desire your Speedy Advice For if you shall find the Terms such as may be imbraced your Advice will have great weight with Me and if you find them Defective I hope you will give Me your Advice and Assistance how to get better Terms Vpon the whole Matter I doubt not but you will have a care of My Honour and the Honour and safety of the Nation which are now so deeply concerned The Substance of the Overtures in the said Letter being communicated to both Houses of Parliament were as follows viz. THat the States General and their Subjects should acknowledge the Kings Dominion and Soveraignty of the Seas by striking to the Kings Ships as was Proposed That a regulation of Trade should be settled and adjusted in the East-Indies by a certain number of Commissioners to be appointed of Each side and a Treaty Marine also settled by the said Commissioners within a certain time to be prefixed That Eight Hundred Thousand Pattacoons should be paid to his Majestie at four equal payments the first upon ratifying the said Treaty and the other by three Yearly payments That the Queen Regent of Spain should be Guarrantee for the performance of the said Articles Whereupon both Houses of Parliament Adressed themselves severally to the King to accept of the said Overtures for a Peace with the States seperate from France which were drawn into formal Articles wherein this Seventh Article was Interlarded concerning the Memorable Treaty at BREDA viz. VII Quod tractatus Bredae conclusus Anno Domini 1667. Sicut Etiam omnes alii precedentes trastatus per illum tractatum confirmari renoventur maneant in plena vi ac vigore in quantum presenti tractatui nullaetinus contradicunt But as to the Freedom and Advantage of Fishing upon the English Coast a Royalty so inherent to the Crown of England that His Majesty cannot Sell or Depart withall unto Strangers the Hollanders Say was thrown into the Bargain Gratis upon the account of the Prince of Orange so long as he shall injoy the Offices of Stat-holder Lord High Admiral General and other Offices and Honours of his Ancestors This last Treaty being Concluded Ratified and Published the Interested in the Bona Esperanza and Bonadventura Addressed themselves both to the King and the States General respectively to be paid and satisfied out of the Pattacoons Protesting otherwise that they should be necessitated to put their Letters Patents into Execution to Levy and Reprize their Debt and Damages aforesaid The Proprietors were in good hopes they should not meet with any difficulty in attaining their ends when they found the Treaty Signed by five Principal Ministers of State on the Kings side viz. H. Finch C. S. Latimer Ormond Arlington and H. Coventry For that the Warrant and Proceedings concerning the said Patent passed through the Lord Arlington's Office when he was Secretary of State and directed to Sir Heneage Finch to prepare the Bill when he was Sollicitor General in the time that the Lord Roberts kept the Privy-Seal and had been debated by H. Coventry when he was Ambassador at Breda and the Pattacoons left to the disposing of Latimer Lord High Treasurer of England who knew the Kings Honour and Reputation lay at stake with His Subjects concerning that Affair But yet nevertheless a 4th Part of the said Pattacoons were presently Assigned to be paid to Alderman Backwel for other Services and the Six hundred thousand remaining were transferred by the said Latimers advice and another Minister of State much admired in Holland to the Prince of Orange for old Debts due to his Father and Grandfather from the late King as is pretended and no care taken to satisfie the said 151612 l. with Damage either by his Majestie or the States but left in statu quo under all those circumstances aforesaid Wereupon Divers of the Creditors finding there Rights Liberties and Properties Invaded first strictly Examined the several Treaties and then reduced their Case into two Questions as follows and took the Advice of several most Learned Lawyers thereupon viz. 1 Whether the Letters Patents for Reprizals before-mentioned at large in Folio 4 5. and the Powers and Authority thereby granted can be Revoked Repealed or the Execution thereof Suspended by Proclamation Scire facias Supersedeas Articles of Peace or any way whatsoever before Satisfaction and Reparation should be had or made for the said 151612 l. to the Persons Interested and Injured or not 2 Whether any particular Debts due from the Subjects of the States General to Sir William Courten or Sir Paul Pyndar their Executors Administrators or Assigns by Bills of Exchange Bonds Accompts Covenants or other private Contracts in Trade were Released or Discharged by the said Articles of the Treaty at Breda recited in Folio 7. or were ever intended to be Comprized or Comprehended within the said Articles or not Answer to the First Question OUR Forefathers were so careful of Merchants Rights and Properties and so Provident for the Maintenance and Encouragement of Navigation and Commerce that in all Cases of Spoyls and Depredations whereupon any Offences Injuries Damages or Losses at any time happened to the Subjects of England at Sea the Injured applyed themselves for present Relief to the Writ de arresto facto super bonis mercatorum alienigenium pro transgr facta mercatoribus Angliae and the words Recited in the Writ are for that the Offence is done contra Legem Rationem and not contra pacem In those days the Persons and Gods of Merchants Strangers were Arrested in England for the Offences and Injuries committed by the Subjects of the Prince or State unto whom they belonged that did the Damage Whereupon the Subjects belonging to the Maritine Provinces under the Duke of Bourgundy and divers parts of France comming to the Staple and Mart Towns in England made great complaints to the King and Councel of grievous pressures upon them by suffering in English Ports and Harbours for the Offences of other Men. In consequence whereof an Act of Parliament passed