ters.--Titus Oates
before the council.--His blunders.--A mysterious murder.--Terror of the
citizens.--Lord Shaftesbury's schemes.--Papists are banished from the
capital.--Catholic peers committed to the Tower.--Oates is encouraged.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Reward for the discovery of murderers.--Bedlow's character
and evidence.--His strange story.--Development of the "horrid
plot."--William Staley is made a victim.--Three Jesuits hung.--Titus
Oates pronounced the saviour of his country.--Striving to ruin the
queen.--Monstrous story of Bedlow and Oates.--The king protects
her majesty.--Five Jesuits executed.--Fresh rumours concerning
the papists.--Bill to exclude the Duke of York.--Lord Stafford is
tried.--Scene at Tower Hill.--Fate of the conspirators.

CHAPTER XIX.

London under Charles II.--Condition and appearance of the
thoroughfares.--Coffee is first drunk in the capital.--Taverns and
their frequenters.--The city by night.--Wicked people do creep
about.--Companies of young gentlemen.--The Duke of Monmouth kills
a beadle.--Sir Charles Sedley's frolic.--Stately houses of the
nobility.--St. James's Park.--Amusement of the town.--At Bartholomew
Fair.--Bull, bear, and dog fights.--Some quaint sports.

CHAPTER XX.

Court customs in the days of the merry monarch.--Dining in public.--The
Duke of Tuscany's supper to the king.--Entertainment of guests by
mountebanks.--Gaming at court.--Lady Castlemaine's losses.--A fatal
duel.--Dress of the period.--Riding-habits first seen.--His majesty
invents a national costume.--Introduction of the penny post.--Divorce
suits are known.--Society of Antiquaries.--Lord Worcester's
inventions.--The Duchess of Newcastle.

CHAPTER XXI.

A period rich in literature.--John Milton's early life.--Writing
"Paradise Lost."--Its publication and success.--His later works and
death.--John Dryden gossips with wits and players.--Lord Rochester's
revenge.--Elkanah Settle.--John Crowne.--Thomas Otway rich in
miseries.--Dryden assailed by villains.--The ingenious Abraham
Cowley.--The author of "Hudibras."--Young Will Wycherley and Lady
Castlemaine. The story of his marriage.--Andrew Marvell, poet and
politician.--John Bunyan.

CHAPTER XXII.

Time's flight leaves the king unchanged.--The Rye House
conspiracy.--Profligacy of the court.--The three duchesses.--The king
is taken ill.--The capital in consternation.--Dr. Ken questions his
majesty.--A Benedictine monk is sent for.--Charles professes catholic