Assistence of another in this World Notwithstanding all which Catholicks are taught not so to Relie on the Prayers of Others as to neglect their own Duty to God in Imploring his Divine Mercy and Goodness in Mortifying the Deeds of the Flesh in Despising the World in Loving and Serving God and their Neighbours in Following the Footsteps of Christ our Lord who is the Way the Truth and the Life To whom be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen THese are the Principles These the Treasons These the Idolatryes and Superstitions which though no other then what We have Receiv'd of our Forefathers and what the greatest part of the Christian World now profess yet have drawn upon Us poor Catholicks in England such Dreadful Punishments I Beseech you Sir consider our Case without Passion or Prejudice and I am confident you will see We are not such Monsters as our Adversaries Represent Us to be nor entertain such Principles as are Inconsistent with our Duty to God and the King You seem to say This very Plot with which We are charged proves us Guilty of wicked Principles But under Favour You here commit a Vicious Circle in way of Arguing For first here are wicked Principles alledg'd to make good the Proof of a Plot And these being deny'd the Plot is introduced to make out the wicked Principles As if a Man should say a thing because he thought so and give no Reason why he thought so but only because he said so which instead of Proof is to beg the Question Certain I am Catholicks both Taught and Practisâ—d Principles of Loyalty at a Time when the King and Kingdom felt the Dire Effects of contrary Perswasions In Fine whatsoever is pretended against Us it is manifest We suffer for our Religion and for our Religion wrongfully traduced It is a farther Comfort to Us that our Sufferings God be praised are in some measure not unlike to those of Christ our Lord For it was laid to his Charge as it is to Ours that he was a Traytor to Caesar That he perverted the People and endeavovred the Destruction of Church and State Nor were there wanting then as now an OATS and BEDLOE two false Witnesses to Swear all this Thus God I hope hath Predestinated Us as the Apostle saith to be conform to the Image of his Son to the end that Suffering with Him We may through his Mercy be Glorified together with him Sweet Jesus Bless our Soveraign Pardon our Enemies Grant Us Patience and Establish Peace and Charity in our Nation THus much of my Lord's Principles in Reference to God and the King Whether they be agreeable to Reason and conformable to the Law and Ghospel of Christ I leave to the Impartial Reader to Judge SECT IV. My Lord's Declaration before the House of Lords after his Condemnation SOon after my Lords Tryal several of his Relations and Acquaintance some out of zeal against Popery and others out of kindness to my Lord were daily urgent with him to make Discoveries of all he knew as the only remaining remedy whereby to save his Life regain the Kings favour and attract the applause of the whole Nation My Lord always reply'd He was most willing and ready out of a meer sense of Duty and Conscience independent of any Temporal advantage to himself to discover with all imaginable Sincerity the utmost utmost of what he knew either to the King or House of Lords when ever they required it The Lords being informed hereof Ordered his appearance before them the next day When he came and had audience granted he made his acknowledgments to this effect That he thought it no crime in any Man to wish his Neighbour might be of the same Religion wherein he himself hoped to be saved Nay to seek and promote it by such ways and means as the Laws of God and the Nation allow That there had been at divers times and on sundry occasions endeavours used and overtures made to obtain an Abrogation or at least a Mitigation of Severities against Catholicks But this to be procured no otherwise then by Legal and Parliamentary means That he himself went to Breda whilst the King was there and propounded 100000 l. in behalf of the Catholicks to take off the penal Laws That after the King came in there was a Bill brought into the House in favovr of Catholicks but it was opposed by my Lord Chancellour Hide That there had likewise been framed by the Lord Bristol and others in order to the proposing of them in Parliament several forms of Oaths contained in such terms as might fully express all Duty and Allegiance to the King yet not entangle tender Consciences with Clauses and Provisoes disagreeable to Faith and no wise appertaining to Loyalty but neither did this succeed That afterwards he had offered some proposals as well to the Lord Chancellour at his House at Kenfington as to the Duke of York concerning some lawful expedients conducing to the good as he thought both of Catholicks and the whole Nation And also about Dissolving the long Parliament the substance of which he likewise communicated to my Lord Sbastsbury who said He doubted not but that there would come great advantages to the King by it These he avouched were the chief and only Designs he ever had or knew of amongst Catholicks for promoting their Religion Of more then these he protested before Almighty God and their Lordships he was wholly ignorant But this Declaration not being satisfactory towards the detecting any Damnable Conspiracy the Lords thought sit without any further Examination to remand him back to the Tower On this occasion there run about both Town and Countrey an universal Rumor That the Lord Stafford had now made a full and perfect Discovery of the whole Plot And that the Papists could not for the future have the Impudence to deny it after the Confession though to save his Life of so Honourable a Person But this proved a mistake And by the way it was very observable My Lords Adversaries took this false Alarm with so much eagerness and joy as sufficiently denoted they were not well assured of the truth of the former Evidence given against him SECT V. My Lord's Comportment and Exercise after Sentence THe greatest part of his time from his last Sentence to his final End he employed in serious Recollection and fervent Prayer wherein he seemed to receive a daily encrease both of Courage and Comfort as if the Divine Goodness say the Papists intended to ripen him for Martyrdom and give him a taste of Heaven before-hand Indeed he behaved himself in all things like a Man whose Innocence had banished the Fear and horrour of Death Some few days before his Execution he received a Letter which because it is fouly suspected to have come from some Colledge or Seminary beyond Seas I shall here set it down verbatim to the end every one
