THE TRYAL OF EDWARD COLEMAN Gent. FOR Conspiring the Death OF THE KING AND THE Subversion of the Government OF ENGLAND AND THE Protestant Religion Who upon Full Evidence was found Guilty of HIGH TREASON And received SENTENCE accordingly on Thursday November the 28th 1678. LONDON Printed for Robert Pawlet at the Bible in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street 1678. November 28. 1678. I Do appoint Robert Pawlet to Print the TRYAL of Edward Coleman And that no other Person presume to Print the same WILLIAM SCROGGS THE TRYAL OF Edward Coleman Gent. ON Wednesday the Twenty Seventh day of November 1678. Mr. Coleman having been Arraigned the Saturday before for High Treason was brought to the Kings Bench Bar to receive his Tryal and the Court proceeded thereupon as followeth Court Cryer make Proclamation Proclamation for Silence Cryer O Yes Our Sovereign Lord the King do's strictly Charge and Command all manner of Persons to keep Silence upon pain of Imprisonmenâ— If any one can inform our Sovereign Lord the King the King's Serjeant or the King's Attorney General or this Inquest now to be taken of any Treason Murder Felony or any other Misdemeanour committed or done by the Prisoner at the Bar let them come forth and they shall be heard for the Prisoner stands at the Bar upon his Deliverance Court Cryer make an O yes Cryer O yes You Good Men that are impannelled to enquire between our Sovereign Lord the King and Edward Coleman Prisoner at the Bar answer to your names Court Edward Coleman Hold up thy hand These Good men that are now called and here appear are those which are to pass between you and our Sovereign Lord the King upon your Life or Death if you challenge any of them you must speak as they come to the Book to be sworn and before they are sworn The Prisoner Challenging none the Court proceeded and the Jury were sworn viz. JURY Sir Reginald Foster Baronet Sir Charles Lee. Edward Wilford Esquire John Bathurst Esquire Joshua Galliard Esquire John Bifield Esquire Simon Middleton Esquire Henry Johnson Esquire Charles Vmfrevile Esquire Thomas Johnson Esquire Thomas Eaglesfield Esquire William Bohee Esquire Court Cryer make an O yes Cryer O yes Our Sovereign Lord the King does strictly charge and command all manner of Persons to keep Silence upon pain of Imprisonment Court Edward Coleman Hold up thy hand You Gentlemen of the Jury that are now sworn look upon the Prisoner and hearken to his Charge You shall understand that the Prisoner stands Indicted by the name of Edward Coleman late of the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex Gent. for that he as a false Traytor against our most Illustrious Serene and most Excellent Prince Charles by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. and his Natural Lord having not the Fear of God in his Heart nor duely weighing his Allegiance but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil his cordial Love and true Duty and natural Obedience which true and lawful Subjects of our said Lord the King ought to bear towards him and by Law ought to have altogether withdrawing and Devising and with all his strength intending the Peace and common Tranquillity of this Kingdom of England to Disturb and the true Worship of God within the Kingdom of England practised and by Law Established to overthrow and Sedition and Rebellion within this Realm of England to move stir up and procure and the cordial Love and true Duty and Allegiance which true and lawful Subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King toward their Sovereign bear and by Law ought to have altogether to Withdraw Forsake and Extinguish and our said Sovereign Lord the King to Death and final Destruction to bring and put the Twenty Ninth day of September in the Seven and Twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord Charles the Second of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County aforesaid Falsly Maliciously and Traiterously proposed Compassed Imagined and Intended to stir up and raise Sedition and Rebellion within the Kingdom of England and to procure and cause a miserable Destruction among the Subjects of our said Lord the King and wholly to Deprive Depose Deject and Disinherit our said Sovereign Lord the King of his Royal State Title Power and Rule of his Kingdom of England and to bring and put our said Sovereign Lord the King to final Death and Destruction and to overthrow and change the Government of the Kingdom of England and to alter the sincere and true Religion of God in this Kingdom by Law established and wholly to subvert and destroy the state of the whole Kingdom being in the universal parts thereof well Established and Ordained and to levy War against our said Sovereign Lord the King within his Realm of England And to accomplish and fulfill these his most wicked Treasons and Trayterous Designs and Imaginations aforesaid the said Edward Coleman afterward that is to say the Nine and twentieth day of September in the Twenty seventh year of the Reign of our said Lord the King at the Parish of St Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Falsly Deceitfully and Trayterously Composed Contrived and Writ two Letters to be sent to one Monsieur le Chese then Servant and Confessor of Lewis the French King to Desire Procure and Obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other False Traytors against our said Sovereign Lord the King the Aid Assistance and Adherence of the said French King to alter the true Religion in this Kingdom Established to the Superstition of the Church of Rome and to subvert the Government of this Kingdom of England And afterwards that is to say the said Nine and twentieth day of September in the year aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid the said Edward Coleman Falsely Trayterously and Maliciously Composed and Writ two other Letters to be sent to the said Monsieur le Chese then Servant and Confessor to the said French King to the Intent that he the said Monsieur le Chese should Intreat Procure and Obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other False Traytors against our Sovereign Lord the King Aid Assistance and Adherence of the said French King to alter the true Religion in this Kingdom of England Established to the Superstition of the Church of Rome and to subvert the Government of this Kingdom of England And that the said Edward Coleman in further Prosecution of his Treason and Trayterous Imaginations and Intentions as aforesaid afterward viz. the Twenty ninth day of September in the Seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord King Charles of England c. the said several Letters from the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Falsly
Maliciously and Trayterously did send to the said Monsieur le Chese into Parts beyond the Seas there to be delivered to him And that the said Edward Coleman afterward viz. the first day of December in the seven and twentieth year of our said Sovereign Lord the King at the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did receive from the said Monsieur le Chese one Letter in Answer to one of the said Letters first mentioned and written by him the said Edward Coleman to the said Monsieur le Chese which said Letter in Answer as aforesaid Falsly Maliciously and Trayterously received the day and year aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid the said Edward Coleman did falsly trayterously and maliciously read over and Peruse And that the said Edward Coleman the Letter so as aforesaid by him in Answer to the said Letter received into his Custody and Possession the Day and Year last mentioned at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster aforesaid in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did Falsly Maliciously and Trayterously Detain Conceal and Keep By which Letter the said Monsieur le Chese the Day and Year last mentioned at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did signifie and promise to the said Edward Coleman to obtain for the said Edward Coleman and other false Traytors against our Sovereign Lord the King Aid Assistance and Adherence from the said French King and that the said Edward Coleman afterward Viz. the tenth day of December in the seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord the King at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid his wicked Treasons and Traiterous Designs and Proposals as aforesaid did tell and declare to one Mounsieur Revigni Envoy extraordinary from the French King to our most Serene and Sovereign Lord King Charles c. in the County aforesaid residing and did falsly maliciously and trayterously move and excite the said Envoy extraordinary to partake in his Treason and the sooner to fulfil and compleat his Traiterous Designs and wicked imaginations and intentions the said Edward Coleman afterward Viz. the tenth day of December in the seven and twentieth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second of England c. aforesaid at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did advisedly maliciously deceitfully and traiterously compose and write three other Letters to be sent to one Sir William Throckmorton Kt. then a Subject of our said Soveraign Lord the King of this Kingdome of England and residing in France in parts beyond the Seas Viz. at the Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid to sollicite the said Monsieur Le Chese to procure and obtain of the said French King Aid Assistance and Adherance as aforesaid and the said Letters last mentioned afterward Viz. the day and year last named as aforesaid from the said Parish of St. Margarets Westminster in the County of Middlesex aforesaid did falsly and tâ—aiterously send and cause to be delivered to the said Sir VVilliam Throckmorton in France aforesaid against his true Allegiance and against the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King that now is his Crown and Dignity and against the Form of the Statute in that Case made and Provided Court Upon this Indictment he hath been arraigned and hath pleaded thereunto not guilty and for his Tryal he puts himself upon God and his Country Which Country you are Your Charge is to enquire whether he be guilty of the High Treason whereof he stands indicted or not guilty If you find him guilty you are to enquire what Goods and Chattels Lands and Tenements he had at the time when the High Treason was committed or at any time since If you find him not guilty you are to say so and no more and hear your Evidence Cryer If any one will give Evidence on the behalf of our Soveraign Lord the King against Edward Coleman the Prisoner at the Bar let him come forth and he shall be heard for the Prisoner now stands at the Bar upon his Deliverance Mr. Recorder May it please you my Lord and you Gentlemen of the Jury Mr. Edward Coleman now the prisoner at the Bar stands indicted for High Treason and the Indictment sets forth that the said Edward Coleman indeavouring to subvert the Protestant Religion and to change and alter the same And likewise to stir up Rebellion and Sedition amongst the Kings Liege people and also to kill the King did on the 29th of September in the twenty seventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord the King at the Parish of St. Margarets VVestminster in this County compose and write two several Letters to one Mounsieur Le Chese that was then servant and Confessor to the French King and this was to procure the French Kings aid and assistance to him and other Traitors to alter the Religion practised and by Law established here in England to the Romish Superstition The Indictment sets forth likewise that on the same day he did write and compose two other Letters to the same Gentleman that was servant and Confessor to the said King to prevail with him to procure the French Kings assistance to alter the Religion in this Kingdome established to the Romish Religion The Indictment sets further forth that he caused these two Letters to be sent beyond the Seas And it also sets forth that on the tenth of December the same moneth he did receive a Letter from the Gentleman that was the Confessor in answer to one of the former Letters and in that Letter aid and assistance from the French King was promised and that he did traiterously conceal that Letter My Lord the Indictment sets out further that on the tenth day of the same moneth he did reveal his Treasons and traiterous Conspiracies to one Mounsieur Revigni who was Envoy from the French king to his Majesty of Great Britain And his Indictment declares he afterwards did write three Letters more to Sir VVilliam Throckmorton then residing in France to procure the French Kings assistance to the alteration of the Religion practised here in England Of these several Offences he stands hereindicted To this he hath pleaded not guilty If we prove these or either of them in the Indictment you ought to find him guilty Serj. Maynard May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury This is a Cause of great Concernment Gentlemen the Prisoner at the Bar stands indicted for no less than for an intention and endeavour to murther the King For an endeavour and attempt to change the Government of the Nation so well settled and instituted and to bring us all to ruin and slaughter of one another and for an endeavour to alter the Protestant Religion and to introduce instead of it the Romish Superstition and Popery This
