Officers of his Houshold that they should take care that the said Earl should not be permitted to reside within any of his Majesties Palaces of White-hall Somerset-house or St. James's While this address was preparing the Commons consider'd of the amendments made by the Lords to the Bill of attainder to some of which they agreed but to others they refus'd to give their consent finding a bill of attainder converted into a Bill of banishment For it was alledg'd in point of reason that Banishment was not the Legal Judgement in case of High Treason And that not being so the Earl might make use of the Remission of his Sentence as an Argument that either the Commons were distrustful of their Proofs or else that the crimes were not in themselves of so high a nature as Treason Besides that the example of this would be an encouragement to all persons that should be hereafter impeach'd by the Commons to withdraw themselves from Justice hoping thereby to obtain a more favourable sentence in a Legislative way than the Lords would be oblig'd to pass upon them in their judicial capacity The same day in the afternoon which was the 8th of the present month both Houses had another conference upon the same Bill which the Lords assur'd the Commons they had desir'd not so much to argue and dispute as to mitigate and reconcile having observ'd that the debates of this Bill had already given too great obstructions to publick business To this end the Lords propounded That if there might be a way found to satisfie and secure the publick fears by doing less than what was propos'd in the Bill they did not think it advisable to insist upon the most rigorous satisfaction that publick Justice could demand To induce them to this complyance the Lords acknowledg'd that Banishment was so far from being the Legal Judgement in case of High Treason that it was not the Legal Judgement in any case whatsoever as not being ever to be inflicted but by the Legislative Authority However they saw no reason why the Legislative Authority should always be bound to act to the utmost extent of its power in regard there might be a prudential necessity sometimes of making abatements and might prove of fatal consequence should it not be so Therefore the Lords to remove all jealousies of Presidents of this kind did declare that nothing done in the Earl of Danby's case should be drawn into consequence for the time to come and that they would so enter it upon their journal Book Nevertheless the Commons would not agree but sent to the Lords for a free Conference upon the subject matter of the last Which being had and the members that manag'd the same being order'd to draw up the substance of the matters which were fit to be enter'd that pass'd at the said free Conference the Lords desir'd the same day a present free Conference upon the subject matter of the last free Conference In this Conference the Lord Privy Seal that manag'd it declar'd that the Reasons of the Commons for passing the Bill as they propos'd were unanswerable and that therefore the Lords were content to make the Bill absolute without giving the Earl of Danby any day to appear and the penalties to continue Further it was by him observ'd that the Lord impeach'd would not only be ruin'd by the passing of this Bill together with his family but those acquisitions also which he got by marriage into a Noble Family would be all lost Neither did he forget to intimate That if the House of Commons would have any other Penalties added to the Bill the Lords would leave it to them so that they did not run to the absolute obstruction of the Lord Impeach'd Taking notice withal that though all the reason and justice were of the Commons side yet in a Legislative Capacity they were to consider of Circumstances in relation to the publick good And then proceeding he told the House of Commons that in the transactions of this affair they had gain'd two great points That Impeachments made by the Commons in one Parliament continu'd from Session to Session and from Parliament to Parliament notwithstanding Prorogations or Dissolutions And Secondly In cases of Impeachment upon special matter shewn if the modesty of the party impeach'd did not direct him to withdraw the Lords did admit that of right they ought to order him to withdraw and that afterwards he must be committed Another Observation was made by his Lordship that a Member of the House of Commons made mention of the Earl of Clarendons case but in regard that case was general and no special matter shown it was not like this So that he did not understand that the Lords intended to extend the point of Withdrawing and Commitment to General Impeachments without special matter alledg'd For that if it should be otherwise many of the Lords might be pick'd out of their House of a sudden To this the Earl of Shaftsbury reply'd that they were as willing to be rid of the Earl of