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<DATE>9-8-08</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P><HI>THE GRAND</HI>
Ca&s;e of Con&s;cience
Concerning the
ENGAGEMENT
Stated &amp; Re&s;olved.</P>
<P>Or, A &s;trict Survey of the Solemn
League &amp; Covenant
In Reference to the
Pre&s;ent Engagement.</P>
<Q><P><GAP DESC="foreign">.</P> <HI>&s;c.</HI> <P>Cum Tyranno
Romanis nulla fides, Nulla juris jurandi religio.</P>
<BIBL>Brutus apud
Appianum.</BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Tunc fidem fallam, tunc incon&s;tantiae crimen audiam &s;i cum omnia
eadem &s;int quae erant promittente me, non prae&s;titero promi&s;&s;um;
alioqui quicquid mutatur libertatem facit de integro con&s;ulendi,
meam fidem liberat; nam omnia eadem e&s;&s;e debent quae fuerint
cum promitteres ut promittentis fidem teneas.</P>
<BIBL>Senec. de benef.
<HI>l. 4. c.</HI> 35.</BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>John Macock</HI> for <HI>Francis Tyton,</HI> and are
to be &s;old at his &s;hop at the three Daggers neer the <HI>Inner Temple,
Fleet&s;treet.</HI> 1650.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>The Grand
Ca&s;e of Con&s;cience
Concerning the
ENGAGEMENT
Stated and Re&s;olved.</HEAD>
<P>AS there is no <HI>Engagement</HI> on man more &s;acred and &s;olemn,
then that which is contracted by <HI>Oaths and Covenants,
(God</HI> him&s;elf being expre&s;ly appealed unto, both as Witne&s;s
and Judg;) &s;o there is nothing more dangerous and en|&s;naring,
if not warily and hone&s;tly entred into, and kept, as well with
a clear and &s;ound judgment, as with pure and chry&s;tal affections. The
truth of this is evidently demon&s;trated in the late <HI>League and Cove|nant</HI>
between the&s;e two Nations, <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Scotland;</HI> which al|though
it wanted nothing of Ceremony and Solemnity in its admini|&s;tration,
yet hath proved &s;ad and ominous in the u&s;e and application
of it unto this Common-wealth: And though it was fir&s;t intended as
the be&s;t and mo&s;t proper <HI>medium</HI> of union and &s;trength to both Nati|ons
again&s;t the common Enemy, yet hath proved (in &s;everal hands) a
<HI>&s;tratagem</HI> to ob&s;truct the mo&s;t prudential and providential e&s;&s;ays of
<PB N="4" REF="3">
perfecting the Peace and Happine&s;s of both; yea, is onely left as the
la&s;t re&s;erve and ultimate plea of all &s;orts of di&s;-affected and abu&s;ed &s;pi|rits,
who having (with little effect) made u&s;e of all &s;ort of weapons,
would by it make us mi&s;erable, by our own Con&s;ciences.</P>
<P>It is not now time to look back, when this <HI>Covenant</HI> was made,
and where, <HI>viz.</HI> in <HI>Scotland;</HI> or upon what occa&s;ion it was entred
into at fir&s;t: I have &s;o much charity to think there was on all &s;ides
good and hone&s;t intentions active in the modelling of it, though &s;ome
had their eyes in their heads, and many objections were made at di|vers
expre&s;&s;ions, and many de&s;ires for explanation of &s;ome Articles
more fully; yet it was not fit to in&s;i&s;t on them, our affairs not admit|ing
any delay in our Brethrens a&s;&s;i&s;tance, nor their conjunction to be
obtained without a Covenant, though the cau&s;e was common to both.
But after it pa&s;t the gulf, and was taken by the <HI>Parliament</HI> and <HI>A&s;&s;em|bly
of Divines,</HI> and hone&s;t men of all &s;orts had freely lifted up their
hands to God in it (not fearing the after-reckoning would be &s;o co&s;tly
and dangerous) every one began to make his advantage (through the
multitude and ambiguity of expre&s;&s;ion, mo&s;t un&s;uitable to a <HI>Covenant,</HI>
which ought to be plain and &s;imple in its terms) and by it to promote
his &s;everal intere&s;t; as if it had been made to engage unto a particular
party, not to unite two Nations in a common Intere&s;t: Yea, &s;o many
&s;everal interpretations, variety of &s;ences, have been fixt upon it, as if
it were intended rather for Debates then Obedience, and to exerci&s;e
mens wits, rather then enforce their Con&s;ciences to hone&s;t and nece&s;&s;a|ry
duties; yea (which we may remember with &s;ad hearts) <HI>England</HI>
never knew what it was to have &s;o many &s;ad divi&s;ions of parties and
intere&s;ts, until the <HI>Covenant</HI> came, by the de&s;ign of &s;ome di&s;gui&s;ed
Politicians to be improved to &s;ome particular Intere&s;ts and Parties,
who in&s;i&s;ting &s;ome on one Article, and &s;ome on another, in oppo&s;ition
to the re&s;t, as they &s;aw their advantage, have divided the <HI>Covenant</HI>
into &s;everal parts (to engage &s;everal parties;) others have made one
and the &s;ame Article to &s;peak &s;everal Sen&s;es, dividing the &s;ence from
the words, torturing the very Comma's and Colons, making a &s;epara|tion
between them and the words, which they nece&s;&s;arily di&s;tingui&s;h,
and all but to &s;trengthen their own Intere&s;t, and de&s;troy anothers; that
the abu&s;es do &s;eem to be wor&s;e, and more heinous, then the breach of
it would be.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t and main advantage that was made of it was to &s;et up the
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<HI>Pre&s;byterial Government</HI> in <HI>ENGLAND,</HI> without any bound
or limitation of the <HI>Civil Magi&s;trate;</HI> and the <HI>Scots</HI> (who be&s;t
knew the de&s;ign of the <HI>Covenant)</HI> urge their pattern fir&s;t, as &s;up|po&s;ing
their Church to be the be&s;t Reformed: and &s;o &s;trongly and
vigorou&s;ly was it managed, that they got &s;o far on the affections of
the people by &s;uch pleas, that the brand of <HI>Here&s;ie</HI> and <HI>Schi&s;m,</HI> in
the fir&s;t Article, was fa&s;tened on all tho&s;e that differed or di&s;&s;ented
in Di&s;cipline from that pattern; and &s;o far on Authority, that
none &s;hould either preach, or be fit for any place in Government of
<HI>State,</HI> but he that &s;ub&s;cribed to that &s;ence; That moderate and wary
&s;pirits, (which through Rea&s;on and Con&s;cience differed onely in
the&s;e circum&s;tances) had nothing to relieve them&s;elves by, and avoyd
the direful &s;entence of perjury, layd on them, for not bringing up
their Congregations to the <HI>Pre&s;byterial Model,</HI> but onely that clau&s;e
which was (happily in&s;erted) <HI>[According to the Word of GOD;]</HI>
But to &s;alve that, and pre&s;s on the former Intere&s;t, the Reformed
Churches were brought in (and not onely <HI>Scotland</HI> propo&s;ed) as the
main and ab&s;olute Rule, and the Word of God to be exegetical
and expo&s;itory, virtually included in them: and &s;o vehemently hath
this fir&s;t Article been pre&s;t to that Intere&s;t, that all union be&s;ides, and
agreement in Doctrine, and the ab&s;olutes and nece&s;&s;aries of Religion
have been accounted of as low and ordinary, in compari&s;on of it,
that mo&s;t men have thought it was a de&s;ign either to make men doubt
