Parliament in the same Land and brought with them Irish Servants to the Parliaments and Counsels there holden whereby the privities of the Englishmen within the same Land have been and be daily discoverd within it to the Irish people Rebels to the King to the great perill and mischief of the Kings lawfull liege people in the same Land And the Statute of 10 H. 7. in Ireland c. 16. enacts That the Spiritual and temporal Lords of the Land of Ireland shall appear in every Parliament holden in that Land in their Parliament Robes in like manner and form as the Lords of the Realm of England appear in the Parliaments holden within the said Realm under pain of forfeiting 100 s. to the King which use of Robes they had there for penury omitted by the space of 20 or 24 years But there is no mention of any Tryal by their Peers in these or any other English or Irish Statutes but those forecited of 2 Eliz. c. 1. 6. Yea the Statute of 25 H. 6. in Ireland c. 28 enacts For that there is a Law established that every Lord that is called a Lord of the Parliament in all pleas personal as well as real in which amerciaments do lye shall be amerced 100 s. to the great impoverishment of the said Lords for as much as their livings are diminished and wasted by war That no Lord of Parliament shall be amerced from thence forward in the said pleas otherwise than other persons notwithstanding any Law made before to the contrary The amerciaments therefore of Irish Lords and Commons being alike by this Law it is very probable their tryals by Jurie were both alike and that they were not tryed by their Peers Now the Prisoners councel have pleaded in his plea that Magna Charta gives the tryal by Peers in Ireland and no other Law but it and that it was not accepted received confirmed and used as a Law in Ireland till the Statute of 10 H. 7. and the words thereof if it be confirmed by that Act are most clear in it That all Statutes late made c. from henceforth be deemed accepted usea and executed within this Realm of Ireland in all points And if it were made a Law there by the Statute 8 E. 4. c. 1. which I rather believe the words of that Act are That from henceforth all other Statutes and Acts made by authority of Parliament in England be ratified confirmed and adjudged by authority of this Parliament in their force and strength from the sixth day of March So as Magna Charta was not a general Law in force use acceptance or execution in Ireland at least amongst the Irish till 8 E. 4. or 10 H. 7. as is evident by these Acts Because I would leave nothing concealed or unanswered that might make for the prisoners advantage I must acknowledge that King Henry the 3d. in the first year of his Reign sent a Roll of the liberties which his Father King Iohn and he had granted to this Realm of England unto Ireland out of his special grace by unanimous consent of all his Lieges and confirmed the same to all his Spiritual and Temporal Lords and faithfull Subjects there for their fidelity to him and his Father to them and their Heirs for ever as a signal bedge of his favour by this patent * Rex Archiepiscopis Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus et libere tenentibus et omnibus fidelibus suis per Hiberniam constitutis Salutem Fidelitatem vestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino patri nostro semper exhibuistis et Nobis estis diebus nostris exhibiti volumus quod in signum fidelitatis vestrae tà m praeâ—lare â—am insigniter Libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae a patre nostro et nobis concessis de gratia nostra et dono in Regno nostro Hiberniae gaudiatis vos et vestri imperpetuum Quâ—â— distincte in Rotulum redactas decommune consilio omnium fidelium nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas sigillo Domini Guâ—â—onis Apostolicae sedis Legati et fidelifsimi nostri Willielmi Marescalli * Rectoris nostri et Regni nostri quia sigillum nondum babuimus easdem processu temporis majorum constlio proprio sigillo firmandas Teste apud Gloverniam 3 die Februari he being * c. owned but on the 28 of October before at Gloucester where this Patent bears date After which King Henry having ratified the Great Charter of Liberties in England in the 9th year of his reign printed in all our Statutes Books and in Cooks 2 Institutes in the 12 year he commanded it to be published openly in Ireland by his Writ * Rex dilecto et fideli suo R. Burgo Iustic. suo Hiberniae salutem Mandamus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites et libere tenentes Ballivos singulorum Comitatuum et coram eis publice legifaciati Cartam Dom. Regis Johannis patris nostri cui sigillum suum appenâ—um est quani fieri fecit jurari a Magnatibus Hiberniae de legibus consuetudinibus Angliae observandis in Hibernia Et praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod leges illas et consuetudines in Carta praedicta contentas de caetero firmiter teneant observent Hoc idem per singulos Comiratus Hiberniae clamari faciatis et teneri Prohibentes firmiter ex parte nostra et super forisfacturam nostram ne quis contra hoc mandatum nostrum venire praesumat eo excepto quod non de morte nec de catallis Hibernensium occasione nichil stauatur ex parte nostra citra quindecem dies a die St. Michaelis anno r. n. 12. super quo respectum de dedimus Magnatibus nostris Hiberniae usque ad terminum praedictnm Teste mâ—ipso apud Westm. 8 die Maii anno 12. In Cooks 3 Instit. f. 141. b. 4 Instit. p. 3â—9 b. in 18 H. 3. Rot pat m. 17. n. 21. There is mantion made of Consuetudines Leges Regâ—i nostri Angliae quas bonae memoriae Dominus Johannis Rex pater noster de communi omnium de Hibernia consensu teneri statuit in terra illa Teste Rege apud Winch. 28 die Octob. In the 30th year of Henry the third all Laws and Customs of England were established in Ireland by this * Patent Quia pro communi utilitate terrae Hiberniae pro unitats terrarum Rex vul et de Communi Consilio Regnt provisum est quod omnes Leges et consuetudines quae in regno Angliae tenentur in Hibernia teneantur et eadem terra eisdem legibus subjaceat et per easdem regatur sicut Johan Rex cum ultimo esset in Hibernia statuit et strmiter mandavit Ideo volumus quod omnia Brevia de communi sure quae currunt
of Ireland with other grievances could not antiently be redressed in the Parliaments thereof but * only in England till 29 E. 3. as is evident by this memorable hitherto unprinted Record made for relief in such Cases * Rex Justiciario Cancellario suis Hiberniae salutem Ex parte nonnullorum fidelium nostrorum Communitatis terrae nostrae Hiberniae Nobis est graviter conquaerendo monstratum ut cum ipsi dampna gravamina quamplurima à magno tempore sustinuerint ex hoc quod ipsi terras tenementa sua in manum nostram per Ministros nostros terrae praedictae cum nomine districtionis cum ex causa transgressionis sive alienationis sine licentia nostra factae voluntariè absque causa rationabili capta extra manus nostras licet ritè processu debito inde penes vos alios de Consilio nostro in partibus illis juxta legem consuetudinem terrae praedictae prosecuti fuissent * recuperare non possunt Et etiam ex hoc quod ERRORES qui in Recordis Processibus placitorum coram Justiciariis nostris aliis Curiis Placiis in eadem terra quae Recordum habent habitis in redditionibus judiciorum placitorum eorundem intervenisse praetendantur in Parliamentis in eadem terra corrigi neqeunt nec alias justicia inde fieri sine remedio in Anglia querendo propter quod quidam propter labores expensas circa praemissa oppositas ad maximam miseriam inopiam deducuntur quidam omnino exhaeredati existunt unde iidem fideles nostri Nobis cum instancia supplicarunt ut super praemissis remedium congruum apponi faciamus Et quia videtur Nobis Consilio nostro durum esse et grave quod conquaerentes super assecutione Justiciae de iniutiis sibi illatis in partibus praedictis taliter absque remedio fatigerentur per quod pro quictae et indempnitate populi nostri in terra praedicta sub nostro regimine existentis cui in exhibitione Iusticiae sumus debitores ordinavimus quod de omnibus terris tenementis in terra pradicta per Justiciarios Escaetores seu quoscunque alios Ministros nostros sub Sigillo nostro in manum nostram â—aptis illis qui pro eisdem terris tenementis extra manum nostram debito justo processu coram vobis prosequi voluerint super hoc plena Justicia secundum legem et consuetudinem terrae nostrae Angliae of dictae terrae nostrae Hiberniae fiat quibuscunque mandatis nostris * sub magno vel privato sigillo nostro Angliae vobis aut aliis Ministris in terra praedicta ante haec tempora directis non obstantibus Et quod ad prosecutionem omnium singulorum qui conqueri voluerint errores in recordis vel processibus coram aliquibus Justiciariis seu aliis Ministris praedictis intervenisse Rotuli eorundem Recordorum Processuum in Parliamentis nostris in eadem terra tenendis per Justiciarios seu Ministros coram quibus Recorda Processus illa fuerint deferantur et ibidem eadem Recorda et Processus diligenter recitentur et examinentur et errores si quos in eisdem inveniri contigerit debite corrigantur Et ideo Vobis mandamus quod Ordinationem praedictam in terra nostra praedicta teneri partibus conquaerentibus plenam celeram Justiciam fieri faciatis in forma predicta quibuscunque mandatis vobis aut aliis in terra praedicta ante haec temporae in contrarium directis nonobstantibus Ita quod aliquis materiam non habeat Nobis pro defectis Justiciae super casibus praedictis de caetero conquaerendi Teste Rege apud Westm. 