TO POSTERITY.

THERE will be a Time when Truth shall be Believ'd, and the Witnesses of it Iustify'd; and the World never the more upon the mending Hand, neither perhaps. For it is Matter of Course, in the Reason and Flux of Humane Af∣fairs, for the Next Age to do That Right to the Former, which the Former could Not do to it self. 'Tis a Rare Felicity of the Times (says Ta∣citus) when the Present State of Things will bear a True History. But so it is however, that One Generation finds Argument and Entertainment for Another; And whether the Subject be Good or Bad; or the Succeeding Age, Better or Worse, Things will be never the less Agreeable in the Story, for being Execrable in the Practice. For the Popular Test of Good or Evil, is Profit, or Loss; and it is only Interest that supports the Reputation of Wickedness, and Quenches the Veneration that is due to Virtue.

Page  [unnumbered]So that in saying There will be such a Time, &c. and in Appealing from the Envy of the Present, to the Impartial Iustice of the Times to come, I do not take upon me to speak with the Spirit of a Prophet; (as if I Fore-told Things Hard to be Fore-known.) Neither do I reckon that I put any Complement upon Posterity, in Transmitting my Cause, and my Papers into Their Hands. My Bus'ness is only to Place Truth in a Proper Light, and to take the best Care I can, that After-times may be the Wiser for Our Follies; the Honester for our Impostures; and that the Infamy of the Present Age, may not pass for History in the Next.

This Tract is Intended for a Third Part, in Continuation of what I have already Publish'd in Two Other Parts, under the Title of [A Brief History of the Times, &c.] In the First Part, I have layd open the Scheme and Manage of the Late Conspiracy, upon the Credit of the Conspira∣tors Proper Acts and Records. In the Second, I have Endeavour'd to give the World a True Ac∣count of the Rise, Progress, and Conduct of the Pretended Popish Plot. And to shew, not so much what it was Not, as what it Was; which will make the Story appear quite Another Thing then all this while it has been taken to be.

Page  [unnumbered]The Third Part that I am now entring upon, is a kind of Historical Review upon the Matters of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey. If he was Murther∣ed at Somerset-House, as Bedloe and Prance swear he was, the Iesuits and their Fellows are certainly the Damnedst Fools upon the Face of the Earth: But if That story was utterly Impossible to be true, the Lord open the Eyes of the Blind, and be merci∣ful to the Souls of those that all this while have swallow'd All These Shams for Gospel.

For the sake of Good Method, I have Subdi∣vided this Third Part into Two Other Parts, with∣in it self. The Former Treats of the Somerset-House Invention, with the Circumstances of Time, Place, Manner, Persons; And so goes on with the Iaunt from the Stable-Rayles to Primrose-Hill; Comparing and Examining Depositions, Iournals, and Publique Entries; 'till, in the End, it appears upon Demonstration as Infallible as Truth it self, that a Man might as well take upon him to bring Heaven and Hell to shake Hands, as to Reconcile Prance and Bedloe, One to Another; or Either of them to the Bare Possibility of a Consistence with Himself.

It follows now, in the Second Part, since Sir Edmund was Not Murther'd so and so, at Somer∣set-House, in such or such a Place; by such and such Hands; or for this or that Reason, accor∣ding to the Witnesses Report, to Enquire How? Page  [unnumbered] When? Where? Why? By Whom? Or, in fine, By what Disaster he was brought to his End? Upon the Whole, I have no more to say, then to desire the Reader, in the Awe of God, and of his Conscience, to Ask, and to Resolve All these fore-going Questions within Himself.

There are Three Points of very Great Impor∣tance, that I have here made the Argument of These Three Treatises; of Great Importance, I say, in the Subject-matter of them; In the Credit they have found in the World: In the Countenance that has been Given them: In the Miserable Con∣sequences that they have Already brought upon the Honour and Peace of the Government, even to the Scandal of Religion it self, and of the English Nation. And of Great Importance else in the Further Operation of These Impostures upon the Generations that are yet to come; in Transmitting an Everlasting Infamy upon so ma∣ny Noble Families and Persons, as have been falsely Accused for this Pretended Conspiracy: And no way to Encounter the Scandal, but by taking the Masque off in Time, and bringing the Naked Truth of this Iugling History into a Clearer Light.

