1688. fuftly believe the Queen was deliver'd of that Child

that very Morning. The Earl of Middleton, Secretary of State, depos’d, Ibat he stood war the Bed's Feet on the Left Side, where he heard the Queen's Groans, and several loud Shrieks; the last the Depnent rimembred continued so long, that he wondred hore any Body could hold their Breath so long; Iba presently after the Depment heard them say, the Queel

. was deliver'í ; whereupon he ftipt up to the Bed-side. and saw a Wom.in, he suppos'd t'e Midwifi, kneeling at the other side of the Bed, who had her Hands and Arms within the Bid-Cloaths for a pretty while. That the Deponent fan ber Spread 2 Cloth upon her Lap, and lay the end of it over the Bed-Cloaths, and thin fetch a Child out of the Bed into that Cloth, and g.sve it to Mrs. Labadie, who brought it round to the Side where the Deponent stood, and carry'd it into a little Room, into which the Deponent immediately foi low'd the King, and Saw that it was a boy. The Earl of Craven said, 'Ibat be took that particular Mark of the Child, that he might safely averr, that the Prince of Wales w.is that very Child that was brough; out of the Queen's great bed-Chamber, where the Depo. hent and others were present at Her Majesties Labour and Delivery. Sir Charles Scarborough, Sir Thomas Witherly, Sir William Waldegrave, and James St. Amand, confirm’d the Midwife's Deposition, and said, They saw the After-birth reeking warm and entire, and that some Drops of Blood from the Nave! string being mention d among the Ladies for a Remedy against Convulsions, they consulted together, and allow'd of it, to satisfie the Women, there being, as was conceiv'd, no Danger in it. As for the time of the Queen's Conception, Dr. Scarborough faid, That she often told him and others that she had Iwo Reckonings, one from Tuesday the 6th of September, wobenthe King Teturn'd from his Progress to the Queen at the Bath, and the other from Thursday the oth of October, when the piecen came to the King at Windsor; but for fome Reasons the Queen rather reckon’d from the latter, ho afterwards it prov'd just to agree with the former, Moreover, Sir William Waldegrave affirm'd, That Her Majesty took, soch Astringent Medicines during

the

pl the most part of her being with Child, in order to avoid 1688.
, Miscarriage, that if Me had not been with Child, they
- must have been prejudicial to her Health, After

these Depositions were taken, His Majelty acquain-
ted the Lords, that the Princess Anne of Denmark
would have been Present ; but that she being with
Child likewise, and having not lately ftirr'd a-
broad, could not come so far without hazard :
Adding further, That though he did not question
but every person there Present was satisfied before in
this matter, yet by what they had heard, they would
be better able to satisfie others ; That, besides, if he
and the Queen could be thought so wicked as to endea-
vour to Impose a Child upon the Nation, they faro how
Impossible it would have been; neither could be him-
Self be impos’d upon, having constantly been with the
Queen during her being with Child, and the whole
Time of her Labour. That there was none of them
but would easily believe him, pobo had suffer'd so much
for Conscience Sake, uncapable of fo great a Villany,
to the Prejudice of his oron Children; and that he
thank'd God that those that knew him, kneme well,
that it was his Principle to do as he would be done by,
for that was the Law and the Prophets, and be would
rather Die a Thousand Deaths, than do the least
Wrong to any of bis Children.

On the 27th of O&tober, the Declaration made
by the King, and Queen Dowager, together with
the several Depositions, were enroll'd in Chancery,
pursuant to an Order in Council; and because the
Earl of Huntingdon, a Proteftant, and the Earl of

Peterborough, a Romanist, who were able to depuse 3 to the Queen's Delivery, had not been examin'd

at the Council-Board, they brought their Depofi-
tions into Court, which the Lord Chancellor or-
der'd to be read, and afterwards enrolld with the
felt.

All these Testimonies were not able either to
destroy the Negative Proofs, or remove the Sul-
picions of those who pretended that a fupposed
Child was convey'd into the Queen's Bed, in a
Silver Warming-Pan made for that Purpose, and
who grounded this Supposition of a Prince of

