Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	king_n	lord_n	parliament_n	19,882	5	6.8393	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96693	An humble request, to the ministers of both Universities, and to all lawyers in every Inns-a-Court To consider of the scriptures and points of law herein mentioned, and to give a rational and christian answer, whereby the difference may be composed in peace, between the poor men of England, who have begun to digge, plow, and build upon the common land, claiming it their own, by right of creation. And the lords of mannours that trouble them, who have no other claiming to Commons, then the Kings will, or from the power of the conquest, and if neither minister nor lawyer, will undertake a reconciliation in this case, for the beauty of our Common-Wealth. Then we appeale, to the stones, timber, and dust of the earth you tread upon, to hold forth the light of this business, questioning not, but that power that dwells every where, will cause light to spring out of darkness, and freedom out of bondage. By Gerard Winstanley.	Winstanley, Gerrard, b. 1609.	1650 (1650)	Wing W3044; ESTC R233004	13,389	20

them Jesus Christ was slandred beaten reviled and at last put to death for no cause yet hee reviled not againe but suffered all patiently that he might honour his Father The spirit of Righteousness this shewes the resurrection of the spirit from under darknesse and a growing up of freedome and light This spirit of Love Patience Humility and Righteousnesse is called the light of the world and the salt of the earth which brings mankind into a moderate meeke Loving and seasonable condition It is the restoring spirit teaching all men to doe as they would be done by He that hath this spirit will never strive to be a Lord of Mannor or a divider of Land for he will quietly suffer every one to enjoy the freedome of his creation This spirit destroyes all enmitie This is the Gospel This is Christ appearing to be the joy of all Nations which the Ministers of Christ must preach if they be faithfull to Christ This is the spirit of poverty that hath been a servant in the world a long time but now is appearing and rising up to draw all men after him This poore man is hee that saves Man-kinde from utter ruine and yet he is despised by Ignorance This poore man spread abroad in sonnes and daughters shall inherit the Earth This is he that will give Man-kind a full freedome in the earth and take off all bondages therefore he is called the blessing of the earth But the power of covetousnesse which is the divider of land is called the curse of the Earth and murtherer Jesus Christ bid the young man sell all that hee had and give to the poore This speech extends to all men as well as to that selfe-conceited young man When Christ appeares in glory in the day of his power hee will make crooked wayes streight and ruffe wayes smooth throw downe the Mountaines and fill up the Valleyes This declares the universall restoration of Man-kind to the law of righteousness from whence he fell for when once the Law of Love and truth is written in the heart of Man-kinde they will never quarrell one with another about the earth who shall have it and who not for it is the birth-right and Inheritance of all For saith Christ though the Gentles seeke Dominion and Lordship one over another yet saith Christ it shall not be so among you who are my followers Now these of the Parliament Armie Clergy Lawyers and people of England that professes to follow Christ and yet exercises Lord-ship over their brethren not suffering their brethren quietly to live by them on the Earth they doe deceive themselves and are hypocrites Therefore woe woe woe to you Rich men and Lords of Mannors howle and weepe The oppressor shall fall and he that takes the sword and rules by it over brethren shall perish by it He that hedges himselfe into the earth and hedges out his brother not suffering his brother to enjoy the benefit of his creation That man is a Thiefe and a Murtherer and an Enemie to Christ And here I conclude that these fore-mentioned Scriptures being but a gleaning of the Bible gives a full warrant to all poore men to build them houses and plant corne upon the Commons and unnurtured land for their comfortable livelihood as they are part of Man-kind being the right of their creation And whosoever denies or hinders them of this freedome doth deny God Christ and Scriptures and overthrows true and pure undefiled religion True Religion and undefiled is to let every one quietly have earth to manure that they may live in freedome by their labours for it is earth that every one seekes after that they may liue in peace let them say what they will The practise of the Gentry is to have the Earth to themselves It is that the Armie fights for It is that the Clergy preaches for for if you deny him Tithes or a Maintenance you shall not heare of him Nay is it not the bottome of all National lawes to dispose of the Earth and does not this appear to be true by the practise of Lords of Mannors and the Gentrie that cannot be at rest for vexing and fretting because poore men begins to see their creation-freedome and begins to build upon and plant the Commons And men that in other cases are mild and seemingly loving are like Lions and Devils ready to kill and destroy these poore diggers and not only the Gentry but the Clergy generally are mad against this worke Well the power of darknesse and the fall rules in these men for if the restoring spirit Christ were in them they would doe as they would be done by And seeing the Scriptures confirms this creation Right to whole man-kind then in the next place it followes That all the Title and Power which Lords of Mannors have to the Common land whereby they beate the people off from this their freedome Is no other but the will of Kings who were Conquerours and ruled successively by swordly power inslaving the creation Man-kind in England First then consider That King CHASLES and his Lawes was the Successor of the person and power of William the Conquerour for he did not rule by the law of creation suffering every one to enjoy their creation-right on the earth But by the lawes of a Conquest which intitles some to the earth and shuts out others Secondly That K. Charles and that Kingly Lordly conquering government is cast out of England by the victory of the Armie over him and by words and Acts of Parliament If they doe not againe lose this their honour and peace too by their selfe-love and covetousnesse suffering the enemie to cheate them by policy and thereby being in Kingly power again who could not overcome them in the Field And seeing Kingly and Lordly power is declared against both by Army and Parliament the people wants nothing now but possession of the Common-wealths freedome for our freedome must not lye within the clasps of a Booke in words that may be read nor in the bare title of a Victory but it must be freedome really enjoyed or else it will do us no good The first Parliament law which encourages the poore Commoners of England to plant the Commons and wast land is this wherein they declare England to be a free Common-wealth This Law breakes in pieces the Kingly yoake and the lawes of the Conquerour and gives a common freedome to every English-man to have a comfortable livelihood in this their own Land or else it cannot be a common-wealth Secondly The Parliament did make this law presently after the Kings head was cut off That they would establish all the old ancient fundamentall lawes wherein the Lives Liberties persons and estates of the people of England without exception were concerned By this they give a common freedome to every English-man to have and enjoy the land for their comfortable livelihood by their labours without restraint of any For

