him by Hereditary Succession not that he was held to be King by a meer Right of Descent but as the Ritual of the Coronation of H. 1. and the Writ for Proclaiming the Peace of E. 1. in England and Authors of the time shew the Election of the States of England placed him in the Inheritance of the Crown therefore the States of England declare to the Subjects of Ireland that they were bound to take the like Oath of Allegiance as the English had done and this is required of them by the States here under the Great Seal of England nor is there colour to believe that there was any Summons to Ireland for any from thence to come to that Conâ—ention nor indeed was there time for such Summons and return before that meeting notwithstanding Mr. M's assertion of this Reign in particular that the Laws made in England and binding them were always enacted by their proper Representatives meaning Representatives chosen in Ireland the reason for which he there brings from supposed instances in the Reign of E. 3. seeming not to rely upon his Quotation from the White Book of the Exchequer in Dublin but the Page before which 9 E. 1. mentions Statutes made by the King at Lincoln and others at York with the assent of the Prelates Earls Barons and Commonalty of his Kingdom of Ireland Which if it implyed the presence of the Commonalty of Ireland would be an Argument that all their Rights were concluded by the Tenants in chief who had Lands in Ireland but were Members of the English Parliament by reason of their Interest here but in truth this shews no more than that at the request of those of Ireland the Parliament of England had enacted those Laws and the Record in their white Book is only a Record of the transmission from hence and proves that suitably to the practice both before and after that time they in Ireland had no Parliaments for enacting Laws but were forc'd to Petition to have them enacted here and what was enacted upon their Petition was truly with their Assent But then the Question will be whether in the Laws made in that King's Reign with intention to bind Ireland their Consent is generally expressed or implyed any otherwise than from the nature of their former submission to be govern'd by the English Laws But if our Acts of Parliament and Records concerning them are clear in any thing they certainly are in this that the Parliament of England then had and exercis'd an undoubted Right of binding Ireland without their immediate consent by any Representatives chosen there Mr. M. indeed tho' as I have before observ'd he admits that Ireland was bound by Acts of Parliament here till the end of the Reign of H. 3. for want of a regular legislature among themselves yet suitably to his usual inconsistencies upon the enquiry where and how the Statute Laws and Acts of Parliament made in England since the 9 th of H. 3. came to be of force in Ireland will have it that none of them made here without Representatives chosen in Ireland were binding there till receiv'd by a suppos'd Parliament 13 E. 2. yet it falls out unluckily that they have Statutes in Print 3 E. 2. which speak not a word of Confirming the Laws before that time made in England and yet no Man will question but Statute Laws of England made in the Reign of E. 1. were a Rule which the Judges in Ireland went by before the time of E. 2. And that all Judgments given in Ireland contrary to any Law transmitted thither under the Great Seal of England must upon Writs of Error have been set aside here as Erroneous But let 's see whether our Parliaments in the time of E. 1. had such a defference to the Irish Legislature or that the English in Ireland then made any such pretensions as Mr. M. advances If we Credit Judge Bolton our Statute Westm 1st which was 3 E. 1. was first confirm'd in Ireland 13 E. 2. and till then according to Mr. M.'s Inferences from their receiving or publishing Laws made here that Statute was of no force in Ireland being Introductory of a new Law in several particulars as among other things in Subjecting Franchises to be seized into the King's Hands for default of pursuing Felons and in Enacting not only the Imprisoning and Fining Malefactors in Parks and Vivaries but forcing them to Abjure the Realm if they could not find Sureties for their good Behaviour This Act does not Name Ireland but the