r, and after the jury were
sworn, without Peters making any challenges, the case was shortly opened
by Sir Edward Young. He stated that he would prove that Peters was a
chief conspirator with Cromwell at several times and several places
compassing the King's death; that he preached many sermons to the
soldiers urging the 'taking away the King,' comparing him to Barabbas;
that he was instrumental in directing the making of the proclamation for
the High Court of Justice; that when the King was executed, he was the
person that urged the soldiers below the scaffold to cry for justice;
and that on the day after the trial he commended it.

_Dr. William Young_ was the first witness. He first made Peters'
acquaintance about the time of the siege of Pembroke Castle, in 1648.
Afterwards, in 1649, Peters went over to Ireland with Cromwell, and
falling sick of the flux, returned to Milford and sent for the witness.

There I found him, grovelling upon the deck, and sick he was
indeed; with much difficulty we got him on shore; within a very
few days, to the best of my remembrance five days, I perfected
his cure; we became very familiar; I observed in him that he had
some secret thoughts that I could not well discover, neither
well understand; whereupon I thought it might tend to my
security that I should so much sympathize with him, to get
within him to know his intentions. After some weeks we grew so
familiar, that at last I found he began to enlarge his heart to
me. Many times I should hear him rail most insufferably against
the blood royal, not only against our martyred king, but against
his off-spring; still as we continued our acquaintance, he
became more and more open to me; so we would sit up discoursing
till about twelve or one of the clock at night very often, about
these unhappy wars late in England.

He said that he had been employed out of New England to stir up the
civil war; that he had been sent by the Parliament to Ireland 'to
receive further instructions to drive on the design to extirpate
monarchy'; that he had spent a great deal of his money, but had never
been repaid the L2000 or L3000 he had been promised for his journey; he
used to vilify monarchy, 'jocundarily scoffing at it, and would
ordinarily quibble in this manner, saying "this Commonwealth will never
be at peace till 150 be put down." I asked him what this 150 was, he
told me the three L's, an