The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth Part 11

[103:1] Others, in far more influential positions than Winstanley and his comrades, gave forcible expression to much the same views. In the debates of the Army Council on the Agreement of the People, on November 1647, Edward s.e.xby, the Agitator or Representative of the private soldiers, an able, daring, and energetic man, replying to Ireton, on the question of the right to vote, said: "We have engaged in this kingdom and ventured our lives, and it was all for this: to recover our birthrights and privileges as Englishmen; and by the arguments urged, there are none. There are many thousands of us soldiers that have ventured our lives, we have had little propriety in the kingdom as to our estates, yet we have had a birthright. But it seems now that except a man hath a fixed estate in this kingdom, he hath no right in this kingdom. I wonder we were so deceived. If we had not a right to the kingdom, we were mere mercenary soldiers. There are men in my position, it may be little estate they have at present, and yet they have as much a birthright as those two who are their law-givers, or as any in this place." During the same debate Colonel Rainborrow said: "I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he." And, also in reply to Ireton, he subsequently declared: "Sir, I see that it is impossible to have liberty but all property must be taken away.... If you will say it, it must be so. But I would fain know what the soldier hath fought for all this while? He hath fought to enslave himself, to give power to men of riches, to men of estate, and to make himself a perpetual slave."--See _Clarke Papers_, vol. i. pp. 322-323, 325.

[105:1] King's Pamphlets. British Museum, Press Mark, E. 564. Also at the Guildhall Library. The Ralph Verney mentioned is the hero of _The Verney Memoirs_: there is, however, no mention of this incident therein.

[106:1] This argument would scarcely have appealed to Ireton, who during the debate of the Army Council frankly declared that in his opinion--"It was not the business of Jesus Christ, when he came into the world, to create Kingdoms of the World, and Magistracies and Monarchies, or to give the rule of them, positive or negative."--See _Clarke Papers_, vol.

ii. p. 101.

[108:1] Colonel Rainborrow, who with s.e.xby and Wildman represented on the Army Council the private soldiers of the Model Army, during the debate on the right of voting, gave expression to the view that some fundamental changes in the laws of the Land were both necessary and justifiable, in the following words: "I hear it said, 'It's a huge alteration it's a bringing in of new laws.' ... If writings be true, there hath been many scuttlings between the honest men of England and those that have tyrannised over them. And if what I have read be true, there is none of those just and equitable laws that the people of England are born to, but were once intrenchments [but were once innovations]. But if they [the existing laws] were those which the people have been always under, if the people find that they are not suitable to freeman, I know no reason that should deter me, either in what I must answer before G.o.d or the world, from endeavouring by all means to gain anything that might be of more advantage to them than the government under which they live."--_Clarke Papers_, vol. i. p. 247.

[109:1] _Economic Interpretation of History_, p. 138.

[110:1] _Economic Interpretation of History_, p. 241.

[110:2] _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_, pp. 432-433.

CHAPTER XI

A WATCHWORD TO THE CITY OF LONDON, ETC.

"All men have stood for Freedom; thou hast kept fasting-days and prayed in the morning exercises for Freedom; thou hast given thanks for victories because hopes of Freedom; plenty of Pet.i.tions and Promises thereupon have been made for Freedom. But now the common enemy is gone, you are all like men in a mist seeking for Freedom, but know not where nor what it is.... a.s.sure yourselves, if you pitch not now upon the right point of Freedom in action, as your Covenant hath it in words, you will wrap up your children in greater slavery than ever you were in."--WINSTANLEY, _A Watchword to the City of London_.

The House of Commons, as we have seen, took no notice of Winstanley's dignified appeal, hence, within a week of its publication in pamphlet form, Winstanley, on August 26th, 1649, addressed himself to the City of London, at that time the stronghold of advanced political and religious thought. The pamphlet, which is one of the most interesting he ever wrote, appeared the following month: the t.i.tle-page reads as follows:

"A WATCHWORD TO THE CITY OF LONDON AND THE ARMY:[112:1]

Wherein you may see that England's Freedom, which should be the result of all our Victories, is sinking deeper under the Norman Power, as appears by this Relation of the unrighteous proceedings of Kingston Court against some of the Diggers at George Hill, under colour of law; but yet thereby the cause of the Diggers is more brightened and strengthened, so that every one singly may truly say what his Freedom is and where it lies.

