Lewis H. Berens - The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth

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About a fortnight after the publication of his _Appeal to all
Englishmen_, Winstanley issued yet another pamphlet, of which, as it
contains nothing save what he had already better expressed in his other
writings, we need only quote the suggestive title-page, with which this
chapter may fittingly close: it reads as follows:

"AN HUMBLE REQUEST TO THE MINISTERS OF BOTH UNIVERSITIES, AND TO
ALL LAWYERS OF EVERY INNS-A-COURT:[161:1] to consider of the
Scriptures and Points of Law herein mentioned, and to give a
rational and Christian answer, whereby the difference may be
composed in peace, between the Poor Men in England who have
begun to dig, plow and build upon the Common Land, claiming it
their own by right of Creation,

AND

The Lords of Manors that trouble them, who have no other claimings
to Commons than from the King's will, or from the Power of the
Conquest,

AND

If neither Minister nor Lawyer will undertake a Reconciliation in
this case. Then we appeal to the Stone, Timber and Dust of the
Earth you tread upon, to hold forth the light of this business,
questioning not but that Power that dwells everywhere will
cause Light to spring out of Darkness, and Freedom out of
Bondage."

FOOTNOTES:

[146:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 1365.

[148:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 534. We have to
thank the late Rev. Thomas Hancock, of Harrow on the Hill, for this
reference. Mr. Hancock's profound knowledge of the Commonwealth times
was well known to every student of the period, at whose disposal he
gladly placed the wonderful store of information he had collected. We
would here acknowledge our indebtedness to him for this and other
information.

[150:1] British Museum, under Wellingborrow, Press Mark, S. Sh. fol. 669
f., 15 (21).

[153:1] British Museum, Press Mark, S. Sh. fol. 669 f., 15 (23).

[161:1] There is no copy of this pamphlet at the British Museum, nor in
the Bodleian; but a copy is to be found in the Dyce and Forster Library,
South Kensington Museum, London, W.

CHAPTER XIV

GERRARD WINSTANLEY'S UTOPIA: THE LAW OF FREEDOM

"And when reason's voice,
Loud as the voice of nature, shall have waked
The nations; and mankind perceives that vice
Is discord, war and misery; that virtue
Is peace, and happiness and harmony;
When man's maturer nature shall disdain
The playthings of its childhood;--kingly glare
Will lose its power to dazzle; its authority
Will silently pass by; the gorgeous{7} throne
Shall stand unnoticed in the regal hall,
Fast falling to decay; whilst falsehood's trade
Shall be as hateful and unprofitable
As that of truth is now."--SHELLEY.

The above words of Shelley might have been written purposely to serve as
a preface to Winstanley's final work, the main contents of which we now
propose to lay before our readers. It happened to be the first of
Winstanley's works that fell into our hands, when, many years since, in
consequence of Carlyle's somewhat patronising reference to them, we
first determined to ascertain what the views and aims of the Diggers
really were. Its perusal{8} convinced us, and our subsequent
investigations have only served to strengthen the belief, that
Winstanley was, in truth, one of the most courageous, far-seeing and
philosophic preachers of social righteousness that England has given to
the world. And yet how unequally Fame bestows her rewards. More's
_Utopia_ has secured its author a world-wide renown; it is spoken of,
even if not read, in every civilised country in the world. Gerrard
Winstanley's Utopia is unknown even to his own countrymen. Yet let any
impartial student compare the ideal society conceived by Sir Thomas
More--a society based upon slavery, and extended by wars carried on by
hireling, mercenary soldiers--with the simple, peaceful, rational and
practical social ideal pictured by Gerrard Winstanley, and it is to the
latter that he will be forced to assign the laurel crown.

