City-Marshal I was first carried before Sir James Edwards and after that the then Lord Mayor before whom I refused to answer such general Questions as were asked without seeing my Accuser and hearing my Accusation but I soon found what was the pretence of my Commitment which I had grounds to suspect was designed to be stretched to the highest Offence nothing less than Treason for I was charged with bespeaking several Hundreds of the Protestant-Flails with a Design therewith to Massacre the Kings then called Loyal Subjects Refusing to answer the Lord Mayors Questions I was committed to Captain Richardson who was ordered forthwith to carry me before the King and Council as soon as I came there my old Friend the Lord Keeper North began to interrogate me in several Particulars but I refused to answer any till I saw my Accuser and heard my Accusation his Lordship told me my not answering that Honourable Board was a contempt for which I might be prosecuted To which I replied with Submission I did not understand I was obliged in strictness of Law to answer to any Accusation till I came judicially to be tryed where I should both see the Accuser and hear my Accusation At length the King ordered my Accuser to be called in whose Charge in Substance was this viz. That such a time about four Years and a half before I came to his Shop and bespoke a Pocket-Flail which by Descriptition I did order him to make the next day after I bespake three more which I was to fetch the third day And did likewise declare He should make me several hundreds but I came not according to my Promise for either of the three or did he make any of that number I pretended to bespeak That I did bespeak one and the next day three I did confess to be true and likewise fetched one of the three the third day but these not being made according to Direction I would not have the other two As for the Five hundred or any such Number I should bespeak I did declare as the Truth was that part of the Charge was very Malicious and False Major Richardson being then there as foolishly as maliciously endeavoured to frustrate my Defence for he told His Majesty the true Cause I came not according to my Promise for any of that great number I had bespoke he would give His Majesty For Captain Richardson declared That almost three years before he had been in that Turners Shop where seeing one of those Instruments it being the first that he ever saw he demanded of the Turner what he called them who answered A Pocket-Flail and then further told him ' That the Gentleman for whom he made the first above a year before pretended he would then have several hundreds made and bespoke three Flails after the first but came not for either of the three or any of that number which he pretended he did want Captain Richardson declared upon this He did believe there was a general Design against the Government and therefore he did Charge the Turner That if the Gentleman came according to his Promise he should endeavour to secure him which Caution he did suppose I had heard of and therefore came not according to my Promise Of this most ridiculous Suggestion I took immediate advantage and told His Majesty what the Captain alledged could not possibly be true even by his own Suggestion For he confessed That the Turner told him when he first saw the Flail that I had bespoke a great Number above a year before and was forthwith to have fetched one of them but came not according to my appointment and yet the Captain alledges That his Caution so long after given did influence my not coming a year and a half before Immediately upon this the King saw this Charge mixt with such folly and falshood that His Majesty thought fit to order my immediate Discharge As soon as I came into the Room next the Council Captain Richardson took me by the Hand and protested he was extreamly glad I was discharged but considering his good Service in just before endeavouring to prevent it I gave little Credit to this Assurance Being once more at Liberty I continued as before my Inquiries in which I was daily hurried up and down for having made it my business to get the Names of most of the Soldiers upon Duty that day my Lord was Murthered I was in a constant Inquiry after some of them for I had reason by some Information I had received to believe that not a few could speak not only to the throwing out of the Bloody Razor but to that which was more material the sending in the Ruffians to my Lord and from whom those Villains went commissioned But as I spoke with any of those Soldiers I perceived them very shy and denied to me what they had before freely confessed to their intimate Acquaintance and afterwards told their Friends they would not be brought into trouble by testifying their Knowledg therein which they knew would most certainly prove their Ruin Whilst I was Prisoner in the Kings-Bench I with the rest of the Kings Prisoners was several times search'd but having still notice some short time before such Search I conveyed away such Papers as being seized might have tended to my Prejudice But in such hurries I lost a List of such Names that could have declared that which was not a little material to this Discovery In Hillary Term 83. Mr. Speake and my self were tried upon an Information the substance whereof was That whereas Arthur late Earl of Essex the 13th of July being Prisoner in the Tower for High-Treason himself feloniously and as a Felon of himself did Kill and Murther and the day after was by the Coroners Inquest so found The said Lawrence Braddon and Hugh Speake well knowing hereof but contriving and maliciously the Government of our said Lord the King of this Kingdom of England into hatred disgrace and contempt to bring c. did falsly unlawfully maliciously and seditiously Conspire and endeavour to make the King's Subjects believe that the