BY JERRARD WINSTANLEY.

When these clay bodies are in grave, and children stand in place, This shows we stood for truth and peace and freedom in our days; And true-born sons we shall appear of England that's our Mother, No Priests nor Lawyers wiles t'embrace, their slavery we'll discover."

This pamphlet, too, commences with a Dedicatory Letter, which opens as follows:

"TO THE CITY OF LONDON,--Freedom and Peace desired,--{6}Thou City of London, I am one of thy sons by freedom, and I do truly love thy peace. While I had an estate in thee, I was free to offer my Mite into thy Public Treasury, Guildhall, for a preservation to thee and to the whole Land. But by thy cheating sons in the thieving art of buying and selling, and by the burdens of and for the soldiery in the beginning of the War, I was beaten out of both estate and trade, and forced to accept of the good-will of friends, crediting of me, to live a Country life. There likewise by the burthen of Taxes and much Free Quarter my weak back found the burthen heavier than I could bear. Yet in all the pa.s.sages of these eight years troubles, I have been willing to lay out what my talent was, to procure England's peace inward and outward; and yet all along I have found such as in words have professed the same cause to be enemies to me."

It then briefly summarises Winstanley's past actions, as well as the causes that inspired them, and the position in which he finds himself in consequence thereof, as follows:

"Not a full year since, being quiet at my work, my heart was filled with sweet thoughts, and many things were revealed to me which I never read in books, nor heard from the mouth of any flesh. When I began to speak of them some people could not bear my words. Amongst these revelations this was one, _That the Earth shall be made a Common Treasury of Livelihood to whole mankind without respect of persons._

"And I had a voice within me that bade me declare it by word all abroad, which I did obey, for I declared it by word of mouth wheresoever I came. Then I was made to write a little book called the New Law of Righteousness, and therein I declared it. Yet my mind was not at rest, because nothing was acted; and thoughts ran in me that words and writings were all nothing and must die; for action is the life of all, and if thou dost not act, thou dost nothing.

"Within a little time I was made obedient to the word in that particular likewise. For I took my spade and went and broke the ground upon George Hill in Surrey, thereby declaring Freedom to the Creation, and that the Earth must be set free from entanglement of Lords and Land Lords, and that it shall become a Common Treasury to all, as it was first made and given to the sons of men.

"For which doing ... the old Norman Prerogative Lord of that Manor caused me to be arrested for a trespa.s.s against him in digging upon that barren Heath. And the unrighteous proceedings of Kingston Court I have declared to thee and to the whole Land that you may consider the case England is in."

The Dedicatory Letter concludes as follows:

"I have declared this truth to the Army and Parliament, and now I have declared it to thee likewise, that none of you that are the fleshy strength of this Land may be left without excuse: for now you have been all spoken to. And because I have obeyed the voice of the Lord in this thing, therefore do the Freeholders and Lords of Manors seek to oppress me in the outward livelihood of the world, but I am in peace. And London, nay England, look to thy Freedom. I a.s.sure you thou art very near to be cheated of it, and if thou lose it now after all thy boasting, truly thy posterity will curse thee for thy unfaithfulness to them. Everyone talks of Freedom, but there are but few that act for Freedom, and the actors for Freedom are oppressed by the talkers and verbal professors of Freedom. If thou wouldst know what true Freedom is, read over this and other of my writings, and thou shalt see it lies in the Community in Spirit and Community in the Earthly Treasury; and this is Christ, the true manchild, spread abroad in the Creation, restoring all things unto himself. And so I leave thee, Being a free Denizon of thee, and a true lover of thy peace.

JERRARD WINSTANLEY.

