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diff --git a/old/53843-0.txt b/old/53843-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5930093..0000000 --- a/old/53843-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3152 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New England, -by Charles Evans - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New England - - -Author: Charles Evans - - - -Release Date: December 31, 2016 [eBook #53843] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE IN COLONIAL -NEW ENGLAND*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 53843-h.htm or 53843-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53843/53843-h/53843-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53843/53843-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/oathsofallegianc00evan - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by plus signs has been inserted (+inserted+). - - Text enclosed by equal signs was struck through - (=struck through=). - - A carat character is used to denote superscription. A - single character following the carat is superscripted - (example: y^e). Multiple superscripted characters are - enclosed by curly brackets (example: w^{th}). - - Some characters might not display in this UTF-8 text - version or in the html version. If so, the reader should - consult the iso-8859-1 (Latin-1) text file 53843-8.txt - or 53843.zip: - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53843/53843-8.txt - or - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53843/53843-8.zip - or should consult the original page images referred to - above. - - - - - -American Antiquarian Society - -OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE IN COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND - -by - -CHARLES EVANS - - - -Reprinted from the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society -for October, 1921 - - - - - - - -Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. -Published by the Society -1922 - -The Davis Press -Worcester, Massachusetts - - - - -CONTENTS - - In England. - The Oath of Supremacy - Tenor of The Oath of Allegiance, &c. to be Taken and - Subscribed by Recusants - The Oath of Abjuration - In New Plymouth Colony. - Combination for Foundation of Government known as The - Mayflower Compact - Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity - The Oath of a Ffreeman - The Oath of a Resident - The Oath of a Ffreeman - The Oath of a Ffreeman - In Massachusetts-Bay Colony. - The Oath of a Freeman, or of a Man to be made ffree. - The Oath of Residents - The Oath of a Freeman - The Oath of a Free-man - Freemans Oath - Freemans Oath - Oath of Fidelitie - Oath of Fidelitie - Strangers Oath - Oath of Fidelitie - Freemans Oath - In Connecticut and New Haven Colonies. - An Oath for Paqua’ and the Plantations there - The Oath of a Freeman - In New Haven Colony. - Freeman’s Charge - Oath of Fidelity - Oath of Allegiance - In Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. - Civil Compact - Second Civil Compact - The Engagement of the Officers - The Reciprocal Engagement of the State to ye Officers - The Preamble to the Law Against Perjury - In New Hampshire Colony. - The Combination for Government at Exeter, with the Forms - of Oaths for Rulers and People - The Elders or Rulers Oath - The Oath of the People - The Combination of the People of Dover to Establish a Form - of Government - Freemen - In Province or County of Maine. - Oath of Councilors of Province of Mayne - - - - - OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE IN COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND - - -The antiquity of the custom of giving and taking Oaths, or the debatable -questions of their observance being a religious or legal ceremony, and -whether the moral or political aspect has the greater effect upon the -minds of men, are subjects with which this paper has nothing to do. - -And as the substance of Oaths for particular officers is to engage them -to a faithful discharge of their places and trusts to the best of their -ability, it has been considered, in general, unnecessary to give them, -especially as these offices carry with them the assumption that the -general Oaths required of all citizens have first been complied with. No -Oaths of office were administered or required in the New Plymouth -Colony, the power of the Church being, in effect, superior to the civil -power. - -For the main purpose of this paper it will not be necessary to go -further back in history than to the reign of James the First, of -England, 1603–1625, during which time the providences of God directed -the course of the voyage of the Pilgrims away from the Colony of -Virginia to their settlement at Plymouth in New England, in December, -1620; or to carry the subject beyond the time, in the short-lived reign -of James the Second, 1685–1689, when, in December, 1686, Sir Edmund -Andros, knight, arrived in Boston with a commission to govern New -England, and the Colonial period of New England came to an end. - - - - -_In England._ - - -When Henry the Eighth renounced the authority of the Pope, in 1534, an -Act of Parliament was obtained declaring him the only supreme head of -the Church in England on the earth; and utterly abolishing the authority -of the Roman Pontiff within the British Dominions. To give effect to -this Act there was further enacted: - - - THE OATH OF SUPREMACY - - I, A. B. do utterly testifie and declare in my Conscience, that the - Kings Highness is the only Supream Governour of this Realm, and of - all other His Highness Dominions and Countries, as well in all - Spiritual and Ecclesiastical things (or causes) as Temporal: And - that no Forraign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, - or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, preheminence - or authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm: and - therefore I do utterly renounce and forsake all forreign - jurisdiction, powers, superioritie, and authorities, and do promise - that from henceforth I shall bear Faith and true Allegiance to the - Kings Highness, His Heirs and lawful Successors, and (to my power) - shall assist and defend all jurisdiction, priviledge, preheminence, - & authority granted or belonging to the Kings Highness, His Heirs - and Successors, and united and annexed to the imperial Crown of the - Realm. So help me God, _&c._ - -The Act of Supremacy which broke the power of the Roman Catholic Church -in England, under Henry the Eighth, and his successor, Edward the Sixth, -was repealed under Mary Tudor, and revived under Elizabeth, in 1558. -Following the Gunpowder Plot, James the First, in 1605, had enacted an -Oath of Allegiance, also, which all British subjects were required to -take. This Oath of “submission and obedience to the King as a temporal -Sovereign, independent of any other power upon earth” contained no -acknowledgment of the King as the head of the Church, and, by this -omission, Roman Catholics could take it without denying the supremacy of -the Pope in spiritual affairs: - - - TENOR OF THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE, &C. TO BE TAKEN AND SUBSCRIBED BY - RECUSANTS - - I. A.B. doe truely and sincerely acknowledge pfesse testifie and - declare in my Conscience before God and the Worlde, That our - Soveraigne Lorde Kinge James is lawfull and rightfull King of this - Realme and of all other his Majesties Dominions and Countries; And - that the Pope, neither of himselfe nor by any Authority of the - Churche or Sea of Rome, or by any other meanes with any other, hath - any Power or Authoritye to depose the King or to dispose any of his - Majesties Kingdomes or Dominions, or to authorize any Forraigne - Prince to invade or annoy hym or his Countries, or to discharge any - of his Subjects of their Allegiaunce and Obedience to his Majestie, - or to give Licence or Leave to any of them to beare Armes raise - Tumult or to offer any violence or hurte to his Majestie Royall Pson - State or Government or to any of his Majesties Subjects within his - Majesties Dominions. Also I doe sweare from my heart, that - notwithstanding any Declarac̄on or Sentence of Excommunicac̄on or - Deprivac̄on made or graunted or to be made or graunted by the Pope - or his Successors, or by any Authoritie derived or p̄tended to be - derived from hym or his Sea against the saide King his Heires or - Successors, or any Absolution of the saide Subjects from theire - Obedience; I will beare Faithe and true Allegiaunce to his Majestie - his Heires and Successors, and hym or them will defend to the - uttermost of my power against all Conspiracies and Attempts - whatsoever which shalbe made against his or theire persons theire - Crowne and Dignitie by reason or colour of any such Sentence or - Declarac̄on or otherwise, and will doe my best endevour to disclose - and make knowen unto his Majestie his Heires and Successors all - Treasons and traiterous Conspiracies which I shall knowe or heare of - to be against hym or any of them. And I doe further sweare, That I - doe from my heart abhor, detest and abjure as impious and hereticall - this damnable Doctrine and Position, that Princes which be - excōmunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murthered - by theire Subjects or any other whosoever. And I doe beleeve and in - my Conscience am resolved, that neither the Pope nor any pson - whatsoever hath power to absolve me of this Oath or any parte - therof, which I acknowledge by good and full Authoritye to be - lawfully ministered unto mee, and doe renounce all Pardons and - Dispensac̄ons to the contrarie; And all these things I do plainly - and sincerely acknowledge and sweare, according to these expresse - wordes by me spoken, and according to the playne and cōmon sense - and understanding of the same wordes, without any equivocac̄on or - mentall evasion or secret reservac̄on whatsoever; And I doe make - this recognic̄on and acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly - upon the true Faithe of a Christian: So help me God. Unto which Oath - so taken, the saide pson shall subscribe his or her Name or Marke. - [1605.] - -Both of these Oaths were commanded during the reign of Charles the -First, 1625–1649. - -By the third Charter of the Virginia Company, their Treasurer, or any -two of the Council, were empowered to administer the Oaths of Supremacy, -and of Allegiance, to all persons going to their Colony. And the -Pilgrims, through their chief men, agreed with the Virginia Company: -“The Oath of Supremacy we shall willingly take, if it be required of us, -if that convenient satisfaction be not given by our taking the Oath of -Allegiance. John Robinson. William Brewster.” - -The Charter of the Massachusetts-Bay Company gave them broader powers in -that it did not exact this provision from them but gave the Company -liberty to admit new members, called “Freemen” of the Company, and no -method, conditions, or qualifications were presented for conferring this -privilege. Their leaders, as we shall see, were quick to take advantage -of the opportunity given them to frame their own Oaths of citizenship. -Too late the government in England, or rather that part which was -representative of the Church of England, realized the powers of -colonization this gave the dissenting churchmen; and, in 1637, a -Proclamation was issued, aimed principally to prevent the emigration of -Puritan Ministers, which commanded that none should be suffered to go to -New England “without a certificate that they had taken the Oaths of -Supremacy and Allegiance, and had conformed to the discipline of the -Church of England.” In 1638, another Proclamation “commanded owners and -masters of vessels that they do not fit out any with passengers and -provisions to New-England, without license from the Commissioners of -Plantations.” - -Another Oath, drawn up in England, also claims a place here because it -was sometimes voluntarily taken by settlers in the New England Colonies. -In the year 1655, during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, an Oath, -probably similar to that prescribed by the Rump Parliament to the -Council of State, was enacted which was known as: - - - THE OATH OF ABJURATION - - I do hereby swear that I do renounce the pretended title of Charles - Stuart, and the whole line of the late King James; and of any other - person, as a single person pretending, or which shall pretend to the - crown or government of these nations of England Scotland and - Ireland, or any of them; and that I will, by the grace and - assistance of Almighty God, be true, faithful and constant to the - Parliament, and Commonwealth; and will oppose the bringing in, or - setting up any single person or House of Lords, and every - of them, in this Commonwealth. - -Soon after the Restoration, Charles the Second, by Proclamation -commanded that the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance be tendered to all -persons disaffected to the Government and, in case of refusal, that they -were to be prosecuted under the Statute of the 7th of James. During the -reign of his Roman Catholic successor, James the Second, the Oath of -Supremacy was allowed to lapse, and the Oath of Allegiance, only, was in -full force in the Colonies, up to the publication of his declaration of -liberty of conscience for all denominations in England and Scotland, in -1687–1688, which sealed his doom. - -These preliminaries are necessary to a full understanding of our subject -which naturally begins, in point of time, with the settlement - - - - -_In New Plymouth Colony._ - - -Strictly speaking, Plymouth was not a New England Colony. It was without -a Charter, and the functions of its government were those of a -Corporation. The power of the Oath of Allegiance their leaders had -assented to always seemed to hang over them, and paralyze the initiative -they should have taken. Their attempts to increase their circumscribed -boundaries at New Plymouth were futile; and, in the case of their -attempted settlement in Maine, disastrous both to the business -reputation of their leaders, and to the Corporation. They could spare -neither the men nor the means from the parent settlement to form -permanent settlements elsewhere. They seemed doomed to failure. And yet -hardly that, when we consider the impress upon our Nation made by their -sterling qualities of mind and heart, their patience and fortitude under -severe trials, the hopes and ambition of their teachings, and their -never-failing trust in God’s Providence. These high qualities still -animate and live in the great and growing number who proudly claim their -ancestry from the Pilgrims at New Plymouth. - - - COMBINATION FOR FOUNDATION OF GOVERNMENT - known as - THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT - - In y^e name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, the loyall - subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by y^e grace of - God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland, king, defender of y^e - faith, &c. haveing undertaken, for y^e glorie of God, and - advancement of y^e Christian faith, and honour of our king and - countrie, a voyage to plant y^e first colonie in y^e Northerne parts - of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in y^e - presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves - togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & - preservation & furtherance of y^e ends aforesaid; and by vertue - hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, - ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as - shall be thought most meete & convenient for y^e generall good of - y^e Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. - In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd - y^e 11 of November, in y^e year of y^e raigne of our soveraigne - lord, King James, of England, France, & Ireland y^e eighteenth, and - of Scotland y^e fiftie fourth. An^o: Dom. 1620. [Forty-one names.] - -The Mayflower Compact has received full and adequate treatment in the -paper read before this Society in October, 1920, by Arthur Lord, LL.D. - -The exact date of the two forms of Oaths first given has not been -determined, but they are certainly later than the formation of the first -Council in 1624. - - - OATH OF ALLEGIANCE AND FIDELITY - - The forme of Oath ... which liue in this Colonie ... the Oth of - alegance to his maj ... fidelity to the same. - - You shall sweare by the name of the Great God ... & earth & in his - holy fear, & presence that you shall not speake, or doe, deuise, or - aduise, anything or things, acte or acts, directly, or indirectly, - By land, or water, that doth, shall, or may, tend to the destruction - or ouerthrowe of this present plantation, Colonie, or Corporation of - this towne Plimouth in New England. - - Neither shall you suffer the same to be spoken, or done, but shall - hinder, & oposse the same, by all due means you can. - - You shall not enter into any league, treaty, Confederac̄ or - combination, with any, within the said Colonie or without the same - that shall plote, or contriue any thing to the hurte, & ruine of the - growth, and good of the said plantation. - - You shall not consente to any shuch confederation, nor conceale any - known vnto you certainly, or by conje but shall forthwith manifest & - make knowne the same, to the Gouernours of this said towne for the - time being. - - And this you promise & swear, simply, & truly, & faithfully to - performe as a true christian [you hope for help from God, the God of - truth & punisher of falshoode.] - - The forme of the Oath which ... of the Gouernour, & Counsell at - euery Election of any of them. - - You shall swear, according to that wisdom, and measure of discerning - giuen vnto