Ch. Just North. What were the Contents of it do you say Mr. Dugdale It began thus This very night Sir Edmond-bury Godfrey is dispatched Lord Ch. Just North. Who did it come from Mr. Dugdale It came from Mr. Harcourt Sir Cr. Levins They themselves know that he was not found here in London till Thursday Mr. Dugdale I could not hold it run so much in my mind but the next morning going to an Ale-house hard by I there spoke of it and immediately it was carryed to Mr. Chetwin and he was here yesterday to make it out that I so did Lord Ch. Just North. But why did they kill him was it expressed why Mr. Dugdale I had several times heard he was too much privy to their Consultations Lord Ch. Just North. That is you mean he had had too much discovered to him Mr. Dugdale And so they were afraid of Mr. Coleman too that he carried things too high and he was out of their favour for 2 years Sir Cr. Levins Then call Mr. Prance Pray Sir what can you say Mr. Prance There was one Mr. Messenger a Gentleman of the Horse to my Lord Arundel of Warder who was employed by my Lord Arundel of Warder and my Lord Powis and he was to kill the King and to have a very good reward for the doing of it and I was told so by my Lord Butler I afterwards met with this Messenger and asked him what his reason was that he would kill the King He told me he was off of it now Sir Cr. Levins But what was to be done after they should kill the King Mr. Prance Presently there should be an Army of 50000 men raised to be governed by my Lord Arundel and my Lord Powis and them I have heard Mr. Fenwick and Mr. Ireland and Grove to speak of this at the same time together Sir Cr. Levins What was that Army to be raised for Mr. Prance To settle the Catholick Religion Lord Ch. Just What was to become of other Persons Mr. Prance They were to be killed and ruined all So Fenwick told me Lord Ch. Just North. Look you Mr. Langhorn these Witnesses speak nothing to you in particular but only that there was a Conspiracy in general to kill the King and introduce Popery If you will ask them any Question you may Langhorn No my Lord they not accusing me I have nothing to say to them Mr. Prance I heard one Mr. Harcourt say that the King was to be killed by several before one Mr. Thompson twice in his own Chamber in Duke-street And I heard Fenwick say that Mr. Langhorn was to have a great hand in it Langhorn Is that all you have to say as to me Mr. Prance It is all that I know of Then the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs came in Sir Cr. Levins Now my Lord we will call the Evidence that shall prove the particular matters of the Indictment as of writing the Letters beyond Sea of his receiving Commissions of his distributing them here to the several persons to whom they were directed of his Soliciting for the mony the 6000 l. to be raised by the Benedictine Monks which was either for a particular purpose to poison the King or to carry on the Design in general And first we call Dr. Oates who was Sworn and stood up Sir Cr. Levins Sir you hear what the matter is as to Mr. Langhorn be pleased to tell the Court whether you knew he writ any Letters and received any Commissions speak your whole knowledge Dr. Oates I hope your Lordship will be pleased to give me leave to use my own Method Lord Ch. Just Ay Ay take your own way Mr. Oates Dr. Oates Then I begin thus In the month of April 1677 I went into the Kingdom of Spain in the month of September following the sons of Mr. Langhorn came into the Kingdom of Spain it was September or sooner but I will not be possitive as to the time of their coming the one was a Scholar of the English Colledge at Madrid the other was a Scholar of the English Colledge at Valledolid They came there to study Philosophy in order to their receiving of the Priesthood my Lord my occasions called me into England in the month of November following and coming into England Mr. Langhorns sons did give me some Letters to Mr. Langhorn their Father and as soon as I had rested my self for a day or two after my Journey I came to Mr. Langhorns's house in Sheer-Lane Now Mr. Langhorns Wife being a Zealous Protestant I did whisper his Footboy or his servant boy in the Ear that he should go and whisper his Master Mr. Langhorn and tell him there was one would speak with him from his sons Mr. Langhorn by his son did desire me to meet him at his Chamber in the Temple in the Inner-Temple-Lane it was I think I know the Chamber however and accordingly I did meet Mr. Langhorn that night by the means of his half Brother who is brother I think by the mother and not by the Father his name is Smithson and when I came into Mr. Langhorns Chamber their Chambers being directly opposite