ing men and money against
the government; as was likewise Loro Brudenel. These noblemen, with all
the other persons mentioned by Bedloe, were immediately committed to
custody by the parliament.

It is remarkable, that the only resource of Spain, in her present
decayed condition, lay in the assistance of England: and, so far from
being in a situation to transport ten thousand men for the invasion of
that kingdom, she had solicited and obtained English forces to be sent
into the garrisons of Flanders, which were not otherwise able to defend
themselves against the French. The French too, we may observe, were
at that very time in open war with Spain, and yet are supposed to be
engaged in the same design against England; as if religious motives were
become the sole actuating principle among sovereigns. But none of these
circumstances, however obvious, were able, when set in opposition to
multiplied horrors, antipathies, and prejudices, to engage the least
attention of the populace: for such the whole nation were at this time
become. The Popish plot passed for incontestable: and had not men soon
expected with certainty the legal punishment of these criminals, the
Catholics had been exposed to the hazard of a universal massacre.
The torrent, indeed, of national prejudices ran so high, that no one,
without the most imminent danger, durst venture openly to oppose it;
nay, scarcely any one, without great force of judgment, could even
secretly entertain an opinion contrary to the prevailing sentiments.
The loud and unanimous voice of a great nation has mighty authority over
weak minds; and even later historians are so swayed by the concurring
judgment of such multitudes, that some of them have esteemed themselves
sufficiently moderate, when they affirmed, that many circumstances of
the plot were true, though some were added, and others much magnified.
But it is an obvious principle, that a witness who perjures himself in
one circumstance is credible in none and the authority of the plot, even
to the end of the prosecutions, stood entirely upon witnesses. Though
the Catholics had seen suddenly and unexpectedly detected, at the very
moment when their conspiracy, it is said, was ripe for execution, no
arms, no ammunition, no money, no commissions, no papers, no letters,
after the most rigorous search, ever were discovered, to confirm
the evidence of Oates and Bedloe. Yet still the nation, though often
frustrated, went on in the eager