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A29401
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A Breif [sic] account of many memorable passages of the life & death of the Earle of Shaftsbury ... who departed this life the 21st day of December, 1683 ...
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1683
(1683)
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Wing B4503; ESTC R17676
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6,304
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10
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A Breif Account of many memorable Passages of the LIFE DEATH OF THE EARLE OF SHAFTSBURY Sometime Lord High Chancellor of ENGLAND Who Departed this life the 21st day of 〈…〉 1683. GIVING An impartiall Relation of his Loyalty to His Majesty in the late times and the great endeavours he used to bring in the King into England unto his just rights in peace and safety with His Majesties gratefull acknowledgment of these his kindnesses to him in preferring him to several Eminent Places of Honour and Trust Together with his great patience under the loss of the same Also his twice Imprisonment in the Tower and his witty answer to one of the Popish Lords upon his Imprisonment his Releasement and severall Plotts and Sham-Plotts of the Papists used to take away his Life for his vigalancy and care for the Protestant Religion and their disappointments Of his arrivall in Holland and his kind entertainment there Together with his Sickness and worthy Speeches a little before his death Concluded with a Prayer worthy of the perusall of all persons Printed for J. Coniers in Duck-Lane A breif Account of some Remarkable passages of The LIFE DEATH OF THE EARLE of SHAFTSBURY IT is not my presumption in this Sheet to write the Life of this great States-man but to give the Reader a brief Account of some remarkable passages in the same for the satisfaction of the meaner sort that cannot purchase large volumes Anthony Earle of Shafisbicry Baron Ashley of Wimbourn and Lord Cooper of 〈◊〉 as descended from the honourable and ancient Family of 〈…〉 â—â—imbourn St. Giles's in the County of Dorset We 〈…〉 first place laying aside all his other vertues treat of the Loyalty of this noble Peer in the words of the late Author saith he Could we have taken a view of the inside of this noble Peer we might have seen his heart full of Loyalty to his Prince love to his Countrey zeale for the Protestant Rellgion the festlement of which can only secure us from the attempts of His Majesty's and his people Enemies With what admirable policy did influence and manage the Councils in the late times in what he was concerned in during the Inter Regnum towards His Majesty's interest and with what admirable subtilty did he turn the stream of their Counsells and with unâ—â— wearied diligence did he tugg at the helm of State till he had brought in his great Master the King into his Kingdomes again in prosperity and safety to the joy of all good Subjects His House was a Sanctuary for distressed Loyallists and his correct pondency with the King Friends though closely managed as the necessity of those times required are not unknown to those that weâ— the principle managers of his Majesty affaires at that time this maâ— the late Usurper O. Cromwell so jealous of him whose arbratary Government he withstood to the utmost of his power And we find that Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper was accused before the RVMP Parliament in the Year 1659. for keeping intelligence with the King and having provided Forces in Dorset-shire to joyn with Sir George Booth in attempting to bring in our noble King that now is to his rightfull Throne and also his concurrence with Generall Monke in that importunant juncture if we remember that his Regiment was one of the first that declared for a Free Parliament and Generall Monke in March 1659. so zealous was he in putting all his strength to turn the great Wheele of State And at the time of his Majesties Restoration as most signal testimony of His Majesty's good opinion of his former actions he was advanced to be one of the first rank in His Majesty's most honourable Privy Councel and was placed above his Royall Brother the Duke of Glocester even Generall Monke himself whom the King used to call his political father And three dayes after His Majesties Coronation he was created Baron Ashley of Wimbourn St. Giles's and also Lord Cooper of Paulet and at last another mark of Royal favour in the Year 1672. He was made Earle of Shaftsbury for his wise administration in his Majesty's affaires he was made Chancellour of the Exchequer and some time after that made Lord High Chancellour of England about the beginning of the year 1672. which place he executed with the greatest Judgment and Equity imaginable Thus having briefly traced this great Minister of State in these mighty imployments under his great and good master the King I shall take some notice of his relinquishment of that high imployment and what happened to him since About November 1673. His Majesty was pleased to send for the Lord Chancellour to Whitehall where he resigned the great Seale of England to his Majesty and was dismist from being Treasurer of the Exchecquer In the Afternoon of the same day the Earle of Shaftsbury was visited by Prince Rupert with other great Lords at Exeter house whore they gave his Lordship thanks for his faithfull and honourable discharge of that great imployment Thus this great Minister of State to the universall satisfaction of all good men being raised to that high degree of interest in his Masters favour without a murmur laid all his honour at his Majesties feet and was observed not to abate of the cheerfulness of his temper upon the loss of all these temporal honourable imployment I shall conclude this part of his life with a Chanacter that a late Author gave of him His choice sagacity Strait solved the knot that subtile Lawyers ty'd And through all foggs discern'd the oppressed side Banish'd delays and so this noble Peer Became a Star of honour in our Sphere Aneedfull Atlas of our State On the 16th of February 1676. this Earle was sent Prisoner to the Tower by the order of the House of Lords there were at the same time committed several other Lords for maintaining That the then Parliament was dissolved and ought not to sit any longer where he continued Prisoner about a years time and after his submitting himself to His Majesty and the Parliament he was discharged by acknowledging his fault A little after his releasement this parliament was preroged and after dissolved Now was the wicked Plot of the Jesuites and Papists discovered by the great fidelity of Dr. Oates which convineed both King Lords and Commons and all the Nation in generall of a damnable treasonable Popish design to murder our King with the rest of the Nobility and Gentry and to reduce the Protestant Church to Komish Idolatry and the State to a Catholique slavery On the 7th of march 1678. Another Parliament met at Westminster This Parliament did like noble Patriots endeavour to give check to the bloody Popish designes a foot and passed many excellent Votes for that purpose many Members acquited themselves in their Speeches like men of high sense of the miseries the nation was like to be involved in this House carried up their impeachments to the House of Lords against the Lord Pouis Stafford