one to another I was treated by Mr. Langhorn with a great deal of Civility and I delivered Mr. Langhorn the Letters from his sons and I told him that I thought his sons would enter into the Society Mr. Langhorn was mightily pleased with the News being himself a great Votary for the Society that his sons would enter into it Now may it please your Lordship Mr. Langhorn did say he thought if they did continue in the world that is secular Priests they would suddenly have very great promotion in England for he said Things would not last long in this posture that is at that time he then spoke I speak the words now that he said then And now my Lord I was with Mr. Langhorn another time while I was in England but in the latter end of November old Stile in the beginning of December new Stile I went to St. Omers and there were Letters that he delivered me looking upon the Prisoner a Pacquet to carry to St Omers And when the Pacquet was opened there was a letter Signed Richard Langhorn in which he gave the Fathers at St. Omers great thanks for the great care had of and kindness they shew'd to his sons and that what they had been out of Pocket for their Viaticum in Order to their journey into Spain which was 20 l. he promised them they should be repaid it and in this Letter he did expresly say that he had written to Father Le Cheese in order to our concerns those were his words Now my Lord the Letter that he writ to Father Le Cheese I saw not but only this Letter I saw which gave an account of that Letter he had writ to Father Le Cheese and he said Mr. Coleman had been very large with him and therefore it would not be necessary for him to trouble his Reverence
just begin to know Mr. Oates in April was a Twelve-month and so Oates swears too Mr. Just Pemberton And he say he knows nothing whether you had a Child dyed or no. L. Ch. Just When was the time that you first knew Mr. Oates Mr. Clay The latter end of April last year L. Ch. Just Did you ever know him before that time Mr. Clay I never did L. Ch. Just Do you remember that ever you dined with him Mr. Clay I do not remember the day exactly and I do not remember that e're I dined with him Mr. Just. Pemberton But he is positive that he did not know him but a year ago L. Ch. Just Do you remember whether Mr. Howard's Son was alive Mr. Clay He had a Son alive at that time Dr. Oates He had one Son indeed that dyed a year before Mr. Clay and I met there Mr. Howard I speak of my eldest Son who dyed two years ago Mr. Clay I never knew him L. Ch. Just Well 't is plain there was a mistake in it he spoke of a Son that was then and is now alive and you speak of your eldest Son that dyed two years ago Have you any more Witnesses Mr. Langhorn Langhorn No my Lord I have no more witnesses L. Ch. Just Well would you say any thing If you would say what you have a mind to say Langhorn My Lord I am charged here by two Witnesses the first is Mr. Oates If I can prove any one point in answer to that which he hath given in Evidence not to be true then I conceive my Lord he ought to be set aside And I think it hath been clearly proved That whereas he said Sir Tho. Preston came over with him in April it hath been clearly proved he was then at Leigeâ— and whereas he hath affirmed Sir John Warner Mr. Poole and two or three more that were at St. Omers came over with him I have proved That not to be true beyond any contradiction Then as the Witnesses about his ovvn not coming over in April Mr. Hilsly says he came not over vvith him in the Pacquet-Boat and the other says that he vvas sick in the Infirmary after Mr. Hilsly came avvay These points being thus proved I think there can be no credit given to what he says for I can say and I know it to be truth that from November 1677 to this very day I never savv him I have been a close Prisoner so long and have had but one weeks time to provide and therefore must be fain to take such Information as my Friends and Relations could pick up to answer what he hath said in his Narratives supposing he would have said the same here therefore I am not able to make any better defence L. Ch. Just Did you never know Mr. Oates Langhorn I have seen him once or twice L. Ch. Just. When was that Langhorn In Michaelmas Term 1677. L. Ch. Just Upon what occasion Langhorn He brought me a Letter from one of my Sons my younger Son in Spain and then he told me he was going to St. Omers He said he could not and from that day I never saw him till I saw him in the Court I hope truly I have well proved that he was not here in England when he says he was but that I must leave to the Jury But surely these Boys cannot be supposed to have any design or to be bribed by any Reward for I never saw