of the Faith of the Church of Rome that were not of the Faith of the Court of Rome and therefore though they gave all manner of Encouragement to the Romish Religion yet by great Caution and Vigilance they have very much prevented the undermining the Temporal Authority they had over their Subjects Our former Kings of England though they were of that Faith and did countenance their Subjects in that worship yet they would not let them be enslaved by any pretended Papal Jurisdiction but your Villains were blessed with a man that would not only allow the Bishop of Rome his rascally Worship but also allow him to enslave the Nation with a Power he challenged in the temporal Government this your Cut-throats were assured of and therefore they would not in good manners to your great Zeal be in the least behind hand to joyn with you to hasten the Exit of your Brother who would by no means keep pace with them to their horrid Designs and therefore they judged that he was their only Let or Hinderance in compleating that mighty work 3. You was not only a Papist but a bigotted papist and being such you put your self under the Conduct of the Jesuits this Confederacy of yours with those zealous Sons of the Synagogue of Sâ—than could not be otherwise than very fatal to the Kingdom as to its Religion and Government and the person of the King your Brother for you arriving to that Pitch of Zeal and putting your self under their Conduct they in gratitude to you could not but endeavour the hastning your Accession to the Crown of which you were as ambitious as they were zealous and therefore you both joyned to destroy your Brother that was converted to the Religion of Rome but not zealous enough in driving on the Jesuits Designs had you Brother's Zeal been as fierce as yours he might have been cooling his Heels at St. Germains as well as your self and good Company there It was not for want of good will to your Religion but for want of a galloping Zeal which was no ways consistent with his voluptuous Living that you and these villanous Jesuits and the Popish Party conspired his death these were the three Advantages on which your Cut-throat Party did build their Hopes which made your Jesuits in the most considerable part of the Kingdom and in many places abroad to preach their King murthering Doctrine the better to prepare those of their Communion to joyn with you in the Fatal Blow that you and your Council at St. James's had designed to give the King your Brother 6. A sixth Testimony that appeared against you and your Party was the Trayterous Correspondencies that was maintained in order to carry on a Rebellion in Scotland and Ireland for Scotland your Villains took the Advantage of the great Heats that were created in that Kingdom by the dreadful Tyranny of Duke Lauderdale who acted by your Director and used all those Methods that might provoke a Rebellion and your Servant Coleman who had a great Interest in Lauderdale was often with him by which the Jesuits understood what Measures to take and a Party was appointed to incense the Villainous Bishops of that Kingdom against the poor Protestants there whereby their Lives were made very miserable and the Usage of their Ministers who by providence were driven upon the Coasts of England and came to the House of Lords where an Account was given to the Parliament that sat in the year 1678 in the month of December and the Parliament took their Cause into Consideration and dismissed them of their Irons and Thumckins and addressed your Brother against Lauderdale and as you had a Party of men that acted their part with the Episcopal Party in Scotland thus to vex and torment the afflicted Protestants in Scotland so your Jesuits they entertained another party of Rogues of the same Complexion to assocIate themselves with these poor Protestants in order to keep up their Animositie against the Prelatique Party withal urging them that they at that time had a fair Opportunity to vindicate their Liberty and Religion and that it could not be done but by the Sword and whereas that the King had received many of their Addresses yet he was so addicted to his pleasures that he neither would nor could take little or no care of redressing their intolerable Grievances and the great Cause of their ill Usage proceeded even from the King himself by which Sir it appeared their great Design in Conjunction with you was to weaken your Brothers Interest in that Kingdom for they urged that if they did not stir in time they would be put under some Forreign Force which would be more vexatious to them and you found your Design so well that your Jesuits received an Account from Scotland dated Feb. 7. 1677 that all Diligence was used to put the Potestants in that Kingdom of Scotland upon opposing Duke Lauderdale and his Villains and questioned not but that all things should be so ordered that a Rebellion should be raised in Scotland and a little before you went down to Windsor you knew that Messengers were sent down to Scotland to press the poor people to a resentment of the Tyranny they lived under by the Male-Administration of Duke Lauderdale and such that were of the Ministry in that Kingdom and especially since they could not obtain the Liberty of Conscience notwithstanding all their humble Supplications to the King therefore the Sword must do it a Rebellion at last you obtain'd in order to destroy these poor Wretches the Consequence of which was the total enslaving that Kingdom the better to fit it for its Submission to the Romish Religion As for Ireland I have already at large not only in this but in the first Memorial laid open your Practices in that Kingdom 7. Call to mind Colemans Letters and say that you knew nothing of them if you dare there it is said that you had a mighty work upon your Hands no less than the Conversion of three Kingdoms Come Sir deal freely was it to be brought about by Arguments from the Scripture no Sir I did never find the Knowledge of the Scriptures abound in the most learned of them all we have scarce a Protestant Cobler but is able to cope with if not to baffle a Romish Priest it could not be that these three Kingdoms could be converted by these sorts of Arguments with which your Cut-throats were little acquainted and their preaching is generally too silly and empty to prevail with Protestants to change their Religion unless some few weak Debauchees and weaker Whores Well you were to convert three Kingdom I pray how was not your Conversion and Conviction by enlightening the eyes of the Protestant Party by a Faggot and by the powerful and irresistible Arguments of the Dagger those Letters of Coleman's tell the world that the design prospered so well that there was no doubt but that it would be managed to the utter Ruine of
Deponent saying your Brother the said Messenger replied we are off that thing now therefore he desired me me not to speak of it to any body afterwards the said Butler came to this Deponent 's Shop and told the Deponent that he had received great Anger in that he had told the Deponent of what Messenger was to Attempt This Deponent further saith that some what above half a year since he heard Mr. Walliston Paston say that young Sir Henry Beddingfield of Oxburrough Hall in Norfolk was to have a Commission form my Lord Arundel for a Troop of Horse in the Army to be raised by the Papists Also about the time that the four Lords that were in the Tower that is the Duke of Buckingham my Lord Shaftsbury the Lord Wharton and the Lord Salisbury that one Mr. Knightly came to me and greatly rejoycing at their Imprisonment said that now is the time for promoting the Catholic Religion because of the difference that was amongst the Lords and that if the Duke of York did but follow the business closely which the Catholics had ground to believe he would they did not doubt but that it would be settled in that juncture of time Your Friend Mr. Prance gave in another Information on the 22. of March which is as follows IN the Month of August 1678 I having occasion to write to a Friend in the Country but could not tell well how to send I went to Mr. Pastons who lodged at one Bambers a Taylor in Duke-street who gave me an Account where to send to him and we immediately fell into Discourse concerning the present posture of Affairs and he bid me not to fear for we should suddenly have better times for in the first place he said that the King was a great Heretick and that the Lord Bellasis and Lord Arundel and Lord Powis and the Lord Petre would have a very good Army for the Deposing of the King and the suppression of the Hereticks and then the Catholick Religion should be established and flourish in this Nation he also said that the above named Lords had given out Commissions already to some Gentlemen in the Country whom he named to me who were Mr. Talbot of Longford and Sir Henry Beddingfield of Oxborow Hall in Norfolk and one Mr. Stone who lives within four or five miles of Kingston upon Thames Also about two years ago one Townley of Townley in Lancashire came up to London with his two Sons whom he was carrying over to Doway he also brought along with him his two Brothers to keep him Company they took Lodgings at Ayries house in Drury-Lane where Fenwick lodged and in a short time two of them went over to Doway with the two Lads and left the other here who in the absence of his Brothers declared very often to my Wifes Brother and to Adamson that when his Brothers came back again from Doway they expected Commissions from the above named Lords for the raising of Men for the Carrying on the Catholick Cause this my Brother and Adamson often told me at Pettleyes in Veres-street where we had a Club very often of none but Papists Now Sir we have given you an account of what Mr. Prance swore before the Parliament concerning the Popish Plot in which you may see your self engaged for you had a business upon your hands and that business was to be followed closely and then the Catholick Religion would flourish and you know to what a degree of Zeal and Piety you were converted as not to regard any thing in the world in comparison of God Almighty's Glory and the Salvation of your own and the conversion of this poor Kingdom which hath been a long time oppressed and miserably harassed with Heresie and Schism nay your Zeal was such That Coleman could sâ—arce believe himself awake when he thought on it I will now put you in mind of what he discovered upon Oath concerning the said Popish Plot at the Tryals of several of your Villains I begin with the Tryals of the five Jesuites where the said Prance did with all chearfulness declare That Harcourt the Jesuit and one of your Councellors at St. Jameses told Prance that there was a design of killing the King and St. Ireland Fenwick and Grove who was one of your Popish Messengers and Firers of the Borough of Southwark told him of 50000 Men that were to be raised for the carrying on of the Catholick Cause and to settle the Catholick Religion which Affair was to be managed by the Five Lords that were for that Conspiracy committed to the Tower who as well as Whitebread were to grant Commissions for Officers nay had actually granted several and to incourage this Prance who though he had but a little Sense yet he had so much as to dread a Civil War told him that he need not fear he should have Church Work enough It will not be unnecessary to make some Observations upon Mr. Prance his Testimony before we come to another and in it here are five or six things worthy of your Consideration 1. Here is expresly sworn That Popery was to be introduced which you know is High Treason your Priests all expected to see the Romish Religion setled and that then all things would do well and your Priests should have fat Parsonages and then all things would go right 2. This Religion was to be brought in by an Army you know that your Dragooning Apostles here might have planted Religion in as an effectual way as they ruin'd the poor Protestants in France 3. Here is the King your Brother declared an Heretick and therefore by your Popish Army to be deposed and by Messenger to be destroyed 4. Here is your selâ— having a work in hand which you were to follow closely 5. Here are your Popish Party all engaged and you at the Head of them 6. Here is all the Incouragement in the World to prevent them from fainting in the Cause for fear of a Civil War they should have Trade enough what can be plainer let all the World judge 4. A Fourth Witness that proved the Popish Plot was the Testimony of Mr. Robert Jenison the manner of his coming in was thus upon the 15th of June 1679 Mr. Chetwind of Westminster who had some Discourse with one Mr. Griffith a Gentleman of Grays Inn about the five Jesuites that had been condemned on the day before and their attempt â—o prove William Ireland alias Ironmonger executed some time before for High Treason to have been in Staffordshire and on his Journey thither from the fifth of August 1678 till the seventh of September following and not to have been within that time in London as I had with others sworn him to have been there between the eight and the twelfth of August and to be returned again thither on the beginning of September whereupon Mr. Griffith told Mr. Chetwynd that Sir Michael Wharton of Beverley in the County of York then a Member of Parliament told him
ΕΙΚΩΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ OR THE PICTURE OF THE Late King James Further drawn to the LIFE In which is made manifest by several Articles That the whole Course of his Life hath been a continued Conspiracy against the Protestant Religion Laws and Liberties of the Three Kingdoms In a Letter to Himself The Fourth Part. By TITVS OATES D. D. LONDON Printed and are to be sold by Richard Baldwin 〈◊〉 the Oxford-Arms Inn in Warwick-Lane MDCXCVII TO His most Excellent Majesty WILLIAM III. By the Grace of God And the Choice of the Good People of England Of Great Britain France and Ireland Rightful and Lawful KING Defender of the Faith and Restorer of our LAWS and LIBERTIES As well as the Victorious PROTECTOR of Oppress'd Europe TITVS OATES D. D. His Faithful Dutiful and Loyal Subject and Servant most humbly dedicates this ensuing MEMORIAL ΕΙΚΩΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ Or The Fourth Part of the Picture of the Late King JAMES SIR I Know you expect I should be as good as my word and truly so I will to the utmost of my poor power because of the great regard I have for your Person Cause and Interest and before I enter upon any more lines of your sweet face in order to perfect your Picture let us take a dish of drink together and give you a true state of your interest here in England and when we consider the excellent qualifications of your Hell-born Crew here you may easily conclude what a nasty pickle you and my old Landlady are in and that I shall do in these six particulars 1. Your Cattel here have acted their parts in tampering to make parties against the present Government which parties were to have been made either of your Friends or your Enemies the former are such a parcel of Cowardly Rascals that to tell you the truth as they quitted your Father in the time when he had most occasion for them so they did you witness your friends both here and in Scotland too notwithstanding the application they made by your especial direction to Sir Timothy Stiff-Jaws when old Preston's hopeful design was baffled by the vigilance of the present Government nay I doubt not but that they might by Scotch Robin have made some effort of that nature upon some of our Dissenters but alas it was to no purpose for they understood their Interest as well as an old friend of yours did of cheating your Brother of a tickling summ you know for what use and therefore all attempts if ever any were to all intents and purposes fruitless and vain well I pray what tools did you make use of very sorry ones upon my word a sort of people whose persons were neither known nor had they credit for a two-penny Loaf persons not able to make you a party worth the mentioning nor can I by the best enquiry I can make tell who set them on work or what Warrant or Authority they have for what they do for if one should ask Sir Timothy Stiff-Jaws to whom as I said before they were to make application he would swear by my Landlady's white hand that he knew never a Rogue of them all and would not lose his good Preferment as long as there was a shilling to be got though I must tell you that in spight of the Whore his neighbour he hath quitted his Post since a penny could not be got in it with any great matter of content he is now at Grass and waits dear Sir for a comfortable minute that he may have my Landlady by the hand again without disturbance I suppose he might make you under-hand half a dozen poor Curs and these the Rogues call a Party and a Party for you and upon the strength of these Fellows impudence your nonsensical Crew shamm'd a simple Declaration from you bearing date from St. Germains which did you more hurt than the Fishermen of Feversham could do for their hearts blood Well when your gracious Declaration came Lord What a stir they made with it and publish it they would hand over head without any regard had for the Publishers and disposers of the same or the least thought of making any provision for those willing Vermin that lay at the mercy of our Government to be drawn hang'd and quartered for such an eminent piece of service and some of them have taken a civil swing tho much ado before they could be perswaded to it You was not pleased to put us off with one Declaration but a second and a third was issued forth bearing date from St. Germains in which you lovingly declared what great and good things they should have the Lord knows when if they would but meet you the Lord knows where But I pray Sir why did you reflect upon the ingratitude of some of your old Friends Alas alas you did not well consider that they might be got into good employments in which they were to Battle their sweet Bodies for a convenient season or it may be if some of them had been so scandalous that they could not get into an employment of considerable trust they were got behind the Hangings with a comfortable Pension to the end that they may use King William in that Post as they did you when you employed them Nay sweet Sir now I think on 't there is your old Friend Sir Simkin you know who turned Whig to betray the Whigs to your Brother and then he turned Tory to betray your Brother to the Whigs then turned Papist to betray your good Worship what could you do with such a Spark if he should take the other turn but keep him behind the Hangings to do some job or another tho it cost you two or three thousand pounds per annum for Secret service for in my conscience Rhiming Jack Carryl and the rest of your doughty Crew at St. Germains would scarce sit at Council-board with him he would be so scandalous he saith he is a man of good parts and wouâ—d himself sign a Certificate even upon Oath since honour hath so long been a stranger to him yet none of your poor humble Curs now with you would be seen in his company for forty shillings a man lest he should betray you once more Come let me ask you one civil question if you should be King of Poland or Jerusalem or Ushant or Bell Isle Would you ever admit him so much as Clerk of your Kitchen truly you must have the Grace of a great deal of good Nature to believe him worthy of such an Employ for since he hath made so many turns let him have nothing with you but that of a Turnspit he being too lend for any else yet for all this this Case-hardened Coxcomb that brags of doing great feats for the support of our Government hath pretended to such an Interest with you and my very good Landlady that one would think that he was ready to make another turn and some of your Cattle here would fain make us believe he is doing