that there is any Church-Government <HI>Jure Divino,</HI> or el&s;e that any
will &s;erve the turn, which is but popular, and &s;uitable to a pre&s;ent In|tere&s;t.</P>
<P>And of &s;uch a fundamental con&s;equence hath the <HI>Covenant</HI> bin judged
in <HI>Scotland,</HI> that they u&s;ed it as the characteri&s;tical difference of all per|&s;ons
both in Church and State, and looked on it as the be&s;t con&s;tituting
principle of Saint-&s;hip and holine&s;s, and the vi&s;ible qualification of
members of Churches, and as the onely way of admi&s;&s;ion at fir&s;t, or
re-admi&s;&s;ion on relap&s;e; for when in the fir&s;t expedition many had re|volted
from them to the common Enemy, and were excommunicated,
both whole Shires and Pari&s;hes, It was put unto the que&s;tion in the
General A&s;&s;embly, What way &s;hould be taken for the Tryal of
their <HI>REPENTANCE,</HI> and to receive them in again? It
was ab&s;olutely carryed by Vote, by a new taking of the <HI>Cove|nant.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="6" REF="4">
And that there might be no further difference between <HI>England</HI> and
<HI>Scotland,</HI> it was often urged, that by it we might be made one King|dom,
and no more be di&s;tinct in Priviledg, &s;eeing we were all one by
<HI>Covenant,</HI> that the name of great <HI>Britain</HI> might contain us all, yea by
the <HI>Covenant</HI> our brethren challenged a Priviledg in framing our own
<HI>Propo&s;itions</HI> for our <HI>own &s;afety,</HI> and to determine what we &s;hould <HI>Pro|po&s;e,</HI>
and what not, with the Order and method of them, and a mutual
di&s;po&s;al of the <HI>Offices, and Officers,</HI> with the re&s;t of our affairs, claiming
an equal &s;hare in all our <HI>Priviledges,</HI> and the management of the <HI>Go|vernment</HI>
it &s;elf.</P>
<P>The next, and more &s;pecial u&s;e of it, was to further a <HI>Per&s;onal Trea|ty,</HI>
wherein the <HI>Scots Commi&s;&s;ioners</HI> had the principal hand, as being
mo&s;t privy to the fir&s;t intention of its compiling: For when the inter|pretation
of the fir&s;t <HI>Article</HI> was out of credit, and the di&s;gui&s;e of it
pluckt off by that expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>The word of God,</HI> that the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical
mediums</HI> would not &s;erve the turn, they fall on another <HI>Article,</HI> where|in
they finde but only a bare mention of the Kings Per&s;on, (charitably,
and yet limitedly in&s;erted) and propo&s;e, and pre&s;s the Parliament upon
pain of perjury, and without any re&s;erve, unto a <HI>Per&s;onal Treaty,</HI> wave|ing
the &s;afe and be&s;t re&s;olv'd on way of Treating by po&s;itive, and Fun|damental
<HI>Propo&s;itions:</HI> And &s;o eager and fierce were they on it, that
the <HI>Commi&s;&s;ioners</HI> in the name of the re&s;t, in that notable <HI>Remon&s;trance</HI>
of theirs for a <HI>Per&s;onal Treaty,</HI> quoted the name of the <HI>Covenant</HI> more
then Twenty times in one Page, and tax the Parliament with <HI>breach of
Covenant,</HI> but for omitting a &s;uppo&s;ed method, not placing of it in
that order in the <HI>Propo&s;itions</HI> which they thought mo&s;t fit, urging &s;till
no way of fulfilling the <HI>Covenant</HI> but by <HI>Per&s;onal Treaty,</HI> forgetting
all the re&s;t of the <HI>Articles</HI> that &s;peak of <HI>Religion, a Common Enemy,
the Priviledges of Parliament, of bringing Delinquents to Ju&s;tice,</HI> and
&s;o <HI>procuring Liberty;</HI> but the&s;e were fir&s;t in intention, and mu&s;t be la&s;t
in execution.</P>
<P>The next party that entered the &s;tage with the <HI>Covenant</HI> in their
hands, was the old <HI>Malignant</HI> and <HI>Common Enemy</HI> (who waited on
our trifling <HI>Tran&s;actions)</HI> who &s;eeing what u&s;e was made of it by the
<HI>Scots Pre&s;byterian Party,</HI> and how nigh the <HI>Commi&s;&s;ioners</HI> of <HI>Scot|land</HI>
had driven it to their intere&s;t, emprove all their former <HI>Tran&s;acti|ons
with the Parliament,</HI> and on that &s;tock graff a de&s;ign of a new and
bloody <HI>War,</HI> and the &s;cean being changed from <HI>England</HI> to <HI>Scotland,</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="4">
Duke <HI>Hamilton</HI> (having got the major Vote in the Parliament) Levies
an Army of <HI>Scots,</HI> who joyning with Sir <HI>Marmaduke Langdale,</HI> and o|ther
de&s;perate Engli&s;h <HI>Malignants,</HI> enter <HI>England</HI> with a great Ar|my,
&s;econding the <HI>Commi&s;&s;ioners Remon&s;trances,</HI> u&s;ing their own ex|pre&s;&s;ions
in their Declarations, holding forth the <HI>Covenant</HI> as their <HI>En|&s;igne</HI>
both of <HI>hone&s;ty,</HI> and hopes of <HI>Victory,</HI> profe&s;&s;ing to be moved to
that expedition by nothing but the <HI>Covenant;</HI> and for more effectual
pro&s;ecution of the ends of it in a <HI>Per&s;onal Treaty,</HI> to &s;uppre&s;s <HI>Here&s;ies,</HI>
and <HI>Schi&s;mes,</HI> and &s;ettle the affairs of the <HI>Church in greater &s;ecurity,
and beauty, free from Error</HI> or <HI>Faction:</HI> Thus the <HI>Covenant</HI> was
u&s;ed, (and in as good words) to maintain the <HI>Malignant intere&s;t,</HI> and
to unite the <HI>Common Enemy</HI> both in <HI>Scotland</HI> and <HI>England,</HI> which was
intended again&s;t both; and though many of the <HI>Kirk</HI> di&s;claimed the&s;e
proceedings, and &s;aw the di&s;gui&s;e rather in the <HI>Per&s;ons,</HI> then the <HI>things,</HI>
yet they profe&s;t, and acted no more above board, then their own <HI>Dele|gates</HI>
had beforehand with publique approbation by them, and intenti|ons
are only known unto God.</P>
<P>Thus hath this <HI>Solemn League and Covenant,</HI> which our Brethren
and others may well call <HI>Sacred,</HI> and the mo&s;t &s;ure engagement between
creatures in this world, been by every hand made common, and pro|phane,
ravi&s;hed by the intere&s;t and ends of &s;ini&s;ter and &s;elf-i&s;h Spirits;
to&s;t up and down, and turnd, as a no&s;e of wax, into the form of every de|&s;ign;
yea, &s;o abu&s;ed and rent one part from the other, the <HI>Means</HI> from
the <HI>End,</HI> and one Article from another, that it &s;eems to have no more
&s;ub&s;tance left intire, then what you find pre&s;erv'd in the <HI>Stationers &s;hop</HI>
by a true impre&s;&s;ion, or in the <HI>Churches,</HI> and <HI>Publique places,</HI> by the
careful hands of the <HI>Wardens</HI> kept untorn; nor any more <HI>Soul</HI> and <HI>Life</HI>
in it to bind a mans Con&s;cience, then only what the <HI>di&s;affected Spirits</HI>
of &s;ome per&s;ons have of late breath'd into it.</P>
<P>But the la&s;t and wor&s;t abu&s;e of it (which may well be put down <HI>In|&s;tar
omnium)</HI> is, That it is now &s;ent forth as a Bull, to denounce the
<HI>Dreadful &s;entence of perjury on the Parliament, and High Court of
Ju&s;tice,</HI> for taking away the Kings per&s;on, and as the great ob&s;truction,
