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became of ſuch eminence among thoſe people, as to be conſulted upon the boldeſt of their undertakings while an apprentice, and preſently after, was eſteemed by them as a perſon inſpired^{[sidenote 1]}. Among others, the teacher^{[sidenote 2]} of that congregation which he attended, frequently approving thereof, contracted an intimacy with him, and in 1636, brought him into the acquaintance of Dr Baſtwick, then a Star-chamber priſoner in the Gate-houſe, whom he afterwards conſtantly viſited. At one of theſe viſits, the Doctor reading his Merry Litany^{[sidenote 3]}, young Lilburne was ſo much captivated with the anti-epiſcopal ſpirit of the piece, that with the author’s conſent, he carried the manuſcript to Holland^{[footnote 1]}, and printing it there^{[sidenote 4]}, after a ſtay of ſeveral months, employed in libelling and defaming the Biſhops and the Prerogative, he returned home, and continued the ſame practices in diſguiſe; but being in a little time betrayed by his aſſociate, he was ſeized and carried before the Council-Board, and the High-Commiſſion-Court, after ſome examinations^{[sidenote 5]} being referred to the Star-chamber, was, after ſeveral examinations there, alſo found guilty February 13, 1637. of printing and publiſhing libels and ſeditious books, particularly one entitled, News from Ipſwich^{[footnote 2]}. In all theſe examinations, ſtiffly refuſing to comply with the ordinary rules of trial^{[sidenote 6]}, as contrary to the liberties of a free-born Engliſhman, he got the nick-name of Free-born John^{[sidenote 7]}; and being condemned to a ſevere puniſhment which was rigorouſly executed^{[footnote 3]}, he went through it with ſuch a degree of hardineſs and unfeeling obſtinacy, as obtained him the title of a Saint among the Enthuſiaſts^{[sidenote 8]}. After this he was ordered to be impriſoned in the Fleet, ’till he ſhould make his ſubmiſſion, where, tho’ he was loaded with double irons on his arms and legs, and put into one of the baſeſt wards, yet he found means to print and publiſh another libel of his own writing, under the title of The Christian Man’s Trial^{[footnote 4]}, in 4to, the ſame year.He

footnotes

gloſſes Mr Lilburne might occaſionally put upon the matter, with a deſign, apparently, to expoſe the bad policy of his Star-chamber judges, it is evident that the enthuſiaſtic ſpirit, which he here ſuggeſts to be raiſed in him by the melancholy of a priſn, had entered into and taken full poſſeſſion of him long before; which truth alſo he was not ſparing upon other occaſions to declare. Thus, in one place^{[citation 1]} he obſerves, that in the year 1636, when he conſtantly viſited Dr Baſtwick in the Gate-houſe, his zeal was ſo ſtrongly kindled for him and his cauſe, that he could willingly have laid down his life for the Doctor’s ſervice. And in another piece printed in 1646^{[citation 2]} he cries out with the ſame fervent ſpirit, that ‘he had then aſſuredly known God to be his God upwards of ten years, who would enable him always to carry his life in his hand, and give it up in his righteous cauſe at a moment’s warning, having prepared a manſion of eternal glory for him in heaven.’

