Romans Carthaginians have ascribed it to themselves But the Greeks confidently assert that Minos King of Crete had the first Soveraign Empire over the Sea and thence would fain have it over our Faith also as if Saturn King of Crete seeing his son Neptune to have invented the Art of Navigation gave him the Command of his Navies at Sea which he managed with such success that after-Ages sacrificed to him as to a God of the Sea So that Minos being descended of Saturn by his son Jupiter having afterwards obtained the Superintendency and Guard of the Seas left it to his Successours Notwithstanding which the Syrians Egyptians Cyprians Rhodians but specially the Phoenicians have in all former Ages had the honour of being reputed the most valiant and expert Artists at Sea in Maritime affairs and that from the excellent Conduct and Government of their Navies beyond all other Nations and Countries whatsoever But the Corinthians are supposed to be the first that ever formed or modelled Navies at Sea in a Classical way The Athenians had two chief Magistrates for the Maritime affairs The one was to provide such a number of ships for this or that design each Captain having in charge to see to the Equipping of his own vessel These Captains they called Trierarchy The other had power of setting them to Sea and of ordering them home again at his pleasure whom they called Magistratus rei Nauticae Iurisdictionem habens qui Trierarchis jura reddebat and ordered the several Squadrons to such or such stations and places of Rendezvous and discharged them as he thought fit This was That Thalassiarchus or Admiral of the Athenians who sometimes had more Admiral 's then one at once as Niceas and Demosthenes at other times but one only as Alcibiades Pericles Simon and others Likewise under Alexander the Great and his Successours Kings of Syria and Egypt there were divers Admirals whereof some were Grecians others of other Countries such were Nearchus Onesicratuâ— Beton Diognot and others As also Patroclus under Nicanor and Seleucus of the Syrian Monarchy But most Memorable is that Commission which was by Ptolomeus Philadelphus given to Decearchus as if he had been to take an exact measure of the Circumfercnce of the whole world by a Line of Navigation Among the Phoenicians the Tyrians and Zidonians were the most eminent in all Maritime affairs as was formerly hinted These not only transported from place to place varieties of Merchandizes till then unknown to other parts of the world but also made divers new Discoveries and planted Colonies therein as at Vtick Hippone and Lepte in Africa at Thebes in Greece and Egypt and at Gades and Carthage that Carthage which is in Spain But of all Africk the other Carthage once Lord of the Levant the chiefest for Sea-affairs whose Admiral Hanno by order of the Senate discovered the utmost Coasts of Africk even to one degree of the Aequinoctial And their other Admiral Hamilco discovered all that part of Europe which till then lay as sub-incognito to the Carthaginians In the Eastern Empire he that was high Admiral was styled Drungarius as Drungarius Navigiorum Constantinopoli Drungarius Classis Drungarius mari Praefectus Drungarius Magnus Although some are of opinion that this was a general word with them or a word which signified Generals as well by Land as by Sea Qui Drungis hoc est globis militum imperabant This Magnus Drungarius Classis was a subordinate Officer or Naval Magistrate under their great Duke and was also styled Ameralius which with them was likewise a Common Appellation for Terrene Princes Thus the Tyrant of Babylon was called Amiralius Thus Huntindon speaks of twelve Amiralios Paganorum that were slain at the Siege of Antioch Thus Matth. Paris in Will 2. speaks of 29 Reges Amiralios at once appointed for the Warres by Corbaranus Thus Robert the Monk makes mention of the Son of Cassianus King of Antioch and twelve Admiraldi of the King of Babylon slain in battel whom with an Army he had sent to aid the said King of Antioch Thus the Agents or Ambassadours of the the King of Babylon styled the said King himself Admiraldum Dominus noster Admiraldus Babyloniae mandat vobis Francorum Principibus Salutem Thus Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon was styled Admiralius Thus we also find a Chieftain of a Bow-Militia styled Arcubalistariorum Admiralius So that anciently this word Ameralius or Admiralius did signifie as well the Commander in chief of the Armies by Land as of the Navies by Sea and sometimes the office or dignity of Kings and Princes or other Soveraigns of Supreme Authority but this you are to limit only to the Turks and Asiaticks Again In the Eastern Empire there were no less then Four Admirals or Amiraei there properly so called at once for that Mahomet or rather Muhammad appointed Four Praetors in the Kingdome of the Sarazens which were called Ameraei And that Muhamed a little before his death constituted Four Ameraeos qui debellarent omnes ex genere Arabum Christianos These Four Ameraei were also called Quatuor Admirantes And of these Four Admirals with the Sarazens the one had the Sea-Command of Egypt and Africa two others thereof divided the Spanish Coasts betwixt them and the Fourth had Palestine and the Coasts of Syria But many are of opinion that before Charlemaigne the Sarazens had but one Admiral viz. Addala after him Aron and after him Mabarmad which Charlemaigne having war with his Brother Haldala and being more then half conquered by him condescended that the Sarazens should have two Admirals for one And Turpin who was Secretary to the said Emperour Charlemaigne acquaints us with an Admiral of Babylon vvho came to the succour and relief of the Sarazens of Spain against the French as also of another Admiral viz. Galaffre a very potent Favorite with the said Emperour Under the Roman State when Pompey banded with Caesar for the Soveraignty there were several Admirals well nigh as many as the Nations were which aided either party with Shipping as the Egyptians Asiaticks Rhodians Syrians Achaians and others over whom M. Bibulus was Lord high Admiral But when the Government was reduced to an establishment the Admiralty was setled also which not long after was again divided into two parts for there was one Admiralty at Misene and the adjacent Poâ—â—s for the South another at Ravenne towards the East which two for distinctions sake they called the High and Low Seas each whereof was under the Command of his proper Admiral whom they called Praefectus Classis as the Captains of their Ships were known by the style of Navarchi It is also evident that in the Roman Empire there was anciently a Company or Society of Owners and Masters of Ships as also of Merchant-Adventurers at Sea in the Isle and City of Rhodes which above all other places in the world had once the Prerogative
discrimination from the goods of other men the Law in favour of so laudable a Custome doth presume the goods to be his whose mark is thereon affixed Not that such marks abstracted from other Concurrent Evidence do of themselves amount to a full proof only they induce such a Presumption as doth without stronger evidence or presumption on the other side more energetical carry the possession for him whose marks they are Nor is it therefore less hazardous then unlawful for one Merchant to make use of anothers mark save when in time of war they strain a point to drive a Colourable Trade which with other the like stratagems the Law will interpret no other then Solertia or Dolus bonus rather then Trade shall be totally obstructed or the Merchants quite discouraged and where the goods controverted happen to have the marks of both the parties litigant in that case his is the best Condition who hath the Possession till by the other party better Cards can be shewed for the Property for a Presumption grounded only upon the marks must ever give place to a Proof of the Title or Property grounded upon an Emption Permutation or the like Nor may the Plaintiff pendente lite make use of that mark touching which the Dispute or Controversie is till there be a Decision in the Case The Interest of the Merchant mainly depending on the Mariners it concerns him to know wherein their Duty consists a right understanding whereof is not with more facility attainable then by a due perpension of those things which the Law it self ascribes as faults to Mariners such in part as these viz. The Mariner may not set sail when under an Embargo or other restraint of Princes nor in Tempestuous weather nor after the time limited by Contract he may not during his Voyage in reference to Ship or Lading doe ought mis-becoming an honest able skilful and prudent Mariner he may not stay in Port or Harbour without cause when a fair wind invites his departure he may not deviate in his Course without just cause or steer a dangerous or unusual way when he may have a more secure passage yet to avoid illegal Impositions he may somewhat change his Course and be excusable he may not unlade his Merchants Goods into another Vessel worse then his own he may not lade any Goods into a leaky or insufficient Vessel he may not over-charge or over-lade his Ship nor stowe Goods above her birth-mark he may not sail without able and sufficient Mariners both for quality and number he may not voluntarily sail by places infested with Pirats Enemies or other places notoriously known to be unsafe he may not transport persons of an obscure and unknown Condition without Letters of safe Conduct or other suspected persons to the rendring Ship or Lading liable or subject to a seizure or surreption he may not lade any Prohibited or unlawful goods whereby the whole Cargo may be in danger of Confiscation he may not use any unlawful Colours Ensigns or Flags whereby his Ship or Lading may incur a seizure he may not being haled at Sea behave himself otherwise then becomes a Prudent Master he may not carry counterfeit Cocquets or other Fictitious and Colourable Ship-papers to involve the Goods of the Innocent with the Nocent he may not with his Vessel engage among the Rocks being thereto not necessitated by the violence of wind and weather nor by night deceived or deluded by false Lights he may not refuse payment of the just and ordinary Duties Port-charges Customes and Imposts to the hazarding of any part of his Lading he may not sail with insufficient Rigging or Tackle or with other or fewer Cables and Anchors then is requisite respect being had to the Burthen of the Vessel he may not sail with other Ship-provisions then what is good and wholesome and sufficient for the Voyage he may not neglect the well moaring of his Vessel in Port he may not sail without one Cat or more in his Vessel he may not suffer the Lading to take wet to be stoln or embeziled he may not permit Debates or Contests among his Mariners to the prejudice of the Merchants Goods he may not let open the hatches of the ship to endanger the Lading he may not prejudice any part of the Lading by any indiscreet or unskilful stowing of the Goods respect being had to quantity nature and quality thereof he may not take up more money upon Bomeree or the Gross Adventure then his Interest is in ship or Lading he may not contrary to Order touch at Ports not necessitated thereunto by contrary winds or otherwise Many other are the faults and miscarriages incident to Mariners these only by way of hint to Merchants who are the greatest sufferers hereby having herein very seldome equivalent reparation the offendors for the most part not sufficiently solvant But here note that he that will charge a Mariner with a fault in reference to his Duty must not think that a general Charge is sufficient in Law but he ought to assign and specifie the very fault wherewith he is so charged In like manner he that will infer such or such a sad disaster to have happened or been occasioned by reason of some fault in the Mariners must not only prove the fault it self but must also prove that that fault did dispose to such a sad event or that such a misfortune could not have happened without such a fault precedent wherein the Mariners though legally qualified as good and competent witnesses for acts done a ship-board yet to exculpate and excuse themselves they are not witnesses without exception save in certain Cases wherein the Law allows them a toleration by way of Juramental purgation And in case of loss or damage to the Lading or any part thereof by reason of such disaster occasioned by or in consequence of such fault of the Mariners the Merchant hath his election in Law whether he will sue the Master or the Owners of the Vessel only he can recover but of one of them And having once determined his election he ought to stick to that In which case if the Master happen to be Judicially condemned by reason of any default in his Mariners he may detain their wages till payment be made and satisfaction given for such damage as he suffered by their neglect for they ought by the Law to refund it out of their wages Ships and other Vessels of that kind were Originally invented for use and profit not for pleasure and delight to plow the Seas not to lie by the walls therefore upon any probable design the major part of Part-Owners may even against the consent though not without the privity and knowledge of the minor part set a Vessel to Sea under such Provisions Limitations and Cautions as by the Law is in that behalf provided yea the same thing may be also effected by the one
