sufficiently instruct such who have not seen more secret Memoires But let us come to Examine their Actions which are a better proof of their hearts were not the Duke's Servants and Confidents all Papists Witness his Talbots Patricks and other Irish Teags were not the Duke and such of his Creatures as were known Papists promoted to all publick Offices of trust both at Sea and Land Witness Bellasis now a Traytor in the Tower did not James by Coleman Throgmorton and others hold open Correspondency with the Pope and Cardinals and could Charles be Ignorant of all this Nay he lik'd all so well that he hardly employed any about him but Papists as Clifford whom he made Treasurer or employed any abroad but Persons of the same stamp Witness Godolphin whom he sent Embassador into Spain as he did others elsewhere what more obvious than that though the Duke's Treachery against the Kingdom and Protestant Religion be fully made out and the People and Parliament seek to bring him to a legal Tryal yet Charles obstructs Justice and will not suffer it How can this be but that he is joyned in Will and Deed in all the Duke's Villanies and that he is afraid to be discovered and found out to be a Papist and a Betrayer of his People and the Protestant Religion If he was heartily concerned for our Religion would he not oppose a Popish Successor who will Infallibly overthrow it Can there be any thing more evident than that he continues the Duke's Adherents and those who were advanced by him in all Offices of Trust And hath he not turn'd out of his Council the most Zealous Protestants such as Shaftesbury Essex and others and introduced in their Rooms other meer Tools or those that are Popishly and Arbitrarily affected Hath he not modell'd all the Sheriffs and Justices throughout England in subserviency to a Popish Design Was not Sir William Waller and Dr. Chamberlain and divers others turn'd out of the Commission in and about London meerly for being Zealous Prosecutors of Priests and Papists Doth not Charles all he can to hinder the further detection of the Popish Plot And doth he not to his utmost discountenance the Discoverers of it and suffer them to want Bread And doth he not in the mean time plentifully encourage and reward Fitz-Gerald and all the Sham-Plotters Whereas Dangerfield had 8 l. a week whilst a Forger of Plots against the Protestants he is cast off with scorn and in danger of his Life since he laid open the Popish Engineer Is not Charles so much in love with his Popish Irish Rebels therein treading in his Fathers steps that he promotes Montgarret Carlingford Fitz-Ratrick and others who were the Heads of the Rebellion to Honours and Preferment tho' Charles took the Covenant and a Coronation Oath to preserve the Protestaut Religion yet hath he not palpably broken them He made large promises and protestations at Breda for the allowing a perpetual Liberty of Conscience to Non-conforming Protestants but he soon forgot them all To what end was the Act which was made soon after his Restoration prohibiting any to call him Papist or to say he was Popishly enclined and render such as should offend Guilty of a Premunire but to stop the Peoples Mouthes when ever he should Act any thing in Favour of Popery as he was then resolved to do Is it not manifest therefore that Scotch Oaths Breda Promises Protestant Profession Liberty of Conscience War with France saving of Flanders is all in Jest to delude Protestant Subjects Is it not apparent that breaking of Leagues Dutch War Smirna Fleet French measures to favour their Conquests loss of Ships War in Christendom Blood of Protestants reprieving of Popish Traytors is all in earnest and done in favour of Popery And are not his fair Speeches his true Protestant Love to Parliaments just Rights and English Liberties his pretended Ignorance of the Plot and his Hanging of Traytors to serve a turn but in meer jest Are not his great Debaucheries his Whoring Courtiers Popish Councils Cheating Rogues Hellish Plottings his saving of Traytors his French Pensioners his Nests of Whores and Swarms of Bastards his Macks his Cut throats his Horrid Murderers his Burning of London and the Provost's House too his Sham-Plotting his suborn'd Villains his Popish Officers by Sea and Land his Struglings for a Popish Successor his agreements with France his frequent Dissolutions of Parliaments his buying of Voices his false returns all of them designs to ruine us in good earnest and in favour of Arbitrary Government And is it not in order to this Blessed end that you see none Countenanced by Charles and James but Church Papists betraying Bishops Tantivy Abhorrers barking Tonzers Popish Scriblers to deceive the People and six the Popish Successors Illegal Title Are not Jesuits Counsels French Assistance to conquer Ireland subdue Scotland winn Flanders beat the Dutch get their Shipping be Masters of the Seas And are not facing a Rebellion the letting the Plot go on the endeavouring to retrieve the Popish Cause by getting a Popish pentionary abhorring Partiaments who shall betray their Country enslave posterity and destroy themselves at last means only to save a Popish Trayterous Successor and a present Popish Possessor James and Charles are Brethren in Iniquity corrupt both in Root and Branch and who study to enslaver England to a French and Romish Yoke is not all this plain Have you not Eyes Sense or Feeling Where is the Old English Noble Spirit Are you become French Asses to suffer any load to be laid upon you And therefore if you can get no remedy from this next Parliament as certainly you will not and if Charles doth not repent and comply with it then up all as one Man O brave English Men look to your own defence e're it be too late rouze up your Spirits remember your Predocessors remember how that the asserting of their liberties justified both by success and Law the War of the Barons against wicked Councellours who misled the Kingâ— And will you now let that go which cost them so dear How many oppressing Kings have been deposed in this Nation as appears in Records referr'd unto in that worthy Patriots History of the Succession were not Rich. 2 d. And Hen. 6. both laid aside not to mention others was there ever such a King as this of ours was not King John deposed for going about to imbrace the Mahometan Religion and for entring into a League with the King of Morocco to that purpose Though Mahometanism and the King of Morocco were no such Enemies to our Rights and Liberties as Popery and the French King are Is it not time then that all should be ready Let the City of London stand by the Parliament for the maintaining of their Liberties and Religion in an extream way if Parliamentary ways be not consented unto by the King let the Counties by ready to enter into an Association as the County of York did in
