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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42117	A vindication of a national-fishery wherein is asserted that the glory, wealth, strength, safety, and happiness of this kingdom, with the flourishing of trade, and growth of navigation, as also the employing of the poor of this realm, doth depend (under God) upon a national-fishery : and all the general, vulgar, (tho' erroneous) objections against encouraging the fishery of England, answer'd, and confuted : to which is added the sovreignty of British-seas.	Gander, Joseph.; Gander, Joseph. Sovereignty of the British-seas asserted.	1699 (1699)	Wing G196; ESTC R227035	28,639	110

A VINDICATION OF A National-Fishery Wherein is Asserted That the GLORY WEALTH STRENGTH SAFETY and HAPPINESS of this KINGDOM with the Flourishing of TRADE and Growth of NAVIGATION As also the Employing the POOR of this Realm doth depend under GOD upon A National-Fishery And all the General Vulgar tho' Erroneous Objections against Encouraging the Fishery of England Answer'd and Confuted To which is added The SOVEREIGNTY of the BRITISH-SEAS England's a Perfect World 'T has Indies two Correct your Maps The Fishery is Peru. LONDON Printed for F. Coggan in the Inner Temple Lane MDCXCIX To the most Noble AND Mighty PRINCE THOMAS Duke of LEEDS MARQVESS of CARMARTHEN EARL of DANBY Viscount Latimore Baron Osbourne of Kiveton Lord President of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy-Council Lord Lieutenant of York-shire Governour of Kingston upon Hull AND KNIGHT OF THE Most Noble Order OF THE GARTER May it please Your Grace THE Great Applause you have so deservedly meritted hath encouraged me to Dedicate this small Epitomy to Your Honour and not knowing any Man that can with more lively Colours represent this Important Affair to the Wisdom of the Nation I lay it at Your Lordship's Feet as an UNDERTAKING which if Your Grace be pleased to Espouse for the Good of the Kingdom you will thereby add another Trophy to your former Atchievements and the Glory of the Action will be Recorded to all Posterity For upon a National-Fishery under God doth depend the Safety Honour and Happiness of this Kingdom the Flourishing of Trade and the Supporting of Credit as in the Sequel of my Discourse I hope I have made appear My Lord this Age gives us too many Examples of Discouraging Ingenuity many Excellent Qualities lying often hid under humble Looks and mean Habits which soon are discountenanc'd and suppress'd by Insulting Greatness and Popular Opulancy But You have shewed by the constant Example of Your Actions that You have Agreed with Seneca in his Renowned Maxim that sola virtus vera Nobilitas When so many others are blinded with their absurd Vanity and airy Greatness But you have rendred your self a true Patriot to your Country and therefore I most humbly implore this Book may be sheltred under the wings of Your Graces Protection who am Right Honourable and Renowned Sir Your Graces most humble And most obedient Servant Joseph Gander TO THE BARONS OF THE Cinque-Ports And the Members of Parliament for the Coasting-Towns and Burroughs of the Kingdom of England Honoured and Worthy Senators THE Cinque-Ports of this Kingdom having signalized their Loyalty and Valour by Sea in several Expeditions for the Glory of the King 's Honour of their Country and Safety of the Realm our preceding Kings confirmed several Dignities on them and amongst the rest made their Members of Parliament Barons as an Encouragement to Navigation and their Prowess And gave them the Honour of Supporting the Canopy over his Head at his Coronation as is supposed by way of Similitude That whereas they had Defended Supported and Maintained his Honour by their Courage against his Enemies by Sea he gave them the Honour to support the Canopy over his Head as a Mark of Honour to them and his Acknowledgement of the Greatness of their Service And many Coasting-Towns and Burroughs have from time to time been endowed with great Priviledges some of them remaining to this day as a mark of Honour by several Kings to Encourage Navigation from whence originally we have beyond all Dispute arrived to the Knowledge we are now attained to in Marine Affairs But now most of those Towns and Burroughs that formerly flourished by their Fishing are reduced to miserable Poverty and Thousands of Families ruined for want of the Fishery And the Gentlemen who have Estates in those Places or near the Coast are exceedingly impair'd Of which Calamity King Henry the 8th had undoubtedly a fore-sight of as appears by the Sratute of 33 of his Reign 't is there thus inserted because the English Fishermen dwelling on the Sea Coasts did leave off their Trade of Fishing in our Seas and went the half Seas over and thereupon they did buy Fish of Pickards Flemmings