of hard measure and injustice yet if I have not full time to bring my Records and Witnesses altogether I cannot make my Defence Some were there then some afar off so that it was a miracle that in six or seven Counties they could do so much as they did But they got in seven or eight of them yet there were five or six wanting Therefore I beseech your Lordship that I may have time to bring my Records and Witnesses and then I will defie all that is upon the Earth and under the Earth to say any thing against me L. C. J. Look you Mr. Plunket 't is in vain for you to talk and make this discourse here now you must know that by the Laws of this Kingdom when a man is indicted and arraigned of Treason or Felony 't is not usual to give such time 't is rare that any man hath had such time as you have had five weeks time to provide your Witnesses If your Witnesses are so cautions and are such persons that they dare not or will not venture for fear of being apprehended or will not come into England without such and such cautions we cannot tell how to help it we can't furnish you with Witnesses you must look to get your Witnesses your self if we should stay till your Witnesses will come perhaps they will never come here and so you will escape out of the hands of Justice Do not be discouraged in this the Jury are strangers to you peradventure but they are honest Gentlemen and you shall have no other upon your Jury and you may be confident that if there be not some Fact proved against you that may amount to Treason you shall be discharged they are persons that understand so much and we will direct them so much You shall have as fair a Tryal as if you were in Ireland but for us to stay for your Witnesses or send you back to Ireland we cannot do it Therefore you must submit to your Tryal We heard your Affidavit yesterday and we did then tell the Gentlemen that moved it as much as we tell you You are here to be tried look to the Jury as they are called and except against them if you will Plunk My Lord I desire only to have the favour of time some time this Term. L. C. J. We can't do it Cl. of Cr. Swear Sir John Roberts Plunk I humbly present this to your Lordship I am then in eminent danger of my Life if I cannot get ten days to have my Witnesses over I desire I may have but to the 21th of this month and then if they do not come you may go on L. C. J. We cannot do it you have had five weeks time already Plunk I desire but a few days Cryer Sir John Roberts take the Book look upon the Prisoner You shall well and truly try c. Plunket My Lord I desire to know whether they have been of the Juries of Langhorn or the Five Jesuits or any that were condemned L. C. J. What if they have that is no exception Then the Jury was sworn whose Names follow Sir John Roberts Thomas Harriot Henry Ashurst Ralph Bucknall Richard Gowre Richard Pagett Thomas Earsby John Hayne Thomas Hodgkins James Partherich Samuel Baker William Hardy Cl. of Cr. Oliver Plunket hold up thy Hand You of the Jury look upon the Prisoner and hearken to his Charge HE stands indicted by the Name of Oliver Plunket late of Westminster in the County of Middlesex Dr. of Divinity for that he as a false Traytor against the most Illustrious and most Excellent Prince our Sovereign Lord Charles the second by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King and his natural Lord the fear of God in his heart not having nor weighing the duty of his Allegiance but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil the cordial Love and true and due natural Obedience which true and faithful Subjects of our Said Sovereign Lord the King towards him our said Sovereign Lord the King do and of right ought to bear utterly withdrawing and contriving and with all his might intending the Peace and common Tranquillity within the Kingdom of Ireland as also of this Kingdom of England to disturb and War and Rebellion against our said Sovereign Lord the King in the Kingdom of Ireland then being the Dominion of our said Sovereign Lord the King in parts beyond this Seas to stir up and move and the Government of our said Sovereign Lord the King there to subvert and our said Sovereign Lord the King from his Regal Power Government there to Depose and Deprive and our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is to Death and final Destruction to bring and put and the true Worship of God within the said Kingdom of Ireland by Law established and used to alter to the Superstition of the Romish Church the first day of December in the year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second now King of England c. the 32th and divers other days and times as well before as after at Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland in parts beyond the Seas with divers other false Traytors unknown traiterously did compass imagine and intend the killing Death and final Destruction of our said Sovereign Lord the King and the antient Government of his said Kingdom of Ireland to change alter and wholly to subvert and him our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is from the Crown Government of his Kingdom of Ireland aforesaid to depose deprive and the true Protestant Religion to extirpate and War and Rebellion against our said Sovereign Lord the King there to move and levy And to fulfil and accomplish his said most wicked Treasons and Traiterous compassings imaginations and purposes aforesaid he the said Oliver Plunket the said first day of December in the abovesaid 32th Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is with Force and Arms c. at Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland then being the Dominion of our said Sovereign Lord the King in parts beyond the Seas maliciously devilishly and traiterously did assemble and gather together himself with divers other Traitors unknown and then and there devilishly advisedly maliciously subtilly and traterously did consult and agree our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is to Death and final Destruction to bring and from his Crown and Government aforesaid to depose and deprive and the Religion of the Romish Church into the Kingdom of Ireland aforesaid to introduce and establish and the sooner to fulfil and perfect his said most wicked Treasons and traitorous imaginations and purposes he the said Oliver Plunket with divers other false Traitors unknown then and there advisedly maliciously and traiterously did further consult and agree to contribute pay and expend divers great Sums of Mony to divers Subjects of our said Sovereign Lord the King and other persons unknown to procure
