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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	act_n	king_n	parliament_n	3,554	5	6.8839	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88189	The free-mans freedom vindicated. Or A true relation of the cause and manner of Lievt. Col. Iohn Lilburns present imprisonment in Newgate, being thereunto arbitrarily and illegally committed, by the House of Peeres, Iune 11. 1646. for his delivering in, at their open barre, under his hand and seal, his protestation, against their incroaching upon the common liberties of all the commons of England, in endeavouring to try him, a commoner of England, in a criminall cause, contrary to the expresse tenour and forme of the 29. chap. of the great charter of England, and for making his legall and iust appeal to his competent, propper and legal tryers and judges, the Commons of England, in Parliament assembled.; Free-mans freedome vindicated.	Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657.	1646 (1646)	Wing L2111; Thomason E341_12; ESTC R200906	12,654	12

before your Lordships in Parliament to answer such things as I am charged with before your Lordships touching a Booke called by your Warrant a Pamphlet intituled the Iust mans Iustification or a Letter by way of Plea in Barre My Lords I tould your Messenger Mr. Bakers sonne that your Lorships had dealt friendly honourably and fairely with me in my apprehension in my late businesse being in a legall and Parliamentary way transacted first by the House of Commons and so brought before your Lordships which did lye as a tye upon my spirit by way of Obligation and now I would repay it in laying aside so far at present my priviledge as I am a Commoner of England as in obedience to your summons salvo jure to appeare at your Barre although as J told him your Lordships by Magna Charta and the Law of this Kingdome have nothing to doe with me being a Commoner in any judiciall way to try me in a criminall cause either for life limb liberties or estate which is now the present case betwixt your Lordships and me as appeares by your own summons and this I desired your messenger to tell your honours must of necessity be my plea at your Barr. But that it may appeare that I do nothing headily or rashly either in contempt of your just rights and powers which I desire you may long enioy alwaies provided you endeavour not my ruin and destruction with them neither out of any desire in the least to contest with you which in me to doe I acknowledge would argue abundance of ingratitude it being my principle to do to others as I would be done to myself and as much as in me lyes to endeavour to live in peace with all men But to be robbed of my life or give way to be made a slave to any whomsoever either by a voluntary giving up or in silent suffering to be taken from me my native naturall just legall and hereditary freedomes and liberties I am resolved rather to undergo all extremities hazards miseries and deaths which possibly the wit of man can devise or his power and tirany inflict And therefore my Lords you being Peeres as you are called merely made by prerogative and never intrusted or impowred by the Commons of England the originall and fountaine of Power Magna Charta the English mans legall birth right and inheritance so often bought and redemed with such great seas of blood and milions of money hath justly rationally and well provided that your Lordships shall not sit in judgment or passe sentence in Criminall causes upon any Commoner of England either for life limbe liberty or estate but that all Commoners in such cases shall be tryed only by their Peeres and equalls that is to say their fellow Commoners as is amply and effectually declared in the 29. ch of that great Charter which previledge immunity cannot justly be taken away from the free Commoners of England by any power whatsoever on Earth without a better and larger given in the roome of it for all betrusted powers must and ought to be for the good of the trusters Book decl Pag. 150. And this Charter in al ages hath in an especiall manner been maintained preserved and defended by our Progenitors and in a speciall manner confirmed by 5. of Edward 3. ch 9 the words be these that no man from henceforth shall be attached by any accusation nor fore-judged of life nor limb nor his land Tenements goods or chattles seised upon otherwise then by the forme of the great Charter which is further confirmed by the said King in the 25. of his Raigne ch 4. and by the petition of Right-made in the third yeare of this present King and the Act made for the abolishing the Star-chamber c. made this present Parliament therefore my Lords as a free Commoner of England I doe here at your open Barre protest against all your present procedings against me in this pretended Criminall cause as unjust and against the tenor and forme of the great Charter which all of you have sworn unviolably to observe and caused the Commons of England to doe the same And therefore my Lords I doe hereby declare and am resolved as in duty bound to God my selfe Country and posterity to maintaine my legall liberties to the last drop of my blood against all opposers whatsoever having so often in the field c. advenrured my life therefore and doe therfore from you and your Barre as incrochers and usurping Judges appeale to the Barre and tribunall of my competent proper and legall triers and Judges the Commons of England assembled in Parliament in testimony whereof to these presents I have set my hand and seal this present eleventh day of June 1646. JOHN LILBVRNE And being not long without the Gentleman vsher came civelly to me and told me I must put off my sword and give it to some of my friends for I must go a prisoner to Newgate so desiring to see my Commitment and to have a coppy of it before I stird to go I had it accordingly which thus followeth Die Iovis 11. Iune 1646. IT is this day Ordered by the Lords in Parliament assembled that Lievtenant Colonell Iohn Lilburne shall stand committed to the Prison of Newgate for exhibiting to this house a scandalous and contemptuous Paper it being delivered by himselfe at the Barre this day that the Keeper of the said Prison shall keepe him in safely untill the pleasure of this House be further signified and this to be a sufficient Warrant in that behalfe Ioh. Brown Cler. Parl. To the Gentleman Vsher of this House or his Deputy to be delivered to the Keeper of Newgate My usage to me semes very strange that for doing my duty in a just way to bring Col. King to condigne punishment I should be so t●st and tumbled as I am by his meanes that per Iure ought to dye for his offence or at least by Law should be in durance till he receive his just doom clapt formerly by the heeles as in my epistle to Iudge Reeve is justly declared and lately at Kings suite arrested upon an action of two thousand pounds and brought into Court that have nothing to doe with the businesse it being dependant in Parliament and there tyed up to such rules formallities and Puntillo's as all the reason I have cannot understand and then for writing my Plea threatned and told by the Judge himselfe I had forever undone my selfe by endeavouring to root up by the roots the fundamentall law of England by which I enjoy my life and all that I can call mine though as I told his Lordship although he were a Judge yet under his Lordships favour I conceived he was in an error I having not in the least medled with any fundamentall known or visible Law of England For the Law that I medled withall was meerly and onely an invisible uncertain and unknown Law that resided in the Oracle of his