Normands and Zealanders by reason whereof many Incommodities did grow to the Realm viz. The Decay of the Wealth and Prosperity as well of the Cinque-Ports and Members of the same as of other Coasting-Towns by the Sea-side which were builded and inhabited by great Multitudes of People by reason of Using and Exercising the Feat and Craft of Fishing Secondly The decay of a great Number of Boats and Ships And thirdly the decay of many good Mariners both able in Body by their Diligence Labour and continual Exercise of Fishing and Expert by reason thereof in the Knowledge of our Sea-Coasts as well within the Realm as in other Parts beyond the Seas It was therefore Enacted That no manner of Persons English Denizons or Strangers at that time or any time after should buy any Fish of any Foreigners in the said Ports of Flanders zealand Pickardy or France or upon the Sea between Shoar and Shoar This shews what great Care our former Kings and Parliaments have taken to Preserve the Nursery for Sea-faring Men for the Defence of the Kingdom and for the Preservation of our Coasting Towns c. And have therefore thought fit in all Humility to Dedicate this Book to you as before-mentioned If my sincere Intentions to serve the Kingdom have its desired Success I have my wish who am Your most humble And most obedient Servant J. Gander A VINDICATION OF A National Fishery c. BY the Benign Goodness of God and by the Wise Conduct of our King and the Admirable Wisdom and prudent Care of our Sage Senatours at Home England after a tedious and Chargeable War hath obtained an Honourable Peace And the Sword being now Sheathed His Majesty in his most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament hath declared His Royal Inclination for the Preservation of the Saftety Honour and Happiness of the Kingdom c. So that it is not to be doubted but that the Genius of our Government will make it the Chiefest of their Care to Settle the Affairs of Trade upon the most firmest Foundation for the publick Good of our Nation For the most destructive Consumption that can happen to a Kingdom and the only Nurse of Idleness and Beggary is Want of Trade whereas on the contrary Increase of Trade encourageth Labour Art and Invention and enricheth the Common-Weal And beyond all Dispute the Fishery of England is the Main Trade of this Kingdom rightly Managed The good Patriots of our Country are to weigh the Matter And it is so comprehensive a Blessing that were those Advantages but Industriously improved that Providence hath bestowed on this Island we might consequently be the most Flourishing People in the whole World both by Sea and Land And seeing by the Decay of the Fishing Trade we have lain open to France and Holland by neglecting our own

it may be a Means to prevent Eating so much Flesh as we do now in England and so consequently be very prejudicial to our Landed-Men and bring the Rents of the Farms lower But this with Submission is a very Erroneous Notion For Example The Fish that may or should be Caught in the British Seas is not intended to be eat in England and perhaps not one Huudredth part of it but to be sold at foreign Markets as in due time shall be observed And to make it appear that if a National Fishery be encouraged it will cause a greater Consumption of Flesh than is now in England and consequently rather encrease than diminish the Rents of our Landed Gentlemen and in few Years might double the Rents as the Fishery flourished and our Trade encrease both at home and abroad I Humbly Offer these Reasons First Our Coasting Towns Bouroughs and Villages Adjacent that formerly had their dependance on the Fishery are reduced to so great Poverty for want of being Employ'd that they are now constrain'd to feed upon Coarse-Bread Butter Cheese Milk Turnips Carrots or on such Roots and Herbs as they can get Whereas if they were Employed in this Fishery they would then have Money to go to Market and buy Flesh as their Ancestors did before them for themselves and Families And I suppose there is not any Man but what is sensible that the English naturally loving Flesh the meanest Man or Woman in the Kingdom would have Roast and boyl'd Meat for themselves and Families as well as their Landlords if their Purses would bear it So that then there would be a greater Consumption of Flesh than there is now not only in our Coasting Towns c. but in all probability through the whole Kingdom when once we flourish in this Fishery This Great and Glorious Undertaking will not only enrich us but Employ thousands of People that are now so miserable Poor that they gradually Starve for want of having this Encouragement And what is worthy your particular Notice it would prevent abundance of Sea-faring Men from going into Foreign Service in times of Peace for want of Employment at home many of them leaving their Wives and