in a very Insolent manner Justified his Actions in Writing as done by Authority of the King his Master's Commission This being alledged to be done to the great Damage and prejudice of the King of England the Prelates Peers and the rest of the Nation Exhibited a Bill against Reyner Grimbald and managed by the Procurators on the behalf of the Prelates Peers and of the Cities and Towns through out England and also of the whole Kingdom of England in General and by and with the Authority as is supposed of the Estates assembled in Parliament with those were joyned Procurators of most Nations Bordering upon the Sea throughout Europe viz. The Genoeses The Catalonians The Spainards The Almayns The Zealanders The Hollanders The Freezlanders The Danes The Norwegians The Hamburghers And all these instituted a complaint against Reyner Grimbald who was Admiral of the French Navy in the time of the War between Philip King of France and Guy Earl of Flanders And all these Complainants in their Bill do joyntly affirm That the King of England and his Predecessors have time out of mind and without controversie enjoyed the Sovereignty and Dominion of the English Seas and the Isles belonging to the same by Right of the Realm of England that is to say by prescribing Laws Statutes and Prohibition of Arms and of Ships otherwise Furnished than with such Necessaries and Commodities as belong to Merchants c. Also That they have had and have the Sovereign Guard hereof with all manner of Cognizance and Jurisdiction doing right and Justice according to the said Laws Ordinances and Prohibitions and in all other Matters which may concern the Exercise of Sovereign Dominion in the said Places This is the Declarations of the Nations aforemention'd and they did declare he was Lord of the Sea c. This is Cited out of the Parliament Records and they did declare an Acknowledgment of the Sea Dominion of our Kings made by those Foreign and Neighbour Nations who were most concern'd in the Business to the Glory of our Kings of England Mr. Hitchcock in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth presented a Book to the Parliament concerning the Commodity of Fishing That the Hollanders and Zealanders every year towards the latter end of Summer do send out four or five Hundred Vessels called Busses to Fish for Herrings in our Eastern Seas but before they Fish they ask leave of Starbourough these were the Words Care was also taken in King James the first of Englands Reign That no Foreigner should Fish on the English or Irish Seas without leave first obtained and every year at the least this leave was renewed from Commissioners for that purpose appointed at London And the Kings of France have desired leave of the Kings of England for a certain time to Fish on our Seas only for Fish for his Houshould and obliged themselves in Articles That none of the Fish that was taken in the British Seas should be exposed to sale in any Market In the Seventh year of the Reign of King James the first the Sovereignty of the British Seas was Strenuously asserted by Proclamation and all Persons excluded from the use of the Seas upon our Coasts without particular Licence the Grounds whereof you have here set down in the Proclamation it self A PROCLAMATION Touching Fishing JAMES by the Grace of God King of Great-Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To all and Singular Persons to whom it may appertain Greeting Although we do sufficiently know by our Experience in the Office of Regal Dignity in which by the Favour of Almighty God we have been Placed and Exercised these many years as also by the Observation which we have made of other Christian Princes exemplary Actions how far the Absoluteness of Sovereign Power extendeth it self and that in Regard thereof we need not yield Account to any Person under God for any Action of ours which is Lawfully Grounded upon that Just Prerogative yet such hath ever been and shall be our Care and Desire to give satisfaction to our Neighbour Princes and Freinds in any Action which may have the least Relation to their Subjects and Estates as we have thought Good by way of Premonition to declare to them and to whomsoever it may appertain as followeth Whereas we have been contented since our coming to the Crown to tolerate an Indifferent and Promiscuous kind of Liberty to all our Friends whatsoever to Fish within our Streams and upon any of our Coasts of Great Britain Ireland and other adjacent Islands so far forth as the Permission or use thereof might not redound to the Impeachment of our Prerogative Royal nor to the Hurt and Damage of our loving Subjects whose Preservation and Flourishing Estate we hold our self Principally bound to Advance before all worldly Respects so finding that our Continuance therein hath not only given occasion of over-great Encroachments upon our Regalities or rather questioning our Right but hath been a means of daily wrongs to our own People that exercise the Trade of Fishing as either by the Multitude of Strangers which do pre-ocupy those Places or by the Injuries that they receive Commonly at their Hands Our Subjects are constrain'd to abandon their Fishing or at least are become so discouraged in the same as they hold it better for them to betake themselves to some other course of Living whereby not only divers of our