He now swears allegiance to one King with a mental reservation.

He will then abjure the other King with a mental reservation.

Do not flatter yourselves that the ingenuity of lawgivers will ever devise an oath which the ingenuity of casuists will not evade.

What indeed is the value of any oath in such a matter?
Among the many lessons which the troubles of the last generation have left us none is more plain than this, that no form of words, however precise, no imprecation, however awful, ever saved, or ever will save, a government from destruction, Was not the Solemn League and Covenant burned by the common hangman amidst the huzzas of tens of thousands who had themselves subscribed it?
Among the statesmen and warriors who bore the chief part in restoring Charles the Second, how many were there who had not repeatedly abjured him?
Nay, is it not well known that some of those persons boastfully affirmed that, if they had not abjured him, they never could have restored him?
The debates were sharp; and the issue during a short time seemed doubtful; for some of the Tories who were in office were unwilling to give a vote which might be thought to indicate that they were lukewarm in the cause of the King whom they served.

William, however, took care to let it be understood that he had no wish to impose a new test on his subjects.