act, appointing the oaths of allegiance taken for the benefit of the indemnity to be transmitted to the clerks of privy council. edinburgh, january . . scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) act, appointing the oaths of allegiance taken for the benefit of the indemnity to be transmitted to the clerks of privy council. edinburgh, january . . scotland. privy council. sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to their most excellent majesties, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. signed: da. moncrieff, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng indemnity -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - megan marion sampled and proofread - megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion act , appointing the oaths of allegiance taken for the benefit of the indemnity to be transmitted to the clerks of privy council . edinburgh , january . . the lords of their majesties privy council having received information from their clerks , that there are brought to their hands at this place , or sent in to them by way of missive , subscribed by persons undersigned , and whom they know not : notes , or lists of several persons , said to have taken the benefit of their majesties act of indemnity , and to have sworn , and signed the oath of allegiance , in the terms of the said act ; but that the oaths with the original subscriptions of these persons in the terms of the indemnity are not transmitted to the saids clerks : and the saids lords considering how much it does concern their majesties interest , and the security of the government , that the persons taking the benefit of the said act of indemnity be certainly knowen , and that the oaths , with the original subscriptions signed by them , be in the precise words of the oath of allegiance insert in the act of parliament , and that the same be sworn and signed before the persons , and in the express terms mentioned in the said act of indemnity : therefore the saids lords of their majesties privy council , do hereby require and ordain the sheriffs principals of the several shires of this kingdom , their deputs and clerks , to transmit to the clerks of privy council , not only the lists of the persons who have taken the benefit of the said indemnity , but likewise the oaths already sworn and signed by the takers thereof , with their original subscriptions , and that before the persons , and in the precise terms mentioned in the said act , betwixt and the twenty fifth day of january instant , for such as are on this side of the river of tay , and the tenth day of february next , for those on the other side thereof ; and that as they will be answerable at their highest perril . and appoints their majesties solicitor timously to transmit copies hereof , to the sheriff-clerks of the several shires within this kingdom . and ordains these presents to be printed . extracted forth of the records of privy council by me da. moncreiff , cls. sti. concilii . god save king william and queen mary . edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to their most excellent majesties . anno dom. . a proclamation, ordaining all persons in publick trust to sign the certificat and assurance scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation, ordaining all persons in publick trust to sign the certificat and assurance scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william and mary) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson ..., edinburgh, : . caption title. title vignette; initial letter. reproduction of original in: national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- history -- - -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation , ordaining all persons in publick trust to sign the certificat and assurance . william and mary by the grace of god , king and queen of great-britain , france , and ireland , defenders of the faith ; to our lovits , macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting ; whereas by an act of the second session of our current parliament of this our antient kingdom of scotland , we with advice and consent of our estates of parliament , have enacted , statuted and ordained , that all persons , who in law are obliged to swear and take the oath of allegiance to vs , shall also subscribe the certificat and assurance mentioned in , and subjoyned to the said act of parliament , under the certification therein contained ; and we judging it just and reasonable , that the said act of parliament should be put to execution , and receive due obedience , to the effect it may appear , what persons are of integrity , and dutifully affected to us , and our government , and that such as are otherwayes inclined , may be discovered ; we therefore , with advice of our privy council , ordain and appoint , all the sheriffs , commiss●●●●●● , stewarts , baillies of royalties , bailliaries and regalities , to sign and subscribe the said certificat and assurance hereunto subjoyned , in presence of one of the lords , or others of our privy council , being within , or near to their jurisdiction for the time , and failȝying thereof , in presence of one of the commissioners of our current parliament , who have taken , or shall first take the same themselves , or in presence of a meeting of the commissioners of supply ; and all magistrats of burghs within their own fenced courts , and the deputs , clerks , and clerk-deputs , and fiscals of the whole courts above-named , and justices of peace , and all others in trust and office , who by law are obliged to take the oath of allegiance within this kingdom , in presence of any of the persons above-named , or the sheriffs , or their deputs , and that betwixt and the days following , viz. these on this side of the water of tay , and shire of forfar , betwixt and the twenty day of august current ; and all be-north the famine , betwixt and the first day of september , and these in orknay and zetland , betwixt and the twenty ninth day of september next to come ; and to record the same in their respective books , and to transmit to the clerks of our council , extracts thereof under their clerks hands , betwixt and the days following , viz. these on this side of the water of tay , and shire of forfar , betwixt and the first of september next ; and these be-north the same , except orknay and zetland , betwixt and the tenth day of september , and these in orknay and zetland , betwixt and the fifth day of november next to come , under the certification contained in the foresaid act of parliament . and to the effect our pleasure in the premisses may be known , our will is herefore , and we charge you straitly and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass , and in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make publication of the premisses , at the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and at the whole mercat-crosses of the head-burgs of the shires and stewartries , and also at the mercat-crosses of the whole burghs-royal , of the bailliaries and regalities within this kingdom , that none may pretend ignorance . and appoints the sheriffs of the several shires , to cause publish the premisses , at all the mercat-crosses of the burghs royal , bailliaries and regalities . and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet , at edinburgh , the fourth day of august , . and of our reign , the second year . per actum dominorum sti. concilii . d a : moncreiff , cls. sti. concilli . follows the certificat and assurance . i do in the sincerity of my heart , assert , acknowledge and declare , that their majesties , king william and queen mary , are the only lawful vndoubted soveraigns , king and queen of scotland , al 's well de jure as de facto , and in the exercise of the government ; and therefore i do sincerely and faithfully promise and engage , that i will with heart and hand , life and goods , maintain and defend their majesties title and government , against the late king james , his adherents , and all others enemies , who either by open , or secret attempts , shall disturb , or disquiet their majesties in the exercise thereof . god save king william and queen mary . edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to their most excellent majesties , anno dom. . a proclamation, for bringing in horses out of some vvestern shires. edinburgh, the . of march, . scotland. privy council approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s a estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation, for bringing in horses out of some vvestern shires. edinburgh, the . of march, . scotland. privy council scotland. sovereign ( - : charles ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by evan tyler, printer to the kings most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. printed in black letter. intentional blank spaces in text. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng treason -- scotland -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . horses -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion honi soit qvi mal y pens a proclamation , for bringing in horses out of some vvestern shires . edinburgh , the . of march , . charles , by the grace of god , king of great britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith. to our lovits , _____ messengers , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : forasmuch as it is more then high time , to prevent the rising of disaffected persons , who , during the continuance of the war with our forraign enemies , are ready to break out in open rebellion , and rise in arms against us , and our authority , by disabling them from putting themselves in a military posture , and in a condition to make any sudden marches , or attempts upon our well affected subjects , or any part of our standing forces , or to joyn with these , who are of there own pernitiousand disloyal principles , who live at a distance from them . therefore , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , command and charge all persons within the shires of lanerk , air , renfrew , wigton , and stewartry of kirkcudbright , of whatsoever quality , who have refused to accept of any publick trust , or have deserted the same , being in place : as also , all those who withdraw from publick ordinances , and do not keep their own paroch churches , or do not submit to the present government of church and state. as likewise all those who being warned to rise , and joyn with our forces , for suppressing the late rebellion , did not give obedience , unlesse the saids persons will take the oath of allegiance , and subscribe the declaration appointed by the late act of parliament . that after the fifteenth day of may next , they , by themselves , nor no persons to their use and behove , do not keep any serviceable horses , above the rate of one hundred merks scots , under any pretext whatsoever : with certification , if the failzie , that upon information of any person well affected , the sheriff , or any two of the justices of peace within the shire , shall cause value such horses , and finding them above the rate foresaid , shall cause deliver them to the informer , and that without any payment , or satisfaction to be made therefore . and requires all sheriffs and justices of peace , within their respective bounds , to issue orders , for conveening the contraveeners of this act before them , and causing apprize any such horses , by indifferent persons , that it may be known , if they be above the rate foresaid . and , in case that the persons who compear , shall offer to purge themselves of any suspition of disaffection to our government , upon the accounts foresaids ; that they administer to them the oath of allegiance , and offer the declaration to be subscribed by them , which being taken , and subscribed by them as said is , then we enjoyn them , to dismisse the saids persons , with their horses , to be kept by them , without any farther trouble or molestation : otherwise , that they proceed as said is . and ordains the sheriffs of the said shires , to cause intimat these presents by publick proclamation , at the mercat crosses of the head burghs of the saids respective shires and stewartry : and cause read the same at all the paroch churches of the saids bounds , upon a sunday before noon , after divine service , with all diligence . and that these presents be printed , that none pretend ignorance . edinburgh , printed by evan tyler , printer to the kings most excellent majesty , anno dom. . act concerning the declaration to be signed by all persons in publick trust. at edinburgh, the fifth day of septembre, one thousand six hundred and sixty two. scotland. parliament. committee of estates. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) act concerning the declaration to be signed by all persons in publick trust. at edinburgh, the fifth day of septembre, one thousand six hundred and sixty two. scotland. parliament. committee of estates. scotland. sovereign ( - : charles ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by evan tyler, printer to the kings most excellent majesty, edinburgh : . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. text partly in black letter. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- officials and employees -- legal status, laws, etc. -- early works to . scotland -- politics and government -- - -- sources. broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms act concerning the declaration to be signed by all persons in publick trust . at edinburgh , the fifth day of september , one thousand six hundred and sixty two . forasmuch as it hath pleased almighty god , in his majesties restitution to his royal government , to restore this kingdom to its ancient liberties and peace , and to deliver his majesties good subjects from these miseries and bondage whereby they have been oppressed , during these troubles ; and the estates of parliament , finding themselves obliged in a due resentment of this mercy , and in discharge of that duty they owe to god , to the kings majesty , to the publick peace of the kingdom , and the good of his subjects , to use all means for the due preservation of that peace and happiness they now enjoy under his royal government ; and to prevent and suppresse every thing that may tend to the renewing or favouring of these courses , by which the late rebellion hath been fomented and carryed on ; and conceiving , that the imploying of persons of found principles and entire loyalty , in all offices of trust and places of publick administration , will conduce much to these ends . therefore , and for quieting the spirits of his majesties good subjects , and begetting a confidence in them of their security for the future , his majesty hath thought fit , with advice and consent of his estates of parliament , to statute , ordian and enact ; likeas his majesty , by these presents , doth , with advice foresaid , statute , ordain and enact , that all such persons as shall hereafter be called or admitted to any publick trust or office , under his majesties government within this kingdom ; that is to say , to be officers of state , members of parliament , privy councellors , lords of session , commissioners in exchequer , members of the colledge of iustice , sheriffs , stewarts or commissaries , their deputes and clerks , magistrates and council of borroughs , iustices of peace and their clerks , or any other publick charge , office and trust within this kingdom ; shall at and before their admission to the exercise of such places or offices , publickly , in face of the respective courts they relate to , subscribe the declaration underwritten : and that they shall have no right to their said offices or benefites thereof , untill they subscribe the same as said is ; but that every such person who shall offer to enter and exerce any such office , before he subscribe the declaration , is to be repute and punished as an usurper of his majesties authority , and the place to be disposed to another . likeas his majesty doth , with advice foresaid , remit to his commissioner , to take such course as he shall think fit , how these who are presently in office , may subscribe the said declaration . and it is hereby declared , that this act is without prejudice of any former acts , for taking the oath of alleagiance , and asserting the royal prerogative . i do sincerely affirm and declare , that i judge it unlawfull to subjects , upon pretence of reformation or other pretence whatsoever , to enter into leagues and covenants , or to take up armes against the king or these commissionated by him : and that all these gatherings , convocations , petitions , protestations , and erecting and keeping of council-tables , that were used in the beginning , and for carrying on , of the late troubles , were unlawfull and seditious . and particularly , that these oaths , whereof the one was commonly called the national covenant , ( as it was sworn and explained in the year , one thousand six hundred and thirty eight , and thereafter ) and the other entituled , a solemn league and covenant , were , and are , in themselves , unlawfull oaths , and were taken by , and imposed upon , the subjects of this kingdom , against the fundamental laws and liberties of the same . and that there lyeth no obligation upon me , or any of the subjects , from the saids oaths , or either of them , to endeavour any change or alteration of the government , either in church or state , as it is now established by the laws of the kingdom . edinburgh printed by evan tyler , printer to the kings most excellent majesty , . i a. b. do sincerely promise and swear, that i will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to his majesty king william. so help me god england and wales. sovereign ( - : william and mary) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing i a estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) i a. b. do sincerely promise and swear, that i will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to his majesty king william. so help me god england and wales. sovereign ( - : william and mary) sheet ([ ] p.) s.n., [s.l. : ] title from opening words of text. imprint from wing. a loyalty oath, as, for example, public general acts william and mary.c. . reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng william -- iii, -- king of england, - -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - pip willcox sampled and proofread - pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion i a. b. do sincerely promise and swear , that i will be faithful , and bear true allegiance to his majesty king william . so help me god. i a. b. do swear , that i do from my heart abhor , detest , and abjure , as impious and heretical , that damnable doctrine and position , that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope , or any authority of the see of rome , may be deposed or murthered by their subjects , or any other whatsoever . and i do declare , that no foreign prince , person , prelate , state , or potentate , hath , or ought to have any jurisdiction , power , superiority , pre-eminence , or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this realm . so help me god. the loyal nonconformist; or, an account what he dare swear, and vvhat not. wild, robert, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing w estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the loyal nonconformist; or, an account what he dare swear, and vvhat not. wild, robert, - . sheet ([ ] p.) s.n.], [london : printed in the year, . signed: r.w. author and place of publication suggested by wing. in verse. reproduction of original in the society of antiquaries (london, england). created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- early works to . dissenters, religious -- england. broadsides -- england -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the loyal nonconformist ; or , an account what he dare swear , and what not . i fear an oath , before i swear to take it ; and well i may , for 't is the oath of god : i fear an oath , when i have sworn , to break it ; and well i may , for vengeance hath a rod. and yet i may swear , and must too , 't is due both to my heav'nly , and my earthly king : if i assent , it must be full and true ; and if i promise , i must do the thing . i am no quaker , not at all to swear ; nor papist , to swear east , and mean the west ; but am a protestant , and shall declare what i cannot , and what i can protest . i never will endeavour alteration of monarchy , or of that royal name , which god hath chosen to cōmand this nation , but will maintain his person , crown & fame : what he commands , if conscience say not nay , ( for conscience is a greater king than he ) for conscience-sake , not fear , i will obey ; and if not active , passive i will be . i 'll pray that all his subjects may agree , and never more be crumbled into parts ; i will endeavour that his majestie m●y not be king of clubs , but king of hearts . the royal oa● i swear i will defend ; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ivy which doth hug it so , i swar that is a thief , and not a friend , and about steeples fitter for to grow . the civil-government i will obey ; but for church-policy i swear i doubt it ; and if my bible want th' apocrypha , i 'l swear my book may be compleat without it . i dare not swear church-government is right as it should be ; but this i dare to swear , if they should put me to 't , the bishops might do better , and be better than they are . nor will i swear for all that they are worth , that bishopricks will stand , & doomsday see ; and yet i 'l swear the gospel holdeth forth christ with his ministers till then will be . that peter was a prelate they aver ; but i 'l not swear 't when all is said and done but i dare swear , and hope i shall not err , he preach'd a hundred sermons to their one . peter a fisher was , and he caught men : and they have nets , & in them catch men too ; yet i 'l not swear they are alike , for them he caught he sav'd : these catch , & them undo . i dare not swear that courts ecclesiastick do in their laws make just and gentle votes ; but i 'l be sworn that burton , pryn and bastwick were once ear-witnesses of harsher notes . archdeacons , deans & chapters are brave men , by canon , not by scripture : but to this , if i be call'd , i 'll swear , and swear agen , that no such chapter in my bible is . i 'll not condemn those presbyterians , who refused bishopricks , and might have had 'em : but mistris calamy i 'll swear doth do as well as if she were a spiritual madam . for holy vestments i 'll not take an oath which linen most canonical may be ; some are for lawn , some holland , some scotscloth ; and hemp for some is fitter than all three . paul had a cloak , and books , & parchments too ; but that he wore a surplice i 'll not swear , nor that his parchments did his orders shew , or in his books there was a common-prayer . i owe assistance to the king by oath ; and if he please to put the bishops down , as who knows what may be , i should be loth to see tom beckets mitre push the crown . and yet church-government i do allow , and am contented bishops be the men ; and that i speak in earnest , here i vow where we have one , i wish we might have ten . in fine , the civil power i 'le obey , and seek the peace & welfare of the nation : if this won't do , i know not what to say , but farewel london , farewel corporation . r. w. printed in the year , . a proclamation for taking the oath of allegiance. at edinburgh, the second day of september, one thousand six hundred eighty nine years. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation for taking the oath of allegiance. at edinburgh, the second day of september, one thousand six hundred eighty nine years. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william and mary) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, by order of secret council, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. initial letter. list of council members present follows title; oath of allegiance follows text. signed: gilb. eliot, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - spi global rekeyed and resubmitted - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation , for taking the oath of allegiance . at edinburgh , the second day of september , one thousand six hundred eighty nine years . present in council , e. crafurd p. m. douglas . e. southerland . e. annandale . l. ross . l. ruthven . sir hugh campbel of calder . sir patrick hume of polwart . sir james murray of blackbarrony . james brodie of that iik . sir john hall l. provost of edinburgh . the lords of his majesties privy council considering , that their majesti●● king william and queen mary , with advice and consent of the estates o●parliament , have statute and ordained , that the oath of allegiance should be sworn and subscribed , not only by all the members and clerks of parliament , but also by all other persons presently in publick trust , civil , or military , or who shall be hereafter called to any publick trust within the kingdom ; therefore the saids lords of his majestics privy council , do ordain and appoint , all sheriffs , stewarts , baillies of royalties , and regalities , and their clerks , commissars , their deputs , clerks and fiscals , justices of peace , all present magistrats , deans of gild , counsellors , and clerks of burghs royal , and of regality , and such as shall succeed them in office , in presence of the sheriffs of the respective shires , or stewarts of the stewartries , within which the saids burghs lyes , or their deputs where any are , and where no sheriffs , or stewarts , or their deputs are , in presence of any counsellor , or member of parliament , the admiral-deputs , judges of the high court of admirality , and all particular admiral-deputs within the kingdom , and the clerks of the respective courts , and all other persons who presently are , or hereafter shall happen to be in publick trust within this kingdom , to publickly swear and subscribe the oath of allegiance hereunto subjoyned , betwixt and the twenty fourth day of september instant , which is to be recorded in the registers of the respective courts , and extracts thereof under the clerks hands , to be reported to the clerks of his majesties privy council , betwixt and the fifteenth day of november thereafter , with certification to them if they failȝie therein , the former acts of parliament made anent swearing the oath of allegiance , and penalties therein-con●●ined shall be impartially execute against , and insticted upon the refusers . and ordains these presents to be printed , and published by macers , or messengers at arms , at the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and other places needful , that none pretend ignorance . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot , cls. sti. concilii . god save king vvilliam and queen mary . follows the oath of allegiance . i do sincerely promise and swear , that i will be faithful and bear true allegiance to their majesties , king william and queen mary , so help me god. edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , by order of secret council , anno dom. . a proclamation, appointing the magistrates of burghs of regality and barrony, and their clerks, to take the oath of alleadgeance, and signe the declaration. edinbvrgh, the first day of august, . scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s a estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation, appointing the magistrates of burghs of regality and barrony, and their clerks, to take the oath of alleadgeance, and signe the declaration. edinbvrgh, the first day of august, . scotland. privy council. gibson, alexander, sir, d. . sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most sacred majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. signed: al. gibsone, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- officials and employees -- legal status, laws, etc. -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation , appointing the magistrates of burghs of regality and barrony , and their clerks , to take the oath of alleadgeance , and signe the declaration . edinbvrgh , the first day of august , : the lord commissioner his grace , and lords of his majesties privy council , considering , that by the fifth act of the second session of his majesties first parliament , his majesty , with advice of his estates of parliament , did statute , ordain , and enact , that all such persons as should thereafter be called or admitted to any publick trust or office , under his majesties government within this kingdom ; that is to say , to be officers of state , members of parliament , privy counsellers , lords of session , commissioners of exchequer , members of the colledge of justice , sheriffs , stewarts , or commissaries their deputs and clerks , magistrates , and council of burghs , justices of peace and their clerks , or any other publick charge , office and trust within this kingdom , shall at and before their admission to the exercise of such places or offices , publickly in face of the respective courts they relate to , subscribe the declaration thereto subjoyned , and that they shall have no right to the said offices or benefites thereof , untill they subscribe the same as said is ; but that every such person who shall offer to enter and exerce any such office , before he subscribe the declaration , is to be reputed and punished as an usurper of his majesties authority , and the place to be disposed of to another : and by the second act of the third session of his majesties said first parliament , relating to the former act , it is recommended to his majesties privy council to be carefull , that these acts be put in due execution , and receive obedience conform to the tenour thereof . and whereas the lord commissioner his grace , and lords of his majesties privy councill are informed , that the magistrates of several burghs of regality and barrony , and their clerks , who exerce publick jurisdiction , office and trust in their several bounds , and who by the said acts of parliament , are obliged , at or before they enter to the exercise of such offices and plac●s , to take the oath of alleadgeance and signe the declaration , yet do take upon them the exercise of the said publick trust , office and jurisdiction , without taking the said oath and signing the declaration : do therefore hereby require and command , all such magistrates of burghs of regality and barrony , and their clerks , ( who have not at their entry to their saids offices , taken the oath of alleadgeance and signed the declaration ) to take the said oath , and sign the declaration , publickly in face of the respective courts to which they relate , betwixt and the term of michaelmas next : and it is hereby declared , that the saids magistrates of burghs of regality and barrony , and their clerks , shall hereafter have no right to their saids offices or benefites thereof , untill they take the said oath , and subscribe the declaration , as said is ; but that every one of them who shall exerce any such publick office , charge or jurisdiction , before they so do , is to be reputed and punished as an usurper of his majesties authority , and the place to be disposed of to another , conform to the saids acts of parliament : hereby requiring the sheriffs of the several shires to see this act put in execution , and to report to the council their diligence , betwixt and the second thursday of november next . and ordains these presents to be printed , and published at the mercat cross of edinburgh , and mercat crosses of the head burghs of the several shires , that none pretend ignorance . al. gibsone , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinbvrgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to his most sacred majesty , anno dom. . a discourse concerning the signification of allegiance, as it is to be understood in the new oath of allegiance downes, theophilus, d. . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing d estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a discourse concerning the signification of allegiance, as it is to be understood in the new oath of allegiance downes, theophilus, d. . p. s.n., [london : ] caption title. attributed to theophilus downes. cf. halkett & laing ( nd ed.). place and date of publication from wing. reproduction of original in yale university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng allegiance -- great britain. loyalty oaths -- great britain. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - taryn hakala sampled and proofread - taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discourse concerning the signification of allegiance , as it is to be understood in the new oath of allegiance . qui perjurii immunis esse cupit , &c. he , who desires to preserve himself from perjury , ought diligently to weigh every word of the oath which he is to take , and the sense and force of them ; that if it ought not to be kept , it may not be taken ; if it be lawful to be taken , it may be kept without fraud and dissimulation . sand. de juram . oblig . prael . . sect. . the words of the oath are these ; a. b. do sincerely promise , and swear , that i will be faithful , and bear true allegiance to their majesties , king william and queen mary , so help me god. in this compendious form of swearing , it is said there is great ambiguity , which lies principally in the doubtful signification of the words [ faithful , and true allegiance ; ] which may import either , . that kind of fidelity , and obedience which captives may promise to their conquerors , or oppressed subjects to usurpers ; and oblige them only to a quiet , and peaceable submission , while they are under their power , and does not debar them from assisting their lawful sovereign in the recovery of his crown : or , . all that fidelity and allegiance , which was formerly sworn to the kings of england , whereby their subjects were obliged to defend their crown , and dignity against all persons whatsoever ; not reserving any branch of their allegiance , as due to any other . it is upon this distinction , that two different interpretations of the oath are grounded , and the highest construction is this ; i a. b. am sincerely resolv'd to adhere faithfully to king william and queen mary , to perform all the duties of allegiance , and subjection unto them alone , and to defend their crown and dignity with my life and fortune to the uttermost of my power against all persons whatsoever . and the lowest construction is to this effect ; whereas w. and m. are actually in possession of the regal power , so long , as they continue in the full possession of it , i do swear , that i will pay them that obedience , and submission , which may be lawfully paid to an actual sovereign , not engaging hereby to uphold them in the possession of the throne against the k. de jure , nor debarring my self from exerting my sworn allegiance to him upon any emergent opportunity for the recovery of his right . i am not certain that this last clause of assisting the k. de jure , is the sense of them , who have taken the oath with a declaration of living peaceably under the present government ; yet there is this reason to believe that it is , because ( if any thing can be inferr'd from an explanatory declaration , more ambiguous , and obscure , than the oath explain'd ) we may reasonably infer from thence , that the declarers thought the oath in the higher sense unlawful , because directly contradictory to their former obligations to k. j. but if those are still in force , then they are still obliged to an actual assistance of him ; and then their declaration must be understood in such a sense , as shall not exclude it . in short , if their former oath be obligatory , then they are obliged to assist k. j. if it is not , then the present possessors are undoubtedly our lawful sovereigns , and we are consequently obliged to pray that they may have victory over all their enemies ; and if this be our duty , it is a manifest sin not to contribute our actual assistance in our respective stations for the obtaining of it . wherefore chuse they which they will , either that their former oaths are obligatory , or not ; the one , or the other of the kings they are bound to assist , and therefore they cannot be presum'd to bind themselves by oath to a sinful neutrality ; which is plainly contradictory to their former oath , and if that be extinguish'd , to their manifest duty to the present possessors . but nevertheless , because what seems so improbable , may yet be possibly true , that they intended to bind themselves only to an exact neutrality ; it shall be shewn in the ensuing discourse , that the true notion of allegiance is absolutely inconsistent with it . to return therefore to the two former interpretations of the oath , it is manifest , that they are contradictory to each other . by the former we are obliged to pay all our allegiance to w. and m. by the latter , not all , but an allegiance qualified , and limited : in the one , to uphold them to the uttermost of our power in their crown and dignity ; in the other , we profess we will not be obliged to do it ▪ in the one , we engage to defend them against all persons whatsoever , and in the other , a power is reserv'd to assist k. j. against them . and if there be any , that take the oath in a middle sense of neutrality , it is evident from the very term of neutrality , that it is plainly contradictory to the first construction also . these several interpretations therefore being contradictory to each other , it is certain the swearer cannot be obliged unto more than one : nor is it to be imagin'd , that the imposors intended either to oblige us to contradictory , and impossible duties ; or to leave us at liberty to chuse in which of those contradictory senses we will be obliged . for this oath is exacted by a law ; and a law is nothing else but the declared will of the legislator . now if a law should be so fram'd on purpose by the legislator , as to be fairly capable of two contradictory constructions , and to leave the subject to his choice in which he will obey it ; it is manifestly no law at all , because it does not contain the determinate declar'd will of the legislator ; and the subject being allowed to take either part of the contradiction , is not determin'd , as by a law he always is , to any act of obedience . and if this be true in all laws , much more will it hold in those by which promissory oaths are established : for a promise equally capable of contradictory senses , is indeed no promise : and it is nor to be supposed , that our legislators intended to frame a promissory oath , that should contain no promise at all ; and to make a law for the most solemn mockery of god , that can be imagined . it is therefore presum'd , that the imposers of this oath intended to oblige us to one determinate meaning of it ; and that those words , by which they chose to declare their intention , cannot be reasonably so interpreted , as to declare the quite contrary also : and then it must be granted , that one of these constructions is both intended , and sufficiently expressed in the oath ; and that no doubt is the sense , in which we are obliged both to take , and keep it . we are therefore now to enquire whether of these constructions is the intended , and declar'd meaning of the imposers . and here there appears at first view an invincible prejudice against the lower construction of the oath , viz. that this oath being undeniably intended for the security of the present possessors against the dispossessed ; if that construction be admitted , though it be never so well observ'd , it can be no security at all unto them . if it be not intended for their security , it is a vain , and insignificant oath : but if it be intended for any thing , it is certainly designed to secure them from the greatest , i may say , the only , danger they are in , and that is , from the attempts of k. j. but after all , if we affix this sense upon the oath , that great , and wise security amounts only to this , [ that we will submit to the power of the present possessors , as long as there is no help , but a halter for it ; but as soon as ever it becomes safe , and prudent to attempt it , we will then with all our might endeavour to dethrone them , and restore the lawful king to his crown , and dignity ; in short , that we will ●●t attempt to destroy k. w. till we have 〈…〉 bable hopes to effect it . ] and can it be imagin'd 〈◊〉 so great and wise a body , as is the parliament of england , should after great labour , and strugling in its birth , produce a thing so iudicrous ? will k. w ? will any k. upon earth be content with such security as this ? will he not rather look upon it as an open declaration of rebellion against him ? is this to swear true faith and allegiance to him ? namely , to submit , till we can prudently rebel against him ? was there ever any such oath exacted from subjects since the beginning of government ? in short , if this be the sense of the oath , as none but mad men would have enacted it , so it is fit to be propos'd to mad-men only to take it : for it is certain none else will contrive , or execute any attempts against him without hopes of success . and yet this must be the sense of those , who take it with a reserve of their old allegiance to k. j. for by that allegiance they are obliged to assist him in the recovery of his crown , to the utmost of their power , whensoever their assistance may be useful and serviceable to his cause . but to swear allegiance in this sense , is plainly to swear nothing at all ; 't is only the phantom of an allegiance , and will not only deceive , but destroy them that were intended to be secured by it . here therefore i may appeal to the common sense of all men , whether that can be presum'd to be the meaning of the oath which does directly contradict the whole end and intention of it ; and whether it be not a thing incredible that the king , lords , and commons should enact an oath to secure the present government , and in the same oath allow the takers leave to attempt the destruction of it ; and whether lastly , i had not reason to affirm , that this is an invincible prejudice against that construction , and may not now have leave to add , that it is a plain demonstration against it . and the same reasoning will in some measure hold against a neutrality also ; because that also does defeat the provision intended in this oath for the security of k. w. the only difference is , that the former construction does permit the swearers to be still enemies to the government : but this leaves it without any friends to support it . the one does in effect arm the subjects to destroy it ; and the other leaves it naked and defenceless to be destroyed by them . both are highly pernicious to the present governors , and absolutely inconsistent with the prime and immediate intention of the oath to secure them . perhaps it will be said , that a peaceable neutrality , were it sworn and observ'd by all the subjects , would infallibly secure the possessors against all attempts to dethrone them ; and that however if such attempts be made , since the greatest part of the subjects do think themselves obliged by the oath to an active assissistance , the possessors will be effectually secured by it . but . the imposers knew well enough , that there were great numbers , that would neither swear , nor observe a neutrality ; but would actually assist