of Commerce the said Lord Protector had made to the great advantage of the English Nation and graciously left his people to be treated in their trade to France at the pleasure of the French King In a word your Brother was no sooner sixt at Whitehall and you at St. James's but the French King was become your Confident and the King of Spain slighted which as it was against justice and humanity so it was against the maxims of Policy and Prudence the French Nation being natural Enemies of the English and the next Neighbour to it and of all Nations the most formidable all these considerations should have made you to have made a firm alliance with Spain at that time for their condition was very low being brought to that sad state in a great measure upon the account of your Family both in your Grand fathers and Fathers Reigns insomuch that notwithstanding the largeness of the Dominions of that King yet out of them all he could not find an Army to fight against the Portuguese this I must say that God did visit that Crown with severe Judgments for their unjust dealings with the Americans both in respect of the War they made with them and the cruelties they exercised towards them You will say the King of Spain was poor yes so he was and the Proverb was good That Vermin will quit a falling house you well knew that the Popish party could not bear up in their undertakings in the design of changing our Religion into Popery nor our Government into Slavery upon the Credit Purse and Interest of the King of Spain but upon the Purse Interest and Credit of the French King your party thought they might with the better success and with more ease accomplish their wicked designs and purposes against the Religion Laws and Liberties of these three Kingdoms Let me tell you Sir that notwithstanding all the efforts the Popish party made in the years 1660 and 1661 they all proved abortive for they have not their expectation fully answered for they wanted some considerable person to head them but you know your Brother and you thought it convenient to be plaguy Godly for a little time and therefore the Red-Letter-men were to expect a little longer 4. That all might not be lost for want of looking after your Mother comes from France to give those of the Church of Rome some countenance and to be head of that Council that was appointed to sit at Somerset-house you know the pretence of her coming over was a Treaty with her Son about the Marriage of Madam her Daughter with the Monsieur of France but the real cause was to make earnest solicitations on the behalf of the Popish party that they might in some measure receive the benefit of those promises your Brother and you had made to them and to most of the Popish Princes in Christendom upon their account and though you could not engage your self to appear bare-faced you at that time wearing a Protestant face as did also your dear Brother the King so that she to encourage them came over and resided here in England for some time and that the interest might be strengthened the Marriage of her Son the King with the Daughter of Portugal was no less designed than that of her Daughter with Monsieur Give me leave to tell you in this affair the Queen your Mother did testifie more love to her Daughter your Sister than she did to the King your Brother and more like a Daughter of France than a Queen Mother of England by her coming over she did not only secure the interest of France in England but she secured all the Popish party to be true to the French interest and secured the French King to be their great friend that would not cease to do all good offices between them and his dear Brother the King of England and they might be assured of you in a short time and also by her coming a great number of Priests Jesuits Monks and Fryers came over who were caressed with part of the Treasure of the Nation amongst whom was one Kirton a Fryar that had two hundred pound a year Pension given him the pretence was that he was an excellent Chocolate-maker for your Brother the King She also spurred on the Council that sat at Somerset-house to use that diligence that became them that they might answer those ends that their meeting together required This plainly shews what encouragement the Popish party received by the coming of your Mother from France 5. Your Brothers Marriage with the Daughter of Portugal was another considerable encouragement for though she brought no considerable Fortune to the Crown yet still she strengthened the French interest the French King in order thereunto proposed and promoted the Match for never was one word said of it till the Arrival of the Queen Mother and then you know that affair was driven on with all the Zeal imaginable insomuch that if any of the Church of Rome that were of the Spanish Faction had offered any thing against the Match with Portugal he or she or they were in danger of being forbid the then Court at Somerset-House Sir Kenelm Digby was one of the Council at Somerset-House and he was in danger of losing your Mothers favour and his place at that board only for expressing himself not with the due respects that she expected to the intended Match with Portugal and the Lord Castlehaven was forbidden her presence for asserting that Match could never tend to the Honour and Advantage of the English Nation and the late Duke of Norfolk though he was a Papist and Loyal enough yet because he was not of the French Interest and was against the Match your Mother did but look sowrely upon him nay you may remember that for some time all the Honour he could get was but to be made the Son of a Duke and it was some time before he could obtain that mark of Royal Favour The Match was concluded on and over came that peice of Portugal Flesh for His Majesty's use and she was no sooner arrived and fixed at St. James's but behold another Council was appointed there upon the account of the Catholicks and so they had now two Councils one at St. James's and one at Somerset-House and truly all things run on merrily on their side they having two Queens to Espouse their Cause then finally you were reconciled to the Church of Rome and so your Brother and you being both of a Religion what greater incouragement could that villainous party of Men expect and then came all the Ambassadors Envoys Agents they had the Priviledge of open Chapels so that London it self was made a Nursery for Popery 2. You now may see what encouragements the Popish party had to engage in the design of changing our Religion and Government in order to bring in Popery and Arbitrary power when you being reconciled to the Church and See of Rome did establish a third Council
opposed them were severely treated by your Brother and your self not for any service they had done but for some future villany they were to perpretate the reducing the Nation to the yoke of France and Rome this was the reason why they were so dear to your Brother and you and upon this account you thought they were men that were not to be opposed by any 3. You gave them a third encouragement which was the peace they enjoyed in their Persons and Estates in the Countries where they lived so that they did not only escape those legal arraignments upon the account of their Religion but also upon the account of their many Traiterous designs against the Nation and they lived in peace and quietness notwithstanding their being obnoxious to many penal Statutes so that since the return of your Brother till their damnable design was discovered who lived more comfortably in the enjoyment of themselves and their Estates than they and truly none but the poor old Caalviers envied them for when we saw the end for which they had this countenance that it was that in time they might the more easily engage with you in the destruction of the King s person and the Government of England then all Protestants began to look about them and no other expedient could be found but the extirpation of those that were in such a damnable design as this and led to it by villainous principles suck'd in from their Priests and Jesuites the Parliament address'd several times for the restraining the number of those Vermin but you know for the peace and quietness of the best friends of yours few of them were put in execution nay Sir when they were indicted for not coming to their Parish Church once a month a noli pros was obtained on their behalf that they might not be disturbed in the profession of their Religion 4. A fourth encouragement you gave them was your strengthening them with the favours and friendship of several Prelates of the Church and your Brother's Ministers of State but as for the former they were very careful to engage their Clergy not to preach against Popery but against the Fanaticks for that the Papists and the Church of England did differ but in things nd points that were not material hence it was Sir that your first Dutchess was seduced to the Synagogue of Rome by the filthy treachery of Bishop Morley and Bishop Shelden by the help and aid of the fantastical quibbles of old Gunning There were three that seeing the insolency of the Church of Rome did make bold to give her a scratcht face and wrote both learnedly and severely against that filthy Whore and therein did the Protestant Religion very great and signal service for which reason none were by your Brother or you made Bishops in the Church but died unproffered excepting one who out-lived both you villainous Reigns and is now a Prelate of the Church I would fain know of that man whether or no he was not sometimes Brow-beaten by your Brother or you your Brother twice in my hearing said he should never be a Bishop in his Reign he made his words good and if you had said it it would have been never the worse But thanks be to God we have neither a Portsmouth nor a Cleveland to be Bishop-makers in our Court Our King hath made several and none of them a Scandal to their profession you made not half so many and what they were I will not here say any thing but only this that they are older now than they were ten years ago one of them I suppose knows the price of a Bowl of Grains but after all by restraining the Clergy from preaching against Papists and Popery gave them great incouragement to engage with your design levelled against the Religion Laws and Liberties of these three Kingdoms and the Death of the King your Brother Deny this if you can and let any of your Patriots stand forth and answer what I now write and convince me of any untruth if they can 5. Another incouragement you gave the Popish Party that they might engage in the said design was that you and they had Created in the King such a trust in you that he committed the administration of affairs to your self and the leading men of your Popish party and what they durst not advise the King of at Whitehall that they would advise you at St. James's and there were very few of their projects that related to Popery and the French interest but were readily put in Execution as the first and second War against the Dutch and many other things shall in their proper places be insisted on and as for your power with the King it is so plain that all the Nation saw that there was nothing done without your approbation and consent 6. Another incouragement you gave the Popish party was that if any male content should happen to discover your Wicked designs of Subverting the Government and of killing the King your Brother he would by no means believe them and so that they would all of them come off with impunity which made that villainous party grow very bold and daring and to carry themselves with that insolency that they were not to be suffered to live in a Protestant Kingdom this I say will be further made appear in its proper place 2. I come now in the second place to put you in mind what steps you took to effect your design of changing the Government into downright Slavery and the Religion of the Nation into downright Popery and for the destruction of the Kings person this is worthâ—y of your consideration since God in his mercy to this Nation hath placed you in that admirable Climate at St. Germains where you have time enough to consider of these things I pray that if the little Welsh Gentleman can understand any thing that he may be taught these things it may be he may have as much a regard to you as if he were your own dear Child 3. The first step you took for the effecting your cursed designs was the debauching of the Nation this I have touched upon in the first part of this memorial you may remember that upon the 11th of May 1660 both Houses sent Commissioners to invite your Brother home and Admiral Montague with the Royal Fleet to convoy him over and in his Company came your self and your younger Brother and such a Crew along with you as if you intended to take up with Newgate for your head quarters rather than St. James's or Whitehall truly Sir this I may say and call God to Witness that I never heard an oath sworn in all my Life till the day of your blessed restoration truly the day that you arrived in London was rather a day of madness than of prudent mirth and rejoicing for your being delivered from your low estate and entring into a state of luxury and ease you presently began to change the face of the
inflaming the differences that were amongst Protestants you had as great a talent at this sort of business as any man could be supposed to have had your party kept pace with you to a hairs breadth for at your coming how did you endeavour to heighten the difference between the Conforming and Nonconforming parties how watchful were the Good men of the Episcopal party over the Dissenters judging them to be greater Enemies to their cause and Quarrel than the Papists because of their great numbers and being in a bodily fear that the Dissenters would not only out-live but out-preach them this was a great crime Sir in the poor Protestant Dissenters which high Church would never forgive for some of them cared as little for preaching as you did for fighting unless it were with an honest Protestant at the Old Baily or the Kings-Bench Court where you were always sure to get the better of them and then you very seldome gave quarter to any that lay at your mercy nay did not Castlemain pâ—ess the Bishops to revenge themselves upon the Dissenters for their severe usage of them and their Clergy for their scandalous lives and ignorance in the word of Righteousness nay he did not only advise in the matter but pusht on their taking revenge with Head and Horns together rather than the poor Dissenters should go unpunished or that the division should not be widened to the utmost therefore upon the whole let me ask you or any of those Traytors that were with you at St. Germains whether these differences thus influenced was not to betray us into the hands of your villainous Popish party for it was not your Province I suppose to strengthen the Protestant Interest against the Conspiracies of the Papists no you will not pretend to that for that would be a solicism with a vengeance or did you judge that the Papists could by their plottings do any great damage to a Protestant Interest firmly united truly it is plain that because of the strength of a united Protestant Interest you could have but a poor account of your well-laid designs in a word therefore it was the weakening the Protestant Interest you aimed at and nothing could weaken them but dividing them and then this point being gained to work you and your Rogues went to destroy both and had effected your design had you not met with an unlucky fellow that discovered all 4. There was a fourth step taken to effect your Popish and Trayterous designs and that was the engaging the high Church party to run in with the Popish party in arraigning the Dissenters for Traytors and Rebels nay tho several of them who had with much zeal fought under the late King your Father and your Papists were somenters of the said War and would have fought against the King in the service of the Parliament if their services might have been accepted of and if any of them did fight for the King it was because his Cause was like to the Gallows received all and refused none it is well known that it was the folly of some of those you aspersed that brought your Brother home for which I think they have well paid for it but what doth all this tend to why they were to be battered at by the Church and Popish party together but that they might the more effectually be destroyed and then the Popish party with reason might expect the more easily to carry their point against high Church it self whom they judge Hereticks as much as they do the Dissenters and this I must say that our high Church if they had been destroyed by you and your party they might have thanked themselves for their ruine though I must confess I should have been sorry that so great a number of men should so heartily contribute to their own destruction and reject our Brethren that would so heartily have joyned in with them to have destroyed you and your villainous party in order to have preserved the Protestant Religion 5. There was a fifth step you made to effect your design by creating in many unthinking people especially in many of our Baal's Priests that the Kingdom did enjoy a sufficient security for our Laws Liberties and Religion and therefore how your party used to quarrel with those men that were apprehensive of our dangers in those cases your Brother apprehended that our Religion and Laws tho I should have thought that his apprehension of the danger of the Protestants had risen from Nell s wanting of Money to buy Cloaths to wipe down her Mistresses Stairs or from her Mistresses wanting some new rigging if none had thought of the danger that we were in but himself but we had four Parliaments that saw the danger as well as himself and did not only see the danger with which we were encompassed but with what great difficulty we were like to meet withal in order to prevent it till their eyes were opened you went on with a full career in your Plots and Conspiracies and met with great success suitable to that zeal to which you were as Coleman saith converted in a very high degree the plain truth is that you had a mighty work in hand and a mighty mind to it and therefore it was fit you should take mighty steps to effect the same 6. Another step you took to effect your wicked design on foot was to create and preserve a Jealousie in the King of the faithfulness and loyalty of the People and a jealousie in the People of the sincerity and good affection of the King to them so that they seeing they could not keep up a War between the King and the States General yet they would maintain a War between the King and the People of England and truly they had their ends for they brought your Brother in a manner to set up his Standard and proclaim a War against his honest Subjects by the frequent Rapes he committed in the time of his Reign upon the Laws and Liberties of the people witness his quitting his legal power and setting up of a French mode of Government and laying aside those Laws by which he was to have governed his people so that he became universally hated by the honest party of the Nation and thereby the more exposed to the vengeance of your cut-throat Crew who to destroy him would ordinarily expose his Government that they might so divest him of friends in such a measure as that none might appear to avenge his death but rather rejoyce in his destruction as you and your party did when you had done his business and I must say this of him he died more lamented than you thought for and less lamented than most Kings of England that died before him 3. I come now to show you who assisted in this Conspiracy you could not carry on any design without some great assistance therefore it is necessary that they should be pointed out that the World may know them from other men and
thing without being made privy to the same but also all Arlington's friends at Court lay under your great displeasure but some of them who had as much Courage as you had Wrath dealt plainly with you in the point and told you that your Daughter was not to be look'd upon as yours but as the King's Daughter and Child of the Kingdom and so that your consent was not much to be considered in the disposal of her but only the Interest of State but this was not at all satisfactory to you and your French Pensioners and Popish Crew because you all foresaw by that that the Protestant Interest would be strengthened and the French and Popish Interest hurt and Arlington would render himself the darling of the Parliament and the Protestant Interest and the States General of the United Provinces Well Sir you may remember that this trusty friend of yours the Lord Arlington set forth upon this Errand upon November the 11th 1674 and returned not till the sixth of January during his absence Old Veracity and Duke Lauderdale and some other of your French Pensioners who were the Persons of considerable credit with the King your Brother and did pretend to be united to you These Villains set up their Throats and roared declaiming loudly and with the greatest violence against poor Arlington and his actions and truly they gave you such hopes in his absence to blow him up and his whole party at Court so that as Beddingfield told me you passed the time pretty comfortably you expecting by these trayterous impliments to have routed him and all his Creatures and in so doing they drew you on to believe that upon the ruine of the Lord Arlington they could do you Service and the French King and that they could with the greatest ease imaginable manage and deal with your Band of Pensioners but protested to you till they could get rid of him they had not courage to speak to the Parliament for fear they should not succeed nay your old White-hair'd Friend whose gratitude to the Duke of Buckingham was so notorious told you that if you could not get rid of Arlington that the Parliament would sit again in spight of them all and further acquainted you that if the Parliament should come to hear of this that they had used their endeavours against their sitting would prove an unpardonable Crime that neither the French King nor you no nor your Brother could save them from punishment these Villains knew the greatness of their Crimes and therefore they were forced to play an odd trick with you now and then to save themselves harmless but you whose nature and property was never to forgive was forced at this time to dissemble with them by your pretended acquiescing in their judgments tho' full sore against your proud Stomach and if you remember Arlington was too many for all your Party for if I am not out he would not have you to treat with the Parliament in his absence for on the Tenth of November the very day before his departure he so managed his Affairs the Parliament was put off till the thirteenth of April 1675. What overtures these two Lords made in relation to the match I cannot well tell nor will it be much to the point if I could but when they had done that for which they were sent they returned home but alas the creatures found themselves not able to prevail against Arlington by those means and arts they had then tryed they resolved now upon counsels which were to out-run him in his own course which accordingly they undertook and became as zealous men for the Protestant Religion and Liberty and Property as ever the Lord Arlington could pretend to have been before and in pursuance thereof perswaded the King your Brother to issue out those severe Orders and Proclamations against your Brethren in the Faith which you knew came out in Feb. 1674 5 by which you see they even they your own French Pensioners did what in them lay to extirpate your own dear Religion and to Banish your Brethren out of the Kingdom what ungrateful wretches were these to pursue such counsels as were in opposition to your Worship Had you advanced these Vermin O yes and they had professed much duty and service to you what Scoundrels were these so basely to leave you Come don't cry your friend Coleman knew who it was that would support you in order to this presently an Express was dispatched over to France and trusty Jack Smith was dispatched away to the Most Christian Turk and oh what Complaints you made to his Father Confessor of these Rogueries and truly it was high time to enter upon new thoughts how to preserve you in this juncture of affairs from the deceits of these men upon whom you used to depend very much for the support of your Cause alas Sir what would you have them do they had for a long time been acting in your designs till they were as obnoxious to the people as the Devil could make them it was therefore highly necessary that they should do some small matter to render themselves a little grateful to the Parliament provided there was a necessity of its sitting at the time appointed and you know that nothing was so pleasing to the Parliament as brushing of Popery s Jacket a little notwithstanding all this the sence of their Guilt was such that they had rather have seen the Devil than a Session of Parliament and therefore they would have been glad to have found out any expedient to have put it off though they durst not for their ears engage in it openly themselves But Sir what was all this but shamming the Nation for all this while like State-Moles they were hard at work under-ground to secure you for what they had done openly against your interest and the interest of the French King their point Sir was to whet your zeal for the dissolution of the Parliament and that they had been somewhat severe against the Saints of your cursed Church only to make way for a dissolution and that an objection of the people might be fairly obviated viz. that the dissolution of the Parliament was in favour of Popery which clamour theyt old you was prevented before-hand by the severity they had used against it Upon this you sent to the French King as before and made your propositions in good earnest for it was but in vain to trifle since you saw your self shammed you could but judge what sort of Cattel you had to do withal and what you had to trust to if you lay at their mercy and that you now must trust in the mighty mind of his most Christian Majesty then you made your application to him and like a good Boy you promise heartily to perform what was required from you he complies with you and so you were safe you had his Purse and so you were easie and Coleman his 20000 l. and so all was well and what could
