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book_n	church_n	rome_n	true_a	3,164	5	5.5783	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48454	The Christian mans triall, or, A trve relation of the first apprehension and severall examinations of Iohn Lilbvrne with his censure in Star-chamber, and the manner of his cruell whipping through the streets : whereunto is annexed his speech in the pillory, and their gagging of him : also the severe	Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657.; Kiffin, William, 1616-1701.; Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657. Work of the beast.	1641 (1641)	Wing L2089; ESTC R1513	44,603	44

being a guiltie person himselfe and a prisoner and did that which he did against mee for purchasing his owne libertie which hee hath by such Judasly meanes got and obtained who is also knowne to be a lying fellow as I told the Lords I was able to prove and make good But besides all this there was an inquisition-oath tendered unto mee which I refused to take on foure severall dayes the summe of which Oath is thus much You shall sweare that you shall make true answer to all things that shall be asked of you So helpe you God Now this Oath I refused as a sinfull and unlawfull Oath it being the High-Commission Oath with which the Prelates ever have and still doe so butcherly torment afflict and undoe the deare Saints and Servants of God It is an oath against the Law of the Land as Master Nicholas Fuller in his Argument doth prove And also it is expressely against the Petition of Right an Act of Parliament Enacted in the second yeere of our King Againe it is absolutely against the Law of God for that Law requires no man to accuse himselfe but if any thing be laid to his charge there must come two or three witnesses at the least to prove it It is also against the practice of Christ himselfe who in all his examinations before the High Priest would not accuse himselfe but upon their demands returned this answer Why aske you me goe to them that heard me Withall this Oath is against the very law of Nature for nature is alwaies a preserver of it selfe and not a destroyer But if a man takes this wicked oath he destroyes and undoes himselfe as daily experience doth witnesse Nay it is worse than the Law of the Heathen Romanes as wee may reade Acts 25. 16. For when Paul stood before the Pagan Governours and the Iewes required judgement against him the Governour replyed it is not the manner of the Romans to condemne any man before he and his accusers be brought face to face to justifie their accusation But for mine owne part if I had beene proceeded against by a Bill I would have answered and justified all that they could have proved against me and by the strength of my God would have sealed whatsoever I have done with my blood for I am privie to mine owne actions and my conscience beares mee witnesse that I have laboured ever since the Lord in mercy made the riches of his grace knowne to my soule to keepe a good conscience and to walke inoffensively both towards God and man But as for that oath that was put upon mee I did refuse to take it as a sinfull and unlawfull oath and by the strength of my God inabling me I will never take it though I be puld in pieces with wilde horses as the ancient Christians were by the bloody Tyrants in the Primitive Church neither shall I thinke that man a faithfull Subject of Christs Kingdome that shall at any time hereafter take it seeing the wickednesse of it hath been so apparently laid open by so many for the refusall whereof many doe suffer cruell persecution to this day Thus have I as briefly as I could declared unto you the whole cause of my standing here this day I being upon these grounds censured by the Lords at the Star-chamber on the last Court day of the last Terme to pay 500. pounds to the King and to receive the punishment which with rejoycing I have undergone unto whose censure I doe with willingnesse and cheerefulnesse submit my selfe But seeing I now stand here at this present I intend the Lord assisting me with his power and guiding me by his Spirit to declare my minde unto you I have nothing to say to any mans person and therefore will not meddle with that onely the things that I have to say in the first place are concerning the Bishops and their calling They challenge their callings to be Iure Divino and for the oppugning of which those there renowned living martyrs of the Lord Doctor Bastwicke Master Burton and Master Prin did suffer in this place and they have sufficiently proved that their calling is not from God which men I love and honour and doe perswade my selfe that their soules are deare and precious in the sight of God though they were so cruelly and butcherly dealt with by the Prelates and as for Master Burton and Master Prin they are worthy and learned men but yet did not in many things write so fully as the Doctor did who hath sufficiently and plentifully set forth the wickednesse both of the Prelates themselves and of their callings as you may reade in his Bookes that they are not Jure Divino which noble and reverend Doctor I love with my soule and as he is a man that stands for the truth and glory of God my very life and