Lewis H. Berens - The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth
L >>
Lewis H. Berens >> The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23
"No man or woman, however, need be troubled at this," Winstanley
contends, "for let every man cleanse himself of these wicked powers that
rule in him, and there speedily will be a harmony of love in the great
creation, even among all creatures. Therefore let no man look without
himself, and say, other men will not obey this light that is come into
mankind; but let him look into his own heart, and he shall find that the
powers in his heart are those very men of the world that will not submit
to that Light of Reason that is come into it."[60:1]
Winstanley then proceeds to explain his conception of the resurrection
of Christ, as follows:
"Friends, do not mistake the resurrection of Christ. You expect
that he shall come in one single person, as he did when he came to
suffer and die, and thereby to answer the types of Moses' Law. Let
me tell you that if you look for him under the notion of one single
man after the flesh, to be your Saviour, you shall never, never
taste salvation by him.... If you expect or look for the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, you must know that the Spirit within
the flesh is the Jesus Christ, and you must see, feel, and know
from himself his own resurrection within you, if you expect life
and peace by him. For he is the Life of the World, that is, of
every particular son and daughter of the Father ... for everyone
hath the Light of the Father within himself, which is the mighty
man Christ Jesus. And he is now rising and spreading himself in
these his sons and daughters, and so rising from one to many
persons till he enlighten the whole creation (mankind) in every
branch of it, and cover this earth with knowledge as the waters
cover the sea.... And this is to be saved by Jesus Christ; for that
mighty man of spirit hath taken up his habitation within your
body; and your body is his body, and now his spirit is your spirit,
and so you are become one with him and with the Father. This is the
faith of Christ, when your flesh is subject to the Spirit of
Righteousness, as the flesh of Christ was subject. And this is to
believe in Christ, when the actings and breathings of your soul are
within the centre of the same spirit in which the man Jesus Christ
lived, acted, and breathed."
In accordance with this profound, philosophic, and truly spiritual view,
Winstanley found it incumbent upon him to warn his fellows against
another generally held belief, as follows:
"So that you do not look for a God now, as formerly you did, to be
a place of glory beyond the sun, moon, and stars, nor imagine a
Divine Being you know not where; but you see Him ruling within you;
and not only in you, but you see and know Him to be the Spirit or
Power that dwells in every man and woman, yea, in every creature,
according to his orb, within the globe of the Creation. So that now
you see and feel and taste the sweetness of the Spirit ruling in
your flesh, who is the Lord and King of Glory in the whole
Creation, and you have community with Him who is the Father of all
things. Now you are enlightened; now you are saved, and rise higher
and higher into life and peace, as this manifestation of the Father
increases and spreads within you."[61:1]
As was only to be expected, the publication of the above pamphlets
brought Winstanley into disrepute with the orthodox Ministers of the
Church, who accused him of denying God, Christ, Scripture, and the
Ordinances of God. This accusation gave rise to Winstanley's next
pamphlet, of some 77 well-printed duodecimo pages, the preface to which
is dated October 16th, 1648, and which bears the significant
title--_Truth lifting its Head above Scandals_.[62:1] In this volume
Winstanley indignantly denies such a charge, and makes use of the
opportunity to restate his views even more clearly than he had
previously done. The book opens with a dedicatory letter addressed "To
the Scholars of Oxford and Cambridge, and to all that call themselves
Ministers of the Gospel in City or Country," in which he carries the war
into his enemy's camp in a forcible and masterly manner. He reminds them
that they are not the only ones who have the right to judge of the
meaning of the Scriptures, "For the people, having the Scriptures, may
judge by them as well as you." He then continues:
"If you say, 'No, the people cannot judge, because they know not
the original:' I answer, Neither do you know the original. Though
by your learning you may be able to translate a writing out of
Hebrew or Greek into our mother-tongue, English, but to say this is
the original Scripture you cannot: for those very copies which the
Prophets and Apostles writ are not to be seen in your
Universities."
He forces home his argument in the following words:
"You say you have the just copies of their writings. You do not
know that but as your Fathers have told you, which may be as well
false as true, if you have no other better ground than tradition.