and plea again&s;t compliance with this pre&s;ent <HI>Government of a Com|mon-wealth;</HI>
and is &s;o ordered in this la&s;t u&s;e, That when through the
glorious actings of <HI>Providence</HI> we have e&s;caped the <HI>Common &s;nare,</HI> we
mu&s;t by our own <HI>Con&s;ciences</HI> be made <HI>Religiou&s;ly mi&s;erable:</HI> And
how &s;ad mu&s;t it needs be to all hone&s;t hearts, That the <HI>Covenant</HI> which
<PB N="6" REF="5">
was at fir&s;t intended as the mo&s;t adaequate means of peace and happine&s;s
to the&s;e two <HI>Nations,</HI> &s;hould at la&s;t be formed into an <HI>Engine of divi&s;i|on,</HI>
and the greate&s;t and only <HI>Impediment</HI> to a compleat <HI>Setlement of
Peace,</HI> and admini&s;tred as the la&s;t Cordial to revive the lo&s;t hopes of our
<HI>dying Enemies?</HI> And after we have (through God) &s;truck out all the
<HI>Carnal weapons</HI> out of their hands, yea, &s;eparated the <HI>Head from that
great body,</HI> we &s;hould furni&s;h them with refined and <HI>Spiritual Artille|ry,</HI>
and having ca&s;t off their <HI>chains,</HI> &s;hould bind our &s;elves by the <HI>wriths
of Circum&s;tantial,</HI> and &s;uppo&s;ed <HI>Ingagements.</HI> What are now the eryes
and <HI>Lamentations in prayers,</HI> and <HI>Pulpits,</HI> but the breach of <HI>The So|lemn
League and Covenant?</HI> all the di&s;contents, Animo&s;ities, di&s;obe|diences
to <HI>Authority,</HI> take their Sanctuary in the <HI>Covenant;</HI> there
they are maintained and live, and at length are re&s;olv'd into this <HI>Grand
ca&s;e</HI> of <HI>Con&s;cience,</HI> viz:</P>
<P>Whether we may without perjury &s;ubmit to the Government of a
Common-wealth, and take the new Ingagement enjoyned by the Par|liament,
&s;eeing they have taken away the Kings Per&s;on whom we Co|venanted
to pre&s;erve, and have altered the Government, all which is
contrary to our former ingagements in the Covenant?</P>
<P>Though this be an old way u&s;ed by mo&s;t men to countenance their
di&s;like of pre&s;ent duties, by flying to <HI>con&s;cience,</HI> &amp; <HI>urging former ingage|ments,</HI>
as the <HI>Malignants</HI> did again&s;t the fir&s;t <HI>Prote&s;tation,</HI> and of late
again&s;t the <HI>Covenant,</HI> pre&s;&s;ing their former <HI>Ingagements</HI> by the Oathes
of <HI>Supremacy and Allegeance:</HI> Yet becau&s;e it is the utmo&s;t, and la&s;t
Plea that can be made again&s;t this <HI>Government,</HI> and that hone&s;t and
<HI>Con&s;ciencious men</HI> (with whom I only de&s;ire to deale in this di&s;cour&s;e)
may &s;ee what a weak <HI>Foundation</HI> they build their <HI>di&s;affections</HI> on, and
how little rea&s;on they have to &s;tand off from obedience to this pre&s;ent
happy &s;etled Authority, notwith&s;tanding all that they have been for|merly
bound unto by <HI>The Solemn League and Covenant,</HI> I &s;hall offer
to their view the&s;e following con&s;iderations about the nature of <HI>Obli|gations
by Oathes and Covenants,</HI> the ignorance or mi&s;take of which,
is the cau&s;e that men either bind them&s;elves to what they &s;hould not, or
el&s;e look on them&s;elves as bound when they are free.</P>
<P>An <HI>Obligation</HI> is nothing el&s;e but a bond or tye on men, to do or
omit any act, the force of which is to contract and fix the &s;trength of
mens abilities to &s;ome certain object, and manner of acting, or utterly to
re&s;train and keep in that power from the doing of any &s;uch act which
is <HI>un&s;utable and contrary.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="5">
The mo&s;t u&s;ual di&s;tinctions of &s;uch <HI>Obligations,</HI> are by <HI>Promi&s;es,
Oathes, and Covenants,</HI> which do not differ in their nature, but in the
<HI>Solemnity</HI> of <HI>expre&s;&s;ion;</HI> a promi&s;e bindes as well as an Oath, but the
one bindes with more <HI>Religious ceremony,</HI> an <HI>Oath</HI> being a <HI>Religious
Act</HI> whereby we bind our &s;elves to the doing, or omitting any Act,
<HI>Deo te&s;te, &amp; vindice, Gods name being invocated to judge and revenge,
if there be any guil in the intentions, or willing defect in the perform|ance;</HI>
and the &s;ame is implicitely in every promi&s;e; for what I promi&s;e I
mean to perform as in the pre&s;ence of God; and my Con&s;cience as <HI>Gods
Vicegerent,</HI> takes Record of the Act as if it had been expre&s;t; only an
<HI>Oath</HI> by its publique and Solemn addition of Gods name, doth more
fix the <HI>Obligation</HI> on the heart, and makes men more careful out of fear
of puni&s;hment to perform.</P>
<P>But as in all Acts which are imployed about any Object, there is a
pre&s;uppo&s;al of &s;ome formal rea&s;on, which is the ground of the Act, and
unto which the Act mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily and <HI>&s;utably an&s;wer;</HI> &s;o much more
<HI>in Obligations,</HI> by any <HI>Moral</HI> or <HI>Religious Act</HI> (wherein the be&s;t of
our under&s;tandings and hearts &s;hould be imployed) mu&s;t there be pre|&s;uppo&s;ed
&s;ome fundamental <HI>Con&s;ideration</HI> and <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> which gives
life and power to any &s;uch <HI>Engagement</HI> for which a man doth engage
him&s;elf: El&s;e no man can act <HI>Rationally,</HI> or <HI>Hone&s;tly,</HI> or &s;wear in
<HI>judgement</HI> or <HI>truth,</HI> nor perform <HI>in righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> the three ab&s;olute re|qui&s;ites
to the <HI>Obligation</HI> of any <HI>Promi&s;e</HI> or <HI>Oath.</HI> Therefore there can
be no <HI>Obligation</HI> to what is in it &s;elf &s;inful or unlawful, or what is im|po&s;&s;ible
to be done, becau&s;e there is no rea&s;on to bind a man to it, nei|ther
can that be the <HI>Object</HI> of <HI>Obligation</HI> which God hath forbidden,
or hath not given ability to perform, or what may cro&s;s any moral or
ab&s;olute good.</P>
<P>And the&s;e formal <HI>rea&s;ons</HI> or <HI>conditions,</HI> are either &s;o in regard of the
<HI>Objects,</HI> as flowing from the nature of the things them&s;elves to be
done, and &s;o are e&s;&s;entially annexed to them, that they are ab&s;olutely
<HI>Independent</HI> from any <HI>Human will</HI> or <HI>power</HI> to alter and change them,
or di&s;ingage men lawfully from them.</P>
<P>Or el&s;e the&s;e rea&s;ons are not &s;imply and nece&s;&s;arily annexed to the na|ture
of the <HI>Object,</HI> but may be added at plea&s;ure, and no <HI>Obligation</HI> a|ri&s;eth
from the thing it &s;elf until it be made by us.</P>
<P>Of the Fir&s;t &s;ort are all Divine <HI>Acts of Wor&s;hip,</HI> and all the
<HI>Moral</HI> rules of <HI>Hone&s;ty</HI> and <HI>Goodne&s;s</HI> which do binde for ever,
<PB N="10" REF="6">
and at fir&s;t &s;ight, (no other rea&s;on intervening) but what they carry
in their own natures; therefore is not left to any humane power or arbi|trement,
whether they &s;hall wor&s;hip God, or in what form, and way,
whether men &s;hould be temperate, and ju&s;t, and hone&s;t, and do acts &s;uta|ble