along with you to shew you the way for I have asked his Lord leave for him to go Upon this Dugdale having now leave went along with Furnesse to the Stable and took Horse Furnesse his Horse was not ready but he overtook Dugdale within half a Mile and they arrived at the Race together about twelve a Clock My Lord himself with other persons of Quality came to the Race not long after and returned back to Tixal about seven at Night The same Mr. Furnesse and George Leigh both Attested that my Lord never sent either of them for Dugdale that he never bid them go out of the Chamber or absent themselves whilst Dugdale alone remained with him No nor did they know that my Lord was ever alone with Dugdale either that Morning or in his whole Life To Infringe the last Particle of this last Evidence the Mannagers produced these Witnesses Mr. Hanson Deposed That he once saw Dugdale with my Lord in the Parlour at Tixal but durst not be positive whether they were alone or not William Ansell Deposed That passing through the Court at Tixal he saw my Lord walking with Dugdale That he heard no Discourse between them That there might be more in the Company but he saw no more And lastly added that talking one day with Dugdale about the Plot Dugdale answered God Blast him if he knew any thing of it UPon these Evidences the Mannagers made these Observations First My Lords two Witnesses Furness and Leigh were his own Servants Secondly They were very positive in a matter hard to remember viz That Dugdale never was in my Lords Company And therefore that easie Credit should not be given to them but rather to Hanson and Ansell who both Swear that they have seen my Lord and Dugdale together To which the Papists answer These common Sophismes and weak Objections made to the Convincing Evidence here given by my Lord in Confutation of the main matter laid to his Charge argue the Mannagers at a loss for an Answer To the first Whom could my Lord produce but his Servants to contradict the Falsities of a man that pretends to have heard him speak Treason whilst he was Dressing in his Bed-Chamber Are Ponest Servants because Servants no good Witnesses To the second Though it should be granted that at other times and upon other occasions Dugdale might have been in my Lord's Company either unknown to his Servants or not remembred by them or even by my Lord himself which is the utmost of what the Testimony of Hanson and Ansell can amount to yet this doth not at all weaken my Lord's Evidence nor clear Dugdale from Perjury herein For the chief things which my Lord s two Servants well remembred distinctly Attested and by most remarkable Circumstances fully proved was That my Lord did not send either of them for Dugdale nor was Dugdale alone with my Lord in his Chamber on the 21th of September in the Morning On all which particulars Dugdale laid the Stress of his Evidence and here it is he is directly Perjured FOurthly Dugdale at the forenamed Tryal of Sir George Wakeman positively Swore as my Lord proved by two Witnesses Mr. Gyfford and Mr. Lydcot both present at the said Tryal That he the said Dugdale having received a Letter on the 14th of October which mentioned the death of a Justice of Peace did the same day at an Ale-house in Tixal impart the Contents of the said Letter to Mr. Sambidge Kinsman to my Lord Aston And Mr. Philips Minister of Tixal And that they answered They heard nothing of it before Now to confute this my Lord produced for Witnesses the same Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips Mr. Sambidge protested upon his Salvation Dugdale never told him any such thing Nor did he ever hear of it till the Friday or Saturday Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was found at Bury-Hill Mr. Philips attested That he never heard of it either by Letter or Word of Mouth from Dugdale or any other till the death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was publickly known To ballance this Evidence the Mannagers produced these Witnesses Mr. Ansel deposed That at the Ale-house and day above named he heard Mr. Dugdale mention the death of a Justice of Peace Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips being then both in the House but not in the same Room with Ansel when Dugdale told the News William Hanson deposed That at the time and place aforesaid he heard Dugdale say There was a Justice of Peace Murdered that lived at Westminster And that when Dugdale told this News Mr. Sambidge and Mr. Philips were by and might have heard it if they would Mr. Birch and Mr. Turton both attested That about the fifteenth or sixteenth of the same October the news of Sir Edmundbury Godfreys Death was spread about the Countrey and seemed to take its first rise from Tixal UPon these several Evidences the Mannagers made these Observations First Mr. Sambidge was something deaf and might not here when Dugdale told him the news of the Death of a Justice of Peace Secondly Mr. Phillips the Parson being perhaps very Studious in his Employment might be wanting in point of Memory Thirdly The other Witnesses produced in Confirmation of Dugdel's Evidence make it our that he did impart the news at the time place and in the presence of the parties above-mentioned To which the Papists answer To the first If what the Mannagers alledge be true then is Dugdale here also proved Perjured by the Mannagers themselves For he expresly Swore at the said Tryal of Sir George Wakeman That Mr. Sambidge both heard and answered him Saying He heard nothing of the news before To the second No honest man affirms or denies any past words or actions but according as he remembers and to pretend want of Memory in a direct Evidence is the common Road whereby to evade all humane Testimony To the third The other Witnesses on behalf of Dugdale do in no sort make out the thing for which they are produced For Ansel doth not own that Philips and Sambidge were so much as in the same Room with Dugdale when he mentioned the death of a Justice of Peace Hanson indeed herein contradicting Ansel tells us they were in the Room but could not say they heard much less answered to the discourse of Dugdale which is the chief matter of Perjury here charged upon him As for what Mr. Birch and Turton declared concerning the Rumour soon after spread of the death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey it nothing at all Enervates the present proof of Periury seeing it may well be true there was such a report and yet false that Dugdale had such a discourse with Sambidge and Philips as he positively Swears and they both as positively deny But enough hath been already said upon this Subject where we treated of the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey FIfthly Dugdale in an Information given upon Oath Swore That presently after one Howard Almoner to the Queen went beyond
