a correspondence, and the people of those coffee-houses have all sworn, that I never ordered any letters of that kind to be taken in, or received one, either by my own or any other name from them. Nay, one of them has sworn, That no such letters ever came to his house at all; another says, that a messenger from the secretary's office, was the only person that ever called at his house for those directed to it.

My Lords,

This letter is dated the 20th of March, at which time, and for five months before, I never was allowed the use of pen, ink, or paper, or the liberty of seeing any person that could possibly have conveyed such a note for me; for I have been guarded in a different manner from other people in the Tower: my warders were put into the very room with me, and ordered never to stir a moment, night or day, out of it; which orders they punctually obeyed, and were

And as to the printed examination of one Mr. Caryl, to this purpose, it were to be wished, that this gentleman's reasons had been pub-constant witnesses to all my actions. lished, as well as his accusation.

For I am confident, he will not pretend to say, that ever he saw me write a line in his life, or give a piece of paper of any kind to sir Harry Goring; and what reason he could have for believing that we settled a key for such a correspondence, is very extraordinary: nor have the other particulars which he has affirmed, the least foundation of truth; for I do solemnly aver to your lordships, that I never saw Semple in my life, or gave captain Bonin any such letter of recommendation: neither had I ever the honour of speaking to my lord North and Grey, or of being any ways known to his lordship; and that I should mention him so familiarly by the fictitious name of Johnson, (and which, of all names, I should never make use of in that manner) will, I hope, appear very incredible to your lordships; especially since Mr. Caryl himself has furnished so good a reason for the disbelief of it.

For he has likewise affirmed, That my examination before the council was read at doctor Yalden's house: the doctor has indeed already done me justice in that point; and Mr. Tucker (who was all the while in company) will, I am very sure, do the same.

And since Mr. Caryl appears to be so plainly mistaken in this particular, surely be may very well be supposed to be so in all the rest, especially since he has not assigned the least reason for any of them.

As to the rest of the intercepted letters, the people of the several coffee-houses have likewise cleared me from them; and all testify, That they never delivered me any such letters, or received any directions from me about them; which, I hope, will be sufficient to convince your lordships, that I was not concerned in any correspondence, especially since no letters of this kind were found in my possession, or any other papers relating to the conspiracy.

There are two other crimes, in which I most humbly crave your lordships' patience to be beard, because they are the blackest that can be imagined, and seem to be personal.

The first is a letter directed to Mr. Gordon at Bologne, with two affidavits, which have been printed, and are suggested to be sent by my directions, in order to have him and one Birmingham perjure themselves upon my account:

For in this letter it is said, 'That the inclosed is a copy of a note from the person conserned, with what he thinks requisite.'

And those warders will depose, That, they believe, it was impossible for me to have written or sent out any such directions; and the officers, I do not doubt, will do me the same justice.

And when my solicitor was admitted, finding that Mr. Gordon's Affidavit might be of use, if allowed as evidence, a person was immediately dispatched, and who brought it in a different form from those which have been printed. And my solicitor can testify, That no draughts were sent by him; which, with the gross management of the persons concerned in this affair, is, I hope, sufficient to give your lordships the clearest conviction of my innocence in it. And I do solemnly affirin, That I never knew any thing of them; never heard of the name of Akenhead before; nor can I find out any person (besides the master of that vessel) that ever did.

The other crime is get forth in one Levett's deposition in the Report made to this most honourable House: wherein (among a great many other most notorious falshoods) she swears, That one Mrs. Barnes told her, that I was instrumental in, or privy to the shutting up of a person in a dungeon, for fear of his turning informer; and not only of him, but of 200 more upon the same account. Which, I believe, is the most surprising crime that ever yer was alledged against any Christian.

Mrs. Barnes denies every syllable of this conversation; and if the person that swears this against her, bad been produced, she would he proved to your lordships, to have been a vile infamous creature all her life. And if she is to be believed, or that your lordships can think it possible there can be the least truth in her deposition, it will be a sin to let me live, and impossible to find out a punishment too cruel for me.

These, my Lords, are the chief crimes which I am charged with; and very great ones they are, had they been in any degree made out against me.

I am a stranger to the methods of legal proof, but have been told by my counsel, That the greater a person's crime is, the clearer the evidence ought to be against him; and how weak and insufficient the proofs produced for this pur pose, are, and how clear and convincing those which have been offered in my justification, bas, I hope, evidently appeared to your lordships, and given you intire conviction of my innocence; and that all the crimes alledged against me,

are without the least colour or foundation of it has cost me more since I was sent there, truth. than the government have now left me really But how much I have suffered for these sup-worth in the world; and I must suddenly beposed crimes, and what extraordiuary means come a sacrifice to my necessities, if not set at have been made use of against ine, are things liberty by your lordships' great clemency and much worthier of your lordships' judicial consi- compassion. deration.