Danby as the Commons and first as to the right of the Commons the Lords did agree that it was their right and well warranted by Presidents of former ages And as to the distinction made where the Impeachments were General and special matter alledg'd there was no order given to make any such distinction for that General Impeachments were not in the case The same was affirm'd by the Duke of Monmouth and the Lord Falconbridge and that the Earl of Shaftsbury was in the right and deliver'd the true sense of the Lords And as to that expression That the Lords would not draw into example the proceedings of the Earl of Danby but would vacate them the Lords intended that only to the points of notwithdrawing and not-committing The said Earl likewise insisted that the way then propos'd would be a means to have the Bill pass for that the Commons might have other penalties if they pleas'd as Confiscation of Estate And notwithstanding they had no particular order to mention Honours yet by the general words he thought them included So that if they were insisted on by the Commons he knew not but that they might be agreed to be inserted in the Bill Therefore the Commons were desir'd to consider that there were more weighty reasons better understood than express'd that prov'd it necessary for the good of the publick that the Bill should pass The Commons made this reply that they hop'd the Lords did not think they took it as if they had then gain'd any point for that the points mention'd by the Lords as gain'd were nothing but what was agreeable to the ancient methods of Parliaments After this a free Conference being desir'd upon the subject matter of the last free Conference the Bill was left with the amendments in the Lords hands Whereupon the Lords desiring another free Conference upon the subject matter of the last the Lords declar'd that they hop'd that would be the
confest there that he did not know Sir George Wakemans hand and only knew the Letter in question to be his Letter by being subscrib'd G. Wakeman Concluding from thence that the Witness would have told more at that examination had he known more To which the Dr. reply'd that he had been so over-toyl'd with watching and searching after persons detected that he was not able to make good his charge Which was also confirm'd by the testimony of Sr. Thomas Doleman But Sir Philip Floyd one of the Clerks of the Council was more express in behalf of the Prisoner who acknowledg'd indeed that Dr. Oates did make mention of Sir Georges undertaking to poyson the King as he had understood by a Letter from Whitebread to Harcourt and that he was inform'd by the same Letter that Coleman had pay'd him five thousand pound of the fifteen thousand pound agreed upon But that being demanded of his own personal knowledge what he could tax Sir George withal he solemnly deny'd that he had any thing more against him To which the Doctor gave the same answer of his extreme weakness and indisposition as before After that Sir George recommended one obser vation more to the Court That in the Doctors Narrative there was not one Letter which came from beyond Sea to which he did not swear positively both as to the date and as to the receipt yet that in the case of life he would not be confin'd to a Month. Concluding with a solemn Imprecation and disclaiming all the Crime in this Matter that had been charg'd against him Corker Rumley and Marshall were charg'd of being privy to the Consult for killing the King and to the carrying on the rest of the grand design toward which they had undertaken the raising and payment of 6000 l. by the Benedictine Monks As to Corker Dr. Oates swore him to be a Benedictine Monk and privy to the promise of the 6000 l. which was to be rais'd for carrying on the design That he gave Le Chaise and the English Monks at Paris an accompt of the Jesuites proceedings in England and that he had a Patent to be Bishop of London which the Witness had seen in his hand and that he dispos'd of several parcels of money for advancing the design That he was privy to the Grand Consult in April and excepted against Pickerings being made choice of for killing the King in regard that he being engag'd to say High Mass an opportunity might be lost in the mean time Mr. Bedlow depos'd against Corker that he had been with him in the Company of others at Somerset-house where he heard him discourse in general concerning the Plot of Letters of intelligence and raising an Army what Agitators the Conspirators had in the Country and what Interests they had made As for Marshall he was charg'd by Dr. Oates with being present when the six thousand pound was agreed upon and that he made the same exceptions against Pickering that Corker had done Mr. Bedlow depos'd against him that he had carry'd several Letters to the Catholick party that were in the design and particularly one to Sir Francis Ratcliff And that he