for Treason To which the Papists answer To the first 'T is an evasion contradictory to common Sense that a man whose Business and Study it was to Discover a Plot against the Life of the King and who by several long premeditated Depositions had as he said discharged himself of all he knew should notwithstanding all this while never remember the most Essential part viz. The Inhumane Murder of the King Designed and Consented to by his own Royal Consort To the second Oates Deposâ—ed upon Oath he heard such words and circumstanced them with such particulars of Time and Place as plainly denote he intended a full and home Accusation against the Queen And granted his Evidence was not positive yet the matter was of such dangerous consequence as ought not to to be concealed especially at a time when he was upon his Oath to speak all he knew and when he pretended by Discoveries to Save the Life of the King To the Third Though Oates left to himself 〈◊〉 be very Stupid yet he could not be so ignorant as not to know that a Queen designing to Murder the King her Husband is guilty of Treason and whether She was lyable to a Tryal or no. Oates was guilty of Perjury In that being Commanded and Encouraged by the Lords to make an entire Discovery of all he knew against any Person of what Degree or Quality soever he expresly Swore He had no more to Accuse in England Indeed the Transcendent Lustre of the Queens Virtue Innocence and Endeared Affection to His Majesty leaves no place for Calumny to six upon And the bare Charge of so soul a Crime upon so Renowned a Goodness is of it self Independent of other Contradictions a more then sufficient Conviction of Oates's Perjury THe third Exception made by my Lord against Oates's Evidence was That though Oates in his several Depositions particularly those taken before the Privy Councel and House of Lords did often affirm he had given an entire and Faithful account to the best of his remembrance Of all whatsoever he knew as to the matters and persons concerned in the Plot And though he had then also time and opportunity to reflect and deliberate upon what might any wise relate to my Lord Stafford in that affair yet he never accused him of any other thing then only That he had seen beyond the Seas some Letters Signed Stafford wherein the Writer had testifyed his zeal for the Catholick Design But when afterwards consulting with himself and possibly with some others he found this flamm of his would not amount to any thing material whereon to ground an Impeachment he Invented and Imposed upon my Lord a Commission of Pay-Master-General to the Army a device he never once thought on before From which proceeding my Lord argued If there were such a Commission received by my Lord at Fenwick's Chamber in such a manner as Oates relates this Commission being a matter of so grand Importance and the Delivery of it accompanied with so many remarkable circumstances in the very presence of Oates It is impossible that the said Oates who as he saith on purpose for Discovery had taken Notes and Memorials even of Trivial Occurrences should forget and by consequence omit a thing of this high concern in his former Depositions But if there were no such Commission as Most assuredly there was none then is Oates Perjured in his present Evidence And verily added my Lord if it be permitted to this man dayly to frame New Accusations If easie credit be given to all his Fables and whatsoever he shall from time to time Invent may pass for good Evidence Who can be secure At this rate he may by deegrees Impeach the whole Nation for Crimes which neither he nor any man else ever yet dream'd on UPon these Arguments and Inferences made by my Lord the Managers would not and the Papists say They need not make any remarks THe fourth Exception made by my Lord against Oates his Evidence was That whereas Oates now declares He never was really a Roman Catholick but only Feigned himself to be so My Lord often and strongly insisted That a Protestant of the Church of England who convinced in his Judgment of the Truth of his Religion shall nevertheless on what pretence soever Provoke God belye his own Conscience and violate all Sacred things So as to make a solemn Abrenuntiation of his Faith and Church To profess himself a Roman Catholick to live amongst them to practice Religious duties with them for three years together and this to such an height of Sacriledge as frequently to receive the Sacrament and perform daily external Worship to it which in the Judgment both of Protestants and Catholicks was to him so believing direct and gross Idolatry cannot rationally be supposed to stick at Perjury when Advantageous to him And ought not by the Law of God or Man to be credited or admitted for an Evidence against any one But rather detested and abhorred by all good Men as undeserving the name of a Christian UPon this pressing Inference the Mannagers made this following Observation Suppose Dr. Oates did out of Levity or for want of being well grounded in his own turn to another Religion It is hard That the matter of changing his Religion when nothing else is laid to his charge should disparage his Testimony seeing many who have changed their Religion more then once Example Mr. Chillingworth are yet esteemed credible Persons To which the Papists answer To change from a wrong to a right Religion is no disparagement but Protestants will hardly allow Oate's first pretended change to be such However my Lord insisted not upon the changing but the seigning Religion Oates did not out of Levity or Conviction of Judgment as Mr. Chillingworth turn from his own to another Religion but remaining interiourly of the same belief he exteriously renounced what he so believed and Sacrilegiously practised the direct contrary than which nothing can be more detestable Nay he affirmeth he often received the Sacrament and took dreadful Oaths of Secrecy in pursuance of most Bloody and Hellish Designs If this be true what credit can be given to a Monster accustomed and insured by his own cofession to such damnable Oaths But if it be false as indeed it is then is he Perjured in his Evidence Edward Turbervil's Deposition against my Lord. THe last Witness that gave direct Evidence to my Lord's Impeachment was Edward Turbervil who Swore That in the year 75. he was perswaded by his Friends to take upon him the Fryers habit at Doway That being weary of that state he left it and came into England for which he incurred the displeasure of his Friends and Relations who he said discountenanced him and could not endure to see him That hereupon he went into France and Arrived at Paris and became acquainted with the now Prisoner my Lord Stafford by means of two Priests Father Nelson and Father Turbervil That after a
