Part 5 (2/2)
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home to us when we bear in mind that the law (_De Comburendo Heretico_) sanctioning the burning of heretics was only repealed in the reign of Charles the Second (in 1677), the Bishops of the day opposing its repeal almost to a man.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 a.s.suming 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 t.i.tle 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 wors.h.i.+p to G.o.d 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d 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 Wors.h.i.+p), 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 circ.u.mstances 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 circ.u.mcised 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 pa.s.s 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.”
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