Clergy As we find at large in Chron. Gervasii Doroborn p. 1387. Edit Lond. an 1652. The Laws of King John called The Great Charter of King John granted in the 17th Year of his Reign upon the Agreement made between him and his Barons at Running-Mead between Staines and Windsor was but a Confirmation of the Laws of Edward the Confessor and Henry the First as Mat. Paris relates it Anno Regis Johannis 17. venientes ad Regem magnates petierunt quasdam Libertates Leges Regis Edwardi cum aliis libertatibus sibi Regno Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae concessis confirmari prout in Charta Regis Hen I. ascriptae continentur The same Historian gives us also at large both Charta Libertatum and Charta de Foresta which are not extant in the Rolls of those times nor to be found in any till the 28th of Edward I. and that but by inspeximus The Laws of Henry III. contain'd in Magna Charta and Charta de Forresta both which are called Magnae Chartae Libertatis Angliae and were establish'd about the 9th Year of Henry III. are for the most part but declaratory of the common municipal Laws of England and that too no new declaration thereof for King Iohn in the 17th year of his Reign had granted the like before which was also call'd Magna Charta And by the English Statute 25 Ed. 1. c. 1. it is Enacted That the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forrest be taken as the Common Law of England By what foregoes I conceive it is very clear That all the Charters and Grants of Liberties from Edward the Confessor's time down to the 9th of Henry the Third were but Confirmations one of another and all of them Declarations and Confirmations of the Common Law of England And by the several Establishments which we have formerly mention'd of the Laws of England to be of force in Ireland First in the 13th of Henry II. Secondly in the 12th of King Iohn Thirdly in the 12th of Henry III. All those Laws and Customs of England which by those several Charters were Declared and Confirmed to be the Laws of England were establish'd to be of force in Ireland And thus Ireland came to be govern'd by one and the same Common Law with England and those Laws continue as part of the municipal and fundamental Laws of both Kingdoms to this day It now remains that we enquire How the Statute Laws and Acts of Parliament made in England since the 9th of Henry the Third came to be of force in Ireland And whether all or any of them and which are in force here and when and how they came to be so And the first Precedent that occurs in our Books of Acts of Parliament in Ireland particularly mentioning and confirming special Acts of Parliament in England is found in a Marginal Note of Sir Richard Bolton's formerly Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland affixed in his Edition of the Irish Statutes to Stat. 10 Hen. 7. Cap. 22. to this purport That in 13 Edw. II. by Parliament in this Realm of Ireland the Statutes of Merton made the 20th of Hen. II. and the Statutes of Marlbridge made the 52 of Henry the Third The Statute of Westminster the First made the 3d of Edward the First The Statute of Gloucester made the 6th of Edward the First And the Statute of Westminster the Second made the 13th of Edward the First were all confirm'd in this Kingdom and all other Statutes which were of force in England were referr'd to be Examin'd in the next Parliament and so many as were then Allow'd and Publish'd to stand likewise for Laws in this Kingdom And in the 10th of Henry the Fourth it was Enacted in this Kingdom of Ireland That the Statutes made in England should not be of force in this Kingdom unless they were Allow'd and Publish'd in this Kingdom by Parliament And the like Statute was made again in the 29th of Henry the Sixth These Statutes are not to be found in the Rolls nor any Parliament Roll of that time but he Sir Richard Bolton had seen the same Exemplisy'd under the Great Seal and the Exemplification remaineth in the Treasury of the City of Waterford Thus far the Note If we consider the frequent Troubles and Distractions in Ireland we shall not wonder that these and many other Rolls and Records have been lost in this Kingdom For from the third year of Edward the Second which was Anno 1310. through the whole Reigns of Edward III. Richard II. Henry IV. and Henry V. and so to the Seventh year of Henry the Sixth Anno 1428. which is about 118 years there are not any Parliament Rolls to be found yet certain it is that divers Parliaments were held in Ireland in those times The same may be said from Henry the Second's coming into Ireland Anno 1172. to the third year of Edward the Second Anno 1310. about 138 years Perhaps it may be said That if here were such Statutes of Ireland as the said Acts of the 10th of Henry the Fourth and the 29th of Henry the Sixth As they shew that the Parliaments of Ireland did think that English Acts of Parliament could not bind Ireland yet they shew likewise that