CONCLUDING REMARKS
"While God gave to man a capacity to labour, He also gave him a
right to the object (the earth) on which that labour must be
employed to produce the necessaries of life. This gift of God is to
all men alike. No compact or consent or legislation on the part of
one portion of the community, can ever justly deprive another
portion of the community of their right of their share of the
earth, and of its natural productions. No arrangement or agreement
or legislation of men now dead, can justly deprive the present
inhabitants of the earth, or any portion of those inhabitants, of
their right to labour, and to labour for their own profit, on some
portion of the earth which God has given to man."--PATRICK EDWARD
DOVE, _Elements of Political Science_. 1854.
"Our postulates are the primary perceptions of human reason, the
fundamental teachings of the Christian faith. We hold: That--This
world is the creation of God. The men brought into it for the brief
period of their earthly lives are the equal creatures of His
bounty, the equal subjects of His provident care.... Being the
equal creatures of the Creator, equally entitled under His
providence to live their lives and satisfy their needs, men are
equally entitled to the use of land, and any adjustment that denies
this equal use of land is morally wrong."--HENRY GEORGE, _An Open
Letter to Pope Leo XIII_. 1891.[228:1]
Here, then, we must bid farewell to Gerrard Winstanley. We are uncertain
as to the place and year of his birth; we know not where he lived, nor
where or when he died; yet his words still appeal to us, prompting us to
cast off the blinding and distorting spectacles of convention and
custom, to look the facts of social life fairly and squarely in the
face, and boldly to proclaim whatever social truths reflection and study
may reveal to us. Such are the lessons which his life and teachings seem
to us to inculcate.
What Winstanley regarded, and what a steadily increasing number of
earnest students to-day regard, as a fundamental social truth was
revealed to him; and right well he gave expression, by words and deeds,
to his strong and well-grounded conviction of the equal claim of all to
the use of Mother Earth, to the use of the nation's natural home,
workhouse and storehouse, whence, by labour, everything necessary to
life and comfort can alone be derived. Winstanley realised, as they
to-day realise, that to admit in the abstract the Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man, to admit the equal claim of all to life, and yet
to deny the equal claim of all to the use of God's Earth, to share in
those blessings which the great Father of all men has lavished upon His
children, and which form the only means by which life can be maintained,
is but hypocrisy and cant. The "rights of property," the financial
interests of the privileged classes, the Elder Brothers, the so-called
"power of the capitalists," may be based on and involved in the
recognition of the claim of the few to control the use of the Earth. But
the rights of man, the material, moral and spiritual interests of the
masses of mankind, their emancipation from the unjust economic
conditions to-day enthralling and impoverishing them, narrowing and
degrading their lives, depriving them of all real enjoyment of the
present, as of all hope for the future, hindering the advance of the
race to a nobler civilisation, to a higher plane of individual and
social life, depend upon our recognising and enforcing the claim of all
to the use of the Earth, and to share in the bounties of Nature, upon
equitable terms. What Winstanley discovered and proclaimed in the
Seventeenth Century, Henry George rediscovered and again proclaimed in
the Nineteenth Century, and that in tones which are still reverberating
and producing their effects on social thought throughout the length and
breadth of the civilised world, promising ultimately to produce a change
in social conditions compared with which the abolition of slavery sinks
into comparative insignificance. It is no longer a question of the
emancipation of a few chattel slaves, but of the whole human race.
Fundamental social laws and institutions, based upon inequality of
rights, must necessarily produce inequality of conditions. And all who
impartially consider the question will be forced to admit that both
Winstanley and Henry George trace the prevailing social inequality, the
debauching wealth of the few and the degrading poverty of the many, to
its true cause. Nor can there be any doubt but that if Winstanley's
practical and efficacious remedy had been adopted, if the use of the
Common Land had been secured to the Common People on equitable terms,
the economic condition of the masses of the generations which succeeded
him, the whole subsequent economic, social and political history of the
English People, would have been very different; and they would not now,
in the Twentieth Century, be fighting for, or more often whispering with
bated breath concerning, those very reforms he so strenuously advocated
over two hundred and fifty years ago.
Winstanley's writings met with the fate that awaits all thought much in
advance of the times in which it is given to the world. They have been
ignored and forgotten; and till very recently even his memory had
vanished from the minds of his fellow-countrymen, to whose emancipation
he unstintedly devoted his life. Nor can we be surprised at this, when
we consider the circumstances. There can be little doubt but that his
earlier writings were the quiver whence the early Quakers derived many
of their arrows, their most pointed and consequently by their opponents
most hated doctrines. And yet the highly philosophic and rational
attitude toward cosmological and theological speculations Winstanley
attained to in his last pamphlet, placed before our readers in Chapter
XVI., seems to us sufficiently to account for his having been ignored
even by those who may have availed themselves of his earlier works, and
hence that these, too, should have been gradually forgotten.
That the same fate should have befallen his political writings, his
noble and yet simple and practical political ideals and aspirations, is
also not surprising. After the Restoration, when, as we have already
shown, Winstanley's bitter opponents, the old and new landholders, were
in the saddle, and made unsparing, we had almost written unscrupulous,
use of their opportunities, such doctrines as his were little likely to
commend themselves to the privileged, cultured and educated classes.
Prior to the Reformation, education, at least the knowledge of reading,
writing and arithmetic, was undoubtedly more widely diffused amongst the
masses of the people than it was subsequently--at all events, till very
recent times. From the Restoration to within our own times, education,
even the knowledge of reading, was as a very general rule only within
the reach of the few, of the privileged classes and those more or less
dependent on their favour, with whom such ideals as those voiced by
Winstanley would naturally meet with but scant consideration. Moreover,
though we may be accused of pessimism or cynicism for saying so, it
seems to us that the main reason why teachings such as Winstanley's must
necessarily remain specially unpalatable and unwelcome so long as social
and political privileges are allowed to continue, is that they are too
simple and direct, and the path toward their realisation too clearly
indicated, to be acceptable or welcome to those who benefit, or think
they benefit, by the continuance of social injustice. Winstanley's
proposals, as the proposals of his great modern representative, Henry
George, are, indeed, a test of sincerity. It is easy to express approval
of Freedom, Justice, Honesty, Equality of Opportunities, Brotherhood, of
the Equal Right of All to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,
and so on, _in the abstract_, and to talk about the necessity for men,
_other men_, dealing honestly, equitably and righteously one toward the
other. It is difficult, though but a test of our own honesty and
sincerity, to give practical support to unpopular doctrines and
proposals which would tend to make these noble and elevating conceptions
into real, living realities, and to enforce us to act honestly,
equitably and righteously ourselves. Hence it is that even to-day those
who advocate any such doctrines, any such social change, are either
dismissed as impossible, utopian dreamers, or denounced as revolutionary
demagogues, as "prophets of iniquity," "preachers of immorality,"
"advocates of villany," as enemies of society, and so on; and if this
fails of its desired effects, other means are found by which their
influence is undermined and their teachings discredited in the minds of
those who more or less blindly follow in the wake of the "superior
classes," the privileged few and their more or less direct dependents.
