i 4 8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

chap. London, and frequented the court, as vestedl.iv. with a commission from the Fope. The queen’s

1640. zeal and her authority with her husband had

been the cause of this imprudence, so offensiveto the nation But the spirit of bigotry now.rose too high to permit any longer such indul-gences 4 \

Haywaro, a justice of peace, having beenwounded, when employed in the exercise ofhis office, by one James, a catholic madman,this enormity was ascribed to the popery, notto the phrenzy, of the assassin ; and great alarmsseized the nation and parliament An univer-sal conspiracy of the papists was supposed tohave taken place; and every man for somedays, imagined that he had a sword at histhroat. Though some persons of family anddistinction were still attached to the catholicsuperstition; it is certain that the numbers ofthat sect did not amount to the fortieth part ofthe nation : And the frequent panics, to whichmen, during this period, were so subject on

44 It is now known from the Clarendon papers, thatthe king had also an authorized agent who resided atRome. His name was Bret, and his chief business wasto negociate with the pope concerning indulgences to thecatholics, and to engage the catholics in return to begood and loyal subjects. But this whole matter, thoughvery innocent , was most carefully kept secret. Theking says, that he believed Bret to be as much his asany papist could be. See p. 348. js4.

4! Bufhworth, vol. v. p. joi.

44 Clarendon, vol. i. p. 249. Rulhworth, vol. v. p. 57.