the dispossessed k. against them ; and that therefore in such a dangerous conjuncture , a bare neutrality of all the subjects could be no tolerable security against them . and . if they intended to oblige the subject only to an exact neutrality , it was a gross prevarication so to frame the oath on purpose , that in the opinion of most men it might import an obligation contradictory to it . and besides , if that alone were the precise intention of the imposers , then the government will be secured , not by the oath it self , but by a false construction of it . wherefore this single consideration of the chief end and intention of the oath does clearly evince the first and highest construction to be the true meaning of it : and that it is so , i will further endeavour to prove by all the medium's , by which the meaning of an oath is capable of being proved , and those are only these two ; the words which the imposers have made choice of to declare their meaning ; and their intention otherwise sufficiently expressed by circumstances , and other actions , which may serve as a comment upon the oath , and may ascertain us of the meaning of it . and . i consider the signification of the words [ faithful , and true allegiance , ] which contain all the promissory part of the oath , and have occasioned all the different constructions of it . it is certain , that words generally speaking have their signification only from the institution of men ; and those that are vulgarly used , and understood in any language , from the common consent of the people of that language ; and those that are understood only by a few , such as are called terms of art , from the professors of the several arts and sciences . the words [ faithful and true allegiance ] may be consider'd in both respects , as they are vulgarly taken , and understood by the generality of the people of this nation ; and as they are law-terms , which are to be understood according to the sense of lawyers . and first i will consider what is the signification of those words according to the laws and lawyers . . i observe , that the lord coke in calvin's case does affirm , that faith and allegiance have only one signification ; and there he produces several instances to shew , that esse ad fidem regis signifies only to be in the ligeance of the king : accordingly the same oaths are sometimes called oaths of fidelity , and sometimes oaths of allegiance without any distinction . and sir henry spelman in his glossary defines fidelity to be [ fidei , obsequii , & servitii ligamen ] which is neither more nor less than allegiance . so that even in this short oath there is still a word too much , since faith and allegiance do signifie the same thing , and express the same duties of subjection . . the subjects of england may in two respects be stiled fideles regis . first as they are members of the body politick , and are therefore obliged to pay the k. that fidelity and subjection which is due to the supreme head and governor of it , secondly , as they hold their lands in fee of the k. and so are obliged to pay fealty and allegiance to him . a fee is thus defin'd by the feudists , that it is a free and benevolent grant of a thing immoveable , or something equipollent with a conveyance of the right to all the profits of it , the propriety being still reserved to the lord ; and the grant made upon condition of fidelity , and the performance of honest services , ] so that in this feodal contract it being expresly provided , that even the vtile dominium should revert unto the lord upon breach of fealty ; the vassal was hereby obliged in point of interest , as well as gratitude to an exact performance of it : and consequently all the subjects of england being vassals to the k. are besides the common duty of subjects under the same additional obligations of fidelity to him . . from this tenure of lands in fee , they who held them , were sometimes called fideles , and sometimes ligii a ligando ; and the bond or obligation they were under fidelitas , and ligeantia ; and the oaths they took to perform it , oaths of fealty and allegiance . for anciently ligeance was not appropriated to the sovereign only , but it denoted in general the obligation of a vassal to any lord whatsoever . thus hotoman in his feudal dictionary tells us , that liegeman was but another word for a vassal : and in his disp he spends a whole chapter to prove it . thus du fresne distinguishes between an absolute ligeance due to a supreme lord , and a ligeance paid to an inferior , with exception of the former . so also bracton , glanvil , and fleta do speak of ligeance as due to any capital lord besides the king. and spelman in his exposition of the word shews by several instances , that private persons had their liegmen also . but tho' ligeance had anciently so large a signification ; yet . it was at length confin'd to denote only the obligation of a vassal to the sovereign lord of the fee. hence that distinction in the feudists inter feudum ligium , & non ligium ; which is thus explain'd by dr. cowel in his institution ; viz. [ that the former is properly so called , when an oath of fidelity is taken without exception of any one ; and the later , when it is sworn with exception of another fealty ▪ the one is due only to the k. and the other even to common persons . ] in short , the one was held immediately of the crown , and the other mediately under an inferior lord ; and therefore it was but equitable , that in the oath of fealty to him , exception should be made of the king , who was the original proprietor , and sovereign lord of the fee. . two considerable prerogatives may be observed from the lawyers , which were peculiar to the sovereign lord alone . first , that whereas the inferiour lord had only propter rem a right to the fealty of his vassal , from which he might free himself by surrendring his estate , the sovereign lord had a right to it propter personam also ; and consequently , tho his liegeman did part with his estate , yet allegiance was still due by vertue of that inalienable jurisdiction , which the sovereign had over his person . secondly , whereas between an inferior lord and his vassal , there was such a a strict reciprocal obligation to protection on the one part , and fidelity on the other , that ( as the tenant lost his fee upon breach of fidelity ; so likewise ) the inferior lord , if he refused protection to his vassal , or committed any enormous offence against him , did forfeit [ to the sovereign lord ] all his right to the fee. yet , as molinaeus affirms [ this penal forseiture of dominion extended only to inferior lords ; the sovereign being exempted from it . ] for tho the liege-sovereign was bound to protect his liegemen ; yet there was no provision that he should forfeit his right to their fealty , if he did not perform his obligations to them . indeed there can be nothing more irrational , than to imagine such a provision ; when fee-lands were originally owing only to the munificence of kings , and even before that new obligation of fealty , they had an antecedent right to the fidelity of their subjects ; when the kings lands ( as the lawyers speak ) were held under god alone , and therefore could not be forfeitable to any ; when the k. himself could not be responsible for any injury for want of a superiour jurisdiction ; [ and if any were done to the subject , there was no other remedy , but only humble petition , that the k. would correct and amend his fact ; which if he refused to do , it was once thought a sufficient punishment for him , that god was to be his avenger . ] this i have here observ'd , because the assertors of the republican doctrines have maintained , that kings may forfeit their crowns , not only from the nature of that imaginary contract , which they suppose was made at the first origine of the government ; but also from that contract which was made between the sovereign , and his vassals , and which they suppose to be equaily on both sides conditionate . . though these feudal laws are now in a great measure antiquated ; yet the fealty by which a vassal is bound to his lord is still in force . sir henry spelman says , [ that fealty in england is inseparable from all tenures , and though it be now but seldom exacted , yet it can by no means be releas'd without destruction of the tenure ; so that the taking of the oath seems rather to be remitted , than the obligation it self to be dissolv'd . ] and much more does the obligation of fealty to the k. continue still in force-upon all the subjects by virtue of their tenures from him . the same great antiquary affirms , that the feudal law was first brought into england by william the conqueror , [ qui lege eâ è normannia traductâ angliam totam suis divisit commilitibus . ] and this universal distribution of the english lands among his soldiers , and institution of fee service is attested by † mat. paris , and by mr. * cambden also . and hence it is , that all the lands of england being originally derived from the crown , are still held of the king in nature of a fee , which implies fealty to him . and this is a true , and easie account of those assertions of the lawyers : [ that the king is the sovereign lord , or lord paramount , either mediate or immeate of every parcel of land within the realm ; and that the subjects have not a direct and plenary dominion , but only a fiduciary , and conditionate property in their estates , ] which are still forfeitable by the common law , and upon breach of fealty do revert to the original donor . which law , according to the nature of the crime , does also vary the forfeiture : as in case of felony the k. hath a year , a day , and the wast ; after which it passeth down to the heir : but in case of treason , which is the highest breach of fealty , after legal conviction of the traytor , the fee is for ever forfeited , and all his lands and tenements are absolutely at the king's disposal . and though a statute was made ed. iii. to determine what was precisely treason : yet this was only declarative of what was truly treason by the feudal laws , which were then a part of the common law of england . and hence it appears , how necessary it is for the understanding of the true meaning of faith and allegiance , to enquire into the nature of fealty ; whence the subjects are called fideles & ligii regis ; and from which all our oaths of fidelity , and allegiance derive their birth , and original . . as the word allegiance was appropriated to express the obligation of a liege vassal to his sovereign : so was it also at length enlarged to comprehend all the duties of fidelity and subjection , which ( not only they , who hold lands in fee , but also ) every individual subject of this realm was bound to pay unto the king. thus zouch out of duarenus , [ the fidelity , which is due to the sovereign , is by the feudists called ligeance , and as many as live within his dominions are stiled liege-men ; who are bound to the sovereign not only by reason of their estates , but also in respect of their persons , and his protection of them . ] the reason then why all the subjects of this realm are called the king's liege-men is , because their persons being under his jurisdiction , and protection , they are therefore bound to pay due fealty and allegiance to him . this universal allegiance of all the natural subjects of this realm , is by the lord coke distinguished . . into natural ligeance ; which is so called , because it is originally due by nature , and birthright . and , . legal ligeance ; so called , because the municipal laws of this realm prescribe the form and order of it : and this , says he , is that , which the law requires upon oath at the leet . this oath of allegiance in his institutes he says expresly , is the same with homagium ligeum , which he thus defines in calvin's case , [ quod soli regi debetur sine servitio ; ] and opposes it to homagium feudale , which hath it's original by tenure . and to this sir henry spelman seems to agree ; who tells us , that liege , or sovereign homage is due only to the king in right of sovereignty . and they both differ herein , from the feudists ; who define homage to be sponsionem fidelitatis propter tenuram ; and from our ancient lawyers , who do intimate , that liege homage was made unto private persons also . . the word ligeance is yet further in our laws , and lawyers enlarged to denote the duty , not of natural subjects only , but also of denisons , and aliens . thus we are informed likewise in calvin's case , that besides natural ligeance there is also ligeantia acquisita , which is due by acquisition , or denization ; and ligeantia localis , and that is , when an alien , who is in amity , cometh into england , because he is then within the king's protection , he does therefore owe a local allegiance to him . . lastly , allegiance is sometimes taken in a signification yet more general , and extensive to express the mutual , and reciprocal obligation between the liege sovereign and his subjects ; whereby the sovereign is bound to the protection , and just government of his subjects ; and they again to pay due fidelity , and subjection to their sovereign . and thus it is defined in general by skene in his book de expositione verborum , who is herein followed by the lord coke , and sir henry spelman also . it appears then in how great a latitude the word allegiance is taken , and how variously it has been applied to express different obligations to different persons . the various significations of it ( as far as i can observe ) may be reduced to these six . first , it anciently denoted the service , and fidelity , that any vassal owed to the lord of the fee. secondly , it was confin'd to express the duty of a liege vassal to the sovereign lord. thirdly , it was then enlarged to comprehend the whole duty of every natural subject to his natural sovereign . fourthly , it sometimes signifies that oath of fidelity , which the law requires of every subject , and is therefore call'd legal ligeance . fifthly , it is said to express the obligation of a foreigner , as of a denison ; and of an alien while he is in the realm . and lastly , it is applied to express the reciprocal obligations , that are between a liege sovereign , and his subjects . as for this last signification of allegiance , we have already consider'd it , where we discoursed of the prerogatives of the sovereign lords : for here we are to consider the duty of allegiance , as it relates to subjects only : and there would be nothing more absurd , than to say , that when subjects swear allegiance to their king , they do swear that he also shall discharge the obligations of a liege sovereign towards them . so likewise when allegiance is applied to aliens , the very nature of the thing does shew , that it must signifie only those branches of the duty of allegiance , which an alien is bound to while he is in england , viz. conformity to the laws , and an obligation not to attempt any thing against the king , while he is within his protection . so also when it is applied to a denison , who is made free of the kingdom , but not entitled to all the liberties , and priviledges of a natural subject , it can then signifie only those duties of allegiance , which a denison is obliged to , whatsoever they are . for as the duties of allegiance are diversified by the different qualities of natural subjects ; and a clerk , a soldier , and artificer are not bound to the same particular acts of allegiance : so likewise the different degres of allegiance must be determin'd by the different degrees of subjection : and therefore a natural subject , who enjoys all the liberties , and priviledges of the kingdom , and owes the highest degree of subjection , must be in reason obliged to a higher degree of allegiance than a denison , who , though he be to some intents incorporated into this kingdom , is yet the natural subject of another sovereign : and he again is obliged to more than an alien , who is only a subject in transitu , and enjoys nothing but protection from injury . but we have now nothing to do with allegiance , as it is applied to foreigners . allegiance in the oath before us is required , and imposed upon all the natural subjects of this realm ; and therefore it must be that , which is due from natural subjects , and not such as is due from foreigners . we are bound to honour god , and the king , and subordinate magistrates , our spiritual rulers , our parents , all our superiors , and in some sense all our inferiors . honour is due to all these , but in different kinds , and degrees according to the nature of the duty , as it is applied by different persons to different objects . now it would be a gross absurdity , when we are commanded to honour god , or the king , to interpret it of such a degree of honour , as is due to a parish priest , a constable , or a beggar , because honour is due respectively to every one of these . so it is equally absurd , when allegiance is universally required of all the natural subjects , because the word is sometimes taken in a lower sense , when it is referr'd to aliens , to argue from thence , that the law , which requires allegiance from all natural subjects , requires no more , than an alien is bound to . to argue thus , is at once to do violence to common sense , and language ; for as no one that understands either , can imagine that the precept which enjoyns sons to honour their parents , requires less than filial duty , and obedience , though the word honour often signifies less : so neither can it be reasonably imagin'd , that allegiance in the oath imposed does signifie less , than all that fidelity , and obedience , which a natural subject owes to his natural sovereign , though the word , as it relates to aliens , may sometimes signifie less . but however , if allegiance must needs be understood in that sense ; as if by the force of that word we were obliged to no more , than what even an alien may swear to perform : yet it is to be consider'd , that even the local allegiance , which an alien owes to the king in whose dominions he is , does at the least oblige him not to attempt against his crown and dignity , as long as he resides in those dominions . whereas he , who conceives his oath to k. j. to be still obligatory , must consequently think himself obliged to attempt the dethroning of the k. de facto ; and cannot therefore swear even a local allegiance to him . it remains then to consider the other applications of the word allegiance , which are all reducible to these two ; that allegiance , which was requir'd of those who held lands in fee ; and that which is required of all the subjects in general , which is also distinguished into legal , and natural allegiance . and these several kinds of allegiance are not thus distinguished , because they import different duties ; but in respect of the different grounds , from whence their obligation is derived . for i shall produce undeniable proofs , that they do all concur in obliging us to the same duties : and that , which i undertake to evince , is this ; that allegiance in those several acceptations does import , not only that obedience , and submission , which may be lawfully paid to an usurper , with a reservation of fidelity to the lawful king ; which is the sense of the lowest : nor yet a meer peaceable neutrality , which may make a middle construction : but that it always imports an obligation to defend our sovereign's crown and dignity , to the utmost of our power , against all persons whatsoever , without any exception ; and never to give any assistance , or support to any of his enemies against him ; as the first , and highest construction of the oath explains it . and first , for the better understanding the obligation of feudal allegiance ; it is requisite to enquire into that fidelity , which every vassal was bound to pay unto his lord. and there can be nothing more evident , than that it obliged him not only to abstinence from all injuries , but also to an active , and vigorous assistance of him . this is abundantly evident from the feudal books annexed to the body of the civil law : out of which i shall produce some demonstrative proofs to evince it . at the investiture of a fee , the vassal was to swear fidelity in this form . [ ego titius juro super haec sancta dei evangelia quod ab hâc horâ in ant●a usque ad ultimum diem vitae ero fidelis tibi cato domino meo contra omnem hominem exceptô imperatore , vel rege . ] and there follows in the law an explanation of the oath to this effect . [ i swear , that i will never be in counsel , or aid against the life , person , or h●nour of you my lord : and if any such design shall come to my knowledge , i will discover it to you as 〈◊〉 , as may be , and be ready to assist you to the utmost of my power : and if you shall chance to be unjustly deprived of any thing i will aid you to recover it : and if you make a just offensive war upon any one , i will be ready upon due summons with all my might to assist you ] these were the particularities , which by the feudal law were contain'd in the oath of fealty in another place it is expresly provided , that the vassal should give his counsel and assistance to his lord for the preservation of his life , and honour , his fortresses , and possessions ; because , says that law , [ it is not sufficient to abstain from injuries , unless actual good service were performed also . another proof hereof may be deduced from the obligation of a vassal to assist his lord in his wars . hotoman observes , that in the feudal laws vassals are commonly called soldiers , and that anciently none but such were capable of lands in fee , because the greatest part of their feudal services were purely military . accordingly it is declared in those laws ; [ * that the vassal was bound to assist his lord in his offensive wars , if he knew them to be just ; or if he only doubted of the justice of them : but if the war was manifestly unjust , even then he was bound to assist him in his necessary defence , but not also in the unjust invasion of others . ] and lastly , if the vassal upon due summons refused to give his assistance , if he deserted his lord in the time of battle , if he did not discover all designs against his life , honour , and estate , that came to his knowledge ; and much more , if he did any thing , that tended to the destruction , or disherison of his lord , there were express provisions , that in such , and other cases he should forfeit his tenure for his treachery , and ingratitude . it is necessary here to observe , that the same obligations of a vassal to his lord , which were required by the imperial feudal law , were also admitted , and exacted by the common law of england . it is evident from glanville , [ that the vassal was bound to assist his lord in his wars ; and if he held of more , than one , to fight in his person with his capital lord , even against his other lords , in case he were so required . ] every one knows , that there were anciently several tenures among us , which were purely military : and though tenures upon condition of services purely civil were also introduced , such as soccage , and others ; yet even in these the vassals were obliged to perform homage , and swear fidelity to their lords . and from that ancient form of homage , which we have in the statute book , and in bracton , fleta , and littleton , it is evident , that the vassal was not only obliged to a negative fidelity , which consists in abstaining from injury ; but also to positive services , and assistance of him . the form runs thus , [ i become your man from this day forward of life and limb , and unto you shall be true , and faithful ; and bear you faith for the tenements , that i claim to hold of you ; saving the faith , which i owe unto our sovereign lord the king. the lord coke in his institutes gives us this exposition of it . [ foial , and lo●al , ( which are words equivalent to faithful and true allegiance in the oath before us ) these words are of great extent , for they extend to the observation of the lord's counsel , in whatsoever is honest , and profitable : omnis homo debet fidem domino suo de vitâ & membris suis , & terrenô honorê , & observatione consilii sui per honestum & utile . comprehended in these words , foial and loyal . i become your man , of life , and limb. therefore he must never be armed against , or opposite to his lord : but both his life and member must be ready for the lawful defence of his lord. ] and this is sufficient to shew , that by the feudal law , as it is received in england , every vassal is obliged to an active fidelity and assistance of his lord. where fore . . if this was the obligation of every vassal to his lord ; is it possible for men of sense to imagine , that a lower degree of fidelity was due to a sovereign lord , who had a double right to the service of his vassals , a property in their estates , and a jurisdiction over their persons ? has the law ordain'd , that the servant shall be above his master , and the subject above his sovereign ? has it provided for the safety of an inferior lord , and left the sovereign defenceless ? given the one a right to the utmost service of his vassal , and obliged the other to be content with a peaceable indifferency , and a cold neutrality ? or lastly , can it be supposed , that sovereign princes , who enacted , or introduced these laws , did intend that their own subjects should have such a superiority above themselves in the fidelity of their vassals ? this surely must be necessarily false , as it is plainly irrational . and to shew that it is so , it will be sufficient to observe , . that in the homage , and oaths of fealty made by vassals to inferior lords , the sovereign lord was expresly excepted . spelman , and others tell us , [ that frederick barbarossa made a law , that the emperor should be expresly excepted in all oaths of fidelity ; and that this law was universally received in all nations ; ] and that it was here observed in england is evident from the form of homage here inserted , and the ancient oath of fealty in fleta . but also . . by the same feudal laws , the liege vassals of the sovereign were expresly obliged to assist , and defend him against all persons whatsoever without any exception . this is evident from the very definition of liege homage in skene , and of a liege tenure in the feudists , and from the common form of liege homage here in england , which was made to the king in these words , [ i become your man for the fees and tenements which i hold of you ; and will bear you faith of your lise , and limbs , your body , chattels , and terrene honour against all mortals whatsoever . ] as for those , who held in feudo-ligio , that is , immediately of the king ; it is undeniable , that they were bound for their fee to assist the king in his wars ; and it is no less certain , that vassals of inferior lords , who held but mediately of the crown , were also bound to the same assistance of their sovereign . to this purpose a passage out of willelmus nubrigensis , is cited by du-fresne , [ regi anglorum tanquam principali domino hominium cum ligeantia ; i. e. solenni cautione , standi cum eo , & pro eo contra omnes homines . ] so glanvile informs us , [ that a vassal at the command of the prince , was bound to fight against his own immediate lord. ] and lastly , that statute of the conqueror does expresly prove it , wherein he commands [ all earls , barons , knights , serjeants , and all the free-men of the whole kingdom to be always well provided with horse and arms to serve him as often as need shall require , according as they are bound by their lands and tenements , and as he had appointed them to do by the common council of the kingdom ; and for that consideration had given them lands in fee for ever . hitherto therefore it appears , that ligeance in its original signification implied an obligation to assist the sovereign against all his enemies without exception . and since all our oaths of allegiance are manifestly derived from the feudal oaths , it must needs be probable , that the ligeance universally required of all the subjects , is not much different from the feudal , to which it owes its original . and this universal allegiance i shall first consider in general ; and endeavour to shew the obligation of it out of our laws , and lawyers , secondly , i shall consider it , as it is stiled legal ; and thirdly , natural allegiance . . i am to consider the obligation of universal allegiance in general . hotoman observes , that there are two kinds of fidelity ; the one perform'd by vassals , and the other by citizens , or subjects : and for this he cites a law of the emperor frederick , to this effect ; [ let our vassals swear fealty to us , as vassals , and all others as citizens , from sixteen years to seventy . ] and in his disputations he proves from several forms of oaths of fidelity exacted by several princes , of all their subjects , that they do oblige to the same duties with those required of vassals : and the forms he there produces , do particularly oblige to an active fidelity and assistance of the sovereign against all men living . agreeably , in this kingdom , as all the subjects are therefore called liegemen , beccause they are bound unto their king , as vassals to their lord ; so the oaths they were required to take , and the allegiance they were bound to pay unto the king , are the same in substance with the feudal oaths , and obligations of a vassal to his liege lord and sovereign . the late interpreter of the law-terms , tells us , [ that ligeancy is most commonly used for that duty , which every good subject owes to his leige lord the king. ] and says after cowel , that it is thus defined in the great customary of normandy , * [ that it is an obligation upon all vassals to take part with their liege lord against all men living , to serve him with their persons , assistance and advice ; to do him no injury , nor in any thing to support his adversaries against him . ] so that hence it is obvious , that this interpreter took the allegiance of a vassal and every good subject to be exactly the same ; and thought this to be a good definition of it ; which is as absolutely inconsistent with a pure neutrality , or a reservation of an higher degree of allegiance to another , as words can express . the same learned interpreter has yet added out of the lord coke another more modern explication of it ; viz [ that it is the true and faithful obedience of the subject to his sovereign . ] but neither will this import a meer neutrality , or only a peaceable conformity to the laws , if we will take the sense of the author from his own account of the duties of allegiance . he gives us this definition in calvin's case : but in the same case he positively asserts , [ that all the subjects of this realm are bound by their allegiance to discover and oppose all treasons against the king , to assist him in his wars , and even to spend their blood in his defence . ] he gives the same description in his institutes also ; but he had before explain'd what was signified by faithful and loyal ; which , according to him , do imply positive duties of actual support and assistance . so that by true and faithful obedience in this definition , must be understood all those positive duties of fidelity and obedience which every subject owes his sovereign by virtue of his allegiance : and what those are , may be clearly understood from the known laws of the land , which do plainly intimate and inform us to what duties true allegiance does bind us . i shall here out of many , produce but two passages only ; and the first shall be out of the act of recognition . ● jac. . c. . [ wherein both the h●us●s do unto his maiesty most humbly and faithfully submit , and oblige themselves , their heirs and posterity for ever until the last drop of their blood be spent ; and do beseech his maiesty to accept of the same , at the first fruits of this high court of parliament , of their loyalty and faith to his majesty , and his royal progeny and posterity for ever . ] by loyalty , here is meant nothing but allegiance , to which it is equivalent ; and hence we may observe , first , that the parliament here obliged themselves to the utmost possible assistance and defence of his majesty without any conditions and reserves ; even until the last drop of their blood was spent . secondly , they call this obligation the first fruits of their faith and allegiance , and therefore certainly contained in them . and , thirdly , as far as a law can do it , they oblige not themselves only , but their heirs and posterity for ever , and that not to the king then in being only , but to his royal progeny also and posterity for ever . the other passage is , h. . c. . where it is plainly and expresly declared , [ that every subject by the duty of his allegiance is bound to serve and assist his prince and sovereign lord at all seasons when need shall require ; and in particular , against his rebels and enemies , for the suppressing and subduing of them . ] this is so express and authentick a declaration of the true duty of allegiance , that no art nor sophistry can possibly evade it . and upon this statute among others , did k. charles the martyr justifie his commissions of array in his proclamation against levying forces ; and in another , for setting up his standard , he required all his subjects on the north-side of trent , upon their allegiance to repair to his royal standard at nottingham , for his just and necessary defence . so that this is not an obsolete and antiquated notion of allegiance , but such as our laws both ancient and modern have ever exacted , such as the sages of the law have often inculcated , such as our kings have always claimed , and their loyal subjects have yielded them in their necessity . i shall only observe further , that it seems to be a maxim universally received by all the feudists and lawyers ; quod nemo potest esse ligius du 〈…〉 um ; or as cowel after skene expresses it , [ that ligeancy is such a duty or fealty , as no man may bear to more than one lord. ] and this rule is founded on that aphorism of even truth it self , no man can serve two masters ; that is , two absolute and independent masters at once : for if one be subordinate to the other , then both may be served faithfully in a due subordination ; and thus the same person may be a vassal to an inferior and a capital lord , to a subject and a sovereign : but ligeance being now constantly taken for the obligation of fidelity to a sovereign lord against all men living ; it would be a very gross contradiction to say , that the same person may be the liegeman of two sovereign princes at once , because it is impossible he should adhere to both against all men living ; and this will be yet more absurd , if the two sovereigns be in open hostility , and mutually endeavouring to destroy each other ; for then adher●nce to the one must necessarily be treason against the other ; and the liegeman will be bound to assist , & to oppose , to defend , and to destroy them both . the reason of that maxim therefore is very evident . and hence it appears , how absurd it is to make allegiance signifie neutrality ; whereby the subject becomes the liegeman of two sovereign princes ; or to speak properly , of neither ; or else to signifie fidelity to one king with a reserve of assisting anothen king to destroy him . but the law has no where obliged us to such cross and contradictory obligations : and as for those subtle distinctions between a higher and lower kind of allegiance ; an allegiance due to a king de facto , and another at the same time to a king de jure ; an a solute and a conditioaate , an active and an unactive ; a reserving and an unreserving allegiance ; i may say concerning them ( as judge jenkins did of acts of parliament without the kings assent , [ that no man can shew any syllable , l 〈…〉 er , or line to au horize them in the books of the law , or printed acts of parliament in any age in this land. ] for since it is not yet done , i presume that that it cannot ; and it is another maxim in the interpretation of all laws , civil and divine [ ubi lex non distinguit , ibi non disiirguendum est . ] such is the nature of that allegiance in general , which is universally due from all the subjects ; and this is next to be considered , as it is stil'd legal ligeanc 〈…〉 ; and this doth not import , as the word seems to intimate , an allegiance bounded and circumscribed by law ; but it is therefore so called , because the law requires it of every subject upon oath , and has prescribed the form and manner of it . though allegiance be universally due by all laws , civil , natural and divine ; yet the security of the sovereign power being of such vast importance to the preservation of peace and justice , and even to the very being of law , and political society , as that they cannot possibly subssst without it : the wisdom of the law has thought it necessary to tie all those obligations faster by the sacred bond of a religious oath , and to assure the fidelity of the subjects to their sovereign , by making god himself the guarantee and surety of it . and hence it is , that in all ages , such oaths of true allegiance have been ever exacted of all the subjects of this realm to the kings thereof : which , as it is the most demonstrative proof , that the sovereign power was always acknowledged to be theirs , allegiance being an essential right of sovereignty , and never so much as pretended to by any others ; so it is also evident from the very forms of those oaths , ( which have been different in words , but the same in substance , ) that the subjects were always bound to an active , unconditionate , and unreserved fidelity to their princes . there is this statute among the laws of edward the confessor , [ that all the people of this kingdom should once a year bind themselves together by an inviolable oath , and combine as sworn brethren , to defend the kingdom together with their lord the king against all foreigners and enemies , and with him to preserve his lands and honours with all fidelity ; and that they will be faithful to him , as their lord the king , b●th within and without the kingdom of britain . ] to the same effect , tho somewhat different in the expression , was the statute made by william the conqueror , [ that all the freeman of this kingdom should affirm upon their faith , and oath , that within the whole kingdom , and without , they will be faithful to their sovereign lord k. william , and every where preserve his lands and honours with all fidelity , and with him defend them against all his enemies . ] to this succeeded that , which the lord coke calls legal ligeance , or the common-law oath of allegiance , which he cites out of britton , who wrote anno . ed. . which all the subjects were obliged to take at twelve years of age at the sheriffs court , or the leete , and without the taking of which they had no warrant to abide in the kingdom : and the form of it was to this effect . [ you shall swear , that from this day forward you shall be true and faithful to our sovereign lord the king , and his heirs ; and truth , and faith shall bear of life , and member , and terrene honour ; and you shall neither know nor hear of any ill or damage , which you shall not defend ( that is , oppose ) to the utmost of your power . ] coke informs us , that five things were observed by all the judges upon this oath . [ first , that for the time of its obligation , it is indefinite and without limit . secondly , two excellent qualities were required , that is , to be true and faithful . thirdly , to whom ? to our sovereign lord the king , and his heirs . fourthly , in what manner ? and faith , and troth shall bear of life and member ; that is , until the letting out of the last drop of our dearest heart-blood . fifthly , where , and in what place ? in all places whatsoever . for you shall neither know nor hear of any ill , which you shall not defend . ] such is the ligeance , which the law has prescribed in that ancient oath , which is still in force . it is neither circumscribed by time nor place ; it is unconditionate and unreserved ; it is not a lazy passive allegiance , requiring nothing but pure submission ; but an active and vigorous loyalty , exacting all that is in the sphere of moral possibility , and engaging us to spend our dearest blood in the defence of our sovereign's person , and the preservation of his crown and dignity to him . for it is to be observed , that by the law all this allegiance is due to the king's person . so the lord coke says it was then resolved by all the judges , [ that ligeance was due to the natural person of the king , ( which is ever accompanied with the politick capacity ; and the politick capacity , as it were appropriated to the natural capacity ) and not due to the politick capacity only . and he adds , that when the spencers in the reign of ed. . invented this damnable opinion , that homage and oath of ligeance was more by reason of the king's crown , that is of his politick capacity , than by reason of the person of the king : this with the consequences they deduced from it , was condemned by two parliaments as execrable and detestable doctrines ; one in the reign of ed. . and the other anno o. ed. . c. . and what was then resolved , judge jenkins out of plowden affirms was resolved by all the judges eliz. as the law of england , viz. [ that the body politick , and the natural body make one body , and not diverse , and are inseparable and indivisible . ] and hence the same learned judge thought he had reason to infer , [ that the natural person of king charles the first being at holmby ( though under custody , and de facto divested of his regal power , yet ) his politick capaci●● was there also , because both did make but one indivisible body . ] and hence it was , that king charles himself required all his subjects , [ to take notice of the law , that allegiance is due to the natural person of their prince , and not to his crown , or kingdom distinct from his natural capacity ; and that by the oath of ligeance at the common law , they were bound to be faithful not to the king only , as king , but to our person , as king charles . ] therefore i conclude this observation with that assertion of the same judge jenkins [ that ligeance is due to the natural body , and is due by nature , god's law , and man's law , cannot be so feited , nor renounced by any means ; it is inseparable from the person . ] to return then to the oaths of ligeance prescribed by the law , it is further to be observed , that tho the common-law oath was never yet abolished , yet it has been almost totally supplanted by that larger oath of allegiance , which was enacted anno o. of king james the first ; and which many of us have taken to k. j. the second . and though this oath upon the discovery of the powder plot was particularly framed , and design'd to secure the king against the treasons of the papists : yet as k. james himself does affirm in his apology , that it exacts no more , than what the ancient oaths of allegiance did require ; so it is certain it exacts no less . for it is not to be imagin'd , either that true faith and allegiance in that oath should be design'd to signifie less , than they always did before ; or that a less security was requir'd , when a greater was intended . but to prevent all subterfuge , even the express words of the oath do manifestly oblige to the highest duties of ligeance that can be . [ i will bear true faith and allegiance to the king , his heirs , and successors ; and him , and them will defend to the uttermost of my power against all conspiracies , and attempts whatsoever , that shall be made against his , or their persons , crown , and dignity . ] what kind of assistance is here meant by the word defend may be understood from the authors , who expound the jus 〈◊〉 such as magerus de 〈◊〉 armatâ , who treating of the protection given by sovereign princes , saith [ that verbum protegere , necessitatem desendendi cum armis importat ; ] and tells us , that subjects are in the same sense reciprocally bound to defend the honour and dignity of the sovereign : it may be understood likewise from the feudal laws , whereby the vassal was obliged to a military defence of his lord , and from the municipal laws of this kingdom also : which oblige all the subjects that are capable to take up arms for the king , when need shall require . this therefore was the defence to which capable persons were sworn in that abrogated oath ; and others were obliged to give him that assistance , which they were able , everyone to the utmost of his power in his respective capacity as the express words of the oath do require . thus have i given a brief account of the several forms of swearing allegiance , which have been successively required of all the subjects of this kingdom ; and upon the whole , i think it sufficiently appears , that the laws have been always uniform , and constant in obliging the subjects to an allegiance , that requires not a peaceable subjection only , but also an actual assistance of our sovereign to the utmost of our power against all persons , and all attempts whatsoever without any exception . and this is lastly included in the obligation of natural allegiance also ; which is not so called meerly because the persons obliged by it are such as have their natural birth within the king's dominions : for persons born without the realm may be his natural subjects , as are the children of embassadors born beyond sea ; and the children of aliens born within the kingdom are not therefore natural subjects of the king : so that the meer circumstance of birth does not entitle any one to the priviledges of a natural subject , nor consequently bind him to all the duties of natural allegiance . but it is therefore called natural in our laws ; because , as great lawyers have affirm'd , it is founded upon the law of nature , which gives the sovereign power a right to the allegiance of every one , who is born under the jurisdiction of it . as every son is born a subject to his parents , and is by the law of nature obliged to honour , and obey , assist , and support them : so also is he born a member of the body politick , and by consequence a subject to the soveraign of it , and accordingly by the same eternal law is bound to pay all faithful service and obedience to him , when he is in a capacity to perform them . by the law of nature here i mean , that light of reason , which is given us by the author of nature to direct us in all our actions : and this light , when it is sufficiently attended to , and not darkned with passions , will clearly shew us how we should demean our selves in the several capacities , and relations we stand in . as it shews us what obedience and fidelity a servant owes to his master , a wife to her husband , and a son to his father : so it plainly directs us what duties every member of a civil community owes to the supreme governor of it : and that this law of nature directs us to pay the highest degree of allegiance to him ; viz. an active assistance to the utmost of our power , is evident both from reason , and from the common consent and practice of almost all civilized mankind , the two only ways of demonstrating any law of nature . and first it seems evident from these following reasons . . because such assistance is absolutely necessary to preserve the head of the community , and consequently the whole body also : for to every political body a sovereign head is so essential , as that it cannot possibly exist without it . and therefore since the natural reason of all men does dictate the necessity of entering into societies ; it must likewise teach them the necessity of contributing their actual assistance for the preservation of those societies , and consequently of that sovereign power , which is essen●ial to the very being of them . . because every subject has received actual protection , and in effect his very life and being from the sovereign power . for not only property , and all the blessings of it , but the conservation of even life it self are derived from civil government : and therefore both justice and gratitude do oblige us , to do all we can , to preserve the being , and the rights of that sovereign power , from which we derive our own . our parents are the instruments of our natural production , and for that reason we are ever obliged ●o honour and support them , though they prove never so unnatural to us ; because it will be always true , that we have received our being from them , and the obligation of that benefit will last as long as our lives . such is our obligation to the sovereign power . we have received our lives , and properties from it ; and it will be always true , that we owe them to it : and therefore , though it become never so tyrannical , still the obligation of obeying , and assisting it will remain . our gratitude must continue as long as we enjoy the benefit ; and civil oppression can no more ab●olve subjects from their allegiance , than domestick cruelty can discharge children from the duty of obedience . . it may be proved also from the obligations of equity and justice , which are certainly founded in the law of nature . now the grand fundamental rules of justice are these . that we do to others , as we would be done to our selves ; and that we give to every one his due : and by both these equitable rules all subjects are bound to assist and support their sovereigns . by the former , because every subject does expect an actual protection of his person and property from the sovereign power ; and that when he is disabled , from contributing his assistance to support it ; and therefore he is bound in equity to give the like assistance to his sovereign in times of necessity , and even when he cannot actually exert his power for the protection of his subjects . it is also due by the latter ; because the sovereign has a right to such assistance of his subjects ( i will not here say by the law of nature , for that is the thing , which i am proving , but ) by the positive civil laws of this kingdom . the law of nature requires , that every man should enjoy his rights ; and that is truly a man's right , which is such by a politick law ; and therefore since the kings of england by the political laws of this kingdom have a right to the actual assistance of their subjects , to deny it them is a violation not only of those laws , but even of the law of nature also . but , . there is yet a higher reason for it , which respects the author of all sovereignty . for even the light of nature doth teach us , that an infinite being made the world , and that he still governs it ; that from him all lawful dominion is derived ; and that kings are his ministers , and vicegerents . and hence it is obvious to infer , that every subject is bound not only to submit , but also to support , and defend them ; because it is every mans duty to * support that government , which god himself has established over him . . it is evident also from the universal practice , and consent of almost all nations . this might be evinced from an induction of particulars . but i think it will not be denied by any , that where-ever civil government has been established , and in what from soever , it has been always thought the duty of every good citizen , or subject , to adhere to the sovereign power of his country , against all his enemies , and even to adventure his own life for the preservation of it . and hence it is , that there is hardly any government in the world , wherein every individual person , that is capable of bearing arms , is not obliged upon some great occasions personally to assist the sovereign power , and hazard his life in its defence . and this is a manifest indication , that the duties of allegiance were first taught men by the light of nature , since the universal exacting of them can be ascribed to nothing else , but such an universal principle . wherefore dr. sanderson had reason to affirm , [ that the bond of allegiance doth not arise originally from the oath of allegiance ; but it is so intrinsecal , proper , and essential a duty , and ( as it were fundamental to the relation of a subject quà talis ) as that the very name of a subject doth after a sort import it ; insomuch that it hath thereupon gained in common usage of speech , the stile of natural allegiance . whence he affirms these inferences will follow . that the bond of allegiance ( whether sworn , or not sworn ) is in the nature of it perpetual , and indispensable . . that it is so inseparable from the relation of a subject , that tho' the exercise of it may be for some time suspended , by a prevailing force , yet it cannot be so absolutely removed , but that it still remaineth virtually in the subject , and obligeth to an actual exercise of it upon all fit occasions . . that no subject of england , that hath either by taking the oaths of supremacy , and allegiance acknowledged , or otherwise believeth , that the sovereign power , to whom his natural allegiance is due , is the king , his heirs , and lawful successors ; can without sinning against his conscience , enter into any covenant , promise , or engagement , or do any other act whatsoever , whereby either to transfer his allegiance to any other party , to whom it is not of right due , or to incapacitate himself to perform it to his lawful sovereign when it may appear serviceable to him . and what was asserted by this great casuist , is for the substance of it deliver'd by the great oracle of the law ; who in the aforementioned case reports , that these positions were debated , and resolved on by all the judges . [ first , that the ligeance of the subject is due by the law of nature . secondly , that the law of nature is part of the law of england . thirdly , that the law of nature was long before any municipal law. fourthly , that it is immutable . it appears , says he , by demonstrative reason , that ligeance of the subject to the sovereign was before any municipal or judicial laws . first ; for that government and subjection were long before any municipal laws . secondly , it had been in vain to have prescribed laws to any , but to such as owed ligeance before : frustr à enim feruntur leges , nisi subditis , & obedientibus . seeing then , that ligeance is due by the law of nature , it follows , that the same cannot be altered , or taken away . for albeit municipal laws have in several times and places imposed several punishments for breach of the law of nature ; yet the law of nature it self , never was , nor could be changed : and this , says he , appears plainly , and plentifully in our law-books . ] and afterwards he argues thus upon the same principle . whatsoever is due only by law and constitution of man may be alter'd ; but naturally the ligeance of the subject to the sovereign cannot be alter'd ; therefore it is not due only by the law and constitution of man. [ and again , whatsoever is due by the law of nature cannot be altered : but allegiance is due by the law of nature : therefore it cannot be alter'd . ] thus far that famous lawyer ; and thus far have i consider'd the signification of allegiance , as it is founded in the laws , and explained by lawyers . i am further to consider it , as a word of vulgar signification also ; and as it is taken , and understood by the generality of the people of this nation . for all the subjects of this kingdom being obliged by law , and immemorial custom , to swear allegiance to their sovereign , it is not credible they should be ignorant of the true meaning of it . those law terms , in which few are concern'd , are by few understood : but such as are of universal concernment must of necessity be also universally understood . who knows not the meaning of parliament , jury , assizes , that is of any understanding ? the word allegiance is of more near , and universal concernment to all men ; it is therefore presum'd , that no subject can be ignorant of it . the oaths themselves , which the subjects have ever been enured to have , sufficiently taught them the duties intended by it . that they must pay due obedience to the king ; that they must never assist his enemies ; that they must uphold his crown , and sometimes adventure even their lives and fortunes in his service . thus much nature it self does teach them , as it teaches children to discharge the same duties towards parents . but there is no need of proving a thing to be that , which it is . most certain it is , that all men of tolerable understanding , even among the common people , do know , that all these duties are included in true allegiance . ask any man of common sense , whether he , who has sworn true faith and allegiance to k. w. does not violate his oath , if at any time he assist k. j. to dethrone him ? whether he is not bound to be faithful to him against all his enemies ? to discover all the designs of k. j. against him , that shall come to his knowledge ? and when it is in his power , and necessity requires it , to contribute his actual assistance also to oppose his recovery of the crown ? i make no question but he will answer , that his allegiance binds him to all this ; and that he is plainly perjur'd , if he does not perform it . the understandings of the common people , as they are not capable of those subtilties , which men of learning are enur'd to ; so are they seldom perverted with those nice and sophistical distinctions , by which men of subtilty perplex things plain and easie in themselves . a mechanick , and a peasant apprehend what motion is , and what is perjury , as well as the acutest philosopher , or the deepest divine ; and they know what allegiance and faithfulness imply , as well as the ablest lawyer ; and if you go about to blunder their understandings with distinctions , and objections , they are but where they we 〈…〉 , and will still clearly apprehend what they understood before . and if all men would act with the same plainness , and sincerity ; if they would be true to their own sense , and apprehensions , aud not disguise them with artifice , and subtilty , there would possibly have been no need of the present enquiry ; nor of proving , that faith and allegiance are not capable of contradictory senses ; that they signifie the same duties now , which always they have done ; that , when they are sworn to one sovereign , they are incommuninicable at the same time to any other ; that we must not bind our selves to contradictory obligations ; and cannot possibly be faithful to k. w. against all his enemies , and to k. j. against all his enemies also . and now i hope , it appears , that the words , faith , and true allegiance , in the oath , do not signifie meer submission and obedience only ; but also faithful service , and actual assistance of our sovereign against all his enemies . true it is , that the oaths of allegiance are in the law sometimes called oaths of obedience : but obedience then does import the whole duty of a subject to his sovereign , and not precisely a peaceable conformity to the laws , abstracting from all the other duties of a subject . and this i think may be proved from these reasons . first , because obedience , in its utmost latitude , does comprehend the duties of fidelity , and assistance also . for every act of duty is an act of obedience ; and therefore if actual assistance be a duty to discharge , it is obedience . secondly , the same oath is more often called the oath of fidelity , and the oath of allegiance : and therefore if fidelity and allegiance do ( as i have shewn ) imply more than peaceable submission , and conformity to the laws ; it will not follow , that it does not imply so much , because the same oath is sometimes expressed by another word . thirdly , peaceable submission , and obedience to the laws , do amount to no more , than such a local allegiance , as is due from aliens ; and i am pretty certain , that the laws require something more of natural english subjects by virtue of their allegiance , than they do from germans and italians , while they are in the kingdom . this confounding of allegiance and precise obedience to the lawful commands of a sovereign de facto , is a very common and obvious mistake . thus the author of the pastoral letter , brings this argument to prove the lawfulness of taking this oath in question ; [ if it is lawful to obey the king , it is lawful to promise to do it ; and if so , it also is lawful to swear it ; ] therefore it is lawful to take the oath of allegiance . which is just such an argument as this : if it be lawful to bow before the king , it is lawful to pay divine adoration to him ; and if so , it is also lawful to swear , that i will pay divine worship to him . for as religious worship implies a great deal more , than civil ; so does allegiance contain more , than precise obedience . i may lawfully obey a highway-man , and i may lawfully swear it ; but i suppose it will not follow thence , that i may lawfully swear to be faithful , and bear true allegiance to him . it was lawful to swear obedience to cromwel in all lawful things ; but i think there were few , even in that age of usurpations , that were so hardy , as to assert the lawfulness of swearing allegiance to that unnatural usurper . dr. sanderson proves , that it may be our duty to obey the laws of an usurper , not out of any regard to his authority , which , he says , is none at all ; but upon other considerations : * yet he is absolutely against swearing allegiance to usurpers . both he , and all the conscientious divines of that age , could easily distinguish allegiance from obeying ; and so may any one , that is not absolutely resolved against it . the pastoral author adds indeed , [ that allegiance , in our present acceptation , is obedience according to law , ] which is true , if obedience be taken in its utmost latitude ; but then it will include an obligation to assist k. w. against all his enemies ; and in this sense , they , who refuse the oath , will i presume , refuse also to obey him . it has been objected further , that , whereas the actual assistance of the king against all attempts whatsoever , was inserted either expresly , or in words equivalent , in all the former oaths of allegiance ; but in the present oath it is wholly omitted , and therefore it may reasonably be presum'd , that where less is expressed , less is required ; and that , if the imposers had intended such actual assistance , they would probably in plain words have required it . what the reasons were of making this , and other alterations in the new oath of allegiance ; as i have no means of knowing , so neither is it of any moment to enquire . to the objection proposed , it will suffice to answer , that the duty of actual assistance against all men living , is sufficiently expressed in it : for in the oath we are required to swear true allegiance , and that does vi termini import such an obligation : and as no particular duties of allegiance are expressed in the oath , so neither are any excepted ; and therefore we are obliged to all the duties of it : and what those are , may be understood from the laws , and the common acceptation of the word it self ; which , as i have shewn , has always signified an adherence to the liege lord against all men living . and if the bare omission of particularizing this duty , is an argument , that it was not intended ; then was no particular duty intended , for there is none expressed : and so the result will be , that when we swear allegiance , we take god's name in vain , and swear to nothing at all . and this is the answer , which the feudists have long since given to the objection . cujacius says , [ that the clause of defending the life and dignity of the lord , and if there be any thing else , which is wont to be expressed in such oaths , it seems to be contained in the general promise of fidelity ] molinaeus tells us , * [ that a certain form is not required , but it may suffice to swear in general words : as for instance ; i swear the fealty of a vassal , or i do homage under an oath of fealty : neither is it necessary particularly to express the heads of fidelity ; for that is well enough understood by a tacit reference to those duties , which are required by the feudal law and custom . and he adds , it may be also answered , that particular duties are not therefore expressed in those oaths , because it is absolutely necessary , but only for the clearer understanding of them . ] but there is one objection more , which must be considered , viz. that this is an oath imposed upon clergy-men , as well as others : and that since the laws have ever exempted them from military services , it is certain their allegiance doth not bind them to it ; and therefore the allegiance required in the oath , is not such , as i have hitherto asserted , because it does not universally bind the subjects to an active military assistance of the sovereign against all his enemies . but this objection will be of no force , if it be considered , . that allegiance binds in general to the defence of the king's crown , and person ; which implies many other positive dutie●-besides military assistance ; as , aids of money , and advice , discovery of conspiracies , and the like . now if the laws , which have obliged subjects in general , do exempt ecclesiasticks from the military duties of allegiance , then there is an express exception of them as to those duties ; and this very exception does shew , that they are obliged to all the other duties of allegiance , which are as absolutely inconsistent with a peaceable neutrality , as the military assistance can possibly be . but , . though the laws have ordinarily exempted clergy-men from taking up arms in the defence of their sovereign , yet it was never doubted , but that in cases of extream necessity , when the life of the prince is in imminent danger , and there are no other persons to defend it , and it is in the power of a churchman to save it , though with the hazard of his own , that in such an exigency he is bound by his allegiance to a personal and military assistance of him : and therefore it is still true , that all the subjects are bound by their allegiance to a military defence of their soveraign , when necessity shall require it . and yet further . . though spiritual persons are not ordinarily obliged to defend their soveraign with secular arms ; yet their allegiance binds them to do it with arms more prevalent , and efficasious , viz. prayers , and intercessions with god for their safety , and victory over all their enemies . thus zouch tells us out of the grand customary of normandy [ that bishops , and other ecclesiastical persons , ( who held lands granted in frank almoine , or in puram & perpetuam eleemosynam ; ] are bound to no other service , but to pray for the prince , and intercede with god for his safety . ] this is a branch of allegiance most especially incumbent upon them , who wait at the altar ; less , than this , cannot in reason be required of them , and a greater , and more beneficial service cannot possibly be perform'd by any one . and it was never yet heard , that a church-man could with a good conscience swear allegiance to a prince ; and yet could not pray , that he might have victory over all his enemies . this is a branch of allegiance , which our church has expresly required of us in her liturgy ; nay it has been taught us by the catholick church of all ages , wherein prayers have been constantly made for peace and safety , for prosperity and victory , not unto christian emperors only , but even to the most cruel persecutors of christianity . and if this be the duty peculiarly of churchmen , then it is their duty undoubtedly in their stations to contribute all other actual assistance also ; and if this be a necessary branch of allegiance ; then it is evident , that we cannot swear allegiance with a design of neutrality , or a reserve of allegiance to k. j. for then we should be obliged to pray reciprocally backward , and forward , that j. may vanquish w. and w. vanquish j. and that both may have victory over all their enemies , when they are irreconcilable enemies to each other . wherefore to conclude this point . if it be true ( as i have endeavoured to prove ) that faith , and true allegiance in the construction of the law ; and the common sense and understanding of the people , do signifie such an allegiance , as is expressed in the highest construction of the oath ; it is evident , that this construction is the true declared meaning of it . for the declared meaning must be expressed in words , and words must be understood according to the known , the usual , and genuine signification of them ; and if men will take a liberty of imposing a quite different sense upon them at their pleasure , there is an end of all promises and oaths , of all faith and commerce among mankind ; and then i know not why in the present oath w. may not signifie j. and allegiance rebellion . hitherto i have been proving , that the reason and intention of the oath , and the words themselves in which it is expressed , do necessarily oblige us to the highest construction of it : and where there is a manifest concurrence of both these in the interpretation of an oath , than there is nothing wanting to induce a moral certainty of the true meaning of it . but because the intention of the imposer may be searched into by other means , besides the naked force of the words , as by probable conjectures grounded upon circumstances ; and their other impositions and proceedings , which have some relation to the matter of the oath ; i will proceed to shew , that even these also do afford reasonable grounds to perswade the sense , i have here asserted , to be the true meaning of it . but here there are two cautions to be premised . first , that when the words of the law do according to the vulgar , customary , or legal acceptation of them , evidently express the intention of the lawgiver , then the enquiry into the same intention by circumstances and appendages , is of no importance ; for the words are the first and principal sign of the intention , and when they do clearly represent it , the conscience of the subject is obliged to the very words ; otherwise it is impossible we should be ascertain'd of the meaning of any law ; if no words , how clear soever , can express it ; and so to make a law would be a thing impracticable , because the will of the lawgiver could not possibly be expressed . therefore secondly , the words of the law being the best and surest means of expressing the intention ; unless clear , and manifest evidence can be produced to shew , that the intention of the lawgiver is quite different from what the natural sense of the words does import ; the genuine signification of them is always to be adhered to . so says the civil-law expresly [ non aliter a significatione verborum ejus recedi , quàm cùm manifestum aliud ipsum sensisse . ] and the necessity of this rule is evident ; for if it were allowed to recede from the words but upon manifest evidence of a different intention , every one might wrest the law as he pleased , and the law would not be the measure of duty , but the subjects arbitrary glosses on it . supposing therefore , not granting , that the words of the oath do not clearly represent the intention of the legislators ; proceed we now to enquire into the true meaning of it , from circumstances , and other actions of the imposers . and , . i consider , that the parliament , in the act declaring the rights , and liberties of the subject , and settling the succession of the crown , have imposed [ this and no other oath ] upon their military officers and soldiers : and it seems very absurd to imagine , that they should intend to oblige them only to a peaceable neutrality ; or leave it lawful for them , notwithstanding the oath , to assist k. j. against themselves . but if on the contrary it be reasonable to believe , that they intended to oblige their soldiers to an active assistance of k. william against all his enemies ; then of necessity , according to the intention of the imposers , the very words of the oath do oblige them to it : and if so , i cannot comprehend , why the same words should not oblige all others also in their respective capacities to the like assistance : or why the legislators should intend the oath to be taken by different persons in contradictory senses , and bind one to be a neuter , another to be active for the government , and allow a third to be active against it . . it is certain , that the present government has exacted of all clergy-men an actual assistance of it ( as great at least as that which is required of soldiers ) even against k. j. for they are obliged under great penalties , to insert k. w. in the liturgy , and to pray that he may have victory over all his enemies ; among whom his greatest , and most implacable enemy , the enemy that is actually endeavouring to wrest his crown and dignity from him , must needs be comprehended . and thus to pray , is the greatest assistance to the one , and opposition to the other , that can be imagined . and hence it seems natural to infer ; that they , who have exacted this , would not afterwards enact an oath to oblige them to a meer neutrality ; or leave them a reserve of their old allegiance to k. j. what reason can there be possible assign'd for this ; that they , who were antecedently bound to more , should be afterwards sworn to less ; or that our present governours should oblige clergymen to pray against all their enemies , and then allow them to assist those enemies , or discharge them from assisting the government against them . . though every breach of allegiance is not punished as treason by the law , yet all treason is certainly a violation of allegiance ; therefore whatsovere is branded , or punished as treason by the lawgivers , and imposers of this oath , is very probably intended to be forbidden by it . whether this inference be not reasonable , i appeal to the common sense of all men ; or whether any thing can be more natural , than to conclude , that the lawgivers intended in this oath of allegiance to prevent , what they design'd to punish as a violation of it ; and to bind the subjects to fidelity , not only for wrath , but also for conscience sake . but it is notorious to all men , that the imposers of this oath , have treated the assisters of k. j. as guilty of high treason ; that bills have been proposed for the forfeiture of their estates , and tryal of their persons ; that they have imprisoned many upon suspicion of siding with k. j. and actually arraigned others for dispersing his proclamations : and have lately condemn'd and hang'd one , for saying he rais'd men to assist him . and therefore we cannot but conclude ; that they , who punished such assistance , as a breach of allegiance , did design , when they obliged us to swear allegiance to debar us from it . thus it is evident the assistance of k. j. is forbid in the oath ; and it will be further evident , that so is a neutrality also ; if it be considered , that there is no doubt , but even the not discovering of any designs of k. j. against the crown and dignity of k. w. that should come to our knowledg , would be punished by the same authority , as an offence contrary to our due allegiance to him . and therefore since such a discovery is plainly inconsistent with an exact neutrality ; it is obvious to infer , that a neutrality , which in the judgment of our law-givers is against our due allegiance , is forbidden by them in the oath of allegiance . . lastly , the highest construction of the oath seems to be most agreeable to all the principles , and proceedings of the imposers . this might be demonstrated by many particulars , but most especially from the very instrument of government , wherein this oath had its birth . there they first declare , that k. j. had abdicated the government , and that the throne was thereby vacant : then they confer the royal dignity upon w. and m. as king and queen of england ; and then annex the present oath of allegiance to be sworn unto them . so that if we take all together , we may probably conclude , that they intended a full , absolute , and unreserved allegiance to them . by their first declaration it appears , to be their intention , that no allegiance should be paid to k. j. for to no king , no allegiance is due : by the second , that all our allegiance should be paid to w. and m. for there being no other sovereign according to this declaration , it must be all due unto them alone . and the new oath being then immediately added , is it not rational to interpret it in congruity to those declarations ; which do manifestly discover it to be the intention of the imposers , that all our allegiance should be paid to the present princes , without any reservation of the same duty to k. j ; who according to that instrument has no more right , than the cham of tartary to it . and i presume it will not be denied , that the intention of the oath is the same in the law , as it was in the declaration . but to this it is replied , that though it be true , that in the judgment of the imposers , all our allegiance is due to k. w. and none at all to k. j : yet if it be consider'd , that when the form of the oath was under debate , the word rightful was struck out , upon exception made , that many scrupulous persons would thereupon refuse to take it ; and so the form was passed without it . this may be well taken for a sufficient indication , that it was the intention of the imposers , that we should swear allegiance to the k. and q. only as such de facto ; and consequently , that they did not intend to oblige us to such a high degree of allegiance as is due to a k. de jure : and therefore that it is not necessary to take the oath in the highest construction of it . this seems to be the most considerable reason , that is urged for the abatement of the old sense of allegiance ; and i hope to give a satisfactory answer to it . and i answer , . that though the deliberate omission of the word rightful does necessarily infer , that we are not obliged in this oath to a recognition of the right to the crown : yet it does not infer , that we are not obliged to pay as high a degree of allegiance , as to any rightful king whatsoever . that omission is an argument , that the word king in the oath does not necessarily signifie a king de jure : but it is no argument , that true allegiance does not signifie true allegiance , that is , an obligation to adhere to the king against all his enemies . for there was uo debate , that we know of , about the sense of the word allegiance ; neither is there any intimation given , that they design'd to restrain it to a lower signification , though it was plainly necessary to do it , if they intended to alter the commonly received meaning of it . wherefore as the striking out the word rightful would not have proved , that they did not intend to oblige us to an active assistance of k. w. against all men living ; if those words had been expresly inserted in the oath : so neither will it prove , that the same duty is not now required of us , if the word allegiance do , as i have proved , vi termini import it ; and that as fully , as if it had been in express words required in it . . that an abatement of allegiance is not necessarily inferr'd in that omission does appear from hence ; because it might be the judgment of the imposers , that a plenary , and unreserved allegiance was due by the laws of this kingdom even to a k. de facto ; as much as if he were k. de jure also : and if that were their opinion ; then we have a rational , and easie account of that omission , viz. that since the highest allegiance was thought due to a king de facto , it was not necessary to create scruples by insisting on the word rightful , since the work of the law might be as effectually done without it , and the present governors secured by obliging the subjects to swear allegiance to them . and that this was probably the true reason of that omission must needs be granted , if it be consider'd how that opinion is become almost universal , and has been publickly countenanced , and asserted not only in so many licens'd pamphlets , but by our lawyers and judges , and even by our law-givers themselves . however it clearly shews , that the omission of the word rightful does not manifestly prove their intention to oblige us to a lower degree of allegiance : and the rule of the law is here to be applied , that we must not recede from the customary signification of the words of the oath , when there is no manifest necessity for it . further , if it be objected , that many members of both houses of parliament have declared , that the oath was intended only to oblige us to live peaceably under the government ; i answer , that those words seem more ambiguous , than the words of the oath ; that the utmost extent of them may reach to a full and unreserved allegiance ; that probably there are not many that will say , that they did not intend to debar us from paying any allegiance to k. j. and if they should , there are more who will declare the contrary ; and that lastly , the declaration of those members is no authentical interpretation ; for when the assembly of parliament is ended , they are not to be consider'd , as law-givers , but as private persons ; and they have no more authority to interpret statutes , than they have to make them . and lastly , if it be yet further objected , that the government not opposing the declarations , which have been publickly made by many , [ that they took the oath in no other sense , but that of a peaceable submission , ] does imply a tacit approbation of it . the answer is obvious : that the not opposing those declarations does not amount to the approving of them , as the sense of the imposers ; but only to a connivence at them for some politick end , and design : and in short , no man will say , that not opposing is approving ; or , that the government does always allow of that , which it does not punish . and thus have i somewhat more largely , than at first i intended , explained the nature of allegiance , and asserted the highest construction of the oath to be the genuine meaning of it . and , i hope , it will be allowed , that this discourse has sufficiently evinced , if not the certainty of that construction , yet at least the uncertainty of the other interpretations of it . and then if any one , after all that has been here offered , shall remain doubtful about the true sense of the oath ; i shall only put him in mind of that necessary caution of dr. sanderson , [ that when the meaning of an oath is dubious , great care must be used , that we do not indulge our corrupt affections too much ; or assume to our selves a loose and licentious way of interpreting , that we may the more easily evade the obligation of the oath ; and that we do not for our proper interest , and advantage , affix any other sense upon the oath , or any part of it , than that , which any other pious and prudent person ( who , being unconcerned in the business , is of a freer judgment , ) would easily gather out of the words themselves : and that for two reasons . first , for fear of giving scandal to others , lest any other weaker person , being encouraged by our example , should think the same thing lawful for him , which he sees practised by us ; though he be ignorant of those subtilties , by which alone we discharge our selves from perjury . and secondly , in respect of our selves , viz. for fear of perjury ; * the guilt of which abominable crime , we do undoubtedly bring upon our souls , if that more favourable interptation , which emboldned us to take the oath , should chance to deceive us . and this reason is grounded upon that general rule ; which requires us in things doubtful to chuse the safer side . but it is much safer to refuse the oath propounded , when the words according to the common , and obvious sense , do seem to contain any thing unlawful in it self ; than by a loose interpretation so to mollifie them to our purpose , as that we may the more safely take it . forasmuch as it is manifest , that such an oath may be refused , but not that it may be taken without any either fear , or danger of perjury . ] thus that excellent casuist . and in another place , where he expresly propounds the case of an ambiguous oath , his resolution is , [ that a pious and prudent person should absolutely refuse it ; * and that before an oath can be rightly taken , it is expedient , that there be a clear agreement amongst all parties concerned , ( the imposers , and the takers ) about the meaning of it . ] whether this be not honest , and conscientious divinity , i leave every man to judge ; and whether they , who have taken the oath in the lower interpretation , have acted according to these or better measures , they themselves are the only judges . if they have herein acted with sincerity , and their own hearts do not condemn them ; then they may have confidence towards god ; but we should all remember , that god is greater than our hearts , and knoweth all things ; and that they , who swear deceitfully ; or change , when they have sworn to their own hurt , shall never , unless they repent , abide in the tabernacle of the lord , nor ascend into his holy place . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e spel. in v●r . fideles . feudum est benevola , & libera rei immobilis , & aequipollentis concessio , cum translatione utilis dominii , proprietatè retentâ sub exhibitione servitiorum honestorum . feud . declaratio ante lib. feud . disp de feud . c. . gloss . in ver . ligium . lib. . c. . fol. . l. . c. . l. . c. . inst . jur . ang. l. . tit . . feud l. . tit : car. mol. tit . . de fi. s. glo. . n. bracton . l. c. . si autem a rege petatur , locus ●rit supplicationi , quod factum suum corrigat , & emendet : quod quidem si non secerit , satis sufficit ei ad paenam , quod dominum expectet ultorem . in v. fidelitas . † historia major , p. , . * cambden . britannia . p. . vdit . lond. ● . victor gulielmus , in victoriae quasi trophaeum antiquatis maximam partem anglorum legibus normannie ●onsuetudines induxit , causisque gallicè disceptari jussis , exclasis haereaitate avitâ anglis , agros & praedia militibus suis assignavit ; ita tamen , ut dominium directum sibi reservaret , obsequiumque clientelari jure sibi & successoribus devinciret . i. e. ut omnes in feudo sive fide ●enerent , & nulli praeter regem essent veri domini ; sed ●otiùs fiduciarii domini , & possessores . coke . inst . l. . c. . cowell . inst . jur. l. . tit . . descrip . jur. tempor . juxta consuet . feudales pars . § . calvin's case . in v. homagium . mol. ibid. glo. . calvin 's case . in v. ligeantia . page , . feud . l. . 