King Ordain'd and Establish'd it by His Council and by the assent of the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons and all the Commonalty of the Realm thither Summoned for the mending the Estate of the Realm for the Common profit of the holy Church of the Realm and as Profitable and Convenient for the whole Realm However that Ireland as part of the Realm was bound by this Law and by other Laws made 11 12 and 13 E. 1. without any regard to Parliamentary Confirmations in Ireland and that for enforcing Obedience to those Laws 't was enough to send them thither by some proper Messenger under the Great Seal of England if not without appears by the Proceedings of the Parliament at Winchester holden the Oct. after the Parliament of Westim 2. Mem. quod c. Mem. that on Friday in the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the 13 th Year of the King at Winchester there were deliver'd to Roger Brâ—ton Clerk to the Venerable Father William Bishop of Waterford then Justice of Ireland certain Statutes made and provided by the King and His Council viz. The Statutes of Westminster made soon after the King's Coronation and the Statutes of Gloster and those made for Merchants and the Statute of Westm provided and made in the King's Parliament at Easter to be carried to Ireland and there to be Proclaimed and Observed It appears that among the Statutes delivered to the Chief Justices Clerk in order to their being published and observed in Ireland one was the Statute concerning Merchants 12. E. 1. for the enforcing and improving a Statute made at Acton Burnel 11. of that King that of Acton Burnel provides a remedy for Debts to Merchants to be had by calling the Debtor before the Mayor of London York or Bristol or before the Mayor and a Clerk to be appointed by the King which as it seems 't was intended that the King should have Power to appoint in other Cities or Towns within his Kingdom Accordingly the Statute 12. E. 1. says the King had commanded it to be firmly kept throughout his Realm and that Parliament 12. for declaring or explaining some of the Articles of the former Statute names the Mayor of London or the Chief Governour of that City or of other good Town This Statute expresly Ordains and Establishes that it be thenceforth held throughout the
Nota Oct. Martini is but 2 Days after b P. 89. c Claus 17. E. 1. M. 8. Usque ad proximum Parl. post Pascâ—a ut tune inde Rex faciat quod de concilio suo duxerit ordinandum Teste Edm. Com. Corn. Cons Regis apud West 5 Mâ—râ—iiâ— a Claus 17. E. 1. M. 2. dorso Nobis ea in proxim Parl. nostro referant b Quod veniant apud Westm in Craft instantis Festi Sancti Martini That 't is to be believed a parliament was holden 17 E. 1. tho no Summons to it found a Vid. Dugdale's Summons to the Nobility That which be cites 5 E. 1. iâ— a Summons to the Army b Vid. Stat. eâ— An. 1529 p. 21. Of A Summons to parliament 18 E. 1. a Rot. Claus 18. E 1. M. 10. dorso That â—it d by Dr. Brady is to the Sheriff of Westmorland Dr. Bradie 's Answ p 230. Dr. Bradie's Introduction to his Compleat History a Ad instantiam Magnatum b Et sciâ—â—dâ—m est quod istud statutum tenâ—t loâ—um deterris venditis tenend in seodo simplici tantum Quia empâ—ores terrar c. There us'd to be Manucaptors for this purpose Why so few Writs of Summons in those Times now to be found a Vid. Lamb's Archaionom Leges St. Edw b Rot. Claus 17. E. 1. sup Rot. Claus 3. E. 1. M. 9. dorso in Prl. Quod circâ— octobas Râ—suâ—â—ectionis Domini celebraâ—â— in Angliâ consuevâ—â— Commons included under Magnates a Rot. Pat. 1 E. 3. M. 10. b Rot. Claus. 2 E. 3. M. 20. Walsingham F. 126. c Tota regni nobilitas citata per prius ad Parl semend b Rot Claus 4. H. 4. n. â—9 Pur Monsieur Thomas Pomercy Chivalier Tres honourables Tressages Communes e Rot. Parl. 8. H. 6. n. 51. Tressages Tres honourables From the Mayor Aldermen and Commons of the City of London Rot. Patl. 3. H. 5. pars 1. n. â— Vid. Sup. of Cities and Boroughs Vide sup a Rot. Pat. 17. E. 3. p. 1. m. 20. dorso Liberè honorificè a Pat. 15. Jo. pâ—â— 1. M. 11 Reddidimus Heâ— de Tracy Baroniam de Bardestaple â—b Dotum honorem de Bardestaple a Vid. Doomâ—-day de Norwic. a Notâ— What a small proportion this new Plantation of French bore to the 1320 Burgesses and yet some English were mix'd even among the French