lar notice. The indictment against Mr. Rosewell was drawn The treasonup in Latin, agreeably to the law at that time. able words, charged to have been uttered by Mr. Rosewell, without the innuendos to point the application of them, were as follows:

That the people made a flocking to the king, upon pretence of healing the king's evil, which he could not do; but we are they to whom they ought to flock, because we are priests and prophets, who can heal their griefs. We have now had two wicked kings together, who have permitted popery to enter under their noses, whom we can resemble to no other person but to the most wicked Jeroboam; and, if you will stand to your principles, I do not fear but we shall be able to overcome our enemies, as in former times, with rams' horns, broken platters, and a stone in a sling.'

The witnesses for the crown were three women, whom, Mr. Rosewell, being conscious of his innocence of having ever uttered the expressions charged against him in the indictment, and apprehending that they would swear to the same story if questioned in each other's presence, requested to have examined apart. This was accordingly done, but they agreed in their testimony in a surprising manner, though Mr. Rosewell cross-examined them with no small ingenuity. There can be no doubt therefore, that Mr. Rosewell did deliver two discourses at the times and places testified to by the women; indeed, Mr. Rosewell never denied so much, and that the words charged in the indictment, were what they supposed Mr. Rosewell to mean.

After the evidence of the crown was closed, Mr. Rosewell, who was a good scholar, requested that the same passage in the indictment, just now quoted in English, should be read to him in the original latin, which was done as follows:

-Quod populus coadunationem fecêre (anglicè, made a flocking') dicto domino regi nunc, sub pretextu sanandi morbuin regni (anglicè, ' the king's evil ') quod ipse facere non potest; sed nos sumus illi ad quos illi debent accedere, (anglice flock to,') quia nos sumus sacerdotes et prophetæ, qui precibus dolores ipsorum sanaremus. Nos habuimus nunc duos iniquos reges insimul, qui permiserunt Ronanam super

6

stitionem (anglicè, popery ') ingredi in eorum conspectu (anglicè, under their noses') qui assimilari possunt ad nullam personam, nisi ad nequissimum Jeroboam.-Et si ipsi ad fundamentalia ipsorum permanerent (anglicè, 'would stand to their principles') ipse non timebat, quin ipsi inimicos suos vincerent, sicut in pristino tempore cum cornubus arietum, patinis fractis (anglicè, 'broken platters'), et lapide in fundâ ; (anglicè, sling') &c.

Mr. Rosewell before beginning his defence, made some exceptions to the indictment; and the following dialogue ensued between him and Ch. Jus. Jeffries.

Rosewell. If it please you, my lord, that which I object against, and desire to be satisfied in by your lordship, is this; I am charged with speaking words about flocking to the king to cure the king's evil; and it is in the indictment called, *morbus regni anglici,' that is, the disease of the English kingdom.

Ld. Ch. Jus. Jeff. No, no; it is morbus regni, anglicè, 'the king's evil.'

6

Ros. I do not understand how morbus regni' can be 'the king's evil.'

Ld. Ch. Jus. Therefore, because there is no apt word in the law for that distemper, they help it up by the word 'anglicè,' to show what they meant.

Ros. But, my lord, I understand there are proper words for the disease; as struma and scrofula; those are proper words for it; not 'morbus regni.'

Ld. Ch. Jus. Not at all in law; those may be the words used among physicians; but in legal proceedings, we are to keep up exactly to the legal names and phrases; and where we have not an usual word, then we help it up by anglicès, and so we here express that very distemper, which is called by the name of the king's evil, by a word framed as near to a law phrase as we can; and to show our meaning in it we add anglicè, the king's evil.

Ros. My lord, is that the phrase that is proper for it in law?

Ld. Ch. Jus. Yes, yes; it is very well expressed to show what is meant.

Ros. But, my lord, 'morbus regni' is in English, properly, the disease of the kingdom.

Ld. Ch. Jus. It is so; the disease of the kingdom; if they had gone no further, but left it there, it might have had such an interpretation put upon it. But because the words are so ambiguous in Latin, they are reduced to a certainty, by putting an anglicè to them.

6

Ros. I thought it had been anglici.' My lord, there is another phrase that I object against; it says nos habuimus nunc duos iniquos reges insimul;' My lord, this cannot be understood of two kings, one after another; but insimul' makes it to be both at once.

Ld. Ch. Jus. No; we have had now together two wicked kings.

Ros. That we do not use to express so in Latin.

Ld. Ch. Jus. The words do thus sound in English.

Ros. There are two words, insimul and nunc, that do signify the' present time. My lord, I am now only speaking all this while upon the hypothesis, that these words were spoken by me; for I still do, and always must deny the thesis. Ld. Ch. Jus. We take it so.

