The Case of the people called Quakers in the province of Pennsylvania, with respect to the forms of declaration of fidelity to the King and of affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland &c. by acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the consideration of the governour and Council of the said province.

The Case of the people called Quakers in the province of Pennsylvania, with respect to the forms of declaration of fidelity to the King and of affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland &c. by acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the consideration of the governour and Council of the said province.

Table of contents

THE CASE Of the People called QUAKERS In the Province of PENNSYLVANIA, With respect to the Forms of Declaration of Fidelity to the King, and of Affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland, &c. by Acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the Consideration of the Governour and Council of the said Province.

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THE CASE Of the People called QUAKERS In the Province of PENNSYLVANIA, With respect to the Forms of Declaration of Fidelity to the King, and of Affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland, &c. by Acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the Consideration of the Governour and Council of the said Province.

THAT the late King Charles the Second favouring the good Purpose of our late Proprietary William Penn, and having Regard to the Memory and Merits of his deceased Father, in [Page] divers Services, was pleased by his Royal Charter to grant and confirm this Country, with certain Priviledges and Jurisdictions requisite for the good Government thereof, to him the said Proprietary and his Heirs for ever; Whereupon an ample Colony of honest, industrious and wealthy Persons, removed themselves and Families into this Province, and by the great Favour and Blessing of Divine Providence upon their Endeavours, made this considerable Addition to the English Empire, without any Charge to the Crown, hoping to enjoy not only the Franchises and Immunities granted them by the said Charter, but such further Rights and Priviledges, as may best suit their Circumstances, as differing in some Points from other Protestants, particularly in the Case of Swearing, which the said Proprietary and first Purchasers (some of whom were not Quakers) on the Fifth Day of the Month called May, [Page]Anno Domini 1682 in London, did conclude should be supply'd by Solemnly Promising to speak the Truth, &c. And at the first General Assembly, held at Chester, for this Province and the Counties annexed, on the Seventh of December in the said Year 1682, the same passed into a Law; and on the Tenth Day of the Month called March 1682-3, it was by the Proprietor, with the Advice and Consent of the Freemen of this Province and Territories, declared to be a Fundamental Law of this Province and Territories, not to be alter'd or repeal'd without the Consent of the Governour, and Six Parts in Seven of the Council and Assembly: And afterwards when Col. Fletcher was Governour, under the immediate Direction of the Crown, the same Form of Affirmation by a Solemn Promise was establish'd here, and confirm'd at Home in the Year 1694, instead of an Oath; and so it was and practised in all Cases after our Proprietary [Page] was restored to his Government in the Year 1696, which was since the Statute that first enacted the Affirmation in England.

After the Proprietary's reassuming his Government, the Laws were revised in 1700 and 1701, and this about the manner of giving Evidence, with divers others, were remitted to the Queen and Council in 1705, and was referr'd to the Consideration of Northy, then Attorney General, who did not object to the Form of Words, or legal Effect of Solemnly Promising, &c. instead of an Oath, or other Affirmation, but his Opinion was to repeal the said Act, because the Punishment of Wilfully Falsifying that Solemn Promise, was extended further than the Law of England required, which thereupon was repeal'd accordingly.

Our Friends continued in the Enjoyment of this Fundamental Right [Page] for above Twenty Years with good Success, until the said Repeal; since which we have labour'd under many Difficulties, and divers Essays have been made for reviving the aforesaid Priviledge, which hitherto have proved ineffectual: And now understanding that our Representatives in Assembly, have laid before the Governour a Bill relating the Forms of Affirmation, &c. lately granted to our Brethren in Great Britain and Ireland, and the said Bill being framed, as we concieve, agreeable to the Governour's own Proposal, and the Circumstances of this Province, We humbly intreat that he will be pleas'd to pass the said Bill, now before him, into a Law, whereby we may all be render'd useful, not only to each other, but to others our Neighbours who may stand in need of our Evidence, &c.

For however it may be objected by some, that they are not sufficiently [Page] secured in submitting the Tryal of their Lives and Estates to a Qualification, wherein the Name of God is not mentioned; we account it a sure Rule that the Chief Motives in a Christian to speak Truth, are, first the Fear of God in his Heart and Love of Truth, or secondly, the Fear of Punishment.

And it is evident, that the King and Parliament of Great Britain are of the same Opinion concerning us in this Case, otherwise after an Experience of Twenty-five Years, they would not so generally accept our Solemn Promise in so important a Matter as a Test of our Allegiance and Fidelity to the King, and for abjuring the Pretender, at a Time when new Engagements are required of other Subjects in the same Cases; And therefore, we hope our Fellow-Subjects will Acquiesce in the same Security, and not affect a great Diffidence than our Superiours. And [Page] [...]ince the Act of the Eighth of King George was made for the Ease of the People called Quakers, we conceive less can be said in Opposition [...]o the Bill now petition'd for, especially considering it is only to restore [...]o us a discontinued Right, so Solemnly settled and vested in us as above set forth, which the first Purchasers and Adventurers into this Province expected to enjoy, as inviolably as the Lands they bought.

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Philadelphia: Printed by Andrew Bradford. 1724.

Information about this book

Title statement

The Case of the people called Quakers in the province of Pennsylvania, with respect to the forms of declaration of fidelity to the King and of affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland &c. by acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the consideration of the governour and Council of the said province.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2009-04.

ID [DLPS]

N02131

ID [TCP]

N02131

ID [STC]

Evans 2533

ID [NOTIS]

APW3146

ID [IMAGE-SET]

2533

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99009048

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 2533.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N02131)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 2533)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 2533)

Source

— The Case of the people called Quakers in the province of Pennsylvania, with respect to the forms of declaration of fidelity to the King and of affirmation, lately granted to their Friends in Great Britain and Ireland &c. by acts of Parliament, briefly stated and humbly offer'd to the consideration of the governour and Council of the said province.,

Extent

7, [1] p. ; (8vo)

Printed by Andrew Bradford.,. Philadelphia: :: 1724.. (Caption title.) (Imprint from colophon.)

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