THe Jurors for our Sovereign Lord the King upon their Oaths present, That William Hone late of London Labourer, with many other Traitors, as a false Traitor against the most Illustrious and Excellent Prince, our Sove­reign Lord Charles the Second, by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King, his natural Lord; not having the Fear of God in his Heart, nor weighing the Duty of his Allegiance, but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil; and the true Duty and natural Obedience, which true and faithful Subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King, towards him our said Lord the King do bear, and of right ought to bear, wholly withdrawing; and with his whole Strength intending the Peace and Common Tran­quility of this Kingdom of England to disturb, and War and Rebellion against our said Lord the King to move, and stir up; and the Government of our said Lord the King within this Kingdom of England to subvert; and our said Lord the King from his Title, Honour, and Kingly Name of the Imperial Crown of this his Kingdom of England, to put down, and de­prive; and our said Lord the King to Death and final Destruction to bring and put; the second day of March, in the Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second King of England, &c. the 35th, and diverse other days and times, as well before as after, at the Parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, in the Ward of Bassishaw London, aforesaid, maliciously and traiterously, with diverse other Traitors, to the Jurors aforesaid unknown, he did conspire, compass, imagine and intend, our said Lord the King, his Supream Lord, not only of his Kingly State, Title, Power and Government of this his Kingdom of England, to deprive, and throw down; but also our said Lord the King, to kill, and to Death to bring and put; and the ancient Government of this his Kingdom of England to change, alter, and wholly to subvert; and a Miserable Slaughter amongst the Subjects of our said Lord the King, through the whole Kingdom of England, to cause and procure; and Insurrection and Rebelli­on against our said Lord the King to move and stir up, within this Kingdom of England. And to fulfil and perfect the said most horrible Treasons, and Traiterous Compassings, Ima­ginations, and Purposes aforesaid. He the said William Hone, and many other Traytors, as a false Traytor, then and there, and diverse other Days and Times, as well before as af­ter, Maliciously, Trayterously, and advisedly, he did assemble, meet together, and consult [Page 2] with divers other Evil disposed and Discontented Subjects of our said Lord the King, to the Jurors as yet unknown, and had Discourse, and did treat of, and for the executing and fulfilling their Treasons, and Traiterous Compassings, Imaginations and Purposes aforesaid. And that the said William Hone, (together with many other Traytors) as a false Traytor, Malitiously, Traiterously, and Advisedly, then and there, and diverse other Days and Times, as well before as after, did take upon himself, and promise to be aiding and assisting in the executi­on of the Treasons, and Traiterous Compassings, Imaginations, and Purposes aforesaid. And in providing of Arms, and Men Armed, to fulfil and perfect the said Treasons, Traiterous Compassings, Imaginations, and Purposes aforesaid. And to fulfil and bring to pass the said most horrid Treasons, and Traiterous Compassings, Imaginations, and Purposes aforesaid, he the said Willam Hone (with many other False Traytors) as a False Traytor, Malitiously, Traiterously, and Advisedly, then and there, did procure and prepare Arms, to Wit, Blun­derbusses, Carbines and Pistols, against the Duty of his Allegiance, against the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, &c. and against the Form of the Statutes, &c.

How saiest thou, William Hone, art thou Guilty of this High Trea­son whereof thou standest Indicted, or not Guilty?

In some measure I am Guilty.

You must say, Guilty, or Not Guilty.

You must plead to this, and the way is to confess all, or deny all.

I know nothing of the Arms.

Are you Guilty of the Treason, in conspiring the Death of the King, and providing of Arms for that purpose?

I never provided Arms, I am Guilty of the Conspiracy.

We can take notice of none of these odd kind of words you talk of, but ei­ther plainly, Guilty, or Not Guilty.

My Lord, I can truly say I am Not Guilty, for I know nothing of it.

If you say so, you say as much as is required of you at present.

In that understanding of it, I am Not Guilty.

Well, he says he is Not Guilty.

Culprit, How wilt thou be tried?

By God and my Countrie.

God send thee a good Deliverance.

Set William Hone to the Bar.

You the Prisoner at the Bar, Hold up your Hand.

I desire I may retract my Plea, I would plead Guilty.

Do you confess the Indictment?

Yes, my Lord.

That is, that you did conspire the Death of the King, and in order to that, that you did provide your self with Arms to do this wicked Act.

I never did that, my Lord, I never provided any Arms.

What were you to have done?

That Deposition I gave before Sir William Turner is true.

Tell us what you were to have done in this bloody matter.

I was asked by one Mr. Goodenough to go along with him, and I asked him whither, and he would not tell me, but I understood it was to Kill the King and Duke of York, but he did not tell me the place.

He does not confess fully, we desire to trie him.

Look you, you have pleaded Not Guilty to this Indictment, the King is wil­ling, [Page 3] that if you be not Guilty you shall not be Condemned; and therefore he does desire and command the Evidence against you should be publickly given, that all Persons may see that you are not without Cause brought to Trial, therefore swear the Jury.