to the&s;e, the mention of them doth oblige all men to conform their
wills and practi&s;e to them, and yet oftentimes (to help our natural dul|ne&s;s
and indi&s;po&s;ition) we bind our &s;elves again to the&s;e things we
were formerly and nece&s;&s;arily bound unto, that we may be more hear|ty
and careful in the performance of them, mo&s;t men thinking they are
bound unto nothing &s;o &s;trongly, but what they bind them&s;elves unto,
and by their own con&s;ent &s;tabli&s;h as a Law.</P>
<P>But the&s;e <HI>Obligations</HI> which are of the latter &s;ort, do only depend
on our <HI>Wills,</HI> and <HI>Voluntary judgements,</HI> and are then <HI>Valid,</HI> when
the <HI>Object</HI> of them is <HI>good,</HI> and <HI>hone&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Conditions</HI> on which
they are made be kept.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e the <HI>Object,</HI> and matter of the&s;e <HI>Obligations,</HI> being <HI>Hu|mane
affairs,</HI> are changeable, and &s;ubject to &s;everal perplexities in the
mannagement, and under many ca&s;ualties (being rather intended as
<HI>Mediums</HI> to other good ends, then having any <HI>real excellency</HI> in them|&s;elves)
no man can judiciou&s;ly, as a <HI>prudent,</HI> and <HI>knowing man,</HI> bind
him&s;elf ab&s;olutely, and &s;wear to the performance of any &s;uch thing for
the future; for the matter it &s;elf is <HI>obnoxious</HI> to <HI>Providence,</HI> and to
be changed whether the per&s;on will or no; and that which is for pre|&s;ent,
nece&s;&s;ary and convenient (in the&s;e things) are <HI>in materia contin|genti,
for the future contingent,</HI> and hazardous afterwards, and the
<HI>Object</HI> is in its nature &s;eparable from the <HI>Oath.</HI></P>
<P>And as &s;ome things carry their rea&s;ons with them, and need no act of
ours to &s;tabli&s;h them in their Authority, and ju&s;t <HI>Obligation;</HI> &s;o other
things have their rea&s;on of <HI>Obligation</HI> from us, and are only <HI>binding,</HI> as
they are fit means to attain to more <HI>Fundamental</HI> and <HI>nece&s;&s;ary ends,</HI>
and their rea&s;on lies in their conveniency, and proportion to <HI>moral</HI> and
<HI>hone&s;t effects.</HI></P>
<P>Hence it follows, That the&s;e &s;pecial rea&s;ons, or ab&s;olute re&s;pects cea&s;|ing,
the <HI>obligation</HI> which is drawn from them wholy cea&s;eth al&s;o, the&s;e
<HI>Principles</HI> being not only as <HI>Cau&s;a fine qua non,</HI> without which no man
would ingage, but con&s;titutive principles of the goodne&s;s of the
<HI>action;</HI> for by the ab&s;ence of the&s;e, the whole <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> and <HI>Nature</HI>
of the thing is changed as in re&s;pect of <HI>Obligation,</HI> for there is
<PB N="11" REF="6">
nothing left in the nature of the matter to oblige me to it, and the fir&s;t
and only <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> that ingaged me is taken away, which doth not hold
the &s;ame in all <HI>circum&s;tances,</HI> which <HI>accidentally</HI> and <HI>occa&s;ionally</HI> ad|here:
For the de&s;truction of them doth not alter the <HI>Nature</HI> of the
thing it &s;elf; as he which takes away the <HI>Rational &s;oul</HI> de&s;troys the
<HI>Man,</HI> but not he that takes away his <HI>Beauty,</HI> or acquired learn|ing.</P>
<P>It is therefore apparent, and undeniable, That in all <HI>Obligations</HI>
there mu&s;t be &s;ome <HI>conditions</HI> either <HI>puctually</HI> expre&s;t, or <HI>tacitely</HI> im|ply'd,
which are as fir&s;t motives to <HI>actions,</HI> and the only ground for
which they are to be <HI>Acted,</HI> and according to the terms, and re&s;pects
of which they are to be performed, which being either not kept, or re|moved,
the <HI>Obligation</HI> is no more: for this <HI>Condition</HI> is &s;o <HI>e&s;&s;ential,</HI>
and &s;o fixt in the heart of him which is <HI>ingaged,</HI> That if it be lo&s;t, the
whole <HI>Foundation is overturn'd,</HI> and the man cannot act as a man, or
as a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> afterwards, notwith&s;tanding his <HI>verbal ingagement;</HI> and
take it whether <HI>tacitely, or expre&s;ly,</HI> yet without &s;uch a <HI>condition,</HI> no
man would ingage in &s;uch an act; neither hath the man a mind to do it,
(other things con&s;idered) though he may have a full power of effect|ing
it.</P>
<P>And therefore its concluded by the mo&s;t <HI>Criticall Ca&s;ui&s;ts,</HI> That
if the thing alter and change from what it was in the eye when the <HI>Ob|ligation</HI>
was made, the <HI>Obligation</HI> is al&s;o null; for that thing is not <HI>in re|rum
natura</HI> which I <HI>ingaged</HI> my &s;elf unto, or if it have a being, yet is
under another form, and &s;hape, different from the fir&s;t <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> and
<HI>ground</HI> of my <HI>Obligation;</HI> and no man can be <HI>obliged</HI> unto that which
he never thought of, or when he doth think of, <HI>abominates;</HI> therefore
its unlawful and mo&s;t <HI>deregatory unto Rea&s;on,</HI> that any man &s;hould
bind him&s;elf to all <HI>ea&s;es,</HI> and <HI>circum&s;tances,</HI> come what will come,
or notwith&s;tanding what ever may fall out; for in the mo&s;t perempto|ry,
and <HI>ab&s;olute obligations,</HI> wherein there is &s;carce a <HI>condition</HI> (through
<HI>love</HI> and <HI>mode&s;ty)</HI> conceived, yet men are not bound to all <HI>emergencies,
ca&s;ualties, circum&s;tances,</HI> but only &s;o long as the <HI>Special, and formal
rea&s;on</HI> remains intire, and whole, and only unto the&s;e ca&s;es, unto which
the <HI>Foundation</HI> will extend. Thus &s;ome <HI>Obligations</HI> are made ab&s;olute,
not becau&s;e there may not po&s;&s;ible be an excepted ca&s;e, but becau&s;e the
very mention, or &s;uppo&s;al of the Condition, may create &s;u&s;picion, and
jealou&s;ie, and &s;eems to be &s;o much again&s;t nature, that no <HI>ingenious,</HI> or
<PB N="12" REF="7">
<HI>modest heart</HI> will admit the thoughts of them, therefore they are ut|terly
omitted. As for example; Man promi&s;eth &s;imply and without
<HI>condition,</HI> never to depart from his wife as long as he lives, which yet
contains a &s;ecret condition, <HI>if &s;he behave her &s;elf as a wife;</HI> the expre&s;|&s;ion
of which condition, that love and endearedne&s;s to her would not
admit, no not of the thought; and the very apprehen&s;ion of it would be
a temptation, and mo&s;t contrary to the unprejudiced and &s;ingle
thoughts of lovers, and mo&s;t di&s;&s;onant to that <HI>&s;imple</HI> &amp; <HI>individual union</HI>
between man, and wife; among whom there &s;hould be but one Soul in
two Bodies, or one body acted by two <HI>united Spirits;</HI> and yet if any
wife &s;hould <HI>commit Adultery,</HI> or &s;eek to de&s;troy her <HI>hu&s;band,</HI> (things
that the <HI>pure and cha&s;t intentions of love</HI> dur&s;t not &s;uppo&s;e, yet may be
