By W. W. Ravenhill, Esq. ~ 265 
have not offended you, theyr verdict reaches to theyre soules as well as my life ; 
pray let not them goe Blindfold, but let this statute be theyre guide. 
Mr. Attorney—S*. the Jury ought to rest satisfyed w". what has bin allready 
said, and soe ought you too. 
Penruddock—S'., I thank you ; you now tell me what I must trust to.* 
Mr. Attorney then made a large speech in the Face of the Court, wherein he 
aggravated the offence w*. divers circumstances; as saying, I had bin Four 
years in France, & beld a correspondency w*. the king my master, of whom I 
had learned the Popish Religion: That I endeavoured to bring in a debauched, 
lewd young man, and to engage this Nation in another bloady Warr, and that if 
Thad not bin timely prevented, I had destroyed them (meaninge the Juro’s), and 
theyre whole Families. 
lI interrupted him, & said Mr. Attorney, you have been hearetofore of counsell 
for mee ; you then made my case better than indeed it was; I see you have the 
faculty to make + it worse to. 
Mr. Attorney—S*., you interrupt mee, you s*. but now you were a gentleman. 
Penruddock—S"., I have bin thought worthy hearetofore to sit at y® bench, 
though I am now at the Barr. : : 
Mr. Attorney then proceeded in his speech & then called the witnesses. 
Penruddock—S". you have now put mee in a Beres Scynn, & now 
you will beate me w a witness, but I see the Face of a gentleman heere in 
the Court, I meane Captaine Crooke, whose conscience can tell him ; that I had 
Articles From him which ought to have kept mee from hence, Captaine Crooke 
heereupon stood up, and his guiltie conscience, 1 suppose, advised him to sett 
downe againe, after he had made this speech, that is to say, he open‘. his Lipps 
& spake nothinge. The severall witnesses now come in, M'. Dove the sherife 
of Wiltshire & others; my charetie forbids mee to tell you what many of them 
swore: I shall therefore omit { and only tell you that one of our own party (& 
indeed I thinke an honest man) being Forced gave his evidence,§ I said, My 
lords, it is a hard case that when you finde you cannot otherwise cleave mee to 
pieces, that you must look after wedges made of my owne timber.|| I urged 
divers cases to make the business but a Riot,as my L*.of Northumberland’s{] pre- 
*It was a pity the Attorney-General permitted himself to have this war of words ; which must 
have somewhat turned the jury against the prosecution. However Penruddock might have himself 
read the Statute of Ed. III. to the jury aud argued upon it, at some timer other during his trial ; 
but it would have come with a happier grace from the Attorney-General at this point, We must 
for ever bear in mind that we are reading only one side of the story. Pen1uddock never read the 
Statute, though he must have had access to seve1al books which contained it. 
+ Interpolation—“ men believe falsehoods to be truth too—” 
+The word following ‘“‘omit’’ had been itself omitted, on correction a hieroglyphic (probably 
an abbreviation of ‘‘ that’’) is inserted between the lines, 
2 Something is written above which looks to me like ‘‘ thereupon.” 
|| Interpolation—‘‘ The virtuous crier of Blandford being asked what were the words I used in the 
proclaiming king Charles at the market? he said, I declared tor Charles the second and settling the 
true protestant religion : for the liberty of the subject, and privilege of parliaments. 
Tben I said to the Attorney-General and the whole Court, you said even now, that I had learned 
of the king my masrter,| the popish religion, and endeavoured to bring him in; and that it was the 
true protestant and not the popish religion his majesty is of and intends to settle.” 
™In 1403, Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland rose against King HenryIV. His 
father the Earl collected a large body of troops and marched forth, as some said to join his son, as 
others to join the King and bring about a reconciliation, Whilst on his way he was stopped by the 
