Maliciously and Trayterously did send to the said Monsieur le Chese into Parts beyond the Seas there to be delivered to him And that the said Edward Coleman afterward viz. the first day of December in the seven and twentieth year of our said Sovereign Lord the King at the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did receive from the said Monsieur le Chese one Letter in Answer to one of the said Letters first mentioned and written by him the said Edward Coleman to the said Monsieur le Chese which said Letter in Answer as aforesaid Falsly Maliciously and Trayterously received the day and year aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid the said Edward Coleman did falsly trayterously and maliciously read over and Peruse And that the said Edward Coleman the Letter so as aforesaid by him in Answer to the said Letter received into his Custody and Possession the Day and Year last mentioned at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did Falsly Maliciously and Trayterously Detain Conceal and Keep By which Letter the said Monsieur le Chese the Day and Year last mentioned at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did signifie and promise to the said Edward Coleman to obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other false Traytors against our Sovereign Lord the King Aid Assistance and Adherence from the said French King and that the said Edward Coleman afterward Viz. the tenth day of December in the seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord the King at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid his wicked Treasons and Traiterous Designs and Proposals as aforesaid did tell and declare to one Mounsieur Revigni Envoy extraordinary from the French King to our most Serene and Sovereign Lord King Charles c. in the County aforesaid residing and did falsly maliciously and trayterously move and excite the said Envoy extraordinary to partake in his Treason and the sooner to fulfil and compleat his Traiterous Designs and wicked imaginations and intentions the said Edward Coleman afterward Viz. the tenth day of December in the seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second of England c. aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did advisedly maliciously deceitfully and traiterously compose and write three other Letters to be sent to one Sir William Throckmorton Kt. then a Subject of our said Soveraign Lord the King of this Kingdome of England and residing in France in parts beyond the Seas Viz. at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid to sollicite the said Monsieur Le Chese to procure and obtain of the said French King Aid Assistance and Adherance as aforesaid and the said Letters last mentioned afterward Viz. the day and year last named as aforesaid from the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did falsly and tâ—aiterously send and cause to be delivered to the said Sir VVilliam Throckmorton in France aforesaid against his true Allegiance and against the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King that now is his Crown and Dignity and against the Form of the Statute in that Case made and Provided Court Upon this Indictment he hath been arraigned and hath pleaded thereunto not guilty and for his Tryal he puts himself upon God and his Country Which Country you are Your Charge is to enquire whether he be guilty of the High Treason whereof he stands indicted or not guilty If you find him guilty you are to enquire what Goods and Chattels Lands and Tenements he had at the time when the High Treason was committed or at any time since If you find him not guilty you are to say so and no more and hear your Evidence Cryer If any one will give Evidence on the behalf of our Soveraign Lord the King against Edward Coleman the Prisoner at the Bar let him come forth and he shall be heard for the Prisoner now stands at the Bar upon his Deliverance Mr. Recorder May it please you my Lord and you Gentlemen of the Jury Mr. Edward Coleman now the prisoner at the Bar stands indicted for High Treason and the Indictment sets forth that the said Edward Coleman indeavouring to subvert the Protestant Religion and to change and alter the same And likewise to stir up Rebellion and Sedition amongst the Kings Liege people and also to kill the King did on the 29th of September in the twenty seventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord the King at the Parish of St. Margarets VVestminster in this County compose and write two several Letters to one Mounsieur Le Chese that was then servant and Confessor to the French King and this was to procure the French Kings aid and assistance to him and other Traitors to alter the Religion practised and by Law established here in England to the Romish Superstition The Indictment sets forth likewise that on the same day he did write and compose two other Letters to the same Gentleman that was servant and Confessor to the said King to prevail with him to procure the French Kings assistance to alter the Religion in this Kingdome established to the Romish Religion The Indictment sets further forth that he caused these two Letters to be sent beyond the Seas And it also sets forth that on the tenth of December the same moneth he did receive a Letter from the Gentleman that was the Confessor in answer to one of the former Letters and in that Letter aid and assistance from the French King was promised and that he did traiterously conceal that Letter My Lord the Indictment sets out further that on the tenth day of the same moneth he did reveal his Treasons and traiterous Conspiracies to one Mounsieur Revigni who was Envoy from the French king to his Majesty of Great Britain And his Indictment declares he afterwards did write three Letters more to Sir VVilliam Throckmorton then residing in France to procure the French Kings assistance to the alteration of the Religion practised here in England Of these several Offences he stands hereindicted To this he hath pleaded not guilty If we prove these or either of them in the Indictment you ought to find him guilty Serj. Maynard May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury This is a Cause of great Concernment Gentlemen the Prisoner at the Bar stands indicted for no less than for an intention and endeavour to murther the King For an endeavour and attempt to change the Government of the Nation so well settled and instituted and to bring us all to ruin and slaughter of one another and for an endeavour to alter the Protestant Religion and to introduce instead of it the Romish Superstition and Popery This
