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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34574	Stafford's memoires, or, A brief and impartial account of the birth and quality, imprisonment, tryal, principles, declaration, comportment, devotion, last speech, and final end of William, late Lord Viscount Stafford, beheaded on Tower-hill Wednesday the 29. of Decemb. 1680 whereunto is annexed a short appendix concerning some passages in Stephen Colledges tryal / the whole now again set forth for a more ample illustration of that so wonderfully zealous pamphlet entituled The papists bloody aftergame, writ in answer to the said Memoirs, and published by Langley Curtis, 1682.	Corker, James Maurus, 1636-1715.; Curtis, Langley, fl. 1668-1725.	1682 (1682)	Wing C6306A; ESTC R40876	92,519	237

for crimes detested by God and Nature This man surely can never die without such Conflicts of horrour and despair as will almost prevent the hand of the Executioner yet there appeared in my Lord no other Symptoms then those of a most pleasing Tranquility as if Innocence had Guarded him As if the Injustice of others had secured him As if the Holy Ghost had fortified him As if Christ Jesus had united him to his Sufferings and undertaken his conduct and defence THat very morning he was to dye he writ a Letter to his Lady which afterwards he delivered on the Scaffold to a Friend there present the contents whereof are these My Dear Wife I Have I give God humble thanks slept this night some hours very quietly I would not dress me until I had by this given you thanks for all your great Love and Kindness unto me I am very sorry that I have not deserved it from you God reward you Were I to live numbers of years I assure you I would never omit any occasion to let you know the Love I bear you I cannot say what I would nor how well and many ways you have deserv'd God of His most infinite mercy send us an happy meeting in Heaven My last request unto you is that you will bear my Death as well as you can for my sake I have now no more to do but as well as I can though not so well as I would to recommend my sinful Soul unto the mercy of the Holy Trinity who through the Passion Bloud and Merits of our Saviour I hope will mercifully grant me a place though the lowest in Heaven God grant it And bless you and Ours Your truly loving Husband W. H. St Thomas of Canterbury 's day 1680. past six in the Morning The Manner and Circumstances of my Lord 's Final End WHen the hour appointed for his Death drew near he expected with some impatience the arrival of Mr. Lieutenant telling his Friends that were about him he ought not to hasten his own Death yet he thought the time long till they came for him A Gentleman then with him in his Chamber put him in mind that it was a cold day and that his Lordship would do well to put on a Cloak or Coat to keep him warm He answered He would For said he I may perhaps shake for cold but I trust in God never for fear After some time spent in Spiritual discourses at length about Ten a Clock word was brought him That Mr. Lieutenant waited for him below upon which he sweetly saluted his Friends bidding them not to grieve for him for this was the happiest day of all his Life then he immediatly went down and walked along by the Lieutenants Chair who had the Gout through a lane of Soldiers to the Barrs without the Tower There the Lieutenant delivered him to the Sheriff● and they from thence Guarded him to the Scaffold erected on Tower-Hill All the way as he passed several thousands of People crowded to see him many civilly saluted him and few there were amongst that vast ●ber whose hearts were not a li● ●ched and mollified with Compassion for him Having mounted the Scaffold there appeared in his Countenance such an unusual vivacity such a Chearfulness such a Confidence such a Candor as if the Innocence of his Soul had shined through his Body Nothing of that Mortal paleness Nothing of those Reluctances Convulsions and Agonies incident to persons in his condition could in the least be perceived in him He looked death in the ●a●e with so undaunted a Resolution as gave many occasion to say Gr●e had left in him no Resentment●●f ●ature After a short pause viewing th● People and finding them attend●●o what he should say he step● to one side of the Scaffold and with a Graceful Air and intelligible Voice pronounced his last Speech as followeth My Lord's last Speech BY the permission of Almighty God I am this day brought hither to Suffer Death as if I were Guilty of High Treason I do most truly in the presence of the Eternal Omnipotent and All-knowing God protest upon my Salvation that I am as Innocent as it is possible for any Man to be so much as in a thought of the Crimes laid to my Charge I acknowledge it to be a particular Grace and Favour of the Holy Trinity to have given me this Long time to prepare my self for Eternity I have not made so good use of that Grace as I ought to have done partly because not only my Friends but my Wife and Children have for several days been forbidden to see me but in the presence of one of my Warders This hath been a great trouble and distraction unto