sufficiently manifest that their Squadron of Ships was sent only to be Spectators and to learn to Fight and for other ends rather than to act in it and truly his Highness that day gave them an Heroick Example of Skill and Courage when he was set upon by two of the Dutch Squadrons together one of which the Admiral of the French Squadron ought to have engag'd according to the Orders that his Highness had sent to him the day before but he not coming in though the wind all the day stood fair for him his Highness was left alone to bear the brunt of the Engagement with two of the Enemies Squadrons at once and though his own Ship was surrounded on all sides yet he so nobly acquitted himself that day that he not only made his own way out of that great distress but giving a Couragious Example to the rest of his Squadron went with them and assisted that other Squadron of ours which had been engaged against Vice-Admiral Tromp at a great distance in a separate Fight contrary to his Highnesses Orders Moreover it is to be remembred that as he made way to their Assistance his Squadron by the way still fought the Dutch Squadrons who made way also side by side with ours at some distance both sides shooting at each other the Dutch in hope to have hindred the Prince from giving the assistance intended which being nevertheless effected by his Highness and the Hollanders Admirals finding they could not prevent it and that they had enough of it made sail away for their own Coasts But had the French Squadron under the Command of the Count D'Estrees done his Duty and come in to second the Prince any hour of the day as he easily might have done the wind standing fair it was evident that day we might then have had one of the most glorious Victories that ever was obtain'd by Sea and but few of the Dutch Ships could have escaped home This was afterwards acknowledged and attested by Monsieur Martel the Count D'Estrees own Vice-Admiral who like an honest man attempted to have come in with a few of his Ships but could not and afterwards for his forwardness to have fought and because he blamed his Admiral when he returned to Paris he was call'd to an Account and Committed to Prison whereas the Count having followed the private Instructions of the French Ministers was still continued in Honour and Command And therefore it must needs be an undeniable Evidence that he had privy Orders and Instructions only to stand still and look on while we and the Dutch should be tearing and destroying one another because otherwise in order to a vindication of the Honour of France and its Ministers They would doubtless have made him answer that egregious Piece of Treachery with the price of his Head I intend as much brevity as may be therefore have forborn to touch upon all the Circumstances of that affair but thus much is absolutely necessary to give you proof of the French good will and faithfulness to England as well as to all other Nations that have had or shall have any Dealings with them Now let us next see how they dealt with us in order to the putting an end to this which having been by us entred into joyntly with the French doubtless nothing ought to have been attempted by any one in order to the ending of it but what should carry a fair Respect to the Interest of both Parties in conjunction But see how they play'd their parts with us in this also The StatesGeneral of the Vnited Provinces having nominated several Deputies to be sent some to his Majesty of England and some to the French King to know of them both upon what Terms they would be willing to agree and come to a Peace His Majesty as it is a Vertue innate in his own Royal Temper intended to deal most justly with the French King upon this occasion and therefore so carried the matter to avoid giving him any offence or jealousie and being loth to do any thing in the Affair without participation of Counsels immediately sent him word such Deputies were arrived at London and would not so much as hear what their Errand was without the privity of France supposing that he should have a suitable Return from thence But what happened in the mean time Even a quite contrary behaviour of the French For no sooner were the other Deputies arrived at the French Court but they were presently visited and caressed by two Secretaries of State and without further delay it was demanded of them first if they had full power from their Masters to treat and next what Proposals they would make in order to a speedy Peace The Deputies desired rather to know first what Proposals the French Ministers would make Whereupon to hasten them to a Conclusion of the Work the French shortly told them they were to understand That what their Master the King had Conquered by his Arms in Holland he would not part with unless they gave him an Equivalent as well for those Places as for the rest that he should conquer before the Treaty be concluded This Answer made the Deputies forthwith send back one of their number to the Hague by name Mr. De Groot who was speeded back again with Instructions to Amerongen authorizing him and his Fellow-Deputies to conclude a Peace with the French He was no sooner arrived but Monsieur de Louvoy one of the Prime Ministers of State made short Work delivered the Dutch Deputies a Project of Treaty or rather the Pretensions of the King his Master upon grant whereof as he said he would be both willing and ready to return to his former Amity with the States General and conclude a firm Peace with them Was not this a sweet Return of dealing towards his Majesty of England For you to are note That though