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
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
Popish and extirpate the Protestant Religion I doubt not but this Design in some measure hath been contriving ever since the Reformation by the Jesuits or some of their Emissaries but hath often received interruption so that they have proceeded sometimes more coldly sometimes more hotly And I do think at no time since the Reformation that ever this Design was carried on with greater industry nor with fairer hopes of success than for these last years My Lord You will hear from our Witnesses that the first Onset which was to be made upon us was by whole Troops of Jesuits and Priests who were sent hither from the Seminaries abroad where they had been trained up in all the subtilty and skill that was fit to work upon the People My Lord you will hear how active they have been and what insinuations they used for the perverting of particular persons After some time spent in such attempts they quickly grew weary of that course though they got some Proselytes they were but few Some Bodies in whom there was a predisposition of humors were infected but their Numbers were not great They at last resolve to take a more expeditious way for in truth my Lord they could not far prevail by the former And I wish with all my heart that the Bodies of Protestants may be as much out of danger of the violence of their hands as their Understandings will be of the force of their Arguments But my Lord when this way would not take they began then to consider they must throw at all at once No doubt but they would have been glad that the People of England had had but one Neck but they knew the People of England had but one Head and therefore they were resolved to strike at that My Lord you will find that there was a Summons of the principal Jesuits of the most able Head-pieces who were to meet in April or May last to consult of very great things of a most Diabolical Nature no less than how to take away the life of the King our Sovereign My Lord you will find as is usually practised in such horrid Conspiracies to make all secure that there was an Oath of Secresie taken and that upon the Sacrament You will find Agreements made that this most wicked and horrible Design should be attempted You will find two Villains were found among them who undertook to do this execrable work and you will hear of the rewards they were to have Money in case they did succeed and Masses good store in case they perished so that their Bodies were provided for in case they survived and their Souls if they died My Lord What was the reason they did not effect their Design but either that these Villains wanted opportunity or their hearts failed them when they came to put in execution this wicked Design or perhaps which is most probable it was the Providence of God which over-rul'd them that this bloody Design did not take its effect But these Gentlemen were not content with one Essay they quickly thought of another and there were four Irish-men prepared men of very mean Fortunes and desperate conditions and they were to make the attempt no longer since than when the King was last at Windsor My Lord I perceive by the Proofs that these last Assassinates went down thither but it came to pass for some of the Reasons aforesaid that that Attempt failed likewise My Lord These Gentlemen those wise Heads who had met here in Consultation did then and long before consider with themselves that so great a Cause as this was not to be put upon the hazard of some few hands they therefore prepared Forces Aids and Assistances both at home and abroad to second this wicked Design if it had succeeded as to the Person of the King and if that fail'd then by their Foreign and Domestick Aids and Assistances to begin and accomplish the whole Work of subverting our Government and Religion And here we must needs confess as to the former part of this Plot which we have mentioned I mean the attempt upon the Kings Person Mr. Coleman was not the Contriver nor to be the Executioner But yet your Lordship knows in all Treasons there is no Accessory but every man is a Principal And thus much we have against him even as to this part of the Design which will involve him in the whole guilt of it that Mr. Coleman consented to it though his hand were not to do it Mr. Coleman encouraged a Messenger to carry Money down as a Reward of these Murtherers that were at Windsor of this we have proof against him which is sufficient My Lord Mr. Coleman as a man of greater abilities is reserved for greater Employments and such wherein I confess all his Abilities were little enough There were Negotiations to be made with Men abroad Money to be procured partly at home from Friends here and partly abroad from those that wish'd them well And in all these Negotiations Mr. Coleman had a mighty hand and you will perceive by and by what a great progress he made in them This Conspiracy went so far as you will hear it proved That there were General Officers named and appointed that should Command their new Catholick Army and many were Engaged if not Listed There were not onely in England but in Ireland likewise where Arms and all other Necessaries were provided and whither great Sums of Money were returned to serve upon occasion But one thing there is my Lord that comes nearest Mr. Coleman As there were Military Officers named so likewise the great Civil Places and Offices of the Kingdom were to be disposed