Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	brother_n	king_n	prince_n	3,973	5	5.6256	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96697	A new-yeers gift for the Parliament and Armie: shewing what the kingly power is; and that the cause of those that they call Diggers is the life and marrow of that cause the Parliament hath declared for, and the Army fought for; the perfecting of which work, will prove England to be the first of nations, of the tenth part of the city Babylon, that fals off from the Beast first, and that sets the Crown upon Christs head, to govern the world in righteousness: / by Jerrard Winstanley a lover of Englands freedom and peace.	Winstanley, Gerrard, b. 1609.	1650 (1650)	Wing W3050; Thomason E587_6; ESTC R206278	36,076	51

our later Kings granted more freedom to the Gentry than they had presently after the Conquest yet under bondage still for what are prisons whips and gallows in the times of peace but the laws and power of the sword forcing and compelling obedience and so enslaving as if the sword raged in the open field England was in such a slavery under the Kingly power that both Gentry and Commonaltie groaned under bondage and to ease themselves they endeavoured to call a Parliament that by their counsels and decrees they might find some freedom But Charles the then King perceiving that the Freedom they strove for would derogate from his Prerogative-tyranny therupon he goes into the North to raise a War against the Parliament and took WILLIAM the Conqueror's Sword into his hand again thereby to keep under the former conquered English and to uphold his Kingly power of self-will and Prerogative which was the power got by former Conquests that is to rule over the lives and estates of all men at his will and so to make us pure slaves and vassals Well This Parliament that did consist of the chief Lords Lords of Manors and Gentry and they seeing that the King by raising an Army did thereby declare his intent to enslave all sorts to him by the sword and being in distresse and in a low ebb they call upon the common people to bring in their Plate Moneys Taxes Free-quarter Excise and to adventure their lives with them and they would endeavour to recover England from that Norman yoak and make us a free people and the common people assent hereunto and call this the Parliaments Cause and own it and adventure person and purse to preserve it and by the joynt assistance of Parliament and People the King was beaten in the field his head taken off and his Kingly power voted down and we the Commons thereby virtually have recovered our selves from the Norman Conquest we want nothing but possession of the spoyl which is a free use of the Land for our livelyhood And from hence we the common people or younger brothers plead our propriety in the Common land as truly our own by vertue of this victory over the King as our elder brothers can plead proprietie in their Inclosures and that for three reasons in Englands law First By a lawfull purchase or contract between the Parliament and us for they were our Landlords and Lords of Mannors that held the freedom of the Commons from us while the King was in his power for they held title thereunto from him he being the head and they branches of the Kingly power that enslaved the people by that ancient Conquerors Sword that was the ruling power For they said Come and help us against the King that enslaves us that we may be delivered from his Tyranny and we will make you a free People Now they cannot make us free unlesse they deliver us from the bondage which they themselves held us under and that is they held the freedom of the Earth from us for we in part with them have delivered our selves from the King now we claim freedom from that bondage you have and yet do hold us under by the bargain and contract between Parliament and us who I say did consist of Lords of Manors and Landlords whereof Mr. Drake who hath arrested me for digging upon the Common was one at that time Therefore by the law of Bargain and Sale we claim of them our freedom to live comfortably with them in this Land of our Nativity and this we cannot do so long as we lie under poverty and must not be suffered to plant the commons and waste land for our livelihood for take away the land from any people and those people are in a way of continuall death and misery and better not to have had a body than not to have food and rayment for it But I say they have sold us our freedom in the common and have been largely paid for it for by means of our bloods and money they sit in peace for if the King had prevailed they had lost all and been in slavery to the meanest Cavalier if the King would Therfore we the Commons say Give us our bargain if you deny us our bargain you deny God Christ and Scriptures and all your profession then is and hath been hypocrisie Secondly The Commons and Crown land is our propriety by equall conquest over the Kingly power for the Parl did never stir up the people by promises and covenant to assist them to cast out the King and to establish them in