me but I hope God of his Infinite Mercy will Pardon my Defects and accept of my good Intentions Since my long Imprisonment I have considered often what could be the Original Cause of my being thus Accused since I knew my self not Culpable so much as in a thought and I cannot believe it to be upon any other account then my being of the Church of Rome I have no reason to be ashamed of my Religion for it Teacheth nothing but the Right Worship of God Obedience to the King and due Subordination to the Temporal Laws of the Kingdom And I do submit to all Articles of Faith believed and taught in the Catholick Church believing them to be most consonant to the Word of God And whereas it hath so much and often been objected That the Church holds that Soveraign Princes Excommunicated by the Pope may by their Subjects be Deposed or Murdered As to the Murder of Princes I have been taught as a Matter of Faith in the Catholick Church That such Doctrine is Diabolical Horrid Detestable and contrary to the Law of God Nature and Nations As for the Doctrine of Deposing Princes I know some Divines of the Catholick Church hold it but as able and Learned as they have Written against it But it was not pretended to be the Doctrine of the Church that is any Point of Catholick Faith Wherefore I do here in my Conscience declare that it is my true and 〈◊〉 Judgment That the same Doctrine of Deposing King● is contrary to the 〈◊〉 a● Lawpunc of this Kingdom Injurious to Soveraign Power and consequently would be in me or any other of his Majesties Subjects Impious and Damnable I believe and profess That there is One God One Saviour One Holy Catholick Church of which through the Mercy Grace and Goodness of God I die a member To my great and unspeakable grief I have offended God in many things by many great Offences but I give him most humble thanks not in any of those Crimes of which I was Accused All the Members of either House having liberty to propose in the House what they think fit for the good of the Kingdom accordingly I proposed what I thought fit the House is Judge of the fitness or unfitness of it and I

Stafford's Memoires OR A Brief and Impartial Account OF THE BIRTH and QUALITY Imprisonment Tryal Principles Declaration Comportment Devotion Last Speech and FINAL END OF WILLIAM LATE Lord Viscount STAFFORD Beheaded on Tower-hill Wednesday the 29. of Decemb. 1680. Whereunto is annexed a short APPENDIX concerning some Passages in STEPHEN COLLEDGES TRYAL The whole now again set forth for a more ample Illustration of that so wonderfuly Zealous Pamphlet Entituled The Papists Bloody After-Game writ in Answer to the said MEMOIRS And Published by Langley Curtis 1682. Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt London Printed in the Year 1682. THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER IT is the Common Fate of all Treatises writ in Matters of Contest by Opposite Parties That whilst the One is read without the other neither of both are rightly understood There came forth not long since in Answer to this Treatise call'd Stafford●s Memoires a Pamphlet Entituled The Papists Bloudy After-game Composed by a zealous Protestant-Dissenter and obtruded upon the Vulgar even to Nauseousness on every Bookseller's Stall This Pamphlet we confess hath had the misfortune to be generally reguarded no otherwise then as a meer Bundle of Hideously Rude and Scurrilous Barbarismes and Calumnies proceeding from the Malice and Fury of a Man baffled in Judgment and despairing of success from Sense and Reason Whilst on the other side the Memoires though they hardly appear'd in open view have yet gain'd the Reputation of Modest in expression Impartial in Matter Convincing in Proof and Innoffensive in Stile It is true these so differrent Characters seem to the Godly Party no wise applicable to the desert of either of the Authors The rather because the One of them though abounding alas in Passion and Cholor is yet to be Commended for his exceeding zeal against the Popish Plot And the Other by his reservedness in being exposed and shrewd Arguments made in defence of the Papists Innocence hath given no small umbrage of Suspicion he yeildeth not that Implicit Faith and deference to the Testimony of the Kings Witnesses as may clear him from the Imputation of Popishly affected Nevertheless so it is we know not how the Memoires are grateful and the Pamphlet odious to all indifferent Readers Nay some will needs say though we piously believe otherwise The framing of this Pamphlet was a meer Sham-Plot contriv'd by th' Jesuits on purpose to advance the Credit of the Memoires and Prejudice a good Cause by an Ill Vindication But 't is hoped there will shortly be Printed something by way of an Apology in behalf of the Pamphleteer In the mean while That the two Antagonists may stand in equal Balance and both be impartially submitted to each judicious Censure see the scope of our Present Design The Memoires are here made Publick The Pamphlet being already obvious to every Eye and Ear. THE Introduction IT is a wonder to see how Passion and Interest predominate over Reason in Mankind Nothing is done nothing said without