HE that goes about to justifie an ill Act of his own, shall not onely loose his end, but heighten and add to the former d [...]sgraces of his Life. And therefore it would be but a vain Attempt sor any person of ordinary prudence and common reason to endeavour such a thing. But when a man has done an Act applauded by the approbation of many sober persons, and suffers only the Reproaches of a few, and most of those his Enemies, it is but the dictate of self-preservation to remove the weight that oppresseth him. I have made my self the publick Discourse, and in some measure the publick expectation both of Town and Country, and began to do those things for which His Majesty was most graciously pleased to deem me worthy his (never-to-be-forgotten) Favour; for this reason I can­not think my self safe from the ill opinion even of the best of my Friends, should I by a neglectful and careless silence, submit my self to be over­born by those Violences and Disgraces that have been put upon me in the pursuit of my gratitude for the greatest obligation that could be received from a most benign and Royal Bounty. Therefore for the satisfaction of the World, and to vindicate my self, without any thoughts of prejudice or revenge, I hold it but an Act of common Justice to my Friends and my self, to make a faithful, and render a true Account, of the most re­markable passages in Fact, that concerned the Tryal of Mrs Cellier, a­gainst whom I thought I was to have been a Witness, and had refreshed and recollected my thoughts to that purpose. In the next place I shall add some few Observations upon the Objections made against me and my Te­stimony, and then leave it to all unbiassed persons to judge of my inten­ded both Loyalty and Integrity therein.

The Charge itself I brought against Mrs Cellier was of a high nature, and form'd into an Indictment from the Relation which follows, given in by my self, that had been the Chief Actor in the whole concern by her means.

About the latter end of March, in the year 1678. Mrs Cellier came to me then a Prisoner in Newgate, (that being the first time I ever saw her) from which place in about a Months time she obtained my discharge. I was no sooner out from thence, but I was Arrested and carried to the Counter, whither Mrs Cellier sent her servant, who told me, that if I could forthwith obtain my Liberty, her Mistress would purchase it at any rate, for that there was business ordered me to undertake the Tuesday fol­lowing; and if I could not get out before that day, she could not tell if ever I should be freed by her or not.

Thereupon I removed my self to the Kings-Bench by Mrs Celliers As­sistance, who after I had been there about two days came to me, and gi­ving me some Money for the present, told me, I should have a weekly Al­lowance for my immediate Expences, but that I should not long continue [Page 2] there. At the same time she added further, that I might do as much service there, as if I were forth, by observing one Stroud a Prisoner there, who, as she said, knew much of the Life and Conversation of Mr. Bedlow; and withal, commended me to the Advice of two Priests, then Prisoners also there, which I was to take for the more secure management of that business. At the same time likewise Mrs Celliers ordered me to write to one Blazedale an Apothecary, for such Ingredients as I should have occa­sion, for to lay the said Stroud in a Trance, whereby I might the better ac­complish the Defign, which was, of getting some Papers in his Custody, which were reported to concern Mr. Bedlow in his Evidence. Some time after, as well by order from Mrs Cellier as others, I was directed to Com­pound and discharge my Debts; in pursuance whereof I was furnished with Money, which not being sufficient to procure my Liberty, I prevai­led with a Waiter to go with me to Mrs Celliers House, and by her In­structions left at home, I went from thence to Powis House, where I found her, and where I received as much more as quite Discharged me; so that in four hours after she brought me into the presence of the Lady Powis; who together with her self, returned me thanks for my diligence in that business of Mr. Stroud.

Mrs Cellier was also present when the Lady Powis sent me to Peterly with a Pacquet, and was the person the Lady intrusted to make up the Pacquet. Mrs Cellier was also present when I returned from Peterly, and delivered the Pacquet which I brougbt from thence to the Lady Powis & she was likewise by, when the Lady read a Letter openly to this effect, (which I brought from the Priest Mr. Jeane in the above-mentioned Pac­quet.)

Some short time after there was a settlement made for me among the Lords in the Tower, in consideration of my Expences; and amongst the rest 'twas ordered, Mrs Cellier should have Ten shillings a week for my Dyet, which was constantly paid her.

Mrs Cellier was the person also who disbnrsed Money to get Lane a Confederate against Doctor Oates out of Prison, the Charges of which amounted to about Twenty pound. He was also brought to Powis-house, and there altered his name, as well by the order of Mrs Cellier as others; and she was allowed ten shillings a week for his Dyet also. Mrs Cellier was the person that first imployed me to go to Coffee-houses, and told me it was by order of the Lords in the Tower, that I should disperse Pamphlets, and raise Discourses to this effect; That Sir Edmondbury God­frey was Murdered by the E. of S's order, who joyned with the Presbyteri­ans to overthrow the Catholicks.

Mrs Cellier imployed persons to write Copies of the Letters and Lists of the Names that came from Nevil a Prisoner in the Kings-Bench, and sometimes she and I put our helping hands, and both wrote; which Let­ters were to the same effect with those that were taken in Colonel Man­sels Chamber, and were all by some means or other to be Conveyed in­to the Houses of all the most considerable Presbyterians, for under that notion, all persons were Comprized which were not for promoting the [Page 3] Catholick Interest: And this Mrs Cellier declared to me at Powis house, which was our general Rendezvous for near two Months. Mrs Cellier was present at another time, when the Lady Powis read a Letter which came from Brussels, the effect whereof was thus.

