A brief examination and consideration of the unsound princples upon which the armies plea (lately committed to publick view) is grounded wherein the repentance of those army-men and the conversion of all other persons from the error of their ways who have (in what capacity so-ever) acted by the said principles is most earnestly desired and specially aimed at / by a friend to the truth.

That as all Lawes, Statutes, Acts and Ordinances, so all Engagements, Promises, and Protestations, all Acknowledge∣ments, Subscriptions, Vowes and Oaths, all, and all manner of Obligations and Expressions thereof, are only binding unto the Publick Safety, and not at all to the Persons of the Gover∣nours, or formes of Government, but with reference there∣unto.

That which is here insinuated & must be so understood, (if

all this be any thing at all to the justification of the present practice of suppressing by a lawlesse power all the funda∣mental laws of the land, & the whole ancient & lawful Go∣vernment thereof,) is, that all the said Laws, and the whole Government it self are utterly inconsistent with, and cer∣tainly destructive to the Publick Safety: That is, all our Law-givers, Kings and Parliaments in all former ages were either ignorant of what was conducing to that End, or maliciously bent against it; and the whole people that have generally promised, protested, covenanted and sworn to maintain the ancient Government and the known Laws of the Land, were either all out of their wits when they did it, or never had any, till the Light, the Light of these rare Principles came forth, and shined upon them. And yet (for all that,) the Publick Safety (which was never much endangered till these blessed dayes) hath been ever hitherto effectually preserved, no man can imagine how!

But if this new Doctrine may passe for current the Use and End of all Promises, Covenants, Protestations and Oaths is utterly lost; and consequently, it must be a ta∣king of Gods name in vaine to promise any thing upon Oath in any case. For needs must that be in vaine that can never attain the End that is pretended for it. The only end of an Oath by which a Promise is confirmed, is the unquestionable assurance of the effectual performance of that which is promised: If then in this, he that promiseth may be fast or loose, as he himself shall judge the real per∣formance conducing or not conducing to Publick Safety, the undoubted Assurance which that Oath should cause being the greatest uncertainty, the Oath is absolutely taken in vain; and consequently perjurious in the very taking of it, as well as in the ensuing contempt, if not performed: For, that God is not invoked in the Oath taking to give testimony to a lye, must meerly depend upon the fallible

opinion of every one that takes that Oath, touching what is, or is not conducible to Publick Safety.

And whereas it is said, that Promises, Protestations and Oaths are only binding unto the Publick Safety, there can be nothing more abominably and scandalously false. For, that the special matter of the Promise or the thing promi∣sed by Oath, is that only thing to which the Oath and the Promise (as such) do properly oblige, is a truth too appa∣rent to be contradicted, or doubted of. Otherwise, when a Witnesse hath sworn, or promised by Oath, to speak the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he may safely neglect this special matter of his Oath, and speak any thing or no∣thing, in case he be convinced in his judgment that the discovery of such a truth is inconvenient for the Publick Safety. If the case be not the self-same, when men have sworn or promised by Oath, to bear faith and true Allegiance to the King, his heirs, and lawful successors, wherein lies the difference? Why doth not the Oath in this case bind sim∣ply to the special matter of it, as well as in the former, or in any other?

If Oaths be binding only to the Publick Safety, or to some other real or pretended End, and not at all to the persons of those men to whom the promises (thereby confirmed,) are made, nor to the special matter, to wit, the actual and effectual performance of what is promised, two grosse ab∣surdities will follow; First, that there can be no such thing as perjury, or breach of Oath committed by any per∣son in any case imaginable. For that man is mad that will ever judge that to be Publick Safety, wherein his own is not included; and a mans own safety is that which every man doth naturally and necessarily desire, and most ear∣nestly pursue (according to his power, and the uttermost of his understanding) in all his actions: Therefore, if an Oath binds only to this End, he stedfastly aiming at this,

in the non-performance of his Oath, is guilty of no breach of it, in what case soever it be: and so, perjury is simply im∣possible in any case imaginable.

