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A91287 The subjection of all traytors, rebels, as well peers, as commons in Ireland, to the laws, statutes, and trials by juries of good and lawfull men of England, in the Kings Bench at Westminster, for treasons perpetuated by them in Ireland, or any foreign country out of the realm of England. Being an argument at law made in the Court of Kings Bench, Hil. 20 Caroli Regis, in the case of Connor Magwire, an Irish baron ... fully proving; that Irish peers, as well as commons may be lawfully tried in this court in England, by the statute of 35 H.8.c.2. for treasons committed by them in Ireland, by a Middlesex jury, and outed of a trial by Irish peers: which was accordingly adjudged, and he thereupon tried, condemned, executed as a traytor ... By William Prynne Esq; a bencher of Lincolnes Inne. Prynne, William, 1600-1669. 1658 (1658) Wing P4090; Thomason E945_5; ESTC R203350 65,819 94

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Peers Therfore such a Trial shall not nor can be had or admitted now 3ly Because neither the Kings Bench nor the Commissioners before whom the Statute limits these forein Treasons to be tryed nor yet the High Steward of England if any such should be created have any power or jurisdiction to summon a Jury of Peers out of Ireland to appear before them here in England upon such a Tryal as this neither are the Peers of Ireland bound by any Law to appear or attend as Peers on any such service or tryal here being Peers bound to service as Peers which their Patents express only in Ireland and no Peers here Therefore a Tryal by his Irish Peers here in England is an impossibility as well as illegality 4ly Admit a Jury of Peers might be summoned and sent from thence yet it would be a great delay of Justice it requiring a long time to procure a full appearance of Peers thence yea a betraying of Ireland to the Rebels at this instant to send for so many Protestant indifferent Peers now from thence as might serve to try him here Moreover it would be an infinite expence charge trouble besides the danger by Sea to summon a Jury of Peers from thence and if they failed to appear in England upon summons as is probable they would and lawfully might they being not bound to it by any Law and so no fine certain to be set upon them for not appearing nor legal means of coercion to compell them to come over upon such a Tryal there should be a fayler of Justice for want of such a Peerage And therefore no such Tryal may or can be expected which would delude and nul this Law 5ly This Statute directs the Tryal of forein Treasons in express terms to be before the Judges in the Kings Bench or the Commissioners appointed by the King in any County of this Realm Now no Tryal by English or Irish Peers was ever heatd of either in the Kings Bench or before such Commissioners But it alwaies hath been and ought to be either in the house of Peers in Parliament or before the Lord High Steward of England as all former Presidents accord and 15 E. 3. c. 2. 1 H. 4. 1. 10 E. 4. 6. b. 13 H 8. 12. Brook Treason 29 33. Cooks 3 Institutes c. 1. 2. p. 28 29 30. 4 E. 3. rot Parl. n. 1. 50 E. 3. rot Parl. n. 21 to 31. 34. 7 R. 2. n. 15. to 24. 10 R. 2. n. 6. to 18. 11 n. 2. n. 6 7. 14 R. 2. n. 14. 21 R. 2. n. 12 to 17. Placita Coronae coram dom Rege in Parl. n. 1. to 20. 1 H. 4. Plac. Coronae in Parl. n. 1. to 11. Walsingham Hist. Ang. p. 402. 2 H. 4. n. 30. 31. 5 H. 4. rot Parl. n. 12. resolve Therefore no Tryal can be in this case by Peers either in this Court or before Commissioners by vertue of this Act or any other Law 6ly This Statute is introductive of a new way of trying forein Treasons done out of this Realm by a Jury within England which by the rules of the Common law could neither inquire nor take notice of any Treasons or matters committed perpetrated or acted beyond the Seas as is evident by the Prologue of this Act the Statutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 5 E. 6. c. 11. M. 2 3 E. 1. Coram Rege Rot. 56. Hereford M. 2 E. 2. Fitzh. Obligation 15. Utlagary 18. Tr. 8 E. 2. Fitzh. Testament 6. 6 E. 3. f. 17. 18. 27 Ass 43. 41 E. 3. 19. 48 E. 3. 2 3. 20 H. 6. 28 44. 15 E. 4. 14 15. 20 E. 4. Perkins sect. 121. 494. 737. Cook 4 Instit. c. 17. 1 Instit. ● 74. Stamford l. 2. c. 14. Cook 2 Rep. 49 a. Long Pecocks case 5 Rep. f. 107. a. 3 Instit. f. 48 49. Whereupon it altering the Common law in this particular it outs all former doubts most punctually prescribes all the particulars and appurtenances belonging to the Tryal of them from which there neither may nor can be any variation by Law First it appoints the place where they shall be tryed 1. In general within this Realm of England 2ly In particular either in the Kings Bench wherever it sits on in such County as the King by his Commissions shall assign 2ly The Judges before whom the Tryal shall be are thus particularly described The Justices of the Kings Bench o● such Commissioners as the King shall appoint under the great Seal 3ly The Jury-men by whom they shall be t●yed are thus defined in Terminis in the Act By good and lawfull men not Peers or Commons of Ireland of the same Shire where the said Bench of the King shall sit if the Tryal shall be in the Kings Bench And if before Commissioners assigned by the King in any shire of the Realm then by the good and lawfull men of the same shire where the Commissioners sit which is doubled ●ike Pharohs dreams to make it more certain and likewise precisely enacted by the Statutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 5 6 E. 6. c. 11. in pursuance of this Act 4ly The manner how the Tryal shall be