The purgacion of the ryght honourable lord Went-
worth, concerning the crime layde to his charge, made the .x. of Januarie. Anno.M.D.L.viii.
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ALas where is the man,
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that liveth and doth not rue:
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To see how falsely I am charged,
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with thinges that be untrue.
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My service true is knowen,
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howe ready I have bene:
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Both with my body and my goodes,
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to serve the Kyng and Quene:
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And yet some have devisde,
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to charge me with untruth:
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which evermore hath bene my shielde,
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even from my very youth.
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Alas to what intent,
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all eyes maye easely see:
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That theyr devise and practise is,
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to make an ende of mee.
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Alas they seeke my lyfe,
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and not for my desertes:
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But by consent of wycked men,
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which have ungodly hartes.
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Suche have conspired my death,
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as nowe even so beforne:
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That I may say wo woorth the tyme,
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that ever they were borne.
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Alas there is no man,
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more innocent then I.
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And yet the wicked seeke my lyfe,
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and know no just cause why.
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For there is not a man,
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that lyveth and hath breath:
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Can justly say for my untrothe,
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that I am worthy death.
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Though they say what they please,
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as they can wel devise:
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Yet all theyr travell in this thyng,
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is knowen to be but lyes.
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Alas what hartes have they,
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that cannot lyve content:
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Tyll they have spoyled the lyfe of hym,
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that is an innocent.
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As touching the sayde cryme.
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or any parte therein:
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I doo protest for verye thought,
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that I am voyde of synne.
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But thys wyll not suffise,
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to mitigate theyr yre:
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Nor nothing els that can be sayde,
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wyll pease theyr long desyre.
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Yet shall my truthe appeare,
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whych they would fayne conceale:
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And my obedience to the crowne,
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and to the common weale.
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Though truth be now subject,
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unto a frowarde wyll:
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Yet shall it evermore appeare,
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I never ment no yll.
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Eyther unto my Prince,
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to whom I am most bounde:
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Nor yet unto the common weale,
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but it must needes be founde.
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Wherefore I saye alas,
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bewaylyng my estate:
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A noble pere, a subject true,
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rewarded thus with hate.
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And thus I make an ende,
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wyth woordes that be unfaynde:
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Though I am nowe a prysoner,
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my truth cannot be staynde.
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God keepe our noble Queene,
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God prosper her intent:
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God shorten all her enmies dayes,
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or graunt them to repent.
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Thys is the wyshed daye,
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to see her in this place:
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God graunt us true obedience.
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unto her noble grace.
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