of the States of Zealand which they did who therewith advised the States General at the Hague they consulting with Sir Ralph Winwood Embassador for His Majesty there who was a favourable Instrument to them in this Business sent Instructions to the Lord Caroon then their Ambassador in England to acquaint the Lord Treasurer herewith And in case of no satisfaction from him to make his Adresses to the King which he did His Majesty being much incensed that His Subjects and Souldiers should starve for want of their Pay in foreign parts sent for the Lord Treasurer who drawing His Majesty aside and telling Him how empty His Exchequer was His Majesty told their Ambassador that if his Masters would pay Him His Money they owed Him He would deliver up those Towns The next day their Ambassadour waiting upon the King to know whether His Majesty persisted in the same Resolution His Majesty answered That He knew the States of Holland to be His good Friends and Confederates bot in point of Religion and Policy therefore He apprehended not the least fear of any difference that should fall out between them In contemplation whereof if they would have their Towns again He would willingy surrender them The States hereupon made up the money presently and sent it to the King And so Anno 1616. the cautionary Towns were delivered unto them The King such was his Royal Bounty unto them remitted the Interest and five pounds for every Gentleman and Officer which died in their service Which Sum certainly would have amounted unto treble the Principal The King of Spain having spent in those Wars one hundred and fifty millions of Crowns and wasted 600000 men and was plung'd so deeply in debt notwithstanding his Mines of Mexico and Peru that having taken up money in all the chief Banks of Christendom He was forced to publish a Diploma wherein he dispenc'd with himself as the Holland Stories report from payment alledging that he had imployed these monies for the publick Peace of Christendom What Sum the King received of them it is not comporting with the duty of a Subject to question or dispute Yet we may observe the treacherous and unhandsom practice of the States to suggest such notoriour untruths to His Majesty when they themselves by Agrement with the Queen were to pay the Souldiers in those Towns however they had been ungrateful to suffer such persons who had so highly merited of them to want when the States were built by the English valour and by their bloud united and cemented But having gotten the possession of their Towns which were the Lock and Key of their Provinces and having compounded for those exceeding great sums of money which they owed His Majesty which sober men did think they never had been able to pay if rightly stated they presently from Poor distressed People are swell'd up to those spreading and magnificent Titles of High and Mighty States Insolent Boggs They might rather have said unto Sedition Thou art my Father and unto Rebellion Thou art my Mother Now they make their Naval Expeditions into America and other parts of the World And by the leave and licence of King James paying some small Tribute they fall to their Fishing Trade upon the British Seas Wherein they did so exceedingly thrive that towards the latter end of King James His Reign they imployed yearly eight thousand four hundred Vessels of all sorts for their Trade of Fishing upon the British Seas which number since is vastly increased whereby they have a Seminary of Mariners ready for publick Service or Navigation And upon Computation it appeared that they made in one year of the Herrings oâ—ly caught upon the British Seas the sum of five millions of our pounds the Custom and Tenth of Fish advancing to the Publick Treasury no less than eight hundred thousand pounds besides the Cod Ling Hakes Pilehard and other Fish compated to amount unto near three millions more By reason of those maltitude of Ships and Mariners they have extended their Trade to all parts of the World exporting for the most part in all their Voyages our Herrings and Fish in exchange whereof they return the several Commodities of other Countries and sell the same at their own prices Great part of their Fish they sell for ready money which commonly they export of the finest Gold and Silver and coming home Re-coin it of a baser Alloy under their own stamp which advance a great profit to them The returns which they make for their Fish in other Commodities amounts to a vast sum And all this Wealth Riches and Grandeur is derived unto them from the Indulgency and Bounty of the Kings of Great Britain The Hollanders now beginning to be considerable in the World by reason of the many Royal Favours wherewith they are inriched by the Crown of England The English and they having several Factories and Places in the Isles of Molluccaes Banda Amboyna and elsewhere in the East Indies the English being some years there setled before the Hollanders had made any discovery of those Islands Anno 1619. there was a Solemn League and Agreement by