30 die Augusti Per ipsum Regem et Consilium If then the King and his Counsel in England might thus by this their Ordinance made in England without a Parliament redress these grievances and faylers of Justice in cases only of private concernment in Ireland it self formerly examinable and remediable only in England for the ease and benefit of the loyal Subjects not of Irish Enemies and Rebels there much more may the King and Parliament of England for the preservation of the Kings Crown interest and of the lives inheritances of all his loyal Subjects there and securing the peace of Ireland enact and ordain that all Irish Rebels Traytors committing High Treason and taking up Arms against the King and destroying his Liege people there especially in times of universal Rebellions and Insurrections shall be sent over thence and tryed for the same in England by a sworn Jury of lawfull indifferent Englishmen in the Kings Bench be they Commons or Peers of Ireland without any injury or injustice Thus submitting this Argument to the candid censure and friendly embracement of every judicious Reader and craving a share in his Prayers for Gods gracious blessing both on me and it I leave it to the Readers immediate perusal without further Prologue From my Study in Lincolns-Inne June 19. 1658. on which day of the Month 1637. I was taken * Pro confesso by the Star-Chamber Lords upon a pretended contempt in REFUSING TO ANSWER when as themselves refused to give me leave to plead or answer and rejected the Answers tendred in Court under my own and my Councels hand to the Information there exhibited against all Rules of Law Iustice and of that very Court William Pryn. THE ARGVMENT OF WILLIAM PRYNNE of Lincolns-Inne Esq Hill 20 Car. Banc. Regis IN THE Case of the Lord Cannor Magwire Baron of Ineskellin in Ireland the chief contriver of the late Irish Rebellion and Massacre of the Protestant English against whom he was assigned Councell by both houses of Parliament COnnor Magwire by the name of Connor Magwire of London Esquire was in Michaelmas Tearm last Indicted in this Court for several high Treasons committed by himself together with Hugh Mac-Mahon and divers other Conspiratours and false Traytors against our Lord the King within the Realm of Ireland in partibus transmarinis on the 23 day of October 17 Caroli Upon his Arraignment at this Bar after not guilty pleaded being demanded how he would be tryed he put in this special Plea as to the particular manner of his Tryall only under his Councels hand That by the Statute of Mag. Charta it is enacted That no freeman ought to be imprisoned c. Nor will we passe upon him but by the lawful Iudgement of his Peers or by the Law of the Land That after this in a Parliament held at Droghedah in the Kingdome of Ireland in the 10th year of King Henry 7th it was enacted That all Statutes late made within the Realm of England concerning or belonging to the Common an a Publique weal of the same from thenceforth should be deemed good and effectual in Law and
Irish Commons else they should be in far better condition than English or Scotish Peers and quite exempted out of this Act. Now the same words that bring English-Peers within this Law must of necessity hook in Irish-Peers too there being no clause which exempts or includes the one more than the other 5ly The very letter intent and scope of this Act as appears by the body of it and likewise by the Statutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 5 6 E. 6. c. 11. to the same effect was to make all Treasons done or commiteed out of England by any person or persons whatsoever tryable in England either before the Justices in this Court or * before special Commissioners in some other Counties but to be still tryable within this Realm as the words All manner of Treasons hereafter to be done perpetrated or committed by any person or persons out of the Realm of England shall be from henceforth enquired of head and determined before the Kings Justices of his Bench c. clearly resolve in direct terms Therefore to make the Treasons of Irish-Peers committed in Ireland or elsewhere tryable here in England as well as the Treasons of English-Peers or Irish-Commoners And to send them back into Ireland to be there tryed by their Peers when once they are here in Prison and indicted in this Court by exempting them out of this Act contrary to the very letter and intent of the Law is to run point-blank against the very words and meaning of this Law and the Law-makers Therefore he must by this Act be tryed at this Bar and that by an ordinary Jury only as I shall prove anon 6ly The very scope and sole purport of this Act is not to make new Treasons or Traytors which were none before but to bring real Traytors only for Treasons formerly made or hereafter to be made and declared Treasons by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm to exemplary punishment in this Kingdome for the peace and preservation of the King Realm and the better execution of Justice the very life of Laws upon Delinquents only of the highest rank for the most transcendent crimes of High Treasons of misprision or concealments of Treasons not for Felonies or petit Treasons Which consideration must necessarily induce us for the common good to give it the largest fullest and most equitable constraction that may be Thus the Judges in former times have always interpreted it as appears by Dyer f. 132 298. Cookes 7. Rep. Calvins Case f. 23. a. his first Institut on Littleton f. 26. his 3 Instit. p. 24. and in Orourkes case wherein the Judges resolved 1. That the Statute of 1 Mar. Sess. 1. repealing all former Treasons but those within 25 E. 3. and of 1 2 Phil. and Mar. c. 10. enacting That all Tryals hereafter to be had for any Treason shall be had and used only according to the due course of the Common-law of this Realm and not otherwise exend not to the taking way of forem Treasons or their tryals by this Law And in Orourks case they extended it by equity beyond and in some sort against the letter of the Law it self for he standing mute and refusing his Tryal was thereupon condemned and executed for a Treason committed by him in Ireland though the words of the Statute are The Treason shall be enquired of heard and determined before the Justices of the Kings Bench by good and lawfull men of the same Shire where the said Bench shall sit and the Act speaks nothing at all of standing mute But this being a publique Law for the Common good to bring Traytors only to their Tryal and just punishment his refusal to put himself upon his Tryal was adjudged to be a determination and conviction of his Treasons within the Act else any Traytor by standing mute might evade and frustrate this good Law If then this Statute may thus be construed by equity and dilated beyond the words to one who stands mute for a Treason done in Ireland much more may it be extended to a treason by an Irish-Peer who is fully within the words and intent of it as I have already manifested And it would be a most pernicious gloss which should either elude or nullifie this beneficial publique Law 7ly It is clearly resolved in and by our Parliaments 13 E. 1. Proem. 13 E. 1. of Statute Merchants 21 E. 3. rot parl. n. 67. in the Statute of 5 H. 5. ch. 6. in divers of our * Law-books That Acts of Parliaments made in England wherein Ireland is either specially named or generally and necessarily included do bind those in Ireland both Commoners or Peers alike This therefore being such a Law extending and binding those in Ireland as hath been resolved in the forecited Cases it must certainly bind both the Peers and Commons of Ireland to a Tryal at this Bar for Treasons done in Ireland when the King and Kingdom deem it necessary or expedient to try them here in England 8ly The Proviso in this Act for tryal of Treasons done out of this Realm by Peers within the same extends only in positive terms to Peers of this Realm of England because they only are Peers within England and so only tryable by their Peers for forein Treasons within the same not to Peers of Ireland who are no Peers at all nor tryable by their Peers within this Realm of England Therefore this Proviso extending only to Peers of this Realm excludes all other forein Peers whether Irish or Scots from any tryal by their Peerâ— in England for Treasons acted out of it 9ly There is very great reason why Natural Irish Peers and Barons should be within the compass of this Law as well as Commoners and rather they than any other forein Peers because as our * Historians the Irish Annals Statutes and our Records do testifie ever since their conquest by K. Henry the 2d and submission to the Kings of England they have frequently almost every year in most Kings Reigns broken footh into private petit or general Rebellions and Insurrections against the English as I could instance in sundry particulars in which Rebellions I commonly find a Magwire a Mao-Mahon and Oneal in the van as Ring-leaders of all the rest as they were in this last Rebellion wherein most of the native Irish Peers and greatest septs have been deeply engaged as principal Conspiratours Among other Rebellions I find in Story and which is more authentick in the express Statute made in the Parliament at Dublin in Ireland anno 28 H. 8. c. 1. but 7 years before this Law That Gerald Fitz Gerald Earl of Kyldare the Earl of Desmond with divers other of the Irish Peers and Gentry conspiring together to extirpate the English and deprive the King of his Soveraignty in Ireland did send to the French King the Emperour and Bishop of Rome for ayd and assistance for taking the same Land out of the Kings and
Pat. 12. E. 1. m. 11. Pro diversis in Hibernia quod uti possint Legibus Angliae in Hibernia Rex omnibus ballivis fidelibus suis Hiberniae ad quos c. salutem Volâ—ntes Giraldo fil Johannis Hibernico gratiam facere specialem concedimus pro nobis Haeredibus noâ—tris quod idem Geraldus liberi sui quos legitime procreaverit hanc habeant libertatem quod ipsi de caeteâ—o in Hibernia utantur legibus Anglicanis firmiter inhibemus ne quis â—os contra hanc concessionem nostram vexet in aliquo vel perturbet In cujus c. T. Rege apud Carnarvan 30 die Maij Consimiles literae habet Margeria de Lessan Henricus de Lessan Petrus de Lessan Andreas de Lessan Bene dictus fil Johannis Ardmagh Willielmus Heuke Hibernici In cujus c. Teste ut supra Pat. 18. E. 1. m. 24. Rex omnibus Ballivis fidelibus suis in Hibernia ad quos c. salutem Volentes Isamaiae filiae Oragilig Matildae fil Oragilig Hibernicis graciam facere specialem concedimus pro nobis haereaibus nostris quod eadem Isamaia Matilda ad totam vitam suam hanc habeant libertatem videlicit quod ipsae de caetero in Hibernia utantur legibus Anglicanis fiâ—miter inhibemus ne quis eas contra â—anc concessionem nostram vexet in aliquo vel perturbet In cujus c. T. Rege apud Westm. 12 die Junii per ipsum Regem Pat. 19. E. 1. m. 20. Rex omnibus ad quos c. salutem Sciatis quod de gratia nostra speciali concessimus Willielmo filio Carmok Clerico quod ipse omnes posteri sui imperpetuum Lege consuetudine Anglicana utantur in terra nostra Hiberniae iâ—a quod ipsi per alias leges consuetudines pâ—r nos ministros nostros quoscunque de caetero non deducantur contra voluntatem suam sed quod ipsi in vita sua morte de caetero libertate gaudeant Anglicana In cujus c. Teste Rege apud Ashermg 22 die Jan. The like Patent is granted Mauricio de Bre. Hibernico Pat. 24. E. 1. m. 3. These Records with Claus. 2. E. 3. m. 17. Rex dilecto fideli suo Johanni Darcy de Nevien Justiciario suo Hiberniae salutem Exparte quorundam hominnm de Hibernia extitit supplicatum Ut per statutum inde faciendum concedere velimus quod omnes Hibernici qui voluerint legibus utantur Anglicanis it a quod necesse non habeant super has chartas aliquas a nobis impetrare Nos igitur certior ari volentes si sine alieno praeâ—â—dâ—cio praemissis annuer â—valeamus vobis mandamus quod voluntatem magnatum terrae illius in proximo Parliamento ibidem tenendo super hoc cum ailigentia persâ—rutari faciatis de eo quod inveneritis una cum vestro consilio ad visamâ—nto nos distincte aperte cum celeritate qua potestis certificetis hoc breve nostrum nobis remittentes which compared with Claus. 5. E. 3. part 1. m. 25. Pro hominibustâ—rrae Hiberniae de Lege ANGLIAE UTENDA in custodiis recuper andis c. are an unanswerable evidence beyond contradiction That the great Charter Liberties Customs and Laws of England granted to those of Ireland by King John Henry the third Edward the first and third extended only to the English Subjects inhabiting Ireland and to such Irish who lived in English Counties in due subjection to the Kings of England or were by special Charters of indenization enabled to enjoy the benefit of them who were but few in consideration of the rest of the Irish Nobility Gentry and Commons retaining their ancient Brehon Laws and would not submit to the Laws of England nor Government of our Kings against whom they frequently rebelled being reputed rather Enemies than Rebels and usually so stiled in the Statutes of Ireland till the Statute of 33 H. 8. c. 9. as appears by the Statutes of 18 H. 6. c. 3. 25 H. 6. c. 4 5. 28 H. 6. c. 1. 3 E. 4. c. 2. 5 E. 4. c. 6. 18 E. 4. c. 2. 10 H. 7. c. 9 10 17 19. 28 H. 8. c. 11. by Sir John Davis Irish Reports in the Case of Tanistry fol. 39. the common Laws and Statutes of England being not universally received or established throughout the whole Realm of Ireland till after the Statutes of 3 and 4 Phil. and Mar. c. 3. 11 Eliz. c. 9. and King James his Proclamation in the third yeer of his reign or at leastwise till the Statutes of 8 E. 4. c. 1. or 10 H. 7. c. 22. which established all the Statutes made in England concerning or belonging to the good of the same only as to the Englishry or English Pale and Counties not to the Irishery as the Statutes of 17 H. 7. c. 8 9 10 11 13 17 19. 35 H. 6. c. 3. 5 Ed. 4. c. 3 4 5. 13 H. 8. c. 3. 28 H. 8. c. 15. made in Ireland with other Acts resolve which the Lord Magwire confesseth in his Plea and his Council cannot deny Now the Lord Magwire being none of the English Pale or Irish Sept Liege Subjects to our Kings but of the Irishry and professed Enemies to our Kings as the Irish Annals and Statutes inform us the Statute of Magna Charta and the Laws Liberties and Customs of England granted to the English and loyal Irish Subjects in Ireland and so this trial by Peers could not extend to his ancestors till after the Statutes of 8 E. 4. or 10 H. 7. of 35 H. 8. c. 1. yea after the Statutes of 3 and 4 Ph. and Ma. c. 3. and 11 Eliz. c. 9. for reducing the Irishry into Counties and under the Laws and Statutes of England to which they were not formerly subject And from these Patents of King John and Henry the third forecited and the Statutes of 8 E 4. and 10 H. 7. till 35 H. 8. chap. 1. No one president of any one Irish Peers trial by his Peers in Ireland in any case whatsoever can be produced Therefore certainly there was no such trial known or in use in Ireland before 35 H. 8. nor any president of it since till one of late and una Hirundo non facit Ver. If then the Peers of Ireland before the making of this Act of 35 H. 8. were never actually tried by their Peers for any treason done in Ireland for ought can be proved and there be no express Act for any trial by Peers there for any Treason but only the Act of 2 Eliz. c. 1. and 6. and that only for special Treasons within those Laws which are none of those for which the Prisoner stands here indicted I may safely conclude That this Law of 35 H. 8. never intended to preserve to Irish Peers a trial by their Peers in Ireland which kinde of trial was never