"_August 26th, 1649._"

The pamphlet commences with a short and business-like account of the proceedings at Kingston Court, as follows:

"Whereas we, Henry Bickerstaffe, Thomas Star and Jerrard Winstanley, were arrested into Kingston Court by Thomas Wenman, Ralph Verney, and Richard Winwood, for a trespa.s.s in digging upon George Hill in Surrey, being the right of Mr. Drake, Lord of that Manor, as they say, we all three did appear the first Court-day of our arrest, and demanded of the Court, What was laid to our charge? and to give answer thereunto ourselves. But the answer of your Court was this, that you would not tell us what the trespa.s.s was, unless we would fee an Attorney to speak for us. We told them we were to plead our own cause, for we knew no Lawyer that we could trust with this business. We desired a copy of the Declaration, and profered to pay for it, but still you denied us unless we would fee an Attorney. But in conclusion the Recorder of your Court told us that the cause was not entered. We appeared two Court-days after this, and desired to see the Declaration, and still you denied us unless we would fee an Attorney, so greedy are these Attornies after money, more than to justify a righteous cause. We told them that we could not fee any unless we would wilfully break our National Covenant, which both Parliament and People have taken jointly together to effect a Reformation. And unless we would be professed Traitors to the Nation and Common-wealth of England, by upholding the old Norman tyrannical and destructive Laws, when they are to be cast out of equity, and reason to be the Moderator.

"Then seeing that you would not suffer us to speak, one of us brought the following writing into Court, that you might read our answer. Because we would acknowledge all righteous proceedings in Law, though some slander us and say we deny all Law, because we deny the corruption of Law, and endeavour a Reformation in our place and calling, according to that National Covenant. And we know if your Laws were built upon equity and reason, you ought both to have heard us speak, and to have read our answer. For that is no righteous Law, whereby to keep a Common-wealth in peace, when one sort shall be suffered to speak and not another, as you deal with us, to pa.s.s sentence and execution upon us, before both sides be heard to speak. This principle in the forehead of your Laws foretells destruction to this Common-wealth. For it declares that the Laws that follow such refusal are selfish and thievish and full of murder, protecting all that get money by their Laws, and crus.h.i.+ng all others.

"The writer hereof does require Mr. Drake, and he is a Parliament man, therefore a man counted able to speak rationally, to plead this cause of digging with me.[115:1] And if he show a just and rational t.i.tle that Lords of Manors have to the Commons, and that they have a just power from G.o.d to call it their right, shutting out others, then I will write as much against it as ever I wrote for this cause. [A heavy forfeit, truly!] But if I show by the Law of Righteousness that the poorest man hath as good a t.i.tle and just right to the Land as the richest man, and that undeniably the Earth ought to be a Common Treasury of Livelihood for all without respecting persons; then I shall require no more of Mr. Drake but that he would justify our cause of digging, and declare abroad that the Commons ought to be free to all sorts, and that it is a great trespa.s.s before the Lord G.o.d Almighty for one to hinder another of his liberty to dig the earth, that he might feed and clothe himself with the fruits of his labor thereupon freely, without owning any Land Lord or paying any Rent to any person of his own kind."

After this perfectly safe challenge, he continues:

"I sent this following answer to the Arrest in writing into Kingston Court:

"In four pa.s.sages your Court hath gone contrary to the righteousness of your own Statute Laws. For, _First_, it is mentioned in 36 Edward III. 15 that no Process, Warrant or Arrest should be served till after the cause was recorded and entered. But your Bailiff either could not or would not tell us the cause when he arrested us, and Mr. Rogers, your Recorder, told us the first Court-day we appeared that our cause was not entered.

"_Secondly_, We appeared two other Court-days, and desired a copy of the Declaration, and profered to pay for it, and you denied us.

This is contrary to equity and reason, which is the foundation your Laws are or should be built upon, if you would have England to be a Common-wealth, and stand in peace.

"_Thirdly_, We desired to plead our own cause, and you denied us, but told us we must fee an Attorney to speak for us, or else you would mark us in default for not appearance. This is contrary to your own Laws likewise, for in 28 Edward I. chapter ii. there is freedom given to a man to speak for himself, or else he may choose his father, friend or neighbour to speak for him, without the help of any other Lawyer.