You say that the interpretation of Scripture into our mother tongue
is according to the mind of the _spirit_. You cannot tell that
neither, unless you are able to say that those who did interpret
those writings have had the same testimony of spirit as the pen-men
of Scripture had. For it is the spirit within that must prove these
copies to be true."
He then turns the tables by accusing them of being "the very men that do
deny God, Scriptures, and the Ordinances of God; and that turn the
truths of the Spirit into a lie, by leaving the letter, and walking in
their own inferences"; and also "by holding forth spiritual things by
the imagination of the flesh, and not by the law and testimony of the
Spirit within." And he contends that, in truth, he and his fellows are
"those men that do advance God, Christ, Scriptures, and Ordinances in
the spirituality of them."
In the opening chapter of the book itself, Winstanley, with more than
his usual directness, plunges into the heart of his subject in the
following suggestive words:
"I have said that whosoever worships God by hearsay, as others tell
him, and knows not what God is from light within himself; or that
thinks God is in the heavens above the skies, and so prays to that
God which he imagines to be there and everywhere, but from any
testimony within, he knows not how nor where: this man worships his
own imagination, which is the Devil. But he who is a true
worshipper must know who God is and how He is to be worshipped,
from the Power of Light shining within him, if ever he have true
peace."
"Hence," he continues, "a report is raised, and is frequent in the
mouth of the teachers, that I deny God. Therefore, first, I shall
give account of what I see and know Him to be; and let the
understanding in heart judge me."
Winstanley then endeavours to formulate his theistic views and beliefs
in a series of questions and answers, from which we feel compelled to
quote the following:
"_Q._ What is God?
"_A._ I answer, He is the incomprehensible Spirit Reason;[63:1]
who as He willed the Creation should flow out of Him, so He
governs the whole Creation in righteousness, peace, and moderation.
And He is called the Father, because as the whole Creation comes
out of Him, so He is the life of the whole Creation, by whom every
creature doth subsist.
"_Q._ When can a man call the Father his God?
"_A._ When he feels and sees, by experience, that the Spirit which
made the flesh doth govern and rule king in his flesh. And so can
say, I rejoice to feel and see my flesh made subject to the Spirit
of Righteousness.
"_Q._ But may not a man call Him God till he have this experience?
"_A._ No: for if he do, he lies, and there is no truth in him. For
whatsoever rules as king in his flesh, that is his God....
"_Q._ But I hope that the Father is my Governor, and therefore may
I not call Him God?
"_A._ Hope without ground is the hope of the hypocrite. Thou canst
not call Him God till thou be able in pure experience to say thy
flesh is subject to Him. For if thy knowledge be no more but
imagination or thoughts, it is of the Devil, and not of the Father.
Or if thy knowledge be merely from what thou hast read or heard
from others, it is of the flesh, not of the spirit.
"_Q._ When then may I call him God, or the Mighty Governor, and not
deceive myself?
"_A._ When thou art by that Spirit made to see Him rule and govern,
not only in thee but in the whole creation.... Wait upon Him till
He teach thee. All that read do not understand; the Spirit only
sees truth, and lives in it."
Winstanley subsequently explains his views at considerable length. True
knowledge, he contends, comes from within, not from without. "The whole
Scriptures," he maintains, "are but a report of spiritual mysteries held
forth to the eye of the flesh in words." The Gospel he explains to be
"the Father Himself, that is, the Word and glad tidings that speak peace
inwardly to pure souls." The writings of the Apostles and the Prophets
he regards as "the report or declaration of the Gospel, which are to
cease when the Lord Himself, who is the everlasting Gospel, doth
manifest Himself to rule in the flesh of sons and daughters." Concerning
Baptism he says: "I have gone through the ordinance of dipping, which
the letter of the Scripture doth warrant, yet I do not press anyone
thereunto, but bid everyone to wait upon the Father, till He teach and
persuade, and then their submitting will be sound. For I see now that it
is not the material water, but the water of life; that is, the Spirit in
which souls are to be dipped, and so drawn forth into the one Spirit;
and all these outward customs and forms are to cease and pass
away."[65:1] As regards prayer, he contends that no one should pray
"until the Power within thee gives words to thy mouth to utter, then
speak, and thou canst not but speak."[65:2]
It is, however, in a subsequent pamphlet, _The New Law of
Righteousness_, that Winstanley more fully expounds this characteristic
Quaker doctrine, and summarises his deeply philosophic views concerning
silence as the necessary precursor of all true prayer, as follows:
"All these declare the half-hour's silence that is to be in Heaven
(Rev. viii. 1). For all mouths are to be stopped by the power of
Reason's law shining within the heart. And this abundance of talk
that is amongst people by arguments, by disputes, by declaring
expositions upon others' word and writing, by long discourse,
called preaching, shall all cease (Jer. xxxi. 34).