King James and the States of the United Provinces in a strict Alliance and social Confederacy of the English East-India Company and that of the United Provinces for the better advancing and carrying on of the Trade and Commerce in those Islands and elsewhere in the East-Indies Here are so many marks of Kindness such ample Demonstrations of Favour as no People could have greater Obligations if any Principles of Honour or Justice could oblige them to make returns of Gratitude and give the greatest instances of their Sincerity and Faithfulness to the Kings of Great Britain and the English Nation But with them Favours past are not accounted they love no Bounty but what is meerly future At Amboyna one of the Scyndae or Setibe Islands lying near Seran and hath many lesser Islands depending upon it it 's of the Circuit of 60 Leagues an Island which bears Cloves plentifully for gathering and buying whereof the English Company had placed five several Factories The head of all at the Town of Amboyna so called from the Island the chief Town in it two at Hitto and Larico in the same Island and two others at Latro and Cambello in the Island of Seran But the Hollanders observing the English to be better beloved by the Natives than themselves and that they began highly to improve and gain by their Trade and Traffick hating that any should thrive but themselves Anno 1622. upon pretence of a Plot between the English and the Japonesses to betray their Fortress in the Town of Amboyna which was built at the charge of the English and for the safety of Trade and Commerce the Hollanders having about two hundred Souldiers there to the end they might ingross the whole Trade and Traffick of the said Islands to themselves most treacherously murthered and with Fire and Water
any trouble in a point so clear I would desire to know of the Hollanders by what right or title they fish upon the British Seas If they have a right Why did the Earls of Holland and themselves after the said Earls take Licences from the Kings of England for their Subjects to fish and pay tribute as they have done as it appeareth by many ancient Presidents in the Tower But now I remember it 's a Principle of their State That if they get the possession of any thing never to dispute the right so it be of conveniency or profit to them to keep it The next is the striking of the Sail which is nothing but an humble acknowledgement of His Majesties Soveraignty of the British Seas and a grateful submission for their liberty to pass upon them for strangers by the Law and Custom of the British Seas being to pass those Seas either in coming to England or going to any other place without so much as touching upon any of His Majesties Dominions have us'd to take safe Conducts and Licences of the Kings of England to secure and protect them in their passage Vide Rot. Franciae 11. H. 4 de Salvo conductu The Presidents are exceeding many amongst the Records in the Tower The striking of the Sail is one of the ancientest Prerogatives of the Crown of England For I observe in the second year of King John it was declared at Hastings by the King with the advice of His Lords Temporal for a Law and Custom of the Sea That if a Lieutenant in any voyage being ordained by the King doth encounter upon the Sea any ship or Vessel laden or unladen that will not strike or vail their Bonnets at the Commandment of the Lieutenant of the King or of the Admiral of the King or his Lieutenant but will fight against them of the Fleet that if they can be taken they be reputed as Enemies their Ships Vessels and Goods taken and forfeited as the Goods of Enemies And that the common people being in the same be chastised by Imprisonment of their bodies for their Rebellion Inter Leges Marinas Anno 2 Johannis Regis amongst the Records of the Tower The Hollanders therefore refusing to strike sail do deny His Majesties Soveraignty in the Seas one of the most precious Jewels of the Crown and the principal means of the Trade Wealth and Safety of this Nation and which all true English men with the hazard of their lives and fortunes are obliged to preserve and maintain for Imperator Maris est Dominus Terrae And as they have deny'd His Majesties Soveraignty so they have by their Artifice supplanted the Trade and Traffick of His Subjects which are the only Pillars of Riches and Safety to this Nation Consult the Muscovia Turkey c. Companies enquire at the Exchange they will all tell you It 's gone whither I know not but into Amsterdam and the United Provinces The English are as active and industrious a people as any but of a more generous and noble Allay they abhor to have Trade by those base practises or to gain it by those sordid means as the Hollanders do I doubt not but the English Nation being sensible of the Injuries and Oppressions done them by these men will in short time by their Sword and Valour reduce them to reason And as they have supplanted the Trade of His Majesties Subjects so they have endeavoured to make a diminution of His own Glory by