in the same bottom as the King does in England I say almost on the same bâ—ttom for the Irish Parliament have not only a Negative as the King has in England to whaâ—ever Laws the King and his Priâ—y Councils of both or either Kingdom shall lay before them but have also a liberty of proposing to the King and his Privy Council here such Laws as the Parliament of Ireland think expedient to be pass'd which Laws being thus proposed to the King and put into form and transmitted to the Parliament here of Ireland according to Poyning's Act must be pass'd or rejected in the very words even to a little as they are laid before our Parliament we cannot alter the least Iota In this Narrative of their Constitution under that Law he has omitted the mentioning what is very material that the Kings answer to what they propoâ—e is to be transmitted under the great â—eal of England and this is to be the Licence and Authority for the holding a Parliament in Ireland and therefore their Acts of Parliament since that settlement mention their being held by Authority under the Great Seal of England And there were two obvious ends and effects of this Law as Mr. M. himself owns 1. The preventâ—on of any thing passing in the Parliament of Ireland surreptitiously to the prejudice of the King or the English Interest of Ireland to which I must add or of England 2. To take from the Irish there all colour of pretence of holding Parliaments as an independent Kingdom by virtue of any Authority within that Land But how the King's Prerogative in the Legislature was advanced by this I do not understand since long before as well as notwithstanding this supposed Constitntion of an Independent Parliament held by Authority from the Great Seal of England the King had and has the Prerogative not only to dissolve the Irish Parliaments at his Pleasure but never to call any which this Gentleman ought to fear least such a claim as he makes might occasion and I would gladly know what part of their Constitution provides for the frequent holding of Parliaments in Ireland yet frequency of Parliaments in England is an undoubted part of the Fundamental Constitution of the English Monarchy Farther is it any advance to the Prerogative in the Legislature that a Prince who has the full exercise of an absolute Legislature at home is only possessed of a Provision against having any attempt made to the lessening that his settled and indubitable Prerogative I must needs say this Gentleman has a way of arguing beyond my apprehension for I cannot see the consequence how the Prerogative should be advanced if as he will have it the Irish Parliament is put almost on the same bottom as that the King stands on in England if it be so I should think it a lessening of the Prerogative to have an Irish Parliament almost coordinate with him which Mr. M. is very fearful least an English Parliament should pretend to And I as little understand the reason he gives why the Parliament of Ireland stands almost upon the same bottom with the King for says he they have not only a Negative Vote as the King has in England but liberty to propose yet the Laws must be pass'd or rejected without alteration This I take to be Foreign to the bottom on which either the King or that Parliament stands If it be meant that they are in a manner as absolute in this negative and liberty of purposing as the King is in England since it relates only to Law first desired from Ireland either by the Privy Council or Parliament there this Constitution of their Parliament is so far from giving them a negative to the Laws pass'd in England with declared intention to bind them in Ireland that the Authority of England is wove into the very Constitution and the Parliaments of Ireland own that Authority by their very Sitting and Enacting Mâ— M. having represented that Constiâ—ution of their Parliaments by which he thinks they stand almost upon the same bottom as the King did here makes this strong assumption If therefore the Legislature of Ireland stand on this foot in relation to the King and to the Parliament of Ireland and the Parliament of England do remove it from this bottom and assume it to themselves where the King's Prerogative is much narrower and as it were reversed for there the King has only a negative Vote I humbly conceive 't is an encroachment on the King's Prerogative But he might consider 1. That as here by the Parliament he takes Lords and Commons without the King he mistakes the Fact in relation to their exercice of Power for they do not assume to themselves the Power of making any Law but with and under the King 2. Neither do they in the highest exercice of their Power take from the Irish any thing allowed or directed by Poyning's Law or any other Constitution 3. They do but assert the Chief Prerogative of the Crown of England by which due consent being bad our Kings give Laws to this Realm and all the Dominions belonging to it 4. The ancient course of the Proceedings of the Parliaments of England and their making all manner of Provisions for the Government of Ireland evince that Poyning's Law was rather an Indulgence to the English there directing a Method for their maintaining the face of a Legislature among themselves than any restraint of Power before vested in the Parliaments of England And after all this Law was never as I take it confirm'd by a Parliament of England I must not here omit the consequences which Mr. M. draws from the Parliament of England's pretending Power to impose any one Law upon Ireland 1. That 't will naturally introduce the Taxing them without their consent 2. That 't will leave the People of Ireland in the greatest confusion imaginable that they are not permitted to know which is the Supreme Authority which they are bound to obey whether the Parliament of England or that of Ireland or both and that the uncertainty is or may be made a pretence for disobedience 3. That 't will be highly inconvenient for England may make the Lords and People of Ireland think they are not well used and may drive them into Discontent 1. Not here to consider how far the Lordship of the Land of Ireland may infer the Taxing it if it should refuse to concur as it ought to its own Preservation since the Law of necessity is no farther to be used or considered than while the necessity is apparent I may say that this is no consequence to be apprehended and that as the Right of Taxing does not follow from the Right of Governing and the Nature of the Government depends upon the first Submission and that Interpretation and Confirmation of it which both the governing Nation and the governed have put upon it I must infer with deference to the National Authority that the
THE History and Reasons OF THE Dependency of IRELAND UPON THE Imperial Crown OF THE Kingdom of ENGLAND Rectifying Mr. Molineux's State of the Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England Actum erat de foecundissimâ gente Si libera fuisset Plin. Panegyr LONDON Printed for Dan. Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar and Ri. Smith at the Angel without Lincolns-Inn Gate near the Fields 1698. To the Honourable the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament Assembled YOur House and they to whose Rights You succeed having for several Ages been the Principal Support of the English Monarchy the Enemies to so excellent a Constitution have thought it could never be more effectually undermined than by the drawing your Rights into Question and thus have many made 〈◊〉 their deceitful Courts to Princes 'T is not for me to determine whether Malice or Sycophantry have induced some to deny your being in any manner invested with that Authority which they officiously ascribe to the Kings of this Realm and their Council of Lords or rather Privy Council to the derogating from the Lords in Parliament no less than from You. I conceive it allowable for me to joyn the Men of this assurance with Dr. Brady and other Advocates for Despotick Power who have contended that your first Presence or Representation in the National Council began by Rebellion in the 49. of H. 3. which being taken as proved they conclude that Kings may as well set you aside as a Subject may any obligation extorted by threats and duress And whoever has made any attempt towards the removing that Corner Stone for Tyranny has been sure to incur the imputation of promoting Anarchy as if your venerable Body did not in the least interpose between those two Extremes The fairest colour which the Men of Foreign Notions and Allegiance have for their premises is from King John's Charter which as they imagine has declared or establish'd the Tenents of the Crown in Chief to be the only legal Members of the Common Council of the Kingdom the far different sense of which Charter I may well say 't was my fortune to find and evince upon my first enquiry into the Nature of our Government since the force of truth has obliged even Dr. Brady to yield it up to me after all the hard Words which he had given me on that occasion Nor has he offered the least Shadow of Evidence against my List from Domesday Book shewing that notwithstanding the supposed Conquest of this Land by W. 1. they who had not forfe ted their Estates enjoyed them upon or under Titles Priour to his Entrance without relation to any Grant or Confirmation from him Permit me to say that the Researches in which this Controversy engaged me have in some measure enabled me to assert your Authority in the highest Instances of the exercise of Power aud to make out by Deduction and numerous Presidents what you have as 't were by Intuition that Ireland as 't is annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Kingdom is subjected to that Authority which is and must be absolute and yet can never be gaievous because of your share in it Tho the bold denial of this has already