Coast Towns are much decayed but the Number of Mariners daily diminish which is a Matter of Great consequence to our Estates considering how much the Strength thereof consisteth in the Power of Shipping and use of Navigation We have thought it now both Just and Necessary in Respect that we are now by Gods Favour Linealy and Lawfully Possess'd as well of the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the rest of the Isles adjacent to bethink our selves of good lawful Means to prevent those Inconveniences and many others depending upon the same In consideration whereof as we are desirous that the World may take notice that we have no intention to deny our Neighbours the Allies those Fruits and Benefits of Peace and Friendship which may justly be expected at our hands in Honour and Reason or are afforded by other Princes in the point of Commerce and Exchange of those things which may not prove prejudicial to them So because some such convenient Order may be taken in this Matter as may sufficiently provide for these Important Considerations which do depend thereupon We have resolved first to give Notice to all the World that our Express pleasure is That from the beginning of the Month of August next coming no Person of what Nation or Quality soever being not our Natural Born Subjects be permitted to Fish on any of our Coasts and Seas of Great Britain Ireland and the rest of the Isles adjacent where most usually heretofore any Fishing hath been until they have orderly demanded and obtained Licenses from Us or such of Our
Preservation and ill Management of the Fishery amongst our selves it may be supposed it is high time to look to it But whether this Great Loss to the Kingdom hath been occasioned by our Wilful or inadvertised Neglect I shall not determine and hope it will speedily be taken into the Consideration of the most Judicious Patriots of our Countrey And then we shall draw back the Trade from Foreign Nations and Employ our own People The Great and Weighty Question upon this Point of Trade to be considered is Whether it is not the General Interest of England to Revive and Encourage a National Fishery it being the Main Pillar of the Trade of this Nation And humbly offer my weak Opinion of the Necessity of it For England being Situated in the very Jaws of Neptune by her commodious Harbours Rivers and Bays c. must be Defended by Shipping and she is the best accommodated with Sea-Ports of any Place in Christendom and stands fairest to be Lords of the Sea of any People in the World This Kingdom being an Island comparatively were it not for that Isthmus or Neck of Land to the North that joyns it to Scotland It must be universally allow'd that her Floating Castles must defend her from all Foreign Invasions or Incursions And since she is obliged to defend her self by Naval-Force It should be considered how that must be maintain'd and preserved For without those Bul-Warks the Kingdom and consequently the rest of the Dominions must be in a few years in a very deplorable Condition And nothing is more certain than that it is the Sea enricheth the Land which is confirmed by the great Advantages of getting Treasure by Navigation both at home and abroad as is manifested by the Grandeur that Merchants generally live in in England Holland France c. History gives a very Satisfactory Account of this Truth How the Venetians have arrived to that Greatness they now live in by Navigation and by their Naval Force claim a Prerogative of the Adriatick Sea And also to what Greatness hath the French King attained to by Navigation in a few years that he gives Laws in the Mediteranean Sea And the Hollanders by their Navigation are grown as Opulent almost if not altogether as any People in the World But in Queen Elizabeths Reign of Blessed Memory England gave so Fatal an Overthrow to the Spanish Armado in Anno 1588 that she was the Terror of the Whole Universe by being so Potent by Sea and after Her Majesties Success of that Famous Victory she was as much Aggrandized by Foreign Princes for Her Conquest as she would undoubtedly have been despised had she been overcome But how England has declined since Her Reign for want of the Fishery for Nursery for Sea-Faring Men is obvious to the whole World Woful Experience tells us how much our Neighbours have grown upon us by this Neglect of ours by the Wealth they have got within this forty or fifty years and also by their daily Increase of of Shipping And for want of true Telescope to see clearly how this National Fishery may be preserv'd and maintain'd we are and have been many years in the dark It is not only the Fish that we loose and the impoverishing the Coasting Towns and Burroughs the only Loss that this Nation sustains But for want of a prudent Method to Manage this Fishery We have only the Colour for a Nursery for Seamen which will not breed a tenth part of the Men we have occasion for in time War as we are an Island Further the Hollanders and French finds these Advantages by Encouraging of the Fishery's that they do not only get Wealth but it inures their Men to the Hardship of the Sea and makes them Skilful in Handling their Tackling in Pilotage and Navigation So that they know our own Coasts Shoals and Harbours better than we do But the Antient Britains permitted none to Fish on our Coasts or in our Seas nor