The Year 1681

DR. OLIVER PLUNKET, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland.¹

This apostolic man was descended of an illustrious family in the ’kingdom of Ireland; he was educated in the Catholic religion, and finding himself called to the ecclesiastical state, went abroad into Italy, and there spent almost twenty years at Rome, partly in studying and partly in teaching divinity, where also he received the degree of doctor in that faculty. And having acquired a general esteem by his virtue and learning, the See of Armagh falling vacant, he was chosen and consecrated to it, about the year 1669, and sent over to Ireland to govern the flock committed to his charge, which he did in such a manner as to give great edification to the Catholics, and to be much esteemed by the very Protestants; in proof of which we shall here put down what some Protestant historians have written of him, upon occasion of his trial and condemnation.

And first Dr. Burnet, who was never suspected of telling a lie in favour of a Papist, in his History of his own Times (p. 502), acquaints us from the testimony of the Earl of Essex, that Plunket was a wise and sober man, who was for living quietly and in due submission to the Government, without engaging in intrigues of State; and that he was condemned only upon the testimony of some i68i]

lewd priests whom he had censured, and other evidence, brutal profligate men who found how good a trade swearing was in England^ and thereupon came over and gave evidence of a plot also in Ireland. With Dr. Burnet Mr. Eachard also agrees in his History of England^ where he tells us that Mr. Plunket had an attestation of his good behaviour in Ireland^ under the hands of the Earl of Essex and the Lord Berkley, when they were Lords-Lieutenants of that kingdom. That the accusation against him looked very romantic, not to say malicious, yet the witnesses were so perfect and so positive in their oaths, that the jury found him guilty of high treason, and sentence passed upon him accordingly. ‘ That he has been assured by an unquestionable hand, that the Earl of Essex himself was so sensible of this poor man’s hardship, that he generously applied to the King for a pardon, and told his Majesty the witnesses must needs be perjured, for these things sworn against him could not possibly be true. Upon which the King in a passion said. Why did you not attest this at his trial? It would have done him good then. I dare not pardon any one. And so concluded with the same kind of answer he had given another person formerly: His blood be upon your head, and not upon mine I

But the continuator of Baker's Chronicle is still more particular in his account of this Catholic prelate. ‘ In the meantime, says he, came on the trial of Dr. Oliver Plunket, a Popish titular Archbishop of Armagh, who called himself Primate of all Ireland. He was a worthy and good man, who, notwithstanding the high title given him, was in a very mean state of life, as having nothing to subsist on, but the contributions of a few poor clergy of his own religion in the province of Ulster, who having but little themselves could not spare much to him. In these low circumstances he lived, though meanly, quietly and contentedly, meddling with nothing but the concerns of his function, and dissuading all about him from entering into any turbulent or factious intrigues. But while the Popish plot was warm, some lewd Irish priests, and others of that nation, hearing that England was disposed to hearken to good swearers, thought themselves qualified for the employment. So they came over with an account of a plot in Ireland, and were well received by Lord Shaftesbury. They were also examined by the Parliament, and what they said was believed. They were very profligate wretches, and some of the priests among them had been censured by Plunket for their lewdness; so partly out of revenge, and partly to keep themselves in business, they charged a plot upon that innocent quiet man; so that he was sent for over and brought to trial.

The evidences swore, that upon his being made Primate of Ireland, he engaged to raise sixty or seventy thousand Irish, to be ready to join with the French to destroy the Protestant religion, and to get Dublin, Londonderry, and all the seaports into their hands; and that, besides the French army, there was a Spanish army to join with them, and that the Irish clergy were to contribute to this design. Plunket in his defence alleged the improbability of all that was sworn against him; which was apparent enough. He alleged that the Irish clergy were so poor, that he himself, who was the head of a whole province, lived in a little thatched house with only one servant, having never above £60 a year income; so that neither he nor they could be thought very likely to carry on a design of this nature. But the fact being positively sworn against him, and the jury unacquainted with the witnesses’ characters, and the scene of action, he was brought in guilty and condemned. ’Tis said that the Earl of Essex was so sensible of the injustice done him, &c., as above.’ So far this Protestant historian.

