Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	france_n	king_n	swear_v	2,584	5	8.7846	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43880	Historical collections, or, A brief account of the most remarkable transactions of the two last Parliaments consisting of I. The speeches, votes, accusations, addresses, and article of impeachment, &c., II. The bills of association, exclusion, and repeal of 35 Eliz. &c., III. The several informations, messages, narratives, orders, petitions, protestation of the Lords, and resolves of both Houses, etc., IV. The tryal and sentence of William Howard Lord Viscount of Stafford in Westminster Hall, his speech and execution on the scaffold at Tower Hill with many other memorable passages and proceedings of the two last Parliaments, held and dissolved at Westminster and Oxford, V. A perfect list of each Paraliament, VI. His Majesty's declaration, shewing the causes and reasons that moved him to dissolve the two last Parliaments.		1682 (1682)	Wing H2100; ESTC R32032	89,184	314

was an easy thing to poyson the King That at another time his Brother Jennison told him that there was a design in England so laid that it could not be easily discover'd and that the greatest Papists and the greatest Catholicks in England were in the design That there was an Army to be rais'd to bring in the Catholick Religion And that at another time one Mr. Cuffil a Jesuite declared that he thought Mr. Coleman infatuated to give notice to Harcourt Ireland and Fenwick to burn their Papers upon the discovery of the Plot and not to burn his own Then the Clerk of the Lords Comittee delivered in the several Attainders and Judgments enter'd upon Records upon the Conviction of Coleman Langhorn and the rest And upon the motion of Mr. Treby the Attainder of Mr. Coleman was openly read in Court in regard there was more of special matter in that than in any of the rest more especially among many other things mentioning his proceeding in Relation to the carrying on of the Plot viz. his trayterous Correspondence with La Chese the King of France's Confessor and with Monsieur Rovigni the French King's Envoy in England for the bringing in of a Forrein Force to carry on the design After which the Court adjourned The next day being Wednesday the first of Decemb. The Court being sat the Witnesses were called to give in their particular Evidence against the Prisoner of whom the first was Mr. Dugdale who being sworn declared That at a meeting at Tixall either at the latter end of August or beginning of September in the Year 1678 where several were present the business of that meeting was to debate and determin upon their former Resolutions both beyond Sea and at London before both to take away the Life of the King and Introduce the Popish Religion wherein they came at that time to a full Conclusion and that the Prisoner was there present and did with the rest consent to it That at another time coming from Stafford to Tixal to Mass he made his Complaint to the Evidence that it was a sad thing the Papists could not say their Prayers but in a hidden manner but that ere long if things took Effect the Romish Religion would be Established That at another time the Prisoner sending for him to his Chamber commended his fidelity and for his taking away the life of the King offered him 500 l. for his Charges and Encouragement and that he should go to London with him and be under his care That the Prisoner giving the reasons at another time of his being such an Enemy to the King was because he had been a great sufferer for the King but not taken notice of but that rather Traytors and Rebels were rewarded Which was enough were not Religion in the case which was of a higher Nature That the Prisoner had told him that in case he did kill the King he should have a free pardon for it the King being an Excomunicated Traytor and an Enemy to Jesus Christ That he saw a Letter under the Prisoners hand to this Effect That all things went well for carrying on the design and so he hoped they did here Dr. Oates being sworn declared That while he was in Spain he met with several Letters signed Stafford wherein he assured the Jesuites that were of the Irish Nation how Zealous he would be in promoting the Catholick design In other Letters the Prisoner blamed Colemans openness and for Communicating great Secrets to Men of whose fidelity his Lordship was not secure That in the Month of June 1678. The Prisoner came to Mr. Fenwick's Chamber and there received a Commission from him to pay an Army or as near as the Dr. could remember to be paymaster General of the Army assuring Fenwick that he was going into Staffordshire and did not question but to give a good accompt how affairs stood not doubting but at his return Grove should do the business Mr. Turbervile upon his oath declared That being Cast off by his Relations for refusing to enter into Popish Orders he was put to shift for himself to which purpose he went beyond Sea to seek for imployment That having spent some time at Paris without success and being upon his Return into England he was recommended to the Prisoner then at Paris who beeng informed of his Condition after he had been with his Lordship some time told him there was a way whereby he might not only retrieve his Reputation with his Relations but make himself a happy Man and at length after many Obligations to secrecy told him the King was a Heretick and a Rebel against God Almighty and that it was to take away his life To this the Prisoner made first a general reply That he looked upon the House of Commons as the great Representative Body of the Commons of England and to be accused by them was such a load which so afflicted him that he was scarce able to bear up under it Which with other things had so disorder'd his sence and reason that he scarce knew how to chear himself to their Lordships as he ought to do and therefore with all Humility begged their Lordships pardon if he said that which might give offence or urged any thing that might not be to the purpose That he looked upon Treason to be the Greatest sin in the world That as to the Doctrine of King-killing and absolving persons from their Allegiance he could not say the Church of Rome did hold it he never heard so it may be it did it may be not But that there was an English College of Priests at Rhemes that in their Annotations upon the Fourteenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans declared their dislike and detestation of this Opinion and that the Doctors of the College at Sorbonne owned it to be a damnable Principle And that for his own part he did in the presence of Almighty God solemnly declare that he detested any such Opinion as he did Damnation to himself That the Mannagers began their Charge with telling their Lordships that there was a horrid design to Murder the King c. wherein the Roman Catholicks and all the Church of Rome were concerned but how did that concern him for that they had not offered one Proof that he was of that Religion That he was accused of having endeavour'd to kill the King But that all accusations of Treason ought to be accompanied with circumstances Antecedent Concomitant and Subsequent And the whole Compass of his life had been otherwise That in the beginning his late Majesty had made him a Peer That in the beginning of the war he retired into Flanders whence afterwards he came into England ond served his Majesty Loyally and faithfully and that he waited upon the present King in his Exile That after he heard of the discovery of the Plot had he known himself Guilty he had a fair opertunity to have run away That he was offered the Kings Pardon if he

