An Anatomy of the Lords Tyranny and injustice exercised upon Lieu. Col. JOHN LILBURNE, now a prisoner in the Tower of LONDON.  
Delivered in a speech by him, Novem. 6. 1646. before the honourable Committee of the House of Commons, appointed to consider of the privileges of the Commons of England: The original Copy of which, he in obedience to the order and command of the said Committee, delivered in writing to the hands of Col. Henry Martin, Chairm-man of the said Commit: Nou. 9 1646 and now published to the view of all the Commons of England, for their information, & knowledge of their Liberties and Privileges.  
To the Honourable the COMMITTEE for the Liberty of the Commons of ENGLAND. May it please this Honourable Committee, in obedience to your command, and Order of the 6. of November last, I here humbly present you with the narration under my hand, which by word of mouth I made unto you upon Friday last, of my particular sufferings since my commitment by the Lords.  
MAY it please this Honourable Committee, I had a hearing before you upon Tuesday the 27, of October last, and then I truly acquainted you with the manner of the Lords first sending for me to their Bar, by order of the 10. June, 1646. to answer a charge there. I acquainted you truly, what passed betwixt their messenger & myself, & also what was said to me at their Bar, and how that for no misbehaviour, or any other cause, saving my exhibiting to them my Protest, and refusing to answer illegal Interrogatories: they, the 11. of June, 1646. committed me to Newgate: and how that upon the 16. of June, 1646. I sent my appeal to the Honourable House of Commons; which was accepted of, And the last time I was before you, I was reading the second Warrant of the Lords to bring me the second time to their Bar: In the midst of which you were called away; and therefore for what then passed, I shall refer you, Mr. Martin, to your own Notes, and my Papers delivered in to you; but especially to my printed relation of their first proceed with me, which you have.  
And now I shall humbly desire liberty methodically to go on: And as to me it appears, the Lords taking notice that I had appealed to your House (their indignation being thereby increased;) sent a warrant the 22. of June, 1646. to the Keeper of Newgate, in these words:  
Ordered by the Lords in Parliament assembled, that Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburne, now a prisoner in Newgate, shall be brought before their Lordships (in the high Court of Parliament) to morrow morning by 10. of the clock. And this to be a sufficient Warrant in that behalf.  
John Brown Cler. Parl.  
And I being in bed, was by my Keeper about 10, a lcock at night, certified, that such a Warrant was come to carry me in the morning to the Lords Bar: I risen betimes and went, and spoke with Brisco the Clerk of Newgate, and my Keeper's Master, and told him, the Lords had no power nor jurisdiction over me by law: and therefore I told him, I neither could nor would give my consent to go up to them. And then he told me, he would force me. Whereupon I went up to my chamber, and locked my door, and writ a Letter to Mr. Wollastone, the chief Keeper under the Sheriffs of London: And in his absence, my wife and a friend carried it to the Sheriffs, then at Guild-Hall with the Court of Aldermen, and delivered it and my appeal, etc. to them; who, as they conceive, amongst themselves, read it. But for any thing I know, ordered Brisco to make a forcible entry upon my lodging: for he came up, and broke my Chamber-wall, and by force carried me down, and put me in a Coach, which carried me to the Lords. The Copy of the  letter in print, I here present unto you.  
SIR,  
I This morning have seen a Warrant from the House of Lords, made yesterday, to command you to bring me this day at ten a clock before them: the warrant expresseth no cause wherefore I should dance attendance before them; neither do I know any ground or reason wherefore I should, nor any Law that compels me thereunto: For their Lordships, sitting by virtue of Prerogative-patents, and not by election, or common consent of the people; have (as Magna Charta, and other good laws of the land tell me,) nothing to do to try me, or any Commoner whatsoever, in any criminal case, either for life, limb, liberty, or estate: But, contrary hereunto, as incroachers and usurpers upon my freedoms and liberties; they lately and illegally endeavoured to try me a Commoner at their Bar: for which I under my hand and seal protested to their faces against them, as violent and illegal incroachers upon the rights and liberties of me, and all the Commons of England, (a copy of which, etc. I in print herewith, send you:) and at their Bar I openly appealed to my competent, proper, legal Tryers and Judges, the Commons of England assembled in Parliament, (for which their Lordships did illegally, arbitrarily, and tyrannically commit me to prison into your custody,) unto whom divers days ago I sent my appeal, etc. which now remains in the hands of their Speaker, if it be not already read in the House, unto which I do, and will stand, and obey their commands.  
Sir, I am a freeman of England, and therefore I am not to be used as a Slave, or Vassal, by the Lords, which they have already done, and would further do. I also am a man of peace and quietness, and desire not to molest any, if I be not forced thereunto: therefore I desire you, as you tender my good, and your own; take this for answer, that I cannot, without turning traitor to my Liberties, dance attendance to their Lordship's Bar: being bound in conscience, duty to God, myself, mine, and my Country; to oppose their encroachments to the death: which by the strength of God I am resolved to do.  
Sir, you may, or cause to be exercised upon me, some force or vielence to pull and drag me out of my Chamber, which I am resolved to maintain, as long as I can, before I will be compelled to go before them: and therefore I desire you, in a friendly way, to be wise and considerate before you do that, which it may be, you can never undo.  