is thus punctually specified In such manner and form to all intents and purposes as if such Treasons c. had been done perpetrated and committed within the same * shire where they shall be so inquired heard and determined as is aforesaid which last words with the very like in the Sratutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 5 E. 6. c. 11. extending to our case put an end to the point in Question For if the Lord Magwire now at the Bar had committed the Treasons for which he is now endicted in Westminster there is no doubt nor scruple of it but he should have been tryed by a Jury of Middlesex notwithstanding his Peerage in Ireland and he could neither have pleaded nor demanded his Peerage as is resolved expresliè in Calvins case C. 7 Rep. f. 15 16. and in the Lord Sanchiars Case Cooks 9 Rep. f. 117. who was tryed condemned by an ordinary Jury for suborning Carliel to murther Turner with a pi●toll in England though a Peer of Scotland because he was here no Peer and the forecited Books are express that the same Law holds in case of a Peer of Ireland Since then this Law expreslie enacts That the Tryal of all forein Treasons shall be by good and lawfull men of the same Shire where the Kings Bench shall sit in such manner and form To all intents and purposes as if the same Treasons had been committ●● here in Middlesex where the Kings Bench sits There neither may nor can be any other form of tryal for the Prisoner nor in any other place nor before any other Judges nor by any other Jury but such as this Statute hath punc●…e defi●ed and than is by a Jurie of Middlesex To all intents and purposes as if the Treasons for which
before had used or practised in that Realme and therefore the Prisoner shall be tried by an ordinary Jury at this Bar not by his Irish Peers because if he were in Ireland for ought appears yet to me he should not be tried by his Peers there and in both these points the Book in Dyer the only Authority which seems to be strongest against is for me the words whereof are these in English The grand Chancellor of Ireland moved this question to the Queens councel If an Earl or Lord of Ireland who commits Treason in Ireland by rebellion shall be arraigned and put to his trial in England for this offence by the Statutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 32 H. 8. c. 4. 35 H. 8. 2 or 3 E. 6. And it was held by Wrey Dyer and Gerrard Attorney General That he could not Mark now their reasons for he cannot have his trial here by his Peers which is a full resolution in point of my third Question agreeing with what I have endeavoured with Arguments to prove and is an unquestionable Truth which I submit to Then it follows Nor can he be tried here by any Jury of twelve mark the reason Not because he is a Peer of Ireland and therefore ought to be tried by his Peers and not by a Jury for that had been full against me and it is now the only knot in que●tion but because he is not a subject of England but of Ireland and therefore he shall be tried there which reason extending as well to an Irish Commoner as Peer hath been since adjudged directly false absurd and against the Law both in Orourks Case and in Sir John Parrets Case and since in Mac-mahons Case and Sir Ed. Cook informs us in his Institutes on Lit. f. 261 that Wray himself in Orourks Case where this Opinion of his was vouched did openly disclaim that ever he delivered any such opinion as this but ever held the contrary to it and so it is a misreport in this particular After which the Book concludes thus And it is said that the usage to wit in Ireland to attaint a Peer Is by Parliament and not by Peers which comes full in terminis to what I have last insisted on and I am certain cannot be disproved Wherefore this authority in Dyer as to all that is truth and Law in it is wholly for me in the reason of the Law and against me only in what hath been since adjudged to be no Law I shall close up all with a stronger Case and authoritie than this in question which will over-rule this case and that was in * Trinity Term An. 33 H. 8. in the Kings Bench Edward Lord Gray immediatly before having been Lord Deputie in Ireland was endicted arraigned and attainted of High Treason by an ordinary Jurie in the Kings Bench in England for letting divers Rebels out of the Castle of Dublin and discharging Irish hostages and pledges that had been given for the securing the peace of Ireland and for not punishing one who said the King was an Heretick whilest he was Lord Deputy in Ireland For these Treasons all acted and committed in Ireland through an English Peer he was tried by an ordinary Jury in England by the Statute of 26 H. 8. c. 13. ratified in Ireland by 28 H. 8. c. 7. forecited which secluded him from his tryal by Peers being not saved by these Acts. Therefore a Fortiori shall these Statutes and this of 35 H 8. c. 2. 