Considerations of Importance TO IRELAND In a LETTER to a Member of Parliament there upon Occasion of Mr. Molyneux's late Book Intituled The Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England Stated Printed Anno 1698. MR. Molyneux has I think demonstratively prov'd the Independence of the Kingdom of Ireland from the Kingdom though not from the King of England because he is also King of Ireland as of Scotland though without any Subjection of the Kingdom of Scotland to the Kingdom of England I say he has prov'd this by undeniable Matter of Fact through all the ancient Precedents down to the Reign of K. Charles II. But from the Time he produces Precedents of some Acts of Parliament in England which have bound Ireland Against which he complains as Innovations And which therefore ought not to destroy their Ancient Liberties and Freedoms And he has besides Three Arguments by which he wou'd avail the force of these late Precedents from being any binding Law to Ireland so as to dissolve their Original Independency upon England The first is That there has been no occasion of Executing those Laws in Ireland as he Instances p. 103. upon occasion of the Tobacco Act i. e. forbidding Tobacco to be Planted in Ireland For there is none Planted there And therefore there has no Case happen'd to dispute the Validity of that Act made in England and consequently to know whether Ireland has Subjected it self to that Act Secondly That Private Persons may obey an English Act which relates to Ireland for their own Security and to avail Trouble or Charge to themselves But that this does not infer the Consent or Submission of the Kingdom of Ireland whereby it may be bound by such Precedents This may be Pleaded in Relation to the English Act of Navigation which obliges Irish Ships Importing any Goods from our Foreign Plantations to Touch first at England And the English Acts Prohibiting the Exportation of Wool from Ireland to any Country except to England These Mr. Molyneux mentions p. 103 104. The Third Argument he has is That some Acts have been made in England Relating to Ireland in the Times of such Wars and Confusions in Ireland that a Parliament could not be held there And yet that it was thought Necessary at least Beneficial to provide for the Safety of the English Interest there by Acts of Parliament in England till such Time as Regular Parliaments could be had in Ireland Upon this Head he endeavours to salve some Acts of the English Parliament made since this Revolution which relate to Ireland As the Act for the Protestant Irish Clergy p. 107. And the Act for Security of the Protestants of Ireland p. 109. Both made in the first Year of W. and M. But p. 111. He comes to a very hard Case which is The Act of the English Parliament Abrogating the Oath of Supremacy in Ireland and Appointing other Oaths 3 and 4 W. and M. c. 2. And To this says he the Parliament Conven'd at Dublin Anno 1692. under Lord Sydney and that likewise Anno 1695. under Lord Capel paid an intire Obedience And by this continues he 't is alledged we have given up our Right if any we had and have for ever acknowledged our Subordination to the Parliament of England And believe it it seems to be a very shrewd Allegation For none of the former Salvos will serve in this Case First was not in time of Wars and such Confusions as to hinder a Parliament to be held in Ireland For there was a Parliament held there the same Year Anno 1692. Secondly This was not the Compliance of Private Persons but of Two succeeding Parliaments Anno 1692. and 1695 in Ireland Thirdly It cannot be said That there had been no Occasion of Executing these Laws in Ireland For this Act has been Executed to the uttermost By this all Roman Catholicks are Disabled to sit in either House of Parliament there By this all the Popish and one Protestant Peer have been thrust out of their Seats in the House of Peers And by the same Rule all the rest and of the Commons too who had not taken Care to qualifie themselves pursuant to the English Act had forfeited their Right to sit in Parliament and consequently left Ireland without the Possibility of any Parliamant at all By this one Bishop and others of the Inferior Clergy have been Deprived By this Act several Penalties and Disabilities are impos'd upon Persons of all Ranks and Conditions which has been exacted upon all the Non-Compliers to the said English Act. Now if a People can give up their own Rights which according to Mr. Lock c. from whom Mr. Molyneux takes it upon Trust is the Original and Foundation of all Government what more Authentick Method can be taken than to have them Surrendred by the Cession and Submission of the Representatives of the People in Parliament This is a Material Point which if not cleared makes an end at once of all the Pretensions that can be set up in behalf of the Kingdom of Ireland for its being Independant upon the Kingdom of England and not bound by