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 grieve for him for this was the happiest day of all his Life then he immediately 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 delievered him to the Sheriffs 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 number whose hearts were not touched 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 face with so undaunted a Resolution as gave many occasion to say Grace had left in him no Resentments of Nature After a short pause viewing the People and finding them attentive to what he should say he stept 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 by my not having so well recollected my self as I might have done and 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 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 Sovereign Princes Excommunicated by the Pope way by their Subjects be Deposed or Murthered As to the Murther 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 And as such from my heart I Renounce and abominate it 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 real Judgement That the same Doctrine of Deposing Kings is contrary to the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom Injurious to Sovereign 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 think I never said any thing that was unsitting there or contrary to the Law and Vse of Parliament for certainly if I had the Lords would as they might have punished me so I am not culpable before God or Man It is much reported of Indulgences Dispensations and Pardons to Murther Rebel Lie Forswear and Commit such other Crimes held and given in the Church I do here profess in the presence of God I never Learned Believed or Practised any such thing but the contrary And I speak this without any Equivocation or Reservation whatsoever And certainly were I guilty either my self or knew of any one that were Guilty whosoever that were so of any of those Crimes of which I am accused I were not only the greatest Fool imaginable but a perfect Mad-man and as wicked as any of those that so falsly have accused me If I should not discover any ill Design I knew in any kind and so upon Discovery save my Life I have so often had so fair occasions proposed unto me And so am guilty of Self-Murther which is a most grievous and hainous Sin and though I was last Impeached at the Lords Bar yet I have great grounds to believe that I was first brought to Tryal on the belief that to save my Life I would make some great Discovery And truly so I would had I known any such thing of any ill Design or Illegal Dangerous Plot either of my self or any other Person whatsoever without any Exception But had I a thousand Lives I would lose them all rather then Falsly accuse either my self or any other whatsoever And if I had known of any Treason and should thus deny it as I do now upon my Salvation at this time I should have no hope of Salvation which now I have through the Merits of Christ Jesus I do beseech God to bless His Majestly who is my Lawful King and Sovereign whom I was always by all Laws Humane and Divine bound to Obey and I am sure that no Power upon Earth either singly or all together can legally allow me or any body else to lift up a Hand against him or his Legal Authority I do hold that the
along with you to shew you the way for I have asked his Lord leave for him to go Upon this Dugdale having now leave went along with Furnesse to the Stable and took Horse Furnesse his Horse was not ready but he overtook Dugdale within half a Mile and they arrived at the Race together about twelve a Clock My Lord himself with other persons of Quality came to the Race not long after and returned back to Tixal about seven at Night The same Mr. Furnesse and George Leigh both Attested that my Lord never sent either of them for Dugdale that he never bid them go out of the Chamber or absent themselves whilst Dugdale alone remained with him No nor did they know that my Lord was ever alone with Dugdale either that Morning or in his whole Life To Infringe the last Particle of this last Evidence the Mannagers produced these Witnesses Mr. Hanson Deposed That he once saw Dugdale with my Lord in the Parlour at Tixal but durst not be positive whether they were alone or not William Ansell Deposed That passing through the Court at Tixal he saw my Lord walking with Dugdale That he heard no Discourse between them That there might be more in the Company but he saw no more And lastly added that talking one day with Dugdale about the Plot Dugdale answered God Blast him if he knew any thing of it UPon these Evidences the Mannagers made these Observations First My Lords two Witnesses Furness and Leigh were his own Servants Secondly They were very positive in a matter hard to remember viz That Dugdale never was in my Lords Company And therefore that easie Credit should not be given to them but rather to Hanson and Ansell who both Swear that they have seen my Lord and Dugdale together To which the Papists answer These common Sophismes and weak Objections made to the Convincing Evidence here given by my Lord in Confutation of the main matter laid to his Charge argue the Mannagers at a loss for an Answer To the first Whom could my Lord produce but his Servants to contradict the Falsities of a man that pretends to have heard him speak Treason whilst he was Dressing in his Bed-Chamber Are Ponest Servants because Servants no good Witnesses To the second Though