Lodging in Vere-Street by Covent-Garden in a Trunck that came by the Carrier that will shew when they were sent L. Ch. Just If the Cause did turn upon that matter I would be well content to sit untill the Book was brought but I doubt the Cause will not stand upon that Foot but if that were the Case it would do you little good Observe what I say to the Jury My Lord Chief Justice his Speech to the Jury upon his summing up of the Evidence Gentlemen of the Jury My Care at this time shall be to contract this very long Evidence and to bring it within a short compass that you may have nothing before you to consider of as near as I can but what is really material to the Acquitting or Condemning of Mr. Coleman The things he is Accused of are of two sorts the one is to subvert the Protestant Religion and to introduce Popery the other was to destroy and kill the King The Evidence likewise was of two sorts The one by Letters of his own hand writing and the other by Witnesses Viva voce The former he seems to confess the other totally to deny For that he confesseth he does not seem to insist upon it that the Letters were not his he seems to admit they were And he rather makes his Defence by expounding what the meaning of these Letters were than by denying himself to be the Author I would have you take me right when I say he doth admit he doth not admit the Construction that the Kings Council here makes upon them but he admits that these Letters were his He admits it so far that he does not deny them So that you are to Examine what these Letters import in themselves and what Consequences are naturally to be deduced from them That which is plainly intended is to bring in the Roman Catholick and to subvert the Protestant Religion That which is by Consequence intended was the Killing the King as being the most likely means to introduce That which as 't is apparent by his Letters was designed to be brought in For the First part of the Evidence All his Great long Letter that he wrote was to give the present Confessor of the French King an Account of what had passed between him and his predecessor By which Agency you may see that Mr. Coleman was In with the former Confessor And when he comes to give an Account of the three years Transactions to this present Confessor and to begin a Correspondence with him About what is it Why the substance of the Heads of the long Letter comes to this It was to bring in the Catholick as he call'd it that is the Romish Catholick Religion and to establish that here and to advance an Interest for the French King be that Interest what it will It 's true his Letters do not express what sort of Interest neither will I determine but they say it was to promote the French Kings Interest which Mr. Coleman would expound in some such sort as may consist with the King of Englands and the Duke of York's Interest But this is certain it was to subvert our Religion as it is now by Law established This was the great end thereof it cannot be denyed To promote the Interest I say of the French King and to gain to himself a Pention as a reward of his service is the Contents of his First long Letter and one or two more concerning that Pention His last Letters expound more plainly what was meaâ—t by the French Kings Interest We are saith he about a great work no less than the Conversion of three Kingdoms and the totall and utter subversion and subduing of that pestilent Heresie that is the Protestant Religion which hath reigned so long in this Northern part of the World and for the doing of which there never was such great hopes since our Queen Maries Days as at this time Now this plainly shews that our Religion was to be subverted Popery established and the three Kingdoms to be converted that is indeed to be brought to confusion For I say that when our Religion is to be subverted the Nation is to be subverted and destroyed that is most apparent For there could be no hope of subverting or destroying the Protestant Religion but by a Subversion not Conversion of the three Kingdoms How was it to be done otherwise Why I would have brought this Religion in says he by dissolving of the Parliament I would have brought it in by an Edict and Proclamation of Liberty of Conscience In these ways I would have brought it in Mr. Coleman knows it is not fit for him to own the introducing of his Religion by the Murder of the King or by a Forein Force The one was too black and the other too bloody to be owned And few people especially the English will be brought to save their Lives as he may do his by confession of so bloody and barbarous a thing as an intention to Kill the King or of Levying a War which though it be not a Particular is a General Murder I say it was not convenient for Mr. Coleman when he seemâ— to speak something for himself to give such an Account how he would have done it Therefore he tells us he would have done it by the dissolving of the Parliament and by Toleration of Religion Now I would very fain know of any man in the World whether this was not a very fine and artificial covering of his design for the Subversion of our Religion Pray how can any man think that the Dissolving of the Parliament could have such a mighty influence to that purpose It is true he might imagine it might in some sort contribute towards it Yet it is so doubtful that he himself mistrusts it For he is sometimes for the Dissolving of the Parliament and other times not as appears by his own papers For which we are not beholding to him so much as for any one more than what were found by accident and produced to the King and Council But in truth why should Mr. Coleman believe that another Parliament if this Parliament were Dissolved should comply with Popery That is to say That there should be great hopes of bringing in of Popery by a new Parliament Unless he can give me a good reason for this I shall hold it as insignificant and as unlikely to have that effect as his other way by a General Toleration And therefore next Upon what ground does he presume this I do assure you that man does not understand the inclinations of the English people or knows their Tempers that thinks if they were left to themselves and had their Liberty they would turn Papists It 's true there are some amongst us that have so little Wit as to turn Fanaticks but there is hardly any but have much more wit than to turn Papists These are therefore the Counterfeit pretentions of Mr. Coleman Now if not by these means In what way truly
THE TRYAL OF EDWARD COLEMAN Gent. FOR Conspiring the Death OF THE KING AND THE Subversion of the Government OF ENGLAND AND THE Protestant Religion Who upon Full Evidence was found Guilty of HIGH TREASON And received SENTENCE accordingly on Thursday November the 28th 1678. LONDON Printed for Robert Pawlet at the Bible in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street 1678. November 28. 1678. I Do appoint Robert Pawlet to Print the TRYAL of Edward Coleman And that no other Person presume to Print the same WILLIAM SCROGGS THE TRYAL OF Edward Coleman Gent. ON Wednesday the Twenty Seventh day of November 1678. Mr. Coleman having been Arraigned the Saturday before for High Treason was brought to the Kings Bench Bar to receive his Tryal and the Court proceeded thereupon as followeth Court Cryer make Proclamation Proclamation for Silence Cryer O Yes Our Sovereign Lord the King do's strictly Charge and Command all manner of Persons to keep Silence upon pain of Imprisonmenâ— If any one can inform our Sovereign Lord the King the King's Serjeant or the King's Attorney General or this Inquest now to be taken of any Treason Murder Felony or any other Misdemeanour committed or done by the Prisoner at the Bar let them come forth and they shall be heard for the Prisoner stands at the Bar upon his Deliverance Court Cryer make an O yes Cryer O yes You Good Men that are impannelled to enquire between our Sovereign Lord the King and Edward Coleman Prisoner at the Bar answer to your names Court Edward Coleman Hold up thy hand These Good men that are now called and here appear are those which are to pass between you and our Sovereign Lord the King upon your Life or Death if you challenge