From internal evidence we gather that the book was written some time
before it was published. Winstanley had come to realise that the real
power of the Country was in the hands of the Army, of its trusted
officers and leaders. Hence it is, probably, that the opening epistle is
addressed to Oliver Cromwell, who at the time was Commander in Chief of
the Army, and the man to whom all England was looking with wonder and
admiration, not unmixed with anxious forebodings. The years that had
elapsed between the conception and the publication of Winstanley's book
had been momentous ones in this great man's career. Owing to Lord
Fairfax's reluctance to invade Scotland, the command of the
Commonwealth's Army had devolved on him: and right good use had the hero
of Naseby made of his opportunities. In September 1651 he won the
decisive battle of Dunbar; and in the same month of the following year
he won the even more decisive battle of Worcester, which, to use
Gardiner's words, manifested to the world that England refused "to be
ruled by a king who came in as an invader."[163:1] In the following
November, when Winstanley was sitting down to write his Dedicatory
Epistle, Cromwell was already back in his seat in Parliament,
endeavouring "to use the patriotic fervour called out by the invasion to
settle the Commonwealth on a broader basis," and agitating for "a time
to be fixed for the dissolution of the existing Parliament and for the
calling of a new one."[163:2] And in February 1652, when the book was
published, political and religious excitement in England was probably at
the greatest height to which it ever attained even in the stirring days
of the Commonwealth, and Cromwell may be regarded as standing at the
dividing line of his wonderful career.

The title-page of the book reads as follows:

"THE LAW OF FREEDOM IN A PLATFORM:[164:1]

OR

TRUE MAGISTRACY RESTORED.

Humbly presented to Oliver Cromwel, General of the Commonwealth's
Army in England, Scotland and Ireland. And to all English-men
my Bretheren, whether in Church Fellowship or not in Church
Fellowship,[164:2] both sorts walking as they conceive
according to the order of the Gospel: and from them to all the
Nations of the World.

Wherein is declared, What is Kingly Government, and What is
Commonwealth's Government.

BY GERRARD WINSTANLEY.

In thee, O England, is the Law arising up to shine,
If thou receive and practice it, the Crown it will be thine.
If thou reject, and still remain a froward Son to be,
Another Land will it receive, and take the Crown from thee.

REV. 11-15. DAN. 7. 27.

LONDON.

Printed for the Author, and are to be sold by Giles Calvert at the
Black Spred-Eagle at the West end of Pauls."

As already mentioned, it opens with a Dedicatory Letter--

"To His Excellency OLIVER CROMWEL, General of the Commonwealth's
Army in England, Scotland and Ireland"--

which commences as follows:

"SIR,--God hath honored you with the highest honor of any man since
Moses' time, to be the head of a People who have cast out an
oppressing Pharaoh. For when the Norman Power had conquered our
forefathers, he took the free use of our English Ground from them,
and made them his servants. And God hath made you a successful
instrument to cast out that Conqueror, and to recover our Land and
Liberties again, by your Victories, out of that Norman hand."

Winstanley then indicates Cromwell's duty, as well as the alternative
ways open to him, in the following words:

"That which is wanting on your part to be done is this, To see the
Oppressor's Power be cast out with his person; and to see that the
free possession of the Land and Liberties be put into the hands of
the Oppressed Commoners of England. For the Crown of Honor cannot
be yours, neither can these Victories be called victories on your
part, till the Land and Freedom won be possessed by them that
adventured person and purse for them.

"Now you know, Sir, that the Kingly Conqueror was not beaten by you
only, as you are a single man, nor by the Officers of the Army
joined to you; but by the hand and assistance of the Commoners,
whereof some came in person and adventured their lives with you,
others stayed at home and planted the Earth, and paid Taxes and
gave Free Quarter to maintain you that went to war.... And now you
have the Power of the Land in your hand, you must do one of these
two things: First, either set the Land free to the Oppressed
Commoners who assisted you ... and so take possession of your
deserved honor. Or, secondly, you must only remove the Conqueror's
power out of the King's hand into other men's, maintaining the old
laws still; and then your wisdom and honor will be blasted for
ever, and you will either lose yourself, or lay the foundation of
greater slavery to posterity than you ever knew."

A marvellous prophecy, truly! Cromwell could see nothing in Winstanley's
demands save that they tended "to make the Tenant as liberal a fortune
as the Land-lord,"[165:1] which did not conform to his sense of the
eternal fitness of things. Winstanley then continues:

"You know that while the King was in the height of his oppressing
power, the People only whispered in private chambers against him;
but afterwards it was preached upon the house-tops, that he was a
Tyrant, a Traitor to England's Peace: and he had his overturn.

