“O England, England! wouldst thou have thy government sound and healthful? Then cast about and see and search diligently to find out all those burthens that came in by Kings, and remove them; and then will thy Commonwealth’s Government arise from under the clods under which as yet it is buried and covered with deformity.”—Winstanley, The Law of Freedom.

The place in the country to which our hero had retired was, we believe, the little town of Colnbrook, in the extreme southern end of the county of Buckinghamshire, on the borders of Middlesex, and within seven miles of St. George’s Hill in Surrey. On December 5th, 1648, about a month prior to the date attached to the opening epistle of The New Law of Righteousness, there issued from the press a short pamphlet,[79:1] which, seeing that a second edition was printed the following March, appears to have had a considerable sale, and the title-page of which ran as follows:

“LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:

OR

A Discovery of the Main Ground, Original Cause of all the Slavery in the World, but chiefly in England. Presented by way of a Declaration of many of the Well-Affected in that County, to all their poor oppressed Countrymen of England. And also to the consideration of the present Army under the conduct of the Lord Fairfax.

Arise, O God, judge thou the Earth.

Printed in the year 1648.”

It opens as follows:

“Jehovah Ellohim created man after his own likeness and image, which image is his son Jesus (Heb. 1. v. 3), who is the image of the invisible God. Now man being made after God’s image or likeness, and created by the word of God, which word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, which word was life, and that life the light of man (John 1. v. 1-4). This light I take to be that pure Spirit in man we call Reason, which we call Conscience. From all which there issued out that Golden Rule or Law, which we call Equity: the sum of which is, saith Jesus, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do to them: this is the Law and the Prophets. James calls it the Royal Law; and to live from this principle is called a good conscience.”

It then points out the cause why men are disinclined to follow this sound principle of harmonious social union, and the consequences thereof, as manifested in the prevailing conditions, in the following words: