The grand impostor defeated by Tho. Dangerfield.

The grand impostor defeated by Tho. Dangerfield.

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THE GRAND IMPOSTOR DEFEATED.

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THE GRAND IMPOSTOR DEFEATED.

BY the aid of Mr. Gadbury's Astrological Intelligence, I was brought to a most famous piece of self-commending Eloquence; entituled, The Earl of Castlemain's Manifesto; a piece, I must confess, that I never so much as heard of, until Gadbury mention'd it in the Preface of his Almanack; neither do I much wonder that I did not, since there are such ways found out to encourage, or at the least connive at, all sorts of Popish, and the most Villanous Books and Pamphlets, daily Printed and Publish'd by the Papists, that ever Men or Devils invented; which cannot be done but with the greatest scandal and reflexion upon the Government imaginable; and yet how are we to expect any better, since mercinary Ignorants have the perusing of, and liberty to hinder or let pass what they can get most Money by; and having once passed the Press, there are as many, who not altogether so much for Gain, as out of Impudence and Ignorance, voluntarily become the Publishers thereof. And (to speak somewhat modestly of the man) such a one is Sam. Carr, at the Sign of the Kings-head at the West-end of St. Pauls, who was the Publisher of this rare piece of Castlemainisme; which hath not so much of weighty mischef in it, as it hath of Scandal, and the most gross Abuses and Absurdities put upon the Court of Kings-Bench, in Nature; tho' there it was that he escap'd the deserv'd Punishment of a Traytor. But Gentlemen, notwithstanding all his good-luck, I am still the same; I am certain, that when I acted Treason, I was not asleep, I know what I said and did; and I know what others said and did to me; and therefore in spight of Castlemain's Teeth I do aver, That what I swore against him, was in all respects undeniably true; Nor is he ever able to make it otherwise to the Judgment of Impartial men: And I do farther tell ye Gentlemen, That all his Manifesto is a meer conjumblement either of Lies and Forgeries, or at best, of pitiful shifts and evasions: Now then, because I am unwilling to tire your Patience with a long Preamble, I shall take the matter just as it offereth it self, so far as it concerneth me; and shew you not only wherein he would impose upon the Government, where the King himself is reflected upon, where the Court of Kings-Bench is so grosly abus'd; and in a word, how he endeavours to impose upon the whole World a most notorious Lye, which he calls his best Defence; and indeed so it might have prov'd, had it been more strong and cunningly insinuated; but as Liars ought to have good Memories, or as furious Cholerick men are said to be no Conjurers; so either his Lordships Memory [Page] fail'd him, or else he left his best contrivance in the 30th Page of his Compendium; for surely had it not been so, he could not but have found out some better way of Geometrizing his Arguments than that in which they here shew themselves. For do but read pag. 12, 13, 14. where he tells the World, That one Mrs. Cellier visiting the Prisons in the beginning of the Troubles, and coming to me about Charity for the Poor there; I told her, I would not only give her something, but would allow them Weekly also; and thus my Lords I still do (speaking then to the Lords of the Privy Council) Ʋpon this account, and the St. Omers Witnesses, (which I had provided for my own Defence, in case of Tryal, and which I Lodged at her House) she came frequently to me; and (among the News and Accidents of the Prisons) told me one day, she had taken out of Newgate for 3 l. 10s. a Young man vers'd a little in the Law, whom she thought very fit to look after several desperate Debts (to the value of 3 or 4000l.) due to her Husband, who had formerly been a considerable French Merchant; this Fellow was it seems Willoughby, now Dangerfield; and him she sent sometimes to my House on ordinary Errands; but presently he plaid me as Villanous a Trick as could be imagin'd, considering the times we live in: the thing was this; The five Jesuits being (on the Twentieth of June last) Executed, he came within very few days after to me, either in my Lady Powis's Name, or pretending to go to her afterwards, and asked me if I thought it convenient to have their Speeches Printed; I told him by all means, for why should such Excellent and Loyal things fall to the Ground? He replyed, That it would cost Ten Pounds; Well said I, if it does, tell my Lady I'l willingly give something towards it; and so he departed. Not long after, I went to the Tower to see my Lord; and as soon as I met him, said he, Why did you send a Stranger to me? and besides, what have I to do with the Jesuits Speeches? Has any body (answer'd I) been with you in my Name concerning that affair? Yes, (replyed he) one Willoughby, whom I sent away as he came, as soon as he acquainted me with the Message. This Accident surprizing and troubling me not a little, I took my leave of his Lordship, assuring him that I never sent the Fellow, and so went straight to Mrs. Cellier, and I acquainted her what the Spark had done; and also told her, He was so great a Villain, that if ever he came any more to me, I would order my Servants to Kick him out of my House, &c.

So my Lord! I dare say you think you have claw'd me off now? you'l never leave nibling till you 'r caught i'th Trap again; What a piece of Chimerical whim's here? were there not more of Malice and Mischief forc'd along with your insinuation, than either Truth or Honesty, I could not have so much Patience, as to appear in Print against so great a piece of incoherent Nonsence. But for publick Satisfaction, and in Vindication of the Naked Truth, my King and Country, and in my own Justification, I shall prove by fact the material parts of your assertions to be most egregiously false, and meer Fictions contrived on purpose to impose upon the World the belief of a notorious Lie: And in order to it, Gentlemen, I crave leave to trouble you with these few remarks, wherein, as near as possibly I can, with my hand upon my Heart, and in all Sincerity, by the Grace of God, I shall here declare the Truth for my self, and do his Lordship all the fair play imaginable; which I leave to the Judgment of every Impartial Reader.

That one Mrs. Cellier visiting the Prisons, &c. about Charity for the Poor, &c. I told her I would not only then give her something, but would allow them Weekly also; Here's fine Stuff! and here all the World may plainly see that Mrs. Cellier was employ'd by the Papists to ransack and rummage the Prisons, under the [Page] pretence of dispersing Charity, to try who she could find out, That was fit for a bold and daring Enterprise; and the Lord Castlemain it seems, was willing to put his Hand to the Plough, and make a Weekly Allowance of Money in that, as he had done in other Affairs of the like nature before.

