is the Title of Successive Inheritance confirmed as well by the Law of Nature as of Nations and is so much the more considerable in regard of the infinite Advantages of the profits of it as the Brittish Ocean in its Latitude and Circumference exceedeth the small Boundaries of the Gulph of Venice But in this great Disputation where were present the most Remarkable Wits of Italy and Germany and where the Imperialists themselves and amongst them one of the most Eminent Stephen Baron of Gourz Attested openly that the Common-Wealth of Venice was Patron of the Adriatitk Sea and might impose what Customs they thought fitting and that all other the Commissaries thought so in their Consciences There is enough as may be thought in Reason to convince all Opponents that may pretend to differ in Judgement from us Yet so it is that the Indulgence of the Kings of England to their Neighbouring Nations especially to the Hollanders by giving them too much liberty hath incouraged them to assume a Liberty to themselves and what at the first was but a License they improve into a Custom and make that Custom their Authority Insomuch that some of the most busiest of them have openly declared against the Kings Propriety on the Brittish Seas Amongst these is one Hugo Grotius a Gentleman of great Ingenuity but in this particular so inclined to obey the Importunities and serve the Interests of his Country-men that he disobliged himself of the Truth and moreover to speak the truth of his Conscience it self for it you look into his Silvae upon the first Inauguration of King Iames of ever Blessed Memory he is pleased to express himself in these words Tria Sceptra profundi in magnum Cojere Ducem which is that the Rights of the English Scottish and Irish Seas are united under one Scepter neither is he satisfied with this bare profession but he goes on Sume animas a Rege tuo Quis det Iura Mari which is in English Take courage from the King who giveth Law unto the Seas In the same Book in the contemplation of so great a Power he concludeth Finis hic est qui fine caret that is This is an end beyond an end a bound that knoweth no bound a bound which even the winds and the waves must submit unto But with what ingratitude have the Dutch Answered the many Royal Favours which the Kings of England have almost perpetually conferred on them If there be no Monster greater then Ingratitude what Monsters are these Men who of late are so far from acknowledging their thankfulness that like Vipers they would feed upon and consume those Bowells which did afford them Life and Spirit We may observe that in their Lowest Condition which is most sutable to the Name of their Abode called the Low Countries they Petitioned to the Majesty of the Qâ—een of England whose Royal Heart and Hand being alwayes open to those that were Distressed especially those that were her Neighbours upon the account of Religion she sent them Threescore Thousand Pound upon the account of Sir Thomas Gresham in the year One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy and Two and presently afterwards there followed Colonel Morgan Colonel Gilbert Colonel Chester to Assist them in their Wars who were the Commanders of so many Regiments of Men And after them the War increasing there were sent over Colonel North Colonel Cotton Colonel Candish and Colonel Norris and some other persons of an Eminent Name who for the Honour of the English Nation made there Excellent Demonstrations of their Valour and Redeemed the Dutch from the Power of those who otherwise would have brought them to a better understanding of their Duties Great supplyes of monies were sent over to maintain so great a charge At the last the Prince of Orange being slain presently after the Death of the Duke Alanson Brother to Henry the third of France who if the successe had Answered the Expectation was wisely enough made Duke of Brabant the Queen of England sent over unto them Robert Duke of Leicester with great provision both of Men and Money accompanied with diverse of the Nobility and Gentlemen of good account And although the said Earle not long afterwards returned into England and the affairs of the Hollanders were doubtful untill the fatal Battel at Nieuport yet Queen Elizabeth of ever Blessed Memory out of her unspeakable goodness to the distressed and to those that suffered for Religion did as long as she lived constantly Assist the Hollanders both with Men and Monies she gave them Hope in Despair she gave them strength being weak and and with the Charity of her Princely Hand did support them being fallen And although the Hollanders do ungratefully alledge that it was a Benefit great enough for the English to Assist them in reason of state because by so doing they kept out a War from their own Country It is most certain that at that time the English had need to fear no Warr at all but onely for their Cause and for taking their parts for it was for their Cause that the English in the year One Thousand Five Hundred and seventy one had seized upon the sum of Six Hundred Thousand Ducats on the West Coast of England being the money designed from Spain to the Duke of Alva for the Advancement of the Spanish Interests in the Neatherlands And although the Hollanders do further alledge in their own Excuse that they were so grateful as that they offered unto the Queen of England the Soveraignty of the Neatherlands which she would not accept and therefore it was not their fault that she obtained it not It is in reason truly answered That the Queen of England well knowing that she was in danger to draw a perpetual Warr upon her Self and her Successours by the accepting of such a Gift to which she had no Right did wisely refuse their Liberality And yet for all that she continued still to aid them without that chargeable obligation The Hollanders do further alledge that the Queen of England had the Cautionary Town of Brill Flushing and the other places delivered into her Hands It is true she had so and thereby enjoyed only the Benefit of being at more Expence both of Men and Money and let the Reader take notice that most certain it is that the Hollander had no sooner made a Truce with the King of Spain and the Arch-Duke Albertus but he began presently to set the English at nought and to take the Bridle out of their Hands whereupon immediately insued their Forbiding of the bringing of English cloaths died and dressed into Holland and the adjoyning Provinces without ever making the King of England or his Ambassadour Leiger at the Hague Privy thereunto And to make amends for this their Saucy and Insolent Affront in a more High and Peremptory way they demeaned themselves to King Iames himself for whereas the Duke of Lennox as Admiral of Scotland had by order from
