Benedictine lay-brother--was opened on the seventeenth day of December,
in the Sessions House at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey.

I was in the Court early, before the trial began, carrying a letter with
me which Mr. Chiffinch got for me from my Lord Peterborough, that I
might have a good place; and I had a very good one; for it was in a
little gallery that looked down into the well of the court, so that I
could see all that I wished, and the faces of all the prisoners, judges
and witnesses, and yet by leaning back could avoid observation--for I
had no wish, for others' sake, if not for my own, to be recognized by
any of the witnesses. The seats for my Lords were on the left, under a
state, with their desks before them; the place for the prisoners on the
right, facing the judges; and for the witnesses opposite to me. The jury
was beneath; and the counsels in front of them with their backs to me.

When the Court was full to bursting, my Lords came in, with the Chief
Justice--that is Sir William Scroggs--in the midst. I had never seen him
before, though I knew how hot he was against Catholics, and I looked to
see what he was like. It was a dark morning, and the candles were
lighted on my Lords' desks; and I could see his face pretty well in
their light. He was in scarlet, and wore his great wig; and he talked
behind his hand, with what seemed a great deal of merriment to Mr.
Justice Bertue, who sat on one side of him, and the Recorder Jeffreys
who sat upon the other. He had very heavy brows; his face was
clean-shaven, and his mouth was like a trap when he shut it, and looked
grave, as he did so soon as the clerk had done his formalities. He was a
strong man, I thought, who would brook no opposition, and would have his
way--as indeed he did; and the rest of my Lords had little or no say in
the proceedings; and least of all had the jury, except to do what the
Lord Chief Justice bid them.