come more close to the present Evidence Had the Priests Introduced Turbervil into my Lords acquaintance and favour this could not be done Invisibly to the Servants some body must needs see and know when they came in and out My Lord was then in Lodgings and had none but two Servants about him Turbervil never pretends either the Priests or he made a secret of their visits Their accesses to my Lord he saith were very frequent as the nature of the business and pretended intimacy with my Lord seem'd to require The Condition of Turbervil was also such as might well render him desirous of the Servants acquaintance and Friendship especially being then as he said immeditrly to go over in the Yacht with them and to continue employed in my Lords Designs and Service at London Now that a Man in these Circumstaces should not know these Servants nor be known or so much as once seen by them is Morally Impossible THirdly Turbervil Swears That when he took leave of my Lord at Paris to come for England his Lordship was troubled with the Gout in his Foot Now my Lord protested in the presence of all that knew him he never had the Gout in all his Life His Servants also who then lived with him viz. Mr. Furness and Mr. Leigh gave attestation they never knew him subject to that Infirmity only several years since he had been troubled with the Sciatica which my Lord confessed and the Earl of Stamsord testisied made him sometimes formerly though never at Paris walk with a Staff UPon these Testimonies the Mannagers made no Observations But the Papists Avouch here is also direct Perjury proved upon Turbervil by two Credible Witnesses And though the subject of the Perjury seems not to be matterial to the main Accusation yet he that shall wilfully Perjure himself in any one Circumstance ought not to be credited in the whole Seeing Nature it self abhors the Testimony of a Man who hath once Invoked Almighty God to bear Witness to a Lye FOurthly Turbervil Swears That after his refusing to be a Fryer he was discountenanced by the Lord Powis and others of his Friends and Relations so that he durst not appear amongst them Now my Lord proved by several Witnesses That after his return from the said Fryers he was civilly treated and charitably entertained by his said Friends and Relations To make this good John Minehead attested That Turbervil after his coming from Doway lay in the House of the Earl of Powis his former Master and was courteously entertained both by my Lord and the whole Family John Turbervil Brother to the Deponent attested He never knew that any of his Relations gave him an Angry word but on the contrary when he went to Paris his Sister bestowed on him Seven Pounds to bear his Charges Upon which he said He would never trouble them more UPon these Testimonies the Mannagers made these Observations First Though Turbervil might peradventure as Minehead attests be civily Treated by my Lord Powis in publick yet what Reproaches or unkind words might pass between my Lord and him in private Minehead might not hear Secondly It was no great Kindness in Turbervil 's Relations to give him Seven Pounds as his Brother attests never to see him more They rather purchased his absence then did him a Kindness by such a Favour To which the Papists answer To the first Groundless Surmises of private unkindnesses which none ever yet came to the knowledge of nor Turbervil himself so much as pretends Is a strange way of clearing a Man in open Court from the guilt of Perjury To frame and fancy things that possibly might be and draw prejudicial Inferences from thence as if they actually had been is unjust proceeding To the second Turbervil as his Brother attests never had one angry word from his Relations and when his Sister gave him Seven pounds it was not to purchase his absence nor did they turn him away But he himself ashamed it seems of his past misdemeanours and confounded at the goodness of his Friends Said He would never trouble them more FIfthly Turbervil in his Information given to the House of Commons Swore That be came to Live with the Lord Powis in the year 73. and came into England in the year 76. But the next day after he had given in this Information he altered the aforenamed Dates and instead of 73. caused to be inserted 72. And instead of 76. caused to be Inserted 75. which Alteration my Lord affirmed included Perjury UPon this proof the Managers made this Observation An Honest man may mistake as to point of time in an Evidence given even upon Oath And to Rectify such a mistake the very next day after it was committed denotes rather Tenderness of Conscience then Perjury in Turbervil To which the Papists answer No Honest man will positively Swear to what he knows not And it is argued Turbervil when he gave in his Information certainly knew whether the matters and circumstances he then Swore to were True or False or Dubious It the first he is Perjured in the Alteration If the second he is â—â—jured in the Information If the third he is not a person of Honesty and Credit who will positively Swear without Hesitation to a thing of which he is ignorant whether True or False And therefore the Alteration made upon second Though sâ— cannot in such a Case be justly imputed to Tenderness of Conscience but to some not before conceived Apprehensions of being taken Tardy in a Lye SIxthly Turbervil in the Information given to the said House of Commons and Exhibited in Court Peremptorily Swore That my Lord came over out of France in the Company of Count Gramount by the way of Calais In direct opposition to this Information my Lord proved that he neither came out of France in the Company of Count Gramount not by the way of Calais but by the way of Deep a Month after Count Gramount was in England The Witnesses who gave Attestation of this were Mr. Wyborne who went over from England to Deep in the same Yacht which fetched my Lord and Mr. â—urness and George Leigh my Lords Servants who came with my Lord in the said Yacht from Deep to England UPon these Proofs of Perjury the Managers made this Observation When Mr. Turbervil Deposed My Lord came over by the way of Calais in the Company of Count Gramount it could not be his Intention to say this as a matter of his own knowledge seeing he himself in the same Affidavit tells us He came away before my Lord and had not his passage with him Put the words Candidly taken are to be understood That he was informed my Lord came over by the way of Calais in the Company of Count Gramoun Now that Mr. Turbervil was thus informed is evident as well by the Letter which he saith he received at Deep from my Lord as also by the asorementioned Attestation of
