thus we see that how great soever that Jurisdiction was which the King in Parliament granted to his Son Iohn he yet remain'd no more than a Subject of the Kingdom of England and was treated accordingly in his being Try'd and Condemn'd by the Laws thereof Moreover it may be noted that upon his accession to the Imperial Crown of England whatever Feudatory Royalty he had before became now merg'd and extinguisht in his own Person which by reason of it's being Head and Supream could not at the same time be capable of any Feudatory Subjection so that there was an absolute determination of the Former Grant which could not agâ—in be reviv'd but by a New Donation upon another Person I hope I have now so far remov'd this main Pillar of Mr. Molyneux's Structure that I may take the Liberty as often as I shall have Occasion hereafter to deny positively that King Iohn was ever made absolute King of Ireland without any Dependance on England Here Mr. Molyneux had brought his Argument up to a pitch and concluded us under a perfect real Seperation and thus he puts it upon us let us suppose That King Richard had left Issue whose Progeny had governed England and King John 's Progeny had governed Ireland where then had been the Subordination of Ireland to the Parliament or even to the King of England Certainly no such thing could have been then pretended But this is but a Supposition and fit for none but People of his size who take up Matters by Appearances and Presumptions and assume the Confidence from thence to be positive in their Assertions giving no allowance for the possibility of being mistaken But we need not suppose in this matter but may be confident that the Supream Authority over Ireland must always have continued in the Kingdom of England as it does at this day and he hath made nothing appear to the contrary De non apparentibus non existentibus eadem est ratio Yet I cann't but remark how he enjoys himself in this Supposition when he thought he had gain'd his Point Where then had been the Subordination if any such there be it must arise from something that followed after the descent of England to King John for by that descent England might as properly be subordinate to Ireland as the Converse because Ireland had been vested in King John twenty two Years before his accession to the Crown of England Yes and 't was the ancienter Kingdom too Is it likely that King Iohn who had not before thought so well of his Kingdom of Ireland as to make it his residence but chose rather to remain where he was but a Subject when he was now become a real King of England should be so far taken with the Fancy of the ancientest Kingdom if it were so as to put the greater and by many degrees the more powerful more pleasant and more civiliz'd Kingdom in subordination to the less which was then of no Power or Consideration in the World and that he should be better pleas'd with the Stile of Lord of Ireland and King of England than that of King of England and Lord of Ireland or is it likely that England who in that very Age had subdued Ireland and added it to its Empire should now be contented to submit it self and become subordinate to Ireland so as that the Administration of the Government there should direct the grand Affairs of England is not this perfect Jesting and Fooling with Argument But he tells us If perhaps it will be said that this Subordination of Ireland to England proceeds from Ireland 's being annext to and as it were united with the imperial Crown of England by several Acts of Parliament in both Kingdoms since King John 's time This is well acknowledged for it makes out clearly that Ireland is a Kingdom as firmly united to the Kingdom of England as the Legislature of both Kingdoms could do it If he would yet distinguish between the Imperial Crown as his words are and the Kingdom I have shewn before how there cannot be any such distinction in England But though in the former Passage of Iohn's being created an Independent King by Act of Parliament he shews himself to be quite overseen and blinded by his depending so much upon it through the rest of his Argument yet he perceives plainly that a fair Inquiry into this Annexing will not turn to account for him and therefore although he is not wanting to be very particular and exact in his Numerous Quotations of other Authorities yet here he is cautious of imparting any further Light into this matter than just to tell us there are several such Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland Surely these English Acts might be said to be binding upon Ireland and therefore too they must be conceal'd and we shan't have one Word of them anon when he pretends to reckon up all those Statutes that the English Parliaments have made to affect Ireland And I cann't find that he meddles with it any more tho' he says that He shall enquire more fully hereafter how this operates But for the present he only tells us That he conceives little more is effected by these Statutes than that Ireland shall not be alien'd or seperated from the King of England who cann't hereby dispose of it otherwise than in Legal Succession along with England and that whoever is King of England is ipso Facto King of Ireland and the Subjects of Ireland are oblig'd to obey c. Doth not this strongly assert the Parliamentary Authority If he had said that it should not be alienated or separated from the Kingdom he had spoken English and set the matter right but if he will insist upon so fine a Conceit as to divide between the Political Capacity of the King and the Kingdom if it be not bad English is however Language that cann't be understood in England Now he tells us of King Iohn's going again into Ireland about the Twelfth year of his Reign of England where above Twenty little Irish Kings did again do Homage and Fealty to him and he constituted the English Laws and Custâ—â—s among them placing Sheriffs and other Ministers for the Administration of Iustice to the People according to the English Laws This is a further Proof of the intire Resignation and Submission of the Irish to the Government of England He goes on King Henry the Third his King Iohn's Son in the first year of his Reign granted to Ireland one or two Magna Charta's but he owns that 't was by the Advice of his English Privy Council Let it again be Observ'd that this King did not transact this Matter by any seperate Authority but did it in his Privy Council which is exactly according to our Constitution and that being the same Method in which all the Administration of the Government of the Kingdom of England was directed it shews that those Kings govern'd
every way like to those in England and that they make and Change Laws by the Authority of this their Parliament and therefore the Statutes which are made to bind in England do not bind them because they have no Representatives here in the Parliament of England But 't is always to be understood that this the Laws made in the Parliament of Ireland must only have relation to that Country and to such Matters as are transacted among themselves therein But they the People of Ireland are in their Persons Subjects of the King and Kingdom of England and as Subjects they shall be oblig'd not to do any thing out of that Country against Statutes made in England to prohibit them like as the Inhabitants of Calais Gascony Guien c. while they were Subjects and they shall be obedient to the Admiral of England in all things done upon the High Sea In like manner also a Writ of Error upon Iudgment given in Ireland lyes from the Court of King's Bench in England I Confess this Opinion is oddly worded but I shall make no further Comment upon it here having Occasion to speak at large to it in another place where it will appear whether the Sense which I have put upon it may not be more agreeable both to the passage it self and to the Opinion which we shall afterwards find the Lord Chief Justice Cook gave of it than to that turn which Mr. Molyneux hath given it But he Notes upon it that upon a second Consideration of this Case before the Judges in the Exchequer-Chamber the 1st Hen. 7. Hussey the Chief Justice gave his Opinion That the Statutes made in England shall bind those of Ireland which was not much gain-said by the other Iudges notwithstanding