rnors
commenced in the following words: "You shall swear to be truly loyal to
our Sovereign Lord King Charles, his successors and heirs." "At the
Court held," (says the record,) "at Plymouth, the 11th of June, 1664,
the following was added, and the Governor took the oath thereunto: 'You
shall also attend to what is required by His Majesty's Privy Council of
the Governors of the respective colonies in reference unto an Act of
Parliament for the encouraging and increasing of shipping and
navigation, bearing date from the 1st of December, 1660.'"

The oath of a freeman commenced with the same words, as did the oath of
the "Assistants" or Executive Councillors, the oath of constables and
other officers in the colony. It was likewise ordered, "That an oath of
allegiance to the King and fidelity to the Government and to the several
colonies [settlements] therein, be taken of every person that shall live
within or under the same." This was as follows: "You shall be truly
loyal to our Sovereign Lord the King and his heirs and successors: and
whereas you make choice at present to reside within the government of
New Plymouth, you shall not do or cause to be done any act or acts,
directly or indirectly, by land or water, that shall or may tend to the
destruction or overthrow of the whole or any of the several colonies
[settlements] within the said government that are or shall be orderly
erected or established; but shall, contrariwise, hinder, oppose and
discover such intents and purposes as tend thereunto to the Governor for
the time being, or some one of the assistants, with all convenient
speed. You shall also submit unto and obey such good and wholesome laws,
ordinances and officers as are or shall be established within the
several limits thereof. So help you God, who is the God of truth and
punisher of falsehood."

The Government of Plymouth prefaced the revised collection of their laws
and ordinances as follows:

"A form to be placed before the records of the several inheritances
granted to all and every of the King's subjects inhabiting with the
Government of New Plymouth:

"Whereas John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William
Brewster, Isaack Alliston and divers others of the subjects of our late
Sovereign Lord James, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland,
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., did in the eighteenth
year of his reigne of England, France and Ireland, and of Scotland the
fifty