said Coroners Inquisition was unduly taken and that the said Arthur Earl of Essex by certain Persons unknown IN WHOSE CUSTODY HE WAS was killed and murthered in order to which they the said Lawrence Braddon and Hugh Speake did falsly unlawfuly unjustly maliciously and seditiously Conspire to procure certain false Witnesses to prove that the said Arthur Earl of Essex by the said Persons unknown was killed and murthered Vide Tryal p. 4. Observe The Information doth not Charge us or either of us with conspiring or endeavouring to Suborn false Witnesses because to prove that some Money or other Consideration must have been prov'd offered or promised which they being not able to prove the Information saith we did Conspire to procure false Witnesses And yet because Subornation would represent the matter most Odious in the Title page of the Tryal it was expressed Upon an Information of High
B. the Bed R where the razor was pretended to be found cl w. the Closset window st the Close Stole E. the bloody foot on my Lords Stockin c. the only Chink of the Closset door ch the Chimney c w. the Chamber window out of which the razor was thrown C D the Chamber door E the Earl of Essex as he was first found by those yt. saw the body before it was pretended to be moued Murder Murder Murder Throw him down Pul him to the Closset Stope his mouth Higher than the highest regardeth Eccl. 5 8 He that formd the Eye Shall he not see Psl 94 9 He that planted the Ear Shall he not heare Psl 94 9 blood cryeth unto me from the ground â— fugitive vagabond shalt thou be Gen the 4. 10. 12. The razor notch'd brook B. 5. foot-6-inch 7 foot-1-inch ESSEX's INNOCENCY and HONOUR VINDICATED OR Murther Subornation Perjury and Oppression JUSTLY CHARG'D ON THE MURTHERERS OF That Noble Lord and True Patriot ARTHUR LATE Earl of Essex As Proved before the Right Honourable late Committee of LORDS or ready to be Deposed In a LETTER to a Friend Blood crieth unto me from the ground Gen. 4.10 A Fugitive and Vagabond shalt thou be in the Earth 4 11. How long O Lord Holy and True dost thou not avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth Rev. 6.10 Written by LAWRENCE BRADDON of the Middle-Temple Gent. who was upwards of five years Prosecuted or Imprisoned for endeavouring to discover this Murther the third day after the same was Committed London Printed for the Author and Sold by most Booksellers 1690 AN APOLOGY For the Letter to a Friend To the Right Honourable WILLIAM Earl of Devonshire Lord Steward of Their Majesties Houshold c. WILLIAM Earl of Bedford c. CHARLES Earl of Monmouth c. HENRY Earl of Warrington c. The Lords of the late Close Committee appointed to Examine into the Death of the Right Honourable Arthur late Earl of Essex MY LORDS WHEN immediately after the Death of the Right Honourable Arthur late Earl of Essex I did first make enquiry with relation thereunto upon such a Page 5. Information as I have already given your Lordships there was nothing that might be expected from a Powerful and Revengeful Party against which I then moved but what I did believe they would endeavour to inflict upon me for this I had the greater reason having then been often credibly told That SOME whose Interest was most concerned to prevent this Discovery had several times declared I should be both Pillory'd and WHIPT But this or whatever else was within their power to impose I was resolved should not deter me from searching after such Circumstances as might rationally convince persons unprejudic'd THAT HIS LORDSHIP FELL not through Self-violence but BY THE TRANSCENDENT AUTHORITY and INTEREST OF SOME AND THE TREACHERY and BLOODY CRUELTY OF OTHERS because that Great Patriot with your Lordships and such others b 22. D. S. stood as Bulwarks against those Popish and Arbitrary Designs which were then judicially seen through a Glass but since to our great Cost and greater Danger face to face and carried on for the Total Subversion of our Church and State Wherefore I had great reason to believe admitting his Lordship was murdered That SUCH who were therein concerned if they found there was no inquisition made after this Blood but that all did seem to believe ONLY by the Evidence of those c Page 23. in whose Custody his Lordship was that this Noble Lord indeed cut his own Throat to avoid what his great Misfortunes seemed to threaten That then the natural Consequence thereof would be this viz. Whomsoever those POWERFUL and BLOODY MEN found to d Page 23. stand in their way whom they then had or should take into Custody they would place over them SUCH as they had prepared to COMMIT or PERMIT what was treacherously designed to be acted and then by Strangling Stabbing Pistolling or CUTTING OF THROATS either of which is a common way of Self-destruction they would take such off pretending as in this Case they did it was done by the persons themselves to prevent an infamous Execution and avoid those FORFEITURES of HONOUR and ESTATE which the Law would otherwise have made by their Conviction and Punishment My Lords The Prevention as much as in me lay of such vile Practices was not the least Inducement that first mov'd me to this Inquiry and whatever Opposition I then met with either under Colour of Justice or Malicious Detractions I was not at all surprised with and therefore the better prepared to suffer it and seeing I could then expect no Relief or just Satisfaction from those who were chief in imposing the Injuries I suffer'd I thought that a time for me in this respect to keep Silence But since God by our present Sovereign hath mercifully removed such Oppressions I think now is the time to speak and not suffer to go unanswered such Malicious and Infamous Calumnies representing me the very worst of Suborners and deserving far Worse usage than ever Dr. Oates underwent and this said not by a few but many