Besides the French seem to have had but 11 added to their number from the Confessors time to the 20th of W. 1. a Doomsday-Book TRE reddebat c. b Rot. Cart. 2. Jo. m. 17. n. 51. Rot. Pat. 1â— E. 2. m. 5. Rot. Clâ—us 14. Jo. m. 8. d. Rot. Pat. 15. Jo. m. 3. n. 8. Bundela Pâ—t Parl. de temp E. 1. a Coram toâ—o coasilio a Vid. Davis Rep. le Case del County Pal. â—f 64. Cart. H. 2. Hugoni de Lacy Com. pro serv suo terram in Midea cum omnibus pâ—â—â—in ' per serv 50. militum sibi haer suis tenend de me haer meis Rot. de superioritate Maris 26. E. 1. Les Roys du dit Royaume du temps dount il n'a memore du contraire eussent este en paisible poss de la Soveraign Seignorie de la meer Dengleterre desâ—sles esteâ—nts en y cel q. l'Admiral ad jurisd avec la conâ—uisance justice touts autâ—es appeâ—tenantâ— c. Of Ireland's being bound by the Parliaments of England in the time of E. 2. Prynn 's Animad on Lord Coke f. 262. 10. E. 2. Quod semel in Anno teneatur Parl. Stat. of York 12 E. 2. Cap. 6. Rot. Sat. de temp E. 1. E. 2. E. 3. Statuta missa fuerunt in Hib. ut in brevi subseq continetur liberata fuerunt Godf. filio Rog. una cum dict brev deferend Pag. 130. Pag. 129. Rot. Stat. temp E. 1 E. 2. E. 3. M. 30. Answer to Sir Richard Bolton's Marginal Note P. 63. 64. Vid. Sup Stat. Merton c. 7. De Narratione in brâ—vi de recto ab antecessore a tempore Hen. Regis senioris Vid. Sup. Mr. M. p. 52. and 53. Rot. Claus 12. H. 3. De legibus cons observandis in Hib. Rot. Claus 20. H. 3. m. 13. Of Ireland's being bound by Parliaments of England in the Reign of E. 3. a In forma Patenti Vid. Rastals Collect. ed. Anno 1572. a Rot. Stat. Mem. quod istud Stat. cum Stat. precedentibus temp Regis E. â—3 Post conquestum missa sunt in Hiber in formâ Patenti cum brevi seq b Et quantum ad vos populum nostrum illar ter attinet firmiter teneâ—i observari fac c Stat. 11. E. 3. c. 2. P. 68. a Rot. Parl. 20. E. â— Ut memini parte transcripti circa idem tempus amissâ b N. 33. c N. 34. Note This was a disposing of Property d N. 37. e Resp N. 39. Stat. Stap. 27. E. 3. c. 1. 3. Note The Wisdom of that Law 27. E. 3. c. 7. Stat. 25. E. 3. Rot. Stat. M. 15. For the Honour of God and of Holy Church and the Amendment of his Realm a Rot. Stat. de temp E. 1. E. 2. E. 3. M. 15. De Proclamatione Statuti b Consimiles literae diriguntur Justic Hib. mutatis mutandis sub eâdem datâ P. 161. Rot. Pat. 17. R. 2. p. 1. m. 34. The suppos'd Magna Charta for Parliaments in Ireland Rot. Stat. ordinatione pro Statu Hibn. a per Justiciar Conciliumnostrum Hiberniae b Statut. artic per nos in Parliamentis aliis magnis consiliis ad utilitatem populi nri editor factor * Juxta tenorem cujusdam Statuti per nos consilium nostrum Angliae edit missi ad Hiberniam observand b Sub gravi foris facturâ Prelati magnates communitates aut quivis alii c Sub sigillo Cancellar protempore existentis ad Justic Cancel Theâ— nostris Hibern transmittantur d Vocatis ad se Cancel Thes nris Hiberniae cum quibusdam Prel Comitibus quos evocandos noverit e Ex certa causa sub sigil Justic sibi associator a P. 161. b P. 150. P. 161. a Vâ—d Râ—t 〈◊〉 tâ—mp 〈◊〉 E. 2. 〈◊〉 m. 12. 〈◊〉 Sâ—â—t â— m. ◠〈◊〉 36 E. 1. 〈…〉 a In 〈◊〉 Parl. 〈◊〉 Westm b Pâ—r 〈◊〉 Regem 〈◊〉 silium c Eodem medo 〈◊〉 est 〈◊〉 vicecom per Angl. 〈◊〉 Dunelm 〈◊〉 Pr. Walâ—â— Com. Ceâ—â—â— Rob. de 〈◊〉 Constab 〈◊〉 Dover 〈◊〉 stod 5 〈◊〉 Justic 〈◊〉 d P. 68. Of the fancy that the 〈◊〉 had representatives 〈◊〉 in Ireland 〈◊〉 sent from the 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 of Parliament here * P. 95. †P. 97. ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ ð„ P. 98. Vid. Rot. Parl. de temp E. 3. * Vid. Rot. Pat. 5. R. 2. part 2. m. 19. Their Parliament required to send Nuncios P. 97. a Rot. claus 32 H. 3. m. 6. d. Rex Baronibus Hiberniae c Nuntil ex parte vestrâ— b De nostrorum consilio Ut eisdem articulis vobis diligenter expositis c. Et nos praed negotium ad nostrum vâ—strum honorem effectui mancipare curabimus sine ex heredatione vestrâ P. 96. P. 85 98. Of the Statute of the Staple 2 H. 6. and the Resolution of the Judges upon it Pais du Roialm P. 90. Salve la Prerogative le Roy. 3 H. 6. c. 4. P. 90. P. 91. 