standing at the Gate from ten to one at night averr'd that he saw no Sedan let forth But in regard the Sentinels could not be so positive but that they might be mistaken by reason of the darkness of the night and privacy of the conveighance their Evidence was not thought substantial It was further urg'd by Hill that Mr. Praunce had been tortur'd to make him confess what he did But Mr. Praunce upon his oath utterly deny'd any such thing affirming that the Keeper had us'd him with all civility from his first commitment So that the evidence for the Prisoners being so far from overpowring the testimony for the King that it was in no measure able to ballance it the Jury soon found them all guilty upon which they severally receiv'd sentence to be hang'd The execution of which sentence follow'd upon the twenty first ensuing March 1678 9. But now the time of the new Parliaments sitting drawing near toward the beginning of this month his Majesty that he might remove all fears and jealousies out of the minds of his subjects thought meet to command his Royal Highness to absent himself for a time Who thereupon in obedience to his Majesties pleasure together with his Dutchess took leave of his Majesty upon the third of March and after a short visit to his Daughter the Princess of Orange in Holland retired to Bruxells in Flanders He was no sooner departed but the Parliament which had been so lately summon'd before met according to the time appointed at Westminster So soon as they were ready the King went in his Barge to Westminster and there in a Gracious Speech upon which the Chancellour afterwards enlarg'd His Majesty acquainted both Houses what he himself expected and what the Countrey stood in need of from their Unanimous and Prudent Consultations The Speeches being ended the Commons return to their House and choose again the Speaker of the last Parliament Mr. Edward Seymour This choice occasion'd their Prorogation from the twelfth to the fifteenth of the same month at what time being met again they chose Sergeant Gregory and caus'd him to take the Chair Before they fell upon business the members were all severally sworn and took the Test and being so cemented together they fell first upon the further prosecution of the Plot already discover'd to the Parliament not long before dissolv'd In reference to which affair Dr. Tong Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow were summon'd to attend them and to give their Informations Upon their appearing Dr. Tong gave a long Narraton which because it was tedious they further desir'd in writing Dr. Oates read his own depositions and when he had done made a complaint of some discouragements which he had receiv'd from some of the Members The complaint fell more severely upon one of them who having spoken some words in contempt of the Truth of the Plot was sent to the Tower and expell'd the House but soon after upon his modest Petition discharg'd from his imprisonment But whatever particular persons thought of the Plot the House of Commons were so well satisfy'd that they appointed a Committee of Secresie to take Informations prepare Evidences and draw up Articles against the Lords suspected to be therein concern'd By way of further prosecution also it was resolv'd that an humble address should be made to his Majesty that all the papers and writings relating to the discovery of the Plot and particularly such papers and writings which had been taken since the prorogation of the last Parliament might be deliver'd to the Committee of Secresie appointed to draw up Articles against the said Lords To which his Majesty was pleas'd to return for Answer that those papers and examinations were deliver'd to the Committee of the Lords from whence they should be sent to their Committee so soon as the Lords had done perusing them In the midst of these transactions they forgot not the Earl of Danby For upon the twentieth of this month they sent to the Lords to put them in mind of the Impeachment of High Treason exhibited against him in the name of the Commons and to desire that he might be forthwith committed to safe custody In answer to which at a Conference of both Houses the Duke of Monmouth acquainted them in the behalf of the Lords That their Lordships having taken into consideration matters relating to the Earl of Danby together with what his Majesty was pleas'd to say upon that Subject had order'd that a Bill should be brought in by which the said Earl should be made for ever incapable of coming into his Majesties presence and of all Offices and Employments and of receiving any gifts or grants from the Crown and of sitting in the House of Peers In the mean time the Commons having appointed a Committee to enquire into the manner of the suing forth the said Pardon made their report that they could not find the entry of any such Pardon in either of the Secretaries Offices nor in the Offices of the Signet or Privy Seal but that they found it to be a Pardon by Creation Thereupon the Commons send another Message to the Lords to demand Justice in the name of the Commons of England against the said Earl and that he might be immediately sequester'd from Parliament and committed to safe custody To which the Lords return'd that they had order'd before the coming of their last message the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod forthwith to take the said Earl into custody Soon after the Lords sent another Message to acquaint the Commons that they had sent both to Wimbleton and to his house in Town to apprehend the said Earl but that the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod could not find him April 1679. Thereupon the Commons order'd a Bill to be brought in to summon the said Earl to render himself to Justice by a day to be therein limited or in default thereof to attaint him Which Bill having pass'd the House was sent up to the Lords for their concurrence In the mean time the Lords had prepar'd a milder act of their own for the banishing and disabling the Earl of Danby which being rejected by the Commons the Lords desir'd a conference at which they deliver'd back the Bill of attainder choosing so to do by conference rather than by message to preserve a good understanding and to prevent Controversie between the two Houses And to shew the reason why they insisted upon their own amendments of the Bill for attainder it was urg'd that in regard the King had always in his reign been inclin'd to mercy and clemency to all his subjects the first interruption of his clemency ought not to proceed from his two houses This being reported an humble address to his Majesty was presently resolv'd upon to issue out his Royal Proclamation for the apprehending the Earl of Danby with the usual penalties upon those that should conceal him and that his Majesty would be also pleas'd further to give order to the
to the verdict of his Countrey A vanity excusable in him whose vanity had been his ruine and commonly practicable among offenders conceited of their Eloquence that pride themselves to be accompted Swans and the sweet singers of their own Epitaphs By the Conviction of Staly the malice of the Papists hearts appear'd though they conceal'd it with better discretion By the Conviction of Coleman the whole nation and they that doubted most were convinced of the truth of the design So that upon the 28th of Novemb. his Majesty was pleas'd toissue forth his Royal Proclamation wherein he promis'd pardon and 200 l. to any person concern'd in the Plot that would come in and discover before the 25. of December And within two days after his Majesty was also pleas'd to give his Royal assent to an Act to disable Papists to sit in either Houses of Parliament December All this while Colemans Execution was respited For as it was verily thought that he could discover much all endeavours were used to have brought him to a further Confession But he believing himself sure of a pardon from other hands would by no means give ear to those who he had more reason to think had his life at their disposal And therefore finding that he was obstinate to all propositions of grace and favour at length order was given for his Execution It was his misfortune to believe he should have his pardon to the last moment of his life even after he was tyed up But whoever they were those whom he thought his best friends deceiv'd him although to please them he gave thanks to heaven that he dyed a Roman Catholick and absolutely renounc'd the knowledge of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's death with which asseverations the Executioner did his office the third of this month An unhappy Martyr for his cause if he so thought himself in this that he dy'd for those that less pity'd him than those he had so deeply wronged and were as it is verily presum'd the chief rejoycers that they were so fairly rid of him Had Justice been ready with her prosecution he had not gone alone perhaps but might have had company to have attended him to his imaginary Paradise For upon the 15th of this month John Grove William Ireland and Tho. Pickering apprehended sometime before by the diligent pursuit of the discoverer were also brought to their Tryals at the Sessions in the Old-Baily The Names of the Jury were Sr. William Roberts Bar. Sr. Philip Matthews Bar. Sr. Charles Lee Knight Edward Wilford Esq John Foster Esq Joshua