ATTERBURY. 
496 
of which, the meffenger brought a paper, which he pre¬ 
tended to have found in his clofe-ftool, and defired it might 
be fealed up with the reft. His lordfhip obferving it, 
and believing it to be a Forged one of his own, defired 
the officers not to do it, and to bear witnefs that the paper 
was not found with him ; ncverthelefs they fealed it up 
among his papers. When he came before the council, he 
behaved with a great deal of calmnefs, and they with much 
civility towards him. He had liberty to fpeak'for himfelf 
as much as lie pieafed, and they liftened to his defence 
with a great deal of attention ; and, what is more unufual, 
after lie was withdrawn, he had twice liberty to re-enter 
tire council-chamber, to make for himfelf fuch reprefen- 
tationsand requefts as he thought proper. It is faid, that, 
while he was under examination, he made ufe of our Sa¬ 
viour’s anfvver to the Jewifii council, while he ftood before 
them : “If 1 tei! you, ye will not believe roe ; and if I 
alfo afk you, ye will not anfvver me, nor let me go.” Af¬ 
ter his examination, he was fenc to the Tower, without 
Hoife or obfervation. 
This commitment of a bilhop upon fufpicion of high 
treafon, as it was a thing rarely prac tiled fmee the refor¬ 
mation, fo it occalioned various fpeculations among the 
people. Thole who were the bifhop’s friends, and pre¬ 
tended to the greateft intimacy with him, laid the whole 
odium of the matter upon the miniftry. They knew the 
billiop fo well, they faid, his love to our conftitution, and 
attachment to the proteftant fucceffion, his pro felled ab¬ 
horrence of popery, and fettled contempt of the Pretender, 
and his caution, prudence, and circuinfpeftion, to be 
fuch, as would never allow him to engage in an attempt 
or fubverting the government, fo hazardous in itfelf, and 
fo repugnant to his principles; and therefore they imput¬ 
ed all to the malice and management of tlie miniftry, who 
were refolved to remove him, on account of fome perfonal 
prejudices, as well as the conftant moleftation he gave 
them in parliament, and the particular influence and ac¬ 
tivity he had (hewn in the late election. The friends of 
the miniftry, on the other hand, were ftrongly of opinion, 
that the bilhop was Secretly a favourer of the Pretender’s 
caufe, and had formerly been tampering with things of 
that nature, even in the queen's time. Thefe, and many 
more fpeculations, arnufed the nation at that time ; and 
men, as ufual, judged of things by the meafure of their 
own affections and prejudices. 
March 23, 1722-3, a bill was brought into the lioufe of 
commons, for “ inflicting certain pains and penalties on 
Francis lord bilhop of Rocheftera copy of which was 
Pent to him, with notice that lie had liberty of counfei and 
folicitors for making his defence. Under thefe circu'm- 
frances, the biflmp applied, by petition, to the houfe of 
lords, for their direction and advice, as to his conduct in 
this conjuncture ; and April 4, he acquainted the fpeaker 
of tiie houfe of commons, by a letter, that he was deter¬ 
mined to give that houfe no trouble, in relation to the bill 
depeiidiiig therein ; but fbou’d be ready to snake his de¬ 
fence againft it when it (lioiild be argued in another houfe, 
of which he had the honour to be a member. On the 9th 
the bill pallid the houfe of commons, and was the fame 
day font up to tiie houfe of lords for their concurrence. 
May 6th, being the day appointed' by the lords for the 
fir ft reading of tiie bill, bifnop Atterbury was brought to 
Weftminifter to make his defence, The counfei for the 
billiop were, Sir Obnllantine Phipps, and William Wynne, 
Ef’q. for the king, Mr. Reeve, and Mr. Wearg. The 
proceedings continued above a week : and on Saturday 
May nth, the bilhop was permitted to plead for himfelf. 
This he did in a very eloquent fpeech 5 w hich he feelingly 
opens by complaining of the uncommon ieverity he had 
experienced in the Tower; which was carried to (o great 
a length, that not even his fon.ih.law Mr. Mor.Lcc was 
permitted to fpeak to him in any nearer mode than (land¬ 
ing in an opc-n area, whijft the bifnop looked out of a two. 
