afterwards smarted for it, upon other pretences) and his accusers, as his declaration sets forth,

did like honest, understanding gentlemen: and had they done otherwise, to avoid the ignominy of being called (though in truth it was an honour to be) an Ignorainus-jury, they had justly deserved the reproach, which since has lighted on other juries; such as Mr. Cornish's, and the like. The people were generally so well satisfied, that the spite of the papists was grounded on the lord Shaftesbury's apparent zeal for the religion and liberties, that they publicly rejoiced in his deliverance, and made bonfires that evening in several parts of the city. Graham (who was the solicitor against him, and had managed the Irish evidence) had much ado to escape the fury of the multitude; and the judges (as they themselves confessed in Graham's trial) were affronted as they sate on the bench. The earl being cleared by the grand-jury, moved to be discharged, but could not obtain it till the end of the next term. When he was at liberty, he prosecuted Graham

for conspiring to indict him of high-treason, for which they solicited Wilkinson to give falsetestimony against the said earl, &c. The defendants moved, that they might not be tried in London, because the sheriffs, Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Shute, were the lord Shaftesbury's friends. The judges allowed their plea; but the earl would not try his cause elsewhere."

The Case of lord Shaftesbury v. Graham and Craddock, is reported, Skinn. 40. 1 Vent. 363. 2 Jon. 192. 2 Show. 197. Mr. Leach, in his edition of the last of these books, has referred to several cases respecting the changing of the venue. To other cases on the same subject, he has referred in the Case of Thompson v. sir William Scroggs, 2 Show. 176. That was an action against sir William Scroggs for a battery committed in Suffolk; which sir Bar tholomew Shower tells us in conclusion, “Mr. Thompson forgave and desisted on a treat given by sir William Scroggs," &c.

The following Account of this Proceeding against Lord SHAFTESBURY and of what afterwards befel him, is extracted from "Rawleigh Redivivus, or the Life and Death of the Right Hon. Anthony late Earl of Shaftesbury." Second Edition; printed in 1683.

"NOT long after the dissolution of the Ox-| senger, by virtue of a warrant from the council, ford-parliament, one Brian Hans came to his and his papers all seized and carried to Whitelordship, pretending to be some gentleman of hall, where the king likewise arrived from quality, and that he could make very considera- Windsor, about ten of the clock; and then he ble discoveries of the popish plot, and the murder was examined before his majesty and the counof sir Edmundbury Godfrey and desired his cil; some of the judges likewise were present. lordship in order thereunto to procure him a His lordship knowing himself clear of what was blank pardon, being very unwilling, as he pre-laid to his charge, boldly affirmed and solemn tended, to have his name known, until he had his pardon procured for him. The earl, who was always ready to serve his majesty and the Protestant interest, and supposing that this could be no inconsiderable piece of service, to discover the murder of the aforesaid knight more fully than had been hitherto done, which must necessarily give a greater light into the plot; he endeavoured to get him one, but it could not be obtained. And not long after, this pretended gentleman of quality dwindled into a mean and obscure wretch, and of a pretended evidence of the real Popish Plot, degenerated into a blustering witness of a fictitious Protestant one. For being apprehended, and carried before the council, instead of discovering any thing about the death of sir Edmundbury Godfrey, he accused his lordship and others of having endeavoured to suborn him to do it. Whereupon Mr. Rouse a gentleman who had been sometime employed by sir Thomas Player in pay-lows: ing of the army which had been disbanded not 1. That he imagined to compass and prolong before; and Mr. Colledge, who had at- 'cure the death of the king, the subversion o tended some of the parliament-men to Oxford, the government, and the known laws of the and Saturday, July the 2nd 1681, in the morn-land, by reducing this antient monarchy into ing, his lordship was apprehended by a mes-a republic.

ly protested his innocency, adding as it was reported, that were he guilty of those cranes whereof he was accused, he was certainly a mad man, and had thereby rendered himself more fit for Bedlam, than the Tower, whither upon the sequel he was committed close prisoner for High Treason, and conveyed thither by water, in a barge: and the king returned the same day to Windsor. And now the better to prepare peoples minds to believe what he was to be charged withal, the Jesuit and condemned priests in Newgate, and some other of the popish crew, privately dispersed divers hellish and lying pamphlets, wherein they maliciously aspersed him with conspiring treason against his majesty; one whereof, which was somewhat more impudent and mischievous than the rest, and was called, Articles against the earl of Shaftesbury, was dispensed with some privacy and caution. The articles were as fol

2. That he used great endeavours to possess the people that his majesty was a papist, and designed to introduce popery and arbitrary power; and to that end had promoted several seditious and treasonable libels against his majesty's person and government, purposely to bring his majesty into an odium and contempt with his loving subjects.