the War was made joyntly and so no doubt it was not to be ended without respects to be had to the Interests of each Party concerned therein which you have seen was fairly meant and observed by his Majesty on our part towards the French yet they had so little regard of us that they not only put on and entred upon a Treaty without our Privity or Consent but would have concluded it upon that separate Treaty without us only to their own Advantage whereby their Master might as perfectly become sole Master of the Vnited Provinces as if he he had conquered all by the Sword You are to note also for a clearer understanding of their Intents That when the Heer De Groot being to go the second time from Amerongen to the Hague with the Articles of this Separate Treaty when he arrived there the States finding that there was nothing in them which concerned England he told them the French Ministers had told him The Sates his Masters might deal as they pleased with England and make an end as cheap as they would because as they pretended
was this By the Mediation of the Queen-Mother of France a Peace was set on foot betwixt that Crown and Spain with a proposition of a Marriage between this King her Son and the Lady Infanta of Spain The ends of it were alledged to be A Desire to give ease and quiet to their Subjects To put a period to the many mischievous Consequents of the War To forget and extinguish all the Causes and Motives of the Wars past and to establish a sincere entire and durable Peace betwixt them and their Successors The Treaty being begun it was grounded upon two principal Particulars and unless the French would grant those the Spaniard was resolved not to proceed in it The one was That the French should forsake their adherence to Portugal The other was That the Infanta should upon the Marriage make a Renunciation confirmed and ratified by the French King of all her Pretences Titles or Claims whatsoever to the Spanish Monarchy and all the Dominions thereof or to any part of the same And the Reason of it in the Draught of the Treaty is set down in these words Lest the glory of their respective Kingdoms should happen to decay and be diminished if through the said Marriage they should come to be united and conjoyned in any of their Children or Posterity which might occasion to the Subjects such troubles and afflictions as may easily be imagined Next as to the Exclusion and abandoning of Portugal the French King obliged himself to it in these words His said Majesty of France will intermeddle no further in the said Business and doth promise and oblige himself upon his Honour and upon the Faith and Word of a King both for himself and his Successors not to give to any Person or Persons thereof of what Dignity Estate or Condition whatsoever either at present or in the future any help or assistance neither publick nor secret directly nor indirectly of Men Arms Munitions Victualling Vessels nor Money under any pretence nor any other thing whatsoever by Land or by Sea nor in any other manner as likewise not to suffer any Levies to be made in any part of his Kingdoms and Dominions nor to grant a passage to any that might come from other Countries to the relief of the said Kingdom of Portugal Now can any imagin more cautious and efficacious words in a Treaty to prevent a further assistance from France to Portugal which was the main thing that the Spaniard sought for by this Marriage Yet as soon as the Treaty was penned and before the Instrument was signed the most Eminent Mazarin sent privately the Marquis of Chenes into Portugal to assure the Portugais That notwithstanding he could not avoid the putting such words in the Treaty in order to the Conclusion of it as did engage France not to assist them howsoever they might rest assured his Master would never forsake them but would continue to them an assistance as much as before For the more full clearing of this matter viz. That an abandoning of Portugal was one of the essential Foundations of that Peace and that otherwise it could never have been treated of nor concluded take notice that in the 60th Article of the said Treaty you may find these words Forasmuch as we have foreseen and apprehended that such an Engagement might have been an obstacle not to be surmounted in the concluding of this Peace and by consequence would have reduced the two Kings to a necessity of perpetuating the War c. And a little after in the same Article it is further expressed thus Finally in contemplation of the Peace and seeing the absolute necessity wherein his most Christian Majesty finds himself either to perpetuate the War by a Rupture of the present Treaty which he perceives to be inevitable in case he should have persisted to obtain from his Catholick Majesty in this Affair other conditions than those which he had offered c. Moreover by the same Article it is evident That whereas the French King offered then to the King of Spain to make restitution of all the Places which France had gotten from him by Arms during the War rather than he would have been by Treaty obliged to forbear a further assisting the Portugais the Spaniard utterly refused this Offer as is apparent by other words of the same Article as they follow Offering besides the Places which are to be restored unto his Catholick Majesty by the present Treaty to render unto him also all the other Conquests in general which his said Arms have made in this War and intirely to restore the Prince of Conde provided and upon condition that the Affairs of the Kingdom of Portugal should remain in the State in which at present they