ever will
until everything shall be in common; when there shall be neither vassal
nor lord, and all distinctions levelled; when lords shall be no more
masters than ourselves. How ill have they used us! and for what reason
do they thus hold us in bondage? Are we not all descended from the same
parents--Adam and Eve? And what can they show, and what reason give, why
they should be more the masters than ourselves? Except, perhaps, in
making us labour and work for them to spend." Froissart goes on to say
that for speeches of this nature the Archbishop of Canterbury put Ball
in prison, and adds that for himself he considers that "it would have
been better if he had been confined there all his life, or had been put
to death." However, the Archbishop "set him at liberty, for he could not
for conscience sake have put him to death" (Froissart's _Chronicle_,
1848, London, book ii. cap. 73, pp. 652-653).

From this extract all that can be gathered with certainty is the popular
idea of the opinions John Ball held; and it is instructive to find that
in the Primate's eyes there was nothing in the doctrine to warrant the
extreme penalty of the law. But in reality we have no certainty as to
what Ball actually taught, for in another account we find that,
preaching on Corpus Christi Day, June 13, 1381, during the last days of
the revolt, far fiercer words are ascribed to him. He is made to appeal
to the people to destroy the evil lords and unjust judges, who lurked
like tares among the wheat. "For when the great ones have been rooted up
and cast away, all will enjoy equal freedom--all will have common
nobility, rank, and power." Of course it may be that the war-fever of
the revolt had affected his language; but the sudden change of tone
imputed in the later speeches makes the reader somewhat suspicious of
the authenticity.

The same difficulty which is experienced in discovering the real mind of
Ball is encountered when dealing with Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, who
were, with him, the leaders of the revolt. The confession of Jack Straw
quoted in the _Chronicon Angliae_, like nearly all mediaeval
"confessions," cannot be taken seriously. His accusers and judges
readily supplied what they considered he should have himself admitted.
Without any better evidence we cannot with safety say along what lines
he pushed his theories, or whether, indeed, he had any theories at all.
Again, Wat Tyler is reported to have spoken threateningly to the King