and Commons in Parliament assembled That he never read or knew of Coleman's Letters or Consultations for Tolleration till he saw the Letters themselves in the Printed Tryal How far Coleman was Criminal he did not know but he believed he did that which was not justifiable by Law That as to the damnable Doctrine of King-killing If he were of any Church whatsoever and found that to be its Principle he would leave it That he knew the disadvantage he was under in being forced alone to stand a contest with the Learned Gentlemen the Mannagers who have those great helps of Memory Parts and Understanding in the Law all which he wanted That therefore he hoped their Lordships would not conclude barely upon the manner either of his or their expressions But seriously debating the merits of the Cause in it self would please to be his Councel as well as his Judges That seeing he was to be Acquitted or Condemned by their Lordships Judgement He knew they would lay their hands upon their Heart Consult their Consciences and their Honours And then he doubted not they would do what was just and equitable That with submission to their Lordships he thought it hard measure and contrary to Law that any one should be Imprisoned above two years without being admitted to Tryal And that it was of evil consequence for any one to have Justice denyed him so long till his Opponents had found occasion to gain their ends That however those large Allowances and Rewards granted to the Witnesses for Swearing might peradventure be an effect of His Majesties Grace and Bounty yet it was not easily conceivable how the hopes and promises of so great Sums should not prove to dissolute indigent Persons strong Allurements and temptations to Perjury Finally That the defence he had made he owed it to the worth and dignity of his Family He owed it to his dear Wife and Children at which words he was observed to weep He owed it to his Innocense He owed it to God the Author of Life That he confided their Lordships would duly reflect what a dreadful thing Murder is and the Bloud of Innocents And that he verily believed none of the House of Commons desired his Death for a Crime of which he was not Guilty That he hoped their Lordships would not permit him to be run down by the shouts of the Rable the Emblem of our past Calamity It began in the late times with the Lord Stafford and so continued till it ended in the Death of the King the most execrable Murder that ever was committed And where this will end said he God knows To conclude He again declared in the presence of God of his Angels of their Lordships and all who heard him That he was intirely Innocent of what was laid to his charge That he left it to their Lordships to do Justice and with all submission resigned himself to them To this discourse of my Lords the Mannagers returned for answer That his Lordships last Address was not regular nor according to the due method of proceedings for if after his Lordship had summed up his Evidence and the Prosecutors had concluded theirs he should begin that work again and they by consequence be admitted to reply he might still rejoyn upon them and so there would be no end of proceedings They therefore desired this Indulgence granted to my Lord might not serve for a future President The Conclusion of the Tryal ¶ 5. HEre then the Lord High Steward wholly terminating all further process on either side The Court gave final Judgment And the Lord High Steward collecting the Votes my Lord Stafford was Pronounced Guilty by fifty five Votes against thirty one When the Votes were passed the Lord High Steward declared to the Prisoner He was found Guilty of High Treason whereof he was Impeached To which my Lord Stafford answered Gods holy name be praised my Lord for it Then the Lord High Steward asked him What he could say for himself why Judgment of Death should not be given upon him according to Law He reply'd My Lord I have very little to say I confess I am surprized at it for I did not expect it But Gods will be done and your Lordships I will not murmur at it God forgive those who have Falsly Sworn against me We are now come to the final Sentence of Death For a Prologue to which the Lord High Steward made a short Pathetick Speech wherein after some reflections upon the Plot in general he descended to my Lords case in particular And then advised his Lordship as now a supposed guilty Person to bething himself of the State and Condition he was in of his Religion and Guides that 't is said had seduced him Of the repentance due to so hainous Crimes And concluded with an assurance to his Lordship That a true Penitential Sorrow joyned with an humble and hearty Confession was of mighty power and efficacy both with God and Man He then pronounced Sentence upon him in these words The Judgment of the Law is and the Court doth award it That you go to the place from whence you came from thence you must be drawn upon an Hurdle to the place of Execution when you come there you must be Hanged up by the Neck but not till you are Dead for you must be cut down Alive your Privy Members must be cut off And your Bowels Ript up before your Face and thrown into the Fire Then your Head must be severed from your Body and your Body divided into four Quarters And these must be at the disposal of the King And God Almighty have mercy on your Soul My Lord received this dismal Sentence with a meek and resigned Countenance He declared in the presence of Almighty God he had no malice in his Heart to them that had Condemned him But freely forgave them all He made one and only one humble request to their Lordships viz. That for the short time he had to Live a Prisoner his Wife Children and Friends might be permitted to come at him My Lord High Steward told him their Lordships had so far a Compassion for him They would be humble suiters to the King That he will remit all the punishments but the taking off his Head Thus Sentence being passed the Lord High Steward broke his Staff and my Lord Stafford was led back from the Bar to the Tower The Ax being carryed before him as the Custom is in such cases with the Edge toward him SECT III. My Lords PRINCIPLES of FAITH and LOYALTY DOubtless the thing which most weighed to my Lord's prejudice most advanced the credit of the Evidence And most influenced both his Prosecutors and Judges against him was a pre-possessed Opinion of wicked Principles supposed to be held and practised by my Lord as the matter of his Faith and Religion It is by many taken for granted The Papists hold it an Article of Faith That to Depose and Murder Kings to Massacre
