'Howsoever it pleaseth his Majesty to allow of his royal
predecessor's bounty, in tolerating the neighbour nations to
fish in his streams, yet other princes take more straight
courses.'
This powerful and reasoned summary of a condition of affairs so
threatening to England's supremacy as a maritime power, and to the
welfare of her people, testifies to the mixture of indignation and
alarm with which the English people regarded the rapid progress in
commerce and wealth of 'their neighbours the new Sea-Herrs', as J.
R. names the Dutch. If further evidence were wanting as to the state
of feeling in the country, it is furnished by the striking language
of the Venetian envoy, Pietro Contarini (1617/18). According to the
report of this impartial observer[23]:--
'Loud praises of past times and the worthy deeds of forefathers
form the topic of conversation. I have heard great lords with
tears of the deepest affliction lamenting the present state of
things and grieving how England has already fallen in reputation
with all the world, England whose name and whose forces were
feared by foes and esteemed by friends. Now the memory of past
glory lost, as it were fallen into forgetfulness of herself, she
abandons not only the interests of others, but even her own.'
[23] _Relazioni Venete_, _Inghilterra_, iv. 206.
Such was the result of the forciful feeble policy of James, striving
to pose as the keeper of the peace of Europe, and to hold the
balance between the rival forces of Catholicism and Protestantism
already arming for the terrible struggle of the Thirty Years' War.
After the marriage of his only daughter with the head of the
Protestant Union in Germany, he was soon once more in eager pursuit
of the phantasmal Spanish match, which was for so many years to make
him follow a vacillating policy. The skilful diplomacy of Diego
Sarmiento d'Acuña, Count of Gondomar, who represented Philip III
in London after 1613, enabled him at this time to acquire a great
ascendancy over James, which with brief intervals he maintained
for some years. The Spanish envoy left no steps untried in the
course of the disputes which arose with the United Provinces to
prejudice the King's mind against the Dutch. He found the moment
peculiarly favourable for making his influence felt, and he used his
opportunities to the utmost. It must be remembered that the year
1612, in which first Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury, died, and then
six months later Henry, Prince of Wales, a youth of great promise
and popularity, whose strong personality must have impressed itself
on the history of his times, is a critical dividing point in the
reign of James I. Ranke has in his account of this period laid
considerable stress on this fact:--
'In the first years of his reign in England', he writes,
'so long as Robert Cecil lived, King James exercised no
great influence. The Privy Council possessed to the full the
authority, which belonged to it of old custom. James used
simply to confirm the resolutions, which were adopted in the
bosom of the Council under the influence of the treasurer. He
appears in the reports of ambassadors as a phantom King, and the
minister as the real ruler of the country. After the death of
Cecil all this was changed. The King knew the party divisions
which prevailed in the Council; he knew how to hold the balance
between them, and in the midst of their divisions to carry
out his views.... Great affairs were generally transacted
between the King and the favourite in the ascendant at the
time in conferences to which only a few others were admitted,
and sometimes not even these. The King himself decided, and
the resolutions that were taken were communicated to the Privy
Council, which gradually became accustomed to do nothing more
than invest them with the customary forms.'[24]
[24] Ranke, _Hist. of England_ (Oxf. trans.), i. 473.
