68:1The full title reads—“The New Law of Righteousness: Budding forth to restore the whole Creation from the Bondage or the Curse. Or a glympse of the new Heaven and the new Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness. Giving an Alarm to silence all that preach or speak from hearsay or imagination.” This pamphlet is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum or in any other of the London Public Libraries, nor in the Bodleian. The Jesus College Library, Oxford, however, is fortunate enough to possess a copy, which, to judge from its marginal notes, was once in the possession of one of Winstanley’s followers or admirers, and which was courteously placed at our disposal by the librarian, Mr. Hazell, to whom we here desire to convey our grateful acknowledgement.71:1See his chapter “Of Property” in his classical work onCivil Government, a chapter which, as the conservative Hallam observes, “would be sufficient, if all Locke’s other writings had perished, to leave him a high name in philosophy.”71:2For a short account of the writings of Thomas Spence and Patrick Edward Dove, see J. Morrison Davidson’sFour Precursors of Henry George. (Publisher, F. Henderson, London.)71:3See hisAgrarian Justice.74:1“As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his property.”—John Locke,Civil Government. (Of Property.)78:1“Fire in the Bush: The Spirit burning, not consuming, but purging mankind.” Published by Giles Calvert. This pamphlet, too, is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum, but a copy is to be found in the Bodleian Library.
68:1The full title reads—“The New Law of Righteousness: Budding forth to restore the whole Creation from the Bondage or the Curse. Or a glympse of the new Heaven and the new Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness. Giving an Alarm to silence all that preach or speak from hearsay or imagination.” This pamphlet is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum or in any other of the London Public Libraries, nor in the Bodleian. The Jesus College Library, Oxford, however, is fortunate enough to possess a copy, which, to judge from its marginal notes, was once in the possession of one of Winstanley’s followers or admirers, and which was courteously placed at our disposal by the librarian, Mr. Hazell, to whom we here desire to convey our grateful acknowledgement.
68:1The full title reads—“The New Law of Righteousness: Budding forth to restore the whole Creation from the Bondage or the Curse. Or a glympse of the new Heaven and the new Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness. Giving an Alarm to silence all that preach or speak from hearsay or imagination.” This pamphlet is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum or in any other of the London Public Libraries, nor in the Bodleian. The Jesus College Library, Oxford, however, is fortunate enough to possess a copy, which, to judge from its marginal notes, was once in the possession of one of Winstanley’s followers or admirers, and which was courteously placed at our disposal by the librarian, Mr. Hazell, to whom we here desire to convey our grateful acknowledgement.
71:1See his chapter “Of Property” in his classical work onCivil Government, a chapter which, as the conservative Hallam observes, “would be sufficient, if all Locke’s other writings had perished, to leave him a high name in philosophy.”
71:1See his chapter “Of Property” in his classical work onCivil Government, a chapter which, as the conservative Hallam observes, “would be sufficient, if all Locke’s other writings had perished, to leave him a high name in philosophy.”
71:2For a short account of the writings of Thomas Spence and Patrick Edward Dove, see J. Morrison Davidson’sFour Precursors of Henry George. (Publisher, F. Henderson, London.)
71:2For a short account of the writings of Thomas Spence and Patrick Edward Dove, see J. Morrison Davidson’sFour Precursors of Henry George. (Publisher, F. Henderson, London.)
71:3See hisAgrarian Justice.
71:3See hisAgrarian Justice.
74:1“As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his property.”—John Locke,Civil Government. (Of Property.)
74:1“As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his property.”—John Locke,Civil Government. (Of Property.)
78:1“Fire in the Bush: The Spirit burning, not consuming, but purging mankind.” Published by Giles Calvert. This pamphlet, too, is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum, but a copy is to be found in the Bodleian Library.
78:1“Fire in the Bush: The Spirit burning, not consuming, but purging mankind.” Published by Giles Calvert. This pamphlet, too, is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum, but a copy is to be found in the Bodleian Library.
“O England, England! wouldst thou have thy government sound and healthful? Then cast about and see and search diligently to find out all those burthens that came in by Kings, and remove them; and then will thy Commonwealth’s Government arise from under the clods under which as yet it is buried and covered with deformity.”—Winstanley,The Law of Freedom.
“O England, England! wouldst thou have thy government sound and healthful? Then cast about and see and search diligently to find out all those burthens that came in by Kings, and remove them; and then will thy Commonwealth’s Government arise from under the clods under which as yet it is buried and covered with deformity.”—Winstanley,The Law of Freedom.
The place in the country to which our hero had retired was, we believe, the little town of Colnbrook, in the extreme southern end of the county of Buckinghamshire, on the borders of Middlesex, and within seven miles of St. George’s Hill in Surrey. On December 5th, 1648, about a month prior to the date attached to the opening epistle ofThe New Law of Righteousness, there issued from the press a short pamphlet,79:1which, seeing that a second edition was printed the following March, appears to have had a considerable sale, and the title-page of which ran as follows:
“LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:ORA Discovery of the Main Ground, Original Cause of all the Slavery in the World, but chiefly in England. Presented by way of a Declaration of many of the Well-Affected in that County, to all their poor oppressed Countrymen of England. And also to the consideration of the present Army under the conduct of the Lord Fairfax.Arise, O God, judge thou the Earth.Printed in the year 1648.”
“LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:
OR
A Discovery of the Main Ground, Original Cause of all the Slavery in the World, but chiefly in England. Presented by way of a Declaration of many of the Well-Affected in that County, to all their poor oppressed Countrymen of England. And also to the consideration of the present Army under the conduct of the Lord Fairfax.
Arise, O God, judge thou the Earth.
Printed in the year 1648.”
It opens as follows:
“Jehovah Ellohim created man after his own likeness and image, which image is his son Jesus (Heb. 1. v. 3), who is the image of the invisible God. Now man being made after God’s image or likeness, and created by the word of God, which word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, which word was life, and that life the light of man (John 1. v. 1-4). This light I take to be that pure Spirit in man we call Reason, which we call Conscience. From all which there issued out that Golden Rule or Law, which we call Equity: the sum of which is, saith Jesus,Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do to them: this is the Law and the Prophets.James calls it the Royal Law; and to live from this principle is called a good conscience.”
“Jehovah Ellohim created man after his own likeness and image, which image is his son Jesus (Heb. 1. v. 3), who is the image of the invisible God. Now man being made after God’s image or likeness, and created by the word of God, which word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, which word was life, and that life the light of man (John 1. v. 1-4). This light I take to be that pure Spirit in man we call Reason, which we call Conscience. From all which there issued out that Golden Rule or Law, which we call Equity: the sum of which is, saith Jesus,Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do to them: this is the Law and the Prophets.James calls it the Royal Law; and to live from this principle is called a good conscience.”
It then points out the cause why men are disinclined to follow this sound principle of harmonious social union, and the consequences thereof, as manifested in the prevailing conditions, in the following words:
“But man following his own sensuality became a devourer of the creatures and an encloser, not content that another should enjoy the same privilege as himself, but encloseth all from his brother; so that all the land, trees, beasts, fish, fowl, etc., are enclosed into a few mercenary hands, and all the rest deprived and made their slaves. So if they cut a tree for fire, they are to be punished, or hunt a fowl, it is imprisonment, because it is gentlemen’s game, as they say. Neither must they keep cattle, or set up a house, all ground being enclosed, without hiring leave for the one or buying room for the other of the chief encloser, called the Lord of the Manor, or some other wretch as cruel as he.... Now all this slavery of the one and tyranny of the other was at first by murder and cruelty one against the other. And that they might strengthen themselves in their villany against God’s Ordinances and their Brother’s Freedom and Rights, they had always a Commander-in-Chief, and he became their King.”