"The Righteous Power in the Creation is the same still. If you and
those in power with you should be found walking in the King's
steps, can you secure yourselves or posterities from an overturn?
Surely No.

"The Spirit of the whole Creation (who is God) is about the
Reformation of the World, and he will go forward in his
work.[166:1] For if he would not spare Kings, who have sat so long
at his right hand, governing the world, neither will he regard you,
unless your ways be found more righteous than the King's.... Lose
not your Crown; take it up and wear it. But know that it is no
Crown of Honor till promises and engagements made by you be
performed to your friends. _He that continues to the end, shall
receive the Crown._ Now you do not see the end of your work unless
the Kingly Law and Power be removed as well as his person."

THE COMPLAINTS OF THE PEOPLE.

He subsequently returns to his original subject, as follows:

"It may be you will say to me, _What shall I do?_ I answer, You are
in place and power to see all Burthens taken off from your friends
the Commoners of England. You will say, _What are those burthens?_

"I will instance in some, both which I know in my own experience,
and which I hear the people daily complaining of and groaning
under, looking upon you and waiting for deliverance.

"Most people cry, We have paid taxes, given free-quarter, wasted
our estates, and lost our friends in the wars, and the Task-masters
multiply over us more than formerly. I have asked divers this
question, _Why do you say so?_

"Some have answered me that promises, oaths and engagements have
been made, as a motive to draw us to assist in the wars, that
Privileges of Parliament and Liberties of Subjects should be
preserved, and that all Popery and Episcopacy and Tyranny should be
rooted out. And these promises are not performed. Now there is an
opportunity to perform them.

"For first, say they, the current of succeeding Parliaments is
stopped, which is one of the greatest privileges (and people's
liberties) for safety and peace. And if that continue stopped, we
shall be more offended by an hereditary Parliament than we were
oppressed by an hereditary King.

"And for the Commoners, who were called Subjects while the Kingly
Conqueror was in power, they have not as yet their Liberties
granted them. I will instance them in order, according as the
common whisperings are among the people."

THE POWER OF THE CLERGY.

"For say they, The Burthens of the Clergy remain still upon us, in
a threefold nature.

"_First_, If any man declare his judgement in the things of God
contrary to the Clergy's report, or the minds of some high
Officers, they are cashiered, imprisoned, crushed and undone, and
made sinners for a word, as they were in the Popes and Bishops
days; so that though their names be cast out, yet their High
Commission Court Power remains still, persecuting men for
conscience sake, when their actions are unblamable.

"_Secondly_,{9} In many Parishes there are old, formal, ignorant
Episcopal Priests established; and some Ministers, who are bitter
enemies to Commonwealth's Freedom, and friends to Monarchy, are
established preachers, and are continually buzzing their subtle
principles into the minds of the people, to undermine the peace of
our declared Commonwealth, causing a disaffection of spirit among
neighbours, who otherwise would live in peace.

"_Thirdly_, The burthen of Tythes remains still upon our estates,
which was taken from us by the Kings and given to the Clergy to
maintain them by our labors. So that though their preaching fill
the minds of many with madness, contention and unsatisfied
doubting, because their imaginary and ungrounded doctrines cannot
be understood by them, yet we must pay them large Tythes for so
doing: this is Oppression."

THE POWER OF THE LAWYERS.

"_Fourthly_, If we go to the Lawyer, we find him to sit in the
Conqueror's Chair, though the King be removed, maintaining the
King's power to the height....

"_Fifthly_, Say they, if we look upon the Customs of the Law
itself, it is the same it was in the King's days, only the name is
altered; as if the Commoners of England had paid their taxes, given
free-quarter, and shed their blood, not to reform, but to baptize
the Law with a new name, from Kingly Law to State Law....[168:1]
And so as the Sword pulls down Kingly Power with one hand, the
King's Old Law builds up Monarchy again with the other."

THE MAIN WORK OF REFORMATION.

"AND INDEED THE MAIN WORK OF REFORMATION LIES IN THIS, TO REFORM
THE CLERGY, LAWYERS AND LAW; FOR ALL THE COMPLAINTS OF THE LAND ARE
WRAPPED UP WITHIN THEM THREE, NOT IN THE PERSON OF A KING."

"_Sixthly_, If we look into Parishes, the burthens there are many."

