SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE Oaths Declaration Appointed in an Act past in the first Year of the Reign of King William AND Queen Mary In reference to the Roman Catholicks of England By Sir D. W. Baronet of the Church of Rome LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCV To my worthy good Friend SIR IT was not yet my hap to be tendered the new Oaths but supposing that at some time it may since in the last Sessions of Parliament there were Agitations for barring all Persons from Voices in Elections of Members for Parliament and from Practice in their Professions besides the Penalties of this Statute and Paiment of double Taxes in case of refusing to Swear and Declare as by this Act is required These and some other Considerations needless to particularize put me on search into the Quality and Sense of these Oaths with the Duty and Lawfulness of taking or refusing them And first I observed that in these Oaths there is no declaring or swearing to the King's Supremacy in any Things or Causes nor a Renunciation of the Rights or Titles of any other Person nor a Promise of Faith and Allegiance to the present Prince's Heirs and lawful Successors nor an Acknowledgment before God and the World of the King 's lawful Title to this Realm nor a swearing to the plain and common Sense of the Words all which were Parts of the former Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance and might have raised Scruples if inserted in these that are now frivolous I likewise observe that the nonjurat Protestants and the Catholicks are not by the same Reasons induced to refuse to take these Oaths the one having sworn the former the latter generally refusing them On the whole I have made the Reflections which I herewith present to you my truly dear Friend I will not affirm to you that I am so fully satisfied in this Enquiry as that I am resolved to take these Oaths when required so to do nor will I conceal from you that my private Opinion is that I may as a sound Catholick with a safe Conscience without Hazard of Salvation both take these new Oaths and subscribe the Declaration now framed by Parliament The Matters therein contained are entirely within the Consideration of the Laws of the Kingdom without any relation to the Mysteries of Faith and therefore I believe you a competent and proper Iudg herein and earnestly request you to give me your Thoughts hereof I would not that it should be said of me Incidit in Scillam qui vult vitare Charibdim I resolve to be governed by your Sentiments of this Affair and ever to acknowledg to the World that I very much honour you and am SIR 1st May 1695. Your real and affectionate Servant Because in reading these Reflections there may be occasion for comparing the several Oaths I have here set them down at large The Oaths and Declaration in the Act of 1 Will. Mar. 1. 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 c. 2. 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 murdered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever 3. And I do declare That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Iurisdiction Power Superiority Prehemmence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual wâ—thin this Realm So help me God c. The Oath of Supremacy framed in the Act 1 Eliz. c. 1. which Oath is now abrogated I A. B. do utterly testify and declare in my Conscience That the King's Majesty is the only supreme Governour of this Realm and of all other his Highness Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as Temporal And that no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction 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 King's Highness his Heirs and lawfull Successors and to my Power shall assist and defend all Iurisdictions Privileges Preheminencies and Authorities granted or belonging to the King's Highness his Heirs and Successors or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm So help me God and the Contents of this Book The Oath of Allegiance in the Stat. 3 Iac. 1. which Oath is now abrogated I A. B. do truly and sincerely acknowledg profess testify and declare in my Conscience before God and the World That our Sovereign Lord King James is lawful King of this Realm and of all other his Majesty's Dominions and Conntries and that the Pope neither of himself nor by any Authority of the See of Rome or by any other means with any other hath any Power or Authority to depose the King or to dispose of any of his Majesty's Kingdoms or Dominions or to authorize any foreign Prince to invade or annoy him or his Countries or to discharge any of his Subjects of their Allegiance and Obedience to his Majesty or to give Licence or leave to any of them to bear Arms raise Tumults or to offer any Violence or Hurt to his Majesty's Royal Person State or Government or to any of his Majesty's Subjects within his Dominions Also I do swear from my Heart That notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation made or granted or to be made or granted by the Pope or his Successors or by any Authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his See against the said King his Heirs or Successors or any Absolution of the said Subjects from their Obedience I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors and him and them will defend to the uttermost of my Power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity by reason or colour of any such Sentence or Declaration or otherwise and will do my best Endeavours to disclose and make known to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them And I do further swear That I do from my Heart abhor detest and abjure as Impious and Heretical this damnable Doctrine or Position That Princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do believe and in Conscience am resolved that neither the Pope nor any Person whatsoever hath Power to absolve me of this Oath or any part thereof which I acknowledg by