you; faithfully, equally & indifrently without respect of - persons; to administer Justice, in all causes coming before you. And - shall labor, to aduance, & furder the good of this Colony, & - plantation, to the vtmost of your power; and oppose any thing that - may hinder the same. So help you God. - -The words, “a true Christian” were afterwards crossed out, and the form -used later: “as you hope for help from God, the God of truth and -punisher of falsehood” was substituted. - -By the Laws of 1636, every freeman was required to take the following -Oath: - - - THE OATH OF A FFREEMAN - - You shall be truly loyall to our Sov Lord King Charles, his heires & - successors, [the State & Govern^t of England as it now stands.] You - shall not speake or doe, devise or advise any thing or things act or - acts directly or indirectly by land or water, that doth shall or may - tend to the destrucc̄on or overthrow of this pr̄nt plantac̄ons - Colonies or Corporac̄on of New Plymouth, Neither shall you suffer - the same to be spoken or done but shall hinder oppose & discover the - same to the Govr̄ & Assistants of the said Colony for the time being - or some one of them. You shall faithfully submit unto such good & - wholesome laws & ordnanc & as either are or shall be made for the - ordering & governm^t of the same, and shall endeavor to advance the - growth & good of the severall Colonies plantations w^{th} in the - limit & of this Corporac̄on by all due meanes & courses. All w^{ch} - you promise & sweare by the name of the great God of heaven & earth - simply truly & faithfully to pforme as you hope for help frō God - who is the God of truth & punisher of falsehood. [1636] - -Following the outbreak of civil war in England in 1638, the words “our -sovereign lord King Charles his heirs and successors” were erased, and -loyalty to “the State and Government of England as it now stands” -substituted. The modern rendering intermixed is probably an attempt by -the transcriber to fill out missing or undecipherable paragraphs or -sentences. - -According to Francis Baylies’ “Historical Memoir of New Plymouth,” (I: -235,) the following Oath was prescribed to be taken by any residing in -the government of New Plymouth: - - - THE OATH OF A RESIDENT - - You shall be truly loyal to our sovereign lord King Charles, his - heirs and successors, and whereas you choose at present to reside - within the government of New Plymouth, you shall not do or cause to - be done any act or acts directly or indirectly, by land or water, - that shall tend to the destruction or overthrow of the whole or any - of the several plantations or townships within the said government - that are or shall be orderly erected or established, but shall - contrariwise hinder, oppose, and discover the same, and such intents - and purposes as tend thereunto, to the Governor for the time being, - or some one of the assistants with all convenient speed. You shall - also submit unto and obey all such good and wholesome laws, - ordinances, and offices as are or shall be established within the - limits thereof. So help you God. [1636.] - -The disturbed state of England is also reflected in the 1658 revision of -the Laws when “our sovereign lord the King, his heirs and successors” is -substituted for “the present State and Government of England,” as -follows: - - - THE OATH OF A FFREEMAN - - You shalbee truely Loyall to the present State and Goūment of - England [our Sou^r Lord the King his heires and Successors.] You - shall not speake or doe deuise or aduise Any thinge or thinges Acte - or Actes directly or Indirectly by Land or Water that doth shall or - may tend to the destruction or ouerthrow of these present - plantations or Townshipes of the Corporation of New Plymouth neither - shall you suffer the same to bee spoken or done but shall hinder - oppose and discouer the same to the Gou^r And Assistants of the said - Collonie for the time being; or some one of them; you shall - faithfully submitt vnto such good and wholesome Lawes and ordinances - as either are or shalbee made for the ordering and Gou^rment of the - same; and shall Indeuor to aduance the grouth and good of the - seuerall townshipes and plantations within the Lymetts of this - Corporation by all due meanes and courses; All which you pmise and - Sweare by the Name of the great God of heauen and earth simply - truely and faithfully to pforme as you hope for healp from God who - is the God of truth and the punisher of falchood. [1658.] - -At the time of the 1671 revision of the Laws, Charles the Second had -been firmly seated on the English throne for ten years, but his name is -omitted from the superscription of the following Oath. The intensity of -the feeling in the New England Colonies towards even the name of the two -kings is shown in the fact that until after the middle of the next -century Harvard College had only three graduates, if the three Charles -Chaunceys, with whom it was a family name in England, are omitted, and -Yale College only one graduate who bore the Christian name of Charles. - - - THE OATH OF A FFREEMAN - - You shalbee truely Loyall to our Sou^r Lord the Kinge his heires and - Successors; you shall not doe nor speake deuise or aduise any thinge - or thinges act or actes directly or Inderectly by Land or water; - that shall or may tend to the destruction or ouerthrow of any of - these plantations or towneshipes of the Corporation of New Plymouth; - neither shall you suffer the same to bee spoken or done but shall - hinder oppose and discouer the same to the Gou^r and Assistants of - the said Collonie for the time being or some one of them; you shall - faithfully submitt vnto such good and wholesome lawes and - ordinances; as either are or shalbee made for the ordering and - Gou^rment of the same; and shall endeauor to advance the good and - grouth of the seuerall Towneshipes and plantations within the - Lymetts of this Corporation by all due meanes and courses; all which - you p^rmise and sweare by the Name of the great God of heauen and - earth simply truely and faithfully to pforme as you hope for healpe - from God whoe is the God of truth and the punisher of ffalchood. - [1671.] - - - - -_In Massachusetts-Bay Colony._ - - -When on the 4th of March 1628/9, Charles, “by the grace of God, Kinge of -England, Scotland, Fraunce, and Ireland, Defender of the Fayth, &c. in -the fourth yeare of our raigne” did by letters patent grant unto Sir -Henry Rosewell and his twenty-five associates, their heirs and assigns -forever, all that certain part of the grant of New England which his -“deare and royall father, Kinge James of blessed memory ... hath given -and graunted vnto the Counsell established at Plymouth in the County of -Devon” and which the said Council by deed dated the 19th of March, -1627/8, had “given, graunted, bargained, soulde, enfeoffed, aliened and -confirmed” to Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, Knightes, Thomas -Southcott, John Humphrey, John Endecott and Symon Whetcombe, their heirs -and associates forever, “To be houlden of vs our heires and successors, -as of our manor of Eastgreenewich, in the County of Kent, within our -realme of England,” under the name of the “Governor and Company of the -Mattachusetts Bay in Newe England, one bodie politique and corporate in -deede, fact, and name, ... and that by that name they shall have -perpetuall succession,”—may acquire lands, &c. have a common seal; and -that there shall be one Governor, one Deputy Governor, and eighteen -assistants to be chosen out of the freemen. He went farther, and -constituted “our welbeloved Mathewe Cradocke to be the first and present -Governor; Thomas Goffe to be Deputy Governor, and eighteen of the other -associates to be Assistants, who before they undertake the execution of -their offices and places shall respectively take their corporal oaths -for the faithful performance of their duties.” The Oath for Matthew -Craddock, as Governor, to be administered by a Master of the Chancery, -the Governor was then empowered to administer the oaths to the Deputy -Governor and Assistants nominated in the Charter. Oaths to subsequent -officers being arranged: the new Governor to take the Oath before the -old Deputy Governor, or two Assistants; and the new Deputy Governor, -Assistants and all other officers hereafter chosen to take the oath -before the Governor for the time being. They were empowered to transport -any of our loving subjects, or any strangers willing to become our -loving subjects, and any seven at least of their number had “full power -and authoritie to choose, nominate, and appointe such and soe many -others as they shall thinke fitt, and that shall be willing to accept -the same, to be free of the said Company and Body, and Them into the -same to admitt.” All subjects inhabiting the lands granted, and their -children “which shall happen to be borne there, or on the seas in goeing -thither, or retorning from thence shall have and enjoy all liberties and -immunities of free and natural subjects, ... as yf they and everie of -them were borne within the realme of England.” And the Governor and -Deputy Governor, and any two or more of the Assistants, at any of their -Courts or Assemblys shall and may at all times have full power to give -the Oath of Office and Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance, or either of -them, to every person who may go to New England to inhabit in the same. -They were also authorized to make “the formes of such Oathes warrantable -by the lawes and statutes of this our realme of England as shalbe -respectivelie ministered vnto them, for the execuc̄on of the said -severall offices and places ... and ministring the said oathes to the -newe elected officers.” - -At the end of the Charter appeared the Oath of Governor: - - PRÆDICT, Matthaeus Cradocke Juratus est de Fide et Obedientiâ Regi - et Successoribus suis, et de Debitâ Exequutione Officij Gubernatoris - iuxta Tenorem P^r sentium, 18^o Martij, 1628. Coram me, Carola - Cæsare, Milite, in Cancellariâ Mr̃o. - - Char. Cæsar. - -By this Charter, under the privy seal of Cardinal Wolseley, was, -unwittingly, planted the seed of the fairest flower that ever bloomed in -the garden of colonization since Eden. - -Up to August, 1630, the business of the Massachusetts-Bay Company was -transacted in London. But the business of the Massachusetts-Bay Colony -may be said to have really begun in May, 1631. - -At “A Gen^rall Court holden att Boston, the 18th day of May, 1631. John -Winthrop, Esq̃ was chosen Goun^r for a whole yeare nexte ensueinge by -the gen^rall consent of the Court, according to the meaneing of the -pattent, and did accordingly take an oathe to the place of Goun̄^r -belonginge.” - -“Tho: Dudley, Esq̃, is also chosen Deputy Gouñ^r for this yeare nexte -ensuing, & did in p^rsence of the Court take an oath to his place -belonginge.” And “to the end the body of the com̄ons may be p^rserued of -honest & good men, it was likewise ordered and agreed that for time to -come noe man shalbe admitted to the freedome of this body polliticke, -but such as are members of some of the churches within the lymitts of -the same.” - -The Law that all freemen must be church members, while assented to in -Salem in 1631, was modified in 1632, probably for local reasons, that no -civil magistrate could be an elder in the church. - -To give force to this law an Oath of Freemen was required, and this -service the newly appointed Governor and the Deputy Governor elected to -perform. The result of their labors, the original draft of the Oath of a -Freeman, in the handwriting of the first and greatest of the Governors -of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Oath of a Servant, in the -handwriting of the second Governor—a document perhaps only surpassed in -historical interest and importance by, and worthy to rank with, the -Declaration of Independence—is now, appropriately, in the possession of -the Public Library of the City of Boston, and its preservation assured. - -Through the courtesy of the Trustees, this Society is permitted again to -give publicity to the excellent facsimiles of these interesting -documents, together with transcriptions of the somewhat obscure -handwriting, with interlineations and cancelled words showing, line for -line, the changes made by the authors, which first appeared in the -_Bulletin_ of the Library for July, 1894. - - - THE OATH OF A FREEMAN, OR OF A MAN TO BE MADE FFREE. - - I, A. B. &c. being, by the Almighties most wise disposic̄on, become - a memb^r of this body, consisting of the Goūn^r, Deputy Goūn^r, - Assistants, & a com^nlty of the Mattachusets in Newe England, doe, - freely & sincerely acknowledge that I am iustly & lawfully subject - to the goūm^t of the same, & doe accordingly submitt my pson & - estate to be ptected, ordered, & goūned by the lawes & - constituc̄ons thereof, & doe faithfully pmise to be from time to - time obedient & conformeable therevnto, & to the authie of the said - Goūn^r & Assistants & their success^rs, & to all such lawes, - orders, sentences, & decrees as shalbe lawfully made & published by - them or their successors; and I will alwaies indeav^r (as in dutie I - am bound) to advance the peace & wellfaire of this bodie or - com̄onwealth to my vtmost skill & abilitie; & I will, to my best - power & meanes, seeke to devert & prevent whatsoeuer may tend to the - ruyne or damage thereof, or of any the said Goūn^r, Deputy Goūn^r, - or Assistants, or any of them, or their success^rs, and will giue - speedy notice to them, or some of them, of any sedic̄on, violence, - treachery, or other hurt or euill which I shall knowe, heare, or - vehem^tly suspecte to be plotted or intended against the said - com̄onwealth, or the said goum^t established; and I will not att any - time suffer or giue consent to any counsell or attempt that shalbe - offered giuen, or attempted for the impeachm^t of the said goūm^t, - or makeing any change or alterac̄on of the same, contrary to the - lawes & ordinances thereof, but shall doe my vtmost endeav^r to - discover, oppose, & hinder, all & eūy such counsell & attempts. Soe - helpe me God. [1631.] - -[Illustration: - - Fac-simile of the Freemen’s Oath - - - The oath of a serv^t. - - I. N. N. serv^t of &c. haveinge heard and vnderstoode that - our—soveraigne Lord Kinge Charles hath by his łres patents vnder - the great seale of England graunted power and aucthoryty vnto a - Governo^r a Deputy Governo^r &. 18. Assistants to rule governe & - Judge all ꝑsones wch doe or shall inhabyte =in or= - betweene =the= Charles ryver &. 3. myles southward & - merimack ryver &. 3. myles northwards in new England & soe - westwards to the south sea, =beinge= wthin wch - =compa= lymitts I doe nowe—inhabyt - - Doe promise =to be= at all tymes hereafter Dureinge my - abode in America +to be+ obedyent to all lawes orders - constitutions & comaunds wch by the =s b= said Governo^r - Deputy Governo^r and assistants +for the tyme being+ or - the greater ꝑte of them shall be +lawfully+ made or - given—forth & shall come to my =k= heareinge, And to be - true and faith full to them & their governemt, And I likewise - promise that if I shall know +heare of =or heare of= - or suspect+ =of= any hurt or losse intended against - any of them I will reveale the same to one or more of them wth all - convenyent—speede, And to bind my selfe to the faithfull ꝑformance - of this promise, I sweare by the name of the onely true God the - lover of truth & the avenger of falshood] - -[Illustration: - - The oath of a man +free or+ to be made free. - - I. N. N. vt supra. and +=being=+ =having - likewise heard and vnderstoode= said. N.N. =of= - being now by the said Governo^r & assistants to be made a free man - of the said plantac̄on & +thereby enabled+ to have a - voice in the choise of the said. 20. Deputed ꝑsones soe - aucthorised as aforesaid as =the sai= any of their places - are or shalbe voide =and I shalbe therevnto called in a - lawfull assembly, doe hereby promise vt supra= I doe promise - that =when I s= at all tymes when I shalbe there vnto - lawfully called by the said Governem^t, to give my voice for the - electing of such ꝑsone =therevnto= & ꝑsones vnto such - voide places as I =the= shall =und= thinke to be - =the wisest godliest & ablest for the discharg= men of - wisedome & courage—feareinge God & hateing covetousnes all - ꝑtyalyty =& by= sett aside, and to bind &c vt supra.] - -[Illustration: - - The Oath of ffreemen: - - I A: B: &c: =beinge= beinge by the Allmightyes most wise - despositiō become a member of this bodye consisting of the - Governor +Deputye+ Assistants & Com̄onalty of the - Mattachusetts in n: e: doe freely & sincerely acknowledge that I - am iustlye & lawfully subiect to the Goverment =there= of - the same +=both Civill & Ecclesiasticall=+ & doe - accordingly submitt my ꝑson & estate to be protected ordered & - governed by the Lawes & Constitutns therof: & doe faithfully - promise to be from tyme to tyme obedient & conformable therevnto, - & to the Authe of the sd Governor & Assistants & their successors, - & to all such Lawes orders sentences & decrees as shalbe - +lawfully+ made & published by them or their successors. - And I will allwayes endeavo^r (as in dutye I am bounde) to advance - the peace & wellfare of this bodye or Com: w: to my vttmost - =power= +skill & ability.