of Constantinople (Charles). At the end of the play the Turks conquer
the city (_sc._, the Dutch and London) and the Emperor is slain. Here
was a warning to Englishmen of what would happen if their double-dealing
"Lord Chancellor" (Shaftesbury)--the villain of the piece--were to
succeed in alienating the two royal brothers.

During the years 1678-1680 Payne's name dodges in and out of the
thousands of words written about the Popish plot. He was pretty
certainly a friend of Edward Coleman (Secretary to the Duchess of York)
who was executed for treason in December, 1678. After a hearing before
the Privy Council, Payne was held over for trial and imprisoned in the
King's Bench. Confinement did not in the least hinder him from giving
aid to the Catholic party in organizing its counter-attack. According to
_Mr. Tho. Dangerfields Particular Narrative_ (1679) he was one of the
chief devisers of the Presbyterian Plot and, as "chief Pen-man" for the
Catholics, the author of several "scandalous books" about their enemies.
Payne was again before the Privy Council in November 1679, but
eventually all the principals in the Catholic plots to discredit the
government were released.

After the accession of James II Payne kept more respectable company.
References to him during these years say nothing about any work for the
theater, but his pen was still busy--from 1685 to 1687 in the cause of
religious toleration. In 1685 the Duke of Buckingham published _A Short
Discourse upon the Reasonableness of Men's having a Religion or Worship
of God_. A portion of this pamphlet had been written as a letter to
Payne. When Buckingham's work brought on a pamphlet war, Payne (together
with William Penn) rushed to his defence. The debate grew hotter when
James made the first Declaration of Indulgence in April 1687. Payne was
one of the chief controversialists in the war of words that followed.