dred thousand pounds to carry on the rebellion in Ireland.' 4. That, in the month of Auguft, Coleman knew of the four Irifh ruffians fent to kill the King at Windfor; and, in Oates's hearing, afked father Harcourt, at Wild- houfe, What care was taken for thofe Gentlemen who went last night to Windfor? Who replied, That eighty pounds were ordered them,' which he law there on the table, moft of it in guineas; and that Coleman was fo zealous, that he gave a guinea to the meffenger who was to carry the money, to expedite the business. 5. That, in July 1678, Coleman was privy to the inftructions brought by Ashby, rector of St. Omer's, from father Whitebread, to impower the confultors to propofe ten thousand pounds to Sir George Wakeman to poifon the King, provided Pickering and Grove failed to do the work That Coleman had read and copied those inftructions, and tranfmitted them to feveral others of the confpirators, who were gathering contributions about the kingdom, who would be more encouraged to give largely, both becaufe they were affared the bufihefs would foon be dispatched, and that they might fee they had affittance from be yond-fea; and that Coleman was fo far from difappointing this treafon, that he faid it was too little, and thought it neceffary to give five thousand pounds more to make the bufinefs fure." 6. That, in April 1678, Oates faw Coleman's patent, or commiffion, to be Secretary of State, from Paulus de Oliva, General of the Society of Jefuits, by virtue of a brief from the Pope, and he knew the hand perfectly well; and, in Fenwick's chamber, he faw Coleman open it, and heard him fay it was a good exchange. Lait of all, Oates being asked how many came over in April to the grand confult, and how many priefts and Jefuits had been in England at one time? he faid he could not exactly remember their numbers; but, to his knowledge, there had been in England, at the fame time, a hundred and fixty fecular priefts, eighty Jefuits, and, by name in the catalogue, above three hundred.' 2. That, in April 1675, he carried over a large pacquet of letters, from Coleman to father la Chaife, about carrying on the plot, and brought back an answer; and, on May the 24th or 25th, 1677, he received another pacquet of Coleman's, to carry to Paris to the English monks; and that he had received money to carry on the defign to fubvert the government of England, to free England from damnation and ignorance, and to free all Catholics from the hard tyranny and oppreffion of he retics.' 3. That, upon Bedloe's return with answers to the laft letters, which were delivered to Coleman by Harcourt, he heard the prifoner, at his houfe behind Westminfter-abbey, at the foot of the stair-cafe, fay, If he had a hundred lives, and a fea of blood to carry on the cause, he would spend it all to eftablish the church of Rome in England; and, if there were an hundred heretical Kings to be depofed, he would fee them all deftroyed." Upon this faying, Mr. Coleman asked him this question: Yes, Did I ever fee you in my life? faid the other, in the ftone gallery in Somerfet-houfe, when you came from a confult, where were great perfons, which I am not to name here; that would make the bottom of your plot tremble you saw me then.' The third evidence against Coleman was his own letters, found in his lodgings, when he was arrested; but it must be observed, that only thofe of the years 1674 and 1675 were found in a drawer under the table. The general opinion was, that he had received notice of his being accufed by Oates in the Council, and fo had time to burn, or convey away, thofe of the two last years, with the book in which they were entered. However this be, the following extracts are taken from fome of his letters writ with his own hand, and allowed to be authentic. Extract from a Letter of Mr. Coleman to Father la Chaife, the 29th of June, 1674. AM commanded to tell you, that his Royal Highness, my Mafter, is very fenible of the friendship of his most Chris tan Majefty, which he will endeavour to cultivate very carefully, and to give him all poffible atfurances of it, to take away all jealoudes that his enemies would raise to the contrary. That his Royal Highness has done nothing, in any manner whatfoever, nor in any place, againft the intereft of his moft Chriftian Majelly; but hath ren dered him all the good offices he hath been capable of. That, as for recalling the Par liament, fiament, and, touching my Lord Arlington, his Highness is altogether of the opinion of his Majefty, that neither one nor other is ufeful, but quite contrary, very dangerous as well for England as France; and that his most Christian Majefty is in great danger of lofing the neutrality of England at the next feffion (if the Parliament meet) as he loft its alliance by the peace of Holland at laft; becaufe the Lower House, and their friends (as the furious Proteftants, and the malecontents in the House of Lords) have a defign to leffen his Royal Highness, and root out the Catholic religion; and they think they cannot make use of any other fitter means to attain their ends, than to raise the Dutch, and to perplex his moft Chriftian Majefty, as much as lies in their power. That his Highness doubts not but it is abfolutely neceffary, for the intereft of his moft Chriftian Majefty and his Royal Highnefs, to use all endeavours to hinder the meeting of the Parliament, by perfuading his Britannic Majefty, that his greatnefs, his honour, and his quiet, are no lefs concerned, than their's; fo that, if his moft Chriftian Majefty