5 E. 6. cap. 1. made since his judgement exclude this Irish Lord being no English Peer from any tryal by his Peers Finally the Prologue of this Statute coupled with the body thereof puts a period to this question beyond all doubt or dispute For as much as some doubts and questions have been moved that certain kinds of Treasons c. committed out of the Kings Majesties Realm of England cannot nor may by the Common laws of this Realm be inquired heard and determined within this his said Realm of England For a plain remedy order and declaration therein to be had and made be it enacted c. that all manner of Treasons c. committed by any person o● persons ●out of this Realm of England shall be from henceforth inquired of heard and determined by the Kings Iustices of his Bench c. by good and lawfull men of the same Shire where the said Bench shall sit and be kept in like manner and form to all intents and purposes as if such Treasons had been done within the same Shire where they shall be so inquired of heard and determined The sole scope end purpose then of the King and Parliament in this Act being to take away all doubts and questions formerly moved in point of Law touching the tryal of treasons done out of the Realm before the Kings Justices of his Bench and Commissioners in England by a Iury and to make and enact a plain remedy and declaration therein for the future in manner aforesaid I humbly apprehend there can be no doubt nor question now moved whether this Prisoner ought to be tryed by his Peers in Ireland or England for this his most horrid Treason committed out of the Realm of England since this Statute so clearly declares and resolves the contrary in most plaine and positive words The rather because the Kings Patent creating him Baron of Ineskellin under the great Seal of Ireland maketh him only a Peer in Ireland and gives him only a Place and Voyce among the Peers and Nobles of Ireland in the Parliaments of Ireland not in England as he sets forth in his own * Plea in precise terms as the Patent made by King Edward the 4th to Robert Bold created him Baron of Rathtauth in Ireland and constituted him Unum Dominum Baronem omnium singulorum Parliamentorum magnorum Conciliorum nostrorum in terra nostra Hiberniae tenendorum habendum tenendum una cum stilo titulo nomine honore loco et sessione inde sibi et haeredibus suis masculis imperpetuum And as King Henry 8. made Thomas Viscount Rochford by the self-same Patent both Earl of Wiltshire infra regnum nostrum Angliae and Earl of Ormond in terra et dominio nostro Hiberniae only with several clauses of investitures several Habendums and several Creation-monies for each Title and Kingdom And as the Patents of all other Irish Earls Viscounts Lords and Barons in Ireland create and make them Peers only in Ireland not in England as * learned Mr. Selden informs us and their very Patents resolve in terminis And therefore quite exclude the Prisoner and all other Peers of Ireland from any tryal by their Peers in England either by the Proviso or body of this Statute or their Patents which are point-blanck against it And now I hope I have fully made good the point in question with all the several branches of it That this Act extends to Treason committed in
in his 3. Institutes p. 52. 124. printed by the House of Commons special order and King Alfred long before him who hanged up no fewer than 44 of his Justices in one year AS MVRDERERS for condemning and executing some of his Subjects WITHOUT A SWORN JURY of 12. men and others of them for offences not Capital by the known Laws or without pregnant evidence as Andrew Horn records in his Myrrour de● Justices ch. 5. p. 296 297 298 who thence infers Abusion est de la Commen ley que JUSTICES lour MINISTRES que occient la gent per FAUX JUDGMENT NE SONT DESTRUITS AL FOER DE AUTRES HOMICIDES que fit le Roy Alfred que FIST PENDRE 44 JVSTICES EN UN AN TANT COME HOMICIDES pur lour FAUX JUDGEMENTS which others guilty of the like crimes especially since these antient Straffords Canterbu●ies with the Ship-mony-Judges late Presidents Impeachments Sentences to the prejudice of the Subjects lives estates may do well to ruminate upon 2ly In assigning this Arch-Traytor such learned Counsel as be desired to advise and plead for him in this Case of High Treason in all matters of Law arising therein which the Parliament likewise allowed to Strafford and Canterbury though impeached of high Treason and therfore cannot in * point of Justice be denied to any other person or persons in like Cases if desired 3ly In admitting him free liberty to put in a plea in writing to the manner of his Tryal and to the Iurisdiction of the Kings Bench it self though the c highest Court of Justice in all England but the Parliament and having lawfull conusans of all sorts of Treasons whatsoever and not peremptorily over-ruling rejecting it forthwith and giving judgement against him pro confesso or as * standing mute for not submitting to its Jurisdiction and a Tryal by an ordinary Middlesex Jury being a matter of Law and right but permitting yea ordering his Plea upon a Demurrer thereunto to be publickly argued pro contra at the Bar by Counsel and then solemnly argued at the Bench by the Judge before it was over-ruled being a Case of general concernment to satisfie him and all the world of the legality and Justice of his Tryal And then permitting him according to Law to plead not guilty and put himself upon his Tryal by the Country not sentencing him to death for Treason without any Tryal or good evidence produced to convict him 4ly In allowing him a free honorable Tryal upon an Indictment first found upon Oath by the grand Jury then suffering him to take not only his particular chalenges by the poll to every of the Jurors retorned upon a voyre dire not formerly heard of yet allowed him as reasonable to take away all coulor of partiality or non indifferency in the Jurors Whereupon every Jury man was examined before he was sworn of the Jury Whether he had contributed or advanced any monies upon the Propositions for Ireland or was to have any share in the Rebels Lands in Ireland by Act of Parliament or otherwise But likewise in permitting him to take his peremptory challenge to 35 of the 2 Juries retorned without any particular cause alleged which Liberty d our Laws allowing men in favorem vitae and because there may be private causes of iust exceptions to them known to the Prisoner not fit to be revealed