Galliard Esq John Byfield Esq Thomas Egglesfield Esq Thomas Johnson Esq John Pulford Esq Tho. Ernsby Esq Richard Wheeler Gent. The substance of the Indictment was for conspiring and attempting the death of his Sacred Majesty as also for endeavouring and contriving to alter the Religion established in the Nation and to introduce Popery in its room The particular Charges consisted in the particular proofs how every one of these Offenders was particularly concerned for the carrying on and effecting these designs To this purpose it was sworn by Dr. Oates That Whitebread received a Patent from the General of the Jesuites at Rome to be Provincial of the Order in these parts and by vertue of that Commission sent to St. Omers for several of the Society to make their appearance at London to the end they might be personally there at a Consult which was to be held the 24th of April Stilo Veteri That upon the receipt of the said Summons the 5th of April Nine of them of which the Discoverer was one did come to London That upon the said 24th of April the Consult was held at the White Horse Tavern accordingly and that the Prisoners at the Bar were there That it was there resolved that Pickering and Grove should go on in their attempt upon the King for which Grove was to have 1500 l. and Pickering the reward of 30000. Masses Which Result was also sign'd by the Prisoner Ireland That there was an Oath of Secrecy administer'd at the said Consult by Whitebread which Ireland took among the rest Mr. Bedlow swore That either in August or the beginning of September he was at Harcourt's Chamber where it was resolv'd that since the Ruffians had miss'd Killing of the King at Windsor Grove and Pickering should go on and that one Conyers should be joyn'd with them to assassinate the King in his morning walks at New-market and that Ireland was there also heard all and gave his consent Against Grove and Pickering it was sworn by Dr. Oates that he saw them several times walking together in the Park with their screw'd Pistols which were longer than ordinary Pistols but shorter than a Carbine That they had Silver Bullets and that Grove would have had the Bullets chew'd lest the wound should not have prov'd mortal That Pickering had once a fair opportunity but that the flint of his Pistol being loose he durst not venture to give fire and that for that negligence of his he was forc'd to undergo penance and to receive twenty or thirty strokes of Discipline That Grove did go about with one Smith to gather Peter-pence That Grove confess'd to him that he with three Irish-men did fire Southwark for which Grove had 400 l. and the three Irish-men 200 l. apiece Mr. Bedlow swore against Grove in particular that in the business of killing the King he was more forward than the rest and that he should say Since it could not be done clandestinely it should be openly attempted As to the reward he swore it to be the same with Dr. Oates before The defence which the Prisoners made was nothing but a bare denyal of the matter of Fact Only Ireland being charg'd in Aug. labour'd very much to prove that he was out of Town all that time though it were re-prov'd by very good circumstances and upon oath for the King that he was seen in London upon the 12. or 13th of the same month His next defence was a weak reflection upon Dr. Oates's credit to which purpose an Indictment for perjury never prosecuted was urg'd against him but the Attorney General made slight of it as of a thing that had nothing in it Neither was that which Sir Dennis Ashbornham said of greater force seeing that the irregularities of Children are no impediment but that they may prove good men So that the Endictment being fully prov'd against them by good witnesses and the concurrence of the Evidence in every particular the Jury made no long stay before they return'd and brought them in all Guilty After this the Court adjourn'd till the afternoon and then the Prisoners being again brought to the Bar were all three condemn'd to be Hang'd Drawn and Quarter'd While Humane Justice was thus employ'd upon Earth Divine Vengeance was no less active above No longer could it suffer innocent blood to clamour unreveng'd And therefore where Bedlow fail'd much about this time by a strange accident was Praunce
concluding Conference having agreed to the Bill without further amendments and therefore desir'd the concurrence of the Commons Thus at length the Commons agreed to the amendments made by the Lords and sent a message to acquaint the Lords therewith This was done upon the fourteenth day of this month But upon the sixteenth a Message was sent by the Lords to acquaint the Commons that the night before the Earl of Danby had render'd himself to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod and that being call'd to the Bar they had sent him to the Tower Thereupon a Committee was appointed to prepare and draw up further Evidence against him and such further Articles as they should see cause Soon after his Majesty was pleas'd to dissolve his Privy Council and to make another consisting of no more than thirty persons And for the management of the Treasury and Navy five Commissiones were appointed for the Treasury and seven for the Admiralty Then the Commons took into consideration the disbanding of the Army and having voted a supply of 264602 l. 17 s. 3 d. to that intent they then voted that Sr. Gilbert Gerrard Sr. Thomas Player Coll. Birch and Coll. Whitley should be Commissioners to pay the disbanded forces off But now to return to the Earl of Danby upon the 25th of this month a message was sent by the Lords to acquaint the Commons that the said Earl had that same day personally appear'd at the Bar of their House and had put in his plea to the Articles of Impeachment against him The Articles were these as they were deliver'd into the House of Lords in the name of the Commons of England by Sir Henry Capel December 23. 1678. I. That he had traiterously encroacht to himself Regal Power by treating in matters of Peace and War with Foreign Ministers and Embassadors and giving instructions to his Majesties Embassadors abroad without communicating the same to the Secretaries of State and the rest of his Majesties Council against the express Declaration of his Majesty in Parliament thereby intending to defeat and overthrow the provision that has been deliberately made by his Majesty and his Parliament for the safety and preservation of his Majesties Kingdoms and Dominions II. That he had traiterously endeavour'd to subvert the ancient and well-establish'd form of Government of this Kingdom and instead thereof to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical form of Government and the better to effect this his purpose he did design the raising of an Army upon pretence of a war against the French King and to continue the same as a standing Army within this Kingdom and an Army so rais'd and no war ensuing an Act of Parliament having past to disband the same and a great sum of money being granted for that end he did continue the same contrary to the said Act and mis-imploy'd the said money given for the disbanding to the continuance thereof and issued out of his Majesties Revenues great sums of money for the said purpose and wilfully neglected to take security of the Pay-master of the Army as the said Act required whereby the said Law is eluded and the Army yet continued to the great danger and unnecessary charge of his Majesty and the whole Kingdome III. That he trayterously intending and designing to alienate the hearts and affections of his Majesties good Subjects from his Royal Person and Government and to hinder the meeting of Parliaments and to deprive his Sacred Majesty of their safe and wholsom counsel and thereby to alter the constitution of the Government of this Kingdom did propose and negotiate a peace for the French King upon terms disadvantagious to the Interest of his Majesty and Kingdom For the doing whereof he did procure a great sum of money from the French King for enabling him to maintain and carry on his said traiterous designs and purposes to the hazard of his Majesties Person and Government IV. That he is Popishly affected and hath traiterously concealed after he had notice the late horrid and bloody Plot and Conspiracy contriv'd by the Papists against his Majesties Person and Government and hath suppress'd the Evidence and reproachfully discountenanc'd the Kings Witnesses in the Discovery of it in favour of Popery immediately tending to the destruction of the Kings Sacred Person and the subversion of the Protestant Religion V. That he hath wasted the Kings Treasure by issuing out of his Majesties Exchequer several branches of his Revenue for unnecessary Pensions and secret services to the value of 〈…〉 within two years and that he hath wholly diverted out of the known method and Government of the Exchequer one whole branch of his Majesties Revenue to private Uses without any accompt to be made of it to his Majesty in his Exchequer contrary to an express Act of Parliament which granted the same And he hath removed two of his Majesties Commissioners of that part of the Revenue for refusing to consent to such his unwarrantable actings therein and to advance money upon that branch of the Revenue for private uses VI. That he hath by indirect means procured from his Majesty to himself divers