Constitutional history -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- History -- 1689-1714 -- Sources; Great Britain -- History -- Restoration, 1660-1688 -- Sources
At the same time, a particular discovery was made of Godfrey's murder.
Prance, a goldsmith that wrought for the Queen's Chapel, was seized upon
suspicion; and as Bedloe was accidentally going by, knowing nothing of
the matter, was challenged by him to be one of those whom he saw about
Godfrey's body. Prance denied everything at first, but made afterwards
this confession; that Gerald and Kelly, two priests, engaged him and
three others in this wicked deed--Green, who belonged to the Queen's
Chapel; Hill, who had served Godden, one of their famous writers; and
Berry, the Porter of Somerset House; that they had several meetings
wherein the priests persuaded them that it was a meritorious action to
dispatch Godfrey, in order to deter others from being so busy against
them; that the morning before they killed him Hill went to his house to
see if he was yet gone out, and spoke to his maid; that they waited his
coming out, and dogged him all day, till he came to a place near St.
Clement's, where he stayed till night; that as Godfrey passed by
Somerset House water-gate two of them pretending to quarrel, another ran
out to call a justice, and with much importunity prevailed with him to
come and pacify them; that as he was coming along Green got behind him
and threw a twisted cravat about his neck, and so pulled him down and
strangled him; and that Gerald would have run his sword through him, but
was hindered by the rest lest the blood might discover them; that when
the murder was done, they carried the body into Godden's room (for he
was in France) and Hill had the key of it; that two days after they
removed it into a room across the upper court, but that being thought
not so convenient, they carried it back to Godden's lodging; that on
Wednesday night they carried it out in a sedan, and when they had got
clear of the town Green carried it on horseback to the place where it
was found.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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