Treason should be pronounced upon the Prisoner Which being concluded the Lords return'd to the Court and the Lord High Steward attended by all the Officers before-mention'd upon their Knees directed his Speech to the Prisoner to this Effect That what his Lordship had said in Arrest of Judgment was found to be of no Moment at all it being no Essential part of any Tryal neither was there any Record made of it when it was done That as for the Proviso's of the 13 th Year of this King their Lordships found that they were in no sort applicable to his Lordships Case the proceedings against him not being grounded upon that Statute That no Man would have thought that a Person of his Quality so nobly descended so considerable in Estate so eminent a Sufferer in the late Times so interested in the Preservation of the Government so obliged to the Moderation of it and so personally and particularly oblig'd to the King and his Royal Father should ever have enter'd into a Conspiracy to contrive the Murther of the King Ruin of the State and Subversion of Religion and yet his Impeachment amounted to no less and the Lords have found him Guilty That as the Plot in general had been most manifest so his Lordships Part in it had been too plain Three things therefore he recommended to his Lordship's Consideration That he was now fallen into the very Pit that he was digging for others That he would think a little better than he had done what kind of Religion it was that had brought him to the Destruction that was like to befall him Lastly That he would consider that true Repentance is never too late That there were some that thought it a Mortal Sin to confess that Crime in Publick for which they had been absolv'd in Private but that God forbid his Lordship should be found among the number of those poor mistaken Souls Then assuring him that their Lordships would not cease to pray that the End of his Life might be Christian and Pious He concluded That it was then the last time he was to call him My Lord for that his next words would attaint him And having so said he pronounced the Sentence of the Court which was That he was to be Hang'd Drawn and Quarter'd The Day for Execution being appointed to be the 29 th of the same Month two Writs were issued out under the Great Seal of England the first to the Lieutenant of the Tower in Form following CAROLUS Secundus Dei Gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor ’ c. Locumtenenti Turris nostrae London ' salutem Cum Will ' Vicecomes Stafford per Communes Regni nostri Angliae in Parliamento assemblat ' de altâ proditione necnon diversis aliis criminibus offensis per ipsum perpetrat ’ commissis impetit ’ fuit ac superinde per Dominos Temporales in praesenti Parliamento nostro convent ' triat ' convict ' debita juris forma attinct ’ fuit morti adjudicat ’ existit Cujus quidem Judicii Executio adhuc restat facienda Cumque praedictus Vicecomes Stafford in Turri nostra London sub custodiâ tuâ de●ent ’ existit Praecipimus tibi per praesentes firmiter injungendo mandamus quòd in super vicesimum nonum diem instantis mensis Decembris inter horas nonam undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem dici ipsum Vicecomitem Stafford usque locum usualem extra Portam Turris praedict● ducas ac ipsum Vicecomitibus Civitatis nostrae London Middlesex adtunc ibidem deliberes Quibus quidem Vicecomitibus nos per aliud Breve eis inde direct ’ praecepimus praedictum Vicecomitem Stafford adtunc ibidem recipere ut fiat Executio Judicii praedicti modo formâ prout dictis Vicecomitibus London Middlesex per aliud Breve nostrum praedictum praecepimus Et hoc nullatenus omittas sub periculo incumbente aliquo Judicio Lege Ordinatione seu Mandato praeantea habit ’ fact ’ ordinat ’ seu dat ’ in contrarium non obstante Teste meipso apud Westm decimo octavo die Decembris Anno Regni nostri tricesimo secundo BARKER Englished thus CHARLES the Second by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To the Lieutenant of Our Tower of London Greeting Whereas William Viscount Stafford has been impeach'd by the Commons of our Kingdom of England in Parliament Assembled of High Treason and several other Crimes and Offences by him perpetrated and committed and thereupon by our Lords Temporal in our present Parliament conven'd has been tried and convicted and in due Form of Law was attainted and adjudg'd to die Of which Judgment Execution yet remains to be done And whereas the said Viscount Stafford is detain'd in your Custody in our Tower of London We charge and by these presents firmly enjoyning command you That in and upon the twenty ninth day of this Instant December between the hours of Nine and Eleven before Noon of the same Day you conduct the said Viscount Stafford to the Usual Place without the Gate of the Tower aforesaid and him then and there deliver to the Sheriffs of our City of London and Middlesex To which Sheriffs We by another Writ to them directed have given Command the aforesaid Viscount Stafford then and there to receive that Execution of the aforesaid Judgment may be done in Manner and Form as we have given Command by our other Writ to the said Sheriffs of London and Middlesex And of this you are not to fail upon peril thereon to ensue Any Judgment Law Ordinance or Command before had made ordain'd or given to the contrary notwithstanding Witness Our Selves at Westminster the 18 th Day of December in the 32 d. Year of Our Reign The Second Writ was directed to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex in Form following CAROLUS Secundus Dei Gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor c. Vic ’ London Vic ’ Middlesex salutem Cum Will ’ Vicecomes Stafford per Communes Regni nostri Angliae in Parliamento assemblat ’ de altâ proditione necnon diversis aliis criminibus offensis per ipsum perpetrat ’ commissis ’ impetit ’ fuit Ac superinde per Dominos Temporales in praesenti Parliamento nostro convent ’ triat ’ convict ’ debitâ juris formâ attinct ’ fuit morti adjudicat ’ existit Cujus quidem judicii Executio adhuc restat facienda praecipimus vobis per praesentes firmiter injungendo mandamus quòd in super vicesimum nonum diem hujus instantis Decembris inter horas nonam undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei dictum Vicecomitem Stafford extra Portam Turris nostrae London vobis tunc ibidem deliberandum prout per aliud Breve Locumtenenti Turris nostrae London directum praecepimus in custodiam vestram