considerable gifts and Grants of Inheritances of the ancient Revenues of the Crown contrary to Acts of Parliament For which matters and things the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons in Parliament do in the name of themselves and of all the Commons of England impeach the said Thomas Earl of Danby Lord High Treasurer of England of High Treason and other high Crimes Misdemeanors and Offences in the said Articles contained And the said Commons by Protestation saving to themselves the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any other accusation or Impeachment against the said Earl and also of replying to the answers of which the said Thomas Earl of Danby shall make to the Premises or any of them or any Impeachment or Accusation which shall be by them exhibited as the cause according to proceedings of Parliament shall require Do pray that the said Thomas Earl of Danby may be put to answer all and every the Premises that such proceedings Tryals Examinations and Judgements may be upon them and every one of them had and used as shall be agreeable to Law and Justice and that he may be sequester'd from Parliament and forthwith committed to custody To these Articles the Earl of Danby soon after put in his Plea as follows The Plea of the Earl of Danby late Lord high Treasurer of England to the Articles of Impeachment and other High Crimes Misdemeanors and Offences Exhibited against him by the name of Thomas Earl of Danby Lord High Treasurer of England THE said Earl for Plea saith and humbly offers to your Lordships as to all and every the Treasons Crimes Misdemeanors and Offences contained or mention'd in the said Articles That after the said Articles exhibited namely the first of March now last past the Kings most excellent Majesty by his most gracious Letters of Pardon under his
attempt the killing of the same Prelate in the chief street of Edenburgh in the face of the Sun and of all the multitude Who dying for the fact and with an obdurate and sear'd zeal owning and justifying the fact led others so far astray into the violation of the Law of Nature that upon the third of this month deluded Devotion adventur'd to murther the Arch-bishop in the ensuing manner The Arch-bishop it seems was returning in his Coach from a Village in Fife called Kennoway toward the City of St. Andrews it self and was got within two miles of the place near to another small village called Magus There it was that the Coachman having spy'd several Horsemen gave his Lord notice of them and ask'd him whether he should not drive faster But the Arch-bishop not dreading any harm thought it not convenient to mend his pace When they drew near the Arch-bishops daughter look'd out and seeing them with Pistols in their hands cry'd out to the Coach-man to drive on And he had certainly out-driven them had not one Balfour of Kinlock being mounted upon a very fleet horse cunningly got before the Coach into which they had already discharg'd several shot in vain This Balfour finding he could not wound the Coachman because the Coach-mans whip frighted his Horse wounded the Postillian and disabled the fore horses Upon which the rest coming up one of them shot the Arch-bishop with a Blunderbuss as he sate in the Coach while others reproachfully call'd to him in these words Come forth vile Dog who hast betray'd Christ and his Church and receive what thou hast deserv'd for thy wickedness against the Kirk of Scotland While he was in the Coach one ran him through with a Sword under the shoulder the rest pulling him violently out of the Coach His daughter went out fell upon her knees and beg'd for mercy to her father but they beat her and trampl'd upon her The Primate with an extraordinary calmness of spirit said to 'em Gentlemen I know not that I ever injur'd any of you and if I did I promise ye I will make you what reparation you can propose To which they return'd no better Language than this Villain and Judas Enemy to God and his people thou shalt now have the reward of thy enmity to Gods people which words were follow'd with many mortal wounds of which one was a deep one above his eye He labour'd to make them apprehensive that he was a Minister and pulling off his Cap shew'd them his grey hairs intreating them withal that if they would not spare his life yet that they would at least allow him some little time for prayer But their barbarous and inhumane answer was That God would not hear so base a Dog as he was and as to the desire of Quarter they told him That the strokes they were then about to give were those which he was to expect Notwithstanding all which inhumane usage and a shot that pierc'd his body above his right Pap and several blows that cut his hands while he was holding them up to Heaven in prayer he rais'd himself upon his knees and utter'd these few words God forgive you all After which by reason of many gashes that cut his scull in pieces he fell down dead At which time some of the Murtherers believing that they heard him groan return'd saying he was of the nature of a Cat and therefore they would go back and hack him a little better for the Glory of God And so having stirr'd about his brains with the points of their Swords they took an oath of the servants not to reveal their names and then bidding them take up their Priest they rode back to Magus crying out aloud That Judas was kill'd and from thence made their escape All this while at London the Parliament continue their prosecution of the Earl of Danby and in order thereunto the lower House resolve that the Pardon of the Earl of Danby was illegal and void and not to be allow'd in Bar of the Impeachment of the Commons of England Thereupon the whole House with the Speaker went up to the Lords to whom the Speaker made this following Address My Lords The Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament assembled are come up to demand Judgement in their own names and in the names of all the Commons of England against Thomas Earl of Danby who stands by them impeach'd before your Lordships of High Treason and diverse high Crimes and Misdemeanors To which he has pleaded a Pardon which Pardon the Commons conceive to be illegal and void and therefore they do demand Judgement accordingly Thereupon the Lords appointed a short day for hearing the Earl what he could say to make good the plea of his Pardon Nor was his Majesty himself less careful of the safety of the Nation who finding or at least fore-seeing the ill consequences of these continu'd debates thereupon sent a Message to the Commons wherein he desir'd them to secure the Fleet to proceed in the discovery of the Plot the Tryal of the Lords in the Tower and the Bill for securing the Protestant Religion For all which they appointed a certain day of consideration but before they proceeded they made an Address to his Majesty against the Duke of Lauderdale as a person who being in high trusts and employments about his Majesty had by his arbitrary and destructive Counsels tending to the subversion the rights and liberty of of the subject endeavour'd to alienate the hearts of his Majesties good subjects from his Majesty and Government and more particularly had contriv'd and endeavour'd to raise jealousies and misunderstandings between England and Scotland And therefore they most humbly besought his Majesty to remove him from his Counsels both in Scotland and England from all Offices Imployments and places of Trust and from his Majesties presence for ever And to shew that they did not this out of disobedience but affection presently after they declar'd in a full house That in defence of his Majesties person and the Protestant Religion they would stand by his Majesty with their lives and fortunes and that if his Majesty should come to any untimely end which God forbid they would revenge it to the utmost upon the Papists And now the Bill for the disbanding of the Army being compleated and having pass'd both Houses was confirm'd and receiv'd its last consummation by the Kings Royal Assent So that the Commissioners appointed by the house for that purpose had liberty to attend that particular service In the mean time the Commons perceiving that there was a day appointed for the Earl of Danby to make good the plea of his Pardon by Council order'd that no Commoner should presume to maintain the validity of the Pardon pleaded by the said Earl without the consent of the House and that the person so doing should be accompted a betrayer of the liberty of the Commons of England Next day the Earl appear'd and put in his
that their Lordships did intend in all their proceedings upon Impeachments depending at that time before their Lordships to follow the usual course and methods of Parliament and therefore the Commons could not apprehend what should induce their Lordships to address to his Majesty for a Lord High Steward in order to the determining the validity of the Pardon which had been pleaded by the Earl of Danby to the Impeachment of the Commons as also for the Tryal of the other five Lords for that they conceiv'd the Constituting of a High Steward was not necessary in regard that judgment might be given in Parliament without a High Steward For which reasons and for that there were several other matters contain'd in their Lordships Message touching the Tryals of the Lords impeach'd which if not settled might occasion several Interruptions and Delays in the Proceedings Therefore the House of Commons did propose to their Lordships that a Committee of both Houses might be appointed to consider of the most proper ways and methods of proceedings upon Impeachments by the House of Commons according to the usage of Parliament that those Inconveniences might be avoided The Reasons of the Commons being thus deliver'd the Lords desir'd another upon the Conference before going wherein they declar'd that they could not agree to a Committee of both Houses because they did not think it conformable to the Rules and Orders of Proceedings of that Court which always was ever ought to be tender in matters relating to their Judicature Upon the report of this Answer the Commons voted that it tended to the Interruption of the good Correspondency between the two Houses and therefore desir'd another Conference with the Lords There the Commons declar'd their care to prevent all interruptions of a good Correspondence between the two Houses which as they were desirous at all times to preserve so was it more especially necessary at such a conjuncture when the most heinous Delinquents were to be brought to Justice that the Enemies of the King and Kingdom might have no hopes left them to see it obstructed by any difficulties arising in the way of proceeding And therefore in Answer to the last Conference it was urg'd That their Lordships did not offer any Answer or satisfaction to the Commons in their necessary Proposals amicably propounded by way of supposition that they might have been confirm'd therein by their Lordships That their Lordships did intend in all their Proceedings upon the Impeachments now depending before their Lordships to follow the usual course and methods of Parliament And further their Lordships had not given the least Answer or satisfaction to the Commons concerning their Lordships addressing to the King for a Lord High Steward though the Commons propos'd their design of satisfaction in as cautious terms as could be on purpose to avoid all disputes about Judicature Thereupon the sence of the Commons was thus summ'd up that They to avoid all Interruptions and Delays in the proceedings against the Lords impeach'd and the inconveniencies that should arise thereby having propos'd to their Lordships that a Committee of both Houses might be nominated to consider of the most proper means and methods of proceedings upon Impeachments and receiving no other Answer from the Lords save onely That they did not think it conformable to the Rules and Orders of the Proceeding of their Court without any Reason assign'd judg'd the said Answer to be a refusal of them to agree with the Commons in appointing such a Committee though heretofore not deny'd when ask'd upon the like occasion and at that time desir'd purposly to avoid disputes and delays So that in fine the sence of the House being thus deliver'd by Mr. Hambden at length he told the Lords that he had commands to acquaint them that things standing so upon their Answer the Commons could not proceed in the Tryal of the Lords before the Method of proceedings were adjusted between the two Houses However this difference was soon passed over had not a large debate interven'd For soon after the Lords sent down a Message to acquaint the Commons That they had appointed a Committee of twelve Lords to meet a Committee of the House of Commons in the inner Court of Wards to consider of propositions and circumstances relating to the Tryal of the Lords in the Tower In the midd'st of these Debates his Majesty was pleas'd to send a Message to the House by Mr. Powle to the following purport That His Majesty had already at the first meeting of Parliament and since by a word or two mention'd the Necessity of having a Fleet out at Sea that Summer yet the season for preparing being advanc'd and our neighbors before us in preparation He could not hold himself discharg'd towards His people if He did not then with more earnestness Commend the same to their present Care and Consideration and the rather from the dayly expectation of the return of the Fleet from the Streights to which a great Arrear was due and did hereby acquit Himself of all the evil Consequences which the want of a Fleet in such a juncture might produce Neither had He done this without considering that their Entring upon the work presently could be no hindrance to the great Affairs upon the House but rather a security in the dispatch thereof However it were the Consideration of this Message was Adjourned for a Week and their former Debates resum'd if they were at all interrupted For now the Committees of Lords and Commons having met two Propositions were made by the Commoners to see the Commission of Lord High Steward and other Commissions In the second place they desired to know what Resolutions had been taken touching the Lords Spiritual whither they should be absent or present As to the first the Lords acquainted them with an Order which they had made that the Office of a High Chamberlain upon the Tryal of Peers upon Impeachment was not necessary to the House of Peers but that the Lords might proceed upon such Tryals though a High Steward were not appointed The Lords also farther declar'd that a Lord High Steward was made hac vice onely that notwithstanding the making of a Lord High Steward the Court remain'd the same and was not thereby alter'd but still remain'd the Court of Peers in Parliament As to the second Proposition the Lords communicated the Resolution of the Peers which was this that the Lords Spiritual had a right to stay in Court in Capital Causes till such time as judgment of Death comes to be pronounced or rather as by a farther explanation of the said Resolution the Lords made it out till the Court proceeded to the Vote of Guilty or not Guilty In the first place the Commons took exception at the words in the Commission of the Lord High Steward for Tryal of the Earl of Danby which were these Ac pro eo quod Officium Seneschalli Angliae cujus praesentia in hac parte requiritur ut
Victime to their stupid Fury to prevent the Sacrifice of three whole Nations and save the Offering of Royal Blood to their cruel Idolatry After the business was fully done Prance and Berry came from their Posts and then they all set to work to remove the Body which they carried in at a door right against the place where he was murthered and so into a little Room in Doctor Goddin's Lodgings where Hill lived and where they placed the Corps with the back leaning against a bed There the Body lay all Saturday Night Sunday all Day and Night till Munday at Night but then they carried it into another Room cross the upper Court of Somerset House There it continued all Monday and Tuesday till nine a Clock and then Girald Kelly Green Hill and Berry took him out of that Room and removed him into another opposite to Doctor Goddin's door supposed to belong to Sir John Arundel's Lodgings There the Body lay from Tuesday Night till Wednesday about nine a Clock at Night and then the five forementioned persons removed it again to the Room in Doctor Goddin's Lodgings where it first lay In this removal they were frighted by Mr. Prance's coming so that they ran away and left the Body for a while but being call'd to by Mr. Prance and knowing his Voice they return'd to their Labour Having thus several times removed the Body they entered into a deep debate how and where to dispose of it for their best security The result of which was that he should be carried into the fields and laid in some obscure place in such a manner that when ever he should be found it might be supposed that he had Murdered himself And this they thought would be much for the Interest of the Church when it should come to be known that he who was so busie in charging the Catholics with a Plot had been afterwards so troubled in mind as to kill himself and therefore it was agreed that none of his Money or other things should be meddled with This result being well approved of they resolved to carry away the Body that Night being the sixteenth of October To which purpose Hill procured a Sedan late in the Night into which they forced in the Body by bending it into a fit posture When they had got the Body in they carried it over the Court-yard toward the Lodge and then giving a Hem which was the sign Berry came forth and opened the Gate and so with Heart and good Will away went Prance and Girald first with their burthen as far as Covent-Garden where they were relieved by two more who Footed it on as far as Long-Acre then Girald and Prance took up their load again and carried it to the Grecian Church near Soho When they had the Murdered Cavalier there having a Horse ready they forced open his Legs and mounted him astride and then set up Hill behind to hold him up steady at which time Girald spoke these words I wish we had a hundered such Rogues as secure as this Then Hill Girald Kelly and Green attended upon him in such manner that he seemed to ride in great State one leading the Horse and the other two walking on each side and so they conveyed the Body to a field near Primrose Hill where they laid it in a Ditch first run through with his own Sword and left his Scabbard and Gloves at a distance not far off The next Morning the Murderers met and gave an account of it to Mr. Prance who went no farther than Soho and in a