party only in case of equality in Partnership But in the choice of a Master where there are several Part-Owners of the same Vessel not always he that is chosen by the major part but he that is best qualified for that employment is according to Law most eligible and to be preferred If a ship be ript up or taken abroad into pieces with design of converting the Materials thereof to some other use and it be afterwards upon other advice or change of mind re-built with the same Materials This is now another and not the same ship specially if the keel be ript up or changed and the whole ship be at once all taken asunder and re-built It is otherwise if it be ript up in parts or taken asunder in parts and so repair'd in parts In which Case it remains still the same ship and not another albeit it be so often repaired that in tract of time there remain not one chip of the Original Fabrick And although a man repair his ship with plank or other materials belonging to another yet the ship shall not be his to whom the materials belong but remains his who repaired it It is otherwise if one takes another man's planks or materials prepared for the use of shipping and therewith build a Vessel for in that case the Owner of the materials shall be Owner also of the ship for the property of the whole Vessel follows the Keel thereof But if one prepare Tables and other Implements as for the use of a dwelling house or the like with Oke or Deal belonging to another man and afterwards with those Implements build a ship or other Vessel in this case the ship is his who built the same If a ship be bought together with all her Tackle Apparel and Furniture and other Instruments thereto belonging in this case and by these words the ships boat is not conveyed And therefore if by reason of any offence the ship happen to be forfeited or confiscate the said ships boat is not confiscate If one doth sell that ship or Vessel wherewith he hath exercised the detestable acts of Piracy whether the parties that suffered loss by such depredations have any remedy in Law against such ship now bought bona fide or against the buyer thereof now bonae fidei possessor is a question much controverted Some are of opinion that he hath no remedy in Law because the ship is a senseless thing and not capable of offending As also because the buyer thereof supposing him not conscious of any such depredations nor privy to abettor or partaker thereof ought not to suffer being innocent Others are of another opinion for that it is lawful for every man to seize the goods of Pirats especially for that there lies a tacite obligation on the goods of all offendors for satisfaction whence some infer that the Merchants who are so despoyled of their goods have a Legal recourse for satisfaction on the Pirats goods wheresoever or in whose hands soever they find them But the more received opinion is that whereas it is held lawful for every man to apprehend the goods of Pirats and be blameless it is meant and intended only so long or whilest they are the goods of such Pirates unless you can also affect the possessors of such goods with a participation of the same crime And if any do bona fide either buy or redeem a ship or other goods from such Pirats he may upon restitution thereof to the true Proprietor recover of him the price of such emption or the redemption-money If a ship or other Vessel by stress of weather or through fear of Enemies or Pirats be forced or chased into a Port no Duties or Customes or other duties in that case ought to be exacted or paid In fraighting of ships respect is had either to the ship it self or else to a certain part thereof as also either by the Moneth or the Voyage or by the Tun for it is one thing to fraight a ship another thing to take certain Tunnage to fraight So also one thing to be the Cape-Merchant another to be an Under-fraighter and the Law of fraight ordinarily is regulated by the Contract and varies according to the diversities of Agreement for Convention makes Law If fraight be contracted for the Lading of certain Slaves Cattle or the like and some of them happen to dye before the Vessel arrives to her Port of discharge the whole fraight is due that is as well for the dead as the living It is otherwise if the fraight were contracted for the Transporting them in which case fraight is due for no more then are alive at the ships arrival to her Port of discharge and no fraight due for the dead If it be not known or liquid whether the Contract were for the Lading or Transporting them the fraight is due for the Lading and consequently as well for the dead as living If fraight be contracted for transportation of a Woman and she happen during the voyage to be delivered of a child on Shipboard no fraight is to be paid for the said Infant If such misfortune happen to a Ship in her voyage that she cannot proceed therein the fraight contracted for doth cease in some cases only for so far and so much of the said voyage as the said Ship made before such misfortune fraight shall be paid If the ship by reason of the fraighters fault as for Lading Prohibited Commodities or the like be detained or impeded he shal pay the fraight contracted and agreed The Lading of a Ship in construction of Law is tacitly obliged for the fraight yea the payment of fraight is preferr'd before any other Debts to which the goods so laden are liable albeit such Debts in time were precedent to the said Fraight If a set time be fixed and agreed between the Merchant and the Master wherein to begin and finish a Voyage it may not be altered by the Supra-Cargo without special Commission ad hoc nor may the Master sail after the time Covenanted without refunding the damage out of his owne purse in case any happen at Sea after the said time A Promise being made by a Master of a Ship to to sail Venice from the Port of London in two moneths the promise is performed if he begin to sail the said Voyage within the two moneths though he arrive not at Venice within the said time And the sailing from one Port to another thence to a third fourth c. and so home to the Port whence she first set sayle oâ— some other Port of her last discharge is all but one and the same Voyage so as it be in Conformity to the Charter Party As there is no Art more Necessary so none more dangerous and uncertain then that of Navigation insomuch that Bias the Philosopher One of the
seaven Grecian Sophies had a Conceit that Navigators and Mariners when under Sayle might not properly be reputed either among the Living or the Dead and Plutarch in the Life of Cato relates it as one of Cato's Three Penitentials at his death if ever he conveyed any thing by water when he might have done it by Land hence it is that the Law is so favourable in Cases of Wreck and in nothing more consults the reparation of any then such as by that deplorable Casualty are reduced to misery Now no man by the Law may be prohibited or denyed the Liberty of Sayling either upon the Seas or any publick Rivers that is no man may be denyed that freedome or prohibited by any Private persons or other who have not Jura Regalia in that Territory for some Princes and States have in all ages exercised that Prerogative in this point which no lesser Powers can pretend unto Witness the City of Peru in her Concessions and Interdictions or Prohibitions touching a Liberty or restraint of Sayling on the Lake of Peru as also the like by the Venetians as to the Adriatick Gulfe Not here omitting to make an honourable mention of that undoubted Soveraignty which the Kings of Great Brittain in all ages have had in the Seas thereof Another duty of Merchants and Mariners is Contribution which is not onely in the case of goods cast over-board for the Lightning of the Vessel but also in Case of Redemption of ship or Lading or any part thereof from Enemies or Pirates insomuch that if a Master redeem the ship and Lading out of the hands of Pirates by promising them payment of a certain sum of money for performance whereof himself remaines as a pledge or Captive in the Custody of the Pirates in this case he is to be ransomed or redeemed at the Costs and charges of the said Ship and Lading ratably and proportionably as each mans Interest therein doth amount thereunto And if there be Cash or mony in the Ship it is not in this case Exempt from paying its share of the Contribution proportionably to Ship and Lading because the Master knowing the said money to be a Ship-board was probably the more willing to Redeem the Ship though at a dearer rate In a storm when the Ship is in danger of perishing it is not lawful for the Master at his own discretion without advice first had with the Merchants or their Factors or Supracargoes to cast goods over-board for the Lightning the Vessel or to Cut down the Mast or the like but in case they consent not and the Master see cause for it he may even against their consents do the same by the advice of the major part of his Mariners who at the end of their Voyage are to make oath that they did the same out of Necessity and only for preservation of Ship and Lading and by advice of the Mariners And the Master in such case is to take as much care as in him lies that such goods only be ejected and cast over-board as are of the heavyest weight and least value for which Contribution is to be made wherein the ejected goods are to be valued as other of the same species are sold for And Jewels though of no burthen to the Vessel yet in such case are liable to pay their share of Contribution according to their value And in such Cases the Custome of the Place is to be observed for by the Custome of some Places the Oaths of the Master and a Third part of the Mariners are required by the Custome of other Places the Masters Oath with two or three of his Mariners doth suffice But if only the Ship it self or any of her Tackle happen by stress of weather to be damnified there is no Contribution for the same though the Lading be all preserved Contribution is to be made and regulated in this manner First the goods which are lost or were ejected for conservation of the rest are to be valued and appraised then the goods saved are likewise to be estimated that so the values of each being known a proportionable valuation may be contributed by the goods saved towards satisfaction for the goods ejected lost or thrown over-board wherein regard is to be had not to what might be got by the goods lost but what the damage is by the loss thereof which are to be estimated not so much by what they might possibly be sold for as by what they cost or were bought for Though in truth the more received practise and Custome is that the goods saved and lost are both estimated as the saved goods happen to be sold for the fraight and other necessary charges being first deducted and the Estimation or Computation is to be made by such skilful Merchants and Mariners as adhere in their judgements and affections to neither party farther then becomes indifferent Arbitrators which may be managed with most equality and least suspicion or exception if the appraisment be made upon oath And if any in the Ship hath Money Plate Jewels or the like in any Trunk Chest Pack Fardel or other thing now to be thrown over-board he ought to discover it and shew it to the Master of the Ship before the ejection or otherwise in casting up the Contribution these things will come no farther into consideration then what the bare Extrinsick value appeared to be The goods preserved are by Law as liable to pay Contribution as Fraight and are tacitely obliged for the one as for the other and the Master may retain them as a pledge in Law as well for the satisfaction of the one as of the other If such ejected goods or the Merchandize be afterwards recovered out of the Sea the Contribution for them ceases saving for so much as they are thereby deteriorated But if by reason of the Masters over-lading the Vessel or by his indiscreet stowing the Goods or the like such ejection or casting goods over-board happen in that case no Contribution to be made by the Merchants but Satisfaction by the Ship the Master or Owners thereof If to avoyd the danger of a Storm the Master cut down the Masts and Sayls and they falling into the Sea are lost this dammage is to be made good by Ship and Lading pro rata Not so in case the same had happened by the Violence of the Wind or Storm or other Casualties Also no Contribution in case one Ship strike against another whereby dammage happens but full satisfaction in case of a fault or miscarriage in either or an equal division of the dammage in caâ—e it happen by a meer Casualty Lastly If a Lighter or Skiff or the Ships Boat into which part of the Cargo is unladen for the the lightning of the Ship perish and the Ship be preserved in that Case Contribution is to be made Otherwise it is in case the Ship perish and the Lighter Skiff or Ships Boat