in their favour 27. Edw. 3. Statute 2 Chap. 17 That the Rigour of those Writs should be taken away and in liew thereof in all Cases of Spoils the Subjects of England should for their Relief have the Law of Marque without Fraud or Delay therefore to prevent the failer of Iustice such Letters were to be granted Effectually otherwise liberty would be taken to commit the greatest Injuries and Offences whatsoever unpunishable to the prejudice of all Commerce and Humane Society Justinian agreeth herewith in his Book de jure Nat. And Grotius sayes that the later Lawyers calls it the Right of Reprizals the Saxons and old English Withernam and the French Letters of Marque In several Countries they are asked of the Iudges and by the Common Law of England they were used to be asked of the King but the Subjects finding many Delays and great Expences in those proceedings to their vast prejudice by Secretaries of State
1663. had the Confidence to send the draught of the following Articles inter alia in contempt of the King and Kingdom pretending the States had subdued the Parliament by the surprize at Chattam An Abstract of Five Select Articles of the Treaty at BREDA 3. Also that all Offences Injuries Dammages and Losses sustained on either side by the King and the States or their Subjects during this War or at any time before upon any cause or pretence whatsoever be totally Expunged and Buried in Oblivion 4. Moreover that all Ships Goods and Movables which at any time before had come into the Power of either Party or their Subjects should remain to the present Posssessors thereof without any Compensation or Restitution for the same and without any Exception of place time or things 5. Moreover that all Actions Suits and Pretentions whatsoever for the same should remain void obliterated and disanuled and nothing moved thereupon hereafter 8 Its also agreed that under the aforesaid Renuntiation and Stipulation all Letters of Marque Reprisals and Countermarque General and Particular ought to be comprehended and revoked by vertue of that Article accordingly notwithstanding any Grant to the contrary 23. That in case it happen during this Friendship and Alliance that any thing shall be done to the contrary nevertheless the Alliance shall not be Broken but continue in Force only those particular Persons shall be punished that shall do any thing against the Treaty The words in the Articles being set down so general that might admit of forced interpretations beyond the Common intendment of the Embassadors and other Ministers of State Applications were made to Iohn de Wit chief Minister at the Hague by the Advocates and other Agents of Courtens Creditors who told him that a great care ought to be had of particular and private Mens Debts and Interests and especially a tender respect to the Kings Honour and Reputation And finally that as the Articles were penned and sent to Breda they were repugnant to the Laws of God and Mankind and particularly against the Laws and Statutes of England yet de Wit was so puft up with Pride and Insolence that he would give no other answer then this Valeat ut Valere potest and so the Articles were Signed accordingly on the 21. of Iuly 1667. Old stile Note that such words are without any president and were never used in any former Treaty in the World nor mentioned in any Article of the other Treaties with France or Denmark made at the same time in Breda but were Couched in by John de Wit as if he had a design and purpose that the Hollanders and Zealanders should swallow up all Debts Accounts and sunis of Money of Englishmen gotten into the Banks of Amsterdam and Middleburgh upon any cause or pretence whatsoever The Treaty of Commerce and Common Alliance being so concluded It is very remarkable and worthy of your Observation what followed within few Years after upon the 10th of August Old stile Behold the judgement of God Almighty in his Providence concerning the said Iohn de Wit that so worded and writ the Articles of the said Treaty and Cornelius de Wit his Brother Burgomaster of Dort Plenipotentiary in the Surprize at Chattam during the said Treaty Their Tongues were cut out of their Heads and their Fingers cut off their Hands and their Lungs pulled out of their Bodies by their own Subjects in the Hague even in the view and presence of the said George Carew who was then a Prisoner there Committed by the States of Holland under pretence of a Spie but escaped the danger and had been formerly at the instance of some common claimers of Dutch Goods committed at London by Order of the Councel on the 10th of August 1666. as aforesaid and the Letters Patents for 151612 l. and Damages on the same day ordered to be suspended In the Year 1671. the Treary at Breda being declared void by the King and Councel and another War Proclaimed for General Reprizals The Proprietors of the Bona Esperanza and Henry Bonadventura made fresh application to the King and Councel for publick relief against the States a Common Wealth sensible neither of Conscience nor Honour in Courtens Case whereupon it was referred to a select Commitee of the Lords of the Councel who reported their opinion under their Hands in terminis as follows viz. In obedience to your Majesties Order in Councel on the 22. of March 1671. We Humbly represent to your Majestie that the Debt and Damages of those Petitioners being stated under the Great Seal of England whereby it s granted by your Majesty that 151612 l. with all Costs and Charges shall be Reprized We further humbly represent to your Majesty that by the Treaty at Breda all reparations were extinguished and cut off Yet since that time the States General of the Netherlands have not only been refractory in the performance of any agreement concluded on but also have committed many violences and depredations whereby they have wholly cancel'd the obligations of all past Treaties and Agreements and left your Majestie and your Subjects as free in all Iustice and Equity as if they