THE VINDICATION OF Abraham Reinaldson, LATE LORD MAJOR OF THE CITY Of LONDON.  
With Certain QVERYES Of Conscience Resolved, concerning his refusing to obey a late Order of Parliament, for the Proclaiming an unjust ACT for Abolishing the Kingly Office in ENGLAND and IRELAND.  
For which supposed Contempt, he was unjustly Fined 2000 l. by the House of Commons, degraded of his Mayoralty, and Committed Prisoner to the Tower of London, April 2. 1648.  Matth. 7.2. 
With what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye meet, shall be measured to you again.  
April 10th London Printed in the Year, M. DC.XL.IX.   

THE VINDICATION OF Abraham Reinaldson, LATE LORD MAJOR OF THE CITY Of LONDON.  
Gentlemen, and Fellow Citizens,  
IT hath always been my earnest endeavour (with that holy Apostle, St. Paul) to preserve a clear conscience towards God, and towards man; I have usually applied myself to the holy Scriptures, and to the obtaining of the true knowledge of Divine Truth, whereby to steer the Actions of my life, which shall always be the Director to my Conscience; Therefore I hold it expedient (for the clearing of myself from a supposed crime, or contempt against an Order of Parliament as they please to term it) That I Remonstrate unto you the Grounds and Reasons moving me not to obey their questionable Authority, in prolaiming their late ungodly Act, for quite abolishing the Kingly Office in England and Ireland; without perjury to my Conscience, and the forfeiture of my Allegiance to my King.  
First, as I very well remember, when I was initiated into the Society of men, and made a Member and Freeman of this City I took an Oath to be a faithful and true Subject to the King that then was, and to his Heirs, and to bear to Him true Allegiance. Secondly, I have taken an Oath, That I will Faith and Truth bear (to King Charles) of Life and Member, and terrene Honor. Thirdly, I have taken the Oath of Supremacy, enjoined in Stat. 1. Eliz. cap. 1. and the Oath of Allegiance enjoined me by Stat. 3. jac. cap. 4.  
Therefore, fellow Citizens, as it behoveth all good Christians to be careful before they swear, so likewise to perform that Oath they have sworn, and especially when it concerns our duty towards our King; I advise thee (saith the Preacher) to take heed of the mouth of the King, and to the Oath of God, as much as to say, That thou obey the King, and keep the Oath that thou hast made for that Cause; and the Prophet Zachary gives us this Commandment from God; Let none of you imagine evil in his heart against his Neighbour, and love no false Oath, for these are things that I hate, saith the Lord. Zach. 8.17.  
Again, our blessed Saviour, gives me this Precept, Matth. 5.33. Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but perform thy Oaths unto the LORD.  
When I well weighed these Scriptures, and applied them to the former Oaths I had taken, I found, That I could not obey the Parliaments Order, without a great sin against God, and trespass against my own Conscience; for having bound myself by so many several former Oaths made to my King, and his Heirs after him, to pay unto them my Allegiance, Faith and Truth, of Life & Member, and terrene Honour, and having acknowledged Him to be Supreme Governor of his Realms; How can I then in Conscience, so perfidiously withdraw my Allegiance from his Lawful Successor, in Proclaiming their unjust Act for Abolishing the Kingly Office, without manifest Perjury, breach of my Oath, formerly made to the King and his Heirs, or answer for taking the Name of God in vain, by obeying an Order from a questionable Authority, which would enjoin me a thing contradictory to my former Oaths, which by lawful Power, agreeable to the Laws of God and the Realm, I have already bound my Conscience to the strict observance of.  
And in this Contempt, (as they please to term it) I have asked Counsel, not only of the Law of God, but the Law of Reason, which ought to be writ in the heart of every man, teaching him what is to be done, and what is to be eschewed; the Law of God enlightening our Natural understanding, is given principally to direct our Actions by, for the obtaining felicity in this life, so as we guide them only by the Rule of justice.  
These Laws have instructed me, (and aught to instruct us all) what good is to be done, and evil to be avoided; That I should do to another that which I would another should do to me; That Justice is to be done to every man, and not wrong; That a Trespass is to be punished, and the like.  
And if Reason directs me, That good is to be done, and evil to be eschewed, I must then needs conclude, That this Act for the abolishing of the KINGLY, Office, is directly against Law, and I by obeying their Order, or Command, in Proclaiming the same, must needs withdraw my Allegiance and Subjection to my KING from him, and so necessarily lose the benefit or good I should have by his Protection; For the Rule in Law runs thus.  
That the OBEDIENCE of the SUBJECT draws Protection from the KING, the King being ordained for the defence of the Law, and the Bodies and Goods of all his Subjects.  
Neither is, nor can there be any lawful Power to command me (being a Magistrate) but what is derivative from the Supreme Power in the KING, or to His Officer, or officers, who have their Power from him, by His Writ, Patent or Commission; neither ought I nor can I obey the Command of any such lawful officer, if that thing which he enjoins me to do, be contrary to the Law of God, the Law of Reason or the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom, which have all dependency one on the other.  
Then, much less, the command of an usurped or Pretended Power.  