any of them you must speak as they come to the Book to be sworn and before they are sworn The Prisoner Challenging none the Court proceeded and the Jury were sworn viz. JURY Sir Reginald Foster Baronet Sir Charles Lee. Edward Wilford Esquire John Bathurst Esquire Joshua Galliard Esquire John Bifield Esquire Simon Middleton Esquire Henry Johnson Esquire Charles Vmfrevile Esquire Thomas Johnson Esquire Thomas Eaglesfield Esquire William Bohee Esquire Court Cryer make an O yes Cryer O yes Our Sovereign Lord the King does strictly charge and command all manner of Persons to keep Silence upon pain of Imprisonment Court Edward Coleman Hold up thy hand You Gentlemen of the Jury that are now sworn look upon the Prisoner and hearken to his Charge You shall understand that the Prisoner stands Indicted by the name of Edward Coleman late of the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex Gent. for that he as a false Traytor against our most Illustrious Serene and most Excellent Prince Charles by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. and his Natural Lord having not the Fear of God in his Heart nor duely weighing his Allegiance but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil his cordial Love and true Duty and natural Obedience which true and lawful Subjects of our said Lord the King ought to bear towards him and by Law ought to have altogether withdrawing and Devising and with all his strength intending the Peace and common Tranquillity of this Kingdom of England to Disturb and the true Worship of God within the Kingdom of England practised and by Law Established to overthrow and Sedition and Rebellion within this Realm of England to move stir up and procure and the cordial Love and true Duty and Allegiance which true and lawful Subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King toward their Sovereign bear and by Law ought to have altogether to Withdraw Forsake and Extinguish and our said Sovereign Lord the King to Death and final Destruction to bring and put the Twenty Ninth day of September in the Seven and Twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord Charles the Second of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County aforesaid Falsly Maliciously and Traiterously proposed Compassed Imagined and Intended to stir up and raise Sedition and Rebellion within the Kingdom of England and to procure and cause a miserable Destruction among the Subjects of our said Lord the King and wholly to Deprive Depose Deject and Disinherit our said Sovereign Lord the King of his Royal State Title Power and Rule of his Kingdom of England and to bring and put our said Sovereign Lord the King to final Death and Destruction and to overthrow and change the Government of the Kingdom of England and to alter the sincere and true Religion of God in this Kingdom by Law established and wholly to subvert and destroy the state of the whole Kingdom being in the universal parts thereof well Established and Ordained and to levy War against our said Sovereign Lord the King within his Realm of England And to accomplish and fulfill these his most wicked Treasons and Trayterous Designs and Imaginations aforesaid the said Edward Coleman afterward that is to say the Nine and twentieth day of September in the Twenty seventh year of the Reign of our said Lord the King at the Parish of St Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Falsly Deceitfully and Trayterously Composed Contrived and Writ two Letters to be sent to one Monsieur le Chese then Servant and Confessor of Lewis the French King to Desire Procure and Obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other False Traytors against our said Sovereign Lord the King the Aid Assistance and Adherence of the said French King to alter the true Religion in this Kingdom Established to the Superstition of the Church of Rome and to subvert the Government of this Kingdom of England And afterwards that is to say the said Nine and twentieth day of September in the year aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid the said Edward Coleman Falsely Trayterously and Maliciously Composed and Writ two other Letters to be sent to the said Monsieur le Chese then Servant and Confessor to the said French King to the Intent that he the said Monsieur le Chese should Intreat Procure and Obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other False Traytors against our Sovereign Lord the King Aid Assistance and Adherence of the said French King to alter the true Religion in this Kingdom of England Established to the Superstition of the Church of Rome and to subvert the Government of this Kingdom of England And that the said Edward Coleman in further Prosecution of his Treason and Trayterous Imaginations and Intentions as aforesaid afterward viz. the Twenty ninth day of September in the Seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord King Charles of England c. the said several Letters from the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Falsly
Tichbourn told me that he had a Commission and he brought a Commission for Mr. Coleman and the rest of the Lords from the principal Jesuites at Rome by Order of the Pope Attorn Gen. A Commission for what Mr. Bedlow To be principal Secretary of State the Title of it I do not know because I did not see it but to be Principal Secretary of State that was the Effect Attorn Gen. I desire to know what discourse you had with Mr. Coleman about that design Mr. Bedlow If your Lordship please I shall be short in the Narrative L. Ch. Just Make use of your Notes to help your memory but let not your testimony be merely to read them Mr. Bedlow I carried over to Monsieur Le Chese the French Kings Confessor a large packet of Letters April 75 from Mr. Coleman which Letters I saw Mr. Coleman deliver to Father Harcourt at his House in Dukes-Street Council And Harcourt gave them to you Mr. Bedlow Yes which Letters were directed to be delivered to Monsieur le Chese and I did carry them to le Chese and brought him an answer from le Chese and other English Monks at Paris I did not understand what was in it because it was a Language I do not well understand it was about carrying on the Plot at a Consultation there were present two French Abbots and several English Monks at Paris what I heard them say was about carrying on the Plot to subvert the Government of England to destroy the King and the Lords of the Council The King was principally to be destroyed and the Government subverted as well as the Protestant Religion Court When was this when you were to receive the Answer Mr. Bedlow It was upon the Consultation there was a Packet of Letters from Mr. Coleman they did not know I understood French or if they did they had tryed me so long I believe they would have trusted me L. Ch. Just The Letter that le Chese wrote to whom was it directed Mr. Bedlow It was directed to Mr. Coleman the Packet was directed to Harcourt and within that le Chese wrote an answer and directed it to Mr. Coleman particularly to Mr. Coleman L. Ch. Just How do you know Mr. Bedlow The Superscription was this in French A Monsieur Monsieur Coleman to Mr. Coleman with other Letters directed to Father Harcourt L. Ch. Just He saith plainly the Letter was yours You gave Harcourt a Packet of Letters to be delivered to le Chese Harcourt delivered them to him and he did carry them to le Chese and