9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament,
ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of
parliament.
10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors
which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders.
12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular
persons before conviction, are illegal and void.
13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending,
strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held
frequently.
And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the
premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that no
declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of the
people in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn
hereafter into consequence or example.
To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by the
declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the only
means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein.
Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the Prince
of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, and will
still preserve them from the violation of their rights, which they have
here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion, rights,
and liberties:
II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at
Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of
Orange, be, and be declared, King and Queen of England, France, and
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the Crown and
royal dignity of the said kingdom and dominions to them the said Prince
and Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them;
and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and
executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince
and Princess, during their joint lives; and after their deceases, the
said Crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to
the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of such
issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body and for
default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of
Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the
said Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly.
III. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of
whom the oaths of allegiance and supremacy might be required by law,
instead of them; and that the said oaths of allegiance and supremacy be
abrogated.
I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be faithful and
bear true allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary:
So help me God.
I, A. B., do swear, That I do from my heart, abhor, detest, and abjure
as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that
Princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the
See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other
whatsoever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person, prelate,
state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power,
superiority, pre-eminence, or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual,
within this realm:
So help me God.
IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the Crown and royal
dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland, and the
dominions thereunto belonging, according to the resolution and desire of
the said Lords and Commons contained in the said declaration.
V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that the said Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being the two Houses of Parliament,
should continue to sit, and with their Majesties' royal concurrence make
effectual provision for the settlement of the religion, laws, and
liberties of this kingdom, so that the same for the future might not be
in danger again of being subverted; to which the said Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, did agree and proceed to act accordingly.
VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in parliament assembled, for the ratifying,
confirming, and establishing the said declaration, and the articles,
clauses, matters, and things therein contained, by the force of a law
made in due form by authority of parliament, do pray that it may be
declared and enacted, That all and singular the rights and liberties
asserted and claimed in the said declaration, are the true, ancient, and
indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so
shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that
all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly
holden and observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and
all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and
their successors according to the same in all times to come.
VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons ... declare,
that King James II. having abdicated the government, and their Majesties
having accepted the Crown and royal dignity aforesaid, their said
Majesties did become, were, are, and of right ought to be, by the laws
of this realm, our sovereign liege Lord and Lady, King and Queen of
England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging....
VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions in this realm, by
reason of any pretended titles to the Crown, and for preserving a
certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon which the unity, peace,
tranquillity, and safety of this nation doth, under God, wholly consist
and depend, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do
beseech their Majesties that it may be enacted, established, and
declared, that the Crown and regal government of the said kingdoms and
dominions, with all and singular the premises thereunto belonging and
appertaining, shall be and continue to their said Majesties, and the
survivor of them, during their lives, and the life of the survivor of
them. And that the entire, perfect, and full exercise of the regal power
and government be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the names of
both their Majesties during their joint lives; and after their deceases
the said Crown and premises shall be and remain to the heirs of the body
of her Majesty: and for default of such issue, to her Royal Highness the
Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and for default of
such issue, to the heirs of the body of his said Majesty....
IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it is
inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom, to
be governed by a Popish prince, or by any king or queen marrying a
Papist, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do further
pray that it may be enacted, That all and every person and persons that
is, are, or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the
See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion, or shall
marry a Papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever incapable to inherit,
possess, or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm, and Ireland,
and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to
have, use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction
within the same; and in all and every such case or cases the people of
these realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance; and
the said Crown and Government shall from time to time descend to, and be
enjoyed by, such persons or persons, being protestants, as should have
inherited and enjoyed the same in case the said person or persons so
reconciled, holding communion, or professing, or marrying as aforesaid,
were naturally dead....
XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That from and after this present session of parliament, no dispensation
by _non obstante_ of or to any statute, or any part thereof, shall be
allowed, but that the same shall be held void and of no effect, except a
dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and except in such cases as
shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills to be
passed during this present session of parliament....
CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE NON-JURORS
(1691).
+Source.+--_Letters between Ambrose Bonwicke and Richard Blechynden
(Cambridge in the Days of Queen Anne_, by J. E. B. Mayor, pp. 217-221).
_Aug. 11. Bonwicke to Blechynden_.
I suppose ... that king _James_ had a right to my allegiance, and that
secured by an oath; and unless he has given away this right or forfeited
it, it is still in him. Now to me it does not appear that he has done
either, therefore I dare not give it to another, which ... is the design
of the new oaths.... I ought not to have entered into the obligation if
I had not designed to have kept it.
