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<DATE>2007-10-01</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
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<P>A
IVST DEFENCE
OF
<HI>JOHN BASTWICK.</HI></P>
<P>Doctor in PHISICKE,
Again&s;t the Calumnies of <HI>John Lilburne</HI>
Leiutenant Colonell and his fal&s;e accu&s;ations,
VVritten in way of <HI>Reply</HI> to a Letter
OF
Ma&s;ter <HI>VICARS:</HI>
In which he de&s;ires to be &s;atisfied concerning that Reproch.</P>
<P>In which <HI>Reply,</HI> there is not onely the
<HI>Vindication</HI> of the Honour of the <HI>Parliament,</HI> but
al&s;o that which is of <HI>publike Concernment,</HI> and
behooves all well affected SUBJECTS
to looke into.</P>
<P>Printed and <HI>publi&s;hed</HI> with Licen&s;e according to <HI>Order.</HI></P>
<P>Printed at <HI>London</HI> by <HI>F. Leech,</HI> for <HI>Michaell Sparke</HI> Junior,
and are to be &s;old at the <HI>Blue-Bible</HI> in <HI>Green-Arbor,</HI> 1645</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>Mr. Vicars Letter to Dr. Ba&s;twicke, concerning
Leiutenant Colonell Lilburne.</HEAD>
<P>MVch honoured <HI>Doctor,</HI> and my mo&s;t worthy friend,
being abroad this <HI>Saturday,</HI> I heard that Mr. <HI>Iohn Lil|burne,</HI>
hath again printed another lavi&s;h Letter, which I have
not yet &s;een or read, wherein, together with others, he hath
&s;orely, and I am per&s;waded mo&s;t unju&s;tly taxed you, to have
done him a great deale of wrong, in his late mi&s;carried bu|&s;ine&s;&s;e
about the Parliament, whereas I have ever ob&s;erved
that you have alwayes, &s;ince you were fir&s;t acquainted with
him, &s;hewne your &s;elfe his &s;ingular good friend, ready to do
him all good in word and deed, yea and in the&s;e later times
of his uncomely mi&s;carriages have &s;poken very tenderly and
friendly of him; and therefore I cannot (I &s;ay) be per&s;awded
that you have given him any ju&s;t cau&s;e &s;o to complaine or
exclaime of you, I therfore humbly de&s;ire you (mo&s;t honou|red
<HI>Sir</HI>) to vouch&s;afe to &s;atisfie and certifie me in a word or
two, whither any &s;uch thing be betweene you or not at this
time, though I &s;ay for mine own part I am confident of the
contrary, but, then I &s;hall be the more groundedly able up|on
occa&s;ion to vindicate your integrity and innocency ther|in,
and the more fully to &s;top the mouths of any other tra|ducers
of you herein: Thus, mo&s;t noble <HI>Sir,</HI> whom from my
Soule, for your faithfulne&s;&s;e to God and his Truth, I can
never &s;ufficiently prize and honour, praying pardon for this
my boldne&s;&s;e, emboldned therunto by your own Chri&s;tian
Candor and even genuine ingenuity, with the humble ten|der
of my be&s;t &s;ervices to your mo&s;t worthy &s;elfe and vertu|ous
Con&s;ort, I ever re&s;t, Yours in his be&s;t poore Services, in
the Lord to be commanded,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Aug.</HI> this 9th 1645.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>John Vicars.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>A
Iu&s;t defence, of John Ba&s;twicke, Doctor
In Phy&s;ieke, Again&s;t the Calumnies of
Iohn Lilburne, Leiutenant Colonell, and his
fal&s;e Accu&s;ations.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Mr. VICARS;</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_AS I have ever found you a truly loving friend
to mee and mine heather to, and that in my
greate&s;t adver&s;ity and hotte&s;t conflicts, which
with all thankfulne&s;&s;e I doe acknowledg, and
have with reciprocall affection an&s;wered your
love: So I hope there &s;hall never on my part,
any ju&s;t occa&s;ion bee given of violating this
our mutuall affection: for to the uttermo&s;t of
my abilities, I &s;hall endeavour to keepe peace
with all men e&s;pecially my Chri&s;tian acquain|tance.
And &s;o confident I am of your good
opinion, that there is not any calumny how high &s;o ever it fly, and how
loud &s;oever it &s;peake, and by what multitudes &s;oever it be &s;pread obroad
and divulged, that can in the lea&s;t alienate your charity from me before
you have heard my ju&s;t defence. And truly at this time though I &s;hould
not returne an an&s;wer to your Letter in way of ju&s;tification of my owne
integritie, &s;o a&s;&s;ured I am of your Love, that al<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> tho&s;e foule a&s;per&s;ions that
are now cau&s;le&s;ly publi&s;hed concerning me, by rea&s;on of a Letter printed by
Leiu. Col. <HI>Lilburne</HI> &s;hould not in the lea&s;t &s;tagger your good e&s;teeme of me
or e&s;trange you from me: much le&s;&s;e would they extort a cen&s;ure from you
before you had heard what I had to reply in my owne behalfe. But &s;eeing
you have de&s;ired for the &s;atisfaction of others to heare from me concerning
the bu&s;ines between me and the Leiut. Colonell, I thought fit to gratifie you
in a few lines, not that I am &s;ollicitous about that matter, or that it doth in
the lea&s;t trouble my minde, or di&s;quiet my thoughts: for &s;uch is my inno|cency
in this cau&s;e, that be&s;ides the te&s;timony of my owne Con&s;cience, I
<PB N="2" REF="3">
have the witne&s;&s;e of the whole Parliament, the great Councell of the King|dome
to acquit and free me from the Colonells crimination: &s;o that all men
may &s;ee that it was malitiou&s;ly laid upon me, onely to make mee hatefull to
all good people. You know that Calumny (who is quicker then Martiall
Law) doth ordinarily arraigne, accu&s;e and condemne men before they have
beene heard &s;peake for them&s;elves, and men are u&s;ually put to death and
murdered in their reputation, and their fame taken from them before they
know of it: and thus at this time it hath hapned to me, who am made as
odious and infamous as the tongues of Revilers can make me, and that up|on
no ju&s;t grounds; as you &s;hall &s;ee by and by. It is a &s;inne that many in
this Nation are highly gui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ty of, who deale not with others as they would
be dealt with, and ea&s;ily receive a reproach again&s;t their Neighbour, both
which notwith&s;tanding are again&s;t the Royall Law of love. Neither is there
any man that would not complaine if one &s;hould either &s;pread an evill re|port
of him, or imbrace one again&s;t him; yet that they condemne in others
is the practi&s;e of too too many in the&s;e our dayes: and they that &s;it at the
Sterne of Government canno<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> keepe them&s;elves from the Obliques of &s;uch
as owe their lives unto them for their care and watchfulnes for their good,
and therefore we that are of the low degree may not thinke our condition
mi&s;erable, when we &s;ee our Rulers and the chiefe Magi&s;trates of the King|dome,
and that not onely in tongue and word, but in every &s;currilous Pam|phlet,
hour<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="3 letters"> traduced: But now to the matter in hand. You tell me, you
heard <HI>That</HI> Ma&s;ter <HI>John Lilburne hath againe printed another Letter, where
in together with others, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> hath &s;orely taxed me, to have done him agreat deale
of wrong, &amp;c.</HI> What he hath publi&s;hed concerning others, I leave them to
an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">wer to that, but what hee hath printed concerning my &s;elfe, it is mo&s;t
fal&s;e, and no way be&s;eeming him a brother, &s;o to deale with one, that had lo|ved
and honoured him, more than he did him&s;elfe, and &s;o farre, I have ever
beene from wronging him in the lea&s;t mea&s;ure as all that know me, or ever
heard me &s;peake of him, when he was accu&s;ed of pride, ra&s;hne&s;&s;e, malver|&s;ation
factiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I &s;ay, when I have heard many bla<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters"> him,
as well friends as en<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">mies, they can all witne&s;&s;e for mee, hee had ever my
good word, either wholly to excu&s;e him, and vindicate his reputation, or at
lea&s;t to extenuate his offence: &s;o that I am not in the le&s;t thing guilty of
di&s;affection to him, much le&s;&s;e of that, hee layeth to my chrge, yea, had it
beene true, that hee chargeth mee with, yet it had beene no more a cryme
in me, then it was in him&s;elfe, when he not only communicated a bu&s;ine&s;&s;e
concerning Col, <HI>Hollis</HI> to Mr. <HI>Samuell Goo&s;e,</HI> but afterward made it knowne
to &s;ome Members of the Hou&s;e; which &s;aith he, we did without any de&s;igne
in the world &s;aving the di&s;charge of our duty. Thus he &s;peaketh in his Let|ter
concerning him&s;elfe and Ma&s;ter <HI>Goo&s;e:</HI> Now if they thought it a di&s;|charge
of their duty, to informe the Hou&s;e of &s;uch things as concerned the
State, becau&s;e <HI>Robin&s;on</HI> &s;aid he would ju&s;tifie it to the death, why &s;hould any
<PB N="3" REF="3">
thinke it a crime in me, to informe the Par<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">iament of tho&s;e things that o|thers
affirmed&punc; with as great a probability of verity as <HI>Robin&s;on</HI> did? E&s;pe|cfally
when it concerned the whole Kingdome? Yea in the 8th page of his
Letter hee &s;peaketh of three Citizens, that were come downe from <HI>London</HI>
to <HI>Westminster,</HI> namely Ma&s;ter <HI>Prity</HI> a Draper and one of his neighbours in
Dowgate&punc; and one Ma&s;ter <HI>Worly</HI> that lives about Morefields, and all the&s;e
(&s;aith he) were come downe to We&s;tmin&s;ter, and did give information to 4.
Members of the Hou&s;e of Commons, namely to Colonell <HI>R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">gby,</HI> Sir <HI>Walter
Earle,</HI> Col. <HI>Long,</HI> and Ma&s;terr <HI>Corbet,</HI> concerning Sir <HI>John Lenthall</HI> and the
<HI>Speaker,</HI> as they had heard it from others, and the which was knowne (as he
affirmeth) to thou&s;ands of Citizens by the hearing of the eare: and all this
the Colonell in his Letter, &s;aith, tho&s;e men were informing the Hou&s;e of;
when he came to <HI>We&s;tmin.</HI> And in all there &s;o doing I do conceive he think|eth
they did but their duty. Why therfore &s;hould the very &s;ame men, thinke
it &s;o hainous a crime &amp; offence now in me, if I made the &s;ame information
it to the whole Hou&s;e, which they had done to &s;ome perticular Members of
was it a vertue in them, and a thing prai&s;e worthy, and it is a crime and P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">|aculum
in me? But it was again&s;t a friend and a brother to whom, I was ex|ceedingly
beholding. Fir&s;t therfore I &s;hal de&s;ire you to take his own expre&s;|&s;ion
concerning the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and after my reply. His words are the&s;e.</P>
<P>It &s;eemes <HI>Doctor</HI> Ba&s;twicke (a man that &s;tands obliged to me, with as many
tyes of friend&s;hip and re&s;pect, as I am confident he doth to any man in the world,
for whom I have often both in <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Holland</HI> adventured my life, and all
that was mine, and for who&s;e &s;ake and cau&s;e, as an earthly in&s;trument I under|went
all the &s;orrowes and mi&s;eries, that I &s;uffered from the Bi&s;hops for diver&s;e
yeares together) &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">nt in a paper to the <HI>Speaker</HI> to informe him, that I had accu|&s;ed
him for &s;ending three&s;core thou&s;and pounds to <HI>Oxford</HI> (though with the &s;aid
<HI>Doctor Ba&s;twicke</HI> to my remembrance, I had not any di&s;cour&s;e at all about any
&s;uch bu&s;ine&s;&s;e: for the di&s;cour&s;e I had about that bu&s;ine&s;&s;e was with Leiutenant
Colonell <HI>Roes,</HI> the Scout-Ma&s;ter Generall, whom I brought up out of the Guar|den
to the afore&s;aid three Citizens, that had newly given in their information un|der
their owne hands. <HI>Ma&s;ter Worley,</HI> one of the three, being Leiutenant Col.
