HAving casually met with and perused your printed paper, styled, A Letter of due Censure and Redargution to Lieute­nant Collone John Lilburne, touching his Triall at Guild-Hall [Page 2]London: in October last 1649. I could not chuse but take hold of your first Lines, wherein you say God's strict Injunction obliges us all to reprove sin wheresoever we finde it. And thereupon I must tell you, that whatsoe­ver you finde in Mr. Lilburne, I can finde in you no less then sin against God, whose name you abominably abuse, to re­prove truth, and call good e­vill, and evill good: against Mr. Lilburne, whom you make but your Instrument to play upon, while you wound others through his sides, yea, even those most, whom you flatter most: Against the true and Ordinarie Judges of the Land, the Jurors, whose ver­dict is the effectual Judgement [Page 3]whereby all men are judged by their Peers, aswell for their Lives as Lands, without which Judgements, the Law of England cannot be Lawful­lie executed: And generally a­gainst all the Free People of this Common-wealth, whom you endeavour to blinde and enslave by your sophistrie unto usurped Authorities, per­swading (as much as in you lyeth) all your Countrie-men to submit, and give away their Lives, their birthrights, Liberties, and Freedoms (for the preservation whereof all their just Laws, and Civill Wars, and especially this last, were made) to the in­satiable Tyrannie of their incroaching Impostors, as shall appear following, viz. Page [Page 4]3d, of your Letter (or rather Libell) in the second head of those things for which you say Mr. Lilburne is liable to re­proof, you tell him he laid hold of divers shifting Cavills, and shufling exceptions in Law, which were onely fit to wast time, and procure trou­ble to the Court; Sir! if Law alloweth Exceptions, called delatories, and lawfull Traverses as well in Pleas for Land as for Life; as you may finde it doth and ought in Mr. Hornes Book called the Mir­ror of Justice, written by him in French in Edward the First his time, as you may observe in the Margent of the 6^th page thereof, and excellently trans­lated into English lately by William Heughes Esquire, [Page 5]a discreet and learned Lawyer living in Grayes Inn, of which kinde of Exceptions, some be Pleas for Actions and Ap­peales, the Presidents where­of are briefly and diversly, ac­cording to the diversity of their causes, natures, and uses, demonstrated unto you in the said Book, from p. 129. to p. 143. and thence to 146. are Exceptions, or Pleas to In­dictments; the summary rea­son of all which is not as you call it, to waste time, and to procure trouble to Courts, but to bestow time as it can be no better bestowed (especial­ly in Cases of life) then to search out the truth of every Cause, that mens lives be not rashly lost, which cannot be recovered if condemned and [Page 6]executed, how be it, wrongfully, or carelesly: so, that to be care­full, circumspect, and well ad­vised in a Court is not to trou­ble it, for it is its duty to be exercised as it is significantlie derived à Curando; that is, a Court of Care, or Cure, Indifferentlie either, or rather both, as it is Ordained Care to be troubled to hear and determine the Cares and trou­bles of all men within its verge, for Controversies of Law, (that vex & trouble an whole hundred of Friends and neigh­bours to see but two of them undoe themselves in suits at Law, or kill one another) with Care to examin them tru­ly, and to Judge them justly; And likewise to cure the Mal­ladie of the Consciences, or at [Page 7]least the intemperance of the Litigious spirits of Plaintiffs and Defendants, by ending their differences (as may be most available for their Peace, and the Common-wealth. And as it is the duty of a Court to be troubled to end troubles, so saith Mr. Horne p. 58. not to accuse any for matters of Crime and Life, though a known offender, learning of Christ in the Case of Magda­len: Nor to countenance Bloody Accusers, but to mol­lifie their Rigour, as Christ did in the same Case; for Judges that represent God, and should imitate his mercy as well as his Justice, ought not to desire the death of a sin­ner, but rather that he may return from his wickedness, [Page 8]and live; and Conveniens ho­mini est hominem servare vo­luptas: Et meliùs nullà quae­ritur Arte favor. Nothing more Convenient for Man, or acceptable to God, then to save Penitents, whom he came not to destroy, but to call to Repentance: Nor is it the part of a Judge (as in p. 66. of my said Author) to con­demn one for the same, or the like offence, as the Judge knoweth himself guilty of. And therefore Exceptions are law­full, to the Power of a Judge, as in p. 133. to his person; as in p. 135. and to his condi­tion, as in p. 59. And those that are granted to be lawfull to be propounded against his Power p. 133. are the same in substance, which you say Mr. [Page 9] Lilburne made use of, & yet call them shifting cavills, & shufling exceptions, & reprove him for using them in defence of his life. I pray compare them toge­ther, & then consider what and whom you reprove; & you can not chuse but finde that for the matter, it is not a shifting cavil, or shufling exception, but the so­lid fundamentall Law of Eng­land, affirmed by all men that truly understand it, to be most Consentaneous of all Laws, to the Law of God; And for the Persons, it is not onely Mr. Lil­burne that desired thereby to preserve or prolong his life, but all the sage makers, & religious observers thereof, whereby you perswade all your Countrimen present & future, to disesteem such exceptions (even to save [Page 10]their lives) and consequently to cast themselves away upon the wils, and hast of Commissa­rie Judges, who may be the onely, or chief Accusers, or Adversaries the Party questi­oned for his life can have; which for any such Partie to do, were to be more then mad, and even the Author of his own death, and of Gods Wrath upon his soul, which if he so wilfullie lose, what is it to him to gain a world in lieu thereof? And why do you (more falsly then Caiphas that told one truth in his life unknown to himself) offer to perswade us to becom wil­ling to sacrifice our selves one after another, to the lying bloody constructions of that Generall, and true Position [Page 11] Salus Populi, &c. The Health of the Nation; is the chiefest Law; which you vaunt to be the empress of all your Maxims, whilst you construe it to the destruction of the Nation (as they are very sensible thereof,) and make it onely healthie to rotten Commissarie Judg­es, and corrupt Lawyers, whom you make the sole Judges thereof; for what Christian can bee so sensless as to believ, or conceiv, that the sacrificing of any one man in that manner onely, for the suspition (perhaps of no more then the Judge that findes himself most guilty of the Cause) as of being more able then another to raise or cause War against us; can avail us: For Sir! God delighteth not [Page 12]in bloody and dead sacrifices, but in our humble, penitent, and lively Prayers, who are, or ought to be his living sacri­fices; And he that is as well the Lord of Hosts, as the God of Peace, is our loving Father, and he will heare us when we call upon him in his Sons Name, and open his gate of mercie unto us when we knock as we ought, and whatsoever good we ask him in that name, he will not onely give it us, but moreover strengthen us as he did Jacob, to wrastle with himself, and to overcom his Anger, which an Heathen could understand and say: Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus: Gods Anger stoopeth