THUS we see how extensively the laws of Ireland communicate with those of England; and indeed such communication is highly necessary, as the ultimate resort from the courts of justice in Ireland is, as in Wales, to those in England: a writ of error (in the nature of an appeal) lying from the king's bench in Ireland to the king's bench in England, as the appeal from the chancery in Ireland lies immediately to the house of lords here: it being expressly declared, by the same statute, 6 Geo. I. c. 5. that the peers of Ireland have no jurisdiction to affirm or reverse any judgments or decrees whatsoever (14). The propriety and even necessity, in

e This was law in the time of Hen.

entitled, diversity of courts, c. bank le VIII; as appears by the ancient book, roy.

Ireland was bound.( 8 St. Tr. 343.) That was an argument to prove that lord Connor Maguire, baron of Inneskillin in Ireland, who had committed treason in that country, by being the prin cipal contriver and instigator of the Irish rebellion and massacre in the time of Car. I. and who had been brought to England against his will, could be lawfully tried for it in the king's bench at Westminster by a Middlesex jury, and be ousted of his trial by his peers in Ireland, by force of the statute of 35 Hen. VIII. c. 2.

The prisoner having pleaded to the jurisdiction, the court, after hearing this argument, over-ruled the plea, and the decision was approved of by a resolution of the two houses of parliament, and lord Maguire was found guilty, and was afterwards executed at Tyburn as a traitor.

(14) By an act passed in the 22 Geo. III. c. 53. the statute of Geo. I. is simply repealed. But as the statute of Geo. I. was thought to be merely declaratory of the former law, the repeal of it could produce no further operation than to render the law in some degree less clear than that statute had made it. Therefore to produce the intended effect, it required another statute, which was passed in the 23 Geo. III. c. 28. which expressly declared, that in all cases whatever the people of Ireland should be bound only by laws enacted by his majesty and the parliament of that kingdom; and that no appeal or writ of error from any court in Ireland should for the future be brought into any of the courts in England.

all inferior dominions, of this constitution, "that, though "justice be in general administered by courts of their own, "yet that the appeal in the last resort ought to be to the "courts of the superior state," is founded upon these two reasons. 1. Because otherwise the law, appointed or permitted to such inferior dominion, might be insensibly changed within itself, without the assent of the superior. 2. Because otherwise judgments might be given to the disadvantage or diminution of the superiority; or to make the dependence to be only of the person of the king, and not of the crown of Englandd (15).

d Vaugh. 402.

(15) The following statement of that great and most important.event, the union of Great Britain and Ireland, is extracted from the 39 and 40 Geo. III. c. 77.

In pursuance of his Majesty's most gracious recommendation to the two houses of parliament in Great Britain and Ireland respectively, to consider of such measures as might best tend to strengthen and consolidate the connection between the two kingdoms, the two houses of parliament in each country resolved, that, in order to promote and secure the essential interests of Great Britain and Ireland, and to consolidate the strength, power, and resources of the British Empire, it was advise able to concur in such measures as should best tend to unite the two kingdoms into one kingdom, on such terms and conditions as should be established by the acts of the respective parliaments in the two countries. And, in furtherance of that resolution, the two houses of each parliament agreed upon eight articles, which, by an address of the respective houses of parliament, were laid before his Majesty for his consideration; and his Majesty having approved of the same, and having recommended it to his Parliaments in Great Britain and Ireland to give full effect to them, they were ratified by an act passed in the parliament of Great Britain on the 2d of July 1800.

Art. I. That the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, on the first day of January 1801, and for ever after, be united into one kingdom, by the name of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and that the royal style and titles of the imperial crown, and the ensigns, armorial flags, and banners, shall

WITH regard to the other adjacent islands which [105] are subject to the crown of Great Britain, some of

be such as should be appointed by his Majesty's royal proclama

tion.

Art. II. That the succession to the imperial crown shall continue settled in the same manner as the succession to the crown of Great Britain and Ireland stood before limited.

Art. III. That there shall be one parliament, styled, The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Art. IV. That four lords spiritual of Ireland, by rotation of sessions, and 28 lords temporal of Ireland, elected for life by the Peers of Ireland, shall sit in the House of Lords; and 100 commoners, two for each county, two for the city of Dublin, and two for the city of Cork, one for Trinity College, and one for each of the 31 most considerable cities and boroughs, shall be the number to sit in the House of Commons on the part of Ireland.

