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<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
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<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A DEFENSIVE DECLARATION OF Lieut. Col. <HI>John Lilburn,</HI> Again&s;t the unju&s;t &s;entence of his bani&s;hment, by the late Parlia|ment of England; directed in an Epi&s;tle from his hou&s;e in Bridges in Flanders,
<HI>May</HI> 14. 1653. (Dutch or new &s;till, or the 4 of may 1653. Eng|li&s;h or old &s;tile) To his Excellency the Lord General <HI>Cromwell,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Officers of his Army, commonly &s;itting in White-hall in Councel, managing the pre&s;ent affairs of England, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Unto which is an|nexed, an additional appendix directed from the &s;aid Leut. Col.
<HI>John Lilburn,</HI> to his Excellency, and his Officers, occa&s;ioned by his pre&s;ent im|pri&s;onment in Newgate; and &s;ome groundle&s;s &s;candals, for being an agent of the pre&s;ent King, ca&s;t upon him by &s;ome great per&s;ons at White|hall, upon the delivery of his third Addre&s;s (to the coun&s;el of State, by his wife and &s;everal other of his friends) dated from his captivity in Newgate the 20 of <HI>June</HI> 1653.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>_MY Lord and honored Gentlemen.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>Having &s;een nothing abroad in print to declare that title that you would have people give you that addre&s;s them&s;elves to you, I mu&s;t therefore crave your pardon, if through ignorance I do not exactly give you (being my &s;elf in a foraigne nation, at &s;o far a di&s;tance from you) that title that is u&s;ually given unto you; <HI>for upon my word and reputation, my pre&s;ent de&s;igne is to write with all re&s;pect unto you;</HI> wherefore, I crave leave truly to inform you, that by the &s;udden and unexpected arrival of my endeared (though greatly afflicted) wife, with me ye&s;ternight. I am by her certainly informed of the total di&s;&s;olution of the Parliament, with
<PB N="2" REF="2">the nece&s;&s;ity of your a&s;&s;uming to your &s;elves the power of the Nati|on, with large and &s;erious promi&s;es from you, of doing it real good and healing it's rents, breaches, hazards, and dangerous divi&s;ions, by &s;etting it at real liberty and freedome, <HI>founded upon the true prin|ciples of rea&s;on, common equity, righteou&s;ne&s;s and ju&s;tice:</HI>
'at the &s;ight of which in truth and verity, my heart &s;hould more truly rejoyce, then at the enjoying of all earthly riches and honour, that po&s;&s;ible it can be imagined the whole world can afford to me parti|cularly; And al&s;o, &s;he very much incourages me to believe, that if I can obtaine your pa&s;s, faith, or ingagement for my &s;afe and free returning into England, and remaining there (which &s;he with con|fidence a&s;&s;ures me, by vertue of this letter thus penned, and her negotiations thereupon, &s;peedily to procure from you) I may with confidence re&s;t upon it. In which con&s;ideration, mo&s;t noble and worthy gentlemen, vouch&s;afe me, without di&s;ta&s;t I be&s;eech you, li|berty, truly to acquaint you, That by the late Parliaments Votes of the 15. of <HI>January la&s;t was twelve Months I was fined &s;even thou&s;and pound to Sir</HI> Arthur Ha&s;elridge, <HI>&amp;c. to be bani&s;hed out of England, and its territories for ever, and never to return in|to any of them againe, upon pain of death; but if I do, I am to dye as a fellon without mercy, and upon pain of death to be gone within thirty dayes after the &s;aid</HI> 15 <HI>of</HI> Januarie; <HI>And by their Act of the</HI>
30 of the &s;ame moneth, <HI>all per&s;ons are declared ac|ce&s;&s;ary of Fellony, after the fact, that &s;hall relieve, harbour or conceal me in England, or any of its territories, after the expirati|on of</HI> 20 <HI>dayes after the &s;aid</HI> 15 <HI>of</HI> January, <HI>the &s;aid day that the judgement of my bani&s;hment was pa&s;t again&s;t me, &amp; the harbors all &s;topt, that none &s;hould pa&s;s without a pa&s;s.</HI> And yet, though I went to the Speaker Ma&s;ter <HI>Lenthal,</HI> at his own hou&s;e, and with all the earne&s;tne&s;s and importunity that my tongue po&s;&s;ibly could ex|pre&s;s to him, <HI>begged a pa&s;s of him, as for my life, but it was a|gain and again ab&s;olutely by him denied me;</HI> So that I ran appa|rent hazards of being hanged in England before I could get away, forwant of a pa&s;s to go into my bani&s;hment.</P>
<P><HI>For at Dover, the Maior of that Corporation, ab&s;olutely and re|&s;olutely denied to let me go without a pa&s;s,</HI> although I had been at the charges to carry thither from London with me &s;everal witne&s;&s;es,
<HI>judicially to depo&s;e upon their oaths, that I was the individual
<PB N="3" REF="2">Lieut. Col.</HI> John Lilburn <HI>mentioned and named in my bani&s;hing votes,</HI> which were publikely printed by &s;pecial order of the Parlia|ment, one of which copies I then delivered to him (till his wife (a meer &s;tranger to me) and one that to my knowledge I had never &s;een before)
<HI>upon my mournful expo&s;tulation with him, bur&s;t out into crying, and begged and de&s;ired of her husband to let me pa&s;s; and rather, by &s;o doing, to run the hazard of his own ruine, then of my apparent death by his means.</HI> And all this is done unto me, I do here &s;olemnly avow it (and dare ingage with the utmo&s;t hazard of life, judicially legally, fully, and evidently to make it good) <HI>without any the lea&s;t &s;hadow af law, rea&s;on, ju&s;tice, con|&s;cience, or provocation; without &s;o much,</HI> as ever laying any pre|tence of a crime unto my charge, <HI>or ever letting me know my ac|cu&s;er, or any accu&s;ation, or ever by &s;ending forth any manner of proce&s;s of law, calling me to any an&s;wer what&s;oever;</HI> or ever permitting me (though in the face of the Parliament &s;itting I mo&s;t earne&s;tly pre&s;t it and de&s;ired it, upon the twentieth of <HI>Jan.</HI> being the very day that by their fifth vote pa&s;t again&s;t me, I was called to their bar to hear their &s;entence read to me) to &s;peak &s;o much as one word in my own defence, or expre&s;&s;ing any manner of cau&s;e in my fore|&s;aid bani&s;hing votes, either general or particular, wherefore they &s;o bani&s;hed and fined me &s;even thou&s;and pound. <HI>The fore&s;aid Act of the thirtieth of January (pa&s;t al&s;o again&s;t me) was made af|ter it was publickly known I was upon my journy to Dover, to go into my bani&s;hment;</HI> and yet that Act expre&s;&s;eth no particular crime, in the lea&s;t in law, again&s;t me, but onely generals, which by the law of England and the Armyes Declaration &s;ignifie nothing. 2 Part <HI>Cooks</HI> In&s;t. fol. 52, 53, 315,