About the latter end of July, Mrs Cellier remov'd from Powis-house to her own Habitation, whither I also went in a short time, some while after having been rebuked by the Lord Castlemain, for refusing the matter pro­posed to me in the Tower, no less than to Kill His most Sacred Majesty. I came home and told Mrs Cellier that the Lord C. was displeased with me. Oh, said she, 'tis his Lordships Custom to fall out one hour, and be friends the next, and then advised me to go to Confession, and receive the Sacrament of Father Sharp at Wild-house, which I did, and there received the same rebuke from the said Father, for refusing the said Proposal in the Tower. At another time Mrs Cellier was present in her own House, when the Lady Powis laught at me, and said, Well, well, Mr. Willoughby (by which Name I then went) will be honest, and do us no hurt, I am sure. After that, having been with Mr. Gadbury, and from him recei­ved another rebuke for refusing that Proposal to Kill the King, I retur­ned home and told Mrs Cellier of it, who replyed, That Mr. Gadbury was in his heart a very good Catholique. Not long after, I met the Lady P. at Mrs Celliers House, where in the hearing of Mrs Cellier, she told me, I must go on with some Intrigue against the Duke came from Flanders, to make him believe the Presbyterians were Plotting against the KING; and then there was a Consultation between us for carrying on the De­sign, though I was not to move till farther order. The next day Mrs Cel­lier was sent for to the Tower, who upon her return, told me, I must speedily procure some persons that were well habited, to go to the Cof­fee-houses and Clubs to learn how things stood. Mrs Cellier was also present, when the Lady P. told me, that I must stick hard against the D. of Monmouth, D. of Buckingham, the E. of Shaftesbury, Lord Grey, Lord Howard, and others; all which was to be done, when I went the first time to give His Majesty an Account of the new SHAM-PLOT, at which time I was to inform His Majesty, that if he had dyed at Windsor, they had posted about the Town and Suburbs a considerable Army, with which they intended to have taken possession, and did design to bring the same to a Common-wealth, and set up the D. of Monmouth as Head of the Go­vernment: That the L. Shaftesbury and others were granting out Com­missions to that purpose, and that I my self had a promise of one from a great Presbyterian; all which and more I told His Majesty by their di­rections, just before his going to Newmarket; whereupon His Majesty or­dered me Money, of which I sent an Account by Mrs Cellier to the Tow­er; who at her return, advised me to beware of one Colonel Halsel, for that the Lords fear'd he would discover me. Mrs Cellier carried word from me to the Tower, where Colonel Mansel Lodged, and upon her re­turn told me, the Lady P. would meet me in the afternoon at her House, as she did, and Mrs Cellier was present when her Ladiship bid me go again to Father Sharp to Confession, and receive the Sacrament, for that I [Page 4] was to go in a short time after to the Earl of Shaftesbury. Soon after Mrs Cellier received a Letter, that that very night I must go to the said Earl with this formal Complement.

Then did Mrs Cellier deliver into my hand a short Dagger, of which sort and fashion three or four had been brought to her, about three days before, by a Virginia Merchant, I being present at the same time when they were delivered to her. After I had been with the Earl, upon my return home, I told Mrs Cellier I could not do my business, (which was indeed to stab his Lordship) but would take some other opportunity. Of all which Mrs Cellier sent an Account to the Tower, and as she told me, her self received for answer, That I should go forthwith to the King, and inform His Majesty that I had been with the E. of Shaftesbury, who had promised me a Military Imployment. Then by direction I went a second time to the E. of Shaftesbury; Mrs Cellier furnished me then al­so with a Dagger. But returning again without any success, as they cal­led it, I received new Orders to go to the King, and acquaint His Ma­jesty how I had been a second time with the E. of Shaftesbury, and of a great quantity of Papers that concerned the New PLOT, that were in Colonel Mansels Chamber, for the search whereof my farther busi­ness was to pray a Warrant; which would not be granted, because I could not make such Affidavit as was requisite. For which I was well scool'd, both by the Lady Powis and Mrs Cellier, who after they had told me several ways how I might have saved my Oath, added withal, That I was obliged by my Religion to part with my Life for the good of the Cause.

Some small time after, the Lady P. came to Mrs Celliers House, where being all three together, the Lady endeavoured to perswade me to go a third time to the Earl of Shaftesbury, which I refused to do; whereupon the Lady striking me gently on the hand with her Fan, called me Cow­hearted fellow, and said, she would go herself; Mrs Cellier made answer, No, Madam, that shall not be, for I will signifie to the world the bravery of our Sex above the Mens, and go my self and do the work. Whereupon she went out of the room for a while, leaving the Lady and my self to­gether to discourse the method of putting the Papers into Colonel Man­sels Room; which Papers when I had made them up, I shewed them to Mrs Cellier, who incouraged me to proceed, saying, she would warrant I should be well rewarded for my pains, and wish'd me good success. When I had convey'd the Papers into Colonel Mansels Room, Mrs Cellier came to me from the Tower, and told me, I must go to the Custom-house, and pretend to give intelligence of certain Prohibited Goods which were lodged in the Colonels Chamber, to the end the Officers upon search might find the Papers.

Soon after being to attend the King and Mr. Secretary Coventry about the Papers, and wanting some Instructions, I went home to advise with Mrs Cellier, at what time I was taken by Colonel Warcup, one of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, and ingaged by Bail to attend the King and Councel the next day at Three of the clock.

Upon my being brought to a Hearing, I was Committed to Newgate, whither Mrs Cellier sent her Maid to me, and something to my support, advising me to stand fast, promising I should want for nothing, and should [Page 5] be removed to the Kings-Bench. After which, the Maid came a second time that day with a Note, which ran thus.

To colour which pretence, the Maid also brought me two Books of Mrs Celliers Husbands concerns, and added further, that her Mistress de­sired me to stand fast, For her Life was in my hands. To this Intrigue these Particulars may be added.

That I having told Mrs Cellier how I had been with the King alone at Mr Chiffins Lodgings: Oh, said she, what an opportunity have you lost! Soon after the Lady Powis coming in, Mrs Cellier told her the story; at which the Lady turning short about, with her face towards Mrs Cellier, said these very words, How bravely might he have killed the King, had he been provided! That Mrs Cellier ordered me in our publick discourse to call the King Lady Mary, and the Duke Lady Ann. That Mrs Cellier was one of those that ordered me to Treat with Mr. Boyce, to try if I could corrupt him to be an Evidence against Prance (a Witness for the King.) And that she was one of those that ordered me to go and Treat with Nicholas Stubbs, in reference to recanting the Charge he had laid a­gainst Gifford the Priest.

This is the sum of the Charge, without any flourishing or refining, all matter of Fact, which I intended to have made good against Mrs Cellier, in reference to His Majesties most gracious confidence which he had put in my future reality. A Charge not only in my belief, but in the more venerable and sound opinion of those that had the Conduct of the In­formation, and management of the Evidence, well guarded and suppor­ted by a sufficient strength of Corroborating Testimonies. But lest I may seem to abound too much in my own sence, here they are all in their order. Let the world view them, and then give an equal Sentence.

