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 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow APPENDIX B.: An account of the Origin of the Agreement of the People and the Negotiations of the Officers of the Army with the Representatives of the Levellers, extracted from John Lilburne's Pamphlet, The Legal Fundamental Liberties. - The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, vol. 2

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Subject Area: Political Theory
Subject Area: History
Topic: The English Revolution

APPENDIX B.: An account of the Origin of the Agreement of the People and the Negotiations of the Officers of the Army with the Representatives of the Levellers, extracted from John Lilburne’s Pamphlet, “The Legal Fundamental Liberties.” - Sir William Clarke, The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, vol. 2 [1894]

Edition used:

The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, Secretary to the Council of the Army, 1647-1649, and to General Monck and the Commanders of the Army in Scotland, 1651-1660, ed. C.H. Firth (Camden Society, 1894). 4 vols.

Part of: The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, 4 vols.

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APPENDIX B.

An account of the Origin of the Agreement of the People and the Negotiations of the Officers of the Army with the Representatives of the Levellers, extracted from John Lilburne’s Pamphlet, “The Legal Fundamental Liberties.”

The Legal Fundamental Liberties of the People of England.

Although Oliver had his hands full with Poyer, Goring, Holland, Hamilton, and Langdale the last year; but especially with the general odium that was then in both houses against him, upon the notable impeachment of his Major Huntingdon, August 2, 1648, and I then by my absolute freedom was a little up, and could have at my pleasure been revenged of him, if I had so pleased either by divisions in his army, which was easily then in my power; or by joyning in impeaching him with Major Huntingdon; which I had matter enough to do, and was earnestly solicited to do it again and again, and might have had money enough to boot in my then low and exhausted condition to have done it, yet I scorned it, and rather applied my hand to help him up againe, as not loving a Scotch Interest (then likely to swallow us up) as is very well and fully known to his present darling, Mr. Cornelius Holland, and also to Colonel Ludlow, and Mr. Thomas Challoner, with other Members that I could name; and which was demonstrated to himself by a Letter I sent him by Mr. Edw. Sexby, whom on purpose I procured to go down to him; the true copy whereof thus followeth:

Sir,

What my Comrade hath written by our trusty bearer, might be sufficient for us both; but to demonstrate unto you that I am no staggerer from my first principles that I engaged my life upon, nor from you, if you are what you ought to be, and what you are now strongly reported to be; although, if I prosecuted or desired revenge for an hard and almost starving imprisonment, I could have had of late the choice of twenty opportunities to have paid you to the purpose; but I scorn it, especially when you are low, and this assare yourself, that if ever my hand be upon you, it shall be when you are in your full glory, if then you shall decline from the righteous ways of Truth and Justice: which, if you will fixedly and impartially prosecute, I am

Yours, to the last drop of my heart bloud,
(for all your late severe hand towards me),

John Lilburn.

From Westminster this 3 of August 1648, being the second day of my Freedom.

Which Letter etc. as I have been told by the Bearer, was not a little welcome to him.

But his dealings with me now manifest that Proverb to be very true, viz., Save a thief from the Gallows, and for your requitall he will be the first shall hang you. But to this I shall say no more but what the Spirit of Truth saith in Prov. 17, 13. That he that rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

And being at liberty, not liking in the least the several juglings I observed in divers great ones in reference to the personal Treaty, and that there was nothing worth praising or liking thought of or presented by the Parliament in reference to the People’s Liberties or Freedoms (especially considering their late large expences and hazards for the procurement of the settlement of them) I was compelled in conscience to have a hand in that most excellent of Petitions of the 11 of September, 1648, which (I am sure) was no small piece of service to Cromwel and his great Associates; though his Church-men now my chiefest Adversaries, durst not joyn with it, nor own it for very fear. And having been in the North about my own business, where I saw Crumwel, and made as diligent scrutinies into things about him, as I could, which I then to myself judged, savoured more of intended self-exalting, then anything really and heartily (of what before I had strongly heard of him) to the through-advancement of those things that were worthy to be accounted indeed the Liberties and Freedoms of the Nation.

