that no Grant ever did or could make Ireland an Absolute Distinct Separate Kingdom and wholly Independent of England or invest it with such a supream Legislature as is inherent in the Head of the Government only which with respect to the Body of the English Empire can never reside any where else than in the King by and with the Advice and Consâ—nt of the Lords and Commons of England in Parliament assembled Fifthly That the Presidents and Opinions quoted by Mr. Molyneux do not by any means assist his Argument but do most of them support mine against him And Sixthly That his Reasons and Arguments offered on one side and t'other are as little to his purpose but that the English Settlements in Ireland always were and ever must be properly accounted as a Colony of England and hath ever been by her protected and supported as such By these Principles then and no other but such as these can the English be justify'd in their Conduct towards the Irish whereas if they had been an absolute distinct independent People the former and latter Disturbances they have given us could not have been Rebellions but were just Attempts to vindicate their Rights against a People that had without Reason violated them their Lands had not been legally Forfeited but forcibly taken from them against all Iustice and Reason and the Spilling of so much of their Blood must lye heavy upon those that provok'd them to take up Arms in Defence of their just Liberties and Properties Is it not much more for your Interest then to put this matter on the right bottom upon which our Actings towards them were always grounded by considering the Irish as a People that had been subdu'd and brought into Subjection to the English Government and were united to it in the Nature of a Province of its Empire and to esteem the English that have been settled there as a Colony of England which we were oblig'd to protect and defend against any Insults and Violences offered them by the Natives For this must justly subject them to the Forfeitures and Penalties due to Rebels vindicate us in the Severities we have exercis'd upon them support you in the possession of the Estates which were taken from them and return the the Guilt of all the Blood that hath been shed in the Irish Wars upon their own Heads as being the Aggressors These things are so Obvious that I believe there are many of you that can have no good Opinion of Mr. Molyneux's Book yet I am told that there are others and some of good Rank among you that are very fond of it does indeed with respect to you carry the face of a Popular Argument and is artfully written and he that can take the Latitude of advancing his own Imaginations and mistaken Conjectures with the Confidence of Realities and Certainties suggest Falsities with the utmost Assurance and omit Material Truths may impose much upon an unwary Reader especially if be thinks what 's offer'd is for his Interest Quod volumus facile credimus But any thoughtful Man that will give himself leave to Consider it impartially will find it to be one of the weakest and most mistaken Books that ever was written with such a flourish of Language and shew of Learning and Integrity The Story of King John's being made an absolute Independent King is the main Prop on which he lays the greatest stress of his Reasoning aud yet it proves but a meer Imagination The Writers indeed of these Times do say he was made King of Ireland but it looks but like a Complement to him for the Grant it self shews plainly that 't was but feudatory Donation and that 't was never intended to make him an Independent King because he was limited to use no higher Stile than that of Lord of Ireland Mr. Molyneux also deals very unfairly in many other particulars and it appears that he had more regard to the point he contests than to discover the genuine Truth of the matter for he hath not only stretch'd in favour of his Argument beyond what any Authorities can warrant but he has also conceal'd divers obvious Instances that make against him of which I shall observe to you some Particulars which have occur'd to me since I had gone through with my Answer I have accidentally met with Sir Richard Bolton's Statutes which he quotes wherein I Observe that there are several Acts that declare in most express Words that the Kingdom of Ireland is appending united knit and a Member rightfully belonging to the Imperial Crown of England And yet Mr. Molyneux observes this to us with such a Diminution as represents it but as it were united and which he conceives effects no more than that Ireland shall not be alienâ—d or separated from the King of England c. but I cannot imagine that he is so ignorant of our Constitution as not to know that we can have no Notion of uniting or annexing to the Imperial Crown of England as appropriated to the King's Person distinct from the Kingdom which if it can be sence any where else is yet perfect Nonsence in England But I have met with one Prevarication so notorious that I must not omit shewing it Mr. Molynex in page 41. hath these words For the Dominion and Regality of Ireland was wholly and separately vested in King Iohn being absolutely granted unto him without any Reservation And he being created King in the Parliament at Oxford under the Style and Title of Lord of Ireland enjoy'd all manner of Kingly Jurisdiction Preheminence and Authority Royal belonging to the Imperial State and Majesty of a King as are the express words of the Irish Statute 33 H. 8. cap. 1. I must confess that I believ'd that this Statute had been as express in the matter as he delivers it but 't is so far from it that there is no mention made of King John or his Grant in it The words of the Act are Forasmuch as the King our most gracious Sovereign Lord and his Grace's most noble Progenitors Kings of England have been Lords of this Land of Ireland having all manner of Kingly Jurisdiction Power Preheminencies and Authority Royal belonging or appertaining to the Royal Estate and Majesty of a King by the Names of Lord of Ireland We deny not that King Henry the Eighth's Progenitors the Kings of England had this Royal Sovereign Authority over Ireland but his Insinuation that John had it before he was King of England is plainly false and not warrantable by this Statute Again he mightily imposes upon the World in â—sserâ—ing That before the Year 1641. there was no Statute made in England introductory of a New Law c. but those which he had before-mentioned And though while I am dealing with Mr. Molyneux I confine my self to mention no Authorities but his own yet I will here presume for a proof of his Ignorance or Disingenuity to name some other old Acts binding Ireland which have been
done in Parliament and I think if I should stop here and give my self no further trouble to trace him through the rest of his tedious tho' shallow Arguments all impartial People would be satisfied in these Four Points That the ancient Irish did intirely submit their Nation to become a Member of and be united to the English Empire That the Parliamentary Authority of England hath ever obtain'd over all the parts of its Dominions That they have exercis'd this Authority over Ireland even from its first Union to this Kingdom and That the Irish understood their Submission in this sense and paid Obedience to this Act of an English Parliament without regret But since I have undertaken it I must go through with him This Creation however as barely mention'd by him is not Authority enough for Mr. Molyneux to conclude positively that By this Donation Ireland was most eminently set apart again he seems then to grant that 't was at first united as a â—â—parate and distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England He produces no Record for this nor any authentick Authority what he offers like Proof for this perfect separate Regality is only the granting Charters whilst his Father and Brother were reigning but that 's no more than what hath been commonly practic'd by other Feudatorys and proves nothing of Iohn's having an absolute independent Jurisdiction But he attempts further and tells us The very express words of the Irish Statute 33 Hen. 8th c. 1. by which the Style of Dominus was chang'd to that of Rex Hiberniae are And he meaning K. Iohn being created King in the Parliament at Oxford under the Stile and Title of Lord of Ireland enjoy'd all manner of Kingly Iurisdiction Preheminence and Authority Royal belonging unto the Imperial State and Majesty of a King Hitherto I have not disputed any of the Authorities quoted by Mr. Molyneux but here he must Pardon me if I tell him that if this will pass for an Authority in Ireland yet it will not with us 'T is only an Irish Act of Parliament made as late as Henry the 8th's time that presumes that K. Iohn did enjoy all manner of Kingly Jurisdiction c. without referring to any Record that was extant for proving that Assertion So that this Irish Act of Parliament is at most but a Presumptive Authority and therefore he ought not to think that we can be so far impos'd upon as without better Proof than so saying to grant that King Henry the second and King Richard the first disclaim'd all Title to the Dominion and Regality of Ireland