But now let us hear what a Catholic, and one who was intimately acquainted with him in the last scene of his life, viz., the learned and truly religious Father James Corker, writes of him in a letter penned after his death: — ‘ I cannot as yet,’ says he, ‘ pretend to give you (as you desire) a description of the virtues of the glorious Archbishop and Martyr, Dr. Oliver Plunket. I am promised the particulars of his life and actions, both at Rome, where he studied and taught almost twenty years; and in Ireland, where he exercised his episcopal or rather apostolical function, till he became a champion of faith; but these particulars are not as yet arrived at my hands. After his transportation hither, he was, as you know, close confined, and secluded from all conversation, save that of his keepers, until his arraignment: so that here also I am much in the dark, and can only inform you of what I learned, as it were by chance, from the mouths of the said keepers, viz., that he spent his time in almost continual prayer; that he fasted usually three or four days a week, with nothing but bread; that he appeared to them always modestly cheerful, without any anguish or concern at his danger, or strait confinement; that by his sweet and pious demeanour, he attracted an esteem and reverence from those few that came near him. When he was arraigned, ’tis true, I could write to him, and he to me; but our letters were read, transcribed, and examined by the officers, before they were delivered to either of us. For which cause we had little other communication than what was necessar)^ in order to his trial. But the trial being ended, and he condemned, his man had i68i] DR. OLIVER PLUNKET leave to wait on him alone in his chamber, by whose means we had free intercourse by letters to each other. And now it was I clearly perceived the Spirit of God in him, and those lovely fruits of the Holy Ghost, charity, joy, peace, &c., transparent in his soul. And not only I, but many other Catholics, who came to receive his benediction, and were eye-witnesses (a favour not denied to us) can testify, there appeared in his words, in his actions, in his countenance something so divinely elevated, such a composed mixture of cheerfulness, constancy, love, sweetness, and candour, as manifestly denoted the Divine goodness had made him fit for a victim and destined him for heaven. None saw or came near him, but received new comfort, new fervour, new desires to please, serve and suffer for Christ Jesus by his very presence. Concerning the manner and state of his prayer, he seemed most devoted to Catholic Sentences taken out of Scripture, the Divine Office, and Missal, which he made me procure for him three months before he died; upon these sentences he let his soul dilate itself in love, following herein the sweet impulse and dictates of the Holy Ghost, and reading his prayers writ rather in his heart, than in his book, according to that — unctio ejus docet vos de omnibus (St. John ii. 27). For this reason I suppose it was, that when with great humility he sent me his last speech to correct, he also wrote me word, he would not at the place of execution make use of any other set form or method of prayer, than the Pater noster^ Ave Maria^ Credo^ Misere)'e^ In manus tuas Domine, &c., and for the rest, he would breathe forth his soul in such prayers and ejaculations as God Almighty should then inspire him withal. He continually endeavoured to improve and advance himself in the purity of divine love, and by consequence also in contrition for his sins past, of his deficiency in both which this humble soul complained to me as the only thing that troubled him. This love had extinguished in him all fear of death, perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem. A lover feareth not, but rejoiceth at the approach of the beloved. Hence the joy of our holy martyr seemed still to increase with his danger, and was fully accomplished by an assurance of death. The very night before he died, being now as it were at heart’s ease, he went to bed at eleven o’clock, and slept quietly and soundly till four in the morning; at which time his man, who lay in the room with him, awaked him: so little concern had he upon his spirit, or rather so much had the loveliness of the end beautified the horror of the passage to it. After he certainly kne^w God Almighty had chosen him to the crown and dignity of martyrdom, he continually studied how to divest himself of himself, and

577 2 o become more and more an entire pleasing and perfect holocaust: to which end, as he gave up his soul with all its faculties to the conduct of God; so, for God’s sake, he resigned the care and disposal of his body to unworthy me, &c. But I neither can nor dare undertake to describe unto you, the signal virtues of this blessed martyr. There appeared in him something beyond expression, something more than human; the most savage and hard-hearted people were mollified and attendered at his sight; many Protestants in my hearing wished their souls in the same state with his: all believed him innocent, and he made Catholics, even the most timorous, in love with death. When he was carried out of the press-yard to execution, he turned him about to our chamber windows, and with a pleasant aspect and elevated hands gave us his benediction. How he composed himself after he was taken from thence, you yourself can give a more exact account than I,’ &c. So far Father Corker, to whom the holy prelate applied himself for the affairs of his conscience whilst he was preparing for his exit, and who was consequently the best acquainted with his interior.