of I will not nameto whom at this time more than what is pertinent to the present business This Gentleman such were his great Abilities the trust and reliance that his Party had upon him that no less an Office would serve his turn than that of Principal Secretary of State and he had a Commission that came to him from the Superiours of the Jesuits to enable him to execute that great Office My Lord it seems strange that so great an Office should be conferred by no greater a man than the Superior of the Jesuits But if the Pope can depose Kings and dispose of Kingdoms no wonder if the Superior of the Jesuits can by a Power delegated from him make Secretaries It is not certain what the Date of this Commission was nor the very time when he received it but I believe he was so earnest and forward in this Plot that he began to execute his Office long before he had his Commission for it for I find by his Letters which are of a more early Date that he had proceeded so far as to treat with Father Ferrier who was the French Kings Confessor before he had actually received this Commission You will understand by the Letters which we shall produce what he had to do with him and what with the other Confessor that succeeded
Moneth of July one Ashby who was sometimes Rector of St. Omers being ill of the Gout was ordered to go to the Bath this Ashby being in London Mr. Coleman came to attend him this Ashby brought with him Treasonable Instructions in order to expedite the King by Poison provided Pickering and Groves did not do the Work Ten thousand pound should be proposed to Sir George Wakeman to Poison the King in case Pistol and Stab did not take effect and opportunity was to be taken at the Kings taking Physick I could give other Evidence but will not because of other things which are not fit to be known yet L. Chief Just Who wrote this Letter Mr. Oates It was under the hand of White the Provincial beyond the Seas whom Ashby left it was in the name of Memorials to impower Ashby and the rest of the Consulters at London to propound Ten thousand pound to Sir George Wakeman to take the opportunity to Poison the King These Instructions were seen and read by Mr. Coleman by him Copied out and transmitted to several Conspirators of the Kings death in this Kingdom of England that were privy to this Plot. Recorder Know you of any Commission We have hitherto spoken altogether of the work of others now we come to his own work a little nearer L. Chief Just Who saw Mr. Coleman read these Instructions what said he Mr. Oates He said he thought it was too little I heard him say so L. Chief Just Did you see him take a Copy of these Instructions Mr. Oates Yes and he said he did believe Sir George Wakeman would scarce take it and thought it necessary the other Five thousand pound should be added to it that they might be sure to have it done L. Chief Just Where was it he said this Mr. Oates It was in the Provincials Chamber which Ashby had taken for his convenience at London until he went down to the Bath it was at Wild-house at Mr. Sandersons house L. Chief Just Ashby was imployed by his Instructions to acquaint the Consult of the Jesuits that there should be Ten thousand pound advanced if Doctor Wakeman would Poison the King now Asbby comes and acquaints him with it Why should Coleman take Copies Mr. Oates Because he was to send Copies to several Conspirators in the Kingdom of England L. Chief Just To what purpose should Mr. Coleman take a Copy of these Instructions Mr. Oates The reason is plain they were then a gathering a Contribution about the Kingdom and these Instructions were sent that they might be incouraged because they saw there was incouragement from beyond Seas to assist them And another Reason was because now they were assured by this their business would quickly be dispatched and by this means some Thousands of pounds were gathered in the Kingdom of England L. Chief Just To whom was Mr. Coleman to send them Mr. Oates I know not any of the Persons but Mr. Coleman did say he had sent his Suffrages which was a Canting word for Instructions to the Principal Gentry of the Catholicks of the Kingdom of England L. Chief Just How know you this that Mr. Coleman did take a Copy of these Instructions for that purpose as you say Mr. Oates Because he said so L. Chief Just Did any body ask him why he took them Mr. Oates Saith Ashby you had best make haste and Communicate these things Mr. Coleman answered I will make haste with my Copies that I may dispatch them away this night Recorder Was he not to be one of the Principal Secretaries of State Mr. Oates In the Month of May last New Stile April the Old Stile I think within a day after our Consult I was at Mr. Langhorn's Chamber he had several Commissions which he called Patents among his Commissions I saw one from the General of the Society of Jesus Joannes Paulus D'Olâ—â—a by vertue of a Brief from the Pope by whom he was enabled L. Chief Just Did you know his hand Mr. Oates I believe I have seen it Forty times I have seen Forty things under his hand and this agreed with them but I never did see him write in my life we all took it to be his hand and we all knew the hand and Seal L. Chief Just What Inscription was upon the Seal Mr. Oates Ι.