as if the same had been absolutely without any reservation vested in King Iohn Besides even this Act of Parliament does not use the words Absolute and Independent But after all though none of these Proofs will stand good on Mr. Molyneux's side I 'le shew him that this whole Business undeniably proves on t'other side â—hat King Iohn could at best be made no more by this Donation than a Feudatory Kingly Lord as I have said before Mr. Molyneux hath told us that King Iohn in his Charters could not use any higher stile than that of Lord of Ireland can any Body believe that a Prince wholly and seperately vested in a Dominion and Regality absolutely granted unto him without any Reservation as he says King Iohn was would content himself with any lower Title than that of King unless he had been limited in it by a Superiour Authority and was not that like to be this Act of Parliament Can an Act of Parliament be said to make a King absolute and Indedendent when at the same time it keeps a reservation of the Title Is not this an Evident Demonstration that they would not suffer him to be Independent but that they laid that restraint upon him to shew that they would always retain in England the Supream Imperial Power over Ireland How does Mr. Molyneux know what Homage Rent or other Reservations were made doubtless all the Records touching it are lost and I presume he has nothing stronger for this positive Assertion of his than the Old Historians Gir. Cambrensis Rog. Hoveden Mat. Paris c. and they don't make out this Absolute Independent Title without any manner of Reservation Is it Sense to think that a People should conquer or intirely subdue a Countrey to themselves plant a Colony there and then but five years after give it clear away again never to have any thing more to do with it I would fain know what Regalia were granted to this absolute King The Kings in Man may wear a Leaden Crown I 'm afraid King Iohn was still but a Lord in that respect too and that he had no Crown at all given him else sure Mr. Molyneux if he could have found any would have told us on 't But what 's worse than all this is it possible for one and the same Man to be both an Independent King and a Subject at one and the same time It seems this Donation was not so absolute but that he was still to continue a Subject as indeed Feudatories must to the Sovereignty to which they belong to Old England and after all his absolute Kingship 't was his Misfortune to be try'd by his Peers not as King of Ireland but as Earl of Morton who found him guilty of High Treason and accordingly he was condemn'd but at the Intercession of the Queen their Mother King Richard gave him his Life I doubt this was enough to loose his Independent Title to the Kingdom of Ireland for that time unless Mr. Molyneux can find him out another Creation which I believe could not be without another Act of Parliament but there happen'd to be no need on 't for as he succeeded to the Crown of England Ireland came in again well enough in our Sense Yet further to put this matter out of all doubt 't is a Maxim not to be disputed that the Authority which grants must always remain Superiour to that which receives the Grant and therefore the Feudal Law determines that Homage and Fealty is inseparably annext to all such Grants And though Mr. Molyneux professes himself very well Learn'd in The Laws of Nature and Reason and Nations and the Civil Laws of our Common-wealths yet it seems he is altogether unacquainted with this Feudal Law and if he had been but as well read in the Practice of the World as to these things he might have been convinc'd that the many Feudatory Princes still remaining in Europe are not exempted from this Dependance The Princes and Hans Towns of the Empire if they are by length of Time grown up to a higher degree of Sovereignty and do not so immediately depend upon the Emperour who in his private Capacity was but Arch-Duke of Austria c. and but one of the Eight Electoral Princes yet they are still subject to the Supream Legislature of the Empire and the Imperial Avacatoria reaches them And
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
Mother Country must not be hindred from acting what they shall find necessary for the Common Good because of their absence even although it should respect themselves and this without depriving them of any their Just Rights because their Liberty and Privilege still remain'd to them of choosing their Representatives to the Supream Legislature and they might have exercis'd it if they had stay'd at home and may again whenever they 'll please to come in place They have indeed an Authority delegated to them from the Head to Enact such Laws in their Settlement as may be requisite for the Circumstance of that place but no such Privilege can ever be extended to rescind and abrogate their Allegiance and Subjection to the Head of the Empire But I shall come to Enlarge further upon this by and by And now to go on with Mr. Molyneux He speaks of two Acts made by the Parliament of Ireland viz. 10th Hen. 4. and 29th Hen. 6. wherein it was Enacted That the Statutes made in England should not be of force in that Kingdom unless they were allow'd and published there by Parliament It is not impossible but that in those days there might be some People there who were of this Gentleman's stamp for assuming as much power as they could right or wrong if they could but colour it under the specious pretence of their Ancient Rights and Privileges and they might think the Reigns of those two Princes a Favourable Conjuncture for such an Attempt The first of them got the Crown of England by his Sword and manag'd things as smoothly and easily as possible and perhaps never thought himself so secure as to exert the utmost Authority of his Government on every Occasion that might offer Henry the Sixth was a weak Prince govern'd and manag'd at different times by the two Factions of York and Lancaster from whence arise Civil Wars and his own Deposing A better time could never happen than during the Troublesome Reign of this King to attempt such Innovations But what if the Parliament of Ireland did enact a Law derrogating from the Authority of the Parliament of England could this abate any thing of that Right which England had before But 't is plain that if they did any such thing they did but think that English Acts of Parliament could not in any case bind Ireland for 't is certain both from the Reason of the thing and former Practice that in some Cases they might and did and even in the Second Year of this King Henry the Sixth as he quotes it the Staple Act expresly naming Ireland was made surely the Parliament of England must consist of much more Considerable Men than the Parliament of Ireland in those days could and they were most likely to know best what they had to do And it seems as if the People of Ireland themselves had no Opinion of the Validity of these invalidating Acts in Mr. Molyneux's Sense because they did not plead them in Bar of the Staple Act in the Case of the Merchants of Waterford which he gives us hereafter There is yet much more reason to believe that these Statutes were made on the very Occasion which he hints to remove Scruples or satisfie the Judges in relation to some Laws for the administration of Justice that were extant in England and they might have some doubt whether they ought not also to obtain there since the generality of the English Statutes were reciev'd in Ireland and therefore the Parliament of Ireland for the clearing any such difficulty for the future might possibly declare that such Statutes were not of force there 'till they had been establisht by them And I may easily grant him that the End and Intent of the Institution of a Parliament in Ireland was that as they were separated from England by the Sea they should have Authority to make and adapt Laws among themselves suitable to their own Circumstances and fit for the well-ordering of the Affairs of that Kingdom and therefore the Parliament of England did not think fit to impose upon them such Laws as were from time to time enacted suitable to the Occasioâ—s of the Realm of England but left the People of Ireland at Liberty to choose or refuse such as they thought fit and from this Reason it must be that so many of the English Statutes as he instances have been introduc'd into Ireland by passing them into Laws in their own Parliament The generous English Constitution doth not impose any Laws of this Nature or for raising Taxes upon any of the Subjects of their Dominions without their own Consent by their Representatives this is The Great Charter of English-men And because 't was thought that the People of Ireland could not conveniently send Representatives to the Parliament in Englaand they were therefore authorized to hold Parliaments among themselves for the tranâ—acting such Affairs we allow it to all our Colonies in America and even Wales after their submitting to the Government of England was not Taxt 'till they were admitted to send their Representatives to Parliament This I speak of such Laws which regard the administration of Commutative Justice regulating their own particular Affairs or raising Taxes But there