serve thee in this life by Grace and injoy thee in the next by Glory be pleased to grant by the merits of thy bitter Death and Passion that after this wretched life shall be ended I may not fail of a full injoyment of thee my last end and soverain good I humbly beg pardon for all the sins which I have committed against thy Divine Majesty since the first Instant I came to the use of Reason to this very time I am heartily sorry from the very bottom of my heart for having offended thee so good so powerful so wise and so just a God and purpose by the help of thy Grace never more to offend thee my good God whom I love above all things O sweet Jesus who hast suffer'd a most painful and ignominious Death upon the Cross for our Salvation apply I beseech thee unto me the merits of thy Sacred Passion and sanctify unto me these sufferings of mine which I humbly accept of for thy sake in union of the sufferings of thy sacred Majesty and in punishment and satisfaction of my sins O My dear Saviour and Redeemer I return thee immortal thanks for all thou hast pleased to do for me in the whole course of my life and now in the hour of my Death with a firm belief of all things thou hast revealed and a stedfast hope of obtaining everlasting bliss I chearfully cast my self into the Arms of thy Mercy whose Arms were stretched upon the Cross for my Redemption Sweet Jesus receive my Spirit Mr. Gavan's Speach DEarly beloved Countrey-men I am come to the last Scene of Mortality to the hour of my Death an hour which is the Horizon between Time and Eternity an hour which must either make me a Star to shine for ever in heaven above or a Firebrand to burn everlastingly amongst the damned Souls in Hell below an hour in which if I deal sincerely and with a hearty sorrow acknowledge my Crimes I may hope for mercy but if I falsely deny them I must expect nothing but Eternal Damnation and therefore what I shall say in this great Hour I hope you will believe And now in this hour I do solemnly swear protest and vow by all that is Sacred in Heaven and on Earth and as I hope to see the Face of God in Glory that I am as innocent as the Child unborn of those Treasonable Crimes which Mr. Oates and Mr. Dugdale have Sworn against me in my Trial and for which Sentence of Death was pronounced against me the day after my Trial. And that you may be assured that what I say is true I do in like manner protest vow and swear as I hope to see the Face of God in Glory that I do not in what I say unto you make use of any Equivocation or mental Reservation or material Prolation or any such like way to palliate Truth Neither do I make use of any Dispensations from the Pope or any body else or of any Oath of Secresy or any Absolutions in Confesion or out of Confession to deny the Truth but I speak in the plain sence which the words bear and if I do speak in any other sence to palliate or hide the truth I wish with all my Soul that God may exclude me from his Heavenly Glory and condemn me to the lowest place of Hell Fire and so much to that point And now dear Country-men in the second place I do confess and own to the whole World that I am a Roman Catholick and a Priest and one of that sort of Priests called Jesuits and now because they are so falsly charged for holding King-killing Doctrine I think it my duty to protest to you with my last dying words that neither I in particular nor the Jesuits in general hold any such opinion but utterly abhor and detest it and I assure you that amongst the vast number of Authors which among the Jesuits have Printed Philosophy Divinity Cases or Sermons there is not one to the best of my knowledge that allows of King killing Doctrine or holds this position That it is lawful for a private Person to kill a King although an Heretick although a Pagan although a Tyrant there is I say not one Jesuit that holds this except Mariana the Spanish Jesuit and he defends it not absolutely but only problematically for which his Book was called in and that opinion expunged and censured Aud is it not a sad thing that for the rashness of one single Man whilst the rest cry out against him and hold the contrary that a whole Religious Order should be sentenc'd But I have not time to discuss this point at large and therefore I refer you all to a Royal Author I mean the wise and victorious King Henry the Fourth of France the Royal Grandfather of our present gracious King in a publick Oration which he pronounced in defence of the Jesuits amongst other things declaring that he was very well satisfied with the Jesuits Doctrine concerning Kings as being conformable to the best Doctors in the Church But why do I relate the testimony of one single Prince when the whole Catholick World is the Jesuits Advocate therein Does not Germany France Italy Spain and Flanders trust the Education of their Youth to them in a very great measure Do not they trust their own Souls to be governed by them in the administration of the Sacraments And can you imagin so many great Kings and Princes and so many wise States should do or permit this to be done in their Kingdoms if the Jesuits were men of such damnable principles as they are now taken for in England In the third place dear Countrey-men I do protest that as I never in my life did machine or contrive either the deposition or death of the King so now at my death I do hartily desire of God to grant him a quiet and happy Reign upon Earth and an Everlasting Crown in Heaven For the Judges also and the Jury and all those that were any ways concern'd either in my Tryal Accusation or Condemnation I do humbly beg of God to grant them both Temporal and Eternal happiness And as for Mr. Oates and Mr. Dugdale I call God to witness they by false Oaths have brought me to this untimely end I hartily forgive them because God commands me so to do and I beg God for his infinite Mercy to grant them true Sorrow and Repentance in this World that they may be capable of Eternal happiness in the next And having discharged my Duty towards my self and my own Innocence towards my Order and its Doctrine to my Neighbour and the World I have nothing else to do now my great God but to cast my self into the Arms of your Mercy I believe you are One Divine Essence and Three Divine Persons I believe that you in the Second Person of the Trinity became Man to redeem me and I believe you are an Eternal Rewarder of the Good and an Eternal Chastiser of
be well considered of and digested by me and that all mistakes might be prevented as far as may be I say in regard of this I have in the present Paper reduced what I have to declare as to my Innocence and Loyalty and 't is in these following Words I Do solemnly and sincerely in the presence of Almighty God profess testify and declare as followeth That is to say 1. That I do with my heart and soul believe and own my most Gracious Soveraign Lord the Kings Majesty King Charles the Second to be my true and lawful Soveraign Prince and King in the same sence and latitude to all intents and purposes as in the Oath commonly called The Oath of Allegiance His said Majesty is expressed to be King of this Realm of England 2. That I do in my soul believe That neither the Pope nor any Prince Potentate or Forreign Authority nor the people of England nor any Authority out of this Kingdom or within the same hath or have any Right to dispossess His said Majesty of the Crown or Government of England or to depose him therefrom for any Cause or pretended Cause whatsoever or to give licence to me or to any other of His said Maâ—esties Subjects whatsoever to bear Arms against His said Majesty or to take away his Life or to do him any bodily harm or to disturb the Government of this Kingdom as the same is now established by Law or to alter or go about to alter the said Government or the Religion now established in England by any way of force 3. That I neither am nor ever was at any time or times guilty so much as in my most secret thoughts of any Treason or misprision of Treason whatsoever 4. That I did not in the Month of November or at any other time or times whatsoever say unto Mr. Oates or unto any other person or persons whatsoever in relation to my