good and full Authority to be lawfully ministred unto me and do renounce all Pardons and Dispensations to the contrary And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and sweat according to these express Words by me spoken and according to the plain and common Sense and understanding of the same Words without any Equivocation or mental Evasion or secret Reservation whatsoever And I do make this Recognition and Acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God REFLECTIONS ON THE Oaths Declaration Lately appointed in the room of the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance SInce the Supreme Power of this Nation hath for the Security of its Government enacted that all Persons should either take these Oaths or suffer severe Penalties for their Refusal It seems to be an Act of Charity no less than of Prudence to consider the Reasons for taking or refusing them I apply my self to Catholicks The first of these Oaths is barely promissory to bear Faith and true Allegiance to the present Prince who whatever his Title be hath sufficient Power to rule govern and protect us To him whilest we live under his Government we are Subjects As it is undeniable that he is King of this Realm either de jure or de facto or both ways which matters not now to be considered for no sort of Right is here sworn to as was in the former Oaths to our lawful Kings so it is plain that we are his Subjects de jure or de facto or both ways The Right of a Prince and Duty of a Subject are Correllatives they live and expire together Thus whilest he is our King we are his Subjects whilest we are his Subjects we owe him Duty and Fidelity and ought not to scruple promising it when thereto required to which we are now more strictly obliged by the Authority of the Kingdom commanding it In all Countries as well Catholick as others Fidelity is required from those in Subjection unto those who have the Dominion whether it be gained by Conquest or otherways In our own Pope Gregory declared that notwithstanding the Censures of his Predecessor Pius Quintus the Subjects of England ought to perform all Duty to Queen Elizabeth and whatsoever might be the Catholicks inward Judgments concerning her Title yet after the Parliament had acknowledged her a lawful Queen all Civil Obedience was exactly paid to her This Oath of Fidelity is generally taken in Ireland by the Catholicks pursuant to the Articles for Surrender of Limerick by Approbation of the Primate and Clergy of that Kingdom The Fathers of the Society of Jesus of the English Province decree thus Let us all profess that as much Obedience and Fidelity ought to be sincerely sworn and exhibited to our King from every one of us as is wont to be sworn and exhibited to any Princes whatsoever from other Catholick Subjects Here is no Distinction made between lawful or unlawful Titles of Princes but the Relation between any Princes whatsoever and their Subjects allowed to be a Ground for Fidelity The second Oath is a part of the Oath of Allegiance made in the Reign of King James which Oath was freely taken by the chief and others of the Catholick Clergy here in England and by them the Nobility and Gentry were advised and exhorted to do the same declaring it to be a Duty incumbent on them by the Law of God Sixty of the Doctors of the Sorbon subscribed to the said Oath these following Words We underwritten Divines and Doctors of the Sacred Faculty of Paris do judg the Oath as it is on the other side i. e. the Oath of Allegiance may with Safety of Faith and Conscience be taken by English Catholicks c. But Pope Paul the Fifth sent a Breve into England directed to the English Catholicks wherein reciting the said Oath at large he declares that this Oath contains many things plainly repugnant to Faith and Salvation and admonisheth and requireth them not to take that Oath This Breve his Holiness seconded by another and both were confirmed by succeeding Popes The Fathers of the Society in their Provincial Congregation afore-mentioned decree thus concerning that Oath that the Oath i. e. the Oath of Allegiance as it is now sprinkled with many Heterodox Clauses cannot be taken as being condemned by many Breves of Popes These things considered I 'll suppose that Oath might not be taken by Catholicks because it contained many things contrary to Faith c. and is sprinkled with many Heterodox Clauses and lastly because it is condemned by many Breves of Popes But then it must be granted to me that this Oath now to be taken is not that Oath which was required not to be sworn which was condemned This Oath is but one Clause amongst many which compose that Oath the Pope doth not declare that all the things in that Oath are repugnant to Faith c. his Prohibition doth not fall on any particular Clause the Fathers of the Society do not impeach every Clause in that Oath nor distinguish those Heterodox ones that are sprinkled in it Both Pope and Fathers allow that some Things and Clauses in that Oath are not liable to Censure There are many Clauses in that Oath whereof those which are condemned though called many may be fewest in number Now if this Oath be not plainly repugnant to Faith and Salvation there is no Ground for refusing it because it is a part of the former Oath And that it is not plainly repugnant to Faith c. to abhor detest and abjure that damnable Doctrine and Position mentioned in this Oath the Word of God the Council of Constance the Subscription of the Doctors of the Sorbon the Decrees of the Parliament of Paris and Subscription of the Fathers of the Society to an Agreement with the Sorbon are full and sufficient convincing Evidences To all or some of which every one may easily apply himself for Satisfaction The Declaration annexed to these Oaths is not to be sworn to but only to be made repeated and subscribed to as a Matter which the Declarer believes to be true according to a rational Judgment and moral Certainty thereof which yet may be consistent with an absolute Possibility of the thing being otherwise It is an Assertion of the Truth of a thing as it is in his Conscience or rational Judgment not as it is in it self and this moral Certainty may secure the Declarer from a Lie and justify him before God and Man The Reflections I make being with Reference to the Catholicks in England I will consider the Duty and Lawfulness of their making or refusing to make this Declaration distinctly from others 1. And to shorten my Work I will here suppose that by foreign Prince Person Prelate c. is meant the Pope and his Successors 2. That the Pope hath and ought to have some Jurisdiction or Power or Superiority or Preheminence
