by the king whereas some of the meaner sort of our people did of late assemble themselues in riotous and tumultuous maner within our countie of northampton england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king whereas some of the meaner sort of our people did of late assemble themselues in riotous and tumultuous maner within our countie of northampton england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) james i, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.). by robert barker, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie, imprinted at london : anno dom. . for suppressing riots against enclosures. other title information from first three lines of text. "giuen at our palace of westminster the thirtieth day of may, in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine, france and ireland." reproduction of original in: society of antiquaries. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng inclosures -- england. land tenure -- england. great britain -- history -- james i, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion ❧ by the king. whereas some of the meaner sort of our people did of late assemble themselues in riotous and tumultuous maner within our countie of northampton , sometimes in the night , and sometimes in the day , vnder pretence of laying open enclosed grounds of late yeeres taken in , to their dammage , as they say ; the repressing whereof we did first referre only to the due course of iustice , and the ordinary proceedings of the commissioners of the peace , and other our ministers in such cases : forasmuch as wee haue perceiued since , that lenitie hath bred in them , rather encouragement then obedience , and that they haue presumed to gather themselues in greater multitudes , as well in that countie , as in some others adioyning , we find it now very necessary to vse sharper remedies . wherefore , we will and command all lieutenants , deputy lieutenants , sheriffs , iustices of peace , maiors , bailiffes , headboroughs , constables , and all other our officers and ministers to whom it may appertaine , if the said persons shall continue so assembled , after proclamation made , or any such new assemblies bee gathered in those , or any other parts of our realme , immediatly to suppresse them by whatsoeuer meanes they may , be it by force of armes , if admonitions and other lawfull meanes doe not serue to reduce them to their dueties . for wee cannot but be iustly moued to such seueritie against those , who vniustly throw a slaunder vpon our gouernment , by taking that pretence for their disobedience : seeing it is manifest by acte of parliament , passed since our comming to this crowne , that we haue been careful to preuent such enclosures , and depopulations , & that it hath been an ordinary charge giuen by us to our iustices of assises , when they went to their circuits , to enquire of all vnlawfull depopulations and enclosures , and to take order to remedie the same , and to punish the offenders therein according to the due course of lawe . and it is well knowen to many , that we were now also in hand with some course to bee taken by aduise of our counsell for the performance thereof : from which our good purpose and intent , this their presumptuous and vndutifull proceeding , might rather giue us cause to desist , then increase in us any affection to relieue such disordered persons , so farre attempting against our crowne and dignitie , who chuse rather to trust to their owne pride and rashnes , then to the care and prouidence of their souereigne . willing and commanding all our said lieutenants , deputie lieutenants , shiriffes , and other our officers and ministers aboue mentioned , to attend diligently to the execution of this our pleasure , and all other our louing subiects to be obedient to them in the performance thereof , as they will answere the contrarie at their perill . giuen at our palace of westminster the thirtieth day of may , in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine , france and ireland . god saue the king. ❧ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . anno dom. . by the king it is a thing notorious that many of the meanest sort of our people in diuers parts of our kingdome ... haue presumed lately to assemble themselues riotously in multitudes ... england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king it is a thing notorious that many of the meanest sort of our people in diuers parts of our kingdome ... haue presumed lately to assemble themselues riotously in multitudes ... england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) james i, king of england, - . leaves. by robert barker, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie, imprinted at london : anno dom. . for suppressing riots against enclosures. other title information from first lines of text. "giuen at our mannour of greenewich the xxviij. day of iune, in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine, france and ireland." reproduction of original in: society of antiquaries. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng inclosures -- england. land tenure -- england. great britain -- history -- james i, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion ❧ by the king. it is a thing notorious that many of the meanest sort of our people in diuers parts of our kingdome , either by secret combination , wrought by some wicked instruments , or by ill example of the first beginners , haue presumed lately to assemble themselues riotously in multitudes , and being armed with sundry weapons , haue layd open in forcible maner a great quantitie of seuerall mens possessions , some newly enclosed , and others of longer continuance , making their pretence that some townes haue been depopulated , and diuers families vndone by meanes of such enclosures . in which seditious courses they haue persisted not onely after many prohibitions by our ministers in the seuerall counties , but after particular proclamations published by our royal authoritie , & which is more , when so many meanes of lenitie and gentlenesse were offered to reclaime them , as no prince would haue vsed , but such a one as was both confident in the loyall affections of his subiects in generall , and compassionate towards the simplicitie of such offenders : many of them stood out most obstinately , and in open fielde rebelliously resisted such forces as in our name , and by our authoritie came to represse them , whereupon insued by necessitie in the end that some blood was drawen as well by martiall execution , as by ciuil iustice . vpon this accident it seemeth good vnto vs to declare to the world , and specially to our louing subiects , as well that which concerneth our affections ( which vpon seueral respects are diuided betweene comfort and griefe ) as that which concerneth also our princely intentions , which likewise are bent vpon the contrary obiects and courses of grace and iustice . for first of all we finde cause of comfort in our selues in regard of the clearenesse of our conscience ( to whome god hath committed the care and supreme gouernment of our people ) from giuing cause or colour of such complaint ; the matter whereof is such , as wee take our selues more interessed therein then any our subiects can bee : for as wee cannot but know , that the glorie and strength of all kings consisteth in the multitude of subiects , so may wee not forget that it is a speciall and peculiar preheminence of those countreyes , ouer which god hath placed vs , that they do excell in breeding and nourishing of able and seruiceable people , both for warre and peace , which wee doe iustly esteeme aboue all treasure and commodities , which our said dominions do otherwise so plentifully yeeld vnto vs. neither in this particular case of depopulation , can any man make doubt but it must bee farre from our inclination to suffer any tolleration of that which may bee any occasion to decay or diminish our people , if wee did consider nothing else , but that vse and application which wee may make ( as other princes do ) both of the bodies of our people to carrie armes for defence of our crown , and of their goods and substance to supply our wants vpon all iust & resonable occasions , so as we may by many reasons sufficiently iustifie our care herein towards god & the world ( forasmuch as apperteineth to our kingly office ) seeing the said inclosures ( lawfull or vnlawfull ) were all or the most part made before we had taken the scepter of this gouernment into our possession . whereunto we may adde ( as wholy cleansing and washing our hands from the tolleration of these grieuances ) the continuall and strict charges and commandements giuen by vs to our iudges and iustices , for , the care and reformation of those things which may bee in any wise grieuous to our people in their seuerall countreyes , although in this point there is some defence alledged by our subordinate ministers , and specially by the iustices of assise , that our people haue beene wanting to themselues in the due and ordinary meanes which they ought to take , by presentment of such as are or haue beene guilty of these oppressions . but as wee take comfort that the causes of these complaints haue not proceeded from our gouernment , hauing contrariwise ( before these seditious courses first brake forth ) taken into our princely consideration this matter of depopulating and decaying of townes and families ( whereof we are more sensible , then any other ) with resolution to cure whatsoeuer is amisse , by iust and orderly remedies : so are wee grieued to behold what the disloyalty and obstinacy of this rebellious people hath forced vs vnto , who being naturally inclined to spare shedding of blood , could haue wished that the humble and voluntary submission and repentance of all those offenders , might both haue preuented the losse of the life of any one of them , and the example of iustice vpon some might haue preuented the losse of more . and seeing it was of such necessity , that some in regard of their intollerable obstinacy in so pernicious treason should perish , rather then the sparkes of such a fire in our kingdome should be left vnquenched , that it may yet serue to put others in mind of their duetie , and saue them from the like ruine and destruction , for such and so traiterous attemps hereafter : in all which considerations , for that which may concerne our own royall intention , as wee would haue all men know and conceiue , that neither the pretence of any wrongs receiued , nor our great mislike of depopulation in generall , can in any wise stay vs any longer , from a seuere and iust prosecution of such as shall take vpon them to be their owne iudges and reformers , either in this or any other pretended grieuance : so on the other side , we are not minded that the offences of a few ( though iustly prouoking our royall indignation ) shall alter our gracious disposition to giue reliefe in this case , where it apperteineth , were it for none other cause , then in respect of so many others our good and louing subiects , which might haue alledged like cause of griefe , and neuerthelesse haue contained themselues in their due obedience . and therefore wee doe first declare and publish our princely resolution , that if any of our subiects shall heereafter vpon pretences of the same or like grieuances , either persist in the vnlawfull and rebellious act already begun , or renewe and breake forth into the like , in any parts of our kingdome ; we will prefer the safetie , quiet , and protection of our subiects in generall , and of the body of our state , before the compassion of any such offenders , bee they more or lesse , and howsoeuer misled : and must forget our naturall clemency by pursuing them with all seuerity for their so hainous treasons , as well by our armes as lawes , knowing well , that we are bound ( as the head of the politike body of our realme ) to follow the course which the best phisitians vse in dangerous diseases , which is , by a sharpe remedy applyed to a small and infected part , to saue the whole from dissolution and destruction . to which ende we doe accordingly charge and command all our lieutenants , deputie lieutenants , sheriffes , iustices of peace , and all other magistrates of iustice vnder vs , and all other our louing subiects to whom it shall any wayes appertaine , to doe and imploy their vttermost indeauours and forces for the keeping of our subiects in peace and obedience , for preuention of all such riotous and rebellious assemblies , and destroying them , ( if any doe remaine , or shall happen to arise ) by force of armes , and by execution ( euen to present death ) of such as shall make resistance . on the other side we doe notifie and declare to all our louing subiects , that we are resolued , not out of any apprehension or regard of these tumults and disorders ( which wee know well to be only dangerous to those that attempt them , and which experience may teach them , that they are in a momēt to be dispersed ) nor to satisfie disobedient people , be they rich or poore : but meerely out of loue of iustice , christian compassion of other of our subiects , who being likewise touched with this griefe , auoyded the like offences , as also out of our princely care and prouidence to preserue our people from decay or diminution , to cause the abuses of depopulations and vnlawfull inclosures to be further looked into , and by peaceable and orderly meanes to establish such a reformation thereof , as shall bee needfull for the iust reliefe of those that haue iust cause to complaine , and therin neglect no remedy , which either the lawes of our realme doe prescribe , or our owne royall authority , with the aduice of our councell can supply . for which purpose wee haue already assembled our iudges , and giuen them in charge straightly , to make it one of their principall cares aswell to discouer the said offences , as to consider how farre they may be touched in law , and in what course , and accordingly to proceede against them with all seueritie . and yet because the execution thereof requireth some time , though no more then must of necessitie bee employed therein , if any turbulent or seditious spirits by their impatience , or through their desire to satisfie their owne wicked humors , by moouing common troubles shall seeke to preuent the course of iustice by any such vnlawfull attempts , as haue beene lately vsed , and abusing our gracious disposition shall take the presumption to be reformers of the said inconuenience by any force , because they perceiue hereby how much we mislike of it : wee doe once againe denounce vnto them the same seuere punishment , which belongeth to rebels in the highest degree , and doe require all and euery our magistrates , officers and ministers of iustice ( according to their place of authoritie ) and all our loyall subiects according to their duety of assistance ( laying aside all slackenes or fond pittie ) to see it duely put in execution : as on the other side we doe promise , and are resolued graciously to lend our eares to humble and iust complaints , and to affoord our people iustice and fauour both in this and all occasions fit for a king to doe for his good subiects in generall and in particular . giuen at our mannour of greenewich the xxviij . day of iune , in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine , france and ireland . god saue the king. ❧ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . anno dom. . to the kings most excellent maiestie. the humble petition of two sisters the church and common-wealth: for the restoring of their ancient commons and liberties, which late inclosure with depopulation, vncharitably hath taken away: containing seuen reasons as euidences for the same. trigge, francis, ?- . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) to the kings most excellent maiestie. the humble petition of two sisters the church and common-wealth: for the restoring of their ancient commons and liberties, which late inclosure with depopulation, vncharitably hath taken away: containing seuen reasons as euidences for the same. trigge, francis, ?- . [ ] p. [f. kingston] impensis georgii bishop, londini : . dedication signed: francis trigge. printer's name from stc. against enclosures--stc. running title reads: the humble petition of two sisters. signatures: a-g h⁴ (-a , h ). reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng inclosures -- early works to . land tenure -- england -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - haley pierson sampled and proofread - haley pierson text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the kings most excellent maiestie . the hvmble petition of two sisters ; the chvrch and common-wealth : for the restoring of their ancient commons and liberties , which late inclosure with depopulation , vncharitably hath taken away : containing seuen reasons as euidences for the same . prov . . . in the multitude of the people is the honour of a king , and for the want of people , commeth the destruction of the prince . londini , impensis georgii bishop . . tenez le vray exlibris bibliothecoe domesticoe richardi towneley de tonmeley in agro lancastrensi armigeri anno aetatis . domin 〈…〉 to the most high and mightie prince iames , by the grace of god , king of england , scotland , france and ireland , defender of the faith , &c. that saying of queene hester to the most famous king ahashuerosh , ( most dread soueraigne ) doth , as it were , enforce me , to make this my humble petition to your highnesse : if we were sold to bee bondslaues , or handmaides ( saith shee ) i would haue held my tongue , although the aduersary could neuer recompence the king this losse : but let my life be giuen me at my request , and my peoples . there is a mightie thorne sprung vp of late , in diuers places of this realme , like to that cruell haman ; which doeth not onely goe about to impouerish your maiesties subiects , but quite to roote them out : i meane inclosure of fields and commons ; whereas the lords of manours , and freeholders will haue all their landes which haue heeretofore lien open , and in common , ( so that the poore might enter common with them ) now laid together in seuerall . and hereby the poore cannot enioy their ancient commons and liberties . and this cankred thorne also deuoureth gods people , which is his inheritance , as the psalme teacheth vs , aske ofme , ( saith god ) & i will giue thee the people for thine inheritance , &c. and the vttermost parts of the earth for thy possession . inclosers to maintaine their owne inheritances , doe make no conscience to impaire this inheritance . where god hath beene praised with many mouthes , there now shreeking owles , and other vncleane birds make their nestes . it dishonoreth also your maiesty , and weakeneth your highnesse power . for , in the multitude of people is the honour of a king , saith salomon , and for want of people commeth the destruction of the prince . but this inclosure where it commeth , dispeoples townes , as common experience lamentably teacheth . and whereas your maiestie might haue had great choice of souldiers , and able men for seruice in warre ( if neede required ) now there is almost none to be had , but a sheepheard and his dogge . this inclosure also hurteth the commonwealth : for where no oxen are , there the cribbe is emptie , ( saith salomon ) but much increase commeth by the strength of the oxe . but inclosure decareth tellage , and turneth good arable land to pasture . these inclosers thinke that the gaine of their pastures , eaten with sheepe , commeth more easily to them than being tilled ; and therefore they will neither plowe nor sowe themselues , nor let their land to such as would till it : and so by this meanes they bring a dearth upon this land , which is one of gods plagues . yea , the cities and townes corporate are maintained by the countrey : for the plowe maintaines all trades , as mercers , grocers , tanners , shooemakers , glouers , smiths , taylors , ioyners , carpenters &c. but since inclosure began , all these artificers prooue by experience , that they cannot haue such vtterance and returne for their wares as heretofore : because that husbandmen were wont to maintaine many seruants , which did yeerely buy their wares of them ; which multitude of seruants inclosure needes not . oh inclosure then , to be hated of all gods children , which deuoureth their fathers inheritance ! and to be detested of all your maiesties faithfull subiects , which dishonoureth your highnes , by diminishing the people of your land , and procureth your maiesties destruction ( as saith salomon ) and to be abhorred of all true harted english men , which bringeth afamine , one of gods plagues vpon this our common wealth . nay , which goeth about to impouerish our grand mothers and most famous cities . i knowe , inclosers can vrge many plausible reasons for themselues , but their reasons are humane , and not grounded on the word of god. these dangerous and desperate effects so apparantly spreading both into the hart of gods church , and of the common-wealth , inforceth me , humbly to present this my petition to your most sacred maiestie , with these reasons against inclosure . least by holding my peace , and suffering the lords inheritance to be impaired , i should be condemned at that day as an vniust steward : and seeing your maiesties power to be diminished , and not giuing warning , i should be reputed a faithlesse subiect to your highnesse : and perceiuing the common wealth hereby to be damnified and halfe beggered , i should be esteemed an vnnaturall childe , to this my most louing mother . i am also incouraged with confidence of your gracious acceptance of this my humble suite , with that ( mashall ) your maiesties godly and golden saying , to your princely sonne , that hee should bee the poore mans king. the cure of this canker , and the rooting out of this thorne , will make glad your poore subiects hearts . for as we reade , salomons subiects were as many in number as the sand of the sea , eating drinking and making merrie ; and at this marke shoulde christian kings aime , that their subiects should doe the like . but inclosure diminisheth the number of gods people , killeth their hearts , and abridgeth both their mirth and maintenance : and your maiestie being a second salomon in this our israel , i most humblie craue your gracious and tender care heereof , in your sacred session and high court of parliament ; for that all your afflicted subiects , are ready to crie with the prophet . it is high time for thee lord to lay to thine hand , for they haue destroied thy law , which is christian charitie . the lord iesus blesse your maiestie with a long and prosperous raigne , to the glorie of his name , encrease of his church , and benefit of this common-wealth , for his glorious names sake . amen . your maiesties most humble subiect , francis trigge . to the reader . good christian reader , if any thing in this treatise , seeme to thee ouer bitter or sharpe , i humbly beseech thee to consider with thy selfe , that , that purgation which galen the prince of physitions commonly vsed , was called hiera-picra , that is , holy-bitter ; and such also are iesus christs medicines , which he applieth to our sicke soules : and that this is a canker that i goe about to cure , & therfore as chirurgerie teacheth , lenitiues will doe no good , but rather increase the venome thereof . nay i beseech thee consider , that i deale with the root of all euill , couetousnesse ; and with that noisome pestilence that raigneth now in our age , as it did in the daies of ieremie : and therefore i had need of a sharpe hatchet , to cut vp that root , and of some forcible mithridate to preserue frō that plague : of whose effects and infection and cure , ieremy writes thus : i will giue their wiues to others , and their fields to heires ; for euery one of them , euen from the least to the greatest , is giuen to couetousnesse ; and from the prophet to the priest , euery one dealeth falsly . here first are the effects of this noisome plague of couetousnesse , that their wiues were giuen to others and their fields to heires : here is also the infection or cause of these effects , because they are all giuen to couetousnes & they all deale falsely . it is reported that we haue tasted those former fruits & effects , for there died of the late plague many moe men than women : and is it not likely that the same effects sprong from the same roote ? and if this be true , then let vs all beware of couetousnesse and falsehoode in our dealing . but the true cure of this plague which followes in the prophet , is taught vs by the contrary . for they haue cured the hurt of the daughters of my people , ( saith the prophet ) with sweete words , saying peace peace when as there was no peace . gods ministers must cure this plague not with oyle : but with sharpe wine , they must not here speake faire , if they meane to doe any good , but thunder . and therefore those nice eares that cannot abide their thunder , shall die of this plague , and perish in their sinnes . lastly , if through humaine frailtie , any faults haue escaped ( as who is it that erres not ? ) remember that lesson which nature teacheth ; that of all liuing creatures man doth most often twinckle with his eyes , to teach him not to be a rigorous censurer of his brethren . ponder wisely , iudge charitable , pardon curteously , and if thou be sicke of this disease , repent speedily . for god shakes his rodde ouer thy head euen now , and the day of the lord draweth nigh . thine in the lord f. t. a briefe of the contents of this treatise . it decaieth tillage . it dispeopleth townes . it is against the common-wealth of the iewes . it is against the state of christs church . it is against christian charitie . it is against the church and common-wealth , and auncient liberties and customes of england . inclosure with depopulation is a sinne whereof god shall make especiall inquiry at the day of iudgement . an hvmble petition of the church and common wealth , with reasons out of gods word , against late inclosure and depopulation of townes . a preoccupation of an obiection . whereas this present treatise tendeth to the staying and decaying of inclosure ; it is to be obserued and noted ( most dread soueraigne ) that héere first i speake against late inclosure , not condemning the inclosure of essex , hartfordshire , deuonshire , and such like woodland countries ; wherein the beginning , if the woods had not béen inclosed , they could not haue béene preserued ; and so as it may séeme , the inclosures there of necessitie haue euer since beene continued : for there , euerie lordship is charitably diuided amōgst the tenants , and tillage also in most of their closes is maintained , & townes nothing d●speopled : although those woodland and inclosed countries bee not so populous as other countries are . but i condemne our couetous & new deuised ●●closurs , which cōuert champian and fruitfull soiles , being good arrable ground , to pasture ; casting halfe a cornefield to a sheepes pasture . and so thereby diminish gods people , and depopulate townes . secondly , i ioine depopulation of towns , and this new kind of inclosure together : because the one of them doth follow the other commonly , euen as necessarilie as the shadow doth the body : for although in some places where this inclosure is put in practise ( as our inclosers can cunningly affirme ) that all the houses remaine that haue been : yet there be not so many people in them as hath beene : because that tillage , by meanes of their inclosure is decaied , which required many moe seruants to accomplish it , then their pastures will doe to looke to them . and thirdly , whereas inclosers distinguish , and say , that it is not inclosure , but the couetous minds of men , that pulleth downe townes . to this i answere , that inclosure is the meanes to pull them downe ; and depopulations follow inclosure , as an accident inseparable ( as the logicians call it . ) for marke it who list , where this inclosure hath set in foot , they shall sée houses fallen downe , and lie in the dust : and shall i not héere rather beléeue mine eyes than their faire spéeches ? the first reason against this inclosure is , it decaies tillage . the heathen euer made great account of tillage . cicero writeth thus of husbandrie : that of all things whereby any gaine is gotten , there is nothing more excellent than tillage , nothing more commodious , nothing more pleasant , and nothing more fit for a gentleman . o that our gentlemen were of his mind . the noble men of rome take the names of corne , as ( fabij of beanes , and ) ( cicerones ) of a kinde of pease , and ( pisones of baking . they which were married , had a garland of corne carried before them . ) amongst the romanes also , him whom they called ( bonum colonum ) a good plowman , they seemed to praise exceedingly . nay , he that did not till his land well , the censors punished him . such censors were to bée wished amongst vs , to make vs till our land . it was also by law enacted amongst them , that hee that came to take an amercement , or penaltie , should not take an oxe before a sheepe . nay , that a man stealing by night , corne that was sowen , should be put to death with greater seueritie , then an homicide . they cal glory adoriam of ador , which signifies corne . plinie also writes thus of the fruitfulnesse of the earth : what was the cause that the earth was so fruitfull then ? because ( saith he ) that then the earth was tilled with the hands of emperors . and it is not amisse to thinke , that the earth did reioice then , of her coulter , and share , being crowned , and of her plowman being a triumphant emperor . they were then as carefull of plowing their lands , as of waging their warres , and they did as diligently order their fields , as their camps . the like cause may bée assigned of the barrennesse of the earth in our daies . god plagues our contempt of tillage , with penurie and scarcitie . gentlemen now a daies , thinke scorne of the plough . tillage was the first worke , that was imposed vpon man , after that he was banished out of paradise . and god sent man out of the garden of eden ( langabath ) to serue , to waite vpon , to till the earth . and shall the best of vs all then thinke scorne of tillage ? also this was that gracious promise made vnto noah after the flood , that heereafter , seede time and haruest , cold and heat , sommer and winter , day and night shall not cease , so long as the earth remaineth . but if all men should follow inclosers steps , why then in all townes we should haue no tillage ( or very little ) but all shéepe . is not this to contradict the ordinance of god ? but tillage is troublesome vnto them , and the other is a more gaineful and easie way , as they doe imagine , and therefore they passe not for that . let all such great sheepe-maisters , that are decaiers of tillage take héede , which will haue no seede furrowes , nor haruests , nor greatly passe not for them : they contradict hoerein gods ordinance , as this place prooues . and after we read of noah ( as of an obedient subiect to god héerein ) thus . and noah began to be ( ish haadhmah ) that is , a man wholy giuing himselfe , to labour in the earth , and he planted a vineyard . to plant a vineyard , is correspondent in some countries , to our sowing of corne , and an acre of mines yeeldes better increase , then an acre of our corne , as i haue heard . isaak also as heire of noah , did follow his steps , and though a straunger in aegypt , yet we read of him thus . and isaak did sowe corne in that countrie , and he found in that yeere an hundred measures , and god blessed him . shall isaak sowe , being a stranger in aegypt , and not wée at home ? did hée finde an hundred measures for one ? for so munster saith , that the chalde paraphrast doth erpound this . and shall we say , that we can finde no commoditie by tillage ? and it followes , god blessed him , a blessing of god followes tillage . they shall not thriue that decay it , as erperience teacheth . god appeated to gedeon as he was threshing , and appointed him iudge ouer israel : and doth not this commend threshing ? elizeus also whom god did chuse to bee a prophet in eliah his roome , was a great maintainer of tillage : for thus we reade . and eliah departed thence , and found elishah the sonne of shaphat : who was plowing with twelue yoke of oxen before him , and he was with the twelue . and was not elizeus a great husbandman who had twelue yoke of oxen , and no doubt many plowes going together in his field , and many plowmen , among whom after hée deuided those two oxen , which he killed ? and doe not all these , so beloued of god , and giuing themselues so greatly to tillage , commend it vnto vs ? shall we prefer pasture , and neglect this ? master camden writes , that in england were the stately palaces of lady ceres , meaning great barnes of corne . now we may see in some places , some such great barnes still , and inclosers makes them stande emptie . i know , whereas . quarters of corne hath béene yéerely growing : since inclosure hath beene practised , there groweth not now . and againe he writes , that england for corne was the onely storehouse of all the west empire : and that out of england yeerely the romanes transported . shippes , bigger then barkes , laden with corne to relieue their souldiers , that lay on the borders in germany . in those daies england was able to relieue other countries with corne : but sometime now she is glad to buie corne of other countries her selfe . inclosers haue partlie brought this to passe , who had rather haue their wooll-houses filled with wooll , then their barnes with corne . o dishonorable children to their mother ! the preacher also in his booke writes verie excellently in the commendation of tillage . if in a countrie ( saith hée ) thou seest the oppression of the poore , and the defrawding of iudgment and iustice , be not afraide at the matter , for hee that is higher then the highest , regardeth , and there be higher then they . and the aboundance of the earth is ouer all , the king also consists of the field that is tilled . salomon giueth an item to all that deale hardly with the poore : how that the god of heauen beholdeth : nay ( shomer as it is in the hebrew , that is ) marketh and keepeth in memorie all their dealings . and that the tillage of the earth surpasseth all , and that euen the king thereby is maintained : by the foode that it ministreth , to strengthen his people ; and by the multitude of valiant souldiers it affordeth for his warres . for as plinie writes , most strong and valiant souldiers are made of husbandmen , and come foorth of the countrie , and which thinke no harme . and shall wée deale hardly with those , that must fight and aduenture their liues for vs ? and shall wée not maintaine tillage , the honorable mother of chiualrie ? lechem in hebrew signifies bread , and lacham to fight : they therfore which destroy bread , destroy chiualry . nay , how can any christian truly say the lords prayer , and pray , giue vs this day our daily bread ▪ that decaieth tillage ? will he pray for bread , and not vse the ordinary meanes to haue bread , which is tillage ? this is plainely to tempt god. will he haue god feede vs miraculously , with manna , as hee did israel in the wildernes ? in canaan god will haue plowing and sowing vsed : and therefore after the children of israel came into the lande of canaan , manna ceased . that historie also of the plague in king dauids daies , must teach vs some thing : and therein , that is especially to be marked , to build an altar , in the threshing floore of araunah . it should seeme that god loues threshing flooers , and there hée will be praised . but inclosure decaieth tillage , and therefore god is not praised in our threshing fl●oers . this may be a cause of the plague amongst vs euen now . let vs erect altars in the threshing flooers of araunah , and the plague shall cease : inclosers doe thinke that there are too manie men in this lande , and that they may decaie townes by their inclosure , and that it is no great matter to ●e●aie a towne but god s●●th their thoughts , and now he beginneth to diminish the people of this land : hee may diminish them , as well as they ; and he beginneth at the very head first . couetousnesse which is the roote of all euill , which our sauiour describes in the gospel , and s. paul to timothie ; and pride , which god hates and resists , which esay also paints out vnto vs in his third chapter at large ; & the taking gods name in vaine , for filthy lu●re . for which god wil not hold vs guiltles , &c. and because deceite and guile goe not out of our streetes ; and for that by our wicked liues gods word is euill spoken of : these no doubt may séeme to bée the causes of the plague amongst vs , god giue all men eies , to see their sinnes and to amend them that the plague may cease ; and especially citizens and such as inhabit in townes corporate , amongst whom these sinnes commonly raigne . a second reason against this inclosure is , that it dispeopleth townes . the people are called gods inheritance , aske of me & will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance & the ends of the earth for thy possession . and again , behold ( saith dauid ) childrē are the inheritance of the lord , & a reward the fruite of the wombe . he putteth behold before this his doctrine as though it were a strange thing and yet most true . secondly he addeth that children are a reward : inclosers manie times lacke this reward , they loue the earth so wel that god wil not blesse them with many sonnes : nay dauid addeth , like as the arrowes in the hand of the gyant , so are the children of young men . such arrowes in the hands of gyants , and many rich farmers hauing tall and strong men to their sonnes , wée might haue séene : but now , where this late inclosure hath set in foote , either there are no families left , or else they are so pinched by great rents , and pined with want and penurie , that they are rather like prisoners , then arrows in the hand of a gyant . thus inclosure where it commeth dispeoples townes , and impares the lords inheritance . therefore all his stewards and ministers ought to inueigh against this sinne , and all his children ought to condemne it . againe dauid speaking of the reprobate and wicked giueth them this cognisance . haue they no vnderstanding , or will they not know , or vnderstand ( as it is in the hebrew ) all they that worke wickednes , who eate vp my people , as if they would eate bread ? they haue not called vpon god. here first we may note , the obstinacie of these sinners , and depopulators ; they will not know , they will not be perswaded , they will maintaine and defend their inclosures , and depopulations , say , what one can against them , yea and that out of gods booke , they will writhe all things to maintaine their couetousnes . secondly the grieuousnesse of this sinne with god , and the small account that men make of it . they make no account , nor no more conscience to depopulate townes , and to consume men , then to eate bread . they thinke that they may do it lawfully . but god tels all such héere by the prophet dauid , that though they beare a shew of religion , vet they haue not called vpon god , that is , they are plainely atheists . for by a figure called synecdoche , the part is put for the whole , ano inuoration of the name of god , is put for all his religion . as gen. . . . cor. . . acts . . nay , dauid in another psalm toucheth narrowly these inclosers and depopulators of townes , speaking thus to god. thou hast brought a vine out of aegypt ( saiih he ) thou hast cast out the heathen , and planted it . no doubt dauid heare spake typically of the vine christs church , which god hath in our daies brought out of the popes spirituall aegypt , as saint iohn termes it : and that he hath cast out those spirituall heathen that trampled with their feete , the holy citie , . moneths . for what did they else in poperie , but trample in gods church with their féete ? their bodies were present in the church , but not their vnderstanding , and therefore their hearts were away . for where vnderstanding is not , there the heart cannot properly be said to be . and therfore their vnderstanding was away , because gods worde was read to them in a strange tongue ; and also they praied in a strange tongue . except i know the power of the voice of him that speaketh , i shall bee to him a barbarian , saith saint paul. and may not these be properly called heathen , whom saint paul calleth barbarians ? and may not these be said , to trample in the holie citie , when their bodies onely were present and their hearte were away ? god hath brought a vine out of aegypt , and hath expelled the heathen out of his holy citie , and planted this vine in their place . he swept before the face of this vine , with the winde of his spirit , and the béesome os his worde , clensing all the dust and sand of mans deuises , giuing to it puritie of doctrine , it filled the land . this vine spred her branches thorow the whole lande and that speedily . the papists maruell : they neuer dreamed , that this vine would haue spred her branches so far , and wide . nay the hilles were couered with the shadow of it . manie noble men , verie religiously and zealouslie professed this religion , and dranke the comfortable wine of this vine . but héere now followes the mischiefe , héere followes sathan jesus christs enemie . but why ( saith dauid ) hast thou pluct vp her hedge , that euery one that goeth by the way , hath a snatch ( as we say ) at this vine ? the wild boare of the wood hath destroied it , and the wilde beasts of the field , haue eaten it vp . and the vineyard , which thy right hand hath planted , and the young vine which thou madest so strong for thine owne selfe , it is burnt with fire and cut downe . what doth all this meane ? but that this vine , by couetous and cruell landlords is lopped and diminished , and burnt with the fire of couetousnes . euen that vine , which god himselfe planted so miraculously , and had made so strong in faith , to goe out of poperie , and not to feare the diuell . this beloued vine , and this strong vine , haue our wilde boares deuoured , and our fierie couetousnesse hath burnt vp ; for doe wée thinke that dauid speakes of any materiall fire or vine ? will god take this at their handes ? doe they thinke , that he makes not high account , of euery christian soule ? and doe they not know , that he will be praised with many mouthes ? and that christ , when he sawe the multitude went vp to the hill to preach ? and that hee knoweth , how manie haue béene in townes , in time of poperie ? and shall wée now in the light of the gospell , impare his shéepe ? dare wée doe it ? surely hée will reuenge it . and let all such depopulators know , that they are but trauellers by the way . they shall not long continue héere with their hedges . ioab a bloudie warrier and souldier could say , god forbid , that i should deuoure or destroy the inheritance of the lord : and shall professors of the gospell , be guiltie of this sinne , and depopulate townes ? it was one of gods blessings which he promised to abraham , that he would greatly multiply his seede , as the starres of heauen , and as the sand which is vpon the sea shore . and doe we thinke , that they shall be blessed , which goe about to depriue him of this blessing ? and esay likewise thus prophesieth of christs church , i will power my spirit vpon thy seede , and my blessing vpon thy buddes , and they shall grow as amongst the grasse , and as the willowes by the riuers of waters .. by how many types here , doth the prophet expresse vnto vs christs church ? of seede , of buddes growing amongst grasse , and of willowes ? and doe not all these , insinuate vnto vs a multitude ? they are not christs friends but his enemies , that doe not nourish and cherish this his seede , in the besome of their hearts , that doe not comfort these his buddes , with the curtesie of their spéeches , and which doe not water , these his willowes , with the continuall streame of their liberalities . this was the cause why salomon desired wisdome of god. thou hast made me king ouer a great people , like to the dust of the earth . giue me now wisedome , and knowledge , &c. salomon was but a type of jesus christ : if that his subiectes were like to the dust of the earth ; what shall jesus christs subiects be likened vnto ? i reade in a booke of the suruey of france , made by bodinus , in the daies of king henry the second , besides burgundie there were numbred in france . thousand villages with steeples . and in another suruey of france , made in the raigne of charles the ninth , it was found that the number of the inhabitants there , were aboue . millions of men . did the french thus glory in their multitudes of people ; and shall not we much more in england , séeke to maintaine ours ? and here i cannot but take away some stumbling blockes : for these inclosers perchaunce will flatter themselues and say , that it is but a small village that they haue dispeopled , or a small farme or cottage that they haue decaied or pulled downe ; and what doe you make so much to doe thereof ? but let all such know , that little zoar saued lot : and nazareth that obscure citie whereof nathaniell said , can any good come out of nazareth , it nursed our sauiour jesus , and gaue him a name which from his crosse to this day is honorable . and saint paul teacheth vs plainely , that god hath chosen the weake things of this world , to confound the mightie things ; and vile things , and things which are despised , hath god chosen . and dare any contemne or make light account of that , nay destroy that which god hath chosen and maketh great account of ? out of that little village or poore cottage which he hath decaied ( whosoeuer hée is ) might haue come one as good as himselfe . what may i say then of great husband townes where many rich farmers , and cottages are decaied ? would any of vs willingly haue the little finger of his hand cut off ? no more no doubt , will jesus christ suffer one poore cottage , ( which is as it were his little finger ) to bée cut off , vnpunished without repentance . there was a statute made of late , for the maintainance of tillage , and reedifying farmes decaied : it is to bée feared that god hath obserued how diligent some were to sée the poore whipped , by a statute made at the same time : and how slacke in the execution of that other act of reedifying & plowing . another stumbling blocke is , that some will say they must néedes maintaine their states . and this cloake couers all their pride , and couetousnes . but let all such know that reason thus ; must they impare the lords inheritance to maintaine their estates , euen they whom the lord himselfe hath aduanced ? they had better to be as poore as lazarus in state and condition : nay , they had better neuer haue béene borne , then to exault themselues to impare his inheritance . oh let these men of all others take héede of this ingratitude . let the example of king saul terrifie them , who being made of a poore acorne , a mightie oake , and of a seeker of his fathers asses , the first king of israel , yet afterwards for his vnthankefulnes and disobedience , he and all his posteritie was quite reiected of god for euer from the kingdome . let jesus christs example teach and moue them , who to doe vs good did not respect his estate , being equall with god ( as saint paul teacheth vs , ) but humbled himselfe , and became as a seruant . he washed his apostles feete , and became obedient to the death of the crosse . and what is the greatest of our estates in comparison of his ? surely euen like a little mould-hill to a mountaine . and shall we thinke much , to impaire our estates to doe our brethren good ? nay shall we hurt them to maintaine it ? nay shall we dishonour god ? oh not christs disciples , but mammons worldlings ! there were as many noble men and gentlemen in england heretofore , as are now , and of as great estate : and how did they maintaine themselues ? they did not in the popes darke kingdome depopulate townes , and shall we in the light of the gospell ? can we maintaine our estates by no way else , but by imparing the lords inheritance ? let that be farre from vs. if inclosers would be content with the auncient apparrell , and houses and dyet of their ancestors , as they are not ashamed of their lands ; they néede neuer raise rents , nor improue their lands . they which stand so much on this point , that they must maintaine their estates , know not what humilitie is . all christs disciples must be humble . and humilitie is to descend a degree or two from our estate , and not to seeke to maintaine it : surely that is a spice of pride . the daunger and grieuousnes of this sinne makes me in all humilitie to write thus . it is to be feared that god may now complaine as he did in the daies of ieremie : can a virgin forget her ornament , or a bride her attire ? yet my people haue forgotten me , daies without number , who haue adorned and maintained them . why do you as it were now at last , begin to make your waies good againe , to purchase my loue ? yea euen heerein , thou declarest , that thy waies are euill . for in thy wings are found the blood of soules , of poore innocents . thou hast not found them with mattockes in their hands , such as are mentioned in gre●us , where theeues are said with mat●od●●s to digge thorow walles , and to 〈◊〉 into houses by night , but about all 〈…〉 ( saith the prophet ) no doubt wi 〈…〉 ter instruments , euen to pu●● 〈◊〉 houses and townes . and yet th 〈…〉 because i am guiltlesse , surely 〈…〉 shall turne from me . behold i wi 〈…〉 with thee into iudgement , because the● saiest , thou hast not sinned . incl●s●●s are as guiltie of these sinnes , as were those jewes . for after their inclosure , they will goe about to make good their waies , and they will giue some poore widowes , cowegates in their closes , as it were to purchase gods fauour , whereas ( as those jewes had ) they haue the blood of poore innocent soules in their wings and worships . nay , and they haue also in their hands not mattockes , but greater instruments then those , euen to pull downe farmes and townes . and yet neuerthelesse they saie ( as the jewes did ) that they are not guiltie . therefore ( saith god ) i will enter into iudgement with them . and this may séeme to be another cause , of the p●ague amongst vs at this day . we sinne in wordly cares , and in excesse in our diet , whereof our blessed sauiour biddes vs take héede : we excéede in our stately buildings , which the prophet esay and ieremie plainely reprooue : we sinne in vanitie of apparell , which the prophet zephanie condemnes ; and we account these no sins : wée say that we are guiltles and therefore doth god enter with vs into iudgement : whereas it is the first lesson that the apostle saint peter giues vs which liue in the end of the world , that we should be sober , and kéepe ( no doubt ) that holie meane in all our worldly cares ; in our diet , in our apparell , in our buildings , and in the furniture of our houses , and to conclude , in all things . but that which followes in the prophet , shall proue them guiltie and condemue them . why labourest thou so much ( saith the prophet ) to change thy waies , and to make them seeme good ? thou shalt be confounded of aegypt , as thou art also confounded of ashur ; that is , as the dead paganes condemne thee , so shall the blind egyptians and papists condemne thee also . and héere first ; did the paganes deale so hardly with their tenants ? pharaoh the egyptian , may teach all inclosers and landlords , christian charitie , and the communicating of their lands and commodities to their tenants . behold ( saith ioseph ) i haue bought you this day , and your land for pharaoh , and foure parts shall be yours , for the seede of your field , and for your meate , and for them of your household , & for your children to eate . here first we may note , that this egyptiā king , would haue tillage maintained : then , that although he had purchased their land , yet he dealt courteously with his tenants , and had a care , both of the seede of their land , and of their families : and shall not christians much more haue this care of their brethren , whose land comes by inheritance ? he gaue them seede , and yet he required but a fift part for his rent : oh easie rent ! this shall condemne one day our couetous rents , and cruell exactions at our brethrens hands . this mercifull pharaoh was blessed of god : but his couetous successor , that laid heauie burdens on gods people , and said as inclosers say now , the people are too much idle , they must haue more worke imposed vpon them , was drowned in the sea : let them chuse now , whether of these they will followe . such a good landlord also was iob , not in iewrie , but in the land of hus. if my land rise against mee ( saith hee ) and the furrowes thereof weepe and waile : and if that i haue eaten of the heart thereof without money , or haue made the soules of the masters thereof pant : then let thistles growe in stead of wheate , and cockle in stead of barly : héere wée may first note that iob neuer eate the strength or heart of his land , but hée paied for the plowing of it , contrarie to many landlords amongst us , who will let their lands at great rents , and will make their tenants plow with them ( gratis ) and for nothing . secondly , that he cals his tenants masters of his land : but many amongst us make their tenants by their excessiue payments , as good as bondslaues . they did not so much as once pant or blow in the tilling of it , they plowed it ioyfully , and at their ease . but many tenants now adaies , doe not onely pant at their plowes , but sigh , caring how they may pay their rents . iob also did neuer eate his morsell alone ; if he had but one dish , the poore had euer some part thereof : and shall inclosers thinke much to yeeld unto them some part of their grasse ? shall they shut them out of their fields , whom hee admitted daily to his table ? and if perchance they thinke that this was uery much , and that euery one is not bound to doe so : let them marke well that saint iohn in his epistle doth charge euery christian to doe more than this : if that thou hast the worlds good , and see thy brother want ( saith hée ) and shuttest vp thy verie entrals , or bowels from him , how dwelleth the loue of god in thee ? if thy brother beg of thée , wilt thou denie him ? nay , by this place thou art plainely commaunded , if thou seest him want , though hée holde his peace , and craue nothing of thée , to help him ; and that not in opening thy purse to giue him money , but in opening thy verie bowels vnto him ; and in doing to him , as thou wouldest haue done to thine owne selfe . then if so be that his ●owe lacke grasse , wilt thou not let her common in thy pastures ? if he lacke an house , wilt thou not prouide one for him ? nay saint iohn teacheth thée plainley héere , to doe more for him then all these ; euen to receiue him , not into thy fields , or house , but ( if it were possible ) into thine owne bowels : and this was that common salutation among the jewes ( like unto our good morrow ) your soule liueth in me , as appeareth by the salutation of anna to elie , and the salutation of gedeon to the angell , which is as much as to say i wish to you euen as to my owne soule ; for so it is in the hebrew tert . oh that this salutation were pronounced dayly , not in mouth onely , but in our dealings practised amongst vs christians , which no doubt ought to be ; as both saint paul and peter , doe commaund all christians . fulfill my ioy ( saith saint paul ) that ye be like minded , or of one minde together : and saint peter , finally be yee all of one minde . such a mercifull man was mordoche the jew , of whom we reade thus , and mordoche the iew was second to ahashuerus , and great amongst the iewes , and accepted ( ratsu ) such a one as his brethren would haue wished , who procured the wealth of his people , and spake peaceably to all his seede , who though háe were lately aduanced , to dignitie and worship , yet vsed not these meanes , to maintaine his estate . oh that inclosers who professe the name of the gospell , would imitate this jew ! as for the blinde egyptians , that is the papists , how they haue excelled inclosers in the workes of charitie , euery towne almost tells thée : which townes they haue left to their successors , like the winges of a doue which is couered with siluer : and inclosers plucke away these golden fethers from them , and leaue them not so good as they found them . thus inclosers may plainely sée , how that not only dead assur , but blinde egypt also doth confound them . but these inclosers alledge that saying of the gospell , is it not lawfull for me to doe with mine owne as i list ? they must remember , that parable represents vnto vs that great landlord of all landlords , the king of heauen ; he may say so only , and none else . they must also remember that saying of the psalme : and he gaue them the lands of the heathen , and they tooke the labour of the people in possession , that they might keepe his statutes and obserue his lawes . god hath giuen them the earth in deed : but vpon this condition , that they should kéepe his lawes , and his lawe is christian charitie . the third reason is , that this inclosure is against the common wealth of the iewes . god said to abraham , get thee out of thy countrey , and from thy kindred , & from thy fathers house , vnto the land that i will shew thee , and i will make thee a great nation , and will blesse thee , and will make thy name great , and thou shalt be a blessing . all christians must be abrahams sonnes , and account this commaundement of god spoken vnto them , and goe out ( by their loues , affections , studies & cares ) of their father adams house , that is , the wor●● ; and liue héere in this world , as their father abraham did , like poore pilgrims and trauailers : and then shall god blesse them , and make them a blessing , euen the very members of jesus christ : who also when as he was in this world , followed those very steps of abraham , and liued here as a trauailer or pilgrime , and not as a citizen , or as an inhabiter . but how contrarie is this doctrine to the practise , and very spéeches of these inclosers , who say , is it not lawfull for vs to vse the earth to the most aduantage ? this is their maxime and principle : but abraham and saint paul doe tell them , that they should vse it as though they vsed it not . that they should vse it as wise trauailers doe their innes in their iourneis , who séeke not for gaine or superfluitie there ; who care for no more then will serue their turnes . let the inhabitants of the earth séeke to make their most aduantage thereof : but all christians who dwell therein as pilgrims , séeke for no more then will serue their turnes ; let them goe out of their countries in hart and affection , with abraham their father , and be hebrues , that is , passengers with him , as the hebrue word signifies ; and not canaanites , that is , marchants , whose trade is in this life . thus much abraham , the father of the faithfull iewes , and the bery name of the hebrues doth teach them a lesson worth the learning ; for this is the sinne of our age , that we are too much in loue with this earth , more than our forefathers , nay more than pagans haue béene . the jewes whose fields lay together , did not inclose them : as the field of boaz , which lay altogether and yet was not inclosed , plainely proues . their orchards and vineyards were walled about ; their common fields were bounded with stones or mountaines : but our righteousnesse must exceede theirs , and therefore we ought not to inclose . among the jewes also , euery yeere the poore might gleane in their fields , and they were commaunded not to rake them too cleane , but to leaue somthing for the poore , and not to gather in the outsides of their fields , but to leaue them also for the poore . boaz did very notably fulfill this lawe . nay , euery seuenth yeere what grew in their corne-fields of it owne accord , they were commaunded to saue , and to suffer the poore to gather and reape it . and doth not this plainly commend and commaund tillage ? the poore must haue some thing left them euery yeere for to gleane , and they must haue euery seuenth yeere all the whole croppe that grew of it owne accord . and were not the jewes then bound to sowe their fields , so that the poore in iewry had good and plentifull gleanings left them euery yeere , and the whole croppe of rich mens lands euery seuenth yeere ? but inclosers will cut short all this , for neither will they sowe any thing at all , and so bar them of their gleaning and reaping ; or if they sow any small quantitie , they will rake so cleane , that the poore shall get very little that commeth to gleane after their rakers . the prophet ieremie doth prophesie of the returne of the jewes from babylon out of captiuitie , and vnder the type of them , of christs church thus . o virgine israel , thou shalt be adorned with the timbrell , and thou shalt goe forth with the dance of them that be ioyfull : thou shalt yet plant vines on the mountaines of samaria and the planters that plant them , shall make them common . as christs church hath a common father , and a common sauiour , and common sacraments , and a common countrey , and a common inheritance in heauen : so on earth she should also haue a brotherly communitie in her earthly affaires ; and she should make her grapes cōmon . this did the jewes in the shadow ; and shall not christians doe thus much more in the cléere sunne-shine of the gospell ? the fourth reason ; this inclosure is against the estate of christs church and kingdome . esay thus prophesieth of it : violence and hard dealing shall no more be heard of in the land , neither desolation nor destruction within thy borders , but thou shalt call saluation thy wals ( of a word deriued of the name of jesus ) and praise , thy gates . our wals should taste of the loue of jesus , and should be like him ; they shuld all be built of frée stones , and not of flint stones ; and all our gates should be praise ; we should neuer set foote out of doore , but we should be merry and ioyfull : and are inclosers tenants of this kingdome ? is not their hard dealing and violence almost in all places complained of ? are not their desolations and pulling downe of farmes apparant in euery mans eyes ? are the wals and dwelling houses of their tenants built of frée stone , and not rather of flint stone ? doe their rents taste of jesus christ , and not rather of worldly couetousnesse ? are the doores of their tenants houses praise , and not rather lamentation , sighing and mourning ? add againe , he describes vnto vs the estate of christs church , thus : the wolfe shall dwell with the lambe , &c. and , the cow and the beare shall feede , their yong ones shall lye together , &c. this communitie of dwelling , inclosers do somtimes take away in christs church : for they will haue no man almost dwell néere them . we may sée many of their houses built alone , like hauens nests , no birds building néere them : but especially this community of féeding , they like not of . they will eate their pastures by themselues , they will haue none to enter common with them . geminianus a very learned man , agreeing herein with the prophet esay , writes thus very excellently ; good men euer loue a common and sociable life , and they flie singularities or solitarinesse by the example of bees : for bees , as ambrose writes , doe chuse vnto them a common mansion or dwelling , and they are all shut vp with one doore , and they all labour together ; their meate is common , as also their worke ; as they worke together so also they eate together . their occupation ( as i may so tearme it ) is common , and their gaine is common , and their swarming is common . and hath god giuen bées these excellent vertues in vaine , or for themselues only , and not rather to teach men christian charity , and humane society ? such angrie creatures doe thus loue , and liue in common together , and shal not much more men , to whom god hath giuen no stings ? nay christians , to whom he hath giuen that louing and sociable doue of his holy spirit ? the prophet micah also thus describes vnto vs the estate of all gods people in his church . but they shall sit euery man vnder his vine , and vnder his figge tree , and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the lord hath spoken it . where the hebrewe word ( charadh ) signifies to mooue one with thought , and care . all shall liue merily in christs church ; they shall neuer feare thought nor care , much lesse taste of it . and doe not inclosers , not onely make their tenants feare thought and care , but also fill their heads with it ? england hath béen famous throughout all christendome by the name of merie england : but couetous inclosers haue taken this ioy and mirth away ; so that it may be now called sighing or sorrowfull england . in england we haue euer had thrée states , lords spirituall , temporall , and the commons . and these commons are diuided againe into gentlemen , yeomen , and husbandmen . but in other countreyes there is no yeomanrie , but only in england . in france all are gentlemen , or pesants : in denmarke all are noblemen , or rustici , as they tearme them : and in high & lowe germanie there are the nobilitie , and the boores. so that , gentlemen which are inclosers , ouerthrowing the yeomanrie , and decaying the communalty , doe blotte out the ancient glory of england : for , no doubt , by the strength and hands of these two , haue béen heretofore euer obtained , our admirable conquests , and most famous victories throughout all christendome . so that now these inclosers doe goe about to make england as barbarous , and as weake in this respect , as other nations . nay let them take héed that they prooue not themselues egyptians : for not the countrey , but the conditions & maners , are wont to giue names . as we may learne out of the prophet esay , whereas he calles the noblemen of iewrie princes of sodome ; and the people , the people of gomorah : though neither they nor their ancestors were borne there . so i feare we haue some landlords of aegypt in england : for ( mitsraijm ) the name of aegypt , in our language is as much to say , as an afflicter , or one that makes another sorrowfull : and are not these inclosers egyptians then , which pinch , and vexe their brethren ? let them take heede ; the name agrées vnto them : let them feare the punishment ; god is the same god still . he that heard the grones , and sighes of his people in aegypt , and came downe to deliuer them , will no doubt doe the same in england . i haue heard of an olde prophesie , that horne and thorne shall make england forlorne . inclosers verifie this by their shéepe and hedges at this day . they kill poore mens hearts , by taking from them their auncient commons , to make shéepe pasture of ; and by imposing vpon them great rents , and by decaying tillage ; so that now they are forlorne hauing no ioy to liue in the world . and according to these shadowes , saint iohn describeth to vs the truth of christs church : but if that we walke in light ( saith he ) as he is in light , we haue fellowship one with another , and the blood of iesus christ his sonne cleanseth vs from all our sinnes . here is , euen to force vs to the communicating of our vile earth one to another , the communicating of jesus christs most pretious blood : as though they which would not maintaine this christian communion and fellowship among themselues , should not be partakers of that . they are not children of god , but children of the diuell , that walke not in this light : they are not of gods familie and church , but of sathans synagogue , that haue not this fellowship among themselues . and saint paul commaunds timothie , and in him all ministers , to teach rich men the same lesson ; charge them that be rich in this world that they be not high minded , &c. but to be very ready to giue and to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , making common their talents among their brethren : but inclosers doe not so . to conclude this point : esay in his prophesie , may séeme to teach , and touch vs also very narrowly , that haue liued vnder the gratious raigne of quéene elizabeth , and doe now liue vnder the happie and religious gouernment of king iames : for he also prophesied in the daies of godly ezechias , to whom both these may be compared . and god there complaines , that when as he had planted a most plesant vine in iewrie , and had hedged it from the hands of the enemie , and had picked out of it stones , that is , many vnprofitable members and traytors , and when he had planted a wine-presse in it , that is , a famous schoole of the prophets which should yéeld vnto them the most pleasant wine , and also had built in the middest of it a stately tower of defence , euen a most godly and mightie prince and magistrate : yet for all these benefits , when as he looked for swéete grapes at their hands , they brought forth sower grapes . and hath he not bestowed all these former benefits and blessings vpon vs in england ? he is very vnthankfull , or starke blind that will not acknowledge this : and yet for all these benefits these inclosers ( with those vnkinde jewes ) yéelde sower grapes . and what these sower grapes are , the prophet esay after most manifestly sheweth vs. woe vnto them ( saith he ) that ioyne house to house , and lay field to field , till there be no place , that you may be placed by your selues in the middest of the earth . is not this the marke that inclosers doe aime at , to be placed alone by themselues on the earth ? but to such stragling shéepe , from the holy fellowship of the lords flocke , the prophet here , cryeth woe . and are not these plainely the grapes that inclosers doe yéelde , to ioyne field to field ? and these , they account gainefull and pleasant grapes . oh men desperately sicke , whose mouthes are thus out of taste ; and doe they thinke that god will take these grapes at their hands ? what talke they of the goodnesse of their land , that it is worth this , or that ? let them praise god that they enioy it . if he had not hedged it about ; not long since , the cruell spaniard had deuoured vs all . oh , remembring this , let them offer swéete and most pleasant grapes vnto the lord , that is , deale as mercifully with their poore tenants as is possible . all the mercy which they can shew , is nothing to that mercie , which god hath shewed to them already ; nay , to that he must shew to them hereafter , or else they shal be damned . and let them take héede ; for with what measure they doe now meate , shall be measured to them againe : as it was done to that rich man , who , as he would not giue a crum or droppe here on earth , so he could not haue one crumme or droppe of comfort then graunted him in hell : though he could cry father abraham neuer so loud , his vncharitable and vnmercifull faith could doe him no good ; no more shall theirs profit them : let all men marke this well ; it is written for our learning . and let them marke well what measure of mercie they now giue ; and let them be sure , that they giue measure enough : for , without all doubt , at that day , they shall receiue the same againe . and i pronounce vnto them , that , doe what they can , they shall stand neede of it all . let them not flatter themselues in doing some small trifles , and in giuing the paring of their nailes , and those things which they may well spare : for as saint peter tels vs , at that day the iust man shall scarcely be saued : and then what case shall vnmercifull men be in ? the fifth reason is , that this inclosure is against christian charitie . saint paul saith , charitie seeketh not her owne things , but euery man also the things of other men . but these inclosers respect onely their owne commodities , and therefore it is against charitie . it was the voyce of cain , and not of sheth , nor of gods church , am i my brothers keeper ? and euen at this day they are of cains petegrée , and not of gods familie , that haue no care of the wealth and welfare of their brethren . this inclosure is also against the loue which jesus christ commaunded and shewed towards vs ; yee know the grace of our lord iesus christ ( saith saint paul ) that he being rich , for your sakes became poore , that you through his pouertie might be made rich . and i giue you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my counsell , and mine aduise herein . this is also that law of our sauiour christ , which he so straitely commaunds all his , to loue one another , as he hath loued them , and that with a repetition . this is saint pauls aduise ; for our brethrens sakes , euen to become poore to doe them good . but inclosers doe not thus , they séeke their owne wealth and riches , therefore they contradict both our sauiours law , and saint pauls aduise . the most comfortable words of our blessed sauiour , euen the first and most ioyfull message that he sent to his apostles after his resurrection were these , goe to my brethren and say vnto them , i ascend vnto my father and to your father , to my god and to your god. oh ioyfull newes ! shall we not beleeue this ? and if we doe , shall we not account indéede all christians now our brethren ? euen our most néere and déere brethren ? which brotherhoode our sa-sauiour jesus so dearely bought , euen by his most precious death ; and shall we not deale with them as with our brethren ? but dauid in the person of our sauiour christ complaines , that he is become a stranger to his brethren , and an aliant to his mothers children . and is not jesus christ , in his members amongst vs , in this state euen now ? and may he not séeme to make the same complaint ? whosoeuer lets a farme , or sels any thing to his brother , doth he not deale with him , as with a stranger ? doth he not make him pay for it to the vttermost ? nay , sometimes more then it is worth ? a turke might haue it as cheape at our hands as a christian . and may not jesus christ then iustly say , that he is become a stranger to his brethren ? surely as great a stranger , in his members to christians , as he was in his owne person to the jewes . for as they gaue him vineger and gall to drinke ; so many now giue to their brethren ; and especially inclosers giue this drinke to their poore tenants . and here we may note that excellent propertie of true charitie that she is alwaies hard to her selfe , that she may be bountifull to others . so was the widow of sareptah , that she might féede elias ; and so was that widow in the gospell , which our sauiour so highly commends ; that she might giue some thing into the treasurie of god , she gaue all her liuing , and punished her selfe . so was that samaritan and that stranger amongst the jewes ( whose example all that will be accounted neighbours our sauiour commaunds to follow ) to that wounded man. he set him on his owne beast : he went a foote himselfe , and tooke paines that he might ride . so were all the church of macedonia , as saint paul sheweth , in their extreame pouertie rich in liberalitie to the poore , they pinched themselues , that they might be liberall to them . doe inclosers follow these examples ? doe they pinch themselues that they may doe their brethren good ? shall not all these examples , of jewes , widowes , strangers , and macedonians mooue them ? they doe quite contrarie ; and they thinke , that they may doe it lawfully ; that is , they may seeke their owne commoditie howsoeuer that their brethren fare : surely this is not charitie . all gods creatures may seeme to teach vs this lesson , as virgils verses auouch . the sheepe beareth not his fleece , nor the oxe his yoake for himselfe , nor the bées hord vp their honey , but all for our vse . nay , those exceilent creatures ; the sunne , the moone , and stars , how continually doe they runne their courses , for our commoditie ? and shall not we take paines and pinch our selues to doe our brethren good ? and will not inclosers learne this lesson being taught it by so many schoole-masters ? i am verely perswaded that god hath sent of late vnseasonable weather , especially in the hay-haruest , to teach inclosers what an acre of their inclosed pasture ground ( which they doe make so great a reckoning of ) is worth . for the hay-haruest , which yeeldes meate for their sheepe , hath beene lately vnseasonable and wet : but the corne haruests which yéeldes meate for his sheepe ( the poore ) the lord hath blessed : or else no doubt , if the corne haruest had bin as wet as the hay haruest was , there would haue béen a great dearth of corne , to the vndooing of the poore . but our most louing god , to declare the loue that he beares to his owne shéepe : & the small care in comparison , that he hath of their shéepe ; hath as it were plagued the hay-haruest of their sheep , and blessed the corne-haruest of his own sheepe ; for nothing chanceth in vaine . and therefore whereas inclosers doe vrge , the goodnesse of the ground , and the benefit of inclosure , and that an acre of their inclosed medow and pasture , is worth thus much ; they must consider , y t vnles god send seasonable weather , it may prooue almost worth nothing : they must learne to let god haue a chief part of their rents reserued to him . vnlesse he keepe for vs the appointed weekes of the haruest , as ieremic teacheth , what is all our land and labour taken about it worth ? no doubt our ancestors had consideration hereof , in letting their lands ; which were so easily rented , that the tenant might haue the rent what weather soeuer god sent : and this was christian charitie . but this charitie is now vanished out of the world : the incloser will haue his great rent , hée will not abate one penie what weather soeuer come . one writes that the poore hus●andman is more cruelly dealt withall than the as●e ; whom his master , if that the weather or the way proue not conuenient and good , will ease of his burden . but husbandmen , come faire come foule weather , are nothing pitied ; they must beare still their accustomed burdens , be they neuer so great . this practise of christian charitie was vsed in the primitiue church . and the multitude of them which beleeued ( saith s. luke ) were of one heart , and of one soule ; neither any of them said or accompted , that that which he possessed , was his own ; but they had all things common . common like christians , not like anabaptists : common in vse , not in propertie . for ananias possession was his owne , to haue either kept or sold it , as peter told him . so was also all other mens possessions and goods , but no man accompted it as his owne . lodouicus viues , a very learned man , thus describes christian charitie : to loue , saith hée , is the happiest and the best thing in the world : and therefore god and angels are most happie and blessed , who loue most . and to hate is the worst and most miserable thin in the world : and for this cause the denils are most miserable . and after , lest any man should coine to himselfe a counterfeite christian charitie ; this true charitie makes all thinges equall ; where that flourisheth , no man desireth to be preferred before another , no man will desire to take away any thing from him that he loueth , when as he accompts that he himselfe hath whatsoeuer his friend hath : no man will goe to law with him , whom he loues : none will thinke that he can receiue any iniurie at his hands , and therefore neuer thinkes on reuenge : no man will enuie him , whom he loues ; nor any man is glad of the harmes of him that is his friend , nor is agrieued at his welfare . but contrariwise , according to the saying of the apostle ; he reioyceth with them that reioyce , and weepes with them that weepe , & that not fa●nedly or counterfeitly . but from his very heart . because loue makes all things common , and atcompts that his owne which is his whom he loueth . thus lodouicus viues describes christian charitie . and how farre off are inclosers from this ? saint paul saith , that if he had all knowledge , and all faith , euen to remooue mountaines , yet without this charitie he were nothing before god : and what are inclosers then , that are destitute of all these gifts , and lacke this charitie ? let them marke this well , that this i●well charitie , one day before the maiestie of god , shall be more worth than all their golde , and great rents and reuenues . this is the charitie of all the saints in heauen . for although there be differences of ioyes , yet the saints which haue lesser ioyes , accoūt those ioyes , through charity , also theirs , which their brethren doe enioy . now is fulfilled that prayer of dauid , it is time for thee lord to put to thy hand , for ( hephiru ) they haue abrogated , they haue made no account of thy lawe . and what is christs law but charitie ? and that not any charitie , but such a charitie as he hath shewed towards vs ; & as lodou●cus vi●es here hath described to vs. but it is time for god to put to his hand , for this charity is vanished , is abrogated , is made no account of , many thinke that it concernes them not . but the very pagans haue had this charitie , and , but that they wanted the eye of faith , they haue mounted vp herein ( like blinde hawkes ) farre higher than some christians , especially than inclosers . cymon the athenian commaunded all hedges and pales to be taken away from his grounds , that both citizens and strangers whosoeuer , that stood in neede , might haue more free accesse into them , to gather ap●les and corne . and photion the athenian said , that a man had as good pull downe churches and altars , as take mercie from amongst men . and iulius caesar was wont to say , that then he waxed rich , when as he did any man good . and wil inclosers come behind any of these ? will they inclose ? cymon the athenian would not doe it . will they not deale charitably in letting of their farmes to their brethren ? phocion tels them , that they had as good pull downe churches doe they account the money in their coffers their treasures ? caesar , that proud romane emperour shall condemne them ; he thought not so , but rather that which he had bestowed liberally . traiane the emperour was accompted the ioy of mankinde , because that he neuer sent any man sad home . oh that all landlords were traianes ! they should bee more ; for it is more to bee a christian , than to be a traiane ; and saint paul wills all christians to walke worthy of their vocation . the name of a christian is the honorablest and bountifullest name in the worlde . christians take their names , of the anointing the holy ghost . and what then can be more honourable and bountifull ? octauius caesar ●ccompted that day lost , wherein he had done good to no man. oh that all landlords would spend their daies thus , in deuising the good of the townes , whereof they are landlords , and not in the impouerishing of them ! then we should haue a flourishing church , and a rich common-wealth . p●olome also king of aegypt was wont to say , that he had rather make others rich , than be rich himselfe . oh that inclosers were of this minde curius also the romane hauing a great deale of golde offered him of the samnites , ●had rather , saith he , haue the possessors of the gold mine , than their gold . o wise curius he had rather haue the hearts of the samnites , than their heapes of golde . oh that inclosers were in this point but as wise as he ! the day will come when the prayers of tenants , shall doe their landlords more good than their great payments now . for that saying of our sauiour shall stand good , whēas they with their chests full of gold and siluer shall perish ; make you friends of your vnrighteous māmō ; that when as you shall depart hence and faile in your account , they may receiue you into euerlasting tabernacles . and our sauiour addes an emphasis or a memorandum ( as we say ) to this his sentence ; ( and i say vnto you ) as though he should say , marke this well , all you rich men , whom god hath enriched with his talents : herein follow that same vniust steward , and make you friends of the poore ; that when you shall depart hence , & god shall call you to an account of your stewardships ( as y e great rich man did his steward , and shall faile therin , the best of you al , euen as he did ) the poore may receiue you into euerlasting tabernacles . make the poore as waters to cast your bread on , as y t preacher counselleth you : that you may find it again , whē as you shal stand in need , after many daies : and as stones to powre your oyle vpon ; as did iacob the patriarch ; that when you shall die , you may sleepe quietly as hée did being aliue ; and sée that ladder jesus christ reaching from earth to heauen . for that strange fact of iacob containes in it some great mysterie . and may not that ladder signifie faith , & this powring oile on the stone , mercie ? so that we must ioyne to the ladder of faith , the oyle of mercie if we meane to ascend vp to heauen . or if that stone signifie jesus christ , are not the poore his members ? and doe not they which shew mercie vnto them , powre their oile on jesus christs feet , as mary did in the gospel , & as it were on stones ? such an heire of iacob , was dauid , who of himselfe writes thus ; know yee that the lord ( hiphlah ) hath as a wonderfull and pretious thing chosen to himselfe ( chasidh ) the mercifull man. and he concludes , i will lay me downe in peace and take my rest , as though mercifull men onely , and they that power their oyle on stones , as iacob did , should take their rest , and sléepe sweetely . for that sentence also shall stand good , wherein consistes one maine point ( next faith ) of our saluation : blessed are the mercifull , for they shall obtaine mercy ; and iudgement mercilesse shall be to him that hath shewed no mercy , as s. iames teacheth vs. but inclosers , i thinke , neuer remember that day : if they did , they would prefer prayers before payments , and the harts of their tenants , with that courteous romane curius , before their heapes of golde and siluer . o blind couetousnesse ! o blinde inclosers ! more blinde than grecians , more blinde than romanes , nay , more vncharitable and cruell than very infidels . nature teacheth , that the wilde figge tree , if it be planted neere vnto the figge tree , that it will make it more fruitfull : and shall not these heathen or pagans , who are wilde figge trées in comparison of vs christians , make vs excell in good works ? shall their figges be sweeter than ours ? o degenerate and wilde christians ! god by his prophet ieremie ( saith , goe to the isles of chittim , and behold ; and send vnto kedar , and take diligent heede , and see whether there be such things . our most gratious god , compares his people of the jewes , with the paganes : and will he not much more compare vs christians with them ? and is it not a shame for vs to be ouercome of them in charitie towards our brethren ? surely , if we be , in the day of iudgement they shall condemne vs. the sixt reason : this inclosure is against the church and common-wealth , and auncient customes and liberties of england , gods ministers may make that complaint of inclosers , that iacob made of laban : thou hast now changed my wages ten times : so haue they changed the auncient liuings of gods ministers . but in all their exchanges it hath fallen out , as it doth commonly in casting of mettals : that which hath comne in the second place , hath not béen so good as was the former . their summes of money which they doe now alowe , are not so good in value , as were heretofore tithes in kinde : and againe , the money due is not so easily obtained at their hands . and thus they doe not onely mussell the mouthes of gods oxen , which doe tread out his corne , but also impouerish them yéerely more & more by this their inclosure ; and yet for all this , they will be accounted laban , that is , they will séeme white and religious . hierome , of couetous patrons , and laie-men which studie to get into their hands ecclesiasticall liuings , writes thus : they which serue at the altar , let them be partakers of the altar : therefore because priests were wont to pray for all them , whose almes and oblations they doe receiue , with what face dare laie men , either themselues eate , or grant to others , the oblations which christians doe offer for their sinnes , when as it becommeth not them to pray for the people ? for this cause , ( o glorious father ) we ought to excommunicate those presumptuous persons for euer ; that others might be afraid , and that these things might be no more done in the church . o grieuous sinne , which hierome saith , is to be excommunicated for euer ! and here first , the poore husbandmen and cottagers , may complaine vnto your maiestie of the payments of the subsidie inflicted vpon them ; that whereas there hath béene rich farmers in euery towne to pay it , now those townes inclosed being dispeopled , and those rich farmers which were wont to pay it , being fled away , the payments thereof are imposed on poore men : who being but tenants , and hauing but a small flocke of cattell ( and perchance a great familie to maintaine ) are enforced to be three pound men in the subsidie booke ; whereas the lord of the mannor , or frée-holder ; being their landlords , liuing in other places , hauing fiue hundred or a thousand shéepe , in the said lordship ( which they haue inclosed and improued ) and perchance fiftie or a hundred cattell , will pay nothing towards the payment of the same . pleading for themselues , that by law , they are to be assessed and bound to pay but in one place , which for the most part is where they inhabit . and so they vsing and enioying the profits and commodities of the farmes which they haue decayed ; and also eating with their cattel , the chiefe commoditie of the field ; will beare no part of that dutie with their poore tenants , which makes them repine and murmur . nay ( that which is the last refuge ) if the townes inclosed be so poore , that they are not able to pay the subsidie ; they will vse meanes to mitigate the same , and so make some townes néere adioyning , helpe to beare out the burden of those townes , that they haue decayed and dispeopled by their inclosure . secondly , the poore also may complaine of inclosers for taking away their common : for herein they are , first impious against god , and iniurious to their auncestors , and distoyall to the kings prerogatiue royall . for first , god himselfe may séeme to haue giuen some commons , as appeares in holland , and in the marsh in lincolneshire , and holdernes in yorkeshire , and in kent , where many miles of ground haue béen added by the sea. secondly , some people of godly disposition , and great possessions , dying without issue , haue giuen large commons in diuers places , as in yorkeshire , a great common called walling fenne . and lastly , kings haue giuen commons also . william conqueror gaue commons and other liberties : so that lords of mannors did not appoint them , and therefore at their pleasures may not take them away . and they were giuen as it should seeme , vpon these considerations : first , to maintaine the poore men that fought for him : for all were not gentlemen in that great armie of the conqueror . and as gentlemē had lordships bestowed vpon them for their seruice , so no doubt , the poore had cōmons giuen to them also for the same cause : that a poore man prouiding onely meate for his cowe against winter , was assured to haue her kept and fedde on the commons all the summer for nothing ; and so might be the better imployed about his maiesties warres , so often as néede did require : whereas now in many places , the poore man is forced to pay very dearely for the summer common or pasture for his cowe ( ouer and besides his house rent ) which in times past he had belonging to his house for his said rents . and so the care for the prouision for his family being great , makes many not to be so forward to warres , as they both would and ought to be . boterus benesius , writing of the estate of the whole world , and strength of england , which consistes on the poore husbandman , cottager , and common souldier , reports thus ; although ( saith he ) the english men are able to bring into the field . launces , and a great number of light horse , yet the horsemen of england haue neuer wonne to themselues such credit and praise in war , as the footemen haue done . king edward the third , who made so many voyages into france , and obtained there so many victories ; to declare in which of his forces he most trusted , forsooke his horsemen , and went on foote amongst his common souldiers . but contrariwise the frenchmen , because they will not haue their common people giue themselues ouermuch to warlike affaires ( lest they should forsake and contemne their handicrafts and occupations , and so , by being souldiers , waxe proude ; to which thing the frenchmen are very much inclined ) put all their strength of their warres in horsemen , which for the most part consists of noble men . the common souldier heretofore hath béen for warres , the glory of england , as this author affirmes ; & by him england hath won so many great victories , and obtained such great glory and fame ; and shall he now be despised ? nay shall he in some places be rooted out ? what is this else , but to put out samsons eyes , the strength and glory of our land , and to cut off his haire ? to doe this , is not to be true israelites , but vncircumcised philistimes . what will our riches do vs good , if we lacke men to kéepe them ? as the body cannot consist without legges & armes , so neither the common-wealth without husbandmen , labourers , & souldiers . surely , they which will not maintaine these armes and legs , which must fight and runne for them , are euill members of this common-wealth . if the legges of our bodies be weake , how will we complaine ? or if our armes be out of ioint , what speed will we make to haue them put into the ioint again ? and shall we not nourish bountifully these legges ? shall we suffer these armes to be out of ioint ? and here as gods word may séeme to be the most strong ligament , so in some sort these commons may seeme to bee the sinewes of the common-wealth : for , as our armes are ioyned to our bodies by sinewes and ligaments , so no doubt these armes were tied in the beginning to the common-wealth by their commons bestowed vpon them . for benefits are the strongest bonds to binde men withall , as the heathen haue taught . secondly , it may seeme they were ordained for common workes : for so haue churches béen repaired , and bridges built , and high waies made & maintained . they would lay a péece of their common , to be so wen , or for meadow , and with the profit thereof being solde , performe any common worke ; and by that meanes , such like workes cost the poore of the towne very little . and hereof ( as appeares nowe ) comes the ridges and furrowes in ancient commons , which proueth that for such purposes they haue béene sowne . and the like good would come to the common-wealth , if that they were vsed so still . whereas now in many places , where these commons are takē away by inclosure , euery penie comes out of the poore mans purse ; and hauing no common stocke , hardly any common worke can be brought to passe , as in times past hath beene . lastly , a part of these commons were the kings high waies ; which name plainely argues , that kings were the authors of thē , as of all other commons . and those which are leading from one market towne to another , ought to be two hundred foote broade , ( as appeareth by a statute of winchester . made in . ed. . ) which were large and safe , that your maiestie might passe the countrey in progresse with your traine ; and your subiects trauell without danger . but now inclosers haue so pinched them in , by their ditches and hedges , allowing but . for the way , that your maiestie cannot passe in their waies and lanes , vnlesse they throwe open their hedges againe for that time , as experience lately hath prooued . neither can your poore subiects trauel with their weake beasts without danger , the waies being thereby made straite and narrow , and therefore deepe and dangerous ; neither without danger of their liues , both by forestalling of théeues , and also by opening the dangerous gates . the poore cottager had his common allowed him also ( as should séeme ) for his paines taken in mending of these high waies , which now inclosers haue quite spoyled , by pinching them in : but the burthen doth remaine on poore mens backs still ; and they are forced to doe their common daies , as before , and yet their common is taken from them . but lords of mannours , and frée-holders , who haue their commons , and should also worke their common daies , and for euery plow-land they holde , either in tillage , or pasture , should find one cart or draught , to leade stones and rubbish towards the repairing of high waies ; doe now of late , in many places ( where tillage is conuerted to pasture ) where heretofore , there hath beene thirtie draughts or carts in a towne , which did performe their common daies , skant finde tenne : and he that hath decayed fower or fiue draughts , skant sends one to kéepe his common daies . and hereof it comes , that high waies in many places , are not so well maintained , as heretofore they haue béene . nay , if these commons had béene appointed by the lords of mannors , then as mens natures in all ages haue béene diuers , so these commons would also , in some places haue béene better , and in other some worse : but in all places , according to the proportion of the towne , they are very liberall and bountiful : declaring themselues to be beames comming from the same sunne ; i meane from the rich liberalitie of the kings maiestie . there was a tenure in england called bassa tenura , now called copie hold : and these had their fréedomes according to the custome of the mannor . there was another tenure called tenure of villenage , and these had neither libertie of commons , nor of their very bodies , and seede . and this may bee an euident argument , that kings gaue these commons : for those which had offended his maiestie most greeuously , he made them villens , and depriued them of the auncient liberties , which all his other people enioyed . so that as this villenage , was by the king inflicted vpon some : so no doubt the former liberties and priuileges also , were by kings giuen and bestowed . but inclosers now , for no cause of disobedience , but for their owne priuate lucres , take from their tenants , that which kings did not , but vpon great offences committed against their person . there is an auncient law , ( in regarde that tenants complained of the lords of mannors for inclosing as should séeme of their commons ) by which it was enacted that lords should leaue sufficient common for their tenants , with sufficient egresse and regresse : and , that being performed , they might ( as should séeme ) make their commoditie of the rest . but if that their egresse and regresse were any thing hindred by the deforceors , or that they had not sufficient pasture ; that thē they should recouer their seison by the view of jewrors ; so that by their discretions and othes , they shall haue sufficient common and pasture with egresse and regresse , and the dissesors should bée amerced and render damages . this auncient statute plainely proues , that lords in euery towne , should leaue to their tenants sufficient common . and therefore doe they not breake the meaning of this law , which inclose , leauing no common at all ? these inclosers take vpon them , as though they were , not lords of mannours , but rather kings ; and doe make , as it were , a new commonwealth , and a new forme of gouernment in townes wherein they are lords . they will haue no common left at all . and wheras there hath béene common leas and meadow ( which hath béen without memory of man yéerly letten , and the profit thereof hath béen imployed towards the repaire of the church , and such other good and christian vses ) they will now take them away as waste due to themselues , except there can be good euidence in writing to shew for the same . they alter & change the ancient high waies ; so that trauellers and strangers sometimes without danger , cannot come to their townes . they will haue no common neat-heards , nor hog-heards , nor pinder in their townes , by which poore men haue liued , & had a stay and maintenance , both for themselues , and families , though impotent , and not able for other works . philarchus testifieth , that the beanes of aegypt , were first sowen in aegypt , and that if so be they were sowen in any other countrey , they would grow in none but there . but after in a certaine fenne of epirus , nigh vnto a riuer of thesposia , called thyramnis , in the daies of king alexander pyrrhus , two yeeres together they grewe , and brought foorth their fruit very pleasantly : but when as king alexander set a guard to keepe and watch them , that none should take of them , nor come into the fenne , the fenne was dried vp , neither brought they foorth any more fruit . in edipso also there appeared a certaine cold water running out of a spring , not farre from the sea , by the which they that were sicke were very much holpen . insomuch that many out of farre countreyes , came thither to drinke of that water . but whenas the captaines and gouernors of king antiochus , began to pinch them of this water , and commaunded to giue them of another water to drinke , quite contrarie from the other , the spring by and by dryed vp . in troas it was lawfull for any man to fetch salem tragosoeum ( troy salt ) but when as king lisimachus made them pay for it , straightway the sault vanished away : but afterwards , hee wondering at that strange alteration , hee made the place free agame , and the sault also increased againe . athenaeus lib. . cap. . reports all these histories . and doe we not thinke then , that god mislikes these couetous men , that for their owne priuate lucre and gaine , doe take commons from men ? nay , if he plagued them , that thus dealt with pagans , who were his enemies ; doe we thinke that he will allowe of them that deale so hardly with christians and with his owne children ? t●llie by the light of nature could say , iustice vsed things common , as common ; and things priuate as her owne : and shall not we much more doe so ? but the men of our age , account it wisedome to looke narrowly into commons ; and if men cannot shew good euidence for them , they take them away . the earth is subiect to our vanities , against her will , as saint paul teacheth vs. and what is she now then , doe we thinke , at our vncharitable ditches and hedges , made to the hurt of our brethren ? and what these vanities are , salomon may seeme to teach vs , eccles . . . . . . nay , god himselfe may séeme by his secret prouidence ( which no doubt doth gouerne all things : who , contrarie to the manner of the jewes fields , hath entermingled our lands together ) to haue forbidden this our inclosure . no man almost can inclose in champian countries , with out great exchange : and doe we thinke that this intermingling our lands thus together , was done in vaine ? god also by that miraculous moouing of the ground at kinnastone in herefordshiere , may séeme to haue condemned inclosure : no doubt it taught some thing . the ground mooued from his own place , carying sheepe & sheepe-coats with it , and trees and high waies : it ouerthrew kingston chappell , and changed tillage into pasture . howsoeuer some here will giue their naturall causes , or make no account hereof ; héere was plainely the hand of god , and his extraordinary working for our learning : this thing chaunced not in vaine . and the like strange alteration vpon the earth , is wrought by inclosers . they change auncient and accustomed high waies , they turne tillage into pasture , they carrie sheepe and shéepeheards with them . and churches nowe in many places , thorough depopulation , may become chappels ; inclosers haue so greatly diminished gods people . nay , the caterpillers which god sent , not