Foreman. Guilty.

Ch. of Cr. What goods or chattels, lands or tenements?

Foreman. None, to our knowledge.

Cl. of Cr. Hearken to your verdict, as the Court hath recorded it. You say that Robert Green is Guilty of the felony and murder whereof be stands indicted. You say that Henry Berry is Guilty of the felony and murder whereof he stands indicted. You say that Lawrence Hill is Guilty of the felony and murder whereof he stands indicted; and that neither they nor any of them, had any goods or chattels, lands or tenements, at the time of the felany committed, or at any time since, to your knowledge. And so you say all.

Omnes. Yes.

L. C. J. Gentlemen, you have found the same verdict that I would have found if I had been one with you; and if it were the last word I were to speak in this world, I should have pronounced them Guilty.

At which words the whole assembly gave a great shout of applause.

Att. Gen. Will your lordships please to give Judgment this evening? I know it is not usual the same day.

Justice Wild. My lord, I am ready.

L. C. J. No, brother, I am to sit at Nisi Prius this afternoon, and it is time we broke up the Court.

Cl.of Cr. Captain Richardson, you shall have a rule to bring them to-morrow. And then the Court broke up.

On Tuesday, the 11th of February, the Prisoners were brought again to the bar, in order to receive their Sentence; and the Court proceeded thus:

Recorder. My lord, as I was directed by Mr. Attorney, these prisoners being convicted of murder, I do, for the king, pray Judgment upon them; but I must first acquaint your lordship, that immediately after their conviction, one of the officers, a tipstaff, pretending it was his fee, took their clothes off their backs.

L. C. J. Who is that officer?
Recorder. One Ashby.

L. C. J. Call him. Why do you offer to meddle with these men's clothes?

Ashby. It hath been an ancient custom this 40 years, some of us have known it, that the marshal hath the upper garment of all prisoners tried at this bar.

L. C. J. (Speaking to a Clerk of the Crown Office). Is there any such custom, Mr. Waterhouse?

lord; I think they always plead in custody of the marshal.

Justice Wild. But this seems a very barbarous thing, to take their clothes off their backs..

Justice Dolben. It doth so, brother, and they must be restored.

L. C. J. Yes, yes, you must restore them,
Ashby. They shall be, my lord.
Recorder. I pray your Judgment.

L. C. J. Ask them what they can say to hinder Judgment.

Cl. of Cr. Robert Green, hold up thy hand (which he did). Thou hast been indicted of felony and murder, thou hast been thereupon arraigned, thou hast pleaded thereunto Not Guilty, and for thy trial thou hast put thyself upon God and thy Country, which Country hath found thee Guilty; what hast thou to say for thyself, why the Court should not proceed to give judgment of death upon thee, and award execution according to the law?

Captain Richardson. What have you to say for yourself?

Green. I declare to all the world, that I am as innocent of the thing charged upon me, as the child that is in the mother's womb. I die innocent, I do not care for death. I go to my Saviour, and I desire all that hear me to pray for me. I never saw the man to my knowledge, alive or dead.

Cl. of Cr. Henry Berry, hold up thy band (which he did). Thou hast been indicted of felony and murder, &c. what canst thou say, &c.

Berry. I do declare, I am not guilty of any thing in the world of this.

and it is no great matter; for your confession L. C. J. We do not expect much from you, will do us little good, but only for yourselves. We regard it not otherwise, because the evi dence was so plain, that all mankind is satisfied, there is no scruple in the thing; and we know you have either downright denials, or evasions, or equivocating terms for every thing; yet in plain-dealing, every one that heard your trial hath great satisfaction; and for my own particular, I have great satisfaction that you are every one of you guilty.

Cl. of Cr. Lawrence Hill, hold up thy hand (which he did). Thou hast been indicted of felony and murder, &c. what canst thou say, &e.

Hill. I have nothing to say for myself, but that God Almighty knows my innocence. Cl. of Cr. Crier, make an O Yes.

Crier. O Yes! Qur sovereign lord the king doth strictly charge and command all manner of persons to keep silence, whilst Judgment is giving upon the prisoners convicted, upon pain of imprisonment; peace about the Court.

