it may be really so or may be not so for all its Venerable Ancient Appearance we can conclude with no more Certainty than he leaves it only we may believe from the Credit of the Arguments produced by his Nephew Samuel Dopping 's Father the Reverend and Learned Doctor Dopping late Bishop of Meath that this old Modus was found in the Treasury of Waterford by my Lord Longford's Grandfather My Reader may perhaps think me as impertinent in this Repetition but I do it to shew that I have in this abbreviated about nine of his pages which offers no more of Argument to the Matter than that Henry the Second settled the Kingdom of Ireland under the very same Coustitution of Governmâ—nt with England and this we should as readily have granted as he could have propos'd and 't is sufficiently to our purpose that he hath abundantly prov'd That all Ranks and Orders of the Irish did unanimously agree to submit themselves to the Government of the King of England That they did thankfully receive the Laws of England and swear to be governed thereby and I know not what hath releas'd them from any part of that Obligation to this day himself owning that There cann't be shewn a more fair Original Compact than this between Henry the Second and the People of Ireland and we have desired no more from them than that they should continue to be so governed He tells us It is manifest that there were no Laws imposed on the People of Ireland by any Authority of the Parliament of England nor any introduced by Henry the Second but by the Consent and Allowance of the People of Ireland and that both the Civil and Ecclesiastical State were settled there Regiae Sublimitatis Authoritate not only this but the manner of holding Parliaments also to make Laws of their own which is the Foundation and Bulwark of the Peoples Liberties and Properties was directed and established there by Henry the Second as if 〈◊〉 were resolved that no other Person or Persons should be the Founders of the Government of Ireland but himself and the Consent of the People who submitted themselves to him against all Persons whatsoever Was it fit for the King to have carried a Parliament about with him or because he had not a Parliament there must it follow therefore that their Authority could never have any concern in what was done The King was now abroad with the Forces of the Kingdom and 't is not to be suppos'd that his own Authority was not sufficient to make Terms with the Enemy if they submitted we do not pretend that the Power of our King is limited at that rate yet whatever Submission is made to his Person on such Occasions is doubtless virtually made as to the Supream Authority of the Kingdom and that I believe every Body will allow to be in our Constitution the King Lords and Commons in all whom the Legislature resides and not in either separate from the rest The King may be said to be vested with the Power of the whole in the Civil and Military Administration of the Government and yet whatsoever is acted or acquired under his Authority as King of England must doubtless be esteemed to be for the Account of the Nation and not in any Propriety peculiar to himself To talk then As if the Parliament had nothing to do in this Transaction and that King Henry the Second acted in it as if he were resolv'd that no other Person or Persons should be the Founders of the Government of Ireland but himself is Language not becoming an Englishman and I wonder that this Author could have so little Sense of what he was about when he said this for in the very next Paragraph but one he gives us an Instance which shews beyond all Contradiction that King Henry himself had no such Opinion of his own Seperate Authority And now he comes to the Matter and tells us that King Henry about the 23d â—ear of his Reign and five Years after his Return from Ireland creates his Younger Son John King of Ireland at a Parliament held at Oxford and that by this Donation Ireland was most eminently set apart again as a seperate and distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England and did so continue until the Kingdom of England descended and came unto King John after the Death of his Brother Richard the First which was about 22 years after his being made King of Ireland during which time and whilst his Father and Brother were successively reigning in England he made divers Grants and Charters to his Subjects of Ireland wherein he stiles himself Dominus Hiberniae and in some Dominus Hiberniae Comes Meritoniae by which Charters both the City of Dublin and divers other Corporations enjoy many Privileges and Franchises to this day We know that diâ—ers of our Kings have at several Times granted out Parcels of their Dominions to their Sons or Subjects and endowed them with many Royal Privileges yet always as Feudatories of the Empire after the same manner so much anciently practised in most Kingdoms of Europe such have been in England the Principality of Wales the Counties Palatine of Chester Lancaster and Durham and what was much less considerable than these the Isle of Man was given with the Title of King in Man which was more than King Iohn had which continues in the Earls of Darby at this day In like manner also have Proprietoryships been granted to the Settlers of Colonies in America in our time and such and no other was this Grant of King Henry the Second to his Son Iohn but what is very remarkable in this Case is that this Grant was made in Parliament Did ever Man so expose himself in Print what he hath been endeavouring to prove is that the Irish were never so conquered by Henry the Second as to give the Parliament of England any Jurisdiction over them and yet here he tells us that this same King Henry created his Son Iohn King of Ireland in a Parliament at Oxford which to word it in the Stile of this time is to say that about the twenty third Year of Henry the 2d an Act of Parliament was made at Oxford by which Iohn the younger Son of the said King was Created King of Ireland Is it possible to think upon a greater Instance in which the Authority of a Parliament over a People can be exerted than this of creating a King to rule them and that without ever asking their Consent and is it not plain from this that King Henry himself did never esteem the Submission of the Irish to have been made to him in respect of his Person according to this Author 's New Doctrine but in respect of the Kingdom which he govern'd otherwise why did he not make a King of Ireland by his own Authority rather than thus eclipse his Power and Right if he had it by submitting it to be
AN ANSWER TO Mr. Molyneux HIS CASE of Ireland 's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England Stated AND His Dangerous Notion of Ireland's being under no Subordination to the Parliamentary Authority of England REFUTED By Reasoning from his own Arguments and Authorities Rom. 12. 3. For I say through the Grace given unto me to every Man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think c. Gal. 6. 3. For if a Man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself LONDON Printed for Rich. Parker at the Vnicorn under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange 1698. THE EPISTLE Dedicatory By way of PREFACE To the Modern English Nobility Gentry and Protestant Inhabitants of Ireland Right Honourable Honourable c. ALthough you are by far the least in Number you are yet to be esteemed as the much more considerable part of the Inhabitants of that Country in respect of your Power and the Authority which you bear there 'T is true that upon the first Subduction of the Irish Nation to the English Government the Laws and Liberties of Englishmen were granted unto them equally with the Colony of the Old English that were planted among them but as they were a people that had been always us'd to a sort of wild aud barbarous way of Living they did not affect to embrace the more Civiliz'd Customs and Manners of the English but for the most part kept themselves off from uniting and joining with them in the Management of the Government which by the Concessions made to them they might freely have acted in yet they continued as a distinct and separate people sway'd and influenc'd by their own petty Princes or Chiefs of Clans even to the breaking out into frequent Insurrections and Rebellions against the English Government which therefore continued all along to be chiefly administred by the Inhabitants of the English Pale And in this state the Affairs of Ireland remain'd until the Reformation of Religion from whence sprung such a Revolution as produc'd a great Change in the Administration of the publick Affairs there For after the Reformation had obtain'd in England the Ancient English of Ireland did generally remain of the Roman Communion and consequently when 't was found dangerous to continue them in the Execution of publick Trusts they also as well as the Irish of the â—ame Religion were in process of Time by the Influence and Authority of England utterly disabled from acting any thing in the Government of the State and 't is in their rooms that you have since succeeded and are therefore look'd upon and treated by England as the governing part and effective Body of the Kingdom of Ireland But when I came to consider Mr. Molyneux's Book I thought it very strange that he who design'd so Elaborate a piece in your Favour should yet give you no stronger a Title to the preheminence which you bear in that Country than what would devolve upon you from those Concessions which were anciently made to the Native Irish and Old English which as he would perswade us did amount to no less than the establishing them upon the Foundation of an Absolute Kingdom distinct and separate from the Kingdom of England and wholly Independent thereon the Consequence of which if it had been so would have stood you in very ill stead for as you cannot make any pretensions to such Concessions because you are not generally speaking descended from either of those People but their Progeny are still in being and acknowledged to be such all the Rights and Priviledges which Mr. Molyneux hath so strongly contested for should be due to them if the Case must be taken as he hath stated it and nothing can be more plausibly offered in their Iustification for the cutting the Throats of the Modern English than this Notion And Mr. Molyneux is so fond of â—ixing you upon this Old Foundation that â—e even disputes the possibility of their forfeiting or the reasonableness of our retractiâ—g those Concessions I believe indeed that he might forsee that if it should be admitted that the frequency of their rebelling and our reducing them by force of Arms did amount to a Reconquering of this their Independent Kingdom as he makes it that would have dissolv'd that ancient Concession and spoyl his Design of entailing it upon you However it be I think this sort of Title does naturally fall under an inextricable Dilemma For If Ireland was granted to the Native Irish and Old English as an Absolute Independent Kingdom and was never since re-conquered by England the Right of administring the publick Affairs of that Government under the King ought to remain in them since 't was never given up to you by their Consents and then they have no reason to consider you otherwise than as having no Title more than Usurpers and Oppressors and that you may justly be treated as such whenever they are in a condition to do it But if this Independent Kingdom hath been reconquer'd the former Concessions are actually dissolvâ—d and neither you nor they can have any more pretence to an Independent Kingdom until you can procurea New Grant for it And thus Mr. Molyneux in labouring to raise you higher than your proper Basis hath quite unhing'd you But I have yet no doubt of your being as well Entituled to the Power and Authority which you enjoy and exercise in that Country as any People in Europe are and that it is justly deriv'd to you from a much more certain Original than what Mr. Molyneux hath assign'd and I have therefore undertaken in the following Papers to controvert his Notion through every point and to shew in Opposition to his Arguments First That Henry the Second having subdu'd Ireland by the means of an English Army that Country came to be annex'd to the Imperial Crown or Kingdom of England but not to the Person of King Henry in any separate propriety from the Kingdom Secondly That the Subduing of Ireland by the people of England under the Conduct of their King Henry the Second was then esteem'd to be a Conquest and is much more to be accounted so than William the first 's acquisition of the Crown of England and that Ireland was thereby most certainly brought under the Iurisdiction of the Parliamentary Authority of England Thirdly That King Henry's Descent upon Ireland was a just Undertaking and that the intire submission of the People to the Government of England their receiving its Laws and being endoâ—'d in all the priviledges of Englishmen made them become a Member of and annex'd to the English Empire and gave England a just Title to exercise a perpetual Iurisdiction over them Fourthly That all the many Concessions made to Ireland empowering them to hold Parliaments c. can be understood no otherwise than that they should be enabled to devise and enact such Laws when Occasion required as were suitable to the Circumstances of that Country But
