seditiously did conspire together to make the Kings Subjects believe That the Inquisition aforesaid was unduly taken and that the said Earl of Essex did not murther himself but was by certain Persons unknown in whose custody he was murthered And it further sets forth that these Defendants Laurence Braddon and Hugh Speke designing to disturb and disquiet the minds of the Kings Subjects and to spread false reports did conspire to procure certain false Witnesses to prove that the said Earl of Essex was not a Felon of himself but was by some Persons unknown killed and murthered And to perswade other Subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King to believe the said Report they did falsly malitiously Unlawfully and Seditiously cause to be declared in Writing That the said Laurence Braddon was the Person that did prosecute the said Earls Murther And this was to the great Scandal of the Government to the evil Example of all Persons in like case offending and against the Peace of the King his Crown and Dignity To this the Defendants have pleaded Not Guilty if we prove it upon them we make no question you will find it Mr. Att. Gen. May it please your Lordship and you Gentlemen of this Jury Mr. Speke and Mr. Braddon these two Gentlemen are accused of as High Conspiracy as ever has or could well happen in our days of throwing the Murther of a Person that killed himself upon the Government And I must acquaint you their design was of an higher Nature than barely that for this Gentleman my Lord of Essex was committed to the Tower for the late Plot and being so committed when he had killed himself there that was more than a thousand Witnesses to open the eyes of the People and confirm the belief of the Conspiracy And one would have thought after that there had been an end of the design that these Protestant Gentlemen as they call themselves were carrying on when the Earl of Essex a Person of that Quality and Worth should go to Murther himself upon the sense of what he was Guilty of So that the Design Gentlemen was to stifle the Plot and at the same time they must throw this ill thing that the Earl had committed upon himself upon the Government that Gentlemen was the main disgrace in order to stifle that great Evidence of the Plot. And Mr. Braddon must of his own head not being put on by any of the Friends of the Earl of Essex who were all very sensible the Earl had done this Fact committed this Murther upon himself but I say he out of a true Principle to manage the Protestant Cause as they call it but indeed it was the Plot he becomes the Prosecutor of this business and you will find him by the proofs in the Case a man of many like Projects For you will find him value himself upon these Titles That he is the Prosecutor of the Earl of Essex's Murther and the Inventor of the Protestant Flails an Instrument I suppose Gentlemen you have all heard of Now Gentlemen to make this appear to the World Letters are sent into all Parts of England of this Bruit and Report He himself goes about to find Evidence for it was so great a truth and there was such a plain proof that the Earl of Essex had killed himself that he must labour it to get Evidence And he goes about it accordingly and at length he meets with a little Child of Twelve years of Age and he prepares for him all with his own hand-writing a Deposition which is a feigned Story all of it and in every part of it will appear to be false and there he mightily solicits this young Boy to sign it He comes to his Fathers House carries him in a Coach forces him away and forces him to sign this Paper that he had thus prepared for him all of his own invention and writing and with the like confidence as he appears here for so he does appear with very great Confidence as you may observe he attests it himself And Gentlemen we shall shew you that here up and down the Town he makes it his common discourse what he was in hand with and makes his boast of himself to be the Prosecutor of the Earl of Essex's Murther and he had as good a Confederate as himself Mr. Speke and he having an Interest in the Country whither the news must be sent all abroad and Mr. Braddon must go to pick up Evidence I know not where a great way off of a Murther committed in the Tower We shall prove to you he had Letters Missive and recommendatory from Mr. Speke to a Gentleman with whom Mr. Braddon was to advise for they looked upon it to be as dangerous an Enterprize almost as the Plot it self as indeed it was therefore they must be wary and Mr. Braddon is advised to go by a wrong name so this Mr. Speke and Braddon were to carry on and make up this Tragi-Comedy for I can call it nothing else for the ridiculousness as well as the dangerousness of the Design The report was to be that this Murther of the Earl of Essex was committed by the Officers that attended my Lord and to fall out in time when his Majesty was in the Tower as if the King himself had a hand in it We shall trace it in all the parts of it by several Witnesses and hope you will make them an Example first by finding them Guilty and the Court afterwards by a severe