1 H. 7. Note Ireland not named yet the Courts in Ireland certainly included 1 H. 7. f. 3. Come bill fait en temps le Roy que ore est P. 92 93. Vid. Brook tit Parl. sec 90. P. 118. Is Ireland's being named in an English Act of Parliament the least step towards the obtaining the consent of the people of Ireland P. 157. P. 155. a P. 105. b From 33 H. 8. An. 1542. at soonest * P. 105. P. 65 66. P. 68. Object P. 79. P. 63 64. Vid. sup Davis f. 21. b. An. 1172. His politicks and seeming popular notions wrong and â—isapplyed P. 4. P. 150 151. P. 152. Hooker l. 1. sec 10. He adds P. 24. P. 20. P. 21. Vid P. 143. The People of England ought to be fully repay'd Prerog P. 166. P. 166 167. 3. C. 4. P. M. Vid. etiam Mr. M. p. 160. of the Staâ— 10. H. 7. P. 160. P. 170. P. 171. Pag. 172. Of the Consequence in relation to Taxes Pag. 88 89. Pag. 105. Of the uncertainty what Authority to obey Pag. 58. Pag. 16â— Of the supposed Inconvenience to England Vid. Glanvil de Seditione Regis vel Regni inter crimina lesae Majestatis Vid. Rot. Parl. temp E. 3. H. 5. ERRATA PAg. 5. Lin. 8. for have ' r. know ib. l. 14. r. grievous ib. p. 7. l. 9. for must r. might ib. l. 18. r. you represent p. 11. l. 26. r. and nature p. 12. l. 23. r. first expedition p. 29. l. 25. for will r. would p. 41. l. ult for none r. no Charter p. 62. l. 18. r. and that p. 63. l. 23. r. Jurisdiction which p. 64. l. 25. r. from p. 70. l. 5. r. would p. 87. dele voluntary p. 95. l. 11. r. H. 3. p. 104 l. 13. for the r. that p. 108. l. 6. r. here p. 112. l. 4. r. when p. 115 l. 12. dele chief â— 122. l. 20. r. carta p. 133. l. â— r. be then p. 134. â— 1. r. there then ib. l. 9. for me r. him p. 139. l. 9. for 1st r. 17th p. 144. l. 1. for that r. tho' p. 165. l. 15. r. Precedent p. 173. l. 21. r. Marchers p. 174. l. ult dele we p. 184. l. 24. r. consider only p. 195. l. 19. r. express p. 200. l. 4. â— Poyning's p. 201. l. 21. and 22. r. 1. As c. p. 202. l. ult r. who with his States p. 204. l. 23. for did r. does p. 212. l. 9. for there r. here
of his stile of Lord of Ireland in imposing Laws and a King upon ' em And I would gladly know what Irish Laws and Customs he swore to maintain Tho therefore I am as avers to the common Notions of Conquest as this Gentleman especially to the supposition that God in giving one Prince a Conquest over another THEREBY puts one in possession of the others Dominions and makes the other's Subjects become his Subjects or his Slaves as they come in upon conditions or at the will of the Conqueror Yet I must desire Mr. M. to explain those Acts of Parliament made in Ireland which not only seem to import that the Crown and Kingdom of England had made an absolute acquisition of the Land of Ireland but use that scurvy word Conquest An Act 28 H. 8. recites That the King's Land of Ireland heretofore being inhabired and in dâ—e obedience unto the King 's most noble Progenitors Kings of England who in the right of the Crown of England had great Possessions Rents and Profits within the same Land had grown into great ruin and desolation for that great Dominions Lands and Possessions had by the King's Grants course of Descents and otherwise come to Noblemen of England by whose negligence the wild Irish got into possession the Conquest and winning whereof in the beginning not only cost the King 's noble Progenitors but also those to whom the Lands belong'd charges inestimable and tho the King's English Subjects had valiantly opposed the Irish yet upon their absenting themselves again out of Ireland the Natives from time to time usurped and encroached upon the King's Dominions and particularly that the Earl of Kildare with his accomplices endeavour'd to take the Land of Ireland out of the King's possession and his Heirs thereof for ever to disherit For these and divers other hurts and enormities like to ensue to the Commonweal of the Island in respect of the inestimable Charges which the King had sustained and apparently had occasion to sustain for and about the conquest and recontinuance of the same out of his Enemies possession tho the King had right to all the Lands and Possessions there referr'd to and tho he might justly insist upon the Arrears of two parts of the Land of those who had absented themselves which might amount to more than the purchase of 'em it vests in the King and his Heirs as in the Right of the Crown of England only the Lands of some particular persons The Stature of the Queen attainting Shane Oneile speaks of populous rich