po&s;&s;ible <HI>in corrupted nature)</HI> he is free from all other Obligations to
her, &s;he having <HI>unnaturally,</HI> and beyond expectation di&s;&s;olved the uni|on
by de&s;troying the main ends of <HI>marriage,</HI> which are <HI>communion,</HI> and
<HI>mutual comfort</HI> and pre&s;ervation; and &s;o having acted contrary to the
<HI>Fundamental</HI> rea&s;on of that Obligation, hath <HI>ip&s;o facto</HI> put her &s;elf into
another condition, and di&s;charged by her own act, all former <HI>Ingage|ments.</HI>
The like may be &s;aid (as hereafter) between King and
people.</P>
<P>Hence therefore its demon&s;trative, that if any through ignorance, or
overactings of a de&s;ign, &s;hould not fore&s;eeing the nature of things, or
foreca&s;ting events, ingage him&s;elf to two things imcompo&s;&s;ible, or
which through any nece&s;&s;ity of divine <HI>acting,</HI> or in the order of <HI>natural</HI>
and <HI>moral affairs,</HI> &s;hould prove incon&s;i&s;tent by &s;ome &s;pecial emergence;
he is bound to omit that which is le&s;s principal, and perform that which
is mo&s;t po&s;itive, and nece&s;&s;ary. As &s;uppo&s;e one in taking the degree of
Doctor in the <HI>Popi&s;h Dominions,</HI> (as its u&s;ed in the form of their
<HI>Oaths)</HI> doth &s;olemnly bind him&s;elf <HI>to embrace the Doctrine of Chri&s;t,
and as much as in him lies, to promote the Doctrine of the Church of
Rome,</HI> which is really contrary to Chri&s;t; doth not &s;ound <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> as
well as <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> teach us, That he is only bound to do the one, and
neglect the other? And though the thing we &s;wear to perform, be not
in it &s;elf unlawful; but <HI>magis bonum morale impediens, hindering a more
special good,</HI> as <HI>Grotius (lib. 2. de jure Belli, &amp; pacis, p.</HI> 245.) well
ob&s;erves: the <HI>Obligation</HI> cea&s;eth from that, and is nece&s;&s;arily contract|ed
on that which is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary and be&s;t to be done. If this were not
&s;o, in the multiplicity of <HI>humane tran&s;actions</HI> mo&s;t men would be
<PB N="13" REF="7">
bound only to one act, and &s;o be kept from performance of all other
<HI>duties</HI> which did not depend on that, or were not <HI>Subordinate</HI> to it;
and by one <HI>ingagement</HI> (though it may be ha&s;tily entered into) a man
mu&s;t be for ever unu&s;eful in matters of higher, and more peculiar <HI>impor|tance;</HI>
and have no remedy, no not of <HI>repentance</HI> and better thoughts for
his &s;uddain &s;urprizal.</P>
<P>And as no man is bound thus to any thing le&s;s con&s;iderable, or oppo|&s;ite
to a Common and publique good, &s;o neither can there be any <HI>Obli|gation</HI>
to any <HI>medium</HI> which any man hath bound him&s;elf unto, if by
that means he cannot mo&s;t <HI>effectually obtain the principal end:</HI> as if the
<HI>Hebrews</HI> had by <HI>Covenant ingaged</HI> unto <HI>Pharoah,</HI> that they would u&s;e
no other <HI>mid-wifes</HI> but the <HI>Aegyptian women,</HI> the edict being proclaim|ed
<HI>of killing all the Male children,</HI> they were di&s;obliged from any <HI>ne|ce&s;&s;ity
of obeying it,</HI> it being contrary to <HI>principles of nature,</HI> (which
mu&s;t be fir&s;t &s;erved) whereby all men are taught to pre&s;erve by the be&s;t
ways they can them&s;elves, and what is properly their own; and had
they kept &s;uch an <HI>ingagement,</HI> they had been not only <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> of, but
<HI>legal completters</HI> in the murther of their own children.</P>
<P>By all this we &s;ee as it falls out many times, That even <HI>Scelus e&s;t &s;i|des,
the very &s;wearing is &s;in,</HI> as <HI>Seneca (lib.</HI> 2.) expre&s;&s;eth it; &s;o as
<HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith <HI>(off. 1. c. ult.) e&s;t contra officium nonnunquam &s;olvere
promi&s;&s;um, juramentum cu&s;todire, it's &s;ometimes again&s;t a mans duty
to keep his promi&s;e, or perform his Oath;</HI> and in the mo&s;t &s;olemn <HI>in|gagements</HI>
(e&s;pecially about <HI>temporary,</HI> and <HI>controvertible</HI> things:) the
fir&s;t grounds and rea&s;ons mu&s;t be mo&s;t weighed, (omitting preju|dice,
and accidents) and what is mo&s;t po&s;itive, and humane, in&s;i&s;ted on,
and adhered unto.</P>
<P>By all this I may &s;eem but to wa&s;te paper, and take up time, but I hope
the application will make amends for the defects in the doctrine: have|ing
laid this <HI>general foundation,</HI> let us now come particularly to &s;ee
how far we are ingaged by this <HI>Covenant</HI> unto the Kings Per&s;on,
and his Po&s;terity, and <HI>Monarchichal Government</HI> in them, and how
far we are free and di&s;ingaged from them, and at <HI>liberty</HI> to imbrace any
other form of <HI>Government.</HI></P>
<P>To this purpo&s;e let us as warily view the <HI>Covenant,</HI> as we have
done the nature of <HI>Obligation,</HI> and con&s;ider the matter, and ends
of it, and we &s;hall finde in the Preface and Contents the&s;e for|mal
Rea&s;ons po&s;itively expre&s;t, The honour of God, the &s;afety of the two
<PB N="14" REF="8">
Nations in the <HI>pre&s;ervation</HI> of <HI>Religion,</HI> and <HI>Liberty,</HI> which were fir&s;t in
the eye of the impo&s;ers, and the <HI>golden apples</HI> ca&s;t before us, to <HI>allure</HI> us
unto the <HI>ingagement,</HI> and are as the <HI>vital spirits</HI> that run through e|very
<HI>vain</HI> of it, without which it were but an unnece&s;&s;ary and <HI>dead
ceremony.</HI> And the&s;e being as <HI>Fundamental to the Obligation</HI> of the
<HI>Covenant,</HI> as the form in <HI>Phi&s;icals</HI> to the con&s;tituting of a <HI>di&s;tinct be|ing,</HI>
the whole &s;trength of the <HI>Obligation</HI> lies on it, and only unto the
performance of the&s;e <HI>things,</HI> which are mo&s;t apt to effect the&s;e <HI>ends;</HI>
and if any thing we have <HI>ingaged</HI> our &s;elves unto, &s;hall be found either
not fit to promote the&s;e, or de&s;tructive to them (though at fir&s;t they
have &s;eemed never &s;o convenient, and plau&s;ible) they mu&s;t be removed
out of the way, as di&s;ea&s;es in the body, which hazard the di&s;&s;olution of
the union.</P>
<P>This being laid as the <HI>Primum mobile</HI> of the <HI>ingagement,</HI> and &s;et
in the <HI>Covenant as the common centre,</HI> many lines were drawn towards
them on every &s;ide, in order to an union in the fir&s;t principle, and many
Articles propo&s;ed as <HI>mediums</HI> thought mo&s;t &s;utable and nece&s;&s;ary to ad|vance
the&s;e ends.</P>
<P>And as the&s;e ends or fir&s;t rea&s;ons were of two &s;orts, <HI>viz: Religion,
and Liberty,</HI> the means were proportioned (as was then thought fit)
for the happier effecting both.</P>
<P>Religion being chief, it was fir&s;t propo&s;ed, and the pre&s;ervation of
it taken care for more expre&s;&s;ely in the fir&s;t, and &s;econd <HI>Articles</HI> again&s;t
