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
Father Le Chese There were two small matters they treated of no less than the Dissolving the Parliament and the Extirpation of the Protestant Religion Nay you will find and you will hear enough when the Letters come to be read that Mr. Coleman made many strokes at the Parliament he had no good opinion of them And we cannot blame him for without all peradventure they had made and I hope ever will make strong resistance against such Designs as these But a great mind he had to be rid of them and he had hopes of great Sums of Money from abroad if it had been to be done that way And it is very remarkable and shews the vanity of the Man he had such an opinion of the success of these Negotiations that he had penn'd a Declaration prepared by him and writ with his own hand to be published in Print up on the Dissolution of the Parliament to justifie that Action with many specious and plausible Reasons As he did this without any direction so he takes upon him to write a Declaration as in the Name of the King without the least shadow of any command to do it so he prepares a Letter also in the name of the Duke and I would not affirm unless I could prove it and that from his own Confession being examined before the Lords upon Oath that he had no manner of Authority from the Duke to prepare such a Letter and when it was written and brought to the Duke it was rejected and the Writer justly blamed for his presumption By this you will perceive the forwardness of this Man And you must of necessity take notice that in his Letters he took upon himself to manage Affairs as authorized by the greatest Persons in the Kingdom yet without the least shadow of proof that he was by them impowered to do it My Lord you shall find Mr. Coleman thought himself above all and such was his own over-weening opinion of his Wit and Policy that he thought himself the sole and supreme Director of all the Affairs of the Catholicks You will likewise perceive that he held Intelligence with Cardinal Norfolk with Father Sheldon and the Popes Internuntio at Brussels And I cannot but observe out of the Proofs that as we shall find Mr. Coleman very ambitious and forward in all great Affairs so he had a little too much Eye to the Reward he looked too much asquint upon the matter of Money his great endeavours were not so much out of Conscience or out of Zeal to his Religion as out of temporal Interest to him Gain was instead of Godliness And by his Letters to the French Confessor Monsieur Le Chese it will be proved that he got much Money from the Catholicks here and some from abroad but still he wanted Money What to do I do not mean the greater sum of two hundred thousand pounds to procure the Dissolution of the Parliament but some twenty thousand pounds onely To be expended by him in secret Service I do not know what account he would have given of it if he had been intrusted with it But that he earnestly thirsted after Money appeareth by most of his Letters My Lord you will observe besides his Intelligences that he had with Father Le Chese and several others one that deserves to be named and that is his Negotiation with Sir William Frogmorton who was sent over into France and there resided a long time to promote these Designs He is dead therefore I will not say so much of him as I would say against him if he was here to be tri'd But my Lord I find in his Letters such Treasonable such Impious expressions against the King such undutiful Characters of him that no good Subject would write and no good Subject would receive and conceal as Mr. Coleman hath done My Lord it may pass for a wonder how we come to be Masters of all these Papers it has in part been told you already There was an information given of the general Design nay of some of the particulars against the Kings Life And without all peradventure Mr. Coleman knew of this Discovery and he knew that he had Papers that could speak too much and he had time and opportunity enough to have made them away and I make no question but he did make many away We are not able to prove the continuance of his correspondence so as to make it clearly out but we suppose that continued until the day he was seized And there is this to be proved that Letters came for him though we cannot say any were delivered to him after he was in Prison But without all peradventure the Man had too much to do too many Papers to conceal Then you 'll say he might have burnt them all for many would burn as well as a few But then he had lost much of the Honour of a great States-man many a fine Sentence and many a deep Intrigue had been lost to all Posterity I believe that we owe this Discovery to something of Mr. Coleman's Vanity he would not lose the Glory of managing these important Negotiations about so great a Design He thought 't was no small Reputation to be intrusted with the Secrets of Forreign Ministers If this was not his reason God I believe took away from him that clearness of Judgment and strength of Memory which he had upon other occasions My Lord I shall no longer detain you from reading the Papers themselves But I cannot but account this Kingdom happy that these Papers are preserved For my Lord We are to deal with a sort of men that have that prodigious confidence that their words and deeds though proved by never so unsuspected Testimony they will still deny But my Lord no denial of this Plot will prevail for Mr. Coleman himself hath with his own hand recorded this Conspiracy and we can prove his hand not onely by his own Servants and Relations but by his own Confession So that my Lord I doubt not that if there be any of their own Party that hear this Trial they themselves will be satisfi'd with the truth of these things And I believe we have an advantage in this case which they will not allow us in another matter namely that we shall be for this once permitted to believe our own Senses Our Evidence consisteth of two parts one is Witnesses Viva voce which we desire with the favour of the Court to begin with and when that is done we shall read several Letters or Negotiations in writing and so submit the whole to your Lordships direction Pris I beg leave that a poor ignorant Man that is so heavily charged that it seems a little unequal to consider the reason why a Prisoner in such a case as this is is not allowed Counsel but your Lordship is supposed to be Counsel for him But I think it very hard I cannot be admitted Counsel and I humbly hope your Lordship will not suffer me
