reason is or ought to be the foundation of Law. If so,
then plead not for money altogether, but stand for Universal
Justice and Equity: then you will have peace; otherwise both you
and the corrupt Clergy will be cast out as unsavoury salt."

As will have been seen from the above, and as we shall show more fully
later on, the little company of Diggers were having a rather troublesome
time. Within two days of the delivery of their first letter to Lord
Fairfax, on June 11th, some of them were grievously assaulted by two of
the local freeholders, accompanied by men in women's garments; but,
according to their own account, they made no attempt to defend
themselves.[122:1] In November of the same year the agitation against
their doings was revived, or became more acute, and early in December
they found themselves compelled again to appeal to Lord Fairfax for
protection.[122:2] After having recapitulated their main arguments, this
letter continues:

"Now, Sirs, divers repulses we have had from some of the Lords of
Manors and their servants, with whom we are patient and loving, not
doubting but at last they will grant liberty quietly to live by
them. And though your tenderness hath moved us to be requesting
your protection against them, yet we have forborne, and rather
waited upon God with patience till he quell their unruly
spirits.... In regard likewise the soldiers did not molest us, for
that you told us when some of us were before you, that you had
given command to your soldiers not to meddle with us, but resolved
to leave us to the Gentlemen of the County and to the Law of the
Land to deal with us, which we were satisfied with, and for this
half-year past your soldiers have not meddled with us.

"But now, Sirs, this last week, upon the 28th of November, there
came a party of soldiers commanded by a Cornet, and some of them of
your own regiment, and by their threatening words forced three
labouring men to help them to pull down our two houses, and carried
away the wood in a cart to a Gentleman's house, who hath been a
Cavalier all our time of war, and cast two or three old people out
who lived in those houses to lie in the open fields this cold
weather (an act more becoming Turks to deal with Christians than
for one Christian to deal with another). But if you inquire into
the business you will find