is yet a higher kind of Law inherent in the Constitution whether it may be call'd the Law of Parliaments or the Common Law I leave it to Men of more Judgment in these Matters than my self to define it but I mean that which comprehends the Subjects of the whole Empire and must be of Authority to ordain certain Regulations which shall be binding upon the Whole in extraordinary Cases where the well-being of the Universality is concern'd England must be allow'd to be the Head of this Empire from whence all its Members do derive their Being and must depend for their Support and Protection the Riches which she attracts from the Benefit of her Forreign Trade is the only means she hath to support her Power and maintain such Fleets and Armies as are requisite for the Defence of all her Territories she must therefore prosecute all justifyable Methods for the preserving her Commerce and hath the utmost reason to restrain her Members from any prejudicial interfering with her in her Trade because this hath a direct Tendency to weaken her Power and render her incapable of supporting the great Charge of her Government For this end then or the like Extraordinary Occasions those Laws have been made by which the distant Dominions are bound and such have been the Acts of Navigation the Acts for hindering the Transportation of Wools from Ireland to Forreign Parts c. And though these Statutes are enacted when the Occasion requires yet they are not so much to be lookt upon as New Laws to use his own Expression as it were declaratory of the Supream Authority virtually inherent in and inseparably united to the Imperial Constitution and which hath been always exercis'd by this Kingdom and all other Governments that have had Colonies
their Jurisdiction be much less than that of Ireland yet it is a certain Jurisdiction so firmly establisht as that it 's held that it cannot lawfully be taken away or altered by any Power in England but the Supream Legislature and that it must stoop to and the same the Lord Chief Justice Cook says of this distinct Dominion of Ireland that notwithstanding it hath a Power Jurisdiction and Authority which is compleat within it self yet it must pay Obedience to the Supream Legislature of England whenever any Extraordinary Occasion shall make it needful for that to name it specially and therefore the Tenour of his Judgment upon this whole Matter shews that by his terming them no part of the Kingdom of England because they have such a distinct administration among themselves he does not in the least intend that they should be lookt upon so separated as to be out of all Reach of the Supream Imperial Authority of England so that in all this there appears no Inconsistency he never asserts what Mr. Molyneux assumes that the King and Parliament in Ireland is a Legislature equally as Supream as that of the King and Parliament in England and it must be very unaccountable in any one to do so who knows that all Irish Acts of Parliament must be approv'd in the Privy Council of England I 'll warrant him they 'll take care that they shall never Enact different or contrary Sanctions so that he need not from this fear the Consequence of Ireland's having two Supreams He hath one Touch more at the Lord Chief Justice Cook he quotes him saying If a King hath a Christian Kingdom by Conquest as King Henry the Second had Ireland after the Laws of England had been given them for the Government of that Country c. no succeeding King could alter the same without Parliament Which by the way seems nothing contradictory to all that Mr. Molyneux hath quoted of what he says concerning Ireland but is a farther Indication that his Opinion was always steady that the King and Parliament of England and not the King alone held the Supream Authority over Ireland And now he Hath done with this Reverend Iudge and I am very glad on 't because I doubt I have tyr'd my Reader with such an abundance that I have been forc'd to say for the Judg's Vindication but to make amends I 'll try to divert him a little by telling a short Story upon my self When I was a Boy I thought once that I had espy'd a fault in a performance of my Master's and I had the assurance to tell him on 't he first fairly convinc'd me that I had not taken the thing right and then very gravely told me with a bent Brow that 't was more like my Boyish Confidence to find Faults where none were than the Solidity of his stronger Judgment to commit such Now for Pilkington's Case The King first grants a Patent for an Office in Ireland to be held by Pilkington or his Deputy but after this the same King grants the same Office to A who who sues for it and pleads an Act of Parliament in Ireland that no Person might execute any Office there but in his own Person on pain of Forfeiture he proves that Pilkington acted by a Deputy the Iudges thereupon decide in favour of A. What 's this to the Parliament of England's Jurisdiction over Ireland it shews no more than that the Judges of Ireland were of the Opinion that the Kings Letters Patents could not over-rule an Irish Act of Parliament Indeed he tells us that in the Pleadings 't was offer'd That Ireland time out of mind had been a Land separated and distinct from England and ruled and governed by its own Customs that they could call Parliaments within themselves c. It seems two of the five Judges held this Prescription void and thô I will not dispute as it seems they did about the Word Prescription yet 't is well known that what Jurisdiction they had was granted them by the Supream Authority of England and I know no Body denies it them only we cann't admit them to strain it beyond what was ever intended It says further that Two of the Iudges affirm'd and the other three did not deny that a Tax granted in England could not affect Ireland except it be approv'd in the Parliament in Ireland This is not what we Contest about I never heard that England did ever raise Taxes upon any Members of her Empire without the Consent of their Representatives As for the Merchants of Waterford's Case we have both said enough to that already That of the Prior of Lanthony in Wales comes next He sues the Prior of Mollingar in Ireland for an Arrear of an Annuity and obtains Iudgment against him both in the Common-Pleas and Kings-Bench in Ireland Mollingar Appeals to the Parliament in Ireland and they Revers'd both Iudgments upon this Lanthony removes all into the King's Bench in England but that Court would not meddle in it as having no Power over what had pass'd in the Parliament of Ireland Lastly He Appeal'd to the Parliament of England and it does not appear that they did any thing in it What of all this The Court of King's-Bench in England although they had Authority to determine upon Matters brought before them by Writ of Error out of Ireland yet they did not believe they had any Power over the Parliament of Ireland Doubtless they were in the right but it seems 't was then believ'd that the English Parliament had else Lanthony had never Petition'd but it does not appear that they did any thing upon this Appeal the Petition only being entered at the end of the Roll Why that 's a plain Sign that 't was the very last thing of the Session and the Parliament was Dissolv'd Prorogu'd or something before they could go upon it or perhaps the Matter was agreed or the Prior's dead before next Sessions or fifty Reasons more that might be offer'd against his sleeveless Suggestion That the Parliament of England did not think themselves to have a Right to enquire into this Matter because nothing more than the Petition is found upon Record but I 'll tell him a better Reason of our side 't is not probable that they would have receiv'd the Petition if they did not believe they had Right to decide upon it The next thing is about the Acts of Recognition and this he begins with an ingenious Confession That the Kingdom of Ireland is inseparably annext to the Imperial Crown of England and the Obligation their Legislature lies under by Poyning's Act makes this Tye indissoluble This is enough to make out all our Pretensions upon them 't is strange to see a Man writing a Book against the Natural Consequences when yet he so easily agrees upon the Premises The Imperial Crown of England denotes the Supream Authority of the Kingdom the Material Crown is but a Badge of this
