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THE TEST OR OATH*.

"I A. B. do fincerely promife and fwear, That I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and him will defend, to the utmoft of my power, against all confpiracies and attempts whatever that shall be made against his perfon, crown, or dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to difclofe and make known to his Majefty, his heirs and fucceffors, all treasons and traiterous confpiracies which may be formed against him or them; and I do faithfully promife to maintain, fupport, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the fucceffion of the crown in his Majefty's family, against any person or persons whatsoever; hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto the perfon taking upon himself the ftile and title of Prince of Wales, in the lifetime of his father, and who, fince his death, is faid to have affumed the ftile and title of King of Great Britain, by the name of Charles the Third, and to any other perfon claiming or pretending a right to the crown of thefe realms; and I do fwear, that I do reject and deteft, as an unchriftian and impious position, That it is lawful

This Oath was framed in confequence of the motion made by Sir George Savile; and that no perfon who is pot well affected to Government may enjoy the benefit of the Act.

to

to murder or destroy any perfon or persons whatfoever, for or under pretence of their being he retics; and alfo that unchriftian and impious principle, That no faith is to be kept with he retics: I further declare, that it is no article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, That princes excommuni→ cated by the Pope and Council, or by any au thority of the See of Rome, or by any au thority whatsoever, may be depofed or murdered by their fubjects, or any perfon whatsoever: And I do declare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, ftate, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurifdiction, power, fuperiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm. And I do folemnly, in the prefence of God, profefs, testify, and declare, That I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary fenfe of the words of this oath; with out any evasion, equivocation, or mental refervation whatever, and without any difpenfation 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 abfolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other perfons or authority whatsoever, fhalldispense with or annul the fame, or declare that it was null or void."

It

It concludes with reciting what courts of judicature the oath is to be taken, fubfcribed, and registered in; and with an information, that the/ A&t fhall not be construed to extend to any Popish Bishop, Priest, Jefuit, or Schoolmafter, who fhall not have taken and fubfcribed the above Oath, in the above words, before he fhall have been ap rehended, or any profecution com. menced against him,

A PLAIN

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For Notes referred to in the Text, by Letters A B C, &c. fee the Appendix.

HE late riots and popular tumults which

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have happened in the Metropolis and its environs, fufficiently at the inftant of their exiftence, excited the apprehenfions of all rankst of people, to awaken curiofity and make a clear and fuccinct narrative worthy the acceptance of the public. To render the whole affair as intelligible as poffible, it has been judged neceffary to trace the alledged caufe of difcontent, the Act for the relief of the Papifts, to its fource. The original motion for the bill, which afterwards paffed into a law, was made in the House of Commons by Sir George Savile: the object of it was, to repeal an act of the 10th and 11th of William the Third.

The

The efverity of this act may be gathered from the repealing act, an abstract of which is prefixed, and from the following obfervations of the members who introduced and fupported the bill. A

Sir George Savile stated, that one of his principle views in propofing this repeal was, to vindicate the honour and affert the principles of the Proteftant religion, to which all perfecution was, or ought to be totally averfe. That this pure reli. gion ought not to have had an existence, if perfecution had been lawful. That it ill became us to practice that with which we reproached others. That he did not meddle with the vaft body of that penal code, but felected that act on which he found most of the profecutions had been formed, and which gave the greatest scope to the base views of interefted relations and unprincipled informers. The act had not, it is true, been regularly put in execution, but fometimes it had, and he understood that feveral Papifts lived in great terror, and fome under actual contribution. He ftated the peaceable behaviour of this part of his Majefty's fubjects, and mentioned the loyal and excellent addrefs they had lately prefented to the throne, in which, they not only expreffed their obedience to the Government under which they lived, but their attachment to the conftitution. As a guard and fecurity however, he propofed, that a fuffi

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