Thus Society continues its troubled slumbers until--until the necessary
changes denied to peaceful reformers, to the thinkers of the race, may
be demanded, by revolutionary methods, by force, by those who know
themselves injured and oppressed, though they may be ignorant of the
means by which they are wronged.
It was, however, as a sincere and unswerving advocate of peaceful,
practical reforms, as a courageous and unflinching opponent of the use
of force, of the sword, even for righteous ends, that Winstanley
appealed to his own generation, as Henry George, Ruskin and Tolstoy
appeal to the present. Nor can there be any doubt but that his teachings
found far more general acceptance than is to be gathered from modern
histories of the troubled times in which his lot was cast. For not only
was there sufficient demand to warrant the publication of at least two
editions of _The Law of Freedom_, as of several of his other pamphlets,
but additional testimony is to be gathered from the fact that his
writings were immediately pirated and issued under new titles by other
publishers:[232:1] than which no better evidence can be had of the
popularity of any writer.
However this may be, new and less earnest and less strenuous generations
arose which knew not Winstanley, and heeded not his teachings; and till
very recent years both he and his teachings have remained utterly
forgotten. And yet we write the closing lines of our work with the same
conviction with which we commenced it some five years ago, that not only
was Gerrard Winstanley a man worthy to be recalled to the memory of his
fellow-countrymen, as one who deserved well of his day, of his
generation and of his country, but that the intrinsic merits of his
writings and teachings make them worthy of our most careful study, of
our highest admiration, and of our most profound respect.
True, they have hitherto received but scant consideration; but this need
neither surprise nor disturb us. The man in whose heart a new truth is
born may be a benefactor of his species; but, as all history teaches us,
if he have courage to proclaim it to the world, he must be prepared to
meet the hatred, scoffing and abuse of the ignorant, the sneering
contempt, if not bitter persecution, of the learned and highly placed
upholders of already accepted beliefs and superstitions. More especially
is this true of a social truth, of a truth which threatens the
continuance of society in its accustomed paths, which threatens the
continuance of some vested social wrong, of some deep-rooted and
time-honoured social injustice, which, though it may be poisoning the
springs of social life, necessarily finds favour in the eyes of those
who are advantaged, or think they are advantaged, thereby. It was such a
truth that meditation and reflection revealed to Gerrard Winstanley;
and, as we have seen, he too met with the fate awaiting those who find
themselves in advance of their times. As already pointed out, his memory
has passed away, his teachings have remained unheeded. The seed he
planted fell upon barren soil; but though so hardened by the withering
frosts of ignorance, of that ignorance which is indeed "the curse of
God," as to seem but as a dead stone, the vivifying sun of knowledge may
yet stir its dormant potency, recalling it to life, to spring up and to
develop into a stately tree, yielding its life-giving fruits, offering
the welcome protection of its branches to all seeking rest and shelter
beneath its shade. To-day the thought that inspired Winstanley has again
been proclaimed by one greater than Winstanley, and is slowly but surely
remoulding the social thought of the world. Thanks to the genius of
Henry George, the more thoughtful and ethical-minded of our race are
gradually coming to realise that, to use Winstanley's words--"True
Commonwealth's Freedom lies in the free enjoyment of the Earth"; and
that if they would remove those remediable social ills which harass,
haunt and warp our advancing civilisation, the use of the Earth and a
share in the bounties and blessings of Nature must be secured to each
and all upon equitable terms and conditions. Hence it is that we feel
impelled to close our notice of the great Apostle of Social Justice and
Economic Freedom of the Seventeenth Century with the following eloquent
and soul-stirring words of his still greater successor of the Nineteenth
Century, words which almost seem but as an echo of his own, even though
many of us even to-day may have yet to learn to appreciate their full
force, meaning and truth:
"In our time, as in times before, creep on the insidious forces
that, producing inequality, destroy Liberty. On the horizon the
clouds begin to lower. Liberty calls to us again. We must follow
her further; we must trust her fully. Either we must wholly accept
her or she will not stay. It is not enough that men should vote; it
is not enough that they should be theoretically equal before the
law. They must have liberty to avail themselves of the
opportunities and means of life; they must stand on equal terms
with reference to the bounties of nature. Either this, or Liberty
withdraws her light! Either this, or darkness comes on, and the
very forces that progress has evolved turn to powers that work
destruction. This is the universal law. This is the lesson of the
centuries. Unless its foundations be laid in justice the social
structure cannot stand."
END.
FOOTNOTES:
[228:1] Published under the title, _The Condition of Labour_ (Swan,
Sonnenschein & Co., London).
[232:1] The following are some of such pirated publications: _Articles
of High Treason._ British Museum, Press Mark, E. 521. _A Declaration for
Freedom._ E. 321. _The Levellers Remonstrance._ E. 652. 12.
APPENDIX A
THE FUNDAMENTAL AND JUST CHIEF ARTICLES OF ALL THE PEASANTRY AND
VILLEINS BY WHICH THEY DEEM THEMSELVES OPPRESSED
INTRODUCTION.
To the Christian Reader, Peace and the Grace of God through
Christ,--There are many Anti-Christians who now take occasion to libel
the Gospel on account of the assembled peasantry, saying these be the
fruits of the New Gospel, to obey none, to raise rebellion in all
places, to rush to arms to reform, to root out, and perhaps to destroy
all spiritual and temporal authority. All such godless and wicked
judgements the Articles here written do answer; in the first place, so
that the shame may be lifted off the word of God; in the second, to
excuse in a Christian manner this uprising of the peasants.
In the first place, the Gospel is no cause of any uprising, seeing that
it is the word of Christ, the promised Messiah, whose word and life
teach naught save love, peace, patience and unity; so all who believe in
this Christ should be loving, peaceful, patient and united. The object
of all the Articles of the Peasants, when once clearly apprehended, is
that they may hear the Gospel and live according to the Gospel. How then
can Anti-Christians denounce the Gospel as a cause of rebellion and
disobedience? But that Anti-Christians and Enemies of the Gospel should
rise up against such requirements, of this the Gospel is not the cause,
but the Devil, the most hurtful enemy of the Gospel, who arouses
infidelity in his followers, so that the word of God, which teaches
peace and unity, may be trodden down and taken away.
In the second place, the following show clearly that the peasants in
their Articles demand the Gospel for teaching and for life; therefore
they cannot be called disobedient or rebellious. But should God hear the
peasants, who sincerely desire to live according to His word: Who will
oppose the will of God? (Rom. xi.). Who will impeach His judgment? (Isa.
xi.). Who dare resist His majesty? (Rom. viii.). Did He not hear the
Children of Israel when they called on Him, and delivered them out of
the hand of Pharaoh (II Moses 3. 7), and can He not to-day also save His
own? Aye, He will save them, and that speedily (Luke xviii. 8).
