by Ordinance or Act for ever so we would let them quietly enjoy the Legislative power for their lives Lieut. Colonel Lilburn told them That they the Commissioners had their constant meetings on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays in the evening at the Whalebone and the other three days at Southwark Wapping and other places with their Friends and that upon the next Lords day they were to meet at Dartford in Kent to receive an account of their Agents from Gravesend Maidstone and most of the choyce Towns in that County how they had promoted the business there Lieut. Colonel Lilburn drawing a paper book from under his short red Coat and turning over the leaves of it told them that there were certain Letters one to Colonel Blunt another as I remember to Sir Anthony Welden and that he said he wrote himself likewise divers Letters to our Friends the well affected of such and such a County whose Names I remembred not He the said Lieut. Colonel told them likewise That because the business must needs be a work of charge there being Three thousand Petitions to come forth in print to morrow and it would cost money to send their Agents abroad though the honest Soldiers now at Whitehall would save them something in scattering them up and down in the Counties they had therefore appointed Treasurers namely Mr. Prince Mr. Chidley and others and Collectors whose Names as I remember he did not read who should gather up from those that acted with them of some Two pence Three pence Six pence One shilling Two shillings Half a crown a week And thus promising to meet them the next night he took leave But immediately before his departure told them That they shut him up in the Tower the night before but they should not have his company these fourteen nights for it This is the sum and sence of that which was affirmed and related in the House of Lords at the Conference and in the Commons House by Geo Masterson THus you have an account to a syllable of that Information if the discovery of a Design so destructive in its tendencies to speak modestly have merited no higher Title which was given in under my hand to the Honorable Committee of Lords and Commons at Derby House And now my expectations and desires are to stand or fall in the thoughts of all godly Vninterested English men as I shall make good every particular in this Charge in the day when the Pretended Minister shall be called to produce his Pretended Witnesses In the mean time I shall cast away a few glances of mine eye upon Master Wildmans Impartial Relation as the Curate of Windham alias the Pretended Gentleman of the Life-guard baptizeth it He begins his Relation with a sentence if dust and cobwebs be tolerable Arguments of Antiquity much elder then the Design of Levelling The medly Moth-eaten sentence runs thus and it is the first line of his Pamphlet In this generation Dicere quod nolo miserum quod volo debeo periculosum I am very sorry that ever any man should write at so low a rate in Roman hand sure the Gent. hath a Design to make the world believe indeed that Latine is the language of the Beast the best English that I can make of this Leading sentence is Tantamount thus much It is a miserable thing in this Generation for a man to speak that which he would not and it is a dangerous thing you must understand in the foresaid Generation to speak what a man would and ought to speak Bate me but O tempora ô mores and if you gather such another Cinamon Rose in Tullies garden I am extreamly mistaken in my Calculation This whole Paragraph I dare say calls him Father that wrote the first line of it Splen ridere facit and if I should not set by three or four dishes in the six first lines untouch'd I should surfeit my spleen I could make my self exceeding merry if so sad a subject would bear it with the Gentlemans Sword and his Retreat and his Grandees and his Contemptible grave but I shall say no more to it but this I suppose the Gentleman that talks of a Retreat was not of the Life-guard in the days of fighting Those Horse that were under his Renowned Excellency never knew how to march backward and truly me thinks the Gentleman is superlatively low in that expression of his Contemptible grave but he would write higher in the following lines where he talks of Astrologers and Aspects and Horizon in this lofty expression Surely he that is no great Astrologer may judge by the Aspect of the Stars in this Horizon that this English ayr agrees best with the bodies of Camelions c. Had the learned Author of the Book Entituled Pseudodoxia Epidemica been consulted with he would have perswaded the Gentleman to have left out his Camelions in Truths Triumph I would fain lay aside this chearful countenance but that every line almost in this first page works upon me as the Creatures eating Thistles did upon the Phylosopher I was even changing my pen and then in comes Toties quoties line 12. with the parings of