Molyneux The sense of Power and Profit prevails much upon Humane Frailty nay it easily subdues our Reason and makes us unwilling to entertain Convictions against what we have believ'd to be our Interest but I have endeavoured to shew those that are mislead in this Matter that it can by no means be their Interest to be freed from the Iurisdiction of the Parliamentary Authority of England You know that you are not able to protect and defend your selves against the Rebellions of the Irish and that the Kings of England cannot raise Money upon the People to help you without their Consent in Parliament would you have them then only to have Authority to raise Money and appropriate it to your Service without having any more to do with you Or can you think that the Parliament of England will ever more assist you upon those Terms rather may they not with good Reason demand a Reimbursement of what Mr. Molyneux owns to be due to us for former Assistances which would doubtless amount to a greater Sumâ— than you are ever able to pay People that do good Offices expect at least a grateful Acknowledgment from those that receive them We have never been sparing of our Blood and Treasure to help you in your Distresses and yet 't is too well known that many of your People have been apt to speak very stightingly of what we have done for you and to tell us that what we did was not out of regard to them but to our selves And since the Bill design'd to restrain you from spoyling us in our principal Trade of the Woolen Manufactury by underselling us in Forreign Markets we have been sharply reflected upon in print as if we were about to ruine and undo you and even deny you Earth and Air and the common priviledges of Mankindâ— Nay we were after a â—ort Threaten'd with the Danger of your joining with some other Interest than that of England or of your quitting the Country c. and even Mr. Molyneux hath given some toucheâ— upon the same stringâ— Give me leave to tell you that this is not lookt upon as a modest or friendly Behaviour much less does it denote any sense of Gratitude retain'd in a People that were so lately Reliev'd by England and restor'd to the enjoyment of plentiful Estates which they must never have expected but through the Help of England and this hath been done wholly at our Cost and they have not hither to been askt to Contribute one Penny towards it some People would not surely have so soon forgotten so great a Benefit I am yet desirous to reason a little with you upon this Matter but 't is hard to use so much plainness as is requisite without giving Offence to some which I would as far as possible avoid my Design being real Friendship and Good-will to you and I should rejoice if I might be instrumental to Reconcile you to an even Temper of Mind but that 's hardly to be done with such as shall persist to be of the Opinion that they are altogether in the right Suffer me however to tell you that you have ways enough to employ your Poor without the Woollen Trade which with you as to those sorts that hurt us is a New Undertaking You have large and encouraging Improvements arising from the product of your Lands your great quantities of Provisions Butter Leather c. afford you a fair Foundation for Forreign Trade besides you are very capable of a Linnen Manufacture if you will employ your Stock and Industry that way On the other hand England hath for many Ages apply'd her self to the Woollen Manufactury the poor are settled in it and have no other way of Livelyhood she hath no means of gaining Wealth sufficient to support her Government without it but your being able to work so much cheaper must of consequence abate the prices to so great a degree as that she cannot be able to hold the Trade which in time will cause a decay of her Wealth and Power draw inevitable Ruin upon her whole Empire and involve your selves in the same Is it not easie then to determine for whom 't is reasonable to give place in this Contest 't was upon this Consideration you have been restrain'd from exporting your Wools to any Country but England and is not the necessity of restraining the Manufacture thereof much more cogent Bear with me to say that the evident reason of the thing is sufficient to convince all Mankind that England must be perpetually oblig'd to preserve this Trade to her self that she cannot suffer any of her Members to interfere with her in it and that to advocate against so just an exerting of the Supream Authority shews only a self-seeking Temper in Minds that would grasp all to themselves without having any regard to the Well-being of the whole Community of which they are but Members You see the People of Romney-Marsh are not willing to be hindred from sending their Wools to France and the justice of the thing is as much to them as you the only difference is that they being within the Realm of England send Representatives to the Parliament and yet perhaps they would have been as far from consenting as you if they had not been over voted But there would be no possibility of conserving Societies if such Compulsions might not be exercis'd towards particulars We must yet own that 't is but a natural infirmity for Men to be hardly perswaded into the right reason of things which they believe to be against their own Interest nay we find that they are too apt to be prejudic'd against such who endeavour to convince them of their Mistakes and as we observe that particular Persons are subject to prevailing Inclinations so also there are Habits and Dispositions that are in some measure peculiar to distinct Countries and People from whence it hath been usual to give general Characters of the Inhabitants of particular Countries according to the Virtues or Vices that have been noted to be most predominant among them neither is it difficult to assign some natural causes from whence such habitual Dispositions may proceed for some instance whereof I would offer the consideration of a Colony well settled in an abundant Country where the People find very easie means of subsistence and improvement and are in great measure exempted from the solicitious Cares and Difficulties of Life that attend the Inhabitants of places that are more populous and fully cultivated and where also they have been us'd to exercise a large Dominion and Power over the Natives who have been always kept in a servile Obedience and Subjection to them to a far greater degree than can be practiced in a Country where the People enjoy a more equal share of Liberty Is it not reasonable then to expect that the Inhabitants of such a Colony may be naturally Generous Hospitable Free of Conversation and of Couragious and Bold Spirits These are Virtues which every Body
Ireland in no other Manner than as a Member of the English Empire We agree with him that all the Rights and Liberties of English-men were granted to the People of Ireland that they had the Privilege of holding Parliaments and in short that they had a Compleat Jurisdiction and Form of Government settled and allow'd to be exercis'd among them as far as was requisite for the well-governing and regulating the particular Management of the affairs of so considerable a People that were now become a Member of the English Empire and were seperated by Sea from the Seat of the Supream Government Yet all this must be understood to be no otherwise than in Subordination to the Supream Authority of England which is Evident not only from the Reason of the thing but also from the Practice that hath always been Observ'd Can it consist with Reason to believe that any powerful Government should subdue another Nation much inferiour to them in strength place a Colony of their own people among them make them Denizons and endow them in all the Privileges of their own Subjects and yet because they gave them their Laws and constituted the very same Manner of Government among them as was exercis'd by themselves that therefore they could not be in any Subordination to the Kingdom that thus far subdu'd and settled them but must ever after be esteem'd as a People fixt upon a distinct Foundation and as much seperated from them as they were in the state of Nature Sure this is too absurd to be insisted on But the constant practice which hath been us'd in the Administration of that Government from the first times of their becoming a Member of our Empire shews that the Kings of England did never treat them as a Propriety of their own and distinct from the Jurisdiction of this Kingdom were not these Magna Charta's as his own Authorities prove given with the Advice of the Privy Council of England and have they not always had Governours sent them from hence whether under the Title of Lords Lieutenants Deputies Justices Presidents or otherwise and that not by the King alone but nominated in the Privy-Coâ—ncil and have not these Governours been accountable to our Parliaments for any Male-administration there All the prime Motions and Supream Managements of their Government are likewise consulted and directed by the King in his Privy-Council here such as the Calling Proroguing or Dissolving of their Parliaments and the Approving all their Acts the Sending over and Establishing what English Forces shall be kept there the Appointing all Officers Military and Civil c. Is this like a Separate Kingdom an Independent Government or a Neighbour Nation as free as in the State of Nature Can any Man be so ignorant as to maintain that the Privy-Council of England may have Authority where the Supream Legislature the Parliament hath none Doth this leave room to say that England and Ireland though govern'd under one and the same Supream Head yet are as seperate and distinct in their jurisdictions as are the Kingdom of England and Scotland at this day The Privy-Council of England never intermeddle in the Business of Scotland the King transacts the affairs of that Kingdom through the Hands of the Scotch