had sent Letters of his own twice to others concerning the subverting of the Government and introducing Popery Rumley was accus'd by Dr. Oates of being privy to the Consult for the raising the six thousand pound and that he pray'd for the success of the Design Corker offer'd in his defence that not knowing his accusations he could not come with Evidences to support his Plea That there was nothing more easie than to accuse an innocent person and that the Circumstances ought to be as credible as the Witnesses of which there was neither to be found in his case using many flourishes to move the Court and the Jury raising his Arguments from Improbability of Witnesses to maintain his Allegations and the more to invalidate the Dr.'s testimony he brought witnesses to testifie that one Stapleton was President of the Benedictines and not himself and that the said Stapleton had so been for many years Marshall threw himself upon the Court whom he besought to manage his cause for him as having had so much Tryal of their Candour and Ingenuity After which he made some flight reflections upon the Kings Evidence and desir'd the Court to consider how little concern'd he was at his being apprehended which was no small sign of his Innocency But the main of his defence lay upon this Stress that Dr. Oates was a stranger to him and had mistaken him for some other person which was evidently made out to the contrary and beside that the Prisoner brought no proof of what he affirm'd in that particular At length the Conclusion of his defence was a smooth harangue ad captandum populum and in justification of the Crimes of them that had already suffer'd which because it was look'd upon as an affront done to the Justice of the Court he was desir'd to forbear his Flowers of Rhetorick which were all to no purpose As for Rumley there being but one Witness against him he did not think it needful to trouble the Court with a defence and indeed it was the opinion of the Court deliver'd to the Jury that they ought to discharge him Upon the whole it was the opinion of the Court that the Defences of the Prisoners were very weak of which the Jury could not choose but take notice The main thing wherein the Court were dissatisfy'd was Dr. Oates's excuse of his own weakness and infirmity for not giving his full charge against Sir George Wakeman at the Council Board Since he might have charg'd him in the same breath that he denied that he had any thing more against him Whether this or any other more prevailing argument over-rul'd them certain it is that the Jury found them all Not Guilty and so contrary to expectation they were all acquitted All this while his Majesty kept his Court at Windsor where in consideration of the many and faithful services perform'd unto him by the Right Honourable George Lord Viscount Hallifax John Lord Roberts and Charles Lord Gerrard of Brandon he was pleas'd to confer upon them the Titles of Earls of this Kingdom creating the Lord Viscount Hallifax Earl of Hallifax the Lord Gerrard Earl of Newberry Viscount Brandon which title was afterward chang'd into that of Macclesfeld and the Lord Roberts Earl of Falmouth Viscount Bodmin And to shew that he took the same care of his Dominions abroad as at home His Majesty order'd recruits to be forthwith rais'd under the commands of Captain George Wingfeild Captain Charles Wingfeild Captain William Langley and Captain William Matthews to reinforce the Garrison of Tangier At home the Fort of Sheerness and the Garrison of Portsmouth had both the Honour to be survey'd by the King himself who to that intent departed upon the 30th of July from Windsor to Hampton-Court attended by the Duke of Albemarle and several of the Nobility
the Popes Internuntio at Brussels Lastly that he kept a Correspondence with Sr. William Throckmorton to the destruction of the King and Kingdom Being arraign'd for these crimes he insisted to have had Council allowed him which was deny'd for this reason for that the proof lay all on the other side which if it were plain there would be no need of Council As to the proofs of these Crimes by the two Witnesses Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow it was first proved by Dr. Oates alone That there was a general Consult or meeting of the Jesuits in April Old Stile and May New Stile at the White Horse Tavern in the Strand and afterwards they divided into Companies and in those Consults they conspired the death of the King and contriv'd how to effect it That to that purpose Grove and Pickering were actually imployed to murder the King and to pistoll him in St. James's Park For which Grove was to have 1500 l. in money and Pickering being a Priest thirty thousand Masses which was computed to be equal to 1500 l. That to this Contrivance and Conspiracy Coleman was privy and did well approve of the same It was also farther prov'd by the same Witnesses that four