the Face of any of them till now L. Ch. Just North. They are all Papists and speak in a General Cause Langhorn If that be an Objection against them I think it is hard if they are not to be believed because they are Papists and Friends then the other on the contrary are not to be believed because they are Enemies I think it is clear that he did not lodge at Grove's house and I think it is clear that he did not come over in the Pacquet-Boat with Mr. Hilsly and that Sir Tho. Preston did not come over with him nor Warner nor Poole and if any of these points be clear for me I think his Testimony ought to be set aside Now as to what Bedloe says in truth it is impossible for me to examine any Witnesses and that I think will be your Lordship's Opinion it will not seem probable that one that was in my way of practice should become a Clerk to Register Letters and to keep Accounts of any particular Religious Order as he makes me to do or if I were that I should admit Mr. Bedloe to be privy to those Accounts but that I must leave to the Court my Lord 't is impossible to prove a Negative Mr. Bedloe is a person that I have no acquaintance with truly I do not know that ever I saw him before this time in all my life though it is possible I may have seen him but I do not knovv that ever I did Now that I should admit such a person to such a privacy in Accounts of this nature if I were guilty of them seems very improbable but yet as I said it is impossible to prove a Negative If I had known what he would have charged upon me before perhaps I might have made a better defence and for those Witnesses that I have had they were prepared by such Friends as thought they would be useful for me These men have had time to get their Witnesses together I never saw one of mine till they came into the Court I hope my Lord I shall find no disadvantage in my condemned me meerly for that I disclaim all Principles of disloyalty and I do assure your Lordship I do believe it is Damnation to any one that shall go about to kill the King or deprive him of his Government I shall leave the rest to your Lordship and the Jury The Lord Chief Justices Directions to the Jury against Mr. Langhorne Lord Chief Just Look you Gentlemen You have had an Accompt in the first Part of the Evidence in general That there was a general Designe of bringing in Propery and in order to that as the best and quickest Means to Accomplish it to destroy the King And without doubt they were in the right for that Matter To destroy the King was the most effectual Course to introduce Popery they could take Whether they would do it or no is not now any Question but how much Mr. Langhorn the Prisoner at the Barr is concerned in it and that depends upon the Testimony of Witnesses The Testimony that Mr. Oats gives against him amounts but to thus much I cannot affirm sayes he that Mr. Langhorne was at the Consult on the Twenty-Fourth of April at the White-Horse-Tavern where they signed the Agreement to Destroy the King But this I can say That the next Day or within a Day or two I went by Order from the Fathers Whitebread and Harcourt to Langhorne 's Chamber and acquainted him with what they had Argeed upon And he swears that
to all the World that we do nothing under-hand but that we do in this Case as in all other Cases any thing that is fit to be answered they shall answer and perchance in this Case something more than can be strictly required of us 'T is notorious enough that Mr Oates and Mr Dedloe have been fed at the King's charge and it cannot be objected against them and need not be wink'd at for they were Parties in the Plot. And when they come to make the Discovery without which we should never have known the Plot for you know 't is hard to discover any Crime Forgery or the like but by one that hath been privy to it and a guilty person yet these men always have been and are in Law Witnesses and 't is just they should have a Competency to maintain them since they came for the Publick Good to make such Discoveries L. C. J. North. And that particular Sum of Mony was paid to Mr Bedloe in pursuance of the King's Proclamation which we all know which was all publickly done Langhorne The Reason why I press this was because of the Proclamation which was to invite Persons to come touching the discovery of this Plot and to encourage them to it by a promise or reward I think it may be reasonable enough where any person that is charged with a Crime doth absent to propose a Reward for the bringing him in But I think it is hard that when a Prisoner is in Custody Witnesses should be brought in against him by such means L. C. J. North. You do Artificially go off from the Point Answer the Evidence that