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
Authority and is given to the King not as his own separate Propriety but as an Ensign of the Authority which he enjoys as Head of the Kigdom if any Body should steal this Material Crown and break it to pieces as Bloud did the Supream Authority of the King and Kingdom remains entire and inviolated This Supream Authority always resides in the Legislature which in our Constitution is inseparably vested in the King Lords and Commons there can be no annexing to the Imperial Crown of England distinct from the Supream Imperial Authority of the Kingdom if any Territory shall be annext to this Imperial Crown it must become a Member of the Empire otherwise 't is no annexing and because there can be but one Supream Legislature every Member or part of the Empire must be in some Subordination to that Supream Legislature whatsoever other Jurisdiction it may retain as necessary to its own particular Regulations within it self otherwise it can be no Member but must remain a perfect Body of it self I think these are Positions that won't easily be disprov'd and we have a compleat Instance of them in the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland as they stand related to England Scotland is an ancient distinct and saving the old Pretensions of England upon them independent Kingdom hath an Imperial Crown of its own worn by a long Succession of Kings whose Posterity came to inherit the Kingdom of England and remove their Seat hither yet 't was not in their Power to annex the Kingdoms without their Joint Consent so that they remain an intire Sovereign Kingdom govern'd according to their own Constitution without any Subordination to England to this day and therefore in the late Happy Revolution when King William and Queen Mary had obtain'd the intire possession of the Crown of England they did not pretend to that of Scotland 'till the States of that Kingdom had conferr'd it upon them by a free Election On the contrary Ireland whatever it was anciently was no intire Kingdom when the English first took Possession of it but divided into many Jurisdictions under Petty Princes it had never any Diadem or Ensign of Royalty that ever I could hear of it was entirely subdued and brought under the English Government by Conquest as all Authors except Mr. Molyneux agree it was brought into the form of a Kingdom and afterwards had that Title conferr'd upon it and was endow'd with Laws and a Constitution of Government by the Authority of England who from the Beginning reserv'd and exercis'd a Superiority over them and Mr. Molyneux being quite mistaken in the Grant made to King Iohn it was never separated from being a Member of the Empire of England but even as Mr. Molyneux confesses remains annext to it to this day The Supream Legislature of England then in being presented the Title of it to King William and Queen Mary at the same time with that of England without asking the leave of the People of Ireland in like manner they have proclaim'd all the English Kings with that Title at their first Accession and have as he owns concluded Ireland in all Acts of Recognition What if the Parliaments of Ireland have also recogniz'd 't was but to own their Allegiance our Kings were as effectually vested in the Dominion over Ireland before by the Authority of England and double doing in such a Case can be no harm neither can this be any Argument to prove Their having all Iurisdiction to an Absolute Kingdom belonging or that they are not subordinate to any Legislative Authority on Earth Now he tells us As the Civil State of Ireland is thus absolute within it self likewise so is the Ecclesiastical and just so it is but that is without any absoluteness in either The multitude of the Native Irish and the Old English were doubtless very averse to the Establishment of the Reformed Religion because they have continued Româ—n Catholicks ever since and yet this Reformation was begun there by no other Authority than an Order of the King and Council in England to the Lord Deputy to Cause the Scriptures and the Common Prayers to be us'd there in the English Tongue from whence 't is evident that they did not then think their own Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction so absolute as that they could oppose it to the Authority of England He quotes a Record out of Reyley That Edward the Second upon a Motion of his Parliament at Westminster had sent his Letters Patents to the Lord Iustice of Ireland that he should Order that the Irish might enjoy the Laws of England concerning Life and Member From whence he infers That the Parliament did not then think that they had Iurisdiction in Ireland otherwise they would have made a Law themselves to this effect Can this be any more than an Instance of what I have all along said that our Parliaments have always been willing to leave the Peopâ—e of Ireland as much as possible to the Exercise of their own Form of Government in Matters relating to themselves and not to interpose their own Supream Authority but upon Extraordinary Occasions wherein the Welfare of the whole was concerned But can it be any Argument that they thought they had no such Authority because they did not think â—it on this Occasion to use it Mr. Molyneux finds that the lying of a Writ of Error from the King's Bench in England on a Judgment given in the King's Bench in Ireland lyes heavy upon him and therefore he labours mightily and turns it every way to get rid on 't first he says 't is The Opinion of several Learned in the Laws of Ireland that this is founded on an Act of Parliament in Ireland which is lost How Learned soever this Opinion may be I am sure 't is not very Judiciously offer'd here for no Body will believe that the Legislature of a Kingdom that thought it self absolute could do so foolish a thing as to make a Law themselves that should put them under the Administration of another Kingdom in so high a point as the Controuling all their Judicatures and therefore if ever they made such an Act of Parliament 't is not to be doubted but that at that time they were very sensible that whatsoever Authority they had among themselves was all deriv'd from and in perpetual Subordination to the Supream Authority of England Indeed he comes and says after That this Suit is made to the King only the matter lies altogether before him and the Party complaining applyes to no part of the Political Government of England for Redress but to the King of Ireland only who is in England That the King only is sued to the Law books make plain c. for above two Pages Fine very fine spun are these Arguments but withal so extream â—light that they won't hang together If the King was ever us'd to â—it there in Person was there not always four English Judges constituted in that Court whom