Punishment for such a villainous practice to scandalize the Government with the Murther of a Noble Peer We shall begin with shewing you the Inquisition or rather first with the Convictment of the Earl of Essex for High-Treason because that is said in the Record by way of inducement Call Mr. Reynolds who was sworn Have you the Warrant of Commitment of my Lord of Essex Mr. Reynolds Yes Mr. Att. Gen. Shew it the Court. Let the Clerk read it Mr. Reynolds This is the Commitment that was delivered the Lieutenant of the Tower together with my Lord of Essex Cl. of Cr. This is directed to Thomas Cheek Esquire Lieutenant of his Majesties Tower of London Subscribed Leolin Jenkins and dated Sir Leolin Jenkins Knight of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Principal Secretary of State THese are in his Majesties Name to will and require you to receive into your Custody the Person of Arthur Earl of Essex herewith sent you being committed for High-Treason in compassing the Death of the King whom God preserve and conspiring to Levy War against His Majesty And him the said Earl of Essex to keep in safe custody until he shall be delivered by due course of Law And for so doing this shall be your Warrant Given under my Hand and Seal at Whitehal the 10th day of July 1683. L. Jenkins To Thomas Cheek Esquire Lieutenant of His Majesties Tower of London Mr. Att. Gen. My Lord we will then read the Inquisition that the Earl
this Informant left his Brother and went to the Tower to see his Majesty and his Royal Highness And when this Informant had seen his Majesty and his Royal Highness this Informant about Nine of the Clock in the Morning of the same day went to see my Lord Brandon Gerard's Lodgings and as this Informant was standing almost over against my Lord Gerard's Lodgings between the Lord Gerard's and the late Lord of Essex's Lodgings this Informant saw a Hand cast out a bloody Razor out of the said Earl of Essex's Lodgings And this Informant was going to take up the said Razor which he saw on the Ground to be bloody but before this Informant came to the Razor there came a Maid running out of Captain Hawley's house where the said Lord of Essex lodged and took up the said Razor which he carryed into the said Captain Hawley's House And this Informant believes that it was the said Maid who he first heard cry out Murder And this Informant further saith That he heard the said Maid say to some which were about the Door after the Murder was cryed That she did hear the said Lord of Essex to groan three times that Morning The Father three Sisters and Brother will swear That the said William Edwards did declare the substance of this Information to them on Friday the 13 th instant and never in the least denyed it till Tuesday after when being chid and threatned by the elder Sister he did deny it but soon after confessed it and signed it in the presence of five or six Witnesses Mr. Just Wythins Thus you see he perswaded him to tell a fine Story of going to see my Lord Brandon Gerard's Lodgings but the Boy never told him any such thing L. C. J. No he never told him a word of it he swears Mr. Att. Gen. My Lord your Lordship has heard from Mr. Monstevens That this Gentleman Mr. Braddon made use of the Name of an honorable Person Sir Henry Capell and so at the Secretarys and at Edward's house made use of the Name of my Lady Essex We shall now call Sir Henry Capell who was Sworn Sir Henry Capell Will you please to give an accompt Whether ever you employed this Gentleman Mr. Braddon about any such business as he has here undertaken Sir H. Capell I hope you will give me as short a dispatch as you can Sir for 't is very uneasie for me to be here in this Crowd Mr. Sol. Gen. We give you some trouble Sir Henry but indeed 't is not we but this Gentleman that has been pleased to use your Name has necessitated it Mr. Att. Gen. We ask you a short Question whether you employed Mr. Braddon to go to Mr. Edward's House or to the Secretarys or any where else to prosecute this matter of your Brothers death Sir H. Capell My Lord I know very little of Mr. Braddon He was to speak with me twice The first time he took me in very great disorder both as to the circumstance of Time and Place which are so tender with me that truly I cannot express nor do I very well know what I did say or what he said to me but the Second time he came to me I do very well remember what I did say And that which I did say the Second time is the most material Thing I have to say in the matter He came to me and spake of such a business as the Court is well apprized of already I hope you will pardon me if I do not repeat it I made answer to him Mr. Braddon I am under great grief and under a great burthen of Business in my private Family whatsoever you have to say in the matter I desire you would go to a Secretary of State and acquaint him with it This is the most material Thing that was said that I remember Mr. Att. Gen. But you never imployed him to go about to prosecute any such thing Mr. J. Withins Sir Henry Pray answer me Did you desire him to go to Edward's House and ask him any Questions about it Sir