The second is, That all promises confirmed by Oaths, are to no purpose at all, (be the case what it will, or can;) For, they either have no binding force at all, or they must needs binde to the performance of them, and that to the person or persons to whom they are made: if therefore they binde to neither of these, they signifie just nothing; and consequently, all Oaths taken in confirmation of them are absolute perjuries and blasphemies. For, the Oath bindes only and precisely to what the promise doth; because the Oath bindes only to make good the promise, and the pro∣mise cannot be made in the aire, but must necessarily be made to some person or persons; If therefore the promise binde not to the persons of those men to whom it is made, nor to the performance of what is promised, no more doth the Oath; and so nothing at all comes of either, but pal∣pable wrong to the persons abused, and deluded by them, and a blasphemous invocation of God to be witnesse to a lie.

The Authors of equivocations and men al reservati∣ons had not the wit to think of this new device, to elude the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy: Those inventi∣ons were but toyes to this. This had they happily hit on, and could in their little modesty have owned, they might have allowed the taking of those Oaths as lawful, even in the plaine sense which the words do expressely signifie, though they had held the real and actual performance of them never so unlawful: For now, they and all the world are taught (to the high Scandal of the Protestant Professi∣on,) that all Oaths and other Obligations (of what kinde soever) are not at all binding either to the real and true per∣formance of them, or to the persons of those to whom they

are made, (though both these be expressed in the plaine words of the Oath;) but only to the Publick Safety, (though this be never mentioned at all therein:) Thus might those holy Fathers have eluded the Obligation of those Oaths, and of all other put upon them, or upon any of their party: Especially, if they had considered withal, that that which was Publick Safety to their foes, was no Publick Safety to them, (their own, being least of all included in it:) and so the said Oaths could binde them to nothing at all, if only to that which they (in all reason) must esteem the Publick Safety.

Psal. 15. Lord, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle, &c.—He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Also, that Oaths should be binding only to the Pub∣lick Safety, and not at all to the persons to whom they are made, nor to the real and true performance of what is pro∣mised thereby, is irrefragably confuted by the ex∣ample of the Oath of Joshua and the Princes of Israel to the Gibeonites. How comes the Oath of Allegiance (back'd by those other, of the Protestation and the Covenant,) to be lesse binding to the persons of the King and his Heirs, than that was to the persons of the Gibeonites? And how is real and effectual performance lesse necessary for the avoid∣ing of perjury now, than it was then? Let all the Chap∣lains of old O lay their heads together to give a clear ca∣tegorical answer.

But this will appear to be the harder undertaking, if it be farther considered, that, by the late and present practice upon the Principle aforesaid, two of those three qualifica∣tions which God himself hath annexed to all Oaths, are utterly despised and made nothing of; to wit, Truth and Righteousnesse. For, first, the Truth that must be found in the Oath, consisteth in the full Congruity of the thing pro∣mised (in the real performance of it,) with the words of the Oath, under which the promise is made. As, in the Oath

of Allegiance, J. A. B. do promise, that from henceforth I shall bear faith and true Allegiance to the Kings Highness, his Heirs and lawful Successors: If the Faith and true Allegi∣ance to the King and his Heirs here promised, do and shall fully answer to the words of the Oath henceforth; then, in that congruity of the thing promised (and effectually performed) with the expresse words of the promise, is the truth of that Oath; But, if this Truth be wilfully neglect∣ed, and the contrary thereto (upon whatsoever pretence) admitted, it is (unavoidably) the most absolute and formal perjury that men can ever possibly be guilty of. And then, if truth be wanting, the other qualification of Righteous∣nesse must needs be so. For if the Faith and true Allegi∣ance promised were not due by Law (as by all Law, Divine and Humane, it is,) yet the solemne and expresse promise of it, and that upon Oath, must needs put the duenesse of it past all dispute. Therefore the failer of truth, in the diffor∣mity between the duty promised, and the words of the promise (which the Oath includeth,) doth necessarily in∣fer the failer of Righteousness also; it being the special and proper act of Righteousnesse, to render to all their dues. If the righteous scarely be saved, where shall the unrighte∣ous (and perjurious too) appear?