or for which he wants present proof and that in Cases of High-Treason as well as of Felony the Court though● just and equal to allow the same to him though a notorious Irish Rebel Wherefore it ought much more to be allowed to all English Freemen lesse peccant and not so notoriously guilty as this transcendent Traytor the debarring the party indicted of his lawfull challenges being to debar him of a principal matter concerning his Tryal yea a means to take away his life without just cause or guilt much more then a Tryal by such Iurors Committees Commissioners or other Judges nominated by persons interessed or parties without the denomination or direction of sworn Officers of Justice alone against the course of the Common law as the Statute of 11 H. 4. c. 9. and Cooks 3 Instit. p. 32 33. resolve In this Argument the Readers especially Irish Students of the Law may take notice First of some observable passages and * Records touching the setling of the Laws and Great Charter of England in Ireland the endenization of Irish-Natives to make them capable of the Laws and Liberties of the English there the Statutes Peers of Ireland and the Tryal of Peers there for Treasons not obvious in other Law Books to which I at first imended to have added an Appendix of the most remarkable passages in our Histories and chiefest Records in the Tower relating to the Sover aign Jurisdiction of the Kings and Parliaments of England over Ireland and to the Parliaments Officers Government and affairs thereof not hitherto published and unknown to most of very necessary and excellent use Which being over-large for an Appendix I must reserve for a particular Treatise by themselves or joyned with some other Records and Histories relating unto Scotland most worthy of publick view if God send health and opportunity to communicate them to posterity Only I shall here insert one pertinent Record to manifest that the trying of Irish Malefactors in England the binding them to appear the recording their defaults and giving judgement against them for not appearing here for Murders Robberies and Felonies committed or acted by them in Ireland is no Novelty having omitted it in my Argument it being in use in the ninth year of King John as this Patent manifests e Rex M. filio Henrici Iusticiario Hiberniae salutem Mandamus vobis quod deduci faeiatis secundum judicium Comitis Dublin Galfredum de Marisco alios qui rectati sunt de incendio roberia morte homnum aliis rectis quo● pertienent ad Coronam nostram unde eis dies datus est coram nobis in Anglia a die sancti Michaelis ad 15 dies ad quem non venerunt nec pro se responsales miserunt et absentiam suam die illo Attornatis eis in defaltam Et ipsos 〈…〉 secundum judicium ●●●dict Comiti●de vita et membris et obsidibus et vadiis et plegiis Teste me●pso apud Theoukesbury 12 die Novembris 2ly The Readers may herein discern the Treacheries Conspiracies Insurrections Rebellions of the Native Irish in all Ages since their submission to King Henry the 2d Anno 1171. and their swearing of fealty to him and his Heirs for ever as to their lawfull Kings and Lords recorded at large in our k Historians towards our Kings and English Nation and their frequent endeavours utterly to cast off their Dominion and extirpate them out of Ireland which is notably expressed in many of our Records as Claus. 5 E. 3. part 2. m. 12. dorso Pa● 5 E.
of Ireland with other grievances could not antiently be redressed in the Parliaments thereof but * only in England till 29 E. 3. as is evident by this memorable hitherto unprinted Record made for relief in such Cases * Rex Justiciario Cancellario suis Hiberniae salutem Ex parte nonnullorum fidelium nostrorum Communitatis terrae nostrae Hiberniae Nobis est graviter conquaerendo monstratum ut cum ipsi dampna gravamina quamplurima à magno tempore sustinuerint ex hoc quod ipsi terras tenementa sua in manum nostram per Ministros nostros terrae praedictae cum nomine districtionis cum ex causa transgressionis sive alienationis sine licentia nostra factae voluntariè absque causa rationabili capta extra manus nostras licet ritè processu debito inde penes vos alios de Consilio nostro in partibus illis juxta legem consuetudinem terrae praedictae prosecuti fuissent * recuperare non possunt Et etiam ex hoc quod ERRORES qui in Recordis Processibus placitorum coram Justiciariis nostris aliis Curiis Placiis in eadem terra quae Recordum habent habitis in redditionibus judiciorum placitorum eorundem intervenisse praetendantur in Parliamentis in eadem terra corrigi neqeunt nec alias justicia inde fieri sine remedio in Anglia querendo propter quod quidam propter labores expensas circa praemissa oppositas ad maximam miseriam inopiam deducuntur quidam omnino exhaeredati existunt unde iidem fideles nostri Nobis cum instancia supplicarunt ut super praemissis remedium congruum apponi faciamus Et quia videtur Nobis Consilio nostro durum esse et grave quod conquaerentes super assecutione Justiciae de iniutiis sibi illatis in partibus praedictis taliter absque remedio fatigerentur per quod pro quictae et indempnitate populi nostri in terra praedicta sub nostro regimine existentis cui in exhibitione Iusticiae sumus debitores ordinavimus quod de omnibus terris tenementis in terra pradicta per Justiciarios Escaetores seu quoscunque alios Ministros nostros sub Sigillo nostro in manum nostram ●aptis illis qui pro eisdem terris tenementis extra manum nostram debito justo processu coram vobis prosequi voluerint super hoc plena Justicia secundum legem et consuetudinem terrae nostrae Angliae of dictae terrae nostrae Hiberniae fiat quibuscunque mandatis nostris * sub magno vel privato