GENTLEMEN of the Grand Inquest, YOU are assembled under the Authority of the King's Commission, which has been issued for the hearing and determining of the Offences of High Treason and Misprisions of High Treason, against the Person and Authority of the King.

That which hath given Occasion for this Commission is that which is declared by a late Statute, namely, “That a traiterous and detestable Conspiracy has been formed for subverting the existing Laws and Constitution, and for introducing the System of Anarchy and Confusion which has so lately prevailed in France;” A CRIME OF THAT DEEP MALIGNITY which loudly calls upon the Justice of the Nation to interpose, “for the better Preservation of His Majesty's Sacred Person, and for securing the Peace, and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom.”