Η. Σ. with a Cross in English it had the Characters of I. H. S. This Commission to Mr. Coleman in the Month of July I saw in Fenwicks presence and at his Chamber in Drury-Lane where then Mr. Coleman did acknowledge the Receipt of this Patent opened it and said It was a very good exchange L. Chief Just What was the Commission for Mr. Oates It was to be Secretary of State I saw the Commission and heard him own the Receipt of it Just Wild What other Commissions were there at Mr. Langhorns Chamber Mr. Oates A great many I cannot remember there was a Commission for my Lord Arundel of Warder the Lord Powis and several other persons But this belongs not to the Prisoner at the Bar I mention his Commission L. Chief Just Were you acquainted with Mr. Langhorn Mr. Oates Yes I 'le tell your Lordship how I was acquainted I was in Spain he had there two Sons to shew them special favour and kindness being meer strangers at the Colledge I did use to transmit some Letters for them to the Kingdom of England in my Pacquet When I came out of Spain I did receive Recommendations from them to their Father and in great civility he received me This was in November that I came to his house He lived in Shear-lane or thereabouts I understood that his Wife was a zealous Protestant therefore he desired me not to come any more to his house but for the future to come to his Chamber in the Temple L. Chief Just Had you ever seen Mr. Langhorn in London before Mr. Oates I never saw him till Nov. 77. to my knowledge I was several times in his company at his chamber and he brought me there to shew me some kindness upon the account of his Sons It was at the Temple for his Wife being a Protestant was not willing any Jesuits should come to the house I was to carry him a summary of all the results and particulars of the Consult at the White Horse and Wild House The Provincial ordered me to do it he knowing me being in that affair often imployed L. Chief Just Was it the second time you saw him that you saw the Commissions Mr. Oates I saw him several times in the month of November L. Chief Just When did you see the Commissions Mr. Oates In the month of April old stile May new stile L. Chief Just How came he to shew you the Commissions Mr. Oates I hearing of their being come had a curiosity to see them and he knew me to be privy to the concerns L. Chief Just How did you know he had the Commissions Mr. Oates By Letters L. Chief Just From whom Mr. Oates
Ends and save Five or Ten Times a greater Sum and so be a good Husband by his Expence and if we did not procure a Dissolution he should not be at that Expence at all for that we Desired him only to promise upon that Condition which we were content to be Obliged to perform first The Second Objection was The Duke did not move nor appear in it Himself To that we Answered That he did not indeed to Mounsieur Pompone because he had found so ill an effect of the Negotiation with Father Ferryer when it came into Mounsieur Rouvigny's hands but that he had concerned himself in it to Father Ferryer Yet I continued to prosecute and press the Dissolution of the Parliament detesting all Prorogations as only so much loss of time and a means of strengthning all those who depend upon it in Opposition to the Crown the Interest of France and Catholick Religion in the Opinion they had taken That our King durst not part with his Parliament apprehending that another would be much Worse Second That he could not live long without a Parliament therefore they must suddenly Meet and the longer he kept them Off the greater his Necessity would grow and consequently their power to make him do what they listed would increase accordingly And therefore if they could but maintain themselves a while the day would certainly come in a short time in which they should be able to work their Wills Such Discourses as these kept the Confederates and our Male-Contents in heart and made them weather on the War in spight of all our Prorogations Therefore I press'd as I have said a Dissolution until February last when our Circumstances were so totally Changed that we were forced to change our Councels too and be as much for the Parliaments Sitting as we were before against it Our Change was thus Before that time the Lord Arlington was the only Minister in Credit who thought himself out of all danger of the Parliament he having been Accused before them and Justified therefore was Zealous for their sitting and to increase his Reputation with them and to become a perfect Favourite he sets himself all he could to Persecute the Catholick Religion and to oppose the French To shew his Zeal against the first he revived some old dormant Orders for prohibiting Roman Catholicks to appear before the King and put them in Execution at his first coming into his Office of Lord Chamberlain And to make sure work with the second as he thought prevailed with the King to give him and the Earl of Ossory who married two Sisters of Myne Heere Odyke's leave to go over into Holland with the said Heere to make a Visit as they pretended to their Relations But indeed and in truth to propose the Lady Mary Eldest Daughter of his R. H. as a Match for the Prince of Orange not only without the consent but against the good likeing of his R. H. in so much that the Lord Arlingtons Creatures were forced to excuse him with a Distinction that the said Lady was not to be looked upon as the Dukes Daughter but as the Kings and a Child of the State was and so the Duke's consent not much to be Considered in the disposal of her but only the Interest of State By this he intended to render himself the Darling of Parliament and Protestants who look'd upon themselves as secured in their Religion by such an Alliance and designed