the nails of a sentence after it and makes me think that among the variety of forms that this Gentleman hath appeared in one was a Pretended Clerk to a Sub-committee of Excize And now I am resolved to turn over a new leaf with him and leave the Ingenious Reader to judge if I do not spare the Gentleman exceedingly in passing over his Innocent Impudence effronted boldness Cerberus Peters Chair and the rest of such kinde of Ornaments that follow in this Truths Triumph I suppose the Gentleman would take it unkindely if we should not take notice how much as he says he is devoted to support the Authority and Honor of the Commons in Parliament and this he doth as his book says manibus ad sidera tensis by the lifting up of his hands thus it hath been accounted Devotion to level some Structures and Monuments which were sacred in the eyes of our superstitious fore-fathers what Devotion he hath to some particular Members in that Honorable House I know not but other some again I am sure have no great reason to affect a devout man for his sake And for my part I believe his Devotion will scarce support the Authority of that House unless he be Devotum caput Authoritati whether the Gentleman be Devoted to the Authority of Parliament in that sence I first mention or no let these two passages inform you There is an invenomed arrow shot by my imprisonment into the heart of the common cause of my dearest Countrey who dares think now that this Gentleman is not Devoted to support the Authority c. And beside as if he had not yet been sufficiently devoted to support the foresaid Authority the nation hath received no superficial wound by my Arbitrary restraint I do not think that Sampson evidenced more Devotion to
Malbon of Shoreditch Parish came in Anon after we were entred the room one Lieutenant Levet objected against the maner of their Proceedings and said That he liked well enough the particulars of the Petition but he did not like the maner namely of Petitioning the house of Commons For said he they have never done us any right nor will they ever do us any To this Leiutenant Colonel John Lilburn answered We must said he own some visible Authority for the present or else we shall be brought to ruine and confusion but when we have raised up the spirits of the people through the whole Kingdom whether it be nine days hence or a Moneth or three Moneths when the House shall be fit to receive an Impression of Justice we shall force them to grant us those things which we desire Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn did then and there affirm That the people of London had appointed ten or twelve of them Commissioners whereof he the said Lilburn was one though he said likewise that the honest blades in Southwark did not like the word Commissioners These Commissioners were appointed to promote the Petition and apppoint and send out Agents into every City Town and Parish if they could possibly of every County of the Kingdom to inform the people of their Liberties and Priviledges and not onely to get their hands to the Petition For said he I would not give Three pence for Ten thousand hands A plain man of the Company objected against that way of Proceeding thus Mr. Lilburn said he We know that the generality of the people are wicked and if by the sending abroad of your Agents into all the Parishes of the Kingdom they come to have power and strength in their hand we may suppose and fear that they will cut the throats of all those that are called Roundheads that is the honest godly faithful men in the Land Lieutenant Colonel Lilburn answered Pish said he do not you fear that he that hath this Petition in his hand and a blue Ribband in his Hat need not fear his throat cutting Or this Petition in your hand will be as good as a blue Ribband in your Hat to preserve your throat from cutting It was further objected by one of the company that sate at or near the upper end of the Table That it was not fit to disturb or to that purpose the House at this time seeing they had made such excellent Votes concerning the King and had appointed a Committee to hear and report all our Grievances Lieut. Colonel Lilburn answered Do you know said he how those Votes were procured or words to that effect Some answered No nor did they care since the Votes as they apprehended were so excellent Lieut. Colonel Lilburn said he would inform them There was said he a Bargain struck betwixt Cromwel Ireton and the King and the Bargain was this They namely Lieutenant General Cromwel and Commissary General Ireton by their influence on the Army should estate the King in His Throne Power and Authority and for their reward Cromwel should receive or had received a blue Ribband from the King and be made Earl of Essex and his Son Ireton either Lord Lieutenant or Field-Marshal of Ireland And this he the said Lieut. Colonel Lilburn said he would make good to all the world Lieut. Colonel Lilburn said