sigillo nostro Angliae vobis aut aliis Ministris in terra praedicta ante haec tempora directis non obstantibus Et quod ad prosecutionem omnium singulorum qui conqueri voluerint errores in recordis vel processibus coram aliquibus Justiciariis seu aliis Ministris praedictis intervenisse Rotuli eorundem Recordorum Processuum in Parliamentis nostris in eadem terra tenendis per Justiciarios seu Ministros coram quibus Recorda Processus illa fuerint deferantur et ibidem eadem Recorda et Processus diligenter recitentur et examinentur et errores si quos in eisdem inveniri contigerit debite corrigantur Et ideo Vobis mandamus quod Ordinationem praedictam in terra nostra praedicta teneri partibus conquaerentibus plenam celeram Justiciam fieri faciatis in forma predicta quibuscunque mandatis vobis aut aliis in terra praedicta ante haec temporae in contrarium directis nonobstantibus Ita quod aliquis materiam non habeat Nobis pro defectis Justiciae super casibus praedictis de caetero conquaerendi Teste Rege apud Westm. 30 die Augusti Per ipsum Regem et Consilium If then the King and his Counsel in England might thus by this their Ordinance made in England without a Parliament redress these grievances and faylers of Justice in cases only of private concernment in Ireland it self formerly examinable and remediable only in England for the ease and benefit of the loyal Subjects not of Irish Enemies and Rebels there much more may the King and Parliament of England for the preservation of the Kings Crown interest and of the lives inheritances of all his loyal Subjects there and securing the peace of Ireland enact and ordain that all Irish Rebels Traytors committing High Treason and taking up Arms against the King and destroying his Liege people there especially in times of universal Rebellions and Insurrections shall be sent over thence and tryed for the same in England by a sworn Jury of lawfull indifferent Englishmen in the Kings Bench be they Commons or Peers of Ireland without any injury or injustice Thus submitting this Argument to the candid censure and friendly embracement of every judicious Reader and craving a share in his Prayers for Gods gracious blessing both on me and it I leave it to the Readers immediate perusal without further Prologue From my Study in Lincolns-Inne June 19. 1658. on which day of the Month 1637. I was taken * Pro confesso by the Star-Chamber Lords upon a pretended contempt in REFUSING TO ANSWER when as themselves refused to give me leave to plead or answer and rejected the Answers tendred in Court under my own and my Councels hand to the Information there exhibited against all Rules of Law Iustice and of that very Court William Pryn. THE ARGVMENT OF WILLIAM PRYNNE of Lincolns-Inne Esq Hill 20 Car. Banc. Regis IN THE Case of the Lord Cannor Magwire Baron of Ineskellin in Ireland the chief contriver of the late Irish Rebellion and Massacre of the Protestant English against whom he was assigned Councell by both houses of Parliament COnnor Magwire by the name of Connor Magwire of London Esquire was in Michaelmas Tearm last Indicted in this Court for several high Treasons committed by himself together with Hugh Mac-Mahon and divers other Conspiratours and false Traytors against our Lord the King within the Realm of Ireland in partibus transmarinis on the 23 day of October 17 Caroli Upon his Arraignment at this Bar after not guilty pleaded being demanded how he would be tryed he put in this special Plea as to the particular manner of his Tryall only under his Councels hand That by the Statute of Mag. Charta it is enacted That no freeman ought to be imprisoned c. Nor will we passe upon him but by the lawful Iudgement of his Peers or by the Law of the Land That after this in a Parliament held at Droghedah in the Kingdome of Ireland in the 10th year of King Henry 7th it was enacted That all Statutes late made within the Realm of England concerning or belonging to the Common an a Publique weal of the same from thenceforth should be deemed good and effectual in Law and
over that be accepted used and executed within the Land of Ireland in all points at all times requisite according to the tenor and affect of the same And that by authority aforesaid they and every of them be authorized approved and confirmed in the said Land of Ireland That before the time of the supposed Treasons King Charles by his Letters Patents under the great Seal of Ireland bearing date the last day of August in the 4th year of his Raign at Dublin in Ireland did create Brian Magwire Father of the said Connor Magwire Baron of Iniskellin in the County of Farmanagh in the said Realm and granted to him and the Hei●●males of his body the title honor and dignity of the said Barony and to have a place and voice among the Peers and Nobles of Ireland in the Parliaments of that Realm By virtue whereof the said Brian was seised in his demesn as of Fee tayl of the said Barony and dyed seised thereof at Dublin 1 Feb. 12 Caroli before the supposed Treasons after whose death the said Barony discended to him as Heir in tail That by virtue of these Letters Patents before the said supposed Treasons committed he was one of the Barons Lords and Peers of Parliament in the Realm of Ireland and at the Parliament begun and held there the 16th day of March 16 Car. at Dublin and continued untill the 17th of August then next following and then adjourned till the 9th of November next ensuing and thence proroged to the 24 of February next following and from thence continued till the 24 of Iune Car. he was present as one of the Peers of the Realm of Ireland And further saith that on the 23 of October 17 Car. he was