proper to begin in London or in the Country or both at one Instant To which it was said in the Country the Duke of Monmouth giving it as a Reason that it was impossible by a rude Rabble hastily got together to oppose a Formed Methodiz'd and well Governed Force and therefore whatsoever Numbers could be gathered in the City would be quickly suppressed before they could Form themselves that in the Country they might without the same fear they would be here Subject to and that being likewise remote from Town it would put the King on the Dilemma that he must send his Forces to Reduce them or not if he did the City was left nake would give them opportunity to Rise and come back upon the Kings Forces if not they might have time to form their Numbers and be better ordered it was further considered what Arms was necessary to be got and how disposed what Towns were most disposed to Action that it would be necessary to have a Common Bank of 25 or 30000l to answer the occasions of such an undertaking but the last and greatest was to draw in Scotland to consent with them which at the next meeting the same Persons being all Six there where at my Lord Russel's own House it was resolved some Persons should be sent to my Lord Argyle to settle an understanding with him and others to Scotland to invite some Persons hither who best understood the State and could give Account thereof the Persons agrreed were Sir John Cockram Lord Melvill and one Campbell and accordingly Aaron Smith was agreed to be sent and Colonel Sidney to take Care of the Affairs This was the Tenour of my Lord Howards Evidence which together with what was before repeated was the sum of what was proved against the Prisoner to which his Exceptions were first in general against the Evidence for that they were concerned in this matter by their own shewing and then particularly against my Lord Howard that before he came as a Witness against him he had declared to the Earl of Bedford in the hearing of my Lord Anglesey who Testified the same in the behalf of the Prisoner that the said Earl had a wise Son and a worthy Person one that could not be in such a Plot as the same was or suspected for it and that his Lordship might expect a good Issue in that Affair his Son being then Committed and that concerning him he knew nothing against him or any Body else The same words at another time spoken or the like Effect were Testified against him by Mr. Howard and Dr. Burnet to the same Purpose only adding some Imprecations his Lordship had made to confirm what he saâ—d to which objection my Lord Howard replyed That the Circumstances he was under obliged him to outface the matter Several other Witnesses were brought to prove the Prisoners Reputation and Sobriety of Life but the Evidence was so plain and undeniable against him and the Consequence so great that all good Men abhorred his Crime at the same time they had Compassion on his Circumstances and even then when by their Oaths and Consciences the Jury were bound to find him Guilty they pittied his Misfortunes I now proceed to the Tryal of Collonel Algernoon Sidney which tho the same doth not fall in order of time yet its necessary to give the Account thereof it being the close of the Evidence touching the main Plot who came to be Arraigned the 17th of November last and Tryed the 21th wherein I shall pretermit all such Testimony as was given in general and which is before touched previous to what most concerned him by West Rumsey and Keeling as also the former and introductory part of what my Lord Howard Testified which I have taken notice of in the preceeding Pages That which cheifly concerned the Prisoner was the two Meetings and Consultations afore mentioned at Mr. Hambdens and my Lord Russel's as also the business of Scotland debated in the latter to which Colonel Sidney propounded that he would take Care of the Person and that he had one in his thoughts and named Aaron Smith who was look't on as a Proper Person and was accordingly sent by him as he himself told the Lord Howard and that he gave him about 60 Guineys to supply his Charges and had received a Letter from him on his way to Newcastle A Second part of the Evidence against the prisoner were several Papers found in his House which were by three Witnesses proved to be of his own hand writing by Persons that were conversant with the same in which Papers there was a continued Thread of Argument laid down not in one single Proposition but a whole Series of Reasoning in which were these Positions That the King derives all his Power from the People That 't is Originally in the People and that the measure of Subjection must be Judged ly the Parliament and if the King does fall from doing his Duty the People will exact it And this he lays down as no ways prejudecial to him for says he The King may refuse the Crown if he do not like it on these Terms But if he does accept