assured the Fathers of the Society here in England that the then Pope would not be wanting when any considerable progress was made in that undertaking you know what it was and it shall be laid before you in its proper place that you might not fail of the Popes assistance you had Sir Henry Tichhorne whom you constituted an Agent at Rome to negotiate your affairs with the Pope and Cardinal Howard was always ready to do his part but was much concerned to see that you made such use of Peter Talbot who was an impudent false fellow and always spoiled the business in which he was engaged and that the Pope did not much approve of Talbot's being made privy to any thing of weight but alas nothing could wean you from him and therefore it was to no purpose to perswade you but come to the point there was never yet any Conspiracy carried on but that Romish Prelate hath been at one end or another of the same I pray observe Sir what disturbances and fatal mischiefs the claim and exercise of the Papal Authority and Jurisdiction hath occasioned both to Princes and People that were of the Church of Rome therefore you might have reasonable hopes that the Pope would give you his assistance to convert three Kingdoms that had so long groaned under the burthen of Heresie and Schism for certainly when you were pleased to communicate your zeal to accomplish so mighty a work he had the same mighty mind which he expressed by his Tears when he read your Letters not for Grief but for the great Joy that the good old Gentleman had conceived for the great progress you had made in the advancement of the Catholick Religion and withal engaged to write to the French King to persevere in his good intention of furthering so good a work which Letters were carried by Tichborne and were graciously and most humbly received by Lewis your friend who was much encouraged when he saw your Brother and you blest with such an Ally Barrillon acquainted your Brother with the Pope's zeal for his being delivered from the Parliament it is well known that he closes in with every part of the design but that of his own life that your party did not communicate to him lest he shauld have begged their pardon and not have consented to be so far engaged I dare say you could not blame him it is necessary to put you in mind that Coleman made the same propositions to Cardinal Howard as you had done to the French King and he by your direction signified the great sence you had of the friendship of Lewis your Ally and of the great readiness there was in you to make such improvements of that his friendship with all those good Offices that you were capable of all which was by him the said Cardinal to be communicated to the Bishop of Rome nay he pressed the said Cardinal to use his Interest with the Pope to press the French King to engage the King of England if possible to dissolve that Parliament that was so great a Bar to your carrying on your design for the advancement of the Catholick Religion and in order to this work the Pope was accordingly pressed and he wrote to the French King to press the King your Brother to dissolve the Parliament and further to encourage him with the offer of his Purse as he had done to you but the Pope when the Cardinal discoursed him concerning a new Parliament judged no Parliament of England would ever engage in the design of restoring the Cotholick Religion therefore he thought that what was to be done must be without a Parliament and that the French King ought to consider what an advantage it would be to his greatness to be liberal in a work of this importance for whereas an old Parliament hath been hurtful to the Catholicks a new Parliament can never be supposed to do them any good therefore the good old Gentleman would by no means hear of a Parliament and so his opinion and yours was much alike but wondered at the Earl of Arlington concerning whom he was pleased to say in his Letter to the French King that he was represented to him to be a good Catholick notwithstanding the heavy charge you brought against him the said Arlington to his most Christian Majesty and withal the Cardinal by the express command from his Holiness did assure you of his Holiness his Friendship and withal he sent you his Benediction And when your design was ripe and almost ready to be put in execution the Fathers were assured that the Bishop of Rome would supply you with a competent summ of Money when he was satisfied that you had made some progress in the mighty work that you had upon your hands and truly Sir it was an expression of very great zeal in the Bishop of Rome if you will consider how he supplied the Emperour against the Male-contents in Hungary tho the Apostolic Chamber was then much in debt as it was a signal manifestation of his zeal to stand by you with his Purse so it is a proof not to be denyed that he was a mighty assistant to you in this mighty work 4. You had the Crown of Spain for your assistance in this mighty work for though Don John of Austria and the then Queen Regent of Spain was at difference about some things in relation to the Government and their own private interests yet they both agreed to joyn with you in this work of changing both the Religion and Government of this Kingdom and Circular Letters were by them both dispatched throughout the dominions of Spain and with some difficulty they raised two hundred thousand Dollars for the service of that part of the design which was to be carried on in Ireland and was paid by some Irish Merchants residing at Galloway at which Coleman was angry and thought that you ought to have had the management of the Money since that you were at the head of the design of restoring the Catholick Religion in the three Kingdoms but you reprehended Coleman since the Merchants there had paid in the Money to the Popish Arbhbishop of Dublin who was ready at your command to transmit the Money whenever you should see iâ— necessary and besides all this your Brother had a great desire at that time to borrow that very Money of you which you could the more readily deny whilst it was out of your power 5. Another support you had for the carrying the mighty work upon your hands was the Crown of Portugal and Russel the English Bishop of Portlegrah pressed the Prince of Portugal to contribute to the carrying on of the great design then in hand and had his Messengers sent about to the Religious of that Kingdom when you had raised for you the summ of fifty thousand pounds and a certain Lady was much concerned that no greater summ could be raised thence since she had prevailed with the Generals of the respective
England should ever be reconciled At which words Bishop Gulston took offence and departed There were others of the same Kidney but your inferiour Clergy were without number there was your Thompson of Bristol and your rascally Chaplains and others Rogues of a deep dye These I say Sir were your reverend Assistants in the mighty Work upon your hands though they did not foresee the evil Consequences of this their Carriage in reference to the Interest of England both as to its Religion and Government Nay I hope they did not fully see into your Designs if they did you I hope will judge of them according to their Merits 5. You being so well guarded and regarded you were in a little time resolved to set up and shew your self and wicked Party what you would be at but Sir I took pity upon you and would not let you discover your self and therefore I laid it open and the Design of your Pope French King General of the Jesuites and the Society and your Brother and your self which was the reduction of England Scotland and Ireland by the Sword to the Romish Religion and the French way of Government To effect this glorious Design you and your Brother gave the then Pope Authority to entitle himself to the Kingdoms of England Ireland and Scotland to have the absolute Power and Government of the Church In order to this he dispatched his Legate into Ireland and Cardinal Howard was to have come for England and your Brother 's trusty and well-beloved Cuckold and Councellor was to have had a Cardinals Hat and was to have gone for Scotland to have taken Possession of the Ecclesiastical State of that Kingdom in the behalf of the Bishop of Rome the two others were to do the like in England and Ireland Moreover sir by your Brother and you it was contrived and agreed on that the General of the Jesuites should derive a pretended Power from the Bishop of Rome with which Project the French King was highly pleased According to this Project the Bishop of Rome did grant a Commission to the said General of the Jesuites and this Authority the said General did derive to Thomas White the Provincial to issue forth the Commissions of him the said General of the Jesuites and accordingly be with the Counsel of the Jesuites in London did issue forth such Commissions to Captain-Generals Lieutenant-Generals and Colonels Lieutenant-Colonels Majors Captains and the Advocate-General Richard Langhorn and to your Secretary of State Coleman you have a whole List of them in my Narrative already printed and published for your special service altho' not by your Royal Command Further to carry on your wicked Designs your Jesuites by the same Authority consulted concerning your Brother and because he was not a Galloper in your Cause he was by them condemned to death and that was to be executed either by stabbing shooting or poysoning him To this your Servant Coleman was privy and say you know nothing of the matter if you dare to this part of the Conspiracy The Court of Claims in Ireland if they had then been sitting would have declared him Innocent upon your Letter as they did the Marquis of Antrim upon your Brother 's nay Sir if they had carried their Point then you were to have received the Crowns as forfeited by your Brother to the Pope as of his Gift and you was to have been obliged to have such Prelates and Dignitaries in the Church and such Officers in Commands and Places civil naval and military as he had and should commissionate and you had agreed both with him and the French King to extirpate the Protestant Religion and to consent to the Assassination of the King your Brother and to massacre by the help and assistance of the French King the Protestants to Fire our Towns that stood in opposition to these cruel designs of yours You agreed to pardon the Assassines Murderers and Incendiaries and in case you died without Issue male these three Kingdoms were to be made three Provinces of France and become Subjects of that Crown for ever Here your Brother and you were engaged to the French King And that the Prince of Orange might not pretend to the same he was also condemned and designed against by Name by the Proviso and Consent of the Pope French King your Brother and your self and how you appear'd in the Design against him I have already set forth in my first Memorial to you Truly you your self must not have escaped if you had not heartily comply'd to follow such Steps and Counsels as should have been at any time proposed by your Counsellors at St. James's You have here laid before you the design in short and it was a black one God knows and What say you to it now Sir if you will let the little Gentleman of Wales learn to read I have a good Schoolmaster for him he may see here the true Picture of your sweet self which he may spell over by degrees for I would not have the Boy have too much load at a time laid upon him lest he should be disabled from serving the Tyler his true Father with a Hod of Mortar or so in order to its conformable Livelihood 6. Concerning the discovery of this Plot of yours 't is fit a word should be spoken to that point because I believe the revival of this Story will much oblige you and your ragged Crew at St. Germain's and your Saints you have left behind you You may remember that your design prosper'd so well and your damnable Arâ—y were so insolent that notwithstanding the fair pretences your Brother and you used for the keeping them up and your old Parliament briber put your Brother upon the asking of more Mony and no War with France notwithstanding they had so largely paid for the War they had advised to be begun with that mighty Monarch and they consider'd that an Army without a War would be of dangerous and pernicious consequence to the Nation therefore they agreed to this Vote in answer to your Brother's Speech made to them some time before Resolved That the House taking into consideration the state of His Majesty's Affairs and the great charge and burthen His Majesty and the Nation lies under by the Army now in being we humbly are of opinion that if His Majesty pleases to enter into a War with the French King the House is and always will be ready to support and assist in that War but if otherwise then they will proceed to the consideration of providing for the speedy disbanding of the Army And truly dear Sir you could not well blame the Parliament for this Vote for your design in general did to them appear notwithstanding the plausible Arguments your Villains used for the keeping up of that Popish Army tho' you know this disbanding the Army was not the thing you aimed at for you never designed it from the first moment that it was raised for it being Officer'd to your
surrender'd and to aggrandize the Merriment there comes over some great Personages from France and were very much pleased with the Court and the secret Devices suddenly to be put in execution after the next meeting of Parliament was agreed on all was well with you the Whores â—risking about Nell and her Mistris and the rest were as merry as the Maids and all your roguing Banditti hugg'd themselves with the great Happiness they were to enjoy Well Sir I do believe they were merry about their Mouths and they had a great deal of reason for all things went on in a sweet harmony and so it did at Belshazar's Feast till the Hand appear'd writing upon the Wall and then they were all confounded and amazed So it was with you for in the midst of all your Merriment in the Month of August all on a sudden a black Cloud appear'd which did prognosticate a Storm to fall upon you even in the height of all your Expectations and tho' it seem'd to you and your Cut-throats to be but a Triâ—le and small at the beginning yet by degrees it encreased extreamly and that was the most secret Devices of you and your Conspirators for your introducing Popery and Arbitrary Government came in some small measure to be discover'd by an old hearty Friend of yours but you had your Penniworths out of his Carcass for his Service in that particular Well to be plain with you it was my own dear self that makes this modest Address to you and if any one say that ever I gave you one good word in my Life I will be his humble Servant that proves it Before I quit this Point I must answer two Questions that have been ask'd me by several persons 1. What was the Opportunity I had of making this Discovery and 2. Why or to what end I made the Discovery 1. What the Opportunity was that I had of making the Discovery And truly this I must say and take Shame to my self the course I took to get into the Secrets of the Jesuites was no way warrantable from the Word of God for I dissembled my self to be a Papist and yet was none one that pretended Zeal for their Religion and at that time was an avowed Enemy to them and their Religion I have asked God forgiveness and all true Protestants I am sure God hath pardon'd the Sin of his Servant since he had no other thing before his Eyes but the Good of his Country and the Honour of God tho' I confess to do the least Evil that the greatest Good might come of it is unlawful and I am sure there is no true Protestant in England but what will not only forgive my doing that Evil in joyning with the Church of Rome to discover the Designs carried on by you and your Conspirators but will stand by my Truth that I did at that time discover I have reason to bless God for that they have given good Testimony of their Zeal for the Cause of God upon my account and reliev'd my Necessities and visited me when sick and in Prison and were not asham'd of my Chain But I would not have any man to think that tho' God was pleas'd to bless my poor Labours for the good of the Publick to follow my Example in joyning with that cursed Communion tho' his design be never so honest lest God in Justice leave him to the Counsel of their own Wills But it may be you are impatient and therefore I shall hasten to my intended business which is to declare my self fully to you concerning the Opportunities I had of discovering the cursed Intrigues of the Jesuites and the cursed Plot you carried on for the destruction of our Laws Liberties and Religion I must tell you that the acquaintance I had with some considerable Papists in the Year 1670 made me suspect a Design carried on by them to advance their Religion and to pull down ours but I little thought they had a design of murdering the King which in process of time I found out there was one Cotton that was at Mr. Guildford's in Kent this Gentleman was a free-spoken man and would be often tempting me to come over to their Church For said he it will not be long before you must either burn or turn therefore come over to us in time that your Coming may be meritorious This Cotton I in time found out to be a Priest of the Jesuites Order and one that was engaged in the Popish Plot and when I was engaged Sir with your Coleman and the Society I had with him a better acquaintance From him at first I found that the Popish Party had a Design then on foot to promote their Religion and were making what Proselytes they could in order to enlarge their Interest and Power in this Kingdom I from that time had a great desire to get into them to see whither their Designs tended being very fearful that they design'd no less than the total subversion of our Religion and Government for this Cotton had the Impudence to tell me That your Brother was engag'd with you and the Catholick Party to advance your Cause and Religion and was resolv'd to bring in Popery it being a Religion that was most consistent with Monarchy and that your Brother was resolv'd to be like his Neighbour Princes This was in the Year 1670 about Christmas which Discourse I discover'd to Mr. Walter Drury whom I did assist in the Service of his Cure at Sandhurst in the County of Kent and he told me that Mr. Cotton had talked as plainly or rather worse to him but he had sufficiently told him his own so that Cotton was shy of having any farther Discourse with him about those matters and withal Mr. Drury having threatned to complain of him Mr. Cotton did withdraw from that Family and another came in his room In the Year 1672 I was acquainted with one Keimash who used very perswasive Arguments to me to have brought me over to their Church he then frequented Arundel House in the Strand and was a Fellow that had insinuated himself into the acquaintance of several Divines of the Church and bragged That he had reconciled above thirty Ministers of the Ch. of England but I found him a debauch'd lewd fellow and so my acquaintance ceased with him for it was a hard matter unless in a Morning to find him â—ober I found him afterwards to have been Chaplain to the old Countess of Arundel with whom he liv'd several Years under the notion of her Steward In the Year 1672 I left Mr. Drury's Cure and held a Living of my own upon which I resided for some time call'd Bobbing in Kent and from thence I went and serv'd the King at Sea as a Chaplain where I found many difficulties by reason of sickness of Body I refreshed my self at Tangier where was one Gerard an Irish Dominican that upon the first sight of me enquir'd whether the Catholick Religion was establish'd in England