that some of them were of another Opinion the last Term. And he is offended at this Opinion and suggests as if 't was the Presence of the Chief Iustice that influenc'd those other Iudges which had not been of the same mind He Notes also That Brook in his Abridging this Case makes a Note upon it intimating thereby that Hussey 's Opinion was not reasonable Yet this is no more than Mr. Molyneux's Construction of this Intimation but if he had any such Scruple is it strange thing for Lawyers not to jump in their Opinions in some Cases yet it seems those that were present with Hussey and heard the Arguments were so far convinc'd as to become of his Mind without saying much against it But I cann't believe that Judges were so eaâ—ily to be influenc'd contrary to their Judgments by a Lord Chief Justice then more than now when we have seen Two of them persist in an Opinion against the other Ten. He Comments also upon the first Opinion in this Case and says that those Judges were not so concluding upon them as Hussey And they did almost seem to extend the Iurisdiction of the English Parliament over the Subjects of Ireland only in relation to their Actions beyond Seas Even this is handle enough for us to lay hold on for the doing whatever we shall think requisite for the preserving of our Commerce But he says This will appear unreasonable because by the same Argument Scotland may be bound by English Laws in relation to their Forreign Trade as they are the King's Subjects The Scots are Subjects of the King only as he is King of Scotland and we have no pretence to meddle in their Government but Ireland is upon another Foot 't is not an Independent Kingdom though it hath a Parliament it is not compleat in its own Jurisdiction but is subordinate to England and they can transact nothing of weight in their Administration without Orders and Directions from the Government of England all this I think is clearly made out already But he makes all the advantage possible of the words Personae eorum sunt subjecti Regis c. and tells us If being the King of England 's Subjects be a Reason why we ought to submit to Laws in relation to our Trade abroad which have not receiv'd our Assent the People of England will consider whether they also are not the Kings Subjects and may therefore by this way of Reasoning be bound by Laws which the King may assign them without their Assent in relation to their Actions abroad or Forreign Trade Or whether they had not been subjected to the King of France if our Kings had continued in the possession of that Country and then if France had been the strongest it might seem that the Subjects of England might have been bound by Laws made at Paris c. What a parcel of Argument is here I repeat so much on 't only to expose it 'T is evident that the Judges in their Opinion by the Words Subjecti Regis mean the same thing as if they had said Subjects of the Kingdom of England for they say afterwards that while they are Subjects they shall be under the Admiral of England c. If they had said the King's Admiral could we have thought of any other than the Admiral of the Kingdom Having Noted this Distinction I will say no more to the rest He tells us that In the Reigns of Edward the First and Edward the Third Knights Citizens and Burgesses were chosen in Ireland to serve in Parliament in England and that they have so served What and could Ireland be then a distinct and separate Kingdom Surely our Ancestors would scarcely then have admitted them to sit together with themselves in their Grand Senate I hope after this what I have before alledg'd of Ireland's haveing been always in the Condition of a Member of the English Empire ever since its first accession will never more be doubted They have been when the Circumstance of Time hath made it convenient admitted to send Representatives to the English Parliament and may again if our Parliament think fit He admits of the Acts made in the 17th of King Charles the First for encouraging Adventurers to raise Money for the suppression of the Rebellion there to be binding in Ireland but then they were made for their Good and afterwards when the Acts of Settlements were made by the Irish Parliaments these English Acts were made of no force which shews that they have a power of repealing such Acts made in England From hence 't is apparent that our Parliament have not been ready to exercise this Authority but when the Welfare of the Whole Body requir'd it and that they were then contented to take no Notice of such Alterations made by them which might be needful and of use to them and he hath reason to acknowledge their Tenderness to them in this respect But I believe these English Acts were not repeal'd and therefore this Instance will not maintain the Assertion which he raises from it That the Parliament of Ireland may repeal an Act pass'd in England in relation to the Affairs of Ireland The Acts of King Charles 2d
Reign Against planting Tobacâ—o in Ireland for encouraging Shipping and Navigation and for prohibiting the Exportation of Wool from Ireland to any Country except England He acknowledges Do name and bind them too so as they do not transgress them and he hath nothing to urge to take off their Efficacy but how rightfully this can be done is the Question I answer by that Right which as I have shewn before must be inherent in the Supream Legislature of the English Empire for conserving the Well-being of its Body The Acts of his present Majesties Reign he acknowledges To be such as the Necessity of the Time requir'd and to be made in their Favour but that these should be argued as a Precedent of their Submission and absolute Acquiescence in the Iurisdiction of the Parliaments of England over that Kingdom is what they complain of as an Invasion of their Legislative Right We have Reason and Precedents enough to vindicate the Just Authority of the English Parliaments in these matters and they are not under any neâ—cessity of dating this Power as commencing from the first of these Acts not over thirty seven years past so that he need not be concern'd to think that they can make any ill use of these Precedents But whatever this Gentleman's Principles may be his following Expressions seem very arrogant from a Person who at fiâ—st pretended to so much Submission but I hope the Body of the Protestants of Ireland understand their Duty and their own Interest better than to Offer at throwing off the Authority that the Kingdom of England hath for so many Ages had over them and I doubt not but they will believe The hazard of doing it would be much greater than any inconvenience they have ever found in England's way of Protecting them We are now come to his Fifth Article viz. The Opinion of the Learned in the Laws relating to this Matter And he begins with the Lord Chief Justice Cook for whose Name he bespeaks a great deal of Respect although he treats him but somewhat roughly but this seems to be the Gentleman 's particular Talent He says the Lord Chief Justice Cook quotes many Authorities to prove that Ireland is a Dominion divided and separated from England and in particular the fore-mentioned Case of the Merchants of Waterford but he finds fault with him for citing it unfaithfully and brokenly The Chief Justice doth indeed abridge it and it seems by the alteration of the Words as if he had cited it by Head not transcrib'd it out of the Book which is a thing not unusual nor to be esteem'd a fault in such Authors if they give the passage its due weight and that I think he does as to the matter for which he quotes it but what he especially blames is that the Chief Justice upon the Words of the Report That the Statutes of England don't bind them Ireland adds in a Parenthesis which is to be understood unless they be specially named and that Herein he concludes magisterially so it must be this is my definitive Sentence without giving any other Reason It is not unusual for Men of this Judges Authority when they Note their Opinion transiently not to dilate upon it if that be not the Point they are directly handling yet Mr. Molyneux confesses that In another place he gives this Assertion a Colour of Reason by saying That tho' Ireland be a distinct Dominion from England yet the Title thereof being by Coâ—quest the