Ireland Yea to Irish Peers as well as to Irish Commoners and that there can be no tryal at all upon it here of an Irish Peer by Irish Peers nor in any place else within England and that only as the Prisoners case is by a Middlesex Jury And so I have finished my assertive part The first and grand objection is that which I meet with in the beginning of this Prisoners plea The Statute of Magna Charta c. 29. That no Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his Freehold c. nor will we pass upon â—or condemn him but by the lawfull judgment of his Peers or by the law of the land which Law and Statute is among others established for a Law in the Kingdom of Ireland there to be put in ure at all times when need is by the Statute made in the Parliament held at Droghedah in Ireland in the 10th year of King H. 7. c. 22. and by vertue of these two Laws he ought to be tryed by his Peers in or of Ireland in this sute against him by and for the King To which I shall give these satisfactory Answers 1. That the Statute of Magna Charta in its original creation and confirmation was made granted to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons Towns and to all the Free-men of this our Realm of England and to them only to be kept in our Kingdom of England for ever whence it is intituled The great Charter of the Liberties of England as the prologue of it resolves The first Chapter thereof is peculiar to the Church of England viz. That the Church of England shall be free and enjoy all her rights and liberties inviolable We have also granted to our Freemen of our Realm of England these liberties under-written to have and to hold to them and their Heirs of us and our heirs for ever So cap. 12. The City of London shall have all her old Liberties and Customs and all other Cities Boroughs Towns and the Barons of the Cinqueports and all other ports shall have all their Liberties and their Customes Cap. 35. One measure of wine c. shall be throughout our Realm Ch. 32. All Merchants if they were not openly prohibited before shall have safe and sure conduct to depart out of England to come into England and to tarry in England as well by Land as by water c. In Cap. 23. All Weeres shall be utterly put down between Thames and Medway and throughout all England and the conclusion C. 37. concerns the Realm of England and Englishmen only Neither doth the * Charter of King John nor that of the 11 of H 3. nor 18 H. 3. m. 17. nu 21. nor of 30 H. 3. nor yet of 13 E. 1. cited in Co. 4 Institutes p. 349 and 350. and in his Institut on Littleton f. 141. establish Mag. Char. at least in relation to all the Native Irish but English alone it being made particularly for the Realm of England and English men and therefore the Prisoner pleads it was setled there only as a Law to be received and put in use in respect of the Irish then living only in the English pale and the Kings loyal Subjects not of any Irish enemies in hostility by the Statute of 10 H. 7. c. 22. but not before and so is Sir Ed. Cooks opinion in express terms in his 4 Institut pag. 35â— By which it is most clear That from King Henry the seconds dayes who first subdued Ireland An. 1171. there were no trials in Ireland of any English or Irish Peers Subjects to our Kings for Treason by their Irish Peers by vertue of Magna Charta till after the Statute of 10 H. 7. which was made but forty six yeers before the Statute of 35 H. 8. between which and this later Law we read not of one trial of any Irish Peer for treason there by his Peers nor yet since that I can find but only one of late by 2 El. c. 1 6. till this very day By which it is most apparent that this tryal by Peers in Ireland a privilege now inficted on was never actually claimed or enjoyed by any Peer of Ireland especially by those in antient emnity and rebellion against our Kings stiled * enemies in the Irish Statutes and English Records before the Statute of 35 H. 8. and so it can be no prejudice nor injustice at all nor breach of Magna Charta to out the Prisoner of it 2ly It may be questioned upon very good Reasons whether the Statute of 10 H. 7. ch. 22. doth consirm this Statute of Magna Charta in Ireland or not at least as to Irish Peers especially those of the old Irish Bloud to whom it relates not as I have proved in the point of trial by Peers and that upon these Grounds First because the words of that Statute are not That all Laws made in England shall be confirmed received and executed in Ireland in all points but That all Statutes late made within the Realm of England concerning or belonging to the Commonweal not Peers of the same shall henceforth be deemed good and effectual in Law and received executed in this Realm of Ireland Now Magna Charta being no Law then late made within this Realm but made at least 271 years before it can hardly without much straining of the words beyond their proper meaning be brought within the compass of this Act though Sir Ed. Cook in his fourth Institutes pag. 351. informs us That Hil. 10 Jac. it was resolved by the two chief Justices and chief Baron that this word LATE in this Act hath the sence of BEFORE and shall not be taken in its proper sence or meaning so that the Act by this construction against the sence of the words extends to Magna Charta and to all the Acts of Parliament made in England not only late but even long before yea many hundred yeers before this Act which for my part under the favour of those Reverend Judges who thus interpret it I hold still disputeable yea erronious and no Law at all especially for these two Reasons 1. Because if any Law introduced and confirmed Magna Charta and the other Laws of England in Ireland it is the Statute of 8 E. 4. c. 1. which confirms the Statute made in England in the Parliament of 6 R. 2. ch. 6. concerning Rapes of which there was some doubt made whether it extended to Ireland and then concludes thus In avoyding of all inconvenience that might happen because of the ambiguity of the said Statute Be it enacted confirmed and ratified by authority of the said Parliament that the said Statute be adjudged and approved in force and strength and may be of force in this Land from the 6th day of March last past and that from henceforth the said Act and all other Statutes and Acts made by Authority of Parliament within the Realm of England be ratified confirmed and adjudged by
Statutes of this Realm to be Treasons misprisions of Treasons or concealments of Treasons and done perpetrated or committed by any person or persons out of this Realm of England shall be from henceforth inquired of heard and determined before the Kings Iustices of his Bench for Pleas to be holden before himself by good and lawfull men of the same Shire where the said Bench shall sit and be kept or else before such Commissioners and in such Shire of the Realm as shall be assigned by the Kings Majesties Commission and by good and lawfull men of the same Shire in such manner and form to all intents and purposes as if such Treasons or Concealments of Treasons had been done perpetrated and committed within the same Shire where they shall be so inquired of heard and determined as is aforesaid Provided alwayes that if any the Peers of this Realm shall happen to be endicted of any such Treasons or other offences aforesaid by authority of this Act that then after such Indictment they shall have their Tryall by their Peers in such like manner as hath been heretofore accustomed From this Act I shall deduce several Arguments and conclusions to prove that the Prisoner at the Bar though a Peer of Ireland shall be tryed by an ordinary Iury of Middlesex here not by his Peers in or of Ireland for the Treasons committed in Ireland whereof he stands here indicted For my more methodical proceeding I shall divide the single point in controversie into these 3 subordinate Questions 1. Whether this Sâ—atute extends to Treasons committed in Ireland by Irish Commoners 2ly Whether it reacheth to Treasons in Ireland perpetrated by Irish Peers as well as by Irish Commons 3ly Admit it extends to Irish Peers as well as Commoners whether it doth not then inevitably out them of their Tryalls by Irish Peers and Subject both of them alike to a Tryal at this Bar by a Middlesex Iury For the first Whether this Act extends to Treasons committed in Ireland by Irish-Commoners There is but little doubt of it For first it is as clear as the Sun at Noon-day that this Act extends to all Treasons done or perpetracted in Ireland by Irish-Commoners for the main scope and intent of this Law being to make all manner of offences then made or declared or hereafter to be made or declared to be Treasons misprisions of Treasons or concealments of Treasons by any Laws or Statutes of this Realm done perpetracted or committed by any person or persons out of England inquirable or tryable within this Realm without any scruple or difficulty either in this Court or before such Commissioners in such Shire of this Realm as the King by his Commission shall assign the very sum and substance of this Act as the express letter thereof resolves the Realm of Ireland being out of this Realm of England and no part thereof and Treasons therein committed by Commoner being Treasons done and perpetrated out of this Realm of England as is clear by 20 H. 6. f. 8. a. b. â—9 H. 6. 53. b. 32 H. 6. 25. b. 2 R. 3. f. 12. 1 H. 7. f. 3. Plowden 368. b. Dyer f. 360. b. Cook 7. Report f. 22 23. Calvins case â—H 5. c. 8. 4 H. 5. c. 8. 4 H. 5. c. 6 Cooks 3 instit. p. 1â— 18. These treasons must certainly and most necessarily be both within the intent and words of this Law and so consequently tryable in this Court by an ordinary Jury of Middlesex without any scruple or difficulty The rather because Ireland though out of this Realm of England is vet part of the Kings dominions and a subordinate Kingdom united and annexed to the Crown of England governed by the Laws of England and bound by Acts of Parliament made in England in many Cases as is resolved and undeniably evidenced by Pat. 6. Iohan. in 6. n. 17. Rot. Pat. 8 Johan m. 1. Claus. 