That if any Judge Justice or Jury proceed upon him and he found guilty that you will declare them guilty of his Murder and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England Hereupon the House came to these Resolves That it is the undoubted right of the Commons in Parliament assembled to impeach before the Lords in Parliament any Peer or Commoner for Treason or any other Crime or Misdemeanour and that the Refusal of the Lords to proceed in Parliament upon such Impeachment is a denyal of Justice and a violation of the Constitution of Parliaments That in the Case of E. Fitz-Harris who by the Commons has been impeached for High Treason before the Lords with a Declaration That in convenient time they would bring up the Articles against him For the Lords to resolve that the said Fitz-Harris should be proceeded with according to the course of the Common-Law and not by way of Impeachment in Parliament is a denyal of Justice and a Violation of the Constitution of Parliaments and an Obstruction to the further discovery of the Popish Plot and of great danger to his Majesties Person and the Protestant Religion That for any Inferiour Court to proceed against him or any other Person lying under an Impeachment in Parliament for the same Crimes for which he or they stand impeached is an high breach of the Priviledge of Parliament This matter thus agitated in the House of Commons was countenanced by a Protestation of many Temporal Lords which was to this effect That in all Ages it had been an undoubted Right of the Commons to impeach before the Lords any Subject for Treasons or any other Crime whatsoever That they could not reject such Impeachments because that Suit or Complaint can be determined no where else for an Impeachment is at the Suit of the People but an Indictment is at the Suit of the King As the King may Indict at his Suit for Murther and the Heir or the Wife of the Party Murthered may bring an †Which was always to be preferred and upon notice thereof all Prosecutions at the Kings Suit were to stop till the Prosecution at the Suit of the Party was determined Appeal And the King cannot Release that Appeal nor his Indictment prevent the Proceedings in it It is an absolute denial of Justice in regard it cannot be tryed any where else The House of Peers as to Impeachments proceed by vertue of their Judicial Power and not by their Legislative and as to that act as a Court of Record and can deny Suitors especially the Commons of England that bring legal Complaint before them no more than the Judges of Westminster can deny any suite regularly commenced before them Our Law saith in the Person of the King Nulli negabimus Justitiam We will deny Justice to no single Person yet here Justice is denyed to the whole Body of the People This may be interpreted an exercise of Arbitrary Power and have an influence upon the Constitution of the English Government and be an encouragement to all Inferiour Courts to exercise the same Arbitrary Power by denying the Presentments of Grand-Juries c for which at this time the Chief Justice stands impeached in the House of Peers These Proceedings may mis-represent the House of Peers to the King and People especially at this time and the more in the particular Case of Edward Fitz-Harris who is publickly known to be concerned in vile and horrid Treasons against his Majesty and a great Conspirator in the Popish plot to Murther the King and destroy and subvert the Protestant Religion Monmouth Kent Huntington Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Sunderland Essex Shaftesbury Macclesfield Mordant Wharton Paget Grey of Werke Herbert of Cherbury Cornwallis Lovelace Crew This Protest was no sooner made upon Munday the 28th of March 1681 but the Parliament was instantly dissolved Well The Parliament being dismissed Fitz-Harris must be Hang'd out of the way and the Term approaching Scroggs the Chief Justice who lay under an Impeachment for Treason in Parliament is removed with marks of Favour and Respect being allowed a Pension for Life and his Son Knighted and made one of his Majesty's Learned Council and Sr Francis Pemberton being advanced to the Seat of Lord Chief Justice the Business of Fitz-Harris is brought before him and Justice Jones Justice Dolben and Justice Raymond and proceeded upon in the manner following UPon the 27th of April 1681 an Indictment for high Treason was offered to the Grand-Jury for the Hundreds of Edmonton and Gore in Middlesex against Fitz-Harris whereupon Mr Michael Godfrey the Foreman in the name of the Grand-Jury desired the opinion of the Court whether it were lawful and safe for them to proceed upon it in regard Fitz-Harris was Impeached in the late Parliament at Oxford by the House of Commons in the name of all the Commons of England Mr Attorney General then said That Mr Godfrey and two more were against accepting the Bill but the body of the Jury carryed it to hear the Evidence and that thereupon himself and Mr Solicitor went on upon the * A new way of dealing with Grand-Juries to procure the finding Bills of Indictment Evidence and spent some time in opening it to the Jury and We thought they would have found the Bill but it seems They have prevailed to put these scruples in the others heads Then The Lord Chief Justice Pemberton said your scruple is this here was an Impeachment offered against Fitz-Harris to the Lords which was not received and thereupon there was a Vote of the House of Commons that he should not be Tryed by any other Inferiour Court We do tell you 't is our Opinion that If an Indictment be exhibited to you you are bound to enquire by vertue of your Oathes you cannot nor ought to take notice of any such Impeachment nor Votes and We ought to proceed according to Justice in Cases that are brought before us This We declare as the Opinion of all the Judges of England Then the Jury went away and afterwards found the Bill Upon Saturday the 30th of April Mr Fitz-Harris was brought to the King's Bench-Bar and Arraigned upon the Indictment whereupon he offered a Plea in writing to the Jurisdiction of the Court and the Chief Justice said We do not receive such Pleading as this without a Counsels hand to it Upon which the Prisoner desired the Court to assign Sr Francis Winnington Mr Williams Mr Pollexfen and Mr Wallop for his Council which was accordingly done Upon Monday the 2d of May the four Council moved the Court to have longer time for drawing the Plea and that they might have a sight of the Indictment as necessary to the drawing it but they were opposed therein by Mr Attorney and the Court denyed both Then Sr George Treby and Mr Smith were also assigned as Council for the Prisoner at his request Upon Wednesday the 4th of May Fitz-Harris being brought from the Tower to the King's Bench-Bar
to do Justice and therefore I cheerfully leave the matter with you I am sure that if God help me and deliver me in this Exigency that it is he and you under him that preserve my Life Gentlemen The great Incertainties Improbabilities and Consequences in this case I hope will be weighed by you and make you the better to consider the proof which is made by none but such as are Strangers to me since then they know me not I hope you will weigh it before you give it against me We must all dye and I am sure it wil be no grief to you to acquit a Man that is innocent I leave it with you The Lord direct you Then Jenner the Recorder to aggravate the matter spoke thus The Treason charged on the Prisoner is of that sort that if he be guilty he will be a just example to terrifie others from doing the like for if Traytors had not persons to supply them with Money abroad it may be they would not have so much Courage to run away We have satisfied you that Sr T. A. was indicted that an Exigent was gone against him upon that account here was a Proclamation and Sr T. A. named in it and so at his rate of talking the Recorder repeated the Evidence of the Witnesses and concluded Gentlemen We think that his defence has been so little and our proof so strong that you have good ground to find him Guilty The Chief Justice then summed up the matter to the Jury in a Speech of of a vast length which was in substance this Gentlemen of the Jury This is an Indictment of high Treason against the Prisoner at the Bar and you are to try it according to your evidence The Prisoner's affirmation of his innocence is not to weigh with you Nay I must tell you I cannot but upon this occasion make a little Reflection upon several of the horrid Conspirators that did not only with as much solemnity imprecate Vengeance upon themselves if they were guilty of any Treason but thought they did God Almighty good service in that hellish Conspiracy It is not unknown one of the Persons proscribed in this Proclamation did declare they should be so far from being esteemed Traytors That they should have Trophies set up for them and all this under the pretence and enamel of Religion Nay I can cite to you