it should be granted that at other times and upon other occasions Dugdale might have been in my Lord's Company either unknown to his Servants or not remembred by them or even by my Lord himself which is the utmost of what the Testimony of Hanson and Ansell can amount to yet this doth not at all weaken my Lord's Evidence nor clear Dugdale from Perjury herein For the chief things which my Lord s two Servants well remembred distinctly Attested and by most remarkable Circumstances fully proved was That my Lord did not send either of them for Dugdale nor was Dugdale alone with my Lord in his Chamber on the 21th of September in the Morning On all which particulars Dugdale laid the Stress of his Evidence and here it is he is directly Perjured FOurthly Dugdale at the forenamed Tryal of Sir George Wakeman positively Swore as my Lord proved by two Witnesses Mr. Gyfford and Mr. Lydcot both present at the said Tryal That he the said Dugdale having received a Letter on the 14th of October which mentioned the death of a Justice of Peace did the same day at an Ale-house in Tixal impart the Contents of the said Letter to Mr. Sambidge Kinsman to my Lord Aston And Mr. Philips Minister of Tixal And that they answered They heard nothing of it before Now to confute this my Lord produced for Witnesses the same Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips Mr. Sambidge protested upon his Salvation Dugdale never told him any such thing Nor did he ever hear of it till the Friday or Saturday Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was found at Bury-Hill Mr. Philips attested That he never heard of it either by Letter or Word of Mouth from Dugdale or any other till the death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was publickly known To ballance this Evidence the Mannagers produced these Witnesses Mr. Ansel deposed That at the Ale-house and day above named he heard Mr. Dugdale mention the death of a Justice of Peace Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips being then both in the House but not in the same Room with Ansel when Dugdale told the News William Hanson deposed That at the time and place aforesaid he heard Dugdale say There was a Justice of Peace Murdered that lived at Westminster And that when Dugdale told this News Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips were by and might have heard it if they would Mr. Birch and Mr. Turton both attested That about the fifteenth or sixteenth of the same October the news of Sir Edmundbury Godfreys Death was spread about the Countrey and seemed to take its first rise from Tixal UPon these several Evidences the Mannagers made these Observations First Mr. Sambidge was something deaf and might not here when Dugdale told him the news of the Death of a Justice of Peace Secondly Mr. Phillips the Parson being perhaps very Studious in his Employment might be wanting in point of Memory Thirdly The other Witnesses produced in Confirmation of Dugdel's Evidence make it our that he did impart the news at the time place and in the presence of the parties above-mentioned To which the Papists answer To the first If what the Mannagers alledge be true then is Dugdale here also proved Perjured by the Mannagers themselves For he expresly Swore at the said Tryal of Sir George Wakeman That Mr. Sambidge both heard and answered him Saying He heard nothing of the news before To the second No honest man affirms or denies any past words or actions but according as he remembers and to pretend want of Memory in a direct Evidence is the common Road whereby to evade all humane Testimony To the third The other Witnesses on behalf of Dugdale do in no sort make out the thing for which they are produced For Ansel doth not own that Philips and Sambidge were so much as in the same Room with Dugdale when he mentioned the death of a Justice of Peace Hanson indeed herein contradicting Ansel tells us they were in the Room but could not say they heard much less answered to the discourse of Dugdale which is the chief matter of Perjury here charged upon him As for what Mr. Birch and Turton declared concerning the Rumour soon after spread of the death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey it nothing at all Enervates the present proof of Periury seeing it may well be true there was such a report and yet false that Dugdale had such a discourse with Sambidge and Philips as he positively Swears and they both as positively deny But enough hath been already said upon this Subject where we treated of the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey FIfthly Dugdale in an Information given upon Oath Swore That presently after one Howard Almoner to the Queen went beyond
