Vncouth Contrivance A Merry-Andrew in fine or a Scaramouchi could never have Presented any thing more Ridiculous Over and Above the Almost-Impassable Foulness of the Way The Difficulties of Hedge and Ditch Nay and of finding the very Way to the Place Design'd A Dead Body Mounted Astride and a Living Man behind him Holding him up with his Hat his Sword his Stick his Gloves and All his Little Bus'nesses about him as if they had been rather upon a Freak to fright People with a Fantome and make 'em Believe the Place was Haunted then to save their Necks by the Concealment of a Murther But Whence came This Horse Whose Horse was he Where did Hill get him What Became of him Afterwards Prance before the Lords was ask'd the Colour of the Horse December 24. 1678. And gave This Answer that though it was Dark Yet he could Discern the Horse to be a Brown Horse And in his Deposition of the Date above he says likewise of the Sedan that it was left in One of the New Built houses and They took it up and brought it home as they came back But the Horse Disappear'd it seems and so did the Chair too After the Iobb was over for it was never heard of again Now the Horse had like to have been How 's Horse And thereby Hangs a Story And then to My thinking they were Out a Little in their Reck'ning upon the very Timing of it They set out at Twelve and Considering that they were but Young Chair-men Ill settled in their Geeres a Long Iobb and a Heavy Burden The Ways Dirty The Night Dark And in fine laying All Circumstances together they could not be well less then Two hours and a half upon the Way And what with the Time spent in fidling about the Body and setting things to Rights a Man may honestly Reckon it five a Clock before they got back again Prance swears that he came home again so soon as they had Mounted the Corps Hill was a Horse-back while Green Gerald and the Irish Man were left to bring home the Chair And why did they bring it home again to Betray themselves Backward as well as Forward They tell us Nothing of Restoring the Chair as if it had been Borrow'd or Taken by stealth Neither was the Sedan Ever heard of After That Time Nor do they Tell us where That same Home was But the story of the Horse that I was speaking of lyes so fit for my Hand in This Place that it will be VVorth the VVhile to give the Enformation here at Length that I have upon This Subject Thomas Whitfield Deposeth That in or about the Month of March 1680. This Enformant standing at his own Door in Cranborn-street near Leicester-Fields one William Boyce well known to This Enformant passing by told this Enformant that he was Carrying a Couple of Glass-Eyes into the Square and would be with This Enformant again presently and within less then half an hour he the said William Boyce call'd at This Enformant's house accordingly And that the said William Boyce and This Enformant drank and smok'd a Pipe together in the Fore-Room of the said House where among other Discourses He asked the Enformant if he had heard of the Difference betwixt him the said Boyce and Miles Prance This Enformant replying that he had heard Nothing of it Whereupon Boyce told this Enformant that Prance was a Great Rogue This Enformant telling the said Boyce again that He the said Boyce knew best for He had had the Tutoring of him Boyce going on to Confirm it that he was a Great Rogue for says Boyce Prance and I dyn'd Together and we did not Part till betwixt Eleven and Twelve at Night that very Day that Prance swore He was at the Murthering of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey at Nine of the Clock at Night when He was so Drunk that I 'm sure he was not able to Murther a Cock-Chicken And that as This Enformant was sitting with the said Boyce in the Fore-Room as above One Robert Howe 's pass'd by into the Kitchin the said Boyce saying that he thought he should know That Man to which This Enformant made Answer Yes it may be you May Boyce asking if he was not a Carpenter This Enformant telling him Yes Boyce asking again if he did not belong to Somerset-house This Enformant said Yes He was one of the Queens Carpenters Well! says Boyce he may thank me for his Life This Enformant asking him Why thank him for his Life Boyce Answer'd that if it had not been for Him the said Boyce Prance would have sworn that it was Howes 's Horse that Carry'd Sir Edmundbury Godfrey to Primrose-hill Vpon This the Enformant went and Call'd Howes out of the Kitchin into the Fore-Room and there told him in the Presence and hearing of Boyce Here Howes Here 's your saver he that sav'd your Life for if it had not been for Him Prance would have sworn that it was Your Horse that Carry'd Sir Edmundbury Godfrey to Primrose-hill My Horse says Howes Why I have sold my Horse Three Years agon Boyce telling Howes that Prance had brought in the said Howes but for Him. The Vnder-written Robert