Sons in Spain or either of them or in relation to any other person or persons whatsoever That if they did continue in the World as Secular Priests of otherwise they should suddenly have great promotions in England for that things would not last long in the posture wherein they then were nor did I ever say any words to that or the like effect to any person or persons whatsoever 5. That I did never in all my life-time write any Letter or other thing whatsoever unto or receive any Letter or other thing from Father La Chese or any French Jesuit whatsoever or from Father Anderton or Cardinal Barbarino or any other Cardinal nor did I ever see any Letter or the Copy of any Letter or other paper or other thing written or purporting to be written unto the said La Chese or unto the said Father Anderton or the said Cardinal Barbarina by any person or persons whatsoever other than the printed Letters printed in the Narrative of the Trial of Mr. Coleman lately executed which I never saw otherwise than in the said printed Narrative nor did I ever hear any mention made by any person whatsoever of the Name of La Chese or Father La Chese before I read the said printed Narrative 6. That I did never in all my life-time make any Entry or Entries into any Book or Books or take or make or write or cause to be written into any Book or books or otherwise any Letter or Letters or any Copy or Copies of any Letter or Letters written by the said Edward Coleman to any person or persons whatsoever 7. That I did never in all my life-time enter or register into any Book or books Paper or papers whatsoever or take or make or Write or cause to be written any Copy or Copies of any Act or Acts Consult or Consults Determination or Determinations Order or Orders Resolve or Resolves or other matter or thing at any time made determined resolved passed decreed or agitated at any Congregation or Congregations Consult or Consults Chapter or Chapters Assembly or Assemblies of the Society or Order of the Jesuits or of any other Religions Order whatsoever nor did I ever see read or heard read nor did any person or persons at any time whatsoever ever Communicate unto me any such Act Consult Determination Order Resolve Matter or Thing whatsoever 8. That I did never in all my life-time to my knowledg belief or remembrane see or speak with Mr. Bedloe who gave Evidence against me at my Tryal until I saw him in that Court wherein he gave Evidence against me 9. That after the moneth of November which was in the year of our Lord 1677. I did never see or speak with Mr. Titus Oates before named until I saw him in the same Court where he gave Evidence against me at my Tryal 10. That I did never see in all my life-time to my knowledge belief or remembrance any Commission or Commissions Pattent or Patents Grant or Grants Order or Orders Instrument or Instruments Writing or Writings or other matter or thing whatsoever under or pretended to be under the Hand and Seal or the Hand or the Seal of Johannes Paulus de Oliva or any other General of the Jesuits whatsoever other then the Paper or Instrument produced and shewed unto me in the said Court at my Tryal which whether it was signed or sealed by the said de Oliva I do not know 11. That I did never in all my life-time write or cause or procure to be written any Treasonable Letter or Letters whatsoever or any thing which was or is Treason or Treasonable in any Letter or Letters Book or books Paper or papers or otherwise howsoever 12. That I believe that if I did know or should know of any Treason or Treasonable Design that was or is intended or should be intended against His said Majesty or the Government of this His Majesties Kingdom or for the Alteration by force advice or otherwise of the said Government or of the Religion now established in this Kingdom and should conceal and not discover the same unto his said Majesty or his said Majesties Council or Ministers or some of them that such concealment would be in me a sin unto Death and Eternal Damnation 13. That I do believe that it is no ways lawful for me to lye or speak any thing which I know to be untrue or to commit any sin or do any Evil that Good may come of it And that it is not in the Power of any Priest or of the Pope or of God himself to give me a Licence to Lie or to speak any thing which I know to be untrue because every such Lye would be a sin against Truth And Almighty God who is perfect Truth cannot give me a License to commit a sin against his own Essence And I do solemnly in the presence of God Profess Testify and Declare That as I hope for Salvation and expect any benefit by the Blood and Passion of my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ I do make this Declaration
an Artifice to cheat the World and manifestly to damn their Souls even according to their own profest Doctrine and Tenets Besides do not our Adversaries by this wild Dream show not only their own Barbarity and Ignorance but affront and call Villains the greatest and the most eminent parts of the Civiliz'd World and certainly should one of them say to a Knight of Maltha or to a Teutonick Knight or to any other Catholick Cavalier That he was not to be belieâ—ed since he might by his principles lye anâ— forswear at pleasure he would I must tell him be soon Kick'd and bastanado'd for it But my Lords and Gent if this Calumny which carrys some Alleviation in it as having the Ignorant and Rabble for it's chief Abettors be never the less shocking what must the Aspersion do which is reviv'd by a Nobler and Learneder hand I mean by the present Bishop of Lincoln Yet if it be a breach of CHRISTIANITY to crush the bruised Reed and of GENEROSITY also to Trample on the Oppressed I wish his Lordship may be found Guilty of neither and that there never rise any such who in hopes of Applause shall contrary to the Light of their own Consciences reprint a Martyn-Marprelate a Cobler of Glocester or any Scandalous Pasquil should EPISCOPACY by some foolish Accident or Misfortune fall again within the Fury of the people But who could think that his Lordships heat against us should force himeven to a TITLE that has confuted his whole Book viz. That Popish Principles and Positions when really believed are destructive and dangerous to all Kings especially Protestants for he cannot Term them Principles of Faith because they were never thus believ'd by any Catholick nor never thus approved of by the Church and consequently nothing to his purpose But if on the other side he means that there have been Popish Doctors of the Opinion That Princes might be deposed upon the Account of Religion what advantage I would fain know can that be to his Lordship or his Treatise since not onlyall the prime Leaders of the REFORMATION as Luther Calvin Zainglus Beza c. have in express Termes held the same and in pursuance of it rais'd Rebellions and Confusions in all Countrys where they had footing but also since very great Pillars of the Church of England it self have taught it too as appears in Queen Mary's Case in that of the Queen of Scots who was at least the Vndâ—ubted Heir and in later Efforts also of the same nature and doubtless he that believes he can disinherit a Lawfull Successor with Justice upon the account of Religion will hardly find Arguments of Force to keep the Prince in being on his Throne when ever this happen's to be imputed to him Nay we have several Protestants here who cry up the Bishop of Lincoln's Book at a strange raâ—e and yet avow this printed Doctrine That God not only rais'd Johu to purge the Idolaters of Ahab's House c. but That there is no Reformed Church from the first Waldenses to this Day that have not held such a Procedure lawful These things consider'd as they have been often I dare say by his Lordship he expected not certainly of us to think that he believ'd what he writ for then we should he knew have requir'd him to shew us at least some Catholick Potentate or other nor want they Worldly Wit or Inclinations we see abandoning this pretended dangerous and troublesom Religion either out of Ambition or Safety No my Lords and Gentlemen that is now a thing hardly within the reach of Speculation for Who