same by Iudgment of Law mighâ— by express Words be bound by the Parliament of England But this doth but make the Matter worse with him He hath before enquired how far Conquest gives a Title But he would fain know what Lord Cook means by Iudgment of Law whether the Law of Nature and Reason or Nations or the Civil Laws of our Common-wealths in none of which senses he conceives will he or any man be ever able to make out his Position And now he gallops away with this that there 's no stopping him for two or three pages bespattering the Chief Justice all the way and though there is a great deal of his sort of Reasoning in it yet I think it not worth the Readers Trouble to repeat more of it than That he conceives my Lord Chief Iustice Cook to have applyed himself so wholly to the Study of the Common Laws of England that he did not much enquire into the Laws of Nature and Nations else sure he could not have been guilty of so Erroneous a Slip. Nay This Assertion of his is directly contrary to the whole Tenour of the Case he cites for that very Act of Parliament on which the Iudges debated and which they deemed not to be of force in Ireland does particularly name Ireland so that here again Lord Cook 's Error appears most plainly Well if he 'll be but a little Cool we may deal well enough with him in this Matter too wherein he thinks he hath so much advantage But now after all Mr. Molyneux's Inquiries he hath not said enough to Convince me that the Lord Chief Justice Cook is in the wrong to believe that England hath a Title to Ireland by Conquest Nay I do believe further of the Chief Justice's side that that Conquest hath given her so just a Title to all that Supream Authority which she pretends to hold over Ireland as that by Judgment or in Reason of Law her Parliaments may bind Ireland if nam'd in the Law and that she is warranted therein by the Laws of Nature Reason and Nations the Civil Laws of particular Common-wealths I don't understand and also by the Fundamental Laws of the Original Constitution of the English Government and I have already endeavoured to make out this Position so clearly that I shall say no more to it here but leave the Matter referr'd to the Reader 's Judgment The Censure which he passes upon so venerable a Person as the Lord Chief Justice Cook that he must be very little acquainted with the Laws of Nature and Nations should methinks but ill become a Writer so little known in the World as Mr. Molyneux especially when in this first Essay of his he hath discovered much more of his Assurance than Judgment But now to Vindicate the Chief Justice from the gross Errors with which he Charges him we must look back again upon the Opinion of the Judges in the Exchequer-Chamber as he hath deliver'd it in Page 90 91. They were Consulting whether the Staple-Act made in England could bind the People of Ireland they argue after this manner Ireland hath a Parliament of its own which makes Law 's for the ordering Matters among themselves and therefore the Statutes made in England don't bind them by which they must mean such Statutes which are made in general Terms and for the particular Occasions of England for 't is plain that what they intend when they say that The People of Ireland
AN ANSWER TO Mr. Molyneux HIS CASE of Ireland 's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England Stated AND His Dangerous Notion of Ireland's being under no Subordination to the Parliamentary Authority of England REFUTED By Reasoning from his own Arguments and Authorities Rom. 12. 3. For I say through the Grace given unto me to every Man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think c. Gal. 6. 3. For if a Man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself LONDON Printed for Rich. Parker at the Vnicorn under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange 1698. THE EPISTLE Dedicatory By way of PREFACE To the Modern English Nobility Gentry and Protestant Inhabitants of Ireland Right Honourable Honourable c. ALthough you are by far the least in Number you are yet to be esteemed as the much more considerable part of the Inhabitants of that Country in respect of your Power and the Authority which you bear there 'T is true that upon the first Subduction of the Irish Nation to the English Government the Laws and Liberties of Englishmen were granted unto them equally with the Colony of the Old English that were planted among them but as they were a people that had been always us'd to a sort of wild aud barbarous way of Living they did not affect to embrace the more Civiliz'd Customs and Manners of the English but for the most part kept themselves off from uniting and joining with them in the Management of the Government which by the Concessions made to them they might freely have acted in yet they continued as a distinct and separate people sway'd and influenc'd by their own petty Princes or Chiefs of Clans even to the breaking out into frequent Insurrections and Rebellions against the English Government which therefore continued all along to be chiefly administred by the Inhabitants of the English Pale And in this state the Affairs of Ireland remain'd until the Reformation of Religion from whence sprung such a Revolution as produc'd a great Change in the Administration of the publick Affairs there For after the Reformation had obtain'd in England the Ancient English of Ireland did generally remain of the Roman Communion and consequently when 't was found dangerous to continue them in the Execution of publick Trusts they also as well as the Irish of the â—ame Religion were in process of Time by the Influence and Authority of England utterly disabled from acting any thing in the Government of the State and 't is in their rooms that you have since succeeded and are therefore look'd upon and treated by England as the governing part and effective Body of the Kingdom of Ireland But when I came to consider Mr. Molyneux's Book I thought it very strange that he who design'd so Elaborate a piece in your Favour should yet give you no stronger a Title to the preheminence which you bear in that Country than what would devolve upon you from those Concessions which were anciently made to the Native Irish and Old English which as he would perswade us did amount to no less than the establishing them upon the Foundation of an Absolute Kingdom distinct and separate from the Kingdom of England and wholly Independent thereon the Consequence of which if it had been so would have stood you in very ill stead for as you cannot make any pretensions to such Concessions because you are not generally speaking descended from either of those People but their Progeny are still in being and acknowledged to be such all the Rights and Priviledges which Mr. Molyneux hath so strongly contested for should be due to them if the Case must be taken as he hath stated it and nothing can be more plausibly offered in their Iustification for the cutting the Throats of the Modern English than this Notion And Mr. Molyneux is so fond of â—ixing you upon this Old Foundation that â—e even disputes the possibility of their forfeiting or the reasonableness of our retractiâ—g those Concessions I believe indeed that he might forsee that if it should be admitted that the frequency of their rebelling and our reducing them by force of Arms did amount to a Reconquering of this their Independent Kingdom as he makes it that would have dissolv'd that ancient Concession and spoyl his Design of entailing it upon you However it be I think this sort of Title does naturally fall under an inextricable Dilemma For If Ireland was granted to the Native Irish and Old English as an Absolute Independent Kingdom and was never since re-conquered by England the Right of administring the publick Affairs of that Government under the King ought to remain in them since 't was never given up to you by their Consents and then they have no reason to consider you otherwise than as having no Title more than Usurpers and Oppressors and that you may justly be treated as such whenever they are in a condition to do it But if this Independent Kingdom hath been reconquer'd the former Concessions are actually dissolvâ—d and neither you nor they can have any more pretence to an Independent Kingdom until