The Speeches of the five Jesuits that were executed at Tyburn on Friday the 20th of this instant June, 1679

The Speeches of the five Jesuits that were executed at Tyburn on Friday the 20th of this instant June, 1679

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THE SPEECHES OF THE Five JESUITS That were Executed at TYBURN on Friday the 20th. of this inſtant June 1679.

THE SPEECHES OF THE Five JESUITS That were Executed at TYBURN on Friday the 20th. of this inſtant June 1679.

[Page]

Theſe Speeches which I have here publiſhed, being moſt exactly taken verbatim from the mouths of the Condemn'd perſons who ſpoke them, I thought I could do no leſs then make them publick to the World, as well for the ſatisfaction of the Curious, as to let the World ſee how little Faith is to be given to any of that Religion, wherein Lying is ſo much more prevalent than Repentance, and where to commit a ſin, and deny it, is more meritorious than not to ſin at all. I could▪ were it to my purpoſe, give you a thouſand inſtances of what Lyes have been ſuffer'd by the Church of Rome to be made uſe of as lawful, under the helps of Equivocation, mental Reſervation, &c. but this is not time of day for ſuch things, when they have ſo lately had the Impudence to deny, that there was ever born alive ſuch a man as Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, becauſe he was neither Knighted nor Chriſtned at the hour of his Birth. In the ſame manner the Prieſt (conditionally that they ſhall deny ſuch and ſuch things) abſolves them of all things from the time of their Birth, which makes them as Innocent as the Child unborn, the very expreſſion they ſo often uſe:

Tantum Religio potuit ſuadere malorum.

Mr. Whitebread's Speech.

I Suppoſe it is expected I ſhould ſay ſomething as to the Matter for which I am Condemned, and am brought hither to Suffer. It is no leſs then the Contriving and Plotting His Majeſties Death, and Alteration of the Government of the Church and State: You all either know, or ought to know, I am to make my Appearance before the face of Almighty God, and with all imaginable certainty and evidence to receive a final Judgment for all the thoughts, words and actions of my whole life.

So that I am not now upon terms to ſpeak other than Truth, and therefore in his moſt Holy Preſence, and as I hope for mercy from his Divine Majeſty, I do declare to you here preſent, and to the whole World, that I go out of the World as Innocent, and as free from any Guilt of thoſe things laid to my charge in this matter, as I came into the World from my Mothers womb.

And this I do, renouncing from my heart all manner of Pardons, Abſolutions, or Diſpenſations for Swearing, as occaſion or Intereſt may ſeem to require, which ſome have been pleaſed to lay to our charge, as matter of our Doctrine and [Page] Practice: but is a thing ſo unjuſtifiable, that I believe, and ever did, that no Power on Earth can Authorize me, or any body elſe ſo to do. And for thoſe who have moſt falſly accuſed me, (as time either in this World, or the next, will make appear) I do heartily forgive them, and beg of God to grant them his holy Grace, that they may repent of their unjuſt proceedings againſt me; otherwiſe they will in concluſion find, they have done themſelves more wrong, than I have ſuffered from them, though that hath been a great deal.

I pray to God to bleſs him Majeſty both Temporally and Eternally, which hath been my daily Prayers for him, and is all the harm I ever intended or imagined againſt him. And I do with this my laſt breath, in the ſight of God declare, That I never did learn, teach, nor believe that it is lawful, upon any occaſion or pretence whatſoever, to deſign or contrive the Death of his Majeſty, or any hurt to his Perſon; but on the contrary, that all are bound to obey, defend and preſerve his Sacred Perſon, to the utmoſt of their power.

And I do moreover declare, That this is the true and plain ſence of my Soul, and as I hope to ſee his bleſſed Face, without any Equivocation, or mental Reſervation: That is all I have to ſay concerning the matter of my Condemnation. That which remains now for me to do, is to recommend my Soul into the hands of my bleſſed Redeemer, by whoſe Merits and Paſſion I hope for Salvation.

Mr. Harecourt's Speech.

THe words of dying Perſons have always been eſteemed of greateſt Authority, becauſe uttered then, when ſhortly after they are to be cited before the high Tribunal of Almighty God.

