; and that in that sense the said oaths shall be
taken and subscribed, and particularly the oath of abjuration, which
whosoever takes, swears to maintain Erastian supremacy, Prelacy, and
_English_ popish ceremonies; and so, at least, by native and necessary
consequence, the swearing thereof is an abjuring of our sacred
covenants. But that which puts it beyond all dispute, that the oath of
abjuration, in the literal sense thereof, obliges to maintain the
prelatic constitution of _England_, both in church and state, as by law
established, and secured by the union act, is the express words of that
act of parliament, by which this oath was imposed, and to which it
expressly refers, viz., the act of further limitation, where it is said:
"On which said acts (viz., of limitation, and further limitation), the
preservation of your majesty's royal person and government, and the
maintaining of the church of _England_, as by law established, do, under
God, entirely depend. To the intent therefore, that these acts may be
forever inviolably preserved, it is hereby enacted, that magistrates and
ministers shall take the following oath," namely, of abjuration.
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