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<DATE>2014-03-24</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>David Tomkins</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<VID>177521</VID>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>The crying Murther: Contayning the cruell and mo&s;t horrible Butchery of Mr. TRAT, Curate of olde Cleaue; who was fir&s;t murthered as he trauailed vpon the high way, then was brought home to his house and there was quartered and imboweld: his quarters and bowels being afterwards perboyld and &s;alted vp, in a mo&s;t &s;trange and fearefull manner. For this fact the Iudgement of my Lord chiefe Baron TANFIELD, young Peter Smethwicke, An|drew Baker, Cyrill Au&s;ten, and Alice Walker, were executed this la&s;t Summer A&s;&s;izes, the 24. of Iuly, at Stone Gallowes, neere Taunton in Summer&s;et-&s;hire.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>Woodcut illustration of the murder, dismemberment and disembowelling of a victim by three male perpetrators, while a woman salts a cooking pot in which to boil the body parts.</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>AT LONDON: Printed by Edw: Allde for Nathaniell Butter. 1624.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE TRVLY HO|NORABLE SIR LAWRENCE TANFIELD Knight, Lord chiefe Baron of his Maie&s;ties Court of Exchequer, and one of his Iu&s;tices of A&s;&s;ize in the County of Summer&s;et, <HI>and to all the Iu&s;tices of Peace in the &s;ame County,</HI> C. W. <HI>wi&s;heth that happine&s;&s;e which he him|&s;elfe de&s;ireth.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_TRuly Honourable, and Right Wor&s;hipfull, to you in duty this Dedication doth belong, who &s;tand like Lyons about the Throne of our <HI>Salomon,</HI> to maintaine the Subiect in peace, and defend the Innocent from cruelty and oppre&s;&s;ion. Some of your cares and wi&s;edomes haue detected a mo&s;t cruell murther and con&s;pi|racie, and vindicated be&s;ides the honour of the Clergie from tho&s;e &s;candals, which were &s;hot from the &s;ling of tho&s;e A&s;&s;a&s;&s;ines, intentiuely a|gain&s;t Mr. <HI>Tratte,</HI> but con&s;equently again&s;t all that &s;acred and &s;uper-eminent profe&s;sion. Conti|nue the&s;e good endeuours, &amp; let the Sun-&s;etting of your fauours, be like vnto their Sunne ri&s;ing
<PB REF="3"> and Meridian, that vnder your protection and defence, the word of God, and the &s;word of Iu|&s;tice may worke together within the circuite of that flouri&s;hing County with perpetuall harmo|nie, vnity, and agreement. Neuer was there more cau&s;e for the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Leuite to implore the help of the Princes of the people then now: The Aaro|nicall &amp; once budding rod of his Authority, be|ing almo&s;t broken in peeces. His linnen Ephod being rent in &s;under, and his &s;anctified bre&s;tplate of Vrim and Thummim, being pierced thorow with the malicious eiaculations of knowne ad|uer&s;aries, or the &s;ecret wounds of luke-warme profe&s;&s;ours and temporarie back-&s;liders. You are his Maie&s;ties Deputies and Vicegerents; let his Character be your patterne, &amp; let the irradiation of his example enlighten &amp; leade you to the pro|tection of the Clergy; and e&s;teeme tho&s;e wrongs done vnto them to be by &s;o much the more of an offen&s;iue nature and condition, by how much that mo&s;t high and cele&s;tiall calling is lifted vp aboue the ordinary ma&s;&s;e &amp; multitude of man|kinde. Thus de&s;iring your Lord&s;hip &amp; their Wor|&s;hips be&s;t co~&s;tructions, &amp; crauing pardon for my boldnes in this my Dedication, I leaue and re&s;t</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Lord&s;hip and their Wor&s;hips humble Suppliant, C. W.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_GEntle Reader, whether of the Cler|gie or Laity, of the Prie&s;thood or people. Thou &s;ee&s;t here a &s;pectacle repre&s;ented vnto thy view, horrid and bloody beyond all compari&s;on, and &s;carce to be paralleld, except it be by the very Canibals and men-eating Tartars, people deuoide of all Chri&s;tianity and humanity. The hay|nou&s;ne&s;&s;e of which fact was agrauated, and more terri|bliz'd in the Iudgement of all men, by con&s;idering the quality and profe&s;&s;ion of the per&s;on murdered, and by the &s;uruay of that high relation, which the murtherers had, or at lea&s;twi&s;e &s;hould haue had vnto him; as being a ve&s;&s;ell con&s;ecrated to the Lord, and annointed to doe him &s;eruice both in &s;oule and body in the Tabernacle of his congregation. The per&s;ons who did act it, made the nature of this A&s;&s;a&s;&s;ination the more haynous, by the con&s;ideration of that re&s;pectiue duty which they ought vnto him, as being the Sheepe of his Flocke, and mem|bers, though vnworthy of his Pari&s;h and &s;pirituall fa|mily. And therefore except it were Regicide and King|killing,