find themselves so Flourishing and Great as they Or can it be said That the Monarchy of England has gotten by the Reformation when Protestants acknowledge and what desperate Enemies that has Created us may be easily imagin'd That nothing but Popery or at least its Principles can make it again emerge or lasting Does not his Lordship therefore play at Cross-purposes with us and is not his Meaning in truth this That Protestant Principles when really believ'd are-destructive to all Kings and especially to Catholick ones since we see that the Lawful Monarchs and Princes of England Scotland Swedland Denmark the Vnited Provinces Transilvania Geneva c. have been actually Depos'd by their Protestant Subjects not only as Florimundus Raimundus and Popish Writers shew us but as Dr. Heylin and other Protestants have laboriously made it appear Nor has the Pope in all that time pretended to the giving away of any Crowns except those of France and England For the Defence of which several zealous and noted Catholicks appear'd as well with their Swords as Pens Nor could this Imputation have been worse timed as to his Lordships purpose by him seeing there was a Protestant Rebellion then actually in Hungary to the great Danger of Christendom and another newly broken out in Scotland for the Subversion of the English Monarchy and this also usher'd in by the Barbarous Murther Of the Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews What Parity then is there between VS and our Adversaries either in our Actions or Books of this Nature And truely we are so far from holding the Deposing Power of the Church an Article of Faith that the Greatest Defenders of it have absolutely declared the contrary For does not Cardinal Peron in his famous Speech to the Nobility of France tell us That the Proposition is PROBLEMATICAL and does not C. Bellarmine the Pope's great Champion in his Answer to Barclay who writ so smartly against it call the Assertion only ARROGANT and TEMERARIOVS In short There is no Writer though never so zealous for the Opinion that sayes That Men of the contrary Sentiment are out of the State of Grace as in truth they are that asseâ—t not to Articles of Faith This also plainly shews that no Council ever impos'd it on our Belief seeing it has been and is still without Censure denyed even by those that would dye for the Pope's Supremacy Nay besides former Authors the Catholicks â—f England have written four Books since the King's Restauration to this very purpose I say the Catholick's of England have done it who are so scrupulous in Doctrines of Faith that they deem it Damnation to deny the least Article and therefore will not you see to save their Lives and Estates profess one thing and believe another But his Lordship which adds nothing to his Ingenuity is so far from answering these Authors by shewing their Fallacies and Errors that he never so much as cites them to this purpose so that we must conclude them unanswerable for he could not but have heard of them when we find him pretending to so great an Insight in all our Books that to shew his Reading he has quoted our very Almanack But since his Lordship has mention'd this notable Tome I hope he will not take it ill if I say That his whole Work has been already answered by a Treatise of the
remembred the Court how that when at that very Bar he had formerly prest Oates to name any body that had seen him then in Town He had nothing to say but that he lay privately at Groves's Nay Reader he deem'd it in a manner an unreasonable thing to be then askt such a question for directing himself to the Lord Chief Justice he Answered in these very words as notoriously appears in Mr. Irelands Tryal My Lord saies he when I came to London I was order'd to keep very close and lay at Mr. Groves's house let him deny it if he can This was you see the best of his game then and this made him fly to the former circumstances which the late Witnesses have now proved also false viz. of his coming over with Hildesley Williams Preston Warner c. whereas had the present Evidence in his behalf been true it would have been impossible for a man of his ranck and acquaintance to have been more publick and yet a greater impossibility for him when demanded so pertment a question to have forgotten all these persons especially when the seeing of any one of them in his then pretended Condition was a great and dangerous fault and consequently must have imprinted them in his Memory But Mr. Gavens chief plea was about the time of Oates his Chimerical stay in England and therefore cry'd out Ex ore tuo te judico for since it was as he urg'd only a matter of Six dayes not did the Kings Councel â—â—tend it to be above Eight or Ten and since according to the computation of the Court Hildesley landed on the 17th of April our stile and consequently reacht not London till the 19th what could become of the Ministers Testimony that saw him the latter end of March or middle of April or of the School-Masters that dined and discours'd with him on the 6th of May for four or five hours and especially of the Knight's Family that saw him often that moneth even after Whitsontide Now for Clay and the invalidity of his Testimony there shall be a fuller account of it in Mr. Langhâ—rnes Tryal and more also said of the Rest Mr. Gaven further insisted on the quality of his Witnesses and the fullness of their Testimony as to Mr. Ireland's being out of Town in August of the clearness of the proof in relation to Sir Thomas Preston's and Sir John Warner's absence of the positiveness of the evidence concerning his own being at Wolver-hampton at least the last week in July and that all the Witnesses did incline rather to think him there the other weeks also than not with much more of this nature Nor did Mr. Fenwick forget to tell the Court besides the Repetition of the former unanswerable arguments that there was not the least Commission found or the least Letter to show that there were such or any Money paid or Armes provided and the like but that all depended on the word of these Witnesses Nay if they were Guilty he said they ought to be hang'd ' twice Once for Knaves and then for Fools for trusting a matter of this nature to such a fellow as Oates who was not only expell'd their Colledges but necessitous and beggarly even to the last moment before the Discovery And Reader you must also remember that among others one Captain Hill did witnesse that Bedlo who had been long his fellow prisoner in the Marshalsea was in May was Twelve Month which was the May just before the Discovery so poor there that he lived upon the very Basket But notwithstanding this or Mr. White 's wondering how he could be thought were he of a fighting disposition to beat Oates to whom such a secret was committed or to send a letter by the common post about Killing the King as Dugdale witness't and notwithstanding Mr. Gavans great Eloquence which every body much commended or Mr. Hartcourts appealing to the Integrity of his life for 70 years and to the Infamy of his Accusers or his concluding thus that since a Negative cannot be well proved he hoped Innocence will find some to defend it I say notwithstanding this They were all found Guilty and being condemned the next day were on the Fryday following to wit the 20 of June executed together at Tyburn where they made these following Speeches But Reader be pleas'd first to know that they were drawn on several Hurdles On the foremost went Mr. Thomas Whitebread and Mr. VVilliam Harcourt On the second Mr. Anthony Turner and Mr. John Gavan And on the Third Mr. John Fenwick And being come to the Gallows They were all put into one Cart. Then Mr. Gavan said If God give us His Grace it 's no matter where we die at the Gallows or elsewhere The Executioner being fastning the Halters Gavan said I hope you will be civil to dying Men. Executioner I will be civil to you Gavan I hope they will give us leave to speak Mr. Whitebread's Speech I Suppose it is expected I should speak something to the matter I am Condemned for and brought hither to suffer it is no less then the contriving and plotting His Majesty's Death and the alteration of the Government