it he must expect the performance will be exacted or revenge taken by those he hath betrayed then he sets up an Objection and argues against it Ay! but shall the People Judg in their own Cause which he thus Answers it must be so for is not the King a Judg in his own Cause How can any Man else be tryed and Convicted of any Offence if the King may not be Judg in his own Cause for to Judg by a Mans self or his Deputy is the same thing and so a Crime against the King cannot be Punished and then he takes notice of it as a very absur'd Position the King should Judg in his own Cause and not the People That would be to say the Servant entertained by the Master should Judg the Master but the Master shall not Judg the Servant and after this sort of Argument he comes to this setled Position We may therefore says he change or take away Kings without breaking any Yoke or tho 't is made a Yoke the injury therefore is in imposing the Yoke and there can be none at all in breaking it But he goes on in the said Papers by way of Answer to an Objection that if there be no Injury yet there may be an Inconvenience if the beadless multitude should shake off the Yoke But says he I would fain know how the Multitude comes to be headless and there gives you instances in story and from Foreign Nations comes home to the English and tells you how all Rebellions in latter Ages have been headed and tells you the Parliament is the Head or the Nobility and Gentry that Compose it and when the King fails of his Duty the People may call it the Multitude therefore is never headless but they either find or create a Head so that upon the whole
Party and tell them they had other Work and then go with Long Boats and Arms and seize the Tower That Mr. Goodenough was acquainted therewith and approved thereof That Rouse went several times to view the Tower and took one Mate Lee with them which Mate directed them to Traytors Bridg and said it was an easie place and that he would undertake to do it with a 100 Men provided they had but Hand Granadoes That Mr. Rouse met in this Business with 2 Sea-Captains whom he said was to be Two of the Undertakers and that they were willing thereunto That Mr. Rouse was afterwards of Opinion for taking off the King and Duke both for then said he there 's no Man can have a Commission to fight for them and that he had been a Traveller and presumed to say That the King was Sworn in France and Spain to bring in Popery and Arbitrary Government in so many Years and therefore it was no Sin to take him off adding that he had it under his own Hand Mate Lee Testified That Mr. Rouse Asked him if he could not get some Seamen fit to make Commanders of Ships for says he with the Guard Ships at Deptford we must Secure the Tower and Whitehall both or we do nothing And besides this One Thomas Corbin Testified Tho the same did not more Affect the Prisoner then to show the Temper of the Villain That before the Oxford Parliament the said Mr. Rouse said he did foresee the same would be but a short Sessions but these frequent Dissolutions and Prorogations of Parliaments adds he will not avail the King for whatever he hath the Parliament had given him and might take it away when they pleased at which a Stander by bid him have a care what he said he replyed the King had forfeited His Crown and had no more Right to it then he had To all which Evidence against him the Prisoner he had no more to offer for himself but that as to the first Witness the Words that he Testified against him were not really said by him but first mentioned by the said Lee to him of all which he had not least matter of proof besides his own Assertion and indeed these matters did so Quadrate and Correspond with the Temper of the Prisoner that they were the more readily receptive of Credit which was made plain in the Corroborating Evidence of Corbin before mentioned so that the Jury presently gave in their Verdict of his Guilt And thus I have gone thro as intended the first and most Tremendous part of this Conspiracy which I shall Sum up in the Words of the late Lord Chief Justice now Sir Francis Pemberton at the end of Walcot 's Tryal This Design says he hath gone into other of the Kings Dominions and is to be feared is larger then the King knows 'T is time to Nip these Treasons when they are gone so far surely a more Barbarous was never thought of by Mankind We have had certainly as many Engagements to the King as any Subjects ever had to any Prince whatsoever He hath done as many Acts of Grace We have Lived as Peaceably as any People under a Prince can ever expect to do He hath shewed Himself with as much Kindness with as much Lenity even to His very Enemies as any Prince that we ever Read of The Preservation of our Religion and the Laws of the Kingdom our Laws and Libertees and all our Happiness depend as much upon His Life as they ever did upon the Life of any Prince