light and darkness strive in 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 to succeed each other or as it is said the strong man armed keeps the heart of man till a stronger then he came and cast him out And this written law proceeding either from reason or unreasonableness is called the letter whereby the creation of mankinde beasts and earth is governed according to the will of that power which rules And it is called by his opposite the letter that kils and by those of the same nature with it it is called the word of life As for example if the experienced wise and strong man bears rule then he writes down his minde to curb the unreasonable law of covetousnes and pride in unexperienced men to preserve peace in the Commonwealth And this is called the historical or traditional law because it is conveyed from one generation to another by writing as the laws of Israels Commonwealth were writ in a book by Moses and so conveyed to poposterity And this outward law is a bridle to unreasonableness or as Solomon writ it is a whip for the fools back for whom only it was added Secondly since Moses time the power of unreasonable coveteousness and pride hath sometimes rise up and corrupted that traditional law For since the power of the sword rise up in Nations to Conquer the written law hath not been to advance Common freedom and to beat down the unreasonable self-will in mankind but it hath been framed to uphold that self-will of the Conquerer right or wrong not respecting the freedome of the Commonwealth but the freedome of the Conquerer and his friends only By reason whereof much slavery hath been laid upon the backs of the plaine dealing man And men of publick spirits as Moses was have been crushed and their spirits damped thereby which hath bred first discontents and then more wars in the Nations And those who have been favorites about the Conquerer have by hypocrisie and flattery pleased their king that they might get what they can of the earth into their possession and thereby have increased the bondage of the paineful laborer if they could but catch him to act contrary to the Conquerers will called law And now the City mournes and do we not see that the laws of Kings have been alwayes made against such actions as the Common-people were most inclinable to on purpose to 〈◊〉 them into their Sessions and Courts that the Lawyers and Clergy who were the Kings supporters might get money thereby and live in fulness by other mens labors But hereby the true nature of a wel-governed Commonwealth hath been ruined and the will of Kings set up for a law and the law of righteousness law of liberty trod under foot and killed This traditional law of Kings is that letter at this day which kils true freedom and it is the 〈◊〉 of wars and persecution This is the souldier who cut Christs garment into pieces which was to have remained uncut and without seame this law moves the people to fight one against another for those pieces viz. for the several inclosures of the earth who shall possess the earth and who shall be Ruler over others But the true ancient law of God is a Covenant of peace to whole mankinde this sets the earth free to all this unites both Jew and Gentile into one brotherhood and rejects none this makes Christs garment whole againe and makes the kingdomes of the world to become Common-wealths again It is the inward power of right understanding which is the true law that teaches people in action as well as in words to do as they would be done unto But thus much in general what law is hereafter followes what those particular laws may be whereby a Commonwealth may be governed in peace and all burdens removed which is a breaking forth of that law of liberty which will be the joy of all Nations when he arises up and is established in his brightness Short and pithy laws are best to govern a Commonwealth The laws of Israels Commonwealth were few short and pithy and the government thereof was established in peace so long as officers and people were obedient thereunto But those many laws in the dayes of the Kings of England which were made some in times of Popery and some in times of Protestantism and the proceedings of the law being in French and Latine hath produced two great evils in England First it hath occasioned much ignorance among the people and much contention and the people have mightily erred through want of knowledge and thereby they have run into great expence of money by suits of law or else many have been imprisoned whipped banished lost their estates and lives by that law which they were ignorant of till the scourge thereof was upon their backs this is a sore evil among the people Secondly the peoples ignorance of the laws hath bread many sons of contention for when any difference fals out between man and man they neither of them know which offends the other therefore both of them thinking their cause is good they delight to make use of the law and then they go and give a Lawyer mony to tell them which of them was the offender The Lawyer being glad to maintain their own trade sets them together by the ears till all their moneys be near spent and then bids them refer the business to their neighbors to make them friends which might have been done at the first So that the course of the Law and Lawyers hath been a 〈◊〉 snare to entrap the people and to pull their Estates from them by 〈◊〉 for the Lawyers do uphold the Conquerors Interest and the peoples Slavery so that the King seeing that did put all the affairs of Judicature into their hands And all this must be called Justice but it is a 〈◊〉 Evil But now if the Laws were few and short and often read it would prevent those Evils 〈◊〉 every one knowing when they did well and when ill would be very cautious of their words and actions and this would escape the Lawyers craft As Moses Laws in Israels Commonwealth The People did talk of them when they lay down and when they rose up and as they walked by the way and bound them as bracelets upon their hands so that they were an understanding people in the Laws wherein their peace did depend But it is a sign that England is a blinded and a snared generation their Leaders through pride and covetousness have caused them to err yea and perish too for want of the knowledg of the Laws which hath the power of Life and Death Freedom and Bondage in its hand But I hope better things hereafter What may be those particular Laws or such a method of Laws whereby a Commonwealth may be governed 1. The bare letter of the Law established by act of Parliament shall be the Rule for Officer and People and the chief Judg of all Actions 2. He or they who add or diminish
given Freequarter wasted our Estates and lost our Friends in the Wars and the Taskmasters multiply over us more then formerly I have asked divers this question Why do you say so Some have answered me That Promises Oaths and Engagements have been made as a Motive to draw us to assist in the Wars That priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of Subjects should be preserved and that all Popery and Episcopacy and Tyranny should be rooted out and these promises are not performed Now there is an opportunity to perform them For first say they The current of succeeding Parliaments is stopt which is one of the greatest Priviledges and peoples Liberties for Safety and Peace and if that continue stopt we shall be more offended by an hereditary Parliament then we were oppressed by an hereditary King And for the Commoners who were called Subjects while the Kingly Conqueror was in power have not as yet their Liberties granted them I will instance them in order according as the common whisperings are among the people For say they The burdens of the Clergy remains still upon us in a threefold nature First If any man declare his Judgment in the things of God contrary to the Clergies report or the mind of some high Officers they are cashiered 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 Courts Power remains still persecuting men for