Secretaries who always attend him in England the Royal Family of the Stuarts were their Lawful Kings and when our King Iames the First succeeded as Right Heir to the Kingdom of England although he remov'd his Residence hither because this was the much more Considerable Kingdom yet no alteration could thereby be made upon their Jurisdiction but the Constitution of their Government remain'd as entire within themselves as before but this Author himself hath sufficiently made out that the Accession of Ireland to England was in such a manner as totally abolish'd their former Constitution if they had any and subjected them to become a Member of the English Monarchy I think I have said enough of these Matters already to set them in a truer Light than this Gentleman hath represented them and shall not give my self the Trouble to Remark divers other Passages which result from the same Erroneous Way of Arguing nor to meddle with his long History of what English Laws and in what manner they were introduc'd into Ireland more than to argue some few Points with him He says If we now enquire what were those Laws of England that became thus establisht in Ireland Surely we must first reckon the great Law of Parliaments c. Is it not the highest Sanction of the Parliamentary Authority that all the Subjects of the Empire must obey its Supream Decrees In receiving then this great Law of Parliaments were not the People of Ireland for ever obliged as well as to all its former Statutes so also to whatever it should for the future enact concerning the whole Empire in which they now became comprehended But Mr. Molyneux means that Law whereby all Laws receive their Sanction The free Debates and Consent of the People by themselves or by their chosen Representatives His drift in this is to perswade us that because it was granted to Ireland to hold a Parliament within themselves by their own Representatives that therefore they ought not to be in any Subjection to the Parliament of England wherein they have no Representatives and 't is upon this Point that he mightily values himself in much of his after Discourse yet he cann't tye this Knot so fast but that it may well enough be undone This Parliament of theirs could not be granted them further than for the managing their own Affairs among themselves but the Supream Legislature of the whole Body must be permanent and fixt in its Head according to the first Constitution and cannot be divided or granted away to any Member or Members of the Body Can any thing grant away it self A Father may grant his Son a great deal of Liberty but he can never make any grant to divest himself of his paternal Relation But Mr. Molyneux can have no Notion of Liberty if a Man may be bound by Laws whereto he hath not given his Consent by either himself or his Chosen Representative A little Distinction now will make us agree this Matter 'T is yet no Oppression upon him if he neglects to constitute a Representative when the Privilege of doing it is not taken away from him If a Man go abroad and stay many years out of his own Countrey shall he not be bound by the Laws made by the Community in his absence because he gave no Assent neither in his Person nor by his Representative In like manner if a Colony be settled abroad shall not the Legislature of their Mother Countrey bind them if they think fit to Enact concerning them because they had no Representatives in it Yes very reasonably for that they are still Fellow-Subjects of the Community and if they are permitted to live abroad for their Convenience the main Body of this their
will commend but is it not as natural for such a People to be less ready to pay so intire an Obedience as may be requir'd of them by their Superiours and to be uneasie under any Checks that may impeach them in the prosecution of such Advantages that they may find themselves capable of without considering how preiudicial they may be to others may there not be an aptness in such a People to be somewhat assuming and to have a good Opinion of themselves will there not be a proness to impatience and forwardness to reflect when any Contradiction is given them may they not be likely to expect more regard from others than is really due to them Is it not probable that they would be less considerate in giving Offence than ready to take Offence at others may not heighth of Spirit be nearer their Temper than true Humility Moreover as they have no Concern in the transacting with Forreign Nations in matters of Government they may be the less us'd to consider of the Nature and Reason of Political Managements or to think how far it is incumbent upon a Mother Nation or Supream Government to regulate all her Colonies or Members so as that the Tranquility of the whole Empire may be best conserv'd and perhaps they may be subject to forget the Obedience and Duty which must be perpetually owing from them to her These are Humane Infirmities that may be very naturally incident to a People under the fore-mentioned Circumstances and I have met with ingenuous Persons who have been bred up in such Colonies that have readily acknowledg'd that their Iudgments have been much rectify'd in these matters when they have come to see more of the World and been made sensible of the better Accomplishments that are to be found in a more Polite Conversation they may perhaps attain to a good pitch of School-Learning but that can amount to no more than a very superficial Knowledge in respect to the far greater improvement that is to be gain'd by reading the great Book of the World and practising the ample Study of Men and Things I am tender of putting these things too home because I know that though Men should be brought to see their own Infirmities but few can endure to be told of them yet a Marriner will esteem him for a Friend that warns him of the Rocks and Sands that lye in his way and a wise man will never account such an one his Enemy who over-perswades him into the right way when he was confidently going on in the wrong I am sure I want not good Will to the People of Ireland and I believe no Man that hath no concern there can wish their Prosperity more than I do and I am very sensible that 't is the interest of England to encourage them in all such improvements as may conduce to their Happiness and Well being provided they are such as may not prove highly prejudicial to her self I shall think my pains in this Vndertaking to have been very well bestow'd if I have been able to offer any thing that may convince you that 't is your undoubted Interest utterly to abandon the Thoughts or Desires of being look'd upon by the Parliamentary Authority of England to be a People wholly exempt from their Iurisdiction And as I know my Name is too inconsiderable to add any Authority to the Argument I hope I may be excus'd in concealing it from the Odium of such who may not discern the sincerity of my Intentions towards you in this Essay and yet I will not doubt but there are others who will believe me to be as I am resolv'd upon all Occasions to the utmost of my Capacity to render my self Right Honourable Honourable c. Your Real Friend and very Humble Servant AN ANSWER TO Mr. Molyneux OF all the Freedom that hath been taken since the Liberty of the Press we have scarcely seen so bold an Attempt as that of this Author it being no less than to strike off from the Kingdom of England with a dash of his Pen the whole Nation of Ireland over which it hath exerciz'd a just Dominion for many hundreds of Years and yet I believe it will appear that he hath not shewn the want of Consideration more in his choosing an Argument of so dangerous a Consequence than by his superficial confus'd and mistaken way of managing it the strength of any reasoning that he hath offer'd being much more applicable to the Native Irish with whom the Original Contract if there were any such must have been made than to the Brittish Protestants inhabiting among them But it is to be considered that the Political State of Ireland hath suffered very considerable Alterations since the first possession of it by the Engâ—ish for though that first Submission of the Irish was so universal as that the English possess'd themselves of most of the considerable Towns and settled far and wide in the Island yet in after times through the defection of the Irish and the mixing and uniting of many of the Old English with them that part which remain'd intirely under the English Obedience came to be confin'd to a Narrow Compass perhaps not above four or five Counties which was till very lately diâ—tinguisht by the Name of the English Pale and the far greater part of the Country remain'd under many petty Dominions possess'd by the Irish Lords and great Men who paid but very little Obedience to the Government of England but on the contrary some or other of them were almost continually giving disturbance to the English Government that was settled there by which means they were shut out from having to do with the English in the Transacting of the Publick Affairs of the Country and the Reduction of them never came to any tolerable Perfection till so lately as the Reign of Queen Elizabeth so that indeed those Ancient Parliaments and other Managements of the Publick Affairs there which Mr. Molyneux mentions did scarcely operate further than among the English Settlements which as I said before extended but to a small part of the Island There was yet another great Occasion which made a very considerable alteration in the Administration of the Government of that Country and that was the Change of Religion for after the Reformation came to be throughly establisht and the Roman Catholicks were found to be continually designing against it all of that Religion were excluded from having to do in Publick Managements and this shut out not only the Native Irish but even the Old English who mostly continued under that Profession But Mr. Molyneux takes no Notice of the Distinctions that ought to be made of these different Interests but that he may carry on his Point blends and confounds them all together as if they were to be considered alike as one intire People establisht and continuinuing upon the same bottom of Government If then due Regard be had to these and other Distinctions which must be
