only a fifth Brother and which is less a third by a second Venter so that a Lawyer of an ordinary size may tell us what an Heir at Law he is according to the custom of England to this Estate had none of the intermediate Brothers any Children Nay let the whole World judge even the most partial men breathing whether Mr. Turberville that ran away from his Monastery that had no zeal for his Religion that liv'd sharking ever since that has turn'd Protestant at least presently after Mr. Oates's Discovery for he was then actually sent down to Glamorganshire to catch Priests would notwithstanding all Encouragements from the Parliaments from the King 's reiterated Proclamations and from the whole people in general suffer me who was imprison'd from the beginning and at last try'd for my life to be legally and publickly acquitted if his present Charge had been then thought of But tho' not one Judge perchance in Westminster-Hall could bating the contempt which people might justly have of the Charge prove himself no Priest if a Villain would point blanck swear it yet I can by God's Providence besides what has already been alledg'd make à priori the falshood of this Accusation evident and thus I should have done long ago had it been grateful at my Tryal to show Mr. Oates's small mistake about the Divorce for the Circumstances that demonstrate the untruth of the one would have done the same to the other and then Mr. Turberville had had a Buoy or Light-house to guide him from this Shallow on which he has at last so strangely and childishly stranded The Grounds of the Fancy Now that the Reader may also understand the Grounds of this Fancy and how it had its Rise he is to know that resolving with my self some 7 years since not to marry again should it be never so much in my power and considering too that it was the best time to settle my Brother or Heir at Law in the World if I intended him any real and solid advantage by what might at length fall unto him I thought fit to give him and some others of my Relations the greatest part of my Estate in present with the rest in Reversion and then married him to his and my own satisfaction This being look'd upon by many as an unusual Action and some reflecting that I who took so much pleasure in travelling was now retired and diverted my self in turning over Books and the like as also that my Lady Cleveland had withdrawn her self some few years after into a Monastery which is the common method of married people in the Church of Rome that intend to change their state of life it presently became bruited that I was or shortly would be in Orders No wonder then if Mr. Oates made this a part of his Accusation and by the way I must tell him that in my poor judgment 't is not only the chief flower of his Garden to wit the best grounded Charge that ever yet came from him but also manag'd with the most caution and wisdom qualities as many think not very natural to him for he has here only sworn as I show'd before That he saw Letters forsooth signifying my saying Mass and therefore could not be easily disproved were he never so much the Inventer of the Story But if Mr. Turberville has been more bold and daring and thereby run himself as I said on ground he may yet urge this for himself That being engag'd perhaps by the prevalent Entreaty of special Friends to accuse me He was necessitated to this poor Topick of a Priest seeing the Law had already acquitted me of the Plot for otherwise we should have had I warrant you wonderful Particulars in Print from some or other not only of late Consults at Powis-Castle tho' I have not been there as I mention'd these 15 years but of a constant correspondency with him in his Noviceship at Doway in his French Expedition and in all his other Adventures also To end then with this Gentleman Several Lay-men sworn to be Priests I do here again protest and declare that his Accusation against me is false both in part and in the whole and yet it is not to be wondred at as strange seeing Priesthood has of late been sworn against other Lay-men as well as my self for upon this Account and Oates's Oath Mr. Preston as every body knows was dragged from his very Wife into Prison where he lay above 18 months and old Mr. Gawen who had been but few years a Widower and never out of England was by such a Deposition solemnly arraign'd and tryed and besides Sir Thomas Gascoign would perhaps have run the same risque had he not absconded as soon as he got out of the Tower I am sure my being in Orders has no relation to the Plot and puts not the least grain into the Balance since it will be no manner of way plainer than before should I be deemed not only a Priest but a Bishop Nor would I certainly be asham'd of a Function were I of it of which men as great in Quality as eminent in Learning and as famous for Sanctity as History can show have been Nay from the same fountain and no other