them the said persons unknown our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is traiterously to kill and the Romish Religion into the said Kingdom of Ireland to introduce and establish And that he the said Oliver Plunket and other Traitors unknown afterwards to wit the said first day of December in the two and thirtieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord the King abovesaid at Dublin aforesaid in the Kingdom of Ireland aforesaid within the Dominion of our said Sovereign Lord the King with Force and Arms c. unlawfully maliciously devilishly and traiterously did receive collect pay and expend divers great Sums of Mony to divers persons unknown to persuade and induce divers other persons also unknown the said false Traytors in their said Treasons to help and maintaintain against the Duty of his Allegiance and against the Peace of our said Sovereign Lord the King that now is his Crown and Dignity and against the form of the Statutes in that Case made and provided To this Indictment he hath pleaded Not Guilty Mr. Heath May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury This is an Indictment of High-Treason against Dr. Oliver Plunket the Prisoner at the Bar and it sets forth that in the 32th Year of the King at Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland he did compass and imagine the Death of the King and to deprive the King of his Kingdom of Ireland and to raise War to extirpate the Protestant Religion in the Kingdom of Ireland and to establish the Romish Religion there And it sets forth further That for the accomplishment of these Treasons the Defendant with several others did meet together at several places at Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland and elsewhere and at these several meetings did consult and agree to put the King to Death to raise War to extirpate the Protestant Religion and set up the Romish Religion And the Indictment further sets forth that to accomplish these Treasons the Defendent did raise great Sums of Mony in the Kingdom of Ireland and did get several persons to contribute several Sums for these Treasons and that the Defendent with others did disburse several Sums of Mony to several persons to persuade them and entice them to be aiding and assisting in these Treasons and to recompence them for them To this Indictment the Defendent hath pleaded Not Guilty If we prove these things you are to find him Guilty Mr. Serj. Maynard My Lord we will quickly come to the Evidence But in short You have heard his Charge is as high as can be against the King and against the Nation and against all that is good The Design and Endeavour of this Gentleman was the Death of the King the Destruction of the Protestant Religion in Ireland and the raising of War And to accomplish this we charge him that there was a Confederacy made Assemblies and Consultations had to these ends and raising Mony to accomplish it Gentlemen Dr. Plunket was made as we shall prove to you as they there call him Primate of Ireland and he got that Dignity from the Pope upon this very Design He did by Vertue of that Power which he thought he had gotten make out Warrants Significations I know not what they call them to know how many men in Ireland could bear Arms from sixteen to forty he raises Taxes upon the People and the Clergy there But my Lord the particulars will best fall from the Witnesses that we shall call and prove it by and we need not make any aggravation for such a thing as this cannot be more aggravated than ' t is Mr. Att. Gen. May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury the Character this Gentleman bears as Primate under a Foreign and usurped Jurisdiction will be a great inducement to you to give credit to that Evidence we shall produce before you We shall prove that this very Preferment was confer'd upon him upon a Contract that he should raise 60000 men in Ireland for the Pope's Service to settle Popery there and to subvert the Government The Evidence that we shall give you will prove how it leads to destroy the King and I take it according to the resolutions that have been to raise War in the Kingdom and to introduce a Foreign Power will be certainly Evidence of an Attempt and Machination to destroy the King Assoon as he was in possession of his Primacy he goes about his work There are two great necessaries to be provided Men and Money For men having this great spiritual Jurisdiction whereby indeed all that are under it are become Slaves he issues out his Warrants to all the Clergy of Ireland to give an account and make return from the several Parishes of all the men in them above fourteen and under sixty And Returns were accordingly made by them that he might accordingly take a measure what men to pick out for the Service The next thing was Money my Lord and your Lordship takes notice that when the Mind is enslaved the Purse nay all the Body bows to it He issues out his Warrants to his Clergy to make a Collection of Mony in all parts great Sums were levied and when they were levied we shall give you an accompt by our Proofs that several Sums were issued out and sent into France to further the business There was also provision made of great Ammunition and Arms and we shall prove in particular several delivered out by this Gentleman's Order to carry on this thing and to go through stitch with this business he takes a view of all the several Ports and places in Ireland where it would be convenient to land for they were to have from France an Auxiliary Force and upon his view he pitched upon Carlingford as the place We shall prove the several Correspondencies between Rome and him and France and him and several Messengers imployed and Monies issued out from time to time for their maintenance This will be the course of our Evidence and we shall begin first with some that do not speak so particularly to this Doctor but prove there was a general Design in all parts of the Kingdom of Ireland to bring in the King of France and extirpate the Protestant Religion And then we shall call the particular persons to the particular Facts against him First we call Florence Wyer Who was sworn Mr. Sol. Gen. Are your sworn Sir Wyer Yes Sir Mr. Sol. Gen. Pray give the Court and the Jury an account of what you know of any Plot in Ireland to introduce the Romish Religion or to bring in the French King Wyer Yes I know there was a Plot both before Plunket's time and in his time for it was working in the years 65. and 66. but it was brought to full maturitie in the Year 1667. For then Col. Miles Rely and Col. Bourne was sent to Ireland from the King of France with a Commission to muster as many men as he could promising to
in Ireland to introduce the Popish Religion O Neal. In August 78 Bishop Tirril came with 40 odd Horse-men to Vicar-General Brady's house and alighted at the door and he gave them there an Oath which they took willingly and freely from hand to hand to forward the Popish Plot against the Protestant Religion to make an end of them all in one hour from end to end in Ireland and said he I will come within two days with an Order from the Lord Oliver Plunket and you need not be afraid for the Lord Oliver Plunket and I have sent some Gold and Mony into France to get men and bring them from France over Sea and do not fear this will go on in one hour through all Ireland from end to end In September 78 a little while after the same meeting was in a place which they call Virginia in the County of Connaght where they took a Priest he is here and he was with me and desired me to come up to Dublin and discover this and there I did discover it to Sir John Davis which is all that I can say for this Plunket I never saw him in my life Mr. Jones You were a Papist then O Neal. Yes I was Mr. Jones Are you a Roman-Catholick still O Neal. Yes I am Mr. Jones And were you acquainted with all these Orders O Neal. Yes L. C. J. How came you to know of this Oath O Neal. I was in the house with them I was concerned to take my Oath with them and I durst not but take the Oath L. C. J. Had you the Oath of Secresie given you O Neal. Yes and so this Priest commanded me to go along to Dublin and discover it Mr. Serj. Jeff. What is his name O. Neal. John Macklegh Sir Fr. With. Do you know of any other transactions about the Plot O Neal. No I will not swear for all the World more than