Almighty alone and the King of England usurpes to Himself although perhaps per gratiam Dei by which the most Absolute Princes govern their Lands and Territories And the Ambassadour Downing also concerning the aforesaid sense of the Ninteenth Article in his Memorial delivered in the Name of the King demanded of the States a plain and clear acknowledgment of the aforesaid Pretended Soveraignty of the Seas Eveâ—y one that can tell of our Country-men the impartial World may sée that not the refusing to strike the Flag in pursuance of the said Article which was fully performed as shall hereafter be made evident but only a Refusal of the said acknowledgment hath béen the subject of the King of England's complaint And it is likewise easily to be apprehended that at present the said Acknowledgment is demanded from the States not by reason of the Justice of Right to the pretended affair but only out of a plotted Design to war against Us which design could not be put in Execution but by a demand of Impossible Satisfaction for which intent the Ambassadour Downing propounded nothing else to the States than the Acknowledgment aforesaid lest having made Propositions of other things he might receive satisfaction for his King who he knew would not be satisfied Of what importance the said Acknowledgment so demanded is is not unknown to any of the Subjects of this State whose only subsistence is Commerce and consequently the Liberty of the Seas I do believe that not one single Fisherman in our Country can be found be he never so simple that apprehends not his chiefest Interest to consist herein and that to force the said Acknowledgment out of his throat and thereupon to cause the Effects of the said Pretended Soveraignty to follow is one and the same thing as to tye up his throat or at least there is no other Distinction than betwixt a speedy and a tedious yet assured Death since after the said Acknowledgment there can at the best nothing else be expected from the King of England's Grace and Favour than an option and choice of a sudden period or a lingring disease which is worse than a precipitated death And although the King of England extends not His pretended Dominion further than the British Seas yet it is evidently known that the Limits of the said Seas are by the King stretched out so far that not the least part for a passage out of our Country is left which is not in respect of his pretended Soveraignty subjected to the King according to his sense considering that not only the Chanel but also the North Sea and a great part of the Ocean is by the King of England accounted the British Sea so that We should not be able out of our own Country to set out to Sea but only by the Grace and Favour of the King of England of which we should be assured â—ar less than now we are of his faith and promise We shall not enter at present to confute the aforesaid pretences to the Soveraignty of the Sea not only because the same would probe too prolix but also and that principally by reason it cannot be judged necessary to contradict what all the World holds to be impertinent except the King of England who as little can adhere to reason as with reasonable offers he will be satisfied We shall only say that it is false and never can be proved that we ever fished in the Sea with licence and permission of the King of England's Father and that for paying Tribute as the aforesaid Declaration expresseth We confess that in the year 1636. some of the King of England's Ships of War seized upon our defensless Herring-busses and that by méer violence they forced a sum of money from them which they called Tonnage-money but we deny that from thence any Right or Title can be derived not only because violence can create no Right no not by continuance but also because the aforesaid violent exaction was not continued Complaints being made in England of the aforesaid exorbitance the same afterwards was no more demanded We shall with favour of the courteous Reader passing to the business of the Flag so as the same in the Nineteenth Article of the Treaty at Breda is regulated which Article must decide this Controversie briefly demonstrate that nothing was committed by the Lord of Ghent in the late Encounter contrary to the said Article and moreover that what hath béen offered to the King of England by this State over and above the obligations of the said Articles is of so convincing a concession that we néed not fear to refer it to the judgment of the English themselves as promising to our selves from the said peoples discretion that in respect this State hath given abundant satisfaction to them in point of Honour they will scorn and detest to demand that We should acknowledge the Soveraignty of the Sea procéeding only from a desire of War to belong to Them It is evident and amongst all discreet persons without Controversie that Saluting at Sea either by firing of Guns or striking the Flag or Lowring of some Sail must not be interpreted as some sign of subjection but méerly for an outward testimony of Respect and Civility which then with a Resolute and the like Civility is required and forasmuch as concerns the first saluting whereof We only here shall make mention it is conceived since those commonly first salute that owne themselves inferiours in Rank and Worth to those they méet although they are not under subjection to them that Ships of Republicks méeting at Sea with Ships of War belonging to Crowned Heads to which Republicks yield Superiority in the World must give the first salute either with one or other sign of respect which respect notwithstanding as all other Acts of Civility must procéed from a free willingness and an unconstrained mind in those that shew the same yet it hath often been seen that the strongest at Sea hath forced the weakest to this submission and that likewise the necessity and manner thereof hath béen expressed in Articles Such is likewise concerning the same agréed on betwixt the King of England and this State in the said Ninteenth Article in conformity to former Articles as well concluded with the present King as the Protector Cromwell that the Ships and Vessels of the United Provinces set out to Sea as well for War and defence against Enemies as others which at any time should meet in the British Seas with any of the Ships of War of the King of Great Britain shall strike their Flag and lowr their Top-sail in the like manner as formerly hath been customary To apprehend the true sense of that Article as it ought to be let the Reader be pleased to take notice that the same procéeded originally from the Articles betwixt this State and the Protector Cromwell concluded in the year 1654. and that at that time the same was not expressed in such terms as after