HIS Majesties Propriety AND DOMINION ON THE Brittish Seas ASSERTED Together with a true Account of the Neatherlanders Insupportable Insolencies and Injuries they have committed and the Inestimable Benefits they have gained in their Fishing on the English Seas As also their Prodigious and Horrid Cruelties in the East and West-Indies and other Places To which is added an Exact Mapp containing the Isles of Great Brittain and Ireland with the several Coastings and the Adjacent Parts of our Neighbours By an Experienced Hand London Printed by T. Mabb for Andrew Kembe near S t. Margarets-Hill in Southwark and Edward Thomas at the Adam and Eve in Little Brittain and Robert Clavet at the Staggs-Head in Ivy-Lane 1665. To the Most Illustrious and Heroical George Duke of Aubemarle Earle of Torrington Baron Monck of Potheridge Beauchamp and Teys Captain General of His Majesties Land-Forces Garrisons Forts and Castlos within any of His Majesties Dominions Master of the Horse Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter And one of His Majesties Most Honourable Privy Council May it please Your Highness THese Papers concerning His Majesties Right and Propriety to His Dominion on the Brittish seas do here most Humbly Addresse Themselves to Your Highness Most Illustrious Hand and Submit Themselves as much to the Affability of Your Candour as they implore the Greatnesse of Your protection to which they are Encouraged both by Reason and Religion for Your Highness being the Great Instrument which all along attended the Divine Providence in Restoring His Majesty to His Own both by Sea and Land and in Establishing Religion as well as Loyalty The same Reason doth perswade me that these Assertions may be Acceptable to You and that your Highness will vouch-safe Your Patronage to that Subject which you so Happily and Heroically have Effected and for which all Ages shall Renown your Memory May it please Your Highness The Profits which the Dutch have made by their Fishing on the English Seas are as vast as their Ingratitude is abominable which with an Elaborate Malice they have Expressed by their manifold out-rages committed in the East and West-Indies where that no Villany may be unpractised to Improve their Interests they have added Hypocrisie to their Avarice and to their Ambition Murder The Innocent Blood which they have spilt doth cry aloud for Vengeance Nor can the guilt of it fall asleep but will be lodged in the Memories of Righteous Men and kept awake by the Industry of faithfull Historians and by this Ruder Pen of him who is May it please Your Highness Your Most Humble and most devoted Servant Robert Codrington THE PREFACE TO THE Reader THe Combinations and Endeavours of the States General of the United Provinces against His Majesty and this Nation have been so insupportably Insolent that the Parliament not long since upon the Cry of the whole Nation did sollicite him to take some extraordinary way to give Redress unto his Subjects for the many and daily Injuries they sustained from them by their Depredations at Sea for the Horrid and Barbarous Cruelties inflicted on them in the East and West-Indies which being as odious in their Nature as they are remarkable in their Number have been the onely Cause that these pains are taken to give a general satisfaction to the World by exhibiting this Brief but most true Account of His Majesties Undoubted Right and sole Propriety in the English Scottish and the Irish Seas A truth as Antient as it is Eminent and not only held forth and attested by the Laws of our Land and the Records of the Tower and the High Courts of Parliament but heretofore confessed also by divers of their own Nation as in this Book you shall find it faithfully represented to you But it hath been the late practise of the Hollanders without examining the Lawfulness of the Act to put their Oares into every Boat where Gain and Profit doth appear It was this that tempted them to invade the Islands of Moluccos Lantore and Polleroon which in the Name of the Crown of England the English for some years had possessed neither did they entertain the least jealousie of opposition from the Hollanders who they knew heretofore had been oblidged to them for many antient good Offices in a time when their greatest safety did depend upon them and who lately were conjoyned with them in a strict Alliance and Confederacy for Partnership in the East-Indie-Trade in the year 1619. Neither did they fear the Natives whom they found to express a greater Inclination of good will unto them then to the Hollanders for the English aimed at nothing more then a lawful and competent profit by Commerce and Traffick with the Natives and the Dutch And though in some places the English had erected some Forts and setled some Strength yet it was not by any Force or Violence nor against the good will of the People of the Country but with their own good liking and consent for the better security of their Trade and upon the voluntary submission of the Natives to the Obedience and Soveraignty of the Crown of England in which submission the Antient Laws and Liberties of the said Natives and all their own Immunities were comprehended and reserved In this Establishment the English did conceive themselves to be secure enough when behold the Dutch who would be no better Neighbours to us in the Indies then in Europe began to quarrel with us and to hinder us in our Trade to free Places the which the better to obtain they oftentimes seized upon our Ships and Goods and finding this violence not to Answer their Expectation they at the last contrived to make themselves the absolute Masters of the vast profits of those Places In the pursuit whereof they have razed and demolished the English Forts and laying violent hands on the English themselves who made not the least Resistance they have tyed them to stakes with Ropes about their Necks they have seized upon their Goods they have Imprisoned their Persons they have Whipped them at the Post in the open Market Place and having washed their torn and wounded Bodies with Vinegar and Salt they have again doubled their scourges to multiply their Torments they have dragged them from thence to places almost inaccessible by reason of their steepness and roughness and having thrown them down the Rocks if any Sence of life remained they have added new oppression to their weary and bruised limbs by the heavy weights of Iron To these deliberate Torments the cruelties of other Nations are but Courtesies and Death it self a Mercy And as if they were the absolute Lords in the Indies they have assumed a Power to themselves in the deciding of the controversies between the English and the Indians for matters passed quite out of their jurisdiction and when Law and Right have pleaded against them they have Executed their Decrees by violence These be they who have laid a claim to His Maiesties Interests on his own
then was in the more Antient Nations and covered with Oxe-Hides yet with good ground we may conceive that they were wont to Build and set forth ships of War of a far more commodious and solid substance for the Guarding of the Seas and the Isles We read in Caesar's Commentaries that they were strong at Sea and it is not to be doubted but that besides their Twiggs and Leathern Vessels they had a considerable Navy which was able at pleasure to Encounter the ships of their Neighbours that were best Armed But the Southernly Parts of Great Brittain being Invaded by the Emperour Claudius and the Isle of Wight surrendred to them the Brittish Sea following the Fate of the Island was annexed with it to the Roman Empire From the Dominion of the Brittish Sea as being continually United to the Island or an Inseparable Concomitant thereof many remarquable passages have proceeded amongst those who have left unto Posterity the Atchievements of the Romans when they were Masters of this Island But when the Roman Empire was declining and they had scarce Forces enough to Guard the City it self The Brittains about the Year of our Lord Four Hundred and Fourscore did cast off the Roman Government and setled a Common-Wealth after their own liking In the mean time the Saxons Inhabiting the Shoar over against them had a great and greedy mind unto it who being a People extreamly given to Piracy the Romans were accustomed to appoint an Officer to drive them away called The Count of the Saxon Shore throughout Brittain These Saxons being sent for by the Brittains to Assist them against the Scots and Picts did get at length the whole Power