"_Fourthly_, You have granted a judgement against us, and are proceeding to an execution, and this is contrary likewise to your own laws, which say that no plaint ought to be received or judgement pa.s.sed, till the cause be heard, and witnesses present, to testify the plaint to be true, as Sir Edward c.o.ke, 2nd part of Inst.i.tutes upon the 29 chap. of Magna Charta, fol. 51-53. The Mirror of Justice."

Then, as if ashamed of appealing to mere conventional man-made Laws, he at once acknowledges what he and his comrades have done, and justifies their action in the following dignified words:

"But that all men may see that we are neither ashamed nor afraid to justify that cause we are arrested for, neither to refuse to answer to it in a righteous way, therefore we have here delivered this up in writing, and we leave it in your hands, disavowing the proceedings of your Court, because you uphold prerogative oppression, though the kingly office be taken away, and the Parliament hath declared England a Common-wealth, so that prerogative cannot be in force, unless you be besotted by your covetousness and envy.

"We deny that we have trespa.s.sed against those three men, or Mr.

Drake either, or that we should trespa.s.s against any, if we should dig up and plough for a livelihood upon any of the waste land in England. For thereby we break no particular Law made by any Act of Parliament, but only an ancient custom bred in the strength of kingly prerogative, which is that old Law or Custom by which Lords of Manors lay claim to the Commons, which is of no force now to bind the people of England, since the kingly power and office was cast out. And the Common People who have cast out the oppressor, by their purse and person, have not authorised any as yet to give away from them their purchased freedom; and if any a.s.sume a power to give away or withhold this purchased freedom, they are Traitors to this Common-wealth of England; and if they imprison, oppress, or put to death any for standing to maintain this purchased freedom, they are murderers and thieves, and no just rulers.

"Therefore in the light of Reason and Equity, and in the light of the National Covenant which Parliament and People have taken with joint consent, all such prerogative customs, which by experience we have found to burden the Nation, ought to be cast out with the kingly office, and the Land of England now ought to be a Free Land and a Common Treasury to all her children, otherwise it cannot properly be called a Common-wealth."

He then continues:

"Therefore we justify our act of digging upon that Hill to make the Earth a Common Treasury. First, because the Earth was made by Almighty G.o.d to be a Common Treasury of Livelihood to the whole of mankind in all its branches, without respect of persons....

Secondly, because all sorts of people have lent a.s.sistance of purse and person to cast out the kingly order as being a burden that England groaned under. Therefore those from whom money and blood were received, ought to obtain freedom in the Land to themselves and posterity, by the Law of Contract between Parliament and People. But all sorts, poor as well as rich, Tenant as well as Land Lord, have paid taxes, free-quarter, excise, or adventured their lives to cast out the kingly office. Therefore all sorts of people ought to have freedom in this the Land of their Nativity, without respecting persons, now that kingly power is cast out by their joint a.s.sistance.... Therefore, in that we do dig upon that Hill, we do not thereby take away other men's rights, nor demand of this Court, nor from the Parliament, what is theirs and not ours. But we demand our own to be set free to us, and to them, out of the tyrannical oppression of ancient customs of kingly prerogative; and let us have no more G.o.ds to rule over us, but the King of Righteousness only.

"Therefore, as the Freeholders claim a quietness and freedom in their enclosures, as it is fit they should have, so we that are younger brothers, or the poor oppressed, we claim our freedom in the Commons; that so elder and younger brother may live quietly and in peace, together freed from the straits of poverty and oppression in this Land of our Nativity."

His written address to the Court at Kingston concludes as follows:

"Thus we have in writing declared in effect what we should say, if we had liberty to speak before you, declaring withal that your Court cannot end this controversy in that equity and reason of it which we stand to maintain. Therefore we have appealed to the Parliament, who have received our Appeal and promised an answer, and we wait for it. And we leave this with you, and let Reason and Righteousness be our Judge. Therefore we hope you will do nothing rashly, but seriously consider of this cause before you proceed to execution upon us."

Of course, the Court paid no heed to his pleadings, and he details the subsequent proceedings in the following business-like manner: