The Popish Plot: A study in the history of the reign of Charles IIPollock, John
History
The Popish Plot: A study in the history of the reign of Charles II
Pollock, John
Popish Plot, 1678
Lord Bellasis, the supposed Atkins, and another man whom he had often
seen in the chapel and afterwards recognised as Prance.[263] The next
day Le Fevre described the murder to him in detail. Before 5 o’clock
in the afternoon of October 12 Le Fevre, Walsh, and Lord Bellasis’
gentleman had brought Godfrey from the King’s Head Inn in the Strand
to Somerset House under the pretext of taking him to capture some
conspirators near St. Clement’s Church. They took him into a room and,
holding a pistol to his head, demanded the informations which he had
taken. On his refusal they stifled him with a pillow and then strangled
him with his cravat.[264] On Monday night the murderers agreed with
Bedloe “to carry the body in a chair to the corner of Clarendon House,
and there to put him in a coach to carry him to the place where he was
found.”[265] Two accounts of the same facts could hardly be imagined to
differ more from one another than the stories of Prance and Bedloe. To
state the matter briefly, Bedloe swore that Godfrey was murdered in one
place, at one time, in one manner, for one motive, by one set of men;
Prance swore that he was murdered in another place, at another time, in
another manner, for another motive, by another set of men. Both Prance
and Bedloe swore that they had seen the body of Sir Edmund Godfrey
at nearly the same time in a room in Somerset House on the night of
Monday, October 14, but Prance swore only to the presence of the men
whom he had named as the murderers, while Bedloe swore only to the
presence of the men whom he had named, with the addition of “the other
person he saw often in the chapel,” whom he afterwards recognised to be
Prance.
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