many yéeres since , on thornes and hedges , which did eate off all the leaues of them in summer , may they not séeme to condemne inclosers ? god hath by many miracles condemned the sinnes of our age . as our couetousnesse by a childe that was borne with a golden tooth . and why may he not condemne this our couetous inclosing , and exchanging the auncient customes and vses of the earth , euen by this miraculous and strange mouing thereof ? sir thomas moore a great common-wealths man , and very expert in the lawes of england , writes thus of inclosure . your sheepe i say which were wont to be milde and gentle , and to be fed with so small cost , now as it is reported haue begun to be so wild & rauenous of late , that they eate vp euen men , and that they make waste and depopulate townes . for , in what parts of your realme growes finer wooll , and therefore of better price , there noblemen and gentlemen , yea and some abbots ( holy men i assure you ) not being content with the yearely rents and commodities , which were wont to be payed out of farmes vnto their ancestors ; and not content , themselues to liue idlely and pleasantly , and to doe no good to the common wealth , vnlesse also that they should hinder and hurt it ; that they may leaue nothing but reape all commodities into their owne hands : they inclose all their pastures , they pull downe houses , they ouerthrow townes , leauing the church onely for to croowe vp their sheepe in . and as though your forrests and parkes had not spoyled ground enough amongst you , these holy men turne into a wildernes all dwelling houses , and whatsoeuer heretofore hath beene tilled . and therefore one insatiable glutton and most pestilent plague to his countrey , ioyneth fields together , that he may inclose within one hedge some thousand acres . the husbandmen are either thrust out of their inheritances , or else being by craft beguiled , or by force oppressed , or depriued of them , or else wearied with iniuries and compelled to sell them . therefore howsoeuer these wretches doe flit , men , women , husbands , wiues , blinde men , and widowes , fathers with their young children , with a greater , than a rich family ( for husbandrie stands in neede of many ) they flit i say from their knowne and accustomed dwellings , and they can finde no place where to put in their heades ; they sell all their stuffe when as they must needes be thrust out , ( which is not worth much if that they could tarry and get a good chapman for it ) they sell it i say almost for nothing . and when as by wandring a while they haue spent that , what must they needs doe then , but either steale , and iustly be hanged for their labours , or else wander vp and downe and begge , and then also are cast into prison as vagrant persons , seeing no man will set them a worke , when as they doe most willingly offer their seruices ? for now there is nothing to be done about husbandrie , wherein they haue beene brought vp all their liues , when as there is nothing sowen . for now one sheepeheard , and one neat-heard is sufficient to looke to that ground with cattell , to the tillage whereof , that it might beare corne , many mens hands and labours were required . and by this meanes it commeth to passe , that in many places corne waxeth very deare . we may note here first , how that sir thomas more , being a papist , yet touched this sinne , euen in abbots , and that in the darkenes of poperie : and shall not we condemne it in the light of the gospell ? secondly , he affirmes that it makes beggers , and that it makes théeues , and causeth a dearth of corne in our land , nay , it pulleth downe townes . if in his daies it wrought these mischiefes , when as it began but to set in foote into this common-wealth : what hath it done since , which hath growne to the very heart thereof ? nay , what will it doe in the ende , if it procéede as it hath begun , if some stay and remedie be not had ? it will no doubt begger and quite decay the common-wealth of england . how many farmes now , stand emptie since inclosers began ; or onely with some seruants in them ; which dare giue nothing not knowing their maisters pleasure ? so hospitalitie is quite thereby decayed . how many poore men lacke worke , as threshers ; and poore women , as spinners ; and doe complaine for lacke of their accustomed workes ? and how many poore mens children are inforced to begge or else liue idely , which heretofore where tillage was maintained were taken into seruice , to driue the plough , or to keepe cattell , & thereby in time grew to be good members in the common-wealth , which inclosers néed not . the seauenth reason ; this inclosure with depopulation is a sin whereof god shall make speciall inquirie at the day of iudgement . it is written in the booke of genesis , that the earth was full of crueltie , and that that was the principall cause of the drowning thereof ; and it is to be feared that this shall be the cause of the burning thereof : as appeareth in the . of math. verse . . the prophet dauid thus manifestly prophesieth of christs comming to iudgement . the lord shall arise , and haue mercie vpon syon , for the áppointed time is come ; for all thy seruants haue great pleasure in her stones , and it pitieth them to see her in the dust . and all nations shall feare thy name o lord , and all the kingdomes of the earth thy glorie : for the lord doth builde syon and he will be seene in his glorie . he hath had respect vnto the prayer of ( hangareger ) as it is in the hebrew ; that is , of the poore afflicted ; and he hath not despised their supplication . this shall be written ( ledhor acharon ) for the last generation of the world . and the people created shall praise the lord. here we may marke first , that this psalm prophesies of our daies , and that this lesson concernes vs. the time is now come for god to arise to iudgement , and to haue mercie vpon syon . and then , is it not written for vs that liue in the ende of the world ? oh that we would marke it ! the lesson is this ; that all gods seruants rather delight in the stones of syon , that is , in the lords shéepe and faithfull seruants , more than in their flockes of sheepe , or in their braue walles and high towres ; and it pitieth them to see these stones troden vnder foote and lye in the dust , and to be made no account off : and that in the sun-shine of the gospell , when all nations shall feare the name of the lord , and all the kings of the earth his glory , by the preaching of his word . but god doth build syon , and will be seene in his glorie . there be some as should seeme that haue pulled downe syon , and gods church , and these his stones : but god himselfe will build it vp againe ( saith the prophet ) and will be seene in his glory . let all depopulators of townes themselues build vp the lords syon and farmes againe , least if that they suffer god to build them , when as he comes in his glorie , that his building be too costly for them , and cost them not some hundreth pounds of money , which now perchance they are loth to disburse , but the damnation of their soules . for god hath a regard vnto the prayer ( hangaregar ) that is , of the poore afflicted that is trampled vnder foote and made no account of , but is as a broome , ( as that word signifieth ) and hath not despised their supplications . the iust men should florish in gods house like to palme trees : and we haue made them like broome , euen béesomes to swéepe and make cleane our houses . and doe we thinke , that god will not reuenge this ? who sées not such broomes almost in euery place , that is , many good farmes pulled downe , and lye in the dust , to swéepe and beutifie , and build , a new braue and stately house ? let all such as make the lords palmes , their broome béesomes to swepe their houses with all , take héede : at the day of iudgement , god shall search out diligently for all such , and without spéedy repentance and planting his palmes againe shall cast them into hell . this is written for the last generation as arias montanus translates it : and doth it not concerne vs ? and a people ( nicrah ) created , shall praise the lord. this word nicrah also , that is , a people created , doth most manifestly portray out vnto vs our daies . the church of god was not seene , was as no body , was in the wildernes : and now god hath as it were created it againe , and brought it into light : and this people shall praise the lord. nay , to confound popery , all gods people are created againe to good works : there is no naturall faculties remaining in them to doe good as the papists teach . the people created shall praise the lord. god ceased his creation of natural things the seauenth day as we reade in genesis . and therefore the prophet dauid no doubt meanes another spirituall creation and the regeneration of our soules : and to this place ( for all scripture hath a most pleasant and sweete harmonie in it selfe ( if any one doe marke it ) doth saint paul allude , when as he saith we are created in iesus christ to good works . and esay also prophesieth in the ende of the world of such couetous worldlings . the earth also saith he , playeth the hypocrite , because of the inhabitants thereof , for they haue transgressed the lawes , they haue changed the ordinances , and customes , and they haue broken the euerlasting couenant : here is plainely set downe , why the earth doth not now of late , yéelde her accustomed increase : because the inhabitantes thereof , haue changed the ordinances of their ancestors and haue broken the law of nature in not louing their like : nay , the euerlasting couenant of god , in not louing their brethren , as iesus christ our most blessed sauiour hath loued vs. but if that inclosers will here attribute the barrenuesse of the earth to other causes : yet let them marke what goeth before . behold ( saith the prophet ) the lord will make emptie the earth ( bokek ) and hee will vnhedge and vnwall it . the nature of which word , mercerus declareth vnto vs thus . videtur ex locis in quibus inuenitur , significare dissipare seu effringere quod clausum & munitum erat , vt omnium iniu●ijs pateat : it seemes by the places wherein it is found , to signifie to disperse and breake vp that which was inclosed and fenced , that it may now lie open to the iniuries of all things . and doth not this most manifestly touch inclosers and their hedges ? nay esay addeth ( vangiua paneha ) he shall make crooked her face : no doubt that was straight before . for ( ngaua ) signifies to peruert or make a straight thing seeme crooked . and may not this note also their straight chaine lines drawen on the face of the earth ? for otherwise the fare of the earth cannot bee made crooked . and that the . chapter of esay concernes vs that liue in the ende of the world , and not the jewes onely but as types of vs , these circumstances may seeme to prooue . first because the prophet speaketh of the earth , and not of the land of jewry . then , that he saith , that the earth shall deceiue the expectation of the tillers thereof , which i thinke was neuer more truely verified , than now in our daies . then also because the prophet teacheth , that they shall breake in those daies the euerlasting couenant of god made to vs in jesus christ ; which couenant wee haue broken , in not obseruing christian charitie , which is the onely lawe thereof . nay besides all these , the prophet addeth , the lord god of israell shall be praised in the isles of the sea . and againe , from the vttermost parts of the earth , we haue heard praises , euen glory to that iust . and who is that iust , but iesus christ ? whom steuen also honoureth with that title , and by that name describes vnto vs. the prophet also saith , that the earth shall reele too and fro like a drunken man. and what is this else , but that which saint luke teacheth vs , that in the ende of the world men shall be at their wits ends , not knowing what shall come to passe in the world ? and lastly , the bl●shing of the sunne and moone , when the lord of hosts shall raigne in sion , and in ierusalem , and glory shall be before his auncients : what doe all these meane , but the comming of the true sunne to iudgement ? and the glorie of the newe moone , that is of the church triumphant , at whose presence , our sunne and moone shall blush ? and what meanes the raigning of god in sion , and in ierusalem , but that we all , both jewes and gentiles shall be one sheepefold vnder one shéepheard iesus christ ? and glory before his ancients , which they shall euer see : what is it else , but eternall glory ? sibylla also séemes herein to agrée with the prophet esay , and to point at our hedges now in the ende of the world ; who speaking of the day of iudgement , and of the daies before it , writes thus : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . doth not the plainely héere name hedges ? yea , and that which inclosers voe hope for , that the ground so inclosed shall not yéeld more fruits ? sibylla also prophesies most truly of jesus christ , and of his crosse , and of his comming to iudgement , in those her most famous arrostick verses , which she made concerning him , as no man can deny : and doe we thinke that the rest of her prophesies , especially the remnant of those her acrosticks , concerning the state of the world before the day of iudgement , not to be as true ? in those her verses of the condition and state of the world before that day , she writes thus : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and here first let vs marke that she saith , that the earth by sweating , shall giue a token of the iudgement . let couetous landlords and inclosers , which ouerburthen their tenants take héede , that they be not the causes of this her sweating : for otherwise , the earth properly cannot be said , to sweate of her own nature , being of constitution the briest element ; nay drier than any dogge , which as both philosophie and experience teacheth , doth neuer sweate . and after she prophesieth thus : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and secondly , whereas she saith , that the world shall be a thorne or briar , as castalio translates it : doth she not plainely signifie men , who shall become like to thornes and briars , which shall pricke mens handes that deale with them , and shall catch vnto themselues all that they can get , and shall euen pul mens coates from their backs ? for as concerning materiall briars and thornes , the world was neuer so cleansed of them as at this day ; which euery man is carefull to roote vp for hurting their shéepe . but those other spirituall briars which sibylla meaneth , growe in many places very plentifullie . but let all such briars take héede , that they be not burned in hell fire . nay , to let sibylla passe , doth not our sauiour himselfe prophesie of the daies of the sonne of man , before the ende of the world ? and doth he not plainely teach vs , that they shall bee like the daies of noah , and of lot , before the destruction of the olde world , and the burning of sodome ? how that they shall eate and drinke , and marry , and build , and plant in those daies ? and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which saint mathew vseth , teacheth vs ; that not the vse , but the extraordinary abuse of all these things is héere signified . and those words , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which s. luke vseth , plainely prooue that according to these particulars , and not a generall securitie onely ( as some would faine haue it ) is meant by all these . and are not our hedges now extraordinary ? now liued all our ancestors without them ? and our sauiour in this his doctrine , may séeme to agrée with the prophet ioell ; who of the day of iudgement , and of the estate of the world at that day most manifestly prophesieth thus . the earth shall be as the garden of eden before him , but behinde him it shall be a desolate wildernes . what doth th●● garden signifie , but that the earth then shall haue great cost bestowed vpon her ; and shall be hedged in as we vse to doe our gardens if the lord when he comes shall destroy the garden , let the gardiners take heede ; for their destruction shall be without all doubt the greater . let them willingly throwe open their gardens and closes againe , that god doe not throw them into hell . and that this prophesie of ioel concernes vs & our daies , and not onely the comming of the assirians against the jewes . first , that cōmandement in the first verse of this second chapter seemeth very euidently to proue , where the prophet saith , blow vp the trumpet in syon . syon is taken vsually for christs church as we reade . esa . . v. . ps . . . and the trumpet signifies the preaching of the gospel , as appeareth by those senē angels which did blow their trumpets from jesus christs ascension to his comming to iudgement . no doubt as syon is not heere to be ment literally : so neither the trumpets . but that which ioel here saith , blow vp the trumpet in syon for the day of the lord is at hand , is all one with that which our sauiour saith in the gospell , the gospell shall be preached , and then shall the ende come . nay , saint peter in the acts applieth some part of ioels prophesie to christs first comming , as the sending downe of the holy ghost vpon the apostles ; & some part thereof to the day of iudgement , when as the sunne shall be darkned and the moone turned to blood . and shall we say , that this prophesie concernes not vs ? nay we in our fasts apply the turning to the lord with fasting & wéeping vnto our daies , which is as as it were the medicine : and shall we not apply the sinne and sore which ioel there toucheth , and that garden of eden also to our daies ? nay , saint paul telleth vs plainely that all things chanced to the iewes typically , and are written for our learning , on whom the ends of the world are come . and will any man say then , that this prophesie of ioel concernes vs not ? shall we not learne something thereby ? and also the same reason may be alleaged concerning the . chap. of esay , which hereafter i also alleage . and here let all the lords watchmen giue these inclosers and gardiners warning before , while it is called to day , least they repent to late with diues in hell . so their blood shall be vpon their owne heads , for surely gods word is truth . and as the land shall be most assuredly a garden before the face of the lord at that day , so there shall be some gardiners . the gospell also condemnes this inclosure . our sauiour prophesieth , that in the ende of the world , the charitie of many shall waxe colde , which argueth a precedent heate . and may not these inclosers fulfill this prophesie , who haue some charitie in them ; but not the charitie of their ancestors ? but he that continues to the ende in the faith of the gospell working through feruent and christian charitie ( such charitie as christ himselfe shewed towards vs and also commanded ) he shall be saued , saith our sauiour , and none else . therefore let inclosers take héede which haue not this charitie . saint paul also prophesieth thus of the latter times ; that in the last daies shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , dogged times : for as gellius notes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is referred to the most keene and fierce nature of dogges : and he willeth timothie to know this , as a thing most certaine . and doth not this touch inclosers , who catch and snatch all they can from their brethren for their owne lucre sake ? but although this had béene enough to haue declared them vnto vs , yet that which followes paints them vnto vs liuely : for many shall be ( saith saint paul ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , louers of themselues , and louers of money . by what two marks , could he haue expressed inclosers more manifestly ? these two loues raignes in them , but the loue of their brethren is quite banished out of their harts . nay , these inclosers are ( as it followes also in the apostle ) disobedient to their parents : in not obeying after their deaths , their charitable customes which they commaunded , and in their liues obserued . so did not the rechabites . the apostle saint peter of the day of iudgement writeth thus : the end of all things is at hand , be yee therefore sober , and pray ; ( not on the day time only , but euen with our blessed sauiour in the night ) but aboue all things haue feruent loue among you ; for christian charitie ( as an effect of faith ) shall couer a multitude of sinnes . for the faithful , and mercifull mens sinnes are couered and not mentioned , as appeareth in the gospel . but to goe on with our apostle ; let euery man as he hath receiued the gift , so minister the same as good stewards of the manyfold graces of god. why should saint peter here make mention of stewards but that as sh 〈…〉 séeme he did foresée in the spirit , that some at the ende of the world , should forget themselues to be stewards ; and deale here with the earth , and earthly things , as though they were chiefe lords of them : whereas saint peter telleth them heere p●a●ely , that they are but péere stewards . and dauid himselfe though a king acknowledged the same : that the earth is the lords and all that therein is . nay , cyrus that great persian monark confesseth , that the lord god of heauen hath giuen him all the kingdomes of the earth , as to a frée-holder , or steward . let all landlords learne this lesson , and remember it wel , against the the day of judgement ; and deale like stewards , and not like lords , with gods people . god no doubt shall make enquirie at that day how they haue dealt with them . but to conclude that of this sinne of depopulation of townes , shall be especiall inquirie made at the day of iudgement . the prophet esay speaking of that day writes thus : behold the day of the lord commeth , cruell with wrath and fierce anger , to lay the earth waste . and he shall destroy her sinners out of her . what should the prophet meane by those ( chatteah ) her sinners but these inclosers , who are too much in loue with the earth ? nay saith god , i will cause the arrogancie of the proud to cease ( gaauath ngaritsim ) the pride of these terrible men , that no man durst speake against , or speake vnto . and i will make a man ( saith god ) more precious than fine gold , euen a man aboue the wedge of the gold of ophir . there shall be some at that day of iudgement , as appeareth by this place , that shall make no account of men , which shal depopulate townes . god telleth all such , that he will make a man , euen one man ( whereas they haue thought it a light matter , to depopulate townes and to roote out many men ) more pretious , than a wedge of gold . and what is all their wooll-money to a wedge of gold ? one man is more worth than a wedge of gold , much more then , than all their wooll-money ; god himselfe hath spoken it . wherefore if inclosers and depopulators of townes , meane to be saued at the day of iudgement : let them willingly cast open their closes againe , and reedifie the farmes , they haue decayed . it makes no matter for the charge of hedging ( which they shall loose ) that they haue beene at . and let them banish their shéepe out of their pastures , and let them fill the lords townes and shéepefolds , with his sheepe againe , and that spéedily , least the lord comming to judgement doe condemne them , as cruell and couetous tyrants . fnd let them now preferre euen one man , before a wedge of gold , least hereafter god doe teach them this lesson in hell , when it shall be too late for them to learne . and here i most humbly desire in the lord , that all gods children would beware , that they be not giltie of that woe which esay proclaimeth . woe to them that speake good of euill , and euill of good , which put darknes for light , and light for darknesse , that put bitter for sweete , and sweete for bitter . and that all gods faithfull seruants , would remoue that great sinne farre from them , which ieremy layed to the charge of the iewes : that they would not bend their tongues like bowes , to maintaine lies : but that they would ( that which saint iames teacheth them ) lay a part all filthinesse , and superflu●tie of wickednesse : that is , that they would not sinne , when they néede not sinne . but that they would receiue with meekenesse the word that is grafted in them which is able to saue their soules . the lord jesus open the eyes and turne the hearts of all inclosers , that they may let the gréeuousnesse of this the●● sinne , and repent with spéede , while it is called to day : ( least with those 〈◊〉 and c 〈…〉 tous tyrants which esay speaketh of , they he visited of god , that is , haue 〈◊〉 workes looked into , and be 〈…〉 ely punished at the day of judgement ) for his glorious name sake : to whom with the father and the holy ghost be all praise honor and glory now and for euer amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e hest . . . verse . . psal . . . . cor. . pro. . . prov. . . eze. . . i know where ther hath beene before inclosure . communicāts : but now there be scant . . kin. . psal . . . notes for div a -e ier. . . vers . . notes for div a -e exo. . . cicero lib. offi● . plin. lib. . cap. . ibidem . gen. . . gen. . . gen. . . gen. . . munster in eundem locum . iud. ▪ . . king. . . camden britan. p. . eccles . . . plin. lib. . cap. . math. . . mat. . . exod. . ios . . . . sam. . . psal . . vers . . phinehas stoode vp and executed iudgement and the plague was staied . luk. . . . tim. . . ia. . . esa . 〈◊〉 . . . &c. exod. . . psal . . . . sam. . . . tim. . . tit. 〈◊〉 psal . . . psal . . . . . cor. . . psal . . . psal . . . reu. . . . cor. . . gen. . . mat. . . psal . . . . pet. . . act. . . . cor. . mat. . . . sam. . . gen. . . esa . . . . chr. . . mundus imper . rex . gall . gen. . luk. . . ioh. . . . cor. . . luk. . . . sam. . . . sam. . . phil. . . . math. . . ier. . . exod. . . as it is in the hebrew . luk. . . esa . . . ier. . . zeph. . . . pet. . . verse . gen. . . exod. . . exod. . . iob. . . job . . . ioh. . . mat. . . . sam. . . judg. . . phil. . . . pet. . . hest . . . apo. . . psal . . . matth. . . psal . . . joh. . . gen. . . rom. . . . cor. . . gen. . . zach. . numb . . . esay . . . pro. . . iosh . . . deut. . matth. . exo . . leuit. . . deut. . leuit. . iere. . . ephes . . . esa . . . i●shu●gatha . gemin . lib. . cap. . mat. . . micah . . . esa . . . psal . . . exod. . . . . ioh. . . . tim. . esa . . esa . . . . sam. . . . king. . . . vers . . math. . . luk. . . rom. . . . pet. . . . cor. . phil. . . gen. . . . cor. . . . cor. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . . cor. . ioh. . . psal . . . mat. . . . king. . . luk. . . luk. . . . cor. . . sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oues , &c. ioh. . . mat. . . ier. . . act. . . act. . . introduct . adsapient . rom. . . . cor. . . cor. . . psal . . . ioh. . . act. . . ephes . . . . pet. . . . ioh. . . luk. . . eccle. . . gen. . . . ephe. . . ioh. . . psal . . . vers . . mat. . . iam. . . ier. . . gen. . . cor. . . hier. part . . tract . . epist . . ad damas . alludit ad illud . iohanis . . orans pre fraire peccatore dat vitam . mund. imp. rex . angl. iud. . . ioh. . . . sam. . . psal . . . . hen. . . edw. . . matth. . . offic. lib. . rom. . . & . stow anno dom. . anno e 〈…〉 z. . ruland . de dente auree . lib. . v. topia . gen. . psal . . . raisu . psal . . . apoc. . . ephe. . . gen. . . iohn . . . psal . . . ephe. . . esa . . . eccl. . . ioh. . . ose . . . . esa . . . mercer . in lex . pagn . . tim. . . act. . . luc. . mal. . . mat. . ioh. . . sibyll . orac. lib. . in english thus , the earth shall be equally common to all , without any walles or hedges . neither being diuided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , then , ( that is , in the daies before the iudgement ) shall it yeelde more fruits . sibyll . orac. lib. . in english thus : when as the earth in sweating , shall be a signe of the iudgement , &c. in english thus : all the whole world shall be vntilled , and shall be turned into a briar or thorne . and may not héere the first worde , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vntilled , séeme to touch inclosers that will not till the earth ? luc. . . mat. . . luc. . . ioel. . . ioel. . . apoc. . . apoc. . . mat. . . act. . . ioel. . . . cor. . . heb. . . luc. . . ezec . . ioh. . . mat. . . gal. . . . ioh. . ioh. . . . cor. . . gellius lib. . cap. . . tit. . . ier. . . . pet. . . luc . . . pet . mat. . , , . . pet. . psal . . . esd . . . esa . . . ioh. . . esa . . . ier. . . iam. . . ephes . . psal . . . hebr. . . esa . . . a scripture-vvord against inclosure, viz. such as doe un-people townes, and un-corne fields as also against all such that daub over this black sinne with untempered morter / by john moore ... moore, john, ?- . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing m ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing m estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a scripture-vvord against inclosure, viz. such as doe un-people townes, and un-corne fields as also against all such that daub over this black sinne with untempered morter / by john moore ... moore, john, ?- . [ ], p. printed for anthony williamson ..., london : . reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. eng inclosures -- great britain. land tenure. a r (wing m ). civilwar no a scripture-vvord against inclosure, viz. such as doe un-people townes, and un-corne fields as also against all such that daub over this bla moore, john b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a scripture-vvord against inclosure ; viz : such as doe un-people townes , and un-corne fields . as also , against all such , that daub over this black sinne with untempered morter . by john moore , minister of the church at knaptoft in leicester-shire . isaiah . . woe unto them that call evill good ; and good , evill : that put darknesse for light , and light for darknesse ; that put bitter for sweet , and sweet for bitter . london , printed for anthony williamson , at the queens armes in s. pauls church-yard , . to his highnesse the lord protectour of england , scotland , and ireland , and his most honourable councell . may it please your highnesse , in this discourse i plead the cause of the publique and poore of your true-hearted county of leicester , and the counties adjacent . else ( had it been any thing of private interest ) my hand and heart would have trembled to have put any thing into your hands , to turn off your eye but a few minutes , from the wonderfull weighty affaires of these three nations ; which are all incumbents upon your highnesse and councell . the onely wise , great , good god support you with his owne wisdome , counsell , and strength . though the main of my businesse is for soules , even to get out of them selfe , world , sinne and devil , and to get in god , christ , grace and the gospel : yet i have borrowed some weeks ( which by double pains , i blesse god i have repayed ) to wait upon parliaments formerly , and now upon your highnesse and councel with petitions , to prevent the ruine of my countrey ( which is dear unto me ) so endeavoured & indangered by self-ish men truly delineated in these papers : whatsoever specious pretences may be made to the contrary of regulated inclosure , and of a may-be inclosure , without ruine either of publick or poor . in these inland countyes wofull experience tells us , it is not so . and that inclosure is now making , is likely to be in time as desolating as any , if not speedily prevented by your highnesse and councell . such incolsurists in the very making of them , having no respect to the publique , or right in law , or the consciences of men . as in the severall petitions from leicester-shire now before you it appears : which petitions your highnesse ( our hearts rejoyce in you , and blesse god for you ) without delay heard , and referred to your councell : which also they have read and committed to the lord viscount lisle , sir gilbert pickering , mr. strickland , and charles wolsley or any two of them , who are speedily to speake with the parties that attend the businesse , and to consider of the matter therein contained , and to offer to the councell what they shall conceive fit to be done thereupon . and as your leicester-shire petitioners have petitioned your highnesse , and councell-men upon earth ; so they daily petition the high god of heaven to incline your hearts to relieve the oppressed of these inland counties . and truly god hath set it upon my spirit , that you are ( hester . . ) come to the rule of this nation for such a time as this . and my soul wrestles with my god that you may still be serviceable to god , and his church , the publique and the poore , till you goe away hence and shall be seen no more , and then be gathered to our christ , who then shall say , mat. . , . &c. come ye blessed of my father , receive a kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world . i was hungry and you gave me meat , thirsty and you gave me drinke , naked and you cloathed me , &c. amen saith the soul of him who is as your highnesse most humble servant , so also the churches , the publiques , and the poors , john moore . an advertisement of three things , to such reader , who as he loves god , loves his neighbour also . first , if thou chance to meet with a book , called [ a vindication of regulated inclosure : ] thou hast very little reason to believe much in it . the man speaks of what may be , and not of what usually is . he hath fancyes , notions and dreams of innocent inclosure both from depopulation and decay of tillage . and for the townes he names to be free , they are grosly guilty either of the one , or of the other , or of both . secondly , whereas that book tells thee , that such desolations are vitia personarum non rei , it is the fault of the persons and not of the thing . i must confesse with him they are vicious persons indeed that produce such inclosure . what better issue can we look for from such parents ? inclosure , making of hedges and ditches , is not a sinne , but such inclosure that is destructive to publique , and poore is a crying sinne . lastly , i complaine not of inclosure in kent or essex , where they have other callings and trades to maintaine their country by , or of places neer the sea or city , but of inclosure in the inland countreys , which takes away tillage , the onely trade generall they have to live on ; and whereby they are so beneficiall to the rest of the nation , in times of scarcity . pray with me , god speed the plough . thy friend , if thou be so to the publique and the poore , john moore . a scripture-word against inclosure , &c. amos , ch. . ver. , . thus saith the lord , for three transgressions of israel , and for foure , i will not turn away the punishment thereof , because they sold the righteous for silver , and the poor for a payre of shooes . that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor , and turn aside the way of the meek . the lord assist me his poor under sheepherd with his own holy spirit , that i may deale as faithfully and plainly with england , as amos an honest-hearted heardsman , and god's prophet dealt with israel . for england ( especially leicester-shire , and the counties round about ) stands now as guilty in the sight of god of the sinnes in the text , as israel did then : and therefore the lord may justly say to us , for three transgressions , and for four , i will not turn away the punishment thereof , because &c. the text contains israels sinne , and israels punishment . i shall first open the sinnes of israel , and then tell me if england be not as guilty as israel ; and if so , why should not she partake of the same punishment ? i entreat therefore , as i open the sinnes of israel , bear in your minde the inclosure in the middle of england . first then , what is meant by three transgressions , and for four ? in plain tearms is meant , adding of sinne to sinne , isa. . . and transgression to transgression . and so tremellius expounds three and four transgressions , that is saith he , for very many . a finite number is put for an indefinite . and then god seemed to speak thus , if israel had had a moderation in sinning , i would have turoed away their punishment , i would have been moderate in punishing ; but since to three sinnes they have added four , and to many they daily adde more , i am determined to perfect my judgements upon them , and to be avenged on them once for all . if we take three and four for seven : know we seven is eminently in scripture put for a multitude . so sam. . . ( saith hannab ) the barren hath born seven , that is , many , and is become a mother of many children . seven devils were cast out of the woman , luke . . that is , a multitude . the just falleth seven times a day , prov. . that is , often : so the sense is , they multiply their sinnes , and i will multiply my judgments . lastly , we may expound for three transgressions , and for four ; by the twelfth verse of this chapter . whereas here he complains of three transgressions , and foure ; so there he complains , i am pressed under you as a cart is pressed with sheaves : now this is a plain countrey-comparison : when we load a cart , we begin with a few sheaves at the first , with two , or three , or four ; and so goe on to lay on more sheaves one after another , till we over-load , and are ready to presse the cart into pieces . so israel layd on one sheaf after another , one sinne after another , still burthening god with their sinnes , that he seems to groan under the burthen of them , as one that is weary to bear them any longer . isaiah . . they make him sigh . ab , i will ease me of my adversaries , and avenge me of mine enemies . i can hold my hands no longer for their multiplied transgressions . they sold the righteous for silver , and the poor for a payre of shooes . if we put that of our prophet ( amos , . ) to these words of selling the righteous that they may buy the poore for silver , &c. they buy and sell the righteous poor for silver , that is , for the gain and profit , use them they doe as they use their beasts , keep them or put them off for their advantage . so long as serviceable , drudge them , rack their rents , buy them to get by them , and then sell them ; yea , away with them out of house and harbour , town and field , take away their calling , and livelyhood that should maintain themselves , wives , and children , &c. when lesser gain comes in by them ; they sell them or buy them upon that account as may serve their turns ( judas-like ) to fill the bagge , and make no more account of them than a payre of shooes , yea old shooes that they cast to the dunghill . that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore . that pant after the dust of the earth , that is , ( saith mr. caryll ) exceedingly desire and long for it . as david describes his holy desires , psal. . . as the hart panteth after the water-brooks , so panteth my soul after thee o god : that is , i extremely desire thy presence and communion with thee : even as the hart being hunted and heated desireth the waters . thus they panted after the dust of the earth , that is , after those things which are but as the dust of the earth , or whose originall and matter is but the dust of the earth , gold , of silver . these are but the refined dust of the earth . but whose dust did they pant after ? it was the dust upon the head of the poor . if they did but see a poor man to have gotten a little about him , though onely enough to keep life and soule together , to preserve himself and his family from starving , or begging , they presently panted after it : they were passionately desirous of it : they cast about how to get it . they who are inflamed with covetousnesse are busie to finde out , and having found out , are greedy to pursue all advantages and occasions to enrich themselves though it be with the ruine of the poor . they are glad to get something even from them , who ( according to common speech ) have nothing . they scrap't from them who have but scraps to live on . thus sweetly hath that heavenly man interpreted these words to our hand . and turn aside the way of the meek . that is , first they turn aside the way of justice and equity , which is the means of recovering their right . they cannot have that justice and right done them , which is due unto them . by reason of the greatnesse of the estates and power of these men , they stop the current of justice and equity , whereby these meek ones should be delivered from their oppressours . secondly , they turn aside the way of the meek , that is , they take away the way of their livelyhood . we use commonly to aske this question , how doth such a man live ? and 't is answered , he lives in a very good way , he hath such a way of living , such a trade , calling , or profession , that 's his way . thus to turn aside the way of the meek , is to put them besides the way of getting their bread , and maintaining themselves , wives , and children with necessary provisions . to take away the calling they live by , is a turning aside the way of the meek to all purposes . thirdly , they turn aside the way of the meek . why ? what is the way of the meek ? the psalmist tells us , psal. . . it is gods way , the meek he will teach his way . now these great ones either first force them to make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience , or else undoe them if they will not consent unto them in their unjust and uncharitable designes . and so of necessity these meek ones must be undone either in the inward , or outward man . or else secondly , they become tempters unto these meek ones by their often alluring perswasions and ill egging , or else by their ill examples to turn them out of gods way . thus having explained the text , i come to shew , that england ( especially leicester-shire , and the counties adjacent ) is as guilty of the sinnes in the text now , as israel was then : yea , especially in that aggregated sinne of inclosure , viz : such as doth un-people towns , and un-corn fields , which i chiefly intend in this present discourse . and that principally , because there are so many ready to make helmets to save this great goliah sinne , harmlesse ; making this great sinne a little sinne , and so at last no sinne at all . for indeed , all the workmen of this occupation rise up together , crying , great is the diana of inclosure , because by this craft we have our wealth , acts . . and therefore to defend it they prate much , and print something : yet i never heard of any so audaciously impious as to preach the lawfulnesse of such inclosure . but i shall shew that this inclosure is not a single sinne , but will admit for the aggravation of it all those sinnes , and black circumstances in the text : and then we may conclude , it is a transgression for which the lord will not turn away the punishment thereof . now then it is my businesse to rip up such inclosure , and to manifest how many sins lye within the bowells of this monster , &c. and for the proof i shall bring herein , it is undeniable . such inclosure shall be discovered by his bloody hands , and in the very fact be found guilty . if the lord protector his highnesse ; and most honourable councel should impannel a jury of all the honest hearts in leicester-shire , and north-hampton-shire , and counties adjacent , they must bring therein a verdict against such inclosure , guilty of depopulation and decay of tillage generally , very few if any at all excepted . our proof is de facto : it is so . behold it with your eyes . oh wofull experience ! and that inclosure is now about in leicester-shire is like to be as sordid and base as any of the former , if not worse : for , depopulation comes by degrees ; in the next generation , if not present . behold what desolation of houses and tillage of farmers , cottagers , men-servants , mayd-servants , &c. which all lived by the plow . but i hasten for the conviction of such inclosure to be guilty as asoresaid . and for such conviction i shall follow the method of the text , as those sinnes lye in order there : for three transgressions of israel and for four , i will not turn away the punishment thereof . first , it cannot be denyed that if such as make such inclosure be guilty of all the sinnes in the text , then they are guilty of three transgressions and of foure , ( that is , as hath been opened ) they adde sinne to sinne , they accumulate very many sinnes , they commit a multitude of sinnes : to three sinnes they adde foure , they presse god as a cart is pressed with sheaves , amos . laying on one sheafe after another , burthening god with their sinnes , and make him serve with their sinnes . but the former is true , therefore they are guilty of three transgressions and of four . we shall prove the former true in the ensuing particulars of the text . they sold the righteous for silver . that is , if we put to this selling of the righteous for silver , the buying of the poore for silver , amos . . they make chaffer and merchandize of them for gain and profit : they use them as they doe their beasts , keep them or put them off for advantage : they buy them , and sell them , as may best serve their turns to get by them . but what is that they thus buy and sell the righteous for ? for silver , that is , for advantage , profit , gain . oh base ! and then why such inclosure made i pray you ? is it not for silver , advantage , gain ? doth not silver , filthy lucre lye at the bottome ? doe they not call such inclosure an improvement of their lands ? we shall gaine by it , we shall treble our rents . hence those heathenish speeches of theirs . may i not make the best of mine own ? may i not doe what i list with mine own ? who shall hinder us ? and they say of their estate● , as he in psal. . . of his tongue , our estates are ours , who is lord over us ? i answer , whereas thou talkest of thine own : that although thou art a civill owner , yet thou art a spirituall vsurper . thou must look whether thou hast right in the court of conscience , as well as in the court of law . whether thou hast right in the consistory of god , as well as in the common pleas of men . what , mayest thou doe with thine own what thou listest ? no : thou must doe what god would have thee to doe with it . he is thy soveraigne lord of whom thou holdest all in chief . thou art but his steward , and he hath committed to thee all these talents of thy estate , and one day thou must give an account of thy stewardship , viz : whether thou hast improved these talents , ( not to thy own ) but to thy heavenly masters advantage , even to the glory of his name , the good of all with whom thou livest , especially of the saints , and to thy own poor soules advantage . what , mayest thou doe with thy own what thou listest ? no : he that is lord over thee , and hath made thee rich , tim. . . and hath given thee all things richly to enjoy , hath layd a charge upon thee ( in the , , & verses ) what thou shouldest doe with all he hath given thee , even to doe good , to be rich in good works , ready to distribute , willing to communicate , laying up unto thy selfe a sure foundation against the time to come , that thou mayest lay hold on eternall life . oh! what a sandy-foundation doe these build on for eternall life , who walk contrary to this charge ? &c. what , mayest thou doe with thine own what thou listest , and improve it to thine own advantage ? no : hear that complaint , phil. . . all seek their own , not the things that are jesus christs . i tell thee jesus christ must share with thee in land , house , food , clothing , ( mat . . to the end of the chap : ) that is , in his members : or else , depart from me ye cursed must be your eternall doome . but may i not improve mine owne estate to my best advantage ? no : thou must have a care of thy brothers also , phil. . . look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others , even that they may thrive as thy self . but yet i have not touched this sin in this particular to the quick . thou must then ask this question , may i not improve mine own to the hurt and damage of others ? but here i know thou wilt startle , and say , whose hurt ? whose damage ? i will make it appear , thou raisest thy own estate upon the ruine both of publick & poor . first , on the ruine of the publicke , thou takest away tillage , which is the generall trade we live on in leicester-shire , and the counties adjacent : by which trade or tillage and husbandry we have been as beneficiall to the rest of the common-wealth of england as any countyes whatsoever . we have fed them not onely with our wheat , corn , and mault , not onely in plentifull years , but also in times of famine and dearth , we being the onely magazine for corn in the middle of the nation ; but also we have fed them with fat mutton , and swines flesh , yea also with victualling our ships by our pease and beans that come by the plow . as our open-fields breed abundance of sheep , so the plow provides abundance of the aforesaid provisions to feed them fat ; yea , at such times when no fat flesh is to be had elsewhere in the nation . if the tillage of these inland countyes be turned into grazing , the rest of the nation must be in a starving condition whensoever the lord shall slack his hand of this abundance of corn , he seems of late years to have rained from heaven amongst us . thus are we as beneficiall by our trade of tillage to other countyes , as they to us by other manufactures which are so commodious , they lying neer to the sea and city which we are so farre from . yea , to shew the intolerablenesse of such inclosure : behold it takes away the general trade that all the inhabitants of these counties live on , except some great ones and trades-men in market-towns , &c. can any deny but that the farmer lives of the plow , the cottagers live of the plow , and the children of both brought up to the trade of the plow , and doe not the children of the poor become men-servants and mayd-servants to the plow-man ? doth not that antient , honest , venerable , and profitable trade of husbandry maintain all these ? yea , and all these lived as happily , plentifully , and richly of this trade of tillage in these countyes before so much inclosure , as any in other countyes whatsoever , or of what other trade soever they were of . what must become of these thousands and ten thousands if such inclosure be not speedily stopped ? as every honest heart prayes god speed the plow , so every every good minister will have a word to uphold it , and every good magistrate make use of his power ●o save it from ruine . what now , mayest thou doe what what listest with thine owne , and advance thine own nest on high thus upon the ruine of the publique ? why art thou not content with thine own ? since especially thy lands in common are worth as much and more than ever thy fore-fathers purchased them at , or thou of late hast purchased thine at . if they that sold thy lands in common had had thy evil conscience to have improved them upon the ruines of the publique and poor , thou and thy fore-fathers must have paid twice as much , if not thrice as much more for them . but now these covetous wretches have got the trick of it to buy lands in common , and presently improve them , and so double if not treble their money upon a publick account . these cruell ones care not how many they ruine so they may be rich , nor how many they make beggars so they may be gentlemen ; let them answer me this one question , viz : how so many thousand families can subsist , when their livelyhood is taken away , to wit , their trade of tillage ? and how shall so many thousands of children be disposed of from starving , vagrancy or thieving , since so much inclosure hath caused so many tradesmen already they cannot live one by another ? but it will be objected , some books have been printed of late that prove inclosure both lawfull and laudable . surely my heart bleeds within me to see some hands at such books of whom i hoped better things , that they should daub ore this black sinne with such untempered morter . oh how men will scrabble for gain ! they would not have a spade called a spade . they would not ( though they are such ) be called oppressours , unjust , unconscionable , uncharitable , unmercifull . and surely such books are stuffed so full of levity and untruths , that the authors of them deserve rather to be pitied than answered . i but these books say there may be an innocent inclosure . what then ? the petitioner : to parliament formerly , and the petitioners now to his highnesse and councell seek a redresse against such inclosure that doth depopulate townes and decay tillage . and such the authors of these books hold to be hatefull to god and man . yes , but they say there may be an inclosure without decay of tillage or depopulation . surely they may make men as soon believe there is no sun in the firmament as that usually depopulation & decay of tillage will not follow inclosure in our inland countyes . we see it with our eyes : it is so . de facto , it is so . and we see the inclosure that they are so now about will be as sordid or more then any formerly . they having not so much as one covenant amongst them to uphold tillage . and then we know what followes in his time , even an utter depopulation . it matters not what they pretend in their books , provision for the poore , &c. in one place they speake of fourteene acres given to the poore , what will this doe when they have taken away their whole trade of maintenance for themselves and familyes ? yet but they say they doe not intend depopulation and decay of tillage . if in charity i could believe them , yet i must answer , it is finis operis , though not operantis : it is the end of the worke , though not of the work-man , as every where appeares . it is true indeed , infant inclosure may be somewhat in his nonage free from depopulation , but never from decay of tillage . yet i know not where gray-headed inclosure is free from depopulation as well as decay of tillage . if anywhere it is rare indeed . for they would never inclose to keep farmers , tenants , cottagers , servants , teames &c. yea , but the books tell of some townes free from both depopulation and decay of tillage . they scrabble up a few townes that are innocent ( as they say ) which are just none at all in comparison of those many hundreds are guilty of both . and these few they are forced to fish out of the county of leicester , warwicke , northampton , &c. let 's see what truth is in this . for i know two or three of these places , because they are neer unto me . they bragge of the innocency of ashby magna , which hath been inclosed above fifty yeares . the truth of this businesse stands thus , the lord of that place gave most of his tenants leases for three lives , and one and twenty years after , which are not yet expired . and therefore the time of depopulation of that towne is not yet come . but they name misterton and poultney as innocent also . i wonder they dare doe so , since in regard of depopulation there is no house at all lest in either of them but the ministers . and the closes now are called by the towns name that were antiently there . and as for decay of tillage in those places they have not been plowed in the memory of man , except some part of them of late : and the tenants that rent them must plow them now but for four years onely . how dare they print such falshoods ? and as little credit i heare and believe is to be given to the innocency of the rest of the townes named . i have one word to speak to men that have not put off humanity , naturall compassion towards their own flesh , and to christians that love much , because god hath forgiven them much . which is this . if you did but hear what complaining and lamentation is made of farmers that rented land turned out of those inclosed places , and of poor cottagers together with them , that the one cannot get no not at any excessive rate a little land to plow , whereby he might keep his teame and cattell , that himself and family might be employed in husbandry , to get a poor living by , but is constrained to sell all these to all their utter undoings : that the other cannot get a house anywhere to harbour himselfe and his poore babes . surely , it would make all ministers and others , yea ministers above others , to ride and run , spend their pains and estate to petition , entreat , begge , wait , and never cease to be importunate for reliefe for these oppressed fellow-creatures , and many of them fellow citizens of heaven together with us . behold now the oppressions of townes in open fields and market-towns ! for when these inclosures have made farmers , cottagers ; and cottagers , beggars ; no way of livelihood being left them : these poor with their families are forced into market-townes , and open-fielded townes , hoping they may finde some employment there to preserve them and theirs from perishing . whereupon , these open-fielded places are so loaden with poor , that the inhabitants are not able to relieve them . i but these book-men for inclosure say they pay more taxes . and truly well they may , when they lay such burthens upon open fields that they are not able to bear them ; not onely all those poore the inclosure have beggered , but all carriages the state hath need of , free quarter , attendance at the assizes and sessions , &c. the inclosures got the gaine , and have the ease ; and poor open fields pay the shot , and endure all the drudgery . what enemies to the publique are these inclosures ? observe how few or no service-able men or horses in these places , for the defenee of the nation when need is : whereas before they were inclosed there were twenty , thirty , fourty , &c. of both kindes , now scarce one or two . yes , but one of the last book-men for inclosure tells us they are jaded tyred horses . oh impudence ! let the whole countrey speake , whether four or five of these open-fielded townes ( yea sometimes one of them alone ) are not able to raise a whole troop of gallant horses , and to set valiant men on their backs too , in so formidable a manner , that they were able to make the stoutest troop to quake that opposed the parliament formerly , and his highnesse the lord protectour of late : yea , which they have done too , under both governments . whereas such inclosed places can ( i believe ) scarcely raise one troop either for men or horses , &c. oh! let not these valiant spirited men for the publique in leicester-shire , and their forces be trampled in the dirt by such inclosure , to raise a few private persons upon the ruine of the strength of the nation . surely if a jericho was again to be besieged , there would be found good store of rams hornes , though but few persons to winde them in these inclosed places . but these book-men for inclosure say , that the common fields cause many law suits &c. i shall ( god willing ) answer all as i passe through this text of scripture . first , there are offenders both within hedges and without too , and loving hearts will passe by an offence . secondly , in common fields they live like loving neighbours together for the most part , till the spirit of inclosure enter into some rich churles heart , who doe not onely pry out but feign occasions too to goe to law with their neighbours , and no reconcilement to be made till they consent to inclosure . for this is the trick they fall together by the eares with their honest neighbours , that they bring their designe about . yea , but there is so much stealing and filching by the poore . but thank inclosure for that , which hath filled openfield towns so full of poore they cannot live one by another , for , poverty is a provoking argument to steale . and therefore agur prayes , prov. . . give me not poverty , and why so ? the ninth verse tells us , lest i be poore and steale . and thus inclosure makes thieves , and then they cry out of thieves . because they sold the righteous for silver , and the poore for a payre of shooes . the righteous : who are those ? not to stand upon the divers acceptations of the word [ righteous , ] i le shew what is meant by a righteous man , viz : the evangelicall righteous man is one , who , as he hath the righteousnesse of jesus christ imputed unto him , so he hath in some measure the righteousnesse of christ imparted unto him , desiring and endeavouring to keep the commandements of god , and the faith of jesus , rev. . . he is one that loves god above all , and his neighbour as himself , mat. . , , . he is one , joh. . who as he loveth god , loveth his neighbour also . oh! how pretious are these righteous ones in heaven ? they are the lords people , his portion , the lot of his inheritance , deut. . . they are the lords owne , his very jewells : all the rest of a town are but the rubbish amongst whom these his jewells lye and live for a while . and to speak the truth ( for truth must be spoken however it be taken ) if the lord had not had two of these righteous ones , or three of these iewels , that as they love god they love their neighbour also , in many townes of these inland counties , what desolations had there been made ere this time by such inclosure ? these inclosurists sell the righteous for silver . what care they for gods jewells , his portion , his inheritance , so they may improve their own inheritance ? what cared judas for jesus christ the righteous , so he might get thirty pieces of silver by him ? what care these men for the tender consciences of any of these righteous ones , that dare not consent to such inclosure ? they will make them make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience , or else estates and liberties and all must be ruined by multiplicities of triviall law suites in common law and chancery , threatning they will not leave them a shift to their backs , nor a cow to their payle . i could here give you a large catalogue of the unjust vexations of such righteous ones , but because some of their vexers pretend to religion , i will spare them , one of these two evills are incident to such as dare not in conscience consent to such inclosure , viz. either to be undone in the inward , or el●e in the outward man , choose them which . if they goe against conscience in the inward man ; if they will keep a good conscience in the outward man , and here let the inclosurists of catthorpe in leicester-shire tremble , to have no respect to the conscience of one of these righteous men ( their owne consciences i believe judging him such a one ) nor to his vow to his god made upon good ground in the sight both of god and good men , nor to his right in law , according to a petition that is now depending before his highnesse and his most honourable councell , in which there is made a good progress and good hopes ( praised be god ) of a happy issue . it matters not what one of the book-men for inclosure truely prattles to the contrary . he makes but a jeer of a good conscience in his book . and as for his right in law , because it is but a little to their great deale , they may alter the propriety of it as they list , without his consent , and set hedges and ditches upon his common whether he will or no . i wonder who made these men dividers of his common from theirs , when he hath a right and propriety in every foot of common in all their fields . is there not the same right in law to a little as a great deale ? &c. and the poore for a paire of shooes . the poore . well may they sell the poore for a paire of shooes , when they sell the righteous for silver . when judas sold his master that righteous one for silver ( let ministers remember judas was a disciple ) no wonder if he cared not for the poore . but these inclosurists have the poore much in their mouthes , and how they provide for the poore . my exhortation to them is joh. . . my little children let us net love in word neither in tongue , but in deed and in truth . saint james shewes us that a few words will not warm , nor feede , nor cloath poore people , james . . if one of you say unto them , depart in peace , be you warmed , and filled , notwithstanding you give them not these things which are needfull to the body , what doth it profit ? alas , what will all their good words profit the poore , when they doe not only not give them those things which are needfull for the body , but take away at once all things that are needfull for the body , even the trade of tillage which should warme , cloath , feede them and their families . but these book-men for inclosure have articles , yea , and acres for the poore too . what would these men be thought charitable men ? let iudas be thought so too . for he would have the oyntment sold for three hundred pence , and given to the poore , john . . truth is , former inclosurists have been very specious and pretending for the poore in their promises , articles , acres , when they were hot upon their businesse of inclosure , to stop the mouthes of poore and country from clamours ; and these inclosures of the last edition which they are now about are but sordid in respect of the former in that kinde . but wofull experience tells us , a short time forced all the tenants and cottagers out of most of those places into the open fielded towns to seek for a livelyhood where they can finde it , to the great oppressions of those townes . that pant after the dust of the earth upon the head of the poore . pant , that is , exceedingly desire it , and long for it . after the dust of the earth , that is , after those things which are but as the dust of the earth , and whose originall and matter is but the dust of the earth . oh the excessive desire ( after such inclosure and the gain that comes by it ) execeding the bounds of piety , equity , charity , and humanity it self , as you have heard ! improvement of estate is this mans bayte . and if any thing goe about to hinder that , he is like a lyon stirred up at the sight of his prey , and makes no conscience of devouring men , women , and children that stand in his way . the serpent feeds upon the dust of the earth : it feeds upon base and low things , vile and venomous : so doe covetous , mercilesse men . as the serpent licks the dust of the earth ; so doe they lick the dust of the earth , they feed upon blood , upon oppression ; they pant after the dust of the earth , they pant after the estate and means that poor men have in town or field , and feed upon it , to satisfie ( if it were possible ) their greedy appetites in sucking the estates and crushing the bones of the poore . the prophet habakkuk hath a woe for these , hab. . v. . woe to him that encreaseth that which is not his ( to wit , in the court of conscience aswell as in the court of the law ) and ladeth himself with thick clay . lutum scite pictum , with gold and silver , the finest dust and pieces of the earth , whereby all the rest of the commodities of the earth are valued . this dust of the earth , this thick clay doth but load and burthen their soules and consciences , and makes them drive heavily heaven-ward , gods glory ward , and their own salvation-ward . this thick clay doth them no more good than that gold and silver and embroydered cloath of arras a sumpter-horse is burthen'd with all day , and at night is turned with the rest of the jades with a gauled and bruised back into the stable . oh take heed of a gauled conscience loaded and bruised with such hedges and ditches as hedge out publique and poor ; lest at the night of death thou be turned with the rest of the jades of worldlings , dives-like , into the devils stable . vpon the head of the poore . they pant after the dust of the earth , but upon whose head ? upon the head of the poore . these beasts will be sure to goe over where the hedge is lowest . in any towne where there is any rich men publique spirited , and have bowels toward the poore , there these greedy gripes dare not meddle with their matches , and cannot force them to such inclosure , because they are able to defend themselves . but on the contrary in any towne where there are mercifull men , publique spirited men &c. that dare not in conscience consent to such inclosure , if these be men but of meane estates , these mercilesse wretches joyne purses , and make no more conscience to trample upon these righteous poor , yea , upon their consciences , estates , liberties , and whole families , then they doe to trample upon the mire in the streets . and turne aside the way of the meek . these incl●surists turne aside the way of the meek these three wayes . first , they turne aside the way of justice and equity which is the meanes of keeping and recovering their right . a great purse will make a good cause though it be starke naught . what say these mammonists when any crosse them in such inclosure , their word is , i 'le undoe him if he will not yeild . and how is that ? by suites in law and chancery . and have not these men been as good as their words ? i could here tell sad stories . but i intend to name no man in this present discourse . secondly , they turne aside the way of the meeke when they take away the way of their livelyhood . now tillage is the way , the calling , the profession which most of the inhabitants of inland counties live of , as we have proved . thirdly , they turne aside the way of the meeke : why ? what is the way of the meek ? the psalmist tells us ( psal. . . ) it is gods way . the meeke he will teach his way . they endeavour to turne them out of the way of faith and a good conscience , in perswading them if that will not doe , and compelling them to doe against conscience , or undoe . but i conclude with the wise mans exhortation , prov . , . rob not the poor because he is poore , neither oppresse the afflicted in the gate . for the lord will plead their cause , and spoyle the soule of those that spoyled their . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- chari parē tes , chari liberi , chari quoque amici , sed omnes omnium charitates comprehendit patria . tullius de officiis . notes for div a e- viz : by such inclosure that doth un-people towns , and uncorn fields . for it will parallel the sinne in the text . tremellius upon this prophesie , id est , propter quam . plurimae numero finitus pro indefinito , &c. vid. the clear-spirited expositor upon holy writ mr. caryll upon job , c. . ver. . a target for tillage briefly containing the most necessary, pretious, and profitable vse thereof both for king and state. by iohn moore minister of gods word, and parson of knaptoft in leicestershire. anno . moore, john, d. . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a target for tillage briefly containing the most necessary, pretious, and profitable vse thereof both for king and state. by iohn moore minister of gods word, and parson of knaptoft in leicestershire. anno . moore, john, d. . [ ], p. imprinted [by r. field] for william iones, london : . printer's name from stc. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng inclosures -- england -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - haley pierson sampled and proofread - haley pierson text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a target for tillage , briefly containing the most necessary , pretious , and profitable vse thereof both for king and state . by iohn moore minister of gods word , and parson of knaptoft in leicester shire . anno . prov . . . where no oxen are , there the crib is emptie ; but much increase cometh by the strength of the oxe . ra. spei .. an cho london , imprinted for william iones . . to the right vvorshipfvll , sir william tvrpin knight , &c. his approued good friend and patron , the increase of all gods blessings and graces with the sound ioy and peace of a good conscience be multiplied continually through iesus christ . perusing my paper notes , and finding some heads of doctrine touching this argumēt of tillage , deliuered vpō occasion of my calling to the publike place : & withall considering , and vnfainedly bewailing the hard hap of the generall expected hope , for the necessarie redresse of the dangerous decay thereof ; as a welwiller of the common good of my coūtry , i haue added these my second thoughts to my former meditations , to be ( if may be ) as a further spurre for the more speedy reforming of this grosse abuse , or at least a christian warning to preuent a further mischiefe . vvhich my best endeauour i present to you ( right worshipfull ) not onely as a pawne of greater duties purposed for your kind deserts , but for that i am perswaded of your innocencie and harmelesnesse herin , as also of the honestie and vprightnesse of your hart for your countries good . for howsoeuer some in secret may vncharitably censure you , and put you in the catalogue of the iustly accused : and so nibble at your credite , as one not altogether free from this great offence : yet dare i be bold to ingage my poore credite , that whatsoeuer action of yours hath but a shew of any hinderance , you would be ready to redresse , and most willing to redeeme with any tolerable priuate losse for the publicke gaine . and so beseeching the almighty to increase your loue to our church and common-wealth , that still you may procure the profite and welfare of them both , by all possible purpose and practise ; i commend you to gods grace , with the good successe of this needfull businesse . from my poore study in sheas by this of aprill . . your worships throughly deuoted in the lord iesus , iohn moore . to the conscionable reader . my purpose is not ( discreet reader ) here to pleade with pen and paper for the belly and back of libertines and epicures , of swilbolles and swaggerers , or of any other idle drones , and wretched atheists , neglecting all lawfull callings and christian meanes , to liue orderly and honestly either in church or common-wealth . all these i acknowledge to be the greatest wasters and spoylers of our country , worse by many degrees , then any depopulators , oppressors or decayers of tillage : ( which yet i no further iustifie then did the prophets sodome and gomorrah before ierusalem , for her rebellions against the lord ) for these i assure thee do good to none , no not to themselues , nothing at all regarding the priuate or publike good : but making hauocke of the creatures , do liue of the labours of other men for the present time , and surfetting vpon gods blessings , do take a course to bring the whole world to confusion , and so with all expedition to haue the earth for their intollerable loosenesse to spew them out . our land swarmeth too full of such vermine , who like the grashoppers of egypt , begin to couer the face of our countrey , eating vp al the fruite they can come by , that no greene thing shall grow by their wils , and so darken the land and obscure the glory thereof . so that looke what left of the palmer worme ( the oppressors of the land ) that haue these malt-worms deuoured , and the residue of those canker-wormes and cormorants , haue these caterpillers consumed . the truth is , this viperous brood and wicked generation haue mutually conspired , if not the destruction , yet a mightie consumption of our deare common-wealth , the damme and nourse of vs all . i abhorre to speake of the damnable crue , and cursed company of drunkards and belly gods , whom the diuell hath taught a new trade of eating and drinking by measure , and methode . their yards of cups , and order of carowsing with such low courtesie , & salutations of their honest mates absent ; after an idolatrous sort prostrating themselues to their bacchus and bellie-god , i shame to dilate . besides the tricke of tobacco to temper their westie brains , and to adde both pleasure and thirst to their vnmeasurable desire of drinking . i cannot reckon vp the thousands of mault and good graine , wasted and hellishly spent by these helluoes and harpies . all these . ( i know ) abhorre the plough , and are enemies to the state : who yet ( i confesse ) in their high talke do iustifie tillage , and wil be ready ( no doubt ) to reforme the decay thereof , with spade and peckaxe . the humours of any such i detest to please , as being most horrible . here onely i solicite the pitifull case of painfull plowmen , tradesmen , and poore labourers , not able by their paines , and gaines , to furnish their families with sufficient food , who sometimes for want thereof , breake out into fearefull clamors against the tyrannous dealing of vniust inclosers and needlesse ouerthrowers of tillage , who are here onely taxed . neither am i so senslesse , simply to condemne all kind of pastures and feedings , knowing that euery creature in the kinde haue their proper place and portion of the earth allotted of the lord : besides the christian libertie of men to vse them for their best gaine and good . yet doth god allow such care of sheepe and oxen , that christian men shall be forgotten ? and that so much prouision shall be made for these , that the poore shall want their food ? god forbid . i know there is a profitable vse of hedging and ditching for the diuision of mownds , and propertie of mens right & inheritance ; not to speake of the necessary prouision of wood , maintainance of peace , and increase of many other profits amongst neighbours , who otherwise ( perhaps ) would proue contentious and iniurious one towards another : yet quite to hedge out the poore , and by this meanes to ouerthrow the plough , is a hellish practise . and thus hauing vnfolded my mind and true meaning , i commit thee to him that hath the hearts of all in his hand to make them pliable to his seruice and publicke good , both of church and common-wealth . thine in the lord iesus , iohn moorf . the principall points of the treatise following . . the fruite and profite of honest labour and husbandrie ; it yeeldeth plentie and abundance . . the earth vsed in her kind is verie sufficient to relieue all the inhabitants thereof . . there is no worldly blessing comparable to the excellent fruits of the earth , by the meanes of tillage . . gods wonderfull wisedome and prouidence for the preseruation of the societie and fellowship of mankind , that as the inferiors cannot be without the superiours , no more can these without the other . . the singular vse and necessitie of tillage ; kings themselues cannot be without it . there is no ground or field so necessarie and fruitefull as that which is in tillage . a target for tillage . and the abundance of the earth is ouer all : the king also consisteth by the field that is tilled . ecclesiastes cap. . vers . . king salomon after his most fearefull fall , recouering himselfe by true repentāce ( throgh gods grace and powerfull working of his holy spirit ) doth testifie by this booke the vndoubted markes thereof to gods church , to which againe in his old age he was reconciled and receiued . and purposing herein to set out the true happinesse and felicitie of gods children , and so to confute all contrarie opinions of the conceited vanities of men concerning the same ; which he had proued so to be by his owne too deare experience : and hauing in the former chapters by an argument of inductiō , strongly concluded against many particular actions and things so highly esteemed and valued in the world , he cometh now in order to examine the trade of husbandrie and tillage . as if one should haue demanded of him : but what say you salomon , to the great abundance and plentifull increase of the fruites of the earth by the meanes of good husbandrie and tillage ? indeed ( saith he ) i must needs confesse that the abundance of the earth is ouer all , that there is no worldly thing so necessary and profitable to the naturall life and being of mankind ; & that euen kings themselues and the greatest potentates of the earth haue neede of the poore husbandmans trauell and toyle in tilling of the ground , for that the vse of the fruites thereof are farre to he preferred before gold , siluer , and all other worldly pelfe : yet with the rest they haue their miseries and afflictions , and can in no wise make vs truly blessed . so that these words containe a commendation of the husbandmans life and calling , and that in three respects . first , in regard of the subiect of his labour , being the earth . secondly , for the manner and kind of his labour , which is tillage . thirdly , for the fruite that followeth his pains , which is here set out and amplified : first , by the quantitie , yeelding abundance . secondly , for the qualitie , being ouer all ; and that in two respects . first , for the excellency and preciousnesse thereof surmounting all . secondly , in regard of the communitie and vniuersall vse thereof , fit and sufficient for all men , and those not the basest , but the highest kings themselues . the summe of all is this , that the aboundant and plentifull fruits of the earth ( by the meanes of tillage ) are an incomparable earthly blessing , without the which , neither king nor state can be maintained . and the abundance of the earth , &c. the husbandman by his tillage and labour hath abundance : whence we learne the fruite and profite of honest labour and husbandrie ; it yeeldeth plentie and abundance . he which tilleth the land shall be satisfied with bread , but he that followeth the idle shall be filled with pouertie , viz. he that painfully trauelleth in his lawfull calling , to maintaine and vphold the state wherewith god hath blessed him , shall haue abundance of all necessarie and good things : but such as are idle shall be poore and miserable , for beggerie is their end . the sower went out sow , and although his labor and seed were the same , yet the soyle was not alike , but the good ground made him amends , that his trauell was not in vaine , where some one corne yeelded an hundred fold , some sixtie , some thirtie : for he that soweth liberally shall reape plentifully . and those that break vp the fallow ground and sow in righteousnesse , shall surely reape after the measure of mercie : and god will raine downe a blessing vpon their paines , as the prophet truly alludeth and applyeth it to spirituall indeauours . one reason hereof is gods blessing vpon his owne ordinance , in prospering both the worke & the workeman . the blessing of the lord ( saith salomon ) maketh rich , not mans wit , and labour , nor any other meanes . and he onely shall with ioy eate the fruite of his hands that feareth god , and is blessed : for otherwise it is in vaine to rise early , and to lie downe late , and to eate the bread of sorrow : our paines are to no purpose , our carke and care to no end : though we eate and fret our hearts with worldly griefe , for the bettering of our estate : all the meanes we can vse shall be mis-spent & vnprofitable , without gods speciall blessing be present with vs. he that planteth and he that watereth are nothing of themselues , but god alone , who by his gracious blessing giueth a most happy increase . for as the earth is the lords , and the fulnesse thereof : so he maketh it barren and fruitfull at his pleasure . beware therefore ( saith moses to israel ) lest thou say in thine heart , my power and the strength of my owne hands hath prepared me this abundance , but remēber that it is the lord thy god that giueth thee power to get substance . secondly , the state and condition of the earth is such , by the meanes of gods curse vpon the same , for mans sinne , that now by nature it is so barren and fruitlesse , that except adam and his brood get their bread with the sweate of their browes , the earth will yeeld them nothing but briers & brambles , thornes and thistles , &c. force it they must by their great toile and trauell , or else it will not be fruitfull . so that now the hand of the diligent maketh rich , but a slothfull hand maketh poore . such onely as with diligence and honest labour go about their businesse and affaires , god will blesse : but such as are giuen to idlenesse and sloth ( neglecting their duties , or trusting to vnlawfull and indirect courses ) shall surely want and come to nought . i passed ( saith salomon ) by the field of the slothfull , and lo it was growne with thornes , and nettles had couered the face thereof ; i considered it well , i looked vpon it , and receiued instruction . see the confusion that idlenesse worketh , and the bitter fruits thereof , barrennesse to the ground , and beggery to the person , euen to such as haue the meanes and vse them not . therefore as the sight hereof was for salomons learning , so let it be for our instruction : that we vse all diligence and industrie in our places and callings , vpon the poore meanes that god hath lent vs to that end . let vs as gods stewards be painfull & faithfull in our places , vse his gifts and graces well , employ our talents to his gaine and glory , and so to our owne good . for to him that hath shall be giuen , and to him that is negligent & carelesse , and so wanteth and hath not , shall in the end that litle be taken away which he hath . and seeing that the hand of the diligent maketh rich , and that god promiseth a blessing to his owne ordinance , and hath sanctified all lawfull meanes for the remouing of the curse , let vs be carefull thus to auoide it , and obtaine a blessing : for god the good housholder cannot abide to see any man stand idle in the market place of this world , but thrusts them out , and sends them into his vineyard , so that they that will not worke must not eate . secondly , it reproueth those that thinke their owne industry sufficient to make them rich , and procure them food : whereas all the meanes in the world is in vaine without his blessing and care . and here let those of the ministery learne , that as their office and calling is a spirituall husbandry and a painfull plow , so it must be throughly followed : for who so slacketh his hand from his plough , and looketh backe in this businesse , shall quickly make balkes , and so procure a barrennesse of his soyle . and as gods word is the onely seed that they must sow : so let them be carefull for the prospering and preseruation of the same in the hearts of the people . and then let them not be discouraged , but comfort themselues ( in this thankelesse calling to the world ) by the example and experience of the poore husbandman , that if they do their dutie they shall haue abundance of fruit by gods blessing . and although the soyle of mens soules by nature be both barren and fruitlesse of good : yet their labour shall not be in vaine in the lord. the husbandman must labour before he receiue the fruites , he must plow and sow , &c. before he can looke for his crop and happy haruest . he must waite for the precious fruite of the earth : he goth forth weeping ( as it were ) to low his seed : but at the appointed time returneth with ioy , and bringeth his sheaues ; he may sow in teares , but he shall reape in ioy . secondly , abundance of fruite being attributed to the earth , it further teacheth vs : that the earth vsed in the kind is very sufficient to relieue all the inhabitants thereof . god no sooner had made man , but he prouided meate out of the earth for man ; yea for men and beasts and all liuing creatures in their kind . first , god gaue man life vpon the earth , and then gaue him liuing out of the same . so carefull was god for mans sustenance , that the things which should maintaine him were made before him , and produced out of the earth for his prouision . see gods wonderfull and particular prouidence herein for all liuing creatures . god sendeth the springs into the vallies , which run betweene the mountaines , to giue drinke to all the beasts of the field , and to quench the wild asses thirst : where likewise the fowles of the heauen do dwell , and sing among the branches . he maketh also grasse to grow for the cattell , and hearbes for the vse of man , that so he being strengthned by the vertue of those herbes and fruite of trees ( his first appointed food ) might bring foorth by his labor and trauell , bread and all manner of sustenance out of the earth ( husbanded and tilled in the sweate of mans face ) that so both mā and beast may haue all manner of food ministred vnto them out of the ground , for the maintenance of their life . yea god prouideth wine ( saith dauid ) to glad mans heart , and oyle to make his face to shine , and bread to strengthen his heart . no prouision is wanting , either for his necessitie , pleasure , or profite : for all the earth is filled with the fruite of his workes : so much as the birds haue their nests and foode in the high trees and cedars of libanon , and the storke her dwelling in the firre tree . the goats roes , does , and conies , are not forgotten : for whom he hath made the mountains and rocks for their refuge & reliefe . thus is the whole earth ful of thy riches , ô lord , all creatures in their kind waite vpon thee , thou giuest them meate in due season , and they gather it : thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things , glory be to thee for euer . now the reason why god hath made the earth so plentifull for all kinde of prouision , is , for that as he hath ordained it to be ( as it were ) the mother of al liuing creatures here below : so likewise hath he fitted and furnished it to be as an able and tender nourse to suckle them ( as i may so speake ) with her breasts , to bring them vp and sustaine them . and therfore when through drought and dearth it fails therin & deceiueth the inhabitants , men ( saith the prophet ) shal lament for the teats , euen for the pleasant fields and the fruitfull vine . which doctrine serueth , first , to confute the muttering and murmuring of wicked & vnreasonable people , that blame the earth for her barrennesse , and cry out of the vnkindnesse of the times and seasons . but misery ( saith eliphaz to iob ) cometh not out of the dust , neither doth affliction spring out of the earth ; but man is born to trauel as the sparks fly vpward . the cause then of all wants and defects in the earth , is not in it , but in vs , who haue angred the lord by our sinnes : for as sparkes come frō the hote fire , so doth sinne proceede from our corrupt nature , which procureth gods curse vpon the whole earth and our selues . so saith the prophet : a fruitfull land god maketh barren , for the sins of them that dwel therein . and he threatneth by moses that for the sinnes of the people , the heauens that are ouer their head shall be brasse , and the earth that is vnder their feete , iron : that is , that the heauens shall giue them no more moisture for increase , then if they were of brasse ; and that the earth for want of raine should be as iron , and so altogether vnfit to yeeld them any fruite . againe , it is many times mans idlenesse and slothfulnesse that causeth barrennesse and want : and the cruelty of oppressors in decaying of needfull tillage , that procureth penury . this point also serueth to condemne all wretched atheists , who so mightily cry out and complaine of the increase of mankind , supposing the earth cannot suffise them ; praying stil for plagues , that so they might haue plenty . and what is this else but to raile against heauen , and so hellishly to blaspheme the lord god of hoasts himselfe ? and to make the earth ( so kind and fruitfull ) as an vnnaturall mother and stepdame to the creatures ? is ouer all : that is , excelleth all other increase . whence we learne in the third place , that there is no worldly blessing to the excellēt fruit of the earth by meanes of tillage . now to omit many thousand commodities which the ground bringeth forth , & to come to our bread which the earth procureth by corne and grain arising from husbandry and tillage : what is able to weigh with this blessing in the ballance , which is so necessary for the life of man , that our sauiour teaches vs to pray especially for it , not so much as once mentioning any other thing ? for what are gold and siluer , pearls and pretious stones to this our daily bread ? and therfore it is rightly called the staffe of bread , being the stay of our life , as the staffe to the impotēt & aged ; which god threatneth to breake when he will punish a wicked people , so that they shal eate their bread by weight with care : and on the contrary , that he will blesse the bread and water of those that serue him : so that they shall eat their bread with plenteousnesse . therefore saith the prophet , when the vallies shall be couered with corne , men shall shout for ioy and sing ; yea and all the creatures shall clap their hands ( as it were ) in their kind , and reioyce with mirth , when our garners and corners of our houses are ful with diuers sorts of store ( the want whereof causeth the husbandman to be ashamed : ) this is a blessed thing euen in the censure of gods prophet . now the reason why this plentifull kind of increase is so incomparable , is , for that it is welnigh the life & liuing of man and beast . and for this bread in particular , it is the strength of mans heart , & the stay of his life as we haue heard ; euen esau that wretched reprobate being almost famished for want of food , could say , giue me bread , and take my birthright : what is it to me being almost dead ? and how pitifull is ieremies complaint for his desolate people in the famine , for want of food ? all the people sigh ( saith he ) and seeke their bread , they haue giuen their pleasant things for meate , to refresh their soule . the children and sucklings swoone in the streets , they haue said to their mothers , where is bread and drink , when they gaue vp the ghost in their mothers bosome ? they that did feede delicately , perish in the streets : they that were brought vp in scarlet , embrace the dung . the nazarites that were purer then the snow , whiter then the milke ; that were more ruddy in body then the red pretious stones , and like the polished saphir ; their skin , now for want of food , cleaueth vnto the bones , and withereth like a stocke , their visar is now blacker then a coale ; so that they that are slaine with the sword , are better then they that are killed with hunger , for they fade away as they were striken through for the fruits of the field . so sharpe are these euill arrowes of famine for want of food and fruits of the earth . hunger pierceth the heart of man with as sensible a pain as doth the sharpe point of a dagger or dart , because it directly fighteth against the life of man , and he dieth a most painfull death ( though not so violently ) whose deadly wounds do longer pricke him . a shorter punishment ( though heauier ) doth not kill the heart so much as that which is of longer continuance , though lighter . therefore to auoide this extremitie of famine , the poore people are constrained to gage their houses & their vineyards and their land , to take vp corne for their family . and the egyptians gaue to ioseph for corne and bread , not onely all their money that they could make , but sold to him their horses , asses , sheepe , &c. yea themselues as seruants and slaues to pharaoh for want of bread . and elies sonnes will bow for a morsell of bread : and therefore iacobs suite to god in his iourney , was , that if god would but onely giue him bread to eate , and clothes to put on , that then he should be his lord and god , &c. the vse is , to teach vs : first , that whensoeuer god pincheth vs with the want of this blessing of bread and store of the fruits of the earth , that then in anger he threatneth the taking away of our liues , shooting his euill arrowes of famine to wound our very soules . euill indeed in regard of the euill effects and consequents thereof . secondly , we must learne to set a greater price , and farre more highly to esteeme and value these outward blessings of increase , that whensoeuer the lord doth loade the earth with plentifull store of fruits , and maketh pleasant fields ( as it were ) to laugh vpon vs : when he bursteth the wine-presse , and filleth our storehouses , that then ( i say ) we enlarge our hearts and haue store of praises for him . and as these earthly blessings manifest his loue and care to vs : so let vs expresse our kindnes to him , by our publishing and proclaiming of our thankfulnesse , in remembrance of his mercies . let vs say with the princely prophet , what shall we render to the lord for all his benefits towards vs ? &c. lastly , it serueth to reproue all carnall epicures & vnthankfull atheists , which when they are fed to the full , & swim in their delights & pleasures , make their belly their god , and their flesh their shrine ; that fling out their heeles like wilde colts and fat horses that are prouender prickt , against their rider : that are more vnkind then the oxe and the asse that know their maisters crib ; yet these men that are fed so full , and fare so finely ( being so kindly nourished of the lord ) will not know him , but rebel against him ; & like to bores in the franke , & swine at mast , wallowing and tumbling in their owne dung of their vncleannes , neuer regard nor look vp to the store house of heauen , from whence they haue their food and fulnesse . like filthy sodomits , their fulnesse of bread leades them to fulnesse of idlenesse , villany , and all kind of vncleannesse : not vnlike the carnall israelites whom god had fed with the fruite of the field , and caused to sucke honey out of the stone , and oyle out of the hard rocke , butter of kine , and milke of sheepe , with the fat of lambes and rams fed in bashan , and goats ; with the fat of the graines of wheate , and the red licour of the grape had he filled them . but he that should haue bin vpright , when he waxed fat spurned with his heele ; thou art fat , thou art grosse , thou art laden with fatnesse ; therefore he forsooke god that made him , and regarded not the strong god of his saluation . neither let any man loath gods good creatures , or despise any or the least , for the abundance thereof , nor yet abuse them to licenciousnesse ( as the manner of many is ) in drunkennesse and gluttony , in chambering & wantonnesse , ( adding drunkennesse to thirst ) or yet without due respect , in bestowing them vpon their hounds , dogs , and horses , lest in the time of necessitie they be not forced earnestly to desire but the superfluity of that , which heretofore they haue giuen to their beasts . so was the prodigall person plagued , ( not keeping himselfe at home ) nor content with gods blessings in his fathers house , but running riot , wandering , & wasting his wealth and honesty , was forced in the famine to scramble with the swine which he kept , for their food , which yet was glad of the huskes , when they had eaten the kernell . the king consisteth by the field that is tilled . viz. hath need of the husbandmans labour to till the earth by the fruits whereof he and his ●ubiects are maintained . whence we may further obserue gods wonderful wisedome and prouidence for the preseruation of the societie and fellowship of mankind : that as the inferiors cānot be without the superiors , no more can these without the other ; euen the king himselfe hath need of the rusticke carter and clowne ( as he is miscalled ) to till the ground . as there must be such as rule , without confusion of all things : so there must be such as will obey . as there be maisters , so there must be seruants . the king cannot go to plow , yet if he will consist and be vpholden with his subiects , the land must needs be husbanded . as god hath appointed to euery one their place , so he hath fitted them with seuerall qualities and gifts , and enioyned them speciall employments for the common good . there is the head and the body , and there be many members : yet euerie one hath his peculiar place , euery one his office and order for the common good of the whole . the eye cannot say to the head , nor the head to the feete , i haue no need of you . all is not an eye nor an eare , &c. yea those members that are reputed the basest and vilest , nature hath most honored and respected . as without all the members the body is vnperfect : so without these necessary callings the body politick of the commonweath is lame . so is it also in the church . are all apostles , are all prophets , are all teachers ? no , god hath ordained some prophets , some euangelists , some pastors and teachers , for the worke of the ministerie , and edification of the body of christ , that so we may grow vp in him , which is the head , vnto a perfect man , and vnto the measure of the age of the fulnesse of christ . the reason of which doctrine is for that it specially maketh for gods glory , whose wisedome and prouidence is seene in this goodly order of all his creatures , when as we see and behold how he hath made euery one so profitable in their place , and nothing in vaine , but for the mutuall helpe and good each to other . secondly , god will haue it so to be , to linke vs all together in loue and care one of another . this debt is alwaies owing , and must still be paide amongsts christians , not onely for the community of nature , but for that our god hath made vs so seruiceable and profitable in our seuerall places , and for one anothers vse . and to conclude , god hath so fitted vs to serue one anothers turne , to humble the highest , standing sometime in need of the meanest poore man. euen the king hath need of the very clown , & noble naaman of his slauish handmaid ; and that to beate downe our pride and selfloue , who otherwise would not be beholding to any , no not to god our maker , if we could shift for our selues . the vse is , first , for our instruction to teach vs to know that we are not borne for our selues , but for the good of our brethren . our graces and gifts are not our owne , but giuen vs of god to the edification of others ; which therfore must make vs to leane and looke one towards another in the time of need , when iust occasion serueth : the superiour to respect the inferiour , the rich the poore , the wise the ignorant ; and so with holy iob to be eyes to the blind , and feet to the lame , and a father to the poore . if ( saith he ) i did contemne the iudgement of my seruant , and of my maid , when they did contend with me : what shall i do when god standeth vp against me ? what shall i answer ? he that hath made me , hath he not made him ? hath not he alone fashioned vs in the wombe ? so the apostle paul inferreth vpō the former point , that we reioyce with them that reioyce , and weepe with them that weepe , that we be of like affection one towards another , not high minded , nor wise in our owne conceit . againe , it serueth to reproue all such as abuse their headship and preheminence , and such as by this pretence go about to trample all their inferiours vnder foote , who vrge the dutie of others , & neglect their own . am not i a king , a lord , a maister ? am i not a magistrate , a landlord , a father , &c. and dost thou know me ? yes , but doest thou know thyselfe and god ; and why he hath preferred and promoted thee ? namely to do good and no harme , to helpe and not to hurt ? knowest thou not that there is a king of kings , & a lord of lords ? my brethren ( saith iames ) be not many maisters , knowing that we shal receiue the greater condēnation . speak not euill one of another , grudge not one against another , lest ye be cōdēned : behold the iudge standeth before the doore . and therefore as the apostle exhorteth the hebrewes , that they despise not their teachers ; ( for that they watch for their soules ) so let not the highest potentate , and greatest men in place , contemne the poore husbandman that laboureth for their bodies . god will haue a mutuall subiection amongst all , and a reciprocall respect , and reflection of the beames of loue , and all holy duties , amongst christian brethren . from which iniunction , christ iesus himselfe was not exempted , who washed his disciples feete , to teach them humility , who became poore to make vs rich , &c. surely he hath borne our infirmities , and carried our sorrowes , and so must we beare one anothers burthens , and so fulfill the law of christ . the king consisteth by the field that is tilled . viz. neither he nor his subiects can liue without tillage : whence obserue the singular vse and necessity of tillage . kings themselues cannot be without it , neither in regard of their owne estate , nor their subiects : for as all must haue food and sustenance , so must the necessary meanes therunto be vsed and embraced . the sweet fruits of the earth will not now be gotten without the sweat of mans face . adam himselfe the hei●e of all the world , must first till the ground , before he