bitterly:

"England is a prison; the varieties of subtilties in the Laws
preserved by the Sword are the bolts, bars and doors of the prison;
the Lawyers are the Jailers; and Poor Men are the prisoners. For
let a man fall into the hands of any, from the Bailiff to the
Judge, and he is either undone or weary of his life. Surely this
power, the Law, which is the great Idol that people dote upon, is
the burden of the Creation, a nursery of idleness, luxury and
cheating, the only enemy of Christ, the King of Righteousness! For
though it pretends Justice, yet the Judges and Law Officers buy and
sell Justice for money, and say it is my calling, and never are
troubled at it."

He then makes the following manly appeal to his persecutors:

"You Gentlemen of Surrey, and Lords of Manors, and you Mr. Parson
Platt especially ... my advice to you is this, hereafter to lie
still and cherish the Diggers, for they love you and would not have
your finger ache if they could help it, then why should you be so
bitter against them? O let them live beside you. Some of them have
been Soldiers, and some Countrymen that were always friends to the
Parliament's cause, by whose hardships and means you enjoy the
creatures about you in peace. And will you now destroy part of them
that have preserved your lives? O do not do so; be not so besotted
with the Kingly Power.... Bid them go and plant the Commons. This
will be your honor and your comfort; for assure yourselves that you
can never have true comfort till you be friends with the Poor.
Therefore, come, come, love the Diggers, make restitution of their
land you hold from them; for what would you do if you had not such
laboring men to work for you?"

A pertinent question, truly, and one which those whom he addressed, as
well as those who are to-day in their places, would find it somewhat
inconvenient to answer.

He then appeals to the Officers of the Army in the following bold and
manly words:

"And you, great Officers of the Army and Parliament, love your
common Soldiers (I plead for Equity and Reason) and do not force
them, by long delay of payment, to sell you their dearly bought
Debentures for a thing of nought, and then to go and buy our Common
Land, and Crown Land, and other Land that is the spoil, one of
another therewith. Remem