From my Cock-loft in the Presse-yard of Newgate this 13 of june, 1646. Sir, I am your true and fair conditioned prisoner, if you will be so to me. JOHN LILBURN.  
And being in the Painted Chamber talking with Col. Francis Russel, a Member of your House; Brisco came to me, and before him told me, that the Lords had commanded, that I should not speak with any. To which I replied, Are the Lords ashamed of their cause, that they dare not venture my declaring of it to my friend? But, go tell their Lordships from me, I understand the liberties of England better than so suddenly to be their slave, and to obey their unjust and tyrannical commands: And therefore tell them, I will whether they will or no, talk with any man that will talk with me, till they outstrip the Bishops (who gagged me for speaking) in cruelty, by cutting out my tongue, or sowing up my lips.  
And by and by I was called into their House: and being by them commanded to kneel at their Bar; I absolutely refused to do it, unless they would by force compel me thereunto: which, if they did, I told them, it would be no act of mine. And I shall (with your favour) give you one reason, which with some others, that made me I did not kneel; and it was this: I knew, by Law the Lords had no jurisdiction over me, and accordingly I had performed my duty to myself, etc. in protesting against them, and had appealed to your House, as the absolute legal supreme power of the Kingdom, and so) fare and by many degrees above the Lords. Now if I should have done any action that should have declared any subjection unto the power and judicature of the Lords (which my kneeling would have done,) I had not only turned traitor there by, to the Laws and Liberties of England; but I had also undone all that before I had done, and deprived myself both of the benefit of my Protest and Appeal, and should also by my own act, have laid myself open, justly to be sentenced, and punished by the Lords.  
And upon refusal to kneel, they commanded me to withdraw, and made this Order.  
Die Martis 23. Junii 1646.  
ORdered by the Lords assembled in Parliament, that john Lilburne shall stand committed close Prisoner, in the Prison of Newgate: and that he be not permitted to have pen, ink, or paper, and none shall have access unto him in any kind, but only his Keeper, until this Court doth take further order.  
To the Keeper of Newgate his Deputy or Deputies.  
john Brown Cler: Parliamentorum. Exam. per. Rad, Briscoe Cleric: de Newgate.  
Now I shall humbly desire this Honourable Committee, in the first place to observe; that the Lords Warrant of the 22. June, 1646. expresseth no cause at all wherefore I should dance attendance at their Bar, and therefore illegal. 2. I also entreat this Honourable Committee to observe, that the Lords Commitment of me 23. June close Prisoner is altogether illegal, and against the Petition of Right; which is confirmed with every clause in it, by the act that abolisheth the tax of Ship-money, made this present Parliament, and, as Sir Edward Cook that learned Lawyer doth well and truly observe in the 2. part of his institutes folio. 52. there are 4. things that are required to make 

1. That he or they which do commit; have lawful authority. a Commitment lawful, viz.  
2. That their warrant or mittimus be lawful, and that (saith he) must be in writing, under hand and Seal.  
3. The cause must be contained in the warrant, as, for treason, felony, etc. or for suspicion of treasou, felony, etc.  
4. The warrant or mittimus containing a lawful cause, aught to have a lawful conclusion, viz. and him safely to keep, until he be delivered by law, etc. and not until the party committing doth further order. All which 4. are wanting in this warreat; and therefore altogether illegal and unjust.    
Now may it please this Committee; I was very free in my discourse with Mr. Wollaston, etc. the Keeper of Newgate, about the illegallity of this warrant, which, it may be, came to the Lords ears, and therefore within 4. or 5. days after, they sent a more formal warrant containing the cause of my commitment, and as Mr. Brisco could me, took the aforesaid warrant away, the original copies of all which orders are in your hands Mr. Martin, and were delivered to you upon the first examination of this business, about 4. months ago, to which I humbly refer you.  
Now may it Please you to give me leave to go on with the true relation of the barbarous and tyrannical execution of this unjust order, by virtue of which for about 3. weeks together, I was debarred of pen, ink, or paper, and my Chamber, by Mr. Brisco, for that end, strictly searched, and my wife, councillors and friends kept from me: my wife, etc. after I was first locked up, not being permitted to set her foot within my Chamber door, nor permitted to come into the Prison yard, to speak with me out of my window, nor I suffered to receive from the hands of my wife, servant, or friends, either meat, drink, money, or any other necessaries; and yet their Lordships, nor none by their order, allowing me all that time, the value of one penny loaf to live upon, and though my wife obtained so much favour from a neighbour to speak with me out of their windows, at the distance of about 40. or 50 yards, it being impossible for us to say any thing, but what the Jailers if they had a mind might hear, yet such was their inhuman cruelty, that they often threatened to stop up the poor man's windows, if he would not cease to permit my wife to look out of them, and also threatened me to board up mine, or else if I would not forbear, at that distance, to speak with my wife, to lay me in Newgate Prison, where as they could me, I should neither have a possibility to speak with her or any other, which I bid them do if they durst, telling them that would be the only way to get me my liberty; for I had some friends abroad that would then I did believe, to the purpose bestir themselves to preserve my life, which they would easily judge was then intended in good earnest to be taken away by them, and therefore if any mischief followed they might thank themselves, upon which they forbore executing their bitter menacies and 〈◊〉 any further upon me.  