the Acts of Parliament in England even without having any Representatives in the English Parliament That is That the English as well as Irish in Ireland are in the Condition of Slaves and to be disposed of both as to their Lives and Fortunes without any Consent of their own by Themselves or their Representatives For such they have render'd themselves by the intire Obedience which Two of their Parliaments Successively have paid to the English Act enjoining the Oaths there and by Executing the same even in the Qualifications for Members to serve in Parliament which are prescribed in the said English Act. Therefore it will be worth the while to see what the Ingenious Mr. Molyneux has to say in order to Ward off so Fatal a Conclusion He says p. 111. 112. That this Submission of the Irish Parliament is to be deem'd as purely Voluntary and not at all proceeding from the Right which they conclude thereby in the Legislators If a man says he who has no Jurisdiction over me Command we to do a thing that is Pleasing to me and I do it it will not thence 〈◊〉 that therefore he obtains an Authority over me and 〈◊〉 ever hereafter I must Obey him of Duty If I Voluntarily give my Money to 〈◊〉 Man when I Please and think it Convenient for me this does â—â—t Authorize him at any time to Command my Money from me when he Pleases Thus he â—ut under favour this is a very Lame put off and the Case is not stated aright The Case is not of one who has no Jurisdiction over me that is who Claims none For then there is no Dispute But the Case shou'd be put of one who Claims a Jurisdiction over me and then it ought to be consider'd how far my Submission is to be Construed a Yielding up to him that Right
over me which he Claims And such sort of Submission no doubt there is and has been so Rul'd in all Ages and Cases Therefore the present Enquiry is Whether this Submission of the Parliament of Ireland be of this sort or not And what shou'd hinder it For here is a Submission and intire Obedience of Two Parliaments in Ireland to a Right and Jurisdiction which the Parliament of England does Claim over the Kingdom of Ireland And what can be an Owning of this Claim of the Parliament of England if this be not Here is no Caveat or Reserve put in by the Parliament of Ireland to save this Jurisdiction now Claim'd and put in Practice by the Parliament of England from being a Precedent for the Time to come But as Mr. Molyneux Words it an intire Obedience paid to the Jurisdiction of the Parliament of England Suppose a Man Claims a Paramount Right to my House and Estate and Pretends That I am but his Steward or Baily and hold only at his Pleasure And in pursuance of their pretended Right shall issue his Orders to me Limiting me what Servants I shall keep and Admit such and such for Tenants and no other And if I pay intire Obedience to these Orders without the least Interposition in behalf of my own Right and shou'd Execute these Orders as his Orders and not at all as my own or as deriving any Authority from me will it serve to say afterwards That this was purely Voluntary in me and that I only did what I had a mind to do my self Wou'd such an Excuse pass Wou'd it not appear extreamly Ridiculous But especially if I durst not make any such Excuse for my self only another pretended this for me The Parliament of Ireland has not Adventur'd to say any Thing of this in their own Behalf to enter the least Protest or Salvo for their own Rights and Independency upon the Parliament of England Therefore what is said on their Behalf by others not any way Authoriz'd by them cannot be taken as a keeping up of their Claim It is none of their Act and as they are not Answerable for it neither can they keep any Advantage by it The next Thing Mr. Molyneux Advances in Behalf of the People of Ireland to save their Rights from the Consequences of this Act is Page 113. Where he says That the Right of being Subject only to such Laws to which Men give their own Consent is so inherent to all Mankind and Founded on such Immutable Laws of Nature and Reason that 't is not to be Alien'd or Given up by any Body of Men whatsoever This strikes at the Power of the Irish Parliament to Give up the Rights of the People of Ireland as they have done by their intire Obedience to this Act of the English Parliament And this upon two Considerations First As supposing that the People never meant to Give up their Rights so intirely to their Representatives in Parliament as to Impower them to Betray them and Deliver them up to whom they thought â—it And therefore That any such Act or Concession of the Parliament is Void and not to be Own'd by the People Secondly That supposing the People had Granted their Representatives such a Power yet that the Grant was Void because that it was not in the Peoples Power to make such a Grant as being against the Immutable Laws of Nature and Reason I will not enter upon the Disquisition of these Topicks