are 'T is likewise out of controversie that this abandoning of Portugal was covenanted and promised by France so authentically and in such clear and special Terms that it is not to be questioned nor be made subject to any Interpretations contrary to the true sence and intention of the Parties contracting the terms whereof are these His said Majesty shall meddle no more with the said Affair and doth promise and oblige himself upon his Honour and in the Faith and Word of a King for himself and his Successors not to give unto the afore-mentioned Kingdom of Portugal neither in general nor to any Person or Persons of it in particular of what Dignity Estate or Condition soever they may be neither for the present nor hereafter any aid or assistance publick or secret directly or indirectly of Men Arms Ammunition Victuals Ships or Moneys under any pretext nor of any other thing that is or can be by Land or by Sea nor in any other fashion As likewise not to permit that any Levies shall be made in any of his most Christian Majesty's Kingdoms and Estates nor grant free passage to those which may come out of other Countries to the help of the afore-said Realm of Portugal Nevertheless 't is evident that they immediately failed in every point and circumstance of this Promise insomuch that as in the very time of the publick making of the said Treaty they were privately tampering with the Portugais and gave them under-hand Assurances so at the concluding of it the Bon-fires which were every where kindled for joy of the Peace were not quite extinguish't when an evident Breach of the Treaty was observed in the French sending Auxiliary Forces into Portugal-at the beginning under the Name of Mareshal Tureine divers Troops were raised and convey'd into Portugal with Arms and Ammunition as if Tureine durst have presumed to do such a thing without the privity and consent of the Prime Ministers And when the Spaniard by his Ambassadour complained of this they deluded him by issuing forth publick Orders to the Governours of their Ports that no Souldiers or Arms c. should be suffered to imbarque for Portugal But those Governours better understood their private Lesson and so let them pass by
matter with France it brought on another Treaty which was held at Aken i. e. Aix la Chapelle to make a New Agreement betwixt France and Spain about the Observation whereof we have afforded us another Instance of the French Fidelity Unto this Treaty all the Princes of Christendom were invited to take care of the common Security and his Majesty of England among the rest who sent also a Minister to the Protestant Princes of Germany to invite them into the Guaranty of the said Treaty of Aix Proposals also were made to the Duke of Lorain and several other Princes to come into the League then to be made to which the Lorainer immediately accorded hoping that by this Treaty he might have better luck with the French than he formerly had with them by the Pyrenean Treaty But before we proceed it will not be amiss to remember you How the French kept Faith with this poor Prince whose Interests had been provided for by the said Treaty as well as those of Spain and his Dutchy to be restored to him with all the Places and Towns which he had been possessed of within the Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun But see how France dealt with him They deferr'd as long as they could the performance of that part which related to the said Duke and refused still to return him his Country till they had brought him to make another Treaty with them in prejudice of the former whereby he was forced to part with several considerable Places over and above what had been granted to them by the General Peace And yet this would not serve their turn For after the oppressed Duke had enjoy'd a Year and a half but a very unsettled possession during which under several artificial unjust pretences new Quarrels were pick't every day they with a considerable Army constrained him to give them his Town of Marsal Moreover it was but a little time after this that they fell to teazing him again compelling him to sign a New Treaty more disadvantageous to him than the two former and yet so insatiable is their Appetite after Dominion the unhappy Duke could as little as before obtain a quiet enjoyment of that little they had left him They every day encroached upon his Jurisdiction the limits of his Territories and his Soveraignty it self They imposed grievous Taxes upon his Subjects They caused him to disband his Forces and to raise new Men again as they thought fit They kept him from revenging his own Quarrels to take part in others They let loose all his Enemies against him and stopped the progress of his Armies as soon as he had got the least Advantage And in few words he was at that time more a Vassal to France than a Soveraign in his own Country But yet all this would not satisfie the French Court they must have all again wherefore the Duke by many Circumstances shewing how ill he brook't this kind of unreasonable usage They ordered one of their Generals to surprise and seize his Person and to bring him either dead or alive Of which intended violence having had timely notice he escaped when it was very near being effected Which as one very well observed is a new way of dealing with a Soveraign Prince not known before in these parts of the World and it may teach all other Princes what to trust to in treating and what to expect from such monstrous Neighbours And it gives us some hope that we may e're long live to see the West govern'd by Bashaws as well as the East No