The Account of the Manner of Executing a Writ of Inquiry of Damages.

The Beginning of the End For Titus Oates [Trial]. [Popish Plot]. Oates, Titus [1649-1705], Defendant. The Account of the Manner of Executing a Writ of Inquiry of Damages: Between His Royal Highness James Duke of York, &c. And Titus Otes, Which was Executed at the Bar of the Court of Kings Bench at Westminster, On Wednesday the 19th. Of June, 1684. In the Presence of the High Sheriff of Middlesex. London: Printed for Benj. Tooke, 1684. [iv], 31, [1] pp. Folio (11-1/2" x 7-1/2"). Stab-stitched pamphlet rebound in recent quarter cloth over marbled boards. Negligible rubbing and light soiling to boards. Moderate toning to interior, occasional light foxing, light soiling in a few places. $450. * Only edition. Oates, an Anglican clergyman, and his friend, cleric and anti-Catholic Dr. Israel Tonge, were the inventors of the Popish Plot, one of the cruelest hoaxes in British history and the inspiration for a wave of anti-Catholic violence. They pretended to have discovered a Jesuit plot to assassinate the King, massacre Protestants, and set James, Duke of York, the King's Catholic brother, on the throne. From 1678-1681, at least 15 innocent men were executed as traitors on Oates's testimony. In 1681, however, the tide began to turn against Oates. Undeterred by the change in public opinion, he pronounced the Duke of York a traitor and was sued for libel in 1684. The present work documents the trial, at which Oates refused to plead, and the subsequent ?100,000 fine awarded as damages. He was imprisoned after defaulting. When James acceded to the throne in 1685, Oates was convicted of perjury, imprisoned for life, stripped of his vestments and publicly whipped. He was later pardoned by William and Mary and granted a pension of ?260 per year. English Short-Title Catalogue R34141.…