In 1670 the young Quaker William Penn and his companion William Mead were tried at the Old Bailey for preaching to a crowd in Gracechurch Street. This contemporary account records the exchanges in court as Penn demands to know what law he has broken and the jury, though threatened and locked up without food, refuses to return the verdict the bench wants. Don C. Seitz supplies a foreword.
A founding moment for freedom of conscience and for the independence of the English jury, and wonderful courtroom drama. Download the free EPUB.