or ever can do so that we ought all to be Concerned even to the last drop of our Blood to Preserve Him But how this Mischievous Design should enter into the Hearts of Men to Vndertake to Kill Him in such a Villanous and Barbarous manner may justly make us Astonished Thus far my Lord. Which brings me to the Second Part of this Design wherein the next Unfortunate and ill Advised Gentleman my Lord William Russell was too nearly Concerned who on the 13th of the said Month at the Old Baily aforesaid was Arraigned and Indicted of the same whereupon after his Lordship made a Challenge of the Jury for that they had not Free-hold in which Point his Lordship had his Councel allowed him upon the hearing of whom the Court was of Opinion That the same was no good Challenge in Case of Treason for that they had not Free-hold within the City But satisfied his Lordship that there was no Hardship in the Case the Reason of the Law for Free-holds being only to the Intent that no slight Persons should be upon the Jury where the Life of a Man or his Estate comes in Question But in the City the Persons that are Impanelled are Men of Quality and Estate and have much to lose therefore in Substance his Lordship had as much as if the Challenge had been allowed so that the Jury being called over after Exceptions made against Thirty One of them they proceeded to Read the Indictment and Call the Evidence The first of whom that I may not Interfere with what hath been before taken Notice of were Collonel Rumsey and Mr. Shepheard the substance of whose Testimony was That my Lord Russell was at the House of Mr. Shepheard when Collonel Rumsey brought the Message aforesaid from the Lord Shaftsbury about the Rising at Taunton that he heard the same and Approved of the Answer and that there was a Discourse of seeing what Posture the Guards were in which was to be done by the Duke of Monmouth Lord Gray and Sir Thomas Armstrong thus far Collonel Rumsey That at the same time a Declaration or some Papers purporting as much and setting forth the Grievances of the Nation were there Read by Mr. Ferguson but could not tell whether my Lord heard the same or was by when it was Read but that he was by when they Discoursed of Seizing the Guards so far Mr. Shepheard The next was my Lord Howard whose Testimony as it chiefly concerned the Second Branch of the Plot on which we now insist I shall pursue the same in its several Steps as it was by him Declared viz. That he was Acquainted with Captain Walcot and Introduced him into that of my Lord Shaftsbury where he soon gain'd a Confidence with the said Earl That Captain Walcot came to him and told him that the People were so sensible their Interest was going by the Violence offered to the City in their Elections that they would put a stop to it if possible That there were several Consults and Meetings about it and that they began to put themselves into a Posture to Act some had furnished themselves with good Horses which they kept in secret and blind Stables that divers intended it and he would Imbark in it and having an Estate in Ireland Ordered his Son to turn his Stock into Money to which End he sent his Son thither about August That the Fermentation growing higher and every Day seemd
nearer to Action That afterward going into the Country he received Letters from him wherein in a disguised Cant he gave him Notice that the Negotiation he had with his Correspondents was going on and in good Condition and earnestly desired him to come to Town This was about the middle of September That he came to Town on Michaelmas Day That Captain Walcot Dined with him the next where he told him that my Lord Shaftsbury was withdrawn from his House and tho he had absconded from divers others would willingly speak with him and for that purpose had sent him to him with whom he went and finding my Lord alone my Lord told him That however Innocent he was yet he and all Honest Men were unsafe so long as the Administration of Justice was in such Hands as would Accommodate all things to the Humour of the Court That in the sence hereof he Retired and that he did not doubt Affairs were so ripened and things so prepared but that he would be able by those Men that were in readiness in London to stop the Torrent but complain'd The Design was much retarded by the Deportment of the D. of Monmouth and the Lord Russell who had withdrawn from his Assistance and their own Engagements for that when he had got such a formed Force as he had in London they told him the Country was not prepared to Concur with him which he lookt on as an Excuse and an Instance of their Intentions to desert him That if they would lose the Honour of it he would do it himself To which the Lord Howard Asked him what Forces he had his Answer was he was Assured of Ten Thousand Brisk Boys who would follow him on holding up his Finger and that they would possess themselves