Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	allegiance_n	law_n	oath_n	1,012	5	7.8657	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91723	The vindication of Abraham Reinaldson, late Lord Major of the City of London. With certaine queryes of conscience resolved, concerning his refusing to obey a late order of Parliament, for the proclaiming an unjust act for abolishing the kingly office in England and Ireland. For which supposed contempt, he was unjustly fined 2000l. by the House of Commons, degraded of his Maioralty, and committed prisoner to the Tower of London, Aprill 2. 1648.	Reynardson, Abraham, Sir, 1590-1661.	1649 (1649)	Wing R1212; Thomason E550_9; ESTC R205644	4,252	8

THE VINDICATION OF Abraham Reinaldson LATE LORD MAJOR OF THE CITY Of LONDON With Certaine QVERYES Of Conscience Resolved concerning his refusing to obey a late Order of Parliament for the Proclaiming an unjust ACT for Abolishing the Kingly Office in ENGLAND and IRELAND For which supposed Contempt he was unjustly Fined 2000 l. by the House of Commons degraded of his Maioralty and Committed Prisoner to the Tower of London Aprill 2. 1648. Matth. 7.2 VVith what Iudgement ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete shall be measured to you againe Aprill 10th London Printed in the Yeer M. DC.XL.IX THE VINDICATION OF Abraham Reinaldson LATE LORD MAJOR OF THE CITY Of LONDON Gentlemen and Fellow Citizens IT hath alwayes been my earnest endeavor with that holy Apostle St. Paul to preserve a cleer conscience towards God and towards man I have usually applyed my self to the holy Scriptures and to the obtaining of the true knowledge of Divine Truth whereby to steer the Actions of my life which shall alwayes be the Director to my Conscience Therefore I hold it expedient for the cleering of my self from a supposed crime or contempt against an Order of Parliament as they please to terme it That I Remonstrate unto you the Grounds and Reasons moving me not to obey their questionable Authority in prolaiming their late ungodly Act for quite abolishing the Kingly Office in England and Ireland without perjury to my Conscience and the forefeiture of my Allegiance to my King First as I very well remember when I was initiated into the Society of men and made a Member and Freeman of this City I took an Oath to be a faithfull and true Subject to the King that then was and to his Heires and to bear to Him true Allegiance Secondly I have taken an Oath That I will Faith and Truth bear to King Charles of Life and Member and terrene Honor. Thirdly I have taken the Oath of Supremacy enjoyned in Stat. 1. Eliz. cap. 1. and the Oath of Allegiance enjoyned me by Stat. 3. Iac. cap. 4. Therefore fellow Citizens as it behoveth all good Christians to be carefull before they sweare so likewise to performe that Oath they have sworne and especially when it concernes our duty towards our King I advise thee saith the Preacher to take heed of the mouth of the King and to the Oath of God as much as to say That thou obey the King and keep the Oath that thou hast made for that Cause and the Prophet Zachary gives us this Commandement from God Let none of you imagine evill in his heart against his Neighbour and love no false Oath for these are things that I hate saith the Lord. Zach. 8.17 Again our blessed Saviour gives me this Precept Matth. 5.33 Thou shalt not forsweare thy self but performe thy Oaths unto the LORD When I well weighed these Scriptures and applyed them to the former Oaths I had taken I found That I could not obey the Parliaments Order without a great sin against God and trespasse against my owne Conscience for having bound my self by so many severall former Oathes made to my King and his Heires after him to pay unto them my Allegiance Faith and Truth of Life Member and terrene Honor and having acknowledged Him to be Supreame Governor of his Realms How can I then in Conscience so persidiously withdraw my Allegiance from his Lawfull Successor in Proclaiming their unjust Act for Abolishing the Kingly Office without manifest Perjury breach of my Oath formerly made to the King and his Heirs or answer for taking the Name of God in vaine by obeying an Order from a questionable Authority which would enjoyne me a thing contradictory to my former Oaths which by lawfull Power agreeable to the Laws of God and the Realme I have already bound my Conscience to the strict observance of And in this Contempt as they please to terme it I have asked Counsell not onely of the Law of God but the Law of Reason which ought to be writ in the heart of every man teaching him what is to be done and what is to be eschewed the Law of God inlightning our Naturall understanding is given principally to direct our Actions by for the obtaining felicitie in this life so as we guide them onely by the Rule of Iustice These Lawes have instructed me and ought to instruct us all what good is to be done and evill to be avoided That I should doe to another that which I would another should doe to me That Justice is to be done to every man and not wrong That a Trespasse is to be punnished and the like And if Reason directs me That good is to be done and evill to be eschewed I must then needs conclude That this Act for the abolishing of the KINGLY Office is directly against Law and I by obeying their Order or Command in Proclaiming the same must needs withdraw my Allegiance and Subjection to my KING from him and so necessarily loose the benefit or good I should have by his Protection For the Rule in Law runs thus That the OBEDIENCE of the SUBJECT drawes Protection from the KING the King being ordained for the defence of the Law and the Bodies and Goods of all his Subjects Neither is nor can there be any lawfull Power to command me being a Magistrate but what is derivative from the Supream Power in the KING or to His Officer or officers who have their Power from him by His Writ Patent or Comission neither ought I nor can I obey the Command of any such lawfull officer if that thing