THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 173 



charging all Dutch seamen, whether serving in herring 

 busses or convoying men-of-war, to refrain from violence 

 towards the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and keep 

 " true friendship, neighbourship and good correspondence " 

 with them, on pain of being "punished in the body as 

 pirates and men of violence." 



Matters, then, were scarcely on an amicable footing in 

 the North Sea, when, in the year 1619, a Dutch Embassy 

 went to London to treat, among other matters, of the 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen fishery question. The herring 

 fishery was not mentioned in their instructions, a circum- 

 stance sufficient in itself to ensure them a cold reception ; 

 and as regards the Arctic affairs they were met with an asser- 

 tion of the king's unlimited sovereignty over Spitzbergen, 

 which left small hope of coming to a definitive agreement. 

 The king indeed in a verbal audience consented to let the 

 Dutch fish off Spitzbergen for three years, but the restitution 

 of goods and chattels unlawfully taken by both parties 

 remained an unsettled question, and in point of rights 

 " Mare clausum " as regards Spitzbergen was maintained as 

 firmly as ever. 



Another Dutch Embassy came to London in Janaury, 

 1621, with directions to negotiate on various matters of 

 importance then pending ; and although unprovided with 

 precise instructions regarding the fishery question, they had 

 that question broached to them by the British Government. 

 The States at the time were anxious to keep this delicate 

 point out of discussion and leave it in statu quo ; but the 

 king required an end to it, and the ambassadors were obliged 

 to promise the speedy opening of negotiations on the subject, 

 with a view to a definitive settlement of the claims of both 

 nations. The fact that the individual claims of several 

 Scotch herring-fishers for damage sustained on the hands 