+ =&= And I - will to my =vtmost power= best =ability= power & - meanes seeke to deverte & prevent whatsoever may tende to the - ruyne or damage thereof or of any the sd Governor Deputy Governor - =&= +or+ Assistants or any of them or their - successors: & will give spedye notice to them or some of them of - any =evill= seditiō, violence, treacherye or other hurt - or evill, wch I shall knowe, heare, or vehemently suspecte to be - =intended or= plotted or intended ag^t them =sd= - or ag^t the said =Goverment= Com: w: or the sd Goverm̄ - established: - - And I will not at any tyme suffer or give Consent to any - Counsell or Attempt that shalbe offered =or= given or - Attempted for the impeachment of the sd Goverment or makinge - any change or Alteratiō of the same, contrary to the Lawes & - =Customes= ordinances =of the same= thereof, - but shall doe my vtmost endeavo^r to discover & oppose & hīer - all & everye such Counsells] - - * * * * * - - Att a Gen^rall Court, holden att Newe Towne [Cambridge]. March 4th, - 1634. - - It is further ordered that eūy man of or above the age of sixteene - yeares, whoe hath bene, or shall hereafter be, resident within this - iurisdicc̄on by the space of sixe monethes, (as well servants as - others,) & not infranchized, shall take the oath of residents before - the Goūn^r, Deputy Goūn^r, or two of the nexte Assistants, whoe - shall haue power to convent him for that purpose, & vpon his - refuseall, to binde him ouer to the nexte Court of Assistants, & - vpon his refuseall the second tyme, to be punished att the - discrec̄on of the Court. - - It is ordered that the ffreemens oath shalbe gyven to eūy man of or - above the age of 16 yeares, the clause for the elecc̄on of - magistrates onely excepted. - - * * * * * - - At A Court holden att Boston, Aprill 1th, 1634. - - It was further ordered, that eūy man of or above the age of twenty - yeares, whoe hath bene or shall hereafter be resident within this - jurisdicc̄on by the space of sixe monethes, as an householder or - soiorner, and not infranchised, shall take the oath herevnder - written, before the Goūn^r, or Deputy Goūn^r, or some two of the - nexte Assistants, whoe shall haue power to convent him for that - purpose, and vpon his refuseall, to binde him ouer to the nexte - Court of Assistants; and vpon his refuseall the second tyme, hee - shalbe banished, except the Court shall see cause to giue him - further respite. - - - THE OATH OF RESIDENTS - - I doe heare sweare, and call God to witnes, that, being nowe an - inhabitant within the lymitts of this juridicc̄on of the - Massachusetts, I doe acknowledge myselfe lawfully subject to the - aucthoritie and gouerm^t there established, and doe accordingly - submitt my pson, family, and estate, to be ptected, ordered, & - gouerned by the lawes & constituc̄ons thereof, and doe faithfully - pmise to be from time to time obedient and conformeable therevnto, - and to the aucthoritie of the Goūn^r, and all other the Magistrates - there, and their success^rs, and to all such lawes, orders, - sentences, & decrees, as nowe are or hereafter shalbe lawfully made, - decreed, & published by them or their success^rs. And I will alwayes - indeav^r (as in duty I am bound) to advance the peace & wellfaire of - this body pollitique, and I will (to my best power & meanes) seeke - to devert & prevent whatsoeuer may tende to the ruine or damage - thereof, or of y^e Goūn^r, Deputy Goūn^r, or Assistants, or any of - them or their success^{rs}, and will giue speedy notice to them, or - some of them, of any sedic̄on, violence, treacherie, or oth^r hurte - or euill w^{ch} I shall knowe, heare, or vehemently suspect to be - plotted or intended against them or any of them, or against the said - Com̄on-wealth or goum^t established. Soe helpe mee God. [1634.] - - * * * * * - - Att a Gen^rall Courte, holden att Boston, May 14th, 1634. - - It was agreed & ordered, that the former oath of ffreemen shalbe - revoked, soe farr as it is dissonant from the oath of ffreemen - herevnder written, & that those that receaved the former oath shall - stand bound noe further thereby, to any intent or purpose, then this - newe oath tyes those that nowe takes y^e same. - - - THE OATH OF A FREEMAN - - I, A. B., being, by Gods providence, an inhabitant & ffreeman within - the jurisdicc̄on of this com̄onweale, doe freely acknowledge my - selfe to be subiect to the goverm^t thereof, & therefore doe heere - sweare, by the greate & dreadfull name of the euerlyveing God, that - I wilbe true & faithfull to the same, & will accordingly yeilde - assistance & support therevnto, with my pson & estate, as in equity - I am bound, & will also truely indeav^r to mainetaine & preserue all - the libertyes & previlidges thereof, submitting my selfe to the - wholesome lawes & orders made & established by the same; and - furth^r, that I will not plott nor practise any evill against it, - nor consent to any that shall soe doe, but will timely discover & - reveale the same to lawfull aucthority nowe here established, for - the speedy preventing thereof. Moreouer, I doe solemnely binde - myselfe, in the sight of God, that when I shalbe called to giue my - voice touching any such matter of this state, wherein ffreemen are - to deale I will giue my vote & suffrage, as I shall iudge in myne - owne conscience may best conduce & tend to the publique weale of the - body, without respect of psons, or fav^r of any man. Soe helpe mee - God in the Lord Jesus Christ. [1634.] - - Further, it is agreed that none but the Gen̄ all Court hath power to - chuse and admitt freemen. - -[Illustration: - - FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT RECORD - - In the Handwriting of Secretary Simon Bradstreet - last Colonial Governor of Massachusetts Bay] - -The text of the Oath given above is that given in the body of the Colony -Records, in the handwriting of Simon Bradstreet, the Secretary, and -differs only in the spelling of words from that of the transcriber (who -may have been Secretary Bradstreet himself) of the copy in the -Miscellaneous Records, which were transferred by the Compiler from their -regular order to the end of the first volume of the Records at page 354. - - - THE OATH OF A FREE-MAN - - I (A. B.) being by Gods providence an Inhabitant, and Freeman, - within the Jurisdiction of this Commonwealth; do freely acknowledge - my self to be subject to the Government thereof: And therefore do - here swear by the great and dreadful Name of the Ever-living God, - that _I_ will be true and faithfull to the same, and will - accordingly yield assistance & support thereunto, with my person and - estate, as in equity _I_ am bound; and will also truly endeavour to - maintain and preserve all the liberties and priviledges thereof, - submitting my self to the wholesome Lawes & Orders made and - established by the same. And further that _I_ will not plot or - practice any evill against it, or consent to any that shall so do; - but will timely discover and reveal the same to lawfull Authority - now here established, for the speedy preventing thereof. Moreover, - _I_ doe solemnly bind my self in the sight of God, that when _I_ - shal be called to give my voyce touching any such matter of this - State, in which Freemen are to deal, _I_ will give my vote and - suffrage as _I_ shall judge in mine own conscience may best conduce - and tend to the publike weal of the body, without respect of - persons, or favour of any man. So help me God in the Lord Jesus - Christ. [1634.] From the copy given in John Childe’s “New-Englands - Jonas cast up at London.” (London, 1647), which the preface states - was printed in Massachusetts-Bay, by itself. - -To this form of The Oath of a Free man attaches the great additional -interest of being the first work printed in the United States of -America. - -Under date of Mo. 1. (March, 1638/9) John Winthrop’s Journal states: “A -printing house was begun at Cambridge by one Daye, at the charge of Mr. -Glover, who died on sea hitherward. The first thing which was printed -was the freemen’s oath; the next was an almanac made for New England by -Mr. William Peirce, mariner; the next was the Psalms newly turned into -metre.” - -For nearly three hundred years no copy of this printed paper has been -known to be extant. The ceaseless search for a copy in this country by -antiquarians, bibliographers and historians would long ago have been -successful, if even a single copy had been preserved in either the -institutions of the State, or Nation, or in individual or family -possession. - -It would be difficult to exaggerate the patriotic feeling of our people, -if it were known that a copy of this interesting and valuable state -paper, the first fruit of the printing-press in this country, whose -ringing sentences of freedom preceded by nearly a century and a half the -Declaration of Independence, had been discovered at this late day. - -Fully a quarter of a century ago, while engaged in making a search for -early printed American publications in the Catalogue of printed books in -the British Museum—a great and monumental work, worthy in its scholarly -completeness of the Government which fostered its publication, and of -inestimable importance and benefit to scholars in every land—the -following entry under the heading “Freeman” seemed to me to warrant more -than passing observation and curiosity which the intervening years have -failed to satisfy: - - —The Oath of a Freeman. B. L. - [_London_, 1645?] _s. sh._ 12º. 11,626. aa. (1, 2.) - -An analysis of this entry seems to show points of resemblance following -closely the known facts regarding the first work printed in this -country. - -The title is the one given by John Childe presumably from the earliest -printed copy in his possession. The abbreviated title, freemen’s oath, -as given by John Winthrop, first appearing in the Code of 1648, which -seems to justify the belief that Winthrop wrote his Journal some years -after the press was established. - -The letters B. L. indicate that the printed text is in black-letter. -While there is no evidence of the number and kinds of fonts of type -purchased for the first press by Joseph Glover, there is an itemized -statement of the number and names of the fonts of type for the second -press sent over later by the Society for Propagating the Gospel among -the Indians in New England, for printing the Bible in the Indian -language, and among them is a small font of “blacks,” i.e. black-letter, -which would indicate that a small font of that letter was generally -considered a part of the equipment of a printing-office of the period. -Even if this was not so, on the good authority of Isaiah Thomas, the -type used in printing the Bay Psalm Book, of 1640, was “small bodied -English,” a type commonly used for works in quarto and folio, which -approximates in size to black-letter, but without the ceriphs, or fine -projecting points of that letter. It is not unreasonable to suppose that -a cataloguer might, hastily, consider the thickly inked, heavy -press-work we find in the Bay Psalm Book, under the same conditions in a -somewhat crudely printed sheet, to be black-letter printing. - -The brackets enclosing the imprint indicate that the place and date -given do not appear on the printed sheet, but are the personal judgment -of the cataloguer regarding them. Having already determined the printing -to be in black-letter English, it naturally follows in his judgment that -the place of printing is London. His guess of the year, 1645, which he -queries, is a close one; but is open to the criticism that an Oath of a -Freeman could never have been printed or exacted in England during the -reign of Charles the First. Ten years later, under Cromwellian rule, it -might have been done. But the only place on earth it could have been -printed and exacted without imprisonment, in 1645, was in the freemen’s -Colony of Massachusetts-Bay. - -In this connection it may be well to observe, as a further illustration -that Governor Winthrop wrote his Journal years later than the events he -records, that his date of 1638/9, should be one year later, for the date -of the half-sheet almanac by William Peirce, mariner. Following -Winthrop, if the almanac was calculated for the year beginning in March, -1639, it would suppose its printing sometime before the 25th of March, -or in the Julian year 1638. This would leave nearly a whole year during -which no other printing was done. If the almanac was calculated for the -year beginning in March, 1640—the year the Bay Psalm Book is dated—then -it would suppose the Oath, and the Almanac, printed in the eleventh or -twelfth months of the Julian year 1639, which is more probable. Isaiah -Thomas, writing in 1810, leaves this question in doubt by not stating -whether his January, 1639, refers to the Julian, or the Gregorian -Calendar. - -To continue our analysis: The format, and size, agrees with the known -facts that the Oath was printed “on the face of a half sheet of small -paper.” The shelf-mark indicates the permanent place on the shelves of -the Library. - -The singular appearance of the only known copy of this important and -interesting document in the Colonial history of New England, nearly -three hundred years after its printing, so far from its place of -publication, calls for explanation, which is apparently furnished in a -work published in London, in April, 1647, entitled: “New-Englands Jonas -cast up at London.” On the title-page it purports to be written by Major -John Childe, a brother of Doctor Robert Childe, of Hingham, who was -detained by order of the General Court of Massachusetts-Bay; but -according to William Hubbard, in his History, and affirmed by John -Winthrop, in his Journal, the real author of everything, except the -Preface, was William Vassall. - -[Illustration: - - FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT - in the Handwriting of Thomas Dudley, - in the Public Library of the City of Boston - - Issued with Bulletin, July, 1894] - -[Illustration: - - FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT - in the Handwriting of Thomas Dudley, - in the Public Library of the City of Boston - - Issued with Bulletin, July, 1894] - -[Illustration: - - FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT - in the Handwriting of John Winthrop, - in the Public Library of the City of Boston - - Issued with Bulletin, July, 1894] - -Its odd title was suggested by a remark made by the Reverend John -Cotton, in a Thursday-Lecture, preached November 5, 1646, just previous -to the departure of the vessel which was carrying back to England some -of the dissatisfied signers of a Petition to the General Court, who -rumor gave were taking with them this and other incriminating documents -against the Government of the Colony. The learned preacher took for his -text, Canticles, II: 15. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, which -destroy the vines,” and made pointed allusions to the current rumors, -and the punishment which their acts would receive in a stormy voyage, -and how it could be averted. But later we shall let Vassall tell the -story in his own words. The effect upon his hearers was so great that -some who had engaged passage withdrew rather than risk the dangers of a -stormy voyage in the winter season. - -After a brief summary of the reasons for publication the Preface states -that the Relation is made up of the following particulars: - - First, the Petition of the greater part of the Inhabitants of - Hingham, and the proceedings therein. - - Secondly, a Petition of Doctor Child and others delivered to the - General Court at Boston with some passages thereon. - - Thirdly, the Capital Laws of the Massachusetts Bay, with the - Freemans Oath, _as they are printed there by themselves_. - -The italics are mine. Here, then, we have direct proof confirming the -statement of John Winthrop that the Freeman’s Oath was printed at -Cambridge in 1639, and, in the body of the work, is given the full text -of The Oath of a Free man as printed. It is probable that only the -number of copies necessary for officials authorized to administer the -Oath were printed, and the copy taken to England was surreptitiously -obtained from some member of the Government. Its importance lay in the -fact that it afforded printed evidence that nowhere in it is any -reference made to the King’s Majesty, or of allegiance to any power on -earth save that of their own Government as constituted. - -[Illustration: - - FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT - in the Handwriting of John Winthrop, - in the Public Library of the City of Boston - - Issued with Bulletin, July, 1894] - -The Capital Laws were printed at Cambridge in 1642, probably under the -same restriction, as to number; and, as printed evidence, open to the -same construction as the Oath. Whatever the purpose, however, it had -been forestalled some four years earlier when the Capital Laws were -re-printed in London in a folio broadside. The copy in the British -Museum bears the Colophon: “Printed first in New-England, and re-printed -in London for Ben. Allen in Popes-Head Allen [_sic_] 1643.” - - Fourthly, a relation of that story of Jonas verbatim as it was - delivered to me in writing by a Gentleman that was then a passenger - in the ship. - - “When the first ship that came this year 1646 from New-England, was - almost ready to come from thence; Mr. Cotton in his Thursday-Lecture - at Boston, preached out of that Scripture, Cant. 2, 15. Take us the - little Foxes, &c. In his uses took occasion to say, That if any - shall carry any Writings, Complaints against the people of God in - that Country it would be a Jonas in the ship. * * He also advised - the Ship-Master, that if storms did arise, to search if they had not - in any Chest or Trunk any such Jonas aboard, which if you find (said - he) I do not advise you to throw the persons over-board, but the - Writings; or words to that effect. Whereupon, having great storms - (as could not be otherwise expected) some of the Passengers - remembering Mr. Cotton’s Sermon, it seems were much affected with - what he had said; and a woman amongst them came up from between the - decks about Midnight, or after, in a distracted