But I beseech you further be pleased to observe the Lords guilty consciences, and their brave justice, who the most part of this time while they keep me (thus close) (that it was absolutely impossible for me to know what they intended to do with me) they had as I am informed, 4. Lawyers at work to frame a charge against me, viz. Mr. Sergeant Finch, Mr. Hail, Mr. Hearne, and Mr. Glover, and upon the 10. of July 1646. and not before, Mr. Sergeant Nathaniel Finch, brought in certain Articles, by way of charge into the House of Peers against me; which you Mr. Martin have in your hand, and therefore I humbly desire they may be read; which was done.  
Now Sir, before you read the sentence, I humbly entreat this Honourable Committee to give me leave to make some observation upon the charge, the first of which, that I entreat you to take notice of is, that betwixt the day of my being first summoned to answer a charge at the Lords bar, and the day that it was first brought in, or filled upon record there against me, is above 29. days, I being summoned the 10. of june 1646. and the Charge not brought in till the 10. of july 1646, which is a most illegal and unjust thing in any Court whatsoever.  
2. I beseech you observe that almost all, and the principal things laid to my charge, are pretended crimes committed, not before my being brought to their bar to answer a Charge, but afterwards, namely in the time of an unjust and provokeing imprisonment: and therefore a great injustice it is, as any can be in the world, to force a man to dance attendance at their Bar, to answer a Charge, before they have filled one against him, or have so much as the pretence of a crime to lay to his charge, and then arbitrarily and illegally to commit a man to a tyrannical imprisonment, there by extraordinary provocations, to necessitate and force a man as it were, to commit slips and fall, that thereby they may pick a hole in his coat, because they had none before, and then fall upon him, and destroy him: and this, in every particular hath been the Lords dealing with me, which I humbly conceive to be the height of tyranny and injustice. Now Mr. Martin, I humbly entreat you to read the sentence, for upon the 10. july, there issued out an order to bring me up again to their bar, the next day, to hear my Charge read: which was accordingly put in execution.  
Now Sir, you having read the sentence, I shall humbly crave leave, first, to make some observations upon it, and then secondly, to go on methodically with the matter of fact.  
And first, I beseech you observe that the 10. june 1646. I was summoned to attend their Lordships in their House: and the 11. june 1646. I there appeared, and was then committed by them to Newgate: the 16. of the same month, I appealed to the Right Honourable the House of Commons as my legal and proper judges, who accepted, read, approved, and committed my appeal to a special Committee, and yet notwithstanding the 22. of the same month, the Lords command the Keeper of Newgate to bring me up to their bar, and there upon the 23. day I was committed close prisonet to Newgate, till the 10. july 1646. at which time my Charge was brought into the Lord's House and not before, which was a month after the first process, or warrant issued out for me. All which proceed (besides their not having any legal judicature at all over me) are erroneous and illegal, and principally in these two points.  
First, because I was summoned, before any Charge was recorded, which proceed are point blank against the express Statutes of 9 H. 3. 29. 5. E. 3. 9 25. E. 3. 4. 28. E. 3. 3. which expressly say, that none shall be imprisoned nor put out of his free hold, nor of his franchises, nor free customs, unless it be by the law of the Land, which is, that none shall be taken by Petition or suggestion made to our Lord the King, or to his Council, unless it be by indictment or presentment of his good and lawful people of the same neighbourhood, where such deeds be done; in due manner; or by process made by Writ original at the common law, etc. which Statutes are confirmed by the petition of Right, and by the Statute for abolishing the Star-Chamber made this present Parliament.  
And indeed, regularly, both in law and equity, the Declaration or bill ought to be filled or recorded, before any writ or process ought to issue against the defendant, or party accused, either in civil or criminal causes; and the writ, warrant, or process ought to contain the matter of the declaration, bill, or petition: and this appears clearly in every writ (as the learned in the law inform me) set forth by the Register, and Fitzherberts' natura brevium: and that every English bill either in Chancery, Exchequer, or Star-Chamber, doth pray, that process of sub-pena be awarded against the defendant, which proves, that process, orders or Warrants, ought not to be awarded or granted, against any man out of any Court of Justice whatever, till his charge be recorded against him in the same Court; and suitable to this is your own doctrine, in your own Declarations, Book Decl. page 38, 39, 278, 845.  
Secondly, I beseech you observe, that all the Lords proceed with me, after my appeal to the honourable house of Commons, are void in Law; because, by my appeal to the proper Jurisdiction, which is only your House, the Lords are outed of their Jurisdiction, or conusans of the plea, the cause being removed by the Appeal, their judgement was thereby determined, or at least suspended, being but the effect of the cause before them, till such time as the Appeal is determined; the Appeal being a supersedas to the Lords further proceeding in the same cause, and they ought not to have proceeded any further at all; but to give them as much, as by any just colour or claim they can challenge, they ought not any further to have gone on, without the privity, licence, and direction of the honourable house of Commons: and therefore, all their proceed with me, especially, since my Appeal to your honourable house, are coram non judice, and therefore void and erroneous. And I further conceive, under favour, that the Lords proceed with me, after your House had accepted of my Appeal, is as great an affront and indignity offered to the majesty, honour, and greatness of your house (the absolute supreme derivative power of all the Commons of England, the original and absolute fountain of all power therein) as their proceed are unjust towards me, & destructive to the laws and liberties of England.  
