and Undone Coming one Evening to Visit him at Whitehall I found Bedloe and Prance with him amongst other Discourses they Talkt of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey Oats Laught at the business and said Here is Bedloe that knew no more of the Murder than you or I did But he got the Five Hundred Pound and that did his work and gave this Blockhead 30 l. of it He pickt him up in the Lobby of the House of Lords and took him for a Loggerhead fit for his purpose at which Bedloe laught heartily and Prance look'd a little dull as displeased At this Rate I have heard Oats and Bedloe Discourse very often who used always themselves to make the business of Godfrey a Ridiculous Story and Entertain'd themselves when Private with the Jest on 't At the Lord Staffords Tryal I got in for Curiosity amongst the Witnesses against him and that Morning the Sentence was past when the Question of Guilty or not Guilty passing among the Barons we being so near them as to hear what past when the Major Voices at first went Not Guilty Dugdale walk'd about very Melancholy and Dejected muttering to himself I ask'd him what was the matter he Replyed I believe he 'l be Quitted and I am undone but let what will come on 't I am Ruin'd I hapned the Winter after this to be in Dugdales Company in the Kitchin at the Three-Tun Tavern at Charing-Cross one Night where an Old Gentleman happening to come to the Bar to Inquire for some Person there I observed Dugdale to startle and stare I ask'd him what was the matter he made me no Reply but in much disorder rose up and went to the Woman at the Bar the Gentleman being then gone and ask'd who that Antient Gentlemen was she told him she knew him not God bless me said he I believe 't is my Lord Stafford as the Woman Inform'd me afterwards and returning again to me I ask'd him what he went out for Lord says he Did you not see a Gentleman come to the Bar and Speak to the Woman of the House No said I My Back was towards the Bar and I saw him not I Protest replyed he I thought it had been my Lord Stafford and continued so terrified with the Apprehension that he was very uneasie and went away This story coming to his Landladies Ear who lived within a few Doors of the place her Name Mrs. Beak she and I discoursing this Matter she told me also something of the like Nature of him which was this Having occasion to come into his Bed-Chamber for something one Night that she wanted from thence when Dugdale was in bed she went in softly with a candle in her hand and a white Apron on designing if asleep not to wake him no sooner came she in but Dugdale in a very great Fright and start cryed out Stafford Stafford Stafford with many other expressions of a most Terrible Fear till the Woman with much ado at last undeceived him It will not be amiss in this place to add the Relation of Turbevils Death the other great Witness against the Lord Stafford Falling sick of the Small-Pox at his Landladies Mrs. Holmes in the Savoy near his Death he began to Rave extreamly of Stafford crying Take away Stafford Take away Stafford with several other continued crys upon the same subject which several Persons both the Landladies Relations and others will Testifie and at the Minute of his Death his Bed shook so extreamly that his Landlady and several other People then present thought it would have fal'n to pieces Nay and there came such a strong blast of Wind that the People were afraid the House would have been blown down And 't is not unknown also that a much greater Man than Turbevil at his Exit demonstrated an extraordinary Remembrance of Stafford I have given the Reader these particulars of my Conversation and Knowledge of those Villains hoping that this small detection being what lay in my Reach of these Hellish Impostures which then Ruled our Ascendant will not be ungrateful And how unhappy soever I have been to my self I have nevertheless always been a Faithful and Loyal Subject and in those worst of Times in my greatest Familiarity with Oats I have used my little Power with him to divert him from his Wickedness having at several times as far as I durst with safety disswaded him from divers of his Malitious Accusations In the Year 1681. I wholy deserted his company and have never spoken to him since and also gave Mr. Secretary Jenkins an Honest Account of things that I heard and saw intending it as a Service to the King as these following Depositions will Attest for me September 19 th 1681. I delivered this to Mr. Secretary Jenkins at his Office in Whitehall ABout the time that Mr. Colledge was taken I well remember one Mr. William Smith a Fifth-Monarchy-man askt me in Otes ' s Chamber in Whitehall in the presence of James Creswel William Dalby and William Powel the two first being Otes ' s Menial Servants where Smith the Priest Macnamarra and the other Irish Witnesses Lodged I askt him why he enquired their Lodgings he replyed That himself and others would take them and carry them to