Ends and save Five or Ten Times a greater Sum and so be a good Husband by his Expence and if we did not procure a Dissolution he should not be at that Expence at all for that we Desired him only to promise upon that Condition which we were content to be Obliged to perform first The Second Objection was The Duke did not move nor appear in it Himself To that we Answered That he did not indeed to Mounsieur Pompone because he had found so ill an effect of the Negotiation with Father Ferryer when it came into Mounsieur Rouvigny's hands but that he had concerned himself in it to Father Ferryer Yet I continued to prosecute and press the Dissolution of the Parliament detesting all Prorogations as only so much loss of time and a means of strengthning all those who depend upon it in Opposition to the Crown the Interest of France and Catholick Religion in the Opinion they had taken That our King durst not part with his Parliament apprehending that another would be much Worse Second That he could not live long without a Parliament therefore they must suddenly Meet and the longer he kept them Off the greater his Necessity would grow and consequently their power to make him do what they listed would increase accordingly And therefore if they could but maintain themselves a while the day would certainly come in a short time in which they should be 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 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 Catholick Religion and to oppose the French To shew his Zeal against the first he revived some old dormant Orders for prohibiting Roman Catholicks 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 married 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 likeing 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 the Duke of Lauderdale who were the only Ministers of any considerable Credit with the King and who all pretended to be entirely United to the Duke declaimed Loudly with great Violence against the said Lord 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 Unpardonable a Crime with our Omnipotent 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 undertook became as fierce Apostles and as zealous for Protestant Religion against Popery as ever my L. Arlington had been before them and in pursuance thereof perswaded the King to issue out those severe Orders Proclamations against Catholicks which came out in February last by which they did as much as in them lay to extirpate all Catholicks and Catholick Religion out of the Kingdom which Councels were in my poor opinion so Detestable being levelled 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 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 Catholicks 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
is the Charge in general of the Indictment We will proceed unto particulars whereby it may appear and whereupon he indeavoureth to accomplish his ends One or two Letters written to Mounsieur Le Chese he is a Foreigner and we have nothing to say to him being Confessor to the French King it was to excite and stir him up to procure aid and assistance and you know what aid and assistance means from a Foreign Prince Arms and other Levies We charge him with it that he did receive this Letter I and received an answer with a promise that he should have assistance He writ other Letters to Sir William Throckmorton who trayterously conspired with him and had intelligence from time to time from him This is the Charge in the Indictment To which he hath pleaded not guilty We will go on in our Evidence I shall but more generally open our method that we intend to take For it may seem strange and is not reasonably to be imagined that a private Gentleman as the Prisoner at the Bar is should have such vast and great designs as this to alter Religion destroy the Government I and destroy the Subjects too in a great measure But 't is not himself alone but he imploys himself for Forreign assistance great Confederacies and Combinations with the Subjects of that King many of whom he did pervert In the course of the Evidence I shall not open the particulars Mr. Attorney I think will do that by and by those that we have occasion to speak of and shall in proof mention to you will be these Le Chese the French Kings present Confessor we have mentioned before him there was one Father Ferryer with whom he held Correspondence That Ferryer being removed by death the Prisoner had an imployment here amongst us by which he gave to Le Chese instructions how to proceed This Gentleman is the great Contriver and Plotter which gives him instructions how to proceed He doth give him an account by way of Narrative how all things had stood upon former treaties and negotiations how businesses were contrived and how far they were gone this he diligently and accurately gives an account of This my Lord doth discover and delineate what had been done before until 1674. My Lord there was likewise Sir William Throckmorton and some others that are Englishmen too there are none of them but what were first Protestants but when they once renounced their Religion no wonder they should renounce their Nation and their Prince too He was gone beyond the Seas several Letters past between them and all to promote and encourage and accomplish this design My Lord there is likewise a consult of Jesuits used too where in express words they designed to murther the King or contrived and advised upon it My Lord there were four Irish men I open but the heads of things sent to Windsor to murther the King this Gentleman received and disbursed money about this business and one Ashby a Jesuit here had instructions from him to prosecute the design and to treat with a Physitian to poyson the King This the Prisoner approved of and contributed to it There were Commissions as I take it delivered from Ferryer or by his hand that came from Forreign powers Sir Henry Titchburn was another that received and delivered Commissions Pompone the French Gentleman he maintains intelligence with him about this business the Titular Arch-bishop of Dublin There 's Cardinal Norfolk by him he had accession to the Pope There was likewise the Popes Nuncio I do not open the transactions of these Iustructions these particulars will be made out not only by Witness Viva Voce and not single only but by Letters of this Mr. Colemans own writing But I offer that to the consideration of the Jury Mr. Oats was the first Man that we hear of that discovered this Treason he was the single man that discovered so many active Agents in so great a Treason as this was and it needed to be well seconded but he being found to be but single the boldness and courage of these Complotters in it grew great thereupon We know what followed the damnable murther of that Gentleman in Execution of his Office so Hellishly contrived and the endeavours that were used to hide it every body knows How many Stories were told to hide that abominable Murther how many lies there were about it but it could not be supprest The Nation is awaken'd out of sleep and it concerns us now to look about us But all this while Mr. Coleman thought himself safe walked in the Fields goes abroad Jealousie increasing and he himself still secure The Letters that are produced go but to some part of the year 75 from 75 unto 78 all lies in the dark we have no certain Proof of it but we apprehend he had Intelligence until 78 That there were the same persons continuing here and his Company increasing here But this I speak but as probable but very exceeding probable that there was other passages of Intelligence between this Person and other Confederates It seems my Lord that this Coleman was aware that he was concerned but God blinded and infatuated him and took away his reason It 's no question but he carried away some of those Papers those that were left behind and are produced he forgot and neglected and by that my Lord those which are produced are evidence against him at this time Surely he thought we were in such a condition that had eyes and could not see and ears that could not hear and understandings without understanding for he was bold and walked abroad and that until this prosecution was made upon him he endeavoured to murther the King change the Government make an alteration of Religion and destruction of Protestants as well as the Protestant Religion And it will be proved by some Letters when they were rejected by the Duke that he sent them in the Dukes name And by this no man will doubt but he is a great Traitor Attorn Gen. May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of the Jury The Kings Serjeant hath opened the general parts of our Evidence and we have reason to foresee that our Evidence will be very long and will take up much of your time and therefore I shall spend no more time in opening of it than is just necessary And indeed my Lord Mr. Coleman himself hath saved me much of the labour which otherwise I should have bestowed for he hath left such Elegant and copious Narratives of the whole Design under his own hand that the reading of them will be better than any new one I can make But my Lord some short account I shall give you such as may shew you the course of our Evidence and will make our Evidence when it comes to be given to be more intelligible My Lord It will appear that there hath been for many years last past a more than ordinary design and industry to bring in the
Popish and extirpate the Protestant Religion I doubt not but this Design in some measure hath been contriving ever since the Reformation by the Jesuits or some of their Emissaries but hath often received interruption so that they have proceeded sometimes more coldly sometimes more hotly And I do think at no time since the Reformation that ever this Design was carried on with greater industry nor with fairer hopes of success than for these last years My Lord You will hear from our Witnesses that the first Onset which was to be made upon us was by whole Troops of Jesuits and Priests who were sent hither from the Seminaries abroad where they had been trained up in all the subtilty and skill that was fit to work upon the People My Lord you will hear how active they have been and what insinuations they used for the perverting of particular persons After some time spent in such attempts they quickly grew weary of that course though they got some Proselytes they were but few Some Bodies in whom there was a predisposition of humors were infected but their Numbers were not great They at last resolve to take a more expeditious way for in truth my Lord they could not far prevail by the former And I wish with all my heart that the Bodies of Protestants may be as much out of danger of the violence of their hands as their Understandings will be of the force of their Arguments But my Lord when this way would not take they began then to consider they must throw at all at once No doubt but they would have been glad that the People of England had had but one Neck but they knew the People of England had but one Head and therefore they were resolved to strike at that My Lord you will find that there was a Summons of the principal Jesuits of the most able Head-pieces who were to meet in April or May last to consult of very great things of a most Diabolical Nature no less than how to take away the life of the King our Sovereign My Lord you will find as is usually practised in such horrid Conspiracies to make all secure that there was an Oath of Secresie taken and that upon the Sacrament