England the rooting out the Protestant Religion and destroying of Hereticks § 8. But to make a nearer approach to the present Plot can there be a greater Evidence of the Papists readiness to forswear their own guilt than the many Examples of hiring and suborning persons to perjure themselves to make the Innocent Criminal A design more horrid in itself and more destructive to Government and the safety of Mankind than for one that is guilty to protest his Innocency with the highest Execrations For by the Arraignment of one innocent person upon a countenanced subornation all who deserve the same character are virtually indicted and the whole Law becomes perverted from its true end which is to justifie the guiltless and is turned into an Engine to condemn the Innocent And it will prove of such fatal consequence should it be connived at or allowed that all the ligaments of society will become dissolved and all obligations not only between man and man but betwixt Rulers and People finally cancelled For who can be so innocent that it is not in the power of a suborned Villain to slander or so Loyal whom on the encouragement of a Reward and at the suggestion of a prompter he will not brand for a Traitor And we may be sure that they who are so void of all Conscience as to undertake so horrid an Employment will be furnished with Impudence to swear any Charge that their Masters dictate and prescribe unto them And what a damnable Religion must that be that at once inspires them to seek the destruction of Protestants and justifies them in all kind of subornations and falshoods for the accomplishing of it Now besides many Instances not yet come to light of this treacherous and Romish Practice we have several accounts of their endeavours of this kind which deserve our observation and remark The first is that of Netternille an Irish Papist his attempting to corrupt Mr. William Brooks one of the Aldermen of Dublin and Captain Bery to swear what should be prescribed unto them for the fixing of scandalous Crimes on Dr. Oats and Mr. Bedloe and charging the Plot on Dissenting Protestants The next is Readings Attempt upon Mr. Bedloe to have obtained of him the renouncing all the material part of his Depositions against the Lords in the Tower for which he promised him in Money and Estate a great Reward The third is Mr. Price's and Mr. Tasbrough's labouring to persuade Mr. Dugdale to recant whatsoever he had said concerning the Plot and to call the Almighty God to witness that no motive had induced him to retract the Testimonies he had given but remorse of Conscience for the Mischiefs which he had done though they were in the mean time to give him a great sum of money in hand besides a further Reward which they assured him of afterwards The fourth is their suborning Thomas Knox and John Lane to swear such Crimes against Dr. Oats as they supposed would not only weaken the Credit of all his Evidence but bring him under a sentence of Death and so rob the Nation of the most considerable Witness in reference to the Plot. A fifth is Longmores and Draxtons endeavouring to bribe Simon Wright to declare upon Oath that Mr. Dugdale had promised to protect him and give him money as one of the King's Evidence if he would swear against Sir James Symons and Mr. Gerrard The last which I shall mention is their Employing Mr. Dangerfield to charge a Plot on the Presbyterians wherein they intended to involve most of those that appeared active and zealous for the Protesant Religion and English Liberty And to conclude Instances of this nature at present I shall only add two Depositions which may serve to instruct us that they still persevere in the Practice of the same Villany The Tenor of the first is as followeth The Examination of Edward Howcott of the City of Lichfield taken at the said City the first day of Jan. 1680 1 before me Francis Bayly one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace forth County of the said City The said Examinant upon his Oath saith That Joseph Salt of Utoxeter Feltmaker about the month of June last told this Deponent that one John Murrall a Barber in Rugby in the County of Stafford would have had the said Joseph Salt to have gone with him to London and be a witness against Mr. Stephen Dugdale one of the King's Evidence in the late Horrid Plot the said Murrall pretending as the said Salt told this Deponent that he knew as much of the Plot as Mr. Dugdale did and if he would but testifie three or four words which Murrall would direct him to swear against Mr. Dugdale he should live better than ever he did in his life telling the said Salt that he now lived meanly but if he would do what he desired him he should never want whilst he lived for in this Juncture of time the Oath of a Protestant would be better accepted than twenty Oaths of a Papist And further this Deponent saith That the said Murrall had sworn him never to confess what he said to him and threfore Salt said He would be hanged and drawn and quartered before he would discover the saying of Murrall And this is not only sworn by Edward Howcott but by his Wife Mary Howcott and by one Edward Blakesly who were all present when Salt declared and acknowledged as is above deposed The second Information declarative also of the like Practices is that of Thomas Lander of Shutborrow in the County of Stafford as it was taken upon Oath the 24 of Decemb. 