the Church of England her self derives her Ordination Let me then say thus much to Mr. Turbervile with my last Adieu That should God ever make me capable of this State of life and incline me to it for 't is no ill action even in Law to be a Catholick Priest and stop there if the Ceremony should be perform'd in the most open and publick manner that can be thought of that solemnity will be a perpetual Record against him and consequently an Evidence of the Injury he has done the Kingdom to the manifesting of his monstrous folly and weakness in so gross an accusation So much then for Mr. Turberville and here I should have ended were I not obliged to say something to what Sir William Jones thought fit to mention of me in my Lord Staffords Tryal * vid. p. 177. He doubts there of Mr. Lytcott's being Fellow of Kings Colledge because such places are bestow'd he hopes on more deserving and less suspicious men than he appears to be that owns himself not only the Secretary and continual Companion of one so famous in the Popish Party as my Lord Castlemain is but to have gone also and taken Notes at several Tryals for his Lord's service who was concern'd in the Accusation First for Mr. Lytcott's being Fellow of Kings Colledge it will be acknowledg'd by the whole Body and upon this account it was he became my Secretary for having my self had the satisfaction and honour to be a Fellow-Commoner of that Royal Foundation and consequently acquainted with very worthy and excellent men I knew not till some better occasion offer'd it self how to express the great sence I had of their Favours and Civilities but by having ever since my departure one of theirs
The Right honble Roger Earle of Castlemayne Baron of Limbrick etc. THE EARL OF CASTLEMAIN's Manifesto Nec potest aut Veritas cum vi aut Justitia cum credulitate conjungi Lact. Printed Anno 1681. THE EARL of CASTLEMAIN'S MANIFESTO HAving had the misfortune to be accus'd if he can call it so that has been openly acquitted and freed I left the Publication of all Particulars to those who still furnish'd the Curious with Transactions of that nature But seeing they have been not a little faulty in my Tryal which yet came not out till the end of last January 5 and seeing Mr. Turbervile has been as extravagant as any of his fellows in his wild printed Charge against me I think it now an incumbent Duty to give the World and consequently Posterity a full Account of my Troubles since these unparallel'd Disorders which have not only disturb'd the flourishing State of England but astonish'd and amaz'd the whole Universe also The Parliament according to the time appointed at their July Prorogation meeting again on Munday the 21st of October 1678. Mr. Oates was order'd on the 2d day following by the Lower House to acquaint them with the Particulars of the Plot which he did in a Discourse of many hours being for the most part the same as that in the Narrative since printed by his leave and directions But the thing expected with the greatest Impatience by the whole Town was an account of the Persons nominated to the Spiritual and Temporal Imployments mention'd by him and this he was to give in as he did the next day whereupon the House sent for the Chief Justice who having taken his Accusation upon Oath issu'd out Warrants and so * Lords Powis Arundel Bellasis three of the Lords the Others and most â—f the Gentlemen being in the Countâ—… were secur'd that very night or early next morning The News flying presently about several of my Protestant Friends came to congratulate my want of Preferment which they took as an infallible sign of my Innocence for they thought I could not if privy have miss'd of some Imployment when Medbourn a Player and Townley an Alehouse-keeper were already eminently promoted Within some hours after I heard that the Earl of Powis and my Lord Arundel for my Lord Bellasis was not yet removed by reason of the Gout which almost always afflicts him were at the Gate-house expecting how the Peers would dispose of them I went to see them as my near Relation to the one and my Acquaintance with the other I thought obliged me There I found they were to lye that night and so to be carried to the Tower but little dreamed that I was immediately to succeed them for Mr. Oates for Reasons best known to himself thought fit next morning viz. Friday the 25th Oates accuses me to accuse me of Treason also to the Commons who order'd the Justices of Westminster that were Members to examine him upon Oath and then to proceed accordingly which as soon as I heard I went to take my leave of my Friends foreseeing that a Confinement would necessarily follow Whilst I was in my Visits one of my Servants came to acquaint me that Mr. Tissard the Sheriff and his men were at my House so that returning home some few hours after to wit about 10 at night I found the Rooms below stairs full of People and asking