The Triumph stained. Being an ANSWER to TRUTH'S TRIUMPH, i. e. a Pamphlet so called, and lately set forth By Mr. John Wildman, a pretended Gentleman of the Lifeguard 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. john 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 stained. 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, shows 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 practice, and thus it comes to pass (more than sometimes) that the Painter's 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 than 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 Tilt dedicated to the honour of Truth, the splinters of a broken lance contribute more to the credit of the Champion's prowess, than the honour of the Lady. And thus in the Triumphs of Truth (so called) we see a man (like unto ourselves 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 Sun's daughter, To fair Truth; and it carried this mark in the forehead of it, Truth's Triumph. I honour 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 Charioteer 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 Father's 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 Gentleman's intended Triumph, I believe she will tell 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 sapless? Truly, I thought (however the Gentleman's 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 Truth's Triumph, you shall have it (rather than stand out) at the lower rate of Treachery Anatomised; and thus if it do not make a good God, yet it may pass for a pretty tolerable Devil. Truth's Triumph, or Treachery Anatomised: 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 than this Gentleman's Truth does. And truly, not only her palfrey (the forementioned lean thing) but her clothes too (such a riding suit) would induce us to judge and believe, That the Gentleman's 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 Country 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 Truth's 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 Billingsgate, or (from what Fleet soever it comes) it lands at those Stairs; and you will tell me so too, when you hear the Rhetoric and Dialect of that end of the Town. A blast of right Billingsgate (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, etc. The truth or falsehood 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 kind, as will endure the touch of the fire: In the mean time (before the day of revelation by fire cometh) I shall endeavour to make it appear to all rational men, of what sort the (forementioned) Information is. Not treacherous (as the Gentleman's 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 sense) the abomination of my soul: and (though the odium of Persecuter of the Saints, and Betrayer of the Brethren, hath been cast upon me, since I made way at the Lords Bar; for the fire which imprisoned in my bosom, would have confirmed me to ashes; yet) I dare tell the world, that I have not suffered a persecuting thought (no not since that great provocation which I met with, near the House of Commons door) to go to bed or lie down with me. I have been learning Christian forbearance, and studying to practise it no small space of time; and whilst I was in pursuit of it for my private use, it pleased God to discover so much beauty in the face of it to me, that I endeavoured (at least) to provoke others to the practice of it; and I went so far in pressing the duty, that not a few thought I humbled the duty too low; though (I must profess withal) that it never entered into the thought of my heart, to prostitute this virgin to the wild and hairy lust of a Catholic Toleration. The light that I then walked by (and still follow) was held out to me by the hand of Paul, Ephe. 4.12. and in that light I clearly saw this truth, That they do not (cannot) walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called, that do not endeavour to forbear one another in love: yet (though I found the courteous duty of Christian forbearance ready and willing to walk with us this mile) I durst not rudely (by laying violent hands upon her) constrain her to travel herself out of breath, or beyond her bounds. If it be supposed (and upon what other account the Gentleman baptizeth my Information with the name of Treacherous, I know not) that I, who have not been observed to tread in the path of these men, or stand in their way, must needs walk upon treacherous feet to a meeting of such several honest men (as the Anatomizer calls them) or else what made I there? I answer, The more seriously I have thought of it, the more I have seen Providence in it. The wheel that moved me towards the meeting in Well-yard at that time (though what spirit acted in that wheel, I have not yet clearly discovered) was this, Mr. Malbon (of my Parish) having formerly presented me with a sight of the large Petition (though I suppose the countenance that I afforded him in it, could not amount to the resemblance of the least approbation) did further, in reference to that