<HI>Roes</HI> old acquaintance, told him more (I am confident of it) by many degrees,
then before hee had from me. Yet (as I am informed) upon <HI>Doctor Ba&s;twickes</HI>
paper<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> barely, the <HI>Speaker</HI> g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">t a Vote (before ever I knew any thing, though I all
day waited upon the Parliament) to pa&s;&s;e the Hou&s;e in the&s;e words.</P>
<P>Re&s;olved upon the Que&s;tion by the Commons a&s;&s;embled in Parliament, that
Leiutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ee forthwith taken into cu&s;tody by the
Sergeant as Armes attending the Hou&s;e, and &s;o kept till the Hou&s;e give
further Order.</P>
<P>This is his owne expre&s;&s;ion; by the which it is manife&s;t, that the infor|mation
was made to four members of the Hou&s;e of Commons, before my
<PB N="4" REF="4">
Paper was &s;ent in to Ma&s;ter <HI>Speaker,</HI> which was about three a clocke in the
afternoone: So that I did nothing, but what had beene acted by the three
Citizens before. Now if they were not ba&s;e and paultry fe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">lowes and
Knaves for doing this, then there is no ju&s;t ground, nor cau&s;e why either
Leiutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Worley</HI> and there companions &s;hould
a&s;per&s;e me with tho&s;e odious tearmes, and many more, calling mee an Apo|&s;tate,
as they have beene often heard &s;peake, and for no other cau&s;e but for
informing the Hou&s;e of that which they them&s;elves had done before mee,
yet all the&s;e calumnies I now under go from the&s;e men and of all their fra|ternitie,
and for no other offence but for that they applaud in them&s;elves for
a vertue. But now for an&s;wer to that which Leiutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI>
chargeth me with, and for a replication to your reque&s;t, know this Ma&s;ter
<HI>Vicars,</HI> that it is mo&s;t fal&s;e, and that I may expre&s;&s;e my &s;elfe in the words of
a Parliament man (when he had read the printed Letter) it is a mo&s;t impe|tuous
lye, for &s;o &s;aid a Member of the Hou&s;e to me, that <HI>Lilburne</HI> had prin|ted
a mo&s;t impetuous lye again&s;t me, whiles he upbraided mee, and my ever
to be honoured brother Ma&s;ter <HI>William Prynne</HI> of lying, and to &s;peake the
verity, I doe not thinke there was a more gro&s;&s;e and wilfuller untruth
ever printed again&s;t any man: for I under&s;tanding that Leiutenant Colo|nell
<HI>Lilburn</HI> had given out that I had informed again&s;t him, I &s;ent him word
by one Mi&s;tris <HI>Barber,</HI> which told me that &s;he was very &s;orry to heare that
I &s;hould do &s;uch a thing again&s;t a brother and a loving friend and fellow &s;uf|ferer,
to whom I meerely replyed, that it was a groundle&s;&s;e report, and that
I never did it, and with all told her, that it was one <HI>Hawkins,</HI> and de&s;ired
her to &s;ignifie it to my Brother <HI>Lilburne,</HI> that he might be undeceived, and
fearing that &s;he &s;hould not relate it unto him, (though &s;he was then going
to him) and promi&s;ed me that &s;he would) the next day finding him waiting
on the Committee, I blamed him that he &s;hould report &s;uch things of mee,
and told him that hee had exceedingly wronged me in &s;o doing, in rai&s;ing
&s;uch a report and withall &s;ignified unto him that it was his friend <HI>Hawkins</HI>
that had accu&s;ed him: Notwith&s;tanding all this, &s;uch is his inveterat malice
towards me, becau&s;e I writ again&s;t the <HI>Independents,</HI> that he printed that
fal&s;ehood again&s;t mee, only as I &s;uppo&s;e to bring an <HI>Odi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">s</HI> upon me through
the Kingdome (for his Letter is now as publike as weekely newes, and in e|very
bodyes hands) and I am induced to beleeve that this was the de&s;igne
both of him&s;elfe and tho&s;e that are of his &s;ociety, becau&s;e it hath ever beene
their ordinary practice, to abu&s;e &s;uch in tongue and print withall manner of
callumnies and bla&s;ting language as they think Malignant and Leiutenant
Col. <HI>Lilburne</HI> by name, is notorious, and famous for this faculty of reviling,
as this his printed letter doth &s;pecifie and his many other Pamphlets, and
that which not long &s;ince he printed again&s;t Col. King a Lincoln&s;hire Gentle|man
who had de&s;erved as wel from the Parliament and his Country (if fame+lye
not) as mo&s;t of tho&s;e that have bin in publike &s;ervice for the State&punc; and
<PB N="5" REF="4">
who expo&s;ed him&s;elfe to as many dangers, and did as faithfully di&s;charge
his place and the tru&s;t committed to him as any man: yet this man, becau&s;e
he oppo&s;ed the Independent party, and would not whiles he was in Come
mand, &s;uffer them in a di&s;orderly manner to leave the publike A&s;&s;emblies
where the word was faithfully and Orthodoxly preached and vent their own
novelties, to the &s;educing and mi&s;leading of the poore people and making a
faction in Church and State: For no other ground (I &s;ay) that ever I heard
of, &s;aving that he being a man not only of integrity, but wi&s;dome al&s;o and
courage, and could not indure to &s;ee his Country-men made a pray of to
pur<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">oyners, and &s;uch as aymed more at their owne honour and private e|molument
then at the publique good and dignity of the Parliament; for
the&s;e very cau&s;es and no other, that ever I could learne what I &s;ay with that
party hating him, and the Independents joyning with them, by their fal&s;e
informations and clamorus again&s;t him and their malitious &s;ugge&s;tions,
as that he was of a trouble&s;ome and contentious &s;pirit, they have made him
as odious as any man in the Kingdome, excepting my &s;elfe and my learned
and honoured Brother Mr. <HI>William Prynne.</HI> And Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lil|burne</HI>
not &s;atisfied to raile of this gallant Gentleman where&s;oever he came,
but printed a mo&s;t notorious lying Libell again&s;t him, and &s;uch an
one, as all the truly Godly and hone&s;t men of that County doe affirme,
they never &s;aw more prodigious untruthes publi&s;hed again&s;t any man:
and &s;uch of his Country men as are acquainted with him and his abilities
know very well, that if hee had but faire play, hee is able for wit and
worth to deale with a whole Army of Indepents, and all his enemies, and for
valour and skill in Armes he is in&s;eriour to none of them, and whiles hee was
in their good e&s;teeme, and before hee oppo&s;ed their faction, they neither
thought nor &s;pake otherwi&s;e of him, but as of a brave and di&s;erving Gentle|man
as can be prov'd by a cloud of witne&s;&s;es and under the hands of the be&s;t
of them: but now, becau&s;e he is adver&s;e to theer way, as with all good rea|&s;on,
hee and all good men, &s;uch as love the peace of Sion, and the welfare
of the Kingdome, ought to bee, to their whim&s;y of Independency, therefore
that party and their abbettors do mo&s;t horridly abu&s;e him with all manner
of reproaches, and my Brother <HI>Lilburne</HI> by name, (as I &s;aid before) hath pub|li&s;hed
&s;uch bea&s;tly lies of him, as &s;car&s;e the Sunne ever &s;aw greater, and in the
&s;ame tracke and path do all the Independent faction walke in, bla&s;ting all
tho&s;e they hate with vilifying language, and for this very end and for no o|ther
purpo&s;e, I per&s;waded my &s;elfe he publi&s;hed that lye again&s;t me, that he
might make me de&s;picable, and of no reputation among&s;t hone&s;t men: for
in his accu&s;ation, hee chargeth me with two crimes, <HI>Lying</HI> and <HI>Ingratitude,</HI>
either of which were enough to make mee infamous through the World,
much more they being both joyned together, and that with aggravation
for there is nothing that all ingenious men hate, &amp; abhorre more then alyat,
and an ungratefull fellow, and that de&s;ervedly neither can any hone&s;t man
<PB N="6" REF="5">
keepe &s;uch men company with &s;afety, as are guilty of tho&s;e crimes. And tru|ly,
if I were &s;uch a man, the world might ju&s;tly di&s;ta&s;te and abjure mee. Now
to prove me a lyer, he thus argueth. <HI>The</HI> Doctor (&s;aith hee) <HI>&s;ent in a paper to
inform the Speaker, that I had accu&s;ed him for &s;ending three&s;core thou&s;and pound
to Oxford, though with the &s;aid Doctor Ba&s;tiwck I had no di&s;cour&s;e at all about
any &s;uch bu&s;ine&s;&s;e.</HI> And therefore he is a notorious ly<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">t, to affirme that I ac|cu&s;ed
Ma&s;ter <HI>Speaker,</HI> when I had no di&s;cour&s;e with him about any &s;uch bu|&s;ine&s;&s;e.
And to prove me an ungratefull fellow, and one that had done him
evill for good, which is yet a degree of Sin above ungratitude: Hee thus di&s;|pureth.
Doctor <HI>Bo&s;twicke, a man that &s;tands obliged unto mee, with as many
tyes of friend&s;hip and re&s;pect, as J am confident he doth to any m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">n in the world,
for whom I have both in</HI> England <HI>and</HI> Holland, <HI>adventured my &s;elfe and all that
was <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">, and for who&s;e &s;ake and cau&s;e, as an earthly in&s;trument I under went all
the &s;orrowes and mi&s;eries that I &s;uffered from the Bi&s;hops for divers yeares toge|ther.</HI>
And for this man to make an information again&s;t me and thus to re|ward
mee, rendring me evill for Good, he proclaimes him&s;elfe to the whole
world to be an unworthy and ungratefull man, and therefore ought de&s;erved+ly
to be abhorred and abominated of all good people, as a lyer &amp; an unthank|full
fellow, and this is the &s;cope of this gallant &s;word-mans di&s;putation, to
wound and di&s;troy his Brothers reputation, and this effect it hath allrea|dy
produced, that among&s;t all tho&s;e of that fraternity (for they take all <HI>pro
confe&s;&s;e</HI> that he either &s;peaketh or Printeth) they talke no otherwi&s;e of mee
then of a ba&s;e fellow, calling me knave and paultry fellow at every word, and
this dialect they have learned of Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Iohn Lilburne,</HI> who
when hee &s;peaketh of me, giveth me no other name, although it is well
knowne untill I had declared my &s;elfe again&s;t Independency, there were no
prai&s;es though great enough both for me and my Brother <HI>Prynne,</HI> &s;uch is the
&s;icklene&s;&s;e and vanity of the poore creature, one day crying <HI>Ho&s;anna,</HI> and a|nother
day crucifie him, if in the lea&s;t ye di&s;plea&s;e his humour, and &s;o hee
dealeth with the Parliament, who, but the Parliament not long &s;ince with
<HI>Iohn Lilburne?</HI> and now they are a company of Tyrants? and the &s;upreame
Court of Judicature is with him as bad as the High Commi&s;&s;ion, and the
Star-chamber, and wor&s;e and all the Judges in the great Councell, as bad as
<HI>Strafford</HI> and the Prelates, trampling downe <HI>Magna Charta,</HI> and the liberty
of the Subjects under there feet, &s;o that if their dealings towards the Subjects
be ju&s;t, he profe&s;&s;eth he hath lo&s;t his judgment, and mu&s;t beginne to learne
A. B. C. againe, &amp;c. But to wave his di&s;pi&s;ing of Government, and rayling
of dignities, a Sin which God &s;o much abhorrs, 2 <HI>Pet. 2. Iude and which
belongs to tho&s;e in authority to redre&s;&s;e, and whom it mo&s;t concernes.</HI> I come
to his particular charge again&s;t mee, and fir&s;t, where hee accu&s;eth mee that I
put up a paper again&s;t him to the Speaker, hee beginnes his crimination with
calling, for I never put up a paper again&s;t him, neither did I ever in my life in|form
again&s;t him unto any Parliament man, or ever open my mouth to any
<PB N="7" REF="5">
of the Hou&s;e in his lea&s;t prejudice to this pre&s;ent day, but have ever &s;poken
well of him to the Parliament, and for this I now &s;ay, all the Parliament
can witne&s;&s;e for mee: and &s;o farre I was from making an Information a|gain&s;t
him about this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, that I knew not at that time, that hee had
ever heard that Mr. <HI>Speaker</HI> was accu&s;ed of any &s;uch thing, nor had not
knowne it, had not hee him&s;elfe in his letter &s;ignified &s;o much that <HI>Pendrid</HI>
had told him &s;uch a thing, and therefore I could not informe again&s;t him,
and in the fir&s;t paper that I and Colonell King put into the Hou&s;e, wee were
&s;o carefull of pre&s;erving others reputations, that we named none in it but
<HI>Haukings.</HI> But after we had &s;ent in the fir&s;t paper, and under&s;tanding from
others, that <HI>Hawkins</HI> varied in his relation, and whereas to us he had only by
name accu&s;ed Ma&s;ter <HI>Speaker,</HI> and Sir <HI>Robert Harlow,</HI> &s;aying that ma|ny
more were equally guilty, and hearing that, to others hee in his relaton
&s;aid there were ten more &s;pecifying a certaine number upon this new intelli|gence,
we conceiving that if he would communicate the&s;e things to us which
were &s;trangers unto him, hee would much more impart his mind to his fami|liers
and tho&s;e of his owne faction, and &s;eeing him in the company of many
of that way from who&s;e &s;o&s;iety hee then immediatly came and related tho&s;e
things to us, we verily per&s;vvaded our &s;elves that hee had told them al&s;o the
&s;ame things, and thinking vvith our &s;elves if <HI>Hawkins</HI> &s;hould deny his words
as probably hee might, that then we might the better corroberat and &s;treng|then
our witne&s;&s;e with their te&s;timonies, which would al&s;o have added
great force and life to our information as being men of reputation and of
good e&s;teeme and credit in the Parliament, and again&s;t whom there could
be no ju&s;t exception or &s;u&s;pition of hatred to that party, they being Indepen|dents
and no Presbiterians, I &s;ay for the &s;trengthening of our witne&s;&s;e, in the
next paper wee &s;ent in to the Hou&s;e, wee put in the names of &s;ome of tho&s;e
that were in <HI>Hawkins</HI> company, as Colonell <HI>Iret<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">,</HI> and Lieutenant Colo|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">ll
<HI>Lilburn,</HI> for &s;uch was the honour we then bare to them, as we had thought
to have had their te&s;timony and witne&s;&s;e, joyned with ours, (in ca&s;e that
<HI>Hawkins</HI> &s;hould have jugled with us, or denyed any thing he &s;pake to us)
and truly Colonell <HI>Iret<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">n</HI> might as well have pickt a quarrell with none at
Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> if he had beene of a malitious and contenti|o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">s
&s;pirit: for all that wee intended by naming of them in the paper pre&s;en|ted
to the Hou&s;e, was for no other end, but to produce their te&s;timonies with
ours, if (as I &s;aid before) <HI>Hawkins</HI> &s;hould have denyed his words. And whe|ther
the naming of the&s;e men were any wrong to them, or any ju&s;t cau&s;e of
a quarell from Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> I referre it to the judgment
of any Sober and di&s;creete man! But for the &s;aitisfaction of your &s;elfe
Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars</HI> and all good men, teke the information as it was put
up in its formall words, which I am not now affraid to publi&s;h becau&s;e the bu|&s;ine&s;&s;e
is now in print by <HI>Iohn Lilburne,</HI> Lieutenant Colonell, and is now
publikely knowne: and becau&s;e al&s;o the innocency of the parties accu&s;ed, is
<PB N="8" REF="6">
novv vindicated and commonly taken notice of, there being nothing made
good again&s;t them, &s;o much as vvith any &s;eeming probability, much le&s;&s;e
proved it being vvell knowne al&s;o, that there vvas not any one of reputation
that vvere either the accu&s;ers or pro&s;ecutors of the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e. But the la&s;t in|formation
that vvas put up into the Hou&s;e of Commons vvas this;
<Q><TEXT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<P>COlonell <HI>Ireton,</HI> Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne, Havvkins,</HI> and others, having
beene &s;erious in di&s;cour&s;e in the Court of Reque&s;ts; <HI>Havvkins</HI> comming im|mediatly
from that company &s;aid there were &s;trange things di&s;covered again&s;t
many Members in the Hou&s;e of Commons, and went as high as the Speaker, a|gain&s;t
whom it would be prov'd, that hee had with his owne hand &s;ent three&s;core
thou&s;and pounds to the King to <HI>Oxford,</HI> and that many Members had made
their Peace, and done &s;trange things, among&s;t whom Sir <HI>Robert Harlovv</HI> was
one, and that if God had not ble&s;t our Army to be in a good condition, the very
di&s;covery of the&s;e things, would have beene enough to have undone us all. The&s;e
words were &s;poken by <HI>Hawkins</HI> before us, and we are ready to witne&s;&s;e the &s;ame.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM>Edward King.</ITEM>
<ITEM>John Ba&s;twicke.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q></P>
<P>The&s;e Mr. <HI>Vicars,</HI> are the very words wee put up to the Hou&s;e, now I ap|peale
unto the judgment of all juditious and moderate Chri&s;tians, whether
there be any one word of accu&s;ation either made by me or Colonell <HI>King,</HI>
again&s;t Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> &s;o that it may now appeare unto all
men, that it was a mo&s;t malitious lye, fained again&s;t me by my good Bro|ther
<HI>Lilburne,</HI> and publi&s;hed only to defame mee: and which is more to bee
taken notice of, that how&s;oever there were many more be&s;ides my &s;elfe tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">
put up informations to this purpo&s;e again&s;t <HI>Hawkins,</HI> and in this very paper
Colonell <HI>King</HI> by name joyned with me, and that in the fir&s;t place, yet hee
baukes them all and &s;ingles me out to make the Theame of his &s;currillity, and
expo&s;e mee to the hatred of all good men. So that now M. <HI>Vicars</HI> I am confi|dent
that you &amp; all who &s;hal &s;ee this are &s;atisfied by my ju&s;t defence for this
fir&s;t point, and &s;o you will all free me from his accu&s;ation, and accompt him
for his paines a meere calumniating lyer, as hee mo&s;t ju&s;tly de&s;erveth.</P>
<P>And now I will an&s;wer to his other cryme of ingratitude. But that you
Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> and all to whom you &s;hall communicate it, may the better
&s;ee into the temper of this man, and all that are of his faction, I &s;hall now
communicate unto you, fir&s;t the originall and beginning of my acquain|tance
with Mr. <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> and of the mutuall affection and reciprocal.