of the Church and State You all either know or ought to know I am to make my appearance before the Face of Almighty God and with all imaginable certainty and evidence to receive a final Judgement for all the thoughts words and actions of my whole life So that I am not now upon Terms to speak other than the Truth and therefore in his most Holy Preâ—ence and as I hope for Mercy from his Divine Majesty I do declare to you here present and to the whole World that I go out of the World as innocent and as free from any guilt of these things laid to my charge in this matter as I came into the World from my Mothers Womb and that I do renounce from my heart all manner of Pardons Absolutions Dispensations for Swearing as occasions or Interest may seem to require which some have been pleased to lay to our charge as matter of our Practice and Doctrine but is a thing so unjustifiable and unlawful that I believe and ever did that no power on Earth can authorize me or any body so to do As for those who have most falsly accused me as time either in this World or in the next will make appear I do heartily forgive them and beg of God to grant them his holy Grace that they may repent their unjust proceedings against me otherwise they will in conclusion find they haâ—e done themselves more wrong than I have suffered from them though that has been a great deal I pray God bless His Majesty both Temporally and Eternally which has been my daily Prayer for him and is all the harm that I ever intended or imagined against him And I do with this my last breath in the sight of God declare that I never did learn or teach
the Bad. In sine I belive all you have reveal'd for your own infinite Veracity I hope in you above all things for your infinite Fidelity and I love you above all things for your infinte Beauty and Goodness and I am heartily sorry that ever I offended so great a God with my whole heart I am contented to undergo an ignominious Deth for the love of you my dear Jesu seeing you have been pleased to undergo an ignominious Death for the Love of me Mr. Fenwicks Speech GOod People I suppose you expect I should say something as to the Crime I am Condemned for and either acknowledge my Guilt or assert my Innocency I do therefore declare before God and the whole World and call God to witness that what I say is true that I am Innocent of what is laid to my Charge of Plotting the King's Death and endeavouring to subvert the Government and bring in a Foreign Power as the Child unborn and that I know nothing of it but what I have learn'd from Mr. Oates and his Companions and what comes originally from them Sher. How If you can make a good Conclusion to your own Life it will do well consider if your Letters did not agree with the Evidence That ' s another matter Fenwick I assure you I do renounce all Treason from my very heart I have always and ever shall disown the Opinion of such Devillish Practises as these are of King-Killing If I speak not the whole frame of my heart I wish God may Exclude me from his Glory Sher. How Those that Murdered Sir Edmun Bury Godsrey said as you do Fenwick As for Sir Edmund-Bury Godfrey I protest before God I know nothing of it I never saw the man in my life Sher. How For my part I am of Opinion you had a hand in it Fenwick Now that I am a dying man Do you think I would go and Damn my Soul Sher. How I wish you all the good I can but I le assure you I believe never a Word you say Fenwick I pray for his Majesty every day and wish him all happiness with all my heart Also I do with all my Soul pardon all my Accusers If the Judge or Jury did any thing amiss I Pardon them with all my Soul and all Persons directly or indirectly I am very willing and ready to suffer this Death I pray God Pardon me my sins and save my Soul And as to what is said and commonly believed of Roman Catholicks that they are not to be believed or trusted because they can have Dispensations for Lying Perjury Killing Kings and other the most Enormous Crimes I do utterly renounce all such Pardons Dispensations and withall declare That it is a most wicked and malicious Calumny cast upon Catholicks who do all with all their hearts and souls hate and detest all such wicked and damnable Practises and in the words of a dying Man and as I hope for Mercy at the hands of God before whom I must shortly appear and give an account of all my actions I do again declare That what I have said is true and I hope Christian Charity will not let you think that by the last act of my Life I would cast away my Soul by sealing up my last breath with a damnable Lye Then they were at their private Devotions for about an hour And Mr. Sheriff How spake to them Pray aloud Gentlemen that we may joyn with you we shall do you no hurt if we do you no good Are you asham'd of your Prayers Then he spake to Mr. Gavan and said It is Reported you did preach at the Quakers metting Gavan To which he made answer No Sir I never preached there in my life Concerning Mr. Langhorn MR. Langhorn was tryed at the Old Baily on Saturday the 14th of June 1679 to make good the charge of High Treason against him Dugdale first appeared who proved the Plot in general as having been at several Consults with the Jesuits about the Alteration of the Governmâ—nt and introducing Popery where they spoke of an Army to be raised of Killing the King and a Massacre and that he knew of Sir Edm. Godfry's death by Ewers Letter on the Munday night which began thus This very Nigâ—t Sir Edm. Godfry is dispatch't that upon his being concern'd that the Plot might be spoild by it Ewers said it would be put upon debauch't persons for he was severe with such yet he the said Dugdale could not it ran so much in his mind but the next morning he spoke of it at an Alehouse hard by and thence it was carried to Mr. Châ—twin Prance rose next and deposed that Mr. Messenger Gentleman of the Horse to my Lord Arundel was employed by his Lord and my Lord Powis to kill the King and this he was told of by my Lord's Butler That meeting Messenger he askt him what his reason was that he would kill the King who answered He was off of it now which Question and Answer Reader made many smile Then he proceeded sayd That presently 50000 men should be raised and governed by the said Lords to kill all that were not Catholickâ— that he heard it from Mr. Ireland Fenwick and Grove who spake of it to him together That Mr. Harâ—court acquainted him before one Thompson that the King was to be killed by several and that Fenwic said That Langhorn was to have a great hand in it so that still we see here are new men and mean ones too who know of the King's Death and tell it one another for pastime and ordinary News Oates followed next saying he went into Spain in April 1677 that returning in November he brought Letters from Mr. Langhorn's Sons who studied there That Mr. Langhorn at the Receit of them was informed by him that the Youths would enter into the Society which much rejoyced Mr. Langhorn being a great Votary of the Jesuits but said if they would continue Secular Priests they would have great Promotions in England since things would not last long in this Posture That Mr. Langhorn did upon Oates his going to St. Omers in November give him a Packet and in his Letter to the Fathers he mentioned his writing to Fa. La Chaise in order to their Concerns and that Coleman had written very largely to that Father which made him the more brief That Mr. Langhorn writ another in March or April about ordering Five Pounds to his Son that had bin in Rebellion and turn'd Soldier but was now reconcil'd to him by the Intercession of the Fathers In this Letter also Mr. Langhorn exprest at large his great Care of the Catholick Design and told them among other things that the Parliament Flagging they had a fair opportunity to give the Blow which seem'd very odd to many That in an ordinary letter of Domestick concerns He should treat of such high and secret matters Then Oates go's on and say's That after the great Consult of April he