Petition, solicit me on Monday the seventeenth of January, to go along with him in the evening of that day, to the house of one Mr. Williams (a Gardener) in Well-yard, to hear and judge of such objections and satisfaction as should be then brought con and pro, the (forenamed) Petition. I withstood his first solicitation upon this ground, It hath been my practice upon the second day of the week (commonly called Monday) to meet at my house with some of my Parish that look toward Zion, endeavouring to support and strengthen the spirits of one another in the way thither; and I told him, that I could not handsomely disappoint them upon such an occasion. Whether the honour of the man (that hath faithfully served this Parliament in the capacity of a Lieutenant of Foot) would not brook a retreat, I know not; but (as if he were resolved to carry my affections, or sacrifice his ingenuity to the Service) he stormed me with a volley of importunities; and upon this quarter I surrendered, That he should inform our friends (that were near him) that a business of more public concernment (as he then phrased it) had taken place of our private (wont) employment, and that he would call upon me to go along with him at the time appointed. Now let Mr. Wildman (or any sober minded man) put his skill upon the tenters, and see if he can spell Treachery (without Anagrammatism) in this approach of mine to the counsels of these men: This, understood Mr. Masterson, believes a Counsel of War would acquit him of treachery in his intentions to these men. I shall open but one basket more of Billingsgate Commodities (Pretended Minister of Christ at Shoreditch) before I present you with the Melons and Cucumbers that this Garden-meeting brought forth. I have great cause to bless the Lord of the Vineyard, that he hath vouchsafed to own and make use of so weak and unworthy a labourer as I am; and I rejoice, yea and will rejoice more abundantly, that the great God hath accepted his poor servant, though but to the gathering out the stones, and weeding out the nettles that I found spread over the face of this Congregation, when he called me to it. I am not acquainted with the faces of many Congregations in or about this City; I know not the beauty or blemishes that is upon them: but this I know, that it is the grief & sorrow of my soul, to see the Congregation to which I relate, so pale and wan, to discover such spots upon it, such darkness, such profaneness, such superstition: yet when I have poured out my complaint into the bosoms of some friends, that may (without one grain of allowance) be judged faithful, that I have laboured and do labour in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain; they have administered words of comfort and support to me, when they have told me (I am a fool to publish it, but bear with me) that I, even I have some Epistles of commendation to God and the Saints, not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart: And that I have been anointed with such a sufficiency from God (as they have called my weakness) as might entitle me to something more than A pretended Minister of Christ at Shoreditch. And thus having the testimony of mine own Conscience in point of desires really to serve God and men in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, and the subscriptions of some faithful ones in point of endeavours, I shall attempt next to let this City see, That I was more than A pretended Minister or Servant to the State and them, in this ensuing Discovery made to the Lords and Commons on January 18. of certain Speeches and Practices of dangerous consequence (as I then apprehended, and yet believe) to the whole Kingdom. This discovery having been given in writing to the Honourable Committee of Lords and Commons at Derby house, by Order from that , of the twentieth of January, I shall be so far from taking that liberty (which Mr. Wildman makes bold with in his True Narrative, as he calls it) of presenting you with more or less than that Paper contains, that I shall not so much as put a comb into the hair of the Relation, but give it you ruffled as it dropped from the tongues of those men. At a Meeting in Well-yard in (or near) Wapping, at the house of one Mr. William's a Gardener, on Monday the 17 of january, 1647. THere were assembled Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn, John Wildman (with many others) debating a Petition when I and one Robert Malbon of Shoreditch Parish came in: Anon after we were entered the room, one Lieutenant Levet objected against the manner of their Proceed, and said, That he liked well enough the particulars of the Petition, but he did not like the manner, 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 Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn answered, We must (said he) own some visible Authority for the present, or else we shall be brought to ruin 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 Month, or three Months, 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 Privileges, and