this was in the Year 1674 in the Month of April I told him No. Why then said he the Dutch War is to no purpose Why said I was our engaging in a War against the Dutch to bring in Popery Well well said the Fryar you will see in time In some few days we had notice of a Peace with the Dutch of which I told the said Fryar What then said he our great King of France is not at peace with him and he must do the work In the Year 1675 I had obtain'd an Interest with Henry Duke of Norfolk then Earl of Norwich and Earl-Marshal of England who was very kind to me upon the account of my contending earnestly for his Right of presenting to a Living in the Diocess of Chichester to which Living the then Bishop a turbulent man pretended a Right of Collating and in the Year 1676 I was made Chaplain to the said Duke of Norfolk I think the whole Family will bear witness of my Fidelity to him and his Children In the Service of the said Duke I came acquainted with several Priests and being then resolv'd upon a strict enquiry into their designs against us our Religion Laws and Liberties I met with one Berry a Priest that had been a Jesuite but had left that Order thro' some discontent and madness that had seiz'd the poor Wretch I found him a poor zealous man whose Zeal was far beyond his Knowledge but this Berry brought me acquainted with Mr. Langworth a Jesuite and John Keins and Will. Morgan that was then Priest to the Lord Powys both Jesuites who gain'd my Consent to go over to the Church of Rome and truly a few Arguments prevail'd with me because I had a deâ—ire to see what they were doing so that in some measure I might prevent that impending danger that seem'd to threaten England with no less than an â—â—recoverable ruine But this as I said before was my great Evil tho' my design in it was honest just and good and Sir you know that it did turn to a good account and would have turn'd to a better account had not I met with your Opposition who was concern'd in all and your Brother in every part but that of his own Life But in short I was by this Langworth reconcil'd to the Church of Rome he was Father-Confessor to the Lord Peâ—re and his Family Upon my being reconciled I was brought to Richard Strange then Provinciate of the Jesuites who admitted me into the Society and when I was admitted it was resolv'd by the Jesuites that I should pass the time of my Novitiate abroad in dispatching business for the Society which I cheerfully accepted as an advantageous Opportunity of doing that for which I was reconcil'd and admitted into their Order and therefore accordingly they provided for me When I had paid Mr. Luke Roach Commander of a Biscay Merchant bound for Bilboa the said Strange the Provincial gave me One hundred Pistols for my supply in order for my passage into Spain and for my necessary Expences there and order'd me what other Monies I should need I then apply'd my self to a certain Nobleman who was privy to my being reconciled to the Church of Rome and had much pressed me to it in order to see what Work your Rogues were at He paid into my hands â—oo Guineas which I chang'd here in England and receiv'd Bills upon Father Swinaâ— the Procurator-General for the English and Irish Jesuiâ—es who paid me in Dollâ—rs â—o my Hearts content What Letters they sent by me you shall have â—n account of in their proper place And when I had got a competent Knowledge of their Design then on foot which was to murder your Brother because he had so often deceiv'd them for they assur'd me he had been reconcil'd to their Church and that upon his Reconciliation the Society in Spain had contributed 3000 Pistols to his support which was paid in by Father Couâ—tney some time Provinciate of the English Jesuits I saw several Letters written by your Brother to one Father Knot in which the King your Brother testified his Zeal for the Catholick Religion and promis'd to restore it whenever he should come to the enjoyment of his Right in England and till he had an Opportunity to do it they should have all the Connivance in the World and if the Case should go so hard wiâ—h him when he came to the Crown that he could not bring about their desires to make their Religion to be the Religion of the Government yet they should have an Indulgence that should be an Equivalent and however they should not be excluded from Offices and Imployments of Trust and that they had his Heart and Soul In a word I was engag'd with the Jesuites two Years and I found it high time to discover what I had learnt from them and your Servant Coleman who you know was a main Agent in this Hellisâ— Design I had a hopeful Prospect of being countenanc'd by your Brother and you and sometimes the thoughts of the Difficulties I was like to meet withal would make me tremble I apply'd my self to my noble Friend of whose Mony I had spent One thousand Pounds in the Discovery and he bid me be of good courage and I should carry my Point to the confusion of them all I also communicated the business to Dr. â—ongâ—â— and â—e to Mr. Christopher Kirkâ—y and Mr Kirkâ—y communicated the same to the King and intrusted the then Lord â—reasurer 〈◊〉 the discovery 〈…〉 that the Discoverer should keep in wâ—th the Jesuites and observe theâ—â— Motions and from time to time discover wâ—at he had learned from