of the Gates and these Ten Thousand in Twenty Four Hours would be Multiplied into Fifty Thousand and be able to Sally out and Possess themselves of Whitehall by Beating the Guards That he was certain of the Undertakement but Confessed it a great Disappointment that the Lords had sailed him That he did Consent with some Perswasions that the Witness should speak to those Lords but added He would find they would wave it or give deferring Answers That accordingly my Lord Howard went to the D. of Monmouth and told him the Earls Complaint That the D. told him he thought the Earl Mad and that he was so far from Encouraging him that he told him from the beginning and so did my Lord Russell that there was no good to be done then in the Country That he Asked the D. whether he was willing to Meet who told him with all his Heart That he did go back to my Lord Shaftsbury and told him what the D. had said to which my Lord replyed 't was False and that they were afraid to own it adding he had reason to believe there was some Bargain between the Father and Son to save one another for when he had brought him to Action he could never get him to put on That they had different Prospects that he was for his Personal Interest but his People as he termed them was for a Common-Wealth That an Interview between them would but widen the Breach and that he dared not trust him That his Friends were gone so far they could not retreat for that it was Communicated to so many it would take Air But that their Party was Brisk and that they had a Thousand or Fifteen Hundred Horse who would be able to Scour the Streets and hinder them from Forming a Force against them But no Interview wou'd be admitted only he added that he might let them know what forwardness he was in and that if they would Correspond with him they might or he would go on without them Which Message the Lord Howard carried back to the Duke and at length obtained their Consents to a Meeting which with much adoe the Earl consented to but the time appointed was put off apprehending himself in some Danger That after this he did not see the Earl but heard that my Lord Russell had and that they had put off the Rising for a Fortnight on Condition that those Lords and several others should be prepared to Raise the Country at that time This was told him by the D. of Monmouth who added That they must be now in Action for that there was no holding it off longer and that he had been at Wapping all Night and never saw a Company of Bolder Brisker Fellows in his Life and that he had been round the Tower and seen the Avenues thereof and that it would not be difficult to make themselves Masters thereof in a short time that he thought it would have come to Action but that the Duke afterwards told him the Gentlemen in the Country would not stir hereupon they were in a great hurry and Captain Walcot came several times to him and Discoursed thereof saying It was a Dishonour of the Lords they were backwards to perform their Parts but they resolved notwithstanding to go on and That they were resolved to Rise and believed that a smart Party might perhaps meet with some great Men That he acquainted the Duke herewith and that there was some darke intimation as if there might some attempt be made on the Kings Person at which the Duke in a Passion struck his Breast and cryed out God soe Kill the King I le ne're suffer that and hereupon went to the Playhouse to find out Sir Thomas Armstrong to send him about the City to put it off That the day the King came from Newmarket several of the Conspirators Dined in the City where a Notion was conveyed about that some bold Action would be done that Day and comparing it with the Kings coming home thought it might be upon him That my Lord Grey hereupon swore that if the same was attempted it could not fail but His Majesties safe Arrivel put by the Expectation and what was next Determined was the Rising on the 17th of November But the Proclamation against Bonfires then coming out fearing the same was discovered it was put off all which my Lord Shaftsbury taking notice of took Shipping and went away That afterwards fearing a Discovery the same having so far spread it self it was thought that it would not be safe to retreat and withal considered that an Affair of this Weight consisting of of such infinite particulars it would be very necessary That there should be one general Councel that should take upon them the care of the whole upon these Thoughts a Cabal was Erected amongst themselves which consisted of Six Persons who were the Duke of Monmouth the Earl of Essex the Lord Russel Mr. Hampden Junior Algernoon Sidny Esq and the Lord Howard That about the middle of January all these Parties met at Mr. Hambdens House where it was agreed their Province was to take care of the whole the things to be thereby considered of were agreed to be whether the Insurrection was most