from neither of these but from the Sarazens Admirantes for that in the Infancy of that Empire there were Quatuor Admirantes hoc est Militum Praefecti qui terra marique pugnarent But some think that this opinion hath no farther truth then in appearance only for that the Sarazens had no farther use of that office then in the Holy Wars Therefore those Ancients that derive the word much higher then the time of the Holy Wars will have it drâ—wn rather from the Greek then Arabick So that they seem to come nighest of any to the truth that derive the Pedegree of this word Admiral both from the Greek and Arabick For that Amir in the Arabick signifies Princeps Praefectus And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek Marinus both which amount to Admiralius or rather to Amiralius quasi Princeps vel Praefectus Marinus And this carries the greater probability with it for that as the said Sir Henry Spelman observes such bilingue Compounds were much in request at the Court of the Eastern Empire And it seems yet the more probable for that in Homer we find the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro Rectore maris or Governour of the Sea yea and for Neptune himselfe Wherefore Amir otherwise Emir also Amira Amirae Amiras and Amiradis do signifie Regem Principem Eparchum and Praefectum also with the Turks and Sarazens it sometimes signifies their Great Emperours and sometimes their Proto-symbol or President of the Senate And so the Arabick Amira or the Hebrew Amar that is dixit edixit illud praecepit imperavit from whence Mamurem that is praeceptum edictum And Amirom that is Dux Capitaneus Imperator Praefectus And so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Compound from whence Alamiro with the Article al 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Captain And from hence the Spanish Almirante or according to their ideom el Amirante and thence by turning l into d the word Admirans by some hath been used for Admiral whence others also though very corruptly yet by reason of their being so Consonant have given it other such like names as Admirabilis and Admirandus which words if compared with the former will in the sense of such as have so express'd themselves be found to be rather Syncatagorematical in their Signification then Homophonous in their Accent or Pronunciation And therefore the said Archiologist conceives that the word Amiratus which in Malmsb. is so often used for Admiral is not thence derived but rather from Amiradis the Genitive singular of the foresaid Amiras by an exchange of d for t as was usual and adds that the word Admiraldus is very Legible in the Antiquities of Turpin and Rupert or Robert the Monk quasi Al Amiradus that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by an Apocope of the letter d Admiral ' which others will have to be express'd by the word Admirarius This high Officer or chief Magistrate in Marine affairs with us is styled the Lord high Admiral of England with the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Latines Amira Amiras Amireus Ammiratus Admirallus Admiralis Admirans Admirandus Admirabilis Admiravisi Almiramisi Admiralius Amiralius In the Eastern Empire Amerii Admirantes also Drungarius Drungarius Magnus Drungarius Classis Drungarius Navigiorum Drungarius mari Praefectus With the Athenians and others Thalassiarchus Archithalassus Magistratus rei Nauticae Jurisdictionem habens With the Romans there were Duum viri Navales afterwards Praefectus maris Praefectus Classis Magnus Dux Classis Archigubernius With the Spaniard Almirante el Amirante Adelantado With the French L' Ameral Praefectus maris Litoris Custos Limitis Maritimi Comes Litoris Besides these there are several other Appellations of this one and self-same high Officer consonant unto the Ideom of such Nations and Countries respectively where this great Office hath been constituted This word Admirallius how it should signifie Bellicosus or Victoriosus as Mat. Paris hints seems not easily to be resolved without a far strained Notion for without doubt of all the presupposed Etymons of that word that which Junius gives seems to be the most Legitimate that from the Arabick Amira Princeps and the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marinus it being generally agreed that this word is a Compound of an Exotick Extraction from two distinct Languages or Tongues And therefore although Gretserus be pleas'd to be displeas'd with this derivation thereof yet it is supposed that others without the least hazard of Naufragating their Art of Glossographie may securely cast Anchor and safely acquiesce therein CHAP. II. The Original of Navigation and the Sea-Laws with the Antiquity of the Office of Admiral in the Transmarine or Foraign parts of the World THE World was no sooner Created but Man had Dominion over the Fish of the Sea Jure Divino which could not well be without Naval Architecture and some skill in the Art of Navigation And it is now no less then nigh 3952 years since Noah that Totius orbis Thalassiarchus or high Admiral of the whole world in that general Cataclysme with his ship or vessel called the Ark of Gopher laden with a Cargo of the whole Vniverse after a nigh six moneths Voiage safely arrived at Ararat his Port of Discharge in Armenia which though re-peopled by his Progeny yet thence to believe and affirm That by Naval Acquisitions his son Sem proprietated all Asia his son Japhet all Europe and his son C ham all Africa is more then a meer Historical Faith hath sufficient warrant for though less then Navigation hath Antiquity to possibilitate Whether Jupiter King of Crete now the Isle of Candie did purge the Seas of Pirats and his son Minos by Sea-fights beat the Athenians into Tributaries is also a question more ancient then certain or easie to be resolved yet that Theseus son of Aegeus King of Athens vanquished Taurus then high Admiral to Minos is asserted by good Authority and drowned him in the Sea hinc Fabula Minotauri But the Master or Steersman of Theseus his ship not remembring to advance or display the White Eagle as the Ensign of Victory at his approach on his Arrival to Crete his Father Aegeus betwixt fear and fury cast himself headlong into the Sea which gives it the name of the Aegean Sea in the Archipelago to this day In those days lived Daedalus who to avoid the Tyranny of Minos fled from Crete into Sicily but the wings wherewith he is feigned to have fled the more modest Mythologists expound to be only the Sails of his ship Some are of opinion that former Ages were ignorant of this Art of Navigation for that they ingraved Non ultra upon Hercules Pillars The Nations about Pontus supposing no Sea in the world like their own and doubting whether there were any other Sea
of Great Brittain have an undoubted right to the Soveraignty of the Seas of Great Brittain none but a few Mare Libertines and that for their own Interest ever scrupled Sir Hen Spelman gives us an Account of a very Ancient Record extracted out of the Laws of Hoelus Dha Regis seu Principis Walliae cir An. 928. which for the proof of the said Dominium quasi uno intuitu is here inserted in haec verba viz. Variato aliquantulum Nominis Vocabulo dici hic videtur Huwell Da qui superius Hoêl Dha Latine Hoêlus Hoelus alias Huval quem Malmesburiensis unum fuisse refert e quinque Wallensium Regibus Quos cum Cunadio Rege Scotorum Malcolmo Rege Cambrorum Maccusio Achipirata seu Principe Nautarum vel Marium Praefecto ad Civitatem Legionum sibi occurrentes Rex Anglorum Eadgarus in Triumphi pompam deducebat Una enim impositos remigrare eos hanc coegit dum in Prora ipse Sedens Navis tenuit gubernaculum ut se hoc spectaculo Soli Sali orbis Brittanici Dominum praedicaret Monarcham In this Ancient and Memorable Record King Edgar Neptune-like rides in Triumph over the Brittish Seas giving the world to understand that Dominium Maris is the Motto of his Trident. Consonant whereunto is that which the Law it self says Mare dicitur esse de districtu illius Civitatis vel Loci qui confinat cum mari in quantum se extendit territorium terrae prope mare In a word to this purpose the Renowned Learned Mr. Selden who hath left no more to say but with Jo Baptist Larrea in one of his Decisions of Granada That Authorum sententias non ex numero sed ex ratione metiri oportet pensitari debent juris fundamenta non Authorum Elenchum velut calculatione computari The Lord High Admiral is by the Prince concredited with the management of all Marine Affairs as well in respect of Jurisdiction as Protection He is that high Officer or Magistrate to whom is committed the Government of the Kings Navy with power of Decision in all Causes Maritime as well Civil as Criminal So that befide the power of Jurisdiction in Criminals he may judge of Contracts between party and party touching things done upon or beyond the the Seas Wherein he may cause his Arrests Monitions and other Decrees of Court to be served upon the Land as also may take the parties body or goods in execution upon the Land The Lord Coke in honour of the Admiralty of England is pleased to publish to the world that the Lord Admirals Jurisdiction is very Ancient and long before the Reign of Ed. 3. and that there hath ever been an Admiral time out of mind as appears not only by the Laws of Oleron but also by many other Ancient Records in the Reigns of Hen. 3. Ed. 1. Ed. 2. Thus as the Laws and Constitutions of the Sea are nigh as Ancient as Navigation it self so the Jurisdiction thereof hath universally been owned and received by all Nations yea and this Kingdome is by way of Eminency Crowned by Antiquity for the promulgation of the one and establishment of the other For otherwise without such Maritime Laws and such an Admiral Jurisdiction how could the Ancient Brittains long before Julius Caesar invaded this Isle restraine all Strangers Merchants excepted from approaching their Confines or regulate such Navies as were the wonder of that Age Or how could King Edgar in the Titles of his Charters have effectually styled himself as well Imperator Dominusque rerum omnium Insularum Oceani qui Brittaniam circumjacent as Anglorum Basileus or maintain in Naval Discipline these four hundred Sail of ships appointed by him to guard and scour the Brittish Seas And did not Etheldred after Edgar for the self-same end and purpose set forth to Sea from Sandwitch one of the greatest Navies that ever this Kingdome prepared Doubtless this was no Lawless Navy without Maritime Constitutions for the due regulation thereof according to the Laws of the Sea Consonant to that of the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty then in use and received by all the Maritime Principalities of Europe Whereas it is universally acknowledged That the Admiralty of England is very Ancient and long before the Reign of Edward the third who ever consults Antiquity shall find it farre more Ancient and long before the Reign of Edward the first even time out of mind before the said Edward the first To this purpose very remarkable is that ancient Record in the Tower of London entituled De Superioritate Maris Angliae jure Officii Admirallatus in eodem and out of the old French rendred into English by Sir John Boroughs in his compendious Treatise of the Soveraignty of the Brittish Seas pag. 25 c. edit Anno 1633. in which it evidently appears that the Admiralty of England and the Jurisdiction thereof was farre more Ancient then Edward the first and that from age to age successively and time out of mind even before the days of the said Edward the first it was so owned and acknowledged by this and all other Neighbour-Nations as appears by the said Record which was occasioned by a National Agreement of certain differences arising between the Kings of England and France in the 26 year of the Reign of the said Edward the first by reason of certain usurpations attempted by Reyner Grimbald then Admiral of the French Navy in the Brittish Seas in which Agreement the Commissioners or Agents for the Maritime Coasts of the greatest part of the Christian world of Genoa Spain Germany Holland Zealand Freezland Denmark and Norway then present made this memorable Acknowledgment and Declaration which is extracted out of the said Record as to so much thereof as relates to the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty viz. That the Procurators of the Admiral of the Sea of England and of other places as of the Sea-Coasts as of Genoa Catalonia Spain Almayne Zealand Holland Freezland Denmark and Norway do shew that the Kings of England time out of mind have been in peaceable possession of the Seas of England in making and establishing Laws and Statutes and Restraints of Arms and of Ships c. and in taking Surety c. and in ordering of all other things necessary for the maintaining of Peace Right and Equity c. and in doing Justice Right and Law according to the said Laws Ordinances and Restraints and in all other things which may appertain to the Exercise of Soveraign Dominion in the places aforesaid And A. de B. Admiral of the Sea deputed by the King of England and all other Admirals ordained by the said King of England have been in peaceable possession of the Soveraign guard with the Cognizance of Justice c. And whereas the Masters of the Ships of the said Kingdome of England in the absence of the said Admiral have been
