Cromwell and his friends beheaded King Charles for not being a republican; barely a quarter of the year had passed before some parts of the army violently mutinied against Cromwell and his friends for not being republican enough. These men, “Levellers” they called them, desired to have perfect freedom, not only in politics but in goods; they wished the fruits of the earth to be shared freely by all men, thus putting all men on a common level. I own I had a kindly feeling for them, for it has ever seemed to me a bitter injustice that some of us should lie soft and others so uneasily; nay, I have even at times been hard put to it to reconcile these earthly inequalities with the excellent goodness of God. Besides, since we had taken up arms to free ourselves from persecution, we could hardly blame these men for taking up arms in a similar cause. To me it has always seemed that a man’s beliefs are between himself and God, and he hath a right to live after those beliefs if he chooses, provided always that he does not break the peace.