imparted to me by a very Learned and Observing Gentleman of our House of Commons whose Credit I can relye on without troubling my self to search the Records and I doubt not but Mr. Attwood hath been much fuller in this particular though I deny my self the reading his Book till my own be perfected The Statute of York 12 Ed. 1st Enacts Laws to be observed in England and Ireland 11 Ed. 3. cap. 3. Prohibits any Cloaths to be brought into England Ireland Wales and Scotland for we then claim'd a Dominion over Scotland also but such as were made in the King's Dominions upon pain of Forfeiture 27 Ed. 3. Erects Staple-Towns in Ireland 34 E. 3. cap. 17. Enacts that Merchâ—â—nts Aliens or Denizons may come into Ireland with their Merchandize and freely return 43 Ed. 3. cap. 1. The Staples of Ireland c. shall be kept at the places where they were first ordain'd 1 Hen. 6. cap. 3. Enacts that the Irish that have Benefices or Offices in Ireland shall abide there upon their Benefices and Offices upon the pain of forfeiting the Profits of their Benefices and Offices for the Defence of Ireland and mentions the like Law made the 1st of Hen. 5th From these and many other instances it evidently appears that England hath always exercis'd a Legislative Iurisdiction over Ireland whenever fit Occasions have made it necessary I have also seen the Irish Acts of Settlement and Explanation and though Mr. Molyneux says that they plainly shew that the Parliament of Ireland may repeal an Act pass'd in England yet I find nothing like it in those Acts but on the contrary the King's Declaration which is of the Body of the Act of Settlement although it takes Notice that the Estates and Possessions enjoy'd by the Adventurers would prove very defective if they were examined by the Letter of the Law because they had not strictly pursu'd and observ'd those Acts of 42 from which they deriv'd their Title yet 't is made the first Business of this Act to confirm these Adventurers in the Inheritance of all the Estates allotted them by virtue of those English Acts of Parliament and 't is provided that if they should be obliged to restore any of those Lands to Innocents they should be first repriz'd to the full Value out of other forfeited Lands What more could be desired to shew the utmost regard to those English Acts of Parliament 'T is true indeed that the Act of Explanation retrenches one Third of the Allotments made to the Adventurers but this could not be construed as any Breach upon the English Acts for if they had taken a greater share than the Lands that remain'd forfeited would amount to 't was but reasonable to reduce them to a just proportion So that here again Mr. Molyneux hath evidently strain'd this Suggestion beyond the Truth of the Fact I have indeed remark'd these things at large in their places but as some more perfect Informations have since come to my Hand I thought they might not improperly be hinted here for the obviating the too great Opinion of Mr. Molyneux's performance with which some may yet remain praepossess'd and preparing them to entertain my Answer with the less prejudice I have heard indeed that 't is not to Mr. Molyneux alone that we are beholding for this Notion but that it hath for several Years past been talk'd on among several of your People and he hath only reduâ—'d it into form and now at last brought it forth into the World and you may observe by the Votes of our last Parliament that they were of the Opinion that several Resolves of your House of Commons gave Encouragement to the publishing of this Book But I would yet hope that many of that Assembly were not so far appriz'd of the Matter as wittingly to Design the doing any thing that should give so great an Offence to England Yet I can assure you from the Conversation I have had with several of the Members of our House of Commons that although they had not Leisure to proceed further upon this Business in their last Sessions 't is however very probable that it may be taken into Consideration again by the ensuing Parliament as a Matter which if it be not check'd in time may produce very ill Effects And you cannot but be sensible of the Dangerous Consequences of breaking the fair Correspondence and firm Confidence that ought always to be maintain'd between the Head Government and its Members and that when Misunderstandings and Iealousies are once entertain'd they are too apt to be improv'd into Extreams on both sides You know also that you have an Old Enemy near you who would be ready enough to entertain hopes of Advantage to themselves from any such Iarrings And you must needs acknowledge that 't is an imprudent thing to provoke those that have not only Right but also Power to support it It hath been an usual Policy with some other Governments to keep so strict a Hand over their Colonys as not to suffer the Criolians or People born there to bear any Considerable Office or Command therein but the Government of England hath not dealt so â—ardly by you and doubtless it will be always your Interest to prevent the giving any Occasion to distrust your Fidelity and to think it may be needful to treat you with more Caution I should think therefore that you cannot do your selves a greater Right than in the next Sessions of your Parliament not only to Censure this Book but utterly to Disclaim also the Notion of your being a Kingdom so absolute within your selves as to be wholly independent of the Kingdom of England I hope I have been able in my following Discourse to Convince any reasonable Person that it cannot be so and that instead of doing you any good 't would tend to your Destruction to have it thought so Yea and if you should Recognize your selves to be a Colony of England as I have shewn that you cannot be lookt upon under any other Consideration I believe nothing can be more agreeable to your Circumstances or better support your Title to what you enjoy in that Country It would also be well worth your Thoughts whether it might not be fit for you to shew your Readiness to Contribute something according to your Ability towards the Reimbursing of England a part of the vast Charge they have been at in recovering that Country and restoring you to your Estates whereby you may possibly prevent the Parliament of England's requiring it of you for I can tell you that since Mr. Molyneux hath started the Thought some of the most considerable Members of our House of Commons â—ave talk'd on 't I have no ill will to Ireland I have had the Honour to have been in Conversation with many of you for whom I have the utmost Respect and personal Esteem and I have been sorry to see so much of an Inclination in some worthy Persons to favour this Opinion of Mr.
