for thrusting the Apostles Creed out of the Church let them be published to the world that all Christians may judge how Orthodoxe they are First let them resolve whether or no the King not withstanding the taking of this oath be bound to take away the Churches rights and whether or no like so many Popes they or the Houses have power to dispense with Oaths and to nullifie them at their pleasure Secondly if the King will not bend his conscience to be warped into Perjury by the scorching heat of their zeale whether or no it be lawfull for the Subjects to raise a Militia and to call us in to their aide to force the King thereunto and whether or no it be rebellion so to do Thirdly where the King is pursued because he will not commit Perjury whether or no the Subjects by that accompt which they are to give to God by the duty which they owe to the King and by the Oaths of Allegeance which they have taken be not bound to stand up in his Majesties aide for the vindication of his Majesties honour and conscience Fourthly where the Subjects do upon these grounds engage themselves in his Majesties service whether or no it be according to the rules of Religion or Justice to vote or publish them to be enemies to God and all Godlinesse Papists popishly affected Traitors to the King enemies to their Country disturbers of the Peace and such like Fifthly whether or no all those Clergy-men that have taken the Oathes of Canonicall obedience and to maintaine the discipline and government of the Church all those of the Laity that have taken the Oathes of Offices of trusts and of allegeance can justifie the violation of those Oathes to comply with the two Houses in forcing his Majesty to violate this Sixthly whether or no all the laws of God and man which justifie and vindicate the Kings Rights and conscience are to be esteemed as void and null in Law And whether or no all the bloud shed in this most horrid and unnaturall war shall be imputed to them who seeke to vindicate his Majesties honour and conscience or to those who under pretence of a thorow Reformation and of fighting against evill Counsellors give the King so many battells and turne these Kingdomes into so many Acheldama's filling them not only as Manasses did Jerusalem with bloud from one end to the other but also with so many Perjuries Sacriledges and horrid Blasphemies If the Assembly of Divines be ashamed to own these accursed impieties why should not we be ashamed to defend those things by our Swords which they are ashamed to justifie with their Pens I thinke impiety is not yet grown to that height of impudency that any man dare dispute these questions in the discussing whereof it will appear that if all the Precepts of Divinity were taken out of the Word of God all the dictates of reason blotted out of the Book of nature and all the maximes spunged out of the Lawes and Statutes of this Kingdome which have been violated in the justification of this War against the King there would be neither Scripture Reason nor Law left us how to walk as Christians Men or Subjects but if there be any whose desperate condition hath sold him like Ahab to work wickednesse before the Lord and to plead for the violation of the Kings Oath that were not only to sharpen the Tongues and Pens of men but even the Arrowes of Gods judgements against us and our cause and to make the enemies of God to blaspheme Religion yea to expose our selves our Kingdoms our Religion and all that we have to the contempt and scorn of all nations and Religions whatsoever What Kingdom can with safety enter into a League or confederacy with our King what forreign Nation can with security relie upon the honesty of our Merchants what Religion will not feare to hold Communion with such a Religion or Nation whose Principles either in Religion or State maintaine that the Subjects may take up armes to force the King contrary to his Oath yea his Coronation-Oath how often have our Pulpits rung that faith is to be kept with Hereticks and shall now the Subjects take up arms to force the King to Perjury Lord what shall I say Is the Councell of Trent now removed into Henry the Sevenths Chappell Is the Popes Chaire at Rome changed into the Speakers Chaire at Westminster must our new reformed Religion be founded upon the foure corner stones of Blasphemy Perjury Sacrilege and Rebellion and shall we temper the morter thereof with the bloud and teares of his Majesties loyall people of our fellow Subjects of our Brethren and of those who live and dye in the same faith of Christ with our selves I tremble to thinke what the event of these things may be though we have hitherto escaped the sword I pray God that a Serpent out of the wall doe not bite us If it were taken so ill that the late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and some other Counsellors of State should alter the Kings Oath in some circumstances the substance of the Oath still remaining how ill will it be taken that we should rise in armes to force the Kings conscience against this Oath but admitting it had been but a private Oath nay if a wicked Oath and his Majesties conscience had led him to take and defend the same what Doctrine is there in the Scripture that inables the subjects to rise in rebellion against him for it we may now see the Scaene of the Churches stage strangely altered the Church and true Religion formerly suffered persecution by the tyranny of Kings but now Kings yea pious Kings suffer persecution by the tyranny of Religion these these and such like arguments are those rocks upon which the Royall party hath built their judgement who although they be overcome by the sword are not yet vanquished in their cause for which they make their appeales to heaven and call God and man to witnesse their innocency rejoycing in nothing more