Archbishop Plunket was arraigned at the King's Bench bar. May the 3d, 1681, but not brought to his trial till the 8th of June. He had been then a year and a half in prison. He was found guilty by the jury upon the testimony of those perjured wretches that appeared against him. When he heard the verdict he cried out, Deo gratias — God be thanked. The Lord Chief Justice, before he pronounced sentence, wished him to renounce his false religion, as he called it, against which he most bitterly inveighed as ten times worse than Paganism; but the prisoner knew better what his religion was than the judge, and gave his Lordship to understand that he was not disposed to alter it upon any considerations. He added: ‘ If I were a man that had no care of my conscience, I might have saved my life, for I was offered it by divers people here, if I would but confess my own guilt and accuse others; but, my Lord, I had rather die ten thousand deaths than wrongfully accuse any body. And the time will come when your Lordship will see what these witnesses are that have come in against me. I do assure your Lordship, if I were a man that had not good principles, I might easily have saved my own life; but I had rather die ten thousand deaths than wrongfully to take away one farthing of any man’s goods, one day of his liberty, or one minute of his life.’ After he had said this, sentence was pronounced against him in the usual form on the 15th of June. After condemnation he wrote the following letter to Father Corker: — i68i]

‘ Dear Sir, —

‘ I am obliged to you for the favour and charity of the 20th, and for all your former benevolences; and whereas I cannot in this country remunerate you, with God’s grace I hope to be grateful in chat kingdom which is properly our country. And truly God gave me (though unworthy of it) that grace to have for tern animum mortis terrors carentem — a courage fearless of death. I have many sins to answer for before the Supreme Judge of the High Bench, where no false witnesses can have audience. But as for the bench yesterday I am not guilty of any crime there objected to me. I would I could be so clear at the Bench of the All Powerful. Ut ut sit, there is one comfort that He cannot be deceived, because He is omniscious and knows all secrets, even of hearts; and cannot deceive, because all goodness; so that I may be sure of a fair trial, and will get time sufficient to call witnesses; nay, the Judge will bring them in a moment, if there will be need of any. You and your comrades’ prayers will be powerful advocates at that Bench. Here none are admitted for « Your affectionate friend,

‘ Oliver Plunket.’

On the ist oijuly, i68i, he was drawn from Newgate to Tyhurn, on which occasion the serenity of his countenance, the courage, cheerfulness, and piety with which he went to meet death, gave great edification to the spectators. At the place of execution he spoke as follows: —

‘ I have some few days past abided my trial at the King^s Bench, and now very soon I must hold up my hand at the King of Kings’ Bench, and appear before a Judge who cannot be deceived by false witnesses nor corrupted allegations, for He knoweth the secrets of hearts. Neither can He deceive any, nor give an unjust sentence, nor be misled by respect of persons. He being all goodness and a most just Judge, will infallibly decree an eternal reward for all good works, and condign punishment for the smallest transgressions against His commandments. Which being a most certain and undoubted truth, it would be a wicked act, and contrary to my perpetual welfare, that I should now by declaring any thing contrary to truth, commit a detestable sin, for which within a very short time I must receive sentence of everlasting damnation, after which there is no reprieve or hope of pardon. I will therefore confess the truth without any equivocation, and make use of the words according to their accustomed signification; assuring you, moreover, that I am of that certain persuasion that no power, not only upon earth, but also in heaven, can dispense with me, or give me leave to make a false protestation. And I protest upon the word of a dying man, and as I hope for salvation at the hands of the Supreme Judge, that I will declare the naked truth with all candour and sincerity; and that my affairs may be better known to all the world.