never had been made And therefore we humbly presume to report our opinions to your Majesty that it is now but just and seasonable for your Majestie to insist upon reparations for the Debt and Damages aforesaid In pursuance whereof His Majestie on the 7th of Iuly 1672. sent his Lettes under his Sign Manual to omit no time to his Plenipotentiaries then at Vtrecht to require intire and full satisfaction and reparations of the States General in the singular Case of Courten expressing with great zeal and earnestness that his care in that case should be to protect his Subjects in their just rights as well as to Assist them in the recovery thereof Afterwards by express Order of the Councel Board Instructions were given to the Lords Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries at Cologne to that end and purpose The States then underhand appealed by their Printed Papers to the Subjects of England for a seperate Peace in that juncture when they were almost brought upon their Knees and would not condescend to any agreement at Cologne but sent a Letter to the King by the Spanish Ambassador unto whom they had given a procuration with instructions to make up such a suddain Peace with the King whereupon His Majestie made this Speech following to both House of Parliament on the 24th of Ianuary 1673. Old stile The Kings Speech My Lords and Gentlemen AT the beginning of this Session I told you as I thought I had reason to do that the States General had not yet made Me any Proposals which could be imagined with intent to conclude but only to amuse To avoid this Imputation they have now sent Me a Letter by the Spanish Ambassador offering Me some Terms of Peace upon conditions formally Drawn up and in a more desent Stile then before It is upon this that I
and Goods by vertue hereof to be taken proved to belong to the said States General or any of their Subjects to be lawfull prize to the said Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew their Executors Administrators or Assigns as aforesaid according to our Princely intention hereby signified and expressed and to take care that this Our Royal Commission be duly executed and favourably interpreted and construed in all respects to the benefit and best advantage of the said Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew their Executors Administrators and Assigns as aforesaid In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patents Witness Our self at Westminster the 19. day of May in the 17. Year of Our Reign Per ip'm Regem It is to be considered that upon some Spoyls and Depredations done by the West-India Company of Holland to the English upon the Coast of Guinny whereby the Affrican Company suffered great Dammages and Affronts the King and His Royal Highness the Duke of York having particular shares and proportions therein for want of Satisfaction and Reparation In conclusion General Reprizals were Proclaimed against the States and their Subjects before this grant aforesaid passed for Particular and Special Reprizals in Courtens Case although it was in agitation some years before Yet after all this the Proprietors Applyed themselves respectively to the States and Directors of the East-India Company to accomodate that Affair rather then to put the said Grant into Execution and when nothing would prevail several Commissions in the year 1666. were Assigned to Captain Edward Lucy Nicholas Carew Iohn Holmes Edward Manning Tyrence Byrne and other Captains and Commanders who brought in several Ships and their Ladings as Prize but in regard the Hollanders Traded under the Colours and Trusts of the Swedes Hamburgers Flemmings Breamers Dantzickers Lubeckers and other Nations in Common amity with England the Ships and Goods so brought in were most of them claimed by several Agents from the Subjects of those Nations or the Residents of those Princes and States whereupon they were restored by the Judge of the Admiralty so that there was not bona fide Fifteen Hundred Pounds recovered as by the Register in the Court of Admiralty appears before a Proclimation Issued forth on the 10th of August 1666. to suspend the Execution of the said Letters Patents under pretence of Misdemeanours in the Captains with an Order of the Councel Table of the same Date to Commit the said George Carew who granted the said Commissions although neither of the said Captains nor the said Carew were ever Summoned or Questioned judicially to answer any charge against them Then the Proprietors and Persons interested Presented their Petition to His Majestie to have some satisfaction for the present out of the Prizes taken from the East-India Company of Holland and others by the Kings Ships but answer was given that they were to be disposed for other Services the War being Proclaimed for General Reprizals and that the Petitionors might resort to their own special Grant in a more seasonable time the Seamen being wanting for the Kings Ships Then some of the most considerable Creditors made several inspections into His Majesties Speeches and Orders of both Houses in relation to the War against Holland A very remarkable one being deliver'd by the Earl of Manchester Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Household with his Speech made to the Lord Mayor Aldermen and worthy Citizens of London at a Common-Hall on Tuesday the 1. of December 1664. viz Die Veneris 25. November 1664 Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament Assembled that the thanks of both Houses of Parliament be given unto the City of London for their forwardness in Assisting His Majesty and in Particular for Furnishing Him with several great Sums of Money towards His preparations for the Honour Safety and Trade of this Nation And more Especially well weighed several Periods of His Majesties Speech to both Houses of Parliament on the 24th of November 1664. as followeth viz. Mr. Speaker ANd you Gentlemen of the House of Commons I know not whether it be worth My pains to