as being equally against the Power of all Parliaments as well in England as in Ireland And the Recurring to the Original Rights of Mankind antecedent to all Constitutions and Frames of Government carrys with it such long Consequences as I am not willing to meddle with at present But shall content my self with this which seems to be granted by this Argument That as far as it is in the Power of a Parliament to Give up the Rights of a People so far has the present Parliament of Ireland Given up the Rights of that People to the Parliament of England by their intire Obedience to this Act. And what Other or Better way there is for a People to Give up their Rights than by their Representatives in Parliament I leave it to the Learned to Dispute I am sure it is a more Authentick way than what Mr. Molyneux does next lay the Stress upon p. 114. viz. The general Application of the Chief part of the Irish Protestants that were at that time in London to the Parliament at Westminster for obtaining these Laws Which he wou'd improve to infer a Consent of the People of Ireland But this can never do For First This can in no Sense be Constru'd so Regular and Authorized a Representation of the People of Ireland as a Parliament freely Chosen and sitting in Ireland Secondly The Application of these Irish Protestants in London to the Parliament at Westminster for obtaining of these Laws was a Giving up of the Cause and Acknowledging this Contested Right of the Parliament of England over Ireland as much as was in these Irish Protestants Power to do it And I am sure some of them were minded of it at the same time And withal told That it was to no manner of Purpose For that if K. James of whom they were afraid should Return and should think fit to Assert the Laws made in in that Parliament he held in Ireland the Repeal of them by a Parliament in England which he did not Acknowledge would signify nothing And till he did not Return they were in no Danger of those Laws made to their Prejudice in his Parliament But they have Verify'd the Proverb Too Fast too Loose And would not Rest till they had Given this Precedent against Themselves The rest that Mr. Molineux says to save this Act Appointing the New Oaths from being a Surrender of the Rights and Liberties of Ireland is only by way of Complaint P. 114 115. That if some such Considerations as these before-mentioned may not Plead for Vs says he we are of all his Majesty's Subjects the most Vnfortunate Then he Appeals to the King's Justice to Protect the Rights and Liberties of Ireland and of their Parliaments as of England and Scotland c. But he may be told That Justice does not Relieve any but Infants and Idiots against their own Act and Deed. And that the Question is not now What Rights the Parliaments of Ireland had Formerly which Mr. Molineux has made appear Plain enough but whether they have not Surrendred them Particularly by their intire Obedience to this Act of the English Parliament Appointing the New Oaths and Abrogating the Old Enacted by Acts of Parliament in Ireland Let me here take Notice of the Difference betwixt the Two English Acts the one for Imposing the Oaths in England and the other for Imposing them in Ireland This Latter has set such Prodigious Penalties more than the Former as plainly shew the Difference they make twixt the Condition of Subjects
and of Slaves In the Act for Ireland it is Enacted That if any Member of Parliament there whether of the Lords or Commons shall presume to Sit or Vote in Parliament without first Qualifying himself as Prescrib'd in that Act or any other shall Offend against the said Act they shall be thereby Incapable of any Office Place or Trust Ecclesiastical Civil or Military in Ireland as well as England And shall be Disabled from thenceforth to Sit or Vote in either House of Parliament of the said Realm of Ireland or make a Proxy in the House of Peers there or to Sue or Vse any Action Bill Plaint or Information in Courts of Law or to Prosecute any Suit in any Court of Equity or to be Guardian of any Child or Executor or Administrator of any Person or Capable of any Legacy or Deed of Gift and shall sorfeit for every wilful Offence against this Act the Sum of Five hundred Pounds to be Recovered and Received by him her or them that will Sue for the same in any of their Majesties Courts of Record at Dublin c. Here the Courts of Law in Ireland are Commanded to Execute this English Act as the Law of Ireland This Act which Abrogates former Acts of Parliament in Ireland and makes New for them without Asking their Consent But it may be said That it is now too Late That the Fault is committed The Surrender is made of all the Liberties of Ireland by the Submission of Two succeeding Parliaments And therefore not Now to be Recall'd I Answer That there is a Great Difference betwixt a Free and Formal Surrender upon valuable Considerations and that Surrender which is only so Constructively