‘ ’Tis to be observed, that I have been accused in Ireland of treason and praemunire: and that there I was arraigned and brought to my trial; but the prosecutors, men of flagitious and infamous lives, perceiving that I had records and witnesses, who would evidently convince them, and clearly shew my innocency and their wickedness, they voluntarily absented themselves, and came to this city to procure that I should be brought hither to my trial (where the crimes objected were not committed), where the jury did not know me or the qualities of my accusers, and were not informed of several other circumstances conducing to a fair trial. Here after six months’ close imprisonment, or there abouts, I was brought to the bar the 3d of May^ and arraigned for a crime for which I was before arraigned in Ireland: a strange resolution, a rare fact, of which you will hardly And a precedent these five hundred years past. But whereas my witnesses and records were in Ireland^ the Lord Chief Justice gave me five weeks’ time to get them brought hither: but by reason of the uncertainty of the seas, of wind and weather, and of the difficulty of getting copies of records, and bringing many witnesses from several counties in Irela^id, and for many other impediments, of which ajfidavit was made, I could not at the end of five weeks get the records and witnesses brought hither. I therefore begged for twelve days more, that I might be in readiness for my trial, which the Lord Chief Justice denied; and so I was brought to my trial and exposed, as it were with my hands tied, to these merciless perjurers,’ &c.

Then having numbered up the heads of the accusation against him, and refuted them by the most solemm protestations of his innocency, and by shewing not only the improbability, but even the impossibility of his being guilty of what was laid to his charge, he goes on: —

‘ You see therefore what condition I am in, and you have heard what protestation I have made of innocency, and I hope you will believe the words of a dying man. And that you may be the more induced to give me credit, I assure you that a great peer sent me notice. That he woidd save my life, if I would accuse others: but I answered That I never knew of any conspirators in Ireland, hut such as were publicly known outlaws, and that to save my life, I would not i68i]

falsely accuse any ^ nor prejudice my own soul. Quid prodest homini^ See. To take away any man’s life or goods wrongfully ill-becometh any Christian, especially a man of my calling, being a clergyman of the Catholic Church, and also an unworthy prelate, which I do openly confess; neither will I deny to have exercised in Ireland the functions of a Catholic prelate, as long as there was any connivance or toleration; and by preaching, and teaching, and statutes, to have endeavoured to bring the clergy (of which I had a care) to a due comportment according to their calling; and though thereby I did but my duty, yet some who would not amend had a prejudice for me, and especially my accusers, to whom I did endeavour to do good; I mean the clergymen: as for the four laymen who appeared against me, I was never acquainted with them. But you see how I am rewarded, and how by false oaths they have brought me to this untimely death; which wicked act being a defect of persons, ought not to reflect upon the Order of St. Francis^ or upon the Roman Catholic clergy, it being well-known that there was a Judas amongst the twelve apostles, and a wicked man called Nicholas amongst the seven deacons; and even as one of the said deacons, viz., holy Stephen, did pray for those who stoned him to death, so do I for those who with perjuries spill my innocent blood, saying, as St. Stephen did,

0 Lord, lay not this sin to them. I do heartily forgive them, and also the judges who, by denying me sufficient time to bring my records and witnesses from Ireland, did expose my life to evident danger.,

1 do also forgive all those who had a hand in bringing me from Ireland to be tried here, where it was morally impossible for me to have a fair trial. I do finally forgive all who did concur directly or indirectly to take away my life; and I ask forgiveness of all those whom I ever offended by thought, word, or deed. I beseech the All-Powerful, that His Divine Majesty grant our King, Queen, the Duke of Y»ork, and all the royal family, health, long life, and all prosperity in this world, and in the next everlasting felicity.

‘ Now that I have shewed sufficiently (as I think) how innocent I am of any plot or conspiracy, I would I were able, with the like truth, to clear my self of high crimes committed against the Divine Majesty’s commandments (often transgressed by me), for which I am sorry with all my heart; and if I should or could live a thousand years, I have a firm resolution and a strong purpose, by your grace, O my God, never to offend you; and I beseech your Divine Majesty, by the merits of Christ, and by the intercession of His Blessed Mother and all the holy angels and saints, to forgive me my sins, and to grant my soul eternal rest.’