further to draw us into a Close Conjunction with Holland and the Enemies of France The Lord Arlington set forth upon this Errand the Tenth of November 1674. and returned not till the Sixth of January following During his absence the L. Treasurer L. Keeper the Duke of Lauderdale who were the only Ministers of any considerable Credit with the King and who all pretended to be entirely United to the Duke declaimed Loudly with great Violence against the said Lord his Actions in Holland and did hope in his absence to have totally Supplanted him and to have routed him out of the Kings Favour and after that thought they might easily enough have dealt with the Parliament But none of them had Courage enough to speak against the Parliament till they could get rid of him for fear they should not succeed and that the Parliament would Sit in spight of them and come to hear that they had used their endeavours against it which would have been so Unpardonable a Crime with our Omnipotent Parliament that no Power could have been able to have Saved them from Punishment but they finding at his Return that they could not prevail against him by such Means and Arts as they had then tryed resolved upon New Councels which were to out-run him in his own Course which accordingly they undertook became as fierce Apostles and as zealous for Protestant Religion against Popery as ever my L. Arlington had been before them and in pursuance thereof perswaded the King to issue out those severe Orders Proclamations against Catholicks which came out in February last by which they did as much as in them lay to extirpate all Catholicks and Catholick Religion out of the Kingdom which Councels were in my poor opinion so Detestable being levelled as they must needs be so directly against the Duke by People which he had Advanced and who had professed so much Duty and Service to him that we were put upon new Thoughts how to save his R. H. now from the Deceits and Snares of those men upon whom we formerly depended We saw well enough that their design was to make themselves as grateful as they could to the Parliament if it must Sit they thinking nothing so acceptable to them as the persecution of Popery and yet they were so obnoxious to the Parliaments displeasure in general that they would have been glad of any Expedient to have kept it off though they durst not engage against it openly themselves but thought this Device of theirs might serve for their purposes hoping the Duke would be so alarm'd at their proceedings and by his being left by every body that he would be much more afraid of the Parliament than ever and would use his utmost power to prevent its Sitting which they doubted not but he would endeavour they were ready enough to work underhand too for him for their own sakes not his in order thereunto but durst not appear openly and to encourage the Duke the more to endeavour the Dissolution of the Parliament their Creatures used to say up and down That this Rigour against the Catholicks was in favour of the Duke and to make a Dissolution of the Parliament more easy which they knew he coveted by obviating one great Objection which was commonly made against it which was That if the Parliament should be Dissolved it would be said That it was done in favour of Popery which Clamour they had prevented beforehand by the Severity they had used against it As soon as
we saw these Tricks put upon us we plainly saw what men we had to deal withal and what we had to trust to if we were wholly at their mercy but yet durst not seem so dissatisfied as we really were but rather magnified the Contrivance as a Device of great Cunning and Skill all this we did purely to hold them in a belief that we would endeavour to Dissolve the Parliament that they might rely upon his R. H. for that which we knew they long'd for and were afraid they might do some other way if they discovered that we were resolved we would not At length when we saw the Sessions secured we declared that we were for the Parliaments meeting as indeed we were from the moment we saw our selves handled by all the Kings Ministers at such a rate that we had Reason to believe they would Sacrifice France Religion and his R. H. too to their own Interest if occasion served and that they were lead to believe that that was the only way they had to save themselves at that time for we saw no Expedient fit to stop them in their Carreir of persecution and those other destructive Counsels but the Parliament which had set it self a long time to dislike every thing the Ministers had done and had appeared violently against Popery whilest the Court seemed to favor it and therefore we were Confident that the Ministers having turned their Faces the Parliament would do so too and still be against them and be as little for Persecution then as they had been for Popery before This I undertook to manage for the Duke and the King of France's Interest and assured Mounsieur Rouvigny which I am sure he will testify if occasion serves that that Sessions should do neither of them any hurt for that I was sure I had power enough to prevent mischief though I durst not engage for any good they vvould do because I had but very few assistances to carry on the vvork and vvanted those helps which others had of making friends The Dutch and Spaniard spared no pains or expence of mony to animate as many as they could against France Our Lord Treasurer Lord Keeper all the Bishops such as call'd themselves Old Cavaliers who vvere