am hourly looking to hear of the hour of my Execution I have time by his Omnipotent mercy to lay my Heart prostrate on the ground to beg his Pardon and acknowledg his infinite mercy and goodness God grant me grace to reflect as I ought on all these assurances and as I ought to do love his Divinity and nothing created independently of him Nothing in this World but the Holy Trinity deserving the whole love and Adoration of Mankind God give me grace to love him and only him And though I cannot do it so well as otherwise I ought yet I hope I do it what I can And do firmly resolve by his holy Grace I will to the uttermost of my power so long as it shall please him to give me my life wholly and willingly to resign my self to his Holy will and doubt not by his Grace but to find more true delight in serving him then ever I did in the vanities of the World All Glory Praise and Honour be given unto him for all Eterniâ—â— Amen THere was likewise found in his Chamber this following Prayer or Resignation Thou hast said O Lord he that loves Father or Mother c. more then me is not worthy of me I acknowledge most dear Lord that I love my Wife and Children as much as a loving Husband and tender Father can love a most deserving Wife and most dutiful Children but to shew that I love thy Divine Majesty more than them and my own Life to boot I willingly render up and forsake both for the love of thee and rather then to offend thee though by the contrary I may have life and all worldly advantages both for my self and them Receive therefore Dear Jesus this voluntary Oblation of both Take us into thy protection O Helper in opportunities in Tribulation Be thou a Judge and Spouse to the Widdow a Father to the Orphans and Salvation to all our Souls I rejoyce to have so dear a Pledge to Offer and present thee for all thy blessings and benefits bestowed upon Us and for thy sake who offeredst thy self for us to Death to the most ignominious Death of the Cross Receive therefore Sweet Jesus this poor Oblation of mine though all I am able to offer thee in union of all the Oblations of thy most Sacred Life Death and Passion and of all those Divine Oblations which have been are and ever shall be offered upon thine Altars All which I Offer thee and by thy hands to thy eternal Father O Father look upon the face of thy Christ and turn away thy face from my Sins O Holy Mary Mother of God all ye Holy Angels and Saints in Heaven make Intercession for me that what I deserve not of my self may by your Intercession be bestowed upon me Amen Jesu Amen Grant and ratisie what I ask for thy Names sake Amen On Sunday the 19 th of December Mr Lieutenant of the Tower came to him and told him He was sorry he must bring him the ill news that he must dye on the 29 th of this Month. To which dismal Message he undauntedly replyed I must obey Then added in Latine that Text of the Psalm Haec dies c. This is the day which our Lord hath made let us rejoyce and be glad in it After which turning himself to his almost dead-struck Lady he said Let us go to our Prayers UPon this occasion also he writ a little Schedule containing these words In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost This day Mr. Lieutenant came and told me I must dye God's Holy name be praised and I prostrate beseech him to have mercy on my sinful Soul And deal with me as his Omnipotence knows I am Innocent of what was falsly sworn against me I do not doubt of Salvation through the Passion of our most blessed Saviour IT was truly a matter of wonder and astonishment to those who lived and were conversant with him during this short remnant of his life to see with what Constancy and equal temper of mind he comported himself What interior Quiet and serenity he seem d to injoy What confidence he expressed in God What Charity to all even to the worst of his Enemies Death hath usually an aspect formidable to nature especially when Treason and Murder slie in the face of a guilty Conscience A man who hath warning and leisure deliberately to consider he is now upon the point of being just dragged out of this mortal State before the dreadful Tribunal of a severe Judge who knows the Secrets of his Heart there to receive an Eternal Doom of Hell and Damnation 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 deserved 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 Savour I hope will mercifully grant me a place though the lowest in Heaven God grant it And bless you and Ours St. Thomas of Canterbury's day 1680 past six in the Morning Your truly loving Husband William Howard The Manner and Circumstances of my Lord 's Final End WHen the hour appointed for his Death drew near he exspected 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
suddain and dismal arrest of Death with a courage say the Papists Divinely Elevated a constancy more then humane No change in his Countenance no Quaking or Trembling in any one Joynt of his Body could be discerned Thus he lay or rather quietly rested upon the very Brink between Time and Eternity a good space Till at length finding the Head's-Man delayed the Execution of his Office He once more raised himself up upon his Knees and with an aspect grave but still serene and Lively asked Why they staid It was answered For a Sign What Sign will you give Sir He replyed None at all Take your own time God's will be done I am ready The Head's-Man said I hope you forgive me He answered I do Then Blessing himself again with the Sign of the Cross he reposed his Head upon the Block never more to lift it up in this Mortal State The Heads'-Man took the Ax in his hand and after a short pause Elevated it on high as it were to take Aim and set it down again A second time he did so and Sighed The third time he gave the Fatal Blow which severed my Lord's Head from his Body save only a small part of the Skin and Wind-pipe which was immediatly cut off with a Knife The Body after Seperation from the Head Trembled a little and Stirred no more The Head was received into a Black Silk Scarf by two of my Lord's Friends and retained by them till the Sheriff called for it and commanded the Executioner to hold it up to the view of the Multitude The which he did