my Lord Russel's House every one of the same Persons being present they fell to Consult of what they had charg'd themselves with the time before concerning sending into Scotland and also the setling a Correspondence with Argyle That the Scotch Gentlemen Named to be sent to were Melvin Cockran and the Cambels That Colonel Sydney offer'd he would take care of the Person to be sent saying he had one in his thought 's whom he judg'd a fit Man to be trusted naming Aaron Smith for the Man That as many of the Company as knew him thought him a very proper Person for that employment That the Duke of Monmouth undertook to invite Melvin hither and a Letter was to be sent to Cockran by Smith That these Scotch-men were to be desired to come and acquaint their Council here how they found Scotland temper'd what opportunities or advantages there might be of putting that Kingdom into a Commotion and how they might there keep time and place with the English That shortly after this the Deponent went to Colonel Sydney's and found him just going into London That the said Colonel took out of a Cabinet several Guinea's saying They were to be given to Aaron Smith for his Expences That he was sent accordingly and the Colonel told the Deponent afterwards He was gone and was upon the Road and that he had heard from him when he was about Newcastle It was next plainly prov'd
his Father have so liberally conferr'd on them or if the late groundless Rumours of Popery Slavery and Arbitrary Power shall have so far prevail'd as to sour and corrupt Them also yet they might remember that their Generous Loyalty did once before remain untainted and bravely stood the Shock amidst the very same Rumours and Slanders as popularly but as falsly urg'd then against the Government as they have been of late So that either then they were in the wrong or are now and cannot possibly have been both times on the right side Wherefore his Majesty conjures them to look back on the Actions of their former Lives and to make the Honour gotten by them in their Youth for their Courage and Fidelity to the Crown first a reproof then an example to their Old Age. Once for all let them seriously observe that they are come at last to be unfortunately deluded not only by many the very same ill Principles but also by many the very same ill Parties of Men which they once esteemed it their Glory and Conscience to fight against But as for all who still continue the Kings Faithful Friends and Dutiful Subjects his Majesty most willingly takes this occasion to speak to them in another style His Majesty cannot but testifie to all the VVorld the delightful sense he retains of their unmoveable steddiness and renew'd Fidelity to him in these late times of extreme difficulty and distraction He cannot suppress within his own Royal Breast his Joy to find the same unshaken Principles and Practices of Loyalty to his Blessed Father still surviving and flourishing in them and inherited by himself with increase And after the unvaluable Mercy of God to him and his Subjects in his most happy Restoration his Majesty cannot but esteem This to have been equall'd by none but That that in so dangerous a Juncture of Publick Affairs he has met with so many unfeign'd Testimonies of Love to his Person and Zeal for his Government from all Degrees of Men in the Nation And if some have swerv'd from their Duty yet his Majesties Indignation and Resentments against them are overwhelm'd by the comfortable remembrance of the far greater and better Number of those who stood by him in the severest Trials So his Majesty has just reason to acknowledge the main Body of the Nobility and Gentry has done So has the whole sound and honest Part of the Commonalty So the great Fountains of Knowledge and Civility the Two Universities So the wisest and most Learned in the Laws So the whole Clergy and all the Genuine Sons of the Church of England A Church whose Glory it is to have been never tainted with the least Blemish of Disloyalty His Majesty cannot here forbear to let the World know what entire Satisfaction he has taken in one special Testimony of his Subjects Affections whence through Gods Gracious Providence the Monarchy has gain'd a most considerable Advantage by means of this very Conspiracy And it is that so great a Number of the Cities and Corporations of this Kingdom have since so freely resign'd their Local Immunities and Charters into his Majesties Hands lest the abuse of any of them should again hereafter prove hazardous to the just Prerogatives of the Crown This his Majesty declares he esteems as the peculiar Honour of his Reign being