Whitfield of St. Martins in the Fields declares upon his Oath That Thomas Whitfield above mention'd told the said Whitfield the effect of the foregoing Enformation for so much as concerns the Relation of what past betwixt the said Thoms Whitfield and William Boyce and that he told it to This Enformant about the time assign'd in the aforesaid Enformation To bring this Long Paper to an end at last This Part of the Confederacy seems to have been as Weak and as Short in the Contrivance and Manage of it as it was Malicious in the Project and there does not hitherto appear so much as One Glimpse of a Probability to keep it in Countenance To say Nothing on the other Hand of the Dying Testimony of Mr. Coleman Hill Green Berry Harcourt Fenwick c. who did all Declare upon the Faith of Dying Men that they were Innocent of that Murther And I cannot Close This Section Better now then with the Christian and the Charitable Resignation of Poor Hill in a Letter to his Wife upon This Occasion My Dear Wife I Recommend you to that Good God of Heaven who I hope will be both a Husband to you and a Father to my Poor Child If you Serve and Love him as you ought to do And the First Thing you are to do is Heartily to Forgive him that is the Occasion of my Death and not bear him any Malice but leave the Revenge wholly to God who knows best how to Revenge the Innocent This I earnestly beg of you to do and likewise to Desire all my Friends to pray to God Almighty that if it be his Divine Will that this Little Suffering may Mitigate his Iust Wrath against me for my heinous Sins We have Proceeded thus far in so Full so Clear so Particular and so
the Collar not as yet Unbutton'd But this Enformant going out of the Room to refresh Himself after his Walk and leaving a Crowd of People there was soon after call'd back again to see the Neck of the said Sir Edmund his Collar being Then Unbutton'd And this Enformant upon his Return being asked what he thought of the Two Marks above and below being just the Breadth of the Collar which was a Deep Stiff Collar It being Suggested to this Enformant that they were the Marks of Ropes He this Enformant gave his Opinion that they were the Marks of the Edges of the Collar and that the Swelling of the Neck and the Breast was so Great above and below the Collar that it occasioned Those Marks like a Ring upon a Swoln Finger And this Enformant having seen the Dead Body as aforesaid and spoken his Thoughts upon it went out of the Room again and after sometime passing backward through the said Room he this Enformant observed that the Swelling of the Breast had Discharged it self into the Lower Crease so that the Crease was hardly Perceivable The Face all this While was Ruddy and Swell'd excepting Two Places one by his Mouth and Another by his Temples that seem'd to have a Degree of Putrefaction And saith That the Breast was turn'd Greenish and so Mortify'd considering the Season of the Year that it might seem rather to have been Dead a Month then so short a Time as he was Missing Now for so much as concerns the Collar and the Circles it is made a Clear Case here by the Disappearing of the Lower Circle upon the Vnbuttoning of the Collar that the One caused the Other The Creases just Answering the Depth of the Collar Sarah Moreton One of the Searchers of the Parish of St. Martins in the Fields Deposeth That thi Enformant and her Partner Mary Smith being sent for to see the Body of a Dead Child about Two Years since this Enformant and her said Partner looking upon the said Child said it Dy'd of the Rickets Whereupon the Landlady said to this Enformant to this effect The Child is Murther'd The Father and Mother have thrown it against the Ground and kill'd it shewing to this Enformant a Looseness of the Neck And saith That after This there was a Jury Met to Sit upon the Death of the Child and the Jurors Considering the Limberness of the Neck concluded that the Neck was Broke After which they sent to this Enformant and her Partner to View the Body once again who continued in Opinion that the Neck of it was Not Broken Whereupon a Surgeon was sent for who upon a Full Examination of the Matter found that the Neck was Not Broken. The Reason they gave why the Neck was Broken was because they could remove the Chin from Shoulder to Shoulder by the Great Looseness of the Neck But this Enformant and her Partner satisfy'd them that such a Limberness of the Neck was an Ordinary Case and that if the Neck had been Broke they might have turn'd the Chin behind to the Back which this Enformant shâ—wd them was not to be done by This Child So that they found it to Dye of a Natural Death and the Parents came into no further Trouble about it Mr. Skillarne gives other Reasons still for his Opinion that he was Strangled Now if he lay in a Strangling Posture there must be Strangling Accidents Expected upon him And if that be