By W. W. Raven hill, Esq. 



179 



away with this Exarninate's horse after his Master to Salisbury. He saith 

 further, that the said groom came home on Thursday night without this Exami- 

 nate's horse ; and so soon as he came home, he went away and cannot be heard 

 of since. And further this Examiuate saith not, but to the truth hereof setteth 

 his hand, the 9th day of July 1655. 



This Examination was taken before . The Mark of Rich [R] Rowe." 



Mr. Willoughby then, though to a certain extent trusted by the 

 Government, was fond of the society of Royalists ; and thereby 

 brought his body into trouble on the present occasion. Let us hope 

 that he and his fiddler lived to see the restoration ; for we need have 

 no anxiety, as to his finding dancer-guests. The expression, 

 "further saith," occuring at several intervals, may be thought 

 to shew the periods at which the examiner was pressing for infor- 

 mation. 



But we must proceed with the story of the other prisoners. Thorpe, 

 Lawrence, and Fryer were found guilty, and Mackes pleaded guilty. 

 " Lawrence, was a poor tenant of Penruddock's, a person of no 

 quality or ability to do mischief, and so was induced to join ; this 

 with other circumstances might make him a subject for his high- 

 nesses mercy/'' Not so was John Thorpe, formerly keeper of the 

 Salisbury Gaol, now active in breaking it open and setting the 

 prisoners at liberty ; moreover he was one of those, who seized horses 

 and rode away with them. Lastly, he was a publican, a tree from 

 root to branch utterly rotten. " Let him be cut down." 



The Mercurius Politicus newspaper (April 13th to 19th) says of 

 Laurence 



M that he was a servant of Penruddock's and Fryer was a tenant, both inveigled 

 in by him." 



Edmond Mackes, the apothecary, expected pardon because he had 

 made a clean breast of the whole matter (so he said) from the very 

 first. But he had been too much engaged, for the Government to 

 withdraw from prosecuting him. Again now, he confessed at the 

 bar ; so that a trial was unnecessary. 



John Woodward, another of the prisoners, was convicted on a 

 separate indictment for horse-stealing, he was deserving of no mercy 

 thought Mr. Attorney. 



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