not only 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 Ribbon in his Hat, need not fear his throat cutting: Or, this Petition in your hand, will be as good as a blue Ribbon in your Hat, to preserve your throat from cutting. It was further objected by one of the company that sat 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 Cromwell, Ireton, and the King: and the Bargain was this, They (namely, Lieutenant General Cromwell, and Commissary General Ireton) by their influence on the Army, should estate the King in His Throne, Power and Authority; and for their reward, Cromwell should receive (or had received) a blue Ribbon 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, Cromwell) 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 Cromwell, to inform him of the Gentleman's resolution: whereupon Cromwell (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 kill Cromwell, 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 Cromwel's 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 Privileges 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 replied, He would, and they should hereby see their (the Lords) baseness) whereupon going on, he said, This morning they sent to this Gentleman's 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 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 Lord's day they were to meet at Dartford in Kent, to receive an account of their Agents (from Gravesend, Maidstone, and most of the choice 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 remembered 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 sense 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 Honourable 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 Lifeguard baptizeth it). He gins his Relation with a sentence (if dust and cobwebs be tolerable Arguments of Antiquity) much elder than the Design of Levelling. The medley Motheaten 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 Latin 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 Cinnamon Rose in Tully's garden, I am extremely 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) untouched, I should surfeit my spleen. I could make myself exceeding merry (if so sad a subject would bear it) with the Gentleman's 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 Lifeguard in the days of fight: 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 ginger, may judge by the Aspect of the Stars in this Horizon, that this English air agrees best with the bodies of Chameleons, etc. Had the learned Author of the Book Entitled, Pseudodoxia Epidemica been consulted with, he would have persuaded the Gentleman to have left out his Chameleons in Truth's Triumph: I would fain lay aside this cheerful countenance, but that every line (almost) in this first page, works upon me, as the Creatures eating Thistles did upon the Philosopher: 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, Peter's Chair, and the rest of such kind of Ornaments that follow in this Truth's Triumph. I suppose the Gentleman would take it unkindly, if we should not take notice how much (as he says) he is devoted to support the Authority and Honour 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 levelly some Structures and Monuments, which were sacred in the eyes of our superstitious forefathers: what Devotion he hath to some particular Members in that Honourable 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 sense I first mention, or no, let these two passages inform you, There is an envenomed arrow shot by my imprisonment into the heart of the common cause of my dearest Country; who dares think now, that this Gentleman is not Devoted to support the Authority? etc. 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 Samson evidenced more Devotion to support the house in which the Philistines were assembled, when he laid his two hands upon the two pillars of it in his renewed strength, than this Gentleman hath done in these two particulars, To the Authority and Honour of the Commons in Parliament. But upon what account doth the Gentleman thus say his Devotions backward, to the Authority? etc. Because (saith he) there was neither Witness nor Evidence against me of a crime: It is true, the Witnesses which I brought along with me (having received Summons from the Honourable Speaker of the House of Commons, in the name of the House, to appear before them, and testify their knowledge of the proceed at that meeting in Well-yard) were not called into the Commons House: and (if a man of so low thoughts as I am, may without sin humbly guests at a reason of this) I suppose Leiutenant Colonel Lilburn having acknowledged some things objected against him, and Mr. Wildman confessed something that he denied) the Honourable House might have Evidence enough of a crime from their own mouths: but above all, the presence and deportment, the tremble and astonishment (as by the outward appearance one might guests) that had taken hold upon Mr. John Wildman, when he would have spoke at the