Having all this united force of Evidence, Testimony, and Circumstan­ces on my side, I came into Court, (without the least suspition of meeting with such exceptions against me) to do my duty as a Witness for His Ma­jesty, in the prosecution of an Information, to the truth of which, in substance, and by allowance, I had Sworn before His most Excellent Maje­sty himself, and His most Honourable Privy-Councel; and upon which Mrs Cellier had stood so long Committed, by the Approbation and Act of the same Authority. But to my amazing astonishment, and the no small surprize of others, the Prisoner, who had before called me her good friend, and given such a Character of my Modesty, to my new-Landlord and others, and judged me a good and undeniable Evidence on their parts, objected against my Testimony; alleadging, That if she could make it out, that I had been Whipt, Transported, Pillored, or Perjured, I could not be allowed a Witness against her; which produced the follow­ing Dispute.

If you can produce any Record whereby he is Convict of any thing that can by Law take away his Testimony, do it.

He hath been Indicted for Burglary.

Dangerfield, were you ever Indicted for Burglary?

I will take it at their proof.

Let every Man have his right in Gods name.

My Lord, I can prove him Perjured.

Have you any Record to prove him Perjured? is he Convicted?

No.

Then you cannot do it.

I can prove him guilty of Forgery.

If you do not produce the Record, you do nothing.

I have the Copies of several Records in Court, which will be Sworn to. Which being produced, I then pleaded His Majesties most gratious Pardon. To that Mrs Cellier replyed, she had a Copy of it, and that it did not extend to some of the Crimes of which I then stood Convicted. And to prove her Allegation, she produced a Copy of a Re­cord of an Outlawry for Felony, which occasioned the Court to order my Pardon to be read. But not having it about me, I prayed half an hours time to fetch it, which was granted; and during my absence, some other Witnesses were Examined.

First, Thomas Williamson Sworn for the King, and thus Interrogated.

Did you ever see Dangerfield and Mrs Cellier in Company?

No, my Lord, but I have been employed by Mrs Cellier to get persons out of Prison, and among the rest Mr. Dangerfield.

Why was she so kind to Dangerfield?

I do not know that, my Lord, but she bid me get him out who ever remained.

Why was she so earnest to get him out? did she tell you what she would have with him?

No, my Lord.

We only bring him for a Witness that she was familiar with Dangerfield.

Next to him, Margaret Jenkinson, who formerly had been a Servant to Mrs Cellier, was Sworn and thus Examined.

What discourse have you ever heard between Dangerfield and Mrs Cellier?

I never saw them together but twice, and it is a year since I left her Service.

When you saw them at Dinner or Supper, what other Company was there?

Her Husband was with her one time.

What did they talk about?

They talked about the Prisoners which were Condemned, which were the Five Jesuits.

Where was it? at her House?

No, at Powis-house.

How came you there?

I carried Notes backward and forward between them.

After Susan Edwards, another Servant to Mrs Cellier, was Sworn for the King, and Interrogated to this effect.

What intimacy have you known between Dangerfield and Mrs Cellier?

Did you ever see them together?

Yes, very often. And she said the Popish PLOT would turn to a Presbyterian PLOT.

Who did she say that to? to Dangerfield?

No, my Lord, but I have heard him say that he would make it his business it should be so.

What did you say to him, when he said he must turn to Rogue, and discover all their PLOTS.

I said he would be no greater Rogue than he was before.

You were pretty nimble with him.

He thought he should be hanged.

to Mrs Cellier. Have you any Record to shew that Dangerfield was put in the Pillory?

Yes, my Lord.

Upon that the Copy of the Record was read, for uttering Counter­feit Guinneys; and the Copy of an Outlawrie upon Record for Felony.

Come Gentlemen, what say you to this Outlawry?

It is not the same person.

We ought to be very careful in these concerns, else we may do a work this day may make all the Kingdom rue it.

It is a sad thing, that people of a vitious profligate Life, both hefore they come to Newgate, and all along in their life-time, should be suffered as Witnesses to take away the Life of a Worm. I question whether he will come again or no, he hath been gone a great while; such are fit to be employed to find out, but hard to be believed when they have found out.

Captain Richardson, Is this the man that broke Chelmsford Goale?

My Lord, I can say nothing to that.

Was he Burnt in the Hand for Felony?

My Lord, I believe he was.

He made me believe as though he would fly. I believe he is: we will not hood wink our selves against such a fellow as this, that is guilty of such notorious Crimes; a Man of Modesty, after he hath been in the Pillory, would not look a man in the face. It appears, that after he was burnt in the Hand, he hath been Outlawed for Felony, and so it doth appear by the Record.

After I had been absent about half an hour, I returned with my Pardon, which being read, instead of Ʋtlagaria qualiacunque pro Feloniis quibus­cunque, the sence was more contractively expressed by the words, Omnia Malesicia & Ʋtlagaria qualiacunque; which omission seemed to render the Pardon defective; it being his Lordships opinion, that the word Ʋt­lagaria did onely extend to Outlawries between party and party, so that my Evidence was wholly laid aside.

Such Fellows as you are, Sirrah, shall know we are not afraid of you. He produceth us here a Pardon by the Name of Thomas of Wal­tham, and saies his Father and Kinsman are both of that Name and Place. Will you have him Sworn whether his Father or Cozen Thomas was ever Convict of Felony? It is notorious enough, what a Fellow this is; he was in Chelmsford Goale. I will shake all such fellows before I have done with them. Have you any more to say, Mrs Cellier? are there any Waltham-Men here?

My Lord, this is enough to discourage a man from ever entring into an honest Principle.

What! do you with all the Mischiefs that Hell has in you, think to brave it in a Court of Justice?

While his Lordship was giving his directions to the Jury, I was going away, as not thinking there was any more occasion for my stay, or that his Lordship had any farther business with me. Presently I heard a voice,

Where is Dangerfield? is he gone? call him.

So soon as ever I returned into Court,

Have you any friends will be bound for you in a good sum of Money?

No, my Lord, not in Court.

Then let him be Committed.

Immediately I was taken into Custody, and carried away to the Kings-Bench-Prison, where I remained from Friday the day after the Tryal, till the Wednesday-morning following; at what time I was by a Habeas Corpus of my own procuring, brought to the Bar, in order to my giving Bail. But altogether unknown to me, there was a Copy of a Pardon pro­duced, which I had pleaded at the Old-Bailey, for the remitting a Fine upon me, wherein I was Pardoned for Felonies, Robberies, and all Mis­demeanours, &c. which raised another Argument.