There is another device to elude (if God could be mocked) the Obligation of this Oath: And that is, That when they took it, they then did really and truly intend to perform it, (though they have seen cause since to be of an∣other minde:) and, that the truth of that their first inten∣tion, is all the truth that belongeth to the Oath for ever af∣ter. How cunning some men can be, to damn their souls! Meer Polititians and formal Atheists must they needs be, that can with any confidence put all the little hope they have of Heaven upon the validity of that, which (upon the least consideration) must needs appear to themselves to sig∣nifie

just nothing. For, (unlesse they took the Oath with no judgment,) they cannot but know, that their inward intention of keeping it, was not so much as men∣tioned therein: Nor did they at all swear, to intend then the performance of it; but, from thenceforth to per∣form it. Therefore the truth of their intention (if there were any,) never was nor is any thing at all to that special truth which ought from thenceforth (that is, in all time to come,) to be bound in the special matter of the Oath, which is only and precisely the real and effectual performance of that formal act and duty, of bearing faith and true Allegiance, &c. And, as the pre∣tended truth of intention, is nothing to the truth, or is not the formal truth of the real performance of that duty, (which is the only thing promised by the Oath;) So is it nothing at all conducing to the special and proper End of it: For, the End of that Oath was not to discover the secrets of mens hearts, (the knowledge whereof belongs to none but God and themselves,) but to bind them to their External and Civil duty. The failer of truth therfore as touching this, is (with∣out all contradiction) that foul and grosse perjury, for which there can be no Apology, nor pardon without re∣pentance.

If this Nation therefore should so far forget their natural and necessary duty of Allegiance to their only lawful Soveraign, as to break through the strongest obligation of this most solemne publick and legal Oath and divers others by which they have pro∣mised and sworn the due performance of it, such a National Wickednesse committed in an open, bold, and daring manner, involving an Atheistical defiance of the God of Truth by whom they have sworn, would very soon draw down upon them a National

and fatal judgment; and that infallibly: And the rea∣son hereof is, because this kind of impiety not only dishonours God obliquely, (as all sinne doth,) but directly darkens the glory of God in his great Attri∣bute of Truth, wherein he alone excelleth all other that are falsely called so. And because the scandal of the wil∣ful breach of this National Oath can know no limit, it can be no lesse than a total Eclipsing (as much as in men lies) of the glory of God (which he will part with at no rate) in the eyes of all the Nations of the world. And in this kind of sin, this is singular and proper, that, for this, if wilfully committed, no man may pray, that God would remit or avert the temporal and speedy vengeance that is due unto it: because this is the only proper Expedient for that necessary and indispensable Vindication of Gods glory in the eyes of men, being by that kind of sin caused (as much as in men lies) to be disreputed among all other Nations to be the God of Truth, or, the only true God. And the wilful Breach of this Oath is the more horrid, in that it is committed against the highest, cleerest, greatest and most publickly known Right in all the world. 1 Cor. 6. 7, 8.—Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer your selves to be defrauded? Nay, you do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren; What aggravation then were this! And that your publick Fa∣ther, even the greatest nursing Father of the Church, the truest Defender of the Faith, and (under God) the greatest Patron of the purest Profession of that Faith in all the world, and by all other Nations (holding the same Profession) ever so accounted.

But, lest they that have never in their proper per∣sons taken that Oath aforementioned, should think themselves to be little concerned in it, it is here to be

farther noted, 1. That the Law of God, by the inter∣vention of the inviolable and fundamental Law of the Land (without which the eighth Precept as well as the fifth, of the moral and eternal Law of God would have nothing in this Land to take effect upon,) doth of it self (before and without that Oath) oblige the conscience of every one of the free people of this Na∣tion to perform the duty of bearing faith and true Allegiance to the lawful and rightful King and Gover∣nour thereof. 2. That the Oath of Allegiance and every other legal Oath to the like effect, being once taken by the whole Nations Representative in Par∣liament, and in the capacity of such a Representative, must necessarily oblige the Nation represented, no lesse than the Representative it self; and that (according to the tenor of the Oath,) from thence forth; that is, in all time to come. And this appears evidently by the example of the Oath of the Princes of Israel to the Gibeonites. The Princes being the whole peoples Representative, and for that cause, stiled the Princes of the Congregation, the whole people stood obliged by it, (though not formally taken by every one,) and that for ever after. And this appears by the heavie judgment of God upon Sauls family, four hundred and thirty years after, for the breach of that National Oath, though He himself had never formally taken it.