endeavour to remove a vile Iealousie which some ill Men scatter abroad and which I am sure will never sinck into the breast of any Man who is worthy to sit upon your Benches that when you have given me a Noble and proportionable Supply for the support of a War I may be induced by some evil Councelors for they will be thought to think very respectively of my own Person to make a suddain Peace and get all that Mony for my own private occasions But let me tell you and you may be most confident of it that when I am compelled to enter into a War for the Protection Honour and Benefit of my Subjects I will God Willing not make a Peace but upon the obtaining and securing those ends for which the War is entred into and when that can be done no good Man will be sorry for the determination of it WHereupon the Commons of England acknowledging in the Preamble of their Acts with all humility and thankfulness to His Majestie for his abundant care in their preservation at Sea and of the great Charge necessary for the defence thereof Granted at several times Five Millions Four Hundred and Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Pounds Eleven Shillings and Eight Pence for Extraordinary Supplies towards the Wars out of which his Royal Highness the Duke of York had the Sum of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Nine Hundred and Two Pounds Fiftéen Shillings and Eight Pence a Months Tax for his Heroick courage at Sea against the Hollanders Upon this consideration the said Creditors and those intrested in the Letters Patents for the special Reprizals applied themselves again in season and out of season to His Majestie and the Councel for some Reparations out of the Imbeazilments of the Prizes taken by the Kings Ships from the Dutch or out of the Monies given by Parliament but answer was made that His Majestie had done for the Petitioners already all what the Law required and so they might rest satisfi'd therewith the Debt being stated and ascertained by a Grant for reparation under the Great Seal of England Afterwards in the Month of Iune 1667. Preparations being made for a Treaty of Peace and common Alliance at Breda the Creditors and Proprietors concern'd in the Bona Esperanza and Henry Bonadventura applied themselves to the King and Ambassadors Extroardinary on both sides as also unto the Directors of the East-India Company of the Netherlands that satisfaction might be given in that singular Case of Courten to take away the continual Claim and Execution so intailed by the Especial Grant under the Great Seal of England that would perpetually be incumbant upon the States General and the East-India Company of the Netherlands until Restitution be made then Iohn de Wit the Pensionarie of Holland who offered Four Hundred Thousand Guilders in the year
Upon the Complaints of the Commons of England in Parliament an Act passed in the 4th Year of Henry the 5th whereby a remedy was provided for their more speedy Relief in all Cases of Spoyls and Depredations against Leagues Amities Truces and safe Conducts the parties grieved having liberty thereby to Address themselves to the Keeper of the Privy Seal for the time being for Letters of Request who upon Manifest proofs and Evidence of the wrong appearing shall grant Letters of Request in due form if so required for Restitution and Reparations from the parties that did the Injury that is to say from the Prince State or Supream Power which if not made in a convenient time prefixed that then the Lord Chancellour of England shall make to the party grieved Letters of Marque or Reprizals under the Great Seal of England in due form of Law And by a Statute in the 14th Edw. 4th It was Enacted Established and Confirmed that all Statutes and Ordinances against Offences Injuries Damages and Losses done by Breakers of Leagues Amities Truces and safe Conducts shall be in full Force and Effect By which Statute-Law wherein every Subject of England hath an Interest the Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellour are bound to grant the said Letters Respectively Ex Officio of Common right they being upon their Oaths to do their Office Iustly otherwise it would be a Uiolation of their trust And therefore without Satisfaction and Reparations first had and obtained in the Case of Courten for the Debt of 151612 l. and Damages the Chancellour cannot legally pass any Act Supersedeas or Proclamation under the Great Seal of England to Revoke or make void the said Letters Patents or to suspend the Execution thereof being the effect and fruit of several Acts of Parliament for Relief of particular Subjects that were Spoyled and Injured against Leagues of Common Amity and Truces Whereas in the High Court of Chancery his Lordship cannot Relieve any Person whatsoever Stranger or Denizon against a Statute-Law Grotius and the Learned Selden agree that after a Depredation Committed by the Subjects of one Nation to those of another and that the Damage hath been Stated and Letters of Request Issued forth and Iustice denied or delayed that Immediatly such Damage becomes a National Debt to the particular Persons Injured and by the Laws of Nations it ought to be recovered and Paid therefore Remedy is provided by the Laws and Statutes of England accordingly When an Authority passeth by the Kings Grant to such injured Persons of Common Right coupled with an interest to Levie and Recover the Debt and Damages when once the Power is Granted as the Law directs the same cannot by any subsequent Act of the King be Bound or Suspended without satisfaction to the Parties Grieved and the reason is plain because such a Grant and Execution upon it is no Breach of Peace or common Alliance between Princes and States And it 's against the Honour and Interest of the King both at Home And Abroad to diminish his own Prerogative and Royal Grant before satisfaction obtained the Patent being published for a President in several Languages amongst all the Neighbouring Nations Answer to