to his Childrens Prayers: And none but he can raise any warr [Page 13]against them; nor will he fur­ther then their sins deserve his punishment; and so farr; Is there any evill in Israel, but it is he that doth it? What do you therefore but shew your self diffident of his merci­full omnipotence, and rob him of his Glory, when you attribute his power to man, to make War or Peace, and make your self wiser then he, when you think to prevent his will by your policie? and stronger then he, if you could destroy whom he would save? And therefore (saith Me­lancton) Men are but fooles Vinculacùm tendunt imposu­isse Jovi: when they suppose they can Chain the Dietie. And who can but see, that if it be granted you, that every [Page 14]free man of England, whom you, or a Commissarie Judge, or a­ny other, as bad, shall suspect, or be pleased to accuse for su­spition, of what you think good to invent, you may ac­cuse whom you will, and hang whom you list, and leave none to live, but at Lawyers discretion, whilst the truch is, that so farr as any one man or more of any kind of men, whatsoever, can be called or accounted raisers or causers of War in England, the Lord Cook. Mr. Horne, and other sound Lawyers tell you they ever were, and will be corrupt and mercenarie Lawyers, that sell, delaie, and denie Ju­stice, and the benesit of the great Charter of England to the People thereof; the due [Page 15]punishment of whom, & of all Sycophants that sooth them up in their Errors, would be Salus Populi; for they are a considerable Army that have over-powred us these 500. years, Hyperprelaticall Spi­rits; Domineering Nimrods; Undermining Pioners, (so that what was said of Rome since the Popish Prelacy ru­led it, may be said of England since Lawyers overswayed it, viz. Servierant tibi Anglia priùs domini dominorum, ser­vis servorum nunc miseranda subes. O thou that wert the Lady of Lords, art the Slave of Slaves.) And a subtle and viperous generation that add Policie to their Power, to gnaw their Mothers bowels, and use to make dissentions [Page 16]and Factions between even their own Brethren, to make work for themselvs to recon­cile them, or most commonly by the strength of the weakest, to destroy the strongest, till they be able to Master both, and by right seldom, and wrong constantly, to make and keep themselves rich, who­soever be poor, to accuse and condemn all their superi­ors for tyrannie, to make way for themselves to be the onely superviving supreme Tyrants, and compleat Dio­nysians. The onely Monopo­lizers of Law, to sell, delay, and denie Justice to the Free Men of England their Slaves, at their wills and pleasures in their Congregational Ex­change Westminster Hall. And [Page 17]whereas you say those shifting eavils & shufling exceptions w^ch Mr. Lilburne made use of, to waste time, and procure trou­ble to the Court, were far from making any defence for him: I pray you what defence could he desire thereby but to save his life? And was not that done by the Verdict of a Jury, that heard what he said for himself, received all the E­vidences that were given a­gainst him, and were Char­ged and sworn to give their Verdict according to their E­vidence: was not that Ver­dict confirmed and ratified by the right Honorable the Councell of State, by the as­sent of the most Honorable and Supreme Court of Parlia­ment? without which ei­ther [Page 18]by an implicit generall Warrant, or a speciall Ex­press: no man can be so mad as to think they would inlarge him? was not this as Full and fair a Triall as Mr. Lilburne could wish, or any man (Questioned for Treason) had these 100. years, or since Juries, (that understood Law no better then you) were con­tent to be bafled by Commis­sarie Judges, and give what Verdict they pleased, as well for mens lives as their lands: did not his Exceptions and pleadings (whatever you call them) come near enough (how ever the Court liked them) to make him a suffici­ent defence in that mater? doth it not follow, that by your said saying, you make [Page 19]your self a naked lyar? and can so apparent a lyar be a Creditalb reprover of sin? the Devill he can as soon: doth it not further follow, that Mr. Lilburne hath his Action of the Case against you, for questioning him for the same offence that he is acquit­ted of by so due a Course of Law? Doth it not moreo­ver follow, that by traducing that Verdict and acquittall, you consequentlie traduce, not onely the Jurie, but also the Councell of State, and the Parliament that Confirmed the same as aforesaid? And are not you therefore lyable, not onely to the severall Acti­ons of everie Juror, but also of Scandalum magnatum? But what need you care, you [Page 20]are too cunning for them all, in Concealing your name at large from them whom you slander at large, and send your Book to them with a sine me Liber ibis in urbem; so that they know not when, where, or how to finde you out by that uncertain notion, or mark of H. P. Which for any thing I know, may fignify some Soap­stuff, as well as any mans name; but take heed least John smell you out, and con­temperate you in his Com­pounds for some simple corra­sive ingredient which he useth (not to any intent of malice, but to eat off som of your proud flesh, and not to de­stroy any sound part in you, as you say in the title of your Book you use your reproof to [Page 21]him) to make a speciall kind of soap to wash the brains of such Orators as perswade men to becom such fools, as to make no use of Lawfull exceptions against their Jud­ges (especially Commissaries) to save their lives: and the tongues of such Sycophants as under pretence of reproving the meanest, and weakest sort of sinners; approve, and improve the greatest and strongest kinde of Murtherers, Traytors, Perjurers, &c. viz. Commissary Judges in gene­rall, in their practise at large. But more to the matter, where you say in your 5^th head, in the same 3^d page of your Li­bell: The 5^th thing you say deserveth a keen reproof of all honest men, was Mr. Lil­burnes [Page 22]assayling the sinceri­tie of his Jury: and page 21. you say he promoted his 12. men, &c. and caused them to imploy their new given Juris­diction, onely to the advan­tage of the giver. Truly Sir! I must confess, that if Mr. Lilburne assailed the sinceritie of his Jury, he was to blame: but I cannot find by any thing you prove, that he did so, for the Clamor of the People (who were not his disciples as you belie them and him too) were not in his power to stop, more then in yours, or mine, had we been there; for if they would not obey the Crier of the Court, they would not have obeyed us more then him, who desired (as he need­ed) rather to be heard, then [Page 23]disturbed, and distracted with Clamors. And for his blan­dishments to his Jurie, good Language became him to give, and them to receiv, but not such adulations as you give all Commissary Judges: And to use all the lawfull means he could to inform them, and all his Auditors that knew him not, nor his innocence in that Cause, and merit in others; and thereby to prolong his life in the Land which the Lord his God hath given him, and to keep himself a living sacrifice to, and for his God, untill it please his Dietie to call him to his mercy by the Ordi­narie way of common death, or to inspire him to fight again in his Masters Battell and Countries service: whereby [Page 24]he may dye an extraordinary death, more to his Masters glory, and his own honor, then by casting away his life (to becom a dead sacrifice to the malice of men, whether Commissary Judges, such as you plead for; or other