receiv'd your just censure of being of dangerous Consequence to the Crown and People of England Yet if I may use the Allusion I might observe that 't is not held improper to make Comments upon the Sacred Text to explain it to Vulgar Understandings Which I should hope may plead in my Excuse if not Justification while I am proving that as you have rightfully concurred with the Lords in giving Ireland a King by filling the Vacant Throne and that Glorious Preserver of your Liberties has with the Advice and Consent of the States of this his Realm made Laws with a declared intention of binding Ireland these Acts of Sovereignty are not only agreeable to the Laws of Nature and of Nations but warranted by the Ancient Constitution of this Monarchy The foundation of which while I have been labouring to clear from that Rubbish which would render it unstable it has happened with me as with those who having exhausted themselves in working a rich Mine are forced to leave the bright Oar to them that come after And thus 't is likely to be with those Collections which I have by me concerning the Fundamental Constitution of this Government by which I had flattered my self that I must have contributed towards the Peace and Happiness of my Country in shewing the admirable Harmony that there is between the constituent parts of this Empire how strong and beautiful they are in their due order How conspicuous that Degree of the Baronage or Nobility of Engl. which you 're present has been in all the Ages of this Monarchy in maintaining its Glory what Persuasive Reasons both Prince and People have to be satisfied with their several and yet common Interests and how little they are to be thought Friends to either who prompt them as the Learned Grotius has it In partem non suam involare Whither I have been any way serviceable to the Publick or can yet serve it according to my Zeal is submitted to the Collective Wisdom of the Nation The Judgment is with you who if you should not think this or any of my former labourous Effects of Idleness as the Poet calls the Writing of Books worthy of your Protection or Notice I doubt not will extend your Pardon to Endeavours consecrated to your use By Your Most Faithful and Affectionate Humble Servant W. Atwood The History and Reasons of the Dependency of Ireland upon the Imperial Crown of the Kingdom of England c. AS there 's no need of staying for Publick Authority or Encouragement to oppose an open Invasion upon the Rights of my Country I cannot but think it my duty to make a stand till better help come in with Arms taken up on a sudden and that the rather since by a shew of Precedents and popular Positions some lovers of English Liberties are drawn in to join with the Invaders nor do I wonder to find Sufferers under Arbitrary Reigns easy to be misled by a seeming Advocate for mankind who undertakes the Cause of the whole Race of Adam And yet to any man who will be at the least pains to think of Consequences 't will be manifest that the Liberty which the Gentleman whom I oppose contends for as the inherent Right of all mankind would be a total exemption from all Laws and Government except such as Adam had a right to in the state of Nature and for want of knowing who has the title of Descent from him would turn all Nations to such Commonwealths wherein every Paterfamiliâs is an independent Soveraign If men were to be considered in such a state I will agree with him That on whatsoever ground any one Nation can challenge Liberty to themselves
himself Ego Ethelred Rex Anglorum aliarumque gentium in circuitu persistentium I Ethelred King of the English and other Nations living round about And the same stile he uses in the Year 1001. tho as appears above in another Charter of the same Year he stiles himself only King of the whole Island And in another at the beginning of his Reign only King of the English W. I. generally stiles himself no more than King of the English or King of the English and Duke of Normandy Yet as one of his Charters has it he was the most powerful of all the Kings of that time ruling the greatest Empire of England That other Nations were then held to be Dependencies upon the Kingdom of England appears by a Charter of his in the 15 th of his Reign which begins Ego Gulielmus Deo disponente rex Anglorum caeterarumque gentium circumquaque persistentium Rector Dux Normannorū I William by God's Disposal King of the English and Ruler of the rest of the Nations round about and Duke of Normandy After his time his Successors till H. 2. left the Dependencies of England out of their Stile adding only other Dominions which they had as distinct and independent Thus H. 1. to mention no other stiles himself King of the English and Duke of Normandy but before the death of his Brother Robert only King of the English Not here to bring other Evidences of the continuance of the Superiority over Ireland to turn Mr. Molineux his Argument upon him if I shew the Church of Ireland to have been then dependent upon or under the Church of England he must not deny but the State was too Archbishop Parker who must be allowed to have seen and understood the Evidences of the Rights of the See of Canterbury and is agreed to be a faithful Collector speaking of the time of H. 1. shews that upon the vacancy of the Bishoprick of Waterford Murchertach King of Ireland with the Bishops all the Nobility and the Clergy and People of the Island sent to Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury desiring Quatenus ipse primatûs quem super eos gerebat potestate quâ fungebatur Apostolicâ fretus Authoritate sanctae Christianitati ac necessariae plebium utilitati eis subveniret That by the Power of the Supremacy which he had over them and the Apostolical Authority which he enjoyed he would be aiding to holy Christianity and the necessities of the people At their request he upon the death of the Bishop of Dublin consecrated one Malchus whose Bishoprick Pope Eugenius raised into an Arbishoprick But notwithstanding the Popes Eugenius and Adrian had constituted Archbishops there yet they all acknowledged the Supremacy of the See of Canterbury in all things And after Archbishop Parker had enumerated 33 Bishopricks in Ireland he adds Hi omnes 33 Episcopatus usitato antiquissimo regni jure ac instituto Cantuar sedi ut Metropoli parent All these 33 Bishopricks by the accustomed and most antient Right and Constitution of the Kingdom obey the See of Canterbury as the Metropolis If it were doubtful whether he meant that this Right was by the antient Constitution of the Kingdom of England the former Authorities make it evident that it was However I shall confirm them with two more Gervace of Canterbury who lived in the time of H. 2. speaking of Lawrence Archbishop of Canterbury who succeeded the reputed English Apostle Austin says He not only took care of the new Church gathered out of the English but of the old British Inhabitants and also took care of his pastoral Charge over the Scots who inhabit Ireland an Island very near Britain Bromton an Author who is cited by Mr. Molineux mentioning the Dispute about Superiority in the Great Council or Parliament at Winchester in the beginning of the Reign of W. 1. between Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury and the then Archbishop of York says Ubi Historia Bedae perlectâ monstratum est à tempore primi Augustini usque ad ultima Bedae tempora quod circiter centum quadraginta annos erat Cantuar. Arch. primatum super totam Britannicae Insulam Hiberniae gessisse Where the History of Bede having been read 't was shewn that from Austin's first coming to the end of Bede which was about 140 years the Archbishop of Cantorbury held the Primacy over the whole Island of Britain and of Ireland Thus I think 't is past dispute that a superiority of Government both in Church and State was vested with the English and by consequence in the Crown of England as the Head from the 6 th of King Edgar at the latest to the year 1151. when the Jurisdiction of Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury was submitted to by the Irish as the antient and undoubted Right of that See Nor can it be imagined without some account of the Circumstances that the Superiority and Authority of England should have been lost in less than 22 years when Mr. M. supposes the Pretensions of England to have had their first ground He will have H. 2. his landing in Ireland to have been occasioned only by a fortunate Expedition thither by some of his Subjects a little before in assistance of some of the Princes or Kings of Ireland who had been oppress'd by a too powerful Neighbour and would insinuate as if the Deliverers were only entituled to be paid for the assistance which they gave and he is so bountiful as to allow that England ought to be repaid all their Expences in suppressing the late Rebellion But as England has supprest that Rebellion against the English Crown it appears by what has been above cited that the disputes between the Kings of Ireland only gave H. 2. opportunity and encouragement to assert the Authority of the English Nation and to restore to the Crown the possession of the City of Dublin and so much of the English Pale as could then be gained with such addition as they could make in a just War to secure those Bounds which had been invaded and usurped upon by a barbarous Enemy In this H. 2. was not to be blamed for that Ambition which has carried Princes to make Conquests since his Expedition was no more than he was obliged to as King of England For as the Confessor's Law has it Debet vero de jure Rex omnes terras honores omnes dignitates jura libertates coronae regni hujus in integrum cum omni integritate sine diminutione observare defendere dispersa dilapidata omissa regni jura in pristinum statum debitum viribus omnibus revocare But the King ought of right to keep and defend all the Lands and Honours all Dignities Rights and Liberties of the Crown of this Kingdom with all integrity and without diminution with all his might to bring back