a long debate of some words which the Protector Cromwell would have added thereunto thereby not only to oblige single Ships but entire Fleets of the States to the said Salute in case of méeting with any of the Ships of War belonging to England which words afterwards upon the earnest instance of the Ministers of this State were left out of the said Article so that the aforesaid Nineteenth Article drawn on t of the tenth Article of the Peace in the year 1662. which tenth Article on the Kings side was delivered in out of the thirteenth Article of the year 1654. must not be so understood that an entire Fleet of the States by vertue of the said Article shall be obliged to give the said Salute to one single Ship of the English but the said Article must be taken for a Regulation according to which single Ships and Vessels of this State in point of saluting the Ships of England are to govern themselves Now to apply the said Article according to the true sense to the late accident of the Lord of Ghent it is in the first place to be observed that the King of England's Pleasure-Boat suppose in respect of her Equippage it must pass for a Ship of War which we will not dispute not having met with any single Ships or Vessels of the States but coming in amongst a Fleet then riding at Anchor undoubtedly with a wicked design to séek matter of Complaint it with no fundamental reasons can be maintained that the Lord of Ghent by vertue of the said Article was obliged to strike Secondly It is likewise considerable that the aforesaid Article speaking of meeting cannot be applied to a formed design to cause a Quarrel by requiring in the uncivillest manner in the world an act of Civility and Respect And lastly It is notorious that the said accident happened in the North Sea not far from our own Coast as likewise it is well known that the North Sea is not the British Sea not only because in all Sea-plats yea in the English Map it self it is distinguished from all other but also and especially which in this case is an invincible Argument by reason the same in the seventh Article of the Treaty of Breda are distinctly mentioned one from the other where it is expresly said that All Ships and Merchandizes which within twelve days after the Peace are taken in the British Sea and the North Sea shall continue in propriety to the Seizer out of which it plainly appears that even according to the King of England's sense the North Sea differs in reallity from the British Sea but vice versâ that the North Sea is made the British Sea and consequently that distinct things are confounded together where there is a design to raise commotions and disturbances in the world And though their High and Mighties might have kept to the Nineteenth Article of the said Treaty according to the true original interpretation yet they declared to the King of Great Britain that upon the foundation and condition of a firm friendship assurance of a real and sincere performance thereof upon the fifth Article of the Triple Alliance in case France should fall upon this State they would willingly cause the entire Fleet when they should at any time méet with any Ship or Ships of War carrying his Majesties Standard to strike the Flag and lowr the Top-sail in testimony of their Respect and Honour which they upon all occasions will publickly shew to so faithful a Friend and so great a Monarch Provided that from thence no occasion either now or hereafter should be taken or the least inducements given to hinder or molest the Inhabitants and Subjects of the United Provinces of the Netherlands in their Free use of the Seas which Declaration the King of England wrongly interprets because that the same is joyned with the true performance of the Triple League that is with his Honour and Word as also with the assurance that no prejudice should be offered in regard of the Free use of the Seas being an infallible argument that The King of England is as little inclined to leave us an undisturbed use of the Seas as He is to kéep and perform his word I have already demonstrated the Iustice and Honour of his Majesties Arms. This Discourse gives me occasion to manifest the Necessity thereof All that is recited here was alledged by the Dutch Ambassadours to our King and if it appear hence that His Majesty could not continue his Alliance any longer with the Dutch unless He would abandon the Soveraignty of the Sea exchange his proper Rights into meer Civilities and those not to be enforced and put Himself and his Dominions into the Power of the Dutch there is none then can doubt but That the King was unavoidably engaged into this War by the insolence and arrogance of the treacherous and usurping Hollanders and that He did not seek or feign pretensions to quarrel with them The Nineteenth Article of the Treaty at Breda doth run thus That the Ships and Vessels of the said United Provinces as well Men of War as others meeting any Men of War of the said King of Great Britain's in the British Seas shall strike the Flag and lowre the Top-sail in such manner as the same hath béen formerly observed in any times whatsoever This Article was transcribed out of a former Treaty made betwixt O. P. and the States General and he was the first that ever inserted any such Article into any Treaty our Right and Dominion over the British Seas having never been disputed before but by an immemorial prescription and possession transmitted unto us and supposed as unquestionable by all Princes these ungrateful Dutch are the first that controverted it disowning it in the time of the late Wars when our Civil distractions rendred our Prince unable to attend unto the Maritime Dominion and to curb their growing pride yet was the long Parliament so concerned to preserve the Rights of this Nation that they made an Ordinance April 5. 1643. commanding their Admiral and Commanders at Sea to inforce all persons to pay the usual and due submissions unto the Men of War appertaining to this Kingdom And the pretended Republick here did vigorously and by a dreadful War assert the said Soveraignty of the Seas So that it ought to be deemed the concurring sentiment of All parties in England that These submissions by striking the Flag and lowring the Top-sail are not meer Civilities and unnecessary Punctilioes of Honour and vain-glory but a fundamental point whereon the Being of the King and Kingdom is in great part suspended and it hath been so studiously insisted on by our Princes that for above Four hundred years it hath been a Clause in the Instructions of the Admiral and the Commanders under him tha◠in case they met any Ships whatsoever upon the British Seas that refused to strike Sail at the Command of the Kings Admiral or his Lieutenants that