I know Sir Fr. With. Then call Neal O Neal. who was sworn What do you know of any design carrying on in Ireland against the Government and the Protestant Religion N. O Neal. I will tell you all I know I was at Vicar Bradey's house the 21. of August L. C. J. What year N. O Neal. 78. And Bishop Tirril came with 40 Horsemen to the house and went into the house and discoursed a little while and they took their Oaths every one round to keep secret the Plot to destroy the Protestant Religion and the Protestants that they might have their Estates again And he said they did not need to fear for said he you have a very good man to assist you and that is the Lord Oliver Plunket and you need not fear but it will go through all Ireland Mr. At. Gen. Will you ask him any questions Plunket Why did not he discover it before Mr. Serj. Jeff. Were you a Roman-Catholick at that time N. O Neal. Yes and I am so still Mr. Paget Jury-man I desire he may be asked how he came to be there L. C. J. You say I think this was at Vicar-general Bradey's how came you to be there N. O Neal. I was there several times before that for my Nurse or my Foster-mother I don't know which you may understand best was House-keeper to him L. C. J. Were you required to take the Oath N. O Neal. No my Lord I was acquainted in the House I had been there two or three weeks before Plunket Why did not you tell it to some Justice of the Peace L. C. J. He was a Papist and so he is now N. O Neal. There were many that were wiser than I that did not discover it L. C. J. How old are you N. O Neal. I believe about two and twenty years old L. C. J. And this was but in 78. Mr. Att. Gen. Swear Owen Murfey which was done Come what say you O. Murfey Mr. Edmond Murfey discovered the Plot he went to one Lieutenant Baker and did discover the Plot to him that there was a design to bring in the French L. C. J. Speak out aloud I can't hear you O Murf. All I know is from Mr. Edmond-Murfey L. C. J. What do you know of any of your own knowledge O Murf. Mr. Lieutenant Baker told me that he did hear of the French L. C. J. Speak what you know your self O Murf. If it please your Lordship this is more I saw that Evidence that Edmond Murfey did produce in Ireland when he was sent to the Gaol there but without Trial or any thing Mr. Att. Gen. Then swear Hugh Duffy which was done Speak aloud and tell my Lord what you know of this Plot and the Prisoner You know the Prisoner don't you Duffy I know him yes I know him well enough L. C. J. What say you more of him Duffy My Lord I say I have seen this Dr. Oliver Plunket raising several sums of mony to carry on this Plot sometimes 10 s. per Ann. sometimes 20. Mr. Sol. Gen. Of whom Duffy Of all the Priests in Ireland of every Priest according to his Pension and Parish L. C. J. In all Ireland Duffy Yes L. C. J. And towards the proceedings of the Plot Duffy It was to give to his Agent which was at Rome and for the carrying on the business Mr. Att. Gen. How come you to know this Duffy I was Servant to Dr Duffy who was infinitely beloved by this man he was Father Confessor to the Queen of Spain there was nothing that happened between them but I was by all the time L. C. J. Were you Chaplain to him Duffy Yes L. C. J. You are a Papist then Duffy Yes Mr. Att. Gen. This is a Friar my Lord. L. C. J. Were you in the company with them Duffy Yes I was L. C. J. What did pass there Duffy About the Plot how they could confirm the Plot And this man Plunket said he could prevail with the King of France and the other with the King of Spain Mr. Att. Gen. Pray acquaint my Lord particularly when this was and in what place and what they said Duff It was in 73 74 and 75 at his own house and at he kept 3 or 4 Jesuits there and a matter of a hundred Priests Mr. Att. Gen. What passed in the company L. C. J. Who else was there Duffy The discourse my Lord was always about the Plot how they could contrive the matter between them and so they did conclude afterwards to raise so much Mony upon several Priests all the Priests in Ireland sometimes 20 s. sometimes 40. L. C. J. Apiece do you mean Duffy Yes Mr. Att. Gen. What discourse had they about the French at any time Duffy Yes a hundred times he talked several times that he did not question but he should prevail with the King of France not to invade Spain And I have seen his Letter to Cardinal Bouillon to expostulate with him about the King of France why he should wage War with the King of Spain who was a Catholick but
would see they must come between the narrow Seas all along to Vlster and the Rocks and such places would make it very dangerous and by their own confession it was a poor Town and of no strength a very small Garrison which had not been so if it had been a place of any consideration And whereas I had Influence only upon one Province as is well known though I had the Title of Primate of all Ireland as the Archbishop of Canterbury hath of all England yet the Arch Bishop of York will not permit him to meddle with his Province and 't is well known by the Gentry there and those that are accustomed to the place That in all the Province of Vlster take Men Women and Children of the Roman Catholicks they could not make up seventy Thousand This a Jury there my Lord had known very well and therefore the Laws of England which are very favourable to the Prisoner have provided that there should be a Jury of the place where the Fact was committed as Sir Thomas Gascoine as I have heard had a Yorkshire Jury though he was tryed at London And then after my coming here I was kept close Prisoner for six Months not any Christian was permitted to come at me nor did I know any thing how things stood in the World I was brought here the third of May to be arraigned and I did petition your Lordship to have some time for my Tryal and I would have had it put off till Michaelmass but your Lordships did not think sit to grant so long but only till the eighth of this month when my Witnesses who were ready at the Sea side would not come over without Passes and I could not get over the Records without an Order from hence which Records would have shewn that some of the Witnesses were indicted and found guilty of high Crimes some were imprisoned for Robberies and some of the Witnesses were infamous people so I petitioned the eighth of this month that I might have time but for twelve days more but your Lordship thought when the motion was made that it was only to put off the Trial and now my Witnesses are come to Coventry yesterday morning and they will be here in a few days and so for want of time to defend my self in I was exposed to my Adversaries who were some of my own Clergy whom for their debauched Lives I have corrected as it is well known there I will not deny my self but that as long as there was any Toleration and Connivance I did execute the Function of a Bishop and that by the second of Elizabeth is only a Premunire and no Treason So that my Lord I was exposed defenceless to my Enemies whereas now my Witnesses are come that could make all appear I did beg for twelve days time whereby you might have seen as plain as the Sun what those Witnesses are that began the Story and say these things against me And my Lord for those Depositions of the seventy thousand Men and the Monies that are collected of the Clergy in Ireland they cannot be true for they are a poor Clergy that have no Revenue nor Land they live as the Presbyterians do here there is not a Priest in all Ireland that hath