Conscience sake when their actions are unblameable Secondly In many Parishes there are old formal ignorant Episcopal Priests established and some Ministers who are bitter Enemies to Common-wealths 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 neighbors who otherwise would live in peace Thirdly The burden of Tythes remains still upon our Estates which was taken from us by the Kings and given to the Clergy to maintain them by one labours 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 and yet we must pay them large Tythes for so doing this is Oppression Fourthly If we go to the Lawyer we find him to sit in the Conquerors Chair though the Kings be removed maintaining the Kings Power to the height for in many Courts and cases of Law the Wil of a Judg Lawyer rules above the letter of the Law and many Cases and Suits are lengthened to the great vexation of the Clients and to the lodging of their Estates in the purse of the unbounded Lawyer So that we see though other men be under a sharp Law yet many of the great Lawyers are not but still do act their will as the Conqueror did as I have heard some belonging to the Law say What cannot we do Fifthly Say they If we look upon the Customs of the Law itself it is the same it was in the Kings days only the name is altered as if the 〈◊〉 of England had paid their Taxes Free-quarter and shed their blood not to reform but to baptize the Law into a new name from Kingly Law to State Law by reason whereof the spirit of discontent is strengthened to increase more Suits of Law then formerly was known to be And so as the Sword pulls down Kingly Power with one hand the Kings old Law builds up Monarchy again with the other 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 Shall men of other Nations say That notwithstanding all those rare wits in the Parliament and Army of England yet they could not reform the Clergy Lawyer and Law but must needs establish all as the Kings left them Will not this blast all our Honor and make all Monarchial Members laugh in their sleeves to see the Government of our Commonwealth to be built upon the Kingly Laws and Principles I have asked divers Souldiers what they fought for they answered they could not tell and it is very true they cannot tell indeed if the Monarchial Law be established without Reformation But I wait to see what will be done and I doubt not but to see our Commonwealths Government to be built upon his own Foundation Sixthly If we look into Parishes the burdens there are many First For the Power of Lords of Manors remains still over their Brethren requiring Fines and Heriots beating them off the free use of the Common Land unless their Brethren will pay them Rent exacting obedience as much as they did and more when the King was in Power Now faith the people By what Power do these maintain their Title over us Formerly they held Title from the King as he was the Conquerors Successor But have not the Commoners cast out the King and broke 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 over-stock the Commons with Sheep and Cattle so that inferior Tenants and poor Laborers 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 then they had when the King or Conqueror was in power Thirdly In many Parishes two or three of the great ones bears all the sway in making Assessments over awing Constables and other Officers and when time was to quarter Souldiers they would have a hand in that to ease themselves and over-burden the weaker sort and many times make large sums of money over and above the Justices Warrant in Assessments and would give no accompt why neither durst the inferior people demand an accompt for he that spake should be sure to be crushed the next opportunity and if any have complained to Committees or Justices they have been either wearied out by 〈◊〉 and waiting or else the offence hath been by them smothered up so that we see one great man favored another and the poor 〈◊〉 have no relief Fourthly There is another grievance which the people are much troubled at and that is this Country people cannot sell any Corn or other fruits of the Earth in a Market Town but they must either pay Toll or be turned out of Town Now say they This is a most shameful thing that we must part with our estates in Taxes and Free-quarter to purchase the Freedom of the Land and the Freedom of the Towns and yet this Freedom must be still given from us into the hands of a covetous Norman Toll-Taker according to the Kings old burdensom Laws and contrary to the Liberty of a
free Commonwealth Now saith the whisperings of the people The inferior Tenants and Laborers bears all the burdens in laboring the Earth in paying Taxes and Free-quarter beyond their strength and in furnishing the Armies with Souldiers who bear the greatest burden of the War and yet the Gentry who oppress them and that live idle upon their labours carry away all the comfortable livelyhood 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 burdens 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 then our selves For say the people If the Lords of Manors and our Task-masters hold Title to the Earth over us from the old Kingly power behold that power is beaten and cast out And two Acts of Parliament are made The one to cast out Kingly power back'd by the Engagement against King and House of Lords The other to make England a free Commonwealth And if Lords of Mannors lay claim to the earth over us from the Armies Victories over the King then we have as much right to the Land as they because our labours and blood and death of friends were the purchasers of the Earths freedome 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 brethren 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 in the earth before they must be suffered to plant the waste land for their livelihood unlesse they will pay Rent to their brethren for it wel this is a burthen the Creation groans under and the subjects so called have not their Birth-right Freedomes granted them from their brethren who hold it from them by club law but not by righteousness 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 mens wils If to a Law then all men in England are subjects or ought to be thereunto but what Law that is to which every one ought to be subject is not yet established in execution If any say the old Kings Laws are the Rule then it may be Answered That those Laws are so full of confusion that few knows when they obey and when not because they were the Laws of a Conqueror to hold the people in subjection to the will of the Conqueror therefore that cannot be the rule for every one besides we dayly see many actions done by State Officers which they have no Law to justifie them in but their Prerogative will And again if we must be subject to men then what men must we be subject to seeing one man hath as much right to the earth as another for no man now stands as a Conqueror over his Brethren by the Law of righteousness You will say We must be subject to the Ruler it 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 〈◊〉 and we lose our freedome and from thence 〈◊〉 and Wars arise A Ruler is worthy double honour 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 Laws obeyed and not his own will and such Rulers are faithfull and they are to be subjected unto us therein for all Commonwealths Rulers are servants to not Lords and Kings over the people But you will say Is not the Land your brothers and you cannot take away 〈◊〉 mans Right by claiming a share therein with him I Answer It is his either by creation right or by right of Conquest If by Creation right he call the earth his and not mine then it is mine as well as his for the Spirit of the whole Creation who made us both is no respecter of persons And if by Conquest he call the earth his and not mine it must be either by the Conquest of the Kings over the Commoners or by the Conquest of the Commeners over the Kings If he claim the earth to be his from the Kings Conquest The Kings are beaten and cast out and