even in those days the Parliaments of England did claim this Superiority or else to what purpose were the said Acts made unless in denial of that Claim All which I hope may be readily granted without any prejudice to the Right of the Irish Parliaments There is nothing so common as to have one Man claim another Mans Right And if bare Pretence will give a Title no Man is secure And it will be yet worse if when another so Pretends and I insist on my Right my Just Claim shall be turn'd to my Prejudice and to the Disparagement of my Title We know very well that many of the Judges of our Four Courts have been from time to time sent us out of England and some of them may easily be supposed to come over hither Prepossess'd with an Opinion of our Parliaments being subordinate to that of England Or at least some of them may be Scrupulous and desirous of full Security in this Point and on their Account and for their Satisfaction such Acts as aforesaid may be devised and Enacted in Ireland But then God forbid that these Acts should afterwards be laid hold of to a clear other intent than what they were framed for and instead of Declaring and Securing our Rights should give an Handle of Contest by shewing that our Rights have been question'd of Antient Time In conclusion of all If this Superiority of the Parliament of England have been Doubted a great while ago so it has been as great a while ago Strenuously Opposed and Absolutely Denied by the Parliaments of Ireland And by the way I shall take Notice That from whencesoever this Antient Pretence of Ireland's
Subordination proceeded in those days it did not arise from the Parliament of England it self For we have not one single Instance of an English Act of Parliament Expresly Claiming this Right of Binding us But we have several Instances of Irish Acts of Parliament Expresly Denying this Subordination as appears by what foregoes Afterwards by a Statute made in Ireland the 18th of Hen. VI. Cap. 1. All the Statutes made in England against the Extortions and Oppressions of Purveyors are Enacted to be holden and kept in all Points and put in Execution in this Land of Ireland And in the 32d year of Henry the Sixth Cap. 1. by a Parliament in Ireland 't is Enacted That all the Statutes made against Provisors to the Court of Rome as well in England as in Ireland be had and kept in force After this in a Parliament at Drogheda the 8th of Edward IV. cap. 1. it was Ratify'd That the English Statute against Rape made the 6th of Richard the Second should be of Force in Ireland from the 6th day of March last past And that from henceforth the said Act and all other Statutes and Acts made by Authority of Parliament within the Realm of England be Ratify'd and Confirm'd and Adjudged by the Authority of this Parliament in their Force and Strength from the said sixth day of March We shall hereafter have occasion of taking farther Notice of this Statute upon another Account Lastly In a Parliament held at Drogheda the 10th of Henry the Seventh cap. 22. it is Enacted That all Statutes late that is as the Learned in the Laws expound it before that time made in England concerning the Common and Publique Weal of the same from henceforth be Deem'd effectual in Law and be Accepted Used and Executed within this Land of Ireland in all Points c. And in the 14th year of the same Kings Reign in a Parliament held at Tristle-Dermot it was Enacted That all Acts of Parliament made in England for Punishing Customers Controulers and Searchers for their Misdemeanors or for Punishment of Merchants or Factors be of Force here in Ireland Provided they be first Proclaim'd at Dublin Drogheda and other Market-Towns Thus we see by what Steps and Degrees all the Statutes which were made in England from the time of Magna Charta to the 10th of Henry the Seventh which did concern the Common Publick Weal were Receiv'd Confirm'd Allow'd and Authoriz'd to be of Force in Ireland all which was done by Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in the Parliament of Ireland Assembled and no Otherwise We shall next Enquire Whether there are not other Acts of the English Parliament both before and since the 10th of Henry the Seventh which were and are of Force in Ireland tho' not Allow'd of by Parliament in this Kingdom And we shall find That by the Opinion on of our best Lawyers there are divers such but then they are only such as are Declaratory of the Antient Common Law of England and not introductive of any New Law For these become of Force by the first General Establishment of the Common Laws of England in this Kingdom under Henry the Second King Iohn and Henry the Third and need no particular Act of Ireland for their Sanction As to those English Statutes since the 10th of Henry the Seventh that are Introductive of a New Law it was never made a Question whether they should Bind Ireland without being Allow'd in Parliament here till of very late years this Doubt began to be moved