H. Capell I know nothing of Edward's nor his House at all Mr. Braddon Sir H Capell will you please to let me ask you one Question Do you not remember I came to Essex House on the Monday night and that I came and told you of such a Report and that I had not been with the Father of the Boy as yet but if you would then send one with me I would go and in his presence examine the Boy and you Sir promised me that you would and whether you did not appoint me to tarry at such a Place where you promised to send one to go along with me Sir H. Capell My Lord I have a gross Idea of that which he speaks of concerning his having one to meet him and that I told him such an one should meet him and the person did desire to be excused and I did excuse him and so he did not go upon which this Gentleman Mr. Braddon came to me the Second time which was after Dinner and I directed him to go to a Secretary of State and acquaint him with what he had to say in the business Mr. Braddon Did not you promise Sir to send one to me to go with me and desired me to meet at such a place Sir H. Capell I remember no more but what I have said Mr. Braddon Upon the Oath you have taken Sir Henry Capell I desire you would recollect your Memory whether you did not promise me in the Morning to meet at such a Place and was not I twice with you that day Sir H. Capell Sir I know no more Mr. J. Withins Do you think Sir Henry Capell would forswear himself Mr. Braddon Mr. Braddon My Lord I only desire him to recollect his Memory Sir H. Capell Only I do farther remember He seemed to be very willing to go to the Secretary of State Mr. Att. Gen. And if he had acquiesced there he had done very well and there had been no farther trouble Mr. Jones But that was not the way he intended that would not do his Work Mr. Sol. Gen Pray Mr. Blaithwaite do you give my Lord and the Jury an accompt whether this Information was ever carried before any Justice of Peace in order to have it sworn before him and the circumstance of it Mr. Blaithwaite My Lord I do very well remember when this Information was before the King and was shew'd to Mr. Braddon he there confessed That he had gone about to find some Justice of Peace to take it upon Oath He named Sir Robert Clayton and Sir John Lawrence And I do very well remember and 't is upon my Minutes That he confessed That Sir Robert Clayton being asked by him to take the Information in private alone without Company being by Sir Robert Clayton refused to take it unless he might take it more publickly and Sir Robert Clayton refusing to take it alone in private he would
by Papers and otherwise to publish it That he was a person employed to prosecute the Murder of the Earl of Essex Now as to this matter all I shall say for Mr. Braddon is this If he have done something more it may be by a transport of Zeal than became him that must be submitted how far it is criminal If he did what did not become a mighty wise and discreet Man yet if he did what became a rational Man of ordinary Capacity to do if he had this Information and so many other Informations and he did search innocently a little into it if he did not do it Seditiously and Factiously with an ill mind we hope there is no such great harm done And indeed Gentlemen his Mind is to be tryed in this matter And 't is an hard matter to try a Man's Mind quo animo a Man did such an Action that he did it there is some sort of Evidence but if he did it not out of an ill Principle and with an evil Intention then under favour we take it he is not Guilty of this Information And we shall endeavour to make it out thus This Gentleman hearing of this Report of the Boy makes his Application first to Sir Henry Capell who was a person well known to be nearly related to this unfortunate Lord the Earl of Essex and he tells him what Information he had received Sir Henry Capell puts him into an excellent Course and desires him to go and inform a Secretary of State and he did so and if he had gone only this way all that he had done had been innocent Then the matter is only this He has gone a little out of the way and has taken some Informations and Examinations in Writing why thô he has gone a step or two awry yet if it was with a design to prepare the matter the better for the Secretary by laying these Papers before him we hope there is no Crime if we did it not Seditiously but only with an intention That Mr. Secretary might receive a more clear and full Information I hope the Jury will acquit us L. C. Just You say well Come prove your matter Mr. Thompson Call Mr. Fielder and Mrs. Mewx and Mr. Lewes Lewes appeared Cryer Lay your Hand on the Book Lewes My Lord I desire my Charges may be paid before I Swear L. C. J. Prithee what have I to do with thy Charges I won't make Bargains between you If you have any Evidence to give and will give it doe if not let it alone Lewes My Lord I shall not give any Evidence 'till I have my Charges L. C. J. Mr. Braddon if you will have your Witnesses swear you must pay them their Charges Mr. Braddon My Lord I am ready to pay it I never refused it but what shall I give him L. C. J. Nay I am not to