heard them talk about this Plot That le Chese wrote a Letter to you particularly by name inclosed in a Letter to Harcourt that answer he brought back Recorder Do you know any thing concerning any money Mr. Coleman said he had received the Sums and for what Mr. Bedlow It was to carry on the design to subvert the Government of England to free England from Damnation and Ignorance and free all Catholieks from hard Tyranny and Oppression of Hereticks Attorn Gener. What words did you hear Mr. Coleman express what he would do for the Catholick Cause Mr. Bedlow May 24 or 25 77 I was at Mr. Coleman's with Mr. Harcourt and received another Packet from Mr. Harcourt and he had it from Mr. Coleman L. Ch. Just You say Mr. Coleman did give this Packet to Harcourt Mr. Bedlow Yes and Harcourt delivered it to me to carry it to Paris to the English Monks I was to go by Doway to see if they were not gone to Paris before me L. Ch. Just And what did they say when you delivered the Letters to the English Monks Mr. Bedlow They told me how much reward I deserved from the Pope and the Church both here and in the world to come I overtook three and that night I went to Paris with them and upon the Consultation 1677 I believe they sent the Bishop of Tornes the substance of those Letters and not having a final answer what assistance the Catholick Party in England might expect from them they were resolved to neglect their design no longer than that Summer having all things ready to begin in England Recorder What did you hear Mr. Coleman say Mr. Bedlow That he would adventure any thing to bring in the Popish Religion After the Consultation I delivered the Letters to le Faire and he brought them to Harcourt he delivered the Packet of Letters to Harcourt who was not well but yet went and delivered them to Mr. Coleman and I went as far as Mr. Coleman's House but did not go in but stayed over the way but Harcourt went in and after he had spoke with Mr. Coleman he gave me a beck to come to him and I heard Mr. Coleman say if he had a hundred lives and a Sea of Blood to carry on the Cause he would spend it all to further the Cause of the Church of Rome and to establish the Church of Rome in England and if there was an hundred Heretical Kings to be deposed he would see them all destroyed L. Ch. Just Where was this Mr. Bedlow At his own House L. Ch. Just Where Mr. Bedlow Behind Westminster Abby L. Ch. Just In what Room Mr. Bedlow At the Foot of the Stair-case L. Ch. Just Where were you then Mr. Bedlow There I was called in by Harcourt and was as near to him as to my Lord Duras My Lord being hard by Mr. Bedlow in Court. Pris Did I ever see you in my life Mr. Bedlow You may ask that question but in the Stone-Gallery in Somerset-house when you came from a Consult where were great persons which I am not to name here that would make the bottom of your Plot tremble you saw me then Attorn Gener. We did before acquaint you with something of the substance of the Letters we shall now acquaint you with something of the manner of finding them Your Lordship hath heard Mr. Oats hath been examined before the Council and there it was said Mr. Coleman's Papers would make such a discovery if they were looked into as would be enough to hang him I remember he said the Lords of the Council were pleased to order the Papers to be seised the execution of their Warrant they committed to one Bradly who was a Messenger that attended the King and Council and I desire he may be called He did find and seise as many Papers as Mr. Coleman was pleased to leave and they are those Papers which we now bring before you The Papers seised he put up in a deal Box and four or five several Bags and brings them to the Council the Clerks of the Council are here attending the Court they will tell you these Papers now produced were Papers found in those bags Mr. Bradly will tell you the Papers seised in the bags and box were brought to them and they will swear they were the Papers and bags that were brought Record Mr. Bradly give my Lord and the Jury an account whether
of the reach of Chance for ever For he makes such a Figure already that Cautious Men do not care to Act against him nor always without him because they do not see that he is much out-powred by his Enemies Yet is he not at such a Pitch as to be quite out of danger or free from opposition But if he could gain any considerable new addition of Power all would come over to him as to the only steddy Center of our Government and no body would contend with him further Then would Catholicks be at Rest and his Most Christian Majestie 's Interest secured with us in England beyond all apprehensions whatsoever In order to this we have two great Designes to Attempt this next Sessions First that which we were about before viz. To put the Parliament upon making it their humble Request to the King that the Fleet may be put into his R. H's Care Secondly to get an Act for general liberty of Conscience If we carry these two or either of them we shall in effect do what we list afterwards and truly we think we do not undertake these great Points very unreasonably but that we have good Cards for our Game Not but that we expect great Opposition and have great Reason to beg all the Assistance we can possibly get and therefore if his Most Christian Majesty would stand by us a little in this Conjuncture and help us with such a sum as 20000. l. sterling which is no very great matter to venture upon such an undertaking as this I would be content to be Sacrificed to the utmost Malice of my Enemies if I did not Succeed I have proposed This several times to Monsieur Rouvigny who seemed always of my Opinion and has often told me that he has writ into France upon this Subject and has desired me to do the like But I know not whether he will be as Zealous in that point as a Catholick would be because our prevailing in these things would give the greatest Blow to the Protestant Religion here that ever it received since Birth which perhaps he would not be very glad to see especially when he believes there is another way of doing his Masters Business well enough without it which is by a Dissolution of the Parliament upon which I know he mightily depends and Concludes that if that comes to be Dissolved it will be asmuch as he needs care for proceeding perhaps upon the same manner of Discourse which we had this time twelve months But with submission to his better judgment I do think that our Case is extreamly much altered to what it was in Relation to a Dissolution for then the Body of our Governing Ministers all but the Earl of Arlington were entirely United to the Duke and would have Governed his Way if they had been free from all Fear and Controul as they had been if the Parliament had been Removed But they having since that time Engaged in quite different Councells and Embark't themselves and Interests upon other Bottoms having declared themselves against Popery c. To Dissolve the Parliament simply and without any other step made will be to leave them to Govern what way they list which we have Reason to suspect will be to the prejudice of France and Catholick Religion And their late Declarations and Actions have Demonstrated to us that they take that for the most Popular way for themselves and likeliest to keep them in absolute Power whereas if the Duke should once get above them after the Tricks they have plaid with him they