Image-worship cannot endure any Monarchs because they are as I may say visible Deities and Mortal representations of that One God who providentially rules the Vniverse nor can they tolerate their Usurpations upon the Rights of God Almighty who is alone Soveraign of the Sea If I were not in haste I would animadvert upon that passage of the Considerer whereby he intimates that All absolute Princes are Usurpers Governing their Lands and Territories per Gratiam Dei by which the King of England usurps the Dominion of the Sea In another place he intimates as if all Princes were Tyrants and all Monarchy Tyranny In a third he detracts from Monarchy alledging that Monarchs are generally swayed by their wills and lusts and that the most efficacious reasonings of Princes and Monarchs are their Arms Such insinuations as these ought to exasperate all Princes against them and indeed this other controversie about the Dominion of the Sea extends not only to the King of England but to the Kings of France Spain Portugal Sweden Denmark c. to the Republicks of Venice Genoa c. All which are no less notorious Usurpers than his Majesty of Great Britain and if the King of England be an Usurper upon the Rights of God by exercising a Soveraignty over the British Seas the Dutch have contributed very much to such Vsurpation by permitting him to continue it so long When they were the Distressed States and tendered the Soveraignty of their Provinces to Queen Elizabeth their Embassadors urged this unto Her as one inducement that Thereby She might ensure her self of the Dominion of the Great Ocean From whence any Englishman may collect How much it importeth Us that these Hollanders be rather Distressed than High and Mighty Concerning the Dominion of the Sea that we may the better understand the Controversie and the justice of his Majesties demands 't is requisite that we distinguish upon the word Dominion which is equivocal Dominion imports one thing in respect to Iurisdiction and Protection which the Doctors of the Civil Law call Soveraignty or Vniversal Dominion such is that of a Prince over the persons and estates of his Subjects And another thing in reference to Propriety which they term particular Dominion whereby any private person is invested in his Goods and Estate Thus the King of England hath an Vniversal Dominion over the British Seas whilst yet his Subjects retain their proprieties in their several Fisheries The effects of this Dominion Vniversal or Soveraignty which accrue to a Prince are these 1. Not only the Regality of the fishing for Pearl Coral Amber c. but the direction and disposal of all other Fish according as they shall seem to deserve the regards of the publick as in Spain Portugal c. is used 2. The prescribing of Laws and Rules for Navigation not only to his own Subjects but unto others Strangers whether they be Princes of equal strength and dignity with himself or any way inferiour Thus the Romans did confine the Carthaginians to equippe out no Fleets and forbade Antiochus to build any more than twelve Ships of War The Athenians prohibited all Median Ships of War to come within their Seas and prescribed to the Lacedemonians with what manner of Vessels they should sail All Histories are full of such Presidents which Princes have enacted either upon agreements enforced upon the conquered or Capitulations betwixt them and others their equals or inferiours for mutual conveniences 3. The power of imposing Customs Gabels and Taxes upon those that navigate in their Seas or otherwise Fish therein which they do upon several rightful claims As protecting them from Pyrates and all other Hostilities or assisting them with Lights and Sea-marks For which advantages common equity obligeth those that reap benefit thereby to repay it by some acknowledgment which ought to be proportioned to the favour received and the expense which the Prince is at to continue it unto them 4. As it is incumbent on a Prince duly to execute justice in his Kingdoms by land so the Sea being His Territory it is requisite and a necessary effect of his Dominion that He cause justice to be administred in case of maritime delinquencies 5. That in case any Ships Navigate in those Seas they shall Salute his floating Castles the Ships of War by loring the Top sail striking the Flag those are the most usual courses in like manner as they do His Forts upon Land By which sort of Submissions they are put in remembrance that they come into a Territory wherein they are to own a Sovereign Power and Iurisdiction and receive Protection from it These are the proper effects of a real and absolute Sovereignty over the Seas which how they are possessed by the Venetians this following account will shew The Gulf of Venice is nothing else but a large Bay or inlet of the Sea which entring in betwixt two Lands and severing them for many miles continuance in the end receives a stop or interruption of further passage by an opposite Shore which joyns both the said opposite Shores together It is called the Gulf of Venice from the City of Venice scituated upon certain broken Islands near unto the bottom thereof It is also called the Adriatick Sea from the ancient City Adria lying not far distant from the former From the entrance thereof unto the bottom it conteins about 600 Italian miles where it is broadest it is 160 miles over in others but 80 in the most 100. The South-West shore is bounded with the Provinces of Puglia and Abruzzo in the kingdome of Naples the Marquisate of Ancona and Romagnia in the Pope's State and the Marquisate of Trevisana in the Venetian State The North part of it or bottome hath Friuli for its bounds the North-East is limited by Istria Dalmatia Albania and Epirus whereof Istria doth not so intirely belong to the Venetians but that the Emperour as Arch-duke of Gratz doth possess divers maritime Towns therein In Dalmatia saving Zara Spalato and Cattaro they have nothing of importance the rest belonging to Ragusa and the Turks In Albania and Epirus they possess nothing at all it being entirely the Turk's So that he who shall examine the circuit of this Sea which must contain above 1200 miles shall find the shores of the Venetian Signory not to take up 200 of them omitting some scatter'd Towns and dispersed Islands lying on the Turkish side of the Adriâ—tick shore For the securing hereof from the depredation of Pirates and the pretenses of divers potent Princes as the Pope Emperour King of Spain and the great Turk who have each of them large territories lying thereupon also to cause all ships which navigate the same to go to Venice and there to pay Custome and other duties the Republick maintains continually in action a great number of Ships Gallies and Galliots whereto also they adde more as there may be occasion whereof some lye about the bottom of the Gulf in Istria
