“Fourthly, We shall prove it by the Righteous Law of our Creation, that mankind in all its branches is the Lord of the Earth, and ought not to be in subjection to any of his own kind without him, but to live in the light of the Law of Righteousness and Peace established in his heart.”

The pamphlet concludes as follows:

“Thus in love we have declared the purpose of our hearts plainly, without flattery, expecting love and the same sincerity from you, without grumbling or quarrelling, 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 accursed thing called Particular Propriety, which is the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving Laws, that hold the people under misery.

“Signed for and in the behalf of all the poor oppressed people of England and the whole world—

Gerard Winstanley, and others, forty-six in all.
John Coulton,
John Palmer,
Thomas Star,
Samuel Webb,
John Hayman,
Thomas Edcer,
William Hogrill,”

A few days after the publication of this declaration, viz., on Sunday, April 1st, 1649, the Diggers commenced their labours on the Commons around George’s Hill, in Surrey, the first results of which we have already recorded. Within a few days of Winstanley and Everard’s visit to Lord Fairfax and his Council of War, they and their followers drafted yet another pamphlet, which bears date April 26th, 1649, the very day Lockyer, “The Army’s Martyr,” was condemned to death, and the title-page of which reads as follows:

“THE TRUE LEVELLERS STANDARD ADVANCED:[95:1]

or
The state of Community Opened and Presented to the Sons of Men.
by

——Gerrard Winstanley.
William Everard.Richard Goodgroome.
John Palmer.Thomas Starre.
John South.William Hoggrill.
John Courton.Robert Sawyer.
William Taylor.Thomas Eder.
Christopher Clifford.Henry Bickerstaffe.
John Barker.John Taylor

Beginning to plant and manure the Waste Land upon Georges Hill, in the Parish of Walton, in the County of Surrey.”