some tincture of either or both Even common Occurrences are usually related as Men would have them to be rather then as they are Plain-dealing is almost fled And and all things now a days whether Private or Publick Sacred or Prophane are according to different Inclinations without regard to Truth promiscuously made the Subject of a Satyr or Panegirick An obvious example of this we have in the several Accounts given of the Tryal Declaration Demeanor and Death of the late Lord Stafford concerning whose Tragedy though acted for the most part in the face of the whole Nation yet there have flown about in a manner as many and those contradictory Stories as there are Relaters and such as know least commonly talk most to compleat the Error It is true the Printed Tryal set forth by Authority is no wise liable to these gross mistakes But it hath swelled in the Press by forms c. To so vast a volumn that few can spare either money to buy it or time to read it Besides it is in a manner silent of matters chiefly designed for the Subject of this Treatise viz. My Lords Comportment Declaration Devotion Last Speech and other Occurrences which happened inclusively from the time of his Tryal to his final End Having therefore attained to a most exact and certain knowledge of these particulars I shall for the satisfaction of the curious and manifestation of Truth give together with an abstract of the whole Tryal and some occurrences concerning it a plain and sincere relation of what I know and can by unquestionable Evidence justifie to be true And herein I shall also totally abstain from any the least moralizing upon transactions whereby to forestal the Readers Judgment But contenting my self with a plain and candid Relation of things as I find them leave every one to the freedom of his own censure and verdict upon them SECT I. My Lord's BIRTH Education QUALITY c. WIlliam Howard Viscount Stafford was second Son to Thomas Earl of Arundel and Uncle to the now Duke of Norfolk In his youth he was Educated with all Care and Industry imaginable to improve in him the Endowments of Nature and Grace And to speak truth he was ever held to be of a Generous Disposition very Charitable Devout addicted to Sobriety inoffensive in his words and a lover of Justice When he arrived to years of maturity he married Mary descended from the antient Dukes of Buckingham Grand-child to Edward and Sister and sole Heiress to Henry Lord Stafford To whose Title he succeeded being created by the late King Charles of Glorious Memory Baron Anno 1640. And soon after Viscount Stafford During the time of the late bloudy Rebellion he suffer'd much for his Loyalty to the King Always behaving himself with that courage and constancy as became a Nobleman a good Christian and a faithful Subject After His present Majesties joyful Restauration he lived in Peace Plenty and Happiness Being blessed with a most virtuous Lady to his Wife and many pious and dutiful Children In which state he remain'd till the 66. year of his age when happened this Revolution of his fortune as follows SECT II. My Lords Imprisonment Charge and Arraignment c. ABout Michaelmas Anno 1678. Mr. Titus Oates formerly a Minister of the Church of England accus'd upon Oath before the King and Council not long after also before the two Houses of Parliament several Roman Catholicks some Persons of Quality and amongst the rest the Lord Viscount Stafford of High Treason for intending and designing the Death of the King the introducing of Popery and subversion of the Government c. My Lord though he immediately heard of this Impeachment yet relying as he said on his own Innocence never left his Family nor withdrew himself from his ordinary known Acquaintance and Affairs till the 25 th of October 78. when by Warrant from the Lord Chief Justice he was sent Prisoner to the Kings Bench and from thence soon after

to the Tower where he remain'd above two years before he could be admitted to Tryal During this interval the whole Nation was surpriz'd and allarm'd with the noise of an horrid Plot contriv'd by the Pope Priests and Jesuits wherein the King was to be Murthered Armies raised Protestants Massacr'd and the three Kingdoms destroy'd by Fire and Sword the people were affrighted searches made Guards doubled and all in an uproar The King hereupon consulted the Parliament and both Houses declar'd it a Plot Yet to strengthen the Evidence as yet but weak and make farther discoveries Indempnities are promised Rewards proposed and encouragments given by Proclamation to any who would make out upon Oath the particulars of what in substance was already declar'd By this and the like sedulity of the King and three succeeding Parliaments several new Witnesses came in First Captain Bedlow Next Dugdale Prance and two others Bolron and Mowbray out of the North Then Mr. Jennison Smith Seigneur Francisco Dangerfield Zeile Lewis c. Lastly one Mr. Turbervile who together with Oates and Dugdale gave Evidence against this Lord Stafford of whom we now treat After two years Imprisonment when many Roman Catholicks both Priests and others had been Executed and most of the rest Imprisoned or fled At length my Lord was brought to his Tryal on the 30 th day of Novemb. 