the said Commissioners not daring as is humbly conceived to oppose the will and pleasure of the said Sir Arthur have contrary to cleare Evidence before them for your Petitioner refused to relieve him and have punctually pursued in their Judgement the Direction publiquely given by the said Sir Arthur That the said Commissioners being the onely persons authorized by the Parliament to heare and determine all Cases about Sequestred Estates Your Petitioner cannot be relieved from the o o Pejor est detractio in magni nominis viris quam in plebeis August lib. 3. cont Pet. l. 2. Oppression and Tyranny of the said Sir Arthur save by the Parliament or their speciall Order and Direction And your Petitioner hath been kept from his Possession above two yeares and the said Sir Arthur hath declared the said Collieries to be worth at least p p Whether he did say it is a question but this is without question had not the thing been of very great value Mr. Lilburn would not have made so much contention about it for his hand hath bin grasping great booties Witnesse the businesse of Haâ—feild Chase of which more in it's place 5000 l. per annum May it therefore please the Parliament in respect to the Publique Justice of the Common wealth to cause the truth of the Premises to be speedily examined and to provide for your Petitioners relief from the Oppression and Tyranny of the said Sir Arthur Haslerig and for the Dispensation of Justice without feare or favour as to your Wisdomes shall seem most safe And your Petitioner shall pray Josiah Primat The q Varro Romanes as it is reported kept in Capitolio certain dogs and geese which by their barking and gabling should give warning in the night of Theeves that entred in But if they cryed out in the day time when there was no suspition their legges were to be broken off because they cryed when there was no cause If the promoters of this Petition are as r Domesticum Testimonium stands noâ— good in Law Justin Inst l. 1. Tit. 10. Doctrina vana ratio ni accesserit Tull. they say themselves for justice and righteousnesse without respest of persons and against illegal and Arbitrarie actings God forbid we should speake against them but if they are as to the Parliament it did appeare so by their Censure deceitfull Workers false Accusers Defrauders prejudicial and dangerous to the Common-wealth we know no Reason but they should have their demerit accordingly To the matter then This Petition being by Lilburn and Primate given to severall Members of Parliament and afterward in the House avowed and justified by them both a Committee thereupon was appointed and power given to examine upon Oath and to send for persons parties witnesses and papers and to make report forthwith The Committee having sate Å¿ Note the honesty conscience of his honourable Jury as he cald them and who as he saith are the Keepers of the Liberties of England these without any examination of what was done in the twelve dayes found him not guiltie Like Gnato in Turrence Ais aio neges nego if you say it is thus so doe I if you say nay so doe I. But here how was that remembred Aequaliter utramque partem audire an old Attical Law twelve dayes upon the businesse and examined Witnesses produced on both sides and heard whatsoever could be said A report was made from the said t In a Pamplet lately printed entituled A Hue and Cry after the fundamental Lawes and liberties of England it is there sayd Many of the said Committee might justly be suspected of partiality greatly to favour Sir Arthur Haslerig 's cause and as much to discountenance Mr Lilburns cause Now we must beleeve this because Mr. Lilburn reports it As if neither the Committee nor Commissioners nor the Parliament were to be beleeved but onely his single testimony and bare saying Committee of their proceedings therein and of the matter of fact appearearing to them and the Evidence given them The House after long and serious debate Resolved upon severall Questions as to the civill part of the Petition and to the matter of Crime charged therein viz. That the Parliament doth approve of and affirme the Judgement and Resolutions of the Commissioners for Compounding in the Case of Josiah Primate That the aforesaid Petition is false malicious and scandalous That Sir Arthur Haslerig is not guiltie either of Oppression or Tyranny in the carriage and prosecution of this Businesse In a word whatsoever in the Petition contained any charge of crime as in reference to Sir Arthur Haslerig or the Commissioners for Compounding of unjust or unrighteous dealing after due Examination of all the particulars by the Committee and a full debate in the House appeared to be and so was judged and voted falshood and malicious aspersions Whereupon it was Resolved by the Parliament that all the printed Copies of the Petition should be burnt by the hand of the Common hangman A fine of 7000 l. Imposed upon Primate and committed to the Fleet there to remaine untill the aforesaid fine be paid The like fine of u Not that either he or Primate payd one penny of their Fines Neither hath Mr. Lilburns Estate been taken from him as he hath complained of and charged Sir Arthur Haslerig as if he had destroyed him his wife and children An absolute untruth as we understand for he hath enjoyed his Estate ever since as having been received either by his wife father or some other friend to his own use so that nothing hath been taken away from him by Sir Arthur as he most untruly reports 7000 l. was imposed upon Lievtenant Colonel John Lilburn and to be Banished out of England Scotland and Ireland and the Islands and Territories thereunto belonging and not to returne into any of them upon paine of being proceeded against as a Felon and in case of such return shall suffer death accordingly Before wee come to treat of the Act of his Banishment there are severall things to be considered 1. That it is most untrue which is by x Thus he writes Several of my friends in England may wonder why all this time I have not published the full state of the case between Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Primate and my selfe Mr. Lilburn and others affirmed viz. that the Reason and Cause of his Banishment should be of some difference and quarrel between Sir Arthur Haslerig and him whereas Sir Arthur was no further concerned in the businesse then to maintain as he was bound to doe the due title and Right of the Common-wealth which saith he some combining together wrongfully endeavoured to out and defraud the State of it It is no new thing to heare y Tacit. hist lib. 12. p. 395. So Ahab charged Elias to be the troubler of Israel wheras it was he his fathers house had don it men suum quisque flagitium alijs objectantes to