flat­tering Sycophants, such as you make your self) I con­ceiv to be no fault in Mr. Lil­burne. In the next place, where you say Mr. Lilburne promoted his 12 men to a new Jurisdiction; I am sure, that is another Lie of yours, for you may read in the Lord Cooks Institutions upon the 35 Chapter of Magna Car­ta: That County Courts, Court Barons, Sheriffs-Tur­nies, and Leets, were in use before King Alphreds time; [Page 25]In all which Courts the Jurors were the Judges, & their then untraversable Verdicts were the Judgments in all Causes: And Sheriffs and Stewards, who were the Kings Commis­sary Judges in their Turnies, and Leets, as now they are the States, were, and still are but the suitors Clerks in Counties, Hundreds and Court Barons, to enter their Judgments, and do executi­on thereupon by themselvs and their Bayliffs, as pub­lique servants, or Ministers of common Justice to their Ju­rors, and the rest of the Com­mon Wealth: See Mr. Kitch­en Fo. 43. yet were they as ab­solute Commissary Judges by vertue of their Writs, when they have them for matters a­bove [Page 26]4 s. as the Judges at Westminster ever were, or can be by their Commissions: And all Common Pleas be­tween Party and Party (and the King, Queen, and Prince were accounted but Parties as other Plaintiffs and defen­dants in such Pleas) were hol­den in the County Court from Month to Month, un­till for the ease of the People, especially husband-men to fol­low their business; The King with their assents divided the view of Frank pledg from the Sheriff who by all the Peoples affent in Parliament 9. Ed. 2d was to be thence forth assigned by the Chancellor, the Kings Commissiary Judge in his Turnies, (called before the Kings own Turnies) to see [Page 27]Justice done from County to County; And all the free pledges of every County toge­ther, once every 7. years, which is since to be done by Sheriffs twice yearly) and gave them to Lords of Man­nors, so, that their Tenants and Resiants should have the same Justice in their Leets and Court Barons, as they had in the Sheriffs turnies and County Courts at their own doors without any charge, or loss of time? And for the same reason (saith the Lord Cook in the same place) Hun­dreds were divided from Sheriffs, viz. that none should be troubled further, or out of their Lords Court at all; at which Courts (saith Mr. Horn p. 7.) Justice was so done, [Page 28]that every one so judged his neighbor by such Judgment as none could elswhere receiv in the like cases, untill such time as the Customs of the Realm were put in writing. And as the County Courts, Hundred Courts, and Court Barons were of one Juris­diction, so were Turnies, and Leets, and so all of them are, and ought to be still; therefore you must consider that there be three sorts of Jurisdictions, viz. Soveraign; assigned, and ordinary: of these you may read in the Mirror? p. 7. in these words, viz. It was assented unto, that these things following should be­long to Kings, and the right of the Crowne, viz. Soveraign Jurisdiction, &c. which is [Page 29]now fixed in the Keepers of the Liberties of England, by vertue whereof among other things all Writs. Commissions, warrants, Commitments, & Li­berates or discharges run in their names as they did in the Kings, so that none are Im­prisonable, or dischargable, but in their names; consider therefore again that this assent was the Peoples, whereby Kings, (who before, and without this assent, were not Kings, but ordinary men, that could have but ordinary Ju­risdiction as others) had So­veraign Jurisdiction, as now the Keepers of the Liberties of England have by the Authori­tie of Parliament, which is the Representative of the People, given them by the People [Page 30]with a reservation of their or­dinary lurisdiction, viz. re­served in, by, and unto them in King Edward 1 his time, and ever before and since; by reason also of which soveraign and Royall Jurisdiction, as you may further read Mir­ror, p. 287. Kings were called and counted (as now the Keepers of the Liberties of England ought to be) foun­tains of Justice, and ordained because they could not be al­waies every where themselvs, as Moses did by Jethro's Councell, Institute Captains over hundreds, Fifties, &c. and now the Keepers of the Liberties of England do, and must ordain Commissary Judges, viz. Commissioners or Judges, by their Com­missions [Page 31]missions or Writs to supply their presence, and do their office in their stead, which in Courts, is but to give their assents to the verdicts, which are the judgments of Free­men upon their Peers, where­by those Judgments being so compleated, the executions thereof did do, and must run in the name of the Soveraign Jurisdiction of the State; And so Iustice may be administred in all places, in their perso­nall absence, who are to be accounted present in their Commissaries, who no more then their Masters can be counted Iudges of the people, because parties against them, and so made and named in, and by all Indictments, Writs, &c. as aforesaid. Observe [Page 32]again, that Commissary Iudg­es, being ordained by their Masters to do Iustice; if they fail of so doing by their par­tiallitie, wilfullness, or any other consideration, as Pilat (who was Caesars Commissa­ry) and others did (whom you aptly compare to som of them) then they have no jurisdiction, or ordination at all, so that they may be disgracefully, and that lawfully pulled, and thrown out of their abused places: but in civilitie and re­spect of their Masters may be better forborn, and referred to their Censures. And what is dissenting, or not assenting to Iurors verdicts, but a de­nyal, which is more then a failer of Iustice, for the speed­ing whereof they must have [Page 33]no negative voice: for ordi­narie Iurisdiction that was the supreme i that gave the Sove. raign (which is superior to e­very singular person) to Kings, (as now to the Keepers of the Liberties of England) is still the superlative Iurisdiction beyond all comparison, that can be inferior to no authori­tie, but Gods, that gave it to his people, to his Children, not to be given by them, to any above them in their gene­ralitie, but himself, from whom they have received, and to whom they must re­store themsevs and all that is theirs, but to be contrived, and substituted by them unto the worthiest men amongst them, to be imployed for and under them, as they might [Page 34]finde most convenient for their worldly peace and subordi­nate government; to which end they deputed Kings, as now the Parliament hath don Keepers of the Liberties of England, reserving so much of their ancient ordinary Iu­risdiction to free men, that none but such may be Iurors, and none but such may be their Iudges for their lives, lands, and estates: And there­fore as the Keepers of our Li­berties are subordinate to the Parliament, so are their Com­missaries to them, and both in their Iudgments, to the verdicts of the Iurors, which is their true saying of the whole matter, as well for Law, as Fact; and so is the full Iudgment of it, both in [Page 35]Law and effect, wanting onely the assent of the Soveraign Iu­risdiction, which is the onely party sup posed to be against the party guiltie, or so repu­ted, and hath that Majestie (or if well considered, that vassa­lage) given unto it, as to do, or command to be don Exe­cution; which, if the hang­man refuse upon the Sheriffs command, the Sheriff him­self must doe; and if he re­fuse, or neglect, the Com­missarie Iudge must, for as there is a Writ de procedendo ad judicium, and an Alias, plures; and Attachment to compell him to give