266 Records of the Rising in the West, A.D. 1655. 
tending what wee did was to take of taxes For the hono' of Parlym*. &e., that 
the power was not declared to be where et is,* I required the judges to be of 
counsel For me, & told them it was their dutie.t My Lord Lysle answred me, 
that I should have no wrong.{ Penruddock, S*. if I had seene a crowne upon 
the head of any pson., I had known what had been treason: The law of England 
would have taken hold of mee, out of the respect it has to Monarchy ; There 
was noe such land-mark before me, therefore I conceive I cannot be guiltie of 
what I am charged, & My lords and Mr. Attorney you here indict me for a 
treason committed at South Moulton in Devonshire, & yeat, you sweare witnesses 
ag‘t, me For such done in other counties, Sarum, & Blandford, & South Moulton 
are not in a perish.§ You puzle the Juro™ w'. these circumstances, pray goe to 
the kernell, and you, gentlemen of the jury, save yo". labour of takinge those 
notes. 
Sylence beinge then commanded in the Court,|| he addressed himselfe to the 
jury, & to be short, after the space of halfe an hour long, gave them directions 
to bringe mee in guiltie, This being done, I craved the Favour From the Court, 
that I might speake to the Jury: w*. beinge allowed, I said to them as 
followeth : 
Gentlemen: You are called a Jury of life & deathe, & happy will it be For 
yor. soules, if you prove to bea Jury of Life. You ] are now the Judges be- 
Earl of Westmoreland, and returned to his house at Warksworth. Henry the King conquered 
Henry the Percy, and his father afterwards petitioned for an examination of his own conduct. 
The matter was referred to the Judges; but the Lords protested, and the King sent the case to, 
them. They decided he was guilty of trespass only, for which he should pay a fine and ransom at 
the will of the King. Rolls Part, vol. iii., p. 5249, and Hale’s Pleas of the Crown, vol, i., p. 135,, 
where it is noted that no reasons for the Judgment are given, and therefore it is of very little, if any, 
value. But the present was not a case of riot, supposing the Lord Protector lawfully held his 
position ; for it was not a mere breach of the peace; and there is not the least evidence of its being 
for the purpose of taxation, even though unauthorized and unnecessary. If it was an offence at all 
it was treason against the Government and the majority of the nation; for it was an attempt to set 
up as king, him whom they had declined up to the present time ever since his father’s death ; and 
as a necessary consequence it involved the overthrow of the ‘‘one person ”’ and his government 
whom they had appoiuted in his stead. 
* This word, which is either ‘‘is” or ‘‘ was,” is inserted above “ et.” 
+The Judges by the law of England are counsel for prisoners who cannot provide counsel for 
themselves, and this was no doubt the reason why formerly no counsel were allowed. The judges, 
have ably performed this onerous, and (to them especially) delicate duty. Sir Edward Coke said 
no counsel were permitted for defence because the evidence should be so manifest, it could not be 
contradicted, 3 Inst., 137. And Lord Nottingham, when Lord High Steward, declared, that this 
was the only good reason that could be given for the practice, viz: ‘‘ that it ought to be so very 
evident that all the counsel in the world should not be able to answer it.”’ See 7 How. St. Tr., 
149. Now-a-days, in cases of life and death only, it is the practice for the Judge to assign counsel 
to defend the prisoners, where they cannot bear the expense. In other cases he still pursues the 
former practice of acting himself. 
¢ Interpolation—“ But he meant right ; but judge Rolle and Nicholas confessed themselves parties, 
therefore would say nothing. Then I told the Court—” 
3 The treason was overt in every county, and triable in either. 
{| The copyist of the pamphlet says Mr. Attorney then addressed, omitting the commencent of 
the sentence. The ‘‘he’’ is no doubt the Attorney-General, but Penruddock does not say so, 
{Interpolation--‘*You have heard what hath been said to make my actions treason; and with what 
vigour many untruths have been urged to you. 1 have made appear to you, that there can be no 
treason but against the king; that the law knows no such person as a Protector. Mr. Attorney, 
pretends a statute for it, but refuseth the reading thereof either to me or you; vilifies me at pleasure 
and tells you that I am a papist, and would bring in the popish religion ; and that if I had not been 
timely prevented I had destroyed you. I hope you are also satisfied of the contrary, from the 
mouth of one of the bitterest witnesses.”’ 