into their own hand These Saxons being Arch Pirats did not only know but were familiarly acquainted with the Dangers of the Sea The same may be said of the Danes and Normans for these names being promiscuously used do often signifie the same Nation as is sufficiently attested by Regino Dudo the Monk of Malmesbury and others And these People had so great and so admirable a Knowledge of the Sea and Sea Affairs that by an exquisite observation of the Tides and Ebbings of the Sea they were accustomed to reckon their Months and Years yea and to frame Computations of years thereby In Antient Records diverse particulars are to be seen which most plainly show that both the Saxons and Danes had a Dominion over the Sea whilest they Reigned in Brittain In the Reign of the English Saxons we read in Asserius Bishop of Sherburn that Hengist being invited into England by the Perswasions of Vortigern there came presently afterwards to recruit him Octa and Ebissa who putting Pitates aboard his ships he charged them to Guard the passages of the Sea You are to understand that the word Pirate was not then taken as now commonly it is for Robbers or Rovers but for such who being the most skilfull in Sea-Affairs were judged to be the fittest Men to Encounter with their Enemies The word sayes my Authour doth seem to be deriv'd from the Greek for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Pira in the Greek Tongue signifieth Craft or Art and from this Art in Maritine Discipline they are now called Pirates which infest the Seas But amongst these Kings none was more Potent then King Edgar who possessing an Absolute Dominion of the Seas sayled round about it every Year and secured it with a constant Guard It is Recorded that these ships being very stout ones were in number One Thousand Two Hundred Other Writers affirm that they were Foure Thousand the Abbot of Jorvaux John Bramton by name doth number them to be Four Thousand and Eight Hundred sayle And what Dominion King Edgar had as Absolute Lord of the Sea appears in these words I Edgar King of England and of all the Kings of the Islands and of the Ocean lying round about Brittain and of all the Nations that are Included within the Circuit thereof Supream Lord and Governour do render my thanks to Almighty GOD My KING who hath Enlarged my Empire and Exalted it above the Royal Estate of my Progenitors who although they Arrived to the Monarchy of all England ever since Athelstan yet the Divine Goodness hath favoured me to Subdue all the Kingdomes of the Island in the Ocean with their most Stout and Mighty Kings even as far as Norway and the greatest part of Ireland together with their most Famous City of Dublin After him King Canutus left a Testimony whereby he most expresly Asserteth the Sea to be a part of his Dominion For placing himself by the Sea side in the time of a High Tide upon Southampton shoare he is reported to have made tryal of the Obedience of the Sea in this manner Thou O Sea art under my Dominion as the Land also which I sit upon is mine And there was never any that disobeyed my Command without Punishment Therefore I command thee not to ascend upon my Land nor do thou presume to wet the Feet or Garments of Thy Sovereign But although the Event did not answer his Expectation yet most plain it is that here he openly professed himself to be Sovereign of the Seas as well as of the Land From the Testimonies of the Saxons and Danes we shall Descend to the Government of the Normans where by many Notable and Cleer Proofs we shall finde That 1. The Custody Government or Admiralty of the English Sea did belong unto the King together with the Dominion of the Adjacent Islands 2. That the Leave of Passage through this Sea was granted unto Forreigners upon Request 3. That the Liberty of Fishing was upon Courtesie Allowed to Forreigners and Neighbours and Protection given to the Fisher-men 4. That Laws and Limits were Prescribed to Forreigners who being in Hostility the one with the other but both in Amity with the English made Prize of each other on the Sea 5. The Records whereby this Dominion is expressely Asserted as a most Undoubted Right and that not onely by the Kings but by the Parliaments of England As for the First There is nothing more Cleer than that the Kings of England have been Accustomed to Constitute Governours or Commanders who had a Charge to Guard the English Seas and these were called Custodes Navium or Custodes Maritimi These were the Officers that were called Butsecarli as may be gathered out of that Breviary of England called Doomes Day In this Number was Thomas de Moleton who is Stiled Captain and Guardian of the Sea and Hugh de Cerquen Afterwards the Title of Guardians was changed into that of Admiral as is alleaged by Thomas Walsingham in the days of Edward the First We finde that in the days of Edward the third The Principal End of Calling that Parliament was concerning the Preservation of Peace both by Land and Sea giving us to understand that the Land and Sea together made one entire Body of the Kingdome of England In the
time of Richard the Second Hugh Calverley was made Admiral of the Sea saith the same Author and the Universal Custody of the Sea was committed by our Kings to the High Admirals of England And that the Dominion of the Seas is properly in the Power and Jurisdiction of the King may appear by those Tributes and Customes that were Imposed and Payed for the Guard and Protection of them The Tribute called the Danegeld was paid in the Time of the English Saxons which amounted to four shillings upon every Hide of Land for the defending of the Dominion by Sea Roger Houerden affirmeth that this was paid until the Time of King Stephen Afterwards Subsidies have been demanded of the People in Parliament upon the same Account and in the Parliament-Records of King Richard the Second it is Observable That a Custome was imposed upon every Ship that passed through the Northern Admiralty that is from the Thames along the Eastern Shoare of England towards the North-East for the Maintenance of a Guard for the Seas Neither was this Imposed onely upon the English but also upon the Ships of Forreigners payment was made at the Rate of six pence a Tun upon every Vessell that passed by such Ships only excepted that brought Merchandize out of Flanders into London If a Vessel were imployed to Fish for Herrings it payed the Rate of Six pence a week upon every Tun If for other kind of Fish so much was to be payed every three weeks as they who brought Coles to London from New-Castle paid it every three Moneths But if a Vessel were bound North-wards to Prussia Scone or Norway or any of the Neighbouring Countries it payed a particular Custome according to the Weight and Proportion of the Freight And if any were unwilling it was Lawful to Compel them to pay In this Place we shall give you the Copy of the usual form of a Commission whereby the High Admiral of England is Invested with Authority for the Guard of the Sea it runneth in these Words VVE Give and Grant to N. the Office of our Great Admiral of England Ireland Wales and of the Dominions and Islands belonging to the same also of our Town of Calais and our Marches thereof Normandy Acquitayn and Gascoign and we have Made Appointed and Ordained And by these Presents we Make Appoint and Ordain â—im the said N. our Admiral of England Ireland and Wales and our Dominions and Isles of the same our Town of Calais and our Marches thereof Normandy Gascoign and Aquitayn as also General Governour over all our Fleets and SEAS of our said Kingdomes of England and Ireland and our Dominions and Islands belonging to the same And