62 THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 



fishery at their annual meeting at Delft, some time before 

 the opening of the season. This often-mentioned cor- 

 poration, denominated by Semeyns, " the Lords of the 

 Grand Fishery," is stated by him to be composed of two 

 delegates from the magistrates " of such towns as are 

 notably concerned in the business." But this is inexact ; 

 for several towns and villages owning herring-ships were 

 more than once refused a seat in the college, whose 

 members appear to have had a full share of the exclusive 

 spirit common to all who held power of any kind in the 

 Republic. The college's power over all concerned in the 

 herring trade was very large, especially as the licenses 

 without which no buss could sail were delivered under the 

 Grand Fishery's seal, although by the intervention of the 

 local fishery boards ; whereby the college were possessed 

 of the means to enforce their rules upon the ships of towns 

 not represented. It is therefore a matter of easy compre- 

 hension that a vote in the college was strongly desired by 

 every fishing town, whereas the towns already represented 

 there used to resist intruders with equal perseverance. 

 Amsterdam and Hoorn, for instance, demanded admission 

 of their delegates to the college in 1628,* but were repelled, 

 and not admitted even when the States had appointed a 

 special committee to bring the rival parties to an agree- 

 ment ; although it appears from a very obscure entry on 

 page 2 of v. d. Lely's ' Recueil,' that Amsterdam would, in 

 order to obtain a seat in the college, have consented to 

 bear her share in the common charges, but have none in 

 the subsidies, which were to be divided as before among the 

 other towns. In 1636, Dordrecht in her turn sued for 

 a seat in the college, but also met with systematic opposi- 

 tion. Monnikendam was likewise rejected in 1701, but 

 * Res. Holland, 1628, p. 556 ; 1629, pp. 665, 7157. 