to the Murther and Plot made such Discoveries that the two Houses began to look about them with more diligence and caution than ever in regard it plainly appear'd that you as well as the Jesuites were at the bottom of all this Villany or the Wheel within the Wheel which some of your Protestant Rogues were not privy to Well here you have an account of the Discovery Prance confesseth the Murther Dugdâ—le comes in and Jennison and Smith and many others I shall speak of them in their proper places Methinks you droop take a Glass of true Nants and give Mrs. Pugg another if it be not good for her Milk it may be good for her Water and so it 's all one bring the Sucking bottle to the little Welch Cub that we may have no noise for if he doth I will call for Will. Fuller your Puggs Page of Honour to jerk the young Kâ—ave if he be not quiet for he is as intimately acquainted with his true Mother if the Gentleman says the Truth or can speak Truth as your sweet self I suppose he was one of your Privy-Councellors once at St. Germain's and may pretend to have Authority in that case But I must stick to my point and come to a second thing I promised and that is to shew the reason of this Discovery 2. Was there such a Design on foot to destroy the King extirpate the Protestant Religion and subvert the Government and ought not this to be discover'd What if the Queen-Dowager were in it and you and the Court-Whores and the Court pimps and Court-Bawds and some of the Ministers of State and Justice and your villanous Council at St James's must they not be detected Were we to be afraid to speak the Truth No Sir it was not high time to speak Truth Yes Sir it was high time and more than high time But yet your Brother good man to save you and your party did in the month of November 1678 offer me at Secretary Coventry's Apartment the Bishoprick of Chichester and also promised me the Favour of advancing me if I would desist this Enterprize as he call'd the discovery of the Popish Plot assuring me that it would not be for his Service because of the heat it would put the people into and further told me That the Parliament would forsake me and not do any thing for me and if I had a Thought of complying with him I should meet him at the Prince's Lodgings but I went to the Prince and told him what the King had said who when he heard me give him an account of what the King had offer'd me and upon what terms The poor man said the Prince doâ—h court his own Ruine the most of any man I know And the Prince advis'd me not to meddle nor make with any thing of that Nature for said the Prince either he will cheat or expose you or if he be real there is an old Wife in the case who will be set on you to draw you off from the good work you have began or perhaps to do that which is worse and so I refused that offer and let me tell you farther that upon the discovery of the Plot several Papers were found at the House of one Jolliff a Taylor I did observe that CHARLES I. of Blessed Memory had commissionated several of the Irish to Rise and withal I saw the Instructions that were given to them to give the English no quarter and I saw a Letter of your Fathers to the Bishop of Casal as near as I can remember wherein he promised his Catholick Subjects that if he were driven through the necessity of Affairs to cause a Cessation of Arms it should not be for the Disadvantage of his Irish Catholick Subjects but to let them have a little time to breath so that they might be the better able to serve him and themselves against the Factious English there if there should be any remaining amongst them all which were carried to White-hall and what became of them I know not I saw also in those Papers found as aforesaid at the House of the said Jollife several Passes given to those of the Rebels that fled out of Ireland upon the reducing of that Country and notwithstanding they had shed much Protestant Blood they were by your Brother and you recommended to several Ministers of the Court of Spain and several other Princes of the Romish Religion as persons that had served your Father in reducing their Country to the Obedience of the Catholick Church and that had contributed much to the destroying of the English Hereticks that had planted themselves in that Kingdom Give me leave to observe farther to you that the Jesuits did tell me that the coming over of the Princess Henrietta was in order to make way for restoring the Catholick Religion here in England and that the Breach of the peace with the Dutch was by you and her contrived and by the late King consented to in order to reduce those States to the Catholick Faith and that it was thought fit to begin the Exercise of the Romish Religion in Ireland and to grant a general Toleration here in order to which sixteen hundred Priests of all orders were sent over from divers Nations and that the most of 'em were kept here on a maintenance for secret Service and others by your self in half Pay as disbanded Officers but this being all defeated by Parliament by your Brothers Assent they were much irritated against the King your Brother and so was your sweet self and furthermore the Jesuits acquainted me that the King your Brother had dispatched an Envoy to the King of Poland to engage him in the Catholick League for at that time the Catholick Princes as he said were resolved to extirpate the Protestant Religion and that the French King and your Brother and your self were Heads of this League which League they said your Brother had not carefully kept and observed but had given way to his impertinent Parliaments but that they might not hinder this good Design the French King had agreed to your Request of 300000 l. per Ann. for 3 years if by any means your Brother might be dispatched out of the way there being no manner of trust to be put in him and that he was not only unfaithful in all his Promises and Oaths made to them the said Jesuits and Catholicks but was an Apostate from the Catholick Religion and therefore not to be endured any longer This Negotiation of the mony Part of the Conspiracy and killing your Brother was carried on by the Lord Powy's and the late Earl of Berkshire and Coleman and St. Germain the Jesuit by and with the advice of the Jesuits and those of your Council at St. James's and your good worthy self It will not be inconvenient to put you in mind that your Brother was a mortal Hater of the Protestant Religion and the way of Governments by Parliaments for do but observe a Letter
if it were so necessary to have it known that your Crew were not men of that Loyalty they pretended why then were not the Witnesses better receiv'd by the King your Brother who the last moment of his Life was satisfied of the Innocency of the Roman Catholicks Truly Sir there were several reasons why the King your Brother it may be might not receive the witnesses so well and believe them as he ought to have done 1. Because he was engag'd in the whole Conspiracy of introducing Popery and Slavery but was not privy to that part which related to his own Life 2. Your Brother lov'd to appear a Prince of Mercy and Clemency tho' he had not one dram of those Princely Virtues but what his meer Cowardice compel'd him to 3. The Nature of the Evidence given 4. The Interest of the Conspirators These you shall have in due time and not before tho' you cry your Eyes out 3 Reason why it was necessary that your Conspiracy should be discover'd was to prevent your coming to the Crown for certainly it could be neither safe nor proper to set a Popish Head over a Protestart Interest especially since you had made so many Attempts upon the Protestant Religion to destroy it and in order to its destruction made such an Alliance with France as I have at large already made out in which I think you are as fully expos'd as your Heart and Soul can wish and therefore Sir I think you noâ— your Party can never blame those Parliaments that intended and attempted your Exclusion when you was Duke of York 4 That I might discharge a good Conscience and that such Malefactors might be brought to publick Justice It is well known Sir that the King your Brother was a Favourer of the Popish Interest as being the greatest Favourers of Monarchy and he was pleas'd himself to offer to reconcile me to that Party and told me That if I would engage upon the word of a Minister not to bear any Testimony against those I had accused before the Council but would be rul'd by him I should have Ten thousand pounds to buy me an Annuity and if I would I should retire to any College in either University and live there quietly urging to me that a Parliament would never gratifie me and that it was in his power only to shew me Favour and therefore advised me to follow his Directions and if I did it would be impossible for me to miscarry To this I thus reply'd I humbly thank your Majesty for your Grace and Favour and I should willingly accept of your Royal Offer were it not the highest Breach of Trust reposed in me by your Commons in this Parliament besides Sir said I your Nobles in the House of Peers must and so will all Mankind judge me the worst of Men if I should so basely desert my Cause It is plain that the Popish Party have a Design against your Majesties Life and all our Lives Liberties and Religion and therefore by the Grace of God I will stand by the Cause to the uttermost of my power to the last minute of my Life I bless God for the Grace of Perseverance I have discharg'd a good Conscience and tho' I was left by your Brother and persecuted by you yet your Villains were some of them brought to publick Justice and made Examples for their many notorious Treasons against the Religion Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom 7. I now come to shew you what Evidence there was to prove this Conspiracy that you were engag'd in for the destruction of the Person of the King and for the bringing in of Popery and Aâ—bitrary Power Your Popish Traytors were so impudent in their ways that there was no manner of difficulty of finding Proof against them had but your Brother and you stood Neuters but you were both equally engag'd with Lewis the French King to bring in Popery and Slavery But that it may appear to all the World that the Popish Plot was not short of being duly proved but on the contrary it was made so plain and evident that the Lords and Commons of England did receive the Proofs and the Evidence upon no terms could be contradicted therefore now I shall produce the Evidence of the Guilt of those who were accused to be concern'd in the same 1. The constant bloody Principles of the Church of Rome was a Testimony sufficient to have convicted them of being guilty of such a horrid Conspiracy for do but remember how that Apostatical Synagogue of Satan will not bear with any Kingdom Common-wealth or Community of Men that differs from them in Matters of Religion and declares against them as Antichristian and Idolaters but those who so declare are immediately pronounced Hereticks and de jure they are excommunicated as such according to the Council of Lateran in the time of Pope Innocent the third and by an Edict of Pope Paul the fourth in the Year of our Lord 1558 and if that be not sufficient you may remember that we are in the Bulla Coena Domini which your Holy Father at Rome causeth to be read every Maunday Thursday and there we are solemnly cursed and thereupon Sir your bloody Party and your self and all other Papists living under the Dominions of Protestant Princes were not only discharg'd from all Allegiance to Protestant Princes but all of you were and still are bound by the strictest Bond of Conscience upon pain of being damn'd to depose such Heretical Princes And Vrban the third hath taught you and them that they are so far from being guilty of Murder that they are obliged to kill any who stand excommunicate and are bound to extirpate Hereticks as they would be esteem'd Christians themselves Nay further do but observe the Bull of Clement the tenth wherein you may if you please see plainly that it is a Crime of the deepest dye for a Roman Catholick to be loyal to a Protestant Prince nay such are publickly cursed in the view of the World so that it is apparent that no Protestant Government can be safe where such a number of Men have a Being and are in any manner countenanc'd Again Bellarmin your great Cardinal tells you in words at length and is so impudently plain that a man of an Irish Understanding may know his meaning his words are these Hereticks are to be destroy'd Root and Branch if it can possibly be done but if it appears that the Catholicks are so few that they cannot conveniently with their own safety attempt such a thing then in such a case it is best to be quiet de Laicis Lib. 3 Ep. 22. Lest upon opposition made by Hereticks the Catholicks should be worsted And from hence Bannes another of the Supporters of your murdering principles hath no other Apology to make for the English Papists why they do not forcibly rise up against a King and his Subjects proâ—essing the Protestant Religion but that they are not powerful enough for such an
the Protestant Party Truely Sir Coleman's Letters were such pregnant Proofs of your villanous Designs and his Declaration drawn up and prepared for your Brothers Signature were testimony enough without the Addition of any further Evidence but I will put you in mind of some short Notes of that Saint of yours and then set down the Letters as they have been published for the Satisfaction of Mankind by which Sir it is manifest that by your order under your self he was the great Director of the Affairs of the Popish Party here in these three Kingdoms as you may see by the Correspondence he maintained with the Pope himself by the means of Cardinal Howard and his Correspondence with the Popes Internuncio at Bruxels and Father Sheldon at Doway and the Monks there and with your dear Fathers at St. Omers to whom he gave an exact Account of the debates of your Council at St. James's and of the Affairs of the Government at White-hall â—ay let me tell you that your Brother the King had such an Opinion that when you had obtained a Promise from him of dissolving the Parliament he would have none but Coleman to draw it up but he being of the Opinion of Lewis of France that Princes by no means ought to be slaves to their Promises the dissolving of the Parliament was moved in hopes of gaining Mony from them to supply his Wants he had such an Interest with Lachaise that he did obtain the summ of 20000 l. for himself and 300000 l. for you and the promise of 300000 l. a year till you could bring your designs to bear and an Army was through his Sollicitation promised to be landed in Ireland and England as soon as peace was concluded between the French King and the then confederate Princes as being the time that his most Christian Majesty would be at leasure to assist you in this mighty work of converting these three Kingdoms you know then the dragooning Apostles were to come over to preach here in order to convert us to Romes Religion and the French Government by these â—ou were to do the work with the Assistance of your Cut-throats at home both in England and Ireland Now Sir it will not be amiss that we offer to your Consideration the Letters themselves with which Sir you cannot but be highly pleased since they were the Hopes of your Family if the design specified in them had taken effect first then here is the long Letter that this blessed Saint and Mâ—rtyr wrote to Father Lachaice SInce Father St. Germain hath been so kind to me c. This Letter puts us in mind of the great Correspondence that this Villain held with one Ferrier by your Order in Order to subvert the Laws Liberties and Religion of these three Kingdoms and the said Ferrier going to his place St. Germain a notorious French Jesuit recommended Coleman to Father Lachaice for to renew this Correspondence that did for some time â—â—ase by reason of the death of the said Ferrier there are several things in this Letter that are remarkable as 1. That the sending of the Troop of Horse Guards into the service of the French King and the Care that was taken to send with it an Officer called Sr. William Throgmortoâ— with whom Coleman had a particular Intimacy this was the person that Coleman made choice of by whom he might correspond with Ferrier This Throgmorton was once a dissolute Protestant and being a person but of a mean or a broken Fortune was by Coleman perverted to the Church of Rome and as a reward for his coming over to your Church he was made an Officer in this Troop of Guards but indeed he was rather sent a Spy upon the English Gentlemen and when he died Nevil Pain took that Province upon him and gave an Account to Court and especially to your self as William Throgmorton had done before of their Carriage 2. I observe that the recalling of Liberty of Conscience was fatal to you and your Cut-throats to that you did owe all your Miseries and Hazards and therefore Sir I hope that you will allow me that great Truth which I delivered to you that Liberty of Conscience was the first great Step your Brother and you made to establish the Roman Catholick Religion here for nothing hurts it like the recalling of that Indulgence and making peace with the Dutch provided it had been a good one though Aâ—â—ington when he was Embassadour there perswaded the French King for some time that your Servant Coleman was much out in his Politicks as well as your self 3. That Peace was much to be desired between the French King and the Confederate Princes of Europe and that nothing could procure a good one for the French King but the Dissolution of the then Parliament who tho' they had been laterally by you and your Rogues well bribed to give many an ill Vote yet at last they began like English Men to fly in the Kings Face and roar against Popery especially upon an empty Pocket and if Fortune had not sent them a seasonable shower or two in a Session to cultivate their Inclinations to act according to the bent of the then Court and till this peace was made between the French King and the Confederates little could be done towards the revival of the Catholick Cause after its recovering that fatal stroke by recalling the Liberty of Conscience and setting up that damnable Doctrine of a Protestant State Purgatory which hindred many an honest Apostolical Cut-throat from having a Place at Court but you will say Why should the Dissolution of our Parliament procure a Peace The Reason is plain for the Confederate Princes had unluckily got an Interest in our theâ— Parliament as bad as it was and they depended more upon their Power and Interest they had in that Parliament than in any thing in the world and I will give you a Reason for that because from them the Confederate Princes received the greatest Encouragement to continue the War and so that in case the Parliament were dissolved the aforesaid Confederates would be necessitated to a peace upon the Terms the French King should give which would facilitate his joyning with you in the blessed Conversion of these three Nations and subduing the Northern Heresie that had so long domineer'd in this Northern World so that the Troops of Guards and the other Forces that were sent into the Service of the French were only to learn the way of converting these three Kingdoms and also to the end that they might joyn with your French Apostles in that Work of which you so earnestly desir'd to be the Author and Instrument Of this I said before Coleman by the means of the Earl of Arlington when he did reside at the Court of France was much discourag'd and was forced to leave off for a time to argue the case with the French King by Ferryer and took up the post of railing at Arlington but railing did not do