<PB REF="4"> no murther could be more bloudy, and by con|&s;equence more crying, then that of Mr. <HI>Trats,</HI> it being parricide in the highe&s;t nature and degree. The Au|thour knowes, that there are foure good mothers which breede foure ill daughters: for Security breedes Dan|ger, Familiarity Contempt, Pro&s;perity Pride, &amp; Truth though knowne a knowne Hatred: yet mauger this and any oppo&s;ition that can bee made again&s;t him, hee hath here deliuerd it, truly and &s;incerely, according to the be&s;t informations he could receiue from the Coroner, Iurours, and other worthy per&s;ons con&s;cious of all the&s;e particulars, which are here related and remon&s;trated. Thus de&s;iring thy be&s;t acceptance, he leaues thee to the following peru&s;all of the&s;e Tragicall lines, and for euer re&s;ts</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thine if thou be thy owne in iudgement, C. W.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>THE VNHEARD OF Murther of M^r. <HI>Trat,</HI> Mini&s;ter <HI>of olde Cleaue.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_DIuers forraigne Nations for tho&s;e more open and knowne faults, which cu&s;tome hath made remark|able among&s;t them, haue by the note of your Engli&s;h cen&s;ure &s;uffe|red the common brand of Infamy and reproach. Hence is it that mo&s;t of our curious cen&s;urers, and &s;ome of them (not our lea&s;t &s;inners) haue taxed the French for lightnes, the Dutch for drinking, the Danes for cruelty, the Italians for pride and couetou&s;nes, the Spaniards for delayes and &s;ubtilties. But in vaine doe we lay the&s;e a&s;per&s;ions vpon others, there by to palliate our owne di&s;grace, or &s;eeke to couer with rhe&s;e Figge|leaue garments, our owne deformity and nakedne&s;&s;e. For many among&s;t vs (as it is to be &s;eared) are con&s;ci|ous of the&s;e, &amp; of many other enormious &s;ins be&s;ides. For to let pa&s;&s;e fearefull Athei&s;mes, terrible bla&s;phe|mies, tearing oathes, and vnnaturall lu&s;ts, which pro|uoke the iu&s;t vengeance and indignation of our maker.</P>
<P>That Lethargie of &s;ecurity doth &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e our &s;pi|rits, that although we &s;leepe with the &s;erpent continu|ally
<PB REF="5"> in our bo&s;omes, yet we re&s;t carele&s;&s;e and &s;ecure of his dangerous temptations and de&s;ignes. Couetou&s;nes is &s;o hidropicall and longing among&s;t the pur&s;e-&s;icke Timpani&s;ts of this age, that like vnto that Idoll of lu&s;t, the more they haue, the more they &s;till de&s;ire. And then what doth the generality of our Nation doe, who with &s;uch Catonian rigour doth cen&s;ure others?</P>
<Q><L><HI>Quaecun&abque; profund&acirc;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Traxit auariti&acirc;, luxu peiore refundit.</HI></L></Q>
<P>What couetou&s;nes hath got, luxurie doth &s;pend in &s;urfet and exce&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Our moderne murthers, which are there mo&s;t raging where other &s;innes are mo&s;t raigning, &s;eeme equall, though not for the nu~ber, yet for the maner, vnto the&s;e of the Mahometan A&s;&s;a&s;&s;ines men oblig'd thereto by their profe&s;&s;ion, or to the Italian Banditoes, people in|ur'd there by cu&s;tome. The &s;carlet tincture and guil|tine&s;&s;e whereof pollutes the Earth, infects the Ayre, and cries for vengeance at the gates of heauen, and the Iudgement &s;eate of the Almighty. So that no more <HI>Angli qua&s;i Angeli,</HI> may the&s;e tran&s;gre&s;&s;ours be call'd Angles or Engli&s;h, becau&s;e we are like the Angels: but we may be call'd <HI>Deires, qua&s;i dei ira,</HI> as being the an|ger of God, and the powred out Lees of the Cup of his indignation.</P>
<P>Among&s;t the li&s;t and number of which mo&s;t horrid pre&s;idents, whereof <HI>England</HI> like <HI>Libia, Semper aliquid profert noui,</HI> doth alwaies produce new &s;hapes and &s;ubiects, none haue beene more notoriou&s;ly noted, and infamou&s;ly famous, then tho&s;e three A&s;&s;a&s;&s;inations committed within the&s;e few yeares in <HI>Summer&s;et-&s;hire,</HI> on the north &s;ide of <HI>Quantocke</HI> Hill: The fir&s;t, of
<PB REF="5"> <HI>Thre&s;her</HI> kil'd at St. <HI>Adries,</HI> by his own wife &amp; her adul|trous louer: The &s;econd, of <HI>Robert Seaman</HI> of <HI>Norton,</HI> butchered at <HI>Otterhampton</HI> by his Brother in Law <HI>Legge</HI> and his Wife: And the la&s;t, (which is the Tragicall &s;ubiect of this pre&s;ent Di&s;cour&s;e) is the cruell and vn|heard of murther of Mr. <HI>Tratte,</HI> Curate of <HI>Olde Cleeue</HI> in the &s;aid County, by young <HI>Peter Smithwicke</HI> (as the Law found it) his Complices and A&s;&s;ociats. For the better explanation whereof, wee may methodically con&s;ider the&s;e fiue circum&s;tances; Fir&s;t the Per&s;on murthered, and the Per&s;ons murthering: Secondly, the Motiues which did induce them to commit this murther: Thirdly the manner of committing and executing of it: Fourthly, the meanes, and pre&s;ump|tiue euidences, by which it was di&s;couered: Fiftly, the arraignement, iudgement and execution. Of all which con&s;iderations, &s;euerally I meane to relate, in their &s;euerall orders, according to that intelligence which I haue receaued from credible Per&s;ons, ingaged in their triall.