WHEREAS it was witneſſed againſt Shadrach Cooke on Tueſday the 17th. of this preſent Month, at the Old Bailey, That he did forge a Paſport to France in my Lord Nottingham's Name.
I Shadrach Cooke, Prieſt of the Church of ENGLAND, having utterly diſown'd the Fact at the Time and Place aforeſaid, do here Again, upon the Receiving the Bleſſed Sacrament of Chriſt's Body and Blood, and as I hope for any Benefits by my Saviour's Death and Sufferings, ſolemnly declare that I am altogether lgnorant and Innocent of this Matter, and that I know nothing directly or indirectly relating thereunto, either as to my ſelf, or any other; and that I am not conſcious of any thing in any ſort or kind, nor ever was concerning the Counterfeiting my Lord Nottingham's Hand or Seal. This I declare upon the ſincere Faith of a Chriſtian, without any reſerve, in the full and due Senſe of theſe Words, or any other, that can expreſs or ſignify an undiſguiſed intire Innocence in this Caſe.
I do here alſo declare, That I do from the very bottom of my Heart, as becometh a Chriſtian in this moſt holy Duty, forgive ſuch that raiſed this great Scandal of me, or that occaſioned my Suffering upon it.
- Ralph Taylor, D. D.
- Simon Lowth, D. D.
- William Carr.
- Rich. Hughes.
MAny having been led into a Miſtake by, and ſome ſtill cavelling and diſputing upon, theſe Words, [Mr. Cooke ſaid that what he did was out of a Principle of Conſcience] publiſhed in a Paper entituled, The Proceedings, &c. printed for Ric. Baldwin near the Oxford Arms in Warwick-lane, As if Mr. Cooke had really own'd, and juſtify'd the Fact charg'd upon him by pleading Conſcience for it.
I Ralph Taylor, D. D. out of a due regard to Truth and Peace, and out of a ſincere deſire to ſatisfie all unprejudic'd Enquirers after the ſame in this particular, do declare, That being preſent at the Old Bailey on the 17th. of this Month, when Mr. Cooke was call'd to anſwer what was laid to his Charge, I did then obſerve the ſaid Mr. Cooke moſt vehemently to deny,**May all the Judgments and Puniſhments, that God has in Store for Sinners, light upon my head, if I am not altogether Ignorant of what I am charg'd with, in Thought, Word and Deed. even with an Imprecation,The Imprecation. what was teſtify'd againſt him concerning his Counterfeiting my Lord Nottingham's Hand and Seal; and did hear him very Solemnly and Zealouſly aſſert his Innocence, as near as I can remember, in theſe Words; Ʋpon my Salvation I did not do it: As I hope for Mercy in Heaven I ſeal'd no ſuch Paper: Ʋpon the Word of a Prieſt I did no ſuch thing. And what he ſaid of Conſcience was before he ſpoke to the Fact wherewithal he was charg'd, and had reference not to what was teſtify'd or done concerning that particular Fact, but to what he himſelf had omitted, and not done, during the long time of his being in Cuſtody, as the means of procuring his Liberty: Nor was there any thing then ſaid, that I could perceive by Mr. Cooke, that might give the leaſt colour or occaſion, to any there preſent, who heard and obſerv'd him, to apprehend that he own'd the Counterfeiting of my Lord Nottingham's Hand and Seal, or that he ſhould ſay, That he did it out of a Principle of Conſcience.