1680. at the Peers Bar in Westminster-Hall the House of Commons being present and the Lord Chancellor High-Steward of England The Impeachment was drawn in the name of the Commons of England wherein my Lord was charged together with other Papists for having imagin'd and contriv'd to murther the King introduce Popery and subvert the good Government of Church and State established by Law To this Impeachment my Lord being thereupon arraigned pleaded Not Guilty Allegations in proof of the Plot in general ¶ 1. THen the Cause was opened and the Commons Learned Counsel who were appointed Managers of the Tryal set forth the Charge in most Copious and Eloquent Language And beginning first with the Plot in general they shew●d to the life the Wickedness the Malice the Horror of so Dreadful Bloudy and Hellish a Design They strongly insisted on the express positive Oaths of the Witnesses upon whose Testimony the credit of this Plot chiefly depended They amply dilated upon the Letters of Coleman and others clearly demonstrating the busy Designs and Activity of the Writers They pressed home the execrable Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey charged upon the Papists as well by the Oaths of Captain Bedlow and Mr. Prance self-acknowledged Partners in the Assasination as also by a certain Letter sent from London to Tixal intimating the Murder of a Justice of Peace and communicated by Dugdale to divers Gentlemen in Staffordshire the third day after the Murder was committed They displayed to the full view the Sham-Plots and Counter-Contrivances whereby 't is said the Papists would have subborned the King's Evidence and turn'd all their Guilt upon His Majesty 's known and well-experienced Loyal Protestant Subjects They urg'd the Firing the City the burning the Navy the calling in French-Armies Wild Irish Spanish-Pilgrims c. Asserted in the several Depositions and Narratives of Dr. Oats Captain Bedlow Mr. Dangerfield c. They re-capitulated the several Tryals of Ireland Whitebread Langhorn c. And alledged the Votes of both Houses of Parliament declaring it a Plot. To strengthen all this They ript up the Cruelties of Queen Mary the French and Irish Massacres the Powder-Plot c. They anatomiz'd the wicked Principles from whence spring evil Practices of Murdering Lying Swearing Faith-breaking Equivocating c. Imputed to the Papists as held by them Lawful and matters of Faith In short nothing was omitted nothing neglected throughout the whole Process But every the least Circumstance enforced and advanced to its full proportion with such vigour of Wit and Industry as fitly corresponded to so great a Cause prosecuted by so high an Authority before so Illustrious Judges and August an Assembly When the Managers themselves had made these efforts to shew the Vniversal Conspiracy as they term'd it they produc'd six Witnesses to the same effect whereby to second and confirm what they had thus in general asserted Mr. Smith's Deposition THe first was Mr. Smith who deposed That going into France he became aquainted with Abbot Montague and one Father Bennet These persons to induce him to be a Catholick told him he should have an Imployment among them and that in a few years they would bring in their Religion into England right or wrong But this was not sufficiently prevalent with him to turn Papist yet he lived with them several years That at last he went into Italy where the Jesuits perswaded him to discourse with Cardinal Grimaldi the which he did That the Cardinal made much of him and he it was perverted him to the Romish Religion That upon occasion of shewing him a pair of Hangings this Cardinal told him He had great assurance the Popish Religion would prevail in England That there was but one in the way And that to accomplish their Designs they must take him out of the way That the Jesuits there also publickly preached and privately taught That the King of England being an Heretick whoever took him out of the way would do a meritorious act That after this he studied several years at Rome And that whilst he was in the Colledge he saw several of Coleman's Letters That being made a Priest he was sent into England with instructions to inform the Papists They were not obliged to obey the King but that they should endeavour to promote the Popish Religion That upon his arrival in England he was placed with one Mr. Jenison in the Bishoprick of Durham where his main Imployment was to root out the Jesuits as men ill-principled and to disswade the Papists from sending Money to Colledges beyond seas That one Thomas Smith told him he received a Letter from the Lord Stafford wherein my Lord said He expected some suddain Change Dugdale's Deposition NExt to Mr. Smith was Stephen Dugdale who deposed That for about 15 or 16 years together he had been acquainted by several Letters and other means there was a Design carried on for the bringing in of the Romish Religion That the Papists were to have Money and Arms ready against the King's Death for he said he heard nothing of killing the King till the year 78 That in October 78. my Lord Aston and others should go to dispose of certain Arms they received to the value of 30000 l. That the King of France was acquainted with all these Designs and that he would furnish the Papists with Men and afford them other Aid and assistance if the King should die or be taken away That he saw a Letter writ to Mr. Evers for all the Jesuits Letters were returned to him wherein were these words This night Sir Edmundbury Godfrey is dispatch'd That he