or by Consequence The First if made Validly operates Immediately is a Transferring of Right and Bars all after Claim But the other Case is Disputable And Allowances must be made for Inadvertencies for Force or Craft or any sinister Dealing And if Nullum Tempus occurrit Regi the same Reason will hold as to a Parliament because they Act for Others in a Publick and General Capacity Mr. Molyneux p. 152. quotes out of Mr. Hooker this Maxim viz. To be Commanded we do Consent when that Society whereof we are Part hath at any time before Consented without Revoking the same after by the like Vniversal Agreement To this Power of Revocation he Limits no Time I will not take upon me to Determine the Punctum when a Prescription does Commence Or what Force it has especially in Matters of Government we know Great Use is made of it And in no one thing more than in the Privileges of Parliament for which Prescription is the Chief Rule to which they Appeal in their daily searching for Precedents when any Dispute happens concerning their Rights and Powers But this Late Act concerning Ireland has not yet Age enough for a Prescription And therefore there is yet Time for the Irish Parliaments to Assert their Right if any they pretend to have They may if they so think fit Disown that English Act which Abrogates Oaths Enjoyn'd by former Parliaments of Ireland and Requires New Oaths And they may Restore those who have been Forfeited by it This by Mr. Hooker's and Mr. Molyneux's Rule before-quoted the Irish Parliament may yet do But by the same Rule till they do it they are Concluded And they cannot make any Pretence of Claim for their Independency from the Parliaments of England while they Continue to Pay Obedience to this Act. And such Obedience they do Pay while they Continue any under Forfeitures Incurr'd by that Act. For that is Executing of the Act And that is the most Authentick Manner of Owning it And if they continue such under these Forfeitures till they Die I cannot tell but the Occasion will be Lost However I am sure the Longer that Irish Parliaments continue to Pay Obedience to this English Act the Precedent grows the stronger and works still more towards a Prescription The Prospect of this made Mr. Molineux thus Passionately Expostulate P. 169. If the Religion says he Lives Liberties Fortunes and Estates of the Clergy Nobility and Gentry of Ireland may be Disposed of without their Privity and Consent What Benefit have they of any Laws Liberties or Privileges granted unto them by the Crown of England I am loath to give their Condition a Hard Name but I have no other Notion of Slavery but being bound by a Law to which I do not Consent May it not now be worth Enquiring How this Single Act this only of Imposing the New Oaths shou'd Prove such a Mill-Stone to the Kingdom of Ireland as to Carry with it All the Rights and Freedom of that Country into the Bottom of the Sea Shall we say That this is only by Chance Some Men Refer All to that But I think there is a much more serious and substantial Reflection which this will Afford Us And if it be not yet Quite out of Fashion to use that Word a Christian Consideration By this Act and by this Only one Bishop and several Clergy-men of Ireland are Depriv'd Now if it be Sacrilege to Rob God's Church how much more His Priests There is nothing Good or Holy but God But there is a Relative Holiness as things belong more Peculiarly to Him Thus Israel was call'd an Holy tho' otherwise a very wicked Nation that is in Comparison of other Nations who were not in Federal League or Covenant with God And Jerusalem was call'd the Holy City more than All the other Cities of Israel The Temple was more Holy than Jerusalem And that Part of it within the Veil more Holy than the Rest of the Temple therefore call'd The Holy of Holies Not that Stones or Lime are in themselves Holy or one Holier than Another But only as they Related more nearly to the Service of God Thus Israel was more Holy than other Nations The Levites more Holy than the People of Israel The Priests more Holy than the Levites And the H. Priest more Holy than the other Priests Not that the H. Priest must necessarily be a more Holy Man in himself than All or Any of the other Priests That the Priests must be more Holy than the Levites or Every Levite than All the Rest of the People of Israel But this was in regard to their Office and more near Designation so the Service and Worship of God Now Sacrilege is not the Robbing of God in His Person for that is Impossible But in those Things that Relate unto Him And the Sacrilege Rises Higher as it comes Nearer to what is Near unto Him Therefore as the Holiness of Inanimate Things as of Temples c. is not so Great as the Holiness tho' Relative of Persons So the Sacrilege is Greater of Robbing Holy Persons than Holy Things It had been Greater Sacrilege to have Robb'd Aaron of his Holy Vesements than the Temple of its Vtensils And Greater Sacrilege as of Korah c to have Robb'd Aaron of his