Parliament had very often Checked your Proceedings nay so often and to that degâ—â—e that they without the help of any further discovery had endangered the destruction of your hopful Plot and therefore it was highâ—ime to disband them and none but Coleman was thought fit to draw up this Declaration The DECLARATION which Mr. Coleman prepared thereby Shewing his Reasons for the Dissolution of the PARLIAMENT WE having taken into our serious Consideration the Heats and Animosities which have of late appeared among many of our very Lâ—yal and Loving Subjects of this Kingdom and the many Fears and Jealousies which some of them seem to lye under of having their Liberties and Properties invaded or the Religion alteâ—ed and withal carefully reflecting upon our own Government since our happy Restauration and the End and Aim of it which has always been the Ease and Security of our People in all their Rights and Advancement of the Beauty and Splendor of the true Protestant Religion established in the Church of England of both which we have given mâ—st Signal Testimonies even to the striping our self of many Royal Prerogatives which our Predecessours enjoyed and were our undoubted due as the Court of Wards Purveyances and other Things of great Value and denying to our Self many Advantages which we might reasonably and legally have taken by the Forfeitures made in the Times of Rebellion and the great Revenues due to the Church at our return which no particular Person had any Right to Instead of which we Consented to an Act of Oblivion of all those baâ—barous Vsages which our Râ—al Father and our Self had met withal much more Fâ—ll and Gracious than almost any of our Subjects who were generally become in some Measure or other â—bnoxious to the Laws had confidence to ask and freely Renouncâ—d all our Title to the profit which we might have made by the Church Lands in Favour of our Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Ministers out of our Zeal to the Glâ—ry of our Protestant Church which Clemenâ—y towards all and some even high Offenders and Zeal for Religion we have to this day constantly continued to Exercise Considering all this we cannot but be sensibly Afflicted to see that the frowardness of sâ—me â—â—w tumultuous Heads should be able to infect our Loyal and good People with Apprehensions Destructive of their own and the general quiet of our Kingdom and more especially their Perverssness should be powerful enough to Distract our very Parliament and such a Parliament as has given us such Testimonies of its Loyalty Wisdâ—m and Bounty and to which we have given as many Marks of our Affection and Esteem so as to make them Misconster all our Endeavours for to Preserve our People in Ease and Prâ—sperity and against all Reason and Evidence to Represent them to our Subjects as Arguments of Fear and Disquiet and under these specious Pretences of securing Property and Religion to demand unreasonable things manifestly Destructive of what they would be thought to Aim at and from our frequent Condescentions out of our meer Grace to grant them what we conceived might give them Satisfaction though to the actual Prejudice of our Royal Prerogative to make presume to propose to advance such Extravagances into Laws as they themselves have formerly declared Detestable of which we cannot forbear to give our truly Loyal Subjects some Instances to undeceive our innocent and well-minded People who have many of them of late been too easily misled by the factious Endeavours of some turbulent Spirits For Example we having judged it necessary to declare War against the States of Holland during a Recess of Parliament which we couldnot defer longer without losing an advantage which then presented it self nor have done sooner without exposing our Honour to a potent Enemy without due preparation we thought it prudent to unite all our Subjects at home and did believe a general Indulgence of tender Consciences the most proper Expedient to effect it and therefore did by our Authority in Ecclesiasticks which we thought sufficient to warrant what we did suspend Penal Laws against Dissenters in Religion upon Conditions expressed in our Declaration out of reason of State as well as to gratifie our own Nature which always we confess abhorred rigour especially in Religion when tenderness might be as useful After we had engaged in the War we Prorogued our Parliament from April to October being confident we should be able by that time to shew our People such Success of our Arms as should make them chearfully contribute to our Charge At October we could have shewn them Success even beyond our own hopes or what they could possibly expect Our Enemies having lost by that time near 100 strong Towns and Forts taken in effect by us we holding them busy at Sea whilst Our Allies possest themselves of their Lands with little or no resistance and of which the great advantage would most visibly have been ours had not the Feuds we now complain of which have been siâ—â—e unhappily started and factiously improved disunited our People distracted our Councels and render'd our late Endeavours vain and fruitless so that we had no reason to doubt of our Peoples ready and liberal concurrence to Our assistance in that Conjuncture Yet Our Enemies proposing to us at that time a Treaty for Peace which we were always ready to accept upm Honourable Terms and considering with Our self that in case that Treaty succeeded a far less Sum of Money would serve our Occasions than otherwise would be necessary we out of Our tender regard to the ease of Our People prorogued our Parliament again to February to attend the Success of our Treaty rather than to demand so much Money in October as would be fit to carry on the War But we soon finding our Enemies did not intend us any such just Satisfaction saw a necessity of prosecuting the War which we designed to do most vigorously and in order to it resolved to press our Parliament to supply us as speedily as may be to enable us to put our Fleet to Sea early in the Spring which would after their Meeting grow on apace and being informed that many Members were dead during the long Recess we issued out ouâ— Writs for new Elections that our House of Commons might be full at the first opening of the Sessions to prevent any delay in our public Affairs or dislike in our People as might possibly have risen from the want of so great a Number of their Representatives if any thing of moment should be concluded before it had been supplyed having governed our Actions all along with such careful respect to the Ease of our Subjects We at the Meeting of our Parliament in February 1672 expected from them some suitable Expressions of their Sense of our Favours but quite contrary found our selves alarm'd with clamorous Complaints from several Cabals against all our Proceedings frighting many of our good Subjects into strange câ—nceits of what they must look for
by their seditious and false Constructions of what we had so candidly and sincerely done for their Good and surprised with a Vote of our House of Commons against our Writs of Elections which we intended for their Satisfactions against many presidents of ours or without any colour of Law of their side denying our power to Issue out such Writs addressing to us to Issue out others Which we consented to do at their request choosing rather to yield to our Subjects in that Point than to be forced to Submit to our Enemies in others hoping that our Parliament being sensibly touched with that our extraordinary Condescention would go on to consider the public Concern of the Kingdom without any further to do But we found another use made of our easie Compliance which served to encourage them to ask more so that soon after we found our Declaration for indulging tender Consciences Arraigned voted Illegal though we cannot to this day understand the Consistences of that Vote with our undoubted Supremacy in all Ecclesiastics recognizing by so many Acts of Parliament and required to be Sworn to by all our Subjects and Addresses made to us one after another to recal it which we condescended to also from hence they proceeded to us to weaken our self in an actual War and to render many of our Subjects of whose Loyalty and Ability we were well satisfied inoapable to serve us when we wanted Officers and Souldiers and had reason to invite as many experienced Men as we could to Engage in our Arms rather than to Incapacitate or Discourage any yet this also we gratified them in to gain their Assistance against our Enemies who grew high by these our differences rather than expose our Country to their Power and Fury hoping that in time our People would be confounded to see our concessions and be ashamed of their Errours in making such demands But finding the unfortunate Effects of our Divisions the following Summer we found our Parliament more Extravagant at the next meeting than â—ver Addressing to us to hinder the Consummation of our dear Brothers Marriage contrary to the Law of God which forbideth any to separate any whom he hath joyned against our Faith and Honour engaged in the solemn Treaty obstinately persisting in that Address after we had acquainted them that the Marriage was then actually ratified and that we had Acted in it by our Ambassadour so that we were forced to separate them for a while hoping they would bethink themselves better at their meeting in January instead of being more moderate or ready to consider our wants towards the War they Voted as they had done before not to Assist us still till their Religion were effectually secured against Popery Aggreivances redressed and all obnoxious Men removed from us which we had reason to take for an absolute denyal of all Aid considering the Indefiniteness of what was to proceed and the Moral impossibility of effecting it in their Sences for when will they say their Religion is effectually secured from Popery if it were in Danger then by reason of the insolency of Papists When our House of Commons which is made up of Members from every corner of our Kingdom with invitations publicly posted up to all Men to accuse them has not yet in so many years as they have complained of them been able to Charge one single Member of that Communion with so much as a Misdemeanor or what security câ—â—ld they possibly expect against that body of Men or their Religion more than we had given them Or how can we hope to live so perfectly that Study and Pains may not make a collection of Grievances as considerable as that which was lately presented to us than which we could not have wished for a better Vindication of our Government or when shall we be sure that all obnoxious Men are removed from us when common Fame thinks fit to call them so which is to every body without any proof sufficient to render any Man obnoxious who is Popishly affected or any thing else that is ill though they have never so often or lately complyed with their own Tests and Marks of Distinction and Discriminations finding our People thus unhappily disordred we saw it impossible to prosecute the War any longer and therefore did by their advice make a Peace upon such conditions as we could get hoping that being gratified in that darling Point â—hey would at least have paid our Debts and enabled us to have built sâ—me Ships for the future security of our Honour and their own Properties but they being transported with their success â—n asking were resolv'd to go on still that way and would needs have us put upon the removing of our Judges from those charges which they have always hitherto heâ—â— at the wâ—â— and pleasure of the Crown out of our Power to alter the ancient Laws of trying of Peâ—â—s and to make it a Premunire in our Subjects in a case supposed not to sight against our self nay some â—ad tâ—e heart to ask that the Hereditary Succession of our Crown which is the Foundation of alâ— our Laws should be changed into a sort of Election they requiring the Heir to be qualified with cerâ—ain conditions to make him capable of succeeding and out-doing that Pâ—pish Doctrine which we have so long and so loudly with good reason decryed that Heresâ—â— incapacitates Kings to Reâ—gn They would have had that the Heir of the Crown marrying a Papist though he continued never so orthodâ—x himself should forfeit his Right of Inheâ—itance not understanding this paradoxical waâ— of securing Râ—ligion by destroying it as this would have done that of the Church of England which always taught obedience to their Natural Kings as an indâ—spensable duty in all good Christians let the Religion or Deportment of their Pâ—ince be what it will and not knowing how soon that impediment which was supposed as sufficient to keep out an Heir might be thought as fit to remove a Possâ—ssâ—ur And comparing that Bill which would have it a Prâ—muniâ—e in a Sheriff not to raise the Posse Comâ—â—atus against our Commission in a case there supposed though we our self should Assist that our Commission in our Person for not being excepted is â—mpâ—â—ed with the other made by this very Parliament in the 14th year of our Reign which all our Subjects or at least many of them were obliged to Swear viz. That the Doctrine of taking up Aâ—ms by the Kings Authority against his Person was detestable and we soon found that the design was level'd against the good Protestant Religion of our good Church which its Enemies had a mind to blemish by slâ—â—ing in sâ—â—â—y thâ—se daâ—â—nable Doctrines by such an Authority as that of our Parliament into the profession of our Faith or Practices and to expâ—se our whole Religion to the Scorn and Reproaâ—h of themselves and all the World we therefore thought it our duty to be so watchful as to prevent the enemy
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 and 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 Catholic Religion and to oppose the French To shew his Zeal against the first he revived some old dormant Orders for prohibiting Roman Catholics 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 marryed 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 Liking 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 and the Duke of Lauderdale who were the only Ministers of any considerable Credit with the King and who all pretended to be entirely Vnited to the Duke declaimed Loundly and with great Violence against the said Lord and 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 Vnpardonable a Crime with our Omniporent 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 underâ—oâ—k and became as fierce Apostles and as zealous for Protestant Religion and against Popery as ever my Lord Arlington had been before them and in pursuance theâ—eof perswaded the King â—o issue out those severe Orders and Proclamations against Catholics which came out in February last by which they did as much as in them lay to extripate all Catholics and Catholic Religion out of the Kingdom which Councels were in my poor Opinion so Detestable being lâ—velled 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 and 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 Catholics 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 withalâ— and what we â—ad 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 and that they might rely upon his R. H. for that which we knew they long'd for and were afraid they might do some othâ—r 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 â—andâ—ed 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 theâ— were lead to believe that that was the only way they had to save themselves at that time For we saw no Expedient fiâ— to stop them in their Carrier of persecution and those other destructive Councils 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 favour it and therefore we were Confident that the Ministers
might have saved him if he had pleased to have taken it for Sir it was Evident that your being a Papist was the Fountain of all the Atâ—empts of your Popish Cuttâ—roats upon his Life and the main rise of all those dangers to which his Person was Exposed and not only so but you it appeared from that Letter was heartily engaged in the said Design to Remove the great Obstruction that delayed your Work the mighty Work upon your Hands to Convert three Kingdom and Subâ—â—â— the Northern Heresie truly it was a mighty Work for that which you and your Cutthroats called Heresie was then not only the Religion of the Kingdom but it was become a great parâ—â—â— the Policy thereof and an essential ingâ—edâ—ent of the Constitution of our legal Government and therefore Sir it would have been Impossible for you and your party to have supplanted our Religion which was and is still our legal Right without overthrowing all those Laws which sâ—cure it to us So that having you on their side were the King once dead their Religion would be exalâ—ed to its greatest Grandâ—ur and Flourish in these Nations as much as at any time since the Conqueâ—â— is in effect to say that our whole Government should be overturned and all our Laws subverâ—â—d which iâ—â—itled us to the Protestant Religion truly when these Things wâ—re disâ—â—vered to the Parliament it was thought that your Brother and his Parliament would have mâ—â—e Provision in order to the Nations Security buâ— this I must sâ—y That if in the aforesaid Letter there was any thing worthy of Consideratiâ—n iâ— dâ—th appâ—â—r that if there had â—â—en any such Provision made you and your Accâ—mplicâ—s did 〈◊〉 design any â—enâ—fit to Accâ—uâ— to us but on the other Hand the 〈◊〉 of our Laws and the removal of the Obstruction of all your Designs 2. Noâ—withstanding your despâ—ir of being able to Establish your Romish Faiâ—h and Worship as long as â—our Brother lived by reason of his Unsteadiness and what not yet your Secretary was considâ—nt of seeing all this Accomplished you had never greater hopes since your Queen Maries Time than at that Juncture you might as well have told uâ— That you were resâ—lved to Remove him but you and Coleman in the two last years Letters were Pâ—â—in and Pithy and there you tell us That you were resolved upon the Point Nay Coleman was so sure of his Point That he told Godfrey that is was out of the Power of Mâ—n to Baffle the Design and laughed at the Discovery as a very Vain undertaking but this and other Hints at several Times cost Jusâ—ice Godfrey his Life for if he had lived he could have testified very much of what he had revealed to him and had promised to make a considerable Discovery of your Sirs Proceedings in his Correspondences and Negoâ—iations abroad 3. If that we had the Benefit of the two last years Correspondency we should have found how Strong and Powerful your Confâ—deracy had been against the Protestant Religion and Interest within these Kingdoms for it could not be the Jesuits alone nor your foreign Combination that could give you the hopes of such a Change in the Government or had you not intended the Death of the King your Brother and Coleman himself owned in one of those Letters that all his former Correspondency was but fooling till they came to resolve of removing the main hinderance to the effecting their Design 't is true you had the Engagement of the most Eminent Persons of the Kingâ—om that were of that Communion but they were not a foundation sufficient for you to build your hopes upon of Establishing Rome's Religion and French Slavery till you had destroyed the King your Brother for as long as he lived he did through his Cunning and Cowardize put many Remoras in your way he was good at undertaking but when any thing came to be put in Execution then he commonly quitted the Pit as loving to sleep in a whole skin whether with or without his Whores nay rather than he would have the least Trouble he could part with the Popish Religion which he loved most of all 4. That though your Brother was of your Religion and had been a Dog in a String to you in all your accursed Plots and Conspiracies even to merit the greatest care and duty from you yet because for the lucre of 1250000 l. he had mâ—de Concessions against your party that pleased you not therefore like your self you were filled with Rage and vowed to revenge your Self upon him all which we should have seen in wordâ— at Length the old Lord Anglisey had them in keeping but you had wheedled your Brother to take that Paladium out of his Costody and to put it into Sir Philip Floyds in Order to preserve them for the Parliaments Consideration then sitting but there were so many Passages that would have Exposed you to the Censure of a Parliament even to the Hazard of your Head and many of your Brothers Faults would have been Published in the said last two years Correspondence that it was rather thought fit to Commit them to the Flames or otherwise to Stifle them than that they should be made Public we had Sir Philip Examined before the Committe of Lords that then sat in the Lord Privy Seals Lodgings and then he promised to give Them and the House of Peers Satisfaction concerning the said Letters buâ— the Parliâ—ment was dissolved and through your Procurement the use of Parliaments laid aside then I and my Friends persued the Villainâ— to the Councel he was so Guiâ—ty in that Affair that the then Villainous Councel did think him fit to be removed and he was for some time suspended but you never left your Brother till he was restored aâ—d so all was lost and the Nation could never have the Benefit of the Discovery those Letters had made of your villainous Undertaking in Relation to your Brothers Blood but you dâ—d the business at last and invaded the Crown and held it till you run away so that at long 〈◊〉 you made us an amends for all the Villainies you had Committed 7. A seventh Testimony was the Lord Barkshires Letters they were so Plain that the said Noble Lord thought fit to Rub of as not being able to Sâ—and the rest of them and upon his Death-Bed did Confess the Design that was then carrying on by you and your Accomplices for the Great and Fatal Blow I Challenge all the World that heard those Letters read in the Committe of Lords then sitting in the Lord Privy Seals Lodgings whether there could be a 〈◊〉 Demonstration of your Conâ—piracy I am sure all that heard them preâ—ended at 〈◊〉 time to be fully sâ—tisfiâ—d and 〈◊〉 Confidenâ— were your Brother now alive he would no◠〈◊〉 the world that 〈◊〉 Letters hastened the Proâ—ogation and Dissolution of the long Parliament and of the sending you into Flanders 〈◊〉 the Sâ—orm that threatned you was blown over for no sooner