Wherefore out of a just Self-regard which every Man owes to himself I thought I was in Duty bound to endeavour some way or other to clear my self to the World from being that profligate Villain I have been as industriously as maliciously Misrepresented And because I would that the Plaister should be as large as the Wound I have in this following Epistle attempted to undeceive the unprejudiced part of Mankind but as for some Miracles will not convince them and others there are who KNOWING much more than I can inform them will never confess themselves Converts to Truth My Lords Would such Men as maliciously Misrepresent me Proceed against me by way of Judicial Information I should take it very kindly for then I should have an Opportunity now Justice is duly Administred and Favour in this I desire none to clear my Innocence And there having been about SEVENTY Persons in all Sworn or Examin'd before Your Lordships and some Justices of the Peace and some hundreds discoursed to find these Witnesses out if I had been such an infamous Suborner as represented In this Cloud of Witnesses they have a fair Opportunity to find some for Suborning of whom they may Proceed against me But being well satisfi'd in my Abhorrence of and Innocence in all such detestable Practices and that I have ever been so far from desiring People to say more than they could safely depose That I did always beseech and enjoyn them much rather not to Swear any thing than the least Tittle more than was true assuring them That whosoever in this Case testifie more than is truth and thereupon any should suffer by such Perjury they would commit the worst of Murthers for which one day tho here not detected they must give a severe Account My Lords In all I did heretofore
Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Regis Fidei Defensoris c. Tricesimo quinto Annoque Domini 1683. SAith That he hath viewed the Throat of the Earl of Essex and doth find That there is a large Wound and that the Aspera Arterias or Windpipe and the Gullet with the Jugular Arteries are all divided of which Wound he certainly died The Information of Robert Andrews of Crouched-Fryers Chyrurgeon taken upon Oath the 14th day of July Anno Regni Caroli secundi nunc Regis Angliae c. Tricesimo quinto Annoque Domini 1683. SAith That he hath viewed the Throat of the Lord of Essex and doth find That it was cut from the one Jugular to the other and through the Windpipe and Gullet into the Vertebres of the Neck both Jugular Veins being also quite divided Upon these Informations the Coroner's Jury found my Lord Felo de se The Substance of these Informations in short is this viz. That my Lord of Essex called for a Penknife to pare his Nails but the Penknife not being ready his Lordship required a Razor which was delivered him with which Razor his Lordship retired to his Closet and locked himself in But soon after the Closet-door being opened my Lord was found with his Throat cut through both Jugular and Arteries to the Neck-bone and the Razor as before delivered lying by him These Informations taken by the Coroner were published the next Monday after my Lord's Death and I the 16th of July buying one of these that very Morning with one Mr. William Hatsel went to Wanstead to the House of one Mr. John Evans then an Officer of the Custom-House Upon reading the last part of Bomeny's Information which deposed That when they opened my Lord's Closet-door they found his Lordship on the ground with his Throat cut AND THE RAZOR BY HIM Mr. Evans declared That could not be true for Friday morning about Ten of the Clock being upon the Custom-house-Key with one Mr. Edwards the said Mr. Edwards told him with several others That his Son being in the Tower that morning just before the Death of the Earl of Essex was known he was standing just over-against the Earl's Chamber-window and saw a bloody Razor thrown out of that Window which he went to take up but a Maid came out of Captain Hawley's House and took it and forthwith ran with it into my Lord's Lodgings and up Stairs immediately several times crying out Murther and then coming down pretended the Earl of Essex had cut his Throat Upon hearing Mr. Evans give this Relation I declared If this was true what was sworn before the Coroner must be false and I did not believe they had sworn false for nothing but must conclude my Lord was murdered Hereupon I did desire the said Mr. Evans to inform me where this Mr. Edwards lived for I protested I would enquire into the matter Mr. Evans then told me Mr. Edwards lived in Mark-lane by the Tower When I came to Town that Afternoon about Six of the Clock I did forthwith acquaint several of my Friends with my Design of making immediate enquiry into the Truth of this Story which if I found reason to believe I thought it was proper to be taken upon Oath before some Justice of Peace in order to a further enquiry By most of my Acquaintance I was disswaded from it they telling me That if my Lord was indeed murdered the Persons and Interest concerned in the Murther were too Powerful for me to engage and therefore I must expect nothing but Ruine by medling in the matter To all which disswasions I generally gave this Answer That I would do nothing herein but what I could justifie to God and a good Conscience And the threatned Ruine I did not fear or would thereby be deterred for if my Lord was indeed barbarously murdered the same Principles and Practices that murdered him might take off many of those Honourable Persons they then had or should take into Custody and pretend as they did in this Case That this was done by the Prisoners themselves to avoid an Infamous Execution So that God only knew in how many Mens Destruction such treacherous practices might determine But if those bloody Men once found that such their Design was suspected and like to be detected in