He goes on: Ʋpon which account, and that of the St. Omers Witnesses, (which I had provided for my own Defence in Case of Tryal, and which I Lodged at Mrs. Celliers House, she came frequently to me. Here, I think is one of the fairest Confessions of Fact that can possibly be; for I only charg'd his Lordship with instructing of the St. Omers Witnesses what they should testifie on the behalf of Langhorn and the five Jesuits. And he tells us he provided them for his own Defence, and undoubtedly they were design'd to have Testiff'd at his Tryal, had they not been so often baffled, which put his Lordship to find out a better Expedient, by raising a scruple in the Judges Consciences about the validity of my Evidence. But will any man of reason believe, that the St. Omers Witnesses which his Lordship had provided for his own Defence, (as he says) were never consulted with, to know what they could, or rather were to Testifie on the behalf of his Lordship, in case there had been any such occasion? If so, then what I have alledged against him must be looked upon as false and Villanous: But if they will but consider how material, and how common a thing it is, for a person that is capable of giving Evidence, to be consulted withal, to know what he can testifie, before there is occasion to use him; they cannot but believe much more care was taken by his Lordship of the St. Omers Witnesses who were to give a false and forg'd Testimony, (as its plain they did, and which appear'd as clear as the Sun to the whole Court, upon the Tryals of the Five Jesuits and Langhorn, to which Tryals I refer the Reader for his satisfaction) I say then, I hope there is no body but will believe that the Lord Castlemaine could otherwise chuse, (having provided them for his own Defence) but disburse Money to buy Cloaths, and equip those his Novitiates in Perjury. That he allow'd them so much spending money per Week; and that he paid Mrs. Cellier seven Shillings per Week a piece for their Lodging and Diet, which could not amount to less than ten or twelve pounds per week, for there were 15 or 16 of them in number; all this may rationally be suppos'd: But that which follows, viz. That his Lordship did instruct them daily, what they should testifie for himself, (which he calls making Provision for his Defence) and consequently for Langhorn and the Five Jesuits, in which sense let his Confession be Recorded to Posterity.

He runs on: That she (Mrs. Cellier) told him one day, she had taken out of Newgate for Three Pounds Ten Shillings, a Young man vers'd a little in the Law, whom she thought very fit to look after several desperate Debts (to the value of 3 or 4000 l. due to her Husband, &c.) How far this Fiction hath been Credited, I know not, but I am sorry to see his Lordship has no better a shift, than this old one of Mrs. Celliers, which was invented by her for my particular use; a Story so incongruous and unlikely, that none but a Drowning Lord in a weak Cause would have laid hold on; which is plainly seen thus. He says Mrs. Cellier told him, she had taken me out of Newgate for Three Pounds Ten Shillings; and I say, That before I was discharged out of Prison, and made fit for their Plotting business, it cost them near Three Hundred Pounds. He says she thought me very fit to look after desperate Debts, &c. and for that reason was at Three Pounds Ten Shillings Charge, to take me out of Prison. In answer to which I say and will prove it by more than one Witness, that she enquir'd [Page] fore ever she came to me, for a man of a bold and daring Spirit; and receiving information according to her Enquiry, she then came to me, and did Discourse me to no other end or purpose, than what my first Narrative makes mention of, which is far enough from what his Lordship would insinuate. And I do farther, in the Presence of Almighty God, affirm, That the end of my being taken out of Prison, to get in her Husbands desperate Debts, is as false and as preposterous a Lie as ever was told: In a word, it is a thing that never was heard of until after I had been Committed by the King and Councel, for conveying of the Treasonable Letters into Mr. Mansells Chamber, &c. at which time she Forged that Excuse, as you may find it in the 52 Page of my first Narrative (apprehending that she and I should be Examin'd apart, and therefore she sent me that Note, wrote by her own hand, to prevent contradictions.) And as for her Husbands having any such Debts, as could amount to the value of a Groat, much more to the value of Three or Four Thousand Pounds, I am sure is altogether as false; and that I may be able to prove that as well as the rest to be a Device, I do here offer to produce sufficient Testimony, That at that time, (viz.) in the Year 1678, her Husband was taken by all the Merchants in London, that knew him, to be many Hundred Pounds worse than nothing. Nay, that I may once more clear up this great point, upon which those of the Popish party hinge all their accumulations, I do hereby challenge all the World to say impartially, That I ever demanded of them or any of them, One Shilling more or less, either in the Name or for the Use of Mrs. Cellier: Now, I having made this Challenge in Print two or three times already, and no person hath yet come in to contradict it, one would have thought that no Papist (how silly soever) especially a Lord, would have had the confidence to make any further use of that Lie; it seems his Lordship was very hard put to it, that he was forc'd to borrow Mother Damnables Thread-bare Shams. But because I will yet set the thing more clear, pray do but consider, if I had been taken out of Prison only to get in Mr. Celliers desperate Debts, First, how the Lord Castlemain came to be concerned in so large a Contribution, as Thirty odd Pounds towards my Enlargement, which I can prove to be certainly true, by the Papers that were taken in Mrs. Celliers House. Secondly, Whether or no the Lord Castlemain, all the rest of the Popish Lords in the Tower, Mr. Webb, and Mrs. Jeane at Peterly, Mr. Nevil, alias Payne, Gadbury, Munson, Kemesh and Knowles the Popish Priests, Donner Rigaut the Virginia Merchant; nay, and the Lady Powis too, were Mrs. Celliers Debtors, and what Money I demanded of them in his Name? Thirdly, How I came to be brought to the Lord Peterborough, from thence to the Duke of York, and from thence to His Majesty; and whether these were Mrs. Celliers Debtors too or no? And last of all, how often I waited upon the King, what I said to His Majesty? &c. and then I hope it may easily be discerned, that I was taken out of Prison for some other end, than to get in a Bankrupts desperate Debts.

This Fellow was it seems Willoughby, now Dangerfield, and him she sent sometimes to my House on ordinary Errands, &c. I know not what his Lordship calls ordinary Errands, but you shall hear how I gain'd his Esteem for my Diligence; for let him speak never so contemptibly of me in his Passion, yet he at that time employ'd me to get Knox and Lane out of Prison; he ordered me to employ divers persons to Write out Letters and Lists of Names, concerning the Sham-Presbyterian Plot, then set on foot by the Papists. He perused the Papers [Page] with me, wherein was contained the Charge which Knox and Lane were to make good against Mr. Otes: He was concerned in the drawing up of the false Affidavits that Lane swore to, before Sir James Butler: And he was angry with me, for that I had refused the Proposal which the Lords in the Tower had made me; which was to KILL THE KING, &c. And all this his Lordship calls in terms, a being sent to him upon ordinary Errands. All which being positive Truths, I am bound to maintain in the face of the Nation, notwithstanding he escap'd the deserv'd Punishment of these Crimes.