that title is undone If he claim Title to the earth to be his from the Conquest of the Commoners over the Kings then I have right to the Land as well as my brother for my brother without me nor I without my brother did not cast out the Kings but both together assisting with person and purse we prevailed so that I have by this Victory as equall a share in the earth which is now redeemed as my brother by the Law of righteousnesse If my brother still say he will be Landlord through his covetous ambition and I must pay him Rent or else I shall not live in the Land then does he take my right from me which I have purchased by my money in Taxes free quarter and blood And O thou Spirit of the whole Creation who hath this Title to be called King of Righteousness and Prince of Peace judge thou between my brother and me Whether this be righteous c. And now say the people is not this a grievous thing that our brethren that will be Landlords right or wrong will make Laws and call for a Law to be made to imprison crush nay put to death any that denies God Christ and Scripture and yet they will not practise that golden Rule Do to another as thou wouldst have another do to thee which God Christ and Scriptures hath Enacted for a Law are not these men guilty of death by their own Law which is the words of their own mouth is it not a flat denyall of God and Scripture O the confusion and thick darkness that hath over-spread our Brethren is very great I have no power to remove it but lament it in the secrets of my heart when I see Prayers Sermons Fasts Thanksgiving directed to this God in words and-shews and when I come to look for actions of obedience to the Righteous Law suitable to such a profession I finde them men of another Nation saying and not doing like an old Courtier saying Your Servant when he was an Enemy I wil say no more but groan and waite for a restoration Thus Sir I have reckoned up some of those burdens which the people groan under And I being sensible hereof was moved in my self to present this Platform of Commonwealths Government unto you wherein I have declared a full Commonwealths Freedome
There is no need of them for there is to be no buying and selling neither any need to expound Laws for the bare letter of the Law shall be both Judg and Lawyer trying every mans actions And seeing we shall have successive Parliaments every year there will be Rules made for every action a man can do But there is to be Officers chosen yearly in every parish to see the Laws executed according to the letter of the Laws so that there will be no long work in trying of Offences as it is under Kingly Government to get the Lawyers mony and to enslave the Commoners to the Conquerors prerogative Law or Will The sons of contention Simeon and Levi must not beat Rule in a free Commonwealth At the first view you may say this is a strange Government but I pray judg nothing before tryal Lay this Platform of Commonwealths Government in one scale and lay Monarchy or Kingly Government in the other scale and see which give true weight to righteous Freedom and Peace There is no middle path between these two for a man must either be a free and true Commonwealths man or a Monarchial tyrannical Royalist If any say This will bring poverty surely they mistake for there will be plenty of all Earthly Commodities with less labor and trouble then now it is under Monarchy There will be no want for every man may keep as plentiful a house as he will and never run into debt for common stock pays for all If you say Some will live idle I answer No It will make idle persons to become workers as is declared in the Platform There shall be neither Beggar nor idle person If you say This will make men quarrel and fight I answer No It will turn swords into plowshares and settle such a peace in the Earth as Nations shall learn War no more Indeed the Government of Kings is a breeder of Wars because men being put into the straits of poverty are moved to fight for Liberty and to take one anothers Estates from them and to obtain Mastery Look into all Armies and see what they do more but make some poor some rich put some into freedom and others into bondage And is not this a plague among Mankinde Well I question not but what Objections can be raised against this Commonwealths Government they shall finde an Answer in this Platform following I have been something large because I could not contract my self into a lesser volume having so many things to speak of I do not say nor desire That every one shall be compelled to practise this Commonwealths Government for the spirits of some will be Enemies at first though afterwards will prove the most cordial and true friends thereunto Yet I desire That the Commonwealths Land which is the ancient Commons and waste Land and the Lands newly got in by the Armies Victories out of the oppressors hands as Parks Forests Chases and the like may be set free to all that have lent assistance either of person or purse to obtain it and to all that are willing to come in to the practice of this Government and be obedient to the Laws thereof And for others who are not willing let them stay in the way of buying and selling which is the Law of the Conqueror till they be willing And so I leave this in your hand humbly prostrating my self and it before you and remain Novemb. 5. 1651. A true Lover of Commonwealths Government Peace and Freedom Jerrard Winstanley To the Friendly and Unbyassed READER Reader IT was the Apostles advice formerly to try all things and to hold fast that which is best This Platform of Government which I offer is the Original Righteousness and Peace in the Earth though he hath been buried under the clods of Kingly Covetousness Pride and Oppression a long time Now he begins to have his Resurrection despise it not while it is small though thou understand it not at the first sight yet open the door and look into the house for thou mayst see that which will satisfie thy heart in quiet rest To prevent thy hasty rashness I have given thee a short Compendium of the whole First Thou knowest that the Earth in all Nations is governed by buying and selling for all the Laws of Kings hath relation thereunto Now this Platform following declares to thee the Government of the Earth without buying and selling and the Laws are the Laws of a free and peaceable Commonwealth which casts out every thing that offends for there is no pricking Briar in all this holy Mountain of the righteous Law or peaceable Ruler Every Family shall live apart as now they do every man shall enjoy his own wife and every woman her own husband as now they do every Trade shall be improved to more excellency then now it is all children shall be educated and be trained up in subjection to parents and elder people more then now they are The Earth shall be planted and the fruits reaped and carried into Store-houses by common assistance of every Family The riches of the Store-houses shall be the Common Stock to every Family There shall be no idle person nor Begger in the Land And because offences may arise from the spirit of unreasonable ignorance therefore was the Law added For if any man abuse his neighbor by provoking words by striking his person by offering offence to his neighbors wife or children or to his house or furaiture there in or to live idle upon other mens labours here are Laws to punish them sharply and Officers to see those Laws executed according to the right Order of Commonwealths Government for the peace of every familyin the Land This Commonwealths Government unites all people in a Land into one heart and mind And it was this Government which made Moses to call Abrahams seed one house of Israel though they were many Tribes and many Families And it may be said Blessed is the people whose earthly Government is the Law of Common Righteousness While Israel was under this Commonwealths Government they were a terror to all oppressing Kings in all Nations of the World and so will England be if this righteous Law become our Governor But when the Officers of Israel began to be covetous and proud they made a breach or as Isaiah said The Rulers of the people caused them to err and then the Government was altered and fell into the hand of Kings like other Nations and then they fled before their enemies and were scattered The Government of Kings is the Government of the Scribes and Pharisees who count it no freedom unless they be Lords of the Earth and of their Brethren But Commonwealths Government is the Government of Righteousness and Peace who is no Respecter of persons Therefore Reader here is a tryal for thy sincerity Thou shalt have no want of food rayment or freedom among Brethren in this way propounded See now if thou 〈◊〉 be content as the Scriptures