That questions respecting the rotation or election of the spiritual or temporal peers shall be decided by the House of Lords, and in the case of an equality of votes in the election of a temporal peer, the clerk of the parliament shall determine the election by drawing one of the names from a glass.

That a peer of Ireland, not elected one of the 28, may sit in the House of Commons; but whilst he continues a member of the House of Commons, he shall not be entitled to the privilege of peerage, nor capable of being elected one of the 28, nor of voting at such election, and he shall be sued and indicted for any offence as a

commoner.

That as often as three of the peerages of Ireland, existing at the time of the Union, shall become extinct, the king may create one peer of Ireland; and when the peers of Ireland are reduced to 100 by extinction, or otherwise, exclusive of those who shall hold any peerage of Great Britain subsisting at the time of the union, or created of the united kingdom since the union, the king may then create one peer of Ireland for every peerage that becomes extinct, or as often as any one of them is created a peer of the united kingdom, so that the king may always keep up the number of 100 Irish peers, over and above those who have an hereditary seat in the House of Lords.

them (as the isle of Wight, of Portland, of Thanet, &c.) are comprised within some neighbouring county, and are there

That questions respecting the election of the members of the House of Commons returned for Ireland, shall be tried in the same manner, as questions respecting the elections for places in Great Britain, subject to such particular regulations as the parliament afterwards shall deem expedient.

That the qualifications by property of the representatives in Ireland, shall be the same respectively as those for counties, cities, and boroughs in England, unless some other provision be afterwards made.

Until an act shall be passed in the parliament of the united kingdom, providing in what cases persons holding offices and places of profit under the crown of Ireland, shall be incapable of sitting in the House of Commons, not more than 20 such persons shall be capable of sitting; and if more than 20 such persons shall be returned from Ireland, then the seats of those above 20 shall be vacated, who have last accepted their offices or places.

That all the lords of parliament on the part of Ireland, spiritual and temporal, sitting in the House of Lords, shall have the same rights and privileges respectively as the peers of Great Britain; and that all the lords spiritual and temporal of Ireland shall have rank and precedency next and immediately after all the persons holding peerages of the like order and degree in Great Britain, subsisting at the time of the union; and that all peerages hereafter created of Ireland, or of the united kingdom, of the same degree, shall have precedency according to the dates of their creations; and that all the peers of Ireland, except those who are members of the House of Commons, shall have all the privileges of peers as fully as the peers of Great Britain, the right and privileges of sitting in the House of Lords, and upon the trial of peers only excepted.

Art. V. That the churches of England and Ireland be united into one protestant episcopal church, to be called, The United Church of England and Ireland; that the doctrine and worship shall be the same; and that the continuance and preservation of the united church as the established church of England and Ireland, shall be deemed an essential and fundamental part of the union; and that, in like manner, the church of Scotland shall remain the same as is now established by law, and by the acts of union of England and Scotland.

fore to be looked upon as annexed to the mother island, and part of the kingdom of England. But there are others which require a more particular consideration.

AND, first, the isle of Man is a distinct territory from England, and is not governed by our laws: neither doth any act

Art. VI. The subjects of Great Britain and Ireland shall be entitled to the same privileges with regard to trade and navigation, and also in respect of all treaties with foreign powers.

That all prohibitions and bounties upon the importation of merchandise from one country to the other shall cease.

But that the importation of certain articles therein enumerated shall be subject to such countervailing duties as are specified in the

act.

Art. VII. The sinking funds, and the interest of the national debt, of each country, shall be defrayed by each separately. And, for the space of 20 years after the union, the contribution of Great Britain and Ireland towards the public expenditure in each year, shall be in the proportion of fifteen to two, subject to future regulations.

Art. VIII. All the laws and courts of each kingdom shall remain the same as they are now established, subject to such alterations by the united parliament as circumstances may require; but that all writs of error and appeals shall be decided by the House of Lords of the united kingdom, except appeals from the court of admiralty in Ireland, which shall be decided by a court of delegates appointed by the court of chancery in Ireland.

The statute then recites an act passed in the parliament of Ireland, by which the rotation of the four spiritual lords for each sessions is fixed; and it also directs the time and mode of electing the 28 temporal peers for life; and it provides that 64 county members, two for each county, two for the city of Dublin, two for the city of Cork, one for Trinity College, Dublin, and one for each of 31 cities and towns which are there specified, which are the only places in Ireland to be represented in future. One of the two members of each of those places was chosen by lot, unless the other withdrew his name to sit in the first parliament, but at the next elections, one member only will be returned.