But presently he play'd me as Villanous a Trick as could be, (says his Lordship) considering the times we live in, &c. Why, what was that, pray? The five Jesuits being Executed, he came to me, and asked if I thought convenient to have their Speeches Printed; I told him by all means, for why should such Excellent and Loyal things fall to the Ground? He replyed, That it would Cost Ten Pounds; Well said I, if it does, I'le willingly give something towards it, &c.

This was pretty well said, but most mischievously intended, as you may find by his commending the Excellence and Loyalty of those Trayterous Jesuits Speeches, which cannot but be taken for the most gross, Equivocating Shams that ever were endeavoured to be impos'd upon the World. And I am perswaded, let but any man of Impartial Judgment, who has but heard of the Jesuits Tenets, compare the Tryal of Ireland, and his Dying, alias Lying Speech, with Mr. Jennisons Depositions, and then compare those and the Five Jesuits Tryals, and their Speeches together, and then summ up the most probable circumstances fairly on both sides, certainly he cannot but find them the most pernicious Lies that ever were told, I mean the Speeches he mentions in his Manifesto: And yet that a Lord should concern himself in the patching up of such Stuff as this, is so scandalous a thing that—but what Lord is it? Why a Popish, an Irish Lord, the Earl of Castlemaine: say ye me so! I thought he and his Compendium had been too well known, to give out Manifesto's, &c. But all this while, where's the Villainous Trick he spoke of? Why, Not long after, (says he) I went to the Tower to see my Lord; and as soon as I met him, said he, Why did you send a Stranger to me? What have I to do with the Jesuits Speeches? Ay, what indeed? How shall a man do to know what Lord he means? for ought I can tell he might go to pay his respects to the Earl of Danby; and to his Lordship I was a Stranger, and therefore he might well look with an apparent dissatisfaction, and demand, What he had to do with the Jesuits Speeches? But this I am sure of, had he gone to any of the other Lords, they could never have said, with any Truth, that I was such a Stranger to them as his Lordship pretends. And if I mistake not, they had as much reason to concern themselves about the Excellency and Loyalty of the Jesuits Speeches as any he could pretend to: Therefore that any one of them should say, What have I to do with the Jesuits (their God-amighties) Speeches, is about as likely, as it is for Mr. Otes to have been at St. Omers and in London at the same time: So that now 'tis clear, that his Lordship was willing to make a small wilful mistake, and leave the Argument copious enough, that so upon occasion he might have recourse to the extravagancy of it for an Answer. But where's the Villanous Trick all this while? Oh, he would be understood to be a great admirer of the Jesuits Speeches, and was willing to have them Printed, but I it seems demanded Ten Pound for the Printing of e'm, so here's the Villanous Trick then I suppose! truly it's a very small one, and I think my Demands were very reasonable; for what man living [Page] whose Trade Printing is (Nat. Thompson excepted) would, in his right senses, concern himself in such a parcel of Lies and Villanies for less than Ten Pounds?

I acquainted her (meaning Mrs. Cellier) what the Spark had done; and also told her, he was so great a Villain, that if ever he came any more to me, I would order my Servants to Kick him out of my House. Right or wrong I am to be called Villain now I find! but why so? Only because I discover'd a great many Villains and their Villanies; for I never heard one word of being Kicked down Stairs, nor of any dislike that I was under, until I had made my Discovery; and then, as it hath done ever since, I found the Popish Blood boyl at me; but before my Discovery no man was like to me; Gadbury could tell me I was a man fit for a bold and daring Enterprise, &c. My first Narrative, page 26. That I was fit to be trusted, &c. Mrs. Jean the Popish Priest at Peterly, that wrote the Scheme of the Sham-Presbyterian-Plot, could say in his Letters he had a better Opinion of me than he had of Gifford, notwithstanding he was one of his own Priestly Function.First Nar. p. 10. Mrs. Cellier when she brought me to the Lord of Peterborough, gave a most extraordinary Character of me, and how I had improved my self in the Service of divers Foreign Princes, insomuch that I immediately gain'd the Title of Captain,First Nar. p. 62. with a promise for a Troop of Horse, &c. His Royal Highness the first time that I was brought to him by the Lord Peterborough, desired me to keep up to the Couragious and Active Character which he had heard of me, &c. And at another time,My Information to the House of Commons, Tuesday, the 20th. of October 1680. page 8, and 9. That I had gain'd a great Reputation amongst the Catholicks, &c. All this is Truth, undeniably Truth, and were it proper, I could carry it farther; but here I think are enough to prove how much I was Esteemed of while I did their Service; but when I Discover'd, then 'twas Rogue, Villain, Rascall, Scoundrel, &c. and all the Tricks and Devices that could be imagin'd, were used to invalidate my Testimony, which meeting with some Mercenary helps, soon answer'd their End.