Irish men were provided by Dr. Fogarthy and sent to Windsor there to make a farther attempt upon the Royal Person of the King and fourscore Guinneys were provided by Harcourt to maintain the Assassinates at Windsor and that while this Conspiracy was in Agitation Coleman went to visit Harcourt at his Lodging but not finding him there and being inform'd he was at Wild House that he went and found him out there at which time Coleman asking what provision Harcourt had made for the Gentlemen at Windsor Harcourt reply'd that the fourscore Guinneys which lay upon the Table were for them and added that the person in the Room was to carry the money Upon which it was farther proved that Coleman should reply That he lik'd it very well and that he gave a Guinney out of his pocket to the Messenger who was to carry the money to Windsor to encourage him to expedite the business It was further sworn by Dr. Oates That in July last one Ashby a Jesuit brought instructions from Flanders to London that in case Pickering and Grove could not kill the King at London nor the four Irish men assassinate him at Windsor that then the sum of ten thousand pounds should be propos'd to Sir George Wakeman to poyson the King In this conspiracy Mr. Coleman was prov'd to be so far concern'd that by the Letters which pass'd between Whitebread and Ashby it appear'd that he should say he thought ten thousand pound was too little and that he thought it necessary to offer five thousand pound more which upon his admonition and advice was assented to by the Jesuites It was also further sworn by Dr. Oates that he saw Letters from the Provincial at London to the Jesuites at St. Omers that Sir George had accepted the Proposition The second witness was Mr. Bedlow who swore that he was imployed by Harcourt the Jesuite to carry Pacquets of Letters to Monsieur Le Chaise the French Kings Confessor and that he was at a Consult in France where the Plot was discours'd on for killing the King and that he brought back an answer from Le Chaise to Harcourt in London and that particularly on the 24th or 25th of May 1677. he was at Colemans house with father Harcourt and some other persons where Mr. Coleman falling into discourse concerning the design in hand said these words That if he had a Sea of blood and a hundred lives he would lose them all to carry on the design and if to this end it were requisite to destroy a hundred Heretick Kings he would do it The other part of the evidence consisted of Papers and Letters generally relating to prove the latter part of the Enditement viz. the extirpation of the Protestant Religion introducing Popery and subverting the Government This was plainly proved by a long Letter written by Mr. Coleman dated Sept. 29. 1675. and sent to Monsieur Le Chaise before named wherein he gave him an accompt of the transactions of several years before and of his correspondence with Monsieur Ferrier predecessour to the said Le Chaise wherein he asserted that the true way to carry on the interest of France and to promote the Catholick Religion in England was to get the Parliament dissolv'd which he said had been long since effected if three hundred thousand pounds could have been obtained from the French King and that things were yet in such a posture that if he had but twenty thousand pound sent him from France he would be content to be a sacrifice to the utmost malice of his enemies if the Protestant Religion did not receive such a blow that it could not possibly subsist The receipt of which Letter was acknowledged by Monsieur Le Chaise in an answer which he wrote to Mr. Coleman dated from Paris Octob. 23. 75. wherein he gave him thanks for his good service in order to the promotion of the Catholick Religion Another Letter was produced dated August 21. 74. written by the prisoner Coleman to the Popes Internuncio at Brussels wherein he said that the design prospered well and that he doubted not but that in a little while the business would be managed to the utter ruine of the Protestant party Other Letters were brought in Evidence wherein he wrote to the King of France's Confessor that the assistance of his most Christian Majesty was necessary and desir'd money from the French King to carry on the design But there was another without a date more material than all the rest written to Monsieur Le Chaise in a short time after his long Letter dated Sept. 29. 1675. wherein among other things the Prisoner thus express'd himself We have a mighty work upon our hands no less than the Conversion of three Kingdomes and the utter subduing of a pestilent Heresie which has for some time domineer'd over this Northern part of the World and we never had so great hopes of it since Queen Maries days In the close of which Letter he implor'd Monsieur Le Chaise to get all the aid and assistance he could from France and that next to God Almighty they did rely upon the mighty mind of his most Christian Majesty and therefore hop'd that he would procure both money and assistance from him And thus was the latter part of the Enditement fully prov'd upon him There was another Letter produced against him which he wrote to Monsieur Le Chaise in French in the Dukes name but without his privity or knowledge so that when he had the boldness to shew it to the Duke he was both angry and rejected it It contain'd several invectives against my Lord Arlington as being a great opposer of the Duke's designs and the chief promoter of the match between the Prince of Orange and the Dukes