heart-blood I will lay downe for his honour and the maintaining of his cause for which hee suffered it being Gods cause As for the Bishops they used in former times to challenge their jurisdiction callings and power from the King but they have now openly in the High Commission Court renounced that as was heard by many at the censure of that Noble Doctor And as you may fully reade in his Apologettcus and in his Answer to Sir John Bancks his Information Now I will here maintain it before them all that their callings is so far from being Jure Divino as they say they are that they are rather jure Diabolico which if I be not able to prove let mee be hanged up at the Hall gate But my brethren for your better satisfaction reade the 9. and 13. Chapters of the Revelation and there you shall see that there came Locusts out of the Bottomlesse Pit part of whom they are and they are there lively described Also you shall there finde that the Beast which is the Pope or Romane State and government hath given to him by the Dragon the Divell his power and seate and great authoritie So that the Popes authoritie comes from the divell and the Prelates and their Creatures in their printed Bookes doe challenge their authoritie jurisdiction and power that they exercise over all sorts of people is from Rome And for proving of the Church of England to be a true Church their best and strongest argument is that the Bishops are lineally destended from his Holinesse or Impiousnesse of Rome as you may reade in Pocklingtons Booke called Sunday no Sabbath So that by their owne confession they stand by that same power and authority that they have received from the Pope So that their calling is not from God but from the Divell For the Pope cannot give a better authoritie or calling to them then he himselfe hath but his authority and calling is from the Divell therefore the Prelates calling and authority is from the Divell also Revel. 9. 3. And there came out of the smoake Locusts upon the earth and unto them was given power as

thing for which I am imprisoned and more I am not bound to answer and for my liberty I must waite Gods time You had better answer for I have two examinations where in you are accused Of what am I accused Chillington hath accused you for printing ten or twelve thousands of Books in Holland and that they stand you in about eighty pound and that you had a Chamber at Mr. Iohn ●oot●s at Delst where he thinks the Bookes were kept and that you would have printed the Vnmasking of the Mystery of Iniquity if you could have got a true Copy of it I doe not beleeve that Chillington said any such things and if he did I know and am sure that they are all of them lies You received money of Mr. Wharton since you came to Towne did you not What if I did It was for Bookes I doe not say so For what sorts of bookes was it I doe not say it was for any and I have already answered you all that for the present I have to answer and if that will give you content well and good if not doe what you please If you will not answer no more here I told him if I had thought you would have insisted upon such impertinent questions I would not have given him so many answers wee have power to send you to the place from whence you came You may doe your pleasure said I So hee called in anger for my Keeper and gave him astrict charge to looke well to me I said they should not feare my running away And so I was sent down to Sir Iohn Bankes himself And after that he had read over what his man had writ he called me in and said I conceive you are unwilling to confesse the Truth No Sir I have spoken the Truth This is your Examination is it not What your man hath writ I doe not know Come neare and see that I read it right Sir I doe not owne it for my Examination for your man hath writ what it pleased him and hath not writ my answer for my answer was to him and so is to you that for the thing for which I am imprisoned which is for sending over bookes I am cleare for I did not send any and for any other matter that is laid to my charge I know it is warrantable by the Law of God and I thinke by the Law of the Land for me to stand upon my just defence and that my accusers ought to be brought face to face to justifie what they accuse me of And this is all that I have to say for the present You must set your hand to this your Examination I beseech you Sir pardon me I will set my hand to nothing but what I have now said So he tooke the Pen and writ the examined is unwilling to answer to any thing but that for which hee is imprisoned Now you will set your hand to it I am not willing in regard I doe not owne that which your man hath writ but if it please you to lend me the Pen I will write my Answer and set my hand to it So he gave mee the Pen and I begun to write thus The Answer of me Iohn Lilburne is And here hee tooke the Pen from me and said he could not stay that was sufficient Then one of my Keepers asked him if they might have me backe againe And he said yea for he had no Order for my inlargement and so I tooke my leave of him and desired the Lord to blesse and keepe him and came away And then about ten or twelve dayes after I was had forth to Grayes Inne againe but when I went I did not