of Out-readers or Out-riggers Furnishers Hirers Fraighters Owners Part-owners of ships as such also all causes of Priviledged ships or Vessels in his Majesties Service or his Letters of safe Conduct also all causes of shipwrack at Sea Flotson Jetson Lagon Waiffs Deodands Treasure-Trove Fishes-Royal with the Lord Admirals shares and the Finders respectively also all causes touching Maritime offences or misdemeanours such as cutting the Bovy-Rope or Cable removal of an Anchor whereby any Vessel is moared the breaking the Lord Admiral 's Arrests made either upon person ship or goods Breaking Arrests on ships for the King's Service being punishable with Confiscation by the Ordinance made at Grimsby in the the time of Rich. 1. Mariners absenting themselves from the Kings Service after their being prest Impleading upon a Maritine Contract or in a Maritime Cause elsewhere then in the Admiralty contrary to the Ordinance made at Hastings by Ed. 1. and contrary to the Laws and Customes of the Admiralty of England Forestalling of Corn Fish c. on ship-board regrating and exaction of water-osficers the appropriating the benefit of Salt-waters to private use exclusively to others without his Majesties Licence Kiddles Wears Blind stakes Water-mills and the like to the obstruction of Navigation in great Rivers False weights or measures on ship-board Concealings of goods found about the dead within the Admiral Jurisdiction or of Flotsons Jetsons Lagons Waiffs Deodands Fishes Royal or other things wherein the Kings Majesty or his Lord Admiral have interest Excessive wages claimed by Ship-wrights Mariners c. Maintainers Abettors Receivers Concealers or Comforters of Pyrats Transporting Prohibited goods without Licence Draggers of Oysters and Muscles at unseasonable times viz. between May-day and Holy-rood-day Destroyers of the brood or young Fry of Fish such as claim Wreck to to the prejudice of the King or Lord Admiral such as unduly claim priviledges in a Port Disturbers of the Admiral Officers in execution of the Court-Decrees Water-Bayliffs and Searchers not doing their duty Corruption in any of the Admiral-Court-Officers Importers of unwholesome Victuals to the peoples prejudice Fraighters of strangers Vessels contrary to the Law Transporters of ptisoners or other prohibited persons not having Letters of safe Conduct from the King or his Lord Admiral Casters of Ballasts into Ports or Harbours to the prejudice thereof Unskilful Pilots whereby ship or man perish Unlawful Nets or other prohibited Engines for Fish Disobeying of Embargos or going to Sea contrary to the Prince his command or against the Law Furnishing the ships of Enemies or the Enemy with ships All prejudice done to the Banks of Navigable Rivers or to Docks Wharsfs Keys or any thing whereby Shipping may be endangered Navigation obstructed or Trade by Sea impeded Also embezilments of ship-tackle or furniture all substractions of Mariners wages all defraudings of his Majesties Customes or other Duties at Sea also all prejudices done to or by passengers a shipboard and all damages done by one ship or Vessel to another also to go to Sea in tempestuous weather to sail in devious places or among Enemies Pyrats Rocks or other dangerous places being not necessitated thereto all clandestine attempts by making privy Cork-holes in the Vessel or otherwise with intent to destroy or endanger the ship Also the shewing of false Lights by Night either on shore or in Fishing Vessels or the like on purpose to intice Sailers to the hazard of their Vessels all wilful or purposed entertaining of unskilful Masters Pilots or Mariners or sailing without a Pilot or in Leaky and insufficient Vessels also the over-burdening the ship above her birth-mark and all ill stowage of goods a shipboard also all Importation of Contrabanda goods or Exportation of goods to prohibited Ports or the places not designed together with very many other things relating either to the state or condition of persons Maritime their rights their duties or their defaults all which only to enumerate would require a Volume of it self These therefore may suffice for a hint of persons and things properly Cognizable within the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England Omitting what might be here likewise added as to the Naval Military part within the Cognizance of the said Jurisdiction As that ships in the Brittish Seas not amaining at the first Summons to any of his Majesties ships may be assaulted and taken as Enemies That no Prize ought to be carried from the Fleet without the Admirals leave That all above hatches saving the ship-furniture ought upon a seizure jure belli to goe to the Captors That the Vessels of Forraigners met with at Sea may be visited and examined if suspected specially in times of Warre their Cocquets Pasports Charter-parties Invoyces Bills of Lading Ship-Roll with other Instruments ship-papers perused that so if there be cause they may be brought before the Admiral There are many other particulars referring as well to the Civil as to the Criminal part of this Jurisdiction which might be here inserted but the design of this Compendious Treatise being as formerly hinted rather to touch then handle things it may not be expected that the great Continent of the Admiralty should be comprized in so small a Map To conclude therefore with that great Oracle of the Civil Law Baldus touching the Marine Jursdiction In mari Jurisdictio est sicut in terra Nam Mare in terra h. e. in alveo suo fundatum est quum Terra sit inferior Sphaera videmus de jure Gentium in mari esse Regna distincta sicut in arida terra Ergo Jus Civile id est Praesciptio illud idem potest in mari scilicet quod in terra operari So that all such as out of a subtile humour would fain insinuate into the world as if there were no such thing as Jurisdictio maris or Dominium maris with its prescript limits and bounds some arguing from the perpetual motion of that liquid element Others from a supposed parity between the Sea and the Air in point of Community are by this Learned Oracle left without any hopes or possibility of the least Orthodox support for their Anti-thalas-monarchical opinion For in this place he is positive That both the Jurisdiction and the Dominion of the Sea with their distinct limits and bounds as well as that of the Land are duly constituted and that not by force and power but by Law not only by the Civil but also by the Law of Nations and this not in the Emperours alone but also in such Kingdomes and States as by Prescription Custome or otherwise may claim the same CHAP. V. Of Laws and Jurisdictions in general with the several kinds and degrees thereof IT is recorded in the Historical part of the Law by that famous Lawyer of Millayne Jason Maynus who flourished about the year of our Lord 1500 and taught at Padua where he dyed Anno 1519. upon this subject of Jurisdictions that Raphael Fulgosius that Jaspis virtutum utroque jure
districtum Maris vocat The Straights of Gibralter infra Jurisdictionem Maritimam And because it appeared That the Contract was made at the Island of Malaga Prohibition was granted for it was not regarded that he added infra Jurisdictionem Maritimam which appeared contrary If in another Case it happen to be elsewhere supposed that the Contract is made at Burdeaux in France in Islington though by the very light of nature it appears as soon as it is put to be contrary yet there may be that reason of Law to hold the place is not traversable as to the Infra Corpus Comitatus which the Infra Jurisdictionem Maritimam cannot duly expect when that appears to be contrary It was once said by Justice Wray in Sir Julius Caesars Case That it was hard that his Jurisdiction should be tryed before himself It hath been observed for these last twenty years that it is far more easie to preach good doctrine then to practise it The Law in all Jurisdictions is but Reason Regulated No wonder therefore if sometimes a Cause as to the Merits of it meet with a right Decision in a wrong Jurisdiction but less wonder if it oftner happeneth otherwise It is reported in the Case of Bright against Couper That an Action of Covenant being brought upon a Covenant made by a Merchant with a Master of a Ship viz. That if he would bring his Fraight to such a Port then he would pay him such a summe it was shewed that part of the goods were taken away by Pyrats and that the residue of the goods were brought to the place appointed and there unladen And that the Merchant had not paid and so the Covenant broken And the question was whether the Merchant should pay the mony agreed for since all the Merchandizes were not brought to the place appointed And the Court was of opinion that he ought not to pay the mony because the Agreement was not by him performed Here is no mention made of a penny-fraight paid for the residue of the goods brought to the place appointed albeit there was Vis major or Casus Fortuitus without any default in the Master or Mariners in the Case the Court being of opinion that he ought not to pay the mony because the Agreement was not by him performed nor had it been performed in case of stress of weather part of the goods had Navis Levandae causa been thrown over-board probably this Pyracy whereby came this casual incapacity of performing the Agreement was Super altum mare And the same Reporter in Westons Case A Merchant hath a Ship taken by a Spaniard being enemy and a moneth after an English Merchant with a Ship called the Little Richard re-takes it from the Spaniard And the Owner of the Ship sueth for that in the Admiralty Court And Prohibition was granted because the Ship was gained by battel of an enemy Probably this Capture and Re-capture the occasion of this plea and querele was only Super altum mare and the property of Shipping called into question by reason of such supermarine accidents the matter of this plea and querele is of every days practice in the Admiralty and so accustomed time out of mind But at another time in a Case something parallel to that quoad merita Causae super altum mare A Prohibition would not be granted A Dunkirker having seised a French mans Vessel Super altum mare sold the same with her Lading at Weâ—mouth whither it had been driven before its brought infra praesidia Dom. Regis Hispan whereupon the French man Libelled in the Court of Admiralty against the Vendee pro interesse suo who shewed that it was taken not by Letters of Mart as was pretended but by Piracy And prayed a Prohibition And it was agreed by the Justices That if a Ship be taken by Piracy or by Letters of Mart and be not brought infra praesidia of that Prince by whose subject it was taken that it is no lawful Prize and the Property is not altered and such was said to be the Law of the Court of Admiralty And therefore the Court would not grant a Prohibition In the former Case where Prohibition was granted the property of the Ship seems not to be altered for though she were as that Case puts it taken by an Enemy and a moneth intervened between the Capture and re-Capture and so did pernoctare with the Captors yet it does not appear by that Case that she was ever brought infra praesidia hostium before such re-capture or that ever Judication passed thereon And if there were any alteration of Property of that ship the Property must have been altered Super altum mare which is properly Cognizable in the Admiralty in respect of the Place as well as the thing it self in its own nature Littleton that Famous Oracle of the Law as aforesaid asserts That a thing done out of the Realm may not be tryed within the Realm by the oath of twelve men The Lord Coke as aforesaid acknowledgeth That the Lord Admiral hath and ought to have Jurisdiction of Contracts pleas and quereles made upon the Sea or any part thereof not within any County And Sir George Crook says That if a Suit be commenced in the Court of Admiralty upon things done upon the Sea no Prohibition is to be granted Therefore it follows that Contracts made and other things done upon the Sea are inherent in the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty CHAP. IX Of Contracts and Bargains made and other things done Beyond the Seas And whether the Cognizance thereof doth belong to the Admiralty IF the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty in this point should seem to be pretermitted or waved by saying that Bargains and Contracts made beyond the Seas wherein the Common Law cannot administer Juflice do belong to the Lord High Constable and Earl Marshal of England It might seem tacitely to imply as if Charter-parties Bills of Lading Cockets Invoyces Commissions of Mart Marine Consortships and other Contracts or things made or done beyond Sea touching Trade and Navigation were not within the Conusance of the Jurisdiction of the High Admiralty of England Whereas it is well known That they are only Contracts and Deeds of Arms and of War and the like out of the Realm that do properly belong to the Lord High Constable and Earl Marshal of England and the like within the Realm whose Jurisdiction is of a distinct and diversified nature both from that of the Common Law and of the Admiralty also It is said That if an Indenture Bond or other Specialty or any Contract be made beyond Sea for the doing of any Act or payment of mony within the Realm or otherwise wherein the Common Law can administer Justice and give ordinary remedy In these Cases neither the Constable and Marshal nor the Court of Admiralty hath any Jurisdiction So that the Admiralty seems hereby to be of little use as to