for to poyson the king When you were to give an account to the Council of the particular Contrivance of the Murther of the King at Windsor with a Reward you did mention one Reward of 10000 pounds to Dr. Wakeman and would you omit the Guinny to expedite the Messenger and that he said that 10000l was too little would you omit all this Mr. Oates I being so tyred and weak that I was not able to stand upon my Legs and I remember the Council apprehended me to be so weak that one of the Lords of the Council said that if there were any occasion further to examine Mr. Coleman that Mr. Oates should be ready again and bid me retire L. C. Just You was by when the Council were ready to let Mr. Coleman go almost at large Mr. Oates No I never apprehended that for if I did I should have given a further Account L. C. Just What was done to Mr. Coleman at that time was he sent away Prisoner Mr. Oates Yes at that time to the Messengers house and within two dayes after he was sent to Newgate and his Papers were seized L. C. Just Why did you not name Coleman at that time Mr. Oates Because I had spent a great deal of time in accusing other Jesuites Just Wild. What time was there betwixt the first time you were at the Council before you told of this matter concerning the King Mr. Oates When I was first at the Board which was on Saturday night I made Information which began between six and seven and lasted almost to ten I did then give a general Account of the Affairs to the Council without the King Then I went and took Prisoners and before Sunday night I said I thought if Mr. Colemans Papers were searched into they would find matter enough against him in those Papers to hang him I spake those words or words to the like purpose After that Mr. Colemans Papers were searched Mr. Coleman was not to be found but he surrendred himself the next day So that on Sunday I was commanded to give His Majesty a general Information as I had given to the Council on Saturday and the next day again I took Prisoners that night five and next night four Just Wild. How long was it betwixt the time that you were examined and spoke only as to the Letters to that time you told to the King Council or both of them concerning this matter you swear now Mr. Oates My Lord I never told it to the King and Council but I told it to the Houses of Parliament L. Chief Just How long was it between the one and the other Mr. Oates I cannot tell exactly the time it was when the Parliament first sate L. C. J. How came you Mr. Coleman being so desperate a man as he was endeavouring the killing of the King to omit your Information of it to the Council and to the King at both times Mr. Oats I spoke little of the Persons till the persons came face to face L. Chief Just Why did you not accuse all thosse Jesuits by name M. Oates We took a Catalogue of their names but those I did accuse positively and expresly we took up L. Chief Just Did you not accuse Sir George Wakeman by name and that he accepted his Reward Mr. Oates Yes then I did accuse him by name L. Chief Just Why did you not accuse Mr. Coleman by name Mr. Oates For want of Memory being disturbed and wearied in sitting up two nights I could not give that good account of Mr. Coleman which I did afterwards when I consulted my Papers and when I saw Mr. Coleman was secured I had no need to give a farther Account L. Chief Just How long was it between the first charging Mr. Coleman and your acquainting the Parliament with it Mr. Oats From Monday the 30th of September until the Parliament sate L. Chief Just Mr. Coleman will you ask him any thing Prisoner Pray ask Mr. Oats whether he was not as near to me as this Gentleman is because he speaks of his eyes being bad Mr. Oats I had the disadvantage of a Candle upon my eyes Mr. Coleman stood more in the dark Prisoner He names several times that he met with me in this place and that place a third and fourth place about business Mr. Oats He was altered much by his Perriwig in several Meetings and had several Perriwiggs and a Perriwigg doth disguise a man very much but when I heard him speak then I knew him to be Mr. Coleman L. Chief Just Did you hear him speak How were the Questions asked Were they thus Was that the Person Or how often had you seen Mr. Coleman Mr. Oats When the Question was asked by my Lord Chancellour Mr. Coleman when were you last in France He said at such a time Did you see Father le Chese He said he gave him an accidental visit My Lord Chancellor asked him whether or no he had a Pass He said No. Then he told him that was a fault for going out of the Kingdom without a Pass Have you a Kinsman whose name is Playford at S. Omers He said he had one ten years old who is in truth sixteen That question I desired might be asked Then the King bade me go on L. Ch. Just Did the King or Council or Lord Chancellor ask you whether you knew Mr. Coleman or no Mr. Oats They did not ask me L. Ch. Just Mr. Oats answer the question in short and without confounding it with length Were you demanded if you knew M. Coleman Mr. Oats Not to my knowledge L. Ch. Just Did you ever see him or how often Pris He said he did not know me L. Ch. Just You seemed when I asked you before to admit as if you had been asked this question how often you had seen him and gave me no answer because you were doubtful whether it was the man by reason of the inconveniency of the light and your bad fight Mr. Oats I must leave it to the King what answer I made Mr. Coleman he wonders I should give an account of so many intimacies when I said I did not know him at the Council Table Pris It is very strange Mr. Oats should swear now that he was so well acquainted with me and had been so often in my company when upon his accusation at the Council-Table he said nothing of me more than the sending of one Letter which he thought was my hand Mr. Oats I did not say that Pris And he did seem to say there he never saw me before in his life L. Ch. Just Was he asked whether he was acquainted with you for those words are to the same purpose Pris I cannot answer directly I do not say he was asked if he was acquainted with me but I say this that he did declare he did not know me L. Ch. Just Can you prove that Pris I appeal to Sir Tho. Dolman who is â—ow in Court and was then present