Offices that pa&s;&s;ed betweene us untill hee fell into the boy&s;terous way of
&s;eperation &amp; did pro&s;ecute it vvith, &s;uch violence: and then I will relate unto
you his carriage of late towards me, be&s;ides his a&s;pertions, in his Letter of ly|ing
and ungratitude, and with all tell you &s;ome words and pa&s;&s;ages al&s;o of
<PB N="9" REF="6">
tho&s;e of his faction, and how cau&s;le&s;ly they have abu&s;ed me in word and
deed.</P>
<P>When I was a pri&s;oner in the Gate-hou&s;e, I lay there a whole yeare, &amp; a halfe
to my be&s;t remembrance, before I &s;aw any Citizen in <HI>London,</HI> &s;aving my owne
kindred, and &s;uch people as in who&s;e Hou&s;es I had Lodged, when I was forced
by the tyrany of the times and my malitious enemies, to wait upon the
Courts of Iudicature all the tearme time, for there was &s;car&s;e a Court in the
Kingdome where, <HI>Tom Newcomin, Danet,</HI> and <HI>Richard Daniell,</HI> tho&s;e im|pious
and treacherous fellows out of the rancor and hatred had not put me,
notwith&s;tandiug I had bin a meanes to pre&s;erve the &s;aid <HI>Daniel,</HI> the Brother
of <HI>Thomas Newc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">min</HI> from the jawes of famine, as all the people of <HI>Col<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">|che&s;ter</HI>
can witne&s;&s;e, yet all they con&s;piring again&s;t me out of malice, hoy&s;ted
me up into the Court of Chancery, Kings Bench, High-commi&s;&s;ion, &amp;c. &s;o
that I was con&s;trained to dance attendance all the Terme long upon one
Court or other for many yeares together, untill I was by their pro&s;ecution
ca&s;t into Pri&s;on, &s;o that of nece&s;&s;ity I was forced into &s;ome acquaintance, at
for my freinds generally, they were like the Rivers of <HI>Arabia,</HI> when I vvas
in the greate&s;t heat of affliction, and had mo&s;t need of them to refre&s;h mee,
they vvere all dryed up, and as <HI>Iobs</HI> and <HI>Davids</HI> friends, either out of ba&s;e
feare of the Bea&s;t, they &s;tood a farre of, and &s;o declined me, or el&s;e proved
mi&s;erable comforters and added affliction to my bonds, &s;o that I found that
of <HI>Solomon</HI> true, <HI>confidence in an unfaithfull friend, is like unto a broken tooth
or a foot out of joynt,</HI> for as a broken tooth and a foote out of joynt, not only
fails men vvhen they have the greate&s;t need of them, for their &s;u&s;tinance and
&s;upportation, but paine, hurt and anoy them, and many times exceedingly tor|ment
them, even &s;o it happened to mee, they &s;eldome came to mee, except it
were to rate mee, and revile mee, and joyne with my enemies, yet though
they fayled mee, I had got &s;ome acquaintance by the&s;e my &s;ufferings, who
now and then came to vi&s;it mee, and were kinde unto mee, and the&s;e excep|ted,
no Citizens did ever acco&s;t me, or come nigh mee in all <HI>London</HI> for eigh|teene
Moneths. And that which al&s;o made me not regarded, nor looked after,
&s;ome black mouthed Phy&s;itians that made Religion their &s;talking Hor&s;e to
get into practi&s;e, one of the which al&s;o, &s;tood really obliged unto mee, in as
many Obligations of re&s;pect and frind&s;hip, as Lieutenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI>
fal&s;ely affirmes, I &s;tand bound to him, and yet this man al&s;o forgetting al cour|tifies
and humanity, for no other rea&s;on, but becau&s;e I could not applaud all
his di&s;tempers joyned with the other men unknowne to mee by any famili|arity,
and with whom to this pre&s;ent day I yet never Changed a word, and
they all as it were in a confedracy combined together to defame mee, and
&s;pake all manner of evill of mee (and continue the &s;ame trade to this day) &s;o
that in the judgment of all the Citizens that heard of mee and through their
calumnies, I was thought worthy of no pitty, and e&s;teemed of a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> man no
way to be regarded: yea I was condemned by the mo&s;t of them that heard of
<PB N="10" REF="7">
mee, as an evill doer, and my puni&s;hment thought to little for mee, and they
&s;pake generally of mee as of a debau&s;hed fellow and a madman: and all
tho&s;e a&s;pertions were laid upon mee partly out of malice, and partly for feare,
lea&s;t any &s;hould make u&s;e of mee for their Phy&s;itian, for they were &s;ure they
&s;hould ever find mee at home, when others perhaps would be in the Country
when they had greate&s;t need of them, &amp; therfore for feare (as I &s;ay) lea&s;t I &s;hold
hinder Gri<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">s from comming to their Mi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">l, &amp; out of envy they often traduced
me, and vilified me every where an ordinary practi&s;e e&s;pecially of the indepen|dent
Phy&s;itians, and all that I now &s;ay Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> I think you in part can
witne&s;&s;e: &s;o that I remained a Pri&s;oner of hope, de&s;titute of friends and in a
de&s;picable condition, and knew not the face of any Citizen but my kindred,
and &s;ome few that I formerly made mention of, untill one Mr. <HI>Wharton</HI> an
old Di&s;ciple, an hone&s;t and a godly man, was &s;ent unto me by a Doctor
of Divinity, as prelaticall a man as hee told mee, as any in <HI>England,</HI> which
made the good-old man to wonder, yet hee being a learned man tooke pity
of mee, and &s;ent me twenty &s;hillings in Gould, which was the fir&s;t pre&s;ent I
ever received from any man of that function, forbidding him to tell me his
name (which hee concealed faithfully) with this Me&s;&s;age al&s;o, that if I were
in any nece&s;&s;ity, I &s;hould make Mr. <HI>Wharton</HI> acquainted with it, and then I
&s;hould heare from him, and hee likewi&s;e charged him to take a care of mee,
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">elling him that he never read any Puritans writings from which he had
better &s;atisfaction, and gave me hyperbolicall pray&s;es as he related unto me;
whereupon the ould man began to aske mee, how I &s;ub&s;i&s;ted there, and I
told him in particular, all my means that was left to &s;upport me to a Peny
(and I ble&s;&s;e God I &s;p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ake it to his Pray&s;e) I was as well contented with wa|ter-gruell
in P<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3+ letters">lon as ever I was with greate&s;t plenty at liberty, God ble&s;|&s;ing
it to mee and mine, it &s;u&s;tained us and if my poore Wife could purcha&s;e
one ro&s;t joynt of meate in the Weeke, wee thought our &s;elves happy, and
our little Children would skippe as much to &s;ee a peece of ro&s;t meat on the
&s;uit, as others would do at any thing of greate&s;t delight or wonder, and would
cry out one to another ro&s;t-meat, roa&s;t-meat, that it would draw teares
many times from my Wifes eyes to heare them (and that that I now &s;peake
the Lord in Heaven knowes it is true) and all this while ble&s;&s;ed be God,
we had our health; &amp; looked well, And in this low and contented conditi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n
we could have continued without &s;tarving, though wee had never had ayde
from any mortall man, but I had a very loving Kin&s;man (whom you know
well Mr. <HI>Vicars</HI>) Mr. <HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rang</HI> by name, who &s;u&s;pecting the wor&s;t &s;hewed me
may kindne&s;&s;es and his Children likewi&s;e, and he lent me money upon any
occa&s;ion, and that was no &s;mall comfort unto us, but otherwi&s;e I was friend|le&s;&s;e
and helple&s;&s;e, untill old Mr. <HI>Wharton</HI> by that Docters meanes came to me
who much incouraged mee, and intreated me I would write &s;omething in
Engli&s;h, for the people (&s;aith hee) under&s;tands not Latine, and therefore can
reape no benefit by your labours, neither will you ever be knowne unto them
<PB N="11" REF="7">
and &s;o hee extreamly urged mee that I would write &s;omething in Engli&s;h,
whereupon I demanded of him what theame hee would put me upon, by a|ny
meanes (&s;aith hee) write again&s;t the Bi&s;hops, for he could not indure them,
they having utterly undone him two or three times and pro&s;ecuted him
for the &s;pace of forty yeares, whereupon I told him that in few dayes I would
do &s;omething concerning that Subject, and perceiving that he was a good
cheerfull, merry old man, I began with my Letany which when he had heard
it made him laugh as if hee had bin tickled, &s;o that I never &s;aw a man more
plea&s;ant at a peece of grillery. And the very day he brought &s;ome Citizens
of good repute into my Chamber, who be&s;towed a dinner on mee, and after
they had heard my Letany once, they were &s;o highly plea&s;ed at it, that they
int<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">eated to heare it read again<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">, and de&s;ired each of them a copy of it, and at
their departure they &s;hewed them&s;elves very Chri&s;tianly noble and kind, and
gave me ten peece<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">, which &s;et me up, and this was the fir&s;t curre&s;ie that
ever <HI>I</HI> received from any Citizens that were &s;trangers to mee, neither were
they loving to me at that time, but now and then they both came and &s;ent
to mee, delighting in my company, &s;o as they commended me unto their
Neighbours with compa&s;&s;ion grieving as they &s;aid, that I &s;hould be neglected
and no more regarded, and they read my Letany to them al&s;o, and &s;o from
one to another, by this meanes I came to be knovne, and to be in e&s;teme
among &s;ome Godly Citizens, and to be acquainted with them, who &s;hewed
me many courte&s;ies, vvhich vvas not a little comfort unto my bands vvhich
I acknowledge with all thankfullne&s;&s;e to God and them (and all the&s;e were
the old Puritans of <HI>E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">gland</HI> and now Presbiterians, not one of them inde|pendent)
and this was the fir&s;t occa&s;ion of my being knowne to the City,
And not long after this, the good old Father, brought me acquainted with
&s;ome young men towardly and fearing God, and they al&s;o tooke plea&s;ure in
my &s;ociety, and I was as glad of theirs, among&s;t the which was Mr. <HI>Iohn Lil|burne,</HI>
who as his occa&s;ions permitted him, would now and then vi&s;it mee, of
whom I had then as good an opinion, as of any young man in the Towne,
and conceived of him as an hone&s;t hopefull and godly youth, and gave him
as good councell, as I could give to any, and loved, and e&s;teemed of him, as I
did of any of my Chri&s;tian Brethren, and after &s;ome familiarity and more in|timate
acquaintance, he made knowne unto mee his condition, and told me
(as I remembred) that he was now, either out of his time, or that it approach|ed
that he &s;hould be a Free-man; but withall related unto me, that his &s;tocke
was very &s;mall to beginne with (and if my memory faile not) he tould mee
hee had but fifty or three&s;core pound for his portion, which &s;aith hee, you
know, is very li<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">tle to &s;et up withall, (But what trade hee was of I know not
to this day) and hee intreated mee, that I would be plea&s;ed to give him a Co|py
of my Let any, and my an&s;wer to the Bill of information put up again&s;t me
in the Star-chamber, &s;aying that hee doubted not but hee &s;hould get money
enough by them, for he perceived that they were well approved of by all that
<PB N="31" REF="8">
read or &s;eene them: whereupon I di&s;waded him from thinking of &s;uch a
thing, telling him, that it would expo&s;e him to great danger, and that it might
prove his ruin: but withall, I &s;aid, if that hee did really conceive or beleeve
that it might bring any benefit unto him and might rai&s;e him a &s;tock, that
withall my heart, mo&s;t willingly I would give it him, or any other Copies of
anything I had either in Latin or Engli&s;h: but I told him for my Letanies they
were all gone, and I had never a Copy left. Then hee demanded where hee
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ight procure one, and I told him, that one Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars</HI> a Schoole Ma|&s;ter
in Chri&s;t church had one, and I thought that hee would be willing to let
him have it, whereupon Hee intreated mee to write unto you Ma|&s;ter
<HI>Vicars,</HI> and &s;o I did earne&s;tly, de&s;iring you to let him have
yours, which you mo&s;t willingly and readily conde&s;cended unto: with
all you may remember Mr. <HI>Vicars,</HI> that I u&s;ed this Argument to make you
more willing to plea&s;ure him, that hee was a hopefull young man, but he had
but a little &s;tock to begin with, and hee conceived that it might be a meanes
the better to &s;et him up, to which you the more willingly li&s;tned unto, and
freely gave him my Letany. And all this you can witne&s;&s;e unto. Whereupon
<HI>John Lilburne</HI> repayers to mee, returning many thanks, and tould mee with
all, that hee had my Letany, and was now taking his journey into the Low-Countries
to print it, and brought with him a young man, whom hee &s;aid, he
would imploy for the di&s;per&s;ing of his bookes, that he &s;hould &s;end over be|fore
his returne: but I di&s;&s;waded him for confiding in that man (though I had
never &s;eene him before) for I tould him I liked not his lookes, and I was
afraid that he would betray him: but notwith&s;tanding what I &s;aid, hee <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">eied
mo&s;t confidently upon him, profe&s;&s;ing that he would put his life in his hands,
a&s;&s;uring that hee had experience of his fidelity, and &s;eeing that I could not
prevaile with him to make u&s;e of &s;ome other, <HI>I</HI> left him to him&s;elfe, telling
him againe and againe, that I was per&s;waded hee would prove a fal&s;e friend
unto him, for hee looked like a knave. And all this <HI>John Lilburne</HI> cannot de|ny,
and as I tould him it came to pa&s;&s;e, for he betrayed him to the Prelates
afterward, but it was carried &s;o cunningly on the Prelates part, and &s;o crafte|ly
by that fellow, that it did not appeare to <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> that he was decei|ved,
though it was palpable to all men be&s;ides. But now a word or two of
<HI>John Lilburnes</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;e in the Low-Countries, when hee came thither, hee
made all &s;peed to print the Letany, with my an&s;wer to the Bill of informa|tion,
and it was no &s;ooner publi&s;hed, but hee got three&s;core pounds cleerely
by it in a few dayes, as hee him&s;elfe hath often related it to mee and others,
as <HI>I</HI> can prove: and had not that ba&s;e fellow betrayed him, he might for ought
<HI>I</HI> know, have gotten five hundred pounds by it: for never did any apolegy
&s;ell better: but as &s;oone as the Bookes were landed in <HI>England,</HI> and that, that
Judas had intelligence of it by <HI>John Lilburnes</HI> Letters, hee immediatly
informed the Prelate of <HI>Canterbury</HI> of it, who could not endure the very
name of my Letany, and forthwith he &s;ent downe a Pur&s;evant vvith plenary
authority, to the place where they landed, and &s;urpri&s;ed all the books &amp; burnt
<PB N="12" REF="8">
them there where he found them, (if I have not bin mi&s;informed) &amp; as &s;oon
as <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> was arrived he cau&s;ed him to be apprehended &amp; ca&s;t into
ri&s;on and after to be cen&s;ured in the Star-Chamber, and made him mo&s;t
barbarou&s;ly and cruelly to be whipt, pillired, and gagged, and afterwards
to bee mo&s;t tyrannically abu&s;ed in the Goale, again&s;t all Lawes both of
God, Nature, and all humanity, all which hee might have e&s;caped, if hee
would have followed my coun&s;ell, and had not tru&s;ted to his owne wit, and
confided in that treacherous fellow, who was his overthrow. This is all
true, Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> that I have now related unto you, and both your &s;elfe
and many more can witne&s;&s;e for me, that I have not in my relation fal&s;ifi|ed
any thing. Now I &s;hall de&s;ire you, and all tho&s;e that &s;hall reade what
in truth I have written, to con&s;ider, whether I &s;tand obliged to <HI>John Lil|burne,</HI>
with as many tyes of friend&s;hip and re&s;pect, as to any man in the
world (as he affirmeth) or whether or no, hee is not obliged rather to me
in all tho&s;e tyes of friend&s;hip and re&s;pect, that was &s;o willing to gratifie
him meerely, for a few vi&s;ets: for I never at that time had received a far|thing
of mony from him of his own? Or whether he ventured his life in
<HI>England</HI> and <HI>Holland</HI> for my &s;ake, or for his own profit and hope of gaine?