such as none of the most popular of all his late Royal Predecessors could have promis'd to themselves or hoped for Wherefore his Majesty thinks himfelf more than ordinarily oblig'd to continue as he has hitherto begun to shew the greatest Moderation and Benignity in the exercise of so great a Trust Resolving upon this occasion to convince the highest pretenders to the Commonweal that as the Crown was the first Original so it is still the surest Guardian of all the Peoples Lawful Rights and Privileges In Conclusion his Majesty makes this solemn Declaration to all his Loving Subjects That as by former and late Experience he has found next under God the firmness of his Friends to him has saved his Authority and Life So he is resolved to secure both by his Constancy to his Friends Such as was the Old Loyal Party and as many as have been bred up and succeeded in their Principles Whom his Majesty looks on as the great Pillars and Supporters of his Throne By them therefore his Majesty declares he will always stand and then he is sure by Gods Grace he can never fall His Majesty also here Publickly resolves that he himself will take care to keep his Ministers and Servants from the Lowest to the Highest within the Lawful Bounds of their Duty But will never suffer them to be cryed down by Noise and Tumults As to his Dearest and most Loyal Brothers Safety and just Rights his Majesty assures all the World he will inviolably Cherish them as his own And as the Danger in this Hellish Conspiracy was Common to them both so their Interests and Affections shall be always inseparable Nor can his Majesty forbear to recommend to the Imitation of all his other Subjects the profound Respect entire Resignation and Obedience which his Royal Highness continues to Practise to his Majesties Person and Government His Majesty expects from his Subjects all just submission to his Laws And promises them a proportionable Favour and Incouragement His Majesty lets them all know that the Rewards of the Crown shall be distributed according as Men deserve of the Crown and no otherwise And as God has given his Majesty the Heart not to desire to abuse So he will never as long as he Lives part with the just Prerogatives and Powers with which God alone has intrusted him FINIS
Merchant of the City of London one of a plentiful Estate and eminent Repute as any of his Rank on the Exchange But a Violent Nonconformist and Disciple of Ferguson's The two Goodenoughs Richard and Francis both Notorious Enemies of the Establish'd Government in Church and State During all the time of the Factious Citizens most furious Eruptions against Authority they had been both for some Years by turns Under-Sheriffs of London and Middlesex so that the whole wicked Mystery and Trade of packing the Ignoramus Juries pass'd through their Hands Major Holms a Fifth-Monarchy-Man an old Army-Officer a Confident of Cromwel's and Trustee for his Family In the late Times of Usurpation he was a Major in the English Army in Scotland where he became acquainted with the Earl of Argyle and was since made intimate to all his Treasonable Purposes Richard Rumbald Maltster another old Army-Officer a desperate and bloody Ravilliac who had often before laid Designs for the KING's Murder which God as often prevented by some signal Providence William Rumbald his Brother worthy of such a Brother Aaron Smith a furious Fanatick who amongst many other Seditious Practices was a Factious Sollicitor for College the Joyner and with unparalell'd boldness dared to menace the Government and to put a Libel into that notorious Malefactors hands before the Judges faces at the very time of his Tryal for which High Misdemeanor he has since fallen under the censure of the Law William Hone a Joyner a melancholy Enthusiast of Colleges Trade and Spirit who besides a large Confession of his and others share in this Conspiracy did also frankly own at his Tryal and Death that many Years before he had proposed and design'd the Killing of the King out of Bow-Steeple as his Majesty was passing to Guild-Hall John Rouse a busie Agent in all the Tumultuous Proceedings of the City Elections Zachary Bourn a Brewer Son to an obstinate Independent and he himself one of Ferguson's Hosts and Familiars Thomas Lea a Dyer Andrew Barber both Anabaptists However these three last mention'd did in some measure expiate their Guilt by their ingenious and voluntary Confessions John Ayloff a Lawyer the very Man who in a spightful defiance of his Majesties Government did many Years since venture to put a French Wooden Shooe into the Speakers Chair of the House of Commons