AT THE COUNCIL-CHAMBER IN WHITEHALL Monday the 22. of October 1688. THis day an Extraordinary Council met where were likewise Present by His Majesties Desire and Appointment Her Majesty the Queen Dowager and such of the Peers of this Kingdom both Spiritual and Temporal as were in Town And also the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London The Judges and several of Their Majesties Council Learn'd hereafter Named The Kings Most Excellent Majesty Her Majesty the Queen Dowager in a Chair placed on the Kings Right Hand His R. H. Pr. George of Denmark Lord Chancellor Lord President Lord Privy Seal Duke of Hamilton Lord Chamberlain Earl of Oxford Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Peterborow Earl of Craven Earl of Berkeley Earl of Rochester Earl of Moray Earl of Middleton Earl of Melfort Earl of Castlemain Viscount Preston Lord Bellasyse Lord Godolphin Lord Dover Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer Master of the Rolls L. Ch. Justice Herbert Sir Thomas Strickland Sir Nicholas Butler Mr. Titus Lord A.B. of Canterbury Duke of Norfolke Duke of Grafton Duke of Ormond Duke of Northumberland Marquess of Halyfax Earl of Pembroke Earl of Salisbury Earl of Clarendon Earl of Cardigan Earl of Ailesbury Earl of Burlington Earl of Litchfeild Earl of Feversham Earl of Nottingham Viscount Newport Viscount Weymouth Bishop of London Bishop of Winchester Bishop of Rochester Bishop of Chester Bishop of St. Davids Lord North Lord Chandos Lord Mountagu Lord Herbert of Chirbury Lord Vaughan Earl of Carbery Lord Colepeper Lord Churchill Lord Waldegrave The Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London Sir Robert Wright Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench. Sir Thomas Powel Justices of the Kings Bench. Sir Robert Baldock Justices of the Kings Bench. Sir Thomas Street Justices of the Common Pleas. Sir Edward Lutwich Justices of the Common Pleas. Sir Thomas Jennor Justices of the Common Pleas. Sir Richard Heath Barons of the Exchequer Sir Charles Ingleby Barons of the Exchequer Sir John Rotheram Barons of the Exchequer Sir John Maynard His Majesties Serjeants at Law. Sir John Holt His Majesties Serjeants at Law. Sir Ambrose Philips His Majesties Serjeants at Law. Sir Thomas Powis His Majesties Attorney General Sir William VVilliams His Majesties Solicitor General Sir James Butler Mr. North the Queens Attorney Mr. Mountagu the Queens Solicitor Sir Charles Porter To whom His Majesty Spake to this Effect My Lords I Have called you together upon a very extraordinary Occasion but extraordinary Diseases must have extraordinary Remedies The Malicious Endeavours of my Enemies have so poisoned the Minds of some of my Subjects that by the Reports I have from all hands I have Reason to believe That very many do not think this Son with which God hath blessed Me to be Mine but a Supposed Child But I may say that by particular Providence scarce any Prince was ever Born where there were so many Persons present I have taken this time to have the Matter Heard and Examined here Expecting that the Prince of Orange with the first Eastwardly Wind will Invade this Kingdom And as I have often ventured My Life for the Nation before I came to the Crown so I think My Self more obliged to do the same now I am KING and do intend to go in Person against him whereby I may be exposed to Accidents and therefore I thought it necessary to have this now done in order to satisfie the minds of My Subjects and to prevent this Kingdom 's being engaged in Blood and Confusion after My Death desiring to do always what may contribute most to the Ease and Quiet of My Subjects which I have shewed by Securing to them their Liberty of Conscience and the Enjoyment of their Properties which I will always preserve I have desired the Queen Dowager to give Her Self the trouble to come hither to Declare what she knows of the Birth of My Son and most of the Ladies Lords and other Persons who were present are ready here to Depose upon Oath their Knowledge of this Matter Whereupon the Queen Dowager was pleased to say THat when the King sent for her to the Queens Labour she came as soon as she could and never stirred from her till she was Delivered of the Prince of VVales Catherina R. And the following Depositions were all taken upon Oath Elizabeth Lady Marchioness of Powis Deposeth THat about the 29th of December last the Queen was likely to Miscarry whereupon she immediately went unto her and offered her some effectual Remedies which are made use of on the like Occasion which the Queen ordered this Deponent to acquaint the Doctors with The Day following the Queen Dowager sent this Deponent to fee how the Queen did who replied She had a pretty good Night and did think she had Quickned but would not be positive till she felt it again That after this the Deponent did frequently wait on the Queen in the Morning and did see her Shift her several Days and generally saw the Milk and sometimes Wet upon her Smock That some time after this Deponent went into the