at the four Corners of the Scaffold Crying aloud This is the Head of a Traytor But however the People had been formerly possessed with prejudice both against my Lord's Practices and Principles Yet now they made no Acclamations at the sight of the Bloud-dropping Head nor seemed much taken with the Jollity of the Spectacle Some went away with Confusion and Remorse for their past hard censure of him Others conceived strange apprehensions and fears of God's Judgments ensuing Perjury and Bloudshed Some again said My Lord was Drunk with Brandy Others said Verily This was a just Man The Papists who best knew his Innocence And who looked upon themselves as in some measure Parties in his Sufferings beheld this whole Tragedy with most tender Resentments They regarded him as a Victime of Religion and Innocence They mutually accompanied him with their Prayers and Supplications to God in his behalf They seemed to receive new Comfort and Courage from his Christian Magnanimity They Wept They Smiled They Sympathized with him both in his Dolours and Joyes They Blessed and Praised Almighty God for his goodness to Him and to Them in Him They Glorified his Holy Name who often sheweth the strength of his Power in the weakest Subjects In fine many did and still do believe the peculiar grace and presence of God's Spirit had some Effect and Influence upon all in a manner that saw him And few there were of his Religion who did not wish themselves in his Place No sooner was Execution done but the Sun which before was obscured and secluded from our sight on a suddain dissipating the Clouds sent forth it 's Clear and Illustrious Beams Upon which accident different Parties have since made different Reflections My Lord's Adversaries say The Sun before srowned at Popish Guilt but seemed pleased when Justice was done The Papists say The Heavens mourned and were ashamed and unwilling to be Spectators at the Shedding of Innocent Bloud but appeared in Joy and Splendour at the Reception of a New and Glorious Inhabitant into their Coelestial Mansions When the Head had been publickly exposed it was returned back into the Silk Scarf held by a Youth that had waited upon my Lord and so laid into the Coffin together with the Body vested For out of Modesty my Lord desired he might not be stripped naked on the Scaffold In the Interim divers Persons threw up their Handkerchiess to have them dipt in my Lord's Bloud wherein some were Gratified and others had their Handkerchiefs thrown with Derision over the Scaffold After this the Coffin was taken down from off the Scaffold by several Bearers and by them carried to the bounds of the Tower where a Velvet Herse Cloath being spread over it It was carried in order to it's Interment into the Tower A place say the Papists as it hath been Enobled by his Sufferings so will it remain to future Ages a Triumphal Monument of his Fortitude and Victory Thus Lived thus Dyed this Famous Nobleman to whose memory I shall only add of my own That if his Cause was Innocent and his Religion wrongfully Traduced He is Happy and we unfortunate by his untimely Death 1 Ep. Cor. 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 in so fatal a conjuncture as to confound and destroy by open Perjury each others Testimony My Lord as you have seen endeavoured 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 produced many Substantial Witnesses both Catholicks and Protestants in his behalf Nothing seemed 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
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 upon Tower-hill on Wednesday the 29. of December 1681. Published for Rectifying all Mistakes upon this Subject Wisd 4. Vitam illorum estimabamus insaniam Finem illorum sine Honore c. Hereunto is also annexed a short APPENDIX concerning some Passages in STEPHEN COLLEDGES TRIAL Printed in the Year MDCLXXXI 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 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 volume 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 justify to be true And herein I shall also totally abstain from any the les◠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 Lords 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 ancient Dukes of Buckingham Grandchild 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 last bloody 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 remained till the 66. year of his age when happened this Revolution of his fortune as followeth SECT II. My Lords Imprisonment Charge and Arraignment c. ABout Michaelmas Anno 1678. Mr. Titus Oates formerly a Minister of the Church of England accused upon Oath before the King and Council and 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 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 25th of October 78. when by Virtue of a Warrant from the Lord Chief Justice he was sent Prisoner to the Kings Bench and from thence soon after to the Tower where he remained above two years before he could be admitted to Tryal During this interval the whole Nation was surprized 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 Massacred and the three Kingdoms destroyed 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 declared it a Plot. Yet to strengthen the Evidence as yet but weak and make farther discoveries Indempnities are promised Rewards proposed and encouragements 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 Novem. 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 murder the King to 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
