THE Spanish OATS, OR, The Unparallelled IMPOSTURE OF Michael de Molina, Executed at Madrid in the Year, 1641.  
Faithfully Translated out of the Spanish.  
LONDON, Printed by J. Bennet, and are to be Sold by Walter Davis in Amen-Corner, 1685.   

Michael de Molina, Of Cuenca in the Kingdom of Castille, To Titus Ambrosio, of Salamanca, in the County of Rutland, Greeting.  
FEw Words are best, among Friends. Here's a Plot for your Plot, and a Hanging-Speech into the Bargain. The One may serve for your Instruction, and the Other for your Example.  
Michael de Molina.   

The Spanish OATS, etc.  
MIchael de Molina, Born of Honest Parents at Cuenca, a City in the Kingdom of Castils, bred there in the Jesuits College, and after at the University of Alcala de Henares; to try his fortune, went thence to Court, where to gain a living speedily, he Undertaken to give Secret Intelligence to the Secretaries of the several Ambassadors then residing at that Court; and to give the more Credit to his Reports, gave out, That he was Servant to Andrew de Rojas, Cavalier of the Order of Sant jago, and Secretary of the Council of State: Insomuch that he Forged Letters, Feigned Discourses, Framed Intelligences, fitted for the Purposes and Affairs of the Ambassadors wherewith he dealt, Counterfeited the King's Hand, Invented Ciphers, made Consultations and Orders to the Number of 345 several Papers, and all with that dexterity, that he Deceived and Abused not only the Secretaries of the Emperor, the Venetian, and French Ambassadors, but also and most of all, Don Lorenzo Coqui, Secretary to the late Don Lorenzo Campegi, Nuntio to the Pope; in whose House he was at length Apprehended; upon whose Apprehension and Search of Papers, he told the Officers, That if the Tenor of those Papers should be looked upon as Jests and Conceits, he should not speed so Ill; but if as a Crime it would appear so great, that one life would not be enough to pay for the same. And his Majesty taking notice that the business was of that Importance, that the like had not been heard or found in any History, Cammanded that there should be on purpose a Court of Justice composed of Two of the Chief Nobility, and Two of the Chief Judges, before whom when the said Michael de Molina was sufficiently convinced, and had made a large Confession (which for its matchless strangeness shall be Verbatim set down) he was sentenced as followeth;  
IN the Town of Madrid, July 31. 1641. the Lords of his Majesty's Counsel, who by Particular Order have taken cognizance of the Accusation given in by Don Marcellino Faria de Guzman Attorney, Nominated by his Majesty, for this Cause against Michael de Molina late of Cuenca, Prisoner in the Gaol of this Court for Offences and High-Treason, Committed by him, whereof he hath been Accused, do Condemn the said Michael Molina to be Hanged on a Gallows, and his Goods to be Confiscated to the King's use, the Execution whereof they leave to the Lord Judge, D. John de Quinnones; and this is their Will and Pleasure.  
This Sentence was made known to the Prisoner upon the First of August, and Execution done accordingly in the Placa Major of Mad●id, the Third day following; at which time and place the Proclamation usually made at the Execution was thus;  
THis is the Justice which the King our Sovereign Lord Commandeth to be done upon this man, for having Committed HIGH-TREASON, and Published FALSITIES, FORGERIES, and HORRIBLE CHEATS on the Affairs and Grave Ministers of State; for which he Commands that he be Hanged by the Neck till he Die, to the end that it may be to him for a Punishment, and to others an Example; then Concludes, Quien tall haze tall pague, He that thus doth, let him thus pay for the same. As he stood upon the Ladder ready to be turned off, he delivered in Writing to father Andrew Emanuel of the Society of Jesus, a Declaration, the Contents whereof ensueth Word for Word.  
LOyal Subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King, I am Michael de Molina, Born at Cuenca, the Grievousness of my Crimes is so great, that a Punishment can hardly be invented to Equalise mine Offences against God, against our Sovereign Lord the King, whom God Preserve, against the Emperor, against my Native Country; against the Lord Duke de Oliverez, and Sant Lucar, against the most Grave, Faithful and Loyal Ministers of State, whom I have Discredited with my Forgeries and Lies. The Clemency of the King our Sovereign (whom God preserve) hath been very Eminent in Sentencing me so Mercifully: God grant, to whom I now go to render a Strict Account, that there be found Mercy for me in Life to come, and that I then pay not for the clemency shown me here. I do here declare and confess upon mine own free will, that not having the fear of God nor Man before mine eyes, I have been the cause of the greatest part of the mischiefs that this Monarchy suffereth, and of those calamities and miseries which you faithful people yet suffer, for which I humbly beg pardon of all those that are Absent, as well as of you here Present. For I am the man that Feigned that the King our Sovereign Lord (whom God preserve) and the Emperor, Instigated thereunto by the Lord Duke of Saint Lucar, and Fomented by him, did Plot the Death of our Most Holy Father Vrban the 8th Pope, Head of the Church, and Vicar of Christ, for which purpose I Invented and Contrived Orders of the King our Sovereign, and of the Emperor, LETTERS from the Duke, ORDERS, INSTRUCTIONS, and JUDGEMENTS of the Counsellors of State, with Letters from Vice-Roys and Ambassadors, with purpose to abuse and deceive the Nuntio and the Ambassadors of several Princes, and thereby to get Money from them, not caring for the damage might arise and accrue from thence to the World, and to this Monarchy; and not contented herewith, I Invented that in case the said Death could not be Effected, that then Endeavour should be to call a Council, and to Depose the Pope, or make a Schism in the Church. I Invented and Forged, that the Lord Duke did by Order from the King, the Emperor and the Counsel of