of men h He faith himselfe that he hath a quicke and sharp pen he might have added and a tongue sharper then an arrow more contemptible then ever the foolish and ridiculous actions fathered upon and said to be committed at Munster in Germany by John of Leyden and Knipperdoling whom in follie murder madnesse and ridiculousnesse you have visibly in the face of the world out-stripped And already made good the truth of the worst of the Kings sayings against you or the sharpest and bitterest of his pens against you And who in historie must leave behind you to future ages the blackest name that ever the sons of men had and for you no defence or excuse or shadow of a bare figleaf-covering can be made for you i Here we may see how falsely he speakes when hee saith In all my actions and carriages beyond Sea I have beene to the utmost of my power understanding and ability as studious and industrious a reall wel-wisher to the prosperity of the people of ENGLAND in generall as ever I was in my life A defensive Declaration of Lieut Coll John Lilburn page 16. He knowes qui nescit dissimulare nescit impeâ—rare It was the policie of Ziba to devise a lye against his Master and then to speak of it himself unto David whereby to alienate the Kings affection from that honest man k So did Nero when hee had set Rome on fire he falsely charged the Christians with it The very same here is Lilburns designe hee raiseth falshoods and slanders against us and then spreads them abroad in other Nations as thinking by this means to divide all people from us But 2. As we have observed before how Mr. Lilburn like the Pope makes our Governours State-Hereticks and then proceeds to cutting off So it was his design beyond Sea And because this businesse is of great concernment we shall therefore first set down the particulars whereof he is accused and by whom and then give the Reader some rational Considerations as to the truth of the thing 1. Isaac Berkenhead affirms that hee heard Colonell Charls Lloid Engineer Gen and Quarter-master Gen to the late King Captain Luke Whittington Agent to Charls Stuart Captain John Titus and Captain Bartlet say That Lieut. Col John Lilburn had l In the Laws of Dâ—…co there is nothing memorable but that it was appointed death for the least crimes there is hardly any thing remarkable in Lilburns writings but the fury and madnesse of the man as if hee would kill destroy every body that is in his way proposed severall times to Sir Ralph Hopton and sometimes to Coll Charls Lloid aforesaid severall others that if the aforenamed persons would procure him m Well may the love of monie be said to be the roote of all evill For what wickednesse is there but a covetous man will commit if he may gaine by it 10000 l. he would destroy the Lord Generall Cromwell the Parliament and Councell of State that now sitteth at Westminster and settle Charls Stuart King of England as hee called him in his Throne in England or else hee would have a piece of him nail'd upon every post in Bruges I further observed saith he from Lieutenant Coll John Lilburn and others who told me of his actions that the Lieut Collonel did not only move with much violence and earnestnesse shewing which way he would bring this his proposed design about but n This is the more likely to be true because wheÌ„ he was in England it was his constant practice to goe from place to place to stirr up as many as he could to seditious courses went from person to person whose reputation he thought could o O cives cives quaerenda pecunia primum virtus post nummos procure so much as he proposed for the advancement of this his declared designe and whose affections and opinions were most sutable to further him in such employment Thus he 2. Captain John Titus saith that the said Lieuten Col John Lilburn proposed to the Lord Hopton that if he would procure him ten thousand pounds hee would p One of Mr. Lilburns friends writes thus It is a firme law and radicall principle in nature ingraven in the heart by the finger of God in the Creation for every living moving thing wherein is the breath of life to preserve award and deliver it selfe from all hurtfull things destructive and obnoxious thereto to the uttermost of his power Overtons Appeale pag. 3. If this be true then hath the Common-wealth of ENGLAND great reason to looke about and beware of this mans designe destroy the Common-wealth of England in six months or he would have a piece of him nail'd upon every post in Bruges The Lord Hopton told the said Lilburn that it could not be so facile a thing though hee believed it might be done but not in so short time To which the said Lilburn replyed My Lord I 'le shew you how it shall be done give me but the monies I propose for and I 'le have my Agents for I have enough of them that shall give me an account of all the Common-wealth of Englands proceedings And by those q But who are they Vaine and light fellowes like such as followed Abimilech Agents I will spread my papers abroad that shall instigate the people against the Parliament so by that r Wee hope when this Case and Craft which is here discovered shall be understood by the people of this Nation hee will have little cause to boast any more of Power here power I have already and that power my Agents shall make by working upon the people I will destroy the Parl. the Councell of State and the Lord Gen Cromwel in halfe an hour So he 3. Captain John Bartlet saith About the 20 of July 1652. in an Arbor in Plaringdoll three miles from Ostend in Flanders Lieut. Coll. John Lilb did propose to Coll. Charls Lloid Quarter-master Gen Engineer Gen to the late King in the late Wars in England and to Capt. John Bartlet the Examinant and Captain Luke Whittington Agent for the King of Scots that if the said Charls Lloid or any of the aforesaid persons would procure him * It is reported of one who for the like sum of money was hyred to kill a man And having done it hung the money about his neck and went up and down offering it to any man that would cut his throat post duca amara Gravior Inimicus qui latet sub pectore 10000 l. he the said Lilburn would settle the King in his Throne to wit Charles Stuart in England And that the King to wit Charles Stuart should never come into his Throne but by the said Lilburns means 4. Richard Foot affirmeth that hee heard Mr. Lilburn speak these words If my Passe come not up and I find that its Cromwel that hinders it as it must be for it lies in his power I
