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of Henry Walker in reply to certain scandalous pamphlets forged and vented abroad in his name (the 23rd of January 1643), and intended to be a reply to the Whole Life and sermon on Tobies dogges tayle.' Couched in a tone of injured innocence, and abounding in scriptural and classical quotation, it has such a lofty vein of assumed learning and piety that one has difficulty in recognising it as the work of the writer of Taylor's Physic. It starts with an Epistle dedicatorie ' in verse to God, the King and the People

Assure my conscience, Lord, I am Thy chosen.

And thou my Soveraigne, Charles all Europs splendor
Thine enemies terrour and true faiths defender.
Thy love preserv'd my life, not heathenish fate
In thy Majestick face, true Princely state
When malice plotted mischief everie heart
Thy clemency prevented all their power

That God which graced thee with a Royall Crowne
Crown thee with grace, thy Honours with renown

All you poore soules whose eares have been abused
With scandalous reports and eyes (!) traduced

With charmes of turbulent spirits, now take and view
This Declaration honest plain and true

Per Henry Walker, Cantab.

In it he denied that he was either a Brownist or Anabaptist, or that he threw the libel into the King's coach. Of the King's gracious favour,' he says, it'soared my affection so high, to love and honour him that could I lay down my life to do him service, I should think my death a blessed sacrifice.' It will be seen later on how he carried this protestation into effect. Of his past life he says that he was bred a scholar, taken from the school to the shop, and then went to Queens' College, Cambridge, and on a certificate from that college and from Archbishop Laud's chaplain had been ordained deacon by Bishop Williams of Lincoln (afterwards Archbishop of York). Presumably he had then fallen under ecclesiastical censure, and had entered into business as a bookseller and pamphleteer in London, with the results that I have described. He had no degree or academical distinction.

He

At the end of August 1642 the Great Rebellion began, and Walker found a new career as journalist on the side of the Parliament. did not begin to become prominent in the public view until the year 1647, when the success of the Parliament was assured, and the exposure he had already received at the hands of Taylor induced him to appear in public cautiously and to adopt a false name at first. This he did by forming an anagram out of his real name.

By splitting the w of his surname into its two component u's or v's (there was no difference between either letter at the time) he obtained an absolutely perfect anagram, being enabled to change Henry Walker into Luke Harruney.' The device was so successful

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that to this day his writings are catalogued under the two names. Perfect Occurrences of Every Daie Journall in Parliament and other Moderate Intelligence, collected by Lu. Harruney cleric, commenced to appear every Friday on the 8th of January 1647, and (under different titles) continued almost without a break until the middle of the year 1655. It consisted of two sheets (i.e. sixteen pages-sheet' in the modern sense, like 'newspaper,' is wholly inapplicable to the ancient newsbooks), and was the most important journal of its day. During the year 1647 it usually commenced with a few lines of sententious nonsense before starting its news, of which the following may be quoted as a sample:

'Princely sparkles have their luster from the diety [sic]. Where spots touch, they darken their splendour. The nearer the soule approacheth to its essence, the more glorious is its brightnesse. Many times a clear day succeeds a misty morning.' This of course is apropos of the negotiations then going on between the King and Parliament.

At the end of 1647 negotiations were broken off, the House of Commons resolving on the 3rd of January 1648 that they would not again address the King.

It may be safely asserted that it was now contemplated to put the King to death. For the contemplated murder (for such it was) there was could be-no shadow of legal justification. Nevertheless some sort of a case had to be prepared and precedents found, and they were discovered, oddly enough, in the writings of a famous Jesuit, Father Robert Parsons, or Persons as he seems to have spelt his name.

Father Parsons was a brilliant controversialist and a writer of excellent English (in the days of Queen Elizabeth), but a political intriguer also. In 1594 he had published A Conference about the next succession to the Crown of England, under the pseudonym of Doleman. Few people nowadays would be disposed to question the arguments or conclusions of his book, which consisted mainly of a learned historical and legal argument proving the right of the people to alter the succession. His object was to support the claim to the throne of England of the Infanta of Spain on the death of Elizabeth. The book was received by the vast majority of English Catholics with dismay, and there is no doubt caused them much additional suffering and persecution. Parliament even made it high treason for a copy of the book to be found in a house.