"Some shall not be able to speak, they shall be struck silent with
shame by seeing themselves in a loss and in confusion. Neither
shall they care to speak till they know by experience within
themselves what to speak; but wait with a quiet silence upon the
Lord, till He break forth within their hearts, and give them words
and power to speak.... Men must leave off teaching one another,
and the eyes of all shall look upward to the Father, to be taught
of Him. And at this time silence shall be a man's rest and liberty;
it is the gathering time, the soul's receiving time: it is the
forerunner of pure language.... He that speaks from the original
light within can truly say, I know what I say, and I know whom I
worship."
Somewhat later he continues:
"None shall need to turn over books and writings (for indeed all
these shall cease too) to get knowledge. But everyone shall be
taken off from seeking knowledge from without, and with an humble
quiet heart shall wait upon the Lord, till He manifest Himself: for
He is a great king, and worthy to be waited upon. His testimony
within fills the heart with joy and singing. He first gives
experiences; and then power to set forth these experiences. Hence
you shall speak to the rejoicing one of another, and to the praise
of Him who declares His power in you. But he that speaks his
thoughts, studies, and imagination, and stands up to be a teacher
of others, shall be judged for his unrighteousness, because he
seeks to honor flesh, and does not honor the Lord."
He then somewhat mystically continues:
"Behold the Annointing, that is to reach all things, is coming to
create a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein Righteousness shall
dwell, and there shall not be a vessel of humane earth but it shall
be filled with Christ. If it were possible to have so many buckets
as to contain the whole ocean, every one could be filled with the
ocean, and being put all together it would make up the perfect
ocean which filled them all. Even so Christ, which is the spreading
power, is now beginning to fill every man and woman with Himself.
He will dwell and rule in everyone; and the Law of Reason and
Equity shall be Christ in them. Every single body is a star shining
forth of Him, or rather a body in and out of whom He shines; and He
is the ocean of power that fills all. And so the words are true,
the Creation, mankind, shall be the fulness of Him that fills all
in all. This is the Church, the great Congregation, that, when the
mystery is completed, shall be the mystical body of Christ, all set
at liberty from inward and outward straits and bondage. And this
is called the holy breathing that made all new by Himself and for
Himself."
* * * * *
We think we have now dealt sufficiently with Winstanley's exposition of
the theistical doctrines subsequently adopted, and almost in their
entirety, by the Society of Friends. In a later chapter (Chap. XVI.) we
shall show how far he himself modified his earlier views. And in the
succeeding chapter we shall briefly lay before our readers the practical
and fundamental social changes Winstanley deemed demanded by the
dictates of Reason, as forming the necessary first steps towards laying
the foundations of "a new Earth and a new Heaven wherein Righteousness,
or Justice, shall dwell."
FOOTNOTES:
[53:1] _Clarke Papers_, vol. i. p. 379.
[54:1] British Museum, Press Mark, 4377, a. 2.
[54:2] In 1655, Giles Calvert published "A _Declaration from the
Children of Light_ (who are by the world scornfully called Quakers)."
British Museum, Press Mark, E. 838.
[55:1] The full truth of these words comes home to us when we bear in
mind that the law (_De Comburendo Heretico_) sanctioning the burning of
heretics was only repealed in the reign of Charles the Second (in 1677),
the Bishops of the day opposing its repeal almost to a man.
[56:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 2137.