gain'd from the Jesuits a Patent to be taken into the Consult Is it possible then that none of these men thus circumstanced could get or preserve one single Letter one Seal'd Commission one scrip of Paper one Original Writing a thousand manner of ways easily compass'd in such a conjuncture whereby to credit their monstrous Evidence How came it about they did not at the first Discovery having both time and opportunity to do it seize by surprize some of these Things together with the Persons where they were lodg'd Did all the Plotters burn their Commissions Bulls and Briefs as well as all their Letters as soon as they received them Why did not Oates shew us at least his own Patent receiv'd from the Jesuits Surely it would have been of mighty force to strengthen his Testimony Why did not the other Witnesses also produce some of those Treasonable Letters writ as they said and directed to themselves Nothing appear nothing extant nothing feisible but a few naked harmless men in their several private Chambers And this too just when the Grand Design was to break into Action What mortal man can reconcile these endles● Contradictions From these and other the like grounds the Papists would inferr That no credit ought to be given to the bare Oaths of these men swearing at this wild incoherent rate And they farther appeal to the Judgement of every impartial conscientious man Whether it be not more likely that a few Debauch'd Wretches of lost Consciences and desperate Fortunes allured by Gain and encouraged by Indempnities should be induc●d out of Malice or Interest to swear a Lie then that so many so Noble so Prudent so known Loyal and Virtuous Persons should be guilty of so horrid so bloudy so absurd so morally impossible and in all circumstances contradictory a Design Nay whether if such Evidence be allowed and countenanc'd any man either Papist or Protestant can be long secure of his Reputation Fortune or Life To what was argu'd from the acknowledg'd Letters of Mr. Coleman and others It is answer'd That those Letters indeed manifestly denote ●he buisie Designs and Activity of the Writers yet are they withal so far from confirming a Plot such as Oates and his Companions pretend to discover that they directly evince the contrary For the whole subject and context of those Letters bear a plain and open face of what the Authors intended And the Writers were Persons who had there been a Plot were the most likely of all others to have been the main Engines and Contrivers of it Nevertheless we do not find one single word or sillable in them from whence may be gather'd any such design The substance of them being only some imaginable Conceits and over-weening Policies of four or five aspiring men willing to be Great or at least to be thought so and desiring perhaps in some measure a liberty of Conscience yet without confronting much less destroying the King or Government Wherein also as far as appears by the Letters they were no wise seconded by the Catholicks in general nor much countenanced by those whose Favourites they pretended to be so that upon the whole matter these Letters rightly consider'd are rather as is said before a manifest Vindication of the Roman Catholicks Innocence then a Confirmation of the Plot. Concerning the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey there is nothing to fasten that Murder on the Roman Catholicks but the the bare improbable though gainful Oathes of two Infamous Persons The one viz. Bedlow notorious for Cheats and Misdemeanours The other viz. Prance self-Condemn'd of Falshood herein by the Testimony of his own Mouth for he once Swore he was an Actor in the said Murder and soon after before the King and Council unswore what he had said and Protested upon his Salvation he knew nothing of it There are furthermore some remarkable and pressing circumstances which the Papists urge in their own defence herein One is that Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was esteemed by all a moderate man and particularly Indulgent to Catholicks And 't is not credible the Papists would Murder their Friends especially in a conjuncture of time when it was to no purpose nor could any way Stifle the Discovery of the Plot already made Nay when they could not but see such an Horrid Action if known must needs draw the wrath and detestation of the whole Nation upon them Another thing is that the whole though premeditated series of this Murder as it is related by the Witnesses seems to be involv'd with innumerable Absurdities Contradictions moral Impossibilities and Pregnant appearences of Perjury The Scene of the Tragedy must be forsooth the publick Yard of Somerset-House a place or rather thorough-fare of continual