Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	hold_v	king_n	parliament_n	6,931	5	6.7094	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96695	A letter to the Lord Fairfax, and his Councell of VVar, with divers questions to the lawyers, and ministers: proving it an undeniable equity, that the common people ought to dig, plow, plant and dwell upon the commons, without hiring them, or paying rent to any. Delivered to the Generall and the chief officers on Saturday June 9. / By Jerrard Winstanly, in the behalf of those who have begun to dig upon George-Hill in Surrey.	Winstanley, Gerrard, b. 1609.; Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671.	1649 (1649)	Wing W3046; Thomason E560_1; ESTC R204419	8,484	12

upon a bare letter Therefore that the ignorant covetous free-holders and such of your ignorant souldiers that know not what freedom is may not abuse those that are true friends to Englands freedom and faithfull servants to the Creation we desire that our businesse may be taken notice of by you and the highest Councell the Parliament and if our work appear righteous to you as it does to us and wherein our souls have sweet peace in the midst of scandalls and abuses Then in the request of brethren we desire we may injoy our freedom according to the Law of contract between you and us That we that are younger brothers may live comfortably in the Land of our Nativity with you the elder brothers enjoying the benefit of our Creation which is food and rayment freely by our labours and that we may receive love and the protection of brethren from you seeing we have adventured estate and persons with you to settle the Land in peace and that we may not be abused by your Laws nor by your souldiers unlesse we break over into your inclosures as aforesaid and take away your proprieties before you are willing to deliver it up And if this you do we shall live in quietnesse and the Nation will be brought into peace while you that are the souldierie are a wall of fire round about the Nation to keep out a forraign enemy and are succourers of your brethren that live within the Land who indeavour to hold forth the Sun of righteousnesse in their actions to the glory of our Creator And you and the Parliament hereby will be faithfull in your Covenants Oaths and promises to us as we have been faithfull to you and them in paying taxes giving free-quarter and affording other assistance in the publike work whereby we that are the Common People are brought almost to a morsell of bread therefore we demand our bargain which is freedom with you in this Land of our Nativity But if you do sleight us and our cause then know we shall not strive with sword and speare but with spade and plow and such like instruments to make the barren and common Lands fruitful and we have and still shall commit our selves and our cause unto our righteous King whom we obey even the Prince of peace to be our Protector and unto whom you likewise professe much love by your preaching praying fastings and in whose name you have made all your Covenants Oaths and promises to us I say unto him we appeal who is and will be our righteous Judge who never yet failed those that waited upon him but ever did judge the cause of the oppressed righteously We desire that your Lawyers may consider these questions which we affirm to be truths and which gives good assurance by the Law of the Land that we that are the younger brothers or common people have a true right to dig plow up and dwell upon the Commons as we have declared 1. Whether William the Conqueror became not to be King of England by conquest turned the English out of their birth-rights burned divers townes whereof thirty towns were burned by him in Windsore Forrest by reason whereof all sorts of people suffered and compelled the conquered English for necessity of livelihood to be servants to him and his Norman souldiers 2. Whether King Charles was not successor to the Crown of England from William the Conqueror and whether all Laws that have been made in every Kings Reign did not confirm and strengthen the power of the Norman Conquest and so did and does still hold the Commons of England under slavery to the Kingly power his Gentry and Clergie 3. Whether Lords of Mannours were not the successors of the Colonells and chief Officers of William the Conqueror and held their Royalty to the Commons by Lease Grant and Patentee from the King and the power of the sword was and is the seale to their Title 4. Whether Lords of Mannours have not lost their Royalty to the common land since the common People of England as well as some of the Gentry have conquered King Charles and recovered themselves from under the Norman Conquest 5. Whether the Norman Conqueror took the land of England to himself out of the hands of a few men called a Parliament or from the whole body of the English People Surely he took freedom from every one and became the disposer both of inclosures and commons therefore every one upon the recovery of the conquest ought to return into freedom again vvithout respecting persons or els vvhat benefit shall the common people have that have suffered most in these vvars by the victory that is got over the King It had been better for the common people there had been no such conquest for they are impoverished in their estates by Free-quarter and Taxes and made vvorse to live then they vvere before But seeing they have paid Taxes and given Free-quarter according to their estates as much as the Gentry to theirs it is both reason and equity that they should have the freedom of the land for their livelihood vvhich