and well-govern'd Regions wealthy Subjects beautiful Cities and Towns of which the Imperial Crown of England had before that time been conveniently furnished within the Realm of Ireland which after being lost had been recontinued to the Queen 's quiet possession But the Rebel Shane Oneile refusing the name of a Subject and taking upon him as it were the Office of a Prince had enterprized great Stirs Insurrections and horrible Treasons against her Majesty her Crown and Dignity imagining to deprive her Highness her Heirs and Successors from the real and actual possession of her Kingdom of Ireland her true just and ancient Inheritance to her by sundry Descents and authentick strong Titles rightfully and lawfully devolved And having mention'd a Title from Gurmond the Son of Belin King of Great Britain says Another Title is as the Clerk Giraldus Cambrensis writeth at large of the History of the Conquest of Ireland by King H. 2. your famous Progenitor The Title to the Land then recognized was abundantly strengthned and confirmed by Irish Parliaments in the time of J. 1. and since In the Act of Recognition to J. 1. they tell him of his having quench'd the most dangerous and universal Rebellion that ever was rais'd in that Kingdom in the suppressing whereof the unreform'd parts of the Land which being rul'd by Irish Lords and Customs had never before receiv'd the Laws and civil Government of England were so broken and reduced to Obedience that all the Inhabitants thereof did gladly submit themselves to his Highness's ordinary Laws and Magistrates which gave unto his Majesty a more entire absolute and actual possession than ever any of his Progenitors had All Ireland being thus brought into subjection to the Crown and Laws of England K. James taking notice of Laws which had been made after the Conquest of that Realm by his Progenitors Kings of England to keep up the distinction between the English and the Natives of the Irish Blood that he had then taken 'em all into his protection and that they lived under one Law as dutiful Subjects of their Sovereign Lord and Monarch repeals those dividing Laws After this the Irish Parliament granted C. 1. four Subsidies rightly considering the vast and almost infinite expence of Men Mony Victuals and Arms sent out of England thither by the King and his Royal Progenitors for reducing that Kingdom into the happy condition wherein it then stood And sutably to the import of the word Conquest Acts of Parliament of that Kingdom in the Reign of that King shew that the Titles to Lands of the English Plantation or which they from time to time gain'd from the Irish were enjoy'd by Grants from the Crown and for securing the Estates to Vndertakers Servitors Natives and others all the Lands in several Counties commonly call'd Plantation Lands were vested in the King his Heirs and Successors in right of the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland The Stat. 14 15 C. 2. holds the Irish Rebels to be subdued and conquer'd Enemies and therefore vests all their Lands in the Crown of England in order to make satisfaction to the Protestant Adventurers for the reducing that Kingdom to its due obedience and to enable the Crown to extend Grace to such as should be held deserving of it Reprisals being first made to the Protestant Proprietors Tho therefore I am far from admiring the Lord Coke's reasoning in Calvin's Case I may here subjoin part of Mr. M's reflection upon him and refer him to the Irish Acts of Parliament to qualify his Censure of the Ld Coke's restriction of the Opinion in the Year-book 2 R. 2. that the Irish are not bound by Statutes made in England because they have no Knights of Parliament here which says the Lord Coke is to be understood unless they be specially named To this assertion Mr. Molineux admits he gives colour of reason by saying That tho Ireland be a distinct Dominion from England yet the Title thereof being by Conquest the same by Judgment of Law might by express words be bound by the Parliaments of England To confound the Lord Coke I would fain know says this Gentleman what the Lord Coke means by Judgment of Law Whether he means the Law of Nature and Reason or of Nations or the Civil Laws of our Common-wealths For answer to which I need at present only