adtunc ibidem recipiatis ipsum sic in custodia vestra existentem statim usque usualem Locum super le Tower-hill ductatis Ac Caput ipsius Willi. Vicecomitis Stafford adtunc ibidem amputari ac à Corpore suo omnino separari faciatis aliquo Judicio Lege Ordinatione seu Mandato preantea habit ’ fact ’ ordinat ’ seu dat ’ in contrarium non obstante Et hoc sub periculo incumbente nullatenus omittatis Teste meipso apud Westm decimo octavo die Decembris Anno Regni nostri tricesimo secundo BARKER Englished thus CHARLES the Second by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. To the Sheriffs of London and Sheriffs of Middlesex Greeting Whereas William Viscount Stafford has been Impeached by the Commons of our Kingdom of England in Parliament Assembled of High Treason and other Crimes and Offences by him perpetrated and committed And thereupon by the Lords Temporal in our present Parliament conven'd was try'd convicted and in due Form of Law attainted and is adjudg'd to die of which Judgment Execution yet remains to be done We charge and by these Presents firmly conjoyning command you That in and upon the 29 th Day of this Instant December between the hours of Nine and Eleven before Noon of the same Day that the said Viscount Stafford without the Gate of our Tower of London then and there to be to you deliver'd as by another Writ to the Lieutenant of our Tower of London directed we have given Command you then and there receive into your Custody and him so being in your Custody that you presently conduct to the usual place upon Tower-hill and cause the Head of him William Viscount Stafford then and there to be chop'd off and altogether separated from his Body any Judgment Law Ordinance or Command before had made ordain'd or given to the contrary notwithstanding And of this upon penalty thereof to ensue you are not to fail Witness our selves at Westminster the 18 th day of December in the 32 d. year of our Reign Upon Wednesday the 29 th of December about Ten of the Clock in the Morning the Sheriffs received the Prisoner from the Lieutenant of the Tower and conducted him to the Scaffold Upon which the Prisoner being come after a short pause produc'd a Paper out of his Pocket which contain'd the following Speech which he read with his Hat off and gave several Copies thereof Signed with his own Hand to Sheriff Cornish and other Gentlemen about him THE SPEECH OF WILLIAM HOWARD Late Lord Viscount Stafford Vpon the Scaffold on Tower-Hill immediately before his Execution Wednesday Decemb. 29. 1680. BY the permission of Almighty God I am this day brought hither to suffer Death as if I were guilty of High Treason I do most truly in the presence of the Eternal Omnipotent and All-knowing GOD protest upon my Salvation That I am as Innocent as it is possible for any man to be so much as in a Thought of the Crimes laid to my Charge I acknowledge it to be a particular Grace and Favour of the Holy Trinity to have given me this long Time to prepare my self for Eternity I have not made so good use of that Grace as I ought to have done partly by my not having recollected my self as I might have done and partly because not only my Friends but my Wife and Children have for several dayes been forbid to see me but in the presence of one of my Warders This hath been a great Trouble and Distraction unto me but I hope God of his Infinite Mercy will pardon my Defects and accept of my good Intentions Since my long Imprisonment I have considered often what could be the Original Cause of my being thus accused since I knew my self not culpable so much as in a Thought and I cannot believe it to be upon any other Account than my being of the Church of Rome I have no reason to be ashamed of my Religion for it teacheth nothing but the Right Worship of God Obedience to the King and due Subordination to the Temporal Laws of the Kingdom And I do submit to the Articles of Faith believed and taught in the Catholick Church believing them to be most consonant to the Word of God And whereas it hath so much and often been objected that the Church holds That Sovereign Princes Excommunicated by the Pope may by heir Subjects be Deposed and Murdered as to the Murder of Princes I have been taught as a matter of Faith in the Catholick Faith that such Doctrine is diabolical horrid and detestable and contrary to the Law of God Nature and Nations and as such from my Heart I renounce and abominate it As for the Doctrine of deposing Princes I know some Divines of the Catholick Church hold it but as Able and Learned as they have writ against it But it was not pretended to be the Doctrine of the Church that is any point of Catholick Faith Wherefore I do here in my Conscience declare That 't is my true and real Judgment That the same Doctrine of deposing Kings is contrary to the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom injurious to Sovereign Power and consequently would be in me or any other of his Majesties Subjects impious and damnable I believe and profess that there is one God one Saviour one Holy Catholick Church of which through the Mercy Grace and Goodness of God I die a Member To my great and unspeakable Grief I have offended God in many things by many great Offences but I give him most humble thanks not in any of those Crimes of which I was accused All the Members of either House having liberty to propose in the House what they think fit for the Good of the Kingdom accordingly I proposed what I thought fit the House is judge of the fitness or unfitness of it and I think I never said any thing that was unfitting there or contrary to the Law and use of Parliaments for certainly if I had the Lords would as they might have some way punished me So t am not culpable before God or Man It is much reported of Indulgences Dispensations Pardons to Murder Rebell Lye Forswear and commit such other Crimes held and given in the Church I do here profess in the Presence of God I never learned believed or practised any such things but the contrary and I speak this without any Equivocation or Reservation whatsoever And certainly were I guilty either my self or knew of any one that were guilty whosoever that were so of any of those Crimes of which I am accused I were not only the greatest Fool imaginable but a perfect Mad-man and as wicked as any of those that so falsly have accused me if I should not discover any ill Design I knew in any kind and so upon discovery save my Life I having so often had so fair occasions proposed unto me and so am guilty