12. H. 3. m. 8 Pat. 30 H. 3. m. 3. 14 H. 3. The Statute of Ireland Pat. 5 E. 3. pars 1. m. 25. 11 E. 3. c. 2 3 4 5. 27 E. 3. c. 3 18. 13 E. 1. Stat. de Mâ—rcat 1 H. 5. c. 8. 4 H. 5. c. 6. 1 H. 6. c. 3. 3 H. 7. c. 8. 1 H. 8. c. 5. â—32 H. 8. c. 4. 35 H. 8. c. 2. 32 H. 6. Statutes of Ireland c. 1. 8 E. 4. in Ireland c. 1. 10 H. 7. in Ireland c. 4 5. 22. 7 H. 8. in Ireland c. 1. 28 H. 8. in Ireland c. 2 3 5 6 7 8 13 15. 18 19. 33 H. 8. in Ireland c. 1. 1 H. 7. f. 3. Kelway f. 202. b. Cooks 7 Rep. of 22 23. Calvins case 1 Inâ—tit f. 141. b. 4 Instit. f. 349 350 c. 3 Instit. p. 18 Mr. Saint Johns Argument at Law at Straffords attainder p. 53. to 64. And therefore Treasons there committed are more apt and proper to be tryed here within the letter and intention of this Law then Treasons done in France Spain or any parts else out of the Kings dominions where our Laws and Acts of Parliament are not obligatory 2. This Statute as I conceive was principally made to punish Treasons misprisions of Treasons and concealments of Treasons in Ireland where they were more frequently done and perpetrated than in any or all parts of the world out of this Realm of England as our Histories and the * Irish-Statutes record And the â—orid general Treason Insurrection and Rebellion in Ireland much like this for which the Prisonner is indicted mentioned in the Statute of Ireland 28 H. 8. c. 1. but 7 years before this Act with other frequent Treasons and Rebellions there were no doubt the chiefest ground of making this new Law And that which puts it out of all dispute is the Statute of 28 H. 8. made in the Parliament at Dublin in Ireland c. 7. which reciting the Statute of 26 H. 8. c. 13. made in England concerning Treasons and enacting as this of 35 H. 8. That if any of the Kings Subjects Denizens or others do commit or practise out of the limits of this Realm of England in any outward parts any such offences which by this Act are made or heretofore have been made Treason that then such Treason whatsoever it be that shall so happen to be done or commitshall be inquired and presentâ—d by the oaths of 12 good lawfull men upon good and probable evidence and witness in such Shire and County of this Realm before such persons â—â— it shall please the Kings Highness to appoint by commission under his great Seal in like manner and form as Treasons committed within this Realm have been used to be inquired of and presented that then upon every indictment and presentment founden and made of any such Treasons and certified into the KINGS BENCH like process and other circumstance shall be there had and sued against such offendors as if the same Treasons so presented had been lawfully found to be done and committed
been accustomed heretofore that Irish or anie other forein Peers should be tried for anie Treasons here committed by English Irish or anie other forein Countrie Peers within the Realm of England Nay no one President of this kind was ever heard of and it is an impossible thing in point of Law as I have proved therefore no such trial by anie Peers can be once thought of or imagined for the Prisoner or anie other Peer of Ireland within the purview or proviso of this Act 5ly I shall adde further ex abundanti to put this case out of all question that I have made some cursorie search into most of the Irish Annals Histories Antiquities Statutes upon this occasion and I should have made a further inquisition had I enjoyed anie vacant hours to do it yet I cannot find so much as one President of anie Irish Peer tried in Ireland for Treason or anie other offence by his Peers before this Statute of 35 H. 8. and I believe the Prisoners Councel cannot as indeed they neither did nor could produce one example of such a trial there by Peers before this Law nor anie Act of Parliament in that Realm before this Statute concerning Treason which provides that Irish Peers shall be tried by their Peers there being no such clause or least hint thereof to be found in the Statutes of 18 H. 6. c. 2 3. â—â— H. 7. c. 13. 13 H. 8. c. 1. 28 H. 8. c. 1 2 7. which make sundrie offences Treasons and extend to and mention Irish Lords and Rebels by name as well as Commons all and everie of these Acts leaving both the Irish Peers and Commoners to the self-same rrial by a Jury And since this Act I presume they cannot produce above one president and that a verie late one in case of Treason where an Irish Peer was tried by his Peers and it was the case of the L. Slane much about 20 years since there tried and acquitted by his Peers in Ireland as I am informed before which time it was then confessed by the Judges there they never heard or read of any one such tryal used in Ireland and since it we have heard of no other trial there by Peers to second it but onlie of one Noble Lord the Lord of Valentiae Vicount Norris there extrajudiciallie condemned by meet Martial-law in a Council of War even in times of peace by the Earl of Strafford An. dom 1635. but not executed nor tried by his Peers in a legal way all their Peers formerlie being there either attainted by Act of Parliament as is evident by the Irish Statutes of 28 H. 8. c. 1. 3 4 Ph. Ma. c. 2. 11 El. c. 1. 13 Eliz. c. 6 7. 27 Eliz. c. 1. 28 Eliz. c. 8 9. 11 Jac. c. 4. 2 H. 6. rot Parl. n. 8. or executed by Martial-law as soon as apprehended in the Wars or else slain in actual Rebellion or pardoned upon their submissions without anie trial for their Treasons by their Peers For Attainders of Irish Peers and other Traitors and Rebels by Act of Parliament in Ireland I find the Earl of Kildare with others attainted for a Treason and Rebellion much like this for which the Prisoner stands here indicted in a Parliament held at Dublin in Ireland 28 H. 8. c. 1. Since this in 11 Eliz. c. 1. Shan O Neale a bloodie desperate Rebel was attainted by Parliament after his death being hewn in pieces by the Scots and the name of Oneyle extinguished it being made High Treason for anie to assume that name And I find a Mac-Mahon and Magwire forfeiting Lands among other Rebels in that Act which largelie sets forth the Queens Title to Ireland 27 Eliz. ca. 1. James Eustace Viscount of Baltinglas was attainted of High Treason for a publique Rebellion against the Queen 28 Eliz. cap. 9. I find John Brown and near one hundred more Irish-men by name attainted of High Treason by this Act for an open Rebellion In 11 12 Iac. C. 4. I find Hugh Earl of Tyrone Jury Earl of Tirconell Caconaugh Magwire Mac-Mahon and above 20 more chief Irish Gentlemen attainted of High Treason by this Act for their open Rebellions But for a trial of any Irish Peer for anie Treason in Ireland by his Peers I can meet with no president as yet but that of the Lord Slane onlie and shall be glad to be informed of any other to parallel it Indeed in the printed Statute of 2 Eliz. c. 1. made in Ireland for restoring to the Crown the antient Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and abolishing all forein power repugnant to the same and in the Statute of 2 Elizabethae in Ireland cap. 6. intituled An. Act whereby certain offences are made High Treason I meet with these two clauses concerning the trial of Irish Peers for Treasons onlie within these Acts. And if it shall happen that anie Peer of this Realm shall fortune to be endicted of and for anie offence that is made Premunire or Treason by this Act that then the same Peer or Peers so being indicted shall be put to answer for everie such Indictment before such Peers of this Realm of English blood not Irish mark it as by the Lord Deputie Governor or Governors of this Realm shall be by Commission appointed under the Broad Seal and to have his and their trial by his and their Peers and to receive and have such like judgement upon the same trial of his or their Peers or making open confession of the same offence or offences as in other Cases of Treason and Premunire hath been used or is used in other Cases of High Treason and misprision of Treason Which later clauses As in other cases of Premunire and High Treason hath been used And as is used in other cases of High Treason or misprision of Treason relate only unto thosè words to receive and have like judgement upon trial and so onlie to the judgement and sentence given in these new Treasons and offences enacted by these Acts not to the manner of trial by Peers which is meerlie a new kind of trial never mentioned in any other Irish Acts before these and restrained onlie to the new Treasons and Premunires specified in these Acts in imitation of the * English Statutes made in the self-same Cases which provide a Tryal by Peers for our English Peers which was never heard of in any Acts of Parliament in Ireland till these and never practised that I read of in that Realm either before or since To clear this up more fully the Statute of 11 E. 3. c. 4. makes mention of Prelates Earls and Barons in Ireland as well as in England And the Statute of 4 H. 5. c. 6. prohibits that any one of the Irish Nation should be chosen to be an Arch-Bishop Abbot or Prior within Ireland because many of them against a former Act there made had been made Arch-bishops Bishops Abbots Priors wherby they became Peers of the