1680 1. before Edmund Warcupp Esq one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex c. This Informant saith that having been employed as a workman several times at the house of my Lord Aston at Tixall in the County aforesaid he was solicited by Mr. Francis Hind Steward to the Lord Aston to become a Witness against Stephen Dugdale any way to invalidate or take off his Evidence in relation to the Popish Plot and he served this Informant with a Supena to come up to London for that purpose at the late intended Tryal of the late Lord Aston in June last past But before his coming up the said Hind Francis Aston Son to the Lord Aston Thomas Sawyer servant to the said Lord Aston sent for this Informant into a private room in the said Lord Aston's house and there told him That if he would swear such things as should be dictated to him by the Persons aforesaid to invalidate or take away the Evidence of the said Mr. Dugdale he should have such reward as should be to his own content and not want for Money or house as might become a man of better quality than himself Can any man now have horror enough for that Religion which doth at once both authorise and sanctify such subornations and treacheries or can we without abandoning our
this 17th day of January 1680. before me Edmond Warcupp Esq one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace in the said County and City Middle Westm. ss THis Informant saith that he waited on Robert Howard of Horecross in the said County of Stafford Esq to the House of the Lord Aston at Tixall in the said County of Stafford on the 12th of September 1678. and then and there saw William late Lord Viscount Stafford talking with Mr. Stephen Dugdale And on the 13th day of the said month of September 1678. this Informant stepping by accident into a Room there called the little Dining-Room or little Parlour some time before Dinner he then and there saw the said William late Viscount Stafford and the said Stephen Dugdale talking and discoursing together in private no other person then being in the said Room besides themselves whereupon this Informant soon withdrew lest he should interrupt their Conference And this Informant is most assured of the Premisses by a certain Memorandum which he then wrote down in his own Pocket Book which at the time of this Information is produced And he likewise saw the said William late Viscount Stafford and the said Stephen Dugdale discoursing together in Tixall Park in the Buck season of the same year 1678. no other Person being with them while the Gentry then Assembled were hunting the Buck in the said Park And this Informant further saith that as he was walking in Tixall Hall about the 18th or 19th day of September 1678. he observed the said William late Lord Viscount Stafford go into a Room called the great Parlour or the Dining-Room which adjoyned to his Lordships Lodging Chamber and immediately the said Stephen Dugdale followed him into the said Room and this Informant saw them two alone discoursing together but how long they continued there or what their Discourse was he knoweth not And by these and other Observations this Informant did believe that the said Stephen Dugdale was in good esteem and in some trust with the said late Viscount Stafford And he further saith that the said Stephen Dugdale was then Steward to the Lord Aston and had great Power and Command in the said Lord Astons Family at Tixall and bought and sold all things relating to the Family or Estate at Tixall and was the Chiefest man in the Lord Astons Family and paid the Wages of Labourers and had a very good Name and Reputation among the Gentry of that Countrey as well Papists as Protestants and was frequently termed Honest Stephen Dugdale And this Informant further saith that he hath observed the said William late Lord Viscount Stafford own the said Stephen Dugdale with respect calling him Mr. Dugdale at Dinners and Suppers before the said Lord Astons face both when they did eat in private and when they did eat in publick with other Gentry and Persons of Quality in the said House to which there was great resort in that year And this Informant likewise observed the said Stephen Dugdale was well respected and very civilly treated by the said William late Lord Viscount Stafford in other Companies and Places where they Occasionally met And further saith not William Skelton Jurat ' die Anno supradict ' coram me Edm. Warcupp Vera Copia Ex ' per me Edmond Warcupp The Information of Walter Collins of the Burrough of Stafford Gent. taken upon Oath the 19th day of January 1680. before Tho. Blacks and Sampson Byrch his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the