134 LAND REFORM 



grasped, and the men knew that they were of the 

 "Fellowship." John Ball is pictured on the steps of 

 the village cross, surrounded by a throng of people, 

 whose "eyes and hearts were fixed on the dark 

 figure," and on whom "a great expectation had fallen." 

 The village bells were stopped so that he should not 

 be interrupted. Then with "hands stretched out 

 before him, one palm laid on the other," the preacher 

 began : — 



" Ho all ye good people ! I am a priest of God, 

 and in my day's work it cometh that I should tell ye 

 what ye should do and what ye should forbear doing, 

 and to that end I am come hither." He hears a voice 

 warninor him of his fate unless he desists from his 

 work and saying, " The hemp for thee is sown and 

 grown and heckled and spun, and lo there, the rope 

 for thy gallows tree " ; but he declares that the saints 

 in heaven forbid him to forbear, for " he shall not fail, 

 though he seem to fail to-day, but in days hereafter 

 shall he and his work yet be alive, and men be holpen 

 by them to strive again and yet again." 



But, it may be asked, what good results came from 

 the rebellion? It is true that at the first glance the 

 rural population seemed to have gained nothing by 

 the sacrifices they had made, but rather to have made 

 their position worse than before. Every pledge given 

 to the insurgents was broken, letters of pardon were 

 recalled and all charters of manumission were can- 

 celled. The men of Essex who had returned home 

 quietly, content with the concessions made, were, if 

 anything, treated with more savage cruelty than the 

 insurgents from other parts. But their spirit, though 

 damped, was not broken. 



After the rebellion, in spite of the punishment they 



