[Page]THE Compleat Statesman, Demonstrated in the Life, Actions, and Politick [...] ▪ Of that great Minister of State, Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury:
Containing An Historical Account of his Descent, his Administration of Affairs in the time of Oliver Cromwell, his unwearied Endeavours to restore His Most Sacred Majesty, his Zeal in prosecuting the Horrid Popish Plot; several of his Learned Speeches during his being Ld. Chancellor▪ his Two Commitments to the Tower; the most material passages at his Tryal: With many more considerable Instances, unto his Lordships going for Holland.
London, Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, and Thomas Malthus, at the Su [...] in the Poultry. 1683.
IT was an excellent Caution of the Moralist, de vivis nil nisi verum, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, which if the Relators of our Age adhered to, there could not be so many base reflections on the Living, nor such inhumane Reproaches of the Memories of the Dead, as we daily see imposed upon the too credulous World; so that we often see the gallant actions of the most Heroick, and generous, smutted, & bespattered with false & palpably scandalous Imputations; and on the other side, persons of little Figure, & small Demerit, guilded and vernished with all the applause and encomium due to the Brave and Noble.
[Page 8]It is therefore the design of this small Tractate, not to write after either of these two Copies; but to manage this discourse with that deference to truth, and the knowledg of the present Age, that calumny it self may not find where to fasten upon any part of the ensuing Relation. Nor would I have the Reader imagine, that any design of being seen in P [...]int, or of reflecting on the present Administration of publick Affairs, hath occasion'd the writing hereof; but having heard that several Pens were employed in a work of this nature, and being sensible likewise of the present detracting Genius before hinted; I thought I might in some measure gratifie the inquisitive World by a sincere and candid Relation of the naked truth of things. Some men may object, that it cannot be thought proper to expose the Reputation of any person in an Historical way, until he hath acted out his part, & be fairly gone off the Stage, no more than it would be for a Naturalist to dissect a living person, to discover the soundness of his vitals.
[Page 9]But, as it's reported of Queen M [...] ry, that on her Death-bed she said, Had there been a Window to her Breast, they might have seen Callis in her heart: So doubtless, could there be a view taken of the in-side of this Noble Peer, we might see his heart filled with Loyalty to his Prince, Love to his Country, & Zeal for the Protestant Religion; the Settlement of which only can secure us from the Attempts of His Majesties and His Peoples Enemies. Ye [...], if it be a truth, that the Actions of men are Mirrours, in which their Souls are discerned, we may, by taking a view of some of the most remarkable Passages of his Life, in some measure calculate the Dimensions and Complexion of his Soul.
The wisest of Kings tells us, That in the [...] of Councellor [...] there is strength; and how much it is the Interest of Princes to advance men of the highest Qualifications into such Trust, the Experience of all Ages [Page 10] testifieth. The Affairs of the Publick receive their Exaltation or their De [...]ment, from their Advices; and according to the Qualifications and Inclinations of those great Ministers, may be calculated the Fate of Kingdoms. This hath obliged Monarchs to take to their Councils men of the largest Prospect, the greatest Eloquence, and steddiest Principle to the Interest of the Government; persons knowing in the Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom, whereof they are Members, that Espouse the Interest of their Country with an Inviolable Resolution of adhering to it, with the hazard of their dearest Lives and Liberties; such as prefer the Concern of the Publick above their own private Satisfactions and Enjoyments; that dare deny themselves for the good of the Prince. And of this sort, (without Encroachment on the just Acquirements of any other Minister) we may affirm this [Page 11] Noble Peer to be. With what Admirable Polity did he influence and manage the Councils he was concerned in during the Inter-Regnum, towards His Majesties Interest? With what exquisite Subtilty did he turn all the Chanels of their Councils to swell this Stream? And how unweariedly did he [...]ugg at the Helm of State, till he had brought his great Master safe into the desired Port? A sense of these his great Abilities, and Firmness to the publick good, still kept him up in the Esteem of the Country, who would alwaies chuse him one of their Representatives, in the great Emergencies of State. They knew him to be one of those that could not believe Prerogative to be incompatible with Property, but as he believed that Motto, Rex Legis Tutamen; so he would not have that other, Grex Regis Tutamen to be rejected.
In the year 1656, when a Parliament was chosen without the consent [Page 12] of the People, and to serve a a private Interest, we find him amongst those Worthies that Remonstrated against that Arbitrary proceeding: for none were admitted into the House but such as received a Certificate in the following Form.
Com t. Bucks. These are to certifie that—is returned by Indenture to serve in this present Parliament for the said County, and approved by His Highness Council. Sept. 17. 1656. Nath. Taylor, Clerk of the Commonwealth in Chancery.
Hereupon Complaint being made to the House that some persons returned for Members, were not admitted into the House; upon the question it was Resolved, That those persons should make their Application [Page 13] to the Council for Approbation.
Hereupon several of the Members that were chosen to serve in Parliament, and not Returned, published a Remonstrance, wherein they claimed the priviledge of the Antient Fundamental Laws, and their BirthRight as Freemen of England. But the Remonstrance being much too large to be here inserted, I shall only present you with one or two Paragraphs, as a Specimen of those brave Hero's Resolution against a Protectorian Invasion: And the greatness of their Courage, and brave English Gallantry, will be the more conspicuous, if we consider this was done when the then Protector was in his Zenith; when almost all Europe trembled before him; and he gave Law to the Neighbour-Princes; when he had in his hand that Thunder that had shook the Nation off her very Foundations; And the House too filled with those who either were, [Page 14] or seemed to be his Creatures: Yet in a general Defiance of this so potent Conquerour, did those Noble Patriots (amongst other things) Remonstrate.
When our Worthy Ancestors have been met in Parliaments, and have found Oppression and Tyranny supported by such strong hands, that they could not prevail to secure their Countries, Lives and Liberties by wholsom Laws, they have often made their Protestations against the Injustice and Oppression; and forewarned the people of their danger. In like manner, we who have been duly chosen by the people to be Members of the Parliament, that should now have met, and have an undoubted Right to Meet, Sir, and Vote in Parliament, although we are Oppressed by Force of Arms, and shut out of the usual place of Parliament Sitting; yet having Hearts sensible of that highest Trust reposed in us, and being filled with [Page 15] Cares for the Church and Commonwealth, which with grief of heart we behold bleeding; we do hold our selves bound in duty to God, and our Country, to declare unto the People of England, their and our woful condition, and the most evident danger of the utter Subversion of Religion, Liberty, Right, and Property.
We believe the Rumour is now gone through the Nation, that Armed men employed by the L. P. have prevented the free Meeting and Sitting of the intended Parliament, and have forcibly shut out of doors such Members as he & his Council supposed would not be frighted or flattered to betray their Country, and give up their Religion, Lives, and Estates to be at his Will, to serve his Lawless Ambition. But we fear that the Slavery, Rapines, Oppressions, Cruelties, Murthers, and Confusions that are comprehended in this horrid Fact, are not so sensibly [Page 16] discerned, or so much laid to heart as the case requires; and we doubt not, but as the common practice of the Man hath been, the Name of God, and Religion, and formal Fasts and Prayers will be made use of to colour over the Blackness of the Fact: We do therefore in faithfulness to God, and our Country hereby Remonstrate;
First, That whereas by the Fundamental Laws of this Nation the People ought not to be bound by any Laws, but such as are freely consented u [...]to by their chosen Deputies in Parliament, and it is a most wicked Usurpation, even against the very Laws of Nature, for any man to impose his Will or Discretion upon another as a Rule, unless there be some Pact or Agreement between the Parties for that intent. And whereas by the Mercy of God only, in preserving this Fundamental Law and Liberty, the good People of England have beyond memory of [Page 17] any Record, preserved their Estates, Families, and Lives, which had otherwise been destroyed at the will of every wicked Tyrant; and by keeping this only as their undoubted Right, they have been kept from being brutish Slaves to the lusts of their Kings, who would otherwise have despoiled them of their Persons, Lives, and Estates by their Proclamations, and the Orders of themselves and their Council. Now the L. P. hath by force of Arms invaded this Fundamental Right and Liberty, and violently prevented the meeting of the peoples chosen Deputies in Parliament; and he and his Council▪ boldly declare;
‘That none of the Peoples Deputies shall meet in Parliament, unless they agree to the measure of their Fantasies, Humours and Lusts.’
They now render the people such Fools, or Beasts, as know not who [Page 18] are fit to be trusted by them with their Lives, Estates and Families: But he and his Council, that daily devour their Estates, and Liberties, will judge who are fit to counsel and advise about Laws to preserve their Estates and Liberties. Thus doth he now openly assume a power to pack an Assembly of his Confidents, Parasites, and Confederates, and to call them a Parliament, that he may from thence pretend that the People have consented to become his Slaves, and to have their Persons and Estates at his Discretion. And if the people shall tamely submit to such a Power, who can doubt but he may Pack such a Number as will obey all his Commands, and consent to his taking what part of our Estates he pleaseth, and to impose what Yoaks he thinks fit to make us draw in.
They know it to be the undoubted Right of the People to trust whom they think fit, and as much [Page 19] the Right of every man duly chosen and trusted, to meet and Vote in Parliament, without asking their Leave, or begging their Tickets. And although there have been frequent Secret Designs for many years to subvert Religion, Liberty, and Property in this Nation; and to that end the Designs of Tyranny have attempted to destroy sometimes the Being, sometimes the Power, Priviledges, and Freedom of Parliaments; yet the Mercy of God hath almost miraculously preserved the Being, Priviledges and Authority of Parliaments, and therein Religion, Liberty, and Property, until the time of the Lord Protector.
But now he hath assumed an Absolute Arbitrary Soveraignty (as if he came down from the Throne of God) to create in himself, and his Confederates, such Powers and Authorities, as must not be under the cognizance of the peoples Parliaments. His Proclamations he declares [Page 20] shall be binding Laws to Parliaments themselves; he takes upon him to be above the whole Body of the people of England, and to judge and censure the whole Body, and every Member of it, by no other Rule or Law than his pleasure, as if he were their Absolute Lord, and had Bought all the people of England for his Slaves. Doubtless he would pretend only to have conquered England at his own Expence; and, were there as much Truth as there is Falshood in that pretence, yet he could not but know that the Right of the peoples Deputies to their Antient Powers and Priviledges would remain good against him, as against their publick capital Enemy▪ Whom every man ought to destroy, until by some agreement with the the Body of the people in Parliament, some sort of governing Power in him were submitted unto, that hereby he might cease to be a publick Enemy and Destroyer, and become [Page 21] a King, or Governour, according to the conditions accepted by the people; and if he would so pretend, he could not be so discharged from his publick Enmity by any Conditions or Agreement made with a part of the Peoples chosen Deputies, whilst he shut out the other part; for no part of the Representatives Body are trusted to consent to any thing in the Nations behalf, if the whole have not their free Liberty of Debating and Voting in the Matters propounded.
If he would pretend no higher than to be our Conqueror, who for Peace and his own safety's sake, was content to cease from being a publick Enemy, and to be admitted a Governor, he would not compass those ends by forcibly excluding (as now he does) whom he pleases of the Representative Body of the People, who were to submit to him on the Peoples behalf; therefore he either takes upon him to be such a Conqueror as scorns [Page 22] the Peoples acceptance of him by their Representative as their Governour, and fears not to remain a publick Enemy, or else he takes himself to be such an unheard of Soveraign, that against him the people have no claim of Property or Right in themselves, or any thing else; for he hath now declared, that the peoples choice cannot give any man a Right to sit in Parliament, but the Right must be derived from his gracious Will and Pleasure, with that of his Councellors, and his Clerks Ticket only must be their evidence for it.
Thus hath he exalted himself to a Throne like unto God's, as if he were of himself, and his power from himself, and we were all made for him, to be commanded and disposed of by him, to work for him, and serve his Pleasure and Ambition.
A little after there is an Instance of Chief-Justice Tresilian, who was executed at Tyburn in the time of [Page 23] Richard the Second, for advising the King, that he might at any time dissolve the Parliament, and command the Members to depart under the penalty of Treason. Divers other Protestations were contained in that Instrument against the Arbitrariness and Tyranny of that proceeding; and in conclusion they declare they will [...] [...]t their complaints before the Lord against their powerful Oppressors, hoping he will redeem his people out of the hands of wicked and deceitful Men. This protestation was signed by One hundred and seventeen persons, whereof Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper, the present Earl of Shaftesbury was one, and many others of great Loyalty and Integrity, some whereof are since dead, and others still alive in great Honour and Office.
By this may be easily discerned the Opinion he had of the Illegal and Arbitrary proceedings of O. C. and how much of the sufferings of the [Page 24] Loyal Party would have been prevented, had that point of a free Parliament been then gained: His Majesties Restauration must have been the natural consequence of it. The constant correspondence he always kept with the Royal Party, and that almost to the hazard of his Life and Family, are sufficient Testimonies of his sincerity to his Masters Interest and Service.
His House was a Sanctuary for distressed Royalists, and his correspondence with the Kings Friends (though closely managed, as the necessities of those times required) are not unknown to those that were the principal managers of His Majesties Affairs at that time.
This made that great Politician O. C. so apprehensive of this great Assertor of his Countries Rights, and Opposer of Arbitrary Government and Enthusiasm, that though his vast Abilities were known (at least) to equal the ablest Pilot of the [Page 25] State, yet we cannot find him amongst the Creatures of his Cabinet, or Council, nor amongst the Eleven Major Generals, to whom the Care of the Nation was committed: No, their Principles, their Aims and Designs were incompatible; one was for Subverting, the other for Maintaining the Antient standing Fundamentals of the Nation; which once dissolved, it were impossible but an universal Deluge of Confusion, Blood and Rapine must ensue. This made our brave Patriot (with divers of the Heroick English Race) to the utmost oppose the growth of a Protectorian Power. So that we find Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper accused before the Parliament in the year 1659. for keeping Intelligence with the King, and for having provided a Force of Men in Dorsetshire, to joyn with Sir George Booth in attempting to restore and bring His Majesty that now is to His Rightful Throne. Many persons of great note were imprisoned [Page 26] on the account of this Plot; and amongst the rest Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper, who though (at that time one of the Commissioners of the Army, and a Member of the House of Commons, yet was complained of to the Parliament for a great Manager of the Design; and although no man knew better how to obviate the Reasons of the House, and plead his own Cause, yet was with great difficulty cleared and discharged of that Imputation by the House of Commons.
