curse."

Winstanley then declares his intentions as to the future, which, as we
shall see, he faithfully carried out, as follows:

"I have now obeyed the command of the Spirit that bid me declare
all this abroad. I have declared it and I will declare it by word
of mouth, I have now declared it with my pen. And when the Lord
doth show unto me the place and manner, how He will have us that
are called common people manure and work upon the common lands, I
will then go forth and declare it by my action, to eat my bread by
the sweat of my brow, without either giving or taking hire, looking
upon the land as freely mine as another's. I have now peace in the
Spirit, and I have an inward persuasion that the spirit of the poor
shall be drawn forth ere long to act materially this Law of
Righteousness."

Winstanley then proceeds to formulate the practical proposals, whereby
he deemed the disinherited many might reclaim their inheritance, and
that without infringing on the established rights or the property of the
rich: proposals, be it remembered, which, if acted on, would have
altered the whole future economic history of Great Britain. Before
judging of their efficacy, we should bear in mind that at the time he
was writing, before the era of Enclosure Acts, over a third of England
was still common land. However, whatever opinion may be held on this
point, there can be no denying the lucidity and incisiveness of his
words: he says:

"But be it so that some will say, This is my land, and call such
and such a parcel of land his own interest.... Therefore, if the