the Second Question THat the private Interest of the Subjects of either side upon Debts Accounts Covenants or any civil Contract in Merchandizing upon the Land cannot be in any Measure comprized or comprehended within any Article of the Treaty at Breda under the notion of Offences Injuries Damages and Losses Therefore they cannot fall under that Construction or forced Interpretation of those Words which were intended naturally to Arise from Spoyls and Depredations terms that ought to have been used in the said Articles but that the transgressors would Pallitate Spoyls and Depredations by the names of Losses Injuries and Damages and the two Subsequent Articles being relative to the third having a Dependance upon the said Offences Injuries Damages and Losses no particular or private Debt and Damage can fall under that construction otherwise all English-mens Money in Holland and Consequently all Dutch mens Money in England gotten into the Hands of Bankers on either side might have been confiscated But the Wars being Proclaimed for General Reprizals between the King and States particular Men Traded each with other notwithstanding It was therefore an Apparent Breach of the Laws of Common Amity and of the Alliance with the Crown of England for the States of Holland on the 10th of September 1676. to send their Express Order in Writing to the ordinary Courts of Iudicature in Amsterdam and the Hague interdicting and Prohibiting the Iudges from Granting any Process or doing any Iustice against Jacob Pergens at the Suit of several English-men for Debts due upon Bills Bonds and Covenants for repayment of Moneys gotten into his Hands under several trusts After this Solemn Debate and Resolution upon those two Points in Question were over a grand Objection was raised by the Civil Lawyers then Present which was Answered as follows in Order Obj. THat a Soveraign Prince having the power of Peace and War in his Hands being the Sole Arbiter thereof may make use of a private Interest for the publique Necessity as Sole Legislator in such Cases Answ. St. Augustin sayes that all Humane Laws are Righteous Decrees agreeing with the Natural and Eternal Law and that there is no Law Iust or Legitimate except it agree with them both All Power being confined within the Bounds of Equity and Reason there is no Plea or Bar to be allowed against the Law of Nature which is Immutable It 's Granted that God Almighty having trusted Soveraign Princes with the Government for the Protection and Preservation of their Subjects in their Goods and Properties It if be just the Supream Power hath sufficient Authority to Restrain any particular Mans Right for every Mans Good yet it was ever found most reasonable in all Ages that when a private Interest was Sacrifized for a Common good a recompence was made for the private Damages out of the publick Purse Cicero Tertullian and other most Learned Authors do all agree in this point Verum etsi nostrae tempore necessitatis Patriae conferre debeamus tamen jure naturae congrui ut Communis salus Communis utilitas periculum non unius duntaxat aut alterius sed Communibus impensis jacturis periculisque comparetur BY the Law of Nature if a Soveraign Prince and State enter into a Contract one with the other upon certain Conditions the Contract is viod if the Conditions are not performed To clear this point we need not go far for Presidents the King of Great Britain having declared both the former Treaties in the year 1662. and 1667. With the States General to be void upon that account The States having been refractory in the performance of Agreements concerning Poleroon and in making reparation for other matters As even the Treaty at Breda was Pronounced null and void upon the like score about Surrinam c. Whereby
it appears that Carew's Right and Demand was not abolished or extinguished although seemingly suspended which was revived by the Supream Power and Legislator the Original Grant remaining Extant upon Record in the Rolls to be put into Execution when opportunity best serves until satisfaction and reparation shall be made by the one means or the other Now I must Beg your Honours further Patience and Pardon to shew your Honours who are the most Competent Judges that the States General and their Subjects have not only been Refractory in the Performance of the 8th and 9th Articles agreed upon in the last Treaty but possitively Broke the first and fifth Article of the Treaty Marine Signed at London the 1st of December 1674. By the Commissioners following viz. Thomas Culpeper George Downing Richard Ford William Thompson Iohn Iollife and Iohn Buckworth on the Behalf of the King of Great Britain And Iohn Corver George Sautyn Samuel Beger And Van Vossen P. Duvelaer M. Michielson on the Behalf of the States General IT being agreed by the 8. and 9. Articles between the King and the States General on the 9. of February 1674. New stile that six Commissioners were to be named on each side to settle and conclude upon a Regulation and Adjustment of Trade and Commerce in the East-Indies as also upon a Treaty Marine in all parts of the World as by the two several Articles hereafter follows in Latin taken from the Original appears VIII QUod Tractatus Marinus Hagae-Comitis inter partes utrasque Anno Domini 1668. conclusus coninuetur pro spatio novem mensium post hujus praesentis Tractatus publicationem nisi per subsequentem Tractatum aliter provisum fuerit interea autem ut consideratio novi super hac re Tractatus ad eosdem Commissarios referatur ad quo◠commercium per Indias Orientales in Articulo proxime sequenti referetur Quod si tales Commissarii intra tres menses post primum congressum suum in novum Tractatum Marinum ex voto non consenserint tunc res illa quoque ad Arbitrium ac dispositionem Serenissimae Dom. Reginae Regentis Hispaniae referetur eodem plane modo quo Commercii Orientalis regulatio ad Majestatis suae arbitratione in dicto Articulo proxime sequenti referetur IX EO quod à mutua non turbata