observ'd upon his way of Arguing I believe it will be found that this doughty piece of Irish Learning will appear but a very indifferent performance I would not however detract from any thing that may deserve applause and therefore must commend his smooth way of Expression and own him to be a good Master of Words but yet to have applyed them so ill will still continue him under the Censure of being much wanting either in Integrity or Judgment and makes this Book of his to deserve no better a Character than that of Vox praeterea nihil I have heard indeed that some have been taken with the seeming Modesty and Submission with which he introduces his Discourse as if it were but an innocent representation of the ancient Rights and Liberties of the People of Ireland and a just Remonstrance of some Encroachments and Invasions made upon them by the Government of England but if it shall appear that the Kingdom of England hath a certain Jurisdiction over them and that it hath never treated them otherwise than according to the Rules of Justice and with such a due Policy as becomes every Supream Authority to Exercise over all the Members of its Empire for the Conservation of Peace and Tranquility to the whole and in that have not exceeded the Bounds of a reasonable and just Dominion that part of the Empire that shall endeavour to withdraw themselves from the Subjection which they justly owe to the Supream Government that hath always protected and defended them and shall challenge to themselves Immunities and Privileges which never were or could be granted them without prejudice and injury to the greater Body of the Government deserve not to be considered as Assertors of their own Rights but rather as Invaders of the lawful Authority which God hath placed over them and certainly it must rather be Matter of Contempt and Derifion than of Commendation to see a Man treat his Superiour with a strain of Fine Smooth Gentle Words and Fawning Complements upon a Subject that is altogether imposing and odious to him Thus much I thought requisite to premise and so shall proceed to the Examination of his Discourse In which I intend to take Notice only of such matters as I shall think most Observable In his Dedication to the King he Humbly implores the Continuance of his Majesties Graces to them by protecting and defending those Rights and Liberties which they have enjoy'd under the Crown of England for above 500 Years and which some of late do endeavour to violate His most Excellent Majesty is the Common Indulgent Father of all his Countries and hath an equal regard to the Birth-rights of all his Children and will not permit the Eldest because the strongest to encroach upon the Possessions of the Younger Here is should be Noted that by the Crown of England he must intend the Kings of England as distinct from the Kingdom although I think this a very improper way of Expression which is evident from his Simile of the Eldest and Youngest Child as well as by the whole Design of his Argument and this perhaps might have serv'd the turn in making his Court to a Mac Ninny or a Prince â—ond of the Irish Nation but it looks but like a course Complement to his Majesty to entertain him with a meer begging the Question when he knows right well at what a vaâ—t Expence of the Blood and Treasure of England that Country was so lately under his Glorious Conduct reduc'd to its Obedience and he is too Just and Generous a Prince to endure that any Parasite should perswade him that any acquisition gain'd at the Expence of great Taxes rais'd upon the whole Body of his Subjects of England and even appropriated by the Parliament for the particular Uses in which they were to be employ'd can appertain to him in any propriety distinct and separate from the Imperial Crown of England Neither is it reasonable for him to expect that his Majesty should believe that the Some he means are about to violate their Rights and Liberties without clearer Proof than any he hath brought But it may be worth Inquiry to know in what sense he brings Ireland in with us for an equal share of Birth-right allowing us no higher Priviledge than that of being the Elder Child If he means this with respect to the Old Irish surely the many Disturbances they have given us and the many Occasions we have had of reducing them by force of Arms may fairly admit us to some higher Title over them but if he means it of the English Inhabitants they will certainly own themselves to be descended from England and it would ill become them to start up and call their Mother by the Familiar Appellation of Sister What he hints of encroaching upon their Possessions cannot be taken to have any fair Meaning unless he intends thereby to blame us for seizing the Estates of those that have been in Rebellion against us In his Preface he tells us How unconcern'd he is in any particular Inducement which at this juncture might seem to have occasion'd his Discourse He hath no concern in Wool or the Woollen Trade he is not interested in the Forfeitures or Grants nor solicitous whether the Bishop or Society of Derry recover the Lands they contest about I believe seven Eighths of those Gentlemen of Ireland that have been so busie in soliciting against the Woollen Manufactury Bill might make as fair a Protestation as this and yet it seems they thought themselves concern'd in the Consequence of that Matter but his Reach in this is to shew his Dislike of the Parliament of England's medling with the Business of the Forfeited Estates as well as the rest He says 'T is a Publick Principle that hath mov'd him to this Vndertakeing he thinks his Cause good and his Country concern'd 't is hard if they may not complain when they think they are hurt and give Reasons with all Modesty and Submission The Great and Iust Council of England freely allow such Addresses to receive and hear Grievances is a great part of their Business and to redress them their chief Glory but that 's not to be done till they are laid before them and fairly stated for their Consideration 'T is yet but a Private Principle to become an Advocate for a part against the Whole his Name shews him to be of English Extraction and I know none of his Neighbours under that Circumstance who don't reckon it a Privilege that they may still own Old England to be their Country and be owned by her though they are permitted to live in Ireland if they please what if they are not hurt and the nature of their Complaint be such as that it cannot be thought to be within the Bounds of Modesty and Submission how could he be so fond of his Project as to imagine that the Parliament of England would freely allow such an Address which impeaches their own just Authority They
at this day have been gain'd or Extorted from the Ancient Authority or Just Prerogatives of the Crown but that they are due to us from the first Constitution and Time immemorial and that such Violations which have been made upon our Constitution by means of what was call'd the Conquest or otherwise have been justly retriev'd so that in respect of Matters which regard the Right and Authority of the Kingdom we may judge according to what is visible and without Controversie admitted at this day The Right and Reason of Things ever were and ever must continue to be the same according to these Principles then can it ever be admitted that any acquisition obtain'd in Ireland by an English Army under the Conduct of King Henry the Second could be appropriated to the King distinct from the Kingdom We do indeed freequently find in History and we practice it no less in our Common Discourse that the Name of the King is us'd by way of Eminency to signifie things done under his Authority and Conduct as Head and Chief when it is never intended to be applyed to his Person for if I should say the King of England took Namure in sight of the French Army every Body would know that I meant the Confederate Army under the Conduct of King William took it In like manner we say such a King made such Laws when indeed the Parliament made them And if it will but be allow'd that the Irish submitted to King Henry not out of fear to his Person but for fear of his Army I can make no doubt but that the Submission was made to him as King and Head of the Kingdom of England and not as Duke of Normandy If he should lay stress upon their Submitting to the King and his Heirs that can import no more than what the Words us'd at this day to the King his Heirs and Successors do better explain The Second Argument is to shew That Ireland may not properly be said to be conquered by Henry the Second or in any succeeding Rebellion I shall not dispute with him in how many differing Senses the Word Conquest may be taken I will grant to him that Ireland was not Conquered by Henry 2d in such a sense as to enslave the People or subject them to an absolute Power and yet for all that the Word Conquest meaning a forcible gaining is much more applicale to Henry the Second's acquisition of Ireland than to William the First 's obtaining the Crown of England he had a pretence and came not to Conquer but to Vindicate his Right he was encourag'd to come over abetted and assisted by a great Number of the People who hated Harold's Government he fought against Harold who was not generally consented to by the People as a Lawful King and his Abettors but not against the Body of the People of England he pursu'd not his Victory like a Conqueror but receiv'd the chief of the People that came to him with Respect and Friendship they chose him for their King he swore to conserve their Laws and Liberties and to govern them as their Lawful Prince according to their own Form of Government On the other hand King Henry had no such Pretence of Right to the Kingdom of Ireland his Descent was a prrfect Invasion he was not call'd in by the People of Ireland and his Business was nothing else than to Conquer and Subdue the Kingdom 'T is true the People made no Opposition but 't was because his Power was dreadful to them what 's the difference between yielding to an Invader without fighting or after the Battel more than that one shews want of Courage the other of Success but are not both alike to the Gainer when he hath got his point The Irish made no Terms for their own Form of Government but wholly abolishing their own they consented to receive the English Laws and submitted entirely to the English Government which hath always been esteem'd as one of the greatest Signs of a Conquest But if he will be satisy'd in what sense the People of that time understood it let him but look again into his Giraldus Cambrensis and see how he can translate the words Hibernia Expugnata and what 's the Meaning of Qui firmissimis fiidelitatis subjectionis vinculis Domino Regi innodarunt But what may put it out of all doubt that the Body of the People of Ireland made an intire Submission to the Kingdom of England in the Person of King Henry the Second is his own Quotations Omnes Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates totius Hiberniae receperunt eum in Regem Dominum Hibernieae jurantes ei haeredibus suis fidelitatem et regnandi super eos potestatem in perpetuum et inde dederunt ei Chartaes suas Exemplo autem Clericorum praedicti Reges Principes Hiberniae receperunt simili modo Henricum Regem Angliae in Dominum Regem Hiberniae et sui devenerunt et ei et Haeredibus suis fidelitatem contra omnes iuraverunt And in another Nec alicujus fere in Insula vel nominis vel ominis er at qui Regiae Majestati et debitum Domino Reverentiam non exhiberet And yet after he hath made these and more such like Quotations 't is strange to see the same Man come and say From what forgoes I presume it appears that Ireland cannot properly be said so to be Conquered by Henry the Second as to give the Parliament of England any jurisdiction over us He makes out an entire Submission to the King of England and yet allows no Jurisdiction to the Parliament of England Let him shew us if he can by what Right a King of England may take to himself a separate Dominion over a Country brought into Subjection by the help of an English Army so as that it shall be no way subjected to the Parliamentary Authority of England But such arguing as this must either render him very Ignorant of the Constitution of our Government which I believe he would not be thought or wilfully guilty of maintaining an Opinion destructive to the Rights and Priviledges of the People of England I think him very much out in asserting the Rebellions of Ireland to be of the same Nature with the Commotions that have happen'd in England However Historians may make use of the word Rebellion to please the Party that 's uppermost yet there 's an easie distinction to be made between a Rebellion and a Civil War when two Princes contend for the Supream Government and the People are Divided into opposite Parties they fight not against the Established Government of the Kingdom the Dispute being no more but who hath most right to be in the supream administration of it Or if the People find themselves opprest and their Liberties and Properties invaded by their Prince and they take up Arms to restore the Government to its right Basis in both these Cases it may most properly be term'd