an instance of another of the Conspirators that after a full and evident proof and plain Conviction of having an hand in it when he comes upon the Brink of Death and was to answer for that horrid fact before the great God he blessed Almighty God that he dyed by the hand of the Executioner with the Ax and did not dye by the Fiery Tryal He blessed God at the place of Execution that he dyed a Traytor against the King and Government rather than dyed a Martyr for his Religion I think it necessary to make some Reflection upon it when Men under the pretence of Religion are wound up to that heigth to foment Differences to disturb and distract the Government to destroy the Foundations of it to murder his sacred Majesty and his Royal Brother and to subvert our Religion and Liberty and Property and all this carried on upon pretence of doing God good service You are to go according to evidence as the Blood of a Man is precious so the Government also is a precious thing the Life of the King is a precious thing The preservation of our Religion is a precious thing and therefore due regard must be had to all of them I must tell you in this horrid Conspiracy there were several Persons that bore several parts Some that were to head and to consult there was a Council to consider Others were designed to to have a hand in the perpetrating of that horrid Villany that was intended upon the Persons of his Sacred Majesty and his Royal Brother and with them upon the Persons of all his Majesties Loyal Subjects that acted with duty as they ought to do There were others that were to be aiding and assisting as in the case of the Prisoner if you find him guilty aiding abetting assisting by Money or otherwise or harbouring any of those Persons that were concerned therein Then he recounted the Evidence given against the Prisoner and made such Remarks upon the same as he thought fit The Jury withdrew and spent two hours in consideration of the matter and then returning gave their Verdict to the disappointment and vexation of the Chief Justice Common Serjeant and others that the Prisoner was Not Guilty Mr Attorney General thereupon said My Lord tho' they have acquitted him yet the Evidence was so strong that I hope your Lorship and the Court will think fit to bind him to his good behaviour during his Life The Chief Justice answer'd Mr Attorney that is not a proper Motion at this time So the Prisoner was discharged after he had been imprisoned five Months Tho' Mr Hayes to the eternal Honour of some good Men who were upon his Jury came off with his Life he was by this Prosecution beaten out of as good and valuable a Trade as most Linnen Drapers in London had and was by consequence highly impaired in his Estate About the same time Mr Roswell a very worthy Divine was tryed for Treasonable Words in his Pulpit upon the Accusation of very vile and lewd Informers and a Surry Jury found him Guilty of high Treason upon the the most villanous and improbable evidence that had been ever given notwithstanding Sr John Talbot no Countenancer of Dissenters had appeared with great generosity and honour and testified that the most material Witness was as scandalous and infamous a Wretch as lived It was at that time given out by those who thirsted for Blood that Mr Roswel and Mr Hayes should dye together and it was upon good ground believed that the happy deliver ance of Mr Hayes did much contribute to the preservation of Mr Roswel tho' it is very probable that he had not escaped had not Sr John Talbot's worthy and most honourable detestation of that accursed Villany prompted him to repair from the Court of King's Bench to King Charles the second and to make a faithful representation of the Case to him whereby when inhumane bloody Jeffreyes came a little after in a transport of Joy to make his Report of the eminent service he and the Surry Jury had done in finding Mr Roswel guilty the King to his disappointment appeared under some reluctancy and declared that Mr Roswell should not dye And so he was most happily delivered and being by this remarkable Providence of God still alive he would at least in my opinion do a very useful and seasonable piece of service to this Age and to those which are to succeed in publishing a full Account of the whole Proceedings against him Remarks upon the Tryal of Mr Charles Bateman at the Old-Bayly Upon the 9th day of December 1685
the same entertainment which King Charles the second ever gave to the Councils offered to him in favour of the Protestant Religion and of the true English Government however the honest zeal and undaunted Courage of these Noble Lords made deep impressions upon the Breasts of all true Lovers of the Laws and Liberty of their Country And the Citizens of London in Common-Hall assembled upon the 4th of February 1680. spoke their Approbation of their Loraship's Noble Enterprize in what follows which was agreed upon with a general and loud Acclamation of thousands of Citizens To the Worshipful Slingesby Bethel and Henry Cornish Esquires Sheriffs of London and Middlesex WE the Citizens of the said City in Common-Hall assembled having diligently perused the late Petition and Advice of several Noble Peers of this Realm to his Majesty whose Counsels We humbly conceive are in this unhappy juncture highly seasonable and greatly tending to the safety of these Kingdoms We do therefore make it our most hearty request that you in the Name of this Common-Hall will return to the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex and by him to the rest of the Noble Peers the grateful Acknowledgment of this Assembly By these means and indeed by the whole Course of this Noble Lord's Life which was a steady Course of Exemplary unshaken Vertue and shew'd an unalterable affection to the true Religion and detestation of Tyranny He became insupportable to those whose Study was Mischief and to whom no Person was acceptable but such as they found disposed to betray the Protestant Religion and the Rights of England to their Popish and Despotick Designs and therefore from this time they grew more assiduous to contrive his Destruction The Conspirators well knew that this Great Man had most deservedly acquired a mighty share in the hearts of the People And that as he knew very much of their Designs so that he was not by any arts or allurements to be Cozen'd or tempted to a Complyance therewith therefore as They told the brave Colonel Sidney he must dye that their Plot might live and to avoid the Reproach of bringing the Son to the Block by that very Prince for whom the Father had lost his Head and which is also very probable to prevent his discovery of what he could tell and others knew not They condemn him without a Tryal and in a most barbarous manner Murder him in the Tower But Heaven intending to bring this accursed Assassination of the brave Earl of Essex to light a report of very suspitious Circumstances in relation to that matter was instantly spread and reached the Ears of Mr Braddon a Gentleman of great Integrity and of no less Courage whose honest Zeal prompted him to look into that hellish Intrigue and to endeavour a full discovery of that horrid Villany but that Season not allowing it he and Mr Speke were run upon and with great fury prosecuted in the manner following They were brought to Tryal upon an Information charging them with Subornation and endeavouring to raise a belief that the Earl of Ess did not murder himself The Judges then in Court were The Lord Chief Justice Jeffryes Judge Withens and Judge Holloway The Jury Sr Hugh Middleton a Papist Thomas Harriot Thomas Earsby Joshua Galliard Richard Shoreditch Charles Good Samuel Rouse Hugh Squire Nehem. Arnold John Byfeild William Waite James Supple The King's Council were Attorney General Sawyer Solicitor General Finch Jenner Recorder of London Mr Dolben Mr North Mr Jones Council for the Defendants were Mr Wallop