Again, I beseech you observe, that in their Articles, the original and chief supposed crime that they charge me with, is, for scandalising the Earl of Manchester, a Peer, as they call him, of the Kingdom.  
Now may it please you, to take notice, that I say, if his conscience had not been guilty, & told him, that it was possible, I might justly and groundedly have proved much more against him, than I lay to his charge in my printed Epistle to Judge Reeve, etc. he would never have shunned and avoided the known law of the Kingdom, which sufficiently proves a remedy for him, in case I had scandalised him: as appears by the statutes of 3. E. 1, 33. 27. E. 3. ●8. 38. E. 3. 9 42, E. 3. 3. 2 R. 2. 5. 12. R. 2. 11 17. R. 2. 16. which expressly command, that if any man scandalise any of the great men of the kingdom he shall be taken, and kept in custody, or put in security, till he prove what he saith; and in case he cannot; then he shall incur the same pain that the other should have had, if he were attainted: and that process of the law be made against them without being taken and imprisoned against the great Charter, and other statutes; but his leaving the common common and just road of the kingdom, that sufficiently provides for his reparation, if innocent, argues his knowledge of his own guilt, or else he would never have betaken himself to an extraordinary means (and especially in such a place where himself is chief Judge in his own cause) and there against me by a kind of a legislative and unlimited power of Judicature, which is not in them (especially singly) neither can they (take them in the highest capacity that ever law estated them in) proceed to determine any thing out of the way of the known and established laws, by any arbitrary, or discretionary Rules, when there is a known law in the case. And I am sure it is a received Maxim in law, That where remedy may be had by an ordinary course in Law; the party grieved shall never have his recourse to extraordinaries.  
And Sir, under favour, to speak truly, the Parliament properly are not (nor ought not) to meddle with causes betwixt party & party that are decideable at common-law, they being the supreme Judicature of the Kingdom and the last refuge to appeal to, by the people, in case of injustice elsewhere, and so may properly be called Judge of Judges, rather than Judge of particular parties and causes.  
My last observation upon the sentence, that I shall humbly entreat you to take notice of, is this;  
That although by the 14, Chap. of Magna Charta, it is declared that a freeman shall not be amerced or fined for a small fault; but after the manner of the fault, and for a great fault after the greatness thereof, saving to him his contenement or countenance, and a merchant likewise saving to him his Merchandise. And any other villain then the Kings shall be likewise amerced, saving his wainage or team, and none of the said amerciaments shall be assessed, but by the oath of honest and lawful men of the vicinage.  
But I beseech you observe, the Lords had no oath of any honest man what ever, against me, nor one word of my own confession of any guiltiness of any crime whatsoever, but a constant resolution manifested to maintain the laws and liberties of the kingdom against their usurpations; for which just, honest, and legal action, and for no other, they unrighteously unjustly, and barbarously sentenced me, not saving to me my contenement or countenance, or leaving me some reasonable proportion after their Fines, or Amercement to live upon, in the quality or condition I had done before; but they amerced or find me at four thousand pounds, which is divers thousands of pounds more then either I am worth, or ever was in my life.  
Now I beseech this honourable Committee to observe, that by this sentence, the unrighteous & cruel Lords have done as much as in them lies, every hour of time to put me into such a condition; that I shall be liable to have all the estate that I have in the world taken from me, to satisfy this unjust Fine, and so leave nothing for me, my wife, and small children, to live upon; nay, and that which is worse than all this, the greatness of the Fine is much more than I can satisfy; So that in case all that little that I have, should be seized upon; yet there is such abundance would remain behind, which would rob me of all credit whatsoever: for, who will be so unwise, as to lend a man money that is thousands of pounds worse than nothing which is my case by this Fine: But yet this is not at all; for they commit me for 7. years (the age of a man in the eye of the Law) a prisoner to the extraordinary chargeable Prison of the Tower, where I cannot earn one penny, nor, it being no thoroughfare; for me to beg a penny to live upon.  
Now, Sir, laying all these things together, I beseech you consider whether in the intention of the Lords, I be not exposed to miseries and torments, worse than death itself: for either by their intentions, I must perish by hunger and famine, or else be forced to eat my wife and children, or any other that I can overcome; and what is this but the height of tyranny and cruelty, and a torment worse than any death in the world; for, saith Jerem. in his Lamentations, Better is he that dies by the sword, than he that dies by famine; and he gives the reason; because, there is a speedy end of the pain of him that dies by the sword; but he that dies by hunger and famine, pines away, and is in a continual torment, always dying, and wishing, and longing for death. And undoubtedly, Sir, this is my condition, by the intention of the Lords.  