all probability they would desist from the like villanous Practices and seeing this would be more for the Interest of the Publick than I could possibly be either in my Liberty or otherwise I was resolved to Sacrifice that and whatsoever else I had to the Service of my Country My Friends finding me thus resolved to engage they advised me at first to inform my Lords Honourable Family herewith and to observe such Directions as from them I should receive wherefore that very Monday Evening I went to St. James's Square to my Lords House where I found Sir Henry Capell under great disorder by reason of that deplorable Accident I did inform Sir Henry of what I had heard but told him That I had not then spoken either with the Boy or his Father who as I was informed lived in Mark-Lane by the Tower and if Sir Henry thought fit I would the next Morning go with any whom he should appoint to Discouse the Father and Him Sir Henry thanked me for my Information but said he was then under such a concern for so great a Misfortune as had herein befaln his Family that he hardly knew what he did or said c. The next Morning I went to Mr. Edwards to whom as soon as I had told the cause of my coming the old Man seemed much surprized and concerned and in Tears told me he was Ruin'd to which I answered That I did suppose he was not ignorant what great things the Father of this Unfortunate Lord had done and suffered for His Majesties Interest and how this very Lord himself had been highly in His Majesties Favour having been imployed in Places of the greatest Honour and Trust and therefore if his Lordship fell by treacherous Hands none in reason could be supposed so zealous for a Discovery as His Majesty would who could protect him from whatsoever Danger might seem to threaten him besides if there were any Danger I stood principally subject to it but the Danger I did not fear considering of what Consequence this might prove by being inquired into at length Mr. Edwards gave me the same Information in substance I had the day before received from Mr. Evans I then desired to see his Son who being then at School I could not speak with him but that Afternoon about Two of the Clock I went again and was then told That the Boy had denied all which denial was occasioned hy his Sisters telling him He should be Hang'd for what he had herein declared this the Sister could not deny but as soon as the Boy was called into the Parlour where I with several others were before I questioned him about it I discoursed him concerning the
for a Pen and Ink and with his own hand crossed it by which I perceived I was designed for Judgment not Mercy and upon application was so told for I was inform'd that no man was more obnoxious to His Majesty than my self who was the only person that ever cast Blood in his face But if his own conscience by a just application threw it there I could not help that I am sure they that said it talked without Book for nothing at my Trial or at any time after proved against me made any such thing appear I must confess several Witnesses at my Trial subpoena'd could have mentioned somewhat with relation to his then Highness's Guilt in this matter but I found it was a Truth too hot which that Court would not hear and therefore thought it not proper to call them but left them till such a Season wherein Truth in this matter should not be prosecuted as the highest Offence And thls brings me to the Proofs that have in this Case been taken before the late Right Honourable Committee of Lords But before I do begin with the Evidence it may not be amiss to give some short Account how this Case came before that Right Honourable House where it was occasionally brought upon the motion of the Right Honourable the Lord Lucas then Governour of the Tower For the day before the Convention sate viz. the 21st of February 1688. having a Warrant against several as suspected privy to or concerned in the Murther of this Honourable Patriot and amongst the rest against Major Hawley at whose House my Lord was murdered and Russel the Warder before-mentioned both which belonged to the Tower I desired a Friend of mine to acquaint the Honourable Governour therewith so that these persons might be secured As soon as the Lord Lucas saw the Warrant against these two he did order them both to be be secured and the next day there was several Depositions with relation to my Lord's Murther taken before Justice Robins who that very day carried Copies of them to my Lord Lucas upon which his Lordship the very next day moved the House of Lords for their Lordships directions as to the disposal of Hawley and Russel and thereupon produced these Informations Mr. Robins had before brought him Upon reading of these the House entred into a debate of the matter and then called me before their Lordships before whom I gave a short Account of what is as before most materially mentioned After which their Lordships constituted a more general Committee This Committee having several times met there was a close Committee appointed the Order for which followeth The Order for the close Committee Die Martis 5. Februarii 1688 9. LOrds Committees appointed by the House to be a Close Committee to examine and take Informations concerning the Death of the late Earl of Essex and have power to send for and examine what Persons they please and such Affidavits as have been already made in this business as also for what other they please in order to give their Lordships further light therein whose Lordships are to make Report thereof to the House E. Bedford E. Devonshire L. Visc Mordant L. Delamere Whose Lordships are to meet when and where and as often as they please Before this Right Honourable Committee there have been above Sixty persons examined of which most were examined upon Oath and many of these several times before this Committee