412 The LIFE of the LIB.I § 366. r.To fay that the Peoplemay not fomuch as petition for a Thing fo much concerning their Felicity, is to take away, not only that Liberty which the King bath in many of his Declarations againft the Parliament, profeffed to maintain, but alto fuch Liberty as Lawyers fay is woven into the Conititution of the Kingdom by theFundamental Laws, and cannot be taken from them but by changing the Conftitution, yea, and reducing them to a hate below that ofa Subje&. g 367. 2. To fay that a Parliament Man may notfpeak or vote for fuch an alte- ration, feemeth to be againtì theold unqueffioned Priviledge of Parliaments,which was never denied by theKing who oppofed them in otherthings. And thisOpini. on alfo by fuch an Alteration of Parliaments, would alter the Conftituted Govern- ment of the Land. 4 ;68. ;. To fay that the King and Parliament may not alter Prelacy by altering the Law, slothfeem tobe the higheft Injury to Soveraignty, by denying the Legit. lative Power. § ;69. If it be a thing which the People may not petition for, nor Parliament vote for, nor fpeak for, nor King and Parliament alter , then either becaufe the Law of God difableth them, or the Common. Good forbiddeth them, or theLaws of the Land reftraineth them from : But it is none of thefe : Ergo --- - r. It is before Ihewed, That no Lawof God hath eftablithed the Engl:Jl Form of Prelacy ; nay, that the Lawof God is repugnant to ir. 2. And that the Common Good forbiddeth not the Alteration, but requireth it. ;. And thatno Law reftraineth in any of the three formentioned Cafes is plain, in that there is no Law againft the Peoples Petitioning as aforefaid, nor can be without alteration of the Government : And the King withhis Parliament are a- boveLaws, andhavepower to make them, and toabrogate theme So that it teem eth a thing that may be done ; and a Vow turneth a may be into a melt be, where it is of force. And thus far they think that there is nogreat difficulty in the Con troverfre. 437o. Before I tellyou their Anfwers to the contrary Reafons, I may tell you that not only Dr. Sanelerfongranteth, but all Conformifrs that ever I talkt with hereabout, doagree withus in there following Points. a. That we mull here diftinguilhbetween the Altem Imperantie,the Altem 7urarr- tiy and the Mareriam yuramenti: theAa of the Parliament impofing it; the A& of the Perlons taking it ; and the Matter of the Oath or Vow. 2. And alfo between the Sinfulneßof an Oath (theAll of the Swearer) and the Nullity of it. ;e And that if the Impofers Aft be finful, and the Taking A& be fitful, yet the Oath is obligatory ifthe Matter vowed be not unlawful,and the Ades Jarandi were not a Nullity as well as a Sin. 4. Thatif there be fix Articles in a Vow, and four of them be unlawful, this doth not difoblige theSwearer from the lawful part : Otherwife an unlawful Clank put in, may free a Man from a Vow for the moll neceffary Duties. 5. That if a Nation take a Vow, it isa perfenal Vow to every individual Perlin in that Nation who took ir. 6. That if there be in it a mixture of a Vow to God, and aLeague, Covenant or Promife to Men, the Obligation of the Vow to God may remain , when as a League or Covenant with Man ceafeth : unlefs when the Vow is not co-ordinate, but tubordinate to the Leagueor Covenant,as being only a Vow or Oath that it Ihall be faithfully performed. 7. That if a Vow be impofed in lawful proper Terms, it is not any unexpreffed Opinion of the Impofers, that maketh the Matter unlawful to the Taker. 8. That if theImpofers be many Perlons naturally making one colle&ive Body, no fence of theirs is tobe taken asexplicatory, but what is in the words or other- wife publickly declared to the Takers: Becaufe they are fuppofed to be ofdifferent minds among themfelves,when they agree not in any Expofition. 9. That though a Subje&ought to takean Oath in the fence of his Rulers who impale it, as far as he can underhand it ; yet a Man that taketh an Oath from a Robber to fave his Life,is not alway bound to take it in the Impofers fence,if he take it not againft the proper fence ofthe words. ro. That though a Subje& Ihould do his bell to underhand the Impofers fence, for the right taking_of it, yet as to the keepingof it, he is bound much to the fence in whichhe himfelt took it, though pofGbly hemifunderfood the Impofers.
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