Or whether hee underwent tho&s;e mi&s;eries hee &s;peakes of for my cau&s;e,
or for his owne emolument and benefits which hee affirmeth? All the&s;e
things Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> I referre not onely to your judgment, to bee con|&s;idered
of, but to the wi&s;dom and di&s;cretion of all moderate minded men,
who if they &s;hall impartially judge, I am mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, they will determine
that the obligation lyes on <HI>John Lilburnes</HI> part towards me, and not on my
part towards him, e&s;pecially if they &s;hall &s;eriou&s;ly way all other pa&s;&s;ages be|tweene
us, which in the following di&s;cour&s;e will appeare for I freeley gave
him the Copies of both my Letany and an&s;wer, never expecting any profit
to my &s;elfe by them, or ever looking for any reward from him, or any other
thing but his love. And I am mo&s;t confident, if I could have beene merce|nary,
as yet I never was, (who never tooke a penny of my Printer for any
thing I did) I might have had forty pieces at lea&s;t for the Copies of them:
and it will not be a difficult thing to prove what I now &s;ay. Now then whe|ther
or no, <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> bee not for this my humanity obliged to mee, I
leave it to all mens con&s;ideration. And whereas hee &s;aith he adventured
his life at home and abroad, and underwent all tho&s;e mi&s;eries for my &s;ake
and cau&s;e, it is mo&s;t fal&s;e: for he expo&s;ed him&s;elfe to all tho&s;e dangers, as
Mariners doe to all the perills of Sea, for hope of gaine, and of getting a
livelyhood for them&s;elves &amp; their Families; And it is well known that <HI>Iohn
Lilburne</HI> at that time was not &s;o well in&s;tructed in the controver&s;ies of the
Church as uow he &s;eemeth to be, who dares all the World to di&s;pute with
him: Neither was it &s;o much his zeale to the Cau&s;e, that put him upon that
imployment, as the eye he had to his own honour and profit, which in all
probability, if he had not beene betrayed, hee would have concommita|ted
<PB N="14" REF="9">
his endeavours: and if <HI>John</HI> had not forgot him&s;elfe, he would as for|merly
hee hath done acknowledge that I was the be&s;t ma&s;ter, and in&s;truct|our
that ever hee had for matters of controver&s;ie, and Religion; &s;o that
next unto God he owes his greate&s;t ski<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">l to mee, who was a good Tutor to
him, and I would have him to know that I am yet able to teach him, and a
better Schollar then any independant in <HI>England,</HI> who are yet to learne
their Primer in Politickes, and their Catechi&s;me in Divinity, though
through the judgment of God upon this Nation which affect Novelties the
people are infatuated with that generation of men: and as it is in the &s;ong
of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> Revel. 15. <HI>Great and wonderfull are thy workes, Lord God Almi|ghtie,
and just in all thy wayes, thou King of Saints, to give men over to error
becau&s;e they receive not the truth, in the love of it, that they might be &s;aved,</HI>
2 <HI>The&s;. 2. ver.</HI> 10. 11. And if <HI>John</HI> had but grace in him he would not di&s;|daine
at this pre&s;ent, to be advi&s;ed by me who &s;o long as he followed tho&s;e
whol&s;ome principles, and the good councell I gave him, hee had true ho|nour
indeed and might have lived and dyed with comfort and repute,
whereas taking tho&s;e idle cour&s;es, and following a company of un&s;table
guidy-headed people out of vaine glory and ambition to have a name of a
Champion of the Independents he perpetrates tho&s;e unwarrantable things
that brings di&s;honour to God and &s;candalls all Chri&s;tian Religion, and
his holy profe&s;&s;ion, &s;o that whiles hee would be thought to bee a Teacher
and Doctor as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peakes, 1 <HI>Tim. chap. 1. Hee under&s;tandeth not
what he &s;peaketh, nor whereof he affirmes, who hath erred from the truth, and is
now turned in to vain janglings, not knowing that the end of the Commandement
is love out of a pure heart, and a good Con&s;cience, and of faith unfained,</HI> which
forbids him <HI>to rayle of dignities and to &s;peake evill of Government,</HI> and in|joynes
him to obedience, and teaches him in love, <HI>to thinke better of others
then of him&s;elfe, and to preferre others before him&s;elfe, Rom. 12. v. 10. Phil.</HI> 2.
and not out of a vapouring humour, proudly and arrogantly to vaunt him|&s;elfe,
and dare all others, and our of his turbulent and tumultuous &s;pirit to
ray&s;e a Faction to the di&s;turbing of both Church and State and the di&s;quie|ting
him&s;elfe and others, to the griefe of all &s;uch as wi&s;h his good both
for &s;oule and body. Now as I have related unto you Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars&punc;</HI> the
beginning of our acquaintance, and &s;hewed you what the Obligations
were that hee &s;ayes, I &s;tand &s;o much ingaged unto him for, &s;o I thinke it
not ami&s;&s;e to &s;peake of &s;ome other pa&s;&s;ages of love both from my Wife
and my &s;elfe towards him. As for my Wife in the time of my bani&s;hment
at his &s;ufferings, &s;he was failing to him in no offer of friend&s;hip but withall
tender affection, &s;hee was ever ready to yeeld him her be&s;t a&s;&s;i&s;tance in any
thing and night and day &s;he was &s;olicitous for his good providing for him
a mo&s;t faithfull and diligent Chirurgion, often vi&s;iting him, and &s;tirring up
friends to doe him good and according to her owne abilities plea&s;uring
him, in any thing hee &s;tood in need of continually taking order that hee
<PB N="15" REF="9">
wanted nothing that was &s;itting for a man in his condition, and had as great
a care of him, as if he had been his owne Father, and that when he was di|&s;erted
of his friends (as can &s;ufficiently be proved) and after he was &s;et at li|berty,
and I was returned from my bani&s;hment, we lived in as great amity and
affection, as ever any two chri&s;tian Brethren did, and there was no office of
love that I have ever hitherto been failing to him in, either in his &s;ickne&s;&s;e or
in health, notwith&s;tanding in the time of his impri&s;onment, he falling
into acquaintance with &s;ectaries and &s;traglers, was much &s;warved from tho&s;e
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">uthes, and that purity of doctrine he had learned of me; yet all this in the
lea&s;t alienated not my affection from him, but I continued as cordiall as ever,
rejoycing either to &s;ee or heare of him, and of his wel-fare, and he had my
pray&s;es where&s;oever I came; and all the&s;e were obligations, and &s;o would any
others have thought.</P>
<P>And this I may al&s;o &s;ay, that he may thanke me as an earthly in&s;trument
(that I may make u&s;e of &s;ome of his owne language) for all the honour he had
in the world; for his acquaintance with me, and his &s;uffering about my books
(as many of the Parliament have often told me) was the cau&s;e that he became
&s;o famous, and &s;o well knowne and honoured, whereas otherwi&s;e he might
have lived and dyed in ob&s;curity, and been knowne no farther then a man can
&s;hoot a pelle<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> with a Trunk, and perhaps not to his next neighbours doore,
as it happens in <HI>London</HI> to many thou&s;ands of eminenter men, otherwi&s;e for
all parts then he, though his abilities are very con&s;iderable; and therefore i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">
that al&s;o he is beholding unto me.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, I taught him &s;ome court&s;hip by being in my company, and
made him &s;it for all Gentlemens and Noble-mens &s;ociety; whereas when
he came fir&s;t to be my Scholler, though he were Hone&s;t and Religious, yet he
was but a meere country courtier, and very rough hewen, &s;o that he could
neither make a legge with grace, nor put off his hat &s;eemly, till I had poli&s;hed
him, and taught him all his po&s;tures of court&s;hip, and now he is become a very
gallant Fellow, aud hath commenced Lieutenant-colonell <HI>Lilburne;</HI> and who
but <HI>John</HI> among the controlere&s;&s;es of dripping-pannes, the Independent
&s;i&s;ters?</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, by my &s;ociety he bettered him&s;elfe, and that not a little in his lan|guage
and dialect, and is &s;till beholding to me for many of his be&s;t and choy|&s;e&s;t
expre&s;&s;ions, as all that know him can &s;ay, and all the&s;e were obligations,
which many a gratefull man would have thought he could never have can|celled,
though <HI>John</HI> has forgot all, which makes me therefore (though it be
contrary to my complexion) to enumerate them, that every indifferent and in|telligible
man may &s;ee, that Lievtenant-colonell <HI>John Lilburne</HI> is not alwayes
to be beleeved, though he be in print: And that Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> you may &s;ee
how fairly I deale with him, I will conceale no curte&s;ie that ever he did me,
that all men may behold the extremity of my engagement<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> towards him.
While&s;t he was in a good mood, he was very loving and kind unto me in word
and deed, and when I was a pri&s;oner in <HI>York-&s;hire,</HI> he laboured much for my
exchange, and writ many Letters to my Wife about it, and &s;ent his Drum once
<PB N="16" REF="10">
or twice to me to <HI>Knarsbrough</HI> ca&s;tle, which was two miles or thereabou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">
fr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">m the place where he billited, and one of tho&s;e times he &s;ent me ten &s;hil|lings,
which I e&s;teemed of as a great favour, and in way of thankfulne&s;&s;e, I
gave unto his Drum eleven &s;hillings, as the Captaine and Souldiers there can
witne&s;&s;e, who &s;tood by all the time he or any man talked with me: But by
the way, Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> I will &s;ay thus much, that this ten &s;hillings was the
fir&s;t and la&s;t money that ever I received from <HI>Iohn Lilburnt;</HI> and withall I
profe&s;&s;e unto you, that notwith&s;tanding all our acquaintance, I never yet
brake my teeth with any of his capons, or ever eat of his bread; yet at that
time e&s;pecially, he &s;hewed his readine&s;&s;e to plea&s;ure me; and through his
meanes, as I conceive, many other great commanders laboured my exchange,
and &s;ent their Drums and Trumpets about it to me, as the Earle of <HI>Manche|&s;ter,</HI>
and Generall <HI>Crumwell;</HI> to both which Honourable Per&s;onages, I &s;tand
&s;till ingaged, for that excellent favour of theirs: And at my returne, he came
lovingly out of the city, with others, to bring me into <HI>London.</HI> But here let
me tell you al&s;o Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> and what I &s;hall &s;ay I am able to prove;
that all this time my brother <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> &s;hewed me &s;o much kindne&s;&s;e, and
was &s;o &s;olicitous for my liberty, and came &s;o friendly out to meet me, he not
onely conceived me to be an Independent, but reported it that I was of their
way, and one of them; and this, I &s;ay, I can prove; &s;o that it was not pure
charity and unfained love, but all under the notion that I was of his judge|ment,
that he &s;hewed me &s;o much favour: For &s;ince that I declared my &s;elfe
that I was of a contrary opinion; it is well knowne that he hath not onely
relinqui&s;hed and abandoned me, but in words mo&s;t reproachfully abu&s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">e,
with all manner of calumnies behind my backe, calling me ba&s;e fellow, pal|try
fellow, knave, apo&s;tate, an enemy of the Generation of the ju&s;t, a per&s;e|c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ter;
and all this before his Letter was printed, wherein he hath to the pur|po&s;e
rayled both upon me and my highly honoured brother Ma&s;ter <HI>William
Prynne;</HI> but it is his u&s;uall cu&s;tome thus to a&s;per&s;e the very Nobility and
Peers of the Kingdome, if they do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> not in all things humour him, as the Il|lei&s;trious
Earle of <HI>Manchester,</HI> yea, he &s;pares not the King his Highne&s;&s;e, nor
the Parliament.</P>
<P>And for his complices, all that Rabble rout, tagragge and bobtaile, that
followed him in the&s;e his needle&s;&s;e and &s;ought for troubles, as <HI>Worly</HI> by name,
and others, they told me, and that in a crowded a&s;&s;embly, that I was very
high, but they had knowne me low enough, and that not long &s;ince I lived
on their almes, and affirmed, that they had kept me from hanging, but now
I was turned an Apo&s;tate, a per&s;ecuter, and an enemy of the godly party,
and joyned with the wicked, again&s;t the Saints (it &s;eems they are all Saints)
and that I had ever been factious, in&s;omuch that they could not entertaine me
in their hearts, nor &s;o much as pray for me: All the&s;e reproaches, and a grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">
many more, they ca&s;t upon me in the pre&s;ence of many, when they were in
a tumultuous manner attending upon the Committee of Examinations,
and that without the lea&s;t occa&s;ion on my part given them, any more then
my pre&s;ence in that place, whether I was &s;ummoned to be a Witne&s;&s;e: And
<PB N="17" REF="10">
for the&s;e men that did thus ignominiou&s;ly and injuriou&s;ly relvile me, they
were all Lieutenant-colonell <HI>Lilburnes</HI> followers and abettors, and &s;econded
by him, and all of them unknowne to me, and &s;uch as I had never &s;een (to my
be&s;t remembrance) &s;o much as the very face of any one of them before that
day, neither did I ever among&s;t chri&s;tians behold &s;uch odde complexions and
&s;trange looks; if ever you had &s;een the picture of Hel, M. <HI>Vicars</HI> in York-hou&s;e,
where all the po&s;tures of the damned creatures, with their gri&s;ly lookes are
de&s;cribed, and had al&s;o taken notice, what gha&s;tly, ugly &s;ower and mu&s;teds fa|ces,
out of dolour, paine and angui&s;h they made, and had been among&s;t this
company, and had &s;een what gri&s;ly looks they out of malice, rancor and en|vy
to the Presbyterian party, and e&s;pecially to my &s;elfe had made, and had
withall heard their confu&s;ed, hiddious noy&s;es, calling for the liberties of the
Subjects, and for the benefit of Magna charta, and the Petition of Right, and
for a publike hearing, you would have thought your &s;elfe in the very Sub|urbs
of Hell, and that the&s;e had been the &s;onnes of <HI>Pluto</HI> or <HI>Pinus</HI> a&s;cended