taken and arrested by certain Persons to him unknown at Dublin in Ireland and there committed to safe Custody for the Treasons pretended to be committed by him till afterwards he was on the 12 of Iune 18 Car. by certain Persons to him unknown brought in safe Custody against his Will to Westminster within the Realm of England and then and there committed to the Tower of London where he is yet detained And therefore prayeth that he may be tryed and judged by his Peers of the Realm of Ireland for the supposed Treasons in the Indictment To this plea of his Mr. Aske the Kings Attorney in this Court hath demurred in Law and the Prisoner hath joyned in demurrer And whether this Plea of the Prisoner as to his tryall by his Peers of the Realm of Ireland be good in Law is the sole question to be now argued This Case is of very great concernment and yet of greater expectation It concerns the whole Peerage of Ireland in some respects on the one hand and on the other the Iustice both of the King Parliament and Kingdome of England in bringing a desperate Rebell and Arch-Traytor to condigne punishment for the most horrid bloody Treason against the Kings Royal Crown and authority the Protestant Religion and the whole English Nation inhabiting Ireland devoted to destruction by this Traytor and his Confederates that ever was plotted or executed under the Sun The eyes of all our 3 Kingdomes highly concerned in and deeply suffering by this Treason but more especially the eyes and hearts of our adjoyning vigilant Parliame●t which hath specially recommended it to this Court and assigned my self among others Counsel in this Case are intentively fixed upon the final result and issue of it I wish my vacancy to study and abilitie to argue this publique Cause had been such as might have satisfied expectation and discharged the trust reposed in me but other publique services having much interrupted me therein I shall begin to argue it for the present with the best skill I may and so leave it to those learned Gentlemen of the Law if there shall be need of any further Arguments who are provided to argue after me to supply what is defective in this my proemiall Argument All matters of fact and form arising in this Plea have been already admitted true and sufficiently pleaded in Law by mutual consent and nothing but the meer matter in Law rests now to be debated which I conceive to be but one short single point For though the Prisoner pleads that there was a Parliament of which he was a Peer and Member continuing in Ireland by prorogation at the time of his apprehension and sending over into England Yet this Privilege of Parliament comes no wayes in question as to the point of his triall now only in issue as hath been falsly suggested to the Lords house and intimated in an Ordinance of theirs since revoked but relates only to his first apprehension which is not here in controversie ' Besides he pleads not that this Parliament is yet continuing and actually sitting in Ireland of which he ought to have * the privilege but that it was continued till the 24 of Iune 17 Car. which is 3 years since and so intended to be long since ended Nor pleads he that he ought to be or to have been tryed for this Treason in the Parliament of Ireland nor that his privilege of Parliament ought to extend to secure him from any apprehension or Indictment for high Treasou when the Treason is visible and reall as his is and not imaginary only in which Case of Treason no privilege of Parliament is to be admitted as hath been resolved 8 H. 6. rot Parl. n. 57. 31 H. 6. rot Parl. n. 25 26 27. Cooks 4. Instit. fo. 25. So as the matter of his privilege of Parliament is quite out of dores and the sole point in issue is but this Whether a Peer of Ireland committing high Treason in Ireland for which he is there apprehended and afterwards by order of Parliament here brought thence into England against his Will may be endicted and tryed for that Treason in this Court of Kings Bench by a Jury of Middlesex only not by his Peers of Ireland by virtue of the Statute of 35 Hen. 8. chap. 2. And under favour I conceive in some clearness affinmatively that he ma● and shall be tryed here by an Ordinary Iury of Middlesex and outed of his Peerage by virtue of this Act The Question arising meerly upon the Act it self which is very short I shall first recite it and then draw my Arguments out of the very intention words and bowells of it FOrasmuch as some doubts and questions have been moved that certain kinds of Treasons done perpetrated or committed out of the Kings Majesties Realm of England and other his graces Dominions cannot ne may by the Common Laws of this Realm be enquired of heard and determined within this his said Realm of England for a plain remedy order and declaration therein to be had and made Be it enacted by Authority of this present Parliament that all manner of offences being already made or declared or hereafter to be made or declared by any the Laws and