The Prisoner challenged none, but the Jury that were sworn were,

• Nicholas Charlton.
• Christopher Pitts.
• Robert Beddinfield.
• John Pelling.
• William Winbury.
• Thomas Seaton.
• William Rutland.
• Thomas Short.
• Theophilus Man.
• John Jenew.
• John Short.
• Thomas Nicholas.

hold up thy Hand (which he did.) You Gentlemen of the Jurie, that are sworn, look upon the Prisoner, and hearken to his Cause, he stands in­dicted by the name of William Hone, &c. prout antea, in the Indictment, mutatis mu­tandis; upon this Indictment he hath been Arraigned, and hath thereunto pleaded, Not Guilty, and for his Trial, &c.

May it please your Lordship, and you Gentlemen of the Jurie, the Priso­ner stands indicted for the most horrid Treason that ever was endeavoured to be com­mitted in this Kingdom, for traiterously conspiring to Kill the King, and consulting how and in what manner it should be done, and for preparing Arms for the doing of it; we shall prove this to you, and then I hope you will find him Guiltie.

May it please your Lordship, and you Gentlemen of the Jurie; the part the Prisoner at the Bar was to act in this Treason, was the Killing of the King, he was one of the Persons that were to be assisting in Assassinating the Kings person. We will not trouble you with the large Evidence of the Rising, as we did yesterday; but we will prove these things upon him, that he undertook to do it, that he was concerned with the rest of the Confederates: we shall shew you this is not a new thing, but he hath been an old Rebel, for this hath not been a new Project, but hath been acting several Years. Five Years ago, when the King attended my Lord Mayors Show, he undertook to kill him off of Bow-Church. We shall call our Witnesses, and prove it ful­ly upon him.

Do you tell my Lord and the Jurie, what you know of this Prisoner at the Bar.

The first time I saw him was at the Dolphin Tavern, when the Arms were agreed upon, he was there then.

Who was there then?

Mr. West, Mr. Goodenough, and him I remember particularly, and some others, whom I do not at present remember, and since that he hath taken notice of me.

Was Mr. Rumbold there at that time?

Yes.

Pray at that Meeting tell the Jury what Discourse you had, for many of these Gentlemen are not the same that were on the Jurie yesterday.

It was discoursed then of the Kings coming home from Newmarket the Saturday after the Fire. Mr. West told Mr. Rumbold, he heard the King would come home that day; but, says he, I don't believe it; says Rumbold, I hear he will come home on says Mr. West, I hear so too. They said, they hoped he would not come home on Monday. Says Mr. West to Mr. Rumbold then, How many Swan Quills, Goose Quills, and Crow Quills, and how much Sand and Ink must we have? I think the Prisoner at the Bar must needs remember it as well as I. It was agreed by Mr. Rum­bold, I think I am exact in the Number, and he was by and heard all the Discourse.

What did they mean by this?

By Swan Quills, they meant Blunderbusses; by Goose Quills, Muskets, and by Crow Quills, Pistols; and by Sand and Ink, Powder and Bullet. He took Ac­quaintance with me after that Meeting (for I never saw him as I know of, before) and after some time he told me, he was one of them that was to go down to Rye to assassi­nate the King. And since that, at a Coffee house in Swithin's Alley, he told me, it would never be well, till the Black Bird and the Gold-Finch were knocked on the Head; they being Terms I did not understand, I asked him what he meant, he said the King and Duke of York.

You are sure that is the Man?

I am sure that is the Man, William Hone.

What, is that the Man that talked of the Black Bird, and Gold-Finch?

I am sure that is the Man.

Now swear Mr. West.

If Mr. Hone has a mind to ask him any Questions, he may.

My Lord, this I deny: As to the Black Bird, I own it; as to the Gold-Finch, I never heard a Word of it till this time.

You had only a design upon the Black Bird then.

Tell the Court what you know of the Meeting at the Dolphin Tavern.

I was there, and Mr. Keeling came in. There was several things said of Swan Quills, Goose Quills, and Crow Quills; but this Man did not come in till this Discourse was over; And I am sure I did not speak of any thing of this Nature before this Man in my Life. But Mr. Goodenough did undertake to provide the Men, and Mr. Goodenough said, he would try him, if he would make an attempt upon the Duke with­out the King. And I asked him whether he had seen Mr. Goodenough? he told me he had; says he, he spoke to me about a little Job for the Duke. Mr. Goodenough said, he had spoke to him fully about the thing. And I saw him often in the Company of Mannius, that was designed to be another of the Assassinates. He was at my Cham­ber once; says he, Master shall we do nothing? I think he used these Words, That if the Duke of Monmouth would be true, and appear, he could bring fifty or threescore ho­nest Men of to'ther side the Water to do the business. I asked him what business? says he, either a brisk Push (that I took for an Insurrection) for the two Brothers; says I, what Brothers do you mean? Says he, the Captain and Lieutenant: those were the two Terms they used since the Van herring was Printed. I think he was a pretty ho­nest Fellow before this time; he was deluded by Goodenough, I think, in the thing.

(To Mr. West.) Do you come to justify these things?