lay their own faults upon others as to cry stop the theefe stop the theefe being in the mean time the only Robbers Thus indeed it hath been Lilburns practice all along and his z Subvertit hominis vitam lingua garrula Menon Master piece to asperse others for oppression injustice illegallitie exercising an arbitrary and tyrannicall power c. whereas no man hath been greater and deeper in the crimes then a For what Augustine blames Seneca the Philopher may fitly be applied to him in this he did the more wickedly in that he did it lyingly for he did it so as the people thought he did it truly so it is an aggravation of his evill that he deceives the people by speaking untruths himselfe as not onely here but in many other cases as we shall abundantly prove hereafter 2. Whereas there is mention made in the Petition of Colonel Francis Wren and Colonel George Fenwick and the Commissioners for Compounding of severall high miscarriages and grosse abuses laid to their charge Now upon Examination by oath before the Committee appointed for the tryall of the whole businesse those men appeared innocent and no way guiltie of the things suggested neither could Lilburn Cum socijs make good any particular or part of their charge against them as the Parliament understood The b Calumniatores fratrum detractores infames censentur Caus 6. Qu 1. C. In fames Law saith Calumniators and detractors of their brethren should have burn-markes set on their forehead for infamous persons 3. For the Interest and Title which Primate made to the Collierie in Harraton when all his Evidences Witnesses and other proofes were examined it did appeare to the House that he had c Avarus nunquam justus est not any lawfull Right thereunto but that it was a designe of George Lilburn and George Gray d Charior est auro non simulato fides prosecuted by others to e Nescit prodesse qui nescit providus esse defraud the State by taking the profit and benefit of that place into their own hands Nevesson a better Lawyer then an honest man would ordinarily say He that will not venture his bodie shall never be valiant he that will not venture his f Omnium malorum radix est cupiditas transgressionis mater magistra nocen di primipila iniquitatis duriga malitiae ficaria virtutum seditionis Origo fovea scandaloruÌ„ Petrus Raven soule shall never be rich 4. For the Common-wealths Title and Interest to the said Collierie this we understand it was before the Committee proved lawfull and good all objections made against it by Lilburn and others fully answered Neither had they any thing more or further to say The Examination of persons parties witnesses papers Records c. we have them all by us which are too large in this place to set forth But the * It is worth the noting how Mr Lilburn hath set forth a booke about this businesse Entituled A just Reproof to Haberdashers hall now leaving aside his â—ayling against Sir Arthur some inventions of his own head there is enough in that book to condemn himself and his case he thought that either none would have read it or none would have understood him substance of the whole as taken upon oath before the Committee we have here faithfully reported as delivered to us We come now to the Act that is to consider and weigh the Grounds and Reasons upon which the Parliament might justly proceed as to the Banishment of him And here we will begin with that Law of God concerning the punishment of a false Witnesse g Deut. 19.19 Ye shall doe unto him as he had thought to have don unto his brother The Hebrew Doctors write on the place thus It is commanded to doe unto a false witnesse * No marvaile though the Law of God will have slanderers to be so severely punished considering honestus rumor alterum est patrimonium as he would have don by his Testimony to his neighbour If they have testified falsly of a transgression for which men are guiltie of stoning to death they are all to be stoned if of burning they are to be burnt and so for other deaths And if they testifie of crimes worthy of beating every one of them is to be beaten To the point then in hand Such h We doe not here set down by a great deale the crimes which he lays to other mens charge As Murther Treason Theft c. These things the Reader shall see afterward persons as destroy Proprieties subvert Lawes and Liberties procure other men to joyn with them in unjust and unrighteous dealing violently seize upon other mens goods and by their power and Influence so over-aw the Courts as that the Judges neither can nor dare doe righteous things c. What punishment is due unto such men few but know We have severall Examples former and later of persons which have been fined imprisoned banished yea put to death for fewer and lesser crimes So for Commissioners and Under Officers to joyn hand in hand with a Tyrant and suffer themselves to be so basely corrupted as the ordinary course of proceedings in Courts of Justice is delayed and denyed Make unrighteous decrees oppresse the poore pervert judgement serve the lusts and satisfie the will of corrupt men c. No doubt but they * Now there is great reason why men not doing justice should be punished for aut sit justitiae locus aut certa ruina mundo justitia quippe carere nequit deserve not onely to be fined and put out of their place but out of the Nation and Common-wealth