Authority of this Parliament in their force and strength from the said 6th day of March So that this Law if any at all confirmed Magna Charta and all the Statutes made by Authority of Parliament in England to be in force and use in Ireland yet only as to the English Irish Subjects under the Kings obedience and none else as I have proved and this Statute of 10 H. 7. which confirms only the Statutes lately made must and doth in truth and reason relate only to the Laws made in England since that Statute of 8 E. 4. c. 1. not formerly there confirmed by that Act so that the Prisoners Plea That Magna Charta was confirmed by 10 H. 7. is but a meer mistake and a void Plea neither are the Judges here bound to take notice of this Irish Act of 8 E. 4. c. 1. unless pleaded by the Prisoner being no Law of this Kingdom and not binding here 2. Because the forementioned Charters of * 6 Joh. 12. and 30 H. 3. c. confirming the use of the Laws of the Realm of England in Ireland did not extend to settle Magna Charta there at least wise not as to the benefit of the natural Irish but to the English and the Irish within the English Pale alone as is agreed by Sir Ed. Cook and in a manner resolved by this Act of 10 H. 7. as the words thereof From henceforth be deemed good and effectual in the Law and over that be used accepted and executed within the Land of Ireland in all points at all times requisite import And if those Charters extended not to Magna Charta which are fuller then this Act I doubt this Law will hardly do it 3ly Admit the Law of 10 H. 7. extends to Magna Charta in some particulars thereof formerly used in Ireland yet it reacheth not to the trying of Irish Peers by their Peers now in question for these ensuing Reasons 1. Because trial of Irish Peers by their Peers in Ireland was never used nor heard of nor is there any one instance to be found before or since Magna Charta till 10 H. 7. which there setled that great Charter for a Law nor from 10 H. 7. till 35 H. 8. nor since that but of late in one case only about twenty yeers since till this instant Now what Littleton notes of the Statute of Merton * Sect. 108. That no action can be brought upon that Statute for a disparagement for that since the making of it it was never seen nor heard that any such Action was brought upon it against the Guardian and if any Action might have been brought upon this matter it will be intended that sometime it would have been put in ure The like shall I say concerning Magna Charta and the trial of Irish Peers by their Peers in Ireland That if the trying of Irish Peers by their Peers had been the common Law of Ireland or if Magna Charta and 10 H. 7. had established it there for a Law it would some time or other have been there put in ●re and some Peers there would have claimed and enjoyed this their priviledge in point of Trial but since it was never yet in use there for ought I finde nor any one can prove before 35 H. 8. I cannot deem it the common Law nor Priviledge of the Peers of Ireland but the peculiar Priviledge of our English Peers both by the common Statute-Law and great-Charter of England and no trial of right incident to Irish Peers as it is to English Therefore this kinde of Trial neither is confirmed to nor intended to be conferred on Irish Peers by Magna Charta which is but a confirmation only of our * common Laws of England and no introduction of any new Law here and so should introduce no new Law there but confirm the common Laws and Customes there formerly used and so the Tryal by Peers is not there setled in respect of the Irish Peers by the Statute of 10 H. 7. Now that which principally confirms me in this opinion is the two special Acts of Parliament made in Ireland in 2 Eliz. c. 1. 6. * already cited which create a special form of tryal of Irish Peers not by their Peers there of Irish blood but by their Peers of that Realm of the English blood alone only in the new Treasons and Premunires specified in and created by those two Acts but in no other Treasons Which clauses had been merely nugatory and superfluous had the Tryal of Irish Peers in Ireland by Irish Peers been the birth-right and known priprivilege of Irish Peers either by the Common law there used or by the Custome of Ireland or by Magna Charta with this Act of 10 H. 7. confirming it It therefore never being the intent of this Act nor of Magna Charta to grant any new privilege or form of Tryal to Irish Peers which they never formerly enjoyed neither the one nor other will sufficiently support the Prisosoners plea nor indulge him any tryal here or there by his Peers of Ireland at least of Irish blood for so horrid a Treason as this Which I hope is a satisfactory answer to this objection since Custome is the best Expositer of all antient Laws as Sir Edw. Cook declares in his Commentary on Littleton sect. 108. f. 81. b. 4ly Admit the Objection true That Magna Charta extends to Ireland by vertue of this Act of 10 H. 7. so far as to give Irish Peers in Ireland though not of the English Pale a trial by their Peers which they had not before its confirmation there yet then I answer That this Statute of 35 H. 8. ch. 2 upon which the Prisoner is arraigned by making all Treasons done and perpetrated in Ireland triable in England when there is just occasion as now there is in this time of a universal horrid Rebellion and in sundry other forementioned respects repeals this Clause of Magna Charta and deprives the Prisoner of the benefit of his Peerage if at all conferred on him by it and the Act of 10 H. 7. Since it is most certain that Statutes made in the Parliaments of England being the supreme Kingdom and Court to which Ireland its Courts are subordinate and whose erronious judgements in their High Courts and Parliaments there were only reversible here in England in the Kings Bench and Parliament of England as is evident by Claus. 7. H. 3. par 2. m. 10. and Claus. 29. E. 3. m. 12. 8 H. 6. rot Parl. ● 69. Cooks 4 Instit. p. 356. Mr. St. Johns Argument at Law at Straffords Attainder p. 58 61. K●ilway f. 202. b. Br. Error 127. Fitz. Nat. Bre. f. 24. Co. 7 Rep. f. 18. a Calvins Case do oblige those of Ireland not only before but ever since 10 H. 7. when Ireland is either particularly named or generally included as is agreed by Rastals Abri●gement title Ireland 11 E. 3. chap. 2. and 10 E.