Then Mr. Justice Wild, who, as second judge in that Court, pronounced the Sentence in all criminal matters, except High Treason, spoke to the prisoners thus:

Justice Wild. You that are the prisoners at

Green. God forbid, Sir.

Justice Wild. But though I am of another persuasion than you, and know you have no charity for me, yet I have charity for you. And if I shall say any thing, it is out of a zealous affection I have for your souls; God knows I speak it upon no other grounds; though the offence be horrid, yet I commiserate your per

sons.

For the nature of your offence, it is murder: 'He that sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God created he him.' So saith God to Noab, intimating and declaring thereby, that the intention of God Almighty, in the making of that law, was the preservation of mankind; and that he will not admit or suffer his image to be defaced or destroyed. If it shall be accounted treason against earthly princes to deface their images, is it not much more treason against the great God of heaven and earth, to deface his image, who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords?' The greatness of this sin struck such a damp and horror upon the soul of Cain, that it made him cry out, 'His punishment was greater

than he could bear;' or, as our bibles have it in the margin, His iniquity was greater than could be forgiven; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever meeteth me, shall slay me being conscious to himself, that it was just and lawful, that whosoever did meet with him should slay him. And God himself doth set forth the heinousness of this offence, when he tells him, His brother's blood cried to him;' that is, cried unto God from the earth for vengeance. Blood, it is of a crying nature, and will never cease crying, till it find out the manslayer.

It is an offence so heinous in the eye of God, that he will not endure it in a beast; God saith, he will require it of a beast. And doth God require blood of a beast, a brutish creature void of all reason, and will he not require it much more of man, whom he hath endued with those two great faculties of reason and understanding? and certainly, if murder in general be enquired after, I may well say this of yours, there hath not been committed a more impudent and barbarous murder in this civilized nation, by one subject upon another. And observe how you did effect this murder, with baseness enough. See the baseness of it; as the devil was the father of lies, so he was a murderer from the beginning; and you first begun your murder with an hellish, studied, and premeditated lie. Knowing that this gen

Had such a thing as this been acted by us Protestants in any Popish country in the world, I doubt there would scarce have been one of us left alive. They would not have taken this course that hath been taken with you, to admit us to a fair trial; no, they would have made their own hands their avengers: but, God be praised, we are of another religion, and of another persuasion. We leave vengeance to God, and, under him, to the magistrate who beareth not the sword in vain,' as you now find.

If I could abstract folly from wickedness, certainly it was one of the greatest pieces of folly and sottishness in the world; for what could be your end in it? did you think that all the magistrates in England were lodged in sir E. Godfrey? that, if he were taken out of the way, there were not men of spirit and courage, as faithful and diligent as he was? trouble not yourselves, nor let those of your persuasion trouble themselves, there are a numerous company of magistrates in this kingdom, that will do the same thing, and act in it, and execute their offices with the same courage.

And as to the manner of the murder: whom have you destroyed? a magistrate. For what? for the execution of his office. One that was a conservator of the peace; and whose study it was to preserve you in peace, on him you have violated the peace, and nothing less would satisfy you than his precious life; an affront to the law, to the magistrate, to the king, to the nation; yea, to God himself, upon whom an higher affront could hardly have been put. For the magistrate is God's ordinance; God hath set him up to avenge himself upon the wicked, and to reward the good; and he doth not bear,' as it is a sign by you he hath not born, the sword in vain.'

6

I might say much more concerning the heinousness of this offence; but had I the tongue of men and angels, I could not say enough to set out the horror of it. And now let me tell you, I do not speak this to insult and domineer over you; I praise God I am of another spirit; he knows I have another end in what I say, and my end is merely this, to persuade you from the foulness of your fact, to make a good use of it; that the horriduess of your sin may make the greater and deeper impressions on your spirits; and so make your repentance more severe and efficacious. Had you as many years to live as you have hours, it were little enough to bewail this horrid offence. But on the other side, as that will be little enough,

merciful to this poor nation, and lay no inno cent blood to its charge. So I bid you all farewell in Jesus Christ, into whose hands I commend my spirit."