Mr Williams Mr Thompson Mr Freke Mr Dolben opened the Information to this effect That whereas the Earl of Essex upon the 10th of July last was committed to the Tower for Treason and did there Murder himself as was found by the Coroner's Inquisition yet the Defendants designing to bring the Government to hatred the 15th of August conspired to perswade the King's Subjects that the said Earl was Muedered by certain Persons unknown and to procure false Witnesses to prove that he was not felo de se but was Murdereds and that they did malitiously declare in writing that Mr Braddon was the Person that did prosecute the said Murder to the scandal of the Government c. Then the Attorney General brought in Evidence Sr Leoline Jenkins his Warrant for the Commitment of the Earl to the Tower and the Inquisition of Mr Farnham the Coroner taken by this Jury July 14th 1683. viz. Samuel Colwel William Fisher Thomas Godsell Thomas Hunt Natha Mountney Thomas Potter William How Robert Burgoyne Eleazar Wickens Thomas Hogsflesh Henry Cripps Richard Rudder William Knipes John Hudson John Kettlebeater Lancelot Coleson Morgan Cowarne Thomas Bryan William Thackston Richard Cliffe Zebediah Prichard William Baford and Theophilus Carter Which Jury had found that the Earl of Essex was Felo de se Then the Witnesses for the King being called Mr Evans was sworn and the Attorney General suggested that he and old Mr Edwards would prove that Mr Braddon went about and declared that the Earl of Essex was Murdered and that he was the Prosecutor of the Murder but neither of them answered expectation in that matter Mr Evans testified that Mr Edwards told it to him and others for News at the Custom-House that fore-noon of the day of the Earl of Essex his death that his Son said that he saw a Razour thrown out of the Earl's Window That upon the Munday after which was July the 16th Mr Braddon came with Mr Hatsel to his House where Mr Hatsel shewed him the Coroner's Inquisition in Print which having read Mr Evans told Mr Hatsel what he had heard from Mr Edwards at the Custom-House And he said that Mr B. did not concern himself or say any thing though he might hear Mr Evans his discourse with Mr Hatsel he being walking about the Room Mr Evans added that upon the 17th of July Mr Edwards and Mr Braddon found him in a Coffee-House and Mr Edwards then told him that Mr Braddon had been with him examining his Son about a Razour that was thrown out of the Earl of Essex his Window Mr Edwards testified that about ten of the Clock the day of the Earl's death he was informed by his Family and by his Son that same day at noon that his Son came from the Tower about ten of the Clock and said that he had seen the King and Duke and that the Earl of Essex had cut his own Throat and that the Boy saw an hand throw a Razour out of the Window and a Maid in a white Hood came out of the House and took it up and then go in again and that he heard a noise as of Murder cryed out Mr Edwards acknowledged that he told several at the Custom-House the same day what the Lad had declared and that Mr Bradden came not to make enquiry about it till Tuesday the 17th of July before which time he never knew Mr Braddon that he then told him what report the
Whitehall insomuch that he who had the Power of Life and Death positively declared that he should dye and to prevent his further discovery which he had promised to make he is instantly removed and kept most closely in the Tower where he was most rigorously handled to make him retract his Confession The Conspirators being thus defeated of this hopeful Fanatick Plot calculated for the entertainment of the Oxford Parliament and well knowing that Fitz-H and his Wife could make it out who set them to work and that he was paid 250 l. at White-hall for this Service They came to a resolution that the Parliament must not pry into this mistery of Iniquity however The Parliament being met the House of Commons fell upon it and on Friday the 25th of March 1681. Upon the reading Sr Robert Clayton's and Sr George Treby's Examination of Fitz-Harris Sr John Hotham moved that it might be printed to show the World the devilish Conspiracies of the Papists which motion was seconded by Sr William Jones who said that People had been prevailed upon to believe the Plot not true and that that Examination confirmed the Informations of Otes and Bedloe Sr Francis Winnington added that the Treasonable Paper of Fitz-Harris was to have been sent to many Gentlemen and they to have been seized thereupon as Traytors in a Conspiracy against the King That all was at stake therefore let not our Courage lessen Let us go to the bottom of this business of Fitz-Harris I move he may be impeached of High-Treason and it may be he will relent and tell you all Sr Robert Clayton then said That when F. Harris his Examination was taken at Newgate he told him that he thought he had not dealt ingenuously unless he would tell what Council he had for drawing the Paper and that he had him be ingenuous in the whole matter and he would come and take his further Examination and that F. Harris having promised this he was removed out of their reach into the Tower Wherepon an Impeachment was ordered Sr L. Jenkins commanded to carry it to the Lords and Col. Birch said That we ought all to give God thanks for this discovery of Fitz-Harris next to the first discovery of the Plot. Upon Saturday the 26th of March 1681 the House of Commons being informed that the House of Lords had refused to proceed upon the Impeachment Sr Thomas Lee said That he saw by the Lords refusing the Impeachment no further use of Parliaments That they would be a Court or not a Court to serve a present purpose Then Sr William Jones spoke to this effect Indictments were brought against the Lords in the Tower and yet that was no impediment to their Impeachment in the Lords House but here is no Indictment or Prosecution brought against Fitz-Harris We have an instance fresh in memory Scroggs a Commoner and not indicted at Common-Law yet the Lords without scruple accepted his Impeachment We find the Lords have determined a great point The Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal have voted the refusal of the Impeachment of Fitz-Harris which we own not in this Judicature nor I hope never shall and We are denyed Justice by the Lords Spiritual who have no right to Vote This is a double act of Injustice Let us then Vote That the Commons have a Right to impeach in capital Cases and that the Lords have denyed us Justice in refusing the Impeachment in a Parliamentary way At a Conferrence show how unwarrantable the Lords Actions have been and if the dissolution of the Parl. follows it s the fault of those Men who will not hear our Reasons Sr Francis Winnington backt this Motion and said This Impeachment is not an ordinary Accusation but it relates to our Religion and Property and how the Bishops come to stifle this let God and the World judge If the Lords will vote that the Commons shall not impeach him They may as well vote they shall not be Prosecutors This is a new Plot against the Protestants of which F. Harris is accused and We must not Impeach him In this the Lords say we must not hear it I desire you would come to some Vote you are willing to discover the Plot if you could If our time be short as I believe it is pray come to some Resolution to assert your Right A little while ago when the Duke was presented for a Papist the Grand-Jury was dismissed by the Chief Justice This seems as if the Lords would justifie the Judges Proceedings by their own If no Man doubts our Right pray vote it Sr Robert Howard then spoke to this effect This of Fitz-Harris seems to me to be a more dangerous breath then usual a breath fit to be stifled There is something in this more then ordinary If there be so sacred a respect to common Tryals in Inferiour Courts 't is strange that the House