Commons Bar, might be (I do not say was) instead of many Witnesses. You must not suppose that Mr. John Wildman delivered all that at the House of Commons Bar, which (as a set Speech) fills up the best part of seven pages in his Truth's triumph: I know not what he might have penned the night before, but if he had that Speech (which we spoke of) written and premeditated, he might have published more to the honour of Truth, had he set forth to the world, An impartial discovery of a very false and treacherous Memory; I am confident, all the sense that the Gentleman dropped at that time at the Commons Bar (had it been gathered up by a faithful Amanuensis) would not have amounted to a third part of what he delivers in the Pageant that was built for Truth's Triumph; and truly that little which he did speak, was at so low a rate (though he had the Aquavitae of a clap on the shoulder from Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn, as he was entering into the Commons House, with Speak up Jack, such stumbling, interfeering and downright halting, that (I believe) it was not a silent Witness of something; and thus I (conceive) there might be no need of calling for Witnesses against him, whose words spoke him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-condemned) all along. But why doth the Gentleman seem to take it so unkindly, that the Witnesses were not called in? is it because one or both of them had whispered in the ear of some of that Fraternity, that he or they would not stand by the Information given in by Mr. Masterson, and thereby leave it under the condemnation as False and Treacherous. That passage of his in the heel of the ninth and head of the tenth page of his pretended Triumph, would richly furnish a man that suspected the lightness of his Witnesses with jealous thoughts: the words that would tempt to jealousy run thus, As for the Witnesses, none were called or examined (let the Diurnal man, as he calls him, look to the parenthesis) yet those two persons, whom the Informer brought as pretended Witnesses, confessed, as I can prove by Oath, That there was nothing spoken at the Meeting for which I am accused, but what tended to advance the Parliaments Honour, or words to that effect. To this particular (which if it were of kind to Truth, might entitle his Pamphlet a Triumph) I have many things to say: 1. Did the two persons whom the Informer brought as pretended Witnesses, confess this? and will the proof (you wots of) be deposed for both? certainly, aut erravit Famulus, aut ipse lapsus es memoriâ. A bad Informer, or worse Memory, Brought forth in great Truth's Triumph this great— Where the fault lieth, I know not certainly, but I shall for this once set it upon the Tailor's score, and suppose that he who stitched up this garment for Truth to Triumph in, was exceedingly mistaken in his measure. But secondly, have you never heard of such a practice as this in the world, when some sons of their Father the Devil have in vain attempted the chastity of such a Matron or such a Virgin, their foul mouths have run over in such expressions as might make others defile the innocent ones in their thoughts? The chastity (in this particular) of one of my Witnesses, is true Roman, it would much rather die upon your sword, then prostitute itself to such a dishonourable act as you speak of; his faithfulness is so mighty, that I believe the man is not yet born, Casta est quam nemo rogavit. that ever durst tamper with him about it; and for the other, I have had high thoughts of him, and should be now sorry indeed, if a principle of Religion should not carry him as far, as a lower principle of honour may carry another man: Why then do you let fall such words from your pen? which if true, would render these two persons to all ages unworthy of the lovely compellations of Religious or faithful. And Thirdly, what if I shall make it appear now, that one of these two persons (and the other though he have scarce strength enough to stand without trembling under the frowns of a party that he affects so well, yet dares not for his life, if called before Authority, deny what he hath affirmed in the presence of four or five witnesses) was never guilty of speaking one such word, or the least syllable to that effect, as both stand accused of? will it not Slain Truth's Triumph? will it not be like the Crotolon de paris? an indelible spot upon the garments of her that Pretends to Triumph? This Testimony under the hand of Captain John Willison, will be accounted little less than a Scar in the face of her that personates Truth, in the paper Triumph. Whereas a TAME Pamphlet (lately set forth by one John Wildman) Entitled, Truth's Triumph, hath endeavoured to insult over my innocency and honesty, in the last line of the ninth, and first of the tenth Pages) in these words, Yet these two persons whom the Informer brought, as Pretended Witnesses, confessed, as I can prove by Oath, that there was nothing spoken at the meeting, for which I am accused, but what tended to advance the