[58:1] "The early Friends were men of prayer, and diligent searchers of
the Holy Scriptures. Unable to find true rest in the various opinions
and systems which in that day divided the Christian world, they believed
that they found the Truth in a more full reception of Christ, not only
as the living and ever-present Head of the Church in its aggregate
capacity, but also as the life and light, the spiritual ruler, teacher
and friend of every individual member."--_Book of Discipline of the
Society of Friends_. Quoted by J. S. Rowntree, _Society of Friends: its
Faith and Practice_, p. 24. See also Barclay's _Apology for the true
Christian Divinity_, p. 1: Second Proposition.
[60:1] "It is the inward master (saith Augustine) that teacheth, it is
Christ that teacheth, it is inspiration that teacheth: where this
inspiration and unction is wanting, it is vain that words from without
are beaten in." And thereafter: "For he that created us, and redeemed
us, and called us by faith, and dwelleth in us by his Spirit, unless he
speaketh unto you inwardly, it is needless for us to cry out."--From
Barclay's _Apology_, p. 13.
[61:1] "If instead of assuming the being of an awful deity, which men,
though they cannot and dare not deny, are always unwilling, sometimes
unable, to conceive, we were to show them a near, visible, inevitable,
but all-beneficent deity, whose presence makes the earth itself a
heaven, I think there would be fewer deaf children sitting in the
market-place."--John Ruskin, _Modern Painters_.
[62:1] British Museum, Press Mark, 4372, a.a. 17. Below the title
appears the following words: "Professors of all forms, behold the
Bridegroom is coming, your profession will be tried to purpose, your
hypocricy shall be hid no longer. You shall feed no longer upon the Oil
that was in other men's Lamps (the Scriptures), for now it is required
that everyone have Oil in his own Lamp, even the pure testimony of truth
within himself. For he that wants this, though he have the report of it
in his book, he shall not enter with the Bridegroom into the chamber of
peace."
[63:1] "The incomprehensible Spirit Reason!" It is interesting to note
here that the "Tau" of the great Chinese philosopher, Lau-tsze,--the
word he uses to denote the Absolute, which, consequently, he wisely
leaves vague and undefined, and which apparently has no English word
exactly equivalent to it,--suggests to his translator three English
words--"the Way, Reason, and the Word." The latter's one objection to
the word Reason as an equivalent is that to him it "seems to be more
like a quality or attribute of some conscious being than Tau is." See
_The Speculations of the old Philosopher Lau-tsze_, by John Chalmers,
M.A. Introduction.
[65:1] See Barclay's _Apology_ (Concerning Baptism), p. 7.
[65:2] "All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the
_inward_ and _immediate_ moving and drawing of his own Spirit, which is
limited neither to places, times, nor persons. For though we be to
worship him always, in that we are to fear before him; yet as to the
outward signification thereof in prayers, praises, or preachings, we
ought not to do it where and when we will, but where and when we are
moved by the secret inspiration of his Spirit in our hearts, which God
heareth and accepteth of, and is never wanting to move us thereunto when
need is, of which he himself is the alone proper judge."--Barclay's
_Apology_ (Concerning Worship), p. 6.
CHAPTER VII
THE NEW LAW OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
"The great Lawgiver in Commonwealth's Government is the Spirit of
Universal Righteousness dwelling in mankind, now rising up to teach
everyone to do to another as he would have another do to him.... If
any goes about to build up Commonwealth's Government upon Kingly
principles, they will both shame and loose themselves: for there is
a plain difference between the two Governments."--WINSTANLEY, _The
Law of Freedom_.
On January 26th, 1648 (1649), four days prior to the execution of
Charles the First, the very day the King's death-warrant lay at the
Painted Chamber, Westminster, awaiting the signatures of some of the
less resolute among his judges, Winstanley sat down to write the opening
epistle of the pamphlet we have now to make known to our readers.[68:1]
They were stirring and momentous times, of which, as it seems to us,
this pamphlet is in every way worthy. It reveals a most momentous step
in the development of Winstanley's mind; for in it we see him move from
the misty regions of cosmological, metaphysical, and theistical
speculations to the somewhat firmer ground of social thought. From the
time of its publication, Winstanley leaves the former almost untouched,
concentrates his mind almost exclusively on the latter, pleads
eloquently for the recognition of natural law in the social, or
political world, and steps boldly forward to a life of action, animated
and inspired by the conclusions concerning the necessary foundations of
a social state based upon righteousness that his previous reflections
and meditations, or the Inward Light to which he unhesitatingly
submitted himself, had revealed unto him.
