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2946

LILBURNE.

ink, and paper, and no body ſuffered to viſit him; however, he found means to write another petition^{[footnote 1]}, renewing his appeal to the Houſe of Commons, which being delivered by his wife, September the 23d, a committee was appointed to hear and report his complaint againſt the Lords. Sir Henry Martin was chairman of this committee, before whom our author made his firſt plea in the inner Court of Wards, on the laſt day of October, and was heard again by them in the Exchequer-chamber, November the 6th following^{[sidenote 1]}, but no report being made to the Houſe, he ſent a copy of his ſecond plea before the Committee to Sir Henry Martin, and afterwards printed it under the title of The Anatomy of the Lords Tyranny. Not content with the juſtice done to himſelf in this performance, he publiſhed, not long afterwards, another book entitled, The oppreſſed Man’s Oppreſſion declared, &c. in which he complained of the injury done to him by the Houſe of Commons, in their deferring to take his caſe into conſideration, and threatening to raiſe the people in his defence, he proceeds to charge that Houſe, not only with having of late years done nothing for the general good, bur alſo, with having made many ordinances notoriouſly unjuſt and oppreſſive^{[footnote 2]}. Whereupon the whole impreſſion wasſeized

Sidenotes

↑ (k k) Grand Plea, &c. p. 1, 2.

Footnotes

Yea, tho’ the Lords have him in bonds againe,
The lord of Lords will his juſt cauſe maintaine.

This print appears plainly to be done at our author’s diſcharge from the Fleet in 1641. The inſcription over the frame, and the two laſt verſes under it being added, and the head, which is well graved^{[citation 1]}, probably retouched upon this occaſion.

↑ [A A] He found means to write a petition.] This was a piece of management for which our author triumphed ſoon after over the Lieutenant of the Tower, Colonel Francis Weſt, in the following terms: ‘On the 10th of July, 1646, I came hither, and you ſent me to the lodge where I am, with extraordinary ſtrict and ſevere commands upon my keeper, who, within certain days after I came to him, demanded chamber-rent of me at a great deal higher rate than I pay: I told him neceſſity had no law, and I therefore deſired him to aſk me reaſonable, and he ſhould ſee what I would ſay to him. So at laſt he aſked me 15s. per week. I told him I knew well the laws of all the priſons in England, and 15s. per week was a great deal of money for bare lodging; but in regard it was with me as it was, conditionally that he for his part would uſe me and my friends that ſhould come to ſee me with civillity and humanitie, I would give him 15s. per week, and find my own linnen beſides; proteſting unto him, that the firſt time he uſed me or any that came to ſee me churliſhly, I would not pay him one penny more of money: and I muſt ingenuouſly confeſs, I had no cauſe to complain of the man in point of civility, nor he of me in performing my promiſe: for I have paid him, tho’ it has been with ſome ſtraights to me, betwixt 20 and 30l.—Now (continues he) I will deal ingenuouſly with you, and give you the true reaſon why I condeſcended to pay chamber-rent at firſt. It was becauſe I had potent enemies to deal with in the Houſe of Lords, who had ſentenced me to pay 4000l. illegally and unjuſtly, and entred crimes againſt me in their records: I told you at firſt I was refreſhed at my hopes of being freed, but I thought you would have deſtroyed me before I could clear myſelf, and anatomize their cruelty, both of which my ſoul thirſted after; and therefore if I had been able I would have purchaſed an opportunity of doing it at 20l⟨.⟩ a week. And truly, Sir, I have done my do, and publiſhed my cauſe to the view of the whole kingdom. Firſt, In my wife’s petition, delivered to the Houſe of Commons, September 23d, 1646. 2dly, In my book called London’s Liberty in Chains, diſcovered. And, 3dly, Twice before the Committee of the honourable Houſe of Commons; the laſt diſcourſe of which I publiſhed under the title of the Anatomy of the Lords Tyranny; and ſome friends have helped me in Vox Plebis, and Regal Tyranny diſcovered; which will live when I am dead, and prove the Lords winding-ſheet^{[citation 2]}.’ This is another inſtance of Lilburne’s confidence in boaſting; for notwithſtanding we ſee him here declaring with ſuch an air of ſelf-ſatisfaction, that he had brought the keeper entirely to his bow; yet we find him inſerting a poſtſcript to his book called London’s Liberty in Chains diſcovered, purely to apologize for any incorrectneſs in the reaſoning, or any errors or deficiencies in the quotations of that piece, on account of his being debarred pen, and ink, and paper, and obliged to write by ſcraps as he could ſteal an opportunity; and that he had no means of peruſing or correcting his papers either before or after they were put to the preſs. The truth is, this bragging temper was as much a part of his conſtitution as quarrelling, he could no more forbear that than this, nor either of them, any more than (to uſe an expreſſion of his own) he could forbear eating when he was hungry. Both were continually breaking out in ſeaſon and out of feaſon. Indeed it muſt be owned, that the paſſage now under conſideration was well-timed enough. He had then formed a deſign^{[citation 3]}, which he afterwards carried into execution^{[citation 4]}, of exerting all the powers of his pen to raiſe ſuch a mob as ſhould be able to attempt ſomething effectual towards redeeming him from his captivity, in order to which it ſeemed neceſſary to poſſeſs them before-hand, with a full perſuaſion of his extraordinary worth and abilities. But this purpoſe in his preſent circumſtances was anſwered undeniably well, by ſetting before their eyes a freſh proof of thoſe abilities in outwitting his keeper, and in him the Lieutenant of the Tower, and thereby evacuating an expreſs order of the Houſe of Lords. Surely ſuch a hero muſt be deſerving of any enterprize in his behalf. In ſhort, this has ſo much the face of a well-concerted ſcheme, that was not the faculty of glorying in his impudence perfectly congenial to Lilburne’s nature, and ever forward to diſplay itſelf without the view of ſerving any particular end therein, one would be apt to look upon the preſent inſtance of it as a pure piece of art.
↑ [B B] Oppreſſive ordinances.] We have given the matter of his offence to the Houſe of Commons, in the text, but no words, except his own, can repreſent the peculiar aggravations of it. Thus having declared that he has tried all fair means to get his report made to the Houſe, that ſo he might have a hearing before them; and that he deſires nothing more than to be called out to a legal trial, he proceeds in theſe words; ‘which, if they do not, but reſolve to keep me here, I will, by God’s afſitance, before many months be expired, give them cauſe, with a witneſs, to call me out; for here, if I can help it, I will not be deſtroyed with a lingring death, tho’ they cut me to pieces as ſmall as fleſh for the pot. And therefore, having now with a long deliberation committed my wife and children to the care and protection of an All-merciful God, whom, for about theſe ten years, I have feelingly and ſenfibly known for my God in Jeſus Chriſt, who with a mighty protection and preſervation hath been with me in ſix troubles, and in ſeven, and from the day of my public conteſts with the Biſhops, hath enabled me to carry my life in my hands, and to have it always in a readineſs to lay it down in a quarter of an hour’s warning, knowing that he has in ſtore for me a manſion of eternal glory. All theſe things conſidered, I am now determined, by the ſtrength of God, if herein I have not ſpeedily that juſtice, which the law of England offers me, which is all I crave or ſtand in awe of, no longer to wait upon the deſtructive ſeaſons of prudential men, but forthwith to make a formal Appeal to all the kingdom of England and dominion of Wales, and ſet my credit upon the tenters to get money to print 20000 of them, and ſend them gratis to all the counties of England. The ingredients of which ſhall be filled with the Parliament’s own declarations againſt the King, turned upon themſelves

