irst and the last which
ever sat in Ireland since the English invasion, possessed of national
authority, and complete in all its parts. The king, by law and in
fact--the king who, by his Scottish descent, his creed, and his
misfortunes, was dear (mistakenly or not) to the majority of the then
people of Ireland--presided in person over that Parliament. The peerage
consisted of the best blood, Milesian and Norman, of great wealth and
of various creeds. The Commons represented the Irish septs, the Danish
towns, and the Anglo-Irish counties and boroughs. No Parliament of
equal rank, from King to Commons, sat here since; none sat here before
or since so national in composition and conduct.

Standing between two dynasties--endangering the one, and almost
rescuing the other--acting for a nation entirely unchained then for the
first time in 500 years--this Parliament and its Acts _ought_ to
possess the very greatest interest for the historian and the patriot.

This was the speech with which his Majesty opened the Session:--

_My Lords and Gentlemen_,

The Exemplary Loyalty which this Nation hath expressed to me, at a
time when _others_ of my _Subjects undutifully misbehaved
themselves to me, or so basely deserted me_: And your seconding my
Deputy, as you did, in His Firm and Resolute asserting my Right, in
preserving this Kingdom for me, and putting it in a Posture of
Defence; made me resolve to come to you, and to venture my life
with you, in the defence of your Liberties and my Own Right. And to
my great Satisfaction I have not only found you ready to serve me,
but that your Courage has equalled your Zeal.

I have always been for Liberty of Conscience, and against invading
any Man's Property; having still in my Mind that Saying in Holy
Writ, _Do as you would be done to, for that is the Law and the
Prophets_.

_It was this Liberty of Conscience I gave, which my Enemies both
Abroad and at Home dreaded; especially when they saw that I was
resolved to have it Established by Law in all my Dominions, and
made them set themselves up against me_, though for different
Reasons. Seeing that if I had once settled it, _My people_ (_in
the Opinion of the One_) would have been too happy; and I (_in the
Opinion of the Other_) too great.

_This Argument was made use of_, to persuade their own People
to joyn with them, and to many of my Subjects