out of <HI>Orco;</HI> the complexion al&s;o of many of them being like the bellie of a
Toad; and to &s;peake the ttuth, <HI>Worly</HI> was one of the propere&s;t Gentlemen
among&s;t them all, and he was the mo&s;t remarkable and taken notice of, by
rea&s;on of his habit and bu&s;ie diligence; he went that day in a great white
and browne basket-hilted beard, and with a &s;et of teeth in his head, much
like a Po<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">-fi&s;h, all &s;taring and &s;tanding &s;ome di&s;tance one from another, as if
they had not been good friends; it may be conjectured, he picks them twice
a day with a bed-&s;taffe, they looke &s;o white and cleare; he was mighty dili|gent
about the Common-wealth that day, and the Priviledges of the Subject,
and all the fraternity came flocking about him upon all occa&s;ions, as a com|pany
of Turkyes doe about a Frogge, wondering at her as at a &s;trange &s;ight:
Without doubt when the Parliament comes to be recruted, the Independents
will make him a Member; and I am confident he will prove a rotten one, for
he looks as if he had gotten a blow with a French colt-&s;taffe, and it is noto|rious
he is a bankrupt of all goodne&s;&s;e, and what&s;oever &s;hew he makes now
of Independency, Anabapti&s;me, or any of the new wayes, or to &s;tand for the
Common-wealth, both he and Saint <HI>Sprat</HI> their Soliciter, have been knaves
from their mothers womb; and therefore Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> if you have any hand
in choo&s;ing of Members, let not him have your voyce.</P>
<P>But now to &s;peak &s;omething of their babble; how can any man living that
either &s;aw them or knows them perfectly, with rea&s;on, imagine that I &s;hould
ever have lived of the&s;e mens almes? mo&s;t of which, by all conjectures, live
and depend on other mens curte&s;ies, and are onely &s;upported by being of that
Faction; for more ob&s;cure and ill conditioned fellowes did I never behold:
And what a ba&s;e lye it was in them, to affirme that they kept me from hang|ing;
whereas I never was (as all men know) &s;o much as que&s;tioned at any
Earre, or in any Court for my life, and therefore had no need of the P&s;alme
of mercy, much le&s;&s;e of their help in that kind; and I ble&s;&s;e God, I was never
brought &s;o low, that I could not have &s;ub&s;i&s;ted without &s;tarving, with the
&s;tumps of that e&s;tate my Father left me, after all the va&s;t expences I was cau&s;|le&s;ly
<PB N="18" REF="11">
put unto, by my malicious enemies in all their Courts, although my
children would have fared the wor&s;e for it, and I &s;hould not &s;o comfortably
perhaps have undergone my impri&s;onment, had not my chri&s;tian friends been
&s;ome help unto me; and I can truly &s;ay this, and make it appeare, that all
that ever I received by way of curtifie, doth not amount by a thou&s;and pound
and more, to that meanes my Father left me, be&s;ides my Wives portion; &s;o
that I am above two thou&s;and pounds wor&s;e, in reall money and e&s;tate at
this day, be&s;ides the lo&s;&s;e of my time, for the&s;e twelve yeers, &s;ince which my
troubles began, above eight of which I was kept a clo&s;e Pri&s;oner, and three
of them in bani&s;hment; and they that know what I am now worth, can wit|ne&s;&s;e
the &s;ame for me, men of reputation: And therefore they were barba|rou&s;ly
in&s;olent &s;o to &s;peake to me; and indeed all the &s;tanders by wondered
at their rudene&s;&s;e and inhumanity towards me, affirming that they never &s;aw
a more uncivill and ill conditioned people.</P>
<P>But here we may take notice what a &s;lavery it is for any man to be behol|ding
to &s;uch a generation of creatures, who upon the lea&s;t conceived di&s;plea|&s;ure,
will ca&s;t their courte&s;ies (if any) in the teeth of tho&s;e to whom they
have &s;hewne them, if in the &s;malle&s;t punctillio you be not of their mind: And
therefore we are councelled by Saint <HI>James,</HI> if we want wi&s;dome or any good
thing, to aske it of God, <HI>who</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>giveth liberally and upbraideth not,</HI>
Jam. P. 5. And if the&s;e men had ever given me any thing, as I am mo&s;t con|fident
they never did, yet all the world knowes, that when they gave it, it
was for this rea&s;on, that they were then of my mind (for they &s;ay now they
cannot pray for me) which argueth their want of charity, their levity, fickle|ne&s;&s;e
and in&s;tability in all their wayes; but this is that that all their frater|nity
daily ca&s;t in my di&s;h, though I am mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, if all that ever I received
from them, or any of tho&s;e that are now of that &s;ociety, it will not all amount
to three &s;core pounds, and I am able to make good that I now &s;peak: And
yet the&s;e are the daily claimours of this people, and onely for my con&s;tancy;
for all that have read my books for which I &s;uffered, and know me, can free
me from that a&s;per&s;ion of apo&s;tacy and faction, and from being an enemy to
the truly godly party, and to the Saints, who I honour and love with my life.
And after the very &s;ame manner, not long &s;ince, Ma&s;ter <HI>Samuel Goo&s;e,</HI> one of
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">hat way, a man that I never &s;aw, to my be&s;t remembrance, till my la&s;t en|largement
from pri&s;on; yet he al&s;o upbraided me with his curti&s;ies, and told
me, I had forgot my &s;elfe, and that I had grieved and &s;added the hearts of the
Saints, and that he was very &s;orry for me, to &s;ee me &s;ide again&s;t the godly
party; and in a very imperious manner told me, that while&s;t I writ again&s;t
the Independents, I writ again&s;t Chri&s;t and his truth; and thus did Saint
<HI>Gander</HI> hi&s;&s;e a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> me, and <HI>Grolli&s;e,</HI> who is a plaguey Stickler among&s;t the Inde|pendents,
and a very bu&s;ie Solicitor of their affaires, which I am afraid, if
they be not &s;peedily lookt unto, will bring ruine upon the whole King|dome.</P>
<P>Ma&s;ter <HI>Vi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ars,</HI> I have been &s;omething longer then I thought to have been,
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> I was willing to &s;et before your eye, the full<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">Narration of all pa&s;&s;ages be|tween
<PB N="19" REF="11">
me and Lievtenant-Colonel <HI>Lilburn,</HI> with his complices &amp; the occa&s;ion
of our acquaintance, that you and all men may the better judge, whether I
&s;tand engaged to this man in &s;o m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ny obligations as he pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">tends, or whether
he be not rather obliged to me in them all, and hath proved very ungratefull
unto me, who for my good will and love to him, a meere &s;tranger to me at
fir&s;t, and never giving him any ju&s;t occa&s;ion, hath &s;o maliciou&s;ly and fal&s;ly
a&s;per&s;ed me to the whole Kingdome, and cau&s;ele&s;ly brought all the Indepen|dent
party upon me, who in all places and in all companies (which I ac|count
of for my honor) mo&s;t unhumanely rayle on me; for if he had not laid
that calumny upon me, and incen&s;ed them again&s;t me, I am per&s;waded what|&s;oever
evill opinion they might have conceived of me &s;ecretly, becau&s;e I differ
from them, yet they could never &s;o &s;hamefully have vented them&s;elves in pub|like,
&s;o that he hath proved him&s;elfe guilty of both the&s;e crimes, <HI>lying</HI> and <HI>in|gratitude,</HI>
that he accu&s;ed me of, and wronged both me and all his party, and
made all his a&s;&s;ociates offenders in many re&s;pects, by the&s;e his pactices; for in
complying with them in his unwarrantable wayes, they have made them&s;elves
equally guilty before God and men, and have a great deale to an&s;wer for their
tumultuous di&s;orderly carriage in all that bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, which to &s;peak the truth,
concerned them not; neither had there been any ju&s;t cau&s;e of offence given
by me (if they would but deliberately weigh all things with rea&s;on among
them&s;elves) if I had indeed informed again&s;t Lieutent-Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI>
(which I did not) neither could it de&s;ervedly have been accounted a crime;
for there is no tye of friend&s;hip that ought to make me de&s;ert my duty to the
publike, and to break my Covenant, and violate my Prote&s;tation; by vertue
of both which, I ought to informe the Parliament and State of any thing that
I thought of common concernment, made for the peace of the whole King|dome,
and the honour of the Parliament, which I am bound to maitaine with
the reputation of every Member of that Supreame and Honourable Court;
for they are our Fathers, Magi&s;trates and Protectors, and every Subject that
is under obedience (and that has taken the Covenant and Prote&s;tation) is
tyed in as much as in him lyes, to pre&s;erve and defend them in their lives and
reputation: And if any be informed concerning any one in that Councell,
that he &s;hould either doe, practice or attempt any thing that tends to the ru|ine
of the re&s;t, and of the whole State and Kingdome, he is in con&s;cience
bound to reveale it, (that if fal&s;e, the divulgers of &s;uch calumnies may receive
condigne puni&s;hment; if true, evill may be prevented) and this I &s;ay he ought
to doe, though it &s;hould be to the prejudice of his nighe&s;t alies and intimate&s;t
acquaintance; and this I conceive among the Independents may be thought
no unju&s;t act, which this information of mine could not have done, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> I by
name, put it up again&s;t Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilbure</HI> (as he fal&s;ly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
me) for he might as well have freed him&s;elfe from all danger, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
reputation (if he had told me tho&s;e things as well as <HI>Hankins,</HI> who <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ith|&s;tanding
he related them unto us, not as hear-&s;ayes and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
others, but as truths, which he &s;aid &s;hould be proved; yet this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
que&s;tioned about it, and but relating that he received and heard it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="20" REF="12">
Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> he was forthwith di&s;charged; even &s;o might he
have been, if he had mode&s;tly told where he had heard that report, and not
in a di&s;gui&s;ed, rebellious and proud manner behaved him&s;elfe: And it makes
all men wonder to &s;ee the incon&s;iderable ra&s;hne&s;&s;e of all that party, who fall
&s;o violently upon me, for but putting up my paper again&s;t <HI>Hankins,</HI> when
Saint <HI>Worly</HI> and his a&s;&s;ociates (for &s;o they would be accounted) made the &s;ame
information to four Members of the Hou&s;e before, and have ever &s;ince with
Spirit <HI>Sprat</HI> been the onely pro&s;ec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">tors of that but bu&s;ine&s;&s;e; e&s;pecially they
ought not to have been &s;o furio<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">s again&s;t me, when <HI>Hankins</HI> reported it, that
he related it to Colonell <HI>King</HI> and my &s;elfe for this very end, that the whole
matter might be fully &s;earched into, &s;aying, after I had lodged it with the
Doctor and Colonell <HI>King,</HI> I left it, de&s;iring that the naile might be droven
to the head, and that the truth might be found out: This was his ex|pre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Now when I have gratified Ma&s;ter <HI>Hawk<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ns</HI> de&s;ires, who is the Sagamore of
the Independants, and done but my duty &amp; what he and his company would
have me to doe, and what they them&s;elves do act; may it not &s;eeme a &s;trange
thing both to your &s;elfe Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> and all that &s;hall under&s;tand the true
relation of the&s;e things, that the Independants &s;hould thus clamour again&s;t
me, and that for no other cau&s;e Lievtenant Colonell &s;hould accu&s;e me for ly|ing
and ungratitude in the face of the Kingdome? I am almo&s;t of opinion,
that many of the Independants when they &s;hall heare the truth, will condemn
all their ra&s;hne&s;&s;e in this point; and truly if ever there were not onely temeri|ty
and uncharitablene&s;&s;e but unju&s;tice in an action it doth appear in their deal|ing
towards me and the Parliament; for their malice extends not to me one|ly,
but to many Members of the Hou&s;e, yea, it redounds upon the whole Par|liament
&amp; every particular Gentleman of the &s;ame that are Presbyterians; for
Lievt. Col. <HI>Lilburn</HI> blams them al as guilty of unju&s;tice &amp; unrighteous dealing,
and &s;o did all his company, &amp; &s;pak it openly in the pre&s;ence of hundreds, that
there was no ju&s;t proceeding among&s;t them, and that they had not the liber|ty
of Subjects and their priviledges, according to Magna Charta, and the Pe|tition
of Right, and this they with one accord affirmed openly at the Com|mittee
doore; &s;o that Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> is but their mouth, and
the foreman of that Tribe, and what he did, they all owne, and to this day
per&s;evere in it; and not onely &s;o, but labour to &s;pread his Letter through
the Kingdome, that &s;o they may with the more facility &s;pread abroad and
publi&s;h the &s;entence given by the Lieutenant again&s;t the whole Parliament,
the better to bring an Odium upon them all; for in his book he pronounceth
&s;entence again&s;t them all, being party, witne&s;&s;e, jury and judge in his owne
cau&s;e; and in his &s;o doing, whiles he cals to Heaven for ju&s;tice again&s;t the
Parliament, he &s;hewes him&s;elfe very unju&s;t, and behaves him&s;elfe rather like
the wicked Judge, that neither feared God, nor cared for men, then the mo&s;t
righteous Judge of the whole world, who would not condemne the innocent
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span"> wicked, as we may &s;ee in the 18. of Gene&s;is.</P>
<P><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span"> doe beleeve that the Lieutenant conceives very worthily of his own
<PB N="21" REF="12">
party in both Hou&s;es, and thinks that they are ju&s;t, upright righteous men, and
the onely godly party in the Parliament (for &s;o I have heard the Lieuten. Col.