It was at this very time, when King James, yielding himself more
and more to the persuasive blandishments of Gondomar, began to take
a more markedly personal part in the direction of foreign policy,
that a succession of fresh difficulties with the Dutch arose. The
execution of the proclamation, which had been deferred for two
years in 1610, actually remained a dead letter until 1616. Not
that there had been any removal of the causes which had originally
called it forth. On the contrary, the first years of the truce were
a period of marked activity and vigorous forward policy in the
United Provinces. In every direction, through the energetic and
vigilant statesmanship of Oldenbarneveldt, the commercial enterprise
of the people was enabled to open out fresh outlets for trade,
and finally to secure the recognition of the young Republic as an
influential member of the European family of nations. Diplomatic
missions were dispatched to Venice in 1609 and to Constantinople
in 1612, which prepared the way for a great extension of Dutch
trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. Even more important were the
close relations established with Sweden and Russia. Göteburg became
after 1609 virtually a Dutch town, and before the middle of the
century all Swedish industries and Swedish commerce had passed
more or less into Dutch management or under Dutch control. In the
reign of Elizabeth the friendliest relations had subsisted with
the Tsar, Ivan the Terrible and his successors, so that for some
years the English Muscovy Company had almost a monopoly of Russian
trade by the White Sea. But all this was now changed. A famous
Dutch merchant, Balthazar de Moncheron, established a factory at
Archangel in 1584, and from that time forward the Dutch, at first
vigorous competitors with the English for the Russian market,
gradually gained the supremacy. The appearance of a Russian embassy
at the Hague in 1614 was the mark of the triumph of Dutch diplomacy
at Moscow: henceforth Russia was practically closed to all but
Netherlanders. In 1615 a treaty with the Hanse towns placed the
Baltic trade even more completely than it had been in Dutch hands.
In the East Indies the English Company could not compete with its
far wealthier and more thoroughly organized rival.
There was, however, one element of weakness in the position of the
United Provinces on which the English were never weary of insisting.
By his possession of the cautionary towns the King of England
appeared in the eyes of the world to be recognized as a protector of
the Dutch Republic, who had certain rights over it. Oldenbarneveldt
in his negotiations had doubtless been hampered by the plain
evidence which the presence of English garrisons in Flushing, Brill,
and Rammekens afforded, that the States did not exercise full
sovereign authority within their own borders. In these circumstances
he (Oldenbarneveldt) knowing full well the financial straits to
which King James was reduced through the long-standing disagreement
between him and his Parliament, made overtures in 1615 through the
resident ambassador Caron to redeem the towns by the payment of a
sum of ready money. The annual charge of £40,000 received from the
States was barely more than sufficient for the maintenance of the
garrisons. The total amount claimed by the English Government was
£600,000; the Dutch offered £100,000 in cash, and three further
sums of £50,000 in half-yearly instalments, or £250,000 in all. The
offer was accepted and in June, 1616, the cautionary towns were
transferred into the hands of the Dutch.
It was, however, agreed that, for the sake of maintaining good
relations between the two countries, the new English ambassador,
Sir Dudley Carleton, should like his predecessor, Sir Ralph
Winwood, retain his seat in the Council of State. This was the more
important, as the King had (as already stated) for the past three
years been steadily moving towards a Spanish alliance. What were
his precise aims and what his ultimate purpose it was difficult
even for the practised and penetrating insight of a statesman of
Oldenbarneveldt's experience to discover. Perhaps James scarcely
knew himself. But the retention of fortresses like Flushing and
Brill at the mouths of two most important Dutch waterways by a
foreign sovereign, who was intriguing to win the favour of the
Spanish foe, was for the Republic a most serious danger. Their
redemption therefore at so trifling a cost was a stroke of policy
by which the aged Advocate did a great service to his country.
Certain it is that James felt a grudge against Oldenbarneveldt, and
that, when shortly afterwards civil strife broke out in the United
Provinces, Sir D. Carleton, acting on the King's instructions, did
his utmost to bring about the great statesman's downfall and to
support his enemies in compassing his death.
But to return. Sir Dudley Carleton, when entering upon his duties at
the Hague in January, 1616, found, in addition to the negotiations
for the 'reddition' of the cautionary towns, several thorny
questions requiring delicate handling. In his instructions[25] the
following somewhat enigmatical passage occurs:--
'Some two years since there did arise between the Company of
our Muscovy Merchants and the Merchants of Amsterdam a great
difference concerning the navigation of Greenland[26] and the
fishing of whales in those parts. Our desire is that all good
correspondence may be maintained, as between our Crowns and
their Provinces, so between our and their subjects. Therefore,
whenever the subject shall fall into discourse, either in public
or in private, you may confidently relate, when this question
was debated before the lords of the Council, between Sir Noel
Caron their embassador and the Governor of our Muscovian
Company, it was evidently proved, and in a manner without
contradiction, that our subjects were first discoverers of that
negotiation and that trade of fishing; that privately they were
possessed of that island, and there had planted and erected
our standard, thereby to signify and notify to the world the
property, which we challenge; which our subjects, by their
industries, having appropriated to themselves, did not hold it
reasonable they should be forced to communicate to others the
fruits of their labours.'