For though an Oath be vinculum personale, yet that is no reason why in such a case it should not binde the consciences of those persons that (formerly) took it not, but rather why it should; to wit, because those persons that took it, took it not only in their own formal capacity, as so many single men, but more espe∣cially in their Publick and Representative capacity, as sustaining the persons of all the rest of the people; In

which case, the persons of all other represented by them are obliged by that Oath; it being even to them, at least by interpretation, a personal Oath; and they them∣selves personally took it: For, in this case, or any other the like, Quod quis facit per alium, facit per se; That which any one doth by another in his stead, he doth by himself. Therefore as the whole people do by their freely chosen Representative consent to the enacting of a Law, so to the taking of this legal Oath, and are therefore no lesse obliged personally by both than their Representers are.

All the Persons therefore of the whole people that shall formally consent to the Breach of this National Oath, are as formally guilty before God both of that Perjury and injustice as any particular persons are, in what capacity or place of Authority soever they be.

These are all but one, which is rather implyed, than expressed, and is to this effect, viz. That it is lawful to justifie one iniquity by another: Or, that, because some persons have done such things, o∣thers may do the like. Or, (more expressely,) That, strange and unknown practises, never done be∣fore, nor at all justifiable by any known Lawes, and (doubtlesse in respect of the letter of the Law,) very il∣legal actions (and those in expresse contradiction to divers National Oaths,) may lawfully and justifia∣bly be done; (and that) by persons, that are not the whole or the greater part of the whole number of those, in whom the Supreme Government is (by the ancient constitution and uninterrupted usage, and known Law and Custome of the Nation,) really and of right existing: And that such unknown and strange practises, (extending to the totall dissolution

of the only known legal Government,) being justi∣fiable by no known Law, Divine or Humane, by no former Precedent, good or bad, nor by any cer∣taine Rule and just Measure of Civil Righteousness, may yet be jusified by the pretended Light of the aforesaid Principles, falsely called Principles of com∣mon Reason, Justice and Equity.

What S. Ireneus of old said of the horrid and grosse Heresies of the Valentinians, That the meere discovery of them was Confutation enough, may very well be said of this no lesse horrid and heretical Asser∣tion.

The pretended Light of the aforesaid Principles, (much like that of the Quakers, is here confessedly opposed to all the known Law of the Land. And yet, beside the whole body of all the known Laws of the Land, and true Customes of the Nation, there is not any thing imaginable, by which the several persons of it are or can be actually united and formally con∣stituted a Civil Body. And, that, where there is no Civil Body, there can be no civil Authority, is as plain and certain, as that twice two is four, or thrice three, nine. By what Authority then could or can any such strange and unknown practices be done, which (by the Actors own confession) are not only beside, but directly contrary to all known Law?

It is impossible for a stream to rise higher than the Fountain out of which it flows. The known Law of the Land, and the fundamental Customes of the Nation (and not the light of any principles of com∣mon reason, which all the Nations of the world are e∣qual partakers of,) being the only proper and formal cause of the very constitution of the Civil Body as such, must needs be the only fountain of all Civil Authority and

lawful Power in it: This therefore can never rise high∣er, or reach farther than that Law, Custome, and civil Constitution. Therefore whatsoever hath beene done, by what persons soever, beside, or beyond, or more directly contrary to the known Law, Custome and civil Constitution of the Kingdom, hath been done by no civil Authority or lawful power. And consequent∣ly, whatsoever hath so been done, (by what person soever, or in what capiacity soever,) must necessarily infer the guilt of that unrighteousnesse, which nothing but true repentance can remove; and no repentance can be true, if the sin it self be wilfully persisted in.

FINIS.

Notes

• The 15th.
• Jer. 4. 2.
• Rom. 13. 7.
• 1 Pet. 4. 18.
• 2 Sam. 21. 1, 2.