was order'd to acquaint Mr. Langhorn in the Temple of the MINUTS past at the said Consult by which he understood of Grove's and Pickerings employment and Reward That Mr. Langhorn with lifted up hands and eyes for the good successe did then sign also the Consult and told him That he had Receiv'd about fifty Commissions from Rome and among others shew'd him the Commissions for my L'd. Arundel Powis Stafford Bellassis and Peters as also Mr. Langhorn's own to be Advocate of the Army which were all Sealed with the Jesuits Cross or Cipher and signed by their General the Seal and Hand being the same as that of the Patent which Oates had then in Court viz. a Pattent constituting F. Stapleton Rector of St Omers and found it seemes among the Jesuits Papers That He the said Oates saw those Commissions in his Study upon his Desk when as Mr. Langhorn appeals in his Memoires to all that great Company which frequented his Chamber whether any of them ever saw a Desk in his Study That Mr. Langhorn gave him several Originals from F. Anderton and La Chaise who did assure them of his Constancy in carrying on the Cause and that the French King would stand by them with Men and Money That Mr. Langhorn being Sollicitor for the Jesuits did Communicate the Design to the Benedictins who promis'd 6000 l. That Mr. Langhorn call'd Sr. George Wakeman a narrow soul'd Phisitian for not being content with 10000. l. That he the said Oates never stir'd out of the Colledge of St. Omer from December till his coming away in April except a Night or two at Watten and when he went to Paris 'T was here some two questions before that Mr. Langhorn began to be Nice about the time of his coming to St. Omers c. whereupon the Court answer'd That all the Defences of the Papists lay in Catches about time a thing which no man living could be positive in which heartned Oates not a little for he being presently askt by Mr. Langhorn when he return'd in April into England he answered about the middle of that moneth and that he stay'd under twenty dayes a Latitude which he would now have fain granted him by reason of his ill success in the former Tryal though the Court never then pretended as you saw to extend it to above eight or ten and because he fear'd Mr. Langhorn he desired the Court to ask the Questions adding that he knew they would be so kind as to ask him such Questions as were reasonable After this Mr. Langhorn demanded whether he came with Hildestey from Dover by Coach or on Horseback to which Oates after much hesitation answer'd That the Question was so sudden that he could not be positive but at last said that as near as he could remember It was by Coach This strange uncertainty amaz'd many but more smild at it considering that in truth he had reason for what he did as not knowing the question was casual but that Mr. Langhorn might have Witnesses ready to prove how Mr. Hildesley made that journey nay he would not tell Mr. Langhorn positively whether he lay at Grove's the first night of his coming to London or no though he 〈◊〉 directly sworn in Irelands Tryal as has bin mention'd before That he was commanded to lie close at that House so that if he had had such Instructions it was impossible for him not to remember whether he broke them or no and more especially at his first Arrival about so dangerous and great an affair Bedlow brought up the Reer and after he had also produc't as Oates had done before a private Patent of the Jesuits found by him in the search of Mr. Arthur's House and which Reader you must know is written forsooth in the same Hand and seal'd with the same Seal as the Commissions were he had seen at Paris I say after this he askt fearing there would be Witnesses to what he said whether a Papist might take Notes The Court at first thought not But when they understood that the Scribe was the Marchioness Dowager of Winchester 't was answer'd That a Womans Notes would signifie no more than her Tongue and then he thus began That Coleman carried him about three Years ago to Mr. Langhorn's Chamber who in his presence register'd several Treasonable Letters for La-Chaise c. some of which had been read in Court at Coleman's Trial That there was no a penny of money receiv'd or paid or the least thing done in relation to the Plot that was not registered by Mr. Langhorn That a year and a half ago he carried a Pacquet from Hartcourt to be registred That he was registred by the name of Captain Williams and not by his own which he wondring at Hartcourt Answer'd That this was but a blind Register and that there should be a new one That one of these Letters was from the Rector of the Irish College at Salamanca who desir'd the Lords and the rest here to be ready for that he had provided at the Groin as Pilgrims several Irish cashier'd Soldiers and Bandits as also a great many Lay-Brothers who landing at Milford should be joyn'd with the Army my Lord Powis was to raise That in May 76. he carried a Letter to Mr. Stapleton the Benedictin to raise money for England That Pritchard told him That Mr. Langhorn had Commissions That Sir H. Tichbourn shew'd him three at Paris sign'd by the General of the Jesuits and seal'd with their Seal like the before-mention'd Patent That he knows only by report of Mr. Langhorn's being privy to Grove's and Pickering's design of Killing the King for having a mind to go to Windasor to see what the Assassines did he askt Hartcourt leave as if he went to a friend at Plimouth who Answer'd He could not be spared till they knew how the Gentlemen had succeeded and that he the said Hartcourt was going to Mr. Langhorns to take the MINVTES which was the contrivance of sending down the Assassines to New-Market That the Letter which he saw Mr. Langhorn Register to the Benedictins beyond Sea was to Sollicit them to get their contributions ready since the Hearts and Arms of the party 〈◊〉 ready here and That in the French Letter to F. La Chaise Registred also by Mr. Langhorn there were invitations to that King to invade us Now upon Mr. Langhorn's saying that he understood only Law-French as an Argument that he could be no Register and upon Bedlow's confessing he never heard him discourse in French Oates to salve the difficulty cry'd out and thereby made not a few laugh That he himself could neither write not read French but he could Translate it And when Bedlow was askt by Mr. Langhorn whether Mr. Coleman's Letter Transcrib'd by him were long like those in the Narrative or no the said Bedlow Answer'd The best part of half a sheet of Paper for
and Protestation and every part thereof in the Plain and Ordinary Sense wherein the same stands Written as they are commonly understood by English Protestants and the Courts of Justice of England without any Evasion or Equivocation or Delusion or Mental Reservation whatsoever And without any Dispensation or Pardon or Absolution already granted to me for this or any other purpose by the Pope or any other Power Authority or Person whatsoever Or without any hope expectation or desire of any such Dispensation and without thinking or believing that I am or can be acquitted before God or Man or absolved of this Declaration or any part thereof although the Pope or any other Person or persons or Power or Authority whatsoever should dispence with Or take upon him or them to dispence with or Annul the same Or declare that it was or is or ought to be Null or Void in part or in the whole from the beginning or otherwise howsoever Having made this Declaration and Protestation in the most plain Terms that I can possibly imagin to express my sincere Loyalty and Innocency and the clear intention of my Soul I leave it to the Judgment of all Good and Charitable persons whether they will believe what is here in this manner affirmed and sworn by me in my present Circumstances or what is sworn by my Accusers I do now farther declare That I die a member though an unworthy one of that Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church of Christ mentioned in the Three Holy and publick Creeds of which Church our Lord Jesus Christ is the Invisible Head of Influence to illuminate guide protect and govern it by his Holy Spirit and Grace and of which Church the Bishop of Rome as the Successor of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles is the visible Head of Government and Unity I