Authority and is given to the King not as his own separate Propriety but as an Ensign of the Authority which he enjoys as Head of the Kigdom if any Body should steal this Material Crown and break it to pieces as Bloud did the Supream Authority of the King and Kingdom remains entire and inviolated This Supream Authority always resides in the Legislature which in our Constitution is inseparably vested in the King Lords and Commons there can be no annexing to the Imperial Crown of England distinct from the Supream Imperial Authority of the Kingdom if any Territory shall be annext to this Imperial Crown it must become a Member of the Empire otherwise 't is no annexing and because there can be but one Supream Legislature every Member or part of the Empire must be in some Subordination to that Supream Legislature whatsoever other Jurisdiction it may retain as necessary to its own particular Regulations within it self otherwise it can be no Member but must remain a perfect Body of it self I think these are Positions that won't easily be disprov'd and we have a compleat Instance of them in the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland as they stand related to England Scotland is an ancient distinct and saving the old Pretensions of England upon them independent Kingdom hath an Imperial Crown of its own worn by a long Succession of Kings whose Posterity came to inherit the Kingdom of England and remove their Seat hither yet 't was not in their Power to annex the Kingdoms without their Joint Consent so that they remain an intire Sovereign Kingdom govern'd according to their own Constitution without any Subordination to England to this day and therefore in the late Happy Revolution when King William and Queen Mary had obtain'd the intire possession of the Crown of England they did not pretend to that of Scotland 'till the States of that Kingdom had conferr'd it upon them by a free Election On the contrary Ireland whatever it was anciently was no intire Kingdom when the English first took Possession of it but divided into many Jurisdictions under Petty Princes it had never any Diadem or Ensign of Royalty that ever I could hear of it was entirely subdued and brought under the English Government by Conquest as all Authors except Mr. Molyneux agree it was brought into the form of a Kingdom and afterwards had that Title conferr'd upon it and was endow'd with Laws and a Constitution of Government by the Authority of England who from the Beginning reserv'd and exercis'd a Superiority over them and Mr. Molyneux being quite mistaken in the Grant made to King Iohn it was never separated from being a Member of the Empire of England but even as Mr. Molyneux confesses remains annext to it to this day The Supream Legislature of England then in being presented the Title of it to King William and Queen Mary at the same time with that of England without asking the leave of the People of Ireland in like manner they have proclaim'd all the English Kings with that Title at their first Accession and have as he owns concluded Ireland in all Acts of Recognition What if the Parliaments of Ireland have also recogniz'd 't was but to own their Allegiance our Kings were as effectually vested in the Dominion over Ireland before by the Authority of England and double doing in such a Case can be no harm neither can this be any Argument to prove Their having all Iurisdiction to an Absolute Kingdom belonging or that they are not subordinate to any Legislative Authority on Earth Now he tells us As the Civil State of Ireland is thus absolute within it self likewise so is the Ecclesiastical and just so it is but that is without any absoluteness in either The multitude of the Native Irish and the Old English were doubtless very averse to the Establishment of the Reformed Religion because they have continued Româ—n Catholicks ever since and yet this Reformation was begun there by no other Authority than an Order of the King and Council in England to the Lord Deputy to Cause the Scriptures and the Common Prayers to be us'd there in the English Tongue from whence 't is evident that they did not then think their own Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction so absolute as that they could oppose it to the Authority of England He quotes a Record out of Reyley That Edward the Second upon a Motion of his Parliament at Westminster had sent his Letters Patents to the Lord Iustice of Ireland that he should Order that the Irish might enjoy the Laws of England concerning Life and Member From whence he infers That the Parliament did not then think that they had Iurisdiction in Ireland otherwise they would have made a Law themselves to this effect Can this be any more than an Instance of what I have all along said that our Parliaments have always been willing to leave the Peopâ—e of Ireland as much as possible to the Exercise of their own Form of Government in Matters relating to themselves and not to interpose their own Supream Authority but upon Extraordinary Occasions wherein the Welfare of the whole was concerned But can it be any Argument that they thought they had no such Authority because they did not think â—it on this Occasion to use it Mr. Molyneux finds that the lying of a Writ of Error from the King's Bench in England on a Judgment given in the King's Bench in Ireland lyes heavy upon him and therefore he labours mightily and turns it every way to get rid on 't first he says 't is The Opinion of several Learned in the Laws of Ireland that this is founded on an Act of Parliament in Ireland which is lost How Learned soever this Opinion may be I am sure 't is not very Judiciously offer'd here for no Body will believe that the Legislature of a Kingdom that thought it self absolute could do so foolish a thing as to make a Law themselves that should put them under the Administration of another Kingdom in so high a point as the Controuling all their Judicatures and therefore if ever they made such an Act of Parliament 't is not to be doubted but that at that time they were very sensible that whatsoever Authority they had among themselves was all deriv'd from and in perpetual Subordination to the Supream Authority of England Indeed he comes and says after That this Suit is made to the King only the matter lies altogether before him and the Party complaining applyes to no part of the Political Government of England for Redress but to the King of Ireland only who is in England That the King only is sued to the Law books make plain c. for above two Pages Fine very fine spun are these Arguments but withal so extream â—light that they won't hang together If the King was ever us'd to â—it there in Person was there not always four English Judges constituted in that Court whom
they ow'd to their Lawful King there was no Act of their Parliament to declare King Iames abdicated and the Throne vacant neither indeed was there any pretence for it because he came and was actually present among them and in the full Exercise of his de facto Kingly Power as to them But as I said before the People of England having in their Convention which at that time was the Representative of the Nation conferr'd the Crown of England and Ireland and all other Territories and Dominions belonging to the English Empire upon King William and Queen Mary the Kingdom of Ireland as a Member of the English Body was as much bound to submit to that Revolution as New-England or any of the rest of our Colonies and therefore the Opposition made by the Irish against it was a perfect Rebellion and render'd them liable to all the Pains and Penalties which the Municipal Laws of the Kingdom could inflict upon Rebels This then justly forfeited their Estates to the King as he is the Head but not as in any separate Capacity from the Kingdom of England We know however what Authority the King hath to dispose of these Estates to such as may have deserv'd well and if the Parliament of England shall acquiesce therein that 's no Argument that therefore they have no Authority to intermeddle in that Matter and their former practice as he confesses hath shewn the contrary He owns that In a War the Estates of the Unjust Opposers should go to repair the Damage that is done but theirs do not resemble the Common Case of Wars between two Forreign Enemies but are rather Rebellions or Intestine Commotions And so we say But he continues If the Protestants of Ireland by the Assistance of their Brethren of England and their Purse do prove Victorious A fine Turn indeed the Matter of Fact is that the Army of England prov'd Victorious and that without any thing that might reasonable be call'd Assistance from their Brethren as he though somewhat assumingly in this case calls themselves the Protestants of Ireland and yet forsooth the Victory must be theirs No Man of Modesty as this Gentleman would bespeak himself could dare to put upon the World at this rate Well but he tells us The People of England ought to be fully repaid but then the manner of their Payment and in what way it shall be levyed ought to be left to the People of Ireland in Parliament Assembled He owns the Debt and that we ought to be paid but how and which way and when ought to be left to them a pretty New-fashion'd Priviledge this Gentleman is inventing for his Country provided they own the Debt the Creditor must be contented without any Security without any Terms and consequently without any Interest how long soever he may be kept out of his Money he ought to leave all that to the Good Will and Pleasure of his Honest Debtor but I believe Mr. Molyneux would be loth to pass for such a Fool in his own way of Dealing in the World and sure he must measure us by an Irish Understanding if he thinks this sort of Reasoning will go down with us He goes on And so it was after the Rebellion of Forty One that 's a Mistake though it deserves a harder Word for he tells us The Adventurers had several Acts of Parliament made in England for their reimbursing by disposing to them the Rebels Lands so that it was not then left at the Discretion of the People of Ireland