Israel Tonge
| Israel Tonge | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 11, 1621 Tickhill, South Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 1680 (aged 58–59) |
| Nationality | English |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford |
| Known for | Popish plot conspirator |
Israel Tonge (11 November 1621 – 1680), aka Ezerel or Ezreel Tongue, was an English divine and an informer ((possibly the inventor) of the "Popish" plot.
He was born at Tickhill, near Doncaster, the son of Henry Tongue, minister of Holtby, Yorkshire. He graduated from University College, Oxford and became a schoolmaster at Churchill, Oxfordshire where he became interested in gardening, alchemy, and chemistry. In 1656 he became a doctor of theology, and taught grammar at the Cromwellian Durham College until its closure in 1659. In 1656 he provided a loan of 100 pounds to Johannes Sibertus Kuffler to have him and his family (including his wife Catharine, daughter of the famous inventor Cornelius Drebbel) moved from the Netherlands to England so that "his abilities in his profession, his relation to Cornelius Dribellius his life & conversation & concerning the reality & certaintie of the Experiments, hereafter mentioned in these præsents, shall vnto wise & indiferent men be of satisfaction.". Following the Restoration, he held a succession of livings. He became chaplain of the garrison of Dunkirk until this was sold to the French in 1661. On 26 June 1666 he became rector of St Mary Staining. The church burnt down during the Great Fire of London.
Tonge blamed the Jesuits for both his own and London's losses. His obsession was so great that he wrote many articles denouncing the Roman Catholic Church and containing conspiracy theories about Rome's insatiable quest for power. He made very little money from his writing, for which he blamed the Government's hostility, but which the historian J. P. Kenyon attributed to his appallingly "turgid and incoherent" prose style. From 1675, Tonge was acquainted with the fervently anti-Catholic physician, Sir Richard Barker. Barker provided Tonge with food, lodgings, and money. He encouraged Tonge's anti-Catholic studies and had him appointed rector of Avon Dassett in Warwickshire, but "illegall practices", claimed Tonge, prevented him from accepting the position.
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