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t concerning the Per&s;on murthered; he was a <HI>Leuite,</HI> con&s;ecrated vnto the Lord to doe him &s;eruice in the Tabernacle of his Congregation; one that had many yeares &s;ince put on the Bre&s;t plate of <HI>Vrim</HI> and <HI>Thummim,</HI> and girded him&s;elfe with the <HI>Linnen Ephod;</HI> concerning which &s;ort of people, the Lord doth giue this Iniunction &amp; chrarge by the pen of a ready writer, by the mouth of that Kingly Prophet <HI>Dauid. Touch not mine Annointed, nor do my Prophets any harme.</HI> Before he had taken this &s;acred order of Prie&s;thood vpon him, he had &s;pent &s;ome of his younger yeares in the vniuer|&s;ity of <HI>Oxford,</HI> being a &s;tudent of <HI>Maudlin</HI> Colledge, where he proceeded Bachelour of Arts, with good ap|probation and allow ance of his &s;uperioures: His
<PB REF="6"> morall conuer&s;ation (both there and in the Countrey) was hone&s;t and laudable; onely &s;ome a&s;per&s;ions were laid vpon him, by the knowne report of this malicious Company; who fir&s;t did &s;eeke to murther his good name, before they murthered and tooke away his life. From hence &s;prang this occa&s;ion: His wife (being a feeble, &s;ickly and weake woman) went to gather <HI>Lim|pets,</HI> (a kind of &s;hell-fi&s;h which &s;ticks vpon the Rockes in that Seuearne or midland &s;ea, deuiding <HI>England</HI> from <HI>Wales</HI>) and by an vnfortunate chance fel from the preci|pice of the Rockes into the water, and there vpon the &s;uddaine peri&s;hed; her husband being vpon the &s;trand al&s;o, but a good di&s;tance remou'd from her, as being imployed in fi&s;hing at another place, &s;o that he could not come to her &s;uccour in time.</P>
<P>Pre&s;ently vpon this accident, the poi&s;on of A&s;ps which was vnder his enemies lips broake forth into the running i&s;&s;ue of a fal&s;e report, and they noy&s;ed it euery where among the Vulgar, that Mr. <HI>Trat</HI> had kil'd his Wife, and ca&s;t her ouer the Rockes into the &s;ea. But this calumniation comming to the examination of the Iu&s;tices of that diui&s;ion, it was found to bee counter|fet by the tuch&s;tone, and he was clear'd without any further triall, and his Enemies departed with &s;hame and rebuke. Another &s;candall which was layd vp|pon him was this: he being by them inuited vnto &s;up|per, came according to appointment; where the&s;e Plowers (according to the phra&s;e of the P&s;almi&s;t) plowed vpon his hacke and made large &s;urrowes vpon him. for one of their Creatures, as it appeared after|wards, tooke vp the Mini&s;ters Gowne and put it on; in which counterfeit habit, (it being now darke night) he goes forth and meetes with a Countrie Woman,
<PB REF="6"> vnto whom he offers &s;ome violence and vnciuill beha|uiour. She ge&s;&s;ing by the out&s;ide coniecture that it was Mr. <HI>Trat;</HI> &s;preads this attempt abroad to his infamy and di&s;grace: Which comming to his eares, he &s;eekes to vindicate his reputation, and cals the Actors of this plot into que&s;tion, who were found to be guilty of the fact, &amp; were puni&s;hed by the cen&s;ure &amp; &s;entence of the Court. Neither were his morall parts onely commendable, but his Mini&s;teriall al&s;o were aun&s;wer|able: For although he was none of the greate&s;t Clarks, as they &s;ay, yet was he not a dumbe Pa&s;tor, but like a true <HI>Bonarges,</HI> did thunder and crye out in his Ser|mons again&s;t the vices of his Pari&s;h: The freedome whereof, together with &s;ome particular aplicatio~s vnto yong <HI>Smithwicke,</HI> was thought to be one of the cheife&s;t cau&s;es which ha&s;tened, this hainous and vnheard of Murther. And thus much for the quality of the per&s;on murthered.</P>
<P>The Per&s;ons murthering who &s;uffered for the fact, were foure in number: Young <HI>Peter Smithwicke, Andrew Baker, Cirill Au&s;ten,</HI> and <HI>Alice Walker:</HI> Which Per&s;ons al|though they were not blemi&s;h'd before the commit|ting of this fact with the &s;candall of any notorious crimes, in the cour&s;e of their former life and conuer|&s;ation, yet were they not free from the &s;u&s;pition of &s;ome faults, whereof youth by nature, and age by cu|&s;tome is too too guilty and capacious. But old <HI>Peter Smithwicke</HI> who is not yet come to his tryall, but re|maines a pri&s;oner in the Gaole at <HI>Iuelche&s;ter,</HI> was re|puted by all men before the &s;u&s;pition of this cruell a&s;|&s;a&s;&s;ination, to be a man of a mo&s;t faire, gentle and well ballanced conuer&s;ation, &s;o that if he &s;hould be guiltie of this crime, as the mo&s;t iudicious iudgements doubt,