said Burrough Stafford Burrough ss WHo saith that in or about the year of our Lord Christ 1678. he saw the late Lord Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale walk together in the Court Yard belonging to Tixall Hall between the Gate-house and the said Hall about the space of a quarter of an hour and that no other Person did walk with them or was in hearing of them Wal. Collins Signed in presence of William Southall Jurat ' die Anno predict ' coram Tho. Blake Sam. Byrch Thomas Jordan of Little-Haywood in the County of Stafford Gent. one of the High-Constables for the said County Staff ss SAith that in the Summer time in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred seventy and eight on a Thursday being a Bowling day at Tixall in the said County he this Informant saw the Lord Stafford and the Lord Aston stand together on the side of the Bowling-Green a distance from the rest of the Company there and out of their hearing And while their Lordships stood at that distance this Informant saw Mr. Stephen Dugdale go to their Lordships and stand with them in that place out of hearing of the rest of the Company about a quarter of an hour and their Lordships and Mr. Dugdale did Discourse together all that time as this Informant verily believes this Informant being in their sight all that time but not in their hearing Thomas Jordan 15 die January 1680. Signed then in the presence of Thomas Whitbey Edward Foden The Information of William Suelson of Great-Haywood Nailer taken upon Oath before Sir Bryan Broughton Knight and Barronet Jan. 13. 1680. WHo saith that about Michaelmas was two years he saw the Lord Stafford walking alone with Mr. Stephen Dugdale upon Tixall Bowling-Alley And this Informant saith that he knew the Lord Stafford as well as the one hand from the other for he hath often seen him at Tixall William Suelson Jurat ' coram me B. Broughton The Information of Richard Parkin of Shutburrough in the County of Stafford taken upon Oath in Stafford before James Lewes of the Burrough of Stafford and Thomas Blake and Sampson Byrch Justices of the said Burrough Staff ss WHo upon his Oath saith that in the Summer time in the year of our Lord Christ 1677. he saw William late Viscount Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale together by themselves and none else with them in the Court at Tixall betwixt Tixall Hall and the Stables there And also that he this Informant saw the said Lord Stafford and the said Mr. Dugdale together and none else with them upon a Hempland belonging to Walter Eld of Tixall Rich. Parkin his A Mark Signed in the presence of William Southall 15. Jan. 1680. Jurat ' coram James Lewes Tho. Blake Samp. Byrch Vera Copia The Information of Tho. Creswell of Little-Haywood Cordwayner Januar. 11. 1680. Staff WHo saith that in the Summer time in the year of our Lord 1676. he was at Tixall to ride Horses and about a month before Michaelmas the Lord Stafford took him to be his Page with whom he lived a year and a quarter within that time my Lord Stafford was three or four times at Tixall and staied sometimes two or three nights together and three or four mornings he hath sent this Informant to see for Stephen Dugdale and bid him come to him for to speak with him And this Informant saith that he hath seen him at the least three times go into the Parlour to my
these Depositions that he had not only more than an ordinary Reputation in my Lord Aston's Family the management of my Lords chiefest Concernments being entrusted with him but that he was highly valued by the whole Countrey for Candor Integrity Justice and Truth beyond what other Papists under all the Recommendation of Birth Breeding and Inheritance could arrive unto And as to be accounted and stiled Honest Mr. Dugdale was the greatest honour that a virtuous ambition could make him aspire unto so his Temper and whole Conduct since called forth to appear on a more publick Theatre do proclaim him every way worthy of that Compellation And this Character which he obtained in Staffordshire doth so correspond with what we have seen and observed of him in London that all impartial men do readily acknowledge the justness of it And whereas my Lord Stafford protested in the presence of God that as he was never with him alone so he never spake to him but once and that only concerning a Foot-man Here are proofs neither to be distrusted nor contradicted that he had both frequent conversation with him and admitted him into those privacies which others were debarred and shut out from And indeed by the familiarity he entertained him with and the sequestring themselves from all other Company whensoever they discoursed together we may easily imagine what was the Subject they treated about For what else should recommend another Persons Servant to those Privacies which my Lord Stafford vouchsafed Mr. Dugdale or prefer one of so mean a Rank to be selected from among the company of the best Gentlemen to be discoursed with apart but that there was some important Design