Now Sir, having with your patience, made these observations, I humbly desire to go on with the matter of fact:  
Which is, that upon the tenth of July, when Sergeant Finch brought in my Charge into the House of Peers, they that day made an Order to command the Sheriffs of London, the next day to bring me up to their Bar, to hear my Charge: The copy of which warrant I have not, in regard the Sheriff (contrary to law) refused to give it me, although I sent to him to desire it: and I having formerly told the Jailers of Newgate, I could not, nor would not, go up to the Lords Bar, by virtue of their own Warrant, without a forcible compulsion; The Sheriffs sent about 30. or 40. of the attenders upon the Hangman, when he goes to do execution at Tyburn, to carry me up to the Lords Bar. And being in the Painted chamber, I desired Mr. Brisco, one of my Keepers and Torments, to to go and tell the Lords from me, that seeing they had the impudence and boldness to tread the Laws and Liberties of England under their feet, and did so contemn and undervalue the authority of the Honourable House of Commons, to whom I had appealed, as yet to go on in their illegal courses with me, with whom by Law they had nothing to do; I must be forced in the highest nature I could, to contemn and despise their proceed; and therefore was resolved not to come to their Bar, without a forcible compulsion, and to come in with my hat upon my head, and to stop my ears when they read my Charge, in detestation, and bearing witness against their usurpations and injustice. So away he went: But I was compelled in; and being brought up to the Bar, I was commanded to kneel: which I absolutely refused. And then my Lord of Manchester (my grand adversary, who hath for these two or three years thirsted after my blood, for no other crime but that I was faithful and active in executing the trust reposed in me, for the good of the Parliament and Kingdom; he (I say) as speaker of the House of Lords, commanded the Clerk to read me my Charge; which he began to do. At which I stopped my ears with my fingers, till such time as I perceived the Clerks lips to leave moving. Whereupon I was commanded to withdraw: and after some distance of time, I was called in again, and was again commanded to kneel; but I told them, My Lords, you may save yourselves the expense of your breath, for I shall not kneel without compulsion. And then my Lord of Manchester told me, that I by my contumacy deprived myself of much benefit that I might make unto myself by examining witnesses upon cross Interrogatories, for the evading the charge. So I desired liberty to speak: which was granted, and I said,  
My Lords, I do much wonder at your Lordship's proceed with me, that you should, (contrary to the ancient and fundamental laws of this kingdom) send for me to answer a charge at your Bar, before you have any filled against me; and then when I come up to your Bar, press and endeavour to force me, contrary to law, honesty, and justice, to answer to inquisition-nterrogatories, and so to ensnare myself, when you have no crime to lay unto my charge. My Lords, what is this else, but to build up what but the other day you destroyed? For did you not here in a full House, the 15. day of February last, in this very case, decree; adjudge, and determine, that my sentence in the Star-chamber, and all the proceed thereupon, shall forthwith be for ever totally vacuated, obliterated, and taken off the File in all Courts where they are yet remaining, as illegal, and most unjust, against the liberty of the Subject, and law of the Land, and Magna Charta, and unfit to continue upon Record? etc.  
And did you not order and adjudge me, to receive of some of the Judges, etc. of that sentence, 2000 l. for my reparation? But my Lords, I am very sure, that if you yourselves, compare your proceed against me, with the proceed of the Star-chamber, you will find yours to be in every particular, as illegal and unjust, as theirs: and therefore, I much wonder, you do not blush at your present dealing with me.  
Besides, my Lords, it is very strange to me that the Law of England, should be so plain and perspicuous, to tell you, that you in such Cases as mine is, have no legal jurisdiction at all over me, or the meanest Commoner in England, and that yet notwithstanding, you should, contrary to your duty, Oaths and Covenants, usurp & challenge a jurisdiction over us so. My Lords, when I was first at this Bar, I under my hand and Seal, delivered in m●… protest against you as usurpers & incrochers, upon the Rights and Libertyes of all the Commons of England, which you received & read: and I also appealed from you, as unrighteous Judges to my Legal, and Proper Judges, the Commons of England assembled in Parliament, and upon the 16. of June last, I sent my petition, by way of appeal to the Honourable House of Commons, with a copy of my Protest against you, annexed to it, which they received, read, approved of, and Committed to a special Committee, who sat upon it, and as I understand, Passed a vote or votes in justification of the legality of my Procedings with you, and have promised me Justice in it; now, my Lords, I here again at your open Bar before You all, as in the sight of and Presence of God, protest against you again, and all your proceed with me, as unjust, unrighteous and illegal: and declare unto you all, that to my said Protest and appeal to the honourable House of Commons, I will stick to, so long as I have a life and a being, And my Lords, I tell you to your faces, that by Right, they are your Judges as well as mine in this case: & I do not doubt, but to live to see the day that they will make you to know, whether you will or not that they are so, and of their Justice, and protection, I do not in the least; doubt: And therefore, my Lords, seeing you have dealt so illegally and tyrannically with me, as you have done; I now bid defiance to your power and malice, to do the worit you can.  
For, my Lords, are not you the men that have been principal instruments to engage this Kingdom in a bloody War, to maintain their laws and liberties? and have nor you all often sworn and covenanted so to do? But, my Lords, it seem●s to me, you nothing at all value your oaths, nor engagements: and therefore, my Lords, if you were in jest, when you did all this, and never intended, what you declared, but merely set us a fight, to unhorsed and dismount our old Riders & Tyrants, that so you might get up and ride us in their steads: But I do profess and assure your Lordships, that I for my part was in good sober and sad earnest, and never drew my sword in these wars, but principally for my liberties and freedoms, and the laws of the land: & in the field I did adventure my life freely & resolutely, like a man of valour and courage, as it is well known to some of yourselves: And I now look for, and expect the enjoyment of ●hat for which I fought by your means and iustigation. And therefore, my Lords, I protest here before the God of heaven and earth, if you shall be so unworthy as to persevere in endeavouring the destruction of the fundamental Laws and Liberties of England, as at present you do; I will venture my life and heartblood against you to oppose you, with as much zeal and courage as ever I did any of the King's party, that you set us together by the ears with.  