Country and came not up till a few Days before the Queen was brought to Bed and from the time of this Deponents Return she saw the Queen every Day till she was brought to Bed and was in the Room a Quarter of an hour before and at the time of her Delivery of the Prince by Mrs. Wilks Her Majesties Midwife which this Deponent saw and immediately went with the Prince carried by Mrs. Delabadie into the Queens little Bedchamber where she saw Sir Thomas Witherley sent for by the Midwife who gave the Child Three Drops of something which came into the World with him which this Deponent saw done And this Deponent doth Aver this Prince to be the same Child which was then born and that she has never been from him one Day since Eliza. Powis Anne Countess of Aran Deposeth THat she went to the Queen from Whitehall to St. James's as soon as she heard that her Majesty was in Labour When she came she found the Queen in Bed complaining of little Pains The Lady Sunderland Lady Roscomon Mrs. Labadie and the Midwife were on that side of the Bed where the Queen lay and this Deponent with a great many others stood on the other side all the time till the Queen was Delivered As soon as her Majesty was Delivered she said O Lord I don't hear the Child Cry and immediately upon that this Deponent did hear it Cry and saw the Midwife take the Child out of the Bed and give it to Mrs. Labadie who carried it into the little Bed-Chamber where she this Deponent followed her and saw that it was a Son and that likewise she the Deponent hath several times seen Milk run out upon the Queens Smock during her being with Child A. Aran. Penelope Countess of Peterborow Deposeth THat she was often with the Queen while her Majesty was last with Child and saw the Milk often upon her Majesties Smock when
KING and several of the Lords soon after following into the little Bed-Chamber where the Deponent saw the Child Naked before it was Cleansed from the Impurities of its Birth and also saw the Navel-string cut and some Drops of fresh Blood received into a Spoon which the Deponent mingled with a little Black-cherry-Water and saw given by the Physitians Orders to the Child And afterwards going into the great Bed-Chamber where the Queen was Delivered he saw the After-Burthen c. fresh Ja. St. Amand. After these Depositions were taken His Majesty was pleased to acquaint the Lords That the Princess Anne of Denmark would have been present but that she being with Child and having not lately stirred abroad could not come so far without hazard Adding further ANd now My Lords although I did not question but every Person here present was satisfied before in this Matter yet by what You have heard You will be better able to satisfie Others Besides if I and the Queen could be thought so Wicked as to endeavour to impose a Child upon the Nation You see how impossible it would have been neither could I My Self be imposed upon having constantly been with the Queen during Her being with Child and the whole time of Her Labour And there is none of You but will easily believe Me who have suffered so much for Conscience-sake uncapable of so great a Villany to the Prejudice of My Own Children And I thank God that those that know Me know well that it is My Principle to do as I would be done by for that is the Law and the Prophets And I would rather die a Thousand Deaths than do the least Wrong to any of My Children His Majesty further said IF any of My Lords think it necessary the Queen should be sent for it shall be done But their Lordships not thinking it necessary Her Majesty was not sent for IT is Order'd this day by His Majesty in Council That the several Declarations here before made by His Majesty and by her Majesty the Queen-Dowager together with the several Depositions here entred be forthwith Enrolled in the Court of Chancery And the Lord Chancellor is Ordered to cause the same to be Enrolled accordingly IN Pursuance of which Order in Council the Lord Chancellor on Saturday the 27th Day of October following in the High Court of Chancery many of the Nobility and Lords of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Council being there present caused the aforesaid Order of Council and Declarations of His Majesty and likewise that of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager to be openly and distinctly Read in Court as the same are Entred in the Words aforesaid in the Council Book And the Lords and Ladies and other Persons who made the respective Depositions aforesaid being present in Court were Sworn again and having heard their several Depositions distinctly Read in the Words aforesaid and being severally Interrogated by the Court to the Truth thereof they all upon their Oaths affirmed their respective Depositions to be True and did likewise Depose except some few who came in late to the Council Chamber or some who stood at too great a distance that they heard His Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager make the several Declarations aforesaid and that the same as they had been Read were