<PB REF="7"> although the vulgar people and his friends thinke the contrary, it may be &s;aid of him, which was &s;aid of ano|ther in the &s;ame kinde, <HI>Cucullus non facit Monachum,</HI> it is not the out&s;ide &s;hewe or &s;hadow, which makes the inward &s;anctimony and integrity. And thus much for the per&s;ons murthering: In the next place follows the con&s;ideration of tho&s;e motiues which did incite the&s;e men to imbrue their hands in the blood of the Innocent, and the&s;e were &s;uppo&s;ed to be three in number: The fir&s;t was Mr. <HI>Trats</HI> libertie of &s;peech in his v&s;uall and publicke rebuking of &s;ome of that &s;o|ciety, of &s;ome &s;u&s;pected pa&s;&s;ages of &s;inne whereunto they were thought to be ouer-weaningly addicted and accu&s;tom'd. The next was the vindication of that re|proach and infamie which they &s;uffered by offring violence vnto an hone&s;t woman in the counterfeite Larua or image of <HI>Trat.</HI> But the la&s;t motiue which was not the lea&s;t, but the chiefe&s;t of all from whence this current of <HI>Meribah,</HI> the fir&s;t &s;treame of this malice did proceed was this: Mr. <HI>Brigandine</HI> of Quantockes-head in the &s;aid County of Sumer&s;et, being Incumbe~t ouer the Par&s;onage of Quantockes-head, and ouer the Viccaradge of old Cleeue, where this innocent man now murthered was his Curate for a good &s;ea&s;on, took a re&s;olution to re&s;igne his Incumbencie of Old Cleeue vnto his Curate, who before had bought the Patro|nage of it from him, vpon conditions of a fitting va|lue and con&s;ideration. With this young <HI>Smithwicke</HI> and his father were much di&s;ta&s;ted, as hauing held that Viccaradge of Cleaue from Mr. <HI>Brigandine</HI> who married old Mr. <HI>Smithwickes</HI> mother, at an vnder-va|lued rate and rente, by which meanes a good annuall profit did accrue to his pur&s;e, of which reuenue by
<PB REF="7"> this new Contracte he was like to be put off and de|frauded as he gaue out, for that he pretented apromi&s;e from his father in Law <HI>Brigandine</HI> to the contrarie, confirmed vnto him many yeares &s;ince by the media|tion of his mother. And his &s;on <HI>Peter</HI> thought him&s;elfe wrong'd in his ca&s;e al&s;o, and that he was a fellow &s;uf|ferer with his father in this calamity, becau&s;e that Mr. <HI>Brigandine</HI> his grand-father by marriage, had promi|&s;ed him as he &s;aid, the perpetuall donation and Patro|nage of this liuing. Hence &s;prung the chiefe&s;t flame of that malice, which from the &s;mall &s;parkes of meane or fal&s;e &s;uppo&s;itions caus'd &s;uch co~bu&s;tion in the hou&s;e|hold of Mr. <HI>Smithwicke</HI> to the vtter ruine of their cre|dits, e&s;tates, and liues, and to the finall perill of their &s;oules, they dying to the worlds e&s;teeme ob&s;tinate and vn-repenting &s;inners, without acknowledging their guiltine&s;&s;e in the facte whereof they were &s;o plainely guilty by the coniecture of all outward proofes and circum&s;tances. But from hence let vs de&s;cend vnto the manner of it, which was mo&s;t tragicall, horrid, and inhumane, wanting an imitable pre&s;ident and example, euen among&s;t the verie Pagans and Infidels. So that
<Q><L><HI>Quis talia fando</HI></L>
<L><HI>Mirmidonum dolopumue, aut duri miles Vli&s;sis</HI></L>
<L><HI>Temperet &aacute; lachrimis?</HI></L></Q></P>
<P>What heart can be &s;o inhumanely inhumane and obduratly hardned, which would not &s;igh at the very repetition of it, and yearne at the remembrance of this cruell and &s;carlet colourd A&s;&s;a&s;&s;ination? for the&s;e blood-&s;uckers hauing murthered this harmele&s;&s;e Le|uite Mr. <HI>Trat,</HI> vppon the Wedne&s;day next after Mid|&s;ommer day in the yeare of our Lord God 1623. iour|neying from his owne hou&s;e to his mothers, whether he went to furni&s;h his nece&s;&s;ities with &s;ome mony,
<PB REF="8"> they brought him backe the next night thus murthe|red as he was, with two mortall wounds in the bre&s;t into his owne dwelling hou&s;e againe, where he liu'd &s;olitarie and alone. There the&s;e Butchers with their hands already &s;moaking in his blood, did cut vp his carkei&s;e, vnbowell and quarter it; then did they burne his head and priuy members, parboile his fle&s;h and &s;alt it vp; that &s;o the &s;odaine &s;tincke and putrefaction being hindred, the murtherers might the longer be free from di&s;couerie. Ma&s;ter <HI>Trat</HI> hauing now beene mi&s;t fortnight and a day, and there being a great &s;tench &s;melt from his hou&s;e by the neighbour-hood, which now beganne to be noi&s;ome notwith&s;tanding the dry|ing force and operation of the &s;alt, by the direction and aduice of the next Officers, they broke vp the doores, and gained their pa&s;&s;age in: where hauing made a diligent &s;earch and inquirie, they finde his fore|&s;aid bodie all &s;auing the head and members di&s;po&s;ed in this manner and forme following. His armes, legges, thighes, and bowels were powdred vp into two earthen &s;teenes or pots in a lower roome of the hou&s;e, clo&s;e adioyning vnto the wall, the bulke of his carkei&s;e was plac'd in a fatte or tubbe, couered ouer with a cloath in a cha~ber ouer head, all which me~bres thus di&s;|&s;euerd were &s;o artificially ioynted, laid and handled, that if the&s;e deuils had beene Butchers they could not haue done it more orderly and cunningly. Be&s;ides this nere vnto this feareful &s;pectacle there was an old green &s;uite found belonging as it is likely vnto one of the A|ctors of this murther which afterwards was carried a|bout to the next market townes &amp; cryed publikely, but yet as yet it could neuer finde out an owner or a ma&s;ter.</P>