a Civil War and of these kinds have been the Ruptures in England which he instances But if People who live in a settled Common-wealth where the Laws made or consented to by their Ancestors are in force and Justice is duely administred shall take up Arms to Oppugn the Legal Authority plac'd over them to overturn the Government and assume to themselves Liberties and Priviledges prejudicial to the Common Good or to dethrone a Rightful Prince who hath govern'd justly this in its very Nature is a Rebellion I am not ignorant that all contending Parties pretend to be in the right and that they take up Arms justly and none will own themselves Rebels unleâ—s they are forc'd to it but yet 't is evident that there is a real Right and Wrong in these things and there have been many Instances in which the Impartial World could easily judge where the Right lay If it be not so I leave it to this Gentleman to furnish the World with some other good Reasons why the Old Irish and Ancient English have been so severely handled in that Kingdom His Third Inquiry is What Title Conquest gives by the Law of Nature and Reason Mr. Molyneux hath shewn himself a good Advocate for the Irish in what forgoes but if he had been a General in the Irish Army I see not what more powerful Arguments he could have chosen to stir them up to fight Valiantly against the English than by telling them as in effect he doth here That the first Invasion of the English upon them was altogether unjust that Henry the second was an Agressor and Insulter who invaded their Nation unjustly and with his Sword at their Throats forc'd them into a Submission which he cou'd never thereby have a Right to that Posterity can lose no Benefit by the Opposition which was given by their Ancestors which could not extend to deprive them of their Estates Freedoms and Immunities to which all Mankind have a Right that there is scarce one in a thousand of them but what are the Progeny of the ancient English and Brittains If the Irish were Conquered their Ancestors assisted in Conquering them and therefore as they were descended from these Old English they could never be subjugated or brought under the Modern English This is the Substance of his own Discourse and according to his own Notions of the Freedoms and Immunities to which all Mankind has a Right he might have told them in consequence that 't was their Duty to exert their own Rights and Liberties expel the English out of the Nation as Invaders and make themselves and their Posterity as free as any of the rest of the Sons of Adam Any one may judge of this Gentleman's Discretion by his publishing such Notions as these among the Irish with whom perhaps they may be taking but the People for whom he designs his Discourse won't be so easily caught with his Sophistry He grants us that the Practice of the World may not come up to the Rectitude of his Doctrines but he is inquiring what Right they have to what they do practice Well we have the World of our side at least if after a Possession of above 500 Years we don't now much trouble our selves to inquire what Right Henry the 2d had to Invade Ireland with an English Army I wish I could find out the Posterity of those O's or Mac's that were heretofore the rightful Possessors of the Lands which this Gentleman now enjoys in Ireland and which they never parted with for any Valuable Consideration only to see whether he would so much outdo the rest of the World as to practice his own Principles and very fairly give up his Lands to them as to the right Heirs at Law But to Dispute a little with him about this Matter The End of all Government is for the Benefit of Mankind many Nations have been subdued and conquered for their own good and whoever hath been an Invader that way hath done them Right and not Wrong So did the Romans Conquer People from under the Power of Tyrants and Oppressors Barbarism and Ignorance to make them Members of the best and freest Government in the World and to Civilize them into good Manners and Useful Arts and thus is Henry the second 's Invasion of Ireland to be justify'd and commended He began to rescue the People from the Oppressions and Violences of their own wild Princes and the Blood and Rapine to which they were frequently expos'd upon every Quarrel and Invasion of so many Petty Monarchs and from which in process of time they were totally delivered by the Authority of England He gave the People the English Laws constituted Parliaments and the English Form of Government to this by his own Confession they freely submitted and doubtless they were convinc'd that 't was for their Good But no History tells us that he reserv'd not the Direction of the State to England and constant practice all along shews the contrary His plausible Arguments for the Liberty and Right of all Mankind that Conquests cann't bind Posterity c. are wholly misapply'd in this Case and he abuses Mr. Lock or whoever was the Author of that Excellent Treatise of Government in referring to that Book on this occasion for that Worthy Gentleman doth therein argue the Case of People whose just Rights are violated their Laws subverted and the Liberty and Property inherent to them by the Fundamental Laws of Nature which he very accurately describes is invaded and usurp'd upon and that when this is as Evident and apparent as the Sun that shines in a clear day they may then take the best occasion they can find to right themselves This is a Doctrine that all good Men may assent to but this is in no wise the Case of Ireland they did as he owns receive and 't was to their own Advantage the English Laws and swear Fealty to the King that is to the Government of England and did reciprocally receive from him the Priviledge of being admitted to be free Denizons of England whereby they evidently gave up themselves to be incorporated into and become Members of the English Empire and to this day they remain to enjoy the Liberties and Priviledges of Freemen of England unless there happen to be such as have forfeited the same according to the Municipal Laws of the Government but he endeavours to evade the possibility of their Forfeiting by suggesting as if they were to be considered as a Different Contesting Nation And therefore 'T would be unreasonable to put the Municipal Laws of particular Kingdoms in Execution between Nation and Nation in the state of Nature If a Nation that once was distinct consent to imbody itself into the Government of another that is more powerful receive it's Laws and submit to its Constitution without reserve may they ever after be lookt upon as in the state of Nature or shall they not rather be esteem'd
or Territories lying at a distance from them 'T is only the Exercise of this Supream Salutary Authority that the Parliament of England pretend to and not to break in upon the Just Constitution so anciently granted and ever since continued to the People of Ireland of Enacting all such Laws by their Representatives in their own Parliaments as they think fit to be governed by or may be conducive to the well ordering the Affairs of their own Countrey and therefore this Gentleman hath no Reason to Tax us so often as he does with any Attempts upon their Rights and Properties breaking in upon their old Settled Constitution and rendring them the most unfortunate of all his Majesties Subjects by weakning their Rights to a greater degree than ever was done before If Poyning's Law be some Check to them 't was made in favour of the English Interest in Ireland and Mr. Molyneux finds no fault with it but that still leaves them at Liberty to consent or dissent to such Laws as the King in his English Privy-Council may propose to them The Rights that were granted them were large enough to secure them in the full Enjoyment of their Liberty and Property in the same Manner as if they had liv'd in England these we have preserv'd to them inviolated in as large a manner as ever they were granted let him shew any Law from England that hath ever innovated upon their Judicatories their Persons or their Estates his Exclamations can no way be applicable to us unless it shall appear that we have wronged them in such Rights as those But this Supream Imperial Authority was never granted to them nor can reside any where as long as the Monarchy lasts but in the King House of Lords and House of Commons in England the absolute Separation he pretends to in the Persom of King Iohn proves a Mistake so that his many peremptory Conclusions drawn from thence must fall as having no Foundation The Progeny of Englishmen wherever they live and are acknowledg'd to be such cannot be exempted from owing Allegiance to this Supream Jurisdiction 't is known that it hath Power to Command its Subjects out of the Territories of any other Prince upon the highest Penalties yea and to desert its Colonies and call home the People if Extremity shall so require He that shall deny it these Powers denies the very Essence of a Supream Government and how hard soever this Doctrine may seem to People that have liv'd out of England and have never considered these Notions yet the Reason of the thing must obtain upon every impartial Man and convince him that other Principles than these would have a Tendency to scatter and break to pieces all Humance Societies and bring People back again into the State of Nature Men cannot therefore shake off the Duty and Obedience they owe to the Community and say that an unbounded Liberty is the Right of all Mankind because this Liberty was given from them when they were in the Loyns of their Ancestors who consented to the Terms of the Constitution when they first entred into Societies and which must continue as long as that Society shall have a Being 'T is plain then that all just Liberty must be bounded by the Laws and Agreements of the Community and no Man ought to challenge to himself more Liberty than that allows him To apply this then to our Argument The People of England may not go out of the Kingdom and settle themselves in any other Country in manner of a Colony without leave first obtain'd of the King as Head of the Kingdom neither may they enter into a New Society and erect a New Form of Government different from that of their own Country in any such Settlement but they must have Directions and Authority from the King by his Charters Letters Patents or Commission whereby he grants them the Exercise of the Laws of England and the Power of calling together their own Representatives to Enact such further Laws not repugnant to the Laws of England as shall be requisite for the good Government of their Affairs in relation to which they are left to their own Liberty and Free-choice and not interrupted by the Government of England If after all this the King in Parliament shall find these People or their Posterity attempting any thing in this Settlement which if it be not stopt must prove very prejudicial and destructive to England Will any Man pretend to argue that the Kingdom which permitted assisted and protected these People in their Settlement hath no Authority left in her self to restrain them in matters that tend to her own Hurt and Damage And yet such Restraint is not to be accounted an Invading the Rights and Liberties of Englishmen 't is only a limitting them from acting or doing something in the Place where they are that however profitable it might be to themselves would yet be very damnifying to the greater Body of the Community of which they are a Member