which in all have sate above thirty times and several times adjourn'd when other extraordinary Occasions hinder'd their Lordships from taking the Depositions of such as then attended to be examined In May last three of the four Lords of this Committee viz. the Earl of Devon the Earl of Monmouth and the Lord Delamere being commanded by His Majesty into the Countrey the Earl of Devon being Chairman of this Honourable Committee the 22d of May brought such Depositions and Examinations as in this Case had then been taken into the House But the House not having time that day to read them it was deferred till the then next day Upon the reading of them it appearing that the Earl of Devon the Earl of Monmouth and the Lord Delamere were absent in His Majesty's Service for the Earl of Devon that very morning went into the Countrey their Lordships thought fit to suspend the full Examination of the matter till these three Lords returned This appears by the Order following Die Jovis 23 Maii 1689. AFter reading several Papers and Depositions relating to the Death of the late Earl of Essex it is ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That the Considerations of this business shall be suspended until the return of the Lord Steward the Earl of Monmouth and the Lord Delamere who were of the Committee before whom they were made and who are now in the Countrey in His Majesty's Service And it is further Ordered That the said Depositions and Papers shall be sealed up and kept by the Clerk of the Parliament in the mean time Joh. Browne Cleric ' Parliamentor These Depositions lay sealed up with the Clerk of the Parliament till the 26th day of October when their Lordships of the first Committee moved for reviving the Committee which the House revived by this Order Die Sabbatis 26 Octobris 1689. ORdered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That the Committee appointed on the fifth day of February to take Informations concerning the Death of the late Earl of Essex be and is hereby revived to continue and sit as before Joh Browne Cleric ' Parliamentor ' Several other Persons were now examined before their Lordships who having finished their Examinations they began to reduce those Depositions and Examinations into such order as to their Lordships should seem most meet but this was hardly finished before the 27th Day of January when the last Parliament was prorogued and the 6th of February dissolved and consequently all Proceedings hereupon stopt till their Lordships shall think fit to revive the Committee in order to bring in their Report The Substance of what hath been deposed before the Honourable Lords of the late Committee and some Justices of the Peace I shall in as short an Abstract as I can well reduce it here give you in which I shall observe for the most part as it falls in order of time and first what passed before my Lord's Murther secondly the day of his Death thirdly after the day of his Death As to the first before my Lord's Murther it is deposed by Dorothy Smith to this effect That about nine days before my Lord's Death being Servant with one Holmes in Baldwins-Gardens and standing upon the Kitchen-stairs she heard several Papists discoursing in the Parlour of the said Mr. Holmes's House concerning the taking off the Earl of Essex and it was then and there declared That they had been with His Highness and His Highness was first for poysoning the said Earl but that manner of
Tower This is proved by Eight Witnesses Mr. Hubland Merch. Mrs. Hubland Mrs. Meux Treherne Jeremiah Burgis Thomas Feilder Savage Mr. Butler It is as to this sworn That at Frome which is about 100 Miles from London it was reported the very next morning after my Lord's Commitment to the Tower viz. the 11th of July 1683. that the Earl of Essex had cut his Throat in the Tower And this Informant the week after my Lord's death meeting the Gentleman which had before given him this Information and desiring to know how before my Lord's death he could declare it the other replied That all men concluded my Lord would either cut his Throat or turn Evidence against his Friend my Lord Russel but it was generally believed that my Lord would rather destroy himself than be made a Witness This Report so far off the very next morning after my Lord's Commitment proves the Tower to be the place before my Lord's Commitment pitched upon as the most proper for this perfidious Tragedy But the very next day viz. the Wednesday after my Lord's Commitment was it reported about 60 miles off that the Earl of Essex had cut his Throat in the Tower for this reason viz. The King and Duke coming into the Tower to view the Tower the Earl of Essex was afraid the King would have come up into his Chamber and seen him but his Guilt and Shame was such that he could not bear the thoughts of it and therefore cut his Throat to avoid it Observe in this previous Report sixty miles from London the next day after my Lord's Commitment the very pretended Reason for the Self-murther is given which Reason carries in it an accident that could never be before reported or indeed expected but by those which were the most secret in this Treacherous Cruelty for herein is it said the Wednesday before the King and Duke went to the Tower that the King and Duke were in the Tower when the Earl cut his Throat c. It is notorious that the King and Duke did not go till Friday morning and their then going was a surprize to their very Guards for it seems they had not been there together above once since the Restauration In short These several Reports proved by Eight Witnesses all agree in the manner how and place where and one more particularly sets forth the pretended Reason wherefore I do therefore humbly submit to every impartial Reader whether these very Reports do not strongly prove that the manner place and pretended reason