1652, printed in Dutch and English; As you were, May 1652). In his hostility to the army leaders Lilburne had often contrasted the present governors unfavourably with Charles I. Now he frequented the society of cavaliers of note, such as Lords Hopton, Colepeper, and Percy. If he were furnished with ten thousand pounds, he undertook to overthrow Cromwell, the parliament, and the council of state, within six months. 'I know not,' he was heard to say, 'why I should not vye with Cromwell, since I had once as great a power as he had, and greater too, and am as good a gentleman.' But, with the exception of the Duke of Buckingham, none of the royalists placed any confidence in him. (Several informations taken concerning Lieutenant-colonel John Lilburne, concerning his apostacy to the party of Charles Stuart, 1653; Malice detected in printing certain Informations, etc.; Lieutenant-colonel John Lilburne received; Cal. Clarendon Papers, ii. 141, 146, 213). The news of the expulsion of the Rump in April 1653 excited Lilburne's hopes of returning to England. Counting on Cromwell's placable disposition, he boldly applied to him for a pass to return to England, and, when it was not granted, came over without one (14 June). The government at once arrested him, and lodged him in Newgate, whence he continued to importune Cromwell for his protection, and to promise to live quietly if he might stay in England (A Defensive Deceleration of Lieutenant-colonel John Lilburne, 22 June 1653; Mercurius Politicus, pp. 2515, 2525, 2529; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1652–3, pp. 410, 415, 436). His trial began at the Old Bailey on 13 July, and concluded with his acquittal on 20 Aug. As usual Lilburne contested every step with the greatest pertinacity. 'He performed the great feat which no one else ever achieved, of extorting from the court a copy of his indictment, in order that he might put it before counsel, and be instructed as to the objections he might take against it' (Stephen, History of the Criminal Law, i. 367; State Trials, v. 407–460, reprints Lilbune's own account of the trial, and his legal pleas; see also Godwin, iii. 554). Throughout the trial popular sympathy was on his side. Petitions on his behalf were presented to parliament, so strongly worded that the petitioners were committed to prison. Crowds flocked to see him tried; threats of a rescue were freely uttered; and tickets were circulated with the legend:
And what, shall then honest John Lilburne die?
Three-score thousand will know the reason why.
The government filled London with troops, but in spite of their officers, the soldiers shouted and sounded their trumpets when they heard that Lilburne was acquitted (Commons' Journals, vii. 285, 294; Thurloe Papers, i. 367, 429, 435, 441; Clarendon, Rebellion, xiv. 52; Cal. Clarendon Papers, ii. 237, 246).
The government, however, declined to leave Lilburne at large. The jurymen were summoned before the council of state, and the council of state was ordered to secure Lilburne. On 28 Aug. he was transferred from Newgate to the Tower, and the lieutenant of the Tower was instructed by parliament to refuse obedience to any writ of Habeas Corpus (Commons' Journals, vii. 306, 309, 358; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1653–4, pp. 98–102; A Hue and Cry after the Fundamental Laws and Liberties of England). Consequently Lilburne's attempt to obtain such a writ failed (Clavis ad Aperiendum Carceris, by P. V., 1654). On 16 March 1654, the council ordered that he should be removed to Mount Orgueil Castle, Jersey; and he was subsequently transferred to Elizabeth Castle, Guernsey. Colonel Robert Gibbon, the governor, complained that he gave more trouble than ten cavaliers. The Protector offered Lilburne his liberty if he would engage not to act against the government, but he answered that he would own no way for his liberty but the way of the law (Cal. Sate Papers, Dom. 1654, pp. 33, 46; Thurloe Papers, iii. 512, 629). Lilburne's health suffered from his confinement, and in 1654 his death was reported and described (The Last Will and Testament of Lieutenant-colonel John Lilburne). His wife and father petitioned for his release, and in Oct. 1655 he was brought back to England and lodged in Dover Castle (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1655, pp. 263, 556). Immediately after his return, he declared himself a convert to the tenets of the Quakers, and announced his conversion in a letter to his wife. General Fleetwood showed a copy of this letter to the Protector, who was at first inclined to regard it merely as a politic device to escape imprisonment. When Cromwell was convinced that Lilburne really intended to live peaceably, he released him from prison, and seems to have continued till his death the pension of 40s. a week allowed him for his maintenance during his imprisonment (The Resurrection of John Lilburne, now a prisoner in Dover Castle, 1656; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1656–7, p. 21). He died at Eltham on 29 Aug. 1657, and was buried at Moorfields, 'in the new churchyard adjoining to Bedlam' (Mercurius Politicus, 27 Aug.–3 Sept, 1657).
Lilburne married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Dewell. During his imprisonment in 1649 he lost two sons, but a daughter and other children survived him (Biographia