haue his food , and not onely he , but his heires must go to plow , if they will haue any profite . neither was it infamous at the first , for the greatest men of renown , to be seen & very expert in this trade of tillage . it was noahs calling , as before , so after the floud . and to passe ouer the patriarches and prophets , as isaac , elisha , and many other : christ himself is not ashamed to call his father an husbandman . and this is the title of gods ministers , they are gods husbandmen , his people their field and husbandry , and his word and the obedience thereof , the seed & fruite of their labors . yea god himselfe is said to be the teacher of the trade , in the prophesie of esay : doth the plowmā plow all the day to sow ? doth he open & break the clods of his ground ? when he hath made it plaine , will he not then sow the fitches , and cast in wheate by measure , and the appointed barley and rie in their place ? for his god doth instruct him , to haue discretion , and doth teach him . who then dare despise this necessary calling , whereof god is the author , and the knowledge whereof he himselfe is the teacher ? and not rather glorifie god who giueth seed to the sower , skill to the plower , and increase to his labour , to rid the earth from the curse of penurie and barrennesse , and so by this sanctified meanes to make it yeeld food for mans reliefe ? but howsoeuer great men haue vndergone this calling ( to omit the ancient and famous houses of the romans recorded in histories , being called cicerones , fabij , pisones , of the graine they sowed , and labour they delighted in , ) this is most sure , that there were neuer any mighty potentates , which maintained not the plow , whether pagans or professors . pharaoh that egyptian king how famous was he for his treasury of corne , by that means , throughout all the world , becoming a nourse to all nations , and the keeper aliue of the whole church of god ? and it is recorded of nebuzaradan the king of babels steward , after the sacking of ierusalem , that he left of the poorer sort ( no doubt by the kings cōmandemēt ) to dresse the vineyards , and to till the land . so vzziah the king of iuda , not onely builded towers , but increased plowmen , and dressers of vines , without the which it had bene in vaine , to haue medled with the other ; and the reason is added of this his indeauor and care , for that he loued husbandry . moreouer , how is it possible for princes guards and troopes at home , besides their huge hoasts and scattering armies abroad , to be maintained without the plow ? for if in the multitude of the people the honor of the king consisteth , for the want whereof he cometh sodainly to destruction : and if many people cannot be maintained without much food : and if much prouision of food cannot possibly be come by , but by much tillage ( since the plow according to the prouerbe , bringeth enough ; ) then must this consequent be as necessary , that neither the king himselfe , nor his subiects and followers , can be vpholden without much tillage : for what can the king do when he wanteth food for his people ? as the king of israel said to a woman in the siege of samaria , crying out to him ; saying , helpe my lord ô king : seeing the lord ( saith he ) doth not succor thee , how shall i helpe thee with the barne or with the winepresse ? and how fearefull & lamentable was the estate of the honorable lords and delicate ladies in the siege of ierusalem , for want of food as before we obserued ? the reason is gods ordinance & iniunction , that adam & all his issue shall labor for their liuing , and so prouide their bread with painfulnesse & sorrow , a iust reward for sinne . man i cōfes , liues not by bread alone : yet as the end of gods prouidence is , that man should liue , so the meanes of his prouidence is , that mā should liue by bread : which bread must needs be got by his trauell and tillage . a corporall substance is to be maintained by corporall sustenance , & as mā at the first was takē out of the earth , so will god haue the fruits of the earth to be his food as the fruite of his trauell : that so by the bread of the earth our bodies of earth may be norished & relieued . our mortal life is vpholden by earthly meanes , and as meates are ordained for the belly , and the belly for meates : so death shall dissolue both it and them to earth againe . the consideration whereof must cause vs with all chearefulnesse to honour god in the meanes , and so to vse them to his glory , and our necessary good . he that will eate must labour in a lawfull calling , and get his liuing by his christian painfulnesse . the slothfull man lusteth , and his soule hath nought : he will not plow because of winter , therefore he shall beg in sommer , and haue nothing . therefore loue not sleepe , lest thou come to pouerty , but open thy eies , & thou shalt be satisfied with bread . his meaning is , that the slothfull person shall fall into extreme pouertie : and though he beg to get his liuing , yet men shall haue no remorse of his miserie . and therefore such carelesse persons must take heed in time , and apply their businesses , if they will haue plenty and abundance , against the time of need : for as much food is in the field of the poore ; so is the field destroyed without discretion . be the ground neuer so barren , yet by gods blessing it will yeeld the poore husbandman increase enough , by his diligent labour in tilling , and sowing the same in due season . and many a one ( who hath a good stocke & fruitfull soyle ) by neglecting the meanes , and not ordering things aright , waste all that they haue , and come greatly behind hand . for he that will not sow , shall not mow ; and iustice it is with god , and men , that he that will not worke , shall not eate . christians must not now looke for miracles , but vse all lawfull and ordinary meanes for meate : christ would not turne stones into bread ( as the diuel would haue him ) but reacheth vs to be diligent in our callings ( though without carking and distrustfull care ) and then sufficient for the day will be the trauell thereof . secondly , it reproueth and condemneth all such as hinder this abundance of gods blessings , by intercepting , or vtterly abolishing this mystery of tillage , to wit , all such persons as decay both houses and husbandries , that lay the land waste , and labour to make it a wildernesse in regard of men , fit only for a few such monsters in mens shape , and all kind of their cattell which they desire to keepe ; hauing rooted out men ( the image of the eternall god , ) turned houses into bushes , and poore people into sheepe , preferring the fellowship of beasts before the societie of men , made like to god. such kind of spoylers of their countrey may in stead of their neighbours ( whom they haue rooted out ) salute their oxen , sheepe and horses , which they haue nourished & increased . a fearefull wo is pronounced against all such as thus dwell alone with the destruction of their brethren : ioyning house to house , and field to field , till there be no place for the poore , that so they may be placed by themselues in the middest of the earth . this is in mine eares ( saith the lord of hoasts ) and for this shall their owne houses one day be desolate , and their great and stately pallaces without inhabitant . these are wasters of their countrey , who delight rather in abimelechs plow , to sow the land with salt , ( as he did the city ) to make it barren and fruitlesse , then with good seede of corne and graine for the plentifull prouision of food for gods people : and take greater pleasure to sow the soyle with the innocent blood of their poore brethren , then in procuring the meanes of abundance of bread , by good husbandry and tillage ; and so in gods account do make their possessions fields of blood , purchased in effect with the hazard of the liues of gods inheritance , for the want of food . and to speake the best of them , the seed which they sow in such waste & decayed places , is for the most part no better then sheep tritles and dung of their beasts , to make their pastures profitable onely for themselues . if beasts ( saith one ) could speake , they would exclaime against such men , & call them beasts , or worse then beasts , who onely rauen when they are hungry , and being ful do spare their prey . but these neither full , nor fasting , wil abstaine from deuouring one forrest is sufficient for many elephants and beasts of diuers kinds to liue in , & to feed together . in the woods and wildernesse are an vnknowne number of beares , wolues , & tigers ; of lions , leopards , and panthers , to omit so many ostriches , dragons , satyres , & serpents . all these ( after a sort ) endure one another , & liue together in their seuerall continent : yet these most cruell and vnreasonable oppressours , as wilde bores roote vp the forrest of their countrey and cōmonwealth , and like wolues , delight in the deuouring o● men , who are their owne flesh and proper nation . their woods and parkes , and pastures , will not suffise them , but still they pale in , and put out . one lordship , one country , nay a whole world ( i warrant you ) will not stanch and quench the hellish thirst of these insatiable cormorants . they licke vp the poore and their possessions , as the oxe doth the grasse ; they eate them vp , as it were bread , and yet like greedy dogs can neuer be satisfied . this is the generation that the wise man speaketh of , whose teeth are as swords , and their chawes as kniues , to eate vp the afflicted out of the earth , and the poore from amongst men , that tread vpon the poore , and take from them burdens of wheate ; such as buy the poore for siluer , and the needy for shoes : such as plucke off their skin from thē , and the flesh from their bones , and chop them in peeces as for the pot , and as the flesh within the cauldron . the lord hath sworne by the excellency of iacob : surely i wil neuer forget any of their workes . shall not the land tremble for this , and euerie one that dwelleth therein mourne ? thou hast consulted shame to thine owne house , by destroying many people , & hast sinned against thine owne soule : for the stone shall cry out of the dust , and the beame out of the timber shal answer it : wo be to him that buildeth a towne with bloud , and erecteth a citie by iniquitie . the iawes of these lions would be broken by godly magistrates , and the poore oppressed people ( that are as their prey ) would be plucked out of their teeth . but they are great ones , and feare not the princes sword ; yet let them know , that there is a great god , who is a righteous iudge , and a reuenger of these wrongs : who one day will proceed against them ; whose word hath passed sentence already , neither will it be long before the execution come . they couet fields , and take them by violence , and houses , and take them away ; so they oppresse a man and his house , euen a man and his heritage . therfore thus saith the lord against this family , i haue deuised a plague whereout ye shall not plucke your neckes . though such men dwell in desolate cities where none inhabite but themselues , and where houses are brought to ruinous heapes , which they caused by depopulation and oppression of the poore ; yet shall they not be rich● , nor their substance continue , neither shall they bring their sumptuous houses to perfectiō : the flame shall drie vp his branches , & he shall go away with the breath of his mouth : feare shall dwell in his house , because it is none of his , and brimstone shall be scattered vpon his habitation ; his rootes shall be dried vp beneath , and aboue shall his branches be cut downe , his remembrance shall perish from the earth , & he shall haue neither sonne , nor nephew , amongst his people , nor any posteritie in his dwellings . surely such are the habitations of the wicked , and this is the place of him that knowes not god. yet these men will not be reclaimed , still they build with one consent the towers of confusion ; they will not be hindered and stayed , but gyant-like make warre against god and the good of their countrey , to bring it to confusion vpon the face of the earth , & so openly in effect publish to all , that they neither feare god in heauen , king on earth , nor diuell in hell : and proclaime to all the world , that there is no feare of god before their eyes . but a fire shall consume them , and as they haue deuoured substance , so they shall vomite vp their sweet morsels , for god shall draw it out of their bellies ; and as they haue vndone many , & forsaken the poore , and spoyled houses which they built not : so surely shall they feele no quietnesse in their body , neither shall they reserue of that which they desired : the heauens shall declare their wickednesse , and the earth shall rise vp against them . this is the portion of wicked men from god , and the heritage that they shall haue of him : for desolation and destruction are in their paths , and the footesteps whereby you might trace thē , are wasting , spoyling , and ruinating whole houses and families . like rauens they build their houses high , and loue to liue alone ; and like deuouring kites , that prey vpon the carkasses of the poore . no seed can grow , for these crowes , in the furrowes of the field , nor scant in the church , if they might haue their wils . for hauing destroied the commonwealth , they seize vpon the church , and hauing wasted and taken away the bread of men , they challenge the bread of god , yea the shewbread and consecrate things , most vnlawfull for them to haue . they seeke to liue of the altar though they belong not to the altar , but rather take a couse to ouerthrow the whole seruice and sacrifice , and the seruants of god , that otherwise wold more chearefully and painfully attend vpon it . dauid would not drink that water which was drawne with such danger out of the well of bethlehem by his worthies , though he longed and thirsted after it ; yet he powred it out , for an offering vnto the lord : but these men ( though they haue no need ) will drinke and carouse ( in the consecrate vessels ) not water , but wine , ( adding drunkennesse to thirst ) though it be to the destruction and hazard of themselues & gods seruants . oh how much better had it bin for such , rather to haue spilt it on the ground with remorse ( as a note of repentance ) then in the end to be sure to drinke the dregs of gods fearefull cup of vengeance , as a iust reward of this sinne ? yet see a little further the dropsie of these mens minds , and their horsleach humour , that makes their hearts as a graue after all vnlawfull gaine , and a very deuouring hell that will neuer be cloyed : they clayme all for their common , the whole world is not spacious & wide enough for their walke . these moles ( to speake the truth ) vndermine the foundatiō both of church & cōmon wealth , prince & people : for though the king and subiects consist by the field that is tilled , yet still they decay it , & lay the earth waste , ouerthrowing poore mens plows in euery place , not letting so much as a poore mill to wagge for all this , but are ready to take their tole ( most basely and busily ) of euery poore mans bag ; taking both tole and tithes : all is fish that cometh to their net , and a prey for their teeth , if they can once fasten their tallants , & tentors on the same . is there no balme in gilead ? is there no physition there ? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recouered ? but why speake i so lowd and earnestly to the back and belly , that haue no eares ? alas i see no salue sufficient to heale this sore , no medicine auaileable to cure this maladie . let vs therefore looke vnto our god who is the alone physition sufficient , and most excellent at such a desperate disease . in that he seemeth to distinguish betweene field and field , as expressing his mind , what field he meaneth that bringeth forth such abundance , so necessary , & sufficiēt for the king & his subiects : we learn in the last place , that there is no ground or field so necessary and fruitfull as that which is in tillage . the seed which the sower went out to sow in good ground ( by his good husbandry , labour , and gods blessing vpon the same ) for one corne yeelded an hundred fold , for some other , sixtie fold , and for another thirtie . and it is reported of isaacks crop of sowing seed , in the land of abimelech king of the philistians , that he reaped the same yeare an hundreth sold by estimation : so the lord blessed him , saith the text . and indeed , who is able to reckon vp the great increase of corne and graine that god doth raise out of the earth , by this his blessed ordinance of tillage and good husbandrie , filling our houses , barnes , and garners , besides our rickes , houels , stackes , & heapes of graine without number and measure , sometimes gathered and got together in one land , ( as in egypt ) and sufficient to serue and prouide for not only one country but many nations , as in the daies of ioseph : who gathered wheate like to the sand of the sea , in multitude out of measure , vntill he left numbring , for it was without number . the reason why such abundance of fruite proceedeth of tillage , is first , the naturall barrennes of the earth , in regard of gods curse vpon the same , by the meanes of manssinne , which now without painfull plowing will not be profitable and plentifull . secondly , the blessing of god vppon his owne ordinance , when man doth diligently and chearefully submit himselfe vnto the same , in the christian vse thereof , as more largely was shewed before in the reasons of the second doctrine . which serueth to confute the proud conceite of many gracelesse graziers , and the presumptuous resolution of many greedie decayers of tillage , which set their acres decayed at such an incomparable valuation , so exceedingly multiplying their rents and reuenewes . their great stockes and store of all kind of cattell , so easily heeded , and maintained , without great charge or toile , makes now their present state ( as they suppose ) vnmatchable : so that now they scorne at iobs wealth ( like atheists ) being farre beyond him , in oxen , sheepe , & all kind of cattell . yet here ( i assure them ) is some difference , that his land cried not out against him , nor the furrowes thereof made any complaint in his conscience : and that he neuer eat the fruites thereof without siluer , nor grieued the soules of the maisters thereof , as these men do in euery place . their innumerable tods of wooll , their heards and droues of fallings sufficient for the seruice of court and countrey , they esteeme to be an incomparable credit , and gaine . nay some of thē are not ashamed to say , that by this short course , they auoid the curse of digging & deluing in the earth , of plowing and sweating for their liuing , so iustly enioyned them of god to sinfull man. thus they dare open their mouth not onely against men , but euen against their maker , and heauen it selfe . these men wil liue by their own wits and waies , despising gods will and word , which they cast behind them . yet here let me reason a little with this greedie gripe , and decayer of tillage for his owne priuate gaine . what field is so fruitfull as that which is tilled ? the abundāce of this earth is ouer al ( saith he that is wiser then the wisest of thē all ) whose experience so dearely bought , far surpasseth their conceits ; who tried all their vanities , and many more , and therefore we may trust his resolution , and assuredly preferre it before all others . these kind of men ( perhaps ) reason well for their owne persons and places : but where is their care for the prince , and gods people ; for the church and commonwealth ? their fields ( i confesse ) find many beasts , but the field that is sowne , feedeth both men and beasts . and here note thy charitie toward thine owne flesh : thou carest for cattell , and art carelesse of christians . thou art kinde to thy selfe , and regardest not the state of the king and his subiects , that consist by the field that is tilled . but let the very beasts conuince thee , the bees , and all creatures in their kinde who are not made for themselues , but for the common good . the sheepe yeeld both fell and flesh , the birds and beasts , their yong ones and themselues ; the bees their honey , the oxe treadeth out the corne , and the horse beareth many heauy burthens , and al the creatures helpe for the common seruice , and reliefe of mankind : yet thou alone amongst the rest ( & worse in this respect then all the rest ) seekest onely thine owne gaines , and liuest to thy selfe , with the hurt of all others . but admit thou hadst thine owne will , in turning commons into pastures , and tilled fields into closing for thy cattell ; where in the end wold be thy bread , without plowing and seedes time ? therefore when god would take away the curse of the world , he bringeth in this blessing , that seedes time and haruest , cold and heate , sommer and winter , day and night should not ceasse , whilest the earth remained . but these men by their crueltie would bring all to confusion , that the world cannot stand , if they be not stayed . and so iustly incurre the curse of god , and his people : for as a blessing shall be vpon the head of him that selleth corne : so he that withdraweth it , the people will curse him : for as the one prouideth for their necessitie , so the other mercilesse men ( by decaying of tillage , and keeping in of corne ) do procure poore mens miserie . now if it be such a cursed sinne , to withdraw the corne in the daies of dearth , to make it dearer , that so men may vtter the very reffuse of their graine at any rate : as those tyrannous oppressours did in the daies of nehemia , who caused their brethren to gage their lands , vineyards , and houses , yea to sell their sonnes , and themselues as slaues , for corne : how much more intollerable an oppression is it , to take away all necessary meanes of prouision , by tillage and husbandry ? for if these men might preuaile , no corne would be come by for any coine , for any suite or seruice , for any pricke or prise . for where no oxen are , there the crib is emptie , but much increase cometh by the strength of the oxe . where the means of good husbandrie is neglected , there is want of necessaries , but by the diligent tilling of the land by teames and strong cattell fit for plowing , there is plentie and abundāce both for man & beast . how can such men pray , giue vs this day our daily bread , that daily take away the meanes of bread ? will they haue their bread , and not vse the means for bread , which is tillage ? is not this in plaine dealing to tempt the lord ? will they haue god to feede them miraculously , with manna , as he did israel in the wildernesse , to manifest his power ? no , no ; in canaan god will haue plowing and sowing vsed , & therefore when israel came thither manna ceassed . i spare here to speake how these vnnaturall oppressours of their brethren , cause the people ( many times ) to murmure against their god , and to blaspheme his name . besides the strange rebellions , and outragious vproares and vprisings against their prince and countrey . but is it not a wonder ( to vse the words of no meane man in his time ) that sheepe that were wont to be so milde and gentle , and fed with small cost , should now become so wild and rauenous , to eate vp men , and lay waste whole countries ? for these men ( that enclose all the commons ) they pull down houses , they ouerthrow towns leauing churches to stand alone in some places , seruing only as a pen for their sheep . and so causing poore mē of all sorts to flit frō their dwellings , & many of thē , finding no houses to hide their heads in , do fall to sell their goods & houshold stuffe ; and at last ( hauing nothing left ) are forced to steale , & so iustly be hanged for their labor , or at least go wandring abrode , as vagrant persons , neuer set on work : there being now small businesse , so many good husbandries and tillages being mightily decaied . and is it not vnnaturall ( saith another ) to turn men out to bring in sheep ? yet if they wil needs maintaine large pastures , and stocke them with sheepe , remember what god saith by ezechiel : the sheepe of my pasture are men , & we are his people and the sheep of his pasture ; and the image of god in one man is more worth then al the sheepe in the world . therfore to conclude with exhortation , let such as beare the face and haue the feature of mē , ceasse now to be such monsters any more : let not those that are called , and would needs be accompted christians , be worse then cannibals . let them learne of sauage beasts , to spare their owne sexe . yea let them know and acknowledge , that all creatures here below , are a thousand fold farre inferiour to him that is fashioned so like to the very creator himselfe , and for whose sake all other things were made to serue . and since that god and nature enioyne them this duty , let them be seruiceable for the best good of their poorest brethren , and still remember that the earth is no step-dame if it be not abused , nor our god any niggard ( in prouiding for many millions of men and beasts ) if his owne sanctified means be not despised . let them not therefore now labour any longer to reduce the world to a confused chaos , by inuerting , deforming , and quite defacing the most sweete and amiable order that god hath instituted . let not the courtier ( i say ) contemne the carter , by whose toile and tillage of the earth , both king and state consisteth . and as they loue the life and honour of their prince , so let them labour to vphold the plow , the abundant profite whereof surpasseth all . let them tender the state of the countrey , church , and commonwealth , wherein they liue and breathe , the life of god and nature . so shall they be free from great offences , most iustly ministred by their former wicked wayes , to al sorts of men that hither to haue sustained the smart threof . so shal god be better serued , christian magistrates & ministers more worthily and honourably maintained and respected : and ( which is a ioy surmounting all ) they shal haue profit sufficient , with sound peace of conscience , besides the praise and prayers of all that feare the lord ; in steed of many bitter curses , most iustly caused by their former wicked courses , &c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e ezec. . . . esa . . . leuit. . . & . . exod. . . . iocl . . . . deut. . . . cor. . . notes for div a -e coherence . sence . diuision . . . . summe . doctrine . prou. . . prou . . math. . . . cor. . . hos . . . reason . prou. . . psal . . . psal . . . . cor. . . psal . . . deut. . . reason . . gen . , . prou. . . prou. , . . vse . . . cor. . . mat. . . math. . . math. . . . thes . . . vse . vse . . cor. . . luk. . . math. . . cor. . . . tim. . . iam. . . psal . . . doctrine . gen. . . psal . . . . gen. . . gen. . . . see tremel . psal . . . ver. . . . . . . . reason . esay . . . vse . iob. . . psal . . . deut. . . agge . . vse . doctrine . math. . . leuit. . . esay . . ezeck . . . exod. . leuit. . . psal . . . psal . . . ioel . . reasons . psal . . . gen. . . lam. . . cap. . . . cap. . . verse . verse . verse . ezeck . . . nehem. . . gen. . . . sam. . . gen. . . vse . ezeck . . . . ioel. . . psal . . . . phil. . . . cor. . . esay . . esay . . . ezech. . . deut. . . , &c. deut. : . luk . . . text. doctrine . . cor. . . . verses ● . . eph . . . . reason . reason . rom. . . reason . . king. . . vse . iob , . . iob. . . . . rom. . . . vse . iames . . & . . heb , . . ioh. . . . . cor. . . esay . . gal. . . doctrine . gen. . . . gen. . . gen. . . . king. . . iohn . . esay . . . . . cor. . . gen. . . king. . . chro. . prou. . . . king. . . lam. . . reason . . cor. . . vse . prou. . . prou. . . & . . prou. . . . thess . . math. . . math . . vse . esa . . . . iudg. . math. . . act. . . bernard . in cant. aug. num. . . psal . . . psal . . . prou. . . amos. . . & . . mich. . . . amos . . . hab. . . . iob. . . micha . . . . iob. . . . iob. . . . . . gen. . . rom. . . iob. . . . . . . esay . . . . leuit. . . . . . . cor. . . . sam. . . . . dan. . . deut. . . psal . . . pro. . . esai . . . ier. . . text. doctrine . math. . . gen. . . gen. . . reason . . iob. . . gen. . . . . psal . ● . psal . . . . cor. . . . cor. . . gen. . . pro. . . amos. . . . neh. . . . . prou. . . math. . . math. . . exod. . . iosh . . . lib . vtop . tho. moore . ezech. . . psal . . . & . . conclusion . by the king in calling to our princely remembrance, that in the late rebellion vpon pretence of depopulation and vnlawfull inclosures, the greatest number of the offenders have not beene proceeded with according to iustice and their traiterous deseruings ... england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king in calling to our princely remembrance, that in the late rebellion vpon pretence of depopulation and vnlawfull inclosures, the greatest number of the offenders have not beene proceeded with according to iustice and their traiterous deseruings ... england and wales. sovereign ( - : james i) james i, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.). by robert barker, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie, imprinted at london : anno dom. . offering pardon to rioters who submit before sept. other title information from first lines of text. "giuen at our castle of windsor the . day of iuly, in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine, france and ireland." reproduction of original in: society of antiquaries. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng inclosures -- england. land tenure -- england. great britain -- history -- james i, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion royal blazon or coat of arms ❧ by the king. in calling to our princely remembrance , that in the late rebellion vpon pretence of depopulation and vnlawfull inclosures , the greatest number of the offenders haue not beene proceeded with according to justice and their traiterous deseruings , no nor so much as apprehended or touched for the same , although they bee in no better case or degree , then those few which haue suffered or beene called in question : there want not some reasons and circumstances which ( if wee would consult onely with policie or passion ) mought induce vs to further seueritie , and a more generall execution of the law vpon the same offenders . for wee are not ignorant , that of all other seditions and rebellions , none doth bring such infinite waste and desolation vpon a kingdome or state , as these popular insurrections , which though they doe seldome shake or indanger a crowne , yet they doe bring a heape of calamities vpon multitudes of innocent subiects , and chiefly vpon the authors and acters themselues . and againe , wee doe obserue , that there was not so much as any necessitie of famine or dearth of corne , or any other extraordinary accident , that might stirre or prouoke them in that maner to offend ; but that it may be thought to proceede of a kinde of insolencie and contempt of our milde and gracious gouernment , which mought ( in some prince ) turne the same into more heauy wrath and displeasure . but we neuerthelesse hauing at the very entrance of our raigne , in the highest treasons against our owne person , intermingled mercie with iustice , are much more inclined in this case , which concerneth a number of poore & simple people , to extend our naturall clemencie to wards them . whereupon we haue resolued to set wide open the gate of our mercie vnto them , and to bestowe vpon them our free grace and pardon , without further suite or supplication . and therefore we doe hereby take and receiue all the sayd offenders , and euery of them , to our mercie , and of our grace and meere motion , freely pardon vnto them their sayd offences , and all paines of death or other punishment due for the same , and promise vnto them , in the word of their naturall liege lord and king , that they shall not be in any wise molested or impeached , in life , member , lands or goods for their sayd offences , or any of them . so as neuerthelesse , that before michaelmas next they doe submit themselues , and acknowledge their sayd offences before our lieutenant , deputie lieutenant , or sheriffe in the countie where they shall remaine , whereof wee will and command a note or entrie to be made and kept . and we are further graciously pleased , that if any of them seuerally or iointly shal desire for their better assurance , to haue our pardon vnder our great seale , that our chancellor shal make the same vnto them without further warrant in that behalfe . not intending neuerthelesse to preiudice any our subiects priuate suite or action , but so much as in us is , absolutely to acquite & discharge them against us , our heires & successors . giuen at our castle of windsor the . day of iuly , in the fifth yeere of our reigne of great britaine , france and ireland . god saue the king. ❧ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . anno dom ▪ . a declaration from the poor oppressed people of england, directed to all that call themselves, or are called lords of manors, through this nation; that have begun to cut, or that through fear and covetousness, do intend to cut down the woods and trees that grow upon the commons and waste land. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing d thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) a declaration from the poor oppressed people of england, directed to all that call themselves, or are called lords of manors, through this nation; that have begun to cut, or that through fear and covetousness, do intend to cut down the woods and trees that grow upon the commons and waste land. winstanley, gerrard, b. . [ ] p. s.n.], [london : printed in the yeer, . signed at end: gerrard vvinstanly [and others]. place of publication from wing. signatures: a⁴. annotation on thomason copy: "june st". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng commons -- england -- early works to . inclosures -- england -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no a declaration from the poor oppressed people of england,: directed to all that call themselves, or are called lords of manors, through this winstanley, gerrard c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a declaration from the poor oppressed people of england , directed to all that call themselves , or are called lords of manors , through this nation ; that have begun to cut , or that through fear and covetousness , do intend to cut down the woods and trees that grow upon the commons and waste land . printed in the yeer , . a declaration from the poor oppressed people of england . we whose names are subscribed , do in the name of all the poor oppressed people in england , declare unto you , that call your selves lords of manors , and lords of the land , that in regard the king of righteousness , our maker , hath inlightened our hearts so far , as to see , that the earth was not made purposely for you , to be lords of it , and we to be your slaves , servants , and beggers ; but it was made to be a common livelihood to all , without respect of persons : and that your buying and selling of land , and the fruits of it , one to another , is the cursed thing , and was brought in by war ; which hath , and still does establish murder , and theft , in the hands of some branches of mankinde over others , which is the greatest outward burden , and unrighteous power , that the creation groans under : for the power of inclosing land , and owning propriety , was brought into the creation by your ancestors by the sword ; which first did murther their fellow creatures , men , and after plunder or steal away their land , and left this land successively to you , their children . and therefore , though you did not kill or theeve , yet you hold that cursed thing in your hand , by the power of the sword ; and so you justifie the wicked deeds of your fathers ; and that sin of your fathers , shall be visited upon the head of you , and your children , to the third and fourth generation , and longer too , tell your bloody and theeving power be rooted out of the land . and further , in regard the king of righteousness hath made us sensible of our burthens , and the cryes and groanings of our hearts are come before him : we take it as a testimony of love from him , that our hearts begin to be freed from slavish fear of men , such as you are ; and that we finde resolutions in us , grounded upon the inward law of love , one towards another , to dig and plough up the commons , and waste lands through england ; and that our conversation shall be so unblameable , that your laws shall not reach to oppress us any longer , unless you by your laws will shed the innocent blood that runs in our veins . for though you and your ancestors got your propriety by murther and theft , and you keep it by the same power from us , that have an equal right to the land with you , by the righteous law of creation , yet we shall have no occasion of quarreling ( as you do ) about that disturbing devil , called particular propriety : for the earth , with all her fruits of corn , cattle , and such like , was made to be a common store-house of livelihood to all mankinde , friend , and foe , without exception . and to prevent all your scrupulous objections , know this , that we must neither buy nor sell : money must not any longer ( after our work of the earths community is advanced ) be the great god , that hedges in some , and hedges out others ; for money is but part of the earth : and surely , the righteous creator , who is king , did never ordain , that unless some of mankinde , do bring that mineral ( silver and gold ) in their hands , to others of their own kinde , that they should neither be fed , nor be clothed ; no surely , for this was the project of tyrant-flesh ( which land-lords are branches of ) to set his image upon money . and they make this unrighteous law , that none should buy or sell , eat , or be clothed , or have any comfortable livelihood among men , unless they did bring his image stamped upon gold or silver in their hands . and whereas the scriptures speak , that the mark of the beast is , the number of a man ; and that those that do not bring that mark in their hands , or in their foreheads , they should neither buy nor sell , revel. . . and seeing the numbering letters round about the english money make , which is the number of that kingly power and glory , ( called a man . ) and seeing the age of the creation is now come to the image of the beast , or half day . and seeing is his mark , we expect this to be the last tyrannical power that shall raign ; and that people shall live freely in the enioyment of the earth , without bringing the mark of the beast in their hands , or in their promise ; and that they shall buy wine and milk , without money , or without price , as isaiah speaks . for after our work of the ●arthly community is advanced , we must make use of gold and silver , as we do of other mettals , but not to buy and sell withal ; for buying and selling is the great cheat , that robs and steals the earth one from another : it is that which makes some lords , others beggers , some rulers , others to be ruled ; and makes great murderers and theeves to be imprisoners , and hangers of little ones , or of sincere-hearted men . and while we are made to labor the earth together , with one consent and willing minde ; and while we are made free , that every one , friend and foe , shall enjoy the benefit of their creation , that is , to have food and rayment from the earth , their mother ; and every one subiect to give accompt of his thoughts , words , and actions to none , but to the one onely righteous judg , and prince of peace ; the spirit of righteousness that dwells , and that is now rising up to rule in every creature , and in the whole globe . we say , while we are made to hinder no man of his priviledges given him in his creation , equal to one , as to another ; what law then can you make , to take hold upon us , but laws of oppression and tyranny , that shall enslave or spill the blood of the innocent ? and so your selves , your judges , lawyers , and justices , shall be found to be the greatest transgressors , in , and over mankinde . but to draw neerer to declare our meaning , what we would have , and what we shall endevor to the uttermost to obtain , as moderate and righteous reason directs us ; seeing we are made to see our priviledges , given us in our creation , which have hitherto been denied to us , and our fathers , since the power of the sword began to rule , and the secrets of the creation have been locked up under the traditional , parrat-like speaking , from the universities , and colledges for scholars , and since the power of the murdering , and theeving sword , formerly , as well as now of late yeers , hath set up a government , and maintains that government ; for what are prisons , and putting others to death , but the power of the sword , to enforce people to that government which was got by conquest and sword , and cannot stand of it self , but by the same murdering power ? that government that is got over people by the sword and kept by the sword , is not set up by the king of righteousness to be his law , but by coveteousness , the great god of the world ; who hath been permitted to raign for a time , times , and dividing of time , and his government draws to the period of the last term of his allotted time ; and then the nations shall see the glory of that government that shall rule in righteousness , without either sword or spear , and seeing further , the power of righteousness in our hearts , seeking the livelihood of others as well as our selves , hath drawn forth our bodies to begin to dig , and plough , in the commons and waste land , for the reasons already declared , and seeing and finding our selves poor , wanting food to feed upon , while we labor the earth , to cast in seed , and to wait tell the first crop comes up ; and wanting ploughs , carts , corn , and such materials to plant the commons withal , we are willing to declare our condition to you , and to all , that have the treasury of the earth , locked up in your bags , chests , and barns , and will offer up nothing to this publike treasury ; but will rather see your fellow creatures starve for want of bread , that have an equal right to it with your selves , by the law of creation : but this by the way we onely declare to you , and to all that follow the subtle art of buying and selling the earth , with her fruits , meerly to get the treasury thereof into their hands , to lock it up from them , to whom it belongs ; that so , such coveteous , proud , unrighteous , selfish flesh , may be left without excuse in the day of judgment . and therefore , the main thing we aym at , and for which we declare our resolutions to go forth , and act , is this , to lay hold upon , and as we stand in need , to cut and fell , and make the best advantage we can of the woods and trees , that grow upon the commons , to be a stock for our selves , and our poor brethren , through the land of england , to plant the commons withal ; and to provide us bread to eat , till the fruit of our labors in the earth bring forth increase ; and we shall meddle with none of your proprieties ( but what is called commonage ) till the spirit in you , make you cast up your lands and goods , which were got , and still is kept in your hands by murder , and theft ; and then we shall take it from the spirit , that hath conquered you , and not from our swords , which is an abominable , and unrighteous power , and a destroyer of the creation : but the son of man comes not to destroy , but to save . and we are moved to send forth this declaration abroad , to give notice to every one , whom it concerns , in regard we hear and see , that some of you , that have been lords of manors , do cause the trees and woods that grow upon the commons , which you pretend a royalty unto , to be cut down and sold , for your own private use , whereby the common land , which your own mouths doe say belongs to the poor , is impoverished , and the poor oppressed people robbed of their rights , while you give them cheating words , by telling some of our poor oppressed brethren , that those of us that have begun to dig and plough up the commons , will hinder the poor ; and so blinde their eyes , that they see not their priviledge , while you , and the rich free-holders , make the most profit of the commons , by your over-stocking of them with sheep and cattle ; and the poor that have the name to own the commons ▪ have the least share therein ; nay , they are checked by you , if they cut wood , heath , turf , or furseys , in places about the common , where you disallow . therefore we are resolved to be cheated no longer , not be held under the slavish fear of you no longer , seing the earth was made for us , as well as for you : and if the common land belongs to us who are the poor oppressed , surely the woods that grow upon the commons belong to us likewise : therefore we are resolved to try the uttermost in the light of reason , to know whether we shall be free men , or slaves . if we lie still , and let you steale away our birthrights , we perish ; and if we petition we perish also , though we have paid taxes , given free quarter , and ventured our lives to preserve the nations freedom as much as you , and therefore by the law of contract with you , freedom in the land is our portion as well as yours , equal with you : and if we strive for freedom , and your murdering , governing laws destroy us , we can but perish . therefore we require , and we resolve to take both common land , and common woods to be a livelihood for us , and look upon you as equal with us , not above us , knowing very well , that england , the land of our nativity , is to be a common treasury , of livelihood to all , without respect of persons . so then , we declare unto you , that do intend to cut our common woods and trees , that you shall not do it ; unlesse it be for a stock for us , as aforesaid , and we to know of it , by a publick declaration abroad , that the poor oppressed that live there abouts , may take it , and employ it , for their publike use , therefore take notice we have demanded it in the name of the commons of england , and of all the nations of the world , it being the righteous freedom of the creation . likewise we declare to you that have begun to cut down our common woods and trees , and to sell and carry away the same for your private use , that you shall forbear , and go no farther , hoping , that none that are friends to the common-wealth of england , will endeavour to buy any of those common trees and woods of any of those lords of mannors , so called , who have , by the murdering and cheating law of the sword , stoln the land from yonger brothers , who have by the law of creation , a standing portion in the land , as well ▪ and equall with others . therefore we hope all wood-mongers will disown all such private merchandize , as being a robbing of the poor oppressed , and take notice , that they have been told our resolution : but if any of you that are vvood-mongers , will buy it of the poor , and for their use , to stock the commons , from such as may be appointed by us to sell it , you shall have it quietly , without diminution ; but if you will slight us in this thing , blame us not , if we make stop of the carts you send and convert the vvoods to our own use , as need requires , it being our own , equal with him that calls himself the lord of the mannor , and not his peculiar right , shutting us out , but he shall share with us as a fellow-creature . for we say our purpose is , to take those common woods to fell them , now at first , to be a stock for our selves , and our children after us , to plant and manure the common land withall ; for we shall endeavour by our righteous acting not to leave the earth any longer intangled unto our children , by self-seeking proprietors ; but to leave it a free store-house , and common treasury to all , without respect of persons ; and this we count is our dutie , to endeavour to the uttermost , every man in his place ( according to the nationall covenant which the parliament set forth ) a reformation to preserve the peoples liberties , one as well as another : as well those as have paid taxes , and given free quarter , as those that have either born the sword , or taken our moneys to dispose of them for publike use : for if the reformation must be according to the word of god , then every one is to have the benefit and freedom of his creation , without respect of persons ; we count this our duty , we say , to endeavour to the uttermost , and so shall leave those that rise up to oppose us without excuse , in their day of judgment ; and our precious blood , we hope , shall not be dear to us , to be willingly laid down at the door of a prison , or foot of a gallows , to justifie this righteous cause ; if those that have taken our money from us , and promised to give us freedom for it , should turn tyrants against us : for we must not fight , but suffer . and further we intend , that not one , two , or a few men of us shall sell or exchange the said woods , but it shall be known publikly in print or writing to all , how much every such , and such parcell of wood is sold for , and how it is laid out , either in victualls , corn , ploughs , or other materialls necessary . and we hope we may not doubt ( at least we expect ) that they that are called the great councel and powers of england , who so often have declared themselves , by promises and covenants , and confirmed them by multitude of fasting daies , and devout protestations , to make england a free people , upon condition they would pay moneys , and adventure their lives against the successor of the norman conqueror ; under whose oppressing power england was enslaved ; and we look upon that freedom promised to be the inheritance of all , without respect of persons ; and this cannot be , unless the land of england be freely set at liberty from proprietors , and become a common treasury to all her children , as every portion of the land of canaan was the common livelihood of such and such a tribe , and of every member in that tribe , without exception , neither hedging in any , nor hedging out . we say we hope we need not doubt of their sincerity to us herein , and that they will not gainsay our determinate course ; howsoever , their actions will prove to the view of all , either their sinceritie , or hypocrisie : we know what we speak is our priviledge , and our cause is righteous , and if they doubt of it , let them but send a childe for us to come before them , and we shall make it manifest four wayes . first , by the national covenant , which yet stands in force to bind parliament and people to be faithful and sincere , before the lord god almighty , wherein every one in his several place hath covenanted to preserve and seek the liberty each of other , without respect of persons . secondly , by the late victory over king charls , we do claime this our priviledge , to be quietly given us , out of the hands of tyrant-government , as our bargain and contract with them ; for the parliament promised , if we would pay taxes , and give free quarter , and adventure our lives against charls and his party , whom they called the common enemy , they would make us a free people ; these three being all done by us , as well as by themselves , we claim this our bargain , by the law of contract from them , to be a free people with them , and to have an equall priviledge of common livelihood with them , they being chosen by us , but for a peculiar worke , and for an appointed time , from among us , not to be our oppressing lords , but servants to succour us . but these two are our weakest proofs . and yet by them ( in the light of reason and equity that dwells in mens hearts ) we shall with ease cast down , all those former enslaving , norman reiterated laws , in every kings raigne since the conquest , which are as thornes in our eyes , and pricks in our sides , and which are called the ancient goverment of england . thirdly , we shall prove , that we have a free right to the land of england , being borne therein as well as elder brothers , and that it is our right equal with them , and they with us , to have a comfortable livelihood in the earth , without owning any of our owne kinde , to be either lords , or land-lords over us : and this we shall prove by plain text of scripture , without exposition upon them , which the scholars and great ones generally say , is their rule to walk by . fourthly , we shall prove it by the righteous law of our creation , that mankinde in all his branches , is the lord of the earth and ought not to be in subjection to any of his own kinde without him ▪ but to live in the light of the law of righteousness , and peace established in his heart . and thus in love we have declared the purpose of our hearts plainly , without flatterie , expecting love , and the same sincerity from you , without grumbling , or quarreling , being creatures of your own image and mould , intending no other matter herein , but to observe the law of righteous action , endeavouring to shut out of the creation , the cursed thing , called particular propriety , which is the cause of all wars , bloud-shed , theft , and enslaving laws , that hold the people under miserie . signed for and in the behalf of all the poor oppressed people of england , and the whole world . gerrard vvinstanly iohn coulton iohn palmer thomas star samuel webb iohn hayman thomas edcer vvilliam hogrill daniel vveeden richard vvheeler nathaniel yates vvilliam clifford iohn harrison thomas hayden james hall james manley thomas barnard iohn south robert sayer christopher clifford iohn beechee vvilliam coomes christopher boncher richard taylor vrian vvorthington nathaniel holcombe giles childe , senior iohn vvebb thomas yarwel vvilliam bonnigton iohn ash ralph ayer iohn pra iohn vvilkinson anthony spire thomas east allen brown edward parret richard gray iohn mordy iohn bachilor vvilliam childe vvilliam hatham edward vvicher vvilliam tench . finis . an appeal to the house of commons, desiring their ansvver: vvhether the common-people shall have the quiet enjoyment of the commons and waste land; or whether they shall be under the will of lords of mannors still. occasioned by an arrest, made by thomas lord wenman, ralph verny knight, and richard winwood esq; upon the author hereof, for a trespass, in digging upon the common-land at georges hill in surrey. / by gerrard winstanly, iohn barker, and thomas star, in the name of all the poor oppressed in the land of england. winstanley, gerrard, b. . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing w thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) an appeal to the house of commons, desiring their ansvver: vvhether the common-people shall have the quiet enjoyment of the commons and waste land; or whether they shall be under the will of lords of mannors still. occasioned by an arrest, made by thomas lord wenman, ralph verny knight, and richard winwood esq; upon the author hereof, for a trespass, in digging upon the common-land at georges hill in surrey. / by gerrard winstanly, iohn barker, and thomas star, in the name of all the poor oppressed in the land of england. winstanley, gerrard, b. . barker, john, th cent. star, thomas. england and wales. parliament. house of commons. [i.e. ] p. s.n.], [london : printed in the year, . place of publication from wing. p. misnumbered . annotation on thomason copy: "july. .". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng inclosures -- england -- early works to . levellers -- early works to . great britain -- politics and government -- - -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no an appeal to the house of commons,: desiring their ansvver: vvhether the common-people shall have the quiet enjoyment of the commons and wa winstanley, gerrard d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - angela berkley sampled and proofread - angela berkley text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an appeal to the house of commons , desiring their ansvver : vvhether the common-people shall have the quiet enjoyment of the commons and waste land ; or whether they shall be under the will of lords of mannors still . occasioned by an arrest , made by thomas lord wenman ▪ ralph verny knight , and richard winwood esq ; upon the author hereof , for a trespass , in digging upon the common-land at georges hill in surrey . by gerrard winstanly , iohn barker , and thomas star , in the name of all the poor oppressed in the land of england . vnrighteous oppression kindles a flame ; but love , righteousness , and tenderness of heart ▪ quenches it again . printed in the year , . an appeal to the house of commons , desiring their ansvver ; whether the common-people shall have the quiet enjoyment of the commons and waste lands : or whether they shall be under the will of lords of mannors still . sirs , the cause of this our presentment before you , is , an appeal to you , desiring you to demonstrate to us , and the whole land , the equity , or not equity of our cause ; and that you would either cast us by just reason under the feet of those we call task-masters , or lords of mannors , or else to deliver us out of their tyrannical hands : in whose hands , by way of arrest , we are for the present , for a trespass to them , as they say , in digging upon the common-land . the setling whereof , according to equity and reason , wil quiet the mindes of the oppressed people ; it will be a keeping of our nationall covenant ; it will be peace to your selves , and make england the most flourishing , and strongest land in the 〈◊〉 and the first of nations that shall begin to give up their crown and scepter , their dominion and government into the hands of jesus christ . the cause is this , we , amongst others of the common peopl●● that have been ever friends to the parliament , as we are 〈◊〉 red our enemies wil witness to it , have plowed and dig'd upon georges hill in surrey , to sow corn for the succour of man , offering no offence to any , but do carry our selves in love and peace towards all having no intent to meddle with any mans inclosures , or propriety , til it be freely given to us by themselves , but only to improve the commons and waste lands to our best advantage , for the relief of our selves and others , being moved thereunto by the reason hereafter following , not expecting any to be much offended , in regard the cause is so just and upright . yet notwithstanding , there be three men ( called by the people lords of manors ) viz. thomas lord wenman , ralph ve●ny knight , and richard winwood esquire , have arrested 〈◊〉 for a trespass in digging upon the commons , and upon the arrest we made our appearance in kingstone court , where we understood we were arrested for medling with other mens rights ; and secondly , they were incouraged to arrest us upon your act of parliament ( as they tell us ) to maintain the old laws ; we desired to plead our own cause , the court denied us ▪ and to fee a lawyer we cannot , for divers reasons , as we may shew hereafter . now sirs , our case is this , for we appeal to you , for you are the only men that we are to deal withall in this business ▪ whether the common people , after all their taxes , free-quarter , and loss of blood to recover england from under the norman yoak shal have the freedom to improve the comon● , and waste lands free to themselves , as freely their own , as the inclosures are the propriety of the elder brothers ? or whether the lords of manors shall have them , according to their old custom from the kings will and grant , and so remain task-masters still over us which 〈◊〉 the peoples slavery 〈◊〉 conquest . we have made our appeal 〈◊〉 , to settle this matter in the equity and reason of it , and to pass the sentence of freedom to us you being the men with whom we have to do in this business , in whose hands there is power to settle it , for no court can end this controversie ▪ but your court of parliament , as the case of this nation now stands . therefore we 〈◊〉 you to read over this following declaration , wherein we have declared our reason , that the commons and waste lands is the common peoples , and that in equity you ought to let them quietly enjoy them , as the elder brothers quietly enjoy their inclosures . the profit of this business to the nation , the quitting of the hearts of the poor oppressed that are groaning under burthens and streights and the peace of your own hearts , to see the peare of the nation setled in his plat-form , will much countervail the spending of so much time . sirs , you know , that the land of england in the land of our nativity , both yours and ours , and all of us by the righteous law of our creation , ought to have food and rayment freely by our righteous labouring of the earth , without working for hire , or paying rent one to another . but since the fall of man from that righteous law . the nations of the world have rise up in variance one against another , and sought against murdered , and stoln the land of their nativity one from another , and by their power of their conquests , have 〈◊〉 set up some to rule in tyranny over others , and thereby have enslaved the conquered , which is a burden the whole creation hath , and yet does groane under . the teeth of all nations hath been set on edge by this four grape , the covetous murdering sword . england , you know , hath been conquered and enslaved divers times , and the best laws that england hath , ( viz. magna charta ) were got by our forefathers importunate petitioning unto the kings , that stil were their task-masters ; and yet these best laws are yoaks and manicles , tying one sort of people to be slaves to another ; clergy and gentry have 〈◊〉 their freedom , but the common people stil are , and have been left servants to work for 〈◊〉 like the israilites under the egyptian task masters . the last enslaving yoak that england groaned under , ( and yet is not freed from ) was the norman , as you know ; and since william the conqueror came in , about six hundred years ago , all the kings that stil succeeded , did confirm the old laws ▪ or else make new ones , to uphold that norman conquest over us ; and the most favouring laws that we have , doth stil binde the hands of the enslaved english from enjoying the freedom of their creation . you of the gentry , as wel as we of the comonalty , all groaned under the burden of the bad government , and burdening laws under the late king charls , who was the last successor of william the conqueror : you and we cried for a parliament , and a parliament was called , and wars , you know , presently begun , between the king , that represented william the conqueror , and the body of the english people that were enslaved . we looked upon you to be our chief councel , to agitate business for us , though you were summoned by the kings writ , and chosen by the free-holders , that are the successors of william the conquerors souldiers ; you saw the danger so great , that without a war england was like to be more enslaved , therefore you called upon us to assist you with plate , 〈◊〉 , freequarter , and our persons ; and you promised us , in the name of the almighty , to make us a free people ; 〈◊〉 on you and we took the national covenant with joynt consent , to endeavour the freedom , peace and safety of the people of england . and you and we joyned purse and person together in this common cause ; and wil the conquerors successor , which was charls , was cast out ; and thereby we have recovered our selves from under that norman yoak ; and now unless you and we be meerly besotted with covetousness , pride , and slavish fear of men , it is , and will be our wisdom to cast out all those enslaving laws , which was the tyrannical power that the 〈◊〉 ●rest as down by : o shut not your eyes against the light , darken nor knowledg , by dispute about 〈◊〉 mens priviledges , when universal freedom is brought to be tried before you , dispute no further when truth appears , but be silent , and practise it . stop not your ears against the secret mourning of the oppressed , under these expressions , lest the lord see it , and be offended , and shut his ears against your cries , and work a deliverance for his waiting people some other way then by you . the maine thing that you should look upon is the land , which calls upon her children to be freed from the entanglement of the norman task-masters , for one third part lies waste and barren , and her children starve for want , in regard the lords of manors will not suffer the poor to manure it . when william the conqueror came in , he took the land from the english , both the enclosures from the gentry , and the commons and waste lands from the common people , and gave our land to his norman souldiers . therefore seeing we have with joynt consent of purse and person conquered his successor , charls , and the power now is in your hand , the nations representative ; o let the first thing you do , be this , to set the land free . let the gentry have their inclosures free from all norman enslaving intanglements whatsoever , and let the common people have their commons and waste lands set free to them , from all norman enslaving lords of mannors , that so both elder and younger brother , as we spring successively one from another , may live free and quiet one by , and with another , not burthening one another in this land of our nativity . and this thing you are bound to see done , or at least to endevor it , before another representative succeed you ; otherwise you cannot discharge your trust to god and man , for these reasons , first , if you free not the land from entanglement of all norman yoaks , or ●●ther bondages , so that the people 〈◊〉 well as another may enjoy the benefit of their 〈…〉 to have the land free to work upon , that they may eate their bread in righteousness ; that is to say , let the freeholders have there freedom to work quietly in their inclosures , and let the common people have their commons and waste lands 〈◊〉 to themselves . if you establish not this seeing power now is in your hand , you will be the first that break covenant with almighty god . for you swore in your national covenant to endeavour a reformation according to the word of god , which reformation is to restore us to that primative freedom in the earth , in which the earth was first made and given to the sons of men , and that is to be a common treasury of livelihood to all , without working for hire , or paying rent to any , for this is the reformation according to the word of god before the fall of man , in which there is no respect of persons . and seeing in particular you swore to endeavour the freedom , peace and safety of this people of england , shutting out no sort from freedom ; therefore you cannot say that the gentry and clergy were only comprehended , but without exception , all sorts of people in the land are to have freedom , seeing all sorts have assisted you in person and purse , and the common people more especially , seeing their estates were weakest , and their misery in the wars the greatest . therefore let the gentry and freeholders have their inclosures freed from all entanglements of fines , heriots and other burdens , and let the common people have their commons and waste lands freed from entanglements of the norman lords of mannors , and pluck up all norman tyranny by the roots , and so keep your covenant that you , and all 〈◊〉 of people may live in peace one among another . secondly , if this freedom be not granted quietly , you will pull the blood and cries of the poor oppressed upon heads ; first , because you have taken their money in taxes , and freequarter from them , whereby they are made worse able to live then before the wars . secondly , because in your low estate , when you called upon us to come and help a bleeding dying nation , and we did come with purse and person , and under-went great hardship , and you stil promised us freedom in the end , if in case you and we prevailed over the norman successor , and we have prevailed . and if now , while the price is in your hand , you should stil leave us under the norman lords of manors , and will not quietly suffer us to plant our selves upon the commons , and waste land , which is ours by the law of our creation , and which is ours now by conquest from under our oppressor , for which we have paid taxes , given free-quarter , and adventured our lives ; the common-land now is as freely the common peoples , as you can say the inclosures are your propriety . if you deny this freedom , then you justly pull the blood and cries of the poor oppressed upon you , and are covenant-breakers , and wil be proved double hypocrites : first , to almighty god , in breaking covenant with him , for in his name you made the covenant . secondly , to men , in breaking covenant with them , for the matter of the covenant was the freedom , peace , and safety of the people of england , taking in all sorts of people . thirdly , if you do not set us free from the norman yoake , now after you have taken our taxes and free-quarter from us , whereby we have dearly bought our freedom , and you thereupon promised freedom , and you have power now to give it , for if you speak the word the norman yoaks will be broke , and all sorts will rejoyce in freedom and righteousness ; but if you will not , you give a just occasion to the common people of england , never to trust the fair words of a parliament any more , as you were alwayes very slow in trusting the king , when he swore by the word of a king , because you found that subtilty and self lay under , and no reality . and truly the hearts of people are much falling from you , for your breach of promises when you have power to keep them , and for your neglect of giving them their freedom , and removing burthens ; and what danger may ensue by that to your selves , and the nations , you know how to judg ; and for our parts we are sorry to hear the muttering of the people against you . o that there were a heart in you to consider of these things , and act righteousnesse , how sweetly might you and the people live together : if you grant this freedom we speak of , you gain the hearts of the nation ; if you neglect this , you will fall as fast in their affections as ever you rise : i speak what i see , and do you observe ; slight not that love that speaks feelingly , from the sence of the nations burdens . fourthly , if still you should establish the old norman laws , and confirm lords of manors in their ancient custom , and oppressing power over the common-people , you would now at length , after the wars with king charls are over , take part with such ( as is known very well ) as have been either flat enemies , or ambidexters all along the wars , and will cast such as have been your true friends at the feet of the nations enemies , to be still oppressed by their cruelty . surely if these lords and free-holders have their inclosures established to them in peace , is not that freedom enough ? must they needs have the common land likewise ? as ahab , that was restlesse till he had naboths vineyard , and so in the midst of their abundance , yet will eat the bread out of the poores mouthes . o , the land mourns in her children , under the hard hearted covetousnesse of these men . fifthly , if you establish the old norman laws , that lords of manors shall still have the commons and waste lands , then you are the maintainers of the old norman murder and theft still ; for lords of manors came to be tyrants over the poor enslaved english , by the murder and theft of william the conqu●rour , and downwards to this day they have held title to their royalties therefrom , and from the will of the king ; for when he had conquered , he turned the english out , and gave their land to his norman souldiers . sixthly , if you establish the old norman laws , and this especially ▪ that the lords of manors shall still be lords of the common land and the common people be still enslaved to them , then you pull the guilt of king charles his blood upon your own heads ; for then it will appear to the view of all men , that you cut off the kings head , that you might establish your selves in his chair of government , and that your aym was not to throw down tyranny , but the tyrant . but alas , the kings blood was not our burthen , it was those oppressing norman laws , whereby he enslaved us , that we groaded under . let it not be said in the ears of posterity , that the gentry of england assembled in parliament , proved covenant-breakers , oaths , protestations , and promise brekkers to god , and the common people , after their own turn was served ; and killed the king for his power and government , as a thief kils a true man for his money . i do not say you have done so , but for shame dally no longer , but cut off the bad laws , with the kings head , and let the poor oppressed go free , as well as the gentry and clergy , and you will finde more peace . let the common land be set free , break the norman yoak of lords of manors ; and pull not the cryes and blood of the poor oppressed upon you seventhly , know this , that if ever you , or any parliament of england , do england good , you must make all your laws in the light of equity and reason , respecting the freedom of all sorts of people ; but if you respect some sort of people , to wit , the gentry , and clergy , and give freedom to them ; for they , by vertue of your act of parliament , establishing the old norman laws , do arrest and trouble me and others , for digging upon the commons , whereas by vertue of the victory over the king , in regard i have to my estate given free quarter and taxes for englands liberty , as they have done , i have as much right to the common land as they ; therefore i say , if the gentry and clergy must have their norman power established to them , and the common people , that are more considerable for number and necessities , be left still under the yoak , you will be proved the foolish builders . surely if you found out the court of wards to be a burden , and freed lords of mannors , and gentry from paying fines to the king ; and freed their children from the slavery of falling ward ; let the common people be set free too from paying homage to lords of manors ; and let all sorts have freedome by vertue of this conquest over the norman successor● and seeing you took away the will of the king from enslaving lords of mannors , take away the will of lords of mannors from enslaving the common people . thus sirs , we have made our appeal to you , as the only men that must and can give sentence of freedome in this controversie , and that you will not leave us in the cruell hands of lords of mannors , the successors of the norman task-masters ; for there are but three wayes that lords of man●●● can lay claime to the common land , and yet all three are too weak to build a just title upon : first , if they can prove , that the earth was made by almighty god peculiarly for them , and not for others equall with them , then we have trespassed in digging upon their rights ; but the earth was made as free for us as for them ; therefore they have trespassed against us their fellow-creatures , in troubling us by their tyrannicall arrest , and hindering us from our righteous labor . secondly , if they say , that others sold or gave them the title to the commons , by way of inheritance ; they are to prove by what authority any other had from the pure law of our creation , to give away or sell the earth from the use of any of their fellow creatures , it being the common store-house of livelihood for all , without respect of persons . he that sels the earth , and he that buyes , doth remove the land-mark from the third person , because the land that is bought and sold , belongs to the third man , as well as to the other two that buys and sels ; and they two persons that buys and sels , and leaves the land that is bought for an inheritance to their children , excluding others , they murder the third man , because they steal away his livelihood from him ; for after a man hath bought the land , and paid money for it to another , he saith , this is my land , i have paid for it : but the third man comes in , and saith , the land is mine , equall with you by the law of creation ; and so he that is the buyer , he begins to draw his sword , and to fight ; and if he conquer , he rejoyces , and sayes , the land is now mine indeed , i have bought , and i have conquered . but thou coverous person , so long as there is another man in the world besides thee , and him whom thou hast killed , the earth belongs to him as well as to thee ; and this is the case of the nations of the world , and thus propriety came in , and hath been left as an inheritance to children ; which is the burden the creation groans under . here we see who are thieves and murderers ; even the buyers and sellers of land , with her fruits , these are they that take away another mans right from him ; and that overthrowes righteous propriety , to uphold particular propriety , which covetousnes the god of this world hath set up . but thirdly , if lords of manors say , as it is truth , that they hold title to the commons by custome , from the kings will , as they do , this is as bad as the other ; for we know the king came in by conquest , and gave the land to these forefathers , to be task-masters over the conquered english . but if you say , that these later kings were chosen by the people , it is possible it might be so , but surely it was when his greatness over-awed them , or else they would never have chosen him to enslave them , and to set task-masters over them . but seeing the common people have joyned person and purse with you , to recover your selves from under the tyranny of kings , and have prevailed ; the common people now have more truer title to the common lands , then the lords of manors , for they held title by conquest and sword of the king ( we now the common people have recovered the land again by conquest and sword in casting out the king ) so that the title of lords of manors is broke . therefore now the common people have more true title to the common land , then lords of manors have , in regard they have recovered themselves out of slavery by taxes , free quarter , and conquest , yet we shut them not out , but let them take part with us as fellow creatures , and we with them , and so honour our creator in the work of his own hands . thus we have declared our cause without flattery to you ; if you leave us in the hands of oppression , and under the power of the old tyrannicall laws , know this , that we suffer in pursute of o●● nationall covenant , endeavouring a reformation in our place and calling , according to the word of god , and you shall be left without excuse . set the land free from oppression , and righteousnesse will be the laws , government , and strength of that people . these are some of the norman laws which william the conqueror brought into england . first , he turned the english out of their lands , and placed his norman souldiers therein , and made those that had the greatest portion , lords , and barons , and gave them a royalty to the commons , to hold from his will , as a custome , whereby the common people should not plant themselves anywhere in the land , upon any common-land , but some lord of manor or other should know of it , and hinder them , as these three that have arrested us , viz. wonman , verny , and winwood , lord , knight , and esquire , the three estates of the norman gentry , will not suffer us to dig quietly upon georges hill , but seek to drive us off , having no more claim thereunto but an ancient custom , which they hold from the kings will , where by they have , and stil would tyrannize over the people : and this is the rise and standing of lords of manors . secondly , another norman law is this ▪ william the conqueror caused the laws to be written in the norman and french tongue ; and then appointed his own norman people to expound and interpret those laws , and appointed the english people to pay them 〈◊〉 fee for their paines , and from hence came in the trade of lawyers ; he commanded likewise that noman should plead his owncause , but those lawyers should do it for them . thirdly , william the conqueror broke that good and quiet course of ending contro● versies in a neighbourhood , and commanded the people to come up to westminster ster to the four terms every year to have their causes tried . fourthly , william the conquer or brought in the paying of tithes to the clergy , in thankfulness to the pope , and clergies good services in preaching for him , and so to perswade the people to embrace him . these are some of the norman laws and burthens , which if removed , it would be much ease and quiet to this nation . finis . bread for the poor, and advancement of the english nation promised by enclosure of the wastes and common grounds of england / by adam moore ... moore, adam. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing m ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing m estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) bread for the poor, and advancement of the english nation promised by enclosure of the wastes and common grounds of england / by adam moore ... moore, adam. [ ], p. printed by r. & w. leybourn, for nicholas bourn ..., london : . written about . cf. publisher's pref. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng inclosures -- england -- early works to . a r (wing m ). civilwar no bread for the poor. and advancement of the english nation· promised by enclosure of the wastes and common grounds of england: by adam moore, moore, adam, gent b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion bread for the poor . and advancement of the english nation . promised by enclosure of the wastes and common grounds of england : by adam moore , gent. london : printed by r. & w. leybourn , for nicholas bourn , in cornhill , at the south enterance into the royall exchange , . the pvblisher of tais treatise to the reader . whilest all the world is big and busie with inventions of helping nature to unlock her cabinets , for a more liberall communicting of her treasures to mankinde in all kindes ; one of the main lets of atteining the scope seemeth to be that epidemicall errour of seeking the key still afar off , when it hangs at our girdle , and trampling the present sure means in travell and search after remote uncertainties . this is the very thing our author in a generous zeale for the good of his countrey , worthily endeavoureth to convince all england of , shewing very plainly , that we need not go far , nor veuture upon improbabilities , much lesse impossibilities , to enlarge and enrich this nation within it selfe , by the improvement of a most considerable portion of ground throughout the whole land , with at least a fourfold revenue , besides all manner of advantagiousnesse thereby , for rich and poor , the state and commons , if our senses will but suffer themselves to be perswaded of what doth lie within their ken , and vouchsafe only to stoop a little for taking up the jewell . the same thing we know , hath often been hinted and wished for by many , and likewise assayed and improved by some few here and there to great advantage ; but never yet ( for any thing we could hear of ) was it vndertaken and handled so professedly plainly & fully , in but a few leaves , by any other publike author hitherto . and therefore , having by a speciall providence lighted upon him in this small treatise , hid in obscurity , since his penning thereof and personall decease , these thirty yeers ( but we hope reserved unto a more improving season . ) we durst not , in duty to the publique , withhold him longer from the view and use thereof , for the good and service of this common-wealth : nothing doubting but as he will soon make known his own worth by his own words ; so he will be entertained accordingly to the happy improvement of his right christian and noble aime , to relieve the poor in particular , and to advance the whole nation in generall , which god bless . to the most illustrious , most honourable and worthy lords of the wastes and common grounds , and of the lands which have right of common in them , within the commonwealth of england , and dominion of wales . most honoured , the vehement desires of the discreeter sort to proceed in this subject , having been still crossed and cooled by the wilfull opposition of vulgar spirits , moved me to conceive that it might be a fruitfull work to contract the grounds and reasons by which the difference might be compounded . that so the better part being armed , and ( as yet ) the greater disspoiled of all defence , the better may be made the greater , and the worst swallowed up in perswasion . the particulars of this labour ( being tendred to me by experimentall observations ) i have here ( in ragged weeds ) bundled together : and ( 〈◊〉 they most concern you ) have humbly cast them down at the foot of your grave iudgements . may you please to passe by the rude composure , ( for stuffe and fashion are but trivials ) i know the silly volume is sincere , and hath set forth his reports with modesty . and ( though it promise matter of high consequence ) yet will survey ( i am assured ) reprove me , for not giving the subject its due i may not presume to perswade , where so due respects of publique good and government have innated residence : onely thus far ; the prize is great ; the breach discovered : and though the main battel joyn not to make a generall surprize , yet may each regiment ( that will ) win his share . who then will not arme ? or who will be so unhappy , as not to come on to the assault , to fill up the treasury of his own and the publique fortune ? be you good to the poor : and then blessed be your enterprize , and the successe happy : to which , and all your sacred and sage designements ( to your utmost posterities ) ever may great jehovah grant his holy faxit , and continuance of happinesse till his glorious comming . your humble servant , adam moore . to all inhabitants , tenants and occupiers of lands bordering on wastes and common grounds , and by right of common interessed therein , within the common-wealth of england , and dominion of wales : and to the poorer sort especially . an idle member in a common-wealth ( as a droan in the bee-live ) is either actually cast out by justice , or at least suffereth a divorce from the generall affection . by this motive have i been incited ( in this little treatise ) to cast my mite into the common treasury , and by the same may you be moved to approve my wishes , wherein , as each of you hath particular interest , so will your demeanor prove you either a bee or a droan . neither may we account him a droan only that sitteth still and is idle , but him also ( and worse ) that is busie in hindring commodity . i have here made you a proposition , which hath long hung in the balance to be determined , on the one side every man of discretion casting in a voice for the work ; on the other side , divers ( without ground ) belching out imprudent contradictions . the balance hath yet of this side been little stirred by reason the vertues of the other have been silent . but may verity present her selfe , it is hopefull the averse will forsake their vanity . you may behold in this glasse your own countrey ( england that bred you ) complaining of wrong by her own childrens oversight . nay you may truly see your selves and your children refusing and wanting the bread of comfort , that ( as a good mother ) she is willing and ready to give you . let me intreat you therefore , to bestow the looking on it , but let it be with an honest heart , and an unprejudicating censure , and then will you acknowledge that the book speaks truth , and that both england and your selves do suffer . and let me thus a little reason with you . why should it seem strange to you to question customes that are evill ? whether doth your garden yield you more fruit by digging and dressing it , or by letting it alone to bear fruit of it self ? or why should you love a desert more then a garden ? or prefer the comfortlesse wildernesse of arabia , to the pleasant fruitfull fields of canaan ? and what are commons and enclosures with us but the very like ? whether is it a better spectacle without your doors to see a confused common fruitlesse , naked , and desolate , or fields and vales of plenty , storing your houses and countrey with food and wealth ? or whether is it better for you to confesse , i have no peculiar property in it , nor can i sell or dispose of it at my need ; or the grant of my tenement being expired , i am excluded ; or to say this is mine , i can let , sell , or dispose it at my pleasure , and so assure me a certain means and estate ( out of nothing ) wherein others have not to do ? doth not every man covet to have his own alone ? would any man admit of a partaker in his house , his horse , his oxe , or his wife , if he could shun it ? and why is it otherwise in land ? but suppose you will say , you are all incorporate , and become one body , and so do use your common as an inseparable spouse , to be your helper : why are you then so cuckolded by forreigners and strangers , and your common used before your face , even as commonly as by your selves ? or indeed , ( while you make it a common prostitute to every lust ) how can you help it ? were it not better therefore and more secure to take her home to your chamber , and keep her with a guard where she cannot be abused ? which you may do by distinguishing each ones part properly to himself . but you will say , if our commons should be divided , there will not be enough to content us . but heark ye , i suppose your lordship hath a hundred acres of common ; if this should be stretcht into four hundred acres , i trust you will confesse it were much better : observe then in the treatise , and you shall finde it probable enough , that one hundred improved is much more profitable then four hundred in common ; where is the cause of your complaint then ? or how is it that you are so overseen ? can you have more content in one then in four ? or perhaps you will say , we shall never agree about parting it , one will think another hath too much , and he too little ; ones part will be too good , anothers too bad , anothers too neer , and his too far off , &c. but i will accomodate to your capacity a tale that may lead you to the better resolution of this doubt . a certain man dying left behinde him divers sons , to whom he bequeathed his garden , ( being his whole estate ) to hold in common amongst them all , shortly after an artist by his skill had found that there was hidden in this garden a treasure of good value , and calling the brothers together , acquainted them with it , and told them , it might suffice to raise their low estates to good fortunes , perswading them to go in hand for the finding of it ; one of them being more witty ( or wicked ) then the rest , had presently this crochet in his pate : quoth he , none of you all can dig or break the land without my consent ; and therefore unlesse i may have my own demand in the share , you shall have no treasure there ; the rest were not so stupid , but they had also presently got hold of the same shadow , and every one would have the greatest share , or else , forsooth , his land should not be broken ; and thus they stoutly fac't it out , till at length they wisely concluded , that in regard they could not agree about the partition , they would let all alone , and there should it rot ere they would fall out about it ; and accordingly fools they lived , and died beggers ; now i pray what would you have done in this case ? i dare answer for you , that you would rather have taken any part then to have lost the whole . even the same case is now before you . let us see your wisdome , and how well you will construe such divisions . and to get the treasure each one take his part as neer and as conveniently it may be alotted . let me yet go a little further . how often are you put to hard and chargeable shifts for fodder for your cattle in long winters ? yea , and sometimes starve them out-right ? and how fully will that want be repaired by this direction ? how fearfull and desperate is your want of bread upon the least defect of a full harvest , wherein you must either be a prey to the sharking engrosser , and mercilesse hoarder , or tackle up to the maritine parts for forreign musty corn , to save your lives ? whereby you also exhaust your countrey of much money to your further misery , nay should our sins of commission , or of rejecting gods gifts pull down the failing but of one crop , what should , or what could you do to be relieved ? verily , methinks you should so far rue your childrens cryes , and tears of the poor for bread , as it should bid you cease your triviall arguments , and hasten the prevention of such distresses . thus may pharaoh dream we be an israel in want , and you a joseph to provide for the seven years famine . thus may our honour , our wealth , our nation be secured , and worthily advanced , and what should let ? will you be yet further perswaded . do but ferry over then to the next shore , and behold the little bee , whose thighs were empty , and fortunes leave within your childes memory ; now by her admirable industry and cheerfull labours , so abounding in provisions , as makes her wonderfull to the world , and her wealth unspeakable ; she hath so fully argued the happinesse of enclosure , which she hath of late years effected , that she now imparteth of her store to us , that might more amply have it of our own , if we would but practise her skill , and imitate her providence . but a fault must be known ere it can be reformed , and if when you have here read your errour with the many mischiefs , losses , and detriments that you have long suffered , and see the much good promised , whereof every enclosure is a sure warrant ; i know you will be wise , and may conclusions accord with my propositions on your behalfe , so great will be your comfort and happinesse in it , as you will seriously repent for past neglects ; but let the charmer charm never so loud , the deafadder will not hear . as my self in such case have heard one say ( being confuted upon argument of this subject ) ( whose shame i shew you ) that might enclosure prove never so happy to his prince , his countrey , or his own particular , he would not consent . but let him go , if he had no more grace towards his prince and countrey , nor wit for himselfe , we shall be sure to finde him a weak opposer ; and i doubt not but the foolish stubbornnesse of a few such will give the more lustre , and commendation to those many , whom judgement and discretion will direct aright . i will not feed you longer with promises , i know you long to see your profit , and will no longer be idle , and as your coherence herein will highly please god , and multiply his mercies on your labours ; so will your comfort be unspeakable , and the paines over-satisfied with joy , of your unfainedly wel-wishing author , adam moore . all these following books printed by nicholas bourne at the south entrance of the royall exchange . sir frances drakes four voyages to the west-indies , in o posthuma fosteri , the description of a ruler , on which is inscribed divers scales , and the uses thereof , with propositions in astronomy , navigation , and dialling , by samuel ●oster , professour of astronomy in gresham-colledge . o . anatomy of play , a small tract against gaiming . o . a full discovery of a soul concealment , by william baywell and john brockedon . discoverers and plaintiffs against the committee of hartford , the treasurers and pay-masters there in the year . fol. popular errours , or the errours of the people in matter of physick , first written in latine by james primerose doctor in physick ; to which is added a treatise against the antinomiall cup , translated into english by robert witty , doctor in thysick . o . the phrygian fabulist , or the fables of aesop , entracted from the latine copy , and moralized by leonard willan , cent. o . a book of use-money after the rate of six per cent. also the discount of leases , annuities , and reversions , by john clavill accomptant . o . an introduction to merchants accompts , containing five distinct questions , which may serve as an appendix to the merchants accompts that's lately reprinted , compiled by john collings accomptant , and studies in the mathematicks . o . bread for the poor : and advancement of the english nation , by enclosure of the waste and common grounds . it was a right and proper speech of a roman bishop touching this kingdom , when he termed it verè hortus deliciarum , verè puteus inexhaustus . a very garden of delights , and a very well that cannot be exhausted . and that exprest with such confidence , that to each attribute he gave a severall varè , thereby concluding that his commendation was grounded on sure and evident reason . to search the foundation of which attributes , we shall finde it to be the eden-like blessing received at the almighties hand in his first creation ; who vouchsafed it so flourishing a sight , and garden-like condition , that therein it surpasseth others , and stands a mirror to the worlds nations , looking over her walls to behold it . the pleasure and plenty by this speech intimated , issue from the vertue of the former attribute horius . for the nature of a garden is to be the nurcery of plenty as well as of delights ; and as a garden of all other improvements hath the preheminence in either ; so in this denomination of england to be verè hortus , it might be further concluded , a verè puteus inexhaustus . now it having pleased god to put us into this garden , what may we conceive he requireth of our part to be performed ? to dream of the golden age , and feed on the poets , sponte suâ tell us ? to carouse the nectar , and not plant the vine ? no , as adam in eden , so are we by that all-creator placed in this garden , to keep it and dresse it , for the comfort , encrease , and preservation of his people committed unto it , which indeed hath formerly been so well performed , that our garden hath not only feasted her own family abundantly at home , but ( to her honour and profit ) relieved the wants of her neighbour-friends abroad , so strengthening and storing her selfe with life and wealth , that ( when she enjoyed peace in her own house ) as the imperiall lady of europe's bounds , she ruled the nations with an high hand ; and not the proudest suitor enamoured of her beauty , nor the cruellest foe envying her fortunes , could ever execute the least attempt on her worth ; witnesse the late happy atonement of york and lancaster , whose hands conjoyned , made so strong the arm of this empire , that it hath alwayes since ( as in like case before ) broken in peeces the highest head of power and practice that urg'd her to strike . but time producing alternities , and the many peacefull yeers of our dread caesars protection , begetting such multitudes of souls in the tribes of our israel , as former ages never saw : it now behoveth us to survey and search the angles of our garden , and so to dresse the desert and fruitlesse borders of it , that our increased charge be not unprovided for , nor by our neglect the family famished , that so late was the wonder of plenty to others : in which designement we shall finde those unblessed lands , the wastes and common grounds of this kingdom , extending themselves into so large a portion of our garden , that they are both a blemish in the beauty of it , and the reason of want and weaknesse in our multiplied charge ; and could the present abuse of them be discovered to the utmost , and the fruit of their improvement foreshewed , no member ( i presume ) of this state ( nisi mentis inops , or reipublicae inimicus ) but would grieve at the one , and with the utmost posse of his abilities labour the other . but forasmuch as the state of them is of most men meerly unconsidered ; of some , somewhat understood , & yet but in an imperiect apprehension ; of few or none at large or according to their certain condition : i have presumed ( in zeal to my countrey ) to collect the reasons that may lead us to some perfect understanding of them ; hoping that when the well featur'd portraicture of their reformed body shall be more apparent to the judicious view of our imperiall gardiner , and his monarchicall family ; it may please god to quicken it with the breath of life , and a perfect creation , to the reliefe , power , and honour of the whole nation . but to omit relation of the severall natures of these lands throughout england particularly , ( which vain tediousnesse ( if not impossibility ) may excuse , ) i will chiefly incircle my reports of wastes ( ad suum esse ) within the limits of the county of somerset ( my native soil ) and some neighbouring parts , where mine eye and eare having been most conversant in observations of this subject , i can presume of a true and sincere account of the state of those wastes . and yet shall i not be so punctually immured within the confines of that countrey , but that i may use of this discourse , the mathematicians promise of their yeerly almanacks : that it is calculated for the meridian of somerset , but may serve indifferently through all england . and though i cut my pattern by the wastes of those parts only , yet may it please the reader ( observant of other wheresoever ) to make use of these assertions : i am well assured he shall in some or most parts finde them concurring with his own opinion , or gain reason of encouragement to the work in question , beyond that which former passages have occasioned him . there hath been a long observed rule with us , that people are no where more penurious then such as border on common lands : and this poverty we may finde thrown down upon us by three main hands . i. the first of gods displeasure , which indeed is the reason of the rest , and hath in it all disprofits , for how can we expect his blessing on that which our own wilfull idlenesse makes hatefull to him ? or why should he blesse those that wittingly retain the curse of sin in their dwellings ? ii. the second of our own blindnesse , that while penury steales upon us we are so oculis capti , as not to see by what means it comes : but thus indeed we are deceived . the surmised benefit which commoners depend on to proceed from these deserts falling short of their hopes , they sink insensibly in the vain opinion thereof ; for they suppose these profits a great part and member of their living , according to which computation , they hoise sail into an higher gale of expence then their ship can endure , and while they dream of midas his thrift , they starve in the delusions of their deceiving accounts , and the eve-like help which they imagine their commons are to their enclosures , betrayeth all into the hands of beggery , as hereafter will further appeare . iii. the third of idlenesse , and this indeed is so consequent , that for this respect only , we may well enough presume that wastes are more mischievous then beneficiall to the republique . for our poorer people bordering on these lands , account it to be a sufficient trade of living to be only a borderer : and so many stratagems ( forsooth ) have they to get thrift here , that to seeke other mysteries of gaining , were to incur the danger of sweat , and a laborious life . here ( say they ) we can keep a horse or a cow ( if we have any , ) or if our estate will not reach to such a one , yet can we compass a goose or a swine , that in a yeer may yield us many a penny ( god wot . ) here can we get a furze , a ferne , a green bush , or a dried cowsharn , to keep our selves close by the fire in a cold season , when your city-trades will not allow you no such ease , nor yield you fuell without your money . here can we get wit by practising to beguile the silly woodcock and his feathered fellows by tricks and traps of our own painfull framing , the profit whereof shall sometimes keep us playing till our next wants enforce a new supply . nay , whereas some suppose us to be poor , idle , and of no credit , we can be trusted with the oversight