and especially for the chief Catholic intriguer in England, was
probably the ultimate cause of his death, whether inflicted by his
own hand or those of others.

2.

We now study Godfrey's quandary. On June 23, 1678, the infamous
miscreant Titus Oates had been expelled from the Jesuit College of
St. Omer's, in France. There he may readily have learned that the
usual triennial 'consult' of English Jesuits was to be held in
London on April 24, but WHERE it was held, namely in the Duke of
York's chambers in St. James's Palace, Oates did not know, or did
not say. The Duke, by permitting the Jesuits to assemble in his
house, had been technically guilty of treason in 'harbouring'
Jesuits, certainly a secret of great importance, as he was the head
and hope of the Catholic cause, and the butt of the Whigs, who were
eager to exclude him from the succession. Oates had scraps of other
genuine news. He returned to London after his expulsion from St.
Omer's, was treated with incautious kindness by Jesuits there, and,
with Tonge, constructed his monstrous fable of a Popish plot to kill
the King and massacre the Protestant public. In August, Charles was
apprised of the plot, as was Danby, the Lord Treasurer; the Duke of
York also knew, how much he knew is uncertain. The myth was little
esteemed by the King.

On September 6, Oates went to Godfrey, and swore before him, as a
magistrate, to the truth of a written deposition, as to treason.
But Godfrey was not then allowed to read the paper, nor was it left
in his hands; the King, he was told, had a copy.* The thing might
have passed off, but, as King James II. himself writes, he (being