Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	king_n	kingdom_n	scot_n	4,211	5	9.4224	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61516	A discourse of the nature and obligation of oaths wherein, satisfaction is tendered touching the non-obligation and unlawfulness of the oath called, the Solemn League and Covenant : the acknowledgement whereof, is required of us by a late act of Parliament, intituled, An act for uniformity : published as an appendix to the Peace-offering / by the same author.	Stileman, John, d. 1685.; Stileman, John, d. 1685. Peace offering.	1662 (1662)	Wing S5552; ESTC R16314	24,193	32

It was an Oath Imposed by those Sect. 42. who had no authority to impose an Oaeth It was a Covenant entred into by Subjects and disallowed by the King who then ruled over us and now again by His present Majesty with the full consent of all the estates of the Kingdom in Parliament abrogated and therefore cannot have an obligation in analogy to and by vertue of that Law of God before mentioned Numb 30. for in this case there is the same reason of Subjects under Government as of Children under tuition or a Wife under Covertbond We had no power to enter into such an Oath or Combination nor it being denied and disallowed by our Soveraign can we be obliged by it for this must be still supposed a tacite condition That our Governours and the Laws that we are under will allow and permit it But more 3. Sect. 43. It was an Oath Unlawfully sworne and cannot but be unlawfully kept And the unlawfulness will appear in these particulars 1. It was Unlawful in the Imposition as being imposed by no lawful Authority The Laws of this Kingdom acknowledge nothing to have the force and power of a Law but from the stamp of the Royal Authority the Kings Fiat which that Ordinance which imposed this Covenant never had It must therefore be concluded to be imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm contrary to the Known Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom a thing even the same which those two Houses of P. which imposed this Oath declared when they took away and annulled the late Canons and that Oath which was so Decried for the c. viz. * Exact Coll. p. 859 860. That A New Oath cannot be imposed without an Act of Parliament which this was never established by 2. Sect. 44. Vnlawful in the Ends of it Which whatsoever and how specious soever the Pretences were have appeared sufficiently to the world to have been indeed Seditious and Rebellious The charge may seem high and too uncharitable but let it be remembred and it is too evident then to be denied This very Covenant was made the main Engine of a design the saddest the bitterest that England ever saw before to engage a people against the Church and State and to Bring in the Scots to assist them in a dismal War against the King which they would not be brought to do till this Kingdom did Covenant to throw out her Bishops and extirpate the established Episcopacy Root and Branch So that the great ends aimed at in the contriving and exacting this Covenant to be sworne was 1. Not to Reform some abuses or to take away some needless Officers or prevent some irregular proceedings in the Courts but utterly to abolish the established Government in the Church And then 2. By the Assistance of the Scots to maintain a War against the King and to reduce Him to such Terms as the Two Houses should think fit to put upon Him That they might be able to Give Laws to the King from whom they were bound to Receive them 3. Unlawful also it was in the Matter of it Sect. 45. as binding men 1. To Impossibilities if not in nature yet certainly in equit Viz. binding men to do that which they had no power no authority to do What Power or authority had Subjects to enter into such an Oath not only without but contrary to the mind consent and express Command and Will of their Soverargn What Authority P. e or Call had they to endeavour the Overthrowing of that Government as Antichristian under which the Christian Church had been happy and flourished so many hundred years and which they were by the positive Laws of our Land bound not to oppose but to obey and submit unto Id solum possumus quod jure possumus Properly we only can do that which we lawfully may do In this sense then the Covenant should bind to impossibilities which argues a Nullity unless Subjects can pretend to a power to overthrow any thing which the Law establisheth whensoever they like it not Farther 2. Unlawful it was as binding to Unjust Sect. 46. and Dishonest things also 1. Infallibly No Oath can bind to Sedition or the overthrow of those Laws that we are bound to obey and that Oath obligeth to injustice and impiety which obligeth to Perjury and the breach of former not yet cancelled obligations Now the Laws had established Episcopacy Ministers had Sworne Obedience to the Bishop There can therefore be no obligation because so much Impiety in that Oath which if it should oblige would oblige to Perjury Object I know what hath been said to this Viz. That those who have Sworne obedience to the Laws of the Land are not thereby prohibited to endeavour by all lawful means the abolition of those Laws when they prove inconvenient or mischievous But 1. Solut. 1. The Utmost of that Obedience which was sworn to the Bishops was but in Licitis Honestis in lawful and honest things And how a lawful and honest obedience should be culpable or the Laws that required it should be mischievous or inconvenient I confess I yet never could have eyes to see nor I think any man else 2. Sol. 2. Had the Laws which established Episcopacy been such yet it will seem very strange to a considering and intelligent man that presently to enter into such a Covenant and Combination and by force and power to break through those Laws and overthrow the established Government whether the King will or no should ever be accounted a lawful means Again 3. Sol. 3. Suppose it inconvenient yet Subjects have no power to Make a Law or Alter a Law for themselves If any mischief or inconvenience had been in that Law or the Government established we might lawfully have shewed the Grievances and Petitioned for a redress to those to whom only it belonged to reform them but to Swear to extirpate a Government to overthrow a Law against the Law-givers consent this is somewhat else than a peaceable petition or an honest endeavour Though we might by humble petition in such a case beg a Reformation yet without all controversie we were bound by our Allegiance Duty and former oaths to obey that which was established until the Supreme power should see it just or fit to alter it 2. Sect. 47. That Oath which bindeth men to the injury of another whom we are bound to love as we love our selves and to do to them as we would have others do to us is unjust in the matter of it and consequently unlawful and bindeth not But this Covenant bindeth to such an injury an injury not of one or two but an whole Order of Bishops who were once a Third Estate and by the good Providence of God are so now again to the depriving of them both of their Places and Power in the Church and of their Lands Estates and Livelihoods that if they lived they must live upon Alms as many