then that there will be a day of Judgement when the righteous and impartiall Judge shall judge both them and us according to the justice and innocency of the cause in the meane time now that God hath done with them who knowes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he may begin with us and call us to an accompt Let us therefore hasten on the peace thereby to prevent those clouds of bloud which threaten to dissolve themselves upon us in fire and haile-stones let us lay the foundation thereof in heaven by rooting out those accursed doctrines of sedition which have watered our furrowes with so much bloud let us by a generall Councell chosen out of all the Provinces within his Majesties dominions according to the ancient and known Laws of the 3 severall Kingdomes restore religion to its purity of doctrine the Church to its unity of discipline but for us to thinke of a Reformation by faction and rebellion and to talke of Religion whilst we hold up our swords to force the Kings conscience to perjury is to blaspheme not to maintaine Religion and yet as one absurdity opens the doore to a thousand more and one sinne makes way for another I have heard some of our leven finding that they have done what they could by the sword and all to no purpose thinke to cover the shame of this tenent with a worse and as David thought to cover his adultery by murder so these would cover their murder by adulterating the Church of God and would cloake the forcing of the Kings conscience by armes with proceeding against him by Ecclesiasticall censure but was ever any hereticke so blasphemously impudent as to talke of a tradatur Satanae against their King because he will not perjure himselfe to commit sacrilege and Apostacy this were to deliver our selves not the King to Satan and to burne our selves in hell for thus blaspheming God and the King whilst his Majesty signes his Halelujahs in heaven the curse causelesse shall not come and the arrowes that we shall shoot against him will fall upon our own heads this was not it for which his Majesty put himselfe upon our loyalty If the King would have been forced against his conscience hee needed not to have hazarded either his life or Crowne or to have committed himselfe to our trust he could have forsworne himselfe without our counsell or compulsion let us take heed that we make not a prey of that deere which flyes to us for succour from the Hunts-mans hounds Let us poure balm into the wound of the three Kingdoms by vindicating his Majesties honour and conscience and by restoring the King his Royall Consort the Prince the Church and the other subjects to their lawfull Rights so shall we by giving unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods truly make a covenant with heaven by our Religion and Justice and we may make up all the breaches of dissention by an happy union God may be pacified towards us we may prevent the plots of future designes obtaine honour with all Christian Princes and be restored to our owne homes with the plentifull reward of Religion Justice and Loialty Finis coronat Opus
THE SCOTCH SOULDIERS SPEECH CONCERNING THE KINGS Coronation-Oath Printed in the Yeare 1647. THE Scotch Souldiers Speech concerning the Kings Coronation Oath GEntlemen fellow Souldiers though as a Scotchman I may be plaine and a Souldier blunt yet I hope as a Christian I shall be honest and as a Subject loyall in the expression of that duty which by the Laws of God of nature of the Kingdome of gratitude and of humanity is due to one who is by Soveraigne Majesty our King by birth our Countryman by education a Protestant by profession and actions a most pious Prince and by his gratious compliance with us confident in our loyalty the confluence of which obligements hath made all the powers of heaven and earth to stand as it were in amaze being big with expectations to see how well or ill we deport our selves in this businesse of such high concernment Who knowes but that the divine providence hath sent his Majesty to us that we might be made the happy instruments of a well grounded peace and of restoring Religion to its purity the Church to its Rights the King to his Prerogative and Lawes to their chanell the Nobility and Gentry to their honours and estates and the people to their Liberties if we resolve upon these things we may crown our Nation with honour but if unworthy thoughts possesse our soules we may justly feare that although salvation may come some other way yet we and our party shall perish It is true that we have an hard game to play but having the chiefe triumph trump in our owne hands besides so many honours we shall prove but ill Gamesters if we be not gainers by the deale and give Religion and Justice their due besides the saving of our owne stakes but for the effecting hereof it behooveth us to looke with our owne eyes and not through those spectacles or prospectives through which others present matters unto us we have hitherto been made beleeve that the end and design of all this war was to fetch the King from his evill Councellour to his Parliament of England his Majesty very often yea even beneath the dignity of so great a Prince desired to comply with them but they instead of accepting his Majesty voted him a prisoner his Majesty having honoured us with his Royall presence there are now no evill Councellours about his there are no Armies to animate his non-compliance what is now the rock of offence beleeve it all the circumstances of this War considered we may justly feare that we have been made but a stale to the designes of those seditious Schismaticks who are now the obstacles of the Kingdomes peace and that they like the Ape made use of the Cats foot to plucke those Chesnuts out of the fire which themselves had designed for their owne palat It