appealed most strongly to Winstanley, who within a
fortnight of its issue, on March 26th, replied to it in the following
high-spirited, almost triumphal, address, which also appeared in the
form of a broadsheet:[153:1]

"AN APPEAL TO ALL ENGLISHMEN TO JUDGE BETWEEN BONDAGE AND FREEDOM:
Sent from those that began to dig upon George Hill in Surrey,
but now are carrying on that public work upon the little heath
in the Parish of Cobham, near unto George Hill, wherein it
appears that the work of Digging upon the Commons is not only
warranted by Scripture, but by the Law of the Common-wealth of
England likewise.

"Behold, behold all Englishmen, The Land of England now is your
free inheritance: all Kingly and Lordly entanglements are declared
against by our Army and Parliament. The Norman Power is beaten in
the field, and his head is cut off. And that oppressing Conquest,
that hath reigned over you by King and House of Lords, for about
600 years past, is now cast out by the Armies' Swords, the
Parliament's Acts and Laws, and the Common-wealth's Engagement.

"Therefore let not sottish covetousness in the Gentry deny the poor
or younger bretheren their just Freedom to build and plant corn
upon the common waste land; nor let slavish fear possess the heart
of the poor to stand in fear of the Norman yoke any longer, seeing
that it is broke. Come, those that are free within, turn your
Swords into Ploughshares, and Spears into Pruning Hooks, and take
Plow and Spade, and break up the Common Land, build your houses,
sow corn and take possession of your own Land, which you have
recovered out of the hands of the Norman oppressor.

"The common Land hath laid unmanured all the days of his Kingly and
Lordly power over you, by reason whereof both you and your fathers
(many of you) have been burthened with poverty. And that land which
would have been fruitful with corn, hath brought forth nothing but
heath, moss, turfeys, and the curse, according to the words of the
Scriptures: A fruitful land is made barren because of the
unrighteousness of the people that ruled therein, and would not
suffer it to be planted, because they would keep the poor under
bondage, to maintain their own Lordly Power and conquering
covetousness.

"But what hinders you now