CHARLES IL

29s

distributed all over England. All the dignities tooof the church were filled , and many of themwith Spaniards and other foreigners. The pro-vincial had held a consult of the Jesuits under hisauthority ; where the king, whom they op-probriousty called the Black Bastard, was solemnlytried and condemned as a heretic ; and a resolutiontaken to put him to death. Father Le Shee (forso this great plotter and informer called father laChaise, the noted confessor of the French king)had consigned in London ten thousand poundsto be paid to any man, who should merit it bythis assassination. A Spanish provincial had ex-pressed like liberality : The prior of the Bene-dictines was willing to go the length of sixthousand : The Dominicans approved of theaction ; but pleaded poverty. Ten thousandpounds had been offered to Sir George Wakeman ,the queen’s physician , who demanded fifteenthousand , as a reward for so great a service : Hisdemand was complied with ; and five thousandhad been paid him by advance. Lest this meansshould fail, four Irish ruffians had been hired bythe Jesuits, at the rate of twenty guineas a-piece,to stab the king at Windsor ; and Coleman ,secretary to the late duethess of York, had giventhe messenger, who carried them orders, a guineato quicken his diligence. Grove and Pickeringwere also employed to shoot the king with silverbullets : The former was to receive the sum offifteen hundred pounds ; the latter, being a piousman, was to be rewarded with thirty thousand

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II A P.LXVII.1678 .