neither is this Restraint any more than in regard to the place their Persons are still free and they may if they please return to their own Mother Country and practice the same thing there with as much Freedom as any other of their Fellow Subjects If the Reader should think I have been too tedious upon this Point I hope he 'll consider that if many Words be necessary at any time 't is then when we are to perswade People out of that wherein they believe their own Interest and Profit greatly consists I think the Report of the Case of the Merchants of Waterford is an Authority which very much confirms what I have said but because he lays much stress upon it not only here but in another place when he treats upon the Lord Chief Justice Cook 's Opinion I will transcribe the Latin Record at large as he gives it Dicebant quod terr Hibern inter se habent Parliament et omnimoâ—o cur Prout in Angl. et per idem Parliamentum faciunt Leges mutant Leges non obligantur per statuta in Anglia quia non hic habent Milites Parliamenti sed hoc intelligitur de terris rebus in terris illis tantum efficiendo I believe it should be efficiendis sed personae eorum sunt Subject Regis et tanquam Subjecti erunt obligati ad aliquam rem extra terram illam faciend contra Statut. sicut habitantes in Calesia Gascoignie Guien c. dum fuere Subjecti et Obedientes erunt sub Admiral Angl. de re fact super Altum Mare similit brev de Errore de Iudicio reddit in Hibern in Banco Reg. hic in Angl. I shall now take the Liberty to vary somewhat from the Verbal Translation and render it in that sense that I think this Opinion of the Judges of the Court of Exchequer may be taken They say that the Land of Ireland hath a Parliament within it self and Courts of Judicature
Reign Against planting Tobacâ—o in Ireland for encouraging Shipping and Navigation and for prohibiting the Exportation of Wool from Ireland to any Country except England He acknowledges Do name and bind them too so as they do not transgress them and he hath nothing to urge to take off their Efficacy but how rightfully this can be done is the Question I answer by that Right which as I have shewn before must be inherent in the Supream Legislature of the English Empire for conserving the Well-being of its Body The Acts of his present Majesties Reign he acknowledges To be such as the Necessity of the Time requir'd and to be made in their Favour but that these should be argued as a Precedent of their Submission and absolute Acquiescence in the Iurisdiction of the Parliaments of England over that Kingdom is what they complain of as an Invasion of their Legislative Right We have Reason and Precedents enough to vindicate the Just Authority of the English Parliaments in these matters and they are not under any neâ—cessity of dating this Power as commencing from the first of these Acts not over thirty seven years past so that he need not be concern'd to think that they can make any ill use of these Precedents But whatever this Gentleman's Principles may be his following Expressions seem very arrogant from a Person who at fiâ—st pretended to so much Submission but I hope the Body of the Protestants of Ireland understand their Duty and their own Interest better than to Offer at throwing off the Authority that the Kingdom of England hath for so many Ages had over them and I doubt not but they will believe The hazard of doing it would be much greater than any inconvenience they have ever found in England's way of Protecting them We are now come to his Fifth Article viz. The Opinion of the Learned in the Laws relating to this Matter And he begins with the Lord Chief Justice Cook for whose Name he bespeaks a great deal of Respect although he treats him but somewhat roughly but this seems to be the Gentleman 's particular Talent He says the Lord Chief Justice Cook quotes many Authorities to prove that Ireland is a Dominion divided and separated from England and in particular the fore-mentioned Case of the Merchants of Waterford but he finds fault with him for citing it unfaithfully and brokenly The Chief Justice doth indeed abridge it and it seems by the alteration of the Words as if he had cited it by Head not transcrib'd it out of the Book which is a thing not unusual nor to be esteem'd a fault in such Authors if they give the passage its due weight and that I think he does as to the matter for which he quotes it but what he especially blames is that the Chief Justice upon the Words of the Report That the Statutes of England don't bind them Ireland adds in a Parenthesis which is to be understood unless they be specially named and that Herein he concludes magisterially so it must be this is my definitive Sentence without giving any other Reason It is not unusual for Men of this Judges Authority when they Note their Opinion transiently not to dilate upon it if that be not the Point they are directly handling yet Mr. Molyneux confesses that In another place he gives this Assertion a Colour of Reason by saying That tho' Ireland be a distinct Dominion from England yet the Title thereof being by Coâ—quest the same by Iudgment of Law mighâ— by express Words be bound by the Parliament of England But this doth but make the Matter worse with him He hath before enquired how far Conquest gives a Title But he would fain know what Lord Cook means by Iudgment of Law whether the Law of Nature and Reason or Nations or the Civil Laws of our Common-wealths in none of which senses he conceives will he or any man be ever able to make out his Position And now he gallops away with this that there 's no stopping him for two or three pages bespattering the Chief Justice all the way and though there is a great deal of his sort of Reasoning in it yet I think it not worth the Readers Trouble to repeat more of it than That he conceives my Lord Chief Iustice Cook to have applyed himself so wholly to the Study of the Common Laws of England that he did not much enquire into the Laws of Nature and Nations else sure he could not have been guilty of so Erroneous a Slip. Nay This Assertion of his is directly contrary to the whole Tenour of the Case he cites for that very Act of Parliament on which the Iudges debated and which they deemed not to be of force in Ireland does particularly name Ireland so that here again Lord Cook 's Error appears most plainly Well if he 'll be but a little Cool we may deal well enough with him in this Matter too wherein he thinks he hath so much advantage But now after all Mr. Molyneux's Inquiries he hath not said enough to Convince me that the Lord Chief Justice Cook is in the wrong to believe that England hath a Title to Ireland by Conquest Nay I do believe further of the Chief Justice's side that that Conquest hath given her so just a Title to all that Supream Authority which she pretends to hold over Ireland as that by Judgment or in Reason of Law her Parliaments may bind Ireland if nam'd in the Law and that she is warranted therein by the Laws of Nature Reason and Nations the Civil Laws of particular Common-wealths I don't understand and also by the Fundamental Laws of the Original Constitution of the English Government and I have already endeavoured to make out this Position so clearly that I shall say no more to it here but leave the Matter referr'd to the Reader 's Judgment The Censure which he passes upon so venerable a Person as the Lord Chief Justice Cook that he must be very little acquainted with the Laws of Nature and Nations should methinks but ill become a Writer so little known in the World as Mr. Molyneux especially when in this first Essay of his he hath discovered much more of his Assurance than Judgment But now to Vindicate the Chief Justice from the gross Errors with which he Charges him we must look back again upon the Opinion of the Judges in the Exchequer-Chamber as he hath deliver'd it in Page 90 91. They were Consulting whether the Staple-Act made in England could bind the People of Ireland they argue after this manner Ireland hath a Parliament of its own which makes Law 's for the ordering Matters among themselves and therefore the Statutes made in England don't bind them by which they must mean such Statutes which are made in general Terms and for the particular Occasions of England for 't is plain that what they intend when they say that The People of Ireland
they ow'd to their Lawful King there was no Act of their Parliament to declare King Iames abdicated and the Throne vacant neither indeed was there any pretence for it because he came and was actually present among them and in the full Exercise of his de facto Kingly Power as to them But as I said before the People of England having in their Convention which at that time was the Representative of the Nation conferr'd the Crown of England and Ireland and all other Territories and Dominions belonging to the English Empire upon King William and Queen Mary the Kingdom of Ireland as a Member of the English Body was as much bound to submit to that Revolution as New-England or any of the rest of our Colonies and therefore the Opposition made by the Irish against it was a perfect Rebellion and render'd them liable to all the Pains and Penalties which the Municipal Laws of the Kingdom could inflict upon Rebels This then justly forfeited their Estates to the King as he is the Head but not as in any separate Capacity from the Kingdom of England We know however what Authority the King hath to dispose of these Estates to such as may have deserv'd well and if the Parliament of England shall acquiesce therein that 's no Argument that therefore they have no Authority to intermeddle in that Matter and their former practice as he confesses hath shewn the contrary He owns that In a War the Estates of the Unjust Opposers should go to repair the Damage that is done but theirs do not resemble the Common Case of Wars between two Forreign Enemies but are rather Rebellions or Intestine Commotions And so we say But he continues If the Protestants of Ireland by the Assistance of their Brethren of England and their Purse do prove Victorious A fine Turn indeed the Matter of Fact is that the Army of England prov'd Victorious and that without any thing that might reasonable be call'd Assistance from their Brethren as he though somewhat assumingly in this case calls themselves the Protestants of Ireland and yet forsooth the Victory must be theirs No Man of Modesty as this Gentleman would bespeak himself could dare to put upon the World at this rate Well but he tells us The People of England ought to be fully repaid but then the manner of their Payment and in what way it shall be levyed ought to be left to the People of Ireland in Parliament Assembled He owns the Debt and that we ought to be paid but how and which way and when ought to be left to them a pretty New-fashion'd Priviledge this Gentleman is inventing for his Country provided they own the Debt the Creditor must be contented without any Security without any Terms and consequently without any Interest how long soever he may be kept out of his Money he ought to leave all that to the Good Will and Pleasure of his Honest Debtor but I believe Mr. Molyneux would be loth to pass for such a Fool in his own way of Dealing in the World and sure he must measure us by an Irish Understanding if he thinks this sort of Reasoning will go down with us He goes on And so it was after the Rebellion of Forty One that 's a Mistake though it deserves a harder Word for he tells us The Adventurers had several Acts of Parliament made in England for their reimbursing by disposing to them the Rebels Lands so that it was not then left at the Discretion of the People