Extract from Gerrard Winstanley’s Declaration of 1649.
In the beginning of Time, the great Creator Reason made the Earth to be a Common Treasury, to preserve Beasts, Birds, Fishes, and Man, the lord that was to govern this Creation; for Man had Dominion given to him over the Beasts, Birds and Fishes; but not one word was spoken in the beginning that one branch of mankind should rule over another.
And the Reason is this: Every single man, Male and Female, is a perfect creature of himself; and the same Spirit that made the Globe dwells in man to govern the Globe…
…When once the Earth becomes a Common Treasury again, as it must, for all the Prophesies of Scriptures and Reason are circled here in this Community, and mankind must have the Law of Righteousness once more writ in his heart, and all must be of one heart, and one mind.
Then this Enmity in all Lands will cease, for none shall dare to seek Dominion over others, neither shall any dare to kill another, nor desire more of the Earth than another; for he that will rule over, imprison, oppress and kill his fellow Creatures, under what pretence soever, is a destroyer of the Creation, and an actor of the Curse, and walks contrary to the rule of righteousness: (Do as you would have others do to you; and love your Enemies, not in words, but in actions).
Gerrard Winstanley, the leader of the Diggers, issued this Declaration in 1649. This extract is taken from Gerrard Winstanley Selected Writings, edited by Andrew Hopton (Aporia Press, London 1989). A biography, Gerrard Winstanley and the Republic of Heaven, by David Boulton, is published by Dales Historical Monographs (Dent 1999).