being thereby excluded the Cognizance of such Maritime Contracts both sides the water must keep to Sea in all weathers yet scarce retain the libert if I may so say of a confinement Super altum mare according to the energy of that suggession reported in the Case aforesaid of Susans against Turner where it is said That if a Suit be commenced in the Admiralty for a Contract supposed to be made Super altum mare the Defendant upon a Surmize or Suggestion That it was made upon the Land within the Realm may have Prohibition According to which comnutation with the premises considered the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty seems to be hard put to it both by Sea and Land Nor need it seem any thing strange that the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty seems excluded of Cognizance in such cases of Charter-parties whether made at Land or beyond Sea if a bare Surmize or Suggestion according to the â—aid Report in the Case of Susans against Turner may work as to a Prohibition against the Admiralty when a Suit is there commenced for a Contract not appearing other then made Super altum mare According to these premises if the Charter-party be made at Land though to be performed upon or beyond the Seas it is to be tryed in the ordinary course of the Common Law And if the Contract be made beyond Sea for doing any act within the Realm c. the Court of Admiralty hath not any Jurisdiction thereof And if the Suit be commenced in the Admiralty for a Contract supposed to be made upon the Sea then by a Surmize or Suggestion that it was made upon the Land a Prohibition according to the said Case may be had Thus in matters of Charter-party this side the Sea the Common Law seems to claim the Cognizance in Contracts made beyond Sea the Admiralty seems not to be allowed any Jurisdiction and in Contracts supposed to be made upon the Sea the Defendant upon a Surmize may have a Prohibition But no Fiction can spunge the Ocean nor turn the Sea into dry Land or the Bay of Mexico into Middlesex till it be proved as well as surmized In the said Case of Susans against Turner where it is said If a Suit be in the Admiral Court for a Contract supposed to be made Super altum mare the Defendant upon a Surmize that it was made upon the Land within the Realm may have a Prohibition It is there farther added in these words viz. And that it may come in issue if it was upon the Land or upon the Sea But by the Justices their Rule is that upon such a Suggestion they shall not grant a Prohibition after Sentence pass'd So that be the verity of the Fact as to the Super altum mare in it self never so liquid yet being primarily but supposed as all things in judicio though in themselves never so clear never so true yet must be alledged before the Court can proceed a Counter-supposition or Crosssurmize may work according to this as to a Prohibition to bring it in issue whether it was upon the Land or upon the Sea And so it seems as if scarce possible in any Case to avoid a Prohibition for the reallest Truths and the undenyablest verities under the Sun if in judicio foro contentioso can be at first but supposed truths for the Court if it proceed Legally cannot but proceed Secundum allegata first Probata next Charter-parties Bills of sale of Ships and the like Maritime Contracts are commonly made according to the Law of Oleron and frequently wicâ— a clause express to that purpose inserted therein the Civil Law the Laws and Customes of the Sea whereby the Admiralty proceeds takes notice thereof and can judge and determine accordingly how far other Laws that are accommodated to matters of another element though in themâ—elves and in their proper sphere most excellent can do the like is no part of the design of this compendious Treatise to determine But that Prohibitions have been granted upon Charter-parties is undenyably true Yeâ— the lamentable Cases of poor Mariners for their Wages have not of late unhappy years escaped Prohibitions although it be not denyed but they may all joyn in one Libel in the Court of Admiralty whereas at the Commoâ— Law if they must there prosecute they may not bring their Actions otherwise then severally and apart to their greater expence and charges respect being not had to the identity of the Case or the poverty of the Demâ—ndants to introduce a joynt Action To this purpose it is reported That where judgement was given in the Court of Admiralty against one Jones a Master of a Ship at the Suit of certain poor Mariners for their wages a Prohibition was prayed upon a Suggestion that the Contract was made at London in England but the Prohibition was denyed because he had not sued his Prohibition in due time viz. before a Judgement given in the Court of Admiralty Whereby it seems as if it was not the nature of the Case though for Mariners wages that prevented the Prohibition but the unseasonable suing for it viz. After Judgement given in the Court of Admiralty Touching the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty in ontracts made and other things done upon the Rivers beneath the first Bridges next the Sea where it ebbs and flows and in the Ports Creeks Havens Peers Sounds Harbours Rhodes Bayes Channels and other places infra fluxum refluxum maris It hath been asserted That by the Laws of this Realm the Court of Admiralty hath no Cognizance Power or Jurisdiction of any matter within any County either upon Land or Water So as it is not held material whether the place be upon the water infra fluxum refluxum maris but whether it be upon any water within any County And it is farther added That for the death of a man and of Mayhem in these two Cases only done in great Ships being and hovering in the main stream only beneath the Points of the same Rivers nigh to the Sea and no other place of the same Rivers nor in other Causes but in these two only the Admiral hath Cognizance yet probably it will not be denyed but that by Exposition and Equity of the Statute of 15 R. 2. cap. 3. whence as supposed that assertion is taken he may inquire of and redress all annoyances and obstructions in those Rivers that are any impediment to Navigation or passage to or from the Sea and also try all personal contracts and injuries done there which concern Navigation upon the Sea And no Prohibition is to be granted in such Cases The Reader may at his leisure consult the said Statute whether it says In the main streams only beneath the Points of the same Rivers nigh to the Sea or whether the Statute doth not say In the mâ—in stream of great Rivers only beneath the Bridge of the same Rivers nigh to the
Prohibition be awarded against the Court of Admiralty in Suits there Commenced upon Contracts made beyond the Seas CHAP. XIII Of the Agreement touching the Admiralty in Anno 1575. As also of the Resolutions Hill 8. Car. 1. upon the Cases of Admiral Jurisdiction THE Non-observance of the said Agreement being for the more quiet and certain execution of Admiral Jurisdiction was one of the Objections of the Admiralty in Anno 8 Jac. Reg. whereof mention is made by the Lord Coke in Par. 4. Instit cap. 22. And where it is said to be a supposed Agreement and that it had not been delivered to the then Judges but acknowledged to have heard the same read over in His Majesties Presence And to which Answer was then made That for so much thereof as differeth from those Answers viz. to the other Objections then made it is against the Laws and Statutes of this Realm And therefore the Judges of the Kings Bench never assented thereunto as is pretended neither doth the phrase thereof agree with the tearms of the Laws of the Realm This was the Answer then given to that Objection grounded upon the said Agreement Whether the same were no more then supposed may be referred to the matter of Fact wherein if so the evidentia rei will easily liquidate the scruple and dissipate dubieties Though the said Agreement be disagreed yet the Law like the Axis of the Body Politick remains fixed notwithstanding the rotation of opinions And whether so much thereof as differed from the Answers then made to the other Objections were repugnant to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm or the phrase discrepant from the tearms thereof would be more visible upon an Inspection were it free to insert that as an Imprinted Agreement here which is called but a supposed Agreement there Therefore to inquire how far the said Agreement made or supposed to be made in one age may be obligatory in another may possibly have an implication of more verity and reality then the thing it self with general consent doth or may challenge yet being in substance Consonant to the subsequent Resolutions upon the Cases of Admirall Jurisdiction and being an Objection long since under a former Impression with the Answer thereto as aforesaid it may be now a less Transgression to omit the Thing it self saltem in terminis then Digression to have given this short hint thereof quasi in nubibus The Resolutions Hill 8. Car. 1. upon the Cases of Admiral Jurisdiction being the Articles Propositions and Agreement made and subscribed in Febr. 1632. by all the Reverend Judges of both the Honourable Benches for the accommodating and setling the Differences concerning Prohibitions are very Energetical in Affirmance of much of the Rights of the said Jurisdiction The Sun need not borrow the Auxiliaries of Art to demonstrate his Light These Articles and this Agreement whatever the former be are more then supposed being reall and true You have it here as to the Body and Substance thereof in no other words then Sir Geo. Croke in his Reports delivers it with the requisite Addition of the style or Preface thereto together with the names of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Councel then present As followeth viz. At White Hall 18 Febr. 1632. Present The Kings Most Excellent Majesty Lord Keeper Lord Arch-Bishop of York Lord Treasurer Lord Privy Seal Earl Marshal Lord Chamberlain E. of Dorset E. of Carlisle E. of Holland E. of Denbeigh Lord Chancellour of Scotland E. of Morton Lord V. Wimbleton Lord V. Wentworth Lord V. Faulkland Lord Bishop of London Lord Cottington Lord Newburgh Mr. Treasurer Mr. Controller Mr. Vice-Chamberlain Mr. Secretary Coke Mr. Secretary Windebank This day His Majesty being present in Councel the Articles and Propositions following for the accommodating and setling the Difference concerning Prohibitions arising between His Majesties Courts at Westminster and His Court of Admiralty were fully Debated and Resolved by the Board And were then likewise upon reading the same as well before the Judges of his Majesties said Courts at Westminster as before the Judge of His said Court of Admiralty and His Atturney General Agreed unto and subscribed by them all in His Majesties Presence viz. 1. If Suit should be commenced in the Court of Admiralty upon Contracts made or other things Personal done beyond the Seas or upon the Sea No Prohibition to be awarded 2. If Suit be before the Admiral for Fraight or Mariners wages or for breach of Charter-parties for Voyages to be made beyond the Seas Though the Charter-party happen to be made within the Realm so as the Penalty be not demanded a Prohibition is not to be granted But if the Suit be for the Penalty Or if the question be whether the Charter-party were made or not Or whether the Plaintiff did release or otherwise discharge the same within the Realm This is to be tryed in the Kings Courts at Westminster and not in His Court of Admiralty 3. If Suit be in the Court of Admiralty for Building Amending Saving or necessary Victualling of a Ship against the Ship it self and not against any party by name but such as for his Interest makes himself a party No Prohibition is to be granted though this be done within the Realm 4. Although of some Causes arising upon the Thames beneath the first Bridge and divers other Rivers beneath the first Bridge the Kings Courts have Cognizance Yet the Admiralty hath also Jurisdiction there in the point specially mentioned in the Statute of 15 R. 2. And also by Exposition and Equity thereof he may inquire of and redress all annoyances and obstructions in these Rivers that are any impediment to Navigation or Passage to or from the Sea And also to try Personal Contracts and Injuries done there which concern Navigation upon the Sea And no Prohibition is to be granted in such Cases 5. If any be imprisoned and upon Habeas Corpus brought If it be certified that any of these be the Cause of his Imprisonment the party shall be remanded Subscribed Febr. 1632. By all the Judges of both Benches AN EXTRACT By way of APPENDIX Of the Ancient LAVVS of Oleron Rendred into English out of GARSIAS aliàs FERRAND Together with Some Marginal Observations thereon LONDON Printed in the Year 1661. AN EXTRACT By way of APPENDIX of the Ancient Sea-Laws of OLERON Rendred into English out of Garsias aliàs Ferrand The Judgements of the Sea and the Isle of OLERON For the Regulation and Government of Merchants Owners of Ships Part-Owners Masters of Ships and Common Mariners in all Maritime Affairs I. WHen a Ship or other Vessel whereof a Master is made belonging to several Part-Owners and departing from her own Port arrives at Burdeoux Rouen or such like place and is there Fraighted to sail for Scotland or some other Forraign Country The Master in such case may not sell or dispose the said Vessel without Licence or a special Procuration for that purpose from the said