and charge of whole . herds of cattell of the rich mans that dwells farther of , only when some are missing , he uncharitably suspects that by our birdings , or our seeking them ( wittingly ) where they are not , or our carelesnesse , of many such means , they are lost . and this often times is the thanks , that such ●lu●h-fists give us in recompence of our pains , may , can they get but any reasonable evidence ( such is their conscience ) they will not stick to call our very lives in question , whereby often endeth the travell of a night-walker . finally , if our issue and posterity amount to a whole score in a family , or how many soever , we have for them all as good an inheritance in these lands , as he that hath an hundred cattell of his own to put in them , for a good ten acre tenement : and why may not we in time ( especially by such good helps as these ) increase to a good stock also , and keep as many cattell as some others ? and think you that we can advise our selves no better , then to turn off our children to foolish ( sweating ) trades , whereby they shall lose this inheritance , and so choise and easie a means to get wealth ? or can any living wit devise a better course for these commons , by which such an infinite number of numbers be now so wel maintained and kept in action ? no , 't will cost more hot water to alter our custome , then can be made with all the spice in the great carricke , i warrant you . as for inclosure ( which some talke of ) the very rumor thereof will so impoverish the poore borderers , that before you go about it , you shall scarce finde one of five of them worth a duck-egge . well , i grant you , yet should a man wish you richer , i doubt not but you will thank him for it , though you refuse his offer , i will therefore proceed to tell you my opinion . the wastes of this country ( by which we take our aim ) are in their naturall essence of two sorts . viz , uplandish , and marish . and first of the first . the principall benefits of the uplandish wastes are reaped in the breeding and feeding ( or you may say starving ) of horses , neat and sheep , and in cutting up furze , fernes , heath , bushments , and such like for fuell . i. as for the keeping of the horses on these upland wastes , it is thus : he that breedeth a colt , assigneth him on these commons to labour for his living , yet so far is he from sweating in this work , that though he travels the whole day for a course sallet , he can hardly keep warmth enough to prevent death : and sometimes extremity of weather or other casualties robbeth the poor man of the summe and service , which he hoped his colt ( at time of growth ) would have yeelded to his purse and affairs . and then ( having skored on his own back the reckoning of a peradventure-expense ) his little back is sunk , and his poor estate shipwrackt . but the disadvantage that this ill husbandry is to the great state of our nation , is a danger so fearful , that it craveth the best resolution for remedy ; for whereas our breed of horse should be ( for the service and safety of our state ) large , strong , and able , these commoners raising their colts in this manner ( by cold and famine ) bring them to so unworthy and unserviceable a proportion , as they utterly disappoint the state of all expectation this way ; and beside , do so couzen their private master of his right , that whereas three well-bred horses might perform his service and husbandry , he must keepe five or six of these in continuall diet for those uses , which is a bosome-wolfe so gnawing his low estate , that his means are transacted from his own and his families maintenance to the feeding of a feeble , hungry , unprofitable teem . ii. the like observation is of their neat , for the borderers ( in the scrambling at thrift , to catch the most among their neighbours , they may turn out their young cattell to be nurtured in these wastes , where if they also meet not death many wayes there walking ) they likewise grow to such brockish and starved stature , that instead of yeelding the owner his desired profit , they grieve his heart to behold them , and albeit ( with the nature of lean creatures ) they devoure as much food as the greater cattell , yet when they are brought to the shambles to lay down their principall duties , they deceive the common-wealth also , in yielding scarce half the measure that well bred cattell do : the kine then ( which should be the best nurses of their owners family ) taking part ( if not a great , or the greatest part ) of their repast on these lands , instead of feeding their masters charge , starve both it and themselves ; insomuch that should pharoah arise to behold these herds , he would protest them to be the only breed and issue of his lean kine , that left not a faire one un-devoured . iii. their sheep only finde a little better entertainment then the greater cattell , by reason they naturally stand best in a thin sweet diet , yet through extremities are also usually pincht , and restrained from yielding the profit they would were their allowance better ; and so much are their flocks hindered by abuse of these lands , that where wastes are , we have not the third part of them we might , were the evils removed that so much shorten their feeding ; and therefore in behalfe of this our golden cattell , that so courteously give us food and raiment , and with their own wealth , purchase unto us from others their more dainty commodities to content us : it were rather to be wished , that our best and utmost care should be used in multiplying their flocks , then they should want the least part of that relief which their true worth deserveth ; in respect whereof i aime not this discourse at the rich plains , only fit and already proper for this use , otherwise then the discreet occupier may finde way to his further profit , ( in this kinde . ) iv. touching the fuell aforesaid , which we sometimes or somewhere get from these lands , it is no great commodity in the worth of it ; but so dearly purchased , that we may grieve to see so many goodly fields ( assigned by god to feed us ) burnt up and blasted into the ashes of abuse ; for it is true that the greatest part of many of these wastes is over-grown with some , or most , or all of the forementioned curses , as furze , heath , &c. ( lying , as we may say , under the curse ) insomuch as the least part only serveth to feed the cattell committed unto them ; for where such a waste is of the quantity of a thousand acres , commonly eight hundred ( though one be too much ) are overspread with such matter , from which the fuell that is gotten may be worth ( communibus annis ) six pence an acre , but seldome more , and most where nothing at all ; and what benefit these are in respect of what may be according to the ensuing probabilities , let the reader judge . v. touching stealing , straying , surcharging , and other abuses here frequent , because they are more common in the marish wastes , i shall desire you to apply them here , as in the discourse of those other lands they shall be offered . vi . some of these wastes are also in some part moorish and boggy ; so as by all these inconveniencies , even whole countreys ( in many parts of this nation ) are swallowed up in desolation , which though former ages have not been prest to look into by reason the ancient enclosures sufficed for their meaner charge , yet the great increase of people in our dayes , ( as we have said ) cannot but compell us ( in duty to god and our selves ) to make the best use of our abilities for our relief and preservation . in consideration whereof ( seeing these lands may be the best and onely means to yield us supplie ) we must enquire what better course may be taken with them for this purpose . which to be done by common husbandry we may not expect ; partly , for that the nature of the vulgar ( not so prompt to publick , as their private benefit ) will never cohere in such an order ; partly , for that the land cannot by any such meanes be wrought to that perfection which private endevours will effect . the principall and onely means then to ripen the fruit of new hopes is enclosure , and distribution of the lands to private owners , which being appropriated to their particular uses , will then be cleansed and purged of the former deformities , and so fully improved by their carefull industry , that it will undoubtedly yield them such advancement thereby , and consequently reliefe to the republike , as hereafter ensueth . i. first , ( according to the generall vertue of enclosures ) it will be an exceeding increase of grasse and feeding for cattel , and that so good , as our breeds both of horse , neat , and sheep , will be large , fair , serviceable , and more abundant . ii. secondly , an increase of corn so great , as our barns and garners will rejoyce and be glad at the yeerely store of provision , they shall receive beyond the measure of former times , to the incomparable advancement of the wealth and power of this nation , as may be evidenced ( for satisfaction of those that shall desire a more particular account of these hopes ) by the ensuing probabilities . iii. thirdly , the hedge rowe of enclosures will beget ( instead of the now supposed benefit of fuell ) such a certain increase of good and substantiall firing , as both in quantity and quality our uses will be far better served then now , and besides ( by the owners diligence , or a publique command ) such an increase of timber ( for building and other occasions ) will out of the same in the future be raised , as the great decay and spoile thereof made in the latter times , may hereafter be well re-supplied and recovered . now ( to proceed in the promised probabilities ) if we compare the barrennesse of common , with the benefit of enclosure . or the worth of this , with the unworthinesse of the other , or will be judg'd by the many experiments which late yeers have made , we may well conclude , that the fourth part of these wastes enclosed , travelled , and husbanded ( if not much lesse ) will fully countervail all benefit now received of them . let us admit then , that in england and wales are two millions of acres of such lands , whereof the fourth part answecing the present profit , there remaineth fifteen hundred thousand acres gained , which to be employed to tillage , will yeeld yeerly fifteen hundred thousand quarters of corn , worth fifteen hundred thousand pounds , all cleerly improved to the common-wealth . as by the earths increase then , man is relieved , let us also conjecture what number of people may be maintained and preserved by improvement of these lands . the judgement of our parliament hath conceived that four acres of land is competent for the reliefe of a cottagers charge , as may appear by the act that tolerateth the poor man to erect him a cottage , in case he procure four acres of land to be laid unto it for that purpose . now the least charge he can have , is himselfe and his wife ( for seldome any man lives alone ) so as albeit most cottagers have a charge of children , that pay double or treble this proportion : two persons to be maintained by four acres is the least we can assigne , by which computation only the fifteen hundred thousand acres gained as aforesaid , will maintain seven hundred and fifty thousand persons more then now they do . for the better credit of these conjectures , we may consider that though some countreys have not their suitable proportion to make up this computation of acres , yet will others so far exceed , that the account in the generall cannot fail : nay , we shall assuredly finde it will far exceed ; for many counties of this kingdom , witnesse their many vast and spacious deserts , are able to shew you particularly two hundred thousand acres of these wastes , if not much more . as for the conjectures of the fruit of tillage and value of granes , though some acres or some sorts may fall short , others surmounting will make the supposition hold . and for the pre-supposed multitude of people that be thus maintained , the account also hath sufficiēt credit in grounding on the judgement of the great and highest court of this common-wealth . some will here say , is it possible or convenient that all these lands should be tilled : but i answer , that whether in tillage or pasture ( being improved , and mans love afforded them in their continuall manurance ) they will be alike in each beneficiall for private and common wealth . another question may be , by what means these lands may be improved , as seeming naturally barren , and not apt to fructifie ? to which i reply also , that who well considereth them in their particular natures , shall in the most part finde that god in his provident creation , hath appointed helps to mans industry for their improvement ; for out of their own bowels ( or not far distant ) most commonly is to be had marle , chalk , sand , lime , soile , water-courses and such like to be ministred : or should these happen to faile somewhere , yet by removing the le ts only shall we finde a sufficient alteration to content us . the experiments whereof have been such in all places as have produced very happy effects , and the land from little or no worth , recovered to a perfect goodnesse , and made comparable to the best worth of ancient enclosures , as example would make a large discourse , if it were needfull . but to assure you of satisfaction in this point , i will refer you to be judged by your own eye as you travell . you shall often see the wastes confining with enclosures in one and the same levell , and the soile of one and the other ( in the quality and seat of nature ) not distinguishable , but by reason of private husbandry , such is the disparity , that the one sheweth the heaps of plenty , in a comely aspect , the other gulfes of want and penury in a deformed visage : yea , you shall alwayes observe enclosures , though on most barren and fruitlesse situations ( by the good husbands diligence ) so blessed , as they exceed ( in fructifying ) the best natures of the un-respected wastes . let your patience permit me to make one step ( not out of the way ) into the county of devon , where by a little discourse , i may fill up all vacancy of your affection touching this particular . the soyle of that countrey is ( in a great part ) naturally barren , and in it selfe of a fruitlesse and dead condition , whereby the people being urged to labours , omit neither charge nor toile to redress this imperfection . but their painfull hand helping the earths weaknesse by applying of the forementioned helps ( albeit with unspeakable charge ) it cometh to passe that out of a barren and dry land , they suck even the milk of canaan , with the fruition of such wealth , content and plenty , as i presume no people have more . neither may they be confined in this honour , but i dare further avouch on their behalfe that of such strength , spirit , and hardinesse , are these people ( god , no doubt , thus blessing them in their constant labours ) that in any martiall action for their countreys service , they can endure and perform asmuch or more then any people whatsoever , and so happy are they in those labours , that thereby their poorest people ( which else could not be relieved ) live well , and breed up their children in an honest , thriving , and commendable sort ; from whence i infer , that as the upland-wastes have in nature a neer sympathy with these enclosures , and in quality of creation not differing ; so may they be travelled with like respect , they will produce as good effects . and as this countrey is interlaced with exceeding great quantities of this sort of wastes ( i suppose to the number of divers hundred thousand acres ) so might there be a course of distribution for their better manurance , doubtlesse , this people would so expresse their own worthinesse , as they would breed an infinite reliefe to poore people distressed , and lead the way so directly to these improvements , as the wilfullest strayer would soon desire to walke after them . having drawn from hence a reason for this enclosure , god assisting , a resolution may ensue , for the needfull accomplishment , the hope whereof guiding my feet , now leadeth me down these large deserts into the lower valleys of the marish wastes : through which ( by heavens aid ) i may so also travell , as my steps may shew the way to recover their goary sicknesse , to that health and perfection which the giver of all goodnesse for his part hath naturally bestowed on them . the marish commons ( which are indeed but the indigested moles of richest meadows ) are so infested with inconveniencies ( as hitherto they have been abused ) that instead of expected benefit , we fare by them , as did the philistines by the arke , who looking into it were smitten with plagues and confusion ; and we using these in hope of profit ( because we use them not aright ) are galled with so many mischiefs by them , that i have heard wise men wish them swallowed of the sea , rather then used to such detriment . i. first , they are generally subject to inundation , which by a twofold inconvenience proveth so hurtfull , that they are utterly deprived of their naturall strength . the first is overflowing , which by means of the spaciousnesse and large levell of these lands , continueth so long on their superficies , that after a downfall comming upon them , they cannot be quit of the oppressing waters ( often-times ) before another flood . the second is intermixture of waters ; the effect whereof is , that the land being a loose and spungie earth , the waters by their long abode thereon , do so incorporate with its substance , and transact it into such a coldnesse and destruction of ability , that ( as nature in defect ) it is delivered of nothing but monsters and abortives , as sedge , lavors , rushes , ruffets , flags , hassakes , and grasse so weak & sower , as is neither wholesome nor competent sustinance to the cattell feeding on it . ii. a second hinderance proceedeth of the former , and that is the treading of cattell on them at unseasonable times ; for albeit the land ( by reason of inundation ) be often-times of so squeazy and insolid substance , that the least or lightest beast cannot step on it without a great impression ; yet such is the folly of the commoners , that for the surmised benefit of a little ( ill gotten ) food for their cattell , they presse them to keep garison in these wastes , at such rotten times of rain and waters , that each footstep stabbeth into the heart of the land ; insomuch , that by this evill custome , these lands have rather the likenesse of a noysome high-way ( such as most that countrey hath ) than of a fair and smooth-fac'd visage , as their naturall beauties require ; whereby ( as it were in despight ) we trample the gifts of god under the feet of beasts , nay , more truly may we say , under the feet of men of a beastly condition : for were there in men ( authors of this violence ) but the least acknowledgement or respect of gods loving providence , they would fear and abhor thus ( by the feet of their beasts ) to abuse his goodnesse ; and the rather , for that the best and most fertile lands take most hurt by this injury . iii. such labyrinths of straying are these lands , that in some of larger sort of them , cattel ( thither sent for reliefe ) are as hawks cast off to prey for themselves ; which once out of the owners sight , are in hazard whether ever to be seen or no ; and sometimes such is the owners fortune , that he hath been as glad at the finding of halfe his strayed cattell , as the woman of her lost groat : and should the losses in this kinde only be accounted ( both in worth of cattel lost , and charge of seeking them ) and compared with the received benefits , i know the profit gotten by feeding would ( in this only inconvenience ) to many men , come short of the value of their hinderance . iv. such nurseries of thieves and horse-stealers , that a good beast cannot but be in continuall danger of a new master . for a man here missing his horse or other cattell , rather thinketh they are strayed then stolne , and while he spends his time in seeking and searching the plaines and angles of these moores , the wards and pounds of the countrey about ( with many a sighing oyez for his absent beast ) sir thief hath made his market with the supposed strayer , spent the money , and is casting a new bout for another booty : and such are the continuall plagues of stealing and straying out of these lands ; that whoso listeneth to the complaints of people frequent in this kinde , would wonder that any of discretion would adventure their goods on such hazards , and many indeed have been so bitten and beaten by them ( and the other harms ) and some ( best husbands ) so well foresee them , that they have utterly refused all use of such entercommoning , and to feed their cattell , have rather chosen continually to farme enclosures at dear rates . i will by the way tell you of an accident credibly related . a late great person in the county of dorset ( no doubt upon information of the profitable feeding in these wastes ) was pleased to commend to kings-sedgemoore ( a very large waste of this nature in the county of somerset ) fourscore horse in one summer : and the time being come when he desired their return , and to see his stables furnished with their well-fed quarters , his bayliffes ( sent for their attachment ) returned a non est inventus upon every his four score geldings : the price of this horse-meat not well brookt , a renewed processe with loud proclamations was sent abroad for apprehending these banckerupts , by which means , and the expence of or livre. in searching far and neer territories ; about of them were at last brought home ; but the other being ( by all likelyhood ) preferred to new services , for ever after renounced their old : to get direct intelligence of them , you must enquire of a kinde of merchants , which trade in the privic conveyance of such wares : one of which heretofore condemned at an assizes at sarum , for such a malefact , confessed before his execution , that himselfe had ( for his part ) stolne fourscore horses out of this only common . yet well-fare a grave burgomaster of a corporation , who affecting this kinde of trade , and ( after many yeers practice ) brought to execution for it , would not be so immodest to confesse ( or haply the old mans memory fail'd him ) how many of this sort had past through his purse . the hurt then that may be done to many people by a multitude of this vermine haunting these places ( which indeed are begotten to this vilainie by facility and security of the execution ) cannot be esteemed of small value : and as great commons suffer no mean proportion of losse in this sort ; so may we not doubt , but the lesser sort bear their part in this discord , and other like disprosits consonant to their quantities . v. such pest-houses of diseases for cattel , that should the owner be in like danger of the plague , as his beast of some deadly infection , while he is here in ordinary , he would rather send them ( with the gadarens swine ) to feed ( or perish ) in the ocean , then ever to set foot on these places . for as hither come the poor , the blinde , lame , tired , scabbed , mangie , rotten , murrainous , and all kinds uf diseased scurvie cattell , to whom the owners will not afford a bit of their worst enclosures for entertainment : so ( for morbida sola pecus inficit omnepecus ) one of these may infect a multitude , as the miserable losses of many poor people impoverished by such casualty , may ( too truly ) approve . moreove , the extremities of heat and drought , want of water , and over-much wet and foggie weather in summer-times , are seasons so contageous and breeding infections amongst the multitudes of these cattell , that ( though some men by chance scape better ) many finde it too true , and have often affirm'd it , that one yeere of seven ( by death and infection ) quitteth the profit that the other six have yeelded . and for the multitudes of sheep ( especially ) yeerly murthered in these places , or taken in their last gasp , our winter-markets ( full furnisht with twelve-penny rotten carcases ) can give you in evidence . vi . so surcharged with the unlawfull assemblies of ill husbands cattell , that the hope of benefit ( begotten by a little fair at some seasons ) betrayeth no small numbers to meer famine : and most true it is , that though scarcity of food bringeth not immediate death , yet such an inbred hunger occupieth their pined maws , that ( with the uplandish wastes ) they foster only brockes and cattell of little worth : and some by experience have found , that their horses ( in want of food ) have with the very root of the grasse so swallowed the earth , that in short space the owners have been ( as of bad debtors ) satisfied with their skins , and their carcases ript for the reason of their sudden deaths , the same earth ( clotted in their maws ) was found to be the only cause thereof . vii . in the rank of these miseries may be mustered the noysome troops of geese and swine pestering these lands , which albeit our laws have banished hence for nasty and filthy creatures , and some sequestred puddles might more properly entertain ; yet such is the commoners discretion , that they appoint them continually to defile and dabble these fruitfull plains in such sort as would pitty a commonwealths-friend to behold , and so noysome are they both to land and cattell , that i have seen good husbands displeased and vexed at nothing more then at the view of this slovenly stuffe ( albeit their own ) in their feeding grounds . to amend these evils have we no other means , but the same which is formerly prescribed for the other wastes , whereby not only the forementioned damages may be saved , but the ensuing commodities , and the blessing attendant purchased . in which course we shall finde , that the very ditches of enclosure ( without other charge or labour ) will so drain and evacuate the malignant waters spoiling the land , that it will soon become dry , warme , solid , and of a perfect condition ; and not only disburthened of the oppressing waters begetting the foresaid monstrous issues ; but so consolated with the suns welcome influence , that we may say , the vallies will laugh and sing at the new purchase of the almighties favours , and man will be glad and joyfull at the abundant fruit proceeding from them . i. i cannot here omit ( for instance ) the noble example of allermoor in that county , in quantity i suppose about acres ; of which credible report telleth us , that within years past it lay in common as a meer stagnum , bog or puddle , worth to the owners as much as nothing , but it being enclosed , and appropriated to severall and private uses , it shortly became the richest , most goodly , and famous feeding of that countrey ; and now in one yeere yieldeth more good to the owners and commonwealth , then to have lain in his old lethargie , it could have done to the worlds end . and in like manner so certainly good have all such experiments ( in all sorts of wastes ) proved , that never any failed of their expected ends : and whether the tenants and occupiers of any new enclosure will consent to reduce it again into common and the condition of wastes , themselves will soon resolve you ; whence we may conclude , that like triall once made of the wastes in question , they will soon shew us as fair and decent countenance , breed our cattel generally to a large and goodly proportion , in much greater abundance , and feed and fat them in such plenteous measure , as our fare will be the better , great numbers of people more relieved , and our purses return from the market with the lesse damage . ii. a second good to ensue by this enclosure ; will be also in the great increase of fuell ( now a miserable want in many marish countreys ) for by setting willows in the banks of these enclosures , ( a plant naturally agreeing with that soile ) the noysome burning of the dung of cattel , now scratcht from these wastes for this purpose ( which would more properly be left to improve and strengthen the land ) will be better supplied by the use of a sufficient sweet and kindely fuell thus provided . and whereas both grasse and cattell are now punished with the extremity of cold and pinching windes , having no defence against them , such a warmth would these willows effect , that all would freely spring and prove together to the generall profit . iii. hence will also be occasioned a great encrease of tillage : for men finding in these improvements an abundant provision of the best feeding for their cattel , will dispose more of their upland-grounds to tillage , which they must now of necessity depast : and whereas many arables ( through want of soyle and maintenance ) do now fail in their naturall strength , and bring forth a small encrease , the abundance of hay yeerly drawn out of these enclosures , will so inlarge the poor mans muck-hill ( his philosophers stone ) that all his labours ( in casting out this , and loading in his harvest ) would be turned to gold ; and the fruits of tillage hereby encreased in no small measure . and indeed so mutually will both these kinde of lands accord in helping each other in matters of this nature , as they will even emulate and strive to outdo each other in storing the commonwealth with their abundant fruits . we may also conjecture , what number of people may be sustained by a generall improvement of these lands through the nation ; wherein i think we shall not much erre to suppose all marish wastes to be of this nature . it is most certain , that in this present state of confusion ( though some perhaps may gain somewhat ) the great losses thereby sustained in the generall , depriveth the republike of all received benefits ; by which we may account , that these lands improved may be wholly gained . now the vertue of such lands enclosed with us is such , that four acres will sufficiently feed and keepe two kine in winter and summer , whose profit in all respects will be at least li. per annum ; and for three poor people a competent maintenance . let us admit then , that england and wales hath a million of these acres , ( but we shall finde much more ) it followeth that their yeerly benefit to the republike , will be two millions and a halfe in value , and seven hundred and fifty thousand persons may be fed by the same ; and this number added to the former computation of the like number to be relieved by the upland-wastes , we finde that the general improvement of the wastes of this nation will suffice to maintain fifteen hundred thousand people more then now they do , and encrease the worth of this nation yeerly four millions ; and is not here bread for the poor , and advancement of the english nation ? will you now aske me why commons should be enclosed ? or shall i aske you why they are not ? but you will say , we have not people enough to make use of this great encrease ; surely if god continue his blessing of generation upon us , we may have in short time , and in the mean time , can we not spare our overplus to others abroad that want it , get their money and commodities for it , and save our own , that we now export to buy theirs ▪ and touching imployment for the poor ( wherewith this land so infinitely aboundeth ) such means thereof would be for them in the manurance of each sort of these wastes enclosed , ( as by diking , hedging , fencing , setting , sowing , reaping , gleaning , mowing , making hay , and what not ? which is all bread for the poor ) that from the noysome and deboist courses of begging , filching , robbing , roguing , murthering , and whatsoever other villainies their unexercised brains and hands undertake , they would ( even gladly ) be reclaimed and refined to loyall and laudable courses , as well for their own contenting reliefe , as the unspeakable comfort and honour of the whole state , who now ( as a wretched and needy mother ) is enforced to make continuall massacres of them , for those misdoings which even their want of bread urgeth them to commit . and should we search the bottome of our fault or fortune in this oversight , we may fear that a greater contempt would be laid to our charge , then our best oratory would be able to excuse . for albeit , god hath commanded man to encrease and multiply , and to fill the earth , ordaining matrimony free and lawfull to all : we ( supposing he hath not given enough to feed us ) though not by our command verbally ( yet by our act really ) stop that issue of his blessing by preventing the poor of needfull habitations ( whereby indeed their encrease is much hindred ) and by this neglect of so great a portion of the earth which he hath given us to be also filled , what do we otherwise then repugne his commandement , while we suffer it to be unhabitable and desolate ? and whereas god hath of late times brought us into other lands , whereby his gospel and glory may be the further spread , and our own arme the more strengthened ; how much more able might we be to accomplish those happy plantations by the increase of people , wealth and provisions , which the improvement of the lands would yield us ? the credit of this designe having stirred continuall disputations for it , howsoever unadvised opposers cannot but fail in the main , they have yet founded themselves on some imaginary reasons to disswade the work , amongst which , two only ( as i have observed ) most valid , ( beleeving that some particular satisfaction may be required ) i thought fit not to passe by unexamined . the first is , that it will be an injury to mens rights , who being now at liberty to entercommon sanz nombre , and over all , shall hereby be curbed and limited to a certain measure . the other is a clamour counterfeited with commiseration , that by enclosure the poor will be undone , starve , perish , &c. answer of the first , i say , that sanz nombre being mistaken by the vulgar , they would maintain that where they have such interest , they may charge their cattell on the common to a number infinite , whereas indeed ( though their right be of a number uncertain ) yet doth the law allow them common for no more cartell then are requisite for the manurance of their tenaments which have interest . and from this errour is it , that many wealthy people ( dreaming of great riches to be found in wastes ) get them a property in some poor cottage interessed therein , under colour of the right whereof ( and often by meere intrusion ) they bring into the common some , some , some ( haply ) head of cattell ( of all sorts ) whereas the tenement in whose right they do it , is unable lawfully to allow three , which course being also ( quoad posse ) generally holden of the borderers themselves , commonly three or four rich persons in the parish ( possessing much cattell ) surcharge the commons , and usurp more ro their shares then the whole township besides ; which kindes of people also in any proposition for reforming the abuses complained on , we shall finde the only authors of the second cavil , and the bellows that kindle the fire of contradiction in the hearts of the vulgar , causing them with themselves to cry out , the poor will be undone , &c. and all is proclaimed for the poor , when as by this stalking under the name of the poor , such as are poor indeed , and have scarce a beast to feed with them , are by these foxes devoured , and a poor modicum is it that the poor can get amongst the surcharging multitudes of such persons cattell . as for other objections ( whereof some have already appeared unto you amongst the fruits of idlenesse in our first entrance ) rather let them be cast out of the balance , then admitted in comparison with the sound conclusions of a publique welfare . but be it that some or other reason may hold against this work , or that some men may ( haply ) ( either in right or profit ) suffer some prejudice ( for in a matter so confuse and momentary , it can hardly be but the lot may to some fall short ) yet so many arguments ( ab utili ) pressing the common-wealths advantage in an unsuitable comparison , will decide the question . and that ancient maxime of law ( better is a mischiesefe than an inconvenience ) can warrant the preferment of a generall good , before the respect of some few mens prejudice . to prevent the great question that will now arise ( quantum mihi ? ) i must acknowledge that so various are the quantities of bordering tenures ; so manifold the rights , bounds , priviledges , conditions , &c. of the wastes : so different the state and quality of persons interessed , as my jacobs staffe ( without survey ) hath neither art to admeasure , nor can have the hap to please in such perplexities , and must therefore request the demandants so to rest assured on the judicious and upright dimensions of such honourable and worthy persons as may be charged therewith , ( whereof each county would have a grand committee ) that they quit their thoughts of vain jealonsies , and expect the most just limitation for their contents : only in a generall respect i conceive four sorts of people to be considered . i. the first are lords of the wastes and bordering tenures , to whom ( if new reserved rents suffice not for content ) a part of such wastes may be added in demeane to poyse their rights . and as i wish them no lesse then a due measure , so i hope their estates being already great and happy , they will be so honourable in their desires as to crave no more . ii. the second are able tenants , who having sufficient to live without it , should be only limited in a just moderation , which neverthelesse will be so good an addition to their estates , as in a while they will finde their thrift better encreasing . iii. the third , poor cottagers and others of the poorer sort of tenants . and these ( having little or no other inccour or substance to maintain them ) should in charity be so far tendred as ( according to their severall charges ) a competent quantity be assigned to redeem them from their ever-preendured penury : and whereas cottagers estates are now nothing but misery ( in value not d. ) their portion by this course may be severally worth fourty or fifty pound or more to be sold , ( a good mans estate . ) and think you will this undo the poor ? iv. the last impotant poor , for the necessary reliefe of which sort a portion would be allotted in each lordship ( where commons will extend unto it ) under yeerly disposure of the church-wardens and overseers for their reliefe . and as this apportienment will not only yield a more comfortable sustentation to them , then the former coldnesse of their overseers charity ( god wot ) could afford by way of rates : so will the whole parish or lordship finde a perpetuall ease and quiet in ceasing their factious assesments of each other to this purpose : and the quantity that hence will be required to this use will be most where so mean and little as the omitting of the one to that end will have no equality in comparison with the manifold comforts of the other . and where wastes fall out so large , as each of these sorts being competently satisfied a remainder may be left ( as many where very large ones will be , ) what more happy and convenient use may be made of them , then ( by direction of worthy committees ) to distribute them in like private usage , for the maintenance and habitation of poor people elsewhere harbourlesse , destitute , and distressed : but where they fall out so little as not fit to be divided ? let them be yet improved , and commended to a common trust for defraying those impositions that shall be laid upon the publique of the lordship . now that this prove not a snare to the poor commoners , to draw their new tenures in time wholly into their lords hands , leave them inworss case then we finde them , and bring a burthen upon the common-wealth that can never be born ; but rather that we may make them zealous to the work , and restlesse to improve their new land to the best profit for the common and their own good : it may ( i hope with good conveniencie ) be agreed unto , that under a yeerly rent , and fitting service to their lords , they may hold their several portions in free-soccage to them and their heirs for ever . but should the poor peoples estates be at any time determined ( which they can never be able to renew ) we pluck the stoole from under their feet , and throw them with that weight on the shoulders of the republique , as may endanger the utter spoil of each other . objection . yet ( may some say ) it will seeme strange or unpleasing to lords of wastes or tenements to see their lands and inheritances disposed perpetually from their own possession into the tenure and occupation of other persons . answer . but i answer , that a work being in hand for the generall good , we must either follow the current of generall acceptance , or sit down hopelesse of successe : for should these distributions either for the present , or any future time , be fineable or determinable , the vulgar will distaste the work , and the common peoples resolution , that they will never buy their own , for so they now account it , and this is their only main argument in opposition . wherefore there is no fear but the lords in this allowance and reservation may be so fully satisfied , as their augmented benefits will better please them , then can their countreys hinderance , the neglect of their own profit , and their tenants perpetuall penury ; for as the case now standeth , little is the profit which any way ariseth out of these wastes to their purses , but their tenants by right of common , do and will perpetually hold both use and commodity of them . objection . some may also alleadge , that in respect of common , they let their tenements at the dearer rates , or in case they be thus distributed in fee , tenants may forsake their tenures , ( upon determination of estate , or otherwise ) and yet hold and take off their commons from the same for ever . i. answer . to the first may be replied , that so mean an advantage accrueth to them in the sale of their tenements , for the benefit of these commons ( it being to most i suppose nothing at all ) that their rents and demeans thus augmented will make them a far greater commodity . ii. to the second , though it may be that a tenant upon determination of his estare may leave it , and inhabit elsewhere ; yet he must needs leave his land behinde him , and so little good will his new inheritance do him to be a non-resident to it . that ( for certain ) he will be enforced to let or sell the same , to the same or some other tenant of that lordship . and indeed abuse herein may be well enough prevented by prescribing rules in that behalfe : but i rather think ( and so it will prove ) that such will be the love of tenants to their old tenures , for their new improvements sake , that the mutuall amity and contract of both in filling their treasury , will presse them to deponere ultimum , for continuance of their happy conjunction . we have now ( as a geographer from some few hills doth a province ) from these few heads discovered a new plantation in our own continent , and that to so good purpose , as for wealth and people , even another kingdome would seem to be gained unto us ; what should hinder could never yet in reason be understood , unlesse our many crying sins , which makes us uncapable of so great a blessing ? but the creators mercie is over all his works , and only he it is , by whose fiat the effects must follow . to him if our hearts be lifted , and wils submitted , we shall not want that happy unanimity that will beget so fair a body , nor the fruit thereof perpetually showring into our bosomes , . we shall glory to behold our nation infinitely supplied in treasure , and strengthened by augmentation of revenue , free-holders , and able subjects . . our improvident drones ( whom terrour never yet could enure to travell ) yea and all other sweet dews of grace in the god-pleasing labours of their new vineyards , and their estates ( thus drawn to perpetuity ) toil in restlesse pains to try out the utmost dram of commodity from the mines of their possessions . . encreasing provisions in such abundance , as will satiate our selves , save the masses of wealth that others better husbandry ( to our shame and misery ) yeerly draws from us to supply our wilfull wants , and get their honey for our wax , that must now è converso take their wax for out honey . . that our poorer people shall not want their bread , nor our state advise to stop the fountain of their flowing issue ; but as a sound and compleat body ( whose head and members are ( in their proper places ) fair and mighty ) clad , fed , and suitably polished , may bear our port in power and majesty , above the highest towering fronts of adverse confederates ; when the tyger may hunger , and the wolfe houle , to lick of our crumbs , but will lurk and tremble if the lion roare ; yea , the many sonnes of our multiplying family ( fed and fostered with the bread of strength , and the oile of gladnesse ) will be an host so terrible to the thoughts of insulters , that they may admire and envie our happinesse , but will ever fear to provoke us : and as an happy mother overjoyed in the glory of her issue , we may sing the lullaby of a constant requiem to our own temples and our babes eye-lids . when garded with security of powers protection blessed from above ) we may sweetly and safely repose in the pleasing shadows , of our spreading vines ; and better to delight us , walke in the wel-formed rows of our gardendainties , where we may sit on beds of roses , dressing our frontlets with borders of lillies , sucking the nestar of our sweet grapes , and feasting our appetites on milke and honey ; where from the lofty mounts garnish't with the full crop of ceres presents , we may behold the lower valleys richly clad in robes of beauty ; grac'd with veins of pleasant rivers ; all contracting leagues of amity to enthrone our state in highest majesty , all concluding peace in plenty , and ( to make all compleat ) all bound for all , to sing hymns of thanks to the highest proteoctor and author of all . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- the low countries . notes for div a e- innocent . gen. . . two sorts of wastes . of the first . . horse . . neate . ☞ kine . . sheep . . fuell . curses . stealing , &c. . boggs . enclosure , the means of reformation . . encrease of feeding . . increase of corn . encrease of fuell . a fourth part improved as good as the whole . profit . persons to be maintained . ☜ industry of devon . marish grounds . inundation twofold . bastards and miscreants . trampling . straying . stealing . example . viscount bindon . ☜ infection . geese and swine . remedy . dreyning . example . let the court and smithfield report the service of this place . fuell . tillage . soil and compast . persons relieved . ☞ . millions yeerly gained . imployment for the poor . objections . a grand committee for just proceeding . sorts of people to be satisfied . lords . able tenants . poor cottagers , &c. impotent poor . means of amity . harbour for the poor . all distributions in free-soccage . ☞ state enriched . poor and idle employed . provisions encreased . people multiplied , and the whole nation in power advanced . inclosure thrown open: or, depopulation depopulated. not by spades and mattocks; but, by the word of god, the laws of the land, and solid arguments. and the most material pleas that can be brought for it, considered and answered. / by henry halhead. halhead, henry. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) inclosure thrown open: or, depopulation depopulated. not by spades and mattocks; but, by the word of god, the laws of the land, and solid arguments. and the most material pleas that can be brought for it, considered and answered. / by henry halhead. halhead, henry. [ ], [ ] p. printed by ja. cottrel, for giles calvert, at the black spread-eagle at the west-end of paul's, london : . annotation on thomason copy: "dec. th.