of Commons should be below a Common-Jury It seems the Lords value Fitz-Harris to keep him from us If Dangerfield would speak what he knew nothing of Mercy was too big for him but they hurry Fitz-Harris away to the Tower when he began to confess in Newgate Are you so lost that you have no Mercy left for the Protestant Religion We hear that the French Ambassador had a hand in this Plot which a Jury will not enquire into I must confess that by the carriage of this I have enlarged my suspition for I cannot but suspect unusual ways Something depends upon this Man Sure We must not lay down all Prosecution of the Plot and say that the Protestant Religion shall have no Mercy Fitz-Harris may merit Mercy by Confession and if his breath be stoped by the Lords I am sorry that People will say If it were not for the Lds. F. H. might have discovered all the Conspiracy and the Protestant Religion might have been saved Mr Serjeant Maynard then added We all know what Arts and Crafts have been used to hide the Plot it began with Murder Perjury and Subornation This of Fitz-Harris is a second part of it The Lords deny to receive our Impeachment In effect they make this no Parliament if We are the Prosecutors and they will not hear our Accusation T is strange when their own lives as well as ours are concerned in the Plot When all is at stake We must not prosecute If this be so Holland and Flanders must submit to the French and they run over all This is a strange breach of Priviledge and tends to the danger of the Kings Person and destruction of the Protestant Religion Sr Thomas Player then said This of Fitz-Harris is a considerable confirmation of the former Plot I call it the Old Plot but t is still new upon us when he inclined to discover what he knew he was fetched to White-Hall and sent to the Tower and so We were deprived of all further hopes of discovery and now they stop his Mouth I move therefore That you will declare
Person that I was to trapan But being again asked Whether he was put upon it to trapan the Protestant Lords and the House of Commons He said No I was not I was put upon it by none but Pitz-Harris of whom I asked what will be the use of this and he said We will desperse them We know how And that he was to deliver it to the French Ambassador's Confessor and it was to be drawn in the Name of the Non-conformists to father it upon all the discontented party Mr Smith then gave evidence that he was planted in a Closet in Everard's Chamber and saw him and F. Harris through a hole and heard Everard read a Seditions Paper to him and enquire of him what Heads he would have more than were there To which Fitz-Harris repiled that he would have him represent the King as a Papist and mentioned many other Trayterous things expressed in the Libel And that when Everard told him those were Treasonable things Fiz-Harris said The more Treason the better Sr William Waller was then sworn and declared that he was placed in a Room within Everards Champer where through a crevass of the Door and a Hole in the Hangings he could see him and Fitz-H and he heard Fitz-H enquire of Everard whether he had finshed the Paper according to his Instructions and Everard produced two Papers and gave him one and after he had read a little in it Everard asked whether it was drawn according to his Instructions and he answered It was exactly done And that Everard said This is a business of very dangerous consequence what Reward shall I have for running so great a hazard and he told him I think I run an equal hazard with you for you have a Paper under my Hand which will render me liable to danger and Sr William said he saw Fitz-H after several passages with his Pen and then the Paper being produced he declared it to be the same And that Fitz-H told Everard that the French Ambassador was to Recompence him for his pains Then Fitz-H demanded of Sr William Whether that were the Paper for which he was Impeached and Sr William answered that at was and that he read that Paper in the House And Mr Johnson Fore-man of the Jury demanded whether Fitz-H stood Impeached upon the same Treasons in the Indictment and Sr William answered that he did but being checkt by the Attorney and Solicitor General he said That as soon as he had communicated that Paper to the House the House proceeded to the Impeachment Then the Libel was read in these Words viz. The true English-man speaking plain English in a Letter from a Friend to a Friend I Thank you for the Character of a Popish Successor which you sent me wherein out Just Fears and the grounds of them are justly set out But I am in greater fear of the present Possessor why do we frighten our selves about the Evil that is to come not looking to that which is at hand We would cut off the Budding Weeds and let the Poysonous Root lie still We would stop the Channel of our Evils and let the Fountain still run My meaning is this can Pylades Know and Act all these Bloody Conspiracies and not impart them to his dear Orestes if James be Conscious and Guilty Charles is so too Believe me these two Brethren in Iniquity they are in Confederacy with Pope and French to introduce Popery and Arbitrary Government as all their Actions demonstrate the Parliament Magna Charta and Liberty of the Subjects are as heavy Voaks which they would cast off to be as absolute as their Br. of France and if this can be proved to be their only aim and endeavour why should not every True Brittain be a Quaker thus far Let the English rise and move as one Man to self-defence to open Action and fling off their intollerable Riders Blow the Trumpet stand on your Guard and withstand them as Bears and Tygers And since there can be no trist given to this goodly couple of Popish Brethren nor no relief expected from a Parliament Trust to your Swords in defence of your Eives Laws Religion and Properties like the stout Earl of Old who told a King that if he could not be defended by Magna Charta he would be relieved by Longa Sedda Yet to convince the World that this Scottish Race is Corrupt Root Branch and Popish from the very beginning be pleas'd to consider these reasons following The Grand-Father of these Men James the Scot was of no Religion at the bottom but entred by a pretence of a Sham-Plot of the Papists against his Life whilst really he collogued with the Popish Party under-hand his Mother his Kindred and Companions were French and Papists when came into England he wrote to the Pope with great Submission yet afterwards thinking it for his purpose to cajole the Parliament and write against the Pope and Cardinals he sends a Scots Bird to blind the Eyes of the Vatican Keeper with Money and to steal his Letters from off the Roman File and then he crows as boldly as an unsuspected Harlot for the Protestant Religion and Interest That Man's Son Charles the First held a secret Correspondency with the Pope calling him his Dear and Holy Father as is to be seen in his Letters recorded in Rusworth's Collections Were not his Wife and Courtiers Papists Did he not countehance and promote the Rebellion in Ireland As the Irish Grandees his very Commissions testifie and declare was there not a Popish Plot and an Universal Conspiracy of the Papists discovered to him and his Confessor Laud and did they not piously stifle it lest they should have discovered the Nakedness of their Mother Church Whilst that goodly Protestant Prince pretended to relieve the poor besieged Protestants at Rochel by his confident Buckingham did he not hold Correspondency with the French Cardinal how to betray them for a Sum of Money which his obstinacy with his Parliament made him stand in need of But they who so ill approved themselves to be heads of the Protestant Church Charles and Laud did they not loose their own Heads by a manifest Judgment of God And was not the false Heart of their Emissary Buckingham found out by an Assassins Kinfe But to come nearer to our purpose these two goodly Imps of our days are stark naught arrived at the heigth of Wickedness and of professed Arbitrariness and Popery As for James he was a Papist whilst he had a Regiment in the French and afterwards in the Spanish Service beyond Seas And as for Charles he was reported e're he came into England to have been reconciled to the Church of Rome in one of the French Kings Country-Houses and since they came in how have they wheedled and played fast and loose in their profession of Religion as Occasion and their Affairs required Have they not all along maintained secret Correspondency with France and Rome As Coleman's Letters may