take it to be clear That my Religion is the sole cause which moved my Accusers to charge me with the Crime for which upon their Evidence I am adjudged to die and that my being of that Religion which I here prosess was the only ground which could give them any hope to be believed or which could move my Juâ—â—y to believe the Evidence of such men I have had not only a Pardon but also great Advantages as to preferments and Estates offered unto me since this Judgment was against me in case I would have forsaken my Religion and owned my self guilty of the Crime charged against me and charged the same Crimes upon others But blessed be my God who by his Grace hath preserved me from yeilding to those Temptations and strengthened me rather to choose this death than to stain my Soul with sin and to charge others against truth with Crimes of which I do not know that any person is guilty Having said what concerns me to say as to my self I now humbly beseech God to bless the Kings Majesty with all temporal and eternal Blessings and to preserve Him and His Government from all Treasons and Traitors whatsoever and that his Majesty may never fall into such hands as His Royal Father of Glorious Memory fell into I also humbly beseeh thee O God to give true Repentance and Pardon to all my Enemies and most particularly to the said Mr. Oates and Mr. Bedloe and to all who have been any ways accessary to the taking away of my Life and the shedding of my Innocent Blood or to the preventing the King's Mercy from being extended unto me and likewise to all those who rejoyced at the Judgment given against me or at the Execution of the said Judgment and to all those who are or shall be so unchristianly uncharitable as to disbelieve and to refuse to give credit unto my now Protestations And I beseech thee O my God to bless this whole Nation and not to lay the guilt of my Blood unto the charge of this Nation or of any other particular person or persons of this Nation Unite all O my God unto thee and thy Church by true Faith Hope and Charity for thy mercies sake And for all those who have shewed Charity to me I humbly beg O my Jesus that thou wilt reward them with all Blessings both temporal and eternal 13 July 1679. R. Langhorn Mr. Langhorns's Speech at the time of Execution WHen the Hangman was putting the Rope over his Head he took it into his hands and kissed it Afterwards He said I would gladly speak to Mr. Sheriff HOW who coming up to him he addressed himself thus Mr. Sheriff I having some doubt whether I should be suffered to speak in relation to my Innocency and Loyalty I did for that Reason prepare what I had to say and what I intended to say in Writing and it is delivered into your hands Mr. Sheriff and therefore for the particular and precise Words and Expressions I do refer my self to that and I hope you will be so just to my Memory that you will permit it to be seen I shall therefore make only a short Preface and I do declare in the Presence of the Eternal God and as I hope to be saved by the Merits and Death of my dear Jesus That I am not Guilty directly or indirectly of any Crime that was sworn against me I do not speak this to Arraign the Court of Publick Justice either Judges or Jury but those Men that did swear it and the Jury had liberty to believe or not believe as they pleased And I do like wise say with the same Averrment That I did never in my Life see any Commission or Patent or any Writing or any other Thing under the hand of Johannes Paulus de Oliva c. S. Nor under no other Hand L. No nor under any other Hand of any Commission or Patents for the Raising of an Army or any Thing else against the King S. What was the Patent for for Nothing L. I never saw any nor do I believe there was any And whereas I have read in a Narrative that I sent a Commission by my Son to the Lord Arundel of Warder and that I delive'rd another to the Lord Petre or Petres with my own hands I take God to Witness that I never knew him in my life or ever to my knowledge saw the face of that Lord nor did I send or know of any thing that was sent to my Lord Arundel of Warder of that nature S. Shorten your business you have Mr. Langhorn and your Party so many ways to Equivocate and after Absolution you may say any thing L. I refer my self to that Paper I gave you Mr. Sheriff S. I think it is not fit to be Printed I will do you no wrong L. I do not think you will S. You have already printed a Paper or some body for you L. Sir I did not Print it and it was done without any Direction or Permission of mine The Lord preserve his Majesty from all manner of Treason and preserve Him from falling into such Hands as His Royal Father
price and value of an Almanack I mean by one of the Common London-Gazets For was it not a home Blow and a just one also that in the thus publishing of his Erroneous Book to the Nation which pretends Popery so destructive to Kings there should be there proclaimed even in the very next Advertisement The Trials of Twenty-nine Protestant Regicides as Deposers and Murtherers of their Glorious Soveraign under the cloak of Justice a Villany of a Dye which the worst of Papists never yet arriv'd to But to go on yet further in our Vindication Was there ever on the one side any Catholick Country or Pope that has censur'd either Man or Book for the denying the said Deposing-Power of the Church And have not the Venetians on the other side openly profest it in their very Writings Has not Mariana's Opinion been Condemned in Spain and yet his Lordship cites this Author against us Has not Sanctarellus's Book been censur'd in France with all the Formality imaginable as also Bellarmine Suarez Schoppius and others of the same Subject And have not the College of Sorbon the Vniversities of Paris Caen Rheimes Poitiers and God knows how many others joyn'd in this Condemnation Nay does not Bishop Moutague himself tell us That not only Becanus was Corrected at Rome but that no State dis-own'd this Independency or Power of Kings This then being Matter of Fact and this being the publick Declaration of the Church of Rome may I not with Justice call upon his Lordship to turn to our Religion seeing in the very last Paragraph of this his Book he professes That if any Popish Priest or Gentleman can make it appear that the Church of Rome by any publick Declaration has disown'd such Principles and damn'd them as Erroneous and Impious he will turn one of the worst sort of Christians viz A Roman Catholick Truly my Lords and Gentlemen I shall expect this of him or he is not as good as his word Besides I do here declare that supposing the Premisses to wit That the chief Reformed Doctors have speculatively taught this Deposing Doctrine That they have actually depos'd and murder'd their Princes upon account of Religion That the Catholick Princes are more absolute than the Protestant That our Monarchy of England is not a whit safer or powerfuller than formerly That Catholick Kingdoms and States have condemned the said Doctrine That no Catholick Country or Pope has censur'd any that have done so and that no Council ever imposed it on our Faith I say granting these Premisses which are also of themselves evident I do here declare That I my self will turn Protestant if his Lordship shews me but one Single Paragraph in all his Book in relation to our dangerous Principles which is the Scope of the Whole that is not here either fully answer'd or does not at least wound the whole Protestant Party by its consequence more than Vs And more-over I must tell his Lordship He may find a great deal more to this purpose in the before-mention'd Reply to the Answer of the Catholick Apology To conclude Let me once more remind his Lordship of his Promise and then tell him for I know he is a Man of Parts what Dr. Taylor said to a Friend of mine concerning his Disswaâ—â—e from Popery viz. That though 't were lik'd yet 't was but turning the Tables and he could write a Book twice as good HAving thus my Lords and Gentlemen run over in hast the odd Pretences and Accidents that have been so advantagious to the Saviours of the Nation I shall desire you before we part to take a second Consideration of them for second