would write freely his thoughts thereupon to his Britannic Majefty, to forewarn him of the danger he apprehends from thence, and would withal think fit to make him the fame generous offers of his purfe, to perfuade him to diffolve the prefent Parliament, as he hath done to his Highness for the election of another, perhaps he would fucceed therein, by the affiftance we would give him here. As for another Par liament, it would be eafy enough to get fuch an one as we wish for; the conftitutions of our Parliaments being of fuch a nature, that, as there is nothing to be hoped for by the King from an old one, fo there is no thing to be feared from a new one; because fuch an one, at their first meeting, muft needs affift his Majefty, fo far as to enable him to acknowledge his obligations, both to his most Christian Majesty and to all the world.' There was, in the year 1674, a prorogation of the Parliament, which lafted fourteen months; it appears in this letter, that the interefts of the King of France and the Popish religion were the true caufe of this long prorogation. fieur Rouvigny, nor with any other person than yourself; but that he will communicate to you all things he fhall find neceffary for the good of the Catholics, and fhall be very well pleased to receive advices from you thereupon. For the reft, his Royal Highness does a little wonder, that he hears nothing from Monfieur Rouvigny touching the fecond point of your letter, fince you have written fo pofitively, that he had orders to confirm, and procure execution of what his moft Chriftian Majefty proposed to him, the 2d of June laft, by your mediation.—— His moft Chriftian Majesty made a very generous offer to his Royal Hignefs of the affiftance of his purfe, to enable him to defend them both from the evils that threatened them; and, by good luck, his Royal Highness has laboured with fo much diligence and fuccefs, that the dangers which they apprehended are a little put off: But one thing more is neceffary for the perfect fecuring their affairs; and, without making one step more, all that he has already done will fignify nothing. For that, the affiftance of his moft Chriftian Majefty is no less neceffary at present, than heretofore, to fubdue intirely thofe who, being exasperated againft his most Christian Majefty, as much as against his Royal Highness, and are angry with his Royal Highnels, only because he is fo unalterably addicted to the intereft of his moft Chriftian Majefty, will exercise their malice and their rage with more brutality than ever, if they find occafion for it hereafter. If you can therefore, by your credit, obtain from his moft Chriftian Majefty the accomplishment of the offer of his purfe, for raifing the reputation of his Royal Highnefs in the opinion of his Britannic Majefty, and for putting him in a condition to refift the fharpeft batteries of the adverfaries of his moft Chriftian Majefty and Royal Highness, to wit, the poffibility they pretend to get money from the Parliament, and the impoffibility of having any elsewhere; by which they often keep the mind of his Britannic Majesty in fufpenfe, and wherein they place the hope they have to conquer him at laft; there will nothing more remain to be feared by his most Christian Majesty or his Royal Highness; but his Royal Highnels will be able to diffolve the Parliament with eafe, and afterwards, in recom. pence of the faid affiftance, will perform, on his part, all that his moft Christian Majefty fhall afk of him; and will proceed with fincerity, upon the word of a Prince (that no man can reproach him for violaton of) for th intereft of his moft Chrif tian Majefty. K Extract Extract from a Letter of Mr. Coleman to the Pope's Nuncio at Bruffels, September 4, 674. X DOOM DO T HAT the Duke's principal defignis to ufe the Pope's interpofition, and by that means to establish himfelt in the poffeffion of his eftate, thro' the affistance of France and Spain, and to turn all their cares for the eafe of the Pope's friends, and particularly for the Catholics of the Church, against their enemies; and affures him he will find, that the Pope never had an occafion fo favourable, as at this hour, to inrich thofe of his family, and to augment the number of his friends; and, if he lets it flip, he never will find the like; fo that, if ever they propofe to make use of the treasure of the Church, it is now they ought to do it; for they can demand no thing that the Duke will not be capable to do for the Pope's friends :- -On the other fide, without their aid, he will run great hazard of being loft, both himfelf and his affociates.? さ Extract of a Letter from Mr. Coleman to the fame Nuncio, written October 23, 1674. Ythe only means of bringing the King into the Duke's intereft, and disengaging him from the Parliament and you muit alfo agree with me, that nothing can more promote the interefts of the Catholic party, which is the principal object of the Duke's care and affection, and of the hatred of the Parliament, and which must hope or fear, according as the one or the other of them increase in power. Nothing in the world is more certain, than that the King has a good inclination towards the Duke and the Catholics, and would join himself willingly and infeparably to their interefts, if he did not apprehend some danger from fuch an union; which, however, he would not have caufe to fear, if he found their intereft, and confequently their power, fo far advanced above that of their adverfaries, that they should neither have the power nor the boldness to contest any thing with them; which the King could fee in a very little time, if we could perfuade him to do two or three things. And I am certain money could not fail of perfuading him to it; for there is nothing it cannot make him do, though it were as much to his preju dice, as this we endeavour to perfuade him to will be to his advantage." In another letter, Coleman 'pofitively faid, That it was by the credit of the To which the other answered, That, it being candle light, and his fight weak, and Coleman altered in habit and wig, he did at first say he could not fwear that was the nian, or that he had ever seen him before; but, as foon as he heard him speak, he knew him well, and could have then fworn it, had it been demanded. 