standing at the Gate from ten to one at night averr'd that he saw no Sedan let forth But in regard the Sentinels could not be so positive but that they might be mistaken by reason of the darkness of the night and privacy of the conveighance their Evidence was not thought substantial It was further urg'd by Hill that Mr. Praunce had been tortur'd to make him confess what he did But Mr. Praunce upon his oath utterly deny'd any such thing affirming that the Keeper had us'd him with all civility from his first commitment So that the evidence for the Prisoners being so far from overpowring the testimony for the King that it was in no measure able to ballance it the Jury soon found them all guilty upon which they severally receiv'd sentence to be hang'd The execution of which sentence follow'd upon the twenty first ensuing March 1678 9. But now the time of the new Parliaments sitting drawing near toward the beginning of this month his Majesty that he might remove all fears and jealousies out of the minds of his subjects thought meet to command his Royal Highness to absent himself for a time Who thereupon in obedience to his Majesties pleasure together with his Dutchess took leave of his Majesty upon the third of March and after a short visit to his Daughter the Princess of Orange in Holland retired to Bruxells in Flanders He was no sooner departed but the Parliament which had been so lately summon'd before met according to the time appointed at Westminster So soon as they were ready the King went in his Barge to Westminster and there in a Gracious Speech upon which the Chancellour afterwards enlarg'd His Majesty acquainted both Houses what he himself expected and what the Countrey stood in need of from their Unanimous and Prudent Consultations The Speeches being ended the Commons return to their House and choose again the Speaker of the last Parliament Mr. Edward Seymour This choice occasion'd their Prorogation from the twelfth to the fifteenth of the same month at what time being met again they chose Sergeant Gregory and caus'd him to take the Chair Before they fell upon business the members were all severally sworn and took the Test and being so cemented together they fell first upon the further prosecution of the Plot already discover'd to the Parliament not long before dissolv'd In reference to which affair Dr. Tong Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow were summon'd to attend them and to give their Informations Upon their appearing Dr. Tong gave a long Narraton which because it was tedious they further desir'd in writing Dr. Oates read his own depositions and when he had done made a complaint of some discouragements which he had receiv'd from some of the Members The complaint fell more severely upon one of them who having spoken some words in contempt of the Truth of the Plot was sent to the Tower and expell'd the House but soon after upon his modest Petition discharg'd from his imprisonment But whatever particular persons thought of the Plot the House of Commons were so well satisfy'd that they appointed a Committee of Secresie to take Informations prepare Evidences and draw up Articles against the Lords suspected to be therein concern'd By way of further prosecution also it was resolv'd that an humble address should be made to his Majesty that all the papers and writings relating to the discovery of the Plot and particularly such papers and writings which had been taken since the prorogation of the last Parliament might be deliver'd to the Committee of Secresie appointed to draw up Articles against the said Lords To which his Majesty was pleas'd to return for Answer that those papers and examinations were deliver'd to the Committee of the Lords from whence they should be sent to their Committee so soon as the Lords had done perusing them In the midst of these transactions they forgot not the Earl of Danby For upon the twentieth of this month they sent to the Lords to put them in mind of the Impeachment of High Treason exhibited against him in the name of the Commons and to desire that he might be forthwith committed to safe custody In answer to which at a Conference of both Houses the Duke of Monmouth acquainted them in the behalf of the Lords That their Lordships having taken into consideration