The Eyes of the great States-men were so much upon him, that he was one of those Loyal Persons mentioned by Baker in his Chronicle, whereof the Council of State was composed; in which List we find General Monk to be the foremost; and that Council the Chronologer calls men of Integrity, and well affected to Kingly Government: And he that will but consider how soon His Majesties Restauration ensued upon the [Page 27] Election of this Council, will have good reason to be of the same Opinion. And in the 673 page we find him to be one of the Nine of the Old Council of State, who sent that encouraging Letter to the said General, to promote his undertaking for the Advantage of the Three Nations. Again, we find him in the List of that Council of State consisting of Thirty Nine, upon whom an Oath was endeavoured to be Imposed for the Abjuration of the Royal Line, but by the Influence of Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper, and General Monk, upon Coll. Morly, that Oath was opposed in Council, as being a snare, and against their Consciences. This was strongly pleaded by the Soberer part of the Council, whereof this great Patriot was one, and so an end was put both to that Oath, and to the Council. Nor is it in the least unknown to persons then in being, how much his Advice influenced the Councils of those times.
[Page 28]He was the person that was particularly singled out of the whole Council by Commissary Clargis in Novemb. 1659. and had communicated to him a dangerous Design, tending to Involve the Nation in further trouble, which this Honourable person imparted to the Council of State. This-was that great Council that complied with General Monk in that great Revolution of Restoring His Majesty. And if that great Action were the occasion of a candid construction put on all the former Actings of the General, why they should not have the same Candour for this Noble person, I think none can determine. His Employment at this time was in places of the highest Trust and Importance; an undeniable Testimony of the great Opinion the then great Mininers had of his Loyalty, as well as known Ability for the Management of the then Intrieate and close Designs. A further prospect will be taken [Page 29] of his Concurrence with Gen. Monk in that Important Juncture, if we remember that his Regiment was one of the first that declared for the Parliament, and General Monk, in March 165 [...]. So zealous was he in putting all his strength to the turning the great Wheel of State.
At the time of His Majesties Restauration, as a most signal Testimony of His Majesties good Sentiments of his former Actions, he was Advanced to be one of the first Rank in His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council, and was placed above His Majesties Royal Brother, the Duke of Gloucester, and even Gen. Monk himself, whom His Majesty used to call his Political Father. And about three daies before His Majesties Coronation, he was in the Banquetting-house created Baron Ashly of Wimbourn St. Giles's; and another addition of Honour was conferred on him ( viz.) Lord Cooper of Paulett; And at last in the [Page 30] year 1672. he was made Earl of Shaftesbury, at the same time when Duke Lauderdale, the Earl of Arlington, and the Lord Clifford were promoted. To his happy Councils do both King and Kingdom owe for the happy Conduct of things for divers years; so that now he seemed to be incorporate into the heart of his Prince; the Events of his Advices were commonly agreeable to what he at first proposed; so that it may be said of him as was spoken of Polibius, that (as Scipio) so the King seldom miscarried in any thing that was carried on by his Advice; so that at length he seemed to be the Royal Oracle. In fine, such was the Opinion which his wise Administration had gained, that as he sate in one of the highest places in his Masters favour, so he was preferred to the highest Trust of Honour in the Kingdom; he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and afterwards Lord High Chancellor of [Page 31] England, about the beginning of the Year 1672. Now was the Kings Conscience (as it were) entrusted to his care and management; this was the highest Orb a Subject was capable to move in; but with what Sagacity, Honour and Integrity he acquitted himself in that great Employment, the Transactions of the Court of Chancery at that time can best witness. Justice ran in an equal channel, the cause of the Rich did not swallow up the Rights of the Poor, he that was oppressed found Relief, and the Oppressor a Rebuke suitable to his crime; the usual delays of that Court were much abated, and all the Transactions thereof were managed with the greatest Judgment and Equity.
As an Instance of his constant adhering to the Interest of his Master, and the commune Bonum, or Weal of the publick, you may take a copy of his Thoughts from that excellent Speech made by him in favour of [Page 32] the Subject in the Exchequer, Jan. 24. 1673. at Baron Thurland's taking the Oath, a copy whereof follows.
Mr. Serj. Thurland,
The King of his Grace and Favour hath made choice of you to be one of the Barons of the Exchequer; he designed to place you in a Court of more profit, though not of more Dignity; but your own Modesty and Virtue hath chosen this Court, where you thought you could serve the K. best. And I could not omit to mention it here to your Honour, it being the greatest Instance of a good man, that he had rather be found serviceable than rich. His Majesty hath had large proof of your former services; besides, he takes you upon the credit of that Recommendation that hath justly the best place with him, I mean his Royal Brothers. Some few things it is fit I should here mention to you, and leave with you as Admonitions, or rather Remembrances.
[Page 33]In the first place you are to maintain the Kings Prerogative, and let not the Kings Prerogative and the Law be two things with you: For the Kings Prerogative is Law, and the principal part of it, and therefore in maintaining that, you maintain the Law. The Government of England is so excellently interwoven, that every part of the Prerogative hath a broad mixture of the Interest of the Subject, the ease and safety of the people being inseparable from the greatness and security of the Crown.
In the next place let me advise you that you acquaint your self with the Revenue, as also with the ancient Records, Precedents, and Practices of this Court, for want of which knowledge, I have seen this Court a most excellent Common Pleas, when at the same time I could not say so much for it as an Exchequer.
In the third place let me recommend [Page 34] to you so to manage the Kings Justice and Revenue, as the King may have most profit, and the Subject least vexation. Raking for old Debts, the number of Informations, Projects upon Concealments, I could not find in the 11 years Experience I have had in this Court, ever to advantage the Crown; but such proceedings have for the most part delivered up the Kings good Subjects into the hands of the worst of Men.
There is another thing I have observed in this Court, which I shall mind you of, which is, when the Court hearkens too much to the Clerks and Officers of it; and are too apt to send out process, when the Money may be raised by other ways more easie to the people. I do not say that the Kings Duty should be lost, or that the strictest course should not be taken, rather than that be; but when you consider how much the Officers of [Page 35] this Court, and the Undersheriffs get by process upon small summs, more than the Kings Duty comes to; and upon what sort of people this falls, to wit, the Farmer, Husbandman and Clothier, in the Country, that is generally the Collector, Constable and Tythingman, and so disturbs the industrious part of the Nation, you will think it fit to make that the last way when no other will serve.
Give me leave also to mind you of one thing more, which is in your Oath, That the Kings needs ye shall speed before all other: that is, the business of the Revennue of the Crown you are to dispatch before all other, and not turn your Court into a Court of Common Pleas; and let that justle out what you were constituted for.
In the last place let me conclude with what concerns all my Lords the Judges, as well as you, let me recommend to you the Port and [Page 36] way of Living suitable to the Dignity of your place, and what the King allows you. There is not any thing that gains more Reputation and Respect to the Government than that doth: and let me tell you, Magistrates, as well as Merchants are supported by Reputation.
His particular Application to prevent any misunderstanding between the King and his Parliament, is very obvious to any that shall but look into his Speeches to the Parliament during his Chancellorship, and with how great concern he still vindicated his Masters Actions: He acquitted himself in all the great Emergencies of this High Employment with that universal Applause and satisfaction, as seldom happens to men in such an envied station: The vilest of his Detractors not being able to fasten any Imputation upon his conduct in those great and weighty Trusts he was advanced to.
[Page 37]So little of self appeared in his Actions, that it may be modestly affirmed of him, he made his own Interest strike sail to the publick, and his care for others seemed more than for himself, and at the time of his highest Elevation, he would not neglect the meanest Suitors that applied themselves to him.
Thus having gradually traced the Advancement of this great Minister to the highest pitch of Honor, where he appeared sicut Luna inter Stellas minores. I shall now take notice of his Relinquishment of that High Employment, and what other contingencies have happened to him since.
About November 1673. His Majesty was pleased to send for the Lord Chancellor to White-Hall, where he resigned the Great Seal of England to His Majesty, and was dismist from being Under-Treasurer of the Exchequor, which place was conferred on Si [...] John Duncomb. In the Afternoon of the same day the [Page 38] Earl of Shaftesbury was visited by Prince Rupert, with divers other great Lords at Exeter House, where they gave his Lordship Thanks for his Faithful and Honourable Discharge of that great Employment. Thus this mighty Minister, who had to the universal satisfaction of all good Men, been raised to that degree of Interest in his Masters favour, without a murmur laid all his Honours at his Masters Feet, and was observed not to abate of the chearfulness of his Temper upon the loss of his honorary Employment. I shall conclude this part with a touch of this Earl's Character, which saith,
[Page 39]The 16th of Feb. 1676. The Honourable Earl of Shaftesbury was sent a Prisoner to the Tower by Order of the House of Lords: There were at the same time committed the E. of Salisbury, and the L. Wharton. The Form of the Warrant for their Commitment was as followeth:
Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled, That the Constable of His Majesties Tower of London, His Deputy, or Deputies, shall receive the Bodies of James Earl of Salisbury, Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, and Philip Lord Wharton, Members of this House, and keep them in safe Custody within the said Tower during His Majesties pleasure, and the pleasure of this House, for their High Contempts Committed against this House; And this shall be sufficient Warrant on that behalf.
The 27th and 29th of Jan. 1677. The E. of Shaftesbury was brought to the King's-Bench-Bar, upon the Return of an Alias Habeas Corpus, directed to the Constable of the Tower, where the Council for the Earl prayed that the Return might be filed, and the Friday following appointed for Debating the sufficiency of the Return, and my Lord was remanded until that day.
On Friday the Earl was brought into Court again, and his Council argued the Insufficiency of the Return. After Mr. Williams, Mr. Wallop, Mr. Smith, had shewed divers weighty Reasons in behalf of the Earl, that that Court might relieve him, they were opposed by the Solicitor General, and the Attorney General, who brought divers Instances why that Court could not discharge a person Committed by Parliament; whereupon the Earl of Shaftesbury is said to have spoke to this purpose:
I did not intend to have spoken one word in this business, but something hath been objected, and laid to my Charge by the King's Council, Mr. Attorney, and Mr. Solicitor, that enforceth me to say something for your better satisfaction. They have told you, that my Council in their Arguments said, That this Court was greater than the House of Peers, which I dare to Appeal to your Lordships, and the whole Court, that it was never spoken by them; I am sure it was not by any direction of mine. What is done by my Council and by me, is, that this is the most proper Court to resort unto, where the Liberty of the Subject is concerned. The Lord's House is the Supream House of Judicature in the Kingdom; but yet there is a Jurisdiction that the Lord's House does not meddle with. The King's Council hath mentioned as a wonder, that a Member [Page 42] of the Lord's House should come hither to diminish the Jurisdiction of the Lords. I acknowledge them to be Superiour to this, or any other Court, to whom all Appeals and Writs of Errour are brought; and yet there are Jurisdictions that they do not Challenge, and which are not natural to them, or proper for them. They claim not to meddle in Original Causes and so I might mention in other things; and I do not think it a kindness to any Power, or Body of Men, to give them some Power that is not natural or proper to their Constitutions: I do not think it a kindness to the Lords to make them Absolute, and above the Law, for so I humbly conceive this must do, if it be adjudged that they by a General Warrant, or without any particular Cause Assigned do Commit me, or any other man to a perpetual and indefinite Imprisonment: And my Lords, I am not so inconsiderable a person, but what you do in my Case, [Page 43] must be Law for every man in England. Mr. Attorney is pleased to say I am a Member of the Lord's House, and to lay weight on the word Member.
It is true, I am one of them, and no man hath a greater Reverence or Esteem for the Lords, than my self; but my Lords, I hope my being a Peer, or a Member of either House, shall not lose my Priviledge of being an English man, or make me to have less Title to Magna Charta, or the other Laws of English Liberty. My Opinion is not with one of my Council, who argued very learnedly, that the Passing an Act by the King's Royal Assent, can make a Session, because the usual promise was not in it. It was without any Instruction of mine to mention that point. The King's Council tells your Lordships of the Laws and Customs of Parliament; and if this were so, I should submit; but this Case of mine is primae Impressionis, and is a new way [Page 44] such as neither Mr. Attorney, nor Mr. Solicitor can shew any President of; and I have no other Remedy or place to Apply to, than the way I take.
Mr. Attorney confesseth, that the King's pleasure may Release me without the Lords: If so, this Court is Coram Rege, this Court is the proper place to determine the King's pleasure. This Court will, and ought to Judge of an Act of Parliament void, if it be against Magna Charta, much more may Judge an Order of the House that is put in Execution to deprive any Subject of his Liberty. And if this Order or Commitment be a Judgment, as the King's Council affirms, then it is out of the Lords hands, and properly before your Lordships, as much as the Acts which were lately Passed, which I presume you will not refuse to Judge of; notwithstanding that the King's Atorney General saith this Parliament is still in being. I take it something [Page 45] ill that Mr. Attorney tells me I might have Applied elsewhere.
My Lord, I have not omitted what became my Duty toward the King; for besides the Oath of Allegiance I took as a Peer, or an English man, there is something in my Breast that will never suffer me to depart from the Duty and Respect that I owe him; but I am here before him; he is alwaies supposed to be here present, and he alloweth his Subjects the Law.