<P>This Murther being euident in the fact and hay|nou&s;nes thereof, though doubtfull in the per&s;on, be|cau&s;e
<PB REF="8"> his head and members could not be found, they pre&s;ently giue notice vnto Mr. <HI>Thomas Windham</HI> of St. Decoombes, vnto Ma&s;ter <HI>Cuffe</HI> of Creetch, Iu&s;tices of Peace in the &s;aid County, who with Mr. <HI>Iohn We&s;tcombe</HI> of Haul&s;e, Coroner for the King, came vpon their fir&s;t &s;ummons, and taking view of this &s;trange and amazing obiect, they were much perplext, and troubled in their mindes, not knowing what to thinke at fir&s;t, in a matter &s;o &s;trange and vnheard of for the example. Yet colle|cting their &s;pirits from doubtfulnes and confu&s;ion, vn|to that cour&s;e which the nece&s;&s;ity of the cau&s;e did im|po&s;e vpon them, they proceeded from thence vnto ex|amination of &s;ome of the neighbours in that Pari&s;h: the Intelligence of who&s;e report might giue their eyes &s;ome informing light in the my&s;terie of this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e. Tho&s;e examinates make it knowne vnto them, that in all likelihood it was Mr. <HI>Trat</HI> their olde Curate that was murthered, there being one of his fingers knowne by a &s;ecret marke vnto them, and be&s;ides, there was a knowne quarrell betweene Mr. <HI>Smethwickes</HI> company and him, in re&s;pect of the cau&s;es before premi&s;ed, which gaue &s;ome cau&s;e of &s;u&s;pition vnto them, and that <HI>Alice Walker</HI> be&s;ides, &s;eruant vnto olde M. <HI>Smethwick,</HI> had be|fore told &s;ome of the&s;e Informers, that if the Par&s;on did not come home the &s;ooner, his powdred Beefe would &s;tinke before his comming. The&s;e pre&s;umptions drew her fir&s;t of all vnto que&s;tion and examination before the Iu&s;tices, who were very &s;incere and carefull in the finding out of this murderous and Butcherly plot. She being tax'd, &s;toode vpon the deniall, but there be|ing great pre&s;umptions of her guiltine&s;&s;e, &s;he was com|mitted vnto pri&s;on. Olde M. <HI>Smethwick</HI> vpon this, &s;ee|ing his &s;eruant impri&s;on'd, his &s;onne &s;u&s;pected, and
<PB REF="9"> him&s;elfe &s;omething blemi&s;ht, prote&s;ts openly concer|ning their Innocencie, and his aduer&s;aries malice, offers large Bayle for his Maide, &s;ends (as he noi&s;d it among&s;t the vulgar) for his ab&s;ent &amp; innocent &s;onne to London, and rides in a progre&s;&s;e of Inque&s;t after <HI>Trat,</HI> whom he thought to be the murtherer of this vnknowne per&s;on, and not the per&s;on that was murthered by him or any of his company. To make this good, vpon that day when <HI>Trat</HI> was thus ma&s;&s;acred, there was one that in his habite and cloake v&s;urp'd his name, and came to <HI>Iohn Foards</HI> hou&s;e of Taunton the Bowyer, a man who had &s;eene <HI>Trat,</HI> but did &s;carce know him, or now remember him, and tolde him that he was M. <HI>Trat,</HI> the Curate of olde Cleeue, and pa&s;&s;ed vnder that name there; The like he did at Illmi&s;ter, &amp; at Par&s;on <HI>Sacheuerells,</HI> a Mini|&s;ter, benefiz'd neere Blanford in Dor&s;et-&s;hire, who had beene formerly and familiarly acquainted with <HI>Trat</HI> in Oxford, though now by meanes of their long ab&s;ence, this counterfet did pre&s;ume that hee had forgotten him, and for this con&s;ideration, was confident, that being habituated thus like <HI>Trat,</HI> and countenanced a|like be&s;ides, he might therefore with more facility im|po&s;e vpon the credulous ignorance of <HI>Sacheuerell.</HI></P>
<P>To farther this proiect, which might free <HI>Smeth|wicke</HI> and his hou&s;hold from all &s;u&s;pition, and lay the guilt of the murther vpon the murdred; this Impo&s;tour calling at his pretended friends hou&s;e in the daske of the Euening, tolde him, that hee was his olde friend <HI>Trat,</HI> which now after many yeares was come to &s;ee him. The other being deceiued with the night, his boldne&s;&s;e and habite, beleeues his wordes, and de|&s;ires him to alight, but hee refu&s;eth it, alleadging that hee could not doe it with any per&s;onall &s;afetie:</P>
<PB REF="9">