And thus (as I told his Lordship, when we were face to face before the King and Councel) I am beholding to him for confirming so great a part of my Evidence; for however it was carried upon his Tryal, yet I am still the same, and by the Grace of God, will ever maintain what I from the first Charged him with, viz. His being privy to the Proposal that was made by the Lord Powis, &c. Now, to let you know what Reply his Lordship made to this Charge, pray observe this that follows, which is taken out of the 16, 17, and 18 pages of his Manifesto, where says he, Willoughby affirms this, and I the contrary, viz. That I never heard of any Proposal made him by the Lords; Then being told by my Lord Chancellor, that they (the Popish Lords in the Tower) had proposed the Killing of the King to me. I know nothing of it (reply'd his Lordship) and thereupon I asked him when it was, &c. As he was musing a while, and looking up in a considering Posture; I said, You had need consider well, for the Question about Time is the thing that will ever confound you, and such as you are; at last he told me, it was a fortnight or three Weeks after Sir George Wakemans Tryal. Now (replies his Lordship) I have all I desire, having eaught him in a most Evident Lie and Contradiction; for did he not confess that he never came to me after his Knavery at the Tower; which was at the least five Weeks before Sir George Wakemans Tryal; and yet [Page] now he affirms that my being angry with him was even a fortnight or three Weeks after the said Tryal; This so much startled him, that he had nothing to say, but that he would shew me Circumstances to prove the Truth of his Allegation; which were, That I was then Writing the Compendium, a Paragraph of which he read as it lay before me on the Table: That one Lawson was then in the House, and one Turner a Book-seller. These (said his Lordship) are vain things, and so far from reconciling your former contradictions, that they create new ones: For how was it possible for you to read a Paragraph in a Paper, when I my self was by, and in an angry humor, and at the very first sight of you? [And here (says his Lordship) I must with my Readers leave, farther acquaint him, That Dangerfield neither pretended to have done this by surprise, nor would it have availed him had he said so; for my Chair and Table in my Study so face the Door, that it is impossible for any body to come in, and not be presently seen by me, when there.] Now (continued his Lordship) for the persons you Name, they are easily guess'd at, Lawson being my Sollicitor, and consequently most mornings with me; and the other my Book-seller, who having Orders to bring me still whatsoever was new, could not but be often at my House, the Press being at that present so prolifick. He to amuse me and the Board, (for 'twas all this while before the King and Councel) began again with the Compendium, and that he read only a part of a Paragraph; but the Chancellor telling him, that that was not the present Question, he was sent out, &c.

Now as to that part which he seems to affirm so strongly, viz. That he never heard of any Proposal made to me by the Lords in the Tower, &c. I am of his Opinion, and it is now more than the same Equivocation that I expected he would make, viz. that he never heard of it at Candia; but that he had heard of it here in England, nay here in London, and that he was angry with me because I refused it; it is true, and must pass for Truth, until he can more closely contradict it. But perhaps those that have a mind to be Partial in their distinguishing of these niceties, may object and say 'tis but one mans Oath, (and he a person that hath lived very extravagantly too) against a Person of Qualitie's Word or Honour. In answer to this I say, let those Judges but be satisfied whom, and what sort of People they are that I had to deal withal, viz, the Lords Powis, and Arundel of Wardour, who were the Persons that first Proposed the Killing of the King to me, in a close Room in the Tower, where none but themselves and I were present; and likewise that the Lord Castlemaine, when he had a mind to make me understand his Displeasure for my refusing of that Proposal, had sent his Servants out of his Study, before he would enter into any Discourse with me about the thing; why then I say, no reasonable man can do other than believe what I have sworn to be Truth; and what they have or may affirm, to be false: For can it be expected that two Bigotted Papists and a Jesuit, whose best Principles are Blood and Murder, and that had so often approv'd of, and engag'd so many persons for the Killing of the King, viz. Pickering, Sir George Wakeman, the four Russians, my Self, and one Lewis, all which have confessed it themselves, or been Discover'd by others; and some Executed for that very Fact, should at last play the Fool and [Page] accuse themselves. Perhaps had there been another Instrument as I was, present at the same time when the Proposal was made me, for ought I know (after the Providence of Heaven had smote him with the Horror of the thing, as I bless God I was) he might have been as ready to Discover it: But then it may be they will say, there was Gadbury, the Lady Powis, Mrs. Cellier, Father Sharp at Wild House, and others whom I had charg'd with being Privy, more or less, to this Conspiracy; and yet they all flatly deny it; what then! and what does that signify? because a Traytor (that knows our Common Proverb, Confess and be Hang'd) denies his Crimes, therefore he is Innocent; an Excellent Argument indeed! Yet let me tell ye Gentlemen, Gadbury once (when he was in the Gate-house) was willing, and as I have been inform'd, did make some considerable Discovery; but no sooner had he obtained his Majesties most Gracious Pardon, but as soon his mouth grew Black and Mealy, and so became silent; and ever after, all that he could tell of, Good-man, was but Transiently: As for Mother Midwifes part, she did say when the Parliament was sitting at Westminster, in the Month of October 1680, that she had some Discovery to make, and accordingly desired to be sent for to the Bar of that House of Commons; but this Resolution of hers being by some means or other made known, she was soon Presented either with Money, or a Bill for a Hundred Pounds, and great Promises of being plentifully supported from that time forwards, as she hath been without doubt ever since; so that when an Honorable Member of that House went to Newgate to know what she had to say, the best he could get from her, was but base and abusive Language; so that what likelyhood there is for any of these Conspirators to Discover and Confirm my Discovery, seeing they are thus tamper'd with, is but vain, and as yet not to be expected. Therefore, I hope, Gentlemen, you will be so just, as not to think them ever the more Innocent for their asserting and affirming of it; nor me ever the less to be credited for their recriminating and laying to my Charge things that I call God to Witness, I never was in the least Guilty of: I am sure, and I am able to prove it, that what they (I mean the Papists) had engag'd me in, was of Nature so much beyond all that I had ever acted or done before, that when some things were discours'd of amongst our selves, which went down with others as glib and easie, they have made me Tremble: I hope this being seriously consider'd, amongst the many Temptations which I have lain under, together with my reclaim'd and modest Carriage towards all sorts of Persons for this two Years past, will so much out ballance any thing that Popery can object against me, that I may find some Room in the Opinions of Good and Sober People. But Gentlemen, if you'l but do me the favour to take along with your consideration the probabilities which attend my Evidence, viz. That I was taken out of Prison by the Papists, to their Charge near Three Hundred Pounds, before I was capable of doing them any considerable Service; then the plentiful way of my Living after that, even to the time of my Discovery; then my being brought acquainted with the Popish Lords and Ladies in the Tower and elsewhere, and most of the considerable Priests and Papists then about the Town; then my being brought to [Page] the Duke of York, and from thence to His Majesty; I say do me but the favour to compare these Probabilities impartially to what I have sworn, and these that follow, viz. That I never saw the Popish Lords, until I was by their means released out of Prison, and was sent to the Tower, &c. That I never had the Honour to wait upon the King or the Duke, until the Papists had procur'd it: That I had no other End or Design by my waiting upon His Majesty, but to endeavour to possess him with the Belief of that Damnable Popish Contrivance, A Plot amongst the Presbyterians to alter the Government, &c And last of all, that the Proposal which was made me to Kill the King (whom God for ever Preserve) was done by those that hold these pernicious Tenets, viz. Deposing of Kings, Burning [...] Destroying of Hereticks, Changing of Governments, &c. That is to say, the Papists, the worst sort of Papists, the Bigotted, be-Jesuited Papists, whose Doctrine and their own practices have sufficiently rendred them notorious to the World; now if these people were, as they pretend to be, such a sort of harmless, innocent Doves, without Gall, Bitterness, and the worst of Malice, then indeed there were some reason for the World to suspect the Accusation which my self and others have charg'd them with; but on the contrary, as they are not, and since their Crimes are attended with so many vigorous and lively Circumstances, I hope no man will be so void of reason to think, tho' I am but Singularis Testis, that I have not as great a value for my Soul and its Eternal Happiness, as e're a Papist of them all can pretend to; or that I should so often in this, and in other Papers of mine now in Print, call God to witness a Lye, and yet remain, or have any Being amongst my Fellow Creatures here upon Earth. So that now the sum of all is this, Either you must believe that what I have sworn against them is Truth, for which you have the pledge of a thing more valuable to me than the whole Earth, my Soul. Or else you must believe what the Conspirators affirm in the denyal of it, and consequently me to be Perjur'd; a thing I must confess, was never yet laid to my Charge: for the determination of which, since the Opinions and Tempers of men are so various and different, I appeal to the Supream God and Judge of all Mankind, before whose great Tribunal I Challenge the Conspirators for the Truth of my whole Charge, upon every individual Papist, or person by me nam'd; more especially that all-contradicting Gentleman, the Lord Castlemain, whom that you may know to be a Priest, and of the Order and Society of Jesuits, look into the 19 page of his Manifesto, where he says Mr. Otes accused him of being a Priest, and that he had said Mass: But that's not all neither, for Turbervile swore the same; a Man and his Wife swore it also, who were both Papists, and that they had heard him read Mass at Doway in Flanders: I would not take up any thing of this kind from bare words and common Report; neither do I, nor would I be thought to mention any more here than what I am able to prove; because I know I have to do with a subtle, supplanting sort of Devils in the shape of men, who care not who they asperse and scandalize by their Paltry Assertions, so they can but gain a belief, upon the too credulous and good natur'd, or rather impose upon the World any thing, though never so false, to serve their own Villanous Ends.