Admitted it was a Filthy way about to have him Strangled somewhere else and then brought to the Ditch when he might have been as well Strangled as he lay in the Ditch And after All This there 's not so much as the Least Glimpse of Light all This while of his being Kill'd either by any Other Hand or in any Other Place As to the Settling of the Bloud in his Breast and the Resemblance of Bruises thereabouts it was but Natural what with the Damp of the Earth and the Course of the Bloud that way that Those Parts which were nearest the Orifice of the Wound should Putrifie First It made a Mighty Noise I remember the Dispute whether his Eyes were Shut or Open and whether they were Fly-blown or Not. Mr. Hassard and several Others found his Eyes Shut Mr. Skillarne c. found them Open and Both True Undoubtedly as they might be Tamper'd with But for Fly-blows upon the 18 th of October though it was Sworn Point Blank over and over the very Fancy of Fly-blows at That time of the Year was Laugh'd at and Hiss'd out of All Company and Credit And yet this very Year a pretty way into November having the Honour to Dine with a Noble Person of a Character every Way Answerable to the Dignity of his Title The Side-Bord Cistern and Table-basket were so Pester'd with Swarms I dare say of Thousands of Flies that I desir'd a Particular Notice might be Taken of the Thing and of the Time in Contradiction to the Frivolous Exceptions that were made to that part of the Evidence in the Case of Godfrey There was great Notice taken too of the Cleanness of his Shoes Now they were not only Clean but Shining as any Man's will be upon such a Walk where the Grass wipes them every Step he sets And Mr. Yeamans Deposes That his Shoes were very Clean and several Blades of Grass sticking about the Seems Mr. Collinson Deposes as to the Weather That it was Fair Dry Weather All that Week till Thursday when there was a Great Shower of Hail This he remembreth by the Token that the Sickness and Death of his Wife at Marybone about that Time caused him to Travel Early and Late upon that Occasion Mr. Audley Deposeth That the Saturday when Sir Edmund was first Missing was a very Fair Sun-shiny Day This Enformant having a Country-House at Hamersmith walked home on Foot that Saturday and the Way was very Dry and Clean which he well remembreth by Sir Edmund 's being Missing That Day Now his Shoes could never have been Thus Clean if he had been brought Thither a Horseback or any way but a-foot for as some Body well observ'd the Walk had as good as Glaz'd them So that the Force of the Inference lyes strong the Other Way Or if his Shoes Ought to have been Dirty with going thither a-foot to Destroy himself Why did not the Murtherers Daub and make them Dirty for the better Colour of the Cheat But let the Matter be as it will it is not Tanti to argue whether it were so or no. The Question indeed of Bloud or No Bloud is of more Importance and though there 's already so much said upon 't there 's yet so much More to be said upon 't that it will deserve a Chapter by it self CHAP. XIV Bloud or No Bloud was the main Point in Issue though the least part of the Question either at the Inquest or at the Tryals THE Bus'ness of the Fly-blows and of the Eyes shut or open will bear Inferences
Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's Murther Why Truly if there were no more in 't then a bare Curiosity the very Memorial would be worth the Ink and Paper that 's bestowed upon 't Beside that in This Place it falls in most Naturally with my Purpose and Text First as it is Another Branch of Roguery apart from the Plot and shews them to be Pick-pockets as well as Knights of the Post which may serve to Illustrate what Credit is to be given them in Other Cases 2 ly It gives any Man to understand that at a Time when such Fellows and such Nonsensical Impostures could keep a Government in Awe it was not for any Private Man with a Single Voice and Reason to oppose an Epidemical Madness for the Reck'ning carry'd Fraud and Insolence in the Face on 't and the Witnesses knew before-hand that it would be no more Believ'd by Others then They Believ'd it Themselves But they Push'd on the Affront never the Less and though I never heard of a Tally struck upon that Account it was yet a kind of Victory to come off Gratis But Thirdly The Timing of it was the Great Point of All for the whole Nation was then at Gaze upon the Tryals of the Pretended Murthers of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey and most People were of Opinion that the Suppos'd Popish Plot was to Stand or Fall upon That Issue But for my own Part I was never of that Persuasion If the Verdict went against the Pris'ners it was Reasonable Enough to expect that it would make a Horrible Noise Especially considering the Pompous Solemnities that had Prepar'd Men Already for Wild and Dangerous Impressions