[25] Dated Jan. 6/16. Letters to and from Sir Dudley Carleton during
his embassy in Holland from January 1615/16, to December 1620.
London, 1757.
[26] Greenland here stands for Spitzbergen. All through these
disputes, owing to geographical ignorance, the two terms are used
almost interchangeably.
The origin and cause of this new fishery dispute requires to be
briefly told, as it is characteristic of the times and of the way
in which, in almost every part of the world, the English trader and
the Dutch trader met in rivalry, and with the inevitable result
that their interests clashed and bad feeling arose. Certain English
fishing vessels as early as 1608 made their way to the Arctic Ocean
to fish for whales off the shores of Spitzbergen. The adventure
was successful, and was repeated. The news of it attracted some
Biscayans, then other foreigners, and in 1612 two Dutch ships to try
their fortune in the same waters. But King James in the following
year (1613) granted to the Muscovy Company an exclusive monopoly of
the Greenland, meaning thereby the Spitzbergen, whale fishery. He
claimed these northern waters as the property of the British Crown,
because, so it was averred, Hugh Willoughby had in 1553 discovered
Spitzbergen. The conferring of this monopoly caused in 1613 a
numerous fishing fleet, some of the vessels strongly armed, to set
sail from England for Spitzbergen. A landing was made, and the whole
archipelago formally annexed and named King James' Newland. The
next step of the Muscovy Company's fleet was to clear the ground of
intruders, whether foreigners or English 'interlopers.' Among the
foreigners were several Dutch boats. These were attacked, boarded,
plundered, and then sent home.
Such an act of violence naturally aroused resentment in Holland.
The States-General took the matter up, and refused to admit the
right of James to interfere with the fishermen. They denied that
Hugh Willoughby had sighted Spitzbergen at all in 1553, and
confidently affirmed that the discovery of the island was made
by Jacob van Heemskerk in 1596, who named it Spitzbergen, planted
the Dutch flag upon it, and spent the winter on its shores. If,
then, any people had preferential rights in the waters surrounding
Spitzbergen, it was the Dutch, but the States did not claim or
admit any such rights. They held that the sea was open to all to
navigate and to fish in without let or hindrance. To Winwood, who
in August, 1613, quitted the Hague to become Secretary of State in
London, was entrusted the mission of bringing the complaints and
the protest of the States to the notice of James, and further, of
asking for reparation to the Amsterdammers, whose vessels had been
seized and plundered. The King at this time was anxious to be on
friendly terms with the Dutch, and an answer was returned (October
25) that 'not only reparation should be made, but that steps should
be taken to prevent a recurrence of such disorders.' The States
were not satisfied, however, with so general a reply, and wished
that the English claim to exclusive rights in the fisheries should
be abandoned. The ambassador Caron was instructed to present to
the King an argument from the pen of the geographer Plancius, in
which this claim was shown to be without foundation. It produced no
effect upon James, always unwilling to yield in a matter affecting
his sovereign prerogatives, however shadowy. But the States were
equally determined. Their reply to the _non-possumus_ attitude of
the King was the granting of a charter, early in 1614 (January
27), to a company, generally known as the Northern (sometimes as
the Greenland) Company, which conferred on a group of merchants
the exclusive privilege of fishing for whales and walrus, and of
trading and exploring in the Northern seas between the limits
of Nova Zembla and Davis's Straits; Spitzbergen, Bear Island,
and Greenland therein included.[27] The States-General likewise
consented that warships at the charges of the company should
be allowed to accompany the fishing fleet for their protection
(April 4). The effect of these strong measures was seen in the
changed attitude of the Muscovy Company, who in the summer of
1614 (July 2) made an agreement with their rivals, that they
should each of them use a portion of the island as a basis for
their fishery, and should unite in keeping out all intruders. The
extraordinary mission of Sir Henry Wotton in February, 1615, to
the Hague to treat for a settlement of the Jülich-Cleves question,
gave an opportunity for proposing that he should, while in the
Netherlands, meet Commissioners of the States to discuss also other
important matters, and among these the dispute about the so-called
'Greenland' fisheries. In April the conference took place. The
Dutch, while laying stress upon their primary rights as discoverers,
disclaimed any desire to exclude the English; on the contrary, they
endeavoured to arrive at a friendly arrangement by which the two
nations should share the fishery 'in unity and security' together.