know ye further that we of our especial Grace and upon certain Knowledge do Give and Grant to the said N our Great Admiral of England and Governour General over our Fleets and Seas aforesaid all manner of Iurisdictions Authorities Liberties Offices Fees Profits Duties Emoluments Wracks of the Sea cast Goods Regards Advantages Commodities Preheminences Priviledges whatsoever to the said Officer our Great Admiral of England and Ireland and of the other Places and Dominions aforesaid in any manner Whatsoever Belonging or Appertaining Thus we see we have a continual Possession or Dominion of the Kings of England by Sea pointed out in very Expresse Words for very many years We may add to this that it can be proved by words plain enough in the form of the Commissions for the Command of High Admiral of England that the Sea for whose Defence he was appointed by the King of England who is Lord and Sovereign of it was ever bounded towards the South by the Shores of Aquitain Normandy and Picardy for although those Countries sometimes in the Possession of the English are now lost and for many years under the Jurisdiction of the French yet the whole Sea Flowing betwixt our Brittish Isles and the Provinces over against them are by a Peculiar Dominion and Right of the King of England on those Seas subject unto them whom he puts in Command over the English Fleet and Coasts that there remaineth neither Place nor Use for any other Commanders of that kinde And as for the Islands of Gernesey Jersey and the rest Mr. Selden affirmeth that before a Court of Delegats in France in expresse terms it hath been acknowledged that the King of England hath ever been Lord not onely of this Sea but also of the Islands placed therein Par raison du Royalmed ' Angleterre upon the Account of the Realm of England or as they were Kings of England And in the Treaty held at Charters when Edward the Third Renounced his Claim to Normandy and some other Counties of France that bordered upon the Sea it was added that no Controversie should remain touching the Islands but that he should hold all Islands whatsoever which he Possessed at that time whither they lay before those Countries y t he held there or others For Reason required this that he should maintain his Dominion by Sea And both Gernesey and Jersey as well as the Isles of Wight and Man in several Treaties held betwixt the Kings of England and other Princes are acknowledged not onely to lye neer unto the Kingdome of England but to belong unto it But to give a greater Light to this Truth we may from several Records produce many Testimonies that the Kings of England have given leave unto to Forreigners upon Request to passe through their Seas he gave permission to Ferrando Vrtis de Sarachione a Spaniard to Sail freely from the Port of London through his Kingdomes Dominions and Jurisdiction to the Town of Rochel There are Innumerable Letters of safe Conducts in the Records especially of Henry the Fifth and Sixth whereby safe Port and Passage was usually granted And it is worthy of observation that these kinde of Letters was usually superscribed and directed by those Kings to their Governours of the Sea-Admirals Vice-Admirals and Sea-Captains And to clear all at once the Kings of England have such an absolute Dominion in the English Seas that they have called the Sea it self their Admiralty And this we finde in a Commission of King Edward the Third The Title whereof is De Navibus Arrestandis Capiendis For the Arresting and Seizing of Ships The Form of it runs in these Words The King to his beloved Thomas de Wenlock his Serjeant at Armes and Lievtenant To our Beloved and Trusty Reginald de Cobham Admiral of our Fleet of Ships from the mouth of the River of Thames towards the Western parts Greeting Be it known unto you that we have appointed you with all the speed that may be used by you and such as shall be Deputed by you to Arrest and Seize all Ships Flie-Boats Barks and Burges of ten Tun burthen and upwards which may happen to be found in my foresaid ADMIRALTY that is in the Sea reaching from the Thames Mouth towards the South and West and
the Assent of His Peers That if the Governour or Commander of the Kings Navy in His Naval Expeditions shall meet with any Ships whatsoever by Sea either Laden or Empty that shall refuse to strike their sayles at the Command of the Kings Governour or Admiral or his Lievtenant but make resistance against any who be long unto his Fleet that then they are to be reputed Enemies and if they be taken their Ships and Goods to be Consiscated as the Goods of Enemies And that although the Masters or Owners of the Ships shall Alledge afterwards that the same Ships and Goods do belong to the Friends and Allies of our Lord the King yet the persons who shall be found in these Ships are to be punished with Imprisonment at discretion for their Rebeltion It was accounted Treason saith Master Selden If any ship what soever had not acknowledged the Dominion of the King of England in His own Sea by striking sayle and they were not to be protected upon the Account of Amity who should in any wise presume to do the contrary Penalties were also appointed by the Kings of England in the same manner as if mention were made concerning a Crime committed in some Territory of his Land But above all that as yet hath been said there can hardly be alledged a more convincing Argument to prove the Truth of all that hath hitherto been spoken then the Acknowledgement of the Sea-Dominion of the King of England by very many of our Neighbouring Nations At what time the Agreement was made by Edward the First of England and Philip the Fair of France Reyner Grimbald Governour of the French Navy Intercepted and Spoyled on the English Seas the Goods of many Merchants that were going to Flanders as well English as Others and not contented with the Depredation of their Goods He Imprisoned also their Persons and delivered them up to the Officers of the King of France and in a very insolent manner justified his Actions in Writing as done by Authority of the King his Masters Commission This being alledged to be done to the great Damage and Prejudice of the King of England the Prelats Peers and the rest of the Nation a Bill against Reyner Grimbald was exhibited and managed by Procurators on the behalf of the Prelates Peers and of the Cities and Towns throughout England and lastly of the whole English Nation by an Authority as I believe of the Estates Assembled in Parliament with these were joyned the Procurators of most Nations bordering upon the Sea throughout Europe Viz. The Genoeses The Catalonians The Spaniards The Almayns The Zealanders The Hollanders The Freislanders The Danes The Noruegians The Hamburghers c. All these instituted a Complaint against Reyner Grimbald who was Governour of the French Navy in the time of the. War of Philip King of France and Guy Earle of Flanders And all these Complainants in their Bill do joyntly affirm that the King of Englandand his Predecessors have time out of minde and without Controversie Enjoyed the Soveraignty and Dominion of theEnglish Seas and the Isles belonging to the same by Right of their Realm of England that is to say by Prescribing Laws Statutes and Prohibitions of Armes and of Ships otherwise furnished then with such necessaries and Commodities as belong to Merchants and by demanding Security and affording protection in all places where need should require and ordering all other things necessary for the conservation of Peace Right and Equity between all sorts of People passing through that Sea as well Strangers as others in Subjection to the Crown ofEngland Also that