Mort who sayeth That being at Deep Turbervil told him if they went to Calais they might go over with my Lord in the Yacht so that in the whole Mr. Turbervil may be said to have been peradventure something unwary in expressing himself but not Perjured in his Evidence To which the Papists answer To excuse a man from Pejury by pretending an occuls meaning and intention in the Swearer not expressed in the words of his Oath is such an Evasion as if admitted would destroy the Integrity of an Oath and elude all proof of Perjury whatsoever Turbervil Swears in down right terms my Lord came over by the way of Calais in the Company of Count Gramount without any addition That he was Informed so In which Oath he is directly Perjured for he Swears as an absolute Truth and without Restriction what of it self is an absolute Lye and what at best he could but Guess at by report and hera-say It is true indeed he contradicts himself in the sequel of his Information by saying He came away before my Lord and had not his Passage with him but it is connatural to Perjury to include contradictions Wicked Men are often blinded with Malice Passion or Interest And no wonder to find Incoherence of parts in a Story divested of Truth The only thing can be collected of Probability in this whole matter is That Turbervil being at Paris in an Indigent condition and desirous to return home got imperfect Intelligence that an English Lord whose name as yet he knew not and a French Count called Gramount had a Yacht waited for them at Diep And having also a Brother then in Paris he sought by his means to gain admittance for a Passage in the said Yacht This design of his he imparts to Mort a Person in the same condition and who had the same purpose with himself Hereupon Mort and he go to Diep in hopes to find the Yacht there but they fail'd of their expectation and Turbervil missing the Yacht would have perswaded Mort to go in the search of it to Calais Whilst they were in this debate they lighted on a Fisher-Boat and so came over in it into England Thus much may be conjectured from the Relation of Mort. But that Turbervil during his stay at Diep reccived a Letter from my Lord intimating his intention of coming for England by the way of Calais and that he should hasten to meet him at London is a most palpable Forgery For neither could Turbervil when required produce any such Letter nor did my Lord come over by the way of Calais as Turbervil would have us believe that Letter Imported And indeed who can imagine my Lord should send word to his new Confederate at Diep to hasten to meet him at London when he himself remained at Paris as hath been proved above a month after and at length also came not to Calais but to Diep and from thence home so that here is nothing but contradictions in the whole course of Turbervil's Evidence SEventhly Turbervil in the last mentioned Information positively Swore That the Lord Castlemain was present at certain Fraiterous Consults at Powis-Castle several times within the years 72 or 73 Now my Lord proved that the said Earl of Casilemain was never at Powis-Castle within the compass of that whole time This was demonstrated by the Attestation of Mr. Lidcot a Protestant and Fellow of Kings-Colledge in Cambridge who having Lived with the Earl Nine years and particularly Accompanied him in all his Journeys and Residences during those two above named years gave this distinct account out of his Book of Journals viz. My Lord set forth from Liege to Paris January 1st 72. Stilo novo where he remained three Weeks and from thence arrived at London January 24. Stil ' vet there he staid till May 73 from thence he went to Liege again in June and from Liege he set forth to London in August and returned back to Liege October the 3. Stilo novo 73. where he remained till January 74. c. Thus much to the charge of Perjury UPon this proof of Perjury the Mannagers made this Observation Mr. Lydcot the Fellow of Kings-Colledge as he call'd himself was indeed so out in his Arithmatick so mistaken in the year And used the Roman stile or date so much more then the English That they suspected he was not so great a Protcstant as he pretended to be To which the Papists answer That a solid Witness ought not be Railed out of his Evidence in a matter of Life and Death Mr. Lydcot however skilled in Arithmatick however great or little Protestant substantially proved the Earl of Castlemain never was at or near Powis-Castle from the first of January 72 till past December 73. the inclusive time wherein Turbervil Swears He was at a Consult there And it is strange so weighty and convincing a proof of Perjury in a matter of so high and serious a concern should be shifted off by a trissing Jest LAstly My Lord upon occasion made some Remarks upon Turbervil's Beggery Loose manner of Life and divers odd Circumstances in the course of his Evidence which much reflected upon his Reputation To support it therefore the Managers produced these Witnesses Mr. Arnold Jones Hobby and Scudamore Deposed That they knew Turbervil but for their parts never heard or saw any evil by him Mr. Matthews a Minister Deposed the same as to Turbervil's Reputation and added That Turbervil a little before he made his Discovery owned himself a Roman-Catholick but seemed to have a mind to quit that Religion being convinced by the Arguments