ask him what sort of Law he takes the above-cited Statutes of Ireland to be and shall afterwards shew that they have all along submitted to such a Conquest or Acquisition as gives a Right to the imposing of Laws 3. But since he is pleas'd to say As Scotland tho the King's Subjects claims an exemption from all Laws but what they assent to in Parliament so we think this our Right also and going upon the supposition of Ireland being a Kingdom as distinct from England as Scotland he frames an Objection that however they may be restrain'd by War from doing what may be to the prejudice of England the stronger Nation If this may be he asks why does it not operate in the same manner between England and Scotland and consequently in like manner draw after it England's binding Scotland by their Laws at Westminster As to Scotland not here to enter into the Dispute between the Lord Coke and the rest of the Judges who resolv'd Calvin's Case and the House of Commons of that time nor yet into the Question concerning the Scotch Homage whether 't was for the Kingdom of Scotland or only for some Lands which their Kings held of the Crown of England 'T is enough to observe that during the Heptarchy here we often had one King who was Rex primus to whom the others were Homagers and obedient in the Wars for common Defence of the Island yet each King had his distinct Regalities and the Countrys their several Laws and Customs and distinct Legislatures for Lands and other Rights and Things within themselves This 't was easy to conceive that Scotland had and thus both there and here under the Heptarchy the several Kingdoms notwithstanding Homage to one King who had the Primacy were under separate Allegiances as the respective Subjects were not bound to the same Laws tho the States of the Kingdom did Homage as well as the King When the Right to the Crown of Scotland came afterwards in J. 1. to be in the same Person who had the Crown of England and that without any new Acquisition by the Crown or Kingdom of England there was no merger of the less Crown and 't is certain that in the Judgment of Law Palatinates fallen to the Crown continue distinct Royalties But if for the keeping a Kingdom distinct whether in the Person of the same King or as an Appendant to his Imperial Crown a distinct Legislature is necessary as well as a distinct Jurisdiction then Wales which in many of our Statutes is call'd a Dominion was no distinct Dominion or Principality if it at any time continued in the Crown without having Parliaments of their own or being represented here by Members of their own chusing but thus it was with Wales from the 12 th of E. 1. to the 34 th of H. 8. in right of E. 1 st's Conquest as Sir John Davis or the Judges in his time call the Acquisition of that Dominion and as 't is there E. 1. changed their Laws and Customs as he had express'd in his Charter or the Statute of Rutland which follows Divinâ providentiâ terram Walliae cum incolis suis prius nobis jure feodali subjectam in proprietatis nostrae dominium totaliter cum integritate convertit coronae regni nostrae annexit By the Divine Providence the Land of Wales with its Inhabitants before subject to us by feudal Right we have turn'd wholly and entirely into the Dominion of our Propriety and annexed it to the Crown of our Kingdom And as to their Laws and Customs Quasdam de consilio procerum regni nostri delevimus quasdam permisimus quasdam correximus ac etiam quasdam alias adjiciendas faciendas decrevimus Some by the Counsel of the Peers of our Kingdom we have abrogated some we have permitted some we have corrected and besides some others we have added and decreed to be put in execution Here is a Title understood at that time of taking a Forfeiture for Rebellion against the Lord of the Fee and in consequence of this the King and his Peers in Parliaments took upon them to exercise a Legislative Power over Wales But notwithstanding that Wales was thus united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of England and absolutely subjected to its Legislature yet as is held in Davis's Reports this Principality of Wales not being govern'd by the common Law was a Dominion by it self and had its proper Laws and Customs That Report shews Wales by reason of these different Laws and Customs to be more distinct and separate from the Kingdom of England than Ireland is and that a Tenure of the Prince of Wales should not after its reduction under the Subjection of England become a Tenure of the Crown in chief but that it should be so in relation to Tenures of a County Palatine in Ireland as well as England because such a County in either Land was originally a parcel of the Realm and derived from the Crown and was always govern'd by the Law of England and the Lands there were held by Services and Tenures of which the common Law takes notice altho the Lords have a separate Jurisdiction and Seigniory separate from the Crown But that Tenure in Chief in Ireland as well as England could be no other than of the Crown of England appears not only by the Grants to the Electors Palatine or Lords Marchers of Ireland but in that Ireland was not raised into a Kingdom till H. 8's time The mention of Palatinates may well occasion a Comparison between the Land of Ireland and the County Palatine of Chester a distinct Royalty in the Principality of Wales that had its Parliaments within it self as 't is very probable from before the time of W. 1. it being certain that Hugh Lupus enjoyed that Earldom by Judgment of the Lords if not the Great Council in the time of W. 1. and their Parliaments may be traced from within the time of H. 3. downwards to their first having Representatives in Parliaments of the Kingdom 34 H. 8. Their provincial Parliaments were chiefly if not only for the granting Aids to the Crown but notwithstanding their being represented in Parliaments at home yet Laws were made here in the superior Parliament for the governing the Inhabitants of the County of Chester Now without considering whether Cheshire was a Colony from England or from Wales or mix'd or else a place exempt without regard to the being any Colony I may well hold that tho from before the time of W. 1. they had the privilege of being tax'd only by themselves or with their own Consent yet their Parliament was subordinate to the Great Council of the Kingdom of England and 't was no violation of the Right of their Parliament for the National Council to give them Laws for their better Government and to restrain 'em from acting to the prejudice of the Crown and
imply that there is no Subordination 't will follow that the Inferior Courts in England are not subordinate to the Courts of Westminster-Hall and I may add neither is the King's Bench of England subordinate to the House of Lords As to the question of their Jurisdiction occasioned as Mr. M's Margin has it by the Case of the Bishop of Derry I need say little here referring him to the Judgment of the Lords and to that exercice of the Judicial Power which I shall have an opportunity of shewing in the Reign of E. 1. But as to his supposed clear Argument against the subordination from the Lords doing nothing upon the Petition of the Prior of Lanthony who appeal'd to the Parliament of England from a refusal of the King's Bench here to meddle with a Judgment which had pass'd in the Parliament of Ireland 'T will admit of several Answers 1. This came not before the Lords by Writ of Error or by Appeal from the Lords of Ireland but was a complaint of the King's Bench here 2. This was after the Charter which I shall afterwards shew placing a judicial Power to some Purposes in their Parliaments But whether they exceeded that Authority 't was not for the King's Bench to judg but for that Power from whence their Charter was derived 3. This Petition seems either to have come too late or to have been waved for if it had fallen under consideration 't is probable that some Answer to it could have been endors'd as was usual in former times But that the ordinary Jurisdiction both of the Lords in Parliament and of the King's-Bench here is but an incident to the Superiority of the Crown of England will be much clearer than any thing Mr. M. has urged And whatever Mr. M. conceives the Annexation of Ireland to the Crown of England will sufficiently manifest the Subordination tho he supposing that this was done by the Irish Statute which annexes it as a Kingdom with others which declare it annex'd as a Land or Dominion of a lower Character conceives little more is effected by these Statutes than that Ireland shall not be aliened or separated from the King of England who cannot 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 But if these Statutes bating the name of Kingdom which the Parliament of England afterwards gave them are only declaratory of the antient Right of the Crown of England then I may well hold that there is not so much effected by these Statutes as he yields it being only the operation of Law And if by operation of Law a King of England tho not succeeding by a strict Right of Descent but by the Choice or Declaration of the States of this Realm is ipso facto King or Lord of Ireland I would gladly know how that Kingdom or Land which he owns to be thus inseparably annex'd to the Imperial Crown of England can be a compleat Kingdom And since he is pleas'd to ask whether multitudes of Acts of Parliament both of England and Ireland have not declared Ireland a compleat Kingdom and whether 't is not stiled in them all the Kingdom or Realm of Ireland I would entreat the favour of him to shew me one Act of Parliament of either Kingdom which says or all Circumstances