l heresies of the higher order, was the case of poor Mr.
John Biddle. The dissolution of the late Parliament had been so far
fortunate for him that the prosecution begun against him by that
Parliament under the old Blasphemy Ordinance of 1648 had been stopped
and he had been set at liberty (March 1655). But it was only to get
into fresh trouble. The orthodox in London were determined that he
should not be at large, and it was reported to the Council on the 3rd
of July that on the preceding Thursday, June 28, "in the new
meeting-house at Paul's, commonly called Captain Chillingdon's church
meeting-place, John Biddle did then and there, in presence of about
500 persons, maintain, some hours together, in a dispute, that Jesus
Christ was not the Almighty or most High God, and hath undertaken to
proceed in the game dispute the next Thursday." Cromwell himself was
present at this meeting of the Council, with Lawrence, Lambert, the
Earl of Mulgrave, Skippon, Rous, Sydenham, Pickering, Montague,
Fiennes, Viscount Lisle, Wolseley, and Strickland. What were they to
do? They ordered the Lord Mayor to stop the intended meeting, and all
such meetings in future, and to arrest Biddle if necessary; and they
referred the affair for farther enquiry to Skippon and Rous. The
affair, it seems, could not possibly be hushed up; Biddle was
committed to Poultry Compter, and then to Newgate, and his trial came
on at the Old Bailey, again under the Blasphemy Ordinance of 1648.
Having, with difficulty, been allowed counsel, he put in legal
objections, and the trial was adjourned till next term. Meanwhile
London was greatly agitated. The Presbyterians and the orthodox
generally were eager for Biddle's conviction; but a very considerable
number of persons, including not only Biddle's own followers and
free-thinkers of other sorts, but also some Independent and Baptist
ministers, whose orthodoxy was beyond suspicion, bestirred themselves
in his behalf. Pamphlets appeared in that interest, one entitled
_The Spirit of Persecution again broken loose against Mr. John
Biddle_, and a numerously signed petition was addressed to
Cromwell, requesting his merciful interference. The Petition, as we
learn from _Mercurius Politicus_, was very badly managed. "The
persons who presented a petition some few days since to his Highness
on the behalf of Biddle," says that paper under date Sept. 28, "came
this day in expectation of an answer. They had access, and divers