Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A50499
|
Observations concerning the dominion and sovereignty of the seas being an abstract of the marine affairs of England / by Sir Philip Medows, Knight.
|
Meadows, Philip, Sir, 1626-1718.
|
1689
(1689)
|
Wing M1567; ESTC R9028
|
41,043
|
66
|
to that of the Sovereign of the Wrong-doer and there Impleads him and prays for Justice If a Frenchman kill a Frenchman one Alien another upon the Land of England the Fact is committed within the local Ligeance of the King of England and against the Peace and Protection of his Crown and therefore triable before his Courts But if two Englishmen be under the Pay and Service of the French King and one of them Kill the other aboard a French Man of War within the 4 Seas The French King's Judicature will have the Conusance of the Crime as done within his Ligeance and against the Peace and Protection of his Crown Thus stands the matter of Fact as to the Marine Jurisdiction and thus it has been for many Ages but yet there is an ancient President which seems to impugn something that has been said and not to take notice of it were to report things unfaithfully and therefore I crave leave to examine it 'T is a Bundle or Roli in the Tower of London Superscribed De Superioritate Maris Angliae Jure Officii Admiralitatis in codem Record I can scarce call it 〈…〉 cap. 27 for 't is not any Judicial Act or Monument of a Court of Record and it may be read as 't is transcribed at large by Lord Chief Justice Cake and by Mr. Selden who highly insists upon it I shall abbreviate it truly and in short the Case was this A League had been concluded betwixt Edward the First of England and Philip the Fair of France Of the 〈…〉 in which it was Covenanted that each should defend the others Rights and Neither relieve the other's Enemy After this a War ensued betwixt Philip and the Earl of Flanders whom Edward secretly savoured Whereupon Reyner Grimbald who was General at Sea for the King of France took several Ships both of England and of other Nations Trading to Flanders and confiscated Ships and Goods and imprison'd Persons as carrying Relief to an Enemy Upon which and other Complaints Commissioners were appointed by both Kings call'd in the Roll writ in Norman French Auditours Deputez per les Roys d'Engleterre de France a redresser les dammages faits The Plaintiffs who were of several Nations appear by their Procurators or Attorneys before the said Commissioners and joyn all together in one Bill or Libel as being all involv'd in one Common Cause In the Rehearsal of the said Libel 't is alledg'd that Whereas the Kings of England by reason of the said Kingdom from time to time whereof there is no Memory to the contrary have been in peaceable Possession of the Sovereign Dominion of the Sea of England and of the Isles of the same by Ordaining of Laws c. And whereas 't is Covenanted in the League lately made betwixt the two Kings that each should Defend the others Rights Franchises and Liberties c. Monsieur Reyner Grimbald Commander of the Fleet of the King of France who Names himself Admiral of the said Sea being Commissioned by that King to serve him in his Wâ—â— against Flanders hath contrary to the said League wrongfully assumed the Office of the Admiralty in the said Gea of England upon Pretence of the said Commission taking the People and Merchants c They pray that the Persons Ships and Goods so taken may be delivered to the Admiral of the King of England to whom the Counsance of the whole Matter of Right appertain'd He who shall read more at large in the places before quoted the magnificent Attributes given to the Kings of England of their being peaceably possess'd time immemorial of the Sovereign Dominion of the Sea of England by ordaining Laws and Statutes Prohibiting Arms and Armed Vessels taking Sureties and giving Safeguards and ordaining all other things necessary to the Preservation of Peace and Right amongst all People passing upon that Sea c. will at first view be ready to cry out suimus Troes fuit Ilium We were English men England was and yet perhaps no need of such Exclamation At first reading it seem'd to me at some distance like a Stone Wall athwart my way and no possibility of passing farther but when I examined it more nearly I found it but a Silken Curtain of specious words drawn artificially before the Eye and easie to be put back by the hand 1. First it is to be noted that all this is but a Plaidoyé a Plea or Action a Supplicatory Libel or Bill of Complaint No definitive Sentence or Arrest nothing that did pass in rem Judicatam This alone were there nothing more is sufficient to abate the intrinsick Value of it The Roll makes no mention of any decision given by the Delegates upon any the Matters contain'd in the Libel and either none was given which seems most probable and those Controversies decided some other way or the Roll is left imperfect 2. Though the Interessents of several Nations as Danes Germans Hollanders c. suffered Dammages by the Seisures of Grimbald in like manner as the English did and therefore joyn'd with them in the same Libel yet the Libel was penn'd by English Council as is manifest by the Address or Direction oâ— it A vous Seigneurs Auditeurs Deputez To you Lords Auditors deputed Par les Roys d'Engleterre de France by the Kings of England and France where England has the preference of Order to France contrary to the style of Neutral Nations of that Age. 3. The Allegation of the Kings of England having been time immemorial in the peaceable Possâ—ssion of the Sovereignty of the Sea was not made by the French Delegates in the Name of the King their Master but by English Advocats in favour of their Clients Cause The French King had Commission'd Grinthald to exercise Jurisdiction at Sea by Arresting and Confiscating