about ten days after he saw the King again by the means of Fitz-H and that when the Parliament was ended he waited again upon the Dutchess and then requested her to represent Fitz-H his condition to the King His Lordship further acknowledged upon the Question put to him by F. H. that he came to him the night before my Lord Stafford was Condemned and told him the King desired his Lordship would go the next day and give his Vote for my Lord Stafford and that he thereupon answered him seeing there is so great an account put upon it If I had but breath enough to pronounce his Doom he shall die Here Dr Otes desired leave to go away saying the Crowd was so great he could not stand upon which Mr Attorney scoffingly said my Lord that may be part of the Popish Plot to keep Dr Otes here to kill him in the Crowd The Prisoner then demanded of the Dutchess of Portsmouth's Porter how long it was since he paid him the Money from my Lady Portsmouth but he said he could not tell it was so long The Earl of Arran was then called by the Prisoner and acknowledged upon his questions that he did shew him a Libel perhaps it was this the day he was taken and his Lordship told him he would do himself a mischief one time or other by meddling with such Papers and that they drank a Bottle or two of Wine and parted and that as soon as his Lordship came home he heard Fitz-H was taken My Lord Conway and Seoretary Jenkins denied that the King did own that he had employed Fitz-H but my Lord C. acknowledged that he had heard the King say he did formerly employ him in some * Making a Protestant Plot or so trifling things and that he had got Money of him and that his Lordship said was for my Lord Howard's Business He added that the King never spoke with him till after he was taken The Dutchess of Portsmouth then appeared and Fitz-H asked her Whether he was not employed to bring Papers to the King and amongst the rest the Impeachment against her Grace and he said that thereupon she told him that it was a great piece of service to bring those sort of Papers and that he told her he knew one Mr Everard who knew all the Intrigues and Clubs in the City and could tell all the designs of my Lord of Shaftesbury and all that Party and her Grace encouraged him to go on and by her means he came to speak with the King about it The Dutchess answered I have nothing to say to Mr Fitz-H nor was concerned in any sort of Business with him he desired me to give a Petition to the King to get his Estate in Ireland and I spoke three or four times to the King about it and he had the Money for Charity Hereupon Fitz-H said I am sorry your Grace is so much under Mrs Wall 's Influence and then addressing himself to the Court said I will tell you what I know since my Witnesses will not I shall rely upon the Consciences of the Jury for the Issue Tho' my Lady Portsmouth Mrs Wall and the rest say that I was not employed nor recieved Money for secret Services yet 't is very well known I did so As to Everard he told me he was well acquainted with my Lord Shaftesbury and my Lord Howard and he knew their Intrigues in several Clubs in the City I humoured him in his discourse and discoursed him to reduce the Paper he accuses me of under some heads And I no sooner had the Paper but I came to White-Hall with it and was advised to go to my Lord Clarendon or Mr Hide and shew'd it to a Gentleman who was to give it to my Lord Clarendon but before he could get to him I was taken What I did was with design to serve the King according as I was employed tho' both the Secretaries will not declare it These are great Persons that I have to do with and where great State matters are at the bottom 't is hard to make them tell any thing but what is for their Advantage and so I am left in a sad Condition If the Jury Convict me They overthrow the Law and Course of Parliaments Whereas if they bring me in Not Guilty my Impeachment stands good still and I am liable to answer it before the Parliament I hope you will consider the Persons I have had to deal with and that it cannot be made so plain as in matters wherein We deal with common Persons I desire notice may be taken that Sr William Waller declares that for this very thing I was Impeached by the House of Commons Then the Solicitor General and Sr George Jeffryes summed up the Evidence and the Chief Justice directed the Jury his Lordship and the three other Judges Jones Dolben and Raymond telling them that they were sworn to the Point whether Fitz H. were guilty of the Treason or not but that it lay not before the Jury whether the Court have Authority to try him that was a question proper for the Judges determination and they had determined it Thereupon the Jury found him Guilty Before the Sentence was passed upon him he said that he thought it would be prejudicial to the Kings Service that Sentence should pass before he had made an end of the Evidence he had given in against my Lord Howard but the Chief Justice said They could take no notice of any thing of that nature and he was Sentenced to dye as a Traytor which was Execnted the 1st of July 1681. An Abstract of the Examination of Edward Fitz-Harris relating to the Popish Plot taken the 10th of March 1680. by Sr Robert Clayton and Sr George Treby THe Examinant saith that he was born in Ireland and was bred and is a Roman Catholick That he had a Commission and Raised a Company of Foot in Ireland for the French King's Service and Conducted them into France That in 1672 going to take his leave of Father Gough an English Priest at Paris he told him within this two years you will see the Catholick Religion Established in England as it is in France the Examinant asking how that could be the King being a Protestant he answered If the King would not comply there was Order taken and things so laid that he should be taken off or killed That the Duke of York was a Catholick and in his Reign there would be no difficulty of doing it That the Father then told him that the Declaration of Indulgence was for the Introducing the Catholick Religion and that to the same end the War was made against Holland it being a Nest of Hereticks and that Madam came over to Dover upon this Design That the Examinant about February 1672 had a Lieutenants Commission in Captain Sidenham's Company in the Duke of Albermarl's Regiment in the Black-Heath Army and that he knew many ef the Officers to be Roman Catholicks and