1. [D] He went to Holland] Mr Lilburne frequently in his writings calls this a baniſhment, for which he alſo claims reparations, and ſays that it was occaſioned by his true affection to Dr Baſtwick, for which he was forced by the Biſhops and their catchpoles to fly into the Low-Countries for refuge, juſt about the time of the Doctor’s baniſhment: ‘Where, continues he, I was divers months, and where Sir William Boſwell the King’s Ambaſſador laid for me, as I was informed, ſeveral deſigns to put me a ſhip-board, and ſend me over to England to the Biſhops here for my viſible activity there againſt them, which forced me continually to wear my ſword about me^{[citation 3]}.’
2. [E] News from Ipſwich] Mr Prynne, the writer of this libel, ſuffered much the ſame puniſhment for printing and publiſhing it, by a ſentence in the Star-chamber^{[citation 4]}, as was inflicted upon our author, who, according to Mr Wood’s account was then, or had been a little before ſervant to the former: ‘for, ſays that Antiquarian, about the year 1632, young Lilburne, upon the diſlike of his trade, expreſſing an inclination to ſtudy the common law, was at his own requeſt, as well as that of his friends, taken into Mr Prynne’s ſervice, who ſhortly after ſuffering for his Hiſtriomaſtix, his ſervant Lilburne took his maſter’s part, imprinted or vended a book or books againſt the Biſhops, for which, being committed priſoner to the Fleet, he was afterwards whipt, &c.’^{[citation 5]} But this account which is apparently very looſe was certainly taken up from no good authority, as is evident from what is above related out of our author’s own books, that he ſerved his maſter Hewſon faithfully ſix years almoſt. Neither do we find in theſe or in any of Mr Prynne’s works, the leaſt hint concerning this clerkſhip; a ſilence, which, conſidering the various conteſts that happened between theſe two antagoniſts, together with the temper of each, cannot be accounted for upon any other principle than this, that there was no manner of pretence for ſuch a remark. It is not improbable indeed, that Mr Lilburne did not only turn his hand to the printing, but alſo to the binding of the libels, which were publiſhed by him at the time we are now ſpeaking of, and ſome years afterwards; and this practice no doubt gave riſe to Lord Clarendon’s obſervation, that ‘he was a book-binder before the wars^{[citation 6]},’ which opinion was also further countenanced by his never following his proper trade of a clothier, as will be ſeen in the ſequel.
3. [F] Rigorouſly executed] He was probably apprehended in January, being firſt brought on the 24th of that month to the Star-chamber-office to take the oath abovementioned, and refuſing it there again on the 9th of February, ſentence was paſſed then to puniſh him for a high contempt of the Court, which was accordingly pronounced on the 13th, as follows, that he ſhould be remanded to the Fleet ’till April 18th 1638; when he ſhould be whipt at the cart’s tail, from thence to Old-Palace-Yard Weſtminſter, and then ſet upon the Pillory there for two hours, after which to be carried back to the Fleet, there to remain ’till he conformed to the rules of the Court: alſo, to pay a fine of 500 pounds to the King, and give ſecurity for his good behaviour^{[citation 7]}. In the whipping he received above 500 laſhes with knotted cords, yet in the execution thereof, he uttered many bold ſpeeches against the tyranny of the Biſhops, and continued ſo to do after his head was in the hole of the Pillory, when, his hands being free, he toſſed ſeveral copies of pamphlets, ſaid to be ſeditious, among the people, taking them out of his pocket; and after the Star-chamber, then ſitting, had ordered him to be gagg’d, he ſtampt with his feet. Upon this refractory behaviour, the Court ordered him to be laid alone, with irons upon his hands and legs, in one of the wards of the Fleet, where the baſeſt and meaneſt ſort of priſoners are uſed to be put. And it was ordered for the future, that all perſons to receive corporal puniſhments from that Court ſhould be ſearched, and neither writings nor any other thing ſuffered to be about them, and their hands to be bound; and the Attorney and Sollicitor-general were to examine him concerning his ſpeeches, whether any againſt the Court of Star-chamber or any member thereof, as alſo whether any of the pamhlets were ſeditious^{[citation 8]}.
4. [G] He found means to print another Libel] After ſome time there happened a fire in the Fleet, which breaking out near the ward where he lay in double irons, gave a jealouſy, that being enraged to deſperateneſs, he had ſet fire to the priſon, regardleſs of his own death thereby. Hereupon both the neigbouring inhabitants without, and the priſoners within, crying releaſe Lilburne, or we ſhall all periſh, ran and made the warden remove him out of his hold; and after the fire was quenched, a place was provided for him where he had more air^{[citation 9]}. Here we have another inſtance of

sidenotes

1. (f) See a pamphlet intitled, The Famers famed, or, an Anſwer to two ſeditious pieces, viz. The juſt Man in Bonds, and a Pearl in the Dunghill (written by a friend of Lieutenant Col. J. Lilburne, ſoon after his impriſonment in the Tower, June 23, 1646) by J. Shepheard, part ii. p. 11.
2. (g) Mr Edmund Rozer; our author, calls him his familiar friend and neighbour, and fellow profeſſor with him in religion. See more of him in rem. [C C C].
3. (h) A libel, wherein the pride, luſt, and abominable acts, of the prelates in private, are pretended to be laid open.
4. (i) The author of Famers famed tells us, that, beſides this, he printed many others there (but mentions not their titles), and brought them over to England at his return. p. 11.
5. (k) Compare the Famers famed with Legal and Fundamental Liberties, ubi ſupra. His aſſociate’s name was John Chilliburn, ſervant to Wharton, his fellow ſufferer in the Star-chamber.
6. (l) Viz. to take an oath to anſwer interrogatories, calling it the oath ex officio.
7. (m) Ruſhworth’s Hiſt. Collect. Vol. I. part ii. p. 403. edit. 1688.
8. (n) Famers famed, as above.

citations

1. (10) Legal and Fundamental Liberties, p. 21.
2. (11) Intitled, The oppreſſed Man’s Oppreſſions, declared in an epiſtle to Col. Francis Weſt, Lieutenant of the Tower, dated January 30 that year. p. 26.
3. (12) Legal and Fundamental Liberties, ubi ſupra. and his petition to the Committee of the Houſe of Commons, Aug. 1, 1648, (praying his reparations may be fixed upon Lord Coventry’s eſtate), printed in the Hue and Cry, p. 20, 21, 22.
4. (13) See more of it in his article.
5. (14) Athen. Oxon. Vol. II. col. 172.
6. (15) Hiſt. of the Rebellion, Vol. III. p. 390. firſt edition in folio.
7. (16) His offence was aggravated, in that he printed theſe books contrary to a decree of the Starchamber, made in July preceding, whereby printing without licence was prohibited.
8. (17) Ruſhworth’s Hiſt. Collect. Vol. I. part ii. p. 465. & ſeq.
9. (18) Id. ibid.

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