will never think the publishing a Book to the World which is little better than Sheba's Trumpet of Rebellion to be a fair way of stating Grievances but that 't is a part of their Business and their Glory when they think it worth their while to call such Authors to account for their Boldness I begin now with his Book which as near as possible I shall follow in order and for the Authorities which he hath quoted I shall leave them to him very little disturb'd but take them as he gives them whether they are right or wrong only making such Observations as may result therefrom or from his own Reasonings He begins with a very fine Complement again to the Parliament of England and then take upon him to give them Due Information in matters wherein as he says another People are chiefly concern'd and tells them that he could never imagine that such great Assertors of their own could ever think of making the least breach upon the Rights and Liberties of their Neighbours unless they thought that they had Right so to do and that they might well surmise if these Neighbours did not expostulate the matter and this therefore seeing all others are silent he undertakes to do but with the greatest deferrence imaginable because he would not be wanting to his Country or indeed to all Mankind for he argues the cause of the whole Race of Adam Liberty seeming the Inherent Right of all Mankind Now it seems from Children of the same Parent we are become another People and Neighbours the Irish may be said to be another People though they have not been very good Neighbours to us sometimes but the English we may justly challenge to be our own and not another People and we shall hardly admit them to be our Neighbours in such a sense as that we should transact with them in Matters of Government upon the same foot and at equal distance with our Neighbours of France Holland c. If they expect this from us I hope they 'll shew us the respect of sending their Ambassadours to us and do this Champion of their Liberties the Honour to let him be the first Can he think the Parliament of England will believe themselves to be civilly treated by him because of his fine Words when he is Suggesting to the World as if they acted so unadvisedly in their Councils as to proceed upon Surmises and to take upon them to do what they do but think they have a Right to when indeed they have none at all But doubtless Manking will ever have a higher Veneration for those August Assembles than to think them as subject to be mistaken in these Matters as one presuming single Gentleman But he argues for Liberty the right of all Mankind A Glorious Topick indeed and worthy of the utmost Regard especially from such great Assertors of it as an English Parliament But if People should ask for more then ever was their Due and challenge a Liberty of acting every thing they should think for their own profit thought it were to the Damage and Injury of others to grant this would be an Injustice and a sinful Liberty may as well be pleaded for such Expostulations as these are abominable and to assume such an equality with our Superiours as was never granted us is an Arrogance that might rather have been expected from 〈◊〉 Irish than an English Man And after all this 't is not enough for a Man to say If the great Council of England resolve the contrary he shall then believe himself to be in an Error and with the lowest Submission ask Pardon for his Assurance and he hopes he shall not be hardly censured by them when at the same time he declares his Intention of a submissive Acquiescence in whatever they resolve for or against Such Subjects as these as I have said before are beyond the Bounds of Modesty and cannot admit of any such Apologies He comes now to tell us the Subject of his Disquisition shall be how far the Parliment of England may think it reasonable to intermedâ—le with the Affairs of Ireland and bind up those People by Laws made in their House This is certainly a very odd stating the Question What need has he now to enquire since he knows already how for the Parliament of England have thought it reasonable to intermeddle Another Blunder as bad as this is his Talking of Laws made in their House Dotâ— he not know that our Laws are not made without the Concurrence of Two Houses and the Assent of the King also as the Third Estate But we will take his Meaning to be to enquire how far it may be reasonable for the Parliament of England to intermeddle c. and join Issue upon that Next he gives us fix Heads from which he undertakes to argue that they can have no such power For the First He pretends to give us the History of the first Expedition of the English into Ireland his Design being to shew That the first Adventurers went over thither yet with the King's License upon a private Vndertaking in which they were successful but that afterwards when King Henry the 2d came over with an Army the Irish generally submitted to him and received him to be their King without making any Opposition from whence he seems to suggest that Ireland subjected it self only to the King but not to the Kingdom of England But he should have considered that the Government of England was a limited Monarchy which was sufficiently acknowledg'd even by William the 1st commonly call'd the Conqueror in his Swearing to preserve the Liberties and Privileges of the People at his Coronation and confirming the same to them by his Charter and though he did indeed afterwards violate them in a greater measure than ever they had been before or since yet neither he nor his Successors did ever take upon themselves to be absolute Monarchs The great Power and Prerogative of an English King then can only be due to them as to the Supream Magistrate and Head of the Kingdom and not in any seperate propriety annext to their Persons as distinct from the Common-Wealth If then Henry the Second carried over an Army of English into Ireland it ought to be considered as the Army of the Kingdom for it is held as a Principle with us that no King of England may raise any Forces in this Kingdom but what are allow'd to be the Forces of the Kingdom I am not here arguing whether ever any King did or did not take upon him such an Authority but 't is sufficient for me to offer that he could not by right and according to this Authors own way of arguing what may not be done of Right ought not to be argued or brought into President if our Rights have at at any time been invaded and usurp'd upon this Nation hath had many Opportunities of Vindicating them and we do not believe that what we enjoy
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