his judg­ment, or, more properly, his assent (as aforesaid) to the Iuries verdict: So that if he delay, denie, or faile to do, [Page 36]or cause Execution to be don, there is another Writ de exe­cutione Judicii, and an Alias, Plur', and Attachment upon that, to be had against him; whereupon, if a Commissary Iudg must be Attached for not giving his assent, (com­monly called his Iudgment) to a verdict for Fellonie, &c. or having given his Iudgement to the verdict, shall denie or delay execution, except in special things hereafter touch­ed, let him not onely be an hangman for his Fellows, but be hanged himself; for such was King Alfreds Iudgment in all Cases of injustice in his Commissary Iustices, as you may read in the Mirror from p. 239. to p. 245. when he hanged 44 of them in one [Page 37]year. But it is observable how Commissary Judges for Gaol deliveries do now a dayes use in the conclusion of their judgments upon Fellons; convicted by luries verdicts, and their assents, to command Sheriffs to see execution, and so to end their Sessions; and get themselvs gon out of that County with all expedition, and let the Sheriff and his hangman agree as they can bargain, for doing the exe­cution, while the Commissary imposter proceedeth in his Circuit, attributing all that he findeth the people conceiv to be injustice, to the Sheriff, or Iury, or both, but calling all judgments and proceed­ings (that are pleasing to the people throughout his peram­bulation [Page 38]and the Ambit there­of, even the Cirquit it self,) his own; because the people assented to such Commissions, as the devill doth the world his own, because God gave him leave to compass it; And as proud are such Lords justi­ces of their Lordships in a kinde, as he can be of his; yet in right ought to be ac­counted but servants to their Masters, as he to his. And therefore whereas you say p. 24. though the verdict be given in upon the whole matter, and so inclose Law as well as Fact, yet the binding force of the verdict as to matter of Law, may be derived from the sanction of the Judges, not from the Iurisdiction of the Inquest: And it may well be [Page 39]supposed that the Iurors may err in a matter of Law, in which case the Iudges must al­ter the erroneous verdict by a contrary Iudgment, and that Iudgment questionless shall nullifie the erroneous verdict, not the erroneous verdict the Iudgement; whereby it plain­ly appears, That in a verdict upon the whole matter, there is no new Iurisdiction acqui­red by the Iurors in matter of Law, nor left to the Iudges; sorasmuch as the Iudgment stands good, and obligeth not as it is rendred by the Iu­rors, but as it is confirmed by the Iudges. Cana Man that would seem so Cornucopiously learned and wise as you do, be such a fool, as to make such a medley of nonsense; surely [Page 40]should you but tell such a con­fused storie in one of the Inns of Chancerie, the puniest At­turney there would hils you out of his mooting School. What error can be in the sub­stance of a true saying, but in the form there may, and that the Iudges and the Clerks as­sume to be their office to make in Latin, and such is the form, and Latin they usually make thereof, that every word, or second are commonly er­roneous, and that of purpose for themselvs, to make work for themselvs, by spinning the Cause in suites and vain plead­ings, somtimes to seven years time, that might have been begun and ended in a day, and by beggering both parties to inrich themselvs by dam­nable [Page 41]Fees and extortions, all that while? Can the verdict which is the true saying of 12. Men upon the whole matter of Law and Fact, be alter'd by a contrarie Iudgment, (as you expressly say you can) but that must be fals and an untrue saying, for what can be con­trary to a true saying, but a fals? And which of them ought to be altered? you say the verdict. Whereupon let all men judg whether you are not a plain liar therein, but suppose (since you goe by suppositions) that the saying of the Iurors is not true, and therefore no verdict, such as Iudges receive, or rather ar­rest, and cause to be given them for verdicts by Iurors impanniled by Sheriffs, by [Page 42]Iudges directions for that pur­pose. Can the Confirmation of a Commissary Iudg, by his Iudgment make that good? Its a Maxim in Law, that what is naught in the foundation, can never be made good by Confirmation: but I confess many an honest man is hanged by such supposed verdicts, and devilish Iudgments. Can such Lies be called verdicts, or such Iudgments be called true, more then you can be called a just reprover, or a due Censurer, that reprove truth, and justifie lying? Can the Devill be a worse Censurer or Reprover? What Iudgment (mean you) stands good in Mr. Lilburnes Case, who had no Iudgment at all passed upon him, but that [Page 43]verdict that saved him, and the assent of the Councell of State, and Parliament that confirmed it? And what ver­dict or Iudgment do you finde fault with in all your Book over but that? Surely you were in a frenzie when you wove this stuff not so good as Linsey Woolsey; but if you would know what should be done, in case a Jury should give in an untrue saying, in stead of a verdict? (that being made to appear to a Commis­sary Judg by the Partie grei­ved, or his Councell learned to be undeniably true; such a seeming verdict, in c [...]se of life, or land of Free-hold, is traversable; as also any ver­dict made defective, inform­ed by Lawyers as aforesaid, [Page 44]and thereby sounding defect­ive in matter, and so counted erroneous by them that made it for that purpose, to linger the matter for their own gain, as you may read in Mr. Horns Mirror, as aforesaid, and in the Statutes of 41. Edward 3. fol. 5. and 6. of Henry 7. and 19. Henry the eight. How­beit for bloodshed in Leets there is no traverse; because the fact is a manifest wrong, and if laid upon a wrong per­son, he may have his Attaint against the Jury, and reco­ver treble damages, by the ver­dict of 24 better Jurors; which remedie every party wronged by any Jury hath be­sides his Traverse. And in case of life, which may be lost (by the malice or ignorance [Page 45]of som Juries purposly return­ed by som Sheriffs for their own ends) if executed accor­ding to their saying, and is never recoverable by Law: The Commissary Iudg upon true information and proof thereof, and not otherwise, ought to stay Iudgment, or execution, or both, untill he can likewise inform the Keep­ers of Englands Liberties of the truth of the Cause, and repriev the Prisoner untill their pardon or Tollerance be obtained for him, as was wont in the Kings time in like cases, so, that afterwards the Prisoner may have his Attaint as he ought against such a Iu­ry, whose Iudgment is terri­ble enough for example to o­thers, and sufficiently satis­factory [Page 46]to the Party, viz. to repair his wrong, and pay him treble damages: To for­feit their lands and goods to the Lord of the Fee; to have their houses demolished; their woods rooted; their bodies imprisoned during their lives: And Iurors ought to try At­taints without Fee Ex officio, as you may read in the Mir­ror, p. 64. And so let so much serve in this place to in­form you that the Iurisdiction of Iurors is to be Iudges and Verdictors of all controver­sies given them in charge upon their Oaths, as well for mat­ter of Law as Fact; and as an­tient as, and more permanent then Commissary Iudges; for when Commissary Iudges had abused their places, so that [Page 47]they were beaten out of them, and Civill Wars therefore grew between Kings and peo­ple before