“But man following his own sensuality became a devourer of the creatures and an encloser, not content that another should enjoy the same privilege as himself, but encloseth all from his brother; so that all the land, trees, beasts, fish, fowl, etc., are enclosed into a few mercenary hands, and all the rest deprived and made their slaves. So if they cut a tree for fire, they are to be punished, or hunt a fowl, it is imprisonment, because it is gentlemen’s game, as they say. Neither must they keep cattle, or set up a house, all ground being enclosed, without hiring leave for the one or buying room for the other of the chief encloser, called the Lord of the Manor, or some other wretch as cruel as he.... Now all this slavery of the one and tyranny of the other was at first by murder and cruelty one against the other. And that they might strengthen themselves in their villany against God’s Ordinances and their Brother’s Freedom and Rights, they had always a Commander-in-Chief, and he became their King.”
After emphasising at some length that all special privileges of the few and disabilities of the many came in and are maintained by kings, it continues:
“So that observe the king is made by you your god on Earth, as God is the God of Heaven, saith the Lawyers.... Now, Friends, what have we to do with any of these unfruitful works of darkness? Let us take Peter’s advice (1 Pet. iv. 3)—The time past of our lives may suffice that we have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lascivious lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetting, and abominable idolatry.And let us not receive the Beast’s mark lest that the doom in Revelation (xiv. 9-10) befall us: but let us oppose the Beast’s power, and follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.”
“So that observe the king is made by you your god on Earth, as God is the God of Heaven, saith the Lawyers.... Now, Friends, what have we to do with any of these unfruitful works of darkness? Let us take Peter’s advice (1 Pet. iv. 3)—The time past of our lives may suffice that we have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lascivious lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetting, and abominable idolatry.And let us not receive the Beast’s mark lest that the doom in Revelation (xiv. 9-10) befall us: but let us oppose the Beast’s power, and follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.”
The pamphlet then dwells on the chief causes impelling “wicked men,” the privileged classes and their parasites, to stand up for a king:
“Rich men cry for a king, so that the Poor should not claim his right, which is his by God’s gift.“The horseleech Lawyer cries for a king, because else the supreme power will come into the People’s representatives lawfully elected....“The things, Lords, Barons, etc., cry for a king, else their tyrannical House of Peers falls down, and all their rotten honour, and all Patents and Corporations: their power being derived from him; if he go down, all their tyranny falls too.”
“Rich men cry for a king, so that the Poor should not claim his right, which is his by God’s gift.
“The horseleech Lawyer cries for a king, because else the supreme power will come into the People’s representatives lawfully elected....
“The things, Lords, Barons, etc., cry for a king, else their tyrannical House of Peers falls down, and all their rotten honour, and all Patents and Corporations: their power being derived from him; if he go down, all their tyranny falls too.”
But now, it continues:
“The honest man that would have liberty cries down all interests [or special privileges, as they would be termed to-day] whatsoever; and to this end he desires Common Rights and Equity: which consist of these particulars following:“1. A just portion for each man to live, that so none need to beg or steal for want, but everyone may live comfortably.“2. A just Rule for each man to go by, which Rule is to be found in Scripture.“3. All men alike under the said Rule, which Rule is, to do to one another as another should do to him....“4. The government to be by Judges, called Elders, men fearing God and hating Covetousness, to be chosen by the people, and to end all controversies in every town or hamlet, without any other or further trouble or charge.”
“The honest man that would have liberty cries down all interests [or special privileges, as they would be termed to-day] whatsoever; and to this end he desires Common Rights and Equity: which consist of these particulars following:
“1. A just portion for each man to live, that so none need to beg or steal for want, but everyone may live comfortably.
“2. A just Rule for each man to go by, which Rule is to be found in Scripture.
“3. All men alike under the said Rule, which Rule is, to do to one another as another should do to him....
“4. The government to be by Judges, called Elders, men fearing God and hating Covetousness, to be chosen by the people, and to end all controversies in every town or hamlet, without any other or further trouble or charge.”
These, then, were the four points of the People’s Charterof 1648; the four fundamental reforms which Winstanley, if Winstanley be the author of this pamphlet, as we believe, deemed necessary to secure the peace and well-being of the masses of the people. The pamphlet then indicates where the people are to look for their model, in the following words:
“And in the Scriptures the Israelite’s Common-wealth is an excellent pattern.... Now in Israel if a man were poor, then a public maintenance and stock were to be provided to raise him again. So would all Bishops Lands, Forest Lands, and Crown Lands do in your Land, which the apostate Parliament men give one to another, and to maintain the needless thing called a king. And every seven years the whole Land was for the poor, the fatherless, widows, and strangers, and at every crop a portion allowed them.“Mark this, poor people, what the Levellers would do for you. Oh why are you so mad as to cry up a king? It is he and his Court and Patentee-men, as Majors Aldermen, and such creatures, that like cormorants devour what you should enjoy, and set up Whipping-posts and Correcting-houses to enslave you. ’Tis rich men that oppress you, saith James.“Now in this right Common-wealth he that had least had no want. Therefore the Scriptures call them a Family or Household of Israel. And amongst those who received the Gospel, they were gathered into a Family, and had all things common (Acts 2. 44); yet so that each one was to labor and get his own bread. And this is Equity as aforesaid. For it is not lawful nor fit for some to work and the others to play; for it’s God’s command that all work, let all eat. And if all work alike, is it not fit for all to eat alike, have alike, and enjoy alike privileges and freedoms? And he that doth not like this, is not fit to live in a Common-wealth. Therefore weep and howl, ye rich men, by what vain name or title soever, God will visit you for all your oppressions. You live upon other men’s labors, giving them bran to eat, extorting extreme rents and taxes from your fellow-creatures. But now what will you do? for the people will no longer be enslaved by you, for the knowledge of the Lord shall enlighten them.”
“And in the Scriptures the Israelite’s Common-wealth is an excellent pattern.... Now in Israel if a man were poor, then a public maintenance and stock were to be provided to raise him again. So would all Bishops Lands, Forest Lands, and Crown Lands do in your Land, which the apostate Parliament men give one to another, and to maintain the needless thing called a king. And every seven years the whole Land was for the poor, the fatherless, widows, and strangers, and at every crop a portion allowed them.
“Mark this, poor people, what the Levellers would do for you. Oh why are you so mad as to cry up a king? It is he and his Court and Patentee-men, as Majors Aldermen, and such creatures, that like cormorants devour what you should enjoy, and set up Whipping-posts and Correcting-houses to enslave you. ’Tis rich men that oppress you, saith James.
“Now in this right Common-wealth he that had least had no want. Therefore the Scriptures call them a Family or Household of Israel. And amongst those who received the Gospel, they were gathered into a Family, and had all things common (Acts 2. 44); yet so that each one was to labor and get his own bread. And this is Equity as aforesaid. For it is not lawful nor fit for some to work and the others to play; for it’s God’s command that all work, let all eat. And if all work alike, is it not fit for all to eat alike, have alike, and enjoy alike privileges and freedoms? And he that doth not like this, is not fit to live in a Common-wealth. Therefore weep and howl, ye rich men, by what vain name or title soever, God will visit you for all your oppressions. You live upon other men’s labors, giving them bran to eat, extorting extreme rents and taxes from your fellow-creatures. But now what will you do? for the people will no longer be enslaved by you, for the knowledge of the Lord shall enlighten them.”