And then on the other hand if they had been Acquitted it was but Arraigning the Bench the Iury and the Witnesses as they did in other Cases Afterwards to make All whole again This does not Hinder but that Otes and Bedloe did very Prudently strike while the Iron was hot for the Tryal bears Date the 10 th of February 1678 9. the Day of the Conviction of the Three Pris'ners And these Two Blades put in their Bills the very same Week with the Tryals Otes on the 11 th and Bedloe his on the 15 th And if ever such a Reck'ning was to pass Muster That Nicking Minute was the Time for 't As to Prance's Character All that I shall say of it is This that he had a good Will to be Honest but not the Heart to go thorough with it and that he took more Care of his Carcase at First then he did afterward of his Conscience I shall do him This Common right yet to say that he had not the Brand upon him of an infamous Course of Life to Blast his Evidence as his Fellow-Witnesses had And This may serve in some sort to Colour the Easiness of Those that gave Credit to him In one VVord more If the Murther and the Plot were the only Two Points in Dispute upon the Credit of his Testimony his Iustice and Faith in other Cases might Induce a Charitable Softness toward the Believing of him in This But from his Swearing False in Every Thing Else as That 's the Case to Infer that in One Single Point or Two he swears True would be a very Perverse way of Reasoning To shorten the Bus'ness now I have a Letter of Prance's upon This Subject and I cannot better Dispose of it then in This Place And there can hardly be a Better Testimony then that of an Ill Man who without either Hope or Fear of being the Better or the Worse for 't bears Witness against Himself SIR HEaring that you are about to Publish something concerning the Death of Sir Edmunbury Godfrey I think it my Duty to take Shame upon me and to make a Publique Declaration to the World of my Confession and Repentance of the Heinous Sins that I have committed against God and my Offences against his Sacred Majesty my most Gracious Mistress the Queen Dowager the Noblemen Gentry and All others that I have wickedly and wrongfully Accus'd about the Death of That Gentleman I cannot hope or expect that any thing I say should find Credit in the World but it will be some Ease to my Conscience if I may obtain the favour of a Place for this Declaration any where among your Papers if you shall commit any upon This Subject to the Press From the time of taking off my Irons and changing my Lodging which was upon my Yielding Basely to Forswear my self against those Innocent Persons Green Berry and Hill that Dy'd upon my Wicked Evidence Mr. Boyce was the Man that Acted for me and writ many Things which I Copy'd after him I found by his Discourse that he had been several Times with my Lord Shaftsbury and with Bedloe and he told me that I would be certainly Hang'd if I did not agree with Bedloe's Evidence and own the Periwig the Men would not be Hang'd I would not yield to 't so he yielded to mine and the Periwig was spoke no more on and bidding me consider what a Condition I should be in if any of them should confess first He got me out of Newgate some few Days after the Tryal of Green c. But before any of them were Executed Mr. Boyce told me how much some of Sir Edmund's Relations were troubled that I was out so soon for fear I should deny all again and so Mr. Boyce took me to his own House and watched me and went with me â—heresoever I went till the Innocent men were Executed I would fain have had Berry sav'd but Mr. Boyce said he was Guilty of the Murther and could not be sav'd and that if the King had a mind to pardon him he might do it without my Troubling my self It was purely the fear of Death and the Misery of my Condition that wrought upon me to For swear my self without any thought of reward although I was told several Times that Great Things would be done for me My Lord Shaftsbury told me my Trade should be Better then ever it was and bought some Plate of me Himself part whereof was for Otes This brings to my Mind that in the Time while I Deny'd the Murther or any Knowledge of it I was taken out of Newgate and carry'd to Two Eminent Lawyers where I was Vpbraided for departing from my Evidence One of them wondring much what should make me do it and speaking to me to this Effect You were affraid perhaps of Losing your Trade that lay mostly among the Papists or else perchance you did not think your self sure of your Pardon c. which Words were spoken in such a way that I took them for Hints to me what Excuse I might make upon going off again and as I am a Christian This was it that first put That Excuse into my Head. My Lord Shaftsbury gave me Two Guinnea's once to help off a Man that I had Sworn against for Dangerovus Words against the King. I received Thirty Pounds by his Majesties Order