other thing could give us a better In-sight into the Ambition and Pride nor more fully discover the Intent and Design of France None but an Universal Monarch can pretend to an Arbitrary displacing of Princes and a disposing of their Liberty Lives and Territories ........... Thus you see how persidiously they dealt with the Duke of Lorain But to return to the Treaty of Aix It proved to be of little avail to that Duke For they have since seiz'd his Country again and driven him out to seek his Fortune and this as Men say for no other Reason but because he hoped by this Treaty to have confirmed himself among his Allies in a better State of Security than he had hitherto been And as for the Court of Spain the French also resolved to defeat their Expectation of benefit by this Treaty for contrary to it they presently fell to work First they dismantled all the strong Places and Holds of the Country of Burgundie carried away all the Munitions out of it and would have spoiled the rich Salt-pits of that Province Had not the Powerful interposition both of England and Holland Prevented In despite also of that Treaty they exacted great Contributions from the Dutchies of Limbourg and Luxembourg They laid a new Claim to some Towns as important as any of those that were granted to them by the Peace They confiscated the Estates of the Subjects of the King of Spain that would not forswear their Allegiance and spared not the very Royal House of Mary Mont. Nay as if these Infractions were not enough and still to encroach as far as they were able they forced their way with great quantities of Merchandise through the Spanish Territories without paying the Customs and not long after endeavoured to surprise the Town of Hainault In a word They did whatever they pleas'd plunder'd even the most Sacred Places and acted whatever can be imagined to be done without remorse by insolent and unconscionable men But to proceed it must not be forgotten How under a pretence of advancing the Affairs of Poland and setling an Amity there they contrived a Marriage for that King with a Lady of France by which means they were enabled to send thither along with her in her Train so many expert Instruments of mischief that immediately they settled a Cabal with such Intrigues as in a short time inflamed the Nobility of that Kingdom into heats and Factions against one another which are never likely to be extinguish't and at that time they operated so far that that King soon became willing to quit the Kingdom and thereupon the Turk seeing the great Divisions that were wrought among them was easily invited in by the French Cabal meerly because they could not bring in a King that was of French Blood or of French Interest at the following Election And also to this That one of the greatest Motives of their fetching in the Turk was that their New King contracted Marriage with the Emperour's Sister which Princess being now a Widdow is shortly to be married to the Duke of Lorain It is worth the while also to remember how finely they used the Duke of Newbourg while they trained him on to engage the greatest part of his Estate almost beyond redemption in hopes of getting the Polish Crown which they had promised to procure for him by the help of a strong Party which they had made in that Kingdom Yet under-hand
Flanders that thereby we might have seen some good Fruit of his Majesties friendly interpoposing in order to the procurement of a speedy Pacification and the French pretending so to do and to admit his Majesty to a performing the good Office of Mediation betwixt France and the Confederates but now the Issue of all being contrary for that the French have made an unexpected sudden Breach further upon Flanders in the depth of this Winter and appear'd resolute to carry the whole Country if they could before Spring so that this surprise gave a new Alarm to us and all the Neighbours the World must justifie his Majesty it after all amicable means used in vain he shall now find himself in prudence concern'd to take a Course by War to vindicate his own Honour against the many Violations and Affronts acted by France and by God's blessing to become the happy Instrument to recover the Rights of the oppressed States and Princes as also to preserve his own Nation against the Dangers threatned at our very doors and to restore unto the Generality that glorious Christian Peace which cannot otherwise be obtained Peace was the Subject of Christ's last Sermon the great Legacy that he bequeathed to his Followers What Christians then are they that make it their Interest and Business to destroy it on Earth This is the Work of wild Beasts and Monsters to infest whole Countries and when men act as such the very Law of Nature as well as of Nations excites and justifies all Mankind to War against them Look back on the former Sections of this Discourse and there you have a sight who are the men whom no Treaties nor Intreaties can reduce to a more Christian State Their Motto is Jus est in Armis No Law but the Law of Arms therefore by Arms alone the Quarrel is to be decided and that for these following Reasons Provided that Foreign States and their Ministers do not trifle with but come up roundly to us And that people here at home do their Duty for Encouragement answerable to the Importance of so great and necessary an undertaking Which no question every man wise and honest will be ready to do and no reasonable man can doubt it seeing our own and the Universal Interest now calls for it and the Parliament did this last Summer so earnestly address for it and I suppose his Majesty