Tyburn and hang them on the Gallows and pin papers on their Backs to enform the World why they were Hanged The said Smith likewise told me at Greys in Scotland-yard That he and others would be about Henly and meet Colledge and Rescue him as easily as they formerly Rescued Mason This was in the presence of the aforesaid Powel and Dalby Smith then called Dalby into the next Room and talked with him some time About Bartholomew-tide 1680 Alderman Wilcocks gave a Treat at the Crown Tavern without Temple-Barr to divers Gentlemen of which he being my very good Friend I was one the time appointed was one a Clock about which time Otes his Brother Sam and Counsellor Smith came and about half an hour after up comes John Smith and Colledge I not then well knowing Colledge askt John Smith who he was which he told me saying It was Mr. Colledge the Protestant Joyner One of the Company I think it was Colledge produced a Pamplet in Quarto of two sheets about the Duke of York which was Read It was long before Dinner came up which being ended Mr. Otes Mr. Savage and Mr. John Smith fell into a friendly dispute in Divinity Mr. Colledge was so far from sleeping during their Discourse that he was often interrupting them with his Quibbles and Rhime-doggrel for which Otes rebuked him I am very certain neither Colledge nor any body else slept in the Room before Dinner or after We parted and I left Otes Smith Colledge and others of the Company in an Alley by the Palsgraves head The very day after as I take it that Colledge was Condemned about Nine in the Morning I was walking through St. Margarets Church-yard Westminster and Mr. Hunt the Lawyer hum'd to me I met him he
I Dye This was occasioned by Otes's threatning my Lord Chancellor and saying He was a Rogue and he would stick as close to him as the Shirt on his back This was in August 1679. Aaron Smith told me in Otes's Chamber that a Name sake of mine made the Ballad of the Raree Show I ask'd him who he then answered me You see him Mr. Burroughs the Glass-seller in York-buildings commonly repaired to Otes's Chamber on Sunday in the Morning His Province is to get to be a Jury Man at Hicks's Hall and VVestminster and to obstruct all business tending to the advantage of the Crown to make a disturbance in the Parish to Rail against the Bishops to perswade the People the King is bringing in Arbitrary Power and Popery and to Contribute and Raise Money for Otes Mr. VVilson one morning in March last in Otes's Chamber Discoursed to me thus VVe must draw our Swords nothing will be done with these Pimps and Rogues without it meaning the Ministers of State The King will never be good till we force him to it nor the Nation Happy till another course be taken we shall fee Popery and Despotical Power overwhelm us unless we draw our Swords and Fight for our Religion and Liberty This VVilson was continually Singing Bowdy and Treasovable Songs Reflecting on the King Mr. Richard Halford is an old Leveller and a Commonwealths man He was an Agitator at New-Market and in Thompsons Broil at Burford in 1647 and hath been I do believe in all the Pactious Cabals this Twenty Tears He is a very close and dangerous Man and hath had the Dexterity to Preserve himself undiscovered Mr. Blaney of the Temple the Short-Hand Writer did in my hearing in Otes's Chamber say There was a Printing-Press in the Temple where they could do any thing and by several hints I have heard I am perswaded most of the Treasonable Libels of late Years were Printed there Mr. John Harrington did at the same time Demonstrate how easie it was for a Gentleman to Compose and Print which he said Prevented all the Discovery by Mercenary Printers Sir Henry Inglesby told me one Afternoon in September last in Otes's Chamber That he believed all the True Protestants in Ireland would have their Throats Cut in a short time by the Papists and that by the connivance if not command of the Duke of Ormond and some body else Mr. VVilliam Snow who belongs to the House of Lords is a very great Confident of Dr. Otes's He when the Parliament Sits Informs the Factious Party what he hears about the House of Lords shows Lists of the Lords Names and tells which are Honest Protestants and which are Rogues and Tories He is a constant Singer of all the late Treasonable and Bawdy Ballads that abuse the King and Government Mr. VVilliam Dalby Otes ' s Clerk hath often told me That the King was a Papist that Mr. Parsons of the Temple had many times seen him at Mass at Somerset-House That the King was drunk when he Dissolved the Parliament at Oxford so Drunk that he could not stand or Speak I have often heard Mr. Dalby say This Popish Race of the Stewarts must be Rooted out there must be a Change He was formerly Clerk to the Committee of the Rebels in Rutland Thus far Gentlemen I have given you a small insight into this Grand Popular Cheat this great Mystery of Iniquity and as far as my little Walk amongst them has Empower'd me to do And truly if all Persons farther concern'd would be as Candid as my Self undoubtedly the whole Imposture would be fully Detected and the yet unsatisfied part of Mankind wholly undeceived FINIS POSTSCRIPT SOme things being omitted in the preceding Discourse it may not be thought impertinent to insert them in this Appendix And first I shall give an account so far as fell under my knowledge of the wrong Dr. Goade Mr. of Merchant-Taylors School sustaind in the late time of Fraud and Injustice hoping that Pious and Learned Person will not take my honest and fair Intentions otherwise than I mean them The Factious Party of the Company had watch'd with malitious Eys to gain any advantage for several years against Him But either not finding any plausible one or esteeming him a Man so extraordinarily qualify'd that a better could not be found in the Three Kingdoms and there I 'm sure they were in the right They attempted not to Eject him but lessen'd him in Priviledges belonging to his Place some years I think I may say before Oates's Plot appear'd above-ground It so fell out in the beginning of the year 1681 as I take it that John Smith commonly call'd Narrative Smith but his real name is David Barry happen'd to Dine with Elias Best the Hop-merchant in Thames-street He having Sons at Merchant-Taylors-School desir'd J. Smith to examine how they benefitted in Learning These Boys producing their Books drew out the Ch. of England's Catcehism with a Comment upon it in which Comment Smith positively avow'd there was plain Popery upon our B. Saviour's descent into Hell This formidable Spectrum of Popery thus opportunely conjur'd up by Smith the Renegado Priest the True Prot. Elias manag'd so effectually that Bushel Mallery Keys Delves and other Fanatical Members of Merchants Taylors Company caus'd Dr. Goad to be summon'd to the Hall to answer for his Comment which he undertook and unhappily did it under his Hand which was the only thing they wanted Next they consulted their Oracles Otes Ferguson and Dr. Owen the Independant The first to Swear and the latter to Evict the Popery of the Comment and its Defence Notwithstanding during the time that this Affair was transacted I was very intimate with Oates yet he cautiously conceal'd it from me knowing I would endeavour to prevent it having so great a Veneration for Dr. Goad He being the best Friend I ever found However he had before often tamper'd with me to have accused the Dr. of being a Papist which neither knowing or Believing him so I refus'd to do telling Oates that it would be the greatest piece of Ingratitude imaginable in Him to attempt any such thing To which he would always answer I did not spare You who were my Mr. too and therefore why should I spare Him And for this aversion of mine I was then wholly kept a stranger to their projects against him till they had fully done their work But to give you the full account of this Comment and the Dr's Ruine that attended it The matter of Fact is as follows Upon a fit of Sickness that the Dr. lay under the conduct of his School was wholly left to the Ushers who driving as is well known a great Trade in Selling Books to the Schollars did at that time for their own private Lucre Introduce this Comment upon the Church Catechism into the School which was so far from being Popish that it was both Licens'd and Dedicated to the then Arch-bishop of Canterbury Now tho' the Dr. did
had a Souldier planted betwixt each of us In an hour's time the Lords Adjourned till Four in the Afternoon and Sir Edward Carteret the Black Rod came to us with a Paper in his Hand importing our Doom Some were order'd to the Gate-house some to Newgate some discharg'd I was left among the Souldiers whom the Black Rod discharged telling me I was his Prisoner He recommended me to one Button a Messenger and charged him to treat me civilly which truly he did This was on Fryday the First Day of November 1678. And notwithstanding Mr. Latimer and Mr. Hughes whom with Gratitude I here mention proffer'd to be bound Body for Body in my behalf I was kept in Custody so strong was the Ferment of that Season In the Afternoon Dr. Dean and Mr. Wells a Minister visited me and next Morning Mr. Gadbury and Major Fisher came to me And these were all the Friends I saw in this unhappy Juncture All things were in a most violent hurry and I was in such a great Consternation that I knew not which way to turn my self or what to do Between Seven and Eight at Night out came my Lord Shaftsbury in a great Cloak to warm himself at a Fire in the with-drawing Green-Lobby By the Messenger's Perswasion I followed him I told his Lordship I was clearly Innocent of what Otes had sworn against me in the Morning and I hop'd his Lordship out of Pity and Commiseration would stand my Friend He told me He would not speak for any one nor be a Friend to any one that spoke against the King I replyed His Lordship was too Wise to believe all Reports to be true No says he I believe not all