[Page] But now to return to the point, viz. the Proposal to Kill the King, I kn [...]w nothing of it (replyed his Lordship) and thereupon I asked him when it was, &c. as he was musing a while and looking up in a considering posture, I said, you had need consider well; for the Question about Time is the thing that well ever confound you, &c. Now for the Truth of this, I Humbly make my Appeal to His Majesty and the whole Council; and also to all that ever heard me deliver my Evidence in any Court of Judicature, or any other place, Whether or no, at all times and in all places, I have not Express'd my self as freely, and as clear from any Hesitation or Musing, as any one whatsoever of my capacity can be suppos'd to do in a matter of that great Moment: And likewise, If I have not as readily answer'd Questions concerning matter of Fact or Circumstances, as any the most exquisite of the Papists have been to put them to me. But to allow his insinuation that very way that he puts it, that is to say, that the whole matter which I charg'd him with was false; yet is it likely (supposing me to be so base and villanous) that I should Study my Charge no better than so, as not to be able to give an Answer about Time or Place without musing? but it is much more wonderful, the whole Charge being ipso facto true, that I should not be able to answer a single Question; and this all persons that know meare able to contradict. What he means by his saying that the Question about Time and Place is the thing that will ever confound you, &c. is a Trick I can't well understand; unless by some Magick Spell he made me to be at York, when I Swore I was at his House; which if either he, or any Papist of them all can make out, upon any part of my Charge given against them, viz. That I accuse Toma-Noaks to have been here or there when he was not; or that I had Discourse with him about this or that, and was never in his Company; and this I say, to be proved by Lawful, Credible and Protestant Witnesses; not St. Omerians, of his, or their own tutoring, or other Priests or Papists, that have the Knack of Swearing a man to be at London and Valledolid at one and the same time; why then I say, my Lord, I'le be bound to give you the Victory, but not till then: And that I may with more Modesty than you have done with Discretion, shew you your mistake, and how inconsiderately you have accumulated things laid to my Charge as false as God is true; and that all the World may be able to know the Monster by the bigness of his Foot, take notice of my reply to that part of your Discourse; wherein say you, At last he told me it was a fortnight or three Weeks after Sir George Wakemans Tryal. Now (said his Lordship) I have all I desire, having caught him in a most evident Lie and Contradiction; for did he not confess that he never came to me after his Knavery in the Tower, which was at least five Weeks before Sir George Wakemans Tryal; and yet now he affirms, That my being angry with him was even a fortnight or three Weeks after the said Tryal. What a fine way his Lordship has found out to catch a man? here's a Trick with a Witness! One would think this were a fine way to Dugdalize an Evidence. But pray my Lord, how does it so happen, that this contradiction which you say pass'd in November 1679. was not insisted upon and prov'd in June 1680. when you were Arraign'd and Tryed? This would have been far more considerable than the Six of the Sixteen Records which you [Page] and YOUR Chief Justice made such a noise with; this might have prov'd me Perjur'd, and then I had been for ever disabled for an Evidence; truly it had been a thing well worth your while, but I know you are ready with an Excuse for that too; either you could not procure the Council-minutes time enough, or else you could not prevail upon the Clerks to bear Testimony upon e'm, and that's much. But pray my Lord let me ask you one Question, and don't be Hot or Chollerick; where was it, and before whom did you catch me in this great Lie and Contradiction? Your Manifesto I know tells us it was before the King and Councel: Was it so? Why then truly you have made a fine reflection upon His Majesty and the whole Board, which lies thus; either none of them were so quick of Apprehension as your self to take notice of this Contradiction, and that's strange, for they took notice of all yours; or else they did take notice, and were willing to connive at it; So that in plain terms he charges me with a Perjury committed before the King and Councel, and does as good as say they were all Privy to it, in regard no body took me up for it but himself; Therefore as clear as the Sun, here is a direct Charge upon the King, and the whole Council, which is as like his Lordships way of Scandalizing, as Roger Palmer, Esq is like the Earl of Castlemaine. But supposing my Lord, that I should be able to counter-prove this notable affirmation of yours, that is to say, to prove it a Lye of your own making; what do you think the World will say then? Why 'tis but like an exquisite Papist, and there's an end on't. Come on then for once, I'le try what I can do with it: Your Manifesto tells us, viz. At last he told me it was a fortnight or three weeks before Sir George Wakemans Tryal; Now I have all I desire, having caught him in a most evident Lie and Contradiction; for did he not confess that he never came to me after his Knavery at the Tower, which was at the least five weeks before Sir George Wakemans Tryal; and yet now he affirms that my being angry with him was even a fortnight or three weeks after the said Tryal, &c. and you say this happened before the King and Council; but who was there besides your own words to prove this most egregious contradiction, which you with such scrutiny observ'd upon the at least five Weeks before Sir George Wakemans Tryal? &c. Truly just no body: But perhaps you'l say 'twas prov'd at your Tryal in June 1680. Was it so? how can that be? how does it appear? why see his own words for it in the Printed Tryal page 60. viz. If you please my Lords, (he then speaking to the Judges) I would only tell you this, my Lords, you see that these two Witnesses testifie (viz. Mrs. Cellier and Bennet Dowdall) that I was angry with Dangerfield in June; my Lords I only say this to you my Lords, that when I was Examin'd at the Council Board before the King, of this particular, my Lords, my Lord Chancellor asked him the particulars of it, and he did confess this thing which I now prove, &c. O most admirable sense this; Psha, sense with a wanyon; What Madman at this time of day would write sense I wonder? any one but a rash, hot-headed Popish Lord, or a Conjurer; and they write Non-sense out of a meer design to amuse the people: Ay, but what was the thing his Lordship prov'd? Why 'twas, That I had made a complaint to Mrs. Cellier of his Lordships being angry with me; and [Page] that she spoke to Bennet Dowdal (another Papist) to speak to me not to be troubled at his Lordships anger: But that which is most remarkable is, That I should make this Complaint a considerable time before the time that I mention'd in my Evidence, which was in August 1679, but still how does he prove this? Oh, by the two fore-mentioned Witnesses, Cellier and Dowdal; say you me so! two special Witnesses indeed, the one an equal Conspiratress with his Lordship, and the other a most notorious Papist; but however I'm willing to try how far their Testimony will agree with his Lordships Assertion, and my counter-Evidence: When the Lord Castlemain had asked Dowdal a Question; wherein he dictated to him what Answer he was to make to it, (as you may find in Tryal page 58. where says his Lordship, Mr. Dowdal, the Case is this: Mr. Dangerfield tells me I was angry with him at such a time for a business at my House; was I not angry with him at Powis House for going to the Lords in the Tower? They says Dowdal, Mrs. Cellier spoke to me to speak to Mr. Dangerfield, not to be troubled at your anger. Then Dowdal being ask'd by the Court when this was? reply'd it was after the Jesuits died. In Tryal page 66. Dowdal says, viz. Dangerfield told me his Lordship was angry about his going to the Tower in my Lords Name unknown to him; then being ask'd by the Court, Did he acknowledge to you my Lords Anger in the beginning of July? To which Dowdal reply'd, it was within a Week after the Jesuits died: And a little after that, he stands up and tells the Court it was about the 21 of June. Now let's hear what the Lady of the Wicket