behooves us now duly to examine the businesse and we are bound according to the trust reposed in us by his Majesty to vindicate his Majesties Rights and to see her restored to all his legall Prerogatives but shall I tell you the true causes of this present difference and that which we may upon good grounds suspect to be the true occasion of this most horrid and unnaturall War His Majesty at his Coronation in England tooke an Oath in these words I will maintaine and preserve to you the Bishops and to the Churches committed to your charges all Canonicall privileges and I will be your protector and defender to my power by the assistance of God as every good King in his Kingdome in right ought to defend the Bishops and Churches under their government then laying his hand on the booke on the Communion Table He saith these things I have before promised I shall performe and keep so helpe me God and the contents of this booke Here is an Oath able to strike terrour and amazement into the hearts of all the due circumstances there of being considered as well as feare and reverence in his Majesty about the performance of the same it is taken by Gods Anoynted in Gods House at Gods Table upon Gods Booke tendred by Gods Ministers to defend Gods Rights in the presence of Gods people and that with the imprecation of Gods curses and forfeiture of Gods blessings so that if ever any Oath could properly by way of eminency be called the Oath of God this is it His Majesty therefore out of his Princely piety conceiving himselfe bound in duty to God in honour to the Church in Justice to His Subjects and in obedience to Christian principles to maintaine his Oath refuseth to consent to the root and branch bills against the Episcopacy but some whom I will not name forgetfull of his Majesties honour and conscience and resolving to execute their owne designes in altring the government of the Church have raised a Militia and called us into their ayd thereby to force a compliance from his Majesty and the Royall Party with them And now what soule is not astonished what heart doth not bleed whose eares do not tingle to heare that we unhappy we should under the pretence of holy Covenants be made the instruments of such horrid impieties What could the devill and all the fiends of hell have thought on more impious then perjury what more obnoxious to the Church of God then Sacrilege what more rebellious then by force of Armes to compell the King to both what more blasphemous to God and scandalous to Christianity then to do all these things under the name pretence of Religion what was God the God of truth when he gave us the Precept of performing all our Vows and is he now become the God of Perjurie did God detest the withholding of Tythes and Offerings as robbery done to himselfe and is he now become a Patron of Sacrilege did he enjoyn subjection to Superiours as to his owne Ordinances and that upon paine of damnation and is he now become a Generall to Rebels whereby to force the King against his Oath and conscience Heare ô heavens and hearken ô earth if ever any such thing were committed that a great Councell of a Kingdome of Christians of Protestants of Subjects of those that were sworn to defend the Kings rights should countenance tumults connive at assaults upon his Majesty examine the circumstances of his birth to prove Bastardy in him that thereby they might remove him and his Royall Posterity from the Crown raise a Militia against him vote him that he was seduced by evill Counsell that he sought the destruction of the Parliament to bring in Popery and to rule by an arbitrary way vote his Royall Consort to be guilty of high Treason for her loyalty murder his Nobility destroy his Gentry oppresse his Subjects wincke at the blasphemous hew-and-cries of Britannicus and vote his Majesty to prison because out of a pious and princely resolution he is fully bent to maintaine his Oath rather to part from his life and Crowne then from that Religion and Government
both in Church â—nd State which he is sworne and hath so often deeply protested and declared to maintaine Good God! what shall we say to this whether shall we cause our shame to slye to whom shall we appeale for excuses shall we ascend up into heaven for them Loe there we shall find all the Saints and Angels of God who continually behold the face of their heavenly Father detesting those new doctrines of forcing the Kings conscience contrary to his Oath as such whereof all the Patriarches and Prophets and Martyrs of God were formerly ignorant Shall we appeale unto men behold Ireland conquered our owne Country up in Armes the greatest part of the Nobility and Gentry and all the heads of the Universities together with the learned part of the Clergie of England detesting our actions with as much abomination as ever the Egyptians hated the profession of Shepherds and if we had put the case at the election of the Parliament members if the King will not contrary to his Oath taken at his Coronation consent to the pulling down of Episcopacy and alteration of the Church Government whether or no it be the Subjects minds by force of Armes to compell him thereunto contrary to his Oath and conscience all people would have been ready to stone us as not thinking it possible that such horrid impieties should enter into the hearts or thoughts of the great Councell of the kingdome and certainly if we had ingenuously confessed the truth at first without the cloake of a thorough Reformation or of fetching evill Councellers from the King we should never have raised so great a power and if we look beyond the Seas we are accounted the shame of Christians and the scorn of Christianity yea even all Protestant Churches when they are really informed against what principles we have proceeded will hate and detest