Thoughts are still the best and then you will find more Extravagancies in their Relations than in any Romance extant For ' bating the Ridiculousness Of the Army we were raising when the King had Forty Thousand Men in pay besides a very considerable Fleet and ' bating the Wildness of Civil and Military Commissions granted as both Oates and Bedlow have it to a whole Nation by the General or Superior of Religious Men and seal'd with the very Seal of their Order Things that would make not only a Canonist but any Forreigner run mad to hear of and ' bating the carrying on by Eighty-six Men and Women the Fire of London in as great a Method as the Machins move in Baâ—tholomew-Fair without any Bodies being ever yet taken in the Action and bating Oates his particular Story of the Jesuits Plundering during these Fires to the value of several Thousands of Pounds Of Magazins full of stolen Goods orderly brought and received Of their taking a thousand Carracts of Diamonds from a Man who escap'd and run away after they had knock'd him down and no words ever made in London either of him or the Loss Of their Bancâ— of One Hundred Thousâ—nd Pounds and lending it out at Fifty per Cent Of Entry-Books for all the Treasonable Debates and Resolves Of Acquittances of Money received for Killing the King Of poysoning of Silver-Bullets by chawing of them Of gathering Peter-pence and of a Thousand such unconceivable Whimfies Which appear in the Trials in the Journal of the Lords and in the Narrative Printed by Oates his Special Directions and also solemnly sworn to by him I say â—bating this ridiculous and unconceivable Stuff How was it possible that the Jesuits should make this Fellow so particular a Confident when the whole World sees he is Master of no one thing that could render him in the least Advantagious For being a Beggar he could not tempt them with Money being a Weaver's Son and like one of Jeroboam's Priests of the meanest of the People he had no Relations to Countenance or help them being no manner of Scholar but as ignorant as any other poor Curate may be imagin'd for I will be a Bond Slave for ever if he can Translate six Lines into Latin without a Solaecism these Jesuits could not have the least Hopes of him that way Being no greater a Linguist than his Mother made him there was little Expectation of his proving a good Trouchman or Interpreter In fine Being also Ill in his Mine and Behâ—viour Ill in his Elocution Ill in his Writing and Ill in every thing else that can recommend one Man to another How was it possible as I mention'd That they should make him such a particular Confident as he pretends and especially send one of this Guise Ambassadour to the Crowns of Spain and France I mean to Don John and Fa La Chaise as he has sworn Now though these English Fathers should be such easy and silly Men How came it I would fain know or what wonderful Advantages could be propos'd to the General and his Assistants at Rome that they must grant him those Privileges that were never before heard of since the Institution of their Order to wit That a Lay-man should be admitted into their Congregations and Consults and more-over
should have Power as you have heard in Mr. Colâ—man's Tryal to openâ—their very Betters But suppose that the Refined Romans are in truth as weak as the Tramontans What did our Gentlemen nay our Neblemen and the Queen her self find so admirable in Oates that they should so unanimously also receive him for a Privy-Councellor Has the recommendation of a Jesuit or two such power as to make men of this Ranck trust their Lives Honours and Estates in the hands of one that could not be so serviceable to them as any of their respective Footmen and yet no part of this Plot was thought fit it seems to be communicated to my Lord Shrewsbury my Lord Arundel my Lord Brudnel my Lord Lumley or to any of the other late Converts who were one would have thought as likely to be then trusted with any thing that tended to the Wealfare of our Religion as the Heroes that now appear as our Accusers But after all the mighty and great Employments which this Fool boasts of could any body have thought him yet so simple as to declare upon Oath in the face of the World That the business they sent him now into England about was to kill Doctor Tongue for having translated the Iesuits morals as if that forsooth were an Action so horrid and inconvenient to the whole Catholick Cause that it deserv'd such a punishment even in the principal time of the Plot and by his hand also that manag'd the whole and knew all the secrets of it nor was his Reward though one might be hang'd as well for Doctor Tongue as Sir Edmund-bury Godfrey any more than fifty pound as he swears in the Lords Journal and in his Narrative Is not this a happy Poet to flag thus in the very top and flight of his Fancy and does he not also do you think well personate his former Offices and Caracter when in the Lords Journal he swears That Collonel Roper gave him Ten Shillings for bringing him his Comission a gift one would have imagin'd fitter for an Ordinary Keeper that brought him a Hanch of Venison than a Present for a great Envoye and States-Man But Money and he were ever such strangers that according to his Idaea the sums and business did fully quadrate and agree Neither was his foresight greater in the Story about Collonel Howards Commission for in the Lords ‖ Journal he not only swears That he himself delivered him one in Wildâ—Garden in May or June but tells us also in his Narrative to make it a clear and indisputable Lye That the said Collonel Deceast CONFEST he had received and accepted his Commission For had this bin true would not the King do you think would not the Council would not the Parliament and would not the whole Nation have told us of it as having now found out the thing they had so long sought after But why do I stand thus on a single Perjury when there are undeniable and evident ones in every Trial. For in Mr. Coleman's does he not besides a Hundred other Falsities accuse him of sending relief from London to the Ruffians at Windsor on the twenty first of AVGVST when as all his Servants could attest That he was then and several days before in Warwick-shire Does he not swear in Mr. Ireland's That he the said Mr. Ireland was in Town between the eighth and twelveth of that Moneth though he were notoriously and constantly absent from the THIRD to the FOVRTEENTH of the following September as I formerly show'd you Is he not forsworn in Hills Tryal for saying that Sir Ed. Godfrey told him that he went in fear of his Life by the Popish Party whenas he has since declared in the presence of several That this Knight was he believed a PAPIST That he frequented the Benedictins and was most cruelly threatned by a Protestant of great Power and Interest Is he not also forsworn in Sir Geo. Wakeman's Trial by the Testimony of Sir Philip Lloyd and the clear proof of Mr. Corkers not being President of the Benedictâ—ines as he positively swore he was And as for Mr. Langhorn's and the Jesuit's Tryal has he not among his other egregious Untruths Depos'd That he was in Town the twenty fourth of April with Sir Thomas Preston and Sir John Warner whenas Six have plainly proved you see the last Perjury and FOURTEEN the former But now that I mention these St. Omer Witnesses let me appeal to you my Lords and Gentlemen if such Testimony be invalid and not to be beleived because they have studied under the Jesuits or witness for their own Party Whether there can be any more Commerce between Nation and Nation and whether it lies not in the power of a Villain to father what ridiculous Fact he pleases on any man as committed in the very Streets of Paris without pâ—ssibility of Desproving him though a thousand persons could testify the contrary to their own certain knowledge for there are few there comparatively that are not Catholicks and of them also that study most have bin taught by the Jesuits Besides if this Doctrine had bin formerly allow'd of how easily might all the Cavaliers in England have bin destroy'd in the late times for seeing Parties convers chiefly together it had bin but finding out an Oates and