4. And it is not to be silenced (though in some respects we are loth to mention it) That it will save the Nation from the violation of the Solemn Vow and Covenant, without wronging the Church at all, or breaking any other Oath. And whether the Covenant were lawfully imposed or not, we are assured from the nature of a Vow to God, and from the Case of Saul, Zedekiah, and others, that it would be a terrible thing in us to violate it on that pretence. Though we are far from thinking that it obligeth us to any evil, or to go beyond our places & callings to do good, much less to resist Authority, (to which it doth oblige us) yet doth it undoubtedly bind us to forbear our own consent to those luxuriances of Church-Government which we there renounced, and for which no divine Institution can be pretended. Not presuming to meddle with the Consciences of those many of the Nobility and Gentry, and others, that adhered to this late Majesty in the late unhappy Wars, who at their Composition took this Vow and Covenant. We only crave your Majesties clemency to our selves and others, who believe themselves to be under its obligations. And God forbid that we that are the Ministers of the Word of Truth should do any thing to encourage your Majesties Subjects to cast off the Conscience of an Oath. Till the Covenant was decried as an Almanac out of date, and its obligation taken to be null, that odious Fact could never have been perpetrated against your Royal Father, nor your Majesty have been so long expulsed from your Dominions. And the obligation of the Covenant upon the consciences of the Nation, was not the weakest Instrument of your Return. We therefore humbly beseech your Majesty (with greater importunity than we think we should do for our lives) That you would have ⟨p. 13⟩mercy on the Souls and Consciences of your People, and will not suffer us to be tempted to the violation of such solemn Vows, and this for nothing, when an expedient is before you that will avoid it, without any detriment to the Church; nay, to its honour & advancement.
4. And it is not to be silenced (though in some respects we are loth to mention it) That it will save the Nation from the violation of the Solemn Vow and Covenant, without wronging the Church at all, or breaking any other Oath. And whether the Covenant were lawfully imposed or not, we are assured from the nature of a Vow to God, and from the Case of Saul, Zedekiah, and others, that it would be a terrible thing in us to violate it on that pretence. Though we are far from thinking that it obligeth us to any evil, or to go beyond our places & callings to do good, much less to resist Authority, (to which it doth oblige us) yet doth it undoubtedly bind us to forbear our own consent to those luxuriances of Church-Government which we there renounced, and for which no divine Institution can be pretended. Not presuming to meddle with the Consciences of those many of the Nobility and Gentry, and others, that adhered to this late Majesty in the late unhappy Wars, who at their Composition took this Vow and Covenant. We only crave your Majesties clemency to our selves and others, who believe themselves to be under its obligations. And God forbid that we that are the Ministers of the Word of Truth should do any thing to encourage your Majesties Subjects to cast off the Conscience of an Oath. Till the Covenant was decried as an Almanack out of date, and its obligation taken to be null, that odious Fact could never have been perpetrated against your Royal Father, nor your Majesty have been so long expulsed from your Dominions. And the obligation of the Covenant upon the consciences of the Nation, was not the weakest Instrument of your Return. We therefore humbly beseech your Majesty (with greater importunity than we think we should do for our lives) That you would have ⟨p. 13⟩mercy on the Souls and Consciences of your People, and will not suffer us to be tempted to the violation of such solemn Vows, and this for nothing, when an expedient is before you that will avoid it, without any detriment to the Church; nay, to its honor & advancement.