our actions shall we ransacke the sacred Scriptures I have shewed you before against what divine precepts we have proceeded but behold there indeed the pure fountaines of living water blundred and abused for the justification of our cause when one shall tell us that we may fight against our King because it is written Thou shalt binde their Kings in chaines and their Nobles with linckes of Iron Another blaspheming the King with horrid slanders shall conclude that Tophet was prepared of old yea for the King it was prepared And a third as though he would fore-prophecye of the Kings destruction saith though Jeconiah were the signet upon my right hand yet will I plucke him from thence Are not these horrid things such as would make a dumbe man speake and a wise man dumbe with horrour and amazement If fellow Souldiers you intend to be ruled by the Scripture let me put you a Scripture-case in Sauls seeking to make havocke of the Gibeonites contrary to the Oath given them you may observe how this Oath was obtained by fraud and a lye that it was expresly against the Covenant of Promise given to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and afterwards to Moses Aaron and the people that it was given rashly without asking counsell of God and to a people by Nation heathens by Religion Idolaters and by condition vassals to be drawers of water and hewers of wood that what Saul did was at the least 300 yeares after the Oath given in which time that Oath may seeme to some to be antiquated and that he did it in zeale to the people of Israel But what the successe the bloud of the men shed by reason of this perjury cryed aloud to heaven for vengeance Gods eares were opened to their cries he punisheth the whole Land with Famine and would not be paciâ—ied but with the hanging up of almost all Sauls Posterity are not these things written for our instruction and what judgements thinke we shall attend us if we force the King to violate that Oath which his Majestie tooke by the Lawes of the Kingdome for the preservation of Gods and the Churches Rights shall we then looke within us and there make boasts of the Spirit but if Gods Word be the tryall of the Spirit that Spirit which is repugnant to the Word of God cannot be the Spirit of God Gods Spirit comes to us in Truth not in Perjury in meeknesse in the forme of a Dove not of an Eagle or with Vultures tallons to steale flesh from the Altar and we know this to be the difference between the spirit of Truth and the spirit of Errour that Truth desireth nothing but the armes of righteousnesse the armes of Prayer and teares and the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God to fight for the profession hereof against their lawfull Kings the Doctrines of setting Kingdome against Kingdome and Nation against Nation by forreigne Wars and of setting the Father against the Son and the Son against the Father by civill dissentions are the Doctrines of those false Christs who shall deceive many and are reserved for the worst of times to be maintained by the worst of men who by their boasting of the Spirit fill the Church with Heresies and Schismes the Kingdome with Rebellion and the world with confusion shall we plead the Votes and Orders of the Parliament of England or the Nationall Covenant what were this but under pretence of pulling downe Popery to set up Idolatry and to lay aside all the Lawes of God for the Covenant and for the Votes and Orders of the Houses but if the Covenant be to maintaine Religion and the Kings honour we shall then truly performe the Covenant in both when we detest those Doctrines and actions that dishonour God and the King by accursed Perjury and that were a Covenant with hell that should covenant to force the King to forsweare himselfe But tell me I pray you is it the Votes and Orders of the Houses and the Covenant or the Commandements of God that shall justifie or condemne us the last day shall we plead the Lawes of England but I pray you what Lawes can be of force to mate themselves against the Lawes of God and what Lawes of the Kingdome were ever produced to justifie the raising of a Militia and the calling in of Forraine ayde and joyning in Covenants thereby to force the Kings violation of his Coronation Oath Againe if we beleeve them that are professed in those Lawes they lay this as a maxime that no Law Statute or Custome which is either against the Law of God or Principles of Nature can be of any validity or force but are voyd and null in Law they say further that therefore this Oath was by the Fundamentall Lawes and constitutions of the Kingdome presented to his Majesty of purpose to bind his conscience to preserve the Ecclesiasticall Rights for the comfort and encouragement of true Piety and Learning that as the Lawes and Statutes of Articuli Cleri and other recordes should bind the hands of the subjects so this Oath should binde the conscience of the King from
violating the Churches Rights and therefore it is expressed as a severall Article in the Coronation-Oath that the King should never assent to any Act that should trench upon their Rights and that howsoever the Kings conscience was at liberty to consent to the alteration of any other of the municipall lawes yet it should be bound as to this by the especiall and direct words of the Oath as likewise his Majesty is bound by the words of that Oath to doe justice to all and therefore by vertue of this Oath as well as of honour and Justice if the Houses tender any Bills which his Majesty conceives to be against common right or Justice his Majesty is bound not to give his Majesties Royall assent thereunto which cannot but strike amazement in all knowing men that any should be so impudently wicked as against all the lights of God of Nature and the Kingdome to trie the King with