Such as it is, I am now about to Deliver a Third Part of it over into the World; partly upon an Impulse of Conscience and Duty; and partly as I am a Friend to Plain-Dealing and Common Iustice. But I know very well, that Good Dispositions are of Little or no Effect, with∣out Page  [unnumbered] Necessary Powers and Authorities, for the put∣ting of them in Exercise. Upon this Considera∣tion, before I ever advanc'd One Step or Syllable upon This Design, I made it my Humble Suit to his Late Blessed Majesty, that he would give me Leave and Commission, to make a Warrantable En∣quiry into the Forgeries of Otes; and to try if I could fairly bring him to Iustice for his Perjuries. His Majesty was hereupon pleased to Grant me an Order for the Examining of Witnesses, and Comparing Evidences; and the Matter succeeded according to the Wish of every Honest Man in the Three Kingdoms.

So soon as I found that Otes was Fast in the Toyl; it was but Reason Methought, for Prance to take His Turn too: The Bus'ness of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey being the Only Leg the Plot had now left to stand upon. Beside, that the White-Horse-Con∣sult and the Somerset-House-Murther rested upon the same Bottom: Insomuch that the Fall of the Plot Tript up the Heels of the Murther; for Bed∣loe and Prance swearing to Both Alike; if there was No Plot, they were Consequently Forsworn to Both Alike.

In few words, All the Narratives, Depositions, and Articles of Otes, Bedloe, and Prance, were so tun'd One to Another, that it was Impossible to Touch Either of the Three, and the Other Two not Feel on't. I speak of their Agreement in One Common END; for they fall foul one upon ano∣ther, every Step they set, in the WAY to't. I• Page  [unnumbered] Otes was Forsworn, so were the Other Two, by an Inseparable Complication; and Prance's Bus'ness was more then three quarters done, in the very do∣ing of Otes's. This Consideration was most Du∣tifully layd before the Late King, and not with∣out some sort of Importunity, (within the Com∣pass of Good Manners) for the Honour of His Majesties Leave, Order, and Commission, to see if Prance might not be brought to the Stake as well as Otes; and the One Prov'd to be as Rank an Impostor as the Other. His Majesty was Gra∣ciously pleased hereupon, to Encourage, and to Appoint such a Scrutiny; and to Enable me with All Necessary Powers for an Effectual Enquiry in∣to the True State and Condition of That Af∣fair. In pursuance hereof, Divers Enformations were Taken; the Matter Reported upon; and Sir Edmund's Clark found at all hands to have been the Great Confident of the Secret. But he having withdrawn himself into the Isle of Ely; and not without some Jealousie upon the Rea∣son of his going out of the way, as well as Diffi∣culty to learn where he was; His Majesty was pleased to Direct a Special Commission for the strict Examination of him, as hereunder fol∣lows.

Page  [unnumbered]By a Letter from Mr. Fincham, bearing Date, Sept. 20. 1684. I understood that these Worthy Gentlemen had Examin'd Harry Moor, accord∣ing to their Order. And by Another from Dr. Nalson of the 22d. I received the Examination it self, with an Account from Both, how Moor stood upon his Guard; and how Dextrously he Manag'd his Point.

This Cavil about the Saturdays Post I have clear∣ed over and over, where the Subject led me to That Point; And so I have the Other Pretence of the Worlds taking no Notice of Sir E's Ab∣senting Himself till Tuesday; for they went from place to place Enquiring after him, to my Lady Prats, to Captain Gibbons; they told Parsons, and Mason as much before, and most of the Enfor∣mations Dated from the very day of his Absenting himself; it being All over the Town, upon the Sunday, What was become of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey? He went out Yesterday Morning, and did not come home Last Night.

Page  [unnumbered]The First Thing Necessary, was to Learn out the Truth of the Fact; and the Next Thing in question, was the Practice of the Instruments and Managers of These Plot-Matters; and Principal∣ly, how they dealt with their Pris'ners by the Force of Money, Cruelty, False-Witnesses, Sham-Accusations, Menaces, Flatteries, the Fear of Death, or the Hope of Life: And in fine, by All the ways Imaginable of Hitting the Blind side of the Men they had to do withal. 'Tis no News at This time of Day, what Arts & Sollicitations were us'd to Carry people off and on, according to the Biass of Those▪ Times; when the True Interpretation of [Confess the Truth, or you shall certainly be Hang'd,] was [Forswear yourself and be Damn'd.] Now the Stories of This way of Tampering were so Rife, while This Bus'ness of the Plot was in Agitation, that His Majesty was pleas'd to Grant Another Order of Enquiry into any thing of This Kind that pass'd in the Prisons: (which I did accord∣ingly) And the Order runs in the Terms Fol∣lowing.