any to Sail into the Island without their Leave and those only Merchants nor would not permit any Foreigner to View or Sound their Sea-Coasts Which was undoubedly a great Security to them and Encouragement to their Pilots but now 't is observable that the Hollanders seldom make use of English Pilots to come into any of our Harbours and if they have Occasion to Man out a Fleet of Men of War 't is but making a Draught out of the Fishery and they are put on Board their own Climate Whereas to the great Detriment of this Nation and Loss of our Men when we have occasion to Man the Royal Navy we are forc'd to press Tag Rag and Bob-Tail a parcell of Lowsy Vagrants and Vagabonds that have not Prowess to make them Soldiers nor Genius to make them Mariners and while they are in Harbour Eat up the Nations Provision And when they come to be Roll'd and Toss'd by the Waves at Sea they are as sick as so many Dogs and infect great Numbers of Sea-Faring-Men by which great Inconveniecy renders them more fit for an Hospital than a Fighting Navy as is seen in time of War and our Sea Commanders the daily Witness of this Calamity And it cannot be deny'd but that it was the Fishery of England that supplied Queen Elizabeths Navy with Seamen and made her so Potent to give so Fatal an Overthrow to the Spaniards That that one Blow was so Great a Loss that they will never Retrieve it nor be able to oppose us either by Sea or Land And Her Clemency to the Hollanders in giving them Permission to Fish on our Coasts was the very first Foundation that they laid to raise themselves to their present Grandeur and by the Wealth they have got and Shipping by their Breeding of Sea-Faring Men they are rendred very Formidable at Sea It is worth the while saith the Reverend Mr. Cambden to observe what an extraordinary Gain the Hollanders and Zealanders do make by Fishing on the English Seas having first obtained Leave from the Castle of Scarbourough For the English have ever granted them Leave to Fish reserving always the Honour and the Priviledge to themselves but through Negligence resigning the Profit unto Strangers 't is almost incredible saith he what a vast Sum of Money the Hollanders do make by this Fishing upon our Coast And in Edward the Fourth's Reign He ordered Commanders with a Naval Power to protect and Guard the Fisher-men upon the Coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk and the Charges of the Guard were defrayed by the Fishermen The English Nation were ever in past Ages Renowned for Sea-Affairs in all Countries near the Seas and they had also a Numerous Navy that the People of all Countries Esteemed and call'd the King of England King and Sovereign of the Seas And why England should not now insist upon the Sovereignty of the British Seas as in former times seems very Wonderful But some People may say that in case this Fishery were Encouraged
A VINDICATION OF A National-Fishery Wherein is Asserted That the GLORY WEALTH STRENGTH SAFETY and HAPPINESS of this KINGDOM with the Flourishing of TRADE and Growth of NAVIGATION As also the Employing the POOR of this Realm doth depend under GOD upon A National-Fishery And all the General Vulgar tho' Erroneous Objections against Encouraging the Fishery of England Answer'd and Confuted To which is added The SOVEREIGNTY of the BRITISH-SEAS England's a Perfect World 'T has Indies two Correct your Maps The Fishery is Peru. LONDON Printed for F. Coggan in the Inner Temple Lane MDCXCIX To the most Noble AND Mighty PRINCE THOMAS Duke of LEEDS MARQVESS of CARMARTHEN EARL of DANBY Viscount Latimore Baron Osbourne of Kiveton Lord President of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy-Council Lord Lieutenant of York-shire Governour of Kingston upon Hull AND KNIGHT OF THE Most Noble Order OF THE GARTER May it please Your Grace THE Great Applause you have so deservedly meritted hath encouraged me to Dedicate this small Epitomy to Your Honour and not knowing any Man that can with more lively Colours represent this Important Affair to the Wisdom of the Nation I lay it at Your Lordship's Feet as an UNDERTAKING which if Your Grace be pleased to Espouse for the Good of the Kingdom you will thereby add another Trophy to your former Atchievements and the Glory of the Action will be Recorded to all Posterity For upon a National-Fishery under God doth depend the Safety Honour and Happiness of this Kingdom the Flourishing of Trade and the Supporting of Credit as in the Sequel of my Discourse I hope I have made appear My Lord this Age gives us too many Examples of Discouraging Ingenuity many Excellent Qualities lying often hid under humble Looks and mean Habits which soon are discountenanc'd and suppress'd by Insulting Greatness and Popular Opulancy But You have shewed by the constant Example of Your Actions that You have Agreed with Seneca in his Renowned Maxim that sola virtus vera Nobilitas When so many others are blinded with their absurd Vanity and airy Greatness But you have rendred your self a true Patriot to your Country and therefore I most humbly implore this Book may be sheltred under the wings of Your Graces Protection who am Right Honourable and Renowned Sir Your Graces most humble And most obedient Servant Joseph Gander TO THE BARONS OF THE Cinque-Ports And the Members of Parliament for the Coasting-Towns and