know what they would doe with me there And when I came there I was had to the Starre-Chamber Office and being there as the Order is I must enter my appearance they told me I said to what for I was never served with any Subpoena neither was there any Bill preferred against me * that I did heare of One of the Clarkes told me I must first be examined and then Sir Iohn would make the Bill it seemes they had no grounded matter against me for to write a Bill and therefore they went about to make me betray my owne innocency that so they might ground the Bill upon my owne words but my God shewed his goodnesse to me inkeeping me a poore weake worme that they could not in the least intangle mee though I was altogether ignorant of the manner of their proceedings And at the entrance of my appearance the Clarke and I had a deale of pritty discourse the particulars whereof for brevity sake I now pretermit but in the conclusion he demanded mony of me for entring of my appearance and I told him I was but a young man and a prisoner and money was not very plentifull with me and therefore I would not part with any money upon such termes At which answer the man began to wonder that I should speake so to him and with that the whole company of the Clarkes in the Office began to looke and gaze at me Well said he if you will not pay your see I will dash out your name againe Doe what you please said I I care not if you doe So he made a complaint to Mr. Goad the Master of the Office that I refused to enter my appearance And then I was brought before him and he demanded of me what my businesse was I told him I had no businesse with him but I was a prisoner in the Fleete and was sent for but to whom and to what end I doe not know and therefore if he had nothing to say to me I had no businesse with him And then one of the Clarks said I was to be examined Then Mr. Goad said tender him the booke So I looked another way as though I did not give eare to what he said and then he bid me pull off my glove and lay my hand upon the booke What to doe Sir said I. You must sweare said he To what That you * shall make true answer to all things that is asked you Must I so Sir But before I sweare I will know to what I must sweare As soone as you have sworne you shall but not before To that I answered Sir I am but a young man and doe not well know what belongs to the nature of an Oath and therefore before I sweare I will be better advised Saith he how old are you About twenty yeares old I told him You have received the Sacrament have you not Yes that I have And you have heard the Mininisters deliver Gods Word have you not Yes I have heard Sermons Well then you know the holy Evangelist Yes that I doe But Sir though I have received the Sacrament and have heard Sermons yet it doth not therefore follow that I am bound to take an Oath which I doubt of the lawfulnesse of Looke you here said he and with that

Brethren to all you that love the Lord Jesus Christ and desire that he should raigne and rule in your hearts and lives to you especially and to as many as heare me this day I direct my speech I stand here in the place of ignominy and shame yet to me it is not so but I owne and embrace it as the Welcome Crosse of Christ and as a badge of my Christian Profession I have beene already whipt from the Fleete to this place by vertue of a censure from the Honourable Lords of the Star-Chamber hereunto the Cause of my censure I shall declare unto you as briefly as I can The Lord by his speciall hand of providence so ordered it that not long agoe I was in Holland where I was like to have settled my selfe in a course of trading that might have brought me in a pretty large portion of earthly things after which my heart did too much runne but the Lord having a better portion in store for me and more durable riches to bestow upon my soule by the same hand of providence brought me backe againe and cast mee into easie affliction that thereby I might be weaned from the world and see the vanity and emptinesse of all things therein And hee hath now pitched my soule upon such an object of beautie amiablenesse and excellencie as is as permanent and endurable as Eternity it selfe namely the personall excellencie of the Lord Jesus Christ the sweetnesse of whose presence no affliction can ever be able to wrest out of my soule Now while I was in Holland it seemes there were divers Bookes of that noble and renowned Doctor Iohn Bastwicke sent into England which came to the hands of one Edmond Chillington for the sending over of which I was taken and apprehended the plot being before laid by one Iohn Chilliburne whom I supposed and tooke to be my friend servant to my old fellow soldier Master Iohn Wharton living in Bow-lane after this manner I walking in the street with the said Iohn Chilliburne was taken by the Pursevant and his men the said Iohn as I verily believe having given direction to them where to stand and hee himselfe was the third man that laid hands on mee to hold mee Now at my censure before the Lords I there declared upon the word of a Christian that I sent not over those Bookes neither did I know the Ship that brought them nor my of the men that belonged to the Ship nor to my knowledge