Testify'd about this business of his Lordships anger: Oh me, she says positively that This day twelve month (viz. the 23 of June 1679.) He and I had been employ'd in Writing Copies of some Letters, The writing of which Letters is a part of my Charge against his Lordship and against her self, as you may find in my first Narrative. and I sent him to my Lord to know if he would go something towards the Printing them; and he went from him to the Lords in the Tower. In an hour and half after, my Lord came to me very angry; Mrs. Cellier, said he, I thought you would not forfeit your Discretion, to send such a Rascal to me; if you send him to me again, I will bid my Servants Kick him, &c. And at another time I would have sent him, and said he, pray Madam dont send me thither, I would rather go an hundred Miles, &c. So now, Gentlemen, my design is fairly to set before you the sum of these two Testimonies, which for Argument sake I am willing to allow as such; Dowdal said, That I told him of the Lord Castlemains being angry with me about the 21 of June, adding that it was a Week after the Execution of the Five Jesuits; now pray do but observe this contradiction, 'tis worth your while to see what a sort of infatuation these silly Bigots are under, when they come to stretch their Zeal for the Cause. The Five Jesuits were Tryed on Friday and Saturday, being the 13 and 14 of June 1679; after that Langhorn was Tryed and found Guilty; after which they were all Six brought to the Bar together, and receiv'd Judgment to be Drawn, Hang'd and Quartered; which accordingly was done upon the Five Jesuits and Priests, on Friday the 20 of June, &c. here is now visible to all mankind six days mistake, so that had he been upon his Oath, as he was not; and [Page] that about had been left out, for ought I see the transport of this mans Zeal might have brought him into the Bryers of Perjury. Cellier seems to testifie that she heard not of his Lordships Anger till the 23 of June, but says not one Word of the Week after the Jesuits were Executed, &c. however there's two days difference between them: I wonder, (not to reflect either upon the Lord Chief Justice, or the Jury, by whom this good Lord was Tryed) what the World can think of such extraordinary Cases as these are, this not being the first of that kind neither: And with what Impudence men can, as they do in their Lying Pamphlets, daily assert the Innocency of such a sort of people as these, who in their Testimonies even for one another, confess the very Crimes with which they themselves had been charg'd, and thus has Mrs. Cellier done, when she said He and I (meaning me) had been employed in writing Copies of some Letters, &c. which Copies of Letters are those very ones that were intended to be conveyed into the Houses of most of the considerable Presbyterians in England, in order to be seiz'd for the carrying on of that Sham-Plot; I could give many instances of this kind, but my Design in this being only to confute his Lordship by such matter of Fact as particularly relates to himself; I am willing to be confin'd to that narrow compass, and shall shew you what I brought in Bar to his Lordships Objections, and those incoherent, false, oral Testimonies (whose Guilt, if possible, was greater than the impudence they appeared with.) First, the time that I swore his Lordships anger was about the middle of August 1679. Secondly, one Turner (then a Papist, but some what honester than the rest) swore that he saw me at the Lord Castlemains House, and being asked by the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, what Month he could charge himself to say he saw Dangerfield in the Lord Castlemains Company? Turner made this Answer, I cannot well tell, I think it might be about July; so that here, Gentlemen, you have this doubtful point, this great Lye, this most egregious contradiction that his Lordship has so bang'd me about with, dissolved in a word or two. Cellier and Dowdal testifying for the 23 and 21 of the Month of June, and my self and Turner swearing to the middle of August and the month of July positively; both of these being long enough after their times, to have (I think) convinc'd a man about the Truth of the Charge, though Cellier and Dowdall had agreed never so well about the time: Therefore 'tis as clear as the Sun at Noon-day, that I was with his Lordship after the time that he endeavours to prove his being angry with me; and if you'l but do me the favour to take my Word for it after my Oath, I do in the Presence of an All-seeing God, most solemnly declare, and upon my Salvation, That I never knew of, that I never heard of, nor never gave his Lordship any such cause of Anger as he pretends, unless until the Month of August, which was the time that he so roughly treated me, for refusing of the Proposal that had been made me by the Lords in the Tower. Now this great Link of their whole aspersion being broken by Truth and apparent matter of Fact, I hope no man from hence forwards will either inconsiderately or out of Zeal to hide the Villany of Popish Conspiracies, take upon him to raise an Argument from the Earl of Castlemains Manifesto: Or if he does, I doubt not but that I may be able to convince him in time of his obstinate and [Page] peevish Errour. And now I shall return to the next point, and his Lordships own words, viz. That he would shew me Circumstances to prove the Truth of his Allegation; which were, that I was then writing the Compendium, a Paragraph of which he then read as it lay before me on the Table; That one Lawson was then in the House, and one Turner a Book-seller, &c. For how was it possible for you to read a Paragraph in a Paper, when I my self was by, and in an angry humor, and at the very first sight of you? &c. That Dangerfield neither pretended to have done this by surprise, nor would it have availed him, had he said so; for my Chair and Table in my Study so face the Door, that it is impossible for any body to come in, and not be presently seen by me, &c. LOOK YE GENTLEMEN, here is a Question arises thus, Dangerfield swears his Lordship was writing the Compendium at that time when his Lordship was angry with him for refusing the Proposal made him by the Lords in the Tower; and to prove that he was at his Lordships House at such a time, he names you two persons that saw him there, Lawson and Turner; the last hath Testifi'd that he saw his Lordship and Dangerfield together, and the first never yet did the contrary, and consequently cannot refuse the same, if he be, as I hope he is, a Lover of Truth. In answer to this, you have these surmises stated to render the Question improbable, viz. How was it possible (says his Lordship) for you to read a Paragraph in a paper, when I my self was by, and in an angry humor? &c. For my Chair and Study so face the Door, that it is impossible for any body to come in, and not be seen by me, &c. Goodly, goodly, why impossible my Lord? Don't you know your Papers lay loose upon a large Table, and that I stood on the same side of the Table at which you were writing; and that within a Yard or less of the Paper wherein I read the part of a Paragraph, which had been so lately wrote that several of the lower Lines were wet, &c. Pray what impossibility is there in all this? Can any man alive do other than believe by the lame and helpless shifts you use for the denyal, but that you did write the Compendium, or at least some part of it; and consequently, that what I have Charg'd you with is True, since you only endeavour to prove that to be false by trivial and forged Circumstances, which otherwise is not to be deny'd? Had you made a Declaration upon your Honour (if you have any such thing) that I was not at your House at that time when I swore I was; had you brought your Sollicitor and Turner, or any others to have prov'd as much, this had been something like; or had you declar'd it to be wrote by any other person, and have brought some body to own it, or at least some persons of Credit to have prov'd it; Then I say the World might have had some reason to doubt my Evidence; But since neither your Lordship nor Mrs. Cellier, upon neither of your Tryals have been able to prove any one of these kind of contradictions upon me, nor indeed any thing else, more than by way of recrimination, (which was very lucky to your whole party that I was so lyable) I hope there is no doubt to be made by any Impartial Opinion, but that you were both Guilty of every individual Crime, by me Charg'd upon you.