make Bargains between you agree as you can Mr. Thompson My Lord We are willing to do what is reasonable You Lewes what do you demand Lewes He can't give me less than Six Shillings a day L. C. J. Why where doest thou live Lewes At Marlebrough L. C. J. Why can'st thou earn 6 s. a day by thy own Labour at Marlebrough Lewes My Lord I am at 40 s. or 3 l. a Week charge with my Family and Servants L. C. J. What Trade art thou Lewes A Stapler L. C. J. And does your Trade stand still while you are here in Town Lewes Yes to be sure it can't go well on L. C. J. Well I say that for you you value your Labour high enough I know not what your Evidence may be but Mr. Braddon you must pay your Witness if you will have him Mr. Braddon I will my Lord very readily what will you have I have paid you something already Lewes Give me Twenty Shillings more then You can't give me less Then Mr. Braddon paid him Twenty Shillings and he was Sworn L. C. J. Well what do you ask him Mr. Thompson Mr. Thompson We ask him what report he heard of the Earl of Essex's Death and when L. C. J. What is your Name friend Lewes Lewes L. C. J. Well what is it you say Lewes My Lord as I was riding up Husband within Three or Four Miles of Andover Mr. Wallop How many Miles is that off of London Lewes Fifty two Mr. Wallop Well go on Lewes Between the hours of Three and Five but it is so long ago that I cannot exactly tell the certain time a Man asked me what News I heard in the Country I told him I heard none Says he I hear the Earl of Essex has cut his Throat it was upon a Friday in the Summer I forget the day of the Month I can't tell what Month it was certainly Mr. Thompson What day of the Week was it Lewes I remember it was upon a Friday Mr. Thompson Can't you tell what Month it was Lewes I can't tell what Month it was it was in the Summer I know Mr. Braddon My Lord I desire to ask him a question L. C. J. Do if you will Ask him what you will Mr. Braddon Did not you go to Marleborough on the Saturday Lewes I did go to Marleborough the next day which was Saturday Mr. Braddon I desire to know of him whether he did meet with the News of it there then Lewes My Lord as to that when I came home my Neighbours asked me if I had heard any News I told them says I I hear the Earl of Essex hath cut his Throat Why when did you hear it say they I heard it yesterday said I. Said they it was done but yesterday how could you hear it so soon That is all I have to say my Lord. Mr. Williams By the best Conjecture you can make was it that very day the Earl of Essex cut his Throat Lewes I do not know that ever any such Man cut his Throat but this I heard and I tell you the time as well as I can Mr. Williams Then pray let us have our Money again L. C. J. Thou art well paid I will say that for thee Mr. Williams Where is Mr. Fielder Swear him Which was done Pray Sir what did you hear and when of the Earl of Essex's Death Mr. Fielder The Wednesday and the Thursday of the same Week that the Earl of Essex cut his Throat it was reported in our Town of Andover that he had so done The Women as they came in and out of the Town talked of it one to another L. C. J. What was talked of that Wednesday and Thursday Mr. Fielder That my Lord of Essex cut his Throat in the Tower Mr. J. Withins What before he had cut his Throat Mr. Fielder Yes Mr. J. Withins That is very strange indeed L. C. J. Lord what a story is here Mr. Williams My Lord if you please I will tell you what use we would make of it L. C. J. I know what use you would make of it the use is just
has gone so far that at Winchester when I was there in the Circuit I was told that his Doctrine had obtained so much in that Country especially about that place whence some of his Witnesses came I mean Andover that there was a Woman that was here the other day Mrs. Drake being at Conventicle held forth that my Lord of Essex was murdered while the King was in the Tower and that God was the Avenger of Murder and had found out a proper Person for the Prosecution of it that was Mr. Bradden and this snivelling Cant prevailed at the Conventicle It is no such smirking matter as you make it Mr. Bradden I assure you Mr. Bradden My Lord if I did know my Self to be under any Guilt I would very readily and humbly acknowledge it L. Ch. Just Well I see a great many of the Party about you I can spy them out though they think they are not seen but they shall know we will not suffer such Monsters as these to go without due Punishment Mr. Just Wythins He stands upon it he is innocent still notwithstanding all that was proved and the Juries Verdict L. Ch. Just Yes alack a day he wipes his Mouth and has not so much as eaten I 'le warrant you Mr. Just Wythins I expected you would have been sorry Mr. Bradden for what you had done and expressed some Penitence but it seems you are very innocent Mr. Bradden I did not directly nor indirectly offer any thing to induce the Children to give their Testimony nor was any such thing proved I know my own Innocency Mr. Att. Gen. The Jury have found it otherwise L. Ch. Just And that upon a fair a full and a convincing Evidence and no man in the World