before had used or practised in that Realme and therefore the Prisoner shall be tried by an ordinary Jury at this Bar not by his Irish Peers because if he were in Ireland for ought appears yet to me he should not be tried by his Peers there and in both these points the Book in Dyer the only Authority which seems to be strongest against is for me the words whereof are these in English The grand Chancellor of Ireland moved this question to the Queens councel If an Earl or Lord of Ireland who commits Treason in Ireland by rebellion shall be arraigned and put to his trial in England for this offence by the Statutes of 26 H. 8. c. 13. 32 H. 8. c. 4. 35 H. 8. 2 or 3 E. 6. And it was held by Wrey Dyer and Gerrard Attorney General That he could not Mark now their reasons for he cannot have his trial here by his Peers which is a full resolution in point of my third Question agreeing with what I have endeavoured with Arguments to prove and is an unquestionable Truth which I submit to Then it follows Nor can he be tried here by any Jury of twelve mark the reason Not because he is a Peer of Ireland and therefore ought to be tried by his Peers and not by a Jury for that had been full against me and it is now the only knot in queâ—tion but because he is not a subject of England but of Ireland and therefore he shall be tried there which reason extending as well to an Irish Commoner as Peer hath been since adjudged directly false absurd and against the Law both in Orourks Case and in Sir John Parrets Case and since in Mac-mahons Case and Sir Ed. Cook informs us in his Institutes on Lit. f. 261 that Wray himself in Orourks Case where this Opinion of his was vouched did openly disclaim that ever he delivered any such opinion as this but ever held the contrary to it and so it is a misreport in this particular After which the Book concludes thus And it is said that the usage to wit in Ireland to attaint a Peer Is by Parliament and not by Peers which comes full in terminis to what I have last insisted on and I am certain cannot be disproved Wherefore this authority in Dyer as to all that is truth and Law in it is wholly for me in the reason of the Law and against me only in what hath been since adjudged to be no Law I shall close up all with a stronger Case and authoritie than this in question which will over-rule this case and that was in * Trinity Term An. 33 H. 8. in the Kings Bench Edward Lord Gray immediatly before having been Lord Deputie in Ireland was endicted arraigned and attainted of High Treason by an ordinary Jurie in the Kings Bench in England for letting divers Rebels out of the Castle of Dublin and discharging Irish hostages and pledges that had been given for the securing the peace of Ireland and for not punishing one who said the King was an Heretick whilest he was Lord Deputy in Ireland For these Treasons all acted and committed in Ireland through an English Peer he was tried by an ordinary Jury in England by the Statute of 26 H. 8. c. 13. ratified in Ireland by 28 H. 8. c. 7. forecited which secluded him from his tryal by Peers being not saved by these Acts. Therefore a Fortiori shall these Statutes and this of 35 H 8. c. 2. 5 E. 6. cap. 1. made since his judgement exclude this Irish Lord being no English Peer from any tryal by his Peers Finally the Prologue of this Statute coupled with the body thereof puts a period to this question beyond all doubt or dispute For as much as some doubts and questions have been moved that certain kinds of Treasons c. committed out of the Kings Majesties Realm of England cannot nor may by the Common laws of this Realm be inquired heard and determined within this his said Realm of England For a plain remedy order and declaration therein to be had and made be it enacted c. that all manner of Treasons c. committed by any person oâ— persons â—out of this Realm of England shall be from henceforth inquired of heard and determined by the Kings Iustices of his Bench c. by good and lawfull men of the same Shire where the said Bench shall sit and be kept in like manner and form to all intents and purposes as if such Treasons had been done within the same Shire where they shall be so inquired of heard and determined The sole scope end purpose then of the King and Parliament in this Act being to take away all doubts and questions formerly moved in point of Law touching the tryal of treasons done out of the Realm before the Kings Justices of his Bench and Commissioners in England by a Iury and to make and enact a plain remedy and declaration therein for the future in manner aforesaid I humbly apprehend there can be no doubt nor question now moved whether this Prisoner ought to be tryed by his Peers in Ireland or England for this his most horrid Treason committed out of the Realm of England since this Statute so clearly declares and resolves the contrary in most plaine and positive words The rather because the Kings Patent creating him Baron of Ineskellin under the great Seal of Ireland maketh him only a Peer in Ireland and gives him only a Place and Voyce among the Peers and Nobles of Ireland in the Parliaments of Ireland not in England as he sets forth in his own * Plea in precise terms as the Patent made by King Edward the 4th to Robert Bold created him Baron of Rathtauth in Ireland and constituted him Unum Dominum Baronem omnium singulorum Parliamentorum magnorum Conciliorum nostrorum in terra nostra Hiberniae tenendorum habendum tenendum una cum stilo titulo nomine honore loco et sessione inde sibi et haeredibus suis masculis imperpetuum And as King Henry 8. made Thomas Viscount Rochford by the self-same Patent both Earl of Wiltshire infra regnum nostrum Angliae and Earl of Ormond in terra et dominio nostro Hiberniae only with several clauses of investitures several Habendums and several Creation-monies for each Title and Kingdom And as the Patents of all other Irish Earls Viscounts Lords and Barons in Ireland create and make them Peers only in Ireland not in England as * learned Mr. Selden informs us and their very Patents resolve in terminis And therefore quite exclude the Prisoner and all other Peers of Ireland from any tryal by their Peers in England either by the Proviso or body of this Statute or their Patents which are point-blanck against it And now I hope I have fully made good the point in question with all the several branches of it That this Act extends to Treason committed in
Authority of this Parliament in their force and strength from the said 6th day of March So that this Law if any at all confirmed Magna Charta and all the Statutes made by Authority of Parliament in England to be in force and use in Ireland yet only as to the English Irish Subjects under the Kings obedience and none else as I have proved and this Statute of 10 H. 7. which confirms only the Statutes lately made must and doth in truth and reason relate only to the Laws made in England since that Statute of 8 E. 4. c. 1. not formerly there confirmed by that Act so that the Prisoners Plea That Magna Charta was confirmed by 10 H. 7. is but a meer mistake and a void Plea neither are the Judges here bound to take notice of this Irish Act of 8 E. 4. c. 1. unless pleaded by the Prisoner being no Law of this Kingdom and not binding here 2. Because the forementioned Charters of * 6 Joh. 12. and 30 H. 3. c. confirming the use of the Laws of the Realm of England in Ireland did not extend to settle Magna Charta there at least wise not as to the benefit of the natural Irish but to the English and the Irish within the English Pale alone as is agreed by Sir Ed. Cook and in a manner resolved by this Act of 10 H. 7. as the words thereof From henceforth be deemed good and effectual in the Law and over that be used accepted and executed within the Land of Ireland in all points at all times requisite import And if those Charters extended not to Magna Charta which are fuller then this Act I doubt this Law will hardly do it 3ly Admit the Law of 10 H. 7. extends to Magna Charta in some particulars thereof formerly used in Ireland yet it reacheth not to the trying of Irish Peers by their Peers now in question for these ensuing Reasons 1. Because trial of Irish Peers by their