paper set down a Narrative of their Heroic Act. Nor is it unlikely but that it was sent to Rome where it found as great Approbation and caused as great joy as some other Acts of theirs of the same nature have formerly done Sometime also after the fact committed they had a meeting at the Queens Head at Bow where the forementioned Narrative was produced and read which made them very merry and so jocundly loud they were in reading it that they were over heard by some who gave evidence at their Tryal that there was a paper their read which concern'd Sir Edmund-Bury Godfrey On Thursday in the afternoon the Body was found in a Ditch with his Sword run through him two handfuls out of his Back with his Neck dislocated and his Breast very much beaten and bruised In that condition after the Coroners Jury had given in their Verdict that he was Murdered by a Confederacy of Assassinates the Corps was carried home and afterwards solemnly buried in the Church of St. Martins Parish in the fields his Funeral Sermon being Preached by the Learned and Reverend Dr. Lloyd Dean of Bangor the Minister of the Place The confused Rumour of the Plot and the loud noise of this Murder strangely Alarm'd the whole Nation but who did it or upon what motives or provocations was a Mystery long concealed and all people groped only in the dark of Conjecture Some there were that suspected the Papists but they would by no means hear of any such accusation and therefore threw out various reports that his own Relations had murdered him to get his Estate that he was mad and that he had married beneath himself and therefore lay conceal'd However the King both for his own and the satisfaction of his people was pleased to issue forth his Royal Proclamation wherein he promised a very considerable reward to them that should first discover the Authors and Contrivers of so horrid a Murder Yet all the Confederates being at that time either Priests or zealous Bigots whose Consciences were overpowred by the persuasive exasperations of their diabolical Confessors they firmly kept the Grand Secret till Mr. William Bedloe aw'd at first by the strong obligation of the Sacrament of the Altar twice aweek Administred to him to keep him steddy at length by a secret impulse of Heaven and convinced by the wicked designs wherein he had been so oft engaged by Men pretending Sanctity return'd from Bristol where his restless mind had carried him and of his own accord came in and began the Discovery After which by the accidental knowledge of Mr. Prance in the Lobby of the House of Commons he opened a way to the full displaying of the Mystery But leaving this subject for a while we must take notice that three or four days before this on the twenty first of October 1678. the Parliament in pursuance of his Majesties last Prorogation met at Westminster and the next day Doctor Oates was examined before the Commons as he was also before the House of Lords the day following Upon which his Majesty was pleas'd to issue forth several Proclamations one after another as well in reference to the Plot discovered as also for the future security of his Royal Person and Government The first was a Proclamation for a General Fast appointed to be kept the 13th of November following The next was a Proclamation commanding all Popish Recusants to depart
disclos'd to make out all the rest For at what time Fenwick Ireland and some others were first apprehended Mr. Praunce happening to be at a Coffee-house where some Gentlemen were talking somewhat severely against the said Prisoners zealously and officiously began to speak so favourably in their defence that notice was taken of his words and as he was told some information given against him To avoid therefore both charge and trouble he absented himself from his house the next three nights together After which time understanding the business was over he return'd home again and continu'd there as he was wont to do This happen'd about a fortnight before Sir Edmundbury was murther'd Yet upon this occasion so providence order'd it was he twelve weeks after apprehended and call'd in question For it chanc'd that one of his neighbours and he fell out who having got some intimation that Mr. Praunce lay out of his house three nights one after another began to question whether those three nights might not be the night that Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was kill'd and those that follow'd And upon this bare surmise or presumption that had no ground or bottom in the world that either he or any that he knew were guilty or any way concern'd in the fact a warrant was obtain'd from the Lords of the Council to apprehend Mr. Praunce and to take him into a strict examination Being thus taken by vertue of the warrant he was first carry'd into the Lobby of the House of Commons where Mr. Bedlow whom he knew not as being a person that had seen him but once before that is to say between the Murther and the carrying forth of the Corpse but then taking some little notice of him knew his face again and positively charg'd him to have been concern'd in the murther whereupon he was examin'd and committed to Newgate the 21st of this month Within two days after he made a full discovery upon Oath impeaching Fits-Girald Kelly Hill Berry and Green Green was before in the Gate-house for refusing the oaths Hill and Berry were presently apprehended But the cunning Priests got away Upon the 24th he was carried before the King and Council to whom he gave a faithful and particular accompt of all the circumstances of the Murther Which because it contain'd so many descriptions of benches doors entries and rooms his Majesty was pleas'd to order the Duke of Monmouth the Earl of Ossory the Earl of Clarendon and Sir Robert Southwell to go with the prisoner and take his Examination upon the place At which time he gave such an exact accompt of the places which he had mention'd before viz. the very spot upon which the murther was committed where he himself where Berry stood as also the door stairs dark entry c. mention'd in the Narrative that his Majesties Commissioners return'd very well satisfy'd with the truth of his Relation and Confession True it is that Mr. Praunce did afterwards seem to retract by a bare affirmative what he had formerly confess'd upon Oath saying before the King and Council That he was innocent and the rest whom he had accus'd were also innocent But these words were extorted from his own fears and consternation that set before his eyes the danger of his life and the undoing of his wife and family For he had no sooner done it but his Conscience troubling him above all those considerations he recoyl'd from those false assertions and so strenuously and regularly maintain'd the Truth to which he had sworn by an addition of farther discoveries that the King was pleas'd with his own Lips to assure him of his Pardon which was afterwards delivered to him in due form under the Great Seal Kelly was afterwards taken up by the name of Daniel Edmunds in some place in Surrey and sent to the Marshalsea for refusing the Oaths but being deeply sensible of the danger he was in he so wrought upon the Poverty of that place that he procur'd bail for ten shillings apiece and got away this very Month before his true name of Kelly was known Much about this time the Parliament took into their serious consideration certain transactions of the Earl of Danby then Lord High Treasurer and after a strict Scrutiny into the business upon the 19th of this Month resolved that there was sufficient matter of Impeachment against him and order'd a Committee to draw up the Articles and to receive any further Informations or Evidence that should come in Within two days after several Articles of Impeachment were brought into the House severally put to the Question and agreed upon the same day they were order'd to be engross'd and votes further pass'd that the said Earl should be sequester'd from Parliament and committed to safe Custody Which that it might be the sooner effected they sent up Sir Henry Capell with the Articles to the Lords who accordingly went and deliver'd them to the Chancellour in a full assembly of that house but the house being prorogued at the latter end of the Month till the 4th of February nothing more was done for that Sessions However before they were prorogu'd they pass'd several resolves for impeaching the five Lords in the Tower of Treason and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors and the same day which was the 5th of this month the five several Impeachments were carry'd up to the Lords and a Committee appointed to draw up Articles against the parties impeach'd to which purpose the said Committee was impowr'd to inspect the Journals and consider of Presidents for Impeachments In the Lords House so soon as the Articles against the Earl of Danby were exhibited he himself desir'd copies of all papers and proceedings nevertheless it was then resolv'd that at that time he should not withdraw Thereupon the said Earl toward the latter end of the month having still his liberty mov'd again in the Lords House that he might have a copy of his charge and that he might not long lye under it Upon which a Motion follow'd that the House would consider of the desire of the House of Commons touching his confinement Thereupon it was the next day resolv'd that he should not be confin'd as then and that he should have a copy of the Articles to which he was appointed to bring in his answer before the third of January And as to the Lords concern'd in the Conspiracy it was referr'd to the Lords of the Committee for priviledges to consider the state of the Impeachments and of all the incidents thereunto relating and to make their report which is the sum of what was done in reference to these matters till the sitting of the new Parliament of which more in due place As yet the stress of the discovery lay upon Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedlow but this month came in the substantial assistance of Mr. Dugdale who upon the twenty fourth of this month submitted himself to the examination of Mr. Lane and Mr. Vernon two of his Majesties Justices of the Peace