wives and children within such a Lordship to his Lords of Manors 〈◊〉 do with them as they pleased And for this cause now doth an Army arise to keep out an Invasion of a Forraigner that by the defence of our Army who is part of our selves the rest of our brethren in the Commonwealth may plow sow and reap and enjoy the fruits of their labours and so live in peace in their own Land Or secondly If a Land be conquered and so enslaved as England was under the Kings and conquering Laws then an Army is to be raised with as much secrecy as may be to restore the Land again and set it free that the Earth may become a Common Treasury to all her children without respecting persons as it was before Kingly Bondage came in as you may read 1 Sam. 8. This latter is called Civil Wars and this is the Wars of the Commoners of England against King Charls now cast out for he and his Laws were the successive Power of that Norman Conquest over England And now the Commeners of England in this age of the World are rise up in an Army and have cast out that Invasion of the Duke of Normandy and have won their Land and Liberties again by the Sword if they do not suffer their Councels to 〈◊〉 into slavery again upon a new accompt Therefore you Army of Englands Commonwealth look to it the Enemy could not beat you in the field but they may be too hard for you by policy in 〈◊〉 if you do not stick close to see Common Freedom established For if so be that Kingly Authority be set up in your Laws again King Charls hath conquered you and your posterity by policy and won the field of you though you seemingly have cut off His Head For the strength of a King lies not in the visible appearance of his body but in his Will Laws and Authority which is called 〈◊〉 Government But if you remove Kingly Government and set up true and free Commonwealths Government then you gain your Crown and keep it and leave peace to your posterity otherwise not And thus doing makes a War either lawful or unlawful An Army may be Murtherers and unlawful If an Army be raised to cast out Kingly Oppression and if the Heads of that Army promise a Commonwealths Freedom to the oppressed people if in case they will assist with person and purse and if the people do assist and prevail over the Tyrant those Officers are bound by the Law of Justice who is God to make good their Engagements And if they do not set the Land free from the branches of the Kingly Oppression but reserve some part of the Kingly Power to advance their own particular Interest whereby some of their friends are left under as great slavery to them as they were under the Kings Those Officers are not faithful Commonwealths Souldiers they are worse Thieves and Tyrant then the Kings they cast out and that Honor they seemed to get by their Victories over the Commonwealths Oppressor they lose again by breaking Promise and Engagement to their oppressed friends who did assist them For what difference is there between a professed Tyrant that declares himself a Tyrant in words Laws and deeds as all Conquerors do and him who promises to free me from the Power of the Tyrant if I 'le assist him and when I have spent my estate and blood and the health of my body and expect my bargain by his Engagements to me he sits himself down in the Tyrants Chair and takes the possession of the Land to himself and calls it 〈◊〉 and none of mine and tells me he cannot in Conscience let me enjoy the Freedom of the Earth with him because it is another mans 〈◊〉 And now my health and estate is decayed and I grow in age I must either beg or work for day wages which I was never brought up to for another when as the Earth is as freely my Inheritance and birthright as his whom I must work for and if I cannot live by my weak labors but take where I need as Christ sent and took the Asse coìt in his need there is no dispute but by the Kings and Laws he will hang me for a thief But hear O thou Righteous Spirit of the whole Creation and judg who is the thief Him who takes away the freedom of the common-earth from me which is my Creation rights and which I have helped to purchase out of the hands of the Kingly Oppressor by my purse and person and which he hath taken for wages of me Or I who takes the Common-earth to plant upon for my free livelyhood endeavouring to live as a free Commoner in a free Common-wealth in righteousness and peace Such a souldier as this engagement breaker is neither a friend to the Creation nor to a particular Common-wealth but a self lover and a hypocrite for he did not fight to set the Earth free from the bondage of the Oppressor as he pretended by his Engagements but to remove that power out of the others hand into his own And this is just like the beasts who fight for mastery and keeps it not releaving but still Lording and Kinging over the weak These are Monarchial souldiers not Common-Wealths souldiers and such a souldier is a murderer and his warfare is unlawful But souldiers of true noble spirits will help the weak and set the oppressed free and delight to see the Common-wealth flowrish in freedom as wel as their own gardens There is none of this true nobility in the Monarchial Army for they are all self lovers the best is as a briar and the most upright amongst them is as a thorne held speak you Prophers of old if this be not true A Monarchial Army lifts up mountains and makes vallies viz. Advances Tyrants and treads the oppressed in the barran lanes of poverty But a Commonwealths Army is like John Baptist who levels the Mountains to the Valleys pulls down the Tyrant and 〈◊〉 up the Oppressed and so makes way for the spirit of Peace and Freedom to come in to rule and 〈◊〉 the Earth And by this which hath been spoken an Army may see wherein they may do well and wherein they may do hurt CHAP. V. Education of mankinde in Schools and Trades MAnkinde in the days of his youth is like a young Colt wanton and foolish till he be broke by Education and correction and the neglect of this care or the want of wisdom in the performance of it hath been and is the cause of much division and trouble in the world Therefore the Law of a Common-wealth does require that not onely a father but that all Overseers and Officers should make it their work to educate children in good manners and to see them brought up in some trade or other and to suffer no children in any Parish to live in idleness and youthful pleasure all their days as many have been but that they be brought up
