The Levellers (1)

I am embarrassed that it has taken until my geriatric age to learn about the Levellers: why hasn't this been taught to every schoolboy (or girl)? The Levellers were a pressure group putting their weight to pushing Oliver Cromwell further and further into modern democracy.

Their leader was a chap called John Lilburne, and he is mindbogglingly amazing. Reading his pamphlets is like coming slap bang up to date. He argues for universal male suffrage - about the only thing that he gets wrong, from a modern perspective, is that he does not rate women as intellectual equals. Although this is a grave mistake to modern eyes, I think that one can forgive him, at a time when the prospect of the plebiscite containing non landed gentry was viewed in much the same light as Marxism is today. I cannot help but have sympathy with Lilburne, for whilst he lead a charmed life, it must be so frustrating to be so far in advance of one's time, that there is no possibility of the rest of mankind catching up before one shuffles from this mortal coil.

This book comes with an excellent introduction, which sets the scene admirably for peasants, such as myself, and gives a brief outline as to when and why each pamphlet was produced and distributed by the Levellers: after that, we get Lilburne's words ringing through history with a clarity and conviction that, more than once, produced a lump in my throat. Lilburne's words are not just a cause to pat ourselves on the back, for eventually attaining a system along the lines that he suggested, but also a timely reminder of why we must never become complaisant: we must maintain our vigilance and ensure that we never lose the rights which so many people gave so much to obtain.… (mehr)