Nothing, however, was effected. The language of King James in
his ambassador's instructions, in which mention is made of the
differences that had arisen 'on account of the fishery in the North
Sea, near the shores of Greenland, of right solely belonging to us
and our people, but interrupted by the Hollanders', showed that he
approached the subject in an irreconcilable spirit. All that Wotton
could say was that he would report the matter to the King, who
would inform Caron later of his decision. The affair was, in other
words, hung up, and the dangerous spectacle was again witnessed of
two fishing fleets carrying on their trade in close proximity, each
under the protection of warships.
[27] Aitzema _Saken van Staet en Oorlog_, ii. 356.
The Dutch force in 1615 was, however, far stronger, and no
hostilities took place. For the same reason an armed peace was
maintained in 1617, but in the following year acts of aggression
were committed, and loud complaints were raised on both sides. An
attempt was now made by the King to strengthen the hands of the
Muscovy Company by sanctioning for the purposes of the whale fishery
an alliance with the East India Company. The two companies were, as
far as regards the Spitzbergen enterprise, to be regarded as one,
thus making a larger amount of capital available for the outfit of
the fishing fleet and for the maintenance of the storage huts and
so-called 'cookeries' on shore. Thirteen well-equipped ships sailed
for Spitzbergen in 1618, and an even superior number from Holland
and Zeeland, accompanied by two war vessels. Neither the English
nor the Dutch sailors were in the mood to brook interference, and
from the outset it was almost certain that if they met there would
be mischief. The English were the first aggressors, but were in
their turn attacked by the Dutch with the result that their fleet
was dispersed and many of their vessels plundered. The 'Greenland'
fisheries question had reached an acute stage. Such a condition of
things could not continue, and Sir Dudley Carleton, the English
ambassador, appeared in person before the States-General (October 3,
1618) to utter a strong remonstrance and to urge the States, if they
wished to remain on good terms with the King, to dispatch a special
embassy to deal with the disputes that had arisen between the two
countries, not only concerning the 'Greenland' fishing, but in the
East Indies, and about the herring fishery and the cloth trade also.
At this point, before giving an account of the embassy of 1618,
we must turn back and bring up to date the history of the herring
fishery question from 1610, when the execution of the proclamation
requiring a licence from the fishermen was postponed, and also
briefly touch upon the two other causes of grievance in regard
to the cloth trade and the disputes between the two East India
Companies.
For several years after the return of the embassy of 1610 the
Dutch herring fishery appears to have been quietly carried on
as usual without let or hindrance from the English Government.
No attempt was made to enforce the proclamation until 1616. The
cause of the alteration of James's policy at that date was due to
the refusal of the States-General to admit English dyed cloths
into the United Provinces. The manufacture of woollen cloth had
long been the chief of English industries, and the monopoly of
the trade in wool and woollen goods in the Netherlands, Northern
France and Western Germany had been in the hands of one of the
oldest of English Chartered Companies, the Fellowship of Merchant
Adventurers[28], whose first charter was granted by Henry VI in
1462. The Adventurer's Court and Staple were for many years placed
at Antwerp. But in 1568 they were driven away from the Netherlands
by Alva, and forced to settle elsewhere. They went first to Emden,
then to Hamburg. But the Hanse towns were jealous of their trade
and prosperity, and the Emperor was induced in 1597 to banish them
from Germany. At this date the authority of Spain was no longer
recognized north of the Scheldt. The Adventurers accordingly in
1598 moved to Middelburg in Zeeland, and extensive privileges were
conferred upon them by the States-General, the States of Zeeland,
and the town of Middelburg, including freedom from duties on imports
or exports, as well as from charges for staple rights and harbour
dues, and the right to be tried in their own courts.