further That certain Information of this coming to a Member of the House of Commons our good or best friend I need not name him said he I suppose you all know him his Father was a Parliament man and a Knight but he is dead and this Gentleman his Son is of his Christian name as they call it a man of a good Estate This Gentleman said he takes upon him a noble Felton resolution That rather then a Kingdom should be enslaved to the lust of one man he would dispatch him namely Cromwel where ever he met him though in the presence of the General Sir Tho Fairfax himself and to that end provided and charged a Pistol and took a Dagger in his pocket that if one did not the other should dispatch him The said Lieut. Colonel John Lilburn being asked how it came to pass that he did not effect it and act according to his resolution answered The Gentleman said he communicating his resolution to a Member of the House of Commons a Knight whom he judged faithful the Gentleman was by this Knight shut up in his chamber in Whitehall a whole day and the Knight dispatched an Express to Cromwel to inform him of the Gentlemans resolution whereupon Cromwel apprehending his person in danger called a pretended day of Humiliation there he was reconciled to the Officers of the Army drew up a Declaration to the House which begat and produced those Votes Upon this John Wildman said that he knew three other men that at the same time had taken up the same resolution of killing Cromwel and there was not one of them that knew the intentions of another Likewise the said John Wildman said That he would never trust honest man again for Cromwels sake Lieut. Colonel Lilburn and the said John Wildman speaking promiscuously in the commendation of the said Petition one or other or both of them affirmed That this Petition was of more worth and value then any thing they had ever yet attempted and some great Malignants as they are called told them That if they were not engaged to the person of this King and had personally served Him they would engage with them and the said Malignants gave them encouragement to go on with it saying It was the most rational piece that they had seen And that they the people assembled might understand how the Petition had wrought already they affirmed That it the Petition had made the Lords House to quake and the Commons themselves to stink and that before the Petition was two days old or had been two days abroad the Lords I shall not need to name them said he but the greatest Earls of them in Estate in Authority and Popularity sent to us a Creature of their own to Article with us and offered so we would desist from promoting the Petition to consent to all our Priviledges and Liberties that we desired in our Petition so that we would abate them their Legislative Power Lieut. Colonel Lilburn said further When they saw we would not desist they the Lords offered us Thirty thousand pounds if we would yet sit down and lay the Petition aside Nay more said he but here the said John Wildman interrupted him and said Prithee do not tell all but Lilburn replyed He would and they should hereby see their the Lords baseness whereupon going on he said This morning they sent to this Gentlemans chamber laying his hand upon Wildman at the Sarazens-head in Friday-street and offered him That if we would forbear to promote this Petition they would be content for their Heirs and Successors to cut off the Legislative power from them
The Triumph stain'd Being an ANSWER to TRVTHS TRIVMPH i. e. a Pamphlet so called and lately set forth By Mr. John Wildman a pretended Gentleman of the Life-guard to his Excellency Sir Tho Fairfax WITH A full and perfect Account of an INFORMATION OF Dangerous and bloody consequence given in to the House of Lords at their Bar January the 18. 1647. against Lieut. Col. Iohn Lilburn and John Wildman By George Masterson Preacher of the Gospel at Shoreditch near London 1 COR. 4.5 Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God London Printed by JOHN FIELD 1647. The Triumph stain'd TRuth is an high born Princess she is eldest daughter of Heaven of blood with the Son of God made man the natural beauty that she wears shewes of what house she comes the bright rays that shine in her face lead captive every soul that hath eyes to behold her There are very few sons of utter darkness that resist Truth as Truth or lift up the heel against her for her own sake Such is the majesty of Truth that every knee bows down to her apprehended Chair of State such is her birth and beauty and credit that every man desires to have her image and superscription stamped upon his opinion and practise and thus it comes to pass more then sometimes that the Painters mistress is adored instead of the Goddess and as many times it is seen that Columns and Statues erected to Truth do hold forth nothing more then the great names of men that reared them in golden letters D. VAE VERITATI