can make any doubt of the truth of that Verdict but he that had a share in your Guilt or in that that it had a tendency towards I mean that Horrid Conspiracy And I assure you Mr. Bradden you tread upon the very heels of it smirk at it and be as merry about it as you will Mr. Bradden If I did not know my own Innocency then I had reason to be troubled L. Ch. Just Your own Innocency If you did not know your own Impudence you mean 't is that only that makes you Smirk and Smile at such things as these Mr. Just Wythins Mr. Bradden when you were advised by Sir Henry Capel to take a prudent and a good course to go and leave it with a Secretary of State you would not take that Advice but you would go your own way and you would turn Examiner and Prosecutor your self when he that was the Earls Brother and was sure more concerned than you thought it fitter to go that way L. Ch. Just We remember what Sir Samuel Bernardiston in his Letter speaks of this matter Mr. Bradden he was got off why they dare not meddle with Mr. Bradden he is such a dreadful man and his Party are so considerable that we dare not meddle with them and the TORIES are all cast down alack a day because these Fellows can't cast down the Government therefore all honest men must be cast down and not dare to meddle with them but they shall see we are not so much cast down but we are able to reach the highest of them What Condition is this man in I speak in point of Estate for his other Conditions we know what they are his Tryal will satisfie any man of that Mr. Att. Gen. He is the Eldest Son of a Father that has a good Estate Mr. Williams He is then but Heir Apparent Mr. Bradden No I am a younger Brother Mr. Williams It seems he is but the Second Son and a young Gentleman Mr. Bradden My Father has an Elder Son alive L. Ch. Just I remember particularly 't is said in one of the Letters That he was a Man of 7 or 800 l. a year Cl. of Cr. That was in Mr. Speke's Letter He says his Father had so much Mr. Bradden That is in Mr. Speke's Letter but that is not true L. Ch. Just I don't know truly that may be as false as any thing else you went about to have these Children Swear but I 'le undertake it if thou hadst told the little Girl that he had 800 l. a year she would have been as ready to have Sworn it as the other Mr. Just Wythins 'T is a wonderful thing Mr. Bradden you could bring no body to come and testify these things but those two little Children L. Ch. Just But oh what a Happiness it was for this sort of People that they had got Mr. Bradden an honest man and a man of Courage says Mr. Speke a man a propo and pray says he to his Friend give him the best advice you can for he is a man very fit for the purpose and pray secure him under a sham Name for I 'le undertake there are such Designs upon pious Mr. Bradden such Contrivances to do him a mischief that if he had not had his Protestant Flayl about him some body or other would have knocked him in the head and he is such a wonderful man that all the King's Courts of Justice must needs Conspire to do Mr. Bradden a mischief a pretty sort of a man upon my word and he must be used accordingly men that arrogate and assume to themselves a Liberty to do such kind of things must expect to fair accordingly Mr. Just Wythins Mr. Speke is not found Guilty of the Subornation Mr. Att. Gen. He is found Guilty of all but the Subornation he is found Guilty of Conspiring to spread the Report The Subornation will require another sort of Punishment L. Ch. Just Ay but there is a difference between them The Crime was very great in Mr. Speke tho' not so great as in Mr. Bradden and I am sorry that Mr Speke should be concerned in it and should take such care about such a business with all that Piety and Zeal for Religion he expresses in his Letter to Sir Robert Atkyns Mr. Justice Atkyns that was that he should recommend him to have a wonderful care of him and then thank him for his kindness shewed to Our Party So he makes himself to be of the Party and makes this the business of the Party and so makes himself to be a sharer in the business for 't is We thank you for your kindness to Vs and the Tide is strong against Vs and We hope we shall be able to bring the business of my Lord of Essex upon the Stage before they do any of those in the Tower So Mr. Speke makes himself a Party in the business And I am mighty sorry that when he comes to be asked the Question How he came to Write this Letter he should tell us He had been at the Tavern and did not know what he Writ but does not say he recollected afterwards It seems he used to be often at the Tavern and had been there when he writ this
