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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88203	The ivglers discovered, in two letters writ by Lievt. Col. John Lilburne, prerogative prisoner in the Tower of London, the 28. September, 1647. to his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, Captaine Generall of all the forces in England and Wales, discovering the turn-coat, Machiavell practises, and under-hand dealings of Lievt. Gen. Cromwell, and his soone in law, Commissary Generall Ireton, and the rest of their hocus pocus faction in his Excellencies Counsell of Warre, the first of which letters thus followeth. Unto which is annexed some advice to the private soldiers.	Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657.; Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671.	1647 (1647)	Wing L2123; Thomason E409_22; ESTC R7139	19,171	16

tyranny and grand opprossions that so they may merrit to be voted by them to be domincering tyrannising Lords with them or else why am I kept in prison by them seeing it is every houre in the day in their power to deliver me if they pleased with strong violence which if it doe I hope it will be to their fatall and finall destruction which I with all my might and strength with as much earnestnesse as Sampson prosecuted the Philistems should helpe forward though I should thereby pull the roofe of the house about my eares as he aid And truly Sir I cannot thinke that the House of Commons are so mindfull of the good of the kingdome that the providing therefore so straightens them that they have no time to heare my report and adiudge my cause Sure I am since my report was ready they have found time enough to vote and devide among themselves like wicked stewards hundreds of thousands of pounds of their masters the Common wealths money and I am sure they can find time enough to vote all the Commons of England slaves by voting their honest and iust Petitions to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hangman yea and to vote and declare them Rebe'ls and Traytors to the kingdome which principally is themselves for endeavouring by petition to make known their grievances to them their servants whom they chuse and trusted to provide for their weal but not in the least for their woe 1. part book Decl. p. 150. And besides they can find time to violate the lawes and iustice of the kingdome by voting the 11. Members particularly impeached of no lesse then high treason by accusers ready to prosecute and make good at their perrils their charge and impeachment to have liberty without securitie to travell where they please for six moneths and yet can find no time in 13. moneths to deliver me from the tyranny of the Lords who originally laid no crime nor legall charge to my charge nor never in the least produced any accuser or witnesse against me but meerly imprisoned me because I would not be a slave to their tyrannicall wills and unbounded lusts which is the hight of iniustice * See Vox Plebis pag. 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 19. c. See my Annotamy of the Lords tyranny p. 8.9.10 and my book called the resolved mans resolution dated 30. April 1647. p. 3 4 8 9 10. See also regall tyranny from the 62. 63. to the 84. pag. Besides Sir if I had doe evill add lying in prison after so many Gaole detiveries and being so strongly committed by those that I am confident never a Iudge in Westminster Hall dare grant me a Habias Corpus against there being no visible and formall power in England but the House of Commons to save me from Arbitrary destruction they ought by law though never in my selfe so guilty of violation of the law being the Lords have let so many Gaole deliveries passe and hath never called me oat to erye me by law nor yet to this day hath laid no legall crime to my charge for by the law of England which they havee often sworne to maintaine there ought to be Gaole deliveries held 3. times a yeare or oftner if need require either for the condemning or acquitting all prisoners whatsoever 5 Ed. 3 2. 4. part Sir Edward Cookes institutes folio 168 169. See the oppressed mans oppressions declared pag. 3. And Ionah cryes outt of the Whales belly pag. 10. See also the beginning of Vox Plebis And Sir give me leave to tell you I am as free a man and have as good a right to the benefit of all the lawes in England as any Member of the House of Commons what ever he be as they confesse in their own Declarations cited by me in the Outcryes of Oppressed Commons for all th●ir vapring with their b●g swolne blatherly priviledges they having none at all in referrence to the Commons of England But freedome from arrests and that but for a short time and that not for aprenti●ship much lesse for ever being as lyable to the law as any other man either for the breach of the peace Fellony or Treason as Sir Edward Cooke their own learned oracle declares in the 4 part of his institutes chap. high Court of Parliament fol. 25. And I find by his discourse there that they have no priviledges by law in referrence to the King but freedome of speech and debate and that he shall not take notice of any thing done and debated among themselves tell they themselves in a Parliamentary way transmit the cognisance of it to him And if this be true as that learned Lawyer c. declares it is then I humbly desire the pressing of this argument unto the house without any more dispute at least at