may see how the Priests treat their Penitents in the condition and circumstances my Lord was in My Lord THE Character I bear gives me some Title And the singular esteem I have for your Noble and Truly virtuous Person and Family gives me Confidence to present your Lordship in this your last and Grand Affair with a Consolatory or rather Congratulatory Letter As I daily make my Supplication to God on your behalf so I hope I may make my Addresses to you on Gods behalf You are chosen by the King of Kings to share with him in Immortal Crowns You are called from an Abisse of misery to the top of Felicity You now pay a debt on the score of Grace which is due and which you must shortly have paid to the course of Nature And herein my Lord you are adorned with all the Trophies of Jesus's Victory He was Condemned of High Treason by false Witnesses for the love of you And you stand Condemned of the same Crimes by the like Evidence for the love of him Yet you shall not die my Lord 'T is a mistake of this blind World you shall only pass from a state of Death to a state of Life True Life Eternal Life you shall be Transformed into him whose essence is to live In whom with whom and by whom you shall enjoy all that is good all that is lovely alt that is pleasant And this enjoyment shall be in all its fulness altogether all at once without Interruption without Bound Limit or End The Omnipotent Creatorâ— of Heaven and Earth The searcher of Hearts The dreadful Judge of Men and Angels He who justly might otherwise peradventure have cast you into Eternal Fire From whose Sentence there is no Appeal He I say will now be forgetful of past Frailties regard you with a merciful Eye with a pleasing Countenance a loving heart an open Arm an endeared affection Millions of Lawrels hang over your Head Thousands of Millions of Glories and Sweets attend you which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear hath heard nor hath entered into the heart of man The Virgin Mother shall meet and conduct you to her beloved Son The Apostles Martyrs and Confessors shall receive and accompany you And all the blessed Quires of Saints and Angels shall Celebrate your victory and Sing Halleluja's to their celestial King for his Inspeakable goodness to you My Lord You were made for the enjoyment of God and now you arrive at the accomplishment of that End you owe to God all you have and all you are And now you restore to him all both what you have and what you are O happy Restauration where the advantage is wholly yours where Misery is turned into Bliss where Temporal into Eternal where God is found where Death as the Apostle saith is Gain The Innocence of your Cause The Dignity of your Religion for which you Suffer entitles you to the merits of the Cross and Incorporates You to the Bloud and Passion of Jesus your Saviour If we shall be dead with him saith St. Paul we shall live together with him If we suffer with him we shall Reign with him Hence our Saviour himself He that looseth his Life for me shall save it Again If any Man will serve me let him follow me And where I am there shall my Servant be also You are going to the Nuptials of the Lamb. God who is all good is pleased to Impart himself entirely to you Love hath made him wholly yours What need you fear What can you desire He that dyed for the love of you will now reap the Fruits of his pains and joy himself in you with delights proportionable to his own Goodness and Merits You are Select from amongst Thousands for the Espousals of Love Let nothing either past or present deject you nothing disturb you nothing retard you Let not your heart be troubled saith our Saviour nor let it be afraid As for the Crimes for which you stand Condemned God and your own Conscience knows you are Innocent All un-interested Men believe you so Passion and prejudice against your Religion hath advanced the credit of Perjured Persons and influenced your Adversaries to carry on your Death Had you been no Catholick we all know you had never been a Condemned Man So that it is palpably manifest you Die for your Religion and for your Religion wrongfully traduced What greater comfort What greater glory What greater happiness can arrive to a true Christian Blessed shall you be saith our Saviour when Men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you Falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be glad for great is your reward in Heaven Concerning your real defects and frailties Take courage take confidence in God my Lord I have already told you what right you have to the Passion of Christ Your present Death is more then a Pledge of future Pardon Many sins are forgiven her saith our Saviour to Magdalen because she loved much to him that loveth less less is forgiven Now what it is to love much he himself sheweth saying No Man hath greater Love then this That a Man lay down his Life for his Friend Hence the Spouse in the Canticles Love is strong as death c. And our Saviour in express terms assureth us He that looseth his Life for me shall find it First therefore acknowledge your faults with a Penitent Heart and firmly believe what the Scripture avoucheth If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and cleanse us from all Iniquity Next offer with a chearful Heart your Life to God In satisfaction for your offences In union of the Sufferings of Jesus Christ In a Sacrifice of Love And then doubt not in the least but that Dying as you do in and for the Profession of your Faith Jesus hath signed your Pardon and pronounced upon your Soul those Life giving words Thy Sins are forgiven thee Thy Faith hath saved thee Go in Peace Neither let any endearments towards your Wife Children Friends or Family enfeeble your mind check your Love or imbitter your Joy Remember that Sentence of our Saviour He that loveth Son or Daughter above me is not worthy of me Again Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and possess eternal Life You cannot give God too much You can bestow nothing on him but what you have received of him and what upon many accounts is infinitly due to him But in reality my Lord you do not desert your Friends nor they you by rendring your self and them to God suffering for Jesus He it is standeth Charged with the care of your Wife Children and Family He stileth himself The Father of Orphans and Judge of Widdows As he punisheth to the