Owners But in case he want monies for the Victualling or other necessary provisions of the said Vessel he may for that end with the advice of his Mariners hypothecate pawn or pledge part of the Tackle or Furniture of the said Ship II. If a Ship or other Vessel be in a Port or Haven waiting for her Fraight therewith to depart the Master before he depart thence ought first to Consult with his Company and say Sirs We have now an opportunity to set Sail Some of them possibly will say The Weather as yet seems not good enough the Wind being but now newly changed and we ought to see it somewhat setled Others of them possibly will say The Weather is good and fair In this Case the said Master is to concur with the Opinion of the major part of his Company If he does otherwise and the Vessel happen to miscarry thereby he is obliged to make good the same according to the value upon a just appraisement III. If any Vessel through misfortune happen to be cast away in whatsoever place it be the mariners are bound to use their best endevour for the saving as much of the Ship and Lading as possibly they can And if they preserve part thereof the Master is bound to allow them reasonable Consideration whereby to get home to their own Country And in case they save so much as whereby the Master may do this then may he lawfully pledge to some honest persons such part thereof as may serve for that occasion But if they have not endevoured to save as aforesaid then the Master is not bound to provide for them in any thing but rather they lose their wages when the Vessel is lost And the Master may not sell the Furniture of the Vessel or her Lading without a Procuration for that purpose from the Owners and Merchants But yet he ought if it may be to have the Mariners in a readiness until he knows the pleasure of the Owners And herein he ought to doe as becomes a prudent Master for if he does otherwise he is obliged to satisfaction IV. A Vessel Laden departing from Rochel or some other place happens in the Course of her Voyage to be rendred unfit to proceed therein yet the Mariners save as much of the Lading as possibly they can The Merchants and Master are at variance requiring to have their Merchandize or the Lading from the Master They ought indeed to have them paying Fraight for so far as they made the said Voyage Kenning by Kenning and Course by Course if it so please the Master But if he will he may repair his Vessel if so be she be in such case as that readily she may be repaired but if otherwise and he cannot hire another Vessel to finish his said Voyage then the Master shall have his Fraight for so far of the said Voyage and for so much of the Lading as is there saved And the Fraight of the Goods that are saved ought all of it to be reckoned Liver by Liver and the saved Goods to pay the Costs of their salvage according as they shall happen to be And in case it happens that the Master Merchant or Mariners promised the People of the Country where such misfortune is a third or one moity of what by their help should be saved of the Ship and Lading out of the dangers they were in In that case the Justice of that Country where such misfortune happens ought well to consider what pains they bestowed and what hazards they did run in the saving thereof and to reward them accordingly notwithstanding what promise in such distress so made them as aforesaid by such Master Merchant or Mariner V. If a Vessel depart from any Country Laden or Empty and arrive at any Port the Mariners ought not to leave the Ship or to go out of her without the Masters Leave or Licence For if otherwise and the Vessel should happen to be lost or by any misfortune be damnified they are obliged to make satisfaction for the same But if the Vessel was in such a place as wherein she was Anchored and Moared with two or three Cables they may then lawfully go out of her without the said Masters Licence provided they leave behind them on Ship-board such a number of the Ships Company their Fellow-Mariners as is sufficient to keep the Decks and the Merchandize or the Lading of the Ship provided also that they return again in due time and season to their said Ship For if they make unnecessary delays or stay from the Ship longer then is meet they ought to make satisfaction if they have wherewithal VI. If some of the Mariners that hired themselves with the Master go out of the Ship without his Leave and drink themselves drunk or the like whereby there happens Contempt to their Master besides Debates Fightings and Quarrellings among themselves whereby some happen to be wounded In this Case the Master is not obliged to get them healed or in any thing to provide for them but rather to discharge them of the Vessel and to turn them out of the Ship both them and their Comrades But if by the Masters Order and Command any of the Ships Company be in the service of the Ship and therein happen to be wounded or otherwise hurt in this Case they ought to be healed and provided for at the Costs and charges of the said Ship VII If it so happens that Sickness doth seize on any of the Mariners of the Ship while he is in the service of the said Ship the Master ought to set him on shore and to let him have Candle-Light and to provide him a Lodging as also to spare him one of the Ship-boyes to look to him or hire a woman to attend him Likewise to afford him such Diet as is usual in the Ship that is to say so much as he had a Ship-board in his health and nothing more unless it please the Master to allow him more And if he will have better Diet the Master is not bound to provide it for him unless it be at his own Costs and Charges And if the Vessel be ready for her departure she ought not to stay for the said sick party If he recover he ought to have his full wages or competent hire rebating or deducting only such Charges as the Master hath been at for him And if he dyes his wife or next of kin ought to have it VIII A Vessel is Laden to sail for Rouen or some other place it happens that a storm overtakes her at Sea and so violent that she cannot escape without casting some of her Lading and the Merchandize over board for lightning the said Vessel and preserving the rest of the Lading as also of the Vessel it self In this Case the Master ought to say Sirs It is fit or expedient to cast over board some part of the Lading to save
the Vessel And if there be no Merchant that answers his pleasure herein or accords and approves thereof by his silence Then the Master ought to use his discretion and to do what in him lyes and to cast part of the Lading over board And if this please not the Merchants but that they gain-say or contradict it yet the Master notwithstanding this ought not to forbear casting out so much goods as he shall see may be for the common good and safety he and the third part of his Mariners making Oath on the Holy Evangelist when they arrive at their right Port of Discharge that he did it only for the preservation of the Vessel and the rest of the Lading that remains yet in her And the Wines or other goods that were cast over board ought to be valued and prized according to the just value of the other goods that arrive in safety And when these shall be sold the price or value thereof ought to be divided Liver by Liver among the Meâ—chants And the Master ought to make the division and to compute the damage of the Vessel or the Fraight at his own choice for the recovery thereof And the Mariners also ought to have one Tun free and another divided by Cast of the Dice according as it shall happen if he make it appear he did the part of an able Sea-man But if he make not this to appear then he shall have nothing freely and the Merchants in this Case may lawfully put the Master to his Oath IX If it happen that by reason of much foul weather the Master is like to be constrain'd to cut his Masts he ought first to call the Merchants if there be any a board the Ship and such as have goods and Merchandize in the Vessel and to say unto them Sirs It is requisite to cut down the Mast to save the Ship and Lading it being in this case no more then becomes my duty And oft times it comes to pass that they also cut their Moaring Cables leaving behind them their Cables and Anchors to save the Ship and her Lading All these things are reckoned and computed Liver by Liver as goods are that were cast over board And when the Vessel arrives in safety at her right Port of Discharge the Merchants ought to pay their shares or proportions without delay or sell the goods and pledge the mony thereof proceeding to satisfie the same before such time as the said goods may be unladen out of the said Ship And if the Vessel be such as usually is let out for hire upon Fraight and there happen Controversies and Debates touching the premises if the Master observes Collusion therein he ought not to depart but is to have his compleat Fraight as if his Tunnage were full X. When a Master arrives in safety at the right Port of his Discharge with his Vessel he ought to shew his Merchants the Cordage Ropes or Slings wherewith he intends to hoyse the goods over board And if they find that they need mending he ought to mend the same For if a Pipe Hogshead or other Vessel should happen by default of such Cordage or Slings to be spoyled or lost the Master and Mariners ought to make satisfaction for the same to the Merchants So also if the Ropes or Slings break the Master not foreshewing them to the Merchants he is obliged to make good the damage But if the Merchants say the Cordage Ropes or Slings are good and sufficient and it notwithstanding happen that they break in that case each of them ought to divide the damage that is to say the Merchant to whom such goods belong and the said Master with his Mariners XI A Vessel being Laden with Wines or other Goods hoyses Sail to transport the same to Brest or some other place but the Master and Mariners trim not their Sails so as they might or ought to have done and it happens that ill weather overtakes them at Sea and so as that the main yard shakes or strikes out the head of one of the Pipes or Hogsheads of Wine This Vessel being in safety arrived at her Port of Discharge the Merchant says to the Master That by reason of his main yard his Wine was lost The Master replying says It was not so In this case if the Master and his Mariners will make Oath be it four or six and such of them as the Merchant hath no exception against That the Wine perish'd not by the main yard nor by them or through their default as the Merchant charges them they ought then to be acquitted thereof But if they refuse to make Oath to the effect aforesaid they are then obliged to make satisfaction for the same for that they ought to have ordered their Sails aright before they departed from the Port where they took in their Lading XII A Master having hired his Mariners he ought to keep the Peace betwixt them and to be as their Judge at Sea so that if there be any of them that gives another the Lye whilest they have Wine and Bread on the Table he ought to pay four Denieres And if the Master himself give any the Lye he ought to pay eight Denieres And if any of the Mariners give the Master the Lye he also ought to pay eight Denieres And if the Master strike any of his Mariners he ought to bear with the first stroak be it with the fist or open hand but if the Master doth fiercely assault him with more stroaks the said Mariner may defend himself but and if the said common Mariner doth first assault the Master he ought to pay five Solz or lose his hand XIII If a difference happen between the Master of a Ship and any one of his Mariners the Master ought three times to take away from him or lift up before the said Mariner the Towel ere he turn him out of the Ship or discharge him thereof But if the said Mariner offer in the presence of the rest of the Mariners to make the Master satisfaction and the Master be so resolved that he will accept of no satisfaction from him but notwithstanding such offer of satisfaction will put him out of the Ship In such case the said Mariner may betake himself to follow the said Vessel to her Port of Discharge and ought to have as good hire or wages as if he had come in the Ship or as if he had made satisfaction for his fault in the sight and presence of the Ship-Company And if the Master take not another Mariner into the Ship in his stead as able as the other and the Ship or Lading happen thereby to be through any misfortune damnified the Master is obliged to make good the same if he hath wherewithal XIV If a Vessel lying at Anchor be struck or grapled with by another Vessel under Sail that is not very well steer'd whereby the Vessel at Anchor is prejudiced as also Wines