all then as one man were not less industrious against Popery and had the Purse at their Girdle too vvhich is an Excellent Instrument to gain Friends vvith and all United against the Duke as Patron both of France and Catholick Religion To deal with all this Force vve had no Money but vvhat came from a few private hands and those so mean ones too that I dare venture to say that I spent more my particular self out of my own Fortune and upon my single Credit than all the whole Body of Catholicks in England besides which was so inconsiderable in comparison of what our Adversaries commanded and we verily believe did bestow in making their Party that it is not worth mentioning Yet notwithstanding all this we saw that by the help of the Nonconformists as Presbyterians Independents and other Sects who were as much afraid of Persecution as our selves and of the Enemies of the Ministers and particularly of the Treasurer who by that time had supplanted the Earl of Arlington and was grown sole manager of all Affaires himself we should be very able to prevent vvhat they designed against us and so render the Sessions ineffectual to their Ends though vve might not be able to compass our own which were to make some brisk step in Favour of his R. H. to shew the King that his Majesties Affairs in Parliament were not Obstructed by reason of any Aversion they had to his R. H's Person or apprehensions they had of him or his Religion But from Faction and Ambition in some and from a real dissatisfaction in others that we have not had such fruits and good Effects of those great sums of Money which have been formerly given as was expected If we could then have made but one such step the King would certainly have restored his R. H. to all his Comissions upon which he would have been much greater than ever yet he was in his whole Life or could probably ever have been by any other Course in the World than what he had taken of becoming Catholique c. And we were so very near gaining this Point that I did humbly beg his R. H. to give me leave to put the Parliament upon making an Address to the King that his Majesty would be pleased to put the Fleet into the hands of his R. H. as the only Person likely to give a good Accompt of so important a Charge as that was to the Kingdom And shewed his R. H. such Reasons to perswade him that we could carry it that he agreed with me in it that he believ'd we could Yet others telling him how great a Damage it would be to him if he should miss in such an undertaking which for my part I could not then see nor do I yet he was prevailed upon not to venture though he was perswaded he could carry it I did Communicate this Designe of mine to Mounsieur Rouvigny who agreed with me that it would be the greatest advantage immaginable to his Master to have the Dukes Power and Credit so far Advanced as this would certainly do if we could compass it I shewed him all the Difficulty we were like to meet with and what helps we should have but that we should want one very matterial one Money to carry on the Work as we ought and therefore I do Confess I did shamefully beg his Masters Help and would willingly have been in everlasting Disgrace with all the World if I had not with that assistance of twenty Thousand Pound Sterling which perhaps is not the tenth part of what was spent on the other side made it evident to the Duke that he could not have missed it Mounsieur Rouvigny used to tell me That if he could be sure of succeeding in that Design his Master would give a very much larger Sum but that he was not in a Condition to throw away money upon Uncertainties I Answered That nothing of that nature could be so infallibly sure as not to be subject to some possibilities of Failing but that I durst venture to undertake to make it evident that there was as great an assurance of succeeding in it as any Husbandman can have of a Crop in Harvest vvho sovvs his Ground in its due Season and yet it vvould be counted a very imprudent peice of vvariness in any body to scruple the venturing so much Seed in its proper time because it is possible it may be totally lost and no benefit of it found in Harvest He that mindes the Winds and the Rains at that rate shall neither Sovv nor Reap I take our Case to be much the same as it was the last Sessions If we can advance the Duke's Interest one step forward we shall put him out
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
but Twenty thousand Pounds sent him from France he would he content to be a Sacrifice to the utmost malice of his Enemies if the Protestant Religion did not receive such a blow as it could not subsist And the receipt of this Letter was acknowledged by Monsieur Le Chese in an answer which he wrote to Mr. Coleman dated from Paris Oct. 23. 75. in which he gives him thanks for his good Service in order to the promoting the Popish Religion Several other Letters have been produced and read which were written by Mr. Coleman to Monsieur Ferrier and others and more particularly one Letter dated August 21. 74. written by Coleman to the Popes Internuntio at Brussels wherein he says the Design prospered so well that he doubted not but in a little time the businesse would be managed to the utter ruine of the Protestant Party And by other Letters he writes to the French Kings Confessor that the assistance of his most Christian Majesty is necessary and desires Money from the French King to carry on the Design But there is one Letter without Date more Bloody than all the rest which was written to Monsieur Le Chese in some short time after the long Letter of September 29. 