certainly or uncertainly above threescore pounds a year and that I should collect of them forty shillings a piece for the raising of an Army or for the Landing of the French at Carlingford if it had been brought before a Jury in Ireland it would have been thought a meer Romance If they had accused me of a Proemunire for the exercise of my Episcopal Function perhaps they had said something that might have been believed but my Lord as I am a dying man and hope for Salvation by my Lord and Saviour I am not guilty of one point of Treason they have swore against me no more than the Child that was born but yesterday I have an Attestation under my Lord of Essex's hand concerning my good Behaviour in Ireland and not only from him but from my Lord Berkley who was also Governour there which the Kings Attorney saw But here I was brought here I was tried and having not time to bring my Witnesses I could not prove my Innocency as otherwise I might So that if there be any Case in the World that deserves Compassion surely my Case does and 't is such a rare Case as I believe you will not find two of them in print that one arraigned in Ireland should be tried here afterwards for the same Fact My Lord if there be any thing in the World that deserves pity this does for I can say as I hope for mercy I was never guilty of any one point they have swore against me and if my Petition for time had been granted I could have shewn how all was prepense Malice against me and have produced all Circumstances that could make out the Innocency of a person But not having had time and being tried I am at your mercy L. C. J. Well you have nothing further to say in Bar of Judgment you have said all you can Plunk I have nothing further to say but what I have said Then Proclamation was made for silence while Judgement was passing upon the Prisoner L. C. J. Look you Mr. Plunket You have been here indicted of a very great and hainous Crime the greatest and most hainous of all Crimes and that is High Treason and truly yours is a Treason of the highest nature 't is a Treason in truth against God an your King and the Country where you lived You have done as much as you could to dishonour God in this case for the bottom of your Treason was the seting up your false Religion than which there is not any thing more displeasing to God or more pernicious to mankind in the World a Religion that is ten times worse than all the Heathenish Superstitions the most dishonourable and derogatory to God and his Glory of all Religions or pretended Religions whatsoever for it undertakes to dispense with Gods Laws and to pardon the breach of them So that certainly a greater Crime there cannot be committed against God than for a man to endeavour the Propagation of that Religion but you to effect this have designed the Death of your lawful Prince and King And then your design of Blood in the Kingdom where you lived to set all together by the ears to destroy poor innocent people to prostitute their Lives and Liberties and all that is dear to them to the Tyranny of Rome and France and that by introducing a French Army What greater evil can be designed by any man I mention these things because they have all been fully proved against your and that you may take notice and repent of them and make your peace with God by a particular Application for Mercy for all these Faults For it seems to me that against God your Prince and fellow Subjects you have behaved
THE TRYAL AND CONDEMNATION OF D r OLIVER PLUNKET Titular PRIMATE of IRELAND FOR HIGH-TREASON At the Barr of the Court of King's Bench at Westminster in Trinity Term 1681. I do appoint Francis Tyton and Thomas Basset to Print the Tryal of Oliver Plunket Fr. Pemberton DUBLIN Printed by Joseph Ray at Colledge-Green for Eliphal Dobson Bookseller on Cork-hill 1681. The TRYAL and CONDEMNATION of Dr. OLIVER PLUNKET Titular Primate of IRELAND THE Third of May 1681. in Easter 33. Carol. Secund. Reg. Dr. Oliver Plunket was arraigned at the Kings-Bench Bar for High Treason for endeavouring and compassing the Kings Death and to levy War in Ireland and to alter the Religion there and to introduce a foreign Power and at his Arraignment before his Plea he urged for himself that he was indicted of the same High Treason in Ireland and arraigned and at the day for his Tryal the Witnesses against him did not appear and therefore he desired to know if he could be tried here for the same Fact The Court told him that by a Statute made in this Kingdom he might be tried in the Court of Kings-Bench or by Commission of Oyer and Terminer in any part of England for Facts arising in Ireland and that his Arraignment there he being never tried upon it was not sufficient to exempt him from being tried here because till a Tryal be passed and there be a Conviction or Acquittal thereupon an Arraignment barely is no Plea For in such Cases the party is not put twice in danger of his Life which only is the thing the Law in such Cases looks after to prevent He then desired time for his Witnesses which they told him he could not do till after Plea pleaded whereupon he pleaded Not Guilty and put himself upon the Country for his Tryal and after some consideration had about time to be allowed him to bring his Witnesses from Ireland the Court appointed the day for his Tryal to be the first Wednesday in next Term which was full Five weeks time And accordingly on Wednesday the 8th of June in Trinity Term he was brought to his Tryal and Proclamation as in such Cases is usual being made it proceeded thus Clerk of Crown Oliver Plunket hold up thy Hand those good men which thou shalt hear called and personally appear are to pass between c. Plunket May it please your Lordship I have been kept close Prisoner for a long time a year and an half in Prison when I came from Ireland hither I was told by persons of good repute and a Counsellour at Law that I could not be tried here and the reasons they gave me were that first the Statute of Hen. 8. and all other Statutes made here were not received in Ireland unless there were an express mention made of Ireland in them So that none were received there but such as were before Poyning's Act. So I came with that perswasion that I could not be tried here till at my Arraignment your Lordships told me it was not so and that I must be tried here though there was no express mention made of Ireland Now my Lord upon that whereas my Witnesses were in Ireland and I knew nothing of it and the Records upon which I very much relye were in Ireland your Lordship was pleased to give me time from the 4th of the last month to this day and in the mean time as your Lordship had the Affidavit here yesterday and as Captain Richardson can testifie have not dispatched only one but two to Ireland into the Counties of Armagh Dublin c. and where there were Records very material to my Defence but the Clerk of the Crown would not give me any Copy of any Record at all unless he had some express Order from your Lordship So that whether it were that they were mistaken or wilfully refused I could not get the Records which were very material for me For in some of those Records some of these that accuse me were convicted of high Crimes and others were Outlawed and Imprisoned and broke Prison and there were other Records also of Excommunication against some of them and I could not get the Records unless your Lordship would instruct me in some way or other how I can get over them that are most material for my Defence