Burroughs of the Kingdom of England Honoured and Worthy Senators THE Cinque-Ports of this Kingdom having signalized their Loyalty and Valour by Sea in several Expeditions for the Glory of the King 's Honour of their Country and Safety of the Realm our preceding Kings confirmed several Dignities on them and amongst the rest made their Members of Parliament Barons as an Encouragement to Navigation and their Prowess And gave them the Honour of Supporting the Canopy over his Head at his Coronation as is supposed by way of Similitude That whereas they had Defended Supported and Maintained his Honour by their Courage against his Enemies by Sea he gave them the Honour to support the Canopy over his Head as a Mark of Honour to them and his Acknowledgement of the Greatness of their Service And many Coasting-Towns and Burroughs have from time to time been endowed with great Priviledges some of them remaining to this day as a mark of Honour by several Kings to Encourage Navigation from whence originally we have beyond all Dispute arrived to the Knowledge we are now attained to in Marine Affairs But now most of those Towns and Burroughs that formerly flourished by their Fishing are reduced to miserable Poverty and Thousands of Families ruined for want of the Fishery And the Gentlemen who have Estates in those Places or near the Coast are exceedingly impair'd Of which Calamity King Henry the 8th had undoubtedly a fore-sight of as appears by the Sratute of 33 of his Reign 't is there thus inserted because the English Fishermen dwelling on the Sea Coasts did leave off their Trade of Fishing in our Seas and went the half Seas over and thereupon they did buy Fish of Pickards Flemmings Normands and Zealanders by reason whereof many Incommodities did grow to the Realm viz. The Decay of the Wealth and Prosperity as well of the Cinque-Ports and Members of the same as of other Coasting-Towns by the Sea-side which were builded and inhabited by great Multitudes of People by reason of Using and Exercising the Feat and Craft of Fishing Secondly The decay of a great Number of Boats and Ships And thirdly the decay of many good Mariners both able in Body by their Diligence Labour and continual Exercise of Fishing and Expert by reason thereof in the Knowledge of our Sea-Coasts as well within the Realm as in other Parts beyond the Seas It was therefore Enacted That no manner of Persons English Denizons or Strangers at that time or any time after should buy any Fish of any Foreigners in the said Ports of Flanders zealand Pickardy or France or upon the Sea between Shoar and Shoar This shews what great Care our former Kings and Parliaments have taken to Preserve the Nursery for Sea-faring Men for the Defence of the Kingdom and for the Preservation of our Coasting Towns c. And have therefore thought fit in all Humility to Dedicate this Book to you as before-mentioned If my sincere Intentions to serve the Kingdom have its desired Success I have my wish who am Your most humble And most obedient Servant J. Gander A VINDICATION OF A National Fishery c. BY the Benign Goodness of God and by the Wise Conduct of our King and the Admirable Wisdom and prudent Care of our Sage Senatours at Home England after a tedious and Chargeable War hath obtained an Honourable Peace And the Sword being now Sheathed His Majesty in his most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament hath declared His Royal Inclination for the Preservation of the Saftety Honour and Happiness of the Kingdom c. So that it is not to be doubted but that the Genius of our Government will make it the Chiefest of their Care to Settle the Affairs of Trade upon the most firmest Foundation for the publick Good of our Nation For the most destructive Consumption that can happen to a Kingdom and the only Nurse of Idleness and Beggary is Want of Trade whereas on the contrary Increase of Trade encourageth Labour Art and Invention and enricheth the Common-Weal And beyond all Dispute the Fishery of England is the Main Trade of this Kingdom rightly Managed The good Patriots of our Country are to weigh the Matter And it is so comprehensive a Blessing that were those Advantages but Industriously improved that Providence hath bestowed on this Island we might consequently be the most Flourishing People in the whole World both by Sea and Land And seeing by the Decay of the Fishing Trade we have lain open to France and Holland by neglecting our own
that the French and Hollanders had never attained to that Force by Sea they are now arrived to if it had not been Encouraged by this Neglect of ours which in all Probability may prove the giving the Sword out of our own Power and to the last Degree prove Fatal to the English Nation if not speedily prevented And since God and Nature hath Offered so great a Treasure and lays it at our own Doors should we not be exceedingly to Blame if we do not accept of such a Wonderful Blessing which no People in the World but our selves can boast of to enjoy in so Bountiful a manner as this is Bestowed on us The Right Method to be taken to Retrieve and Secure our Priviledges ought to be the Great and Speedy Care of the best Patriot of our Country I might give here many Reasons for defending the Right of the Fishery to our own Subjects as upon the Reason of Justice Prudence and Interest and the