passionate manner to - Mr. William Vassall who lay in the great Cabin, but for the present - was in the Sterage-door-way looking abroad: she earnestly desired - him, if there were any Jonas in the ship, that as Mr. Cotton had - directed it might be thrown over-board, with many broken expressions - to that purpose. He asked her why she came to him? and she said - because it was thought that he had some Writings against the people - of God: but he answered her, He had nothing but a Petition to the - Parliament that they might enjoy the liberty of English subjects, - and that could be no Jonas; and that if the best of New-Englands - friends could shew him any evil in that, he would not prefer it. - After this she went into the great Cabin to Mr. Tho. Fowle in like - distracted manner; who told her he had nothing but the Copy of - Petition which himself and others had presented to the Court at - Boston; and showed, and read it to her, and then told her, That if - she and others thought that to be the cause of the storm, she and - they might do what they would with it; but he professed that he saw - no evil in it, neither was his Conscience troubled with it. So she - took it and carried it between Decks to them from whom she came, and - they agreed to throw it over-board and it was thrown over-board: but - the storm did not leave us upon the throwing of the Paper over-board - as it is reported; for they had many great storms after that; much - lesse was the great and wonderfull deliverance which by Gods mercy - he gave unto them from shipwrack and drowning at the Isles of Silly, - upon the throwing of that Writing over-board; for that was thrown - over long before, at least 14 dayes. Also the error is the more in - this, That the report is that it was the petition to the Parliament - that was thrown over-board; and it was only a Copy of a Petition to - their own Court at Boston, and the Petition to the Parliament was - still in the ship, together with another copy of that which was - thrown over-board, and other writings of that nature, some of which - are printed in this book, and were as well saved as their lives and - other goods, and are here in London to be seen and made use of in - convenient time.” - -It is true that at any time in the intervening years of a quarter of a -century I could have written to the British Museum authorities and been -sure of a courteous reply; but the matter seemed too important to be -settled in so prosaic a way. This, and the hope that sometime I might be -able to determine the matter personally, and achieve the honor that -would attach to its discovery, deterred me. - -I suppose that men of all professions, in their callings, feel an -unwonted glow in the achievement of some object; but I know of no -greater joy than that which fills the lover of books when his long -search for a rare book is rewarded. Then it is that you seem to enter -into the holy of holies of delight, when the whole body thrills with -suppressed emotions, the eyes moisten, and the trembling hand stretched -out to take the volume does so with a touch which is almost a caress. -The feeling, I think, must be somewhat akin to the “buck fever” of the -deer hunter, whose mind and shaking limbs refuse to function, as he -looks into the luminous eyes, and notes the startled look, and graceful -beauty of his prey, until it has bounded into safety in the forest. Why, -I reasoned with myself, should I give to another the pleasure of these -emotions which were mine by right of discovery. - -The opportunity of voyaging to England, which I had so long looked -forward to, did not come to me until the Spring of the present year, and -the pleasant anticipations with which I set out were comparable in my -own mind with those which must have animated the Knights of Arthur’s -Round Table in their quest for the holy grail. The morning after my -arrival in London found me an early visitor at the British Museum. The -preliminaries of admittance to the Reading-Room are not difficult, and -are soon over with, and I found myself within the great rotunda, its -walls lined in tiers with what is best in the literatures of the world, -and from which has gone out so much that is worth while in English -literature. From the Catalogue I filled out slips for some half dozen -works, artfully to conceal the one uppermost in my mind, handed them in -at the desk, and returned to my chosen seat to await with such calmness -as I could command the culmination of years of desire. Heeding the -legend that when the grail was approached by any one not perfectly pure -it vanished from sight; and that to be qualified to discover it one must -be perfectly chaste in thought and act, I endeavored to prepare myself -for its appearance. Somewhere I have read of an Oriental visionary who -attained a high degree of saintly perfection by fixing his gaze -steadfastly for hours upon his navel, which a growing embonpoint made an -easy thing to do, and I sought for holiness in the same way. - -In time the white slips of my wants came fluttering back to me by -messengers, all marked, very properly for security on account of rarity, -that they could only be consulted in the North Library, until all were -in but the one most desired. Then followed a much longer wait and -then—the slip was handed back to me with a notation that I had given a -wrong shelf-mark! Gone in an instant were all the perfectly pure and -chaste thoughts with which I had been regaling myself while I was -apparently looking at the wrong button on my vest. I think I could have -stood the blow better if it had been that hoary old fiction of careless -assistants that it was “out”, but this is a boon denied to any assistant -in the British Museum, where nothing is allowed to go out. A comparison -with the printed Catalogue showed an exact correspondence, and I sought -the Superintendent of the Reading-Room, who assured me that the matter -would have his personal attention; and for the rest of the day I busied -myself with my other wants in the North Library without any word of the -missing broadside reaching me. That evening, in communion with myself, I -determined to throw off the mask of secrecy and frankly confide the -importance of my quest to the Keeper of the Printed Books—the somewhat -expressive and imposing title of the Librarian of the British Museum. - -Before calling upon him I sought as an introducer Henry N. Stevens—the -worthy son of an illustrious father who follows closely in his footsteps -as the best authority on early printed American books in Europe—at his -shop across the street from the imposing Museum building, and to him I -told my story. As I proceeded his interest grew, and before I had -finished he excitedly grasped my arm with one hand and his hat with the -other, exclaiming: “Come with me. This is not a subject for underlings,” -and rushed me across the street without pause until we were in the -sanctum sanctorum of the learned and accomplished Keeper, Alfred W. -Pollard. And to him I told my simple tale, and asked his assistance. Mr. -Pollard is himself a bibliographer of note in his special field, and my -story was not without interest to him, but he refused to share my belief -that the missing broadside was what I supposed it to be, laying much -stress upon the black-letter feature as proof of its English origin. The -unsuccessful search for the missing broadside had evidently been called -to his notice, and the failure to produce anything in the millions of -books catalogued in that vast collection, he considered a challenge to -the efficiency of himself and his staff of assistants. A few days later, -he acknowledged failure; but gave me the interesting information that in -tracing the broadside back to its accession he had found that it was -acquired by the Museum in the year 1865, and formed part of a bundle of -miscellaneous matter, being considered of so little importance as not -even to have been mentioned in the contents of the bundle. Printing of -the letter F of the Catalogue was completed in 1888, and since that time -an expansion of the classification of books upon the shelves had been -made, from which dated its disappearance. He would not, however, -discontinue his efforts to find it. After apologizing for giving him a -“bad half-hour,” which only the importance of the broadside excused, our -second interview ended. On my last day in London, I went again with Mr. -Stevens to call on Mr. Pollard about the matter, and told him that I had -made my arrangements to fly from London to Paris on the morrow, and -asked him if these old eyes of mine were never to behold the holy grail. -“In black-letter?” he queried, touching the weak spot in my armor. “In -duodecimo!” I countered, pointing to the rent in his own. And the third -interview ended with his assurance that the search would go on until the -missing broadside was found. - -And there the matter rests, very much in the condition of the story of -the cook who asked the skipper: “Is any thing lost when you know where -it is?” And to the skipper’s gruff response, “Of course not,” he -pleasantly replied: “I am glad to know that our only iron soup kettle -wasn’t lost when it fell over-board into the Bay.” - -Through the courtesy of our fellow-members, Henry Edwards Huntington, -Esquire, and the accomplished bibliographer and librarian of his -unrivaled collection of books and art, George Watson Cole, the Society -is permitted to give a reproduction from the only known copy of “The -Book of General Lawes and Libertyes concerning the Inhabitants of the -Massachusetts”—the long-lost Code of 1648. No copy or fragment of a copy -was known to be extant for over two hundred and fifty years, when, in -1906, this copy was discovered in a small private library in England, -and was sold to the late Edmund Dwight Church for the highest price ever -paid for an American printed book—a record which is not likely to be -surpassed. The almost miraculous recovery of this volume, will, I have -given my reasons to hope, sometime have a counterpart in the recovery of -the only known copy of the first work printed in the United States of -America—The Oath of a Free man. From the year 1641, this bore the -abbreviated title of the - - - FREEMANS OATH - - I (A. B.) being by Gods providence an Inhabitant within the - Jurisdiction of this Common-wealth, and now to be made free; doe - heer freely acknowledge my self to be subject to the Government - therof: and therfore do heer swear by the great and dreadfull Name - of the Ever-living God, that I will be true and faithfull to the - same, & will accordingly yeild assistance & support therunto, with - my person and estate, as in equitie I am bound, and will also truly - indeavour to maintein & preserve all the Liberties and Priviledges - therof, submitting my self unto the wholsom Laws made and - established by the same. And farther, that I will not plot or - practice any evil against it, or consent to any that shall so doe; - but will timely discover & reveal the same to lawfull authoritie now - heer established, for the speedy prevention therof. - - Moreover, I do solemnly binde my self in the sight of God, that when - I shall be called to give my voice touching any such matter of this - State, wherin Free-men are to deal; I will give my vote and - _suffrage_ as I shall in mine own conscience judge best to conduce - and tend to the publick weal of the Body, without respect of - persons, or favour of any man. So help me God in our Lord Jesus - Christ. [1641.] From Code of 1648. - - - FREEMANS OATH - - I [A. B.] being by Gods providence an inhabitant within the - Jurisdiction of this Common-wealth, and now to be made free; doe - here freely acknowledg my self to be subject to the Government - thereof: And therefore do here Swear by the great and dreadfull Name - of the Ever-living God, that I will be true and faithfull to the - same, and will accordingly yeild assistance and support thereunto, - with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound, and will also - truely indeavour to maintain and preserve all the Liberties and - Priviledges thereof, submitting my self unto the wholsom Laws made - and established by the same. And farther, that I will not plot or - practice an evill against it, or consent to any that shall so doe; - but will timely discover and reveal the same to lawfull Authority - now here established, for the speedy prevention thereof. - - Moreover, I do solemnly bind my self in the sight of God, that when - I shall be called to give my voice touching any such matter of this - State, wherein Free-men are to deal; I will give my vote and - suffrage as I shall in mine own conscience judg best to conduce and - tend to the publick weal of the Body, without respect of persons, or - favour of any man. So help me God &c. [1641.] From Code of 1660. - - It is Ordered and by this Court declared, that no man shall be urged - to take any Oath or subscribe to any _Articles_, _Covenants_ or - _Remonstrances_, of publick and Civil nature, but such as the - Generall Court hath Considered, allowed and required, and no Oath of - any Magistrate or of any Officer, shall bind him any further or - longer, then he is Resident or Reputed an Inhabitant of this - Jurisdiction. [1641.] - - Every Court in this Jurisdiction, where two Magistrates are present, - may admitt any church members that are fitt, to be Freemen, giving - them the Oath, and the Clerke of each Court, shall certify their - names to the Secretary at the next General Court. [1641 [2]]. - -[Illustration: - - FREEMAN’S OATH - - Reproduced from “The Book of General Lawes and Libertyes concerning - the Inhabitants of the Massachusetts”-–1648 - - By the courtesy of Henry Edwards Huntington] - -In 1643, the Colonies of Massachusetts-Bay, New Plymouth, Connecticut, -and New Haven, concluded a Confederacy by which they entered into a -solemn compact to afford each other mutual advice and assistance on all -necessary occasions, whether offensive, defensive, or prudential. Among -the reasons assigned for this Union were the dependent condition of the -colonists; the vicinity of the French and Dutch, who were inclined to -make encroachments; the warlike attitude of the neighboring Indians; the -commencement of civil war in England, and impracticability of aid from -thence in any emergency; and the sacred ties of religion which already -bound them. The Province of Maine was not included because it was -subject to rulers of Episcopal tenets, and was infrequently an asylum -for excommunicants. This Union lasted for forty years without any -general Oath of Allegiance being required from the inhabitants of the -several Colonies. - - - OATH OF FIDELITIE - - I (A B) being by Gods providence an Inhabitant within the - Jurisdiction of this Common-wealth, doe freely and sincerely - acknowledge my selfe to be subject to the Government thereof. And - doe heer swear by the great and dreadful name of the Everliving God, - that I will be true and faithfull to the same, and will accordingly - yeild assistance therunto, with my person and estate, as in equitie - I am bound: and will also truly indeavour to maintein and preseve - all the Liberties & Priviledges thereof, submitting my self unto the - wholsom Laws made, & established by the same. And farther, that I - will not plot or practice any evil against it, or consent to any - that shall so doe: but will timely discover and reveal the same to - lawfull Authoritie now heer established, for the speedy preventing - thereof. So help me God in our Lord Jesus Christ. [1646.] From Code - of 1648. - - - OATH OF FIDELITIE - - I [A. B.] being by Gods providence an inhabitant within the - Jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, do freely and sincerely - acknowledge my selfe to be subject to the Government thereof. And do - here Swear by the great and dreadful name of the everliving God, - that I will be true & faithfull to the same, and will accordingly - yeild assistance thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity - I am bound: And will also truely endeavour to Maintain and preserve - all the Liberties & Priviledges thereof submitting my self unto the - wholesom Laws made, and established by the same. - - And farther that I will not plot or practice any evill against it, - or consent to any that shall so do: but will timely discover and - reveal the same to lawfull Authority now here established, for the - speedy preventing thereof. So help me God in our Lord Jesus Christ. - [1646.] From Code of 1660. - - _To the end the body of the freemen may be preserved of honest and - good men_, It is Ordered, That henceforth no man shall be admitted - to the freedome of this Common-wealth, but such as are members of - some of the Churches, within the limits of this Iurisdiction; _And - whereas many members of Churches to exempt themselves from Publick - Service, will not come in to be made freemen_, It is Ordered, That - no members of Churches within this Iurisidiction, shall be exempt - from any publick service, they shall be chosen to, by the - Inhabitants of the severall Townes, as Constables, Iurors, Select - men, surveiors of the High-wayes. And if any such person shall - refuse to serve in, or to take upon him any such Office, being - legally chosen therunto, he shall pay for every such refusall, such - fine, as the Town shall impose not exceeding _Twenty shillings_ for - one Offence. [1647.] - - Any non freemen, who have taken or shall take the Oath of fidelity - to this government could be jury men and vote in certain matters, - after he had attained the age of 24 years. [1647.] - - _For as much as divers Inhabitants of this Jurisdiction who have - long continued amongst us, receiving Protection, from this - Government, have as we are informed uttered Offencive speeches, - whereby their fidelity to this Government may justly be suspected, - and also that divers strangers of forreign parts do repaire to us of - whose fidelity we have not that Assurance which is Commonly required - of all Governments._ - - It is therefore Ordered by this Court and the Authority thereof. - That the County Courts or any one Magistrate out of Court, shall - have power and is hereby Authorized to Require the Oath of fidelity - of all settled Inhabitants amongst us who have not already taken the - same, as also to Require the Oath under written, of all strangers, - who after two months have their abode here; And if any Person shall - refuse to take the Respective Oath, he or they shall be bound over - to the next County Court or Court of Assistants, where if he shall - refuse, he shall forfeit _five pound a week_ for every week he shall - Continue in this Jurisdiction after his sayd Refusall, unles he can - give sufficient security to the satisfaction of the Court or - Magistrate for his fidelity, during his or their residence amongst - us. - - - STRANGERS OATH - - _You A. B. Do acknowledge your self subject to the Lawes of this - Jurisdiction during your Residence under this Government, and do - here Swear, by the Great Name of the Everliving GOD, and engage your - self to be true and faithfull to the same, and not to plot, - contrive, or conceal any thing that is to the hurt or detriment - thereof._ [1652.]