consider'd implies that Ireland is a compleat Kingdom or that ever any Parliament of their own held it to be advanced to the Dignity of a Kingdom before 33 H. 8. tho as they acknowledg the Kings of England had Kingly Power there long before I must own that as the name of King was in H. 8's time thought requisite to charm the wild Irish into Obedience so in Queen Elizabeth's time Imperial Crown was thought to make a conquering Sound but this was never ascribed to it by any Parliament of Englandâ— nor that I can find even of Ireland before her Reign or since But the one Imperial Crown upon which Ireland has been and still is dependent is the Crown of England sor this the Statute of Ireland before that was made a Kingdom is express having these words Calling to our remembrance the great Divisions which in time past have been by reason of several Titles pretended to the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England whereunto this your Land of Ireland is appending and belonging So another in the same Year Forasmuch as this Land of Ireland is depending and belonging justly and rightfully to the Imperial Crown of England it enacts that the King his Heirs and Successors Kings of the Realm of England and Lords of this said Land of Ireland shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the Imperial Crown of England all Honours Dignities Pre-eminencies and Authorities c. belonging to the Church of Ireland If Mr. Molineux observes duly Ireland has all these Imperial Rights declared in the Irish Statute 33 H. 8. c 1. but I cannot find by what Rule he insers this from an Act of Parliament which is express that the King of England shall have the Name Stile Title and Honour of King of Ireland with all manner of Preheminencies c. as united and knit to the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England Indeed it shews that under the name of Lord the King had the same Authority but the name of King was thought likely to be more prevalent with the Irish Men and Inhabitants within that Realm The Statute 11 Jac. 1. declares him King of England Scotland France and Ireland by God's Goodness and Right of Descent under one Imperial Crown And the Statute 10 C. 1. calls this the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland And indeed Mr. Molineux would do well to shew that ever any of our Kings took any Coronation Oath for Ireland otherwise than as Kings of England And yet I know not what he may do when his hand 's in since he has the Art to transubstantiate their Recital of an Act of Parliament in England which declares that Popes had usurped an Authority in derogation of the Right of the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England recognizing no Superiour under God but only the King and being free from Subjection to any Man's Laws but only such as have been devised made and ordain'd within the Realm of England or to such other as by sufferance of the King and his Progenitors the People of the Realm of England had taken at their free Liberty by their own Consent to be used among them and have bound themselves by long Custom to the observance of the same To infer that 't is thus with Ireland because the enacting part of that Statute which has this Recital is promulged for a Law in Ireland is to suppose Ireland to be turned into England and that the Commissioners who are by virtue of that Act and the Great Seal to exercise that
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which the Statute in England placed in the See of Canterbury are become English Archbishops And with the like way of reasoning he would infer that Acts of Recognition in England are of no Force in Ireland till the Irish have recognized the same King and yet confesses That whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland and the Subjects are obliged to obey him as their Leige Lord That they in Ireland are so annexed to England that the Kings and Queens of England are by undoubted Right ipso facto Kings and Queens of Ireland To use Mr. M's own Expression I am sure there 's an end of all Speech if he does not confess that a Prince rightfully possest of the English Throne is thereby King of Ireland before any Recognition made by a Parliament there and yet not withstanding this generous Concession he immediately subjoins And from hence we may reasonably conclude that if any Acts of Parliament made in England should be of force in Ireland before they are receiv'd there in Parliament they should be more especially such Acts as relate to the Succession and Settlement of the Crown and Recognition of the King's Title thereto and the Power and Jurisdiction of the King And yet we find in the Irish Statutes 28 H. 8. c. 2. An Act for the Succession of the King and Queen Ann. And another c. 5. declaring the King to be supreme Head of the Church of Ireland Both which Acts had formerly pass'd in the Parliament of England So likewise we find amongst the Irish Statutes Acts of Recognition of the King's Title to Ireland in the Reigns of H. 8. Queen Elizabeth King Charles 2. K. William and Q. Mary by which it appears that Ireland tho annexed to the Crown of England has always been look'd upon to be a Kingdom compleat within it self and to have all Jurisdiction to an absolute Kingdom belonging and subordinate to no Legislative Authority on Earth Tho 't is to be noted those English Acts relating to the Succession and Recognition of the King's Title do particularly name Ireland Before I enter into the enquiry how this can be made consistent with a Kingship ipso facto before the Recognition in Ireland 't will be requisite to inform him that we have had Settlements of the Crown by Acts of Parliament here which never were formally received by any Parliament in Ireland and yet such Act of Parliament here has ever been held to bind Ireland tho 't was not expresly named and that tho the Settlement has carried the Crown from the elder Branch of the Royal Family for instance 7 H. 4. at the request of the Lords and Commons in Parliament 't was enacted That the Inheritance of the Crown and of the Realms of England and France and of all other the King's Seigniories or Lordships beyond Sea with the appurtenances be put and remain in the Person of the said King and the Heirs of his Body issuing and 't was ordain'd established pronounced expressed and declared that Prince Henry the King 's eldest Son be Heir apparent to succeed him in the said Crown Realms and Seigniories to have them with all their Appurtenances after the King's decease to the Prince and the Heirs of his Body with Remainders over to the King 's 2 d and 3 d Sons and the Heirs of their respective Bodies successively And according to this Form 1 H. 7. 't was ordain'd established and enacted by Authority of Parliament that the Inheritances of the Crowns of the Realms of England and France with all the preheminence and dignity Royal to the same appertaining and all other Seigniories belonging to the King beyond Sea with the Appurtenances in any manner due to them or appertaining do stand and remain in the most noble Person of their said Sovereign Lord H. 7. and the Heirs of his Body lawfully issuing for ever with the Grace of God to endure and in no other Persons Not to trouble Mr. M. with an enquiry whether these or any other Acts of Parliament in England of former Reigns united Ireland to England otherwise than as they declared their intention for that Seigniory or Dominion to go along with the Government of England or what Act of Parliament in Ireland since the first submission to H. 2. created an Annexation of the Land of Ireland to the Crown of England I must entreat him to explain How it should come to pass that the King of England ipso facto by his being made King here is King of Ireland and yet that those Acts of Parliament here by which the King is declared King without and against a strict courst of descent are of no force till the King is recognized by Act of Parliament in Ireland If a King of England as such is ipso facto King of Ireland is he not so before any Act of Recognition there And if so what can that or other Acts repeating the Laws made in England signify more than a full publication of what was the Law before If the Election or Declaration of a King by a Parliament in England gives a Law in this matter to Ireland and such a King is to be obey'd by virtue of that Law ipso facto before he is received and acknowledged by a Parliament in Ireland do their subsequent Recognitions in the least infer that Ireland is a compleat Kingdom Is it any better than a Contradiction to hold that a King of England as created or declared in a Parliament of England is thereby or at the same instant King of Ireland and yet that Ireland is a Kingdom so compleat in it self that he is no King till the Act of Parliament creating or declaring him King is confirm'd by a Parliament in Ireland Or take it the other way No Act of Parliament in England is of any force till confirmed in Ireland and yet a King declared by a Parliament of England tho he was not King before such declaration is thereby or ipso facto King of Ireland that is an Act of Parliament of England is not of force in Ireland till confirm'd there and yet 't is of force ipso facto by the being enacted here Does it not therefore follow that such an annexation of Ireland to the Crown of England as makes the King of England ipso facto King of Ireland destroys the supposition that their Parliaments have Authority to confirm or reject Laws made by the Legislature in England Or otherwise that the supposition of such an Authority in the Parliament of Ireland destroys that annexation which Mr. M. himself yields Further yet 't will appear that even after a Parliament of Ireland had as far as it could annex'd that Land as a Kingdom to the Imperial Crown of England an Annexation here was requisite for the ratifying what had been done in Ireland Therefore 34 and 35 H. 8. an Act was made by the Parliament of England for