as a Member of the greater Body and be held to obey all such Ordinances as are calculated for the Good and Welfare of the Whole If after this without any Breach made upon them on the part of the Greater they shall endeavour to withdraw themselves from the Subjection they have sworn to and shall take up Arms and commit Hostilities upon their Fellow-Subjects may not this be called a Rebellion in a settled Common-Wealth and have not the Municipal Laws of the whole Empire brought them under the Forfeiture of Life and Estate doth the being separated at a small or greater distance by Sea as Islands must be seperate them from continuing Members of the Common-Wealth to which they were once join'd If these things are to be brought in Question the English of England and Ireland both must have much to ansâ—er for to the Ancient Irish. Yet I am in no doubt but that the English have so fairly administred the Government as that they can well justifie themselves in all the Severities that they have been forc'd to exercise upon the Irish as justly drawn upon themselves by reason of their Râ—bellion Have we not always own'd them to be Freemen of England and allow'd them the same Privileges as English Men have they not been permitted to exercise all Offices Ecclesiastical Military or Civil with the same Freedom as English Men If since the Reformation the Roman Catholicks have not been suffered to act in the Government have not the Roman Catholicks of England been as much restrain'd Nay have not the Irish been much more indulg'd in the Exercise of their Religion by Connivance than those of England These Treatments towards them have given no Occasion to this Author to trouble himself so much in inquiring into the state of Slavery and the Terms that Just or Unjust Conquerors may or may not use for 't is not in the Case The Premises considered methinks he should grant us that some of the Disturbances the Irish have given us at least the Massacres committed upon their Fellow Subjects of our own Blood should not be reckon'd as fair warring between Nation and Nation but that they might very well be accounted as Rebellious and then why may not our subduing them give us the Title of Rightful Conquerors over them and if upon such delinquencies we had abridg'd their Posterity in some of those Privileges granted to their Ancestors upon their first coming in to us in Henry the Second's Time we had done no more than what he owns Conquerors commonly do And yet we have not put any such hardship upon the Posterity of those People for the fault of their Rebellious Fathers I know not that any Irishman quatenus an Irishman is at this day deny'd any of the Privileges that an Englishman can challenge if he be a Deliâ—quent or a Roman Catholick he is us'd no worse than all Englishmen that are in the same Circumstances If we have slain executed or banish'd the Persons of those that have been actually in Rebellion and seiz'd their Estates as forfeited this is no more than what he himself hath taken pains to prove may be done by the Laws of Nature or the Municipal Laws of Kingdoms Where 's then any room for Complaint or reason for his Elaborate Arguments on a Subject that does not concern us The Author by saying so much that directly reflects upon what hath been acted by the English in Ireland hath given me the Trouble to say thus much for the Vindication of them and among the rest I suppose his own Ancestors in their Conduct towards the Irish and to shew how well they have kept to the Original Capitulation on their part But I cannot end this Head without takeing Notice of his Remark that Even a Iust Conqueror gains nothing over those that conquered with him and fought on his side Why should he trouble the World with Arguments to establish a Position that no Body ever deny'd But if the Progeny of the Old English that serv'd under Henry the Second in the Conquest of Ireland have since joyn'd with the Native Irish in any Rebellion against their Mother Country their Crime is greater than that of the Irish and yet would he have us still treat them as Conquerors of our side when they are fighting against us Certainly this must forfeit all the Regard that was owing to them for the good Services of their Ancestors and justly entitle them to the same Treatment that is due to other Rebels Yet for all this If he or any Body else as he proposes claims the like freedoms with the natural born Subjects of England as being descended from them I know no body that will deny them to him if as I said before he be of Capacity and qualified as the Law now requires He may come here and even be a Member of our Legislature if he can procure himself to be chosen as many others of that Kingdom always are And let him for ever hereafter remember that we receive them and treat them all as equal Members of the same Body with our selves and if it be at any time requisite for the good of the whole that we should Enact any thing binding upon Ireland we do it not in respect of their Persons but in regard to that part of the Empire they live in and if I my self or any other Englishman should think it for my Interest to become an Inhabitant there I must be as subject to it as he is His Fourth Proposition is If a Conqueror just or unjust obtains an Absolute Arbitrary Dominion over the Conquered so as to take from them all that they have and to make them and their Posterity Slaves whether yet if he grants them Concessions bounding the Exorbitancy of his Power he be not obliged strictly to Observe those Grants I have shewn before that he had no reason to aggravate the Question to such Extremities in our Case because we have never pretended to exercise so Arbitrary a Power over the People of Ireland He goes on then To shew by Precedents Records and History What Concessions have been granted them by what steps the Laws of England came to be introduced into Ireland he would prove that anciently the Parliament of England was not thought to have any Superiority over that of Ireland And gives his Answers to what Obiections are moved upon this Head But I believe we shall find this as little to the purpose as the former He might have spar'd his pains in taking up so many Pages to convince us against all Objections that Henry the Second did establish the English Laws and Form of Government in Ireland that he gave them a Modus tenendi Parliamentum that an Exemplification of it made in Henry the Fourth's Time was extant Nay that They believe they have found the very Original Record of King Henry the Second and to give us so ample an Account through whose Hands it hath pass'd
thus we see that how great soever that Jurisdiction was which the King in Parliament granted to his Son Iohn he yet remain'd no more than a Subject of the Kingdom of England and was treated accordingly in his being Try'd and Condemn'd by the Laws thereof Moreover it may be noted that upon his accession to the Imperial Crown of England whatever Feudatory Royalty he had before became now merg'd and extinguisht in his own Person which by reason of it's being Head and Supream could not at the same time be capable of any Feudatory Subjection so that there was an absolute determination of the Former Grant which could not agâ—in be reviv'd but by a New Donation upon another Person I hope I have now so far remov'd this main Pillar of Mr. Molyneux's Structure that I may take the Liberty as often as I shall have Occasion hereafter to deny positively that King Iohn was ever made absolute King of Ireland without any Dependance on England Here Mr. Molyneux had brought his Argument up to a pitch and concluded us under a perfect real Seperation and thus he puts it upon us let us suppose That King Richard had left Issue whose Progeny had governed England and King John 's Progeny had governed Ireland where then had been the Subordination of Ireland to the Parliament or even to the King of England Certainly no such thing could have been then pretended But this is but a Supposition and fit for none but People of his size who take up Matters by Appearances and Presumptions and assume the Confidence from thence to be positive in their Assertions giving no allowance for the possibility of being mistaken But we need not suppose in this matter but may be confident that the Supream Authority over Ireland must always have continued in the Kingdom of England as it does at this day and he hath made nothing appear to the contrary De non apparentibus non existentibus eadem est ratio Yet I cann't but remark how he enjoys himself in this Supposition when he thought he had gain'd his Point Where then had been the Subordination if any such there be it must arise from something that followed after the descent of England to King John for by that descent England might as properly be subordinate to Ireland as the