<P>And for rea&s;on &s;ayd the other; becau&s;e quoth the Counterfeit, I haue &s;tabd a man in my hou&s;e where I liue, of who&s;e life I am doubtfull; and that vpon this occa&s;ion comming from <HI>Dun&s;ter</HI> a &s;mall market Towne in the North-ea&s;t part of <HI>Summer&s;et&s;hire,</HI> I met with one, newly as hee told me, came out of <HI>Ireland,</HI> who begging &s;ome|thing of me, I gaue him two pence, lodged him in my owne hou&s;e, gaue him his &s;upper and his breake-fa&s;t in the morning, but cro&s;&s;ing him|&s;elfe &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ly, as I thought, with the &s;igne of the cro&s;&s;e before his mornings meale, I taxt him for it: who &s;eeking to maintaine his cau&s;e by argu|ment, we fell from words to blowes, and in the Combat, I doubt that with a &s;tabbe of my knife, I haue kild him, and &s;o being ingaged in this dan|ger, I can &s;tay no longer with you, but mu&s;t flie; <HI>Sacheuerel</HI> wi&s;ht him to retire him&s;elfe home again &s;ince hee was not certaine, or well a&s;&s;ured of this &s;trangers death, and that by Chirurgery and &s;pee|dy meanes of reliefe, the wounded per&s;on might againe recouer his former health and vigour. Old <HI>Smithwicke</HI> beeing thought to be con&s;cious of all the&s;e counterfeit fal&s;e de&s;ignes, as diuer&s;e men now thinke and &s;u&s;pect, hee pur&s;ues the inque&s;t of this fal&s;e <HI>Trat,</HI> enquires for him at <HI>Foordes</HI> the Bowyers his fir&s;t place of arriuall: who told Ma&s;ter <HI>Smithwicke,</HI> that &s;uch a man was there, but de|parted thence to <HI>Illmi&s;ter</HI> as hee thought, becau&s;e hee inquired the way thither of him. The other fol|lowes him by his tracke vnto the Towne of <HI>Illmi|&s;ter,</HI> and from thence vnto <HI>Sacheuerels</HI> hou&s;e in
<PB REF="10"> <HI>Dor&s;et&s;hire,</HI> there inquiring for him of the <HI>Par&s;on</HI> he was told by him that Mr. <HI>Trat</HI> was there, but would not a light nor &s;tay with him any time, be|cau&s;e hee had &s;tabd a man in his owne hou&s;e, (as he &s;ayd) of who&s;e &s;afety hee was very doubtfull, and &s;u&s;pitious.</P>
<P>The per&s;ons accu&s;ed, beeing armed with the&s;e glozes and pretences, faire &s;eeming to the eyes of ra&s;h &s;peculation and beholding, condemne Mr. <HI>Windham</HI> and Mr. <HI>Cuffe</HI> of Iniu&s;tice, prote&s;t of their wrongs before Mr. <HI>Sims,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Brureton,</HI> two other Iu&s;tices of that County, and de&s;ired them in the Kings behalfe to take the examination of old <HI>Foorde,</HI> and others of his Hou&s;hold con|cerning Mr. <HI>Trat,</HI> whether hee were there vppon &s;uch a day or no in his hou&s;e with him, how long he &s;tayd, and whether as he thought from thence hee departed. And they required and reque&s;ted them be&s;ides to v&s;e their be&s;t meanes and authority vnto the Iu&s;tices of Peace in <HI>Dor&s;et&s;hire,</HI> that Mr. <HI>Sacheuerell</HI> might be examined vppon the &s;ame In|terrogatories al&s;o. But all the&s;e faire pretences proued at the Tryall but Clouds of cunning, and mi&s;ts of knauery for <HI>Foorde,</HI> his man, and <HI>Sache|uerell</HI> being pre&s;t vnto it, fir&s;t by the Iu&s;tices, and after by my Lord <HI>Tanfield,</HI> Lord chiefe Baron of the Exchequer, would not take their oathes, nor at la&s;t giue a&s;&s;urance by their words that this per&s;on was that <HI>Trat</HI> indeede, although they confe&s;&s;ed them&s;elues in re&s;pect of the forged premi&s;es very doubtfull of it at fir&s;t. The&s;e pa&s;&s;ages made preg|nantly again&s;t tho&s;e per&s;ons, who haue &s;uffered
<PB REF="10"> for the murder, and giue great pre&s;umptions a|gain&s;t old <HI>Smithwick,</HI> who&s;e tryal is deferred till the next A&s;&s;ize of that County. Tho&s;e other proofes which gaue mo&s;t euidence again&s;t them, may be re|duced vnto two kinds, vnto generall ones, which did concerne them al in general, or perticular ones, which did concerne euery one of them &s;euerally by him&s;elfe. The proofes generall again&s;t them were the&s;e: Fir&s;t of all the per&s;onall counterfeiting of Mr. <HI>Trat:</HI> 2 The raines of <HI>Trats</HI> bridle, knowne by his brother, and found at <HI>Smithwicks</HI> hou&s;e all bloody, his hor&s;e vpon which he rod forth, beeing neuer heard off till this day: 3 The finding of di|uer&s;e peeces of the skull and necke-bone, with &s;ome teeth on <HI>Smithwicks</HI> harth, an&s;werable vnto tho&s;e which were found in <HI>Trats</HI> owne hou&s;e: It beeing thought by the Iudge and Iurours that his head was fir&s;t burned at <HI>Smithwicks,</HI> and after that the bones and teeth were carried vnto <HI>Trats,</HI> all &s;auing tho&s;e fragments, which God would haue for the further manife&s;tation of the truth, concealed one the fore&s;ayd harth, vntill they were found out by the indu&s;trions care and &s;earch of Mr. <HI>Cuffe,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Windham:</HI> The proofes perticular were diffe|rent again&s;t diuer&s;e of them. Young <HI>Peter Smith|wicke</HI> had often threatned to cut him in peeces, to kill him, and to &s;hew him &s;uch a tricke as was neuer heard off in <HI>Summer&s;et &s;hire;</HI> and be&s;ides riding to <HI>London</HI> a little before the fact, for he was not pre|pre&s;ent at it except it were by &s;ugge&s;tion, he wi&s;h|eth a friend of his with whom he encountred with|all to take notice that he was in <HI>London</HI> vpon &s;uch a
<PB REF="11"> day, vppon which the murder was afterwards knowne to be committed. Tho&s;e again&s;t <HI>Alice Wal|ker</HI> being a mayd-&s;eruant vnto <HI>Smithwicke,</HI> were the&s;e: She threatned him and gaue it out that if the Prie&s;t had come to the la&s;t <HI>Dunster</HI> Faire, hee &s;hould haue beene cut as &s;mall as hearbs to the pot by her Country-men the Welch-men.</P>