they have had and have the Soveraign Guard thereof with all manner of Cognisance and Jurisdiction in doing Right and Justice according to the said Laws Ordinances and Prohibitions and in all other matters which may concern the Exercise of Soveraign Dominion in the said places This is the Declaration of the Nations above named manifestly acknowledging the Sovereignty and Dominion of our Kings over the Seas and thereupon demanding protection for themselves But more particularly we do finde an acknowledgment of the Sea-Dominions of the Kings of England made by the Flemmings themselves in the Parliament of England in the Reign of Edward the Second the Records of the Parliament speak it thus In the Fourteenth Year of the Reign ofEdward the Second there appeared certain Ambassadours of the Earl of Flanders to Treat about the Reformation of some Injuries they received and as soon as the said Ambassadours had been admitted by our Lord the King to Treat of the said Injuries amongst other particulars they required that the said Lord the King would at his own Suit by Vertue of his Royal Authority cause Enquiry to be made and do Justice about a Depredation by the Subjects of England upon the English Seas taking Wines and other sort of Merchandizes belonging to certain Merchants of Flanders towards the parts of Crauden within the Territory and Jurisdiction of the King of England Alledging that the said Wines and other Merchandizes taken from the Flemmings were brought within the Realm and Jurisdiction of the King and that it belonged to the King to see Justice done in Regard thatHE IS LORD OF THE SEA and the aforesaid Depredation was made upon the said Sea within his Territory and Jurisdiction c. This we have Cited out of the Parliament Records which may Declare an Acknowledgement of the Sea-Dominion of our Kings made by those Foreign and Neighbour-Nations who were most concerned in the Business Having given you thus besides the Attestation of our own Writers the acknowledgment of Foreign Nations that the King of England hath the Dominion of the Seas we shall now come to give you an Account of those Northern Seas which came unto the Subjection of the Kings of England at what time King James of Blessed Memory by reducing the two Nations into one Great Brittanie United the Crown of Scotland to the Crown of England Odericus in his Ecclesiastical History informs us that the Orcades was subject heretofore to the King of Norway and that the people of the Orcades do speak the Gothish Language to this day these Isles are Numerous and onely Twenty Eight of them are at this day Inhabited Above One Hundred Miles beyond the Orcades towards Norway are the Shetland Isles in Number Eighteen which are at this day Inhabited and in subjection to the King of Scotland concerning which there hath been a great Quarrel in former Ages between the Scots and Danes but the Dane kept the Possession All these Islands did Christiern King of Denmark peaceably Surrender together with his Daughter in Marriage to James King of Scots until that either he himself or his Posterity paid to the Scottish King or his Successors the sum of Fifty Thousand Rhenish Florens which were never discharged to this day But afterwards when the Queen had been delivered of Her Eldest Son the Danish King being willing to Congratulate
numerous and well-provided that our Netherland Neighbours being touched with the apprehension of some great design in hand for the Interest of England by Sea and of the guilt that lay upon their own Consciences for their bold Encroachments soon betrayed their Jealousies and Fears and in them a sense of their offences before ever the Proclamation was made publick As I might shew at large if it were requisite by certain Papers of a publick Character yet in being But there is one Instar omnium which may serve in stead of all and it is an acute Letter of Secretary Coke's that was written to Sir William Boswel the Kings Resident then at the Hague the Original whereof is still reserved among the publick Papers In which Letter he sets forth the Grounds and Reasons of preparing that gallant Navy with the Kings resolution to maintain the Right derived from his Ancestors in the Dominion of the Seas and therefore I here render a true Copy of it so farr as concerns this business as most pertinent to our purpose SIR BY Your Letters and otherwise I perceive many jealousies and discourses are raised upon the preparations of His Majesties Fleet which is now in such forwardness that we doubt not but within this Month it will appear at Sea It is therefore expedient both for your satisfaction and direction to inform you particularly what was the occasion and what is His Majesties intention in this work First we hold it a principle not to be denied That the King of Great Brittain is a Monarch at Land and Sea to the full extent of His Dominions and that it concerneth him as much to maintain His Soveraignty in all the British Seas as within His three Kingdoms because without that these cannot be kept safe nor he preserve his honour and due respect with other Nations But commanding the Seas he may cause his Neighbours and all Countries to stand upon their guard whensoever he thinks fit And this cannot be doubted that whosoever will encroach upon him by Sea will do it by Land also when they see their time To such presumption Mare liberum gave the first warning-piece which must be answered with a defence of Mare clausum not so much by Discourses as by the louder Language of a powerful Navy to be better understood when overstrained patience seeth no hope of preserving her Right by other means The Degrees by which his Majesties Dominion at Sea hath of latter years been first impeached and then questioned are as considerable as notorious First to cherish and as it were to nourish up our unthankful Neighbors We gave them leave to gather wealth and strength upon our Coasts in our Ports by our Trade and by our People Then they were glad to invite our Merchants Residence with what priviledges they would desire Then they offered to us even the Soveraignty of their Estates and then they sued for License to Fish upon the Coasts and obtained it under the Great Seal of Scotland which now they suppresse And when thus by leave or by connivence they had possessed themselves of our Fishings not onely in Scotland but in Ireland and England and by our Staple had raised a great stock of Trade by these means they so encreased their Shiping and power at Sea that now they endure not to be kept at any distance Nay they are grown to that confidence to keep guards upon our Seas and then to project an Office and Company of Assurance for the Advancement of Trade and withal prohibit us free commerce even within our Seas and take our Ships and goods if we conform not to their Placarts What insolencies and cruelties they have committed against us heretofore in Ireland in Greenland and in the Indies is too well known to all the world In all which though our sufferings and their wrong may seem forgotten yet the great interest of His Majesties honour is still the same and will refresh their Memories as there shall be cause For though charity must remit wrongs done to private men yet the reflection upon the publick may make it a greater charity to do Justice on crying crimes All this notwithstanding you are not to conceive that the work of this Fleet is either revenge or execution of Justice for these great offences past but chiefly for the future to stop the violent Current of that presumption whereby the Men of War and Free-booters of all Nations abusing the favour of His Majesties peaceable and gracious