And being come to London, my self, and some other of my friends, by two messengers, viz., Mr. Hunt, one of Cromwels creatures, and another sent a message down to him to Pomfret, to be delivered to himself, and to debate it with him, and bring his express answer back again speedily: the effect of which message was,

That to our knowledg God hath caused him to understand the principles of a just Government, under which the glory of God may shine forth by an equall distribution unto all men.

That the obtaining of this was the sole intended end of the Wars: and that the War cannot be justified upon any other account, then the defence of the people’s right unto that just Government, and their freedom under it.

His answer to which message by Mr. Hunt was principally directed by the Independents; some of whom appointed a meeting at the Nagshead Tavern by Blackwell Hall at Mrs. Wilson’s, and invited Mr. Wildman and myself, etc., thither, whether we went accordingly, and where we met with Colonel Tichburn, Col. John White, Dr. Parker, Mr. Taylor, John Price, and divers others (where we had a large debate of things, and where the just ends of the war were exactly laid open by Mr. Wildman, as ever I heard in my life). But towards the conclusion, they plainly told us, the chief things first to be done by the Army, was first to cut off the King’s Head, &c., and force and thoroughly purge, if not dissolve, the Parliament. All of which we were all against, and pressed to know the bottom of their center, and in what they would absolutely rest for a Future Settlement; and I plainly told them in those words, or to this effect.

Its true, I look upon the king as an evil man in his actions, and divers of his party as bad, but the Army had cozened us the last year, and fallen from all their promises and Declarations, and therefore could not rationally any more be trusted by us without good cautions and security: In which regard, although we should judge the king as arrant a tyrant as they supposed him, or could imagine him to be, and the Parliament as bad as they could make them; yet their being no other ballancing power in the kingdom against the Army, but the king and the Parliament, it was our interest to keep up one Tyrant to balance another, till we certainly know what that Tyrant that pretended fairest would give us as our Freedoms; that so we might have something to rest upon, and not suffer the Army (so much as in us lay) to devolve all the government of the Kingdom into their wills and swords (which were two things we nor no rationall man could like) and leave no persons nor power to be a counter-balance against them. And if we should do this, our slavery for future (I told them) might probably be greater then ever it was in the Kings time; and so our last error would be greater then our first, and therefore I pressed very hard for an Agreement amongst the People first, for a new Parliament, etc., utterly disclaiming the thoughts of the other till this was done. And this (I told them) was not onely my opinion, but I believe to be the unanimous opinion of all my friends with whom I most constantly conversed.

At which the Gentlemen Independents were some of them most desperately cholerick: but my opinion being backed with the speeches of some others of my friends, we came calmly to chuse out four and four of a side to debate and conclude of some heads towards the accomplishment of an Agreement of the People: and (as I remember) their four were, Colonel Titchburn, Col. White, Dr. Parker, and Jo. Price: and our four were Mr. William Walwyn, Lieut. Col. Wetton, Mr. John Wildman, and myself. But John Price sent some of the company to tell us (after we were parted, and some of us drinking a cup of wine below) he would not make one, if Mr. Walwyn was one, for he had a prejudice against him. Unto which I replied, Mr. Walwyn had more honesty and integrity in his little finger then John Price had in all his body; and therefore no meeting for me, seeing John Price was so base, unless Mr. Walwyn was one, though we had but two of a side: but the business being much debated and expostulated, Mr. Walwyn and John Price both (for peace sake) were at present laid aside: and according to appointment (as I remember) all the other six met the fifteenth of Novemb. 1648, being Wednesday, at the fore-mentioned Nags-head; and there, after some debate, unanimously agreed in those words, viz.: That in our conceptions, the only way of Settlement is:

I. That some persons be chosen by the Army to represent the whole body: And that the well-affected in every County (if it may be) chuse some persons to represent them: And those to meet at the Head-Quarters.