<P>Againe, after the murder was committed, but not detected, &s;he gaue it out, that if hee did not come home the &s;ooner, his powdred Beefe would &s;tinke, as after that his powdred fle&s;h did indeede very &s;hortly. But this horrible a&s;&s;a&s;&s;ination being detected, and &s;he not &s;u&s;pected, &s;he came out of the guilty burthen of her own con&s;cience vnto one of her neighbours, and taxt her for accu&s;ing of her, concerning Mr. <HI>Trats</HI> death, who prote&s;ted vnto her that, which &s;hee afterward made good vnto the Iu&s;tices that &s;he neuer &s;pake it in her life time, nor at that pre&s;ent &s;o much as thought it. The pre&s;umptions again&s;t <HI>Andrew Baker</HI> were the&s;e His v&s;uall conuer&s;ation and familiarity at <HI>Smith|wicks</HI> hou&s;e, his voluntary throwing downe of a pot of &s;tinking blood, &s;uppo&s;ed to be <HI>Trats</HI> which was hidde behind Rue and other &s;trong &s;melling hearbs at Mr. <HI>Smithwicks;</HI> which pot he was com|manded to take out very carefully, by the Iu&s;tices then pre&s;ent. And la&s;t of all his v&s;uall crying and calling out in his &s;leepe, let vs flye Mr. <HI>Peter,</HI> let vs away or el&s;e wee &s;hall bee all vndone and hanged. That which made again&s;t <HI>Cirill Au&s;tin</HI> was this: After this murder was committed, hee comes to <HI>Woollauington</HI> a Pari&s;h twelue miles di&s;tant from
<PB REF="11"> old <HI>Cleeue,</HI> and gets entertainment as a day La|borer among&s;t the neighbor-hood. Being there at worke, among&s;t other of his fellowes, there was one brought word of this mo&s;t cruell Butchery from <HI>Bridgewater,</HI> but reported withall that the manner of it was not yet well and fully knowne: What &s;ayes <HI>Austin,</HI> I can tell you it was thus and thus, and relates all the perticulars of it, for who could relate it better, then he that did commit it: Be&s;ides he had about him a bloody napkin, which beeing without que&s;tion imbrued in the blood of the inno|cent, hee pluckes this goared as it was out of his pocket, to wipe his face withall.</P>
<P>There being a Mayd pre&s;ent, demands of him, why he did not wa&s;h his handkercheefe, and by what meanes it became &s;o bloudy. He makes her no direct an&s;were; but pre&s;ently teares it in two peeces: and buryes the~ with trampling in the durt.</P>
<P>Vpon this <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> growes &s;u&s;pitious among&s;t the neighbourhood, and flyes withall vpon the iealou|&s;ie of there &s;u&s;pition, &amp; his owne guiltine&s;&s;e, which they aprehending, informe Ma&s;ter <HI>Cuffe</HI> of <HI>Creech,</HI> of all the&s;e pa&s;&s;ages; who hunts after him with <HI>hue</HI> and <HI>cry,</HI> but could not aprehend him, but though he ran like <HI>Cain</HI> fro~ the pre&s;ence of man, yet marke how the finger of God doth fa&s;ten on him, for fly|ing into <HI>Wilt&s;hire,</HI> he comes vnto one ma&s;ter <HI>Longs</HI> a Iu&s;tice of Peace in that County, &amp; beggs &s;ome re|leife at the doore, of a young Gentlewoman, borne neere vnto him, &amp; that had heard of this <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> attainture, which he did vnder the name of <HI>Ciril Au&s;tine.</HI> She informes Mr. <HI>Long</HI> of it, he &s;tayes this &s;u&s;pected per&s;on and draws him into examination concerning the murder commited at <HI>Cleeue,</HI> and
<PB REF="12"> tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages deliuerd at <HI>Woollauington</HI> by him, of which Mr. <HI>Long</HI> had heard at large by others. <HI>Au&s;|tine</HI> &s;tands vpon the deniall, and Mr. <HI>Long</HI> commits him vpon this to the Gaole; where he agrauats the &s;u&s;pition by another circum&s;tance, for being vi&s;ited by &s;ome acquaintance in pri&s;on, he tels the~ vpon an occa&s;ion of paying for the reckoning, that he wan|ted no monies, and if he did, others there were that &s;hould &s;moak for it: which words were thought to be ment of young <HI>Smithwicke</HI> con&s;idering the rea|&s;ons before premi&s;ed. And thus much be &s;poken of tho&s;e pre&s;umptiue euidences which in general or particular did make again&s;t the&s;e men. In the la&s;t place followes their Arraignement, Inditement &amp; Execution, for the cleerer expre&s;ion whereof, you mu&s;t conceaue thus much: that this murder being commited in the yeare of our Lord God 1623. the morow after <HI>Mid&s;omer day,</HI> my Lord Cheefe Bar|ron <HI>Tanfeild,</HI> deferd the Tryall of it vntil the&s;e la&s;t &s;ummer A&s;&s;izes 1624. But then the truth by time growing more per&s;picuous, for <HI>Veritas Temporis Filia,</HI> and young <HI>Peter Smithwicke</HI> by the working power of Gods prouidence being com in, and <HI>Ciril Au&s;tine</HI> being aprehended in <HI>Wil&s;hire,</HI> to &s;ati&s;fie the longing expectation of all men, who&s;e eyes were fa&s;tned vpon the i&s;&s;ue of this matter, he proceeds vnto the Tryall in a direct and mo&s;t iuditious man|er: for hauing peru&s;ed their &s;euerall examinations, to auoyd all partiallity which con&s;anguinity or ac|quaintance might impo&s;e, his Lord&s;hippe alters the whole body of the <HI>Grand Iury,</HI> which were for the mo&s;t part of the <HI>We&s;terne</HI> parts of <HI>Sum|mer&s;et-&s;hire;</HI> and therefore in likely-hood of mo&s;t knowne acquaintance vnto Mai&s;ter <HI>Smith|wick</HI>
<PB REF="12"> who &s;ometimes had beene a <HI>Grand Iury</HI> man him&s;elfe. Then after the waightines of the cau&s;e propo&s;ed, and charge giuen with great &s;ufficiency, and Integrity, the <HI>Grand Iury</HI> was di&s;mi&s;t and commanded to their charge, who afrer a tedious ballancing of the Euidence, and a mature pondring of tho&s;e proofes which were alleadged in the bill of indite|ment, find young <HI>Peter Smithwick, Andrew Baker, Ciril Au|&s;tin,</HI> and <HI>Alice Walker</HI> guilty of Mr. <HI>Trats</HI> murder, but finde an <HI>ignoramus</HI> of old Mr. <HI>Smithwicks</HI> bill, who was recom|mitted vnto the Gayle of <HI>Ilchester,</HI> to the intent that time might produce &s;tronger proofes again&s;t him, which I could wi&s;h with diuers other men, might faile in his behalfe. The Petty Iury concurs with the~ in Verdite, &amp; there were found guilty of this horrible &amp; haynous a&s;&s;a&s;&s;ination, young <HI>Peter Smithwick, Andrew Baker, Ciril Austin,</HI> and <HI>Alice Walker,</HI> vpon this my L. chiefe Baron proceeds to their iudgment, and pa&s;&s;ing the &s;entence of death vpon them, he giues them godly admonitions to confe&s;&s;e the murder, plaine enough by the proofes and evidence, and by this meanes to giue God and the World publike &s;ati&s;faction. But they &s;tand|ing &s;tiffe vpon the negatiue, and their owne pretended in|nocency, they are &s;ent backe from the Court, vnto the warde againe, where they were vi&s;ited by Dr: <HI>Goodwin,</HI> Dr. <HI>Slater,</HI> Mr. <HI>Morley,</HI> Mr. <HI>Vaughan,</HI> and other worthy Mini|&s;ters, who with al zeale did exhort them to cleare their con|&s;ciences, and confe&s;&s;e their faults with true Repentance. But all the&s;e whol&s;ome admonitions, proued but &s;eede &s;owne in &s;tony ground, for it tooke no root nor impre&s;&s;ion in them; onely <HI>Alice Walker</HI> told Mr. <HI>Morley,</HI> who required her to confe&s;&s;e the truth, and demanded of her whether or no they had obliged them&s;elues by oath or vow vnto the contrary; &s;he I &s;ay, then tels him that he in that &s;pake &s;omwhat to the purpo&s;e, and de&s;ires a farther conference with him in the morning. He charitably comes vnto her, and pre&s;&s;ing her vpon her former words, de&s;ices this <HI>Alice</HI> in the bowels of our Sauiour to confe&s;&s;e her fault, notwith&s;tanding any
<PB REF="13"> wicked vow or prote&s;tation made by her, or her accompli|ces, for &s;uch vowes were not to be ob&s;erued, but onely good ones, and &s;uch as were made vnto the Lord, But the euill &s;pirit workeing &s;trongly with her, made her in&s;en&s;ible of the&s;e good and godly motions: and &s;hee returnes <HI>Vt ca|uis ad vomitum,</HI> like a dogge vnto the auntient vomit of her &s;tubbornne&s;&s;e and deniall. On Friday being the 25. day of <HI>Iuly,</HI> they were conueyed from the Towne of <HI>Taunton</HI> vnto <HI>Stoane Gallows</HI> about eleven of the clocke in the forenoone where notwith&s;tanding all the per&s;wa&s;ions v&s;ed by &s;ome of the afore&s;aid Diuines, they &s;uffered by the hand of Iu&s;tice, dyed ob&s;tinate and vnrepenting &s;inners. The cau&s;es wher|fore they would not confe&s;&s;e were thought to be the&s;e, Fir&s;t the obligation of their vow. 2 the conceiued feare of a more terrible puni&s;hment. 3 the hope of impunity, or a repriuall at the la&s;t, &s;ince as they thought the proofes were not &s;uf|ficient again&s;t them. Concerning this euent mens coniec|tures were diuers: for tho&s;e who were alied vnto them, e|ther in con&s;anguinity, or acquaintance, were of partiall iudgment in their behalfes, and thought them innocent; becau&s;e they prote&s;ted their innocency at their deaths, o|thers who&s;e iudgements were more &s;incere, &amp; curious con|&s;idering tho&s;e pregnant proofes which made again&s;t them, thought them iu&s;tly puni&s;ht by the cen&s;ure and iudgment of the Court. The golden v&s;e which we may gather from this blacke and bloody pre&s;ident is this. That we &s;hould not giue the raines vnto anger, for feare it giues the raines and Law to vs; and though wrongs either true or &s;uppo&s;ed may giue prouocation, yet we &s;hould con&s;ider withall that <HI>Plus nocitura e&s;t ira quam iniuria,</HI> that anger may hurt vs more then the iniury, drawing vs many time (sexcept we preuent it with wi&s;dom &amp; di&s;cretion) from wrath to malice from malice to reueng, from reuenge to murder. And ther|fore I wil conclude this &s;ad di&s;cour&s;e with the poets whol|&s;ome &s;aying.</P>
<Q><L><HI>Ira furor brents e&s;t animu~ rege qui ni&s;i paret</HI></L>
<L><HI>Imperat hunc franis hunc tu compe&s;te cateris.</HI></L></Q>
<PB REF="13">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