them for their Officer I spoke to him to this effect That I was sorry I had made him stay so long but that he needed not to have troubled himself with so many Attendants since any one of them with Authority had been sufficient He answer'd That by virtue of the Warrant which he shewed he was to secure me and my Papers but that he had not yet medled with them because he understood that I had the Keys of my Cabinets and Closet about me I gave him many thanks for his Civility in not breaking open Locks unnecessarily and then calling for Lights I conducted him and two or three of his Followers He secures me and my Papers to my Apartment Having there seiz'd all my Papers he sealed them up in a Box with my own Arms to avoid as he told me pretences of foul play and so took it with him but as for my self being it was very late he suffer'd me at my request to lye at home with a Guard In the morning he came again for me and the Box being with him I desir'd that since he had taken not only my Letters but all sorts of Papers also as Bills Acquittances Accounts and the like which might occasion perhaps I said some future dispute between me and my Steward or those whom they concern'd he would be pleas'd to let me see what he carried away This too he civilly granted me and when in the presence of him and the rest I had slightly viewed all he sealed the said Box as before and then brought it and me together with a Cabinet full of Deeds and Conveyances which I wonder'd not a little at to Sir Charles Harbord's where I found not only Sir Charles but Sir Philip Howard and Sir Edmund Windham the Knight-Marshal who came also thither to examine me When we were all seated about the Table My Examination Sir Charles asked me How long it was since my being at Rome I told him I came last thence about the year 69. Then he demanded Whether I was divorc'd I answer'd No Whether I knew one Strange I told him Yes What was he for a man I said He had been lately as I heard Provincial of the Jesuits Where had I seen him I reply'd Beyond Sea Whether I had not seen him in England I said Yes When continu'd he I answer'd I was not able to tell exactly it being a good while ago He desir'd me to inform them as near as I could I reply'd That I thought at my return home which was about that time twelve month or a little more he among others came to welcome me but I was sure I had not seen him in a long time Then he asked me what I knew about the Plot I answer'd I knew nothing neither did I believe there was any Plot. Did you says he never hear of any thing tending to a Design against the King I answer'd I never did in all my life and that I thought my Relations known Loyalty and my Own might assure them of it If you had been made acquainted says he with a Design against the King do you think your self bound to have discover'd it and would you have done it I answered I was bound and would have done it also This is the sum of my Examination and as much of it as they deem'd fit their Clerk by their directions put in writing which I also read and subscribed Now that the Reader may see the cause of all these Questions I shall here insert the particulars of Oats 's Accusation before the Commons couch'd in his own Stile and
still with me Mr. Lytcott had 't is true some other accidental Recommendations as related to several persons of very considerable fashion and quality whom I esteem'd Nor do I by any means deny the giving him order to take Notes at Tryals nay this or the equivalent I desir'd of others also till I freed my self from the calumny of the Plot. But had I known it a Crime against any Law either human or divine and till I do I cannot repent me of the Action I should not have sent him neither would he I dare say have gone for his Colledge and Friends cannot but own as well his great Probity as his constant zeal for the Government And as he who very well knew it attested being summon'd to my Lord Staffords Tryal that I was not at Powis Castle in the years 72 nor 73 so by what I have here already shown the whole matter has been prov'd and made good beyond the possibility of the least doubt or scruple In the next place as to my being so famous in the Popish Party as Sir William says I am I do not know I confess what he means Certainly that man is a very weak one who considering the hardships we struggle with the Obloquy we lie under and the mis-interpretation of all our actions hopes to geat Fame by being a Papist but if this Gentleman puts Fame in the worst sence for the word has opposite significations and so intimates as if I were become to the World Infamous by my Religion and Practice I shall here in a few words give him a true and short account of both That I am a Catholick I shall always acknowledge as often as I am ask'd but tho' my Religion were erronious yet to me it must be a true and saving one according to the Principles of our learnedst