Legislation
The Act of Recognition was the first act of Parliament. It recognised James's right to the Imperial Crown of Ireland. It compared the usurpation by the Prince of Orange to the murder of his father King Charles I, emphasized indefeasible hereditary rights, and that the monarchy was founded on the Divine right of kings, and was not the result of any supposed contract between a king and his subjects.
The Declaratory Act affirmed that the Kingdom of Ireland had always been "distinct" from that of England, and that no Act of the English Parliament was binding on Ireland unless passed by the Irish Parliament Poynings' Law however, remained as statute law.
Parliament also passed legislation or resolutions to effect:
- Liberty of Conscience: full freedom of worship and civic and political equality for Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters and the repeal of the Oath of Supremacy, but with the retention of the Act of Uniformity. James sought the abolition of penalties against liberty of conscience but did not seek to remove himself as head of the Church of Ireland.
- Repeal of the 1652 Cromwellian land settlement, and the Act of Settlement 1662, and therefore a return of all lands forfeited in 1652 to the descendants of the former owners at the time of the 1641 rebellion.
- a Bill of attainder, "An Act for the Attainder of Divers Rebels, and for the Preserving the Interest of Loyal Subjects", named 2,000 treasonous Williamites, being opponents of James II, who were to lose their property and their lives.
Firth says that King James was opposed to the last two measures, but was "overborne by Tyrconnell and the Irish nationalists".
Read more about this topic: Patriot Parliament
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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