you can procurea New Grant for it And thus Mr. Molyneux in labouring to raise you higher than your proper Basis hath quite unhing'd you But I have yet no doubt of your being as well Entituled to the Power and Authority which you enjoy and exercise in that Country as any People in Europe are and that it is justly deriv'd to you from a much more certain Original than what Mr. Molyneux hath assign'd and I have therefore undertaken in the following Papers to controvert his Notion through every point and to shew in Opposition to his Arguments First That Henry the Second having subdu'd Ireland by the means of an English Army that Country came to be annex'd to the Imperial Crown or Kingdom of England but not to the Person of King Henry in any separate propriety from the Kingdom Secondly That the Subduing of Ireland by the people of England under the Conduct of their King Henry the Second was then esteem'd to be a Conquest and is much more to be accounted so than William the first 's acquisition of the Crown of England and that Ireland was thereby most certainly brought under the Iurisdiction of the Parliamentary Authority of England Thirdly That King Henry's Descent upon Ireland was a just Undertaking and that the intire submission of the People to the Government of England their receiving its Laws and being endoâ—'d in all the priviledges of Englishmen made them become a Member of and annex'd to the English Empire and gave England a just Title to exercise a perpetual Iurisdiction over them Fourthly That all the many Concessions made to Ireland empowering them to hold Parliaments c. can be understood no otherwise than that they should be enabled to devise and enact such Laws when Occasion required as were suitable to the Circumstances of that Country But
will never think the publishing a Book to the World which is little better than Sheba's Trumpet of Rebellion to be a fair way of stating Grievances but that 't is a part of their Business and their Glory when they think it worth their while to call such Authors to account for their Boldness I begin now with his Book which as near as possible I shall follow in order and for the Authorities which he hath quoted I shall leave them to him very little disturb'd but take them as he gives them whether they are right or wrong only making such Observations as may result therefrom or from his own Reasonings He begins with a very fine Complement again to the Parliament of England and then take upon him to give them Due Information in matters wherein as he says another People are chiefly concern'd and tells them that he could never imagine that such great Assertors of their own could ever think of making the least breach upon the Rights and Liberties of their Neighbours unless they thought that they had Right so to do and that they might well surmise if these Neighbours did not expostulate the matter and this therefore seeing all others are silent he undertakes to do but with the greatest deferrence imaginable because he would not be wanting to his Country or indeed to all Mankind for he argues the cause of the whole Race of Adam Liberty seeming the Inherent Right of all Mankind Now it seems from Children of the same Parent we are become another People and Neighbours the Irish may be said to be another People though they have not been very good Neighbours to us sometimes but the English we may justly challenge to be our own and not another People and we shall hardly admit them to be our Neighbours in such a sense as that we should transact with them in Matters of Government upon the same foot and at equal distance with our Neighbours of France Holland c. If they expect this from us I hope they 'll shew us the respect of sending their Ambassadours to us and do this Champion of their Liberties the Honour to let him be the first Can he think the Parliament of England will believe themselves to be civilly treated by him because of his fine Words when he is Suggesting to the World as if they acted so unadvisedly in their Councils as to proceed upon Surmises and to take upon them to do what they do but think they have a Right to when indeed they have none at all But doubtless Manking will ever have a higher Veneration for those August Assembles than to think them as subject to be mistaken in these Matters as one presuming single Gentleman But he argues for Liberty the right of all Mankind A Glorious Topick indeed and worthy of the utmost Regard especially from such great Assertors of it as an English Parliament But if People should ask for more then ever was their Due and challenge a Liberty of acting every thing they should think for their own profit thought it were to the Damage and Injury of others to grant this would be an Injustice and a sinful Liberty may as well be pleaded for such Expostulations as these are abominable and to assume such an equality with our Superiours as was never granted us is an Arrogance that might rather have been expected from 〈◊〉 Irish than an English Man And after all this 't is not enough for a Man to say If the great Council of England resolve the contrary he shall then believe himself to be in an Error and with the lowest Submission ask Pardon for his Assurance and he hopes he shall not be hardly censured by them when at the same time he declares his Intention of a submissive Acquiescence in whatever they resolve for or against Such Subjects as these as I have said before are beyond the Bounds of Modesty and cannot admit of any such Apologies He comes now to tell us the Subject of his Disquisition shall be how far the Parliment of England may think it reasonable to intermedâ—le with the Affairs of Ireland and bind up those People by Laws made in their House This is certainly a very odd stating the Question What need has he now to enquire since he knows already how for the Parliament of England have thought it reasonable to intermeddle Another Blunder as bad as this is his Talking of Laws made in their House Dotâ— he not know that our Laws are not made without the Concurrence of Two Houses and the Assent of the King also as the Third Estate But we will take his Meaning to be to enquire how far it may be reasonable for the Parliament of England to intermeddle c. and join Issue upon that Next he gives us fix Heads from which he undertakes to argue that they can have no such power For the First He pretends to give us the History of the first Expedition of the English into Ireland his Design being to shew That the first Adventurers went over thither yet with the King's License upon a private Vndertaking in which they were successful but that afterwards when King Henry the 2d came over with an Army the Irish generally submitted to him and received him to be their King without making any Opposition from whence he seems to suggest that Ireland subjected it self only to the King but not to the Kingdom of England But he should have considered that the Government of England was a limited Monarchy which was sufficiently acknowledg'd even by William the 1st commonly call'd the Conqueror in his Swearing to preserve the Liberties and Privileges of the People at his Coronation and confirming the same to them by his Charter and though he did indeed afterwards violate them in a greater measure than ever they had been before or since yet neither he nor his Successors did ever take upon themselves to be absolute Monarchs The great Power and Prerogative of an English King then can only be due to them as to the Supream Magistrate and Head of the Kingdom and not in any seperate propriety annext to their Persons as distinct from the Common-Wealth If then Henry the Second carried over an Army of English into Ireland it ought to be considered as the Army of the Kingdom for it is held as a Principle with us that no King of England may raise any Forces in this Kingdom but what are allow'd to be the Forces of the Kingdom I am not here arguing whether ever any King did or did not take upon him such an Authority but 't is sufficient for me to offer that he could not by right and according to this Authors own way of arguing what may not be done of Right ought not to be argued or brought into President if our Rights have at at any time been invaded and usurp'd upon this Nation hath had many Opportunities of Vindicating them and we do not believe that what we enjoy