It was a Great Advance that was made into the Cause of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey: and the Proceedings against Otes were by This time brought to the very Day of Issue; when God Al∣mighty took to Himself our Late Gracious, and Blessed Soveraign, which put a short Stop to the Prosecution both of the One, and of the Other: But however, the Prosecution was Reviv'd, and upon the 8th, and 9th. Days of May, 1685. Otes was Convict at the Kings-Bench-Bar upon Two Page  [unnumbered] Indictments for Wilful, Malicious, and Corrupt Per∣jury; and Miles Prance was also Convict of Per∣jury in the Case of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey and Mr. Vernatti, May 4. 1686. So that now there was a Fair Place left for a General Review: But I was Concern'd however, to secure my self un∣der the Warrant and Protection of a Further Au∣thority for a Continuation of the Scrutiny; which his PRESENT Majesty was Graciously pleas∣ed to Grant me in the Form following.

Over and above These Authorities, I had like∣wise the View of the Parliament-Iournals, the Councel-Papers, and All Publique Depositions, that might be helpful to me upon This Subject, and Oc∣casion; to say nothing of all the Printed Tryals, and Narratives that are Extant. So that in short, there wanted only True Copies of the En∣formations before the Coroner, to put me in pos∣session Page  [unnumbered] of the whole Matter: to which End I was further Enabled by This Following Order.

Upon This Order, Mr. Cowper the Coroner de∣liver'd me the Copies of several Enformations. As the Enformation of Ioseph Radcliffe, and of Ele∣anor his Wife: Two Enformations of Zachariah Skillarne; Two of Iohn Brown the Constable; and the Enformations of Nicholas Cambridge, Iohn Wilson, Tho. Morgan, William Bromwell, Iohn Walters, Iohn Rawson, Henry Moor, Caleb Winde, Richard Duke, and Mary the Wife of Captain Tho. Gibbon. The foregoing Enforma∣tions must be understood, according to the Or∣der to Mr. Cowper, to be the True Copies of the said Enformations. And to be All too, [Not omit∣ting any one of them.] And Mr. Cowper Deli∣vered me likewise a Copy of the Order it self, by him thus Attested, at the foot of the said Order.

Here are Sixteen Enformations upon Tale, and not One Word to the Question of the manner of his Death; but upon the Conjecture of the Two Surgeons, Mr. Skillarne and Mr. Cambridge. Mrs. Gibbon, that could have spoken very much, says very little, and it was not properly an Enforma∣tion to the Coroner neither; for the Verdict was Over first. Moor the Clark, (that was in Effect, a Secretis, to the whole Mystery, was only Interro∣gated, If his Master went out in a Lac'd Band: I do not object to That Question; but why That Question, and No More, to a man that both, the Brothers, and the Coroner knew to be Privy to the whole Transaction? If he went out in a Lac'd Band, he was Murther'd; but if he had gone out in a Plain Band, he had been Felo de se. For whether he Dy'd by the Sword, or the Rope, or the Linnen Cloth, was the Question. The Iury sat upon Friday, and Adjourn'd 'till Saturday; and it was after Midnight when they gave up their Verdict. Now the Surgeons Deliver'd their Con∣jectural Evidence upon Friday; but the Iurors be∣ing wholly Vnsatisfy'd, upon That meeting, were Prevail'd upon to Adjourn in order to the Get∣ting of Further, and of Better Proofs. And what were those Further, and those Better Proofs that Page  [unnumbered] came in next day, but Mr. Radcliffe and Mrs. Radcliffe, Caleb Wind and Richard Duke, that saw Sir Edmund in the Strand at Twelve or One a Clock the Saturday of his going away, after he had taken his Walk in the Fields toward Marybone: But These are Points that are Handled in Better Order, and more at large in Their Due places.

