take it and yet purpose afterwards to break it and what doe they therein but pray for a curse upon themselves whilst invocating the sacred name of God to be a witnesse of their sincerity in making this Vow yet withall they resolve that he shall dispense with them in their future breaches of it and how will such dissemblers be able to answer it at the dreadfull day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed Fourthly it must be of things within our power and so is this Covenant in all the branches of it Lastly the persons that enter into it are either such as have power of their owne heads or that have the consent of their Superiours and therefore having all the Ingredients that are required to make up a lawfull Covenant and Vow it must necessarily follow that it is lavvfull but let us a little further consider whether there be not a kind of necessity also that this or the like Covenant should be entred into at such a time as this which I conceive will fully appeare if we consider First That there is no readier nor more effectuall way to pacifie the displeasure of God and to procure a removall of these judgements which lye so heavy upon us then by sorrowing for our sins acknowledging God Justice and vowing a Râ—formation this Isa Hezekiah Iosiah and Nehemiah knew and therefore had recourse to this meanes which accordingly they found sucessefull Secondly It will appeare to be necessary if we doe but consider the restlesse attempts of the adversaries to corrupt and seduce incautious persons to their owne and others ruine they have had their emisâ—aries and instruments in every City and town to propose the specious baits of honours Offices Riches Favour Friends what not that so they may inveigle the simple by working upon every humor to betray both Church and Common-wealth into their power and therefore it cannot but be necessary that by the sacred bond of a Vow we should be fortified against such inticements If wee doe but consider the pronesse that is in our natures to be seduced and led aside by such importunate sollicitations and strong provocations to evill especially vvhen they come backed with large promises and great hopes of advantage wee must needs confesse it necessary that at such a time provision of a remedy should be made against such assaults and there can be no better found out then a solemne Covenant whereby vve are to engage our selves before the searcher of all hearts to stop our eares against such Syrens songs which would enchant us to rush upon our owne destruction and to prefer selfe-ends before the peace and welfare of Church and State It cannot be imagined that this late Plot is as yet fully discovered but that there still remaine many persons undetected vvhich have their hands deeply in it And therfore this Covenant is necessary that so such persons out of a deep sence of that great guilt which they pluck upon themselves in case they sweare falsly therein may be brought to an acknowledgemâ—nt and confession of what they know about it and to crave pardon for the same before they enter into this Covenant vvhich would bee a great meanes to prevent much mischiefe that may otherwise ensue in case it remaine undiscovered It cannot bee doubted but that many both in this City and in other parts of the Kingdome have either openly or secretly sent Money Plate Armes or other necessaries to the adverse Forces whereby they have been much strengthned and this uncivill Civill and unnaturall Warre hath bin much fomented and therefore it is but necessary that every one should disavow his contribution of such assistance for the time to come that so by withdrawing the fewell this fire of contention may the sooner be extinguished It is evident that this war continuing longer then was at first expected the spirits of many well affected Persons are much cooled and deadned in the prosecution of the worke whence it comes to passe that they withdraw their persons from the service and close their purses from contributing to it whereby the cause of God and the Kingdome lies a bleeding almost to death and therefore it is but need that we should be all quickned to prosecute it with more zeale and fervour and not by our remissenes basely to betray so good a Cause which if not upheld will certainely turne to the ruine of our selves Religion and all Thus having cleered these two principall points concerning the lawfulnesse and necessity of this Covenant I shall briefly in the last place indeavour to answer such Objections as are usually made against it which are especially these We are bound by our Oath of Allegiance and the late Protestation to defend the Kings person honour and estate and how then can we enter into this Covenant This Covenant ties us not to any thing that may be prejudiciall unto them By it wee are bound to assist the Parliament forces against the forces raised by the King unto which his person is adjoyned and in assisting against his Forces his person may be indangered Severall Petitions have been tendred to his Majesty to retire his person from their Company and thereby to secure it from danger if notwithstanding the same hee shall suffer himself to be over-ruled by evill Counsellors the guilt will lie upon those which have seduced him it 's necessary for the Parliament to raise forces for the apprehending of those Traytors against his Majesty and the Kingdome which are protected against Justice and who are so strong that the ordinary Ministers of Justice cannot lay hold upon them to bring them to a Legall Tryall and therefore as is usuall in cases of Rebellion an Army is sent against them which the King himself ought to assist and not endanger his person amongst the other But the King commands me to assist his forces and forbids mee to bee aiding to the other and I am bound to obey him The King is to be considered under a double notion or capacity either as a King or as a man as a King he can command nothing but vvhat the Law commands and then every Subject is bound to obey him therein but as he is a man his Judgement may bee corrupted and his passions may mislead him so that hee may command that which is destructive both to himselfe and the Kingdome and herein he is the best Subject that disobeyes him The Amalekite that said that he killed Saul at his own command was justly put to death by David as a Traytor for that fact 2 King 1. 