318, 591, 615, 616. and 1. part of the Parliaments book of Declarations, p. 38,
77 201, 845, and the votes upon the impeached 11 Members: &s;ee the Petition of
<HI>Right,</HI> and the late act that aboli&s;hed the Star-chamber, and tho&s;e excellent printed arguments upon the Writ of <HI>Habeas Corpus,</HI> in the Court of Kings Bench, in the Ca&s;e of Sir <HI>John Eliot</HI> and o|ther Parliament-men committed to pri&s;on in the third of King <HI>Charles.</HI> The unparallel'd &s;trangene&s;s, and high inju&s;tice of which &s;entence <HI>(by no laws of nature, rules of rea&s;on, nor foundations of Engli&s;h government can no way (I am confident) be ju&s;tified (nor any man that had really a finger or vote in cau&s;ing or<PB N="4" REF="3">procuring of it)</HI> by any man indued either with one grain of honor, true under&s;tanding, con&s;cience, or common hone&s;ty; the ju&s;tificati|on of my own innocency, and every way cau&s;ele&s;s &s;uffering in every particular, again&s;t that mo&s;t unrighteous &s;entence, I dare venture my life to the uttermo&s;t hazard, to ju&s;tifie, and vindicate fully again&s;t the learnede&s;t, able&s;t, or rationale&s;t writer, or lawyer in England, that &s;hall in the lea&s;t open his mouth in the defence of that Sen|tence; which yet, with all re&s;pect I leave to you further to judge of.</P>
<P><HI>And yet by vertue of this very Sentence, Sir</HI> Arthur Ha&s;elridge <HI>many weeks &s;ince hath actually &s;eized, and is actually po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by his tenents or other agents of all my land, and corn &s;own upon the ground, &amp; turned all my &s;ervants out of hou&s;e and home.</HI> By means of which &s;entence, I being but a new beginner (by rea&s;on of my many, and long continued chargeable troubles and impri&s;onments) to take root in any outward &s;ettlement in the world, for the future &s;ub&s;i&s;t|ance of me, my wife, and helple&s;s little babes: I have been already &s;o de&s;troyed in my e&s;tate, as that really and truly, <HI>I am already &s;everal thou&s;ands of pounds damnified thereby, be&s;ides all the con&s;tant hazards of my life;</HI> And already I profe&s;s, <HI>bona fide,</HI> as in the pre&s;ence of God expo&s;ed to &s;o great &s;traights (which till now, for my own reputation &s;ake, I never dur&s;t divulge) <HI>as that I have already been forced in a land of &s;trangers, for many moneths together, to borrow here every peny</HI> that bought me
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">ead, while my wife in England, for the &s;ub&s;i&s;tance of her &amp; our children <HI>being forced to &s;ell a great part of her hou&s;hold-&s;tuffe, and to pawn other of it, yet unredeemed;</HI> and al&s;o to borrow &s;everal &s;ums of money of her friends, being in point of payment of moneys unto her &s;o dealt with, by almo&s;t all per&s;ons in a manner, that &s;he may ju&s;tly &s;ay, they have dealt unhone&s;tly and unworthily with her, they taking advan|tage of my ab&s;ence, and great afflictions; yea to procure money to buy her, and her poor young babes bread &s;he hath <HI>already been nece&s;&s;i|tated to part with my intere&s;t in one hou&s;e in London, for one hundred thirty five pounds, that &s;tands me in much above three hundred pounds,</HI> and yet by my Landlord of that hou&s;e, being one of that mo&s;t corrupt tribe of Lawyers, is ba&s;ely, uncon&s;cionably, and unworthily dealt with, by rea&s;on of which, a great part of the &s;aid<PB N="5" REF="3">one hundred thirty five pound is kept from her. And yet, all this put together, is the lea&s;t of my pre&s;ent &s;ad affliction and bani&s;h|ment.</P>
<P><HI>For at Dover was clapt upon me a &s;pye, a Rogue, called Cap|taine</HI> Wendy Oxford, <HI>who had &s;tood upon the Pillory for wilful perjury, in two &s;everal places; and yet at the &s;ame time was</HI> hired and pen&s;ioned by Ma&s;ter <HI>Thomas Scott</HI> Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;el|ridges</HI> bo&s;ome and mo&s;t indeared friend; who hath held a con|&s;tant (though many wayes, &s;eemingly di&s;gui&s;ed) corre&s;pondency, with the <HI>perjured Rogue Oxford ever &s;ince;</HI> as to Ma&s;ter
<HI>Scotts</HI> face, I am able &s;till, in a great mea&s;ure, to prove, and allowed him va&s;t &s;ums of money therefore; of the payment of &s;ome of which, much more then circum&s;tantial, I am able to bring proof: <HI>And which Oxford hath had a di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> from the &s;aid Ma&s;ter <HI>Scott</HI> (or at lea&s;t hath made it his practice) <HI>to fall down upon his</HI> knees, with his dublet and hat on the floor, <HI>to drink healths to the dam|nation and confu&s;ion of the Parliament and Army</HI> (as I have been informed by one of his own Comrades) even during the receipt of his well paid, large Pen&s;ion from Ma&s;ter <HI>Scott;</HI> in which time al&s;o he hath avowedly writ,
<HI>and cau&s;ed to be printed &s;everal books, with his name to them, proclaiming in foraigne Nations, the Army and Parliament traytors again&s;t the King;</HI> and vigorou&s;|ly excited and &s;tirred up all the Princes of Europe, to joyn together in one body, <HI>and by force of arms to cut them in peeces, as a pack of the grande&s;t traitors and tyrants that ever breathed in</HI> the <HI>world;</HI> and who to his knowledge had their agents in all the Kingdomes of Europe, to &s;tir up their &s;ubjects again&s;t their Sove|raigns, and to reduce their Kingdomes into Commonwealths or An|archies: but the maine and evident &s;cope of all his &s;aid books, and con&s;tant plotted di&s;&s;embling devi&s;es and actions being principally to
<HI>exa&s;perate the body of the mad or Ranting Cavaliers in the&s;e parts, to cut my throat,</HI> as the pre&s;ent greate&s;t enemy the pre&s;ent King, or his Father ever had in the world.</P>
<P>And yet, at the &s;ame time, <HI>or under the &s;ame employment of M.</HI> Scot, <HI>&amp;c. hath writ over to the &s;aid Mr.</HI> Scot <HI>I was become a Cavalier, or at lea&s;t a mighty great man with the chief leaders of the Kings party here,</HI> who&s;e Agent or Agents of Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig and Mr. Scot,</HI> even at Parliaments, Committees, (or<PB N="6" REF="4">Committee) have made their open and proclaimed u&s;e of it; <HI>to the great and extraordinary detriment of me,</HI> and my friends and Clyents, that had bu&s;ine&s;s of many thou&s;and pounds con&s;equence, then depending, and in actual agitation before the &s;aid Committee, or Committees.</P>