II. That those persons ought not to exercise any Legislative power, but onely to draw up the foundations of a just Government, and to propound them to the well-affected people in every County to be agreed to: Which Agreement ought to be above Law; and therefore the bounds, limits, and extent of the peoples Legislative Deputies in Parliament, contained in the Agreement, to be drawn up in a formall contract, to be mutually signed by the well-affected people and their said Deputies upon the dayes of their Election respectively.

III. To prevent present confusion, the Parliament (if it be possible) may not be by force immediately dissolved; but that the day of its dissolution be inserted in that Agreement, by virtue whereof it shall be dissolved.

IV. That this way of settlement, (if it may be) should be mentioned in the Armies first Remonstrance.

V. That the matter of the Petition of September 11, 1648, be the matter to be setled.

Which agreement of ours (as I remember) was immediately sent away to the Head-Quarters at St. Albans by Mr. Hiland of Southwark, where (as it was afterwards told us) it was very well accepted and approved of by the great ones there; whose high and mighty Declaration of the 16 Nov. 1648, (drawn by Ireton at Windsor, when he pretended to lay down his Commission) against the King coming to our view, we made divers objections against many passages in it: but especially at divers lashes that tacitely at the beginning of it hinted at us, which we told some of their friends could not be put in with a spirit of peace towards us, or intention of good to the Nation, in those good things we desired and propounded for it: But it was with many fair expressions salved up by them, upon which we judged it requisite for some of us to go to Windsor, to speak with Mr. Ireton the Stear-man himself; and accordingly (as I remember) Lieut.-Colonel Wetton, Mr. Petty, Mr. Wildman, and myself met there, and having drawn up our thoughts in writing, we communicated them to Col. Tychburn, Col. White, Mr. Moyer, and divers others of the Independent Party, who went with us to the Governors house, where we met with Mr. Peters, the grand Journey—or Hackney-man of the Army; And after we had acquainted him with our mindes, we delivered him a copy of our Paper, containing distinctly the Heads of what we desired, and intreated him to deliver them to Commissary Ireton, with whom we desired to discourse about them; who sent us word, at such an hour he would come to our Inn at the Garter, to speak with us about them; and accordingly he did, accompanied with a whole train of Officers; and a large and sharp discourse we had; our principall difference lying at his desire in the too strict restraining Liberty of Conscience, and in keeping a power in the Parliament to punish where no visible Law is transgressed; the unreasonableness of which was much spoken against by divers of the principall Officers with him, but especially by Col. Harrison, who was then extreme fair and gilded: And so little satisfaction had we at that meeting, from Ireton (the Armie’s Alpha and Omega) that we despaired of any good from them, and were in a manner resolved to come away in haste to London, and acquaint our friends with our conceptions, and so improve our interests forcibly, as much as we could, to opose their intended designes. But Colonel Harrison coming to us again at ten a clock, according to our desire, we had a private and large discourse with him, and fully and effectually acquainted him with the most desperate mischievousness of their attempting to do these things, without giving some good security to the Nation for the future settlement of their Liberties and Freedoms, especially in frequent, free, and successive Representatives, according to their many Promises, Oathes, Covenants and Declarations; or else as soon as they had performed their intentions to destroy the King (which we fully understood they were absolutely resolved to do, yea, as they told us, though they did it by Martiall Law), and also totally to root up the Parliament, and invite so many Members to come to them as would joyn with them, to manage businesses, till a new and equall Representative could by an Agreement be setled; which the chiefest of them protested before God was the ultimate and chiefest of their designes and desires. I say, we pressed hard for security, before they attempted those things in the least, lest when they were done we should be solely left to their wills and swords; by which, we told them, they might rule over us arbitrarily, without declared Laws, as a conquered people, and so deal with us as the poor slavish peasants in France are dealt with, who enjoy nothing that they can call their own. And besides we plainly told him, we would not trust their bare words in generall onely, for they had broke their promise once already, both with us and the Kingdom; and he that would break once, would make no conscience of breaking twice, if it served for his ends, and therefore they must come to some absolute particular compact with us, or else, some of us told him, we would post away to London, and stir up our interest against them, yea and spend our bloods to oppose them. To which he replyed to this effect, It was true in what we said; for he must ingenuously confess, they had once broken with us and the Kingdom, and therefore acknowledged it was dangerous trusting them upon generals again: But, saith he, we cannot stay so long from going to London with the Army as to perfect an Agreement, and without our speedy going we are unavoidably destroyed: For (saith he) we fully understand that the Treaty betwixt the King and Parliament is almost concluded upon; at the conclusion of which, we shall be commanded by King and Parliament to disband, the which if we do, we are unavoidably destroyed for what we have done already: and if we do not disband, they will by Act of Parliament proclaim us Traytors, and declare us to be the only hinderers of setling peace in the Nation; and then (saith he) we shall never be able to fight with both the interest of King and Parliament: So that you will be destroyed as well as we: for we certainly understand that Major Generall Brown, etc. are under hand preparing an Army against us. And therefore I profess, I confess, I know not well what to say to your reasons, they are so strong; but our necessities are so great, that we must speedily go, or perish; and to go without giving you some content, is hazardable too.