Ros. It should have been successivè.

Ld. Ch. Jus. Then it had not agreed with your words. For the witnesses swear that you said 'we have now had two wicked kings together, and not successively.

Ros. If that be an anglicism, this cannot be true Latin.

Ld. Ch. Jus. Nay; if it be a blunder in the Latin, it was a blunder of your making; for you spoke it so in English, and the indictment in Latin must exactly pursue the English.

Ros. Then, my lord, here is another expression, that they suffered Romanam superstitionem,' Popery' to come in. Ld. Ch. Jus. Aye; is not that well expressed?

Ros. My lord, there may be superstition in the worship of the Church of Rome, and yet not be the thing we call Popery.

Ld. Ch. Jus. There may so, you say right; but then this comes under the same reason, as the former phrase you objected against, morbus regni.' Because Romana superstitio,' is such a general word, and because there are several supersti

6

tions in the Romish Church, abundance of them; and this may make it uncertain; and because we have no other word to express what we call Popery by, therefore there is an Anglicè put in, to show what is meant.

Ros. Then, my lord, it is said, ' in eorum conspectu,' is that right, my lord?

Ld. Ch. Jus. Yes, Anglicè under their noses.

Ros. That is in their sight.

Ld. Ch. Jus. Pray, how would you put that in Latin, under their noses.

Ros. My lord; if I should speak according to the other parts of the Latin of this indictment, which your lordship says must exactly pursue the English, I would render it, ' sub naribus illorum.'

Ld. Ch. Jus. Such people suffer conventicles under their noses, 'in eorum conspectu.'

Jus. Holloway. It is not your nose, that sees.

Ld. Ch. Jus. Suffer rebellion under your noses; are these things, sub naribus,' or in conspectu ?'

Ros. My lord, this could not possibly be spoken of the late king and this king; when the precedent king died a professed zealous protestant, and his present majesty has so often, and earnestly declared against it.

Ld. Ch. Jus. We know that very well; but yet withal we know, it was the pretence of Popery and arbitrary power, and those things, that brought that blessed martyr to the scaffold; and the great cry now at this day, by all factious and seditious busy fellows, is against Popery; as if it were just breaking in upon us, and the government abetted it; when it is all false, nothing more untrue; the indictment calls it so, says these words are spoken 'falso et malitiose ;' and all treasons are so.

Ros. Then, my lord, there is another thing, 'si ipsi starent ad fundamentalia eorum,' Anglicè, 'would stand to their principles or principals;' for, I know not how it is in the indictment. Pray, my lord, how comes fundamentalia,' to signify, ' principles.'

6

Ld. Ch. Jus. Their principles, that is, their foundations or fundamentals. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?' says the Psalmist. The Latin bible expresses it by 'fundamentalia.'

Ros. Then it is, 'si ipsi' in the third person; now my lord, in common sense, that must needs refer to the two wicked kings that were spoken of just before, or to the king and his subjects spoken of afterwards; and then sure it cannot be

treason.

Ld. Ch. Jus. No; 'they,' that is, I and you that are here. It was spoken to your congregation. If they would stand to their principles; then come 'the broken platters,' &c.

now I

Ros. If it were spoken to them and of them, it must have been 'you' or 'we.' Then, it is added in the end, my lord, 'fractis patinis,' 'broken platters,' your lordship has remembered me of that word. My lord, I did hear, that Mrs. Smith, did swear at Kingston assizes, it was 'pewter platters.' Ld. Ch. Jus. I do not know what she swore there ; am sure she swears as it is in the indictment, &c. &c. After some further criticisms, Mr. Rosewell commenced his defence, and, that the ridiculous expressions charged against him and absurdly made the foundation of an indictment for high treason, were never used by Mr. Rosewell, was conclusively proved by the testimony of a great number of witnesses, who agreed in their account of the discourses, denied that he uttered the words charged, stated the language which he did use, and made it quite clear, that it was entirely owing to a misapprehension of his meaning, that the women testified as they did. For, according to these witnesses of Mr. Rosewell's, some of whom, being in the practice of taking notes, had committed to writing some parts of his discourses, what he really did say, was in substance as follows, and was delivered by him while expounding the 20th chapter of Genesis. After reading some of the first verses of that chapter, he took occasion to observe, from the conduct of Abraham there mentioned, that a good man might fall into the same sin, again and again. One instance, which he mentioned was that of Jehoshaphat, who sinfully joined with two wicked kings, first with Ahab, and afterwards with Ahaziah. On the seventh verse, he observed that the prayers of the prophets have been very prevalent for the healing of others. He instanced the prophet who rebuked king Jeroboam, and when the king's hand became withered, because he threatened the prophet with it, and the king