Oates
TITUS, an English impostor; son of a ribbon weaver; born in Oakham, England, in 1649. He took orders in the Church of England, and held benefices in Kent and Sussex; became afterward chaplain in the navy and was discharged for misconduct; turned Roman Catholic, and resided for some time at the Jesuit College of Valladolid and St. Omar, but was finally, in 1678, dismissed for repeated misdemeanors. He returned to England and concocted the story of the famous Popish Plot. In the public excitement created by the story several eminent Catholics were executed, while Titus Oates was lodged handsomely in Whitehall, with a pension of $4,500 from Parliament. After the execution of Strafford, there was a revulsion of public opinion. He was convicted of perjury, sentence sentenced to be pilloried five times a year, whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, and imprisoned for life. On the accession of William and Mary he was freed, enjoying an ill-deserved pension of $1,500 a year. He died in London, England, July 12, 1705.