so made by his Mother in whose Reign there would be no difficulty of doing it And farther that the Declaration of Indulgence and the War against Holland were in Order to the introducing of the Catholick Religion into England And the same Author reported to him That Madam came over to Dover about the same design That he knew several Commanders in the Army mustered upon Black-Heath to be Roman-Catholick's and that it was the common Intelligence and Opinion among them that the said Army was rais'd to bring in the Romon-Catholick-Religion into England That in the Year 1679. Marquess Montecuculi the D. of Modena's Envoy told him if he would undertake to kill the King either in his own Person or by any other he should have Ten-Thousand pound That the same Marquess told him that upon killing the King the Army in Flanders and Parts adjoying to France was to come over to destroy the Protestant-Party after which there should be no more Parliaments in England and that the D. of Y. was privie to all these designs That in the Year 1680. He met Kelley the Priest at Calice who owned himself to be one of the Murtherers of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey and that the same was done much as Prance had related it and That Monsieur De-Puy a Servant to the D. of Y. had told him soon after the said Murther was committed that the said Murther was consulted at Windsor and farther told him that there was a necessity of taking off the King and that it would soon be done with some other passages of less remark to the same purpose Upon this Information Mr. Secretary Jenkins was Ordered to go up and impeach the said Fits-Harris at the Barr of the Lords House In the mean time that is to say in the forenoon of the next day being Saturday the 26 of March other Examinations of Mr. John Serjeant and David Maurice relating to the Popish-Plot were Read and Ordered to be Printed That of Serjeant was short that a Gentlewoman an Acquaintance of his in Flanders one Mrs. Skipwith told him That Gawen one of the Five Jesuits which were Hang'd had maintain'd against a scruple of Conscience by her put that the Queen might not only lawfully kill the King for violating her Bed but was bound to do it and that if she did not she was guilty of his greater Damnation in letting him continue so long Maurice's Information was shorter That he heard the Gentlewoman confirm the Truth of Gawens words Presently after the House taking into debate the means for the security of the Protestant Religion and safety of his Majesties Person came to a Resolution that a Bill should be brought in for excluding James D. of York from Inheriting the Imperial Crowns of England and Ireland and the Dominions and Territories thereto belonging The same Day in the Afternoon the House being inform'd that the Lords had refus'd to proceed upon their Impeachment of Edward-Fits-Harris and had directed that he should be proceeded against at Common-Law They came to three Resolves That it was the undoubted Right of the Commons in Parliament assembl'd to impeach before the Lords in Parliament any Peer or Commoner for Treason or any other Crime or Misdemeanour and that the Refusal of the Lords to proceed in Parliament upon such an Impeachment was a denial of Justice and a violation of the Constitution of Parliaments Secondly That in the Case of Edward Fits-Harris who had been impeach'd by the Commons for High Treason before the Lords with a Declaration that in convenient time they would bring up Articles against him for the Lords to resolve That the said Fits-Harris should be proceeded against according to the Course of Common-Law and not by way of Impeachment in Parliament at that time was a violation of the Constitution of Parliaments and an Obstruction to the farther Discovery of the Popish-Plot and of great danger to his Majesties Person and the Protestant-Religion Thirdly for any Inferiour Court to proceed against Edward Fits-Harris or any other Person lying under an Impeachment in Parliament for the same Crime for which they stood impeached was a High breach of the Priviledge of Parliament After this they Ordered two Bills to be brought in The one for the better Uniting his Majesties Protestant-Subjects The other for banishing the most considerable Papists in England by their Names out of his Majesties Dominions Munday the Twenty-eighth Day of March and last of the Session little remarkable pass'd only the Bill of Exclusion was read a Second time But these and all other their debates that Morning put a suddain Conclusion for soon after being sent for by the King to the House of Lords his Majesty told them That their beginnings had been such that he could expect no good success of this Parliament and therefore thought fit to dissolve them and accordingly the Chancellor by the Kings command declared the Parliament dissolv'd After the Dessolution of the Parliament the King went back to Windsor the same Day and from thence after a stay of some few Hours returned to White-Hall Fame I will not ask Thee what were the Coffee-Houses Censures and Comments upon an Action of so much importance and so suddain as this Truth No for if Thou didst it would be to no purpose For Thou knowest I have little to do there but the first thing that I saw in Publick upon the Stalls was a Half-sheet of Paper entitled The Protestation of the Lords Upon rejecting the Impeachment of Mr. Fits-Harris giving for Reasons why it was the undoubted Right of the Commons so to do because great Offences that influence the Parliament were most effectually determined in Parliament nor could the complaint be determin'd any where else For that if the Party should be Indicted in the Kings Bench or any other Inferiour Court for the same Offence yet it were the same Suit an Impeachment being at the suite of the People but an Indictment at the suite of the King Besides that they conceived it to be a denial of Justice in regard the House of Peers as to Impeachments proceeding by Vertue of their Judicial not their Legislative Power could not deny any Suitors but more especially the Commons of England no more then the Courts of Westminster or any other Inferiour Courts could deny any Suite or Criminal Cause regularly Commenced before them Sign'd according to the Printed Copy Monmuoth Kent Huntington Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Sunderland Essex Shaftsbury Macclesfield Mordant Wharton Paget Grey of Wark Herbert of Cherbury Cornwallis Lovelace Crew Upon the Munday next after Easter-Week came forth His Majesties Declaration shewing the Causes and Reasons that mov'd him to dissolve the Two last Parliaments Wherein after he had set forth with how much reluctancy he did it and how absolute his Intentions were to have comply'd as far as would have consisted with the very being of the Government with any thing that could have been propos'd to him for preserving the Establish'd Religion