Therefore, Christian Reader, read the following Articles sedulously, and
then judge.
FIRST ARTICLE.
It is our humble request and desire, as also our will and intention,
that henceforth the community itself shall have power to choose their
Pastor, as also to dismiss him should he be found unsuitable. The Pastor
so chosen shall preach to us the Gospel clearly and purely, free from
all man-made additions, teachings and ordinances. For whoever preaches
to us the true Faith giveth us reason to pray to God for His mercy, and
to call up within us and confirm us in the true Faith. For if we do not
enjoy His grace, we remain mere flesh and blood, which profiteth not. It
is clearly written in the Scriptures that it is only through the true
Faith that we can come to God, and only through His mercy that we can be
saved. Therefore it is that we require such a Pastor and Minister.
SECOND ARTICLE.
_Secondly_, As the just tithe was established in the Old Testament, and
in the New covered all dues, so we will gladly furnish the just tithe of
corn, but only in a seemly manner, according to which it should be given
to God, and divided among His servants. It is the due of a Pastor, as
the Word of God clearly proclaims. Therefore it is our will that the
Church Overseers, such as are appointed by the Community, shall collect
and receive this tithe, and therefrom shall give to the Pastor, who
shall be chosen by the Community, suitable and sufficient subsistence
for him and his, as the whole Community may deem just. The surplus shall
be devoted to the use of the poor and needy, as we are instructed in the
Holy Scriptures. And so that no general tax shall be levied on the poor,
their share of such taxation shall be defrayed out of such surplus.
In villages where the right to the tithe has been sold, out of sheer
necessity, the buyers shall lose nothing, but their rights shall be
redeemed in a seemly manner. But those who have not bought the right to
the tithe from the village, but who or whose fathers have simply usurped
it to themselves, we will not and we should not give them anything. We
owe such men nothing; but we are willing out of the proceeds of such
tithe to support our chosen Pastor, and to relieve the needy as we are
commanded in the Holy Scriptures.
The small tithe we will not give. For God the Lord hath created the
beasts free to mankind (Gen. i.). It is only a mere human invention that
we should pay tithe on them. Therefore we shall not pay such tithe for
the future.
THIRD ARTICLE.
_Thirdly_, It has hitherto been the custom that we should be held as
serfs, which is deplorable, since Christ redeemed us all with His
precious blood, the shepherd as well as the noble, the lowest as well as
the highest, none being excepted. Therefore it accords with Scripture
that we should be free; and we will be free. Not that we are absolutely
free, or desire to be free from all authority: this God does not teach
us. We are to live according to His commandments, not according to the
promptings of the flesh; but shall love God as our Master, and recognise
Him as the one nearest to us. And everything He has commanded we shall
do; and His commands do not instruct us to disobey the orders of the
Authorities. On the contrary, not only before the Authorities, but
before all men we are to be humble; so that in all matters fitting and
Christian we shall gladly obey the orders of those who have been chosen
or have been set up over us. And doubtless, as true and honest
Christians, you will gladly abolish serfdom, or prove it to be in
accordance with the Gospel.
FOURTH ARTICLE.
_Fourthly_, It has hitherto been the custom that no poor man should have
any right to the game, the birds, or to the fish in the running waters.
This seems to us unseemly and unbrotherly, and not to be in accordance
with the Word of God. Moreover, in some places the authorities let the
game increase to our injury and mighty undoing, since we have to permit
that which God has caused to grow for the use of man to be unavailingly
devoured by the beasts; and we have to hold our peace concerning this,
which is against God and our neighbours. When our Lord God created
mankind, He gave him power over all creatures, over the birds in the air
and the fish in the waters. Therefore as regards those who control the
running waters, and who can show us documents to prove that they
purchased it with money, we do not desire to take it away from such men
by force, but to come to some Christian agreement with them in brotherly
love. Those who have no such documents shall share with the community in
a seemly manner.
FIFTH ARTICLE.
_Fifthly_, We find ourselves oppressed as regards the woods. For our
Lords have taken to themselves all the woods; and when poor men require
any wood, they have to buy it with money. Our view is that such woods,
whether claimed by spiritual or by temporal Lords, as have not been
purchased, should return to the community, and be free to all in a
seemly manner. So that those who require wood for firing shall be free
to take same without payment, as also if they require any for
carpentering: but, of course, always with the knowledge of the chosen
Authorities of the community. But where there are no woods save those as
have been honestly purchased, with such we will arrange the matter in a
brotherly and Christian spirit. And in cases where the land was first
appropriated and afterwards sold, we will also come to an agreement with
the buyers according to the circumstances of the case, and with regard
to brotherly love and the Holy Writings.
SIXTH ARTICLE.
_Sixthly_, The burden of service presses heavily upon us, and is daily
increased. We desire that this matter shall be looked into, and that we
be not so heavily burdened, but shall be mercifully dealt with herein;
that we should serve but as our fathers have served, but only according
to the Word of God.
SEVENTH ARTICLE.
_Seventhly_, Henceforth we will no longer allow ourselves to be
oppressed by the Lords, but according as a Lord hath granted the land,
so shall it be held, according to the agreement between the Lord and the
peasant. The Lord shall not force him to render more service for naught;
so that the peasant shall enjoy his holding in peace and unoppressed.
But if the Lord hath need of service, the peasant shall be willing and
obedient to him before others; but it shall be at the hour and the time
when it shall not injure the peasant, and at a proper remuneration.
EIGHTH ARTICLE.
_Eighthly_, Many of us are oppressed in that we hold lands that will not
bear the price placed on them, so that the peasant thereby is ruined and
undone. Our desire is that the Lord shall allow such land to be seen by
honourable men, so that the price shall be fixed in such a manner that
the peasant shall not have his labour in vain: for every labourer is
worthy of his hire (Matt. x.).
NINTH ARTICLE.
_Ninthly_, We suffer greatly because of the new punishments that are
continually laid upon us. Not that they punish us according to the
circumstances of the case, but at times spitefully and at other times
favourably. We would be punished according to the old written
punishments, and not arbitrarily.
TENTH ARTICLE.
_Tenthly_, We suffer in that some have taken to themselves meadows and
arable land that belong to the community. Such land we would take once
more into the hands of our communities wheresoever they have not been
honestly purchased. But where they have been purchased, then shall the
case be agreed upon in peace and brotherly love, according to the
circumstances of the case.
ELEVENTH ARTICLE.
_Eleventhly_, We would have the custom called the death-due entirely
abolished. We will never suffer nor permit that widows and orphans shall
be disgraced and robbed of their own, contrary to God and honour, as has
happened in many cases and in many ways. Those who would protect and
shelter them, they have abused and injured, and when these have had
some little property, even this they have taken. Such things God will no
longer suffer, they shall be abolished. For such things no man shall
henceforth be compelled to give aught, be it little or much.