also and justly too Now for application i Quod non tibi fieri vis ne fac Alieri Ye shall doe unto him as he had thought to have don to his brother Hence we inferre if Sir Arthur Haslerig and the Commissioners for Compounding had worthily deserved a fine k Note how Gaveston the Spencers and others banished the Realm committed not the crimes which he hath laid falsely to some mens charge of 7000 l. to be imposed upon them and to have been banished out of England Scotland Ireland and the Islands Territories and Dominions thereof had the things been proved and found true which by Mr. John Lilborn were laid to their charge then by this Law of God he being a false witnesse and so proved and convicted when he he stood before the Lord and the Judges the very same punishment ought he to have According to that old l Suidas Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The law is just he should be caught In that same mischief which he wrought There is so much Equitie and Reason in this law of Retaliation as the wisest of the m Ab alio expectandum est alteriquod faceris Seneca Quae injuria est pari quod prior ipse feceris Ibid. Vt phalaris tauro violentus membra per
Metuebant in me omne in Eunuch Libels which are made he cannot but think and say Lilburn hath been here this is his worke for who but hee would write of stabbing killing murdering things so in humane and horrible as no man that is conscientious and honest would retain a thought of such wickednesse much lesse boastingly and pragmatically as he doth expresse the same but only such a one as cares not what evill is committed so it be to the satisfying of his malice and lust But 3. Neither hath it been the resolution of this man to stab and kill particular persons but like an other r Metuebant in me omne in Eunuch Gnato that the world might wonder at him and be afraid of him it hath been in his mind to murder and destroy a great number of people Å¿ It is worth the noting what this man speaks of himself I have the affections of thousand of MINE HONEST and endeared Friends in England who I know doe look upon me as a single hearted honest just plain spoken English man that hath been valiant couragious for the regaining and preserving their freedom liberty and if I should loose mine interest with my honest friends I were but single John Lilb nothing at all considerable either to be loved or feared Iohn Lilb revived p. 9. See Reader how he is double Io terrible Ioh and he must be valiant in stabbing and killing at least with his tongue that hee may not loose his interest with his honest Friends a whole Parliament of men at one time yea and as so many Weasels and Poulcats And that the Reader may see wee doe not report any thing of him but what he hath in the pride of his own heart openly declared we shall set down his own words without substraction or addition In a Letter to the Lord Faixfax which is extant under his own hand thus he writes Truly Sir give me leave to tell you without feare or dread had I come or could have got so many to have followed me as would have enabled me with my sword in my hand to have done justice and execution upon these grand treacherous fellowes and Tyrants at Westminster that have not only tyranniz'd over me but the whole Nation I should have made no more scruple of conscience with my owne hand to have destroyed them then to have destroyed so many Weasels and Poulcats The power of the Spartan Ephori was very great but not to kill any man Neither doth he find any Law for this in Magna Charta Cokes Institutes Liberty of Rights Besides he will not allow a Parliament to constitute a High Court of Justice as that any man in such a way should be put to death though never so great a Tyrant Traytor and Murtherer Neverthelesse and mark it good Reader t It wa a cunning trick which Themistocles was once taught by a man of Lacedemonia that because they might not take the Tables away wherein a law was engraven he should therefore turn them up side down which was as good as to take them away altogether This is the trick which Mr. Lilburn hath learnt though he cannnot take the Laws away yet he can turn them up side down for example if he be a Traytor yet must he be tâ—yed by 12. men of his own chusing If another be an honest man but by him judgd a tyrant he may kill him for the Tables are now turned he can himself without the least scruple of conscience kill and destroy men as so many Weasels and Poulcats yea and without his honourable Jury of 12. men This is John Lilburn The Defender of the Faith the Great Assertor of the Fundamentall Lawes and Liberties of England A sufferer for all free Commoners After Nero had occasioned much mischiefe to the Common-wealth he wrote to the Senate like Lilb when he held a paper in one hand to be sent to the Speaker intending with the other hand to kill the Generall u Ad Senatum literas misit de caede Syllaeplautique haud confessus vorum uniusque turbidum ingenium esse sibi in calumnâ—atem Reip. magna cura huberimo cunctas sibi curas amore patriae leviores dictiâ—ans vidisse civium maestos vultus audire secretas quaerimonias Tacit Annal. lib. 14. Accusing some persons whom he had murdered to be turbulent and factious men and that hee had a marvellous care for the peoples safety yea all the cares were nothing in regard of his love to the Countrey that he had seen the sad countenances of the Citizens heard their secret Complaints c. Whether Lilburn had ever seen this in Nero and aspis a vipera learnt it of him we cannot say but as good wits often meet so that Tyrant and this Chius ad coum in their bloody designe are alike For had he destroyed the persons or any of them as he most wickedly intended There was a writing to goe forth wherein as in Capitall letters might have been declared thus WHEREAS I J LILB LIKE NERO HAVE MVRTHERED SVCH MEN IT WAS BECAVSE I DID NOT LIKE THEM FOR THEY WOVLD NOT x Mr. Lilburn speaking of a method which he had a long time laid downe which is to destroy Generals Patricians Senators or Parliament-men as the ancient Romans and Grecians did He concludes thus Let my bloody and malicious Adversaries thanke themselves in not letting me alone to