English possessions and thereupon with Banners displayed and great forces traytorously invaded the Kings dominions there besieged the City and Castle of Dublin murdered the Kings good Subjects who withstood them and resisted the Kings forces sent from hence c. for which they were all by this Act attainted of High Treafon The like general Rebellions have there broke forth sundry times both before and since that Act but none so generally dangerously bloodily as this for which the Prisoner at the Bar stands endicted The Treasons therefore in Ireland being commonly so frequent so general wherein most of the native Irish-Peers and some of the English extraction too were usually chief Actors there was very great reason policie and justice too why such a Law as this should be made to reach to Ireland and why in such cases as these Rebellions there being so universal and most of the Irish Nobility Conspiratours and parties in them that these Peers and the chiefest Conspiratours when surprized should be presently sent over from thence into England and tryed there for their Treasons 1. To secure their persons from escapes and rescues which might be there more easily procured especially when and where the Irish Rebells are Masters of the Field as the Statute of 17 H. 7. in Ireland c. 14. resolves 2ly To avoid a * fayler of Justice there when by reason of the many Irish Peers there out in actual Rebellion or by means of alliance of most other Peers to them or of the flight of other thence or the employment of them in service or places of trust or by reason of the interposition of the Rebels forces between them and the place of their Tryal chere a competent number of indifferent Irish Peers for a speedy Tryal cannot be assembled with safety or conveniency in Ireland to try a Rebellious Traytor by his Peers there which obvious defects are all supplyed by this Act 3ly To prevent all partiality and injustice in such Cases which might happen in Tryals by Peers in Ireland either by consanguinity or alliance of the Peer to be tryed to the Irish Peers who are to try him or by confederacy of the Tryers in the same Treason with the party tryed or through fear of mischief or revenge upon the Tryers Jury Witnesses Judges by the tryed Rebels Friends Kindred and Confederates in case he should be condemned by them and executed none being so vindictive and bloody in this kind as the Irish Upon all which weighty reasons there was special cause why both in justice policy and prudence all Irish Peers who by publick Rebellion commit High Treason in Ireland should be sent over and tryed here by ordinarie Juries to prevent the forenamed mischiefs and fayler of Justice and bring them to condign punishment Now in this case here in judgement at the Bar all these recited reasons hold For first most of the Irish Peers were in actual Rebellion when the Prisoner was sent over most of the English and Protestant Irish Peets there eimurthered or forced to flye thence or so dispersed and imployed that they could not assemble a competent number of indifferent Peers to any place with conveniency to try him in Ireland 2ly The enemies and Irish Rebels were then Masters of the field in most places the Prisoner in danger to be rescued by force from them or by treachery likely for to escape out of their hands and the times so troublesome as would admit no leasure for such a Tryal 3ly Most of the Irish were-allyed to Magwire or ingaged with him in the self-same Treason and Rebellion and so neither in Law Justice or Prudence fit or indifferent persons to pass upon his Tryal in this Case of most publick concernment 4ly The Judges Witnesses and Peers that should try him there would have been in extreme perill of their lives and of exemplary publick revenges from their Confederate-Rebels who threatned revenge as appears by Mac-Mahons Speech Magwires Confederate to the Justices upon his ●irst examination I am now said he in your hands and you may do with me what you please But I am sure within few daies I shall be revenged and by like words of revenge used by Owen Oneile in Flanders so soon as he heard Magwire was apprehended 5ly If he should now be sent back from hence into Ireland to be tryed the Rebels and his party are there so predominant that scarce any Witnesses nor Peers nor Judges either would or durst there to appear openlie against him or else such means would be made to delay or delude his Tryal and Execution that by some device or other there would questionless be a fayler of Justice against him Therefore for all these weighty reasons he may and ought by all rules of Policy Equity and Justice to be arraigned and tryed only at this Bar by vertue of this Act which so clearly extends unto him That so the blood of * above one hundred and fifty thousand innocent Protestants shed in Ireland in less than four months space by means of this Rebellion which cryes loud to Heaven and Earth for revenge against this great Contriver and Arch-promo of it may not go un-revenged in a way of publick Justice to our eternal infamie I have quite done with the second and main Question and proved an Irish Peer to be within the Statute as well as an Irish Commoner I shall now proceed to the last point arising from the manner of this Plea that he may be tryed by his Peers not expressing where or how and intimating that he would be so tryed here in England It is briefly this Admitting an Irish Peer to be tryable in England for a Treason committed by him in Ireland whether this doth not inevitably out him of his Tryal by Irish Peers and subj●ct him him to a Tryal at this Bar by an ordinary Jury as well as an Irish Commoner And I conceive without any scruple affirmatively that it doth for these undenyable Reasons 1. Because Irish Peers are Peers only in Ireland not in England and cease to be such in judgement of Law so soon as ever they arive in England both personally in themselves and relatively to others being here in judgement but mere Esquires not Lords and are to be sued as such not as Lords or Peers even as Peers of Scoland France or Spain are as is resolved and adjudged 11 E. 3. Fitzh. Brief 473. 8 R. 2. Process Fitzh. 224. 20 E. 4. 6. Brook Nosme de dignity 49 M. 19 20 Eliz. Dyer 360. b. Cooks 7 Rep. f. 15 16. Calvins case Co. 9 Rep. f. 117. the Lord Sanchers Case in point and Cooks 3 Instit. p. 30. The Prisoner then being no Peer in England it is impossible that he should be tryed in England by his Peers 2ly Because no such way of Tryal was ever yet heard of in any age of any Irish or other forein Peer tryed here in England either by English Peers or by his Irish or forein