You will find Agreements made that this most wicked and horrible Design should be attempted You will find two Villains were found among them who undertook to do this execrable work and you will hear of the rewards they were to have Money in case they did succeed and Masses good store in case they perished so that their Bodies were provided for in case they survived and their Souls if they died My Lord What was the reason they did not effect their Design but either that these Villains wanted opportunity or their hearts failed them when they came to put in execution this wicked Design or perhaps which is most probable it was the Providence of God which over-rul'd them that this bloody Design did not take its effect But these Gentlemen were not content with one Essay they quickly thought of another and there were four Irish-men prepared men of very mean Fortunes and desperate conditions and they were to make the attempt no longer since than when the King was last at Windsor My Lord I perceive by the Proofs that these last Assassinates went down thither but it came to pass for some of the Reasons aforesaid that that Attempt failed likewise My Lord These Gentlemen those wise Heads who had met here in Consultation did then and long before consider with themselves that so great a Cause as this was not to be put upon the hazard of some few hands they therefore prepared Forces Aids and Assistances both at home and abroad to second this wicked Design if it had succeeded as to the Person of the King and if that fail'd then by their Foreign and Domestick Aids and Assistances to begin and accomplish the whole Work of subverting our Government and Religion And here we must needs confess as to the former part of this Plot which we have mentioned I mean the attempt upon the Kings Person Mr. Coleman was not the Contriver nor to be the Executioner But yet your Lordship knows in all Treasons there is no Accessory but every man is a Principal And thus much we have against him even as to this part of the Design which will involve him in the whole guilt of it that Mr. Coleman consented to it though his hand were not to do it Mr. Coleman encouraged a Messenger to carry Money down as a Reward of these Murtherers that were at Windsor of this we have proof against him which is sufficient My Lord Mr. Coleman as a man of greater abilities is reserved for greater Employments and such wherein I confess all his Abilities were little enough There were Negotiations to be made with Men abroad Money to be procured partly at home from Friends here and partly abroad from those that wish'd them well And in all these Negotiations Mr. Coleman had a mighty hand and you will perceive by and by what a great progress he made in them This Conspiracy went so far as you will hear it proved That there were General Officers named and appointed that should Command their new Catholick Army and many were Engaged if not Listed There were not onely in England but in Ireland likewise where Arms and all other Necessaries were provided and whither great Sums of Money were returned to serve upon occasion But one thing there is my Lord that comes nearest Mr. Coleman As there were Military Officers named so likewise the great Civil Places and Offices of the Kingdom were to be disposed of I will not nameto whom at this time more than what is pertinent to the present business This Gentleman such were his great Abilities the trust and reliance that his Party had upon him that no less an Office would serve his turn than that of Principal Secretary of State and he had a Commission that came to him from the Superiours of the Jesuits to enable him to execute that great Office My Lord it seems strange that so great an Office should be conferred by no greater a man than the Superior of the Jesuits But if the Pope can depose Kings and dispose of Kingdoms no wonder if the Superior of the Jesuits can by a Power delegated from him make Secretaries It is not certain what the Date of this Commission was nor the very time when he received it but I believe he was so earnest and forward in this Plot that he began to execute his Office long before he had his Commission for it for I find by his Letters which are of a more early Date that he had proceeded so far as to treat with Father Ferrier who was the French Kings Confessor before he had actually received this Commission You will understand by the Letters which we shall produce what he had to do with him and what with the other Confessor that succeeded
Father Le Chese There were two small matters they treated of no less than the Dissolving the Parliament and the Extirpation of the Protestant Religion Nay you will find and you will hear enough when the Letters come to be read that Mr. Coleman made many strokes at the Parliament he had no good opinion of them And we cannot blame him for without all peradventure they had made and I hope ever will make strong resistance against such Designs as these But a great mind he had to be rid of them and he had hopes of great Sums of Money from abroad if it had been to be done that way And it is very remarkable and shews the vanity of the Man he had such an opinion of the success of these Negotiations that he had penn'd a Declaration prepared by him and writ with his own hand to be published in Print up on the Dissolution of the Parliament to justifie that Action with many specious and plausible Reasons As he did this without any direction so he takes upon him to write a Declaration as in the Name of the King without the least shadow of any command to do it so he prepares a Letter also in the name of the Duke and I would not affirm unless I could prove it and that from his own Confession being examined before the Lords upon Oath that he had no manner of Authority from the Duke to prepare such a Letter and when it was written and brought to the Duke it was rejected and the Writer justly blamed for his presumption By this you will perceive the forwardness of this Man And you must of necessity take notice that in his Letters he took upon himself to manage Affairs as authorized by the greatest Persons in the Kingdom yet without the least shadow of proof that he was by them impowered to do it My Lord you shall find Mr. Coleman thought himself above all and such was his own over-weening opinion of his Wit and Policy that he thought himself the sole and supreme Director of all the Affairs of the Catholicks You will likewise perceive that he held Intelligence with Cardinal Norfolk with Father Sheldon and the Popes Internuntio at Brussels And I cannot but observe out of the Proofs that as we shall find Mr. Coleman very ambitious and forward in all great Affairs so he had a little too much Eye to the Reward he looked too much asquint upon the matter of Money his great endeavours were not so much out of Conscience or out of Zeal to his Religion as out of temporal Interest to him Gain was instead of Godliness And by his Letters to the French Confessor Monsieur Le Chese it will be proved that he got much Money from the Catholicks here and some from abroad but still he wanted Money What to do I do not mean the greater sum of two hundred thousand pounds to procure the Dissolution of the Parliament but some twenty thousand pounds onely To be expended by him in secret Service I do not know what account he would have given of it if he had been intrusted with it But that he earnestly thirsted after Money appeareth by most of his Letters My Lord you will observe besides his Intelligences that he had with Father Le Chese and several others one that deserves to be named and that is his Negotiation with Sir William Frogmorton who was sent over into France and there resided a long time to promote these Designs He is dead therefore I will not say so much of him as I would say against him if he was here to be tri'd But my Lord I find in his Letters such Treasonable such Impious expressions against the King such undutiful Characters of him that no good Subject would write and no good Subject would receive and conceal as Mr. Coleman hath done My Lord it may pass for a wonder how we come to be Masters of all these Papers it has in part been told you already There was an information given of the general Design nay of some of the particulars against the Kings Life And without all peradventure Mr. Coleman knew of this Discovery and he knew that he had Papers that could speak too much and he had time and opportunity enough to have made them away and I make no question but he did make many away We are not able to prove the continuance of his correspondence so as to make it clearly out but we suppose that continued until the day he was seized And there is this to be proved that Letters came for him though we cannot say any were delivered to him after he was in Prison But without all peradventure the Man had too much to do too many Papers to conceal Then you 'll say he might have burnt them all for many would burn as well as a few But then he had lost much of the Honour of a great States-man many a fine Sentence and many a deep Intrigue had been lost to all Posterity I believe that we owe this Discovery to something of Mr. Coleman's Vanity he would not lose the Glory of managing these important Negotiations about so great a Design He thought 't was no small Reputation to be intrusted with the Secrets of Forreign Ministers If this was not his reason God I believe took away from him that clearness of Judgment and strength of Memory which he had upon other occasions My Lord I shall no longer detain you from reading the Papers themselves But I cannot but account this Kingdom happy that these Papers are preserved For my Lord We are to deal with a sort of men that have that prodigious confidence that their words and deeds though proved by never so unsuspected Testimony they will still deny But my Lord no denial of this Plot will prevail for Mr. Coleman himself hath with his own hand recorded this Conspiracy and we can prove his hand not onely by his own Servants and Relations but by his own Confession So that my Lord I doubt not that if there be any of their own Party that hear this Trial they themselves will be satisfi'd with the truth of these things And I believe we have an advantage in this case which they will not allow us in another matter namely that we shall be for this once permitted to believe our own Senses Our Evidence consisteth of two parts one is Witnesses Viva voce which we desire with the favour of the Court to begin with and when that is done we shall read several Letters or Negotiations in writing and so submit the whole to your Lordships direction Pris I beg leave that a poor ignorant Man that is so heavily charged that it seems a little unequal to consider the reason why a Prisoner in such a case as this is is not allowed Counsel but your Lordship is supposed to be Counsel for him But I think it very hard I cannot be admitted Counsel and I humbly hope your Lordship will not suffer me