Parliaments Honour, or words to that effect. I affirm and publish to the whole World (and as a Christian will make it good upon my Oath) that I never spoke one such word, or any thing to that effect, and (in the mean time) this my hand shall make good. JOHN WILLISON. I am loath to insult over the contemptible Triumph; yet I dare not be wanting to myself so far, as not thankfully to acknowledge the goodness of Heaven in bringing to my hand an Original Letter (which if a Witness had failed, would have risen up and born witness to some particulars in the Relation which you have already read) which when the understanding unprejudiced Reader hath observed, if he shall then (with Master Wildman) call the discovery (which I made to the Lords and Commons at their several Bars, and at a Conference of both Houses) A false and treacherous Information of, etc. I will silently take up my Cross. Et meâ me virtute incolumem involvam. The critical Letter (I spoke of) was (in the Original) delivered by me to the Honourable Committee of Lords and Commons at Derby House; this Transcript (with which you are presented) I received back again from the hands of my honoured Friend Master Walter Frost, Secretary to that Committee, and it agrees so (to a letter) with the Original, that the Reader must be entreated to bear with the broken English of it. Worthy Gentlemen and dear Friends, OUr bowels are troubled, and our hearts pant within us, to behold the Divisions, Distractions, Heartburning and Contentions which abound in this distressed Nation; and we are confounded in ourselves upon the foresight of the Confusion and Desolation, which will be the certain consequence of such Divisions, if they should be but for a little time longer continued: There are now clouds of Blood over our heads again; and the very rumours and fears of War hath so wasted Trading, and exhausted the price of all food and clothing, that Famine is even entering into our Gates; and doubtless neither Pen nor Tongue can express the Misery which will ensue immediately upon the beginning of another War: Why therefore, O our Countrymen, should we not every man say each to other as Abraham to Lot, or Moses to the two Israelites, Why should we contend each with other, seeing we are brethren? O that our Advice might be acceptable to you, that you would every man expostulate each with other, and now, while you have an opportunity, consider together, Wherefore the Contention have been these Six or Seven years? hath it not been for Freedom, and Justice? O then propound each to other the chief Principles of your Freedoms, and the foundation of Justice and Common Right; and questionless when you shall understand the Desires each of other, you will unite together inviolably to pursue them. Now truly, in our apprehensions, this work is prepared to your hands in the Petition, which we herewith send to you: Certainly, if you shall all join together to follow resolutely and unweariedly after the things contained in that Petition, the Blood and Confusion which now threaten us may be prevented, and the sweet streams of Justice will run into your Bosoms freely without obstructions: O that the Lord may be so propitious to this tottering Nation, as to give you to understand these things which belong to your Peace and Welfare. Many honest people are resolved already to unite together in that Petition, and to prosecute the obtaining it with all their strength; they are determined, that now after seven years waiting for Justice, Peace and Freedom, they will receive no Denial in these requests, which are so essential to their Peace and Freedom. And for the more effectual proceed in this Business, there is a method and order settled in all the Wards in London, and the out-Parishes and Suburbs, they have appointed several active men in every Ward and Division, to be a Committee to take the special care of the Business, and to appoint active men in every Parish, to read the Petition at set Meetings for that purpose, and to take Subscriptions, and to move as many as can possibly to go in person, when the day of delivering it shall be appointed; and they intent to give notice of that time to all the adjacent Counties, that as many of them as possibly can, may also join with them the same day; and the like orderly way of proceeding is commended to several Counties to whom the Petition is sent, as Hartfordshire, Buckingham, Oxford, Rutlandshire, etc. And we cannot but propound to you the same method, as the best expedient for your Union in pursuing after a speedy Settlement of your Peace and Freedom: Therefore in brief we desire, 1. That you would appoint Meetings in every Division of your County, and there to select faithful men of Public Spirits, to take care that the Petition be sent to the Hands of the most active men in every Town, to unite the Town in those Desires of Common Right, and to take their Subscriptions. II. That you would appoint as many as can with convenience, to meet at Dartford the the 23. of this present January, being