of their antient princes was aboliſhed, and the king of England’s eldeſt ſon became, as a matter of courſe, their titular prince: the territory of Wales being then entirely re-annexed (by a kind of feodal resumption) to the dominion of the crown of England[1]; or, as the ſtatute of Rutland[2] expreſſes it, “terra Walliae cum incolis ſuis, prius regi jure feodali ſubjecta, (of which homage was the ſign) jam in proprietatis dominium totaliter et cum integritate converſa eſt, et coronae regni Angliae tanquam pars corporis ejuſdem annexa et unita.” By the ſtatute alſo of Wales[3] very material alterations were made in divers parts of their laws, ſo as to reduce them nearer to the Engliſh ſtandard, eſpecially in the forms of their judicial proceedings: but they ſtill retained very much of their original polity, particularly their rule of inheritance, viz. that their lands were divided equally among all the iſſue male, and did not deſcend to the eldeſt ſon alone. By other ſubſequent ſtatutes their provincial immunities were ſtill farther abridged: but the finiſhing ſtroke to their independency, was given by the ſtatute 27 Hen. VIII. c. 26. which at the ſame time gave the utmoſt advancement to their civil proſperity, by admitting them to a thorough communication of laws with the ſubjects of England. Thus were this brave people gradually conquered into the enjoyment of true liberty; being inſenſibly put upon the ſame footing, and made fellow-citizens with their conquerors. A generous method of triumph, which the republic of Rome practiſed with great ſucceſs; till ſhe reduced all Italy to her obedience, by admitting the vanquiſhed ſtates to partake of the Roman privileges.
It is enacted by this ſtatute 27 Hen. VIII, 1. That the dominion of Wales ſhall be for ever united to the kingdom of England. 2. That all Welchmen born ſhall have the ſame liberties as other the king’s ſubjects. 3. That lands in Wales ſhall be inheritable according to the Engliſh tenures and rules of deſcent. 4. That the laws of England, and no other, ſhall be uſed
- ↑ Vaugh. 400.
- ↑ 10 Edw. I.
- ↑ 12 Edw. I.