to be lost by things that my self cannot answer I deny the Conclusion but the Premisses are too strong and artificial L. C. Just You cannot deny the Premisses but that you have done these things but you deny the Conclusion that you are a Traitor Pris I can safely and honestly L. C. Just You would make a better Secretary of State than a Logician for they never deny the Conclusion Pris I grant it your Lordship You see the advantage great men have of me that do not pretend to Logick L. C. Just The labour lies upon their hands the Proof belongs to them to make out these Intrigues of yours therefore you need not have Counsel because the Proof must be plain upon you and then it will be in vain to deny the Conclusion Pris I hope my Lord if there be any Point of Law that I am not skill'd in that your Lordship will be pleased not to take the advantage over me Another thing seems most dreadful that is the violent prejudices that seem to be against every man in England that is confess'd to be a Roman Catholick It is possible that a Roman Catholick may be very innocent of these crimes If one of those Innocent Roman Catholicks should come to this Bar he lies under such disadvantages already and his Prejudices so greatly byasseth humane Nature that unless your Lordship will lean extremely much on the other side Justice will hardly stand upright and lie upon a Level But to satisfie your Lordship I do not think it any service to destroy any of the Kings Subjects unless it be in a very plain case L. C. Just You need not make any preparations for us in this matter you shall have a fair just and legal Trial if Condemned it will be apparent you ought to be so and without a fair Proof there shall be no Condemnation Therefore you shall find we will not do to you as you do to us blow up at adventure kill people because they are not of your perswasion our Religion teacheth us another Doctrine and you shall find it clearly to your advantage We seek no mans blood but our own safety But you are brought here from the necessity of things which your selves have made and from your own actions you shall be condemned or acquitted Pris It is supposed upon Evidence that the Examinations that have been of me in Prison are like to be Evidence against me now I have nothing to say against it But give me leave to say at this time that when I was in Prison I was upon my ingenuity charged I promised I would confess all I knew And I onely say this That what I said in Prison is true and am ready at any time to Swear and Evidence that that is all the truth L. C. Just It is all true that you say but did you tell all that vvas true Pris I know no more than what I declared to the Two Houses L. C. Just Mr. Coleman I 'll tell you when you will be apt to gain credit in this matter You say that you told all things that you knew the Truth and the whole Truth Can Mankind be persuaded that you that had this Negotiation in 74. and 75. left off just then at that time when your Letters vvere found according to their Dates Do you believe there was no Negotiation after 75. because we have not found them Have you spoke one vvord to that Have you confessed or produced those Papers and Weekly Intelligence When you answer that you may have credit vvithout that it is impossible For I cannot give credit to one word you say unless you give an account of the subsequent Negotiation Pris After that time as I said to the House of Commons I did give over Corresponding I did offer to take all Oaths and Tests in the World that I never had one Letter for at least two years yea that I may keep my self within compass I think it was for three or four Now I have acknowledged to the House of Commons I have had a cursory Correspondence which I never regarded or valued but as the Letters came I burnt them or made use of them as common Paper I say that for the general Correspondence I have had for two or three years they have had every one of them Letters that I know of Attor Gen. Whether you had or no you shall have the fairest Trial that can be And we cannot blame the Gentleman for he is more used to greater Affairs than these Matters or Forms of Lavv. But my Lord I desire to go unto Evidence and vvhen that is done he shall be heard as long as he pleaseth vvithout any interruption If he desire it before I give my Evidence let him have Pen Ink and Paper vvith your Lordships leave L. C. Just Help him to Pen Ink and Paper Record Then we desire to go on in our Evidence We desire that Mr. Oates may not be interrupted Court He shall not be interrupted Attorn Gen. The first thing we will inquire what account he can give of the Prisoner at the Bar whether he was any way privy to the murther of the King Lord Ch. Just Mr. Oates we leave it to your self to take your own way and your own method only this we say here 's a Gentleman stands at the Bar for his life And on the other side the King is concerned for His life you are to speak the truth and the whole truth for there is no reason in the world that you should adde any one thing that is false I would not have a tittle added for any advantage or consequences that may fall when a man's bloud and life lieth at stake Let him be condemned by truth you have taken an Oath and you being a Minister know the great regard you ought to have of the sacredness of an Oath and that to take a man's life away by a false Oath is murther I need not teach you that But that Mr. Coleman may be satisfied in the Trial and all people else be satisfied there is nothing required or expected but downright plain truth and without any arts either to conceal or expatiate to make things larger then in truth they are he must be condemned by plain Evidence of Fact Mr. Oates My Lord Mr. Coleman in the Month of November last did entertain in his own House John Keins which John Keins was a Father Confessor to certain persons that were Converted amongst which I was one My Lord I went and visited this John Keins at Mr. Coleman's House then in Stable-yard Mr. Coleman inquiring of John Keins who I was He said I was one that designed to go over upon business to St. Omers My Lord Mr. Coleman told me then he should trouble me with a Letter or two to St. Omers but he told me he would leave them with one Fenwick that was Procurator for the Society of Jesuits in London I went on Monday Morning and took Coach went
to Dover and had his Pacquet with me which Pacquet when I came to St. Omers I opened The out-side sheet of this Paper was a Letter of news which was called Mr. Coleman's Letter and at the bottome of this Letter there was this Recommendation Pray Recommend me to my Kinsman Playford In this Letter of news there were expressions of the King calling him Tyrant and that the Marriage between the Prince of Orange and the Lady Mary the Duke of York's Eldest Daughter would prove the Traytour's and Tyrant's ruine Lord Ch. Just In what language was it written Mr. Oats In plain English words at length Lord Ch. Just Directed to whom Mr. Oats It was directed to the Rectour of St. Omers to give him intelligence how affairs went in England Lord Ch. Just Did you break it open Mr. Oates I was at the opening of it and saw it and read it There was a Letter to Father Lechees which was superscribed by the same hand that the treasonable Letter of news was written and the same hand that the recommendation to Playford was written in When this Letter was open there was a Seal fixt a flying Seal and no mans Name to it Lord Ch. Just What was the Contents of that Letter to Lechees Mr. Oates My Lord to give you an account of the import of this Letter it was writ in Latine and in it there were thanks given to Father Lechees for the Ten Thousand Pounds which was given for the propagation of the Catholick Religion and that it should be imployed for no other intent and purpose but that for which it was sent now that was to cut off the King of England those words were not in that Letter but Lechees Letter to which this was an Answer I saw and read It was dated the Month of August and as near as I remember there was this instruction in it That the Ten Thousand Pound should be employed for no other intent and purpose but to cut off the King of England I do not swear the words but that 's the sense and substance I believe I may swear the words Lord Ch. Just To whom was that directed Mr. Oates To one Strange that was then Provincial of the Society in London which Mr. Coleman answered Lord Ch. Just How came Mr. Coleman to answer it Mr. Oates Strange having run a Reed into his Finger had wounded his Hand and Secretary Mico was ill so he got Mr. Coleman to write an Answer unto it Lord Ch. Just Did he write it as from himself Mr. Oates Yes by order of the Provincial Lord Ch. Just What was the substance of that Answer Mr. Oates That thanks was given to him in the Name of the whole Society for the Ten Thousand Pound which was paid and received here and that it should be employed to the intent for which it was received It was superscribed from Mr. Coleman Lord Ch. Just Was it subscribed Coleman Mr. Oates It was not subscribed I did not see him write it but I really believe it was by the same hand I went and delivered this Letter Lord Ch. Just I understood you because of the accident of his Hand he had employed Mr. Coleman to write this for him Mr. Oates He did write this Letter then the Body of the Letter was written by Mr. Coleman I did not see him write it but I shall give an account how I can prove he wrote it I delivered this Letter to Lechees his own hand When I opened the Letter he asked me how a Gentleman naming a French name did doe Lord Ch. Just When you carried this Letter you carried it to Lechees and delivered it to him then he asked you of the Gentleman of the French name whom meant he by that name Mr. Oates I understood it to be Mr. Coleman Lord Ch. Just Did he know him by some French name What said you Mr. Oates I could say little to this Lord Ch. Just Could you guess whom he meant Mr. Oates He told me he was sometime Secretary to the Dutchess of York which I understood to be Mr. Coleman I stuck at it and when he said he was sometime Secretary to the Dutchess of York I spoke in Latine to him and asked whether he meant Mr. Coleman and his Answer I cannot remember He sends an Answer to this Letter I brought it to St. Omers and there it was inclosed in the Letter from the Society to Coleman wherein the Society expresly told him this Letter was delivered and acknowledged I saw the Letter at St. Omers and the Letter was sent to him Mr. Coleman did acknowledge the Receit of this Letter from Lechees in the same hand with that of the News Letter and so it was understood by all I saw it Lord Ch. Just How came you to see it Mr. Oates I by a Patent from them was of the Consult Lord Ch. Just You saw the Letter of the same hand which the News Letter was of with Mr. Coleman's name subscribed Mr. Oates The contents of the Letter did own the Letter from Lechees was received this Letter was presumed to be the Hand-writing of Mr. Coleman and it was understood to be Mr. Coleman's Letter Lord Ch. Just You say the Letter was thanks for the Ten Thousand Pound what was the other Contents Mr. Oates That all endeavours should be used to cut off the Protestant Religion Root and Branch Lord Ch. Just You say you delivered this Letter from whom had you it Mr. Oates From Fenwick it was left in his hand and he accompanied me from Groves to the Coach and gave it to me Lord Ch. Just Did you hear him speak to Mr. Coleman to write for him Mr. Oates Strange told me he had spoke to him Lord Ch. Just He doth suppose it was Mr. Coleman's hand because it was just the same hand that the News Letter was Are you sure the Letter was of his hand Mr. Oates It was taken for his hand Just Wild. Had he such a Kinsman there Mr. Oates Yes he hath confessed it Attorn Gen. We desire your Lordship he may give an account of the Consult here in May last and how far Mr. Coleman was privy to the murthering of the King Mr. Oates In the Month of April Old-Stile in the Month of May New-Stile there was a Consult held it was begun at the White Horse Tavern it did not continue there After that there they had consulted to send one Father Cary to be Agent and Procurator for Rome they did adjourn themselves to several Clubs in Companies some met at Wild-House and some at Harcourt's Lodging in Dukes-Street some met at Ireland's Lodging in Russel-Street and some in Fenwick's Lodging in Drury-Lane They were ordered to meet by virtue of a Brief from Rome sent by the Father Generall of the Society They went on to these Resolves That Pickering and Groves should go on and continue in attempting to Assassinate the King's Person by Shooting or other means Groves was to have