_Aug. 15. Blechynden to Bonwicke._
He that has no longer a right to the government has no longer a right to
my allegiance.... King _James_ has shewn, that he neither has the
qualifications for government, nor for this of the _English_.... A full
possession of the power, especially when recognised by the grandees and
main body of the people, gives him that has it a title to the obedience
and fidelity (or, if you will, allegiance) of all within his
territories; at least they are guilty of no sin that promise fidelity to
him.
_Aug. 20. Bonwicke to Blechynden._
I should be glad to find my friends and relations (whom I have so great
a concern for) are in the right, and that it is prejudice in me has
blinded me so long. Though I suppose it would be perjury in me to quit
that oath that I still think obligatory, yet I have a very charitable
opinion of those that have taken the new one, and suppose that
conscience has been as much their guide in taking it, as it has been
mine in refusing it.... I suppose a man may be dispossessed of a legal
right no otherwise than by law.... I am to consider how I am to behave
myself under a king, that has possession and not right. The execution of
those laws that protect me are (_sic_) in his hands; I will give him all
the obedience that is necessary for that purpose.... But to take an oath
of allegiance to the king _de facto_, certainly cancels my oath of
allegiance to the former.... If it were barely submitting to him in
power, I suppose we should have no great dispute.
_Aug. 25. Blechynden to Bonwicke._
Municipal laws are not the sole measure of right and wrong. There is a
superior law of right reason, which respects the common good of mankind,
which gave beginning to all civil societies.... You say treason against
the king _de facto_ is not treason _de jure_; hereby you must mean
according to equity and right reason; for treason against a king _de
facto_ is the only treason by the law of the land, if _Coke_ and
_Hales_[27] may be credited.... You call for a legal forfeiture; nothing
else, say you, will forfeit a legal right to a crown. But if you please
to consult the gentlemen that write politics, who surely are the best
guides in this affair, you will find them assign a great many others....
The assemblies of the grandees and parliaments have near forty times
either deposed their prince or waived the next of kin for the good of
the community.
_Aug. 31. Bonwicke to Blechynden._
Reason must be our best guide, and she has directed you to take the
oaths, as she does me to refuse them. I consider on one side there is
only a little temporal concern, and on the other the danger of
perjury.... For what you urge, that therefore I ought to have no
protection from king _William_, I must be contented; but I think it is
the law that protects us both. At present it only deprives us of our
livings, and that we must submit to. When the laws become more severe,
we must shift as well as we can, and if we cannot live in this country,
fly to another.... A whole nation can as ill dispense with their oaths
as a single person.
_Sept. 5. Bonwicke to Blechyenden._
I do really take those laws which have been made since king _William's_
coming to the crown to be good laws.... King _James_ has lost thus much
by losing possession: he has lost the assistance of his people, for it
would be treason and illegal to fight against king _William_, who has
now the law on his side.
_Sept. 8. Blechynden to Bonwicke._
The defence of the society being the sole ground (and measure too) of
our obedience and fidelity to our chief governor, it is plain that it is
due to him, and to him only, that can and does defend society.... If you
will rightly weigh the matter, it is not only a little temporal concern
that pleads for your taking oaths. For (pardon my plain dealing) you are
chargeable with disobedience to the powers that be, with depriving your
country (for which we are all in a great measure made) of the good you
may do in your present station, or in the ministry; and with the making
or strengthening a party against the public establishment, to the great
prejudice of church and state; besides the injury to yourself and
family, which an honest man ought not to prejudice but upon very good
grounds. All this, I say, you are chargeable with, if the taking the
oaths be not manifestly sinful. For the danger or fear of its being so
is not sufficient to justify the neglect of any duty, and an opposition
to a public establishment and the benefits of it. Reason will prefer the
good of the community before that of a single man, especially of one
already very false to his trust.... It is not plain that I am sworn to
king _James_; the oath in an equitable interpretation not reaching the
present case; nor has king _James_ any reason to insist on it as the
present circumstances are; nor ought you to oblige me by my oath to hurt
my neighbours, or my country, how rigorous soever I might be otherwise
to myself. There is a great deal of difference between a private oath
relating to my own concerns of which I am master; and a public, which
was made for the good of the public, and therefore ought in no wise to
be strained to the prejudice of the same.... The affection that men are
bred up with towards the memory of king _Charles_ the first, and the
abhorrence of the parliament of 1641, does extremely prejudice men for
kings and against parliament; but both extremes are to be carefully
shunned.
[27] Coke and Hales were amongst the most eminent of Stuart lawyers.