Government whereby he hath permitted all His Friends and Allies to make use of His Seas and Ports in a reasonable and free manner and according to his Treaties have taken upon them the boldness not only to come confidently at all times into all his Ports and Rivers but to convey their Merchants ships as high as his chief City and then to cast Anchor close upon his Magazins and to contemn the Commands of his Officers when they required a farther distance stance But which is more intolerable have assaulted and taken one another within his Majesties Chamber and within his Rivers to the scorn and contempt of his Dominion and Power and this being of late years an ordinary practice which we have endeavoured in vain to reform by the ways of Justice and Treaties the world I think will now be satisfied that we have reason to look about us And no wise man will doubt that it is high time to put our selves in this Equipage upon the Seas and not to suffer that Stage of Action to be taken from us for want of our appearance So you see the general ground upon which our Counsels stands In particular you may take notice and publish as cause requires That His Majesty by this Fleet intendeth not a Rupture with any Prince or State nor to infringe any point of his Treaties but resolveth to continue and maintain that happy peace wherewith God hath blessed his Kingdom and to which all his Actions and Negotiations have ohitherto tended as by your own instructions you may fully understand But withal considering that Peace must be maintained by the arme of power which onely keeps down War by keeping up Dominion His Majesty thus provoked finds it necessary even for his own defence and safety to re-assume and keep his antient and undoubted Right in the Dominion of these Seas and to suffer no other Prince or State to encroach upon him thereby assuming to themselves or their Admirals any Soveraign command but to force them to perform due homage to his Admirals and Ships and to pay them acknowledgements as in former times they did He will also set open and protect the free Trade both of his Subjects and Alies And give them such safe Conduct and Convoy as they shall reasonably require He will suffer no other Fleets or Men of War to keep any guard upon these Seas or there to offer violence or take prizes or booties or to give interruption to any lawfull intercourse In a word
his Majesty is resolved as to do no wrong so to do Justice both to his Subjects and Friends within the limits of his Seas And this is the real and Royal design of this Fleet whereof you may give part as you finde occasion to our good Neighbours in those parts that no Umbrage may be taken of any hostile act or purpose to their prejudice in any kinde So wishing you all health and happiness I rest Your Assured friend and Servant JOHN COOK White-hall 16. April 1635. our style The inestimable Riches and Commodities of the Brittish Seas THe Coasts of Great Brittain do yield such a continual Sea-harvest of gain and benefit to all those that with diligence do labour in the same that no time or season in the year passeth away without some apparent means of profitable imployment especially to such as apply themselves to Fishing which from the beginning of the year unto the latter end continueth upon some pat or other of our Coasts and therein such infinite sholes and multitudes of Fishes are offered to the Takers as may justly move admiration not onely to strangers but to those that daily be imployed among them The Summer-Fishing for Herring beginneth about Midsummer and lasteth some part of August The Winter-Fishing for Herring lasteth from September to the middle of November both which extend in place from Boughones in Scotland to the Thames mouth The Fishing for Cod at Alamby Whirlington and White Haven near the Coast of Lancashire from Easter untill Whitsontide The Fishing for Hake at Aberdenie Abveswhich and other places between Wales and Ireland from Whitsontide to Saint James-tide The Fishing of Cod and Ling about Padstow within the Land and of Severn from Christmas to Mid-lent The Fishing for Cod on the West-part of Ireland frequented by those of Biscay Galicia and Portugal from the beginnig of April untill the end of June The Fishing for Cod and Ling on the North and North-East of Ireland from Christmas until Michaelmas The Fishing for Pilchers on the West coast of England from Saint James-tide until Michaelmas The Fishing for Cod and Ling upon the North-East of England from Easter untill Midsummer The Fishing of great Staple-Ling and many other sorts of Fish lying about the Island of Scotland and in the several parts of the Brittish Seas all the year long In September not many years since upon the Coast of Devonshire near Minigal Five Hundred Tun of Fish were taken in one day And about the same time three thousand pounds worth of Fish in one day were taken at Saint Ives in Cornwall by small Boats and other poor provisions Our five-men-Boats and cobles adventuring in a calm to launch out amongst the Holland Busses not far from Robinhood's Bay returned to Whitbie full fraught with Herrings and reported that they saw some of those Busses take Ten Twenty Twenty four lasts at a draught of Herrings and returned into their own Country with Forty Fifty and an Hundred Lasts of Herrings in one Buss Our Fleet of Colliers not many years since returning from Newcastle laden with Coals about the Well near Flanborough-Head and Scarborough met with such multitudes of Cod Ling and Herring that one amongst the rest with certain ship-hooks and other like instruments drew up as much Cod and Ling in a little space of time as were sold well near for as much as her whole Lading of Cole And many Hundred of ships might have been there laden in two dayes and two nights Out of which wonderfull affluence and abundance of Fish swarming in our Seas that we may the better perceive the infinite gain which Forreign Nations make I will especially insist upon the Fishing of the Hollanders in our Coasts and thereby shew how by this means principally they have increased 1. In Shipping 2. In Mariners 3. In Trade 4. In Towns and Fortifications 5. In Power extern or abroad 6. In publick Revenue 7. In private Wealth 8. In all manner of Provisions and store of things Necessarie 1. Encrease of Shipping BEsides Seven Hundred Strand-Boats Four Hundred Evars and Four Hundred Sullits Drivers and Tod-boats wherewith the Hollanders Fish upon their own Coasts every one of those imploying another Ship to fetch Salt and carry their Fish into other Countries being in all Three Thousand Sayle maintaining and setting on work at least Four Thousand persons Fishers Tradesmen Women and Children They have One Hundred Doyer Boats of One Hundred and Fifty Tuns apiece or there abouts Seven Hundred Pinks and Well-Boats from Sixty to One Hundred Tuns apiece which altogether Fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland for Cod and Ling onely And each of these employ another Vessel for providing of Salt and transporting of their Fish making in all One Thousand Six Hundred ships which maintain and employ persons of all sorts Four Thousand at least For the Herring-season they have One Thousand Six Hundred Busses at the least all of them Fishing onely upon our Coasts from Boughonness in Scotland to the mouth of Thames And every one of these maketh work for three other ships that attend her the one to bring in Salt from Forreign parts another to carry the said Salt and Cask to the Busses and to bring back their Herrings and the third to Transport the said Fish into Forreign Countries So that the Total Number of Ships and Busses