Well Sir, (said we) we have as much cause to distrust the Parliament men, as we have to distrust you; for we know what and how many large promises they have made to the Kingdom, and how little they have performed; and we also know what a temptation Honor, Power, and profit are even to those spirits that were pretty ingenuous and honest before; and when you have done your work, and got, as you pretend, fourty or fifty of the honest members of the House to you; alas, (said we) it will be a mockpower; yet they may finde such sweetness and delight in their pretended power, that they may fly to your swords for their protection, and bid us go shake our ears for our Agreement, and go look for it where we can catch it. And therefore we will trust generals no more to your fourty or fifty Members of Parliament, then to you: for it’s possible, if we leave the Agreement to their framing, they may frame us such a one as will do us no good, but rather make us slaves by our own consents, if signed by us: and therefore we pressed him that we might agree upon a finall and absolute Judge of the matter and method of the Agreement, that so we might not spend months and years in dispute about it. And therefore we would propound this unto him, That if their honest friends in the Parliament, as they called them, would chuse four from amongst themselves, and the Army four from amongst themselves, and the Independents four from amongst themselves,; we that were nick-named Levellers would choose four from among ourselves; and these sixteen should draw up the Agreement finally, without any more appeal to any other; and we for our parts, so far as all our interest in England extended, would be willing to acquiesce in, and submit to the determinations of these sixteen or the major part of them. And we would be willing the Presbyterian party should be invited, and desired to chuse four more to be of equal authority with the other sixteen; provided, they did it by the first day we should appoint to meet upon.

Which proposition he approved of extraordinary well, and said, It was as just, as rational, and as equitable, as possibly could be; and said, He doubted not but all Interests would center in it, and he ingaged to acquaint them with it; and so we parted, very glad that we were likely to come to some fixed agreement for the future enjoyment of our dear-bought and hard-purchased Freedoms.