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829] STATE TRIALS, 33 CHARLES II. 1681.—the Earl of Shaftesbury. [880 Habeas Corpus; to which the court returned answer, That being charged with no crime in that court, and being prisoners in the Tower, they could take no cognizance of them, but they must seek their relief at the King's-bench Great preparations were bar, the next term. made for his trial, and abundance of witnesses procured; and Mr. Samuel Wilson, a gentleman belonging to his lordship, was likewise committed to prison, for speaking some treasonable words, as was sworn by some of those evidences. Now you must know, this Wilson was the gentleman whom his lordship intrusted to attend the council when his papers were looked over, and take away those which were returned, and indorse the rest with his own name; and that the paper said to be found in the earl's closet, purporting an Association, was not indorsed by him.

3. That he endeavoured to levy war against 'the king, both in England and Ireland, and 'bring blood-shed and confusion upon his ma'jesty's good people, under pretence of prose'cuting the Popish Plot, and preserving the 'protestant religion, the liberty and property of the subject, as he and his confederates have

'done in the late rebellion.

4. That he endeavoured to render the church of England as ridiculous as popery, and defamed all his majesty's officers both by land and sea, and all others, who out of a due sense of loyalty adhere to the crown, stiling them tories, tantivies, masqueraders, &c. 'purposely to frighten them from their duty, and wean them from their sovereign, to ad'here to him and his faction.

5. That he countenanced, harboured, and hired persons to swear against the queen, and his royal highness.

6. That he procured several sums of money to be raised and collected to carry on those most abominable designs.'

"In the mean time, notwithstanding they had abundance of witnesses, yet they desired to have some whose port and figure in the world might procure them the greater credit, and thereby render them the more capable of accomplishing their end in the earl's ruin; and, as they imagined, fortune offered them the most likely and favourable opportunity that could possibly be desired or wished for, by the following accident. Captain Henry Wilkinson, a gentleman that had always espoused the royal interest, and had hazarded his life, and "And to represent him as monstrously un-impaired his estate in the service of his prince, natural and bloody as themselves; and render him hateful and detestable to all men who would be so brainless as to believe the silly and ridiculous shams; the articler adds in the close of his libel, this strange and improbable rodomantado, that when the sergeant at arms apprehended him, he desired him to eat something before he appeared before the king and council; whereupon, says the libeller, his lordship answered, I have no stomach to eat unless I could get a roasted Irishiman.'

having a desire to settle in the island of Carolina, applied himself to the proprietors for an employment in that country; and had, upon the account of his loyalty to his majesty, a promise made him of being employed as governor under the proprietors by his lordship, who was one of the chief proprietors, to whom upon the account of his great judgment and discretion, the rest had committed the whole management.

The captain having obtained this promise, hired two ships to convey him"The Sessions of the Peace for London and self and family, and what other persons were to Middlesex beginning on the Wednesday follow-go with him thither, whereof one of them was ing he presented a petition to the court, desiring to be brought to a speedy trial, or else admitted to bail. Upon the 8th Stephen Colledge had an Indictment presented against him to the grand Jury, who were all of them substantial men; and after having heard all that could be said on both sides, they returned an Ignoramus upon the bill: but being removed to Oxford, and tried there, was found guilty, and was accordingly condemned and executed; and a forged paper presented and published by one Thompson a printer, and supposed to be writ by some Jesuit, who are always so good at inventing of shams, called, his last speech, wherein he was made to confess all that he was charged with, although it afterwards appeared that he absolutely denied. he was any way guilty, affirming his innocency to his last breath. August 31, his lordship presented another petition to the judges at the sessions at the Old-Bailey, desiring that he might be either tried or bailed, pursuant to the act of

a relation of mine. Upon this, one Booth, a
person well born, but by his wicked and proffi-
gate life, had wasted his patrimony, lost all
his employments, and rendered himself very
indigent and necessitous, applied himself to the
captain, desired to go with him to Carolina;
and withal prefixed a time for coming on
board, and engaged to bring with him about six-
teen servants or upwards. This was easily
promised, but not so easily performed: servants
and companions enough he might have had,
who had, like himself, reduced themselves to
poverty and distress, and would for that reason
have been glad of such an opportunity of being
freed from the scorn and contempt of their ac-
quaintance, and the dread of a gaol: but how to
pay for their passage, or employ them when they
came there, he knew no more than the man in
But after a little consideration, he
the moon,
resolved of the following adventure to supply
that difficulty: he first forged letters, as direct-
ed to him from persons of quality, desiring

bought himself a very good stone-horse, with other accoutrements for the said service; and that captain Wilkinson promised to furnish his man with a horse. Now, that the world may the better judge of the truth or falseness of what this man swore in the face of so great an assembly, and from thence argue the validity of the other evidences, I have transcribed verbatim an advertisement, which was thereupon published the next week in Janeway's Intelligence, Number 65.