as a Member of the greater Body and be held to obey all such Ordinances as are calculated for the Good and Welfare of the Whole If after this without any Breach made upon them on the part of the Greater they shall endeavour to withdraw themselves from the Subjection they have sworn to and shall take up Arms and commit Hostilities upon their Fellow-Subjects may not this be called a Rebellion in a settled Common-Wealth and have not the Municipal Laws of the whole Empire brought them under the Forfeiture of Life and Estate doth the being separated at a small or greater distance by Sea as Islands must be seperate them from continuing Members of the Common-Wealth to which they were once join'd If these things are to be brought in Question the English of England and Ireland both must have much to ansâ—er for to the Ancient Irish. Yet I am in no doubt but that the English have so fairly administred the Government as that they can well justifie themselves in all the Severities that they have been forc'd to exercise upon the Irish as justly drawn upon themselves by reason of their Râ—bellion Have we not always own'd them to be Freemen of England and allow'd them the same Privileges as English Men have they not been permitted to exercise all Offices Ecclesiastical Military or Civil with the same Freedom as English Men If since the Reformation the Roman Catholicks have not been suffered to act in the Government have not the Roman Catholicks of England been as much restrain'd Nay have not the Irish been much more indulg'd in the Exercise of their Religion by Connivance than those of England These Treatments towards them have given no Occasion to this Author to trouble himself so much in inquiring into the state of Slavery and the Terms that Just or Unjust Conquerors may or may not use for 't is not in the Case The Premises considered methinks he should grant us that some of the Disturbances the Irish have given us at least the Massacres committed upon their Fellow Subjects of our own Blood should not be reckon'd as fair warring between Nation and Nation but that they might very well be accounted as Rebellious and then why may not our subduing them give us the Title of Rightful Conquerors over them and if upon such delinquencies we had abridg'd their Posterity in some of those Privileges granted to their Ancestors upon their first coming in to us in Henry the Second's Time we had done no more than what he owns Conquerors commonly do And yet we have not put any such hardship upon the Posterity of those People for the fault of their Rebellious Fathers I know not that any Irishman quatenus an Irishman is at this day deny'd any of the Privileges that an Englishman can challenge if he be a Deliâ—quent or a Roman Catholick he is us'd no worse than all Englishmen that are in the same Circumstances If we have slain executed or banish'd the Persons of those that have been actually in Rebellion and seiz'd their Estates as forfeited this is no more than what he himself hath taken pains to prove may be done by the Laws of Nature or the Municipal Laws of Kingdoms Where 's then any room for Complaint or reason for his Elaborate Arguments on a Subject that does not concern us The Author by saying so much that directly reflects upon what hath been acted by the English in Ireland hath given me the Trouble to say thus much for the Vindication of them and among the rest I suppose his own Ancestors in their Conduct towards the Irish and to shew how well they have kept to the Original Capitulation on their part But I cannot end this Head without takeing Notice of his Remark that Even a Iust Conqueror gains nothing over those that conquered with him and fought on his side Why should he trouble the World with Arguments to establish a Position that no Body ever deny'd But if the Progeny of the Old English that serv'd under Henry the Second in the Conquest of Ireland have since joyn'd with the Native Irish in any Rebellion against their Mother Country their Crime is greater than that of the Irish and yet would he have us still treat them as Conquerors of our side when they are fighting against us Certainly this must forfeit all the Regard that was owing to them for the good Services of their Ancestors and justly entitle them to the same Treatment that is due to other Rebels Yet for all this If he or any Body else as he proposes claims the like freedoms with the natural born Subjects of England as being descended from them I know no body that will deny them to him if as I said before he be of Capacity and qualified as the Law now requires He may come here and even be a Member of our Legislature if he can procure himself to be chosen as many others of that Kingdom always are And let him for ever hereafter remember that we receive them and treat them all as equal Members of the same Body with our selves and if it be at any time requisite for the good of the whole that we should Enact any thing binding upon Ireland we do it not in respect of their Persons but in regard to that part of the Empire they live in and if I my self or any other Englishman should think it for my Interest to become an Inhabitant there I must be as subject to it as he is His Fourth Proposition is If a Conqueror just or unjust obtains an Absolute Arbitrary Dominion over the Conquered so as to take from them all that they have and to make them and their Posterity Slaves whether yet if he grants them Concessions bounding the Exorbitancy of his Power he be not obliged strictly to Observe those Grants I have shewn before that he had no reason to aggravate the Question to such Extremities in our Case because we have never pretended to exercise so Arbitrary a Power over the People of Ireland He goes on then To shew by Precedents Records and History What Concessions have been granted them by what steps the Laws of England came to be introduced into Ireland he would prove that anciently the Parliament of England was not thought to have any Superiority over that of Ireland And gives his Answers to what Obiections are moved upon this Head But I believe we shall find this as little to the purpose as the former He might have spar'd his pains in taking up so many Pages to convince us against all Objections that Henry the Second did establish the English Laws and Form of Government in Ireland that he gave them a Modus tenendi Parliamentum that an Exemplification of it made in Henry the Fourth's Time was extant Nay that They believe they have found the very Original Record of King Henry the Second and to give us so ample an Account through whose Hands it hath pass'd
it may be really so or may be not so for all its Venerable Ancient Appearance we can conclude with no more Certainty than he leaves it only we may believe from the Credit of the Arguments produced by his Nephew Samuel Dopping 's Father the Reverend and Learned Doctor Dopping late Bishop of Meath that this old Modus was found in the Treasury of Waterford by my Lord Longford's Grandfather My Reader may perhaps think me as impertinent in this Repetition but I do it to shew that I have in this abbreviated about nine of his pages which offers no more of Argument to the Matter than that Henry the Second settled the Kingdom of Ireland under the very same Coustitution of Governmâ—nt with England and this we should as readily have granted as he could have propos'd and 't is sufficiently to our purpose that he hath abundantly prov'd That all Ranks and Orders of the Irish did unanimously agree to submit themselves to the Government of the King of England That they did thankfully receive the Laws of England and swear to be governed thereby and I know not what hath releas'd them from any part of that Obligation to this day himself owning that There cann't be shewn a more fair Original Compact than this between Henry the Second and the People of Ireland and we have desired no more from them than that they should continue to be so governed He tells us It is manifest that there were no Laws imposed on the People of Ireland by any Authority of the Parliament of England nor any introduced by Henry the Second but by the Consent and Allowance of the People of Ireland and that both the Civil and