" He continues:
"Then they came privately by day to Gerrard Winstanley's house and
drove away four cows, I not knowing of it. They took away the cows
which were my livelihood, and beat them with their clubs that the
cows' heads and sides did swell, which grieved tender hearts to
see. And yet," he pathetically but somewhat humourously adds,
"these cows never were upon George Hill, nor never digged upon that
ground, and yet the poor beasts must suffer because they gave milk
to feed me. But strangers made rescue of those cows, and drove them
astray out of the Bailiffs' hands, so that the Bailiffs lost them.
But before the Bailiffs had lost the cows, I, hearing of it, went
to them and said--'Here is my body, take me, that I may speak to
those Normans that have stolen our land from us; and let the cows
go, for they are none of mine.' After some time, they telling me
they had nothing against my body, it was my goods they were to
have. Then said I, 'Take my goods, for the cows are not mine.'"
Here follows one of the most touching passages to which Winstanley ever
set pen:
"And so I went away and left them, being quiet in my heart, and
filled with comfort within myself, that the King of Righteousness
would cause this to work for the advancing of His own cause, which
I prefer above estate and livelihood. Saying within my heart as I
went along, that if I could not get meat to eat, I would feed upon
bread, milk and cheese.
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