We went to see Penshurst, the Earl of Leicester's, famous once for its gardens and excellent fruit, and for the noble conversation which was wont to meet there, celebrated by that illustrious person, Sir Philip Sidney, who there composed divers of his pieces. It stands in a park, is finely watered, and was now full of company, on the marriage of my old fellow-collegiate, Mr. Robert Smith, who married my Lady Dorothy Sidney, widow of the Earl of Sunderland.
One of the men who robbed me was taken; I was accordingly summoned to appear against him; and, on the[Pg 279] 12th, was in Westminster Hall, but not being bound over, nor willing to hang the fellow, I did not appear, coming only to save a friend's bail; but the bill being found, he was turned over to the Old Bailey. In the meantime, I received a petition from the prisoner, whose father I understood was an honest old farmer in Kent. He was charged, with other crimes, and condemned, but reprieved. I heard afterward that, had it not been for his companion, a younger man, he would probably have killed me. He was afterward charged with some other crime, but, refusing to plead, was pressed to death.