TWELFTH ARTICLE.
_Twelfthly_, It is our resolve and final decision that if any of the
Articles here set forth be not according to the Word of God, we will,
whenever they are shown to be against the Word of God, at once withdraw
therefrom. Yea, even though certain articles were now granted and it
should hereafter be found that they are unjust, from that hour they
shall be null and void and of no effect. The same shall happen if there
should with truth be found in the Scriptures yet more Articles which
were held to be against God and a stumbling-block to our neighbours,
even though we should have determined to preserve such for ourselves.
For we have determined and resolved to practice ourselves in all
Christian doctrines. Therefore we pray God the Lord who can grant us the
same, and none other. The Peace of Christ be with you all. Amen.
APPENDIX B
TOLERATION
The statement that toleration was the one leading principle of
Cromwell's life, may seem somewhat exaggerated to those who have not
carefully studied his career. By his own words let him be judged.
Writing to Major Crawford as early as March 1643 (1644) he plainly tells
him--"Sir, the State, in choosing men to serve it, takes no notice of
their opinions; if they be willing faithfully to serve it, that
satisfies." After Naseby, under date June 14th, 1645, in his dispatch to
the Speaker, he tells the Presbyterian House of Commons--"Honest men
served you faithfully in this action. Sir, they are trusty; I beseech
you in the name of God not to discourage them.... _He that ventures his
life for the liberty of the country, I wish he trust God for the liberty
of his conscience, and you for the liberty he fights for._" The meaning
of these words was not lost to the House, so when sending his dispatch
to the press, they carefully omitted this paragraph.
After the siege of Bristol, Cromwell is still more outspoken. Under date
September 14th, 1645, he writes to the Speaker as follows--"Presbyterians,
Independents, all have here the same spirit of faith and prayer; the same
presence and answer; they agree here, have no names of difference; pity
it should be otherwise anywhere--_for, bretheren, in things of the mind
we look for no compulsion but that of light and reason_." This dispatch,
too, the House of Commons took care to mutilate before sending it to the
press.
As he advanced in his career, Cromwell became still more outspoken. In
his opening speech to his first Parliament, after having given
expression to his view that the Lord had given them the victory for the
common good of all, "for the good of the whole flock," he
continues--"Therefore I beseech you--but I think I need not--have a care
of the whole flock! Love the sheep, love the lambs; love all, tender
all, cherish and countenance all, in all things that are good. _And if
the poorest Christian, the most mistaken Christian, shall desire to live
peaceably and quietly under you--I say, if any shall desire but to lead
a life of godliness and honesty, let him be protected._"
Again, when dissolving his first Parliament (Speech IV.), he expresses
the same thought in the following words--"Is there not yet upon the
spirits of men a strange itch? Nothing will satisfy them unless they can
press their finger upon their bretheren's consciences, to pinch them
there. To do this was no part of the contest we had with the common
adversary. For religion was not the thing at first contended for, but
God brought it to that issue at last; and gave it unto us by way of
redundancy; and at last it proved to be that which was most dear to us.
And wherein consisted this more than in obtaining that liberty from the
tyranny of the Bishops to all species of Protestants to worship God
according to their own light and consciences? ... And was it fit for them
to sit heavy upon others? Is it ingenuous to ask liberty and not to give
it? What greater hypocrisy than for those who were oppressed by the
Bishops to become the greatest oppressors themselves, so soon as their
yoke was removed? I could wish that they who call for liberty now also
had not too much of that spirit, if the power were in their hands."
Cromwell, in short, had no deep-rooted objection either to a moderate
Episcopacy or to a tolerant Presbyterianism, though, as he somewhere
says, "both are a hard choice," provided only there was sufficient
consideration for those who could not reconcile their consciences to the
demands of the established State Church. His great desire was "for union
and right understanding" between Protestants of all shades, in fact
between "godley" (religious or moral) people of all races, countries and
denominations, "Scots, English, Jews, Gentiles, Presbyterians,
Independents, Anabaptists, and all." (See his letter to Hammond, _Clarke
Papers_, vol. ii. p. 49.) His aim was to reconcile, or rather to stand
as mediator between all the opposing sects. "Fain," he writes to one of
his most devoted adherent (see _Cromwell's Letters and Speeches_,
Carlyle, part vii. p. 363), "would I have my service accepted of the
Saints, if the Lord will;--but it is not so. Being of different
judgements, and those of each sort seeking most to propagate their own,
that spirit of kindness that is to them all is hardly accepted of any. I
hope I can say it, My life has been a willing sacrifice,--and I
hope--for them all. Yet it much falls out as when the two Hebrews were
rebuked: you know upon whom they turned their displeasure."
In short, Cromwell's attitude toward all honest, sincere, "godley" men
was the same as his attitude toward George Fox. "Come again to my
house," he said, when dismissing the sturdy Quaker, "for if thou and I
were but an hour a day together we should be nearer one to the other. I
wish you no more ill than I do to my own soul."
On November 17th, 1645, "the Dissenting Bretheren," the representatives
of the Independents in the Westminster Assembly, declared for a full
liberty of conscience. "They expressed themselves," as Baillie, the
Scotch Presbyterian commissioner, wrote sadly, "for toleration, not only
to themselves, but to all sects." In February of the same year, the
Oxford Clergy, who had been consulted by the King as to the limits of
possible concession, gave strong evidence that the pressure of events
were forcing them to move, even though slowly, in the same direction.
(See Gardiner, _History of the Civil War_, vol. ii. pp. 125-126.)
APPENDIX C
WHAT MAY BE THOSE PARTICULAR LAWS, OR SUCH A METHOD OF LAWS, WHEREBY A
COMMONWEALTH MAY BE GOVERNED?
1. The bare letter of the Law established by Act of Parliament shall be
the Rule for Officers and People, and the chief Judge of all actions.
2. He or they who add or diminish from the Law, excepting in the Court
of Parliament, shall be cashiered his Office, and never bear Office
more.
3. No man shall administer the Law for Money or Reward. He that doth
shall die as a Traitor to the Commonwealth. For when Money must buy and
sell Justice, and bear all the sway, there is nothing but Oppression to
be expected.
[Here, as also in other Laws yet to follow, Winstanley, and as it
seems to us without sufficient grounds, gives up the position taken
up in The New Law of Righteousness, that capital punishment was
absolutely unjustifiable.]
4. The Laws shall be read by the Minister to the People four times in
the year, viz., every quarter; that everyone may know whereunto they are
to yield obedience, that none may die for want of knowledge.
5. No accusation shall be taken against any man unless it be proved by
two or three witnesses, or his own confession.
6. No man shall suffer any punishment but for matter of fact or reviling
words. But no man shall be troubled for his judgement or practice in the
things of his God, so he live quiet in the Land.