But after all it was thought reasonable that the Parliament of Ireland should do this in their own way and therefore the Acts of Settlement and Explanation made all the former English Acts of no force or at least did very much alter them in many particulars Here'tis plain that Acts of Parliament were made in England for disposing the forfeited Estates of Ireland which were be liev'd to be of Validity and a sufficient Security to the Adventurers at the time when they were made otherwise People would not have advanc'd their Money upon them and though I am no Lawyer and don't think it concerns me to look after those Acts yet from the Reason of the thing I cann't believe that those Persons that advanc'd this Money could afterwards be legally depriv'd of the Interests granted them by those English Acts by any after Authority of an Irish Parliament If any were I would advise them yet to sâ—e to an English Parliament for Relief 'T is true there had happen'd a Revolution and perhaps some People that had those Lands might be lookt upon as under Delinquencies to the Government that then came to be uppermost and we know that some of the Irish Papists were very strangely restor'd to their Estates and the Possessors put out yet if some Injustice was done at such a time when many things were carried by Extreams nothing will prove an invalidating of those English Statutes less than either a total Repeal of them and that he seems not to stand upon here though he suggested it in another place for he only says they were made of no force or at least were very much alter'd in many particulars which is a certain Sign they were not repeal'd Or to shew that they were so altered as to take away all the Lands that were possess'd by any of those Adventurers or their Descendents by Virtue of those Acts of Parliament If that cann't be made out which sure he won't pretend to it will remain that those English Acts of Parliament did really dispose of the Rebels Lands in Ireland and if there be any after Settling or Confirming them to the Safety of the Proprietors by Act of Parliament in Ireland that cannot impeach the Authority of the first Acts. Well he still allows That we shall be repaid our Expences all they desire is that in preservation of their own Rights and Liberties they may do it in their own Methods regularly in their own Parliaments And if the Reimâ—ursment be all that England Stands on what availeth it whether it be done this way or that way so it be done A pretty loose way of Talking this he speaks as confidently of reimbursing us as if that were a small matter and they had this way and that way ways enough to do it and they are so well prepar'd that they desire nothing else but Liberty to let them do it in their own methods I am sorry we han't heard one word like this offer'd in their Parliaments 't would have lookt much better from them than from Mr. Molynellx to have taken Notice of this great Debt to England and to have at least declar'd their Intent of paying it but he is a Member and perhaps he knows their Minds better than I do and because he proposes so fairly I am willing to strike a Bargain with him if he 'll undertake on the Behalf of Ireland I 'll undertake on t the part of England that
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-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
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
or Colour from Reason or Record does it not manifestly appear by the Constitution of Ireland that 't is a Compleat Kingdom within it self I say No 't is but the Form of a Kingdom for since 't was first subdu'd to England Governours have always been set over it by England and it never had Authority of it self to Exercise a Legislature but by Directions from England But now he 's resolv'd he 'll confute us though Bellarmine stood in the way Do not the Kings of England bear the Stile of Ireland and why did he not mind the Arms too among the rest of their Kingdoms Is this agreeable to the Nature of a Colony do they use the Title of Kings of Virginia New-England or Maryland Don't the Great Turk bear the Title of a great many Kingdoms Yes and some of them have a more Compleat Dominion among themselves than ever we gave Ireland are they therefore all Compleat Kingdoms within themselves The Kings of Spain have so many Titles of Kingdoms that they have quite lost the Knowledge where some of them grow they have us'd the Stiles of King of the East and West-Indies and yet their acquisitions there have been but Colonies Mexico and Peru are not Compleat Kingdoms within themselves though they have that Title yea and their Governours have the Style of Vice-Roys and that 's a higher Feather than ever those of Ireland wore I should have excepted their absolute King Iohn The Kings of England have never call'd Virginia New-England or Maryland by the Name of Kingdoms is there such a deal of weight in that The Potuguez gave the Style of a Kingdom to Goa in the East-Indies but they never did to Brazil thought it be much the more Considerable Colony And now I think on 't we were once about making our Dominions in America into a Vice-Royalty under the Duke of Albermarle sure then they must have made as Compleat a Kingdom as Ireland for they have as absolute a distinct Dominion within themselves and I beleive are endow'd with Authority for the regulating the Affairs of their own Governments as ample in all Respects as Ireland excepting only the Punctilio of a Titular Kingdom and the Denomination of a Parliament to the very same thing that in the others is call'd an Assembly Are not all these things done or not done according to the Humour or Fancy of Princes Is there any thing of Essence or Reality in them If the English of Ireland are in all other respects under the Circumstances of a Colony of England will any Body besides Mr. Molyneux imagine that this Title of a Kingdom doth exempt them But he has more to say Was not Ireland given by Henry the Second in a Parliament at Oxford to his Son John and made therby an absolute Kingdom separate and wholly independent on England till they both came united again in him after the Death of his Brother Richard without Issue No he continued a Subject of England and was Try'd for his Life as such the Parliament of England limited him from using the Style of King Can the King of a Separate Kingdom be limited and yet his Kingdom remain wholly Independent He continues Have not multitudes of Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland declared ireland a Compleat Kingdom but never Independent Is not Ireland stiled in them all the Kingdom or Realm of Ireland Do these Names agree to a Colony Yes are not the Names of Colonies agreeable to Mexico and Peru because the Acts of State in Spain stile them Kingdoms Have we not a Parliament and Courts of Iudicature Do these things agree with a Colony Yes and other Colonies have effectually the same Neither doth this involve so many absurdities as he thinks if we do but consider what sort of a thing a Colony is When People began to multiply in the World and fill those Tracts that were first inhabited they were necessitated to spread themselves farther and farther for the better Conveniency of Living and thus the remoter Parts came in process of Time to be peopled with such as are call'd the Aborigines of Nations In the first and innocent Ages of the World these liv'd in an undisturb'd Quiet contented in the Enjoyment of such things as with their own easie Cultivation Nature plentifully bestow'd in an abundance sufficient for the Support of all Mankind 'till the Malice and Enmity of the Devil operating upon the deprav'd Minds of Men through the Curse entail'd upon on them for the Disobedience of our First Parents stirr'd up in them the Unnatural Desire of living according to their own Wills without regard to the Principles of Reason and the Laws of Nature which God had eternally stampt upon their Minds This soon began to break the first Harmony and good Order of the Creation and came in time to change the whole Face of Humane Affairs and introduce a very different kind of Oeconomy among Men. Hence it was that the more powerful Communities if they found their own Borders too strait for them would not give themâ—elves the Trouble of removing to distant uninhabited parts of the Earth but took the Liberty to incroach upon their Neighbours and possess themselves of what the Industry of other Men had made their own just Right and Property These Violations of the Law of Nature taught the more scatter'd People to enter into Societies and unite together for their Mutual Defence against the Invasions of others and for the Well-ordering of Matters and preventing private Injuries that might occur among themselves they thought upon the constituting Laws for the defining of Liberty and Property and executing Justice upon such as should offend against them they apply'd themselves also to the inventing of all such further Policies as might be conducive to the acquiring and preserving the Good of the whole Society and whether they thought best to commit the Chief Conduct of their Government to one Person as Supream to rule them with the assistance of subordinate Ministers or that they plac'd this Supream Authority to govern in several with joint Power the end and intent was still one and the same to procure and conserve the Good of the whole People though the Names were differing as that of Kingdom Common-wealth c. Those that instituâ—ed the best Policies and most suitable to their Circumstances generally became the most powerâ—ul a Sense of their Strength and an Opinion of their Skill in Politick Managements made them Ambitious to gain Dominion and Rule over others Some united through Fear or for Convenience and others were subdu'd by Force thus from small Beginnings grew up Mighty Empires who apply'd their whole Power to bring and keep all they could reach under their own Dominion by which means the Frame and Constitution of many Kingdoms and Countries came to be altered from their Original Settlements There were yet another sort of Invaders whose Manner was only to make room for the too Numerous Broods of their