〈…〉 . . ibid. tit . . disp . de feud . c. . * feud . l. . tit . . domino guerram faciente alicui , si sciatur quod justè , aut cùm dubitatur , vassallus eum adjuvare tenetur : sed cùm palàm est , quod irratimab●liter eam facir , adjuvet cum ad ejus defersionem , ad offendendum vero alium non adjuvet , si vult . feud . l. . tit . . lib. . cap. . . inst . l. . c. . in v. ligii . l. . p. . de exp. voc. in v. lige . feud . declar . ante lib. feud . fleta ibid. in v ligeanti 〈…〉 l. . c. . lamb. col. stat. . r. guliel . de ver . feud . in v. fidelitas . c. . tho manly . * ligeantiae est , ex quâ domino tenentur vassalli sui contra omnes homines qui mori possunt , & vivere ; proprii corporis praebere , consilii & auxilii juvamentum ; & ei se in omnibus innocuos exhibere , nec ei adversantium partem in aliquo confovere . spelman in v. fidelitas , p. . so also , ed. . h. . c. . calvin's case . lamb. leg , e. l. conf. c. ▪ ft apud spelman in v. fidelitas stat. . ibid. calvin's case . cowel inst . . . tit . . sect. . ibid. ibid. his works , p. . ibid p. . procl against levying forces . ibid p. . c. . n. . calvin 〈…〉 case ▪ as coke , spelman , jenkins , vaughan . * tertull. apol. c. . nos judicium dei suspicimus in imperatoribus , qui gentibus illos praefecit , id enim in eis scimus esse quod deus voluit , ideoque & salvum ipsum esse volumus , quod deus voluit . the case of the engagement . calvin ' s case . * prael . . s. . regni invasori sic praestandum est obsequium , ut fidelitas legitimo haeredi debita nullatenus violetur . so also in the case of engagement , and his censure upon ascham . comment . in tit. . lib. . de feud . * car. mol. tit . . de fises . s . . glo. . non requiritur certa jurandi formula , sed sufficit simplicibus verbis jurare ; put à juro fidelitatem clientelarem , vel facio fidem & homagium sub sacramento fidelitatis ; nec est necesse sigillatim exprimere capitula fidelitatis , quia satis subintelligitur per tacitam relationem ad ea , quae de jure & consuetudine feudorum debentur . des . jur . temp . sec. consuet feudales pars . sect. . v. comber upon the litargy . p. . tertull. apol. c. . dr taylor ductor dubit . p. . suarez de leg . p. . n. . taylor ibidem . suarez . p. . de jur. ob ▪ pr●el . . s. . * dr. sanderson , ib. quod gravissimum crimen sine dubio in nos admittimus , si nos forte fallat benignior interpretatio , quae nobis jurandi fecit audaciam , * id. prael . s. . sanè ut inter jurandum omnia rectè fiant , expedit ut de verborum sensu inter omnes partes quarum interest liquido constet ; id quod liquidò jurare veteribus dictum est . — et ex veteri formula juraturo à deferente juramentum dici solitum est ; quâ de re peto liquido jures . the loyal non-conformist, or, an account what he dare swear, and what not. wild, robert, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing w interim tract supplement guide c. .f. [ ] estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books; tract supplement ; a : [ ]) the loyal non-conformist, or, an account what he dare swear, and what not. wild, robert, - . sheet ([ ] p.). [s.n.], london, : printed anno domini, mdclxx. [ ] attributed to robert wild. verse: "i fear an oath, before i swear, to take it ..." reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- poetry -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the loyal non-conformist , or ; an account what hedareswear , and what not . i fear an oath , before i swear , to take it ; and well i may , for 't is the oath of god : i fear oath , when i have sworn , to break it ; and well i may , for vengeance hath a rod. and yet i may swear , and must too ; 't is due both to my heav'nly and my earthly king : if i assent , it must be full and true ; and if i promise i must do the thing . i am no quaker , not at all to swear : nor papist , to swear east , and mean the west : but am a protestant , and shall declare what i cannot , and what i can protest . i never will endeavour alteration of monarchy , or of that royal name : which god hath chosen to command this nation ; but will maintain his person , crown and fame , what he commands , if conscience say not nay , ( for conscience is a greater king than he ) for conscience sake , not fear , i will obey ; and if not active , passive i will be . i'ii pray , that all his subjects may agree , and never more be crumbled into parts : i will endeavour that his majesty may not be king of clubs , but king of hearts . the royal oak i swear i will defend ; but for the ivy which doth hug it so , i swear that is a thief , and not a friend ; and about steeples fitter for to grow . the civil government i will obey , but for church policie i swear i doubt it : and if my bible want th' apocrypha , i swear my book may be compleat without it . i dare not swear church-government is right as it should be : but this i dare to swear , if they should put me to 't , the bishops might do better and be better than they are . nor will i swear for all that they arc worth ; that bishopricks will stand , and doomsday see . and yet i 'll swear the gospel holdeth forth ; christ with his mysteries till then will be . that peter was a prelate , they aver ; but i 'll not swear 't when all is said and done : but i dare swear , and hope i shall not err , he preach'd a hundred sermons to their one . peter a fisher was , and he caught men ; and they have nets , and in them catch men too : yet i 'll not swear they are alike ; for them he caught he sav'd ; these catch , and them undo . i dare not swear that courts ecclesiastick do in their laws make just and gentle votes : but i 'll be sworn that burton , pryn and bastwick , were once ear-witnesses of harsher notes . archdeacons , deans and chapters are brave men by canon , not by scripture ; but to this , if i be call'd i 'll swear and swear agen , that no such chapter in my bible is . i 'll not condemn those prechyterians who refused bishopricks and might have had ' cm : but mistress calamy , i 'll swear , does do as well as if she were a spiritual madam . for holy vestments i 'll not take an oath , which linnen most canonical may be : some are for lawn , some holland , some scotch-cloath , and hemp for some is fitter than all three . paul had a cloak , and books , and parchments too ; but that he wore a surplise i 'll not swear : nor that his parchments did his orders show , or in his books there was a common-prayer . i own assistance to the king by oath ; and if he please to put the bishops down , ( as who knows what may be ) i should be loath to see tom beckets mitre push the crown . and yet church-government i do allow , and am contented bishops be the men : and that i speak in earnest , here i vow where we have one i wish we might have ten. in fine , the civil power i 'll obey ; and seek the peace and wellfare of the nation : if this won't do , i know not what to say ; but farewell london , farewell corporation ; london , printed anno domini , mdc lxx . a proclamation forasmuch as the lords of the committy of our privy council met in the west ... requiring and commanding all and sundry the heretors ... within the shyre of air ... to appear personally before the said lords ... scotland. committee of the west. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation forasmuch as the lords of the committy of our privy council met in the west ... requiring and commanding all and sundry the heretors ... within the shyre of air ... to appear personally before the said lords ... scotland. committee of the west. scotland. sovereign ( - : charles ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by robert saunders, printer to the city and university, by warrant of the privy council, glasgow : . title from caption and first lines of text. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. dated at end: given under our signet at air the tuenty two day of february and of our reigne, the threetie year. prohibiting persons in ayrshire who have not taken the bond from keeping horses above a specified value. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng horse owners -- legal status, laws, etc. -- scotland -- early works to . confiscations -- scotland -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion in defence cr honi soit qvi mal y pense diev et mon droit god save the king royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation , charles , by the grace of god , king of great britain , france , and ireland , defender of the faith ; to our lovites , macers or messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting ; forasmuch , as the lords of the committy of our privy council met in the west , by comission from our privy council , having in pursueance of the comission and instructions given to them , issued forth a proclamatione upon the nynth of this instant ; requyreing and commanding all and sundry the heretors , lyfrentars , and land-lords within the shyre of air , and jurisdictions within the same ; to appear personally before the saids lords within the tolbuith of the burgh of air , upon the respective dayes therein mentioned ; to give band for themselves , there men , tenents , servants , and cottars for the securitie of the peace , and quyet of the countrey , and preserving the same from disorders heireafter , at the particular dyets therein specified , as they would be answerable ; notwithstanding thereof many of the saids heretors , and others forsaids , have not appeared , and divers of such as did appear have refused to subscryue the said band , and we having just reason to suspect that these persons may seek after , or wait for some occasion of further dissturbance ; and finding it unfit that they should have or keep any other horses but such as may be necessare for ploughing , and labouring of the ground . wee therefore with advice of the saids lords of the committy of our privy council doe hereby require and command all heretors , fewars , lyfrentars , and land-lords within the said shyre of air , and jurisdictions within the same ( who have not given the said band ) to put out of there possession , and furth of the saids bounds , all horses and meers belonging to them , above the value of fifty pounds scots betwixt and the first day of march nixt to come . and doe discharge them , and every one of them , to have or keep any such horses or meers thereafter , above the said value without speciall licence from the lords of our council , or there committy under the paine of forfaulting of there horses or meers , and payment to the lords commissioners of our thesaurie for our use , or any that shal be appoynted by them of the soume of an hundreth pounds scots for each horse or meet above the value forsaid that the said persons or any of them shall have or keep after the said day . as also we ordaine all tenents , cottars , or servants within the saids bounds betwixt and the first day of may nixt . to put out of there possession and furth of the said shyre and jurisdictions forsaids , any horses or meers belonging to them above the said value without speciall licence , as said is , under the paine of forfaulting the saids horses and meers and payment of the penaltie above writen . our will is herefore and we charge you straitlie and command , that incontinent these our letters sein , ye pass to the mercat cross of air , head-burgh of the shereffdome thereof . and to the mercat croses of the bailliaries of cuninghame and carrik within the same and other places needfull , and thereat in our name and authority by open proclamation , make publication of the premisses , that none pretend ignorance . the which to do we commit to you conjunctly and severallie our full power , by their our letters delivering them be you duely execute and indorsed again to the bearer . given under our signet at air the tuenty two day of february and of our reigne , the threttie year . per actum dominorum commissionis hugh stevenson , cl. com : god save the king , glasgow , printed by robert sanders , printer to the city and university . by warrant of the committy of council . resolves of parliament, touching the lord generals taking and subscribing the engagement. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason .f. [ ]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing e thomason .f. [ ] estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; : f [ ]) resolves of parliament, touching the lord generals taking and subscribing the engagement. england and wales. parliament. sheet ([ ] p.) printed by edward husband and iohn field, printers to the parliament of england, london : . [i.e. ] the lord general = thomas fairfax, baron fairfax. order to print dated: die mercurii, februarii, . signed: hen: scobell, cleric. parliamenti. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng fairfax, thomas fairfax, -- baron, - -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . great britain -- history -- commonwealth and protectorate, - -- early works to . great britain -- politics and government -- - -- early works to . a r (thomason .f. [ ]). civilwar no resolves of parliament, touching the lord generals taking and subscribing the engagement. england and wales. parliament. a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion resolves of parliament , touching the lord generals taking and subscribing the engagement . resolved upon the question by the parliament , that the parliament doth declare , that thomas lord fairfax , general of the parliament forces , having taken and subscribed the engagement appointed for the members of the councel of state ; viz. i a. b. being nominated a member of the councel of state by this present parliament , do testifie , that i do adhere to this present parliament , in the maintenance and defence of the publique liberty and freedom of this nation , as it is now declared by this parliament , by whose authority i am constituted a member of the said councel , and in the maintenance and defence of their resolutions concerning the setling the government of this nation for future , in the way of a republique , without a king or house of peers : and i do promise in the sight of god , that through his grace , i will be faithful in performance of the trust committed to me as aforesaid , and therein faithfully pursue the instructions given to the said councel by this present parliament . in confirmation of the premises , i have hereunto subscribed my name . his said taking and subscribing , is a taking of the engagement within the act of parliament , entituled , an act for subscribing the engagement . resolved , &c. that mr. speaker do send this vote to the general in a letter , and to return unto him the hearty thanks of this house , for his great care in causing the orders to be put in execution touching the taking the engagement by the army and garisons , and the returns of these subscriptions . die mercurii , februarii , . ordered by the parliament , that these votes be forthwith printed and published . hen : scobell , cleric . parliamenti . london , printed by edward husband and iohn field , printers to the parliament of england , . to his very loving friends, the high sherife, and iustices of peace of the county of surrey. lenthall, william, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason .f. [ ]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing l thomason .f. [ ] estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; : f [ ]) to his very loving friends, the high sherife, and iustices of peace of the county of surrey. lenthall, william, - . england and wales. parliament. house of commons. sheet ([ ] p.) s.n., [london : ] signed: william lenthall. imprint from wing. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng loyalty oaths -- great britain -- early works to . a r (thomason .f. [ ]). civilwar no to his very loving friends, the high sherife, and iustices of peace of the county of surrey. lenthall, william a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to his very loving friends , the high sherife , and iustices of peace of the county of surrey . gentlemen ; it is now some moneths since that the protestation taken by the lords , and house of commons , was sent down into the country , with an expectation that it should be generally taken throughout the kingdome , for a testimony of their good concurrence with the parliament , but through the remissenesse of some of those that had the care of recommending it to others , very many there be that have not hitherto taken it . now the house of commons having discovered many dangerous designes plotted against the parliament ; and especially that of the fourth of this instant ianuary , which had it taken effect would have strucken not onely at the priviledges , but the very beeing of parliaments , as will more appeare by the declaration herewith sent unto you , which the house desires you to publish throughout all parts of the countie , have thought fit once again to recommend the taking of this protestation ; and have therefore commanded me in their name to desire you the high sheriffe , and the justices of the peace of that county , to meet together in one place assoon as possibly you may , and there to take the protestation your selves ; and then dispersing your selves into your severall divisions , that you will call together the minister , the constables , churchwardens , and overseers of the poore of every parish , and tender unto them the protestation to be taken in your presence ; and to desire of them , that they will very speedily call together the inhabitants of their severall parishes , both housholders and others being of eighteen yeares of age , or upwards , into one or more places , according to the largenesse of their parishes , and to tender unto them the same protestation to be taken in their presence , and to take the names of those that doe take , and doe refuse to take the same protestation , and to return them unto your selves at such time as you shall appoint , which the house desires may be so speedily , as that you likewise may return such certificate , as you receive from them , to the knights and burgesses serving for that county , if the same county be within sixty miles of london , before the twentieth day of february next ; and if the said county be above sixty miles distant from london , then before the twelfth of march next , wherein the house desires your greatest care and diligence , as a matter very much importing the good both of the king and kingdome , which being all i have in command , i rest your very loving friend william lenthall , speaker . sir , i have lately received a letter from the speaker of the house of commons now assembled in parliament , the copy whereof is above-mentioned : i desire you , according to the directions in the said letter , to meet with the rest of the justices of peace ( to whom i have written to the same purpose ) and my selfe at kingston in the town hall there on thursday being the tenth day of this instant february , by nine of the clock in the fore-noon , to perform that which we are thereby required . your very loving friend . febr. . a serious consideration of the oath of the kings supremacy wherein these six propositions are asserted. . that some swearing is lawful. . that some promissory oaths are lawful. . that a promissory oath of allegiance and due obedience to a king is lawful. . that the king in his realm, is the onely supreme governour over all persons. . that the king is the governour of the realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things, or causes, as temporal. . that the jurisdictions, priviledges, preeminences, and authorities in that oath, may be assisted and defended. by john tombes b.d. tombes, john, ?- . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a serious consideration of the oath of the kings supremacy wherein these six propositions are asserted. . that some swearing is lawful. . that some promissory oaths are lawful. . that a promissory oath of allegiance and due obedience to a king is lawful. . that the king in his realm, is the onely supreme governour over all persons. . that the king is the governour of the realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things, or causes, as temporal. . that the jurisdictions, priviledges, preeminences, and authorities in that oath, may be assisted and defended. by john tombes b.d. tombes, john, ?- . , [ ] p. printed by henry hills, living in aldersgate-street next door to the sign of the peacock, london : [ ] publication date from wing. caption title on p. reads: the oath of supremacy as it is in the statute i. eliz. cap. i. reproduction of the original in the harvard university library. eng loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . allegiance -- early works to . great britain -- kings and rulers -- early works to . a r (wing t ). civilwar no a serious consideration of the oath of the kings supremacy: wherein these six propositions are asserted. . that some swearing is lawful. . tombes, john d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - andrew kuster sampled and proofread - andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a serious consideration of the oath of the kings supremacy : wherein these six propositions are asserted . . that some swearing is lawful . . that some promissory oaths are lawful . . that a promissory oath of allegiance and due obedience to a king is lawful . . that the king is his realm , is the onely supreme governour over all persons . . that the king is the governour of the realm , as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things , or causes , as temporal . . that the jurisdictions , priviledges , preeminences , and authorities in that oath , may be assisted and defended . by john tombes b. d. prov. . . my son fear thou the lord , and the king : and meddle not with them that are given to change . london , printed by henry hills , living in aldersgate-street next door to the sign of the peacock . to the christian readers . being by special providence brought hither upon some occasions of mine own , and finding many persons of different perswasions scrupling the taking of the oath of supremacy now beginning to be urged , by reason of their unacquaintance with it through the long disuse of it ; by various conferences i convinced sundry of them , that the end and matter of the oath was not such as they imagined : whereupon some persons tender of the publique peace , and the liberties of those doubting persons , who still remained unsatisfied , earnestly pressed me to draw up something in writing , tending to the elucidation of this doubt : which i was unwilling to do , being absent from mine own books and collections , and hoping to have staid here less time then i am now necessitated to do : yet the instant pressure hath drawn from me this writing , though short and indigested , it being conceived useful in this juncture of time , wherein if i be offered on the sacrifice and service of your faith , i joy and rejoyce with you all , as being studious not how to have dominion over your faith , but to be a helper of your joy . for which and i crave your prayers , who am , london oct. . . your brother and servant in christ , john tombes , the oath of supremacy as it is in the statute . eliz. cap. . i a. b. do utterly testifie and declare in my conscience , that the queens highness is the only supreme governor of this realm , and of all other her highness dominions and countreys , as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes , as temporal ; and that no forreign prince , person , prelate , state or potentate hath , or ought to have any iurisdiction , power , superiority , preheminence , or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual , within this realm ; and therefore i do utterly renounce and forsake all foreign iurisdictions . powers , superiorities and authorities , and do promise that from henceforth i shall bear faith and true allegiance to the queens highness , her heirs and lawful successors , and to my power shall assist and defend all iurisdictions , priviledges , preheminencies and authorities , granted or belonging to the queens highness , her heirs and successors , or united and annexed to the imperial crown of this realm . so help me god , and by the contents of this book . the proviso in the statute of . eliz. cap. . provided also , that the oath expressed in the said act , made in the said first year , shall be taken and expounded in such form as is set forth in an admonition annexed to the queens majesties injunctions , published in the first year of her majesties reign ; that is to say , to confess and acknowledge in her majesty , her heirs and successors , none other authority than that was challenged , and lately used by the noble king henry the eighth , and king edward the sixth , as in the said admonition more plainly may appear . the admonition annexed to the queens injunctions . the queens majesty being informed , that in certain places of this realm , sundry of her native subjects , being called to ecclesiastical ministery in the church , be by sinister perswasion , and perverse construction induced to finde some scruple in the form of an othe which by an act of the last parliament , is prescribed to be required of divers persons , for the recognition of their allegiance to her majesty , which certainly neither was ever ment , ne by any equity of words or good sence , can be thereof gathered : would that all her lovyng subjects should understand , that nothing was , is , or shall be ment or intended by the same othe , to have any other duty , allegiance , or bonde required by the same othe , then was acknowledged to be due to the most noble kynges of famous memory , kyng henry the viii . her majesties father , or kyng edward the sixth , her majesties brother . and further her majesty forbyddeth all manner her subjects to give ear or credit to suche perverse and maliciouse persons , which most sinifferly and maliciously labour to notify to her loving subjects , how by the words of the sayde othe , it may be collected the kings or queens of this realm , possessours of the crowne , may challenge aucthority and power of ministrie of divine offices in the churche , wherein her said subjectes be much abused by such evyl disposed persons . for certainly her majesty neither doth : ne ever wyll challenge any other aucthority , than that was challenged and lately used by the sayde noble kinges of famous memorye , king henry the eight , and kynge edward the sixt , which is and was of ancient time due to the imperial crowne of this realm . that is under god , to have the soverainty and rule over all maner persons born within these her realms , dominions , and countries , of what estate , either ecclesiastical or temporal soever they be , so as no other forrain power shall or ought to have any superioritie over them . and if anye person that hath conceived anye other sence of the fourm of the sayde othe , shall accept the same othe with this interpretation , sence , or meaning , her majestie is well pleased to accept every such in that behalf , as her good and obedient subjects , and shall acquit them of all maner penalties conteyned in the said act against such as shall peremptorily , or obstinately refuse to take the same othe . the . article professed in the church of england . the kings majesty hath the chief power in his realm of england , and other his dominions , unto whom the chief government of all estates of this realm , whether they he ecclesiastical or civil , in all causes doth appetain , and is not , nor ought to be subject to any forrain jurisdiction : where we attribute to the kings majesty the chief government , by which titles we understand the mindes of some standerous folks to be offended , we give not to our prince the ministring either of gods word , or of the sacraments : the which thing , the injunctions also , sometime set forth by elizabeth our ( late ) queen , do most plainly testifie , but that onely prerogative , which we see to have been given to all godly princes in holy scriptures by god himself , that is that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by god , whether they be ecclesiastical or temporal , and restrain with the civil sword the stubborn , and evil doers . the oath of supremacy briefly considered , and the lawfulness of taking it asserted . it is questioned , whether the oath of the kings being acknowledged supreme governour in all causes , according to the statute . eliz. may be lawfully taken ? to which i answer affirmatively , and thus argue , if it may not be lawfully taken , it is either because no oath may be taken , or no promissory oath , or no promissory oath to a king , or the matter of this oath is not to be acknowledged or promised . but none of these make it unlawful . ergo . the consequence is proved , because there is a sufficient enumeration made of things that seem to prohibit the taking of it : if not , let what else may make it unlawful be named . the minor is proved by parts , in confirming these six propositions . i. that some swearing is lawful . ii. that promissory oaths may be lawful . iii. that to swear to a king or governour may be lawful . iv. that the king is supreme governour over all persons in his dominions . v. that he is governour in ecclesiastical causes . vi . that the iurisdictions , preeminences , and priviledges meant in that oath may be lawfully acknowledge and defended . the first is proved thus . i. that which is not de toto genere , in it's whole kind evil , may be lawful : but swearing is not de toto genere , or in its whole kind evil . therefore some swearing may be lawful . the major is manifest of it self . the minor is thus proved . that is not wholly evil about the use of which some directions are given by god . god doth not give directions about the use of blasphemy , witchcraft , idolatry , &c. which are in their whole kind evil . but god giveth directions about the use of swearing , as in the third commandment ( which is undoubtedly moral ) jer. . . where he saith , and thou shalt swear , the lord liveth , in truth , in judgement , and in righteousness . ergo . . that which is approved by god , is lawful . but some swearing is approved by god . psal. . . every one that sweareth by god shall glory . ergo . the major is of it self manifest , the minor the text evidenceth , sith the swearing by god is made part of glorying in god , or of the swearers glory . . if it were unlawful to use any oath , then it were unlawful to put any oath on any . but this is not to be said . ergo . the consequence is manifest , sith we cannot lawfully urge any to that which is of it self sinful : now that it is lawful to put an oath on some persons at some times is manifest by gods own appointment , levit. . . . his ratifying solomons petition concerning this thing , king. . . chr. . . and the practise of abraham in the old testament , gen. . , . putting an oath on his servant , and pauls in the new , putting an oath on the thessalonians , thes. . . for so the greek word translated , i charge you by the lord , or adjre you , as it is in the margin , by the lord , is , i put the lords oath on you , or swear you that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren . alike charges are , tim. . . tim. . . . that which hath been the practise of the godly before , under the law , and in the times of the gospel without reproof is lawful , for in all these times , and by such men moved as they were by gods spirit , even in their holy speeches and writings , it would not have been done had it been sinful . but some swearing hath been the practise of the godly , before , under the law and in the times of the gospel , as is proved by instances , as of abraham that lift up his hand to the most high god , gen. . . of isaac , gen. . . of jacob , gen. . . under the law , of the people of israel , josh. . , . of david and jonathan , sam. . . . david to saul , sam . of urijah , sam. . . of ittai , . sam. . . of david , kings . , & . . of solomon , vers. . of elijah , kings . . of michajah , kings . . of elisha , king. . , . and . . and . . and the woman of shunem , king. . . in the times of the gospel , of paul , . cor. . . using this oath , as god is true , verse . . i call god to record upon my soul , and . . and . . cor. . . this is a form of swearing , by your rejoycing which i have in christ jesus , it being in the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which is a particle of swearing , not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which are prepositions noting the means or instrument of the effect ; of the angel , revel. . . who sware by him that liveth for ever . the like are rom. . . & . . gal. . . philip . . . ergo . that which hath a necessary use for the benefit of humane society , is not unlawful . but some swearing hath a necessary use for the benefit of humane society . ergo . the major is plain , it agreeing with the law of nature and nations , which is of necessary use for the benefit of humane society , which laws god the author of nature hath imprinted in all , and indeed hath made all his laws for men one towards another subservient thereto . the minor is plain from the words of the author to the hebrews , chap. . . an oath to men is an end of strife , which is a necessary use for humane benefit . . that which hath been counted by all nations as a sacred thing , a principal part of the acknowledgement and worship of god , is not unlawful of it self . but so hath some swearing been counted . ergo . the minor is proved by gods own words , deut. . . thou shalt fear the lord thy god , him shalt thou serve , and to him shalt thou cleave and swear by his name . the second [ that promissory oaths may be lawful ] is thus proved . . that is not altogether of it self evil or unlawful , which god makes a bond of the soul to be kept and performed to the lord . but some promissory oaths god makes a bond of the soul to be kept and performed to the lord . ergo . some promissory othes may be lawful . the major is proved , because that which is altogether unlawful cannot bind the soul to god , nor is to be kept and performed to the lord . the minor is proved from numb. . . if a man vow a vow unto the lord , or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond , he shall not break or profane his word , he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth . matth. . . again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time , thou shalt not forswear thy self , but shalt perform unto the lord thine oathes , where a promissory oath is made a bond to bind the soul with , to be kept and performed to the lord . . if holy men afore the law , under the law , in gospel times have put promissory oaths on others , then they are not altogether unlawful . this is proved by the same reason by which the like consequence is proved before , in proving the fourth argument of the former proposition . but holy men afore the law , as abraham , gen. . . . under the law , as moses , deut. . . jonathan , sam. . . asa and the people of israel , chron. . , , , . ezra , ezra . . in gospel times , paul , thes. . . adjuring the thessalonians by the lord , that that epistle be read to all the holy brethren , have put promissory oaths on others . ergo . . that which godly men have practised and still counted as well done that is lawful . but some promissory oaths godly men have practised and still counted as well done . ergo . the major is probable , and in this case , considering the persons , and the holy ghosts recording as he hath done , certain . the minor is proved by instances , of david , psal. . . i have sworn and will perform it , that i will keep thy righteous judgements . sam. . . and jonathan said to david , go in peace , forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the lord , saying , the lord be between me and thee , and between my seed and thy seed for ever . nehem. . . they clave to their brethren , their nobles , and entred into a curse , and into an oath to walk in gods law . king. . , . and the king sware and said , as the lord liveth , that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress , even as i sware unto thee , that by the lord god of israel assuredly solomon thy son shall reign after me , and he shall reproof is lawful , for in all these times , and by such men moved as they were by gods spirit , even in their holy speeches and writings , it would not have been done , had it been sinful . but some swearing hath been the practise of the godly , before , under the law and in the times of the gospel , as is proved by instances , as of abraham that lift up his hand to the most high god , gen. . . of isaac , gen. . . of jacob , gen. . . under the law , of the people of israel , josh. . . . of david and jonathan , sam. . . . david to saul sam. . . of urijah sam. . . of ittai , sam. . . of david , kings . , . & . . of solomon , vers. . of elijah , kings . . of michajah , king. . . of elisha , king. . . . and . . and . . and the woman of shunem , king. . . in the times of the gospel , of paul , cor. . . using this oath , as god is true , vers. . i call god to record upon my soul , and . . and . . cor. . . this is a form of swearing , by your rejoycing which i have in christ jesus , it being in greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which is a particle of swearing , not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which are prepositions noting the means or instrument of the effect ; of the angel , revel. . . who sware by him that liveth for ever . the like are rom. . . & . . gal. . . philip . . . ergo . . that which hath a necessary use for the benefit of humane society is not unlawful . but some swearing hath a necessary use for the benefit of humane society . ergo . the major is plain , it agreeing with the law of nature and nations , which is of necessary use for the benefit of humane society , which lawes god the author of nature hath imprinted in all , and indeed hath made all his laws for men one towards another subservient thereto . the minor is plain from the words of the author to the hebrews chap. . . an oath to men is an end of all strife , which is a necessary use for humane benefit . . that which hath been counted by all nations as a sacred thing , a principal part of the acknowledgment and worship of god , is not unlawful of it self . but so hath some swearing been counted . ergo . the minor is proved by gods own words , deut. . . thou shalt fear the lord thy god , him shalt thou serve , and to him shalt thou cleave , and swear by his name , the second [ that promissory oaths may be lawful ] is thus proved . . that is not altogether of it self evil or unlawful , which god makes a bond of the soul to be kept and performed to the lord . but some promissory oaths god makes a bond of the soul to be kept and performed to the lord . ergo . some promissory oaths may be lawful . the major is proved , because that which is altogether unlawful cannot binde the soul to god , nor is to be kept and performed to the lord . the minor is proved from numb. . . if a man vow a vow unto the lord , or swear an oath to binde his soul with a bond , he shall not break or profane his word , he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth , matth. . . again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time , thou shalt not forswear thy self , but shalt perform unto the lord thine oaths , where a promissory oath is made a bond to binde the soul with , to be kept and performed to the lord . . if holy men afore the law , under the law , in gospel times have put promissory oaths on others , then they are not altogether unlawful . this is proved by the same reason by which the like consequence is proved before , in proving the fourth argument of the former proposition . but holy men afore the law , as abraham , gen. . . . under the law , as moses , deut. . . jonathan , sam. . . asa and the people of israel , chron. . , , , . ezra , ezra . . in gospel times , paul , thes. . . adjuring the thessalonians by the lord , that that epistle be read to all the holy brethren , have put promissory oaths on others . ergo . that which godly men have practised and still counted as well done that is lawful . but some promissory oaths godly men have practised and still counted as well done . ergo . the major is probable , and in this case , considering the persons , and the holy ghosts recording as he hath done , certain . the minor is proved by instances of david , psal. . . i have sworn and will perform it , that i will keep thy righteous judgements , sam. . . and jonathan said to david , go in peace , forasomuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the lord , saying , the lord be between me and thee , and between my seed and thy seed for ever . nehem. . . they clave to their brethren , their nobles , and entred into a curse , and into an oath to walk in gods law . king. . , . and the king sware and said , as the lord liveth , that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress , even as i sware unto thee that by the lord god of israel assuredly solomon thy son shall reign after me , and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead ; even so will i certainly do this day . . that which is made a qualification of one that shall dwell in gods holy hill , is not unlawful : but to swear to his hurt and not to change , that is , to take a promissory oath , and not to change , though it be to his dammage is made a qualification of one that shall dwell in gods holy hill , psal. . . ergo . some promissory oaths are lawful . the third proposition [ that to swear to a king or governour is lawful ] is proved , . from approved examples , which prove either a duty , or at least lawfulness of the thing . that which hath been practised by holy men without reproof is lawful . but swearing to kings and governours allegiance and obedience hath been practised by holy men . ergo . the minor is proved by instances of the people to david , sam. . . so all the elders came to the king to hebron , and king david made a league with them in hebron before the lord : and they anointed david king over israel , chron. . . then came all the elders of israel to the king to hebron , and david made a covenant with them in hebron before the lord , and they anointed david king over israel according to the word of the lord by samuel . a covenant before the lord was an oath , but the people of israel , a holy people made a covenant before the lord with david their king , therefore they entred into an oath of allegiance and due obedience . the other is more plain , king. . . and in the seventh year jehojada sent and fet the rulers over hundreds with the captains and the guard , and brought them to him in the house of the lord , and made a covenant with them , and took an oath of them in the house of the lord , and shewed them the kings son , vers. . and jehojada made a covenant between the lord and the king , and the people , that they should be the lords people : between the king also and the people , chron. . . and all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the hosue of god : and he said unto them , behold the kings son shall reign , as the lord hath said of the sons of david , vers. . then jehojada made a covenant between him and all the people , and between the king , that they should be the lords people . these are express examples of swearing allegiance to kings , which is consonant to what our lord christ teacheth , that we should render to caesar the things that are caesars , as to god the things that are gods , matth. . . besides we finde david swearing to saul , sam. . . the people conceiving themselves bound by sauls adjuration , sam , . , . shimei was bound by the oath which solomon imposed on him , where solomon speaks thus to him , why hast thou not kept the oath of the lord , and the commandment that i have charged thee with ? abrahams servant sware obedience to abraham , and counted himself bound to keep it , gen. . , . then arose ezra , and made the chief priests , the levites , and all israel to swear , that they should do according to this word , and they sware , ezra . . nehemiah made them swear by god , saying , ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons , nor take their daughters unto your sons , or for your selves , nehem. . . . from gods dealing with zedekiah , that kept not the oath made to the king of babylon , ezek. . , . where god doth not except against the oath , but the breaking of it calling it his oath , which he had despised , and his covenant that he had broken ; whence i argue , that which god calls his oath , the despising of which he avengeth , may be lawfully taken . but an oath of subjection even to the king of babylon , god calls his oath , the despising of which he avengeth , therefore some oath of subjection to a king , may be lawfull . . from the words of solomon , eccles. . . i counsel thee to keep the kings commandment , and that in regard of the oath of god . the oath of god seemeth to be an oath by god to the king , being made the reason of keeping the kings commandment , as the oath of shemei , king. . . is termed the oath of the lord , zedechiah's oath to the king of babylon , gods oath and covenant , ezek. . . prov. . . the wives covenant with her husband , is called the covenant of her god ; whence i argue , that which is gods oath , and is urged as the reason of keeping the kings command is lawful . but an oath of subjection to a king is gods oath , and urged as the reason of keeping his commandment , as the text shews , therefore it is lawful . if by the oath of god be meant , not a particular oath to a king , but the general oath or covenant to obey god ( which seems not so likely , because it is the special reason of keeping the kings commandment ) yet thus also the argument holds : if it be lawful to make a general oath to god of keeping his laws , and this be one of gods laws to keep the kings commandment , and that the particular oath of subjection to the king is comprehended in the general oath of keeping gods commands , a particular oath of obedience to the king is not unlawful . . that is lawful which is of necessary use for the publique good . but some swearing to a king or other governors is of necessary use for the publique good , therefore it is lawful . the major is confirmed in proving the major of the fifth argument of the first proposition , the minor is proved by experience , even jehojada and david conceived so , and the reason is , because the common peace and good government cannot be kept but by good correspondence between prince and people : therefore if mutual oaths tend thereto , as often they do , they are of necessary use for the publique good . the grand objection is from the words of our saviour , math. . , , , . but i say unto you , swear not all , neither by heaven for it is gods throne : nor by the earth , for it is his footstool : neither by jerusalem , for it is the city of the great king . neither shalt thou swear by thy head , because thou canst not make one hair white or black . but let your communication be yea , yea , nay , nay , for whatsover is more then these cometh of evil : and of the apostles , jam. . . but above all things my brethren , swear not , neither by heaven , neither by the earth , neither by any other oath : but let your yea be yea , and your nay , nay ; lest ye fall into condemnation : which words do seem expresly and fully to forbid any swearing at all , excluding some sorts of oaths by name , and the rest by general terms , with prescription that our communication be yea , yea , nay , nay , and determination , that what is more then these cometh of evil , or the evil one , which made some of the ancients and later godly persons conclude all oaths of any sort prohibited now to christians , though they were not to the jews . but the reasons foregiven are so cogent to the contrary , that we must of necessity finde out a limitation of the speeches , as we do , and rightly , for the next words of our saviour following , vers. , , , , . which are as full in shew for not resisting of evil , but offering our selves to receive further injury , and permitting more dammage and profuse vain casting away our estates , contrary to the law of nature , in our necessary defence , to that necessary moderate providence , which belongs to every man , that due respect which each is to have to the rules of mercy , bounty , and our own imployment and family , so that without good caution we shall make christs precept in stead of being useful to become pernicious . that we may then consider how to understand our lords precept about swearing , we are to take this as certain , that christs precept forbids somewhat which the pharisaical teachers allowed , though they forbad perjury ; now one thing seems to be forbidden by our lord christ , to wit , the making of such distinction of oaths as the pharisees did , and accordingly used them , which seems to have consisted in two things . . in conceiving they might use oaths by some creatures , as if in such use there were no relation to god , and so no profaning of his name , or taking it in vain . the reason of this seems to be christs and james his instances onely in such sorts of oaths as were by creatures , and the refutation of their conceit , by shewing , that all referred to god , as the oath by the heaven , was by god , sith it was his throne ; by the earth , sith it is his footstool ; by jerusalem , sith it was his city ; by the head sith he makes the hair white or black . . that some of these oaths made them debtors to perform what they sware and not other , which appears from christs own charge upon them , matth. . , , , , , , . where he terms them fools and blinde guides for such decision , concluding that all those oaths had respect to god , and did binde . and accordingly christ is not to be understood as forbidding simply all oaths , but such differencing of oaths in their meaning and obligation , as the pharisees , and other jews , either superstitiously or otherwise erroneously used , yet i do not conceive this is all . for the words , swear not at all , neither by heaven nor earth , nor any other oath , but prescribing yea , yea , nay , nay , censuring more to be from evil , or the evil one , seems to forbid all oaths in some cases or manner , which some conceive as if he forbad a promissory oath universally , or a vow with an oath : but these opinions stand not with the second proposition before proved , nor do i finde any thing in the text leading to them . and therefore i conceive , that the prohibition is of that frequent , vain , light , profane , unnecessary , customary passionate swearing , or in secular matters of no importance , without any dread of an oath , or consideration of the holiness of god , upon a provocation to anger , as david , sam. . . or deceifully as those , psal. . . all who take gods name in vain , which i gather from the text . . in that he prescribeth their yea , yea , nay , nay , to be in their speech or communication , which seems to be meant of their familiar speech one with another , in their answers to each other . . because james saying , let your yea be yea , and your nay nay , doth exlude inconstancy and lightness , and prescribes such considerateness as that they need not unsay what they have said , that to use the apostles speech , cor. . . our words may not be yea , and nay , off and on , but yea and amen , that is , firm and ratified , so as that deeds answer to words , as becomes men , that consider what they say , and still say that taught the good knowledge of the lord , chron. . , , , . removed the high places , and brake the images , and cut down the groves , and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that moses had made : for unto those days the children of israel did burn incense to it , king. . . appointed the courses of the priests and levites , with the portion to be given to the priests and the levites , . chron. . , . josiah purged the land of idols , repaired the lords house , gathered all the people to hear the law read , and to make them to stand to the covenant he made before the lord , to walk after the lord . and in the doing of these things the kings are said to do that which was right in the eyes of the lord , and to walk before the lord with a perfect heart . . on the contrary , the not removing the high places , and permitting idols , and neglecting the setting up of gods true worship and service , is charged upon some of the kings as their sin , king. . . and . . king. . . and . . . god gives a special charge to the king to have a copy of the law , and to read therein , that he may learn to fear the lord , and to keep all the words of the law , deut. . , . and therefore when jehojada crowned king jehoash he gave him the testimony , king. . . that he might be minded , that he was , as a king , to know and to see to the keeping of the whole law . . the open practice of idolatry is imputed to the want of a king in israel , judg. . , . and . . which proves , that the king in israel ought to restrain from idolatry , and not to permit every man to do what was right in his own eyes . the ma●or is manifest , because the office of the kings of israel was no ceremonial function , as the priests , but moral , and of perpetual use , and therefore belongs to other kings as well as the kings of israel ; nor doth the gospel deprive them , or any other of their state and authority , by their becoming christians : for then suppose king agrippa had become a christian , he must have ceased to be a king , and have had his kingly power diminished : but as the apostle resolves concerning servants and persons of other conditions , cor. . . brethren , let every man wherein he is called therein abide with god , that is , his christian calling doth not bind him to leave the state and condition of life in which he was , nor diminish his authority which he had when he was called to be a christian , as not consisting with christianity ; so is it true concerning kings and other magistrates , they have greater obligation to god , and the lord christ , no less authority and power as kings by their christianity : but they may abide in their office , and exercise the lawful authority they had before . perhaps it will be said , the kings of israel were types of christ , and therefore their power and authority did cease in things spiritual and ecclesiastical , when christ was come . . but to the contrary , this is said without proof , and so is rejected as easily as it is alledged . . it is true , christ is often termed david , and it is said , he shall sit on davids throne , luk. . , . but this power of reforming religion was not appropriate to david , or the race of the kings of judah , but belonged also to the kings of israel , ( who were not types of christ ) who are charged with the permission or promoting of idolatry , as their sin , as on jeroboam , ahab , &c. and jehu is in some measure rewarded for the partial reformation he made , king. . , , . and therefore it belonged not to the kings of israel to reform religion , onely as types of christ , but even as kings . . this is proved , and the proposition it self . that is to be ascribed to the king , which was with approbation ascribed to kings out of the church . but the government in things and causes spiritual or belonging to religion , is ascribed with approbation to kings out of the church . ergo . the major is proved , because what of this kind is with approbation ascribed to kings out of the church , is to be taken as belonging to kings as kings , and not as typical kings or rulers . the minor is proved by instances . the first of cyrus king of persia of whom we read that the lord stirred up his spirit to make a proclamation for building of gods house , . chron. . , . ezra . . , . in doing this he is called gods shepherd , isa . . and anointed by god , isa. . . and the same was continued by decrees of darius , ezra . , , , , , . and artaxerxes , ezra . , , , . now these things belonging to the building of gods house , furthering his service , were spiritual things , and therefore government in spiritual things belonging to religion , is ascribed to kings out of the church . to these may be added the decree of nebuchadnezzar against them that should speak any thing amiss against the god of shadrach , meshach and abednego . dan. . . and of darius , dan. . . that in every dominion of his kingdom , men tremble and , fear before the god of daniel , which are undoubtedly about spiritual causes or matters of religion : and the king of nineveh his proclamation by the decree of the king and his nobles , that all should fast covered with sackcloth , and cry mightily to god , jonah . , . which is approved by god , in that he defer'd his judgement thereupon : in all which government in matters of religion was exercised and approved . . that which agrees to other rulers besides kings , agrees much more to kings , but to govern in causes spiritual or things of religion , belongs to governours below kings , therefore much more to kings . . the major is proved from the title given to the king , pet. . . where he is called the supreme or excelling , and of those that are in authority or excelling , tim. . , . the king is reckoned as chief ; therefore if inferiour governours are to govern in matters of religion , much more kings . now that they are to do so , appears by the practice of nehemiah , who being not king , nor priest , but governour under the king of persia , reformed the priests , excluding aliens from the priests chambers , giving the levites their portion , and chiefly by restraining the profanation of the sabbath , nehem. . , , , . reckoning it among the works for which he would have god remember him . jacob reforms his houshold by requiring them to put away the strange gods that were among them , and bury them , gen. . , . parents are required to bring up their children in the nurture , in greek discipline or government and admonition of the lord , ephes. . . servants are to be obedient to their masters as to christ , vers. . as the servants of christ doing the will of god from the heart , vers. . with good will doing service as to the lord and not to men : therefore parents and masters have government in matters of religion , much more the father and master of the common-wealth , having a more ample authority . . this is further confirmed in that the apostle where he speaks of the powers , he saith without limitation , that rulers are not a terrour to good works but to evil : wilt thou not be afraid of the power ? do that which is good , and thou shalt have praise of the same , he is the minister of god , a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil , rom. . . . kings and governours sent by them are for the punishment of evil doers , and for the praise of them that do well , without limitation and distinction of civil and spiritual things , pet. . . now where the law doth not distinguish , neither are we , and therefore are to understand the governing in the text to be in religious things as well as civil . . which is further confirmed from the titles given to them : they are termed gods , psal. . , . john . , . ministers of god , rom. . . that judge not for man but for the lord , chron. . . therefore they are to be ministers in a political way , and to judge in things of the lord . . paul did not refuse to apologize for himself about the accusations of the jews against him for his profession and preaching of christian religion , but did justifie himself before felix , festus and king agrippa , and appealed to caesar , act. . . and . , , , . and . , , , , and . , . therefore he denied not , but acknowledged the kings government , even in the things and causes that concern christian religion , and consequently we may in like manner acknowledge it . . paul exhorts us to pray and give thanks for kings and all that are in authority or excellency , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty , tim. . , . therefore he supposeth that kings have some government in matters of godliness , as well as honesty , and therefore are governours in causes spiritual , or of religion . . from the absurdities which follow if this be not granted . . if the king be not governour in ecclesiastical things and causes , then his kingly power is of no use in matters of religion , for if he have no government in them he is to be a looker on , and in effect a meer cipher in respect of such things ; but this is not to be said , sith matters of religion do as much concern him to govern in , as any causes , all experience shewing that no government can be well ordered without some regard had to religion . . all the actions which kings have been commended for by godly persons were unjustifiable : the pulling down of idols , restraining the importation and vending of popes pardons , and consecrated ware , the causing the holy bible to be translated , and publiquely to be read , proclaimnig fasts , and days of thanksgiving , with many of the like acts of kingly authority have been unwarrantable . . kings should have no way of expressing their zeal for gods worship and true religion more then other men , if they were not governours in spiritual things and causes , nor be more accountable to god for neglect thereof , then other men , nor this sin of theirs of more guilt then the like sin of others , which are all absurd . . all the holy martyrs who have owned their authority , and submitted to it when they suffered under it , all those who have petitioned for reformation of religion to kings , have giventhanks to god for it , have advised that it should be sought from them , should be censured as foolish , if not sinfully countenancing an unrighteous usurpation , and the best christian kings who have done most for the settling the affairs of the church censured {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} busie in other mens matters , and the like is to be said of parliaments , and so all matters of religion must be left wholly to bishops , the evil and miserable effects of which are discernible in the records of former and later times , to be intolerable ; as it fell out in the troubles by thomas becket in the time of henry the second , of stephen langton in king johns days , the persecution in queen maries days by bishops , whose disowning the kings supremacy and asserting the popes , occasioned the making and the imposing of this oath . . those titles which have been given them for their care in ordering the things of the church , that they were nursing fathers and nursing mothers to it , according to isaiahs prophecy , isa. . . should be recalled : all the exhortations and charges given to them by preachers to take care of the church of god , should be retracted , they should be no longer minded , that they are to be keepers of both tables of the law ; in a word , it should be their virtue to be as gallio was , that cared for none of these things , acts . . which are all absurd . against this many things are objected . . that to acknowledge the king the onely supreme governour is to make him god . to this i answer : not so , sith he is acknowledged governour in his dominions , and supreme therein under god , and the exclusive term [ onely ] excludes foraign jurisdiction of the pope and other princes and states , ( which by the oath is renounced ) not gods government . object . if kings are governours in all causes , then they may appoint what religion , and worship of god they please , and it is evil to disobey or gainsay what they impose . answer . though in temporal things they be governours , yet are they to govern according to laws . so in spiritual and ecclesiastical things they are to govern according to the laws of christ , and such rules as agree with them , and not in either , in a meerly arbitrary way after their own will : nor are we necessitated to obey or own what they require , if inconsistent with the laws of christ , and such rules as agree with them . object . . if kings be governours in all causes over all persons , then may they dissolve churches and their government , and mould and order them as they will . answ. so far as church constitution , government , and ordering is by christs appointment , or such example which hath the force of an institution of christ , it may not be altered by a king ; but in such things as are left to humane prudence , and there is a concernment of the weal publique ; kings have authority to order them so , as that they tend to the real good and advantage of the churches of christ , and the glory of god , which is the highest and ultimate end of all . object . . this will make the use of synods , and assemblies of pastors to determine things of religion , and to order government unnecessary , sith the determination of all will lye in the kings breast . answ. though statute-laws require the kings assent , and the government is to be exercised in his name , by his commission , yet are not debates in parliament , and passing bills by both houses , nor consultations with judges , nor their decisions of cases unnecessary : the like is to be said of the use of synods and assemblies of pastors and learned men , though the calling of them , and validity of their canons , that is rules , in respect of the imposing them on others with civil penalties , require the kings concurrence . object . . this hath occasioned great evils in so much that persecution hath been raised against godly persons as heretiques and schismatiques , when princes have been misled ; so as to burn , banish , imprison , and otherwise to afflict persons , judged by prelates and others to be such . answ. 't is true this hath fallen out , when princes ignorant of the true religion , corrupted in their education , perverted by seducers and ungodly guides in their judgements have yielded too much to the misinformation of others , and so have been unhappy in the abuse of their government to the great hurt in life , liberty , and estate of innocent persons : and the like hath been in mal-administration of civil affairs , through the like causes : yet the power and authority in neither is to be denied for some abuse : for that would introduce a worse evil of anarchy and mischievous confusions . on the other side when princes have been good , and have used such good counsellours , as jehojada was to joash ; their government in religion hath been of great advantage to the church of christ . and , as things have stood in england , it was the means under god whereby popery was expelled , and the protestant reformation was established . object . . by allowing so much power in ecclesiastical things , religion is often changed with the king , and thereby peoples minds are at much uncertainty what religion to be of , which tends to irreligion and atheisme . answ. so it fell out in the kingdom of judah , yet the power of the kings of judah in matters of religion was not for this cause denied . and the like happens upon change of teachers , as in the churches of galatia : and paul , acts . , . foretels the like would be in the church of ephesus , yet is not therefore the use and government of pastors to be denied , but more diligence to be in using such holy means as prayer for kings , tim. . , . &c. which by gods blessing may prevent these evils . object . . no man is to govern in that whereof he is no sit judge , nor is any man a fit judge but he that is skilful in the things he judgeth : which seldom happened to kings in matters of religion , and therefore government therein is ill ascribed to them . ans. as a king may be fit to govern in temporal causes ( whereto is required skill in the laws of the land , of which perhaps he hath little or no knowledge , not so much as a judge is to have , who passeth sentence ) if he choose and use them that are skilful and upright therein : so it may be in ecclesiastical causes , if he choose and use the help of them that are skilful and faithful in religion . but in this thing there is need of the greatest circumspection , vigilancy and wariness , on the one side by reason of the cunning and diligence of seducers , and the violence of spirit in profane persons against the most holy and harmless christians , and on the other side by reason of the weakness in the faith of many upright souls , whose consciences are very tender , and their wounds hardly cured : of whom our lord christ was very tender , matth. . . and gentle toward them , as the great shepherd of the sheep , through the blood of the everlasting covenant , heb. . . as was foretold , isai. . . and the apostle paul requires much indulgence to be given them , rom. . , . object . . the acknowledgement of this supremacy of the king hath been opposed by sundry godly protestants , who have in their writings excepted against it , as calvin , and the century writers of magdeburg . answ. t is true , they excepted against the title of head of the church given to king henry the eighth , as stephen gardiner , and such like persons misreported it , as if it gave to the king an uncontrollable authentique power , to determine of faith , and worship of god : but when those learned protestants better understood what was meant by it , they withdrew their exceptions , as doctor rainold shews in his conference with hart in the tower , chap. . object . . many godly persons are offended with the taking , and defending the lawfulness of the taking of this oath , as fearing it many tend to the taking away those liberties of their consciences in religion , which are dearer to them then their lives : and being jealous of those who take it , least they betray those liberties . ans. it is to be considered by those conscientious persons , who make this objection , that the takers , and defenders of the taking of this oath do apprehend , that the imposing this oath was for the excluding the popes jurisdiction , and other forreign power , as the admonition of queen elizabeth here prefixed shews , and therefore there is nothing done by such takers or defenders in prejudice of their brethrens liberties , or imposition on the consciences of others : but they that have taken it , or conceive they may take it , if imposed , do it , as being satisfied in their consciences by the foregoing arguments , or such like , that they do but what they may do lawfully without offence , and hope that it will fall out as it did in the business of the altar of ed , josh. . that a right intelligence of their fact will prevent any breach between them and others , and unite them more closely . object . . this acknowledgement of the kings supremacy in causes ecclesiastical hath been but of late , not before king henry the eighth and edward the sixth . answer . the title of head of the church of england , ( now altered into supreme governour over all persons ) though it were not assumed by the kings of england before henry the eighth , yet the power of supreme government in causes ecclesiastical , as saith bishop bramhal in his answer to militiere , pag. . the ancient kings of england ever exercised , not onely before the reformation , but before the norman conquest , as appeared by the acts of their great councils , by their statutes , and articles of the clergy , by so many laws of provision against the bishop of romes conferring ecclesiastical dignities and benefices upon foreigners , by so many sharp oppositions against the exactions and usurpations of the court of rome , by so many laws concerning the patronage of bishopricks , and investitures of bishops , by so many examples of churchmen punished by the civil magistrate . this power , though not this name , the christian emperors of old assumed to themselves , to convocate synods , to preside in synods , to confirm synods , to establish ecclesiastical laws , to receive appeals , to nominate bishops , to eject bishops , to suppress heresies , to compose ecclesiastical differences , in councils , out of councils , by themselves , by their delegates . all which is as clear in the history of the church , as if it were written with a beam of the sun . the sixth proposition is [ the jurisdictions , preeminences , priviledges , and authorities in that oath may be assisted and defended ] the jurisdictions , &c. meant i conceive to be expressed a little before the form of the oath in the statute of eliz. cap. . of which the queens admonition saith , no other authority is challenged , than that was challenged and lately used by king henry the eighth , and edward the sixth , that is , under god , to have the soveraignty and rule over all manner of persons , born within her realms , dominions and countreys , of what estate either ecclesiastical or temporal soever they be , so as no other foreign power shall or ought to have any superiority over them . what was used in the days of henry the eighth , and edward the sixth , appears by the book of acts and monumens and statutes in their days , to wit , the rejecting the popes jurisdiction , appointing visitors , judging and deposing some bishops , commands to take down images , causing divine service to be in the english tongue , the bible in the english tongue to be in churches , with many other things of the like kinde . the promise to defend them is [ to our power ] whether by opposing the bringers in of a forreign power , especially the popes or by aiding the king in the right use of this authority , neither is the power granted which may not be lawfully used or exercised , nor is the abuse of it required to be defended . with this explication , the proposition is thus proved . that we may lawfully swear to assist and defend , which may lawfully be exercised , and may be of necessary use . this proposition needs not any further proof being of it self manifest . but all the jurisdictions , priviledges , preeminences and authorities meant in the oath according to the queens explication in her admonition , ratified in the proviso of the statute . eliz. may be lawfully exercised , and may be of necessary use , as appears by the recital of them and their use before specified : therefore we may lawfully swear to assist and defend them . the objection that is made against this is , that these jurisdictions , preeminences , priviledges , and authorities were the same that were taken from the pope and given to the king , and thereby papal power was conferred on him . to which i answer , the power ( saith hart conference with rainold , chap. . division . ) which we mean to the pope by this title of the supreme head is , that the government of the whole church throughout the world doth depend of him : in him doth lie the power of judging and determining all causes of faith , of ruling councils as president , and ratifying their decrees ; of ordering and confirming bishops and pastours ; of deciding causes brought him by appeals from all the coasts of the earth , of reconciling any that are excommunicate , of excommunicating , suspending or inflicting other censures and penalties on any that offend , yea , on princes and nations ; finally of all things of the like sort , for governing of the church , even whatsoever toucheth either preaching of doctrine or practising of discipline in the church of christ . now this immense power , as too heavy for the shoulders of a mortal man , and as not belonging to the kingly office at all in many parts of it , is disclaimed by the kings of england , as is before shewed , and not meant to be acknowledged in the oath . therefore , saith dr. john rainold confer. with hart , chap. . that which we take from the pope we give not to any mortal creature , and having by the reading of dr. nowels reproof of dormans proof of certain articles convinced hart the jesuite , that no more is meant by it then what august . saith epist. . that kings do serve gods as kings , if in their own realm they command good things , and forbid evil , not onely concerning the civil state of men , but the religion of god also : thus much he did subscribe to . out of all which i infer , that it was very presumptuously and unjustly made by mounsier de la militiere the crime of the kings of england , which god chastised by the late tragedy , that the authority which god gave the king in temporal matters was used by him for governing spiritual , in his tempting epistle to his majesty that now is , whom the lord preserve and direct in the mannaging of this power of so great concernment to so many millions of precious souls as are within his dominions . amen . finis . digitus testium, or a dreadful alarm to the vvhole kingdom, especially the lord major, the aldermen, and the common-councel of the city of london. or a short discourse of the excellency of englands lawes and religion. together, with the antiquity of both, and the famous kings that england hath had to defend both the religion and the laws against the heathen romish emperours, and against the romish power, under popes. with the several plots the popes of rome have used against the kings of england, to throwe them down, and how of late he hath prevailed against the magistracy and ministery of england, his new designes, and manner of progress: together, with a serious view of the new oath or ingagement, with . queries upon the same. and also objections made against the non-subscribers thereof answered. let the ingenuous reader take so much pains, as to read that incomparable peece of vindication of a treatise of monarchy by way of discovery of three main points thereof. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h a thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) digitus testium, or a dreadful alarm to the vvhole kingdom, especially the lord major, the aldermen, and the common-councel of the city of london. or a short discourse of the excellency of englands lawes and religion. together, with the antiquity of both, and the famous kings that england hath had to defend both the religion and the laws against the heathen romish emperours, and against the romish power, under popes. with the several plots the popes of rome have used against the kings of england, to throwe them down, and how of late he hath prevailed against the magistracy and ministery of england, his new designes, and manner of progress: together, with a serious view of the new oath or ingagement, with . queries upon the same. and also objections made against the non-subscribers thereof answered. let the ingenuous reader take so much pains, as to read that incomparable peece of vindication of a treatise of monarchy by way of discovery of three main points thereof. hall, henry, d. , attributed name. hall, edmund, or - , attributed name. [ ], , [ ] p. [s.n.], london : printed in the year, mdcl [ , i.e. ] wing attributes to henry hall; cty, to edmund hall. annotation on thomason copy: "non" is inserted before "common-councel"; "jan: th.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng monarchy -- great britain -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- great britain -- th century. great britain -- constitutional history -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no digitus testium, or a dreadful alarm to the vvhole kingdom,: especially the lord major, the aldermen, and the common-councel of the city of [hall, henry] c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion digitus testium , or a dreadful alarm to the vvhole kingdom , especially the lord major , the aldermen , and the common-councel of the city of london . or a short discourse of the excellency of englands lawes and religion . together , with the antiquity of both , and the famous kings that england hath had to defend both the religion and the laws against the heathen romish emperours , and against the romish power , under popes . with the several plots the popes of rome have used against the kings of england , to throwe them down , and how of late he hath prevailed against the magistracy and ministery of england , his new designes , and manner of progress : together , with a serious view of the new oath or ingagement , with . queries upon the same . and also objections made against the non-subscribers thereof answered . let the ingenuous reader take so much pains , as to read that incomparable peece of vindication of a treatise of monarchy by way of discovery of three main points thereof . london , printed in the year , mdcl . to the right honourable , the lord mayor of the city of london . my lord , your eminency for the profession of religion , and the lawfulness of your office , only invites us to dedicate these our papers to you , not that they so much expect your protection , as intend your instruction , they only beg your serious perusal , which may prove a happy corasive , or otherwise leave you excuseless : your lordship certainly knowes , that this day michael and his angels , and the devil and his angels are in fight , and the dragon seemes to have got the better . now at such a time as it is a sin accursed with a bitter curse , to stand a newter ; for 't is a seavenfold more accursed sin to fall from michael , and fight on the dragons side : if he that loves not the lord jesus shall be cursed with a bitter curse ; what shall befall that professer who hateth the lord jesus , and persecutes him in his members ? certainly , that mans sin comes near to the unpardonable sin against the holy ghost : the world may read his name written in hell in great characters , the sin against the holy ghost may be committed in one act ; it is a sin frequently committed in this age in england , by professors , as there are certain straits in the narrow way to heaven , ( as repentance and self denial ) the which if a man passe , he shall never fall away ; so there are certain precipices in the broad way to hell , the which if a man passe , he shall never be able to return again , though he heartily desire it . cain passed this precipice , and judas in betraying his master , and esau in selling his birth-right for pottage ; we are far from charging your lordship ( as we are free from acquitting the men of these times ) of these damnable sins , let god and your conscience condemn or acquit you , before whom ere long you must appear ; our design is only to unbowel that little bigbellied viper ( of the romish conclaves hatching ) the ingagement , which like the trojan horse hath concealed in the belly of it , the ruine of lawful magistracy , lawful ministery , and the lawful reformed religion ; your lordship knowes full well , that these are three precious jewels , and your lordship cannot but know as well , if you please , that this ingagement is the designed ruine of them all . how sad a progress it hath made already the sincere protestants of the three kingdoms to their sorrow know : long since it hath been the design and endeavour of our inveterate enemy the pope , to extirpate protestant magistracy and ministery ; but they never could effect it until this day , and that principally by this ingagement : is not the protestant race of kings utterly banished this kingdom by this ingagement ? and are not all the protestant ministers , now about to be turned with their wives and children out of their estates and dwelling-houses , and banished at the pleasure of their tormenters , and all by this ingagement . my lord , we beseech you to consider what ministers they are that are persecuted ; for what , and by whom they are persecuted ? your conscience tells you my lord , that they are the orthodox , grave , learned , sincere , zealous ministery of england , that by this ingagement are persecuted , and for what ? but only because they will not forsake a good conscience , and a just cause , that covenant cause which they ingaged in , which they must do in taking the ingagement , and that the contrivers of the ingagement knew full well , and for that end contrived it . and who are they that put this in execution , but they that entred into the same covenant with us ? that pretended the same cause , those whom we have with the hazard of our lives , estates , and all we have , preserved from ruine , and been the cause of their promotion ; even those who make lawes for our ruine : these men out-law us , these men sequestrate and imprison us , these take away our birth-rights from us , and which is worst of all , these are now about to banish our ministery , who have alwayes been our comfort and incouragement in times of affliction . woe unto us , were ever poor protestants so miserably deluded ? or were there ever such notorious grosse hypocrites , apostate pasters in the world ? are these the saints that cryed out against persecution of tender consciences ? is this the year of our liberty so much boasted of by many ? is this the removing of the yoak of oppression and tyranny ? is this the year of throwing down antichrist , and propagating the gospel of jesus christ ? when our chief protestants , both of the parliament and city , are inforced to look through prison gates , and the archest incendiaries of the romish party are imbraced and consulted with ; and when our constant , real , zealous covenant-keeping ministery , are they that must be banished , with their wives and children ( as in the irish rebellion ) and malignants and sectarians . jesuites and prophane fellows suffered to enjoy their liberties , we appeal to your conscience ( my lord ) whether this year be the year of jubilee with the protestants or papists : are not all oaths , penalties , lawes and statutes , taken clearly off from the papists ? and is not the ingagement only designed as a snare to catch the sincere protestant , and to bring him under sequestration , banishment , out-lawry , and what not ? the righteous lord look upon our afflictions , our unheard of afflictions ; that our brethren are risen up against us , and hate us , and persecute us with a far more hatred then our open enemies , and that without a cause . the lord judge betwixt us and our enemies this day ; if we have dealt deceitfully in the covenant of our god , then let god search it out , and bring us to ruine ; but if we are persecuted for holding fast to our covenant , the lord plead our cause : we can with comfort and boldness say this in the midst of our afflictions , lord thou knowest our integrity , this appeal our enemies cannot make . come forth ( my lord ) from amongst the tents of these ungodly men , lest you perish with them , for their folly is made known to all the world , and their damnation sleepeth not : be not found amongst the number of hypocrites , apostates , atheists and papists , persecuting the poor church : the sword is put into your hand for the preservation , not for the persecution of a godly , zealous ministery : the god of all wisdom direct you for the churches good and his glory ; for which ends we dedicate these our papers to you . a short discourse of the excellency of englands laws and religion , &c. it is not unknown to us the free-born protestants of england , that our nation claimeth the priority of all other nations in the world for ancient and famous laws , and peace and religion . the laws and customs of england , ( saith learned fortescus , ) are ancienter then the laws of the romans , yea of the venetians , which are esteemed the ancientest in the world ; they are more famous then others , because better then the laws of other nations , and that in a threefold respect , in the subject matter , in the form , and . in the disposing of them . the ras substrata of the statute laws of england , is reason , which indeed is the totum compositum of the common law . common law , is a vast mine of right reason , out of which all other laws are digged , and fitly squared to the good of the kingdom : he therefore is esteemed the best lawyer that spoke the best reason , and herein the people of england excel all other nations , in that they are only subjected ( by the law , ) to reason , and the purest reason , which to be , is doubtless perfect freedom ; yea it may truly be affirmed , that by the law they are subjects only to divine reason ; for we have such a standing law upon record , that whatsoever custom , maxim , or statute , shall be faind directly contrary to the law of god ; that custom , maxim , statute , or case , shall be ipso facto void , and so adjudged . and as for the matter for the form , the laws of england are the absolute , and undoubted best in the world ; for as there is universal obedience required and injoyned to every law inacted , for there is a general assent in the acting and constitution of that law . there are . estates which concur , ( as joynt causes of the same effect ) in making of a law . these . conjunctions do make the supreme authority of the nation , the apax , or culmen potestatis , being set upon the kings head , all writs and procession issuing out in his name ; with him are joyned the house of lords , and the house of commons : these . divisions are limitted by law ; but compunction they have power to repeal , or make a law ; and none can say unto them , why do you so ? but either of these apart , are limitted by law . limitations of royal power have been made and acknowledged by magna charta , and several other acts , and no obedience , acknowledged any otherwise then according to law ; and king charles acknowledged , that the measure of his power was the law , and he desired no more then what he was invested with by law . and so of the other two estates of lords and commons , these three have negative voices alike , have freedom ( in their several places , ) a like freedom to make motions , and freedom to reject what they dislike . this is the absolutest best government in the world , as is clear from god and nature . god himself who is the almighty monark of all spirits , hath pleased to reveal himself to man in a trinity of persons , and governs the universe by himself , angels and men celestical bodies , by sun , moon , and stars : the little world man by understanding , will and affections ; and the kingdom of england , by king , lords , and commons . the king of himself cannot make a law of himself , if he do , t is tyranny , nor the lords in a part by themselves , nor the commons by themselves against the other two , if they do , it is usurpation , exceeding presumption , perjury and treason , for they are sworn to the contrary by their oaths of allegiance and supremacy , to act nothing against the crown and dignity of their soveraign lord the king ; besides , they are sworn to maintain the priviledges of parliament . the king makes the first of these three estates , by a right , which is not by election , nor by conquest simply , but by inheritance ; for the saxon kings laying the plat-form of good government , here in england continued it succesfully , until the danes drove them into corners , subduing them for a time , the which they soon recovered again , and so recovered their ancient customs and laws again , and continued them , edward the confessor , who was of the saxon line , having no heir , descending of his body , intended to make edgar ethling , gran-child to ironside his successor ; but edward the confessor dying , harrold-earl , godwins sonne , being popular for his victories , usurped the crown , and dispossessed the right heir , deluding william of normandy , to whom he had promised by oath the government of the kingdom , after the death of edward . william duke of normandy hereupon pleads a right to the crown of england , by promise ( as he said ) from edward the confessor , and hereupon brought an army with him from normandy , and gave battel to harold the usurper , at hastings in sussex , where he overthrow'd him , by whose overthrow , there was way made for a treaty betwixt duke william , and the nobles and citizens then at london , duke william pleaded his right by promise , as having a grant of the kingdom made to him by edward the confessor , and confirmed by harrold , who forswore himself , and usurped the crown : hereupon duke william was received and acknowledged king by the nobles and city of london , after this edgar ethling , who indeed was the right heyr , compounded with duke william , and for a royal allowance , which duke william granted him , he reconciled himself to him , and thus william came in as successour to edward the saxon king ; and so it succeeded from the normans to the plantagenets , henry the . being the sonne of maud , henry the . his daughter whom he married to jeffery plantagenet , who begat henry the . and so it passed from the normans to the plantaginets , in whose unquestionable time , eight kings succeeded each other : afterwards they divided henry the of the younger house , & usurped the crown , being of the house of lancaster ; but edward the . of the house of york , coming in upon a better title then those of lancaster , overthrew those that opposed his title : this division continued and lived until richard the . died , who breathed the last of the plantagenets : the tudors next succeeded the plantagenets . henry the . matching with elizabeth , the eldest daughter to edward the . of the house of york , united both houses of york and lancaster , laying the white rose and the red together , in the royal person of henry the . the scepter fell back into the current of the old brittish blood : together with the german , norman , burgandian , castalian , and french atchievements , with the intermarriages , which years had acquired , incorporated , and brought back into the old royal time . nauntons , fegmenta regalia , p. . sec. . so that the stuarts , have an unquestionable title to the crown of england , from the old christian brittish kings , whose antiquity is beyond all the kings in the world . the tudors expiring in queen elizabeth , the mighty family of the stuarts , succeeded by an unquestionable title , as lineally descended from margaret the eldest daughter of henry the . of whom descended james the . of england , and sixth of scotland , he reigning . years , died and left the possession of england , scotland and ireland to charles the . who after he had raigned . years , was cut off by a violent death , jan. . . at his own door . so that by this it may appear , by what right the kings of england have for above these . years made the first and chief estate in parliament , t is by a right of succession and inheritance , always acknowledged and granted by the king . the house of lords make the second estate , because the nobility of a kingdom are the main pillers of those political thea●ors where they live , and as they are clarior et illustri●r pars populi , they do claim that priviledge jure geutium , in this kingdom they claim it as their birth-right , never in any age denied them ; their house being far more ancient then the house of commons ; for henry the . was the first that established the house of commons , and the house of commons make the third estate who are called by the kings writ , and chosen by the people to be their trustees in parl : these being chosen , and come up to westminster , or the place where the king appoints , they are called over in the kings presence , and there they answer for what shire or town they are , which done , by the kings commandment , they choose them a speaker , who maketh requests to the king , that he would be content that they may injoy their liberties , to speak their minds freely , that they may punish any of their house offending , that they may in doubts have the liberty to consult with his majesty and the house of lords , promising in the commons names , not to abuse , but to improve their priviledges , as faithful , true , and loving subjects ought to do for their princes honour and advantage . the house of commons have power to impeach any person of treason , except the king ; for the king is one of their estates and the head : now neither of these . estates can impeach an other , the king & lords cannot impeach the house of commons , because it is the third estate ; and the king and commons cannot impeach the house of lords , because it makes the second estate , hereby the community must necessarily dissolve it self , if either of the estates could impeach each other : therefore the lords and commons be they never so intire and full , have no power de jure to impeach the king , because he makes the first estate in parl : indeed they have power to curb the exorbitances of each other ; and for this end , their two estates of lords and commons , were devised , to curb the excess of monarchs ; but in no wise to dethrone them . the house of commons never was a court of judicature , it had a regative voice in the making of new lawes , and the chiefest hand in granting subsidies , levying taxes , and imposing customs on this kingdom , without whom , the king and lords could not proceed . the original of the subjects liberty came first out of germany , where saith tacitus , nec regibus libera aut infinita potestas erat . kings had not unlimitted power , but the weighty matters of the realm were dispatched by general meetings of all estates ; but it can never be found that the house of commons was a court of judicature they are but the peoples trustees , and this power they have , that they have a negative voice in the making of a law , or imposing of any taxes ; and herein is the great and vast liberty of the english subject included , that there can be no law imposed on them , but what their representatives or trustees in parl : shall agree unto , and if after they have agreed unto a law which proves inconvenient , or not so effectual as was intended for the good of the people . the next session ( saith fortescue ) cancito reformari potest . and thus the laws of england in their framing are the best laws in the world . . and as the best in their frame and constitution , so they are the best laws in distribution ; for as all estates have a hand in framing a law , so no estate is exempted from observing of those laws ; so that english laws may truly be called justice in the abstract ; for they do suum cuique tribu●re . they give the king his due , the nobles their due , and the commons their due ; to each man , from him that welds the scepter , to him that holds the plough , it gives him his right . the law sets the king above imprisonment , or attainture by his subjects ; by this rule in law , nemo imprisonetur aut disvisietur nisi per judicium legale parium . now all other men in the kingdom may be tryed , because there are to be found his fellow-subjects , equal in all the priviledges of a subject with him ; but a king , take him either in his personal capacity , or publick capacity , he is no subject of the law : indeed , he is sworn to maintain and defend the law . the king is bound to maintain the law by his oath , the form of which oath runs thus . you shall keep the church of god , the clergy and people intirely in peace and concord in god , according to your power . the king answers , i will keep them : you shall cause equal and right justice in all your judgements , and discretion in mercy and truth , according to your power . the king answers , i will do it , you shall grant just laws and customs to be kept , and you shall promise that those shall be protected by you , and to the lover of god to be strengthened , which the common people shall choose according to their power . to which the king answers , i give and promise it . this oath the king takes at his coronation , viz. parl. rol. . hen. . but in case he doth not so fully execute the laws as is meete , there can be no judge legal of the king , because he is a monark , and there cannot be judges of the accesse of monarchy ; for none can be found his equals , and to judge him otherwise , were to deny the monarch : what is granted to the meaner subject , which is to be judged by his equalls . but though the monark cannot be judged , yet the instruments of that monark may ; for a commission from the king cannot bear out a subject beyond law , the exorbitant commands of such a monak , as our english monark being politically powerless ; and if authority fail in the supreme power , the instrument can have none from thence derived to him , but must necessarily fall under the censure of the law ; so that though the king is head of the three estates , cannot be molested ; yet the instruments that he implies against law may be tryed . this law is most agreeable to the law of god , and the law of nature ; to the law of god , for kings are the representatives of god on earth , and none can touch them , we see this clear in two famous instances , in saul , who ( could crimes have brought him under the censure of men ) had enough to dethrone him ; for he was a tyrant , a murtherer , and a publick enemy to the church and state , yet david when he could have done justice upon him , said , god forbid , for he is the lords anointed , the declared king of israel . and david that was guilty of murther and adultery , both of them deserving death by the law , yet was not questioned by his subjects , because god only hath the power of punishing kings , and not man . this is most agreeable to the law of nature ; for if kings should be subject to their subjects , then the order must needs be confounded , and the law of nature utterly rooted up , which orders approves no further then the supreme authority , which if judged by any , is not the supreme , and so produceth confusion and infinition : therefore we conclude , that the laws of england are the best laws in the world in every respect , both for matter , form , and distribution . and as for laws , so for pure religion , it is beyond all other nations , it received the apostolick faith almost , if not all out as soon as rome that brags of its antiquity . gindas telleth us , that england received the gospel in the apostles dayes , joseph at armathea bringing it into the kingdom , and origen and turtullian tell us , that it received the gospel as soon as any natian in europe . this we are sure that it hath retained it in its purity , the longest of any nation , it had a great share in the presevitians under the heathen emperours of rome ; after that under the arrian and entichion heresies , and after that under popus , the bloudiest and cruellest enemy to the church ; so that from the apostles time till this day , christian religion ( though sometimes obscured ) never was obliterate nor extinct in the kingdom . and as this kingdom hath been famous for laws and religion above others , so it hath been the famousest in the world for religious and valiant kings to protect it , and eminent ministers to divulge it . lucious the son of coilus , who was king of england , was the first christian king , jesus christ smiling upon this nation above all others , in blessing it with a righteous king , which was a miracle in the world : at that time constantine the . king of england , after lucius , who was the son of beautiful helea , king coil his daughter of england , whom she brought forth at york , he becam emperour of rome , conquering the heathen emperours with a brittish army , and so converted rome heathen into rome , christian the famousest reformation that ever was wrought in the world , so that england is famous for being the first christian kingdom , and setting up christian empire , english kings having been the only great friends to true religion , in the time of paganisme . and as they were the greatest friends to christs church against rome pagan , so they have been the greatest friends to the true chucrch against rome antixfian ; for about the year . when the pope was in his full height of soverainty , the normons line succeeding the saxons in england , were the first kings that contemned the popes authority . william the conqueror spit at him , and wilt rufus who succeeded him , openly spake against the popes usurped power of binding and loosing withstanding and rejecting his intrapped fopperies , declaring ( against the pope ) the folly of invocating saints , he plucked proud arch bishop anselmes nose under his girdle , in despight of the pope , and so did the royal family of the plantagenets . the tudors and the stuarts got their several parts in greater degrees against the pope , as they succeeded each other . so that the normans may be said to resist the pope , the plantagenets to grapple with the pope , the tudors to unhorse the pope , and the stuarts to stob the pope ; king james being the first king that writ against him , & proved him to be antichrist . against the kings of england the popes have born an old grudge , and indeavoured to destroy those kings or queens , which resisted their authority , at least . treasons against q. elizabeth were discovered , and prevented ; which so frustrated pope pius quintus projects , that it broke his heart for malice , that he could not with his bulls ( which with his own hands he sealed ) depose and dethrone the protestant queen ; for she took occasion from the popes wickedness , and the papists treachery , to extirpate priests and jesuites out of the kingdom ; whereupon pope gregory . erected a colledge on purpose for english priests and jesuites that fled from england to rome , and another at doway , which was much nearer england , that they might there both frame their granadoes of treason against the english court and receive such persons as were succesless in their treason , and made escapes out of england . against king james , besides that treason of warson and clarke , the prodigious gunpowder-plot was contrived by the papists to destroy the king the prince , the house of lords , and the house of commons , in the twinkling of an eye ; upon this ground , because pope clement . by a bull , commanded that the king should not be crowned without a toleration of popery ; but god prevented that prodigious blowe . hereupon the king and the parl : framed the oath of allegiance to be taken by every subject in the kingdom , 't is thus . i. a. b do truly and sincerely acknowle●ge , profess , testifie and declare in my conscience , before god and the world , that our soveraign lord k. james , is lawful and rightful king of this realm , and of all other his maj. dominions and countries ; and that the pope neither of himself , nor by any authority of the church , or see of rome , or by any other means with any other , hath any power of authority to depose the king , or dispose any of his majesties kingdoms or dominions , or to authorize any forraign prince to invade or anoy him or his countries , or to discharge any of his subjects of the allegiance and obedience to his majesty , or to give license to any of them to bear arms , or offer any violence or hurt to his maj. person , state or government , or to any of his maj. subjects . i do swear from my hear● , that no withstanding any declaration or excom. against the king , his heirs and successours , or any absolution of the said subjects from their obedience ; i will bear faith and true religion to his maj. his heirs and successors , and him and them will defend to the utmost of my power , against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever ; and i do detest and abhorre as impious and heretical , the damnable doctrine of the pope , that princes may be excommunicated and deprived of their kingdoms , deposed and murthered by their subjects , or any other whatsoever . and i do believe that neither the pope nor any other can absolve me from this oath , and all these things i do plainly swear according to the plain and common sence , and understanding of the same words , without any equivocation or mental evation , or secret reservation . this oath ( with the oath of supremacy ) the supreme authority of the nation thought fit to impose upon all the protestants and other subjects in the kings dominions . the protestants rejoyced that there were such oaths whereby they might manifest their loyalty to their soveraign lord the king , only the papists refused it , having and using no other plea but tenderness of conscience , and fear to offend the church of rome : these oaths distinguished protestants from papists a long time in england ; during which time , the kingdom indured much peace and prosperity ; but after the death of k. james , k charles succeeding him in the throne , and matching with one of the popish religion , a gap was opened for priests and jesuites to enter into the kingdom , and romish designs were set on foot , for the setling of jesuites in the kingdom under the name of protestants ; the pope granting dispensations , and jesuites writing books , ( as ortwinus and several others of the church of rome ) that it was lawful for a roman-catholique to make profession of the ●rotestant religion , to go to their churches , and outwardly comply with protestants , and yet be a sacred catholique ; and that it was lawful vulpirare cum vulpibus , to play the knave with a knave , ( they are their own words . ) hereupon subtil jesuites under the name of protestants seated themselves in england undiscovered , held correspondence with the conclave of rome , and carried on the popes design , professing all obedience to the king ; but keeping their poysonous treason against him in their brests , ready to spit in the kings and his posterities face , when they had fit opportunity ; for they had learned their lesson within book , that it is lawful to spoil an heretique king of his goods , melius tamen est quod authoritate judicis fiat ; but 't is better to do it by a court of justice , this is not a new opinion of the popes , nor of the jesuites though newly acted . and this is another opinion of theirs , that uxor catholica viro haeretico bene volentiam reddere non tenetur , that a papists wife may refuse to submit to her husband , she may plot and conspire his death by the popes law , and this is another cardinals opinion , ( whose books are licensed ) pater qui filium habet haereticum , exh●reditare talem filium tenetur , that the father may disinherit his son being a protestant , & simancha episcopus saith ▪ propter tonne haeresin patris filii non sunt sui juris , by reason of the fathers heresie the same freed from his allegiance nay they hold that subjects may lawfully refuse to obey protestant princes , saith beliarmine ; non licet christianis tolerare regem haereticum , that christian subjects ought not to tolerate a protestant king to live ; for in the papists sense they are the hereticks . with these poisonous opinions , did many subtil jesuites and priests lie about the court , get into vniversities and other places in the kingdom , under the name of protestants many of them . these with the popes nuncio , having won the arch-bishop of canterbury to their party , as states-men conceived , drove on a subtil design to overthrow the government of the kingdom by a parl : and so to pull down the protestant magistracy , and all their wholsome laws , and by insinuating altars , crucifixes , images , and image-worship , with several other popish ceremonies , and imposing them on the ministery of england , thereby they intended at once to root out the protestant ministery , and protestant religion . this took effect according to the popes desires so fully , and raised the hopes of the popish party so high , that they resolved ( like haman ) to destroy the church in every of the kings dominions . scotland they intended to new-mould to the popes model , which nation , though poor and weak intemporals , proved to the world , that they were rich and strong in spirituals ; for they discovered the popes designes , and the english jesuites , & the plots of the spanish faction ; insomuch , that the protestant nobility of england , petitioned the king for a ●arl : which was granted , and the etcaetera oath , a popish new engagement , on purpose devised to supplant the protestant ministery , was utterly broken . the parl : was by the gracious consent of the king established to sit until by their own act they dissolved themselves . this as it was great joy to the protestants : so it was exceeding terror to the papists and popish faction , many of which fled beyond the seas to rome , and other places . several others like subtil foxes got on sheeps-cloathing , and walked amongst the separatists , who during the prelates tyranny , were counted the most religious and zealous protestants , with these did they joyn and quickly learned their language , fitting them in all things to a hair , crying out against . antichrist the pope of rome , & common prayer , or antichrists bible , and bishops as antichrists brats : this pleased the separatists , and no whit displeased the most of protestants , who too far lost their discretion through the violence of their blind passions , who thought to much could not be said against episcopal government , it had been so exceeding tyrannical : hereby the subtil jesuites under the name of zealous protestants , pluckt the protestant ministery , and the protestant religion , and the protestant magistracy , as much into danger on the other hand , as it had been before by the popish prelatick party ; for upon a true bottom did the romish sophists build a false argument thus . the pope is antichrist ( that 's true ) the pope made bishops ( say they ) and the bishops made ministers : therefore the ministers now were set down for antichristian ministers : here the devils cloven foot appeared , and mark what progress and advantage they made of this : the next consequence was : if ministers be antichristian , then the ordinances they administer are antich . baptisme is antich . singing psalms , observing the lords day , meeting in churches , all this was antichristian : so that the pope set up two designes for the miscarriage of that of scotland ; for what with the parl : just and strict proceedings against the popish party about the court , and what with their prevalency at court with the queen and the king ; designes by the court factions were on foot , to bring the northern army against the parl : to over-awe them ; as appears in the preamble of their protestation , made may . . thus , whereas the designes of priests , jesuites , and other adherents to the see of rome , have of late been more frequently and boldly put in practice then formerly , to the undermining and danger of the ruine of the true reformed protestant religion , and the subversion of the fundamental laws of england and ireland , by wicked plots and conspiracies , and breach of parliaments ; whereby the kings maj. person is indangered , and an army intended to be brought up against the parl : to force them to condescend to the lusts of a popish party : hereupon the first protestation was framed , and sent throughout the kingdom , no body refusing to subscribe it except jesuitish separatists . j. a. b. do in the presence of almighty god , promise , vow and protest , to maintain and defend as far as lawfully i may , &c. soon after this , the breach between the king and the parl. fell out , the king giving too much ear to evil councel , and that popish faction which was the ground of all the former persecution and the civil war : the king raised an army to defend himself and the protestant religion , the parl : did the like upon the same grounds , which at that time was doubtless real ; their end propounded was to defend religion , law , the kings maj. person , the parl. priviledges , and the peoples liberties . the parl : cause seemed the best in most protestants eyes at that time , in regard the courts designs were long before discovered to the parl : the queens departure with the crown-jewels into holland , and the numerous flocks of papists going to the king , with all the corrupt part and guilty persons of the kingdom , which made haste to the king after his departure , made the protestants afraid what would become of religion , parliament , and the kings person , should that party about him have prevailed : however they professed the protestant religion , though many of them convicted papists . hereupon the lords and commons made a second vow and covenant with this preamble , whereas the lords and commons now assembled in parl : have declared that there hath been and now is a popish and traiterus plot , for the subversion of the true protestant reformed religion , and the liberty of the subject &c. and after all this still perceiving the popish party to increase , grow great , victorious , bloudy and blasphemous ; the lords and commons professing to the world , that they had nothing before their eyes but the glory of god , the advancement of christs kingdom , and the happiness of the king and his posterity , with the true publique liberty , safety , and peace of the kingdom against the plots of the enemies , they entred into the solemn league and covenant , containing . articles , which every parl. man publickly and solemnly at the chappel of st , margaret westminster , ( with his hand lifted up to heaven , in the sight of the scots commissioners , and the whole congregation ) did subscribe . . that we will sincerely , really , and constantly through the grace of god , indeavour in our several places and callings the preservation of the reformed religion of the church of scotland , in doctrine , worship , discipline and government , against our common enemies ; the reformation of religion in the kingdoms of england and ireland in doctrine , &c. . that we will in like manner without respect of persons , endeavour the extirpation of popery , prelacy , superstition , heresie , schisme , prophaneness , &c. . with the same reality , sincerity and constancy in our several places and callings , indeavour with our estates and lives , mutually to preserve the rights and priviledges of parl : and the liberties of the kingdoms ; and to preserve and defend the kings majesties person and authority , in the preservation and defence of the true religion and liberties of the kingdom ; that the world may bear witness with our consciences of our loyalty , and that we have no thoughts or intentions , to diminish his majesties just power and greatness . . we shall also with all faithfulness endeavour the discovery of all such as have been or shall be incendiaries or malignants , &c. . and whereas the happiness of a blessed peace between the kingdoms , formerly denyedt our progenitors , &c. . we shall also according to our places , &c. this solemn league and covenant being entred into by both nations of england and scotland , made the deepest and strongest politicians of the roman faction to tremble , yea ( as mr. hinderson , the reverend and learned minister of scotland , then commissioner , well foretold ) the news of this covenant , ( which was soon carried to rome , with the names of all the subscribers ) made the pope and his conclave of cardinals amazed and tremble ; insomuch , that they doubled their diligence to work the destruction of the covenanteers at this time . the duke of lorane was solicited by sir kelem digbies meanes , who was then the queens agent for the english affairs at rome , to help the king of england with an army against the covenanters in england . sir kelenem digby was the popes right hand to promote and further all designs against the covenanters party in england . at the same time a nuncio was forthwith sent from the popes court into ireland , there to make a cessation with the protestants , and to further by all means possible the king of england against the covenanters , which was concluded with the popes good liking , as hath been confessed . the old and sage statesmen in parl : perceiving the designes of the pope to drive furiously on towards the destruction of the parl : and covenanters , called in the scots to their aid against the popes designes . the english a●my and scots army admitting no officers or souldiers in their armies , but such as took the covenant : the covenanters ( through gods providence ) beyond all expectation prospered in the field against their enemies ; and the parl : and assembly of divines prospered at westminster , and went on successively , both of them being unanimous in the pulling down of popery and tyranny , and establishing and maintaining the liberties of the kingdom , and laws of the realm , and true religion in doctrine , discipline and government ; for this purpose the assembly of divines first went over the articles of faith , drew them up after most deliberate , serious , and learned debates upon each of them , and humbly presented them to the parl : under . heads . . of the scripture , . of gods covenant , and the holy trinity , . of gods decrees , . of creation , . of providence , . of mans fall and sin , . of gods covenant with man , . of christ the mediator , . of free will , . of effectual calling , . of justification , . adoption , . sanctific●tion , . saving faith , . repentance , . good works , . of perseverance , . of assurance of grace , . of the law of god , . christian liberty & liberty of conscience , . of religious worship and the lords day , . of lawful oaths , . of the civil magistrate , . of marriage and divorce , . of the church , . of communion of saints , . of the sacraments , . of baptisme , . of the lords supper , . of church-censures , . of synods and councels , . of the resurrection , . of the last judgement . then they regularly proceeded to settle church-government , first proving presbytery to be the government which is most like to the primitive government , and coming nearest of all other governments to gods word ; next they drew up a directory for church-government , with an orthodox , learned , and pious catechisme ; and thus the covenanters magistracy and ministry went on and prospered until they threw down their open enemies in the field , and were in great hopes of setling the protestant religion in purity , and extirpating popery out of the . kingdoms : at this time the popes politicians were got into the parl : army , under the name of independents , from which the king fled to the scots . the king being fallen into the covenanters hands , viz. the scottish army , the parl : made speedy and seasonable applications to him at newcastle , offering to him articles of agreement , which news was forthwith carried to rome ; whereupon the pope and the conclave of rome were inforced to look about , and change their designes , projecting new wayes by contrary proceedings to effect one and the same end ; for whereas they had given order to the catholiques in ireland before to yield all assistance to the king against the parl seeing now the king was under the parl : power , least he and his parl : should agree , and so england and ireland be lost , the pope played aforehand game , sending his army into ireland , commanding at this time all the cathol quests renounce their allegiance to the king of england , and from that day forward the pope , and all the romish politicians projected how to destroy both king and parl : and destroy the reformation by the covenanters , so far carried on both in england and scotland . the task was hard at first view ; to destroy a religious parliament , a victorious army , and an able , pious , and zealous clergy , was no small piece of work . the romish politicions therefore were inforced to fly to their last refuge of hypocrisie and lies , and like euphrates frog , to change both shape and colour , using the violent motion of frogs from one extream to another , from the extream of tyranny , to the extream of anarchy ; from the extream of holy orders to the extream of no ordination . in plain tearms the pope and his counsel perceiving there was no probable way to get a toleration for catholicks in the kingdom of england , if the king , lords and commons agreed ; consulted how to throw down king , lord and commons , and assembly of divines , together with the protestant ministery . that the chief engines to effect this might be placed here in england , and have sure footing free from the power of the magistrates corrective and coercive power ; independency was set up which five valiant champions of the popes had defended in the assembly as long as they could ; and being there able to stand against truth no longer , like serpents hissed for all the viperous brood of sectarious blasphemers , or any sect to creep into their bellies . hereby independencie that bottomlesse pit , and independent congregations , ( the very plot designed to destroy religion in the nethetlands by the pope , first enacted there by hugh peters the popes hyerling ) became as so many nurceries of jesuite : and popish priests , and so many dens of theeves ; where they framed all their picklocks opinions and devilish destructive instruments to ruin the magistracy and the ministery . for the propagating and facilitating of this design , the chief of the romish politicians in europe were sent to england , where they all went under the name of dissenting brethren , independents , tender consciens-men , and great enemies to antichrist , crying , down with antichrist , calling the pope anti-christ ; not that they thought so but that they might hereby carry an their design of throwing down the protestant ministery undiscovered for this to this day is their great and chief argument the pope is anti-christ ( that 's true antichrist making bishops , bishops are antichristian , ( that in some sortis true also ) antichristian bishops making and ordaining ministers , ministers of england , are antichristians . ergo down with the ministery of england , down with these black-coats , down with baals priests , down with them , there is the design , and there is the end of all . they onely use the argument to put in practice the conclusion ; they that presse the argument , and first framed it , were far from thinking the pope to be antichrist , or prelatical bishop , eithe ; onely it was framed to destroy the covenanteeres ministery , who abhor the pope , and long since renounced him and his adherents . if it be well observed , indepency was but the wooden horse with a thousand heresies in his belly , brought into the kingdom of england by the romish politicians , and let forth as so many furies to sly in the face of the reformed religion . for he that views the heresies of late sprung up amongst us , cannot but see that against every one of the assemblies , . articles they raised contrary heresies ; and could the silly english sectarians of their own heads without the help of jesuits and romish casuists do all this ? 't is folly to think it . the late heretical arguments are taken out of cas●sts ; how subtilly did they devise liberty of conscience meerly to get free from the magistrate , and how vehemently did they preach peace , for love , and meeknesse , and admonishing on , e another in love , and being tender of giving offence to tender cousciences ; whereas we plainly see they had war and murther and malice in their hearts , onely thereby they iull'd asleep secure and bleer-eyed protestants who suffered these cheates to pick their pockets , while they heard them cry gentlemen look to your purses ; they cried out beware of antichrist , who brough him in , & be good to tender consciences while they carried under their sheeps cloathing the wolves teeth to wound tender consciences withall . to tell how these subtilly crept into the army , who nourished and upheld them there would be too tedious . our end i● , to shew that the setting up of indepency was the popes design to throw down the covenanting party in england , and those that opposed the popish religion . out of this bottomlesse pit came all that party which first taught rebellion against the higher powers , from the dens of independensie arose that party that lest off the covenant , professed open hatred to it and them that took it with an intent to keep it . that party that raised those heresies against the true religion , having now got power put them in practice against true religion they that held the opinion of being free from magistracie under the gospel , now made themselves free . they that held magistrates tyran's , ●ow having got power used them as tyrants ; these guifted brethren wete now high in the army . the chief men that were aimed , at were those that stood most stoutly to their covena●t the chief protestants both in the house of lords , the house of common , and in the c●●● of london , were the men shot at , impeached , imprisoned , persecuted , banished , and some ( 't is to be feared ) poisoned . this party laid hold of the king , imprisoned him , and when the two houses of lords and commons sate freely , and voted a treaty with the king , and when the king had agreed to extirpate popery , and establish the protestant religion in his three kingdoms , and to fettle church-government according to the primitive constitution ; and when upon a free and serious debate the lords and commons voted the concessions of the king to be a ground for them to proceed upon to settle the peace of the kingdom , then , even then , this party against the votes of the supream authority of this nation , and against their allegiance violently rushed in upon the houses pulled out and restrained one hundred and fifty , imprisoned the chief protestants , and ablest states-men who were most violent against the papists . and left only a party remaining in the lower house , such as themselves best liked of ; this party seized on the king , caused him to be publiquely arraigned , and at his own door at noon in the view of all the people cut off his head , who was then the only protestant king in the world , and only because he resolved to root out popery , and establish true religion according to the covenant . since which time the same party having rid their hands of the protestant magistracy , have oft printed books against the calling of the english ministry , which books have been printed by authority , licensed , and frequently taught and scattered amongst the people . and they have again and again petitioned that power which they set up , if not to pull down ministry , states preachers ( as they call them ) to take away their estates , their tythes and livings , by which they and their families subsist ; and how far they have proceeded in england and wales to ruine the covenanters ministry , all the world may see . but the chief politicians amongst them conceiving that design to be too short to reach all the protestant ministry , as the heads of colledges , and such men , and being well assured by taking away tythes they shall prejudice their own party equal with others , have pitched upon a more politick design for the extirpation of the covenanters , which is by framing a contrary oath to the covenant , and imposing it upon the ministry ; hereby their own party escape the snare , and only the godly , faithful , loyal and orthodox ministers are taken ; they have taken their tythes from them , silenced some , thrust out of their livings many , banished others , imprisoned o●hers , outlawed all the covenanters ; and lastly , have resolved to turn them this winter out of all cities , towns and corporations . thus far have they proceeded by this popish engine to destroy the protestants . this new oath ( so far as we can perceive ) is a meer design to destroy the parliament , to destroy the army , to destroy the ministery and the kingdome . . mr. lilburn seemeth rationally to prove that this new oath or ingagement cannot be intended to uphold the present power that inforceth the taking of it , but to maintain the liberties of the common-wealth , whose just liberties and ancient customes they confound , and therefore by that ingagement men ( say that party justly ) are bound not to establish but to pull down any usurped power over the people . , if mr lilburn who is a man very popular in the kingdome , having alwayes been a publick sufferer , should ( as he conceives himself bound by that engagement ) gather of gentlemen souldiers and other commoners and free-born people of england , a considerable party to remove those out of the way , whom he and his party conceive are tyrannical , and opposers of the people , and in their stead erect another party , who are the true chosen representatives of the people ; whether he may not justly tax all the engagers that resist him , as covenant-breakers , and proceed against them accordingly ; and so consequently whether this doth not open a gap , and a wide one , to set up whom the people shall choose above the present house sitting and engagement ; to be assistants in such parliament confounding acts , as 't is declared : . as it is destructive to the parliament , so likewise to the army ; for saith one part of the army , the present government is by representatives of the peoples choosing . saith another part , the present government is by that party in the house of commons , who invited us to the city to pull down the king , lords , and the greatest part of the commons , and by our power enabled to make acts , and enforce the kingdom to obey them . saith another part of the army , the present government is the councel of state , and the councel of war , for that party in the house were not of our setting up , only we suffured them to sit there , and the councel of war commanded them to act what they did ; therefore the councel of war , with the councel of state , erected by us ; are the present government . whether all these several parties ( especially if there should be clashing betwixt them ) may not by this engagement conceive themselves in conscience bound to maintain their several parties as the present government without king or lords ? and thus 't is likely to prove destructive to the army . . 