GReat is the malice of wicked men, and their Cruelty not to be expreſt; the beſt of Kings have had Plotts and Conſpiracies againſt them, and the moſt innocent men have been barbarouſly murthered; The day before Michaelmas day laſt, there was ſome Diſcovery made of a moſt horrid Plott, laid by Jeſuits and Papiſts, againſt the Life of our Soveraign Lord the King (whom may the Arm of Almighty God Protect and preſerve, and cloath all His Enemies with ſhame and Confuſion) as alſo that they had Conſpir'd to Overthrow the Proteſtant Religion, alter the Government, &c. Upon which ſome perſons were taken and ſent to Newgate, and ſeveral other Diſcoveries have ſince been made, and perſons Impriſoned but of particulars we have no Commiſſion, tis out hope and good me • s Prayers, that the villany may be wholly diſcovered, and thoſe concerned in it deſervedly puniſht.

And ſo I ſhall proceed to give you an account of the Murther of Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, who may be called the firſt Martyr in this Cauſe, For this worthy Gentleman being one of His Majeſties Juſtices of the Peace, was concerned in taking the Examinations upon the firſt Diſcovery of this Treaſonable deſign and (as became him) was very diligent therein; whereby tis verily beleiv'd ſome Papiſts conceived ſuch a malice againſt him as occaſioned his lamentable Murther, for going forth on Saturday the 12th. of October, from his Houſe in Greens Lane near Charing Croſs, he neither came home to Dinner, nor returned at night, which much amazed his Servants, but from that time till the Thursday following, no certain tydings could be heard of him, although all earneſt and diligent Inquieries and Searches were made for him; but on Thursday the 17th. of October his body was found in a field out of any Road or Path, near a place called Primroſe Hill, about three miles from London, The manner how he came to be found, is Related thus, Two perſons going to an Alehouſe, called the white houſe, two or three fields off, on ſome occaſion, to go the neareſt way croſs over this field, and near the Hedge, ſaw as they thought, a Sword and Belt, and a ſtick and a pair of Gloves, but ſuppoſing them to belong to ſome perſon that was gone into the ditch to eaſe himſelf, did not meddle with them, but told the man of the Alehouſe of it, who as they return'd would go with them to ſee the thing • , becauſe (as he ſaid) there had been ſeveral Soldiers out that way of late a Hedge-Hog-Hunting, and poſſibly ſome of them might have careleſly left them behind them; coming to the place, they found a Belt and Scabbard, but without a ſword, and the Gloves and ſtick lying as aforeſaid, and o • e of them going to take them up, perceived ſomething like a man in the Ditch, and going nearer, a body lying on its belly in the ditch with a ſword run clear through him and remaining therein, Hereupon they immediately called an Officer, who with ſeveral Neighbours came to the place, the ſword was run in juſt under the leſt pap, and ſtuck forth at the right ſide of his back, about ſeven or eight inches. The Officer knowing it to be the body of Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, and • aving removed it out of the ditch, found in his Pockets ſeven Guinnies, four broad pieces, and two ſmall pieces of Gold, four pound and half a crown in Silver, and three Gold Rings about him, tis believ'd the villains had a deſign to murther his Reputation as well as his perſon, and left him in this manner with his money, to make it be thought that • e Murthered himſelf: But tis well known he was a more judicious and chriſtian perſon, and had a plentiful Eſtate, and no colour for ſuch a ſcandal, and that which makes it plain to be an inhumane Murther in them, are theſe circumſtances.

Firſt, there was nothing miſſing about him but his band, and his Pocket-Book wherein he uſed to carry the Examinations of ſuch as came before him, which probably theſe Murderers had occaſion for, that it might be concealed.

Secondly, th • re was no ſign of blood in the ditch, nor thereabouts to be ſeen.

Thirdly, There was a Seam or Circle about his Neck, and the blood ſettled in the upper part, whereby it appears that he was firſt ſtrangled before he was run through, and as for his large lac'd band, which he went from Home with, on, and now was miſſing, tis like being a long neckt man and uſing to wear a high Collar, when they came to ſtrangle him, he might ſtruggle, and they could not do it without tearing it to pieces, and ſo durſ • not bring any of it with the body, leaſt it ſhould diſcover the violence they had uſed to him.

And laſtly, the ſoles of his ſhoes were as clean as if he had been but juſt then brought off a bed or out of a Chamber, and that he was killd elſewhere and brought thither a little before he was found is evident, becauſe on the Tueſday before, which was four days after he was firſt miſſing, the owner of this field having loſt a Calf, ſearching diligently along this ditch and two other men with him, and then there was • either body in the ditch, nor Belt Gloves or Stick on the banck, upon all theſe circumſtances, and many others, the Coroners Jury gave in their Verdict, That he was wilfully Murthered.

In purſuance of which the King's Majeſty out of his zeal to Juſtice, and deteſtation of ſuch • orrid villany, was pleaſed to ſet forth firſt a Proclamation, and then a Declaration, whereby be graciouſly promiſes o • his Royal Word, that whoever will diſcover the Murderers ſhall have five Hundred pounds, and if any of them will diſcover the reſt, he ſhall be ſure of pardon, and the Five Hundred pound too; there are ſome perſons in hold upon ſuſpicion, and tis hoped it may come out ſhortly to the glory of God, and ſhame and puniſhment of thoſe wicked perſons concerned in it.

The Corps being Imbalmed, was kept till Thursday the laſt day of October, and then was carryed in moſt Noble manner, from the Great Hall of the Corporation of Old Bridewel (whereof he was one of the Governours) unto his late Pariſh Church being St. Martins in the Fields; never was ſeen a more ſolemn, or decent Funeral, Eight Knights, and all Juſtices of the Peace held up the Pall, All the Aldermen of the City attended the Corps, and above an hundred Miniſters that came of their own accord without any invitation, but that of reſpect to his memory, and of perſons of Quality and other company the croud was ſo great, that the Train reach'd at once from Bridewel beyond the New Exchange in the Strand, and the Church ſo crowded, that perſons of Quality had offer'd great ſumms of money to get a place in any ſeat where they might hear.

The Reverend Dean of Banger, in Wales, Miniſter of that Pariſh, Preached a moſt Excellent Sermon from that ſuitable Text, 2 Samuel. Chap. 3. ver. 34. As a m • n falleth before wicked men, ſo felleſt thou, and all the people wept over him, which being finiſht, he was decently interr'd with great lamentation, eſpecially of the Poor, whom he had alwayes made it his buſineſs to imploy and relieve, and had given and lent ſeveral hundred pounds to that Pariſh on that Account.