7. The accuser and the accused shall always appear face to face before
any Officer; that both sides may be heard, and no wrong to either party.
8. If any Judge execute his own will contrary to the Law, or where there
is no Law to warrant him in, he shall be cashiered, and never bear
Office more.
9. He who raises an accusation against any man, and cannot prove it,
shall suffer the same punishment as the other should, if proved. An
accusation is, when one man complains of another to an Officer, all
other accusations the Law takes no notice of.
10. He who strikes his neighbor shall be struck himself by the
executioner, blow for blow, and shall lose eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
limb for limb, life for life. And the reason is that men should be
tender of one another's bodies, doing as they would be done by.
11. If any man strike an Officer, he shall be made a servant under the
Task-master for a whole year.
12. He who endeavours to stir up contention among neighbors, by
tale-bearing or false reports, shall the first time be reproved openly
by the Overseers among the people. The second time he shall be whipped.
The third time he shall be a servant under the Task-master for three
months. And if he continue, he shall be a servant for ever, and lose his
Freedom in the Commonwealth.
13. If any give reviling or provoking words, whereby his neighbor's
spirit is burdened, if complaint be made to the Overseers, they shall
admonish the offender privately to forbear. If he continue to offend his
neighbor, the next time he shall be openly reproved and admonished
before the Congregation when met together. If he continue, the third
time he shall be whipped; the fourth time, if proof be made by
witnesses, he shall be a servant under the Task-master for twelve
months.
14. He who will rule as a Lord over his Brother, unless he be an Officer
commanding obedience to the Law, he shall be admonished as aforesaid,
and receive like punishment, if he continue.
LAWS FOR THE PLANTING OF THE EARTH.
15. Every household shall keep all instruments and tools fit for the
tillage of the Earth, either for planting, reaping or threshing. Some
households, which have many men in them, shall keep ploughs, carts,
harrows, and such like. Other households shall keep spades, pick-axes,
pruning hooks, and such like, according as every family is furnished
with men to work therewith. And if any Master or Father of a Family be
negligent herein, the Overseer for that Circuit shall admonish him
between them two. If he continue negligent, the Overseer shall reprove
him before all the people. And if he utterly refuse, then the ordering
of that Family shall be given to another, and he shall be Servant under
the Task-master till he reform.
16. Every Family shall come into the field with sufficient assistance at
seed time, to plough, dig and plant, and at harvest time to reap the
fruits of the Earth, and to carry them into the Storehouses, as the
Overseers order the work and the number of workmen. If any refuse to
assist in the work, the Overseer shall ask the reason; and if it be
sickness or any distemper that hinders them, they are freed from such
service; if mere idleness keep them back, they are to suffer punishment
according to the Laws against Idleness.
LAWS AGAINST IDLENESS.
17. If any refuse to learn a trade, or refuse to work in seed-time, or
refuse to be a waiter in storehouses, and yet will feed and clothe
himself with other men's labors, the Overseer shall first admonish him
privately. If he continue idle, he shall be reproved openly before all
the people by the Overseer, and shall be forbore with a month after this
reproof. If he still continue idle, he shall be whipped, and let go at
liberty for a month longer. If still he continue idle, he shall be
delivered into the Task-master's hand, who shall set him to work for
twelve months, or till he submit to right order. The reason why every
young man shall be trained up in some work or other, is to prevent pride
and contention; it is for the health of their bodies; it is a pleasure
to the mind to be free in labors one with another; and it provides
plenty of food and all necessaries for the Commonwealth.
LAWS FOR STOREHOUSES.
18. In every Town and City shall be appointed Storehouses for flax,
wood, leather, cloth, and for all such commodities as come from beyond
seas. These shall be called General Storehouses, whence every particular
Family may fetch such commodities as they want, either for their own use
in their house, or for to work in their trades, or to carry into the
Country Storehouses.
19. Every particular house and shop in a town or city shall be a
particular Storehouse or Shop, as now they be. And these shops shall
either be furnished by the particular labor of that family according to
the trade that family is of, or by the labor of other lesser families of
the same trade, as all shops in every town are now furnished.
20. The waiters in Storehouses shall deliver the goods in their charge
without receiving any money, as they shall receive in their goods
without paying any money.
21. If any waiter in a Storehouse neglect his Office, upon a just
complaint, the Overseers shall acquaint the Judge's Court therewith; and
from thence he shall receive his sentence, to be discharged that house
and office, to be appointed some other work under the Task-master; and
another shall have his place. For he who may live in Freedom and will
not, is to taste of servitude.
LAWS FOR OVERSEERS.
22. The only work of every Overseer is to see the Laws executed. For the
Law is the True Magistracy of the land.
23. If any Overseer favour any in their idleness and neglect the
execution of the Laws, he shall be reproved, the first time by the
Judge's Court; the second time cashiered his Office, and shall never
bear Office more, but fall back into the ranks of young people and
servants to be a worker.
24. New Overseers, at their first entrance into their office, shall look
back upon the actions of the Old Overseers of the last year, to see if
they have been faithful in their places, and consented to no breach of
Law, whereby Kingly Bondage should in any way be brought in.
25. The Overseers for Trades shall see every Family to lend assistance
to plant and reap the fruits of the Earth, to work in their Trades, and
to furnish the Storehouses. And to see that the Waiters in Storehouses
be diligent to receive in and deliver out any goods, without buying and
selling, to any man whatsoever.
26. While any Overseer is in performance of his place, every one shall
assist him, upon pain of open reproof (or cashiered if he be another
Officer) or forfeiture of freedom, according to the nature of the
business in hand, in which he refused his assistance.
LAWS AGAINST BUYING AND SELLING.
27. If any man entice another to buy and sell, and he who is enticed
does not yield, but makes it known to the Overseer, the enticer shall
lose his freedom for twelve months, and the Overseer shall give words of
commendation of him that refused the enticement before all the
Congregation, for his faithfulness to the Commonwealth's Peace.
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN!
28. If any do buy and sell the Earth, or the fruits thereof, unless it
be to or with strangers of another Nation, according to the Law of
Navigation, they shall be both put to death as Traitors to the Peace of
the Commonwealth. Because it brings in Kingly Bondage again, and is the
occasion of all quarrels and oppressions.
29. He, or she, who calls the Earth his, and not his brother's, shall be
set upon a stool, with those words written in his forehead, before all
the Congregation, and afterwards be made a Servant for twelve months
under the Task-master. If he quarrel, or seek by secret persuasion or
open rising in arms to set up such a Kingly Propriety, he shall be put
to death.
30. The Storehouses shall be every man's subsistence, and not any ones.
31. No man shall either give hire or take hire for his work; for this
brings in Kingly Bondage. If any Freeman want help, there are young
people, or such as are common servants, to do it by the Overseer's
appointment. He that gives and he that hires for work, shall both lose
their freedom and become Servants for twelve months under the
Task-master.