plying the Herring Fare is Six Thousand Four Hundred whereby every Busse one with another imployeth Forty Men Mariners and Fishers within her own Hold and the rest Ten Men a piece which amounteth to One Hundred Twelve Thousand Fishers and Mariners All which maintain double if not treble so many Tradesmen Women and Children a land Moreover they have Four Hundred other Vessels at least that take Herring at Yarmouth and there sell them for ready money so that the Hollanders besides Three Hundred ships before-mentioned fishing upon their own shores have at least Four Thousand Eight Hundred ships only maintained by the Seas of Great Brittain by which means principally Holland being not so big as one of our shires of England containing not above Twenty Miles in length and three in breadth have encreased the number of their shipping to at least Ten Thousand sayle being more then are in England France Spain Portugal Italy Denmark Poland Sweden and Russia And to this number they add every day although their Country it self affords them neither materials or victual nor merchandise to be accounted of towards their setting forth Besides these of Holland Lubeck hath Seven Hundred great ships Hamborough Six Hundred Embden Fourteen Hundred whereunto add the ships of Bremer Biscay Portugal Spain and France which for the most part fish in our Seas and it will appear that Ten Thousand sayle of Forreign Vessels and above are employed and maintained by fishing upon our Coasts So that in Holland there are built a thousand sayle at the least to supply ship-wracks and augment their store which as the Prince and common Nursery
thirdly the decay of many good Marriners both able in body by their diligence labour and continual exercise of Fishing and expert by reason thereof in the knowledge of the Sea-Coasts as well within this Realm as in other parts beyond the Seas It was therefore enacted that no manner of Persons English Denizens or strangers at that time or any time after dwelling in England should buy any Fish of any strangers in the said Ports of Flanders Zealand Picardie France or upon the Sea between shoare and shoare c. This Act by many continuances was continued from Parliament to Parliament until the first of Queen Marie and from thence to the end of the next Parliament and then expired For Conclusion seeing by that which hath formerly been declared it evidently appeareth that the Kings of England by immemorable prescription continual usage and possession the acknowledgment of all our Neighbour-States and the Municipal Laws of the Kingdom have ever held the Sovereign Lordship of the Seas of England and that unto his Majesty by reason of his Sovereignty the supream command and Jurisdiction over the passage and Fishing in the same rightfully apperteineth considering also the natural Scite of those our Seas that interpose themselves between the great Northern Commerce of that of the whole world and that of the East West and Southern Climates and withal the infinite commodities that by Fishing in the same is daily made It cannot be doubted but his Majesty by means of his own excellent Wisdom and Virtue and by the Industry of his faithful Subjects and People may easily without injustice to any Prince or Person whatsoever be made the greatest Monarch for Command and Wealth and his People the most opulent and Flourishing Nation of any other in the world And this the rather for that his Majesty is now absolute Commander of the Brittish Isle and hath also enlarged his Dominions over a great part of the Western Indies by means of which extent of Empire crossing in a manner the whole Ocean the Trade and persons of all Nations removing from one part of the world to the other must of necessity first or last come within compass of his power and jurisdiction And therefore the Sovereignty of our Seas being the most precious Jewel of his Majestie 's Crown and next under God the principal means of our Wealth and Safety all true English hearts and hands are bound by all possible means and diligence to preserve and maintain the same even with the uttermost hazzard of their Lives their Goods and Fortunes Thus you see what wonderous advantages may redound to the Felicity and Glory of this Nation if God give hearts and resolutions to vindicate those rights which are now most impiously and injuriously invaded There is also another Dominion of the Sea belonging to the King of Great Brittain and that of a very large Extent upon the Shore of America as on the Virginian Sea and the Islands of the Barbadoes and Saint Christophers and many other places but how farr our English Colonies Transported into America have Possessed themselves of the Sea there is not exactly as yet discovered A further Assertion that the Sea is under the Laws of Propriety Declared in a full Convention betwixt Ferdinando Emperour of Germany and the Republick of Venice in the Year 1563. AT this Convention the Complaints on both sides were opened And it being required in the Name of his Emperial Majesty that it may be Lawful for his Subjects and others to Traffick freely in the Adriatick Sea It was answered by the Advocate of the Common-Wealth of Venice that Navigation indeed ought to be free yet those things at which his Imperial Majesty found himself agrieved were no ways repugnant to this Freedom for as much as in Countries which are most free Those who have the Dominion thereof receive Custome and do give Bounds and prescribe Order by which way all Merchandize shall pass and therefore none should finde themselves agrieved if the Venetians for their own Respects did use to do so in the Adriatick Seas which is under their Dominion there being nothing more known then that the Common-Wealth of Venice were Lords of the Adriatick Sea and do exercise that Dominion which from time out of minde it had always done as well in receiving of Customes as in assigning of places for the Exaction of it And that according to former Capitulations the Subjects of the Venetians were to have no less liberty in the Lands of the Austrians then the Austrian Subjects in the Sea of Venice And if his Imperial Majesty within his own State upon the Land will not permit that the Subjects of the Common-Wealth of Venice shall go which way they list but doth constrain them to go by such places onely where customs is to be paid he cannot with Justice demand that his Subjects may passe by or through the Sea of the Republick which way they please but must content himself that they passe that way onely which shall best stand with the Advantage of those who have the Dominion over it And if his Majesty cause Custome to be paid upon his Land why may not the Venetians likewise do it upon their Sea He demanded of them if by the Capitulation they would have it that the Emperour should be restrained or hindred from the taking of Custome And if not why would they have the Venetians tyed thereunto by a Capitulation which speaks of both Potentates equally with the same words He proceeded in a Confirmation of the Truth that the Republick had the Dominion of the Sea and although the proposition was true that the Sea is common and free yet it is no otherwise to be understood there in the same sence when usually we say that the high-way are common free by which is meant that they cannot be Usurped by any private Person for his sole proper service but remain to the use of every one Not therefore that they are so free as that they should not be under the Protection and Government of some Prince and that every one might do therein Licenciously whatsoever pleaseth Him either by Right or by Wrong for as much as such Licenciousness or Anarchy both of God Nature as well by Sea as by Land That the true liberty of the Sea excludes it not from the protection and superiority of such as maintain it in Liberty nor from the Subjection to the Laws of such as have Command over it but rather necessarily it includes it That the Sea no less then the Land is Subject to be divided amongst men appropriated to Cities and Potentates which long since was ordained by God from the beginning of man kind as a thing most Natural And this was well understood by Aristotle when he said that unto Maritine Cities the Sea is the Territory because from thence they take their Sustenance and Defence A thing which cannot possibly be unless that part of it be appropriated
