Part 18 (2/2)
”For say they, The Burthens of the Clergy remain still upon us, in a threefold nature.
”_First_, If any man declare his judgement in the things of G.o.d contrary to the Clergy's report, or the minds of some high Officers, they are cas.h.i.+ered, imprisoned, crushed and undone, and made sinners for a word, as they were in the Popes and Bishops days; so that though their names be cast out, yet their High Commission Court Power remains still, persecuting men for conscience sake, when their actions are unblamable.
”_Secondly_,{9} In many Parishes there are old, formal, ignorant Episcopal Priests established; and some Ministers, who are bitter enemies to Commonwealth's Freedom, and friends to Monarchy, are established preachers, and are continually buzzing their subtle principles into the minds of the people, to undermine the peace of our declared Commonwealth, causing a disaffection of spirit among neighbours, who otherwise would live in peace.
”_Thirdly_, The burthen of Tythes remains still upon our estates, which was taken from us by the Kings and given to the Clergy to maintain them by our labors. So that though their preaching fill the minds of many with madness, contention and unsatisfied doubting, because their imaginary and ungrounded doctrines cannot be understood by them, yet we must pay them large Tythes for so doing: this is Oppression.”
THE POWER OF THE LAWYERS.
”_Fourthly_, If we go to the Lawyer, we find him to sit in the Conqueror's Chair, though the King be removed, maintaining the King's power to the height....
”_Fifthly_, Say they, if we look upon the Customs of the Law itself, it is the same it was in the King's days, only the name is altered; as if the Commoners of England had paid their taxes, given free-quarter, and shed their blood, not to reform, but to baptize the Law with a new name, from Kingly Law to State Law....[168:1]
And so as the Sword pulls down Kingly Power with one hand, the King's Old Law builds up Monarchy again with the other.”
THE MAIN WORK OF REFORMATION.
”AND INDEED THE MAIN WORK OF REFORMATION LIES IN THIS, TO REFORM THE CLERGY, LAWYERS AND LAW; FOR ALL THE COMPLAINTS OF THE LAND ARE WRAPPED UP WITHIN THEM THREE, NOT IN THE PERSON OF A KING.”
”_Sixthly_, If we look into Parishes, the burthens there are many.”
AND OF LORDS OF MANORS.
”_First_, For the Power of Lords of Manors remains still over their Bretheren, requiring Fines and Heriots, beating them off the free use of the Common Land, unless their Bretheren will pay them Rent, exacting obedience as much as they did, and more, when the King was in power.
”Now saith the People, By what Power do these maintain their t.i.tle over us? Formerly they held t.i.tle from the King, as he was the Conqueror's successor. But have not the Commoners cast out the King, and broken the band of that Conquest? Therefore in equity they are free from the slavery of that Lordly Power.
”_Secondly_, In Parishes where Commons lie, the rich Norman Free-holders, or the new (more covetous) Gentry, overstock the Commons with sheep and cattle, so that the inferior Tenants and poor Labourers can hardly keep a cow, but half starve her. So that the poor are kept poor still, and the Common Freedom of the Earth is kept from them, and the poor have no more relief than they had when the King (or Conqueror) was in power....
”Now saith the whisperings of the People, the inferior Tenants and Laborers bear all the burthens, in laboring the Earth, in paying Taxes and Free-quarter above their strength, and in furnis.h.i.+ng the Armies with soldiers, who bear the greatest burden of the War; and yet the Gentry, who oppress them and live idle upon their labors, carry away all the comfortable livelihood of the Earth.
”For is not this a common speech among the People, We have parted with our estates, we have lost our friends in the wars, which we willingly gave up because Freedom was promised us; and now in the end we have new Task-masters, and our old burthens are increased.
And though all sorts of people have taken an engagement to cast out Kingly Power, yet Kingly Power remains in power still in the hands of those who have no more right to the Earth than ourselves.
”For say the people, If the Lords of Manors and our Task-masters hold t.i.tle to the Earth over us from the old Kingly Power, behold that power is broken and cast out. And two Acts of Parliament have been made. The one to cast out Kingly Power, backed by the Engagement against King and the House of Lords. The other to make England a Free Commonwealth.”
He then still further supports his fundamental contention in the following unanswerable manner:
”If Lords of Manors lay claim to the Earth over us from the Army's Victories over the King; then we have as much right to the Land as they, because our labors and blood and death of friends, were the purchasers of the Earth's Freedom as well as theirs. And is not this a slavery, say the people, that though there be land enough in England to maintain ten times as many people as are in it, yet some must beg of their bretheren, or work in hard drudgery for day wages for them, or starve, or steal, and so be hanged out of the way, as men not fit to live on the Earth? Before they are suffered to plant the waste land for a livelihood, they must pay rent to their bretheren for it. Well, this is a burthen the Creation groans under; and the subjects (so-called) have not their birth-right freedom granted them from their bretheren, who hold it from them by Club-Law, but not by Righteousness.”
WHAT IS TO RULE?
”And who now must we be subject to, seeing the Conqueror is gone? I answer, We must either be subject to a law or to men's wills. If to a law, then _all_ men in England are subject, or ought to be, thereunto.... You will say, We must be subject to the Rulers. This is true, but not to suffer the Rulers to call the Earth theirs and not ours; for by so doing they betray their trust and run into the line of tyranny, and we lose our freedom, and from thence enmity and wars arise. A Ruler is worthy double honor when he rules well; that is, when he himself is subject to the Law, and requires all others to be subject thereunto, and makes it his work to see the Law obeyed, and not his own will; and such Rulers are faithful, and they are to be subjected unto us therein: For all Commonwealth's Rulers are Servants to, not Lords and Kings over the people.”[170:1]
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