this nature have been made betwixt Spain and Portugal Sweden and Denmark In fine are not the Seas distinct as the Hadriatick Ligurian Tyrrhene and in the Articles of Breda the Brittish and North-Sea yet are there no precise and Geometrical bounds to them 3. If the Sea can be reduced under any dominion then may the Commerce be hindered by the Proprietor of the same as to such as He pleaseth But Commerce ought to be free according to the Law of Nature and Nations and the denial thereof as also the denying of an innocent passage or the laying an extraordinary Tax for License to pass which is in effect a denial of Passage and Commerce is a just cause of War Therefore the Sea ought to be free I answer that perhaps the pretence of wants not to be supplied but by Commerce is not serious and real but if it be it doth not follow that our domestick indigency and necessities are to be remedied by the detriment or injury of others but we must purchase the opportunities of a supply by complying with the conveniencies of our Neighbours No man must trespass upon anothers ground because He cannot otherwise attend unto his own utility The freedom of Commerce and passage are no solid Arguments when insisted upon by Hollanders both may be refused if there be a suspicion of danger I concur with Albericus Gentilis herein I am of St. Austins mind who held the opinion of Grotius in these cases provided I may have befitting security that the persons trading or passing will not hurt me and that I be ascertained that they cannot hurt me This is conformable to sundry Scriptural examples and the Resolutions of all Ages before and since Christianity Nor doth the imposition of a Tribute for the Fishing or erecting and preserving of Sea-mâ—rks and Light-houses or Convoy-mony infringe the Liberty of Commerce but continue it with Security I do not find that the Dutch have contested thus about the Customs upon the Rhine or plead that 't is unlawful to pay Toll upon the passage of several Highâ—ways and Bridges in order to the repairing of them yet a Logician of Holland would by the same reasons condemn those exactions and deny tribute to whom tribute is due To conclude this point After so many Treatises and fierce disputes concerning the dominion of the Sea upon mature consideration the Controversie is now reduced to this State that as to property the Sea can fall to no mans dominion by reason of its fluxile nature but as to a Sovereignty of Protection and Iurisdiction whereby Tributes are imposed for the defraying of Convoys providing of Sea-marks c. and Fishing This may be assumed and is lawful as to particular Seas and Gulfs but as to the vast Ocean whose bounds are unknown and whose extent makes the Sovereignty to be unfaisible this is denied Thus Io. Isac Pontanus and others do decide the Controversie And this decision establisheth the King of England's Right whose Seas are not boundless nor incapable of the aforesaid Dominion of Iurisdiction Such a Dominion the Dutch Professour saith is practicable and necessary for the Hollanders thereby to secure their vast Trade into all parts of the world and exclude others from Merchandising into the richest parts From whence we may gather what we are to expect from the prevalence of the Dutch viz. to be prohibited trading through the Seas but to what places and on what conditions they please And whilst our King shall be decried as an Usurper of the Divine Right by challenging the dominion of the Sea These Hollanders shall affect and assume without any such Usurpation the dominion over the Seas Which is all one in effect the discrepancy is but verbal and such as any one may see into who is not infatuated with the specious and pious harangues of the peace-loving Christians in Holland Another Argument enforced by Them here against his Majesties lawful dominion over the British Seas is this that since the Subjects of their State do only subsist by Commerce and consequently by the Liberty of the Seas should they acknowledge the said Sovereignty of his Majesty and the effects and consequences thereof be reduced into practice upon them they should be brought to such a condition as to expect no less then an apparent and inevitable ruine after some time And that since the King of England challengeth not only the Channel but also the North Sea and a great part of the Ocean as the British Sea They should not be able to set sail out of their Ports any whither but by the Grace and Favour of the King of England To this I reply That the King of England by pursuing his own Rights doth them no wrong But the Dutch by entrenching thereupon do his Majesty apparent injury and violate all Divine and Humane Laws whereby Propriety is established and secured to particular Princes and persons and that community of all things by nature is by a Subsequent and intervenient Right limited and restrained And that this may be done according to the Law of Nations and the general Equity no Divine or Civilian can deny or disprove and there is as to this case no difference betwixt the Sea and Land There is not any inhability in the nature of the Sea as is granted by their Writers except as to the vast Ocean and that too in reference to its utmost and unknown extent not as to determinate parts of it and is evident from the several Kings and Republicks which have heretofore and do now engross the dominion of it There is not any Divine Precept against it no dictates of nature repugne thereunto for whatsoever is common by nature may be imrpopriated by Occupancy neither can there be a bâ—tter Title to such things then Occupancy Prescription and Custom And that his Majesty hath this Title entirely I have evinced and Mr. Selden before me Whereas They say that should any such right be acknowledged to reside in his Majesty they should not be able to Fish in the North-Sea or to drive on their necessary Commerce by Navigation This is no argument for their unjust actings any more then it would justifie upon land that one Prince or private person should usurp upon anothers Territories or Free-hold because it was most opportune for his Trading or requisite to his subsistence in a flourishing condition I do not read that this pretext was ever any cause of War betwixt England and the House of Burgundy The Turk Pope Emperour and King of Spain might urge the same reason against the Venetian Sovereignty in the Adriatick Sea there not being the least part of a passage for their adjacent Subjects which is not in respect of their pretended Sovereignty belonging to the Republick But these Princes understand the difference betwixt Right and Wrong whereas the Dutch comprehend nothing but what is advantageous and disadvantageous They detain Renneberg and other strong Towns belonging to the