&s;peak) and I per&s;wade my &s;elfe al&s;o that he is not &s;o uncharitable, as to think
all the Presbyterian party in both Hou&s;es unju&s;t and unrighteous; now then
if there be any either of the Independent party, or of the Presbyterian, that
are truly ju&s;t and righteous in their proceedings, he ought to have &s;pared
them; there is an old &s;aying, we ought not <HI>per lutum uni<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters"> totam gent<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">m per|&s;tr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">gere,</HI>
he &s;hould indeed (if he had knowne any guilty of crime, and if he
would have dealt ju&s;tly) have &s;ingled them out, as he did me, and by name
have a&s;per&s;ed them, and not have condemned the whole Councell in one
bla&s;t, and with one da&s;h of his quill: Any as he deales unju&s;tly with the Par|liament,
&s;o he he dealeth not very righteou&s;ly with me and my Brother <HI>Pryn</HI>
for he condemnes us both of lying, yet never convinced me of a lye, nor I
hope never &s;hall be able, for I writ nothing in my books again&s;t the Indepen|dents,
but what upon my owne knowledge I can affirme to be true; yea de|po&s;e
it, having had what I wrote from the Independ<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">ts owne mouthes, but
that which coroberates what I &s;ay; I can prove all I wrote again&s;t them by a
cloud of witne&s;&s;es, the wor&s;t of them being better then the be&s;t of tho&s;e wit|ne&s;&s;es
they produced again&s;t Sir <HI>Iohn Lenthall</HI> and Ma&s;ter Speaker; and there|fore
that which I writ again&s;t their Faction, is &s;o far from being a crime <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> a
lye, as I &s;tand upon my ju&s;tification, &amp; undertake upon my life to make good
the charge in my po&s;t&s;cript again&s;t the Independents, or what&s;oever I writ in
any other book again&s;t them.</P>
<P>Nay, I undertake to prove a great deale more then I have yet publi&s;h|ed,
and that that may concerne all Presbyterians e&s;pecially, and make
them looke to them&s;elves; for if they get the day and prevaile, they
will &s;pare none of them, for they have a purpo&s;e to put downe all
the Nobility and Gentry in the Kingdome, (I &s;peake nothing but
what I know,) how&s;oever their de&s;igne is carried very cunningly; but
let them once attaine unto their purpo&s;e at the recruting of the Parlia|ment,
which is, to bring in out of all the Countyes, the Independent coun|try
Courtiers, to whom they will give in&s;tructions for this purpo&s;e, and you
&s;hall &s;ee &s;uch an alteration in a little time, that the Nobles and Pears of the
Kingdome, and all the Gentry of the &s;ame, the Flower and honour of all
Nations, to be the mo&s;t contemptible, and the onely men to be &s;u&s;pected,
who by all the Independent party at this day, have beene accu&s;ed to be the
ruine of the Kingdome, and to be of rotten hearts, and the Kings friends;
and this I have heard many of them my &s;elfe &s;peak, and I am confident, it
may by many be proved, but this has ever been their eva&s;ion, when we accu&s;e
them of any thing they &s;ay, that they may not all be blamed and judged for
the ra&s;hne&s;&s;e of &s;ome, when notwith&s;tanding they that uttered &s;uch words,
&s;pake nothing but what they had learned from their faction, or what they
had received from the chiefe heads of them: And it is well knowne that
Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> is upheld by that party, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">,
yea animated in all that he doth, as all the crowds and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="22" REF="13">
after him may &s;ufficiently witne&s;&s;e, and they look upon him as their Cham|pion,
applauding all his actions. And it will not be a difficult thing for me
to prove what&s;oever I have written in my books again&s;t the Indepedent
party, from their owne bookes, and even from his owne Letter, and
the proceedings of that company that followed him to the Committee of
Examinations, and their behaviour and carriage there, may abundantly
prove my charge in my booke again&s;t them; for they gave lawes to the Com|mittee,
and would not be examined but upon their owne tearmes, crying out
of inju&s;tice, and threatning that they would bring up the whole City, and a
thou&s;and &s;uch other in&s;olencies they u&s;ed there for many dayes together; all
which doe manife&s;t, that if in time their party grow a little &s;tronger, they
will give lawes to the Parliament, and make them doe what they would
have them, or el&s;e they will take the authority into their owne hands;
for Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> hath plainly taught his Di&s;ciples, that the
power that now re&s;ides in the Parliament, is inherent to the people, and that
tho&s;e of the Parliament are not to act according to their owne will and plea|&s;ure,
and boldly taketh upon him to in&s;truct the Parliament and teach them
their duty; and affirmes, that the power is the peoples birth-right, and that
they have but entru&s;ted them with it; &s;o that it &s;eemes if they &s;hall once con|ceive
that the Parliament doth not di&s;charge their tru&s;t they have committed
unto them, they may re&s;ume it when they plea&s;e, for that mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily
en&s;ue from his premi&s;es; and this is the Doctrine that he infu&s;eth to all his
followers, and onely for to &s;tirre up a commotion in the Kingdome, and to
put the people in a heat; which if the Parliament timely prevent not, they
will runne the greate&s;t hazard of being de&s;troyed, that ever any Councell in
the world did.</P>
<P>And whereas he &s;aith, that when the King went to <HI>Oxford,</HI> he left many
of his friends behind him: I for my part believe that he is one of them;
for I am mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, that never any friend the King had, hath done the
Parliament more wrong and indignity than Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne;</HI>
for it was not an apparent enemy to the great Councell, that hath done them
this wrong, it was no <HI>Aulicus,</HI> for then they would have laughed at it, and
made them&s;elves merry with it, but it was their friend, their familiar one,
that the Common-wealth had fed at her table&punc; and one that the Parliament
had in &s;peciall honourd, favourd, and confided in, and who they had &s;tood by
in his greate&s;t difficulties, yea, and had pre&s;erved his life; and for this man
now to lay &s;o foule things to their charge, as unju&s;tice and tyranny, and
trampling downe of the liberties of the Subjects; oh let not this be &s;pake in
<HI><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">b</HI> and <HI>Askelon!</HI> truly &s;uch friends as he is, both are, and will prove, I am
afraid, their greate&s;t enemies; and how&s;oever he often boa&s;teth and tell<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">h
them, that he hath drawne his &s;word in their defence; it doth appeare, that
it was for his owne ba&s;e ends, for liberty of con&s;cience (as they call it in
their dialect) which is meer licenciou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and lawle&s;&s;e liberty, under the
pretence of con&s;cience which they aime at, that they may both &s;peake, print
and doe what&s;oever plea&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t the<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">lves, both again&s;t the Law of God, Na|ture,
<PB N="21" REF="13">
and the Religion, and again&s;t the great Councell of the Kingdome, Sy|nod,
and all good men, which is their daily practice, as all their Pamphlets
witne&s;&s;e, and this his Letter; for had Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> with a good inten|tion
and an hone&s;t mind, drawne his &s;word in the defence of the Parliament,
he would not now have drawne his pen to have cut all their throats, and to
enrage all the people again&s;t them, as in this his Letter he hath done: He
telleth many &s;tories of his &s;ervice for the State, and what danger he hath ex|po&s;ed
him&s;elfe unto in their quarrell, and upbraiderh them all with their in|gratitude,
and how little requitall they have made him for all; there are ma|ny
in this Kingdome that have adventured them&s;elves as farre as ever he did,
out of their love to the publike, and have I beleeve &s;uffered as much as ever he
did, yet make no noy&s;e, but with mode&s;ty and patience, wait and attend till
the great and weighty matters in the Kingdome, will give leave for private
bu&s;ine&s;&s;es: And all men know, that the publike good, the pre&s;ervation of
the whole body, is to be looked unto in the fir&s;t place; and then afterward
as occa&s;ion doth offer it &s;elfe, without damage to the publike; private bu&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">|ne&s;&s;e
and the reliefe of the nece&s;&s;iited, are taken into con&s;ideration, and &s;a|tisfaction
is given unto them that can ju&s;tly complaine; and this has ever
been the practice &amp; cu&s;tome of all Nations, as the Annals and Hi&s;tories of all
times relate: Neither have &s;uch as have been forced to wait, forthwith pub|li&s;hed
di&s;gracefull books, and mutinous complaints again&s;t the Councels
and States of any Country, to bring them into hatred among&s;t the people;
neither would &s;uch proceedings be thought tolerable in any well governed
Country.</P>
<P>It is well knowne, that there are many Noble-men and great Gentlemen
al&s;o of honour and eminency in the Kings Army, that have not onely ventu|red
their lives and all their e&s;tates, but are at this day brought to &s;uch extre|mities
and nece&s;&s;ities, as to relate would exceed beliefe, &s;o that many of tho&s;e
that had &s;ome three, &s;ome four thou&s;ands by the yeer, &s;ome more, are brought
to &s;uch &s;treights, as they have not bread to put in their families mouths, nor
cloathing to p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">t on their backs; yet I never heard that they did ever print
Letters in di&s;grace of the King or his Councel and upbraid him with ingrati|tude
towards his Souldiers, becau&s;e their particular nece&s;&s;ities were not &s;ati&s;|fied,
or becau&s;e they conceived they were wronged by his Maje&s;ties Councel:
And I am mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, that if any of tho&s;e that follow the King &s;hould doe
any &s;uch thing, or dur&s;t attempt to di&s;parage the Kings proceeding, being
one of that party, he would not onely be abhorrid by all the Cavaliers, but
thought worthy of &s;evere puni&s;hment, what&s;oever former &s;ervice he had
done his Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P>Nay, I will &s;peak my knowledge, I have heard a Cavalier &s;ay, that if any
of their party &s;hould have done any thing in this kind again&s;t his Highne&s;&s;e
or his Councell, the other Cavaliers would have cut him in pieces: And
truly all &s;ober minded men, and &s;uch as &s;tand really wel-affected to the Par|liament,
cannot think tho&s;e the Parliaments friends, that in this kind write
again&s;t them and their proceedings: For were it granted, that Lieutenant-Colonell
<PB N="32" REF="14">
<HI>Lilburne</HI> had done as good &s;ervice, as he pretends, though there be
many that &s;ay, that the devi&s;ions that he hath cau&s;ed at <HI>Bosterne,</HI> and through
<HI>Lincoln&s;hire,</HI> with his preaching up his new Doctrine of &s;eperation&punc; hath done
more hurt to the &s;oules and bodies of the people, then all the good that ever
he is able to doe.</P>
<P>But I &s;ay, were it granted that he had done all good &s;ervice without excep|tion;
yet the di&s;grace and evill he hath now done to the State, hath &s;urpa&s;&s;ed
all the good he &s;peaks of: Many Cowes you know Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars</HI> ordinarily
give good milk, and then &s;cummer in the payle, by which they &s;poile all that
they had given down; even &s;o it is in this ca&s;e with Lieutenant-Colonel <HI>Lil|burne,</HI>
what he hath formerly built up, that he hath now throwne downe:
He may remember what the Lord &s;aith, Ezek. 10. <HI>If the righteous turneth from
his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and doth that which is evill, I will forget all his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,
&s;aith the Lord &amp;c.</HI> So if a Commander doe faithfull &s;ervice for a time to a
State, as the <HI>Hothams</HI> did, or as <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">holmly,</HI> and afterwards turne traitors, mu&s;t
the memory of their former &s;ervice hinder the cour&s;e of ju&s;tice? I trow not;
if a &s;ervant for &s;ome time &s;hall doe good &s;ervice for his Ma&s;ter, and after|wards
prove unfaithful, or purloyne his goods, and labour to de&s;troy him, is
his former &s;ervice to be taken any notice of? it is per&s;everance in any good that
crowneth all; and therefore it is but a poore grollety to &s;peak of good &s;er|vice
formerly done, when they are acting all the evill that men can well act
again&s;t a State or Kingdome.</P>
<P>But one thing is very ob&s;ervable, he would brand me with great ingrati|tude,
and as if I had forgot what he had done for me, and in the meane time
he is guilty of the &s;ame crime: For it is well knowne, that the Parliament
not onely &s;aved his life, but delivered him from his &s;lavery and captivity,
and greatly honoured him, and for ought I know, would have made him a
full &s;atisfaction for all his damage and &s;uffering by the unju&s;t Courts, when
from their publike affaires, they could have been permitted to have li&s;tned to
private grievances; yet he hath forgot all this their curte&s;ie, and &s;ingular hu|manity,
and now flings dirt in all their faces, and &s;o de&s;pightfully abu&s;eth
them, as no ordinary well bred man would abu&s;e an ordinary ba&s;e fellow:
But becau&s;e this is a bu&s;ine&s;&s;e that concerneth the honour of the whole Hou&s;e,
which he hath &s;o contumeliou&s;ly bla&s;ted, I &s;hall leave that to their grave wi&s;|dome;
onely out of my duty to that great Councell, the Supreame Court of
the Kingdome, I may &s;ay thus much, that the whole Kingdome owe the pre|&s;ervation
of their Religion, lives and liberties, to their care and watchful|ne&s;&s;e,
and that all our Po&s;terity are bound to be thankfull to them for their
fidelity, diligence and infatigable prayers in their common defence, who, all
rea&s;on will dictate, could have no end for what they have done, but the com|mon
good and &s;afety of us all: And therefore it concernes all the people to
take heed how they joyne and adhere to Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> and
&s;uch factious &s;pirits, who under pretence of defending the Subjects Liberty,
rai&s;e tumults to bring all to a confu&s;ion: And let them ever &s;et before their
eyes the &s;tory of <HI>Cora, Da<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">an</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> and &s;eriou&s;ly weigh what they
<PB N="33" REF="14">
brought upon them&s;elves by their rebelling again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> their deliverer and
pre&s;erver, they cannot be ignorant, that while they a&s;&s;ent unto him, and ap|plaud
and owne what he ra&s;hly and unadvi&s;edly doth, they make them&s;elves
equally guilty; for as <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, P&s;al. 50. He that con&s;enteth with evill
doers, makes him&s;elfe as guilty as they: So doth the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> teach all
men, in his Epi&s;tle to the Romans, chap. 1. 2. they that con&s;ented to tho&s;e
impious and wicked men, were in Gods account as equally guilty as if they
had perpetrated al tho&s;e facinourus actions; yea, it is the practice of all Courts
in all the Kingdomes and Nations of the whole world to condemne the com|plices
of trea&s;ons as well as the others: And as no men, no not the Inde|pendents
them&s;elves, can indeer tho&s;e that comply with &s;uch as they con|ceive
to be their enemies, &s;o they &s;hould now make the Parliaments Cau&s;e
their owne (for it is their owne indeed) and think that it highly concernes
them all, and i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> may be their condition ere long; for de&s;troy once the pow|er
of the Parliament, and enervate their authority, and you &s;hall &s;hortly &s;ee
every Country Courtier, fly not onely in the face of the Gentry and Nobili|ty,
but indeed every &s;ervant become a Ma&s;ter and Mi&s;tris, and ca&s;t off the yoke
of obedience to their Superiours, whether Parents, Ma&s;ters or Governours;
and therefore it concernes all men, as they will avoyd both the wrath of God
and inevitable danger, now to take &s;peciall heed what they doe, in abetting
with Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> in the&s;e his temerarious proceedings;
for I well perceive the poore people are all deluded by his fal&s;e information,
and think his impri&s;onment, and the proceedings of the honourable Com|mittee
of Examinations, to be again&s;t the liberty of the Subject, and again&s;t
Magna Charta, and the Petition of Right, all which inviolably remaine to
the Subject, notwith&s;tanding what&s;oever he pretendeth to the contrary: And
as he hath traduced the Parliament cau&s;le&s;ly, &s;o likewi&s;e in his owne defence
he hath abu&s;ed the holy Scripture; for there is a va&s;t difference between Saint
<HI>Pauls</HI> ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e and his, as will quickly appeare, if there be but a true informati|on
made of Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburnes</HI> bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, for the &s;tory of <HI>Pauls</HI>
&s;ufferings is &s;ufficiently knowne.</P>
<P>The verity of the matter is, the Parliament in their proceedings with <HI>Iohn
Lilburne,</HI> have done nothing contrary to the Law of God or nature, or the
cu&s;tome of Nations, and the Lawes of the Kingdome, and therefore &s;o horrid
an accu&s;ation of the great Coun&s;ell is un&s;ufferable: He quarrels the Parlia|ment
among&s;t other things, that he was &s;ent to pri&s;on, the cau&s;e not being
&s;pecified of his commitment: If indeed he had been arraigned and condem|ned
before he had been heard, then there had beene a ju&s;t cau&s;e of complaint;
but that they did not in their Warrant &s;et downe the cau&s;e both of his ap|prehen&s;ion
and Commitment: I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e for my part, I &s;ee no cau&s;e why
he &s;hould make &s;o loud a complaint; for if there &s;hould now in the City of
<HI>London</HI> a con&s;piracy be di&s;covered, and &s;ome of the Con&s;pirators &s;hould be
appprehended (under reformation) I conceive it will not &s;tand with the wi&s;|dome
of the City Office<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">s, and with the di&s;cretion of tho&s;e that are in autho|rity,
to &s;et down the cau&s;e of their apprehen&s;ion and &s;ending them to pri&s;on;
<PB N="20" REF="15">
for if their complices &s;hould have intelligence of this, that their plot was
di&s;covered, they would all either e&s;cape away, or attempt &s;ome de&s;perate
thing that might be de&s;tructive to the whole City, and that that might en|danger
the whole Kingdome; therefore in &s;uch a ca&s;e as this, it is for the
wi&s;dome of the Officers to conceale the con&s;piracy till they have apprehen|ded
all the Delinquents; and in &s;uch a ca&s;e as this is, and many more, the
Magi&s;trate may, as I conceive, &s;end any man to pri&s;on without &s;ignifying
the cau&s;e why unto the pri&s;oner: For I read in many places of the Scripture
that pri&s;oners have been committed, and there was no cau&s;e given either to
him that was committed, or to the Goaler, wherefore he was committed,
and yet they are not condemned of unju&s;tice for &s;o doing: But when men
have been condemned without hearing, or by fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es, this hath made
it a crime.</P>
<P>Neither hitherto have I ever read, that it was counted a crime in a Magi|&s;trate,
or an unju&s;t thing, or a thing again&s;t the Law of God, nature or Na|tions,
to ask any man that is apprehended a que&s;tion; or to demand of him,
whether he either &s;pake any &s;uch words, or heard any &s;uch, or did &s;uch a
thing, or did it not; for none of both the&s;e proceedings were counted a
crime in either <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> or <HI>Io&s;hua,</HI> or any other of the Rulers in I&s;rael; for <HI>Io|&s;eph</HI>
ca&s;t his brother into pri&s;on upon &s;u&s;pition, and que&s;tioned all his other
brethren upon a pretended jealou&s;ie, and yet they accu&s;ed not the Gover|nour
of <HI>Aegypt</HI> of unju&s;tice to their good old Father: Neither was it a crime
in <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> to que&s;tion his brethren (if the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e had been reall;) or in <HI>Io&s;hua</HI>
to aske <HI>Achan</HI> whether or no he had taken the wedge of gold: And if either
<HI>Io&s;ephs</HI> brethen or <HI>Achan</HI> had refu&s;ed to have an&s;wered to the que&s;tion pro|pounded
unto them, til either <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> or <HI>Io&s;hua</HI> had told them the cau&s;e of their
apprehen&s;ion or commitment, I beleeve they might have laine in pri&s;on till
Doom&s;-day in the afternoone (the time that <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> thinks the
Parliement will pay him what they owe him) and no wi&s;e man would
have condemned the Governour of <HI>Aegypt</HI> for &s;o doing; and therefore he
mo&s;t &s;hamefully abu&s;eth the Parliament for their proceedings again&s;t him,
which &s;tand very well with the Lawes of God, and all well governed Nati|ons;
and the Scripture that he citeth, concerning <HI>Paul,</HI> was nothing to the
purpo&s;e, for <HI>Paul</HI> &s;tood committed, and that upon &s;u&s;pition: But the Judge
thought it unju&s;tice to proceed to &s;entence, before that they had heard what
<HI>Paul</HI> could &s;ay for him&s;elfe in his owne defence, and &s;o the Parliament will
doe to him; and I am mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, he &s;hall have all the faire hearing in the
world; but all this is nothing to Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne's</HI> cau&s;e, who
might have been relea&s;ed, as <HI>Hawkins</HI> was, and without any di&s;honour unto
him, if he had not di&s;obediently behaved him&s;elfe to the honourable Com|mittee.