Fifteen Hundred Pounds Pickering being a Religious man was to have Thirty Thousand Masses which at Twelve Pence a Mass amounted much what to that money This Resolve of the Jesuits was communicated to Mr. Coleman in my hearing at Wild-House My Lord this was not onely so but in several Letters he did mention it and in one Letter I think I was gone a few miles out of London he sent to me by a Messenger and did desire the Duke might be trappan'd into this Plot to Murther the King Lord. Ch. Just How did he desire it Mr. Oates In a Letter that all means should be used for the drawing in the Duke This Letter was written to one Ireland I saw the Letter and read it Lord Ch. Just How do you know it was his Letter Mr. Oates Because of the Instructions which I saw Mr. Coleman take a Copy of and write which was the same hand with the News Letter and what else I have mentioned the Subscription was Recommend me to Father Lechees and it was the same hand whereof I now speak Lord Ch. Just What was the substance of the Letter Mr. Oates Nothing but Complement and Recommendation and that all means might be used for the trappanning the Duke of York as near as I can remember that was the word Just Wild. You did say positively that Mr. Coleman did consent and agree to what was consulted by the Jesuits which was to kill the King and Pickering and Groves were the two persons designed to do it Did you hear him consent to it Mr. Oates I heard him say at Wild-House he thought it was well contrived Recor. Do the Gentlemen of the Jury hear what he saith Lord. Ch. Just Gentlemen of the Jury do you hear what he saith Jury Yes Attorn Gen. What do you know of any Rebellion to have been raised in Ireland and what was to be done with the Duke of Ormond Mr. Oates In the Month of August there was a Consult with the Jesuites and with the Benedictine Monks at the Savoy In this Month of August there was a Letter writ from Arch-Bishop Talbot the Titular Arch-Bishop of Dublin wherein he gave an account of a Legate from the Pope an Italian Bishop the Bishop of Cassay I think who asserted the Pope's Right to the Kingdom of Ireland In this Letter to mention in special there were Four Jesuits had contrived to dispatch the Duke of Ormond these were his words To find the most expedient way for his death and Fogarthy was to be sent to do it by Poyson if these Four good Fathers did not hit of their Design My Lord Fogarthy was present And when the Consult was almost at a period Mr. Coleman came to the Savoy to the Consult and was mighty forward to have Father Fogarthy sent to Ireland to dispatch the Duke by Poyson This Letter did specify they were there ready to rise in Rebellion against the King for the Pope Attorney Generall Do you know any thing of Arms Mr. Oates There were 40000 Black Bills I am not so skilfull in Arms to know what they meant Military Men know what they are that were provided to be sent into Ireland but they were ready for the use of the Catholick Party Lord Ch. Just Who were they provided by Mr. Oates I do not know Lord Ch. Just How do you know they were provided Mr. Oates That Letter doth not mention who they were provided by but another Letter mentioned they were provided by those that were Commission Officers for the aid and help of the Pope the Popish Commissioners they were provided by and they had them ready in Ireland Lord Ch. Just Who wrote this Letter Mr. Oates It came from Talbot I might forget the day of the Month because my Information is so large but it was the former part of the Year I think either January or February 77 78 last January or February Lord Ch. Just Was this Consult but in August last Mr. Oates I am forced to run back from that Consult to this Mr. Coleman was privy and was the main Agent and did in the Month of August last past say to Fenwick he had found a way to transmit the 200000 li. for the carrying on of this Rebellion in Ireland Lord Ch. Just Did you hear him say so Mr. Oates I did a Week before Lord Ch. Just You say he was very forward to send Fogarthy into Ireland to kill the Duke of Ormond Mr. Oates Yes that I say and that he had found a way to transmit 200000 li. to carry on the Rebellion in Ireland Court Who was by besides Fenwick Mr. Oates My self and no body else Court Where was it said Mr. Oates In Fenwick's Chamber in Drury-lane Attorn Gen. Do you know any thing of transmitting the money to Windsor or perswading any to be sent thither and the time when Mr. Oates In the Month of August there were four Russians procured by Dr. Fogarthy These Four were not nominated in the Consult with the Benedictine Convent but My Lord these four Ruffians without names were accepted of by them Court Who proposed them Mr. Oates Fogarthy These four Irish men were sent that night to Windsor How they went I know not but the next day there was a provision of 80 li. ordered to them by the Rector of London which is a Jesuite one Will. Harcourt in the name of the Provincial because he acted in his name and authority the Provincial being then beyond the Seas visiting his Colledges in Flanders Lord Ch. Just Did he order the 80 li. Mr. Oates Mr. Coleman came to this Harcourt's House then lying in Duke's Street and Harcourt was not within but he was directed to come to Wild-House and at Wild-House he found Harcourt Lord Ch. Just How do you know that Mr. Oates He said he had been at his House and was not within finding him at Wild-House he asked what care was taken for those four Gentlemen that went last night to Windsor he said there was 80 li. ordered Lord Ch. Just Who said so Mr. Oates Harcourt And there was the Messenger that was to carry it I think the most part of this 80 li. was in Guineys Mr. Coleman gave the Messenger a Guiney to be nimble and to expedite his Journey L. Chief Just How know you they were Guinies Mr. Oates I saw the money upon the Table before Harcourt not in his hand L. Chief Just Were the Four Irish men there Mr. Oates No they were gone before I came L. Chief Just Who was to carry it after them what was his name Mr. Oates I never saw him before or since the Money was upon the Table when Mr. Coleman came in he gave the messenger a Guiney to expedite the business Recorder You say Mr. Coleman inquired what Care was taken for those Ruffians that were to Assassinate the King pray Mr. Oates tell my Lord and the Jury what you can say concerning Mr. Colemans discourse with one Ashby Mr. Oates In the
for to poyson the king When you were to give an account to the Council of the particular Contrivance of the Murther of the King at Windsor with a Reward you did mention one Reward of 10000 pounds to Dr. Wakeman and would you omit the Guinny to expedite the Messenger and that he said that 10000l was too little would you omit all this Mr. Oates I being so tyred and weak that I was not able to stand upon my Legs and I remember the Council apprehended me to be so weak that one of the Lords of the Council said that if there were any occasion further to examine Mr. Coleman that Mr. Oates should be ready again and bid me retire L. C. Just You was by when the Council were ready to let Mr. Coleman go almost at large Mr. Oates No I never apprehended that for if I did I should have given a further Account L. C. Just What was done to Mr. Coleman at that time was he sent away Prisoner Mr. Oates Yes at that time to the Messengers house and within two dayes after he was sent to Newgate and his Papers were seized L. C. Just Why did you not name Coleman at that time Mr. Oates Because I had spent a great deal of time in accusing other Jesuites Just Wild. What time was there betwixt the first time you were at the Council before you told of this matter concerning the King Mr. Oates When I was first at the Board which was on Saturday night I made Information which began between six and seven and lasted almost to ten I did then give a general Account of the Affairs to the Council without the King Then I went and took Prisoners and before Sunday night I said I thought if Mr. Colemans Papers were searched into they would find matter enough against him in those Papers to hang him I spake those words or words to the like purpose After that Mr. Colemans Papers were searched Mr. Coleman was not to be found but he surrendred himself the next day So that on Sunday I was commanded to give His Majesty a general Information as I had given to the Council on Saturday and the next day again I took Prisoners that night five and next night four Just Wild. How long was it betwixt the time that you were examined and spoke only as to the Letters to that time you told to the King Council or both of them concerning this matter you swear now Mr. Oates My Lord I never told it to the King and Council but I told it to the Houses of Parliament L. Chief Just How long was it between the one and the other Mr. Oates I cannot tell exactly the time it was when the Parliament first sate L. C. J. How came you Mr. Coleman being so desperate a man as he was endeavouring the killing of the King to omit your Information of it to the Council and to the King at both times Mr. Oats I spoke little of the Persons till the persons came face to face L. Chief Just Why did you not accuse all thosse Jesuits by name M. Oates We took a Catalogue of their names but those I did accuse positively and expresly we took up L. Chief Just Did you not accuse Sir George Wakeman by name and that he accepted his Reward Mr. Oates Yes then I did accuse him by name L. Chief Just Why did you not accuse Mr. Coleman by name Mr. Oates For want of Memory being disturbed and wearied in sitting up two nights I could not give that good account of Mr. Coleman which I did afterwards when I consulted my Papers and when I saw Mr. Coleman was secured I had no need to give a farther Account L. Chief Just How long was it between the first charging Mr. Coleman and your acquainting the Parliament with it Mr. Oats From Monday the 30th of September until the Parliament sate L. Chief Just Mr. Coleman will you ask him any thing Prisoner Pray ask Mr. Oats whether he was not as near to me as this Gentleman is because he speaks of his eyes being bad Mr. Oats I had the disadvantage of a Candle upon my eyes Mr. Coleman stood more in the dark Prisoner He names several times that he met with me in this place and that place a third and fourth place about business Mr. Oats He was altered much by his Perriwig in several Meetings and had several Perriwiggs and a Perriwigg doth disguise a man very much but when I heard him speak then I knew him to be Mr. Coleman L. Chief Just Did you hear him speak How were the Questions asked Were they thus Was that the Person Or how often had you seen Mr. Coleman Mr. Oats When the Question was asked by my Lord Chancellour Mr. Coleman when were you last in France He said at such a time Did you see Father le Chese He said he gave him an accidental visit My Lord Chancellor asked him whether or no he had a Pass He said No. Then he told him that was a fault for going out of the Kingdom without a Pass Have you a Kinsman whose name is Playford at S. Omers He said he had one ten years old who is in truth sixteen That question I desired might be asked Then the King bade me go on L. Ch. Just Did the King or Council or Lord Chancellor ask you whether you knew Mr. Coleman or no Mr. Oats They did not ask me L. Ch. Just Mr. Oats answer the question in short and without confounding it with length Were you demanded if you knew M. Coleman Mr. Oats Not to my knowledge L. Ch. Just Did you ever see him or how often Pris He said he did not know me L. Ch. Just You seemed when I asked you before to admit as if you had been asked this question how often you had seen him and gave me no answer because you were doubtful whether it was the man by reason of the inconveniency of the light and your bad fight Mr. Oats I must leave it to the King what answer I made Mr. Coleman he wonders I should give an account of so many intimacies when I said I did not know him at the Council Table Pris It is very strange Mr. Oats should swear now that he was so well acquainted with me and had been so often in my company when upon his accusation at the Council-Table he said nothing of me more than the sending of one Letter which he thought was my hand Mr. Oats I did not say that Pris And he did seem to say there he never saw me before in his life L. Ch. Just Was he asked whether he was acquainted with you for those words are to the same purpose Pris I cannot answer directly I do not say he was asked if he was acquainted with me but I say this that he did declare he did not know me L. Ch. Just Can you prove that Pris I appeal to Sir Tho. Dolman who is â—ow in Court and was then present