Where was this Pardon allowed? and for what? was it allowed for Felony, as well as the Fine, or for the Fine onely?

I allowed the Pardon, and as I remember, 'twas onely for the Fine. The Clerk of the Crown remembers perhaps.

Mr. Tanner, what say you?

My Lord, I think it was for the Fine only; but the Felony is included, and therefore Pardoned I suppose.

No, I suppose not: for if it were not allowed for the Felony, as well as for the Fine, I do not know but that the Indictment ought to be removed, and the Pardon allowed next Essex-Assizes. However, upon his Lordships farther consideration, I was discharged.

[Page 20] Being now come to what more particularly concerns my self, I shall endeavour to keep within the bounds of respect and Reverence to the Office and Dignity of the person to whom I am constrained to offer these Reflections, out of a deep sence of an Injured Proselyte to Reformati­on, as may render me such in the esteem of the world. And that my Defence may rather appear to be a forced Complaint, than a Contume­lious Expostulation with a Superiour in so high a degree, as being the on­ly person that suffered under his Severity. Not forgetting to render my most humble thanks to some of those Honourable Judges his Brethren, whose mildness was a Lenitive that very much asswaged the rigorous entertainment of my Loyal attendance.

I shall take the words in the same order as they were spoken.

What the world may think of the Question, I cannot tell, but to my apprehension it seemed very odd that such a person should put himself to the trouble of demanding a Question, to which he could not choose but well know, or rather was very certain, that the Party Interrogated was no way bound to return an Answer. If then the Answer were not with­in the Verge of Constraint, consequently it was Impertinent; and if so, obnoxious: for considering the Circumstances under which the Testimo­ny was well known to have lain, and how easily such petty obstacles might have been prevented, by the usual fore-sight of those that fail not to inspect the Conversation of the most material Witnesses in Tryals of such concernment; It was very strange, that a person summoned after so long deliberation, as a Witness for the King, and ready to deliver his Evi­dence against the Prisoner at the Bar, for no less than High-Treason, should have his Mouth stopt with a Question, which the Prisoner her self had not power to ask, but onely to prove the matter of fact. Had his Lordship demanded of Mrs Cellier, whether she had ever been Indicted before of High-Treason, he would have looked upon it as a great piece of Despair or Impudence, had she answered, Yes, my Lord, I have. Yet he that would have smiled at self-accusation in a Prisoner, could think it reason to sift the Kings Evidence to his own ruine. And I must Arraign my self for I know not what Burglary, to gratifie his Lordship, and the Prisoner, at the same time Arraigned by the Court for High Treason.

With Submission, I am apt to believe, that here was either a mistake of the Sex, or else a supposition at the delivery of the words, that Man in English, like Homo in Latine, is of the Epicene Gender. Else I cannot conceive what coherence there could be, between this distributive ex­pression, and my Answer to his Lordships Question, I will take it at their proof, unless he thought I deserved to be Hanged for my obedience to the Kings Writ, to which I was (as I thought) amply enabled by his most Gratious Favour. No Impartial man could think I came there to do Mrs Cellier wrong, or that such a thing was in my power; for his Lordship could not but know, she had acknowledged her Life was in my hands. So that all the wrong she could expect from me, was to be false to the King and Kingdom; and all the right I could have done her, was either to have devoted my self for her dear sake, with an obstinate silence to the [Page 21] Halter, or to have stifled my Evidence with some generous piece of self Ho­micide.

Upon the Testimony of Susan Edwards, his Lordship was pleased to spring this Question to the Maid.

I am unwilling to let fly the least extravagant thought. But certainly it was a particular way of Proceeding, to give the Kings Evidence an op­portunity to abuse and render the Kings Testimony ridiculous, and by a question so remote and forraign, that at first it onely created a wonder why it should be asked; to make one of the best Collateral Witnesses the King had, the sport of his own Court; and all this (for the wonder soon ceased) to entertain the Auditory with a Sarcasme of a Chamber­maid:

How strong this smelt of premeditation, I leave to the world to judge. For his Lordship could not choose but know what the Answer would be, who had the Question so ready, when there was not the least cause or necessity for it▪ For Susan Edwards was summoned to prove the bringing the Twenty shillings in Silver, and the Guiney to me from Mrs Cellier at Newgate, (upon my first apprehension) with Instructions what to say, should I be asked about the occasion of our Correspondence. She was to have proved the Message that she brought from Mrs Cellier to me soon after,

Which had it been fully Sworn, I question whether Mrs Cellier, though I had been what they would have made me, must not have been dis­charged the Jury, and reserved to a farther discovery. But to all this his Lordship had not one Interrogatory to purpose, onely amuseth the unwary Damsel, (who if she pass henceforward for a Wit about the Town, owes her advantage solely to his Lordship) and leads her into a Question to destroy what he ought to have supported. As if the Maid had been sum­moned thither not to give her Evidence, but onely to shew her Parts. Which when his Lordship had done, he could not forbear to congratu­late the Maids Wit with a Sardonick smile, give her the great applause, You were pretty nimble with him. Whence I may with Seneca presume to observe, that there is a difference between Passion and Sedateness; and that apparent Heats and Transportments, are not always the ornament of a Tribunal. Quid ergo? non irascor Latroni? non irascor Venefico? Non▪ Sed procedam in Tribunal non infestus sed vultu Legis; nec quicquam magnum est, nisi quod simul & placidum, l. 1. de Ira, c. 26.

But now directing his Speech to Mrs Cellier, with a more friendly sweet­ness he enquires of her,

Have you any Record to shew that Dangerfield was put in the Pillory?