Converse because Ireland had been vested in King John twenty two Years before his accession to the Crown of England Yes and 't was the ancienter Kingdom too Is it likely that King Iohn who had not before thought so well of his Kingdom of Ireland as to make it his residence but chose rather to remain where he was but a Subject when he was now become a real King of England should be so far taken with the Fancy of the ancientest Kingdom if it were so as to put the greater and by many degrees the more powerful more pleasant and more civiliz'd Kingdom in subordination to the less which was then of no Power or Consideration in the World and that he should be better pleas'd with the Stile of Lord of Ireland and King of England than that of King of England and Lord of Ireland or is it likely that England who in that very Age had subdued Ireland and added it to its Empire should now be contented to submit it self and become subordinate to Ireland so as that the Administration of the Government there should direct the grand Affairs of England is not this perfect Jesting and Fooling with Argument But he tells us If perhaps it will be said that this Subordination of Ireland to England proceeds from Ireland 's being annext to and as it were united with the imperial Crown of England by several Acts of Parliament in both Kingdoms since King John 's time This is well acknowledged for it makes out clearly that Ireland is a Kingdom as firmly united to the Kingdom of England as the Legislature of both Kingdoms could do it If he would yet distinguish between the Imperial Crown as his words are and the Kingdom I have shewn before how there cannot be any such distinction in England But though in the former Passage of Iohn's being created an Independent King by Act of Parliament he shews himself to be quite overseen and blinded by his depending so much upon it through the rest of his Argument yet he perceives plainly that a fair Inquiry into this Annexing will not turn to account for him and therefore although he is not wanting to be very particular and exact in his Numerous Quotations of other Authorities yet here he is cautious of imparting any further Light into this matter than just to tell us there are several such Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland Surely these English Acts might be said to be binding upon Ireland and therefore too they must be conceal'd and we shan't have one Word of them anon when he pretends to reckon up all those Statutes that the English Parliaments have made to affect Ireland And I cann't find that he meddles with it any more tho' he says that He shall enquire more fully hereafter how this operates But for the present he only tells us That he conceives little more is effected by these Statutes than that Ireland shall not be alien'd or seperated from the King of England who cann't hereby dispose of it otherwise than in Legal Succession along with England and that whoever is King of England is ipso Facto King of Ireland and the Subjects of Ireland are oblig'd to obey c. Doth not this strongly assert the Parliamentary Authority If he had said that it should not be alienated or separated from the Kingdom he had spoken English and set the matter right but if he will insist upon so fine a Conceit as to divide between the Political Capacity of the King and the Kingdom if it be not bad English is however Language that cann't be understood in England Now he tells us of King Iohn's going again into Ireland about the Twelfth year of his Reign of England where above Twenty little Irish Kings did again do Homage and Fealty to him and he constituted the English Laws and Custâ—â—s among them placing Sheriffs and other Ministers for the Administration of Iustice to the People according to the English Laws This is a further Proof of the intire Resignation and Submission of the Irish to the Government of England He goes on King Henry the Third his King Iohn's Son in the first year of his Reign granted to Ireland one or two Magna Charta's but he owns that 't was by the Advice of his English Privy Council Let it again be Observ'd that this King did not transact this Matter by any seperate Authority but did it in his Privy Council which is exactly according to our Constitution and that being the same Method in which all the Administration of the Government of the Kingdom of England was directed it shews that those Kings govern'd
every way like to those in England and that they make and Change Laws by the Authority of this their Parliament and therefore the Statutes which are made to bind in England do not bind them because they have no Representatives here in the Parliament of England But 't is always to be understood that this the Laws made in the Parliament of Ireland must only have relation to that Country and to such Matters as are transacted among themselves therein But they the People of Ireland are in their Persons Subjects of the King and Kingdom of England and as Subjects they shall be oblig'd not to do any thing out of that Country against Statutes made in England to prohibit them like as the Inhabitants of Calais Gascony Guien c. while they were Subjects and they shall be obedient to the Admiral of England in all things done upon the High Sea In like manner also a Writ of Error upon Iudgment given in Ireland lyes from the Court of King's Bench in England I Confess this Opinion is oddly worded but I shall make no further Comment upon it here having Occasion to speak at large to it in another place where it will appear whether the Sense which I have put upon it may not be more agreeable both to the passage it self and to the Opinion which we shall afterwards find the Lord Chief Justice Cook gave of it than to that turn which Mr. Molyneux hath given it But he Notes upon it that upon a second Consideration of this Case before the Judges in the Exchequer-Chamber the 1st Hen. 7. Hussey the Chief Justice gave his Opinion That the Statutes made in England shall bind those of Ireland which was not much gain-said by the other Iudges notwithstanding that some of them were of another Opinion the last Term. And he is offended at this Opinion and suggests as if 't was the Presence of the Chief Iustice that influenc'd those other Iudges which had not been of the same mind He Notes also That Brook in his Abridging this Case makes a Note upon it intimating thereby that Hussey 's Opinion was not reasonable Yet this is no more than Mr. Molyneux's Construction of this Intimation but if he had any such Scruple is it strange thing for Lawyers not to jump in their Opinions in some Cases yet it seems those that were present with Hussey and heard the Arguments were so far convinc'd as to become of his Mind without saying much against it But I cann't believe that Judges were so eaâ—ily to be influenc'd contrary to their Judgments by a Lord Chief Justice then more than now when we have seen Two of them persist in an Opinion against the other Ten. He Comments also upon the first Opinion in this Case and says that those Judges were not so concluding upon them as Hussey And they did almost seem to extend the Iurisdiction of the English Parliament over the Subjects of Ireland only in relation to their Actions beyond Seas Even this is handle enough for us to lay hold on for the doing whatever we shall think requisite for the preserving of our Commerce But he says This will appear unreasonable because by the same Argument Scotland may be bound by English Laws in relation to their Forreign Trade as they are the King's Subjects The Scots are Subjects of the King only as he is King of Scotland and we have no pretence to meddle in their Government but Ireland is upon another Foot 't is not an Independent