[28] See Note D.
The trade of the Adventurers consisted entirely in undyed cloths.
The English, though the best weavers of woollen cloth in the world,
had not learnt as yet the art of dyeing, and the unfinished cloths
were imported into the Netherlands, there to be dressed and dyed
for the continental markets. The consequence was that a great
industry sprang up in the provinces, especially in Holland, and many
thousands of skilled hands were employed in this work.
When James I came to the throne, he listened eagerly to every
one who could point out to him any means of raising money by
the sale of monopolies or patents. Among the proposals that
attracted him was one made by Alderman Sir William Cockayne, who
represented to his Majesty the great profit which might be derived
from finishing and dyeing English cloth before exportation. The
Merchant Adventurers naturally used their utmost influence on the
one hand to persuade the King not to grant to Cockayne a patent,
which would be subversive of the rights granted to their Company
under their Charter, and on the other to obtain the help of the
States in preventing such a breach of existing privilege to the
injury of the Dutch dyers and finishers. The monopoly of the
Adventurers had, however, many enemies among the English merchants
who did not belong to the Fellowship, and who already, under the
name of 'Interlopers'[29], carried on an extensive illegitimate
trade through the ports of Amsterdam and Flushing. Cockayne and
his adherents prevailed. A patent was granted to him in 1608,
his Majesty reserving to himself the monopoly of the sale of all
home-dyed goods. It was clear, however, that the existence of the
two monopolies side by side could not continue. After much friction
and constant complaints, James, in 1615, took decisive action. He
forbade the export of undyed and unfinished cloth from England, and
commanded the Merchant Adventurers to return their Charter. Cockayne
immediately formed a company, but his hopes of creating a new and
lucrative English industry were speedily dashed to the ground. The
States of Holland passed a resolution forbidding the importation
of dyed cloths into their province, and their example was followed
by the other provinces separately, and by the States-General. The
English woollen trade was stricken fatally by such a prohibition,
Cockayne's Company failed, and James was at last compelled in 1617
to renew the Charter of the Adventurers.
[29] See Note E.
It is needless to say that the King, who had hoped to replenish his
empty treasury through his active promotion of Cockayne's scheme,
was sorely disappointed at the issue, and deeply resented the strong
measures taken by Holland and the United Provinces generally to
checkmate his plan for the creation of a new English industry to
their injury. Baulked in this direction, James, on his side, turned
his thoughts to reprisals, and in so doing had on this occasion the
full approval of his subjects. Secretary Winwood wrote, September
14, 1616, to Sir Dudley Carleton, at the Hague:--
'It is in the mouth of every true-hearted Englishman that
as a reprisal for the publication of the rigorous placard
against English dyed and dressed cloths, that his Majesty with
justice and equity and in reason of state ought to forbid the
Hollanders, by a fresh revival of former proclamations, to
continue their yearly fishing on our coast.'
But Winwood had had long personal knowledge of the Dutch, and he did
not like the prospect of the two nations, so long and closely bound
together by ties of friendship and alliance, thus drifting apart
through trade rivalries into enmity.
'If we come', he writes, 'to these extremities I know both we
and they shall suffer and smart for it'. And then he continues
in words rendered weighty by the experience which lay behind
them: 'I know well the nature of that people and the humour of
those masters, who sit at the stern of that State. They will
not be willingly crossed in their courses--_et quod volunt,
valde volunt_. Yet it is never too late to be wise, and no
counsel is evil but that which cannot be changed. I profess
unto you I am in great anguish of spirit, how to accommodate
these differences to the full contentment of all parties. This
is most certain--_couste que couste_--and though _coelum terris
misceatur_, his Majesty is resolved not to swallow, much less
to digest, these indignities. As before I have said, only the
Spaniards have cause to triumph and to make bonfires of joy and
gladness.' He requests Carleton to see Oldenbarneveldt and urge
accommodation for the mutual good of both countries. 'If the
States', he adds, 'do persist in their resolutions, _actum est
de amicitia_.'[30]
[30] Carleton's letters during his embassy in Holland, January
1615/16, to December 1620, p. 111.