THE FREE-MANS FREEDOME VINDICATED OR A true Relation of the cause and manner of Lievt Col. Iohn Lilburns present imprisonment in Newgate being thereunto arbitrarily and Illegally committed by the House of Peeres Iune 11. 1646. for his delivering in at their open Barre under his Hand and Seal his PROTESTATION against their incroaching upon the Common Liberties of all the Commons of England in endeavouring to try him a Commoner of England in a criminall cause contrary to the expresse tennour and forme of the 29. Chap. of the great Charter of England and for making his legall and iust appeal to his competent propper and legal Tryers and Judges the Commons of England in PARLIAMENT assembled TRue bred Englishmen that have a life to lay down for the defence of your just Liberties and Freedomes for to such alone J direct my speech against all incroachers destroyers and usurpers thereof be they what they will be I desire to let you understand that I your Countryman amongst many others have imbarqued all that I have in this world in this one vessell cal'd the good Ship of good Hope sayling in the troublesome Seas of England bound for the long desired Port called the safe injoyment of Englands liberties and freedomes the direct roade tending thereunto is the path of Iustice without the sayling in which roade it is forever impossible to arive there And therefore fearing my Venture should lately miscarry I tooke upon me the bouldnesse to write an Epistle to Judge Reeve one of Englands Pilots which hath occasioned a desperate Storm to arise against me in particular though there be nothing but wholsome and sound advice therein contained And perceiving by my late being with the Judge that it was not well taken nor likely to provide for my safety against Col. Edward King one of Englands rotten members and branches fit for nothing but to be cut off out of Englands pleasant and fruitfull Vineyard I thereupon writ further instructions to my Atturney to draw up my Plea which thus followeth To his faithfull and much respected friend and Attorney Mr. George Ingram at his Chamber in Cliffords Inne these Sir IN the cause wherein Colonell Edward King is plantive against me in an action for pretended words spoken by me again him I entertained you to be my Atturny whereupon you appeared for me and received Kings declaration the last Tearme to which I am now to plead I desire you therefore to plead to the same that the said Edward King long before the pretēded words alleadged by the declaration to be spoken viz. in August 1644. was by Master Muffenden and Master Wolley and divers others of the Committee of Lincolne accused and charged before the Honourable House of Commons of high Treason for his betraying the towne of Crowland unto the Enemy as by the fourth Article of the said charge whereunto reference being had will appeare And by the twelf Article of the said charge the said Edward King is accused for the negligent losse and delivery up of Grantham to the Enemy which is adjudged to be high Treason Rot. Parl. 7. Richard 2. Num. 38. 39. 40. And for further plea that the said charge was before this action brought and yet is still depending and only examinable and triable in Parliament neither is the said Colonell King yet acquited or tried for the same besides plead also that I am a witnesse so the proofe of the said Charge and so not compellable to make further answer or othe plea then this untill the said King have had his triall upon the said Charge of high Treason in a Parliamentary way This I hope the Court will accept and approve of for a satisfactory and plenary answer and plea to his declaration which you may draw up in forme as you shall find cause whereunto I doe Authorize you and for this pleading this shall be your warrant and discharge this I thought good to doe for the preventing of any colourable advantage Colonell King might seeme to have or any waies take through my neglect or for want of a warrant to you to plead to his declaration a judgment should passe for him against me by default I have written to Master Justice Reeve setting forth the true state of the cause a printed coppy I left at his house for him which I perceive he hath perused another I send you here inclosed whereby you may be the better informed and inabled to draw up my plea and what you shall doe herein according to this warrant I shall allow in testimony whereof to this my warrant I have subscribed my hand and set to my seale this ninth day of June 1646. and rest Your affectionate and faithfull friend JOHN LILBVRNE Sir if you think fit to shew this to Judge Reeve or any other I shall approve of it Being moved out of mature consideration to give him these instructions because as J told him if J should plead in a formall way to the Plea guilty or not guilty I should thereby be the beginner of a dangerous president of destructive consequence to the wholl Kingdome because that if a man intrusted did turn traytor and a company of honest men did endeavour according to their duty and to avoid the grievous sinne of perjury did endeavour to bring him to condigne punishment for his treason for that end referred Artickles of high treason in Parliament against him with their names to them and they by reason of many publicke businesses by reason of the warres in distractions of the Kingdome cannot conveniently for halfe a yeare a yeare or more try and adjudge the busines the traytor or accused person being a crafty fellow full of ill gotten money and corrupt Alies and because that his tryall is delayed he picks quarrels against his just prosecuters and arests them in actions of 2. or 3000 l. at the Common Law for calling him as really he is traytor and tosseth and tumbleth them yea and it may be by an unjust Puntillo in Law brings them unto unavoidable ruine by Common Law which principally is inherent in the oracles of ●rr●ng Iudges breasts who it may be two houres before he passeth sentence is not resolved what to decree for Law and so by this meanes every honest man that complaines of a knave or traytor in the Parliament or is a party interested in making good the charge against him may by such wayes and meanes by reason of delay in iudgement which is not his fault be brought by his cunning adversary into the Common Law Bryers as I am by King who ought by Law to be in Prison fast by the heeles and so all honest men forever discouraged in such a cause to complain of such transgressours let them act treason against the State universall and representative and do what they will and this is just my case with Col. Ed. King as by my printed letter to Iudge Reeve I have truly clearly declared But by my foresaid instructions sent to