After he had ended his speech, he recited the psalm Miserere mei Deus, and other devout aspirations; and his cap being drawn over his eyes, he continued recommending his happy soul into the hands of his Saviour, till the cart was drawn away. He was suffered to hang till he expired, and then was cut down, and bowelled; his heart and bowels were thrown into the fire; his body was begged of the King, and was interred (all but the head and arms to the elbows, which were disposed of elsewhere) in the churchyard of St. Giles-in-the-Fields; with a copper plate on his breast with the following inscription: — ‘ In this tomh resteth the body of the Right Reverend Oliver Plunket, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland, who in hatred of religion was accused of high treason by false witnesses^ and for the same condemned and executed at Tyburn, his heart and bowels being taken oiit^ and cast into the fire. He suffered martyrdom with constancy, the ist of July, i68i, in the reign of King Charles //.’

Four years after his body was taken up and found entire. It was sent abroad to Lambspring; where Abbot Corker, 1693, erected over it a handsome monument, with this Latin inscription: —

Reliquice sanctce memorice Oliveri Plunket, Archiepiscopi Armachani, primatis, qui in odium Catholicce fidei laqueo suspensus, extractis visceribus et in ignem projectis, Celebris martyr occubuit Londini, primo die Julij {stylo veteri), anno salutis, 1681.

I find no more Catholic blood spilt in England for religion during the three remaining years of King Charleses reign. For now the pretended Popish plot was clearly discovered to be a mere sham, and to have been imposed upon the nation, in order to usher in a real conspiracy of some that called themselves true Protestant§; concerning which the reader may consult the history of the Rye-House Plot, written by a Protestant prelate. Dr. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester. However, the prisons still were crowded with Catholics, as well priests as laity, till the latter end of this reign; even the lords that were kept prisoners in the Tower could not obtain to be bailed out till 1683; in the meantime, the Lord Petre died prisoner in the Tower, protesting to the last his innocency of all that had been laid to his charge.

As to the rest, we have not been able to give an account, in these Memoirs, of all the sufferings of Catholics, either in this or the former persecutions; nor so much as to set down the names either i68i]

of the priests, or laymen, or women, who have endured imprisonment, banishment, loss of goods, and innumerable other vexations for their conscience; the number of such sufferers has been so great, that it would be an impossible task to record so much as their names. It may suffice to say, that few of that profession escaped feeling (more or less) the rage of the persecutors; and that their constancy and patience in their sufferings was little inferior to that of the most heroic sufferers of the primitive ages.

Since the foregoing sheets were printed, we have been informed of one priest more sentenced to death for his character in this latter part of King Charles II. ’s reign; and this was the Reverend Father Atwood^ of the holy Order of St. Dominic. He was reprieved, and as some say taken off the hurdle to his great grief. He died in peace in 1704.

Since the accession of King James 1 1, to the throne, though from time to time the Catholics have been exposed to some passing storms, yet by God’s mercy the persecution has never raged so far as to come to blood. The most remarkable sufferer, on account of his priestly character, was the Reverend Father Paul of St. Francis^ alias Matthew Atkinson, O.S.F. He was a native of Yorkshire, and entered into the Order of St. Francis in the English convent at Doway, the 27th of December, 1673, being then seventeen years of age. He was sent upon the English mission in 1687, where he was noted for his zeal of souls and diligence in his pastoral functions, and brought many strayed sheep back to the fold of Christ, till being accused by a false convert of being a priest, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and sent to Hurst Castle, where he remained a constant and pious confessor of Christ for thirty years, till his dying day, which was the 15th of October, 1729. He departed this life aged seventy-four, in the fifty-sixth year of his religious profession; and lies interred at St. Jameses, near Winchester.

APPENDICES

Footnotes

1. Blessed Oliver Plunket. — From his printed trial and speech; Father Corker’s Letters; and the historians of those times. Since his beatification, in 1908, there have been new editions of the Memoir hy P. F. Cardinal Moran, &c.; see also the Downside Review for 1908 and 1921. ↩