perjury because he will not consent to the root and branch bils against Episcopacy and the Royall party desires no other happinesse then to be admitted to a full and free disputation upon that point and that their reasons might be published in all Churches and declared to all the world for the justification of his Majesties and their innocencies in this cause Against this shall we plead the pride and arrogancie of the Bishops and Clergy but I feare this will be with greater pride suppose some Bishops and Clergy exalt themselves against some of Gods people must we therefore exalt our selves against God and Gods Anointed because some Bishops are proud must ye subjects therefore take up Armes to force the King to perjury and sacrilege let their insolencies be punished but let Gods and the Churches Rights remaine It is granted that some of the Clergy by the irregularitie of their actions and laying clogges upon mens consciences gave a great scandall to the Church but these might be legally proceeded against and what innovations they had brought in contrary to law might have been reformed but must therefore the function contrary to all the principles of Religion Law and reason be rooted out because there was a Judas amongst the Apostles did Christ take away the Apostleship because many Angels did rebell against God did God destroy the whole Hierarchy Suppose some Bishops sought to set themselves the one at the right hand of the King the other at his left as James and John did at Christs must their ambition cause all to be despised If God should root out all mankinde because some are most refractory wicked persons what would become of us the doctrines of rooting out all for the abuses of some are agreeable neither to the precept nor patterne of him who will have the wheat and taâ—es grow together till the harvest and it hath formerly been accounted the wisedome of Parliaments to reforme abuses by regulating not by extirparton But yet what hath the righteous done whose eyes are so swelled with pride or blinded with malice that doe not see how many Saints of God there were both of the Bishops Doctors and other Clergy who willingly laid downe their lives for that Cause and Religion which his Majesty doth now maintaine and for us to say that if they had lived in these dayes they would have ended with us is a speech as full of arrogancie as ignorance and expresly against all their actions and how many are there of their successors who before this unhappy difference were men famous in their generations and have now none other fault but their constancy to their Religion and their loyalty to their King shall we then justice our Cause for that God hath gone along with our Armies ô poore miserable creatures if we have no better then such fig-leaves to cover our nakednesse because God doth often blesse the adulterous seed is he therefore either the cause or lover of adultery if we have nothing but the power of the sword for the justification of our Cause by this title the blasphemies of Mahomet in the Alcoran and the dotages of the Popish superstitions in the Legend may lay claime to heaven as well as we but what if God out of the heat of his wrathfull indignation towards us have as he useth to doe to those whom he gives over to a reprobate sence given us the victory thereby to obdurate us in our rebellion that through pride of heart and vaine conceit of a just Cause we might be made more uncapable of repentance and pardon It is true that God hath had a controversie with the English and we for their sinnes may be made the rod of Gods anger in punishing the King and all his Royall party but we know not how soone for our owne sinnes God may throw this rod into the fire Perchance you will say that the King in taking away the Churches Rights should doe no more then what he himselfe in part and his Royall Predecessors have formerly consented unto but who knowes not that his Majesty never willingly agreed to the abrogation of any of the Churches dues and if his pious heart smite him for cutting off the lap of their skirts must he be forced to strip them as naked as the yong man that left his linnen garment behind him and who knows not that all those Kings who have been regardlesse of their Oathes in taking away the Churches Rights have been pursued by the hand of Justice so that there is not so much as the name or posterity of any of them remaining and who knowes but that those acts of impietie might be amongst those crowdes of sinnes which have cryed so lowd for judgement against these Kingdomes But shall we say that this Oath is an evill Oath and so evill in the taking and worse in the keeping this were to cast dirt upon the face of the whole constitution of that Church State of that kingdom which appointed the tenure of this Oath to his Majesty But wherin I pray you doth the malignity of this Oath consist suppose that there were now a Parliament of Papists who would take up arms under pretence of a thorow Reformation and of voting all Protestants that should side with the King as evill Counsellers and of fetching the King from them to his great Councell should not we that are Protestants stand up in his Majesties justification should not we abominate the violating of these lawes of God of nature and of the Kingdome under the pretence of the power of the great Councell as Jesuiticall impostures is it unlawfull for the King to breake his Oath for any Votes Orders or Ordinances of Popish Parliaments and shall Protestants now doe that which they so much detest in Papists but if there be any that will plead for Baal let them stand up and produce their strong reasons let the case be truly stated to the Assembly of Divines and if they have any new Directories for the regulating of the Kings conscience against his Oath as well as