the Nobility and the Commons of England having taken their several and distinct places in Court And the Prisoner being brought to the Bar the Lord High Steward spake to him to this Effect That the Commons of England had impeached him of High Treason for which he was then to he Try'd that he was not try'd upon the Indictment found by the Grand-Jury but prosecuted by the Loud complaints of the Commons and to be try'd upon the presentment of the Grand Inquest of the whole Nation That he was to be therefore Judg'd by the whole Body of the House of Peers where the ballance would be exactly kept And that therefore if his zeal had engag'd him in such deep and black designes as he was charg'd with he must expect to reap what he had sown Admonishing him lastly to hear with patience what should be said against him The Charge being then read the substance of the Impeachment was I. That there had been a Traiterous Plot and Conspiracy both in England and other Places to alter and subvert the Ancient Government and true Religion established in the Land which Plot was carried and contrived by Persons of several Qualities and Degrees II. That for the accomplishing of the said wicked and traiterous design he had agreed and conspir'd with others to imprison depose and murther the King and to Subject the Kingdom to the Pope and his Government To restore the Abbys Monasteries c. so long agoe Suppressed for their Idolatry and Superstition And by that means to destroy his Majesty Extirpate the Protestant Religion and overthrow the Rights and Properties of his Majesties Subjects III. That he with the rest of the Traytors had held several Meetings and Consultations where it was contriv'd and design'd by what means and what Instruments should be us'd to murther his Majesty That it was there resolv'd to Effect the same by Poisoning Shooting Stabbing and that at the same places rewards were offered to several Persons to execute the same IV. That he with the rest had Consulted to raise Men Money Armes and Ammunition and had Corresponded with the Pope his Cardinals and Nuntio 's and with other Forein Ministers for the raising and obtaining of Men Money c. for the raising of War within the Kingdom and invading the same with Forein Forces V. That he with the rest had procured and delivered out several Instruments and Commissions made and granted by the Pope and other unlawful Authortities for the raising and disposing Men Money c. and particularly for him the said Lord Viscount Stafford to be paymaster of the Army VI. That to hinder the discovery af the said Plot and to secure themselves from Justice He with the rest had caused Oathes of Secresie to be administred to the Confederates and the Priests to give them absolutions for their encouragement aforesaid to conceal the Conspiracy VII That he with the rest had contriv'd to lay the Imputation of their crimes upon the Protestants aforesaid To this his Lordships Plea was That he was not Guilty and for his Tryal put himself upon his Peers In the opening of this Impeachment Mr Serjeant Maynard beginning told the Lords that the Charge was General and Particular General the Subversion of the Nation Murther of the King and suppression of the Protestant Religion which General was charg'd in Particular upon the Prisoner in regard that in a general design as this was wherein so many were concern'd the Act of One is the Act of All and the Act of All is the Act of every One But his part being only to open the General Conspiracy he made out the Universal Hatred of the Papists against the Protestants by their continual Practcies of Murthers Massacrees and Treasons in Spain France England and other parts of Europe and their Doctrine of the Legality of deposing and Killing Heretick Kings Then bringing his Arguments home he called to mind the Murther of Sir Edmund-Bury Godfrey The Tampering with Bedlow to corrupt and lessen his Testimony and Their Charging Oates with Infamous Crimes by falshood and Subornation to invalidate his Testimony The particular Evidence was open'd by Sir Francis Winington Shewing first The extraordinary advantages the Papists had to enter upon the Conspiracy The creeping of Papists at the bottom and others that drove on their Interest into his Majesties Councils The easiness of some Men to favour the Papists new projects set on foot for a Reconciliation between the two Religions by distingushing the Church from the Court of Rome Papists of Loyal and disloyal Principles Which gave them great Encouragement to see how freely the Pen was drawn in their favour The Kings Commands of putting the Laws in Execution frustrated by the Publick Ministers of their faction and the severity of those Laws turned upon the Protestant dissenters Lastly their great hopes of a Popish Successor As for the proof of the Plot in general he Cited the Attainders of Coleman and Langhorn and several Priests and Jesuites The Attainders of Sir Edmund-Bury Godfrey's Murther and the Conviction of the Assassinator of Mr. Arnold And in short the Convictions not only of Treasons and Murthers but of almost all other Villianies whatsoever To this he added that proof would be made of the discourses of the Preists and Jesuits abroad of the great alteration that would be in England e're long And that the King was a Heretick and might be destroyed which Doctrine was dispersed by the industry of several in England As to particulars against the Prisoner he urg'd that proof would be made of his being at a Consult at the Lord Aston's House at Tyxal for the Killing the King That he offered 500 l. out of his own purse for carrying on the Plot and particularly that part of Killing the King That the Prisoner himself had tempted one of the Witnesses to Kill the King with several other Circumstances tending to that and the General design Then Mr. Treby proceeded to call the witnesses to shew the Universal Conspiracy The first was Mr. Smith whose Education had given him great Opportunities of knowing the inside of the Papists Affairs He testified That upon his first arrival in France he came acquainted with Abbot-Montague Gascoyn and several other Priests and Jesuites who promis'd him preferment both among them and in England if he would turn Catholick for that they did not doubt but that the Popish Religion would come into England very soon as not questioning a Toleration first by which they should bring it in without Noise And Secondly because their party was very Strong in England and in a few years would be able to bring it in right or wrong That Cardinal Grimaldi whom he met by Accident in Provence told him he had great Assurances the Popish Religion would prevail in England and that there was but one that obstructed it who though a good natur'd Person yet they could not so far prevaile upon him but that they must be forc'd to take him out