the Ancient fundamentall Law is Salus populi the safety peace and preservation of the whole body of the people excepting none And this fundamentall law called Salus populi was that which gave life and strength to the Parliament and Army to take up Armes against the King for they had not the least letter of any written law for their warrant at that time all the lawes being for the King and none against him Now if there be any Ancient Lawes of the Conquerour unrepealed whereby the people are hindered of a quiet enjoyment of a Common-wealths freedome they are all blotted out and abolished by this Act of Parliament which hath declared Therefore the poor people being part of our Commonwealth and being impoverished by the Kingly Lordly Power which is now cast out are freed from the oppressions of all those Lawes whereby their lives liberties persons and creation-rights were ens●aved And Salus populi is the fundamentall Law that gives that life and strength and courage to build upon and plant the common Land for their comfortable livelihood This is the Commonwealths Law and the Commonwealths Freedom 3. Thirdly The Parliament have made an act to free the People from yielding obedience to the King and to all that hold claiming under the King This Law likewise throwes down the power of the Conquest and makes Englishmen free in their Land that they may live comfortably in their English Commonwealth and quietly enjoy their Land now which they could not while the conquering Kingly and Lordly Power ruled 4. Fourthly The Parliament hath made an Engagement to maintain this present Commonwealths Government against King and house of Lords This likewise is but a confirmation of the first to make England a free Commonwealth And that all Englishmen may enjoy the comfortable livelihood in the Land as Brethren without restraint for if I have not freedom to live in peace and enjoy food and rayment by my Labors freely it is no Commonwealth at all Now in the purchasing of this declared freedom the common people of England have spent their Estates as well as the Gentry partly by their free hearts in lending money to the Parliament partly by Taxes partly by free quarter and partly by plunder in times of Warre By all which our proprieties are wasted and the fruit of our labours laid down and accepted of both by Parliament and Army to be a price to purchase Salus populi the peoples creation-freedom out of the oppressing power of Kingly power Therefore in reason and justice I conceive that if the poor people do build houses and plant corne upon the Commons of England for a livelihood they are protected and warranted both by Scriptures and the Lawes of the present Commonwealth And we expect the Officers of the Law will be as faithful to us to put us in possession as our Law-books are to declare our common freedom And whereas some Justices do say that for poor men to dig and plant upon the Commons they do bring themselves within the statute to be punished for vagrants idle or wandring rogues to this I answer 1. That the Justice cannot call these men vagrants or wandring rogues for by the letter of the Law it is no vagrancie to dig and work but when men are idle wanderers begging up and down these the Law lookes upon as punishable But the Diggers they set themselves to work according to the Law of creation as they are Englishmen upon the Commons of England claiming the priviledges of the Commonwealth according to the Lawes of a Common-wealth that they may not beg nor be forced to steale through want and so be hanged by the Kingly and Lordly Law 2. Secondly Their digging upon the Commons for a livelihood is no Riot though some Justices would make it for they do not fight against any And their meeting together is no unlawfull or riotous meeting unlesse the gathering together of many people in one field to dig plow or reap be a Riot or an unlawfull meeting These Lawes against Riots or unlawfull meetings as they call it was the Law of the fearfull Kingly Conqueror lest the common people by their often meeting should understand their creation-freedom and so should joyn together to conquer and cast out him that had conquered them Yet the Gentry and Lords of Mannors who are part of the Kingly and Lordly Power they have met divers times in Troops and have beaten and abused the Diggers and pull'd down their houses Yet we do not heare that the Clergy Lawyers or Justices who would be counted the dispensers of righteous justice do speak against them for Rioters but against the poor labouring men still checking the Labourers for idleness and protecting the Gentry that never work at all therefore if idle persons who wander up and down idly be punishable by the Statutes Then judge whether it be not the idle Gentry rather then the laborious poor man These things I leave to the consideration of all rationall men to judge of they being the foundation whereupon our work of community in the earth according to the Law of creation being reason and justice is builded And I desire any rational man Minister or Lawyer to answer these either to confirm us or else to raise up this foundation of Scriptures and Law not by take him Jaylor which is the language of the Beast but by reason which is the voice of the man Though this work of digging upon the Commons have many enemies yet I am assured of the righteousnesse of the work and it shall take root in one place or other before many yeares passe over Englands head I can set no time but I wait for the consolation of Israel to arise up and break forth in others as I have a taste of him in my self The voice of the Dragon is kill him pull down his house beat him arrest him take him Jaylor imprison him he is a rogue But the voice of the Lamb is love your enemies let him live the earth is his creation-right as well as mine therefore let us do as we would be done unto Ministers and Lawyers will you all stand looking on and see the Lords of Mannors exercise Kingly Power over the poor men that claime their creation-right in the earth and be silent You would be called dispensers of Justice here is a point of justice for you to decide this is the point upon which you shall either stand or fall be saved or damned for you are put upon the tryal The week before Easter Parson Plat Minister of Horsley being the Lord of the Mannor of Cobham where the Diggers were at work And Thomas Sutton the impropriator of Cobham came in person and brought divers men whom they hired to pull down a poor mans house that was built upon the Commons and kikt and struck the poor mans wife so that she miscarried of her Child and by the blowes and abuses they gave her she kept her bed a week