LAWS FOR NAVIGATION.
32. Because other Nations as yet own Monarchy, and will buy and sell,
therefore it is convenient for the peace of our Commonwealth, that our
ships do transport our English goods and exchange for theirs, and
conform to the customs of other Nations in buying and selling: Always
provided that what goods our ships carry out, they shall be the
Commonwealth's goods; and all their trading with other Nations shall be
upon the Common Stock, to enrich the Storehouses.
LAWS FOR SILVER AND GOLD.
33. As Silver and Gold is either found out in mines in our own Land, or
brought by shipping from beyond Sea, it shall not be coined with a
Conqueror's stamp upon it, to set up buying and selling under his name,
or by his leave. For there shall be no other use for it in the
Commonwealth than to make dishes and other necessaries for the ornament
of houses, as now there is use made of brass, pewter and iron, or any
other metal in their use. But in case other Nations whose commodities we
want, will not exchange with us unless we give them money, then pieces
of silver and gold may be stamped with the Commonwealth's Arms upon
them, for the same use and no otherwise.
For where money bears all the sway, there is no regard of that Golden
Rule, "_Do as you would be done by_." Justice is bought and sold; nay,
Injustice is sometimes bought for money; and it is the cause of all wars
and oppressions. Certainly the Righteous Spirit of the Whole Creation
did never enact a Law that his weak and simple men should go from
England to the East Indies and fetch silver and gold to bring in their
hands to their bretheren, and give it them for their good-will to let
them plant the Earth, and live and enjoy their livelihood therein.
LAWS TO CHOOSE OFFICERS.
34. All Overseers and State Officers shall be chosen new every year, to
prevent the rise of Ambition and Covetousness. For the Nations have
smarted sufficiently by suffering Officers to continue long in an
Office, or to remain in an Office by hereditary succession.
35. A man who is of a turbulent spirit, given to quarrelling and
provoking words to his neighbor, shall not be chosen any Officer while
he so continues.
36. All men of twenty years of age upwards shall have freedom of voice
to choose Officers, unless they be such as lie under sentence of the
Law.
37. Such shall be chosen Officers as are rational men of moderate
conversation, and who have experience in the Laws of the Commonwealth.
38. All men from forty years of age upwards shall be capable to be
chosen State Officers, and none younger, unless any one by his industry
and moderate conversation doth move the people to choose him.
39. If any man make suit to move the people to choose him an Officer,
that man shall not be chosen at all that time. If another man shall
persuade the people to choose him that made suit for himself, they shall
both loose their freedom at that time, viz., they shall neither have a
voice to choose another, nor be chosen themselves.
LAWS AGAINST TREACHERY.
40. He who professes the service of a righteous God by preaching and
prayer, and makes a trade to get the possessions of the Earth, shall be
put to death for a Witch and a Cheater.
41. He who pretends one thing in words, and his actions declare his
intent was another thing, shall never bear Office in the Commonwealth.
WHAT IS FREEDOM?
Every Freeman shall have a Freedom in the Earth, to plant or build, to
fetch from the Storehouses anything he wants, and shall enjoy the fruits
of his labor without restraint from any. He shall not pay Rent to any
Landlord. He shall be capable of being chosen Officer, so he be above
forty years of age, and he shall have a voice to choose Officers though
he be under forty years of age. If he want any young men to be
assistants to him in his trade or household employment, the Overseers
shall appoint him young men or maids to be his servants in his family.
LAWS FOR SUCH AS HAVE LOST THEIR FREEDOM.
42. All those who have lost their freedom shall be clothed in white
woollen cloth, that they may be distinguished from others.
43. They shall be under the government of a Task-master, who shall
appoint them to be porters or laborers, to do any work that any Freeman
wants to be done.
44. They shall do all kinds of labor without exception, but their
constant work shall be carriers or carters, to carry corn or other
provision from Storehouse to Storehouse, from Country to Cities, and
thence to Countries.
45. If any of these refuse to do such work, the Task-master shall see
them whipped, and shall feed them with coarse diet. And what hardship is
this? For Freemen work the easiest work, and these shall work the
hardest work. And to what end is this but to kill their Pride and
Unreasonableness, that they may become useful men in the Commonwealth?
46. The wife or children of such as have lost their Freedom shall not be
as slaves till they have lost their Freedom as their parents and
husbands have done.
47. He who breaks any laws shall be the first time reproved in words in
private or in public, as is shown before; the next time whipped; the
third time lose his Freedom, either for a short time or for ever, and
not to be any Officer.
48. He who hath lost his Freedom shall be a common servant to any
Freeman who comes to the Task-master and requires one to do any work for
him. Always provided, that after one Freeman hath by the consent of the
Task-master appointed him his work, another Freeman shall not call him
thence till that work be done.
49. If any of these offenders revile the Laws by words, they shall be
soundly whipped and fed with coarse diet. If they raise weapons against
the Laws, they shall die as Traitors.
LAWS TO RESTORE SLAVES TO FREEDOM.
50. When any Slaves [_i.e._ those who have lost their Freedom] give open
testimony of their humility and diligence, and of their care to observe
the Laws of the Commonwealth, they are then capable to be restored to
their Freedom, when the time of servitude has expired, according to the
Judge's sentence. But if they continue opposite to the Laws, they shall
continue slaves for another term of time.
51. None shall be restored to Freedom till they have been a twelve month
laboring servants to the Commonwealth; for they shall winter and summer
in that condition.
52. When any is restored to Freedom, the Judge at the Senator's Court
shall pronounce his Freedom, and give liberty to him to be clothed in
what other coloured garments he will.
53. If any person be sick or wounded, the Chyrurgeons, who are trained
up in the knowledge of Herbs and Minerals, and know how to apply
plasters or physick, shall go when they are sent for to any who need
their help, but require no reward, because the Common Stock is the
public pay for every man's labor.
54. When a dead person is to be buried, the Officers of the Parish and
neighbors shall go along with the corpse to the grave, and see it laid
therein in a civil manner; but the public Minister nor any other shall
have any hand in reading or exhortation.
[Whatever we may think of this latter proviso, certain it is that
it would put an end to many unseemly squabblings at a time when
they are specially to be avoided.]
55. When a man hath learned his Trade, and the time of his seven years
Apprenticeship has expired, he shall have his Freedom to become Master
of a Family, and the Overseers shall appoint him such young people to be
his servants as they think fit, whether he marry or live a single life.
LAWS FOR MARRIAGE.
56. Every man and woman shall have the free liberty to marry whom they
love, if they can obtain the love and liking of that party whom they
would marry, and neither birth nor portion shall hinder the match. For
we are all of one blood, mankind, and for portion, the Common
Storehouses are every man and maid's portion, as free to one as to
another.
57. If any man lie with a maid and beget a child, he shall marry her.
58. If a man lie with a woman forcibly, and she cry out and give no
consent; if this be proved by two witnesses, or the man's confession, he
shall be put to death, and the woman let go free: it is robbery of a
woman's bodily freedom.