2. That, had the things now alledged by Oates been frue, he would have charged the fame before the Council; but then he only charged him with the fending of one letter, and fuch flender matters, that the Council was ready to let him go at large; and therefore all the reft must be invented fince. To this Oates replied, That he was then fo weak and weary, he could not well tell what he faid; betides, his design was then to lay no more to his charge, than might ferve for information. 3. Whereas Oates charged him with confenting to Wakeman's poisoning of the King, and that it was confulted by him in August, and, as he remembered, about the 21ft day: Coleman alledged, that he was then in Warwickshire, and one of his men and he were there all Auguft, as he thought, but was not fure of it; and, after convic tion, he offered a book, that would shew he was out of town from the 18th to the 31st of Auguft.' But this was no evidence in itfelf, and offered too late; fo it did not contradict Oates, who was not pofitive to a day, but only to the month. "As to what was worn by Bedloe, he made no other anfwer than a folemn affeveration, That he never faw the man in his life.' But, as to his papers, which he did not deny, he alledged, there was no treason in them, though very extravagant expreffions; and that it would plainly appear from them, that his defign was fo far from killing the King, that it was only to make the King and Duke as great as could be.' in In the conclufion of his defence, he used thefe words: Pofitively I fay, and upon my falvation, I never faw thefe witneffes, Oates but once, and Bediòe never before.' The Jury,who were all Gentlemen of the county of Middlefex, against whom Coleman had made no exceptions, withdrawing, in a little time brought him in guilty of high treafon; the day after, he received fentence of death, and, the third of December, was hanged and quartered according to cuftom. He persisted to the last moment in the denial of the crimes for which he was condemned; but, as his letters feemed at least to prove a defign of extirpating the Proteftant religion, he declared his fole intention was to procure liberty of confcience for the Papifts. dt towar [To be continued] The two following Lives (written by the Rev. Mr. SPENCE) of a most celebrated Man of Florence, and one fearce ever heard of in England, are fo extraordinary, and withal fo fimilar to each other, that it was thought the giving them a Place in our Magazine would not be unacceptable to our Readers, MAG as he had, he was always reading when he could. qui *** 31 The LIFE of Signior MAGLIA BECHI. TAGLIA BECHI was born at Florence on the 29th of October, in the year 1633. His parents were of so low and mean a rank, that they were very well fatisfied when they had got him into the fervice of a man who fold herbs and fruit. He had never learned to read; and yet he was perpetually poring over the leaves of old books, that were used as waste paper in his master's fhop. A bookfeller who lived in the neighbourhood, and who had often obferved this, and knew the boy could not read, asked him one day, What he meaned by ftaring fo much on printed papers?' He faid, That he did not know how it was, but that he loved it of all things; that he was very uneafy in the bufinefs he was in, and fhould be the happiest creature in the world, if he could live with him, who had always fo many books about him. The bookfelier was altonifhed, and yet pleafed with his answer; and at last told him, that he fhould not be difinclined to take him into his fhop, if his mafter would be willing to part with him. Young Magliabechi thanked him with tears of joy in his eyes; He seems never to have applied himself to any particular study. A paffion for reading was his ruling paflion; and a prodigious memory his great talent. He read every book almoft indifferently," , as they happened to come into his hands. He read them with a furprising quicknefs, and yet retained not only the fenfe of what he read, but often all the words, and the very manner of spelling them, if there was any thing peculiar of that kind in any author, and his happiness was highly in creafed, when his matter, on the bookfel ler's defire, gave him leave to go where he pleafed. He went therefore directly to his new and much defired bufinefs; and had not been long in it, before he could find out any book that was asked for, as readily as the bookseller could himself. Some time after this he learned to read, and, as foon His extraordinary application, and ta lents, foon recommended him to Ermini, and Marmi, the Great Duke's Librarians. He was by them introduced into the converfations of the learned, and made known at court: And began to be looked upon every where as a prodigy, particularly for his vaft and unbounded memory. It is