Peers in Ireland was never used nor heard of nor is there any one instance to be found before or since Magna Charta till 10 H. 7. which there setled that great Charter for a Law nor from 10 H. 7. till 35 H. 8. nor since that but of late in one case only about twenty yeers since till this instant Now what Littleton notes of the Statute of Merton * Sect. 108. That no action can be brought upon that Statute for a disparagement for that since the making of it it was never seen nor heard that any such Action was brought upon it against the Guardian and if any Action might have been brought upon this matter it will be intended that sometime it would have been put in ure The like shall I say concerning Magna Charta and the trial of Irish Peers by their Peers in Ireland That if the trying of Irish Peers by their Peers had been the common Law of Ireland or if Magna Charta and 10 H. 7. had established it there for a Law it would some time or other have been there put in â—re and some Peers there would have claimed and enjoyed this their priviledge in point of Trial but since it was never yet in use there for ought I finde nor any one can prove before 35 H. 8. I cannot deem it the common Law nor Priviledge of the Peers of Ireland but the peculiar Priviledge of our English Peers both by the common Statute-Law and great-Charter of England and no trial of right incident to Irish Peers as it is to English Therefore this kinde of Trial neither is confirmed to nor intended to be conferred on Irish Peers by Magna Charta which is but a confirmation only of our * common Laws of England and no introduction of any new Law here and so should introduce no new Law there but confirm the common Laws and Customes there formerly used and so the Tryal by Peers is not there setled in respect of the Irish Peers by the Statute of 10 H. 7. Now that which principally confirms me in this opinion is the two special Acts of Parliament made in Ireland in 2 Eliz. c. 1. 6. * already cited which create a special form of tryal of Irish Peers not by their Peers there of Irish blood but by their Peers of that Realm of the English blood alone only in the new Treasons and Premunires specified in and created by those two Acts but in no other Treasons Which clauses had been merely nugatory and superfluous had the Tryal of Irish Peers in Ireland by Irish Peers been the birth-right and known priprivilege of Irish Peers either by the Common law there used or by the Custome of Ireland or by Magna Charta with this Act of 10 H. 7. confirming it It therefore never being the intent of this Act nor of Magna Charta to grant any new privilege or form of Tryal to Irish Peers which they never formerly enjoyed neither the one nor other will sufficiently support the Prisosoners plea nor indulge him any tryal here or there by his Peers of Ireland at least of Irish blood for so horrid a Treason as this Which I hope is a satisfactory answer to this objection since Custome is the best Expositer of all antient Laws as Sir Edw. Cook declares in his Commentary on Littleton sect. 108. f. 81. b. 4ly Admit the Objection true That Magna Charta extends to Ireland by vertue of this Act of 10 H. 7. so far as to give Irish Peers in Ireland though not of the English Pale a trial by their Peers which they had not before its confirmation there yet then I answer That this Statute of 35 H. 8. ch. 2 upon which the Prisoner is arraigned by making all Treasons done and perpetrated in Ireland triable in England when there is just occasion as now there is in this time of a universal horrid Rebellion and in sundry other forementioned respects repeals this Clause of Magna Charta and deprives the Prisoner of the benefit of his Peerage if at all conferred on him by it and the Act of 10 H. 7. Since it is most certain that Statutes made in the Parliaments of England being the supreme Kingdom and Court to which Ireland its Courts are subordinate and whose erronious judgements in their High Courts and Parliaments there were only reversible here in England in the Kings Bench and Parliament of England as is evident by Claus. 7. H. 3. par 2. m. 10. and Claus. 29. E. 3. m. 12. 8 H. 6. rot Parl. â— 69. Cooks 4 Instit. p. 356. Mr. St. Johns Argument at Law at Straffords Attainder p. 58 61. Kâ—ilway f. 202. b. Br. Error 127. Fitz. Nat. Bre. f. 24. Co. 7 Rep. f. 18. a Calvins Case do oblige those of Ireland not only before but ever since 10 H. 7. when Ireland is either particularly named or generally included as is agreed by Rastals Abriâ—gement title Ireland 11 E. 3. chap. 2. and 10 E.
be admitted or granted in case of tryal by Peers it being the usual antient a tryal in all Cases between the King and ordinary Subjects between man and man Peers and Commoners both in all civil and criminal causes whatsoever it is and will be every way as just as beneficial to a Peer in point of Law as a Tryal by twelve Peers upon their Honours only b without oath And the exchange only of the form of Tryal by twelve indifferent English Gentlemen of quallity upon their oaths for twelve Irish Peers of English blood nominated and appointed only by the King or his c Lord Deputy of Ireland upon their Honours without oath in this case of necessity can be no injustice injury or prejudice to the Irish Peers in general nor yet to the Prisoner in particular The rather if we consider First That every Indictment by which an English or Irish Peer is or can be tryed must first be proved before a grand Jury of Commons as this very Statute prescribes and found by them upon Oath not by a Jurie of Peers which is a kind of preparatory trial of a Peer by Jury without which there can be no proper tryal by Peers as is resolved Cooks 3 Institutes p. 28 30 31 32. 1 H 4. 1. 2ly That in Cases of Appeal brought by a common person â—or murder rape robberie or the like and likewise in case of a Premunire against an English Peer where his life is not brought into question he shall not be tried by his Peers but by an ordinary Jury as other men Trial of Peers by Peers being onlie in cases of Indictments for Treasons or Felonies at the Kings sute and no other as is clear by the Statute of Magna Charta c. 29. Neither will we pass upon him or condemn him without the lawfull judgement of his Peers c. the words onlie of the King not of the Commons In this our Books are express in point all cited in Sir Edw. Cooks 2 Institutes on this verie Chapter of Magna Charta cap. 29. in his pleas of the Crown or 3 Instit. c. 2. p. 30 31. 20 Ed. 4. 6. b. Now this case in question concerning not onlie the King but the whole Kingdome of England and Ireland and those manie thousands of Common persons whose innocent blood hath been shed in Ireland by him and his Confederate Rebels crying out for vengeance and Justice against him without delay he may thereupon be justly tried by an ordinary Jurie of Commons as well as in Case of an Appeal of murder brought by a common person 3ly Peers of Parliament even of this Realm not by inherent Nobility and Birth right but only in right of their Baronies which they hold in auter Droit as Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Priors and the like shall not be tried by their Peers for treasons or felonies at the Kings sute but onlie by an ordinary Jurie as Archbishop Scroope of York Cramner Arch-bishop of Canterbury * Adam de Orlton or Tarlton Bishop of Hereford Mark Bishop of Carlile Fisher Bishop of Rochester and others were tried 3 Ed. 3. f. 6. Kelwaies Reports f. 184. Stamfords Pleas of the Crown f. 135. Cromptons Jurisdiction of Courts f. 12. 19. Hallâ— Chron 6 H. 4. f. 25. Coo. 3 Instit. f. 36. Now if these verie English Peers to whom Magna Charta was immediatelie granted by name of Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots being the first persons mentioned in the Prologue and ch. 1. 29 of this Charter shall be outed of their peerage in these Cases of Indictment at the Kings sute though within the very letter of Magna Charta because they are no Peers of England by blood or birth-right but in right of their Churches then a fortiori Irish Peers shall be deprived of their Peerage by this special Act who are not within the letter or intent of Magna Charta never made for them but for English Noble blood And if it be neither injustice nor injurie nor inconvenience to deprive these Ecclesiastical English Peers of a trial by Peers in cases of Treason or felony at the Kings sute though within the letter of Magna Charta and to try them by an indifferent Jurie of Freeholders It cannot be reputed any injustice injury rejudice or inconvenience at all now to out this Irish Peer of his Peerage here where he is no native Peer for such an horrid Treason as this 4ly Irish Peers are no Peers at all in England upon which account and reason if they commit Treason herein they shall be tried by an ordinarie Jury Therefore to try them onlie by Freeholders noâ— by Peers in England can be no injurie nor dishonour to their Peerage unless it were in Ireland where they are Peers and yet have been seldome or never hitherto tried there by their Peers as I have proved 5ly The verie Statutes of Ireland it self made by the Peers and Commons thereof to prevent manie mischiefs by Theeves Murderers and Rebells in that Realm do deprive both the Lords Commons there of any legal trial at all both for their lives and estates too witness the Statutes of 28 H. 6. c. 1. 