on foot of which they two were particularly conscious And could this in probability be any other than the mighty Affair of destroying the King and overthrowing the Protestant Religion which the whole Papal Party had so long designed and were at that time filled with the highest confidences of accomplishing § 12. The next thing that lies before us is the consideration of this late Lords renouncing all knowledge of Mr. Turbervill and with what solemnity he abjured the having so much as at any time seen him For having at his Trial not only declared that he never saw him before in his life he repeats it in his Speech upon the Scaffold and withall avers upon his Death and Salvation that he never spake one word to Mr. Turbervill or to his knowledge ever saw him until his Trial. Some possibly may be ready to believe that my Lord Viscount Stafford had the gift of forgetfulness and that the Papists by a peculiar Donation remember nothing that may either asperse themselves or the interest of the Catholick Cause But as they can not tell us where such a priviledge is bequeathed unto them so we shall make it appear by irrefragable Testimonies that he was well acquainted with Mr. Turbervill and that the spring of this misadventure in denying it was not the weakness of his Memory but the badness of his Conscience Nor shall I insist upon the Testimony of Mr. Mort who being produced at the Trial of my Lord Stafford deposed that being acquainted with Mr. Turbervill at Paris the said Turbervill did to the best of his remembrance tell him that his Brother who was a Monk had introduced him into the favour of my Lord Stafford and that once being in company with Mr. Turbervill the said Mr. Turbervill withdrew from him to speak with that Lord and that he the said Mort walk'd about Luxemburg-house till his return For though this Testimony doth mightily strengthen Mr. Turbervills Evidence being agreeable in several circumstances with what he declared yet forasmuch as the whole is to be found in the Printed Relation of my Lord Staffords Trial together with the great and convincing improvement which an excellent Person made of it I shall therefore decline enlarging upon it and shall proceed to advance two other Depositions demonstrative of this late Lords insincerity and falsehood in renouncing before God and men the having had any former knowledge of Mr. Turbervill The Information of John Showter Gent. one of the Clerks in the Crown-Office in Chancery taken upon Oath this 3th day of January 1680. before me Edmond Warcupp Esq one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace in the said County and City Middl. Westm. ss THis Informant saith that about six or seven years ago he did frequently resort to the Chappel at Tart-Hall to Mass the then House of William late Viscount Stafford and one of those times he met there one Mr. Glassie who asked this Informant a List of the Names of the Justices of the Peace in Shropshire which List some few days afterwards this Informant carried to Tart-Hall and delivered it to the said Glassie who in kindness invited this Informant to drink a Glass of Wine in the Cellar and two other Gentlemen went to drink with them and after some time this Informant asked the said Mr. Glassie who a Tall thin Gentleman was who was then one of the Company who answered his name was Turbervill and that he belonged to the Lady Molineux and this Informant cannot positively say that Mr. Edward Turbervill now produced was the same Person then in his Company but believes he may be the same by his stature and thinness only his Hair did then look like a Perriwig and was much longer than it is now And he further saith that he verily believes he saw the said Mr. Turbervill at least forty times in the said House up and down so commonly that he believed the said Turbervill to be one of the Lord Staffords Family and did likewise see him several times at Mass at the said House John Showter Jurat ' die Anno supradicto coram me Edmond Warcupp Vera Copia Ex ' per me Edmond Warcupp The Information of Colonel John Scott taken upon Oath the 13th day of February 1680. before me Edmond Warcupp Esq one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace in the said County and City Middl. Westm. ss THis Informant saith that he was at Paris in France in the month of November 1675. and there met William late Viscount Stafford whom this Informant was well acquainted with in a Cedan in the Street called Rue de Neuf Fosse about the 18th or 20th of the said November who called to this Informant inviting him to his Lodgings which he then said was in a Street called La Rue de Pornoung at a Corner House at the lower end of that Street the upper end whereof is fronted by Luxemburgh-house to which Lodging this Informant went the next day and was introduc'd into his Lordships Chamber who complain'd of a lameness which the Informant judg'd to be the Gout and this Informant visited him several times afterwards in his Chamber which was a lower Room in the said Corner House about the latter end of the said month of November 1675. when a certain Person