The pamphlet then details the doings of William the Conqueror, contends that the Nobility and Gentry owe all their special privileges to his innovations, that “their risewas the Country’s ruin, and the putting them down will be the restitution of our rights again.” The very existence of Parliaments is attributed to the uprisings of their forefathers; and after emphasising the manner in which all power was still secured to the King and the House of Peers, it concludes with the following exhortation: “So when all Israel saw that the King hearkened not unto them, the people answered the King, saying, What portion have we in David; neither have we inheritance in the Son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel.”
Within a few days of the publication of the second edition of the above pamphlet, its author was ready with the second part, which appeared on March 30th (1649), and was entitled:
“MORE LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:83:1Being a Declaration of the State and Condition that all Men are in by Right. Likewise the Slavery all the World are in by their own kind, and this Nation in particular, and by whom. Likewise the Remedies, as Take away the Cause and the Effect will cease.Being a Representation unto all the People of England,and to the soldiery under the Lord General Fairfax.THE SECOND PART.‘Whatsoever doth manifest, is Light.’—Eph. v. 13.”
“MORE LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:83:1
Being a Declaration of the State and Condition that all Men are in by Right. Likewise the Slavery all the World are in by their own kind, and this Nation in particular, and by whom. Likewise the Remedies, as Take away the Cause and the Effect will cease.
Being a Representation unto all the People of England,and to the soldiery under the Lord General Fairfax.
THE SECOND PART.
‘Whatsoever doth manifest, is Light.’—Eph. v. 13.”
As this pamphlet covers much the same ground as the former, our notice of it will be but brief. After emphasising the importance of the observance of the Golden Rule, it declares that “All men by God’s donation are alike free by birth, and have alike privileges by virtue of His grant.” “So that for any to enclose the creation wholly from his kind, to his own use, to the impoverishment of his fellow-creatures, whereby they are made his slaves, is altogether unlawful. And it is the cause of all oppressions, whereby many thousands are deprived of their rights which God hath invested them withal, whereby they are forced to beg or steal for want.” It then details the various means taken tothis end, and declares them, as well as the kingly power which its author holds, to be their source and origin, to be opposed to the direct command of God as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. Hence it denounces the oppressing privileged classes as “rebels against God’s commands,” and as “traitors against God’s Annointed, Jesus Christ, who alone is Lord and King over men, and all men are equal.” The writer contends that with the fall of the King, all the special privileges, grants, patents, monopolies, etc., created by him, should have fallen also. But since “it is apparent that the Grandees of the Parliament intend still to uphold them, and to take a large share thereof unto themselves,” he finds himself forced to appeal “to all our dear Brethren in England and to the Soldiers in the Army to stand everyone in his place to oppose all Tyranny whatsoever and by whomsoever intended against us.”
At the foot of this pamphlet we find the following notice: “Reader, You may expect in the Third Part to have an Anatomising of all Powers that now are, etc. And in the Fourth Part, the Grounds and Rules that all men are to go by. Farewell.” Whether these notices refer to some of Winstanley’s pamphlets, the second seems to point toThe New Law of Righteousness, or not, we have no means of knowing. Nor, indeed, whether the above pamphlets were from his pen, though we strongly believe them to have been so. In any case they seem to us to have sufficient bearing on the Digger Movement to justify our noticing them here.
Some six weeks later, on May 10th, yet another pamphlet appeared from the same part of the country, entitled:
“A DECLARATION OF THE WELL-AFFECTED IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:84:1Being a Representation of the Middle Sort of Men within the three Chilterne Hundreds of Disborough, Burnum and Stoke, and part of Ailsbury Hundred, whereby they declare their Resolution and Intentions, with a Removal of their Grievances.”
“A DECLARATION OF THE WELL-AFFECTED IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:84:1
Being a Representation of the Middle Sort of Men within the three Chilterne Hundreds of Disborough, Burnum and Stoke, and part of Ailsbury Hundred, whereby they declare their Resolution and Intentions, with a Removal of their Grievances.”
This is a very short pamphlet, of some seven pages, in which these “Middle Sort of Men” state that they had waited for eight years for redress of their grievances, but finding them still continue, and expecting little good from the Parliament and the Grandees of the Army, “finding the Grandees of the Army to be the men that hinder both the honest soldiery that stand for absolute freedom, and doth imprison and put them to death that are for Just Principles of Common Right and Equity, so that those honest men are by those proud Commanders persecuted by the name of Levellers....”85:1
“Therefore we declare our intentions that the World may take notice of our principles, which are for Common Right and Freedom. And therefore—“1. We do protest against all Arbitrary Courts, Terms, Lawyers, Impropriators, Lords of Manors, Patents, Privileges, Customs, Tolls, Monopolisers, Incroachers, Enhancers, etc., or any other interest-parties, whose powers are arbitrary, etc., as not to allow or suffer ourselves to be inslaved by any of those parties, but shall resist, as far as lawfully we can, all their Arbitrary Proceedings.“2. We protest against the whole Norman Power, as being too intolerable a burden any longer to bear.“3. We protest against paying Tythes, Tolls, Customs, etc.“4 We protest against any coming to Westminster Terms, or to give any money to the Lawyers, but will endeavour to have all our Controversies ended by 2, 3 or 12 men of our own neighborhood, as before the Norman Conquest.“5. We protest against any trial by a Martial Court as arbitrary, tyrannical and wicked, and not for a Free People to suffer in times of peace.“6. We shall help to aid and assist the Poor to the regaining all their Rights, dues, etc., that do belong unto them, and are detained from them by any Tyrant whatsoever.“7. And likewise will further and help the said Poor to manure, dig, etc., the said Commons, and to sell those woods growing thereon to help them to a stock, etc.“8. All well affected persons that joyn in Community in God’s way, as those Acts 2. v. 44, and desire to manure, dig and plant in the waste grounds and commons, shall not be troubled or molested by any of us, but rather furthered therein.“We desire to go by the Golden Rule of Equity, viz., To do to all men as we would they should do to us, and no otherwise: and as we would tyrannise over none, so we shall not suffer ourselves to be slaves to any whosoever.”
“Therefore we declare our intentions that the World may take notice of our principles, which are for Common Right and Freedom. And therefore—
“1. We do protest against all Arbitrary Courts, Terms, Lawyers, Impropriators, Lords of Manors, Patents, Privileges, Customs, Tolls, Monopolisers, Incroachers, Enhancers, etc., or any other interest-parties, whose powers are arbitrary, etc., as not to allow or suffer ourselves to be inslaved by any of those parties, but shall resist, as far as lawfully we can, all their Arbitrary Proceedings.
“2. We protest against the whole Norman Power, as being too intolerable a burden any longer to bear.
“3. We protest against paying Tythes, Tolls, Customs, etc.
“4 We protest against any coming to Westminster Terms, or to give any money to the Lawyers, but will endeavour to have all our Controversies ended by 2, 3 or 12 men of our own neighborhood, as before the Norman Conquest.
“5. We protest against any trial by a Martial Court as arbitrary, tyrannical and wicked, and not for a Free People to suffer in times of peace.