Right of our Sovereignty of the British Seas admits of no Dispute Some Men may say that it is not a proper time to insist upon or Dispute the Sovereignty of the British Seas For these Reasons First the King is a Hollander Born Secondly that He hath an Estate and Revenues in Holland Thirdly if the States of Holland had not Assisted his Majesty with their Navy and Army in his Expedition against King James he would not have Succeeded in his Design Fourthly That the States of Holland may insist that if they had not Assisted England in the Distress they were involved in King James's Reign they had not been Delivered from Tyranny and Popery c. In Answer to these Objections I Humbly Offer these Considerations As to the First It is true the King was Born in Holland and by the Mothers side English but now His Majesty is Espoused to England by his Coronation Oath and therefore according to the Sacred Writ will no doubt cleave unto his Wife And let some Mens mistakes be what they will He must undoubtedly have a Greater Esteem for the English and for England that hath Crowned him with the Imperial Diadem of these Kingdoms and Dominions than for the Hollanders if once they should oppose the Sovereignty of the British Seas which is now his Right as hath been acknowledged by Hugo Grotius upon the Innaugaration of King James the First of England He rendreth this Magnificent Character of him Tria Sceptra Profundi in Magne Cojere Ducem which is that the Rights of English Scottish and Irish Seas are united under one Scepter neither is he Satisfied with this bare Profession but he goes on Sume animos à Rege tuo Quis det Jura Mari which is Take Courage from the King who giveth Laws to the Sea And in the same Book in contemplation of so great a Power he Concludeeth Finis Hic est qui Fine caret c. that is This is an End beyond an End a Bound that knoweth no Bound a Bound which even the Wind and the Waves must submit unto This is the Acknowledgment of Hugo Grotius himself that before he had disowned the Sovereignty of the British Seas in his Mare Liberum As to the Second Objection The King is not unsensible that his Revenues in England doth far exceed those of Holland and the only way to Secure his Interest there must be by dint of Sword for without that he had never Regained the Principality of Orange And it cannot be supposed that his Majesty should value these Kingdoms and Dominons at so slender a Rate as to lie open to a Foreign Enemy for want of Encouraging a National-Fishery which will be for his Glory the Honour of the Kingdom and the Publick Good in General when he is convinced it is to be done and thereby Secures the Interest and safety of his Dominions both at Home and Abroad As to the Third Objection 'T is allowed the States of Holland did Assist His Majesty with their Navy and Army and in Answer to this the King knows it may be proved from undeniable Record That if Queen Elizabeth of Blessed Memory had not Assisted the States both by Sea and Land when they First Revolted from the King of Spain they would never been freed from the Spanish Yoke nor a free State And further for Her Majestie 's Assistance Offer'd Her the Sovereignty of the Netherlands in Consiederation of Her Royal Bounty and Goodness to them after she had sent Threescore thousand pounds upon on the Account of Sir Thomas Gresham in Anno one Thousand five Hundred Seventy and two so that it is supposed that not only the King but all Christendom knows that the Hollanders owe their Ab-Origine and the Greatness they are now attained to from England So this is but one Service done for another As to the Fourth Objection Beyond all Dispute the King and Kingdom hath taken Care to Pay the Hollanders all the Charges they were at for the Navy and Army But it cannot be supposed that they would quit their Pretensions to the Sovereignty of the British Seas which is the Main Pillar of the Nation As in the Preamble of an Act of Parliament made in the 14. year of the Reign of King Charles the Second it is thus inserted That the Wealth Honour and Safety of this Realm as well for the Maintainance of Trade and Encouragement of Navigation as in many other Respects doth in a High Degree depend on the Fishery And should God Almighty out of his Infinite Mercy and Goodness Inspire the King and Senatours to Revive and Promote this National-Fishery It would be such a Comfort in Danger to this Nation as the Honey Sampson found in the Lyons Jaws And not onely the Coasting Towns Burroughs and adjacent villages be Enriched thereby but the King and Kingdom in General would find the Sweetness of it For did we but Secure the Sovereignty of the British Seas it would not only make the whole World stand in awe of us but Court us to buy our Fish For without it is Impossible the East and Northern Countries should subsist and in many other Places Herrings are every days Meat Winter and Summer as well to draw on drink as to satisfie Hunger and in many Places the Greatest part of the year they are Scarce to be had for soon after Michaelmas the Sound is Frozen so that no Herrings can be Transported thither And France Spain Italy and the Rest of the Catholick Countries could not keep Lent without our Fish which next to their own Salvation they Tender most Dear in Obedience to the Command of the Church of Rome 'T is Observable that the Hollanders make it their Business to infect the People of England that we cannot make the Advantage of the Fishery as they do and therefore it will be convenient to remove all the Vulgar Objections Some will have it that we want Men and others that our Men will never take to it As to the First