hath been given against you and you shall be heard but you labor very much and trouble your self to make Answer to another matter that is not pertinent L. C. J. Does your Defence consist wholly of this sort of matter objecting the incompetency of the Witnesses Can you make no Answer to the Fact Langhorne I must tell your Lordship My whole Defence must run to disable the Witnesses for my Lord I was committed to Newgate the 17th of October and I have been kept there a close Prisoner till this day was seven-night or Friday the last Week I never conversed with any Friend or any Relation nor knew any thing of News but only with some few persons sent by Authority of the House of Commons or the Council And I was never examined by any since I was committed I never heard what was charged against me and I could not foresee what these men could testifie because I was not confident whereupon they would proceed therefore I can have no Defence unless it be by lessening their Credit 't is impossible I should L. C. J. Do lessen it if you can If you have any Witnesses to take off their Credit or contradict them call them Mr. Just Atkins But I would say one thing to you Mr. Langhorne you seem to put a very ill Construction upon the Kings Proclamation as if it were to invite and encourage persons to come and swear about a Plot where there was none it was to invite people to make a further Discovery of a Plot that lay Close and we could not fully Discover for the preservation of the King and Kingdom without such a means Langhorne He did propose a Reward Mr. Justice Atkins Ay in order to a further Discovery of that Plot which we had Evidence of before Mr. Just Pemberton And so you would be close in all your Accounts and none should be rewarded that could make us any discovery of them but presently their Testimony must be gone 'T is very fine but the Court over-rules it L. C. J. Mr. Langhorne whatsoever you object of this kind does fly in the face and reflect upon the integrity and wisdom of King Lords and Commons L. C. J. North. For it was done by the advice of all Three L. C. J. If you 'l go on and prove any thing but pray don't spend our time to no purpose Langhorne Call Parry and Townely and Doddington and the rest Dr. Oates My Lord here are Papists come into the Court with their Swords on L. C. J They will not draw them here Lord Mayor 'T is well enough 't is well enough Dr. Oates you are safe enough here L. C. J. Who will you have first Langhorne I would have Hilsly set up Which was done L. C. J What would you ask him Langhorne Your Lordship hath heard Dr. Oates affirm he came over such a time in the Pacquet Boat with Mr. Hilsly I desire to know whether that be true or no L. C. J. I can help you in that for we had him and his Companions here yesterday but however we will hear them again if you will have them Do you know Mr. Oats Hilsly I do my Lord very well L. C. J. When did you come over from St. Omers Hilsly I came over the 24th of April N. S. L. C. J. Did Mr. Oats come with you Hilsly No he did not Dr. Oats No my Lord he did leave me there but I overtook him at Calis L. C. J. Look you there now you did leave him there but he over-took you at Calis Did you leave him there Hilsly I did leave him there L. C. J. Ay but he over took you then did he not Hilsly No he did not L. C. J. He answers as he did yesterday that he did not come over with him you lost your mony did you not Hilsly Yes I did L. C. J. How did you loose it Did you loose it at play Hilsly 'T is no matter how I lost it I did not loose it at play Dr. Oates I 'll tell the Court if your Lordship please how he lost it he lent a great deal of mony to a Gentleman who went away with his mony and left him to pay the Reckoning L. C. J. What say you to that Hilsly That is very true and I confess it but what is all this nothing to the matter he was told this by some body else I never saw him nor ever any man in the Ship saw him come over with me L. C. J. I 'll tell you what then first here is something now that you would not confess yesterday nor indeed would you confess it now I asked you how you lost your mony you see Mr. Oats can tell you how it was tho' you wont tell us so that tho' this be a secret he knows it and how could he know this secret unless he were there Hilsly There is one that I met by the way that did tell him this Story Then one Gifford stood up L. C. J. Did you see Mr. Oats Gifford Yes my Lord. L. C. J. What discourse had you with him concerning Hilsly Gifford Why he told us of his departure L. J. C. When Gifford After he was gone away L. C. J. How long after Gifford Three our four days L. C. J. What said he to you Gifford He only told us he was gone L. C. J.