l C ^00^
THE
Midwife Unmask'd:
O R,
The POPISH DESIGN
O F
Mrs Celliers M E A L-TIIB plainly made known;
Being a Second A nswer to her Scan-
dalous LIBEL, in fhort Remarques upon the fame.
For the Satisfaftion of the P eople , and the Vindication of the
Juftice of the NATION,, and of feveral Perfons of Honour by her moft
vilely abufed.
THere have been fo many ftrange and unparallell'd Narratives Publiihed in
this Age, and fo contradidfory one to the other, that many people who
judge things by outward appearance onely , know not well how to com-
prebend the Truth, or what to think of the right and juftnefs of Affairs ,
clouded with fo many feveral Vizard-Mafques that are put upon them. But of al-l
that I have yet feen or met with , this qf. Mrs Celliers feems to be the boldeft and
moft confident piece of Stuff i ftrangely hudled and fhufBed ..together, and in
which fhe rants and {cratches like another Pace/ tTOrleans^ or Jmn of Arqiie\ hand-
ling her Ten for the Papiftical Gaufe, as the other did her Lance i and it is pit-y (he
has not likewife the glory of her Martyrdom.
How it has now crept abroad, 1 cannot tell, having received a Cheque by Autho-
xity, as her felf acknowledges in her Toffcript^ p. 43. which has fuppreft it till now:
But of a fuddain their hopes feem to revive, and their endeavours are renewed , and
now out comes a new Narrative of the Female Champion of the Caufe, all for the
fame end, to invalidate the P L O T, to make themfelves innocent, and to fling all
the PLOT and Guilt on the Tresbyterians. Thefe are the ftrenuous endeavours of
thefe Papal Goliaths notoi Gath, but oijefm-, who having been fo often foyled and
laid on their backs,fight behind the Buckler of a ftout Virago^ who having been Impri-
foned for the Caufe, and efcaped the Law, now with bold and audacious Effronteries
publifhes her Adventures. It were labour loft to wafte much Paper in anfwering all
her impertinent Libels 5 and thofe particularly concerned, will no queftion be able to
juftifie themfelves from her bold accufations: but I fhall only make fome few Re-
marks for publick Information.
Firft I fay. Since thefe fort of people , who have been either Plotters againft His
Sacred Majefty, the Laws and Religion of the Land , or abettors and well-wifliers
to the lame, and having liv'd to fee their PLOT defeated, and fome of their Par-
ty juftly punifhed for their evil deeds i all their chief endeavours and main ends are
now to make fome of their innocent Party, and many of the credulous, peaceable,
and eafily deluded of the adverfe Party believe, that there was no P L O T, or at
heft but ofte of the Tresbyterians making ,gnd inventing : and one of their great In-
ftruments was this (he-Champion, and Midwife, Mrs Cellier, a bold and very confi-
dent Bigot in the Komi(h Caufe j and now being cleared by the Law, Hedfors and
rants at any rate in this her Book, and by this means hopes more than ever to clear
the point, and to render herfelf as great an innocent, as thofe (he ufes to bring into
the world.
She boldly acknowledges her felf a Papift,/'. i. though of Proteftant Parents s and
fhe became one , becaufe they had been oppreft by tlft Dilloyal Party i a good rea-
fon :
[2]
fori : and becaufe (he never heard any of that Church preach to her any thing of Dif-
loyalty, therefore none of them ever made or contrived a PLOT againft the King
and Government-, another like Argument. But as to the reality of the P L O T ,
notwithftanding their many falfe Blinds,there is fcarce one of any Judgment and Rea-
fon,but is convinced of it and to deny it, were to give the Lye to the greated Au-
thority on Earth, both the King and People : To the King, in contradidting his fe-
veral Proclamations to the People, in making falfe the leveral unanimous Votes of
r- -: their Reprefentatives in Tarliament\ who have declared it to be an horrid FOFISH
■' , PLOT, not a. Presbyterian one and by believing the Judges of the Land to be blind,
f ■ and all the Courts of Judicature to be ftrangclymiitaken. And yet thefe people,
Jefuits and Jefuitical Inllruments, boldly infinuate there is no P L O T ; and there-,
. - ^ :> fore, as their chiefeft Card they have to play , they fo often endeavour to invalidate
the Kings VVitneffes, and to make them of no worth : and this is the whole fcope of
this Book of Mrs Celliers, called her Malice Defeated, but rather is Malice Repeated.