a Bedlow and then any Charge must have past muster if the Testimony of other Cavaliers were to go for nothing 'T is not bare swearing as Mr. Corker well observ'd that makes an Evidence credible but probable Circumstances together with an absolute and intire proportion which is always the Concomitant of Truth As for those Youths then many of them were Gentleman and of prime Families too many had left the School and had no more to do with the Jesuits nay some as Oates tells us of Hildesley's usage in Ireland's Tryal had Piques and Grudges against them nor did they averr any private Intrigue but a thing obvious to a whole College which consists of about 200 persons and might if false be contradicted to their shame when they least dream't of it I say they averrd a thing obvious to the whole Colledge viz. That Oates was constantly there but one night from his first coming to his Expulsion or going away for good and all Besides their Testmony was not single and barely said but confirmd by Sir John Warner and Sir Thomas Preston's not being in Town by the before-mention'd improbabilities of Oates his admitance to the knowledge of such weighty Affairs by his extreme poverty all along by Mrs Grove and her Maid where he pretended to have lodg'd by the Mrs. of the White horse Tavern who deny'd that any considerable company was then there she being at that time in a very low Condition and just leaving the Tavern so that she could not have forgotten so unwonted a meeting had there bin any and lastly by his palpable and impudent flinshing from his former Testimony in this Affair I mean from
had a Sight of every private Writing by which they came not only to know our Hands but had oftentimes Hints the better to frame their Accusations I say notwithstanding all these Accidents there has not been found any ill Letter any Commission any Bill of Exchange any Money any Arms any Horses or any Thing else suspicious but to the Confusion of our Enemies an Innocency a Patience and a Loyal Zeal beyond Example I have been my Lords and Gent the more particular with Oates though as I said I have not half done to the end you might see not only how impossible it was That he should have any knowledge of a Plot had there been one but that his whole Information also is a most vain Fiction and consequently if 100 Men and all of them of some repute should vouch and justify his Fopperies it could but show us what Encouragements and Temptations will do For since he has most evidently Lyed all along how can their Testimony make him to have spoken Truth If therefore upon force you must judge thus of all that shall witness for him though their Credit should be a little Tollerable of which I 'le assure you we have no Apprehension what are we to think of his declared Coadjutors and Partizans who are so known and not one whit behind him in any impudent or apparent falsity As for Bedlow's part nothing can be a greater proof of it than that he should at first solemnly profess to the very Secretaries in his Examination upon Oath That he knew nothing of the Plot further than of Sr. Edm. Godfreys Murther Besides when he was askt where they laid his Corps in Somerset house he mention'd the Room next to that where the Duke of Albemarle lay in state but being caught Tardy there because it belong'd to my Lord Ossory's Protestant Servants he went and show'd them another in which he was yet more unfortunate it being the common place for Pages and other forraign Attendants and had to boot during the Queens stay Centinells still by it Prance also you see for I must be very brief in my Instances acquaints us of God knows how many that menton'd the killing the King to him and this as a trivial matter even whilst they were buying Spoons Candlesticks and the like And to confirm the raising an Army by us he come's to the very number of men it was to consist of to wit Fifty Thousand and yet there are not so many Men Women and Children of our Religion in England nor were we to expect much help from abroad seeing the Kings Navy was not only then in a good forwardness but all forraign Princes were together by the Eares and wanted Recruits as they still do who are in an actual War But considering Dugdale is the Junior of all for as to Jenison I shall only add this at present to what I have said before That he has already demanded a PENSION for his Services which shews both his plentiful Condition and his Aim I say as to Dugdale he is no ill Proficient I 'le assure you in proceedures of this Nature Having had the luck as well as the rest of the Fraternity to be proved in Open Court a Villain For at the last Staffor'd Assizes Mr. Sambige a Protestant Gent together with Mr. Philips the Parson of the Parish represented to the Court That Dugdal never mention'd to them the killing of a Justice of Westminster as he deposes in Sir George Wakeman's Trial and least such a Testimony should endanger the spilling of Innocent blood they were willing to swear to the Truth of this Averment nor could this ill man say any thing then to it only after some days search he got two wretched fellows of his Gang who privately made Oath That Dugdal had told them the said Deponents that Story which contradicts nothing had their Depositions been true of what Sambige and Mr. Philips attested to his Confusion and how Mr. Chetwin also who makes Mr. Sambige in the Jesvits Trial his Author will avoid this Blow let any man tell me that can Besides were there no such persons as Mr. Sambige and M. Philips living is not yet the Lie most apparant and clear for how is it possible as I mention'd before That Dugdale that was so greatly concern'd in the Plot and so surpris'd and disturb'd as he assures us at this Murther least it might ruin the whole business should run the very next morning after Mr. Ewers had forsooth with great Secresy told him of it and proclame to no manner of purpose at an Alâ— before any man dreamt of it in the Countryâ— Thus stands our Case my Lords and Gent thus you see that no good Protestant can be safe if such notorious Perjuries shall be countenanc'd Nay if Popery should be thus deprest could it be do you think either for the Honour or Interest of your Religion since the History of all Country as well as our own for no Tittle of this can fall to the ground and be unrecorded will like the Ghost of a Murther'd man be ever haunting you which must raise in yours and your childrens thoughts great Detestation and Horror For to what Height is the Effrontery of these Sons of Perdition come when they can threaten Juries for not going against their Consciences and tell Judges of WRITS of EASE if they take notice of most apparent and impudent Contradictions Have not they then destroy'd all Law And will not our moderate and excellent Government if these Precedents stand good be the most despotical uncertain one that ever was but to add yet to our Amazement who could have ever thought unless it were to make the folly every where proportionable that we who have so eminently hazarded our ALL for the King that have so entirely Loved his person have so constantly even doted on Monarchy should be accus'd as the grand Parricides and that they that are generally reputed to hate King and King-ship should be now the Sticklers and Zealots for both Is there not then some further Trick Design in this new Loyalty And may not the Papists as the Dogs in the Fable be thought too great a safety for the Fold Yes certainly for as the Apologist has long ago observ'd The Prerogative never suffer'd no great States man has ever been disgrac't nor the Church of England it self nâ—â— the Libertyes of the People ever wounded but a fearful Out cry against Popery has still preceded And now that I speak of the Liberties Rights of the People shew me an Instance in Story even in the reputed Worst of Times and therefore you may see what Judgments ever follow the falling upon the Innocent that whole Corporations as appears now in the Buckingham case in other Places also were ever before publickly Libell'd for their Choice which takes away the chiefest Liberty and Priviledge we can possibly pretend Therefore for Liberties sake for Monarchies sake for