A JUSTIFICATION OF THE Present War AGAINST THE United Netherlands WHEREIN The Declaration of His Majesty is Vindicated and the WAR proved to be Iust Honourable and Necessary The Dominion of the Sea Explained and His Majesties Rights thereunto Asserted The Obligations of the Dutch to England and Their Continual Ingratitude Illustrated with Sculptures In Answer to a Dutch Treatise Entituled Considerations upon the Present State of the United Netherlands By an English Man Cicero ad Atticum Lib. X. Ep. 7. Pompeij omne Consilium Themistocleum est Existimat enim qui Mare teneat eum necesse rerum potiri Lucius Florus Pudebat nobilem populam ablato mari raptis insulis dare tributa quae jubere consueverat LONDON Printed for Henry Hills and Iohn Starkey and are to be Sold at the Bell in St. Pauls Chuch-yard and the Mitre within Temple-Bar 1672. THE AUTHOUR UNTO THE READER SInce the Author of the Considerations is pleased to conceal his Name and suffer his Book to pass as the work of a private person it seems requisite that I do declare this ensuing Treatise to proceed from an Hand not less private if not more and this I am the more obliged to own lest by any mistake of mine through Haste Ignorance or Mis-information some prejudice might be created against the just and unquestionable Rights of his Majesty The Interests of Princes are not proper subjects for ordinary pens yet in this juncture of our Affairs in these times of universal danger I hope my attempt shall not be liable to mis-construction since it hath no other sourse and original than the service of my King and Native Country and I do profess that I have not to my best knowledge made use of any officious untruths nor in any Allegation or Asseveration imposed upon the credulous Reader nor have I asserted the less probable opinions at any time out of compliance with the present exigencies of State in opposition to those which are strengthned with greater Authority and Reason I have throughly convinced my self in the first place and therefore hope the Discourse may prove more satisfactory unto all others The infant Republick of the United Netherlands after that it had got some considerable strength by the assistance of England began to be sensible of the Advantages they drew from Navigation and how necessary it was for them not only to open the Commerce unto both Indies but to secure themselves of the Fishing in the British Seas the death of Queen Elizabeth who would otherwise have been jealous of their growing power and tender of her own Rights together with the peaceable disposition of King James seemed to make way for their ambitious designs and the Cabal of Holland whereof Grotius was one did publish an Anonymous Treatise called Mare liberum wherein the freedom of the Sea to navigate or fish in was maintained as a due right of mankind according to the Law of Nature and Nations which foundation they esteemed more suitable to their ends then if they should depend upon a revocable priviledge or tacit permission The Book was the less resented at that time because it was in appearance levelled against the Spanish Indies and the prohibition of Commerce there and then all Europe was willing to see the pride and power of Spain abated by any means Howsoever King James was angry at the pretended Liberty of Fishing and his Embassador Carleton complained thereof to the States but they never avowed the principles but owned the Rights of King James though in deed slighted them and usurped upon the Fishing in such manner as I have shewed in this Treatise That single Book hath occasioned a multitude of Discourses upon that Subject Mr. Selden defended the English dominion over the British Seas Others that of Venice and Genoa The Dutch Advocates undermining by their Writings all the Regalities of Princes as their Masters have done by their Actions After that the troubles of Scotland and England had disabled King Charles the First from attending unto the Dominion of the Sea according as He most generously purposed the Dutch thought that the English being weakned with the Civil Wars and distracted with Intestine Factions by reason of the alteration of the Government could not resist their ambition should they usurp the Universal Dominion of the Seas and to secure themselves therein they sent Van Tromp to destroy the English Navy without declaring any War but neither did that attempt nor the War ensuing thereupon prosper as they hoped they would But ever since that fierce War they have determined upon the ruining the English Navigation and not only to exclude the English from the East-India Trade but to expel them from and deprive them of the Dominion of the British Seas It is a received Aphorism amongst the Hollanders that the flourishing condition of England is a diminution of their glory Also that Trade and the Repute of strength are inseparably linked together and hereupon they have so many ways contributed to the embroiling of our Kingdoms and omitted nothing that might represent us as ridiculous and contemptible unto Foreign Princes After they had usurped the Fishery they began to assume a freedom to act all manner of Hostilities upon our Allies if at enmity with them not only upon our Seas but in our Ports and hereof there are many Instances besides the destruction of the Spanish Fleet in 1639. After this their pride increasing with their power they refused to strike Sail to our Ships of War now they will allow it to be but a Ceremony and Civility and dispute the paying thereof unless we come up to such terms as are insupportable Thus by degrees they have reduced this Nation to the present weakness and contempt nor can any concessions any indulgence satisfie their Arrogance and Covetousness They who covet all will not acquiesce in any grants that are not answerable to their desires how unjust or vast soever they be And their friendship is sooner purchased by a brisk opposition than complaisance If we look upon the number and quality of the injuries which we have received from the Dutch the Turks of Algiers and Tunis are less offensive and less perfidious If we consider the courses by which the Dutch attacque us the Algerines are the more supportable to an English spirit since they act by force and open piracy what the Hollanders do by finess and deceipt And since it is our unhappiness to have so ill neighbours that we must either fall by a lingring and inglorious death or hazard by War a more precipitate end I think hiâ— Majesty hath made that choice which is most conformable to the genius and temperament of his Subjects and instigated by his Honour Justice and Necessity put into the hands of the English an opportunity at least of perishing bravely But as we ought not in a righteous cause to distrust the mercy of God so upon so auspicious a beginning as the Lord of Hosts