and how it has been Carried on and Promoted shall Appear more fully hereafter I say Till of very late years for the Antient Precedents which we have to the contrary are very numerous Amongst many we shall mention the following Particulars In the 21th of Henry the 8th an Act was made in England making it Felony in a Servant that runneth away with his Masters or Mistresses Goods This Act was not receiv'd in Ireland till it was Enacted by a Parliament held here in the 33d of Henry the 8th c. 5. Ses. 1. In the 21th of Henry VIII c. 19. there was a Law made in England That all Lords might Distrain on the Lands of them holden and make their Avowry not naming the Tenant but the Land But this was not of force in Ireland till Enacted here in the 33d of Henry VIII C. 1. Ses. 1. An Act was made in England anno 31. Henry VIII That Joint-Tenents and Tenents in Common should be compelled to make Partition as Coparceners were compellable at Common Law But this Act was not Receiv'd in Ireland till Enacted here An. 33. Henry VIII c. 10. Anno 27. Henry VIII c. 10. The Statute for Transferring Uses into Possession was made in England but not admitted in Ireland till 10. Car. 1. Ses. 2. In like manner the English Statute 33. Henry VIII c. 1. directing how Lands and Tenements may be dispos'd by Will c. was not of force in Ireland till 10. Car. 2. Ses. 2. The Act of Uniformity of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments was made in England the 1st of Eliz. c. 2. but was not establish'd in Ireland till the 2d of Eliz. c. 2. And so that of England 14. Car. 2. c. 14. was not receiv'd in Ireland till 17. 18. Car. 2 c. 6. The Statute against Wilful Perjury made in England 5. Eliz. c. 9. was not Enacted in Ireland till 28 Eliz. c. 1. So the English Act against Witchcraft and Sorcery made 5 Eliz. c. 16. And another Act against Forgery 5 Eliz. c. 14. were neither of them in force in Ireland till the 28th of Her Reign Cap. 3 and 4. The English Statutes against Pirates was made the 28th of Hen. 8. c. 15. but not in Ireland till the 12th of King Iames c. 2. In England an Act was made the 27th of Eliz. c. 4 against Fraudulent Conveyances but it was not in force in Ireland till Enacted here the 10th of Charles c. 3. Ses. 2. In the 15th year of King Charles the 1st in a Parliament held at Dublin there were Six English Statutes made Laws of this Kingdom with such Alterations as best fitted them to the State thereof viz. 21 Iac. c. 14. For pleading the General Issue in Intrusions brought by the King by Chap. 1. of the Irish Statutes 31 Eliz. c. 2. For Abridging of Proclamations on Fines by Chap. 2. 2 and 3 Edw. 6. c. 8. Concerning Offices before the Escheator by Chap. 4. 31 Eliz. c. 1. Discontinuance of Writs of Error in the Exchequer Chamber by Chap. 5. 8 Eliz. c. 4. and 18 Eliz. c. 7. concerning Clergy by Chap. 7. 24 Hen. 8. c. 5. Concerning Killing a Robber by Chap. 9. There are Six English Statutes likewise passed in the time of King Charles the 2d upon and soon after the Restoration some of which were not passed into Laws in Ireland till a year two or three afterwards As will appear
by consulting the Statute Books And in the First year of William and Mary Ses. 2. c. 9. an Act passed in England declaring all Attainders and other Acts made in the late pretended Parliament under King James at Dublin void But was not Enacted here in Ireland till the 7th year of K. William c. 3. And this was thought requisite to be done upon mature consideration thereon before the King and Council of England notwithstanding that the English Act does particularly name Ireland and was wholly design'd for and relates thereto The like may we find in several other Statutes of England passed since his present Majesties Accession to the Throne which have afterwards been passed here in Ireland with such Alterations as make them practicable and agreeable to this Kingdom Such as are amongst others the Act for Disarming Papists The Act of Recognition The Act for taking away Clergie from some Offenders The Act for taking Special Bail in the Country c. The Act against Clandestine Mortgages The Act against Cursing and Swearing These with many more are to to be found in our Statute Books in the several Reigns of Henry the 8th Edward the 6th Queen Elizabeth King Iames King Charles the 1st and 2d and King William But it is not to be found in any Records in Ireland that ever any Act of Parliament introductive of a new Law made in England since the time of King Iohn was by the judgment of any Court received for Law or put in Execution in the Realm of Ireland before the same was Confirmed and Assented to by Parliament in Ireland And thus I presume we have pretty clearly made out our Fourth Enquiry forementioned and shewn plainly the several steps by which the English form of Government and the English Statute Laws were received in this Kingdom and that this was wholly by the Peoples consent in Parliament to which we have had a very antient Right and as full a Right as our next Neighbours can pretend to or challenge I shall now consider the Objections and Difficulties that are moved on this Head drawn from Precedents and Passages in our Law-Books that may seem to prove the contrary First 't is urg'd That in the Irish Act concerning Rape passed anno 8 Edward 4 c. 1. 