Kingdom though it hath a Parliament it is not compleat in its own Jurisdiction but is subordinate to England and they can transact nothing of weight in their Administration without Orders and Directions from the Government of England all this I think is clearly made out already But he makes all the advantage possible of the words Personae eorum sunt subjecti Regis c. and tells us If being the King of England 's Subjects be a Reason why we ought to submit to Laws in relation to our Trade abroad which have not receiv'd our Assent the People of England will consider whether they also are not the Kings Subjects and may therefore by this way of Reasoning be bound by Laws which the King may assign them without their Assent in relation to their Actions abroad or Forreign Trade Or whether they had not been subjected to the King of France if our Kings had continued in the possession of that Country and then if France had been the strongest it might seem that the Subjects of England might have been bound by Laws made at Paris c. What a parcel of Argument is here I repeat so much on 't only to expose it 'T is evident that the Judges in their Opinion by the Words Subjecti Regis mean the same thing as if they had said Subjects of the Kingdom of England for they say afterwards that while they are Subjects they shall be under the Admiral of England c. If they had said the King's Admiral could we have thought of any other than the Admiral of the Kingdom Having Noted this Distinction I will say no more to the rest He tells us that In the Reigns of Edward the First and Edward the Third Knights Citizens and Burgesses were chosen in Ireland to serve in Parliament in England and that they have so served What and could Ireland be then a distinct and separate Kingdom Surely our Ancestors would scarcely then have admitted them to sit together with themselves in their Grand Senate I hope after this what I have before alledg'd of Ireland's haveing been always in the Condition of a Member of the English Empire ever since its first accession will never more be doubted They have been when the Circumstance of Time hath made it convenient admitted to send Representatives to the English Parliament and may again if our Parliament think fit He admits of the Acts made in the 17th of King Charles the First for encouraging Adventurers to raise Money for the suppression of the Rebellion there to be binding in Ireland but then they were made for their Good and afterwards when the Acts of Settlements were made by the Irish Parliaments these English Acts were made of no force which shews that they have a power of repealing such Acts made in England From hence 't is apparent that our Parliament have not been ready to exercise this Authority but when the Welfare of the Whole Body requir'd it and that they were then contented to take no Notice of such Alterations made by them which might be needful and of use to them and he hath reason to acknowledge their Tenderness to them in this respect But I believe these English Acts were not repeal'd and therefore this Instance will not maintain the Assertion which he raises from it That the Parliament of Ireland may repeal an Act pass'd in England in relation to the Affairs of Ireland The Acts of King Charles 2d
their Jurisdiction be much less than that of Ireland yet it is a certain Jurisdiction so firmly establisht as that it 's held that it cannot lawfully be taken away or altered by any Power in England but the Supream Legislature and that it must stoop to and the same the Lord Chief Justice Cook says of this distinct Dominion of Ireland that notwithstanding it hath a Power Jurisdiction and Authority which is compleat within it self yet it must pay Obedience to the Supream Legislature of England whenever any Extraordinary Occasion shall make it needful for that to name it specially and therefore the Tenour of his Judgment upon this whole Matter shews that by his terming them no part of the Kingdom of England because they have such a distinct administration among themselves he does not in the least intend that they should be lookt upon so separated as to be out of all Reach of the Supream Imperial Authority of England so that in all this there appears no Inconsistency he never asserts what Mr. Molyneux assumes that the King and Parliament in Ireland is a Legislature equally as Supream as that of the King and Parliament in England and it must be very unaccountable in any one to do so who knows that all Irish Acts of Parliament must be approv'd in the Privy Council of England I 'll warrant him they 'll take care that they shall never Enact different or contrary Sanctions so that he need not from this fear the Consequence of Ireland's having two Supreams He hath one Touch more at the Lord Chief Justice Cook he quotes him saying If a King hath a Christian Kingdom by Conquest as King Henry the Second had Ireland after the Laws of England had been given them for the Government of that Country c. no succeeding King could alter the same without Parliament Which by the way seems nothing contradictory to all that Mr. Molyneux hath quoted of what he says concerning Ireland but is a farther Indication that his Opinion was always steady that the King and Parliament of England and not the King alone held the Supream Authority over Ireland And now he Hath done with this Reverend Iudge and I am very glad on 't because I doubt I have tyr'd my Reader with such an abundance that I have been forc'd to say for the Judg's Vindication but to make amends I 'll try to divert him a little by telling a short Story upon my self When I was a Boy I thought once that I had espy'd a fault in a performance of my Master's and I had the assurance to tell him on 't he first fairly convinc'd me that I had not taken the thing right and then very gravely told me with a bent Brow that 't was more like my Boyish Confidence to find Faults where none were than the Solidity of his stronger Judgment to commit such Now for Pilkington's Case The King first grants a Patent for an Office in Ireland to be held by Pilkington or his Deputy but after this the same King grants the same Office to A who who sues for it and pleads an Act of Parliament in Ireland that no Person might execute any Office there but in his own Person on pain of Forfeiture he proves that Pilkington acted by a Deputy the Iudges thereupon decide in favour of A. What 's this to the Parliament of England's Jurisdiction over Ireland it shews no more than that the Judges of Ireland were of the Opinion that the Kings Letters Patents could not over-rule an Irish Act of Parliament Indeed he tells us that in the Pleadings 't was offer'd That Ireland time out of mind had been a Land separated and distinct from England and ruled and governed by its own Customs that they could call Parliaments within themselves c. It seems two of the five Judges held this Prescription void and thô I will not dispute as it seems they did about the Word Prescription yet 't is well known that what Jurisdiction they had was granted them by the Supream Authority of England and I know no Body denies it them only we cann't admit them to strain it beyond what was ever intended It says further that Two of the Iudges affirm'd and the other three did not deny that a Tax granted in England could not affect Ireland except it be approv'd in the Parliament in Ireland This is not what we Contest about I never heard that England did ever raise Taxes upon any Members of her Empire without the Consent of their Representatives As for the Merchants of Waterford's Case we have both said enough to that already That of the Prior of Lanthony in Wales comes next He sues the Prior of Mollingar in Ireland for