Children to be maintained by the Parish which undoubtedly is a great Grievance to the respective Parishes and a Burthen to the Inhabitants And this Fishery would not only preserve thousands of Families from Starving but then they would wear better Cloaths and promote our Woollen Manufactury For 't is only Poverty makes People wear Rags and being disheartned it oftentimes prevents their Devotion And it will also prevent a great many Inconveniencies that now attend this Nation for want of being Employed For Example There would not be so many Vagrants and Vagabonds nor so many People that take illegal Courses as Thieving Robbing c. to the Ruine of themselves and others Nor so many Export our Corn nor carry our Wooll unwrought out of the Kingdom if they were employed another way This Fishery would also employ abundance at Land so well as by Sea as Clerks Accomptants Ware-house and Store-keepers and the like and great Numbers of Artists and Tradesmen So that then there would be Provision for a great many Men that go Crawling about the Streets like so many Snails for want of Employ that have been well Educated Besides 't is an Universal Maxim That Idleness is the Root of all Evil and a great many People fear Starving more than Hanging as is seen almost every Session or Assizes For let the Judge enquire of the Criminals what induced them to take the lewd Courses they are Indicted or Arraigned for the General Reply is Want Further it is supposed by all that have travelled in the Low-Countries that where one Male-factor is Executed in Holland or in France there is above One hundred in England and the only Reason that can be given why there are so few in Holland and France and so many executed in England is That they take care to employ their Subjects and those that are uncapable by Age or any other Infirmity for Labour are provided for by allowing them a Competent Maintenance to live on but 't is the Fishery of England that employs and enricheth them And the Hollanders themselves will boast that God blesseth them in their Tradring and defends them from their Enemies for being so good to the Poor And it is a Confirmation of the Sacred Writ That he that Considereth the Indigent the Lord will remember him in the day of his Tribulation And what a great Glory will it be to the King and Kingdom to preserve so many thousand Subjects that are now involv'd in such miserable Necessity that in all probability they must perish if this Method be not speedily taken And since His Majesty has been Instrumental in Delivering these Kingdoms from Slavery and Popery c. 't is to be supposed that he will also make it his Chiefest Care to preserve his Subjects from Destruction that have so Bravely Ventur'd their Lives both by Sea and Land and have paid their Money with so much Chearfulness to carry on the War And have so long languished under their Afflictions And He having Maugred all Opposition both at Home and Abroad it now remains that he attacks Himself that His Goodness and Greatness may vye with each other by enquiring what is to be done to retrieve them from their withering Calamity And 't is believed by all well-wishers to the Welfare of these Kingdoms that His Majesty will Sign all those Acts that shall be for His Glory the Senatours Honour and the preserving so well as enriching of his Subjects When he shall be Advised to it by his Parliament in whom he has so great Confidence as he hath often declared for the Good of his People in His most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament which are too tedious here to insert And having made the proud Lillies of France stoop to him and Recovered the Principality of Orange he will now Assume his Trident. And to Emulate his Royal Predecessor William the I. Conquerour of England who after being possessed of the Kingdom took a View of it in a Royal Progress and then did see there was an incumbent Necessity to defend this Realm by Shipping altho' he set fire of his own Fleet at his Landing to let his Men know his Intentions Aut Caesar aut Nullus Whereupon he demolished several Villages in Hampshire and there planted a large Forrest of Oaks which to this day is call'd New Forrest it being above two and twenty Miles in length and eleven Miles over This shews what Care our Ancestors from time to time have taken to secure this Island by Navigation and for providing Ships of Force as well as for Commerce the one to Enrich the other to defend as well our Trading by Sea as the Island from Invasion For there is no Dominion that can expect to flourish in Trade or

