The Loyal Nonconformist OR An Account what he dare swear and what not I Fear an Oath before I swear to take it And well I may for 't is the Oath of God I fear an Oath when I have sworn to break it And well I may for Vengeance hath a Rod. And yet I may swear and must too 't is due Both to my Heavenly and my Earthly King If I assent it must be full and true And if I promise I must do the thing I am no Quaker not at all to swear Nor Papist to swear East and mean the West But am a Protestant and shall declare What I cannot and what I can protest I never will endeavour Alteration Of Monarchy or of that Royal Name Which God hath chosen to command this Nation But will maintain his Person Crown & Fame What he commands if Conscience say not nay For Conscience is a greater King than he For Conscience-sake not Fear I will obey And if not Active Passive I will be I 'll pray that all his Subjects may agree And never more be crumbled into parts I will endeavour that his Majesty M●y not be King of Clubs but King of Hearts The Royal Oa● I swear I will defend But Ivy which doth hug it so I swar that is a Thief and not a Friend And about Steeples fitter for to grow The Civil-Government I will obey But for Church-Policy I swear I doubt it And if my Bible want th' Apocrypha I 'll swear my Book may be complete without it I dare not swear Church-Government is right As it should be but this I dare to swear If they should put me to 't the Bishops might Do better and be better than they are Nor will I swear for all that they are worth That Bishoprics will stand & Doomsday see And yet I 'll swear the Gospel holdeth forth Christ with his Ministers till then will be That Peter was a Prelate they aver But I 'll not swear 't when all is said and done But I dare swear and hope I shall not err He preached a hundred Sermons to their one Peter a Fisher was and he caught Men And they have Nets & in them catch Men too Yet I 'll not swear they are alike for them He caught he saved these catch & them undo I dare not swear that Courts Ecclesiastic Do in their Laws make just and gentle Votes But I 'll be sworn that Burton Pryn and Bastwick Were once Ear-witnesses of harsher Notes Archdeacon's Deans & Chapters are brave men By Canon not by Scripture but to this If I be called I 'll swear and swear again That no such Chapter in my Bible is I 'll not condemn those Presbyterians who Refused Bishoprics and might have had 'em But Mistress Calamy I 'll swear doth do As well as if she were a Spiritual Madam For Holy Vestments I 'll not take an Oath Which Linen most Canonical may be Some are for Lawn some Holland some Scotscloth And Hemp for some is fitter than all three Paul had a Cloak and Books & Parchments too But that he wore a Surplice I 'll not swear Nor that his Parchments did his Orders show Or in his Books there was a Common-Prayer I owe assistance to the King by Oath And if he please to put the Bishops down As who knows what may be I should be loath To see Tom Beckets Mitre push the Crown And yet Church-Government I do allow And am contented Bishops be the men And that I speak in earnest here I vow Where we have one I wish we might have ten In fine the Civil Power I 'll obey And seek the Peace & Welfare of the Nation If this won't do I know not what to say But farewel London farewel Corporation R. W. Printed in the Year 1666.