<P>By means of which, with much more of as dangerous and &s;ad nature to me, that I am able, if it were now fit, mo&s;t truly to relate, <HI>all my brains, valour, and mettle hath been &s;carce able &s;everal times to pre&s;erve my life, from the murderous hands of the various plots, and wicked contrivances of Mr.</HI> Scots <HI>known Agents,</HI> and their greatly deluded, credulous accomplices, the pi&s;tol of &s;ome of whom, <HI>viz. Hugh Rily,</HI> a common reputed Iri&s;h Rebel, and lately a piece of a Quarter-ma&s;ter-General to Sir <HI>Charls Lucas</HI> in <HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> who&s;e tyranny the &s;aid <HI>Rily</HI> exerci&s;ed, as I am credibly informed, upon abundance of people in <HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> and particularly upon his Landlord Mr. <HI>Beakon;</HI> and which <HI>Rily</HI> for his mo&s;t villanous roguery, cheating, cozening, treachery, and running from one &s;ide to another, hath &s;everal times hardly e&s;caped hanging in <HI>Flanders,</HI> &amp;c. beyond Seas, as I have for certain been informed by &s;ome of his own Country-men, and A&s;&s;ociates at <HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> from who&s;e mouth, e&s;pecial in the particular of treachery, I have heard &s;o much vildne&s;s related by them of him, as I never in all my days heard of one man; and yet this very man is one of Mr. <HI>Scots</HI> great Agents and Negotiators beyond the Seas, to promote the inte|re&s;t and freedom of <HI>Englands</HI> Commonwealth; though <HI>Job</HI> &s;aith, of &s;uch mo&s;t wicked and profane men, he would not &s;et them with the dogs of his flock; and righteous
<HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith. The damnation of &s;uch men is ju&s;t, that &s;ay (as Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> con&s;tantly practi&s;es) they mu&s;t do evil that good may come of it; all &s;uch vile, di&s;&s;embling, wicked actions, having no foundation at all from God, or his Volumn of Truth, but from the devil and his Machiavilian principles, which are notably, excellently, and politickly de&s;cribed by that &s;ubtile wi&s;e man <HI>Nicholas Machiavel,</HI> his mo&s;t rememorable book called his <HI>Prince,</HI> in his whole 18 chapter, extreamly well worth reading and taking &s;pecial notice of: and yet as my wife informs me, the &s;aid wicked <HI>Hugh Rily</HI> hath lately to the Councel of State, (by Mr. <HI>Scots</HI> in&s;tigation as I imagine) pre&s;ented a &s;trange, lying, and fal&s;e Petition again&s;t me, a copy of which I know not how to come by, to return<PB N="7" REF="4">an an&s;wer to; and therefore do humbly intreat your honours joyntly or &s;everal, to help me to a true copy of the &s;aid Petition, that &s;o in the face of the Sun I may be freely admitted to make my ju&s;t defence again&s;t it, truth hating holes and corners; with mo&s;t bitter and fearful oaths immediately to kill me, hath &s;everal times been almo&s;t even at my very brea&s;t and that without any real provocation.</P>
<P>Yea, and <HI>Mrs</HI> Oxford <HI>(a common notorious reputed whore)</HI> and who commonly pa&s;&s;eth once every month, for above the&s;e twelve months together, betwixt her husband (the &s;aid Captain <HI>Wendy Oxford</HI>) from <HI>Am&s;terdam</HI> and <HI>Delfe,</HI> to and from Mr.
<HI>Thomas Scot</HI> at <HI>White-hall, hath from time to time avowed to &s;everal per&s;ons</HI> (from whom I have my relations) <HI>that</HI> I am confident will ju&s;tifie it, <HI>that if all the intere&s;t &s;he had in the world, would get me pi&s;tolled or &s;tab'd, &s;he would have it done,</HI> having (as from &s;everal I have been informed) <HI>boa&s;ted, that &s;he hath already, on purpo&s;e brought with her into</HI> Flanders, <HI>&s;everal &s;tout men to do it, and to di&s;patch me;</HI> yea even at <HI>Dunkirk</HI> about fourteen days ago (being newly come from <HI>White-hall,</HI> from Mr.
<HI>Scot</HI>) <HI>&s;he vowed, prote&s;ted and &s;wore, and mo&s;t bitterly damn'd her &s;elf to the pit of hell,</HI> to the very face of an acquaintance and friend of mine, <HI>that if by any of all the hands, of all the friends &s;he had in the world, &s;he could get me pi&s;tolled or &s;tab'd, it &s;hould &s;peedily be done;</HI> or if by any other ways and means that &s;he could invent, &s;he could get me murdered, it &s;hould undoubtedly and &s;peedily be done. <HI>All which murdering con&s;piracies,</HI> I have too much ground and cau&s;e really to believe, doth mo&s;t wickedly take its ori|ginal, <HI>true, and malicious cowardly ri&s;e from Mr.</HI> Scot, <HI>and Sir</HI> Arthur Ha&s;lerig, the former and often practices of both of them a|gain&s;t me, even in this very kinde, hath been as wicked, bloody, treacherous, and barbarous, even while I was in <HI>England,</HI> as in a great mea&s;ure I am able truly to evince, and punctually demon|&s;trate.</P>
<P>All which &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered, I humbly, and earne&s;tly entreat you, to ca&s;t a ju&s;t, favourable, &s;peedy, and compa&s;&s;ionate eye, upon my cau&s;le&s;s, unju&s;t, and &s;ad &s;uffering condition <HI>(being con&s;tantly in a &s;trange land,)</HI> by rea&s;on of the wicked, and cowardly plots and devices afore&s;aid, of Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> (Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig</HI> his grand and mo&s;t indeared friend) accompanied with con&s;tant <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">d daily
<PB N="8" REF="5">hazards of death, and to afford me &s;uch &s;peedy, and effectual re|medy, and deliverance from it, <HI>as your pre&s;ent exerci&s;ed power, will be&s;t enable you with;</HI> and particularly, that you will immedi|ately give &s;uch a Pa&s;s, and &s;uch &s;ecurity for my &s;peedy, free, and &s;afe returning into the Land of my <HI>Nativity, and there to live in &s;ecu|rity,</HI> from the hazard of all or any part of my afore&s;aid &s;entence, <HI>or any actions done depending thereupon, as may be ground of &s;ecu|rity and confidence,</HI> unto my faithful and beloved friends, Major General <HI>John Lambert,</HI> Colonel <HI>Bennet,</HI> late a Member of Par|liament, Colonel <HI>Thomas Pride,</HI> Mr. <HI>Henry Duel</HI> my Father in law, Mr. <HI>Feake,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Powel,</HI> Mini&s;ters or publike preachers, Mr. <HI>William Walwin,</HI> Mr. <HI>Thomas Prince,</HI> Mr.