Magna Charta: and since, untill the said second agreement made between Ed. 1. and them, whereby Coro­ners and Sheriffs were reor­dained (for they had been or­dained before, as appeareth by Magna Charta, and long before that) to defend the Country when they were dis­missed of their guards, &c. for till then guards continued for the breach of Magna Charta, begun by Hugh de Burgo's means, and then Captains and Leiutenants became She­riffs, Coroners, &c. and Centinels, Bailiffs, &c. But alwayes the Free men judged their neighbours constantly; [Page 48]And therefore Mr. Lilburn neither did, nor could give his Iurors any new Iurisdiction, nor promote them to any pre­ferment more then of right they had, (as you most falsly and maliciously, however ig­norantly accuse him, and a­buse both him and them to in­troduce the rest of your un­truths which follow, for next you say, that thereby you perceiv his Levelling Philoso­phy is, that Iudges because they understand Law, are to be degraded, and made ser­vants to the Iurors; but the jurors because they understand no Law, are to be mounted a­loft, where they are to admi­nister Law, to the whole Kingdom: the Iudges because they are commonly gentle­men [Page 49]by birth, and have had honorable education, are to be exposed to scorn; but the Jurors, because they be com­monly mechanick, bred up illiteratly to handy Crafts, are to be placed at the Helm, and consequently Learning, and gentle extractions, because they have been in esteem in all Nations from the begin­ning of the world til now, must be debased, but ignorance, and sordid births must ascend the Chair, and be lifted up to the eminentest Offices, and places of power, Coblers must now practise Physick in stead of Doctors, Tradesmen must get into Pulpits, instead of Divines, and Plow-men must ride to Sessions instead of Iusti­ces of Peace. Sir, I shall not [Page 50]meddle with Mr. Lilburns Philosophy, but shall con­ceiv it more reasonable, and therefore more tollerable then your sophistrie, seeing it ap­peareth by your own setting forth, his endeavour was not to degrade Judges because they understood Law, but to inform them better, because he conceived they understood not Law in his Case, till they would be pleased to be better instructed by his learned Councell, which (as he aledg­ed divers presidents for) might have been as Lawfully allowed him, as those that had them, for (as saith Mr. Horn 65 p. they are both necessarie and allowable to such Clyents, as understand not Law them­selvs. And for none so ne­cessarie [Page 51]as for their lives I think) neither doth it appear to be his purpose to make Judges servants to Jurors, be­cause they understood no Law, but to remember them to be servants to their own Masters, to give their assent to the Iudgment of Jurors that he conceived did under­stand Law: And what won­der were it that these men, who by themselvs and their predecessors did put the Laws of England (that had been in the English tongue intelligi­ble to all men whom it con­cerned) into uncoth Gibe­rish of their own making, should understand their own contrivance better then others who do understand Latin, French, Greek and Hebrew, [Page 52]better then most professors of Law do, and English as well: What subversion of the Law can be more then so to trans­late it, that those whom it most concerneth, can neither understand it, nor be excused by their ignorance in not un­derstanding it, and so make it their net (whose libertie it should be) and all to the end, that those whom it concern­eth least, or not at all, may elevate themselvs by means of so unlawfull and prestigiato­rie, and illiberal an Act, (no­thing so harmless, nor so free and cheap as Canting) from little or nothing to great­ness, from Lourdeyness to Lords: And what can the subversion of the Law (espe­cially such a subversion) be [Page 53]less then treason against all the English Nation? But truly Sir! if Mr. Lilburn should de­sire that Iudges should be ex­posed to scorn, because com­monly Gentlemen by birth, and honorably educated, I know none that will agree with him in that, nor can I believ it to be his desire, that is known himself to be a Gen­tleman born, honorably ex­tracted, Civilly bred, marti­ally disciplin'd, and very ra­tionally endowed beyond the capacities of ordinarie Law­yers. For learned, vertuous, and upright Judges howsoever born or bred, are to be ho­nored for their vertue, because Honos est virtutis premium, Honor is the reward of vertue, and the better their births, and [Page 54]educations be, the more fair and fortunate are their Orna­ments: but Quamvis Caesare­os enumeratis Avos: though descended of Caesar, and e­ducated in his Court: They are not all of Israel that are of Isaac: And golden Calvs are not to be adored. And if corrupt and vitious, you say Gods strict injunction oblig­eth us all to reprov sin where­soever we finde it: behold how you contradict your self, when you would have all Iudges, because wel-born, because well bred (though as wicked as Pilat or Caiaphas, as you say elswhere) to be ho­nored by all men: And yet you would have sin to be re­proved by all men wheresoever they finde it oportet mendacem [Page 55]esse memorem: recover your self by som distinction, or rea­son of policie, or els you are faln deep: Tende manus So­lomon, &c. I remember you say Jehojada did forbear Atha­lia untill he gained more abi­litie, and better opportuni­tie to accomplish his desires a­gainst her; I conceiv then you would have none to re­prov Judges but your self; nor will you, till you have more advantage of them then you have yet; so the respit you give, is but till you have more advantage against them; not unlike that sesuiticall te­net, which Ignatius never taught his Disciples, but they learned it of his Master the devil: And therefore let the King of Spain take heed of it, [Page 56]for the Pope and they wait but opportunitie to swallow his Catholick Majestie into his ho­liness bowels, when they preach one vicar in earth for one God in heaven: And let Judges take heed of your flat­terie which they may discern by your obligation, to reprove sin wheresoever you finde it; and by your forbearance to reprove Judges (though never so sinfull) untill you get op­portunitie, and by your apt­ness to fall down and worship them, all without distinction of good or bad; when som of them know themselvs no wor­thier to be worshiped then he that our Saviour bad get be­hind him. And what shall they be the better for your re­proof, if they dye before they [Page 57]have it? when you ought to speak, de mortuis nil nisi bo­num; nothing but good of the dead; therefore Paul more graciously reproved Peter to his face, when and where he found him faulty. As for Ju­rors placing at the Helm be­cause mechanick, &c. you touch not Mr. Lilburn for his Jurors (as all others in Lon­don ought to be) were impan­neled by the Sheriffs of Lon­don, or their secondaries, who knew them to be honest lawfull men, such as their pre­cept required, and [...]ad the Judges any cause to suspect, refuse, or chang them, they had done by them all, or ten at least as they did by one of them, take in others for them: And you say that Mr. Lilburn [Page 58]excepted against them all, and desired to be tried by a Jurie of Surrey, where he lived when the Fact was supposed to be committed, (and if by him, likliest to have been there) where a Jurie might be had of no mechanicks, but God, who (as you say elswhere, and that truly, as the devil, to be believed in more, useth to tell som truths) is present in all Courts, was really, though not