whether he ever saw Dugdale alone in his Life He answered Never in his Life To which the Lord High Steward replied Why you saw them together that Morning you brought them to the Chamber But to shew that it was not such an unusual thing for Dugdale and the Prisoner to be alone two Witnesses were brought for the King Hanson and Ansel who swore that they had seen them more than once alone in private Discourse together The next thing the Prisoner endeavoured to prove was that Mr. Dugdale ran away from the Lord Aston's for Debt to which purpose he call'd Thomas Sawyer who attested the same and that he heard him say he would be reveng'd of the Lord Aston if ever it lay in his Power And farther that he took a Glass of Drink in his presence and wish'd it might be his Damnation and Poyson if he knew any thing of the Plot. To the first Objection it was sworn that the Discourse of the Country was that he went away for fear of the Plot and three Justices of the Peace affirm'd that he was apprehended upon Suspition of being in the Plot who therefore tender'd him the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy which he took Others swore that Mr. Dugdale endeavour'd to come to an Accompt with the Lord Aston while he was in the Tower but that the Lord Aston refus'd to speak with him and that one time Mr. Dugdale going to the Tower upon the same occasion one of the Lord Aston's Servants came where he was and paying him a great deal of Respect said he was as honest a Gentleman as ever liv'd in a Family Other Witnesses swore that being Steward to the Lord Aston there was no other person between his Lordship and him but that he was next to my Lord and governed the rest of the Family That he had always had a good Report not only with the Lord Aston's Tenants but also with the Work-men and those people that had Dependence upon the Family As for Mr. Dugdale's Denial of his knowledge of the Plot it was urged that that proceeded only from the Apprehension of the danger he was in especially before he had taken a Resolution to discover The next Objection was that he swore falsly when he said he told of the Letter about the Death of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey before it was known he was kill'd which was attested to the contrary by the persons who were sworn to be the persons acquainted with the said Letter But this was refuted by two Witnesses that swore the said persons were by when the News was told in Confirmation of which two Gentlemen of Quality swore that the Report of such a thing was spread all over the Country before it was possible for it to come by the ordinary way of Intelligence Besides that one of the Prisoner's Evidence was an Ancient deaf Man and so no wonder he should attest that he never heard of any such thing The next Objection was That he had corrupted persons to swear false against him and others Robinson Murral and Holt. As for Robinson he was prov'd by no less Persons than the Earl of Macclesfield and one Mr. Booth a Member of Parliament to be a meer Scoundrel and Cheat and one that confess'd himself to be a Rogue As for Holt he was known to be a Vicious Lewd Fellow and one that had threatned to murther the King's Evidence for coming in against the Lord Aston As for Murral who attested that Money had been offer'd him by Mr. Dugdale to swear against Sir James Simmons and Mr. Howard he was prov'd to be a poor needy Fellow that went vagabonding about the Country But besides all this in opposition to these Witnesses on the Prisoner's side in this particular other Witnesses were brought who swore that there had been Endeavours to have suborned them to swear against Mr. Dugdale of which one of them was profer'd 700 l. to take off his Evidence or destroy him which was done by one Plessington Steward to the Lord Bellasis And that at another time they found a Letter for him to subscribe for the blasting of Mr. Dugdale's Reputation His Objection to take off the Credit of Dr. Oates was this That he said he knew nothing of any other Persons engaged in the Plot and yet after that he accus'd the Queen But Sir Phillip Floyd being call'd upon by my Lord to attest this Passage could remember nothing of it The Lord Privy Seal was also desir'd to declare his Knowledge in this Matter but he remember'd nothing of it neither Neither did the Earl of Berkley remember any such thing said by the Doctor in the Council but in the Lords House he remember'd that the Doctor being ask'd the Question said he had no more to accuse in relation to England but that in Ireland he had To which it was answered that this was said after the Doctor had accus'd the Prisoner at the Bar and so could not concern him As to the Accusation of the Queen it was not positive nor of his certain Knowledge but only Circumstantial Proof And secondly it might not be then so clear at that time to the Doctor whether the Queen were a person capable of an Accusation and then again that the Answer of a Man to a suddain Question who had said so much and had so many things in his Mind should be taken so strictly and that he should be held for perjur'd because that he did not at that instant remember that particular or the Queen was a very severe Construction His next Objection against the Doctor was that he went to be of the Popish Religion and so was of that Religion which was Idolatry and being a Turn-coat from his Religion was not to be credited To which it was answered that there had been Men of Great Fame in the Church of England and of great Learning too that had changed their Religion more than once His Objections against Mr. Turbervill were that he had sworn in his Affidavit 73 and 76 for 72 and 75. But it was prov'd by Sir William Poultney that he came the next Morning before any body in the World had questioned him upon it and rectified the Mistake upon his own accord The next Objection was That Mr. Turbervill was a Coward and ran away from his Colors But to that Mr. Turbervill produc'd in Court an Honourable and Authentick Discharge from his Commander under Hand and Seal which was viewed by the Duke of Monmouth and others of the Lords without Contradiction Next he brought Furnese and Leigh again to attest that they never saw Turbervill with the Prisoner at Paris which was a Negative prov'd by his own Servants In Answer to which it was observ'd That Turberville was introduc'd by greater Confidents than they were and that it might be easie for Mr. Turbervill to come in the Company of such Persons and the Boys not take notice of him Another Objection was this That Turbervill had sworn he was not well