are not sure he will Totally forget the Usage he has had at their hands Therefore it Imports us now to Advance our Interest a little further by some such Project as I have Named before we Dissolve the Parliament Or else perhaps we shall but Change Masters a Parliament for Ministers and continue still in the same Slavery and Bondage as before But one such step as I have proposed being well made we may safely see them Dissolved and not fear the Ministers but shall be Established and stand Firm without any Opposition for every body will then come over to us and Worship the Rising Sun I have here given you the History of three years as short as I could though I am afraid it will seem very long and troublesome to your Reverence among the multitude of affairs you are concern'd in I have also shewn you the present State of our Case vvhich may by God's Providence and good Conduct be made of such advantage to Gods Church that for my part I can scarce believe my self awake or the thing real vvhen I think on a Prince in such an age as vve live in converted to such a Degree of Zeal and Piety as not to regard any thing in the World in comparison of God Almighty's Glory the Salvation of his own Soul and the Conversion of our poor Kingdom vvhich has been a long time opprest and miserably harrast vvith Heresy and Schisme I doubt not but your Reverence will consider our Case and take it to heart and afford us what help you can both with the King of Heaven by your holy Prayers and with his Most Christian Majesty by that great Credit which you most justly have with him And if ever his Majesties affairs or your own can ever want the service of so inconsiderable a Creature as my self you shall never find any body readyer to obey your Commands or faithfuller in the Execution of them to the best of his power than Your most Humble and Obedient Servant Att. Gen. That I may make things clear as much as possible you see Here 's a Letter prepared to be sent writ with Mr. Coleman's own hand to Mounsieur Le Chese This Letter bears date the twenty nineth of September We have an Answer to it from Paris October twenty third whereby Mounsieur Le Chese owns the receipt of this And in this answer is exprest Thanks to Mr. Coleman for his long Letter Sir Robert Pray tell how you came by this Letter Sir Rob. Southwell I found this Letter in Mr. Colemans Canvas Bag after we had once looked over the Letters we found it Sr. Phillip Lloyd Examined it And we looked over those Papers very exactly Because the House of Commons were very much concern'd and thought those Papers were not throughly Examined I reviewed them again This Letter was found on Sunday following after the Papers were seized Mr. Att. Sir Rob. Southwell I pray read the Letter in French first to the Court Sir Rob. having read the Letter in French Mr. Attorney desired him to read it in English Sir Rob. read it it in English The Letter was dated Paris twenty third October 1675. and subscribed Your most humble and obedient servant DCL at the bottom The LETTER From PARIS 23. October 1675. SIR THE Letter which you gave your self the trouble to write to me came to my hands but the last night I read it with great
as to know your Person and that I have an Opportunity of putting this Letter into the hands of Father St. German â—s Nephew for whose Integrity and Prudence he has undertaken without any sort of hazard In order then Sir to the plainness I profess I will tell you what has formerly passed between your Reverence's Predecessor Father Ferryer and my self About three years ago when the King my Master sent a Troop of Horse Guards into his most Christian Majesties Service under the Command of my Lord Durass he sent with it an Officer called Sir William Throckmorton with whom I had a particular Intimacy and who had then very newly embrac'd the Catholick Religion To him did I constantly Write and by him address my self to Father Ferryer The first thing of great Importance I presumed to offer him not to trouble you with lesser matters or what passed here before and immediatly after the Fatal Revocation of the Kings Declaration for Liberty of Conscience to which we owe all our Miseries and hazards was in July August and September 1673. when I constantly inculcated the great danger Catholick Religion and his most Christian Majesties Interest would be in at our next Sessions of Parliament which was then to be in October following at which I plainly foresaw that the King my Master would be forced to something in prejudice to his Allyance with France which I saw so evidently and particularly that we should make Peace with Holland that I urg'd all the Arguments I could which to me were Demonstrations to convince your Court of that mischief and press'd all I could to perswade his most Christian Majesty to use his utmost endeavour to prevent that session of our Parliament and proposed Expedients how to do it But I was answered so often and so positively that his most Christian Majesty was so vvell assured by his Embassador here our Embassador there the Lord Arlington and even the King himself that he had no such apprehensions at all but vvas fully satisfied of the contrary and lookt upon what I offered as a very zealous mistake that I was forced to give over arguing though not believing as I did but confidently appealed to time and success to prove who took their measures rightest When it happened what I foresaw came to pass the good Father was a little surprized to see all the great men mistaken and a little one in the right and was pleased by Sir William Throckmorton to desire the continuance of my correspondence which I was mighty willing to comply with knowing the Interest of our King and in a more particular manner of my more immediate Master the Duke and his most Christian Majesty to be so inseparably united that it was impossible to divide them without destroying them all Upon this I shewed that our Parliament in the circumstances it was managed by the timerous Councels of our Ministers who then governed would never be useful either to England France or Catholick Religion but that we should as certainly be forced from our Neutrality at their next meeting as we had been from our Active Alliance with France the last year That a Peace in the Circumstances we were in was much more to be desired then the continuance of the War and that the Dissolution of our Parliament would certainly procure a Peace for that the Confederates did more depend upon the power they had in our Parliament then upon any thing else in the World and were more encouraged from them to the continuing of the War so that if they were Dissolved their measures would be all broken and they consequently in a manner necessitated to a Peace The good Father minding this Discourse somewhat more then the Court of France thought fit to do my former urg'd it so home to the King that his Majesty was pleased to give him Orders to signify to his R. H. my Master that his Majesty vvas fully satisfyed of his R. H s. good intention tovvards him and that he esteemed both their interests but as one and the same that my Lord Arlington and the Parliament were both to be lookt upon as very unuseful to their interest That if his R. H. would endeavour to dissolve this Parliament his most Christian Majesty would assist him with his Povver and Purse to have a nevv one as should be for their purpose This and a great many