The Servants that I sent hence and took Shipping for Ireland were two days at Sea and cast back again and from thence were forced to go to Holly Head and from Holly Head in going to Dublin they were thirteen or fourteen days the Winds were so contrary and then my Servant went about to go into the County of Armagh and Derry that were a Hundred miles from Dublin and Meath and other places so that in so short a time my Lord it was morally impossible for them to have brought the Witnesses over and those that were ready to have come would not stir at all unless they had a Pass from hence because some of them were Roman Catholicks and they had heard that here some were taken Prisoners that were Roman Catholicks and that none ought to come without a Pass and they being Witnesses against the King they might be clapped up here and brought into very ill condition so they sent one over that made Affidavit L. C. J. It was the Affidavit was read here yesterday Plunket So that my Lord I conceive your Lordship will think I did it not out of any intent to put off my Tryal for Captain Richardson is here who knows that I writ by the Post and desired them to come with the Pacquet-Boat and they writ over to the Captain after they were landed so that I depended upon the Wind and the Weather for my Witnesses and wanted your Lordships Order for the Records to be brought over and that their Examination might be brought into Court and their own original Examination here might be compared with it So I humbly beg your Lordships favour the Case is rare and scarce happens in five hundred years that one should be in my circumstances I am come here where no Jury knows me nor the Quality of my Adversaries If I had been in Ireland I would have put my self upon my Tryal to morrow without any Witnesses before any Protestant Jury that knew them and me And when the Orders went over that I should be tried in Ireland and that no Roman Catholick should be upon the Jury and so it was in both the Grand and other Jury yet then when I came to my Tryal after I was arraigned not one appeared This is manifest upon the Record and can be proved L. C. J. There was no Prosecution of you there Plunket But my Lord here is no Jury that knows me or the quality of my Adversaries for they are not a Jury of the Neighbourhood that know them and therefore my Case is not the same with other Cases Though I cannot harbour nor do not nor will not nor ought not the least conceipt
you understood it by himself Murf. I received Letters from the Vicar General to get so much mony collected and assoon as I got the Letters to my hands I sent them to a Privy Councellor L. C. J. Do you not know that he was ingaged to assist the French Army Murf. I do not know that by him but by others Mr. Just Dolben Did you ever discourse with him about it Murf. I did discourse with him about several matters Mr. Just Dolb. About the French Army Murfey Yes L. C. J. Do you know that he did endeavour to bring them into Ireland Murf. I had a Correspondence in France at the same time L. C. J. With whom Murf. With one Mac Carty L. C. J. And do you know that he had correspondence in France Murf. Yes I know that Mr. Just Dolb. With whom had Plunket correspondence in France Murf. He had correspondence with Dr. Cray and others in France as I understood by others Mr. Just Dolb. Was the end of that correspondence to bring men from France into Ireland Murf. Yes so far as I understand Mr. Just Dolb. You understood the Letters when you read them did you not Murf. I know not how these people come to swear this business whether they had not malice against him Mr. Att. Gen. Well Sir pray give you your Evidence we will take care of the rest Mr. Just Dolb. I reckon this man hath given the best Evidence that can be L. C. J. Yes it is Evidence that the Catholicks have been tampering with him Mr. Serj. Jeff. I desire he may be committed my Lord because he hath fenced from the beginning which was done accordingly Mr. Att. Gen. Swear John Mac Legh which was done Sir Fran. Wyth Tell my Lord and the Jury what you know of any Plot in Ireland to bring in the French Mac Legh I was a Parish Priest in Ireland in the County of Monaghan and Dr. Oliver Plunket received several Sums of mony in Ireland and especially in the Diocess where I am I raised some of it and paid him 40 s. at one time and 30 s. another time in the year 74 I paid him 40 s. in the year 75 I paid him 50 s. and it was about July and it was for the better advancement of the French coming in Mr. Jones Did he tell you that the mony was to be employ'd that way Mac Legh Yes that the mony was to be kept for Arms and Amunition for the Roman Catholicks in Ireland L. C. J. Before you paid it did you receive any Order from him Mac Legh Yes I received an Order sub poena suspensionis and there was a publick Order throughout Ireland or we would not pay it nay several would not pay it and they were to be suspended Plunk Can you shew any of the Orders under my Hand Mac Legh Yes I can shew them but only they are afar off I did not expect to have them asked for Plunk Have you no Superiors of your own Mac Legh Yes but you being Lord Primate you could suspend Bishops and inferiour Clergy together Plunk When was this Mac Legh In the years 74 and 75. Plunk What is the reason you kept it secret all this while Mac Legh In the year 77 I did discover it to one Mr. O Neal who I sent to Dublin to discover this Plot. I was in France my self my Lord. Plunk How many years is it since you returned from France Mac Legh In May in the year 78. Plunk Why did you not speak all this while till now Mac Legh I did send one Mr. Henry O Neal to Dublin for I durst not go lest I should have been suspended and excommunicated Mr. Att. Gen. This is the Priest that Henry O Neal speaks of L. C. J. Is not this a very good reason if he had come to Dublin to discover you would have suspended him Plunk But my Lord then he might have shewn my Suspension and brought me into a Premunire Mr. Serj. Jeff. If you please Doctor let us who are for the King have done with him first I would ask you another Question Sir were you at one Vicar Bradeys House Mac Legh Yes I was Mr. Att. Gen. Tell what was done there Mac Legh There was Bishop Tyrrel came there with 40 Horsemen well mounted and armed he came into the House about 10. in the morning and staid till about 11 at night I was very much among them and was as willing to be of the Plot as themselves Mr. Att. Gen. Tell what was done there Mac Legh There Bishop Tyrrel said that he had order from Dr. Oliver Plunket and others to pertake of the Plot to bring in the French and subvert the Government in Ireland and destroy the Protestant Religion and the Protestants Mr. Att. Gen. Was there an Oath given Mac Legh Yes they were all put to their Oaths which they did take willingly to keep it private during their lives time and the reason was they were to have their Estates during their lives time Mr. Serj. Jeff. Now tell us when this was Mr. Att. Gen. My Lord Henry O Neal and Phleem O Neal speak to the same purpose Mr. Serj Jeff. Do you remember whether Henry O Neal was there did he take the Oath of Secresie Mac Legh Yes Mr. Att. Gen. What do you know of any Letters from Plunket Mac Legh In France I landed at Brest and going through Britany I met with Bishop Tyrrel and Dr. Cray who was my Lord Oliver Plunkets Agent and Duke John of Great Britany came into them for he heard of these 2 Bishops being newly come out of Rome sent for them and I being a Priest of Tyrrels Diocess I went along with them and they were well accepted and shewed Dr. Oliver Plunkets Conditions with the King of France which was this to get Dublin and London-Derry and all the Sea-ports into their own Hands to levy War and destroy the Protestant Religion and that they should have him to protect them during his life-time L. C. J. Did you see those Conditions Mac Legh A Copy of them I did the Governour of Britany did shew them to the Bishop Mr. Serj. Jeff. What Language were those Conditions in Mac Legh They were in Latine Sir Mr. Serj. Jeff. Was Edmond Murfey put out of the Diocess Mac Legh Not as I know of L. C. J. What do you know of his being Primate upon what conditions was he made Primate Mac Legh He was made Primate by the Election of the King of France And upon his Election he made those Conditions with the King of France to raise men to join with the French to destroy the Protestant Religion Mr. Just Jones You know that man Dr. Plunket Plunk Yes my Lord. Mr. Att. Gen. Will you ask him any Questions Plunk None but what I asked the others Mr. Just Dolben Then if that is all he hath given a good answer to that already he was as forward then as the rest Mr. Att. Gen. Then
latter end of the Term I had desied them altogether And your Lordship should have seen under their own hands what they were L. C. J. You forget this all this while your own Letter wherein this matter is that you had searched the Towns and considered it Mr. Att. Gen. He does deny there was such a Letter he does not own there was such a Letter Plunk I my Lord I never did write such a Letter And that young man that he speaks of I could prove if I had my Witnesses that he never was in any Service or Company in Ireland nor writ any Letters by him L. C. J. Did you never send any Letter by one O Neal Plunk No my Lord but he went over a begging Moyer This young mans Brother in Law will testifie that he was your Lordships Page Plunk I have 3 Witnesses that he came there begging naked and was sick 3 months and went over a begging and was at Rome as a stragler Moyer Call Hanlet who came in Sir Fr. Wyth Did you know Neal O Neal Hanlet Yes Sir Fr. Wyth Whose Servant was he Hanl. My Lord Plunket sent him to Rome he was sent there with his Letters and I saw the young man and the Letters Mr. Jones Did he come a begging there Hanl. No. Plunk Where did you see him Hanl. At Mant. Plunk Where is that Hanl. In France Plunket And you saw him with my Letters Hanl. Yes Plunk And this man says the Letters were opened at Caprennica because he thought they were Letters of Recommendation Hanl. Why he went that way afterwards and they were not opened when I saw them Mr. Serj. Jeff. Did you know he was the Doctors Servant Hanl. Yes he was Plunk Did you see him in my Service Hanl. I saw him in Mant. Mr Just Dolb. How do you know he was the Bishops Servant Hanl. Because he shew'd me his Letter L. C. J. Was he owned for his Servant and was he taken for his Servant Hanl. Yes Plunk Did he go on Foot or on Horsebak Hanl. He went on foot Plunk He was in a poor condition in a place not above four miles from Rome that I can prove L. C. J. Did he beg as he went Hanlett No. L. C. J. Mr. Plunket if there is any Question you will ask of the Witnesses or if there be any Evidence you would give your self this is your time for the doing of it if not we must leave your Case to the Jury who have heard the Evidence all along Plunk Only this my Lord your Lordship sees how I am dealt with First and foremost I have not time to bring my Witnesses or my Records which if I had I would not weigh one farthing to leave my Cause with any Jury in the world Besides all this I am brought out of my own native Country where these men lived and I lived and where my Witnesses and Records are which would shew what these people are I sent by the Post and did all that I could and what can I say when I have not my Witnesses against these people they may swear any thing in the world you cannot but observe the improbability of the thing in it self and unto what a condition I am brought My Lord my Life is in iminent danger because I am brought out of my own Country where these people would not be believed against me Mr. Sol. Gen. My Lord I think this matter lies in a narrow compass the Evidence hath been long I would only repeat the short Heads of that which hath been given at large He is indectid for a Conspiracy to kill the King the Overt act is an Endeavour to introduce a Forreign Power into Ireland to raise an Army and levy War there and the Proof of it hath been very full The Proof in general that there was a Plot to introduce the French is plain by all the Witnesses and the Proof in particular upon this person at the Bar hath been as plain as any thing can be They prove to your Lordship in general that there was an Expectation that the French should come in that there was an Invitation of Florence Wyer the first Witness to go over into France and speedily he should have a Command upon his return in Ireland that there were Preparations for this appears by the Oath of Secrecy given to several men Forty men that came along with Bishop Tyrrel to keep it private during their lives and there was a farther proof of that general Conspiracy by Duffy that when there was a general meeting of so many thousand people for Confirmation there was by the Gentlemen at that meeting a secret Consultation how to carry on the Design and how to list men and to look out the old Officers in the late Rebellion and to see what posture they were in as to the management of this Design and this comes now particularly to the Prisoner who was by at this Consultation so the Witnesses do tell you But that that comes nearer to him is that he did issue out Orders for the raising of Mony and that he did raise Mony pursuant to those Orders and did receive Mony for that very purpose this is proved by three Witnesses Duffy and Mac Legh who paid the Mony and by Moyer the last Witness who saw him receive it from several Persons This is positive upon him nay they say farther that there was a List made of the several men in the several Parishes that were able to bear Arms upon occasion from sixteen to sixty and there was a List of a matter of threescore thousand men that were ready upon any occasion to rise for the purpose and this List was delivered over into the hands of the Prisoner at the Bar. There is one Witness Duffy that says farther that he saw a Letter under his hand in France to the Cardinal Bouillon to invite the French King into Ireland and he did wonder that he should spend his Time and Blood in Wars against Spain which was a Roman Catholick and not come into Ireland to extirpate the Hereticks And this Letter is confirmed by another Letter which was seen by Moyer a Copy of which is produced which he translated from the Original in Latin and the Letter was sent to Rome by Neal O Neal whom the Prisoner says he had no concern for but to give him some Recommendations Plunket I gave him no Recommendations L. C. J. No he says he did not give him any nor sent any Letter by him Mr. Soll. Gen. Then he urged that he went along begging by the way but 't is proved he was sent by him and sent with Letters and that by his Brother in Law who met him at Mants And 't is proved by Moyer who saw the Letter opened taking it to be but a common Letter of Recommendation he read the Letter and took a Copy of it and translated that Copy which Translation is enough to verifie all the matter which the Witnesses have sworn