And the next morning we went to the Gentlemen Independents, that lay the next door to us, who were almost ready to horse for London, and we acquainted them with it, who liked it very well; and with whom we fixed a night for several distinct meetings in London, to chuse our respective Trustees for this work, and also appointed a day to meet at Windsor again about it, and from them we went to Master Cornelius Holland, who then was the chief stickler for those they called honest men in the House of Commons; and as I remember we met Colonel Harrison, Master Holland, and Captain Smith, a Member, and his son in law, in the street, and Master Holland seemed exceedingly to rejoyce at the Proposition, Colonel Harrison having told him of it before, which we repeated over again distinctly to him, that so in conclusion we might not be gulled through pretence of mistakes or misunderstanding, which we were continually afraid we should meet with; so we went all together to Commissary General Ireton’s Chamber, to have his concurrence, which of all sides was taken for the concurrence of the whole Army, or at least for the powerful and governing part of it; he being in a maner both their eyes and ears. So when we came to his Chamber in the Castle, he was in bed with his wife, but sent us out word by Colonel Harrison, as he averred to us, That he did absolutely and heartily agree to the foresaid Proposition, which to avoid mistakes was again repeated; so we seemed joyful men of all sides, and appointed a day speedily to meet at Windsor about it, Master Holland again and again engaging for four Parliament men, and Colonel Harrison with Commissary Ireton for four of the Army, as we Londoners had done for each of our Tribe; and so to Horse we went, and I overtook upon the Road the whole gang of Independents, with whom I discoursed again, and acquainted them all fully with the absoluteness of our Agreement, which they acquainted their friends with in London, who chose Colonel Tichburn, Colonel John White, Master Daniel Taylor, and Master Price the Scrivener; And for our party, there was by unanimous consent of the Agents from our friends in and about London at a very large meeting chosen Master William Walwyn, Master Maximilian Petty, Master John Wildman, and myself; and for the honest men of the Parliament as they were called, they had severall meetings at the Bell in Kings-Street, and at Somerset house, where, as I was informed, they chose Col. Hen. Martin, Col. Alexander Rigby, Master Thomas Chalenor, and Master Scot, with one or two more, to supply the places of those of them that should be absent at any time about their occasions; so when we came to Windsor, the Army men had chosen Commissary-General Ireton, Sir William Constable, and, as I remember, Colonel Tomlinson, Colonel Baxster, Lieutenant Colonel Kelsey, and Captain Packer, some two of the which last four should always make up the number; so we had a meeting in their Council-Chamber at the Castle, where we were all of all sides present, but only the Parliament men, for whom only Col. Martin appeared, and after a large discourse about the foundations of our Agreement, we departed to our lodging, where Colonel Martin and we four nick-named Levellers lockt ourselves up, and went in good earnest to the consideration of our Agreement, but much was not done in it then, because of their haste to London, to force and break up the Parliament (which journey at all was very much opposed by Mr. Walwyn, and many reasons he gave against their march to London at all), the absolute dissolution of which, their friends in the House would no wayes admit of, although Ireton, Harrison, etc., commonly stiled it then a Parliament that had forfeited its trust, a mock-parliament, and that if they did not totally dissolve it but purge it, it would be but a mock-parliament, and a mock-power however; for where have we, say they, either Law, Warrant or Commission to purge it, or can anything justifie us in the doing it, but the height of necessity to save the Kingdom from a new war, that they, with the conjunction with the King will presently vote and declare for, and to procure a new and free Representative, and so successive and frequent free Representatives? which this present Parliament will never suffer (and without which the freedomes of the Nation are lost and gone, and the doing of which can only justifie before God and man our present and former extraordinary actings with and against legal authority) and so all our fighting will be fruitless; and this was their open and common discourse with more of the like nature; and to those that objected against their total dissolving or breaking the House (and the illegality of their intended and declared trying of the King, which also was opposed by us, till a new and unquestionable Representative was sitting) as I am able sufficiently, by plurality of witnesses, to prove and justifie, yea when they were come to London, Ireton, etc., and some Members of the House (in a Chamber near the long Gallery in White-hall) had a large conference, where and to whom he stifly maintained the same to their faces, calling this purged Parliament a mock power and a mock-parliament, which Members, I believe, if there were a necessity of it, I could produce to justifie it; for I am sure one of them told me the substance of all the discourse immediately after it happened; so that if it be treason to call this a