And having concluded, I was commanded to hear my Charge read: But I told them, they had no judicature at all over me, neither would I in the least do any thing that should declare my subjection to their power, although I should presently be destroyed for my refusal. But my Lords, said I, that you may know that my conscience doth not accuse me of any guilt for doing any illegal or dishonourable action against my country or the Laws thereof, or you, or any of you that wisheth it well; I will wave my appeal to the House of Commons, if you will cease your proceed here: and I will answer any of you, or all of you, according to Law, in any Court of Justice in Westminster-Hall, or any other Court in England, that hath a Legal jurisdiction over me. But the Clerk was commanded to read the Charge quite through: and I stopped my ears till he had done. And then the Speaker asked me, what I said to my Charge? I told him, I heard it not (neither indeed did,) neither had they any legal power there to exhibit, try, or adjudge a Charge against me: And therefore I again appeased from them; telling them, I did not in the least, value the worst they could do to me: for I would lose my life before I would betray or part with my fundamental liberties; either to them, or any one in England.  
So I was commanded to withdraw: and being out above an hour, I was the third time called in, and commanded again to kneel; which I absolutely refused to do. And then I was told by the Earl of Manchester, what misery and destruction my obstinacy and contemptuous carriage, had, and would bring upon me. I told him, I weighed not their malice, nor craved their favour: So he read my sentence, which I heard: and when he had done; with a smiling and merry countenance, I thanked his Lordship for his boon: but I desired him to take notice of it, that I valued their sentence no more than that I had in the Star-Chamber, it being in every particular as illegal as that: nay more, for the Star-chamber had a legal jurisdiction over me, which their Lordships in their House have not: so I was commanded to withdraw.  
And being by a new Warrant that day brought to the Lieutenant of the Tower of London (the Copy of which, you Mr. Martin have in your hands; it being one of the three you had from the Lieutenant the other day) my brother Major Henry Lilburn, Lieu. Col. Wetton, and my wife being with me, I told the Lieutenant of the Tower, that my spirit was a little refreshed, for all my great & heavy sentence, and my commitment to so chargeable a prison, as I understood the Tower to be, in regard I was freed from my close and cruel imprisonment, and now should enjoy the society of my wife and friends, but he told me I was mistaken: Why Sir, said I, my Warrant doth not command you to keep me close prisoner; it only enjoins you to keep me in safe custody, and that you take care, that I neither contrive, publish, or spread any seditious or libellous Pamphlet against both, or either Houses of Parliament. Well! saith he, I cannot do that, unless I keep both your wife, & your friends from you; aswell you might say, that you cannot perform my order, unless you look me up in a Dungeon, where I shall neither see light, nor enjoy candle, or fire; for it is impossible in a manner, to keep a man from writing, where he hath light, who by one means or other, will come by Pen, Ink, and Paper.  
And truly Sir, it was a wonder to me, to hear the Lieutenants hard and cruel interpretation of my order, and perceiving my wife to be much troubled at his words, it took a deep impression upon my spirit, and made me go below my accustomed principles of Resolution; in regard of that indearednesse of affection, that was betwixt my wife and myself, which made me say to him: Sir, my wife is all the earthly comfort that now in this world I have left unto me, and she is that meet help, that the wise God of Heaven & Earth, from the beginning hath instituted and ordained for me, frail & weak man, in my pilgrimage and valley of tears here below: and Sir, if such a help had not been requisite for poor man; without which, he could not have had a comfortable being in his earthly being; God would never have ordained it, and commanded man to forsake Father and Mother, to live with his wife, as one flesh.  
And truly Sir, I must tell you, God hath so knit in affection, the hearts and souls of me and my wife, and made us so willing to help to bear one another's burdens, that I profess, as in the sight of God, I had rather you should immediately beat out my brains, then deprive me of the society of my wife.  
And therefore, for your indemnity; before these my friends, I will make you a fair proffer, That if you judge, that I have either faith or truth in me, I will engage my word and promise unto you, that as I am a Christian, a Gentleman, and a Soldier, I will neither write a line, nor read a line written; conditionally, that you, according to Justice, and the known Laws of this Kingdom, permit me to enjoy the society of my wife, and friends.  
But the hardhearted Lieutenant, like a man that took delight to add sorrow, to the afflictions of the too much afflicted, would not embrace my proffer, which I would not have broken or violated, for all the gold in England; but strictly gave command to my keeper, that neither my wife, nor any other friend should speak with me, but in his presence and hearing; which he being here present, is able to testify unto you: and then the Lieutenant went to the Lords, and prevailed with them to make an Order to bear him out, in what he had illegally and unwarrantably done, and executed upon me, of his own head, for 5 days: which order, you Mr. Martin have also in your hands: So that by the Lieutenant's means I was divorced from my wife, till the 16. day of September following: Upon which day, the Lords of their own accord, without my desiring of them (who was resolved in this case never to sue for a farthings-worth of courtesy) made an Order, again to marry me to my wife, as by the Copy of it in your hands will appear. And besides all this, he set and ordered his Warders at the Gate, most illegally to take the names and places of habitations of all my friends that came to see me, on set purpose, as I may justly conceive, to affright and scare all away from coming to visit me; yea, and besides the taking of their names, some of his Warders did extraordinarily abuse both me and many of those that came to visit me, & denied admittance, and turned away scores of my friends, as I can easily prove: All which cruelties, and inhumanities' offered to me and my friends; I may, and so do; set upon the Lieutenants own score: for I often complained to him of them; and the best remedy I could have, was nothing but a laugh from him at it: So that truly, Gentlemen, I do profess unto you, that the hard and barbarous usage that I have had from the Lords, and their Jailers, (in the number of which, I reckon Col. Francis West, the present Lieutenant of the Tower, who for all his title, is no more nor no otherwise to me then a Jailor) to be worse than death itself; which I seriously profess unto you, I should rather embrace, than the like usage for so long time again.  
And therefore, give me leave to say unto you in this particular, as I said unto my Lord Heath at Oxford, when I was arraigned before him for my life, for drawing my sword for your defence in the kingdoms; when he pressed me to plead unto my indictment. My Lord, said I, amend those things in it that are amiss, and give me, according to the custom of the Kingdom, my right and due; and I shall with all readiness plead unto it, professing unto your Lordship, that the cruelties that I have endured by Irons, &c, in Oxford Castle, by the inhuman Marshal Smith, are such, & so great, that I had rather choose this night to set my back against a wall, and be shot with 20. Musquetiers, then to endure the constant bitterness of those tormenting sorrows, that I do, and have under-gone by Marshal Smith, since my captivity under him: and the same I do profess now unto this Committee.  
Therefore, I humbly beseech, and most earnestly entreat you, not to delay me in my report to your House, but to do it speedily for me; that so I may know what to trust to, and may not by you, from whom I may justly seek Justice, as my right and due (and not as a boon) be delayed any longer, having been already long enough delayed; it being almost five months since I first made my Appeal unto you.  
For truly, I must plainly and ingenuously tell you, went not the lacombes of strength, and assistance from God; the more, my condition would be insupportable, and not any longer with patience to be stooped unto by me: for it cannot but be known to divers of you, that for almost this ten years together, I have never been free from the lashes and destroying of the Grand Prerogative-men of this kingdom, that have ruled and governed by no other law, then that of their own will; and yet to this day never received a penny by way of reparation, for all the wrongs and injuries that I from them have sustained; although I have spent divers hundreds of of pounds in endeavouring the procurement of it: and my reparations for my sufferings at the hands of the Star-Chamber Judges sticks in your house at this very day; which I humbly entreat this honourable Committee, when this my business is reported to the house, to put them in mind of; and besides, my late extraordinary expenses, and my shortness of pay for my faithful and successful service with my grand adversary the Earl of Manchester, and the present extraordinary chargeableness of my imprisonment in the Tower, etc. renders my condition an extraordinary object of your present relief: For although I have not paid all the great sums demanded as fees in that place; yet because I have found civility, and humanity from my Keeper, for my own accommodation and ease-sake; I have weekly been (I think) very liberal unto him, I am sure beyond my present ability; besides the charge of my own diet and family, etc. which I hope, that when your Honourable House hath adjudged my cause, (which I am confident according to law cannot go amiss with me) and thereby given me ground to present them with my bill of charges; they will not only cause the Lords to pay it me again; but also ample reparations for my hard and unjust sufferings: without which, although you evacuate the sentence, and set my person at liberty, I shall think that I scarce have justice to the half, having but merely the shell without the kernel. But if the greatness of the Lords, by reason of the distractions of the present times, shall stick in my way as an hindrance thereof; give me leave humbly to tell you, that the Commons of England are bound by you in a Protestation, to maintain their liberties, and to stand to all those that defend them; yea, and to bring those that endeavour their destruction, to condign punishment. In which regard I am resolved by the strength of God, in a just and legal way, with all earnestness to desire, through City and Country, the joint assistance of all in England, that are not willing to be slaves, to join with me in a grand petition to your House, for the obtaining of my just and honest desires against the Lords. And truly, Sir, I must venture life and all that I have upon it. For can it appear just to you, that the Lords should cry out against the King, their Lord and Master, for injustice and cruelty; yea, and draw their swords against him, and yet be more unjust themselves? As to go no further than my very case: for sure I am, it was the King's constant custom to provide diet, lodging, and pay the fees of all those he committed to the Tower: but the Lords for no cause in law at all, have committed me thither, and put me upon it, to pay all the vast extravagancies there for fees, etc. yea, and that for tormenting and destroying me. Surely, Sir, they will never be so unjust, but when they know, it is demanded as a just and legal right; but largely in good currant coin to repay me: the which, if they be so unjust as to refuse, I hope you will be so just and true to your trust, according to that sufficient power and authority that is in you to compel them.  
And, Sir, I humbly crave reparations from all their instruments, that with, and upon, me have outstripped the bounds of the Law, in executing their mere malicious wills upon me. And, under facour, I am very confident, the Lieutenant of the Tower will be found guilty in this particular; which I have the more ground to press upon him, than the Jailers of Newgate: For, to be hardly and inhumanly dealt withal from such bloody men as they are commonly reported to be, is no wonder; but to receive the like measure, nay and worse, from the hands of Col. Francis West, my fellow-citizen, (who outstripped his orders) a man who hath been in the field with his sword in his hand, pretending to adventure his life for the preservation of the laws and liberties of England; is that that amazeth me, that he should so fare forget himself, as so furiously to fall upon me, to torment, undo, and destroy me, for no other cause, but for being true to my principles, and the general and public interest of the Kingdom, in standing for the Laws and Liberties thereof, against those that would destroy them; and which action renders him to me, to be one of the unworthiest of the sons of men; especially of those that would be reputed to have the principles of an honest man in him.  