or Authority in this Realm 3. That the Popes formerly had and had a Right to some Jurisdictions c. within this Realm which now are not enjoyed by them 4. That the Jurisdictions c. which Popes formerly had and now have not they ought not to have in this Realm To explain my self in my second Supposition Catholicks unanimously grant that Christ gave a Power purely spiritual to his Apostles throughout the whole World and in them to their Successors to preach to feed his Sheep to bind and loose c. This Power being derived to the Pope as Successor to St. Peter his Holiness hath a Right to throughout the whole World for thus large is the Commission from Christ And this Power being given by God cannot be taken away by Men nor be denied by Christians either in this Realm or any other part of the World without Breach of Faith The spiritual Power could not be exercised by Kings or Princes it did never belong to them or to their Crowns nor indeed was ever claimed or pretended to in this Realm therefore I will here only conclude that it is not probable that this Declaration intends to deny the Pope's Power purely spiritual in this Kingdom I shall endeavour to make this more plain hereafter My third Supposition grants that Popes had a Right to and enjoyed Jurisdictions Powers c. These were in Courts and Matters called Ecclesiastical or Spiritual as Cases of Marriage Tythes Wills c. These Jurisdictions c. were merely external political or civil and came not to the Pope jure divino Our Saviour declared that his Kingdom is not of this World and therefore gave no Jurisdiction Power c. besides that which is purely spiritual to his Apostles or their Successors The Crown of England is and of long time hath been an Imperial Crown depending only on God by whom Princes reign From the Crown divers Privileges have been at divers times either by the Piety or Inadvertencies of Princes granted to Popes in the Language of those Days called the Church at other times Usurpations have been made when the Princes were weak or unfortunate These Privileges being long used and their Origine either forgotten or concealed have been commonly look'd on and claimed as the proper and inherent Right of those to whom they were granted or came This Right being charily preserved by them and freely confess'd by others to be a good Title accompanied with a long and quiet Possession and called Ecclesiastical or Spiritual came to be thought at last to be a Right given them by God whereas in Truth it proceeded from Men and as all humane things are subject to change may by the same Power from whence it was derived be taken away And thus hath it fared with the Pope's Power in Temporals which he had and exercised in this Kingdom sometimes they have been disputed other times taken from him and restored to the Crown then again restored to his Holiness and about 130 Years since were again taken from him and restored to the Crown and so continue at this Day which is a Matter so evident to every English-man that no one of them can find Reason to believe that the Pope at this time hath any Jurisdiction Power c. besides that which is purely Spiritual in this Realm The fourth Supposition intends that since those Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Jurisdictions Powers c. which the Pope enjoyed and exercised in this Realm and which were not purely Spiritual nor derived to him from the Apostles but came to him by the Grants of Princes Consent of People or by some other mere humane means as touching Appeals Annats First-fruits electing of Bishops Dispensations in humane Laws to the Prejudice of the Crown and impoverishing of the Subjects giving Licences in abundance of humane Cases or Things putting Bishops into their Bishopricks and Priests into their Parishes since I say these Powers c. came to the Popes by times or by Concordates between Princes on the one side and Popes on the other which could not be Divine or Supernatural Powers that is Powers derived to him or conferred on him jure divino are abolished as to his Holiness and restored to the Crown by several Acts of Parliament as antiently belonging thereto it is as plain that the Pope ought not to have those Jurisdictions Powers c. of which he is thus legally divested as it is apparent that at this time he neither hath nor exerciseth them Now to enlarge somewhat on the Substance of the two last Suppositions I will instance in some few Remarks what Interruptions the Popes have met with in the Exercise of their Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Powers c. in Matters merely Temporal in this Realm King Henry the First gave the Bishoprick of Winchester to William Gifford and forthwith invested him into all the Possessions thereto belonging though contrary to a Canon The same King also gave the Archbishoprick of Canterbury to Radolph Bishop of London and gave him Investiture by a Ring and a Crosiers Staff In the same King's Reign Thurstan elect Archbishop of York got leave of the King to go to a Council held under Pope Calixtus at Rhemes giving his Faith to the King that he would not receive Consecration of the Pope but notwithstanding he obtained to be consecrate at the Pope's Hand which as soon as the King heard he forbad him to come within his Dominions King Edward the First prohibited the Abbot of Waltham and Dean of Paul's to collect a tenth of every Man's Goods for a Supply to the Holy Land which the Pope by three Bulls had committed to their Charge The same King impleaded the Dean of the Chappel of Wulverhampton because the said Dean had against the Privileges of the Kingdom given a Prebend of the same Chappel to one at the Pope's Command King Richard the Second by Act of Parliament prohibited that any should procure a Benefice from Rome under pain to be put out of the King's Protection Thus several Catholick Princes in Catholick times disputed the Pope's Jurisdictions Powers c. in several Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Matters King Henry the Eighth no less a Catholick and likewise in a Catholick time by several Acts of Parliament consisting of Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons all Catholicks deprived the Pope of several Jurisdictions Powers c. which were supposed to be usurped from the Crown and the Exercise whereof were much to its Detriment Again Queen Elizabeth revives all those Statutes made by her Father restores all antient Jurisdictions to the Crown and abolisheth all foreign Powers repugnant to the antient Jurisdiction of the Crown And thus they continue to this Day From what I have collected here it may appear that no purely spiritual Power hath been by the Laws of this Kingdom taken from the Pope that whatever Power hath been taken from the Pope hath been restored to the Crown as its antient Jurisdiction and