15 16. And if a King in his passion shall proffer violence to a mans person or command another to doe it I am bound by the Law of nature to defend my selfe against him and it 's no breach of my Oath of Allegeance to doe it But taking up of Armes against the King hath been generally cryed dovvne by the godly and Learned 1. Here is no taking up of Arms against the King but against his evill Counsellours who have imbittered his spirit against his great and faithfull Counsell and doe still captivate his person amongst them And till such bee brought to condigne punishment wee can never enjoy either Religion persons Families or Estates in safety 2. Many Learned Divines have affirmed and sufficiently proved both by the Law of God Nature and Nations that if a King turne Tyrant and oppresse his Subjects in their Religion Lawes or Liberties it is Lawfull for them vim vi repellere as was done by the Netherlanders and Protestants in France neither was it condemned in Queene Elizabeth by our English Divines when she sent auxiliary Forces to both those places to assist them against their owne Kings and did not King Charles also send a Navie for the reliefe of Rochell when the poore Protestants were besieged therein by their owne King and hath hee not also declared the Scots to bee his good and faithfull Subjects though they took up Armes to defend their Religion and Liberties against oppression In this Covenant we binde our selves to assist all others in what they shall doe in pursuance thereof What if they doe any unlawfull Act in the pursuance of it In the pursuance thereof doth necessarily imply that it must be done lawfully and therefore that Word was inserted in the late Protestation must be understood here also But how will it appeare that it is lawfull for the Parliament to raise Forces without much lesse against the Kings consent An. This question is so fully and largely discussed and the thing proved to be lawfull both in case of Law and Conscience by Mr. Prin in his third part and by diverse of our Divines in their Answers to Dr. Ferne that I shall referre the Reader to seeke for satisfaction there where it may be had abundantly if they come with unballanced Judgements and shut not their eyes against that light which shineth therein Thus these usuall objections being answered I shall adde only thus much that if there be any which have not already enter'd into this Covenant seeing the lawfullnes and necessity of it by this which hath been premised they will no longer deferre to doe it but speedily undertake with all cheerefulnesse and alacrity as the men of Iudah did in Asa's time 2 Chron. 15. 14 15. and not onely so but that they will indeavour also to draw as many as possibly they can to doe the like The worke is great and needs many hands to help it forward Multorum manibus grande levatur onus The Enemies are vigilant and active to disunite us they cast in many bones of Division therefore we have need by this Covenant to cement our selves together or else wee are undone Divide impera is the Old Motto And lastly that having once entered into it wee must resolve with our selves that we can never be freed from that tye which it layes upon us and that therefore wee must be alwayes mindfull of it and carefull to observe it in every part and branch thereof that our hearts being knit together in a firme bond of mutuall assistance and love the God of love and Peace may be with us and for us Amen Civile Sacrum Mixtum De Licâ—â— De possibilibus Object Ans. Objâ— Ans. Object Answ. Object Answ. Quest Answ. Quest Answ.
Oath wee must sweare in truth i. e. the matter of it must be true so in Judgement also i. e. knowing it to bee true 4. Ier. 2. or else we are guilty of perjury so in vowes and Covenants which are sometimes accompanied with an Oath we must be well informed of the lawfulnes of the matter thereof or else we make our selves guilty before God and that of Solâ—mon may be applyed to such persons 20 Prov. 25. It 's a snare for a man to devoure holy things and after the vow to enquire 3. It 's also further required that they which enter into a Covenant should before hand and at their entrance into it fully resolve with themselves to the uttermost of their power to observe and keep the same and that in every part and branch of it whereunto tends that advice of Solomon 5 Ec. cles 4 5. When thou vowest a vow deferre not to pay it for God hath no pleasure in fooles Pay therefore that which thou hast vowed Better it is that thou shouldest not vow then that thou sholdest vow and not pay 30. Num. 2. 