My Lord, They speak much of the Custom of Parliament; but I do affirm, there is no Custom of Parliament that ever their Members were put out of their own Power; and the Inconveniencies of it will be endless.
Mr. Attorney was pleased easily to answer the Objection of one of my Council; if a great Minister be so Committed, he hath the Cure of a Pardon, a Prorogation, or a Dissolution: But if the Case should be put, why Forty Members, or a greater [Page 46] number, may not as well be taken away without Remedy in any of the King's Courts, he will not so easily answer; and if in this case there can be no Relief, no man can foresee what will be hereafter.
I desire your Lordship well to consider what Rule you make in my Case, for it will be a President that in future Ages may concern every man in England. My Lord, Mr. Attorney saith, you can either Release or Remand me; I differ from him in that Opinion. I do not insist upon a Release; I have been a Prisoner above Five Months already, and come hither of Necessity, having no other way to get my Liberty, and therefore am very willing to tender your Lordship Bail, which are in, or near the Court, as good as any are in England, either for their Quality or Estate, and I am ready to give any Sum or Number.
My Lord, This Court being possest of this business, I am now your Prisoner.
The Court delivered their Opinion Seriatim.
Mr. Justice Jones, Mr. Justice Wild, Lord Chief Justice Reimsford; Mr. Justice Twisden was absent, but he desired Justice Jones to declare that his Opinion was, that the Party ought to be remanded, which being the sense of the Court, his Lordship was Remanded by the Court.
His Lordship being denied Redress in the Court of King's-Bench, he continued a Prisoner in the Tower, until the following February; and on the Fourteenth of that Month presents a Petition to the House of Lords, then Sitting, wherein his Lordship makes a very humble Submission both to the King and House of Peers; and for better satisfaction here is inserted, what was said to be a Transcript of the Proceedings of that House relating to that Affair.
A Petition was presented to the House from the Earl of Shaftesbury, wherein he humbly submits himself to their Lordships pleasure, and is ready to make acknowledgment, and submission according to their directions; but in regard it did not appear to this House, that his Lordship had made his Acknowledgment to His Majesty, after some Debate the Petition was rejected.
A Petition from the E. of Shaftesbury was presented to the House, and Read as follows:
THat your Petitioner on the 16th of Feb. 1676. was Committed Prisoner to the Tower of London by your Lordships, because he did not obey your Lordships Order, where he hath continued under Close Confinement, to the great decay of his Health, and danger of his Life, as well as prejudice of his Estate and Family. In all humble Obedience therefore unto your Lordships, he doth acknowledge that his Endeavouring to maintain that this Parliament is Dissolved, was an illadvised Action, for which he humbly begs the Pardon of the King's Majesty, [Page 50] and of this most Honourable House; and doth in all humble Duty and Observance to your Lordships, beseech you to believe that he would not do any thing willingly to incur your displeasure.
Wherefore your Petitioner in all humble Duty and Obedience both to His Majesty, and your Lordships, hath made his humble Submission and Acknowledgment, in his most humble Petition unto the King's most Sacred Majesty, and is ready to make his further Submission to His Majesty, and this Honourable House, according to the direction thereof. And he doth most humbly implore your Lordships, That you will be pleased to restore him to your Favour, and discharge him from his Imprisonment.
This being Read, the Lord Chancellor acquainted the House that [Page 51] His Majesty had received a Third Petition from the E. of Shaftesbury, more submissive in Form than ☞ the Two First. But His Majesty understanding that the Earl of Shaftesbury hath endeavoured to free himself from the Censure of this House, by Appealing to the King'sBench, to have their Judgments thereupon, during the late Adjournment, doth not think fit as yet to signifie his pleasure as to his Discharge, until this House hath taken that matter into consideration.
So that at that time the House refused to Address to the King for a Discharge for the said Earl, but entered on a Debate concerning his Appeal from this House to the King's-Bench for an Habeas Corpus, which Debate was again resumed the day following, and the Records of the King's-Bench produced, by which it did appear that two Rules of Court had been obtained upon the Motion of the E. of Shaftesbury's [Page 52] Council, Trin. Term, 1677. and the Returns thereupon were Read, by which it did appear, that the Earl of Shaftesbury was Committed the 16th of Feb. 1676. by this House for a Contempt, and then the Remittitur of the Earl of Shaftesbury to the Tower was also Read.
After this a Petition from the Earl of Shaftesbury to this House was Read, wherein his Lordship took notice of an Order of this House, of the 20th Instant, for bringing the Records of the Court of King'sBench into this House, concerning the Matter of an Habeas Corpus brought by him, that he takes himself to be greatly concerned, and to have a Right to be present, and heard, when any Debate of any new matter against him is entered upon. That he cannot pretend but that he may have erred, for want of a President to guide him; and being deprived of the benefit of Council by reason of his close Confinement, and [Page 53] being resolved not to do any thing willingly, that might in the least offend His Majesty, or their Lordships, he humbly takes this opportunity to give further Evidence thereof by casting himself at their Lordships feet; and as he hath humbly begg'd the Pardon of His Majesty, so he beggs also the Pardon of this House, for having offended them in any thing whatsoever.
This having been Debated a long time, the House at last came to this Resolution following:
Resolved and declared, That it is a breach of the Priviledge of this House, for any Lord Committed by the House to bring an Habeas Corpus in any Inferiour Court, to free himself from that Imprisonment, during the Session of Parliament.
Resolved, That the Earl of Shaftesbury shall have Liberty to make his full Defence, notwithstanding [Page 54] the Resolution and Declaration aforesaid.
The House sent a Warrant to the Constable of the Tower, to bring the Earl of Shaftesbury to the Bar of this House on the Monday following; accordingly on the Monday following the Earl of Northampton, Constable of the Tower, brought the Earl of Shaftesbury to the Bar of the House, where having kneeled, the Lord Chancellor gave him an account of the foregoing Resolution of the House. Whereupon the Earl of Shaftesbury answered to this Effect.
I have presumed to present two Petitions to this Honourable House; the first your Lordship mentions, I do again here personally renew, humbly desiring that I may be admitted to [Page 55] make that Submission and Acknowledgement your Lordships were pleased to Order: And that after a Twelve-months close Imprisonment to a man of my Age and Infirmities, your Lordships would pardon the folly or unadvisedness of any of my words or actions. And as to my second Petition, I most humbly thank your Lordships for acquainting me with the Resolution and Declaration in that point; and though Liberty be in it self very desirable, and as my Physician (a very Learned man) thought, absolutely necessary to the preservation of my Life: Yet I do profess to your Lordships, upon my Honour, that I would have perisht, rather than have brought my Habeas Corpus, had I then apprehended, or been informed, that it had been a breach of the Priviledge of this Honourable House. It is my Duty, it is my Interest to support your Priviledges; I shall never oppose them. My Lords, I do fully acquiesce [Page 56] in the Resolution and Declaration of this honourable House; I go not about to justifie my self, but cast my self at your Lordships Feet, acknowledg my Errour, and humbly beg your pardon, not only for having brought my Habeas Corpus, but for all other my VVords and Actions that vvere in pursuance thereof, and proceeding from the same Errour and Mistake.
One Blany was then called into the House, who had delivered a paper to the Lord Treasurer Danby, pretending to give a relation of some words spoken by the E. of Shaftesbury, in the Court of Kings-Bench, at the time when he moved for his Habeas Corpus; but though this whole Transaction were no longer since, than the last Trinity Term, yet the said Mr. Blany could not affirm that what was written in the said paper, was in part, or whole really spoken by the Earl of Shaftesbury; so that the Lord Treasurer being able to [Page 57] make nothing of Mr. Blany's paper, (which was a hard case) the House of Lords proceeded to a Resolution, in what form the Earl of Shaftesbury should make his submission and acknowledgment, which being drawn up in words importing much the same with what the Earl had before declared; which being read to him by the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Shaftesbury repeated the same at the Bar of the House, and then his Lordship withdrew.
The House then ordered, that the Lords with white staves should wait upon His Majesty, to give His Majesty Account, that the House had received satisfaction from the Earl of Shaftesbury, in the matter of the Habeas Corpus, and the other contempt for which he stood committed; and are humble Suitors to his Majesty, that he would be pleased to discharge him from his Imprisonment. And that their Lordships do acquaint the House to morrow what [Page 58] they have done in this matter.
The Lord Treasurer reported to the House, That the Lords with white slaves had waited on his Majesty, according to the Order of this House, To which His Majesty was pleased to give this answer, That he will give Order for the Earl of Shaftesburys discharge.
Thus was this great heat (whereby some of this worthy Peers Enemies thought then to blast his Loyalty and Integrity, and endeavoured to foment the disgusts of the House against him) at last extinguished; and the Earl a little after saw this Parliament first prorogued, and soon after dissolved.
Now was that Diabolical Plot of the Jesuits and Papists discovered, by the great care and fidelity of Dr. Titus Oats, which convinced both the King, Lords, and Commons, and [Page 59] all the Nation in General, of a damnable, treasonable, popish design to murther our Protestant King, with the chiefest of the Nobility and Gentry, and to reduce a Protestant Church to Romish Idolatry, and the State to a Catholick slavery.
The seventh of March 1678. A Parliament met at Westminster, and chose the Honourable Edward Seymour Esq their Speaker, who had been Speaker of the last long Parliament. This Parliament did like noble English Patriots, endeavour to give check to the bloody popish Designs on foot, and passed many excellent Votes for that purpose, many Members acquitting themselves in their Speeches like Men of high sense of the Miseries the Nation was like to be involved in. This House carried up the Impeachment to the House of Lords against William Earl of Powis, William Viscount Stafford, Henry Lord Arundel of Wandour, William Lord Peters, and John Lord [Page 60] Bellasis, for High Treason, and other high crimes and misdemeanours. But this having been at large published to the World, in divers other prints, with divers Instances how this Noble Peer was personally struck at in that hellish Design; I shall refer the Reader for more full satisfaction, to the several Narratives and Discoveries of the popish Plot, printed by Authority. And shall now come to give you an Account of a Speech said to be delivered by this Honourable person in the House of Lords, on the 25th of the Instant March, Anno 1679.
You are appointing of the consideration of the State of England to be taken up in a Committee of the whole House, some day the next vveek. I do not know how well what I have to say may be received, for I never study either to make my Court vvell, or to be popular; I always speak what I am commanded by the dictates of [Page 61] the Spirit vvithin me. There are some other considerations that concern England so nearly, that vvithout them you vvill come far short of Safety and Quiet at home. VVe have a little Sister and she hath no Breasts, vvhat shall vve do for our Sister in the day vvhen she shall be spoken for? If she be a VVall, vve vvill build on her a Palace of Silver; if she be a Door, vve vvill inclose her vvith Boards of Cedar. VVe have several little Sisters vvithout Breasts, the French Protestant Churches, the tvvo Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland; the foreign Protestants are a VVall, the only VVall and Defence to England; upon it you may build Pallaces of Silver, glorious Pallaces. The protection of the Protestants abroad, is the greatest povver and security the Crovvn of England can attain to, and vvhich can only help us to give check to the grovving Greatness of France. Scotland and Ireland are two doors, either to let in [Page 62] good or mischief upon us; they are much weakned by the Artifice of our cunning Enemies, and we ought to enclose them with Boards of Cedar.
Popery and Slavery, like two Sisters, goe hand in hand, somtimes the one goes first, somtimes the other, in a doors, but the other is always following close at hand.
In England Popery was to have brought in Slavery; in Scotland Slavery went before, and Popery was to follow. I do not think your Lordships, or the Parliament have Jurisdiction there. It is a Noble and Ancient Kingdom; they have an Illustrious Nobility, a Gallant Gentry, a learned Clergy, and an understanding, worthy People; but yet we cannot think of England as we ought without reflecting on the condition thereof. They are under the same Prince, and the influence of the same Fav [...]urites, and Councils: When they are hardly dealt with, can we [Page 63] that are Richer expect better usage? For 'tis certain, that in all absolute Governments, the poorest Countries are always most favourably dealt with. When the ancient Nobility there cannot enjoy their Royalties, their Shrievaldoms, and their Stewardies, which they and their Ancestors have possessed for several hundreds of years▪ but that now they are enjoin'd by the Lords of the Council to make deputations of their Authorities to such as are their known Enemies, can we expect to enjoy our Magna Charta long, under the same persons and Administration of Affairs? If the Council-Table there can imprison any Nobleman, or Gentleman for several years, without bringing him to Trial, or giving the beast Reason for what they do; can we expect the same Men will preserve the Liberty of the Subject here?
My Lords, I will confess that I am not very well vers'd in the particular [Page 64] Laws of Scotland; but this I do know, that all the Northern Countries have by their Laws an undoubted and inviolable Right to their Liberties, and Properties; yet Scotland hath out-done all the Eastern and Southern Countries, in having their Lives, Liberties, and Estates subjected to the Arbitrary Will and Pleasure of those that govern. They have lately plundered and harased the richest and wealthiest Countries of that Kingdom, and brought down the barbarous Highlanders to devour them; and all this almost without a colourable pretence to do it: Nor can there be found a Reason of State for what they have done; but that those wicked Ministers designed to procure a Rebellion at any rate; which as they managed, was only prevented by the miraculous hand of God, or otherwise all the Papists in England would have been armed, and the fairest opportunity given, in the just time for the execution of that wicked and [Page 65] bloody design the Papists had: and it is not possible for any man that duly considers it, to think other, but that those Ministers that acted that, were as guilty of the Plot as any of the Lords that are now in question for it.