59. If any man by violence endeavour to take another man's wife, the
first time of such violent offer he shall be reproved before the
Congregation by the Peacemaker; the second time he shall be made a
Servant under the Task-master for twelve months; and if he forcibly lie
with another man's wife, and she cry out, as is the case when, a maid is
forced, the man shall be put to death.
60. When any man or woman have consented to live together in marriage,
they shall acquaint all the Overseers in the Circuit therewith, and some
other neighbors. And being all met together, the man shall declare with
his own mouth before them all that he takes that woman to be his wife,
and the woman shall say the same, and desire the Overseers to be
witnesses.
LAWS TO SECURE ECONOMY.
61. No Master of a Family shall suffer more meat to be dressed at a
dinner or supper than will be spent and eaten by his household or
company present, or within such a time after before it be spoilt. If
there be any spoil constantly made in a family of the food of man, the
Overseer shall reprove the Master for it privately; if that abuse be
continued in his family, through his neglect of family government, he
shall be openly reproved by the Peacemaker before all the people, and
ashamed for his folly; the third time he shall be made a servant for
twelve months under the Task-master, so that he may know what it is to
get food, and another shall have the oversight of his house for the
time.
62. No man shall be suffered to keep house and have servants under him
till he hath served seven years under command to a Master himself. The
reason is that a man may be of age and of rational carriage before he be
made a Governor of a Family, that the peace of the Commonwealth may be
preserved.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
COMPLETE LIST OF "DIGGER" PUBLICATIONS.
WINSTANLEY, The Mystery of God concerning the Whole Creation,
Mankind.--April 1648. (British Museum, Press Mark, 4377, a. 1.)
" The Breaking of the Day of God.--May 1648. (British Museum, P. M.,
4377, a. 2.)
" The Saints' Paradise: Or the Father's Teaching the Only Satisfaction
to Waiting Souls.--August or September 1648. (British Museum, P. M.,
E. 2137.)
" Truth Lifting up its Head above Scandals.--October 1648. (British
Museum, P. M., 4372, a.a. 17.)
" (?) Light Shining in Buckinghamshire.--December 1648. (British
Museum, P. M., E. 475 (11).)
" (?) More Light Shining in Buckinghamshire.--March 1649. (British
Museum, P. M., E. 548 (33).)
" (?) A Declaration from the Well Affected in the County of
Buckinghamshire.--May 1649. (British Museum, P. M., E. 555.)
" The New Law of Righteousness.--January 1649. (Jesus College Library,
Oxford.)
" Fire in the Bush: The Spirit burning, not consuming but purging,
Mankind.--March 1649. (Bodleian Library.)
" A Declaration from the Poor Oppressed People of England.--March
1649. (British Museum, Press Mark, 1027, i. 16 (3).)
" The True Levellers' Standard Advanced: Or the State of Community
opened and presented to the Sons of Men.--April 1649. (British
Museum, P. M., E. 552.)
" A Declaration of the Bloody and Unchristian Acting of William Star
and John Taylor of Walton, with diverse men in women's apparel, in
opposition to those that dig upon St. Georges Hill.--June 1649.
(British Museum, Press Mark, E. 561.)
" A Letter to Lord Fairfax and his Council of War.--June 1649.
(British Museum, P. M., E. 560 (1).)
" An Appeal to the House of Commons.--July 1649. (British Museum,
P. M., E. 564. Also at the Guildhall Library.)
" A Watchword to the City of London.--August 1649. (British Museum,
P. M., E. 573. Also at the Guildhall Library.)
" A Second Letter to Lord Fairfax.--December 1649. (Clarke Papers,
vol. ii. pp. 217-220.)
COSTER, ROBERT, A Mite cast into the Common Treasury.--December 1649.
(British Museum, P. M., E. 585.)
" The Diggers' Mirth. (British Museum, P. M., E. 1365.)
" The Diggers' Song. (Clarke Papers, vol. ii. p. 218.)
WINSTANLEY, A New Year's Gift for the Parliament and Army.--January
1650. (British Museum, P. M., E. 587.)
" A Vindication of Those whose Endeavour it is only to make the Earth
a Common Treasury, called Diggers.--February 1650. (British Museum,
P. M., E. 1365.)
" An Appeal for Money.--April 1650. (See "A Perfect Diurnal," British
Museum, P. M., E. 534.)
" A Declaration from Wellingborrow, in the County of Northampton.--
March 1650. (British Museum, under Wellinborrow, P. M., S. Sh.
fol. 669 f., 15. 21.)
" An Appeal to all Englishmen to Judge between Bondage and
Freedom.--March 1650. (British Museum, P. M., S. Sh. fol. 669 f.,
15. 23.)
" An Humble Request to the Ministers of Both Universities and to all
Lawyers of every Inns-a-Court.--April 1650. (Dyce and Forster's
Library, South Kensington Museum.)
" The Law of Freedom in a Platform: Or True Magistracie
Restored.--February 1652. (British Museum, P. M., E. 655. Also at
the Guildhall and Bodleian Libraries.)
INDEX
Agreement of the People, 29, 32, 87, 103.
Anabaptists, 15, 18.
Army, the Model, Views of, 29;
Declaration of (1647), 93 (note).
Army Council, Resolution of, 33;
Debate of, 103, 108.
Baptism, Winstanley on, 64.
Barclay (Apology), quoted, 58, 60, 65.
Baxter (Thos.), quoted, 50 (note).
Beard (Hibbert Lectures, 1883), quoted, 4, 10, 15, 18.
Buckle, quoted, 1, 21, 22.
Capital Punishment, Winstanley on, 69.
Carlyle, quoted, 38, 165, 166, 168, 170.
Cartwright, Thos., quoted, 20.
Chalmers, John, quoted, 63.
Chillingworth, quoted, 21.
Clarke Papers, quoted, 29, 34, 35, 36, 53, 103, 106, 108, 122, 124, 130.
Clergy, Winstanley on, 62, 167, 189.
Coomber, Thos., quoted, 49.
Coster, Robert, 126.
Council of State, Letter to Fairfax, 35;
to Mr. Pentlow, 159.
Croese, Gerrard, quoted, 49 (note).
Cromwell, Oliver, quoted, 32, 33, 53, 165, 166, 168, 170;
Open Letter to, 164.
Diggers, Information against, 34;
Fairfax's visit to, 39;
Mirth, 129;
Declaration of, 91;
Sufferings of, 143;
Travels, 150.
Dispensations, Winstanley on, 53;
Cromwell on, 53.
Doctrines, Family of Love, 16, 18;
Presbyterian, 20, 32;
Model Army, 29;
Independent, 31, 32;
Children of Light, 52, 65;
Anabaptists, 15, 18.
Dove, Patrick Edward, quoted, 228.