't is expressed That a Doubt was conceiv'd whether the English Statute of the 6th of Richard the 2d c. 6. ought to be of force in Ireland without a Confirmation thereof in the Parliament of Ireland Which shews as some alledg that even in those days it was held by some That an Act of of Parliament in England might bind Ireland before it be consented to in Parliament here But I concieve this Gloss is rais'd meerly for want of Expressing the Reason of the said Doubt in the Irish Statute of the 8th of Edward the 4th c. 1. which we may reasonably judge was this By the Statute of Westminster the 2d c. 34. a Woman that eloped from her Husband and lived with the Adulterer or a Wife that being first Ravish'd did afterwards consent and lived with the Ravisher she should loose her Dower This Statute of Westminster the 2d was made of force in Ireland by an Act passed here the 13th of Edward the 2d as we have seen before pag. 68 69. Afterwards by the English Statute of the 6th of Rich. the 2d c. 6. there was a farther addition made to the said Statute of Westminster the 2d to this effect That a Maiden or Wife being Ravished and afterwards consenting to the Ravishers as well the Ravisher as she that was Ravished shall be disabled to claim all Inheritance or Dower after the death of her Husband or Ancestor On this account the Doubt was here raised in Ireland in the 8th of Edward the 4th c. 1. Whether this latter English Statute of the 6th of Richard the 2d c. 6. were not in force in Ireland by virtue of the Irish Statute of the 13th of Edward the 2d which confirmed the Statute of Westminster the 2d c. 34. And for setling this Doubt the said Statute of the 8th of Edward the 4th c. 1. was passed in Ireland and we find very good reason for the said Doubt For the English Statute of the 6th of Richard the 2d c. 6. contained but a small addition to the Statute of Westminster the 2d c. 34. and we see that even this ad dition it self was judged not to be of force in Ireland till Enacted here For the said Irish Statute of the 8th of Edward the 4th c. 1. makes the said Statute of the 6th of Rich. 2d c. 6. of Force in Ireland only from the 6th of March then last past 'T is urg'd secondly That tho' perhaps such Acts of Parliament in England which do not Name Ireland shall not be construed to Bind Ireland yet all such English Statutes as mention Ireland either by the General Words of all his Majesty's Dominions or by particularly Naming of Ireland are and shall be of Force in this Kingdom This being a Doctrine first broach'd Directly as I conceive by Will. Hussey Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in England in the first year of Henry the Seventh and of late Revived by the Lord Chief Justice Cook and strongly urged and much rely'd upon iâ—… these latter Days I shall take thâ—… Liberty of Enlarging thereon tho I venture thereby to swell this Pamphlet to a size greater than I desire or design'd First therefore As to such English Statutes as seem to comprehend Ireland and to Bind it under the General Words of all his Majesty's Dominions or Subjects whatever has been the Opinion of Private and Particular Lawyers in this Point I am sure the Opinions of the Kings of England and their Privy Council have been otherwise 'T is well known since Poyning's Act in Ireland the 10th of Henry the Seventh no Act can pass in our Parliament here till it be first Assented to by the King and Privy Council of England and Transmitted hither under the Broad Seal of England Now the King and his Privy Council there have been so far from surmising that an Act of Parliament of England mentioning only in General All the Kings Dominions or Subjects should Bind Ireland that they have clearly shewn the contrary by frequently Transmitting to Ireland to be pass'd into Laws here English Statutes wherein the General Words of all the Kings Dominions or Subjects were contain'd which would have been to no purpose but meerly Actum Agere had Ireland been Bound before by those English Statutes Of this I shall give the following Examples amongst many others The Act of Parliament in England against Appeals to Rome 24 Hen. 8. c. 12. by express words extends to all his Majesties Dominions yet the same was not in force nor receiv'd in Ireland till it was Enacted by Parliament there the 28th of Hen. 8. c. 6. In like manner the Statutes made in England concerning First Fruits