the earl, he should have 500l. per ann. settled upon him and his heirs as a reward; or if he liked 1,000/. in ready money better, he should have so much paid him down: and finding bim still untractable, they persuaded his wife to use her interest with him, and endeavour to prevail with him, and work him to a compliance with what they desired, telling her, she might thereby be made for ever. But when all this, and many other contrivances failed them, they gave in an information of high treason against him to the king and council, by whose order he was brought before them, and straitly examined concerning what he knew of a Plot against the king, and to have → seized on his person at Oxford. The captain A persisted in his own innocency, and affirmed A he knew no such thing by the lord Shaftesbury, or any other. Then Booth swore high treason against him, and deposed that Wilkinson was to have been captain of a troop of horse consisting of fifty men, which were to be employed in seizing the king at Oxford, when the parliament sat there: and to gain the greater by credit to his oath, and make the thing more probable, he affirmed himself was listed under whim as one of them; although to my knowledge, and the knowledge of many more, the 'This is therefore to give notice, that if any gentleman at that very time when the parlia-one can make it appear, that Mr. Booth ment met at Oxford, and this was pretended to be done, was busily employed in the aforesaid affair of providing for his voyage to Carolina.

"The captain, upon this deposition, was committed back again to the King's-bench prison, where he acquainted the major with what had passed at the council; and he writ that down likewise as he had done the rest : and the captain willing to expose the villany, and prevent the mischief of his mercenary breath, published an account of the whole matter to the world, to which I refer the reader for further satisfaction.

"His lordship having continued in the Tower from July, till the latter end of November, without obtaining a trial, his majesty then issued out a commission of Oyer and Terminer, to be held at the Old-Bailey on the 24th, of that month, when an indictment of high treason against his lordship was preferred to the Grand-jury summoned upon that occasion, which was the most substantial of any that had been known for a long time before. The Court being set, and the jury sworn, the witnesses gave in the like evidence to the Court as they had formerly done to the council. They generally swore much to the same purposes; and Booth was one of the chief evidences, who declared upon oath, that the earl told him, that he and others had considered with themselves, it was necessary for them to have guards at Oxford; and that he had for that reason provided fifty gentlemen, and had intrusted captain Wilkinson with the command and management of them; that he himself was listed as one of them, (yet could name none of the rest) and that he had thereupon

YOL. VIII.

'Whereas upon Thursday last, an indict'ment was preferred to the Grand-jury at the Old-Bailey against the right honourable the 'earl of Shaftesbury, and whereas Mr. Booth was produced as one of the evidences, who 'swore in open Court, that captain Wilkinson 'was engaged with the said earl against his majesty and the government, and that the 'said captain was to command a troop of horse 'to be mounted with fifty gentlemen, and that 'the said Mr. Booth had listed himself as one of the troop. Also the said Mr. Booth made ' oath, that he had bought himself a good stonehorse, and other accoutrements for the said 'service, and captain Wilkinson was to furnish 'his man with a horse.

bought any such horse, with his marks and 'colour, and who he bought him of about March last, or that he had any such horse 'within that time, and what stable he was kept 'at, shall have, upon good proof made thereof to the said captain Wilkinson, five guineas paid him for a reward of his pains.

6

Also if any person can make appear, that the said captain Wilkinson hath bought or 'had any horse, gelding, or mare, for these 'two years last past, or ever hath been upon the back of any for the same space of time, saving one gelding which he borrowed to ride to Wickam, when the members of the last parliament went to Oxford; or that ever captain Wilkinson hath been nearer Oxford these 20 years, than the said town of Wickam, upon proof thereof, he shall have five guineas for his reward. HENRY WILKINSON.'