Council it must have been provided will more fully appear afterwards I may here explain it by an Instance in that Reign All must agree that the Provisions of Oxford in the 43 d of H. 3. and referr'd to in the Records of the next year were made in as true a Parliament as any in that Reign before the 49 th 't is call'd a Parliament by good Authors and the word is used in the Records of the next year in relation to a meeting on the Borders of Wales The Ordinances and Provisions made at Oxford were drawn up by 12 chosen by the King and 12 by the Commons concerning which the Record has these words Anno ab incarnat domini 1259. Regni autem H. Regis fil Regis J. 43. in quindena St. Mic. conven ips domino Rege magnatibus suis de communi consilio consensu dictor Regis magnatum factae sunt provisiones per ipsos Regem Magnates In the year from the incarnation of our Lord 1259. but of the Reign of K. Henry Son of K. John the 43d the said King and his great Men being assembled in the Quinzism of St. Michael Provisions were made by the Common Council and consent of the said King and great men And yet some of the Entries in the same Roll mentioning Provisions then made are per magnates nostros qui sunt de consilio nostro By our great Men of our Council Others Per magnates de Consilio meo By the great Men of our Council As if 't was by the sole Authority of the King and such noble Men as were of his Privy or Private Council wheâ— those Provisions were certainly made in full Parliament and this was the Council from whence Ireland then receiv'd its Laws However from a Charter in the first of that King's Reign Mr. M. would infer that the English there had their independent Parliaments then established or confirmed tho he afterwards admits that during that King's Reign they might have been bound by Laws made here for want of a regular legislature establish'd amongst them The Charter or rather Writ with which a Charter was sent runs thus Rex Archiepisc Episc Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus omnibus fidelibus suis per Hiberniam constitutis salutem fidelitatemvestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino Patri nostro semper exhibuistis nobis estis diebus nostris exhibituri volumus quòd in signum fideliâ—aâ—is vestraetam praeclarae tam insignis libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae à patre nostro nobis concessis de gratiâ nostrâ dono in Regno Hiberniae gaudeatis quas distinctè in scriptum reductas de'communi consilio omnium fidel nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas Sigillis Domini nostri G. Apostolicae sedis Legati fidelis nostri Comitis Mareschalli Rector is nostri regni nostri quia sigillum nondum habuimus easdem processu temporis de Majori consilio proprio Sigillo signatur Teste apud Glost 6. Feb. The King to the Archbishops Bishops Earls Barons Kts. and all our faithful Subjects constituted throughout Ireland Health Commending your fidelity in the Lord which you always shewed to your Lord our Father and are about to shew to 〈◊〉 in our days we will that in sign of your fidelity â—o remarkable so eminent you enjoy in our Kingdom of Ireland the Libâ—rties granted to our Kingdom of England by our Father us which distinctly reduced into Writing we send you by the Common Counsel of all our faithful People Sealed with the Seals of the Lord G. Legate of the Apostolick See of our faithful Subject W. Earl Marshal Regent of us and our Kingdom because we have not yet a Seal intending in process of time by consent of a greater Counsel to seal them with our own Seal Teste at Gloster 6. Feb. How specious soever this may seem 't will neither prove Ireland to have been a Kingdom so early nor to have had a grant of the English Liberties in the same manner as the English enjoyed them that is so as to have no Law imposed upon them without their express and immediate consent to that very Law For 1. 'T is not to be suppos'd but that if Ireland had been a Kingdom before this Charter H. 2. and other Kings of England would have stiled themselves Kings of Ireland rather than Lords because of the greater Dignity of Kingship unless Lord was chosen as implying more absolute Power which would argue that Ireland did not enjoy the English Laws with equal Freedom 2. This Writ mentions no Liberties granted to Ireland but what had been granted to England which besides the improbability that Ireland should 1 H. 3. have a Charter of the same form with that which did not pass in England till 8 Years after shews the spuriousness of the suppos'd Charter preserved in the red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin as dated the November before the Charter sent the 6th of February and however the constant method of sending Laws from hence to be applyed to the use of the Irish without any alteration may sufficiently detect that Charter which has the City of Dublin instead of London 3. The method of sending to Ireland the Laws made here besides what appears upon the face of the Record 6. Feb may satisfie any Body that 't was only a Writ which went along with a Charter or Charters of Laws passed in Parliament here 4. This Writ was before any confirmation of the English Liberties by H. 3. other than general at his Coronation and therefore bating such Confirmation the Charter of Liberties then sent into Ireland must have been King John's which if it be read according to the due distinction of Periods and that Translation which the course of Records both before and after enforces and which the prevalence of Truth has obliged Dr. Brady to yeild to the giving up his whole Controversie with Mr. Petyt and the Author of Jani Anglorum Facies Nova makes express Provision for the City of London all Cities Burroughs and Vills of the Kingdom of England to enjoy all their Liberties and Free-Customs and among the rest to be of or to be represented in the Common Council of the Kingdom But Ireland had no City of London to claim this Privilege nor could any City of Ireland be included any otherwise than as part of the Kingdom of England and therefore subject to the Laws which should be made here 2. This could not be as extensive to Ireland as 't was to England since it could not have extended beyond the English Pale there and such particular Districts as enjoy'd the English Laws of special Favour Therefore the Charter then sent by H. 3. could as to this Matter be no more than a Memorial of that Supreme Law according to which England with all the Dominions belonging to it was
him by Hereditary Succession not that he was held to be King by a meer Right of Descent but as the Ritual of the Coronation of H. 1. and the Writ for Proclaiming the Peace of E. 1. in England and Authors of the time shew the Election of the States of England placed him in the Inheritance of the Crown therefore the States of England declare to the Subjects of Ireland that they were bound to take the like Oath of Allegiance as the English had done and this is required of them by the States here under the Great Seal of England nor is there colour to believe that there was any Summons to Ireland for any from thence to come to that Conâ—ention nor indeed was there time for such Summons and return before that meeting notwithstanding Mr. M's assertion of this Reign in particular that the Laws made in England and binding them were always enacted by their proper Representatives meaning Representatives chosen in Ireland the reason for which he there brings from supposed instances in the Reign of E. 3. seeming not to rely upon his Quotation from the White Book of the Exchequer in Dublin but the Page before which 9 E. 1. mentions Statutes made by the King at Lincoln and others at York with the assent of the Prelates Earls Barons and Commonalty of his Kingdom of Ireland Which if it implyed the presence of the Commonalty of Ireland would be an Argument that all their Rights were concluded by the Tenants in chief who had Lands in Ireland but were Members of the English Parliament by reason of their Interest here but in truth this shews no more than that at the request of those of Ireland the Parliament of England had enacted those Laws and the Record in their white Book is only a Record of the transmission from hence and proves that suitably to the practice both before and after that time they in Ireland had no Parliaments for enacting Laws but were forc'd to Petition to have them enacted here and what was enacted upon their Petition was truly with their Assent But then the Question will be whether in the Laws made in that King's Reign with intention to bind Ireland their Consent is generally expressed or implyed any otherwise than from the nature of their former submission to be govern'd by the English Laws But if our Acts of Parliament and Records concerning them are clear in any thing they certainly are in this that the Parliament of England then had and exercis'd an undoubted Right of binding Ireland without their immediate consent by any Representatives chosen there Mr. M. indeed tho' as I have before observ'd he admits that Ireland was bound by Acts of Parliament here till the end of the Reign of H. 3. for want of a regular legislature among themselves yet suitably to his usual inconsistencies upon the enquiry where and how the Statute Laws and Acts of Parliament made in England since the 9 th of H. 3. came to be of force in Ireland will have it that none of them made here without Representatives chosen in Ireland were binding there till receiv'd by a suppos'd Parliament 13 E. 2. yet it falls out unluckily that they have Statutes in Print 3 E. 2. which speak not a word of Confirming the Laws before that time made in England and yet no Man will question but Statute