made their appearance. But material to determine
the circumstances that produced them is lacking;
for the vigilance of the government made the old
democratic propaganda increasingly difficult. After
1650 the Levellers openly advanced their doctrines
only when Lilburne's private pursuits had brought
him into collision with the government on a matter
of principle. ¹

For a time after Lilburne's acquittal in 1649,
such a collision had seemed unlikely. Lilburne's
old friends had again thought him guilty of apostasy
because after his release he had kept on good terms
with the government. It is true that he had inter-
preted the oath of loyalty to the Commonwealth
as binding him to respect the old principles of the
English constitution, rather than the Rump or the
Council of State; ² but this gloss had done him no
more harm than to cause his ejectment from a seat
in the London common council to which he had
been elected in December of 1649. No further
ebullition had followed, and accordingly the Rump
under Cromwell's influence had shortly afterward
completed the payment of his claims. Being satis-
fied for the moment that Cromwell's aim was really
the freedom of England, Lilburne had received

-327-