As if it had been the work of that Morning to Arraign Mrs Cellier for Treason, and try me by her Evidence. You may be sure Mrs Cellier was loath to come to the Test; and I think his Lordship was as unwilling she should: what Records she had, he had allowed her fairly enough before [Page 22] to produce, without the help of such incouraging Questions. Though the Court be of Councel for the Prisoner, there was no such need of prompting a Woman, whose readiness in such affairs, had been so well experienced in the same place. However, it being now impossible for her to deny a favour so earnestly demanded, she produced a Brace of Re­cords; the one was a Copy of an Outlawrie for Felony, upon which his Lordship called to the Kings Councel,

Here his Lordship seemed to Caress the advantage he had over me; he calls to the Kings Councel, as one that saw he had put them to a puzzle, and consequently certain of the Victory. I would not willingly incur the displeasure of any man, especially of his Lordship; but my Justifi­cation urges me to say this, that though there are many Reasons why a Man may ask a preparatory Question, which he is able to resolve at the same instant; yet here it carried the resemblance onely of a preparatory Formality, which the subsequent proceedings required. The knowledge of my Offences, were the Motives that induced Mrs Cellier to associate me with her self, in the deep Contrivances of so wicked a Conspiracy. His Majesty himself, who never gave me those Reproaches under the foul guilt of Treason, as his Lordship did when Pardoned by his Soveraign, well knew my Crimes; but beholding my penitence, gave a forfeited Life to him, who had been the bane of a Conspiracy against his Sacred person. Else Mrs Cellier had hard measure to be so long detained upon the acccusations of one who walked about the Town with a defective Pardon. And it may be looked upon as a Recompence for her Suffe­rings, that she was so easily delivered. Otherwise, it was a severe Case, that Mrs Cellier, laden with so many Crimes, fouler than all mine put to­gether, unless what she her self had involved me in, should be brought to the Bar to encounter me her grand Associate, her Confederate, her Intimate in the conduct of all her mysterions Treacheries, with an incon­considerable Outlawry, (I speak comparatively) and all for want of a Quibuscunque, and this too in order to her Acquittal.

I dare not presume to instruct his Lordship, nor do I; nor do thou­sands more question, but that his Lordship exactly understands how far his care ought to extend. But whether needless and overweening nicety be care, I leave the Casuists to dispute. Care may be hurtful, where there is more care taken of the greater Criminal, than of the less. Care may be too injurious, if I may not say presumptive, when it over-curi­ously scans and descants upon a thing of so solemn a nature, as the Par­don of a Soveraign Prince, whose onely Let him be Pardoned, is like the command of Let there be day. And I dare be bold to say, That His Ma­jesty never intended I should suffer that prejudice and disgrace by his Par­don, as his Lordship hath put me to.

I see his Lordship continueth his care; but there are many that fear, his care was too neglectful, to let so great a Criminal as Mrs Cellier was, [Page 23] (for while I have breath I must still maintain it) break all the Fences of the Law▪ for the meer defect of Clerkship. And many good people there are, whose Prayers, Hopes, and Wishes, are all to the same effect; That the Kingdom may not rue the Cavils of that Morning, under the pretence of care and tenderness of Conscience. And the Question may be fairly put, whether the great Arch-Angel of the Three Kingdoms, and the Tutelar Angels of the Nation, his chosen Assistants, shewed more care in committing so great an Offendor as Mrs Cellier, and supporting my Information; or his Lordship, in vilifying both my Testimony and Person to set her free. The World must needs believe that his Lordship had a very high opinion of his Prudence and Justice, to advance them above the Wisdom and Equitable deliberation both of the King and his Coun­cel. But he had Condemned several (at what time there was no disputing about Pardons, though far more furiously Attacked) and therefore as ma­ny must be saved, or else Astraea's Ballance would fall from the Zodiack.

His Lordship next will deny the King his Prerogative; for that very person whom the King had set right in Court, he calls one of a vitious and profligate Life; so far his Lordship differs from the sence of the Blessed: Heaven rejoyceth at the Conversion of a sinner, his Lordship storms at mine. And because I had deservedly suffered before in bad Causes, he was resolved to be even with me, and make me suffer for once undeser­vedly in a good one. I submit to his Lordship, that it would be an hard case for such persons as he mentions, to take away the Life of a Worm. But his Lordship mistakes Mrs Celliers Character, for she was no Worm, unless he means such a Worm, as would have Corroded and Cankered the very Root of the Nations happiness. And then it was a sad thing, that a person of a profligate Life Pardoned, should not be admitted to give his Testimony against a Woman of a profligate Life unpardoned. Here was onely the difference in the Proverb; the Worm was trod on, and his Lordship turned again.

Might I be so bold, I would ask his Lordship, who discovered the Con­spiracy of Cataline, but Curius? Flagitiis atque facinoribus Coopertus & Fulvia? Salust.

Who revealed the Treasons of Marshal Biron, but his Confident Laf­tin? Accablé de Crimes & de mauvaises affaires? Mezeray.

For if a Man be not of the Cabinet-Councel of the wicked, he shall never be able to know their Intrigues; and if he know them not, far less able to discover them. Mrs Cellier acknowledged, that had I not been brisk, I had never been fit for their turn. He that is not through-paced in bad principles, is not to be trusted in the Murther of a Prince; Men of Vertue certainly were not to be invited to the attempts. But people of vitious Principles, stick as close to them, as honest and good men to the Precepts of Vertue, which creates the difference and safety between communicating a piece of villany to a Miscreant, and an honest man. From whence I collect, That no Man can be a good Witness in Mischief against his Confederates, unless he be involved in the same Crime. And there­fore the reason is plain to all Men, why some are Pardoned for Burglary, some for Robbing on the High-way; to the end they be good Witnesses [Page 24] to discover the mis-deeds of their Accomplices. For to use his own words at the Lord Castlemains Tryal: A Man once Pardoned, is restored to his former Credit; and so the King intends by all his Pardons.

Now if that be true, (as I would take all advantages to subscribe to his Lordships opinion) certainly his Lordship was under a mistake, so needlesly to quarrel with His Majesties Broad-Seal, or at least, to make so slight of his intentions. Doubtless it was an high reflection upon the Kings Honour, to repeat and raise from the Tomb of silence, to the ruine of a Pardoned Subject, the Ghosts of buried Crimes. And yet soon af­ter he had affronted His Majesties most gracious Act and Deed, to declare that the very intentions of the King are valid in his Pardons. But the grandeur of the antient Oracles consisted in their Ambiguity.