Lordsday, and we shall confer with you about the matters that concern your Peace, and Common good and Freedom. We shall at present add more but this, That to serve you and our whole Country in whatsoever concerns its Common Peace and Welfare, is and always shall be the desire and joy of Dertford this 9 Jan. 1647. Your most faithful Friends and Servants, which came from London from many other Friends upon this Service, John Lilburn. John Davis. J. Wildman. Richard Woodward. For all the peaceable and well-minded people in Kent, who desire present Peace, Freedom, justice, and Common Right and Good of all men. A Man would think now (at the first blush) that this were as innocent a Letter as any in the Alphabet; he that looks upon the smooth gums, would scarce expect to find the Viper's teeth there. Our bowels are troubled, and our hearts pant within us, etc. It minds me of the Emblem in the Abbey of Fulda, a beast of prey in a specious appearance, courting a flock of sheep with these words issuing (in a pendant) out of his mouth, God is my witness how I long for you all in my bowels. The Design in this Letter wears a very long robe, it is clothed with fair pretences down to the heels of it; and yet see if you do not perceive the Claws in this expression, Many honest people are resolved already to unite together in that Petition, and to prosecute the obtaining it with all their strength; they are determined that now, after seven years waiting for Justice, Peace and Freedom, they will receive no denial in their requests: The Letter I acknowledge hath a fair appearance of an Angel of light; but me thinks that expression is somewhat rank of Brimston. What? no denial, though all the Authority joined with all the Representative reason of the Kingdom should Vote against your Petition? will you yet prosecute it with all your strength, though the strength of Reason and Authority engage against you? Is the design (that you have carried in your thigh these seven years) so ripe for the birth, that you cannot wait one day longer for the Midewifery of Authority to bring it forth? you know the Proverb, festinans canis your great haste is like to bring forth but blind whelps. I shall say no more of the Letter now, but this, That (if report have not abused us, in that we have heard of a Tartarian plant (Boroneth by name) that it growing up in the likeness of a lamb, insensibly devours all the grass that is round about it) This Letter is Boroneth, and that but a Ciens of that fruitful stock, the Large Petition. And now I shall ask but this one thing of the Ingenuous Reader, That he would compare the Discovery made by me, with Mr. Wildmans' Defence, and take this particular along with him in his understanding, That the most material passage in my Discovery, namely, that Answer to the Objection of cutting of throats, made by a plain man in the company, was affirmed by Robert Malbon (who was present at the Meeting) to have been framed by Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn in these words, This Petition in your hand, will be as good as a blue Ribbon in your Hat, to preserve your throat from cutting. This the said Robert Malbon affirmed on Wednesday the Nineteenth of January, in the presence of Mr. Nicholas Skinner Merchant, Captain John Willison, Gabriel Gayler, and George Cotterel. And thus being extremely weary of following a Pretended Triumph thus far, I shall suffer it quietly to pass through the Inns of Court; the Pretended Minister of Christ at Shoreditch dares not pretend to so much Law (and besides, he hath another guest, Magna Charta, to employ himself in) as will serve him to judge, whether the Gentleman's Truth triumph in his Law Cases at any higher rate than she doth in his Treachery Anatomised. Only I could wish that Mr. John Wildman, after so long and sad an absenting of himself from a people (with whom he hath walked comfortably in Evangelical Dispensations) even to the total neglect of them (as himself tells us) would at last seriously bethink himself, if he might not have reaped more sweet communion with the Father, in the ways of Fellowship with his Saints, then by yielding his members, the members of such a Generation of men, and sacrificing his parts to a Design that can neither dwell together with the Authority of the State, nor power of godliness in the same Kingdom. And, O that (while The Cry of the People is scattered up and down (the City and Kingdom) in his language) the great God would give him an ear to hear (as he hath afforded him ability to supply) the Cries of so many thousand poor souls that are ready to perish for want of Gospel-bread. Let me beseech you, Sir, (in the spirit of meekness and love) to improve your utmost skill in making out an Impartial Discovery of the comeliness and sufficiency of our Lord Jesus to the souls of poor creatures. Thus you shall be reckoned among the sons of Wisdom, one that hath loved fair Truth, and prepared her a Chariot to ride triumphantly in the hearts of men. FINIS. Imprimatur Febr. 9 1647. G. MABBOT.