4. It must be of things within our povver or else to engage our selves by a vow to impossibilities what is it but to prophane the sacred name of God and bring downe his curse upon us this was the sinne of those after the floud which covenanted among themselves to build a Tower which should reach up to Heaven a thing impossible if God had not confounded their Language and it was also an aggravation of their sinne who vovved that they would neither eat nor drinke till they had killed Paul which being out of their power made their vovv the more unlawfull unto them 5. The Persons which bind themselves by a vow must be sui Juris such as have power of their owne heads and bee not under the jurisdiction of another or else they must be carefull to take along with them the consent of their Governours if they meane to free themselves from sinne a Maide in her Fathers House or a woman that hath an Husband may not vow without the consent of their superiors 30. Nu. 3. c. the Reason is because they are not at their own disposall and therefore not able to performe their vowes without the approbation of another verse 13. Having thus shewed the severall sorts of Covenants and what is required to make a lawfull one I shall now come to apply this present Covenant to these rules and thereby not only vindicate it from all unlawfulnes but also shew the usefullnesse if not necessity of it at such a time as this is for which end I shall take it in sunder and cleere the lawfulnesse of it in each branch that so it may appeare to be free from just exception in the subject matter of it which is the first thing required in a lawfull Covenant First in the first part of it we professe our hearty sorrow for our owne and the Nationall sins which have deserved the Calamaties and judgements which now lie upon us and that our intention is by Gods grace to endeavour the amendment of our owne wayes which clause is so cleere that I presume that every Christian at the first vievv will not onely see a lawfulnesse but a necessity of the same for in Gods judgements wee may read our sins in the generality and greatnesse of the one the generality and greatnesse of the other and in that day when Gods hand lies heavie upon a Nation doth the Lord God call to weeping and mourning and to baldesse c. 22. Isa. 12 Wherein wee see that same thing which is undertaken in this Covenant imposed as a duty by God himselfe who doth not onely require a sence of and sorrow for our sins but a resolute endeavour of Reformation also wash you make you cleane take away the evill of your workes from before mine eyes c. Isay 16. Or else our humiliation is but hanging downe our heads like a bull rush for a day 58. Isa. 5. meere mocking of God and deluding our owne soules 2. That we doe abhorre and detest the late vvicked and treacherous designe and that we never gave or will give or assent to the execution thereof but will according to our power and vocation oppose and resist the same and all other of the like nature this branch no one may take which hath in any measure been privie to the said Plot till they have first unburthened their Conscience by acknowledgeing what they have been privie to and craving pardon for the same otherwise they devote themselves to the curse of God who will be a swift witnesse against such perjured Persons and whose flying role will enter into their Houses and remaine therein and consume them with the timber thereof and stones thereof 5 Zach. 4. But for such persons as are free from the guilt of so foule a blot they not only may but ought to professe their detestation of so horrid a Plot as in the execution must necessarily have tended to the death and ruine of so many Innocents and had the Plotters obtained their ends would without all question have ended in the dissolution of the Parliament And therein in the Fatall period of Religion Lawes Liberties and all future free Parliament also as the Commission granted to them will cleerly evidence and evince 3. That in case any other like designe shal come to our knowledge we will make such timely discovery as may best conduce to the preventing of it By like Designe we are to understand such as are destructive or prejudiciall to the Parliament Citie or Kingdome as this former would have been and this no one that is friend to any of these or to himselfe in them can refuse to promise Some of the very Heathen from the light and Principles of Nature it selfe have refused to survive their Countries Liberty and shall not Christians put to their helping hands to wrest the Liberty of their Religion from the attempts of Papists the Liberties of the Parliament from the Complotters of their ruine and the Liberties of the City and Kingdome fromthe Power of Tyrannicall Oppressours which is all that wee promise to doe when we engage our selves to a timely discovery of the like designes The Kingdome is a Ship the Parliament our Steeres men the Citie the principall Cabbin and Religion the precious Fraught wherewith God hath laden our Ship and he is a Traitour to all these which shall refuse to tye himselfe to indeavour their preservation 4. That we do in our Consciences beleive that the Forces raised by the two Houses of Parliament are raised and continued for their just Defence and for the Defence of the true Protestant Religion and Liberties of the Subject against the Forces raised by the King by the beliefe here spoken of as I conceive wee are not to understand such a Faith as is grounded upon indubitable infallible Principles as we believe the Articles of our Religion
but only such a credence as is grounded upon probable Arguments and Reasons which first working upon our Judgements doe afterwards convince our Consciences to believe the same Now that we have sufficient reason thus to believe let us but a little call to mind the Plot of bringing up the Army out of the North The attempt made against the five Members the withdrawing of the King from his faithfull Councell the active instruments which have been imployed into forraigne parts to provide Armes Ammunition and Commanders the bringing of them over from time to time their designe to seize upon many of the strong Holds of the Kingdome the putting of the Armes into the hands of untrusty Commissioners of Array the Arming of the Papists contrary to Law the correspondence held with the Scottish and Irish Papists and Rebells the indeavour to raise a party in this City to seize upon the Persons of some principall Members