Nor has the rest of his Life since come short of the insufferable Insolence of that Action Joseph Tyley Edward Norton Edward Wade Richard Nelthrop Robert West all of them Republican Lawyers their Hatred of the Government transporting them to be Factious against the known Interest of their own Profession These were all Men of Crafty Heads and Nimble Tongues restless Spreaders of false News bold Talkers in Seditious Clubs where according to the corrupt fashion of those Times the most profligate Persons of all Conditions were wont openly to Arraign the Monarchy and vilifie the Church under the fair shows of amending both and a tender Concernment for the Publick Good Next in the Kingdom of Scotland the Names of the chief Instruments who are already proved to have transacted that part of the Conspiracy under the Conduct and Influence of the late Earl of Argyle and who since well nigh all to a Man but those that escaped on the first Notice of the Discovery have made ample Declarations of their Guilt are these Sir Hugh and Sir John Campbell near Relations of the said Earls and as much the profess'd Enemies of their Countries Peace and Government Sir John Cockran Mr. William Baillie Men egregiously disaffected to the Government and therefore of considerable Interest with its most desperate Enemies in both Kingdoms These together with Monroe were the Persons desired by the English Managers to come up to London and Treat of a Joint Conspiracy with their Brethren here under the disguise of Planting Carolina At the same time Lieutenant Colonel Walcot was call'd out of Ireland for the same end but under colour of being the intended Governour of that Plantation To this purpose they were first invited hither by the Earl of Shaftsbury and after his Death again sent for by a Particular Messenger Accordingly they actually came up and Negotiated here some time in order to a firm Conjunction between the Traytors of both Nations for a general Rising Nor was the Treaty wholly broke off or adjusted at the very time when the Discovery broke forth To these are to be added James Steuart Son to Sir James Steuart sometimes Provost of Edenburgh He was fitted for such a design by his hot and fiery Temper and by his Education and his Fathers Example who together with most of his Relations were violent Covenanters This Man was the Author of the Libel call'd The Scottish Grievances The Lord Melvil descended from Progenitors of such Principles as have been ever against the Crown when they have fancied their Kings not Zealous for the Reformation This Man had the Management of the Duke of Monmouth's Affairs in Scotland many Years And when the Duke march'd against the Rebels near Bothwel-Bridge the said Melvil as the Earl of Shaftsbury had advis'd sent to them to Capitulate assuring them the Duke of Monmouth had Orders to give them good Conditions and when they would not submit Melvil was over-heard to say That all was lost For the Beating of them would lose the said Duke with his Friends in England Sir Patrick Hume of Polwart who kept Correspondence with Shaftsbury many Years and had been formerly Imprison'd in Scotland for Traiterous Expressions Pringle Laird of Corwoodlee a noted Fanatick and of Antimonarchical Principles from his Infancy Denham of East-Sheels just such another but less cautious and more headstrong Montgomery of Lenshaw a Covenanter to the highest degree of Bigottry Commissary Monroe who had well serv'd his Majesty in the Wars as an active brave Man But upon some Injuries he pretended to have receiv'd from the Duke of Lauderdail he grew enrag'd to such a degree as led him into these Courses which now make him so uneasie to himself that he has often begg'd of his Keeper to kill him for such an ungrateful Wretch should not live Hugh Scot Laird of Gallowsheels James Murray Laird of Philiphaugh both zealous Sticklers for the Field-Conventicle-Meetings Besides these the Principal Scottish Agents there were divers other inferior Emissaries of that Nation who went to and fro to carry on the Traiterous Intercourse between Scotland and England and with the Earl of Argyle in Holland Such as William Carstares a Scotch Conventicle-Preacher to a Numerous Meeting at Theobalds where Rumbald was his frequent Hearer William Spence who had been Comptroler and was now Employed as Secretary to the Earl of Argyle taken in London under the Name of Butler John Nisbet born in Northumberland bred up at the University of Edenburgh where he was the Leader of those Seditious Students who rais'd a Tumult upon occasion of Burning the Pope in that City But of all the Conspirators