what will become of England in Ten or twenty years when in all probability they may be so Potent unless a speedy Check is put to their Carrier that we shall not be able to oppose them And 't is an Universal Maxim that the Forces of Potentates at Sea Sont des Marques de Grandeur d'Estat saith a French Author Whosoever Commands the Sea Commands the Trade of the World He that Commands the Trade Commands the Wealth of the World and consequently the World it self Again as he that is Master of a Field is said to be Master of every Town when it shall please him so he that is Master of the Sea may in some sort be said to be Master of every Countrey at least of such as are bordering on the Sea For he is at liberty to begin and end War where when and upon what Terms he pleaseth and extend his Conquests even to the Antipodes And England being encompassed with the Sea as aforesaid and abounding in Commodious and Excellent Havens Bayes and Ports it excels for Safety and Security which is no small Praise all the Neighbouring Countries in Europe if not all in the World and needs not fear any Neighbouring Nation but only that which grows Potent in Shipping for they onely can deprive us of our Main Security And if an Island can make us as the Continent And if this Nation is once over power'd at Sea we must expect to be the most miserable People in the Vniverse having for so many Generations last past Lorded it over the whole World by Sea that the very Name of the English struck a Terror into all those that durst oppose them When William the First subdued the Realm Conquerour of England that was an easy Fall it proving only prejudicial to some particular Families And he Residing in the Kingdom took all the care imaginable to preserve this Nation as already has been said by his Planting of a New-Forrest with Oaks to his perpetual Glory But if once the Naval Power of England be overcome by the French or Hollanders According to all Human Probability it must prove a Fatal overthrow so far as they can reach with Fire and Sword being Spurr'd on by Ambition and Avarice Revenge and Interest and then we should find the English saying to be too True That the French and Hollanders are like Fire and Water Good Servants but bad Masters And it is most certain that there is no other way to Maintain the Glory and Grandeur of this Kingdom but by Raising a National-Fishery which rightly understood is the Primum Mobile of the Nation 't is the only Palladium of this Realm without which 't is impossible to preserve or revive the former Glory of our Ancestors and Secure the Sovereignty of the British Seas and enrich the Kingdom by Navigation THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE British-Seas ASSERTED ENgland hath claimed a Prerogative of the British Seas time out of Mind and amongst our former and Ancient Kings King Edgar was very Potent who possessing an Absolute Dominion of the Seas Sailed Round about it every Year and secured it with a constant Guard as it is Recorded 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 Islands and of the Ocean lying round about Britain and of all the Nations that are included within the Circuit thereof Supream Lord and Governour do render Thanks to Almighty God my King who hath enlarged my Empire and Exalted it above the Royal Estate of my Progenitors who altho they arrived to the Monarchy of all England ever since Athelstan yet the Divine Goodness hath favoured me to subdue all the Kings of the Islands 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 So far Edgar And after him King Conutus left a Testimony of his Sovereignty over the Sea In this Expression Thou O Sea art mine c. And from the Testimony of the Saxons and the Danes we shall descend to the Government of the Normans whereby many Notable and Clear Proofs we shall find as may be gathered out of that Breviary of England called Dooms-Day Rot. Par. 48 Hen. 3. 22. Edw. 1. 2. Rich. 2. The Tribute called Danegelt was paid in the time of the English Saxons which amounted to four Shillings upon every Hide of Land for the Defending the Dominion by Sea Roger Hoverden asserteth it was paid until the Reign of King Stephen and in the Parliament Records of King Richard the Second it is Observable that a Custom was Imposed upon every thing that passed thro' the Northern Admiralty that is from the Thames along the Eastern-Shoar of England towards the North-East for the Maintaining a Guard for the Seas And this was not imposed only upon the English but also upon all the Ships of Foreigners paying at the Rate of Six pence a Tun that passed by such Ships only excepted that brought Merchandize out of Flanders to London Rot. Par. 2 Rich. 2. part 2. Act 38. Seld. Mare Clausum page 334. Rot. Fran. 5. Hen. 4. Rot. Fran. 38. Hen. 6. Rot. Par. 23 Edw. And it appeareth by Publick Records containing divers main points touching which the Judges of the Land were to be consulted for the Good of the Common Wealth That the Kings Sea Dominion which they called the Antient Superiority of the Sea was