sit under mine owne Vine in Peace quietnesse Lilburn revived p. 10. Now 't is out we ever thought that he sought only himself though many ignorant of his wiles have been otherwise minded HELPE MEE TO MONEY AND LAND AS I EXPECTED BESIDE I HAVE HEARD THE SECRET COMPLAINTS OF SOME AS TREACHEROVS TO THE STATE AS I AM WHICH WOVLD HAVE ALL GOVERNMENT AND AVTHORITY TRODEN VNDER FOOT AS WILLINGLY AS MY SELFE Having thus truly laid open Mr. Lilburns y Of certain turbulent spirits it is said Illis quieta movere magna merces videbatur Salust They thinke the very disturbance of things quietly established are only sufficient to set them at worke The former particulars duly considered this saying cannot be applyed to any man more truly then to Lilburn CASE AND CRAFT we shall proceed now to his Tryall And here we purpose to Try his Tryers to the end it may appeare to the world how honest and conscientious they were and what Reasons there are to continue Juries by 12. men if the State meane to allow and countenance Treason any longer First for the Act declaring Mr. Lilburns Fact to be Treason it was read to the Jurie The words are as follow AN ACT Of the 14. of May 1649. declaring what Offences shall be adjudged TREASON WHereas the Parliament hath abolished the Kingly office in England and Ireland and in the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging and hath resolved and declared that the People shall for the future bee governed by its owne Representatives or Nationall meetings in
signifies i In some Countreys their money doth not passe by weight or worth but according to the tale or number of the pieces It s probable he thought the Jury only minded the manys word he spake and not the worth or weight of them nothing it s not so good as a Spiders webb By vertue of which the Marshals Testimonie and the Governours of Warwick Castle and also Colonel Purfroyes need no other answer from me but to pitty them for their long journey they have made to no purpose It is truly said and fulfilled here k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. A bad tongue tells wonderfull strange things But did the man speak as hee thought or rather remembring the proverb The simple believeth every thing hee made account it was no matter what he said to the Jurie If a man have committed Treason in ten or twenty severall Counties say in England Scotland and Ireland must he be sent to every County and Country and there be arraignd for each particular Treason as in reference to the severall places where each fact was don We need not enlarge here hee knew well enough when he spake these words that both the l He deals not unlike those wicked spirits commonly called Faries who stealâ—ng the true child out of the cradle doe convey or suppose place instead thereof some ChaÌ„gling of their own So what is Justice law and Reason that he steals away and gives the Jury a Changeling of his own as somtime self-praise otherwhile claÌ„ours and high words this contents them as if it were the true Child Law and continual practice of the Nation was against him It is reported of one Oramazes that he had an enchanted Egg in which as he boasted himself hee had enclosed all the happinesse of the world but being broken nothing was found in it saving wind Mr. Lilburns head is like such an Egg in his conceit and some others too there is inclosed in it all Law and Reason but the truth is upon tryall it doth m Like the ruine of Babel at a distance they say it seemes great and high but when a man comes neare it it appears not so So Lilburns Answer a great way off not being enquir'd into may be thought to have Reason and Law in it but come to a strict examination you shall find it vexnil praeter as it is said of the Nightingale Talk and nothing else A Disdiapason or ill favoured coupling of things together appear that it is little else then winde and emptinesse a multitude of words but nothing juditious solid or pertinent Wee have now dispatcht the Jurie upon the whole shall only give the Reader this Observation Those that look on a Jugler doing his feats or playing Hocus Pocus do admire at the sights they sâ—e as thinking the same almost impossible to be done Whereas indeed if they knew the way it is facile and easie a very slight trick and no other then what any other even a child may do It is a n So are all conspiracies mysterious at first but as light brought into a roome makes obvious and clear such things as were not seen before so this here as a caÌ„dle will let us see Mr. Lilburns Cabinet Councell mysterie and a Riddle to many how Mr. Lilburn Arraigned for Treason appearing before so many Judges Justices Sergeants at Law c. The charge brought in against him being of such high concernment and so clearly proved should notwithstanding for all this be quitted and not found guilty Is not this mirum if not miraculum a wonder a wonderfull wonder But stay it s a very o Parturiunt montes nascitur ridiculus Mâ—s. slight Tricke and easie to be done if known As how why thus it is Before hee comes to Tryall he gets the names of such men as are warned in to be of his Jurie and out of these suppose thirty or forty he chooseth twelve all known to him to be as ill affected as himselfe to the present Government and such as are resolv'd to cleare him p Poets saign that Hercules brought help to the gods against the Giants therefore was honoured Mr. Lilb cal'd his 12 men the honourable Jurie Could he doe lesse then honour them who had ayded him aganst Law and Justice in spight of Law Justice Judges Proofe and Witnesses Thus we see to q Malum faciliter esse bonum deficile est Arist l. 2. Nicomaâ—h doe evill is no difficult thing and r Ad prave agendum parva satis occasio est Meander a small occasion here will serve Neither shall he Å¿ Male facere qui vult nusquam non causam invenit Publ. Syrus misse the way and means to effect it if he seek it Mr. Lilburn thus quitted in the way and manner related now we are to follow him in his Actions after his enlargement And here wee finde him not long after A GRAND INFORMER or Solicitor attending the Committees pleading in all Causes where hee might have any advantage thereby Yea so