AND OF LORDS OF MANORS.

"_First_, For the Power of Lords of Manors remains still over their
Bretheren, requiring Fines and Heriots, beating them off the free
use of the Common Land, unless their Bretheren will pay them Rent,
exacting obedience as much as they did, and more, when the King was
in power.

"Now saith the People, By what Power do these maintain their Title
over us? Formerly they held Title from the King, as he was the
Conqueror's successor. But have not the Commoners cast out the
King, and broken the band of that Conquest? Therefore in equity
they are free from the slavery of that Lordly Power.

"_Secondly_, In Parishes where Commons lie, the rich Norman
Free-holders, or the new (more covetous) Gentry, overstock the
Commons with sheep and cattle, so that the inferior Tenants and
poor Labourers can hardly keep a cow, but half starve her. So that
the poor are kept poor still, and the Common Freedom of the Earth
is kept from them, and the poor have no more relief than they had
when the King (or Conqueror) was in power....

"Now saith the whisperings of the People, the inferior Tenants and
Laborers bear all the burthens, in laboring the Earth, in paying
Taxes and Free-quarter above their strength, and in furnishing the
Armies with soldiers, who bear the greatest burden of the War; and
yet the Gentry, who oppress them and live idle upon their labors,
carry away all the comfortable livelihood of the Earth.

"For is not this a common speech among the People, We have parted
with our estates, we have lost our friends in the wars, which we
willingly gave up because Freedom was promised us; and now in the
end we have new Task-masters, and our old burthens are increased.
And though all sorts of people have taken an engagement to cast out
Kingly Power, yet Kingly Power remains in power still in the hands
of those who have no more right to the Earth than ourselves.

"For say the people, If the Lords of Manors and our Task-masters
hold Title to the Earth over us from the old Kingly Power, behold
that power is broken and cast out. And two Acts of Parliament have
been made. The one to cast out Kingly Power, backed by the
Engagement against King and the House of Lords. The other to make
England a Free Commonwealth."

He then still further supports his fundamental contention in the
following unanswerable manner:

"If Lords of Manors lay claim to the Earth over us from the Army's
Victories over the King; then we have as much right to the Land as
they, because our labors and blood and death of friends, were the
purchasers of the Earth's Freedom as well as theirs. And is not
this a slavery, say the people, that though there be land enough in
England to maintain ten times as many people as are in it, yet some
must beg of their bretheren, or work in hard drudgery for day wages
for them, or starve, or steal, and so be hanged out of the way, as
men not fit to live on the Earth? Before they are suffered to plant
the waste land for a livelihood, they must pay rent to their
bretheren for it. Well, this is a burthen the Creation groans
under; and the subjects (so-called) have not their birth-right
freedom granted them from their bretheren, who hold it from them by
Club-Law, but not by Righteousness."

WHAT IS TO RULE?

"And who now must we be subject to, seeing the Conqueror is gone? I
answer, We must either be subject to a law or to men's wills. If to
a law, then _all_ men in England are subject, or ought to be,
thereunto.... You will say, We must be subject to the Rulers. This
is true, but not to suffer the Rulers to call the Earth theirs and
not ours; for by so doing they betray their trust and run into the
line of tyranny, and we lose our freedom, and from thence enmity
and wars arise. A Ruler is worthy double honor when he rules well;
that is, when he himself is subject to the Law, and requires all
others to be subject thereunto, and makes it his work to see the
Law obeyed, and not his own will; and such Rulers are faithful, and
they are to be subjected unto us therein: For all Commonwealth's
Rulers are Servants to, not Lords and Kings over the
people."[170:1]

THE LAND QUESTION.

"But you will say, Is not the land your brother's? and you cannot
take away another man's right by claiming a share therein with him.
I answer, It is his either by Creation Right or by Right of
Conquest. If by Creation Right he calls the Earth his and not mine,
then it is mine as well as his; for the Spirit of the whole
Creation, who made us both, is no respecter of persons. And if by
Conquest he calls the Earth his and not mine, it must be either by
the conquest of the King over the Commoners or by the conquest of
the Commoners over the King. If he claim the Earth to be his from
the King's Conquest, the Kings are beaten and cast out, and that
title is undone. If he claim title to the Earth to be his from the
conquest of the Commoners over the Kings, then I have right to the
land as well as my brother; for my brother without me, nor I
without my brother, did not cast out the Kings; but both together
assisting, with purse and person, we prevailed, so that I have by
this victory as equal a share in the Earth which is now redeemed as
my brother, by the Law of Righteousness.