commercii ac navigationis libertate non solum opulentia sed pax etiam utriusque nationis summopere pendet nihil magis curae esse debet utrique parti quam justa aequa commerce regulatio praecipuè in Indiis Orientalibus tamen quia res est maximi momenti multum temporis requiret ut firmi ac duraturi Articuli ad satisfactionem securitatem subditorum utriusque Partis conficiantur Cum tamen languens poene intermoriens plerarumque Europae regionum conditio non minus quam duarum partium in hoc bello implicatarum ad properam hujus Tractatus conclusionem anhelet supramemoratus Serenissimus Dominus Magnae Britanniae Rex votis desideriis praedictorum Ordinum Generalium accedere dignatur ut ejusdem consideratio aequali numero Commissariorum ab utraque parte nominandorum referatur eisdem Ordinibus Generalibus spondentibus ut illi quos ipsi nominaverint Londinum mittantur ad tractandum cum illis quos Majestas sua Britannica pariter à parte sua deputaverit idque intra spatium trium mensium post hujus Tractatus Publicationem Numerus item Commissariorum utrimque nominandorum sex erit personarum sin autem post tres menses quam congressi fuerint eorum conatus non tam feliciter suecesserint ut Tractatus inde concludatur capita inter eos controversa ad arbitrationem Serenissimae Dominae Reginae Regentis Aispaniae referentur quae undecim Commissarios nominabit Et quodcunque major eorum pars determinaverit in differentiis non prius compositis id utramque partem obligabit proviso semper quod judicium suum declarent intra spatium sex mensium a die quo primum congredientur quod etiam intra spatium erit trium mensium quostquam Serenissima Domina Reginae Regens Pispaniae praedictum arbitrium in se susceperit Those Regulations and Adjustments of Trade and Comerce in the East-Indies and the Treaty for settling Navigation in all other parts of the World were to have been determined and concluded within three Months after the Treaty Signed by the Marquis Del Fresno on the behalf of the States on the 9th of February 1674. as aforesaid But the Dutch Commissioners were Wrangeling and making their Friends with the Unrighteous Mamon untill the first of December 1674. compleat 9 Months and 19 Dayes and yet in all that time did not any thing concerning the Regulation agreed upon in relation to the East-Iidies but left that Affaire re infecta and as to the Treaty Marine they made several Articles most of them relating to contra bando Gods but as to the first and the fifth Articles contained in the said Treaty Marine whereby the Subjects of England were to injoy the Freedom and Priviledge of Navigations to all parts of the Spanish Dominions and else where the States have absolutly denyed the English Ships any Freedom in their passage to Antwerp through the Sheild contrary to the Words and Letters of the said Treaty which are as follows viz. Article I. THat it shall and may be lawfull for all and every the Subjects of the Most Serene and Mighty Prince the King of Great Britain aforesaid with all Freedom and Safety to Sail Trade and Exercise any manner of Traffique in all those Kingdoms Countreys and Estates which are or at any time hereafter shall be in Peace Amity or Neutrality with His said Majesty So that they shall not be any wayes hindred or molested in their Navigation or Trade by the Military Forces nor by the Ships of War or any other kind of Uessels whatsoever belonging either to the High and Mighty Lords the States General of the United Netherlands or to their Subjects upon Occasion or Pretence of any Hostility or Difference which now is or shall hereafter happen between the said Lords the States General and any Princes or People whatsoever in Peace Amity or Neutrality with His said Majesty Article V. AND that all manner of Differences and Contentions on both sides by Sea or Land may from henceforth Cease and be utterly Extinguished It is Agreed That all Ships and Uessels whatsoever belonging to the Subjects of His said Majesty entring or being entred into any Road or Port under the obedience of the Lords the States and purposing to pass from thence shall be onely obliged is shew unto the Offices acting in the Ports of the said States or to the Captains of the States Ships or of Private Men of War if any happen there to be their Passport commonly called a Sea-brief nor shall any Money be exacted from them for the same AFter the Treaty Marine was concluded divers
Ravon who obtained several Sentences and Executions thereupon The like at Amsterdam at the Suit of Sir Richard Ford upon Actions for Assurance depending before and after the Treaty Likewise upon several Actions depending at Midleburgh against Peter Boudean and his Heirs at the Suit of George Carew upon Merchants accompts as aforesaid and Legacies whereupon Boudaens Exceptions were over-ruled by the Magistrates and Iudges there in the year 1675. and Sentence given that the Defendants Boudaens should positively Answer to several Charges in the said Plaintiff Carew's Bill which they had delayed so many years together And by a later President in Amsterdam upon two several Actions brought against George Carew in the year 1676. at the Suit of Paulus Buys an Advocate and Arnold Vingbooms a Proctor of the said City Buys for 113 Gilders and a 11 Stivers and Vingbooms for 51 Gilders and 18 Stivers for Fees and Salaries in a Cause Renvoyed from the Hague depending many years before the Treaty against Jacob Pergens upon an obligation for 3000 l. Lent by Sir William Courten unto which Actions of Buys and Vingbooms the said Carew having appeared by Alexander Rynd his Proctrr The Escheevens or Judges there viz. Mr. David de Wilhem Hendrick Becker Mr. Cornelis Cloeck Joan Appelman Mr. Everart Scott de Jonge Dr. Dirk Boelensz Lieve van Loon. Jan van Dijck Mr. Jacob Popta GAVE Sentence against the said Carew for the said Monies and Costs which were Levied by Execution upon the said Carew accordingly as by the Proceedings in the said Court at Amsterdam appears Notwithstanding