a Pestilent Heresie which has domineered over great part of this Northern World a long time there were never such hopes of success since the Death of our Queen Mary as now in our days When God has given us a Prince who is become may I say a Miracle zealous of being the Author and Instrument of so glorious a Work but the opposition we are sure to meet with is also like to be great So that it imports us to get all the aid and assistance we can for the Harvest is great and the Labourers but few That which we rely upon most next to God Almighty's Providence and the favour of my Master the Duke is the mighty mind of His most Christian Majesty whose generous Soul inclines him to great undertakings which being managed by your Reverence's exemplary piety and prudence will certainly make him look upon this as most sutable to himself and best becoming his power and thoughts so that I hope you will pardon me if I be very troublesom to you upon this occasion from whom I expect the greatest help we can hope for I must confess I think His Christian Majesty's Temporal Interest is so much attracted to that of his R. H. which can never be considerable but upon the growth and advancement of the Catholick Religion that his Ministers cannot give him better advice even in a Politick sence abstracting from the considerations of the next World that of our Blessed Lord to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof that all other Things may be added unto him That I know His most Christian Majesty has more powerful motives suggested to him by his own Devotion and your Reverences zeal for God's Glory to engage him to afford us the best help he can in our present circumstances But we are a little unhappy in this that we cannot press His Majesty by his present Minister here upon these latter Arguments which are most strong but only upon the first Mr. Rouvigny's sence and ours differing very much upon them though we agree perfectly upon the rest And indeed though he be a very able Man as to his Master's service in things where Religion is not concerned yet I believe it were much more happy considering the posture he is now in that his temper were of such a sort that we might deal clearly with him throughout and not be forc'd to stop short in a Discourse of consequence and leave the most material part out because we know it will shock his particular Opinion and so perhaps meet with dislike and opposition though never so necessary to the main concern I am afraid we shall find too much reason for this Complaint in this next Session of Parliament for had we had one here from His most Christian Majesty who had taken the whole business to heart and who would have represented the state of our Case truly as it is to his Master I do not doubt but His most Christian Majesty would have engag'd himself further in the affair than at present I fear he has done and by his approbation have given such Counsels as have been offered to his R. H. by those few Catholicks who have access to him and who are bent to serve him and advance the Catholick Religion with all their might and might have more credit with his R. H. than I fear they have found and have assisted them also with his Purse as far as 10000 Crowns or some such sum which to him is very inconsiderable but would have been to them of greater use than can be imagined towards gaining others to help them or at least not to oppose them If we had been so happy as to have had His most Christian Majesty with us to this degree I would have answered with my life for such success this Sessions as would have put the Interest of the Catholick Religion his R. H. and His most Christian Majesty out of all danger for the time to come But wanting those helps of recommending those necessary Counsels which have been given his R. H. in such manner as to make him think them worth his accepting and fit to govern himself by and of those advantages which a little Money well managed would have gained us I am afraid we shall not be much better at the end of this Sessions than we are now I pray God we do not lose ground By my next which will be e're long I shall be able to tell your Reverence more particularly what we are like to expect In the mean time I most humbly beg your Holy Prayers for all our undertakings and that you will be pleased to honour me so far as to esteem me what I am entirely and without any reserve Mon tres Reverend Pere le votre R. Le plus humble plus obeisant Serviteur Several other Letters were read but because of prolixity they are omitted these being most material Attorn Gen. I have done with my Evidence we need no more proof against him Prisoner My Lord I would if your Lordship please very fain ask of Mr. Oates because he was pleased to say he was present with me in May or April whether he knows the particular days of the Months Here Mr. Oates who being tired withdrew to rest himself was called and the Prisoner was asked whether he would speak with Bedloe but he desired not to speak with him Mr. Oates The Consult that was held in May New-stile is April Old-stile it was within a day or two or three of the Consult Pris Where was the Consult Oates It was begun at the White-Horse Tavern then they did adjourn it to several Clubs and Companies and you came two or three days after the Consult to the Provincial's Chamber we then desiring to go out of Town Pris Was you there and who else Oates There was the Provincial and Micho and Strange the Old Provincial and Keins your Companion Pris What day of August was that at the Savoy Oates I cannot Swear the particular day of the Month I cannot so far charge my memory The Result at the Consult in May was that Pickering and Groves should go on in their attempt to assassinate the Person of His Majesty by Shooting or otherwise Mr. Coleman knew of this and said it was a good design L. Chief Just Who was there was Mr. Coleman with them at the Consultation Oates No my Lord but two or three days after the Consultation he was at Wild-House and there he expressed that he approved of it L. Chief Just Did he consent to it Oates He did consent to it Just Wild. Did he use no Words about it Oates He did shew his Approbation of it But in those Instructions that were brought to Ashby he did say it was a very good proposition but he thought the Reward was too little L. Chief Just Did he use any words to declare his assent Oates Two things lie couched in the Question whether your Lordship means the Consult or
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