Matthews gave him of the Excellency of the Principles and Practices of the Protestant Church yet would never acknowledge he knew one Syllable of the Plot. UPon these several Remarques the Mannagers made this Observation The good Character here given of Turbervil by four Witnesses shew him a Man of much Vertue and Integrity And it ought to be considered as a farther addition to his Praise that he had the grace though indigent to refuse the proposal made to him by my Lord of Killing the King To which the Papists answer It is no sufficient proof of Turbervil's Vertue and Integrity that four Persons say They know no ill of him He may be guilty nevertheless of a Thousand Crimes unknown to them few or none are so intirely abandoned or detested by all Mankind as not to find four Persons in the World who will make a favourable report of them But it is evident from what hath been already proved That Turbervil was a man in all points compleatly equipped for a Knight of the Post For first he was indigent Secondly he was horridly addicted to Cursing and Swearing Thirdly he looked upon feigning Discoveries as the only way to get Moneys All this is manifested by his own Words and conversation with Mr. Yalden and Mr. Porter before mentioned As I hope for Salvation said he I know nothing of the Plot. The
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 Mannagers 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 seeing he was to be Acquitted or Condemned by their Lordships Judgement 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 strong 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 Innocense 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 Stafford 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 intirely 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 Lords the Mannagers returned for answer That his Lordships 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 President 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 passed the Lord High Steward declared to the Prisoner He was found Guilty of High Treason whereof he was Impeached To which my Lord Stafford answered Gods holy name be praised my Lord for it Then the Lord High Steward asked 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 murmur 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 Pathetick 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 bething 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 so hainous Crimes And concluded with an assurance to his Lordship That a true Penitential Sorrow joyned with an humble and hearty Confession was of mighty power and efficacy both with God and Man He then pronounced Sentence upon him in these words The Judgment of the Law is and the Court doth award it That you go to the place from whence you came from thence you must be drawn upon an Hurdle to the place of Execution when you come there you must be Hanged up by the Neck but not till you are Dead for you must be cut down Alive your Privy Members must be cut off And your Bowels Ript up before your Face and thrown into the Fire Then your Head must be severed from your Body and your Body divided into four Quarters And these must be at the disposal of the King And God Almighty have mercy on your Soul My Lord received this dismal Sentence with a meek and resigned Countenance He declared in the presence of Almighty God he had no malice in his Heart to them that had Condemned him But freely forgave them all He made one and only one humble request to their Lordships viz. That for the short time he had to Live a Prisoner his Wife Children and Friends might be permitted to come at him My Lord High Steward told him their Lordships had so far a Compassion for him They would be humble suiters to the King That he will remit all the punishments but the taking off his Head Thus Sentence being passed the Lord High Steward broke his Staff and my Lord Stafford was led back from the Bar to the Tower The Ax being carryed before him as the Custom is in such cases with the Edge toward him SECT III. My Lords PRINCIPLES of FAITH and LOYALTY DOubtless the thing which most weighed to my Lord's prejudice most advanced the credit of the Evidence And most influenced both his Prosecutors and Judges against him was a pre-possessed Opinion of wicked Principles supposed to be held and practised by my Lord as the matter of his Faith and Religion It is by many taken for granted The Papists hold it an Article of Faith That to Depose and Murder Kings to Massacre
fourth Generation of them that hate him So he blesseth unto thousands of them that love and follow him Assure your self my Lord That for this one Heroick Act of giving your life for Justice for Innocence for God and Religion you will not only secure to your self everlasting Salvation but draw upon all your Family and Posterity thousands of Benedictions The Justice of our Lord saith David upon the Childrens Children of them that keep his Covenant Again Blessed is the Man that feareth the Lord that delighteth in his Precepts his Seed shall be powerful on Earth the generation of the just shall be Blessed Lastly that Sentence of Ecclesiastes will fittly appertain to you His memory shall not pass away and his name shall be preserved from Generation to Generation Nations shall declare his Wisdom and the Church shew forth his Praise I shall not undertake to dictate unto your Lordship what Prayers or Elevations of heart are most proper