the <HI>Common enemy</HI> (who was then well known:) and as in order to
that, we <HI>ingaged</HI> to a <HI>Reformation</HI> of it in <HI>Doctrine</HI> and <HI>Di&s;cipline, ac|cording
to the word of God, and the be&s;t Reformed Churches, to extir|pate
Popery, Here&s;ie, Epi&s;copacie with all its attendants,</HI> that being unto
Religion as the <HI>&s;uckers</HI> to the tree which diverts the moi&s;ture from the
natural branches, and by this we thought Religion &s;ufficiently provided
for in its pre&s;ervation, and <HI>Reformation.</HI></P>
<P>The next in order was <HI>the ju&s;t Liberty, and Freedom of the Nations,
and the advancement of it,</HI> &amp; as <HI>mediums</HI> unto that, the <HI>Covenant</HI> in the
third and fourth <HI>Articles,</HI> as mo&s;t ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary <HI>to pre&s;erve the
Priviledges of Parliament;</HI> and becau&s;e we would let nothing out
that might be probable (though <HI>ex &s;uppo&s;itione remota,</HI> and from a
&s;train'd charity) we ingaged <HI>to pre&s;erve the Kings per&s;on,</HI> yet with a
wary <HI>Salvo, in the pre&s;ervation of Religion, and Liberty.</HI></P>
<P>And la&s;tly, to prevent any de&s;ign again&s;t both, we <HI>ingaged to di&s;co|ver,</HI>
<PB N="15" REF="8">
and bring to condign puni&s;hment, all Delinquents and Incendia|ries
that acted contrary to the&s;e propo&s;ed ends.</P>
<P>Thus you have the whole Covenant anatomized, the two great
pillars on which its Obligation &s;tands, which though of different Na|tures,
yet are in&s;eparably united to the pre&s;ervation of each other: Now
if any thing without &s;hould oppo&s;e either Religion or Liberty, or
any thing in any Article expre&s;t &s;hould afterwards prove malignant
to either or both, or interfer with any other Article which hath
more of the efficacy of a <HI>medium</HI> to the&s;e ends, the Obligation to
that cea&s;eth, becau&s;e it will de&s;troy the Formal Rea&s;on by which
I am obliged. Thus it will follow, That if the Kings per&s;on,
which we are engaged to pre&s;erve, (take him in his be&s;t capacity)
&s;hall &s;et up Popery and Prelacy, contrary to Religion, and ad|vance
Malignancy and Tyranny, contrary to Liberty, we have no
Obligation by the COVENANT to pre&s;erve him, &s;eeing be
is de&s;tructive to the&s;e ab&s;olute Ends, for which, and in the
PRESERVATION of which, we engage to pre&s;erve
Him.</P>
<P>But that we may deal plainly and freely in a Ca&s;e of Con&s;ci|ence,
let us a little compare the King, and his actings, more par|ticularly
with the Convenant, and we &s;hall finde at la&s;t, that we
are not onely not engaged to pre&s;erve him, but bound by the
&s;trength of the Covenant to cut him off, as a dead member that is
gangrened.</P>
<P>I have often wondered out of what &s;ort of charity or de&s;ign the
Kings name was in&s;erted in the Covenant, as di&s;tinct from the
Common Enemy (again&s;t whom we were fir&s;t &s;worn) &s;eeing he was
the Head that gave life and motion to every part of that Body,
(without whom they were but as a great Body without Soul or ani|mal
Spirit) they onely fought under his Banners, for his Intere&s;t, in
oppo&s;ition to the fir&s;t grounds of the Covenant, to di&s;tingui&s;h the
Head and the Members in one Common Cau&s;e, and to &s;wear again&s;t
the one, and &s;wear to pre&s;erve the other, was too great a Critici&s;m
to be put in an Oath that mu&s;t binde the Con&s;cience. For my part,
from the fir&s;t I &s;aw that name there (con&s;idering the &s;tate of Affairs
then) I looked upon him as SAUL among the Prophets, or as in &s;u|per&s;titious
times they &s;et up &s;tately Images to draw men to Church,
and more to reverence the place; or as &s;ugar put on bitter pills to
<PB N="16" REF="9">
make them down the better, with le&s;s &s;cruple of the palate, or nau|&s;eou&s;ne&s;s
of the &s;tomack: And if I may u&s;e the words of Learned
<HI>Calvin,</HI> in another ca&s;e, which you &s;hall finde in his Epi&s;tle prefixed
to his Commentary on the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> having been forc'd to change
the Dedication, and alter the Title of it which was in the fir&s;t Im|pre&s;&s;ion,
he to whom it was fir&s;t dedicated proving an Apo&s;tate:
<HI>&V;tinam</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>quo primum tempore in lucem prodiit hic Com|mentarius,vel mihi ignotus, vel &s;altem probe notus fui&s;&s;et ille cujus
nomen huic paginae hactenus in&s;criptum nunc delere cogor:</HI> It had
been happy for <HI>ENGLAND</HI> that we had either not known
him, or known him better (as we had Rea&s;on) and either wholy
let out his name, or had better rea&s;ons to have put it in; for he ever
&s;tood as the great <HI>errata</HI> in it, and we might ea&s;ily have fore-&s;een
what end he was de&s;igned to make, which had &s;uch a beginning:
But however, though through hope and charity his name was in&s;erted,
yet now Rea&s;on and Con&s;cience, yea the <HI>COVENANT</HI> it
&s;elf, hath given ju&s;t grounds to blot him out, he being the
onely ob&s;tacle to attaining all the hone&s;t and nece&s;&s;ary Ends of
it.</P>
<P>Let us but (without prejudice) view, how that one name, and the
pre&s;ervation of it, &s;tands oppo&s;ite to all the other Articles and expre&s;|&s;ions
in the <HI>COVENANT,</HI> and makes them all u&s;ele&s;s and of no
con&s;equence, that there is an imcompo&s;&s;ibility of keeping our Engage|ment
to him, and to keep the others.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, for Religion, and the&s;e Articles which are &s;worn unto in or|der
to its pre&s;ervation, the pre&s;ervation of the Kings per&s;on would
directly be the overthrowing of them: we had ab&s;olutely &s;worn to
extirpate Popery and Prelacy without any limitation, which could not
po&s;&s;ibly be done with the pre&s;ervation of his Maje&s;ties per&s;on; for
Popery, though I cannot tax him with the profe&s;sion of it, yet many
corre&s;pondencies have been between him and <HI>Rome,</HI> and <HI>Spain,</HI> even
from a childe; his QUEEN a profe&s;t and Je&s;uited PAPIST,
who not onely lay in his bo&s;om, but ruled and guided mo&s;t of
his coun&s;els, that you mu&s;t have either left him a Husband with|out
a Wife, and have divorced him from his own Soul and Self,
(and from her who&s;e he was eternally) or el&s;e grant at lea&s;t a
<HI>TOLERATION</HI> to <HI>POPERY,</HI> after we had &s;worn
again&s;t it; Be&s;ides his MAJESTY was in Debt, and &s;o far
<PB N="17" REF="9">
in Arrears to the Popi&s;h party in England and Ireland, for their
faithfull &s;ervices to him, that he could not be free of regall pro|mi&s;es,
and Covenant-Engagements to them, which mu&s;t have been
remembred upon every advantage, neither could he in honour or
ingenuity have con&s;ented to extirpate them, who had &s;o great
an influence to his affairs, and ventured &s;o hard for his Preroga|tive;
thus the King and the fir&s;t and &s;econd Article are become
