Coleman, the Plotter, Executed.

By Secular Power, in the Midst of His Pride,
He's taken, and safely to Newgate convey'd,
From whence to his Tryal in Westminster-hall,
That Great Seat of Justice, who, when they did call,
Most Proudly Reply'd; but his Jury brought In,
He GUILTY OF TREASON CONSPIRED had been:
Subversion and Murder intended, but stay,
In vain you Conspire, if JEHOVAH gain-say.

But time being spent, they the Sentence Deferr,
And He the Next morning was brought to the Barr,
Where the Judge did declare the Gracious Intent
Of a King made of Mercy, if he would Recant,
And make true Confession, a Pardon they tender,
Signed and Sealed by our Faith's Defender:

What monstrous Villain on mercy cou'd prey,
Or think to destroy it, when heaven said nay?

O wondrous goodness! sure Rome must confess
Her Elfs find more favour than she wou'd grant us :
But this grace made no impress in 's obstinate breast,
He scorn'd at pure mercy, and tearm'd it a jest:
But then the dread sentence pronounc'd he should go
To the place whence he came, and from thence, in full show
To all the Spectators, be Drawn on his way,

(A reward fit for Villains that Kingdoms betray.)

To the place of Destruction t'encounter grim death,
And there by a Cord to resign half his breath:
His Bowels rip'd out, in the flames to be cast,
His Members dissever'd on Poles to be plac'd:
A sight full of horror, but yet it's most just
That they should first bleed, that after blood thirst:
You merciless Jesuits who precepts convey,
To Kill, Burn and Ravish, beware the great day.

Short time after sentence strong guarded he came,
To receive the reward of his Treason and shame;
Where black guilt in his face no question did stare,
But with strong resolution he stiffed his fear:
But his conscience awaken'd, remorse did prevail,
And then to his purpose his sins did bewail:

"Good people take warning, and do not delay,
When mercy is offer'd, nor cast it away.

“I might have had pardon, but now 'tis too late,'
For then I was obstinate, scorning my fate:
But death now's too dreadful, my crimes to augment,
Whereof i've been guilty, of which I repent,

This confession of specific guilt is a fabrication of the ballad-writer. Coleman "made a good end."' An ambitious and prodigal man, a crazy dreamer, a zealot of Popery, intriguing for its extension, he never had conspired for assassination. He is said to have admitted that he had received money from France, and converted it to his private use: this may be another of the many calumnies.

Coleman: The Plotter Executed.

Intreating my Saviour in mercy to save,
And of those that i've wrong'd, forgiveness I crave:
And for my good King I most heartily pray,
That God wou'd protect him the nations obey.

"And let all Conspirers who seek to dethrone

A King from his right, and make Nations to groan,
With cruel destruction, take warning by me,

And not seek their own ruines when they may live free;
Nor let the proud Prelate of Rome, nor his Train,
Choose Engines of mischief, whose Warrants are vain,

The fire-brands of hell, who draw Subjects away,
To plot against Princes, when heaven says nay.”

Printed for P. Brooksby, at the Golden Ball, near the Hospital-gate,

in West-smith-field.

129

80

84

88

[In Black-letter. Date, December, 1678. Three woodcuts. We add another on p. 128. It is from the Bagford Collection, III. 50.]

A Looking-Glass for Traitors: 1678.

"... The Hangman's clutches, or to brave the cordage
Of a tough halter, which will break your neck."

-Ford's Perkin Warbeck, v. 3.

this third ballad on Coleman's execution we have more of a Rhyming Chronicle than in the other two, previously reprinted. from the Bagford and the Roxburghe Collections. The present account offers a fair specimen of the uses to which such broadsides were turned, as substitutes for cheap newspapers among the lower classes, on occasions of excitement. News circulated from speech to private letter, more or less inaccurately, as extant Diaries prove; Ez. grat., the long account of the Popish Plot recorded by Sir John Bramston. (See his Autobiography, printed for the Camden Society, 1845, pp. 178, et seq.) But the public journals, issued from either camp of rival pamphleteers, during the excitement of the Popish Plot, gave only meagre scraps of information. Details were sought in the broadside ballads.

The malignant cruelty of the Anti-Papal fanatics is seen in their

[Wood's Collection, E. 25, fol. 33.]

A Looking-Glass for Traptors;

Dr,

High Treason Rewarded.

Being a full Account of the Examination of the Second Person1 that was Executed in Novem. 1678, by Name, Edward Coleman, Esq.; who was found guilty of high Treason, at the King's-BenchBar at Westminster, the 27th of Nov. 1678, for Plotting and contribing the Death of our Soveraign Lord the King, and endeavouring to change the Government of the Nation, and utterly to extirpate the Protestant Religion: For which he was sentenced to be Brawn, Hang'd, and Quartered; Being accordingly Executed the 3rd day of this Enstant Decemb. at Tyburn.

TUNE OF, Aim not too high; Or, Fortune my Foe [See p. 73]. With Allowance. TIME and DEATH'S Advise to all Wicked Livers.

William Stayley, a goldsmith, accused by Titus Oates and Wm. Carstairs, had been executed a week earlier than Coleman, and was thus the first person here indicated as having been executed for the Popish Plot. See, also, p. 236.

L

A Looking-Glass for Traitors.

Et all bold Traytors here come take a view,
How antient Tiburn doth receive its due: 1
Their dark designs, and hidden Treachery
Will bring them all unto the tripple Tree.

Here Coleman, their Ring-leader of great fame,
Hath brought himself unto his end with shame :
By striving to be great before his time

He became guilty of a Horrid Crime.

Ambition is a bait the Devil lays,

To catch such haughty Spirits now a days:

And when that he hath caught them in the Trap,
He gives them o're to ruine and mishap.
Too many are concerned in this thing,
Against Religion, and our gracious King:
But I shall now, the world to satisfie,

Tell how this grand offender came to dye.
The Prisoner being brought to Westminster,
And there in Court, Indicted at the Bar:
His Crimes were all laid open unto view,
As horrid things as ever Christian knew.
How that he did contrive a fearful thing,
For to destroy our Soveraign Lord the King:
To change the fundamental Laws o' th' Land,
As by the Sequel you shall understand.

1 The picture on p. 126 hints at the horrible butchery of quartering; as also the similar one above, from a Bodleian exemplar: issued by rival publishers.