us'd by the Lord Powis and his Lady when he was well us'd To attest which he brought one to attest that he was permitted to lie in a Room near the Lord Powis's Chamber To which it was reply'd that that Testimony might not hear what unkind Words might pass between them or how he was thwarted in his Expectations from the Earl And as to the Kindness of Mr. Turbervill's Relations all that the Prisoner could prove was that his Brother and Sister had given him Seven Pounds never to see him more The next Objection was That Turbervill had sworn that the Earl of Castlemain was at Powis-Castle such a time which must be in the Years 72 73 or 74 which he endeavoured to prove by the Attestation of one Lydcot once a Servant to the Earl of Castlemain and with him all those Years But he was observed to be so out in his Calculation so mistaken in the Year and such an exact Follower of the Romish New Stile that Notice was taken of it by the Court. On the other Side it was sworn by Mr. Arnold That he had not heard a better Character of any Man from all sorts of People in his Life By Mr. Hobby That he had never known or heard but that he had behav'd himself like a Worthy Honest Gentleman By one Mr. Matthews a Divine that he never knew him guilty of an Evil Action but that he was a person of a fair Reputation By one Mr. Seys That he never knew in his Life any person that could asperse him The same also or to the same Effect was sworn by Captain Scudamore It was farther objected That Mr. Turbervill was a Stranger to the Prisoner and that the Design of the King's Death was too great a Secret for a Stranger to be acquainted with To which it was answered That the Quality of the Persons that introduced him to his Lordship was to be considered They were Priests and therefore it was no wonder that when they brought him to his Lordship for such a purpose that they should prevail with his Lordship to give him Credit and to deal with a person so likely in his Circumstances to make such an Attempt But the main Objection was That Mr. Turbervill had sworn that his Lordship returned into England by the way of Calice with Count Grammont neither of which was true To which it was answered That Mr. Turbervill swore only according to Information and by a Lettet which signified to him that his Lordship would return by the way of Calice and he knew nothing of the Change of his Lorships Resolution That it appeared upon Oath that Mr. Turbervill staid at Diep in expectation of his Lordships coming but being inform'd that he went another way took the first Opportunity of a Passage without which Information there was no Reason for him to have invented such a thing or to have advised his Companion to make haste to Calice to take the Advantage of my Lord's Conveniency a thing which he did out of Friendship The Evidence on both sides being thus clos'd as it was thought the Court adjourn'd and the Lords being return'd to their House gave notice to the Commons that they had order'd the Prisoner to be sent for again the next day by ten of the Clock The First Day being Saturday Dec. 4. The Prisoner being brought to the Bar made a new Request that he might call some Witnesses that he had forgot the day before to impeach the Evidence that had sworn against the Credit of his Witnesses and farther to impeach those that had sworn against himself which though it were at first oppos'd as a thing not customary was at length condescended to by the Managers to spare the Lords the trouble of withdrawing The first was the Lord Ferrers as to the Reputation of Mr. Southal one of Mr. Dugdale's Witnesses who attested that all he could say was by Hear-say That he had the Reputation of being active in the late Times against the King and was counted a pernicious Man against the Government In answer to which the Lord Brook being desired to speak what he knew of the said Mr. Southal gave him the CharaCharacter of an honest an able and a good Church-man and Mr. Levenson Gower called to the same purpose gave him the Character of a Zealous Prosecutor of the Papists and one of whom they that were principled by the Preservation of the King and the Protestant Religion spoke well The next was one Dale to whom the Prisoner put the Question what he knew about Dugdale's offering him Money and whether Dugdale never persuaded him to swear against my Lord Aston something he knew not To which be answered positively in the Negative After this the Prisoner having summed up all his Objections before recited against the King's Evidence insisted upon several Points of Law First That there was no President that Proceedings Criminal did ever continue from Parliament to Parliament this having continued three Secondly Whether a Man in Capital Cases was not to be proceeded against by Indictment first found by a Grand Jury and not by Impeachment either of a single Person or Body of Men. Thirdly He conceiv'd there was no Overt Act alledged in the Impeachment Fourthly He desired to prove they were not Competent Witnesses that swore against him for they swore for Money Fifthly Whether a Man could be condemned for Treason by one Witness there not being two Witnesses to any one Point As to the First it was answered that it could be no doubt in regard their Lordships had resolved and sent it down to the Commons and that it was entered in their Books as the Law and Constitution of Parliaments that not only Impeachments but all Judicial Proceedings continue from Parliament to Parliament that it was now the Law of their House and consequently the Law of the Kingdom And therefore they having declared it and sent it down to the Commons they had good reason to proceed upon the present Impeachment To the Second That an Impeachment of the House of Commons which is the Grand Inquest of the Nation was more than an Indictment and more effectual to bring an Offender to Justice To the Third That there were Overt Acts enough in Proof and sufficient in the Impeachment as the receiving a Commission to be Pay-Master of an Army the offering Money to a person to hire him to kill the King and consulting with several persons met together about killing the King and changing the Government of the Nation All which were laid in the Impeachment as fully as made out in Proof To the Fourth His Lordship insisted very much that his Council might argue it whether there were a necessity of two Witnesses to every Overt Act alleadg'd as Evidence of High Treason But the Council for the Prisoner waving the Argument as a thing impossible to apply themselves to the Study of a Case unforeseen the Lords returned to their House to consider upon it In an hours time