that the French and Hollanders had never attained to that Force by Sea they are now arrived to if it had not been Encouraged by this Neglect of ours which in all Probability may prove the giving the Sword out of our own Power and to the last Degree prove Fatal to the English Nation if not speedily prevented And since God and Nature hath Offered so great a Treasure and lays it at our own Doors should we not be exceedingly to Blame if we do not accept of such a Wonderful Blessing which no People in the World but our selves can boast of to enjoy in so Bountiful a manner as this is Bestowed on us The Right Method to be taken to Retrieve and Secure our Priviledges ought to be the Great and Speedy Care of the best Patriot of our Country I might give here many Reasons for defending the Right of the Fishery to our own Subjects as upon the Reason of Justice Prudence and Interest and the Right of our Sovereignty of the British Seas admits of no Dispute Some Men may say that it is not a proper time to insist upon or Dispute the Sovereignty of the British Seas For these Reasons First the King is a Hollander Born Secondly that He hath an Estate and Revenues in Holland Thirdly if the States of Holland had not Assisted his Majesty with their Navy and Army in his Expedition against King James he would not have Succeeded in his Design Fourthly That the States of Holland may insist that if they had not Assisted England in the Distress they were involved in King James's Reign they had not been Delivered from Tyranny and Popery c. In Answer to these Objections I Humbly Offer these Considerations As to the First It is true the King was Born in Holland and by the Mothers side English but now His Majesty is Espoused to England by his Coronation Oath and therefore according to the Sacred Writ will no doubt cleave unto his Wife And let some Mens mistakes be what they will He must undoubtedly have a Greater Esteem for the English and for England that hath Crowned him with the Imperial Diadem of these Kingdoms and Dominions than for the Hollanders if once they should oppose the Sovereignty of the British Seas which is now his Right as hath been acknowledged by Hugo Grotius upon the Innaugaration of King James the First of England He rendreth this Magnificent Character of him Tria Sceptra Profundi in Magne Cojere Ducem which is that the Rights of English Scottish and Irish Seas are united under one Scepter neither is he Satisfied with this bare Profession but he goes on Sume animos à Rege tuo Quis det Jura Mari which is Take Courage from the King who giveth Laws to the Sea And in the same Book in contemplation of so great a Power he Concludeeth Finis Hic est qui Fine caret c. that is This is an End beyond an End a Bound that knoweth no Bound a Bound which even the Wind and the Waves must submit unto This is the Acknowledgment of Hugo Grotius himself that before he had disowned the Sovereignty of the British Seas in his Mare Liberum As to the Second Objection The King is not unsensible that his Revenues in England doth far exceed those of Holland and the only way to Secure his Interest there must be by dint of Sword for without that he had never Regained the Principality of Orange And it cannot be supposed that his Majesty should value these Kingdoms and Dominons at so slender a Rate as to lie open to a Foreign Enemy for want of Encouraging a National-Fishery which will be for his Glory the Honour of the Kingdom and the Publick Good in General when he is convinced it is to be done and thereby Secures the Interest and safety of his Dominions both at Home and Abroad As to the Third Objection 'T is allowed the States of Holland did Assist His Majesty with their Navy and Army and in Answer to this the King knows it may be proved from undeniable Record That if Queen Elizabeth of Blessed Memory had not Assisted the States both by Sea and Land when they First Revolted from the King of Spain they would never been freed from the Spanish Yoke nor a free State And further for Her Majestie 's Assistance Offer'd Her the Sovereignty of the Netherlands in Consiederation of Her Royal Bounty and Goodness to them after she had sent Threescore thousand pounds upon on the Account of Sir Thomas Gresham in Anno one Thousand five Hundred Seventy and two so that it is supposed that not only the King but all Christendom knows that the Hollanders owe their Ab-Origine and the Greatness they are now attained to from England So this is but one Service done for another As to the Fourth Objection Beyond all Dispute the King and Kingdom hath taken Care to Pay the Hollanders all the Charges they were at for the Navy and Army But it cannot be supposed that they would quit their Pretensions to the Sovereignty of the British Seas which is the Main Pillar of the Nation As in the Preamble of an Act of Parliament made in the 14. year of the Reign of King Charles the Second it is thus inserted That the Wealth Honour and Safety of this Realm as well for the Maintainance of Trade and Encouragement of Navigation as in many other Respects doth in a High Degree depend on the Fishery And should God