Pious Letter and so his Saintship broke out in a fit of Drunkenness for most of our Reformers of Religion now adays want common Morality And yet they are wonderfully Zealous for Reformation and Religion All the Villany that has been thought of nay more than ever could enter before into the Imagination of Mankind has been wrought by these Men that pretend to be Reformers of Religion and amongst the rest Mr. Bradden and indeed I look upon Bradden to be the Daringest Fellow of the Party he and his Brother Smith If there were any Reluctancy or any Sense of any Guilt they had contracted and would shew it by acknowledging their being surprized into it and testifyed Repentance by a Submissive and a Dutiful behaviour that were something to encline the Court to Commisseration but when we see instead of that they are more obdurate and steeled in their Opposition to the Government they must be reclaimed by Correction and kept within due bounds by condigne Punishment otherwise it will be thought by the Ignorant sort of People that all Courts of Justice are afraid of them Mr. Just Wythins Nay Mr. Bradden's Zeal was very extraordinary in the Case going on in this business not only without but contrary to the Advice of Sir Henry Capel who surely was most concerned about the Death of his Brother Then the Judges between themselves consulted about the Sentence which Mr. Justice Wythins pronounced thus Mr. Just Wythins Mr. Bradden You see what it is you are convicted of It was for as fowl an Offence as any can be imagined that is not Capital wherein the King is very much concerned for the Insinuations were such as that the King was mightily concerned for in as much as you say the Earl of Essex should be murdered at that time while the King was in the Tower it was an implied accusation of the King and an insinuation that the King should design to take away an innocent man's Blood and so down-right be guilty of murdering an innocent Person which how great an Offence that is let any man that has any Loyalty or Reverence for the King in him consider and you cannot say you are innocent Mr. Bradden Your prosecution was most pertinacious and you would proceed even after the Boy had denied it and proceed in such a manner when Sir Henry Capel had told you what you should do and what did you go upon You had got a little Girl a Child of 11 or 12 years old to tell a story of I know not what and no body else knew any thing of it and this must be a ground sufficient for you to go up and down and spread such a Report when Sir Henry Capel gave you advise to go to a Secretary of State and let him examine it indeed you did go to him but would not rest satisfied with what the King and Council did no Mr. Bradden you thought that would not gratify your own passion and malice against the King and the Government but you must take ways of your own This is to scandalize the whole Justice of the Nation and not only make the King a Murderer but you would have all the Plot hereby by quite lose its Credit and you would make it as Sir Samuel Bernardiston would insinuate a sham Plot to take away innocent Protestants lives But as to the Plot there has been fresh proof of it beyond all contradiction this day a man here in the Face of the whole Court has owned the whole thing he would not take the liberty of defending himself that was offered him if he would try it but Confessed that Conspiracy which you had a great mind to be an Instrument of making the World to believe was nothing but a Sham. I shall not make any long Speech to you The Court for this Offence Sets upon you Mr. Bradden the Fine of 2000 l. and order that you find Sureties for your Good Behaviour during your Life and that you be Committed till this be Performed And for you Mr. Speke we have considered that you are not so highly Guilty as Mr. Bradden you are Guilty of a great Offence but not so Guilty as he and therefore we think fit to set upon you the Fine of 1000 l. and that you find Sureties for your Good Behaviour during your Life and be Committed till you perform it L. Ch. Just Marshal take them in Custody and use them as they ought to be used Counsel My Lord Mr. Speke's Bail is discharged I suppose L. Ch. Just Ay they must be as to this matter but nothing else but this Then they were carried away to the Kings-Bench FINIS
he has given you an account of The next Evidence is Sir Henry Capel who tells you That Braddon comes officiously and tells him He had some discovery to make about the death of the Earl of Essex and you hear that poor Gentleman being related to this unfortunate Noble Lord was at the first time very much under surprize being in such great affliction as one Brother must needs be for another Nature obliges People to a great concern for such Accidents and he says he is not able to give an account what he said or did at that time or what Braddon did particularly say to him But when he came the second time to him he was a little more sedate and calm and then he does remember he told him If you have any thing of this nature to say Go to a Secretary of State it is his business to inquire into this Affair and 't is not the business of every particular private man because these are Matters that concern the Government But Braddon pretended forsooth it was his Zeal and his great Conscience that made him to be thus transported and to be so eager for carrying on this Prosecution The next Witness Gentlemen that you hear of is the Gentleman that seized upon Mr. Braddon in the Country and that is Mr. Beech who brought him before a Justice of Peace one Ayres that it seems is since dead