over The next day being Thursday the 9 th of December Colonel Birch reported from the Committee appointed to examine the Matter of Information given by Mr. Peter Norris that the Committee having taken the same into their Consideration had not thought fit to come to any Resolution therein but had order'd him to report the Matter specially which he did accordingly to this Effect That upon the Complaint of Mr. Norris that several Papers had been taken from him sent for the said Papers then in a Chest in the Council Chamber That the occasion of Mr. Norris's going beyond Sea both by the said Papers and by a Certificate delivered by the Earl of Essex to the Chairman of the Committee and by Dr. Tong 's Instructions appear'd to be to fetch over one Dowdel an Irish Priest who had been conversant with the Priests in France and Ireland that manag'd the Plot in England and Ireland and by that means was privy to the whole Plot which he had made known by several Leters to Dr. Tong perused by the Earl of Essex besides that Satisfaction was given by a known Merchant in London that the said Dowdal was an understanding Person and fit to be credited That by an Order of Council the 18 th of July 1679. the said Dowdal was permitted to come from Dover and stay for a Month. That after the said Order for his coming Dowdal died not without Suspition of a violent Death That upon Examination how it came to pass that Norris was in so much danger beyond Sea particularly at his coming Aboard the Calice Pacquet-Boat that he was Imprisoned at Dover brought from Dover by a Messenger was a particular Descriprion given of him to Mr. Secretary Jenkins the 29 th of May 1680. That upon Examination who gave this Description They found that Thomas Sheridon who had lately been with the D. at Brussels and came over with him in the same Yacht carried the said Description to the Duke and that it was brought him by one Anthony Day Doctor of Physick to the late Army in Flanders That Day confess'd That coming one day to visit Mr. Sheridon he told him in Discourse That now the whole Plot would be discovered For he heard there was one gone beyond Sea to fetch over a Priest that knew it all That Mr. Sheridon desir'd him to describe the Person to which he reply'd He knew neither the Person nor the Priest but that one John Butler near the French Ambassador's had told him so That Mr. Sheridon desired him to get a Description which he did writing the same from the said Butler's own Mouth all but the last Line which Butler was since dead That Sheridon had confess'd that he did go to the said Secretary Jenkins and told him that there was one gone over who knew as much of the Plot as any Man That the Secretary commanded him to give him a Description of the Person That thereupon he did go to Mr. Day for the Description which Mr. Day gave him and so he delivered it to the Secretary They found also that the Description so delivered a Letter was written by Mr. Cook which the Secretary declar'd he would take upon himself to this Effect That the Secretary being call'd away hastily to wait upon the King at Windsor had commanded him to send the Inclosed Description of a Person to such a one who was to keep a strict Eye over him and his Company if they Landed at Dover till they should be carried before a Magistrate who was to tender them the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy which if they refus'd then they were to be sent to Prison if they took them some handsom Course was to be taken to detain them till the Secretary was acquainted with what was done Vpon which Norris was committed to the Common Prison All which being of a more than ordinary Nature was refer'd by the Committee to the Wisdom of the House The next day being Friday the 10 th of December the House took the Report aforesaid into Consideration and the Secretary having given an Account of his Proceedings therein withdrew Nor was it long after before the House came to a Resolve That the Imprisonment of Norris was illegal and that the Proceedings of Sir Lyonel in describing the Person of Norris and directing his Imprisonment was Illegal and Arbitrary and an Obstruction to the Evidence for Discovery of the Plot. Saturday December 11. nothing remarkable occurr'd Neither did Monday the 13 th of the same Month produce any thing more considerable than an Order that the Respective Members of Parliament and Barons of the Cinque-Ports should for the Places for which they serv'd with all convenient speed bring in Lists of all Papists and reputed Papists within the several Counties Cities Boroughs and Cinque-ports of England The next day being Tuesday the 14 th of December Sir Robert Peyton was call'd to an Account upon a Report from the Committee appointed to examine the Information against him given in by Sir William Roberts which being read it was Voted by the House That it appear'd both by the Reports and by his own Confession that he had had secret Negotiation with the Duke of York by means of the Earl of Peterborough Cellier and Gadbury when they were turning the Popish Plot upon the Protestants Whereupon it was presently order'd that he should be expelled the House which was done the next day with so severe a Reprimand as sufficiently shew'd the Indignation of the House against his Proceedings Wednesday the 15 th of this Month his Majesty having sent for the Commons to attend him in the House of Peers was pleased to declare himself in a short Speech to this Effect That at the opening of the Parliament he had acquainted them with the Alliance made with Spain and Holland as most conducing to the Safety of England and Repose of Christendome and that if the Friendship of England should prove unsafe to trust to it could not be wonder'd that the Neighbouring States should take such Resolutions as might prove Fatal to us That he was then to tell them how little had been done since their Meeting to encourage their Dependance upon us and that he found that unless we could be so united at Home to make our Alliance valuable it would be impossible to hinder those Abroad from making our Alliances inconsistent with the publick Safety As for Tangier he told them That if they thought the place worth the keeping they must take it into speedy Consideration being an Expence otherwise above his Power Promising for his own part the fullest Satisfaction they could wish for the Security of the Protestant Religion and a Concurrence with them in any Remedies consistent with the preservation of the Succession in the Legal Course of Descent Concluding That being so ready on his part to satisfie their Desires he desired to know how he should be assisted by them and what they expected from Him This Speech being reported by the