AFter the Defeat of the late King James at the Battel of the Boyne in Ireland , the Petitioner ( according to His present Majesty's Proclamation issued soon after ) took Protection ; and as he was not in any Civil , or Military Office , or Commission before , so after taking Protection he lived peaceably and quietly at his own House at Awney , in the County of Limerick , where his Estate lay .

Some time after , the Frontier Lines of the English Quarters were ascertained by Proclamation , and the Petitioner's Place of Abode was within them : And again , by other Proclamations , the Frontier Lines were so altered , that the Petitioner's Habitation was without them , and they were to be treated as Rebels and Spies , who should by a time limited in the said Proclamation , be found without the said Lines . The Petitioner , in the mean time , not being able to remove his Goods and Family , was plundered by both Parties , by which he lost to the Value of above 4000 l. And by the Alteration of the Frontier Lines , the City of Limerick being the Place of Refuge next to him , he fled thither , and was there during the last Siege , and at the making of the Articles upon the Surrender of that Place , being an Inhabitant and Resident there .

Soon after , the Petitioner made Application to the Lords Justices and Council in Ireland , praying to be adjudged the Benefit of the said Articles ; and , upon his Petition , had a Publick Hearing , took the Oath of Allegiance , and duly proved himself in Limerick at the Capitulation : But it was objected against him , That having taken Protection , he was excepted by the Second Article , and so excluded the Benefit of the said Articles : And upon this , the Lords Justices and Council adjudged the Petitioner not comprized in the said Articles ; by means whereof the Petitioner , to this day , stands outlawed for High Treason , and his Estate seiz'd into the King's Hands , for no other Reason , but because he took Protection .

The Petitioner most humbly offers , and submits to the Consideration of this Just and Wise House , That the Judgment of the Council-Board at Dublin against him , in the Point of taking Protection , which seems to be grounded upon the Second of the Civil Articles of Limerick , is Errroneous .

To this End it will be necessary to consider the said Second Article ( if it shall be thought fit by this Honourable House ) which , as far it concerns the present Case , is in these Words following ; viz.

cond Article . All the Inhabitants , or Residents of Limerick , or any other Garrison now in the Possession of the Irish ; and all Officers , and Soldiers now in Arms , under any Commission of King James , or those authorized by him , to grant the same in the several Counties of Limerick , Clare , Kerry , Cork , and Mayow , and all such as are under their Protection in the said Counties , or any of them ; and all the Commission'd Officers in Their Majesties Quarters , that belong to the Irish Regiments now in being that are treated with ( and who are not Prisoners of War , or have taken Protection ) and who shall return , and submit to Their Majesties Obedience , and their , and every of their Heirs , shall hold , possess , and enjoy all , and every their Estates of Freehold and Inheritance , and all their Rights , Titles and Interests , Privileges and Immunities , which they , and every , or any of them held , enjoyed , or were rightfully , and lawfully intituled to , in the Reign of King Charles II . or at any time since , by the Laws and Statutes that were in force in the said Reign of King Charles the II . &c.

By the true meaning of this Article , All that were then in Limerick , or under the Protection of the Irish , in the said Counties ( being the Irish Quarters ) are included without Exception , in the first Place ; and next , the said Commission'd Officers in Their Majesties Quarters , that belong'd to the Irish Regiments then in being , that are treated with , and who are not Prisoners of War , or have taken Protection , were to have the like Benefit ; which Qualifications and Exceptions , affix'd and conjoin'd to the said Commission'd Officers in Their Majesties Quarters , only to distinguish them , could not ( as is humbly conceiv'd ) in Reason or right Corstruction be applied to the Petitioner , or any before-mentioned , in the said Second Article , who were no absent Officers that belong'd to any Irish Regiment that was treated with ; being all of them in Limerick , and in the Irish Quarters , at the time of the Capitulation , and could not reasonably be supposed to be Their Majesties Prisoners , or in their Protection there , as some of the said Commission'd Officers might then well be Prisoners or Protectees in Their Majesties Quarters , and as in truth many then actually were , who being Their Majesties Subjects already , and in Their Majesties Quarters , they were not design'd to be capitulated for ; which was the only occasion of adding the said Exceptions to exclude them : For it was never propos'd , during the whole Treaty of Peace , that the Petitioner for taking Protection , or any other in the Irish Quarters , should be excluded upon any Account whatsoever ( not even Spies or Deserters ) And they being pardon'd all Treasons , Capital Crimes , and Misdemeanors , by the said Articles , it cannot be well imagin'd , but that the taking Protection ( had it been a Crime ) was also pardon'd them ; the contrary whereof was never heard of before the said Sentence , at the Council-Board , whereby those Words ( or have taken Protection ) have been interpreted and strained to a New Sense and Meaning , not thought of , or intended by the Makers of the said Articles .

And the Occasion of inserting in the Second Article those Words , ( and who are not Prisoners of War , or have taken Protection ) was truly this : Upon making the Agreement , or stateing the Heads of the said Articles , and enumerating the Persons to be treated for , the Lord Lucan , ( alias Colonel Sarsfield ) being present , said , That he sent some Officers into the English Quarters about some Affairs , and that he would have them included ; which was agreed to , provided they were not Prisoners of War , or had not submitted and taken Protection .

By the Construction put by the Council of Ireland upon those Words , the Petitioner hath been deprived of his Estate , denied the Benefit of the said Articles , and nothing left to support him and his Family . Wherefore he most humbly appeals to the COMMONS of ENGLAND for Redress against the said Erronious Proceedings , Humbly praying that it may be explain'd , and setled to what Persons the said Words ( or have taken Protection ) mentioned in the said second Article , do properly refer : And withal most humbly offers it to be considered , That by the Law of Nations , where any doubt arise about Words in Treaties , or Articles of Peace , they ought to be explained most beneficially for the Party in whose Favour such Articles were intended : And by the Municipal Laws of this Kingdom , the Grants of the King are to be expounded liberally , and with all imaginable Favour to the Subject , for the Honour and Dignity of the King , and for the Advantage , Freedom , and Properties of the People .

All which is most humbly referr'd , and submitted to the Great Wisdom and Judgment of this Honourable and August Assembly .