“6. We shall help to aid and assist the Poor to the regaining all their Rights, dues, etc., that do belong unto them, and are detained from them by any Tyrant whatsoever.
“7. And likewise will further and help the said Poor to manure, dig, etc., the said Commons, and to sell those woods growing thereon to help them to a stock, etc.
“8. All well affected persons that joyn in Community in God’s way, as those Acts 2. v. 44, and desire to manure, dig and plant in the waste grounds and commons, shall not be troubled or molested by any of us, but rather furthered therein.
“We desire to go by the Golden Rule of Equity, viz., To do to all men as we would they should do to us, and no otherwise: and as we would tyrannise over none, so we shall not suffer ourselves to be slaves to any whosoever.”
That such views were not restricted to “the Levellers” may be inferred from the very similar demands made in “A Petition of the Officers engaged for Ireland,” and presented to the House of Commons in July of the same year (see Whitelocke, p. 413), from which we take the following: “That proceedings in law may be in English, cheap, certain, etc., and all suits and differences first to be arbitrated by three neighbours, and if they cannot determine it, then to certify the Court.” They also “humbly pray”—“That Tithes may be taken away, and Two Shillings in the Pound paid for all lands, out of which the Ministers to be maintained and the Poor.” This, we should think, was the first petition to the House of Commons in favour of the Taxation of Land Values.
In fact, religious and political speculation, as well as dissatisfaction and discontent, were rife amongst the active and thoughtful of the people, as well as in the Army. On the 17th of the previous month, some of the soldiers, who,according to Gardiner,87:1“had resolved not to leave England till the demands of the Levellers [the political Levellers] had been granted—300 in Hewson’s regiment alone,” had refused to go to Ireland, and had been promptly cashiered. On April 24th a dispute about pay in one of the troops of Whalley’s regiment had resulted “in some thirty of the soldiers seizing the colours and refusing to leave their quarters.” It was not till Cromwell and Fairfax appeared on the scene that they submitted. Fifteen of their number were carried to Whitehall, where, on the 26th, a Court-martial condemned six of them to death. “Cromwell, however, pleaded for mercy, and in the end all were pardoned with the exception of Robert Lockyer, who was believed to have been their leader.” Lockyer, Gardiner continues, “though young in years, had fought gallantly through the whole of the war. He was a thoughtful, religious man, beloved by his comrades, who craved for the immediate establishment of liberty and democratic order. As such he had stood up forThe Agreement of the Peopleon Corkbush Field,” when another trooper of a similar character, named Arnold, had been shot to death, “and he now entertained against his commanding officers a prejudice arising from other sources than the mere dispute about pay, which influenced natures less noble than his own.... On the 27th, Lockyer, firmly believing himself to be a martyr to the cause of right and justice, was led up Ludgate Hill to the open space in front of St. Paul’s, and there, after expostulating with the firing party for their obedience to their officers in a deed of murder, he was shot to death.”
Lockyer’s funeral took place on the 29th, and was the occasion of a remarkable demonstration, of which we take the following account from the pages of Whitelocke’sMemorial of English Affairs(p. 399):
“Mr. Lockier a Trooper who was shot to death by Sentence of the Court Martial was buried in this manner. About one thousand went before the Corps, and five or six in a file, the Corps was then brought with six Trumpets sounding a Soldier’s Knell, then the Trooper’s Horse came clothed all over inmourning and led by a Footman. The Corps was adorned with bundles of Rosemary, one half stained with blood, and the Sword of the deceased with them. Some thousands followed in Ranks and Files, all had Sea-green and black Ribbon tied on their Hats and to their Breasts, and the Women brought up the Rear. At the new Church Yard in Westminster some thousands more of the better sort met them, who thought not fit to march through the City. Many looked on this Funeral as an Affront to the Parliament and Army; others called them Levellers, but they took no notice of any of them.”
“Mr. Lockier a Trooper who was shot to death by Sentence of the Court Martial was buried in this manner. About one thousand went before the Corps, and five or six in a file, the Corps was then brought with six Trumpets sounding a Soldier’s Knell, then the Trooper’s Horse came clothed all over inmourning and led by a Footman. The Corps was adorned with bundles of Rosemary, one half stained with blood, and the Sword of the deceased with them. Some thousands followed in Ranks and Files, all had Sea-green and black Ribbon tied on their Hats and to their Breasts, and the Women brought up the Rear. At the new Church Yard in Westminster some thousands more of the better sort met them, who thought not fit to march through the City. Many looked on this Funeral as an Affront to the Parliament and Army; others called them Levellers, but they took no notice of any of them.”
In view of such a manifestation of the state of public opinion, we cannot be surprised that Winstanley’s eloquent and impressive appeals awoke a responsive echo in the minds of many who would have shrunk from following his example, or even from publicly avowing his creed. Moreover, the miserable condition of the masses of the agricultural population, of which we shall give some startling evidence later on, must have prepared a soil favourable to his self-imposed mission, to awaken them to a knowledge both of their rights and of their duties. Especially welcome must have been doctrines in accordance with their simple religious beliefs, as well as with their ancient and well-founded traditions of certain inalienable rights to the use of the land: rights that, as they well knew, had been filched from them under cover of laws they had no voice in making, which they did not understand, and which were enforced upon them by the power of the sword and gallows. We must remember, however, that though the landholders had succeeded in impoverishing, they had not yet succeeded in degrading the people; some remnant of the old English spirit was still left, and the Civil War had re-awakened the old English craving for freedom, liberty, and equity. The landholders, in their attempt to emancipate themselves from the control of the Crown, had kindled a fire amongst the people before which they quailed; small wonder, then, that about this time they began to wish, to intrigue and to struggle for the re-establishment of the Monarchy. From the time of Henry the Eighth the condition of the English labourers had steadily worsened; it was left to the landholders after theRestoration to complete their enslavement and degradation. When considering Winstanley’s or any other similar doctrines, the student would do well to bear in mind Professor Thorold Rogers’ conclusions,89:1—conclusions arrived at after a lifelong study of the question,—that—“I contend that from 1563 to 1824, a conspiracy, concocted by the law and carried out by parties interested in its success, was entered into, to cheat the English workmen of his wages, to tie him to the soil, to deprive him of hope, and to degrade him into irremediable poverty.” Or, as he elsewhere expresses it89:2—“For more than two centuries and a half the English law, and those who administered the law, were engaged in grinding down the English workman to the lowest pittance, in stamping out every expression or act which indicated any organised discontent, and in multiplying penalties upon him when he thought of his natural rights.”
79:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark E 475 (11).83:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 548 (33).84:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 555.85:1About this time, or a little later, there appeared in London an interesting manifesto from some of the disbanded soldiers, the copy of which in the British Museum (Press Mark, 4152. b.b. 109) bears no date, but is addressed as follows: “To the Generals and Captains, Officers and Soldiers of this present Army. The Just and Equal Appeal, and the state of the Innocent Cause of us, who have been turned out of your Army for the exercise of our pure Consciences, who are now persecuted amongst our Brethren under the name of Quakers.” Wherein they declare that “The first cause and ground of our engagement in the late wars against the Bishops and Prelates, and against Kings and Lords, and the whole body of oppressors: our first engagement, we say, against these was justly and truly upon that account of purchasing and obtaining Liberties in Civil Rights, and also in matters of Conscience in the exercise of the worship of God.... And we can safely say that the Liberty of Conscience and the True Freedom of the Nations from all their oppressions was the mark at which we aimed, and the harbour for which we hoped and the rest proposed in our minds as the absolute end of our long and weary travel.”87:1History of the Protectorate, vol. i. pp. 50, 51.89:1Six Centuries of Work and Wages, p. 398.89:2Socialism and Land.Essay in a Quarterly Review,Subjects of the Day, part ii. p. 52.
79:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark E 475 (11).
79:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark E 475 (11).
83:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 548 (33).
83:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 548 (33).
84:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 555.
84:1King’s Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 555.
85:1About this time, or a little later, there appeared in London an interesting manifesto from some of the disbanded soldiers, the copy of which in the British Museum (Press Mark, 4152. b.b. 109) bears no date, but is addressed as follows: “To the Generals and Captains, Officers and Soldiers of this present Army. The Just and Equal Appeal, and the state of the Innocent Cause of us, who have been turned out of your Army for the exercise of our pure Consciences, who are now persecuted amongst our Brethren under the name of Quakers.” Wherein they declare that “The first cause and ground of our engagement in the late wars against the Bishops and Prelates, and against Kings and Lords, and the whole body of oppressors: our first engagement, we say, against these was justly and truly upon that account of purchasing and obtaining Liberties in Civil Rights, and also in matters of Conscience in the exercise of the worship of God.... And we can safely say that the Liberty of Conscience and the True Freedom of the Nations from all their oppressions was the mark at which we aimed, and the harbour for which we hoped and the rest proposed in our minds as the absolute end of our long and weary travel.”
85:1About this time, or a little later, there appeared in London an interesting manifesto from some of the disbanded soldiers, the copy of which in the British Museum (Press Mark, 4152. b.b. 109) bears no date, but is addressed as follows: “To the Generals and Captains, Officers and Soldiers of this present Army. The Just and Equal Appeal, and the state of the Innocent Cause of us, who have been turned out of your Army for the exercise of our pure Consciences, who are now persecuted amongst our Brethren under the name of Quakers.” Wherein they declare that “The first cause and ground of our engagement in the late wars against the Bishops and Prelates, and against Kings and Lords, and the whole body of oppressors: our first engagement, we say, against these was justly and truly upon that account of purchasing and obtaining Liberties in Civil Rights, and also in matters of Conscience in the exercise of the worship of God.... And we can safely say that the Liberty of Conscience and the True Freedom of the Nations from all their oppressions was the mark at which we aimed, and the harbour for which we hoped and the rest proposed in our minds as the absolute end of our long and weary travel.”
87:1History of the Protectorate, vol. i. pp. 50, 51.
87:1History of the Protectorate, vol. i. pp. 50, 51.
89:1Six Centuries of Work and Wages, p. 398.
89:1Six Centuries of Work and Wages, p. 398.
89:2Socialism and Land.Essay in a Quarterly Review,Subjects of the Day, part ii. p. 52.
89:2Socialism and Land.Essay in a Quarterly Review,Subjects of the Day, part ii. p. 52.
“Take notice, That England is not a Free People till the Poor that have no land have a free allowance to dig and labor the Commons, and so live as comfortably as the Land Lords that live in their Inclosures. For the people have not laid out their monies and shed their blood that their Land Lords, the Norman Power, should still have its liberty and freedom to rule in tyranny, but that the Oppressed might be set free, prison doors opened, and the Poor People’s heart comforted by an universal consent of making the Earth a Common Treasury, that they may live together united by brotherly love into one spirit, and having a comfortable livelihood in the Community of one Earth their Mother.”—Winstanley,The True Levellers Standard Advanced.
“Take notice, That England is not a Free People till the Poor that have no land have a free allowance to dig and labor the Commons, and so live as comfortably as the Land Lords that live in their Inclosures. For the people have not laid out their monies and shed their blood that their Land Lords, the Norman Power, should still have its liberty and freedom to rule in tyranny, but that the Oppressed might be set free, prison doors opened, and the Poor People’s heart comforted by an universal consent of making the Earth a Common Treasury, that they may live together united by brotherly love into one spirit, and having a comfortable livelihood in the Community of one Earth their Mother.”—Winstanley,The True Levellers Standard Advanced.
By the publication of his earlier pamphlets, Winstanley seems to have attracted a small band of earnest disciples, eager by their actions to declare their adherence to the principles he had so fearlessly and eloquently proclaimed. However, before taking the steps they had decided on, they deemed it necessary openly and frankly to declare their intentions to the world, more especially to those whose individual or class interests would be likely to be affected thereby. Hence early in 1649, probably in the last days of March or the beginning of April, they issued a pamphlet, signed by some 46 of them, which seems mainly from Winstanley’s pen, entitled:
“A DECLARATION FROM THE POOR OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF ENGLAND:90:1Directed to all that call themselves or are called Lords of Manors through this Nation, that have begun to cut, or that through fear of Covetousness do intend to cut down the woods and trees that grow upon the Commons and Waste Land.”
“A DECLARATION FROM THE POOR OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF ENGLAND:90:1
Directed to all that call themselves or are called Lords of Manors through this Nation, that have begun to cut, or that through fear of Covetousness do intend to cut down the woods and trees that grow upon the Commons and Waste Land.”
The pamphlet opens with the following vigorous and pertinent words:
“We whose names are subscribed, do in the name of all the poor oppressed people of England, declare unto you that call yourselves Lords of Manors and Lords of the Land, that, in regard the King of Righteousness, our Maker, hath enlightened our hearts so far as to see that the Earth was not made purposely for you to be Lords of it, and we to be your Slaves, Servants and Beggars, but it was made to be a common livelihood to all.... And further, in regard the King of Righteousness hath made us sensible of our burthens, and the cries and groanings of our hearts are come before Him, we take it as a testimony of love from Him, that our hearts begin to be freed from slavish fear of men such as you are, and that we find Resolutions in us, grounded upon the Inward Law of Love one towards another, to dig and plough up the Commons and Waste Land through England; and that our conversations shall be so unblamable that your Laws shall not reach to oppress us any longer, unless you by your Laws will shed the innocent blood that runs in our veins.”
“We whose names are subscribed, do in the name of all the poor oppressed people of England, declare unto you that call yourselves Lords of Manors and Lords of the Land, that, in regard the King of Righteousness, our Maker, hath enlightened our hearts so far as to see that the Earth was not made purposely for you to be Lords of it, and we to be your Slaves, Servants and Beggars, but it was made to be a common livelihood to all.... And further, in regard the King of Righteousness hath made us sensible of our burthens, and the cries and groanings of our hearts are come before Him, we take it as a testimony of love from Him, that our hearts begin to be freed from slavish fear of men such as you are, and that we find Resolutions in us, grounded upon the Inward Law of Love one towards another, to dig and plough up the Commons and Waste Land through England; and that our conversations shall be so unblamable that your Laws shall not reach to oppress us any longer, unless you by your Laws will shed the innocent blood that runs in our veins.”