<HI>William Kiffin,</HI> Mr. <HI>Boulton,</HI> Mr. <HI>George VVard,</HI> Citizens of <HI>London,</HI> and <HI>Clement Oxenbridge</HI> E&s;quire, or the major part of them, with your Pa&s;&s;e, to &s;end me under their hands, their encouragement, that I may freely with &s;ecurity of my life, from any danger, by rea&s;on of any action what&s;oever, depending upon the &s;aid &s;entence, return into <HI>England;</HI> for which favour I &s;hall judge my &s;elf obliged to remain,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>My Lord, and Noble Gentlemen,</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your obliged friend, in all ju&s;t and righteous ways, heartily to &s;erve you, JOHN LILB&V;RN.</SIGNED> <DATELINE>From <HI>Bridges</HI> in <HI>Flanders,</HI>
<DATE>this 14 of <HI>May</HI> 1653 new, or Dutch &s;tile, or
<HI>May</HI> 4 1653 old or Engli&s;h &s;tile.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="appendix">
<PB N="9" REF="5">
<HEAD>An Additionall Appendix by the penner of the foregoing Addre&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>MY Lord and honored Gentlemen, it hath been my hard fortune often to be mi&s;under&s;tood by divers of you, and which I am confident of it, many times hath principally flowed from the cunning and in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">inuating artifice of corrupt per&s;ons with|out you, who&s;e own particular guilt and fear, required them for their own &s;afety to calumniate and a&s;per&s;e me, and to do the ut|mo&s;t that in them lay, to &s;et you, or &s;ome of the chiefe&s;t of you, and me together by the ears, and &s;uch was &s;ome of their mi&s;chie|vous practi&s;es even with his Excellency him&s;elf, at his late being at <HI>Scotland,</HI> which made and compell'd me after the battel of <HI>Wor|ce&s;ter,</HI> to wait upon his honor at his own hou&s;e in the Cock-pit, who very well knows he was plea&s;ed to honor me &s;o far, and to take me with him&s;elf into a Gallery, where without a third per|&s;on pre&s;ent, his Excellency very well knows, we had hand to hand above an hours friendly and rationall di&s;cour&s;e, at the beginning of which di&s;cour&s;e, I do verily believe his Excellency cannot chu&s;e but very well remember I expre&s;&s;ed my &s;elf unto him in this man|ner: My Lord, with all re&s;pect and &s;incerity of heart I am come to wait upon you, and humbly to beg that honor from you, that you would vouch&s;afe to give me leave a little friendly to &s;peak with you, which being with all willingne&s;&s;e granted by his Excel|lency, I proceeded to this effect; my Lord, through mi&s;apprehen|&s;ions, and a kind of partaking in other mens quarrells, you and I have for &s;ome time by pa&s;t, been ingaged in &s;everall di&s;gu&s;ts a|gain&s;t each other, although my Lord I think a greater and realler familiarity could not po&s;&s;ibly be betwixt two friends, then was betwixt your honor and my &s;elfe, in the years 1643. 1644. 1645. and part of 1646.</P>
<P>And at your late going to <HI>Scotland,</HI> and my &s;elf accompanying you 25. miles on your journey, (by rea&s;on of a very great Obliga|tion you had put upon me in the Parliament Hou&s;e and Councell of State the day before) there &s;eemed to be a very &s;olemn and<PB N="10" REF="6">friendly reconciliation betwixt us, which on my part hath beene faithfully, hone&s;tly, and ju&s;tly ever &s;ince, both privately and pub|likely, inviolably kept and pre&s;erved, to your honors very great advantage and &s;afety; and yet notwith&s;tanding from <HI>Scotland,</HI> &amp;c. by &s;everall of my friends I have been often informed, that Mr.
<HI>Scot,</HI> and others at <HI>White-Hall</HI> hath writ &s;everall Letters to you, and therein informed you, that I was a mannaging, and had joyned in de&s;tructive de&s;igns again&s;t you and the Army with the Kings Party, in which regard I have judged my &s;elfe obliged in con&s;cience and duty to my own &s;afety, to wait upon your Excel|lency, and face to face to aver unto you, upon my reputation and credit, that I am ab&s;olutely free in any kind, either directly or in|directly, of doing the lea&s;t action that may give you di&s;ta&s;t, or be prejudiciall in any kind to your intere&s;t; and therefore doe mo&s;t humbly and earne&s;tly entreat you, to do your &s;elfe that Right, and me that Ju&s;tice, as to call Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> or any other that hath endea|voured to accu&s;e me to you (and thereby to incen&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> your indigna|tion again&s;t me) face to face, that &s;o I may &s;peak for my &s;elf; and my Lord, if either Mr.
<HI>Scot,</HI> or any other can accu&s;e me ju&s;tly in the lea&s;t, as being guilty of any one action of di&s;&s;ervice unto you, &s;ince the day of our &s;aid &s;olemn reconciliation, let me for ever be e&s;teemed by you the verie&s;t fal&s;e trecherous Rogue and Villain in the world, at the &s;aying of which, his Lord&s;hip was plea&s;ed to &s;ay, he had not the lea&s;t ground of di&s;gu&s;t or di&s;ta&s;t again&s;t me, but that I &s;tood right in his affection, and he &s;hould be ready to do me any office of love.</P>
<P>On which I told him I was the more induced to do this, be|cau&s;e Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> being Secretary of State, (which being one of the greate&s;t places of tru&s;t in the Nation) I could not but judge there|by, he was very deep in his Excellencies favour, and therefore might have more then an ordinary influence upon him, and there|by the more able to do me a mi&s;chief, and I was &s;ure he had will enough unto it, fora&s;much as I was able to prove it to his face, while I was a pri&s;oner in the Tower in 1649. he had made it his work to hire an Agent, my great pretended friend, with great &s;ums of money, to come and per&s;wade me in my then great di&s;|contents, by rea&s;on of my &s;ad &s;ufferings, to write Letters to the King of <HI>Scots</HI> at
<HI>Jer&s;ey,</HI> and &s;end them by his &s;aid Agent, that &s;o I might be drawn into a trea&s;onable &s;nare, thereby to lo&s;e my<PB N="11" REF="6">life; and having had much private di&s;cour&s;e with his &s;aid Agent, and ea&s;ily perceiving his drift, I was through the goodne&s;&s;e of God too hard for him; whereupon he and Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> failing of their wicked and bloudy ends in getting any Letters from me, he the &s;aid Agent alone, or joyned with Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> as I have too appa|rent grounds to judge, hereupon counterfeited my hand, and feigned and produced &s;everall fal&s;e Letters of mine, intercepted, as was pretended, that I had writ to the King of
<HI>Scots:</HI> For my old friend Mr. <HI>Cornelius Holland</HI> avowed with a great deal of &s;e|riou&s;ne&s;&s;e to my wife then familiar with him, that he knew my hand as well as his own, &amp; if ever he &s;aw my hand in his life, tho&s;e Letters of mine that they had to produce again&s;t me, which he &s;aid I had lately writ to the King of <HI>Scots</HI> to <HI>Jer&s;ey,</HI> was every word my own individuall hand, and he was very &s;orry that I, who for my hone&s;ty he had &s;o highly e&s;teemed, &s;hould be &s;o A|po&s;tatized from all my principalls, as to turne my back of God, and of his people, and the cau&s;e of the Commonwealth, and to joyne with their grand enemy the King, to de&s;troy them all.</P>
<P>And the Lord <HI>Brad&s;haw</HI> averred the &s;ub&s;tance of this to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> very good friend of mine, a Knight; upon the knowledge of which, I did confidently, truly, and &s;olemnly avow, I never writ a line in my life to the King, nor was no more directly nor indirectly in combination with him, then Mr. <HI>Holland,</HI> or the Lord
<HI>Brad&s;haw</HI> them&s;elves; whereupon after I was calumniated by M.