hath favoured us with under the conduct of our Undaunted Admiral we may hope for a prosperous success over our treacherous and ungrateful Enemies It becomes the Nation now to express their generous resolution and courage whereby the first advantages may be timely and vigorously pursued It is true War is expensive yet 't is not to be esteemed so when the effects of peace will be more fatal and cost us more It is expensive yet in the beginnings of War even prodigality is wisdom and he that lays out most lays out least Small supplies may foment and continue a War but great ones put a speedy end thereunto Let us then shew our selves unanimous and resolute Let us add to our usual boldness all that fury which despair infuseth Our circumstances are such as admit of no after-game either we must be the Distressed Kingdom of England or they once more the Distressed States of Holland and 't will be more insupportable for us to fall into a condition we never yet understood than for them who return only to their primitive estate The Dutch presume not so much upon their own strength as upon our divisions animosities and poverty Let us undeceive them in these surmises let us convince them that the English have yet much to give as well as All to lose and that they can abandon all private emulations and jealousies where the Publick is so highly endangered and either totally extinguish them or lay them aside till they have a more fitting time to resume them If we can form our minds to such sentiments as these we may have in a short space what Peace we desire if we act by other Principles we can have no Peace but what pleaseth the insolent and enraged Hollander Errata Pag. 10. lin 31 for Soveraigners read Soveraigns p. 21. l. 25. blot out being now in p. 62. l. 36. for vénd r. read The second Cut is to be inserted pag. 40. Impartial and Seasonable REFLECTIONS Upon a late Book Entituled Considerations upon the Present State of the United Netherlands WHen I perused the Treatise Entituled Considerations upon the present State of the United Netherlands I could not but recal to minde that Raillery of Charles the Fifth who when He adjusted the usefulness of several European Languages said That the Dutch was fittest to be used unto an Horse Certainly the expressions they use against His Sacred Majesty the present King of Great Britain are so rude and barbarous the suggestions so palpably false that in a controversie betwixt private persons such a procedure were intolerable in any part of the Civil World How much more then ought we to resent it where the Dignity and Honor of our Prince upon whose Reputation abroad and at home not onely the National Renown and General Commerce but the Welfare and Being of each Particular Man is suspended is concerned I do not endeavor to serve the present juncture by this high insinuation of what importance it is that the Majesty of our Soveraign be upheld I do not act any thing of the Courtier herein 't is a document of the best Politicians and the experience of all Ages doth confirm it for a Truth It is no vain or empty design for a Prince to preserve that credit and renown which appertains unto His Quality 't is hereby that He shall ensure Himself of those that waver in their Friendship or Allegiance 't is hereby that He shall retain His Armies in Discipline and Courage 't is hereby that He shall continue in His other Subjects their due Reverence and Respect In fine The Reputation of a Prince is All in all And that being once lost the most powerful and prudent Remedies become ineffectual to the support of his Crown and tranquility of His Dominions Neither do I upbraid the Dutch with the violation of those Edicts whereby Christianity regulates Men so in their deporments As not to speak evil of Dignities not to Blaspheme the Gods or Magistrates being reviled not so much as to revile again Whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are of good report if there be any praise if there be any glory to think thereof No no I should injure Christendom to reckon the Vnited Netherlands a part thereof such are their practises that 't is a crime in them to profess that Religion and a great mistake in those that entitle them thereunto I know not whether I do not speak too mildly concerning those deluded persons since 't is a wilful error in them that imagine so the Dutch themselves have avowed it and those that managed their Trade in Iapan when the Christians there at the instigation of the Dutch were all by horrible tortures put to death and every Hous-keeper enjoyned to declare in writing That he neither was a Christian nor retained any Christians in his family Melchior à Santvoort and Vincentius Romeyn subscribed themselves that They were Hollanders Most impiously for lucre's sake declining that Profession of Christianity to which Christ and his Apostles oblige them If they were ashamed or afraid to acknowledge Christ then I know what our Saviour will do to them hereafter and if we be ashamed to own them now or positive in denying them to be Christians now we are justified by an infallible Authority I would willingly palliate the matter by casting the scandal upon a few particular persons who might be surprised with the imminent danger at that time But their reputation is not to be salved so for the Conditions upon which the Trade continues to be managed there with the knowledge and approbation of the States-General and of the Provincials of Holland are these They are at their first arrival faithfully to deliver up all the Books which they bring along with them to Japan not a Bible or Prayer-Book is reserved which are not to be restored till their departure again They are to refrain from all manner of outward Profession of Christianity in Word or Deed amongst the Japanners in so much that it is Death and Confiscation of their Ships and Goods if they do so much as verbally give God thanks for the Meat they eat or by any motion of their Hands or Eyes testifie any inclination thereunto Upon these terms the Emperor permitted them to trade thither the Conditions were sent into Holland to be approved of there it being added in the close of the Letter That if they did make any of the least show that they were Christians they should not obtain any favor at the hands of the Emperor And the Dutch have so exactly submitted to these Conditions and do so absolutely in word and deeds dissemble their Christianity that not onely the common people but the Rulers and Magistrates of Iapan do really believe that they are as perfect Heathens as themselves What would those Ancient Christians do to these Irreligious Hollanders What Sentiments would they entertain against these practises who proceeded so
