On the morning when these unfortunate men stood ignominiously
bound to the gallows at Tyburn, the instruments of death before
their eyes, the angry murmurs of the surging mob ringing in their
ears, suddenly the sound of a voice crying aloud, "A pardon! a
pardon!" was heard afar off, and presently a horseman appeared
riding at full speed. The soldiers with some difficulty making
way for him through a line of excited people, he advanced to the
foot of the scaffold, and handed a roll of paper bearing the
king's seal to the sheriff, who, opening it, read a promise of
pardon to those now standing face to face with death, provided
"they should acknowledge the conspiracy, and lay open what they
knew thereof." To this they replied they knew of no plot, and
had never desired harm to the king; and, praying for those who
had sought their lives, they died.
The firmness and patience with which the victims of judicial
murder had one and all met death, refusing bribes, and resisting
persuasions to own themselves guilty, could not fail in producing
some effect upon the public mind; and towards the middle of the
year 1679 the first signs of reaction became visible, when three
Benedictine monks and the queen's physician were tried for
conspiracy "to poison the king, subvert the government, and
introduce popery." During the examination, Evelyn tells us, "the
bench was crowded with the judges, lord mayor, justices, and
innumerable spectators." After a tedious trial of nine hours,
the jury brought the prisoners in not guilty, "without," says
Evelyn, "sufficient disadvantage and reflection on witnesses,
especially on Oates and Bedlow.
Pages:
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380