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng inclosures -- england -- early works to . levellers -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no inclosure thrown open: or, depopulation depopulated.: not by spades and mattocks; but, by the word of god, the laws of the land, and solid halhead, henry. b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - pip willcox sampled and proofread - pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion inclosure thrown open : or , depopulation depopulated . not by spades and mattocks ; but , by the word of god , the laws of the land , and solid arguments . and the most material pleas that can be brought for it , considered and answered . by henry halhead . london , printed by ja. cottrel , for giles calvert , at the black spread-eagle at the west-end of paul's . . christian reader , being desired by the author to make these of his against inclosure common ; i shall as publikely expose the reason of my undertaking the same . i have known the author from my childhood , and have observed him ( ever since i observed any thing ) to be a constant and zealous witness against depopulation ; and no encroachment of new times , places , or things , could ever remove this land-mark from off his spirit . yea , now ▪ in his old-age , his courage and hope against this is as fresh and green as ever . so that this is no new nor sudden conception of his fancie , but a setled and well-digested principle in his heart through a long tract of time & observation . nor can any particular interest of his own ( by those that know him ) be suspected to set him on work ; he living the best of his time in a burrough-town , where he was a magistrate , and exercised his calling in the house , as a shop-keeper ; not in the field , as a husbandman : vntil providence snatching him thence , made him governour of the onely island called by her name ; where he continued , until the isle of great britain , being about to be born again into a new and free state , might deservedly be christned the isle of providence ; whither he might be brought back , as we may soberly judge , for this end , partly , if not mainly , to give in his witness and testimony against depopulation . and no sooner were his other travels ended , but the pangs of this travel came fresh upon him ( though he had never been dischared of them ; ) and the office of delivering these his meditations , and bringing them forth to light , he laid upon me , for the long acquaintance he had with me ; charging me , under a very great and solemn adjuration , not to neglect the same . vpon this score do i put my hand to this work ; otherwise , i confess , it is a question remote from my cognizance , which i should not therefore undertake to determine . i skill onely the equity of it ; and certainly that is obvious to all men . depopulation is odious and abominable both to god and men : therefore , that inclosure which is guilty of depopulation , must needs be unlawful : otherwise , i suppose , the author himself is not against such inclosure as is for the necessary accommodation of house-keeping . the truth is , the just bounds and limits cannot be set by me , nor , i think , by any man ; yet all men may see there is a fault among us . and when god comes to judge , ( which how near that may be to us , is not perhaps considered ) he will finde means in every mans conscience to convince and reprove them , wherein they have served their covetousness in pretence of necessary accommodation . did men believe they were stewards , and have for others sakes whatever they have more then food and raiment , i am perswaded the heat of their covetous ambition would soon be over . we are taught by our saviour , to pray onely for our daily bread ; and that to be given us this day , ( or from day , to day . ) it will not be a good plea to say , i inclosed my ground , because , though i could maintain my charge on my revenue , yet i could not raise my family . but were the inclosure or close-fistedness of mens mindes thrown open into the largeness and bounty of a divine spirit , we should not need to regulate the inclosure of land . for i would not have any think it is the form we strictly aim at but the equity : whether in the form of inclosure , or of common field , let men answer the end , which is charity . the law was not made for a righteous man , but for the ungodly and sinners . those whom the spirit of the lord jesus hath made free , need no law to prescribe them : but to such as are not under that law of the spirit , are these things intended , and are profitable , yet not for righteousness , as that they should think , when they have answered this letter , they may rest therein ; but it is for a witness and testimony unto them of that inward spirit and power which they are humbly to wait for to come upon them , in the exercise of this outward rule ; that so what they do , may be done in truth . and those that are above the coercion of an outward rule of this kinde , yet will stoop to the observation of it for others sakes , as hath been the practice of christs free-men formerly . for , to him that is resolved of the end , and principled to it , whereto there are various ways and methods tending and serving equally , though he be not simply in bondage to one more then another , yet it is ( and must needs be ) to him indifferent any of them ; and that which through any advantage may be most conducing , must needs be most acceptable . they to whom this counsel is the savour of death unto death , let them remember , the time is coming that their gold shall rust , and their silver canker ; and that rust and that canker shall eat into their hearts : for they are the last days . thine , in the lord , joshva sprigge . inclosure thrown open : or , depopulation depopulated . eccles. . . so i returned , and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun ; and behold , the tears of such as were oppressed , and they had no comforter . and on the side of their oppressors there was power ; but they had no comforter . chap. . vers. . if thou seest the oppression of the poor , and violent perverting of judgement and justice in a province , marvel not at the matter : for he that is higher then the highest , regardeth ; and there be higher then they . the consideration of these and many more scriptures , hath put me upon consideration what might be the causes of that displeasure of god ( for it hath been a mixt dispensation ) that hath appeared against this nation in his late administration . and finding ▪ in the reading of the holy scriptures , by the threats and woes denounced by all the prophets , that , amongst other things , violence and cruelty , of any sort , hath been a most provoking sin , much cried out of : and observing , in the late experience , the woes denounced against such sin to have been fulfilled in part , in these our times ; i thought it my duty to hold forth my observation , that so , in this time of reformation , there might be some lawful remedy found out , for the amendment of the provoking evils , before desolation come upon us , as it came upon the old world . the end of all flesh is come before me , saith the lord : for the earth is filled with violence . in the beginning of the world , almighty god , after the rest of the creatures , made man , appointing him lord over them all , and giving him dominion , that he should subdue the earth , and rule over the creatures . yet so it is come to pass , through the lust of man , even the covetousness and self-seeking of many , regarding their own profit more then the glory of god , that the course of things is altered from their first order ; where through , the brute creatures are now , in some sence , become subduers of mankinde ; to the great dishonour of god and his institution , as well as to the hurt and prejudice of mankinde in general , and of societies and commonwealths in particular ; yea , to the utter subversion of the same , without some speedy course be taken for redress thereof : which , how it should be done , is almost beyond the apprehension of man to conceive ; those which should be the reformers of such disorders and horrible abuses in a state , being , for the most part , the greatest offenders , or their fathers being so before them : which causeth much sighing and crying out by the poor , in the bitterness of their spirits , to that god who will no doubt hear their cries . now for the oppression of the poor , and the sighing of the needy , will i arise , saith the lord . if it were my purpose to reckon up all those sins , that , according to the declaration that god hath made of himself in his word , might justly be suspected to procure the wrath of god against this nation , i might not forget , nay i should remember in the first place , that violence and cruelty that was practised against the saints and servants of god ; not onely in the marian days , but in our days , by the bishops , for non-conformity ; silencing and ejecting many faithful and able ministers , to the utter undoing of them , their wives and children , for things that the persecutors themselves then called indifferent , and are now cast out as superstitions . yea , which addes to the cruelty , not onely were they cast out of the ministery , but means used to deprive them of life and livelihood ; a proclamation being sent forth , that such deprived ministers should not be suffered either to keep lecture or school , or be of any trade ; nor should it be lawful for any man to entertaine them in his house , or allow them any maintenance . o horrible and bloody cruelty ! and yet exercised against persons that their very persecutors durst not but at other times say , were honest godly men . indeed , they were painful and zealous witnesses of the truth in their time , content with meane things , not seeking augmentations , or power to lord it over their brethren , as some of late dayes have done , that have come in their places . these did good , and received evil ; being termed factious , troublers of the land , enemies of the state : when as , like sheepe , they suffered loss and spoile patiently ; some being imprisoned , and dying there , others constrained to flee out of the land . they were scoffed , reproached , scorned of the world ; slighted , and insulted over by those ministers that came in their places . thus they did of old , they mocked the messengers of the lord , misused his prophets , until the wrath of the lord brake forth against them , and there was no remedy . and for this hath the lord taken vengeance on the prelacie ; and let those ministers look to it , that were content to see this cruelty exercised against their brethren , and to come into their places . and let it be of warning to us all , to take heed of the like spirit and practices against the people of god , under a new name and pretence . if the edomites , for their violence against jacob , were destroyed for ever ; what will become of these now-a-dayes , that seek to root out and destroy any of the people of god , under the notion of sectaries , and disturbers of the state ; though they have many of them adventured their lives to do them good ! but my intent is not to be large in this : onely i could not but hint the wrong that was done to the silenced ministers . the maine evill which i am to decry , and which remaines yet unremedied , after all that hath been done towards reformation , is , depopulation ; which , it cannot be denied , is a most cruel and bloody sin . o that men would consider of it , and lay it to heart ! many are the woes , in scripture , that are denounced against it . all the prophets cry out of it , as a sin that brings desolation . our own experience seals to it . how many great families are come to nought ! although they have had ( many times ) much more then their fathers had , yet some secret hand of god hath followed them , that they have been brought even to misery and want : whereof no man could give any other reason . yet notwithstanding , men will not be warned , but are as eager upon that cruel bloudy sin as ever . wherefore , i am induced to declare my experience : yea , i am enforced ( by the manifold cryes i hear daily , and the distresses of thousands destitute of livelihood through this , and seeing unavoidable misery coming upon this nation thereby ) to put pen to paper in this kinde ; hoping in god , that some or other , of the godly learned , that are better seen ▪ not onely into the scriptures , but into the laws of the land against depopulation , ( for we are not without such provisions ) and that are of more large and copious observation and experience , may be stirred up to set themselves to lay open the evil and abominableness of this sin , and the mischeivous consequences thereof . and therefore , as in a publike danger , ( for example , if a towne were on fire ) no man will blame the poorest and meanest creature , that , spying the fire breake out , shall cry , fire , fire , because every mans interest is concerned in such a publike danger ; upon the same account , i beseech you , whosoever shall peruse these , blame not me ( the unworthiest of all ) that i cry out of depopulation ; having seen and felt the danger of it . and truly , in my apprehension , and by all that i am able to discerne , it is a desolating sin . and whereas it is said in the text , they had no comforter ; here is the sad condition , and complaint of the people of this land , that , notwithstanding the pressures and burthens they have a long time groaned under , by depopulation , wracking of rents , cruel usury , and other the like courses ; yet hath there no way or meanes appeared to them , from whence they could yet have , or indeed hope for redress . complaine to the judges , they could not help them : complaine to parliaments ; o that it might not be said , that they , or their fathers , have been deep in this transgression ! and that they , aswell as others , have inclosed common-fields , or do keep them inclosed , that were once for the common use ; and wrack up their rents , whereby poore people are constrained to work in the very fire , for the maintenance of them that do live deliciously , if not very vitiously , as too many of the gentry have done . but since it hath pleased god , by his mighty hand and outstretched arme , to create for us an opportunity for reformation , ( which hath not been gained without much bloud , and very many difficulties ) and to turne the faces at least ( we hope , the hearts ) of the whole nation towards the same ; i beseech you all , our representatives in parliament , as you tender the glory of god , and the flourishing of this common-wealth , that you deny your own interest , wherein it tends to the ruine of a country or nation ; and that ye all joyne heart and hand together , for the recovering of this almost-ruined land out of this weake estate whereinto it is fallen , by depopulation : that so ye repairing the old waste places , and raising up the foundations of many generations , may justly be called , the repairers of the breach , restorers of paths to dwell in . oh! how would this engage the hearts of the people unto you ! i know some will say , they did not depopulate or inclose but they bought it so , or it was so left them by their fathers , and the poore were provided for when it was first inclosed and turned to pasture . i , but where are they and their breed ? are they not constrained to flee into other towns , to the great annoyance and charge of the places whither they were driven ? where , i say , are those good house-keepers that brought store of corne to the market ? and where are the horse , beasts , and sheep that were bred there , besides men , women , and children that dwelt there ? these things would be enlarged , by the experiences of ancient men , that know more of this then i can utter . and this may be one reason why free-quarter of souldiers is so exceeding burthensome , because many houses of husbandry are decayed , and the lands layd down to sheep-pasture ▪ whereby it comes to pass that the charge lies but upon a few . but of the reasons and arguments against depopulation , in their place . and to reduce what i have to say to some method , i shall , first , endeavour to convict this sin , by the lawes of god , and of the land where we live , to be a forbidden , an accursed thing . secondly , i shall endeavour to lay open the mystery , and the way of it . thirdly , i shall offer such arguments as i have ready against it . fourthly , i shall answer what objections i have met withall in the behalfe of it . the first scripture-evidence i shall produce against it , is , isa. . . woe unto them that joyne house to house , and that lay field to field , till there be no place left , that they may dwell alone in the midst of the earth . in mine eares said the lord of hosts , of a truth many houses shall be desolate , even great and faire without inhabitant . the place is plaine and pregnant ; i shall forbear to gloss upon it : onely at the event , we may give glory to god , and be his witnesses , that what he hath spoken with his mouth , he hath fulfilled with his hand . as , might i call all the ancient men to witness , they were able to say , where ever they knew any that did throw down townships and houses of husbandrie , to set up faire houses for themselves and theirs , and either they , or their children , came not to poverty and want ? see , in the next place , mich. . . a woe denounced against them that devise iniquity , and worke evil upon their beds , and when the morning is light they practise it , because it is in the power of their hands . and what is the evil ? why , ( vers. . ) they covet fields , and take them by violence ; and houses , and take them away : so they oppress a man and his house , even a man and his heritage . therefore behold , vers. , the lord comes in with his device : thus saith the lord , behold , against this family do i devise an evil , from which you shall not remove your neckes , neither shall you goe haughtily ; for this time is evil . in that day , they shall take up a parable against you , and lament with a doleful lamentation , ( and truely so they do now-a-dayes ) and say , we are utterly spoiled : for they have taken our fields . now follows their judgement : therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the lord . for the meaning whereof , whether it be , that for their cruelty and oppression they were to be cut off from the assemblies of the godly in that time , or that in time of dividing their inheritances they were to have no lot among their brethren , or both these , i commend you to the godly learned to examine . habakkuk likewise denounceth against this wickedness , hab. . , . woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house , that he may set his nest on high , that he may be delivered from the power of evil . thou hast cosulted shame to thy self by cutting off many people , and hast sinned against thy soule . for the stone shall cry out of the wall , and the beame out of the timber shall answer it . how many of these houses have there been of late years , that were built by blood and cruelty , by wracking of rents , and overthrowing whole townships and houses of husbandry ! thus we may see , by some few instances , the lawes of god are against this sin of depopulation . neither are the lawes of the land for it . first , in the fourth yeer of henry the seventh , chap. . item , the king our soveraign lord having a singular pleasure , above all things , to avoid such enormities and mischiefs as be hurtful and prejudicial to the common-weal of this his land , and his subjects of the same , remembreth , that , amongst all other things , great inconveniences daily do increase , by desolation , and pulling down and wilful waste of houses and towns within this realm , and laying to pasture lands which customably have béen used in tilth ; whereby idleness , which is the ground and beginning of all mischiefs , daily doth increase . for , where in some towns two hundred persons were occupied , and lived in their lawful labours , now bin there occupied two or thrée herds-men , and the residue fall into idleness . thereby , husbandry , which is one of the greatest commodities of this realm , is greatly decayed , churches destroyed , the service of god withdrawn , the patrons and curates wronged , the defence of this land against our enemies much féebled and impaired ; to the great displeasure of god , to the subversion of the policie and good rules of this land , if remedy be not provided . wherefore the king our soveraign lord , by the advice of the lords spiritual and temporal , and the commons in the said parliament assembled , and by the authority of the same , have ordained , enacted , and established , that no person , of what estate , degrée , or condition soever he be , that hath any house or houses , that at any time within thrée yéers past , hath béen , or now is , or hereafter shall be letten to farm , with twenty acres at least , or more , lying in tillage and husbandry , that the owner or owners of every such house , or houses and land , to kéep , sustain , and maintain houses and buildings upon the said ground or land , convenient and necessary , for maintaining and upholding of the said tillage and husbandry . so also in the statute made anno of queen elizabeth , intituled , an act for the maintenance of husbandry and tillage , is the like provision made against depopulation by inclosure , wherein also is to be found a recital of several laws ( always some or other in force ) from the of hen. , until the of her majesties reign , ordaining and requiring the conversion and continuance of a certain quantity and proportion of land for tillage unalterably . yet notwithstanding this good and wholesome provision of the laws against this evil , it hath by notable sleights insinuated and upheld it self . and it may not be useless , but afford some content and satisfaction , to lay open the manner how these kinde of oppressors do work this their unnatural work , to displant men , and place sheep in their rooms ; that so it may appear in its odiousness to all that shall consider the same ; and that men may be aware of the beginnings of their plots , and wicked devices upon their beds . . they will claim to be chief lords of the town which they mean to depopulate . . they will alter the customs of the sides of the fields , and hain that that was not wont to be hained , and alter ancient known ways in the field . . they will go about to make new field-orders , overthrowing the old field-orders or customs . . they labour by fair means , with the common people , to obtain their consent for inclosure ; telling them , that for some little charge , their living will be made three times as good as they are , for profit . . they will say , inclosure is a goodly thing ; it stops many strifes and contentions , when men may have things by themselves ; it nourisheth wood in hedges , whereof there is great need ; and keeps sheep from rotting . . if by fair means and perswasions they cannot prevail , then they will commence a suit in law , and make the poor people dance attendance in some of the courts , for many yeers together , as i have known , of my own knowledge . and then they will offer them large money , to buy them out : and if that take not , then on goes the suit ; and a decree is got out of chancery , pretending stubbornness , and that men will not be ruled by any good order . some also have soug●● to pick a quarrel against men in the law of their god , as for going from their parish-church , when they have no sermon at home , or as good as none ; and so vex them in the chancellors-court . but they are now down , and gone , blessed be god . . they will ditch in their own demeasns , and so make the poor commoners go about to their lands , to their great toil , and against their old customs : and all this , to weary and tyre them out of their possessions . they will also alleadge that their demeasns is too little for their families , and that they would enlarge it : but , in truth , their mindes are too great for their means ; and so at last they set up a fair house , and overthrow many a family . . some have also laboured to entitle the king to their land , without any cause . they will also make coney-grees in some places , and let them increase , that they may eat up the labours of poor men , to their great hinderance and discouragement at length . and thus , by these means , they seek to obtain their ends . now , in the next place , i shall give you my reasons against this course of depopulating inclosure ; and endeavour to satisfie the objections and arguments that are made in behalf of it . . and first , it appears to be highly dishonourable to almighty god ; altering that course and order he appointed in nature ; who said unto man , grow , increase and multiply , replenish the earth , and subdue it : which by these practices is prevented and obstructed ; cattel being increased in stead of men . . likewise , hereby are overthrown many churches and congregations of men , who , by holding up their hands to god , might pull down blessings on a nation , and divert judgements therefrom . . and where are the souldiers in those decayed towns , the men that should do their country service , and stand in the face of an enemy coming to invade ? where are the horses that many country-men bred for the service ? but the evils that come to the commonwealth , are more then can soon be reckoned , or easily expressed : for , in such towns that are depopulated , the inhabitants are constrained to flee to other towns , to their impoverishment . neither do the inclosers keep a house according to their estates ; but many a farmer spends as much as they . when these places were all champion-countries , many a shiver of bread was given : but now , all such liberality is laid by , and a fair house is set up , with goodly demeasns ; but no hospitality at all . and , that i may not let it pass , another burden lieth upon the commonwealth , and that is , that the high-ways , about such places , are most intolerable , and , for the most part , unpassable ; especially in the winter-time : for which , many a bitter oath is cast out against them . and if the people so depopulated , should be strictly tied to mend the ways , and repair the church , it would be more then their poor means will afford , their rents are so exceedingly inhansed . and what reason can be rendered , that that soil should not pay as much to the state as ever before , as much to the church as before , as much to the poor , and keep as many people as ever it did ? yet if they should be compelled thereunto , they would get nothing by their inclosure : for i dare boldly affirm , that never did any man get by depopulating inclosure , but he saved it out of the bodies of men , or by not keeping of cattel according to the old proportions . . it is a great increaser of idleness : for , when the plow goes forward , the old saying is , the plow-man's work is never at an end . but , in such decayed towns , they have very little to do : then they fall to a habit of idleness , and so they turn to haunt ale-houses , to adultery , and other felonies , and destroying and wasting their bodies , estates , and wits . . it increaseth usurers , the vipers of the common-wealth , to eat out the bowels of it ; so that free lending is for the most part taken away . and it hardens mens hearts one against another : for , they make their little land into a stock , and so they get to some market-town , and either turn usurers , ale-house-keepers , or maultsters , to the no-small hurt of the common-wealth . . it fills market-townes with husbandmens children ; who , because they cannot take any livings for reasonable fines , as before-time , do thrust themselves into such market-towns , and there use unprofitable trades , such as this common-wealth hath no need of ; to the great hurt of those that be borne in that soile . and because there is no law to forbid men to remove , to dwell in market-towns , they and their posterity , being thrust out from such decayed places , and constrained to go where they can , resort thither ; to the great burthen of such places . . and unhappy experience shews , that market-towns and cities being so pestered with people which are driven thither on heaps , onely that they might live , are thereby mainly exposed to dangerous infection , as of the plague , and other diseases , and also to unavoidable poverty . and if any service be to be done for the state's wars , then they have recourse to those places where men are ; which places do not only finde men , but also furniture for such men , to their great burden ; the soil wherein those men were bred , in the mean time , finding neither men nor money . . it is also the utter decay of trading : for the yeomen and husbandmen , they lack all the commodities the tradesmen have to sell ; hats , bands , jurkins , dublets , points , breeches , stockings , garters , shooes , and all other necessaries : iron-work for cart-wheels , and for harrowes , and plowes , and all other necessaries that they know full well . all which things set men on work , and maintain tradesmen , who maintaine londoners , and so merchants , and so to the highest and best of men . but the depopulating-incloser overthrows all at once , and lives either in london , or in some city , or town corporate , and gets heapes of money , though all in vaine ; they , or the most part of them having it with a witness , to their utter overthrow and ruine ; for , i never saw any of them , but some remarkable hand of god followed them . oh that it might feare men from such cruel courses ! . depopulating inclosure doth not onely drive out men from such places , but it makes them poor that live there : the houses , for want of straw , do drop down ; so that there is no comfortable dweling for the poore : the richer sort are gone away , the poorer sort are cruelly handled : for , there is some bailiff set over them , that is like to the fuller that dresseth northern cloth ; they do so wrack them , and straine them , that at length they break their hearts . these bailiffs are something like to the task-masters of egypt , who cruelly vexed the poor israelites : and the landlord ( being absent from them ) dwelling at london , or elsewhere , little condoles their misery ; so that these poor tennants know not to whom to complain . besides , they do raise things to so great a rate , that men know not whither to go in this land to ease their grief unless , with their many sighs and teares , to almighty god , who no doubt will heare their complaints . now for the oppression of the poore , and sighing of the needy , i will up , saith the lord , &c. . it doth mightily impoverish and oppress other towns that are not depopulate : for , they that are driven out elsewhere , do press into such towns , and erect cottages . this , if you ask , you shall finde , that every town is mightily increased with poor people , so as there are not houses to be taken for reasonable money , that have any land belonging unto them . but the breed of man-kind increasing , and the great ones thrusting them thus on heapes , men are driven to live wonderful hardly ; so that if the state should want souldiers , strong and able men , there are very few to be had in such decayed townes . now it followes that i should answer some of their objections . . their maine objection is , that the benefit of inclosure is great , and doth countervaile all that can be said against it . where before it is said it nourisheth idleness ; they say , that many sheep are kept on such grounds so inclosed , the wool whereof doth serve to set many poor on work ; and so it doth much good . answ. it is true , they are set on work ; but what have they for their work ? and how is their work able to maintaine them and theirs ? and what can they lay up for their posterity ? and how many strong and able souldiers doth such labour maintain for the states service ? how hardly do they fare ? how bare do they go ? and much a-do to live in plentiful yeares . but if a dear yeer come , how are they pinched and starved ! or if the clothier have not sale for his cloth , and be constrained to sell at lowe rates , then come they upon the poor with abatement , which utterly overthrows them : so that , at such a time , the labours of the poor will not neer maintain them . and herein , by the way , the gatherers of the labours of the poor are like the task-masters , that exact more and more upon them . and when ▪ did you see any , out of their mean and meer labour , marry their children , and provide for their posterity , in a comfortable manner ? object . it nourisheth wood , which the country hath great need of . answ. to the which i answer , that first of all , for the most part , they destroy all the great elms and oaks about such towns . it is true , they plant hedge-wood , which , in the age of a man comes to have some bigness to be sold ; but by that time their mounds be served , and hedges fenced , there comes little to a common use , but most goes for repairs : and before they come to defend themselves , they take up much wood to preserve them ; so that the commonwealth hath no benefit hereby . . object . it keeps sheep from rotting : and they are better kept in pasture-grounds , then they were wont to be in common-fields , and yeeld more profit . answ. to the first , i answer , they may as well , by digging and trenching , be preserved in common-fields , as in pasture-grounds , if men would be orderly ; which they should be tied unto by law , rather then by their janglings destroy houses and towns , and subvert a kingdom and nation . the second part of the third objection , is , they are better kept , and yeeld more profit . i confess that is true , they are better kept ; for they keep fewer then in common-fields they do : but if they kept as many cattel as were kept before such depopulations , the grounds would not bear it . it is observed by many , ( which i confess i cannot shew the reason of ) that a lordship inclosed will keep nothing neer so many , no , not by the half , ( being , i say , inclosed and depopulated ) either horse , beasts , and sheep , or men , women , and children , as it was wont to do , before such inclosure and depopulation ; besides all the corn they brought to the markets . so that it is to me manifest , that there is some secret hand of god in it , whereby he shews his dislike of such depopulation . many a father hath lived comfortably and well with the tenth part of what the son hath had ; yet the son could not live of it . if you mark it , they keep no houses , many of them ; but run in debt , and , many times , are not able to pay . yet there is no man that taketh warning by these examples , neither will they see the high hand of god upon them . object . but you see corn as cheap , many times , since such depopulating inclosure , as it hath been before-time ; and what need is there then of so many open fields ? answ. to which i answer : god hath sometimes blessed the earth with abundance , to shew , that he can make a little , by his blessing , to be an abundant store , and so to be cheap : but no thank to such depopulators . but will you know a further reason ? it is , because much land is laid down from a common use , and men are much diminished in such depopulated places , and cattel are much abated , and become fewer then have been in former times . for , if there were men to spend it , and cattel , swine , and pullen proportionable to former times , much corn would be spent that way , which is now saved . much corn would be for seed , which now is not used . horses might be better kept , which should be for service : and store would be preserved , against a time of dearth . mankinde , the best of all the creatures , would be nourished and bred up stronger , and able to do more service to god and their country , and have in their hand to lay up for their posterity . but , if you do but take notice of it , you shall see those house-keepers that of old used to buy a strike of corn , do now buy a loaf or two of bread . people are not kept in heart ; they are famished in many places , and are so pinched with poverty , that it would grive the heart of man to see : neither have they any thing about them , but live poor and meanly . and as for works of mercy , and for the maintenance of the worship of god , they have not any thing to contribute ; no , not to pay for the education of their children . so then , the laying down of land , is the diminishing of men and cattel ; and that is the cause of cheapness of corn in plentiful times . object . i , but such inclosers will plow up their pasture-grounds when corn is dear , and so bring in plenty . when the land hath gotten strength , they will take out that strength ; and so the incloser doth good . answ. the answer to which , is : there lieth a great mystery ; but i will tell you mine opinion , that the corn so increased , turneth to no good to the common-wealth . first , when the land is laid down , it is a good space of time before it turn to be a good sward ; which is a hurt to the common-wealth . then they will break it up : but observe , they will keep no constant houses of husbandry therewith ; but take the heart out of the land , and lay it down again : so that the time before it gather heart , and the time after it is laid down , it is no way so profitable for a common good . but the yeoman or husbandman that keepeth a constant family upon his land , doth till it ; and when it groweth out of heart , doth fetch it in again : and it never lieth still , but one yeer in four , for the better husbandry of it ; which fourth yeer will ( by gods blessing ) bring a double increase . then again , the gentleman sells his corn at dear rates , dearer then the husbandman : for he can give some time with his corn ; and so wrap in the poor husbandman , that in haste he cannot get out . the poor man selleth for his need , to buy necessaries ; and , most commonly , selleth six pence in a strike cheaper then the gentleman doth . so that when the yeoman should make his profit at seed-time , he cannot sell his corn ; the country is supplied with one that keeps no constant husbandry . object . the sixth objection is , that ditches do preserve corn from spoiling by passengers that travel upon the way : and therefore it is good . answ. then might they ditch from the way onely , and not divide it into smaller parcels ; and ditch also in such places where there are stones to make good such high-ways , and not in deep clay-countries , where to inclose , is to bring high-ways to such a dangerous passage , that no man can passe , without danger both of horse and man ( at least , to the great annoyance of both ) many having perished of late yeers thereby . and besides all this , the former exchanging of lands before shewed , shews mens intent . thus have i endeavoured to answer the most of their objections , as i can remember . . i , but it will be demanded , will you say that inclosures in all places are unlawful ? we see , that such countries where there are such inclosures , are the richest of all . let me not be mistaken : i say , and shall prove , that all inclosures wherein is depopulation , and thrusting out of poor men from their dwellings , or making their dwellings uncomfortable to them , wherein one fair house is set up , by the throwing down of many housholds , is utterly unlawful , both by the law of god , and this land ; and is one of the crying sins of our time . and if in any country this be practised , it is the overthrow of that country , as hereafter will more appear . now therefore i beseech you all , that are the ancient yeomen and husbandmen of every county , declare your experiences of the evil of depopulation , and overthrowing of houses of husbandry ; and what you have seen , and what hath befallen those that have been actors in it , and the evils that have come of it , and the pressure and burden that hath come upon those towns that have not been inclosed , by the means of those that have been inclosed , and turned from the common use . oh that in all the counties of this kingdom , there might be a view of all the villages , and towns , and houses of husbandry , that have been decayed within these fifty yeers , and the desolation that hath come by that means , by laying of lands accustomed to tillage , and now turned into pasture-grounds ; whereby idleness , one of the sins of sodom , is much increased , men women , and children , and their progenies be diminished , and husbandry , the greatest commodity of the land ( for the sustenance of man ) is decayed , churches be destroyed , the service of god is withdrawn , cities and market-towns be brought to great ruine and decay , necessaries for mans use and sustenance be made scarce and dear , the people of this common-wealth be sore minished , the power and defence thereof is enfeebled and decayed ; to the high displeasure of god , and against his laws ; and to the subversion of the common-wealth , and desolation of the same . wherefore , and for the redress thereof , there have been good laws made in parliament , in former times , for the repressing of these disorders , but never put in execution in my time ; whereby this oppression and desolation is very usual and common . yea , so bold are they grown , that now in parliament-time , which we thought should have been a time of easing of burdens , this monster none dares to attempt . oh that our present parliament might be of the number of them that build the old waste places , and raise up the foundations of many generations ; that they might be called , the repairers of the breach , and the restorers of places to dwell in . wherefore , you the yeomen and husbandmen of all counties , should humbly petition to the honourable house of parliament , ( now that they intend the reformation of things amiss ) that they , amongst their great affairs of this distracted nation , would be pleased to look upon this horrible , oppressing , desolating , crying sin , which ( no doubt ) amongst and above most other is one of the highest nature , and worst consequence , which god himself hath promised to devise an evil against ; as more at large shall appear , god willing . and to the end it may appear in its colours , i pray you take some paines to let the state know , how many men , women , and children ; horse , beast , and sheep , swine , and pullen , have been usually maintained upon such villages , and towns , and houses of husbandry now decayed : which , by proportion you may know , counting how many plow-land there where , and how many do usually go with a plow : that so , the number being guessed at the parliament may see the mighty decay there hath been and is in this land ; that their hearts may be wrought upon . and you may , and ought to complain ; for there is none that can better tell where the shooe pincheth , then those that weare it . and they are your mouthes in parliament , the highest court of justice in the land ; who ought to seek your good , and keep you from tyranny , and oppression . and if by this lawful meanes you can finde no redress , do not murmure , nor muteny against god or them : but silently sit down , and waite upon god ; who hath promised , for the oppression of the poor , and the sighing of the needy , he will arise , and set at liberty those whom the wicked have snared . for , be you well assured , that if help come not by these lawful meanes and wayes , god will send help and deliverance another way . and then , let those oppressours , with their houses and posterity , look to it . if thou seest the oppression of the poor , and violent perverting of jugdment and justice in a province , marvel not at the matter : for he that is higher then the highest , regardeth ; and there be higher then they . moreover , the profit of the earth is for all : the king himself is served by the field that is tilled . yet through the extream wickedness of man , who hath perverted the course of almighty god ; the inferiour creature comes to be preferred above man ; who is made after the image of god : which is a sin of a very high nature ; all the prophets crying out of it , and denouncing fearful woes against it . for god tenders the good of his people now , as well as ever he did before-time . he calls the house of israel his vineyard , and the men of judah his pleasant plant : he looked for judgment , but behold oppression ; for righteousness , but behold a cry . and is it not so in our dayes ? and as then the lord did ( by his prophet ) denounce woes against the oppression of those times , even so doth he now against all the oppressions of these times : for the righteous lord hates and abhorres all manner of violence , cruelty , and oppression , as much now , as ever he did . furthermore , god would have men grow , increase and multiply , replenish the earth , and subdue it : but the oppressors of our times do what in them lieth to diminish men , women , and children , by whom god is honoured , and the common-wealth sustained . and therfore , the lord is risen up , and standeth to plead for his people , and to judge their cause . he will enter into judgment with the ancients of the people , and the princes thereof : for they have eaten up the vineyard ; and the spoile of the poor is in their houses . and the lord will know what they mean , in dealing so with his people . vers . , what mean ye , that ye beat my people to peeces , and grinde the faces of the poor , saith the lord of hosts ? much like to the times wherein we live . also , in her skirts is found the blood of the soules of the poore innocents : looke to the end of the chapter . the kings of the earth , and all the inhabitants of the world , would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of jerusalem . yet , for the sinnes of the prophets , and the iniquities of the priests , that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her , it was done . therefore , let none of us make to our selves any vain confidences , or put our trust in any arme of flesh , or the strongest fortifications that can be made by any of the sonnes of men : for jerusalem was a famous city , and very strongly fortified ; so that it would hardly have been believed , that that should have befallen it , that did . but we see ( as aforesaid ) that , for the sinnes of the prophets , and for the iniquities of the priests , the lord laid it waste . and it is further shewed , concerning those rebellious children , ( spoken of in the chapter of isaiah ) that strengthened themselves in the strength of pharaoh , and trusted in the shadow of egypt ; the lord saith , ( by his prophet ) vers . , now go , write it before them in a table , and note it in a book , that it may be for the time to come , for ever and ever , that this is a rebellious people , lying children , children that will not hear the law of the lord ; and that their downfall will be sudden , like a swelling wall . read also from this chapter to the , , and . where it is declared in vers . the , who shall be surprized with feare ; and those are there said to be hypocrites : and also who shall stand in the trying-time ; which the scripture there holds forth to be godly men , by this signe : he that walketh righteously , and speaketh uprightly ; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions , that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes , that stoppeth his eares from hearing of blood , and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil , it is said of him , verse the , he shall dwell on high ; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks ; bread shall be given him , his water shall be sure . lay not wait , o wicked man , against the dwelling of the righteous ; spoile not his resting place . remove not the old land-mark , and enter not into the field of the fatherless : for their redeemer is mighty ; he shall plead their cause . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- gen. . . isa. . . psal. . . eccle. . . vers . . isa. . . isa. . , . isa. . , , . ier. . . lament. . , . isa. . , , &c. isa. . . vers . . 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 . / by jerrard winstanly, in the behalf of those who have begun to dig upon george-hill in surrey. winstanley, gerrard, b. . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing w thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) 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 . / by jerrard winstanly, in the behalf of those who have begun to dig upon george-hill in surrey. winstanley, gerrard, b. . fairfax, thomas fairfax, baron, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed for giles calvert, at the black spread-eagle at the west end of pauls, london : . annotation on thomason copy: "june ". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng inclosures -- england -- early works to . levellers -- early works to . great britain -- history -- commonwealth and protectorate, - -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no a letter to the lord fairfax, and his councell of vvar,: with divers questions to the lawyers, and ministers: proving it an undeniable equi winstanley, gerrard c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion 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 . by jerrard winstanly , in the behalf of those who have begun to dig upon george-hill in surrey . london : printed for giles calvert , at the black spread-eagle at the west end of pauls . . standing portion of livelihood to us and our children , without that cheating intanglement of buying and selling , and we shall not arrest one another . and then , what need have we of imprisoning , whipping or hanging laws , to bring one another into bondage ? and we know that none of those that are subject to this righteous law dares arrest or inslave his brother for , or about the objects of the earth , because the earth is made by our creator to be a common treasury of livelihood to one equall with another , without respect of persons . but now if you that are elder brothers ; and that call the inclosures your own land , hedging out others , if you will have magistrates and laws in this outward manner of the nations , we are not against it , but freely without disturbance shall let you alone ; and if any of we commoners , or younger brothers , shall steal your corne , or cattell , or pull down your hedges , let your laws take hold upon any of us that so offends . but while we keep within the bounds of our commons , and none of us shall be found guilty of medling with your goods , or inclosed proprieties , unlesse the spirit in you freely give it up , your laws then shall not reach to us , unlesse you will oppresse or shed the blood of the innocent : and yet our corn and cattell shall not be locked up , as though we would be propriators in the middle of the nation : no , no , we freely declare , that our corn and cattell , or what we have , shall be freely laid open , for the safety and preservation of the nation ; and we as younger brothers , living in love with you our elder brothers , for we shall endeavour to do , as we would be done unto ; that is , to let every one injoy the benefit of his creation , to have food and rayment free by the labour of his hands from the earth . and as for spirituall teachings , we leave every man to stand and fall to his own master : if the power of covetousnesse be his master or king that rules in his heart , let him stand and fall to him ; if the power of love and righteousnesse be his master or king that rules in his heart , let him stand and fall to him ; let the bodies of men act love , humility , and righteousnesse one towards another , and let the spiri● of righteousnesse be the teacher , ruler and judge both in us and over us ; and by thus doing , we shall honor our father , the spirit that gave us our being . and we shall honor our mother the earth , by labouring her in righteousnesse , and leaving her free from oppression and bondage . we shall then honor the higher powers of the left hand man , which is our hearing , seeing , tasting , smelling , feeling , and walk in the light of reason and righteousnesse , that is , the king and judge that sits upon this five cornered throne , and we shall be strengthned by those five well springs of life , of the right hand man , which is , understanding , will , affections , joy and peace , and so live like men , in the light and power of the son of righteousnesse within our selves feelingly . what need then have we of any outward , selfish , confused laws made , to uphold the power of covetousnesse , when as we have the righteous law written in our hearts , teaching us to walk purely in the creation . sir , the intent of our writing to you , is not to request your protection , though we have received an unchristian-like abuse from some of your souldiers ; for truly we dare not cast off the lord , and make choice of a man or men to rule us . for the creation hath smarted deeply for such a thing , since israel chose saul to be their king ; therefore we acknowledge before you in plain english , that we have chosen the lord god almighty to be our king and protector . yet in regard you are our brethren ( as an english tribe ) and for the present are owned to be the outward governors , protectors and saviours of this land , and whose hearts we question not , but that you endeavour to advance the same king of righteousnesse with us , therefore we are free to write to you , and to open the sincerity of our hearts freely to you , and to all the world . and if after this report of ours , either you , or your forces called souldiers , or any that owns your laws of propriety , called freeholders , do abuse or kill our persons , we declare to you that we die , doing our duty to our creator , by endeavouring from that power he hath put into our hearts to lift up his creation out of bondage , and you and they shall be left without excuse in the day of judgement , because you have been spoken to sufficiently . and therefore our reason of writing to you is this , in regard some of your foot souldiers of the generalls regiment , under captain stravie that were quartered in our town , we bearing part therein as well as our neighbours , giving them sufficient quarter , so that there was no complaining , did notwithstanding , go up to george-hill , where was onely one man and one boy of our company of the diggers . and at their first coming , divers of your souldiers , before any word of provocation was spoken to them , fell upon those two , beating the boy , and took away his coat off his back , and some linnen and victualls that they had , beating and wounding the man very dangerously , and fired our house . which we count a strange and heathenish practise , that the souldierie should meddle with naked men , peaceable men , countrymen , that meddled not with the souldiers businesse , nor offered any wrong to them in word or deed , unlesse , because we improve that victory which you have gotten in the name of the commons over king charles , do offend the souldierie . in doing whereof , we rather expect protection from you then destruction . but for your own particular , we are assured of your moderation and friendship to us , who have ever been your friends in times of straits ; and that you would not give commission to strike us , or fire or pull down our houses , but you would prove us an enemy first . yet we do not write this , that you should lay any punishment upon them , for that we leave to your discretion , only we desire ( in the request of brethren ) that you would send forth admonition to your souldiers , not to abuse us hereafter ; unlesse they have a commission from you ; and truly if our offences should prove so great , you shall not need to send souldiers for us , or to beat us , for we shall freely come to you 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 . . 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 ? . 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 ? . 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 ? . 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 ? . 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 . . 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 . . 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 ? . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 . . 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 .