He was,
therefore; desirous of letting the subject drop into obscurity;
but Lord Danby, foreseeing in the sensation which its avowal
would create, a welcome cloud to screen the defects of his
policy, which parliament intended to denounce, urged his majesty
to lay the matter before his privy council. This advice the king
refused to accept, saying, "he should alarm all England, and put
thoughts of killing him into people's heads, who had no such
ideas before." Somewhat disappointed, the lord treasurer
returned once more to Wimbledon, the king remaining at Windsor,
and no further news of the plot disturbed the even tenour of
their lives for three days.
At the end of that time Dr. Tonge, now conscious of the false
steps he had taken, conceived a fresh scheme by which his story
might obtain credence, and he gain wealth and fame. Accordingly
he wrote to Danby, informing him a packet of letters, written by
the Jesuits and concerning the plot, would, on a certain date, be
sent to Mr. Bedingfield, chaplain to the Duchess of York. Such
information was most acceptable to Danby at the moment; he at
once started for Windsor, and laid this fresh information before
the king. To his lordship's intense surprise, his majesty handed
him the letters. These, five in number, containing treasonable
expressions and references to the plot, had been some hours
before handed by Mr. Bedingfield to the Duke of York, saying, he
"feared some ill was intended him by the same packet, because the
letters therein seemed to be of a dangerous nature, and that he
was sure they were not the handwriting of the persons whose names
were subscribed to the letters.
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