an Arrear of an Annuity and obtains Iudgment against him both in the Common-Pleas and Kings-Bench in Ireland Mollingar Appeals to the Parliament in Ireland and they Revers'd both Iudgments upon this Lanthony removes all into the King's Bench in England but that Court would not meddle in it as having no Power over what had pass'd in the Parliament of Ireland Lastly He Appeal'd to the Parliament of England and it does not appear that they did any thing in it What of all this The Court of King's-Bench in England although they had Authority to determine upon Matters brought before them by Writ of Error out of Ireland yet they did not believe they had any Power over the Parliament of Ireland Doubtless they were in the right but it seems 't was then believ'd that the English Parliament had else Lanthony had never Petition'd but it does not appear that they did any thing upon this Appeal the Petition only being entered at the end of the Roll Why that 's a plain Sign that 't was the very last thing of the Session and the Parliament was Dissolv'd Prorogu'd or something before they could go upon it or perhaps the Matter was agreed or the Prior's dead before next Sessions or fifty Reasons more that might be offer'd against his sleeveless Suggestion That the Parliament of England did not think themselves to have a Right to enquire into this Matter because nothing more than the Petition is found upon Record but I 'll tell him a better Reason of our side 't is not probable that they would have receiv'd the Petition if they did not believe they had Right to decide upon it The next thing is about the Acts of Recognition and this he begins with an ingenious Confession That the Kingdom of Ireland is inseparably annext to the Imperial Crown of England and the Obligation their Legislature lies under by Poyning's Act makes this Tye indissoluble This is enough to make out all our Pretensions upon them 't is strange to see a Man writing a Book against the Natural Consequences when yet he so easily agrees upon the Premises The Imperial Crown of England denotes the Supream Authority of the Kingdom the Material Crown is but a Badge of this
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
eminently require it and which we should have done as effectually if they had sent Representatives to our Parliament as we have done it without them and as we do it to Kent and Sussex in restraining the Owling Trade notwithstanding they do send Representatives who cannot hinder if they Vote against and to be sure if they Vote for those Laws act against the Confent of those that send them and then why may not they complain of the Infringement of the Rights due to all Mankind by putting Laws upon them without their Consent but Mr. Molyneux may say they have Representments what if they don't consent may not these People then strongly insist that they are not bound Yes sure if General Notions of Liberty must be swallowed all in a Lump without distinguishing but here 's a Majority in the Case and that Obliges if it be ask'd further why should a Man be bound by ever so great a Majority so as to be restrain'd from doing what he will with his own according to the Liberty inherent in all Mankind by the Law of Nature Because he that is not born in the state of Nature is effectually bound by the Consent of his Ancestors to submit to the Constitution of his Countrey and that with us determines that the Majority shall bind Publick Societies can never be kept together nor the Good of the whole conserv'd without some such binding such Limitations of Freedom as this and this is what we have reason to require from the English of Ireland who are certainly a Colony of England sent thither by us bred up cherish'd and protected by us in the Enjoyment of good Estates and ample Privileges sufficient to preserve the intire Freedom of their Persons and their Properties in all manner of Liberty and perfect Enjoyment excepting only that if they should presume to extend it to such a Latitude as would be highly injurious and prejudicial to England and consequently to the whole English Empire by wounding its Head whereon also themselves always have and must relye for assistance so that in whatever they weaken her they work their own Destruction And the World will easily judge that as we have the utmost of Reason on our sides so if we are a perfect Government we must have sufficient Power residing in our Constitution to act upon all Extraordinary Occasions whatever we shall find absolutely necessary to our Preservation even to the binding of all the Members of our Empire without being oblig'd to ask their Assent The rest is little more than dilating upon Conclusions arising from such Premises which I hope I have sufficiently refuted in my former Discourse and therefore I shall meddle no more with it but to touch upon two Passages The one is where he tells us that It is against the King's Prerogative that the Parliament of England should have any co-ordinate Power with him to introduce New Laws or repeal old Laws established in Ireland But his Argument upon this is either false Printed or down-right Nonsense or at least so Confus'd that I Confess I cann't unravel it and I 'll begg the Reader if he would see it to look for it in page 167. for 't is too long to Transcribe and Comment upon where any on't is intelligible But to take it in the gross 't is no more than a weak attempt to raise a Jealousie about hurting the King's Prerogative when yet nothing that he hath offer'd looks like it but rather shews the King's Prerogative to be less there than in England I wonder Mr. Molyneux should render himself so ignorant of our Constitution in magnifying the Negative Vote which their Parliament hath upon whatever Law is sent to them from the King in his Privy Council as if that were a higher Privilege than the English Parliament has whenas a little Inquiry into these Matters would have inform'd him that the King can if he please bring a Bill into Parliament here and either House may reject it if they don't like the Law But then what Laws he sends to their Parliament must be first approv'd in the Privy Council here and doth not that shew that an Authority inferior to our High Court of Parliament hath a sort of Co-ordinate Power with him in the Legislature of Ireland And is it not an evident Demonstration that the King doth not act any thing in relation to Ireland upon any distinct Prerogative as various and differing from what was inherent in the Imperial Crown of England Nay is not the King's Prerogative exerted in a higher degree in the manner of his passing an English Law where he comes into the House of Lords and exercises in his own Person alone and without taking the Advice of the Privy Council of either of his other Kingdoms one full Third Part of the Legislative Authority and in Power above one half as having the Casting Vote by which he can deny against the other two Estates And when he thus passes any Law affecting Ireland can any thing be more absurd than to suggest That he thereby suffers a precious Iewel of his Crown to be handled roughly The last Passage I shall observe is his Parting-blow the last three Pages wherein he Cautions us two or three times over how Vnsafe it may be for us to assume a Iurisdiction whereby the Lords and People of Ireland may think themselves ill used their Rights and Liâ—erties invaded and taken away and they may be driven into Discontent from whence he hints there may be ill Consequences We may easily see his Meaning to be a Menace and though there may be some few of them as inconsiderate as he is yet we have a better Opinion of the Body of the English Protestants there than to believe that they will ever give us Occasion to think that we have need of Exercising severe Methods to keep them in their due Obedience Nay had we the least doubt of this it would behoove us not to suffer any Gentleman who hath an Estate in Ireland to bear any Command in our Army there 'till he had given us the utmost Assurance that he was not tainted with Mr. Molyneux's Opinions However let me tell him that a Supream Authority ought not to be set upon at the Rate he does And now I will take leave to shew the Lords and Gentlemen of Ireland some of the ill Consequences that may attend them if Mr. Molyneux's Positions should gain an intire Credit First If the Parliament of England should be perswaded that they ought to look upon Ireland as a Distinct Separate and Absolute Kingdom with which they have nothing to do they might not think it unreasonable for them to demand a speedy payment of all the Expences England hath been at in the many Assistances which they have given them and if they shall refuse to pay it whether it may not be just to recover our own from any Neighbour Nation by Force if we shall think our selves able to do it