present to deliver me because I have laine so long in prison without any legall accusation at all or legall tryall or so much as without any prosecuter or informer against me at all which is against all law and iustice in the highest degree whatsoever for the words of their own late Vote in the behalfe of the eleaven impeached Members is That by the law of the Land no Iudgement can be given to suspend and therefore much lesse to imprison those members from sitting in the House upon the papers presented by the Army before particulars produced and proofs made if this be true then I am sure they are most unjust in not delivering me who orriginally never had any charge at all against me nor never see prosecuter nor witnesse examined against me to this very day O hight of injustice and partiallity thus to vote and thus contrary to that vote to deale with me who am equally free and intaled to the Law of the Land as any of their Members But yet most Noble sir give me leave to aver unto you that I am not only illegally imprisoned but that their vote in favour of their impeached members is most illegall in it selfe and against the law and the practises of the law in England or else they themselves violated it in the highestd degree with the Earle of Straford who upon a generall charge of high treason without mentioning particulars further then for endeavouring to subvert the Fundamentall Lawes without nameing any witnesses or prosecutors unlesse it was their own Clarke and yet required at the nick of time not only to sequester him from the House of Lords but also to secure his body in prison which was accordingly done at the very instant and then and not before examined witnesses against him and out of their examinations drew particular articles to make good their generall Charge and I have from good hands been told Mr Hallis under hand was one of his chiefe prosecutors and sat up many a late night to beat his braines to destroy him and therefore just or not just it is but just that he himselfe should ●aft of his own law which

good for me viz. without delay to have adiudged my cause and appeale either to my iustification or condemnation which is the chiefest thing is the first place I desire and which may easily be done in one houre Vpon the hearing fully of all businesse so that in 7. yeares time I know not what more effectually to say then then I did I was commanded by that Committee by the 9. of Novemb 1646. to bring in writing what by word of mouth I had said to them which I accordingly did and since printed it and intituled it an Annotamy of the Lords tyrannie And have since that time with all my might by all the wayes and meanes I had in the world indeavoured with Mr. Martin to make my report to the house as you may fully understand by reading the first part of my epistle to him dated the 31. of May last which in print I lately sent unto your Excellency and in this inclosed epistle sent unto him yesterday * Which is now printed in the last pag. of my book called Ionahs cryes out of the Whales bellie but what should be the reason why he will not doe it I cannot tell unlesse it be that he is conjoyned in interest with the Lords to buy sell or betray the liberties of all the Commons of England who are all and everie of them concerned in the Lords arbitrary and tyrannicall dealing with me for what is my case to day may be their case to morrow and seeing by intreaties and faire words I could doe nothing with him * But in answer to the forementioned letter he sent me a letter in which he gives me information that he hath proferred 20. times to make my report but the house would not heare him and he also promiseth me to doe it the first opportunitie he hath which he did performe the 14. Sept. 1647. which hath given me ful satisfaction which I have acknowledged to him in my late two printed letters to him I underhand in City and Country applyed my selfe vigorusly to my friends and fellow Commons strongly to petition to the House of Commons to adjudge my cause and either to justifie me or condemne me for favour or mercy I craved none from them but only law and justice some of whose petitions by the interest of a company of tyrannicall treacherous Villains there Hollis and Stapleton c. was slighted and would not be received and others they burnt by the hands of the Common Hang-man and for ever to terrifie the Commons of England againe to petition for justice or their liberty they most illegally and uniustly caused severall of the Petitioners to be imprisonned for which action alone by the principles of justice and reason they deserve in my judgement to be hanged And when I see that all my importunity and all the faire meanes I could use would doe me no good and knowing that it was as bad as murther in me to leave any meanes whatsoever unattempted for my own preservation being by my tyrannicall imprisonment likely to be murthered and destroyed without and against all law and justice and being in my own soule confidently perswaded that if I sate still I must perish I made a vigorus and strong attempt upon the private Soldiery of your Army and with abundance of study and paines and the expence of some scores of pounds I brought my just honest and lawfull intentions by my agents instruments and interest to a good ripenesse not daring to meddle with the Officers having had so large experience of the selfeishnesse and timerousness of the chiefest of them