"It is worthy of every man's consideration, that this was not delayed till the thing was worn out of mind, but published whilst it was yet hot and fresh in every man's memory; and that therefore if any such horse had been bought and kept by Booth, either the person who sold him, or those who were present at the buying of him, or the inn-keeper where he stood, or the ostler that looked to him, or some one or other who must undoubtedly have seen him ride, or at least the person to whom he afterwards sold him, would certainly, either out of a principle of love and loyalty to his majesty, to detect the impudence of the captain in publishing this declaration, to vindicate the honour and reputation of Booth, to despite the earl and render him the more guilty, or else out of love and desire of the five guineas, have appeared and given evidence thereof. The same may be said of the 3 H

captain's horse; and therefore it must be grant- that an indifferent jury might as well be had

ed, that neither the one nor the other had any horse at all: and if so, how improbable a story it is, that the captain should command a troop of horse, when at that same time he had not a horse to ride on, nor never had been in twenty years at the place where this troop was to be commanded. And yet upon the evidence of this man, and others of the like temper, some men would have had his lordship found guilty, and convicted of no less crime than high-treason? railing against and vilifying the grand jury for doing otherwise,

After a full hearing of all that the witnesses had to say, the jury thought themselves obliged to return an Ignoramus, upon the bill; which occasioned a general joy and satisfaction, as plainly appeared by the many bone-fires which were that night made almost in every street, and at several country towns, upon hearing the news thereof.

"The eari being thus cleared by the grand jury, moved to be discharged, but could not obtain it till the 13th of February following; and then both he and several others who were prisoners upon the account of this imaginary plot, were released. And having thus gained is liberty, he arrested several persons, whereof some of them were evidences against him, in an action of conspiracy, and one Cradock and others in an action of scandalum magnatum; but was not able to bring any of them to a trial. For on the 4th of May, being the first day of the term, Cradock, whose trial was expected to be brought on first, moved by his counsel, that the trial night not be in London or Middlesex, but in some other county; upon which motion the court ordered, That on Friday following the earl should shew cause, why it should not be tried in another county. Accordingly his lordship appeared in court himself, and declared it was his desire to have it tried by an indifferent jury, but only desired to have it tried that term by a Middlesex jury; asserting,

there, as in any county in England. On the 12th the like motion was made in the behalf of Graham: whereupon his lordship finding he could not have it tried in London, and not willing it should be tried in any other county, in regard an address of abhorrence against a certain paper said to be found in his lordship's closet, importing an association, was preferred in most counties; declared, that since he could not have the undoubted privilege of a peer, to lay his action in any county in England, he would remit it at present, and wait till he had a better opportunity to revive it.

"After this, his lordship continued at his house in Aldersgate-street until the November following, and then he went over to Holland. The seas were somewhat tempestuous: and some who went over in company with the same ship, were cast away; but the providence of God ordered that to save his life, which is often the loss of others; viz. an unskilful pilot, who being not well acquainted with the haven, and withal somewhat timorous, would not be persuaded to venture in till he had a calmer sea. As soon as he arrived, and was known, he was visited by some of the states, and others of the greatest quality, who welcomed him into that country, and congratulated his having s happily escaped the danger of the seas.

"The earl, not long after his arrival, took a spacious house in Amsterdam, where he intended to reside; he was to pay for it a yearly rent of 150l. per annum: but before the house was furnished and fitted for his use his usual distemper, the gout, seized him. and handled him with great violence for some days, and then it began to wear away, and the earl was indifferently recovered; but suddenly and unexpectedly returning again, and getting into his stomach, he fell into a dangerous relapse, which proved mortal, and terminated in his death."

Remarks on the Earl of SHAFTESBURY'S Grand Jury. By Sir JoHy HAWLES, Solicitor General in the Reign of William III.

THE next person questioned was the earl the paper produced was the paper delivered of Shaftesbury, against whom a bill of high-him by Mr. Blathwaite, and it was unaltertreason was preferred to the grand jury, at the ed. Then the paper was read, the effect sessions-house, on the 24th day of November of which was a project of an association signed 1681. The evidence was publicly given in by no person, and whose hand-writing it was, court, and was this; Mr. Blathwaite swore he none knew. John Booth swore, that he was found the papers then produced in a velvet bag engaged to captain Wilkinson, who pretended in the great trunk, which was taken by Mr. to have a commission from the lord Shaftes Gwynne in the lord Shaftesbury's house. Mr. bury and several others to go for Carolina; be Gwynne swore all the papers in the velvet was about that time introduced into the earl's bag, when he delivered them to Mr. Blath- acquaintance by the captain, where was a diswaite, were taken by him in the lord Shaftes- course about Carolina business; he was four bury's house: sir Leoline Jenkins swore, or five times between Christmas and March, with the earl and the captain: that the captain told him he was to command 50 men to be the earl's guard at Oxon, and would have had hum

*See the Remarks at the end of Fitz-harris's and Colledge's Cases, ante, pp. 429, 723.