Dr. Beaumont acknowledged that he had afforded his
brother-in-law the rights of hospitality; and he put Morgan upon proof
that the King's commission was not a sufficient justification of the
alleged murders, which, he presumed, were not committed basely, or in
cold blood, but in the heat and contention of battle, and might
therefore be justified by the rule of self-defence, as well as by the
King's authority.
Morgan said the ordinance of Parliament made it treason to fight for the
King; but this assertion sounded so oddly, that he hurried to the next
count, which was, his dissuading Ralph Jobson from taking the Covenant.
The Doctor acknowledged this fact, alledging also, that as he considered
the Covenant to be sinful, he was bound in duty, as the spiritual guide
of Jobson, to advise him not to bind his soul by any ill-understood,
ensnaring obligation, being already bound, by his baptismal and
eucharistical oaths, to all that was required of Christians in an humble
station.
To Dr. Beaumont's vindication of himself from these and similar crimes,
Morgan could only answer that the ordinances of Parliament made them
offences.
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