or other Merchandize in each of the said Ships damnified In this case the whole damage is to be in common and to be equally divided and appraized half by half And the Master and Mariners of the Vessel that struck or grapled with the other are bound to swear on the holy Evangelist that they did it not wittingly or wilfully And the reason why this Judgement was first given was That an old decayed Vessel might not purposely be put in the way of a better which will the rather be prevented when they know that the damage must be divided XV. Suppose two or more Vessels in a Harbour where there is but little water so as that the Anchor of one of the Vessels lyes dry The Master of the other Vessel ought in that case to say unto him whose Anchor lyes dry Master Take up your Anchor for it is too nigh us and may do us a prejudice if neither the said Master nor his Mariners will take up the said Anchor accordingly then may that other Master and his Mariners who might be otherwise thereby damnified take up the said Anchor and let it down again at a farther distance from them And if the others oppose or withstand the taking up of their Anchor and there afterwards happen damage thereby they are bound to give full satisfaction for the same In like manner it is if they neglect the placing of a Boy to the Anchor and damage happen thereby they are obliged to repair the same And so also it is in case damage so happen in a Haven at low water for they ought to fasten such Boys or Anchor-marks and such Cables to theit Anchors as may plainly appear and be seen at full Sea XVI A Vessel going to seek a Fraight arrives at her place of Lading in England or elsewhere the Master ought then to say to his Company Sirs Will you Fraight by your selves or be allowed at the Fraight of the Ship They are to answer which of the two they intend if they take as the Fraight of the Ship shall happen they shall have proportionably as the Ship hath And if they will Fraight by themselves they ought to Fraight so as that the Ship be not impeded or hindred thereby And if it so happen that Fraight may not be had the Master is blameless and he ought to shew them their Ship-fare which he may weigh out to each of them And if they will there lade a Tun of Water in stead of so much Wine they may And in case there should happen at Sea a casting of goods over board the Case is the same for a Tun of Water as in a Tun of Wine or other goods Liver by Liver And if so be that Merchants do Fraight the said Vessel for Transportation of Goods what freedome and immunity the said Mariner hath the said Merchant shall also have XVII The Mariners of Brittain ought to have but one meal a day from the Kitchin because they have Beverage or Drinkings out and home But those of Normandy are to have two meals a day because they have only water at the Ships allowance only when the Ship arrives at a Wine-Country there the Master is to procure them Wine to drink XVIII When a Vessel doth discharge or unload and the Mariners demand their wages whereof some have neither Bed Chest nor Cabbin aboard the Master may lawfully retain part of their wages till they have brought back the Ship to the Port from whence she came unless they give good caution to serve out the whole Voyage XIX If the Master hire the Mariners in that Town whereunto the Vessel belongs whereof some at their own finding others of them at his own costs and provision And it happen that the Ship cannot procure Fraight in those parts where she is now arrived but must sail yet farther to obtain it In such Case they that are at their own finding ought to follow the Master and such as are at his own costs ought to have their wages advanced Kenning by Kenning and Course by Course for that he hired them to one certain place And if they go not so far as to that place for which the Contract was made yet they ought to have the whole promised hire as if they had gone thither But they ought to bring back the Vessel to the place from whence they took her XX. When a Vessel arrives at Rouen or any other place two of the Mariners at a time may go a shore and take with them one meal of such Victuals as is in the Ship therein cut and provided as also Bread proportionably as much as they eat at once but no Drink And they ought very speedily and in season to return to their Vessel that thereby the Master may not lose the earnest or hire of the Ship for if so and damage come thereby they are bound to make satisfaction or if any of their Company be hurt for want of their help they are to be at such charge of his recovery as one of his Fellow-Mariners or the Master with those of the Table shall judge or arbitrate XXI If a Master lets his Ship to Fraight to a Merchant and set him a certain time within which he shall lade his Vessel that she may be ready to depart at the time appointed and he lade it not within the time but keep the Master and Mariners by the space of eight days or a fortnight or more beyond the time agreed on whereby the Master loseth the opportunity of a fair wind to depart by reason of this the Merchants said default The said Merchant in this case is obliged to make the Master satisfaction for such delay the fourth whereof is to go among the Mariners and the other three fourth parts to the Master because he finds them their expences XXII When a Merchant Fraights a Vessel at his own charge and sets her to Sea and the said Vessel enter into an Harbour where she is wind-bound that she stays so long till her monies be all spent the Master in that ease ought speedily to send home to his own Country for mony but he ought not to lose his armogan or desert his Voyage or main design for if so he is theâ— obliged to make good to the Merchant all such damagâ—s as shall ensue thereby But yet the Master may take part of the Wines or other Merchand-goods and dispoâ—e thereof to compass his return And when the said Vessel shall be arrived at her right Port of Discharge the said Wines that the Master hath so disposed of ought to be valued and appraized at the same rate as the other Wines shall be commonly sold for at no more nor less and accordingly be accounted for to the Merchant And the Master ought to have the Fraight of such Wines as he hath so taken and disposed of for the use and reason aforesaid XXIII If a Pilot undertaking the Conduct
of a Vessel to bring her to St. Mallo or any other Port fail of his duty therein so as the Vessel miscarry by reason of his ignorance in what he undertook and the Merchants sustain damage thereby he is obliged to make full fatisfaction for the same if he hath wherewithal And if he be not able to make satisfaction he ought to lose his head And if in that case the Master or any of the Mariners or the Merchants cut off his head they are not bound to answer for it But yet before they do this they ought to know whether he hath wherewith to make satisfaction XXIV A Vessel being arrived at her Port of Discharge and hoysed up there into dry ground and so as the Mariners deeming her to be in good safety do take down her Sails and so fit the Vessel a loof and aft the Master now cught to consider an increase of their wages Kenning by Kenning And if in winding or hoysing of Wines it happens that they leave open any of the Pipes or other Vessels or that they fasten not the Ropes well at the ends of the Vessel by reason whereof it slips and falls and so lost or falling on another both are damnified or lost In these Cases the Master and Mariners are bound to make them good to the Merchants and the Merchants must pay the Fraight of the said damnified or lost Wines because themselves are to receive for them from the Master and Mariners according to the value that the rest of the Wines are sold for And the Owners of the Ship ought not to suffer hereby because the damage happened by default of the Master and Mariners in not fastning the said Vessels of Wine XXV It two Vessels go on a Fishing design in Partnership as for Mackerel Herring Rayes or the like and do set their Nets and lay their Lines for that purpose The one of the Vessels ought to imploy as many Fishing Engines as the other and so shall go in equal shares as to the gain according to the Agreement betwixt them made After this if it so happen that one of the said Vessels with her Fishing Instruments and Engines perish the other escaping arrive in safety the surviving friends of those that perished may require of the other to have their part of the gain as also of their Fish and Fishing Instruments And they are to have it accordingly upon the Oaths of those that escape But in or of the Vessel it self they are to have nothing XXVI If any Ship or other Vessel sailing to and fâ—o and Coasting the Seas as well in the way of Merchandizing as upon a Fishing design happen by some misfortune through the violence of the Weather to strike her self against the Rocks whereby she becomes so bruised and broken that there she perishes be it on what Coasts Country or Dominion soever and the Master and Mariners Merchant or Merchants or any one of these escape and come safe to Land In this Case the Lord of that place or Country where such misfortune shall happen ought not to let hinder or oppose such as have so escaped or such to whom the said Ship or Vessel and her Lading belong in using their utmost endevour for the preservation of as much thereof as may possibly be saved But contrariwise the Lord of that place or Country by his own interest and by those under his power and Jurisdiction ought to be aiding and assisting to the said distressed Merchants and Mariners in saving their Ship-broken-goods and that without the least imbezilment or taking any thereof from them Nevertheless there may be a Remuneration or Consideration for Salvage to such as took pains therein answerable to their Conditions according to right Reason and a good Conscience and as Justice shall appoint notwithstanding what promise in that Case was made to the Salvers by such distressed Merchants and Mariners as before is declared And in case any shall do contrary hereunto or take any part of the said goods from the said poor distressed ruin'd undone Ship-broken persons against their wills and without their consent they are Excommunicated by the Church and ought to receive the punishment of Thieves without speedy Restitution be made by them And there is no Custome or Statute whatever that can protect them against the said penalties XXVII If a Ship or other Vessel entring into an Harbour or elsewhere happen by misfortune to be broken and perish insomuch that the Master Mariners and Merchants which were on board her are all drowned so that the Goods thereof in part are driven a shore the rest floating on the Sea without being sought after by those to whom they belong they being ignorant of this sad disaster and knowing nothing thereof In this Case which is very lamentable the Lord of that place or Country ought to send persons to save the said Goods which he ought to secure and to put into safe custody and thereof ought also if it may be to give notice to the Friends or next of Kin to the deceased and to satisfie for the salvage thereof not out of his own purse but of the Goods saved according to the hazard and pains taken therein and the remainder to reserve in safe custody for one year or more And if in that time they to whom the said Goods did appertain do not appear and claim the same and the said year or more be fully expired he may publickly sell and dispose thereof to such as will give most and with the monies proceeding of the sale thereof he is to procure prayers to be made for the Remission of the sins of the deceased or to provide Marriages for poor Maids and to do therewith such other works of piety and charity as is consonant to Reason and a good Conscience But if he assume the said goods either in whole or in part unto himself he shall incur the Curse or Malediction of our Mother the holy Church with the foresaid pains and penalties without ever obtaining Remission unless he make satisfaction XXVIII If a Ship or other Vessel happen to be lost by striking on some Rock or elsewhere nigh the shore and the Mainers thinking to escape and save their lives attempt to come nigh the shore or brink of the Sea in hope of help but in stead thereof it sometimes happens that in many places they meet with people more barbarous cruel and inhumane then mad Dogs or â—nraged Wolves who to gain their monies apparel and other goods do sometimes murder and destroy these poor distressed Mariners In this Case the Lord of that Country ought to execute Justice on such Wretches to punish them as well corporally as pecuniarily and in their goods and they are to be plunged into the Sea until they be half dead then to be drawn forth out of the Sea and stoned or knock'd down as you would do even to a Dog or a Wolf
