Article 6, Clause 3

Document 4

Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, Articles of Amendments, arts. 6--7

Art. VI. Instead of the oath of allegiance prescribed by the constitution, the following oath shall be taken and subscribed by every person chosen or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of this commonwealth, before he shall enter on the duties of his office, to wit:--

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me, God."

Provided, That when any person shall be of the denomination called Quakers, and shall decline taking said oath, he shall make his affirmation in the foregoing form, omitting the word "swear" and inserting, instead thereof, the word "affirm," and omitting the words "So help me, God," and subjoining, instead thereof, the words, "This I do under the pains and penalities of perjury."

Art. VII. No oath, declaration, or subscription, excepting the oath prescribed in the preceding article, and the oath of office, shall be required of the governor, lieutenant-governor, councillors, senators, or representatives, to qualify them to perform the duties of their respective offices.

[Editors' note.--These amendments of 9 Apr. 1821 ought to be compared to the original language of pt. 2, chap. 6, art. 1 of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. See vol. 1, ch. 1, no. 6.]

The Founders' Constitution
Volume 4, Article 6, Clause 3, Document 4
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a6_3s4.html
The University of Chicago Press

Thorpe, Francis Newton, ed. The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America. 7 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909.