My Lords, I am forced to speak this the plainer, because till the pressure be fully and clearly taken off from Scotland, 'tis not possible for me, or any thinking man to believe that good is meant us here. We must still be upon our guard, apprehending that the Principle is not changed at Court, & that those men that are still in place and Authority, have that influence upon the mind of our excellent Prince, that he is not, nor cannot be that to us, that his own Nature and Goodness would incline him to. I know your Lordships can order nothing in this; but there are those that hear me can put a perfect cure to it: until that be done, the Scottish Weed is like death in the pot, Mors in Olla. [Page 66] But there is somthing too, now I consider, that most immediately concerns us, their Act of Twenty two thousand men to be ready to invade us upon all occasions. This I hear, that the Lords of the Council there have treated as they do all other Laws, and expounded it into a standing Army of Six Thousand Men. I am sure we have Reason and Right to beseech the King that that Act may be better considered in the next Parliament there. I shall say no more for Scotland at this time, I am afraid your Lordships will think I have said too much, having no concern there; but if a French NobleMan should come to dwell in my House and Family, I should think it concerned me to ask what he did in France; for if he were there a Felon, a Rogue, a Plunderer, I should desire him to live elsewhere; and I hope your Lordships will do the same thing for the Nation, if you find Cause.
[Page 67]My Lords, Give me leave to speak two or three words concerning our other Sister, Ireland: Thither I hear is sent Douglas's Regiment, to secure us against the French. Besides, I am credibly informed that the Papists have their Arms restor'd, and the Protestants are not many of them yet recovered from being the suspected Party. The Sea-Towns as well as the In-land, are full of Papists: That Kingdom cannot long continue in the English hands, if some better care be not taken of it. This is in your Power, and there is nothing there but is under your Laws. Therefore I beg, that this Kingdom at least, may be taken into consideration, together with the State of England; for I am sure there can be no safety here, if these Doors are not shut up and made sure.
Some few daies after this Speech the King was pleased to make a great Alteration in his Council, and [Page 68] to appoint the Right Honourable Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury▪ President thereof. About the 18th of April 1679. His Majesty was pleased to declare the Dissolution of the Late Privy Council, and for Constituting a New one; The Lords of the Council not to exceed Thirty, besides the Princes of the Blood which His Majesty may at any time call to the Board, being at Court; and the President and Secretary of Scotland, which are uncertain.
This great Change put men upon various Discourses and Apprehensions suitable to their respective Dispositions and Inclinations; but the most sober both of the Parliament, and others, hoped now to see the Popish Plot wholly Eradicated, especially considering the daily fresh Discoveries that were brought before the Council and Parliament; the last of which was of no long continuance, for about June 1679. this Parliament were dissolved. And about [Page 71] July there were Writs issued out for the summoning another Parliament. Octob. the 17th. 1679. A Parliament met at Westminster, and were by a commission directed to the Lord Chancellor, prorogued until January following. It is almost incredible how in this interval the Papists lifted up their Heads, braving the very face of Justice; for now they had got such a cast of Evidence, that would have accused Innocence itself: Now does Dugdale inform that he had been tampered with to deny his former Evidence. Sir George Wakeman finds the benefit of an Ignoramus Jury, without the Astonishment of Thompson or the Observator, The Diabolical design of ruining the greatest Protestants in England, by leaving a Pacquet of counterfeit Letters in Collonel Mansel's Chamber in Ax-Yard; discovered by Mr. Dangerfield, besides an account of a great summ of Money offered him by the Lady Powis, if he would murther [Page 72] the Earl of Shaftesbury; against whom the rage of that bloody party was now so great, that they left no base and unwarrantable Action unatempted to rob him of his Life. Some were hired to stab or pistol him, others to swear Treason against him, or any other course the Devil could suggest, so as he were but made away, on whose life they thought the ill success of their Diabolical Machine depended.
Libels, containing the blackest Treasons against His Majesty, were forged in the names of the most eminent Protestant Peers and Grandees of the Nation, scarce any person of Integrity against the Roman superstitions, but would have been made a party to it: But whoever was omitted, my Lord Shaftesbury was sure to be drawn in neck and shoulders, and to be duckt over head and ears in the Plot: These were by their mercenary Agents secretly to be conveighed into the Houses of the Protestants [Page 73] aforesaid; and then they wanted not a set of base and mean spirited Villains to swear it home upon them; persons of that prof [...]igate and contemptible disposition, that for a Mess of Pottage would not only forsake all claim to Honesty and Virtue, but prostitute their Souls to the lust and ambition of the worst of Men: But these were no new things to the brave and excellent, to be exposed by Trials of this Nature to the Rage of brutish and inhumane Wretches: A Heathen could long ago observe it:
To what a pitch of Heroic Magnanimity must that Person needs be arriv'd that can buoy up his Soul against such foul Tempests, when the consideration of simple Innocence shall maintain a perpetual serenity within, amidst all the cloudy Fogs of Adversity; [Page 74] that can be as stedfastly loyal under the Frowns as the Favor of his Prince, and answers that witty character of such a one, in Hudibras:
Mr. Dangerfield gives a large account in his Narrative of two several times that he had attempted to kill the Earl of Shaftesbury, and that he had been instigated thereto by the popish Priests, and that the Lady Powis particularly had offer'd him Five Hundred pounds to perform it, whereof he received Twenty pounds in part, but that still he had been providentially disappointed of that barbarous enterprise.
One day Dame Cellier demanded of him whether he had dispatched the aforesaid Earl, and he replying that he could have no opportunity to come at him; Give me the Ponyard, [Page 75] says she, you shall see what a Woman can do for the Catholick Cause: And accordingly, by the Instigation of the Devil, and a hellish rage, which the Papists miscall a holy Zeal, she addressed her self to the Execution of that execrable Design. She makes a visit to the Earl, under pretence of paying her Thanks for Favours obtain'd through his means; but the consecrated Dagger still lurk'd under the skirt of her Gown, ready to have exprest her Gratitude by opening the Veins of this Protestant Peers Heart. He had no reason to be over fond of the conversation of such cattle, and therefore in short time she was dismist without having an opportunity of putting her philonious and trecherous design in execution.
Is then a loyal Innocence and protestant Integrity Armour of proof against Poisons, Pistols, and Ponyards? The Catholick Gallantry stops not here, but pursues this Noble [Page 76] Peer with Forgery of his Hand, and other their little black Artifices and Sham-plots. What base and villanous Arts the Papists used to destroy the Lord Shaftesbury, is not only evident by their many endeavours to have stabbed him, as hath been deposed by divers persons, to whom the Parliament as well as the Nation have given belief, but may be further confirmed by their intercepting Letters directed to his Lordship; and after they had (in a hand as near the Original as they could counterfeit) inserted Treason in them, they were transmitted to such as would certainly acquaint our Ministers with it. In short one story of their mischievous practice in this kind is this: There is a Gentleman who was a Commander of a Regiment of Horse in the late Kings service, and lost all for his sake, and his present Majesties, writ to this Noble Peer about relieving him against the Gout, with which he useth be [Page 77] afflicted: This Letter was intercepted, and (the person then living in the French King's Dominions) after adding to it an account, That the Writer was able to furnish the Earl with Forty thousand men from France, to oppose the D. of York's Interest: It was then conveyed to some of the French King's Ministers, who they supposed would send a Copy of it hither; but by a strange providence the Original was returned into the Gentleman's own hands.
A Copy whereof follows.
WE are here to cast our selves at Your Majesties Feet, being [Page 78] Ten of the Peers of Your Realm of England, and in our own Names, & in the Names of several others of our Fellow-Peers, do humbly beg, That Your Majesty would consider the great Danger Your Royal Person is in; as also the Protestant Religion, and the Government of these Your Nations.
We humbly pray, That in a time when all these are so highly concerned, Your Majesty will effectually use Your Great Council the Parliament.
Sir, Out of the deepest sense of Duty and Loyalty to Your Majesty, We offer it as our humble Advice and earnest Petition, That the Parliament may Sit at the time appointed; and that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased to give publick Notice and Assurance thereof, that the Minds of Your Majesties Subjects may be settled, and their Fears [...].
[...] Address was offered in the [Page 79] Names, and by the Order of the Peers under named, ( viz.)
And was personally presented to His Majesty by four Earls, and five Barons, ( viz.)
With whom the Earl of Bedford had personally joyn'd, but that by a sudden indisposition he was prevented.
[Page 80]It was delivered by the Earl of Huntingdon, in the name of the rest of the subscribed Lords. And they were introduced to His Majesty by his Highness Prince Rupert.
His Majesty was graciously pleased to return this answer:
‘That he would consider of what they had offered, and could heartily wish that all other People were as sollicitous for the Peace and Good of the Nation, as he would ever be.’
But on the Twelfth His Majesty, of his Princely Wisdom, thought fit to prorogue the Parliament, from the 26 of January, until the 11th of November next ensuing.
Near this time this Noble Peer recovered out of a violent and dangerous fit of sickness.
So endless were the designs and Conspiracies of the Papists against this Noble Peer, that notwithstanding they met with many disappointments [Page 81] in their Attempts, the Almighty Providence protecting his Innocence from their [...]ellish Machinations, that now another Female Agent is discovered for Tampering with Mr. Dugdale to retract what he had sworn before King and Parliament, towards the detection of the damnable popish Plot, the sum of Two Thousand pounds was offered him, by one Mrs. Price, and divers great persons named by her to be security for the payment of it, in case he would sign such a Recantation, and affix the Odium of a Protestant or Presbyterian Plot on some of the Protestant Peers, and others of known Loyalty and Integrity to their Prince and Country; particularly on the Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftesbury. Of which [...] rous design Mr. Dugdale (being at that time touched with some remorse at such a horrid Villany) gave his Lordship an account, which occasioned the miscarrying of that foul [Page 82] and traitorous Enterprise. Nor were they wanting in their famous Method and Artifice, in calumniating and throwing dirt on the Reputation of this Noble Peer, which is a faculty they are very famous for; and on the account of which they may particularly value themselves; [...] For now a Pacquet of base Libels, and Treasonable Reflections, were by the Penny-Post transmitted to a Printer, and Copies of the same dispersed about the parts of Westminster, full of venemous and malicious slanders, and Imputations, tending to the taking away the life of this Protestant Earl, and divers other Peers of Right Honourable Account: But the Printer detesting so black a design, published an Invitation to any person that would detect the Author, or publisher of that infamous Libel.
And now we are got into such a Bog of Plots, Sham-plots, Subornations and Perjuries, as the History [Page 83] of no Age can parallel. 'Twas the mode for discarded Varlets, Irish Skip-kennels, and indigent extravagants to be treated, and treating one another with no less than the Assurances of vast and mighty Fortunes, and Employments in places of Trust and Honour, on condition they would lustily swear the Plot upon the Presbyterians; but none of these cursed projects were ever proposed, but the Earl of Shaftesbury was principally (though with many other Noble Heroes) to be charged as the chiefest Agent in it.
To this purpose David Fitz-Girald, one of their notorious Evidences, endeavours both by Bribes and Threats, to draw divers others of his Countrey-men and Complices to join with him in the Catholick Design. They had been disappointed at the Ponyard and Pistol, nor could have opportunity to dispatch him that way: the remembrance of Sir Edmund-Bury Godfreys Cravat, [Page 84] and the Assassination of Justice Arnold, were caution sufficient to any discerning Protestant; and now that method had been so shamefully and notoriously detected, and cast such a just Odium upon their party, other means must be attempted: nothing so suitable to their Genius as an Oath; and it is no marvel if those who can't ordinarily discourse without discharging loud [...] of Blasphemies and Execrations, the embellishment of whose comm [...]ik is the Rhetorick of their [...] and Dam [...]e's: If such (I say) should at some [...] or other make their loose Breath serve them to better purpose, and swear themselves into Estates and Offices.
Fitz-Girald had store of Guinnys, he ch [...]nks them lustily, and shews them to Mr. Hetherington, besides divers Five-pound-pieces of Gold, telling him this should be done to the man that was loved; with divers other Invitations to come over and [Page 85] transfer the popish Plot in Ireland on the Protestants. This was deposed by Mr. Hetherington before the Lord Mayor of London.
In January before the meeting of the Parliament at Oxford, we find the Earl of Shaftesburys hand amongst other Noble Peers, affixed to a Petition and Advice to His Majesty, requesting His Majesty that the Parliament might [...]it at W [...]minster. And because the [...] Petition and Advice [...] all through it such unque [...]able marks of a most tender Duty and [...]ction to His Majesties person. It may not be improper here to insert it, to obviate the evil surmises of some, who would stain the most loyal performances with imputations of a contrary nature.
At the delivery of the Petition and Advice, the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex is said to have made the following Speech.
THe Lords here present, together with divers other Peers of the Realm, taking notice, that by your late Proclamation your Majesty hath declared an Intention of calling a Parliament at Oxford; and observing from Histories and Records, how unfortunate many such Assemblies have been, when called at a place remote from the capital City; as particularly the Congress in Henry the Seconds time at Clarendon: Three several Parliaments at Oxford, in Henry the Thirds time; and at Coventry, in Henry the Sixths time, with divers others, which have proved very fatal to those Kings, and have been followed with great mischief to the whole Kingdom: And considering the present posture of Affairs, the many Jealousies and Discontents which are among the People, we [Page 87] have great cause to apprehend that the consequences of sitting of a Parliament now at Oxford, may be as fatal to your Majesty and the Nation, as those others mentioned have been to the then Reigning Kings; and therefore we do conceive that we cannot answer it to God, to your Majesty, or to the People, if we, being Peers of the Realm, should not on so important an occasion, humbly offer our Advice to your Majesty; that if possible, your Majesty may be prevailed with, to alter this (as we apprehend) unseasonable Resolution, The Grounds and Reasons of our Opinion, are contained in this our Petition, which we humbly present to your Majesty.