But although Winwood speaks in this letter, dated September 24,
as if the King was only considering the question of a revival of
the proclamation of 1609, steps had already been taken (apparently
with his knowledge) to levy a toll upon the fishers on the Scottish
coast. As early as June 16, the Duke of Lennox, in his capacity as
Admiral of Scotland, had received instructions from the Scottish
Council to take from every fishing 'buss' a payment either in money
(an angelot) or in kind (one ton of herring and twelve codfish).
Accordingly, on August 7, a vessel appeared in the midst of the
fishing fleet, having on board a certain John Browne, the Duke's
Secretary. The Dutch envoy (Caron) had been induced, under a
misconception of the purpose for which it was required, to write
a commendatory letter for this man to show to the captains of the
Dutch convoy-ships. Browne demanded in the name of the King from
the skippers of each 'buss' the above-named toll or excise, and he
proceeded to make a list of all their names and the names of the
boats, giving receipts to those who paid, and informing those who
did not do so that they would have to pay double the following year.
The greater part paid without opposition, until the two convoy-ships
arrived on the scene. Browne was seized and requested to produce his
commission. At the sight of Caron's letter, however, they dismissed
him, as he had used no violence, but they would not allow him to
collect any more toll.
The two captains, as in duty bound, reported the matter at once to
the home authorities. Great was the surprise and indignation at
Enkhuysen and other centres of the fishing industry at the reception
of the news. On August 27 it was discussed by the States-General,
who denounced the attempt to levy a toll as 'an unheard-of and
unendurable novelty, conflicting with previous treaties'. Two
dispatches were sent, one to Caron telling him 'that the States
had taken the matter extremely to heart, and desired him to seek
for redress by every possible means'; the other to the captains of
the convoy bidding them 'not to permit any toll to be exacted'. In
obedience to his instructions Caron made repeated representations
to the King, to Lennox, to the Scottish Council, but his arguments
and remonstrances fell on deaf ears, and his efforts to obtain
satisfaction proved fruitless. In these circumstances the opening
of the fishing season of 1617 was awaited in Holland with anxiety,
and by those acquainted with the temper of the Dutch seamen, with
apprehension. Their fears were justified.
Browne again visited the fishing fleet, and began his task of
levying toll, which according to all testimony he carried out
in a tactful and considerate manner. Arriving at the Rotterdam
convoy-ship he met with a flat refusal from the captain, Andries
Tlieff of Rotterdam, in his own name and that of the other Dutch
fishermen. After having received this refusal in writing, Browne
was preparing quietly to go away to visit the other fishing
boats, mostly French, when Jan Albertsz, captain of the Enkhuysen
convoy-ship, stepped on board. He was one of the two captains who
had in the previous year forcibly compelled Browne to stop his
collection of toll. Albertsz now declared that he had orders to
arrest Browne, and, despite his protests, the Scottish official was
made a prisoner and carried to Holland.
The indignation of James, when he heard of what had taken place,
knew no bounds. Two captains of Dutch vessels in the Thames were
seized, as hostages, and Carleton was instructed to go in person
to the States-General and demand satisfaction for the insult and
injury done to his Majesty's honour by the 'exemplary punishment
and in a public and open fashion of those, who had committed such
an act: a satisfaction such as may hold a just proportion unto the
insolency of the grievance.'[31] On August 23, Carleton, describing
the result of an interview with the Advocate, spoke of 'Barneveldt
not knowing what to say, but that the taking of Browne was ill-done,
and desiring me with his hat in his hand (much differing from his
use) to make report thereof to his Majesty.' Both he and also
Maurice disavowed Albertsz's action, and the States-General in their
turn declared that the captains had acted without instructions, and
ordered Browne to be released. At the same time they respectfully
insisted that their fishermen were specially exempted from paying
any toll for their fishing. They ask Carleton to beg James, as
Browne had been set free, to release the hostages that he had
seized. But Winwood peremptorily informed Carleton (August 27,
O.S.), 'His Majesty will take no satisfaction, but to have the
captains and chief officers of the ships sent over prisoners to
England.' This demand, however, was most unpalatable in Holland. The
States of that province stood upon their privileges. The captains
should be tried, they said, but only by their own courts and laws.