Reports to be true and I think what was spoke of thee in the Morning was an idle Story But I have this Afternoon an Account of thee from Dr. Tonge and Mr. Ferguson Men that know thee as well as thou knowest thy self which will prove of dangerous Consequence to thee I desired his Lordship to let me know what dangerous things they had inform'd against me He told me I had made a Practice of talking for and desending the Church of Rome in every Place where I came which was Treason I humbly did beseech him again to stand my Friend He reply'd If thy Friends can get thee out of these Bryars Wilt thou be an honest Man I told him Yes I would to my Power I then told him again I could justify my self against that which Otes had sworn But says he if thou goest about to justify thy self thou'lt be utterly lost for thy Friends had very much ado to keep the House from sending for those Two Persons Otes mention'd Petition therefore the Lords to be discharg'd And so he left me promising he would assist me the best he could which I believe he did I shall make a short Observation upon this Dialogue I had not to my Knowledge ever before that Day seen Tonge and with Ferguson I had never been in Company save once and I 'm sure we talk't nothing of the Church of Rome So that I believe these Men were then as busie to bring People into the Plot as Otes and doubtless were as deeply concern'd It may be consider'd likewise that I then was intended for the future Work because I was to be in his Lordship's Sense an Honest Man A term of Art I have had cause to understand the meaning of very well since Thus instead of getting out of the Bryars I got much faster in I had not stay'd so long as the Reading this Digression in the Lobby but a Prelate repair'd thither to warm himself as I imagine I made my Address as well as I could to him for his Help and Assistance It seems Dr. Tonge was this Prelate's great Confident which I presume made me fare the worse The Prelate told me plainly That I having kept company with so many Papists and perhaps one my self must needs either be in the Plot or know something of it and that it would be best for me to deal freely with the Lords they having been so kind to me as not to commit me to Prison I might imagine they meant not to ruin me but only to make me an Honest Man I protested by all that is Sacred I knew nothing of any Plot. Here I cannot but remark that this Prelate was much severer than the Lord Shaftsbury for now I was a Papist and a Plotter notwithstanding the very Oracle Titus himself had upon Oath clear'd me from being either of them and that but just before in his Lordship's Hearing This Good Man had certainly read all the Major and Minor Prophets together with the Book of Revelations with incomparable Judgment and singular Advantage to himself else he could never have known more of me than I knew of my self and that I must be undone before I could be made an Honest Man This was a sharp use of an Evening Consolation and more severe than Otes's Morning-Lecture Saturday came and I Petition'd the House to be discharged my Petition was read an Order being made to this effect That my License for teaching School was to be taken from me and that I was to give an Account of what I could that might deserve the Favor of the House In the mean time my old Friend the Vicar afore-mentioned was not idle he being all this while as strenuous and sedulous to take away my Livelihood as others were to take away my Life He I say together with a broken Brewer introduced one Clatterbuck a Parson's Son into my House and Imployment without any Order from the Company of Brewers who are the Patrons they being of a different Opinion as this following Certificate given at that time will evince We the Master Wardens and Assistant of the Company of Brewers London Governours of the Lady Owen's Free-School at Islington whereof William Smith Master of Arts hath been for Twelve years School-Master who now is suspended from his said Imployment Do on the behalf of the said William Smith humbly Certify That he was an Industrious and Careful Person in his Place and is a very Loyal Subiect to his Sacred Majesty and Government for any thing we know to the contrary James Reading Master Joseph Lawrence Thomas Morton William Courtis Wardens Ralph Bowes Richard Hammond Jo. Raymond David Knight Assistants Now the Vicar had atchieved his Design namely he had got me fast enough and almost in as ready a Road to the Gallows as Mr. Staley He had put the afore-said Clutterbuck into my Place yet he ceased not to persecute me still Trudging to Brewer's-Hall to say Grace and replenish his Gutt he there most falsly bespatter'd me in a Fustian-Harangue after Dinner having not leisure I suppose till he had filled his Belly to rail against and abuse the Innocent Yet observe what came of all this Clutterbuck has since spent his Patrimony which was considerable and ruin'd by his illiterature and negligence the School with his