The Popish Plot: A study in the history of the reign of Charles IIPollock, John
History
The Popish Plot: A study in the history of the reign of Charles II
Pollock, John
Popish Plot, 1678
On the next day Richard Langhorn was indicted at the Old Bailey for
practically the same treason as that for which the Five Jesuits were
convicted. Langhorn was a Roman Catholic barrister of considerable
eminence.[685] He was the legal adviser of the Jesuits, and
conducted for them much business which would now more naturally
pass through the hands of a solicitor. Oates consequently named him
as an active agent in the Plot and prospective advocate-general
under the new government.[686] His trial was a continuation of the
trial of Whitebread, Harcourt, and Fenwick, and exhibited all the
same characteristics, of perjury on the one side, on the other of
prevarication and falsehood. The same evidence was developed at
length, and with the same result. Two fresh points of importance alone
occurred. To Oates’ great alarm the hostess of the White Horse Tavern
in the Strand was called by the defence. Oates had sworn that as many
as eighteen or twenty Jesuits had met together there in one room at the
congregation of April 24. The woman now declared that no room in her
house would hold more than a dozen persons at the same time, and that
when a parish jury had once met there the jurors had been compelled
for want of space to separate into three rooms. This would undoubtedly
have produced an effect, had not three of the spectators in court
immediately risen to swear that there were two rooms in the inn which
were large enough to hold from twenty to thirty people without crowding
them unduly. An unfavourable impression concerning the evidence for
the defence was created, and the king’s counsel was able to score an
effective point.[687]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account