James, however, would not give way. In Winwood's words 'he insisted,
_fort et ferme_, on the offenders being delivered into his hands'.
Thus for many months the obstinate dispute continued. At last
(February 1) the States of Holland, the opposition of the towns of
Rotterdam and Enkhuysen to deliver up their citizens having been
overcome, consented that Albertsz and Tlieff should be sent to Noel
Caron to submit themselves to his Majesty's mercy, 'for which,' says
Carleton,[32] 'in a letter they sue, and' he adds 'they also ask for
the freedom of fishing on the coast of Scotland, to which they lay
claim, without molestation.' Not till April did Tlieff actually set
sail for England, and then without the worse offender, Albertsz,
who was very ill, and in fact died shortly afterwards. James now,
however, professed himself satisfied, the hostages were set free,
and the Browne incident closed without a breach of the peace.
[31] Carleton's _Letters_, pp. 156-7. Report of the Lords of the
Council with the King in Scotland, to the Lords of the Council in
England, Aug. 4/14, 1617.
[32] Carleton's _Letters_, October 11.
The fishery dispute meanwhile remained an open sore. Loud complaints
were made by the Scottish Council that the Dutch not only claimed
the right to fish free from any toll, but they under the protection
of their armed convoy hindered the Scottish boats from fishing, and
took away their nets and otherwise treated them 'with daily outrages
and insolences'. This was the state of affairs in 1617. Carleton
made many and strong remonstrances, but in 1618 the complaints of
the Scotch that they were driven away from the fishing grounds by
acts of violence were louder than ever. Instructions had been given
to Carleton (April 10, 1618) that, as a means for avoiding these
disputes and encounters, he should request the States to order their
fishermen to ply their trade out of sight of land, as had been, so
he averred, their former custom. After a delay of two months the
States, while promising to punish severely all who could be shown
to have committed such acts as those complained of, declared that
after examination of witnesses on oath they could not discover that
any offences such as those spoken of by the King had taken place. As
to the Netherlanders fishing out of sight of land, they denied any
knowledge of such a custom, and prayed the King not to disturb their
countrymen in the exercise of that right of free fishing granted
them from time immemorial by a succession of treaties.
Thus in the summer of 1618 we have seen that no less than three
burning questions--the Greenland or Spitzbergen fishery, the Great
or Herring fishery, and the refusal to admit English dyed or dressed
cloths into the Netherlands--were causing the relations between
England and the United Provinces to be very strained. A fourth
question, that of the disputes of the rival East India Companies as
to trading rights in the Banda Islands, Amboyna, and the Moluccas,
where the Dutch, being in far stronger force, prevented the English
from sharing in the lucrative commerce in spices, was also becoming
acute. Several islands--among them one named Pulo Run, which the
English, by the consent of the natives, had occupied--were seized by
the Dutch, and actual hostilities between the fleets representing
the two nations in those waters were only avoided because the
English were not in a position to offer effective resistance to
their superior adversaries. Negotiations had therefore been set on
foot as early as 1615 to effect a friendly understanding by which
the English should be allowed a fair share in the spice trade, and
the companies co-operate for their common interest. So far, however,
in 1618, were matters from being arranged, that a strong fleet had
been dispatched from London in that year under Sir Thomas Dale to
restore the balance of power in the Bunda archipelago.
When, therefore, as has been already related, Carleton on October 3
appeared in the States-General to protest in the strongest possible
language against the acts of hostility committed against the fishing
fleet of the Muscovy Company off Spitzbergen, he did not confine
himself to this one cause of embittered dispute, but demanded that
the States should send at once, promptly and without delay, the
special embassy, which had been often spoken of but never taken
seriously in hand, to discuss in London all the points of difference
between the two nations--the East Indian spice trade, the herring
fishery, and the dyed cloth question--and to strive to arrive at
a friendly arrangement. Otherwise, he warned them that the King,
though he had shown himself willing to bear much at their hands, had
now reached the limit of his endurance.