Lord Stafford and his Gentleman and as soon as Mr. Dugdale came in his Gentleman came out and he remained single with the Lord Stafford and at several other places he hath seen my Lord Stafford with Mr. Stephen Dugdale The Information of Sampson Rawlins of Tixall in the County of Stafford Taylor Staff WHo informeth that in the latter end of Summer in the year of our Lord 1678. the Lord Stafford being then at Tixall he this Informant saw the said Lord Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale walk together in Tixall Hall and after some time they had been together walking themselves the said Mr. Dugdale went and fetcht the Lord Aston to the said Lord Stafford The Informations above written were taken upon Oath the 11th of January 1680. before Henry Vernon Esq one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Stafford in the presence of me William Southall The Information of Thomas Robinson of Ingestry in the County of Stafford Husbandman taken upon Oath the two and twentieth day of January in the year 1680. before James Lewes Mayor of the Burrough of Stafford and Sampson Byrch Justice of Peace for the said Burrough Staff ss THis Informant saith that in the month of September 1678. he this Informant being then at Tixall Hall he saw William late Viscount Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale come together and none else with them out of a Garden belonging to Tixall Hall and afterwards they both walked together themselves in the Walks nigh to the said Garden but what Discourse they had this Informant knows not And at another time after the time aforesaid the said late Viscount Stafford came to Tixall Hall on Horseback and the said Mr. Dugdale meeting his Lordship and after he had saluted him and shewed his obedience to his Lordship they both did walk themselves together into Tixall Hall and none else with them Thomas Robinson his Mark. Jur ' apud Stafford vicesimo secundo die Januarii Anno Regni Caroli secundi nunc Ang. xxxii coram nobis James Lewes Mayor Sampson Byrch The Information of Ann Hinckley Wife of Samuel Hinckley of Penckrich in the County of Stafford Cordwayner taken upon Oath the ninth day of Febr. 1680. before Richard Congreve Esq one of his Majesties Justices of Peace for the County aforesaid VVHo saith that in or about the month of August one thousand six hundred seventy and eight this Informant went with her Husband to Tixall in the said County to speak with Mr. Stephen Dugdale and coming to one Elds House in Tixall her Husband desired her to go into Tixall Hall to look for the said Mr. Dugdale and when she came into the said Hall she saw the said Mr. Dugdale with an ancient Gentleman in the said Hall standing both together and talking and after some time this Informant asked one Joseph Tarbox who stood with this Informant who that Gentleman was who told her it was the Lord Stafford And she saw at that time the said Lord Stafford pull a Paper out of his Pocket and gave it to the said Mr. Dugdale to read and after Mr. Dugdale had looked on the said Paper he gave it again to the said Lord Stafford And she further saith that she continued in sight of the said Lord Stafford and Mr. Dugdale above the space of half an hour and during that time there was no person with them And she further saith that afterwards Mr. Dugdale came to this Informant and bid her go to one Dorothy Aldridges in Tixall aforesaid and he would come to her which she did taking her Husband with her and being there with Mr. Dugdale he the said Mr. Dugdale after some Discourse told this Informant that he must go again to the said Lord Stafford for he had earnest business with him And further saith that both in the said Hall and the said Aldridges House she heard Mr. Dugdale say that the Person he was talking with was the Lord Stafford Anne Hinkley A her Mark. She is a Papist Die Anno predict ' Jurat ' coram me Rich. Congreve The Information of John Boulton of the Burrough of Stafford Sadler taken upon Oath at Stafford aforesaid before Tho. Blake and Sampson Byrch his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the said Burrough on the 19th day of January 1680. Stafford Burrough ss VVHo saith that in the Summer time about the year of our Lord Christ 1678. he saw the Lord Stafford on a Bowling-day on the Bowling-Green at Tixall amongst many Gentlemen and saw Mr. Stephen Dugdale come to the said Green and saw the Lord Stafford go from the other Gentlemen and meet the said Mr. Dugdale and ask him where he had been Mr. Dugdale answered he had been at Haywood and had got some Betts about a Race after which this Informant saw the said Lord Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale withdraw themselves at a further distance from the said Company and there continued without any other Company than themselves for the space of almost a quarter of an hour John Boulton Signed in the presence of William Southall Jurat ' die Anno predict ' coram Tho. Blake