Ships and Goods and Imprisoning Persons for carrying Relief to the Earl of Flanders his Enemy by which Commission Grimbald justified himself for doing such Acts as were manifestly repugnant to the peaceable Possession of the said Sovereign Dominion on the part of England If the King of France had acknowledged the Admiral of England the only competent Judge of thingâ— done and committed upon the Sea of England why did he together with the King of England depute Auditors or Delegates for determining those Matters then in Controversie 4. The Art in penning the said Libel is remarkable it affirms the Marine Jurisdiction of the Admiral of England but it does not except against a Power in the King of France to constitute an Admiral with the like Jurisdiction and that upon the Sea towards Flanders 〈…〉 For 't is certain that the Crown of France had Admirals before the time of Philip the Fair. 'T is true that great Body of the Kingdom of France had been cantoniz'd and divided after the manner of the German Nations into many Franca Fâ—uda as they â—ali'd them Free Fees which are supreme and independent Sovereignties only the persons of those
ut Batavi imposterum abstinerent ab oris Scoticis ad Octuaginta saltem Milliaria Here the distance from the Shoars of Scotland which Foreigners were to observe in their Fishing is set very large no less than Fourscore Miles In the Second year of King James Commissioners were appointed and authorized under the Great Seals of England and Scotland to Treat and Conclude an Union betwixt the two Kingdoms Spetisâ—â—â—d's Hist of Scotland p. 483. And in the Articles for Regulating Trade betwixt them it was amongst other things mutually agreed That the Fishing within the Fryths and Bays of Scotland and in the Seas within Fourteen Miles distance from the Coasts of that Realm where neither English nor other Strangers have used to Fish should be reserved and appropriated to Scotchmen only And so reciprocally on the part of England Scotchmen to abstain from Fishing within the like Distances off the Coasts of England But if English and Scots who though the two Kingdoms be sui Juris and independent one upon another are tied together in the same Common Bond of Allegiance to one and the same Prince be excluded from Fishing within Fourteen Miles from each other Coasts how much more reasonable is it that Aliens and Foreigners should be obliged to keep the like Distances King James finding that his foremention'd Proclamation in the Seventh year of his Reign for a licensed Fishing was not seconded by a suitable Compliance on the part of the Neighbouring Nations did about Nine years after by way of Expedient propose a limited Fishing instead thereof For thus I find it in a Letter from Secretary Naunton to the Lord Carlton English Ambassador at the Hague bearing Date January 21th 1618. He acquaints him how the King had by him the said Secretary desired of the Commissioners of the States then residing at London that they would write to their Superiours to Publish a Placart Prohibiting any their Subjects to Fish within Fourteen Miles of His Majesties Coasts that Year or any time after until Order be taken by Commissioners authorized on both sides for a final setling of the main Business And the said Ambassador was Commanded to make the like Instance and Declaration to the States General in the Name of his Master I am apt to believe this Distance of Fourteen Miles was the rather pitch'd upon as the regulated Measure which had been agreed upon betwixt the Commissioners of both Kingdoms in the 2d of the King as I said before I have done with the Authorities and for the better Elucidation of what I have said shall briefly sum it up into a fictitious Article supposed to be made betwixt England and Holland TO Maintain a due Distinction betwixt Natives and Foreigners in Fishing upon the Coasts of their respective Sovereigns And to prevent the manifold Inconveniences which occasionally arise by a promiscuous and unlimited Fishing 'T is mutually Covenanted Concluded and Agreed That the People and Subjects of the United Netherlands shall henceforth abstain from Fishing within any the Rivers Fryths Havens or Bays of Great Britain and Ireland or within the Distance of _____ Leagues from any Point of Land thereof or of any the Isles thereto belonging under the Penalty and Forfeiture of all the Fish that shall be found Aboard any Vessel doing to the contrary and of all the Nets Vtensils and other Instruments of Fishing The like Distances and under the same Penalties to be kept and observed by the Subjects of His Majesty of Great Britain and Ireland from any of the Coasts belonging to the United Netherlands But beyond those Precincts and Limits That the People and Subjects on both Sides be at freedom to use and exercise Fishing where they please without asking or taking Licences or safe Conducts for so doing and without the let hindrance or molestation one of another Saving always the Ancient Rights of the Crown of England and that nothing herein contained be interpreted or extended to any Diminution or Impeachment thereof But that they remain in the same Force and Vertue as before this Agreement The Article is Penn'd indifferently on both Sides and so much the better because the equality of it is an Argument of its Equity yet I could instance in several benefits which would redound to England from such an Article were it pass'd into an Agreement but they are not proper to be mention'd in this place and therefore I shall here conclude with this brief Apology That what I have written is for the Justice and Honour of the Government the Conservation of the Publick Peace the Maintenance of an inviolable Amity with our Allies and is most humbly submitted to better informed Judgments ERRATA Page 25. Line 3. read 1599. FINIS