Officers of his Houshold that they should take care that the said Earl should not be permitted to reside within any of his Majesties Palaces of White-hall Somerset-house or St. James's While this address was preparing the Commons consider'd of the amendments made by the Lords to the Bill of attainder to some of which they agreed but to others they refus'd to give their consent finding a bill of attainder converted into a Bill of banishment For it was alledg'd in point of reason that Banishment was not the Legal Judgement in case of High Treason And that not being so the Earl might make use of the Remission of his Sentence as an Argument that either the Commons were distrustful of their Proofs or else that the crimes were not in themselves of so high a nature as Treason Besides that the example of this would be an encouragement to all persons that should be hereafter impeach'd by the Commons to withdraw themselves from Justice hoping thereby to obtain a more favourable sentence in a Legislative way than the Lords would be oblig'd to pass upon them in their judicial capacity The same day in the afternoon which was the 8th of the present month both Houses had another conference upon the same Bill which the Lords assur'd the Commons they had desir'd not so much to argue and dispute as to mitigate and reconcile having observ'd that the debates of this Bill had already given too great obstructions to publick business To this end the Lords propounded That if there might be a way found to satisfie and secure the publick fears by doing less than what was propos'd in the Bill they did not think it advisable to insist upon the most rigorous satisfaction that publick Justice could demand To induce them to this complyance the Lords acknowledg'd that Banishment was so far from being the Legal Judgement in case of High Treason that it was not the Legal Judgement in any case whatsoever as not being ever to be inflicted but by the Legislative Authority However they saw no reason why the Legislative Authority should always be bound to act to the utmost extent of its power in regard there might be a prudential necessity sometimes of making abatements and might prove of fatal consequence should it not be so Therefore the Lords to remove all jealousies of Presidents of this kind did declare that nothing done in the Earl of Danby's case should be drawn into consequence for the time to come and that they would so enter it upon their journal Book Nevertheless the Commons would not agree but sent to the Lords for a free Conference upon the subject matter of the last Which being had and the members that manag'd the same being order'd to draw up the substance of the matters which were fit to be enter'd that pass'd at the said free Conference the Lords desir'd the same day a present free Conference upon the subject matter of the last free Conference In this Conference the Lord Privy Seal that manag'd it declar'd that the Reasons of the Commons for passing the Bill as they propos'd were unanswerable and that therefore the Lords were content to make the Bill absolute without giving the Earl of Danby any day to appear and the penalties to continue Further it was by him observ'd that the Lord impeach'd would not only be ruin'd by the passing of this Bill together with his family but those acquisitions also which he got by marriage into a Noble Family would be all lost Neither did he forget to intimate That if the House of Commons would have any other Penalties added to the Bill the Lords would leave it to them so that they did not run to the absolute obstruction of the Lord Impeach'd Taking notice withal that though all the reason and justice were of the Commons side yet in a Legislative Capacity they were to consider of Circumstances in relation to the publick good And then proceeding he told the House of Commons that in the transactions of this affair they had gain'd two great points That Impeachments made by the Commons in one Parliament continu'd from Session to Session and from Parliament to Parliament notwithstanding Prorogations or Dissolutions And Secondly In cases of Impeachment upon special matter shewn if the modesty of the party impeach'd did not direct him to withdraw the Lords did admit that of right they ought to order him to withdraw and that afterwards he must be committed Another Observation was made by his Lordship that a Member of the House of Commons made mention of the Earl of Clarendons case but in regard that case was general and no special matter shown it was not like this So that he did not understand that the Lords intended to extend the point of Withdrawing and Commitment to General Impeachments without special matter alledg'd For that if it should be otherwise many of the Lords might be pick'd out of their House of a sudden To this the Earl of Shaftsbury reply'd that they were as willing to be rid of the Earl of Danby as the Commons and first as to the right of the Commons the Lords did agree that it was their right and well warranted by Presidents of former ages And as to the distinction made where the Impeachments were General and special matter alledg'd there was no order given to make any such distinction for that General Impeachments were not in the case The same was affirm'd by the Duke of Monmouth and the Lord Falconbridge and that the Earl of Shaftsbury was in the right and deliver'd the true sense of the Lords And as to that expression That the Lords would not draw into example the proceedings of the Earl of Danby but would vacate them the Lords intended that only to the points of notwithdrawing and not-committing The said Earl likewise insisted that the way then propos'd would be a means to have the Bill pass for that the Commons might have other penalties if they pleas'd as Confiscation of Estate And notwithstanding they had no particular order to mention Honours yet by the general words he thought them included So that if they were insisted on by the Commons he knew not but that they might be agreed to be inserted in the Bill Therefore the Commons were desir'd to consider that there were more weighty reasons better understood than express'd that prov'd it necessary for the good of the publick that the Bill should pass The Commons made this reply that they hop'd the Lords did not think they took it as if they had then gain'd any point for that the points mention'd by the Lords as gain'd were nothing but what was agreeable to the ancient methods of Parliaments After this a free Conference being desir'd upon the subject matter of the last free Conference the Bill was left with the amendments in the Lords hands Whereupon the Lords desiring another free Conference upon the subject matter of the last the Lords declar'd that they hop'd that would be the
acceptimus jam vacat These the Commons desir'd might be left out as implying that the continuing a Lord High Steward was necessary and thereupon propos'd these words to be inserted Ac pro eo quod Proceres Magnates in Parliamento Nostro Assemblato nobis humiliter supplicaverunt ut Seneschallum Angliae hac vice constituere dignaremur These Amendments were soon consented to by the Lords and it was farther agreed that the Commission under Seal for Constituting a Lord High Steward for the Tryal of the Earl of Danby should be recall'd and another new Commission according to the Amendments issu'd forth bearing date after the said Resolve and that the like Commission should be issu'd forth for Tryal of the other Lords As to the Lords Answer to the second Proposition the Commons gave their Committee order to insist That the Lords Spiritual ought not to have any Vote in any proceedings against the Lords in the Tower and that when that matter should be settled and the methods of Proceedings adjusted that then the House would be ready to proceed upon the Tryal of the Earl of Danby against whom the House had already demanded Judgment and afterwards to the Tryal of the other five Lords Upon the 16th of May after several Debates and Reports of both Committees the Lords came to this Resolution that the Thursday following should be appointed to begin the Tryal of the five Lords Upon which the Lords Spiritual desired leave of the House that they might withdraw themselves from the Tryal of the said Lords with Liberty of Entring their usual protestations This Resolution and the desire of the Bishops being communicated to the Commons It was by them resolv'd That the Vote of their House extended aswell to the Earl of Danby as the rest and that if the Bishops might have leave