Arundel Lord Peters Lord Bellasis for high Treason and other high Crimes But I shall forbear mentioning any farther only instance how this noble Peer was struck at in the Hellish design I shall referr the Reader to what hath been allready published in Print onely note two or three things of some persons that made attempts on the life of this noble Peer first by Dangerfield who had a great summ offered him to have murdered the Earle of Shaftsbury on whom the rage of the bloody Romish party was now so great that they left no base and unwarrantable action unattempted To robb him of his life some were hyred to stab or Pistoll him others to swear Treason against him or any other way the Devil put in their heads Another design against this noble Peer was to have been acted by a woman called Madam Câ—llier a Popish Midwife which she attempted that cursed design under the pretence of a visite to the Earle and under pretence of her paying her thanks for favours received through his meanes but she had a consecrated Dagger under the skirt of her gown ready to have exprest her gratitude by opening the veins of this Protestant Peers heart Is then loyall innocency and Protestant integrity Armour of proof against Poysons Pistolls and Poniards no the Catholick Gallantry stops not here but pursues this noble Peer with forgery of his hand and other little sham-plotts what base and villainous acts the bloody Papists used to destroy the Earle of Shaftsbury by many endeavours to have stabb'd him as hath been deposed by many persons to whom the Parliament as well as the nation have given beleif I shall instance one more of their mischeifous practises in this kind There was a Gentleman who was a Commander of a Regiment of Horse in the late King's Army and lost all for his sake and his present Majesty's writ to this noble Peer about a remedy against the Gout which he used to be afflicted with very much this Letter was intercepted and the person then living in the French King's Dominions after adding to it an account that the Writer was able to furnish the Earle with forty thousand Souldiers from France to oppose the D. of Yorks Interest it was then conveyed to some of the French King's Ministers who they suppose would send a Copy hither but by a strange providence the original was returned into the Gentleman's own hands Nor were they yet wanting in throwing dirt and slandring this Noble Peer in his Reputation which faculty they are famous at for now a Pacquet of base Libels and treasonable reflections were by the Penny post sent to a Printer and Copies of the same disperst about the parts of Westminster All of venomous and malicious slanders and imputations tending to the taking away the Life of the Earl of Shaftsbury and divers other Peers of Honourable account but the Printer detesting such a designe published an invitation to any person that would discover the Author or publisher of that infamous Libel And now we are got into such a bog of Plots shamplots Perjurers subornations as the histories of no Age can parallel In October during the Sessions of the last Parliament its remarkable that Francisco de Faria Interpreter to the Portugal Embassadour amongst other matters relating to the Plot gave Information to the Bar of the house that he was tempted to kill the Earl of Shaftsbury by throwing a hand Granado into his Coach as he passed the rode into the Countrey But to summ up all several methods that were invented to be Executed against the Life of this Peer were innumerable by these Jesuited Crew who set all her inventions and engines on work to make away the Earl of Shaftsbury he was the Beam in their eye and that clog that hindred the motion of their curst designes what have they not attempted to make him distasteful to the King through the foulness of their treasons on him as was made appear before the King Councel in October 1681. that Fitzgerard told Mr. Haines that he the said Fitzgerard possessed his Majesty and had given it under his hand and Seal that the late Plot was a Presbyterian Plot and invented by the Earl of Shaftsbury on purpose to exterpate the Royal Family and to dethrone his present Majesty and turn England into a Common-weal or else to set the Crown upon the Earls own head with more such wicked treasonable matter a further Account you may have in his Tryal But a new Parliament was summoned to appear at Oxford where things of as high nature was Agitated as ever came before the consideration of a Parliament no less then preservation of the Kings Majesty's person the Protestant Religion the good of the people of England All which now was invaded by the bloody dsigns of the Papists but being very hot about the business of Fitzharris things of the like nature it pleased his Majesty to dissolve them Sometime after Fiezharris was tryed and Executed The Earle of Shaftsbury was again committed to the Tower of London the circumstance of his Examination and Aquital would take too much room here to be recited To finish this tragical story only I cannot omit that on the 15. August 1681. Mrs Fitzharris gave a deposition on Oath that her husband a little before his Execution not only told her what great offers he had made him if he would have charged that treasonable and infamous Libel for which he was executed afterwards for on this Noble Peer and the Lord Howard and that he advised her to do it to save his life though he protested at the same time that they were wholly innocent she likewise deposed that a certain Gentleman assured her that she should have what money she pleased if she would accuse the Earl and the Lord Howard as the Authors of the said Libel but they having tampered with so many on the account of this basted design but that it was impossible but their consult must take wind especially when we consider they were a people that either to supply their necessities or to feed their ambition or more probable thought inresistable fatility had blab'd and discovered the secrets of holy mother and had spake so unseasonably in her tip that they had spoyld her game what security could these Romish Sophisters have but that their cork'd vessel would prove leaky again I shall give one memorable passage said to have passed between the Earl and one of the Popish Lords soon after his Commitment the story is this meeting accidently with one of the Popish Lords he was asked by him what his Lordship did there and that he little thought to have his good company to which the Earl of Shaftsbury replyed that he had lately been sick of an Ague and was come there to take some Jesuits powder It was said during the whole time of his Lordship being in the Tower he remained very chearful beyond what could have been expected from a person