which he enjoynes me to doe be contrary to the Law of God the Law of Reason or the Fundamentall Laws of the Kingdome which have all dependencie one on the other Then much lesse the command of an usurped or Pretended Power The holy Scriptures informes me That I must fear God and obey the King that I must obey him for Conscience sake and the Law teacheth me That I must avoid evill but it is evill for me to obey a pretended Authority in proclaiming an unjust Act which enjones me to deny and wrong my King and so not honor not obey him by doing of which I must necessarily disobey God who enjoynes me this duty of Obedience to my King Ergo Their command is not only forbidden in Gods Word but against the Law of reason The law teacheth me to doe as I would men should doe unto me But if I were a King I would not be robbed of my wright nor dispoyled of the duty and service of my Subjects Ergo. They order me to doe a thing against the law of reason It is injustice and wrong to take away the Kings Wright by this law but you Order me to proclaim an Act that takes away his wright which must needs be to doe him wrong Ergo I ought not to obey your Order The law of reason teacheth me That a Trespasser is to be punished and if I

obey your Order I must needs Trespasse in the highest nature upon the Kings Interest in me as I am his Subject to Trespasse upon his laws as I am de jure under his Government and to Trespasse upon his patience and goodness and so make my self lyable to the punishment that belongs to such a Trespasse Ergo there is no reason that I obey your Order The law of reason is generally taken as a directive Rule unto a goodness of operation so that by this Law I ought to direct all my Actions to a good end but by Proclaiming your Act I direct not my actions to a good end Ergo I cannot obey your unreasonable Order Again the law of reason is such that being proposed no man ought to reject it as unjust or unreasonable but the King may reject the imposing of unlawfull commands upon his Subjects whereby he is not only deprived of his Crown and Dignity but of their ayde and Assistance Ergo c. And truly every good Christian ought to reject all such Orders or commands as unreasonable and unjust because if they obey them they doe thereby not only break their Oath which is a grievous sin but loose the benefit of protection which by the law they may claime and ought not to have neither can be derived from any pretended Authority whatsoever but resides in the power of their Naturall Lawfull and Soveraigne Liege Lord the King Ergo c. Againe whereas the law of reason is never changable by any diversity of place or time and whereas mine Allegiance is due to my Soveraigne in all places in all cases and at all times I am forbidden by this unchangeable law to change so unchangable and unalterable a duty by such a flight and unwarantable Order from a pretended Authority in these changeable times Now I hope all Moderate and unbyassed Citizens and others will conceive That as it was against reason for me to obey such an unreasonable unlawfull Order so it was against law and reason in them to require me so to doe for it is most unreasonable and the worst or Tyrannyes to order or force a Christian Magistrate to doe that thing which by doing he must either commit that nationall and crying sin of perjury and presumption to destroy my own Soul or by refusing to doe it because it goes against my Conscience so to doe not only to be Fyned a great Summe no lesse then Two Thousand Pounds but to be hurried from my house to Westminster and from thence to Prison by rude Souldiers and be degraded of my Moyoralty Let all reasonable men judge whether this be sit usage for a Civill Magistrate or whether it be not the greatest injustice and Tyranny as can be inflicted by those that pretend Freedom Liberty and the like and yet use more subtilties then the father of lies to ensnare men only they differ in this Satan catcheth at the spirituall riches of the soul and the Senate at the temporall means belonging to the body so that between them both externall Riches and internall Graces are now strongly besieged by red-coats but God of his Infinite Mercy give us strength and patience to hold out so that they may not long exercise their Tyrannyes over us as they now Vauntingly boast That they intend to behead all the Noble plunder all the rich and starve all the Poore As we already by miserable experience are to our great sorrow very capable of As for my Fyne I weigh it not for truly I had rather loose my wealth then my soul and what it can advantage them to gaine my wealth and loose theirs is past my understanding to resolve you Neither was it ever any custom that any Order for proclaiming Proclamations or Acts in that nature hath been directed to the Lord Major because it is the Office of a Sergeant at Armes an Herald or the Sheriffes to doe the same But this Order so directed to me to proclaime the said Act in Person was no other but one of their old State-pollicies to set their hungry catterpillars a feeding to devour my Estate But I fear I am not the last by many that they intend to punish in this kinde but I have hope in committing my present sufferings to Him that Iudgeth righteous judgement and leave these new authors of usurped Authority to be Charactarized by the Prophet Amos. cap. 3. Vers 7. They know not to doe wright saith the Lord they store up Violence and Robbery in their Pallaces and tuine Iudgement into Wormwood and leave off Righteousnesse in the Earth and as Solomon saith of such That they sleep not except they have done Mischief and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall for they eate the bread of Wickednesse and are drunk with the Wine of Violence But I shall conclude with that Proverbial Exhortation of Solomon which shall be my Advice to every true-hearted Citizen My sonne feare thou God and the King and meddle not with them that are given to Change From my Imprisonment in the Tower Aprill 9. 1649. A. R. FINIS