Sam. Byrch The Information of Semer Ansell of Shutburrough in the County of Stafford Skinner taken upon Oath in the Burrough of Stafford the two and twentieth day of January 1680. before James Lewes Esq Mayor of the Burrough of Stafford and Sampson Byrch one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace of the said Burrough Staff ss VVHo saith in the Summer time in the year of our Lord 1678. he saw William late Lord alias Viscount Stafford and Mr. Stephen Dugdale talking together at a place called Ruffecroft-Gate in Tixall and no other Person with them and they both continued together themselves there above a quarter of an hour in the sight of this Informant who staied to speak with the said Mr. Dugdale and within few days after he this Informant saw the said late Lord Stafford and Mr. Dugdale together themselves and none else with them in the place called the Hall in Tixall for the space of above half an hour and afterwards both of them went together into the great Parlour into Tixall Hall Semer Ansell Jur ' apud Stafford xxxii die Januarii Anno Regni Caroli secundi nunc Ang. xxxii coram nobis James Lewes Sampson Byrch Now though these be but a few of the many Depositions which we could have produced to this purpose yet they are enough to detect the Imposture and Perjury of the late Viscount Stafford and to convince the World what little Credit is to be given to a Papist in the solemnest appeals which he makes to God and that in those very Circumstances when the worst of men are usually found to be candid and ingenuous For whereas Mr. Dugdale hath been represented as an infamous Person and one that neither my Lord Aston nor any other Gentlemen put the least confidence in or esteemed worthy of common Respect it is made fully evident by
who did not And for one of my Lords two Witnesses namely Mr. Sambich his deafness might excuse him in saying he heard no such thing though at the same nearness to Mr. Dugdale when the words were spoken as Mr. Hanson or Mr. Ansell were And besides though his deafness hindred his hearing Mr. Dugdale when he communicated that morning the news of the Murther nevertheless he had so far arrived at the knowledge of it some time or other that day that he acquainted Charles Chetwyn Esq with it in the Afternoon as the said Charles Chetwyn Esq deposed upon Oath at the Tryal of the Jesuits and upon the occasion I have mentioned this Gentleman I shall crave Liberty to rectifie one mistake in the Printed Relation of that Tryal which is that whereas Charles Chetwyn Esq swore this was told him by Sambich on Monday as Edward Smith Esq and Bencher of the Middle Temple and Justice Warcup who were both present at the said Tryal are ready to depose yet through the fault either of the Printer or of him that took the Tryal Tuesday is set down in the Published Account But to proceed to Mr. Phillips the other witness produced to detract from the credit of Mr. Dugdale in this matter where we desire to observe that together with the denyal of his having heard any such words he denyed likewise his being at that Ale-house either that day or the following which as none about Tixall who know his constant custom of visiting Eld's once or twice a day can easily believe so he appears plainly to be a very bold and venturous person in taking upon him to say that he was not such a day in a house where he used constantly to resort and this after such a compass of time wherein without reflection upon the weakness of his memory he may be supposed not to remember what he either did or where he was so long before But besides this we have something else to add whereby the Authority of this Parson against a Protestant is everlastingly blasted and supplanted For whereas he thought to recommend his Testimony by pretending himself a Minister of the Church of England there is an Information given upon Oath before Justice Warcup against him that he the said Phillips declared his readiness to renounce the Protestant Religion and forsake the Communion of the Church of England providing a competent Annual Provision could be settled upon him for the maintenance of himself and his Wife and Children And pursuant hereunto he employed a friend to treat with my Lord Aston about it who being very fond of a Proselyte of such a character undertook to charge himself with the care of him and his family But at the same time under the influence of Father Evers counsel he advised him to continue his station for a season where he was for by pretending himself still a Minister of the Church of England he remains better qualified and more capacitated to promote the Romish Interest than if he should immediately pull off his Mask and vouch himself openly for a Papal Convert And surely no man can believe him to be a competent witness against the Credit and Reputation of a Protestant that is first willing to abjure his Religion upon so base motives and then proceeds upon as ill inducements to dissemble the Profession of a Religion which he hath declared himself unsatisfied