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
it may be a Means to prevent Eating so much Flesh as we do now in England and so consequently be very prejudicial to our Landed-Men and bring the Rents of the Farms lower But this with Submission is a very Erroneous Notion For Example The Fish that may or should be Caught in the British Seas is not intended to be eat in England and perhaps not one Huudredth part of it but to be sold at foreign Markets as in due time shall be observed And to make it appear that if a National Fishery be encouraged it will cause a greater Consumption of Flesh than is now in England and consequently rather encrease than diminish the Rents of our Landed Gentlemen and in few Years might double the Rents as the Fishery flourished and our Trade encrease both at home and abroad I Humbly Offer these Reasons First Our Coasting Towns Bouroughs and Villages Adjacent that formerly had their dependance on the Fishery are reduced to so great Poverty for want of being Employ'd that they are now constrain'd to feed upon Coarse-Bread Butter Cheese Milk Turnips Carrots or on such Roots and Herbs as they can get Whereas if they were Employed in this Fishery they would then have Money to go to Market and buy Flesh as their Ancestors did before them for themselves and Families And I suppose there is not any Man but what is sensible that the English naturally loving Flesh the meanest Man or Woman in the Kingdom would have Roast and boyl'd Meat for themselves and Families as well as their Landlords if their Purses would bear it So that then there would be a greater Consumption of Flesh than there is now not only in our Coasting Towns c. but in all probability through the whole Kingdom when once we flourish in this Fishery This Great and Glorious Undertaking will not only enrich us but Employ thousands of People that are now so miserable Poor that they gradually Starve for want of having this Encouragement And what is worthy your particular Notice it would prevent abundance of Sea-faring Men from going into Foreign Service in times of Peace for want of Employment at home many of them leaving their Wives and Children to be maintained by the Parish which undoubtedly is a great Grievance to the respective Parishes and a Burthen to the Inhabitants And this Fishery would not only preserve thousands of Families from Starving but then they would wear better Cloaths and promote our Woollen Manufactury For 't is only Poverty makes People wear Rags and being disheartned it oftentimes prevents their Devotion And it will also prevent a great many Inconveniencies that now attend this Nation for want of being Employed For Example There would not be so many Vagrants and Vagabonds nor so many People that take illegal Courses as Thieving Robbing c. to the Ruine of themselves and others Nor so many Export our Corn nor carry our Wooll unwrought out of the Kingdom if they were employed another way This Fishery would also employ abundance at Land so well as by Sea as Clerks Accomptants Ware-house and Store-keepers and the like and great Numbers of Artists and Tradesmen So that then there would be Provision for a great many Men that go Crawling about the Streets like so many Snails for want of Employ that have been well Educated Besides 't is an Universal Maxim That Idleness is the Root of all Evil and a great many People fear Starving more than Hanging as is seen almost every Session or Assizes For let the Judge enquire of the Criminals what induced them to take the lewd Courses they are Indicted or Arraigned for the General Reply is Want Further it is supposed by all that have travelled in the Low-Countries that where one Male-factor is Executed in Holland or in France there is above One hundred in England and the only Reason that can be given why there are so few in Holland and France and so many executed in England is That they take care to employ their Subjects and those that are uncapable by Age or any other Infirmity for Labour are provided for by allowing them a Competent Maintenance to live on but 't is the Fishery of England that employs and enricheth them And the Hollanders themselves will boast that God blesseth them in their Tradring and defends them from their Enemies for being so good to the Poor And it is a Confirmation of the Sacred Writ That he that Considereth the Indigent the Lord will remember him in the day of his Tribulation And what a great Glory will it be to the King and Kingdom to preserve so many thousand Subjects that are now involv'd in such miserable Necessity that in all probability they must perish if this Method be not speedily taken And since His Majesty has been Instrumental in Delivering these Kingdoms from Slavery and Popery c. 't is to be supposed that he will also make it his Chiefest Care to preserve his Subjects from Destruction that have so Bravely Ventur'd their Lives both by Sea and Land and have paid their Money with so much Chearfulness to carry on the War And have so long languished under their Afflictions And He having Maugred all Opposition both at Home and Abroad it now remains that he attacks Himself that His Goodness and Greatness may vye with each other by enquiring what is to be done to retrieve them from their withering Calamity And 't is believed by all well-wishers to the Welfare of these Kingdoms that His Majesty will Sign all those Acts that shall be for His Glory the Senatours Honour and the preserving so well as enriching of his Subjects When he shall be Advised to it by his Parliament in whom he has so great Confidence as he hath often declared for the Good of his People in His most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament which are too tedious here to insert And having made the proud Lillies of France stoop to him and Recovered the Principality of Orange he will now Assume his Trident. And to Emulate his Royal Predecessor William the I. Conquerour of England who after being possessed of the Kingdom took a View of it in a Royal Progress and then did see there was an incumbent Necessity to defend this Realm by Shipping altho' he set fire of his own Fleet at his Landing to let his Men know his Intentions Aut Caesar aut Nullus Whereupon he demolished several Villages in Hampshire and there planted a large Forrest of Oaks which to this day is call'd New Forrest it being above two and twenty Miles in length and eleven Miles over This shews what Care our Ancestors from time to time have taken to secure this Island by Navigation and for providing Ships of Force as well as for Commerce the one to Enrich the other to defend as well our Trading by Sea as the Island from Invasion For there is no Dominion that can expect to flourish in Trade or
be enriched by Commerce if they do not secure themselves by Force either by Sea or Land as Opportunity offers or the Necessity requires 'T is undoubtedly the Interest of the Nation to stand as well upon their Guard in times of Peace as in War that they may give no Opportunity to an Enemy to Surprise us by Sea or Land And since there is so great a Necessity for the Defence of the Nation to support our Navgation by this Fishery certainly our Senatours will take Care that the Grandeur of these Glorious Kingdoms shall not be ecclipsed by the growing Greatness of our Neighbours who have and still do encroach upon the Sovereignty of the British Seas which is the only Diadem of the Imperial Crown of these Dominions and the Port Cullizes and Guard of the Realm But the Fishery if encouraged will be for the Good of the Kingdom in General from the King to the Peasant or meanest Subject and in some measure take off the Burthen of the Taxes this Nation hath so long struggl'd under and not only make the Exchequer the Greatest Bank in the World but oblige the Treasure of the East and West-Indies comparatively to meet in our Streets And also preserve a perpetual Union amongst the Subjects of England let them be never so Retrogade in their Opinion as to their Profession of Religion And this happy Union will prevent all Intestine Commotions and bid Defiance to all Foreign Invasions or Incursions And it cannot be denied but that England had formerly the richest Fishery in the World when we maintain'd the Sovereignty of the British Seas and by Computation had above 800 Fishing Ships and had it been Encourag'd by a reasonable Increase we must have had now between 2 and 3000 Fishing Ships And nothing can be more true than that the Fishery of England is the Main Pillar of the Trade and Defence of this Nation And it will not only raise the Naval Force of England but by its Growth and Flourishing be a Curb to keep under the growing Power of the French and Hollanders and bring in Great Treasure to the Kingdom as aforesaid And further if this Nursery for Seamen were Encouraged the Merchants would never want Men to carry their Ships to Sea nor be in danger of having their Men press'd in time of War which is a great Detriment to our Trade and Loss to the King and Kingdom for then we should have Sea-faring Men and Mariners enough to serve the Kingdom And in regard that some people may say that there will not be constant Employ for our Seamen in the Fishery in times of Peace and so prevent their going into Foreign Service for want of Employ at Home I have particulariz'd the respective Seasons for Fishing throughout the Year in the British Seas Of the Miraculous Treasure of the British Seas THE Coast of Great-Britain doth produce a continual Harvest of Profit and Benefit to all that do Fish there and such Shoals and Multitude of Fishes are offer'd to the Takers that it makes an Admiration to those that are employ'd among them The Summer Fishing for Herrings beginneth about Midsummer lasteth some part of August The Winter Fishing for Herring from September to the middle of November both which extend from Bonghoness in Scotland to the River Thames Mouth being a Run of above a hundred Leagues The Fishing for Cod at Allum by Whirlington and White-Haven near the Coast of Lancashire from Easter till Whitsuntide The Fishing for Hake at Aberdenie Abveswitch and other places between Wales and Ireland from