were all agreed upon before this barbarous complicated Tragedy was acted For otherwise how could it possibly be so particularly related so far off and so long before it was done I shall in the 2d place observe what passed in the day of my Lord's murther which proves his death to be such Bomeny and Russel before-mention'd did before the Coroner's Jury upon Oath deny that any men were let into my Lord that morning my Lord died The like did John Lloyd the Soldier that kept the outward Door depose at my Trial pag. 57. Nathanael Monday who was my Lord 's other Warder and likewise Russel before the Lords have denied that any men were that morning let into my Lord. But that there were some Ruffians a little before my Lord's death let in to murther him plainly appears by the Proofs following Mr. Samuel Story deposeth to the effect following viz. The 21st of January 1688. being the day before the Convention sat John Lloyd Sentinel upon the late Earl of Essex at the time of his death was taken up as suspected privy to the said Earl's murther and being therefore in custody the said Lloyd with tears in his Eyes wrung this Informant by the hand and declared That by special Order of Major Hawley or one of my Lord's Warders he did let in two or three men into the Earl's Lodgings just before his death and he was very sure and could safely swear that Major Webster then there in custody suspected as one of the Ruffians that murthered my Lord was one and that as soon as he so let them in he heard a noise in my Lord's Chamber and somewhat thrown down like the fall of a man soon after which it was said the Earl of Essex had cut his Throat This Lloyd the same day before the Justice did confess the letting in some men a little before the Earl's death as appears by his Examination following The Examination of John Lloyd of Goodman's-Yard in Aldgate Parish without in London Clothworker taken before John Robins Esq one of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex the 22d day of January 1689. THis Examinant saith on the day whereon the Right Honourable the late Earl of Essex was found dead upon the suspicion of having been murthered in his Lodgings in the Tower of London he then being a Soldier was standing Sentinel at the door of the said Earl's Lodgings and had order to let no body up stairs to the said Lodgings without leave from Major Hawley or the Warder then in waiting on the said Earl and that about half an hour after Eight of the Clock in the Morning of the said day two Men to this Examinant unknown knocked at the hatch-door belonging to the said Lodgings and by permission of the said Warder entred the said Lodgings but when they came out he can give no account and that about Nine a Clock he heard a struggling on the said Morning and a little time after heard a Crying My Lord is dead After Lloyd had lain some time close Prisoner in Newgate he did desire to see one Mr. Tempest a Neighbour of his who having permission of the Secret Committee to discourse Lloyd thereupon went to Newgate where he found the said Lloyd very melancholly when Mr. Tempest first came Lloyd told him that he did hope as he was his Neighbour he would be his Friend and true to him to which the other answered that he would if the said Lloyd was ingenuous in his Discovery whereupon the said Lloyd after often pressing the said Mr. Tempest to be true to him told him that when he was first seised he did confess to a Gentleman who was altogether a stranger to him the letting in some men into my Lord of Essex just before his death and this Confession did lie upon his Conscience and troubled him night and day upon which the said Mr. Tempest replied That the like he had confessed to several the same day he was taken and he declared the same before a Justice of Peace but if it was false he ought to retract it and be sorry for having said it whereupon the said Lloyd renewing his Request that the said Mr. Tempest would be true to him said it was indeed very true but it was what he should not have confessed Lloyd did then farther declare That upon the letting in those Men there was so great a bustle in my Lord's Chamber that the said Lloyd would
the House when my Lord was murdered seems farther probable from the Relation of Mary Johnson then at work in Major Hawley's House at the time of my Lord's Death and what Account she hath hereof given appears by these two Informations The Information of Philip Johnson of Whites-Alley in Coleman-street in London Free-mason taken the 22d day of January 1688 9. before John Robins Esq a Justice of the Peace for the County of Middlesex THis Informant maketh Oath and saith That Mary Johnson his Wife since deceased being a labouring Woman to Major Hawley in whose House the late Earl of Essex was found dead That the morning on which he died as she was at work she heard a noise and designing to go up stairs she met Major Hawley coming down who told her My Lord was dead upon which she went up stairs and found the said Earl dead in his Closet as she gave her Husband this Informant an account and that by Order of the said Major Hawley she helped and assisted a Man to the best of his memory his Name is Major Webster to strip the said Earl from his Cloaths and at the further Command of the said Major Hawley she washed the said Earl's Body and also washed the said Chamber and Closet belonging to the said Earl for the said Major Hawley gave her 10 s. and that the Neck of the Cravat that she took off the said Earl's Neck was cut in three pieces The Mark of Philip Johnson The Information of Miriam Tovey of Red-Lion-street in White-Chappel-Parish in Middlesex Widow taken the day aforesaid before John Robins aforesaid THis Informant maketh Oath and saith That she several times heard Mary Johnson abovesaid declare the Substance of the preceding Information and further