My Lord, he hath been deluded basely, and I am sorry for the poor Fellow.

It is a very unusual thing, for one in your Condition to use such Expressi­ons in such a Case.

Mr. West, you have been deluded.

Captain Richardson, and Sir Nicholas Butler.

I find he is not worthy of the mercy the King hath shewed him.

It was a Word I put from me unawares.

My Lord, We will give you an account of a design this man had long ago to Kill the King.

My Lord, I know the Prisoner at the Bar very well, I have known him many years, I have always known him guilty of Plotting and Contriving, and ready upon all occasions to embrace any thing for these Purposes laid to his Charge. Parti­cularly, when Sir Francis Chaplain was Lord Mayor, his Majesty and the Duke stood at Mr. Waldoe's House. by reason of the Angel House being shaken. And he came to my house and told me, he would discourse me upon some private matter; I called him into a Closet, and he told me they had a fair opportunity to take off the King and the Duke at once; I told him that would do very well, but how will you do it? Says he, we will do it with Cross-bows, we are to be half a dozen, and we will go into the Steeple, where there is a Window just opposite to the Balcony, and a great deal of Discourse we had to this purpose. My intent was to divert him from this Design, and told him how impossible it was they should escape the Foot-Guards, and Horse-Guards, and multitude of People: And if he did not do the Business effectually, he would be un­done, and all the Party. I rested satisfied he would have desisted upon this. But I knew the Principles of these Fifth Monarchy Men, and their Associates, and thought it not safe to trust to his bare say so, that he would desist, but I went to the King and the Duke of York, into my Lord Chamberlains Chamber, where they came to me, and I gave them this Account, and desired them to set some to watch the place, and to search if any were got into the Steeple before they came; and there was one Horsal appointed, that did accordingly watch them, but none came: Upon which some Good-willers to it have have reported that it was a Sham business, but I think that was not well done. But the thing was real, and when he was examined before the King in the Secretaries Office, he did confess all these things that I charged him with.

Sir Nicholas Butler, had you any Discourse of killing the King at this time?

No; at last they did understand I kept a Correspondence at Court, and then they would tell me no more.

Since he was taken, what did he say about this matter?

About this matter he did acquaint divers, he was one that was to kill the King and the Duke.

Sir Nicholas Butler asked him in my presence (I went along with Sir Nicholas when he examined him) as to this thing, how he was concerned? He said, Mr. Goodenough came to him, and told him, he wanted Labourers; he asked him, for what; at last he did confess, that Mr. Goodenough did tell him, it was to kill the King and the Duke of York; he did confess that he did agree to it, and that he would be one of them. He did likewise say, That after, at another Meeting, he was for killing the King, and saving the Duke; but Goodenough was for both.

He said he was to have Twenty Pound.

He said he did not desire to stir, and Goodenough told him he should have 20 l. to buy him Horse and Armor: And told us the Business of Rye; the Place he did not know, but said it was the place where the King was to be murdered. This is the substance of the Examination taken.

Though the Prisoner at the Bar did partly make a Confession, yet for the Satisfaction of the World, my Lord give us leave to call our Witnesses.

That which Sir Nicholas says about the Cross bows, he did own, but—

What say you to this Treasonable Design of yours, in undertaking to kill the King, in hiring your self out to be one of the Persons that should have executed this [Page 6] Traiterous Design, this horrid Murder, to have killed the King at the Rye?

I say, I did not know the place where, nor when, at the time it was proposed about the Rye.

But what do you say as to the undertaking to kill the King? the other [...] but a Circumstance, this is the material Point.

My Lord, I was drawn into it by Mr. Richard Goodenough.

You hear what Sir Nicholas Butler says of the Cross bows you designed to kill the King with, what say you to that?

I say, there was a person told me of such a thing; and I told Sir Nicholas immediately of it. The person that told me was a Shop-keeper, and I don't know him.

You named three Persons to the King, that were Confederates with you, but you came to me of your self.

Look you, your self was one of the wicked Undertakers in that Traiterous, Design.

No, I did never design it, but I was told it.

Ay, that your self and some other good Fellows were ingaged in the Design.

I was not ingaged, only as I was told by a Fellow, that there was a Shop-keeper lived hard by that would do such a thing, and I immediately told Sir Nicholas Butler.

Come, 'tis in vain for you to mince the matter, for here is a full Evidence against you: The best you can do for your Advantage now, is, to consider well with your self, and repent of this wicked Design. What Religion do you profess?

Religion, my Lord?

Ay, any or none?

My Lord, I hear several sorts of Men, sometimes Baptists, sometimes Inde­pendents, and sometimes the Presbyterians.

But regard none. Look you, Gentlemen of the Jury, you hear a plain case of a barbarous Murder designed upon the King, one of the horridest Treasons that hath been heard of in the World, to have shot the King and the Duke of York in their Coaches, as they were coming upon the Road. You have had full Evidence of this Mans being one of them; and therefore I am of opinion, that you must find him Guilty.

And on Saturday July 14. Mr. Recorder gave Judgment against him, as follows;