of Parliament and City and the late Plot as bad if not worse then all the rest if by Gods mercy it had not been strangled in the birth these are sufficient Arguments to induce us to believe that it was but high time for the Parliament to raise Forces and to continue them for their just Defence Againe consider also the setting up of Masses in Yorke and Oxford the many Jesuites Priests and Jâ—suited Papists that are in the Adverse Armies whose Romish Plots are only to advance the Catholique Cause and ruine our Religion Besides the granting of so many Commissions for Array which were so destructive to the Subjects Liberty the pillaging and plundering of the Houses and Estates of the best Subjects and burning of their Habitations and we cannot but be convinced it was high time to raise and it is just to continue these forces for the defence of the true Protestant Religion and the liberties of the Subject and hereupon vve doe declare vow and covenant that wee will according to our power and vocation assist these Forces thus raised and continued by both Houses of Parliament against the forces raised by the King without their consent If we be upon the former grounds or the like once convinced that these forces are justly raised and continued for the ends aforesaid then it will necessarily follow that wee are bound in Conscience to be aiding and assisting to them according to our power and vocation i. e. with our persons if we be fit and have a calling thereunto or with our purses according to our abilities if we be not set to serve in person and with our advice and prayers also for their good successe and he is no true friend either to Parliament Religion or Liberties that upon information shall refuse to make this Vow Besides it is but high time that men should by such a sacred Bond bee quickned unto this assistance in these times wherein so many grow wearie of the worke and by withdrawing their persons and purses from assisting do much endanger the Cause of God 5. That vve will likewise assist all other persons that shall take this Oath in what they shall doe in pursuance thereof neither can this be justly scrupled for if we enter into this Covenant our selves and in pursuance of any thing conteined in it vve shall stand in need of the assistance of others As we shall desire so wee cannot but thinke our selves much injured if wee find not assistance from them and then the Law of requitall doth require that when occasion is offered we shall not withdravv our help from them also besides by this Union among our selves the common Cause of God and the Kingdome will bee much strengthned and every undertaker in it will be much encouraged when they see so many by so strong a Bond to be engaged to their help Againe it cannot bee conceived but that this Covenant will excite provoke the hatred of the adverse Party against the undertakers of it exceedingly whereof we had late experience in our Brethren of Scotland so much hated and prosecuted under the Name of Covenanters and therefore wee have need to tye our selves to mutuall assistance for our better support against the Odium and rage of the Adversary 6. That wee will not directly or indirectly adhere unto nor shall willingly assist the forces raised by the King without the consent of both Houses of Parliament Herein provision is made against equivocation those cunning tricks and evasions which many find out to cosen both themselves and others as when a man will not send himselfe but will suffer his wife or children or other friends to doe it as hath been the practice of many hundreds in severall parts of the Kingdome who themselves have lent Money or sent an Horse to the Parliament but have suffered their Wives or Sons to send twice so much to the King that so by complying with both they might escape the displeasure of either Besides many who living in some places have been ashamed to owne the supporting of the Kings forces yet under hand they have contributed much to them but now it s required that neither directly nor indirectly wee bee aiding to them and yet because many whose hearts are upright with God and his Cause live under the power or fall into the hands of the barbarous and bloudy Cavaliers so that the not contributing to them may endanger their lives liberties and estates therefore is that word put in that we shall not willingly assist but only in the cases aforementioned And if we do but seriously consider the aime and drift of the Kings forces evidently discovered to all that are not wilfully blind and their wayes and manner of prosecuting the same wee may easily conclude that they are enemies to God and his Gospell and to the Parliament and their Liberties to the Kingdome and its lawes who will vvillingly be assistant to them And thus I have briefly run over this Covenant in every branch of it and thereby endeavoured to prove the lawfulnesse of it in the subject matter I shall now proceed to examine it by the other rules required in a lawfull Covenant that so I may fully vindicate it from all hesitation The second thing required is that it bee knowne to bee lawfull at the time of the taking of it for which end the Parliament hath long since caused it to bee published in Print that so all men might see it and have time fully to informe themselves of the lawfulnesse of it And in case that any doubts should arise they might repaire to those which are fit and able to resolve them that so no scruple might remain at their taking of it Thirdly it must be with a purpose of keeping it and ill may hee faire that shall make this Covenant with any other purpose whatsoever for if it be lawfull as is proved before and that thereupon we engage our selves by it it must needs argue a prophane and Atheisticall heart in any that shall resolve for sinister ends to