Multitudes of Men therefore utterly without our Consent we could in such sort be at no Mans Commandment living And to be commanded we do consent when that Society whereof we are part hath at any time before consented without revoking the same after by the like Universal Agreement Wherefore as any Mans Deed past is good as long as himself continueth so the Act of a Publick Society of Men done five hundred years sithence standeth as theirs who presently are of the same Societies because Corporations are Immortal we were then alive in our Predecessors and they in their Successors do still live Laws therefore Humane of what kind soever are available by Consent c. And again But what matter the Law of Nations doth contain I omit to search the strength and vertue of that Law is such that no particular Nation can lawfully prejudice the same by any their several Laws and Ordinances more then a Man by his Private Resolutions the Law of the whole Commonwealth or State wherein he liveth for as Civil Law being the Act of a whole Body Politick doth therefore over-rule each Civil part of the same Body so there is no Reason that any one Commonwealth of it self should to the Prejudice of another annihilate that whereupon the whole World hath Agreed To the same purpose may we find the Universal Agreement of all Civilians Grotius Puffendorf Lock 's Treat Government c. No one or more Men can by Nature challenge any Right Liberty or Freedom or any Ease in his Property Estate or Conscience which all other Men have not an Equally Iust Claim to Is England a Free People So ought France to be Is Poland so Turky likewise and all the Eastern Dominions ought to be so And the same runs throughout the whole Race of Mankind Secondly 'T is against the Common Laws of England which are of Force both in England and Ireland by the Original Compact before hinted It is Declared by both Houses of the Parliament of England 1 Iac. cap. 1. That in the High Court of Parliament all the whole Body of the Realm and every particular Member thereof either in Person or by Representation upon their own Free Elections are by the Laws of this Realm deem'd to be Personally present Is this then the common Law of England and the Birth-right of every Free-born English Subject And shall we of this Kingdom be deny'd it by having Laws imposed on us where we are neither Personally nor Representatively present My Lord Cooke in his 4th Inst. cap. 1. saith That all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and all the Commons of the whole Realm ought ex Debito Justiciae to be Summon'd to Parliament and none of them ought to be Omitted Hence it is call'd Generale Concilium in the Stat. of Westminst 1. and Commune Concilium because it is to comprehend all Persons and Estates in the whole Kingdom And this is the very Reason given in the Case of the Merchants of Waterford foregoing why Statutes made in England should not bind them in Ireland Quia non habent Milites hic in Parliamento Because they have no Representatives in the Parliament of England My Lord Hobbard in the Case of Savage and Day pronounced it for Law That whatever is against Natural Equity and Reason is against Law Nay if an Act of Parliament were made against Natural Equity and Reason that Act was void Whether it be not against Equity and Reason that a Kingdom regulated within it self and having its own Parliament should be Bound without their Consent by the Parliament of another Kingdom I leave the Reader to consider My Lord Cooke likewise in the first Part of his Institutes fol. 97. b. saith Nihil quod est contra Rationem est Licitum And in the old Modus Tenendi Parliamenta of England said to be writ about Edward the Confessor's time and to have been Confirmed and Approved by William the Conqueror It is expresly declared That all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Knights Citizens and Burgesses ought to be summoned to Parliament The very same is in the Modus sent into Ireland by Henry the 2d And in King Iohn's Great Charter dated 17. Iohannis 't is granted in these words Et ad habend Commune Concilium Regni de Auxiliis Scutagiis Assidendis Submoneri faciemus Arâ—…hiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Comites Majores Barones Regni Sigillatim per Literas Nostras faciemus submoneri in generali per Vicecomites omnes alios c. Math. Paris ad An. 17. Iohann All are to be Summoned to Parliament the Nobility by special Writts the Commons by general Writts to the Sheriffs And is this the Common Law of England Is this part of those Liberae Consuetudines that were contained in the Great Charter of the Liberties of the People of England And were so solemnly granted by Henry II. King Iohn and Henry the 3d to the People of Ireland that they shou'd Enjoy and be Governd by and unto which they were Sworn to be Obedient And shall they be of Force only in England and not in Ireland Shall Ireland Receive these Charters of Liberties and be no Partakers of the Freedoms therein contained Or do these words signifie in England one thing and in Ireland no such thing This is so repugnant to all Natural Reason and Equity that I hope no Rational Man will Contest