<HI>Scots</HI> means all over City &amp; Country, to be an ab&s;olute Agent of the King, and threatned a little before my triall at Guild-Hall, to be tried for my life thereupon, yet upon my re&s;olute and true averments, this cheat vani&s;hed as &s;moke, &s;o that Sir by this you may &s;ee Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> wants no will to do me mi&s;chief, therefore for time to come I be&s;eech your Excellency not to believe any of his tales again&s;t me in his future endeavouring to make again debate and &s;trife be|twixt your honor and my &s;elf, but upon all his information again&s;t me, before they receive belief with you, call me face to face to &s;peak for my &s;elfe, which his Excellency &s;olemnly promi&s;ed he would do.</P>
<P>Whereupon in the &s;econd place I expre&s;&s;ed my &s;elfe in this manner to his honor; my Lord, I crave your favour to &s;peak a few words further unto you, which being granted, I went on to this effect, My Lord, there hath been in my late impri&s;onment<PB N="12" REF="7">much differences betwixt Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig</HI> and my &s;elf, occa|&s;ioned by his taking from me, by his will and plea&s;ure, without &s;hadow of Law, or authority of any in power, about 2500. <ABBR>l.</ABBR> of my own proper money, and be&s;ides, pro&s;ecuting to take away my life with that eagerne&s;&s;e and vilene&s;&s;e that he did, and that by ig|noble and unworthy means; and now my Lord there is a great conte&s;t betwixt him and my Family, whom
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ruly I cannot but &s;ay he mo&s;t unju&s;tly endeavours to extirpate out of their countrey, and from my Unkle and others of his friends, he hath already by his will and plea&s;ure, without Law or rea&s;on, taken a Colliery worth, as Sir <HI>Arthur</HI> him&s;elf &s;aith
5000. <ABBR>l.</ABBR> <HI>per annum,</HI> and I know my Lord, Sir
<HI>Arthur</HI> is a man very dear unto you in your affecti|ons, and in regard the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is like to come to a very high conte&s;t, and I as a Coun&s;ellor again&s;t Sir <HI>Arthur</HI> am like to the ut|mo&s;t to be ingaged in it; therefore lea&s;t your honor &s;hould judge I conte&s;t with Sir
<HI>Arthur</HI> upon any old &s;core of reflection upon him as your Lord&s;hips friend, or any the lea&s;t de&s;ign to occa&s;ion any di&s;turbance, I am come to wait upon your honor, on &s;et pur|po&s;e, to take out of your mind all or the lea&s;t apprehen&s;ion or conceipt of any di&s;gu&s;t remaining in my heart again&s;t your ho|nor, and to let you clearly know, my thoughts are fully fixed with as much re&s;pect upon your Excellency as its po&s;&s;ible for a mans to be; and therefore I am come to offer this unto your ho|nor, that &s;eeing Sir
<HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig</HI> is your great friend, and &s;ee|ing we judge our cau&s;e in conte&s;t with him &s;o ju&s;t and righteous as we do, I humbly and &s;eriou&s;ly profer this unto your honor, that if Sir <HI>Arthur</HI> plea&s;eth ab&s;olutely to refer the finall judgment of the cau&s;e unto your Excellencies &s;ole judgment, and bind him|&s;elf in a bond of twenty thou&s;and pounds, finally to &s;tand to your determinate and &s;ole judgment, I will ingage my friends &s;hall enter into as great bonds, upon your Lord&s;hips full hearing of the cau&s;e on both &s;ides, to &s;tand to, and finally to acquie&s;ce, without further di&s;pute, in his honors judgment, for which his Lord&s;hip very much commended my ingenuity, and my honora|ble re&s;pect to him&s;elf and his integrity, &s;o ab&s;olutely to put our &s;elves in a cau&s;e of &s;o great con&s;equence into his hands, but with|all told me, he under&s;tood the cau&s;e was long, and he had many weighty affaires upon his hands, which would by no meanes af|ford him &s;o much time as to hear &s;o long a cau&s;e as he believed<PB N="13" REF="7">that was, unto which I replied to this effect; then my Lord, be|cau&s;e I will ab&s;olutely leave you without the lea&s;t &s;tarting hole, or any the lea&s;t ground to harbour any di&s;gu&s;t in your brea&s;t a|gain&s;t me, for my zealous appearing in this Colliery bu&s;ine&s;&s;e a|gain&s;t Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig,</HI> over whom I know you have a kind of friendly command; and therefore &s;eeing you will not undertake to be Judge in the ca&s;e your &s;elf, in the &s;econd place, although Sir
<HI>Arthur</HI> be a great man, and a Parliament-man be&s;ides, and al&s;o a great Military Officer under you, and none of tho&s;e for whom I am ingaged again&s;t him in any of tho&s;e capacities or qualificati|ons, yet to &s;hew and fully hold out to your honor our own ho|ne&s;t, ju&s;t, and peaceable intentions. I &s;ay in the &s;econd place, on the behalfe of my &s;aid friends, in reference to the &s;aid Colliery, I offer this, that if your Lord&s;hip plea&s;e to ingage Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerig</HI> to make a finall and fair end of it without too much heat and conte&s;t, that if he plea&s;e to chu&s;e two Parliament men, or two Officers of the Army, out of tho&s;e of either &s;ort which he leaves we will chu&s;e two more, and bind our &s;elves finally in the &s;aid bonds of twenty thou&s;and pounds, to &s;tand, and abide their finall Judgment in the ca&s;e, and therein ab&s;olutely to acquie&s;ce, pro|vided that in regard they being an even number, there might be two and two in opinion oppo&s;ite to each other, that therefore in &s;uch things as they &s;hall not fully agree in, his Lord&s;hip &s;hould be finall Umpire, which profer his honor highly commended for &s;o much ingenuity, that he was highly taken with it, and promi&s;ed effectually to &s;peak to Sir <HI>Arthur</HI> about it, which yet produced no other healing effect in the lea&s;t, but my bani&s;hment.</P>
<P>Which being upon &s;uch hard and cruell terms, as is before tru|ly expre&s;&s;ed, and my life beyond the Seas in a con&s;tant and per|petuall hazzard and danger, and that principally by Mr. <HI>Scots</HI> means, Sir
<HI>Arthur Ha&s;lerigs</HI> indeared and bo&s;ome friend, who by his large pentioned Agents, and particularly by that notorious convicted perjured rogue, Capt. <HI>Wendy Oxford,</HI> whom I have too much cau&s;e confidently to believe, he got &s;et in the Pillory, and bani&s;hed, out of de&s;ign to go over with me, and put him in the more di&s;gui&s;e, the more &s;ecurely to get me murdered in our tra|vells together, who I am able to prove hath ever &s;ince been in a con&s;tant pentioned corre&s;pondency with the &s;aid M.
<HI>Scot,</HI> and the &s;aid <HI>Oxfords</HI> wife, or whore, as &s;he is commonly reputed, hath<PB N="14" REF="8">con&s;tantly and commonly once a moneth, pa&s;t and repa&s;t, be|twixt the &s;aid <HI>Oxford</HI> and Mr.
