Part 7 (1/2)
FOOTNOTES:
[68:1] The full t.i.tle reads--”_The New Law of Righteousness_: Budding forth to restore the whole Creation from the Bondage or the Curse. Or a glympse of the new Heaven and the new Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness. Giving an Alarm to silence all that preach or speak from hearsay or imagination.” This pamphlet is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum or in any other of the London Public Libraries, nor in the Bodleian. The Jesus College Library, Oxford, however, is fortunate enough to possess a copy, which, to judge from its marginal notes, was once in the possession of one of Winstanley's followers or admirers, and which was courteously placed at our disposal by the librarian, Mr. Hazell, to whom we here desire to convey our grateful acknowledgement.
[71:1] See his chapter ”Of Property” in his cla.s.sical work on _Civil Government_, a chapter which, as the conservative Hallam observes, ”would be sufficient, if all Locke's other writings had perished, to leave him a high name in philosophy.”
[71:2] For a short account of the writings of Thomas Spence and Patrick Edward Dove, see J. Morrison Davidson's _Four Precursors of Henry George_. (Publisher, F. Henderson, London.)
[71:3] See his _Agrarian Justice_.
[74:1] ”As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his property.”--JOHN LOCKE, _Civil Government_. (Of Property.)
[78:1] ”_Fire in the Bush_: The Spirit burning, not consuming, but purging mankind.” Published by Giles Calvert. This pamphlet, too, is very scarce. There is no copy in the British Museum, but a copy is to be found in the Bodleian Library.
CHAPTER VIII
LIGHT s.h.i.+NING IN BUCKINGHAMs.h.i.+RE
”O England, England! wouldst thou have thy government sound and healthful? Then cast about and see and search diligently to find out all those burthens that came in by Kings, and remove them; and then will thy Commonwealth's Government arise from under the clods under which as yet it is buried and covered with deformity.”--WINSTANLEY, _The Law of Freedom_.
The place in the country to which our hero had retired was, we believe, the little town of Colnbrook, in the extreme southern end of the county of Buckinghams.h.i.+re, on the borders of Middles.e.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 from the press a short pamphlet,[79:1]
which, seeing that a second edition was printed the following March, appears to have had a considerable sale, and the t.i.tle-page of which ran as follows:
”LIGHT s.h.i.+NING IN BUCKINGHAMs.h.i.+RE:
OR
A Discovery of the Main Ground, Original Cause of all the Slavery in the World, but chiefly in England. Presented by way of a Declaration of many of the Well-Affected in that County, to all their poor oppressed Countrymen of England. And also to the consideration of the present Army under the conduct of the Lord Fairfax.
Arise, O G.o.d, judge thou the Earth.
Printed in the year 1648.”
It opens as follows:
”Jehovah Ellohim created man after his own likeness and image, which image is his son Jesus (Heb. 1. v. 3), who is the image of the invisible G.o.d. Now man being made after G.o.d's image or likeness, and created by the word of G.o.d, which word was 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 Law, which we call Equity: the sum of which is, saith Jesus, _Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do to them: this is the Law and the Prophets._ James calls it the Royal Law; and to live from this principle is called a good conscience.”
It then points out the cause why men are disinclined to follow this sound principle of harmonious social union, and the consequences thereof, as manifested in the prevailing conditions, in the following words:
”But man following his own sensuality became a devourer of the creatures and an encloser, not content that another should enjoy the same privilege as himself, but encloseth all from his brother; so that all the land, trees, beasts, fish, fowl, etc., are enclosed into a few mercenary hands, and all the rest deprived and made their slaves. 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 some other wretch as cruel as he.... Now all this slavery of the one and tyranny of the other was at first by murder and cruelty one against the other. And that they might strengthen themselves in their villany against G.o.d's Ordinances and their Brother's Freedom and Rights, they had always a Commander-in-Chief, and he became their King.”
After emphasising at some length that all special privileges of the few and disabilities of the many came in and are maintained by kings, it continues:
”So that observe the king is made by you your G.o.d on Earth, as G.o.d is the G.o.d of Heaven, saith the Lawyers.... Now, Friends, what have we to do with any of these unfruitful works of darkness? Let us 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 l.u.s.ts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetting, and abominable idolatry._ And let us not receive the Beast's mark lest that the doom in Revelation (xiv. 9-10) befall us: but let us oppose the Beast's power, and follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.”
The pamphlet then dwells on the chief causes impelling ”wicked men,” the privileged cla.s.ses and their parasites, to stand up for a king:
”Rich men cry for a king, so that the Poor should not claim his right, which is his by G.o.d's gift.
”The horseleech Lawyer cries for a king, because else the supreme power will come into the People's representatives lawfully elected....