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1 Brief Account of the Designs Which the Papists Have Had against the Earl of Shaftsbury, Occasioned by His Commitment, July 2, 1681 1861

handle is hein.trials/biraccph0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A Brief Account of the Defigns which the Papifis have had againfi the Earl of Shaftsbury, occafioned by his com- 7iitnent, July 2. 168 I. THo' the apprehending of the Right Honour able the Earl of Shafrf- bury hath fdlled the Town and Countrey with talk and noile, yet it neither frightens nor difcourageth any true Protefrant or good Englhwan: For as they have their innocency to fupport them under the troubles which the perjuries of needy and Iuborned Villains may bring upon them, fo they noways doubt but to unravel all this Sham-Inrie, and trace it through all its fteps and windings to the fountain and original of it. And as this honourable perfon is more loyal than' to cQniire againft the Life of the King, or the Peace of the Goverpment; fo were he a perfon traiteroufly inclined, yet he is wifer than to communicate a defign of levying War for the depofing or deftroying his Prince, to fuch bafe and mercinary Rafcals as are faid to have witneffed againft him. For his folly would have equal d his wickednefs, fhould he, under a pretence of preferving the Pro- teftant Religion and Intereft have entered into fo hazardous and black a confpira- cy, not only with beggerly Fellows, but with Iri# men and Papfs. And tho' no man can think himfelf fafe fhould the Teftimony of fach Varlets be allowed, who will, for money, fwear any thing they are prompted unto; yet there is not fo much as one perfon that will either abfcond or withdraw: Bit all do rathe.r under the fatisfadion and comfort which they have in their own innocency, chufe to perith by the malignity of falfe Tongues, than derive an afperfion upon their integrity, either through flight, or the concealment of thenfelves for a feafon. And for this honourable Gentleman that is firi fingled out for the Papifts to gluc and exemplifie their malice and rage upon, the whole tenor and univerfal con- dua of his life have fpoken him, not only a perfon of the greateft abilities and wifdom, but of the higheft loyalty to His Majefty, and warmeft zeal for his fer- vice, that any thefe Three Kingdoms have produced in this Age. Nor is there a Nobleman or Gentleman within the King's Dominions, to whofe influence His Majefty doth more owe his peaceable and happy Refforation, and the fuccesful adminiitration of His affairs for many years together, than to this wife and noble Peer. And as the King can never forget the many great and memorable fervices which this Gentleman did him, when few had either courage, loyalty or pru- dence to render them ufeful to his intereft ; Co whenfoever His Majefty comes impartially to examine the Counfels and Tranfa&ions for which he hath of late years undergone Co much obloquie, and ftood expofed to fo many perfonal dan- gers and hazards, he will find them all direaly calculated for, and lying in a dire fuhbferviency to the prefervation of His Ferfon, Crown and Dignity, and the promoting the glory of His Reign. Nor can it be fippofed that one poffefling that room in the favour and efteem of Ilis Prince, which my Lord Shaftsbiry did, and truited with to fupream a manage of His Royal concernment as he was, would have withdrawn himfelf from medling in the affairs of His Soveraign, or run into a mifunderftanding with any at Court, but that he could not concur in defigns which he conceived tended to the ruine of thefe Kingdoms, and the endangering the Monarchy, as well as to the fibverfion of the Proteftant Religion both here and elfewhere. His faithful and unwearied cares and endeavours to obviate the formidable growth of France, and to prevent the reeftablifhment of Popery in there Nations, and thereby the enfaving them again to Rome, may be thought the occafion of all the flanders which have been caft upon him, and the only true fource of all the troubles he hath either confliaed with, or ftood obnoxious unto. And by how muchhehath been eminently inttrumental to detea and defeat the many mifchievous contri- vances and defigns of a French and Popifh Party and Fation, by to much are all A the

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