visibly present there, and had fore-ordain­ed better for his servant, then he knew how to desire; A Jurie of Mechanicks, whose per­sons or Estates I know not, but their carriage and Resolu­tion in that matter declare them knowing and under­standing Men, Confirmed in [Page 59]their Verdict, first by God himself then doubtlessly not onely present in the Court, but in their hearts and consci­ences: And afterwards by the Councell of State by assent of Parliament: A President for Jurors, and a memorable example of undantable, im­movable, consciencious Judg­es of life and death, for the present, and all future ages to imitate: yet traduced by you, and in them God him­self the Author of the work, and the State, and their Coun­cel Cooperaters therein. And no mervel for al that, since you cannot be content to calumni­ate all that had a hand in the matter, but also the generali­tie of all the constant Inhabi­tants of all Cities and Corpo­rations [Page 60]in England and Wales, of whom not one in a Million, ever knew Mr. Lilburn, or heard of his Cause, all Me­chanicks. For what Trade, or mysterie of Merchandize can be, but hath its original from som handicraft? What Mer­chant so easie or carless, but somtimes useth the help of his own hand, or servants to mea­sure, or weigh his commodi­ties, for which he ventureth his life, or others, and his Estate to boot, to fetch them from the Indies, and why should he scorn to put his fin­ger to retail them to his cu­stomers by true weights and measures? And so I conceiv writing is but an handi-craft taught a Lawyer before mooting, and necessarie to [Page 61]be used by him when he is a Judg, whose (dutie as the Lord Cook upon the 29 chapt. of Magna Charta saith, is, de­cernere per Legem quid sit justum: to descern what is just by the rule of Law; and so to make the Law his rule, his line, his measure, his weight, his yard and ballance, which (saith the same: Author in the same place) is called Right it self, And Common Law; be­cause it judgeth common Right, by a right line, which is the Judg of it self and its oblique. And in another sens (saith he) the Law is called Right, because it is the best Birth-right the Subject hath, whereby his goods, lands, Wife, Children, bodie, honor and estimation are pro­tected [Page 62]from injuries, and so a better Inheritance cometh to everie one of us by the Law, then by our Parents: but when appropriated by Law­yers to their own constructi­on and benefit, how is it to becalled common Law?) and when a Commissarie Judg like Pluto's Radamanth, maketh his will his Rule and line, and thereby squaretth and mea­sureth the Law as he pleaseth, and as Virgil diseribeth him: Grosius hic Radamanthus habet durisima regna, &c. Casti­gátque Auditque dolo, subi­gitque fateri leges fixit pre­cio atque refixit, &c. First he punisheth, then he heareth, and compelleth to confess, and so maketh and marreth Laws as he pleaseth for his [Page 63]profit: such are the Commissa­ries I desire to reprov, and you to flatter: but I wish them to observ Crysippus his Picture of Justice described in a Latin Diologue thus, viz.

But I observ that as the meanest handicrafts man, when he groweth rich, turns Merchant, that he may live Lazier, and gain more by buy­ing and selling merchantable Commodities, then by his labor, yea, and the craftiest Merchant of all; or as lately the poorest Schollars being at­tained unto Wealth, became Bishops by the same means, and for the same reason; yea, and the precisest formalist of all, so the simplest mooter in the Inns of Chancerie, being being past his Apprentiship, admitted to the bar, and but botching Jorneyman in the [Page 66]trade of Law, furnished with money friends and fortune, proceedeth Sergeant at Law, and ascendeth som Chair, or Bench of Judicature in a day, and declareth himself present­ly the pragmaticalest Judg of all, yet but a Commissarie Judg, such as you extol in the generall, and I except against in som particulars, as for mak­ing the Law a mercenarie trade, or a merchantable commoditie, which ought to be free and liberall to all men; and in assuming a Mastership therein, whereas he is and ought to be but a servant to the Common-wealth; yea, even a Clerk (though you seem to repine at it) to say Amen, viz. to pronounce his Masters assent to the verdicts [Page 67]of Jurors who by their ordina­rie Iurisdiction are the abso­lute Judges of their Countrie, as before is proved. Yet shall I be content to follow your Follies a little further for your better satisfaction touching Mechanicks, who buy and sell but what are vendible and merchantable wares, and law­full for them so to do, which if by unreasonable penni­worths, their reasonable Customers may take or leave as their occasion requires, and reason guides them: whilst Lawyers Clyents must buy such Law as they can finde, at such rates as they can get at Westminster, or perish in their Causes: different from those times, when Mr. Horn, and others tell you, they had [Page 68]better brought to their own doors with little charge, and less pains: and when to see it so administred and executed by Sheriffs, Recorders, and other Countrie and Citie Judges, that were the Kings Commissaries in their respect­ive places, and derived their Commissions and authorities as well as any at Westminster ever did, or can, from the same fountain, viz Kings and people, so that (as the Lord Cook saith) Omnis dorivata potestas habet eandem juris­dictionem cum primitivâ: their jurisdictions were the same within their precincts, as the Kings at larg; yet Kings went along with their Com­missaries, or rather Deputies, for their own Bench, from [Page 69]Countie to Countie, once e­very seven years, to oversee, and examin how Justice was distributed to their Subjects, and to give their Royal assents to the verdicts of Juries which were not assented unto by the ordinarie Countrey Commis­saries since the last Size: which Commissioners therefore one­ly, and not the Countrey in generall, (as now to Assizes, nisi prius, and Gaol delive­ries) or so much as the Jurors were called, or troubled to bring in any account of what they had done since the last Eire, but those Commissarie Officers onely for that they had not done were charged to bring in their Records, where­upon such verdicts as were found unassented unto and [Page 70]compleated by them, might be assented unto and perfected by the King himself, or his Commissarie Judg, or depu­tie, called his chief Justice of his own Bench; or by the Justices in Eire, who went somtimes without the King, or any of his Justices, who when and where they came, had the prerogative of all Courts during their stay, which was but for short Sessions) & gave forth process of execution up­on them, and medled not with any mors Causes, but onely within his verge, by the verdicts of Iurors inhabiting within the compass, as you may read in the Mirror, Lambert and others at larg. And why now all must come to Westminster four times [Page 71]yearly; and no cause, whe­ther over or under 40 s. can be ended in any part of the King­dom but there; for if under á Mutuatus shall lift it over, and all under colour of that Chapter of Magna Charta, which saith Common Pleas shall not follow the Kings Court (as his Bench, Chan­cerie, and his Exchequer then did and ever might) but shall be kept in a certain place; which came to be Westmin­ster-Hall since it was the Kings pleasure to have that Court (which was their pre­rogative superindendent Court of Common Pleas, viz. for Appeals in such Pleas, by such as found themselvs grieved by partialities or delaies