Wales

1688 Wales on the Circumftances of the Queen's Big.

nels and Delivery: Some honeft Roman Catholicks owning themfelves, that so Important an Affair had been in anaged with great Supinity and Imprudence, during all the Time it was depending. Thole Circuinitances were chiefly thefe ; The Queen had never a condia at Rickoning; the was brough: to Bed after a sudden removing of her Lodgings, and at a Time when mutt Procettant Ladies were either a-Bed or at Church, as if she had dengi'd to avoid Witneffes ; nelther the Princeis Anne of Denmark, the Archbithop of Canterbury, nor the Dutch Ainbaffador, were present at Her Majesty's Labour, though they were the Three Persons who ought principally to have been there ; during Her Mijetties Labour, the Bed fne lay in was not left to open as it thould have been ; whilt Hur M jetty went with Child, The never sat.sfy'd th: Princess Anne of her Bignels, either by letting her feel her Belly, or lee her Breasts, neither did she shew the Princess any of her Milk after her Lying in; and latily, there was a Warming-Pan brought into the Room on Pretence of warning the Queen's Bed, which was altogether unnec frary, the weather being extream hot, and the Room heated, besides, by a valt Crowd of People let in, on purpose, as 't was reported, to make the Juggle pass undiscern'd in the Hurry. 'Twas answer'd, That nothing is more common than for Women, even those that have had several Children, to mistake in their Reckoning; and for thote who do not mistake, to be often brought to Bed, sometimes one, sometimes two Months before che usual Time, without any Prejudice to the Child ; that the Queen was known to have ever had as easie and as quick a Labour as any Woman in the Kingdom, to which her Talners not a little con tributed, and which was the Reason that a great many Persons, who were sent for, did not come in Time to see her deliver'd. That the Princess Ann's being at the Bath was a voluntary Action of hers; that the Court expected she would have affifted at the Queen's Labour, which might have been

fufficient to convince her; and as for the Queen's 1688.
Milk, which was never shewn her, that it was no
new thing to see Women lose it three or four Days
after they are brought to Bed. As to the Warm-

ing-Pan, they replied, That a Labour generally be* gins with quakinig and trembling like an Ague-Fit, :1

for which some People warm their Beds in the

hottest Weather; and besides, that it had been K: Impossible to put a New-born Child, with the

After-burden, in the narrow Compass of a Warm-
ing-Pan, without ftiling it, All the other Ob-
jections were answer'd by saying ; that the Impe-
rious Spirit of the Queen, and the Insulting Tri.
umphs of the Popish Cabal, made the Court look
upon all Precautions as mean, which afterwards
they were convinced would have been but pru-
dential Condescentions.
Some few Days after the Earl of Sunderland

removed from his Places of President of the
Council, and Principal Secretary of State, which
made a mighty Noise in the World. The Occasion
of his Disgrace was this: Skelton, to jultitie his Con-
duct in France, told the King, that having receiv'd
Information of the Prince's Deligns from Mr. Bude
de Verace, he had writ fix or seven Letters about it
to the Earl, to which having no Answer, he had
applied himself to the King of France, who there-
upon dispatch'd Bonrepos to England, and sent
Orders to his Ambassador at the Hague to Expoftu.
late with the States the Reasons of their Warlike
Preparations. This Account of Skelton began to
raise Suspicions against the Prime Minister; which
were foon after encreas'd by the Deposition of one
Wickstoad, formerly a Monk, who being seiz'd for
holding Correspondence with the King's Enemies,
and examin'd before the Council, charged the Earl
of Sunderland to his very Face, with revealing
His Majesties Secrets to the Prince of Orange;
whereupon Wickstoad was committed to the Cuito-
dy of a Messenger,from whence he made his Escape.
This Accufation from a Man of his Character had
been little regarded at another Juncture, but a-
greeing exactly with that of Skelton, the Earl's past

Con.

1688. Conduct was more nicely scann'd; and the Ring wcall'd to Mind, that the very fame Person who

had all along advis'd him to Support his AuthoriThe Earl of

ty by the Alliance and Pow's of France, had Sunder. land's Dif.

made him reject that Alliance, when he had met

Need of ic; which persuaded His Majetty that he grace, Octob. 23. was embark'd in another Interest, and which oc

calion'd the Earl's Removal from his aforesaid Places. 'Tis reported, that to convince the Earl, the King ask'd him for the Original of a certain Treaty, which he answerd he had millaid, and which the Earl's Enemies said, he had trantinitted to the Prince of Orange : This the Earl potitively denied; and as for Skelton's Letters, it' he gave no Account of them to the King, 'twas not because he held Intelligence with the Prince of Orange, but because he had an invincible Contempt for Skelton, who, he was us'd to say, never wrote but Seconda band News.

About this Time the Marquis of Albyrille sent to the King a Copy of the Refolution of the States, containing the Reasons that had obligd them to allitt his Highness the Prince of Orange with Ships, Men and Ammunition, in his intended Expedition into England; which Resolution they had communicated to all the Foreign Ministers at the Hague, except the French and English Ambassadors, and wherein, besides the repeated lovitations his Highness had receiv'd from the English Nobility, Gentry and Clergy, they alledg’d, Ibat the King of France had upon several Occasions fhew'd bimjelf disatisfied with their State ; which gave them Cause to Fear and Apprehend, that in Cafe the King of Great-Britain should happen to compass bis Designs within his Kingdom, and obtain an absolute Power over bis Penple, that tben both Kings, out of the Interest of State, and Hatred and Zeal against the Protestant Religion, would endeavour to bring their State to Confusion, and if possible, quite to fobjed it.

Whilft King James was providing for his Se. curity, and endeavouring to remove the Fears and Jealousies of his Protestant Subjects, the Prince of

Orange