To be taken up and held to exorbitant bail, without ever assigning any particular crime against me: to suffer a long and close confinement, where the expence bears no proportion to my circumstances.

To have numbers of people, and some of them creatures of the meanest rank and condition, taken up, examined, and tampered with upon my account; and Newgate sent to for

witnesses.

If I have dropped any expressions which may not be so agreeable to some particular persons in power, I could wish that my defence had not laid me under that necessity: and I do solemnly protest, That they have not proceeded from any resentment for my sufferings; but from a sincere endeavour to give your lordships the clearest conviction of my innocence. since I could not merit their favour, I shall always endeavour to preserve their good opinion.

And

As to the legality of these proceedings, and the danger of making precedents of this kind, those are things which have been already fully set forth by my council, and must be submitted to the great wisdom and jurisdiction of this most illustrious assembly: an assembly! which is not only the highest and most honourable, but the uprightest and most impartial, I believe, upon earth; and whose justice has ever ap

To have a servant (who was turned off for his ill-behaviour) brought as an evidence; and my most intimate friends imprisoned for not swearing against me; are hardships and proceedings, I believe, hitherto unheard of in England; and such as, I hope, your lordships will, in your great wisdom and justice, think fit to redress. All which is of a piece with an infamous offer made to myself by one of the under-peared as extensive as their power. secretaries of state, who, the morning after I was first examined, came to me with a message (as he said) from one of his superiors, to let me know, that I had now a very good opportunity of serving myself; and that he was sent to offer me my own conditions.

And when I declared myself an entire stranger to the conspiracy, and was sorry to find that noble lord have so base an opinion of me, he seemed to wonder, that I would neglect so good an occasion of serving myself, especially when I might have any thing I pleased to ask for.

What authority that person had for this message, or the rest of his after-proceedings, I will not pretend to say but as I have been rained aud utterly undone by then, I hope your lordships will take my sufferings, as well as circunstances, into your consideration; and, instead of inflicting any farther pains or penaltics, look upon me (as I really am) a person highly injured, and not a criminal concerned in any transactions against the government.

As for my circumstances, they are but too well known in the world.

And here I cannot omit my gratitude to the Jate and present constables of the Tower; for the late constable (though I never had the honour to see his lordship) was, upon a representation of my circumstances, so very good, as to procure me the promise of an allowance from the government; and his lordship, the present, has been so kind as to get it paid: but the officers of the place can testify, that this allowance has not been converted to any private use of mine, but constantly given to the persons appointed to attend me. And I must take leave to assure your lordships, that

Charles earl of Carlisle. + Henry earl of Lincoln.

The great, and, indeed, the only argument which I have heard offered for the passing of this bill, is, That the occasion is extraordinary; that your lordships are in your legislative capacity; and though the proofs may not be so legal, however, in terrorem, it is necessary to pass it.

But I humbly beseech your lordships to consider, where the extraordinariness of this occasion lies?- -Has there been the least commotion in any part of the three kingdoms? Or any person injured in his liberty or fortune, besides those who have been so unhappy as to fall under this suspicion ?

Or, is this occasion more extraordinary than when there was a public insurrection in the kingdom? and when the persons concerned in it, were tried by the common and ordinary courts of justice?

And because your lordships are vested with a supreme authority, and not tied up to the common forms of law, can that be a reason for your acting directly contrary to it? And to suppose your lordships capable of doing so, was not, I must say, so becoming an argument to have been offered upon this occasion.

And to have a session, which opened with so mild, so gracious a speech from the throne, end in such an extraordinary a manner, must surely be very contrary to the design and intention of the throne at that time; and is, I hope, so still; especially, since no intervening accidents have happened to ruffle the quiet and tranquillity of the kingdom.

My Lords,

The first extraordinary Bill that, I believe, ever passed in England was that of the Earl of Strafford; and how much personal prejudice was in his prosecution, and how fatal that Bill proved in its consequences, I need not mention, since the royal martyr himself has, in his

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE Bishop of ReCHESTER.] May 6. The bishop of Rochester was brought to the bar of the House of Lords, to make his defence against the bill, To inflict certain pains and penalties upon him,' with the assistance of his counsel, sir Constantine Phipps and Mr. Wynne. After the read

as directions for men's actions and obedience, and punishment inflicted for putting those laws in execution against offenders; and that therefore punishing by a law, made after the offence committed, is not agreeable to reason or justice, except only in the case of real and apparent necessity to prevent the immediate ruin of a government, which we, do not think to being of the Bill, the king's counsel opened the the present case, or can bear any resemblance to it.

