The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth

ly to find out all those burthens that came in by Kings, and remove them; and then will thy Commonwealth's Government

x, and within seven miles of St. George's Hill in Surrey. On December 5th, 1648, about a month prior to the date attached to the opening epistle of The New Law of Righteousness, there issued

ING IN BUCK

sented by way of a Declaration of many of the Well-Affected in that County, to all their poor oppressed Cou

d, judge th

in the y

ns as

made flesh and dwelt amongst us, which word was life, and that life the light of man (John 1. v. 1-4). This light I take to be that pure Spirit in man we call Reason, which we call Conscience. From all which there issued out that Golden Rule or

ound principle of harmonious social union, and the consequences there

s. So if they cut a tree for fire, they are to be punished, or hunt a fowl, it is imprisonment, because it is gentlemen's game, as they say. Neither must they keep cattle, or set up a house, all ground being enclosed, without hiring leave for the one or buying room for the other of the chief encloser, called the Lord of the Manor, or s

privileges of the few and disabilities of the many

take Peter's advice (1 Pet. iv. 3)-The time past of our lives may suffice that we have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lascivious lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetting, a

impelling "wicked men," the privileged classe

t the Poor should not claim his

use else the supreme power will come into the

Peers falls down, and all their rotten honour, and all Patents and Corporations

, it co

privileges, as they would be termed to-day] whatsoever; and to this end he de

, that so none need to beg or steal for

an to go by, which Rule is

le, which Rule is, to do to one ano

ing Covetousness, to be chosen by the people, and to end all controversies

Winstanley be the author of this pamphlet, as we believe, deemed necessary to secure the peace and well-being of the

ed to raise him again. So would all Bishops Lands, Forest Lands, and Crown Lands do in your Land, which the apostate Parliament men give one to another, and to maintain

nd his Court and Patentee-men, as Majors Aldermen, and such creatures, that like cormorants devour what you should

d. For it is not lawful nor fit for some to work and the others to play; for it's God's command that all work, let all eat. And if all work alike, is it not fit for all to eat alike, have alike, and enjoy alike privileges and freedoms? And he that doth not like this, is not fit to live in a Common-wealth. Therefore weep and howl, ye r

itution of our rights again." The very existence of Parliaments is attributed to the uprisings of their forefathers; and after emphasising the manner in which all power was still secured to the King and the House of Peers, it concludes w

of the above pamphlet, its author was ready with the second

INING IN BUCKI

e the Slavery all the World are in by their own kind, and this Nation in particular,

tion unto all the

ry under the Lord

ECOND

manifest, is Li

s are deprived of their rights which God hath invested them withal, whereby they are forced to beg or steal for want." It then details the various means taken to this end, and declares them, as well as the kingly power which its author holds, to be their source and origin, to be opposed to the direct command of God as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. Hence it denounces the oppressing privileged classes as "rebels against God's commands," and as "traitors against God's Annointed, Jesus Christ, who alone is Lord and King over m

all men are to go by. Farewell." Whether these notices refer to some of Winstanley's pamphlets, the second seems to point to The New Law of Righteousness, or not, we have no means of knowing. Nor, indeed, w

et another pamphlet appeared from th

LL-AFFECTED IN THE COUNT

dreds of Disborough, Burnum and Stoke, and part of Ailsbury Hundred, whereby th

, and expecting little good from the Parliament and the Grandees of the Army, "finding the Grandees of the Army to be the men that hinder both the honest soldiery that stand for absolute freedom,

orld may take notice of our principles, which a

, Monopolisers, Incroachers, Enhancers, etc., or any other interest-parties, whose powers are arbitrary, etc., as not to allow or s

Norman Power, as being too intole

nst paying Tythes,

ey to the Lawyers, but will endeavour to have all our Controversies ended

ourt as arbitrary, tyrannical and wicked, and n

ining all their Rights, dues, etc., that do belong unto

o manure, dig, etc., the said Commons, and to sell tho

s 2. v. 44, and desire to manure, dig and plant in the waste grounds and common

e would they should do to us, and no otherwise: and as we would tyrannise

which we take the following: "That proceedings in law may be in English, cheap, certain, etc., and all suits and differences first to be arbitrated by three neighbours, and if they cannot determine it, then to certify the Court." They also "humbly pray"

leave their quarters." It was not till Cromwell and Fairfax appeared on the scene that they submitted. Fifteen of their number were carried to Whitehall, where, on the 26th, a Court-martial condemned six of them to death. "Cromwell, however, pleaded for mercy, and in the end all were pardoned with the exception of Robert Lockyer, who was believed to have been their leader." Lockyer, Gardiner continues, "though young in years, had fought gallantly through the whole of the war. He was a thoughtful, religious man, beloved by his comrades, who craved for the immediate establishment of liberty and democratic order. As such h

remarkable demonstration, of which we take the following account f

er in mourning and led by a Footman. The Corps was adorned with bundles of Rosemary, one half stained with blood, and the Sword of the deceased with them. Some thousands followed in Ranks and Files, all had Sea-green and black Ribbon tied on their Hats and to their Breasts, and the Women br

hich they did not understand, and which were enforced upon them by the power of the sword and gallows. We must remember, however, that though the landholders had succeeded in impoverishing, they had not yet succeeded in degrading the people; some remnant of the old English spirit was still left, and the Civil War had re-awakened the old English craving for freedom, liberty, and equity. The landholders, in their attempt to emancipate themselves from the control of the Crown, had kindled a fire amongst the people before which they quailed; small wonder, then, that about this time they began to wish, to intrigue and to struggle for the re-establishment of the Monarchy. From the time of Henry the Eighth the condition of the English labourers had steadily worsened; it was left to the landholders after the Restoration to complete their enslavement and degrad

s. British Museum, P

. British Museum, Pre

ts. British Museum,

rned out of your Army for the exercise of our pure Consciences, who are now persecuted amongst our Brethren under the name of Quakers." Wherein they declare that "The first cause and ground of our engagement in the late wars against the Bishops and Prelates, and against Kings and Lords, and the whole body of oppressors: our first engagement, we say, against these was justly and truly upon that accou

he Protectorate,

ies of Work and

in a Quarterly Review, Subjec