For/'. 2. (he tells us. The chief (ticklers for the PLOT were the Sons of thofe
who adted the principal parts in the laft Tragedy : and therefore to intail on them
the fins ot their Fathers, (he doubted the whole, that there was no other PLOT,
but what they were going to adf over again, that is, to cut off the Kings Head, and
to Convert this Land to a If there could be greater malice than this in-
vented, let the world judge and how far from Truth, daily more and more appears.
God be thanked. His Majelfy is not apt to be jealous, but this were enough to Itir up
a fufpitious Prince to be Cruel and Tyrannick. But this provokes the Good-womans
Charity, and (he diligently fearches the Prifons for the objedfs thereof j but it fcems,
for all her Hne ftories , 'twas to find out a (it fubjedf for her Defigns and Intrigues i
which proving falfe and recreant, having ferv'd his own turn, if not hers, and who
having given her a divellifh blovy on the Mouth, (truck out mo(t of her Teeth, fo that
(he cannot bite (he opens her mouth, and with bloody gums, mumbles and toufes
the poor fellow with his heaps of Crimes, fo that (he thinks (he has fufficiently made
a fool of the PLOT, and turned it into nothing. But what is all this ? Danger^
field while her fervant, though he had committed all thefe Crimes, was (tanch c-
nough, a very good man, one to be trulted to get in her Husbands Debts, and pay his
Scores h introduced to the Company of the Lady Porvis , and a fitpompanion for
the Lords in the Tower : but after this Inflrument broke between her Hands,fee what
a Scoundrel (he has made of him, for turning Cat in the Pan. What he has been
I know not he furely could not have been very good, that was pick'd out of the
Goal ■, and had he been any better, (he could never have thought to have put him
upon thofe Employs he fufficiently fwore (he did ■, and it fecms was cunning enough
in that Cafe, to invalidate hisTeftimony,as no legal witnefs however, 'tis but her
nay againft his yea \ he has affirmatively fworn it, againft which no Negative can pre-
vail: and whatever the Evidence may be at Common-law, I doubt it will (ignifie
fomething to the Confciences and Information 'of many , and that with as much
Judgment and Reafon, as the affertion of Mrs Cellier in her own defence i in which
foe is not to be blamed, having dextroully played her Cards. And the Narrative
of WilloHghhy, whate're he has been, may ("peak Truth in matter of Fadf, as well as
Mrs CeHkr s, and rhay be jultly and as foon believ'd.
But this is not enough i for although this may do her bu(jners,and fave her Bacon,
yet it will not clear the PLOT, therefore (he muft fall foul alfo df the other Wit-
neffes, Bedlotv, Gates, and the reft : never a Barrel better Herring, they are all alike,
and muft be recriminated i therefore (he gives you Bedlorvs Characfter,/). 2, 2^3. and
from Dr. Gates his own hand : well, if all this, or moft of it be falle, is not Mrs
Cellier a malicious woman, and thofe who fet her a work wicked Inftruments ? but
if this were true, all was before, and whilif imployed in their Service •, and what
better could be expeded for Treafon and Murther ? But (ince,we hnd not any thing
objeded againft them, not only as to the evils of Life and Converfation * but as to
the Truth and agreement of their Depofitions. Thofe who are alive may anfwer in
this refped for themfdves,and Mr. Bedlorvs laft Exit has very muchftrtngthened and
confirm'd theTruth of the PLOT, and the wickednefs of the Plotters. But how-
ever, all thofe Witneffes Mrs Cellier rails againft, are fufficiently back'd by others,
againft whom none of them could have fuch caufe of fcandal and reproach s fothat
the foundation of the P L O T (lands not upon the only props of Dr. Gates, Bedr
I qtp,
[3]
and Dangerjield, but on many more, found, and ftrong enough in their Rcputa-
tion.