4. "Because the proceedings of the legislative power, in making laws, can be governed by no rule but that of their own discretion and pleasure; and therefore the making laws to inflict pains and penalties on particular persons must, as we conceive, tend to expose the lives, liberties and properties of the subjects to an arbitrary discretion; and consequently render them precarious in the enjoyment of those blessings, which by our excellent constitution and government they have always had an uncontroulable right to hold and enjoy, till forfeited for some crime, and the person offending legally convicted thereof, upon such full and positive proof as the laws of this kingdom do require.

5. "Because as we conceive it would be of dangerous consequence to the safety of innocent persons to allow copies of letters taken by the clerks of the Post Office, though sworn by them to be true copies, to be given in evidence against any person accused of hightreason, especially when such copies are not compared with the originals after they were taken, and the original letters forwarded on by them are not produced, because the originals not being produced, such person is deprived of an opportunity of falsifying those copies; and though there should be any mistake committed by the clerk in copying, whether wilfully or by negligence, such mistake cannot be detected for want of the original writings to compare the copies with.

6." Because the proof of letters or other writings in criminal prosecutions, by similitude and comparison of hands, being, as we conceive, a very slight and weak evidence, because hands may be too easily counterfeited, and the persons examined cannot speak positively, but to their belief, and therefore not liable to be prosecuted for perjury, hath, as we conceive, very justly been discouraged in such times, when the administration of justice hath been most impartial; and convictions of high-treason, grounded on such evidence, have been reversed, by act of parliament, for that and other rea(Signed), Pomfret, Fr.Cestriens', Strafford, Middleton, Aylesford, Bathurst, Litchfield, Weston, Salishury, Brooke, Hay, Willoughby de Broke, Ashburnham, Osborn, Compton, Bruce, Trevor, Cardigan, Exeter, Stawell, Anglesea, Gower, Masham, Bingley, Uxbridge, Berkeley de Stratton, Scarsdale, Denbigh, Wharton, Northampton, Craven, Guilford, Poulett, Dartmouth, Foley, Montjoy, Tadcaster, Arundel."

sons.

nature of it, displayed the heinousness of the late horrid and execrable conspiracy, and, in particular, aggravated the crime of the prisoner at the bar, who, as the preamble suggested, was principally concerned in forming, directing, and carrying on the said wicked and

'detestable Plot.'

This done, in order to prove the Conspiracy in general, they offered to read several Extracts of Letters, which the government had received from abroad: but this was opposed by the Bishop and his counsel, who alledged, That Extracts of Letters, some of them from anonymous, at least, from unknown persons, ought not to be admitted as evidence, and that, according to the method of legal proceedings, the originals themselves ought to be produced.

After the counsel on hoth sides had canvassed the matter, they and the prisoner were ordered to withdraw; and then a motion was made, and the question put, That the Extract of the Letter from sir Luke Schaub to the lord Carteret, offered by the counsel for the bill, be read as evidence, which being carried in the affimative by 95 voices against 37, another motion was made and the question put, Whe ther the advice inclosed in the letter from sir Luke Schaub be read, though this House be not acquainted with the person who gave that advice.

This question being also resolved in the affirmative, the following lords entered their dis sent, viz. Strafford, Osborne, Craven, Salisbury, Northampton, Scarsdale, Aylesford, Gower, Powlet, Fr. Cestrien', Masham, Anglesea, Cowper, Brook, Litchfield, Bruce, Denbigh, Guilford, Dartmouth, Trevor, Foley, Exeter, Montjoy, Weston, Willoughby de Broke Compton, Cardigan, Bingley, Ashburnham.

Then the Counsel for the Bill offered to produce copies of letters intercepted at the Post Office, part of them written in cypher, and afterwards decyphered; but the same was strenuously opposed by the Bishop and his counsel, who put several puzzling questions to Mr. Willis, one of the decypherers, about the nature and certainty of their art. This lasted till about nine in the evening, when the soner and the counsel on both sides being withpridrawn, a motion was made, and the question put, That Mr. Willis be obliged to produce his key of the cypher: this question being resolved in the negative, by 80 voices against 43, another motion was made, and the question put, That the said Letters intercepted at the Post Office and decyphered, be read as evidence, which was carried in the affirmative, and then the further hearing of that affair was put off ta

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