This gives me hopes that mine may be look'd upon as ſuch: Therefore I do here Declare in the preſence of Almighty God, the whole Court of Heaven, and this numerous Aſſembly, that as I ever hope (by the Merits and Paſſion of my ſweet Saviour Jeſus Chriſt) for eternal Bliſs, I am as innocent as the Child unborn of any thing laid to my charge, concerning the Matter for which I am here to die: And I do utterly renounce, abhor and deteſt that abominable and falſe Doctrine laid to our charge, that we can have licence to commit Perjuries, or any other ſin, to advantage our Cauſe, being expreſly againſt the Doctrine of St. Paul, ſaying (Non ſunt facienda mala ut eveniant bona) Evil is not to be done that good may come thereof; and therefore we hold it in all caſes unlawful to kill or murther any Perſon whatſoever, much more our lawful King now Reigning, whoſe Perſon and temporal Dominions we are ready to defend againſt any Opponent whatſoever, none excepted.

I forgive all thoſe that contrived my Death, and beg pardon of Almighty God, and I alſo pardon all the World.

I pray God to bleſs His Majeſty, and grant Him a proſperous Reign, and the like to His Royal Conſort, the beſt of Queens.

I humbly beg the prayers of all thoſe who are of the Roman Church, if any ſuch be preſent.

Mr. Fenwick's Speech.

I Suppoſe you expect I ſhould ſay ſomething, as to the Crimes I am condemned for, and either acknowledge my Guilt, or aſſert my Innocence: I do therefore Declare before God and the whole World, and call God to witneſs, that what I ſay is true, that I am as innocent of what is laid to my charge, of plotting the King's Death, and endeavouring to ſubvert the Government, as the [Page] Child yet unborn, and that I know nothing of it, but what I have learnt from Mr. Oates and his Companions, and what comes originally from them.

And as to what is ſaid and commonly believed of Roman Catholicks, that they are not to be believed or truſted, becauſe they can have Diſpenſations for Lying, Perjury, killing Kings, and other the moſt enormous Crimes: I do hereby utterly renounce all ſuch Pardons and Diſpenſations, and withall Declare, that it is a malicious and moſt wicked Calumny caſt on them, who do with all their hearts and ſouls hate and deteſt ſuch wicked and damnable practices, and in the words of a dying Man, and as I hope for mercy at the hands of God, before whom I muſt ſhortly appear, and give an account of all my Actions. I do again Declare, that what I have ſaid is moſt true, and I hope Chriſtian Charity will not let you think, that by the laſt Act of my Life, I ſhould caſt away my Soul, by ſealing up my laſt Breath with a damnable Lye.

Mr. Gavon's Speech.

Dearly beloved Countrymen,

I Am now come to the laſt Scene of Mortality, to the hour of my Death; an hour, which is the Horizon between Time and Eternity; an hour, which muſt either make me a Star to ſhine for ever in the Empire above, or a Firebrand to burn everlaſtingly among the damned Souls in Hell below; an hour, in which if I deal ſincerely, and with a hearty ſorrow acknowledge my Crimes, I may hope for mercy; but if I falſly deny them, I muſt expect nothing but Eternal damnation: and therefore what I ſhall ſay in this great hour, I hope you will believe. And now I do ſolemnly ſwear, proteſt and vow by all that is Sacred in Heaven or on Earth, and as I hope to ſee the face of God in Glory, That I am as innocent as the Child unborn of thoſe Treaſonable Crimes which Mr. Oates and Mr. Dugdale ſwore againſt me in my Tryal, and for which Sentence of Death was paſs'd againſt me the day after my Tryal: And that you may be aſſured, I do in like manner proteſt and ſwear, as I hope to ſee the face of God in Glory, That I do not, in what I ſay unto you, make uſe of any Equivocation, mental Reſervation, material Prolocution, or any ſuch ways to palliate Truth; or if I do make uſe of any Diſpenſation from the Pope, or any body elſe, or of any Oath of Secrecy, or any Abſolution in Confeſſion, or out of Confeſſion, to deny the Truth; but I ſpeak in the plain ſence which the words bear: And if I do ſpeak in any other terms, to palliate, hide or deny the Truth, I wiſh with all my Soul that God may exclude me from his Heavenly Glory, and condemn me to the loweſt place of Hell fire: And ſo much to that point.

And now, dear Countrymen, in the ſecond place, I do confeſs and own to the whole World, that I am a Roman Catholick, and a Prieſt, and one of that ſort of Prieſts which you call Jeſuits.

And now, becauſe they are ſo falſly charged for holding the King-killing Doctrine, I think it my duty to proteſt to you with my laſt dying words. That neither I in particular, nor the Jeſuits in general, hold any ſuch Opinion, but utterly abhorr and deteſt it: And I aſſure you, that among the vaſt number of Authors, which among the Jeſuits have printed Philoſophy, Divinity-Caſes, or Sermons, there is not one to the beſt of my knowledge that allows of King-killing Doctrine, or holds this poſition, That it is lawful for a private perſon to kill a King, although a Heretick, Pagan, or Tyrant: There is (I ſay) not one Jeſuit that holds this, except Mariana the Spaniſh Jeſuit, and he defends it not abſolutely, but Problematically, for which his Book was called in again, and the Opinion expung'd and cenſured.