ruine any Man that stands in either of your ways the Doctrine you have been taught will induce any thinking Man to believe your Practice and both your Practises and his do sufficiently prove the Damnableness of the Doctrin you have received 3. A third Testimony that I shall urge in this case is the Evidence that was given in by William Johnson and Joseph Wright upon the Fifteenth day of May 1679 before the Lords Committees sitting in the Lord Privy Seals Lodgings who say that one Jonathan Smith a Papist supposing these two Informants to be of the same Religion said that he knew the King was a Papist and the rest of the Nobles of the Kingdom also and that there was scarce one of them but that had Romish Priests in their Houses this Smith also declared that he had his Maintenance from the Lord Stafford's House that Mr. Smith the then Steward to the Lord Stafford was his Uncle and believed that several Priests were in the Lord Stafford's House Upon which the Lords Ordered to search the Lord Stafford's House and to seize all dangerous Papers and Persons but notice being given to the Conspirators the Priests and Papers were conveyed to St. Jameses to be graciously disposed of as you should think fit and when the Lords had notice of it there could be nothing further done in the Affair because your Brother the King to give the Rogues a Taste of his Royal Favour raised the Parliament and sent them home when they were in the midst of their Work in Discovering the horrid Villanies of your self and Party 4. That Evidence that Mr. Prance gave in to the then Marquiss of Winchester now Duke of Bolton on the Nineteenth of March 1678 9 The said Marquiss being then One of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex and City and Liberty of Westminster THIS Examinant saith That he and Mr. Maddison a Barber in Holborne and Mr. Staley were Drinking at the Cross Keys Tavern over against Staleys House about a Fortnight before the said Staley was taken where complaining of the great Persecution that the Papists lay under and if that they did not take some speedy course to destroy their Enemies they should be ruined the said Staley and Maddison resolved to Kill the Earl of Shaftsbury as the ring leader of the Mischief that would fall upon them Maddison said that he would engage three to wit Adamson a Watchmaker and Prosser a Silversmith and Bradshaw an Upholster and the said Maddison coming afterwards to this Deponents Shop shewed the Deponent a Pistol he had prepared for that Purpose this Deponent further saith That meeting the said Adamson at one Pettleyes at the White-posts in Veres-street and discoursing of News Adamson said they should be undone if they did not look about them therefore they were resolved to Kill the Lord Shaftsbury he also speaking the same thing to this Deponent at the Grid-iron in Holborn this Deponent further saith That the aforesaid Prosser told him he was undone and that he intended to Kill the Lord Shaftsbury for he with other of the Lords intended to undo the Lord Arundel of Wardour who was one of his best Customers the said Prosser telling the said Deponent another time That he was to be an Ensign under the Lord Arundel this Deponent further saith That Bradshaw in discourse with him saith that he would make no more to kill a Protestant than to kill a Dog or a Cat and that he was resolved to Kill some of the busie Lords but the first should be the Lord Shaftsbury and the said Bradshaw also shewed him the Deponent a Pistol at the same time this Deponent further saith that he the Deponent and Mr. Messenger Prosser and Maddison were at Bradlies in Holborn about five weeks before Staley was taken where the said Messenger was complaining of the severity of the Laws against the Papists and much fearing they would be put in Exeâ—ution against them by some that were no lovers of them and particularly by the Lord Shaftsbury who did most busie himself about them said that there must be speedy Course taken to prevent it And this Deponent further saith that some time after the said Prosser told him that the said Messenger was the Person that Promoted the killing the Lord Shaftsbury the Deponent further saith That Mr. Goseen told him both in Covent Garden and in the Deponents Shop that the King and Parliament would undo them and that if he were to kill a Man he would as soon kill the King as any Man and if he had him in Spain he would have killed him ere this This Deponent further saith that about six Months since he heard Mr. Matthews the Lord Peters Priest say that his Lord and the Lord Belasys with some other Lords would have a great Army and that he hoped the Catholick Religion would be setled in England This Deponent further saith That about a Year since he heard Mr. Singleton a Priest say in the presence of Mr. Hall that he hoped he should be setled in a Parish Church before a twelve month and that he did not fear but that the Catholic Religion would Reign in England and that he would not make any more matter of Stabbing forty Parliament Men than to eat his Dinner This Deponent saith that he hath also heard Mr. Byflet and Dr. Guilding say several times that they turned divers People from the Protestant Religion and that they hoped they should turn many more the Deponent also believeth that the said Hall knows where the said Singleton Byfleet and Guilding are for that they used to be always at Halls house and the said Hall always received the Money for the said Singleton which was to be distributed for Masses for the Dead This Deponent further saith that Mr. Groves told him that this was no Plot but a Plot of the Protestants own making and when his Vncle was Condemned he said they were all Rogues that Swore against him the Deponent then asking him what he thought of the four thousand Men which he knew were to be raised the said Groves replied that might be in Jest the Deponent further saith that Mr. Ridley a Chyrurgeon at the Lord Baltimores house in Wild-street told him several times that he hoped to be Chyrurgeon to a Catholic Army in England and that the Lord Belasis would stand his Friend in the Concern This Deponent further saith that the Lord Arundel of Wardours Butler told him that Mr. Messenger was to kill the King and that he was to have a good Reward if he saved his Life and if he were killed the said Reward should be distributed amongst such Friends as he should appoint by the Lord Arundel the Earl Powys and the rest of the Lords that were in the same Plot This Deponent further saith that meeting with Mr. Messenger after that he asked the said Messenger why he would kill the King the said Messenger answered who told you of it the
Crew could not well tell what to say to it but to conclude this Head I will say that he had an Orthodox Villain to take his last Words or we might have had a better Account of Mr. Bedloe 9. a Ninth Witness that I shall produce is Honest Ned Coleman what you dont know him Look upon him and let my old Landlady look upon him and take notice of what he saith you know that the Lords that Examined him had a mighty mind to bring you off hoping that you would mend your Manners and therefore instead of charging Coleman with Treason they charged him with Forgery and asked him why he forged Letters in your Name truly Coleman thinking that Treason being the nobler Sin of the two told them the Letters were not Forged therefore when he was by them shewed a Letterâ— that was to be sent to Father Oliva the General of the Jesuits which Coleman Frankly owned to be his hand but like a Coxcombe câ—â—ld not forbear accusing my old Landlady and said That it was prepared by Order of her Royal Highness So my Dame was brought in for a snack the good Lords finding that Ned was but a lacky Secretary and therefore they would go on with their show and upon that Resolution they shewed him a Letter from you to Father Lachaise which he shewed to you which they would have had him say that you rejected it but Coleman thanked you for that piece of Civility and never said any such thing then the said Lords asked him whether he had not delivered you a Letter from Father Ferier to which Coleman was pleased to Answer that Sir William Throckmorton brought a Letter to you from Father Ferier which he delivered to you and confessed that you were acquainted with and privy to your Correspondence with the said Father Ferier and St. German well what became of his Correspondence with Father Lachaise the Lords could prove that he the said Lachaise had received a Letter and a long one too by Colemans receipt of an Answer thereunto and here Coleman could not deny but that he had sent an Account of his Correspondence with Ferier to which you was privy and did likewise Confess that you was privy to that long Letter But Sir here was another Farthing upon the score and that was Colemans going over to Bruxelâ— and he had no more Manners then to tell the Lords that examined him that you sent him over and that â—he Lord Arundel of Wardour knew of his going over and that you knew the sum and substance of his Correspondence with the Popes Internuncio there which you may take a short Rellish in these few Words contained in the Correspondency wherein he saith August 21st 1674 that the Design prospered so well that he doubâ—ed not but the business would be managed to the utter ruin of the Protestant Party so that you being acquainted with the Correspondence you could not be unacquainted with the Designs prospering so well and you also could not but expect that in some short time the business would be managed as Coleman intimated to the said Internuncio In a Word there was another sharp question asked Mr. Coleman why he had so great a desire to speak with the King your Brother and your Selâ— when Coleman was ordered to attend the Lords to which Coleman most gravely Answered that it was to know how he shall carry himself as to naming of you now Sir what can a Man think of all this truly your Friend Prance doth tell us that you had an opportunity of doing your businesâ— when the four Lords were sent to the Tower Coleman was in a strait how to Name your Name and you in a strait till Coleman was Hanged alas good Sir what could you do less then get rid of such a Fellow but to conclude this Head I will put you in mind of three things 1. That Coleman was sensible that at the very board there sat some who were acquainted with the Design that prospered so well and therefore when he appeared he struâ—ted and hectored like an Emperour and told the Councel that in accusing him they shot at you and truly if they had shot at him in good Earnest they could not well have missed you for they reading some of Colemans Papers they thought if they medled with him you could not escape and gave him many a Curse for not keeping out of the way and truly if he had I should have made but a sorry Voyage of the Plot tho' through your grace and goodness and the kindness of your Rogues I have no great reason to Bragg of my gettings to this day 2. Coleman accused you home for being Privy to the Correspondency that he held with Ferier and Lachaise and the Popes Internuncio which all the World must conclude was Trayterous enough nay though the two last years were embezled yet those that were found were so plain that when they were read Sir John Whitelipps himself bepist his Breeches for fear and had not one Word to say for his fellow intelligencer and thought to have escaped upon the score of his interest in you but alas Coleman had so fairely brought you and Gammer Modena as partakers of his Crimes insomuch that had there been but Vertue enough in the Government you must have mounted the Stage and have been made a partaker of his punishment 3. I did not wonder at your excessive Joy when Coleman was Hanged for then you was in all probability out of danger from Coleman and when Peter Talbot was sent into another World and Dick was forced to Abscond you had none that could do you much hurt tho' you was very Jealous of poor Plunket I know not for what reason yet your good Brother maintained your ground so well that there was not that necessity of hanging of Plunket unless it were that he would have nothing to do with Talbot in giving Evidence against you but your Gratitude was great to that poor Teague and so it was to your good Brother that saved you from the Gallows but what saith the Proverb Save a Theif from the Gallows and he will be the first that will cut your Throat in a Word get over this Confession of Coleman before the Lords that were appointed by Parliament to Examine him and you will do the best thing you ever did in your whole life next to your running away and your admirable gratitude to your Brother 10. I must bring up the Rear and put you in mind of what I did deliver in upon Oath against your Conspirators as for the Jesuites they were but a rascally Crew and you were content that they should be charged and that the Parliament should be told of the Plot of the Jesuites and no more there was not a word of the Plot of James Duke of York and Albany against the Government and the Religion of these three Kingdoms Oh no have a care of him I pray don't bring him in least two of a
that related to yourself and that was put in by trusty Ned your own Secretary after that you had perused the Memorial with whom you had been very rash with him about an affront he had put upon Sir Allen Apsly in relation to Religion of which he had complained to you for Coleman was as Impudent on the one hand as you were short in your Judgment on the other which many times did much prejudice your Design and truely it was his impudence and your Folly that helped to deliver the Nation 2. That this Lord Arundel of Wardour did give Money to pervert several of the Subjects of England under the notion of Charity which was distributed by Fenwick and Ireland for the use of Poor Converts and no other need I did see the Mony distributed to several Persons perverted as the Lord Arundel's mony in the Month of December 1677 and in the Month of June 1678 in Drury-lane at Fennicks Chamber that Money in June 1678 was 160 l. that was given to about 80 People that Fenwick had Perverted to the Church of Rome 3. That the Lord Arundel of Wardour was privy to the Consult held in April and May in which the Death of the King your Brother was determined for in the beginning of May this Fenwick gave that noble Lord a full account of the unanimous Resolution of the Fathers of the Society in that Point and it was at the same time this noble Lord signed a Bill of 250 l. for the use of the Societies in carrying on their Design 4. This Lord Arundel as mighty as you appear to be had the chief managing of the Affairs of the Popish Party and the Negotiations between you and the French King both as to War and Peace and between the Pope and you in reference to Religion was manag'd by him and you could never have Obtained the Kingdom till that in the Month of June 1678 you had engaged to the French King and the General of the Jesuits who acted with you on the behalf of the Bishop of Rome to take the Kingdom upon the termes the Pope and the French King would allow of and then you fully complied and Arundel was made choice of and was to have been your chief Minister of State and your trusty and well beloved Cuckold and Councellour was to have had a Cardinals Hat with which Sir I suppose you will at this time be content and be glad if you can come of so fairly 5. The Lord Arundel of VVardour did take a Commission from the General of the Jesuits to be high Chancellor of England which was delivered to him by one of Langhorn's Son and to my Knowledge he owned the Receipt of the said Commission in Colemans presence and also by a letter to Fenwick who shewed me the Letter by which the World may see what a Dogs-turd of a King you were like to be for you durst not for your Ears have granted that Commission therefore to Skreen you from the imputation of a Traitour and the French King of an Invader you and he agreed to put it upon the General of the Society who with some difficulty undertook the Province and was on the Popes behalf to choose your Officers both Civil and Military and the Dignities of the Church had not the Design been Discovered which made all of you that did not suffer the Justice of the Nation to alter your Measures 6. That your Servant Coleman having held a long Correspondency with the See of Rome and finding that the Pence he Received did not answer his expectation he began to flag and complain of the same to the Lord Arundel of Wardour but the Lord Arundel was resolved that Coleman should not be discharged and therefore the Lord Arundel writ to the Fathers of the Society and complained of the slowness of the Court of Rome of remitting Mony to England and in the Letter to the Fathers of St. Omers was one inclosed to Cardinal Howard of which there was answer that the Cardinal did not question but that he should obtain a good Pension from the Pope for Coleman and after some time did obtain the said Pension for honest Ned and then he went on briskly and you know that at that very time your Pacquet went a Copy of which Coleman Communicated to the Fathers in London which I had the opportunity of seeing and it did farther appear to me by the constant Correspondence that they held with the Jesuits at St. Omers in the Year 1675 76 77 1678. that he had been a great support to Coleman in those his Correspondences with the General of the Jesuits and Lachaise 7. This Lord Arundel of VVardour by your especial Direction did acquaint the Fathers at St. Omers in what awe you kept the Justices of Wiltshire insomuch they durst not appear to put the Laws in Execution against the Roman-Catholicks and told some that they were more forward than they had thanks for their Paines and that they must expect that if they were more mild they would find that which was Sauce for a Goose was Sauce for a Gander and in that Letter expressed much Joy that there was every day a fine increase of the number of Roman Catholicks especially in VVales Herefordshire and Staffordshire 8. This Lord Arundel of VVardour told Mr. Fenwick at his Chamber in my hearing that he did not question but to have Berwick upon Tweed put into the Hands of the Scotch Roman Catholicks and that it would be a good refuge for the Scotch Party which Scotch Party you know a parcel of Scotch Highlanders Cut-Throats that were to molest all the North Parts of England and the Fife in Scotland and that the Castle of Edenburgh was to be put into the Hands of the then Marquiss of Huntly so that you were sure of doing your business in the North without much Opposition you by your Tool Lauderdale having brought that Kingdom intosuch Slavery that the Poor Protestants had but little hopes of Recovering their Liberties and I do believe they would have chosen rather to have fallen into the Hands of the Popish party than to have continued under that Slavery they groaned under by the Tyrany of Lauderdale and his Villanous Scotch Prelates but how they could have mended their Condition by falling into their Hands I am yet I confess to learne 9. That the Lord Belasys the Lord Arundel of VVardour the Lord Powis the Lord Stafford and the Lord Baltimore met and held a Committee at VVild-House and this Lord Arundel was in the Chair and Mivo the Jesuit sat Secretary to them at that time and a letter was drawn up to Coleman to Communicate to you and the Import of the said Letter was this that whereas Peter Talbot the Arch-Bishop of Dublin had informed them that the Duke of Ormond then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland would endeavour to raise the Revenue of Ireland to be two Hundred thousand Pounds Per annum for ever over and above all the