. - -This was, apparently, aimed at the Quakers, whose offensive attitude -towards the Government was made the subject of further drastic laws and -orders by the General Court, in October, 1656, and May, 1658. - - _This Court having considered of the proposals presented to this - Court by several of the inhabitants of the County of Middlesex_; Do - Declare and Order, That no man whosoever, shall be admitted to the - Freedome of this Body Politick, but such as are members of some - Church of Christ and in full Communion, which they declare to be the - true intent of the ancient Law, _page the eighth of the second - Book_, Anno. 1631. [1660.] - -This was construed as being directed against the members of the Church -of England, and was largely responsible for the strained relations with -his Majesty’s Commission in 1665. It was repealed before the 1672 -Revision of the Laws. - -For causes already mentioned the publication of the first Code of Laws, -in 1648, was unnoticed in England; but it was very different with the -publication of the second Code, in 1660. When it appeared its provisions -were subjected to critical scrutiny by enemies of the Puritan -Commonwealth, and the worst possible constructions placed upon them. In -particular, the loyalty of the framers, who took an Oath of Fidelity to -their Government, and none to the King, was questioned; and the -provisions for the admission of freemen which, practically, prohibited -members of the Church of England. By letter, his Majesty ordered a -redress of these grievances, and appointed a Commission who proceeded, -in a partisan manner, to execute their powers. In 1665, the -Commissioners presented to the General Court a list of twenty-six -changes which they desired to have made in the Code of 1660. The -principal ones were the substitution of an acknowledgment of the royal -authority for all expressions of the supremacy of the Commonwealth; a -recognition of the Church of England; and a repeal of the long-standing -limitation of citizenship to church members. To one or two of their -points the General Court gave consent. A comparison with the Code of -1672, shows that while the recognition of his majesty’s supremacy was -allowed, in a score of instances the powers of the government under -their Charter were asserted. The right of strangers to become citizens -was nominally conceded, but on conditions which afforded only a minimum -of relief to members of the Church of England. - - On the 3 August, 1664 it was Ordered by the General Court: - - _In Answer to that part of his Majestyes Letter_, of June 28, 1662, - _concerning admission of freemen_. This Court doth Declare, That the - Law prohibiting all persons, except Members of Churches, and, that - also for allowance of them in any County Court, are hereby Repealed, - And do hereby also Order and Enact That, from henceforth all English - men presenting a Certificate under the hand of the Ministers, or - Minister of the Place where they dwell, that they are Orthodox in - Religion, and not vicious in their Lives, and also a certificate - under the hands of the Select men of the place, or of the major Part - of them, that they are Free-holders: and are for their own propper - Estate (without heads of Persons) Rateable to the Country in a - single Country Rate, after the usuall manner of valuation in the - place where they live, to the full vallue of _Ten Shillings_, or - that they are in full Communion with some Church amongst us; It - shall be in the Liberty of all and every such Person or Persons, - being _twenty-four_ yeares of age, Householders and settled - Inhabitants in this Jurisdiction, from time to time to themselves - and their desires to this Court, for their addmittance to the - freedome of this commonwealth, and shall be allowed the priviledge, - to have such their desire Propounded and put to Vote in the General - Court, for acceptance to the freedome of the body pollitick, by the - sufferage of the major parte according to the Rules of our Patent. - [1664.]. - - * * * * * - - It was also Ordered by the General Court on the 19 October, 1664. - - _Forasmuch as several Persons who from time to time are to be made - freemen, live remote and are not able without great trouble and - charge to appear before this Court to take their respective Oaths_: - It is therefore Ordered, that henceforth it shall be in the power of - any County Court, to administer the Oath of Freedome to any persons - approved of by the General Court who shall desire the same, any Law - or Custome to the contrary notwithstanding. [1664.] - - * * * * * - - And, at the May, 1665, session, to conform to the criticism of his - Majesty’s Commission concerning the Oath of Allegiance: - - It is ordered by this Court, & the authority thereof, that the - following oath be annexed vnto the oathes of euery freeman & oath of - fidellity, & to the Gouerno^r, Dep^{t-}Gouerno^r, & Assistants, & to - all other publicke officers, as followeth:— - - The oath of a freeman & fidelity to runne thus:— - - - OATH OF FIDELITIE - - Whereas I [A. B.] am an inhabitant within this Jurisdiction, - Considering how I stand Obliged to the Kings Majesty, his heires and - Successors by our Charter and the Government established thereby; Do - Swear accordingly by the great and dreadfull Name of the Ever-Living - God, that I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to our Soveraingn - Lord the King, his Heires and Successors; and that I will be True - and Faithfull to this Government, and accordingly yeild Assistance - thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound; - - And will also truely endeavour to Maintain and Preserve all the - Liberties and Priviledges thereof, Submiting my self unto the - wholesom Laws made and established by the same. - - And farther that I will not Plot or practice any evill against it, - or consent to any that shall so do: but will timely discover and - reveal the same to Lawfull Authority now here established, for the - speedy preventing thereof. So help me God in our Lord Jesus Christ. - [1665.] - - - FREEMANS OATH - - Whereas I [A. B.] being an inhabitant of the Jurisdiction of the - _Massachusets_, and now to be made free. Do hereby acknowledge my - selfe to be subject to the Government thereof (Considering how I - stand obliged to the Kings Majesty, his Heires and Successors, by - our Charter and the Government established thereby Do Swear - accordingly, by the Great and Dreadfull Name of the Ever-Living GOD, - that I will bear Faith and true Alegiance to our Soveraigne Lord the - King, his heires and Successors,) and that I will be true and - Faithfull to the same, and will accordingly yeild Assistance and - Support thereunto with my person and estate, as in equity I am - bound; And will also truely endeavour to maintain and preserve all - the Liberties and priviledges thereof, submitting my selfe to the - wolesome Laws made and established by the same. - - And farther that I will not Plot nor Practice any Evill against it, - or consent to any that shall so do, but will timely discover and - reveal the same to Lawfull Authority now here established, for the - speedy prevention thereof. - - Moreover I do Solemnly bind my selfe in the sight of God, that when - I shall be called to give my Voyce touching any such matter of this - State wherein Freemen are to deal, I will give my Vote and Suffrage - as I shall in mine own Conscience judge best to conduce and tend to - the Publick Weale of the body, without respect of persons or favour - of any man. So help me God in our Lord Jesus Christ. [1665.] - - * * * * * - - The oath of the Goūno^r, Dept Goūno^r, & other publicke officers, - to runne thus:— - - Whereas I, A. B., am chosen Gouerno^r, &c., considering how I stand - obliged to the kings majesty, his heires & successors, by our - charter and the gouerment here established thereby, doe sweare, &c, - as aboue. [1665.] - -In their demand for changes in the 1660 Book of the General Laws and -Liberties, the Commissioners in their 14th section proposed: “That, page -33, ‘none be admitted freemen but such as are members of some of the -churches w^{th} in the limitts of this jurisdiction’ may be explained, & -comp̄hend such as are members of y^e church of England.” - - At the General Court of 23 May, 1666. - - It is ordered that the Secretary, at the request of all such as are - admitted to the freedome of this Colony or any in their behalf, give - a true copy out of this Courts Records, of their names, by them to - be delivered to the clerks or recorders of those Courts in the - severall Counties to which they do belong, with a copy of the Oath - of Freemen as it is now stated, that they may there take their - Oathes &c. [1666.] - - * * * * * - - At the General Court of 15 October, 1673: - - As an addition to the Law, title Freemen, section the third, it is - ordered by this Court and the authority thereof that henceforth the - names of such as desire to be admitted to the freedome of this - Com̄on-wealth, not being members of churches in full comunion, shall - be entred w^{th} the secretary, from tjme to tjme, at the Court of - election, and read ouer before the whole Court sometime that - sessions and shall not be put to vote in the Court till the Court of - election next followg. [1673.] - - This order of Court was repealed 9 February 1682/3. - - * * * * * - - Att a Generall Court, held at Boston, 10^{th} of October, 1677. - - Whereas many secret attempts haue binn lately made by euil minded - persons to set fire in the toune of Boston and other places, tending - to the destruction of the whole, this Court doeth account it their - duty to vse all lawfull meanes to discouer such persons and prevent - the like for time to come. - - Bee it therefore ordered & enacted by this Court and the Authority - thereof, That the Law, _title_ Oathes and Subscriptions, page 120 - sect. 2., requiring all persons, as well inhabitants as strangers, - (that have not taken it) to take the Oath of Fidelity to the - Country, be revived and put in practice through this Jurisdiction. - And for the more effectual execution thereof, It is ordered by this - Court; That the select men, Constables, and Tithing-men, in every - town do, once every quarter of a year so proportion and divide the - precincts of each town, and go from house to house, and take an - exact list of the Names, quality and callings of every person, - whether Inhabitant or Stranger, that have not taken the said Oath, - and cannot make due proof thereof; and the Officers aforesaid are - hereby required forthwith to return the names of such persons unto - the next magistrate, or County Court, or chief military officer in - the town where no Magistrate is, who are required to give such - persons the said Oath prescribed in the Law, wherein not only - Fidelity to the Country, but Allegiance to our King, is required; - And all such as take the said oath shall be Recorded and Enrolled in - the County Records by the clerk of each County Court. And all such - as refuse to take the said Oath, they shall be proceeded against as - the said Law directs. And further, this Court doth Declare; That all - such refusers to take the said Oath shall not have the benefit of - our Laws to Implead, Sue, or recover any Debt in any Court or Courts - within this Jurisdiction, nor have protection from this Government - whilest they continue in such obstinate refusal. - - And furthermore, It is Ordered; That if any Officer intrusted with - the Execution of this Order, do, neglect, or omit his or their duty - therein, they shall be fined according to their demerits, not - exceeding five pounds for one offence, being complained of, or - presented to the County Courts or Court of Assistants, And this Law - to be forthwith Printed and Published, and effectually executed from - and after the last of _November_ next. And that all persons that - administer the Oath abovesaid, shall in like manner make return of - the Names of such persons so sworn to the respective Clerks of the - County Courts. Made October 10, 1677. - - * * * * * - - Att the second sessions of the Gen̄ll Court held at Boston, 2 - October, 1678. - - _Whereas it hath pleased his most excellent Majesty, our gracious - king by his letter bearing date the twenty-seventh of Aprill, 1678, - to signifie his Royall pleasure, That the Authority of this his - Colony of Massachusetts in New-England, do give forth Orders that - the Oath of Allegiance, as it is by Law established within his - Kingdome of England, be administred and taken by all his subjects - within this Colony who are of years to take an oath_: - - In Obedience whereunto, and as a demonstration of our Loyalty; It is - ordered and enacted by this Court and the Authority thereof, that, - as the members of this Court now sitting have readily taken the Oath - of Allegiance, so, by their Example and Authority, they do require - and command that the same Oath be given and taken by all his - Majesties subjects within this Jurisdiction that are of sixteen - years of age and upwards. And to the end this Order be duely - executed, it is hereby Ordered, that a convenient number of printed - Copies of the said Oath of Allegiance, exactly agreeing with the - written copy inclosed in his majesties Letter, and signed by the - Secretary of State, to be sent forth unto every Magistrate and - Justice of peace, and to the Constable of every town within this - Jurisdiction. - - And it is further Ordered that the Magistrates and Justices, or such - as are Commissioned with Magistratical Authority in every County of - this Colony do with all convenient speed repair to the several Towns - and Villages within this Jurisdiction, at such time, and in such - order as they best may, and accomplish the same; giving forth their - warrant to the Constables of each Town to convene all the - inhabitants of the Age abovesaid, and taking their names in writing, - administer the said Oath of Allegiance to each of them, and return - their Names to the Recorder of each County Court to be enrolled. And - if any shall refuse to take the said Oath, or absent themselves - unless in case of sickness, the Names of such shall be returned to - the Recorder of the County, who are to be proceeded against by the - County Courts respectively, for the first offence whereof he is - legally convicted, to pay such a fine as the County Court shall - impose, not exceeding five pounds, or three Moneths Imprisonment in - the common prison or house of Correction: And for the second offence - whereof he shall be lawfully convicted, what summe the County Court - shall inflict, provided it exceed not ten pounds, or six Moneths - Imprisonment without Baile, or Mainprise. [1678.] - -The officials of the Government, ignoring the copy of the Oath of -Allegiance given them by the royal commissioners, took the Oath in Court -as it is given in Michael Dalton’s “The Countrey Justice,”—a work of -much esteem in its time, which passed through some ten or eleven -editions, three of which are in the valuable Library of this Society, -and one of them, there is reason to believe, may have been the volume -used in this historical incident,—all of them declaring that the same is -to be understood as not infringing the liberties and privileges granted -in his Majesty’s royal Charter to this Colony of the Massachusetts. - -Regarding the manner of taking the Oath; the New England custom was by -holding up the right hand, as opposed to the custom in England of -holding, or laying the hand on the Bible, or kissing it. This was one of -the irritating questions in dispute between the Colonists and the Andros -faction. Samuel Sewall, in his Diary, under date of June 11, 1686, says: -“I read the Oath myself holding the book in my left hand, and holding up -my right hand to Heaven.” And, in 1687, Increase Mather discoursed on -the “laying the hand on and kissing the booke in swearing.” This -question continued to irritate, and was one of the predisposing causes -of the Revolutionary War in the Province of New York. In 1772, a Bill -was lost in Council, “For Removing Doubts in the administration of -Oaths.” This Bill was designed to favor a number of people, chiefly from -Scotland and the north of Ireland, who held conscientious scruples -against the present legal form of kissing the Bible; and allow them to -use the form in use