it I am sure if it be so there 's an end of all Speech amongst Men All Compacts Agreements and Societies are to no purpose 3. It is against the Statute Laws both of England and Ireland this has been pretty fully disuss'd before however I shall here again take notice That in the 10. of Henry the 4th it was Enacted in Ireland that Statutes made in England should not be of Force in Ireland unless they were Allowed and Published by the Parliament of Ireland And the like Statute was made the 29th of Henry the 6th And in the 10th Year of Henry the 7th Chap. 23 Irish Statutes The Parliameâ—… which was held at Drogheda beforâ—… Sir Christopher Preston Deputy to Iaspar Duke of Bedford Lieutâ—… nant of Ireland was declared Void for this Reason amongst others That there was no General Summons of the said Parliament to all the Shires but only to Four And if Acts of Parliament made in Irelanâ—… shall not Bind that People because some Counties were omitted how much less shall either their Persons or Estates be Bound by those Acts made in England whereat no one County or Person of that Kingdom is present In the 25tâ—… of Edward the 1st Cap. 6. It was Enacted by the Parliament of England in these Words Moreover from henceforth we shall take no manner of Aid Taxes or Prizes but by the Common Assent of the Realm And again in the Statute of Liber ties by the same King Cap. 1. Dâ—… Tallag non Concedend it is Enacted in these Words No Tallage or Aid
pag. 47. And in Pilkington's Case aforemention'd Fortescue declared That the Land of Ireland is and at all times hath been a Dominion Separate and Divided from England How then can the Realms of England and Ireland being Distinct Kingdoms and Separate Dominions be imagin'd to have any Superiority or Iurisdiction the one over the other 'T is absurd to fancy that Kingdoms are Separate and Distinct meerly from the Geographical Distinction of Territories Kingdoms become Distinct by Distinct Iurisdictions and Authorities Legislative and Executive and as Rex est qui Regem non habet so Regnum est quod alio non Subjicitur Regno A Kingdom can have no Supream 't is in it self Supream within it self and must have all Jurisdictions Authorities and Praeeminencies to the Royal State of a Kingdom belonging or else 't is none And that Ireland has all these is declared in the Irish Stat. 33 Hen. VIII c. 1. The chief of these most certainly is the Power of Making and Abrogating its own Laws and being bound only by such to which the Community have given their Consent Sixthly It is against the Kings Prerogative that the Parliament of England should have any Co-ordinate Power with Him to introduce New Laws or Repeal Old Laws Established in Ireland By the Constitution of Ireland under Poyning's Act the King's Prerogative in the Legislature is advanced to a much higher Pitch than ever was Challenged by the Kings in England and the Parliament of Ireland stands almost on the same bottom as the King does in England I say almost on the same Bottom for the Irish Parliament have not only a Negative Vote as the King has in England to whatever Laws the King and his Privy Councils of both or either Kingdom shall lay before them but have also a Liberty of Proposing to the King and his Privy Council here such Laws as the Parliament of Ireland think expedient to be pass'd Which Laws being thus Proposed to the King and put into form and Transmitted to the Parliament here according to Poyning's Act must be Pass'd or Rejected in the very Words even to a Tittle as they are said before our Parliament we cannot alter the least Iota If therefore the Legislature of Ireland stand on this Foot in relation to the King and to the Parliament of Ireland and the Parliament of England do Remove it from this Bottom and Assume it to themselves where the Kings Prerogative is much Narrower and as it were Reversed for there the King has only a Negative Vote I humbly conceive 't is an Incroachment on the Kings Prerogative But this I am sure the Parliament of England will be always very Tender of and His Majesty will be very loth to have such a Precious Jewel of his Crown handled rufly The Happiness of our Constitutions depending on a Right Temperament between the Kings and the Peoples Rights Seventhly It is against the Practice of all former Ages Wherein can it appear that any Statute made in England was at any time since the Reign of Henry the Third allowed and put in practice in the Realm of Ireland without the Authority of the Parliament of Ireland Is it not manifest by what foregoes that from the Twentieth of King Henry the Third to the Thirteenth of Edward the Second and from thence to the Eighteenth of Henry the Sixth and from thence to the Thirty-Second of Henry the Sixth and from thence to the Eighth of Edward the Fourth and from thence to the Tenth of Henry the seventh there was special care taken to Introduce the Statutes of England such of them as were necessary or convenient for this