intercourse within twenty Paces of the Common Guards where Watch is kept night and day The Assassines to effect their design must feign a Quarrel and call Justice Godfrey out of the street a notable Policy to keep the Peace though none Passengers Soldiers or Neighbours preceiv'd any thing of this Tumult When they had him in the Yard they Strangled him with an Hankerchief a very proper Instrument studyed and contriv'd before-hand to strangle a Man After the buisiness was done they let him lie expos'd in this open place half living half dead above a quarter of an hour At length they dragged him into a Chamber in Dr. Godwin's Lodgings a Room attested to be of daily use to the Servants never lock'd but constantly obvious to all Comers and Goers here they kept him two days and then carry'd him through several Courts into several Rooms and apartments in Somerset-House And having thus to no purpose toss'd him up and down ●rom Saturday till Wednesday they finally plac'd him though stiff and Inflexible in a Sedan and carry'd him to the Soho and there set him astride on Horse-back to ride before H●ll to the place where he was afterwards found Bedlow deposes Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was Throtl'd with a Cravat Prance Swears it was with a Hankerchief The names of the Assassines cited by Bedlow are Prichard Welsh Le Phaire and other Jesuits But the Murderers nominated by Prance are Green Hill Bury Gyrald and Kely And these two parties are quite different Actors and as far as appears by the Evidence neither the Designs nor ●ersons well known to each other Prance saith he saw the dead Body very plainly in a low Room by the light of a dark Lanthorn but what was thrown over it he could not tell Nor could be afterwards when required go to the Room where he said he saw it Bedlow tells us he refus'd to have any hand in the Murder for which cause the Jesuits did not acquaint him who it was yet they shewed him the dead Body in the presence of many who neither knew him nor he them Prance himself further declared he never was in Bedlows company till he came to Prison The main Assassines were ignorant of what reward they were to have But

impossible the same should be true for Falshood may but Truth cannot be inconsistent of parts LAstly the Managers having amply dilated and discanted upon each particular Evidence and Argument alledged as well against my Lord as in his defence and making even critical remarks upon whatever might be drawn either to the advantage of the one or prejudice of the other the substance of all which hath been already specified in its proper place At length they concluded with sharp and moving Aggravations against the Popish Principles whereof also we shall by and by according to promise give a distinct account And insisting a while on this Subject with much accuteness of Wit and seeming applause they closed up their Evidence THus when there was a period put to proof in matters of Fact there began a debate as to matter of Law concerning a doubt proposed by my Lord the other of his Queries not being admitted disputable viz. Whether two Witnesses be necessary to every Overt-Act in point of Treason This Question being referred to the Judges they determined it to the Negative After this my Lord petitioned the Court as a peculiar favour That he might offer some things to their Lordships Consideration the purport of which was That he had proved direct Perjury upon all the three Witnesses against him That as well at the instance of his Wife Daughter and Friends as out of sincerity of Conscience he would in the presence of Almighty God declare to them All that he knew That he verily believ'd there had been in former times Plots and Designs against the Crown and Government as the Gun-powder-Treason c. owned by the Traytors themselves at their death wherein some Roman Catholicks as well as others might be concerned which Plots he from his heart as both his Duty and Religion taught him detested and abhorred That it was ever indeed his opinion That An Act of Comprehension for Dissenting Protestants and a Tolleration for Roman Catholicks yet so as not to admit them into any Office of Profit or Dignity would much conduce to the happiness of the Nation But this not otherwise to be procured or desired then by a free consent of the King Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled That he never read or knew of Coleman's Letters or Consultations for Tolleration till he saw the Letters themselves in the Printed Tryal How far Coleman was Criminal he did not know but he believed he did that which was not justifiable by Law That as to the damnable Doctrine of King killing If he were of any Church whatsoever and found that to be its Principle he would leave it That he knew the disadvantage he was under in being forced alone to stand a contest with the Learned Gentlemen the Managers who have those great helps of Memory Parts and understanding in the Law all which he wanted That therefore he hoped their Lordships would not conclude barely upon the manner either of his or their expressions But seriously debating the merits of the Cause in it self would please