Council it must have been provided will more fully appear afterwards I may here explain it by an Instance in that Reign All must agree that the Provisions of Oxford in the 43 d of H. 3. and referr'd to in the Records of the next year were made in as true a Parliament as any in that Reign before the 49 th 't is call'd a Parliament by good Authors and the word is used in the Records of the next year in relation to a meeting on the Borders of Wales The Ordinances and Provisions made at Oxford were drawn up by 12 chosen by the King and 12 by the Commons concerning which the Record has these words Anno ab incarnat domini 1259. Regni autem H. Regis fil Regis J. 43. in quindena St. Mic. conven ips domino Rege magnatibus suis de communi consilio consensu dictor Regis magnatum factae sunt provisiones per ipsos Regem Magnates In the year from the incarnation of our Lord 1259. but of the Reign of K. Henry Son of K. John the 43d the said King and his great Men being assembled in the Quinzism of St. Michael Provisions were made by the Common Council and consent of the said King and great men And yet some of the Entries in the same Roll mentioning Provisions then made are per magnates nostros qui sunt de consilio nostro By our great Men of our Council Others Per magnates de Consilio meo By the great Men of our Council As if 't was by the sole Authority of the King and such noble Men as were of his Privy or Private Council wheâ— those Provisions were certainly made in full Parliament and this was the Council from whence Ireland then receiv'd its Laws However from a Charter in the first of that King's Reign Mr. M. would infer that the English there had their independent Parliaments then established or confirmed tho he afterwards admits that during that King's Reign they might have been bound by Laws made here for want of a regular legislature establish'd amongst them The Charter or rather Writ with which a Charter was sent runs thus Rex Archiepisc Episc Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus omnibus fidelibus suis per Hiberniam constitutis salutem fidelitatemvestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino Patri nostro semper exhibuistis nobis estis diebus nostris exhibituri volumus quòd in signum fideliâ—aâ—is vestraetam praeclarae tam insignis libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae à patre nostro nobis concessis de gratiâ nostrâ dono in Regno Hiberniae gaudeatis quas distinctè in scriptum reductas de'communi consilio omnium fidel nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas Sigillis Domini nostri G. Apostolicae sedis Legati fidelis nostri Comitis Mareschalli Rector is nostri regni nostri quia sigillum nondum habuimus easdem processu temporis de Majori consilio proprio Sigillo signatur Teste apud Glost 6. Feb. The King to the Archbishops Bishops Earls Barons Kts. and all our faithful Subjects constituted throughout Ireland Health Commending your fidelity in the Lord which you always shewed to your Lord our Father and are about to shew to 〈◊〉 in our days we will that in sign of your fidelity â—o remarkable so eminent you enjoy in our Kingdom of Ireland the Libâ—rties granted to our Kingdom of England by our Father us which distinctly reduced into Writing we send you by the Common Counsel of all our faithful People Sealed with the Seals of the Lord G. Legate of the Apostolick See of our faithful Subject W. Earl Marshal Regent of us and our Kingdom because we have not yet a Seal intending in process of time by consent of a greater Counsel to seal them with our own Seal Teste at Gloster 6. Feb. How specious soever this may seem 't will neither prove Ireland to have been a Kingdom so early nor to have had a grant of the English Liberties in the same manner as the English enjoyed them that is so as to have no Law imposed upon them without their express and immediate consent to that very Law For 1. 