at the Council-Table L. Ch. Just Sir Thomas you are not upon your Oath but are to speak on the behalf of the Prisoner what did he say Sir Tho. Dolman That he did not well know him L. Ch. Just Did he add that he did not well know him by the Candle light But Mr. Oats when you heard his voice you said you knew him why did you not come then and say you did well know him Mr. Oats Because I was not asked L. Ch. Just But Sir Thomas did he say he did not well know him after M. Coleman spake Was Mr. Coleman examined before Mr. Oats spake Sir Tho. Doleman Yes L. Ch. Just Mr. Oats you say you were with him at the Savoy and Wild-house pray Sir Thomas did he say he did not know him or had seen Mr. Coleman there Sir Tho. Dolman He did not know him as he stood there L. Ch. Just Knowing or not knowing is not the present question but did he make an answer to the knowing or not knowing him Just Dolben Did he say he did not well know Mr. Coleman or that he did not well know that man Sir Tho. Dolman He said he had no acquaintance with that man to the best of my remembrance L. Ch. Just Sir Robert Southwell you were present at Mr. Oats his Examination before the Council in what manner did he accuse Mr. Coleman then Sir Robert Southwell The question is so particular I cannot give the Court satisfaction but other material things then said are now omitted by Mr. Oats for he did declare against Sir George Wakeman that five thousand pounds was added in all fifteen thousand pounds and that Mr. Coleman paid five of the fifteen to Sir George in hand L. Ch. Just This answers much of the Objection upon him The Court has asked Mr. Oats how he should come now to charge you with all these matters of poysoning and killing the King and yet he mentioned you so slightly at the Council-Table but it is said by Sir Robert Southwell he did charge you with five thousand pounds for poisoning the King to be added to the ten thousand pounds and he charged you expresly with it at the Council Table Pris The Charge was so slight against me by Mr. Oats that the Council were not of his Opinion For the first order was to go to Newgate and Sir Robert Southwell came with directions to the Messenger not to execute the Order I humbly ask whether it was a reasonable thing to conceive that the Council should extenuate the punishment if Mr. Oats came with such an amazing account to the Council Sir Rob. South Mr. Oats gave so large and general an Information to the Council that it could not easily be fixed Mr. Coleman came voluntarily in upon Monday morning The Warrant was sent out on Sunday night for Mr. Coleman and his Papers His Papers were found and seized but Mr. Coleman was not found at that time nor all Night but came on Monday morning voluntarily and offered himself at Sir Joseph Williamson's House hearing there was a Warrant against him By reason of so many Prisoners that were then under Examination he was not heard till the Afternoon and then he did with great Indignation and Contempt hear these vile things as thinking himself innocent Pris If I thought my self guilty I should have charged my self I hope his Majesty upon what hath been said will be so far satisfied as to discharge me Sir Rob. South Mr. Coleman then made so good a discourse for himself that though the Lords had filled up a blank Warrant to send him to Newgate that was respited and he was only committed to a Messenger I did say to the Messenger be very civil to Mr. Coleman for things are under Examination but you must keep him safely Saith the Messenger pray let me have a special Warrant that doth dispence with the Warrant I had to carry him to Newgate and such a Warrant he had The King went away on Tuesday morning to Newmarket and appointed a particular Committee to examine the Papers brought of Mr. Coleman and others His Papers were found in a Deal box and several of these Papers and Declarations sounded so strangely to the Lords that they were amazed and presently they signed a Warrant for Mr. Coleman's going to Newgate L. Ch. Just Did Mr. Oats give a round Charge against Mr. Coleman Sir Rob. South He had a great deal to do he was to repeat in the Afternoon on Sunday when the King was present all he had said to the Lords on Saturday He did say of Mr. Coleman that he had corresponded very wickedly and basely with the French King's Confessor and did believe if Mr. Coleman's Papers were searched there would be found in them that which would cost him his Neck And did declare that the fifteen thousand pounds was accepted for the murther of the King and that five thousand pounds was actually paid by Mr. Coleman to Sir George Wakeman But Mr. Oats at the same time did also declare that he did not see the mony paid he did not see this particular action of Sir George Wakeman because at that time he had the Stone and could not be present Mr. Oats I was not present at that Consult where the fifteen thousand pounds was accepted but I had an account of it from those that were present L. Ch. Just It appears plainly by this Testimony that he did charge you Mr. Coleman home that fifteen thousand pounds was to be paid for poysoning the King and that it was generally said among them though he did not see it paid that it came by your hands viz. five thousand pounds of it which answers your objection as if he had not charged you when you see he did charge you home then for being one of the Conspirators in having a hand in paying of 〈◊〉 for poysoning the King he charges you now no otherwise than in that manner He doth not charge you no◠as if there were new things started but with the very conspiracy of having a hand in paying the money for murthering the King What consultation was that you had at the Savoy in the Month of August Mr. Oats It was about the business of the four Irish Ruffians proposed to the Consult The end of Mr. Oats's Examination Mr. Bedlow Sollicit Gen. We call him to give an account what he knows of the Prisoners being privy to the conspiracy of murthering the King particularly to that Mr. Bedlow pray acquaint my Lord and the Jury what you know I desire to know particularly as it concerns Mr. Coleman and nothing but Mr. Coleman L. Ch. Just Mr. Attorney pray keep to that Question close Attorn Gen. I have two short questions to ask him The first is what he hath seen or heard touching any Commission to Mr. Coleman what say you Mr. Bedlow In particular I know not of any Commission directed to Mr. Coleman I do not know any thing of it but what Sir Henry
Tichbourn told me that he had a Commission and he brought a Commission for Mr. Coleman and the rest of the Lords from the principal Jesuites at Rome by Order of the Pope Attorn Gen. A Commission for what Mr. Bedlow To be principal Secretary of State the Title of it I do not know because I did not see it but to be Principal Secretary of State that was the Effect Attorn Gen. I desire to know what discourse you had with Mr. Coleman about that design Mr. Bedlow If your Lordship please I shall be short in the Narrative L. Ch. Just Make use of your Notes to help your memory but let not your testimony be merely to read them Mr. Bedlow I carried over to Monsieur Le Chese the French Kings Confessor a large packet of Letters April 75 from Mr. Coleman which Letters I saw Mr. Coleman deliver to Father Harcourt at his House in Dukes-Street Council And Harcourt gave them to you Mr. Bedlow Yes which Letters were directed to be delivered to Monsieur le Chese and I did carry them to le Chese and brought him an answer from le Chese and other English Monks at Paris I did not understand what was in it because it was a Language I do not well understand it was about carrying on the Plot at a Consultation there were present two French Abbots and several English Monks at Paris what I heard them say was about carrying on the Plot to subvert the Government of England to destroy the King and the Lords of the Council The King was principally to be destroyed and the Government subverted as well as the Protestant Religion Court When was this when you were to receive the Answer Mr. Bedlow It was upon the Consultation there was a Packet of Letters from Mr. Coleman they did not know I understood French or if they did they had tryed me so long I believe they would have trusted me L. Ch. Just The Letter that le Chese wrote to whom was it directed Mr. Bedlow It was directed to Mr. Coleman the Packet was directed to Harcourt and within that le Chese wrote an answer and directed it to Mr. Coleman particularly to Mr. Coleman L. Ch. Just How do you know Mr. Bedlow The Superscription was this in French A Monsieur Monsieur Coleman to Mr. Coleman with other Letters directed to Father Harcourt L. Ch. Just He saith plainly the Letter was yours You gave Harcourt a Packet of Letters to be delivered to le Chese Harcourt delivered them to him and he did carry them to le Chese and heard them talk about this Plot That le Chese wrote a Letter to you particularly by name inclosed in a Letter to Harcourt that answer he brought back Recorder Do you know any thing concerning any money Mr. Coleman said he had received the Sums and for what Mr. Bedlow It was to carry on the design to subvert the Government of England to free England from Damnation and Ignorance and free all Catholieks from hard Tyranny and Oppression of Hereticks Attorn Gener. What words did you hear Mr. Coleman express what he would do for the Catholick Cause Mr. Bedlow May 24 or 25 77 I was at Mr. Coleman's with Mr. Harcourt and received another Packet from Mr. Harcourt and he had it from Mr. Coleman L. Ch. Just You say Mr. Coleman did give this Packet to Harcourt Mr. Bedlow Yes and Harcourt delivered it to me to carry it to Paris to the English Monks I was to go by Doway to see if they were not gone to Paris before me L. Ch. Just And what did they say when you delivered the Letters to the English Monks Mr. Bedlow They told me how much reward I deserved from the Pope and the Church both here and in the world to come I overtook three and that night I went to Paris with them and upon the Consultation 1677 I believe they sent the Bishop of Tornes the substance of those Letters and not having a final answer what assistance the Catholick Party in England might expect from them they were resolved to neglect their design no longer than that Summer having all things ready to begin in England Recorder What did you hear Mr. Coleman say Mr. Bedlow That he would adventure any thing to bring in the Popish Religion After the Consultation I delivered the Letters to le Faire and he brought them to Harcourt he delivered the Packet of Letters to Harcourt who was not well but yet went and delivered them to Mr. Coleman and I went as far as Mr. Coleman's House but did not go in but stayed over the way but Harcourt went in and after he had spoke with Mr. Coleman he gave me a beck to come to him and I heard Mr. Coleman say if he had a hundred lives and a Sea of Blood to carry on the Cause he would spend it all to further the Cause of the Church of Rome and to establish the Church of Rome in England and if there was an hundred Heretical Kings to be deposed he would see them all destroyed L. Ch. Just Where was this Mr. Bedlow At his own House L. Ch. Just Where Mr. Bedlow Behind Westminster Abby L. Ch. Just In what Room Mr. Bedlow At the Foot of the Stair-case L. Ch. Just Where were you then Mr. Bedlow There I was called in by Harcourt and was as near to him as to my Lord Duras My Lord being hard by Mr. Bedlow in Court. Pris Did I ever see you in my life Mr. Bedlow You may ask that question but in the Stone-Gallery in Somerset-house when you came from a Consult where were great persons which I am not to name here that would make the bottom of your Plot tremble you saw me then Attorn Gener. We did before acquaint you with something of the substance of the Letters we shall now acquaint you with something of the manner of finding them Your Lordship hath heard Mr. Oats hath been examined before the Council and there it was said Mr. Coleman's Papers would make such a discovery if they were looked into as would be enough to hang him I remember he said the Lords of the Council were pleased to order the Papers to be seised the execution of their Warrant they committed to one Bradly who was a Messenger that attended the King and Council and I desire he may be called He did find and seise as many Papers as Mr. Coleman was pleased to leave and they are those Papers which we now bring before you The Papers seised he put up in a deal Box and four or five several Bags and brings them to the Council the Clerks of the Council are here attending the Court they will tell you these Papers now produced were Papers found in those bags Mr. Bradly will tell you the Papers seised in the bags and box were brought to them and they will swear they were the Papers and bags that were brought Record Mr. Bradly give my Lord and the Jury an account whether