pretended parliament, a mock-power, a mock-parliament, yea, and to say in plain English, that it is no Parliament at all, then they themselves are the prime, the chief and original traytors; and if this be true, as true it is; then there is neither legal Judges, nor Justices of Peace in England; and if so; then all those that are executed at Tiburn, etc. by their sentences of condemnation given against them are meerly murthered, and the Judges or Justices that condemned them are liable in time to be hanged (and that justly) therefore, for acting without a just and legal commission either from true Regall, or true Parliamentary power; see for this purpose, the notable arguments in the 13, 14, but especially 15 page of the second edition of my late Picture of the Council of State. But to return to our acting to compleat the Agreement, all parties chosen of all sides constantly met at Whitehall after the Army came to Town, saving the Parliament men failed only Master Martin was most commonly there, and a long and tedious tug we had with Commissary Generall Ireton only, yea sometimes whole nights together, principally about Liberty of Conscience, and the Parliaments punishing where no law provides, and very angry and Lordly in his debates many times was he; but to some kinde of an expedient in the first, for peace sake we condescended in to please him, and so came amongst the major part of the 16 commissioners, according to our original agreement, to an absolute and final conclusion; and thinking all had been done, as to any more debate upon it, and that it should without any more ado be promoted for subscriptions, first at the Council of War, and so in the Regiments, and so all over the Nation. But alas, poor fools, we were meerly cheated and cozened (it being the principal unhappiness to some of us (as to the flesh) to have our eyes wide open to see things, long before most honest men come to have their eyes open; and this is that which turns to our smart and reproach, and that which we Commissioners feared at the first (viz. That no tye, promises, or engagements were strong enough to hold the grand Juglers, and Leaders of the Army) was now made clearly manifest, for when it came to the Council there came the General, Cromwel, and the whole gang of Creature-Colonels, and other Officers, and spent many dayes in taking it all in pieces, and there Ireton himself shewed himself an absolute king, if not an Emperor, against whose will no man must dispute, and then shittlecock Roe their Scout, Okey, and Major Barton (where Sir Hardress Waller sate President) began in their open Council to quarrel with us, by giving some of us base and unworthy language, which procured them from me a sharp retortment of their own basenesse and unworthinesse into their teeth, and a Challenge from myself into the field besides seeing they were like to fight with us in the room, in their own Garrison, which when Sir Hardress in my ear reproved me for it, I justified it, and gave it him again for suffering us to be so affronted. And within a little time after I took my leave of them for a pack of dissembling, juggling Knaves, amongst whom in consultation ever thereafter I should scorn to come (as I told some of them) for there was neither faith, truth, nor common honesty amongst them: and so away I went to those that chose and trusted me, and gave publikely and effectually (at a set meeting appointed on purpose) to diverse of them an exact account how they had dealt with us, and cozened and deceived us; and so absolutely discharged myself for medling or making any more with so perfidious a generation of men as the great ones of the Army were, but especially the cunningest of Machiavilians, Commissary Henry Ireton; and having an exact copy of what the greatest part of the foresaid sixteen had agreed upon, I only mended a clause in the first Reserve about Religion, to the sense of us all but Ireton, and put an epistle to it, of the fifteenth of December, 1648, and printed it of my own accord, and the next day it came abroad; about which Master Price the Scrivener and myself had a good sharp bout at Colonel Titchburn his house, within two or three days after, where I avowed the publishing of it, and also putting my Epistle to it of my own head and accord. And after that I came no more amongst them, but with other of my friends, prepared a complaint against their dealing with us, and a kinde of Protest against their proceedings; which with my own hand I presented to the Generals own hands at the Mews, the twenty-eight of December, 1648, being accompanied with Major Robert Cobbet, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. George Middlemore, Mr. Robert Davies, Mr. Richard Overton, Mr. Edward Tench. Mr. Daniel Linton, Mr. William Bottom, Mr. John Harris, Mr. Thomas Dafferne, Mr. Tho. Goddard, Mr. Samuel Blaiklock, Mr. Andrew Dednam, Mr. John Walters, and Mr. Richard Pechel; and which was immediately printed by Ja. & Jo. Moxon, for William Larnar, at the sign of the Black-moore near Bishops gate; within two or three days of the delivery of which, I went towards my journey to Newcastle; and about five weeks after my arrivall in those parts I heard that the Generall and his Councel had presented their Agreement to your House: which, when I read the title page of it, I found it to be upon the 20 of Jan. 1648, which is compleat 35 dayes after my publishing of that which is called ours.