more expressions of kindness and confidence Father Ferryer was pleased to communicate to Sir William Throckmorton and Commanded them to send them to his R. H. and withall to beg his R. H. to propose to his most Christian Majesty what he thought necessary for his own concern and the advantage of Religion and his Majesty would certainly do all he could to advance both or either of them This Sir William Throckmorton sent to me by an Express who left Paris the 2d of June 1674 Stilo novo I no sooner had it but I communicated it to his R. H. To which his R. H. commanded me to answer as I did on the 29th of the same month That his R. H. was very sensible of his most Christian Majesties friendship and that he would labour to cultivate it with all the good Offices he was capable of doing for his Majesty that he was fully convinced that their Interests were both one that my Lord Arlington and the Parliament vvere not only unuseful but very dangerous both to England and France That therefore it was necessary that they should do all they could to Dissolve it And that his R. H's opinion was that if his most Christian Majesty would Write his thoughts freely to the King of England upon this Subject and make the same proffer to his Majesty of his Purse to Dissolve this Parliament which he had made to his R H. to call another he did believe it very possible for him to succeed with the assistance we should be able to give him here and that if this Parliament were Dissolved there would be no great difficulty of getting a new one which would be more useful The Constitutions of our Parliaments being such that a new one can never hurt the Crown nor an old one do it good His R. H. being pleased to own these Propositions which were but only general I thought it reasonable to be more particular and come closer to the point we might go the faster about the work and come to some issue before the time was too far spent I laid this for my Maxim The Dissolution of our Parliament will certainly procure a Peace which proposition was granted by every body I Conversed withall even by Monsieur Rouvigny himself with whom I took liberty of discoursing so far but durst not say any thing of the Intelligence I had with Father Ferryer Next that a Sum of Money certain would certainly procure a Dissolution this some doubted but I am sure I never did for I knew perfectly well that the King had frequent Disputes with himself at that time whether
many Members were dead during the long Recess we Issued out our Writs for new Elections that our House of Commons might be full at the first opening of the Sessions to prevent any delay in our Publick Affairs or dislike in our people as might possibly have risen from the want of so great a number of their Representatives if any thing of moment should be concluded before it had been supplyed Having govern'd our Actions all along with such careful respect to the ease of our Subjects we at the Meeting of our Parliament in February 1672. expected from them some suitable expressions of their sense of our Favours but quite contrary found our Self alarm'd with Clamorous Complaints from several Cabals against all our Proceedings frighting many of our good Subjects into strange Conceits of what they must look for by their Seditious and false Constructions of what we had so Candidly and Sincerely done for their good and surprised with a Vote of our House of Commons against our Writs of Elections which we intended for their satisfactions against many Presidents of ours or without any colour of Law of their side denying our Power to Issue out such Writs Addressing to us to Issue out others which we consented to do at their Request choosing rather to yield to our Subjects in that point than to be forced to submit to our Enemies in others hoping that our Parliament being sensibly touched with that our extraordinary condescention would go on consider the Publick concern of the Kingdom without any further to do But We found another use made of Our so easie compliance which serv'd to encourage them to ask more so that soon after We found Our Declaration for Indulging tender Consciences Arraigned Voted illegal though We cannot to this day understand the consistences of that Vote with Our undoubted Supremacy in all Ecclesiasticks Recognizing by so many Acts of Parliament and required to be Sworn to by all Our Subjects and Addresses made to Us one after another to recal it which We condescended to also from hence they proceeded to Us to weaken Our Self in an Actual War and to render many of Our Subjects of whose Loyalty and Ability We were well satisfied incapable to serve Us when We wanted Officers and Soldiers and had reason to invite as many Experienced Men as We could to engage in Our Arms rather than to incapacitate or discourage any yet this also We gratified them in to gain their Assistance against Our Enemies who grew high by these Our Differences rather than expose Our Countrey to their Power and Fury hoping that in time Our People would be confounded to see Our Concessions and be ashamed of their Errors in making such Demands But finding the unfortunate Effects of Our divisions the following Summer We found Our Parliament more extravagant at the next meeting than ever addressing to Us to hinder the Consummation of Our Dear Brother's Marriage contrary to the Law of God which forbiddeth any to separate any whom he hath joyned against Our Faith and Honour engag'd in the Solemn Treaty obstinately persisting in that Address after We had acquainted them That the Marriage was then actually ratifyed and that We had acted in it by Our Ambassador so that We were forced to separate them for a while hoping they would bethink themselves better at their meeting in January Instead of being more moderate or ready to consider Our wants towards the War they Voted as they had done before not to assist Us still till their Religion were effectually secur'd against Popery Aggrievances redressed and all obnoxious Men removed from Us which We had reason to take for an absolute denyal of all Aid considering the indefiniteness of what was to proceed and the Moral impossibility of effecting it in their sences for when will they say their Religion is effectually secured from Popery if it were in danger then by reason of the insolency of Papists When Our House of Commons which is made up of Members from every Corner of Our Kingdom with Invitations publickly Posted up to all Men to accuse them has not yet in so many years as they have complained of them been able to charge one single Member of that Communion with so much as a Misdemeanour Or what Security could they possibly expect against that Body of Men or their Religion more than We had given them or how can we hope to live so perfectly that study and pains may not make a Collection of Grievances as considerable as that which was lately presented to Us than which VVe could not have wish'd for a better Vindication of Our Government or when shall VVe be sure that all obnoxious Men are removed from Us when Common same thinks fit to call them so which is to every body without any proof sufficient to render any man obnoxious who is Popishly affected or any thing else that is ill though they have never so often or lately complyed with their own Tests and Marks of Distinction and Discriminations Finding Our People thus unhappily disordered We saw it impossible to