Subsequently they protest against the Lords of Manors controlling the use and taking the profit of the Commons, hindering the people from supplying their wants as regards “Woods, Heath, Turf or Turfeys in places about the Commons,” and continue defiantly:
“Therefore we are resolved to be cheated no longer, nor to be held under the slavish fear of you no longer, seeing the Earth was made for us as well as for you. And if the Common Land belong to us who are the poor oppressed, surely the woods that grow upon the Commons belong to us likewise. Therefore we are resolved to try the uttermost in the light of Reason to know whether we shall be Free-men or Slaves. If we lie still and let you steal away our birthrights, we perish; and if we petition, we perish also, though we have paid taxes, given free-quarter, and have ventured our lives to preserve the Nation’s freedom as much as you, and therefore, by the Law ofContract with you, freedom in the land is our portion as well as yours, equal with you. And if we strive for Freedom, and your murdering, governing Laws destroy us, we can but perish.”“Therefore we require and we resolve to take both Common Land and Common Woods to be a livelihood for us, and look upon you as equal with us, not above us, knowing very well that England, the Land of our Nativity, is to be a Common Treasury of Livelihood to all, without respect of persons.“So then, we declare unto you that do intend to cut our Common Woods and Trees, that you shall not do it, unless it be for a stock for us, and we to know of it by a public declaration abroad, that the poor oppressed, who live thereabouts, may take it and employ it for their public use: Therefore take notice, we have demanded it in the name of the Commons of England, and of all the Nations of the world, it being the righteous freedom of the Creation.”
“Therefore we are resolved to be cheated no longer, nor to be held under the slavish fear of you no longer, seeing the Earth was made for us as well as for you. And if the Common Land belong to us who are the poor oppressed, surely the woods that grow upon the Commons belong to us likewise. Therefore we are resolved to try the uttermost in the light of Reason to know whether we shall be Free-men or Slaves. If we lie still and let you steal away our birthrights, we perish; and if we petition, we perish also, though we have paid taxes, given free-quarter, and have ventured our lives to preserve the Nation’s freedom as much as you, and therefore, by the Law ofContract with you, freedom in the land is our portion as well as yours, equal with you. And if we strive for Freedom, and your murdering, governing Laws destroy us, we can but perish.”
“Therefore we require and we resolve to take both Common Land and Common Woods to be a livelihood for us, and look upon you as equal with us, not above us, knowing very well that England, the Land of our Nativity, is to be a Common Treasury of Livelihood to all, without respect of persons.
“So then, we declare unto you that do intend to cut our Common Woods and Trees, that you shall not do it, unless it be for a stock for us, and we to know of it by a public declaration abroad, that the poor oppressed, who live thereabouts, may take it and employ it for their public use: Therefore take notice, we have demanded it in the name of the Commons of England, and of all the Nations of the world, it being the righteous freedom of the Creation.”
They then warn all wood-buyers against purchasing from those who would dispose of such wood for their own private advantage, again emphasising their contention that they would take it only to provide a common stock for all. Then they appeal to the Great Council of England for protection and encouragement, urging that august body to fulfil the promises so freely made, at the outbreak of the Civil War, to induce them and others to espouse the Parliament’s cause. Apparently they did not expect much from them, as their appeal commences in the following somewhat hesitating manner:
“And we hope we may not doubt (at least we expect) that they that are called the Great Council and Powers of England, who so often have declared themselves by promises and by covenants, and have confirmed them by multitude of fasting days, and devout protestations to make England a free people, upon condition they would pay moneys and adventure their lives against the successor of the Norman Conqueror, under whose oppressing power England was enslaved. And we look upon that freedom promised to be the inheritance of all, without respect of persons. And this cannot be unless the Land of England be freely set at liberty from proprietors and becomes a Common Treasury to all her children, as every portion of theLand of Canaan was the common livelihood of such and such a Tribe, and of every member of that Tribe, without exception, neither hedging in any, nor hedging out.“We say we hope we need not doubt of their sincerity to us herein, and that they will not gainsay our determinate course. Howsoever, their actions will prove to the view of all either their sincerity or their hypocrisy. We know what we speak is our privilege and that our cause is righteous; and if they doubt of it, let them but send a child for us to come before them, and we will make it manifest some ways.”
“And we hope we may not doubt (at least we expect) that they that are called the Great Council and Powers of England, who so often have declared themselves by promises and by covenants, and have confirmed them by multitude of fasting days, and devout protestations to make England a free people, upon condition they would pay moneys and adventure their lives against the successor of the Norman Conqueror, under whose oppressing power England was enslaved. And we look upon that freedom promised to be the inheritance of all, without respect of persons. And this cannot be unless the Land of England be freely set at liberty from proprietors and becomes a Common Treasury to all her children, as every portion of theLand of Canaan was the common livelihood of such and such a Tribe, and of every member of that Tribe, without exception, neither hedging in any, nor hedging out.
“We say we hope we need not doubt of their sincerity to us herein, and that they will not gainsay our determinate course. Howsoever, their actions will prove to the view of all either their sincerity or their hypocrisy. We know what we speak is our privilege and that our cause is righteous; and if they doubt of it, let them but send a child for us to come before them, and we will make it manifest some ways.”
They then advance the grounds for their demands in the following incisive words:
“First, By the National Covenant, which yet stands in force to bind Parliament and People to be faithful and sincere before the Lord God Almighty, wherein every one in his several place hath covenanted to preserve and seek the liberty each of other without respect of persons.“Secondly, By the late victory over King Charles we do claim this our privilege to be quietly given us out of the hands of Tyrant Government, as our bargain and contract with them. For the Parliament promised if we would pay taxes, and give free-quarter, and adventure our lives against Charles and his party, whom they called the common enemy, they would make us a free people.93:1These three being all done by us, as well as by themselves, we claim this our bargain by the Law of Contract from them, to be a free people with them, they being chosen by us, but for a peculiar work, and for an appointedtime, from among us, not to be our oppressing Lords, but servants to succour us. But these two are our weakest proofs. And yet by them, in the light of Reason and Equity that dwells in men’s hearts, we shall with ease cast down all those former enslaving, Norman, reiterated Laws, in every King’s reign since the Conquest, which are as thorns in our eyes and pricks in our sides, and which are called the Ancient Government of England.“Thirdly, We shall prove we have a free right to the land of England, being born therein, as well as elder brothers, and that it is our right equal with them and they with us, to have a comfortable livelihood in the Earth, without owning any of our own kind to be either Lords or Land-Lords over us. And this we shall prove by plain text of Scripture, without exposition upon them, which the Scholars and Great Ones generally say is their rule to walk by.“Fourthly, We shall prove it by the Righteous Law of our Creation, that mankind in all its branches is the Lord of the Earth, and ought not to be in subjection to any of his own kind without him, but to live in the light of the Law of Righteousness and Peace established in his heart.”
“First, By the National Covenant, which yet stands in force to bind Parliament and People to be faithful and sincere before the Lord God Almighty, wherein every one in his several place hath covenanted to preserve and seek the liberty each of other without respect of persons.
“Secondly, By the late victory over King Charles we do claim this our privilege to be quietly given us out of the hands of Tyrant Government, as our bargain and contract with them. For the Parliament promised if we would pay taxes, and give free-quarter, and adventure our lives against Charles and his party, whom they called the common enemy, they would make us a free people.93:1These three being all done by us, as well as by themselves, we claim this our bargain by the Law of Contract from them, to be a free people with them, they being chosen by us, but for a peculiar work, and for an appointedtime, from among us, not to be our oppressing Lords, but servants to succour us. But these two are our weakest proofs. And yet by them, in the light of Reason and Equity that dwells in men’s hearts, we shall with ease cast down all those former enslaving, Norman, reiterated Laws, in every King’s reign since the Conquest, which are as thorns in our eyes and pricks in our sides, and which are called the Ancient Government of England.