abusive Pictures and false Libels not only in their own Territories but in most of the Dominions of the Kings and Princes of of Europe where the name of the King of Great Britain is renown'd Reputation abroad and Reverence at home are the Pillars of Safety and Soveraignty By these Arts they have endeavoured not only to lessen His Majestie Reputation abroad but to bring contempt upon Him even amongst His own Subjects at home Without doubt His Majesties good Subjects have a great Sentiment of these Indignities and will not only carry an Antidote in their ears against the poyson of these Libels but with their Swords Lives and Fortunes will vindicate His Dignity and bring these Ungrateful Miscreants to Justice The States having put so many scorns and indignities upon his Majesty and abuses upon His Subjects in their Trade for which His Majestie was more troubled than for the Indignities done to Himself He was resolved to have satisfaction of them But they to give His Majesty disquiet in His own Dominions and for a diversion to Him made their Addresses to some persons of the Scotish Nation with them for their Brotherly assistance promising them they should be furnished with Men Arms and Money what they pleased But the Scots too well remembring their late sufferings and calamities and having as great a sense of Loyalty and Duty for their King as any people in the world with the greatest scorn and abhorrency rejected their most impious and rebellious motion Not prevailing there they set upon some Factories of Sedition in England and by their Emissaries here endeavoured to work upon an honest party in this Nation though differing in some minute Ceremonies from the Church but they looked upon it as the greatest Injury and Indignity could be done them to tempt them from the Loyalty to so good and gracious a King And certainly His Majesty had a very good esteem for them or else He would never have granted them that Act of Indulgence An Act so transcendent and exceeding the bounty and grace of all former Kings that it could not be obtain'd of them though there had been many hundred thousand pounds offered for the purchase of it But as His Majesty hath granted them Liberty of Conscience so there 's no doubt they will make conscience of their Liberty His Majesty of Great Britain and the Most Christian King of all Princes in Europe have most studied and endeavoured for the good of their Subjects to advance Trade and Commerce yet their Subjects cry out they have no Trade and well they may when the Hollanders are the great Supplanters of Trade and obstructers of Commerce to all others but themselves in the world And no wonder for it 's a prime principle of their State That they must not be like the Joc-caul which provide food for the Lyon but they must imitate the prudent Cat who mouses only for it self Nothing can be more becoming the Majesty of two such Potent Kings not only out of charity to deliver the distressed Dutch an industrous and well meaning people of themselves from the Tyranny and Oppression of those insolent States but out of Piety towards God to settle peace in Christendom which is only by the power of these two Great Kings to be effected and to which all Kings and Princes are oblig'd to contribute their assistance For let it be soberly considered if these men if we may so call them since the Revolt from their Prince have
to themselves This unfortunate Nation being thus in Combustion and all befry'd the Hogan Mogans with joy as an ingenious man observed did warm their hands at those unhappy flames which they themselves had kindled tuning their merry Harps when others were weeping over a Kingdoms Funeral In England there being nothing but Confusion and Ruine nothing to be seen but the Convulsions of a dying State His now Sacred Majesty for his own safety and security withdrew Himself out of England and resolved to live for some time in his Solitudes in the Belgick Provinces But the States were so far from affording Him any comfort as a distressed Prince or yielding Him any kindness as their best Friend and greatest Patron that if his Majesty had not had timely notice of it it is credibly said that he had been delivered up in their Territories as a Sacrifice to the fury of his cruellest Enemy His Majesty Anno 1660. being restored to his Kingdoms forgetting all their former Unkindnesses and Ingratitudes his care was to conclude a strict League with the said States But no sooner was it concluded but they return to their usual practise of breaking of Articles who expect an exact observance of them from others but perform none themselves Thereupon his Majesty 1664. was stirred up by the Complaints of his people and the Unanimous Votes of both Houses of Parliament to defend the Rights of his Crown and the Liberties of his People which the States had most notoriously invaded yet his Majesty to prevent the effusion of bloud as Tyrants shed bloud for pleasure Kings for necessity spent the whole Summer in Negotiations to bring them to reason but all his