is the benefit of the commons as the Gentry hath the benefit of their inclosures 6. Whether the freedom which the common people have got by casting out the Kingly power lie not herein principally to have the land of their nat●vity for their livelihood freed from intanglement of Lords Lords of Mannours and Landlords which are our task-masters As when the enemy conquered England he took the land for his own and called that his freedom even so seeing all sorts of people have given assistance to recover England from under the Norman yoke surely all sorts both Gentry in their inclosures Commonalty in their Commons ought to have their freedom not compelling one to work for wages for another 7. Whether any Lawes since the coming in of Kings have been made in the light of the righteous law of our creation respecting all alike or have not been grounded upon selfish principles in feare or flattery of their King to uphold freedom in the Gentry and Clergie and to hold the common people under bondage still and so respecting persons 8. Whether all Lawes that are not grounded upon equity and reason not giving a universal freedom to all but respecting persons ought not to be cut off with the Kings head we affirm they ought If all lawes be grounded upon equity and reason then the whole land of England is to be a common treasury to every one that is born in the land But if they be grounded upon selfish principles giving freedom to some laying burdens upon others such lawes are to be cut off with the Kings head or els the neglecters are Covenant Oaths and Promise-breakers and open hypocrites to the whole world 9. Whether every one without exception by the law of contract ought not to have liberty to enjoy the earth for his livelihood and to settle his dwelling in any part of the Commons of England without

buying or renting Land of any seeing every one by Agreement and Covenant among themselves have paid taxes given free-quarter and adventured their lives to recover England out of bondage we affirm they ought 10. Whether the Laws that were made in the daies of the Kings does give freedom to any other people but to the gentry and Clergy all the rest are left servants and bondmen to those task-masters none have freedom by the Laws but those two sorts of people all the common people have been and still are burdened under them And surely if the common people have no more freedom in England but only to live among their elder brothers and work for them for hire what freedom then have they in England more then we can have in Turkie or France For there if any man will work for wages he may live among them otherwise no therefore consider whether this be righteous and for the peace of the Nation that Laws shall be made to give freedom to impropriators and Free-holders when as the poor that have no land are left still in the straights of beggery and are shut out of all livelihood but what they shall pick out of fore bondage by working for others as Masters over them and if this be not the burthen of the Norman yoke let rationall men judge therefore take not away men but take away the power of tyranny and bad government the price is in your hand and let no part of the Nation be wronged for want of a Representative And here now we desire your publike Preachers that say they preach the righteous law to consider these questions which confirms us in the peace of our hearts that we that are the common people born in England ought to improve the Commons as we have declared for a publike Treasury and livelihood and that those that hinder us are rebells to their Maker and enemies to the Creation First we demand I or No whether the earth with her fruits was made to be bought and sold from one to another and whether one part of mankind was made a Lord of the land and another part a servant by the law of Creation before the fall I affirme and I challenge you to disprove that the earth was made to be a common Treasury of livelihood for all without respect of persons and was not made to be bought and sold And that mankind in all his branches is the lord over the Beasts Birds Fishes and the Earth and was not made to acknowledge any of his owne kind to be his teacher and ruler but the spirit of righteousnesse only his Maker and to walk in his light and so to live in peace and this being a truth as it is then none ought to be Lords or Landlords over another but the earth is free for every son and daughter of mankind to live free upon This question is not to be answered by any text of Scripture or example since the fall but the answer is to be given in the light of it self which is the law of righteousnesse or that Word of God that was in the beginning which dwells in mans heart and by which he was made even the pure law of creation unto which the creation is to be restored Before the fall Adam or the Man did dresse the garden or the earth in love freedom and righteousnesse which was his rest and peace But when covetousnesse began to rise up in him to kill the power of love and freedom in him and so made him mankind to set himself one man above another as Cain lifted up himself above Abel which was but the outward declaration of the two powers that strive in the man Adams heart and when he consented to that serpent covetousnesse then he fell from righteousnesse was cursed and was sent into the earth to eat his bread in sorrow And from that time began particular propriety to grow in one man over another and the sword brought in propriety and holds it up which is no other but the power of angry covetousnesse For Cain killed Abel because Abels principles or religion