of Ireland But after all it was thought reasonable that the Parliament of Ireland should do this in their own way and therefore the Acts of Settlement and Explanation made all the former English Acts of no force or at least did very much alter them in many particulars Here'tis plain that Acts of Parliament were made in England for disposing the forfeited Estates of Ireland which were be liev'd to be of Validity and a sufficient Security to the Adventurers at the time when they were made otherwise People would not have advanc'd their Money upon them and though I am no Lawyer and don't think it concerns me to look after those Acts yet from the Reason of the thing I cann't believe that those Persons that advanc'd this Money could afterwards be legally depriv'd of the Interests granted them by those English Acts by any after Authority of an Irish Parliament If any were I would advise them yet to sâ—e to an English Parliament for Relief 'T is true there had happen'd a Revolution and perhaps some People that had those Lands might be lookt upon as under Delinquencies to the Government that then came to be uppermost and we know that some of the Irish Papists were very strangely restor'd to their Estates and the Possessors put out yet if some Injustice was done at such a time when many things were carried by Extreams nothing will prove an invalidating of those English Statutes less than either a total Repeal of them and that he seems not to stand upon here though he suggested it in another place for he only says they were made of no force or at least were very much alter'd in many particulars which is a certain Sign they were not repeal'd Or to shew that they were so altered as to take away all the Lands that were possess'd by any of those Adventurers or their Descendents by Virtue of those Acts of Parliament If that cann't be made out which sure he won't pretend to it will remain that those English Acts of Parliament did really dispose of the Rebels Lands in Ireland and if there be any after Settling or Confirming them to the Safety of the Proprietors by Act of Parliament in Ireland that cannot impeach the Authority of the first Acts. Well he still allows That we shall be repaid our Expences all they desire is that in preservation of their own Rights and Liberties they may do it in their own Methods regularly in their own Parliaments And if the Reimâ—ursment be all that England Stands on what availeth it whether it be done this way or that way so it be done A pretty loose way of Talking this he speaks as confidently of reimbursing us as if that were a small matter and they had this way and that way ways enough to do it and they are so well prepar'd that they desire nothing else but Liberty to let them do it in their own methods I am sorry we han't heard one word like this offer'd in their Parliaments 't would have lookt much better from them than from Mr. Molynellx to have taken Notice of this great Debt to England and to have at least declar'd their Intent of paying it but he is a Member and perhaps he knows their Minds better than I do and because he proposes so fairly I am willing to strike a Bargain with him if he 'll undertake on the Behalf of Ireland I 'll undertake on t the part of England that
or Colour from Reason or Record does it not manifestly appear by the Constitution of Ireland that 't is a Compleat Kingdom within it self I say No 't is but the Form of a Kingdom for since 't was first subdu'd to England Governours have always been set over it by England and it never had Authority of it self to Exercise a Legislature but by Directions from England But now he 's resolv'd he 'll confute us though Bellarmine stood in the way Do not the Kings of England bear the Stile of Ireland and why did he not mind the Arms too among the rest of their Kingdoms Is this agreeable to the Nature of a Colony do they use the Title of Kings of Virginia New-England or Maryland Don't the Great Turk bear the Title of a great many Kingdoms Yes and some of them have a more Compleat Dominion among themselves than ever we gave Ireland are they therefore all Compleat Kingdoms within themselves The Kings of Spain have so many Titles of Kingdoms that they have quite lost the Knowledge where some of them grow they have us'd the Stiles of King of the East and West-Indies and yet their acquisitions there have been but Colonies Mexico and Peru are not Compleat Kingdoms within themselves though they have that Title yea and their Governours have the Style of Vice-Roys and that 's a higher Feather than ever those of Ireland wore I should have excepted their absolute King Iohn The Kings of England have never call'd Virginia New-England or Maryland by the Name of Kingdoms is there such a deal of weight in that The Potuguez gave the Style of a Kingdom to Goa in the East-Indies but they never did to Brazil thought it be much the more Considerable Colony And now I think on 't we were once about making our Dominions in America into a Vice-Royalty under the Duke of Albermarle sure then they must have made as Compleat a Kingdom as Ireland for they have as absolute a distinct Dominion within themselves and I beleive are endow'd with Authority for the regulating the Affairs of their own Governments as ample in all Respects as Ireland excepting only the Punctilio of a Titular Kingdom and the Denomination of a Parliament to the very same thing that in the others is call'd an Assembly Are not all these things done or not done according to the Humour or Fancy of Princes Is there any thing of Essence or Reality in them If the English of Ireland are in all other respects under the Circumstances of a Colony of England will any Body besides Mr. Molyneux imagine that this Title of a Kingdom doth exempt them But he has more to say Was not Ireland given by Henry the Second in a Parliament at Oxford to his Son John and made therby an absolute Kingdom separate and wholly independent on England till they both came united again in him after the Death of his Brother Richard without Issue No he continued a Subject of England and was Try'd for his Life as such the Parliament of England limited him from using the Style of King Can the King of a Separate Kingdom be limited and yet his Kingdom remain wholly Independent He continues Have not multitudes of Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland declared ireland a Compleat Kingdom but never Independent Is not Ireland stiled in them all the Kingdom or Realm of Ireland Do these Names agree to a Colony Yes are not the Names of Colonies agreeable to Mexico and Peru because the Acts of State in Spain stile them Kingdoms Have we not a Parliament and Courts of Iudicature Do these things agree with a Colony Yes and other Colonies have effectually the same Neither doth this involve so many absurdities as he thinks if we do but consider what sort of a thing a Colony is When People began to multiply in the World and fill those Tracts that were first inhabited they were necessitated to spread themselves farther and farther for the better Conveniency of Living and thus the remoter Parts came in process of Time to be peopled with such as are call'd the Aborigines of Nations In the first and innocent Ages of the World these liv'd in an undisturb'd Quiet contented in the Enjoyment of such things as with their own easie Cultivation Nature plentifully bestow'd in an abundance sufficient for the Support of all Mankind 'till the Malice and Enmity of the Devil operating upon the deprav'd Minds of Men through the Curse entail'd upon on them for the Disobedience of our First Parents stirr'd up in them the Unnatural Desire of living according to their own Wills without regard to the Principles of Reason and the Laws of Nature which God had eternally stampt upon their Minds This soon began to break the first Harmony and good Order of the Creation and came in time to change the whole Face of Humane Affairs and introduce a very different kind of Oeconomy among Men. Hence it was that the more powerful Communities if they found their own Borders too strait for them would not give themâ—elves the Trouble of removing to distant uninhabited parts of the Earth but took the Liberty to incroach upon their Neighbours and possess themselves of what the Industry of other Men had made their own just Right and Property These Violations of the Law of Nature taught the more scatter'd People to enter into Societies and unite together for their Mutual Defence against the Invasions of others and for the Well-ordering of Matters and preventing private Injuries that might occur among themselves they thought upon the constituting Laws for the defining of Liberty and Property and executing Justice upon such as should offend against them they apply'd themselves also to the inventing of all such further Policies as might be conducive to the acquiring and preserving the Good of the whole Society and whether they thought best to commit the Chief Conduct of their Government to one Person as Supream to rule them with the assistance of subordinate Ministers or that they plac'd this Supream Authority to govern in several with joint Power the end and intent was still one and the same to procure and conserve the Good of the whole People though the Names were differing as that of Kingdom Common-wealth c. Those that instituâ—ed the best Policies and most suitable to their Circumstances generally became the most powerâ—ul a Sense of their Strength and an Opinion of their Skill in Politick Managements made them Ambitious to gain Dominion and Rule over others Some united through Fear or for Convenience and others were subdu'd by Force thus from small Beginnings grew up Mighty Empires who apply'd their whole Power to bring and keep all they could reach under their own Dominion by which means the Frame and Constitution of many Kingdoms and Countries came to be altered from their Original Settlements There were yet another sort of Invaders whose Manner was only to make room for the too Numerous Broods of their
