[653] Above 328.
[654] See above 204–209.
[655] Longleat MSS. Coventry Papers xi. 363. Order of the king in council, February 5, 1679.
[656] 7 State Trials 259, 287, 296.
[657] Ibid. 287–289, 292.
[658] So Bedloe swore 7 State Trials 271. Burnet (ii. 199) says that Bedloe made use of Reading’s intrigue to cover his omission to swear against the Jesuits in the previous December. But Reading never denied the fact that Bedloe’s account of this part of the transaction was correct.
[659] Presumably, from the absence of any Christian name, Mr. George Speke of White Lackington, M.P. for Somersetshire, a more reputable person than his sons Hugh and Charles. George Speke had been a royalist and after the Restoration lived in retirement for many years, but, following the example of his son-in-law, John Trenchard, turned against the court and became a leader of the Whig interest in his part of the country. In 1680 he entertained Monmouth during his western progress. Fea, King Monmouth 96.
[660] The date fixed first was March 28, and was afterwards altered. 7 State Trials 281.
[661] Evidence of Bedloe, Speke, and Wiggins. Ibid. 270–286.
[662] Ibid. 278, 279.