<HI>Scot,</HI> on purpo&s;e to plot and con|trive, as I have too apparent cau&s;e to judge, my murder, ruine, and de&s;truction, the &s;aid perjured rogue <HI>Oxford,</HI> having con&s;tant|ly and apparently ever &s;ince my bani&s;hment made it his work in <HI>Holland,</HI> fir&s;t by di&s;cour&s;es and printed papers with his name to them, to make the people of
<HI>Holland</HI> believe my bani&s;hment was but a counterfeit, a jugling and di&s;&s;embling fictious thing, out of de&s;ign, that &s;o I might be the more &s;erviceable to the General, or my brother Traytors at We&s;tmin&s;ter, as in his printed books he calls me and them, that &s;o the people in
<HI>Holland</HI> might beat my brains out as a rogue, and one of the Generalls or Parliaments chief Spies.</P>
<P>2. By his di&s;cour&s;es and printed papers, he hath con&s;tantly made it his work to incen&s;e the whole Body of the Kings Party beyond the Seas again&s;t me, con&s;tantly averring, that I have been the only principall man that imbroyled the three Nations in war, that murdered the King, and altered the Government into a Commonwealth, and have de&s;troyed the King, his Queen, and Po&s;terity, with the Nobility and Gentry, by means of which my life hath been in a con&s;tant and perpetuall danger to be taken from me, e&s;pecially by the ra&s;her and madder &s;ort of the Kings Party.</P>
<P>To counterbalance the&s;e two de&s;tructive evills and mi&s;chiefes again&s;t me, and my life, I have had no other way under God to pre&s;erve my life, but the&s;e two wayes:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t by di&s;cour&s;es and print beyond the Seas, to make it evi|dent and apparent to the people there, that my bani&s;hment was a reall thing, and no fiction in the lea&s;t, and that I was &s;o far from being a Spy for the Generall, that I had grounded cau&s;e to look upon him as the capitalle&s;t Adver&s;ary I had in the whole world, becau&s;e as my information told me before I left <HI>England,</HI> that by one of his own Favorites, who was then con&s;tantly at his elbow, that notwith&s;tanding all the fore-recited fair out-&s;ide carriage, my bani&s;hment was divers daies before it was declared by Parlia|ment agreed on by the Generall him&s;elfe, and a cabal of Parlia|ment-men in the Generalls own private Chamber.</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, an information before my wife by &s;ome that &s;ate in the Hou&s;e, and heard, and diligently ob&s;erved the whole
<PB N="15" REF="8" MS="y">carriage of my bani&s;hment, told me, that the Generall upon that Tue&s;day that I was called to the Bar, to hear their &s;entence read to me (being the very day that my hone&s;t and faithfull Citizen friends delivered their Petition to the Parliament again&s;t the in|ju&s;tice of their own bani&s;hing Votes) appeared openly in the Hou&s;e as the grand and principall man that cau&s;ed me to be ba|ni&s;hed, in all which regards and con&s;iderations, I was then of o|pinion, and yet am not fully altered, that I had ju&s;t cau&s;e to write, and &s;peak as evill of the Generall, as my tongue or pen could in|vent; and I confe&s;&s;e I did it, and do appeal to all unbya&s;&s;ed men among&s;t your &s;elves, what le&s;&s;e the godlie&s;t, meeke&s;t, and moderate&s;t among&s;t you would have done, all circum&s;tances con&s;idered, had you been in my mo&s;t de&s;perate and &s;ad conditi|on, daily and hourly incompa&s;&s;ed round with the plotted and contrived de&s;igns of murder and death, by the pentioned Agents of the Secretary of State; Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> who was great in favour even with the Generalls Excellency him&s;elf.</P>
<P>The &s;econd main thing that I had under God, in rea&s;on, ho|ne&s;tly, or policy to pre&s;erve my life, was in all the ju&s;t and hone&s;t ways I could to fall into a friendly familiarity with the ration|alle&s;t and principalle&s;t of the Kings Party that lived in the parts where I lived, and accordingly I did, and was very familiar with the Lord
<HI>Percy,</HI> the Lord <HI>Hopton,</HI> the Lord <HI>Culp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">pper,</HI> the Bi&s;hop of <HI>London Derry</HI> (a wi&s;e and &s;hrewd blunt man) and the Duke of <HI>Buckingh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">m,</HI> with all of whom, or the highe&s;t ranting Cavalier I met with, upon all occa&s;ions of di&s;cour&s;e what&s;oever, I alwayes maintained my own principalls, that at the fir&s;t I ingaged with in the Parliaments quarrel again&s;t the late King, <HI>viz.</HI> unlimited Re|gall Prerogative, and Parliaments unknown unfathomable pri|viledges; and with whom, or any other of the Kings Party, either directly or indirectly, I never in the lea&s;t (I &s;peak it as in the pre|&s;ence of the Lord God Almighty, that knows the &s;ecrete&s;t thoughts of the hears of the &s;ons of men) in all my daies, from the beginning of the war to this hour, entered into the lea&s;t con|tract, agreement, oath, or confederacy, to be his Agent, or to ad|vance his ends or intere&s;ts, and am as totally ignorant as a young child of the particulars of any pre&s;ent de&s;igns of his, negotiated in
<HI>England, Scotland,</HI> or <HI>Ireland,</HI> and never in all my daies held a|ny Coun&s;ells with them, or any of them, for the mannaging of
<PB N="16" REF="9">the Kings de&s;igns again&s;t the intere&s;t and welfare of the Land of my Nativity; and in all my actions and carriages beyond the Seas, in my cruell bani&s;hment, I have been to the utmo&s;t of my power, under&s;tanding, ability, as con&s;tant, as &s;tudious and indu&s;trious a reall well-wi&s;her to the pro&s;perity of the people of <HI>England</HI> in generall, as ever I was in my life, and I appeal to a late publi&s;hed Letter of mine to Col <HI>Henry Martin,</HI> as a part of my ju&s;tification in this averment.</P>
<P>And as for <HI>George</HI> Lord Duke of <HI>Buckingham,</HI> with whom I was the mo&s;t conver&s;ant, I was again and again importuned by the &s;aid Captain <HI>Wendy Oxford</HI> thereunto, our fir&s;t meeting, or &s;eeing one anothers faces, being at the &s;aid Captain <HI>Wendy Ox|fords</HI> Chamber in <HI>Amsterdam,</HI> where we all three dined together, and the Duke and my &s;elf had a very large and private di&s;cour&s;e about his own particular individuall bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, he craving my be&s;t advi&s;e, how he might the mo&s;t rationall, expeditious, and ho|norable way he could, make his peace in <HI>England,</HI> and returne thither to breath in the Ayre of the Land of his Nativity, which ne avowed he loved above all places in the world, and was ready and willing to do any thing that the pre&s;ent power in
<HI>England</HI> could require of a man, that had either a grain of honor or hone|&s;ty in him, and to give them any &s;ecurity to the utmo&s;t of his power for his future quiet, and peaceable living under their Go|vernment; for the accompli&s;hment of which end I gave him ma|ny rea&s;ons to believe that his onely way was to make a &s;ure and firm friend to his Excellency the Lord General <HI>Cromwel,</HI> in order unto which I advi&s;ed him to deale with Captain <HI>Wendy Oxford,</HI> who was a Mercenary fellow, and whom I gave him abundance of rea&s;ons to believe, was very great with Mr. <HI>Thomas Scot</HI> Secre|tary of State, who I confidently then averred to him was extra|ordinary great with his Excellency the Lord Generall <HI>Cromwel,</HI> and accordingly the &s;aid Duke of <HI>Buckingham</HI> followed my ad|vi&s;e, and large in&s;tructions in that particular, and entered into a contract with the &s;aid
<HI>Oxford</HI> to obtain his pa&s;&s;e, who to my cer|tain knowledge negotiated it, both by Letter to his &s;aid wife (or commonly reputed Whore) with Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> for divers weeks and moneths together, and the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> &s;ent over to the &s;aid <HI>Ox|ford</HI> a Pa&s;&s;e, at the &s;aid <HI>Oxfords</HI> earne&s;t de&s;ire, to come from <HI>Hol|land</HI> to <HI>England</HI> to &s;peak with him the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Scot,</HI> about the
<PB N="17" REF="9">&s;aid bu&s;ine&s;s; which Pa&s;s, as I was told by a Merchant, that in <HI>Oxfords</HI> hand &s;ee it, the &s;aid <HI>Oxford</HI> was po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or of: but it being accidentally &s;een in <HI>Oxfords</HI> hands, by &s;ome Cavaliers who were drinking hard, and ranting it with the &s;aid <HI>Oxford,</HI> he judged it his &s;afety and policy immedi|ately to tear and burn it; and immediately to fall a cur&s;ing and &s;wearing at the Parliament and Army, and to call them Rogues, Traytors, and Vil|lains, and to with all the plagues of Heaven and earth to fall upon them, for their de&s;truction and damnation. And which &s;aid <HI>Oxford</HI> received &s;everal &s;ums of money of the &s;aid Duke of <HI>Buckingham</HI> to negotiate his bu|&s;ine&s;s with the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Sco<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> to procure his Pa&s;s to come into
<HI>England:</HI> and as I have been credibly informed from Col.