at the same time the said Iudges were daily Sollicited to Pronounce Sentence against the said Pergens in the Original Action which they refused to do upon the said Obligation in which Cause the said Fees and Salories were recovered by Buys and Vingbooms and also upon his Covenant for 5500. Sterling with Dammages in another Action brought in the same year 1676. against the said Pergens by Mark Fletcher Merchant for Monies received by Pergens in trust for Mr. Courten and his Assigns but the said Iudges possitively denied to pronounce any Sentence thereupon in regard the States of Holland at Pergen his request had by Express Order as aforesaid Dated the 10th of September 1676. Peremptorily Prohibited them from doing any Iustice therein Alledging that moving upon the said Actions and Pretences were publick Breaches of the Peace concluded in the year 1667. and 1674 And so the said causes remained in Statu quo ever since upon the said Extrajudicial Order The said Boudaens having also taken advantage thereof contrary to all Equity Reason and good Conscience and even to the Presidents of their own Courts of Iustice Which were no small Reflections upon the great Interest of His Majesties Honour and the Reputation of his Kingdoms and Dominions being taken notice of by all Forraign Ministers at the Hague and Merchants of other Nations Resident in Amsterdam It 's remarkable that the greatest Ministers of State are subject to gross Errors and Mistakes for that in the first Proclamation Dated the 10th of August 1666. Mentioned in the Order aforesaid it 's recited in the said Proclamation that divers great and Notable Misdemeanours were committed by Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew and their Assigns And in the Month of September following by an Order of the Council-Board Sir Edmond Turnor was Cleared as a Person never Acting in the said Commission his name being used only in Trust and that Mr. Carew as Administrator and Assignee of Sir William Courten and others solely prosecuted that Affair and so Sir Edmond Turnors Innocency appeared upon hearing the matters of Fact contained in his Petition And after they had Proclaimed him Guilty without calling him to Answer for himself it was Published in the London Gazet for an unadvized Resolution or a hasty Mistake Memorandum That Sir Ieffery Palmer who was Directed to make a Draught of the said Proclamation refused to do it so then Sir Heneage Finch Sollicitor General for the time being very Readily and Officiously did the same Some further Reasons and Arguments Offered in Defence of the Administrators Assignees and Creditors of Sir VVILLIAM COURTEN and Sir PAUL PYNDAR QUeen Elizabeth gave it in Charge to all her Ministers of State that they should have a care of Her Honour which She held as a Iewel so Incomparable that nothing was esteemed more sacred in Her Eyes then Her Honour and Reputation If any Person should now question the Legallity the Iustice or the Equity of the Kings Grant under those Conditions and Limitations in the Letters Patents for Reprizals contained they would not only Arraign the Wisdom and Iudgment of the most Reverend and Learned Ministers and Officers of State and Trust in the Kingdom under whose hands the Grant Passed but lessen the Kings Prerogative-Royal in the Protection of his Subjects The Acts of Parliament expressly Declaring that the Injured Persons shall have the Law of Marque without Fraud or delay the Hollanders Zealanders and other Merchants Strangers having Complained of the old Law and craved Exemptions from the Writ in the Register following in these words REX Ballivis villae de Lenn Episcopi salutem Ex gravi querela dilecti nobis S. accepimus quod cum ipse nuper apud C. partibus de Spinia in villa de C. causa Mercandisandi moram traxisset Bona Cattalla ad valentiam centum librarum emisset I. T. alii malefactores dictae Villae mercatores de dictis partibus de S. praefatum S. apud dictam Villam de S. vi armis ceperunt imprisonaverunt bona cattalla sua praedicta ab eo abstulerunt alia c. ei intulerunt contra legem rationem in ipsius S. damnum non modicum depauperationem manifestam Et licet idem S. adsumptus non modicos penes Dominos partium illarum fuerit prosecutus pro justitia super transgressionibus praedictis habend ipse tamen non potest Justitiam inde obtinere sicut per quosdam fide dignos qui tunc temporis in dictis partibus extiterunt coram nobis est testificatum super quo nobis supplicavit ut sibi de remedio providere faciamus Nos ad testimonium praedictum considerationem habentes nec non injuriore de pauperationi ipsius S. compatientes in hac parte vobis mandamus sicut alias mandavimus quod corpora praedictorum T. I. si ipsi seu eorum aliquis in praedicta villa de Lenn inventi fuerint nec non bona cattalla ad valencia quadraginta librarum quam citius ibidem inventa fuerint arrestari sub arresto salvo custodiri fac quousque praedicto S. de transgressione praedicta ac de damnis de perditis quae occasione praedicta sustinuit fuerit satisfactum Mandavimus etiam ballivis villarum magnae Yernemouth quod ipsi ad valentiam quadraginta librarum de bonis cattalis