a Matter beyond all Contradiction amongst all Lawyers of that Age and asserted by the Determinations and Customs of the Law of the Land and by Express Words of the Writs and Forms of the Actions themselves And this Truth was not only comfirmed by the Laws but by our Medals There hath been a Piece of Gold very often Coyned by our Kings called a Rose Noble which was Stamped on the one Side of it a Ship Floating in the Sea and a King Armed with a Sword and a Shield Sitting in the Ship it self as in a Throne to set forth the Representation of the English King by Sea The first Author hereof was Edward the Third when he Guarded his own Seas with a Potent Navy consisting of Eleven Hundred Ships at which time as at others he Marched Victoriously thro' France But of all that has been said there can hardly be alledged a more convincing Argument to prove the Truth of all that hitherto hath been spoken than the acknowledgment of the Sea Dominion of the Kings of England When the Agreement was made by Edward the first of England and Phillip the Fair of France Reyner Grimhald was then Admiral of the French Navy Intercepted and spoyled on the English Seas The Goods of many Merchants that were Sailing to Flanders as well English as others and was not contented with the depredation of their Goods but he Imprisoned their Persons and delivered them up to the Officers of the King of France And
Commissioners as We have Authorised in that behalf viz. At London for Our Realms of England and Ireland and at Edenburgh for our Realm of Scotland which Licenses Our Intention is shall be yearly demanded for so many Vessels and Ships and the Tunnage thereof as shall intend to Fish for that whole Year or any part thereof upon any of our Coasts and Seas as aforesaid upon the pain of such Chastisement as shall be fit to be inflicted on such Offenders Given at our Palace at Westminster the 6th of May in the 7th Year of Our Reign of Great Britain Anno Dom ' 1609. Notwithstanding this Proclamation the Netherlanders still proceeded in the way of their Encroachment upon the Seas thro' the whole Reign of King James and were at length so bold as to contest with him and Quarrel His Majesty out of His Rights pretending because of the long Connivance of Queen Elizabeth that they had of their own a Right of Immemorial Possession And in King Charles the I's Reign a Proclamation was published for Restraint of Fishing upon His Seas and Coasts without License dated the 10th day of May in the 12th Year of his Reign This Proclamation being set forth in the Year 1636 serv'd to speak the Intent of those Naval Preparations made in the Year 1635 which were so numerous and well provided that our Netherland Neighbours were apprehensive of some Great Design in hand for the Interest of England by Sea As I might shew at large if it were requisite by certain Papers of a publick Character yet in Being But there is one which may serve instead of all and it is a very Ingenious Letter of Secretary Cokes that was written to Sir William Boswell the King 's Resident then at the Hague the Original whereof is still reserved among the Publick Papers In which Letter he sets forth the Grounds and Reason of Preparing that Royal and Gallant Navy with the King's Resolution to Maintain the Right derived from his Royal Progenitors in the Dominion of the British Seas and therefore I here render a True Copy of it so far 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 Majesty's 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 Majesty's Intention in this Affair First we hold it a Principle not to be denied as it may be prov'd from undeniable Record That the King of Great Britain is a Monarch at Land and Sea to the full extent of His Dominions and that it concerneth Him as much to maintain His Sovereignty in theBritish 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 Sea 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 also by Land when they see their time To such Presumption Mare Liberum gave the first Warning-piece which must be answer'd with a Defence of Mare Clausum not so much by Discourse as by the lowder Language of a Powerful Navy To be better understood when over-strain'd Patience seeth no hope of preserving her Right by other Means The degrees by which His Majesty's Dominion at Sea hath of latter Years been impeached and then question'd are as Considerable as Notorious First to cherish and as it were to nourish our unthankful Neighbours 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 offer'd us the Sovereignty of their Estates and then they su'd for License to Fish upon our Coasts and obtained it under the Great Seal of Scotland which now they suppress And when thus by Leave or by Connivance they had possess'd themselves of our Fishings not only in Scotland but in Ireland and England and by our Staple had raised a great Stock of Trade by these Means they so increased their Shipping 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 project an Office and Company of Assurance for the Advancement of Trade and withal prohibit us free Commerce within our Seas and take our Ships and Goods if we conform not to their Placarts What Insolences 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 tho' our Sufferings and their Wrongs may seem forgotten yet the great Interest of His Majesty's