Whitsuntide to St. James-Tide The Fishing for Cod and Ling about Padstow within the Land and of Severn from Christmas to Midlent The Fishing for Cod on the West part of Ireland frequented by those of Biscay and Portugal from the beginning of April until the end of June The Fishing for Cod and Ling on the North and North-East of Ireland from Michaelmas to Christmas The Fishing for Pilchers on the West-coast of England from St. James tide until Michaelmas The Fishing for Cod and Ling upon the North East of England from Easter to 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 British Seas all the Year long In September not many years since upon the Coast of Devonshire near Minegal 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 St. Ives in Cornwal by small Boats Our five Men Boats and Cobles adventuring in a Calm to Launch out amongst the Hollands Busses not far from Robinhood's Bay returned to Whitby full freighted with Herrings and reported that they had seen some of those Busses take ten twenty and twenty four Lasts at a Draught of Herring and returned into their own Country with forty fifty and a hundred Lastes of Herring in one Buss Our Fleet of Colliers not many years since returning from Newcastle laden with Coals about the Wells near Flamborough Head and Scarborough met with such Multitudes of Cod Ling and Herring that one among the rest with certain Ship Hooks and other like Instruments drew up as much Cod and Ling in a little time as sold for well nigh as much as her whole Lading of Coals And many hundred of Ships might have been laden in two Days and two Nights Now what great Inconveniency and Detriment is this to the English Nation That we do not Encourage a National Fishery that we may retrieve those Great Advantages that we have so long taken no Notice of in regard we can Employ our Seamen throughout the whole Annual And out of which wonderful Affluence and Abundance of Fish swarming in our Seas that we may the better perceive the Infinite Gain which Foreign Nations make I will especially insist upon the Fishing of the Hollanders on our Coasts and thereby shew how by this Means principally they have risen to the Greatness of their present Grandeur 1. In Shipping 2. In Mariners 3. In Trade at home and abroad 4. In Towns and Fortifications 5. In Power at home and abroad 6. In Publick Revenue 7. In Private Wealth 8. In all manner of Provisions and Stores of Things Necessary for the Preservation of Mankind and Munitions of War Encrease Shipping Besides seven hundred Strand Boats four hundred Evars and four hundred Sullits Drivers and Tod-Boats wherewith the Hollanders Fish upon our Coasts every one of these employing another Ship to fetch Salt and carry the Fish into other Countries being in all three thousand Sail maintaining and setting on Work at least twelve thousand persons Fishers Tradesmen Women and Children They have above as it is supposed one hundred Doyer-Boats of one hundred and fifty Tuns apiece or thereabouts seven hundred Pinks and Well-Boats from sixty to one hundred Tuns Burthen which altogether Fish upon the Coast of England and Scotland for Cod and Ling
Ports and may Vye with any People in the World Encrease of Power abroad Such being the Number of the Ships and Mariners and so great their Trade Occasioned Principally by their Fishing they have not only Strengthned and Fortified themselves at Home and to Repel all Foreign Invasions But have likewise Stretched their Power to the East and West Indies and in many Places thereof they are Lords of the Sea-Coasts and have likewise Fortified upon the Main And more than this all the Neighbouring Princes in their differences by reason of this their Greatness at Sea are glad to have them of their Party as was exemplified when the Wars were between the Danes and the Swedes the Hollanders were for the King of Denmark and Lent him Vantrump to be his Admiral who had the Success of Sinking the Swedish Admiral and overthrew the Swedish Fleet. This is a Confirmation how much they are in Esteem for their Strength at Sea and that one would think ought to be a President for England to Preserve our Naval-Force Encrease of Publick Revenue Moreover how mightily the Publick Revenue and Custom of that State is increased by their Fishing on our Coasts may appear in this that above forty years since over and above the Customs of other Merchandize Excises Licenses Waftage and Lastage there was paid to the States for Custom of Herring and other Salt Fish above five hundred thousand pounds in one year besides the tenth Fish and Cask paid and for Waftage which cometh to at least as much more among the Hollanders only Whereto the tenth of other Nations being added it amounteth to a far greater Sum. We are likewise to understand that great part of their Fish that they take out of our Seas upon our Coasts is sold in other Countries for Ready Money and they generally Import from Foreign Countries of the finest Gold and Silver coming home Recoin it of a baser Allay under their own Stamp by which means they exceedingly Augment their