Bull was obtained then in the latter part of 1677 Commissions began to appear pretty rife and in the year 1678 to the time the Plot was Discovered to your Brother which was some little time before you went to Windsor But to conclude this particular observe 1. that you were not to appear aâ— the head of the Conspiracy for fear of being Exposed to the Parliament 2. that if the thing were Discovered it should appear an unprobable Story and so not be Believed 3 That your Allie of France might not Expose himself to the Princes of Christendom 4 That the General of the Jesuits unwillingly engaged in the Affair of granting Commissions 5. That when he had undertaken the Province aforesaid the whole Body of Jesuits were engaged in the Work 6. And more closly Linckt to the Interest of the French King their General being his Creature to all Intents and Purposes 8. What Credit the Discovery of the Popish Plot obtained in the Nation this did not only obtain Credit in the Nation but might have been of great use to Charles your Brother and I am sure it was very Fatal to you and your Party but that which you sneer at were the Reasons why the Witnesses were so ill treated at Court and were not beloved by your Brother to this I must give you these two Answers 1. By way of Concession that is possible he might not be pleased to give that Credit to the Discovery of the Popish Plot and therefore its true he did not give the Witnesses that kind Treatment at Court the Nature of their Cause required and there where four Reasons for it 1. Your Brother was well acquainted with the new Government and the new Religion that was to be brought in but you were not so Civil as to acquaint him with the Design that was against his own Life so that when that part of your Design was Discovered you almost prevailed upon your Brother not to believe this part of the Plot because that you had so freely acquainted him with all the other Part of your Design and engaged him in it so that he being persuaded by you and your Party not to give Credit or at leastwise to own that he did believe that the self same Party with whom he himself was in a Conspiracy should have such another Plot against his Life the King your Brother was in the Design against the Religion and Government of the Kingdom because he was sold into an opinion that the Religion and Government thereof was inconsistant with Monarchy as he told the King of Poland by old Sir Cutbook Lockrom Jaws alias Mapleface quondam his Envoy then and that Rascal of a Book-Cutter had got such a notion of the uniting of the Church of England with the Church of Rome that I think it was as great an argument to induce you to prefer him as well as the cheating of your dear Brother by reason of his excellent Talent in the work of Book-Cutting and also at the destroying of the Discovery of the Popish Plot. 2. Another Reason why the King your Brother might not bee inclined to give the Witnesses that Credit and Reception they did deserve because of his affection to the Popish Crew tho I must tell you that had I been of your Brothers Council I should have given him this Advice viz. That if he would have preserved himself from a Conspiracy was obliged in Policy to have had an Eye upon those for whom he hath done the greatest Kindnesses rather than upon those to whom he hath been unkind for those that were disgusted they made not such frequent Opportunities nor such easy Accesses to him as your favoured Villains had and the Conspiracy that was begun against his Life was by you and those Popish Lords and Jesuits that had been most familiar with him for was it not his own only Life that kept you from the three Kingdoms and that you were in danger every day to turn your Party destroyed by the Parliament therefore it stood you in much stead to dispense with the Sixth Commandement rather then your Negotiations with the Cardinal Howard the French King and Father Farrier and Father Lachaise and Oliva General of the Jesuits and the Popes Internuncio at Bruxels nay with the Pope himself should fall to the Ground and you know that you found him but loose in his Religion which was that of Rome if he had any at all and that he had neither Resolution nor Courage nor Constancy and Popery was the thing you now Resolved upon and Arbitrary Government he was Privy to all this and liked the Project but would not run the hazard you did therefore because he was a Trotter only and not a Galloper you were resolved to destroy him and to blind him so that he might not see your Design nor believe it you and your Party urged this for a main Reason his Affection to them and his laying so many Obligations upon them was an Argument sufficient to support your Party against the Credit of the Witnesses that appeared to accuse them 3. Because the King your Brother was Swallowed up in the Pleasures of his Lusts he preferred the Amorous Glances of his Whores before the safety of the three Nations who were most of them of the Popish Religion and they having his Ear and his Heart did much prevail with him to discountenance the Discovery of the Popish Plot and the Discovâ—rers thereof as Portsmouth in particular who in Conjunction with you and your Party carried the King and his Ministers that were up to the Ears with you in all the other Parts of the Design and you know that when I appeared I stood a single Witness a great while and notwithstanding you and the Court Whores and Court Pimps and Court Bawds set your Faces upon me to destroy me nevertheless I stood like a Rock against all your Attempts 1. You know who it was that was acquainted with the Conspiracy by Order from the King your Brother and he was so far pursuing the Discovery that he chose rather to let the Conspirators have time enough to convey away their Person and their Papers and Madam Remarkable was as diligent a cast Whore as any in that Affair 2. Your Italian Comrade you know made a visit to the Princess of Orange in Flanders and by that Opportunity many of the Traytors had an opportunity to escape as also when you was sent to take the Air in that Country you took along with you several of your Villains 3. You know how Coleman's last two years Letters were Conveyed away 4. You bribed Scroggs to baffle the Testimonies of the Witnesses you and the Whores thus prevailing upon the King you might dispose him not to give the Witnesses that reception their Cause and Service did deserve 2. I answer in the second Place that notwithstanding the usage the Witnesses met withal from your Brother in private Capacity as he was a Man Wedded to his Pleasures and
very Obsequious to the Strumpets that were about him yet do but observe what Credit the Parliament of England gave the Witnesses and that through the Power of Truth and Energy that was in the Testimony they gave 1. Upon the Testimony they received from me when I was a single Testimony upon the first of November 1678 the Lords and Commons past this Vote viz. Resolved Nemine Contradicente That upon the Evidence that hath already appeared to this House that this House is of Opinion that there hath been and still is a Damnable and Hellish Plot Contrived and Carried on by the Popish Recusants for the Assassinating and Murthering the King and for the Subverting the Government and Rooting out and Destroying the King To which Vote the Lords agreed Nemine Contradicente 2. The Lord Chancellour Finch that famous Tool reported upon the 28th of November 1678 the effect of a Conference desired by the Commons that upon hearing of the Testimony of Mr. Bedloe and my self that they were in an Amazment when they considered in what danger the Person of the King your Brother was and his Government whereupon they prepared an Address to be presented to the King your Brother to which they desired the Concurrence of the House of Lords and they had the Concurrence of the House of Lords in the said Address and it was accordingly presented to the said King on the 29th by both Houses so that you and your Villains may see that the Discovery of the Popish Plot was not so small a Matter as you would seem to make of it 3. Observe the Address of Parliament on the 21st of March 1679 in which the Parliament did lay before the King your Brother the great Sence they had of the sad and Calamitous Condition of this Kingdom occasioned chiefly by the Impious and Malicious Conspiracies of the Popish Party who had not only Plotted and intended the Distruction of the King your Brother but the total Subversion of the Government and the true Religion established amongst us and therefore they Prayed that a Day might be set a part for Fasting and Prayer and accordingly a Day was set apart but I suppose though you knew of that Day you nor none of your Villains ever kept it 4. Observe the Vote of the 24th of March 1679 Resolved Nemine Contradicente by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and by the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled That they are fully satisfy'd by the Proofs that they have heard that there now is and for divers Years last past hath been a horrid and Treasonable Plot and Conspiracy contrived and carried on by those of the Popish Religion for the Murthering of his Majesties Sacred Person and for the Subverting of the Protestant Religion and the ancient and well established Government of this Kingdom To which Vote Sir give me leave to remind you of the Impeachment of the five Popish Lords upon which Impeachment the Lord Viscount Stafford was tried and found Guilty and suffered the Pains of Death as a Traytor to the King and Kingdom and so fully satisfyed was the Parliament of the Integrity and Truth of the Witnesses that they intended to have proceeded against the rest of the Traytors that none of them could have escaped the Justice of the Nation had not they been dissolved in a most Arbitrary manner 5. Observe the Proceedings of the Parliament against Nathaniel Reading Esq who Corresponded with the Lords in the Tower that stood Impeached for the Popish Plot in their Address to the King your Brother upon the 8th of April 1679 in which they set forth the Inquiry they had made into the Hellish Design that was carried on by the Papists against the Person and Government of the King your Brother and upon Examination they found that he the said Reading had used his utmost endeavours to prevent and suppress the Kings Evidence and as much as in him lay to stifle the Discovery of the said Plot and and thereby to render the same Fallacious and of no Reality and by such undue Means to prevent the Malefactors from coming to Justice therefore they prayed that a Commission of Oyer and Termâ—er might be issued forth for the trying of the said Reading for that Offence Reading was tried and was found Guilty and therefore would have you take notice of what was said by the then Lord chief Justice North when he gave Judgment upon the said Reading I will tell you says he your offence is so great and hath such a Relation to that which the whole Nation is concerned in because it was on attempt to baffle the Evidence of that Conspiracy which if it had not been by the mercy of God detected God knows what might have befallen us all by this time and still the Parliament have it under their Consideration how to prevent any farther mischief by it but this Villain of a Cut-throat had the grace to join with your Brother and you to stifle it as I shall shew you in the next Part of this your sweet Picture 6. Observe the Address of the House of Commons upon the 14th of May upon the Assurance that the King your Brother had given the then Parliament of his constant Care to do every thing that might preserve the Protestant Religion and Government they did upon the said Assurances represent to the King your Brother the deep Sense they had of the state of Religion and shewed the King that the Papists by their Designs against his Person and Government which the said Parliament was resolved to defend gave themselves hopes of Success therefore the Parliament were resolved to apply themselves to the making such Laws as might defeat those Popish Adversaries of their Hopes of gaining any Advantage by any Attempt they should at any time Form against the Person of the King your Brother 7. Another Instance of the Credit the Discovery of the Popish Plot had you may see in this Address of the House of Commons to the King your Brother The ADDRESS to his Majesty from the Commons Saturday Nov. 13 th 1680. May it please your most Excellent Majesty WE your Majesty's most loyal and obedient Subjects the Commons in this present Parliament assembled having taken into our most serious Consideration your Majesty's gracious Message brought unto us the Ninth Day of this instant November by Mr. Secretary Jenkins do with all Thankfulness acknowledg your Majesty's Care and Goodness in inviting us to expedite such Matters as are depending before us relating to Popery and the Plot. And we do in all humility represent to your Majesty that we are fully convinced that it is highly incumbent upon us in discharge both of our Duty to your Majesty and of that great Trust reposed in us by those whom we represent to endeavour by the most speedy and effectual Ways the suppression of Popery within this Kingdom and the bringing to publick Justice all such as shall be found guilty of the horrid and damnable Popish
thereby to make way the more easily to do the same in other Protestant Countries Towards the doing this great Work as Mr. Coleman was pleased to call it Jesuits the most dangerous of all Popish Orders to the Lives and Estates of Princes were distribâ—ted to their several Precincts within this Kingdom and held joynt Councels with those of the same Order in all Neighbour Popish Countries Out of these Councels and Correspondences wus hatched that damnable and hellish Plot by the good Providence of Almighty God brought to light above Two Years since but still threatning us wherein the Traytors impatient of longer delay reckoning the prolonging of your Sacred Majesty's Life which God long preserve us the great Obstacle in the way to the Consummation of their Hopes and having in their Prospect a proselyted Prince immediately to succeed in the Throne of these Kingdoms resolved to begin their Work with the Assassination of your Majesty to carry it on with armed Force to destroy the Protestant Subjects in England to execute a second Massacre in Ireland and so with ease to arrive at the Suppression of our Religion and the Subversion of the Government When this accursed Conspiracy began to be discovered they began to smother it with the barbarous Murther of a Justice of the Peace within one of your Majesty 's own Palaces who had taken some Examinations concerning it Amidst these Distractions and Fears Popish Officers for the Command of Forces were allowed upon Mâ—sters by special Orders surreptitiously obtained from your Majesty but counter-signed by a Secretary of State without ever passing under the Tests prescribed by the aforementioned Act of Parliament In like manner above Fifty new Commissions were granted about the same time to known Papists besides a great Number of desperate Popish Officers though out of Command yet entertained at half pay When in the next Parliament the House of Commons were prepared to bring to a legal Tryal the principal Conspirators in this Plot that Parliament was first prorogued and then dissolved The Interval betwixt the Calling and Sitting of this Parliament was so long that now they conceive Hopes of covering all their past Crimes and gaining a seasonable Time and Advantage of practising them more effectually Witnesses are attempted to be corrupted and not only Promises of Reward but of the Favour of your Majesty's Brother made the Motives to their Compliance Divers of the most considerable of your Majesty's Protestant Subjects have Crimes of the highest Nature forged against them the Charge to be supported by Subornation and Perjury that they may be destroyed by Forms of Law and Justice A Presentment being prepared for a grand Jury of Middlesex against your Majesty's said Brother the Duke of York under whose Countenance all the rest shelter themselves the Grand Jury were in an unheard of and unpresidented and illegal Manner discharged and that with so much haste and fear lest they should finish that Presentment that they were prevented from delivering many other Indictments by them at that time found against other Popish Recusants Because a Pamphlet came forth weekly called The weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome which exposes Popery as it deseâ—ves as ridiculous to the People a new and arbitrary Rule of Court was made in your Majesty's Court of King's Bench rather like a Star-chamber than a Court of Law that the same should not for the future be printed by any Person whatsoever We acknowledg your Majesty's Grace and Care in issuing forth divers Proclamations since the Discovery of the Plot for the banishing Papists from about this great City and Residence of your Majesty's Court and the Parliament but with trouble of Mind we do humbly inform your Majesty that notwithstanding all these Prohibitions great Numbers of them and of the most dangerous Sort to the Terrour of your Majesty's Protestant Subjects do daily resort hither and abide here Vnder these and other sad Effects and Evidences of the prevalency of Popery and its Adherents we your Majesty's faithful Commons found this your Majesty's distressed Kingdom and other Parts of your Dominions labouring when we assembled And therefore from our Allegiance to your Majesty our Zeal to our Religion our Faithfulness to our Country and our Care of Posterity we have lately upon mature Deliberation proposed one Remedy of these great Evils without which in our Judgments all others will prove vain and fruitless and like all deceitful Securities against certain Dangers will rather expose your Majesty's Person to the greatest Hazard and the People together with all that 's valuable to them as Men or Christians to utter Ruin and Destruction We have taken this Occasion of an Access to your Majesty's Royal Presence humbly to lay before your Majesty's great Judgment and gracious Consideration this most dreadful Design of introducing Popery and as a necessary Consequent of it all other Calamities into your Majesty's Kingdoms And if after all this the private Suggestions of the subtle Accomplices of that Party and Design should yet prevail either to elude or totally to obstruct the faithful Endeavours of us your Commons for the happy Settlement of these Kingdoms we shall have this remaining Comfort That we have free'd our selves from the Guilt of that Blood and Desolation which is like to ensue But our only hope next under God is in your Sacred Majesty that by your great Wisdom and Goodness we may be effectually secured from Popery and all the Evils that attend it and that none but Persons of known Fidelity to your Majesty and sincere Affections to the Protestant Religion may be put into any Employment Civil or Military That whilst we shall give a Supply to Tangier we may be assured we do not augment the Strength of our Popish Adversaries nor encrease our own Dangers Which Desires of your faithful Commons if your Majesty shall graciously vouchsafe to grant we shall not only be ready to assist your Majesty in defence of Tangier but do whatsoever else shall be in our Power to enable your Majesty to protect the Protestant Religion and Interest at home and abroad and to resist and repel the Attempts of your Majesty's and the Kingdoms Enemies 9. Observe the Vote against your self which was made April the 27. 1679. That the Duke of York's being a Papist and the Hopes of his coming to the Crown such hath given the greatest Incouragement to the present Conspiracy and Designs of the Papists against the King and the Protestant Religion Upon which Sir a Bill was brought in and is as follows A Copy of the Duke of York 's BILL WHereas James Duke of York is notoriously known to have been perverted from the Protestant to the Popish Religion whereby not only great Incouragement hath been given to the Popish Party to enter into and carry on most Devilish and Horrid Plots and Conspiracies for the Destruction of his Majesty's Sacred Person and Government and for the Extirpation of the true Protestant Religion But also if
the said Duke should succeed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm nothing is more manifest than that a total Change of Religion within these Kingdoms would ensue For the Preservation thereof be it Enacted by the King 's most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That the said James Duke of York shall be and is by the Authority of this present Parliament excluded and made for ever incapable to inherit possess or injoy the Imperial Crown of this Realm and of the Kingdoms of Ireland and the Dominions and Territories to them or to either of them belonging or to have exercise or injoy any Dominion Power Jurisdiction or Authority in ihe same Kingdoms Dominions or any of them And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if the said James Duke of York shall at any Time hereafter challenge claim or attempt to possess or enjoy or shall take upon him to use or exercise any Dominion Power or Authority or Jurisdiction within the said Kingdoms or Dominions or any of them as King or chief Magistrate of the same that then he the said James Duke of York for every such Offence shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of High Treason and shall suffer the Pains Penalties and Forfeitures as in Case of High Treason And further That if any Person or Persons whatever shall assist or maintain abet or willingly adhere unto the said James Duke of York in such Challenge Claim or Attempt or shall of themselves attempt or endeavour to put or bring the said James Duke of York into the Possession or Exercise of any Regal Power Jurisdiction or Authority within the Kingdoms and Dominions aforesaid or shall by writing or preaching advisedly publish maintain or declare That he hath any Right Title or Authority to the Office of King or chief Magistrate of the Kingdoms and Dominions aforesaid that then every such Person shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of High Treason and that he suffer and undergo the Pains Penalties and Forfeitures aforesaid And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if he the said James Duke of York shall at any time from and after the Fifth of Nov. 1680. return or come into or within any of the Kingdoms or Dominions aforesaid then he the said James Duke of York shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of High Treason and shall suffer the Pains Penalties and Forfeitures as in case of High Treason And further That if any Person or Persons whatsoever shall be aiding or assisting unto such Return of the said James Duke of York that then every such Person shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of High Treason and shall suffer as in cases of High Treason And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That he the said James Duke of York or any other Person being guilty of the Treasons aforesaid shall not be capable of or receive Benefit by any Pardon otherwise than by Act of Parliament wherein they shall be particularly named And that no Noli prosequi or order for stay of Proceedings shall be received in or upon any Indictment for any of the Offences mentioned in this Act. And be it further Enacted and Declared and it is hereby Enacted and Declared That it shall and may be Lawful to and for any Magistrates Officers and other Subjects whatsoever of these Kingdoms and Dominions oforesaid and they are hereby enjoyned and required to apprehend and secure the said James Duke of York and every other Person offending in any of the Premises and with him or them in case of Resistance to fight and him or them by force to subdue for all which Actings and for so doing they are and shall be by Virtue of this Act saved harmless and indemnified Provided and it is hereby Declared That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed deemed or adjudged to disenable any other Person from inheriting and injoying the Imperial Crown of the Realms and Dominions aforesaid other then the said James Duke of York but that in case the said James Duke of York should survive his now Majesty and the Heirs of his Majesty's Body the said Imperial Crown shall descend to and be injoyed by such Person or Persons successively during the Life of the said James Duke of York as should have inherited and injoyed the same in case the said James Duke of York were naturally dead any thing contained in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That during the Life of the said James Duke of York this Act shall be given in charge at every Assizes and General Sessions of the Peace within the Kingdoms Dominions and Territories aforesaid and also shall be openly read in every Cathedral Church and Parish Church and Chappels within the aforesaid Kingdoms Dominions and Territories by the several respective Parsons Vicars Curates and Readers thereof who are hereby required immediately after Divine Service in the Forenoon to read the same twice in every Year that is to say on the 25th of December and upon Easter Day during the Life of the said James Duke of York Which Bill was Read thrice and Passed the House of Commons and upon its being Rejected in the House of Peers behold this Address to the King your Brother The humble Address of the House of Commons presented unto his Majesty upon Tuesday the 21 th of December 1680. in answer to his Majesty's Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament upon the 15 th Day of the same December May it please your most Excellent Majesty WE your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects the Commons in this present Parliament assembled having taken into our serious Consideration your Majesty's gracious Speech to both your Houses of Parliament on the Fifteenth of this instant December and do with all the grateful Sence of faithful Subjects and sincere Protestants acknowledg your Majesty's great Goodness to us in renewing the Assurances you have been pleased to give us of your Readiness to concur with us in any means for the Security of the Protestant Religion and your gracious Invitation of us to make our Desires known to your Majesty But with grief of Heart we cannot but observe That to these Princely Offers your Majâ—sty has been advised by what secret Enemies to your Majesty and your People we know not to annex a Reservation which if insisted on in the Instance to which alone it is applicahle will render all your Majesty 's other gracious Inclinations of no Effect or Advantage to us Your Majesty is pleased thus to limit your Promise of concurrence in the Remedies which shall be proposed That they may consist with preserving the Succession of the Crown in its due and legal Course of Descent ond we do humbly inform your Majesty That no Interruption of that Descent has been endeavoured