Adversaries for I have often and diligently searcht the Scriptures which they own to be the Rule of Faith I have earnestly pray'd to God as they require for his Illumination I have argu'd with learned men a thing too enjoyn'd by them I have always been ready to give a Reason of my Belief to whomsoever should ask it of me according to the Apostle's advice and theirs and lastly I have read not only as much Controversie as perchance most men of my age in England but twenty Protestant Books I dare say for one Catholick and yet still I am the same Nor will any body I hope pretend partiality or prepossession in the case seeing that must have much rather enclin'd me to the contrary side for had I been of a Religion not obnoxious to the Laws I might as well it may be have advanc'd my Fortunes as others wanting I thank God neither Relations Friends nor Estate to give me a Rise or beginning Nay so great a propensity have I still for the Religion of all Governments and particularly my own that I thus far declare with Mr. Hobbs who thought every body bound to be of his Prince's Faith that it is a great fault not to comply with the establish'd Practice in every particular that is not truly sinful in my Judgment 'T is Conscience then that makes me a Dissenter and therefore I may be pitied but not blam'd for should any Turk or Jew profess the Gospel and yet in his heart think it false he would be damn'd notwithstanding the verity of it Humane Reason can demand nothing of one as eminent Protestants tell us but a sincere Conviction nor does the profoundest among them propose more And if that shocking Article to flesh and bloud and reckon'd also by our Enemies as our most dangerous Tenet I mean the real and substantial presence of Christ in the Sacrament blots not a Lutheran out of the Book of Life why should it me 'T is true we differ in the Mode or Manner of his being there but not in the Reality so that as great hardships and as seeming contradictions arise to man's capacity from the one as from the other opinion To confirm further also those who might otherwise doubt of my being in the way of Salvation as to Faith I unfeignedly believe all those very Points which Protestant Divines call the grand Fundamentals of Christianity for I believe the Incarnation I believe the Trinity things as incomprehensible and opposite to our finite Nature as can be thought of nor could any Doctrine be more stifly deny'd and rejected than this has been by several Christians nay I declare as the Church of England does when she reads the Creed of St. Athanasius That whosoever will be saved must necessarily hold what is there express'd I believe also in the Merits Mediation and Satisfaction of Christ so that no Action of ours can possibly please but through his Merits no Mediation of any Creature can have the least force or weight without the virtue of his Mediation and no Satisfaction of ours can be valid but as it is grounded on and perfected by the All-sufficiency of his Satisfaction I further believe that Faith and Good Works must joyntly help in the great business of Salvation that both are God's gifts and that we are not able so much as to think one good thought or do the least good Action without his free Grace and Assistance Lastly I believe that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God that the Reading of them is profitable that it is lawful to have them in the Vulgar Tongue but I believe and the like perchance do all Christian Churches that there are some things * 2 Pet. 3.16 hard in them which the unlearned and unstable may wrest to their own destruction and that they are not of a * 1 Pet. 1.20 private Interpretation Now should any judge otherwise viz. That every body truly interprets who sincerely considers them yet I am still in the right for then as a private man I think and this with all sincerity that the hardness before express'd and the other words of St. Peter which intimate they are not of a private interpretation ought to be understood in the plain and obvious sence If then by agreeing thus with Protestants in what they call the chief Fundamentals of Christianity and if also by the consent of their great and famous Authors several persons that have lived and died in our Religion are in Heaven for they stile them Saints they admire their Actions they propose them as Examples and the like I say if then by reason of these things I may rationally be assur'd that this Interior part of my Belief to wit that which principally relates to my self cannot damn me I will now very strictly examine the Exterior or what touches others and consequently the matters that concern the Government First As to Government in general I believe Monarchy from my heart to be the best and I think far the better of it as often as I consider our late Miseries and Disorders yet had I been born in a lawful Commonwealth Aristocracy or Elective