scandalous and corrupt was his practice this way as some of his owne party were asham'd of it and reprov'd him for it often to his face It is not unknown to many t Thus hee blames Mr. Prudiaux Attorn Gen for pleading all manner of Cases takâ—ng large Fees Leâ—er to the General p. 2. how vehemently formerly hee had cryed out against the Lawyers for their covetousnesse and corruption in taking large Fees and entertaining bad Causes Now in this few before ever went beyond him either in respect of the one or other Insomuch what the King of France said of the Trent Fathers They would pare the nails of Kings and let their owne grow So it might and as truly be said of him he would u Mr. Lilburn here should have remembred that saying of the Apostle Rom. 2.1 Therefore thou art inexcusable O man that judgest for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy selfe for thou that judgest dost the same thing cut the Lawyers short in their Takings and blame them for undertaking wrongfull and unrighteous suits but when it came to his own practice he was more criminall and fowl in the same particulars then they x Est enim proprium stultiae aâ—orum vitia â—ernere oblivisci suorum Tul. de Offic. l. 3. forgetting Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum Vnto a Teacher it s no small disgrace When his own faults reprove him to his face In the Apologue the Countrey-man shuts his Catt into the Cupboard to keep his Cheese Now the Catt being there devours both the Mice and Cheese too Many thought because Mr. Lilburn had spoken so bitterly against the y It is a witty story of the Schol-master a Schollar taking up a fig in the street the Mr. seeing it was angry with him for it and bids him throw it away for it was rotten and naught the which the boy no
rob'd an idoll Temple and at his return by Sea had a faire gale and pleasant weather to waft him home with his spoyls See saith he how the Heavens smile upon us and how the gods are pleased with what we have done It 's likely enough all things going thus prosperously forward Mr. Lilburn might say in his heart God hath forgotten he hideth his face he will never see it but a Heathen could have taught him otherwise q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cernit deus omnia judex But to proceed with our discourse At the making of those Leases Nodell openly declared in the presence of twenty persons that he would lay twenty shillings with any man that AS SOON as Lilburn came to London there should be r And reason too For what Truant would not rather have the rod burnt then to be whipt with it a new Parliament no doubt but the other had told him so and Lilburn would Å¿ But where then is the people liberty and freedom if M. Lilburn may doe all this call this Parliament to an account so said Jacke Straâ— and Watâ—yler â—urther adding that seeing they had now t Post dulcia a mara sweet meat will have sowre sauce finished this of Lincolnshire meaning by riots and fraud gotten the lands from the Petitioners they u Not stay till they are sent for But note here how to go from Towne to Towne and cast down Iâ—cloâ—uâ—es this the law mak's levying warre and so Treason how will Noddel answer this would goe over into York shire to the rest of the Levells and doe the like there and so would gâ—ve x So doe Thiev's make worke for the Hang man but they had been better to havâ— sate still worke enough to the Attorney Generall One thing more at another time was delivered by the said Nodell Having now stated their Case they would print it and naile it the Parliament doore and if they would not do them Justice they would come up and make an out-cry and y And why not destroy them too as so many Weasels and Poulcats It seems the man is but a learner yet pull them out by the eares Neither is it to be forgotten that the aforesaid agreement being made viz. the 2200. acres of land to be divided between Lilburn Wildman and Noddel this they caused immediately to be measured out and took the same into their possession according to the proportions mentioned And agreed with severall persons to let out some considerable part thereof whereupon Mr. Lilburn he repairs the house built for the Minister partly pul'd downe by the Rioters before and puts his servant therein to keep possession and having driven away both the Shepheard and the Flock hee employes the place in which they publiquely met to the use of a Stable Cow house Slaughter-house and to lay his hay and straw therein This being so nomen mutatum Instead of Sir Arthur Haslerig Lilburns name being read whether the Petitioners may not truly say in a A just reproof to Haberdashers Hall p. 37. Again as in another place Mr. Lilburn hath most maliciously premeditately and in a despight contempt of the Law of England and most treacherously in subversion thereof hath exercised a tyrannical arbitrary power over and above the Law A preparative to a Huc Cry pag. 36. his own words Lieut. Coll John Lilburn and his associates have destroyed and levelled our proprieties and in our Case subverted the Laws and Liberties of England and exercised an arbitrary and tyrannicall power over us without any shadow or colour from Order Ordinances or Act of Parliament to the unsufferable and unspeakable indignity and dishonour of the Parl. We shall adde no more but close with this It is witnessed upon oath that Mr. Wildman was present when Mr. Lilburn made the bargain That they two in consideration of * Nec venit in mentem quorum consideris armis 2000 Acres and 200 to Noddel of the land so laid waste should defend the Inhabitants from all b Sueonius writeth that a Physiognomer being demanded what he thought concerning the naturall inclination of Tiberius the Emperour Answered I see in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dirt mingled with blood Thereby intimating that he would prove a covetous and cruell Emperour the dirt in his complexion representing filthy lucre and blood cruelty Riots both past and to come and at their charge maintaine them in the possession of the 52000 Acres And likewise was present when the Deeds were sealed to Mr. Lilburn and himself of the 2000 acres according to the conditions