The Whole Proceedings Upon The Arraignment, Tryal, Conviction And Attainder Of Christopher Layer, Esq; For High Treason, In Compassing and Imagining The Death of the King . In the Court of King's Bench at Westminster.1722

London: Printed by S.Buckley, 1722., 1722. folio. pp. 1 p.l., 152. contemporary paneled calf (joints & spine ends neatly repaired). armorial bookplate of the Earl of Ilchester. [BOUND WITH:] GREAT BRITAIN. PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS. COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE CHRISTOPHER LAYER AND OTHERS. A Report From The Committee Appointed by Order of the House of Commons To Examine Christopher Layer, and Others; And to whom several Papers and Examinations laid before the House, relating to the Conspiracy mentioned in His Majesty's Speech, at the Opening of this Parliament, to be carrying on against his Person and Government, were referred. Reported on the First of March, 1722. By The Right Honourable William Pulteney, Esq; Chairman of the said Committee. folio. pp. 2 p.l., 76. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, Bernard Lintot, and William Taylor, 1722. [BOUND WITH, AS ISSUED:] .Appendixes Referr'd to in the Report From The Committee Appointed by Order of the House of Commons To Examine Christopher Layer, and Others, &c. folio. pp. 2 p.l., 31, 10, 64, [2], 2, 44, 31, [4], 58, 20, 10, 20, 15, [2], 2. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, Bernard Lintot, and William Taylor, 1722. [BOUND WITH:] .Several Examinations Taken before one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State: Together with Two Letters Referred to in some of the said Examinations. Laid before the House of Commons. folio. pp. 2 p.l., 7, 7. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, Bernard Lintot, and William Taylor, 1723. Papers relating to the investigation and trial of Jacobite conspirator, Christopher Layer. 'Though a good lawyer, he was known to be grossly immoral, quarrelsome and unscrupulous.While a protestant, he professed ardent Jacobitism, and hoped to be made lord chancellor in the event of a restoration of the Stuarts. Accordingly he went to Rome In the summer of 1721, and there unfolded to the Pretender the details of a wondrous plot 'which', he declared, 'no one would understand till it had been carried out successfully.' He proposed to enlist broken soldiers, seize the Tower, the Mint, the Bank, and other public buildings, secure the royal family, and murder the commander-in-chief and ministers whenever the conspirators could find them together.He tried to entice soldiers at Romford and Leytonstone, and succeeded in enlisting a handful of malcontents.He was betrayed by two female friends and placed under arrest in a messenger's home, from which he managed to escape, but was retaken after an exciting chase the same evening and losely confined in the Tower.The case was carried to the court of king's bench on 31 Oct. 1722.The trial was opened on 21 Nov.after a trial of eighteen hours, the jury unanimously found a verdict of guilty.He was condemened to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.' (DNB) Marke pp. 1035-36.. Hardcover. Very Good.