Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2008 10:35:22 GMT 1
Roman Catholics admitted Burgesses
In 1793, an Act of Parliament was passed, authorizing Magistrates
of Royal Burghs to admit Roman Catholics to be Burgesses
and Guild Brethren of their respective Burghs, on the administra-
tion of the following oath * :
" I do hereby declare that I do profess the Roman Catholic religion. I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to His Majesty, King George III. and him will defend to the utmost of my power, against all conspiracies and attempts whatever, that shall be made against his person, crown, or dignity, and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies, which may be formed against him or them. And I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the .succession of the Crown which succession, by an act, (entituled, an Act for the
further limitation of the Crown, and better securing the rights
and liberties of the Subject) is, and stands limited to the Princess
Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the
Heirs of her body being Protestant
I ,hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person, claiming or pretending a right to the Crown of these realms. And I do swear that I do reject and detest, as an unchristian and impious position, that it is lawful to murder or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for, or under pretence of their being heretics or infidels, and also that unchristian and impious principle, that faith is not to be kept with heretics or infidels. And I further declare, that it is not an article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that Princes, excommunicated by the Pope and Council, or any authority of the See of Rome, or by any other authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any person whatsoever. And I do promise that I will not hold, maintain, or abet, any such opinion, or any other opinion contrary to what is expressed in this declaration. And I do declare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign Prince, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm. And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any
evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatever, and without
any dispensation already granted by the Pope or any authority of the See of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking that
I am or can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this
declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope or any other
person or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with, or annul the
same, and declare that it was null or void
" So help me God."
* Applications under the Act were first made in Glasgow in 1801.
Dae ye think maybe they didnae trust Catholics in thae days? ;D