sitting in the House of Commons who I had sufficiently tryed to see what mettle they were made of and found them quivering spirited overwise prudentiall men not any one of them that I could heare of at any time daring to carrie a high though just Petition into the House to deliver it and speake unto it so that at present they were to me become reprobate silver and therefore knowing by the morrall law that murther was odious in the sight of God especially selfe murther I durst not but doe the uttermost that I could to preserve my selfe which in my understanding could by no other meanes in the world be effected but by men that had swords in their hands and resolution in their spirits which I beleeve had been done ere now to the purpose if I had imbraced their earnest desire to breake prison and goe to them which for divers weighty reasons I could not and truly Sir give me leave to tell you without feare or dread had I come and could have got so many to have followed me as would da●e inabled me with my sword in my hand to have done justice and execution upon those grand treacherous fellows and tyrants at Westminster that have not only tyrannised over me but the whole kingdome I should have made no more scruple of conscience with my own hands to have destroyed them who have destroyed all law and justice equity and conscience and destroy us by their arbitrary and tyrannicall wills then to have destroyed so many Weasels and Poule-Cats but I hoped the great worke of the kingdome would speedily be done by more abler and wiser instruments then I judged my selfe to be but when I see and heard of divers great ones in your Army to coole the businesse on foot I sent my wife then big with child and severall other Agents down to St. Albons to revive my earnest desire with those I had an interest in for the obtaining of my just ends iustice and my iust liberty never in my life time coveting or desiring the interest and power of your Army to be a clooke or covering for any of my misdoings making alwayes so far as I knew the law of the land the square of my actions in reference to civill things amongst men having alwayes this rule of true reason and justice before me to doe to every man as I would have all men doe to me but understanding from time to time of plotted and contrived tricks put upon me c by some faire outsides under your * Who I have named in my booke called Ionahs cry and in an Epistle to Lievt Gen. Cromwell bearing date 13. Aug. 1647. and lately printed with my two letters to M. Hen. Martin command although I never heard any thing of your gallant just and magnanimous selfe either in reference to me or the publique but what deserves my choisest thankes and praises and the rather for that I am as it were a meere stranger to you which now to you J iudge it altogether inconvenient to take the boldnesse to complaine of but hearing from time to time I was not forgot amongst those that have no more ends then I have viz. iustice and the universall good and benefit of all iust interests in England I waited with as much patience as my unsimpothized with condition would inable me to doe for the good houre of

my iust and long expected liberty iustice and reparation procured for me by the meanes of your selfe and those men of honour and justice with you But most Noble and most Honoured Gen. give me leave without your displeasure truly to tell you that though I must as you justly and truly deserve from me returne you extraordinary hearty thankes for your chearefull willingnesse to give countenance to anything that may justly be undertaken in my doulfull and sad condition to procure for me justice and my just freedom● yet I am apt to think there is intentively some tricks put upon me by some of the contrivers * The cheif contrivers I iudge to be King Crumwell and his son Prince Ireton who are the principall instruments that keep me in prison because I will not comply with their turncoat Lordly interest and yet at that time durst not well but seem to doe something far me in regard of the honest Adjutaters impertunitie about it but yet by their subtilty did it in such a manner that they were sure would doe me no good of that paper to the House of Commons Dated at Reading Iuly 19. 1647. sent by your Excellency and your Councell of Warr for most Noble Sir the thing that will doe me good is vigorrously to presse the House of Commons to command Mr. Martin to make my report unto their House and then to adjudge my cause for either the House of Lords have by law a Jurisdiction over me and all the Commons of England in crimminall cases or they have not and in my protesting against the Lords juridiction in crimminall cases and appealing to the House of Commons as my leagall proper judges I have either done evill illegally or else justly and legally If I have done evilly and illegally I crave no favour at their hands but desire them to condemne me that so I may know what to trust to that so I may vse some meanes to the King c. for to the House of Lords I will never in this apply my selfe For the takeing of my 4000 l. Fine and restoring me to my liberty and freedome and not be forced all my dayes to live in prison and in the conclusion be forced to strave for want of bread or else to eat my wife and children But if in my protesting against the Lords jurisdiction in crimminall cases and appealing to the House of Commons as my proper and legall Iudges I have done well and