did I ever see either Ship or any appertaining to it in all my dayes Besides this I was accused at my examination before the Kings Atturney at his Chamber by the said 〈◊〉 Chillington Button-seller living in Canon-street neere Alchurch Lane and late prisoner in Bridewell and Newgate for printing ten or welve thousand Bookes in Holland and that I woud have printed the Vnmasking the mysterie of Iniquitie if I could have gotten a true copy of it and that I had a Chamber in Mastor Iohn Foot 's house at Delfe where he thinks the Books were kept Now here I declare before you all upon the word of a suffering Christian that hee might as well have accused me of printing a hundred thousand hookes and the one been as true as the other and for the printing the Vnmasking the Mysterie of Iniquitie upon the word of an honest man I never saw nor to my knowledge heard of the Booke till I came backe againe into England and for my having a Chamber in Master Iohn Foot 's house at Delfe where he thinks the Bookes were kept I was so farre from having a Chamber there as I never lay in his house but twice or thrice at the most and upon the last Friday of the last Terme I was brought to the Star-Chamber Barre where before me was read the said * Edmond Chillingtons Affidavit upon Oath against Mr. Iohn Wharton and my selfe the summe of which oath was That hee and I had printed at Rotterdam in Holland Doctor Bastwicks Answer and his Letany withdivers other scandalous Bookes Now here againe I speake it in the presence of God and all you that heare mee that Master Wharton and I never joyned together in printing either these or any other Bookes whatsoever neither did I receive any money from him toward the printing any Withall in his first Oath hee peremptorily swore that wee had printed them at Rotterdam unto which I likewise say That he hath in this particular forsworne himselfe for mine owne part I never in all my dayes either printed or caused to be printed either for my selfe or for Master Wharton any Bookes at Rotterdam neither did I come into any Printing-house there all the time I was in the Citie And then upon the Tuesday after he swore against both of us againe The summe of which Oathes was that I had confessed to him which is most false that I had printed Doctor Bastwicke● Answer to Sir Iohn Bancks his Information and his Letany and another Booke called Certaine Answers to Certaine Objections and another Booke called The Vanity and Impiety of the old Letany and that I had divers other Bookes of the said Doctor Bastwicks in printing and that Master Wharton had been at the charges of printing a Book called A Breviate of the Bishops late proceedings and another Booke called sixteene new Queries and in this his Oath hath sworne they were printed at Rotterdam or somewhere else in Holland and that one Iames Oldam a Turner keeping Shop at Westminster-hall-gate dispersed divers of these Bookes Now in this Oath he hath againe forsworne himselfe in a high degree for whereas he tooke his Oath that I had printed the Booke called The Vanity and Impiety of the old Letany I here speake it before you all that I never in all my dayes did see one of them in print but I must confesse I have seene and read it in written hand before the Doctor was censured and as for other Bookes of which he saith I have divers in printing To that I answer that for mine owne particular I never read nor saw any of the Doctors Bookes but the forenamed foure in English and one little thing more of about two sheets of paper which is annexed to the Vanity of the old Letany and as for his Latine Bookes I never saw any but two Namely his Flagellum for which he was first censured in the High Commission Court and his Apologeticus which were both in print long before I knew the Doctor But it is true there is a second edition of his Flagellum but that was at the presse above two yeeres agoe namely Anno 1634. and some of this impression was in England before I came out of Holland And these are the maine things for which I was censured and condemned being two oathes in which the said Chillington hath palpably forsworne himselfe and if hee had not forsworne himselfe yet by the Law as I am given to understand I might have excepted against him

were that most resorted to me I desired I might be excused in that also Ey but you must give me an answer said he for I must certifie the Lords thereof Then said I I pray you tell their Honours I am unwilling to tell you What were those bookes said he that you threw abroad were they all of one sort Those that have them said I can certifie you of that I my selfe have one of them said he and have read it and can find no wit in it there is nothing but railing in it Sir said I I conceive you are mistaken for the booke is all full of wit it is true this booke which which you lighted on is not so full of solidity as other of his bookes are but you must understand that at that time when the Doctor made that booke he was full of heavinesse and in danger of a great punishment for the Prelates had breathed out more cruelty against him for writing his Apologie and at that time also hee was compassed about on every side with the Pestilence therefore hee made that booke to