Ministers as they do in England These Zealous Protestants have declared that 't was indifferent to them what Religion any Province or City were of so they would but Vnite with them The League at Vtrecht which is the foundation of their Vnion doth run thus and Grotius shall justifie all I say They say They have alwayes highly interessed themselves in the friendship of His Majesty And to preserve his friendship they made all those ignominious Pictures Medals and Monuments they refused him the Honour of the Flagge and informed His Majesty That the Dominion of the Sea is an Usurpation and that upon God Almighty to whom alone this State attributes it They say Their great interest consists in the peace and tranquility of Christendome Oh! happy interest of a Christian State I believe their interest now consists in the peace of Christendome because that war menaceth them which they would have turned upon England and I believe they did not swerve from their interest when they formerly sowed divisions betwixt the Swedes and Danes and other German Princes and of late endeavored to embroil all Europe in wars thereby to counterpoise France I might reflect upon their confining their interest to the peace of Christendome whereas they place it otherwise in the East-Indies embroiling those parts as much as they can in wars and destroying our Merchants upon all occasions But it is very observable that the real interest of these most amicable Dutch consists in Europe in doing all those things which may justly incense Princes to make war upon them and yet in cajolling them into a tame and dishonourable acquiescence Such passages as these I confesse did adde to my divertisement upon the reading but a different passion seised when I met with those insolent expressions with which they affront our Soveraigne who not onely by reason of his personal excellencies but by the right of his English Crown is ranked amongst the Reges superillustres Had His Majesty been of a lesser quality yet since his Ancestors have by their favor protection and vast expence of Men and Money raised the Dutch into a Republick ordinary Gratitude might have engaged them to civiler Language To give the Lye to any Man is reputed a just cause of quarrel and if we allow Princes but equal concerns for their Honor this alone authenticates the War They charge Him with Injustice Dissimulation and Piracy They call His Courtiers a company of Stupid Fellows and say His Majesty can as little adhere to Reason as with reasonable offers He will be satisfied They say That the War hath no other Prospect then the Limits of an unlimited Ambition endless Covetousness and a Spirit of Revenge not to be glutted That His Mind is misled and obnubilated with a desire of War the most accursed and unruly of all desires That His Declaration contains plain untruths malicious interpretations and gross impertinencies That no Precedents of Violated Faith out of any Chronicles can be produced which in this case can parallel the example of the said King These and many other such like Passages occur frequently in this Treatise I should not have presumed to repeat them but that I am confident they will be efficacious to animate All the Subjects of His Majesty to vindicate the Honor of their injur'd Prince especially when they shall understand how undeservedly He is aspersed by these ignoble ingrateful arrogant and perfidious Netherlanders Behold how unfortunate His Majesty is to contend with a mean and ungenerous Adversary How Civil and Prince-like was the King of Great Britain in His Declaration What was there that could exasperate besides the Truth of his Allegations Let any Man impartially consider the Motives whereupon His Majesty proceeds let him forget himself a little while that he is a Subject thereby to judge the better of the Actions of His Soveraign and I am assured he will concur with me in opinion That the present War with the Dutch is Honorable Iust and Necessary And consequently if His Majesties loving Subjects do value either their Allegiance to their King which is not to be doubted or the Honor and Prosperity of the Nation and of each particular Member thereof all being involved in this contest and depending upon the issue of it they will unanimously assist His Majesty in the present juncture as far as their Prayers Lives and Fortunes can advantage Him I acknowledge my self to have been of the number of those who by reason of their ignorance of private Negotiations and the Real transactions of State together with that Epidemical jealousie of Court-designs did believe that this War was needless and unseasonable That it was projected by some Courtiers and others who sought to advantage themselves by the Publick Calamities or by Pensions from the Crown of France that the Dutch were so humble and submissive that it was our obstinacy to refuse all satisfaction not any perversness and pride in them so as to deny us any I was jealous of the groweth of Popery and thought it to be the interest of this Kingdom not to weaken or destroy a Republick pretending to Protestancy and for the erection whereof so many of our Progenitors had hazarded and lost their lives I brought with me all those surmises and misapprehensions which any Netherlander or English Male-content could wish infused into me But when I came to a better intelligence concerning affairs when I had seriously inquired into the Transactions betwixt the Dutch and Vs how condescending His Majesty had been and with what insolence the Netherlanders had deported themselves when I found the reality of His Majesties pretensions and that the Declaration was so penned that the contents were capable of much higher aggravations but no way to be extenuated or invalidated Then did I begin detest the petulant humor of this age whereby every one is prone to examine the actions and censure the prudence of his Governors without understanding the prospect those elevated spirits have concerning such affairs or the grounds and circumstances by which they regulate their Councils and most commonly We not being able to determine of matters were every punctilio and intrigue represented unto us I thought the times happy when men employed themselves in other Discourses and practised obedience rather then disputes When they believed that prudent and solid doctrine of the Casuistical Divines That it was onely for the Counsellâ—rs of Kings to debate and examine the utility and prejudices the justice and injustice of Wars the other subjects not being to expect an ample account of all the Motives and Inducements by which their King is swayed nor to be so infatuated as to think they can debate or decide such matters without any better cognisance then what ariseth from a vulgar Brain a narrow prospect of things and popular Reports and Suggestions But to presume so well of their Superiors as to imagine they understand what is right or wrong honorable and dishonorable advantagious and