Almighty out of his Infinite Mercy and Goodness Inspire the King and Senatours to Revive and Promote this National-Fishery It would be such a Comfort in Danger to this Nation as the Honey Sampson found in the Lyons Jaws And not onely the Coasting Towns Burroughs and adjacent villages be Enriched thereby but the King and Kingdom in General would find the Sweetness of it For did we but Secure the Sovereignty of the British Seas it would not only make the whole World stand in awe of us but Court us to buy our Fish For without it is Impossible the East and Northern Countries should subsist and in many other Places Herrings are every days Meat Winter and Summer as well to draw on drink as to satisfie Hunger and in many Places the Greatest part of the year they are Scarce to be had for soon after Michaelmas the Sound is Frozen so that no Herrings can be Transported thither And France Spain Italy and the Rest of the Catholick Countries could not keep Lent without our Fish which next to their own Salvation they Tender most Dear in Obedience to the Command of the Church of Rome 'T is Observable that the Hollanders make it their Business to infect the People of England that we cannot make the Advantage of the Fishery as they do and therefore it will be convenient to remove all the Vulgar Objections Some will have it that we want Men and others that our Men will never take to it As to the First

I Answer That we have Men Enough but they are Idle and live upon the Publick without making any Return of their Labour but let these People be Employ'd in the Fishery and they Protected by an Act of Parliament we shall soon have enough and to spare and it is a Great Happiness to this Kingdom that we can Employ our Sea-faring Men in times of Peace and 't is so great a Blessing that no Nation in the World has the like Opportunity of Employing and enriching themselves The Second Exception or Objection is That the Genius of this Nation will never endure the Hardships of this Employment To which I Answer That the English do run greater Hazards and suffer greater Hardships in their long tedious and unhealthy Voyages as to the East and the West-Indies and the Turkey Voyages where many Men are lost by reason of the Heat of the Climate want of Provisions and Water which in the Fishery there is none of these Inconveniences to attend them they being so often in and out of Port and as to Labour the working of a Mine is far beyond that of Fishing where the Men sometimes Work up to the Middle in Water But to come nearer to the Point the English is so far from having an Aversion against Fishing that they apply themselves to it for Example after Harvest is in and the Herring-Season comes on the Country Fellows and Boys do go to the Coasting Towns to be Hired into the Fishery and do Generally take such a liking to it that after 2 or 3 Voyages they very rarely return to their Rural Employment but take to the Sea altogether And further I cannot imagine what Hardships the Hollanders can undergo in the Fishing more than the English are willing to do this is another Objection But this beyond all dispute is a very Erroneous Notion for the Herring Fishing in the English Seas begins in June and goes out in November and that for the first four Months it is the best time for Profit Pleasure and Fair-Weather for we seldom look out after the Herring Fishing till September and so continue to the end of November which is the most Tempestuous Season in the Whole Annual and then in January we fit out for the North Seas and spend the remaining part of Winter in all Extremities of Cold and Hardship This is enough to Satisfie that we are able to undergo as much Hardships as the Hollanders But however I 'le strain this point a little further Suppose that the Winter Fishing would be too Hard for us what Excuse can we have for not makeing our Improvements on the Summer Fishing which is more advantageous abundantly Another Objection is That the Hollanders can fare Harder than the English in their course feeding and Great Stress is laid upon this and that an English Man will never be able to live on so sparing a Diet as they do Now if it were so and that an English Diet could not be had and that a Dutch Diet would not serve us but that is not our Condition for he that cannot brook with the one may have the other And I am induced to believe that Pork Pease and Beef are much better and more Strengthening than Roots and Cabbage for the Hollanders Victualling is the same with ours for Beer Biscuite Butter Cheese all which we can provide our selves with much Cheaper than they And to make Good the Defect of their Ordinary Provisions they drink a great deal more Brandy than the English do so then to take one thing with another we Victual with Good Provisions as Cheap or Cheaper than they do But besides the very suggestion of