The next thing I obferve, is. That (he not only endeavours to invalidate theTe-
ftimony of the Kings VV itneffes by R.eproach, Scandal, and by bringing their Crimes
upon the liage, whether true or falfe •, but (he alfo endeavours, as in p. 3. to caufe
them not to be believed by the people , by infinuating that they were horridly abu-
fed in prifon. Wracked and Tortured, Boulted and Chained, Starved and Beaten i of
which (he tells odd dories, making fomething like a Minirter to be either a promoter,
or evidence of the fame it looking like one of the Spanilh Inquilition , and he the
Pried Examiner, being tranilated from the InqHifition-Y'nCon to Nerogate. But we are
apt to believe they are forged, and to which Captain Richardfon is able to give fatif-
fadfion •, Mr. Francc.ihc man (he would make the world believe to be the perfon Tor-
mented, to extort falfe Evidence,having in his Narrative fuificiently cleared that fuf^
pition, and judihed to the contrary , whatever Mrs Ce//ier may invent to caufe the
contrary to be thought.
But beiides the W itneffes, we mu(f have others to carry on a Secret PLOT, to hide
and cloud the Real one: It is no matter who they are,but it feems they are no mean
ones, being Vh I ^ s and Earls s for fuch (he brings into Newgate^ p. 4. to beat and
abufe the Examinants, orthofe committed thither under pretence of the Plot i and
in perfon to offer them Gold and Silver, to Confefs what they did not know. Still
Inquiiition-method s Cunning and Tyranny. This Duke and Lord, who ever they
were, would not be accounted any great Politicians, to do their bufinefs no better,
but to appear in perfon; but all this is dill to make the world imagine drange things,
and that thofe Innocents were beaten and tormented , and tempted to confefs what
they never knew of.
This Duke and Earl are incognito, and we cannot get knowledge of them ; but my
Lord oiShaftesbury is more beholding to her, for die names him in feveral places,with
his Servants, and goes about to (hew his Arts and Policies, to frame a P L O T j
and would inlinuate to the people, as if it came, or had a birth out of his Brain,and
with his Intrigues with Bedlow and Stroud, would raife up what never was i and
that therefore he was making Indruments for that purpofe, by illegal means, feeding
them privately with Money , and getting them Pardons, giving them incourage-
mentand afliftance. And thus the wicked woman, though newly efcaped the la(h
of the Law, if (he cannot Murther or take away the Life of the Earl of Shaftesbury,
yet dabs his Honour and Reputation. But there is a Statute of Scandalum Magna-
turn, upon which (he may chance to be Tryed, and may prove more unfortunate to
her, than that of Edsvard the Third, upon which die was lad Indided.
But this Woman afcends in her bold afperfions v and having gone thus far for
the Caufe, affaults the Council and the King himfelf, his Juftice and his Laws :
For/'. 44. (he makes bold to fay, with a Forhead brazen enough,That though Trea-
fonable Pradices have been Sworn againd Dangerfield, by Judice Fojier, Judicfi
Harvie, Mr. IhomcK Idii!/,and her felf i yet the Gentleman walks abroad undidurbed,
and dayly confults with his Confederates, how to ad new Villanies. Then by and
by, When]oever his Majeftyjhall pkaje to mah^ it fafe and honourable to jpeak^Rruth, as
it hath been gainful and nieritortons to do the contrary, there xrill not want Witneffes, &c.
I think the like bold and fcandalous Affertion was fcarce fo bare-fac'dly owned be-
fore ■, as if his Majedy and his Privy-Council did encourage Perjury, or that it was
a dangerous thing to own or fpeak the Truth before them.