prosecute the War any longer and therefore did by their Advice make a Peace upon such Conditions as we could get hoping that being gratified in that Darling Point they would at least have paid Our Debts and enabled Us to have Built some Ships for the future Security of Our Honour and their own Properties but they being tranâ—â—orted with their success in asking were resolved to go on still that way and would needs have Us put upon the removing of Our Judges from those Charges which they have always hitherto held at the VVill and Pleasure of the Crown out of Our Power to alter the ancient Laws of trying of Peers and to make it a Premunire in Our Subjects in a case supposed not to fight against Our Self nay some had the heart to ask that the Hereditary Succession of Our Crown which is the Foundation of all Our Laws should be changed into a sort of Election they requiring the Heir to be qualified with certain Conditions to make him capable of Succeeding and Out-doing that Popish Doctrine which We have so long and so loudly with good reason decryed That Heresie incapacitates Kings to Reign They would have had That the Heir of the Crown marrying a Papist though he continued never so Orthodox himself should forfeit his right of Inheritance not understanding this Paradoxical way of securing Religion by destroying it as this would have done that of the Church of England which always taught Obedience to their Natural Kings as an indispensable Duty in all good Christians let the Religion or Deportment of their Prince be what it will and not knowing how soon that Impediment which was supposed as sufficient to keep out an Heir might be thought as fit to remove a Possessor And comparing that Bill which would have it a Premunire in a Sheriff not to raise the Posse Comitatus against Our Commission in a Case there supposed though
the Instructions he did approve of L. Chief Just How long after the Consultation was it that he approved of it Oates It was two or three days before he did give his approbation Just Wild. What words did he say Oates He did express his consent but to say the very words I cannot tell L. Chief Just Will you ask him any more Pris I would know the day in August L. Chief Just He saith he doth not remember the day Oates I believe I will not be positive in it it was about the 21th day of August Just Wild and Just Jones Was it in August Old-stile Oates Yes Pris I can prove I was in Warwick-shire at that time That day he guesseth the 21th of August I can make it appear I was Fourscore Miles off L. Chief Just You will do well to prove you was there when the Guinny was given Will you ask him any more Pris No. L. Chief Just You may say as you will but Mr. Oates doth charge that expresly in August according to the English Stile you were at this Wild-House and that he saw fourscore Pounds prepared You Mr. Coleman asked the Question what preparations were made for the Men going to Windsor It was answered fourscore Pounds are prepared And your self gave a Guinny for expedition It is a hard matter to press a Man to tell the precise day of the Month but positively he doth say it was in August Pris I was Two and Twenty or Three and Twenty days in August in Warwick-shire L. Chief Just What have you now more to say Pris My Lord I never saw Mr. Oates but in the Council-Chamber I never saw him in Rome in other Parts I never saw the Face of him or knew him in my whole life nor did I see the other till now in Court as I hope to be saved And then my Lord as to their testimony neither of them Swear the self-same Fact L. Ch. Just No man shall be guilty if denial shall make him innocent They swear to the Fact of killing the King both of them and that 's enough If one saith you have a Plot to poyson that is killing the King and the other swears a Plot to shoot or stab him that is to the killing of the King also Then there 's your own Undertaking in your Letter under your Hand Pris For Treason with submission to your Lordship I hope there 's none in that though there are very extravagant Expressions in it I hope some Expressions explain it that it was not my design to kill the King L. Ch. Just No your Design was for the Conversion of three Kingdoms and subduing of that Heresie that had reigned so long in this Northern part of the World And for effecting whereof there were never more hopes since our Queen Mary ' s time till now and therefore pressing the King of France to use his Power Aid and Assistance and does this signifie nothing Pris Doth Aid and Assistance signifie more than Money The word Aid in French is Power they are promiscuous words L. Ch. Just You are Charged to have had a Correspondency and Agency with Foreign Power to subvert our Religion and bring in Foreign Authority and Power upon us which must be the necessary consequence How can this be proved plainer than by your Letters to press the French King that he would use his Power Pris Consider the Contexture and Connexion of things whether the whole series be not to make the King and the Duke as far as I thought in my power as great as could be L. Ch. Just How well or ill you excuse the fault that 's not the Question they relate to the Duke most of them little to the King You were carrying on such a Design that you intended to put the Duke in the Head of in such method and ways as the Duke himself would not approve but rejected Pris Do not think I would throw any thing upon the Duke though I might in the beginning of it possibly make use of the Dukes Name it is possible they say I did but can any imagine the people will lay down Money 200000l or 20000l with me upon the Dukes Name and not know whether the Duke be in it and consequently no body will imagine the Duke would ever employ any sum to this Kings prejudice or disservice while he lived I take it for granted which sure none in the world will deny that the Law was ever made immediately subject to the King or Duke and consequently to the Duke I cannot think this will ever be expounded by the Law of England or the Jury to be Treason L. Ch. Just What a kind of way and talking is this You have such a swimming way of melting words that it is a troublesom thing for a man to collect matter out of them You give your self up to be a great Negotiator in the altering of Kingdoms you would be great with mighty men for that purpose and your long Discourses and great Abilities might have been spared The thing these Letters do seem to import is this That your Design was to bring in Popery into England and to promote the interest of the French King in this place for which you hoped to have a Pension that 's plain The Dukes Name is often mentioned that 's true sometimes it appears it is against his will and sometimes he might know of it and be told that the consequence was not great Now say you these Sums of Money and all that was done it did relate to the King or Duke and it was to advance their interest and you thought it was the way to do it How can this advance them unless it were done to do them service and if they do not consent to it and how can this be Treason what kind of stuff is this You do seem to be a mighty Agent might not you for a colour use the Duke of York's Name to drive on the Catholick Cause which you was driven to by the Priests mightily and think to get 200000l advance money and a Pension for your self and make your self somebody for the present and Secretary of State for the future If you will make any defence for your self or call in Witnesses we will hear them say what you can for these vain inconsequential discourses signifie nothing Pris I have Witnesses to prove I was in Warwick-shire L. Ch. Just to Boatman a Witnesse Where was Mr. Coleman in Aug. last Boatm In Warwick-shire L. Ch. Just How long Boatm All August to my best remembrance L. Ch. Just Can you say that he was in Warwick-shire all August that he was not at London Boatm I am not certain what time of the Month he was in London L. Ch. Just That he was there in August may be very true I do not ask how long he was in Warwick-shire but was he no where else To which the Witness could make no positive answer Pris I was at the Lord Denby's and