Now Sir, to conclude all, having sufficiently entrenched upon your patience; I make my most humble suit unto this honourable Committee, That when you make my Report unto the house, seeing as you tell me, you are principally to report matter of Fact, & not matter of law, in point of the Lords Jurisdiction; by means of which, it may be, in your house many Objections may be raised against me, for my carriage and expressions before the Lords: I therefore humbly entreat you to acquaint the house, That it is my most humble desire unto them, that seeing this business is of so great concernment, not only to me, but also to yourselves, yea, and to the whole Kingdom; that I may have that honour and justice, to be called to their Bar, and there have a fair, open, and public hearing, according to Law and Justice; and I doubt not, but by myself singly, by law and unquestionable authority, against all the Proctors the Lords can fee in England, to plead for them; to make it clear as the Sun that shines at Noonday; that the Lords have no jurisdiction at all over me, in the case now in controversy betwixt us, and that my carriage and expressions before them, was, but the cordial demonstrations of a sound and single-harted man, who knows himself bound in duty and conscience, to God, himself, and his country, to the utmost of my endeavours, to defend, and maintain his Rights and Liberties, which is as justifiable by the Law of this Kingdom, and in the eyes of all understanding men; as for a true and just man, to draw his sword, and to cut a Thief or Rogue that sets upon him upon the highway, on purpose to rob him of his life and goods.  
And if after such a hearing before your honourable house, it shall appear to their judgements and understandings, that I have wronged the Lords in general, or the Earl of Manchester, or Col. King in particular; (which too are the principal causes of all my present trouble, and against whom, are two Grand charges in your house; as I judge them of no less than high treason commitmitted against the Kingdom; which as I humbly conceive, the justice of the Kingdom requires should come to a final determination) I shall with all willingness and cheerfulness submit to what punishment shall be just for them to inflict upon me; and I hope that by this fair offer, you will be provoked with the strength of resolution, to deal impartially betwixt the Lords and me, & without fear, punish those where the just fault is, especially, considering that you, in your most excellent Declaration, of the 17. April 1646 published by you to the view of the whole kingdom, have solemnly declared, That you will preserve the Rights and Liberties of the people, and abolish the exercise of arbitrary power, and so provide for the safety and weal of the people; which is (as you say) the end of the primitive institution of all government. And therefore, in the behalf of myself, and all the Commons of England, I most humbly beseech, and entreat his thonourable Committee, to improve all the interest you have in the house of Commons, to make good unto us this their own just and honest Declaration.  
I beseech you hear me but one word more, which I entreat you well to observe; that the Lords have joined with you in several Declarations; in which the King's Oath is printed, which I read in the Book Decl. pag. 268.713.714, where you and they declare positively, and back it with many strong arguments; That the King by his Coronation-Oath, is bound to pass such laws, as his people shall choose: and if so; then he hath no power in him to give a law unto the people, or impose a law upon them: much less can he give a power to the Lords (his mere creatures made by his will & pleasure) for them to oppose or give a Law unto the people: and I am sure, if they have a legislative power in them, to do what they please, and so by the authority of that, presumed to do with me, as they did: I am sure, by the established Law of the Kingdom, they have no power at all, not in the least to do with me as they have done.  
And therefore, I humbly entreat you, to press home unto your House, the Lords usurpations and encroachments upon our common rights, that so they may effectually curb them, as in Justice they ought. For Sir, that which adds sorrow to all my sorrows, is this, that I suffer all these inhumanities' and illegal usages, during the time of the sitting of a free Parliament, (and yet can have no effectual redress in five month's time, though earnestly sought for.) Alas Sir, the Parliament is the Englishman's legal last refuge; and if that fail us (to speak as men) we are undone; unless God set his power at work, to work miracles, and raise up means for our preservation. And Sir, if the Lords dare thus tyrannize over the free Commons of England in time of Parliament, (that used to be the fear and dread of Offenders) what is it, that they will not do unto us out of a Parliament? Therefore, again I most earnestly beseech this honourable Committee, to remember them, and improve all your interest to punish, or at least effectually to curb them: for which, as well, as for your present patience, in hearing me so largely, I shall both now (as well as formerly) remain obliged to improve my best and utmost ability, for the preservation of the just, supreme interest, power, and authority of your honourable House.  Esa. 48.10. 
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the fullness of affliction.  Job. 23.10. 
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  
Novemb. the 9 1646. JOHN LILBURN.   

Reader, thou art requested to take notice of two faults committed in the printing of this Book, the first, in page 2. line 1. left out [and also what passed betwixt my L. Wharton and myself] the 2. in. p. 5. l. 26. where thou shalt find these words [a Commitment lawful, viz.] to be in the 28. line, which ought to be placed at the end of the 26. line, as thou mayst easily perceive. For other faults (if thou meet with any) impute them not unto the Author, who could not be at the correcting hereof; but in love to him, amend them.  
Vale.  
FJNJS.