A DISCOURSE OF THE NATURE and OBLIGATION OF OATHS WHEREIN Satisfaction is tendered touching the Non-obligation and Vnlawfulness of the OATH called The SOLEMN LEAGue and COVENANT The Acknowledgment whereof is required of us by a late ACT of PARLIAMENT Intituled An ACT for VNIFORMITY Published as an APPENDIX to the Peace-offering By the same AVTHOR Thou shalt swear the Lord liveth in Truth Judgment and Righteousness Jer. 4.2 Juramentum Pietatis non debet esse vinculum Iniquitatis LONDON Printed by E. M. for Thomas Pierrepont at the Sun in St. Pauls Church-yard 1662. A Discourse TOUCHING THE NATURE OBLIGATION of OATHS TOGETHER WITH THE NON-OBLIGATION and UNLAWFULNESSE Of the OATH called The Solemn League and Covenant THE earnest desire of my Soul for the advancement of Piety and Peace Sect. 1. engaged me to send forth my PEACE-OFFERING into the World to invite to Peace and perswade to Obedience and a just Conformity to the Laws under which we live wherein it was my endeavour to satisfie the principal Doubts and remove the most material Scruples which might hinder that Peace and Obedience But there is now risen another which I then could not foresee viz. This Acknowledgment or Declaration which we are commanded by the Act of Parliament Entituled An Act for Uniformity c. to make and subscribe viz. I A B. Do Declare That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that I do abhor that Trayterous Position of taking Arms by His Authority against His Person or against those that are Commissionated by Him And that I will conform to the Liturgy of the Church of England as it is now established And I do Declare That I do hold there lies no Obligation upon me or on any other person from the Oath commonly called The Solemn League and Covenant to endeavour any change or alteration of Government either in Church or State and that the same was in it self an unlawful Oath and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the known Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom I know it will be deemed by many a matter of extream severity Sect. 2. for the Parliament thus to oblige men to renounce what with hands lifted up to the most High God they have so solemnly sworn and this by no less penalty than the Forfeiture of their Places Livings Promotions and consequently Livelihoods and means of Subsistence for them and their Families But it may be remembred that there was as great severity yea more bitter because illegal used against thousands of persons every way as conscientious as any now can pretend to be both Ministers and others by those who imposed the Covenant to make them swear it though because of the Obligation of their former Oaths they durst not submit to such a perjury I could tell sad Stories to which the World is no stranger of men brought before Committees Holy Learned Pious Painful Preachers unblameable in their Lives That when nothing could be objected against them for Life or Doctrine then presently the Cry was Try him with the Covenant And the refusal of that though so contrary to the known Laws and their former Obligations was the exposing of them and their Families to Beggary and Misery Let us reflect upon that unjust severity then and not think it cruel now that we are by a lawful Authority required to renounce that which was made an Engine to ruine and destroy so many But not to dispute the rigour or severity of the Law let us consider the matter enjoined Sect. 3. and see whether there be any thing in this Declaration which a considering conscientious Christian may not readily Subscribe unto There are but these three things to be declared and acknowledged 1. The Unlawfulness of Rebellion or bearing Arms against the King 2. A readiness to conform to the Liturgy 3. The Non-Obligation and Unlawfulness of that Oath called the Solemn League and Covenant 1. For the first No Sober Christian Sect. 4. or Loyal Subject can make Scruple at it That it is unlawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take or bear Arms against the King is a Truth so manifest and express in the Scriptures which command (a) Mat. 22.21 to render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and (b) Rom. 13 1. 8. 1 Pet. 2.13 14 Custom Tribute Fear Honour Subjection and Obedience to our Kings yea though they should be as the Roman Emperours Enemies to and Persecutors of the Church that he must forfeit his reason conscience yea his Christianity that shall question it And I hope yea can be almost confident That even those who yet scruple the Obligation of the Covenant and are therefore afraid to Subscribe that part of this Acknowledgment do abhor and I presume are ready to declare That they abhor that Trayterous Position of taking Arms by His Authority against His Person c. which was but a distinction invented to draw in many well-meaning people into that quarrel who being afraid to break their Allegiance to the King were abused by dividing His Natural and Politick Capacity and perswaded that they fought for the King when what they did tended to destroy Him 2. For the Conformity to the Liturgy Sect. 5. that we may both lawfully conform and consequently promise it I refer the Reader to the Discourse about this Subject in my Peace-Offering 3. But it is the matter of the Covenant Sect. 6. and the obligation thereof which is mainly now if not only the matter of Scruple and Stumbling-Block in the way of many That they and very many they were who by the Command of the Lords and Commons in Parliament and upon the serious exhortation of an Assembly of Grave Divines with hands lifted up to the most High God have Solemnly Sworne it and engaged themselves to endeavour in their places with all sincerity reallity and constancy without respect of persons to perform the Contents of it and to stand by all that entred into it against all opposers and that no fear terror or perswasion whatsoever should draw them from a zealous prosecuting of the ends of it that these should now acknowledge and declare that neither themselves nor any else are obliged by it and that it was an unlawful Oaeth c. this sticks Some Sect. 7. perhaps that have been over eager and zealous in contending for and by all imaginable Arguments urging and pressing this Oath or Covenant labouring by all wayes to draw the people into this League and Combination may think their reputation now so to lie at stake that should they now retract or condemn that which they have not only sworne themselves but have been so zealous and instrumental to make others also swear that high esteem which they now have with the people for zeal and Godliness would be utterly lost when this very Acknowledgement would make people think that either they did heretofore go against Law Conscience and