"If my brother still say he will be Land Lord (through his covetous
ambition) and I must pay him rent, or else I shall not live in the
Land, then does he take my right from me, which I have purchased by
my money in taxes, free-quarter and blood. And O thou Spirit of the
Whole Creation, who hath this title to be called King of
Righteousness and King of Peace, judge thou between my brother and
me, Whether this be Righteous, etc.

"And now say the people, Is not this a grievous thing, that our
bretheren that will be Land Lords, right or wrong, will make Laws,
and call for a Law to be made to imprison, crush, nay put to death
any that denies God, Christ and Scripture; and yet they will not
practice that Golden Rule, _Do to another as thou wouldst have
another do to thee_, which God, Christ and Scripture have enacted
for a Law? Are not these men guilty of death by their own Law,
which is the word of their own mouth? Is it not a flat denial of
God and Scripture?"

Winstanley then gives some interesting details of the history of this
pamphlet, as follows:

"Thus, Sir, I have reckoned up some of those burdens which the
people groan under. And I being sensible hereof was moved in myself
to present this Platform of Commonwealth's Government unto you,
wherein I have declared a full Commonwealth's Freedom, according to
the Rule of Righteousness, which is God's Word. It was intended for
your view about two years ago, but the disorder of the times caused
me to lay it aside, with a thought never to bring it to light.
Likewise I hearing that Mr. Peters and some others propounded this
request--That the Word of God might be consulted with to find out a
healing Government, which I liked well, and waited to see such a
Rule come forth, for there are good Rules in the Scripture if they
were obeyed and practised.

"I laid aside this in silence, and said I would not make it public;
but this word was like fire in my bones ever and anon--_Thou shalt
not bury thy talent in the earth_. Thereupon I was stirred to give
it a resurrection, and to pick together as many of my scattered
papers as I could find, and to compile them into this method, which
I do here present to you, and do quiet my own spirit. And now I
have set the candle at your door; for you have power in your hand
to act for Common Freedom if you will: I have no power."

He then continues to indicate his own views, as also the outlines of the
scheme the details of which are unfolded in the body of his work, and
warns Cromwell that--

"It may be here are some things inserted which you may not like,
yet other things you may like; therefore I pray you read it, and be
as the industrious bee, suck out the honey and cast away the weeds.
Though this Platform be like a piece of timber rough-hewed, yet the
discreet workman may take it and frame a handsome building out of
it."

OF COMPENSATION.

"It may be you will say, If Tythe be taken from the Priests and
Impropriators, and Copyhold Services from Lords of Manors, how
shall they be provided for again; for is it not unrighteous to take
their estates from them?

"I answer, When Tythes were first enacted, and Lordly Power drawn
over the backs of the oppressed, the Kings and Conquerors made no
scruple of conscience to take it, though the people lived in sore
bondage of poverty for want of it; and can there be scruple of
conscience to make restitution of this which hath been so long
stolen goods? It is no scruple arising from the Righteous Law, but
from Covetousness, who goes away sorrowful to hear he must part
with all to follow Righteousness and Peace."

He then explains that under his scheme even the privileged classes would
not be injured, since they would share with the rest of the community.

OF RICHES.

"But shall not one man be richer than another?

"There is no need for that; for riches make men vainglorious,
proud, and to oppress their bretheren, and are the occasion of
wars. No man can be rich but he must be rich either by his own
labors, or by the labors of other men helping him. If a man have no
help from his neighbors, he shall never gather an estate of
hundreds and thousands a year. If other men help him to work, then
are those riches his neighbors' as well as his; for they be the
fruits of other men's labors as well as his own. But all rich men
live at ease, feeding and clothing themselves by the labors of
other men, not by their own, which is their shame and not their
nobility; for it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive.
But rich men receive all they have from the laborer's hand, and
what they give, they give away other men's labors, not their own.
Therefore they are not righteous actors in the Earth."

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