Kingdom by degrees and always with Allowance and Consent of the Parliament and People of Ireland And since the General Allowance of all the English Acts and Statutes in the Tenth of Henry the Seventh there have several Acts of Parliament which were made in England in the Reigns of all the Kings from that Time Successively to this very Day been particularly Receiv'd by Parliament in Ireland and so they become of force here and not by reason of any General Comprehensive words as some Men have lately fancied For if by General Comprehensive Words the Kingdom of Ireland could be bound by the Acts of Parliament of England what needed all the former Receptions in the Parliament of Ireland or what use will there be of the Parliament of Ireland at any time If the Religion Lives Liberties Fortunes and Estates of the Clergy Nobility and Gentry of Ireland may be dispos'd of without their Privity and Consent what Benefit have they of any Laws Liberties or Priviledges granted unto them by the Crown of England I am loth to give their Condition an hard Name but I have no other Notion of Slavery but being Bound by a Law to which I do not Consent Eighthly 'T is against several Resolutions of the Learned Iudges of former times in the very Point in Question This is manifest from what foregoes in the Case of the Merchants of Waterford Pilkington's Case Prior of Lanthony's Case c. But I shall not here inlarge farther thereon Ninthly The Obligation of all Laws having the same Foundation if One Law may be Imposed without Consent any Other Law whatever may be Imposed on us Without our Consent This will naturally introduce Taxing us without our Consent and this as necessarily destroys our Property I have no other Notion of Property but a Power of Disposing my Good as I please and not as anotheâ—… shall Command Whatever another may Rightfully take from me without my Consent I have certainly no Property in To Tax me without Consent is little better if at all than down-right Robbing me I am sure the Great Patriots of Liberty and Property the Free Peo Ple of England cannot think of such a thing but with Abhorrence Lastly The People of Ireland are left by this Doctrine in the Greatest Confusion and Uncertainty Imaginable We are certainly bound to Obey the Supream Authority over us and yet hereby we are not permitted to know Who or What the same is whether the Parliament of England or that of Ireland or Both And in what Cases the One and in what the Other Which Uncertainty is or may be made a Pretence at any time for Disobedience It is not impossible but the Different Legislatures we are subject to may Enact Different or Contrary Sanctions Which of these must we obey To conclude all I think it highly Inconvenient for England to Assume this Authority over the Kingdom of Ireland I believe there will need no great Arguments to convince the Wise Assembly of English Senators how inconvenient it may be to England to do that which may make the Lords and People of Ireland think that they are not Well Used and may drive them into Discontent The Laws and Liberties of England were granted above five hundred years ago to the People of Ireland upon their Submissions to the
Encouraging Shipping and Navigation by express name Mentions and Binds Ireland and by the last Clause in the Act Obliges all Ships belonging thereto importing any Goods from our Foreign Plantations to touch first at England Fourthly The Acts Prohibiting the Exportation of Wooll from Ireland to any Country except to England do likewise strongly Bind us and by the 12 Car. 2. c. 32. it was made highly penal on us and by the 14th of Car. 2. c. 18. 't is made Felony To these three last Acts I must confess I have nothing to urge to take off their Efficacy Name us they do most certainly and Bind us so as we do not transgress them But how Rightfully they do this is the matter in Question This I am sure of that before these Acts in King Charles the Second's Time the Eldest of which is not over Thirty-Seven years there is not one positive full Precedent to be met with in all the Statute-Book of an English Act Binding the Kingdom of Ireland And on this Account we may venture to assert That these are at least Innovations on us as not being warranted by any former Precedents And shall Proceedings only of Thirty-Seven Years standing be urg'd against a Nation to Deprive them of the Rights and Liberties which they Enjoy'd for Five Hundred Years before and which were Invaded without and against their Consent and from that day to this have been constantly complain'd of Let any English Heart that stands so Iustly in Vindication of his own Rights and Liberties answer this Question and I have done I am now arriv'd at our Present Days under the Happy Government of His Majesty King WILLIAM the Third and I am sorry to reflect That since the late Revolution in these Kingdoms when the Subjects of England have more strenuously than ever Asserted their own Rights and the