Laws of England made in the Reign of E. 1. were a Rule which the Judges in Ireland went by before the time of E. 2. And that all Judgments given in Ireland contrary to any Law transmitted thither under the Great Seal of England must upon Writs of Error have been set aside here as Erroneous But let 's see whether our Parliaments in the time of E. 1. had such a defference to the Irish Legislature or that the English in Ireland then made any such pretensions as Mr. M. advances If we Credit Judge Bolton our Statute Westm 1st which was 3 E. 1. was first confirm'd in Ireland 13 E. 2. and till then according to Mr. M.'s Inferences from their receiving or publishing Laws made here that Statute was of no force in Ireland being Introductory of a new Law in several particulars as among other things in Subjecting Franchises to be seized into the King's Hands for default of pursuing Felons and in Enacting not only the Imprisoning and Fining Malefactors in Parks and Vivaries but forcing them to Abjure the Realm if they could not find Sureties for their good Behaviour This Act does not Name Ireland but the King Ordain'd and Establish'd it by His Council and by the assent of the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons and all the Commonalty of the Realm thither Summoned for the mending the Estate of the Realm for the Common profit of the holy Church of the Realm and as Profitable and Convenient for the whole Realm However that Ireland as part of the Realm was bound by this Law and by other Laws made 11 12 and 13 E. 1. without any regard to Parliamentary Confirmations in Ireland and that for enforcing Obedience to those Laws 't was enough to send them thither by some proper Messenger under the Great Seal of England if not without appears by the Proceedings of the Parliament at Winchester holden the Oct. after the Parliament of Westim 2. Mem. quod c. Mem. that on Friday in the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the 13 th Year of the King at Winchester there were deliver'd to Roger Brâ—ton Clerk to the Venerable Father William Bishop of Waterford then Justice of Ireland certain Statutes made and provided by the King and His Council viz. The Statutes of Westminster made soon after the King's Coronation and the Statutes of Gloster and those made for Merchants and the Statute of Westm provided and made in the King's Parliament at Easter to be carried to Ireland and there to be Proclaimed and Observed It appears that among the Statutes delivered to the Chief Justices Clerk in order to their being published and observed in Ireland one was the Statute concerning Merchants 12. E. 1. for the enforcing and improving a Statute made at Acton Burnel 11. of that King that of Acton Burnel provides a remedy for Debts to Merchants to be had by calling the Debtor before the Mayor of London York or Bristol or before the Mayor and a Clerk to be appointed by the King which as it seems 't was intended that the King should have Power to appoint in other Cities or Towns within his Kingdom Accordingly the Statute 12. E. 1. says the King had commanded it to be firmly kept throughout his Realm and that Parliament 12. for declaring or explaining some of the Articles of the former Statute names the Mayor of London or the Chief Governour of that City or of other good Town This Statute expresly Ordains and Establishes that it be thenceforth held throughout the
the Statutes of Gloster which do not Name Ireland and the Statutes of West â— which do were both delivered to the Clerk of the Justice of Ireland in order to their being published and observed there And 't is evident that Ireland's being bound by Parliaments in England without any consent expressed in Ireland was not merely the Judgment of the times above referred to but the setled Judgment of that King and His Council in His Parliaments Thus in the 8 th of that King there 's a Writ taking notice that the Irish had desired to be governed by the Laws of England upon which the King requires all the English of the Land of Ireland to Certifie whether this might be granted without pre judice to them declaring that the King would make such Provision as should seem expedient to Himself and His Council which plainly enough referred to His Council in Parliament If upon their Certificate a general Law had passed to grant the Irish their Request the mentioning the consent of the English there could not be thought to derogate from the Legislature here the Authority of which was intimated in that very reference and was fully asserted in that Kings Reign by an Act of Parliament made here after that time and the Proceedings thereupon both in England and Ireland By the Case of mixt Monies in Ireland we are informed that 29 E. 1. when by the King 's sepecial Ordinance the Pollards and Crochards were cry'd down and made of no Value the same Ordinance was transmitted into Ireland and Enrolled in the Exchequer there as is found in the Red Book of the Exchequer there And agreeably to this it appears by the Statute Roll here that this Ordinance which in truth was an Act of Parliament or else an other of the same kind was sent to John Wogan then Chief Justice of Ireland or to his Lieutenant This is only a short Entry referring to the known usage But the very next Record of a transmission to Ireland of a Statute made here which was that about Juries is more express Mem. quod istud Statutum de verbo ad verbum missum suit in Hib. T. R. aput Kenynt 14. die Aug. Rni sui 27. Et mandatum fuit J. Wogan Justic Hib. quod praed Stat. per totam Hib. in locis quibus expedire videret legi publicè proclamari firmiter teneri faciat Mem. That that Statute word for word was sent into Ireland Teste the King at Kenynton 14. Aug. in the 27th of his Reign Command was gito John Wogan Chief Justice of Ireland to cause it to be read in those places in which he shall think it expedient and to be publickly Proclaimed and Observed This Statute does not name Ireland nor has general words which seem to include it But it seems some years after to have been Enacted that this Statute should be transcribed and sent to Ireland for a Law given them by Parliamentary Authority In the 35 th of E. 1. Will. De Testa was Impeach'd in Parliament for grievous Oppressions and Extortions upon the People by Colour of Authority from the See of Rome This upon the Petition of the Earls Barons and other Great Men and the Commonality of the whole Realm of England occasioned general Law and Provision for the State of the King's Crown and also of His Lands of Scotland Wales and Ireland The Remedy was Enacted by the Assent of the King and the whole Council of Parliament and 't was Enacted that for the future such things should not be permitted within the Realm That Ireland was then included as part of the Realm appears not only by the intention before declared but agreeably thereunto The Statute then made is by Authority of Parliament sent to the Justice of Ireland as well as to the Chief Governors of other the King's Dominions enjoyning them to enquire and proceed against those who had offended in that kind and to cause the Provision Agreement and Judgment of that Parliament to be Firmly and Inviolably observed in those Lands Mr. M. having as he thinks answer'd an Objection from the Ordinance for the State of Ireland Printed in our Statute-Books not only that of 1670. but even in others much more Ancient as made 17 E. 1. I shall shew him some new Matter which may deserve his farther Consideration and yet tho' he thinks he has prov'd 1. That this Ordinance was never receiv'd in Ireland 2. That 't was meerly an Ordinance of the King and His Privy Council in England it might be enough to observe That the Clause which he Instances in forbidding the King's Officers to purchase Lands there upon pain of Forfeiture has an Exception for the King's Licence and tho' he has not been at the pains to examine whether there were any such Licences from England I can shew him in the very next Year a confirmation under the Great Seal of England of a grant of Land 's there before made from hence which were sufficient security against the forfeiture 2. If 't were admitted that the Ordinance were made by the King and his Privy Counsel 't would be very difficult for him to prevail upon many to believe that a Land or Kingdom which in all the principal Parts of Government was under the controul of the Great Seal of another Kingdom was as he pretends a complete Kingdom within it self or a Kingdom regulated within it self the contrary of which appears in numerous instances of the time of which we are at present enquiring as of leave from hence to chuse Ecclesiastical Governors Pardons Directions for the Proceedings of the Courts of Justice and Council in Ireland the appointing distinct Courts of Judicature Grants of Lands Offices Liveries out of the King's Hands of Lands held in Chief of the Crown of England Licences of alienation and the like Further than all this there 's a Precedent of taxing Communities by Authority from hence It must be agreed that 't was frequent for Kings to grant to Cities and Towns in England power to raise Customs or Duties for Murage the building or repairing their Walls to be levyed upon Goods and Merchandizes brought thither in these Grants there was no mention by what advice or consent they issued but 't is to be presumed that the Great Seal was not rashly affixed nor were they extended farther than to the Walls which secured the Persons and Goods of those who paid the Duty yet the Great Seal of England has been applyed much more absolutely to the binding the property of the Subjects in Ireland as may appear by this Record R. Ballivis probis hominibus sâ—is Dublin Salutem Cum in subsidium villae claudendae vobis nuper per literas postras Pat. concesserimusquod quasdan consuetudines usque ad certum tempâ—s de singulis rebus venalibus ad eandem villam
