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hood, told them

that if there was not a bridge built there by the time he returned to that place, he would hang a man every hour till the work was completed. "They knew," says the story, "that the ould villain was a man of his word, and so they took care to have the bridge built by the time he came back."

CHAPTER IV.

THE TRIAL OF LIEUT.-COL. JOHN LILBURNE.

ON Thursday the 25th of October 1649, John Lilburne was brought to trial at Guildhall before the extraordinary tribunal specially appointed for his destruction. The trial lasted two days. But the first day was entirely consumed in preliminary discussion between the prisoner and the judges, and the jury were not sworn till the second day. At the opening of the Court on the first day the Lieutenant of the Tower of London brought up the prisoner, who was guarded by a special guard of soldiers. When he was brought to the bar, the sheriffs of London were directed to take him into custody. Lilburne being ordered to hold up his hand, turned to Keble, one of the commissioners of the Great Seal, and President of the Court, and made a long speech, in the course of which he introduced some passages of his life that have a public interest.

"I have several times," he said "been arraigned for my life already. I was once arraigned before the House of Peers for sticking close to the liberties and privileges of the nation, and those that stood for them, being one of those two or three men, that first drew their swords in Westminster Hall against Col. Lunsford and some scores of his associates. At that time it was supposed they intended to cut the throats of the chiefest men then sitting in the House of Commons." On that occasion, he said, when arraigned before the House of Peers he had free liberty of speech.

Again, he said, with reference to the affair at Brentford when he as yet only served as a volunteer, "we were but about 700 men at Brentford, that withstood the king's whole army in the field above five hours together, and fought it out to the very sword's point, and to the butt-end of the musket; and thereby hindered the king from then possessing the Parliament's train of artillery, and by consequence the City of London, in which very act I was taken a prisoner, without articles or capitulation, and was by the king and his party then looked upon as one of the activest men against them in the whole company, yet, said Lord Chief Justice Heath" (at his trial at Oxford for levying war against the king) "we will not take advantage of that to try you by the rules of arbitrary martial laws, or any other arbitrary ways; but we will try you by the rules of the good old laws of England: and whatsoever privilege in your trial the laws of England will afford you, claim it as your birthright and inheritance, and you shall enjoy it with as much freedom and willingness, as if you were in Westminster Hall, to be tried amongst your own party. And accordingly he gave me liberty to plead to the errors of my indictment, before I ever pleaded Not Guilty; yea and also became willing to assign me what counsel I pleased to nominate, freely to come to prison to me, and to consult and advise with me, and help me in point of law. This last he did immediately upon my pleading to the indictment before any fact was proved: all which is consonant to the declared judgment of Sir Edward Coke, that great oracle of the laws of England, whose books are published for good law by special orders of Parliament, dated May 12, 1641, and June 3, 1642."1

.

1 State Trials, vol. iv. pp. 1271, 1272, 1273.

1649.]

LILBURNE SHOWS BRADSHAW'S INCONSISTENCY.

193

Lilburne then went on to say-"By the laws of this land all courts of justice always ought to be free and open for all sorts of peaceable people to see and hear and have free access unto; and no man whatsoever ought to be tried in holes or corners, or in any place, where the gates are shut and barred, and guarded with armed men: and yet, sir, as I came in, I found the gates shut and guarded, · which is contrary both to law and justice."

"Judge Keble. Mr. Lilburne, look behind you, and see whether the door stands open or no.”

"Lt.-Col. Lilburne.

to that."

Well then, sir, I am satisfied as

The prisoner then entered into a long argument against the legality of a special commission of Oyer and Terminer, and also of the constitution of the Court before which he was now brought for trial. He also attempted to show the inconsistency of the present proceedings of some members of the present Government with their former proceedings, thus. "I say and aver, I ought to have had the process of the law of England, due process of law according to the fore-mentioned statutes and precedents; for I never forcibly resisted or contended with the Parliament; and therefore ought to have had my warrant served upon me by a constable, or the like civil officer; and upon no pretence whatsoever, ought I to have been forced out of my bed and house by mercenary armed officers and soldiers. But, sir, coming to Whitehall, I was there also kept by armed men, contrary to all law and justice; and by armed men against law, I was by force carried before a company of gentlemen sitting at Derby House, that looked upon themselves as authorized by the Parliament to be a committee or Council of State, (who by the law I am sure in any kind had nothing at all to do with me in cases of pre

tended treasons) where I was brought before Mr. John Bradshaw, sometime a counsellor for myself before the House of Lords, against my unjust Star-Chamber judges; who there in my behalf, Feb. 1645, did urge against the lords of the Star-Chamber, as the highest crimes against the liberties of the people that could be, as being illegal, arbitrary and tyrannical, that the lords in Star-Chamber should censure me to be whipped, pilloryed, &c., for no other cause but for refusing to answer their interrogatories against myself. And when I was brought before the said Council of State I saw no accuser, no prosecutor, no accusation, no charge nor indictment; but all the crime that there was laid unto my charge was Mr. Bradshaw's very seriously examining me to questions against myself: although I am confident he could not forget, that himself and Mr. John Cook were my counsellors in February 1645, at the bar of the House of Lords, where he did most vehemently aggravate, and with detestations condemn the lords of the Star-Chamber's unjust and wicked dealing with English freemen, in censuring them for their refusing to answer to questions concerning themselves; and yet notwithstanding walked with his dealing with me in the very steps that formerly. he had bitterly condemned in the Star-Chamber lords." 1

Here Judge Jermin interrupted him, saying—“ Mr. Lilburne, you very well know Mr. Bradshaw is now denominated by another name, namely, Lord President to the Council of State of England; and it would well become you in your condition so to have styled him.” But Lilburne without taking any notice of this went on to say "By their power and will I had my pockets and

1 State Trials, vol. iv. pp. 1279, 1280.

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