,pair-of-flail’s window. In the courfe of his defence he 
obferves, “Here is a plot of a year or two Handing, to' 
fubvert the government with an armed force ; an invafion 
from abroad, an infurrection at home : juft when ripe for 
execution, it is difeovered ; and twelve months after the 
contrivance of this fcheme, no confultation appears, no 
men correfponding together, no provifion made, no arms, 
no officers provided, not a man in arms ; and yet the poor 
billiop lias done all this. What could tempt me to ftep 
thus out of my way ? Was it ambition, and a defire of 
climbing into a higher ftation in the church > There is 
not a man in my office Farther removed from this than I 
am. Was money my aim ? 1 always defpifed it too much, 
confidering what occafion I am now like to have for it : 
for out of a poor billiopric of 500I. per annum, I have 
laid out no lefs than ioool. towards the repairs of the 
church and epifcopal palace ; nor did I take one (hilling 
for dilapidations. Was I influenced by any diilike of the 
eftablilhed religion, and fecretly inclined towards a church 
of greater pomp and power? I have, my lords, everfince 
I knew what popery was, oppofed it; and the better I 
knew it, the more I oppofed it. I began my ftudy in di¬ 
vinity, when the popiili controverfy grew hot, with that 
immortal book of Tillotfon’s, when lie undertook the pro¬ 
teftant caufe in general: and as fuch, I efteemed him above 
all. You will pardon me, my lords, if I mention one 
thing: Thirty years ago I wrote in defence of Martin Lu¬ 
ther; and have preached, expreffed, and wrote,, to that 
purpofe from my infancy ; and, whatever happens to me, 
I will differ any thing, and, by God’s grace, burn at the 
(lake, rather than depart from any material point of the 
proteftant religion as profeffed in the church of England, 
Once more : Can 1 be fuppofed to favour arbitrary pow¬ 
er ? The whole tenor of my life has been otlierwife: I 
was always a friend to the liberty of the (abject; and, to 
the beft of my power, conftantly maintained it. I may 
have been thought miftaken in the meafures I took to fup- 
port it; but it matters not by what party I was called, i'o 
my actions are uniform.” Afterwards, fpeaking of the 
method of proceeding againft him as unconftiiutional, he 
fays, “ My ruin is not of that moment to any number of 
men, to make it worth their while to violate, or even feeni 
to violate, the conftitution in any degree, which they 
ought to preferve againftany attempts whatfoever. Though 
1 am worthy of no regard, though whatfoever is done to 
me may for that reafoii be looked upon to be juft ; yet 
your iordihips will have fome regard to your own lading 
intereft and that of pofterity. This is a proceeding with 
which the conftitution is unacquainted ; which, under the 
pretence of fupporting it, will at Lift effectually deftroy it. 
For God’s fake lay afide thefe extraordinary proceedings ; 
fet not up thefe new and dangerous precedents, 1, for 
my part, will voluntarily and cheerfully go into perpetual 
banifhment, and pleafemyfelf that I am in fome meafure 
the occalion cf putting a (top to fuch precedents, and do. 
ing fome good to my country : I will live, wherever f am, 
praying for its profperity ; and do, in tiie words of father 
Paul to the date of Venice, fay, EJlo perpetua. It is r.ot 
my departing from it {am concerned for. Let me depart, 
and- let my country be fixed upon the immoveable Ioun- 
dation of law and juftice, and (land forever.” After a 
folemn proteftation of his innocence, and an appeal to the 
Searcher of hearts for the truth of what he had (aid, he 
concludes thus ; “If, on any account, there (hall (fill be 
thought by your lord (hips to be any (coming flrengtli in tiie 
proofs againft me; if, by your lord (hi p’s judgments, fp ring¬ 
ing from unknown motives, i (hall be thought to be guil¬ 
ty ; if, for any reafens or neceflity of (late, of the wifdom 
and juftice of which 1 am no competent judge, your lord. 
(hips (hall proceed to pad the bill againft me ; 1 (hall 
cli(pole myfelf quietly and tacitly to fubmit to what you . 
do; God’s will be.done : Naked came J out of my mo¬ 
ther’s womb, and naked fhall I return; and, whether he 
gives or takes away, blefted be the name of the Lord 1 ” 
On the /3th, the bill was read the third time; and, 
after a-iong and warm debate, palled on the 16rli, by ,1 
majority of eighty-three to forty-three. On tiie 27th, 