[Page] And is it not a ſad thing, that for the raſhneſs of one ſingle man, (whilſt the reſt cry out againſt him, and hold the contrary) that a whole Religious Order ſhould be ſentenced? But I have not time now to discuss the point at large, and therefore I refer you all to a Royal Author, I mean the wiſe and victorious King Henry the 4th. of France, the Royal Grandfather of our preſent gracious King, who in a publick Oration which he pronounced himſelf in defence of the Jeſuits, (among other things) declares, That he was very well ſatisfied with the Jeſuits Doctrine concerning Kings, as believing it conformable to what the beſt Doctors of the Church have taught.

But why do I relate the Teſtimony of one particular Prince, when the whole Catholick World is the Jeſuits Advocate? For to them chiefly Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Flanders, truſt she Education of their Youth, and to them in a great meaſure they truſt their own Souls to be governed in the Sacraments.

And can you imagine ſo many great Kings and Princes, and ſo many wiſe Statiſts, ſhould do or permit this to be done in their Kingdoms, if the Jeſuites were men of ſuch damnable Principles, as they are now taken for in England?

In the third place, dear Countreymen, I do Atteſt, That as I never in my life did machine or contrive either the Depoſing or Death of the King, ſo now I do heartily deſire of God to grant Him a quiet and happy Reign upon Earth, and an everlaſting Crown in Heaven.

For the Judges alſo and the Jury, and all thoſe which were any ways concerned either in my Trial, Accuſation, or Condemnation, I do humbly ask of God both temporal and eternal Happineſs: And as for Mr. Oates and Mr. Dugdale, who (I call God to witneſs) have brought me by falſe Oaths to this untimely end, I heartily forgive them, becauſe God commands me ſo to do, and I beg of God in his infinite mercy to grant them true ſorrow and repentance in this World, that they may be capable of eternal Happineſs in the next. And ſo having diſcharged my Duty towards my Self, and innocence to wards my Order and its Doctrine, to my Neighbours and the World, I have nothing elſe to do now my great God, but to caſt my ſelf into the Arms of thy Mercy, as firmly as I judge that I my ſelf am, as certainly as I believe that you are one divine Eſſence, and three divine Perſons, and in the ſecond Perſon of the Trinity, you became Man to redeem me; I alſo believe you are an eternal Rewarder of good, and a Chaſtiſer of bad: In fine, I believe all you have revealed, for your infinite Veracity, I hope in you above all things, for your infinite Fidelity, and I love you above all things, for your infinite Beauty and Goodneſs, and I am heartily ſorry that ever I offended ſo great a God; with my whole heart I am contended to undergo an ignominious Death for the Love of you my dear Jeſus, ſeeing you have been pleaſed to undergo an ignominious Death for me.

As for Mr. Turner, he ſpake twice, much to the ſame purpoſe and effect with his Brethren; whoſe Speech being too long to be contain'd in this Sheet, I thought fit to omit it: But in ſum, He profeſſed that he was wholly innocent as to any Plot, or Conſpiracy againſt the Life of his Sacred Majeſty, or the Subverſion of the Government; which he declared with great earneſtneſs and aſſeveration, praying God to forgive his Judges, Jurors, Witneſſes and Accuſers. And ſo laying all their heads to Whitebread's, after ſome ſecret conference, they made their final Exit and Cataſtrophe.

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Title statement

The Speeches of the five Jesuits that were executed at Tyburn on Friday the 20th of this instant June, 1679

Edition statement

1679

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Text Creation Partnership,

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2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A61045

ID [STC]

Wing S4876A

ID [STC]

ESTC R37621

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

16988627

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ocm 16988627

ID [VID]

105635

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A61045)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 105635)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1159:35)

Source

— The Speeches of the five Jesuits that were executed at Tyburn on Friday the 20th of this instant June, 1679, Whitbread, Thomas, 1618-1679., Barrow, William, 1610-1679., Caldwell, John, 1628-1679., Gawen, John, 1640-1679..

Extent

4 p.

s.n.,. [London? :: 1679?]. (Caption title.) (Imprint suggested by Wing.) (Includes the speeches of Thomas Whitebread, William Barrow (alias Harecourt), John Caldwell (alias Fenwick), and John Gavan; Turner's speech was omitted as too long.) (Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library.)

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