Citations

↑ (65) The Graver’s name is put within the frame, G. Gle. fecit.
↑ (66) Oppreſſed Man’s Oppreſſions, p. 23.
↑ (67) See the next remark.
↑ (68) In a piece wrote in concert with Overton, and intituled, The Outcries of the oppreſſed Commons, directed to all the rational and underſtanding in the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales. Publiſhed Feb. 1647, 4to.

and

[7] (k k) Grand Plea, &c. p. 1, 2.

[6] [A A] He found means to write a petition.] This was a piece of management for which our author triumphed ſoon after over the Lieutenant of the Tower, Colonel Francis Weſt, in the following terms: ‘On the 10th of July, 1646, I came hither, and you ſent me to the lodge where I am, with extraordinary ſtrict and ſevere commands upon my keeper, who, within certain days after I came to him, demanded chamber-rent of me at a great deal higher rate than I pay: I told him neceſſity had no law, and I therefore deſired him to aſk me reaſonable, and he ſhould ſee what I would ſay to him. So at laſt he aſked me 15s. per week. I told him I knew well the laws of all the priſons in England, and 15s. per week was a great deal of money for bare lodging; but in regard it was with me as it was, conditionally that he for his part would uſe me and my friends that ſhould come to ſee me with civillity and humanitie, I would give him 15s. per week, and find my own linnen beſides; proteſting unto him, that the firſt time he uſed me or any that came to ſee me churliſhly, I would not pay him one penny more of money: and I muſt ingenuouſly confeſs, I had no cauſe to complain of the man in point of civility, nor he of me in performing my promiſe: for I have paid him, tho’ it has been with ſome ſtraights to me, betwixt 20 and 30l.—Now (continues he) I will deal ingenuouſly with you, and give you the true reaſon why I condeſcended to pay chamber-rent at firſt. It was becauſe I had potent enemies to deal with in the Houſe of Lords, who had ſentenced me to pay 4000l. illegally and unjuſtly, and entred crimes againſt me in their records: I told you at firſt I was refreſhed at my hopes of being freed, but I thought you would have deſtroyed me before I could clear myſelf, and anatomize their cruelty, both of which my ſoul thirſted after; and therefore if I had been able I would have purchaſed an opportunity of doing it at 20l⟨.⟩ a week. And truly, Sir, I have done my do, and publiſhed my cauſe to the view of the whole kingdom. Firſt, In my wife’s petition, delivered to the Houſe of Commons, September 23d, 1646. 2dly, In my book called London’s Liberty in Chains, diſcovered. And, 3dly, Twice before the Committee of the honourable Houſe of Commons; the laſt diſcourſe of which I publiſhed under the title of the Anatomy of the Lords Tyranny; and ſome friends have helped me in Vox Plebis, and Regal Tyranny diſcovered; which will live when I am dead, and prove the Lords winding-ſheet^{[citation 2]}.’ This is another inſtance of Lilburne’s confidence in boaſting; for notwithſtanding we ſee him here declaring with ſuch an air of ſelf-ſatisfaction, that he had brought the keeper entirely to his bow; yet we find him inſerting a poſtſcript to his book called London’s Liberty in Chains diſcovered, purely to apologize for any incorrectneſs in the reaſoning, or any errors or deficiencies in the quotations of that piece, on account of his being debarred pen, and ink, and paper, and obliged to write by ſcraps as he could ſteal an opportunity; and that he had no means of peruſing or correcting his papers either before or after they were put to the preſs. The truth is, this bragging temper was as much a part of his conſtitution as quarrelling, he could no more forbear that than this, nor either of them, any more than (to uſe an expreſſion of his own) he could forbear eating when he was hungry. Both were continually breaking out in ſeaſon and out of feaſon. Indeed it muſt be owned, that the paſſage now under conſideration was well-timed enough. He had then formed a deſign^{[citation 3]}, which he afterwards carried into execution^{[citation 4]}, of exerting all the powers of his pen to raiſe ſuch a mob as ſhould be able to attempt ſomething effectual towards redeeming him from his captivity, in order to which it ſeemed neceſſary to poſſeſs them before-hand, with a full perſuaſion of his extraordinary worth and abilities. But this purpoſe in his preſent circumſtances was anſwered undeniably well, by ſetting before their eyes a freſh proof of thoſe abilities in outwitting his keeper, and in him the Lieutenant of the Tower, and thereby evacuating an expreſs order of the Houſe of Lords. Surely ſuch a hero muſt be deſerving of any enterprize in his behalf. In ſhort, this has ſo much the face of a well-concerted ſcheme, that was not the faculty of glorying in his impudence perfectly congenial to Lilburne’s nature, and ever forward to diſplay itſelf without the view of ſerving any particular end therein, one would be apt to look upon the preſent inſtance of it as a pure piece of art.

[p81-8] [B B] Oppreſſive ordinances.] We have given the matter of his offence to the Houſe of Commons, in the text, but no words, except his own, can repreſent the peculiar aggravations of it. Thus having declared that he has tried all fair means to get his report made to the Houſe, that ſo he might have a hearing before them; and that he deſires nothing more than to be called out to a legal trial, he proceeds in theſe words; ‘which, if they do not, but reſolve to keep me here, I will, by God’s afſitance, before many months be expired, give them cauſe, with a witneſs, to call me out; for here, if I can help it, I will not be deſtroyed with a lingring death, tho’ they cut me to pieces as ſmall as fleſh for the pot. And therefore, having now with a long deliberation committed my wife and children to the care and protection of an All-merciful God, whom, for about theſe ten years, I have feelingly and ſenfibly known for my God in Jeſus Chriſt, who with a mighty protection and preſervation hath been with me in ſix troubles, and in ſeven, and from the day of my public conteſts with the Biſhops, hath enabled me to carry my life in my hands, and to have it always in a readineſs to lay it down in a quarter of an hour’s warning, knowing that he has in ſtore for me a manſion of eternal glory. All theſe things conſidered, I am now determined, by the ſtrength of God, if herein I have not ſpeedily that juſtice, which the law of England offers me, which is all I crave or ſtand in awe of, no longer to wait upon the deſtructive ſeaſons of prudential men, but forthwith to make a formal Appeal to all the kingdom of England and dominion of Wales, and ſet my credit upon the tenters to get money to print 20000 of them, and ſend them gratis to all the counties of England. The ingredients of which ſhall be filled with the Parliament’s own declarations againſt the King, turned upon themſelves

[1] (65) The Graver’s name is put within the frame, G. Gle. fecit.

[3] (66) Oppreſſed Man’s Oppreſſions, p. 23.

[4] (67) See the next remark.

[5] (68) In a piece wrote in concert with Overton, and intituled, The Outcries of the oppreſſed Commons, directed to all the rational and underſtanding in the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales. Publiſhed Feb. 1647, 4to.

[footnote 1]

[sidenote 1]

[footnote 2]

[citation 1]

[citation 2]

[citation 3]

[citation 4]