on this occasion The Holy Ghost whose Spouse whose Son whose Temple whose Victim you are will inspire you with better thoughts then I can suggest I shall therefore here content my self with some few Citations of sacred Texts out of which you may upon occasion draw the comfort of Devotion Evil Witnesses have risen up against me and iniquity hath belyed it self I believe to see the goods of our Lord in the Land of the Living I am the Resurrection and the Life He that believeth in me shall not dye for ever Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine Do not fear for I am with thee do not decline for my right hand hath sustained thee Because he hath trusted in me I will deliver him I will protect him because he hath known my name He shall cry unto me and I will hear him I am with him in Tribulation I will deliver him and will glorisie him with length of days will I replenish him and will shew him my Salvation In perpetual charity have I loved thee therefore I have drawn thee to me taking Compassion on thee My heart and my flesh hath fainted O God of my heart my inheritance God for ever The World shall rejoyce and you shall be sorrowful But your sorrow shall be turned into Joy and your Joy none shall take from you Be confident I have overcome the World Be thou my helper do not forsake me neither despise me O God my Saviour In thee O Lord have I trusted let me not be confounded I live and you shall live You shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Certain I am that neither Death nor Life c. can seperate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Whether we Live or Die we are our Lords To me to Live is Christ and to Die is gaine I desire to be Dissolved and to be with Christ Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit Come ye blessed of my Father possess the Kingdom prepared for you This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The God of hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing that you may abound in hope and vertue of the Holy Ghost Your Lordships most devoted Servant in our Lord. N. N. THose hours he spared from Prayer or necessary repose he bestowed part in the entertainment of his Friends though indeed none were permitted to come at him but under severe Provisoes and Restrictions amongst whom he demeaned himself with exceeding Sweetness Candor and Alacrity of Spirit Connatural to him always but more especially after he had an assurance of his Death Insomuch that he could not endure to see any in grief of dejection on his account For this reason his sad and disconsolate Lady who alone touched his heart and who could no longer support the weight of her affliction was forced entirely to absent her self from him the day before his Passage out of this World Some moments likewise he allowed to give his last Adieu by Letters to his nearest Relations particularly to his aforesaid most Dear Lady whose incomparable vertue and above forty years experienced constant affection to him had taken a deep impression in his Soul But because the Letters themselves express his mind and disposition better then I can describe it Read here these few Copies which good fortune brought authentick to my hands To my most Dear and Kind Wife My Dear and most Kind Wife GOD of his Mercy and Goodness I mest humbly beseech him to reward you for your extraordinary Kindness and Love to me I am sure no Man ever had a better Wife in all kinds then you have been unto me I am most heartily sorry that I have not been able to shew how happy I have held my self in the great blessing which God was pleased to afford me in having you not only for the great Family to which you are the undoubted Heir and Estate you brought me and mine but for the great Love you have always born me I sincerely ask you Pardon with all my heart for all that I have done to give you any dislike I know you will forgive me out of your kindness and affection you have so often shewn unto me more then I deserved If I should repeat all the kindness and affection you have shewn unto me and of all which I am most sensible I should not know when to end God reward you You were present this day when Mr. Lievtenent brought me word of the day of my Death I know the trouble it brought unto you I do most willingly submit my self to Gods Holy will and since he know how Innocent I am and how Falsly I am Sworn against I am most confident that the most Blessed Trinity will through the Merits and Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ grant me a place in Heaven of happiness to glorify God to all Eternity amongst his Angels and Saints the lowest place in Heaven being an happiness above all the Kingdoms of the Earth I give God most humble thanks that I am absolutely quiet within my self from being guilty even so much as in a thought of that Treason I am accused of and never had a thought of any thing against the Person or Government of his Majesty And what I did towards the introducing of the Catholick Religion was no way but that which I thought to be for the good of the Kingdom by Act of Parliament I do ask of the Eternal and Merciful God most humbe Pardon for all my great Sins hoping in the mercy of Christ Jesus through his most sacred Passion to obtain remission of my Sins and Life everlasting in Heaven God protect and keep you and ours in his holy grace My dear I beseech you by the love you always bore me afflict your self as little as you can for the