Now to page 21. where says his Lordship, Many other things I had to urge to the Council; as their great disesteem and slight of Dangerfields Testimony[Page]against Col. Mansell; his not laying to my Charge any Treasons; for he accus'd me not positively of knowing what the Lords in the Tower had propos'd to him, &c. what a sly, but weak insinuation is there compremis'd under these words, viz. Their great disesteem and slight of Dangerfields Testimony against Col. Mansell? Pray my Lord how could it be otherwise than a disesteem and slight, when it was prov'd as clear as the Sun, not only by my own words, but by divers Witnesses; besides many circumstances as strong as could be imagin'd, That I was the person that had conveyed the Papers into Mr. Mansells Chamber? but as for my not charging you with Treason before the King and Council, I can't well tell what to say to that, because I don't know whether you think Murder Treason, or to compass, imagine or contrive the Death of the King, &c. to be a Crime; this my Lord I am sure of, if you are a right Jesuit, as I have great reason to believe you are, you are so far from thinking it a Crime, that you hold it as the highest piece of Merit, and the greatest piece of Service that can be done to Mother-Church, all which is clearly to be understood in your own words, which you gave in answer to my Lord Chancellor, when he ask'd you a Question about your being a Priest, viz. As for my being a Priest, I should (were I one) be so far from positively denying it, that I would glory in the Title. But that I did not from the very first, viz. before the King and Council, Charge you with that which our Laws term Treason, (the Proposal which was made me by the Lords in the Tower, which was to Kill the King) is utterly false, and as meer a Fiction as all the rest of your Manifesto; for the proof of which I refer my self to the Council-minutes, which I had thought to have inserted here, but in this I miss'd of my aim; because I could not procure so many powerful Guineys as your Lordship did, to present those withal, that gratified your Desires, which if it were done, was privately, and I'm sure, contrary to the Knowledge either of his Majesty or the Council, to help you to them; a thing certainly which may be said to be one of the greatest abuses imaginable, done to the Honour of that Board, that the Copies of their Records should be bought and sold, when I (who thought I had as great reason to have had Copies, as any you could pretend to) had so often made application, and still went without 'em; Nay, when I had most immergent occasion for them too, when they were to be employ'd in the Service of the King and Kingdom, and yet I could not prevail: Now Gentlemen, pray what think you of his Lordships little piece of Castlemainism? Was ever any thing more full of contradictions, and falshoods? surely nothing unless it were his Lordships little History of the late Wars between the English and the Dutch, or the History of his Travels and Adventures to Candia, and those indeed were claw'd off to purpose with Stories and Relations as false and inconsistent as ever were mention'd in History; and let any man but read over those two little Books that ever knew, or that ever hath read or head of any true Relation either of those unhappy Dutch-Wars, or of the Siege of Candia, and I'le undertake to say he shall soon be convinc'd, That neither his Lordships Compendium, his Manifesto, &c. are the first Shams that he hath endeavoured to impose upon the World, and appear in Print withal, a thing he much delights in. Was ever man (Godbury excepted) so [Page] mad as this Lord, to go about to vindicate himself against a charge of so high a nature, by nothing but Fictions and abuses: Reflections upon the Council, as you may find in the 21 page of his Manifesto, where says he, I ask the Noble mans Pardon for saying any thing that offended him or the Board; This Pardon was ask'd you must know, after he had receiv'd a smart reprimand for his Chollerick and abrupt behaviour before the King and Council; and a'my word 'twas well he had the manners to apologize. The next is the many abuses which he puts upon his very Keeper the Lieutenant of the Tower, as you may find in Manifesto page 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. But that which is most remarkable is, his abusing the man who of all took most pains to deliver him, viz. The Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, and the very Lawyers that were of his Councel; what Monstrous ingratitude is this? In a word, there is not a person from the highest to the lowest, whom he hath not in some measure or other abus'd and reflected upon; but I think 'tis pretty well known of what Credit his Lordships Choller is, and therefore I leave him to the Censure of all unbiass'd Readers: I had thought to have gone through his whole Manifesto, and to have made some remarks upon every Page; but I find it so stuff'd with Incoherencies, Tautologies, Repetitions, and what not, that I was unwilling to trouble the Reader and my self with writing an Answer to that which in divers parts answers it self; but more specially a thing which is supposed for an intended Vindication, and yet without any name of Attestation to it: 'tis a Sign his Lordship was somewhat doubtful of what he there mention'd, or else he could never have sent such a piece of Stuff into the World without giving some assurance that it was of his own Writing.