sweareth The said Mary Johnson told her That Major Webster was the Person who helped her to strip the said Earl of his Cloaths which she was very unwilling to do saying She should bring her self into trouble and hazard of her life by intermedling with the Body before the Coroner had sat upon it and that Major Hawley told her She must do it and should come to no trouble by it Miriam Tovey But it seems Major Hawley's Principles were ever averse to those brave True English Champions that opposed the late Court-Arbitrary-designs and could afford those Honourable Lords and Truly-worthy Knights and Gentlemen no better Titles than Rogues This appears by what he declared the very day that a great number of Honourable Lords amongst which this unfortunate Lord I hearâ— was one and Worthy Knights Gentlemen and Citizens dined together at Mile-end-Green for some time that afternoon Hawley told Mr. Bunch then a Warder That above Two hundred Rogues that day dined together at Mile-end-Green but he did wish that he had Forty of the biggest of them there in the Tower that they might be made shorter by the Head for till then the Land would never be at quiet This in substance is deposed by the said Mr. Bunch who with one Mr. are ready likewise to depose That some time since discoursing with one a Servant-maid in the Tower at the time of my Lord's Murther but since turned out they told her That it was supposed to be Major Hawley that occasioned her being turned out of the Tower but she replied It could not be the Major for he was the best Friend she had in the world upon the account of somewhat which she knew with relation to the Death of the late Earl of Essex I have some grounds to believe that not a few in the Tower that morning my Lord was murdered could discover several things very material in order to a farther detection and particularly as to the coming out of the Ruffians after they had perpetrated this not to-be-parallell'd treacherous Cruelty for I have been informed by some who that very morning my Lord was murdered were in Leaden-hall-Market That there came a Servant-maid who then lived as she said in the Tower to that Market the very same morning and wringing her hands she wept and cried out The Earl of Essex was murdered upon which the People gathering about her advised her to silence telling her she would bring her self into trouble by such expressions the Maid thereupon declared She was sure it was true for she saw the Men that murdered him just as they came from his Lodgings I have used all diligence possible to find this Maid out but neither of those I have met with could tell me her Name or the Name of the person in the Tower with whom she lived Not long after my Lord's Death I was likewise informed of the Name of one who declared he saw the Ruffians just as they came out of my Lord's Lodgings and did observe some Blood upon the Cloaths of one of them But having been obliged in a hurry often to convey away my Papers this Name I have lost I do wish I could find men as free as their Duty obliges them in this matter to declare what they knew I have reason to suppose many men would be then examined and whosoever there is that can discover any thing material with relation to this Murther and in silence stifles it by such his silence he consents to the Blood of my Lord and though our Law may not reach his Offence yet he who knows it will one day lay it to his Charge for if God requires that all Governments should make diligent Inquisition for Blood in defect whereof he will require the Blood of the Slain at the hands of such Magistrates on whom this neglect is chargeable then on those more especially will the greatest guilt lie who refuse or neglect to give Information to those ordained for such Inquisition But to return Bomeny and Russel you find have before deposed That there was a Razor delivered to my Lord wherewith to pare his Nails which his Lordship having done he retired into his Closet and there cut his Throat The Closet-door being opened Bomeny and Russel have declared they saw the Body there lie in its Blood and the Razor lying by him This is in short the substance of these Mens Relations whose Interest it is to prove the Self-murther That this Story is false in every part I doubt not but to convince every unprejudic'd person and hope to satisfie all who are not blinded with prejudice First That his Lordship did not pare his Nails that morning he died as all these have sworn or declared nor was there any Razor delivered to my Lord for that purpose that morning he died Secondly That his Lordship's Body was not locked into the Closet when first found Thirdly That there was no Razor lying by the Body when these three first saw the Body but the Razor laid there after my Lord was murdered to colour the pretended Self-murther That my Lord's Nails were not par'd John Kittlebeater hath deposed That he being one of the Coroner's Jury did very narrowly observe my Lord's Nails on his Fingers and
him who too often abused it This great haste to the Old-Bailey when that Great Patriot but unfortunate Lord Russel was there Trying and the indirect use by malicious Application of this pretended Self-Murther to the taking off him of whom we were no longer worthy This gave to an Honourable person then upon the Bench just grounds to suspect that this Noble Earl was murdered without Form of Law the more easily to destroy that great Lord under colour of Justice The Coroner's Inquisition and the Depositions of Bomeny and Russel being carried in all haste to White-hall in order to their immediate publication they were there perused and it being found that Bomeny and Russel had point-blank contradicted each other for the first as before observ'd had sworn the delivery of the Razor the day before my Lord's Death and the second that it was not deliver'd till the day of his Death These Contradictions were not thought convenient to be exposed lest they should give just ground of suspicion that the whole was forged and therefore a Reconciler was ordered to amend the one so it might be agreeable to the other it matter'd not how inconsistent or contradictory they were in the Original for those could be seen by none but the Coroner himself in whose custody they were and 't was to be supposed that the Coroner would not then dare to contradict what Authority had ordered so to be printed and hereupon was that Alteration made as was before observed in Bomeny's Information page 3. but this done as some years since observed by an Ingenious Author upon this occasion without the least congruity either to Sense or Grammar for nothing can be more apparent than that the foregoing part of the Information relates wholly to Thursday but at last without any regard to what Bomeny had before sworn on Friday the 13th Instant is foisted in contrary to all Rules of Grammar and common measures of Sense as well as Justice which justly esteems this printed Information forged This forged Reconciliation is done with the greatest incongruity and absurdness as well as falseness imaginable and I know not whether the folly of the Suborner for without doubt the Suborner and Reconciler in this case are the same or of the same stamp or the Perjury of the suborned in that false Information be most conspicuous The Soldiers that were in the Tower that morning my Lord was murther'd having made such Discoveries as satisfied them my Lord was treacherously taken off they used too great freedom in their discourse with relation thereunto and therefore as Robert Mâ—ake declared to two who have diposed it An Officer called several of them together and under severe Threatning enjoin'd them not to speak one word of what they had either seen or heard with relation to my Lord's Death Wherefore the said Meake desired his Friends not to divulge what he had told them for should it be known it would prove his rune but some short time after Meake declared as three have deposed That he did believe he should be privately murther'd for what he knew and had said with relation to my Lord's Murther and therefore he desired Bampton or Davidson as they have both sworn to keep him company that very day for he much fear'd he should that very day be destroyed But both of them fearing the danger themselves might be in refusing that very night was the said Meake thrown into the Tower-ditch As for Ruddle before-mentioned all the Information I can have of what is become of him is That not long after my Lord's Death he was drawn out of the Tower and sent to the East-Indies and at Fort St. George shot to death but for what reason I cannot learn There was one Mr. Hawley a Warder in the Tower that very morning my Lord was murther'd and by what he had observed with relation thereunto he had reason to declare to a Friend That it was a piece of Villany throughout This Mr. Hawley being in Westminster-Hall whilst I was upon my Trial said He wonder'd what made me stir in it when to his knowledge I knew nothing of the matter upon which one Mr. B. said Mr. Hawley If you know Mr. Braddon knows nothing in this what must you know to which Mr. Hawley made no reply But this Gentleman's knowledge in the matter cost him too dear for about March next after my Lord's Death being missing one of the Warders suspected to be a Papist said Mr. Hawley had been prating about the Earl of Essex 's Death and therefore was forc'd to fly But six Weeks discover'd how he fled for he was then found in a River by Rochester so changed through the barbarity he had met with that neither his Face or Body could be known by his nearest Relations and his Cloathes were all taken off except his Stockins and Shoes by which he was discovered to be the Man for he wore three Stockins upon one Leg and two Stockins and a Seer-cloth upon the other and as I have been informed the lining of the Toes of his Shoes cut out By these remarkable Circumstances his Wife knew him She had used all possible diligence for finding her Husband in order to which she offer'd in several Gazetts an Hundred pound Reward to any that could discover his Body dead or alive but it was six weeks before he was found Several of the Soldiers in the Tower that morning my Lord was murthered I have been enquiring after but have been told they were kill'd in the West against the late Duke of Monmouth But considering what fate befel Hawley Ruddle and Meake before mentioned I have reason to suspect that other may likewise have been murthered by way of prevention Besides such addition of blood other violent Methods were used to prevent a discovery by punishing such Soldiers as seemed to disbelieve upon very good grounds my Lord 's Self-murtner This appears by this Information following Richard Jorden declareth That some time that Summer the Earl of Essex died and not long after the said Earl's Death he saw a Solder tied to the Wooden-horse in the Tower by order of Lieutenant Collonel Nichols and whipt after a very cruel manner And this Deponent heard the said Lieutenant-Collonel tell the Soldier he ought to be hanged This Deponent further declareth That he was just after informed by the Marshal that whipt the said Soldier that by order of Lieutenant-Collonel Nichols he gave the said Soldier 53 Stripes tho the usual number was but 12. and that the said Soldier had lain a Fortnight before in close custody and been fed with Bread and Water and all only for the Offence following viz. Some short time after the Death of the late Earl of Essex Dr. H. of Norfolk Prebend of Norwich a Divine coming into the Tower the said Soldier was sent with him to shew him the Tower and as the Doctor was almost over-against Major Hawley 's the Doctor asked the said Solder which was the