as to know your Person and that I have an Opportunity of putting this Letter into the hands of Father St. German â—s Nephew for whose Integrity and Prudence he has undertaken without any sort of hazard In order then Sir to the plainness I profess I will tell you what has formerly passed between your Reverence's Predecessor Father Ferryer and my self About three years ago when the King my Master sent a Troop of Horse Guards into his most Christian Majesties Service under the Command of my Lord Durass he sent with it an Officer called Sir William Throckmorton with whom I had a particular Intimacy and who had then very newly embrac'd the Catholick Religion To him did I constantly Write and by him address my self to Father Ferryer The first thing of great Importance I presumed to offer him not to trouble you with lesser matters or what passed here before and immediatly after the Fatal Revocation of the Kings Declaration for Liberty of Conscience to which we owe all our Miseries and hazards was in July August and September 1673. when I constantly inculcated the great danger Catholick Religion and his most Christian Majesties Interest would be in at our next Sessions of Parliament which was then to be in October following at which I plainly foresaw that the King my Master would be forced to something in prejudice to his Allyance with France which I saw so evidently and particularly that we should make 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 utmost 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 vvell 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 vvas 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 confidently 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 surprized 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 it was impossible to divide them without destroying them all Upon 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 then 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 continuing 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 vvas fully satisfyed of his R. H s. good intention tovvards him and that he esteemed both their interests but as one and the same that my Lord Arlington 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 Povver and Purse to have a nevv 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 withall 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 Throckmorton 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 for his Majesty that he was fully convinced that their Interests were both one that my Lord Arlington and the Parliament vvere 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 it 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 Constitutions of our Parliaments being such that a new one can never hurt 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 procure a Peace which proposition was granted by every body I Conversed withall even by Monsieur Rouvigny himself with whom I took liberty of discoursing so far but durst not say any thing of the Intelligence 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
We Our Self should assist that Our Commission in Our Person for not being excepted is implyed with the other made by this very Parliament in the 14th year of Our Reign which all Our Subjects or at least many of them were obliged to Swear viz. That the Doctrine of taking up Arms by the King's Authority against His Person was detestable and We soon found that the Design was levelled against the good Protestant Religion of Our good Church which its Enemies had a mind to Blemish by sliding in slily those damnable Doctrines by such an Authority as that of Our Parliament into the Profession of Our Faith or Practices and so expose Our whole Religion to the Scorn and Reproach of themselves and all the World We therefore thought it Our duty to be so watchful as to prevent the Enemies sowing such mischievous Tares as these in the wholsom Field of Our Church of England and to guard the unspotted Spouse of Our Blessed Lord from that foul Accusation with which she justly charges other Churches of teaching their Children Loyalty with so many Reserves and Conditions that they shall never want a distinction to justifie Rebellion nor a Text of Scripture as good as Curse ye Meroz to encourage them to be Traitors whereas Our truly Reformed Church knows no such Subtilties but teaches according to the simplicity of Christianity To submit to every Ordinance of Man for God's sake according to the natural signification of the words without equivocation or Artificial turns In order to which having thought to dissolve that Body which We have these many years so tenderly Cherished and which We are sure consists generally of most Dutiful and Loyal Members We were forc'd to Prorogue Our Parliament till November next hoping thereby to cure those Disorders which have been sown amongst the Best and Loyallest Subjects by a few malicious Incendiaries But understanding since that such who have sowed that Seditious seed are as industriously careful to water it by their Cabals and Emissaries instructed on purpose to poison Our People with discourses in publick places in hopes of a great Crop of Confusion their beloved fruit the next Sessions We have found it absolutely necessary to Dissolve Our Parliament though with great reluctancy and violence to Our inclination But remembring the dayes of Our Royal Father and the progress of Affairs then how from a Cry against Popery the people went on to complain of Grievances and against Evil Councellors and His Majesties Prerogative untill they advanc'd into a formal Rebellion which brought forth the most dire and fatal Effects that ever were yet heard of amongst any men Christians or others and withal finding so great a resemblance between the Procedings then and now that they seem both Broth of the same brains and being Confirm'd in that Conceit by observing the Actions of many now who had a great share in the management of the former Rebellion and their zeal for Religion who by their lives give us too much reason to suspect they have none at all VVe thought it not safe to dally too long as Our Royal Father did with submissions and condescentions endeavouring to cure men infected without removing them from the Air where they got the disease and in which it still rages and increases daily For fear of meeting with no better success than He found in suffering his Parliament to Challenge Power they had nothing to do with till they had bewitch'd the people into fond desires of such things as quickly destroyed both King and Country which in Us would be an intollerable Error having been warn'd so lately by the most Execrable Murther of Our Royal Father and the inhumane Usage which We Our Self in Our Royal Person and Family have suffered and Our Loyal Subjects have endured by such practices And least this Our great Care of this Our Kingdomes Quiet and Our own Honour and Safety should as Our best Actions have hitherto been be wrested to some sinister Sence and Arguments be made from it to scare Our Good People into any apprehensions of an Arbitrary Government either in Church or State We do hereby solemnly declare and faithfully engage Our Royal Word That VVe will in no case either Ecclesiastical or Civil violate or alter the known Lawes of Our Kingdom or invade any man's Property or Liberty without due course of Law But that We will with Our utmost Indeavours preserve the true Protestant Religion and Redress all such things as shall indifferently and without passion be judg'd Grievances by Our next Parliament which We do by God's blessing intend to Call before the end of February next In the mean time We do strictly Charge and Command all manner of persons whatsoever to forbear to talk seditiously slightly or irreverently of Our Dissolving of the Parliament of this Our Declaration or of Our Person or Government as they will answer it at their perils VVe being resolv'd to prosecute all Offenders in that kind with the utmost rigour and severity of the Law And to the end that such Licentious persons if any shall be so impudent and obstinate as to disobey this Our Royal Command may be detected and brought to due Punishment We have Ordered Our Lord Treasurer to make speedy payment of Twenty pounds to any person or persons who shall discover or bring any such seditious slight or irreverent Talker before any of Our Principal Secretaries of State Record I would have the Jury should know the Declaration ends To one of his Majesties Principal Secretaries of State whereof he hoped to be one Att. Gen. This is written in the name of the King for Mr. Coleman thought himself now Secretary of State and he penns the Declaration for the King to give an Account why the Parliament was Dissolved Serj. Maynard The long Letter it appears was to dissolve the Parliament and to make it Cock-sure he provides a Declaration to shew the Reason of it It was done in order to bring in Popery that may appear by the subsequent proof Att. Gen. I have other Evidence to offer to your Lordship which is That Mr. Coleman was not onely so bold as to prepare a Declaration for the King but also out of his own further ingenuity prepares a Letter contrary to the Duke's knowledg for the Duke which before several Lords he confessed and Sir Philip Floyd is here ready to justifie it Sir Phil. Floyd I did attend a Committee of the House of Lords to Newgate who examined Mr. Coleman and told him of the Letter Mr. Attorney mentioneth he then confessed That it was prepared without the Order and Privity of the Duke and when he was so bold as to shew it the Duke the Duke was very Angry and rejected it L. Chief Just He hath been a very forward undertaker on the behalf of the Duke Mr. Att. Gen. I desire the Letter may be read The Copy of the Letter written to Monsieur Le Chese the French King's Confessor which Mr. Coleman confessed he
himself wrote and counterfeited in the Duke's Name Clerk of the Crown reads the Letter THE 2 d. of June last past his most Christian Majestie offered me most generously his Friendship and the use of his Purse to the assistance against the designs of my Enemies and his and protested unto me That his Interest and mine were so clearly linckt together that those that opposed the one should be lookt upon as Enemies to the other and told me moreover his Opinion of my Lord Arlington and the Parliament which is That he is of opinion that neither the one nor the other is in his Interest or mine and thereupon he desired me to make such Propositions as I should think fit in this Conjuncture All was Transacted by the means of Father Ferrier who made use of Sir William Throgmorton who is an honest man and of truth who was then at Paris and hath held Correspondence with Coleman one of my Family in whom I have great Confidence I was much satisfied to see his most Christian Majestie altogether of my opinion so I made him Answer the 29 th of June by the same means he made use of to write to me that is by Coleman who addrest himself to Father Ferrier by the forementioned Knight and entirely agreed to his most Christian Majestie as well to what had respect to the Union of our Interests as the unusefulness of my Lord Arlington and the Parliament in order to the Service of the King my Brother and his most Christian Majestie and that it was necessary to make use of our joynt and utmost Credits to prevent the Success of those evil designs resolved on by the Lord Arlington and the Parliament against his most Christian Majestie and my Self which of my side I promise really to perform of which since that time I have given reasonable good proof Moreover I made some Proposals which I thought necessary to bring to pass what We were obliged to undertake assuring him That nothing could so firmly establish Our Interest with the King my Brother as that very same Offer of the help of his Purse by which means I had much reason to hope I should be enabled to persuade to the Dissolving of the Parliament and to make void the Designs of my Lord Arlington who works incessantly to advance the Interest of the Prince of Orange and the Hollanders and to lessen that of the King your Master notwithstanding all the Protestations he hath made to this hour to render him service But as that which was proposed was at a stand by reason of the sickness of Father Ferrier so our affairs succeeded not according to our designs only Father Ferrier wrote to me the â—â— th of the last Mâ—â—â—h That 〈…〉 that they had been very well lik'd of but as they contained things that had regard to the Catholick Religion to the offer and use of his Purse he gave me to understand he did not desire I should treat with Monsieur Revigny upon the First but as to the last and had the same time acquainted me that Monsieur Revigny had order to grant me what soever the conjuncture of our Affairs did require and have expected the effects of it to this very hour but nothing being done in it and seeing on the other hand that my Lord Arlington and several others endeavoured by a thousand deceits to break the good Intelligence which is between the King my Brother his most Christian Majestie and my Self to the end they might deceive