<HI>Leighton,</HI> then belonging to the Duke of <HI>Buckingham,</HI> and then fully privy to all the &s;aid negotia|tions: the &s;aid <HI>Oxford</HI> with Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> brought his de&s;ired Pa&s;s to that per|fection, that if he the &s;aid Duke would truly declare all the di&s;cour&s;e he had with me at
<HI>Am&s;terdam,</HI> he &s;hould have his Pa&s;s; but the Duke having at our very fir&s;t meeting ingaged his word and honour to me, that his and my di&s;cour&s;e together &s;hould not be divulged without my con|&s;ent, and according to my in&s;tructions refu&s;ed to tell Mr. <HI>Scot</HI> the &s;ame, and &s;o failed of his then obtaining his Pa&s;s; and thereupon &s;ent his friend Col. <HI>Leighton</HI> with a Letter, and full in&s;tructions immediately to his Excel|lency the Lord General <HI>Cromwel</HI> to procure his extraordinary much de|&s;ired Pa&s;s; and the &s;aid Col. <HI>Leighton</HI> had with his Excellency and the then coun&s;el of State many debates about it, as the &s;aid Col. fully and particularly at his coming into <HI>Flanders</HI> told me at <HI>O&s;tend,</HI> and <HI>Bridges,</HI> the place of my then habitation; and this bu&s;ine&s;s, and the debating from time to time of the hone&s;t and ju&s;t ways and means how to pro|cure the &s;aid de&s;ired Pa&s;s, for the &s;aid Duke, was the true and reall ground of the Duke of
<HI>Buckinghams</HI> and my many conver&s;es together ever &s;ince our fir&s;t knowledge each of other: unto whom I mu&s;t mo&s;t truly and faithfully &s;ay this, That I do as immediately and in&s;trumently owe my life and being to him, as ever <HI>David</HI> ought his to <HI>Jonathan:</HI> his pow|erful influence among the de&s;perate Cavaliers, being &s;uch, as that in&s;tru|mentally under God he principally pre&s;erved my life, from tho&s;e many complotted de&s;ignes, that the &s;aid <HI>Oxford</HI> had cunningly laid by their hands to get me murdered; and of whom and in his real commendations, whether it be gain or lo&s;s unto me, I am in gratitude compelled to &s;ay this:</P>
<P>That during the time of my bani&s;hment, I was more really obliged and beholden to him the &s;aid Duke of <HI>Buckingham,</HI> for tho&s;e extraordi|nary benefits and favours I have received from him, then I am to my Fa|ther, my Brother, and all the Kindred and friends I have in the three Nations, in <HI>England, Scotland,</HI> and <HI>Ireland;</HI> and in whom I have by long experience found &s;o much rea&s;on, &s;obriety, civility, honour, and con&s;ci|ence (that) as to his owne particular, if ever it &s;hould lye in my power to do him any per&s;onal &s;ervice, without detriment to my native country (which I am confident he would never de&s;ire of me) I judge my &s;elf bound and obliged in con&s;cience and gratitude to travel in his errand a
<PB N="18" REF="10">thou&s;and, and a thou&s;and miles upon my feet; and if he wanted &s;ecurity, and mine might any waies be advantagious unto him, in ca&s;e he &s;hould ever live to injoy that, which he to me &s;cores of times pa&s;&s;ionately hath de|clared to be e&s;teemed by him &s;o great a happine&s;s, once again to be admit|ted to breath in <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> aire, I dur&s;t be bound body for body, for his pun|ctual, and faithful performance of any &s;olemn ingagement he &s;hould make for his future and peaceable, quiet and obedient living under the pre&s;ent power of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>Mo&s;t noble Lord, and honored Gentlemen, I am the more bold to be thus large in the&s;e particulars with you, becau&s;e, being compelled by my own nece&s;&s;ities (Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;elridge</HI> having actually &s;eized all my land) and the apparent hazard of death, (<HI>Oxford</HI> having in his third or la&s;t printed book declared, he hath two more to come &s;peedily out again&s;t me, in which he &s;ufficiently threatens, to make it too hot for me to hide my head in any hole in <HI>Europe.</HI>) And my wives mo&s;t urgent importunity, grounded, as &s;he &s;aid to me, upon &s;ome incouragement &s;he apprehended from his excellency the Lord Generall <HI>Cromwell;</HI> I &s;ay, being nece&s;&s;ita|ted and incouraged by the fore&s;aid declared premi&s;es, to return into <HI>Eng|land,</HI> and to ca&s;t my life at your feet and favour, by rea&s;on of the uncon|&s;cionable letter of an unju&s;t, injurious, and many waies void Act of Par|liament in it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>And in the &s;incerity of my &s;oul, &s;ince my compelled returne, have made to his Excellency and the honorable Councell of State, upon 14, 16, and 20 of <HI>June</HI> pre&s;ent three humble, rationall, &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive, and moderate pe|titions; unto all or any of which I can yet obtaine no other an&s;wer, but my commitment to <HI>Newgate,</HI> in order to a triall for my life, upon the &s;aid illegall and unju&s;t Act of Parliament; and &s;erverall averments from Major Generall <HI>Desborough,</HI> and Major Generall
<HI>Harri&s;on,</HI> unto di|vers of my Friends, as &s;everall of them inform me, that the Councel of State hath letters and papers under my own hand, of my ingagement to the pre&s;ent King of <HI>Scots,</HI> to come over to be his Agent, and to imbroile the Nation again in blood; and that all the Duke of
<HI>Buckingham</HI>'s familiarity and mine hath been only in order thereunto, with divers other things of the like mi&s;chievous nature: and that which is wor&s;e, &s;ome of my &s;aid Friends, that were down at <HI>White-hall</HI> with my la&s;t Petition, aver to me, that Major Generall <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> with much incen&s;ed bitterne&s;s &s;hould aver to them, that there was no credit to be given to any of my averments to the contrary, of what he &s;aid again&s;t me, becau&s;e he had found me &s;o fal&s;e, that he could not tru&s;t any thing I &s;aid: and others of my Friends aver to me, that they have been certainly informed, that Major Generall <HI>Harri&s;on</HI> in open Parliament, &s;ince the debate of my bani&s;hment was a|foot, avowed in the open Hou&s;e, that I was a mo&s;t fal&s;e perjured fellow: in all which con&s;ideration, and fora&s;much as the wi&s;e&s;t of men in Scripture aver to this purpo&s;e that a good name is much more precious then much &s;weet oil, and more to be valued then much fine gold; and to me is much more dearer then my life; in all which con&s;ideration, I &s;ay, I am