Earth, Right to use of, Winstanley on, 70, 74, 76, 80, 83, 90, 96, 104,
118, 132, 170, 180, 213.
England, Reformation in, 12;
Church of, 13.
Erasmus, quoted, 15, 18.
Everard, 36, 38.
Fairfax, Lord, Council of State to, 35;
Gladman to, 39;
Visit to Diggers, 39;
Winstanley's letters to, 100, 124.
Fall, the, Winstanley on, 44, 53, 70.
Family of Love, History of, 15;
Doctrines of, 16, 18.
Freedom, Winstanley on, 100, 112, 114, 179.
Fuller on Family of Love, 16.
Gardiner, quoted, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 87, 163.
George, Henry, quoted, 146, 205, 228, 234.
Golden Rule, Winstanley on the, 39, 56, 80, 81, 86, 141, 154, 171, 190,
217, 225.
Government, Winstanley on, 68, 101, 177;
Definition of, 181.
Hallam, quoted, 24.
Hare's pamphlets, 38.
Hooker, quoted, 21, 23.
House of Commons, Apology of, 25;
Remonstrance of, 27;
Officers' Petition to, 86;
Appeal to, 105.
Independents, Origin of, 14;
Growth of, 33;
Doctrines of, 31.
Ireton, quoted, 106 (note).
Israel's Commonwealth, Winstanley on, 82, 93, 225.
Kingly Power, Winstanley on, 34, 100, 130, 168, 177, 202, 220.
Land Question, Winstanley on the, 70, 71, 124, 138, 156, 171, 175, 180.
Law, Winstanley on, 102, 136, 141, 168, 171, 183, 192, 197, 220;
Definition of, 222.
Lawyers, Questions to, 102;
Power of, 168, 225.
Light, The Inward, 45, 46, 52, 57, 59, 60, 63, 66, 77, 141, 183, 225;
Children of, 17, 49, 54.
Locke, John, quoted, 74, 179, 197 (note), 200 (note).
Lockyer, Execution and burial of, 87.
Love, The Everlasting Law of, 217;
Family of, 15, 16, 18.
Luther, quoted, 4, 10.
Macaulay, quoted, 23, 24, 28.
Mackay, Charles, quoted, 207.
Mather, Cotton, on origin of Quakers, 48.
Melanchthon, quoted, 9.
Ministry, Winstanley on the work of, 207.
Officers, Petition of, 86;
Winstanley on functions of, 184.
Parliament, The Short and Long, 26;
Winstanley on work of, 194, 197.
Peasantry, Demands of German, 8;
Condition of English, 126, 141, 151, 159.
Penn, William, on Quaker Doctrines, 48 (note).
People, Agreement of, 29, 32, 87, 103;
Condition of, 126, 141, 151, 159.
Politics, Influence of religion on, 8.
Prayer, Winstanley on, 63, 65.
Presbyterianism, Doctrines of, 20, 32.
Quakers, Doctrines of, 47 (note);
Coomber on origin of, 49;
Cotton Mather on, 48 (note);
Thos. Bennet on, 49 (note);
a Declaration from, 54 (note);
Appeal of Army, 85 (note).
Rainborrow, Colonel, Views of, 103, 108.
Ranters, Winstanley on the, 147.
Reason, Luther on, 4;
Hooker on, 21;
Winstanley on, 44, 48, 59, 76.
Reformation, influence of the, 3, 10, 12.
Religion, Dual nature of, 6;
Winstanley, Definition of, 139.
Restoration, the, Legislation of, 110.
Resurrection, the, Winstanley on, 47, 60, 66.
Revolt, The Peasants', 6, Appendix A.
Riches, Winstanley on, 173.
Rogers, Thorold, quoted, 7, 89, 109, 110.
Rowntree, J. S., quoted, 48, 58.
Ruskin, John, quoted, 61 (note).
Sexby, Edward, Views of, 103.
Shelley, quoted, 162, 178, 179.
Silence, the Law of, Winstanley on, 65.
Teachings, Human and divine, 52, 57, 59, 209, 211.
Tithes, 85, 167, 173.
Toleration, 13, 19, 31, 32, Appendix B.
Vagrants, Laws against, 109.
Wellingborrow, declaration from, 150.
Whitelocke, quoted, 37, 86, 87, 152, 159.
Wyclif, teachings of, 6, 13.
Winstanley, on Baptism, 64;
Capital Punishment, 69;
Clergy, 62, 167, 189;
Dispensations, 53;
Earth, rights to use of, 70, 74, 76, 80, 83, 90, 96, 104, 118, 132,
170, 180, 213;
Ecclesiastical Power, 55;
Education, 214;
Fall, the, 44, 53, 70;
Freedom, 100, 112, 114, 179;
Golden Rule, the, 39, 56, 80, 81, 86, 141, 154, 171, 190, 217, 225;
Government, 68, 101, 177, 181;
Israel's Commonwealth, 82, 93, 225;
Kingdom of Heaven, 47, 48, 61, 66, 211;
Kingly Power, 34, 100, 133, 168, 177, 202, 220;
Land Question, 70, 71, 124, 138, 156, 171, 175, 180;
Law, 102, 136, 141, 168, 171, 183, 192, 197, 220, 222;
Lawyers, questions to, 102;
power of, 168, 225;
Light, the Inward, 45, 46, 52, 57, 60, 63, 66, 77, 141, 183, 225;
Love, the Law of, 217;
Ministry, work of a, 207;
Officers, work of, 184;
Parliament, work of, 194, 197;
Prayer, 63, 65;
Reason, 44, 48, 59, 76;
Religion, 137;
Resurrection, the, 47, 60, 66;
Riches, 173;
Silence, the Law of, 65;
Teachings, human and divine, 52, 57, 59, 209, 211;
Tithes, 167, 173;
Titles of Honour, 173.
_Printed by_
MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED
_Edinburgh_
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
LATEST ADDITION TO
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XXII. Democracy.
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Transcriber's notes:
1. Original reads 'bleibt den Nachwelt'; changed to
'bleibt der Nachwelt'.
2. Footnote marker missing in original. Footnote appears on
page 21, but refers to a quotation on page 22.
3. Original has no opening double quotation mark before
'_Englands Proper and Only Way_'.
4. Original reads 'will upraid us'; changed to 'will upbraid us'.
5. Original has closing double quotation mark after '_Work
together; Eat bread together._'
6. Original has an opening double quotation mark before 'Thou
City of London'.
7. Original reads 'georgeous throne'; changed to 'gorgeous throne'.
8. Original reads 'Its perusual convinced us'; changed to 'Its
perusal convinced us'.
9. Original has no opening double quotation mark before '_Secondly_'.
10. Original has 'all that have lent asssistance'; changed to
'all that have lent assistance'.
11. Original has closing double quotation mark at the end of this
paragraph.
12. Original has no opening double quotation mark before
'_Secondly_'.