'T is not to be suppos'd but that if Ireland had been a Kingdom before this Charter H. 2. and other Kings of England would have stiled themselves Kings of Ireland rather than Lords because of the greater Dignity of Kingship unless Lord was chosen as implying more absolute Power which would argue that Ireland did not enjoy the English Laws with equal Freedom 2. This Writ mentions no Liberties granted to Ireland but what had been granted to England which besides the improbability that Ireland should 1 H. 3. have a Charter of the same form with that which did not pass in England till 8 Years after shews the spuriousness of the suppos'd Charter preserved in the red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin as dated the November before the Charter sent the 6th of February and however the constant method of sending Laws from hence to be applyed to the use of the Irish without any alteration may sufficiently detect that Charter which has the City of Dublin instead of London 3. The method of sending to Ireland the Laws made here besides what appears upon the face of the Record 6. Feb may satisfie any Body that 't was only a Writ which went along with a Charter or Charters of Laws passed in Parliament here 4. This Writ was before any confirmation of the English Liberties by H. 3. other than general at his Coronation and therefore bating such Confirmation the Charter of Liberties then sent into Ireland must have been King John's which if it be read according to the due distinction of Periods and that Translation which the course of Records both before and after enforces and which the prevalence of Truth has obliged Dr. Brady to yeild to the giving up his whole Controversie with Mr. Petyt and the Author of Jani Anglorum Facies Nova makes express Provision for the City of London all Cities Burroughs and Vills of the Kingdom of England to enjoy all their Liberties and Free-Customs and among the rest to be of or to be represented in the Common Council of the Kingdom But Ireland had no City of London to claim this Privilege nor could any City of Ireland be included any otherwise than as part of the Kingdom of England and therefore subject to the Laws which should be made here 2. This could not be as extensive to Ireland as 't was to England since it could not have extended beyond the English Pale there and such particular Districts as enjoy'd the English Laws of special Favour Therefore the Charter then sent by H. 3. could as to this Matter be no more than a Memorial of that Supreme Law according to which England with all the Dominions belonging to it was
Concern it being for the encouraging of Purchasers and engaging the more Persons to a National Interest by Propriety in Land which till that time was in much fewer Hands because whoever purchased any part of an Estate had been liable to be charged with all the Rents and Services which lay upon the whole and there was one other necessary Provision against Alienations in Mortmain 4. The Precept to the Sheriff was to cause the Election to be made forthwith and to take care that the Parties were â—ound to be at Westminster by three Weeks after the Feast of St. John at the farthest The Day when the Parliament was holden was but 5 or 6 Days before which shews that 't is absurd to imagine that there should have been a Law made of that immediate consequence to all Owners of Land before the Knights of the Shire came up not only because they being obliged to be at Parliament by such a Day at the latest may well be supposed to have come 5 or 6 Days before the utmost extent of their time to avoid the Forfeitures of the Bonds which they us'd to give for their Appearance but chiefly because as 't is well known whenever a Law passes 't is in Judgment of Law held to have pass'd the first Day of the Session which Day might have been agreed at their former Meeting Nor is it absurd to believe that there might be a Summons to require the Sheriffs to secure Full Parliaments even tho the Days of Meeting and of Elections below might have been certain The true reason why so few Writs of Summons of those early times are to be found seems to be that once at least in a Year the Parliaments met of course The Confessor's Law speaks of the Calends of May as the fix'd Day In the 1st of E 1. the Custos of the Realm as appears above in the King's Absence issued Writs tho not for Elections to Parliament yet returnable into the Parliament to be holden next after Easter without mentioning any Day as if 't were commonly known but no Parliament being holden soon after Easter because of the King 's being out of the Land a Return into a Parliament appointed to sit after the King 's Landing was to a Day certain But that at the beginning of E. 1. the time of holding a Parliament was