Publick Treasure Observation So that if England would encourage this National Fishery we should Heap the same Advantages the Allay of the Coin only excepted which we cannot permit in England Encrease of Private Wealth As touching their Private Wealth if we Consider the abounding Stores of Herrings and other Fish by them taken on our Coasts and the usual Prices that they are sold for as also the Multitude of Tradesmen and Handicrafts Men that by reason of this their Fishing are daily set on work we must needs conclude that the Gain and Profit thereof made by Private Men must of Necessity be exceeding Great As by Observing the particulars following will appear By Dunkirk Spoyling and Burning the Busses of Holland and setting Great Ransom upon their Fishermen Enforced them to compound for great Sums of Money that they might Fish quietly for one year whereupon the next year after the Fishermen agreed amongst themselves to pay to the States of Holland a Dollar for every Last of Herring towards the Maintenance of Certain Ships of War to secure them in their Fishing on our Coasts they having obtained Liberty from England for the same By Reason whereof there was a Record kept of the several Lasts of Herrings that year and it appeared thereby that in one Half year they had taken thirty thousand Lasts of Herrings which at twenty pound per Last amounteth to three Millions Six hundred thousand pounds at sixteen twenty and thirty pounds a Last as they are Ordinarily sold according as they Pick them and then transported into other Countries it cometh at least to five Millions whereunto if we add the Herrings taken by other Nations As France Lubeck Hamborough Bremen Biscay Portugal Spain c. which for the most part Fish in our Seas together with Cod Ling Hake and other Fish and taken by the Hollanders upon the British Coasts all the year long the Total will Modestly and Evidently arise to above ten Millions per Annum But Admit it did amount to but five Millions what a vast Loss is it for our Nation to sustain The great Trade of Fishing Employing so many Ships at Sea must likewise maintain an innumerable number of Tradesmen and Artists by Land As Spinners Hemp-Winders to Cables Cordage Yarn Twine for Nets and Lines Weavers to make Sail-Cloths Cesive Packers Tollers Dressers and Cowchers to sort and make the Herrings lawful Merchandize Tanners to Tan their Sails and Nets Coopers to make Cask Block and Boultmakers for Ships Keelmen and Labourers for carrying and removing their Fish Sawyers for Planks Carpenters Shipwrights Smiths Carmen Boatmen Brewers Bakers and a great Number of others whereof many are maimed Persons and unfit to be otherwise Employed Children and Families And further every Man and Maid-Servant having any poor Stock may venture the same in their Fishing-Voyages which affords them Ordinarily Great Increase and is duly paid according to the Proportion of their Gain Encrease of Provision And further it is well known that Holland it self only doth afford a few Hops Madders Butter and Cheese and yet aboundeth in a very bountiful Manner by Reason of this Art of Fishing in all kind of Provision so well for Life as Commerce As in Beef Mutton Veal Corn c. In Cloths and Leather and Wines Silks Spices and for to Defend themselves by Sea they have Pitch Tarr Cordage and Timber Iron Steel Cannon and all Manner of Small Arms for the Service of their Land Forces Of all which they have not only Enough to Supply themselves but from their Magazines are able to furnish their Neighbouring Countries And if this Fishery is not encouraged it must certainly redound to the Ignominy of the English Nation to permit Strangers to Fish on our Seas and Impoverish our Selves to make them Rich Insomuch that for want of Encouraging this Fishery above two Hundred Towns Burroughs and Villages are Ruin'd that formerly were enriched by Fishing and the Inhabitants reduced to Miserable Want Whereas on the Contrary by our Sedulous endeavouring to make use of this Great Blessing we might in a few years Repair the decayed Towns and the Losses of this Kingdom and not only prevent the Destruction of Thousands of Families and grow so Potent by Sea that none durst oppose us And beyond all Dispute had our Ancestors in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth been told that either the French or Hollanders should ever have been so Powerful by Sea as to appear with that Naval Force as they have done on our Seas they would have thought they had been the greatest Lyars and Impostors in the World which is now too manifestly known not only to this Kingdom but to the whole Universe And how can it be supposed that we shall be able to Defend our selves against any Invasion or Incursion that a Foreign Enemy may make unless we Preserve the Foundation of those Floating Castles that must secure the Island Which without Controversie is a National-Fishery When 't is daily visible
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
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
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