the Kings place and prerogative power No but all their Declarations were for the safety and peace of the whole Nation Therefore the common-people being part of the Nation and especially they that bore the greatest heat of the day in casting out the oppressor and the Nation cannot be in peace so long as the poor oppressed are in wants and the land is intangled and held from them by bondage But the Victory being obtained over the King the spoyl which is properly the Land ought in equity to be divided now between the two Parties that is Parliament and Common-people The Parliament consisting of Lords of Manors and Gentry ought to have their inclosure Lands free to them without molestation as they are freed from the Court of Wards And the Common-people consisting of Souldiers and such as paid Taxes and Free-quarter ought to have the freedom of all waste and common land and Crown-land equally among them the Souldiery ought not in equity to have all nor the other people that paid them to have all but the spoyle ought to be divided between them that stay'd at home and them that went to Warr for the Victory is for the whole Nation And as the Parliament declared they did all for the Nation and not for themselves onely so we plead with the Armie they did not fight for themselves but for the freedom of the Nation and I say we have bought our Freedom of them likewise by Taxes and Free-quarter therefore we claim an equall Freedom with them in this Conquest over the King Thirdly We claim an equall portion in the Victory over the King by vertue of the two Acts of Parliament the One to make England a Free-Common-wealth the Other to take away Kingly power Now the Kingly power you have heard is a power that rules by the Sword in covetousnesse and self giving the earth to some and denying it to others and this Kingly power was not in the hand of the King alone but Lords and Lords of Manors and corrupt Judges and Lawyers especially held it up likewise for he was the head and they with the Tything-priests are the branches of that Tyrannical Kingly power and all the several limbs and members must be cast out before Kingly power can be pulled up root and branch Mistake me not I do not say Cast out the persons of men No I do not desire their fingers to ake

from us by former conquests whereof the Norman conquest was the last which is cast out by yours and our joynt Assistance therefore you cannot in Equity take it from us nor we cannot in Equity take it from you for it is our joynt purchased inheritance we paid you your wages to help us to recover it but not to take it to your selves and turn us out and buy and sell it among your selves for this is a cheat of the Kinglie swordlie power which you hold up and we profess to all the world in so doing you denie God Christ and the Scriptures whom ye professed you own for God Christ and Scriptures owne no such practice Likewise we profess to all the Creation That in so doing you rob us of our Rights you kill us by denying to give us our livelihood in our own inheritance freely which is the crown Land and Cōmon Land and waste Lands Bishops Deans which some of you begin to say you are not satisfied in your conscience to let us have I well spoke tender hearted Covetousness if you do so you will uphold the Kinglie power and so disobey both Acts of Parliament and break your Oath and you will live in the breach of those Two Commandements Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal by denying us the Earth which is our Livelyhood and thereby killing us by a lingring death Well the end of all my Speech is to point out the Kingly power where I spie it out and you see it remains strongly in the hands of Lords of Mannors who have delt discourteously with some who are sincere in heart though there have some come among the Diggers that have caused scandall but we dis-own their wayes The Lords of Mannors have sent to beat us to pull down our houses spoil our labours yet we are patient and never offered any violence to them again this 40 weeks past but wait upon God with love till their hearts thereby be softned and all that we desire is but to live quietly in the land of our nativity by our righteous labour upon the common Land which is our own but as yet the Lords of the Mannor so formerly called will not suffer us but abuse us Is not that part of the Kingly power In that which follows I shall cleerly prove it is for it appears so cleer that the understanding of a child does say It is Tyranny it is the Kingly power of darkness therefore we expect that you will grant us the benefit of your Act of Parliament that we may say Truly England is a Common-wealth and a free people indeed Sirs Though your Tithing Priests and others tell you That we Diggers do deny God Christ and the Scripture to make us odious and themselves better thought of yet you will see in time when the King of Righteousness whom we serve does cleer our innnocencie That our actions and conversation is the very life of the Scripture and holds forth the true power of God and Christ For is not the end of all preaching