THat whereas your Majesty hath been pleased, by divers Speeches and Messages to your Houses of Parliament, rightly to represent to them the dangers that threaten your Majesties Person, and the whole Kingdom, from the mischievous and wicked Plots of the Papists, and the sudden growth of a foreign Power; unto which no stop or remedy could be provided, unless it were by Parliament, and an Union of your Majesties Protestant Subjects, in one mind, and one Interest.
And the Lord Chancellour, in pursuance of your Majesties commands, having more at large demonstrated [Page 89] the said dangers to be as great as we, in the midst of our fears, could imagine them; and so pressing, that our Liberties, Religion, Lives, and the whole Kingdom would certainly be lost, if a speedy provision was not made against them.
And your Majesty on the 21st of April, 1679. having called unto your Council many Honourable and Worthy Persons, and declared to them, and to the whole Kingdom, That being sensible of the evil effects of a single Ministry, or private Advice, or foreign Committee, for the general Direction of your Affairs, your Majesty would for the future refer all things unto that Council, and by the constant Advice of them, together with the frequent use of your great Council the Parliament, your Majesty was hereafter resolved to govern the Kingdom: We began to hope we should see an end of our Miseries.
But, to our unspeakable grief and [Page 90] sorrow, we soon found our expectations frustrated; the Parliament then subsisting was prorogued, and dissolved, before it could perfect what was intended for our relief and security: And tho another was thereupon called, yet by many prorogations it was put off till the 21st of Octob. past; and notwithstanding your Majesty was then again pleased to acknowledge, that neither your Person, nor your Kingdom could be safe, till the matter of the Plot was gone through: It was unexpectedly prorogued on the 10th of this Month, before any sufficient Order could be taken therein: All their just and pious Endeavours to save the Nation were overthrown, the good Bills they had been industriously preparing to Unite your Majesties Protestant Subjects brought to nought: The discovery of the Irish Plots stifled: The Witnesses that came in frequently more fully to declare that, both of England and Ireland discouraged, [Page 91] Those foreign Kingdoms and States, who by a happy conjunction with us, might give a check to the French Powers, disheartned, even to such a despair of their own security against the growing greatness of that Monarch; as we fear may enduce them to take new Resolutions, and perhaps such as may be fatal to Us: the Strength and Courage of our Enemies, both at home and abroad, encreased, and our selves left in the [...]tmost danger of seeing our Country brought into utter desolation.
In these extremities we had nothing under God to comfort us, but the hopes that your Majesty (being touched with the groans of your perishing People) would have suffered your Parliament to meet at the day unto which it was prorogued, and that no further interruption should have been given to their proceedings, in order to their saving of the Nation: But that failed us too; so then we heard that your Majesty [Page 92] had been prevailed with to dissolve it, and to call another to meet at Oxford, where neither Lords nor Commons can be in safety, but will be daily exposed to the Swords of the Papists, and their Adherents, of whom too many are crept into your Majesties Guards. The Liberty of speaking according to their Consciences will be thereby destroyed, and the validity of all their Acts and Proceedings (consisting in it) left disputable. The straitness of the place no way admits of such a concourse of persons as now follows every Parliament: The Witnesses which are necessary to give Evidence against the popish Lords; such Judges, or others, whom the Commons have impeached, or had resolved to impeach, can neither bear the charge of going thither, nor trust themselves under the protection of a Parliament, that is itself evidently under the power of Guards and Souldiers.
[Page 93]The Premises considered, We your Majesties Petitioners, out of a just abhorrence of such a dangerous and pernicious Council, (which the Authors have not dared to avow) and the direful apprehensions of the calamities, and miseries that may ensue thereupon; do make it our most humble Prayer and Advice, that the Parliament may not sit at a place where it will not be able to act with that freedom which is necessary; and especially to give unto their Acts and Proceedings that Authority which they ought to have amongst the people, and have ever had, unless impaired by some Awe upon them (of which there vvants not precedents;) and that your Majesty would be Graciously pleased to order it to [Page 94] sit at Westminster, (it being the usual place, and where they may consult vvith Safety and Freedom.
And your Petitioners, &c.
In October, during the Session of the last Parliament, it is very remarkable, that Francisco de Faria, Interpreter to the Portugal Ambassadour, amongst other high matters relating to the popish Plot, gave it in his Information at the Bar of the House; He declared that the said Ambassador had tempted him to kill the Earl of Shaftesbury, by throwing [Page 95] a Hand-Granado into his Coach, as he was passing the Rode into the Country.
And about the 20th of Novemb. one Zeal being called to the Bar of the House delivered his Information at the Bar, the purport whereof was this: That being a Prisoner in the Marshalsea, Mrs. Cellier came divers times to him, and treated with him, not only to be Instrumental himself, but to procure others to Assist him to fire His Majesties Ships as they lay in the Harbour; as also to swear against the E of Shaftesbury, such Art [...]es of High Treason as she should get ready prepared for him, or to that purpose.
To sum up the many various Methods and Waies that were devised, and put in execution to cut off the Life of this Noble Peer, would be Task enough to fill many Volumes. The Jesuites (next to the Attempting His Majesties Life) set all their Inventions and Engines on work, to [Page 96] make away the Earl of Shaftesbury; he was the Beam in their Eye, the Clog that hindered the motion of their Curst Designs. What have they not attempted that might render him distastful to the King? throwing the foulness of their own Treasons upon him, as appears by the Deposition of Brian Haines before the Council in Octob. 1681. That David Fitz Girald told the said Brian Haines, that he the said Fitz Girald possessed His Majesty, and had given it under his hand and Seal, that the late Plot was a Presbyterian Plot, and Invented by the Right Honourable Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, on purpose to Extirpate the Family of the Stuarts, and dethrone his present Majesty, and turn England into a Common-wealth, or else set the Crown upon the Earls own Head; with more to this purpose, of which we shall have occasion to make farther mention, when we come to the Tryal of the said Earl; and shall [Page 97] therefore now hasten to the Meeting of the Parliament at Oxford, where Business of as high nature was agitated, as ever came before the consideration of a Parliament, no less than the preservation of the King's Majesty, the Protestant Religion, and the good people of England; all which were now, as much as ever Invaded by the Bloody Designs of the Papists.
This Parliament met the 21th of March 1681. in the ConvocationHouse at Oxford. The House of Lords Sare in the Geometry School, where was a Throne and State Erected for His Majesty, in which His Majesty being Seated in His Royal Robes, declared himself to both Houses to the Effect following.
That the unwarrantable Proceedings of the last House of Commons were the reason of his parting with them; for that he who would never use Arbitrary Government himself, would not suffer it in Others. That [Page 98] whoever calmly considered the Assurances he had renewed to that last Parliament, and what he had Recommended to them; His Forein Alliances, the Examination of the Plot, and the Preservation of Tangier, and reflect upon their unsuitable Returns, might rather wonder at his Patience, than that he grew weary of their Proceedings; that it was his Interest, and should be his Cause as much as Theirs, to Preserve the Liberty of the Subject, the Crown not being safe when that is in danger. That by Calling this Parliament so soon, he let them see, that no Irregularities of Parliament should make him out of love with them; by which means he gave them another opportunity to provide for the Publick Security, and had given one Evidence more that he had not neglected his part.
That he hoped the ill Success of former Heats, would dispose them to a better Temper. That as for the further prosecution of the Plot, Trial of [Page 99] the Lords, &c. he omitted to press them, as being obvious to consideration, and so necessary for the Publick Safety: But desired them not to lay so much weight upon any One Expedient against Popery, as to determine that all other were ineffectual.
That what he had so often declared touching the Succession, he should not recede from. But that to remove all reasonable fears that might arise touching the possibility of a `Popish Successor, if means could be found out that in such a case the Administration should remain in Protestant hands, he should be ready to hearken to any such Expedient by which Religion might be secured, and Monarchy not destroyed.
Lastly, He advised them to make the known and Establisht Laws of the Land, the Rule and Measure of their Votes.
The 22th. the Commons having chosen their Speaker, presented him to His Majesty in the Lords House. [Page 100] Little beside was done until the 25. when the House considered an Act for Repeal of the Act 35 Eliz. which had passed both Houses in the last Parliament, but had not been tendered to His Majesty for his Royal Assent. A conference was desired with the Lords, as to matters relating to the constitution of Parliaments in passing of Bills.
Another Message was ordered to be sent to the Lords, to put them in mind, that the Commons had form [...]ly by their Speaker demanded Judgment of High Treason at their Bar, against the Earl of Danby; and therefore to desire their Lordships to appoint a day to give Judgment against him the said Earl, upon the said Impeachment.
The same day the Examination of Edward Fitz-Harris, relating to the popish Plot was read in the House, upon which the said Examination was ordered to be Printed, the said Fitz-Harris to be impeached [Page 101] at the Lords Bar, and a Committee appointed to draw up Articles against him.
But the House of Lords rejected the Impeachment of Mr. Fitz-Harris, whereby a stop was put to their proceedings. And on the 28th in the morning, the Commons were sent for to the House of Lords, where His Majesty told them, That their Beginnings had been such, that he could expect no good success of this Parliament, and therefore His Majesty thought fit to dissolve them. And my Lord Chancellor having declared them dissolved; His Majesty came the same night to WhiteHall.
I must beg the Readers pardon, if he think I have in this Relation deviated from my Theam, which was the Earl of Shafton; but nothing of a popish Plot hath been yet brought upon the stage, wherein he hath not been level'd at; he certainly knowing how destructive the Interest of [Page 102] the Papists is to the Government and People of England, hath set himself, to the hazard of his Life and Family to oppose them. The next thing that appeared on the Booksellers stalls was a paper with this Title.
Upon rejecting the Impeachment of Mr. Fitz-Harris, giving for Reasons, why it was the undoubted Right of the Commons so to do; because great Offences that influence the Parliament, were most effectually determined in Parliament, nor could the complaint be determined any where else: For that if the party should be indicted in the KingsBench, or any other inferiour Court, for the same offence, yet it were not the same suit; an Impeachment being at the suit of the People, but an Indictment at the suit of the King. Besides that, they conceived it to be a denial of Justice, in regard that the [Page 103] House of Peers as to Impeachments, proceeding by vertue of their Judicial, not their Legislative, Power, could not deny any suitor, but more especially the Commons of England, no more than the Courts of Westminster, or any other inferiour Courts, could legally deny any suit or criminal cause, regularly brought before them. Signed according to the Printed Copy by the following Peers.
Finding the Earl of Shaftesburys Name, amongst the other Noble [Page 104] Peers and Patriots; I thought it not improper to insert the copy in this place, it being the last Act of that great Man upon the publick stage; For since that time he hath rather been passive, as will further appear by the remaining Discourse: We shall only remember, that at his return from Oxford the Earl left a massy piece of Plate as a Gift to Baliol Colledg, as also did that Heroick Prince James Duke of Monmouth, which will be to posterity a Testimony of their Magnificence and Bounty.
And now to return to what remains, for the finishing this Tragical story, I shall mention only what is already printed, either in Captain Wilkinson's Information, Colledg's Trial, or else is matter of Fact, or set forth in the Trial of this great Peer himself. Only I cannot omit that on the 15th of Aug. 1681. Mrs. Fitz-Harris gave a deposition upon Oath, that her Husband a little before his Execution, not only told [Page 105] her what great offers he had made him if he would at first have charged that Infamous and Treasonable Libel, for which he was after executed, on this worthy Peer, and the Lord Howard; but that he also advised her to do it as the only means to save his Life, though he protested at the same time that they were wholly innocent. She likewise deposeth that a certain Gentleman, whose Name shall be for born assured her that she should have what summs of Money she pleased, if she would accuse the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lord Howard, as the Authors of the said Libel: But they have tampered with so many on the account of this baffled Design, that it's impossible but their consults should take wind, especially when we consider they were a people, that either to supply their necessities, or feed their ambition, or more probably through an irresistible Fatality, had blab'd and discovered the very Arcana of Holy [Page 106] Mother, and had spoke so unseasonably just in her [...]ip, that they had spoiled her Game. What security could the Romish Sophisters have, but that these crackt Vessels would prove as leaky again, when under the force of a Temptation? But they had such a Modly of Evidences, as is almost comical to consider. There were the Mac's and the Mounsieur's, the Midwife, and the Priest, the skipkennel, and the Newgate-Birds, the Justice, and the Bog-trotter, the Counte▪s and the Kitchin Wench. No discourse was heard among them, But Captains places, Deanries, Rewards, Gratuities, Preferments, and as much Money as you will. They were advanced from Bonny-Clapper to Clarett, and Frontineack; from Torneps and Oat cakes, to Oysters & Pheasants; from Brogues and Bandle, to Velvet, and Cloath of Silver. They discoursed of his Majesty as if they had been of his Council, and of his great Ministers, as if [Page 107] had been their Confederates. But there hath been so much said of these, upon Depositions taken before divers of the Magistrates of the Nation; that I shall take no farther notice of them before I proceed to Captain Wilkinson's Information; only insert one passage of David Fitz-Girald, and it was given in upon Oath, by Mr. E. E. who hath approved his Loyalty to the King, upon many occasions, and in divers difficult and tempting Instances, his Deposition was, That David FitzGirald told him▪ he would swear Treason against the Earl of Shaftesbury, and procure others to do the like, and that if he would second him in the said Accusation, he should be highly considered. Such was the Impudence of this wretched man▪ not only to seek the Lives of the Innocent, and to reflect upon his superiours, but to procure and subo [...] mercenary Souls to involve themselves in the same cursed and Diabo lical Designs.