in Scotland and the New England Colonies of lifting -up the right hand. The weight of Episcopal authority denied them this -right. - -In the colonization of New England the figure of John Winthrop looms -colossal. Given time, he would have built an Empire whose only ruler -would have been the Lord of Hosts. He can hardly be called a Puritan—his -conversion came too late—but he was a Congregationalist. His method was -so simple as to be open to the understanding of anyone, but it was a -firm principle of government. As an illustration: when he was appealed -to by a small group of settlers near the border line of New Hampshire -for information as to how they could become freemen of the Colony of -Massachusetts-Bay, his reply was: “Get a Minister.” When they answered -that they had no Minister, and did not know where to get one, again came -back his uncompromising reply: “Get a Minister.” In this reply rested -his whole system of colonization. It was simplicity itself. The English -Government recognized its power when, by Proclamation, they endeavored -to prevent the emigration of Puritan Ministers from England. “Get a -Minister!” Gather about him! Build him a church, and homes for -yourselves and families. This done, you have a Plantation. When you have -thus qualified to become freemen, and have taken the Oath of a Freeman, -you will be entitled to hold office; assist in framing laws, and -enforcing those already made; and, as members of the Commonwealth, be -assured that all your rights will be protected. This principle of -government was firm, but not repellent. If you could not conform to it -there was no reason for remaining among them. The world was wide enough -for every one. And you could go to Maine, or Rhode Island. Under it was -formed a government that has never been equalled in prosperity, morality -and all that makes for happiness. No less a personage than Hugh Peters -has declared that in the six years of his residence in the Colony of -Massachusetts-Bay, he had never seen a drunken man or heard a profane -oath. - -The limits of their territory they continually enlarged by firmly -insisting upon the border lines of their Patent, and even stretching -them when near some natural boundary; by purchasing the rights of New -Plymouth in the Colony of Maine, for 400 pounds, they added a tract of -seven hundred square miles; by the purchase of the Gorges Patent, for -1,250 pounds sterling, they acquired a jurisdiction over the rest of the -Province of Maine which made it a District of Massachusetts down to the -year 1820. There has been a good deal of sympathy, and many unnecessary -tears have been shed over the so-called banishment of Roger Williams to -Rhode Island; but it was his friend, John Winthrop, who whispered in his -ear the desirability of the location of the Providence Plantations. And -there was no reason why Roger Williams could not have gone out from -Salem with head erect, and with his gaze fixed on the stars, as every -good missionary should go, knowing that the powers of the government of -Massachusetts-Bay was as much behind his settlement, without an Oath, as -it was behind the colonists of Connecticut, and New Haven, who had gone -out from Cambridge, Watertown and Roxbury, carrying with them the Oath -of a Freeman as a principle of their governments. In the Union of the -Colonies of Massachusetts-Bay, New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, -of which John Winthrop was the first President, a new idea was advanced -in his system of government, which eventually attained greater results. - -It cannot be said that John Winthrop accomplished these things unaided. -There were others who ably assisted him, whose names, also, should be -held in honored remembrance. But through it all, can be seen the firm, -directing mind and purpose of a man whose vision looked beyond his -present to a future, and a Republic that was to be. - -And this is why our people should look upon The Oath of a Freeman, which -was his work, not alone as the glorious first fruit of the -Printing-Press in this Country; but also as a great state paper which -accomplished without bloodshed, on a smaller scale it is true, all that -was achieved, one hundred and thirty-seven years later, after seven -years of warfare, through the Declaration of Independence. - - - - -_In Connecticut and New Haven Colonies._ - - -The colonists of Connecticut, in the main, followed closely the general -system of laws of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from which they had -emigrated. Their form of government was theocratic, the Oath of a -Freeman being the test of citizenship. The settlers of Windsor, who came -from Dorchester with John Warham, in 1635, did not, however, make church -membership a necessary qualification for holding civil office. - -The settlers of Guilford, who were joined to New Haven Colony, exercised -their powers of government by a system which conformed to the grant from -Lord Say and Brook to Theophilus Eaton and his company. Like that at New -Haven it was an aristocracy, but modelled in a singular way. As a part -of New Haven Colony they were entitled to one Magistrate, who was their -head and invested with the whole executive and judicial power. The -settlers were divided into two classes, freemen and planters. The -freemen could consist only of those who were church members, and partook -of the sacrament. They were all under oath agreeably to their form of -government. Out of their number were chosen three or four deputies to -sit with the Magistrate in General Courts, and all public officers. The -planters consisted of all inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, -with a certain estate, which qualified them to vote in town meetings. - - 5 ^{to} Ap^r 1638. A gen^rall Cort at Hartford. - - Forasmuch as it has pleased the Allmighty God by the wise - disposition of his diuyne p^ruidence so to Order and dispose of - things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Hartford - and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and vppon the - River of Conectecotte and the Lands thereunto adioyneing; And well - knowing where a people are gathered togather the word of God - requires that to mayntayne the peace and vnion of such a people - there should be an orderly and decent Gouerment established - according to God, to order and dispose of the affayres of the people - at all seasons as occation shall require: doe therefore assotiate - and conioyne our selues to be as one publike State or Com̄onwelth; - and doe, for our selues and our Successors and such as shall be - adioyned to vs att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination and - Confederation togather, to mayntayne and p^rsearue the liberty and - purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus w^{ch} we now p^rfesse, as - also the disciplyne of the Churches w^{ch} according to the truth of - the said gospell is now practiced amongst vs; As also in o^r Ciuill - Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, Rules, - Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, as - followeth: [The eleven Fundamentalls.] [1638.] - -In Connecticut, it would appear that the Oath of Fidelity required of -all that were admitted freemen up to July 1640, was as follows: - - - AN OATH FOR PAQUA’ AND THE PLANTATIONS THERE: - - - I A. B. being by the P^ruidence of God an inhabitant w^{th}in the - Jurisdiction of Conectecotte, doe acknowledge my selfe to be subject - to the gou^rment thereof, and doe sweare by the great and dreadfull - name of the eu^r liueing God to be true and faythfull vnto the same, - and doe submitt boath my P^rson & estate thereunto, according to all - the holsome lawes & orders that ether are or hereafter shall be - there made by lawfull authority: And that I will nether plott nor - practice any euell agaynst the same, nor consent to any that shall - so doe, but will tymely discou^r the same to lawfull authority - established there; and that I will maynetayne, as in duty I am - bownd, the honor of the same & of the lawfull Magestrats thereof, - promoteing the publike good thereof, whilst I shall so continue an - Inhabitant there, and whensou^r I shall give my vote, suffrage or - p^rxy, being cauled thereunto touching any matter w^{ch} conserns - this Com̄onwelth, I will giue y^t as in my conscience may conduce to - the best good of the same, w^{th}out respect of p^rson or favor of - any man; So helpe me God in the Lo: Jesus Christ. [1640.] - - - THE OATH OF A FREEMAN - - I, A. B. being by the P^ruidence of God an Inhabitant w^{th}in the - Jurisdiction of Conectecotte, doe acknowledge myselfe to be subiecte - to the Gouerment thereof, and doe sweare by the great and fearefull - name of the euerliueing God, to be true and faythfull vnto the same, - and doe submitt boath my p^rson and estate thereunto, according to - all the holsome lawes and orders that there are, or here after shall - be there made, and established by lawfull authority, and that I will - nether plott nor practice any euell ag^t the same, nor consent to - any that shall so doe, but will tymely discouer the same to lawfull - authority there established; and that I will, as I am in duty bownd, - mayntayne the honner of the same and of the lawfull Magestratts - thereof, p^rmoting the publike good of y^t, whilst I shall soe - continue an inhabitant there; and whensoeu^r I shall giue my voate - or suffrage touching any matter w^{ch} conserns this Com̄on welth - being cauled there unto, will give y^t as in my conscience I shall - judge may conduce to the best good of the same, w^{th}out respect of - p^rsons or favor of any man. Soe helpe me God in o^r Lord Jesus - Christe. Aprill the xth, 1640. - - * * * * * - - At a Generall Assembly held at Hartford, Aprill 20th, 1665, there - was presented to the Court the Propositions of his Majesty’s Royal - Commission which were read and answered as follows; - - 1. That all householders inhabiting this Colony take the oath of - allegiance, and that the administration of justice be in his - Majesties name. - - To this we returne, that according to his Majesties pleasure exprest - in o^r Charter, o^r Gouernour formerly hath nominated and appoynted - meet persons to administer the oath of allegiance, whoe haue, - according to their order, administred the s^d oath to seuerall - persons allready; and the administration of justice amongst us hath - been, is and shall be in his Majesties name. - - 2nd Propos: That all men of competent estates and of ciuill - conuersation, though of different judgments, may be admitted to be - freemen, and haue liberty to chuse or to be chosen officers, both - military and ciuill. - - To the 2d, our order for admission of freemen is consonant w^{th} - that proposition. - - 3. Propos: That all persons of ciuill liues may freely injoy the - liberty of their consciences, and the worship of God in that way - which they thinke best, prouided that this liberty tend not to the - disturbance of the publique, nor to the hindrance of the maintenance - of Ministers regularly chosen in each respectiue parish or township. - - To the 3d Propos: We say, we know not if any one that hath bin - troubled by us for attending his conscience, prouided he hath not - distu^rbed the publique. - - 4 Propos: That all lawes and expressions in lawes, derogatory to his - Majestie, if any such haue bin made in these late troublesome times, - may be repealed, altered and taken off the file. - - To the 4th p^rpos: We return, we know not of any lawe or expressions - in any law that is derogatory to his Majesty amongst us; but if any - such be found, we count it o^r duty to repeal, alter it, and take it - off the file, and this we attended upon the receipt of our Charter. - [1665]. - - * * * * * - - At a Gen^{ll} Assembly for election held at Hartford, May 11, ‘65. - This Court declare that it is their full sense and determination - that such persons as are or hereafter shalbe approued to be freemen - of this Corporation shal take y^e Oath that is already established - vpon record to be administered to y^e respectiue freemen: And - further, that all such as shal refuse to take the said oath, though - otherwise approued p^rsons yet shal not p^rtake of the privilidges - of those that have bene formally incorporated into this civil - society, vntil y^e said Oath be administred vnto them: Provided that - this order includes not either freemen formerly admitted and sworne - or Assistants and Com̄issioners that haue taken their corporal oaths - or Deputies that haue bene accepted into y^e Gen^{ll} Assembly to - assist in ye concernments of this corporation. [1665.] - - - - -_In New Haven Colony._ - - -“On the 4^{th} day of the 4^{th} month called June 1639, all the free -planters of the town to be called a year later Newhaven, assembled -together in a general meetinge to consult about settling ciuill -Gouernm^t according to God. * * * Mr. John Davenport propounded divers -(6) quæries to them publiquely praying them to consider seriously * * * -and to giue their answers in such sort as they would be willing they -should stand upon recorde for posterity.” - -These six fundamental agreements were assented to by the lifting up of -hands twice: once at the proposal and again after when the written words -were read unto them. - -And on the 25th of October next, the following charge was given and -accepted by them: - - - FREEMAN’S CHARGE - - Yow shall neither plott, practise, nor consent, to any euill, or - hurt, against this Jurisdiction, or any part of it, nor against The - Civill Gouerment here established: And if you shall know any person - or persons w^{ch} intend, plott, or conspire anything, w^{ch} tends - to the hurt, or prjudice, of the same, you shall timely discouer the - same to Lawfull Authority here established, and you shall assist, - and be helpfull, in all the affaires of the Jurisdiction, and by all - meanes shall promoue the publique wellfare of the same, according to - yo^r place, abillity, and opportunity; you shall giue due hono^r to - the Lawfull Magistrats, and shall be obedient, and subject, to all - the wholesome Lawes, and Orders, allready made, or w^{ch} shall be - hereafter made, by Lawfull Authority afforesaide, and that both in - yo^r person, and estate, and when you shall be duely called, to giue - yo^r vote, or suffrage, in any Election, or touching any other - matter, w^{ch} concerneth this Common wellth, yow shall giue it, as - in yo^r conscience, you shall judg may conduse to the best good of - the same. [1639.] - - * * * * * - - At A Gen. Court held att Newhaven the 3^d of Aprill 1644. - - This day, a forme of an oath for the Governo^r and magistrats to - take, and another forme of an oath to be imposed upon all the - inhabitants w^thin this jurisdiction was propounded to the - consideratiō of the court, who, after some serious debate and - consideratiō rested satisfyed w^th the said formes. And therevpon - ordered thatt itt should be forthw^th putt in executiō, and whereas - the Governo^r doth shortly intend a journey to Stamforde on other - occasions, the Court desired him to improve thatt opportunity, both - at Stamforde and att Milford, for the giveing of the oath, and the - like att Guilforde in time convenient. Itt was further ordered thatt - no person or persons shall hereafter be admitted as an inhabitant in - this jurisdictiō or any of the plantations therein butt he or they - shall take the said oath vpon his or their admittance. - - * * * * * - - On the 23 of June, 1644, The formes of two oathes were propounded to - the Court to be taken the next second day in the morning, by all the - inhabitants in this plantatiō, one of them is to be taken by all, - and the other by the Governo^r onely. - - * * * * * - - Att a Gen^{rll} Court held att Newhaven the 1^t of July, 1644. The - Governo^r tooke this oath as followeth, - - I [Theophilus Eaton] being att a Gen^{rll} Co^{rt} in October last, - chosen Governo^r w^thin Newhaven Jurisdictiō for a yeare then to - ensue, and vntill a new Governo^r be chosen, do sweare by the great - and dreadfull name of the ever living God, to promove the publique - good and peace of the same, according to the best of my skill, and - will allso maintaine all the lawfull priviledges of this - comōwealth, according to the fundamentall order and agreem^t made - for governm^t in this jurisdictiō, and in like manner will endeuo^r - thatt all wholsome lawes thatt are or shall be made by lawfull - authority here established be duely executed, and will further the - executiō of justice according to the righteous rules of Gods worde, - so help me God in o^r Lord Jesus Christ. - - * * * * * - - The Governo^r haveing allso received the - - - OATH OF FIDELITY - - as followeth, - - I [Theophilus Eaton] being by the providence of God an inhabitant - w^thim Newhaven Jurisdictiō, doe acknowledge myselfe to be subject - to the goverm^t thereof, and doe sweare by the great and dreadfull - name of the ever living God, to be true and faithfull vnto the same, - and doe submitt both my person and my whole estate thervnto - according to all the wholsome lawes and orders thatt for present are - or hereafter shall be there made and established by lawfull - authority, and thatt I will neither plott nor practise any evill - agst the same, nor consent to any thatt shall so doe, butt will - timely discover the same to lawfull authority here established, and - thatt I will as I am in duety bounde, maintaine the hono^r of the - same and off the lawfull magistrates thereoff, promoting the - publique good of the same whilest I shall continue an inhabitant - there. And whensoever I shall be duely called a free burgesse, - according to the fundamentall order and agreem^t for governm^t in - this jurisdictiō to give my vote or suffrage