look'd upon as so fix'd that there was no need of Summons appears by that King's Letter to the Pope 3 E. 1. referring him to the Deliberation of the Peers of the Kingdom in a Parliament which used to be holden in England about the Octaves of the Resurrection of our Lord. 5. If the mention only of the Instance of the Great Men or Nobility be an Argument that the Law was then made before even the Knights of the Counties came up tho Summoned to Consult and Consent the many Laws which have pass'd immediately upon the King's Answer to the Petition of the Commons would argue as strongly that those Laws were made without the consent of the Lords but as in such case either they were included as part of the Community of the Kingdom or else the King answered by their Advice So at the making the Statute 18 E. 1. either the Commons were under the Word Magnates as the lower Nobility or Men dignified by being Senators or else the Great Lords finding themselves chiefly agrieved as being unable to pay their Debts because none would buy their Lands this Law might have pass'd chiefly â—t their desire But then since 't is manifest it was in Parliament 't was by the Consent of the Commons but I rather think that the Commons were then included under Magnates becâ—â—â—e I find them so in Times after thâ—s and that Petitions were made to them with as high Ascriptions as were given to the Great Lords In the 1st of E. 3. a Statute was made as one Record has it by the Common Council of the Kingdom as another by the King the Prelates Earls Barons and the Commonalty of the Realm and yet an Historian well conversant in the Records and common acceptation of Words in that Time speaking of this very Parliament and of the Queen Mother's coming to London with E. 3. her Son says Thither also Convened the whole Nobility of the Kingdom having been before Summoned to the holding a Parliament In after Times there are numbers of Petitions to the House of Commons from Persons of Quality from the City of London and others To the a Most Honourable or Right Honourable and Most Wise the Commons in this present Parliment Assembled The Honourable and Most Wise and the like c But some who will admit that the Knights of the Shire who indeed are in many Records call'd Grands of the Counties were part of the Magnates 17 E. 3. will have it that the Citizens and Burgesses were not because 1. They in those Times used to be distinguished by the Name of Commons from the Knights of the Shires 2. There 's no mention of any Summons tothem in the Records of 18 E. 1. when there was to the Knights of the Shires But for a full answer to this I desire it may be considered 1. That the Meeting 17 E. 1. appears by the Statute then made to be a Parliament that Dr. Brady himself has yielded that the Cities Boroughs and Cinque Ports and Vills had by King John's Charter right to be of the Common-Council of the Kingdom which is the Phrase most generally used in the Ancient Register of Writs to denote a Parliament 2. There were Boroughs long before the reputed Conquest As for instance St. Edmund's Bury or Burgh made a Borough in the Time of King Edmund confirmed in the Reigns of Cnute the Confessor W. 1. and other Kings 3. Boroughs frequently occur in Dooms-day Book that great Survey taken in the Reign of W. 1. and are mentioned as such in the Time of Edward the Confessor 4. No one Charter of ancient Times since W. 1. can be found giving any Borough right to send Members to Parliament but that has seem'd the consequent of being a Borough having a Gild for Merchandize and answering to the King or other chief Lord as one entire Body upon which account they appeared by Representation while individual Tenants were in the great Councils upon their Personal Right 5. That for asserting the Right of Boroughs to be represented in Parliament it generally was enough to plead that they were Boroughs yet one instance at least is to be found within two Reigns after the time of our present enquiry where a Borough Pleads or Alledges in Parliament that they had been made a Borough in King Athelstan's time and ever after had been represented in Parliament by two Members of their own chusing and this the then Parliament or the King's Council in it were so far from thinking improbable that upon that Borough's Allegation that the Charter