Monday, February 13, 2012

Military Regulations of Henry Cary, Lord Deputy of Ireland (Theonomy Applied)



Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland
and Lord Deputy of Ireland
During the reign of King Charles I, ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland (1576-1633) and Lord Deputy of Ireland (1622-1629), issued in 1625 to members of his army A Proclamation containing the Laws and Orders of War, for the good conduct of the Service of Ireland

Here are some of the military regulations included in the proclamation:

1. First, we owe our highest duties to him from whom all power flows, as from the first fountain, and must receive our successes of him that is the Lord of hosts. I do straightly command all commanders and officers of the
 army to see, that Almighty God be served, that sermons, morning and evening prayer be diligently frequented, and that those that willingly absent themselves be duly punished.

2. Let no man speak impiously and maliciously against the Holy and Blessed Trinity, or any of the three persons, that is to say, God the Father, &c, or against the known articles of the Christian faith, upon pain of death.

3. Let no man blaspheme God's holy name or use unlawful oaths or execrations, or commit any irreligious act to the derogation of God's honour, upon pain of loss of his pay, imprisonment, and such further punishment as a Martial court shall think his offence deserves.

7. No man shall commit any murder, or kill any person, or draw blood of any, or draw any sword in private quarrel, to offer violence within the camp or garrison, upon pain of death.

8. No man shall force or ravish any woman upon pain of death, and adulterers and fornicators shall be punished by imprisonment, banishment from the army, or such other penalty as by the Martial court shall be thought meet.[1]


Notes


     [1] Cited in  Richard Caulfield, ed.The council book of the Corporation of Youghal: from 1610 to 1659, from 1666 to 1687, and from 1690 to 1800 (J. Billing and Sons, 1878), 110.

Note about the Theonomy Applied Series: In quoting any particular law, we do not necessarily endorse every aspect of that law as biblical, whether it be the prohibition, sanction, court procedure, etc. Rather, we are merely showing the more or less attempt to apply biblical law in history, whether or not that application was fully biblical. Moreover, in quoting any particular law, we do not necessarily consider those who passed and/or enforced such a law as being fully orthodox in their Christian theology. Professing Christian rulers in history have ranged in their theology from being orthodox (that is, Reformed Protestants) to heretical (for example, Roman Catholics). 

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