Selected quad for the lemma: war_n
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A51092
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A modest examination of the new oath of allegiance by a divine of the Church of England.
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A. B.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing M2363; ESTC R5293
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2,858
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8
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A Modest EXAMINATION Of the NEW OATH OF ALLEGIANCE By a DIVINE of the Church of England London Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers Hall in the Year MDCLXXXIX THE OATH of ALLEGIANCE I 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. Quaere What is meant by this Allegiance And what is it that we promise when we take this Oath The Resolution The word Allegiance being a Term of Art is variously rendred But we are not to trouble our selves with the sense of it amongst the Feudists from whom it was borowed but are rather to examine what it may signify according to present Use and Custom here in England Now this word Allegiance as applyed to King Williaem and Queen Mary in this Oath can denote no other then one of these Two Things 1. An acknowledgment of their Title Or 2. Submission and Obedience to their Government If the former then the sense of the Oath is this I A. B. Do truely and sincerely acknwledge profess testify and declare in my Conscience before God and the world that our Sovereign Lord and Lady King WILLIAM and Queen MARY are lawful and rightful King and Queen of this Realm and of all other their Majesties Dominions and Countries and that I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to their Majesties as such If the latter then the sense of the Oath seems only to be this Whereas at present I am under the Government and enjoy the Protection of King WILLIAM and Queen MARY I do faithfully promise to submit to this their Government And that I will not contrive attempt or encourage any act of Hostility against them But living quietly and peaceably as a good Subject in obedience to the Laws will promote the safety of my Country and the Preservation of Religion and Civil Society Now since all Oaths and Promises are to be taken in the sense of the Imposer we are next to inquire Whether of these Two Senses is intended by this Oath I think the latter and not the former For these Reasons 1. Had the framers of this Oath any such Design viz. To impose an acknowledgment of the King and Queens Title they might then easily have made use of such expressions as would have put the matter out of all Doubt Or else mutatis mutandis they might have proposed the former Oath of Allegiance wherein the King's Title is expresly acknowledged Which since they have not done it seems highly probable they had no such intention 2. The very Form of the Oath viz. I do promise I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance seems to exclude such a Sense For the Subject matter of a Promise is something that is future not present And consequently this Oath being not Assertory but Promissory doth plainly respect our future carriage and behaviour and is not Declarative of our present Sentiment and Opinion So that if by this word Allegiance were meant the acknowledging of their Title put it into plain Language and observe how harsh and improper it would be viz. I A. B. Do sincerely promise it is my Sentiment and Opinion That King William and Queen Mary have a just and lawful Title Where 't is evident that had this Oath been framed to establish the King and Queen's Title the word should have been Dclare or Acknowledg instead of Promise 3. This is yet further suggested by reflecting on the former Oath of Allegiance Which being both Assertory and Promissory doth consist of Two Parts 1. A recognition of the King's Title 2. A promisse of future Allegiance and Obedience Plainly denoting that these are Two Things different and distinct each from other However you will say 't is sufficiently intimated hereby That the King's Title is the true and only ground of our Allegiance and consequently if King WILLIAM and Queen MARY have as yet no lawful Title it is then unlawful to take tbis Oath and to swear Allegiance to them ANSWER THE Title of King William and Queen Mary is not now to be disputed Those who are dissatisfied may consult the Two Houses Who are best able to resolve such Scruples and to vindicate the Justice of their own Proceedings But private Persons need not trouble their heads about Titles 'T is sufficient for such to know That King William and Queen Mary are de facto King and Queen And therefore by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm there is an Allegiance due to them By the Statute of 25 E. 3. De proditionibus is declared in certain particular Cases what Offences shall be taken to be Treason viz. Fait compasser on imaginer la mort nostre Seignior le Roy Madame sa Compaigne c. Ou si home leve guerre enconter nostre Seignior le Roy en son Realm ou soit aidant as enemies nostre dit Seignior le Roy en son Realme donnant a eux aid ou comfort en son Royalme ou per aylours That is to say When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King of my Lady his Queen c. Or if a Man do levy Mar against our Lord the King in his Realm or be adherent to the Kings Enemies in his Realm giving to them aid and comfort in the Realm or elsewhere such a Man is declared by this Act to be guilty of High Treason Observe now Sir Edw. Coke's Exposition of this Statute ¶ Nostre Seignior le Roy This Act is to be understood of a King in Possession of the Crown and Kingdom For if there be a King regnant in possession although he be Rex de Facto non de Jure yet is he Seignior le Roy within the Purvien of this Statute And the other that hath Right and is out of Possession is not within this Art. Nay if Treason be committed against a King de Facto non de Jure and after the King de Jure cometh to the Crown he shall punish the Treason done to the King de Facto And a Pardon granted by a King de Jure that is not also de Facto is void 3. Part. of the Institutes pag. 7. From which Words this Remark is obvious If it be High Treason to compass or imagine the Death of King William and Queen Mary who are de Facto King and Queen as being in Possession of the Crown and Kingdom If it be High Treason to levy War against King William and Queen Mary If it be High Treason to adhere to give aid and comfort to the Enemies of King William and Queen Mary in the Realm or elsewhere then it undenyably follows according to my Lord Coke's Exposition of this Statute That it is the Duty of the People of these Nations to Protect and Defend King William and Queen Mary To do their best endeavour to disclose and make known unto their Majesty's all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies against them and consequently There is a Duty an Homage and Allegiance due to them OBJECTION But is not this a strange Gloss thus to encourage Usurpation and to fix the Crown upon the Point of the Sword Sir Edw. Coke though otherwise a great Man had hiâ— Passions and his Errors And may not this justly be rejected as one of his Mistakes ANSWER I was at first much startled at this Passage But having observed that not only Sr. Edw. Coke but all â—â—â—ers who write of the Pleas of the Crown do give the same Exposition I began to cool in my Censures And since peritis in sua arte I thought it most modest to suspect my own Judgment and did rest satisfied that there was some weighty Reason were I able to explain it why these Sages of the Law did thus Determine From these Premises I infer That even those who are dissatisfied with the Proceedings of the CONVENTION and who are of Opinion That King JAMES by withdrawing his Person did not Abdicate the Government I say even those very Persons according to this Exposition of 25. Edw. 3. may lawfully Promise and Swear Fidelity and true Allegiance to their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY who are at least de facto King and Queen and are undoubtedly in Possession of the Crown and Kingdom FINIS