make himselfe merry But said he hee doth not write any thing in it to the purpose against the Bishops callings Sir said I I must confesse you lighted on the worst of the three And it is true there is not much soliditie and force of argument in it but onely mirth but the other two are as full of soliditie as this is of mirth What were they of three sorts said he Yes Sir that they were said I What were the other two called said he The one said I was his Answer to Sir Iohn Banks his information The other is an Answer to some Objections that are made against that books which you have but if ever you reade his Latine bookes you shall there find solidity enough and the wickednesse and unlawfulnesse of the Bishops callings and practises set forth to the full What Latine bookes be they said he His Flagellum for which hee was first censured said I What hath hee beene twice censured said hee Yes said I hee was censured in the High Commission Court for writing his Flagellum and after that he wrote his Apologie and that little booke which you have which were the cause of his censure in the Star-Chamber But hast thou any more of those bookes said hee Sir said I if I had had twenty of them more they should all have gone yesterday But hast thou any more of them now said hee Sir said I I verily thinke that if I should tell you I had not you would not believe mee and therefore if you please you may search my Chamber So I must said he for the Lords have commanded me so to doe therefore open your Trunke Sir said I it is open already Search it Iohn Hawes said he So he search'd it and found nothing there Open the Cubbard said he So I gave the Porter the key of my Cubbard to search it and he found nothing there but my victualls Search his pocket said the Warden Indeed Sir said I there is none in them yet he searched them and found as I said Then he searched all my Chamber over but found nothing at all Well Sir said I now you can certifie the Lords how you find things with mee but I pray Sir must I still be kept close prisoner I hope now the Lords have inflicted their censure on me they will not still keep mee close No said he within a little time you will be eased of it so wee tooke our leaves each of other and he went away And the next day being Friday and a Star-Chamber-day I hoped I should have had the liberty of the Prison but in stead thereof newes was brought me at evening that I must be removed to the Comon-G●al or a worse place and that I must be put in yrons Well for all this my God enabled me to keepe my hold still and not to let my confidence goe for blessed be his name for it this newes did not in the least manner trouble me And upon Saturday morning Iohn Hawes the Porter came with the woman that looked to me to my Chamber to stand by her that none might speake with me till shee had made my bed and done other things for me and he told me hee was sorry to heare such newes as he did concerning me What is it said I I heare said he that the Lords have ordered that you must be put into the Wards and kept close prisoner there and lie in yrons and none must be suffered to come at you to bring you any thing but you must live upon the Poore Mans Box Sir that 's very hard said I but the will of my God be done For mine owne part it nothing at all troubles me for I know in whom I have believed and I know not one hayre of my head shall fall to the ground without his providence and I have cast up my account already what it wil cost me therefore I weigh not any thing that can be inflicted on mee for I know that God made Paul and Silas to sing in the Stockes at midnight will also make mee rejoyce in my chaynes but it is very much that they will let none come to me to bring me any thing it seemes they will be more cruell to me than the very Heathens and Pagan Romans were to Paul who when he was in Prison did never refuse to let any come to him to administer to his necessities but I weigh it not for I know my God is and will be with me to make me goe through all my afflictions with cheerfulnesse for I feele his power within me so mightily supporting and upholding me that no condition in this world can make mee miserable and for mine own part I do no more set by my life blood in this cause then I doe a piece of bread when I have newly dyned Afterwards the woman telling me she hoped I should not have so sore a punishment laid on me but that I might have things brought me from my friends I told her I did not much care how it went with me for Ieremyes Dungeon or Daniels Den or the three Childrens Fornace is as pleasant and welcome to me as a Palace for wheresoever I am I shall find God there and if I have him that is enough to me and for victualls I told her I did not doubt but that God that fed the Prophet Esiah by a Raven would preserve me and fill me to the full by the way of his providence and if no meat should be brought me I knew if they take away my meat God will take away my stomack therefore I weighed not their cruelty and thereupon uttered to her these foure verses I doe not feare nor dread the face of any mortall man Let him against me bend his power and do the worst be can For my whole trust strength confidence My hope and all my aide Is in the Lord