praedictorum T. I. ac ceterorum praenominatorum una corporibus eorundem quam citius in ballivis suis inventi fuerint arrestari sub arresto hujusmodi custodiri faciant quosque praedicto S. de transgressione damnis ac de perditis praedictis in forma praedicto fuerit satisfactum T c. THe Ancient Laws of England in the Case of Spoyls were grounded upon right reason for that every English Man living here in an Island had not Moneys to right himself against Forraigners in their own Country so often as they would take advantage by Injuring them to make their own Markets neither could an English Man expect to find Iustice abroad without delay where the Offenders for the most part were Parties and Iudges themselves But when the Persons or Goods of Merchants Strangers were once Arrested or Attached here they would find means suddainly to Retaliate their Dammages at home upon the Offenders Even as at this time if a Fisher Man should be attaqued at Sea for the East-India Companies 〈…〉 in the Towns of Holland and Zealand would quickly make the East-India Companie or their Directors in the Chambers at Amsterdam and Middleburgh Refund their Dammages or otherwise they would Dde Wit them or pull down their Houses in that Popular and Tumultuous Government Now I appeal to all unbiassed and impartial Men whether Iudicial Grants under the Great Seal of England made pursuant to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm obtained by such steps and measures mentioned in the body of the Grant for Reprizing the 151612l with Damages ought not to have the effect of the Law by Seizing the value or by Composition Notwithstanding any such Extrajudicial Acts or Proclamations and pretended Supersedeas The Laws of England having so secured the Distinct Rights and Properties of the Subjects that it is not in the Kings Power by any Act of State unless by Parliament to dispose of His Subjects Goods Or whether there was any necessity the Dutch Ambassador the Here Van Leuven Affirming that the 800000 Pattacones were given to take off the durable Grant for Reprizals by which the Hollanders were bound That three parts of the Pattacones should be Assigned to the Prince of Orange for old Debts and no part to the Proprietors of the Bona Espranza nor for the Great Diamonds Sold to the late King by Sir Paul Pyndar not yet paid for Pawned by the late Queen for half the value in Amsterdam Jure naturae equam est neminem cum alterius detrimento injuria fieri locupletiorem There lies a necessity upon the Creditors to let the World know quod defertur non auferter and that both Nations concerned may remember they did not only Smart but Bleed for the Iniquity and Ingratitude of the times wherein the Grieved and Oppressed could finde no Relief It is necessary also to remember that Sir Albertus Joachimy the Dutch Ambassador Resident in Ordinary in England Anno. 1644. Had notice given him of the Monition out of the High Court of Admiralty fixed upon the Exchange that several Persons were upon Examination in perpetuam rei memoriam to prove the Spoyls and Dammages of the Bona Esperanza with the loss of divers Marriners Lives but the said Ambassador would make no defence therein but suffered Iudgment pro confesso by default Although Fellony be Pardonable by the Prince the Trover is not even as in the Case of Murther but not the appeal The Subject hath a natural liberty at his own Suit to take his remedy otherwise all Right and Propertie might be Destroyed It 's Granted that the King may by His Prerogative make a necessary Garrison in time of War in any of His Subjects Houses Castles and Lands for the Common Defence and Protection of His People making compensation But a great Lawyer and Privy Councellor would affirm that the King having the Power of Peace and War may Grant away a Subjects Castle or other his Freeholds in a publick Treaty without any Satisfaction or Price which is against the Law of property and not warrantable by any Reason of State Conclusion VVHen I Consider the sorrows and sufferings of the said George Carew and Iames Bo'evc in Holland and Zealand whereof I was an Eye witness I cannot mention their names in England without Grief and Wonder finding them Groaning under Troubles and Oppressions at home in ascerting their Rights and Properties like true Englishmen who I am Confident at the same time would Sacrifice their Lives and Fortunes for the Crown of England The Case of the Bona Esperanza being prosecuted from the Year 1644. to 1664. Reduced to a certainty under a Grant for Reparation in the Year following could not be violated without a Breach of Trust yet suddainly Suspended for Reason of State The King wanting Seamen in the Summer and the Dukes Privateers Seamen in the Winter In more seasonable times the Creditors were obstructed by Seizures Arrests Proclamations Orders of Council Imprisonments and pretended Supersedeas's all against the known Laws and Liberties of the Subjects while the Proprietors of the Bona Esperanza during all those Arbitrary Prosecutions against them had not the least Overture for their Reparation or once admitted to a hearing at the Council Table for their Relief After Mr. Carew had to my own knowledge Expended Six thousand pounds and upwards in the said Cause having at this time all his Estate in London and Richmond Mortgaged to Sir Iames Butler of Lincolns Inn and Thomas Coleman Esq for 4500 l. Sterling and had paid Interest for the like Sum ever since the Year 1668. to Mr. Iohn Holwerthy Mr. Letton Mr. Iohn Foche Edward Holmewood and others Eminently known in the City of London The Estates of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar being Indebted 7000 l. to the said Carew in right of his first Wife the only Daughter of Mr. William Walton a Turkey Merchant whose cause with the others Interested and Concerned being now brought home to this Parliament for Justice they cannot despair of a seasonable Redress according to the measure and nature or then Grievances and Opressions I must not omit therefore in this Conclusion to give a short Abstract of the most Arbitrary and unjust Sentence Pronounced in the Court of Admiralty in England for 1800 l. Damages against Sir Edmond Turnor George Carew Tyrence Birne and Ionathan Frost at the instance of Iacob Neitz and others which was confirmed by the Judges Delegates and Adjuncts in Hillary Term 1678. The Case and unjust Sentence upon it IN the Year 1665. Admiral de Ruiter having taken an old Fly Boat of 200. Tun Dutch Built named the Mary of Bristol belonging to several Merchants of that City bound homewards from Barbadoes with Sugars Cotton Indigo c. The said Ship and Goods so taken were Condemned by the Admiralty Court in Amsterdam as free Prize to the States In the Year 1666. The said Ship being set forth from Amsterdam to Sea by the name of the