aforesaid so that the truth of the c Accipias nunc O anium insidias crimine ab uno disce omnes Virg. Aene. lib. 2. Narrative is not any way questionable Because this business is depending in Parliament who no doubt are very sensible of the high Insolencies and abuses committed and will doe Justice therein accordingly we shall say the lesse to it only will give the Reader some Observations upon the whole 1. Howsoever Mr. Lilburn seemes sometimes to be so tender of the Law as if none like himself were so conformable to the practicall part thereof d It remains upon record to the lasting infamy of the Cardinal of Cremona that standing and pleading against Priests marriages was himselfe taken the night following in bed with a whore No lesse is it a sin and shame to this man to plead so much as somtime he will do for Law Justice and at other times when it is to satisfie his owne lust and pleasure not a greater traÌ„sgressor of law and justice then he Neverthelesse where he hath seene profit and advantage there hee hath made it but as a Spiders webb blown it easily away and broken thtough it Coke sometimes is his great Master but in this business of Hatfield Chase he will allow of no such Cook to dress his meat In the third part of his Institutes concerning high Treason hee hath these words e Ch 1 p. 9 10 There is a diversity saith hee between levying of Warre and committing of a great riot a Rout or an unlawfull Assembly f See Rot. Parl. in Cro. Epipham 20. Edw. 1. Rot. 23 Humfrey de Bobuns Case 4 Eliz. 210. b. Dier See the Stat. of 2 Mar. Cap. 2. By which grand Riots in some Cases are made Felonie Pasch 39 Eliz. by all the Judges of England he being Attorney Gen and present For exampl as if three or four or more do rise to burn or put downe any Inclosure in Dale which the Lord of the Mannor of Dale hath made there in that particular place this or the like is a Riot a Rout or an unlawfull Assembly and no Treason But if they had risen of purpose to alter Religion established within the Realm or Lawes or to g The very Case which Lilburn undertakes to defend theÌ„ in both in respect of what they had done or
decurrere piscis ad hamum There was yet another printed paper Entituled A Word to the Jury in the behalfe of John Lilburn The scope whereof is to stir up the people by force to n No doubt the Jurie would have been glad if such a thing had beene effected and can you blame them For had he been rescued and so not come to his Tryall their lying hypocrisie and other grosse evills had not come to light which now it doth to their shame whilst they live rescue the said Lilburn It is said there John Lilburn hath not offended against any Laws but against those o The Fox in the fable being arraigned for killing the Poultry pleaded not guilty as not having broken any justifiable Law And to prove this denies the Act which they brought against him to be lawfull because he the Kite and the Raven did not consent to it Judge Reader whether this be not his Case by-Lawes which are no Lawes But such as Tyrants made to succour themselves in their Tyranny and were not a legall power to make Lawes Demetrius for the love which he bore to a certain Picture or Idol in Protogenies shop willingly forbore to set the City of Rhodes on fire That Mr. Lilburn by the Jury may be quitted there must be no Act of Parliament against Treason put in execution but a door left open for this Idol sake to all Incendiaries to escape without punishment The Counsel which is p As Homer speaks of Vlysses Consilio bonus bonus Armis such a Councellor was he to the Jury given unto the Jury is to this effect As if he should say You are q So the 12 men understood themselves above Law and accountable to none but God Lilburn tells us that a Parliament are countable to the people for what they doe Wee should never have known how far beyond and above all Parliaments Iuries are if it had not been for this Tryall for how could we seeing there is nothing extant that makes mention of any such thing above both Law and Parliament as Iudges of the one and other so that it is wholly in your breasts to determine what is Law and when a Parliament may be said to be lawfull And according to this word did the Jury proceed most insolently presuming by the Verdict which they gave not onely to be Judges but condemners both of Parliament and Lawes A thing so unjust as before was never heard of and whereof they are since ashamed or afraid to give any Reason for it Jupiter is brought in as taking little notice of the evill speeches which the Giants used against the Gods But when he saw that they attempted by raising Mountaines to pluck them from their Throne here now he stirs and with thundering and lightning destroyes them and breaks their designe It is true nothing better becomes men in Authority then r Sic pius enis nam cum vincamur in omni munere sola deos aequat clementia nobis meeknesse and to passe by a multitude of offences but when they shall see men Giant-like to rise against Authority it self and not onely to trample their persons but their Acts too as mire under their feet ſ Here the proverb is true foolish pitie spoiles a Citie in such a case whether they ought not to be active and severe let wise men judge A Heathen could say t Interdum optimum miseri cordiae genus sit nocentes occidere saeva crudelitas si non c. Senec. It is sometimes the best kind of mercy that offenders be punished and to spare them the greatest cruelty Againe speaking afterwards to the Army You were first raised to succour the people from being subject to the Tyrannicall will of u Seeing his manner is to speak always honourably of the last K. and condemned those that judged him to death It is a question who he means by Tyrants when such tyrannical wills of men were exercised Tyrants If those therefore that Command you doe Command you to defend any member of this Common-wealth whose Servants you are of whom you receive pay you are to obey them therein But on the contrary if they command you to kill or guard the illegall execution of any one Member of the Common-wealth you are not to obey them therein but in stead thereof imploy your Armies against those