and in his Pocket he found a Letter from the other Defendant Speke which is the only thing indeed in the Evidence that does affect that Gentleman and what that Letter is you have heard it read and for your better satisfaction because the Language of the Letter is pretty extraordinary if you have a mind to have it to peruse while you are here in Court you may have it with you I suppose you remember the substance of it commending the great Integrity Courage and Magnanimity of this Gentleman Mr. Braddon thanking the Person to whom it was writ for his great kindness to him and his Friends how they did hope to be able to get the Murder of my Lord of Essex tryed before any in the Tower could come to their Tryal That the Tide ran strong against them And pray you must take notice I have given him a hint he must go by another Name by the Name of Johnson and not by the Name of Braddon for a lack-a-day he would be stabbed in these dangerous times or knocked on the head if he be known by his own Name Mr. Braddon would be thought a man so considerable in the World for his Zeal for truth and the Protestant Religion that there was very great hazard of his being murdered we live in such perillous times Gentlemen This is to amuse and affright people and to put odd thoughts and jealousies and fears into the minds of the Kings Subjects which was the beginning and rise of the late Rebellion which we have all reason to remember with horrour that Rebellion that in the Issue of it brought the late King of blessed memory to the Scaffold And therefore we must have a great care of such things growing upon us now And pray Gentlemen mind the Stile of the Letter We have many thanks to give you for your care of Vs and countenance you have given to Vs and We don't doubt We shall be able to carry on the business of the Earl of Essex notwithstanding that the Tide runs strong against Vs We hope this and We hope that and t'other and so makes himself a Party And he recommends him in particular to Sir Robert Atkins to whom the Letter was written to advise him in the matter he went about which by the way you see was to pick up false Evidence to carry on this wicked design And I must tell you Gentlemen If Mr. Speke was given to believe a Lye and did write that Letter with a design to have that Lye spread abroad he makes himself a party and he is as guilty in every Circumstance as the other as to the design in general laid in the Information though not equally guilty about the management of the Witnesses And it is the Letter only that particularly affects him But I tell you If in case you think he was surprized in the thing or did it ignorantly or innocently without any Concern though he seems to have a wonderful concern in his Letter and very zealous he seems to be in the prosecution of this business you are to acquit him But if he did contribute to the design of spreading this false report he is as guilty of that part as Mr. Braddon though he be not guilty of Suborning the Witnesses But the Evidence against Braddon goes farther There is not only the Evidence of this Letter which speaks plain enough as to this design but you find also about him all the Informations that have been read The Information of this Boy of thirteen years of Age the Information of the Girle of thirteen years of Age There was also taken in his Pocket a Letter from one Burgis a famous Pin-maker of Marleborough written to one Cumpen a Post-Master at Froom in this manner Pray call to mind such a business of hearing such a report of my Lord of Essex's cutting his throat upon Friday the thirteenth of July last Pray recollect such a thing and impart it to this Gentleman the Bearer This likewise was intrusted with Mr. Braddon But it seems the man had gone and writ his Letter and had put in the sixth day which happened to be a week too soon and this must be rectified by Mr. Braddon himself he being a great Companion of Mr. Braddon's for it seems he had such a confidence in him that upon his Report he came down from London to Marleborough though now indeed they pretend they never knew one another before But it is proved he confessed he had such a regard to his report that that brought him down from London He had as I was saying put it down the sixth at his first writing and I believe as to the thing it self it was as true the sixth as any other time and the sixteenth and the twenty sixth is all one to such people And this Letter he tells you himself was writen six weeks after but Mr. Braddon must correct it No says he you mistake it must be the thirteenth it must not be the sixth the sixth would not do the business for the thirteenth was the day that he was murdred and so he was forced to interline it the thirteenth to make it to humour the story for the Lye would not pass so well if it had been put upon a day so long before but to make the Lye a correct Lye and to humour the rest of the Evidence Mr. Braddon comes and informs him it must be the thirteenth That was the next piece of Evidence that was given and I think the substance of the Evidence of the whole matter given against the Defendants for the King