[Page 108]Captain Wilkinson was a Gentleman that had always espoused the Royal Interest, and hazarded his Life and Fortune in the service of his Prince; but having not had that success that a brave and industrious man might expect, he applied himself to the Proprietors of Carolina, to obtain an Employment in that Country, and upon that score had a promise of the Lord Shaftesbury, (in consideration of his great sufferings for His Majesty) of a considerable and honourable Employment there; but was unfortunately made a Prisoner in the Kings-Bench for Debt, before he could enter upon that Employment; of which he gives a satisfactory account in his Information, a breviate of which take as follows from the Printed Narrative:
This person (being known to be under very ill Circumstances, and in some measure acquainted with the Earl of Shaftesbury) they thought very proper to work over to their [Page 109] design, for (could they have obtained it) his Evidence (having been a person of a standing credit) would have struck deeper than all the Mac's about the Town: Therefore on the 8th of Octob. 1681. one Walter Bains came to him at the KingsBench Prison, and after some infinuating discourse, told him, that he could not but know much of the Lord Shaftesbury's Designs against the King; and that he might do well to discover it to him; that he had an Interest with the Lord Hyde, and had lately been with Mr. Graham, by which it seems the Captain apprehended what was the meaning of his kindness, but constantly asserted that he knew nothing of my Lord Shaftesbury's Designs against His Majesty, but had cause to believe the said Earl loves his Majesty, for that he was always pleased to shew the Captain Respect upon account of his services to the King.
Mr. Bains continued his importunities [Page 110] on the same Subject to the Captain, until near night, and then left him full of great assurance, and promises to see him in few daies; not much questioning the Captains knowledge of the Earls Design.
W. Narrat. On the 11th of the same month one Booth came to him upon the same design, and after much discourse told the Captain, he had now an opportunity to do himself a greater kindness than ever, for he might have either 10000 l. or 500 l. per Annum settled on himself or his Heirs, if he would but discover what he knew of the Lord Shaftesbury, and his Design, in changing the Government to a Common-wealth, and witness against him: He further told him, now was the time to do something that would advance him, for it must now be a King or a Common-wealth; much more was then urged to induce the Captain to it, to which he gave such Answers as might encourage Booth [Page 111] to go on with his Proposals. In the mean time the Captain imparts this Affair to another person in the King's-Bench, and desired him to put it in writing, (lest he should be tempted with what offers were made) that in such case if he should ever declare that he knew any thing of a Design against the King by the Lord Shaftesbury, that then this person should witness the Truth against him, the said Captain; and further, that the Captain would still give the said person a full account of all Negotiations about that Affair. Mr. Booth told him, he must appear at Court, and he should have an assurance of a Reward from some persons of Honour; the Captain told him, he would not trust any Courtier he knew for a Groat.
W. Narrat. On the 12th of Octob. they were at the Captain again, and plied him with Wine and good words, to work upon him to come in a Witness against the L. Shaftesbury [Page 112] telling him, he might be assured of what he desired from the E. of H. and the L. H. He told them, if they would give him 20000 Guinys towards his own, and his friends losses, by Injuries sustained, he would▪ discover what he knew; but still said he knew nothing of any Design by my Lord Shaftesbury.
Much more was transacted in this matter, as is more at large set forth in the Captain's Information. But at length they came on the 15th day with a Warrant, which the Marshal shewed him, whereby he was compelled to go to Whitehall. In a short time after his coming thither, he was conducted to Mr. Secretary Jenkins's Office, where was also my Lord Conway, who very fairly and honestly interrogated him concerning what he knew about my Lord Shaftesbury, and of any Design against His Majesty; he gave the same Answer to them as he had done to the former Attackers, that he knew nothing; [Page 113] great Arguments were used, but he could give no satisfactory Answer, as (he conceived) was expected. In a little time His Majesty came into the Office, and was pleased to say to the Captain, that His Majesty knew him well, that the Captain had served his Father, and His Majesty faithfully, and he hoped the Captain would not decline his Obedience. To which the Captain answered, that he never deserved to be suspected: His Majesty was pleased further to tell him, he had not had the opportunity to serve his Friends, but hoped he might: His Majesty was pleased to promise to consider him for his sufferings. Then after an excellent Exhortation, in which His Majesty told him that the kindness was intended, was not with design to speak a word but Truth it self, and if he knew the Captain, or any other person did, he would never endure them: His Majesty demanded what he knew of a Design against his Person [Page 114] and Government? he answered, he knew nothing of any Design against His Majesties Person or Government; that he admired why one that had so faithfully served His Majesty, and Royal Father, both in England, and beyond Sea, and was so Instrumental to His Majesties Restauration, should be suspected. But some persons had possessed His Majesty, that the Captain was deep in some Design against the Government, and knew much of my Lord Shaftesbury: At length after much pressing, His Majesty told him, if he would say, As he hoped to be saved, he knew nothing of any Design against his Person, that then His Majesty would believe him; which the Captain having said in the very words, His Majesty seemed to be much surprized at it, and left him to the management of the Secrery, who used such Arguments as he thought fit: At last the Captain declared that he knew his Duty to his Soveraign, and would never draw [Page 115] his Sword against him, but could freely do it against some of the Court, who were Enemies both to His Majesty and his Friends. So he was taken into another Room, where were His Majesty, Lord Chancellor, Lord Hallifax, Lord Hide, two Secretaries of State, and Lord Chief Justice Pemberton; Mr. Graham, Booth, and Baines were present. My Lord Chancellor would not believe but that he must be guilty of knowing great things against the Lord Shaftesbury; he told them, if he could not be believed on his word there, if they pleased to bring my Lord Shaftesbury to his Tryal, he should declare in open Court upon his Oath, what his knowledge was, without any hopes of gain or Advancement; the Lord Chancellor wittily replied, there were two sorts of Advancements, and he was like to come to his own Tryal first, before the Lord Shaftesbury. My Lord Chancellor demanded, if he had no [Page 116] Commission for this New Service against His Majesty, to which the Captain answered, No. Then the Chancellor told him, he was to have a Troop to consist of Fifty Men; the Capt. said that was a small Troop; he hoped, if ever he had Command of a Troop, it should be a better than that: But the Captain desired to know, who gave that Information. The Lord Chancellor told him, Mr. Booth, who was (by, and) Listed under him. Captain Wilkinson desired Booth to tell him, whether he had given this Information upon Oath, Booth answered, Yes, and it was true. At all this the Captain was not concerned: so much doth glorious Innocence triumph over the Forgeries, and Impious Designs of Evil men, and out-braves them even in Death it self.
That which is very observable in Captain Wilkinsons Information, is, That at that very time when Booth had sworn he was to have commanded [Page 117] a party of Horse at Oxford, his whole Family, Wife, Children, and Servants, making about the number of 37 persons, were all on Board his Ship, bound for Carolina, and all lying at his proper charge; but when he thought himself most in readiness for his intended Voyage, he found himself strangely entangled, that he could not stir, some Debts he was bound for for others, and more of his own fell upon him, and he was committed to the Kings-Bench, which put a stop to the designed Voyage; and he hath often since concluded there was a Divine hand in it.
I have thought it proper to insert in this place the Testimony of Major Jervas James, whose Loyalty and Integrity to his Majesty hath been sufficiently known, having most faithfully, and as a true Subject, served His Majesty both beyond the Sea and at home, and declares is still ready with all chearfulness (when his [Page 118] Majesty shall please to command him) to serve him to the last drop of his Blood. He acknowledgeth himself a Son of the Church of England, as is it by Law established, and hath without scruple taken the Oaths of Allegiance, and Supremacy. He stiles the acquaintance he hath with so deserving a person as Captain Wilkinson, a great Happiness, and acknowledgeth himself obliged to him for so timely entrusting him with so notable a secret, being a stranger to the said Captain, which trust Major James lookt upon as a great Adventure, and the Discovery to endanger the Lives both of the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Captain Wilkinson. He likewise declares, before God and Man, that he believes all the Captains Information to contain nothing but the truth of what he had from Booth, Bains, and Mr. Graham: For he lent him the convenience of his Chamber to write the whole business, and saw him write it with his [Page 119] own Hand; as may also be witnessed by Mr. Robert Bennet, who is an Officer in Leaden-Hall-Market, and transcribed it for the Captain. He hopes his Majesty is, and will be, well satisfied, that those who faithfully and truly serve His Majesty, and his Subjects, are the persons both to be believed, and relied upon, and desires that this may have credit, according to its Truth and Reality, both in the heart of his Majesty, and all his loyal Subjects.
I Jervais James, Gentleman, do declare, that the above named Captain Henry Wilkinson came to me upon Tuesday, the 11th of Octob. 1681. in the Evening, and did then, and likewise every day from time to time afterwards, make me acquainted with the several Treaties and [Page 120] Transactions between him the said Captain Henry Wilkinson, and Mr. Booth, Mr. Bains, and Mr. Graham▪ and the several other Persons in this his Information mentioned; and that they were the very same in substance with what he hath herein set forth & declared; for at his Request, & for my own satisfaction, I kept a daily Journal during the time of their Treating. All which shall be attested upon Oath when required.
This forementioned Information was published by Captain Henry Wilkinson, during the time of my Lord Shaftesbury's confinement in the Tower, and was of very great use to satisfie all loyal and honest minded men, of the base and detestable practices of those evil minded persons, against his Life; and in how dreadful a condition would the Nation have been, if through the means of these, or such like Witnesses, the guilt of shedding Innocent Blood [Page 121] should have been drawn upon us; & where would the rage of the Papists have ended, had they succeeded in this their horrid attempt?
Abo [...]t the 29th of July, 1681. the Right Honourable Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury was apprehended at his own House by a Serjeant at Arms, and carried before the King and Council, and after some Examination he was committed to the Tower, upon a charge of High Treason; the Right Honourable the Lord Howard having been committed before, upon an Information that he had assisted in contriving Mr. FitzHarris's Libel, and Stephen Colledg, and Mr. Rouse having likewise been committed about the 25th of the same Month. It is said, that some days after his Lordships commitment, that as he was taking the Air in the Tower, meeting accidentally with one of the popish Lords, he was asked by him, what his Lordship did there, and that they little [Page 122] thought to have had his good compan [...]; to which the E. of Shaftesbury replied, that he had lately been very ill of an Agu [...], and was come there to take some Jesuits Powder. It was said, tha [...] during the whole time of his Lordships consinement in the Tower, he appeared to be very chearful, and that many times he assumed a Courage and Vivacity, beyond what could have been expected, from a person labouring under such violent pains and diseases, as is well known his Lordship is frequently troubled withal.
And now that we may not omit to you with what other Methods and Designs they endeavoured to fasten the black & Hellish figure of a Traitor on this loyal Peer, it will not be improper to take notice of a passage in the Trial of Mr. Fitz▪ Harris, where Mr. Everard upon Oath affirms, that Mr. Fitz-Harris had told him; that horrid Libel was to have been fathered upon the Protestant [Page 123] Nonconformists, and when Collonel Mansel had deposed, that Sir William Waller had said the design of Fitz▪ Harris's Libel, was against the Protestant Party, Mr. Attorney▪ General replied, we believe it, The Protestant Party. And how far this Peer was to have been concerned in that, will further appear, if we take in what Sir William Waller affirmed at the said Trial, that Mr. FitzHarris had told him, there were two Parliament Men which frequented my Lord Shaftesbury's, whom his Lordship did not suspect, that came and sounded him, and then returned to the French Ambassadour, and acquainted him with all they could discover.
On Thursday the 24th of Novem. 1681. the great Affair for which the Lord Shaftesbury was committed to the Tower, was tried at the Sessions House at the Old Bayly: It may be excusable if we be the more particular and large in this matter, and insert [Page 124] so much of the said Trial as may be needful to satisfie the World of the fairness and equity of the Proceedings of the Kings Court in that Affair; and we shall be somwhat the larger, because all persons, into whose hands this Book may come, may not have seen what was printed of that Trial. The Grand Jury that were to make enquiry both in behalf of the King and the Earl, were persons of unstained Loyalty and Integrity, and persons so considerable for their Estates and [...]ortunes, that such a Jury hath seldom been empanelled upon the like occasion: The Names of the Grand Jury were as followeth:
You shall diligently enquire, and true presentment make, of all such Matters, Articles, and Things, as shall be given you in charge, as of all other Matters, and Things as shall come to your own Knowledge, touching this present service; The Kings Council, your Fellows Council, and your own, you shall keep secret; you shall present no person for Hatred or [Page 126] Malice, neither shall you leave any one unpresented, for Fear, Favour, or Affection, for Lucre, or Gain, or any hopes thereof, but in all things You shall present the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, to the best of your knowledg. So help you God.
My Lord Chief-Justice gave a large and learned charge to the Jury, wherein he first opened to them the Nature of their Commission, and the extent of it, which reached to all Offences whatsoever against the Law of the Land, as Treasons, Misprisions of Treasons, &c. He told them, he would at present acquaint them with the nature of those Bills they were then like to be troubled with, and their Duty concerning that Enquiry; He told them they were matters of High-Treason, a crime of the greatest and highest nature that could be committed against man; other crimes, as Fellonies, [Page 127] Riots, [...], and [...] of that nature, [...] [...] [...] ders and troubles, in a State o [...] [...] dom; but he told them [...] struck at the Root and Life of [...] It tended to destroy the very Government, King, and Subjects, and the Lives▪ Interest, and Liberties of all; and therefore ha [...] [...]een always looked upon as a crime of the m [...]st notorious nature that ca [...] be whatsoever, and accordingly Pu [...]shments have been appointed [...]or it, of the highest and severest extremity. He told them our Ancestors thought it Wisdom to enact and declare what should be accounted Treason▪ and enumerated several Acts of that nature; at length he came to an Act made the 13. of this present King: ‘That if any one should c [...]pass, imagine, or intend the Death of the King, or his Destruction, or any bodily harm that should tend to his Death or Destruction, or any maiming or wounding his Person, [Page 128] any Restraint of his Liberty, or any Imprisonment of him; or if any should design, or intend to Levy any War against him, either within the Kingdom, or without; or should design, intend, endeavour, or procure any Forein Prince to Invade these h [...]s Dominions, or any other of the King's Dominions, and should s [...]gnifie, or declare this by any Writing, or by any Preaching, or Printing, or by any advised, malicious speaking, or words; this shall be High Treason.’