THE Law of Freedom IN A PLATFORM Or True Magistracy Restored Humbly presented to Oliver Cromwel General of the Common-wealths Army in England And to all English-men my brethren whether in Church-fellowship or not in Church-fellowship both sorts walking as they conceive according to the Order of the Gospel and from them to all the Nations in the World Wherein is Declared What is Kingly Government and what is Commonwealths Government By Jerrard Winstanley In thee O England is the Law arising up to shine If thou receive and practise it the crown it wil be thine If thou reject and stil remain a froward Son to be Another Land wil it receive and take the crown from thee Revel. 11. 15. Dan. 7. 27. LONDON Printed by J. M. for the Author and are to be sold by Giles Calvert at the black Spred-Eagle at the West end of Pauls 1652. To His Excellency OLIVER CROMWEL General of the Commonwealths Army in ENGLAND SIR GOD hath honored you with the highest Honor of any man since Moses time to be the Head of a People who have cast out an Oppressing Pharaoh For when the Norman Power had conquered our Forefathers he took the free use of our English Ground from them and made them his servants And God-hath made you a successful Instrument to cast out that Conqueror and to recover our Land and Liberties again by your Victories out of that Norman hand That which is yet wanting on your part to be done is this To see the Oppressors Power to be cast out with his person And to see that the free possession of the Land and Liberties be put into the hands of the oppressed Commoners of England For the Crown of Honor cannot be yours neither can those Victories be called Victories on your part till the Land and Freedoms won be possessed by them who adventured person and purse for them Now you know Sir that the Kingly Conqueror was not beaten by you onely as you are a single man nor by the Officers of the Army joyned to you but by the hand and assistance of the Commoners whereof some came in person and adventured their lives with you others stayd at home and planted the Earth and payd Taxes and Freequarter to maintain you that went to war So that whatsoever is recovered from the Conqueror is recovered by a joynt consent of the Commoners therefore it is all Equity That all the Commoners who assisted you should be set free from the Conquerors power with you As Davids Law was The spoyl shall be divided between them who went to War and them who stayd at home And now you have the Power of the Land in your hand you must do one of these two things First either set the Land free to the oppressed Commoners who assisted you and payd the Army their wages and then you will fulfil the Scriptures and your own Engagements and so take possession of your deserved Honor Or secondly you must onely remove the Conquerors Power out of the Kings hand into other mens maintaining the old Laws still And then your Wisdom and Honor is blasted for ever and you will either lose your self or lay the Foundation of greater Slavery to posterity then you ever knew You know that while the King was in the height of his oppressing Power the People onely whispered in private Chambers against him But afterwards it was preached upon the house tops That he was a Tyrant and a Traytor to Englands peace and he had his overturn The righteous Power in the Creation is the same still If you and those in power with you should be found walking in the Kings steps can you secure your selves or posterities from an overturn Surely No The Spirit of the whole Creation who is God is about the Reformation of the World and he will go forward in his work For if he would not spare Kings who have sat so long at his right hand governing the World neither will he regard you unless your ways be found more righteous then the Kings You have the eyes of the People all the Land over nay I think I may say all neighboring Nations over waiting to see what you will do And the eyes of your oppressed friends who lie yet under Kingly power are waiting to have the possession given them of that Freedom in the Land which was promised by you if in case you prevailed Lose not your Crown take it up and wear it But know that it is no Crown of Honor till Promises and Engagements made by you be performed to your friends He that continues to the end shall receive the Crown Now you do not see the end of your work unless the Kingly Law and Power be removed as well as his person Jonah's Gourd is a remembrancer to men in high places The worm in the Earth gnawed the root and the Gourd dyed and Jonah was offended Sir I pray bear with me my spirit is upon such a lock that I must speak plain to you lest it tell me another day If thou hadst spoke plain things might have been amended The Earth wherein your Gourd grows is the Commoners of England The Gourd is that Power which covers you which will be established to you by giving the People their true Freedoms and not otherwise The root of your Gourd is the heart of the People groaning under Kingly Bondage and desiring a Commonwealths Freedom in their English Earth The worm in the Earth now gnawing at the root of your Gourd is Discontents because Engagements and Promises made to them by such as have power are not kept And this worm hath three heads The first is a spirit waiting opportunities till a blasting wind arise to cause your Gourd to wither and yet pretends fair to you c. Another spirit shelters under your Gourd for a livelyhood and will say as you say in all things and these are called honest yet no good friends to you nor the Commonwealth but to their own bellies There is a third spirit which is faithful indeed and plain dealing and many times for speaking truth plainly he is cashiered imprisoned and crushed And the Oppressions layd upon this spirit kindles the fire which the two former waits to warm themselves at Would you have your Gourd stand for ever Then cherish the root in the Earth that is the heart of your friends the oppressed Commoners of England by killing the Worm And nothing will kill this worm but performance of professions words and promises that they may be made free men from Tyranny It may be you will say to me What shall I do I answer You are in place and power to see all Burthens taken off from your friends the Commoners of England You will say What are those Burthens I will instance in some both which I know in my own experience and which I hear the people dayly complaining of and groaning under looking upon you and waiting for Deliverance Most people cry We have payd Taxes
time to King Charles were successors of that conquest and all Laws were made to confirm that Conquest For there are his old Laws and Statutes yet to be read that do shew how he allowed the conquered English but three pence and four pence a day for their work to buy them bread of their Task-masters but the freedom of the earth he and his friends kept in their own hands And as Kings so the old Gentry and the new Gentry likewise walking in the same steps are but the successors of the Norman victory But are not the Normans and their power conquered by the Commoners of England And why then should we not recover the freedom of our land again from under that yoak and power Then further The Norman Conqueror made Laws whereby this English earth should be governed and appointed two national Officers to see those Laws performed The first Officer was the Lawyer And his work is conversant about nothing but the disposing of the earth and all Courts of Judicature and Snits of Law is about the ordering of the Earth according to his Law made by him and his party The next Officer was the national Clergie and their work was to perswade the multitude of people to let William the Conqueror alone with a quiet possession and government 〈◊〉 the earth and to call it his and not theirs and so not to rebell against him And they were to tell the people 〈◊〉 they would acknowledge William Duke of Normandy and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be their Lord King and Ruler and would be obedient to his Government then they should live in the Haven that is in peace and they should quietly enjoy their land which they rented their houses and fruits of their labors without disturbance But if they would not acknowledg him to be their Lord King and Ruler nor submit to his Government then they should be cast into Hell that is into the sorrows of prisons poverty whips and death and their houses and riches should be taken from them c. And this was a true prophetical and experimental Doctrine for do we not see that the Laws of a King while a King had the Power of life and death in them And he who fell under the power of this Lord must pay the uttermost farthing before he was released And for their pains for thus preaching the King established by his Laws that they should have the tenth of the encrease of all profits from the Earth 1 Sam. 8. 