The Valet's Tragedy, and Other StudiesLang, Andrew
History
The Valet's Tragedy, and Other Studies
Lang, Andrew
History; World history
The body of Godfrey was found in a ditch near the White House Tavern,
and that tavern was used as a club by a set of Catholic tradesmen. Was
Prance a member? The landlord, Rawson, on October 24, mentioned as
a member ‘Mr. PRINCE, a silversmith in Holborn.’ Mr. PRANCE was a
silversmith in Covent Garden. On December 21, Prance said that he had
not seen Rawson for a year; he was asked about Rawson. The members of
the club met at the White House during the sitting of the coroner’s
inquest there, on Friday, October 18. Prance, according to the author of
‘A Letter to Miles Prance,’ was present. He may have been a member, he
may have known the useful ditch where Godfrey’s corpse was found, but
this does not rise beyond the value of conjecture.*
*Lords’ MSS. pp. 46, 47, 51.
NOTE III.
THE JESUIT MURDERERS.
There is difficulty in identifying as Jesuits the ‘Jesuits’ accused
by Bedloe. The chief is ‘Father Le Herry,’ * called ‘Le Ferry’ by Mr.
Pollock and Mr. Foley. He also appears as Le Faire, Lee Phaire, Le Fere,
but usually Le Fevre, in the documents. There really was a priest styled
Le Fevre. A man named Mark Preston was accused of being a priest and a
Jesuit. When arrested he declared that he was a married layman with a
family. He had been married in Mr. Langhorne’s rooms, in the Temple,
by Le Fevre, a priest, in 1667, or, at least, about eleven years before
1678.** I cannot find that Le Fevre was known as a Jesuit to the English
members of the Society. He is not in Oates’s list of conspirators. He
does not occur in Foley’s ‘Records,’ vol. v., a very painstaking work.
Nor would he be omitted because accused of a crime, rather he would be
reckoned as more or less of a martyr, like the other Fathers implicated
by the informers. The author of ‘Florus Anglo-Bavaricus’ *** names
‘Pharius’ (Le Phaire), ‘Valschius’ (Walsh), and ‘Atkinsus,’ as denounced
by Bedloe, but clearly knows nothing about them. ‘Atkinsus’ is Mr.
Pepys’s clerk, Samuel Atkins, who had an alibi. Valschius is Walsh,
certainly a priest, but not to be found in Foley’s ‘Records’ as a
Jesuit.
*Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 11055, 245.
**Lords’ Journals, xiii. 331, 332. Lords’ MSS., p. 99.
***Liege, 1685, p. 137.
That Le Fevre was the Queen’s confessor I find no proof. But she had
a priest named Ferrera, who might be confused with Le Faire.* He was
accused of calling a waterman to help to take two persons down the river
on November 6, 1678. He was summoned before the Lords, but we do not
know that he came. Ferrera MAY have been the Queen’s confessor, he was
‘one of the Queen’s priests.’ In 1670 she had twenty-eight priests as
chaplains; twelve were Portuguese Capuchins, six were Benedictines, two,
Dominicans, and the rest seculars.** Mrs. Prance admitted that she knew
‘Mr. Le Phaire, and that he went for a priest.’*** Of Le Fevre, ‘Jesuit’
and ‘Queens confessor,’ I know no more.
*Lords’ MSS., p. 49.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account