of their Countrey Commissaries, un­to [Page 72]that Court) kept in their own Hall, of their then dwel­ling Mansion, as it continu­ed untill White-Hall came in­to the hands of King Henry 8. by Cardinall Woolsey his de­linquencie, which (pleasing him better) he madehis Court; and gave not onely Westmin­ster-Hall, but also all the Pallace of Westminster (that his Ancestors from Rufus to him, contented themselvs to dwell in) to be the Consisto­ries of all his Courts, when he found it chargable to re­move them, though he and his successors gained least by them. But now no King be­ing, no Court that depended upon his Person, or his depu­ties, or Commissaries, in re­spect of their prerogative Ju­dicature [Page 73]reputed transcendent remedies for som transcendent Injuries committed and suffer­ed amongst the people, can be necessarie, because triennial or more frequent Parliaments, and speciall Commissions of Oyer and Terminer to be granted them, when and as their Causes require, may better supply them and with more speed and Justice, and less charge and expence finish their Causes at or near their homes, then all, or any the Courts at Westminster ever did or could. But if the Keep­ers of Englands Libertie be pleased to have any one or more Courts, or Judges to be superintendents above all o­thers, besides Parliaments, and speciall Oyers and Termi­ners, [Page 74]Then they are to be de­sired, to be also pleased to al­low, and pay them sufficient Wages at their own cost, and not the peoples, as Kings did when their Commissarie Judg­es were to have of never so many Parties in one Cause, but 12^d to be divided amongst them, and that after the end of the suit, and not before: And a Pleader (though a Ser­geant at Law) was sworn to plead as well as he could for his Master (now called his Cly­ent, and counted his servant) and to abuse the Court with no fals, or more delatorie then necessarie Pleas, And was to have for every such Plea pleading, but six pencel; and for his sallarie or Wages, for his attendance in every Cause [Page 75]first to last, beginning to end, as the Court should think fit, considering the greatness of the Cause, and merit of the Pleader, &c. as you may read in the Mirror, p. 64. Now to return to your Mecha­nicks, commonly (as you say) brought up illiterat: surely it cannot be unknown to you, that there are most common­ly as many (if not more) Ma­sters of Art in London that use Trades and handicrafts as practise Law at Westminster, and compleater Retoritians, Logitians, Musitians, Arith­metitians, Geometricians, A­stronomers and Phisitians, all which are the severall liberall sciences, and the very Ency­clopedie and summarie of all good and necessarie Arts and [Page 76]learning: How then do you make it your consequence, that if all Commissarie Judges be not adored as you would have them; all learning and gentle extraction must be de­based, but ignorant and for­did birth must ascend to the Chair? as if there were no learning but in Pedlers French and Law-Latin, the very dis­guises of the Law, which hath no such need of them, as a foul face of a Mask, or an hangman of a Vizard; but contrariwise, much necessarie to be rid of those Curtains, which hide both the beautifull Shape, and material substance of it, from us, that it may appear (even to our under­standings) more gloriously, more learnedly in plain Eng­lish, [Page 77]then in that Canting more obnoxious then that of beg­gars, which would but cheat us of necessaries to sustain their lives; whilst Law-Cant­ers cheat both us, and them, of all our livelihoods and li­berties, to surfet themselvs with superfluities; by mak­ing us all starvlings, pined with that extream of wants, the want of Justice: for put the case that those hotch-potch French, and Quelquechose La­tin were banished, and the Law rendred in English (as Scriptures are which were hidden from us by Prelats, as our Law by Lawyers) would not all learning, and argu­mentations in Law be as ne­cessarie for the continual pre­servation of mens lives and e­states, [Page 78]and therefore continu­ed in English as Sermons in Pulptis, and disputes in Schools and Universities, requisit for the salvation of our souls are? Naywould not School-Masters (to read and teach the Law in com­mon Schools) beas ne cessarie in London, as Stu­dents in the Inns of Court, or Chancerie, or as such have been (as you may read in the Lord Cooks Preamble upon Magna Charta) and did read upon Magna Charta, when it was read twice yearly in Churches, and 4 times yearly untill full Counties, untill the same King that assented to the making, and was sworne to the observing of Magna Charta, in the 9 year of his [Page 79]Raign, by the advice of his Chief Justice Hugh d'Burgo (whose advice and his follow­ers ever led Kings to ruine, and Subjects to hazards) by his special Writ in the 19 year of his Raign, prohibited the said publick reading, and teaching, (as you may read in the same place.) Did not the Eunuch understand the Language he read, yet want­ed Philip to interpret the meaning? And did not God send Philip to that end? So no doubt (although the Law be Englished) the most part of English people will be Eu­nuchs in their understanding of it so fully as they ought, untill, and but whilst there be Philips to expound it? for it is too great a Studie for men [Page 80]otherwise imployed, to be ex­pert in; to resolv Causes which you call Intricate, As you would make it for Coblers to dilucidate texts, which many call hard Scriptures: And who can doubt it to be Gods spe­ciall gift and vocation in Law to som, to be just and learn­ed Lawyers, as to others to be sincere and Orthodox Di­vines, while the world shall consist of bodies necessarie to be regulated, as of souls to be disciplined. And then for your gentle extractions, may not they be as they were ever wont (since Marriages were ordained in Heaven, may not a Judg bestow his daughter upon a Citizen, and a Citizen his upon a Judg, or an Earl, (as we have seen usuall): but [Page 81]by your allegation that there is a general disesteem of gen­trie more now then from the beginning of the World, which Mr. Lilburn can be no cause of: It is manifest you charge the present Govern­ment as faultie for suffering such a disesteem to be among the people, wherein you do but traduce and wrong the State, that neither desire, nor countenance any such thing, but when gentrie (for the most part) grows dege­nerat, and nobilitie debas­eth it self, Corruptio unius est generatio alterius: when Lords turn Boors and simplicians, let Clowns turn Lords and Politicians; And let him that will carp at the Vicissitude of things, which divine provi­dence [Page 82]hath ordained, blame neither State in generall, nor persons in particular, but conceiv rather, that Ablatâ Causâ tollitur effectus; when vertue faileth, the honor fol­loweth; when God took his holy Spirit from Saul, both Spirit and Majestie were trans­ferred to David in a larger measure; and therupon be you further answered by an Hea then: Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis: Times are changed, and we therein: By whom, is manifest; but how, and when, are Arcana Dei: Forbidden secrets, im­putable by such as suffer there­in, to their sins; and there­fore you shew your self in this point, not an Alter Ca­to, but an Altercator: not a [Page 83]wise man but a wrangler: Whilst you might observ further, that God never took his holy Spirit from whom he gave it, but for their abusing, or not using that power which accompanied it, as they ought, whereby they provoked him, as when he said: It