Truly Entred as they did believe in the Council Book according to the Sence Intent and Meaning of what His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager did then Declare And forasmuch as the Earl of Huntingdon and the Earl of Peterborow who were able to Depose to the Matters aforesaid had not been Examined at the Council Board but had brought their several Depositions in Writing which they delivered into Court the said Lord Chancellor after the said Earls were severally Sworn Ordered their Depositions to be openly Read in these Words following UPon Trinity Sunday 10th June 1688. I went to St. James's House about Nine a Clock in the Morning and followed my Lord Chancellor through the Lodgings to the Dressing Room next to the Queens Bed-Chamber where divers Lords of the Council were met upon occasion of the Queens being in Labour the King came several times into the Room and amongst other things was pleased to tell us that the Queen came exactly according to her first Reckoning which was from the Kings Return from his Progress to Bathe in September 1687. After this the Counsellors were ordered to come into the Bed-Chamber and I stood on that side of the Bed that had the Curtains drawn open I heard Her Majesty Cry out several times I staid in the Room during the Birth of the Prince of Wales I saw him carried into the little Bed-Chamber whither the King the Lords and my self in particular did follow him Huntingdon I Had the Honor to be in the King's Chamber in the Morning when word was brought him the Queen was not well and followed him into the Dressing Room next Her Majesties Bed-Chamber where I staid till His Majesty called me to come in which was about the beginning of her Pains I Confess the Compassion I had for Her Majesty hearing her Crys made my stay there very uneasie One of the last especially seemed to me so Sharp as it really forced me for a little time to stop my Ears with my Fingers to avoid hearing more of the like when setting them at Liberty I heard no more but perceived a suddain satisfaction in the Faces of the Assistance several saying that the Queen was Delivered and soon thereupon I saw the Prince brought from about the Bed and carried into the little Bed-Chamber whether I went afterwards to behold him more particularly where I saw him as a Child newly Born. Peterborow AFter which the said Earls did severally upon their Oaths affirm their Depositions to be True as they had been Read and that they were present in Council and heard His Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen Dowager make the several Declarations aforesaid and that the same were Entred in the Council Book as they did believe according to the effect true Sense and Meaning of what their Majesties Declared in Council Whereupon His Majesties Attorny General moved the Court that the said Declarations of His Majesty and of Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager and the several Depositions and the Order of Council should be Enrolled in the Petty-Bag-Office and in the Office of Inrolments in the Court of Chancery for the safe Preservation and Custody of them which the Lord Chancellor Ordered accordingly Published by His Majesties special Command LONDON Printed by Charles Bill Henry Hills and Thomas Newcomb Printers to the King 's most Excellent Majesty 1688.
made this Deponent the Sign that the Child was born Then this Deponent heard the Queen say Don't tell me what it is yet and Mrs. Dawson came to this Deponent and whispered him in the Ear 'T is a Prince but don't take Notice of it yet Then Mrs. Delabadie brought away the Child from the Bed-side and carried it into the little Bed-Chamber and the King and the Lords of the Council went after her but this Deponent did not follow them Edward Griffin Sir Charles Scarburgh First Physician to the King Deposeth THat upon the Deponents coming to visit Her Majesty then lying at St. James's on Sunday the 10th of June 1688. as the Deponent went up the Back-Stairs he heard the joyful Acclamation that a Prince of Wales was born upon which the Deponent hastned presently into the little Bed-Chamber where the Deponent found Mrs. Labadie just setting down before the Fire with the New Born Prince wrapped in the Mantles lying in her Lap. Then passing to the Queen in the next Bed-chamber the Deponent congratulated the happy Birth of the Prince and her Majesties safe Delivery The Queen was wearied and panting but otherwise in good condition Then the Midwife brought to the Deponent the After-Birth reeking warm which Sir Thomas Witherley with the Deponent examined and found very sound and perfect After a while the Deponent understood that a Medicine was mentioned among the Ladies for a certain Remedy against Convulsions It was some drops of blood from the Navel-string the Deponent consulted Sir Thomas Witherley and the other Physicians and to satisfie the Women it was allowed of there being as was conceived no danger in the thing Whereupon the Midwife with a small Knife slit the Navel-string beyond the Ligature