touching any matter - w^ch concerneth this comō wealth, I will give itt as in my - conscience I shall judge may conduce to the best good of the same - w^thout respect of persons, So help me God in our Lord Jesus Christ. - - Then he gave itt to all those whose names are herevnder written, - [Two hundred and sixteen names.] [1644.] - -In May, 1665, the Colonies of Connecticut, and New Haven were united as -the Colony of Connecticut in New England. - - - OATH OF ALLEGIANCE - - Administered at New Haven, in May 1666, under powers granted by - Governor John Winthrop, according to his Maj^{ties} Charter granted - to this Colony of Connecticut in New England. - - You J[asper] C[rane], doe sweare faith and Allegeance to his - Maj^{tie} Charles y^e Second, as duty binds according to y^e word of - God. And yo^u doe hereby acknowledge that the Pope, nor any other - potentate hath powe^r or autority or iurisdiction in any of his - Maj^{ties} dominions, and y^t only his Ma^{tie} our sover^n Lord - King Charles hath under God, supreme power in his Ma^{ties} - dominions. And I doe abhor y^e detestable opinion y^t the pope hath - pow^r to Depose princes. And this I doe from my hart, soe help me - God. - -On the 31 October, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, Knt. took over into his -hands the government of the Colony of Connecticut in New England. - - - - -_In Rhode Island and Providence Plantations._ - - -The settlement of Rhode Island by Roger Williams, being partly -occasioned by his refusal to take either the Oath of Fidelity, or the -Stranger’s Oath to the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay will account for the -absence of all Oaths of Allegiance in the early history of the Colony -which he founded. From the first settlement of the Colony of Rhode -Island and Providence Plantations to the present time an Oath could not -be required of any one; but in its place is required a property -qualification and an Affirmation. - - - CIVIL COMPACT - - We whose names are hereunder, desirous to inhabit in the town of - Providence, do promise to subject ourselves in active and passive - obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for - public good of the body in an orderly way, by the major consent of - present inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together in a - Towne fellowship, and others whom they shall admit unto them only in - civil things. [Richard Scott, and twelve others.] August the 20th, - [1637.] - -This limiting of the powers of town meetings to “civil things,” is the -first expression in the new world of a severance of the bonds of Church -and State, and of that principle of freedom of conscience for which the -founder had contended. This first Civil Compact was followed, on the 7th -day of the first month, 1638, by the settlers at Aquidneck, with a - - - SECOND CIVIL COMPACT - - We whose names are underwritten do here, solemnly, in the presence - of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as he - shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord - Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and to all those - perfect and most absolute lawes of his given us in his holy word of - truth, to be guided and judged thereby. Exod. 24. 3. 4, 2 Cron. - 11.3, 2 Kings, 11. 17. [William Coddington, and eighteen others.] - - The 7th of the first month, 1638. We that are Freemen Incorporate of - this Bodie Politick do Elect and Constitute William Coddington, - Esquire, a Judge amongst us, and so covenant to yield all due honour - unto him according to the lawes of God, and so far as in us lyes to - maintaine the honour and privileges of his place which shall - hereafter be ratifyed according unto God, the Lord helping us so to - do. - - William Aspinwall, Sec’ry. - - I, William Coddington, Esquire, being called and chosen by the - Freemen Incorporate of this Bodie Politick, to be a Judge amongst - them, do covenant to do justice and Judgment impartially according - to the lawes of God, and to maintaine the Fundamentall Rights and - Privileges of this Bodie Politick, which shall hereafter be ratifyed - according unto God, the Lord helping us so to do. - - On the 3d Month, 13 day, 1638. It is ordered that none shall be - received as inhabitants or Freemen to build or plant upon the Island - but such as shall be received in by the consent of the Bodye, and do - submitt to the government that is or shall be established, according - to the word of God. [1638.] - -From this arrangement, the first recorded Act regarding freemen in the -Colony, a minority seceded, taking the Records with them, and drew up -the following instrument: - - It is agreed - - By vs whose hands are underwritten, to propagate a Plantation in the - midst of the Island or elsewhere; And doe engage ourselves to bear - equall charges, answerable to our strength and estates in common; - and that our determinations shall be by major voice of judge and - elders; the Judge to have a double voice. [William Coddington, and - eight others.] On the 28th of the 2d Month, 1639. - -Agreeing and ordering that the Plantation now begun shall be called -Newport. - -The remaining members of the Aquidneck settlement then organized a new -government. - - Aprill the 30th, 1639. - - We whose names are underwritten doe acknowledge ourselves the legall - subjects of his Majestie King Charles, and in his name doe hereby - binde ourselves into a civill body Politicke, assenting unto his - lawes according to right and matters of justice. [William - Hutchinson, and thirty associates.] - - * * * * * - - By the Body Politicke on the Ile of Agethnec, inhabiting this - present, 25 of 9 = month, 1639. - - In the fourteenth yeare of y^e Raign of our Sovereign Lord King - Charles. It is agreed, That as natural subjects to our Prince, and - subject to his Lawes, all matters that concerne the Peace shall be - by those that are officers of the Peace transacted; And all actions - of the Case or Dept, shall be in such Courts as by order are here - appointed, and by such Judges as are Deputed: Heard and Legally - Determined. - - * * * * * - - At the Generall Court of Election began and held at Portsmouth, from - the 16th of March to the 19th of the same mo., 1641. - - 1. It was ordered and agreed before the Election, that an Ingagement - by oath should be taken of all the officers of this Body now to be - elected, as likewise for the time to come; the ingagement which the - severall officers of the State shall give is this; To the execution - of this office I judge myself bound before God to walk faithfully, - and this I profess in y^e presence of God. - - 3. It is ordered and unanimously agreed upon that the Government - which this Bodie Politick doth attend vnto in this Island, and the - Jurisdiction thereof, in favour of our Prince is a Democracie, or - popular Government; that is to say, It is in the Powre of the Body - of Freemen orderly assembled, or the major part of them, to make or - constitute Just Lawes, by which they will be regulated, and to - depute from among themselves such Ministers as shall see them - faithfully executed between Man and Man. - - 16. It is ordered that Ingagement shall be taken by the Justices of - the Peace in their Quarter Sessions of all men or youth above - fifteen years of age, eyther by the oath of Fidelity, or some other - strong cognizance. - - 28. It is ordered and received, that the Ingagement that already was - given by the Freemen was and is of the same force as that oath is - which is authorized to be administered to the Inhabitants, which - oath Nicholas Easton, Rob’t Jeoffreys, and Wm. Dyre did take in - presence of the Courte. - - 29. It is ordered, that if any person or persons on the Island, - whether Freeman or Inhabitant, shall by any meanes open or covert, - endeavour to bring in any other Powre than what is now established - (except it be from our Prince by lawfull commission), shall be - accounted a delinquent under the head of Perjurie. - - 30. It is ordered, that the Law of the last Court made concerning - Libertie of Conscience in point of Doctrine is perpetuated. - - - THE ENGAGEMENT OF THE OFFICERS - - You, A. B. being called and chosen vnto public employment, and the - office of ——, by the free vote and consent y^e Inhabitants of the - Province of Providence Plantations (now orderly met), do, in the - present Assemblie, engage yourself faithfully and truly to the - utmost of your power to execute the commission committed vnto you; - and do hereby promise to do neither more nor less in that respect - than that which the Colonie have or shall authorize you to do - according to the best of your understanding. - - - THE RECIPROCAL ENGAGEMENT OF THE STATE TO Y^E OFFICERS - - We, the Inhabitants of the Province of Providence Plantations being - here orderly met, and having by free vote chosen you ——, to public - office and officers for the due administration of Justice and the - execution thereof throughout the whole Colonie, do hereby engage - ourselves to the utmost of our power to support and vphold you in - your faithfull performance thereof. [1641.] - - This Engagement was also agreed to by the Court of Commissioners and - Election. September y^e 13th, 1654. - - It is ordered by the present Assemblie, that this is y^e engagement - of y^e Generall officers any former forme to the contrarie - notwithstandinge. - - * * * * * - - At the General Court of the 21st of May, 1661, the words: “in his - Majesties name” was added after (“now orderly met”). - - * * * * * - - And Att a Generall Assembly of the Collony of Rhode Iland and - Providence Plantations the 4th of May, 1664: - - This Assembly alsoe declareth against any parson acting in any - publike office, except hee first take the engagement according to - the forme hear subjoyned. - - You, A. B., &c., sollemly engage to be true and faythfull vnto our - Soveraigne Lord the King, Charles the Second, of England, Scotland, - France and Ireland, and dominiones and terrytoryes therevnto - belonging; and to his sayd Majesty, his heirs and successors, true - allegeance to beare and exicute your commission, charge and office, - according to the best of your skill and knowledge without - partiallyty or affection to any; and that according to the lawes - already established, or to be established in this Colony. This - ingagement you make and ingage to obsearve, vnder the penalty of - perjury.... - - At the taking of the ingagement by any, ther must bee a - re-engagement given in the Colloneys name, to stand by and assist - such parsones in the exicution of ther offices and performance of - ther dutyes. - - It is alsoe the pleasuer and appoynment of this Generall Assembly, - that none presume to vote in the matters afforesayd, but such whome - this Generall Assembly expresly by ther writting shal admit as - freemen. - - The 19^{th} of the ii^{th} Month, 1645. Wee whose names are heere - after Subscribed, having obteyned a free Grante of Twenty five Akers - of Land a peece with right of Commoning, according to the said - proportion of Land; from the free Jnhabitants of this Towne of - providence; doe thankfully acsept of the same; And heereby doe - promise to yield Actiue; or passiue Obeydience to the authority of - established in this Collonye; according to our Charter; and - to all Such wholesome Lawes & Orders, that are or shall be made, by - the major consent of this Towne of Providence; As alsoe not to - clayme any Righte, to the Purchasse of the Said plantation; Nor any - privilidge of Vote in Towne Affaires; untill we shall be received as - free = Men of the said Towne of Providence. [1645.] - - - THE PREAMBLE TO THE LAW AGAINST PERJURY - - Forasmuch as the consciences of sundry men, truly conscionable, may - scruple the giving or the taking of an oath, and it would be nowise - suitable to the nature and constitution of our place, who profess - ourselves to be men of different consciences and not one willing to - force another to debar such as cannot do so, either from bearing - office among us or from giving in testimony in a case depending; be - it enacted by the authority of this present Assembly, that a solemn - profession or testimony in a court of record, or before a judge of - record, shall be accounted, throughout the whole colony, of as full - force as an oath. [1647.] - -This is the more remarkable because at this time the Friends did not yet -as a distinct Society, hold to the unlawfulness of oaths. And it is in -complete concordance with the teachings of Roger Williams. - - Acts and Orders of the Generall Assembly, sitting at Newport, May - the 3, 1665. - - Ordered, that this following shall be the forme for engaging all - officers in this Collony, called to place of publicke concernment, - &c., for the administration of justice, (viz): - - Whereas, you are, A. B., by the free vote of the freemen of this - Collony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, &c., called and - chosen vnto the place and office of ——, in the said Collony, &c., - doe sollemly engage true eleageance vnto his Majestye, his heires - and successors, to beare, and in your said office equall justice and - right to doe vnto all persones within this jurisdiction to the - vtmost or best of your skill and ability without partiality, - according to the laws established, or that shall be established in - this said jurisdiction; [according to the Charter as well in matters - military as civill.] And this engagement you make and give vpon the - perill of the penalty of perjury. - - The reciprocall engagement is as follows, ordered to be given by he - that takes or administers the abovesaid engagement. - - I doe, in the name and behalfe of this Collony, &c., re-ingage to - stand by you and to support you by all due assistance and - incouradgment in your performance and execution of your aforesaid - office according to your engagement. - - Ordered, that the forme of engagement aforesaid shall be used vntill - further order; any former order or forme vsed or prescribed to the - contrary, or differing herefrom notwithstanding. [1665.] These forms - were re-enacted in 1677. - -The Commission appointed by the King to assert the rights of the Crown -to the seven New England Colonies, as the first of the propositions of -his Majesty’s will and pleasure in Rhode Island, proposed: - - That all householders inhabiting this Collony take the oath of - alleagence and the administration of justice be in his Majestyes - name. - - Wherevpon, and in a deepsence of his Majestyes most Royall and - wonderful grace and favour more pertickerlerly ... in his letters - pattents ... in which is expresed his ... indulgence extended to - tender consiences, differing in matters of religious worshipe and - conceanments; and more especially in matters of formes of oathes and - cerimonyes or circumstances relating therevnto, ... considering - therein the liberty of concience therein granted. - - The Assembly doe with one consent ... in all cheerfull obediance ... - and therein minding the preveledge granted to tender conciences, doe - in the first place order and declare: that whereas in this Collony - it hath ben alwayes accounted and granted a liberty to such as make - a scruple of swearing and taken an oath, that in stead thereof they - shall engage, under the penalty of false swearing, though they - sweare not in publicke engagement, as well as if they did sweare, - that therefore this most loyall and resonable engagement be given by - all men capable within this jurisdiction for their allegiance to the - King, &c. - - * * * * * - - The forme of which engagement shall be as followeth: - - You, A. B., sollemly and sincearly engage true and faithfull - aleagiance vnto his Majestye Charles the Second, King of England, - his heires and successors, to beare and due obediance vnto the lawes - established, from time to time in this jurisdiction, to yeald vnto - the vtmost of your power, according to the previlidge by his said - Majesty granted, in religioues and civill concearnments to this - Collony in the Charter; which said engagement you make vnder the - perill and penalty of perjury. [1665.] - -They further ordered that “this engagement shall be administered to all -that are already admitted freemen, and that no man shall be admitted a -freeman, and all men that are householders or aged eighteen or more, -shall take the engagement or loose the priviledge of freemen until they -give the engagement premised.” The passage of this law led to a long -agitation by those who thought it to be hard on the consciences by many -whom it rendered incapable from carrying on the affairs of the -corporation. And, in the following year, the Assembly ordered and -declared, “That such as are free in their conscience so to do, give the -Engagement, or if they rather choose to give the oath of allegiance now -required in England, that shall be taken; but if there are some words in -either which, in conscience they cannot condescend to say or use, may in -open court, or before two Magistrates adopt in equivalent words -significant of allegiance and submission to yield obedience actively and -passively, to the laws made by virtue of his Majesty’s authority, he -shall be restored or admitted as freeman, any former law to the contrary -notwithstanding.” - - At a Court held in his Majesty’s name, and under his authority, at - the towne of Westerly, in the King’s Province, the 17th of - September, 1679. - - The inhabitants of Westerly, being by warrant required to appeare at - this Court to give the oath of allegiance to his Majesty, and of - fidellity to his Majesty’s authority for this Collony, these persons - hereunder named appeared and gave oath, viz. [Thirty-three names.] - - The oath given by the above written persons was in these followinge - words: - - I