The holy Scriptures informs me, That I must fear God, and obey the King, that I must obey him for Conscience sake; and the Law teacheth me, That I must avoid evil; but it is evil for me to obey a pretended Authority, in proclaiming an unjust Act, which enjones me to deny, and wrong my King, and so not honour, not obey him, by doing of which, I must necessarily disobey God, who enjoins me this duty of Obedience to my King; Ergo, Their command is not only forbidden in God's Word, but against the Law of reason.  
The law teacheth me, to do, as I would men should do unto me; But if I were a King, I would not be rob of my wright, nor despoiled of the duty and service of my Subjects, Ergo. They order me to do a thing against the law of reason.  
It is injustice and wrong to take away the King's Wright by this law, but you Order me to proclaim an Act that takes away his wright, which must needs be, to do him wrong. Ergo, I ought not to obey your Order.  
The law of reason teacheth me, That a Trespasser is to be punished, and if I obey your Order, I must needs Trespass in the highest nature upon the King's Interest in me, as I am his Subject, to Trespass upon his laws as I am de jure, under his Government, and to Trespass upon his patience and goodness, and so make myself liable to the punishment that belongs to such a Trespass. Ergo, there is no reason that I obey your Order.  
The law of reason is generally taken as a directive Rule unto a goodness of operation; so that by this Law I ought to direct all my Actions to a good end; but by Proclaiming your Act, I direct not my actions to a good end. Ergo, I cannot obey your unreasonable Order.  
Again, the law of reason is such, that being proposed, no man ought to reject it, as unjust, or unreasonable; but the King may reject the imposing of unlawful commands upon his Subjects, whereby he is not only deprived of his Crown and Dignity, but of their aid and Assistance. Ergo, etc.  
And truly every good Christian ought to reject all such Orders, or commands as unreasonable and unjust, because if they obey them they do thereby not only break their Oath, (which is a grievous sin) but lose the benefit of protection, which by the law they may claim, and ought not to have, neither can be derived from any pretended Authority whatsoever, but resides in the power of their Natural, Lawful, and Sovereign Liege Lord the King. Ergo, etc.  
Again, whereas the law of reason is never changeable by any diversity of place or time; and whereas mine Allegiance is due to my Sovereign in all places, in all cases, and at all times, I am forbidden by this unchangeable law, to change so unchangeable and unalterable a duty, by such a flight and unwarantable Order, from a pretended Authority in these changeable times.  
Now I hope all Moderate and  Citizens and others will conceive, That as it was against reason for me to obey such an unreasonable, unlawful Order; so it was against law and reason in them to require me so to do; for it is most unreasonable and the worst or Tyrannies, to order, or force a Christian Magistrate to do that thing, which by doing, he must either commit that national and crying sin of perjury and presumption to destroy my own Soul, or by refusing to do it (because it goes against my Conscience so to do,) not only to be Fyned a great Sum, (no less than Two Thousand Pounds) but to be hurried from my house to Westminster, and from thence to Prison by rude Soldiers, and be degraded of my Moyoralty; Let all reasonable men judge whether this be sit usage for a Civil Magistrate, or whether it be not the greatest injustice and Tyranny as can be inflicted by those that pretend Freedom, Liberty, and the like, and yet use more subtleties than the father of lies to ensnare men, only they differ in this, Satan catcheth at the spiritual riches of the soul, and the Senate at the temporal means belonging to the body; so that between them both, external Riches, and internal Graces are now strongly besieged by red-coats, but God of his Infinite Mercy, give us strength and patience to hold out, so that they may not long exercise their Tyrannies over us, as they now Vauntingly boast, That they intent to behead all the Noble, plunder all the rich, and starve all the Poor; As we already (by miserable experience) are to our great sorrow, very capable of.  
As for my Fine▪ I weigh it not, for truly I had rather lose my wealth then my soul; and what it can advantage them to gain my wealth and lose theirs, is past my understanding to resolve you.  
Neither was it ever any custom that any Order for proclaiming Proclamations or Acts in that nature, hath been directed to the Lord Major, because it is the Office of a Sergeant at Arms, an Herald, or the Sheriffs to do the same; But this Order so directed to me, to proclaim the said Act in Person, was no other but one of their old State-pollicies to set their hungry caterpillars a feeding, to devour my Estate.  
But I fear I am not the last by many, that they intent to punish in this kind; but I have hope, in committing my present sufferings to Him, that judgeth righteous judgement; and leave these new authors of usurped Authority to be Charactarized by the Prophet Amos. cap. 3. Vers. 7. They know not to do wright (saith the Lord) they store up Violence and Robbery in their Palaces, and tuine judgement into Wormwood, and leave off Righteousness in the Earth: and as Solomon saith of such, That they sleep not, except they have done Mischief, and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall; for they eat the bread of Wickedness, and are drunk with the Wine of Violence.  
But I shall conclude, with that Proverbial Exhortation of Solomon, which shall be my Advice to every truehearted Citizen, My son, fear thou God, and the King, and meddle not with them that are given to Change.  
From my Imprisonment in the Tower, April, 9 1649. A. R.   
FINIS.