of their Men of War which they yearly send out to maintain that by force which they may have of Courtesie The Prince answered that for himself at His Return from Utrecht he would do his best endeavour to procure His Majesty contentment but he doubted the Hollanders would apprehend the same effect in their payment for Fishing as they found in the passage of the Sound where at first an easie matter was demanded by the King of Denmark but now more exacted then they can possibly bear And touching their Men of War he said they must still be at the same charge with them because of the Pirates Withal he cast out a question to me whether this freedom of Fishing might not be redeemed with a summ of money To which I answered It was a matter of Royalty more then of Utility though Princes were not to neglect their profit And in another Letter of the said Lord Ambassadour from the Hague to Secretary Naunton of the 14. of January 1618. He gives him to understand That having been expostulated with but in friendly manner by certain of the States about his late Proposition as unseasonable and sharp they said they acknowledge their Commissioners went beyond their limits in their terms of Immemorial possession and immuable Droict de Gens for which they had no order Then saith he I desire them to consider what a wrong it is to challenge that upon right which these Provinces have hitherto enjoyed either by connivence or courtesie and yet never without claim on His Majesties side c. In another Letter of Secretary Naunton's to the Lord Ambassadour Carlton of the 21. of January 1618. we read thus AS I had dictated thus far I received direction from His Majesty to signifie to the States-Commissioners here That albeit their earnest entreaty and His Gracious consideration of the present trouble of their Church and State had moved His Majesty to consent to delay the Treaty of the great Fishing till the time craved by the Commissioners yet understanding by newand fresh complaints of His Martiners and Fishers upon the Coasts of Scotland that within these four or five last years the Low-Country-Fishers have taken so great advantage of His Majesties Tolleration that they have grown nearer and nearer upon His Majesties Coasts year by year then they did in preceeding Times without leaving any Bounds for the Country People and Natives to Fish upon their Prince's Coasts and oppressed some of His Subjects of intent to continue their pretended possession and driven some of their great Vessels through their Nets to deter others by fear of the like violence from Fishing near them c. His Majesty cannot forbear to tell them that he is so well perswaded of the Equity of the States and of the Honourable respect they bear unto him and to His Subjects for His sake that they will never allow so unjust and intolerable Oppressions for restraint whereof and to prevent the inconveniences which must ensue upon the continuance of the same His Majesty hath by me desired them to write to their Superiours to cause Proclamation to be made prohibiting any of their Subjects to Fish within Fourteen Miles of His Majesties Coasts this year or in any time hereafter untill order be taken by Commissioners to be authorised on both sides for a final setling of the main business His Majesty hath likewise directed me to command you from Him to make the like Declaration and Instance to the States there and to certifie His Majesty of their Answer with what convenient speed you may Thus sarr Secretary Naunton to the Ambassadour Now what effect the Ambassadour's Negotiation with the States had appears by a Letter of his from the Hague of the 6. of February 1618. to Kings James himself where among other passages he hath this I finde likewise in the manner of proceeding that treating by way of Proposition here nothing can be exspected but their wonted dilatory and evasive Answers their manner being to resey such Propositions from the States General to the States of Holland The States of Holland take advice of a 〈◊〉 Council residing at Delph which they call the Council of the Fishery From them such an Answer commonly comes as may be expected from such an Oracle The way therefore under correction to effect Your Majestiesintent is to begin with the Filhers themselves by publishing against the time of their going out Your resolution at what distance You will permit them to Fish whereby they will be forced to have recoursero their Council of Fishery that Council to the States of Holland and those of Holland to the States-General who then in place of being sought unto will for contentment of their Subjects seek unto Your Majesty A Proclamation by King Charles the First For restraint of Fishing upon His Seas and Coasts without Lisence WHere as Our Father of Blessed Memory Kings James did in the Seventh Year of His Reign of Great Brittain set forth a Proclamation touching Fishing whereby for the many important Reasons therein expressed all Persons of what Nation of Quality soever being not His Natural born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were restrained from fishing upon 〈◊〉 the Coasts and Seas of Great Brittain Ireland and the rest of the Istes adjacent where most usually heretofore Fishing had been until they had orderly demanded and obtained Licenses from Our said Father 〈◊〉 Commissioners in that behalf upon pain of such â—â—â—â—…sement as should be fit to be inflicted upon such wilful Offendors since which time albeit neither Our said Father nor Our Self have made any considerable execution of the said Proclamation but have with much Patience expected a voluntary conformity of Our Neighbours and Allies to so just and reasonable Prohibitions and Directions as are contained in the same And now finding by experience that all the inconveniences which occasioned that Proclamation are rather increased then abated We being very sensible of the premises and well knowing how farr We are obliged in Honour to maintain the rights of Our Crown especially of so great consequence have thought it necessary by the Advice of our Privy Council to renew the aforesaid restraint of Fishing upon Our aforesaid Coasts Seas without License first obtained from Us and by these presents to make publick Declaration that Our resolution is at times convenient to keep such a competent strength of Shiping upon Our Seas as may by God's blessing be sufficient both to hinder such further encroachments upon Our Regalties and asâ—â—â—t and Proâ—â—â—â— those Our God Friends and Allies who shall henceforth by virtue of Our Licenses to be first obtained endeavour to take the benefit of Fishing upon Our Coasts and Seas in the places accustomed Given at our Palace of Westminster the 10 day of May in the Twelfth year of our Reign of England Scotland France and Ireland This Proclamation being set forth in the year 1636. served to speak the intent of those Naval preparations made before in the year 1635. which were so