The reasons and historical instances which had so skilfully proved the right to alter the succession might, with very little manipulation,

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2 A Motion Propounded to the Committee of Parliament for Redresse of the Publique Grievances (15th of January 1648), By Neh. Lawkerry,' is another anagram. It is more than probable that the whole of the pamphlets published by Ibbitson without an author's name are his: e.g. Captain Burley, his Speech, an

untruthful account of his execution.

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be also used to prove the right of the people to punish. But the arguments of a hated Catholic and Jesuit to boot could never be acknowledged. So that, on the 3rd of February 1648, an effective piracy of Father Parson's book appeared under the title of Severall speeches at a Conference concerning the power of Parliament to proceed against their King for mis-government. No author's name was appended to this, and of course no acknowledgment of the source from which it was taken. One of the subheadings pointed out how kings had been lawfully chastised by their Parliaments and Commonwealths, and another, The lawfulnesse of proceeding against Princes ... how oaths do binde or may be broken by subjects.' It is to be noted that this book appeared nearly three months before the famous three days 'prayer' meeting at Windsor, at which it was decided by the army officers to bring the King' to an account' on their return. Some one knew what was going to happen. For this piece of literary forgery Henry Walker was responsible, receiving, as Anthony à Wood says, the sum of 301. for his labours. He therefore showed his gratitude to his Sovereign for preserving his life by taking the initiatory step which resulted in that Sovereign's death a year later. Walker's book was largely quoted by Bradshaw at the so-called trial.3

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On the 7th of April 1648 Walker commenced a series of absurd anagrams in his Perfect Occurrences. He was still publishing his newsbook under the pseudonym of Luke Harruney Cleric,' and apparently had been studying Hebrew, for one of the Royalist journals tells us that Rabby Bungy pott lecturer for the Hebrew at London House' was his teacher or confederate. Parliament was about to decree new articles of religion (on the 20th of June 1648), and No. 8 of Chap. I. of these articles ran as follows: The Old Testament in Hebrew . . . and the New Testament in Greek . . . being immediately inspired by God and by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages are therefore authenticall.' This decree was the cause of a study of Hebrew which bade fair to beat even the great Puritan cult of astrology from the field, and Walker now gave his readers a weekly Hebrew anagram of some leader's name. On the day in question he started his newsbook with

The great question is, What will the Parliament doe with the King? Nothing yet resolved here. What is from Scotland you shall have in due place. Charles Stuart 1648 in Hebrew written thus:

כוהלוש צור אט אם מה(ח)

Which is in English as followeth :

He hath digged forth. He hath made soft, a Rocke (easily). Though he was removed.

'Walker advertised a translation of Junius Brutus' Vindiciae contra Tyrannos on the 25th of February (Perfect Occurrences), ' a peece suitable for the times.'

This, in its obscurity, is quite equal to some of the astrologer Lilly's vaticinations on the same subject.

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His next number gave Fairfax's name in Hebrew characters, with the translation His integrity hath broken the wild asse.' 'Scot,' he said on the 21st of July, was in Hebrew a scourge.' France, on the 22nd of September, a revenging,' and so on ad nauseam. The device thus set on foot proved so successful that a rival cleric,' Border, author of The Kingdomes Faithfull and Impartiall Scout, imitated him with a word of Greek every week; piλapyvpía,' says Border (on the 4th of May) in English is translated The love of money. Let us take comfort in what our own land affords, which is better than the Indian silver, or the Guinny gold.' A third quack, author of Continued Heads of Perfect Passages, the Old and New Testaments being thus taken up, had to content himself with a scrap of Anglo-Saxon every week, printed in black letter. This gave it all the outer appearance of the prophecies' (Mother Shipton's, Saltmarsh's '—the 'White King and dreadful dead man,' &c.), so rife at the time.