leaving a Good Diet to go to a bad is a very Great Error for the Countrey Men that enter themselves on board the Fishery fare far better at Sea than they did at Land for besides their General Victualling which they carry with them to Sea they feed upon the Fish they Catch which for Variety being Fresh taken is a Treat to what a Person of Quality has at his Table a Shoar and of pitiful weak Men at Land in a Voyage or two become Stout Hearty and Healthful Men. There are two more Wolves in the way First that our Herrings are in no esteem abroad because we have not the right way to cure them Secondly we shall never make nothing on 't for the Hollanders will under-sell us for Freighting Cheaper and consequently beat us out of the Trade In answer to which First there are two ways of curing the Herrings the one at Sea where they are Gipp'd immediately upon their taking and Barrell'd the other at Land where they are Gipp'd and Pack'd some days after they are taken These we call Shoar-made-Herrings and we know very well that one Barrel of the other for Goodness is worth one Hundred of these and that they will never take their Pickle kindly unless their Throats be Cut as soon as they are Caught so that it is a great Error to take a Shoar-made-Herring for a Tryal of Skill in curing But for those that are made at Sea they are made as Good and as much in Esteem abroad as any of the Hollanders Herrings and they have been frequently Sold in the East-Country for four pounds a Barrel and I could wish we were no more to blame for not taking them than curing them But admit we did not know how to Cure them I hope 't is not impossible for the English to learn Secondly the other Notion is That the Hollanders will beat us off of our Trade this is as Erroneous as the rest and of no force at all against the Fishery or it is much more Force against the Merchant and the Newcastle Trade for this lies under our Noses and more in our conveniency than any Body 's else And to Neglect our Fishing upon this Consideration is to Quit all Navigation and leave our selves to the Mercy of the Hollanders or to be made a Prey to any that will attack us And then to fear we shall want Vent is to imagine that the People will leave off Eating and a Great part of the Tradeing World is yet unserv'd with Fish and it never could be made appear that our Herrings lay upon our Hands for want of a Market And since all these Objections are sufficiently answer'd there is nothing wanting but assuming our Antient Right and taking Possession of the Fishery And notwithstanding it is so apparently made appear that this National Fishery will redound so much to the Glory of the King Honour of our Senatours Assembled in Parliament and Welfare of the Kingdom in General We will suppose for Argument sake 't is all but Wast-Paper But here is the Question to be put to the King and Kingdom in General if the growing Greatness of the French and Hollanders has so much Increased within this thirty or forty years last past and still continue in the increasing of Sea-faring Men Mariners and their Naval Force

what will become of England in Ten or twenty years when in all probability they may be so Potent unless a speedy Check is put to their Carrier that we shall not be able to oppose them And 't is an Universal Maxim that the Forces of Potentates at Sea Sont des Marques de Grandeur d'Estat saith a French Author Whosoever Commands the Sea Commands the Trade of the World He that Commands the Trade Commands the Wealth of the World and consequently the World it self Again as he that is Master of a Field is said to be Master of every Town when it shall please him so he that is Master of the Sea may in some sort be said to be Master of every Countrey at least of such as are bordering on the Sea For he is at liberty to begin and end War where when and upon what Terms he pleaseth and extend his Conquests even to the Antipodes And England being encompassed with the Sea as aforesaid and abounding in Commodious and Excellent Havens Bayes and Ports it excels for Safety and Security which is no small Praise all the Neighbouring Countries in Europe if not all in the World and needs not fear any Neighbouring Nation but only that which grows Potent in Shipping for they onely can deprive us of our Main Security And if an Island can make us as the Continent And if this Nation is once over power'd at Sea we must expect to be the most miserable People in the Vniverse having for so many Generations last past Lorded it over the whole World by Sea that the very Name of the English struck a Terror into all those that durst oppose them When William the First subdued the Realm Conquerour of England that was an easy Fall it proving only prejudicial to some particular Families And he Residing in the Kingdom took all the care imaginable to preserve this Nation