praying and profession wrapped up in this action namely Love your enemies and doe to all men as you would they should do to you for this is the very Law and the Prophets This is the New Commandement that Christ left behind him Now if any seem to say this and does not do this but acts contrary for my part I owne not their wayes they are members that uphold the curse Bare talking of righteousnesse and not acting hath ruled and yet does rule king of darkness in the creation and it is the cause of all this immoderate confusion and ignorance that is in men But the actings of righteousnesse from the inward power of love shall rule King of righteousnesse in the creation now in these later dayes and cast the other Serpent and fiery Scorpion out for this is Christ the restoring power and as he rises up so multitude of words without action which is hypocrisie is to die his judgment hastens apace If any sort of people hold the earth to themselves by the dark Kingly power and shut out others from that freedom they deny God Christ and Scriptures and they overthrow all their preaching praying and profession for the Scriptures declare them to be Hypocrites Scribes and Pharisees that say and do not they have words and no deeds Like Parson Platt the Preacher at Horsley in Surrey a Lord of Mannor by marriage of the place where we digg who caused a poor old mans house that stood upon the Common to be pulled down in the evening of a cold day and turned the old man and his wife and daughter to lie in the open field because he was a Digger and he and other Lords of Mannors and Gentlemen sent their servants up and down the Town to bid their Tenants and neighbours neither to give the Diggers lodging nor victuals on pain of their displeasure Though this Parson Platt preach the Scriptures yet I 'll affirm he denyes God Christ and Scriptures and knowes nothing of them for covetousness pride and envie hath blinded his eyes A man knowes no more of righteousness than he hath power to act and surely this cruelty of preaching Platt is an unrighteous act If the Diggers were enemies oh you Lords of Mannors as they are not you ought to love them I am sure they love you and if you doubt it put them to the tryall you shall find them more faithfull than many of those pick-thank slaves and belly-god servants to whom your ears are open when they bring tales full of envie to you against us We are told likewise That to make us who are called Diggers odious and to incense you against us there came to the Generall and Councell of State divers Justices and others and told you that we Diggers were Cavaliers and that we waited an opportunity and gathered together to stand up for the Prince But all that know us can prove that to be a false report to the dishonour of those Justices for we have been friends to the Parliaments cause and so do continue and will continue for this work of digging to make England a free Common-wealth is the life and marrow of the Parliaments cause And the two Acts of Parliament the One to cast out Kingly power the Other to make England a free Common-wealth declares it and we do obey those Acts and will obey them for they hold forth righteousnesse But for our rising in arms for the Prince or any other let any come and see our strength and work and they will say It is a meer envious slander cast upon us to incense you against us Besides You shall see by and by That our principles are wholly against Kingly power in every one as well as in one Likewise we hear that they told you that the Diggers do steal and rob from others This likewise is a slander we have things stollen from us but if any can prove that any of us do

but I say Cast out their power whereby they hold the people in bondage as the King held them in bondage And I say it is our own Freedom we claim both by bargain and by equality in the Conquest as well as by the Law of righteous Creation which gives the Earth to all equally And the power of Lords of Mannors lies in this They deny the Common people the use and free benefit of the Earth unless they give them leave and pay them for it either in Rent in Fines in Homages or Heriots Surely the Earth was never made by God that the Younger brother should not live in the Earth unless he would work for and pay his Elder brother Rent for the Earth No this Slavery came in by Conquest and it is part of the Kingly power and England cannot be a Free Common-wealth till this Bondage be taken away You have taken away the King you have taken away the House of Lords Now step two steps further and take away the power of Lords of Mannors and of Tything Priests and the intolerable oppressions of Judges by whom Laws are corrupted and your work will be honourable Fourthly if this Freedom be denied the Common people To enjoy the Common Land then Parliament Army and Judges will deny Equity and Reason whereupon the Laws of a well-governed Common-wealth ought to be built And if this Equity be denied then there can be no Law but Club-Law among the people and if the Sword must raign then every Party will be striving to bear