The only indication that Winstanley was in any way influenced by the
exciting discussions which under the circumstances must have raged
everywhere around him, is to be found in his condemnation of Capital
Punishment, which may here find a fitting place. In accordance with his
favourite method, he summarises his views in answer to a hypothetical
question, as follows:
"But is not this the old rule, He that sheds man's blood by man
shall his blood be shed?
"I answer, It is true, but not as usually it is observed. If any
man can say, he can give life, then he hath the power to take away
life. But if the power of life and death be only in the hand of the
Lord, then surely he is a murderer of the Creation that taketh away
the life of his fellow-creature, man, by any law whatsoever.... For
if I kill you, I am a murderer; if a third come to kill me for
murdering you, he is a murderer of me; and so murder hath been
called Justice, when it is but the curse.... Therefore, O thou
proud flesh that dares hang or kill thy fellow-creatures that are
equal to thee in the Creation, know this, that none hath the power
of life and death but the Spirit, and that all punishments that are
to be inflicted amongst creatures called men are only such as to
make the offender to know his Maker, and to live in the community
of the Righteous Law of Love one with the other."
The opening epistle is addressed--"To the Twelve Tribes of Israel that
are circumcised in heart, and scattered through all the Nations of the
Earth." In it he admonishes them to be patient, for "this New Law of
Righteousness and Peace which is raising up is David your King, which
you have been seeking a long time"; that "He is now coming to reign,
and the isles and nations of the Earth shall all come in unto Him"; that
"He will rest everywhere, for this blessing will fill all places." But
he reminds them that "the swords and counsels of the flesh shall not be
seen in this work; the arm of the Lord only shall bring these mighty
things to pass in the day of His power." "Therefore," he continues, "all
that I can say is this--Though the world, even the seed of the flesh,
despise you, and call you by reproachful names at their pleasure, yet
wait patiently upon your King; He is coming; He is rising; the Son is
up, and His glory will fill the Earth."
In the opening chapter of this pamphlet Winstanley still further
elucidates his interpretation of the allegorical stories of the Creation
and the Fall. How in the beginning man was created perfect, and "the
whole Creation lived in man, and man lived in his Maker." And how man
fell from this high estate by following the promptings of self-love,
covetousness, or the desires of the flesh, to which he attributes all
the misery and suffering men bring upon themselves, and which he
personifies as the First Adam. "All that this Adam doth," he says, "is
to advance himself to be the one power. He gets riches and government in
his hands so that he may lift up himself and suppress the universal
liberty, which is Christ."
He then continues:
"And this is the beginning of particular interest, buying and
selling the Earth from one particular hand to another, saying 'This
is mine,' upholding this particular propriety by a law of
government of his own making, and thereby restraining other
fellow-creatures from seeking nourishment from their Mother Earth.
So that though a man was bred up in a Land, yet he must not work
for himself where he would, but for him who had bought part of the
Land, or had come to it by inheritance of his deceased parents, and
called it his own Land. So that he who had no Land was to work for
small wages for those who called the Land theirs. Thereby some are
lifted up in the chair of tyranny, and others trod under the
footstool of misery, as if the Earth were made for a few, and not
for all men."
"As if the Earth were made for a few, and not for all men!" In these
few pertinent and indignant words Winstanley strikes the keynote of all
his subsequent writings, as that of those of many other later students
of social problems, from John Locke,[71:1] who may be regarded as his
immediate successor, to Thomas Spence, Patrick Edward Dove,[71:2] Thomas
Paine,[71:3] and Henry George.
He then further emphasises his contention, in words similar to those
that are to-day resounding throughout the advanced political centres of
the world, as follows:
"And let all men say what they will, so long as such are Rulers as
call the land theirs, upholding this particular propriety of Mine
and Thine, the common people shall never have their liberty, nor
the Land be ever freed from troubles, oppressions, and
complainings, by reason whereof the Creator of all things is
continually provoked. O thou proud, selfish, governing Adam, in
this Land called England! know that the cries of the poor, whom
thou layeth heavy oppressions upon, are heard."
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23