too that instead of drawing their Swords against one another they had better come to promote the Catholick Faith in Ireland These four Witnesses are punctual and precise in every particular circumstance of the Case and against them there is nothing but the common Objection If I had such Records and Witnesses here I could make my Defence that is if he had those things that he has not he might appear to be another man than he is but I am sure as it appears upon the Evidence that hath been given by all the Witnesses there is a plain proof and a full proof of every Treason laid to his Charge Plunket My Lord I desire these Witnesses may be called giving in a Paper Cryer David Fitz-gerard Eustace Commines and Paul Gormar L. C. J. Who gave him this Paper he had it not before Stranger I was told that these were good Evidences for Dr. Plunket and I gave him the Names L. C. J. Where are they Stranger They are hard by Mr. Att. Gen. Where is Eustace Commines for he was one that gave in Evidence against the Prisoner Then Paul Gormar appeared L. C. J. What would you ask him Plunket I desire to know of him whether Mr. Moyer did allure and intice him to swear against me Gormar Indeed my Lord he never did L. C. J. Will you ask him any more Gormar But this my Lord Mr. Moyer and I were in discourse and he said if there was Law to be had in Ireland he would shew Mr. Plunket his share in it L. C. J. Well what of that Gormar My Lord I did come out of Ireland to reveal what Plots the Irish had against the King and as for this Mr. Plunket as I have a Soul to save I never heard of any misdemeanor of him Mr. Just Dolben How came you here to day Gormar I was summoned Mr. Just Dolb. By whom Was it the Attorney General or Plunket that summoned you Gormar Here is the Summons Mr. Serj. Jeff. It is a common Sub Poena Plunket I never sent for him Gormar It was not against you they know I had nothing against you I thought you did more good in Ireland than hurt so I declare it L. C. J. Have you any more Witnesses if Fitz Gerard or Commines will come we will hear them Plunket My Lord I have not any more Witnesses L. C. J. Look you Gentlemen of the Jury This Gentleman here Mr. Plunket is indicted of High-Treason and 't is for Conspiring the King's Death and endeavouring to bring the French Army into Ireland for to Invade that Kingdom and to plant the Romish Religion in that Kingdom You have had Evidence against him that hath been fully examined And these things do seem to be very plain by the Witnesses That he himself hath taken a Commission or a Grant or what you will please to call it from the Pope to be Primate of Ireland that he hath taken upon him to make Laws as the Provincial and that he hath undertaken and endeavoured to settle the Popish Religion in that Kingdom and in order to that he hath invited the Aid of the French Army and that he hath for the better landing of them looked out what places were most convenient for them That he hath set a Tax upon the Clergy within his Province for the facilitating of all this and for the making preparations for the entertainment of this Army This the Witnesses testifie against him and that there were some Towns as Dungannon and another Town that were to be betrayed to the French Now you must consider concerning these Witnesses If you believe the Evidence that hath been given and which hath been repeated by the Kings Counsel and if you believe that he did design to bring in a French Army to establish the Roman Religion there again and that he took upon him to raise mony for that purpose survey'd the Ports and made such provisions as the Witnesses speak of and was in that Conspiracy you must find him Guilty I leave it to you it is a pretty strong Evidence he does not say any thing to it but that his Witnesses are not come over Plunket I can say nothing to it but give my own protestation that there is not one word of this said against me is true but all plain Romance I never had any communication with any French Minister Cardinal nor other Then the Jury withdrew for a quarter of an hour and being returned gave this Verdict Cl. of Cr. Oliver Plunket hold up thy hand How say you is he Guilty of the High-Treason whereof he stands Indicted or not Guilty Foreman Guilty Plunket Deo Gratia God be thanked Then the Verdict was Recorded and the Court rose And the Keeper went away with his Prisoner On Wednesday 15. Junii 1681 Oliver Plunket was brought to the Bar to receeive his Judgment Mr. Att. Gen. My Lord I pray your Judgment against the Prisoner Oliver Plunket Cl. of Cr. Oliver Plunket hold up thy Hand Thou hast been Indicted of High-Treason thou hast been thereupon Arraigned thou hast thereunto pleaded not Guilty and for thy Trial hast put thy self upon God and the Country which Country hath found thee Guilty what hast thou to say for thy self why Jadgment of Death should not pass upon thee and Execution be thereupon awarded according to the Law Plunket My Lord may it please your Lordship I have something to say which if your Lordship will consider seriously may occasion the Courts Commiseration and Mercy I have my Lord for this Fact been Arraigned in Ireland and brought to my Trial there At the day of my Trial all the Witnesses voluntarily absented themselves seeing I had Records and Witnesses to convince them evidently and shew what men they were and the prepensed Malice that they did bear to me and so finding that I could clear my self evidently they absented themselves on the day of my Tryal no Christian appeared but hither over they come and procure that I should be brought hither where I could not have a Jury that knew the Qualities of my Adversaries or who knew me of the circumstances of the Places Times and Persons the Juries here as I say were altogether strangers to these Affairs and so my Lord they could not know many things that conduce to a fair Tryal and it was morally impossible they should know it I have been accused principally and chiefly for surveying the Ports for fixing upon Carlingford for the Landing of the French for the having of seventy thousand Men ready to join with the French for collecting Mony for the Agents in this matter for the assisting of the French and this great Utopian Army A Jury in Ireland consisting of men that lived in that Country or any man in the World that hath but seen Ireland in a Map would easily see there was no probability that that should be a place fit for the French to land in though he never was in Ireland yet by the Map he