By the way, Gentlemen, I cannot but take notice of a passage in his defence, p. 83. where he calls me a forger of Treasonable letters to entrap the innocent, and urges my commitment by the Board, upon Mr. Mansell's accompt, as an argument to invallidate my Testimony: By which the World may see a very great weakness and failing in his Lordship, to make that a Crime which he so cordially manag'd and promoted. I profess he has hit the Nail o'th' head. For says he, Dangerfield was in the same Plot with my self; but Dangerfield fell off and discover'd the design; therefore Dangerfield is not to believ'd. But Midwife Cellier, being in the same Plot, and manager of the very letters, being a Testimony for his Lordship, and continuing true to the cause, was a Witness without exception. 'Tis a sign that men read with little consideration, when such shifts and evasions as these shall be so easily swallow'd.

His Lordship goes on with a confession of his faith; a new invention they have now a days gotten, to usher in a fallacious piece of Cajolrie upon the World: That it is against the Doctrine of the Romish Church to depose and murther Princes; than which there never was a more notorious and demonstrable piece of Hypocrisie broach'd upon the Earth. For it has not only been the common practice of the Popes themselves, but a Doctrine openly defended by a numerous and most authentick part of the Fathers and maintainers of the Popish Principles. So that if the Protestants were not strangely enclin'd to favour their [Page] Enemies, how is it possible they should ever give credit to a man that belys his own Religon? If his Lordship were not so much for deposing the King, why was he so angry with me for refusing to Kill him? For with his Lordships leave, I must keep close to my Text, notwithstanding all his Junes and his July's. Perhaps it may be his Lordships particular opinion that Kings are not to be depos'd; but then they must be Kings of his own making, such as he accounts real Kings: For to believe be thinks it unlawful to depose that King to whom he will not swear the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, is contradictory to common reason. He tells ye, he cannot take the Oath of Allegiance, unless the King will be pleas'd to alter some words in it. And as for the Oath of Supremacy, whatever some of his Religion may have done, that's no president for him. So that what credit there is to be given to a Loyaltie that refuses the common Tyes and Bond of Subjects fidelity to their Prince, I leave to all Impartial Judges.

As for Dispensations to Lye, Kill, Forswear, and so forth, those he not only abhors, but protests, he never heard from any Papist, that they are or were grantable. What a plunge has his Lordship here put himself to? For hereby he has made himself the most silly, illiterate, ignorant person in the World, or else the divulger of a most notorious untruth, there being nothing more obvious to reading, than the justify'd allowances of these crimes by the most noted Casuists of his Religion. Now what good such stories as these will do his Manifesto, is the Question. For my part I believe the Bookseller was out in his Title; for had he call'd it, the Legend of the Lord Castlemain, he had done well. This is ill done to impose upon us a meer Romance, or a second part of Mandevil's Travels, under the Title of a Manifesto. Only there is this excuse to be made for his Lordship, that he has told these stories so oft, that he now believes them for Truths, and thinks all the World as ridiculously credulous as himself. In short, I would desire his Lordship to consider what Mrs. Cellier his great Crony and fellow-Conspirator, got by publishing her scandalous Manifesto, tho' she came off by the same fair means as he did. What Mr. John Gadbury got by that abusive lying Almanack of his for this present Year 1682. And what his Lordship will gain by his Manifesto. And it may not be an improper Question, If the same course were taken with both the last, as was with hers, whether they might not have as little reason to boast of their English and Latin Impositions upon the World, they being equally scandalous and dishonourable to the publick Justice of the Nation? And that all such may receive their so highly merited reward, is the hearty wish of

Thomas Dangerfield.

FINIS.

§

§

[Page]

THE GRAND IMPOSTOR Defeated.

By THO. DANGERFIELD.

LONDON, Printed for Richard Janeway. 1682.

Information about this book

Title statement

The grand impostor defeated by Tho. Dangerfield.

Dangerfield, Thomas, 1650?-1685.

Edition statement

1682

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A36294

ID [STC]

Wing D186

ID [STC]

ESTC R38840

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

18177630

ID [OCLC]

ocm 18177630

ID [VID]

106899

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Early English books online.

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A36294)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106899)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1123:4)

Source

— The grand impostor defeated by Tho. Dangerfield., Dangerfield, Thomas, 1650?-1685..

Extent

[2], 17 p.

Printed for Richard Janeway,. London :: 1682.. (Reproduction of original in the British Library.)

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