After this Care taken for the Finding out of the Truth, and for the Methods of Arriving at it. All Good men, I hope, will Acquit me, that I have proceeded upon the Conscience of an Ho∣nest Man, in the very Inclinations of doing it; and that in the Zeal of pushing it forward, I have no cause to be Ashamed of Owning my self an Officious Lover of Iustice. And I have been no less Tender of usurping upon the Province of my Superiors, in keeping my self strictly to all the Measures of Duty and Reverence towards the Government. I can fairly Appeal to the Reader now in one Word more, that I have taken as much Care to lay open the matter of Fact on the One side, as on the Other; for where should any Man look for the True and Reasonable Grounds of a Verdict, but in the Words and Import of the Evidence? To which End, I have here ex∣posed the Enformations that were taken by the Coroner; I have likewise Impartially Extracted the Uttermost Force of All that was said in Proof of the Murther, upon the Tryals: And upon the whole Matter, I do here submit my self as to the Candor of this Following, Discourse to All Indiffe∣rent Iudges.

Page  [unnumbered]Let me not be thought Insensible all this while that I Write now against the Stream, and that an Integrity of This Standard Labours against Wind and Tyde. A stubborn Inflexible Honesty is all∣most sure of as many Enemies, as there are Men able to do him Mischief, that have Sacrific'd to Pluralities upon the Poll, Popular Applause, Interest, and Occasion: But my Fortune is made, in the Comfort of a Good Conscience, and in the Blessing of an Indifference, that has cast All these Cares behind it. I will have the Vanity too, (even without Asking God Forgiveness for it) to Hope, that These Papers may out-live the Envy that This Ne∣cessary way of Liberty has brought upon the Composer of them; And that After-times shall Thank me in my Grave, for the Plain History of many Useful Truths, how Odious soever at Pre∣sent, which in all Likelyhood they should never have known without me.

But to shew now at last, that the Officious Zeal of a Pragmatical Observator (as the Wit in Mode has it) has not Transported him beyond the Terms of Decency and Good Manners. I have not so much as skew'd, in this Whole Discourse, upon Any Person where the Thrid of the Story did not Absolutely Require it. I meddle with no Mans Opinion, Forreign to this Single point. To∣leration, or no Toleration, has nothing at all to do in This Book. I support my self from one End of it to the Other, upon Evident and Visible Fact: I have the Publique, and the Solemn De∣claration Page  [unnumbered] of a Famous Common Lawyer, for the E∣quity and the Legality of my Conclusions, as they are drawn from Warrantable Premisses.

As to the Coroners Iury, with a respect to the Verdict, I do here make use of several of their Enformations, which were Frankly Deliver'd, and they are as Faithfully Reported. I do not find that there was any Great Stress laid upon the E∣vidence before Them, that spake to the very Pinch of the Question. Only upon the First day, while Bloud, or No Bloud was any part of the Debate, they stood it out; for they themselves knowing that there was a Great Deal of Bloud, would not agree to find him Strangled, so long as Bloud was insisted upon as an Argument that he Dy'd by the Sword. But upon the Saturday; and after a whole Nights Contest, what to make on't: The Bloud, (that is to say the Demonstra∣tive Proof) being quite laid aside; the Surgeons continued of Opinion that he was Strangled, and the Question being a Surgeons-Matter, the Iury re∣sign'd themselves, and Agreed upon the Verdict.

JUst as I was Finishing the History of One Popish Murther, up starts Another.

Upon the 30th of Ianuary Last past, about Nine at Night there was found, in Parkers Lane, among the Dunghills, the Trunk of a Murther'd and Dis∣membred Body of a Man. The Thighs, Legs, and Arms were taken up Next Morning, from under a House of Office in the Savoy; Drippings of Page  [unnumbered] Bloud seen on the Wall; and the Head found in Another Common Place of Easement, in the Strand, near Exeter Exchange.

This Tragical Story rais'd such a Hubub, of Ru∣mour and Discourse all'ore the Kingdom, that This Particular Assassinate was most Industriously Represented, as no Other, then the Earnest of an Vniversal Massacre. Insomuch, that there was hardly an Eminent Protestant Divine, but they were presently Fitting His Head to This Bodies Shoulders. It fell out unluckily enough, that a Couple of poor Iournymen Ioyners, that were taken Notice of to be more Busie then Ordinary, about the Place That night where the Body was Laid, were Taken, and Committed upon't: And in my Conscience, it would have gone Hard with'em, if God's Providence had not Order'd such a Discovery, Another way, as Clear'd these Two Men to All Purposes of any Possibility of being Guilty of the Fact.

