This was the form of the oath:—"I do swear that it is not lawful, upon any pretence whatsoever, to take arms against the King; and that I do abhor that traitorous position of taking arms by his authority against his person, or against those that are commissioned by him, in pursuance of such commissions; and that I will not at any time endeavour any alteration of Government, either in Church or State."
1665.
Failing to take this oath, Nonconformist ministers were forbidden after the 24th of March following, to come, except as passengers, within five miles of any corporate town or any place where, since the passing of the Act of Oblivion, they had been in the habit of officiating. A payment of forty pounds was prescribed as the penalty for offending against the Act; and those who refused the oath, and did not attend Divine service in the Established Church, incurred incapacity for exercising even the functions of a tutor. Any two county magistrates were empowered, upon oath to them of a violation of this law, to commit the transgressor to prison for six months.[482]
The Act of Uniformity had banished Nonconformist ministers from the parish pulpits; the Conventicle Act had broken up the congregations which these ministers had secretly gathered since St. Bartholomew's Day, 1662; and now by the Five Mile Act, these persons were forced into exile, and perhaps reduced to starvation.[483]
A spirit of retaliation may be traced in the new enactment. When the Presbyterian visitors, in the year 1646, took possession of the University, and the students proved rebellious, a military proclamation threatened that the refractory who tarried within five miles of the city, should be treated as spies.[484] And Cromwell had, by his ordinance in 1655, forbidden ejected ministers to attempt the business of education, or to officiate in their religious calling. Archbishop Sheldon, sitting from day to day in the Hall of Christ Church, as the Bill was read three times, might experience a gratified resentment as he called to mind the former five mile proclamation; and as he thought of his own expulsion from the Wardenship of All Souls', others might indulge in similar reminiscences and feelings.[485] But the revenge proceeded far beyond the provocation. What was done by the Oxford visitors, and those who supported them, was done in a time of war, or immediately afterwards. What was done by the Oxford Parliament was done in a time of peace. Moreover, Cromwell, in his declaration, had prescribed no penalty for disobedience, and had promised to deal leniently with all persons who were well-disposed towards his government;[486] but now, men were required to swear to an abstract proposition which destroyed the last defence of freedom, or to be mulcted in a large penalty, with the superadded hardship of a banishment from home.
FIVE MILE ACT.
The Bill met with a faint opposition in the Lower House; in the Upper, not only the Lords Wharton and Ashley—the first a Nonconformist, it will be remembered, the latter supposed to be inclined that way—but also the Earl of Southampton, at that time Lord Treasurer, spoke distinctly against it. The latter declared that no honest man could take such an oath—he could not do it himself, for however firm might be his attachment to the Church, as things were managed, he did not know but that he might himself discover reasons for seeking some change in its constitution.[487] Dr. Erle, then Bishop of Salisbury, also disapproved of this assault upon liberty. The Primate Sheldon, and the Bishop of Exeter, Seth Ward, were zealous in their support of it; at the same time all who secretly favoured Roman Catholicism, regarded it with satisfaction;[488] it being in harmony with their policy, to reduce the Sectaries to such a state of misery, as that they should be forced to accept toleration from His Majesty on his own terms. Nearly half the House of Commons now became so infatuated as to support another Bill, which was founded upon the opposition made by members of the House of Lords, and which was intended to impose the obnoxious oath and declaration upon the nation at large.[489] This Bill, however, was rejected by the votes of three members, "who had the merit of saving their country from the greatest ignominy which could have befallen it, that of riveting as well as forging its own chains."[490]
1665.
FIVE MILE ACT.
A difference of opinion arose amongst Nonconformists respecting the course to be pursued in relation to the Five Mile Act. Some were willing to take the oath in a qualified sense. Bridgeman, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Plea[491] and other Judges explained the words in the oath, "I will not at any time endeavour any alteration of Government, either in Church or State," to mean an unlawful endeavour. With this qualification afforded by high legal authorities, some distinguished Nonconformists submitted to the statute. About twenty ministers in the City of London took the oath, including Dr. Bates; and about twelve in Devonshire, including John Howe. Bates argued, that the word endeavour might be construed in a qualified sense, according to the preface of the Act, its congruity with other laws, the testimony of members of Parliament,[492] and the concurrent opinion of the Judges. When he, with others, presented himself before their Lordships, Bridgeman courteously observed, "Gentlemen, I perceive you are come to take the oath. I am glad of it. The intent of it is to distinguish between the King's good subjects, and those who are mentioned in the Act, and to prevent seditious and tumultuous endeavours to alter the Government." One of the ministers, Mr. Clarke, replied, "In this sense we take it;" upon which Lord Keeling, the same who introduced the Bill of Uniformity, said in a hasty tone, "Will you take the oath as the Parliament has appointed it?" Bates replied, "My Lord, we are come hither to attest our loyalty, and to declare, we will not seditiously endeavour to alter the Government." When the oath had been administered, Keeling proceeded with great vehemence to interpret what they had done as involving the renunciation of the Covenant, "that damnable oath," as he politely termed it, "which sticks between the teeth of so many." He hoped, as there was one King and one faith, so there would be one Government, and that if these ministers did not now conform, what they had just done would be considered as meant "to save a stake."[493] The ministers retired with sadness, without noticing the insult.
1665.