15. placing their freedom where he placed his own and that is in the use of the Earth brought into their hands by the labors of the enslaved men But in after times when this National Ministry appeared to the people to be but hirelings and as the people grew in knowledg they discovered their hypocrisie more and more as they do in these days Then this Clergy the spirit of the old Pharisees began to divine and to deceive the people by a shew of holiness or spititual doctrine as they call it difficult to be understood by any but themselves perswading the people to beleeve or fancy That true Freedom lay in hearing them preach and to enjoy that Heaven which they say every man who beleeves their doctrine shall enjoy after he is dead And so tell us of a Heaven and Hell after death which neither they nor we know what wil be So that the whole world is at a loss in the true knowledg thereof as Solomon said Who shall bring him to see what shall be after he is dead Eccles. 3. 22. 6. 11. The former hell of prisons whips and gallows they preached to keep the people in subjection to the King but by this divined Hell after death they preach to keep both King and people in aw to them to uphold their trade of Tythes and new rased Maintenance And so having blinded both King and people they become the god that rules This subtle divining spirit is the Whore that sits upon many waters This is Nahash the Amonite that would not make peace with Israel unless Israel would suffer him to put out their right eyes and to see by his 1 Sam. 1 1. 2. For so long as the people call that a Truth which they call a Truth and believe what they preach and are willing to let the Clergy be the Keepers of their eyes and knowledg that is as much as Nahash did put out their eyes to see by theirs then all is well and they tell the people they shall go to Heaven But if the eyes of the people begin to open and they seek to find knowledg in their own hearts and to question the Ministers Doctrine and become like unto wise-hearted Thomas to believe nothing but what they see reason for Then do the Ministers prepare War against that man or men and will make no Covenant of Peace with him till they consent to have their right eyes put out that is to have their Reason blinded so as to believe every Doctrine they preach and never question any thing saying The Doctrine of Faith must not be tryed by Reason No for if it be their Mystery of Iniquity will be discovered and they would lose their Tythes Therefore no marvel though the National Clergy of England and Scotland who are the Tything Priests and Lords of blinded mens spirits stuck so close to their Master the King and to his Monarchial oppressing Government for say they If the people must not work for us and give us Tythes but we must work for our selves as they do our Freedom is lost I but this is but the cry of an Egyptian Task-master who counts other mens freedom his bondage Now if the Earth could be enjoyed in such a maner as every one might have provision as it may by this Platform I have offered then will the Peace of the Commonwealth be preserved and men need not act so hypocritically as the Clergy do and others likewise to get a living But when some shall enjoy great possessions and others who have done as much or more for to purchase Freedom shall have none at all and be made slaves to their brethren this begets offences The glory of Israels Commonwealth is this They had no Begger among them As you read when they had conquered the Canaanites and won that Land by the purchase of the blood and labour and by a joynt assistance throughout the whole Tribes of Israel the Officers and Leaders of the people did not sell the Land again to the remainder of their Enemies nor buy and sell it among themselves and so by cheating the people set up a new Oppression upon a new account Neither did they fall a parting the Land before the crowning Victory was gotten But they forbore the disposing of the Land till the War was over and all the Tribes stuck close together till all the fighting work was done And when they saw the Enemies heart was broke and that now they were the Masters of the field then
they quietly took possession of the Land as a free reward for all their hazards and labour The Officers and Leaders were careful to keep Promise and Engagements to the people and there was no treachery found in them as to inrich themselves with the Commonwealths Land and to deprive others of the price of their Blood and Free-quarter and Taxes But they made Canon with all the Crown Lands therein and all other forfeited Lands which was gotten by a joynt Assistance of person and purse of all the Tribes The Scriptures say They made this Canon Land a common Treasury of livelyhood to the whole Commonwealth of Israel and so disposed of it as they made provision for every Tribe and for every family in a Tribe nay for every particular man in a family every one had enough no man was in want there was no beggery among them They did not divide this Land only to particular men who went out to War but they who stayd at home had an equal share they did not make one brother a Lord of Manor and Landlord and other brothers to be servants to them But seeing the Enemies were beaten not by the Counsellors only not by the Leaders of the Army only but by the common Souldiers also and not only by them but by the Laborers who staid at home to provide Victuals and Free-quarter Therefore did the Counsellors and chief Officers of the Army agree to make provision for every one that assisted either by person or purse and this was pure Righteousness And to those families in a Tribe which had many persons in it to them they allotted more Land and to those families which had less number of persons they allotted less Land So that not only the Tribes in general but every family and person in a Tribe younger brother as well as elder brother he who wrought at home to provide food as well as he that went to War all had sufficient there was no want the Oppression of Beggary was not known among them all burdens were taken of and Israel in all his Tribes and Families was made a free Commonwealth in Power as well as in Name 1 Sam. 30. 24. Josh. 16. 17 18. Chapters And thus the Land was divided and the whole Land was the Common Stock every one had a brotherly freedom therein for the freedom of the one was the freedom of the other there was no difference in that they were men of true faithful and publick spirits notfalse-hearted And so likewise when Esther prevailed with King Ahasuerus for freedom she did not seek her own freedom and interest but the freedom of all her kindred and friends for common Freedom was that which men of righteous spirits always sought after All that I shall say is this O that those who pretend to set up a Gospel-Commonwealth in England Scotland and Ireland would not be worse then Moses but rather exceed Moses knowing that if this our English Commonwealths Government carry perfect Freedom in his hand then shall the Law go forth from England to all the Nations of the World This Foundation being layd from the Example of Israels Common-wealth and Testimony of Gods Word I shall proceed how the Earth shall be governed for the Peace of a Common-wealth But by the way to prevent mistake I shall insert A short Declaration to take of Prejudice Some hearing of this Common Freedom think there must be a Community of all the fruits of the Earth whether they work or no therefore strive to live idle upon other mens labours Others through the same unreasonable beastly ignorance think there must be a Community of all men and women for Copulation and so strive to live a bestial life Others think there will be no Law but that every thing will run into confusion for want of Government but this Platform proves the contrary Therefore because that transgression doth and may arise from ignorant and rude fancy in man is the Law added That which true Ringhteousness in my Judgment calls Community is this To have