Power and Authority than of his Vestments Now this Act of Deprivation Robbs the Bishops and Clergy of their SPIRITVAL Power and Authority And therefore is a Greater Sacrilege than the Robbing of Churches or Altars And is it not worth our serious Reflection That this is the Act which Deprives Ireland of All their Civiâ— Rights as a People past all Help of those Excuses by which they avoid the Precedents of other English Acts that seem to Bear hard upon them And by this if Ireland will stick to that Sacrilege which has been Imposed upon them by the Parliament of England they must Accept of Slavery into the Bargain But if they had rather be Slaves to their Neighbours than Servants to God If they will Chuse to Forfeit all Right and Title to their Estates Lives and Liberty not to speak of their Religion and to hold them Precariously at the Will and Pleasure of those who have a different Interest from them and are already Grown Jealous of them and Declare they must find Ways to Humble them and not suffer them to enjoy the Common Benefit and by the Rules of Liberty the Right of Mankind which is To make the Best Vse of their Labours If they will Chuse this Rather than do Justice as I may so say to God by Restoring what they have Robb'd from Him or so much as Acknowledging that they have done Amiss therein This Liberty they have still left to them And they may Go on and Try whether They or God are the strongest If they say That it is no Sacrilege for Lay-Men to take upon them to Divest the Priests of God of their Purely Spiritual Authority And that too upon Purely Secular Accounts I Refer them to what has been already wrote upon that Subject And which has yet Receiv'd no Answer But take it as they will if they still remain Insensible as to the Point of Conscience Yet if they will not Rivet their Slavery by their own Consent they must Disown that English Act Appointing the New Oaths which as said before they cannot do without Restoring those who suffer Forfeitures by it If they will not do this Then let them Remember at least Others will That their Slavery Commences with their Sacrilege And it will not be thought Superstition hereafter to observe That the Providence of God has so order'd it as that this very Act which Involves them in Sacrilege Proves the Only Act which Vnanswerably Destroys their Freedom and Civil Rights If we Believe not that there is a Providence we cannot be Christians no nor good Deists And if there be an All-seeing Providence Nothing can Escape its Gaâ—e or Get out of its Reach In short if there be such a thing as Providence in God there can be no such thing as Chance for the one does necessarily Destroy the other We only call that Chance where we know not the Cause Since therefore we are Oblig'd to Confess That there is a Providence without which a Sparrow does not fall to the Ground surely it may be Permitted nay it must become our Duty seriously to contemplate so very Legible a Character of Divine Providence in the Falling down of a whole Nation from Freedom to Slavery And that in such a Remarkable Manner as in the Present Case That their Liberties and Freedom went out and Slavery came in at the same Door which they Open'd to let in Sacrilege at least which they Durst not Shut against it They are not barely Passive herein as in relation to the Act of Navigation c. before mention'd wherein England bears Hard upon them But their own Hands and Tongues have made them to Fall insomuch that whoso seeth them shall Laugh them to scorn And all Men that see it shall say This hath God done for they shall Perceive that it is his Work These Words are in one of the Psalms for the Day of the Month on which the Deprivation of the Irish Protestant Clergy then in England did Commence by that English Act we have been speaking of which was the 12th Day of Feb. 1691 2 Which as oft as it has Occurr'd afforded me Matter of Meditation and Adoring the Divine Providence in so Remarkable an Instance of it as was shewn That Day And I have Adventur'd to let others Partake of my Thoughts herein What Use they will make of it is in the Hands of God to Dispose But if this Prompt them not to Consider their Case in Relation both to God and Man it will stand as a Witness against them of their having Robb'd God And in the same Act Betray'd the Rights and Liberties of their Country who Intrusted them as their Representatives And Deliver'd up Themselves and their Posterities as Absolute Sâ—aves by the Methods they have taken to Assert their Freedom contrary to their own Laws as well as the Laws of God But God will be Magnify'd if we will not suffer it in His Mercies and Protection upon our Obedience yet by His Judgments for our Rebellion against Him Dec. 26. 1698. Liberavi Animam Meam FINIS ERRATA Pag 1. l. 12. and p. 2. l. 2. f. avail r. avoid l. 29. r. it was p. 4. l 6. f. their r. this l. â—1 f. keep r. reap