had suitably answer'd it had he conceived the Time to be seasonable and some other Circumstances agreeable which the Law most prudently hath left in his own Judgment to determine the more full and better sence whereof may be collected out of his Answer to the Address it self at the end whereof I read this Intimation That he could not do things for the security of his People with those Advantages to them which by the Parliament ' s Assistance at that time he might have done Which I remember very well most Men did interpret to be meant of the House of Commons not granting and the King 's wanting the Six hundred thousand pounds demanded by his Majesty for a further supply which might have enabled him to c. But of this more anon Here are the Reasons afore-mentioned I. The first Reason for War against them I draw from the Summum probabile the Highest probability that if we help not to reduce them and extinguish War abroad they will at last bring it home to us Which I prove by consideration of these three particulars France's Aphorisms of State The Political Creed Their Necessity to continue in War 1. The first Aphorism is such as is destructive of Peace in all Places and disposes them to act accordingly That is To enter into all sorts of Affairs by Right or by wrong by Hook or by Crook and every where to become Arbiters by Violence or by Cunning by Threats or by Friendly Pretences In all the Differences past or present they some way or other wind themselves in to take party and form for themselves an Interest nor did ever any People shew the least dislike to the Government and an Inclination to Rebellion but the French fomented it and made the Factions their Allies They never entred into any War to favour any Party but with intent to exasperate it nor into any Peace but to sow the Seeds of New Disputes as past Experience hath made evident and the Stories of these Truths afford numerous Examples but I now want room to insert them So that if we constrain them to Peace it will last no longer than they can work our Mal-contents into Mutiny and then they will violate that Peace by encouraging them or by siding with them secretly or openly 2. A Second Aphorism is to have for their only Rule Interest of State so that the Faith of Treaties the Good of Religion or the Ties of Blood and Amity cannot hold them The Instances for proof thereof I have given already All that the Turks have done in Christendom since the time of Francis the First to our time they owe to the Alliances of France with the Ottoman Court and to the diversion which France made in their Favour against any Christians who were likely to act against that Common Enemy of our Religion 3. Their Third Aphorism is To keep other States as much as they can divided and busied at home or else engaged in some External War as England Germany Italy Denmark Spain Poland Holland and many other Countries have had sad Experience What Peace then with such a Nation when her Witchcrafts are so many Their Fourth is To keep their Younger Brothers of the best Families alwaies in Arms abroad at the Expence of their Neighbours All these are the Maxims of Conquerors infallible Evidences of a profound Design to be prosecuted to the utmost Bounds of Conquest So that to talk to them of Peace is to talk against their Interest that is 't is to no purpose The other thing to be considered is their Political Creed which I shall not give you in my own words but as it is translated having been printed in the French Tongue at Ville-Franche by Jean Petit 1677. They believe that what others call Violence is but a bare precaution and a pursuit of one of their Infallible Rules of Art viz. That Conquerors ought to provide for the future by destroying whatever may hurt them and that they ought to have no Law but the Sword the Appetite of Governing and the Glory to be had by aggrandizing themselves at the cost of their Neighbours Pyrrhus also believed this just and Caesar that all things were lawful for Dominion They generally applaud these Maxims and hold that nothing is forbid to them that may disturb their Neighbours and sow division among them that they have a secret joy in doing wrong and whatever else may be most afflicting and outrageous That Pity is a cowardly Vertue which over-throws a Crown whose best Support is Fear and Impiety its Foundation That Arms inspire a reverence among
they were not bound by Treaty to procure the English any Advantages And thus no more Notice was taken of his Majesty nor greater care of his Interests than if he had never been concerned in the War or in no League with the French at all So that if by wonderful Providence this Separate Treaty had not been broken off Europ might have been in greater hazard of its Liberty and we of our Safety by a settled Domination of the French in the Vnited Provinces Much more might be added to shew the foul play of the French with us at that time and afterwards also when the Duke of Buckingham and My Lord Arlington were sent hence into Holland but I must be brief this being enough to discover their friendly behaviour during the Joynt-War An. 1673. In the next place let us see how they have carried themselves since the Year 73. For we have an Account that notwithstanding the Amity betwixt us hath been continued to this Day yet that Nation hath never ceased to do us one Injury or other and no sufficient Redress at all hath been obtained though Complaints have been made and Reparation earnestly sought for Witness especially the many Affronts and Violences done to us upon our Merchants Ships at Sea by the French Privateers