Ecclesiastical State were settled there Regiae Sublimitatis Authoritate not only this but the manner of holding Parliaments also to make Laws of their own which is the Foundation and Bulwark of the Peoples Liberties and Properties was directed and established there by Henry the Second as if 〈◊〉 were resolved that no other Person or Persons should be the Founders of the Government of Ireland but himself and the Consent of the People who submitted themselves to him against all Persons whatsoever Was it fit for the King to have carried a Parliament about with him or because he had not a Parliament there must it follow therefore that their Authority could never have any concern in what was done The King was now abroad with the Forces of the Kingdom and 't is not to be suppos'd that his own Authority was not sufficient to make Terms with the Enemy if they submitted we do not pretend that the Power of our King is limited at that rate yet whatever Submission is made to his Person on such Occasions is doubtless virtually made as to the Supream Authority of the Kingdom and that I believe every Body will allow to be in our Constitution the King Lords and Commons in all whom the Legislature resides and not in either separate from the rest The King may be said to be vested with the Power of the whole in the Civil and Military Administration of the Government and yet whatsoever is acted or acquired under his Authority as King of England must doubtless be esteemed to be for the Account of the Nation and not in any Propriety peculiar to himself To talk then As if the Parliament had nothing to do in this Transaction and that King Henry the Second acted in it as if he were resolv'd that no other Person or Persons should be the Founders of the Government of Ireland but himself is Language not becoming an Englishman and I wonder that this Author could have so little Sense of what he was about when he said this for in the very next Paragraph but one he gives us an Instance which shews beyond all Contradiction that King Henry himself had no such Opinion of his own Seperate Authority And now he comes to the Matter and tells us that King Henry about the 23d â—ear of his Reign and five Years after his Return from Ireland creates his Younger Son John King of Ireland at a Parliament held at Oxford and that by this Donation Ireland was most eminently set apart again as a seperate and distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England and did so continue until the Kingdom of England descended and came unto King John after the Death of his Brother Richard the First which was about 22 years after his being made King of Ireland during which time and whilst his Father and Brother were successively reigning in England he made divers Grants and Charters to his Subjects of Ireland wherein he stiles himself Dominus Hiberniae and in some Dominus Hiberniae Comes Meritoniae by which Charters both the City of Dublin and divers other Corporations enjoy many Privileges and Franchises to this day We know that diâ—ers of our Kings have at several Times granted out Parcels of their Dominions to their Sons or Subjects and endowed them with many Royal Privileges yet always as Feudatories of the Empire after the same manner so much anciently practised in most Kingdoms of Europe such have been in England the Principality of Wales the Counties Palatine of Chester Lancaster and Durham and what was much less considerable than these the Isle of Man was given with the Title of King in Man which was more than King Iohn had which continues in the Earls of Darby at this day In like manner also have Proprietoryships been granted to the Settlers of Colonies in America in our time and such and no other was this Grant of King Henry the Second to his Son Iohn but what is very remarkable in this Case is that this Grant was made in Parliament Did ever Man so expose himself in Print what he hath been endeavouring to prove is that the Irish were never so conquered by Henry the Second as to give the Parliament of England any Jurisdiction over them and yet here he tells us that this same King Henry created his Son Iohn King of Ireland in a Parliament at Oxford which to word it in the Stile of this time is to say that about the twenty third Year of Henry the 2d an Act of Parliament was made at Oxford by which Iohn the younger Son of the said King was Created King of Ireland Is it possible to think upon a greater Instance in which the Authority of a Parliament over a People can be exerted than this of creating a King to rule them and that without ever asking their Consent and is it not plain from this that King Henry himself did never esteem the Submission of the Irish to have been made to him in respect of his Person according to this Author 's New Doctrine but in respect of the Kingdom which he govern'd otherwise why did he not make a King of Ireland by his own Authority rather than thus eclipse his Power and Right if he had it by submitting it to be
the King in those days could not remove at pleasure who had Authority to judge whether the King were present or absent Or does he think that when an Irish Appeal came before them these Judges could not meddle in it or if they did whilst the King was present they were all on a Suddain swallowed up or consubstantiated into the King or if they acted in his absence an Irish Cause would immediately transubstantiate them all four into the real presence of one King of Ireland in his proper Person But if this should be too gross to put upon Mr. Molyneux we must e'en resolve it t'other way and conclude that he thinks the Judges and Courts of Judicature are no part of the Political Government of England He hath abundance of other pretty Conceits how and which way this Business of the Writ of Error might come about and in what sense it may be thought to operate but I 'll leave him in the quiet and peaceable Enjoyment of them because I think it not worth while to trouble my self or the Reader more about them â— We may be sure he would not havâ— us to Conclude That if the King's Bâ—nch in Ireland â—e subordinate to the King's Bench in England that therefore it must follow that the Parliament of Irelaâ—d is subordinate to that of England and though as he sees we have a very good Argument for that a fortâ—ort yet what I have said before may satisfie him that we have other Demonstrations enough to assure us in the constant Subordination of that Kingdom to this besides the lying of this Writ of Error which the very Reason of the thing maugre all his Endeavours to shift it will evince that this preheminence must infallibly have been preserv'd to England from the first annexing of Ireland for after they were become obliged to be rul'd and govern'd by our Laws whether should they resort to have them explain'd but to that Authority that gave them I cann't omit observing how very pertinently He concludes this his Fifth Article with a Memorable Passage out of their Irish Statutes And that is the Act of Faculties made in â—â—â—land the 28th Hen. 8. reciting a former Act in the Praeamble of which 't is declar'd That this your Graces Realm Recognizing no Superiour but your Grace hath been and yet is free from any Subâ—ection to any Man's Laws but only such as have been devised within this Realm for the wealth of the same or to such others as by sufferance of your Grace and your Progenitors the People of the Realm have taken at their free Liberties by their own Consent and have bound themselves by long Use and Custom to the Observance of c. Now this very Declaration with the other Clauses of the said English Act is Verbatim recited in the Irish Act of Faculties Behold the mighty force of this Argument The People of England did in an Act of Parliament make a Declaration of their ancient undoubted Rights and Liberties proper and peculiar to their own Constitution The Parliament of Ireland pass the same Act there and take upon them to ape the very Words of this Declaration in their Act though the same could not be proper or rightly applicable to the Circumstances of their Constitution for the Laws given them at first from England were never devised within that Realm therefore the People of Ireland cannot be under any Subordination of the Parliament of England And