ithout seam. This law moves the people to
fight one against the other for those pieces; viz., for the several
enclosures of the Earth, who shall possess the Earth, and who shall
be Rulers over others."

THE EVERLASTING LAW.

"But the true ancient Law of God is a Covenant of Peace to the
whole of mankind. This sets the Earth free to all. This unites both
Jew and Gentile into one Brotherhood, and rejects none. This makes
Christ's garment whole again; and makes the Kingdoms of the World
to become Commonwealths again. It is the Inward Power of Right
Understanding, which is the True Law that teaches people in action,
as well as in words, to do as they would be done unto."

Winstanley then contends that, as far as written laws are concerned--

"SHORT AND PITHY LAWS ARE BEST TO GOVERN A COMMONWEALTH,"

and defends this conclusion as follows:

"The Laws of Israel's Commonwealth were few, short and pithy; and
the Government thereof was established in peace so long as Officers
and People were obedient thereunto. But those many Laws in the days
of the Kings of England, which were made some in times of Popery
and some in times of Protestantism, and the proceedings of the Laws
being in French and Latin, hath produced two great evils in
England. First, it hath occasioned much ignorance among the people,
and much contention. And the people have mightily erred through
want of knowledge, and thereby they have run into great expense of
money by suits of Law; or else many have been imprisoned, whipped,
banished, lost their estates and lives by that Law which they were
ignorant of till the scourge thereof was on their backs. This is a
sore evil among the people.

"_Secondly_, The people's ignorance of the laws hath bred many sons
of contention. For when any difference falls out between man and
man, they neither of them know which offends the other; therefore,
both of them thinking their cause is good, they delight to make use
of the Law; and then they go and give a Lawyer money to tell them
which of them was the offender. The Lawyer, being glad to maintain
his own trade, sets them together by the ears till all their money
be near spent; and then bids them refer the business to their
neighbors to make them friends, which might have been done at the
first. So that t