fourth Generation of them that hate him So he blesseth unto thousands of them that love and follow him Assure your self my Lord That for this one Heroick Act of giving your life for Justice for Innocence for God and Religion you will not only secure to your self everlasting Salvation but draw upon all your Family and Posterity thousands of Benedictions The Justice of our Lord saith David upon the Childrens Children of them that keep his Covenant Again Blessed is the Man that feareth the Lord that delighteth in his Precepts his Seed shall be powerful on Earth the generation of the just shall be Blessed Lastly that Sentence of Ecclesiastes will fittly appertain to you His memory shall not pass away and his name shall be preserved from Generation to Generation Nations shall declare his Wisdom and the Church shew forth his Praise I shall not undertake to dictate unto your Lordship what Prayers or Elevations of heart are most proper on this occasion The Holy Ghost whose Spouse whose Son whose Temple whose Victim you are will inspire you with better thoughts then I can suggest I shall therefore here content my self with some few Citations of sacred Texts out of which you may upon occasion draw the comfort of Devotion Evil Witnesses have risen up against me and iniquity hath belyed it self I believe to see the goods of our Lord in the Land of the Living I am the Resurrection and the Life He that believeth in me shall not dye for ever Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine Do not fear for I am with thee do not decline for my right hand hath sustained thee Because he hath trusted in me I will deliver him I will protect him because he hath known my name He shall cry unto me and I will hear him I am with him in Tribulation I will deliver him and will glorisie him with length of days will I replenish him and will shew him my Salvation In perpetual charity have I loved thee therefore I have drawn thee to me taking Compassion on thee My heart and my flesh hath fainted O God of my heart my inheritance God for ever The World shall rejoyce and you shall be sorrowful But your sorrow shall be turned into Joy and your Joy none shall take from you Be confident I have overcome the World Be thou my helper do not forsake me neither despise me O God my Saviour In thee O Lord have I trusted let me not be confounded I live and you shall live You shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Certain I am that neither Death nor Life c. can seperate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Whether we Live or Die we are our Lords To me to Live is Christ and to Die is gaine I desire to be Dissolved and to be with Christ Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit Come ye blessed of my Father possess the Kingdom prepared for you This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The God of hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing that you may abound in hope and vertue of the Holy Ghost Your Lordships most devoted Servant in our Lord. N. N. THose hours he spared from Prayer or necessary repose he bestowed part in the entertainment of his Friends though indeed none were permitted to come at him but under severe Provisoes and Restrictions amongst whom he demeaned himself with exceeding Sweetness Candor and Alacrity of Spirit Connatural to him always but more especially after he had an assurance of his Death Insomuch that he could not endure to see any in grief of dejection on his account For this reason his sad and disconsolate Lady who alone touched his heart and who could no longer support the weight of her affliction was forced entirely to absent her self from him the day before his Passage out of this World Some moments likewise he allowed to give his last Adieu by Letters to his nearest Relations particularly to his aforesaid most Dear Lady whose incomparable vertue and above forty years experienced constant affection to him had taken a deep impression in his Soul But because the Letters themselves express his mind and disposition better then I can describe it Read here these few Copies which good fortune brought authentick to my hands To my most Dear and Kind Wife My Dear and most Kind Wife GOD of his Mercy and Goodness I mest humbly beseech him to reward you for your extraordinary Kindness and Love to me I am sure no Man ever had a better Wife in all kinds then you have been unto me I am most heartily sorry that I have not been able to shew how happy I have held my self in the great blessing which God was pleased to afford me in having you not only for the great Family to which you are the undoubted Heir and Estate you brought me and mine but for the great Love you have always born me I sincerely ask you Pardon with all my heart for all that I have done to give you any dislike I know you will forgive me out of your kindness and affection you have so often shewn unto me more then I deserved If I should repeat all the kindness and affection you have shewn unto me and of all which I am most sensible I should not know when to end God reward you You were present this day when Mr. Lievtenent brought me word of the day of my Death I know the trouble it brought unto you I do most willingly submit my self to Gods Holy will and since he know how Innocent I am and how Falsly I am Sworn against I am most confident that the most Blessed Trinity will through the Merits and Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ grant me a place in Heaven of happiness to glorify God to all Eternity amongst his Angels and Saints the lowest place in Heaven being an happiness above all the Kingdoms of the Earth I give God most humble thanks that I am absolutely quiet within my self from being guilty even so much as in a thought of that Treason I am accused of and never had a thought of any thing against the Person or Government of his Majesty And what I did towards the introducing of the Catholick Religion was no way but that which I thought to be for the good of the Kingdom by Act of Parliament I do ask of the Eternal and Merciful God most humbe Pardon for all my great Sins hoping in the mercy of Christ Jesus through his most sacred Passion to obtain remission of my Sins and Life everlasting in Heaven God protect and keep you and ours in his holy grace My dear I beseech you by the love you always bore me afflict your self as little as you can for the