the Earth set free from all Kingly Bondage of Lords of Manors and oppressing Landlords which came in by Conquest as a Thief takes a true mans purse upon the high-way being stronger then he And that neither the Earth nor any fruits thereof should be bought or sold by the Inhabitants one among another which is a slavery the Kingly Conquerors have brought in therefore he set his stamp upon silver that every one should buy and sell in his name And though this be yet shall not men live idle for the Earth shall be planted and reaped and the fruits carried into Barns and Store-houses by the assistance of every family according as is shewed hereafter in order Every man shall be brought up in Trades and labours and all Trades shall be maintained with more improvement to the inriching of the Common-wealth more then now they be under Kingly Power Every Tradesman shall fetch Materials as Leather Wool Flax Corn and the like from the publike Store-houses to work upon without buying and selling and when particular works are made as Cloth Shooes Hats and the like the Tradesmen shall bring these particular works to particular shops as it is now in practise without buying and felling And every family as they want such things as they cannot make they shall go to these shops and fetch without money even as now they fetch with money as hereafter is shewed how in order If any say This will nurse Idleness I answer This Platform proves the contrary for idle persons and beggers will be made to work If any say This will make some men to take goods from others by violence and call it theirs because the Earth and fruits are a Common Stock I answer The Laws or Rules following prevents that ignorance For though the Store-houses and publike Shops be commonly furnished by every families assistance and for every families use as is shewed hereafter how yet every mans house is proper to himself and all the furniture therein and provision which he hath fetched from the Store-houses is proper to himself every mans wife and every womans husband proper to themselves and so are their children at their dispose till they come to age And if any other man endeavor to take away his house furniture food wife or children saying every thing is common and so abusing the Law of Peace such a one is a Transgressor and shall suffer punishment as by the Government and Laws following is expressed For though the publike Store-houses be a common Treasury yet every mans particular dwelling is not common but by his consent and the Commonwealths Laws are to preserve a mans peace in his 〈◊〉 and in his private dwelling against the rudeness and ignorance that may arise in Mankind If any man do force or abuse women in folly pleading Community the Laws following do punish such ignorant and unrational practise for the Laws of a Commonwealth are Laws of moderate
the mystery of Iniquity hath taken that peace-makers name to be a cloke to hide his subtil covetousness pride and oppression under O England England wouldst thou have thy Government sound and healthful then cast about and see and search diligently to finde out all those burthens that came in by Kings and remove them and then will thy Commonwealths Government arise from under the clods under which as yet it is buryed and covered with deformity If true Commonwealths Freedom lie in the free Enjoyment of the Earth as it doth then whatsoever Law or custom doth deprive brethren of their Freedom in the Earth it is to be cast out as unsavory salt The scituation of Commonwealths Government Is within the Laws of common Freedom whereby there is a provision for livelyhood in the Earth both for elder and younger brother and not the one enslaving the other but both living in plenty and freedom The Officers Laws 〈◊〉 Customs hereafter mentioned or such like according to such a method may be the Foundation and Pillars of Commonwealths Government This Government depends not upon the Will of any particular man or men for it is seated in the spirit of Mankinde and it is called the light or son of righteousness and peace The Tyrants in all ages have made use of this mans name while he hath lien buryed to cover their cheating mystery of Iniquity for if common Freedom were not pretended the Commoners of a Land would never dance after the pipe of self-seeking wits This Commonwealths Government may well be called the ancient of days for it was before any other oppressing government crept in It is the Moderator of all oppression and so is like Moses and Joseph in 〈◊〉 Court and in time will be the Restorer of long lost Freedoms to the Creation and delights to plant Righteousness over the face of the whole Earth The great Lawgiver in Commonwealths Government Is the spirit of universal Righteousness dwelling in Mankinde now rising up to teach every one to do to another as he would have another do to him and is no respector of persons and this spirit hath been killed by the Pharisaical Kingly spirit of self-love and been buryed in the dunghill of that enmity for many years past And if these be the days of his resurrection to power as we may hope because the name of Commonwealth is risen and established in England by a Law then we or our posterity shall see comfortable effects In that Nation where this Commonwealths Government shall be first established there shall be abundance of peacce and plenty and all 〈◊〉 of the Earth shall come flocking thither to see his beauty and to learn the ways thereof and the Law shall go forth from that Sion and that Word of the Lord from that Jerusalem which shall govern the whole Earth Micah 4 1 2. There shall be no Tyrant Kings Lords of Manors Tything Priests oppressing Lawyers exacting Landlords nor any such like pricking bryar in all this holy Mountain of the Lord God our Righteousness and Peace for the righteous Law shall be the Rule for every one and the Judg of all mens actions David desired rather to be a door keeper in this house of God or Commonwealths Government then to live in the tents of wickedness which was the Kingly oppressing Courts If any go about to build up Commonwealths Government upon Kingly principles they will both shame and lose themselves for there is a plain difference between the two Governments And if you do not run in the right channel of Freedom you must nay you will as you do face about and turn back again to Egyptian Monarchy and so your names in the days of posterity shall stink and be blasted with abhorred infamy for your unfaithfulness to common Freedom and the evil effects will be sharp upon the backs of posterity Therefore seeing England is declared to be a free Commonwealth and the name thereof established by a Law surely then the greatest work is now to be done and that is to escape all Kingly cheats in setting up a Commonwealths Government that the power and the name may agree together so that all the Inhabitants may live in peace plenty and freedom otherwise we shall shew our Government to be gone no further but to the half day of the Beast or to the dividing of Time of which there must be an over-turn Dan. 7. 25. Rev. 12. 14. For Oppression was always the occasion why the spirit of Freedom in the people desired change of Government When Samuels sons took bribes and grew rich upon the common purse and forgot to relieve the oppressed That made the people forsake the Government by Judges and to desire a Kingly Government 1 Sam. And the Oppressions of the Kingly Government have made this Age of the World to desire a Commonwealth Government and the removal of the Kings for the spirit of Light in Man loves Freedom and hates Bondage And because the spirit in Mankinde is various within it self for some are wise some are foolish some idle some laborious some rash some milde some loving and free to others some envyous and covetous some of an inclination to do as they would have others do to them but others seek to save themselves and to live in fulness though others perish for want Therefore because of this was the Law added which was to be a Rule and Judg for all mens actions to preserve common Peace and Freedom as Paul writ The Law was added because of Transgression one against another The Haven gates are now set ope for English Man to enter The Freedoms of the Earth's his due if he will make adventure CHAP. III. Where began the first Original of Government in the Earth among Mankinde THe Original Root of Magistracy is common Preservation and it rose up first in a private Family for suppose there were but one Family in the World as is conceived Father Adams Family wherein were many persons Therein Adam was the first Governor or Officer in the Earth because as he was the first Father so he was the most wise in contriving and the most strong for labor and so the fittest to be the chief Governor For this is the golden Rule Let the wise help the foolish and let the strong help the weak Psa. 35. 