to withdraw it imply'd a right which if they had it was a new Court a thing the Commons could not admit of The Lords made Answer that there was no day appointed for the Tryal of the Earl of Danby and that the Lords Spiritual would be absent at all the parts of the Tryals of the five Lords and that the Protestation they desired to enter would be the same as in the Earl of Stafford's case To which the Commons reply'd that they could not proceed to treat of any other proposal till such time as the business about the Court should be settl'd But the Lords insisting still upon their first Resolutions the Commons thought fit to draw up their Reasons in writing which they did and deliver'd them to the Committee of Lords upon the 26th of May. Which was the day before their Prorogation Which because they are matter of History as well as debate may not be unfitly inserted They alleadged that the Commons had always desir'd that a good Correspondence might be preserv'd between the two Houses That there was then depending between their Lordships and the Commons a matter of the greatest weight In the transactions of which their Lordships did seem to apprehend some difficulty in the Matters propos'd by the Commons To clear the same the Commons had desir'd that Conference by which they hop'd to manifest to their Lordships that the Propositions of the House of Commons made by their Committe in relation to the Tryal of the Lords in the Tower were only such as were well warranted by the Laws of the Parliament and Constitution of Government and in no sort intrenched upon the Judicature of the Peers but were most necessary to be insisted upon that the Ancient Rights of Judicature in Parliament might be maintain'd The Commons readily acknowledg'd that the Crimes charged upon the Earl of Powis Viscount Stafford Lord Arundel of Wardour and Lord Bellasis were of deep Guilt and call'd for speedy Justice But withal they held that any change in Judicature in Parliament made without consent in full Parliament was of pernicious Consequence both to his Majesty and his Subjects and conceived themselves obliged to transmit to their Posterity all the Rights which of that kind they had receiv'd from their Ancestors by putting their Lordships in mind of the progress that had already been between the two Houses in relation to the Propositions made by the Commons and the reasonableness of the Propositions themselves So that they doubted not but to make it appear that their Aimes had been no other then to avoid such Consequences and to preserve that Right and that there was no delay of Justice on their part And to that purpose they offer'd to their Lordships the ensuing Reasons and Narrative That the Commons in bringing the Earl of Danby to Justice and in discovery of that execrable and traiterous Conspiracy of which the five Popish Lords stood impeached and for which some of their wicked Accomplices had already undergone the sentence of the Law as Traytors and Murtherers had labour'd under many great difficulties was not unknown to their Lordships Nor was it less known to their Lordships That upon the Impeachment of the House of Commons against the Earl of Danby for High Treason and other high Crimes Misdemeanors and Offences even the common Justice of sequestring him from Parliament and forthwith committing him to safe Custody was then requir'd by the Commons and deny'd by the Peers though he then sate in their House Of which their Lordships had been so sensible that at a free Conference the 10th of April last their Lordships declar'd That it was the Right of the Commons and well warranted in former Ages That upon an Impeachment of the Commons a Peer so impeach'd ought of right to be order'd to withdraw and then to be Committed And had not that Justice been deny'd to the Commons a great part of the Sessions of Parliament which had been spent in framing and adjusting a Bill for causing the Earl of Danby to appear and answer that Justice from which he was fled had been sav'd and employ'd for the preservation of his Majesties Person the security of the Nation and in prosecution of the other five Lords Neither had he had the Opportunity for procuring for himself that illegal Pardon which bore date the first of March and which he pleaded in Bar of his Impeachment nor of wasting so great a proportion of the Treasure of the Kingdom as he had done after the Commons had exhibited their Articles of Impeachment against him After which time so lost by reason of the denyal of that Justice which of right belonged to the Commons upon their Impeachment the said Bill being ready for the Royal Assent the said Earl then rendred himself and by their Lordships Order of the 16th of April last was committed to the Tower After which he pleaded the said Pardon and being prest did at length declare that he would rely upon and abide by that Plea Which Pardon so Pleaded being illegal and void ought not to Barr or preclude the Commons from having Justice upon the Impeachment They did thereupon
with their Speaker on the Fifth of May in the name of themselves and all the Commons of England demand Judgment against the said Earl upon their Impeachment not doubting but that their Lordships did intend in all their proceedings upon the Impeachment to have follow'd the usual Course and Method of Parliament But the Commons were not a little surpriz'd by the Message sent from their Lordships deliver'd them on the seventh of May thereby acquainting them that as well the Lords Spiritual as Temperal had order'd that the 10th of May should be the day for hearing the Earl of Danby to make good his plea of Pardon And that on the thirteenth of May the other Five Lords should be brought to their Trial and that their Lordships had addressed to His Majesty for naming of a Lord High Steward as well in the Case of the Earl of Danby as of the other Five Lords Upon Consideration of this Message the Commons found that the admitting of the Lords Spiritual to exercise Jurisdiction in these Cases was an alteration of the Judicature in Parliament and which extended as well to the proceeding against the Five Lords as the Earl of Danby And that if a Lord High Steward should be necessary upon Trial on Impeachments of the Commons the power of Judicature in Parliament upon Impeachments might be defeated by suspending or denying a Commission to Constitute a Lord High Steward And that the said days of Trial appointed by their Lordships were so near to the time of their said Message that those Matters and the Method of Proceeding upon the Trial could not be adjusted by conference between the two Houses before the day so nominated And consequently the Commons could not then proceed to Trial unless the zeal which they had for speedy Judgment against the Earl of Danby that so they might proceed to Trial of the other Five Lords should induce them at that juncture both admit the Enlargment of their Lordships Jurisdiction and to sit down under those or any hardships though with the hazard of all the Commons Power of impeaching for time to come rather then that the Trial of the said Five Lords should be deferr'd for some short time while those Matters might be agreed on and Settl'd For reconciling differences in these great and weighty Matters and for saving that time which would necessarily have been spent in Debates and Conferences betwixt the two Houses and for expediting the Trials without giving up the power of Impeachments or rendring them effectual The Commons thought fit to propose to their Lordships that a Committee of both Houses might be appointed for that purpose At which Committee when agreed to by their Lordships it was first proposed That the time of Trial of the Lords in the Tower should be put off till the other Matters were adjusted and it was then agreed That the Proposition as to the time of Trial should be the last thing Considered The effect of which agreement stands reported in their Lordships Books After which the Commons Communicated to their Lordships by their Committee a Vote of theirs that the Committee of the Commons should insist upon the former Vote of the House that the Lords Spiritual ought not to have any Vote in any proceeding against the Lords in the Tower and that when that Matter should be settled and the method of proceedings adjusted the Commons would then be ready to proceed upon the Trial of the Pardon of the Earl of Danby against whom they had before demanded Judgment and afterwards to the Trial of the other Five Lords in the Tower Which Vote extended as well to the Earl of Danby as to the other Five Lords But the Commons had as yet received nothing from their Lordships towards an Answer of that Vote save that their Lordships had acquainted them that the Bishops had ask'd leave of the House of Peers that they might withdraw themselves from the Trial of the Five Lords with Libertie of entring their usual Protestations And though the Commons Committee had almost daily declar'd to their Lordships Committee That that was a necessary point to be settled before the Trial and offer'd to debate the same their Committee still answer'd that they had not power from their Lordships either to confer upon or give any Answer concerning that Matter And yet their Lordships without having given the Commons any Satisfactory Answer to the said Vote or permitting any Conference or debate