as already has been said by his Planting of a New-Forrest with Oaks to his perpetual Glory But if once the Naval Power of England be overcome by the French or Hollanders According to all Human Probability it must prove a Fatal overthrow so far as they can reach with Fire and Sword being Spurr'd on by Ambition and Avarice Revenge and Interest and then we should find the English saying to be too True That the French and Hollanders are like Fire and Water Good Servants but bad Masters And it is most certain that there is no other way to Maintain the Glory and Grandeur of this Kingdom but by Raising a National-Fishery which rightly understood is the Primum Mobile of the Nation 't is the only Palladium of this Realm without which 't is impossible to preserve or revive the former Glory of our Ancestors and Secure the Sovereignty of the British Seas and enrich the Kingdom by Navigation THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE British-Seas ASSERTED ENgland hath claimed a Prerogative of the British Seas time out of Mind and amongst our former and Ancient Kings King Edgar was very Potent who possessing an Absolute Dominion of the Seas Sailed Round about it every Year and secured it with a constant Guard as it is Recorded and what Dominion King Edgar had as absolute Lord of the Sea appears in these Words I Edgar King of England and of all the Islands and of the Ocean lying round about Britain and of all the Nations that are included within the Circuit thereof Supream Lord and Governour do render Thanks to Almighty God my King who hath enlarged my Empire and Exalted it above the Royal Estate of my Progenitors who altho they arrived to the Monarchy of all England ever since Athelstan yet the Divine Goodness hath favoured me to subdue all the Kings of the Islands in the Ocean with their most Stout and Mighty Kings even as far as Norway and the Greatest Part of Ireland together with their most Famous City of Dublin So far Edgar And after him King Conutus left a Testimony of his Sovereignty over the Sea In this Expression Thou O Sea art mine c. And from the Testimony of the Saxons and the Danes we shall descend to the Government of the Normans whereby many Notable and Clear Proofs we shall find as may be gathered out of that Breviary of England called Dooms-Day Rot. Par. 48 Hen. 3. 22. Edw. 1. 2. Rich. 2. The Tribute called Danegelt was paid in the time of the English Saxons which amounted to four Shillings upon every Hide of Land for the Defending the Dominion by Sea Roger Hoverden asserteth it was paid until the Reign of King Stephen and in the Parliament Records of King Richard the Second it is Observable that a Custom was Imposed upon every thing that passed thro' the Northern Admiralty that is from the Thames along the Eastern-Shoar of England towards the North-East for the Maintaining a Guard for the Seas And this was not imposed only upon the English but also upon all the Ships of Foreigners paying at the Rate of Six pence a Tun that passed by such Ships only excepted that brought Merchandize out of Flanders to London Rot. Par. 2 Rich. 2. part 2. Act 38. Seld. Mare Clausum page 334. Rot. Fran. 5. Hen. 4. Rot. Fran. 38. Hen. 6. Rot. Par. 23 Edw. And it appeareth by Publick Records containing divers main points touching which the Judges of the Land were to be consulted for the Good of the Common Wealth That the Kings Sea Dominion which they called the Antient Superiority of the Sea was a Matter beyond all Contradiction amongst all Lawyers of that Age and asserted by the Determinations and Customs of the Law of the Land and by Express Words of the Writs and Forms of the Actions themselves And this Truth was not only comfirmed by the Laws but by our Medals There hath been a Piece of Gold very often Coyned by our Kings called a Rose Noble which was Stamped on the one Side of it a Ship Floating in the Sea and a King Armed with a Sword and a Shield Sitting in the Ship it self as in a Throne to set forth the Representation of the English King by Sea The first Author hereof was Edward the Third when he Guarded his own Seas with a Potent Navy consisting of Eleven Hundred Ships at which time as at others he Marched Victoriously thro' France But of all that has been said there can hardly be alledged a more convincing Argument to prove the Truth of all that hitherto hath been spoken than the acknowledgment of the Sea Dominion of the Kings of England When the Agreement was made by Edward the first of England and Phillip the Fair of France Reyner Grimhald was then Admiral of the French Navy Intercepted and spoyled on the English Seas The Goods of many Merchants that were Sailing to Flanders as well English as others and was not contented with the depredation of their Goods but he Imprisoned their Persons and delivered them up to the Officers of the King of France And