XXIX If a Ship or other Vessel arriving at any place and making in towards a Port or Harbour set out her Flag or give other sign to have a Pilot come a board or a Boat to towe her into the Harbour the Wind or Tide being contrary and Contract be made for Piloting the said Vessel into the said Harbour accordingly But by reason of an unreasonable yea accursed and damnable custome in some places That the third or fourth part of the Ships that perish and are lost shall accrue to the Lord of the place where such sad Casualties happen as also the like proportion to the Salvers and only the remainder to the Master Merchant and Mariners the Persons contracting for the Pilotage of the said Vessel to ingratiate themselves with their Landlords and to gain to themselves part of the said Ship and her Lading do like faithless Villains and treacherous persons sometimes even wittingly willingly and out of design to ruine Ship and Goods guide and bring her upon the Rocks And then feigning to aid help and assist the now distressed Mariners themselves are the first in dismembring and pulling the Ship to pieces Then purloyning and carrying away the Lading thereof contrary to all Reason and a good Conscience And that they may be the more welcome to their Landlord do with all speed post to his house with the sad Narrative of this unhappy disaster whereupon the said Landlord with his Retinue appearing at the place takes his share the Salvers theirs and what remains the Merchants and Mariners may have But seeing this is contrary to the Law of God the Edict and Judgement is That notwithstanding any Law or Custome to the contrary the said Lord of that place Salvers and all others â—hat take away or embezil any of the said Goods shall be Accursed Excommunicated and punished as Robbers and Thieves as fotmerly hath been declared XXX Touching such false and treacherous Pilots the Judgement is That they ought to suffer a most rigorous and unmerciful death For there ought to be very high Gibbets erected for them in the very same place or as nigh as conveniently may be where they so guided and brought the said Ship or Vessel to ruine as aforesaid and thereon these accur-Pilots are with ignominy and most shamefully to end their days Which said Gibbets are to be made substantially strong to the intent that they may abide and remain to succeeding ages on that place as a visible Caution to other Ships that shall afterwards sail thereby XXXI If the said Lord of that place were so feloniously inclined and so barbarous withal as not only to permit such inhumane people but also to maintain and abet them in such villanies that he may participate of the spoil and have a share in such Wrecks In such case the said Lord of that place ought to be apprehended all his goods confiscate and sold to be converted into pious uses and for restitution and satisfaction to such as of right it appertaineth And himself to be fastned to a poste or stake in the midst of his own Mansion house which being fired on the four Corners or quarters thereof all are to be burnt together which done the walls thereof are to be demolish'd the stones thereof pull'd down turn'd to rubbish and then to be converted to a Market place for the sale only of Hogs and Swine to all posterity XXXII If by reason of tempestuous weather it be thought expedient for the lightning of any Ship or Vessel at Sea or riding at Anchor in any Road to cast part of the Lading over board and it be so done accordingly for the preservation of themselves know taht the said goods so ejected and cast over board do become his that can first possess himself thereof and carry them away Nevertheless it is here to be farther known and understood that this holds true only in such case as when the Master Merchant and Mariners have so ejected or cast out the said goods as that withall they quit all hope or desire of ever recovering them again and so leave them as Derelict or as things utterly lost and forsaken without ever making any inquiry or pursuit after them In which Case only the first Occupant becomes the lawful Proprietor thereof XXXIII If a Ship or other Vessel hath cast over board several Goods or Merchandize which are in Chests well lock'd and made fast or Books so well secured and so well conditioned that they may not be damnified by Salt-water In such cases it is to be presumed that they who did cast such Goods over board do still retain an intention hope and desire of recovering the same For which reason such as shall happen to find such things are obliged to make Restitution thereof to him who shall make a due inquiry or pursuit after them or at least to imploy them in charitable uses according to a good Conscience XXXIV If any man happen to find any thing in the Sea or Sea-sand or on the Shore be it precious stones Fishes or the like which never belonged to any man in point of property it becomes his own for such things belong to the first finder who carries it away XXXV Touching Great Fishes that are taken or found dead on the Sea-shore regard must be had to the Custome of that Country where such Great Fishes are taken or found For by the Custome the Soveraign Prince of that Country ought to have his share his demand or pleasure therein And good reason for the Subject owes Obedience and Tribute to his Soveraign XXXVI In some Cases also the Lord of the place where some Fishes are found may have his share respect being always had to the laudable Custome of the Country where such Fishes are found And he that there finds them is no farther obliged then to save them by bringing them without the reach of the Sea and then forthwith to make it known to the said Lord of the place that so such care may be taken therein as appertaineth to Justice XXXVII If the Lord of the place please and it be the Custome of that Country where the said Fish was found he may cause the same to be brought to him that found it or to the publick and open Market-place but to no other place And there the said Fish ought to be Inventaried and Appraised by the said Lord according to the custome And the price being set the other party that made not the price shall have his choice or election either to take or leave at that price And if either of them whether per fas or nefas be an occasion of loss or damage to the other though but to the value of a Deniere he is obliged to make him Restitution XXXVIII If the Costs and Charges of carrying the said Fish to the said Market-place may probably amount to a greater summe then the Fish it self may be worth
then the said Lord is bound to take his share at the place where such Fish was found XXXIX Also the said Lord ought to submit to the foresaid Costs and Charges for that he ought not by anothers damage to inrich himself otherwise he sins XL. If by some chance or misfortune the said Fish happen to be lost or otherwise stoln away from the place where it was first found and this about the time of the said Lords going to see it or before in this Case he that first found it is not any way obliged to make it good XLI In all other things found by the Sea-side which have formerly been in the possession of some or other as Wines Oyls and other Merchandize although they have been cast over board and left by the Merchants and so ought to appertain to him that first finds the same yet herein also the Custome of the Country is to be observed as formerly in the Case of Fish But in case there be a presumption that these were the Goods of some Ship that perished then neither the said Lord nor Finder thereof ought to take any thing thereof so as to convert it to their own use but they ought to doe thâ—rewith as before hath been said that is to cause therewith that Prayers be made for the deceased as also other special good works Or otherwise they shall incur the forementioned Maledictions XLII If any Ship or other Vessel at Sea happen to find a Fish it is wholly theirs that found it in case no due pursuit be made after it And no Lord of any place ought either to challenge it or demand any part thereof although they bring it to his ground XLIII If any seek for Gold or Silver on the Sea-shore and findeth some he ought to restore it all without any diminution thereof XLIV If any going along the Sea-shore to fish or otherwise happen to find Gold or Silver or the like he is bound to make restitution thereof deducting for his own pains Otherwise if he be poor he may retain it to himself that is if he know not to whom to restore it yet he ought to give notice of such his sinding the same to the neighbourhood and parts next adjacent to the place where he found it Moreover he ought to advise with his Prelate Curate or Confessor who ought to weigh and take into Consideration the indigency and poverty of the Finder and the quantity of the Silver and then to give him such advice as is consonant to a good Conscience XLV If a Vessel by stress of weather be constrained to cut her Towes and Cables by the end and so to quit and leave behind her both Cables and Anchors and make to Sea as please the wind and weather in this Case the said Cables and Anchors ought not to be as lost to the said Vessel if there were any Boy at them And such as fish for them are bound to restore them if they know to whom but withal they ought to be paid for their pains according as Justice shall determine But because sometimes they know not to whom to restore them the Lords of the place have their shares and the Finders theirs and they neither cause Pater Noster to be said nor Avie Maria as they ought And therefore it hath been ordained That every Master of a Ship cause to be ingraven or set upon the Boyes thereof his own name or the name of his Ship or of the Port or Haven whereof she is which will prevent great inconveniencies for it sometimes happens that he that left his Anchor in the morning hath recovered it again by night And such as detain it from him are no better then Thieves and Pirates XLVI If any Ship or other Vessel by any Casualty or misfortune happen to be wreck'd and perish in that case the pieces of the bulk of the Vessel as well as the Lading thereof ought to be reserved and kept in safety for them to whom it belonged before such disaster happened notwithstanding any Custome to the contrary And all takers partakers abettors consenters or contrivers in the said wreck if they be Bishops Prelates or Clerks they ought to be deposed and deprived of their Benefices respectively And if they be Lay-men they are to incur the penalties aforesaid XLVII Which is to be so understood when the said Ship or Vessel so wreck'd did not exercise the Thievish mystery of Robbing and Free booting and when the Mariners thereof are not Pirates Sea-Rovers or Enemies to our holy Catholick Faith But in case they be Pirates Robbers Sea-Rovers Turks or other Enemies to our said Catholick Faith every man may then deal with such as with meer Brutes and despoil them of their goods without any punishment for so doing A SERIES or Catalogue according to Sir Spelman's Computation of such as have been Dignified with the Office of Lord High Admiral in this Kingdome since King John's time to to the Reign of King Charles the First of Blessed Memory Wherein No mention is made of Marthusius that Princeps Nautarum in K. Edgars time Nor of those other Tetrarchs of his Navy who for the guard of the â—rittish Seas had no less then a thousand Sail of Ships under their Command Nor of those other Commanders in Chief touching the Sea-Affairs who have been beside the common and usual mode Constituted by his Successors Kings of England But of such only as in the Ordinary way have been Dignified with the said Office and Marine Authority in this Kingdome viz. 8 H. 3. RIchard de Lucy is said to have Maritimam Angliae 48 H. 3. Thomas de Moleton was Constituted Capitaneus Custos maris Portuum Maritimorum 25 Ed. 1. William de Leiburne is styled at the Assembly at Bruges 8 Martii 15 Ed. 1. 1286. Admirallus maris Angliae 22 Ed. 1. John de Botetort Admiral of the North for the Coast of Yarmouth and that station William de Leibourn Admiral of the South for Porâ—â—â—outh and that station A certain Irish Knight Admiral of the West and the parts thereof Admirals of the North viz. Admirals of the West viz.  From the mouth of the River of Thames North-ward From the mouth of the River of Thames West-ward  34 Ed. 1. Edward Charles Gervase Allard  8 Ed. 2. John Botetort William Cranis   10 Ed. 2. Nichalds Cryoll  10 Ed. 2. John Perbrun alià s Perburn Robert Leiburn Knight   12 Ed. 2. John Athey  15 Ed. 2. John Perburn Robert de Leiburn Knight Admiral of the Western Ports of England Wales and Ireland  16 Ed. 2. John Perburn Robert Battail alià s Batall one of the Barons of the Cinque-Ports  18 Ed. 2. John Sturmy Robert Bendon  19 Ed. 2. John Otervin Nicholas Keriel Walsingh calls these the three Admirals of the three Coasts of England viz. of Yarmouth