FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
“Some truth there was, but dashed and brewed with lies.”
Absalom and Achitophel.
“Oh! it was a naughty Court. Yet have we dreamed of it as the period when an English cavalier was grace incarnate; far from the boor now hustling us in another sphere; beautifully mannered, every gesture dulcet. And if the ladies were ... we will hope they have been traduced. But if they were, if they were too tender, ah! gentlemen were gentlemen then—worth perishing for!”—The Egoist.
“Donner pour certain ce qui est certain, pour faux ce qui est faux, pour douteux ce qui est douteux.”—Mabillon.
LONDON:
DUCKWORTH AND CO.
MCMIII
INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF
LORD ACTON
PREFACE
When I first undertook the study of the Popish Plot the late Lord Acton wrote to me: “There are three quite unravelled mysteries;—what was going on between Coleman and Père la Chaize; how Oates got hold of the wrong story; and who killed Godfrey.” The following book is an attempt to answer these questions and to elucidate points of obscurity connected with them.