10. Rom. 15. 1 2. But some may say here That Adam was under no Law but his Will was a Law to him and his houshold therefore from the root from whence Magistracy first rose it is clear That Officers are to be under no Law but their own Wills and the people are to be subject thereunto I answer The Law of Necessity that the Earth should be planted for the common preservation and peace of his houshold was the righteous Rule and Law to Adam and this Law was so clearly written in the hearts of his people that they all consented quietly to any counsel he gave them for that end Therefore not Adams Will
young people and servants to be a worker 24. New Overseers shall at their first entrance into their office look back upon the actions of the old Overseers of the last year to see if they have been faithful in their places and consented to no breach of Law whereby Kingly bondage should any ways be brought in 25. The Overseers for Trades shall see every family to lend assistance to plant and reap the fruits of the Earth to work in their Trades and to furnish the Store-houses and to see that the Waiters in Store-houses be diligent to receive in and deliver out any goods without buying and selling to any man whatsoever 26. While any Overseer is in the performance of his place every one shall assist him upon pain of open reproof or cashiered if he be another Officer or forfeiture of freedom according to the nature of the business in hand in which he refused his assistance Laws against buying and selling 27. If any man entice another to buy and sell and he who is enticed doth not yield but makes it known to the Overseer the enticer shall lose his freedom for twelve moneths the Overseer shal give words commendation of him that refused the enticement before all the Congregation for his faithfulness to the Common-wealths Peace 28. If any do buy and sell the Earth or fruits thereof unless it be to or with 〈◊〉 of another nation according to the Law of Navigation they shall be both put to death as traytors to the peace of the Common-wealth because it brings in Kingly bondage again and is the occasion of all quarrels and oppressions 29. He or she who calls the Earth his and not his brothers shall be set upon a stool with those words written in his forehead before all the Congregation and afterwards be made a servant for twelve moneths under the taskmaster If he quarrel or seek by secret perswation or open rising in arms to set up such a Kingly propriety he shall be put to death 30. The Storehouses shall be every mans substance and not any ones 31. No man shall either give hire or take hire for his work for this brings in Kingly bondage If any Freemen want help there are young people or such as are common servants to do it by the Overseers appointment He that gives and he that takes hire for work shall both lose their Freedom and become servants for twelve Months under the Taskmaster Laws for Navigation 32. Because other Nations as yet own Monarchy and will buy and sell therefore it is convenient for the peace of our Commonwealth That our ships do transport our English goods and exchange for theirs and conform to the Customs of other Nations in buying and selling Always provided That what goods our ships carry out they shall be the Commonwealths goods and all their Trading with other Nations shall be upon the common Stock to enrich the Storehouses Laws for Silver and Gold 33. As Silver and Gold is either found out in Mynes in our own Land or brought by shipping from beyond Sea it shall not be coyned with a Conquerors stamp upon it to set up buying and selling under his name or by his leave for there shall be no other use of it in the Common-wealth then to make dishes and other necessaries for the ornament of houses as now there is use made of Brass Pewter and Iron or any other Metal in their use But if in case other Nations whose commodities we want will not exchange with us unless we give them money then pieces of Silver and Gold may be stamped with the Commonwealths Arms upon it for the same use and no otherwise For where money bears all the sway there is no regard of that golden Rule Do as you would be done by Justice is bought and sold nay Injustice is sometimes bought and sold for money and it is the cause of all Wars and Oppressions And certainly the righteous Spirit of the whole Creation did never enact such a Law That unless his weak and simple men did go from England to the East Indies and fetch Silver and Gold to bring in their hands to their Brethren and give it them for their good-will to let them plant the Earth and live and enjoy their livelyhood therein Laws to choose Officers 34. All Overseers and State-Officers shall be chosen new every year to prevent the rise of Ambition and Covetousness for the Nations have smarted sufficiently by suffering Officers to continue long in an Office or to remain in an Office by hereditary succession 35. A man that is of a turbulent spirit given to quarreling and provoking words to his neighbor shall not be chosen any Officer while he so continues 36. All men from twenty years of age upwards shall have freedom of voyee to choose Officers unless they be such as lie under the sentence of the Law 37. Such shall be chosen Officers as are rational men of moderate conversation and who have experience in the Laws of the Commonwealth 38. All men from forty years of age upwards shal be capable to be chosen State Officers and none younger unless any one by his industry and moderate conversation doth move the people to choose him 39. If any man make suit to move the people to choose him an Officer that man shall not be chose at all that time If another man perswade the people to choose him who makes suit for himself they shall both lose their freedom at that time viz they shall neither have a voyce to choose another nor be chosen themselves Laws against Treachery 40. He who professes the service of a righteous God by preaching and prayer and makes a Trade to get the possessions of the Earth shall be put to death for a Witch and a Cheater 41. He who pretends one thing in words and his actions declare his intent was another thing shall never bear Office in the Commonwealth What is Freedom Every Freeman shall have a Freedom in the Earth to plant or build to fetch from the Store-houses any thing he wants and shall enjoy the fruits of his labours without restraint from any he shall not pay Rent to any Landlord and he shall be capable to be chosen any Officer so he be above forty years of age and he shall have a voyce to choose Officers though he be under forty years of age If he want any young men to be Assistance to him in his Trade or houshold employment the Overseers shall appoint him young men or maids to be his servants in his family Laws for such as have lost their Freedom 42. All those who have lost their Freedom shall be clothed in white woolen cloth that they may be distinguished from others 43. They shall be under the Government of a Task-master who shall appoint them to be Porters or Laborers to do any work that any Freeman wants to be done 44. They shall do all kind of labour without exception but their constant