It is not good dallying tiius with Thunder ; Methinks, though other perfons
could not efcape the venom of their lying Tongues, yet that Sacred Majedy, and
the Judice of a Nation (hould have been above the reach of their empoyfoned darts:
But to what height will not the Zeal, or rather blinde Fury and Rage of their
Religion carry them! Thus alfo (he terms the Examinations of the Committee of
Lordi^ before whom (he was brought, Trepanning ^ejiions, page 2 p. to enfnare
her: A (it expreidon for the Peers of the Realm-, as if they had fo little Honour
or Honedy, as to betray the Life of a poor lilly woman. Be\ (he is full of fuch
fcLirrillous abufes thorough the whole Book s and it were too much labour to trace
her throughout.
She may have leave granted her to abufe perfons of a meaner Fvank, when (he
has fo boldly dtuck at thofe of the highed i and I think, of all the Railing (he has
ufed
ufed agalnft Sir Will Water^ which might in fome fort be pardoned, he being fb
active a man againft her and her Fellow-Plotters i that which (he ufes page 23, is
very wicked, and highly maliciouswhich is, that Ihewing him the Book called
Ihe hlack^ Tribunal, wherein theTryals of the late King's J udges were fet down,
told him withal. That that jViW the Game he xvould noxv be at s which (fays fhe} he
denied after fuch a manner, as made it vifihle even to the meaneji capacity, that he did'
not thin\it a Crime. Is not this molf horrid Judgment, to accufe a man of Trea-
fonable thoughts in her own Breaft, and then to pronounce Judgment on him as
Guilty? But Six William Waller is of Age to anfwer for himfelf, and no doubt
knows how to clear himfelf from fuch horrid Afperfions.
She pretends to reveal the Myftery of the Meal-Tub but fiie has made fb flight
and poor a thing of it, that it is not fo much as the true Hiftory of it. She thought
otherwife of that Difcovery, when (he wrung her hands and cryed, She was m-
done, at the firft finding of that blacl{_ Lift, which was under the white Meal, that
gave fufficient Proof and Light of the moft abominable P LO T that ever was
Invented. But Mrs. Cellier has undergone the Tryalof the Law, and is Acquitted
for want of clear Proof againft her •, but if ftie proceeds, as Ihe hath begun in this
her Book, to forge and publifti Lies, and to abufe and defame perfons of Honour,
and the Juftice of the Nation, and to invalidate the King's Evidence, and endea-
vour to turn the PLOT into a Komance or Fidion, Ihe may chance at .laft to
finde, (he may not always have the good fortune to efcape Juftice: and it is not to
be doubted, notwithftanding the endeavours of thefe Champions for the Caufe,
but that ere long the whole Myftery of this Long-depending PLOT will be laid
open, and that Juftice will at laft flow /i% a jiream without oppofition in the Land >
And we (hall know the guilty Heads, as well as the defiled and wicked Members
and Inftruments. In the tnean time, that fuch may not bark in the ears of the
people fb unchequ'd and uncontrould , we have only in few words let you plainly
fee, the repeated Malice of Mrs. Cclier's Malice Defeated, and what the true end of
all the Endeavours of that Party is. To make the world believe that there is no Plot
or Defigne againft hisMajefties Life, and againft the eftablilhed Laws an d Religion
of the Land, but what is now hatching by the Presbyterians and Kepublicans j whilft
by this Blinde.they ftill hope to carry on their foul and wicked Defignes.
But the Triumph of the wicked is fhort, and the Joy of the Hypocrite but for a ma-
ment. Though his head reach the Clouds, he Jhallperi^ in his own Dung, Job 20.5 ,5 ,7.
Let the Wick^dnefs of the wicked come to an endbehold he travelleth with Iniquity,
and hath conceived Mifchief, and brought forth faljhood. He hath made a pit, and dig£d
it, and is fallen into the ditch he hath made. His mifchief (hall return upon his own
head. For the Sin of their Mouth, and the words of their Lips, let them betaken in
their Pride: And for the Curftng and Lying which they fleak^, Pfal. 7« Pj 14,15, id,
andPlal. 5P» 12.
LONDON: Printed for T. Dames. 1680.