Though we may
now believe that, save that he placed Norman in the place of the Saxon
Lords, William the Conqueror introduced but few innovations into the
laws and institutions of the country, the very opposite was the accepted
opinion in the days of Winstanley and his associates.[38:1] It may also
be well to mention here that, though Everard's name appears, and first
in order, amongst those who signed the pamphlet, _The True Levellers
Standard Advanced: or, The State of Community opened and presented to
the Sons of Men_, which bears date April 26th, 1649, and to which we
shall presently refer, it does not appear in any of the later
publications of the Diggers. Whether he died about this time or merely
dropped out of the movement, we have not been able to ascertain.
However this may be, Lord Fairfax appears to have been somewhat
impressed by his interview, to which the Diggers themselves always
referred in most cordial terms; for on his way from Guildford to London
the following month, he visited them at their work, of which visit we
take the following account from the pages of a contemporary and
evidently friendly news-sheet, dated May 31st, 1649:[39:1]
"The SPEECHES of Lord General FAIRFAX and the Officers of the Army
to the Diggers at St. George's Hill in Surrey, and the Diggers'
several answers and replies thereunto.
"As his Excellency the Lord General came from Gilford to London, he
went to view the Diggers at St.
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