He told them the Intention of Levying War, was not Treason, before this Act, unless it had taken Effect, and War had been actually Levyed; and then as to the Designing and Compassing the King's Death, that was not Treason, unless it was declared by an Overt Act: As to the Imprisoning, or Restraining the Liberty of the King, they of themselves were not High Treason; but now by this Law they were made so, during [Page 129] His Majesties Life; and the very designing of them, whether it take Effect, or no, though it be prevented (before any Overt Act) by the timely Prudence of the King, and his Officers, though it should be timely prevented, that there is no hurt done; yet the very Design, if it be but uttered, and spoken, and any waies signified by any Discourse, that this was made Treason by this Act. Formerly it was said, and said truly, That words alone were not Treason, but that since this Act words that import any Malicious Design against the King's Life, or Government, any Traiterous Intention in the Party, such words are Treason now within this Act.
Then as to the Indictments that were to be brought before them, he advised them to consider, 1. Whether the matter contained in them, and which were to be given in Evidence, were matter of Treason within the former, or the latter Act of [Page 130] Parliament: and if they doubted, they were to enquire of the Court, and they should be directed as to matter of Law. And they were to examine whether the matters Evidenced to them were Testified by two Witnesses, for without two Witnesses, no man could be Impeached within those Laws: If one man should swear to words that import [...] [...] [...] [...] D [...]sign or Intention, [...] [...] [...] time, and in one place, and another Testifie to Traiterous words spoken at another time, and another place; that these were two good Witnesses, which had been solemnly resolved by all the Judges of England upon a solemn occasion.
2. That they were to enquire, whether upon what Evidence should be given them, there should be any reason or ground for the King to call the persons to account; if there were probable ground, it was as much as they were to enquire into. [Page 131] He urged pretty much to this purpose, and then told them Compassion or Pity was neither their Province, nor his; that there was no room for that in Enquiries of such a nature, that it was reserved to a Higher and Superiour Power, from whence theirs was derived: Therefore he required them to consider such Evidence [...] should be given them; and prayed God to direct them in their Enquiry, that Justice might take place.
Then a Bill of High [...]son reason was offer'd against the E. of [...]esbury, and Sir Francis Withc [...] moved, that the Evidence might be heard in Court.
Then the Lord Chief Justice told the Jury that the King's Council desired (and they could not deny it) that the Evidence might be publickly given, and prayed them to take their places, and hear the Evidence that should be given.
The Jury desired a Copy of their [Page 132] Oath, which the Court granted, and then withdrew, after some time they returned, and then the Clerk called them by their Names. Then the Foreman gave the L. C. J. an account, that it was the Opinion of the Jury, that they ought to Examine the Witnesses in private; and it hath been the constant practice of our Predecessors to do it; and they insisted upon it as their Right to Examine in private, because they were bound to keep the K's Secrets, which could not be done, if the Examination were in Court. Whereupon the L. C. J. told 'em, that perhaps some late usage had brought them into that Errour, that it was their Right, that the Witnesses were alwaies sworn in Court, and surely (he said) Evidence was alwaies given in Court formerly: That it was for their advantage, as well as the King's, that nothing might be done clandestinly; that by their keeping Counsel, was meant keeping secret their own private Debates.
[Page 133]To which the Foreman replied, That he begg'd his Lordships pardon, if he were in a mistake: The Jury apprehend they were bound by the very words of their Oath, to Examine in private; for it says, They shall keep the King's Secrets, and their own Counsels; That there could be no Secret in publick. Then Mr. Papillion spoke to this purpose, That they had heard, that what had been the Custom of England, had been the Law of England; and if it had been the Antient Usage and Custom of England, that had never been altered from time to time. Divers other Arguments were used on both sides; but at last the Court denied a private Examination; then the Foreman told the Court, that the Jury desired it might be Recorded, that they had insisted upon it as their Right, but if the Court overruled it, they must submit. This was likewise refused by the Court. Then Sheriff Pilkington desired that [Page 134] the Witnesses might be put out of Court, and called in one by one, but he was refused it, and told it was not his Duty. And Mr. Attorney General said, he appeared against the King. However, it was afterward granted to the Jury. Then was Read the Indictment against Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, for High Treason against His Majesty, which being too long here to insert, we are forced to omit.
The Jury desired a [...]ist of the Witnesses Names, but they were told, they would have them Endorsed on the back of the Indictment, when that was delivered to them. Then the Foreman acquainted the Court, that the Jury desired a Copy of the Warrant, by which the Earl of Shaftesbury was Committed, because there might several Questions depend upon it: But my Lord Chief Justice answered, That was not in the power of the Court to grant, for that it was in the hands of the Lieutenant [Page 135] of the Tower, which he kept for his Indemnity, and they could not demand it of him upon any terms. Then Mr. Papillion moved that they might hear what the Witnesses had to give in Evidence, one by one, and that after the Jury might withdraw, to consider what proper Questions to ask them, and after might come down again, which the Court granted. Then all the Witnesses were ordered to go out of the Court, and to be called in one by one.
This done Will. Blith [...] Esq was produced, and a Paper delivered in. Mr. Blithwayt gave account, that that Paper was put into his hands by Mr. Gwin, Clerk of the Council, who had seized it amongst others in my Lord Shaftesbury's house; and that he had took that, and others out of a Velvet Bagg, which Mr. Gwin had lockt up in the great Trunk. Then Mr. Gwin testified that he had the great Hair [Page 136] Trunk in my Lord Shaftesbury's house, when he was sent there to search for Papers, by Order of the Council the second of July; my Lord, as soon as he came there, delivered him the Keys, and said, He would seal them up with his own Seal; but afterwards sent Mr. Gwin word, if he pleased, he might put his own Seal; that he had taken a note how he had parted several parcels of Papers, that there were several sorts of them in the great Hair Trunk; and there was a Velvet Bag▪ into which he had put some Papers that were loose in my Lord's Closet above Stairs; that he had put his Seal upon the Trunk, and being sent another way, had put it into the Custody of Mr. Blithwait. The Lord Chief Justice asked Mr. Gwin whether all the Papers in the Velvet Bag were in my L. Shaftesbury's Closet, and whether there was nothing in that Bag, but what he had taken in my Lord Shaftesbury's [Page 137] Closet? to which Mr. Gwin replied, that there was nothing.
Mr. Secretary Jenkins witnessed that that was the Paper he had of Mr. Blithwayt. Some things I am forced for brevity to omit. My Lord Chief Justice said, Now it appears this was the Paper taken in my Lord Shaftesbury's Closet. And the Paper was Read, which contained the words of that commonly called The Form of an Association. When it had been Read, Sir F [...]n. Withins said, This Paper was very plausibly penn'd in the [...], and runs a great way so; but in the last clause but one, there they come to perfect Levying of War; for they do positively say, They will obey such Officers, as either the Parliament, or the major part of them; or after the Parliament is Dissolved, the major part of them that shall subscribe this Paper shall appoint.
The Foreman of the Jury enquired, what Date that Paper was of [Page 138] and whether there were any hand to it; to which Sir Francis answered, that it was after the Bill for Exclusion of the Duke of York; for it says, that way failing, they would do it by force; as to the having a name to it, Sir Francis said, there was none at all. The rest of the Evidence were,
Booth deposeth, That in January last he was introduced into my Lord Shaftesbury's acquaintance by Captain Henry Wilkinson, in order to get a Commission, and Plantation in Carolina; That the first time he went to my Lord, there was my L. Craven, and Sir Peter Colliton, who are of the Proprietors of that Collony; that after this acquaintance, he had been there between Christmas and March, four or five [Page 139] times, and that he found great difficulty in his Accession to his Lordship, who was cautious of what company were admitted to him; that the said Earl used to inveigh sharply against the Times, and look upon himself as not so valued, nor respected, nor in those Places and Dignities as he expected, & seemed discontented. Particularly, that the Earl of Shaftesbury should say, that the Parliament would never grant the King Money, nor satisfie him in those things that he desired, unless he first gave the People satisfaction in those things that they insisted on before; and particularly the Bill of Excluding the Duke of York from the Crown. Another was the Abolishing the Statute of the 35th of Elizabeth. The third was giving his Royal Assent for the passing a New Bill, whereby all the Dissenting Protestants should be freed from those Penalties and Ecclesiastical Punishments, that they are subject [Page 140] to, by the present Establish'd Law. That he had Established fifty Gentlemen, persons of Quality, that he believed would have men along with them, that they were to come to Oxford at such a time; that if there were any Violence offered to any of the Members by the King's Guards, or the Retinue of the Court, that then these men, with others that other Lords had appointed, should repel his force, by greater force, and should purge the Guards of all the Papists and Tories; that Captain Wilkinson was Intrusted with the Command of these men; and that these men should be ready to Assist himself, and those of his Confederacy, to purge from the King those Evil Councillors that were about him: That particularly there were named, the Earl of Worcester, Lord Clarendon, Lord Hallifax, Lord Feversham, Lord Hide, which persons were lookt upon to be dangerous, and gave the King [Page 141] Evil Advice: That those Lords should by Violence be taken from the King, and the King brought to London, where those things should be Establisht which they designed for their Safety in those two Respects, for the preserving the Protestant Religion, and likewise for the defending and keeping us safe from Arbitrary Power and Government: And likewise, that the said Booth had provided Arms, and a good Stone-Horse for himself, and Arms for his Man, before the Parliament Sate at Oxford. That the Thursday before the Parliament was Dissolved, Captain Wilkinson told him, he expected that very week to be called up to Oxford, with those men that were Listed with him; but Saturday bringing News of the Dissolution of the Parliament, it had no further Effects. This was the most material of what Booth said; for being straitned in Room, I am forced to render it as short as I can.
[Page 142] Turbervil declared, That about the beginning of February, waiting on my Lord Shaftesbury, to have his advice how he might come by some Monies and to gain his Lordships Letter in his behalf to the President of the Council; the Earl should say, there was little good to be expected from the King as long as his Guards were about him; that his Lordship should say the Rabble about Wapping, and Aldersgate were of that side; that the rich men of the City would vote for Elections, but it could hardly be expected they should stand by them in case of a disturbance; for they valued their Riches more than their Cause; and that at Oxford he had heard the Earl say, he wondred the People of England should stickle so about Religion, if he were to chuse a Religion, he would have one should comply with what was apt to carry on their Cause.
Smith said, that one time being [Page 143] sent for by my Lord Shaftesbury, by one Captain Manly, his Lordship should tell him, that Mr. Hetherington had told him, he was afraid the Irish Witnesses would go over to the Court Party, and retract what they had said formerly, that he advised him to persuade them not to go near that Rogue Fitz-Girald, that great Villain, that is pampered up and maintain'd by the King and the Court party, to stifle the Plot in Ireland, and that the Earl had further said, That if the King were not as well satisfied with the coming in of Popery, as ever the Duke of York was, do you think the Duke of York would be so much concerned for the bringing in of Popery as he is? That a little before my Lord went to Oxford, he should tell the said Smith, there were great preparations made, and a great many gathered together upon the Rode be tween London and Oxford, and Smith asking his Lordship what it might [Page 144] mean, my Lord should answer, that it was only to terrifie the Parliament to comply with the Kings desire, which he was sure the Parliament would never do: That they were now more resolute than ever: That they clearly saw the Kings aim was to bring in Popery: That they had the Nation for them, and might lawfully oppose him, and he would meet with very strong opposition; for that all that came out of the Country should be well Hors'd, and armed, and so they should all be: That the City had resolved to bear the charge of their Members, and send so many men to wait on them; and that he would be hang'd before he would ever bring in Popery, or any thing of that nature.
Bryan Hains deposed, that among other Discourse with the L. Shaftesbury, the said Earl told him, that the Duke of Bucks's Mother was descended of the Family of the Plant aginets, naming some of the Edwards, [Page 145] and that in her Right he should have the Barony of Ross, and in her Right had as good a Title to the Crown of England as ever any Stewart had.
John Macknamara deposed, That a little after the Parliament had been dissolved at Oxford, the Earl of Shaftesbury said to him, That the King was Popishly affected, that he took the same methods that his Father before him took, which brought his Head to the block, and said, We will also bring his thither; and that the Earl had said the King deserved to be deposed as much as ever King Richard the second did.
Denis M [...]cnamara declared, that my Lord Shaftesbury had said, The King was a man that ought not to be believed, and that [...]e ought to be deposed as well as Richard the second, that the Dutchess o [...] Mazarine was one of his Cabinet Council, that he did nothing but by her, Advice.
Edward Ivey said, that the Earl [Page 146] of Shafton soon after the Parliament was dissolved at Oxford, speaking against the King, said he was an unjust man, and unfit to reign, that he was a Papist in his heart, and would introduce Popery: That another time he heard him exclaim against the King, and that they designed to depose him, and set another in his stead.
Bernard Dennis deposed, that amongst divers other things the Lord Shaftesbury had told him, that they intended to have England under a Common-Wealth, and no Crown, to have no supream head, particular Man, or King, nor owe Obedience to a Crown.
Lord Chief Justice told the Jury, they intended to call no more Witnesses against the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Jury being charged only with that.
Mr. Papillion desired to know what S [...]atute the Indictment was grounded upon; my Lord Chief Justice said it [Page 147] was contra formam Statut', which might be understood Statutorum, or Statuti, so they might go upon all Statutes that might be the form o that Indictment. The Jury desired to know whether any of the Witnesses stood indicted or no. To which the Lord Chief Justice answered, they were not properly here to examine the credibility of the Witnesses; for that would be a matter upon a Tryal before a Petty Jury, where the King would be heard to defend the credibility of his Witnesses, if any thing were objected against them: That they were to see whether the Statute were satisfied, in having matter that was Treasonable, and witnessed by Two Men, who are intended Prima facie credible, unless of their own Knowledg they knew any thing to the contrary.