that impose such x But who must judge when it is illegall not the Souldiers nor their Commāders nor Parl. nor any else but Lilb cum socijs illegall cruell and bloody Commands upon you What his former practises were as to divide the Army by causing divisions among the Souldiery we have already shewed the continuance of which most dangerous design we see here he hath brought over with him By guarding illegall executions we know what he means by his writings elswhere namely when any one is brought forth to be punished for his misdemeanours specially if it be for making Insurrections in the Common-wealth to countenance and encourage such a person in his evill and sin and casting off all just Commands to imploy their Armes as y Here he tels us what it is to stand for Liberty viz. to rise for Malefactors and not to suffer the Law or Iustice to passe against them be their crimes and offences never so many or great If hee and his party say it is illegall ipse dixit that must stand he saith here against their Superiours When there was a debate between Caesar's and Pompey's Souldiers of some agreement Libienus cries out Why talke yee saith he of such a thing Nisi Caesaris capite delato Vnlesse Caesars head be off there will be no peace By this passage we may see how improbable it is that the Army will be free from distempers so long as this man can have any influence among them It being his continuall endeavour to leave no way untried whereby to occasion some disturbance or other As if he had vowed or taken an Oath as a His Father made him swear at 12 years old never to bee reconcil'd to Rome Haniball did when he was but twelve years old not to be reconciled to the State nor cease to seek the ruine of it whilst he lives Besides the former he hath also dispersed another printed Paper called b A horse that is often spur'd in one place is therby made dull and lazy his Pleas are still one and the same viz. a kicking his Iurie in the side with their absolute power as to be Judges of the Fact the Keepers of the Libertie that neither Parliament nor Act are lawfull And thus spurring thē still in one place he knows how to make jades of them A Plea at large for John Lilburn Gent. now in Newgate In p. 16. it is asserted as followeth That by the Tax of 120000 l. per month Arbitrarily laid by the Generall and Officers June 19. 1653. upon the free people of England all their
Demetrius 8 persons who had conspird his death he made it matter of admiration that so many could agree together in a design so cruel bloody It is in truth a wonderfull shing that there should be found in this City 12 Jury-men so voyd of conscience and the feare of God as to agree together in a thing so evill and nought as Heathens wou'd scorne to have done denieth that they did or that they met at all since the night of the Tryall untill they met at the Councell The persons following were Examined the 29 of August 1653. in the morning THomas Smith of Cornhill Haberdasher of Small Wares he saith he was of Iohn Lilburns Iury and found him not guilty but y But whether the State may not refuse to rest satisfied in such an Answer that 's the Question we shall leave this to Time refuseth to Answer to any other Questions saying he was call'd to serve his Countrey in this particular and that he had done it a He might have said rather according to his Ignorance for had he done the thing w th understanding he would not have been either afraid or asham'd to have given the Councell a reason of his action according to the best of his understanding acknowledgeth the meeting of the Iury at the VVindmill Taverne yesterday morning GIlbert Gayne of Dunstans in the west Grocer he saith he was one of Iohn Lilburns Iury and found him not guilty And he being askt what the issue was he acknowledgeth that he was Indicted for Fellony for coming into England but saith the Iury did find as they did because they b So did Lambert Simenel take upō him to be Edward Earl of Warwick Son Heir to the Duke of Clarence but he was a counterfeit for taking upon him that which he was not had his just punishment in the end tooke themselves to be Iudges of the Law as well as of the Fact and that although the Court did declare they were Iudges of the Fact onely yet the Iury were otherwise perswaded from what they heard out of the c These Law-Books will appear to be onely the wind which came from Lilburn which blew their heads too fro like weather-cocks Law-Books He confesseth he himselfe did at first differ from the rest of the Jury but was convinc't by their Reasons he confesseth the meeting of the Jury GRiffeth Owen of Bishopsgate ward Brewer he acknowledgeth he was of Liev Col Iohn Lilburns Iury and that they found him not guilty because he was d Howsoever they agreed to give no reason of their action to the Councel yet on the contrary so much is spoken by them as doth make it evident they were of Tomlins mind that is right or wrong resolv'd to quit the Prisoner not satisfied that the Prisoner was the John Lilburn mentioned in the Act and that he had never seene John Lilburn before that day nor was he sollicited in his behalfe by any person He acknowledgeth the Jury met yesterday morning at the VVindmill Taverne but made no agreement what Answer to make the Councel The Vnrighteousnesse of this Vnreasonable Jury is so fully discovered by themselves as there is no need of adding any thing thereunto It is reported of the waters of Nilus that having run many hundred miles a pure and clear water when it comes neer the Mediterranean Sea it begins to grow brackish and salt and at last it falls into the Sea and looseth its name We read of many just and honest Juries in the dayes of our fore-fathers Some hundred yeares agoe Jury-men made Conscience of what they did and fear'd an Oath Now that the same is changed and the water become bitter and corrupt what may this presage If we may freely here deliver our opinion thus we think The way of proceeding by twelve men in the Tryall of Malefactors is neer an end and shortly to be swallowed up by the Supream Authority of the Nation So as neither the name nor thing shall be any more in the Common-wealth of England FINIS