of Vices and is a prophane lewd debauchee This Keeling is brought in as the first Witness against Mr Bateman tho' his Evidence touch'd him no more in Law than it did every of the Jury-men and it is remarkable Page 1. c. of the true Account c. that in the four Informations which he at several times gave in to Jenkins Mr Bateman is not so much as once named and yet we here find Keeling a witness against him The fore-mentioned bitter and malitious History doth likewise present us at large Page 34. of the true Account c. as it did Keeling's with the Information of Lee the dyer against Mr Bateman therein Lee swears that he told Mr B. a story he had from Goodenough of our Rights and Priviledges being invaded and that some Gentlemen had taken into consideration how to retrive them c. That Mr Bateman thereupon told him he must have a care and speak at a great distance that he was willing to assist if he could see but a Cloud as big as a Man's hand And that Mr B. told him that the Duke of Monmouth told him the said Mr B. that he was glad that he came acquainted with those Protestant Lords and that Mr B. assured Lee that the Duke was very right for the Protestant Interest and that we need not mistrust him And Lee added in that Information That Goodenough told him that they must seize the Tower and take the City and secure the Savoy and Whitehall and the King and the Duke The Case as to poor Mr Bateman was much altered between the time of Lee's giving the foregoing Information and this Tryal for at first the managers were for hanging Goodenough of whom the Author of the True Account pag. 55. saith that he with monstrous Impiety maintained and recommended the Murder of the King and the Duke as a pious design and a keeping of one of the ten Commandments and the best way to prevent shedding Christian Blood rather than Bateman and to that end Lee's main force was then bent against Goodenough but now it being found that Goodenough and the City Juries of that day could hang Alderman Cornish and Bateman and also Sr. Robert Peyton could they have catcht him the story of a Cloud as big as a man's Hand is expatiated and breaks in a dreadful storm upon Mr B. That of the Duke of Monmouth's being right for the Protestant Interest is now mightily improved and Bateman made to have said The Duke would engage in the business and had Honses in readiness c. And that he the said Bateman would take an House near the Tower in order to surprize it c. As matters were at first concerted the Evidence ran thus Goodenough told Lee that they must seize and secure the Tower the City the Savoy Whitehall the King and the Duke Now Lee swears and Goodenough backs him in it that all this discourse of seizing and securing c. proceeded from Mr Bateman To conclude the whole was a hellish Contrivance to destroy the most valuable men of the Age and with them the Protestant Religion and the wicked History I have mentioned is a lying most malitious Libel upon the great and noble Names and Families of the D. of Monmouth the Earls of Bedford Leicester Essex Shaftesbury Argyle and others and also upon the present learn'd Bishop of Salisbury and therefore seeing that Author doth not unwrite it 't is pitty that 't is not condemned to be burnt by the hands of the Common-Hangman And should it receive that deserved Sentence the Executioner is hereby advertised that he may find the Book in Custody unless escaped since the Prince of Orange's Landing and also in Irons it being affixed very fairly bound with a Chain not far from Newgate at Sadlers Hall with an Inscription on the Title Page The Gift of Mr Nott of the Pall Mall Remarks upon the Tryal of the Right Honourable Henry Lord. Delamere upon the 14th Day of January 1685. Before the Lord Jeffryes Lord High Steward on that occasion SOon after the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth in the Year 1685 a Proclamation was issued requiring my Lord Delamere to render himself which his Lordship accordingly did and upon the 26th of July 1685 the Earl of Sunderland Secretary of State committed him to the Tower for high Treason The Parliament sitting in November following the House of Lords began to enquire into his Lordship's case but were quickly after prorogued to the 10th of February following and never sate more The County Palatine of Chester did at that time furnish the Conspirators with as good Juries as could be pack'd in the City of London by Sr John Moore 's Sheriffs as is well known to the right honourable the Earl of Macclesfield my Lord Delamere Sr Robert Cotton and many other eminently deserving Patriots of Cheshire Thither was a Commission of Oyer and Terminer speeded and an Indictment was preferred against his Lordship before Sr Edward Lutwich Chief Justice of Chester and the Bill was readily found against him by a well prepared and instructed Grand-Jury Thereupon his Lordship was brought to Tryal before the Lord Jeffryes High Steward and the following Peers viz. Laurence Earl of Rochester Lord high Treastrer of England Robert Earl of Sunderland Lord President of the Council Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England James Duke of Ormond Lord Steward of the Houshold Charles Duke of Somerset Christopher Duke of Albemarle Henry Duke of Grafton Henry Duke of Beaufort Lord President of VVales John Earl of Mulgrave Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold Aubery Earl of Oxford Charles Earl of Shrewsbury Theophilus E. of Huntington Thomas E. of Pembrooke John E. of Bridgewater Henry E. of Peterborow Robert E. of Scarsdale William E. of Craven Richard E. of Burlington Lovis E. of Feversham George E. of Berkley Daniel E. of Nottingham Thomas E. of Plymouth Thomas Viscount Fanconberg Francis Viscount Newport Treasurer of the Houshold Robert Lord Ferrers Vere Essex Lord Cromwell William Lord Maynard Comptroller of the Houshold George Lord Dartmouth Master General of the Ordnance Sidney Lord Godolphin John Lord Churchill Who being called over and appearing the High Steward began thus My Lord Delamere you stand indicted of High Treason by a Bill found against you by Gentlemen of Great Quality and known Integrity within the County Palatine of Chester the place of your residence and the King has thought it necessary to order you a speedy Tryal My Lord if you know your self innocent do not despond A Complement which Jeffryes never put upon any Man before For you may be assured of a fair and patient hearing and a free liberty to make your full defence He then ordered the Indictment to be read which was to this effect viz. That my Lord D. as a Traytor against King James the second the 14th of April last conspired with other Traytors the deposing and death of the King and did
trayterously assemble consult and agree with the Lord Brandon and other Traytors to raise Money and procure Armed Men to make a Rebellion and to seize the City and Castle of Chester with the Magazines and that upon the 27th of May he took a Journey from London to Mere to accomplish his Treasonable intentions and that upon the 4th of June he incited divers to joyn with him in his Treason To this Indictment his Lordship pleaded Not Guilty Jeffryes then addressed himself to the Lords to this effect Note my Lord Delamere was at that time in the House of Commons and a great Promoter of the Bill of Exclusion That their Lordships could not but remember the insolent Attempts made upon the unalterable Succession to the Crown under the spetious pretence of Religion by the fierce froward and Fanatical Zeal of some of the Commons which had been often found the occasion of Rebellion That that not prevailing the Chief Contrivers of that horrid Villany consulted how to gain the advantage by open force and in order thereto had several Treasonable Meetings made bold and riotous * The Duke of Monmouth's progress into Cheshire the West Progresses in several parts of the Kingdom to debauch the minds of the well-meaning tho' unwary part of the King's Subjects That God frustrated their evil purposes by bringing to Light that cursed Conspiracy against the Life of the late King and his present Majesty That one would have thought these hellish and damnable Plots could not have survived the just Condemnation and Execution of some of the †Innuendo Lord Russel Col. Sidney c. Chief Contrivers of them especially considering that no sooner the present King was seated in his Throne but he endeavoured to convince the world that he had quite forgot those impudent and abominable Indignities that had been put upon him only for being the best of Subjects and best of Brothers and also gave the most benign Assurances imaginable that he would approve himself the best of Kings And to evince the reality of