compel|led in all humility to take my life at this pre&s;ent time vi&s;ibly into my hand,<PB N="19" REF="10">and humbly to declare unto you, that being lately pre&s;t upon tho&s;e very things by one &s;uppo&s;ed very powerfull with his excellency about my in|gaging with the King of <HI>Scots,</HI> and having &s;olemnly declared to him, I never was guilty of any the lea&s;t ingagement with him, or any of his party, to promote his Regall intere&s;t, again&s;t the wel are of the pre&s;ent declared Common-wealth of <HI>England:</HI> and being de&s;ired and pre&s;t by him, I &s;o|lemnly &s;wore it upon the Bible, and am ready with the la&s;t drop of my heart-blood to make it good again&s;t any man in the whole world: being confident that no man having but one grain of common hone&s;ty, hath any ground in the lea&s;t, to &s;wear &s;uch a thing again&s;t me, as confedera|cy with the pre&s;ent King, or any for him, to be his pre&s;ent agent in England; nor dare do it, unle&s;s it be &s;ome of Mr. <HI>Scots</HI> mo&s;t deboi&s;t Ca|valiers, or other wicked Agents and Pen&s;ioners, that he con&s;tantly im|ployes to &s;et and lay traps and gins to betray and de&s;troy men (as in &s;ome ca&s;es I can punctually prove, he hath already done, even to the taking away the very lives of &s;ome) the generality of which, for a Whore or a Gla&s;s of Wine makes no con&s;cience at all, with mo&s;t bitter oathes to dam them&s;elves to the pit of hell: he having already to one of them profered to &s;ettle upon him and his heirs for ever 200 <HI><ABBR>l.</ABBR></HI> land of inheri|tance by the year, to &s;wear again&s;t me at <HI>Guild</HI>-hall to take away my life there, as the party him&s;elf hath confe&s;&s;ed to me; and hath al&s;o in effect done the &s;ame to a Col. that within this very few dayes tells me that at law upon his oath he will be ready to ju&s;tifie it.</P>
<P>And as for my information, of Major General <HI>Harri&s;ons</HI> averment a|gain&s;t me in the open Hou&s;e, of being perjured; my condition at per|&s;ent, with all the &s;obriety I can, compels me to &s;ay no more to him but this, That I very well know Sir <HI>Arthur Ha&s;elridge</HI> at the Parliaments Committee, where <HI>Primates</HI> bu&s;ine&s;s was examined, indeavored by fal&s;e Oaths, and no otherwi&s;e, to prove &s;uch a thing again&s;t me and old and hone&s;t Ma&s;ter <HI>George Gray;</HI> but could not, nor did in the lea&s;t legally or effectually do it, although we fully proved there, his principalle&s;t witne&s;s or witne&s;&s;es, to be fully perjured or for&s;worn: one or more of them having &s;worn in effect, That old-Ma&s;ter
<HI>George Gray,</HI> and my Uncle <HI>George Lilburne,</HI> had robbed by Committee force, Ma&s;ter <HI>Wray</HI> Sir <HI>Arthurs</HI> Champion, of his deeds and evidences, divers yeers ago; and yet Ma&s;ter <HI>Breaton</HI> confe&s;&s;ed at the then Bar (and that upon his Oath, as I remem|ber) that not many weeks before that, he had the &s;aid Ma&s;ter <HI>Wrays</HI> Deeds and evidences in his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, and peru&s;ed them. And as to my being perjured, I do hereby provoke Major General <HI>Hari&s;on</HI> with all the earne&s;tne&s;s in the world, to prefer a Bill of indictment in any Court of Law in <HI>England,</HI> to convict me of that notorious crime, and I will readily and willingly an&s;wer him; or el&s;e, if he plea&s;e to aver before two or three of my friends, the &s;ame thing, that &s;o at the Bar of Ju&s;tice they may be my witne&s;&s;es, I &s;hall not be long (if I live) to &s;eek my legal re|medy again&s;t him for &s;candalizing me, knowing in my own con&s;cience, my &s;elf &s;o innocent of any the lea&s;t thing like perjury, that I dare with con|fidence and deliberation, &s;pit in the face of the &s;toute&s;t &s;ingle man in<PB N="20" REF="11"><HI>England,</HI> that dare to my face &s;olemnly aver &s;uch a thing; but being my mo&s;t earne&s;t de&s;ire is with good words, &amp; hearty &amp; unfe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">gned ingagements, of living peaceably, and quietly: without the lea&s;t di&s;turbance to the pre&s;ent government, rather then by high language in the lea&s;t, if it be po&s;|fable, to provoke, (though I hartily thanke and ble&s;s God for it, it is no more dreadful to me at pre&s;ent to dy, then to go &s;leep.)</P>
<P>I therefore intreat your Lord&s;hip and honours, as you are men of ho|nour, and con&s;cence, &s;uffer not my good name, behind my back, to be rent and torn in peeces with notorious lyes and fal&s;hoods: but what you in any kind lay to my charge, about the King of <HI>Scots,</HI> &s;peedily &s;end me a true copy of it, and without the lea&s;t demurer to the juri&s;diction of the place from whence it comes, I will &s;peedily and freely return you a par|ticular an&s;wer to every head of it. Or el&s;e,</P>
<P>2. Be plea&s;ed to prevaile with Major General
<HI>Desborough,</HI> his Excellen|cies brother in law (and one I believe, for his wi&s;dome and parts, he very much confides in, and one I have in times pa&s;t, been mo&s;t intimately fa|miliar with, and never had any particular grand di&s;gu&s;t with in my life, that I can remember) to vouch&s;afe to come and &s;pend a few hours time with me, and I am confident, I &s;hall face to face give him full, rational, and ju&s;t &s;atisfaction in every particular, that he is able to object again&s;t me; that &s;o if it be po&s;&s;ible, a quiet and peaceable compo&s;ure may be made of your pre&s;ent di&s;ta&s;te again&s;t me; there being nothing, I &s;eriou&s;ly pro|fe&s;s it from my very heart, that his Excellency in Rea&s;on and Ju&s;tice can de&s;ire at my hands, but he &s;hall ab&s;olutely command it. So humbly cra|ving your pardon for my tediou&s;ne&s;s herein, and my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, if you judge it any, for my printing hereof, being &s;o much for the per&s;ervation of my own life, reputation and &s;afety compelled thereto; being al|ready beyond the Seas in &s;everal Nations and Languages, con&s;trained, for the pre&s;ervation of my life in my bani&s;hment to print the fir&s;t part of it, being my fir&s;t addre&s;s to you. So I humbly take leave to &s;ub&s;cribe my &s;elf,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>(My Lord, and Noble Gentlmen)</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Yours to &s;erve you, if you plea&s;e, <HI>John Lilburne.</HI></SIGNED> <DATELINE>From my capti|vity in New|gate
<DATE>this 22. of <HI>June</HI> 1653.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