Secondly If the Kingdom of Ireland belongs to the King as his own Propriety distinct from the Kingdom of England if the Irish should at any time hereafter believe that the King of England could not be able to protect his Potestant Subjects there without the Assistance of Men and Money fâ—om his English Parliament and should thereupon make another Attempt to drive them out and seize their Eâ—tates whether the Parliament of England would think themselves oblig'd to be at any further Expence to protect a People with whom they had nothing to do and who had shewn so little Gratitude for what had been done for them formerly Thirdly If Ireland be such an Absolute Independent Kingdom by virtue of the Conceâ—â—ions formerly granted to them by England those Concessions were made to the Native Irish and Old English settled there all that Mr. Molyneux hath argued is intirely their Case and they alone have Right to be considered and treated with as the Body of that Kingdom but the Modern English Protestants can have no Interest in these Ancient Grants they are still our own People went thither with our leave and may not stay there without our permission if then the Governmeâ—t of England should think fit to recall them as they may those that are in France Holland c. Whether the Irish Papists could either have Will or Power to protect or keep them from us And now as I have been necessitated upon several former Occasions to shew that Mr. Molyneux hath started many things that may be made use of to the Disadvantage of the English of Ireland so I think I have also demonstrated that upon the foregoing Considerations his Notions if they should be thought reasonable so far as to obtain upon the Parliament of England to believe that they ought to quit all manner of Pretensions of their Superiority over Ireland as amply as he desires the Consequence must draw immediate Destruction and Ruine upon them which I should think might sufficiently convince the Gentlemen of Ireland that Mr. Molyneux hath not deserv'd well of them in writing this Book And I hope they will think that I have employ'd my time much more to their Advantage if it may convince any that have been lead into his Mistakes that 't is the true Interest of the Protestants of Ireland to remain constant and firm in their Loyalty and Obedience to the King and Kingdom of England and to esteem it their great Happiness that they aâ—e annext in so easie a Subordination to a Kingdom that is so well able to protect them and hath requir'd so little from them and never more to think that their being restrain'd from interfering with us in our principal Trade can be too great a Reâ—â—ibution for the many Benefits and frequent Preservations which they have receiv'd from us especially since they are in much easier Circumstances than the People of England to live without it whereas the Robbing England of it must inevitably introdâ—ce a Decay of her Riches and Power and render her incapable to give Iâ—elind that large Assistance that she may posâ—ibly at some time or other need again England hath been and must still continue to be at a mighty Expence to maintain her Navies and the Civil List from all which they receive the Benefit of being protected in their Estates and Trade without being hitherto ask'd to pay one penny towards it so that they may clearly see that 't will be much easier for them to continue in such a Subordination than to aspire to the Dignity of an Independent Kingdom which they cannot be able to suppoâ—â— I have now done with Mr. Molyneux's Book and since I have taken so much pains with it I hope I may be permitted to give it such a Character at parting as I think to be in a most peculiar manner agreeable to it 'T is an abundance of Well chosen Words and Fine Rhetorical Turns to prove nothing 't is a multitude of Arguguments and Authorities brought together to confute its own Author and 't is a promulgating of such inconsiderate Notions as would ruine and undo the People for whom it undertakes to be a Zealous Advocate If it should be thought by some that I have been too sharp in some Expressions there are yet others whose Judgment I have taken that are of the Opinion that so Inâ—olent an Argument merits no less and I think such a Discourse cannot well be treated with that Coolness and Indifference which might become a Modest Controversie Subjects that so rashly undertake to disturb the Minds of People and assail the Authority of a powerful Kingdom in matters of so high a Nature deserve at least to suffer such a Correction that others may be deterr'd from the like Bold Attempts let it be remembered that Salmasius was lash'd to Death by a Pen provok'd in what in those times he thought the Cause of his Country and Mr. Molyneux may be thankful that we have no Milâ—on living to handle him I am a perfect Sâ—ranger to the Genâ—leman and can have no personal Disrespect for him and if he 'll give me leave to distinguish as nicely as he does between the King and the Kingdom 't is his Book not him that I would expose after all if in regard to his Person I do with the lowest Submission ask his Pardon in the End I hope I shall come off with as good Manners as he does with the 〈◊〉 of England in â—asking theirs in the Beginning of his Discourse Last of all to râ—flect a little upon my self I ought to ask Pardon of the World for what Mistakes I may have committed for I cannot think so well of my self but that some may have slipt my own Observation Reading hath not been my Business and therefore it may seem somewhat strange that I should have undertaken to deal with a Book that profâ—â—ses so much I was resolv'd therefore to handle it in such a way wherein I might be most safe There was indeâ—d room enough for me to shew from undenyable Authorities that Mr. Molyneux hath very extra vagantly err'd and fallen short in his Representation of this Matter for there are many English Acts of Parliamâ—nt extant which prove that as well in ancient times as since Poyning's Law the constant practice of England hath been to make Laws binding upon Ireland as oftâ—â— as they saw fit whereof he hath takâ—◠〈◊〉 manner of Notice which must conclude him either to have dealt very disingeniously or what will no less reflect upon him that he was too ignoâ—ant in Matters of Fact for so considerable an Attempt But this part being undertaken by a much ableâ— Pen I was resolv'd to let all that alone and meddle with no Authoâ—ities but what Mr. Molyneux hath produc'd and as far as possible to admit of his own Arguments and only endeavour to turn the Reason which Naturally flows from them against him Can there be a fairer Opposition than to fight a Man at his
done in Parliament and I think if I should stop here and give my self no further trouble to trace him through the rest of his tedious tho' shallow Arguments all impartial People would be satisfied in these Four Points That the ancient Irish did intirely submit their Nation to become a Member of and be united to the English Empire That the Parliamentary Authority of England hath ever obtain'd over all the parts of its Dominions That they have exercis'd this Authority over Ireland even from its first Union to this Kingdom and That the Irish understood their Submission in this sense and paid Obedience to this Act of an English Parliament without regret But since I have undertaken it I must go through with him This Creation however as barely mention'd by him is not Authority enough for Mr. Molyneux to conclude positively that By this Donation Ireland was most eminently set apart again he seems then to grant that 't was at first united as a â—â—parate and distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England He produces no Record for this nor any authentick Authority what he offers like Proof for this perfect separate Regality is only the granting Charters whilst his Father and Brother were reigning but that 's no more than what hath been commonly practic'd by other Feudatorys and proves nothing of Iohn's having an absolute independent Jurisdiction But he attempts further and tells us The very express words of the Irish Statute 33 Hen. 8th c. 1. by which the Style of Dominus was chang'd to that of Rex Hiberniae are And he meaning K. Iohn being created King in the Parliament at Oxford under the Stile and Title of Lord of Ireland enjoy'd all manner of Kingly Iurisdiction Preheminence and Authority Royal belonging unto the Imperial State and Majesty of a King Hitherto I have not disputed any of the Authorities quoted by Mr. Molyneux but here he must Pardon me if I tell him that if this will pass for an Authority in Ireland yet it will not with us 'T is only an Irish Act of Parliament made as late as Henry the 8th's time that presumes that K. Iohn did enjoy all manner of Kingly Jurisdiction c. without referring to any Record that was extant for proving that Assertion So that this Irish Act of Parliament is at most but a Presumptive Authority and therefore he ought not to think that we can be so far impos'd upon as without better Proof than so saying to grant that King Henry the second and King Richard the first disclaim'd all Title to the Dominion and Regality of Ireland as if the same had been absolutely without any reservation vested in King Iohn Besides even this Act of Parliament does not use the words Absolute and Independent But after all though none of these Proofs will stand good on Mr. Molyneux's side I 'le shew him that this whole Business undeniably proves on t'other side â—hat King Iohn could at best be made no more by this Donation than a Feudatory Kingly Lord as I have said before Mr. Molyneux hath told us that King Iohn in his Charters could not use any higher stile than that of Lord of Ireland can any Body believe that a Prince wholly and seperately vested in a Dominion and Regality absolutely granted unto him without any Reservation as he says King Iohn was would content himself with any lower Title than that of King unless he had been limited in it by a Superiour Authority and was not that like to be this Act of Parliament Can an Act of Parliament be said to make a King absolute and Indedendent when at the same time it keeps a reservation of the Title Is not this an Evident Demonstration that they would not suffer him to be Independent but that they laid that restraint upon him to shew that they would always retain in England the Supream Imperial Power over Ireland How does Mr. Molyneux know what Homage Rent or other Reservations were made doubtless all the Records touching it are lost and I presume he has nothing stronger for this positive Assertion of his than the Old Historians Gir. Cambrensis Rog. Hoveden Mat. Paris c. and they don't make out this Absolute Independent Title without any manner of Reservation Is it Sense to think that a People should conquer or intirely subdue a Countrey to themselves plant a Colony there and then but five years after give it clear away again never to have any thing more to do with it I would fain know what Regalia were granted to this absolute King The Kings in Man may wear a Leaden Crown I 'm afraid King Iohn was still but a Lord in that respect too and that he had no Crown at all given him else sure Mr. Molyneux if he could have found any would have told us on 't But what 's worse than all this is it possible for one and the same Man to be both an Independent King and a Subject at one and the same time It seems this Donation was not so absolute but that he was still to continue a Subject as indeed Feudatories must to the Sovereignty to which they belong to Old England and after all his absolute Kingship 't was his Misfortune to be try'd by his Peers not as King of Ireland but as Earl of Morton who found him guilty of High Treason and accordingly he was condemn'd but at the Intercession of the Queen their Mother King Richard gave him his Life I doubt this was enough to loose his Independent Title to the Kingdom of Ireland for that time unless Mr. Molyneux can find him out another Creation which I believe could not be without another Act of Parliament but there happen'd to be no need on 't for as he succeeded to the Crown of England Ireland came in again well enough in our Sense Yet further to put this matter out of all doubt 't is a Maxim not to be disputed that the Authority which grants must always remain Superiour to that which receives the Grant and therefore the Feudal Law determines that Homage and Fealty is inseparably annext to all such Grants And though Mr. Molyneux professes himself very well Learn'd in The Laws of Nature and Reason and Nations and the Civil Laws of our Common-wealths yet it seems he is altogether unacquainted with this Feudal Law and if he had been but as well read in the Practice of the World as to these things he might have been convinc'd that the many Feudatory Princes still remaining in Europe are not exempted from this Dependance The Princes and Hans Towns of the Empire if they are by length of Time grown up to a higher degree of Sovereignty and do not so immediately depend upon the Emperour who in his private Capacity was but Arch-Duke of Austria c. and but one of the Eight Electoral Princes yet they are still subject to the Supream Legislature of the Empire and the Imperial Avacatoria reaches them And