the King in those days could not remove at pleasure who had Authority to judge whether the King were present or absent Or does he think that when an Irish Appeal came before them these Judges could not meddle in it or if they did whilst the King was present they were all on a Suddain swallowed up or consubstantiated into the King or if they acted in his absence an Irish Cause would immediately transubstantiate them all four into the real presence of one King of Ireland in his proper Person But if this should be too gross to put upon Mr. Molyneux we must e'en resolve it t'other way and conclude that he thinks the Judges and Courts of Judicature are no part of the Political Government of England He hath abundance of other pretty Conceits how and which way this Business of the Writ of Error might come about and in what sense it may be thought to operate but I 'll leave him in the quiet and peaceable Enjoyment of them because I think it not worth while to trouble my self or the Reader more about them â— We may be sure he would not havâ— us to Conclude That if the King's Bâ—nch in Ireland â—e subordinate to the King's Bench in England that therefore it must follow that the Parliament of Irelaâ—d is subordinate to that of England and though as he sees we have a very good Argument for that a fortâ—ort yet what I have said before may satisfie him that we have other Demonstrations enough to assure us in the constant Subordination of that Kingdom to this besides the lying of this Writ of Error which the very Reason of the thing maugre all his Endeavours to shift it will evince that this preheminence must infallibly have been preserv'd to England from the first annexing of Ireland for after they were become obliged to be rul'd and govern'd by our Laws whether should they resort to have them explain'd but to that Authority that gave them I cann't omit observing how very pertinently He concludes this his Fifth Article with a Memorable Passage out of their Irish Statutes And that is the Act of Faculties made in â—â—â—land the 28th Hen. 8. reciting a former Act in the Praeamble of which 't is declar'd That this your Graces Realm Recognizing no Superiour but your Grace hath been and yet is free from any Subâ—ection to any Man's Laws but only such as have been devised within this Realm for the wealth of the same or to such others as by sufferance of your Grace and your Progenitors the People of the Realm have taken at their free Liberties by their own Consent and have bound themselves by long Use and Custom to the Observance of c. Now this very Declaration with the other Clauses of the said English Act is Verbatim recited in the Irish Act of Faculties Behold the mighty force of this Argument The People of England did in an Act of Parliament make a Declaration of their ancient undoubted Rights and Liberties proper and peculiar to their own Constitution The Parliament of Ireland pass the same Act there and take upon them to ape the very Words of this Declaration in their Act though the same could not be proper or rightly applicable to the Circumstances of their Constitution for the Laws given them at first from England were never devised within that Realm therefore the People of Ireland cannot be under any Subordination of the Parliament of England And now he 's come to the 6th and last Article viz. The Reasons and Arguments that may be further offered on one side and t'other in this Debate And here Mr. Molyneux opens a very diverting Scene but fitter for Ridicule and Disdain than Argument He tells us There remains another pretence or two for this Subordination to be considered and one is founded on Purchase 'T is said that vast Quantities of Treasure has been spent by England from time to time for reducing Ireland which has given them a just Title at least to the Lands of the Rebels and to the Absolute Disposal thereof in their Parliament according to the Examples in Forty One and the late Rebellion in this Reign I am sorry that he has so little sense of the great Benefit which the Protestants of Ireland have receiv'd by the interposing of the English Power in their Favour 'T is not to be disputed that the late King Iames had all the Haereditary Right that was entail'd upon their Independent as he terms him King Iohn and although he had Abdicated the Crown of England yet by this Gentleman's Notions he had still an undoubted Title to the Kingdom of Ireland which he came to possess by the assistance of a very considerable Power from France and if Mr. Molyneux's Doctrine be sound could any body then blame the Irish and Old English of his own Religion to join with him in the asserting his ancient Right to that Kingdom For my own part I must own that I know no other Reason that can justifie us in our engaging in that War for the Recovery of Ireland than the Old English Principle that Ireland was our own as an inseparable Member of the English Empire and I am sure all the English Protestants of Ireland were then glad to have us assert that Right or else their fair Estates in that Country must have left the greatest part of them to go a Begging at this day unless perhaps they could have reconcil'd themselves by turning Papists it being well known that they were so far from valuing themselves upon their own Strength that excepting that Gallant and Resolute Resistance made by the People of the North at London-Derry and Inniskilling they gave up all and generally meaning the People of Note fled to England though many are of the Opinion that they might have done more for themselves than they did if they had staid Thus were their Estates lost to them beyond hopes of Recovery but by the strength of England Indeed when we had sent over an Army some of them went back again and together with those that remain'd in Ireland did expose themselves and acted a fair part in the War yet all they were able to do was so inconsiderable in regard of the whole Management of the War that I believe it won't be pretended that we were made Masters of Ireland one day the sooner for their help The vast Charge of an Army Aâ—ms Artillery Ammunition Provision Shipping c. all this have we born and paid for by raising Taxes upon our own Estates when we knew they were not able to Contribute any thing themselves and after all this what of a Man can have the Impudence to dispute with us whether we have any Right to the forfeited Estates in Ireland If the Kingdom of England hath no just Jurisdiction over Ireland I will affirm that the Irish were in no Rebellion but were in the Exercise of the Natural Allegiance and in the Discharge of that Duty which