Liberty of Parliaments it has pleased them to bear harder on their Poor Neighbours than has ever yet been done in many Ages foregoing I am sure what was then done by that Wise and Just Body of Senators was perfectly out of Good Will and Kindness to us under those Miseries which our Afflicted Country of Ireland then suffered But I fear some Men have since that made use of what was then done to other Purposes than at first intended Let us now see what that was and consider the Circumstances under which it was done In the year 1689. when most oâ—… the Protestant Nobility Gentry and Clergy of Ireland were driven out of that Kingdom by the Insolencies and Barbarities of the Irish Papists who were then it Arms throughout the Kingdom and in all Places of Authority under King Iames newly Return'd to them out of France the only Refuge we had to fly to was in England where Multitudes continued for many Months destitute of all manner of Relief but such as the Charity of England afforded which indeed was very Munificent and never to be forgotten The Protestant Clergy of Ireland being thus Banish'd from their Benefices many of them Accepted such small Ecclesiastical Promotions in England as the Benevolence of well dispos'd Persons presented them with But this being directly contrary to a Statute in this Kingdom in the 17 and 18 of Charles the Second Cap. 10. Intituled An Act for Disabling of Spiritual Persons from holding Benefices or other Ecclesiastical Dignities in England or Wales and in Ireland at the same time The Protestant Irish Clergy thought they could not be too secure in avoiding the Penalty of the last mention'd Act and therefore Apply'd themselves to the Parliament of England and obtain'd an Act in the first year of King William and Queen Mary c. 29. Intituled An Act for the Relief of the Protestant Irish Clergy And this was the first Attempt that was made for Binding Ireland by an Act in England since his Majesty's Happy Accession to the Throne of these Kingdoms Afterwards in the same year and same Session Chap. 34. there pass'd an Act in England Prohibiting all Trade and Commerce with France both from England and Ireland This also binds Ireland but was during the Heat of the War in that Kingdom when 't was impossible to have a regular Parliament therein all being in the hands of the Irish Papists Neither do we complain of it as hindring us from corresponding with the King's Enemies for 't is the Duty of all Good Subjects to abstain from that But as Scotland tho' the King's Subjects Claims an Exemption from all Laws but what they Assent to in Parliament so we think this our Right also When the Banish'd Laity of Ireland observ'd the Clergy thus careful to secure their Properties and provide for the worst as well as they could in that Juncture when no other means could be taken by a Regular Parliament in Ireland they thought it likewise adviseable for them to do something in relation to their Concerns And accordingly they obtain'd the Act for the better Security and Relief of their Majesties Protestant Subjects of Ireland 1 W. and M. Ses. 2. c. 9. Wherein King Iames's Irish Parliament at Dublin and all Acts and Attainders done by them are declared void 'T is likewise thereby Enacted that no Protestant shall suffer any Prejudice in his Estate or Office by reason of his absence out of Ireland since December 25. 1685. and that there should be a Remittal of the Kings Quit-Rent from 25 December 1688. to the end of the War Thus the Laity thought themselves secure And we cannot wonder that during the Heat of a Bloody War in this Kingdom when it was impossible to Secure our Estates and Properties by a Regular Parliament of our own we should have recourse to this Means as the only which then could be had We concluded with our selves that when we had obtained these Acts from the Parliament in England we had gon a great way in securing the like Acts to be passed in a regular Parliament in Ireland whenever it should please God to re-establish us in our own Country For we well knew our own Constitution under Poynings Law That no Act could Pass in the Parliament of Ireland till approved of by the King and Privy Council of England And we knew likewise That all the Lords and others of his Majesties Privy Council in England are Members of the Lords or Commons House of Parliament there And that by obtaining their Assent to Acts of Parliament in Favour of the Irish Protestants they had in a manner pre-engaged their Assent to the like Bills when they should hereafter come before them as Privy Councellors in order to be regularly Transmitted to the Parliament of Ireland there to be passed into Laws of that Kingdom But instead of all this to meet with another Construction of what was done herein and to have it pleaded against us as a Precedent of our Submission and absolute Acquiescence in the Jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England over this Kingdom is what we complain