now he 's come to the 6th and last Article viz. The Reasons and Arguments that may be further offered on one side and t'other in this Debate And here Mr. Molyneux opens a very diverting Scene but fitter for Ridicule and Disdain than Argument He tells us There remains another pretence or two for this Subordination to be considered and one is founded on Purchase 'T is said that vast Quantities of Treasure has been spent by England from time to time for reducing Ireland which has given them a just Title at least to the Lands of the Rebels and to the Absolute Disposal thereof in their Parliament according to the Examples in Forty One and the late Rebellion in this Reign I am sorry that he has so little sense of the great Benefit which the Protestants of Ireland have receiv'd by the interposing of the English Power in their Favour 'T is not to be disputed that the late King Iames had all the Haereditary Right that was entail'd upon their Independent as he terms him King Iohn and although he had Abdicated the Crown of England yet by this Gentleman's Notions he had still an undoubted Title to the Kingdom of Ireland which he came to possess by the assistance of a very considerable Power from France and if Mr. Molyneux's Doctrine be sound could any body then blame the Irish and Old English of his own Religion to join with him in the asserting his ancient Right to that Kingdom For my own part I must own that I know no other Reason that can justifie us in our engaging in that War for the Recovery of Ireland than the Old English Principle that Ireland was our own as an inseparable Member of the English Empire and I am sure all the English Protestants of Ireland were then glad to have us assert that Right or else their fair Estates in that Country must have left the greatest part of them to go a Begging at this day unless perhaps they could have reconcil'd themselves by turning Papists it being well known that they were so far from valuing themselves upon their own Strength that excepting that Gallant and Resolute Resistance made by the People of the North at London-Derry and Inniskilling they gave up all and generally meaning the People of Note fled to England though many are of the Opinion that they might have done more for themselves than they did if they had staid Thus were their Estates lost to them beyond hopes of Recovery but by the strength of England Indeed when we had sent over an Army some of them went back again and together with those that remain'd in Ireland did expose themselves and acted a fair part in the War yet all they were able to do was so inconsiderable in regard of the whole Management of the War that I believe it won't be pretended that we were made Masters of Ireland one day the sooner for their help The vast Charge of an Army Aâ—ms Artillery Ammunition Provision Shipping c. all this have we born and paid for by raising Taxes upon our own Estates when we knew they were not able to Contribute any thing themselves and after all this what of a Man can have the Impudence to dispute with us whether we have any Right to the forfeited Estates in Ireland If the Kingdom of England hath no just Jurisdiction over Ireland I will affirm that the Irish were in no Rebellion but were in the Exercise of the Natural Allegiance and in the Discharge of that Duty which
by our Municipal Laws and it does indeed look oddly enough in him to Controvert this with us before we are repaid one Farthing of a vastly greater Expence and tell us here 's an Example in Point for us Such Treatment as this would raise the Blood of an Englishman and though a fitting Modesty and Regard to my Reader doth restrain me from venting the Resentment due to so great an Indignity put upon the English Nation yet I hope I may be indulg'd to imprecate upon my self if ever I should discover so little Thought as to make use of Examples highly reflecting upon my Superiours and yet no way agreeing with the Fact in hand may I be Censured for an Eternal Blockhead and condemn'd to wear my Book affixt on my Back as a perpetual Badge of my Insolence and Folly I am weary enough of this Head of Purchase and yet I will take the pains to transcribe the last Paragraph on 't from end to end He says 'T is an ungenerous thing to vilify good Offices I am far from doing it but with all possible Gratitude acknowledge the mighty Benefits Ireland has often receiv'd from England in helping to suppress the Rebellions of this Country to England's Charitable Assistance our Lives and Fortunes are owing But with all humble Submission I desire it may be Considered whether England did not at the same time propose the preventing of their own Danger that would necessarily have attended our Ruine if so 't was in some measure their own Battails they fought when they fought for Ireland and a great part of their Expence must be reckon'd in their own Defence If Mr. Molyneux had had a due sense of what he was saying he could never have so solemnly protested against the ungenerousness of Vilifying good Offices and yet in the next Breath attribute no more to England in what she hath done for them than just her helping to Suppress the Rebellions Is not this Vilifying with a Witness after we have Reduc'd Ireland and put them into the Possession of their Estates upon our own proper Cost and Strength to have it lessen'd to no more than a little Lending them a Hand at a dead lift and for which they are very willing to repay us in Words Why this is not worth his acknowledging with all possible Gratitude the Mighty Benefits they have received from England c. But after all this Mighty Hodge-Podge of an Harangue is but to tickle us into a good Humour that he may slyly usher in his Plea in Abatement of Damages and so pay us all off with the Flap of a Fox-tail It is to be Considered whether England did not at the same time prevent their own Danger and consequently in some measure fight their own Battels We have been pretty well us'd to this ungrateful Complement from others of his Countrey men who have been apt on all Occasions to reflect upon us that 't was not for their sakes but our own that we reduc'd Ireland only Mr. Molyneux like himself gives it us in finer Language What if we also have receiv'd some Advantage by this Reduction I should think that a People who had any due sense of Gratitude might remain so well Content with the great Benefit that accrew'd to themselves by the re-enjoyment of the Estates which they had lost as not to upbraid us with any such reasonable Convenience which we might draw from it without Prejudice to them Can they think it had been fit for us to engage in so mighty an Expence for no other Reason than to recover their Estates for them Well suppose we had thought fit only to fight our own Battails and when we had done to have bridled the Irish by strong Garrisons and had no reguard to have restor'd them to their Estates perhaps we might have as well secur'd our own Interest that way However the Tenderness we had for them how ill soever some of them seem to have deserv'd it would not suffer us to use so Severe a Policy which yet if we had practic'd from the beginning and kept our own People at home would have turn'd to much better account to us than if we should at last be so far overseen as to suffer a Colony of our own to Contest with us for our Trade But yet I am for Complying with Mr. Molyneux in this matter and I am content that a part of this Expence in proportion to the Benefit England shall be thought to have receiv'd by the Reduction of Ireland shall remain upon our Account but then I hope the vast advantage which immediately aocrews to the People of Ireland by the Recovery of their Lands and the fair time we have spar'd them from Contributing any thing may be thought justly to intitle them to the far better part of this Charge and if Mr. Molyneux can with as much Ingenuity find a way to pay it as he hath been ready to own it he will very much oblige the Government of England at a time when their own Occasions do so much want it So much for Mr. Molyneux's feign'd pretence of Purchase which can be but an Invention of some such pregnant Brain as his own for I never before heard that the People of England had set up any pretention for their Superiority over Ireland upon that