3 5 E. 4. c. 2. expose them to the judgement slaughter plunder of particular men in some cases authorizing all manner of men that find any theeves robbing breaking up houses by day or night or going or comming to rob or steal having no faithfull man of good name and fame in their company in English apparel to take and kill those * Theeves and cut off their heads without endictment or Jury and seise their Goods without any impeachment of the King his Heirs Officers or any other for which they are to receive a sum of mony from every Plow-land and person of estate within the Barony where they shall slay and behead such Theeves And 25 H. 6. c. 4 5. If any English men shall have any hair or beard upon his upper lip like the Irish it shall be lawfull for every man to take their Goods as Irish Enemies and to ransome them as Enemies And if any Irish Enemy received to the Kings allegiance shall afterwards rob spoyl and destroy the Kings Liege people it shall be lawfull for every Liege-man that may meet with him afterwards to do with him and his Goods and Chattels as to Enemies who were never Liege and to ransome them at their free will without any impeachment of the Law And Ch. 6. If any men except Knights Prelates shall wear gilded Bridle Pestrels or other harneys that it shall be lawfull to every man that will to take the said man his horse and harnesse and to possess the same as his own Goods without endictment or legal tryal All which would be monstrous in England Therfore it is much more legal and just and no injurie at all to try the Prisoner an Arch-Rebel in England in this time of war and combustion in Ireland for his Treasons there
perpetrated by an indifferent honest lawfull English Jury upon an endictment found by the grand Inquest than thus to kill behead such Malefactors in Ireland and seise both them and their Goods as Enemies and ransome them at pleasure without Tryal Jury or Endictment and not only to indemnifie but reward those that do it by Laws there made by the English and Irish themselves which will answer all Objections and wipe off the least shadow of Injustice in this Case and tryal The third Objection is this That if Irish Peers had been within this Law there being so many rebellions in Ireland since its enacting we should have had some Presidents of Irish Peers here tried by Jurie ere this But there is no such President extant therefore certainlie Irish Peers for Treasons perpetrated in Ireland are out of this Act To this I answer 1. That no Irish Peers have been tried by their Peers in Ireland for treasons since this Act ergo they are within iâ— 2. That this Argument is merely fallacious and non concludant for the reason why no Irish Peers have been tried here since this Law by vertue of it is not because they were not deemed within it but for other reasons 1. Because most of the Irish Peers who have been in actual rebellion since this Law were * either actually slain in the wars or fled the Kingdom or else were received into grace and pardoned before tryal upon their submissions or else attainted and executed by Act of Parliament or by Martial-law in Ireland And by these means onlie avoided their Trials here 2ly Because some Irish Rebels as great as Magwire or anie of their Peers in power and estate have been heretofore tried and executed for Treason in England by vertue of this Law though brought over hither from Ireland against their wills as Orourke and Sir John Parrot of old and Mac-Mahon the last Term and the Tryals of these three here are direct Presidents in point and good warrant by this very Act for the Tryal also of this Irish Peer as I have proved 3ly This Statute is not very antient yet still in as full force as ever and if this be the first President of an Irish Peer that came judicially in question here in England to be tryed upon it since its making it is no Argument he is out of this Law but rather an Inducement to make him a leading President to those rebellious Peers of that Nation who have been the Ring-leaders of the ordinary Commons there in this grand Rebellion there being no President Judgement nor foild season against it Yea â—ome Judgements in case of Irish Commons and many unanswerable reasons for it The fourth Objection is the opinion of the Book in Dyer f. 360. â—â— forecited recited in Cromptons Jurisdiction of Courts f. 23. a. and Mr. St. Johns Argument at Law at Straffords Attainder p. 63. That an Irish Peer cannot be tryed here in England for Treason done in Ireland neither by his Peers nor by a Jury because he is no Subject of England To this I have * already given an Answer and shall here only adde 1. That the only reason given in the Book hath been since several times adjudged to be no reason at all nor Law by all the Judges of England a Subject of Ireland being a * Subject to the King of England in all places as is adjudged in Calvins Case and that Wrey disclaimed any such opinion delivered by him as is there reported Therefore the reason of this opinion being adjudged erroneous and no Law the opinion it self grounded on it must needs be so too The rather because the opinion there cited was upon a Case casually put and moved out of Court by way of discourse without study or argument and suddenly delivered only by Dyer and Gerrard since Wrey disclaimed it but not given upon any cause actually depending or debated and argued in Court 2ly That it is a full authority for me both because it determines there can be no Tryal of an Irish Peer by his Peers in England but only by a Jury and that in Ireland it self Peers are not used to be tryed by Peers but attainted by Act of Parliament Therefore an authority point-blank against the Prisoners plea The 5th Objection is Orourks Case which in Judge Andersons own Book of Reports is put thus Whether Orourk an Irish Subject and no Peer nor Baron of Ireland might be tryed by this Act here in England for Treasons committed in Ireland which words nient esteant un Peer ou Baron de Ireland in the putting of the Case seems to intimate that in that Case the opinion of the Judges was that an Irish Peer was not within this Act To which I shall return this brief Answer That this clause not being a Peer or Baron in Ireland in the putting of that Case was only a description of the quality of his person he being no Peer or Baron of that Realm not any point in or part of the Case there being not one syllable in the whole debate or Argument of it by way of admission or otherwise that an Irish Peer was not within this Act And in this very Case the Judges resolved the Book in Dyer to be no Law and Wrey disclaimed any such opinion of his therein reported as Sir Edward Cooks Institutes on Littleton fol. 261. b. records The 6th Objection is this intimated in an Order of the Lords House That this may much concern the Peers of England For this Law for trying forein Treasons is enacted in Ireland and so by colour of it English Peers may be sent over into Ireland to be tryed there by a Jury of Irish Commoners for Treasons done in England as well as Irish Peers sent thence to be tryed by ordinarie Juries here in England for Treasons committed in Ireland I answer 1. That there is no such Law extant in Ireland that I can fiâ—d among all their printed Statutes so as this is a vain surmise But 2ly if there were any such Law there yet England being the supreme Realm to Ireland may make Laws in the Parliament here to bind the Irish Peers and Commons but the Parliament in Ireland being a * subordinate Realm to England never yet did nor can make any Laws at all to bind any English Peers or Commons for things done in England untill the Rebels there shall be able to conquer England which I hope they never shall as we have conquer'd them Therefore we need not fear any such obliging Laws of theirs or the tryal of English Peers in Ireland So as this vain fancy is quite out of Dores and the Lords themselves upon conference with the Commons have been fully satisfied that this Case no waies concerneth the Peers of England whose Tryal by their Peers is by direct proviso saved to them in this Act and therefore cannot come in question or be taken from them by pretence of any such