Mr. Papillion prayed his Lordships Opinion, whether his Lordship thought they were within the [Page 148] compass of their own Understandings and Consciences, to give Judgment; for if they were not left to consider the credibility of the Witnesses, they could not satisfie their Consciences. To which the Lord Chief Justice replied, that they ought to go according to the Evidence, unless there were any thing to their own knowledg, and that i [...] they expected to enter into proofs concerning the credit of the Witnesses, it were impossible to do Justice at that rate. The Jury withdrew, and the Court adjourned till Three a Clock. When met the Jury put many questions to the Witnesses, of which (for brevity) I can but take notice of some.
Mr. Gwin was asked by the Foreman, whose writing the Paper was, to which he answered he could not tell: whether it was in the Closet before he came there; he said it was certainly in the closet, for there he found it, he knew not the particular [Page 149] Paper, but all the Papers in the bag were there.
They asked whether he knew not of a Discourse of an Association in Parliament. He said he was not of the last Parliament, but had heard an Association talked of. Then the Foreman asked Mr. Secretary Jenkins whether he knew not of a Debate in Parliament concerning an Association, whether he remembred not that it was read upon occasion of the Bill: The Secretary answered, that he was not present at the Debate; that there was an answer to a Message from the House of Commons, had somthing in it which did strongly imply somthing of an Association; that he heard such a thing spoke of, but was not present at the Reading. Being asked the date of the Warrant for my Lord Shaftesbury's commitment, he must (he said) refer himself to the Warrant; that he thought it was about the beginning of July. Being asked whether [Page 150] all the Witnesses had been examined before the Committee, he answered, they were, and he was present at the Examination. Being asked again whether all, he said he knew not whether all; but he was sure he was at the Examination of several, but could not tell how many.
Then the Jury examined the rest of the Witnesses, one by one, Booth being asked whether he had easie admittance into my Lords company, said, he ever went with Capt. Wilkinson, and had easie admittance; whether Captain Wilkinson were with him every time, he said, no, not every time, not this time; to divers other questions he answered; That he had been in Orders; that he had not been indicted for Fellony; that he did not directly know any one man of the Fifty beside himself; that he never was with my Lord but at his own House; that he was never desired to be a Witness against my Lord, until [Page 151] he had intimated something of it, till he was told of Brownrigg the Yorkshire Attorney, concerning somwhat my Lord had said to Irish men, he then said he was sure there was somthing as to that purpose to English men; that he thought he had no Commission to offer him a Reward; that he was not acquainted with Callaghan, nor Downing; never heard their names, nor was in their company, that he knew of; that he knew not one Mr. Shelden, nor Mr. Marriot, only had heard of one Marriot that belong'd to the D. of Norfolk, but never was in his company, nor discoursed with from him, but had heard from Baines, about Brownrigg, about Irish Witnesses. Mr. Godfrey asked whether he had never heard of Irish Witnesses sent down by Mr. Marriot to the Isle of Ely: Then the L. Ch. Just. said, We have given you all the Liberty in the World, hoping you would ask pertinent questions, but these are [Page 152] trifles; he did not expect that any wise men would have asked such questions: Then he asked of Mr. Godfrey what it was to the purpose, whether Mr. Marriot sent any Irish Witnesses to his Tennant, or no. To which the Foreman told his Lordship, that he had it under the hand of the Clerk of the Council. Mr. Turbervil answered to several questions, that he had the Discourse with my Ld. Shaftesbury about the beginning of February, and about July 4. communicated it to Mr. Secretary Jenkins. The Foreman then asking whether he had met with no body about the beginning of July, after my Lords Commitment, and when he was challenged, and told he was to be a Witness against him, whether he did not then say, as he was alive he knew no such thing?
Mr. Attor. Gen. told my Lord, this was not to be allowed, this was private Instruction, which the Ju [...] was not to take. The Foreman replied, [Page 153] no, it was no private Instruction, but asked Turbervill, whether he had not spoke such words to Mr. Herbert. Then the L. C. J. asked whether they had any Information touching that to Mr. Herbert; the Foreman said, he had, a long time ago, that the person told him so, set down the day, and was very angry with Turbervill for it. The L. C. J. told them, that discourses taken up at random, at Coffee-houses, were not fit to be brought in, when Treason was in question against the King's Life; that it was not ground to cavil at persons, because they heard such discourse at a Coffee-house.
The Foreman said, he never was in a Coffeehouse with Mr. Herbert in his life, but had the discourse of him some months ago. The L. C. J. asked whether they thought that groundenough against the Witness; Mr. Papillion replied, they only asked the question, whether he had not contradicted, or said the contrary to any body. Turbervill said, he did not remember he had said any thing to Mr. Herbert in his life, and that at that time he was discarded by all persons of my Lord's Interest; and if he would then have given under his hand, that he knew nothing against him, he believed he might have been in their favour as before. He was asked, whether he was not one of them that petitioned the Common Council, and declared that he was tempted to witness against his Conscience; Turbervill said he did, but that he believed he [Page 154] never read the Petition, but was drawn to it by the order of Mr. Colledge, by a Scriviner about Guild-Hall. That his design in it was, that the City should take care of him; that he was not very poor, nor over full of money; some Members of the House of Commons had told them, that the City should advance money for the support of the Witnesses, and that they were to Petition that they would answer the design of the Parliament; being asked what Members they were, he said, it was a Member of the House of Commons that told him so; he would assure them, he said what he spoke, was voluntarily, & that he knew nothing more than what he had here declared; he supposed his Deposition was given in after the Commitment of my L. Shaftesbu.
Smith being asked, whether he had not used to go by the name of Barry, said, he had gone by several names, as all Popish Priests do; he said, he had given in his Information to Secretary Jenkins; he thought a little after my L. was committed; but had given notice long before of what he intended to do to other persons. But the Questions put to him being not very material, and his Answers of little moment, for want of room, must be waved; and we come to Bryan Haines, who in answer to divers Questions put to him by the Jury, said, That he gave in his Information against my L. Shaftesbury, the day that he the said Bryan was taken by a Messenger; that he had before given in [Page 155] another account to Sir G. Treby, of a design against the L. Shaftesbury, about March last, which was, That Fitz-Girald had told him, that he had given it under his Hand to the King, that the E. of Shaftesbury did resolve to set the Crown on his own Head, or turn the Kingdom to a Common-wealth; that he had discourse with my Ld. at several times, sometimes at his own House, somtimes in Ironmonger-Lane; that there Hains had proposed a Rebellion in Ireland; that the Earl said that was not the best way, they had other means to take, and so the Discourse was waved; being asked whether ever he had bin a Witness for, or against the Lady Windham, he said she arested him, because he had said he lay with her.
John Macknamara answered to several questions put to him, that he had discourse with the Lord Shaftesbury in March and April; that he could not tell exactly when he gave in his Information, but that it was to Secretary Jenkins; that Ivey was by when they had the discourse; That he signed the Petition to the Common Council, but did not see it till 'twas brought him to sign; that he did not read it, nor knew the Contents of it. Then Mr. Papillion told the Court, that in that Petition they say, they were tempted to swear against their Consciences, and that some of the Witnesses had made Shipwrack of their Consciences; but if we should ask them who tempted them, and [Page 156] who those Witnesses were that made shipwrack of their Consciences, it would signifie nothing; for since they do not know what was in the Petition, it is in vain to ask them any more.
J. Macknamara said, he heard Mr. Colledg that was executed at Oxford, was concerned in promoting the Petition by my L. Shaftsburys Advice.
The Answer of Dennis Macknamara to divers questions put by the Jury, was to this purpose, That he was introduced to my Lord by his Brother, in March or April last, he knows not which; that none but Ivey was by; that he gave in his Information to the Secretary of State, long before the Earl was committed. Then Mr. Papillion proposed to the Court, whether they might not ask, if he had a Pardon, for it would be satisfaction to them. Ld. Ch. Just. North answered, it might be proper when the Prisoner made Exceptions to the Witnesses, but that there were no Exceptions to the Witnesses. Mr. Papillion said they made no exceptions, but they must satisfie their Consciences, and that was very much as they found the credibility of the Witnesses.
My L. Ch. J. North asked what he should have a Pardon for: Mr. Papillion answered for Crimes: My L. C. J. North said, They must not ask him to accuse himself. Mr. Papillion said, if he had a pardon he was in Statu quo; suppose my Ld. some of them have been guilty of Poisoning, some of Felony, some of Robbing [Page 157] on the High way; they did but ask them if they were pardoned. L. C. J. North answered, a Man must not be impeached, but where he may answer for it. Mr. Papillion said, My Lord, if you do not give leave we must for bear then. L. C. J. N. said he did not think it proper.
Edward Ivey gave in answer to several questions demanded of him, That the discourse he had with my Lord, was some time after the sitting of the Parliament at Oxford, about the latter end of March, or beginning of April, that he could not be positive when he made his Information, but it was given to the Secretary of State; that he thinks the two Macknamara's were by & no body else; he is sure one of them was: That he gave his Information as soon as he could; that he knew nothing more than he had deposed.
To Questions asked of Bernard Dennis, he answered to this purpose; That he had this discourse in April, 4 or 5 days after the Parliament was dissolved at Oxford, In March after the Parliament was dissolved at Oxford, that it was at his own House, that Mr. Shepheard, a Gentleman of my Lords, was there, and some of his Pages; but he could not tell whether they heard any thing; that my Lord did not whisper, that he made this Information in June, before my Lord was committed; that he gave it to Secretary Jenkins; that he concealed it so long, because he continued so long in the [Page 158] City; That he had been a Protestant since February: that he had the Discourse with my Ld. in his own Chamber, the great Chamber, he knew not whether it was called the Hall, or the Parlor; that he knew nothing more but what he had declared; that he could not tell whether all his kindred were Papists, but most were.
Then the Jury took up the Statute Book; and in short time came down, and returned the Bill Ignoramus. At which the People gave a great shout; the Attorney General desired it might be recorded, this hollowing and hooping in a Court of Justice.
The Witnesses had several times declared they were in danger to be stoned by the People, upon which the Sheriffs guarded them with a strong guard as far as Temple-Bar.
Nov. 28. 1681. His Lordship the E. of Shaftesbury was brought up from the Tower, to the Bar of the King's-Bench, upon Habeas Corpus, and several persons of Honour offering themselves for Bail, his Lordship prayed the Court, that some friends and relations of his own might be accepted; which was accordingly granted. The same time Mr. Wilson, a Gentleman belonging to the E. of Shaftesbury, (who had been committed to the Gate-house for Treason, during his Lordships Confinement in the Tower) was discharged upon Bail. And a Proclamation was Issued out for preventing of Bonfires, it not being thought fit that people should be encouraged in their triumphs on that occasion; tho many considerable Towns and Cities in the Country, upon the news of the discharge of his Lordship, and the Lord Howard, proclaimed their Congratulations [Page 159] by Bells and Bonfires. During the time of the Earl of Shaftesburies Confinement, many made it their buisiness to detract, and vilipend him, 'twas the mode among some to drink his Health, with a Pendulum, at a Hempen string, to call him Ton [...], Tapskin, and King of Poland, &c. a man could hardly be admitted to drink a glass of Wine, without casting some of it in his face. After this great Tryal, the Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftsbury (as it's said) arrested one Baines, one of the Witnesses against him, on a Writ of Conspiracy, and had likewise Booth, (a Prisoner in the Kings-Bench) with a Writ of the same nature, intending to do the like with other the Aspersours of his Honour, and Loyalty. One Mr. Graham of Staples Inn, and Mr. Craddock, of PaterNoster-Row, were Arrested, about Decemb. on an Action of Scandalum Magnatum, at the Suit of the said Earl.
Monday, Feb. 14. 1681. My L. Shaftesbury, my L. Howard appearing in Westm. Hall, it being the last day of the Term, and there being nothing to be charged against them, they were discharged, together with Mr. Wilmore, and Mr. Whitaker.
May 4. 1682. being the first of the Term, a motion was made by the Council for Mr. Craddock, who (we said) had been Arrested by the Right Honourable the E. of Shaftesbury, and a Declaration was delivered, that the E. intended to come to Tryal that Term. Mr. Craddock's Council moved, that the great Intimacy betwixt his Lordship, and the Sheriffs, and Inhabitants of London, might influence the Jury; and therefore prayed the Court that the Trial thereof might be orderdered in another County. The Court ordered Friday following for his Lordship to shew cause why it might not be Tryed by an Indifferent Jury of another County. On the Friday his Lordship himself appeared in Court, and declared he would [Page 160] not oppose the making the Rule absolute; for he desir'd it should be Tryed by an Indifferent Jury, only desired to have it Tryed that Term: The Defendant's Council still pressed the changing of the Venire, that it might arise out of some other County, and that they could have such Affidavits as would induce the Court thereunto. The Court ordered the Monday following to file the Affidavits, that my Lord's Council might have notice.
May 12. The Council for Mr. Graham made a motion in Court to the same purport, as Mr. Craddock's Council had done. After which his Lordship declared, That if he could not have the Liberty of a Subject, to lay his Action in what County he pleased, he would remit it until such time as he had further considered it. Thus have we faithfully given you an Account of the most Remarkable Occurrences relating to this great Peer unto this time: Afterwards he lived at his own house in [...]ldersgate-street, and continued there until the beginning of this present Novemb. when it is said, he Embarqued for the Brill, and hath since his Arrival received great Testimonies of an Honour and Respect suitable to the Character of so great and known a States-man, whose Fame is not only celebrated in the Court of Holland, but amongst all the States-men in Europe.