to be his Councel as well as his Judges That seing he was to be Acquitted or Condemned by their Lordships Judgments He knew they would lay their hands upon their Heart Consult their Consciences and their Honours And then he doubted not they would do what was just and equitable That with submission to their Lordships he thought it hard measure and contrary to Law that any one should be Imprisoned above two years without being admitted to Tryal And that it was of evil consequence for any one to have Justice denyed him so long till his Opponents had found occasion to gain their ends That however those large Allowances and Rewards granted to the Witnesses for Swearing might peradventure be an effect of His Majesties Grace and Bounty yet it was not easily conceivable how the hopes and promises of so great Sums should not prove to dissolute indigent Persons ●ong Allurements and temptations to Perjury Finally That the defence he had made he owed it to the worth and dignity of his Family He owed it to his dear Wife and Children at which words he was observed to weep He owed it to his Innocence He owed it to God the Author of Life That he confided their Lordships would duly reflect what a dreadful thing Murder is and the Bloud of Innocents And that he verily believed none of the House of Commons desired his Death for a Crime of which he was not Guilty That he hoped their Lordships would not permit him to be run down by the shouts of the Rable the Emblem of our past Calamity It began in the late times with the Lord Strafford and so continued till it ended in the Death of the King the most execrable Murder that ever was committed And where this will end said he God knows To conclude He again declared in the presence of God of his Angels of their Lordships and all who heard him That he was entirely Innocent of what was laid to his charge That he left it to their Lordships to do Justice and with all submission resigned himself to them To this discourse of my Lord's the Managers returned for answer That his Lordship's last Address was not regular nor according to the due method of proceedings for if after his Lordship had summed up his Evidence and the Prosecutors had concluded theirs he should begin that work again and they by consequence be admitted to reply he might still rejoyn upon them and so there would be no end of proceedings They therefore desired this Indulgence granted to my Lord might not serve for a future Precedent The Conclusion of the Tryal ¶ 5. HEre then the Lord High Steward wholly terminating all further process on either side The Court gave final Judgment And the Lord High Steward collecting the Votes my Lord Stafford was Pronounced Guilty by fifty five Votes against thirty one When the Votes were pass'd the Lord High Steward declar'd to the Prisoner He was found Guilty of High Treason whereof he was Impeached To which my Lord Stafford answer'd God's holy name he praised my Lord for it Then the Lord High Steward ask'd him What he could say for himself why Judgment of Death should not be given upon him according to Law He reply●d My Lord I have very little to say I confess I am surprized at it for I did not expect it But Gods will be done and your Lordships I will not murmer at it God forgive those who have Falsly Sworn against me WE are now come to the final Sentence of Death For a Prologue to which the Lord High Steward made a short ●athetick Speech wherein after some reflections upon the Plot in General he descended to my Lords Case in particular And then advised his Lordship as now a supposed guilty Person to bethink himself of the State and Condition he was in Of his Religion and Guides that t is said had seduced him Of the repentance due to

Cap. 15. Verse 54. Absorpta est Mors in Victoriâ AN APPENDIX Containing some Remarques upon the late TRYAL OF STEPHEN COLLEDGE In Relation to the Chief Witnesses against my Lord Stafford Here annexed for the more Ample Satisfaction of the Reader in that Particular HAving in some measure performed what I purposed and promised in the front of this Treatise I might well have here put a stop to my Pen had not an extraordinary Accident raised new matter of Reflections upon the King's Evidence in point of Credit and seemed to call me to a short Survey of it in the close of my Discourse The Judgments of the Almighty are incomprehensible And St. Paul had good reason to Cry out as it were in an Extasy O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out Who could ever have imagined That the three direct and main Witnesses against my Lord Stafford at his Tryal should all convene together at another of a quite contrary stamp And this is in so fatal a conjuncture as to confound and destroy by open Perjury each others Testimony My Lord as you have seen endeavour'd to shew the Infamy of the Witnesses The Contradictions in their Evidence The Incoherence of parts And Incredibility of Circumstances throughout the whole Charge To make out which he alledged many pressing Arguments and produc'd many Substantial Witnesses both Catholicks and Protestants in his behalf Nothing seem'd wanting save only his Adversaries themselves against