matters relating to the Earl of Danby together with what his Majesty was pleas'd to say upon that Subject had order'd that a Bill should be brought in by which the said Earl should be made for ever incapable of coming into his Majesties presence and of all Offices and Employments and of receiving any gifts or grants from the Crown and of sitting in the House of Peers In the mean time the Commons having appointed a Committee to enquire into the manner of the suing forth the said Pardon made their report that they could not find the entry of any such Pardon in either of the Secretaries Offices nor in the Offices of the Signet or Privy Seal but that they found it to be a Pardon by Creation Thereupon the Commons send another Message to the Lords to demand Justice in the name of the Commons of England against the said Earl and that he might be immediately sequester'd from Parliament and committed to safe custody To which the Lords return'd that they had order'd before the coming of their last message the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod forthwith to take the said Earl into custody Soon after the Lords sent another Message to acquaint the Commons that they had sent both to Wimbleton and to his house in Town to apprehend the said Earl but that the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod could not find him April 1679. Thereupon the Commons order'd a Bill to be brought in to summon the said Earl to render himself to Justice by a day to be therein limited or in default thereof to attaint him Which Bill having pass'd the House was sent up to the Lords for their concurrence In the mean time the Lords had prepar'd a milder act of their own for the banishing and disabling the Earl of Danby which being rejected by the Commons the Lords desir'd a conference at which they deliver'd back the Bill of attainder choosing so to do by conference rather than by message to preserve a good understanding and to prevent Controversie between the two Houses And to shew the reason why they insisted upon their own amendments of the Bill for attainder it was urg'd that in regard the King had always in his reign been inclin'd to mercy and clemency to all his subjects the first interruption of his clemency ought not to proceed from his two houses This being reported an humble address to his Majesty was presently resolv'd upon to issue out his Royal Proclamation for the apprehending the Earl of Danby with the usual penalties upon those that should conceal him and that his Majesty would be also pleas'd further to give order to the
of Monmouth return'd for England where he had that reception from his Majesty which his Valour and Conduct had well deserv'd With him the Series of the History returns also and being arriv'd at London there the first thing remarkable which it meets with is the Dissolution of the Parliament To which purpose the King was pleas'd to issue forth His Royal Proclamation That whereas the present Parliament was lately prorogu'd till the 14th of August the Kings most excellent Majesty being resolv'd to meet his people and have their advice in frequent Parliaments had thought fit to dissolve the present Parliament and that he had given directions to the Lord Chancellor for the issuing out of Writs for the calling of a new Parliament to be holden on Tuesday the 7th of October next ensuing It was now a whole month since Mr. Langhorne had receiv'd sentence of Condemnation All this while he had been repriev'd partly for the sake of his Clyents that he might discharge himself of such business of theirs as he had in his hands partly for his own sake to the end he might have retriev'd himself from the ignominy of his execution by a candid and sincere Confession He had sent a Petition to his Majesty wherein after he had given his Majesty most humble thanks for prolonging his life he further set forth that he was ignorant of the subject of the Earl of Roscommons Letter as also of the Grounds upon which it was written That in obedience to his Majesties commands he had made the utmost discovery he could of the Estates he was commanded to disclose and therefore besought his Majesty to grant him his Pardon or at least to give him leave to live though it were abroad and in perpetual banishment he having as he pretended fully obey'd his Majesties Commands But whether he spake truth or no may be fairly appeal'd to the world For it is impossible to think otherwise but that if he had so fully and sincerely obey'd those Commands which it was thought requisite which no question the insight of a wise and discerning Council well knew he could perform his Majesty so punctual to his Mercy as they who have peculiarly tasted it well can testifie would never have swerv'd in the least tittle from the Grace which once he had offer'd him So that when he saw so much confidence in a dying man as to approach the throne of mercy with so much untruth his favourable eye could not look upon that Canting Declaration which follow'd but as the Speech of a Prosopopoeia hammer'd for him in the Popish Forge By which figure he might have enforc'd his Protestations ten times more solemnly without any disadvantage to his credit among his Confessors Having thus therefore spent a month in plausible prevarications at length the fatal warrant came by vertue whereof he was drawn to Tyburn and there executed according to the Sentence pronounc'd against him As for the Speech which he left as a Legacy to the world believing he should not have opportunity to utter it by word of mouth it was nothing but an absolute denyal of what had been so clearly prov'd against him 'T is true 't was farc'd with strange imprecations and solemn Asseverations of his Innocency But how true those Protestations were he himself discovers by a bold untruth that unmantles the fallacy of all the rest For what man of reason can imagine it possible that his Majesty or the Council should think his attainted life so considerable as to turn his Priests and for his dear sake to take upon them the office of the Ministry to convert him from Popery 'T was very likely indeed that they should offer him Great Advantages Preferments and Estates after the judgement was against him to make him forsake his Religion as if the King had wanted a Judge Advocate for his Guards But when he could not beg a Banishment he was resolv'd to bespatter that favour of life which was offer'd him only to be ingenuous in the farther discovery of the foul design wherein he was engag'd but neither for his parts or endowments Not long after Sir George Wakeman William Rumley William Marshall and James Corker Benedictine Monks were brought to their Tryals at the same Bar. The Jury were Ralph Hawtrey Henry Hawley Henry Hodges Richard Downtin Rob. Hampton Esquires William Heydon John Bathurst John Baldwyn Will. Avery Esquires Richard White and Thomas Waite Gent. The Charge against Sir George Wakeman was that whereas there was a design among several of the Popish party to subvert the Government of the Nation by altering the Laws and Religion therein establish'd and taking away the life of his Majesty he the said Sir George had undertaken to do the latter by Poyson That for that piece of service he was to have fifteen thousand pounds of which sum he had already receiv'd five thousand pound in part And that for a further gratuity he had accepted of a Commission to be Physician General of the Army That he receiv'd the Commission from the Provincial of the Jesuites in England and that he read it kept it in his possession and agreed to it with a design to have enter'd upon his employment so soon as the Army should be rais'd To make good the Charge Dr. Oates was sworn and depos'd That he saw a Letter of Sir George Wakemans written to one Ashby a Jesuite then under his directions at the Bath wherein after he had given him the prescriptions he was to observe he sent him word that he was assur'd of a certain person that was to poyson the King That he was present when Ashby offer'd him the 10000 l. in the presence of Harcourt and Ireland to poyson the King That he refus'd it not in abhorrency of the crime but because as he said it was too little for so great a Work That afterwards five thousand pound more was offer'd him as he was credibly inform'd by the order of the Provincial Whitebread But that he certainly saw the Prisoners hand to a receipt in the entry book at Wild-house for five thousand pound part of the said fifteen thousand pound Mr. Bedlow depos'd That he was in Harcourts Chamber where he saw Harcourt deliver to Sir George Wakeman a Bill of two thousand pound which was charg'd as he suppos'd upon a Goldsmith near Temple bar And that Sir George upon receipt of the Bill told Harcourt that if the Bill were accepted he should hear from him suddenly That the Bill was accepted and the money paid by the Confession of Sir George to the Witness That the said 2000l was soon after made up 5000 l. and as Harcourt told this Deponent all upon the same accompt and in part of the 15000 l. Sir George pleaded to all this that he had been left at liberty twenty four days after he had been before the Council and that upon Dr. Oates's being sent for to the House of Lords to repeat his Evidence against Sir George he