't is absolutely destructive to the protestant ministry , and the sound protestants of the kingdom ; for it makes them in the sight of all the people in the world guilty of the horrible and jesuitical designs and practises of the cutting off of the king , the throwing down of the house of lords , and excluding of the covenant keeping protestants ; for by subscribing that engagement , they testifie to god and the world , that they approve of all that they have done , ( as they say . ) . they make themselves guilty of horrible perjury ; for they did swear allegiance to the king , his heirs and successors , to defend them against all attemps and conspiracies whatsoever ; now this is directly to conspire the extirpation of the kings posterity . . the protestation is against it . . their covenant directly opposeth the engagement ; for therein they engaged to maintain the king , lords and commons ; and in this engagement they engage to they know not what , without king and lords : so that if they engage , they in their consciences pull the guilt of murther , treason , and other foul facts upon their head● , and forswear themselves ; or if they do not engage , they are it seems to be stripe of their estates , protection of the law , and lies at the mercy of every villain . so that 't is absolutely destructive to the ministry , and the like may be said of the protestants of the kingdom . oaths ( say the caseists , and all other divines ) ought to be plain and clear , without equivocal terms or doubtful expression ; for every oath or engagement is given and taken , to oblige the party that takes it to the performance of what he swore unto . now every wise man in taking an oath proposeth first these two things . . who imposeth it . . what it is that is imposed . for that 's certain , an unlawful or usurped power cannot impose an oath ; it is lawful authority must impose it , otherwise the oath ( though good ) may justly be refused , as the gun-powder traytors , had their design taken effect , they had got into the throne , and imposed an oath ( though lawful in it self ) upon the barons , knights , citizens , gentry , and commons of england , yet it would doubtless and ought to be rejected by them , because the authority was imposed which usurped it . this must needs be so , for otherwise a master , if over-powered by his servants , is bound to take and submit to such an oath as his servant shall impose , which would soon set beggers on horse-back , and make all men of honor and wealth perpetual slaves ; but greater confusion then this there can not be in hell , for 't is confusion bottomless and unfadomable . . what it is that is imposed ? that must be inquired into , for no man of conscience or honour , or the least degree of wit , but will inquire what it is that he takes before he take it , he will not take it first and enquire afterwards what it means , that 's forbidden by solomon . now that men may understand what they ingage or swear unto , the words ought to be simple , cleer , and plain , that men may understand them ; for juramentum obligat lecundum intentionem jurantis sine d●●● alias secundum secundarium intellectum ejus cui juratur , saith aquinas . now if there be amphibolas , equivocal terms and obscurities in an oath , how can it possibly be but there must be errors either in him that gives it , or he that takes it , or both . as for this engagement indeed it is politiquely gilded like a poysoned pill , with as much subtilty and craft to induce people to take it as may be , for they call it an engagement , not an oath , for then they supposed people would scruple it , but it is only subscribing to two or three words , and there 's an end ; this is no great matter with atheists , apostates , schismaticks , lovers of the world , and haters of god and goodness ; but they that are wise , sober-minded , and conscientious ▪ as they two well know what authority imposeth it , so they cannot possibly see what is inintended in it , nor what to make of it . he that seriously views it , will positively conclude , there was never such a little big-belly'd viporous monster seen in the world before , to have so many engines within so small a compass , to teer in pieces all parties that engage in it . we 'l spread it to the eye of the world . i. a. b. do promise and declare that i will be true and faithful to the commonwealth of england as it is now established , without a king and house of lords . within this little circumference of words there are no less then two and twenty doubts to be resolved , and necessary queries to be answered , before this . engagement can be taken by any man of honour or conscience , viz. quere . what is the meaning of the word [ common-wealth ? ] whether is it meant in the primary proper sence , for the body of the nation , or for the common good of that body ? or whether in the secundary borrowed sence , for the body of the representative ? . whether ( if it be meant in the latter sence ) by common-wealth be meant a parliament , or a house of commons , chosen as formerly ? or by any other way , and how ? or whether the thing be changed with the name ? . whether it be only an exclusive engagement , as being against king and lords , without including any government in their stead to which we engage ? . is the meaning , that we shall be true and faithful to the common-wealth whiles king and lords are excluded ? or that we shall endeavor also to continue their exclusion ? and so whether he that endeavoreth their restoring , or he that hinders it not , do break the engagement , though he be faithful to the commonwealth while they are absent ? . if the present government should be overthrown , and king and lords set vp , whether doth he break this engagement who shall be faithful to them , or that shall swear or engage for them against the present government ? . if by commonwealth be meant the present government ( as the words [ now established ] would make us think it is ) then what is it that is established ? whether an intire house of commons , or not intire ? whether only the present house , or all future , or any future ? whether this house to be perpetuated ? or if not , whether to continue till they voluntarily dissolve , which we know not whether it will be perpetuated or not , and consequently , whether we engage to any succeeding parliament or not ? or if they dissolve , whether the next must be annual or triennial , or of duration of their own pleasure as this ? or whether chosen as formerly ? or how ? . whether the meaning of the word ( as ) be to engage us to endeavor that all future parliaments shall be established in the same course , and by the same means as this hath been ? . whether the word ( now ) have reference to the first calling of this house of commons , or to any alteration since made ? and if so , by whom ? and when ? and by what authority was that change made ? . what 's meant by ( true and faithful , ) whether only to do them no wrong , or not to be perfidious ? or else to obey them ? or further to engage and hazard our estates and lives on their behalf , or how far ? . and so if king and lords should raise an army to recover their authority , whether he that refuseth to fight against them do break his engagement ? . seeing the people are judged the supream power ( as it is acknowledged by the present house ) do they hereby engage to their representers , or to the present authority , as their supreriors or rulers ? and so give away their supremacy ? or is it so natural to them , that they cannot give it away ? ( which else would have been done heretofore ; ) or do they engage to them only as their trustees or servants ? viz. that they will defend them in the work that they set them about ? . whether if an army , or any powerful company , should seize on the present house of comons , or the greater part , & should imprison , exclude , or hang them up at tybarn , are the people bound by this engagement to rise for their defence , and make war against these invaders ? . if this parliament or any hereafter should endeavor to perpetuate themselves , and so prevent our having any more free elections , whether do we hereby engage to be true to them ; or if we endeavor to dissolve them , do we break this engagement ? . doth this engagement take away the power of the next parliament ? and if they when they meet and sit restore king and lords , which now are thrown down , do they break this engagement ? . if this next parliament shall so re-establish king and lords , and will not rule without them , must we resist all , and be without any government ? or must we endeavor to choose a new parliament ? and if they do the like , what must we do ? . if the present house shall again change their judgments , and set up king and lords , or require us to swear to them , must we obey or resist them ? . if this army by observing that there is no government but monarchy , or one insupremacy in all the bible mentioned , or by reading that ( for the sins of people many are thy rulers , ) or by the experience of new divisions and parties in parliament , breeding distempers in government , or by being won over by the prevalency or flattery of some one single person , whose deserts and worth they conceive is such , as they resolve to make him sole governor , and so set up monarchy again , whether we are bound by this engagement to resist them ? . do we engage to the present power absolutely or conditionally ? if this or any other representative shall tyrannize and invade the peoples estates , or take away propriety ( which are things that cannot be authoritative acts , because the people having no such power themselves , cannot give it to others , seeing there is no power but what 's derived from gods , who hath given none to do evil , ) are we in this case bound to continue our faithfulness ? . if the people shall find that this present house , or any other hereafter , hath forfeited their trust , or been guilty of the fore mentioned crimes , may they not recall that their trust , and exclude them from government ? . or if any of us be members of the army , and the said army shall hereafter judg that this house hath been so guilty , and shall exclude some , and banish others , and behead others ( for so the powers as now established stand ) and so we understand [ as now established , ] do we break the engagement if we joyn with the army in so doing , or should we resist them ? . if this minor part of this present house , or any succeeding , shall judg that the whole is in danger by a corrupt majority , and ( having strength thereunto ) shall exclude them , do they break the engagement or we , if we further them in it ? . if one part of the people or army shall judg that this or any future representative hath been this trust , and the other part judg otherwise , which must we adhere to according to this engagement ? when the authors of this engagement shall clearly and fully resolve these doubts , and give national and satisfactory answer to these queries , they will in great measure satisfie the kingdom , at leastwise the more rational part of them , and much more dispose them to engage for the good of the kingdom ; until then , we could heartily wish that mr dury , and such vain bablers ( who most grosly abuse and misapply scripture , and other moral rules ) might be refrained from vometing up in the publique view such indigested crudities , to the scandal of the english nation , and reproach of the protestants throughout the world . we do profess , when the lawfulness of the authority that imposeth it shall be made out clear to us , and our doubts fully resolved , with the manifesting of the iustice , goodness and necessity of this engagement , we speak it seriously and unfeignedly , there shall none more willingly nor readily then our selves subscribe it , until then , we cannot but think the pressing of the engagement , and the punishing the non-subscribers with with such intollerable punishments , as the exposing their estates and persons to open violence , such on enslaving , irrational and destructive act against the protestants of england , as since the planting of the gospel in this kingdom until this day , the like destructive act can scarce be found , it enslaves the souls as well as the bodies of men ; for what greater snare can there be to the conscience , then to be inforced to engage to they know not whom ? . to they know not what ? all the light that is in it is , that it plainly tells a man that subscribes it , that he swears point blank against his oath of allegiance , his protestation and his covenant , all which engage him to maintain king and lords ▪ this engageth him against king and lords in the bare words . object . it is said by the most learned of the engagers , that the taking of this engagement is no breach of the covenant , because the covenant obligeth no longer then there is a possibility of keeping it ; but king and lords being taken away , there is no possibility of maintaining that that is not . sol. but we humbly conceive ( under favor ) that this argument is no way satisfactory ; for though it be granted , that 't is impossible for a covenanter to maintain king and lords when they are thrown down , yet 't is not impossible for him in his calling and place to maintain kingly government ; as it is impossible for the son to yield actual obedience to the father whom theeves and robbers have murthered , yet 't is possible for that son to express his fillial affection that he bore to his father , and his real intentions of preserving his father , by exclaiming against the malefactors , and using all lawful means to bring such men to condign punishment , and utterly shunning all compliance with them . put the case a company of hired servants in a family should conspire to kill the master of the family , or imprison him , and seize on the wealth and estate of their master , divide it amongst them , proclaim themselves lords and masters of the family , command the children to yield obedience to them ; though the children are not able to resist them , nor yield that obedidence for the present which is due to their father , nor the wife express that conjugal love , by reason of the violent restrant and separation ; yet it is possible for the wife to abhor the company , and disclaim the authority of those servants , not to own them for her lord , nor submit unto them , nor be confederate with them , though she cannot for the present enjoy her husband ; and so for the children , though they cannot possibly love as their father , yet they may disclaim the power that abused their father , pray for his restoring , and abhor compliance with that party , that so presumptuously and wickedly threw down their father ; this they may do , and are bound to do by the law of nature , as children to a father ; and to do the contrary , as to be confederate with those that destroyed their father , were unnatural wickedness , and a meer conspiracy , notwithstanding their father were not then in being . rex pater patriae . we affirm , that the kings title is now on foot , and the lords in being , therefore there is a possibility of keeping the covenant now . can any created ( much less usurped ) power free us from our oath , which we made to maintain king , lords and commons , religion , liberty ; and the peace and union of the kingdom ? and never to be drawn directly or indirectly by any combination , perswasion or terror to be divided from this blessed union and conjunction , whether to make defection to the conteary part , or give our selves to a detestable nutrarity or indiffterency , but all the days of our lives zealously and constantly continue therein against all opposition . this clause of the covenant seems to be made purposely against the powers now in command ; and do they imagine that men of conscience or honour will so foully blur their profession and reputation , and endanger their souls , by a contrary subscription ? ashcam tells us , that usurped powers are so , notwithstanding theyout and succeed another generation . we would fain know , whether subscribing this engagement be not an acknowledging of the present power sitting to be the supream authority of the nation ? and consequently in so doing whether we do not approve of their cutting off the king , throwing down the house of lords , and casting out all the covenant-keeping commons , with the rest of the covenant keeping officers in the kingdom , hereby contracting the guilt of blood , treason , and other foul enormities to our selves , by being partaker in other mens sins , which david , psal. . bids us neither to sit with , nor stand with , nor walk with , not to have the least communion with ? object . but is objected by the ablest of them from rom. . , . that that the powers that be are to be obeyed , let them be what they will be , if they are in being they are to be obeyed , because they are the ordinance of god . ans. the apostle layeth this command upon subjects , not to rebel against the visible supream authority , this the engagers hold to be the sence of the apostle if so , then hence we draw this argument , whatsoever subiects shal rebel against a visible supream authority , they resist the ordinance of god . but an army and other subiects in contradicting the votes of the two houses , cutting off the king and pulling down the house of lords rebel against the supream authoritie , ergo . here is an argument ad hominem , so that the apostle seems to tell us that usurping powers are not the ordinance of god , but the resisters of the ordinance of god ; and therefore by their own arguments the present power is rather to be dealt with as resisters of the visible supream authority then obeyed or acknowledged for supream . as for that of christs acknowledging caesar , 't is well known the case is far different from ours , for the roman emperors had conquered iudea many years before , and the whole nation became tributary to the romans , the supream authority of the iews acknowledged caesar to be their king , we have no king but caesar , and they had for a certain tribute compounded with caesar , which tribute money christ forbids them not , but commands them to pay ▪ if the iews will covenant with caesar christ bids them not break covenant with caesar , and this is all , and how far is this from our case ? iesus christ is a great enemy to usurpation and so much abhors that christians should subject unto it , especially under the gospel , that he cals it devil worship , revel , . . subjecting to a tyrannicall government is called the worshiping of the devil ; verse , . the beast arising out of the sea , ( i. e. ) the ecclesiastical state ; meaning the pope , the great independant or the world ; ( verse . ) to whom the devil , the dragon , gave his seat and power , and great authority , the dragons seat ( before constantine ) was the emperial throne seated at rome , this the devil gave the pope ; and why is it said the devil gave him his power and seat , but because he got it in the devils way ? by lying , covenant-breaking , rebellion against their leige masters the emperors , and his murthering and dethroning of them , and usurping their authority . this usurped power of the pope , verse , the world wondered after , that is , yeelded subjection unto , acknowledged his soveraignty ; and verse . and they worshiped the dragon ; how so ? the next words tell you , he gave power to the beast ; the romans did not , and the roman catholiques did never absolutely professe themselves worshipers of the devil , but in as much as they worshiped an usurped power , a power gotten by treachery , rebellion , murther , and deceit , they worshiped the devil . this text holds out two clear truths . . that there are powers which are not of gods setting up , out of the devils setting up . . to subject to such usurped power , is subjection to the devil , and as odious in the sight of christ as worshiping of the devil . object . kings were ordained in wrath , and god was angry with israel for desiring a king ; ergo , kings are not the government approved by god . sol. to this we answer in a word to the engagers , who upon this ground reject the government of kings . . god did not give the office of a king , but the person of a king in wrath ▪ for when god took away the person , he continued the office . . he promised to abraham that kings should come of him . . he that denyes the office of a king , denyes christ who is a king , and denyes the established government ( in the form of it ) by god in the church since adam . . god was not angry with them simply for seeking a king , but , . for their manner of seeking a king ; they would seek one in the pride of their heart , onely to be like other nations : sam. . . their hearts were hankering after not only to be like other nations government , but their religion . ● . for that they sought a king inordinately , they could not be content with a government that was over them , but had an itching discontented humor against the present visible government . they made a remonstrance that their judges were unjust , therfore they would be no longer subject to them : v. . this god is angry at . for subjects to reject , or indeavour to change the government of a kingdom , or to overthrow the visible lawfull authority upon dislike of the government , is a god-provoking sin , let the ingagers look to it . the supreme powers are onely disposed of by god . doubtlesse they might have prayed to god in his due time to fulfill his promise , gen. . of giving them a king , for israel never came to the high noon of reformation and glory till kings were set over , and that was in solomon , at which time the church and state of the jews flourished beyond all things before or since : so that in praying for a king in order to the glory of god , the accomplishment of his promises , and the good of his church , it had been no sin : but for the people of their own heads mutinously , and in opposition to a visible authority , to desire a king , this was a great sin . ob. if gods providence order such things , we must submit to providence , and revealed decrees of god , lest we be found fighters against god . sol. to this we answer : there are the decrees of god , and the commands of god , we speak of them now as contra-distinct things quo ad nos . the precepts or revealed commands of god in his word , are the unquestionable rules of christians at all times , whereby to regulate all their actions , against which no providence nor necessity can prevail : so as to dispense with those laws or precepts , we mean morall precepts , such as are naturally moral , not morall barely by institution , for such a morall differs nothing from ceremoniall , except in duration ; such morall precepts , in extremâ necessitate , may be dispensed withall , as to help an ox out of a pit on the sabbath day , which is a labour , and toil , and simply a breach of the sabbath , yet in regard of the necessity it gives a dispensation , or rather the law dispenseth with it . but as for morall commands which are such by nature , they are indispensible rules , except in the case of an immediate call to the contrary by revelation from god . as abraham was call'd to kill his son isaac , which was against a naturall precept , yet having an immediate call from god , had not god stayed his hand , he might have lawfully done it : because he that commanded abraham so to do was the lord , and maker of the law , which he can dispense with . but this case cannot be ours under the gospel , because god hath given us his revealed will in writing , since which immediate revelations have ceased in the gospel churches , there being no need of them at all . now as for the providentiall acts of god , or his revealed decrees , these are no rules for us to walk by , nor follow any otherwise then they concur with the revealed will of god in his precepts . we bring a case shall make good this assertion , and stop the mouthes of all rationall antagonists . in the king. . . to v. . there was that decree revealed to jeroboam by the prophet ahijah , who exactly revealed gods intentions to give to him ten of the twelve tribes , and the house of david but two , judah and sickly benjamin , scarce worth the mentioning as a tribe it was so small . god reveals the reason to him why he did it , viz : for idolatry , and forsaking the true god . this , v. . donation of gods to jereboam is repeated again to him , that god would choose him , and give him a vast power over the people , to do , and reign as his heart could desire . here if ever a man might have pleaded providence , and have urged the revealed decree of god for attempting treason against solomon , certainly ( if in any case or person ) it had not been rebellion in him to attempt that which providence had decreed him . nor rebellion in israel to have subjected to him whom god had declared to be their king . but jereboam in following the revealed decree of god ▪ contrary to a moral precept of god , viz : the fifth commandment , which injoyneth subjects and inferiors to submit to their lawfull superiors , for this very cause he is set down in the word of god as a rebell against solomon : king. . . there he is put in the rear of the worst of the enemies of the crown , and royall family of israel , and stigmatized with this infamous mark of a rebell : for , v : . jereboam the son of nebat an ephrathite of zereda , sauls servant — even he lift up his hand against the king : and the cause of this his rebellion is set forth in the rest of the following chapter , because god had revealed his decree concerning the punishing of the royall family for their sin in giving him ten of the tribes . this revealed will of god was so far from justifying his acting against a morall precept , that his actions are set forth hanging as it were on hamans gallows , expressed in the terms of the highest treason , twice together , he lift up his hand against the king , he lift up his hand against the king . nor are the ten tribes lesse excusable who subjected to jereboam : for though they might have pleaded self preservation , and if they had not revolted they had all been undone , and the providence of god who would have it so , who had decreed it so , and revealed those decrees to them by a prophet , these might not be resisted , yet these ten tribes notwithstanding for their rejecting of the visible and lawfull authority , and supremacie of the kingdome , are twice branded in holy chronicles for rebels . king. . . israel rebelled against the house of david . and chron. . . israel rebelled against the house of david . so that it is manifest , that following of providence is so far from being a christians duty , that many times it is a desperate sin : and therefore it was that holy david when he might have cut off sauls head , and when providence had cast him into his hands , he durst not walk by acts of providence , but by divine precepts , which commanded him to do no murther . he might have pleaded self-preservation , and in killing him he had killed a publick enemie , and a murtherer . but david had a better guide then providence to direct him . witty and true was that expression of a pious and learned divine : if joseph in aegypt had followed providence , he had without doubt committed folly with his mistris , and have said providence put him upon it . we therefore conclude , that acts of providence are no rules for christians to follow , and it is so far from resisting of god , the not being governed by them , that many times it becomes a great sin , as is evident by what hath been declared : and the ten tribes have this sin written in bloody characters upon their back untill this day : for from rebellion they turned to idolatry ; and from that day forward they sank deeper and deeper into misery , untill they lost their religion , laws , liberties , and nation : which judgement remains upon them untill this day ; god having hanged them in gibbets to teach posterities after them to take heed of their sins , viz : of following providence against a precept : ob. but how comes it to passe , that they that make a scruple of subscribing this ingagement , yet make no scruple of paying taxes : is not such a subjection an acknowledgement of their authority ? and do they not condemne themselves in doing one , and not the other ? a. we will not undertake to give the fullest answer hereunto , yet we hope a satisfactory answer we shall be able to give . . we therfore say , that we that do pay taxes do make scruples of paying them , and were we not inslaved should much more expresse our selves . . paying of taxes doth not imply a not scrupling of the authority that demands and exacts them : a man may pay his money to a thief , yet not acknowledge that authority to be just . . taxes that are now imposed are extorted , and not voluntarily payed : and ( as to that ) a power is usurped over mens estates , as if the nation were compleatly conquered now in such a case we conceive our selves meerly passive , and no way active , at least free from any spontaneous act . now this is far from acknowledging the iustness and lawfulness of the supremacie of such a power ; t is one thing to be inforced to a subjection in person and estate ; and quite another thing to acknowledge that power which usurps this authority to be supreme and legall , which the ingagement absolutely inforceth upon the subscribers . but let the world judge from this objection , how cruel and tyrannical that government is , that when the poore protestants shall be content to submit to most grievous taxes for quietnesse sake ; yet this is not sufficient , unlesse they will subject their souls , and insnare them also in unreasonable and cruell bondage . is it not sufficient for the paying of taxes , bearing of free-quarter , and suffering many afflictions to purchase ( that which in no age was ever denyed ) our freedom , but we must be cut-lawed , accounted the off-scouring of the world , and exposed to the cruelty of merciles men without remedie ; must our estates , our livelihoods be taken away , our wives ravished , our children dis-inherited , our goods rifled and must we have no remedy , and all because we will not ●ump with men in their opinion ? let all europe judge between our enemies and us this day , what have we done against them thus to provoke them , who of us have lifted up our hands against them where are these of us that in any taxes are behind ? but we have payed it double , and yet a thousand of our families are ruined by them ; they have taken away our offices , and livelihoods , they have suspended and imprisoned sundry of our orthodox and presbyterian ministers , and now have layed a snare to pluck them out of their benefices , and at last to drive them the kingdome , as men unworthy to be protected . where is that liberty of conscience they so much pleaded for before they got to be supreme , is not that forgot now ? are not mr. edwards his words fulfilled , who fore-warned the kingdom of that party which pleaded for liberty of conscience , saying , if ever they got power they would not grant liberty of conscience to others , who now so much plead for it for themselves . this is our comfort in our distresse , that though on all hands we are hated , and persecuted , and repreached by our enemies , yet for all this we have not dealt falsly in our covenant : and we can say more in our distresse to uphold our hearts then all our enemies , lord thov knowest our integrity . we will onely adde one thing ( which indeed is no addition , but a vehement reiteration , that this new ingagement may be explained according to our queries , or any other way to satisfie the rationall and sober minded part of the kingdom , and if possible the drawer of it up , and first framer of it may be known . this would give wonderfull satisfaction not onely to private men , but parliament men , who know the framer of it , and stop the mouthes of such who say , that sir kelenem digby , and that patty that came with him from rome into england ( about the time of the throwing down of the lords , and cutting off of the king , framed this ingagement against the protestants , and covenanteers party ; as also to ruine the parliament , and army . this by many rationall men is much credited upon this ground : because that the chief head-peeces of rome , were at the cutting off of the king here in england , freely in oying their liberty ; such as sir kelenem digby , with his concealed comrades , besides sir iohn winter , endimion porter esquire , walter montague esquire , sir edw : ford , all professed papists , and the most of them proclaimed traytors , some of them being of the blood of the gunpowder-traytors ; these had all their liberties to flant it in the city of london , and westminster hall , and were courted , and gallantly entertained , whiles above . of the notorious hereticks in the popes black book , we mean stout protestants ( whose names many of them were at the covenant in print ) were inforced to look through the grates of prisons , sir william waller , major generall brown , coll : coply , and others being to this day deteined and not the least cause shown for it , but only because they are protestants many were inforced to make escapes , and flye beyond sea as coll. hollis , col : massy , and severall citizens of london : so that all men that had observed the popes designes , since the covenant was made against him in england , concluded that now the designe of the popes had taken effect , and he had taken full revenge upon the parliament of england for all their injuries done unto him and his party . since which there onely remaineth of the covenant keeping presby●erian ministery , against which many petitions have been made , and put up to the house at westminster , some to take them down , and some to take their means from them . but now the last and grand designe is to put upon them the new ingagement , this hath scattered the assembly of divines in the first place , hath shaken and cast out the heads of houses in both universities , and daily creepeth more and more upon the protestant ministers both in the city and countrey , clipping their estates , and keeping them out of livings , and benefices , whereby very many of the godly ministers with their families are like to starve already , these things make many protestants imagine , that the design is to pluck up all the sound protestants in the kingdom , both of magistrates and ministers , and so by degrees to eradicate the protestant religion , and all to make way for popery , which hath already got stronger footing in the kingdome then the protestant religion : for all the oaths that were against their consciences are taken away , and a new one set up well pleasing to the papists , onely offensive to the protestants : nay all laws against the papists are repealed , and they restored to their ancient liberties in q. maries daies , and worse laws against the protestants , then in her daies . nor is this inconsistent with state policy , for if it be true as it is beleeved , and reported to be true , that the designe is to set up monarchy in another family , they cannot do it without the alteration of religion , for the protestants they are resolved to keep their covenant , and the sectarians they are in no wise to be leaned upon , by reason of their instability , they are like jackdaws that flye from church to church , sometimes here , sometimes there , heterogenious parts in an intire body , are fit to throw down a government : but unfit to erect another . but the jesuite he is both a statesman , and a staid man upon the romish bottome , and that party , viz : the romish party , are all allies in the catholick cause ; so that he that will usurp a monarchy , his onely pollitique way is to joyn with that party who can befriend him in every countrey . for all catholick princes are bound by an oath , as much as in them lies , to promote the catholique cause , and what prince that is a papist dares be assistant to a protestant prince against an usurper , that hath promised the pope to set up the catholique cause , and root out protestants , that prince that should do so , should be sure to be cursed whith bell , book , and candle at rome : nay what king durst refuse ( upon the popes command , ) to be assistant to the usurper , against the true head being a protestant ; we will say no more : what others say , either to tell of sir kenelem digby his being sent to rome , or of quarter-master generall watsons going after him , or of his instructions what to agitate at the popes court , or of the popes designs in ireland against the protestants . but we will desire the author who ever he be , or the power that put it forth , that they will tell us , what is the meaning of his new ingagement , and make it cleer to us that they can lawfully impose it : and when the justnesse thereof in each particular shall be made out , that it is for the glory of god , the advancement of religion , the establishment of lawfull magistracy , and the establishing and reforming of the state , as the tenour of the covenant runs , we do again professe that we will with all joyfulnesse submit , and subscribe thereunto . but if upon cleer and manifest grounds it appear to be destrctive to the parliament , religion , laws , liberty , kingdom , and army , and a meer design to introduce popery , they will be so far from promoting it ( we hope ) that they will speedily remove it out of the way , as a burdensome stone upon christians consciences , and the kingdoms gangreen . we could wish them to take notice of the hand of god against it since is came forth , the same night that the act for the taking the ingagement was printed , the same night a dreadfull blow by powder , which blew up . and odde persons , and slew them all in the twinkle of an eye : lieut : coll : smith , who was sir hardresse wallers l : coll : he that was the busie man in pulling the members of the commons house out of the house , and imprisoning the members , he was blowed up in the midst of his cups , and slain : and since that one of the promoters of the ingagement ( we tremble to mention it ) on jan : . through the terror of conscience , and temptation of the devil , hanged himself . we cannot but take notice of gods displeasure and wrath which breaks out daily amongst us , in fires and murthers since this ingagement came forth . we therefore resolve ( as we hate perjury , rebellion and treason ) not to touch with this ingagement , until upon evident grounds of humane reason , or divinity , it be made clear , that it is for the good of religion , laws , magistracy , and ministery : and this our resolution is so reasonable , and just , that we conceive none but unreasonable men , and the enemies of church and state , parliament , army and people will speak against it , or oppose this our resolution . ob. there is one objection or false glosse which the ingagers make , and that is in the clause of the d. article of the covenant concerning the king , that we covenanted with the parliament to defend the king so far as he defended the protestant religion : but if he act contrary , then to bring him to justice according to the covenant , that injoyns us to bring delinquents to condigne punishment . but , say they , the king was a great delinquent , and an enemy to the protestant religion . a. to this we answer briefly : . the two former articles of the covenant speak wholly of the preservation of the reformed religion , the d. article speaks wholly of the preservation of the king , and parliament , and kingdome , which together with the preservation of religion we covenanted to defend . to defend his majesties person [ in the preservation and defence of the true religion , and liberties of the kingdom ] is not inserted conditionally , as i will defend his person no longer then he shall defend religion , and the laws . if so , then t was taken with the like condition to be subject to the parliament : and then it must necessarily follow , that we the subjects make our selves the kings judges and that man or party may revolt from the king , and indevour to pull him down , because he maintains not his religion ; and therfore we renounce that interpretation of that clause as jesuiticall . we protestants took it in this sence , that we would , together with our religion , preserve our king and parliament absolutely : and if they did act any thing con●rary to religion , or law , we were resolved to yeeld passive obedience , and in no wise to resist the higher powers but grant it ( which we will not ) that it had been meant conditionally , so long as he preserves religion : how comes it , that when the king had fully determined , and yeelded to root out popery , and to establish the protestant religion in the three kingdoms , and to establish church government , and put the militia in the parliaments hands ; and when the parliament voted his concessions a ground to proceed on to settle the kingdom , then he was snatched away , and both king and parliament thrown down . this plea of theirs joyned with their practice , would make any man beleeve the ingagers flat papists . how can they say they sincerely maintain the rights and privileges of parliament , when they contradict their votes , and take the boldnesse to tell them they are all treacherous , and lay violent hands on them , and exclude them from sitting in the house , and imprison them ? and how can they say they defended his majesties person in the maintaining of true religion , when they cut him off , even then , when both the houses of parliament and he had even concluded the treaty , to root out popery , and establish the protestant religion ? what subject , especially hired servants , dare presume to contradict the parliaments votes upon serious debate , shall any one party of subjects surmises out-weigh the grave and serious debates of a parliament ? t is true subjects duty to submit to higher powers , not resist them . but this was a resistance at that very time when all things were concluded in a manner , for setling the kingdome in peace , and true religion . so that they that upon this ground plead for the necessity of cutting off the king , must plead it , because he would no longer defend the popish religion . and therfore from the ingagers own argument of cutting off the king , we cannot subscribe to this ingagement ; lest the world take us for most rank hypocrites , vile apostates , and absolute papists . reader , the times are such that they will not admit such papers to be perused , and corrected to thy hand : therefore be pleased to amend with thy pen these grosse mistakes of the printer . p. . l. . for , and peace and religion , r : pure religion and famous princes to defend both . l. . for , fortescus , r. fortescue . l. . for , disposing , r. dispensing . l. for , ras , r. res l. . for , spoke , r. speaks . l. ult : for , faind , r. found p. . l. . for , matter for , r. matter , so for . l. . for , for , r : so . l : . for , constitution , r : constituting . l. . for , conjunctions , r : conjunctim . l. . for apax , r. apex . l. . for , procession , r : processes , l. . for , divisions , r : divisim . l. . for compunction , r : conjunctim . l. . for , limitations , r. as for limitations , for , power have , r : power they have . l. . blot out , and the kingdom of england by king , lords , and commons , p. . l. . for , time , r : line . l. . fer , divided henry , r. divided . henry , pvt out , and l. . for , laying , t : uniting . l. . . put out , whose antiquity is beyond all kings in the world . l. . for , ● . r : . l. . blot out , alwaies acknowledged and granted by the king . p. . l. . for , then , r. the three , l. . for , vegative , r. negative . l. . for , publike , r. politick , p. . l. . for , lover , r : honour . l. . for , their , r : your . for , give , r : grant . l. . for , . but . r : . n. . but . l. . for , accesse , r : excesse . l. . for , meaner , r : meanest . l. . for , is , r : as . l. . for , implies , r : imploys . l. . for , approves , r : appeals . l. . for , and infinition , r : ad infinitum . p. . l. . for , giudas , r : guildas . l. . for , at , r. of . l. . for , ptesevitians , r : persecutions . l. . for entichion heresies , r : eutichian hereticks . for popus , r : popes , l : . for lucious , r : lucius l. . for , righteous , r. religious . l. . for , helea , r : helena . l. for , up , christian , r. up , the first christian : l. . for , antichrisian , r : antichristian . l. . for , intrapped , r : religious . l. . for , got , r : acted . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- fortes . com. leg. cap. . smith . c. w. p. . fortes . c. . commend . legum . origen ▪ hom. . ezekel . 〈◊〉 ●aus . . 〈◊〉 . ●●oss . 〈◊〉 . l. . rom. 〈◊〉 . ca. ● . to the kings most excellent majesty the humble and dutifull remonstrance and addresse of the apprentices and other young men of the several regiments of your majesties auxiliares in your city of london. committee for the militia of london. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing t a estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) to the kings most excellent majesty the humble and dutifull remonstrance and addresse of the apprentices and other young men of the several regiments of your majesties auxiliares in your city of london. committee for the militia of london. broadside. printed by d. maxwell, london : . reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- england. great britain -- history -- charles ii, - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - celeste ng sampled and proofread - celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the kings most excellent majesty . the humble and dutifull remonstrance and addresse of the apprentices , and other young men of the several regiments of your majesties auxiliares in your city of london . humbly sheweth , that we your majesties most obedient and faithfull subjects and servants , duly observing , not onely the clemency and piety we so sensibly understand your majesty naturally , as well as successively inclinable to ; but also your majesties great zeal and princely care of maintaining that happiness to us , which our forefathers for so many ages rejoiced in , under the ancient fundamental lawes and statutes of this kingdom , together with the good wholesome doctrine and discipline of the church as it stood by law established in our glorious martyrs dayes , by the religious government of the reverend bishops and other doctors of the church , in whom are so great mysteries locked up , and without whom , you majesty cannot be safe , nor we happy : of which church , to the glory of god , the amazement of your enemies , the comfort of all your loyal subjects , and the wonder of the world , your majesty hath continued her faiths defender . and now , considering not onely the coolness of some persons to your majestyes service , from whom we had hopes of better things , but also the unquietness of the spirits of some others , who have in so great a measure tasted of your majesties grace and favour , men of loose and dangerous principles , that have assisted in the staining of the records of this your city , so famous for loyalty in former ages ; we thought our selves obliged in duty to god , in obedience to your majestie , in affection to our country , and in love and honour to this your city , as well as to that interest to which we have a future hopes ( having first , according to our duty , applied our selves to that so eminent a pattern of fidelitie and vigilance to your majesties service , the right honourable the lord maior of this your citie : ) to remonstrate , that we are here before your sacred majestie , in humilitie of spirit , readie to sacrifice our lives and fortunes in the defence of your majesties interest , crown and dignitie , with the interest of religion , as it is by law established ; sensibly knowing , that nothing , like to fearing god , honoring the king , and not medling with those who are given to change , can make us delight in loyaltie , as our predecessors for many generations have done ; without which we cannot , as now we do , from the integrity of our hearts , with an humble confidence , subscribe our selves your majesty's most loyal , and most obedient subjects and servants . this address was subscribed by the several regiments at or before the last general rendezvouz , and presented by the colonels to his majestie , on tuesday the th of this instant may , for which they received his majesties thanks . london , printed by d. maxwell , . supplementum sublatum iohn tombes, his supplement, or second book about swearing disproved and made void and his abusing the scripture plainly manifested : against which the truth of christ's words is vindicated and maintained / in a few words briefly returned to him from richard hubberthorne and samuel fisher. hubberthorn, richard, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) supplementum sublatum iohn tombes, his supplement, or second book about swearing disproved and made void and his abusing the scripture plainly manifested : against which the truth of christ's words is vindicated and maintained / in a few words briefly returned to him from richard hubberthorne and samuel fisher. hubberthorn, richard, - . fisher, samuel, - . tombes, john, ?- . supplement to the serious consideration of the oath of the kings supremacy. p. printed for robert wilson, london : . reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng society of friends -- doctrines. oaths. loyalty oaths. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - melanie sanders sampled and proofread - melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion supplementum sublatum : iohn tombes his supplement or , second book about swearing , disproved , and made void ; and his abusing the scripture plainly manifested . against which the truth of christ's words is vindicated and maintained . in a few words briefly returned to him from richard hubberthorne , and samuel fisher. london , printed for robert wilson , at the signe of the black spread-eagle and wind-mill in martins le grand , . supplementum sublatum , john tombes his supplement , or second book about swearing disproved . john tombes , thy first part of speech in proof of the lawfulness of swearing , being ( it seems ) such an adjective as could not well stand by it self against such as have answered it , without the supply of some other words to be joyned with it , thou hast added another part of speech , ( for even this also is but a part of what thou sayst thou yet intendest to make upon that subject ) as a little supplement ( so thou cal'st it ) to supply the defects of the former , which thou confessest did want framing , method , and matter . but when thou again reviewest this thy last supplement , it will need little more condemnation than the words of thy own mouth . therefore we shall say a little to thee , lest thou be wise in thy own conceit , if thou be unanswered altogether ; and yet but a little , lest we should seem to be like thy self , in multiplying words without method and matter . the substance of thy book being answered already in a book called one antidote more against swearing , we shall speak to some passages in it relating to our selves . as first , thou sayst page . that the using of these speeches , god knows , or i affirm before god , or god is our witness , or this we say in the presence of him that shall judge the quick and the dead ; as an appeal to god's contestation , is plain swearing ; and that sam. fisher swears in his book entituled the rusticks alarm to the rabbies , p. . . in saying , god knows , i affirm here before god and all men ; and so while we speak against all swearing , we practise some swearing . reply , it is made plain in that book entituled one antidote more against swearing , that these are no oaths , and here again , that if they were oaths , it being very frequent with paul ( as hen. den saith ) to use them , then that apostle ( whom ye justifie therein ) uncalled to it , by or before a magistrate , ( which is the only swearing now disputed for ) did swear as frequently , commonly , ordinarily in his communications with the saints & churches , ( among whom his credit was so good , that his word might at any time be taken without an oath ) and consequently as unnecessarily as other men , which do use frequent , ordinary , and unnecessary swearing , which both j. tombes , hen. den , and jer. ives do unanimously diallow ; and so ye are guilty of egregious partiality , condemning in some the things which ye allow in others . mor●over , if those be oaths , how is it that the judges and jus●ces in sessions will not own them as so , and set free those prisoners when they offer to say g●d knows , god is witness , &c. that we intend no other but good , peaceableness , faithfulness and truth to the king , and all men , & c ? surely the magistrates in england do not believe the priests doctrine , for if they did , they would practise it ; so that we may conclude , that they do but beat the ayr , and spend their strength for nought , when both magistrates and people will neither believe nor practise that for truth , which their priests deliver for doctrine . and whereas j. tombes saith in p. . that those baptists of maidstone have offered an engagement taken before some justice of the peace in a solemn manner , with calling god to witness to the truth of what they say , and that they do offer to swear , and take an oath . reply . herein he hath condemned the judges at maidstone , either to be ignorant of an oath , or else to proceed in unjust judgement against them ; seeing the judges required nothing of them but an oath , and they offered an oath , and yet they would not receive it ; so that instead of condemning the prisoners because they cannot swear , he hath condemned the judges , for not knowing , or at least not owning an oath when it was offered them : and so contrary unto right rule and justice , keeping them still in prison for not swearing , who offered willingly to swear ( as he saith ) so that it appears that the judges do no more agree with j. tombes's judgement that that was an oath , then the quakers do ; but what strange doctrine ( or rather confusion ) is this in j. tombes , to accuse the quakers because they will not swear , and yet say that they do swear fully and plainly ? and yet the judges , mayors , and magistrates will not take it : so that by j. tombes's book , and the rest that have been written for swearing , the quakers are found guiltless , and the magistrates only are to be blamed and reproved , because they will not accept of an oath , when it is offered to be given by those of whom they require it . but again secondly , if to say , god knows , or god is witness , as an appeal to gods contestation , be swearing by god , then to say such a man knows , or such a man is witness to the truth of what i say , ●s an appeal to that man's contestation , is a swearing by that man ; which ( absit absurdum hoc nigro carbone no tandum ) if these baptists j. t. h. d. jer. ives , or any others shall say it is , we shall say they are not yet so wise as they will be , when they once come with the quakers to own the truth , which they now deny . again , jo. tombes saith , that christ is no where called the oath of god. reply . in the same sence , and place , in which he is called the covenant of god , as isa. . . he is called the oath of god ; for god's covenant is his oath , which he swore luke . , . again , j. t. saith , that there is no instance given by sam. fisher of any place where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in a more moderate sence then to bind by oath . reply ▪ what needed one to be given by s. f. when thou gavest one thy self ? viz. thess. . . which is translated ( truly enough ) i charge you by the lord ; which is no more but i will , require , or command you , in god's sight , presence , or such like ; which thou falsly saist is a charging or requiring one to swear by the lord. or secondly , what need any more instance be given then thou hast given thy self , who confessest it over again in thy supplement , p. , . more plainly then in thy former ? confessing to thy further confutation , that these three places , viz thess. . . tim. . . tim. . . are alike charges , and that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used tim. . . is only to command , or enjoyn , and doth not include an oath , or swearing ; and that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used tim. . . signifies no more then i witness before god ; so that as it was told thee before , it is most evident , that paul at that distance wherein he was from them when he wrote to the thessalonians and timothy , either did not charge them to take an oath , or if he did , they did not take it , nor swear to him ; unless we shall suppose they swore to some other that stood present as paul's proxy , by word of mouth to exact it of them ; which absurdity is more fit to be exploded then supposed . again , thou sayst p. . that s. f. shews no instance where in with an accusative case is a particle of affirming without swearing , and till he doth , it necessarily is a particle of swearing . reply . no , not necessarily ; for whether with or without an accusative case , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soundeth out no more then some strong asseveration of a thing , as with verily , truly , indeed , or such like ; and differs little more from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greek ( with is yea in english ) then the english yea , and yea verily do differ from each other ; witness the latine adverb nae , with ae dipthong , derived ( as is to be seen in the latine dictionaries ) of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the greek , with eta or long e , which is englished no otherwise then by truly , verily , in very deed , or such like ; and the very accidence it self makes it a particle of affirming only , and not of swearing . and however j. tombes saith , that grammarians make the greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a particle of swearing , yet the lexicographers make it as well a particle of affirming only , without swearing , as in that place cor. . it being evident enough , that paul in that place did not swear , when he saith , i protest by your rejoycing , &c. for to swear by any thing but god , is by all judged to be unlawful . but i. tombes replies thus ; that paul sware by god even in those expressions an oath ( saith he ) of oppignoration , pawning , or execration , wishing therein the forfeiture of his own rejoycing in christ jesus , if it were not so as he said ; as when we say on my salvation it is so , &c. reply . if this had been an oath of oppignoration ( as thou vainly cal'st it ) or pawning of his own part or share in christ's joy , then he would have mentioned his own rejoycing in christ jesus only , and not that of the corinthians also ; for what reason soever he had to with the forfeiture , or to pawn his own , yet he had neither right nor reason to wish the forfeiture of theirs , or to pawn the corinthians part in the joy of christ jesus upon it , that it was so as he spake unto them ; no more then any of us have to wish evil to another man , or to pawn other mens salvation , or to wish another man damned , in case it be not true that we speak ; which is a thing altogether ungodly , unlawful , and unreasonable unto those that have the spirit of judgement and understanding . and so j. tombes his pleading for swearing from such places , is only to be judged a fruit of ignorance of christ's doctrine , or rather enmity against it . but j. tombessaith , that swearing is a moral commandment , and therefore lawful . reply . if swearing be a commandment , and a duty to be continued , as the rest of the commandments are . then it is to be performed as a duty and command continually , without any respect to the magistrate's imposing or requiring of it ; for we are to love god with our whole heart , &c. without being required by the magistrate , which is the first commandment ; and we are to love our neighbour as our selves , being the second , in which all the other is included ; none of which respect are a command from man for the obedience of them . but again , i. tombes falls from the command , and saith , his greatest argument and inducement to swear , is , because the denying of it hath caused , and is like to cause great persecution to those that hold the truth about baptisme , and that they will be counted persons ▪ intolerable ; and also he saith , that by his preaching swearing lawful , he hath saved hundreds , yea thousands ( having brought them and their families by it to enjoy their liberty ) from ruine . reply . so that it appears it is to save people from persecution , and spoiling of their goods , and to keep their outward liberty , that i. tombes hath preached up swearing , and so it seems they have the reward of their obedience to his doctrine already ; and upon this account , he , nor those that follow him , need never suffer persecution , if they will but alwayes deny the commands of christ , as any outward power comes upon them to threaten them with suffering ; so that in the day of his tryal , we have no ground otherwise to believe , but that he will deny and break any of christ's commands , ( and teach men so ) rather then suffer persecution , seeing he hath thus begun with this command of christ , swear not at all , which he would make of none effect by his tradition . now seeing the scripture saith , he that breaketh the least commandment , and teach men so , he shall be least ( or not at all ) in the kingdom of god ; therefore all such are to be denyed , who make a trade of preaching , and when their doctrines come to be tryed , they are found to be but the ministers of sin , and to live by the sins of the people ; so that all people may consider and take notice , whether this be a sufficient ground or plea , either for preaching up , or believing swearing to be lawful , because thereby they may be freed from persecution ; which is the greatest hypocrisie that can be either preached or practised by those that profess to be religious . but the day is come which to some hath made , and to others is making all things manifest , and is declaring every man's work of what sort it is , that the deceivers folly may be made manifest unto all men , that from them the people may be brought into the doctrine and way of salvation , which is now freely held forth and published by the power , and in the demonstration of the spirit of god , as they have freely received it ; not for filthy lucre , but of a ready minde ; for the earth hath been cumbred , and the land filled with such who have made a trade of the saints words , preaching them for filthy lucre sake , not freely , nor of a ready minde , but time-servers , having mens persons in admiration because of advantage , and for a piece of bread such men will transgress ; as it is evidently manifest . and whereas jo. tombes writes himself b. d. yet he is read among such as are truly wise , by the name of blinde divine , rather than batchelor of divinity ; who hath spent so much of his time in such vain treatises , tending to nothing but to bring people out of the obedience to christ's doctrine , who saith , swear not at all ; and having also confuted himself in his own words , there needs the less be said by others to make him manifest ; so for the further evidencing of the truth of those things unto people , and for ending of the controversie between the owners of christ's doctrine , and the opposers of it ; we shall commend our selves , and our testimony unto every man's conscience in the sight of god ; that his witness may justifie the truth , and clear it unto all men . the end . his majesties royal letter to his privy council of scotland, concerning his indulgence scotland. sovereign ( - : james vii) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing j estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) his majesties royal letter to his privy council of scotland, concerning his indulgence scotland. sovereign ( - : james vii) james ii, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.) printed at holy-rood-house, by james watson, [printer to his most sacred majesties royal family and houshould, edinburgh : ] advising the privy council that no presbyterian be allowed to preach except with the council's permission, but that with such permission the oath of supremacy and allegiance is no longer required. at end of text: given at our court at whitehall the thirty one day of march . and of our reign the third year. by his majesties comman. melfort. reproduction of the original in the aberdeen university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . oaths -- scotland -- early works to . presbyterian church -- scotland -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion his majesties royal letter to his privy council of scotland , concerning his indulgence . james r. right trusty and right wel-beloved cousin and counsell right trusty and right wel-beloved counsellors , right trusty and entirely beloved cousins and counsellors , right trusty and right wel-beloved cousins and counsellors , right trusty and wel-beloved cousins and counsellors , right trusty and wel-beloved cousins and counsellors , right trusty and wel-beloved counsellors , and trusty and wel-beloved . counsellors . we greet you well . whereas by our letter of the first 〈◊〉 of this instant , amongst other things , we did recommand to you , to take care , that any of the presbyterians , sho●●… not be allowed to preach , but such only , as should have y●… allowance for the same ; and that they , at receiving the ●…dulgence therein mentioned , should take the oath contain●… our proclaimation , bearing date , the twelfth day of february last past : these are there to let you know , that thereby we mean't such of them as did not formerly take the test ●…y other oath ; but if nevertheless , the presbyterian preachers does scruple to take the oath , or any other oath whatsoever , and that you shall find it reasonable or fit to grant th●… our indulgence , so as they desire it upon these terms : it is now our will and pleasure , we do hereby authorize and require you , to grant them , or any of them our said indulg●… without being oblieged to take , or swear the oath in our said proclaimation mentioned , of other oath whatsoever , with power unto them , or any of them respectively , to enjoy the be of the said indulgence , ( during our pleasure only , ) or so long as you shall find that they be themselves regularly and peaceably , without giving any cause of offence to us , or any in au●●● rity and trust under us in our government : ) for doing whereof , these presents shall be to 〈◊〉 and them , and all others respectively , who may be therein respectively any way concerned sufficient warrant . and so we bid you heartily farewel . given at our court at whitehall the thirty one day of march , and of our reign the third year . by his majesties command . melfort . edinburgh , printed at holy-road-house , by james wa●●… william by the grace of god, king of great-britain, france, and ireland, defender of the faith ... forasmuch as the lords of our privy council, by their act of the day and date hereof have appointed their clerks to raise and give out letters ... against all sheriffs of shires, magistrats of burghs, and others, who ... are appointed to sease the saids horses and arms ... scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) william by the grace of god, king of great-britain, france, and ireland, defender of the faith ... forasmuch as the lords of our privy council, by their act of the day and date hereof have appointed their clerks to raise and give out letters ... against all sheriffs of shires, magistrats of burghs, and others, who ... are appointed to sease the saids horses and arms ... scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, [edinburgh : ] title from opening lines of text. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. imprint conjectured from similar documents. blank spaces in text filled in ms.; illegible. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the sixteenth day of april, and of our reign the eight year, . reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng confiscations -- scotland -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- scotland -- early works to . national security -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion wr diev et mon droit honi soit qui mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith , to macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting ; forasmuch as the lords of our privy council , by their act of the day and date hereof have appointed their clerks to raise and give out letters at the instance of sir james stuart our advocat , for our interest , in the matter under-written , against all sheriffs of shires , magistrats of burghs , and others , who ( by the act of parliament , anent seasing of horse and arms from the persons not qualified , and the proclamation of our privy council following thereon ) are appointed to sease the saids horses and arms , and to make their report to the council , and have failzied , for citing of the saids sheriffs , magistrats and others foresaids , to give in their reports , and make payment of their penalties , in manner and to the effect under-written ; as also for charging all sheriffs , magistrats and others , who conform to the said act of parliament , for seasing of horses and arms , and proclamation of council following thereon , have seased any arms so cause transport them to the garrisons after-named , to the effect after-mentioned , as the said act of the date foresaid , ordaining thir our letters to be direct thereon in manner after-specified , at more length bears . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent thir our letters secn , ye pass , and in our name and authority , command and charge all and sundry the sheriffs of the several shires of this kingdom , stewarts of stewartries , baillies of regalities , and their respective deputs , and the magistrats of burghs , within their several jurisdictions , to make up , and give in to the saids lords of our privy council , or their clerks , the reports of the horses and arms seased by them as said is , within their respective bounds and jurisdictions , and that betwixt and and also command and charge the saids sheriffs , stewarts and baillies of regalities , and their deputs , and migistrats of burghs , to make payment to george baillie of fariswood our general receiver of the sum of five hundred merks a piece , and that upon the said 〈…〉 in case they failzie to give in the saids reports for the bounds within their jurisdictions , betwixt and the said day , under the pain of rebellion and putting them to our horn ; and immediatly in case they failzie after the said 〈…〉 that ye in our name and authority , duely , lawfully and orderly denunce the forenamed persons failziers , our rebels , and put them to our horn , escheat and inbring all their movable goods and gear to our usc for their contempt and disobedience , and if need beis , that ye fence , arrest , compryse , compell , poind and distrenzie the forenamed persons , their readiest movables , goods and gear , ay while compleat payment be made of the sums or penalties above written ; and also that ye cause registrat thir our letters , with the executions thereof , conform to the act of parliament ; and sicklike that ye command and charge all and sundrie the saids sheriffs , stewarts , baillies of regalities , and their deputs , and magistrats of burghs within their several jurisdictions , who conform to the act of parliament for seasing of horses and arms of persons not qualified , and proclamation of council following thereon , have seased any arms , to cause transport the arms seased by them , to any of the garrisons of edinburgh , striviling , dumbarton , blackness , inverness , or dunnotter , which do ly nearest to the place where the seased arms are lying , betwixt and the said 〈…〉 day of 〈…〉 and to report to the clerks of our privy council certificats thereof , that the saids arms may be made furth-coming for the service of us and the government , whensoever the same shall be called for . 〈…〉 given under our signet at edinburgh , the sixteenth day of april , and of our reign the eight year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . something against swearing and concerning the oath of allegiance and supremacy this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason .f. [ ]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason .f. [ ] estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; : f [ ]) something against swearing and concerning the oath of allegiance and supremacy hubberthorn, richard, - . fox, george, d. . sheet ([ ] p.) printed for g.c. at the black-spread-eagle at the west end of pauls, london : . signed at end: richard hubberthorne. george fox, the younger. annotation on thomason copy: "july. ." reproduction of the original in the british library. eng oaths -- biblical teaching -- early works to . loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . a r (thomason .f. [ ]). civilwar no something against swearing and concerning the oath of allegiance and supremacy. hubberthorn, richard c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion something against swearing and concerning the oath of allegiance and svpremacy . as it was the disciples religion principle and practice to obey christs command as in matth. . . but i say unto you swear not at all neither by heaven for it is gods throne nor by the earth for it is his footstool , neither by jerusalem for it is the city of the great king , neither shalt thou swear by thy head , for thou canst not make one hair white or black but let your yea be yea , and your nay , nay , for whatsoever is more then these cometh of evil , and this being the apostles religion and practise , they preached this doctrine unto others as it is written , james . . but above all things my brethren swear not neither by heaven neither by the earth , neither by any other oath , but let your yea be yea , and your nay , nay , least you fall into condemnation , so this is our doctrine , principle and practise that we cannot swear at all ; by any oath least we fall into condemnation , and so sin against christ , and if we do suffer or be persecuted , and imprisoned , because we cannot swear . then it is for our religion , and exercise of our consciences , and obedience of truth unto our god in which suffering we shall rather dye then sin against him . and whereas it is required of us to testifie our obedience as subjects unto charles the second , as our lawful king and own his supremacy and government in all just and lawful commands , whereupon an oath of allegiance and supremacy is tendred . as it is our principle and hath ever been our practise to be obedient subjects under every power ordained of god , and to every ordinance of man ( set up by him ) for the lords sake whether unto king as supream , or unto governors or any set up in authoritie by him who are for the punishment of evil doers , and for the praise of them that do well , pet. . . . and unto such we do freely promise obedience unto all just and lawful commands : and we do own and believe that it is not without but according to the purpose of the lord , that he hath this day and power given him as king head and chief magistrate over this nation , that while he hath his day and power he may rule for god in civil and outward affairs , and matters relating unto the outward man and estate , in which all his just , and lawful commands we can willingly be subject unto not for wrath but even for conscience sake , and all commands which are otherwise , whether from him , or any other , we shall willingly and patiently suffer under them what men shall be permitted to impose upon us , and thus we do accept and own the king and his government , as he and it is according to god , and answerable unto him , we are willingly obedient , and in conscience bound to accept it , and shall yeeld subjection thereunto , but if otherwise contrary to god , he rule in tyranny , oppression injustce or the like that we must bear witness aginst by the spirit of truth , but not by outward opposition as rebellion by insurrections plots , or carnal weapons to destroy or overthrow , either him or the government thereby ; for that is contrary to our life . but as for swearing it being contrary both to christs command , and our consciences as we never have , so we never shall swear , neither for nor against any man power or government but shall be true and faithful , to what we promise and profess . and as concerning the church of god , and spiritual things relating unto gods kingdom , we own onely jesus christ as supreme head , ruler and lawgiver there according to james . . there is one lawgiver which is able to save and to destroy , and as it is written , ephes. . . that god hath given him to be the h●ad over all things to the church which is his body the fulness of him which filleth all in all , and as the apostles did hold forth him to be the head of the body the church , who is the beginning the first born from the dead , that in all things he might have the preemenence col. . . and him we do own as head ruler and commander in all matters of faith obedience and worship in things appertaining unto his king come , and he onely is to rule ( give laws and order ) in the consciences of men , by his spirit light and power , and as he is the author of his peoples faith , so he is the defender of it ; and them in it , and so to him we give the dominion rule and government , as head and supreme over his church , and not unto man : so in him who is our life king and lawgiver we honour all men , and do seek the peace of all men and not the destruction , and unto this we do acknowledge , and bear witness to , who are members of his body which is his church . london , day mone●h . . richard hubberthorne . george fox , the younger . london , printed for g. c. at the black-spread-eagle at the west end of pauls . . the oath of every free-man of the city of london city of london (england). approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing o b estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the oath of every free-man of the city of london city of london (england). sheets ([ ] p.) printed by james flesher, printer to this honourable city, [london] : [ ?] date of publication from wing. title of second sheet: instructions for every free-man of the city of london. "you shall sweare, that ye shall be true and faithfull to the common-wealth of england; and in"--first three lines of text. copy torn with loss of text. reproduction of the original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . great britain -- history -- commonwealth and protectorate, - -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - megan marion sampled and proofread - megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion coat of arms of the city of london the oath of every free-man of the city of london . yov shall sweare , that you shall be true and faithfull to the common-wealth of england ; and in order thereunto , you shall be obedient to the iust and good government of this city of london : you shall to the best of your power maintain and preserve the peace , and all the due franchises thereof ; and according to your knowledg and ability , doe and perform all such other acts and 〈◊〉 s as doe belong to a free-man of 〈◊〉 ud city . printed by james flesher , printer to this honourable city . coat of arms of the city of london instructions for every free-man of the city of london . ye shall be obedient to the maior and ministers of this city . the franchises and customes thereof ye shall mantain , and this city keep harmlesse in that that in you is . ye shall be contributary to all manner of charges within this city , as summons , watches , contributions , tares , tallages , lot , and scot , and to all other charges , bearing your part as a free-man ought to doe . ye shall colour no forreign goods , under , or in your name , whereby his highnesse the lord protector of the comonwealth of england scotland and ireland and the dominions thereof , or this city , might , or may lose their customes or advantages . ye shall know no forreigner to buy or sell any marchandize , with any other forreigner within this city or franchise thereof , but ye shall warne the chamberlain thereof , or some minister of the chamber . ye shall implead or sue no free-man out of this city , whiles ye may have right and law within the same city . ye shall take none apprentice , but if he be free-born , ( that is to say ) no bondmans son , nor the child of any alien , and for no lesse tearm then for seven years without fraud or deceit : and within the first year ye shall cause him to be enrolled , or else pay such fine as shall be reasonably imposed upon you for omitting the same . and after his terms end , within convenient time ( being required ) ye shall make him free of this city , if he have well and truly served you . ye shall also keep the publicke peace in your own person . ye shall know no gatherings , nor conspiraciess made against the publicke peace but ye shall warn the maior thereof , or let it to your power . all these poynts and articles ye shall well and truly keep , according to the laws and customs of this city , to your power . by the king. a proclamation against the disorderly transporting his maiesties subiects to the plantations within the parts of america proclamations. - - great britain. sovereign ( - : charles i) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king. a proclamation against the disorderly transporting his maiesties subiects to the plantations within the parts of america proclamations. - - great britain. sovereign ( - : charles i) charles i, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.) by robert barker, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie: and by the assignes of iohn bill, imprinted at london : . "requiring gentlemen to have licenses from the commissioners for plantations and the lower classes to have local certificates of allegiance and conformity." -- stc. dated at end: ... whitehall the last day of aprill, in the thirteenth yeare of our reigne. arms ; steele notation: great the their. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library, cambridge, england. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng loyalty oaths -- england -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r honi soit qvi mal y pense diev et mon droit . royal blazon or coat of arms ¶ by the king. ¶ a proclamation against the disorderly transporting his maiesties subiects to the plantations within the parts of america . the kings most excellent maiestie being informed that great numbers of his subiects haue bin , and are euery yeare transported into those parts of america , which haue been granted by patent to seuerall persons , and there settle themselues , some of them with their families and whole estates : amongst which numbers there are also many idle and refractory humors , whose onely or principall end is to liue as much as they can without the reach of authority : his maiestie hauing taken the premisses into consideration , is minded to restraine for the time to come such promiscuous and disorderly departing out of the realme ; and doth therefore straitly charge and command all and euery the officers and ministers of his severall ports in england , wales , and barwick , that they doe not hereafter permit or suffer any persons , being subsidie men , or of the value of subsidie men , to embarque themselues in any of the said ports , or the members thereof , for any of the said plantations , without licence from his maiesties commissioners for plantations first had and obtained in that behalfe ; nor that they admit to be embarqued any persons under the degree or value of subsidy-men , without an attestation or certificate from two iustices of the peace liuing next the place where the party last of all , or lately then before dwelt , that he hath taken the oaths of supremacie , and allegiance , and like testimony from the minister of the parish of his conuersation and conformity to the orders and discipline of the church of england . and further his maiesties expresse will and pleasure is ▪ that the officers and ministers of his said seuerall ports , and the members therof , do returne to his maiesties said commissioners for plantations euery halfe yeare a particular and perfect ▪ list of the names and qualities of all such persons as shall from time to time be embarqued in any of the said ports for any of the said plantations . and of these his maiesties royall commands , all the officers and ministers of his said ports , and the members thereof are to take care , as they will answer the neglect thereof at their perils . giuen at our court at whitehall the last day of aprill , in the thirteenth yeare of our reigne . god saue the king. ¶ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie : and by the assignes of iohn bill . .