Honour is still the same and will refesh their Memories as there shall be Cause For tho' 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 to conceive that the Work of this Fleet is 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 Majesty's peaceable and most gracious Government whereby he hath permitted all his Friends and Allies to make use of his Sea-ports at a reasonable and free Manner 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 Merchant Ships so high as his Chief City and then to cast Anchor close upon his Magazines and to contemn the Commands of his Officers when they have required a further distance But which is more intolarable have assaulted and taken one another within His Majesties Chamber and within his Rivers to the Scorn and Contempt of his Dominon and Power and this being of late years an Ordinary Practice which we have endeavoured in vain to Reform by the way of Justice and Treaties the World I think will be satisfied that we have Reason to look about us And no Wise Man will doubt but 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 Counsel Stands In particular you may take Notice and Publish as cause requires That His Majesty by his 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 hitherto tended as by your own Instructions you may finally understand But withal considering that Peace must be maintain'd by the Arm of Power which only keeps down War by keeping up Dominion His Majesty thus provoked finds it Necessary 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 Sovereign Command but to force them to perform due Homage to his Admirals and Ships and to pay them Acknowledgments as in former times they did He will also set open and protect the free Trade both of his Subjects and Allies and give them such safe Conducts and Convoy as they shall reasonably require He will suffer no other Fleets nor Men of War to keep any Guard upon these Seas or there to offer Violence to take Prizes or Booties or to give Interruption to any Lawful 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 his Fleet whereof you may give Notice as you find Occasion to our good Neighbours in those parts that no Vmbrage may be taken of any Hostile Act or purpose to their Prejudice in any Kind So wishing you all Health and Happiness I Rest Your assured Friend and Servant JOHN COKE So what has been said is sufficient to prove the undisputable Titles of the Kings of England's Sovereignty over the British Seas and the Necessity of Maintaining and Defending it The CONCLVSION TO Conclude that by which hath been undeniably Asserted it doth evidently appear That the Kings of England by Immemorable Prescription continual Usage and Possession and also by the Acknowledgment of all the Kings Princes and States of Christendom and the Laws of this Kingdom have always held the Sovereign Propriety of the British Seas And His Majesty by Right of his Sovereignty hath Supream Commands and Iurisdiction over the Passage of his Seas and Fishing therein beyond all Contradiction And considering the Nutural Sight of these our Seas that interpose themselves between the Great Northern Commerce and that of the whole World And also that of the East West and Southern Climates and with all the vast Treasure that is got by Fishing in them daily It cannot therefore be doubted but His Majesty by reason of his Great Wisdom and Virtue and his Admirable Valour And the Diligent Care of his Faithful and Loyal Subjects may without injustice to any Prince or State be made the Greatest Monarch for Wealth and Command in the World and his People the most Opulent Flourishing of any in the Universe And the Sovereignty of the Seas being the most Precious Jewel of his Imperial Crown and next under God the Principal Means of our Wealth and Safety all true English Men are bound by all Possible Means of Honour and Industry to preserve it with the utmost Hazard of their Lives and Fortunes Thus you see what Wonderful Advantages may redound to the Felicity and Glory of this Nation if God gives us Hearts and Resolutions to Vindicate those Rights which are most Impiously and Injuriously Invaded by our Neighbours FINIS Vid Seld. Mare Clausum 138. * And many dies ‡ Rich. 2. Fitz Herbert Tit. Protection 46. * Rob. Belknap An Eminent Judg in his tim affirmed ◠That the Sea is subject to the King as a part of this Kingdom or of the Patrimony of the Crown ☞ Object ☞ ☞ * The King b The Kingdom would promote Trade ☜ c All intended for Building Men of War as a Guard to the Kingdom And if we had the Mines of Mexico and Peru in this Kingdom unless they were secured by Force of Arms they would undoubtedly lie open to any that would invade us ☞ ☜ ☞ ☞ ☞ Observ Note That we might make the same advantages of our Fish abroad did we encourage this National-Fishery ☞ Note if this National Fishery were encouraged there would undoubtedly acrue to the Crown above 400000l per Annum ☞ Observ ☞ Hugo Grotius Lib. 1. Lib. 2. Guil. Malmesb lib. 2. Cap. 8. Am. 26 part page 276. Vide Edw. Coke part 5. fol. 108. and in Con Littleton Sect. 439. fol. 260. Note p. 38. Remark Rot. Par. 31. Edw. 1. Membran 16. ☞ ☞ * * ☞ * The Downs White-Hall 16 April 1635. our Style * And for these Reasons stand the fairest of any People in the World to be Lords of the Seas and give Laws to the whole World by our Naval-Force