Clarendon, who had refused the oaths, and, Aylesbury, who had dishonestly taken them, were among the chief traitors.

Dartmouth, though he had sworn allegiance to the sovereigns who were in possession, was one of their most active enemies, and undertook what may be called the maritime department of the plot.

His mind was constantly occupied by schemes, disgraceful to an English seaman, for the destruction of the English fleets and arsenals.

He was in close communication with some naval officers, who, though they served the new government, served it sullenly and with half a heart; and he flattered himself that by promising these men ample rewards, and by artfully inflaming the jealous animosity with which they regarded the Dutch flag, he should prevail on them to desert and to carry their ships into some French or Irish port, [634] The conduct of Penn was scarcely less scandalous.

He was a zealous and busy Jacobite; and his new way of life was even more unfavourable than his late way of life had been to moral purity.