1675. wherein amongst many other things Coleman expresses himself thus We have a mighty Work upon our Hands no less than the Conversion of three Kingdoms and the utter subduing of a Pestilent Heresie which hath for some time domineer'd over this Northern part of the World and we never had so great hopes of it since our Q. Mary's days And in the Conclusion of the Letter he implores Monsieur Le Chese to get all the aid and assistance he can from France and that next to God Almighty they did rely upon the mighty mind of his most Christian Majesty and therefore did hope le Chese would procure Money and Asistance from him Now any Man that considers the Contents of these Letters must needs agree that the latter part of the Indictment to wit the Treason of endeavouring the Subverting the Government and the Protestant Religion is fully proved upon Mr. Coleman the Prisoner at the Bar and that these Letters were written by him and the Answers received he does not deny But all he has to say for himself is that it was to make the King of England great whereas the contrary is most manifest because the Jesuits who love Force and Tyranny always adhere to those Princes that are greatest in Strength and Power For it appears in History that when the House of Austria were in their greatness and like to arrive to the Vniversal Monarchy in these parts of the World the Jesuits all adhered to that House But since the French King hath grown more mighty in Power and Greatness they declined the Interest of the Austrian Family and do now promote the Councels of France thinking that now that King will become the Vniversal Monarch I shall therefore now conclude the Evidence only observing to the Jury that the several Treasons in the Indictment are fully proved The first as to the destruction of the Royal Person of the King by two Witnesses Mr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow the other part of it viz. the subversion of the Government and extirpation of the Protestant Religion by the several Letters which have been before remembred which have not been denyed by the Prisoner to be his Therefore I hope Gentlemen when you meet with Offenders that are guilty of such stupendious Crimes you will do Justice upon them which will be a great Comfort and Satisfaction to the King and all his good Protestant Subjects Serj. Pembert Gentlemen You hear the Crime is of the highest nature it 's the subversion of three Kingdoms and the subduing of that Religion which he defames by the name of Pestilent Heresie It concerns us all to look about us and all the Kingdom when there shall be a Design managed in this manner to destroy our King and to take away our Religion and to enslave us all to the Pope and make us all truckle to the Priests It is wonderful it is capable at this day of so great Evidence there is Digitus Dei in it or else it would be impossible such a thing should be made so manifest All the rest that is said in the Indictment are but Circumstances that declare it There is a strong Evidence of many matters of Fact in this Design which declare the Intention hatched in his Breast for many years together Here hath been a Design to kill the King and he doth not only consent to it but commend it what can be said to his giving the Money to him that was to pay the fourscore pieces of Gold to those Ruffians sent to Windsor and adding 5000 l. to the 10000l for the Doctor that was to poyson the King He denies all No question but a Man that hath had a Heart to design such Contrivances will have the Face to deny it publickly It 's a thing to be acted in the dark but there 's both Mr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow plainly prove it upon him that he consented to the acting the Kings death What 's the Sence of his Letters but to shew his design and to beg the Assistance of France to them in their necessities the whole Current is to destroy our Religion I think you Gentlemen of the Jury have had such Evidence as will satisfie any Man Pris I deny all Mr. Oates his Testimony for his saying to the Council he did not know me because he could not see me when I was as near as the next Gentleman but one but knew me when I spake and I spoke to almost all the matters asked He accuseth me of a thing in August but names not the day Now if there be one Error in his Testimony it weakens all the rest I went out of Town the 10th of August it was the latter end I came home about the middle of Bartholomew Fair the last day of August L. Ch. Just. Have you any Witness to prove that Pris I cannot say I have a Witnesse L. Ch. Just Then you say nothing Pris People cannot speak to a day to a thing they neither imagined or thought of L. Ch. Just I ask your Servant do you know when Mr. Coleman went out of Town Coleman's Serv. In August I cannot say particularly the day L. Ch. Just Do you know when he came home Serv. I cannot remember Just Wild. Where was you the last Bartholomew day Serv. I was in Town Just Wild. Where was your Master Serv. I do not remember L. Ch. Just You say you went out of Town the 10th and came home the last of August you say it is impossible that he should say right but yet you do not prove it Pris I have no more to say but I entered down all my Expences every day in a Book which Book will shew where I was L. Ch. Just Where is your Book Pris At my
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