were evidently
unjust, was essentially void, and no justification to men who pronounced
according to their oaths. At a late hour at night the jury declared[a]
him not guilty; and the shout of triumph, received and prolonged by his
partisans, reached the ears of Cromwell at Whitehall.

It was not, however, the intention of the lord-general that his victim
should escape. The examination[b] of the judges and jurymen before the
council, with a certified copy of certain opprobrious expressions, used by
Lilburne in his defence, was submitted[c] to the house, and an order was
obtained that, notwithstanding his acquittal, he should be confined[d]
in the Tower, and that no obedience should be paid to any writ of habeas
corpus issued from the court of Upper Bench in his behalf. These measures
gave great offence. It was complained, and with justice, that the men who
pretended to take up arms against the king in support of the liberties of
Englishmen, now made no scruple of trampling the same liberties under foot,
whenever it suited their resentment or interest.[1]

[Footnote 1: See Thurloe, i. 324, 367, 368, 369, 429, 430, 435, 441,
442, 451, 453; Exact Relation, p. 5; Whitelock, 558, 560, 561, 563, 591;
Journals, July 13, 14, Aug. 2, 22, 27, Nov. 26. In 1656 or 1657 this
turbulent demagogue joined the society of Friends. He died Aug. 29, 1657,
at Eltham, whence, on the 31st, the body of the meek Quaker was conveyed
for sepulture to the new church-yard adjoining to Bedlam.--Cromwelliana, p.
168.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1653. August 20.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1653. August 22.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1653. August 27.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1653. Nov. 26.]

In the prosecution and punishment of Lilburne, the parliament was
unanimous; on most other points it was divided into two parties distinctly
marked; that of the Independents, who, inferior in number, superior in
talents, adhered to the lord-general and the council, and that of the
Anabaptists, who, guided by religious and political fanaticism, ranged
themselves under the banner of Major-General Harrison as their leader.
These "sectaries" anticipated the reign of Christ with his saints upon
earth, they believed themselves called by God to prepare the way for this
marvellous revolution; and they considered it their duty to commence by
reforming all the abuses which they could discover either in church or
state.[1]

In their proceedings there was much to which no one, who had embarked with
t