was contrary to his And the power of the sword is still Cain killing Abel lifting up one man still above another But Abel shall not alwaies be slain nor alwaies lie under the bondage of Cains cursed propriety for he must rise And that Abel of old was but a type of Christ that is now rising up to restore all things from bondage 2. I demand whether all wars blood-shed and misery came not upon the Creation when one man indeavoured to be a lord over another and to claime propriety in the earth one above another your Scripture will prove this sufficiently to be true And whether this misery shall not remove and not till then when all the branches of mankind shall look upon themselves as one man and upon the earth as a common Treasury to all without respecting persons every one acknowledging the law of righteousnesse in them and over them and walking in his light purely then cast away your buying and selling the earth with her fruits it is unrighteous it lifts up one above another it make● one man oppresse another and is the burthen of the Creation 3. Whether the work of restoration lies not in removing covetousnesse casting that Serpent out of heaven mankind and making man to live in the light of righteousnesse not in words only as Preachers do but in action whereby the Creation shines in glory I affirm it 4. Whether is the King of righteousnesse a respecter of persons yea or no If you say no then who makes this difference that the elder brother shall be lord of the land and the younger brother a slave and beggar I affirm it was and is covetousnesse since the fall not the King of righteousnesse before the fall that made that difference therefore if you will be Preachers hold forth the law of righteousnesse purely and not the confused law of covetousnesse which is the murtherer the law of righteousnesse would have every one to injoy the benefit of his creation that is to have food and rayment by his labour freely in the land of his nativity but covetousnesse will have none to live free but he that hath the strongest arme of flesh all others must be servants 5. Whether a man can have true peace by walking in the Law of covetousnesse and self as generally all do or by walking in the Law of universall righteousnesse doing as he would be done by I affirm there is no tr●e peace till men talk lesse and live more actually in the power of universall righteousnesse Then you Preachers lay aside your multitude of words and your selfish doctrines for you confound and delude the people 6. Whether does the King of righteousnesse bid you love or hate your enemies if you say love them then I demand of you why do some of you in your Pulpits and elswhere stir up the people to beat to imprison put to death or banish or not to buy and sell with those that endeavour to restore the earth to a common treasury again surely at the worst you can make them but your enemies therefore love them win them by love do not hate them they do not hate you 7. Whether it be not a great breach of the Nationall Covenant to give two sorts of people their freedom that is Gentry and Clergy and deny it to the rest I affirm it is a high breach for mans Laws makes these two sorts of people the Antichristian task-masters over the common people The one forcing the people to give them rent for the earth and to work for hire for them The other which is the Clergy that force a maintenance of tithes from the people a practise which Christ the Apostles and Prophets never walked in therefore surely you are the false Christs and false Prophets that are risen up in these latter daies Thus I have declared to you and to all in the whole world what that power of life is that is in me And knowing that the Spirit of righteousnesse does appear in many in this Land I desire all of you seriously in love and humility to consider of this businesse of publike community which I am carried forth in the power of love and clear light of universall righteousnesse to advance as much as I can and I can do no other the Law of love in my heart does so constrain me by reason whereof I am called fool mad man and have many slanderous reports cast upon me and meet with much fury from some covetous people under all which my spirit is made patient is guarded with joy and peace I hate none I love all I delight to see every one live comfortably I would have none live in poverty straits or sorrows therefore if you find any selfishnesse in this work or discover any thing that is destructive to the whole Creation that you would open your hearts as freely to me in declaring my weaknesse to me as I have been open-hearted in declaring that which I find and feel much life and strength in But if you see righteousnesse in it and that it holds forth the strength of universall love to all without respect to persons so that our Creator is honored in the work of his hand then own it and justifie it and let the power of love have his freedom and glory Jerrard Winstanly THe Reformation that England now is to endeavour is not to remove the Norman Yoke only and to bring us back to be governed by those Laws that were before William the Conqueror came in as if that were the rule or mark we aime at No that is not it but the Reformation is according to the Word of God and that is the pure Law of righteousnesse before the fall which made all things unto which all things are to be restored and he that endeavours not that is a Covenant-breaker This Letter with the Questions were delivered by the Authors own hand to the Generall and the chief Officers and they very mildly promised they would read it and consider of it FINIS