thereupon did on Thursday the second of May send a Message to the Commons declaring that the Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal had order'd the 27th of May for the Trial of the Five Lords So that the Commons could not but apprehend that their Lordships had not only departed from what was agreed on and in effect lay'd aside by that Committee which was constituted for preserving a good understanding betwixt the two Houses and better dispatch of the weighty affairs depending in Parliament but also must needs conclude from the Message and Votes of their Lordships of the 7th of May That the Lords Spiritual had a right to stay and sit in Court till the Court proceeded to the Vote of Guilty or not Guilty And from the Bishops asking leave that they might withdraw themselves from the Trial of the said Lords with Libertie of entring their usual Protestations and by their persisting to go on and giving their Votes in proceedings upon Impeachments that their desire of leave to withdraw at the Trials was only an evasive answer to the before mentioned Vote of the Commons and chiefly intended as an argument for a right of Judicature in Proceedings upon Impeachment and as a reserve to judge upon the Earl of Danby's plea of Pardon and upon those and other like Impeachments though no such power was ever claim'd by their Predecessors and was utterly deny'd by the Commons And the Commons were the rather induc'd to beleive it so intended because the very asking leave to withdraw seem'd to imply a right to be there and that they could not absent without it The Commons therefore did not think themselves oblig'd to proceed to the Tryal of the Lords on the seventh of May but to adhere to their Vote And for their so doing besides what had been already and formerly said to their Lordships they offer'd these Reasons following I. Because your Lordships have receiv'd the Earl of Danby's Plea of Pardon with a very long and unusual Protestation wherein he has aspers'd His Majesty by false suggestions as if His Majesty had commanded or countenanc'd the Crimes he stands charg'd with and particularly the suppressing and discouraging the Discovery of the Plot and endeavouring to Introduce an Arbitrary and Tirannical way of Government Which remains as a scandal to His Majesty tending to render His Person and His Government odious to His People against which it ought to be the principal care of both Houses to Vindicate His Majesty by doing justice upon the said Earl II. The
setting up a Pardon to be a Bar against an Impeachment defeats the whole use and effect of Impeachments and should this point be admitted or stand doubted it would totally discourage the exhibiting any for the future Whereby the chief Institution for the preservation of the Government and consequently the Government it self would be destroy'd And therefore the case of the said Earl which in consequence concerns all Impeachments whatsoever ought to be determin'd before that of the five Lords which is but their particular case And without resorting to many Authorities of greater Antiquity The Commons desire your Lordships to take Notice with the same regard they do of the Declaration which that Excellent Prince King Charles the I. of blessed Memory made in this behalf in his Answer to the nineteen Propositions of both Houses of Parliament Wherein stating the several parts of this Regulated Monarchy He says The King the House of Lords and the House of Commons have each their particular Priviledges And among those which belong to the King he reckons Power of pardoning After the Ennumerating of which and other his Preaogatives His said Majesty adds thus Again that the Prince may not make use of this High and perpetual Power to the hurt of those for whose good he hath it and make use of the Name of public Necessity for the Gain of his private Favourites and Followers to the Detriment of the People the House of Commons an excellent preservative of Liberty c. is solely entrusted with the first Propositions concerning the Levying of Mony and the Impeaching of those who for their own ends though countenanc'd by any Surreptitiously gotten Command of the King have violated the Law when he knows it which he is bound to protect and to the protection of which they are bound to advise him at least not to serve him to the contrary And the Lords being entrusted with a Judiciary power are an excellent Skreen and Bank between the Prince and People to assist each against any encroachments of the other and by just Judgment to preserve the Law which ought to be the Rule of every one of the three c. Therefore the Power plac'd in both Houses is more then sufficient to prevent and restrain the Power of Tyranny c. III. Untill the House of Commons have right done them against this Plea of Pardon they may justly apprehend that the whole Justice of the Kingdom in the Case of the five Lords may be obstructed and defeated by Pardons of the like nature IV. And Impeachments are virtually the voice of every particular Subject of this Kingdom crying out against Oppression by which every member of that Body is equally wounded And it will prove a matter of ill consequence that the Universality of the People should have occasion minister'd and continu'd to them to be apprehensive of utmost danger from the Crown from whence they of right expect Protection V. The Commons exhibited Articles of Impeachment against the said Earl before any against the five other Lords and demanded Judgment upon those Articles Whereupon your Lordships having appointed the Tryal of the said Earl to be before that of the other five Lords and now having inverted the said Order gives a great cause of doubt to the House of Commons and raises a jealousie in the Hearts of all the Commons of England That if they should proceed to the Tryal of the said five Lords in the first place not only Justice will be obstructed in the case of those Lords but that they shall never have right done them in the matter of this Plea of Pardon which is of so fatal Consequence to the whole Kingdom and a new device to frustrate the public Justice in Parliament Which Reasons and Matters being duly weigh'd by your Lordships the Commons doubt not but your Lordships will receive satisfaction concerning their Propositions and Proceedings And will agree That the Commons neither ought nor can without deserting their Trust depart from their former Vote communicated to your Lordships That the Lords Spiritual ought not to have any Vote in any proceedings against the Lords in the Tower c. This Narrative and the Reasons being deliver'd as is already mention'd were the next day read and debated and then the Lords read their own Vote of the 13th of May and their Explanation thereupon and the Question being put whether to insist upon those Votes concerning the Lords Spiritual it was Resolv'd in the Affirmative Eight and twenty of the Lords dissenting What the issue of the dispute would have been is not here to be disputed but this is certain that while both Houses were thus contesting His Majesty himself put an end to their Debates For that very day being come in His Royal Robes into the House of Lords and seated in His Throne the Commons also attending His Majesty was pleas'd to give His Royal Assent to A Bill for the better securing the Liberty of the Subject A Bill for reingrossing of Fines burn'd in the late Fire in the Temple And A Private Bill concerning Charles Dale of Rutlandshire Esq And then having intimated His Resolution to the two Houses to Prorogue them till the 14th of August The Lord Chancellor Prorogu'd them accordingly by His Majesties Command Little else of moment was done this Sessions onely the House of Commons having order'd a Committee to inspect the Miscarriages of the Navy upon their report of the Heads of an Information against Sir Anthony Deane and Mr. Pepys Members of the House they were both by Order of the House committed to the Tower by virtue of which commitment they still remain under Bail Presently after the Prorogation of the Parliament came the News of the Rebellion that was broken out in the West of Scotland where they Proclaim'd the Covenant and set up a Declaration of which the substance was That AS it was not unknown to a great part of the World how happy the Church of Scotland had been while they enjoy'd the Ordinances of Jesus Christ in their Purity and Power of which we had been deplorably depriv'd by the reestablishment of Prelacy So it was evident not only to impartial Persons but to profess'd Enemies with what unparallell'd Patience and Constancy the People of God had endur'd all the Cruelty and Oppression that Prelates and Malignants could invent or exercise And that being most unwilling to act any thing that might import Opposition to lawful Authority though they had all along been groaning under Corruptions of Doctrine slighting of Worship despising Ordinances Confining Imprisoning Exiling their faithful Ministers Fining Confining Imprisoning Torturing Tormenting the poor People Plundering their Houses and Selling their Persons to Forraign Plantations whereby great Numbers in every Corner of the Land were forc'd to leave their Dwellings Wives and Children and to wander as Pilgrims none daring to Supply or Relieve them nor so much as to speak with them upon their Death-beds for fear of making themselves obnoxious