by us except only the Descent upon the Person of the Duke of York who by the wicked Instruments of the Church of Rome has been manifestly perverted to their Religion And we do humbly represent to your Majesty as the Issue of our most deliberate Thoughts and Consultations That for the Papists to have their Hopes continued That a Prince of that Religion shall succeed in the Throne of these Kingdoms is utterly inconsistent with the Safety of your Majesty's Person the Preservation of the Protestant Religion and the Prosperity Peace and Welfare of your Protestant Subjects That your Majesty's Sacred Life is in continual Danger under the Prospect of a Popish Successor is evident not only from the Principles of those devoted to the Church of Rome which allow That an Heretical Prince and such they term all Protestant Princes excommunicated and deposed by the Pope may be destroyed and murthered but also from the Testimonies given in the Prosecution of the horrid Popish Plot against divers Traytors attainted for designing to put those accursed Principles into practice against your Majesty From the Expectation of this Succession has the Number of Papists in your Majesty's Dominions so much increased within these few Years and so many been prevailed with to desert the true Protestant Religion That they might be prepared for the Favours of a Popish Prince as soon as he should come to the Possession of the Crown And while the same Expectation lasts many more will be in the same Danger of being perverted This it is that has hardned the Papists of this Kingdom animated and confederated by their Priests and Jesuits to make a common Purse provide Arms make Application to foreign Princes and solicit their Aid for imposing Popery upon us and all this during your Majesty's Reign and while your Majesty's Government and the Laws were our Protection It is your Majesty's Glory and true Interest to be the Head and Protector of all Protestants as well abroad as at home but if these Hopes remain What Alliances can be made for the Advantage of the Protestant Religion and Interest which shall give confidence to your Majesty's Allies to join so vigorously with your Majesty as the state of that Interest in the World now requires while they see this Protestant Kingdom in so much Danger of a Popish Successor by whom at the present all their Counsels and Actions may be eluded as hitherto they have been and by whom if he should succeed they are sure to â—e destroyed We have thus humbly laid before your Majesty some of those great Dangers and Mischiefs which evidently accompany the Expectation of a Popish Successor the certain and unspeakable Evils which will come upon your Majesty's Protestant Subjects and their Posterity if such a Prince should inherit are more also than we can well enumerate Our Religion which is now so dangerously shaken will then be totally overthrown nothing will be left or can be found to protect or defend it The Execution of old Laws must cease and it will be vain to expect new ones The most sacred Obligations of Contracts and Promises if any should be given that shall be judged to be against the Interest of the Romish Religion will be violated as is undeniable not only from Argument and Experience elsewhere but from the sad Experience this Nation once had upon the like Occasion In the Reign of such a Prince the Pope will be acknowledged Supreme though the Subjects of this Kingdom have sworn the contrary and all Causes either as Spiritual or in order to Spiritual Things will be brought under his Jurisdiction The Lives Liberties and Estates of all such Protestants as value their Souls and their Religion more than their secular Concernments will be adjudged Forfeited To all this we might add That it appears in the Discovery of the Plot that foreign Princes were invited to assist in securing the Crown to the Duke of York with Arguments from his great Zeal to establish Popery and to extirpate Protestants whom they call Hereticks out of his Dominions and such will expect performance accordingly We further humbly beseech your Majesty in your great Wisdom to consider Whether in case the Imperial Crown of this Protestant Kingdom should descend to the Duke of York the Opposition which may possibly be made to his possessing it may not only endanger the further Descent in the Royal Line but even Monarchy it self For these Reasons we are most humble Petitioners to your most Sacred Majesty that in tender Commiseration of your poor Protestant People â—â—ur Majesty will be graciously pleased to depart from the Reservation in your said Speech and when a Bill shall be tender'd to your Majesty in a Parliamentary Way to disable the Duke of York from inheriting the Crown your Majesty will give your Royal Assent thereto and as necessary to fortify and defend the same That your Majesty likewise will be graciously pleased to assent to an Act whereby your Majesty's Protestant Subjects may be enabled to associate themselves for the Defence of your Majesty's Person the Protestant Religion and the Security of your Kingdoms These Requests we are constrained humbly to make to your Majesty as of absolute Necessity for the safe and peaceable Enjoyment of our Religion Without these Things the Alliances of England will not be valuable nor the People encouraged to contribute to your Majesty's Service As some farther means both of our Religion and Property we are humble Suiters to your Majesty That from hence-forth such Persons only may be Judges within the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales as are Men of Ability Integrity and of known Affection to the Protestant Religion And that they may hold both their Offices and Salaries Quam diu bene se gesserint That several Deputy Lieutenants Justices of the Peace fitly qualified for those Employments having been of late displaced and others put in their Room who are Men of Arbitrary Principles and Countenancers of Papists and Popery such only may bear the Office of a Lord Lieutenant as are Persons of Integrity and known Affection to the Protestant Religion That Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace may be also so qualified and may be moreover Men of Ability of Estates and Interest in their Country That none may be imployed as military Officers or Officers in your Majesty's Fleet but Men of known Experience Courage and Affection to the Protestant Religion These our humble Requests being obtained we shall on our part be ready to assist your Majesty for the Preservation of Tangier and for putting your Majesty's Fleet into such a Condition as it may preserve your Majesty's Sovereignty of the Seas and be for the Defence of the Nation If your Majesty hath or shall make any necessary Alliances for defence of the Protestant Religion and Interest and Security of this Kingdom this House will be ready to assist and stand by your Majesty in the Support of the same After this our
sort of Vermine that are branded for infamous Rogues and so it is no great matter what they say but for the generality of Protestants they have received the Discovery of the Popish Plot with Hearts that were thankeful both to God and their Deliverers And let me tell you for all your Sneering that our sober Protestants are Men of as much Learning and Knowledge and as acute in Judgment as ever your Party were since the Usurpation of the Bishop of Rome Sit down and once in your Life time look like Men. Protestants are Men free from silly Superstition Men of a clearer and more noble Religion which inspires a clearer and a more Illuminated Reason that ever Popery could ever pretend to do and truly you and your Party must Imagine that the sence of the Protestant Party within these three Kingdoms was so stupid that they could not understand Truth from Fals-hood without the assistance of your gracious Vindication but Truly you had better have let the business alone for you and your Popish Crew have so weakly defended the Point of your Innocency that you have Spoiled your Cause but you have your Reward for the great peice of Service you did your selfe and Party and so good Night Mr. Innocency and let us heare what you have further to say to this Charge in hand why the World should not believe you and your Party guilty of carrying on that Horrid Design to Murder the King your Brother and subvert our Laws Liberties and Religion Obj. 2. You and your Papists used to say that it is not the Clamour of the Hainousness and Horrour of a crime impuâ—ed but the Guilt and cleare Conviction of a crime proved that renders Man accountable to Justice What a prâ—tty sort of an Irish Evasion you have found ouâ— One would think that Tom Jenner or Franck Wyâ—hens or old Robin Wright your famous Chief Justice had been teaching you some weak Rudiments of that little cunning they had to help you in the time of Need but whether they had or have not it s much alike to me let me aske you this one fair Question Did Coleman and the rest of those Traytors that suffered for that Conspiracy lie only under the single imputation of a Crime Were not some indicted fairly tryed fully heard and were not wanting to themselves in the least to make their Defence Nor did the Courts Judicatures want patience to heaâ— them and they were upon full Evidence Convicted and Condemned others impeached in Parliament by the Commons of England why sure Mr. Wise-acre you will not make this a single Imputation Nay I will appeal to Jack Carâ—yll himself if this be not many degrees beyond a single Imputation come Sir by your leave and the leave of Mrs. Pugg and his Welsh Highness it was no Clamour that prosecuâ—ed your Villaines but by a Proof allowed by all the Courts of Justice and by the High Authority of both Houses of Parliament bring but half so much proof of your Honesty for ought I know you may yet do mighty things for your Self and Party Obj. 3. That as Treason is the worst of Crimes so is the stain of Innocent Blood when shed by Perjury hard to be washed of Ans. I suppose you â—udge this to be a Peice of Newes I pray Sir was it not put into the last Paris Gazette or into your friend Dyers News Letter I suppose you thinke the Sons of Men here as ignorant as you and your Party have been foolish and Knavish but to put the Matter out of doubt you and your Crew say no thing but what all the World knowes already But where was â—your Proof of any Act of Perjury Committed its true you by your St. Omers Boyes did make three or four Attempts up on me and by a number of Whores and Rogues you battered at me twice and you were defeated and your forces fled to the place from whence they came in six or seven Years after when my Witnesses were Dead or durst not Appear and you having two Villanous Juries you made a fresh Attack Rallied all your Forces and then you carried your Point by the help of your four â—ambskin Rogues then sitting in the Kings Bench and you paid dear for it it cost you 3037 l. 9 s. 6 d. besides the Subornation Money old Hodge received to make him and his inferiour Bumms merry and for half the Money with such Judges and two such Juries a Man might have Convicted twenty Men of a far greater and better Reputation in the World then ever I could pretend too nevertheless I defie the worst of my Enemies to charge me with any hard Thing that was in my Power to have avoided But pray Sir what was my being in Town or my not being in Town in the Month of April or Irelands being in Town or not being in Twon in the Month of August 1678 to the whole Discovery of the Popish Plot though Truth of both those Points for which you like a Villain Suborned Witnesses against me so that I suffered the greatest Barbarities that ever were heard of or seen since the supposed Conquest What I say was all this to the purpose to Colemans Letters and those of the then Lord Berkshire that Confest upon his Death-Bed the whole Conspiracy therefore you and your Party shall not need to make such a stir about the Convicting of me of two pretended Perjuries but you might as well have Convicted me for being one of my Lord Mayor of Londons Coach Horses or Jack Gibbons for writing a Traytorous Letter against your Brother that was never blessed with the Gift of Writing and Reading in his whole Life time yet he was Accused upon Oath by some of your Suborned Crew and lay in Prison upon the said Accusation for six Months and you would have blessed the poor honest Man with a decent hanging had not the Villany of your self and Party been detected but as I said before so I say again I shall stand by the Truth of what I have Sworn to the last Minute of my Life and could you have brought five Parliaments to have owned and justified your Honesty and your keeping your Coronation Oath you took or should have taken you would not have been driven ouâ— of your native Country from the enjoyment of your Crown you acquired by the Murther of your own Brother to be a Fugitive and Vagabond as a just reward for all your Perjuâ—y and villanous Conspiracy against the Religion Laws and Liberties of these three Kingdoms Therefore you have no such Cause if the matter were well examined to make such a noise about Perjury and my being Convicted for Perjury nor nor Mr. Prate-apace your broken Colonel nor Mr. Wind and stink your Logger head of a Warden nor Dr. Tickle-pitcher his Name-sake no nor Mr. Pass-maker That was so lewd that he was capable of nothing but the Priesthood for being to bold with a certain Seal of a Friend of his when he
fair Story but upon Inquiry I find the Story as false as any thing can be true for they fled to the King your Father either to be Protected by him or to betray him as old Simkin says he did you but your Fathers Cause was bad enough and if they did go in to serve him it was like to like as the Devil said to the Collier but when they found his Interest sunk they like old Rats left the falling House and Contributed all they could good Men to hasten his blessed Memory out of the World and joined in heartily with those that Accomplished that Work yet your Party were Netled and say that it was impossible the Popish Plot should be true because there were so many Persons of Quality said to be concerned in it that had been most remarkable for their Loyalty to your Family what a mighty wonder is here that Persons of Quality should be engaged in a Plot. I would fain have you and your Ragged Mumping Ministry at St. Germains tell me when there was a Plot carried on without Persons of Quality for Persons of Quality are most capable by their Purses and Interests to head Parties and Factions in a Kingdom I pray when the French King offered to your sweet self the Aid of his Purse and Credit to carry on the mighty work that you had upon your Hands should you have slighted that generous offer of his and rather excepted of the offer of a Broommans Purse and Credit in Kent-street was not the French Kings Purse a longer Purse and his Quality somewhat greater I pray ask my Land-Lady when she hath rubb'd you down and see what an Answer she will give you come Sir methinks you should be able to answer this Question without making one silly Face at the business But if I should ask your Middleton or your Melfort or your Carryl or your Powis they would swear by my Gammer Powis's hump Back That Simnel's Plot and the Plot of Perkin was carried on by Persons of Quality against Henry the Seventh I pray ask your mighty Lewis Whether the Holy League against Henry the Third of France was not carried on by Persons of Quality And why might not your Popish Plot be managed as well by Persons of Quality as well as the Popish Plot against Henry the Third of France But since you are so full of your Wonders I will wonder too and that is That you and your Persons of Quality were not in a most decent manner hang'd the French King's Purse and Credit to the contrary notwithstanding O but they were Men of Vertue and Integrity and unblemished Reputation What their Reputation was I leave to the Nation that knew them and what yours among the rest all Europe knows But this is certain That a certain Popish Lord yet alive carried a Petition to the Lord Protector Cromwel signed by above Five hundred Noble men and Gentlemen in which they promised that great Man that if he would procure them the Toleration of their Religion by a Law they would for his sake cut the Family of the Stuarts off Root and Branch Now if this be Reputation or what Reputation it was for you while you was beyond Sea to be in a Plot against your Brother's Life I leave to betâ—â— Judgments Come my old Friend that you may not lose your Fee I wâ—ll give you the Point That your Popish Noble-men and Gentlemen were men of known Worth and Integrity truly then they were the more likely to be engaged in your Plot For such is the Nature of your Popish Bigottry and such is the infatuated Heat of its Professors and such the dread of their Conscience under the Charms of their Priesthood so pinching and terrible are the Chains of their Oaths such their inbred Enmity to Hereticks that the more Consciencious and Devout they are the more Religiously they believe themselves bound to conceal what-ever Designs are on foot for the Propagation of the Romish Interest and the Extirpation of Hereticks Obj. 6. You and your Party may plead farther and say The World was told of several Commissions granted out by the General of the Jesuites for all Sorts of Offices both Military and Civil but no treasonable Papers nor none of these Commissions could ever be seen Answ You have hit it now I suppose you will be quiet in your Mind and take an Answer that may become you to receive and me to give It was on the Thirteenth of August the Plot was discovered to the King your Brother 1678. and you and your Party had from the Thirteenth of August till the Twenty eigthth of September following to burn and consume all such Papers and Commissions as might affect any one of you and what you burnt of them you know best But Sir when Harcourt's Papers were seized there were no less than Six Commissions ready sealed with Blanks to fill up with what Names they pleased and they were bundled up with this Inscription R. H. and our Master's Blessing in Coleman's Papers above Sixty in Fenwick's Papers Four which were tied up in a Paper and called A Warr for a Buck and Ireland's Papers Two and the Seals that sealed them which were produced in Court Sir William Jones had some of them in keeping but because they were Blanks he made no other use of them than to perswade old Pious that there was a Design against his Life but your Brother had Sir Philip Lloyd that stifled all that he could lay his Hands upon them to oblige you and your everlasting Cut-throats And besides they not being Marked the Messengers that took them would not swear where they found them And this is another Reason why they were not made use of against the Jesuits What a Multitude of Cyphers Coleman Ireland Harcourt and Whitebread had was much Amazing to your Brother not that he was Amazed at their being in the Conspiracy but that they had not upon due Notice given them by your Brother and your self burnt them or otherways made away with them But found they were and between you and Floyd they were stifled in order to weaken the Proof of your Villanous Designs against the Life of your Brother and the Religion Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom You have your full Charge as to this Article of the Popish Plot and you have all that can be said on your behalf and the behalf of your Villanous Popish Party if there can be any more I suppose old Hodg with some of his inferior Bums and Scotch Robin will join their Forces together and muster up a Word of Information in order to your Vindication I pray let them come forth and they shall be heard for I challenge all and every of the Enemies of this Government to give the Lye to any Thing that is here inserted much more might have been said but it would fill a great Volume to tell of all your Villanies relating to this horrid Design of yours and Villains to destroy and