them But Kâ—â—kâ—y could not but see your Brother's coolness in the Affair therefore to justâ—â—e himself on the sixth of September he had my Narrative attested by my Oath before Sir Edmund-Bury Goâ—frâ—y and when you and the whole Court came from Windsor I was before Godfrey the 28th day in the Morning being Saturday and swoâ—â— to a compleat Narrative of the Popish Design and at Night I attended the Privy-Council where I gave an account of so much of the whole Affair as was convenient so the whole Board saw that the Jesuites and Papists who were in strict Alliances with the other Conspirators to root out the Protestant Religion and Government And tho' all the Conspirators of the French Interest were in the Grand Plot yet you know there were some of the Jesuites and Priests and Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Romish Communion in conjunction with your self had no Patience to stay the ordinary course to establish Popery and Arbitrary Power which the other Rogues had resolved upon at White-hall to be done in its due time and to go on gradually being well assur'd of your Game if it was not spoil'd thro' rashness and therefore some of your French Pensioners were not made privy to the Secrets of somâ— of the Priests and Jesuites Councels at St. James's Weld-house and elsewhere for you know
Peace with Holland that I urg'd all the Arguments I could which to me were Demonstrations to convince your Court of that Mischief and press'd all I could to perswade his most Christian Majesty to use his uâ—most endeavour to prevent that Session of our Parliament and proposed Expedients how to do it But I was answered so often and so positively that his most Christian Majesty was so well assured by his Embassador here our Embassador there the Lord Arlington and even the King himself that he had no such apprehensions at all but was fully satisfied of the contrary and lookt upon what I offered as a very zealous mistake that I was forced to give over arguing though not believing as I did but conâ—idently appealed to time and Success to prove who took their measures rightest When it happened what I foresaw came to pass the good Father was a little suprized to see all the great men mistaken and a little one in the right and was pleased by Sir William Throckmorton to desire the continuance of my correspondence which I was mighty willing to comply with knowing the Interest of our King and in a more particular manner of my more immediate Master the Duke and his most Christian Majesty to be so inseparably united that in was impossible to divide them without destroying them all Vpon this I shewed that our Parliament in the circumstances it was managed by the timerous Councels of our Ministers who then governed would never be useful either to England France or Catholick Religion but that we should as certainly be forced from our Neutrality at their next meeting as we had been from our Active Alliance with France the last Year That a Peace in the Circumstances we were in was much more to be desired than the continuance of the War and that the Dissolution of our Parliament would certainly procure a Peace for that the Confederates did more depend upon the power they had in our Parliament then upon any thing else in the World and were more encouraged from them to the continâ—ing of the War so that if they were Dissolved their measures would be all broken and they consequently in a manner necessitated to a Peace The good Father minding this Discourse somewhat more then the Court of France thought fit to do my former urg'd it so home to the King that his Majesty was pleased to give him Orders to signify to his R H my Master that his Majesty was fully jaâ—isfyed of his R. H's good intention towards him and that he esteemed both their interests but as one and the same that my Lord Arliâ—gton and the Parliament were both to be lookt upon as very unuseful to their interest That if his R H. would endeavour to dissolve this Parliament his most Christian Majesty would assist him with his Power and Purse to have a new one as should be for their purpose This and a great many more expressions of kindness and confidence Father Ferryer was pleased to communicate to Sir William Throckmorton and Commanded them to send them to his R H. and withal to beg his R. H. to propose to his most Christian Majesty what he thought necessary for his own concern and the advantage of Religion and his Majesty would certainly do all he could to advance both or either of them This Sir William Thorckmorton sent to me by an Express who left Paris the 2d of June 1674. Stilo novo I no sooner had it but I communicated it to his R. H. To which his R H. commanded me to answer as I did on the 29th of the same month That his R. H. was very sensible of his most Christian Majesties friendship and that he would labour to cultivate it with all the good Offices he was capable of doing foâ— his Majesty that he was fully convinced that their Interests were both one that my Lord Arlington and the Parliament were not only unuseful but very dangerous both to England and France That therefore it was necessary that they should do all they could to Dissolve is And that his R. H's opinion was that if his most Christian Majesty would Write his thoughts freely to