from which came some drops of fresh blood taken in a Spoon and given the Child being mix'd with a little Black-Cherry-Water Thus much the Deponent hath to say upon Her Majesties present delivery Now for the Time of the Queens Conception she often told the Deponent and others That She had two Reckonings one from Tuesday the 6th of September when the King return'd from His Progress to the Queen then at Bathe and the other from Thursday the 6th of October when the Queen came to the King at Windsor but for some Reasons the Queen rather reckoned from the latter though afterward it proved just to agree with the former Moreover Her Majesty when according to Her Reckoning She was gone with Child Twelve Weeks said That She was quick and perceived the Child to move the Deponent returned no Answer to the Queen but privately told those about Her That in truth it could not so be in so short a Time Yet the Queen was in the right only mistook Her Reckoning for She was then full sixteen Weeks gone with Child about which time She usually quickned with Her former Children and accordingly was brought to bed on the 10th of June 1688. and within Three or Four days of full Forty Weeks Charles Scarburgh Sir Thomas Witherly second Physitian to the King Deposeth THat on Sunday the Tenth of June the Deponent was present in the Queen's Bed-Chamber when the Prince of Wales was Born the Deponent saw Mrs. Labadie bring the Child from the Midwife and carry him into the next Room whither the Deponent followed her and saw the Child before he was cleaned and having a Command from the Queen that there should be two drops of the Blood of the After-burthen given the first thing We the said Deponent and the other Physitians did take two drops of Blood from the Navel-string which remained upon the Child and gave it in a Spoonful of Black cherry Water as the Queen Commanded After this the Deponent saw as also did the other Physitians the After-burthen entire Tho. Witherley Sir William Waldegrave Knt. Her Majesties first Physitian Deposeth THat in the Progress of Her Majesties being with Child the Deponent having the Honor to wait upon her as usual upon the 13th of February 1687. about Ten in the Morning she told the Deponent she had Milk in her Breasts which dropt out it was then â—â—ought the 19th Week according to One Reckoning 〈◊〉 according to Another Reckoning it was the One 〈◊〉 Two and Twentieth Week The Deponent also â—â—â—â—meth that Her Majesty took such Adstringent Medicines during the most part of her being with Child in order to avoid Miscarriage That if she had not been with Child they must have been prejudicial to her Health and of dangerous consequence Upon the 10th of June 1688. the Deponent was called at his Lodging in Whitehall to wait upon the Queen being told she was in Labour upon which the Deponent immediately went to St. James's and so into the Queen's Bed-Chamber and found her beginning her Labour it being about Eight of the Clock in the Morning The Deponent stirr'd not from thence but to get such Medicines as were fit for Her Majesty and then return'd again and was in the Bed-Chamber when she Cry'd out and was Deliver'd The Deponent followed Mrs. Delabadie who took the Prince in her Arms so soon as he was Born and carried him into the little Bed-Chamber where the Deponent saw him upon her Lap and was by when he took two or three drops of the Navel string fresh warm Blood which was mix'd with Black-cherry-Water then return'd into the great Bed-Chamber where the Deponent saw the After-burthen fresh and warm William Waldegrave Dr. Robert Brady one of His Majesties Physitians in Ordinary Deposeth THat a little before Ten of the Clock in the Morning on the Tenth of June 1688. the Deponent was in the Queen 's little Bed-Chamber at St. James's where the Deponent saw the Prince of Wales in Mrs. Labady's Lap by the Fire side the Deponent desired to see the Linen and Blankets opened in which he was wrapped which being done the Deponent saw it was a Male Child and the Navel-string hanging down to or below the Virile parts with a Ligature upon it not far from the Body but did not see any After-burthen hanging at or joyned to it not being at the Birth The Deponent asked how long he had been born the standers by told him At three quarters of an hour after Nine of the Clock the Queen was Delivered Robert Brady James St. Amand their Majesties Apothecary Deposeth THat from the beginning of November last he hath generally every day till the 9th of June 1688. given by the Physitians Orders Restringent and Corroborating Medicines to the Queens Majesty That on the 10th of June he was sent for in haste to come to St. James's to her Majesty who the Messenger told him was in Labour That the Deponent then received a Note from the Physitians for Medicines for her Majesty which the Deponent was obliged to stay and prepare and so came not to St. James's till the Queen was Delivered the Deponent meeting just as he was going into the Bed-Chamber Mrs. Labady with the Young Prince in her Arms the