12. of H. 3. was to receive the Charter of King John and the King's Court or Bench in Ireland was to receive the Statute of Merton I will agree that Parliaments in Ireland may have received Laws in the time of E. 2. but there 's no colour to believe that they then pretended to more in relation to Acts of Parliament sent over to them at large under the Great Seal of England The Reign of E. 3. I may divide into Three Periods 1. Before 2. At 3. After the main and most express Charter for a Parliament in Ireland of any yet cited or appearing 1. In the Statute Roll of the beginning of E. 3. there are several entries in Latin of this kind Mem. that those Statutes were sent into Ireland in the form of a Patent with a certain Writ here following But the entry of the Writ is sometimes omitted it being look'd on as matter of common form In the 2 d. of that King a Statute was made at Northampton giving a command about Fairs to all Sheriffs of England and other Parts In the 6 th a Statute was made supplying the Defects of that Statute and creating the Forfeiture of double the Value of what should be sold in any Fair or Market beyond the time limited for them in the Charters In the 6 th of that King this last Statute and all other Statutes made in his Reign to that time are sent in the form of a Patent to Anthony de Lucy Justice of Ireland requiring that those Statutes and all the Articles therein contained be Proclaimed in the King's Land of Ireland as well within Liberties as without and that he should cause so much of them as concern'd the Justice and the People of that Land to be firmly kept and observed A Statute 11. of E. 3. provides That except the King and his Children no Person great nor small within England Ireland and Wales or so much of Scotland as was then under the King's power should wear any Cloth but what was made in England Ireland Wales or such part of Scotland upon pain of Forfeiture of the Cloth and being Punish'd at the King's pleasure And whereas Mr. M. according to the use which he makes of publications in or by Parliaments in Ireland of Laws made in Parliaments of England would infer that no Statutes made here against Provisors could be of force in Ireland till the 32 d. of H. 6. when 't was Enacted there That all those Laws made in England as well as in Ireland be had and kept in force 't is evident that E. 3 d's Parliament and his Council acting in Parliament held that there was no need of other publishing and enforcing those Laws than was usual by virtue of the Great Seal of England The Commons Petitioned that the Provisions and Ordinances made in the Parl. 17. of that King concerning Provisions and Reservations from the See of Rome be affirmed by a Statute to endure for ever And particularly that if any Arch-Bishop or other Spiritual Patron do not present within Four Months after Voidance by a Man's accepting any Benefice from the See of Rome the Right of Patronage should accrue to the King And they pray that Commissions and Writs be sent to all ports of England Wales and Ireland and other Places within every County as there should be occasion to Apprehend all those who should carry any of the Bulls Process or Instruments then complained of The Answer in French is thus 'T is accorded and assented by the King the Earls Barons Justices and other Sages of the Law that the Things above-written be done and in reasonable form according to the prayer of the Commons Upon which there 's no doubt but either a Writ was sent to Ireland with this Act of Parliament in the form of a Charter to warrant Commissions for that purpose in Ireland or otherwise Commissions might issue from hence to apprehend such Offenders as should be found there The Statute of the Staple 27. E. 3. taking notice of the Damages to the People of the King's Realm and of his Lands of Wales and Ireland because the Staples had been held out of the said Realm and Lands appoints places for the Staple in Ireland as well as in England and Wales and creates a Forfeiture of the Wool and other Staple Commodities which any English Irish or Welsh should carry out of the said Realm and Lands with the like Penalty if they should receive Gold or Silver for them elsewhere than at the respective Staples At which Staples 't is to be observed that there were paid Duties and Customs granted by Parliament in England Another Statute of the same Year appoints That all Wines in England Ireland and Wales be Gauged on pain of Forfeiture and further Punishment at the King's pleasure And but Two Years before the Statute of Treasons which does not name Ireland was made for a Law to the whole Realm and for Ireland as part of it But none of the King's Subjects in Ireland were within that Law unless they were to be adjudged Subjects of the Realm of England And yet this Statute is ordered to be published and observed in Ireland as well as England in this manner To the Sheriff of Kent greeting We send you under our Seal certain Statutes made in our Parliament assembled at Westminster on the Feast of St. Hillary last past by us the Prelates Dukes Earls Barons and others of the Commonalty of our Realm of England to the said Parliament summoned Commanding that you cause the said Statutes to be read in your full County and that they be firmly observed and kept Teste the King at Westm the 6 th day of May. The like Writs of the same Date are sent to the Justice of Ireland what ought to be changed being changed But if the Parliaments of England had or exercised any Jurisdiction or Authority over Ireland hitherto at least 't is to be thought that 't was all taken from 'em by a Charter of E. 3. part of which he transcribes out of Mr. Prynn but for his satisfaction I shall give him more of it from the Record now to be seen in the Tower 't is a Charter of R. 2. of an Ordinance for the State of Ireland reciting and confirming the Charter 31. E. 3. beginning thus Quia ex frequenti side dignor insinuatione accepimus quod terra nra Hiberniae ecclesiaque Hibernica ac clerus populus ejusdem nobis subditus ob defectum boni regiminis ac per negligentiam in curiam Ministror regior ibin tam major quam minor hactenus turbati fuerint multipliciter gravati Marchiaeque terrae ipsius juxta hostes positae per hostiles invasiones vastatae occisis Marchionibus depraedatis eorum habitationibus enormiter concrematis caeterisque coactis loca propria deserere
quibusdam videlicet ad hostes caeteris ad loca extranea fugientibus Diversaeque partes dictar Marchiar taliter desolatae derelictae per hostes eosdem occupatae nostraque ejusdem terrae negotia incongruè inutiliter leges approbatae consuetudines minus debite observatae populo nro bonis rebus suis contra justitiam legem formam Statutor inde editor diversimode spoliat paxque nostra laesa minime custodita Ac proditores Latrones Malefactores non sicut convenit castigati Quorum malorum aliorumque occasione majora damna irreparabillia evenire quod absit timentur nisi praemissis opportunis reme diis occurrat Nos desiderantes utili regimini quieti eorund terrae populi providere quae sequuntur propterea deassensu consili nostri ordinanda duximus firmiter observanda In prim viz. volumus praecipimus quod sancta Hibernica ecclesia suas libertates liber consuetudines illaesas habeat eis liberè gaudeat utatur Item volumus praecipimus quod nostra ipsius terrae negotia ardua in consiliis per peritos consiliarios nostros ac praelatos magnates quosdam de discretioribus probatioribus hominibus de Partibus Vicinis ubi ipsa consilia teneri contigerit propter hoe evocandos In Parliamentis vero per ipsos Consiliarios nros ac Prelatos Proceres aliosque de terra nostra proutmos exigit secundum justitiam legem consuetudinē rationem tractentur deducantur fideliter timore favore odio aut pretio postpositis discutiantur etiam terminentur Because from the frequent Relations of Persons to be credited we understand that our Land of Ireland and the Irish Church and the Clergy and People subject to us thro' defect of good Government and by the negligence and carelesness of the King's Officers there both great and small has hitherto been manifoldly troubled and aggriev'd and the Marches of that land plac'd against the Enemies wasted the Marches being kill'd and despoil'd their Houses enormously burnt and the rest being forc'd to forsake their habitations some flying to the Enemies and others to Foreign Parts And divers parts of the said Marches so desolated and forsaken have been possess'd by those Enemies and the Affairs of us and that Land are incongruously and unprofitably and the Laws and approved Customs not duly observed our People being in divers manners spoil'd of their Goods and things contrary to Justice Law and the form of Statutes in those cases provided And our Peace is broken and not in the least kept And Traytors Robbers Malefactors not punish'd as they ought By occasion of which and other Evils greater irreparable Damages which God forbid are feared as likely to happen unless the Premises meet with opportune Remedies We desiring to provide for the convenient Government Quiet of that Land People therefore we by the consent of our Council have thought fit to provide these following Particulars to be ordain'd and observ'd In the first place that the Holy Irish Church have its Liberties free Customs unhurt and enjoy usethem freely Also we will and command That the Affairs and Arduous Matters of us and that Land in Councils by our Learned Counsellors and Prelates and great Men and some of the more Discreet Honest of the parts neighbouring upon the place where those Counsels shall happen to be held to be summoned for this purpose But in the Parliaments by those our Counsellours and Prelates Peers and others of our Land as custom requires be according to Justice Law Custom and Reason