bee sold to the Inhabitants of the same kingdome quhuiâ— by his Majesties custumes bee not defrauded and his Hienesse Lieges not frustrate of the commodity appointed to them by God under the paine of confiscation and tynsell of the Ueschelles of them that cumes in the contrair thereof and escheating of all their movable guddes to our Soveraigne Lords use In this condition were the Rights of the Fishing until the Dutch did advance themselves to that height and puissance that they esteemed themselves able to infringe them and such was their Covetousness which prompts them that are infected therewith to value the smallest and most unjust Gains that they determined to do it In the year 1594. Iames VI. King of Scotland apprehending the growth of these Netherlanders and their influence upon the English Nation by reason of the multitudes of our Nobility and Gentry which resorted thither into the Armies and being desirous to fortifie by all possible means His right of succession to the Crown of England invited the States to be God-fathers to his Son Prince Henry together with the Kings of France and Denmark and Queen Elizabeth they sent a splendid Embassy Walravius van Brederode being principal and so richly presented the Royal Infant that they much endeared themselves to King Iames and no less exasperated Queen Elizabeth in that they should dare to rival her at the Baptisme of the Prince and also demean themselves with so much munificence or rather prodigality King Iames either out of interest to ascertain himself of their Friendship or being captivated by their Presents and Flatteries granted but not by any Deed that I know unto the Dutch the Priviledges which had been formerly granted to the Belgick Provinces upon Leagues betwixt the House of Burgundy and England in reference to the Fishing whereby according to Articles made with Philip of Burgundy and with Charles V. they were to Fish in the Brittish Seas without any impediment or the sueing for a special License It was by vertue of the same Treaties and Confederacies with the House of Burgundy that Q. Elizabeth did permit them the Fishing of our English Seas for that Queen did alwaies pretend and declare that by reason of sundry Alliances betwixt England and the House of Burgundy she did aid and support the Netherlands At first the Dutch either out of pure respect a rare quality in that sort of people or because their Busses were not so very numerous as in the subsequent times did Fish at a good distance from the Land and leaving convenient space for the Natives of Scotland to pursue their small employment in the Fishery there was no notice or at least no complaints against them upon that subject But when a series of prosperous successes gain'd by the English and Scotch valour had raised the Dutch to a great power at home and renown abroad and that their Ships became exceeding numerous and their Fleets potent and Queen Elizabeths death had advanced a more peaceable Prince to the English Crown They began to encroach upon the English and Scottish shores to disturb the Natives in their Fishing not leaving them so much Sea-room upon their Princes Coast as to take any Fish but such as were the gleanings of the Hollanders Busses who driving at Sea do break the skull or shole of Herrings and then they flie near the shore and through the sounds I find King Iames to have complained against their insolence and the encroachments of the Dutch Fishermen upon His Seas and to the prejudice of His Subjects But that Prince dealt most in Remonstrances an ineffectual course with Hollanders and equipped out no Ships to assert his rights on the whole Brittish Seas at last in 1609. He established Commissioners for to give Licenses at London to such as would Fish on the English Coasts at Edinburgh for such as would Fish in the more Northern Sea and by Proclamation interdicted all un-licensed Fishers The Licenses were to be demanded yearly for so many Ships and the Tonnage thereof as should intend to Fish for that whole year or any part thereof upon any of the Brittish Seas and the Offenders against the King's Proclamation to undergo due chastisement But this Edict of his Majesty proved but a Brutum fulmen an insignificant noyse and thunder the Dutch contemned it and grew more pervicacious in opposition to His Majesties Officers which came to disturb their un-licensed Fishing The States did mingle their concerns with those of the Fishermen and sent Wafters or Men of War to protect their Busses against the Spanish Pirates and to awe the Kings Officers They refused to pay either the Assize-Herring or to take Licenses and in 1616. M. Brown being ordered by the Duke of Lennox who as Admiral of Scotland was commanded to vindicate the Kings's Rights in those Seas to insist upon the Assize-Herring which was the King's Old and indubitable Right they did contest about it and after much dispute paid it according to the Laws and Customes of Scotland But the next year being the year in which King Iames did gratifie that People with the Surrendry of the cautionary Towns the Busses obstinately refused it saying They were commanded by the States of Holland to pay it no more Mr. Browne wanting sufficient force to chastise their Wafters did only take witness of this their refusal whereupon the insolent Dutch seised the King of England's Officer and carried him into the Netherlands where He was detained a while The King repeats His Complaints at the Hague and to their Embassadors here at London the Dutch amused him with Treaties and sent Commissioners to London not to submit or adjust differences but to heighten them They pleaded A right of their own by immemorial prescription and confirmed it with divers Treaties viz. One of the year 1459 betwixt Philip of Burgundy and Henry the Seventh Another betwixt Charles V. as Duke of Burgundy and Henry the Eighth by both which it had been agreed that the Subjects of the Belgick Provinces should Fish in the English Seas without impediment and without License But what influence have those Treaties upon the Kingdom of Scotland Or how do they extend unto the Assize-herring For those Capitulations do not leave them at liberty as to this point any more than they absolve them from paying Customes To observe the Laws and pay the dues of a Country are no illegitimate impediments of Fishing To proceed Suppose we that the Subjects of the House of Burgundy had any such priviledges granted them by the said Treaties what doth this concern the Rebels of the House of Burgundy What doth it concern the States General of the United Netherlands who by their change of Government and rupture from the majority of the Provinces are no longer the same people They have nothing to pretend unto but the Connivance of Q. Elizabeth and the indulgence of K. Iames during the time of their distress nor doth the whole Age of their