his gracious Resolutions he called a Parliament and there repeated and solemnly confirmed his former Royal Declarations of having a particular care of maintaining our Established Laws and Religion And yet at that Juncture that wicked and unnatural Rebellion broke out and thereupon the Arch-Traytor Monmouth was by a Bill brought in the lower House and passed by the general consent in both Houses and I could wish my Lords for the sake of that Noble Lord at the Bar that I could say it had passed with the consent of every particular * The Lords are here told that my Lord Delamere opposed the Bill to attaint the D. of Monmouth Member of each House justly attainted of High Treason After this harangue he concluded thus My Lords what share my Lord at the Bar had in those other matters I must acquaint you To what end then was this malitious Tale told is not within the compass of this Indictment for which you are to try him for that is a Treason alledged to have been committed in the present King's Reign Then Sr Tho. Jenner the Recorder of London opened the Indictment The Attorney General then aggravated the Charge saying We crave leave to give a short Account of a former * The Plot in 1683. design Cheshire the Province of this Noble Lord was one of the Stages where that Rebellion was principally to be acted and preparatory to it great Riotous Assemblies and Tumultuous Gatherings of the People were set on foot by the Conspirators We shall prove that a little before the Rebels came over this last Summer the Duke of Monmouth dispatched one Jones into England to let his Friends know that tho' he had intended to go into Scotland and begin there he was resolved for England with this he was to acquaint some Lords particularly the Prisoner And also to acquaint them that they should have notice four or five days before of the place of his Landing and that then the Lords should repaire immediately into Cheshire there to wait for the News We shall give you an account that the late Duke of Monmouth lookt upon Cheshire as one of his main supports and upon my Lord Delamere as a principal Assistant there Jones was to communicate his Message to Captain Mathews who was to transmit it to this Lord and those concerned with him Jones arrived upon the 27th of May but Mathews nor Major Wildman to whom he was to apply in the absence of Mathews was not to be found Thereupon he sends for one Disney since executed for Treason and one Brand whom your Lordships will hear of and communicates his Message to them and they undertake to deliver it to the Persons concerned That very night My Lord this same Brand Disney met this Noble Lord and give him an account of the Message and as soon as ever he received it upon the 27th of May at ten at Night my Lord dispatches out of Town with only one Servant and two other Friends that he had pick'd up With all these Badges of Plot and Design does my Lord Delamere set out the same night Jones came to Town he chose to go all the By-Roads and went with great speed to repair into Cheshire by the name of Brown by which he was known among all his own Party by that name several of the late Duke of Monmouth's Trayterous Declarations were sent for to be sent to him or by him into Cheshire When he comes into Cheshire he actually sets about the work to put that County in a forwardness This means the impudent but ridiculous story of Saxon which could never obtain upon any but the Credulous Prosecutors of this Noble Lord who were disposed to believe any thing to assist in the Rebellion endeavours to stir up the People to joyn with him and acquaints one that he employed in that Affair that he was engaged to raise so many Thousand Men and so much Money to be ready by such a day My Lords We shall plainly shew you all this in plain proof Then Mr Attorney called their old Drudge at swearing my Lord H. of E. and demanded of him his oft repeated History of a design of an Insurrection that was to have been in the late King's time and what share Cheshire was to have in it The Lord H. told his thrid-bare history of the Plot in 1682 and 1683 but not a word of Cheshire and said that he knew nothing concerning my Lord Delamere The Lord Grey was then called and said That about the time of the contested Election of Sheriffs The Duke of Monmouth and Earl of Shaftesbury resolved that they would make what interest they could to procure a Rising in three several parts of the Kingdom at once one in Cheshire whether the Duke of Monmouth was to betake himself and there to be advised by my Lord Macclesfield my Lord Brandon my Lord Delamere that then was
to kill the King I take God to witness I never had any such design nor ever had a thought to take away the King's Life Neither ever had any man the impudence to propose so barbarous and base a thing to me Mr Nelthorp at his death in 1685 said I can with great comfort appeal to the great God before whose Tribunal I am to appear what I did was in the sincerity of my Heart thinking it my duty to hazard my Life for the Preservation of the Protestant Religion and the English Liberties which I thought invaded and in great danger to be lost As to the design of Assassinating or Murdering the late King or his present Majesty it was a thing I always detested and I never was in the least concerned in it Nor did I believe there was such a design I dye in Charity with all the World and can readily and heartily forgive my greatest Enemies and even those that have been the Evidence against me Mr Rouse declared that he was told that They did not intend to spill one drop of Blood and affirmed that Lee the Witness against him did by his Evidence make him the Author of the very words that came out of his the said Lee's own Mouth Mr Richard Rumbold who at his death at Edenburgh in 1685 was found to be a very brave Man most serious Christian and had been represented as the main Promoter of the Murdering design with his last breath desired all to believe his dying Words and therewith affirmed that he never directly or indirectly intended such a Villany as the death of King Charles the second and the Duke of York but declared that he abhorred the thoughts of so horrid an intention That he was sure this Truth would at the great day be manifest to all Men And he concluded that he dyed in the defence of the just Laws and Liberties of the Nation and said that for that Cause were every Hair of his Head and Beard a Life he would joyfully sacrifice them all and wisht he had a Limb for every Town in Christendom To conclude these solemn serious dying Declarations Protestations and Appeals to the heart-searching God have always out-weighed with me the Evidence of those two or three Witnesses who swore these Persons out of their Lives and by so doing saved their own And I did and do most stedfastly believe that the only Plot in that day was the same which the Almighty has at length owned and most signally prospered in the hand of our gracious August and Rightful Soveraign King William I mean the rescuing the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of England from a most impetuous Torrent of Popery and Tyranny wherewith they were very dangerously threatned And methinks it should even convert a Tory unless his Brains were pick'd out of his Shull by him who pick'd the Guineas out of his Pocket when he casts his Eye upon that apposite Emphatical Expression in the Observator vol. 2. Number 125. To deal freely with thee TRIMMER I have more Faith in the Words of one dying Traytor under the stroke of Iustice than of twenty Living Errata's PAge 34. last Line read Closet p 63 first line r and he be found p 91 line 9 dele that p 105 l 2. dele us p 151 l 25 r acquainted with p 203 l 5 for with r which p 213 l 20 for it is r its p 241 l 14 r possessed p 247 l 22 r always had p 252 l 25 r every day from that p 253 l 3 r Sr Robert p 277 l 26 r Gold-Finch p 288 l 9 r were not sent