Secondly If the Kingdom of Ireland belongs to the King as his own Propriety distinct from the Kingdom of England if the Irish should at any time hereafter believe that the King of England could not be able to protect his Potestant Subjects there without the Assistance of Men and Money fâ—om his English Parliament and should thereupon make another Attempt to drive them out and seize their Eâ—tates whether the Parliament of England would think themselves oblig'd to be at any further Expence to protect a People with whom they had nothing to do and who had shewn so little Gratitude for what had been done for them formerly Thirdly If Ireland be such an Absolute Independent Kingdom by virtue of the Conceâ—â—ions formerly granted to them by England those Concessions were made to the Native Irish and Old English settled there all that Mr. Molyneux hath argued is intirely their Case and they alone have Right to be considered and treated with as the Body of that Kingdom but the Modern English Protestants can have no Interest in these Ancient Grants they are still our own People went thither with our leave and may not stay there without our permission if then the Governmeâ—t of England should think fit to recall them as they may those that are in France Holland c. Whether the Irish Papists could either have Will or Power to protect or keep them from us And now as I have been necessitated upon several former Occasions to shew that Mr. Molyneux hath started many things that may be made use of to the Disadvantage of the English of Ireland so I think I have also demonstrated that upon the foregoing Considerations his Notions if they should be thought reasonable so far as to obtain upon the Parliament of England to believe that they ought to quit all manner of Pretensions of their Superiority over Ireland as amply as he desires the Consequence must draw immediate Destruction and Ruine upon them which I should think might sufficiently convince the Gentlemen of Ireland that Mr. Molyneux hath not deserv'd well of them in writing this Book And I hope they will think that I have employ'd my time much more to their Advantage if it may convince any that have been lead into his Mistakes that 't is the true Interest of the Protestants of Ireland to remain constant and firm in their Loyalty and Obedience to the King and Kingdom of England and to esteem it their great Happiness that they aâ—e annext in so easie a Subordination to a Kingdom that is so well able to protect them and hath requir'd so little from them and never more to think that their being restrain'd from interfering with us in our principal Trade can be too great a Reâ—â—ibution for the many Benefits and frequent Preservations which they have receiv'd from us especially since they are in much easier Circumstances than the People of England to live without it whereas the Robbing England of it must inevitably introdâ—ce a Decay of her Riches and Power and render her incapable to give Iâ—elind that large Assistance that she may posâ—ibly at some time or other need again England hath been and must still continue to be at a mighty Expence to maintain her Navies and the Civil List from all which they receive the Benefit of being protected in their Estates and Trade without being hitherto ask'd to pay one penny towards it so that they may clearly see that 't will be much easier for them to continue in such a Subordination than to aspire to the Dignity of an Independent Kingdom which they cannot be able to suppoâ—â— I have now done with Mr. Molyneux's Book and since I have taken so much pains with it I hope I may be permitted to give it such a Character at parting as I think to be in a most peculiar manner agreeable to it 'T is an abundance of Well chosen Words and Fine Rhetorical Turns to prove nothing 't is a multitude of Arguguments and Authorities brought together to confute its own Author and 't is a promulgating of such inconsiderate Notions as would ruine and undo the People for whom it undertakes to be a Zealous Advocate If it should be thought by some that I have been too sharp in some Expressions there are yet others whose Judgment I have taken that are of the Opinion that so Inâ—olent an Argument merits no less and I think such a Discourse cannot well be treated with that Coolness and Indifference which might become a Modest Controversie Subjects that so rashly undertake to disturb the Minds of People and assail the Authority of a powerful Kingdom in matters of so high a Nature deserve at least to suffer such a Correction that others may be deterr'd from the like Bold Attempts let it be remembered that Salmasius was lash'd to Death by a Pen provok'd in what in those times he thought the Cause of his Country and Mr. Molyneux may be thankful that we have no Milâ—on living to handle him I am a perfect Sâ—ranger to the Genâ—leman and can have no personal Disrespect for him and if he 'll give me leave to distinguish as nicely as he does between the King and the Kingdom 't is his Book not him that I would expose after all if in regard to his Person I do with the lowest Submission ask his Pardon in the End I hope I shall come off with as good Manners as he does with the 〈◊〉 of England in â—asking theirs in the Beginning of his Discourse Last of all to râ—flect a little upon my self I ought to ask Pardon of the World for what Mistakes I may have committed for I cannot think so well of my self but that some may have slipt my own Observation Reading hath not been my Business and therefore it may seem somewhat strange that I should have undertaken to deal with a Book that profâ—â—ses so much I was resolv'd therefore to handle it in such a way wherein I might be most safe There was indeâ—d room enough for me to shew from undenyable Authorities that Mr. Molyneux hath very extra vagantly err'd and fallen short in his Representation of this Matter for there are many English Acts of Parliamâ—nt extant which prove that as well in ancient times as since Poyning's Law the constant practice of England hath been to make Laws binding upon Ireland as oftâ—â— as they saw fit whereof he hath takâ—◠〈◊〉 manner of Notice which must conclude him either to have dealt very disingeniously or what will no less reflect upon him that he was too ignoâ—ant in Matters of Fact for so considerable an Attempt But this part being undertaken by a much ableâ— Pen I was resolv'd to let all that alone and meddle with no Authoâ—ities but what Mr. Molyneux hath produc'd and as far as possible to admit of his own Arguments and only endeavour to turn the Reason which Naturally flows from them against him Can there be a fairer Opposition than to fight a Man at his
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
imparted to me by a very Learned and Observing Gentleman of our House of Commons whose Credit I can relye on without troubling my self to search the Records and I doubt not but Mr. Attwood hath been much fuller in this particular though I deny my self the reading his Book till my own be perfected The Statute of York 12 Ed. 1st Enacts Laws to be observed in England and Ireland 11 Ed. 3. cap. 3. Prohibits any Cloaths to be brought into England Ireland Wales and Scotland for we then claim'd a Dominion over Scotland also but such as were made in the King's Dominions upon pain of Forfeiture 27 Ed. 3. Erects Staple-Towns in Ireland 34 E. 3. cap. 17. Enacts that Merchâ—â—nts Aliens or Denizons may come into Ireland with their Merchandize and freely return 43 Ed. 3. cap. 1. The Staples of Ireland c. shall be kept at the places where they were first ordain'd 1 Hen. 6. cap. 3. Enacts that the Irish that have Benefices or Offices in Ireland shall abide there upon their Benefices and Offices upon the pain of forfeiting the Profits of their Benefices and Offices for the Defence of Ireland and mentions the like Law made the 1st of Hen. 5th From these and many other instances it evidently appears that England hath always exercis'd a Legislative Iurisdiction over Ireland whenever fit Occasions have made it necessary I have also seen the Irish Acts of Settlement and Explanation and though Mr. Molyneux says that they plainly shew that the Parliament of Ireland may repeal an Act pass'd in England yet I find nothing like it in those Acts but on the contrary the King's Declaration which is of the Body of the Act of Settlement although it takes Notice that the Estates and Possessions enjoy'd by the Adventurers would prove very defective if they were examined by the Letter of the Law because they had not strictly pursu'd and observ'd those Acts of 42 from which they deriv'd their Title yet 't is made the first Business of this Act to confirm these Adventurers in the Inheritance of all the Estates allotted them by virtue of those English Acts of Parliament and 't is provided that if they should be obliged to restore any of those Lands to Innocents they should be first repriz'd to the full Value out of other forfeited Lands What more could be desired to shew the utmost regard to those English Acts of Parliament 'T is true indeed that the Act of Explanation retrenches one Third of the Allotments made to the Adventurers but this could not be construed as any Breach upon the English Acts for if they had taken a greater share than the Lands that remain'd forfeited would amount to 't was but reasonable to reduce them to a just proportion So that here again Mr. Molyneux hath evidently strain'd this Suggestion beyond the Truth of the Fact I have indeed remark'd these things at large in their places but as some more perfect Informations have since come to my Hand I thought they might not improperly be hinted here for the obviating the too great Opinion of Mr. Molyneux's performance with which some may yet remain praepossess'd and preparing them to entertain my Answer with the less prejudice I have heard indeed that 't is not to Mr. Molyneux alone that we are beholding for this Notion but that it hath for several Years past been talk'd on among several of your People and he hath only reduâ—'d it into form and now at last brought it forth into the World and you may observe by the Votes of our last Parliament that they were of the Opinion that several Resolves of your House of Commons gave Encouragement to the publishing of this Book But I would yet hope that many of that Assembly were not so far appriz'd of the Matter as wittingly to Design the doing any thing that should give so great an Offence to England Yet I can assure you from the Conversation I have had with several of the Members of our House of Commons that although they had not Leisure to proceed further upon this Business in their last Sessions 't is however very probable that it may be taken into Consideration again by the ensuing Parliament as a Matter which if it be not check'd in time may produce very ill Effects And you cannot but be sensible of the Dangerous Consequences of breaking the fair Correspondence and firm Confidence that ought always to be maintain'd between the Head Government and its Members and that when Misunderstandings and Iealousies are once entertain'd they are too apt to be improv'd into Extreams on both sides You know also that you have an Old Enemy near you who would be ready enough to entertain hopes of Advantage to themselves from any such Iarrings And you must needs acknowledge that 't is an imprudent thing to provoke those that have not only Right but also Power to support it It hath been an usual Policy with some other Governments to keep so strict a Hand over their Colonys as not to suffer the Criolians or People born there to bear any Considerable Office or Command therein but the Government of England hath not dealt so â—ardly by you and doubtless it will be always your Interest to prevent the giving any Occasion to distrust your Fidelity and to think it may be needful to treat you with more Caution I should think therefore that you cannot do your selves a greater Right than in the next Sessions of your Parliament not only to Censure this Book but utterly to Disclaim also the Notion of your being a Kingdom so absolute within your selves as to be wholly independent of the Kingdom of England I hope I have been able in my following Discourse to Convince any reasonable Person that it cannot be so and that instead of doing you any good 't would tend to your Destruction to have it thought so Yea and if you should Recognize your selves to be a Colony of England as I have shewn that you cannot be lookt upon under any other Consideration I believe nothing can be more agreeable to your Circumstances or better support your Title to what you enjoy in that Country It would also be well worth your Thoughts whether it might not be fit for you to shew your Readiness to Contribute something according to your Ability towards the Reimbursing of England a part of the vast Charge they have been at in recovering that Country and restoring you to your Estates whereby you may possibly prevent the Parliament of England's requiring it of you for I can tell you that since Mr. Molyneux hath started the Thought some of the most considerable Members of our House of Commons â—ave talk'd on 't I have no ill will to Ireland I have had the Honour to have been in Conversation with many of you for whom I have the utmost Respect and personal Esteem and I have been sorry to see so much of an Inclination in some worthy Persons to favour this Opinion of Mr.
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
or Territories lying at a distance from them 'T is only the Exercise of this Supream Salutary Authority that the Parliament of England pretend to and not to break in upon the Just Constitution so anciently granted and ever since continued to the People of Ireland of Enacting all such Laws by their Representatives in their own Parliaments as they think fit to be governed by or may be conducive to the well ordering the Affairs of their own Countrey and therefore this Gentleman hath no Reason to Tax us so often as he does with any Attempts upon their Rights and Properties breaking in upon their old Settled Constitution and rendring them the most unfortunate of all his Majesties Subjects by weakning their Rights to a greater degree than ever was done before If Poyning's Law be some Check to them 't was made in favour of the English Interest in Ireland and Mr. Molyneux finds no fault with it but that still leaves them at Liberty to consent or dissent to such Laws as the King in his English Privy-Council may propose to them The Rights that were granted them were large enough to secure them in the full Enjoyment of their Liberty and Property in the same Manner as if they had liv'd in England these we have preserv'd to them inviolated in as large a manner as ever they were granted let him shew any Law from England that hath ever innovated upon their Judicatories their Persons or their Estates his Exclamations can no way be applicable to us unless it shall appear that we have wronged them in such Rights as those But this Supream Imperial Authority was never granted to them nor can reside any where as long as the Monarchy lasts but in the King House of Lords and House of Commons in England the absolute Separation he pretends to in the Persom of King Iohn proves a Mistake so that his many peremptory Conclusions drawn from thence must fall as having no Foundation The Progeny of Englishmen wherever they live and are acknowledg'd to be such cannot be exempted from owing Allegiance to this Supream Jurisdiction 't is known that it hath Power to Command its Subjects out of the Territories of any other Prince upon the highest Penalties yea and to desert its Colonies and call home the People if Extremity shall so require He that shall deny it these Powers denies the very Essence of a Supream Government and how hard soever this Doctrine may seem to People that have liv'd out of England and have never considered these Notions yet the Reason of the thing must obtain upon every impartial Man and convince him that other Principles than these would have a Tendency to scatter and break to pieces all Humance Societies and bring People back again into the State of Nature Men cannot therefore shake off the Duty and Obedience they owe to the Community and say that an unbounded Liberty is the Right of all Mankind because this Liberty was given from them when they were in the Loyns of their Ancestors who consented to the Terms of the Constitution when they first entred into Societies and which must continue as long as that Society shall have a Being 'T is plain then that all just Liberty must be bounded by the Laws and Agreements of the Community and no Man ought to challenge to himself more Liberty than that allows him To apply this then to our Argument The People of England may not go out of the Kingdom and settle themselves in any other Country in manner of a Colony without leave first obtain'd of the King as Head of the Kingdom neither may they enter into a New Society and erect a New Form of Government different from that of their own Country in any such Settlement but they must have Directions and Authority from the King by his Charters Letters Patents or Commission whereby he grants them the Exercise of the Laws of England and the Power of calling together their own Representatives to Enact such further Laws not repugnant to the Laws of England as shall be requisite for the good Government of their Affairs in relation to which they are left to their own Liberty and Free-choice and not interrupted by the Government of England If after all this the King in Parliament shall find these People or their Posterity attempting any thing in this Settlement which if it be not stopt must prove very prejudicial and destructive to England Will any Man pretend to argue that the Kingdom which permitted assisted and protected these People in their Settlement hath no Authority left in her self to restrain them in matters that tend to her own Hurt and Damage And yet such Restraint is not to be accounted an Invading the Rights and Liberties of Englishmen 't is only a limitting them from acting or doing something in the Place where they are that however profitable it might be to themselves would yet be very damnifying to the greater Body of the Community of which they are a Member neither is this Restraint any more than in regard to the place their Persons are still free and they may if they please return to their own Mother Country and practice the same thing there with as much Freedom as any other of their Fellow Subjects If the Reader should think I have been too tedious upon this Point I hope he 'll consider that if many Words be necessary at any time 't is then when we are to perswade People out of that wherein they believe their own Interest and Profit greatly consists I think the Report of the Case of the Merchants of Waterford is an Authority which very much confirms what I have said but because he lays much stress upon it not only here but in another place when he treats upon the Lord Chief Justice Cook 's Opinion I will transcribe the Latin Record at large as he gives it Dicebant quod terr Hibern inter se habent Parliament et omnimoâ—o cur Prout in Angl. et per idem Parliamentum faciunt Leges mutant Leges non obligantur per statuta in Anglia quia non hic habent Milites Parliamenti sed hoc intelligitur de terris rebus in terris illis tantum efficiendo I believe it should be efficiendis sed personae eorum sunt Subject Regis et tanquam Subjecti erunt obligati ad aliquam rem extra terram illam faciend contra Statut. sicut habitantes in Calesia Gascoignie Guien c. dum fuere Subjecti et Obedientes erunt sub Admiral Angl. de re fact super Altum Mare similit brev de Errore de Iudicio reddit in Hibern in Banco Reg. hic in Angl. I shall now take the Liberty to vary somewhat from the Verbal Translation and render it in that sense that I think this Opinion of the Judges of the Court of Exchequer may be taken They say that the Land of Ireland hath a Parliament within it self and Courts of Judicature
eminently require it and which we should have done as effectually if they had sent Representatives to our Parliament as we have done it without them and as we do it to Kent and Sussex in restraining the Owling Trade notwithstanding they do send Representatives who cannot hinder if they Vote against and to be sure if they Vote for those Laws act against the Confent of those that send them and then why may not they complain of the Infringement of the Rights due to all Mankind by putting Laws upon them without their Consent but Mr. Molyneux may say they have Representments what if they don't consent may not these People then strongly insist that they are not bound Yes sure if General Notions of Liberty must be swallowed all in a Lump without distinguishing but here 's a Majority in the Case and that Obliges if it be ask'd further why should a Man be bound by ever so great a Majority so as to be restrain'd from doing what he will with his own according to the Liberty inherent in all Mankind by the Law of Nature Because he that is not born in the state of Nature is effectually bound by the Consent of his Ancestors to submit to the Constitution of his Countrey and that with us determines that the Majority shall bind Publick Societies can never be kept together nor the Good of the whole conserv'd without some such binding such Limitations of Freedom as this and this is what we have reason to require from the English of Ireland who are certainly a Colony of England sent thither by us bred up cherish'd and protected by us in the Enjoyment of good Estates and ample Privileges sufficient to preserve the intire Freedom of their Persons and their Properties in all manner of Liberty and perfect Enjoyment excepting only that if they should presume to extend it to such a Latitude as would be highly injurious and prejudicial to England and consequently to the whole English Empire by wounding its Head whereon also themselves always have and must relye for assistance so that in whatever they weaken her they work their own Destruction And the World will easily judge that as we have the utmost of Reason on our sides so if we are a perfect Government we must have sufficient Power residing in our Constitution to act upon all Extraordinary Occasions whatever we shall find absolutely necessary to our Preservation even to the binding of all the Members of our Empire without being oblig'd to ask their Assent The rest is little more than dilating upon Conclusions arising from such Premises which I hope I have sufficiently refuted in my former Discourse and therefore I shall meddle no more with it but to touch upon two Passages The one is where he tells us that It is against the King's Prerogative that the Parliament of England should have any co-ordinate Power with him to introduce New Laws or repeal old Laws established in Ireland But his Argument upon this is either false Printed or down-right Nonsense or at least so Confus'd that I Confess I cann't unravel it and I 'll begg the Reader if he would see it to look for it in page 167. for 't is too long to Transcribe and Comment upon where any on't is intelligible But to take it in the gross 't is no more than a weak attempt to raise a Jealousie about hurting the King's Prerogative when yet nothing that he hath offer'd looks like it but rather shews the King's Prerogative to be less there than in England I wonder Mr. Molyneux should render himself so ignorant of our Constitution in magnifying the Negative Vote which their Parliament hath upon whatever Law is sent to them from the King in his Privy Council as if that were a higher Privilege than the English Parliament has whenas a little Inquiry into these Matters would have inform'd him that the King can if he please bring a Bill into Parliament here and either House may reject it if they don't like the Law But then what Laws he sends to their Parliament must be first approv'd in the Privy Council here and doth not that shew that an Authority inferior to our High Court of Parliament hath a sort of Co-ordinate Power with him in the Legislature of Ireland And is it not an evident Demonstration that the King doth not act any thing in relation to Ireland upon any distinct Prerogative as various and differing from what was inherent in the Imperial Crown of England Nay is not the King's Prerogative exerted in a higher degree in the manner of his passing an English Law where he comes into the House of Lords and exercises in his own Person alone and without taking the Advice of the Privy Council of either of his other Kingdoms one full Third Part of the Legislative Authority and in Power above one half as having the Casting Vote by which he can deny against the other two Estates And when he thus passes any Law affecting Ireland can any thing be more absurd than to suggest That he thereby suffers a precious Iewel of his Crown to be handled roughly The last Passage I shall observe is his Parting-blow the last three Pages wherein he Cautions us two or three times over how Vnsafe it may be for us to assume a Iurisdiction whereby the Lords and People of Ireland may think themselves ill used their Rights and Liâ—erties invaded and taken away and they may be driven into Discontent from whence he hints there may be ill Consequences We may easily see his Meaning to be a Menace and though there may be some few of them as inconsiderate as he is yet we have a better Opinion of the Body of the English Protestants there than to believe that they will ever give us Occasion to think that we have need of Exercising severe Methods to keep them in their due Obedience Nay had we the least doubt of this it would behoove us not to suffer any Gentleman who hath an Estate in Ireland to bear any Command in our Army there 'till he had given us the utmost Assurance that he was not tainted with Mr. Molyneux's Opinions However let me tell him that a Supream Authority ought not to be set upon at the Rate he does And now I will take leave to shew the Lords and Gentlemen of Ireland some of the ill Consequences that may attend them if Mr. Molyneux's Positions should gain an intire Credit First If the Parliament of England should be perswaded that they ought to look upon Ireland as a Distinct Separate and Absolute Kingdom with which they have nothing to do they might not think it unreasonable for them to demand a speedy payment of all the Expences England hath been at in the many Assistances which they have given them and if they shall refuse to pay it whether it may not be just to recover our own from any Neighbour Nation by Force if we shall think our selves able to do it