His Lordship pursues his Text very smartly, and in another Man per­haps, he would have looked upon it as a kind of Malitia praecogitata, to prosecute a person, that to his knowledge never did his Lordship wrong, with so much vehemency; for my part, my little reason tells me, that though it be the duty of far my Betters, to reverence and to be careful of giving Offence to a Personage so highly entrusted as his Lordship, yet that it is beneath the Majesty of Magistrates so eminently exalted, to trample upon the meanest of their inferiours. Neither do I think, with all Submission be it spoken, that his Lordship kept within the bounds of true Decorum, to sit in that place prepossessing the People with an ill opinion of the Kings Evidence. I am sorry I disobliged his Lordships patience; yet I dare be bold to say, (though it be no easie task to hurry through the streets of London) that I did not exceed the time allowed me of half an hour, to go from the Court of Kings-Bench, beyond the Royal Ex­change. However, at length I did return, as far as I can guess, contrary to his Lordships both expectation and desire, by that expression which follows, when he said,

A surmise, of which I cannot fathom the reason, for I neither had the least apprehension of the danger concealed, or fear of my disability to make good my Charge, in regard his Lordship had not revealed his fu­ture intentions to me. Had his Lordship had any suspition of me, it may be wondred he did not send his Tipstaff along with me then, as af­terwards he did, and which he might as justly have done. But here Lu­cian in one of his Dialogues, lends me his assistance, where he says: ‘That he who inveighs against the absent, doth but claim the attention of the Auditory to himself, by prepossessing their ears, and stopping them up after he hath filled them full of the worst he hath to say, by which he renders them impenetrable to any defence against the ill Character he hath given.’ Which he calls a very great injury, not onely in his own, but in the judgment of Solon and Draco, two wise and famous Legislators.

This is a Laconism wherein his Lordship had undertaken much in few [Page 25] words, and therefore the harder to be interpreted. But I humbly sup­pose his meaning to be this; That they who are and have been the Dis­coverers of the PLOT, and fit to be believed, so far as to say there was a PLOT, are not when they Swear in the Prosecution of their Discovery, in regard that such a Prosecution is the act of men of Profli­gate Lives. If this be the meaning of this pithy Sentence, as I believe Salmatius himself could find no other, his Lordship hath laid a fair Foun­dation for the Subverting, Overturning, and invalidating all that hath been said or acted by all the Testimonies and Evidence for His Majesty, in all the several late Tryals, wherein his Lordship himself presided: which if it should come to pass, I leave it, with submission to his Lordship, to consider the fatality o [...] the Consequences. My Lord, it can be no good Logick to grant the Papists such a Conclusion; they are nimble enough to lay hold upon the sayings of great and Learned Men, especially when uttered as Apothegms; and they needed no such encouragement to prove their Arguments. But Heaven avert, that either your Lordship, or any such Stars of the first Magnitude in the Sphere of Loyalty, should ever live to see such a mutation of Affairs!

Lord! What a strange Question was this, for all Men that own Impar­tiality to shake their heads at? Captain Richardson must be favoured by the Name of Captain Richardson, and the Keeper of Newgate must be tempted to answer for the Keeper of Chelmsford Goale. As much as to say, Is there no Man here that can help a man out to vilifie this Rogue? But it seems Captain Richardson could neither answer his Lordships Question, nor his expectations. But to shew how ready I am to obey his Lordships Commands, I will freely give his Lordship to understand, that I never did break the Goale of Chelmsford; though if I had, I know not what kind­ness it would have done his Lordship, but onely to render me more odi­ous to the Auditory.

Here was another strange Riddle proposed, but not so difficult to un­fold as that of Sphynx; for wherefore should that Question be asked, when there was a true Copy of a Record produced for it? but this was still to improve the ill-will and bad opinion of the People against me. My Lord could never have been the Conquering Champion, had he not first made me the monstrous Dragon. But I owed that respect to his Lordship, that had he put that Question to my self, I would have owned it. For in­deed, I am apt to believe, that as the Case then stood with me, any other person, though the best Gentlemans Son in the Country, might have been lyable to the same scandal, or rather disgrace; for then I was but a young stripling, under the Tuition of my Father, and no way privy to the Fact laid in the Indictment, till it was actually committed by another person; who being, as I was under my Father, Clerk to another Atturney, came to me one Evening with a Cabinet, which, as he said, he had taken from his Mother, who was a Woman very rigid, and careless of his Maintenance: withal he told me, I should have a part, if I would conceal his Crime, and help him off with the Goods, which the ignorance of my youth was by such a dazling prospect easily tempted to undertake, as I did; and for [Page 26] which the other Boy gave me as many of the things, as he said amounted to one third part more. Now to shew what a cunning gamester I was at this sport, I was no sooner possessed of my gay Toyes, but I openly wore the Rings which came to my share, and shewed my Silver Medals to the Countrey-people, displaying my Prizes with all the folly and pride ima­ginable of an unexperienced Boy, and one that understood nothing of his danger. At length, the description of all the things being published in the Gazet, the people of the Town well knowing I had shewed them several of the Goods mentioned in the Advertisement, carried me before a Justice of the Peace, to whom, upon my Examination, I owned where I had them, and how I came by them; thereupon the Justice Committed me, and being brought to Tryal, I was Convicted for Confederacy. Which is the whole and plain truth of the story, of which his Lordship would have made such an advantage against me

I do find now, that his Lordship is coming to his application; but if the Spirit of Wisdom be mild and soft, as the Sacred Oracle of Scripture affirms it to be, I cannot imagine why his Lordship should fall into such Raptures and Rhapsodies upon bare surmises. It's believed I was fled, and and therefore we will not hood-wink our selves, &c. Here his Lordships supposition was without ground, because I did return again. Neither do I remember, that I told his Lordship I would flie, because it was a thing I never pretended to. Now the Logick of Reason informs me, that where the supposition vanisheth, the inferences can never be true. But grant I had been Pillored, most certainly the Pardon reached that of­fence; and tho it was thought to be defective in reference to the Outlawry. I humbly conceive it was not so fair for his Lordship at that time to tax me for want of Modesty. I have been informed, that one of his Lord­ships Predecessours was once a Robber upon the High-way, but having obtained his Pardon fell to his Studies, rose by the Law that he had so of­ten broken, and became a great and famous Judge. So that Reformation ought to be encouraged, not upbraided. For my part, though necessity prompted me to so many vile mis-deeds, yet within my self at the same time I abhorred the Fact I was committing; and therefore I humbly beg his Lordships Pardon, for differing from his Lordships Judgment of Mo­desty. For he that hath once obtained the Pardon of a Prince, ought to be so far from secluding himself from the Converse of Mankind, or daring to look people in the face, that he would wrong the high favour done him, should he not make it his business to shew himself the publick object of Royal Mercy, and defie all those that tax him with his forgiven Crimes. But these Taunts and Reproaches, (though ten thousand times more frequently thrown in my dish) shall never make me decline the just cause I am ingaged in, for the Service of my King and Country. In order whereunto, though I were the Man that yesterday durst do an ill act, I am not to day afraid, after a full repentance of my Crime, to look him in the face, who shall be so unkind as to tax me with immodesty for so doing. If his Lordship knew of the defect in my Pardon before I re­turned, he might have dispatched his business sooner, and not have put [Page 27] himself in such a heat for his attendance upon me: if not, I humbly con­ceive it was unseasonable to be so violent before the Pardon came, and the defect were proved.

Here the Pardon was scan'd, and adjudged defective as to the Outlawry.

I do not know that ever at any time I called his Lordships Courage in question; and I appeal to all that were present in Court, whether I failed in any point of respect and reverence to the Dignity of the persons there sitting; so that I cannot apprehend the reason why his Lordship should believe that I thought my self such a Terrour to him. However, his Lordship hath owned himself under the Notion of those that may have reason to fear such Fellows as I am, though for the present he de­clares the contrary. Such Fellows, is a comprehensive expression; but I hope there are no more such Fellows as his Lordship endeavours to make me, in the discovery of the PLOT; if there are, his Lordship hath not thought it convenient as yet to tell them his mind. But now I remem­ber, I was no such fellow once; I was allowed as a good Witness at the Tryal of Knox and Lane, and at the Tryal of Munson the Priest.

So change the times, and we are changed in them.

And thus we see his Lordship is not afraid of me; who they are he doth fear, that's onely for time to discover.

Here is a Proposal made to the Kings Councel, the strangest that could be imagined; his Lordship could not but well know who was the Tho­mas of Waltham concerned in the Pardon, and the chief occasion where­fore it was granted; which was, to make me a Legal and Warrantable Testimony agaist a foul Traitress, that had Conspired the Death of His most Sacred Majesty: and yet for that very reason he rejected the Kings favour, to render it ineffectual both to His Majesties expectation and my advantage. However, at the same time he could have been content, that the person whom he had resused for a Testimony in the Kings behalf, as one that had been Pillored, Burnt in the Hand, and Outlawed for Felony, and unpardoned, as he concluded, for the last, should be allowed to Im­peach his Father, his Kinsman, and himself, upon his own Oath; Nay, had I but said it, I question it not but it would have been enough. Other­wise, if it were onely put by way of Irony to the Councel, it onely ser­ved to make an insignificant noise among the ignorant, and I fear me comes within the Verge of a Baffle upon Royal prosecution. I do confess, that in all my observations of the late Proceedings, I never saw the Kings Evi­dence so well Hectored before.

Here's a show of Words and Threats as great as Hail stones; let all Men take an extraordinary care how they get into Chelmsford Goale. He has [Page 28] been in Chelmsford Goale, and therefore I will shake all such Fellows. Here's a new most horrid and monstrous Crime, never heard of before, to have been in Chelmsford Goale; 'tis no matter for what he was in Chelmsford Goale. But I have already given the world an account, how I came in­to that dismal and execrable place, and for what, and shall therefore say no more of it.

But to this terrible business of shaking; I hope 'tis easie to be demon­strated, that I stand upon a sounder bottom than to be so easily shaken. With submission, I believe it to be the same bottom on which the Interest and Safety of my most Gratious Soveraign and Countrey, the Protestant Religion, and National Government at present stand; and then let his Lordship endeavour to shake all together if he can, I am certain to be shaken in good company. Truly I cannot choose but check my thoughts for thinking what throwes his Lordship endured to deliver a Midwife.

To which I answered and told his Lordship, that there was enough al­ready said, to discourage a man from ever entertaining an honest Principle.

To which his Lordship,

Thus was my mouth quite stopped, there was no speaking after this. However, I will leave this to all the world, whether the modest Com­plaint which I made of the usage I had received for coming to do His Majesty Service, were a braving of the Court or no.

I was in good hopes his Lordships hast had been over, and that he had been now going about to turn a kind Banker, believing I might want Money in the place whither he was sending me. For considering the safety wherein I thought my self, by Vertue of my Pardon; and not believing his Lordship would have made such publick Reflections on the Kings Grace and Favour therefore granted, to justifie me against all Ob­jections that would be made against me by the Kings Prisoners: I could not imagine any other reason why his Lordship should examine me for Security; but it seems it was to another end: for not having any Subsidie-Friends in Court, he gave the word of Command,