the Sword and then farewel Peace nay farewel Religion and Gospel unless it be made use of to intrap one another as we plainly see some Priests and others make it a Cloke for their Knavery If I adventure my life and fruit of my labour equal with you and obtain what we strive for it is both Equity and Reason that I should equally divide the Spoil with you and not you to have all and I none And if you deny us this you take away our Propriety from us our Moneys and Blood and give us nothing for it Therefore I say the Common Land is my own Land equal with my fellow-Commoners and our true Propriety by the Law of Creation it is every ones but not one single ones Yea the Commons are as truely ours by the last excellent two Acts of Parliament the Foundation of Englands new righteous Government aimed at as the Elder brothers can say the Inclosures are theirs for they adventured their Lives and covenanted with us to help them to preserve their Freedom And we adventured our lives and they covenanted with us to purchase and to give us our Freedom that hath been hundreds of yeers kept from us Daemona non Armis sed Morte subegit Iesus By patient Sufferings not by Death Christ did the Devil kill And by the same still to this day his Foes he conquers still True Religion and undefiled is this To make restitution of the Earth which hath been taken and held from the Common people by the power of Conquests formerly and so set the oppressed free Do not All strive to enjoy the Land The Gentry strive for Land the Clergie strive for Land the Common people strive for Land and Buying and Selling is an Art whereby people endeavour to cheat one another of the Land Now if any can prove from the Law of Righteousness that the Land was made peculiar to him and his successively shutting others out he shall enjoy it freely for my part But I affirm It was made for all and true Religion is To let every one enjoy it Therefore you Rulers of England make restitution of the Lands which the Kingly power holds from us Set the oppressed free and come in and honour Christ who is the Restoring Power and you shall finde rest The CURSE and BLESSING that is in MANKINDE IN the beginning of Time the Spirit of Universal Love appeared to be the father of all things The Creation of Fire Water Earth and Air came out of him and is his clothing Love is the Word The Creation is the House or Garden in which this one Spirit hath taken up his seat and in which he manifests himself For if ever Love be seen or known he appears either in the inward feeling within your hearts loving All with tender love or else appears towards you from outward objects as from other Men or other creatures There are two Earths in which the Spirit of Love declares himself First the Living Earth called Mankinde this is the Creation or the living soul And when this Spirit of universal Love rules King therein this Earth is then in peace and is grown up to the perfection of a man anointed But when Self or Particular love rules which is called the sin Covetousness then this Earth is brought into Bondage and Sorrow fills all places This is the dark side of the Cloud in which there is no true peace Secondly in the great Body of Earth in which all creatures subsist the Spirit of Universal Love appears to preserve his Creation in peace for Universal Love unites not onely Mankinde into an oneness bnt unites all other creatures into a sweet harmony of willingness to preserve Mankinde And this Spirit of Love spread abroad is the same Spirit of Love that is supreme in Man and this is the Righteous man But when Covetousness or Particular love began to work then not onely Mankinde was divided amongst themselves but all creatures were divided and enmity rose up amongst them setting one against another and this power is the wicked man mark him where you see him which is the Murderer and must be cast out Wel In the begining universal love appeared to be the father of al things though self-love in our experience rules in man first and as he made mankinde to be the Lord of the Earth so he made the Earth to be a common Treasury of livelihood to whole mankind without respect of persons and for all other creatures likewise that were to proceed from the Earth Mankind is the chief creature and the Spirit of universal Love in his branches is the Lord of all the Earth and this Spirit in man unfolds himself in Light and Darkness his face is called the universal power of Love his back parts is called the selvish power or thus the one is called the Son of Bondage which causes shame the other is called the Son of Freedom which brings peace and honour these Two strive in the womb of the Earth which shal come forth first and which shall rule the fleshy man hath got the start but the other will prove the stronger and cast him out with honour While this Spirit of Lordship in the last day time of mankind was universal Love and Righteousness leading every single branch of mankind to do to another as he would be done unto then every thing was in peace and there was a sweet communion of Love in the creation and as