D. D.C. Q.A.B. Thus in the Jousts and Tiltings dedicated to the honor of Truth the splinters of a broken lance contribute more to the credit of the Champions prowess then the honor of the Lady And thus in the Triumphs of Truth so called we see a man like unto our selves in all things drawn in a Triumphant Chariot It was but the other day that I beheld a mortal man as if he had found the Breast plate of Aaron hurried in a Triumphant paper Chariot about the Royal Exchange The Chariot was dedicated to the Suns daughter To fair Truth and it carried this mark in the forehead of it Truths Triumph I honor the Virgin so far that I cannot but send this cordial Exclamation after her Chariot Vivat Regina long live fair Truth Yea though her furious Charioter should drive his wheels over all that I have Sensual and Mortal the last breathing of my soul should contribute to her Triumph a vivat illa Ride on fair Truth the wheels are slow On which thy Chariot moves below Go mount thy Fathers Car and mix Thy purer rays with his there fix Till thou thy course in light hast run Circling the world as doth the Sun Thus by her Father bright Sol's side Let mighty Truth Triumphant ride But truly when the heat of the wheels is a little over and Truth comes to cast up her account what she hath gained or saved in the Gentlemans intended Triumph I believe she will tel her Friends with tears in her eyes that she never blushed more in any day of Triumph never did she ride so hooded and masked in a Triumphant Chariot before that day You O my friends that have seen my riding will she say in the days of my true Triumphs my Chariot open my face and breast and hands naked my feet and legs and thighs bare did not you wonder at such a winter dress as I appeared in that day did not you admire to see me in my furs and saples Truly I thought however the Gentlemans intentions were for a Triumph that I scarce stood above the proportion of one doing penance in his sheets But Gentlemen if you will not go to the price of it as Truths Triumph you shall have it rather then stand out at the lower rate of Treachery Anatomized and thus if it do not make a good God yet it may pass for a pretty tolerable Devil Truths Triumph or Treachery Anatomized See Gentlemen what a Triumph of Truth you are like to have when she comes mounted upon an Anatomy I have scarce seen a private Soldier bestride such bare bones The meanest Error that beats upon the hoof triumphs in a better equipage then this Gentlemans Truth does And truly not onely her palfrey the forementioned lean thing but her clothes too such a riding suit would induce us to judge and believe That the Gentlemans Truth were rather taking a long Winter journey then setting forth in triumph And let me tell the Citizens of this Renowned City That if this Skeleton be allowed to pass for a Triumph every Countrey Carrier and all the dirt they bring along with them will from the date of this ride triumphantly through your City I wonder in the lap of what remote Star this Triumph was concealed that our English Merlin gave us no intelligence of it that we might have been prepared to entertain it at a rate suitable to it This Triumph as we may with no great difficulty collect from pag. 10. sets forth from the Fleet and so you must suppose it is a Naval Triumph it hath indeed its waste clothes on and it wants nothing but Pendants and Streamers nor would it have wanted them had the Design shattered the Lords House The Legislative Power ravished out of the hands of the Lords would have been a fine gay indeed to have adorned Truths Triumph But the Gentleman had consulted better for the credit of his Truth had he dated his Triumph from Sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet whatever is pretended let me tell you That this Triumph sets out at Billinsgate or from what Fleet soever it comes it lands at those Stairs and you will tell me so too when you hear the Rhetorick and Dialect of that end of the Town A blast of right Billinsgate in stead of Trumpets ushers in the Triumph A Discovery we shall meet with impartial anon of the false and treacherous Information of Mr. Masterson pretended Minister of Christ at Shoreditch against c. The truth or falshood of the Information the day shall declare and shall make it manifest whether it be gold or wood silver or hay precious stones or stubble and I am extremely confident that the blemished Information is of such a kinde as will endure the touch of the fire In the mean time before the day of revelation by fire cometh I shall endeavor to make it appear to all rational men of what sort the forementioned Information is Not treacherous as the Gentlemans Triumph or Anatomy affirms nor made by a pretended Minister of Christ at Shoreditch Treachery I mean that which is really so is in every sence the abomination of my soul and though the odium of Persecuter of the Saints and Betrayer of the Brethren hath been cast