foot such another is that which follows Another thing alledg'd against Ireland is this If a Forreign Nation as France or Spain for instance prove prejudicial to England in its Trade or any other way England if it be stronger redresses it self by force of Arms or denouncing War and why may not England if Ireland lyes cross their Interests restrain Ireland and bind it by Laws and maintain these Laws by Force He discusses this Point very gravely but since no Body ever thought of making this any Argument but himself and we never pretended to have so little to do with them as with France and Spain I 'll trouble my self no further about it but let it pass for a Meer Whimsie Mr. Molyneux tells us The last thing he shall take Notice of that some raise against them is that Ireland is to be lookt upon as a Colony from England Here he attempts to delude us with a falacious Argument but that is very easily solv'd by an Obvious Distinction If he would not have Ireland lookt upon as a Colony yet I believe there can be no Notion of a Colony clearer than that the English planted there are so in the strictest Sense and that I shall undertake to prove anon although he calls it The most Extravagant of all Objections against them and then without doubt it must follow that As the Roman Colonies were subject to the Laws made by the Senate at Rome so ought Ireland by those made by the great Council at Westminster I may add or any where else where our Parliament may sit to Enact Laws But he would not have this be thought To have the least Foundation
as Subjects of the King are oblig'd to act nothing out of that Country against the Statutes is of such English Statutes as name Ireland for the Subject of their Debate was about a Statute wherein Ireland was named These Judges of the Exchequer do here make two Conclusions that seem contradictory First They say our Laws don't bind them but that is in respect of things transacted within themselves wherein the Parliament of England don't meddle but then in the Second Place They say our Statutes did bind the People of Ireland in Matters not relating to what was done within themselves and therefore they Concluded that this Statute did because they were particularly named else there had been no such Dispute about it and this reconciles both these Conclusions Soon afterwards as is aforesaid when this Cause came to have a Second Hearing before the Judges in the Exchequer Chamber the Chief Justice Hussey declar'd That the Statutes made in England shall bind those of Ireland to which the other Iudges agreed without saying much against it But doubtless this Opinion is to be understood of such Statutes only which name Ireland and as to this Statute they all agree that it had its full Effect upon the People of Ireland Where then is this Erroneous Slip of the Lord Chief Justice Cook In repeating the Words of the first Opinion that Our Statutes don't bind them he Notes in a Parenthesis the Tenour of the latter Opinion unless they be especially namedâ— this is not contrary but agreeable to both the former Opinions how then doth he differ from them indeed the first Opinion says only that they should be obliged in matters done out of that Country But Hussey and Cook take no Notice of this Distinction but give their Opinion somewhat more General Cook infers that if Ireland be specially named our Statutes do bind them which still is not contrary to the Case which he cites for that entirely agrees with him excepting only in this difference he infers that Ireland is bound that asserts that the People of Ireland as Subjects of the King are bound the Case stands stated alike to both 't is if they are named in an English Statute If this Distinction will do Mr. Molyneux any good let him enjoy it for me it sufficeth if I have shewn that the Lord Chief Justice Cook 's Assertion is not directly contrary to the whole Tenour of the Case which he hath cited He Notes that the English Statutes don't bind Ireland unless they are specially named this Case shews that because Ireland was named in it those Judges were of the Opinion that the People of Ireland as Subjects were oblig'd to pay Obedience to this Staple Act as far as it required I see therefore no contrariety to it in this his Assertion but a great deal in that of Mr. Molyneux where he says 'T was the Vnanimous Opinion of all the Iudges then in the Exchequer Chamber That within the Land of Ireland the Parliaments of England have no Iurisdiction whatever they may have over the Subjects of Ireland on the open Seas I appeal to the Words of the Opinion whether it denies that the Parliament of England hath any manner of Jurisdiction within the Land of Ireland there 's nothing in it so positive if it says that Ireland hath a Parliament within it self it Notes also that 't is only for ordering of Matters fit to be transacted among themselves If it says that the Statutes in England don't bind them because they have no Representatives there it may well be understood of such Statutes that are directed for the particular Occasions of England wherein Ireland is not named it doth not in the least offer at the denying the Jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England in naming Ireland for it directly concludes them to be Subjects of the King which cannot be meant in any separate Sense from the Kingdom because it says they shall be under the Obedience of the Admiral of England and the King hath no Admiralty or Navy distinct from the Kingdom Nay their quoting the lying of a Writ of Error in the Courts of Ireland after they had own'd them to have such Courts as well as a Parliament in the very same manner as those in England from the King's-Bench in England could be he here to no other purpose than to shew that England had Jurisdiction over Ireland in some Matters and certainly where England has any Authority at all it cannot be severed from the Supream Legislature But since he lays so much stress upon the Words Ad aliquam rem extra terram illam faciend though it is to be noted by the way that this Deliberation was upon a Statute respecting only matters to be done out of the Kingdom yet I 'll do him all the Reason possible and if I should take the Words in the strictest sense he puts them and grant that those Judges at that time had not considered the Matter further than to think that the Jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England did not extend to enact Laws binding within the Land of Ireland he must yet allow that Judges are sometimes mistaken in their Opinions and we do not admit their Sentences to have the force of Laws as neither will he himself the Opinions of the Lords Chief Justices Hussey and Cook if then the Reason of the thing as well as ancient Practice be quite otherwise as I hope I have sufficiently shewn in this Case we may very warrantably conclude this Opinion of these Judges to be Erroneous if they intended it in the same sense which Mr. Molynâ—ux takes it He hath not yet done with the Lord Chief Justice Cook but tells us That this Assertion is likewise inconsistent with himself in oâ—her parts of his Works where he says that the Laws of England had been granted to Ireland and thereby Ireland being of its self a distinct Dominion and no part of the Kingdom of England was to have Parliaments holdâ—n there as in England The Chief Justice might well say that Ireland had a distinct Dominion and Parliaments within themselves every Body must own it needful because of their being divided from England by the Sea that they might thereby be enabled to regulate Matters among themselves as the Circumstances of Time and Place should require May not the City of London be said to have a kind of a distinct Dominion and a sort of a Parliament held within themselves even after the Pattern of the Grand Parliament of the Kingdom the Lord Mayor after the manner of the King calls and dissolves their Assembly the Aldermen after once Chosen have Right of Session for their Lives as the House of Lords the Common Council-men resembling the House of Commons are chosen Annually by the Respective Wards like the Counties all these assemble in Common Council and there Enact Laws for the good Government of the Citizens which the Grand Parliament rarely if ever controul and though