“Thirdly, We shall prove we have a free right to the land of England, being born therein, as well as elder brothers, and that it is our right equal with them and they with us, to have a comfortable livelihood in the Earth, without owning any of our own kind to be either Lords or Land-Lords over us. And this we shall prove by plain text of Scripture, without exposition upon them, which the Scholars and Great Ones generally say is their rule to walk by.
“Fourthly, We shall prove it by the Righteous Law of our Creation, that mankind in all its branches is the Lord of the Earth, and ought not to be in subjection to any of his own kind without him, but to live in the light of the Law of Righteousness and Peace established in his heart.”
The pamphlet concludes as follows:
“Thus in love we have declared the purpose of our hearts plainly, without flattery, expecting love and the same sincerity from you, without grumbling or quarrelling, being Creatures of your own image and mould, intending no other matter herein, but to observe the Law of Righteous Action, endeavouring to shut out of the Creation the accursed thing called Particular Propriety, which is the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving Laws, that hold the people under misery.“Signed for and in the behalf of all the poor oppressed people of England and the whole world—Gerard Winstanley,long bracketand others, forty-six in all.John Coulton,John Palmer,Thomas Star,Samuel Webb,John Hayman,Thomas Edcer,William Hogrill,”
“Thus in love we have declared the purpose of our hearts plainly, without flattery, expecting love and the same sincerity from you, without grumbling or quarrelling, being Creatures of your own image and mould, intending no other matter herein, but to observe the Law of Righteous Action, endeavouring to shut out of the Creation the accursed thing called Particular Propriety, which is the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving Laws, that hold the people under misery.
“Signed for and in the behalf of all the poor oppressed people of England and the whole world—
Gerard Winstanley,long bracketand others, forty-six in all.John Coulton,John Palmer,Thomas Star,Samuel Webb,John Hayman,Thomas Edcer,William Hogrill,”
A few days after the publication of this declaration, viz., on Sunday, April 1st, 1649, the Diggers commenced their labours on the Commons around George’s Hill, in Surrey, the first results of which we have already recorded. Within a few days of Winstanley and Everard’s visit to Lord Fairfax and his Council of War, they and their followers drafted yet another pamphlet, which bears date April 26th, 1649, the very day Lockyer, “The Army’s Martyr,” was condemned to death, and the title-page of which reads as follows:
“THE TRUE LEVELLERS STANDARD ADVANCED:95:1orThe state of Community Opened and Presented to the Sons of Men.by——Gerrard Winstanley.William Everard.Richard Goodgroome.John Palmer.Thomas Starre.John South.William Hoggrill.John Courton.Robert Sawyer.William Taylor.Thomas Eder.Christopher Clifford.Henry Bickerstaffe.John Barker.John TaylorBeginning to plant and manure the Waste Land upon Georges Hill, in the Parish of Walton, in the County of Surrey.”
“THE TRUE LEVELLERS STANDARD ADVANCED:95:1
orThe state of Community Opened and Presented to the Sons of Men.by
——Gerrard Winstanley.William Everard.Richard Goodgroome.John Palmer.Thomas Starre.John South.William Hoggrill.John Courton.Robert Sawyer.William Taylor.Thomas Eder.Christopher Clifford.Henry Bickerstaffe.John Barker.John Taylor
Beginning to plant and manure the Waste Land upon Georges Hill, in the Parish of Walton, in the County of Surrey.”
The pamphlet opens with a Preface by a certain John Taylor, whose name appears last on the list of signatures attached thereto, and who was probably one of Winstanley’s more recent converts. In it he states that he has had “some conversation with the author of this ensuing declaration, and the persons subscribing, and by experience find them sweetly acted and guided by the everlasting Spirit, the Prince of Peace, to walk in the paths of Righteousness.” “Such as these,” he declares, “shall be partakers of the promise—Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.”
The body of the pamphlet itself is headed:
“A Declaration to the Powers of England, and to all the Powers of the World, shewing the cause why the Common People of England have begun and give consent to dig up, manure, and sow corn upon George Hill in Surrey, by those that have subscribed, and thousands more that give consent.”
“A Declaration to the Powers of England, and to all the Powers of the World, shewing the cause why the Common People of England have begun and give consent to dig up, manure, and sow corn upon George Hill in Surrey, by those that have subscribed, and thousands more that give consent.”
It commences as follows:
“In the beginning of time the great Creator, Reason, made the Earth to be a Common Treasury to preserve beasts, birds, fishes and man, the Lord who was to govern this Creation. For man had dominion given him over the beasts, birds and fishes; but not one word was spoken in the beginning that one branch of mankind should rule over another.... But since human flesh began to delight himself in the objects of the Creation more than in the Spirit of Reason and Righteousness ... and selfish imagination ruling as King in the room of Reason therein, and working with Covetousness, did set up one man to teach and rule over another; and thereby the Spirit was killed, and Man was brought into bondage and became a greater slave to some of his own kind than the beasts of the field were to him. Hereupon the Earth (which was made to be a Common Treasury of Relief for all, both beasts and men) was hedged into enclosures by the Teachers and Rulers, and the others were made Servants and Slaves. And the Earth, which was made to be a Common Storehouse for all, is bought and sold and kept within the hands of a few, whereby the Great Creator is mightily dishonoured, as if He were a respecter of persons, delighting in the comfortable livelihood of some, and rejoicing in the miserable poverty and straits of others.”
“In the beginning of time the great Creator, Reason, made the Earth to be a Common Treasury to preserve beasts, birds, fishes and man, the Lord who was to govern this Creation. For man had dominion given him over the beasts, birds and fishes; but not one word was spoken in the beginning that one branch of mankind should rule over another.... But since human flesh began to delight himself in the objects of the Creation more than in the Spirit of Reason and Righteousness ... and selfish imagination ruling as King in the room of Reason therein, and working with Covetousness, did set up one man to teach and rule over another; and thereby the Spirit was killed, and Man was brought into bondage and became a greater slave to some of his own kind than the beasts of the field were to him. Hereupon the Earth (which was made to be a Common Treasury of Relief for all, both beasts and men) was hedged into enclosures by the Teachers and Rulers, and the others were made Servants and Slaves. And the Earth, which was made to be a Common Storehouse for all, is bought and sold and kept within the hands of a few, whereby the Great Creator is mightily dishonoured, as if He were a respecter of persons, delighting in the comfortable livelihood of some, and rejoicing in the miserable poverty and straits of others.”
Winstanley then makes his appeal to those who had been entrusted with the government of the Nation, in the following touching and yet suggestive words:
“O thou Powers of England! though thou hast promised to make this people a Free People, yet thou hast so handled the matter, through thy self-seeking humour, that thou hast wrapped us up more in bondage, and oppression lies heavy upon us.... If some of you will not dare to shed yourblood to maintain tyranny and oppression upon the Creation, know this, That our blood and life shall not be unwilling to be delivered up in meekness to maintain Universal Liberty, that so the Curse, on our part, may be taken off the Creation. We shall not do this by force of arms; we abhor it, for it is the work of the Midianites to kill one another, but by obeying the Lord of Hosts, by laboring the Earth in Righteousness together, to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows, neither giving hire nor taking hire, but working together and eating together as one man, or as one house in Israel restored from Bondage. And so by the power of Reason, the Law of Righteousness in us, we endeavour to lift up the Creation from that bondage of Civil Propriety which it groans under.”