brought and faithfully Fear Favour Hatred or Price being disregarded discussed and also determined Then particular Provisions are made here notwithstanding the Allowance of Parliaments there Among which 1. That Men guilty of Broakage should be Punished by the Justice and Council of Ireland and fined and amoved from their Offices as should seem reasonable to the Justice and Counsel 2. That no Purveyance be taken contrary to the form of Statutes and Articles made and published for the profit of his People in Parliaments and other great Councils But if there be any force in Mr. M's way of Arguing the Statutes against Purveyors were not binding to Ireland till 18. H. 6. when 't is Enacted By a Statute made in Ireland that all the Statutes made in England against the Extortions and Oppressions of Purveyers are to be holden and kept in all points and put in Execution in this Land of Ireland 3. It provides against Robberies and for Hue-and-Crys according to the Statute of Winchester 4. That no Pardon be pass'd but in Parliaments or Councils by the assent and counsel of the said Parliaments and Counsellors And that there be no general Pardon but that the Offences be specified and expressed according to the tenor of a certain Statute by the King and his Council of England publish'd and sent to Ireland to be observed 5. The Charter taking Notice that false intelligence us'd to be sent from Ireland to England forbids it under grievous Forfeiture declaring that if for the future the Prelates the great Men Commonalty or any other should misinform the King and his Council they should be duly Punished 6. Whereas they us'd to Exhibit against one another several scandalous and vexatious Libels and Bills it provides that they being reduced to Writing be under the Seal of the Chancellor for the time being transmitted to the King's Justice Chancellor and Treasurer of Ireland who are thereby impowered to do Justice but this is by virtue of the great Seal of England 7. It Impowers the Justice calling to him the Chancellor and Treasurer with some Prelates and Earls whom he shall know to be fit or that they ought to be summoned to determine the Differences between the English of Irish Extractions and which were or should afterwards be of English 8. It requires the Justice and his Associates when there was any special Cause to certifie to the King his Council of England the Names of all Persons guilty and their Offences Since Mr. M. having as he fancied clearly made it out that for Ireland to be bound by Acts of Parliament of England is against several Charters of Liberties granted unto the Kingdom of Ireland thinks he had no need to add any other Authority than a piece of that Charter of the substance of which I have given an Account with all the distinguishing Expressions I might well enough close here and leave it to himself to consider whether when a Parliament is granted or allowed to the Land of Ireland in the fullest terms that ever it was in any King's Reign that can be shewn there was not at the same time a full exercice of the Power of the Crown and Kingdom of England in making Laws and requiring the Execution of others made in England without any
of England was as much to be obeyed as their own Record shews that 't was 29. E. 1. The Authorities above cited having manifested the several Titles which the Crown and Kingdom of England have to the Land of Ireland and that from the 18 th of H. 2. at the latest downwards as far as Mr. M. makes any controversie neither the Irish Nation nor the English there have been govern'd without the interposition of the Parliament of England and that the Parliament of Ireland had all its Laws made here or derived under Authority from hence and that not from the King 's alone or the Kings and their Priâ—y Counsels but their Parliament that the Parliaments of Ireland have had no Provision for their being holden within any certain time nor ever had Authority given them to act as independent on the Parliament of England I may well conclude that the right of the Parliament of England to bind Ireland by Laws made here without any Members chosen for Ireland is so far from being departed from that 't is strengthened and confirmed by the continual usage of the Parliaments of England and submission of the Parliaments and People of Ireland to which 't will be needless to add the consideration of the inestimable Treasure spent in several Ages for maintaining the English Interest there and the late freeing it from an Universal Insurrection and Usurpation 4. Having us'd the proper means to convince Mr. M. by the true argumentum ad hominem shewing that the chief Weapons which he uses turn strongly against himself I need the less apprehend the natural force of his reasoning upon dry Notions The right says he which England may pretend to for binding us by their Acts of Parliament can be founded only on the imaginary Title of Conquest or Purchase or on Precedents and Matters of Record Wherein he admits that Precedents and Matters of Record may give a Right which is neither by Conquest nor Purchase and of this the Authors he refers to might satisfie him at large I 'll agree with him that on consent depends the obligation of all humane Laws insomuch that without it by the unanimous Opinions of all Jurists no sanctions are of any force But do any of them say that the consent is necessary to be exprest and that immediate if it were the Sons could not be bound by those Laws which their Fathers chose in restriction of natural liberty and he might have observ'd by his own Authors and even in the Words cited by himself that approbation not only Men give who personally declare their assent by Voice Sign or act but also when others do it in their names by right originally at least derived from them as in Parliaments Councils c. To be commanded we do consent when that Society whereof we are part hath at any time before consented Farther yet whatever Freedoms the Progeny of the English and Britains now in Ireland claim with the natural Born Subjects of England as being descended from them 't is certain every Man here does not as an English-man claim to be a Member of Parliament or to have a Voice in chusing one But there are many without this Privilege who have been concluded by the consent of their Forefathers and their own agreeing to stay within a Kingdom govern'd by such Laws to which they owe Obedience and Submission at least as long as they will receive the benefit of them and the protection which they assure This is the case of those Englishmen who chuse to live in Ireland under the Protection of England without which the Protestants there could not have subsisted in any Age since the Reformation and if the Irish Natives are not conquer'd or the Right of Conquest over them ought not to be carryed beyond the reparation of the Damages sustained from them or if a just conquest gets no power but only over those who have actually assisted in that unjust force and if the right of conquest extends little fâ—rther than over the Lives of the Conquer'd but their posterity can lose no benefit thereby If an outragious and Brutal Enemy may not be restrain'd from doing farther mischief by the taking from him that Power and Estate which would enable him to carry on his Designs if the posterity may not suffer in the consequence of this as the aggressor's property is become the Conqueror's if the Children may not be restrain'd from revenging their Father's Quarrel let the English in Ireland look to it how to juâ—â—ifie those Possessions which they enjoy by the help of the Crown and Kingdom of England and if their Consciences are squeamish let them renounce their Right to the Lands of the Natives but let them not bring in to question the Right of Engl. to all Foreign Plantations and let them never fear that equal Power here to which a great part of the English Nation are resigned without any other kind of consent than the People of Ireland have given to the Laws made in England with intention to bind them and be published there As to his notion of Purchase whenever Ireland will repay the value of the Purchase that inestimable and infinite expence of Men Money Victuals and Arms which their own Parliaments own to have protected and supported them for several Ages there 's no great question but England would be willing to leave 'em to their own ways Whereas he will suppose that the Authority which the Lords and Commons of England have exercised from Age to Age in relation to Ireland would imply that the Parliament of England have claim'd a coordinate Power with the King what is this but to argue that in relation to England the Parliament is coordinate however as by Parliament he means only the States of the Kingdom 't is evident this insinuation proceeds from his not observing the Gothick constitution for which he would be thought very zealous but might have known that the States of the Kingdom or the ordines regni are those who are entituled to meet the King in Person or by representation in his Parliaments where the King is a distinct Body Politick by himself and having the Supremacy is manifestly above the ordines regni But tho' the Head which Mr. M. raises about the suppos'd injury to Prerogative be only upon a pretended coordinate Power with the King he carries it farther and will have it that for the States of this Realm to use an Authority tho' subordinate to the King to introduce new Laws or repeal old establish'd in Ireland is a violation of the Constâ—tution of Ireland under Boyning's Act and of the Prerogative of the Crown of England which he supposes to have been highly advanced by that Statute speaking of the effect of which he says The King's Prerogative is advanced to a much higher pitch than ever was challeng'd by the King 's in England and the Parliament of Ireland stands almost