themselves to compleat his Evidence And here it is the Divine Goodness say the Papists who is the Defender of Innocence and Fountain of Truth hath wonderfully manifested what manner of Men my Lord's Accusers were and what credit ought to be given them Even by the proper Testimony of their own Mouths Herein also fulfilling in some sort what my Lord himself Prophetically foretold in his last Speech viz I have a great confidence that it will please Almighty God And that he will in a short time bring Truth to Light Then all the World will see and know what Injury they Oates Dugdale and Turbervil have done me TO give a brief account of this affair There are few who have not heard of the late Tryal of Stephen Colledge Sirnamed the Protestant Joyner a man very active in the Death of my Lord Stafford and a zealous defender of Dugdales Honesty He was Impeached Arraigned Condemned and Executed for High Treason In speaking Treasonable Words And having by a designed combination with others appeard in Arms to Seize the Kings Person at Oxford The Witnesses against him were Smith Dugdale Turbervil Haines Mr. Maisters and Sir William Jennings It is not my intent here to Epitomize Colledges whole Tryal Nor to give my Censure or Verdict upon it But only to inform the Reader of some Passages which chiefly relate to the main Witnesses against my Lord Stafford And which are now become the Subject of Surprise and Astonishment to all Considering Persons Please then to note That Stephen Dugdale and Edward Turbervil two of the Principal Witnesses upon whose Testimony my Lord was Found Guilty and John Smith otherwise called Narrative Smith who at my Lords Tryal seemed the only plausible Deponent as to the Plot in General gave respective Evidence against this Colledge at Oxford as followeth Stephen Dugdale Swore 1 st Mr. Colledge told him That the King was a Papist That he was as deep in the Plot as any Papist of them all which the Papists themselves also confess That he had an hand in Sir E. Godfreys death That he was a Rogue That nothing was to be expected from him but Popery and Arbitrary Government And that the Clergy of England were Papists in Masquerade 2ly That Colledge had framed several notorious Libels against the King to render him contemptible and raised Arms with intent to seize His Sacred Person at Oxford c. Turbervil Swore He heard Colledge say 1 st That there was no good to be expected from the King For that he and his Family were Papists and had ever been such 2 ly That his Party would Seize the King and secure him till he came to those terms they would have of him 3 ly That the Parliament which cut off the late King's Head did nothing but what they had just cause for c. Smith Swore 1 st That Colledge told him There were Moneys collected to buy Arms and Amunition to bring the King to Submission to his People Adding thereunto That he wondered Old Rowley meaning the King did not consider how easily his Fathers Head came to the Block which he doubted not would be the End of Rowley at last 2 ly That Colledge had provided himself of a great Sword Pistols Blunderbuss with Back Breast and Head-peice And that he heard him say The City was provided and ready with Powder and Bullets That he would be one who should Seize the King in case he secured any of the Members of Parliament And that if any man nay even Rowley himself should attempt to Seize upon his Arms He would be the death of him c. In direct opposition to these Witnesses Colledge produced Titus Oates the third principal Witness against my Lord Stafford And first Grand Discoverer of the Popish Plot who gave attestation against the said several Witnesses after this manner AGainst Dugdale Oates deposed That the said Oates discoursing upon occasion with Dugdale concerning his being an intended Evidence against my Lord Shaftsbury and others Duglale replied There is no body hath any cause to make any such report of me For I call God to Witness I know nothing against any Protestant in England But afterwards Dugdale having Sworn matters of High Treason against Colledge before the Grand-Jury at the Old Baily and being hereupon charged by Oates as having gone against his Conscience and contrary to what he had declared to him Dugdale answered It was all long of Collonel Warcup for said he I could get no Money else And he promised I should have a place in the Custom-House In opposition to this Testimony Dugdale Swore Vpon the Oath he had taken and As he hoped for Salvation It was not true Against the same Dugdale Oates farther deposed That Dugdale did confess he had an old Clap yet gave out he was Poysoned which sham passed throughout the Kingdom in our Intelligences But in Truth said Oates it was the Pox As I will make appear by the Physician that cured him In opposition to which Dugdale protested If any Doctor would come forth and say he cured him of a Clap or any such thing He would stand Guilty of all that is imputed to him AGainst Turbervil also Oates gave Ev●dence in these words A little before the Witnesses were Sworn against Colledge at the Old Baily I Oates met with Mr. Turbervil I was in a Coach But seeing Mr. Turbervil I stept out of