in and ready to renounce He that is not afraid to deal falsly in a matter of so great importance as Religion will not scruple to transgress the rules of Justice and prevaricate from the lines of Truth in moral Concernments And especially when the acquitting himself as he did may be supposed his Probationership for his plenary admission into the bosom of the Roman Church and the Compensation he was to make for the annual Pension that was to be settled upon him nor ought it to surprise any Protestant or True Englishman that they have been able to muster up some few persons to detract from the esteem of Mr. Dugdale if we do but consider the Methods they have used by Bribery and Subornation to effect and accomplish it or that they have proceeded further than to lessen his Reputation namely by offers of money to engage men to destroy him and in reference to the first I shall produce the Testimony of Simon Wright one whom I briefly mentioned before this person being known to have been well acquainted with Mr. Dugdale for that he used in quality of a Barber frequently to trim him was accordingly applied unto by Mr. Plessington and proffered seven hundred pounds if he would appear as a Witness to take off his Evidence or if he would destroy and assassinate him And for his security as to the obtaining of the money if he would have complied with the proposal both Mr. Reeves an Apothecary in Chancery-Lane and Mr. Deway the Scriviner tendred him their several obligatory notes Yea they framed a Paper for him wherein he was to testifie that Mr. Dugdale had suborned and hired him to swear against Sir James Symons and Mr. Gerrard two Persons accused about the Plot which they prevailed with him by money and promises to set his hand unto and would have persuaded him to make an Affidavit upon it before a Justice of Peace the tenor of which Paper being directed to Sir James Symons was as followeth I can bless God with a safe Conscience declare upon Oath that Mr. Dugdale hath been unkind to me in taking his opportunity of my poverty by reason of a private meeting of us two by his appointment He did at that time preffer if I would swear against you and Mr. Gerrard he would protect me as one of the King's Evidence and I should not want money And now as this Paper alone is sufficient to detect the waies and methods they have used for overthrowing the Reputation of Mr. Dugdale so the Providence of God is to be acknowledged in the infatuation of my Lord Stafford who to the blasting of the Papal Cause and the evidencing of his and others guilt in the present Conspiracy produced it For being in their hands it was in their power to have suppressed it as it appears by the Testimony of Wright they did another Paper of much more consequence to which also they had suborned hired and wheedled him to set his hand And as if it had not been enough to endeavour to corrupt persons to swear falsly against him they have dealt with some to assassinate and kill him as appears not only by the Informations of the aforesaid Simon Wright who was to have stabbed him and by the Informations of Thomas Lander who they would have perswaded to put fire to the Room where Mr. Dugdale lay and to burn him in his Bed both which Informations are published lately by Thomas Symmons at the Prince's Arms in Ludgate-Street but also by the following deposition of Simon Ansell The Information of Simon Ansell as
came in whom this Informant took to be one of his Lordships Domesticks and told his Lordship that one Mr. Turbervill would speak with him whereupon this Informant having no other business but visit and respect and believing his Lordship might have some business with that Gentleman offer'd to withdraw but his Lordship would not permit it saying Mr. Turbervill might come another time but before answer was return'd the said Gentleman came into the Room which his Lordship perceiving said Mr. Turbervill you have not so much hast or so much to do but I may see you again to morrow upon which the said Gentleman bow'd his body and retir'd And this Informant further saith that Mr. Edward Turbervill now produc't is very like to the said Gentleman in Stature whom the said Lord Stafford then called Mr. Turbervill but this Informant cannot positively say he is the same man by reason he had so short an Interview and his Hair is shorter than that Gentleman 's was but he believes him to be the same Gentleman he saw in my Lord Staffords Room as aforesaid and this Informant was so much satisfied that Mr. Edward Turbervill is the same Person that he saw in Paris in November 1675. that he offer'd Justice Warcupp a day or two before his Lordships Execution to go with him to the said Lord in the Tower or with any other Person to endeavour to Convince his Lordship that one Turbervill and probably Mr. Edward Turbervill was the same Person he saw at Paris in November 1675. as is aforesaid John Scott Jurat ' die Anno supradict ' cor'me Edmond Warcupp Nor let any object that these Gentlemen are not positive that the Mr. Turbervill