ABSTRACT
Titus Oates whose father had been a Baptist and Captain to one of Oliver’s regiments, at an early age became a clergyman in the restored Anglican Church, and in 1677 was reconciled to Rome. The discovery of Coleman’s letters saved Oates from the immediate exposure that threatened him, and created a disposition, for a while almost universal, to believe in the rest of the plot. To all these measures, arising out of a belief in the plot and in Godfrey’s murder by the Papists, there was no opposition. But the proposals arising out of the examination of Coleman’s letters divided the two parties. Oates had not dared to bring charges against the heir to the throne. Plunket was the last victim of the Popish Terror. Times had changed, and several of the witnesses who had formerly supported Oates were brought into court to swear away the lives of Shaftesbury and their old employers.