Then turning to some of the officers, he said: There is a report up and down, that I have confessed the murder of sir Edmundbury Godfrey to Dr. Lloyd; I do deny it.

This Paper was shewn to Hill's wife; and she being demanded whether it was her husband's hand-writing, affirmed it was not: And being further asked, whether she conveyed it to him, she protested she knew not how he came by it; and declared that she never saw it before.

Then Mr. Green said;

"I desire all your prayers: And as for sir Edmundbury Godfrey, I know not whether he be dead or alive; for in my days I never saw hin with my eyes, as I know of; and if false people will swear against me, I cannot help it. I pray God to bless my king, and all good people."

of the murder of sir Edmundbury Godfrey, that God's justice might be glorified in his death; and that he would not go out of the world in his sia, unrepented of; which it must answered me, He knew not any thing of the be, if he did not abhor it, and confess it. He fact for which he was condemned: This was spoke with some asseveration. I hearing him give this answer, asked him, what were the particular things that were witnessed against him, for which he was condemned? As I did conjecture then, I thought he seemed to be unwilling to speak of this matter; nor did his words seem to come freely from him: But he told me, that Mr. Praunce had accused him * An Account of the proceeding to sentence

against MILES PRAUNCE, for wilful PERJURY; who was sentenced in the court of King's-Bench, Westminster, upon a conviction by his own confession, on the 15th of June, 1686, in wilfully forswearing himself at the trials of Robert Green, Lawrence Hill, and Henry Berry, &c. in relation to the murder of sir Edmundbury Godfrey.

Miles Praunce, a silversmith, having been, the last Easter Term, arraigned upon an information of wilful perjury, exhibited against him in the court of King's Bench, for wilfully

Mr. Berry being a protestant of the church of England, was reprieved till the 28th of the same month, in hopes he would make some discoveries. Nevertheless, when he came to the gallows, he absolutely denied all knowledge or concurrence in the fact for which be died; as will be seen by the following Account of his Behaviour.

WHEN I came to him in Newgate, I found him upon his knees, at his prayers, with Dr. Patrick's Devotions in his hands. He told me he was glad I was come, and desired my assistance in prayer. After I had for some while prayed with him, which he did very fervently, I believe, for almost all the time he wept; we then rose up both together, and had some little discourse. I told him, that as the law had condemned him, so I could not but conclude him guilty; and therefore did assure him, that there was a strict tribunal after this life, before which we must all appear; and in particular for him, that there were but two or three hours before he must suffer death, and come to judgment; and therefore I did desire him, that he would reveal to me what be knew

From a MS. in the library belonging to the church of St. Martin's in the Fields.

Lawrence Hill, and Henry Berry, &c. in relation to their murdering sir Edmundbury Godfrey; and for which, upon his oath, &c. they were executed for the said murder at Tyburn; and he confessing himself guilty of the perjury specified in the same information, was, on Tuesday, the 15th of this instant June, again brought to the court of King's Bench, to receive his sentence. The Court having a while considered the heinousness of the crime, and putting him in mind of it, told him, It was well he was so one, as to extend to the taking away the lives sensible of his offence, it being so great a of innocent persons, which did aggravate it; though one that had before him been found guilty of two notorious perjuries in that court, continued obstinate to the last; and, for aught appears, has not hitherto shewn any remorse. Yet seeing he (meaning the prisoner) was sensible of his crime, and had confessed it, the Court had considered his condition, and would have some compassion on a true penitent. The sentence of the Court was, "That be should pay a fine of 100l. to the king: That he should appear before each court in Westminster-Hal!, &c. with a paper upon his forehead, expressing his crime: That on Monday next he should stand at Westminster in the pillory, between the hours of 11 and 1, for the space of an hour; on Wednesday the like, before the Exchange; and on the following Monday, at Charing Cross: And he was likewise sentenced to be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn; and be to continue in prison until all was performed."

Praunce, upon the aforementioned exhortation, declared, That his last confession was the