For they demanding of him a que&s;tion, which by all the lawes of
God and nature, and Nations, they might doe, and to which without offen|ding,
he might well have an&s;wered; he contemptuou&s;ly not onely refu&s;eth to
an&s;wer, but a&s;per&s;eth them with unju&s;tice, which was the cau&s;e of the conti|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">uation
of his commitment, and then his publi&s;hing of a libellous and a
<PB N="17" REF="15">
mo&s;t dangerous Letter, was a cau&s;e of his new commitment to New-gate:
And in all this that the Parliament hath done, I am confident when the peo|ple
&s;hall have a full hearing of the &s;ame, and be rightly informed, they will
be abundantly &s;atisfied of the ju&s;tice of the Honourable Hou&s;e.</P>
<P>Much I confe&s;&s;e I could &s;ay for the ju&s;tifying of the Parliaments proceed|ings,
not onely in this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e about <HI>John Lilburne,</HI> but all their other grave
and weighty imployments, to free that great Councell from tho&s;e a&s;per&s;ions
that not onely <HI>John Lilburne</HI> layeth upon it, but all his complices; but I &s;hall
leave this worke to tho&s;e that it concerneth, onely by the way let me &s;ay thus
much both to <HI>John Lilburn</HI> &amp; his confederates, that they ought alwai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> to have
&s;peciall care, that whiles they &s;tudy and labour to offend their enemies, they
doe not de&s;troy their pre&s;ervers, and abu&s;e tho&s;e men cau&s;ele&s;ly as wi&s;h them
as much good as they doe them&s;elves, though they tell them of their faults
and errours; and among&s;t others all the Independents have mo&s;t injuriou&s;ly
in word and deed abu&s;ed my ever honoured brother M. <HI>Prynne;</HI> and <HI>John Lil|burne</HI>
in this his Letter in &s;peciall, to my knowledge hath mo&s;t ba&s;ely and
fal&s;ly belyed him; for it is well knowne he was never a favourer of Malig|nants
and &s;uch as betrayed &s;trong Holds, as the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of Bri&s;tow can well
witne&s;&s;e, for the pro&s;ecuting of that &s;o cordially inraged many of the Inde|pendents
again&s;t him; and there be many that can witne&s;&s;e for my brother
<HI>Prynne</HI> that he was not the cau&s;e of the loo&s;ing of Gern&s;ey, for had his coun|&s;ell
beene followed both tho&s;e Ilands at this day had bin under the command
of the Parliament; and what he publi&s;hed concerning the two Captaines it
hath been proved by &s;ufficient witne&s;&s;e, what&s;oever they &s;ay to the contrary;
and Sir <HI>Samuel Luke,</HI> a man of honour and approved integrity, would never
have que&s;tioned them without &s;ufficient witne&s;&s;e for what he chageth them
with; and as I have bin credibly informed, every thing he accu&s;eth them of
is abundantly proved by two or three witne&s;&s;es. But this is the practice dai|ly
of the Independents, that they will owne nothing of that they have &s;aid
or done, but put men upon the proofe, and then a&s;per&s;e all tho&s;e that ju&s;tly
que&s;tion them for lyers and per&s;ecutors; as at this time that confounded tay|lor
<HI>Paul Hob&s;on</HI> and <HI>Richard Beawmon</HI> a &s;ucking Apothecary doe, who &s;nip
and do&s;e out their Sermons by weight and mea&s;ure to the infecting, mi&s;lead|ing
and &s;educing of the poor people, and the making a di&s;turbance in Church
and State; and the&s;e &s;educers notwith&s;tanding would per&s;wade the world
they are &s;ent from heaven, when as it is mo&s;t apparent they are meere juglers
and impo&s;ters, and onely make a pray of the people and lead them captive to
liberty and licenciou&s;ne&s;&s;e; &s;uch Teachers as the&s;e are &s;o farre from a ju&s;t
call from heaven, as they runne before they were ever &s;ent; &s;o that a man
may truly &s;ay of &s;uch Teachers and Mini&s;ters <HI>Diabolus caccavit illos:</HI> and
therefore my reverend brother Ma&s;ter <HI>Prynne</HI> hath writ nothing but the truth
concerning them, and is mo&s;t maliciou&s;ly and cau&s;ele&s;ly abu&s;ed by Lievete|nant
Colonell <HI>Lilburne,</HI> and therefore this that he &s;peaketh concerning him
it not to be beleeved, it being an untruth: And as little credit is to be given
to that he relateth of him&s;elfe, how he dared Ma&s;ter <HI>Prynne</HI> to di&s;pute with
him, but the Simpleton, as he calleth him, dur&s;t not.</P>
<P><PB N="36" REF="16">
If Lievetenant Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> had really challenged him in that place,
it had bin very incivily done in him; for the Committee, as it is well known,
doth not &s;it there to heare Di&s;putations, and I beleeve, if he &s;hould have &s;hew|ed
him&s;elfe &s;o vaine and light, as to have vented his folly in this kinde, they
would not onely have &s;harply reproved him for his temerity, but have clapt
him by the heeles, as they might not have done; but as I have beene credibly
informed, it is nothing &s;o, he never challenged him; and therefore it is a no|torious
lye, although it be in Print. And whereas he &s;ayeth, my brother
<HI>Prynne</HI> is be&s;otted and out of his wits in collecting and publi&s;hing <HI>Marty<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI>
Books and the &s;currilities of the Independent party, with many of the bla&s;|phemings
and railing &s;peeches again&s;t the great Councell of the Kingdome
and their proceedings, and again&s;t the reverend Synod and A&s;&s;embly, and in|deed
again&s;t all Authority. I conceive he hath done a very good and accep|table
worke in reducing their railings, revilings and bla&s;phemies into a vo|lumne,
that they may be left to all po&s;tity and future ages, that in times to
come the following generations may heare what a hideous and mon&s;trous
Sect in the&s;e la&s;t and wor&s;t times of the world is now ri&s;en up, which &s;peake
evill of dignities and all government at plea&s;ure.</P>
<P>Neither hath my brother <HI>Prynne</HI> in this tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, but hath imitated all
the Prophets and the ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tles and Evangeli&s;ts, who have le&s;t upon re|cord
all the bla&s;phemies of <HI>Senacharib,</HI> and of all the wicked men in their &s;e|verall
ages; <HI>David</HI> hath done the &s;ame concerning the enemies of God and
his people in his dayes; the Evangeli&s;ts al&s;o have recited all the bla&s;phemous
&s;peeches they &s;pake again&s;t Chri&s;t and Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> Bapti&s;t, and all the other A|po&s;tles
have done the &s;ame, as <HI>Peter</HI> in &s;peciall and <HI>Iude;</HI> &s;o that by their wri|tings
all men may &s;ee what a wicked generation of men were then living, and
what judgements of God lighted upon them for their &s;o doing, to le&s;&s;on all
people in future ages to take heed by their examples, le&s;t they provoke God
by the like wickedne&s;&s;e; for what&s;oever was written was written for our in|&s;truction,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.</P>
<P>Now when my brother <HI>Prynne</HI> hath in this done nothing but what he hath
pre&s;idents for, and that out of Gods Word, he is neither be&s;otted nor out of
his wits, as he maliciou&s;ly and fal&s;ly a&s;per&s;eth him; but they rather are be|&s;otted
that either write, read or entertaine in their hou&s;es with delight &s;uch
wicked Bookes as tend to no other end, but to the corrupting not onely of
good manners, but the adulterating of the true Religion and perverting of
mens judgements: and yet Bookes of this nature are continually to be found
in the hands and hou&s;es of all the Independents, and I know few other that
are by them either regarded or looked after; &s;o that it is ju&s;t with God to
give &s;uch as they are over to fearefull errours, who leave the fountaines of
living waters and digge unto them&s;elves &s;uch broken ce&s;ternes that hold no|thing
but puddle and &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">inking filth.</P>
<P>This I thought by the way to &s;peak in my brother <HI>Prynnes</HI> behalf, nothing
doubting but him&s;elfe, or &s;ome friend for him will &s;hortly publi&s;h his ju&s;t de|fence,
again&s;t all other reproaches, to the world.</P>
<P><PB N="37" REF="16">
And now Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> I hope you are &s;atisfied concerning <HI>Iohn Lilburnes</HI>
calumnies again&s;t me and my brother Prynne, but for a corolary let me &s;ay
thus much, that whereas <HI>Iohn Lilburne</HI> would accu&s;e me of ingratitude, I may
ju&s;tly complain of his unthankfulnes &amp; uncharitablenes toward me, who hath
rewarded me evil for good; for all that know me can te&s;tifie for me, that I was
ever his friend to my power; but it is not he alone that would make me an
ungratefull man, but all of that way a&s;per&s;e me with the &s;ame crime; many
of the which notwith&s;tanding, have for &s;mal favors done to me in the time of
my impri&s;onment, been &s;ix times over requited for it, as I can prove, and yet
they cry out of my unthankfulne&s;&s;e, and others of them that &s;ent me now and
then a Piece, as a token of their love, and as a free gift, when they turned In|dependents,
demanded it all of me againe, and I have paid them every penny,
four pounds at a time, according to their asking, and yet they cry out of my
ingratitude, and have to my face mo&s;t ba&s;ely upbraided me with their kind|ne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P><HI>Solomon</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>he that contends with a foole, whether he rage or laugh there is no
peace;</HI> &s;o he that hath to doe with the Independents can have no peace with
them, if in the lea&s;t they differ from them; for if ye be merry with them in
telling them of their grolleries, then they &s;ay ye jeere them, if ye be &s;erious
then they &s;ay ye raile, &s;o that no man can tell how to plea&s;e or humour them
or how to enjoy the lawes of civility among&s;t them, or to have any peace in
their &s;ocieties, neither the Parliament, nor Synod, nor Presbytry, or any go|vernment
can plea&s;e them, for if the Parliament will have them fa&s;t, then they
will fea&s;t, and if they would have them fea&s;t and be merry, then they will
mourne, and &s;et dayes apart for humiliations, and &s;ay, they are &s;ad times,
nothing can plea&s;e the Gentlemen, as their practi&s;es can witne&s;&s;e: And truly
if ever there were a contradicting people, and an ungratefull generation of
men to all &s;orts of benefactors, the&s;e are; if a man con&s;ider things, either in
generall or in &s;peciall.</P>
<P>As for the Parliament, it is well knowne, that they have honoured that
Sect, as much as ever any authority did any, for they have the principall Of|fices
in the Army, and through the Kingdome places of chiefe tru&s;t and go|vernment
put in their hands, the prime places of gaine and emolument like|wi&s;e
be&s;towed upon them, through all Counties, and are ordinarily as well
paid for their &s;ervice as any, and yet none &s;peak more unreverendly of the
great Coun&s;ell, more har&s;h, more bitter invectives again&s;t them and their pro+ceedings
then they, and more a&s;per&s;e their authority, by their practi&s;es then
they doe, as all their words, pamphlets, preachings and actions can witne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>As for their ingratitude towards our brethren the Scots, and it is notorious
to all men, for they cannot give them a good word for all their love to us,
no not at this time of their di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">e&s;&s;e, when it appeareth to the whole world,
that they have by a&s;&s;i&s;ting us, not onely expo&s;ed all their lives to perill, but
endangered their whole Country, and now lye wallowing in their blood at
home for being friends to us; and yet for all this their love, they cannot nei|ther
<PB N="36" REF="17">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="37" REF="17">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="16" REF="18">
think nor &s;peak well of them; &s;uch ingratitude was never &s;een in any
Nation; a &s;inne &s;o great, and crying &s;o loud in the eares of Almighty God,
that were this Kingdome guilty of no other, it were enough to bring downe
the plagues of God upon us.</P>
<P>And how&s;oever their Mini&s;teus enjoy all our Pulpits, and have &s;uch privi|ledges
and immunities without all controle, as was never by any State gran|ted
to any &s;ect; yet they cry out of per&s;ecution and ill u&s;age, whiles they
them&s;elves abu&s;e the whole world, and per&s;ecute in tongue and print, every
living thing that in the lea&s;t doth not plea&s;e their humour: And for &s;uch as
have done incomparable favours and curte&s;ies to many of them, and who
have entertained them in their hou&s;es, by the &s;ix monethes together, gratis,
with their Wives and Children, and &s;hewne them &s;urperlative humanity, yet
in their greate&s;t extremities, when they have been plundered of all, &s;tript na|ked,
and &s;ome of them have fled to London with &s;carce a rag of their backs,
and have applyed them&s;elves to &s;ome of the&s;e Mini&s;ters, thinking that they
would have retained a memory of former curte&s;ies, they would not own them
or &s;carce look on them; and when poore Gentlewomen, that lived in time
of their pro&s;perity in reputation and honour, and had &s;ervants then to wait
on them, and being now deprived of all, and brought to beggery, and did
onely de&s;ire them to get them but a &s;ervice in &s;ome friends hou&s;e of theirs,
profe&s;&s;ing that they would willingly &s;ubmit them&s;elves to the lowe&s;t condi|tion,
rathet then be a burden to any, &s;o long as they had their health; yet
they could not by all their importunity extort a good word out of their
heads in their behalf; and when they de&s;ired but their wives to give them but
one of their old petticoats to cover their nakednes; for an&s;wer, they were told&punc;
that they were now going over into the Low-countries againe, and that they
had &s;ent over all their cloathing, &s;o that they had nothind left to give away;
and this was two yeeres &s;ince, and they are yet in England, and have got ve|ry
fat Congregations and of chiefe women not a few; &s;o that had not &s;ome
Presbyterians and &s;trangers too, taken &s;ome compa&s;&s;ion of them, they might
have &s;tarved for all the Independent Mini&s;ters and their Wives, as can be pro|ved,
notwith&s;tanding they were obliged unto them with all the tyes of friend|&s;hip;
&amp; when they were in their friends hou&s;es, as they had all re&s;pectful u&s;age
&s;o they looked for it, and expected dayly to eat and drink of the be&s;t, or el&s;e