For but very few of them have been restored and those that have been have found the Remedy worse than the Disease because the tedious delay of it brought such charge to the Merchants that the benefit coming by the Restitution would not countervail their Expences in attendance at the Court of France For the Clearing whereof it cannot be amiss to give here at large an Account touching the Event of such Applications as have been made to his Majesty for Redress at the Council-board and with the Commitee of Trade belonging to his most Honourable Privy-Council excellently penned and now come to my Hand newly printed and dispersed therefore I reprint it And it here followeth At the Court at White-Hall the 4. of August 1676. Present The King 's most excellent Majesty in Council The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Trade did this Day present unto his Majesty in Council a Report touching the Injuries which his Subjects did sustain by French Capers in the Words following May it please your Majesty There was presented unto your Majesty in Council on the 31. of May last a Petition in the Name of all the Merchants of London and other places concerned in the several Ships taken by the French Privateers and carried into several Ports of that Kingdom and their Complaints consisted of the Points following 1. That the Ships and Goods of your Majesty's Subjects though manned according to the Act of Navigation and furnished with all necessary Passes were daily seized carried into Dunkirk Calais Sherbrook and other Ports the Masters and Mariners kept close Prisoners to force them by hardship to abuse the Owners or else for Relief of their own necessities being commonly stripped and plundered to enter into the Privateer's Service which great numbers have done with very pernicious effects 2. That the delay and charge of prosecuting the Law in France does commonly make the Owners to become losers of half the value when ever they are successful 3. That there is no Reparation ever gotten from Privateers for what they plunder and imbezle which makes them freely seize upon all they meet and perpetually molest the Navigation of your Subjects Wherefore your Petitioners humbly imploring your Majestie 's Protection and Relief your Majesty was hereupon graciously pleased out of a sence of your Subjects sufferings to command that some Frigats should sail forth to clear the Coast of those Privateers to seize them and bring such as had offended to make Restitution And your Majesty did further order that the Committee of Trade should well take notice of the particular Cases and Complaints depending that such of them as were of weight and merit might be fitted to receive your most gracious Recommendation for Relief as to survey the whole number of Seizures which have been made on your Subjects in order to lay before your Majesty what hardships have been sustained at Sea and what sort of Justice hath been administred in France with their Opinion of what is sit to advise your Majesty therein In obedience to which Command we have hereunto annexed a list of such ships as have bin seized to the number of 53. and the Cases wherein the Owners have repaired unto your Majesty either in your Council or by your Secretary of State for Relief which as in the general it supposes a Justice in such Complaints so it leaves a suspicion of great hardship in the Methods of Redress and the number of Captures is no small proof of the facility of Condemnation How many other helpless Men there have been besides the said Cases who have not had ability to prosecute or how many of these Cases have been favoured with Redress we cannot certainly understand till the Information we have sought for comes from Paris which may also enable us to compleat their Circumstances of every Case But in the mean time such of all the Instances of Redress as are come to our knowledg we have not failed in the Margin to make mention of them being in number seven While we were in the midst of this Prosecution Mr. Secretary Coventry does on the 6th instant present unto the Committee a Paper which he received from the French Embassadour Monsieur Courtin relating to these matters and the Contents thereof were as follow An Extract of a Letter from Monsieur Colbert to Monsieur de Pompone one of the French King's Secretaries written the 28th of June 1676. For what concerns the Prizes it would be a difficult matter to answer to all the Cases contained in Monsieur Courtin's Letter What I can say is That the Council for Marine Affairs sits every Friday at Saint Germans That all Privateers and Reclaimers know it That Sir Ellis Leighton nominated by the English Embassadour hath always notice of it and is always present at it That not a Week passes but I give him two or three Audiences and often-times I send for him on purpose His reasons are all reported read and examined As likewise are all Petitions of Reclaimers and I shall tell you more I acquaint him wiih the Reasons upon which Judgment is given In giving Judgment all Vessels which have any appearance of being English are realeas'd and very often and almost always although we are satisfied that the Ships are Dutch yet they are released because there is some appearance of their being English and every thing is judged favourable for that Nation and it is true that all Ships that are taken are of Dutch-built that they never were in England that the Masters and all the Equipage are Dutch that the Documents are for Persons unknown and which are not often-times so much as named that they carry with them only some Sea-Briefs