of Elizabeth, by being leagued with England in the war with Spain. But when James I. ascended the throne, negotiations for peace were entered into, and in 1604, a treaty of peace, on the part of England, was signed in London. The war being to a certain extent popular, this treaty of peace gave some little dissatisfaction at home; but it was still more unpalatable to the Dutch. A lucrative branch of their trade was destroyed thereby, and the losers are described as having become quite exasperated at this act of James. It must have been considered a novelty to find one country thus questioning the proceedings of another; yet so it was that the Dutch from thenceforth became extremely disposed to measure their strength upon the ocean with England. Powerful enough to contest with the Spaniards, Holland continued the war single-handed, and, at the same time, assumed an offensive kind of equality with the ships of England. James resented this disposition to quarrel, and, in order to maintain that dignity upon the ocean to which his royal predecessors had asserted a right, he gave directions for a fleet to be fitted out, and the command given to Sir William Monson. This fleet put to sea; "but," says Campbell, "he (Sir William Monson) found it a very difficult matter to execute his commission. The Dutch, whenever he conferred with any of their "chief officers, gave him fine language and fair promises; but they minded them very little, taking our ships upon

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every frivolous pretence, and treating those they found on board with great severity, till such time as it appeared "the Admiral would not have such usage, and began to

make reprisals, threatening to hang as pirates people who "showed themselves very little better in their actions. "There were also high contests about the flag, which

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began through some accidental civilities shown to the "Hollanders in the late reign, when they sailed under the "command of English admirals upon joint expeditions,

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"and were on that account treated as if they had been Her Majesty's own subjects; which favours they now pretended to claim as prerogatives due to them in quality "of an independent state." Another subject of controversy was the right of fishing upon the English coast, but which was apparently settled to the satisfaction of all parties in 1608.

It was with reference to the disputes at this period respecting the honour of the flag, the right of fishing, and the Spanish claim to the sovereignty of the Indian Seas, that Hugo Grotius wrote his Latin treatise, entitled, "Mare Libe

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rum; seu de Jure quod Batavis competit ad Indica Com"mercia." This book was printed in 1609; and admirably served to encourage the Dutch in their rivalry with England, so much so, that, in 1618, the question of a right to the fishery on the English coast was revived. It is shrewdly surmised that a well-timed bribe in an influential quarter did more towards putting the question to sleep than the correspondence to which it gave rise. Shortly after Charles I. came to the throne, the country became involved in a war, perhaps the most inglorious of any in which England was ever engaged; and the French and Dutch presumed upon our reverses, and, so to speak, imbecility. Hugo Grotius's book was reprinted, and the French egged on the Dutch to dispute the point vi et armis.

In 1635 the apprehensions of Charles were excited by the league entered into between France and Holland, with the ultimate object of declaring war against Spain, and parcelling out the Spanish Netherlands between the two countries. Aroused to a sense of the danger in which England would be placed, should France and Holland be able to effect their object, Charles determined to be passive no longer. Unhappily, he had recourse to an expedient for equipping a fleet-that of levying ship money without the

concurrence of Parliament-which led to his death upon the scaffold; but he did fit out a fleet, in order to maintain his claim to the sovereignty upon the ocean, declaring that to be the only guarantee for the independence of the nation. Mr. Secretary Coke, by the King's orders, addressed a spirited letter, dated April 16, 1635, to Sir William Boswell, ambassador at the Hague, containing the following memorable passage:

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First, we hold it a principle not to be denied, that the King of Great Britain is a monarch at land and sea to "the full extent of his dominions; and that it concerneth "him as much to maintain his sovereignty in all the "British seas as within his three kingdoms; because with

out that, these cannot be kept safe, nor he maintain his "honour and due respect with other nations. But commanding the seas he may cause his neighbours, and all countries, to stand upon their guard whensoever he 66 thinks fit. And this cannot be doubted, that whosoever "will encroach upon him by sea, will do it by land also, "when they see their time. To such presumption MARE "LIBERUM gave the first warning piece, which must be answered by a defence of MARE CLAUSUM*, not so much by discourses as by the louder language of a powerful navy, to be better understood when overstrained patience "seeth no hope of preserving her right by other means.”

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In 1636 the King sent a fleet of sixty sail to sea, under the command of the Earl of Northumberland. The fleet sailed first to the Downs, and from thence to the northward, where the Dutch fishing vessels-termed busses-were as usual busily engaged. The Admiral ordered them to desist, but his orders being disregarded, he fired upon and dis

* The title of an elaborate Latin treatise written by the learned Selden in reply to "Mare Liberum," &c. This book was published in folio in 1639, London. In 1652 it was translated by order of Cromwell, and 200 copies printed by Du Guard.

persed them. Subsequently the Dutch applied to the Earl to mediate with the King, and proposed to pay the sum of £30,000 for permission to fish that year, and an annual tribute for the future. This firm and unequivocal mode of proceeding had the desired effect for the time, but it was afterwards brought forward as an aggressive act committed against their commerce, and upon defenceless vessels; whereas it is a fact, that the fishing busses were under the protection of ten ships-of-war, which offered no resistance.

I have been the more diffuse in narrating the series of events which preceded the passing of Cromwell's Navigation Act, because I find it broadly stated, by witnesses giving evidence before the Committees of the Houses of Parliament, and re-echoed by the Free Navigation Champion, Mr. Ricardo, that the first Navigation Law was caused solely by jealousy of the Dutch. It will, I think, be apparent, however, to all reasoning men, from what has been and what will hereafter be adduced, that England was driven, in defence of her own existence as a nation, to conserve her marine; and further, that had the dogma of the legislators who now exercise control over her interests, been at that time submitted to, England, like the Netherlands, would, in a few years, have fallen a prey to France and Holland. And that in using vigorous measures to enforce the honour of the flag-to protect the fisheries-and subsequently to preserve to ourselves the exclusive right of trading with our own colonies and possessions-there was a higher and more praiseworthy motive than that of mere jealousy or short-sighted covetousness. It was a struggle on the part of England to maintain an independent position, to which end it was imperative, that, in all matters relating to the ocean, she should be supreme.

CHAPTER II.

CROMWELL'S NAVIGATION ACT, ITS ALLEGED AND REAL CONSEQUENCES.

As Cromwell's Navigation Act is now almost buried beneath a load of amendments, it has been thought advisable to give it entire.

"An Act for increase of Shipping, and encouragement of the Navigation of this Nation.

"For the increase of the shipping, and the encouragement of the navigation of this nation, which, under the good providence and protection of God, is so great a means of the welfare and safety of this Commonwealth; Be it Enacted, by this present Parliament, and the authority thereof, That from and after the first day of December, one thousand six hundred fifty-one, and from thenceforwards, no goods or commodities whatsoever, of the growth, production, or manufacture of Asia, Africa, or America, or of any part thereof; or of any islands belonging to them or any of them, or which are described or laid down in the usual maps or cards of those places, as well of the English plantations as others, shall be imported or brought into this Commonwealth of England, or into Ireland, or any other lands, islands, plantations, or territories to this Commonwealth belonging, or in their possession, in any other ship or ships, vessel or vessels whatsoever, but only in such as do truly and without fraud belong only to the people of this Commonwealth, or the plantations thereof, as the proprietors or right owners thereof: And whereof the master and mariners are also, for the most part of them, of the people of this Commonwealth, under the penalty of the forfeiture and loss of all the goods that shall be imported contrary to this Act; as also of the ship (with all her tackle, guns, and apparel), in which the said goods or commodities shall be so brought in and imported. The one moiety to the use of the Commonwealth, and the other moiety to the use and behoof of any person or persons who

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