they might heare of it.</P>
<P>But as the ingratitude of the Independents is generally taken notice of, &s;o
e&s;pecially of their Mini&s;ters towards their Benefactors; and their covetou&s;|ne&s;&s;e
is very remarkable, &s;o that it may be proved, that &s;ome of the Indepen|dent
Mini&s;ters have got more in a yeere here in London, then ten Presbyteri|an
Mini&s;ters, and yet they are as covetous as ever they were, and as much as
ever complaining of want, and of the hardne&s;&s;e of the times, and for their
phari&s;aicall pride, it is incomparable, and commonly they in&s;inuate them|&s;elves
into rich acquaintance, and love ever to be where good cheere is &s;tir|ring,
onely in this they differ from the Phari&s;es, for they fa&s;ted often, twice
<PB N="39" REF="18">
or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> a we<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ke, and th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e fea&s;t and fare deliciou&s;ly every day; and if they
&s;pare a dinner under pretence of an humiliation, they will be &s;ure to &s;up ex|ceeding
well and of the be&s;t; there is &s;ome of them gone downe to the Army,
I pre&s;ume they may trayle them all through Cornwall and Devon&s;hire with
a White-pot; and there is no childe &s;hall leape &s;o at the &s;ight of a Baby as
they will skip at the fruition of a Cu&s;tard; they will &s;mell a Fea&s;t to the re|mote&s;t
parts of Ireland, and the gravy of a chine of Beefe into the midde&s;t of
Wales, &s;o &s;en&s;ible they are of good cheere; I dare boldly &s;ay that, let a Veni|&s;on
Pa&s;ty be the Text, foure Independent Mini&s;ters &s;hall open and devide it
better and more acurately handle it then any eight Presbyters in the City of
London; &s;o that if yee behold them &s;ometimes at a Fea&s;t, you would take
them to be the Nephewes of Helliogabalus. There is not any man that &s;hall
&s;eriou&s;ly thinke of them but will &s;ay they have very accute &s;en&s;es, that can
out of the Americans and out of the Low-Countries &s;mell the good <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">heere
and plum-pottage into England, which was indeed one of the chiefe&s;t cau&s;es
that made the&s;e men leave their charges and flocks there, and choo&s;e rather
to live among Wolves, Beares, Lyons and Tygars, (for &s;o they tearme us)
for certainly if it were not good cheere, and their belly that made them dwell
among&s;t us, they would never have lived here, but as long as that la&s;t we &s;hall
have their company, but when that cea&s;es, their zeale will grow cold; for
they have &s;ent over their trea&s;uries into <HI>Holland</HI> and into <HI>New-England;</HI> but
as long I &s;ay, as there is a carca&s;e left, they will &s;tay by it; for our Saviour
&s;aith, where the carca&s;e is, thither the Eagles fly, and therefore they are here
yet fluttering about, and when they have picked the bones of it well, then
they will take take their flight and be gone; the Lord &s;end us peace and faire
weather after them.</P>
<P>But in in the meane time Ma&s;ter <HI>Vicars,</HI> it concernes us all to take heed of
them, for they are a very dangerous people in all re&s;pects; for be&s;ides their
good conditions that I have now named, they are terrible di&s;&s;emblers, and
notorious lyars, as their daily language and libels can witne&s;&s;e, and this Let|ter
of Lieutenant-Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> te&s;tifies; and you al&s;o know what a no|torious
lye one of their chiefe Pa&s;tors told not long &s;ince of my reverend bro|ther
<HI>Waker,</HI> and he did not onely divulge it, but &s;tands in the ju&s;tification of
it; and yet there are divers men, and them of reputation, can witne&s;&s;e the
contrary to what he affirmes, &s;o that no man of a contrary mind, can with
&s;afety conver&s;e among them; for they will lay any thing to his charge, and
then &s;weare to it, yea they turne ordinary tale-bearers, the wor&s;t of men,
and violate many times all the lawes of humanity to &s;atisfie their &s;pleen, and
will <HI>peccare contra jura jovis hostitatis,</HI> and all civility, to doe a Presbyterian
a mi&s;chiefe; and thus unchri&s;tianly dealt that independent Pa&s;tor with my re|verend
brother Ma&s;ter <HI>Waker,</HI> to make him od<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ous; and I have taken notice,
that it is their practice to tell tales and lyes, and therefore I &s;hun them
all; &s;aving my good Cozen.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e, if at the recruting of the Parliament, the Independent
<PB N="40" REF="19">
Country Courtiers creepe in there, I doe verily beleeve that the Greeks <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
never &s;o pollute the Temple, as they will defile the Honourable Hou&s;e, and
then downe al&s;o goes the Gentry and the Nobility, and all Churches; for
they begin already to pi&s;&s;e in them, and to &s;cummer in the Pewes of Gentle|man,
out of a hatred they beare to that name, di&s;daining that any &s;hould be
thought greater then them&s;elves; telling them when they forcibly crowd in|to
their &s;eats, that the Saints have more right to tho&s;e places then they, and
therefore partly for the &s;tinking of them out of their &s;eats, as Baggars doe
Foxes out of their holes, by defiling them, the&s;e Independent Country
Courtiers &s;cummer and pi&s;&s;e in their Pewes; and partly al&s;o they doe it out
of hatred to the very &s;tructure of the poore Churches, which &s;ay they, having
been con&s;ecrated to Idolatry, ought to be demoli&s;hed, or el&s;e made a Tophet
on, and a place of ea&s;ement, and therefore it is now growne an ordinary
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">hing with the Independents thus to pollute Churches; and &s;ome of them
would have given &s;even thou&s;and pound, not long &s;ince, for Pauls, that they
might have demoli&s;hed it as an Idol Temple, and &s;o in their judgements the
Gentry and Nobility are Idols, and have too long been adored and venerated,
and they now de&s;ire that honor them&s;elves, and therfore if once they have the
power in their hands, and get into the Parliament, then out go all the &s;ons of
<HI>Belial,</HI> fot &s;o they call the Gentry: Therefore if you have any acquaintance
with tho&s;e that are to choo&s;e Burge&s;&s;es for the Parliament, give them a &s;peci|all
caviat to take heed how they make any of that fraternity Parliament-men;
let them have an eye to the godly and truly religious (without faction) and
under&s;tanding Gentlemen in the Country, that know what really belongs to
government: For con&s;ider what a deale of mi&s;ery all the Countryes through
the Kingdome are involved in, by rea&s;on of the Committees that are compo|&s;ed
of tho&s;e independent Country Courtiers, who generally domineer over
the very Noble-men and Gentlemen every where, where they are in authori|ty,
and exerci&s;e more &s;everity over the Parliaments very friends, then the
Lords and Peers of the Kingdome, and the great Coun&s;ell doe ever again&s;t
Delinquents, as all the poore Countries can te&s;tifie; therefore per&s;wade your
friends againe and againe, that they make choyce of no Independent Coun|try
Courtiers to he Members, for then all the Kingdome will be made Lin|fie-Wool&s;ie,
for they will have all Religions, and give a greater tal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">oti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">
then the Devil him&s;elfe, for he will not tolerate all Religions, for you know
he per&s;ecuted the Woman, the true Religion, in the Wilderne&s;&s;e, but the&s;e
would tolerate all, and therefore in that point they are wor&s;e then &s;at<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">:
Therefore if you would avoyd an inevitable confu&s;ion, per&s;wade your friends
to take heed of the Independe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ts, who have made a combu&s;tion in Church
and State already.</P>
<P>It is &s;aid of our Saviour that he would not commit him&s;elfe to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">, be|cau&s;e
he knew them, <HI>John</HI> 2. now we have &s;ome experience already of all
the&s;e men, let us therefore take heed of them: Others you know will not
commit them&s;elves unto men, becau&s;e they know <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> not&punc; and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="41" REF="19">
is very good rea&s;on why they &s;hould not; now for my part I doe beleeve that
there is no man can ever know the Independents, and therefore they ought to
&s;hun them, for they them&s;elves profe&s;&s;e, that they keepe a re&s;erve <HI>d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters">es ad tri|arior<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">s
redierit res,</HI> and tell us that we put them upon too unrea&s;onable a task,
to &s;atisfie us in all things they <HI>doe</HI> or <HI>de&s;ire:</HI> Now when we know them al|ready
by all their actions to be di&s;turbers of Church and State, and violaters
of all the Lawes of God and humanity, and enemies of all good people, and
notorious lyars, and they them&s;elves confe&s;&s;e unto us, that they have yet a
re&s;erve of grolleries, they ju&s;tly ought of all people to be abominated, for
they profe&s;&s;e openly, we &s;hall never know them: And thus much I thought
fit in way of an&s;wer, to reply unto <HI>John Lilburnes</HI> fal&s;e accu&s;ation, and to
&s;peak of all the Independents practi&s;es.</P>
<P>One thing I may not pa&s;&s;e by before I &s;hut up my Di&s;cour&s;e; Lievtenant
Colonell <HI>Lilburne</HI> complaines of &s;ome affront given him by &s;ome of the Par|liament;
as that they &s;lighted him, and made them&s;elves merry with him
(which intimate&s;t friends u&s;ually doe with their familiars) and that much
troubled his patience. What would this man have done, thinke you Ma&s;ter
<HI>Vicars,</HI> if he had beene openly abu&s;ed, as I was by &s;ome of the Independent
party, and favourers of their way? <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> I but wri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter"> for the Presbytery, and in
defence of the Parliament, and the reverend a&s;&s;embly of Divines, again&s;t the
Independents, who had Printed mo&s;t &s;cur<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">ilous Books again&s;t them all; and I
was not onely roughly reproved, but threatned al&s;o, that they would com|plaine
of me to the Parliament, for undertaking to prove the Presbytery to
be <HI>jure divin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">;</HI> which they told me was again&s;t the &s;en&s;e of the Hou&s;e, and
therefore puni&s;hable in me; telling me al&s;o in a very furious manner, that I
was an incendiary and a maintainer of the Kings party: and whereas they
had me in their Catalogue, intending upon occa&s;ion offered, to have prefer|red
me; &s;eeing, they &s;aid, I tooke this way, I &s;hould never have their good
word. If he bad <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span"> party
as I was by the Independents, and that at the Parliament doore, what dag|gers
would not this man have writ and &s;pake thinke you? For my part, if
all the Independents in the Parliament &s;hould have &s;pake that which two or
three of them did, it &s;hould not have moved me &s;o much as the biting of a
Flea; much le&s;&s;e &s;hould it have made me <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> any thing in di&s;grace of the
whole Councell, or in the lea&s;t to have impeached their dignity: nay, had I
&s;uffered as much for the Parliament, and from it as any man, I would not for
&s;ome mens mi&s;carriages, or &s;ome nece&s;&s;itated failings, have writ any thing to
the di&s;honour of the whole Hou&s;e (and God forbid that any Presbyterian
in England, &s;hould either doe &s;uch wickedne&s;&s;e, or favour it in any.) I &s;hall
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span">
or for &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 span"> for offences <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> come: and therefore
I neither thought nor never &s;hall thinke the le&s;&s;e venerably of the Parliament
for the affront that was put upon me by the Independent party; for as there
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word"> no Family, though never &s;o hone&s;t, that hath not a Whore or Knave of
<PB N="42" REF="20">
their kindred; &s;o it is impo&s;&s;ible in &s;uch a great Councell as the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
is, but they &s;hould have &s;ome ninnyes and grols, and men that have no <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
wit then will reach from their no&s;e to their mouth, and are onely &s;en&s;ible;
and therefore people ought not, for a few mens &s;akes, to traduce the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
Parliament. Neither will I ever &s;uffer it in any whiles I live, but &s;hall ever <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
my life defend the honour of the parliament again&s;t all Independents, not|with&s;tanding
the failings of &s;ome Members. And although <HI>John Lilbur<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI> Ma|&s;ter
<HI>Vicars</HI> be valiant, yet in defence of my Religion and the Church of Eng|land,
and for the honour of the Parliament and great Councell, I &s;hall not
onely di&s;pute with all the Independents; though I under&s;tand by &s;ome of
that fraternity, that they have Gyants for learning, as well as Pigmyes, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
I &s;hall al&s;o dare in the quarrell of either fight with <HI>John Lilburne</HI> with <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
weapon from a Bodkin to a Pike.</P>
<P>But leaving him to his A. B. C. which is a great deale better imployment
for him then the grave and weighty matters of State, and the &s;tudy of po<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="3 letters">|ticks,
and the great My&s;teries of Divinity; and commending you and yours
to his pre&s;ervation, who is the keeper of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that neither &s;lumbereth <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
&s;leepeth, with my earne&s;t prayers for a happy peace in this Kingdome, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 word">
the e&s;tabli&s;hing of the true prote&s;tant Religion, and of the Parliament; I re|maine</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours,
JOHN BASTWICK.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