And so I was Committed to all intents and purposes; for immediately I was taken into Custody, & hurried away to the Kings-Bench Prison, where being looked upon by those inferiour Beasts of Men, as one that lay under those severe aggravations, of which the scorn and contempt of Superiour Command had so tempestuously thrown upon me, and I was presently lockt up with Knox and Lane, and several others whom they had assimulated to themselves in Lawless conditions; who maliciously remembring that I had been a Witness against them at their Tryals, upon which they lay [Page 29] their Conviction, not onely rudely assaulted, but farther menaced me with nothing less than Murder. So that finding my self an unequal Match, either for Power or Number, I acquainted the door-keeper with my con­dition, and told him withal, that it was his Masters business as much to secure my Life as my Person, and therefore desired to be removed to some place of more security; which soon after was done by one Middle­ton, an Officer belonging to that place. Who after he had demanded and received from me several Fees, which, as I was afterwards assured, were as unjustly extorted, as by me readily paid, according to the usual custom of those Purse-Leeches, put me into a kind of Dungeon on the Com­mon-side, where I continued from Friday till Munday night, after a sort of hard usage; which I am apt to believe, I should not have been con­strained to have undergone, had there not been a private and particular Order for it from some higher Authority than the Marshal, as he himself told me afterwards. However, upon Wednesday morning after, I was brought by an Habeas Corpus of my own procuring to the Bar, in order to my intention of giving in Bail. But it seems, altogether unknown to me, there was a Copy of a Pardon which I had pleaded formerly at the Old-Bailey, for the remitting a Fine imposed upon me, wherein I was al­so Pardoned for Felonies, Robberies, and all other Misdemeanours. By which Pardon, being general, it appeared that I was also Pardoned for the very Crime for which his Lordship had Committed me to the Kings-Bench; so unexpected a check did my good fortune put upon heat and temerity. I confess it was my happiness, that I did not call to mind that Pardon at Mrs Celliers Tryal, (if I may not rather call it mine own) for then I presume I might have prevented my falling under (that Misfortune I had) the hands of a transported severity. But I must ingenuously acknowledge the reasons why I did not, and why indeed it was almost impossible I should; for first, my Mind and Thoughts were wholly charged with the weight of the Testimony which I thought I had been to give in against the Prisoner. In the next place, I could not imagine, since the King had been pleased to give me a special Pardon, that I could have had any occa­sion for a general one, which I then did not know included more than my Fine. And then it was one of the greatest surprizes in the world to me, and to find his Lordship so imbittered against me; a thing which I so little expected, being no way conscious to my self that I had ever acted against his Lordship any thing that might occasion so much fury, unless it were that I once endeavoured to have Mrs Cellier examined before the Lords of the Councel, to give an accompt of what she had once informed me in the time of our intimacy, touching a Treaty between his Lordship and the Lady Powis, in favour of Sir George Wakeman. This I am apt to think, went a great way, and was the main inducement to render my Testimony contemptible and Invalid; and that which produced so many Cautions to the Juries how they gave credit to my Oaths. And all men know, that self-interest is that which may expose the most Sage oft-times to acts of unwariness, in publick Cases of great Weight.

I will not here undertake to be my own Interpreter, but leave it to the Im­partial to censure the continuation of his Lordships Nicety and Curiosity. For he would infer, That if it were allowed for the Fine onely, it was still [Page 30] to be allowed for the Felony; though Mr. Tanner the Deputy Town-Clerk of London had delivered his opinion in answer to his Lordships question, That he thought all was Pardoned that was expressed in the Pardon. His Lordship supposed it was not, and therefore declared, that if the Pardon were not allowed for the Felony, as well as the Fine, he did not know but that the Indictment ought to be removed, and the Pardon allowed next Essex-Assizes.

But with all submission to his Lordship, I shall humbly crave leave to ask this Question; What may be thought to be the intentions of a Prince when he Pardons a Man? doth he intend to Pardon the one half, and leave him to answer the Law for the other; or is it intended in ample manner? more especially, when it was sufficiently known the Pardon it­self could not satisfie the end for which the Pardon was granted, without it were absolutely full for all Crimes past. The first is to make a Man be­lieve he is Pardoned, when he is not; and the Prince himself looseth as well the aim as the intention of his Mercy and Compassion: if the latter, then it is as fully to restore him to his former Reputation, to avoid his be­ing Impeached for any past Crimes, and to encourage him to a Reforma­tion for the future. Yet all this being granted, his Lordship will have the Pardon however to be allowed in the Country where the Crime was acted; as if the King intended by every Pardon he is pleased to grant, that the Parties concerned shall be forced to go into the several Counties where­in they have offended, and perhaps into all the Counties of England, to have their Pardon allowed; but in regard that upon his Lordships bet­ter consideration I was discharged, I will submit to his Lordships condes­cention: adding this to my former experiences, that sometimes there may be a reason for great Men to advise, as well as others.

And thus I have exposed, with all submission and caution possible, those Conceptions which the Impressions of my severe and unequal usage brought to the assistance of my most serious thoughts.

I shall now produce the Arguments maintained by the Kings Learned-Councel at the Tryal of the Lord Castlemain, upon the same Subject in point of Law, of which the subsequent Relation gives a true account.

The Wednesday sevennight after, the Lord Castlemain coming to his Tryal, I was Subpoena'd on His Majesties behalf, by the Advice of His Learned Councel, to be a Witness against him; and the matter of Fact having reference to the same thing, I think fit to give an accompt there­of.

Then I proceeded to deliver my Evidence, which was to this Effect.

That about the Month of June, 1679, the Lady Powis sent me with a Let­ter to the Earl of Castlemain, that being the first time I had ever been to wait on his Lordship; to which Letter I received another in Answer, and delivered it to the Lady Powis, who read it to me as follows,

This person I like well, and though he be no Scholar, yet he may serve to in­struct the Youths as he shall be directed, by which I shall be eased of much trouble and suspition.

By those Youths was meant the St. Omers Witnesses, for his Lordship was their Tutor.

His Lordship was one of those that imployed me to fetch Knox and Lane out of Prison.

Some time after that, I went to wait on his Lordship with some Letters and Lists of Names, that came from Nevel, and upon the perusal thereof, his Lordship ordered me to imploy divers persons to write Copies from them; saying, it was a business of conse­quence, and must not be delayed. Then I informed him, that persons were at that very time, a writing at Powis-house; then his Lordship replyed, let them go on and be encou­raged, and I will pay my part, which his Lordship did; for some time after, I sent Wil­liam Woodman, then Servant to Mrs Cellier, with a Letter to his Lordship, who in an­swer thereto sent Forty shillings for his part of the Writing.

Now those Letters, and those which I put into Colonel Mansels Chamber, were all a­greeable in matter of fact, and tended onely in concurrency to the Sham-Plot.

His Lordship wrote the Compendium, and I read one part of it as it lay before him at the same time.

His Lordship perused the Papers of Knox and Lane, who intended to accuse Dr. Oates with Sodomy; and his Lordship was also privy, and gave consent to the drawing up, and Swearing to the false Affidavits which Lane made before Sir James Butler.

The next day after I had been Treated with by the Lords in the Tower to kill the King, I went to wait on the Lord Castlemain, who having sent his Servant out of the Room, de­manded of me, why I was so unwilling to do that, for which I was taken out of Prison. I desired to know what that was? Why, says his Lordship, were you not yesterday at the Tower? I answered, yes, I was; and then said, would your Lordship have me kill the King, for that's it you mean, I suppose? Then his Lordship said, that was the business he meant; and then he storm'd, and was so furious, that I cared not to stay any longer.

That his Lordship was privy to my part of the Sham-Plot, and used in his dis­course to call the King Tyrant.

This was the true Substance of my Evidence, which being backt with William Wood­man's, the Court proceeded, &c.