“O thou Powers of England! though thou hast promised to make this people a Free People, yet thou hast so handled the matter, through thy self-seeking humour, that thou hast wrapped us up more in bondage, and oppression lies heavy upon us.... If some of you will not dare to shed yourblood to maintain tyranny and oppression upon the Creation, know this, That our blood and life shall not be unwilling to be delivered up in meekness to maintain Universal Liberty, that so the Curse, on our part, may be taken off the Creation. We shall not do this by force of arms; we abhor it, for it is the work of the Midianites to kill one another, but by obeying the Lord of Hosts, by laboring the Earth in Righteousness together, to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows, neither giving hire nor taking hire, but working together and eating together as one man, or as one house in Israel restored from Bondage. And so by the power of Reason, the Law of Righteousness in us, we endeavour to lift up the Creation from that bondage of Civil Propriety which it groans under.”
He again explains the work they are entered upon, and their reasons for attempting it, as follows:
“The work we are going about is this, To dig up Georges Hill and the waste grounds thereabouts, and to sow corn, and to eat our bread together by the sweat of our brows.“And the First Reason is this,That we may work in righteousness, and lay the Foundation of making the Earth a Common Treasury for All, both Rich and Poor, That everyone that is born in the Land may be Fed by the Earth his Mother that brought him forth, according to the Reason that rules in the Creation.”
“The work we are going about is this, To dig up Georges Hill and the waste grounds thereabouts, and to sow corn, and to eat our bread together by the sweat of our brows.
“And the First Reason is this,That we may work in righteousness, and lay the Foundation of making the Earth a Common Treasury for All, both Rich and Poor, That everyone that is born in the Land may be Fed by the Earth his Mother that brought him forth, according to the Reason that rules in the Creation.”
Then follows this impressive declaration of the motives inspiring their actions:
“For it is showed us, That so long as we, or any other, do own the Earth to be the peculiar Interest of Lords and Land Lords, and not common to others as well as to them, we own the Curse, and hold the Creation under Bondage. And so long as we or any other do own Land Lords and Tenants, for one to call the land his, or another to hire it of him, or for one to give hire and for another to work for hire: This is to dishonour the work of Creation, as if the righteous Creator should have respect to persons, and therefore made the Earth for some and not for all. So long as we, or any other, maintain this Civil Propriety, we consent still to hold the Creation in that bondage it groans under; and so we should hinder theWork of Restoration, and sin against the Light that is given into us, and so, through fear of the flesh man, lose our peace.”
“For it is showed us, That so long as we, or any other, do own the Earth to be the peculiar Interest of Lords and Land Lords, and not common to others as well as to them, we own the Curse, and hold the Creation under Bondage. And so long as we or any other do own Land Lords and Tenants, for one to call the land his, or another to hire it of him, or for one to give hire and for another to work for hire: This is to dishonour the work of Creation, as if the righteous Creator should have respect to persons, and therefore made the Earth for some and not for all. So long as we, or any other, maintain this Civil Propriety, we consent still to hold the Creation in that bondage it groans under; and so we should hinder theWork of Restoration, and sin against the Light that is given into us, and so, through fear of the flesh man, lose our peace.”
And the pamphlet concludes with the following somewhat mystic words:
“Thus you Powers of England, and of the whole World, we have declared our Reasons why we have begun to dig upon George Hill in Surrey. One thing I must tell you more, which I received in voice likewise at another time; and when I received it my eye was set towards you. The words were these—Let Israel go free.“Surely as Israel lay four hundred and thirty years under Pharaoh’s bondage, before Moses was sent to fetch them out, even so Israel (the Elect Spirit spread in Sons and Daughters) hath lain three times so long already.... But now the time of Deliverance hath come.... For now the King of Righteousness is arising to rule in and over the Earth.... Therefore once more,Let Israel go free, that the Poor may labour the waste land, and suck the Breasts of their Mother Earth, that they starve not. In so doing thou wilt keep the Sabbath Day, which is a Day of Rest, sweetly enjoying the Peace of the Spirit of Righteousness, and find Peace by living among a people that live in Peace: This will be a Day of Rest which thou never knew yet.“But I do not entreat thee, for thou art not to be entreated. But in the Name of the Lord, that hath drawn me forth to speak to thee, I, yea I say, I command thee,To let Israel go free, and quietly to gather together into the place where I shall appoint; and hold them, no longer in bondage.... But if you will not, but Pharaoh-like cry,Who is the Lord that we should obey him?and endeavour to oppose, then know, that He that delivered Israel from Pharaoh of old is the same Power still, in whom we trust, and whom we serve. For this, Conquest over thee shall be got,not by Sword or Weapon, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
“Thus you Powers of England, and of the whole World, we have declared our Reasons why we have begun to dig upon George Hill in Surrey. One thing I must tell you more, which I received in voice likewise at another time; and when I received it my eye was set towards you. The words were these—Let Israel go free.
“Surely as Israel lay four hundred and thirty years under Pharaoh’s bondage, before Moses was sent to fetch them out, even so Israel (the Elect Spirit spread in Sons and Daughters) hath lain three times so long already.... But now the time of Deliverance hath come.... For now the King of Righteousness is arising to rule in and over the Earth.... Therefore once more,Let Israel go free, that the Poor may labour the waste land, and suck the Breasts of their Mother Earth, that they starve not. In so doing thou wilt keep the Sabbath Day, which is a Day of Rest, sweetly enjoying the Peace of the Spirit of Righteousness, and find Peace by living among a people that live in Peace: This will be a Day of Rest which thou never knew yet.
“But I do not entreat thee, for thou art not to be entreated. But in the Name of the Lord, that hath drawn me forth to speak to thee, I, yea I say, I command thee,To let Israel go free, and quietly to gather together into the place where I shall appoint; and hold them, no longer in bondage.... But if you will not, but Pharaoh-like cry,Who is the Lord that we should obey him?and endeavour to oppose, then know, that He that delivered Israel from Pharaoh of old is the same Power still, in whom we trust, and whom we serve. For this, Conquest over thee shall be got,not by Sword or Weapon, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
Such, then, were the first “official pronouncements” of the body of men known in the History of England as the Diggers, whose proud privilege it was to be the first in our native land, as against the rights of property, boldly to proclaim the rights of man. Poor in worldly goods they may have been, but they were rich in hope and in love, in broadthoughts and elevating ideals, in a firm belief in the power and ultimate triumph of the Inward Light of Equity and Reason, and in unflinching resolution, not only to proclaim the steps necessary to social salvation, but to adventure their lives and persons to lay the foundations of a better, of a more equitable and beneficial, social state than ever they knew. Certain it is that they were inspired by the highest motives that impel men to action; hence even those who may deem their views erroneous should not withhold from the men themselves their meed of respect, admiration, and sympathy. To those who deem their views true, we need make no appeal. Monuments are erected in stone, in marble, or in gold, to those whose actions in peace or in war commend themselves to their own generation; the monuments to those in advance of their times and of our times, are to be found only in the hearts of thinkers. It was but yesterday, after some two hundred and fifty years, that public sentiment tolerated the erection of a public monument to the memory of the man who delivered his country from under the tyranny of Kings. Before another similar period has passed away, a similar tribute may be paid to the memory of those who, during the same tumultuous but inspiring times, would have saved all future generations of their countrymen from under the tyranny of Land-Lords.