faid, that there was a trial made of the force of his memory, which, if true, is very amazing. A Gentleman at Florence, who had written a piece which was to be printed, lent the manufcript to Magliabechi; and, fome time after it had been returned with thanks, came to him again with a melancholy face, and told him of fome invented accident, by which, he said, he had loft his manufcript: The author feemed almoft inconfolable for the lofs of his work, and intreated Magliabechi, whofe character for remembering what he read was already very great, to try to recollett K 2 คร as much of it as he poffibly could, and write it down for him, against his next vifit. Magliabechi affured him he would, and, on fetting about it, wrote down the whole manufcript, without miffing a word, or even varying any where from the fpelling.... By treasuring up every thing he read in fo strange a manner, or at leaft the fubject, and all the principal parts of all the books he ran over his head became at laft, as one of reading, that a priest who had compofed panegyric on one of his favourite faints, brought it to Magliabechi, as a prefent. He read it over the very way abovementioned and then thanked him very kindly, 'For his excellent treatise.' The author, in some pain, asked him, Whether that was all that he intended to read of his book? Magliabechi cooly answered, 'Yes; for I know very well every thing that is univerfacquaintance expreffed it, An in it.' ter. index both of titles and mat By this time Magliabechi was grown fo fabatedor the vaft extent of his reading, and amazing retention of what he had read, it began to grow common amongst the learned to confult him, when they were writing on any fubject. He would tell them not only who had treated of their fubject defignedly, but of fuch alfo as had touched upon it only accidentally, in writing on other other fubjects; both which he did with the greatest exactness, naming the author, the book, the words, and often the very number of the page in which they were infeited. He did this fo often, fo readily, and fo exactly, that he came at laft upon almost as an oracle, for the ready and full answers that he gave to all questions, that were propofed to him in any faculty or fcience whatever, heilann . Magliabechi had a local memory too of the places where every book food: And feems to have carried this farther, than only in relation to the collections of books with which he was perfonally acquainted. One day the Great Duke fent for him, after he was his Librarian, to ask him, whether he could get him a book that was particularly fcarce. No, Sir,' anfwered Magliabechi, It is impoffible; for there is but one in the world; that is in the Grand Signior's library at Conftantinople, and is the feventh book on the second shelf on the right hand as you go in.' Soundt Though Magliabechi must have lived fo fedentary a life, with fuch an intense and almoft perpetual application to books, yet he arrived to a good old age. He died in his eighty-firft year, on July 14, 1714. By his will he left a very fine library, of his own collection, for the use of the public, with a fund to maintain it; and whatever fhould remain over, to the poor stats bli It was his great eminence this way, and his vaft, I had almoft faid, inconceivable knowledge of books, that induced the Great He was not an ecclefiaftic, but chofe Duke, Cofmo the Third, to do him the never to marry; and was quite negligent, honour of making him his Librarian; and or rather quite flovenly in his dress. His what a happiness muft it have been to Mag- appearance was fuch, as muft have been far liabechi, who delighted in nothing fo much from engaging the affection of a Lady, had as in reading to have the supreme com- he addreffed himself to any; and his face mand and ufe of fuch a collection of books in particular, as appears by the feveral re as that in the Great Duke's palace! He prefentations of him, whether in his bufts, was also very converfant with the books in medals, pictures, or prints, would rather the Lorenzo library; and had the keeping have prejudiced his fute, than advanced it : of thofe of Leopoldo and Francesco Maria, He received his friends, and those who came the two Cardinals of Tufcany and yet to confult him in any points of literature, even all this did not fatisfy his extenfive in a civil and obliging manner; though in appetite ciuiupon na sacre of to innom frigeneral he had almott the air of a favage, To read fuch vast numbers as he did, he latterly made use of a method as extraordinary, as any thing I have hitherto mentioned of him. When a book first came into his hands, he would look the title-page all over, then dip here and there in the preface, and advertisements, if there were any; and then caft, his eyes on each of the divifions, the different fections, or chapters, and then he would be able for ever to know what that book contained :: For he remem be ed as fteadily, as he conceived rapidly. It was after he had taken to this way of and even affected it; together with a cynical, or contemptuous fmile, which fcarce rendered his look the more agreeable, w ་ In his manner of living, he affected the character of Diogenes; three hard eggs, and a draught or two of water, was his ufual repaft. When any one went to fee him, they most usually found him lolling in a fort of fixed wooden cradle, in the middle of his ftudy, with a multitude of books, fome thrown in heaps, and others scattered about the floor, all round him; and this his cradle, or bed, was attached to the neareft |