legally why doe the house of Commons suffer me to be kept in prison and not adiudge my cause and deliver me with iust reparation and a iust punishment upon the causers of my causelesse torments and sufferings and this alone is the thing most noble Generall I want and stand in need of which only will doe me good and which in it selfe is such a rationall and equitable peece of justice as by no iust man can be denyed For alas most noble Generall what will liberty in England without iudging my cause and Appeale doe me good am I not subiect every houre in the Kings name and behalfe though it may be against his previty will or mind to have my body cast into prison for the 4000. l. which by that uniust fine I in law owe him or if my body by absence cannot be seized upon is not that little that I have liable by the law every houre to be seized upon yea and the very beds that my distressed helpelesse and unpittied wife and children lye upon subiect to be taken from under them yea and stript of their very wearing clothes They were And truly Sir so large experience have I of the mercilesse and cruel temper of my adversaries that I will not trust in the least to the mercie of the mercilesse Lords at westminster or their cruell and mercilesse confederates in the House of Commons Assembly or Common Counsell of London any of whom I am sure would willingly Vote Petition or Remonstrate me to death And againe Sir should I put in baile as your paper desires I should run my selfe into such a snare as I should never get out of again while I live but thereby should like a foolish fellow undoe all that in the heat of the fire I have been doing almost this 14. moneths viz. preserving and defending the liberty of all the Commons of England against the tyrannicall invasions of the House of Lords For whose prisoneram I surely the House of Lords and no others unlesse it be negligent Henry Martins and to whom must I put in security surely to no other then the Lords And undoubtedly I should both in reason and law by so doing iustifie the illegallitie and uniustnesse of their sentence past against me and not only so but also iustifie their iurisdiction and power over all the Commons of England in criminall cases which were an act that would not only as much as in me lyes destroy the best and fundamentallest Lawes of England viz. Magna Charta and the most excellent Petition of Right c. But also destroy and overthrow the rationall naturall nationall and legall liberties of my selfe and all the Commons of England which would be an act in my iudgement not only of the greatest businesse in the world but also of the greatest treason that I could commit against the land of my nativitie and my own being of which wickednesse I would not iustly be esteemed guilty for all the gold in the world Now most noble and heroicall Generall if it should be obiected against me that the House of Commons are full of the great and weighty affaires of the Kingdome and therefore want time to debate and adiudge my particular businesse to which I answer and say I am confident they have not a businesse of greater weight and consequence before them then mine in the latitude of it is for it is concerning the escentiall and fundamentall liberties of themselves of me and of all and every individuall Commoner of England and I wonder what greater businesse they can spend their time about then a businesse of so grand and universall concernment without the settlement of which it is easily to be evinced that all that you have done with your swords and they with their tongues is to no more purpose then to blow in the aire for invasion of rights was the true cause of all the present warres and their so visible invading of the just and legall rights and freedomes of all the Commons of England is not the way in the least to pacific and still them but to foment and newly increase them and make them a fresh flame out againe * Espccially when the Commons of England shall see the most base and wicked juglings of L. G. Cromwell and his ' son Ireton whose power interest in the Army by those 4 grandiuglers means viz. Lord Say Lord Wbarton young Sir Hen. Vaine and Soliciter St. Iohn is now vigorusly improved to support uphold the Lords usurpations

THE IVGLERS DISCOVERED In two Letters writ by Lievt Col. John Lilburne prerogative prisoner in the Tower of London the 28. September 1647. to his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax Captaine Generall of all the forces in England and Wales discovering the turn coat Machiavell practisers and under-hand dealings of Liew Gen. Cromwell and his soone in law Commissary Generall Ireton and the rest of their Hocus Pocus faction in his Excellencies Counsell of Warre the first of which Letters thus followeth Unto which is annexed some advice to the private Soldiers Honoured Sir I Have yesterday seen a paper comming from yourselfe and your Councell of Warre wherein there is mention made of my selfe and though it doe not reach what I stand in need of yet can I not but judge my selfe very much obleiged unto your honour and the rather because the first motion made unto you by my true friends the Adjutators found such a noble and respective acceptation at your hands as my intilligence gives me to understand it did though it received obstructions from others * Viz. Commissary Generall Ireton c. from whom I might have challenged more interest then from your selfe I beseech