your self very ill designing very great evil to all these and now it hath pleased God to bring you to Judgment I must tell you peradventure what you urge for your self might introduce pity if it were to be believed that is that you are innocent and had Witnesses to prove it but we cannot suppose any man innocent that hath had a legal and a fair Trial and a Trial with as much candor to you as your Case could bear or as perhaps any man in such a Case ever had You had time upon your Request to send for your Witnesses to help you in your Defence and to have proved your Innocence if you could have done it Time long enough to your own Content you your self thought it so at the time it was given To give a Prisoner under your circumstances five or six weeks time to send for Witnesses is not usual we could have put you upon a present Defence and hurried you out of the World by a suddain Trial if we had had any Design against you but we go on in a fair way and with legal Proceedings and with as much Respect to you as in such a Case could be used for we gave you all the fair Hearing and Liberty that you desired to have Look you as to what you urge that your Trial was in this Kingdom whereas your Offence was in another that is a thing that does not become you by any means to object for you have had a Trial here by honest persons and that according to the Laws which obtain in this Kingdom and that too of Ireland which is by a Statute not made on purpose to bring you into a Snare but an ancient Statute and not without Presidents of its having been put in execution before your time For your own Country will afford you several Presidents in this Case as O Rurke and several others that have been arraigned and condemned for Treason done there So that you have no reason to except against the Legality of your Trial. You say now you have Witnesses that could prove all this Matter why that lies in the mouth of any man that is condemned to say but pray consider with your self what Regard ought to be given to this We cannot help it if your Witnesses don't come you may remember they wanted not Time nor Opportunity to come over but you told us they would not come unless they had a Passport Plunket My Lord they got a Pass to come over afterwards and so in eight days they came hither Lord Chief Justice You might have provided your self if they wanted such a thing In the first place no body is bound to give it them much less could you expect it for them without asking Plunkett I could not get the Copies of the Records neither by any means unless I had an Order from the Council and they would not give that Order unless your Lordship appointed it L. C. J. We cannot tell that you should have petitioned in time Plunkett How could any one foresee unless he was God Almighty that they would deny it or that he could not get out a Copy of a Record paying for it without a Petition All the Friends I had told me upon Motion there it might be had but here I have it under the Lieutenants and Councils Hands that they would give no Copy of Records without Order from hence which before I could know it it was impossible for me to have them ready against my Trial. L. C. J. Look you Sir I do speak this to you to shew you that those Objections which you seem to make against your Trial have no weight at all but in this Case it is not the Jury that are so material as the Witnesses themselves I appeal to all that heard your Trial if they could so much as doubt but that you were Guilty of what you were charged with For consider here were persons that were of your own Religion the most of them Priests I think almost all of them in Orders Plunkett There were two Friars and a Priest whom I endeavoured to correct this seven Years and they were Renegadoes from our Religion and declared Apostates L. C. J. Look you Sir they gave an Evidence very home to your matter you had liberty to examine them and they gave you a rational Accompt of any thing you ask'd Let me but put you in mind of one thing You made Exceptions to one's Evidence and indeed that was very much of your Exception to all why he did not reveal this in all that time Truly he told you he was of your mind till he went into France and saw what a Slavery and Mischief you endeavoured to introduce upon his and your own Countrymen and this his Spirit rose against to see what a condition Ireland was like to be brought into And pray did not he give you a full Answer to that Question Plunkett I had sufficient Witnesses to prove he was an Apostate and was chastised by me and therefore had prepensed Malice against me Lord Chief Justice Therefore I have spoken this to the Satisfaction I hope of your self and all that hear it I do now wish you to consider you are near your end It seems you have lived in a false Religion hitherto it is not too late at any time to repent I wish you may have the Grace to do so In the mean time there is no room for us here to grant you any kind of Mercy though I 'le tell you we are inclined to pity all Malefactors Who ever have done evil we are inclined to pity them and wish heartily that they may repent as we do that you may of what you have done But all we can do now is to say what the Law says and that is to pass Judgment upon you Plunkett May it please your Lordship to give me leave to speak one word If I were a man that had no care of my Conscience in this matter and did not think of God Almighty or Conscience or Heaven or Hell I might have saved my Life For I was offered it by divers people here so I would but confess my own Guilt and accuse others But my Lord I had rather die ten thousand deaths than wrongfully accuse any body And the time will come when your Lordship will see what these Witnesses are that have come in against me I do assure your Lordship if I were a man that had not good Principles I might easily have saved my own Life but I had rather die ten thousand deaths than wrongfully to take away one farthing of any mans Goods one day of his Liberty or one minute of his Life L. C. J. I am sorry to see you persist in the Principles of that Religion Plunket They are those Principles that even God Almighty cannot dispence withal L. C. J. Well however the Judgment which we give you is that which the Law says and speaks And therefore you must go from hence to the place from whence you came that is to Newgate and from thence you shall be drawn through the City of London to Tyburne there you shall be hanged by the Neck but cut down before you are dead your Bowels shall be taken out and burnt before your Face your Head shall be cut off and your Body be divided into Four Quarters to be disposed of as his Majesty pleases And I pray God to have Mercy upon your Soul Plunket My Lord I hope I may have this favour of leave for a Servant and some few Friends that I have to come at me L C. J. I think you may have liberty for any Servant to come to you I know nothing to the contrary Plunket And some Friends that I have in Town L. C. J. But I would advise you to have some Minister to come to you some Protestant Minister Plunket My Lord if you please there are some in Prison that never were Indicted or Accused of any Crime and they will do my business very well for they will do it according to the Rites of our own Church which is the antient Usage they cannot do better and I would not alter it now L. C. J. Mr. Richardson you may let his Servant come to him and any Friend in your presence to see there be no Evil done nor any Contrivances that may hereafter have an Influence upon Affairs Mr. Just Jones Be you present or some body Plunket My Servant I hope may come without his being present L. C. J. Yes yes his Servant may be with him alone Well Sir we wish better to you than you do to your self Plunket God Almighty bless your Lordship And now my Lord as I am a dead Man to this World and as I hope for Mercy in the other World I was never guilty of any of the Treasons laid to my Charge as you will hear in time and my Character you may receive from my Lord Chancellor of Ireland my Lord Berkley my Lord Essex and the Duke of Ormond Then the Keeper took away his Prisoner and upon Friday the First of July he was Executed according to the Sentence FINIS ADVERTISEMENT Some Passages of the Life and Death of John Earl of Rochester who died the 26. of July 1680. By Gilbert Burnet D. D. Are to be sold by Eliphal Dobson Bookseller on Cork-Hill 1681.