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In the meantime Perfect Occurrences sometimes professed to be collected by Henry Walker cleric.' On the 30th of June 1648 the House of Lords granted him a special license to print his Occurrences every Friday. Up to this time the Presbyterians had been in power, and had been the party with which Walker identified himself. Now, however, the Brownists or Independents began to rule, and Walker accordingly turned his coat. A quarrel with the licenser, Gilbert Mabbott (who was eventually discharged as a Leveller), followed, and Walker obtained permission to be his own licenser from the House of Lords. So that the numbers of Perfect Occurrences at this time (e.g. the 27th of October 1648) actually professed to be 'Collected by Henry Walker, cleric. Published by a particular order of Parliament' (i.e. licensed by) Luke Harruney cleric.' But on the 16th of January 1649 the Lords (apparently having discovered this or objecting to Walker's change of religion) suspended their order, and Walker (the Lords soon after ceasing to exist) found a licenser for the time in Henry Whalley, the Advocate-General of the Army. Public interest in the newsbooks soon after began to flag, and Walker, finding the competition of The Kingdomes Faithfull and Impartiall Scout (which appeared on the same day as his own newsbook) inconvenient, suc ceeded in inducing the then licenser, Theodore Jennings, to prohibit that journal's appearance (it was Presbyterian in tone) on that day.

On the 15th of June the Scout, to the huge glee of the Royalist newsbooks, appeared with an exposure of Walker: 'the said Walkers Occurrences are stuft up with abundance of fallacious passages etc., and he formerly was ashamed to subscribe his name thereunto, but instead thereof gave it this badge or Cloak to cover his knavery

collected by Luke Harruney cleric . . . he is not H. Walker cleric, but Henry Walker the quondam ironmonger.'

The result of this denunciation was that Wood-the publisher of the Scout-had to write the next number himself and publish it in defiance of the licenser, D. Border cleric, the author' having been frightened out of the field.

Perfect Occurrences for the 22nd of June contained the following breathlessly illiterate note at the end :

I desire all people to take notice that I denie to give any authority to a Pamphlet called the Kingdomes Weekly Scout because the Commonwealth hath been so extremely abused by it by Rob. Wood of Grub Street who contrives false inventions at an ale house (!) to adde to it what he fancies as news after Mr. Border the author hath write it and the Licenser perused it, and thus he hath abused the Judges advocate and my selfe and the Commonwealth, and the authour who did it formerly doth now disclaim it refusing any more to write it for him and if he be so impudent as still to publish it I desire all those whom it concerns to suppress it that the people may not be cheated by it. Imprimatur, THEO. JENNINGS.

Nothing daunted, Wood wrote his newsbook himself, and on the 29th of June replied as follows:

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that invective apostate Luke Harruney alias Henry Walker who (to accomplish his own self interests and by ends) takes upon him the impudence to carry on his design with the Lord President and Counsell of State under this notion or shadow That this sheete takes its derivation from the sinewes of malignancy.' In consideration whereof I here make my appeal to all rationall and judiciall men freely laying myself open to their favourable construction there being not anything contained therein destructive or prejudiciall to the present Government or authority. Therefore Sirrah know that a'though I cannot nor will not lye by thee, yet I am resolved to live and stand near thee and instead of draining out such an unsavoury and poysoned fountain at Westmin.-thy present habitation-[Walker lived at the Fountain,' King Street, Westminster] or going to Hell and purgatory (thy future and meritorious sanctuary) I shall apply myself to such members of the army, from whence proceeds the most true and certain intelligence, and know that if thou dost not speedily desist from thy selfish and base actions I shall present unto thee an object of terrour and repentance and deprive thee of Dick Brandon's place, the late Hang-man which thou hast so earnestly importuned and solicited for to bestow upon a friend of thy own, provided thou mayst have half shares with him in all the dayes of his execution. O Pure Villain. Hast thou not had trades enough already, but thou must still claim interest in one more? Is it not apparent that thou hast been a decayed ironmonger, a petty-fogging bookseller, a fantasticall Hackler, a schismatical conventicler, and a most impudent lying and deceitful newsmonger both against State and Commonwealth ?

He then sets out his petition to Bradshaw. In the result he gained his desire, but Walker was allowed to publish another newsbook on Tuesdays in addition to his Friday's newsbook, which was reduced to half its size.

Henceforth Walker was the butt of all the Royalist newsbooks (published in defiance of both Parliament and the licensers). Carret

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