your Excellency give me leave to state my case unto you which is thus upon the 10. Iune 1646. I was by warrant from the House of Peers brought to their barre to answer such things as I stood charged with before their Lordships concerning a Pamphlet intituled The just mans justification or a letter by way of plea in bar and hereof he shall not faile as he will answer the contrary at his perrill * Which said Order you may verbatum read in the 3. pag. of my book called the free mans freedom vindicated in which you may also read what passed betwixt us at their bar as also my protest I delivered in against them and my formall Appeal which I sent unto the house of Commons from Newgate And being there I was by their Speaker the Earle of Manchester pressed at their bar inquisition like against all law and justice to answer to Interrogatories against my selfe without having any visible accuser or any accusation at all laid unto my charge which I pleaded at their bar was against the very fundamentall lawes of the land and so declared by themselves the 13. of February 1645. in my own case against the Star-Chamber but being eagerly pressed to answer their interrogatories I was driven to my last refuge to protest against their assuming a jurisdiction over me in a criminall case being a Commoner for which and nothing else I was most illegally the 11. Iune 1646. committed by them to Newgate as your Excellency may read in the 7. pag. of my book called the free mans freedome vindicated now with the rest of my bookes in the hands of Mr. Saxby and the 16. of Iune 1646. I sent my Appeale appealing from their jurisdiction to the House of Commons which Appeal you may read ibim pag. 9 10. 11. which said appeale the House of Commons received read and approved of and committed it and my cause to a Committee where Col. Martin had the chaire who twice examined the businesse but I could never get him to make his report unto the House to day upon whose delay the Lords took courage and the 22 Iune 1646 sent for me up to their barr where they commnaded me to kneele which I absolutely refused and stood stifly to my said appeale upon which they committed me close prisoner to Newgate and also ordered that I should not be permited Pen Ink or Paper or any to speak with me or to have acces to me in any kind which order you may read in halfe a sheete of paper called the Just man in Bonds now also in Mr. Saxbyes hands which said order was so barbarously executed upon me by Ralph Bristo the Clarke of Newgate that my wife was not permitted to come into the prisonyard to speak with me out of my window neither was shee my servant nor any of my friends p●●mitted to deliver into my hands either meat drink money or any other necessaries till the 11 of July 1646. upon which day by a Warrant I was brought to the Lords Barr againe * iz Mr. Sargant Finch Mr. Hayle Mr. Glover and Mr. Hearne of purpose to be supprised they having had as I was informed 3 or 4 Lawyers constantly at worke all the time I was close secretly to draw up a charge against me * As you may more fully read in the 12 13 14 15. pages of my Annotamy of the Lords tyrannay and being at their barr I refused againe to kneel● or to doe any action that might declare a subjection ●o their jurisdiction telling the● I was resolved to spend the last drop of my heart blood in iustification of my Appeale to the House of Commons * whereupon they then and there for so doing sentenced me in two severall sentences to pay to the King 4000. l. to be imprisonned in the extraordinary chargeable prison of the Tower of London for 7. yeares without according to the custome of the place allowing me subsistance and that I be for ever uncapable to beare any office or place in military or in civill government in Church or Common wealth as more at large in the sentence it selfe printed in Vox Plebis pag. 31 32 33. 34. you may please to read And being by warrant that day sent to the Tower where in my judgement I was very hardly used in many particulars but especially in being compulsively strictly devorced from my wife that meet helpe that the wise and mercifull God had provided for me to beare part of my afflictions tell the 16. of September 1646. about which time both shee and my selfe petitioned againe to the House of Commons which you may be pleased to read in the last end of my book called Londons liberty in Chains with which Petitions shee with some scores of Gentlewomen her friends and mine followed the House day by day with the importunate widowes crys for justice to men abundantly more unjust then her unrightous judge that upon no importunitie for these six yeares together will doe me one dram of effective justice though I dare boldly say I have spent one way and another in following them above a thousand pound But with her importunitie the same Committee with some additions as I remember was appointed by the house fully to here and report my businesse and after the greatest part of twenty dayes waiting I got the Committee fully to heare me upom the 6. November 1647. at which time Lievt Gen. Cromwell Col. Fleetword and Maior Harrison now with you were present and so fully heard and know the whole state of my businesse that if their memory had not been very forgetfull I should have thought they should have been able fully to have directed the Councell of Warre to have desired something of the House of Commons that might really have been