repent­eth me that I have set up Saul to be King: 1 Sam 15.11. When Saul spared Agag, and his fat Oxen, &c. which God commanded to be destroyed: So when Englands Kings and Lords made wrong use of their Judicature and power which he and his people had given them; was it not time for God himself, to justifie himself and his people? When they and their subordinate Judges connived together [Page 84]with such men as God describ­ed by his Prophet Jeremiah to be his enemies, saying: Among my people are found wicked men, they lay wait, as he that setteth snares, they set a trap, they oath men, and as a Cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of de­ceits, therefore they are be­come great and waxen rich; they are waxen fat, they shine; ye, they overpass the deeds of the wicked, they Judg not the Cause of the Fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needie do they not Judg: shall I not visit for these things (saith the Lord)? shall not my soul be avenged upon such a generation as this? Jer. 5. v. 26. were there ever in Israel such waylayers, snare-setters, trap-setters, [Page 85]and men-catchers, as were the Scribes and Pharises, who concealed the Law (which God made for his people) and assumed the exposition there­of to be proper to themselvs only, and thereby snared, trapped, and caught the peo­ple as they pleased; made way for themselvs to becom great, rich, fat and shine; which exposition was but of their own naturall language, which their Countrey-men understood, or might as well as they, yet our Saviour cal­led them a generation of vi­pers, &c. that laid heavie yoaks upon their brethren, &c. Did not our Judges and Atturneyes in England ex­ceed them, that not onely concealed the Laws of God, [Page 86]and this Land, made for this people, from this people? though partly published in English (as our Statute Laws are) whereof nevertheless they assume the exposition to themselvs; howbeit rational English-men may understand them as well as they; but al­so barbarized that part of our Law which is called, and ought to be common, so that they have made it proper to themselvs onely, because no other linguist (howsoever learned) can understand it, but onely they that made it such for that purpose, where­by they snare, and trap all men as they list, and their Legion Gaolers, Catch-poles, setters, &c. (who glorie e­ven in those names, and are [Page 87]rich by those meanes) catch, and imprison all Debtors, and most of them to death, con­trary to all Law, but what they made and procured against Magna Charta, and maintain (though repealed) against the Petition of Right, and above 20. Statutes, all Confirmati­ons of Magna Charta. Do the Judges of England, judg the Cause of the Fatherless? the Orphans of London can tell you no. Do they judg the right of the needie? the Wi­dows, the Fatherless, and all that sue in formâ pauperis, nay they that beg, rob, and steal to boot, with those that starv for need, can tell you no. And shall not God be as good as his word? Shall not his soul be avenged upon this genera­tion? [Page 88]yea, no doubt, and therefore Judgment began at the House of the Lord, which King, Lords and Bish­ops, that parted the peoples spoyls, neglected Achan and his Wedg; made all covetous gripers more griping, Regis ad exemplum; and all men more offenders because the greatest most thrived, and were never punished. There­fore Kings, Lords, &c. whose extractions for Gentrie were ever esteemed best; And ma­ny Bishops well descended, laying aside their vertues, who shall blame God for lay­ing their honor in the dust? but let all that love the present State, and Government of England, wish the Keepers of the Libertie thereof, take heed [Page 89]in time they do not the same things themselvs, they have condemned in others, of whose punishments God hath made them his Instruments; for we are sure that the Judg­ment of God is according to truth, against them which commit such things; 2. Rom. [...]. Let them not overpass the seeds of the wicked, by not punishing them which they [...]nde to be such, yea, and e­specially the wickedest of them, even such as none can be so wicked; Judges that persevere in injustice, who by suffering such offenders, be­com not onely the committers of their offences, but superla­tive offenders, whom God nath none above them to cor­rect, but himself, which he [Page 90]therefore usually doth, by raising Wars against them, and enemies unto them, as well of their own Nation, nay their own Children, as others; and as well Insideators of their wayes to, and at their dores, and assacinates in their houses, as adversaries in the Field. And as for your self Sir, may not we say of you, as Jeremie said of som in his time: A Wonderfull and hor­rible thing is committed in the Land, that Prophets Prophe­sie falsly, &c. For what do you els when you say, you are obliged, as all men are, to reprov sin wheresoever you finde it, and yet you justifie and magnifie such Judges as the true Prophet reproveth. Take heed therefore how you [Page 91]use your tertiam Linguam (as Walterfensis cals it) which by lying and slandering, either by way of adulation, as you do the Judges, or detraction, as you do Mr. Lilburn: the partie that so doth, abuseth three persons at once, viz. [...]he Speaker, the hearer, and he that is spoken of: And such leagues (saith the same Au­thor) had the Prophets that [...]ere slain; Doeg, that was re­sected, and Saul that slew himself: And such tongues [...]t. Bernard cals triplicit, for the same reason; and saith, that such Sycophants as use them, have the Devil in their tongues, and Auditors in their eares, and a consenter in their hearts. And for sordid births (except I knew yours) I know [Page 92]not what to say to you; but suppose the tree may be known by the fruit, and well do I know, that as London, and other Cities, ever had Mechanicks of as great and noble extractions, as England yeilded, so the Barrs at West­minster ever hitherto had long-roabed men of as pro­miscuous originals, as huma­nitie afforded: And of Lon­don births at this present, there be vertuous and honorable Chair-men at Westminster, as è converso, there be of Judg­es sons, hopefull Apprentises in London. Where you finde Coblers in Pulpits, it is be­cause the Divines are out. And where you say Plow-men ride to Sessions instead of Ju­stices of Peace; there can be [Page]no Sessions without both, viz. Knights or Esquires to be Justices, and Plow men, (which are the best kinde of free men in England) to be Jurors. And as Jurors are there, and elswhere the more real Judges, so is their calling far antienter, for sokmen were long before Justices of Peace [...] England; And soccage was [...] a better tenure then [...]cage, or Knights service. But a Justice of Peace, and a Plow-man do well together, not onely in Quarter-sessions, but in constant hous-holds; and the eminentest, best ex­racted Knights and Esquires, as they have ever been the best hous-keepers, so they have been the bountifulest cherishers and countenancers [Page 94]of their Plow-men in their most necessarie calling for the Worlds sustenance: and have not scorned to put their hands to their own plows, as Kings and Lords have vouchsafed their names, and associacions to their Subjects, in their trades and handicrafts, to countenance, commerce and traffique.

So not finding any more o [...] your Pamphlet necessarie for me to answer, as this much was, for my reason given you in the title page thereof. I bid you heartily farewell.

From my lodging in Mr. Mondays house upon Clerkenwell-Green, July 1650.