endeavours proved ineffectual Thereupon Anno 1665 ensued the War and continued to the year 1667. Wherein his Majesty obtained so many signal Victories that by their humble Supplications and Addresses to his Majesty for Peace he was induced to a Treaty And his Majesty having the Garranty of the most Christian King and of the said States that no Act of Hostility during the said Treaty should be attempted by them against his Majesty or any of his Dominions thereupon his Majesty did forbear to Equip his Fleet. Yet the said States contrary to their Faith during the said Treaty with their Fleet though not half mann'd or Victuall'd for any time most treacherously invaded his Majesties Dominions burnt and committed Destruction upon several Ships of his Majesties Navy Royal in his own Ports and Harbour Whereas if his Majesty had set forth his Fleet they had not been able to have put to Sea that year for want of Mariners and other discouragements upon them having received so many memorable defeats by the Valour and Courage of his subjects No sooner was there a Peace concluded but every Article was broken by them And no wonder for it 's a Maxime of their State That all Alliance as to them is inconsiderable the foundation of their Greatness and Safety consists in their own Power and Strength Therefore to keep any Article is of no consideration to them Now they invade his Majesties Fishing upon the British Seas without his Royal License they refuse to strike Sail and dispute his Sovereignty of the British Seas Affronts so high and Indignities so transcendent that no King or Potentate except these men did ever so much as question any of them It doth appear by the Records in the Tower and the Municipal Laws of this Nation that the Kings of England have had ever from the time of the Romans an absolute and uninterrupted Right and exclusive Property in the Sovereignty of the British Seas in the Passages and Fishing thereof and hath power to make Laws and exercise Supreme Jurisdiction over all Persons and in all cases within or upon the said Seas as 't was agreed 26 E. 1. by the Agents and Embassadors of Genoa Catoloigna Spain Almaine Zealand Holland Friesland Denmark Norway and divers other places in the Empire And by all the States and Princes of Europe in a case then in question between the King of England and his most Christian Majesty concerning Rayner Grimbold his Admiral exercising some Jurisdiction upon the British Seas See the Records in the Tower 26 E. 1. de Superioritate Maris Anglici The Laws of Olleron which after the Rhodian Laws were antiquated have now near five hundred years been received by all the Christian World for regulating Sea-Affairs and deciding of Maritine Controversies were first declared by King R. 1. at his return from the Holy Land and by him caused to be published in the Isle of Olleron as belonging to the Dutchy of Aquitane If the Subjects of any King or Prince have a Right to Fish in the British Seas I do desire to be satisfied What should be the reason that all Neighbour Princes have by Treaty obtained license from the Kings of England for their Subjects to Fish in those Seas and have paid Tribute as it doth appear by the Licences granted by H. 4. unto the French By H. 6. unto the Dutchess of Burgundy To those of Brabant and Flanders by E. 4. To Francis Duke of Britain for his Subjects Philip II. King of Spain in the first year of Queen Mary obtained a Licence for his Subjects to fish upon the North Coasts of Ireland for the term of one and twenty years paying yearly for the same 1000 l. which was accordingly paid into the Exchequer of Ireland And the Presidents in R. 1. King John E. 3. and other Kings are almost infinite And if any King or Prince could pretend to any right certainly His Most Christian Majestic hath as good a pretence as any But that King by the special Licence of the Kings of England and not otherwise hath fish'd upon the British Coasts with a set and limited number of Boats And that for his own Family and being likewise to observe the Laws and Orders of his own Fishermen For breach whereof divers of his Subjects have been taken and imprisoned in Dover Castle and elswhere as doth appear by many presidents in time of E. 3. H. 4. H. 7. c. in the Tower Neither is this singular in the King of England only for in Russia many Leagues from the Main Fishermen do pay for their fishing great Taxes to the Emperor of Russia And in most places other Nations are prohibited to fish The King of Denmark doth the like and taketh great Tribute both at Wardhouse and the Sound And the like he doth now for Norway All the bordering Princes of Italy do the like within the Mediterranean Seas The States do take an Imposition upon fish which is taken upon the British Seas and within the Streams and Dominions of other Princes The Hollanders do allow the tenth Fish both in Russia Lappia and other places or pay a Composition for the same And do also pay a Tribute in the Sound for passage to fetch the said Fish But I shall not give my self