State, Endeavour to Kid the Cardinal Rich●lieu, Favourite to the most Christian King of France; for which purpose, and for the Death of the Pope, I Feigned Persons that were to have been Instruments of the same; I gave notice to the Ambassadors hereof, showing them Letters and Orders, which I feigned as I judged meet. I made them believe that I was an Officer of the Counsel of State, & that by that means I came to the knowledge of these Plots & Conspicaties, whereby I have disturbed the World, Caused jealousies, and Suspicions amongst all the Princes of Europe, and the Mischiefs that this Monarchy now Suffereth. I also advertised the Ambassadors, & the Enemies of this State, of LETTERS, CONSULTS, Orders and Decrees, made by the King and Counsel, for driving the French out of Piedmont, the Correspondencies of the Cardinal of Savoy with the Subjects of that State, for the Effectuating the same; the coming of Prince Thomas from Flanders to Savoy for the same purpose, and to lay Siege to Casal; of an Army to be raised, and Maintained in Alsatia; of an intention to Kill Duke Bernard de Weimar General of the Swedes, the intentions of the King our Sovereign, with the States of Venice and Genoa concerning Piedmont and Caesal; the purpose of supplies which both States of Venice and Gonoa would send to France and Holland; and the intentions of the Pope to Assist France against Spain; the intent of England to league with Spain; the purpose that the French and Hollanders had to join their Fleets to hinder all succours of Flanders, and to surprise the Plate-fleet, and infest the Coasts of Spain; the Design that the Hollander had upon Antwerp in the Year 16●8. The Success of Fontarabie; whereupon I feigned Letters from the Prince of Conde, and from the Duchess de Chevereuse; also concerning the Imprisonment of Don Gualterio Peni Secretary and Resident for France in this Court, with whom I had intimate friendship, which was the ground of all these Disasters: of the Secret Compliance between the Cardinal Infante, and the Prince of Orange: of the Conspiracy by the Prince of Orange to kill the Cardinal Richelieu; the Design of Holland, that the States of Flanders should be independent of Spain, and our King should renounce his Right to the Cardinal Infanta, to the end the Hollanders should receive him, and subject themselves to him: of the Capitulations and Agreement betwixt the King our Sovereign and the Duke of Modena, whereby I feigned that the said Duke was to assist with Six Thousand men, at his own charge, against France; and that the King was to give him the charge of Viceroy of Catalonia, and Twenty Thousand Soldiers to enter into France by Catalonia, which was the first ground of the War at Salsas and Perpignian the Key of Catalonia; of the General Resolutions of the Year 1639. in order to the Affairs of Germany, Flanders, and Italy: of the purpose to take away the Nuntios Court in these Kingdoms for the disorders and Excesses of the same: of the great Resentments of the King our Sovereign against the King of France, for his Leagueing with the Swedes, his Confederation with the Turks and Protestant Princes of Germany, for his Protection and League with Holland; for his Commerce with Venice and Genoa to the great discommodity of Spain; for the disunion which he endeavoured to make between Spain and England: of the Resentment that the King our Sovereign had against the Pope, for his Amity and Assisting of France; and not his endeavouring rather as a Father of the whole Church to pacify the Wars by all means possible; of the Design of changing the Commanders in Chief of all the Emperor's Armies and the Spanish, there by to make the People desperate, hecause of the failing of faith and credit; of the Recruiting and Arming the Galleys of Spain, Sicily and Naples for the maintaining commerce, secret intelligence in Toulon and Marseilles; of the capitulation of the Venetian with the Grand Turk: and the means whereby they drew the Turk to Assent to their Demands, and the little security the Turk had from them: All which I INVENTED, FEIGNED and CONTRIVED; together with many more LETTERS, CIPHERS Papers,, etc. without any intelligence, Correspondence, or Amity with any Officer or Minister of State of this Kingdom, but that I alone without the help or assistance of any other have Feigned and Invented all the for said Designs, where of I gave Information to the Nuntio and his Secretary, to the said Ambassadors, and to Monsieur de Peny with whom I have kept correspondence in France since the breaking forth of the War: the which as a Truth I Swear before God, and declare it for discharging my Conscience; I ask of God forgiveness, also of the King our sovereign (whom God preserve) of the Emperor, of the Lord Duke, against whom I directed most of those forgeries, of the Duke of Me●ina las Torres, of the Marquis of Leganés, of the Duke of Villahernosa, of the Count of Oniate, of the Marquis of Villa Franca, of the Marquis of Mirabel, of the most Illustrious Lord Inquisitor General, the Father Confessor of the most Eminent Cardinals, the Cardinal Borgia, and Cardinal Spinola, and Cardinal of Sandoval, of the Lord Don Geronimo of Villanueva,, Pronetary of Arragon, and Secretary of State, of Don Andrew de Rojas Secretary of State, of the Ambassador of Genoa, and of all the rest whom I have Falsely Defamed by These FORGERIES and IMPOSTURES; and also I ask Pardon of all the faithful and Loyal Subjects of these Kingdoms, Charging them to take Example by me. And to the end that it may be manifested to all times, I thus make Declaration, that God may Pardon me, and for the Satisfaction of this, and all other Nations which I have disturbed with the wickedness of my Inventions. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Name, Dated in the Placa Mayor, and Place of Execution in Madrid, the 3 of August, 1641. Thus Ended Michael de Molinae, in whom the Refran or Spanish Proverb was Verified; Quien ●n un ano choir ser rico al medio le ahorcan, He that will be rich in one year, shall be hanged at half years End.  
FINIS.