incompetible, cannot &s;tand together, and be both pre&s;erved.</P>
<P>The next thing we ingaged in order to Religion, was the extir|tion
of Prelacy, and all that Hierarchy, as that which hindred the
&s;trength and growth of the power and life of it, which could
not be hoped for, with the pre&s;ervation of his Per&s;on, nothing
being &s;o dear and precious in his eyes, or more &s;acred then that
Order; and he profe&s;t, never to give con&s;ent to abolition of it,
though he was willing to have a reformation of it, or to give a to|leration
or triall to Presbytery, untill he could get power enough
to &s;et up the other; &s;o that what would become of the two
fir&s;t Articles, while the Kings name &s;tood in force in the Covenant,
except Popery and Prelacy could help to the reformation and e|&s;tabli&s;hing
of Religion? And as the religious part of the Cove|nant
would not onely be weak'ned, but ab&s;olutely de&s;troyed, &s;o
the &s;ecular and humane part, <HI>viz.</HI> the pre&s;ervation of Liberty and
Freedome, and all the Articles concerning it, could not be
kept, or po&s;&s;ibly be made in&s;trumentall to their end, if his Per&s;on
were pre&s;erved; for be&s;ides the fir&s;t wide breach he made on the
Liberties of both Nations by his tyrannical Power and Prerogative,
after we had wrung the weapons wherewith he fought again&s;t us,
out of his hands, and had tendered to him by Bills and Propo&s;itions
once and again, the ju&s;t foundations of our Liberties and Freedom,
he continually refu&s;ed to &s;ign them, and onely pick't out &s;ome
which we could be&s;t &s;pare, and went on in rai&s;ing of a &s;econd
warre, that we had almo&s;t lo&s;t both name and thing. And where|as
we had ingaged to pre&s;erve the Priviledges of Parliament, it was
impo&s;&s;ible we could do it, while he &s;till retained his power of a
Negative voice, and challenged a right in ordering the affaires
of the Kingdome by a Supreme power; much le&s;&s;e could we ima|gine
to bring Delinquents to ju&s;tice, while he him&s;elfe was the
<PB N="18" REF="10">
head of them: And if the native and true &s;en&s;e of the Cove|nant
be the maintenance of Religion and Liberty, again&s;t a com|mon
enemy, and the King hath proved the chiefe and mo&s;t dan|gerous
Enemy again&s;t both, doth not the Covenant oblige all
men again&s;t him? yea, to remove him out of the way, that
all the other Articles may have their full power, tye and efficacy,
and the ends not have their authority and goodne&s;&s;e &s;ubordinate
to one ra&s;h expre&s;&s;ion? The putting his name in the Covenant
&s;hewed enough the reall de&s;ires we had for his &s;afety, and hap|pine&s;&s;e,
(though there was too much ground of &s;u&s;pition, yea
for unbeliefe, that he would never prove in&s;trumentall) and
too much honour and re&s;pect to be given to the fir&s;t and grand
enemy of both Nations; but it would be &s;ad and de&s;perate,
that our love and good hopes &s;hould be &s;o ill requited, as to
be left remedile&s;&s;e, and at a perpetuall lo&s;&s;e in all our con|cernments
by one exotick name thru&s;t into the Covenant,
the verie mention of which, expunges all the other Arti|cles.</P>
<P>If experience or &s;en&s;e could open our eyes, we mu&s;t needs
&s;ee that there was nothing the King hated &s;o much as the Co|venant,
yea, &s;o hated it, as it's thought he ever loved his name
the wor&s;e after he &s;aw it there; and if his <GAP DESC="foreign"> may
be his judge, that &s;uppo&s;ed booke of his, which mo&s;t of his
friends owne, there is nothing he &s;pends his venome at more
then Covenant and Presbytery, as if he had an Antipathy to
both, not a &s;igh of &s;en&s;e ever came from him for all the blood
&s;hed, nor a repenting expre&s;&s;ion for any Act done, but his
con&s;ent to the Bill for taking off the Earle of <HI>Straffords</HI> head,
being more touch'd for a Para&s;ite then the ruine of three King|domes;
not any thing could ever be gotten from him in con|&s;ent
to any Bill or Propo&s;ition propo&s;ed for our Liberties, but
came as a drop of blood from his heart, and as under force,
with many premeditated re&s;erves, and at la&s;t &s;ealed his Pre|rogative
with his own blood, without &s;hewing the lea&s;t remor&s;e
for former Acts, or acknowledging any boundary to his will but
God him&s;elf.</P>
<P>And yet this man (as if he were the <HI>unum nece&s;&s;arium,</HI> and all
<PB N="19" REF="10">
Religion and Liberty were e&s;&s;entiall to his Per&s;on) mu&s;t onely
be lamented, and all the breach of Covenant fa&s;t'ned on the
Act of Ju&s;tice on him, without which neither the Covenant or
any Article in it could be dutifully performed. And how much
have men lo&s;t of their under&s;tandings, and the puritie of their
affections to the Covenant, that &s;hall be willing to have the Co|venant
rejected, and all the ends and ingagements of it bro|ken,
&s;o they might have but one expre&s;&s;ion pre&s;erved? Had the
Parliament given a toleration to Popery, &s;et up Prelacy, prote|cted
Delinquents and Incendiaries, that our Religion and Liber|ties
might have been pluck't up by the roots, and &s;et up the King
in his Throne, and intail'd the Crowne more firmly on his po&s;te|rity,
notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e con&s;iderations in the Covenant,
be&s;ides, taking hold of that one clau&s;e; would the Covenant
have been then kept? let all hone&s;t men judge; and yet they had
done all the&s;e vertually, and would have done them really in
time, had they but complied with the King, or done any other|wi&s;e
to him, then pa&s;&s;ing a legall and judiciall &s;entence on
him.</P>
<P>But we need go no further then the words of the Ingagement
concerning the King, which are very ob&s;ervable, and will end
the controver&s;ie if hone&s;tly ob&s;erved: For whereas all the Arti|cles
of the Covenant are po&s;itive and ab&s;olute, Religion to be
reformed according to the Word of God, Popery and Epi&s;copa|cy
to be extirpated without any di&s;tinction, the Priviledges of
Parliament to be maintained, Delinquents and Incendiaries to
be brought to ju&s;tice, without any di&s;crimination or favour, when
we come to Covenant concerning the Kings Per&s;on, (as ju&s;tly fea|ring,
if not fore-&s;eeing what he would prove) it's with an expre&s;&s;e
re&s;triction, and his whole Per&s;on and concernments wrapt up in
this clau&s;e: <HI>In the pre&s;ervation of Religion &amp; Liberty,</HI> which was not
only an Expo&s;ition of what we intended concerning him, or on|ly
a limitation, or qualification of our endeavours concerning
him, (though that were enough) but an ab&s;olute and expre&s;&s;e con|dition
and determination of the way and meanes of pre&s;erving
him only in the pre&s;ervation of Religion and Liberty, in which
<PB N="20" REF="11">
he was included as the le&s;&s;er in the greater; that if the&s;e two can|not
be pre&s;erved in pre&s;erving him, he is left alone, for they are
not to be pre&s;erved in him, but he in them: And this condition is