at Mr. Francis Fisher's I was there at least twenty days L. Ch. Just Have you any more Witnesses Pris Ans None L. Ch. Just If you have a mind to say any thing more say what you can Pris I can say nothing more than what I have said Positively I say and upon my Salvation I never saw these Witnesses Oates but once and Bedlow never before Sir Francis Winnington his Majesty's Sollicitor General sums up the Evidence as followeth May it please Your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury THE Cause before you I dare adventure to say is a Cause of as great a Nature and includes as great Crimes as ever came to this Bar. It is not a Cause of a particular Treason but ' t is a Treason that runs to the whole the King the Government and the Protestant Religion all are comprehended in it The defence the Prisoner has made is so very short and of so slight a Nature that I shall contract my self very much in what I had to say and only state to the Court and Jury the principal things I rely upon The first Crime laid in the Indictment is the design of killing and destroying the Royal Person of his Majesty The second the subverting of the Government and in doing that the destruction of the Protestant Religion And these Treasons have been punctually proved as well by two Witnesses as by Letters under Mr. Colemans own Hand whereby he corresponded with Monsieur Le Chese the French Kings Confessor as also by the Answers which were sent by Monsieur Le Chese to Mr. Coleman As to the Proofs made by the Witnesses the substance of them is this Mr. Oates swears that in April last Old Style and May New Style there was a General Consult or Meeting of the Jesuites at the White-Horse-Tavern in the Strand and afterwards they divided themselves into several Companies or Clubs and in those Consults they conspired the Death of the King and contrived how to effect it The manner of it was thus as Mr. Oates positively swears That Grove and Pickering were imployed to murther the King and their design was to Pistol him in St. James ' s Park Grove was to have Fifteen hundred Pounds in Money and Pickering being a Priest was to have Thirty thousand Masses which was computed to be of equal value to Fifteen hundred Pounds according to the usual price in the Church of Rome And this Conspiracy and Contrivance Mr. Coleman was privy to and did well approve of the same as Mr. Oates affirmeth upon his Oath So that here is a plain Treason proved upon the Prisoner by his assenting to the Fact to be done the Law not allowing any Accessaries in Treason And this in Law makes the Prisoner as guilty as any of the Assassinates who designed to kill the King with their own Hands If this design should fail Mr. Oates swears that the Conspirators intended a farther attempt upon the Royal Person of the King when be should be at Windsor and four Irish Assassinates were provided by Doctor Fogarty whose Names he would not tell and fourscore Guinneys were provided by Father Harcourt a Jesuit to maintain the Assassinates at Windsor till they should have effected their wicked design While the Conspiracy was thus in agitation Mr. Coleman the Prisoner went to visit Harcourt the Jesuit at his House in Town but finding him not at home and being informed that he was at Wild-house Mr. Coleman went thither and found him there and Mr. Coleman asking what Provision Harcourt had made for the Gentlemen at Windsor Harcourt replyed that there were fourscore Guinneys which then lay upon the Table which were to be sent to them and said that the Person who was in the Room was to carry them To which Mr. Coleman replyed he liked it very well and gave a Guinney out of his own Pocket to the Messenger who was to carry the Money to Windsor to encourage him to expedite the Business But in case the design of killing his Majesty at Windsor should be any ways prevented then there was a further Conspiracy to destroy the King by Poison Mr. Oates swears that in July last Ashby a Jesuit brought instructions to London from Flanders that in case Pickering and Grove could not kill the King at London nor the four Irish Assassinates at Windsor then Ten thousand Pounds was to be proposed to Sir George Wakeman to poyson the King But it did appear by the Letters that passed between White the Provincial here in London and Ashby that Mr. Coleman said he thought ten thousand Pounds was too little and therefore thought it necessary to offer five thousand Pounds more which afterwards was assented to by the Jesuites abroad And Mr. Oates swears he saw Letters from the Provincial at London to the Jesuites at St. Omer signifying that Sir George Wakeman had accepted of the Proposition and received five thousand Pounds of the Money By which Testimony of Mr. Oates it plainly appears that Mr. Coleman the Prisoner at the Bar was privy to the Conspiracy and aiding and abetting to the wicked and damnable design of murdering the King The second Witness is Mr. Bedlow who swears that he was imployed by Harcourt the Jesuit to carry Pacquets of Letters to Monsieur Le Chese the French Kings Confessor and further says he was at a Consult in France where the Plot was discoursed on for killing the King and did bring back an answer from Le Chese to Harcourt in London and swears particularly that on the 24th or 25th of May 1677. he was at Colemans House with Father Harcourt and some other Persons where Mr. Coleman discoursing of the great design in hand said these Words following That if he had a Sea of Blood and an hundred Lives he would lose them all to carry on the design and if to effect this it were necessary to destroy an hundred Heretick Kings he would do it So that here is another positive Oath to an Act of Treason committed by Mr. Coleman in relation to the murthering the King The other part of the Evidence consists of Papers and Letters which generally relate to prove the latter part of the Indictment to wit The Extirpation of the Protestant Religion and introducing of Popery and the subverting of the Government And this appears by a Letter written by Mr. Coleman dated 29. Septem 75. and sent to Monsieur Le Chese the French Kings Confessor wherein he gives him an account of the Transactions of several years before and of the Correspondence between Mr. Coleman and Monsieur Ferrier Predecessor to Le Chese wherein he does also assert that the true way to carry on the Interest of France and the promoting of the Popish Religion here in England was to get this Parliament dissolved which says he had been long since effected if three hundred thousand Pounds could have been obtained from the French King and that things yet were in such a posture that if he had