doe truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify and declare - in my conscience before God and the world, that our Soverreign Lord, - King Charles, is lawfull and rightfull King of the Realm of England, - and of all other his dominions and countries; and that the Pope, - neither of himselfe, nor by any authority of the Church, or See of - Rome, or by any other meanes with any other, hath any power or - authority to depose the King, or to dispose of his Majesty’s - kingdoms or dominions, or to authorize any forreigne prince to - invade, or annoy him, or his country, or to discharge any of his - subjects from their allegiance and obedience to his Majesty; or to - give license or leave to any of them to beare armes, raise tumults, - or offer any violence or hurt to his Majesty’s Royall person, State - or Government, or to any of his Majesty’s subjects within his - Majesty’s dominions. Alsoe I doe sweare from my heart, that - notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of ex-communication, or - deprivation, made or granted, or to be made or granted by the Pope - or his successors, or by any authority derived or pretended to be - derived from him or his See against the said King, his heires or - successors, or any absolution of the said subjects from their - obedience, I will beare faith and true allegiance to his Majesty, - his heires and successors, and him and them will defend to the - uttermost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts - whatsoever which shall be made against his or their persons, their - Crowne and dignity, by reason or clause of any such sentence or - declaration or otherwise, and will doe my best endeavour to - disclose, and make knowne unto his Majesty, his heires and - successors, all treasons and traiterous conspiracies, which I shall - know or hear of, to be against him or any of them. And I doe further - sweare that I doe from my heart, abhor, detest and abjure as impious - and herritical, this damnable doctrine and position, that princes - which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, may be deposed or - murthered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I doe - believe and in my conscience am resolved, that neither the Pope nor - any person whatsoever, hath power to absolve me of this oath, or any - part thereof, which I acknowledge by good and full authority to bee - ministered unto me; and doe renounce all pardons and dispensations - to the contrary. And all these things I doe plainly and sincerely - acknowledge and sweare according to these express words by me - spoken, according to the plaine and common sense and understandinge - of the same words, without any equivocation or mentall evasion or - secrett reservation whatsoever. And further, I doe here solemnly - engage all true and loyall obedience unto his Majesty’s authority - placed and established in this his Collony of Rhode Island and - Providence Plantations, and King’s Province. And I doe make this - recognition heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a - Christian. So help me God. [1679.] - -No further oaths, or engagements, appear until the Administration of Sir -Edmund Andros, in 1686, reduced the Colony to the nature of a County -under his government. - - - - -_In New Hampshire Colony._ - - -As there was no constituted authorities over the patent of New -Hampshire, the Exeter settlers, under the leadership of John -Wheelwright, who had purchased a tract thirty miles square from certain -Indian Sachems in April, 1638, were driven to the expedient of agreeing -upon a voluntary association for governmental purposes. The executive -and judicial functions were vested in a board of three magistrates or -elders, of whom the chief was styled Ruler. They were chosen by the -whole body of freemen, who were the electors and legislators, their -enactments, however, requiring the approval of the Ruler. An inhabitant -had to be admitted a freeman, before he could enjoy the privileges of an -elector. Under this association, an agreement was drawn up by the -Reverend John Wheelwright, their leader, as follows: - - - THE COMBINATION FOR GOVERNMENT AT EXETER, WITH THE FORMS OF OATHS FOR - RULERS AND PEOPLE - - Whereas it hath pleased the lord to moue the heart of our Dread - Soveraigne Charles by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, - France & Ireland, to grant license & liberty to sundry of his - subjects to plant themselves in the Westerne partes of America: Wee, - his loyall subjects, brethren of the church of Exeter, situate & - lying upon the river of Piscataquacke, wh other inhabitants there, - considering w^{th} ourselves the holy will of god and our owne - necessity, that we should not live w^{th}out wholsome lawes & - government amongst us, of w^{ch} we are altogether destitute; doe in - the name of Christ & in the sight of god combine ourselves together, - to erect & set up amongst us such government as shall be to our best - discerning, agreeable to the will of god, professing ourselves - subjects to our Soveraigne Lord King Charles, according to the - libertys of our English Colony of the Massachusets & binding - ourselves solemnely by the grace & helpe of Christ & in his name & - feare to submit our selves to such godly & Christian laws as are - established in the realme of England to our best knowledge, & to all - other such lawes wch shall upon good grounds be made & inacted - amongst us according to god y^t we may live quietly & peaceably - together in all godliness and honesty. Mon. 5th d., 4th, 1639. [John - Whelewright, and thirty-four others.] - -This was soon found to be unsatisfactory to some other settlers, who -thought its expressions too lavish of loyalty to the King, and, in -consequence, of prelacy; and while they were willing to acknowledge in a -general way his sovereignty, and that they were his subjects, they had -no disposition to make any unnecessary professions of allegiance. -Another compact was then drawn of the same purport, simply acknowledging -the King to be their Sovereign, and themselves his subjects. This was -executed in due form and went into effect as the basis of government. -But it did not bear the test of trial. Curiously, because it did not -contain loyalty enough. And the original Combination was re-executed -with the following explanatory preamble: - - Whereas a certen combination was made by us, the brethren of the - Church of Exeter, with the rest of the Inhabitants, bearing date - Mon. 5th. d. 4, 1639, wh afterwards, upon the instant request of - some of the brethren, was altered, & put into such a forme of - wordes, wherein howsoever we doe acknowledge the King’s Majesty our - dread Sovereigne & ourselves his subjects: yet some expressions are - contained therein wh may seeme to admit of such a sence as somewhat - derogates from that due Allegiance wh we owe to his Highnesse, quite - contrary to our true intents and meanings: We therefore doe revoke, - disannull, make voyd and frustrate the said latter combination, as - if it never had beene done, and doe ratify, confirme and establish - the former, wh wee onely stand as being in force & virtue, the wh - for substance is here set downe in manner and form following. Mon., - 2d d., 2, 1640. - -Both the Elders and the People were required to take certain prescribed -oaths, as follows: - - - THE ELDERS OR RULERS OATH - - You shall sweare by the great and dreadfull Name of the high God - maker & Gov^r of heaven and earth, and by the Lord Jesus Christ y^e - Prince of the Kings and Rulers of the earth that in his name and - feare you will Rule and Governe this people according to the - righteous will of God’s Ministeringe Justice and Judgm^t upon the - workers of iniquity and Ministering due incurreagm^t and Countenance - to well doers protecting of people so farre as in you by the helpe - of God lyeth from forren Annoyance and inward disturbance that they - may live a quiett and peacable life in all godlyness and honesty. - Soe God bee helpful and gratious to you and yo^{rs} in Christ Jesus. - - - THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE - - Wee doe here sweare by the Great and dreadful name of y^e high God, - maker and Gouern^r of Heaven & earth and by the Lord Jesus X y^e - King & Savio^r of his people that in his name & fear we will submitt - o^r selves to be ruld & gouerned by, according to y^e will & Word of - God and such holsome Laws & ordinances as shall be derived theire - from by O^r honr^d Rulers and y^e Lawfull assistance with the - consent of y^e people and y^t wee will be ready to assist them by - the helpe of God in the administration of Justice and p^rservacon of - peace with o^r bodys and goods and best endeavo^{rs} according to - God, so God protect & saue us and O^{rs} in Christ Jesus. [1640.] - - - THE COMBINATION OF THE PEOPLE OF DOVER TO ESTABLISH - A FORM OF GOVERNMENT - - Whereas sundry Mischiefes and inconveniences have befaln us, and - more and greater may in regard of want of Civill Government, his - Gratious Matie haveing hitherto settled no Order for us to our - knowledge: - - Wee whose names are underwritten being inhabitants upon the River - Piscataquack have voluntarily agreed to combine our selves into a - Body Politique that wee may the more comfortably enjoy the benefit - of his Maties Lawes. And do hereby actually ingage our Selves to - Submit to his Royal Maties Lawes together with all such Orders as - shalbee concluded by a Major part of the Freemen of our Society, in - case they bee not repugnant to the Lawes of England and administered - in the behalfe of his Majesty. - - And this wee have mutually promised and concluded to do and so to - continue till his Excellent Matie shall give other Order concerning - us. - - In Witness wee have hereto Set our hands the two & twentieth day of - October in the sixteenth yeare of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord - Charles by the grace of God King of Great Brittain, France & Ireland - Defender of the Faith &c. Annoq Domi, 1640. [John Follett, and - forty-one others.] - -Under these forms the administration of the affairs of Exeter, and -Dover, went on satisfactorily until, together with Hampton and -Portsmouth, they came under the sway of Massachusetts-Bay in 1643; a -part of the price the latter were ready to pay for the extension of -their jurisdiction was that the citizens of the New Hampshire towns were -to be allowed the elective franchise without reference to their being -church members. This arrangement continued under the Laws of -Massachusetts-Bay, as a part of Norfolk County, until New Hampshire -became, in 1680, a Royal Province. - - In the Generall Lawes and Liberties of the Province of New - Hampshire, made by the Generall Assembly in Portsm^o the 16th of - March, 1679/80 and Aproved by the Presid^t and Councill. The - following is given as the status of - - - FREEMEN - - 8. It is ordered by this Assembly and the authority thereof y^t all - Englishmen being Protestants, y^t are settled Inhabitants and - freeholders in any towne of this Province, of y^e age of 24 years, - not viceous in life but of honest and good conversation, and such as - have 201 Rateable estate w^{th}out heads of persons having also - taken the oath of allegiance to his Maj^s, and no others shall be - admitted to y^e liberty of being freemen of this Province, and to - give theire votes for the choice of Deputies for the Generall - Assembly, Constables, Selectmen, Jurors and other officers and - concernes in y^e townes where they dwell; provided this order give - no liberty to any pson or psons to vote in the dispossion or - distribution of any lands, timber or other properties in y^e Towne, - but such as have reall right thereto; and if any difference arise - about s^d right of voting, it shall be judged and determined by y^e - Presid^t and Councill w^{th} the Gen^{ll} Assembly of this Province. - -This Body of Laws when sent to England for Royal approval was -disallowed. - - - - -_In Province or County of Maine._ - - -The Colonization of what is called in the Charter granted by Charles the -First to Sir Ferdinando Gorges in 1639, “The Province or Countie of -Mayne,” presented many difficulties. The extraordinary governmental -powers given to the Lord-Proprietary, which were transmissible with the -property to his heirs and assigns, made of it a vast landed estate in -which there could not be much voluntary co-operation. To assist in its -government a board of Councilors was appointed who before taking office -were required to “take the Oath of Allegiance according to the forme now -used in this his highness’ realme of England, and shall alsoe take the -Oath hereunto subscribed.” - - - OATH OF COUNCILORS OF PROVINCE OF MAYNE - - I do swear and protest before God Allmighty and by the holy contents - of this Book to be a faithfull Servant and Councellor unto Sir - Ferdinando Gorges Knight my Lord of the Province of Mayne, and to - his heirs and assigns, to do and perform to the utmost of my power - all dutiful respects to him or them belonging, concealing their - Councells, and without respect of persons to do, perform and give my - opinion in all causes according to my conscience, and best - understanding both as I am a Councellor for hearing of causes, and - otherwise freely to give him or them my opinion as I am a Councellor - for matters of State or Common-wealths and that I will not conceal - from him or them and their Councell any matter of conspiracy or - mutinous practice against my said Lord and his heirs but will - instantly after my knowledge thereof discover the same, and - prosecute the authors thereof with all diligence and severity - according to Justice, and thereupon do humbly kiss the Book. Taken - September 2, 1639. - -On the death of Sir Ferdinando in 1647, his estate in Maine passed to -his son, John Gorges, who totally neglected his inheritance not even -replying to repeated letters from the Gorges Colonists. - -A Patent for lands on the Kennebeck River had been given to the New -Plymouth Colony in 1629. In 1649, they let the trade upon it for a -period of three years to Governor William Bradford, and four associates. -In 1652, the trade was sold to the same men for three years longer. In -that year, from actual survey, the east line of the Massachusetts-Bay -Colony was found to encroach upon the liberties of the trade sold by and -to the New Plymouth officers; and, in 1653, Thomas Prence was authorized -to summon all and every inhabitant of the Kennebeck country to assemble -and receive from him the instructions of the Plymouth General Court: “1. -That the people should take the Oath of fidelity to the State of -England, and to the government of New Plymouth. 2. That they were to be -made acquainted with the Colony laws, applicable to them, and establish -suitable rules and regulations to guide and govern them in their civil -affairs. 3. None were to be inhabitants there but such as should take -the Oath of Allegiance. 4. None could vote for an Assistant but such as -should take the Oath.” - -The Oath required was in these words: - - You shall be true and faithfull to the State of England, as it is - now established, and whereas you chuse at present to reside within - the government of New Plymouth, you shall not do, or cause to be - done, any act, or acts, directly or indirectly by land or water, - that shall, or may tend to the destruction or overthrow of the whole - or part of this government, that shall be ordered, erected or - established; but shall contrarywise, hinder, oppose, or discover - such intents and purposes, as tend thereunto, to those that are in - place for the time being; that the government may be informed - thereof with all convenient speed; You shall also submitt, and - observe all such good and wholesome laws, ordinances, and officers - as are, or shall be established within the several limits thereof, - So help you God, who is the God of Truth and the punisher of - falsehood. [1653.] - -This action constituted them freemen of Massachusetts, on taking the -Oath, without the prerequisite of church membership. It was followed by -a growing discontent against the chief officers in New Plymouth being -lessees of the trade. The large returns which had been confidently -expected were not being realized, and a jealousy of the people against -those in power, finally led to the sale of the Patent, embracing seven -hundred square miles, to a committee representing the Massachusetts-Bay -Colony, for four hundred pounds. In 1677, after much controversy and -trouble with the heirs, Ferdinando Gorges, a grandson of the -Lord-Proprietary, sold his rights to the Massachusetts-Bay Colony for -one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds sterling, and the Territory of -Maine became a District of Massachusetts down to the year 1820. - - * * * * * - -The power of an Oath is a subject for the Casuist. But, in the brief -period of this paper—less than the span of life the Psalmist gives to -man—we have seen an Oath throne and dethrone monarchs; build up and -destroy flourishing Commonwealths; make and unmake Statehoods; be a -guarantee of peace, and an incentive for war. Who, under these -conflicting conditions, can measure their influence but Him in whose -name and power they are made! - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Spelling in oaths or quoted sections is uncorrected. - - 2. Silently corrected typographical errors. - - 3. Table of contents added by transcriber. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE IN COLONIAL NEW -ENGLAND*** - - -******* This file should be named 53843-0.txt or 53843-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/8/4/53843 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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