The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-05-06 00:00:00

THE PRESENTMENTS AFTER MONMOUTH'S

REBELLION.

Up to • recent date neither the ordeal Prment-
me! to of the rebels at Lord Jeffreys affisis.• In 1885,
oor any other authentic copies of th.m, were to be
(mind In the British Museum, nor ctould the Preeeut•
I meets be found at the Public R,mord or Crown Offices,
I Lord Macaulay (Motor, of inflonol, vol. i., p. 641
note) seems to have been di ken to retort 10th. litter.
book oontalelng the list of rebels convicted it the
amine which the judger trent to the Treasury. Through
the lertrumentality of Mr. %V. Bowler Barrett, F.L.S.
of Weymouth, an authentic copy of a lame part of
the Presentment, hem been added to the IltS. at the
Briti.h Mmum (Add. MS. 80,077). The r.Py Is on
Piper, in folio size bound in vellum, containing 47
pages, and written ia a law-band; and was, in ell
probability, • contemporary copy made either for one
of the judger who accompanied Jeffreys on the melees
or for an allow of the court. The copy was
by Mr. Barrett at • sale by auction of a rar,knd,
Dorchester, and had been bought &few rears previously
among a quantity of wantleperter. In • paper read
beers • local society, Mr. Barrett has glean some
valuable facts derived from an Inesstieation of the
Preseatments. They do not Incdnde the peewee pro-
moted it Winchester, Salisbury, Bristol, Or Well. ;
but they contain the names sad Otiose of residence of
2,611 pinions who were presented at the atrelme at
xceopter, Exeter, and Taunton as suspected of haring
been implicated In the rebellioe , with the occupations of
many of then', and the IMMO of the ematables who
presseted them. The presestreente were made in
of as order honed to the moldable, of the
Ritrorredew m
requiriag them to return the names of all
persons absent from their homes at the time of the
rebellion, or otherwise snepectecl of having takes part
In IL Of the whole number presented, two-third;
or 1811, belonged to Somerset ; less than omeilfth,
or 488, to Devomblre ; and lees than one-ninth, or 812,
to Dorset. Mr. Barrett rivet a VW/ &Abe's..
gummiary 01 the llst., with As grenade of sampled°,
aged ends of of the ooespeliese of the

rebel.. These oompati .na show that the rebels were
not merely, as Ilverohy calls thew, ploughmen.
cloirna, and miners, but that they included shop-
keeper., weaver., clothworkerv, end other fatigue.
At Taunton, for instances, a ousel lruble number ,d
the Porousa preeented ars deuribrd as comber., or
weavers. Th.... rebels, however, appoar have mod!y
belonged to tle labouring clues.. At Lyme it gia
only one n3erchut Na. presented ; end linDeLl4 the
1.811 rebel. premeated at Taunton Mr. Barrett notes
but oils merchant and one gentler:math lie says that
the Preeentrocuts :ovoid' little or no evidence that
thine were minister, of Dissenting denornioations with
Monmouth'. army ; and, with reference to the
queetion whether many of the militia j dried tho
rebel', it appears that only four "trained eoldiere "
are specified u having deserted in Dorset, five 10
Devon, and none in the dirision of Somerset assigned
to Taunton.

-
It must not be supposed that all the persone pre-
sented were I. cost Kly at the time the •••11.04 were
held. The Presentments show that, out of the 1,811
persons presented at Taunton, only ,2ti were in
cu,tl.ly. Nlecaulay'm statement that " gaols of
Somereetshlre and Doreetshire were filled with
thousands of captives" needs considerable modification.
M. Berrett's conclusion is that the whole number in
custody at the tune of the *seism (including the
priemsers at Wells) did ilr,t much, if at ail, ezesed
1,600. Singularly enough, however, it does not appear
that coy cd the rebele in Dorset wore at large when
the semiese were held. Comparing the Preeentments
with the Hardwick. •S. and the summaries supplied
in Robert.' " lede of the Duke of Monmouth," Mr.
Barrett has compilei a table, showing the numbers of
Parsons presented, executed, transported, whipped, or
fined, and of those who escaped punishment. From
this it appears that, out of the 1 611 'serums preseuted
at Taunton, 144 were executed, 264 were transporle.l,
five were fined or whipped, and on fewer than 1.378
escaped punishment. At the whole assizes there were
328 executed, 849 transported, and 33 tined or whipped.
With regard to the rebels wh, were transpoted, Mr.
Barrett hoe ascertained from papers formerly In the
Plantation Office, but now in the Public itscami Offioe,
that such of them ae survived were pardoned at the
Revolution on the application of Bir William Young.
—The Academy.