o one, there should no
symptoms appear of any combination or conspiracy. Such an incident, when
duly considered, might even in England shake the credit of the plot,
and diminish the authority of those leaders who had so long, with such
industry, inculcated the belief of it on the nation Rewards, therefore,
were published in Ireland to any that would bring intelligence or become
witnesses; and some profligates were sent over to that kingdom, with a
commission to seek out evidence against the Catholics. Under pretence
of searching for arms or papers, they broke into houses, and plundered
them: they threw innocent men into prison, and took bribes for their
release: and after all their diligence, it was with difficulty that that
country, commonly fertile enough in witnesses, could furnish them with
any fit for their purpose.

At last, one Fitzgerald appeared, followed by Ivey, Sanson, Dennis,
Bourke, two Macnamaras, and some others. These men were immediately sent
over to England; and though they possessed neither character sufficient
to gain belief even for truth, nor sense to invent a credible falsehood,
they were caressed, rewarded, supported, and recommended by the earl of
Shaftesbury. Oliver Plunket, the titular primate of Ireland, a man of
peaceable dispositions, was condemned and executed upon such testimony.
And the Oxford parliament entered so far into the matter, as to vote
that they were entirely satisfied in the reality of the horrid and
damnable Irish plot. But such decisions, though at first regarded as
infallible, had now lost much of their authority; and the public still
remained somewhat indifferent and incredulous.

After the dissolution of the parliament, and the subsequent victory of
the royalists, Shaftesbury's evidences, with Turberville, Smith, and
others, addressed themselves to the ministers, and gave information of
high treason against their former patron. It is sufficiently scandalous,
that intelligence conveyed by such men should have been attended to;
but there is some reason to think, that the court agents, nay, the
ministers, nay, the king himself,[*] went further, and were active in
endeavoring, though in vain, to find more reputable persons to support
the blasted credit of the Irish witnesses.

* See Captain Wilkinson's Narrative.

Shaftesbury was committed to prison, and his indictment was presented to
the grand jury. The new sheriffs of London, Shute and Pilkington, were
engaged a