Us all Three I have thought fit to advertise you of all that is past and desire of you your Assistance and Friendship to prevent the Rogueries of those who have no other design than to betray the Concerns of France and England also and who by their pretended service are the occasion they succeed not As to any thing more I refer you to Sir William Throgmorton and Coleman whom I have Commanded to give an account of the whole state of Our Affair and of the true Condition of England with many others and principally my Lord Arlington's endeavours to represent to you quite otherwise than it is The Two First I mentioned to you are Firm to my Interest so that you may treat with them without any apprehension Serj. Maynard Gentlemen of the Jury pray observe that he takes upon him to prepare a Letter And that in the Duke's Name but contrary to the Duke's Knowledge or Privacy for when he had so much boldness as to tell him of it the Duke was Angry and rejected it But in it we may see what kind of passages there are he takes very much upon him in this matter And Mr. Coleman must keep the Secret too Att. General My Lord I have but one Paper more to read and I have kept it till the last because if we had proved nothing by Witness or not read any thing but this This one Letter is sufficient to maintain the Charge against him It plainly appears to whom it was directed and at what time It begins thus I sent your Reverence a tedious long Letter on our 29 th of September I onely mention this to shew about what time it was sent There are some Clauses in it will speak better than I can Sir Tho. Doleman and Sir Phillip Floyd swear who hath confessed and owned it to be his hand writing 〈…〉 I desire the Letter may be read Clerk of the Crown reads the Letter SIR I Sent your Reverence a tedious long Letter on our 29 th of September to inform you of the progress of Affairs for these 2. or 3. last years I having now again the opportunity of a very sure hand to convey this by I have sent you a Cipher because our Parliament now drawing on I may possibly have occasion to send you something which you may be willing enough to know and may be necessary for us that you should when we may want the conveniency of a Messenger When any thing occurs of more concern other then which may not be fit to be trusted even to a Cipher alone I will to make such a thing more secure write in Lemmon between the Lines of a Letter which shall have nothing in it visible but what I care not who sees but dryed by a warm fire shall discover what is written so that if the Letter comes to your hands and upon drying it any thing appears more then did before you may be sure no body has seen it by the way I will not trouble you with that way of writing but upon special occasions and then I will give you a hint to direct you to look for it by concluding my visible Letter with something of fire or burning by which mark you may please to know that there is something underneath and how my Letter is to be used to find it out We have here a mighty Work upon our Hands no less than the Conversion of three Kingdoms and by that perhaps the utter subduing of
to hold by to deceive you so that now you may look upon it there is nothing will save you for you will assuredly dy-as now you live and that very suddenly In which I having discharged my Conscience to you as a Christian I will now proceed to pronounce Sentence against you and do my duty as a Judge You shall return to Prison from thence be drawn to the place of Execution where you shall be hanged by the Neck and be cut down alive your bowels burnt before your face and your Quarters sever'd and your Body disposed of as the King thinks fit and so the Lord have mercy upon your Soul Coleman My Lord I humbly thank your Lordship and I do admire your Charity that you would be pleased to give me this admirable Councel and I will follow it as well as I can and I beg your Lordship to hear me what I am going to say your Lordship most Christian like hath observed wisely that Confession is extreamly necessary to a dying man and I do so too but that Confession your Lordship I suppose means is of a guilty evil Conscience in any of these points that I am condemn'd for Of maliciously contriving c. if I thought I had any such guilt I should assuredly think my self damn'd now I am going out of the world by concealing them in spite of all Pardons or Indulgencies or any act that the Pope or the Church of Rome could do for me as I believe any one Article of Faith Therefore pray hear the words of a dying man I have made a Resolution I thank God not to tell a lie no not a single lie not to save my life I hope God will not so far leave me as to let me do it and I do renounce all manner of mercy that God can shâ—w me if I have not told the House of Commons or offer'd it to the House of Commons all that I know in my whole heart toward this business and I never in all my life either made any proposition or received any proposition or knew or heard directly or indirectly of any proposition towards the supplanting or invading the Kings Life Crown or Dignity or to make any Invasion or Disturbance to introduce any New Government or to bring in Popery by any Violence or Force in the world if I have my Lord been mistaken in my method as I will not say but I might have been for if two men differ one must be mistaken therefore possibly I might be of an Opinion that Popery might come in if Liberty of Conscience had been granted and perhaps all Christians are bound to wish all People of that Religion that they profess themselves if they are in earnest I will not dispute those ills that your Lordship may imagine to be in the Church of Rome if I thought there was any in them I would be sure to be none of it I have no design my Lord at all in Religion but to be Saved and I had no manner of Invitation to invite me to the Church of Rome no not one but to be Saved if I am out of the way I am out of the way as to the next world as well as this I have nothing but a sincere Conscience and I desire to follow it as I ought I do confess I am guilty of many Crimes and I am afraid all of us are guilty in some measure of some failings and infirmities but in matters of this Nature that I now stand condemn'd for though I do not at all complain of the Court for I do confess I have had all the fair play imaginable and I have nothing at all to say against it but I say as to any one act of mine so far as acts require Intention to make them acts as all humane Acts do I am as Innocent of any Crime that I now stand charg'd as guilty of as when I was first born L. C. J. That is not possible Coleman With submission I do not say Innocent as to any Crime in going against any Act of Parliament then it is a Crime to hear Mass or to do any Act that they prohibit but for Intending and Endeavouring to bring in that Religion by the Aid and Assistance of the King of France I never intended nor meant by that Aid and Assistance any Force in the world but such Aids and Assistances as might procure us Liberty of Conscience My Lord if in what I have said no body believes me I must be content if any do believe me then I have wip'd off those scandalous Thoughts and abominable Crimes that c. and then I have paid a little Debt to Truth L. C. J. One word more and I have done I am sorry Mr. Coleman that I have not Charity enough to believe the words of a dying man for I will tell you what sticks with me very much I cannot be perswaded and no body can but that your Correspondence and Negotiations did continue longer than the Letters that we have found that is after 1675. Now if you had come and shown us your Books and Letters which would have spoke for themselves I should have thought then that you had dealt plainly and sincerely and it would have been a mighty Motive to have believed the rest for certainly your Correspondence held even to the time of your apprehension and you have not discovered so much as one Paper but what was found unknown to you and against your will Coleman Upon the words of a dying man and upon the expectation I have of Salvation I tell your Lordship that there is not a Book nor Paper in the World that I have laid aside voluntary L. C. J. No perhaps you have burnt them Coleman Not by the Living God L. C. J. I hope Mr. Coleman you will not say no manner of way Coleman For my Correspondence these two last years past I have given an account of every Letter but those that were common Letters and those Books that were in my House what became of them I know not they were common Letters that I use to write every day a Common Journal what past at home and abroad my men they writ e'm out of that Book L. C. J. What became of those Letters Coleman I had no Letters about this business but what I have declared to the House of Commons That is Letters from St. Germans which I owned to the House of Commons and I had no methodical Correspondence and I never valued them nor regarded them but as they came I destroyed them L. C. J. I remember the last Letter that is given in evidence against you discovers what mighty hopes there was that the time was now come wherein that pestilent Heresie that hath domineer'd in this Northern part of the World should be Extirpated and that there never was greater hopes of it since OUR Queen Maries Reign Pray Mr. Coleman was that the concluding Letter in this affair Coleman Give me leave to say it upon my dying I have not one Letter c. L. C. J. What though you burnt your Letters you may recollect the Contents Coleman I had none since L. C. J. Between God and your Conscience be it I have other apprehensions and you deserve your Sentence vpon you for your offences that visibly appear out of your own Papers that you have not and cannot deny Coleman I am satisfied But seeing my time is but short may I not be permitted to have some immediate Friends and my poor Wife to have her freedom to speak with me and stay with me that little time that I have that I might speak something to her in order to her living and my dying L. C. J. You say well and it is a hard Case to deny it but I tell you what hardens my heart the Insolencies of your Party the Roman Catholicks I mean that they every day offer which is indeed a proof of their Plot that they are so bold and Impudent and such secret Murders Committed by them as would harden any mans heart to do the Common favours of Justice and Charity that to mankind is usually done they are so bold and insolent that I think it is not to be endured in a Protestant Kingdom but for my own parlicular I think it is a very hard thing for to deny a man the Company of his Wife and his Friends so it be done with Caution and Prudence Remember that the Plot is on foot and I do not know what Arts the Priests have and what Tricks they use and therefore have a care that no Papers nor any such thing be sent from him Coleman I do not design it I am sure L. C. J. But for the Company of his Wife and his near Friends or any thing in that kind that may be for his Eternal good and as much for his present satisfaction that he can receive now in the condition that be is in let him have it but do it with Care and Caution Cap. Richardson What for them to be private alone L. C. J. His Wife only she God forbid else Nor shall you not be deny'd any Protestant Minister Coleman But shall not my Cosin Coleman have Liberty to come to me L. C. J. Yes with Mr. Richardson Col. Or his Servant Because it is a great Trouble for him to attend always L. C. J. If it be his Servant or any he shall appoint 't is all one Mr. Richardsson use him as Reasonably as may be considering the Condition he is in Court Have a care of your Prisoner On Tuesday the Third of December following being the Day of his Execution Mr. Coleman was Drawn on a Sledge from Newgate to Tyburn and being come thither he declared That he had been a Roman Catholick for many years and that he thanked God he died in that Religion And he said he did not think that Religion at all prejudicial to the King and Government The Sheriff told him if he had any thing to say by way of Confession or Conâ—â—â—â—ion he migâ—â— proceed otherwise it was not Seasonable for him to go 〈…〉 Expressions And being asked if he knew any thing of the 〈…〉 of Sir Edmondbury Godfry he declared upon the 〈…〉 he knew not any thing of it for that he was 〈…〉 Then after some private Prayers and Ejaculations to 〈…〉 â—he Sentence was Executed he was hanged by the Neck Cut 〈◊〉 alive his Bowels burnt and himself 〈◊〉 FINIS