take upon you the Ministery of the Church of England And these words do not become a Minister of the Gospel His reply was God Damn the Gospel This is truth said Oates I speak it in the presence of God and Man The whole substance of this attestation Smith absolutely forswore saying Not one word of this is true upon my Oath Then addressing himself to Oates 'T is a wonderful thing said he you should say this of me But I will sufficiently prove it against you That you have confounded the Gospel And denied the Divinity too THis is the Sum of the Evidence given as well by Dr. Oates against Dugdale Turbervil and Smith as by Dugdale Turbervil and Smith against Dr Oates From which fatal manner of self-condemning and Perjuring each other The Papists with two good consequence draw these deductions Either Oates attesting these things against the aforenamed Witnesses In the word of a Priest As he was a Minister of the Gospel Sincerly In the presence of God and Man c. Did give true Evidence or not If he did Then are Dugdale Turbervil and Smith both in their Testimony against Colledge and in their several Oaths here against Oates doubly forsworn But if Oates did not give here true Evidence as the other three positively Swear he did not then is he guilty of manifest Perjury So that from the reciprocal Testimony of each other in this matter It is an undenyable demonstration Either Oates the Pillar of the Plot or Dugdale Turbervil and Smith the joynt Supporters of it or Both and All are Perjur'd Men and can justly Challenge no right of beleif or credit to any thing they ever did or shall swear Hence the Attorney General in this very Tryal ingeniously complained It is an unhappy thing That Dr. Oates should come in against these Men that supported his Evidence before And Mr. Serjeant Jefferies rightly inculcated to the Jury If Dugdale Smith and Turbervil be not to be believed you Perjure said he three Men And in them trip up the Heels of all the Evidence and Discovery of the Plot. In like manner The Papists argue If Oates also be not to be believed the whole Fabrick of the Plot Falls What Dr. Oates the Quondam Top-Evidence The prime Discoverer The Saviour of the King and Nation from Popish Massacre He swear false He not to be believed What Account shall be given to God and the World for the Bloud-shed and the Severities used upon his Sole or chief Evidence Yet it is impossible if Dugdale Smith and Turbervil Swear not false Oates should Swear true Or if he Swear not false They should Swear true And as it is impossible both should Swear true So is it next to impossible if either Swear false the Plot should be true However most assuredly one part of the Witnesses against my Lord Stafford without which the other could never have found credit are here by their very Compartners proved Perjur'd Men. IT is objected They might all of them peradventure have sworn true before Though some of them for certain Swear false now The Papists answer So might they all of them for certain have sworn false before though some of them peradventure swear true now We are not to Judge of Men's past or future proceedings in order to Justice by what they possibly might be but by what they probably were or will be And to make a rational Judgment herein we have no other Rule to guide us in the knowledge of covert intentions then the Test of Overt actions Seing therefore these Witnesses are proved actually Perjur'd We have no rational ground to believe but that upon the same motives and in the same concurence of Circumstances they both did and will commit the same Crimes Men of lost Consciences and desperate Fortunes allured by gain and encouraged by Indempnities regard not what when nor how they Swear And my Lord Stafford had just Cause to say If it be permitted these Men daily to frame new accusations If easy Credit be given to all their Fables And whatever they shall from time to time Invent may pass for good Evidence Who can be secure At this rate they may by degrees Impeach the whole Nation both Catholicks and Protestants for Crimes which neither they nor any Man else ever yet dream't on It is also objected by Colledge's Party That Dugdale Smith and Turbervil are Papists in Masquerade and now made use on to Sham off the Popish Plot by turning it upon the Presbyterians Wherefore though credit may be given them when they Swear against Papists yet the same credit ought to be denyed when they bear Testimony against his Majesties true Protestant Subjects The Papists answer First Granted that Dugdale Smith and Turbervil be real Papists how is it proved they were imployed to Sham off the Plot Why may not Papists be good Witnesses against the Presbyterians in point of Treason without Suspition of a Sham Is Treason a thing so strange and unheard of amongst the Presbyterians Or why should credit be given to the Witnesses when they Swear against the Papists who are only charged with a Design to Kill the King And Credit be denyed to the same Witnesses when they Swear against those who actually Killed the King Secondly What the least Argument or Appearence is there that Dugdale Smith and Turbervil are Papists or Popishly affected They profess the Protestant Religion They frequent the Protestant Church They receive the Protestant Communion They take all Oaths and Tests can be required of them as was acknowledged in this very Tryal They practise neither Fasting Pennance nor other works of Supererrogation the Symptomes of Popery They pursue their former Design of Swearing against the Papists with as much obstinacy and violence as ever as was likewise proved in this Tryal And is it possible the Papists should imploy in their Shams and Intrigues if they had any the very Persons who at the same time make it their Trade and Lively-hood to cut their Throats Indeed if any of the Witnesses against my Lord Stafford be Popishly affected It is Dr. Oates Whose present Disparagement of his fellow Evidence look's said Mr. Sollicitor General as if he were again returning to St. Omers Lastly It is argued The Jury bringing in Colledge Guilty of High Treason by that very Verdict cleared Dugdale Smith and Turbervil of the Perjury charged upon them by Dr. Oates It is answered First The Jury brought in their Verdict against Colledge not upon the sole Testimony of Dugdale Smith and Turbervil but more especially upon the Evidence given by Sir William Jennings and Mr. Maisters Persons of known worth and honesty As also upon pregnant proof made and acknowledged in a manner by Colledge himself That he by Combination with others appeared in open Arms at an appointed time and place ready for and Designing publique Acts of Hostility in the very presence of the King yet without his Knowledge or Authority which by