Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/450

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NOTES AND QUERIES. rn s. VIL J UNE 7, 191*

THE FORGED 'SPEECHES AND PRAYERS' OF THE REGICIDES.

(See ante, pp. 301, 341, 383.) IV. ERRORS IN THE ' D.N.B.'

AMONG the many writers who have been misled by the inclusion of the fraudulent are some contributors to the ' D.N.B.'
 * Speeches and Prayers ' in * State Trials '

Of the ten regicides executed in October, 1660, the * Dictionary ' gives accounts of the execution of eight. It would be tedious to set these out, so, taking the ten regicides in order, I shall state the whole of the authori- ties cited by the ' Dictionary ' for each regi- cide's behaviour at his execution.

1. Thomas Harrison. The third edition of the ' Speeches and Prayers ' that is the ' Compleat Collection' is the sole autho- rity. Pepys and Evelyn are merely re- ferred to, and the former's damaging re- mark is not quoted.

2. John Carew. Masson's ' Milton ' is the sole authority referred to. This book quotes the ' Speeches and Prayers,' and nothing else, and all that Masson says on the subject I shall examine later on.

3. John Cooke. The third edition, the ' Compleat Collection,' is the sole authority.

4. Hugh Peters. The lengthy descrip- tion of Peters's behaviour is taken wholly from the ' Speeches and Prayers,' a few words as to the behaviour of the crowd being added from Mercurius Publicus. The reference note gives Mercurius Publicus, 11-18 Oct., the ' Speeches and Prayers,' and ' Rebels no Saints.' Thus the second edition is made to corroborate the first, and Mercurius Publicus is cited in support of the anonymous rubbish it actually contradicts. The authorities for Peters's behaviour have already been set out (see ante, pp. 163-5).

. 5. Thomas Scot. The first edition is the only authority.

6. Gregory Clement. No account at all.

7. Adrian Scroop. The first edition the only authority.

8. John Jones. The third edition the only authority.

9. Darnell Axtell. No authority named, but the whole account taken from the ' Speeches and Prayers.'

10. Francis Hacker. No account given.

The writer who cites the ' Compleat Col- lection ' has not, of course, been aware that the obviously Royalist " lives " of the regi- ci}_es contained in it were simply stolen from Bat.: in order to make the book pass without

a prosecution. Later on, in criticizing Masson, I shall furnish a very curious proof of the prompt way in which the first edition was suppressed all over the kingdom.

The writers of the lives of the regicides enumerated above have, therefore, uniformly cited a "notorious cheat" and " meer forgery and imposture," to the exclusion of every known witness, and, as a result, nearly all the ' Dictionary ' says about the behaviour of the regicides at their execution is untrue. With the exception of the scrap from Mercurius Publicus, every single state- ment made about Peters (e.g., the execu- tioner's taunt) is false.

The authorities disregarded are as follows: (1) Henry Muddiman's Mercurius Publicus (11-18 Oct., &c.) and Parliamen- tary Intelligencer (15-22 Oct., &c.). (2) The highly important broadside, published in October, 1660, entitled ' A True and Perfect Relation of the Grand Traytors' Execution/ &c. (British Museum, press-mark 669. f. 26 [31]). (3) The letters of Andrew Newport and William Smith in the Appendix to the Historical Manuscripts Commission's- Fifth Report (Duke of Sutherland's MSS.), pp. 157 and 174. (4) Thomas Skinner's ' Motus Compositi.' (5) Burnet's ' History of my own Time.' (6) George Bate's ' Lives, Actions, and Executions,' &c., of the regi- cides. (7) William Winstanley's ' Loyall-

Martyrology ,

&c. (8) The meagre but accurate ' The True Character of the Educa- tions, Inclinations, and Dispositions,' &c., of the regicides. Of these the first three are the most important.

We have also in the case of Thomas Harrison a tract entitled * Observations upon the Last Actions and Words of Maj.- Gen. Harrison,' &c., published on 26 Nov., 1660 (British Museum, press-mark E. 1050 (5). In this his last speech is in hopeless conflict with the bogus ' Speeches and Prayers.' J. B. WILLIAMS.

(To be continued.)

STATUES AND MEMORIALS IN THE: BRITISH ISLES.

(See 10 S. xi. 441 ; xii. 51, 114, 181, 401 ;, 11 S. i. 282 ; ii. 42, 381 ; iii. 22, 222, 421 ; iv. 181, 361 ; v. 62, 143, 481 ; vi. 4, 284, 343 ; vii. 64, 144, 263, 343.)

SOLDIERS (continued).

INDIAN MUTINY.

Dover. In Camden Square is a monu- ment to the memory of the officers and men of the First Battalion 60th Rifles (King's