Part 2 (2/2)
”Signed in the name and by order of the Council of State appointed by authority of Parliament,
”JOHN BRADSHAW, _President_.
”DERBY HOUSE, _16th April 1649_.
”For the Right Honourable THOMAS LORD FAIRFAX, Lord General.”
Acting on his instructions, within a few days Lord Fairfax was in possession of the following soldier-like letter from the active republican officer to whom he had entrusted the business, and who evidently was not so easily frightened as the Council of State:
”CAPTAIN JOHN GLADMAN TO LORD FAIRFAX.[36:1]
(Slightly Abridged.)
”SIR,--According to your order I marched towards St. Georges Hill and sent four men before to bring certain intelligence to me; as they went they met with Mr. Winstanlie and Mr. Everard (which are the chief men that have persuaded these people to do what they have done). And when I had enquired of them and of the officers that lie at Kingston, I saw there was no need to march any further. I cannot hear that there have been above twenty of them together since they first undertook the business. Mr. Winstanlie and Mr. Everard have engaged both to be with you this day: I believe you will be glad to be rid of them again, especially Everard, who is no other than a mad man. Sir, I intend to go with two or three men to St. Georges Hill this day, and persuade these people to leave this employment if I can, and if then I see no more danger than now I do I shall march back again to London tomorrow.... Indeed the business is not worth the writing nor yet taking notice of: I wonder the Council of State should be so abused with informations....
”JO. GLADMAN.
”KINGSTON, _April 19th, 1649_.”
As they had undertaken, Winstanley and Everard duly appeared before Lord Fairfax at Whitehall, and under date April 20th the following account of their interview appears in the ponderous pages of Bulstrode Whitelocke's _Memorial of English Affairs_:[37:1]
”Everard and Winstanley, the chief of those that digged at St.
George's Hill in Surrey, came to the General and made a large declaration to justify their proceedings.
”Everard said he was of the race of the Jews, that all the liberties of the people were lost by the coming in of William the Conqueror, and that ever since the people of G.o.d had lived under tyranny and oppression worse than that of our forefathers under the Egyptians.
”But now the time of deliverance was at hand, and G.o.d would bring his people out of this slavery, and restore them to their freedom in enjoying the fruits and benefits of the Earth.
”And that there had lately appeared to him a vision, which bad him arise and dig and plough the earth, and receive the fruits thereof.
”That their intent is to restore the Creation to its former condition. That as G.o.d had promised to make the barren land fruitful, so now what they did was to restore the ancient community of enjoying the fruits of the Earth, and to distribute the benefits thereof to the poor and needy, and to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked.
”That they intend not to meddle with any man's property nor to break down any pales or enclosures, but only to meddle with what was common and untilled, and to make it fruitful for the use of man. That the time will suddenly be, when all men shall willingly come in and give up their lands and estates, and submit to this community.
”And for all those that will come in and work they should have meat, drink, and clothes, which is all that is necessary to the life of man; and that for money, there was not any need of it, nor of clothes more than to cover nakedness.
”That they will not defend themselves by arms, but will submit unto authority, and wait till the promised opportunity be offered, which they conceive to be at hand. And that as their forefathers lived in tents, so it would be suitable to their condition now to live in the same: and more to the like effect.
”While they were before the General, they stood with their hats on; and being demanded the reason thereof, they said, 'Because he was but their fellow-creature.' Being asked the meaning of that place, 'Give honour to whom honour is due'; they said that their mouths should be stopped that gave them that offence.”
Whitelocke continues, ”I have set down this the more largely because it was the beginning of the appearance of this opinion; and that we might the better understand and avoid these weak persuasions.”
”The germ of Quakerism and much else is curiously visible here,” is Carlyle's shrewd comment on the above incident. But as to how far this account of the views of the Diggers is correct, we shall leave to the judgement of those who read the pages that are to follow. Though we may now believe that, save that he placed Norman in the place of the Saxon Lords, William the Conqueror introduced but few innovations into the laws and inst.i.tutions of the country, the very opposite was the accepted opinion in the days of Winstanley and his a.s.sociates.[38:1] It may also be well to mention here that, though Everard's name appears, and first in order, amongst those who signed the pamphlet, _The True Levellers Standard Advanced: or, The State of Community opened and presented to the Sons of Men_, which bears date April 26th, 1649, and to which we shall presently refer, it does not appear in any of the later publications of the Diggers. Whether he died about this time or merely dropped out of the movement, we have not been able to ascertain.
However this may be, Lord Fairfax appears to have been somewhat impressed by his interview, to which the Diggers themselves always referred in most cordial terms; for on his way from Guildford to London the following month, he visited them at their work, of which visit we take the following account from the pages of a contemporary and evidently friendly news-sheet, dated May 31st, 1649:[39:1]
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