the King of England upon this Subject and make the same proffer to his Majesty of his Purse to Dissolve this Parliament which he had made to his R. H. to call another he did believe it very possible for him to succeed with the assistance we should be able to give him here and that if this Parliament were Dissolved there would be no great difficulty of getting a new one which would be more useful The Constitution of our Parliaments being sucâ— that a new one can never hart the Crown nor an old one do it good His R. H. being pleased to own these propositions which were but only general I thought it reasonable to be more particular and come closer to the point we might go the faster about the work and come to some issue before the time was too far spent I laid this for my Maxim the Dissolution of our Parliament will certainly preâ—ure a Peace which proposition was granted by every Body I Conversed withal even with Monsieur Rouvigny himself with whom I took liberty of discoâ—rsing so far but durst not say any thing of the Inteligence I had with Father Ferryer Next that a Sum of Money certain would certainly procure a Dissolution this some doubted but I am sure I never did for I knew perfectly well that the King had frequent Disputes with himself at that time whether he should dissolve or continue them and he several times declared that the Arguments were so strong on both sides that he could not tell to which to incline but was carried at last to the continuance of them by this one Argument If I try them once more they may possibly give me Money If they do I have gain'd my point If they do not I can dissolve them then and be where I am now so that I have a possibility at least of getting Money for their Continuance against nothing on the other side But if we could have turned this Argument and said Sir their Dissolution will certainly procure you Money when you have only a bare possibility of getting any by their Continuance and have shewn how far that bare possibility was from being a foundation to build any reasonable hope upon which I am sure his Majesty was sensible of and how much 300000 l. sterl certain which was the Sum we propos'd was better than a bare possibility without any reason to hope that that could ever be compassed of having half so much more which was the most he design'd to ask upon such vile dishonourable terms and a thousand other hazards which he had great reason to be afraid of If I say we had had power to have argued this I am most confidently assured we could have compassed it for Logick in our Court built upon Money has more powerful Charms then any other sort of
able to work their Wills Such Discourses as these kept the Confederates and our Male Contents in heart and made them weather on the War in spight of all our Prorogations Therefore I press'd as I have said a Dissolution until February last when our Circumstances were so totally Changed that we were forced to change our Councels too and be as much for the Parliaments Sitting as we were before against it Our Change was thus Before that time the Lord Arlington was the only Minister in Credit who thought himself out of all danger of the Parliament he having been Accused before them and Justified and therefore was Zealous for their sitting and to increase his Reputation with them and to become a perfect Favourite he sets himself all he could to Persecute the Catholic Religion and to oppose the French To shew his Zeal against the first he revived some old dormant Orders for prohibiting Roman Catholics to appear before the King and put them in Execution at his first coming into his Office of Lord Chamberlain And to make sure work with the second as he thought prevailed with the King to give him and the Earl of Ossory who marryed two Sisters of Myne Heere Odyke 's leave to go over into Holland with the said Heere to make a Visit as they pretended to their Relations But indeed and in truth to propose the Lady Mary Eldest Daughter of his R H. as a Match for the Prince of Orange not only without the consent but against the good Liking of his R. H. in so much that the Lord Arlingtons Creatures were forced to excuse him with a Distinction that the said Lady was not to be looked upon as the Dukes Daughter but as the Kings and a Child of the State was and so the Duke's consent not much to be Considered in the disposal of her but only the Interest of State By this he intended to render himself the Darling of Parliament and Protestants who look'd upon themselves as secured in their Religion by such an Alliance and designed further to draw us into a Close Conjunction with Holland and the Enemies of France The Lord Arlington set forth upon this Errand the Tenth of November 1674. and returned not till the Sixth of January following During his Absence the L. Treasurer L. Keeper and the Duke of Lauderdale who were the only Ministers of any considerable Credit with the King and who all pretended to be entirely Vnited to the Duke declaimed Loundly and with great Violence against the said Lord and his Actions in Holland and did hope in his absence to have totally Supplanted him and to have routed him out of the Kings Favour and after that thought they might easily enough have dealt with the Parliament But none of them had Courage enough to speak against the Parliament till they could get rid of him for fear they should not succeed and that the Parliament would Sit in spight of them and come to hear that they had used their endeavours against it which would have been so Vnpardonable a Crime with our Omniporent Parliament that no Power could have been able to have Saved them from Punishment But they finding at his Return that they could not prevail against him by such Means and Arts as they had then tryed resolved upon New Councels which were to out-run him in his own Course which accordingly they underâ—oâ—k and became as fierce Apostles and as zealous for Protestant Religion and against Popery as ever my Lord Arlington had been before them and in pursuance theâ—eof perswaded the King â—o issue out those severe Orders and Proclamations against Catholics which came out in February last by which they did as much as in them lay to extripate all Catholics and Catholic Religion out of the Kingdom which Councels were in my poor Opinion so Detestable being lâ—velled as they must needs be so directly against the Duke by People which he had Advanced and who had professed so much Duty and Service to him that we were put upon new Thoughts how to save his R. H. now from the Deceits and Snares of those Men upon whom we formerly depended We saw well enough that their design was to make themselves as grateful as they could to the Parliament if it must Sit they thinking nothing so acceptable to them as the persecution of Popery and yet they were so obnoxious to the Parliaments displeasure in general that they would have been glad of any Expedient to have kept it off though they durst not engage against it openly themselves but thought this Device of theirs might serve for their purposes hoping the Duke would be so alarm'd at their proceedings and by his being left by every body that he would be much more afraid of the Parliament than ever and would use his utmost power to prevent its Sitting Which they doubted not but he would endeavour and they were ready enough to work underhand too for him for their own sakes not his in order thereunto but durst not appear openly and to encourage the Duke the more to endeavour the Dissolution of the Parliament their Creatures used to say up and down That this Rigour against the Catholics was in favour of the Duke and to make a Dissolution of the Parliament more easy which they knew he coveted by obviating one great Objection which was commonly made against it which was That if the Parliament should be Dissolved it would be said That it was done in favour of Popery which Clamour they had prevented beforehand by the Severity they had used against it As soon as we saw these Tricks put upon us we plainly saw what men we had to deal withalâ— and what we â—ad to trust to if we were wholly at their mercy but yet durst not seem so dissatisfied as we really were but rather magnified the Contrivance as a Device of great Cunning and Skill all this we did purely to hold them in a belief that we would endeavour to Dissolve the Parliament and that they might rely upon his R. H. for that which we knew they long'd for and were afraid they might do some othâ—r way if they discovered that we were resolved we would not At length when we saw the Sessions secured we declared that we were for the Parliaments meeting as indeed we were from the Moment we saw our selves â—andâ—ed by all the Kings Ministers at such a rate that we had Reason to believe they would Sacrifice France Religion and his R. H. too to their own Interest if occasion served and that theâ— were lead to believe that that was the only way they had to save themselves at that time For we saw no Expedient fiâ— to stop them in their Carrier of persecution and those other destructive Councils but the Parliament which had set it self a long time to dislike every thing the Ministers had done and had appeared violently against Popery whilest the Court seemed to favour it and therefore we were Confident that the Ministers
was impossible that Godfrey had murdered himself because his Neck was broke before his Sword was run through his Body nay your good Brother the King saw you so earnest that he was ashamed at your Zeal which made the Prince swear to the D. of Buckingham that you carryed your self with that heat that a small Evidence would make him if you were brought to a Tryal to find you guilty of the said Murder Sir your behaviour in that particular was so nauseous your actions so plain and yet so pernicious that I stand amazed that your hand stopt there in short Sir the Sence I have of your guilt in that base Murder hath hardened my Heart against you and your villainous party for the many Insolencies that they at that time did offer and the secret Murders they Committed and were by you countenanced that all Men cryed shame and stood more amazed that you were not called to an Account for that Murder than they did at the impudence of the Murder it Self though God he knows that that Murther was of it self astonishing enough but to conclude this Head I pray take two things along with you which I shall leave you as my Legacy 1. What greater Satisfaction can the World have of your Guilt in this Affair if the Sons of Men will but give themselves a little time to consider these Circumstances that I have laid before you had I been so unfortunate as to have been privy to the Murder I would have been no more affraid to have charged you with it than your murdering Crew was to strangle that innocent Magistrate you will do well now to acquit your self of it if you can 't is true you are now out of the reach of the Law and since it is so I pray God keep you so during your Life but this I will tell you that these Circumstances entitle you to the Guilt of that Fact and whilst this Gentleman's Blood lies upon you I cannot forbear observing to you that in what you did to him you gave the world a Specimen of what you would have done to others and made many Men believe That the Earl of Essex came to his end by that way of Charity so that we have had great Testimony that for promoting your Cause you would not stick at the Protestants Blood you began with that honest Gentleman and you did not end in the Earl of Essex you killed Godfrey in his Person but the whole Nation in him was murdered in â—ffigie your hands were imbrued in his Blood but your black Hell-born Soul was dipt in the Blood of us all and since we are convinced that you murdered him and Essex I cannot but be convinced that you poysoned your Brother and had you had but time you would have made all away that stood in the way of your damn'd Religion you would have converted us with Blood and baptized us with Fire your nature and actions testifyed the one and London in a dreadful manner felt the other 2. Let me observe to you the Folly of your murdering this Magistrate certainly Sir it was one of the greatest pieces of Folly that you and your Party could be guilty of for what could be your end in it did you think that if Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey could not escape your murdering Crew that we could not find one in his room yes Sir to your great comfort there was a Gentleman that succeeded him that Harazed your Rogues to as good purpose as a Mans heart and soul could wish and if a Man could but have seen into your cursed Soul we might have found that you had the same Grace and Favours for and intended the same act of Charity to him as you did to Justice Godfrey but he escaped your Blessing and is yet alive to give you an Account of his Stewardship in Print if he pleases and of some of your Royal Misdemeanors into the bargain I pray Sir how do you And how do you like your self by this time how will you come of Therefore to conclude all Is there not here a monstrous Evidence of your whole Popish Plot For in truth we cannot prove it better than by such Practices as these that this Man was killed why either he knew or had discovered to him something that you and your Villains would not have him tell or you did it in defiance of Justice and in Terror to all them that then durst execute it upon them which I say is a great Evidence in its self I leave it with you after you have mumbled over your Mattins you may consider it whilst you have opportunity and leisure 9. I shall in proof of your Popish Plot offer to your consideration the Oral Testimony that was given so that you may see that we were not overhasty in our Proceedings upon those Malefactors that were charged to be in that villainous Conspiracy therefore I will give you their Names in order as follows 1. You have Richard Gastrel of the Grange in Gloucestershire I pray look upon him and see how you like him well sit down and hear what he saith to you in an Examination taken before the Lord Bishop of London a zealous Protestant I assure you and a Justice of the Peace so that you may see we had more good Justices besides Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey and this Richard Gastrel's Information was as follows THIS Deponent saith That in the year 1675 he travelled to Râ—me and being there he was by many arts and perswasions inveighled into the Romish Religion after which he was entertained by Cardinal Barbarini as one of his Gentlemen where after he had continued about five Months he was pervailed withal by several English there and by the said Cardinal to put himself into the English Seminary where after he had continued about two years and a half he returned home but whilst he continued in the said Colledge viz. in Lent last he discâ—ursed with Gerrard Ireland and William Dormour Priests now in England the said Iâ—eland told him that the Catholicks of England had expected long enough from his Majesty withâ—ut Effect and that it was in vain to expect any longer That the King had been much obliged to the Catholics and that he had now forgot their Kindness That he did no Good in England nor did deserve to be King but was a shame to all Princes and that it was no Sin to Kill him to which one Sergeant a Schollar replied Why The said Ireland answered bâ—cause it would be for the Good of the whole Church if the King were Dead the Catholic Religion would soon be brought into England And discoursing further of their going into England the said Ireland and Dormour said they hoped each of them to get a good fat Parsonage there this Dâ—ponent further saith That having an Audience of the Pope in the company of â—our Priests and another secular Gentleman all Students of the same Colledge the Pope understanding they were going for England and