who testified against my Lord Stafford is the same person whom they saw in the places forementioned and referred unto seeing all the peculiar and descriptive accidents which they observed in the one are found in the other except that his Hair differs in length and cut which any mans may do in two days time from what it then did Nor are they able to assign any other Gentleman of that Name unto whom we may apply what is here Sworn and Deposed And the modesty with which these Persons do express and deliver themselves instead of detracting from the probability of their Testimony doth greatly add to the weight and moral certainty of what they say If this therefore be true that my Lord Stafford not only frequently saw Mr. Turbervill as his being a kind of Domestick in his House as Mr. Showters Deposition doth imply but that he treated him with that familiarity which Colonel Scotts Information doth import there can then be nothing more evident than that my Lord Stafford was wholly regardless of the truth of what he said and that he died guilty of a high prophanation of the Name of God and in a desperate contempt of all that should be preserved sacred by taking it upon his Salvation that he never spake one word to Mr. Turbervill or to his knowledge ever saw him until his Trial. And if he could assume the impudence to aver that he never saw Mr. Turbervill when the acknowledging of it would of it self have derived no danger upon him we may very reasonably believe that notwithstanding his being never so Criminal he would abjure the Treasons which Mr. Turbervill charged him with it being so much his interest to do so So well assured was Colonel Scott that this very Turbervill who gave Evidence against my Lord Stafford at the Bar is the same Person whom he heard my Lord call by that Name in his Lodgings at Paris that he offered to go with Justice Warcupp to the Tower to convince the said Lord of it and this Mr. Justice Warcupp is not only ready to testifie to any that shall enquire of him but hath been pleased to declare it in the Paper that is here subjoyned I Do humbly certifie that Colonel John Scott did according as he hath Sworn in an Information hereunto prefixed offer me in a Coffee-House commonly called Richard ' s Coffee-House near Temple-Bar a day or two before the Execution of William late Viscount Stafford to go to him in the Tower for the purposes contained in the said Information But I told him I had no access to the said Lord and therefore advised him to wait on the Right Honourable William Lord Howard of Escrick who being the Kinsman of the said late Viscount Stafford might have access to him in the Tower and his Lordship being a great lover of Truth would without doubt upon his the said Colonel Scott ' s application to his Lordship go with him to the Tower before the Death of the said William late Viscount Stafford Witness my hand this 24. of February 1680. Edmond Warcupp § 13. Having laid open the Perjuries as well as the Insincerity of this late Lord in reference to Mr. Dugdale and Mr. Turbervill that which we are next to apply unto is how far his word ought to be relied upon in reference to the Characters which he fastens upon Dr. Oats and how far we are to give credit to him in his renouncing the having seen the Doctor before he appeared at the Bar to testifie against him Various have been the endeavours to stain and eclipse the Reputation of Dr. Oats but all of them have been over-ruled unto and issued in the raising his Honour and Esteem They very well knew that could they but once undermine and supplant the credit of that Person the detracting from the credit of all the other Witnesses would be a province which with some probability of success they might then go about and attempt For as all the rest do but confirm and explain what he at first revealed and detected so were the Papal Party but once able to convince the World that he were an Impostor most men though it would be never so contrary to the Rules of Justice would immediately entertain suspicions of all the rest And if we may believe the Papists in the Account and Reports which they divulge either of the Doctors Intellectuals or Prudentials we can not apprehend that he was able to invent and frame this Plot and consequently that the most which his Parts are adopted unto is only to be a Discoverer of what more Politick heads had contrived and projected And by how much they think to reproach him by detracting from the comprehensiveness of his Understanding or the discretion of his Conduct by so much do they assure all the World that this Conspiracy was not invented or forged by him And though I very much question whether any that reflect upon his Conduct would have comported themselves so well under his Circumstances and Provocations yet his very failours and infirmities are useful to confirm us that he found this Conspiracy laid and formed to his hand and that the meer disclosure and detection of it is all that can be ascribed unto him or that he can be allowed to bear