and from thence in his Barge to Deptford where after he had taken a view of a new Third-rate Frigat call'd the Sterling Castle he proceeded on to Sheerness and so forward to Portsmouth where he safely soon after arriv'd by Sea and having made a short stay in the Town return'd again by Land to Windsor August 1679. Soon after his return his Majesty was seiz'd by a fit of sickness which though Heaven kind to three Kingdomes was pleas'd not to suffer to grow upon him yet the short continuance bred no small terrour and consternation in the hearts of all his Loyal Subjects The City soon took the sad Alarm and immediately deputed two Aldermen to attend his Majesty during his sickness of whose attendance he was pleas'd to accept till the danger was over His Royal Highness the Duke of York also receiving the unwelcome news hasten'd out of Flanders to Windsor But in a short time these affrights were happily over September 1679. In the mean time Mr. Jenison had been several times examin'd and at length made publick a Narrative containing a farther discovery of the Plot with a confirmation of the truth of the Kings Evidence which Ireland had so fairly ventur'd at his death to invalidate at the expence of his Salvation Thereupon his Majesty was pleas'd to publish a Proclamation against the four Ruffians who were design'd to have murder'd him at Windsor Wherein he summon'd them by the names of Captain Levallyan .... Karney Thomas Brahall and James Wilson to render themselves before the twentieth day of October next or else to suffer the extremity of the Law with promise of a hundred pound to any person that should apprehend or discover any of them While the King continued at Windsor upon the noise of the Duke of York's being return'd several Citizens of whom the Chamberlain of London was the chief alledging their jealousies and fears arising as they said from the Dukes encouragement of Popery and the continu'd practices of the Enemies of the Protestant Religion made their applications to the Lord Mayor desiring that the guards of the City might be doubled His Lordship gave them thanks for their care and zeal and told them that he could not answer their desires of himself but that he would summon the Lieutenancy together which being done though neither Sir Thomas Player nor other person appear'd and the address of the absent Gentlemen being debated it was concluded that there was no necessity to put any farther charge upon their fellow Citizens at present as was desir'd till more urging causes of danger appear'd which was the determination of that grand affair But the City it self had a nobler design For the Lord Mayor and Aldermen having the week before order'd two of their members to attend the King at Windsor humbly to desire leave to wait on his Majesty to congratulate his happy recovery from his late indisposition they accordingly went in a full body toward the middle of this month with a fair Retinue to Windsor Where being introduc'd into the Royal presence the Lord Mayor set forth the exceeding joy of the City and of all his Majesties Protestant Subjects for so great a blessing declaring withal the happiness they enjoy'd in his Majesties most excellent Government and his preservation of the publick Liberty Property and above all the Protestant Religion To which his Majesty was pleas'd to return for answer That he had ever a high esteem of his City of London and would never omit any opportunity of giving them the marks of his kindness assuring them that he would employ his care to maintain them in peace and secure them in their properties and in the Protestant Religion and then admitted them to the Honour of kissing his hand After that his Majesty retiring out of the Royal Presence my Lord Mayor was ask'd whether he with the Aldermen would not wait on the Queen and Duke of York To which his Lordship answer'd that he had done all that was in his Commission but that he was heartily glad he had done so much as being with the rest of his brethren transported with an extraordinary joy to behold his Majesty in so good a condition of Health After the Ceremony was over the Lord Maynard by his Majesties Order entertain'd the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at a splendid Dinner which being done they return'd home the same night highly satisfy'd with the favour and treatment they had receiv'd On the 17th of this month His Majesty return'd to London with the Queen and Duke of York whereupon the Lord Mayor immediately gave order for the ringing of the bells and making bonfires which was perform'd with all chearfulness and joy by the Inhabitants Soon after that is to say upon the 27th of this month his Grace the Duke of Monmouth took shipping in one of his Majesties Yachts for Holland and the next day his Royal Highness the Duke of York departed for Flanders Whose said remarkable Departures out of this Land may well suffice to give a memorable conclusion to the story of these few last years wherein the Transactions have been so various and worthy observation that the like have rarely happen'd in a Kingdom notwithstanding all these violent underminings of her Tranquillity still bless'd with Peace and which the prayers of all good Men implore from Heaven may still continue so under the protection of a merciful God and Gracious King FINIS * Fairly promis'd when he was going to be hang'd Swear and Forswear But the main Secret to betray forbear