&s;o plaine, that you mu&s;t either be bound to the King ab&s;olutely,
without con&s;ideration of Religion or Liberty, or mu&s;t when they
become incompo&s;&s;ible, &s;tick to that which is principall, and of
mo&s;t concernment; and if this clau&s;e had not been either expre&s;t
or &s;uppo&s;ed, no knowing man who loved his con&s;cience could in|gage,
that being the fundamentall rea&s;on of our Engagement,
neither can it be well &s;uppo&s;ed that mo&s;t of the godly and un|der&s;tanding
people of both Nations vvould de&s;perately &s;vvear a|vvay
all the priviledges both of Religion and Liberty, in a kind
and loving mood, and to pre&s;erve the Kings Per&s;on, prove he Ty|rant
or Turk, which they mu&s;t needs do, if they did not ingage to
pre&s;erve the King in the pre&s;ervation of Religion and Liberty;
&s;eeing therefore that the&s;e were the e&s;&s;entiall conditions of our
Obligation to his Per&s;on, and they have grown incompatible to|gether,
yea diametrically oppo&s;ite, and the ends primarily inten|ded
in the Covenant, could not be attained without removing his
Per&s;on, vvho hath &s;o little rea&s;on to doubt, but vvith a good con|&s;cience,
yea by the very con&s;traints of con&s;cience, vve are di&s;|charged
from that part of the Covenant, and capable of clo&s;ing
vvith any other that is more fit to pro&s;ecute the&s;e ends.</P>
<P>So that you may novv perceive that the Kings name vvas in the
Covenant but as a &s;eparable accident in its &s;ubject, <HI>Quod pote&s;t ad|e&s;&s;e
vel abe&s;&s;e &s;ine &s;ubjecti interitu,</HI> the Covenant &s;tands firme on
its true and &s;ound ba&s;is, and is kept in its be&s;t intentions and ends,
though his Per&s;on be removed, and that el&s;e the Covenant it &s;elf
vvould have been a meer Skeleton and religious cypher, that could
neither be rationally binding, or po&s;&s;ibly kept.</P>
<P>Neither can it be by any ob&s;ervant eye conjectured, that his Son
&s;hould promi&s;e better things, (by vvhom the Succe&s;&s;ion is chal|lenged)
yea farre le&s;&s;e may be expected from him, vvho hath natu|rally
&s;ucked in all his Fathers principles, and been at a greater
di&s;tance from all good coun&s;ell and advice, and hath had the mo&s;t
de&s;perate of the fir&s;t Incendiaries to breed him up, and be his on|ly
coun&s;ell, that nothing but the change of the Government can
<PB N="21" REF="11">
free us from the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of tyranny and Prerogative, or give us
any hopes of being happy in after daies.</P>
<P>And if we do &s;oberly con&s;ider it, we have not broken at all the
Covenant, nor changed it in any &s;peciall condition of it, but only
blotted out an unnece&s;&s;ary and de&s;tructive name, and in&s;erted a
more direct medium, for the pre&s;erving the Covenant, and ad|vancing
the more noble and be&s;t intentions of it, and by taking
this new engagement (which is &s;hort, and plain without ambigui|ty)
we take away the grand ob&s;truction, and &s;et it right in its pri|mitive
beauty, and free it from any future hazards or mi&s;interpre|tations,
the nature of a Common-wealth being to promote com|mon
and publique concernment, both of Religion and Liberty.</P>
<P>By this time I hope all men may &s;ee that (among the mo&s;t) its
not con&s;cience but choler, animo&s;ity, if not malignancy that keeps
men from taking the late Ingagement of the Parliament, there be|ing
nothing in the Covenant contrary: and &s;eeing no man can be
obliged unto any act which is contrary to a natarall, and morall
good, and that all obligations cea&s;e with the fir&s;t rea&s;ons, or con|ditions
on which they were made, it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow that
all our Ingagements to the Kings per&s;on, and Monarchicall Go|vernment
cea&s;e al&s;o, there being nothing left of rea&s;on to engage
us to them, but our own affections, yea the whole &s;tate and nature
of per&s;ons, and things being nece&s;&s;arily changed from what they
were, when we fir&s;t engaged our &s;elves, &amp; better &amp; more effectuall
waies propounded, we ought to clo&s;e in with them, and make
con&s;cience of it.</P>
<P>But what need I &s;pend time, and put any to paines to read this
di&s;cour&s;e, when the A&s;&s;embly of Divines have determined the cau&s;e
concerning the obligation of former oaths, and Covenants, in their
exhortation to the taking of the &s;olemn League and Covenant,
ordered by the Parliament to be added to it <HI>(p.</HI> 4.) which is &s;pe|cially
&s;poken to per&s;wade Clergy men from that plea of their for|mer
engagements to the Bi&s;hops, as you may read in the&s;e words.</P>
<P><HI>And as for tho&s;e Clergy men, who pretend that they above all others
cannot covenant to extirpate that Government (meaning Epi&s;copall)
becau&s;e they have (as they &s;ay) taken a &s;olemn Oath to obey the Bi|&s;hops
in licit &amp; hone&s;tis:</HI> they can tell if they plea&s;e is that they
<PB N="22" REF="12">
that have &s;worn obedience to the Laws of the Land, are not
thereby prohibited from endeavouring by all lawfull means the a|bolition
of the&s;e Laws, when they prove inconvenient or mi&s;chie|vous,
and if yet there &s;hould be any oath found, unto which any
Mini&s;ters or others have entred, not warranted by the Laws of
God, and the Land; in this ca&s;e they mu&s;t teach them&s;elves and o|thers,
that &s;uch oathes call for repentance, not pertinacy in
them.</P>
<P>There needs no Comment on this, its a full &s;olution to all &s;uch
Pleas which are drawn from former engagements, when new and
more nece&s;&s;ary duties are to be pre&s;ently performed, or the former
oaths prove mi&s;chievous to more fundamentall and &s;peciall acti|ons.
There remains nothing now, if we mean to reconcile the Co|venant
with it &s;elf, and make it whole and entire again (having ra|zed
out the grand Errataes of it, and written it over in fairer and
more legible Characters, and all ominous expre&s;&s;ions expunged)
but to take the new Ingagement to the Common-wealth of Eng|land,
and which is the mo&s;t fit Appendix that can be imagined to be
added, and the la&s;t and mo&s;t probable means of pre&s;erving all the
ends, and Articles in it; without which we may fondly think to &s;a|tisfie
our con&s;ciences, but &s;hall never be able to keep the Covenant,
it being not rationally to be &s;uppo&s;ed, that any thing but Popery,
Prelacy, and Malignancy &s;hould flouri&s;h under either the late King
or his Succe&s;&s;ors, who were and are engaged only to the&s;e inte|re&s;ts,
by education and acquaintance, by contract and relations, by
di&s;po&s;ition and revenge, yea by all the common ties of friend&s;hip,
and love, yea and of debt and duty al&s;o: that if we now pa&s;&s;e this
year of <HI>Jubilee,</HI> we de&s;erve not only to have our ears boared, but
our con&s;ciences, and to be made by a divine judgement perfect
&s;laves, as we &s;hall be by our voluntary con&s;ents.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