I take Freedom to Discourse the Case thus far, in regard that they have been already taken into Custody, Examin'd, Produc'd, and Acquitted, by the Coroners Inquest.

The Criminals, upon the Other Account, are in the hand of the Law, and it will not become Me to Anticipate the Iudgment of a Court of Iu∣stice, by any General, or Particular Previous Des∣cant, upon the Point in Question. I shall only say, that since the Whole Matter (what ever the Town may Talk to the contrary) has pass'd Page  [unnumbered] through my Hands; As the Discovery of the Head; the Proving of That Head to be the Head of Aubry; and the Proving Those Quarters also that were found in the Savoy, to belong to the same Body. Since All This is True; I say, (as Sir Robert Clark, and several others will bear me Witness) and that All the Enformations, Every One of them, fell under My Particular Care; (Three only Excepted, wherein Iustice Lugg Joyn'd with me) I have some Right, Methinks, for the Credit of Truth, and of my self, to speak a Word or Two on the Safe Side of the Question.

The Story of the Body, the Bloud, the Quarters, &c. being All put together, furnish'd Matter for so Terrible a Relation, that the Phantôme it self of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was Nothing to't: Insomuch that a man could hardly Walk the Streets, without being Flapt in the Mouth, with a [Will you believe Now that Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was Murder'd by the Papists?] I recei∣ved a Penny-Post Letter upon the Occasion, which the Reader shall have as Cheap here as I had it.

This Letter is a Specimen of the Humour, both of the Season, and of the People, that are so Forward to Erect Articles of Faith upon Visionary Illusions. 'Tis a Thing Incredible, what a Con∣course of People Met Every Day and Hour, in Shoals, to see the Dreadful sight of the Bloud at the Savoy: What Romances upon it; What In∣ferences, and Applications, as if Every Drop of Protestant Bloud in the Peoples Veins were to go the same Way with That upon the Savoy-Wall. But to see now, how the Just Goodness of Heav'n has Turn'd All This, to the Reputation of God∣frey's Case, instead of Confounding it. For let the Present Murder be Fix'd where it will; the Bloud at the Savoy will have No Part at all in That Story: so that I hope the Snare of this Pre∣tence, for the Abusing, the Embroiling, and the Tumultuating of the Common People, when they shall Discern how Dangerous, and how Mali∣cious the Cheat was, may turn to their Advan∣tage. Methinks it should make them Careful, What to Believe, and Whom to Trust: And say to Themselves; Instead of [Here's the second Part of the Murder of Sir Edmundbury God∣frey; Here's the second Part of the Imposture of That Pretended Murder.

Page  [unnumbered]I cannot have a Better Occasion, or a Better Place, for the Exposing of This Spiteful Sham, then That which I am now upon; And I can∣not better do it, then by setting forth the Truth of That Bus'ness of the Bloud: And that it was a Sort of Bloud, which they that would have it Thought to be Protestant Bloud are not so Ten∣der of Spilling. I must Desire the Reader to take Notice here, that Murder, is of No Religion: and that Truth, is of All Religions that ever were under the Sun. But for the Clearer Illustration of the Matter, I shall here subjoyn several Enfor∣mations that I have taken concerning This Bloud: And it is Desir'd, that an Enquiry may be made by any man that has the Least Doubt upon him, whether All the Circumstances of Time, Place, and Persons, in These Following Depositions, be not True in Every Point, according to the Known Matter of Fact.

There never were Two Shams better Match'd, and the World could never have Furnished me with a more Auspicious Entrance into my Story of Godfrey, then this of Aubry. (For Dennis Aubry is the Name of this Murther'd Person.) I speak as to the Emprovement of a Prodigious Mischief out of a False, and a Scandalous Foundation: Only for the Honour of This Latter, the Other was much the Grosser Imposture of the Two, as will more and more appear, upon a thorough Perusal and Con∣sideration of this Ensuing Treatise.

As to the Method and Disposition of the Mat∣ter in hand; I have Divided the Whole into Two Parts; and Each Part into Chapters, with Con∣tents to them, that will do the Office of a Table.

And I have further, (for the Stopping of All Mouths) Deposited the Originals in the Paper-Office, to the End, that whoever Doubts whe∣ther they are Authentique or not, needs go no further for satisfaction then to the Bundle it self, as it remains there, under the Title of [Enfor∣mations concerning the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey.