44 



tions of Englishmen were filled with dreams ot the fortunes which were 

 certiiin to be secured from a kindred pursuit in regions where Dutch 

 busses liad not adventured; and the prochgal act of the King in granting 

 to favorites of his court the seas which contained the treasures they 

 coveted caused the most indignant complaints. The House of" Com- 

 mons, obedient to the popular feeling, insisted upon the abrogation of 

 the obnoxious monopoly, and that every Englishman should be allowed 

 to fish at will, without molestation or tribute, within the limits of the 

 council's patent. During the debate which arose, (a sketch of which 

 may be found in Barcrott) the patentees were assailed with great bold- 

 ness. " What," said Sir Edwin Sandys, " shall the English be debarred 

 fi-om the freedom of the fisheries — a privilege which the French nnd 

 Dutch enjoy ? It costs the kingdom nothing but labor ; employs ship- 

 ping ; and furnishes the means of a lucrative commerce with Spain." 

 "Nay," replied Calvert, "the fishermen hinder the plantations; they 

 choke the harbors with their ballast, and waste the forests by improvi- 

 dent use. America is not annexed to the realm ; j^ou have, therefore, 

 no right to interfere." 



The friends of '■^ free fishing''' prevailed in the Commons; but Parlia- 

 ment was dissolved before a bill embracino: and les-alizins; the fruits of the 

 triumph could be carried through the forms of legislation. The council, 

 giving no heed to the clamors of the people, and disregarding the course 

 of the Commons, sent over West, as we have stated. To enforce the 

 payment of the tribute, and to drive off" and break up the voyages of 

 those who refused, were the principal objects of his mission. He found 

 the fishermen too numerous and too stubborn ; and, accomplishing no- 

 thing, departed for Virginia, and thence returned to England. His pro- 

 ceedings and the unyielding disposition manifested by Gorges and other 

 members of the council, caused a renewal of the clamor, and of tlie de- 

 mand that the American fishing grounds should be declared free and 

 open to all the subjects of the realm. 



On the meeting of Parliament in 1624, the pretensions of the council 

 Were again assailed with eloquence and power. Sir Edward Coke,* 

 Speaker of the Commons, one of the most eminent of English lawyers, 

 and now in his old age, indignantly demanded the revocation of the 

 odious restriction. Sir Ferdinando Gorges had been summoned and 

 was present. "Your patent," — thus was Gorges addressed by Coke 

 firom the Speaker's chair — " Your patent contains many particulars 

 contrary to x\m laws and privileges of the subject ; it is a monopoly, 

 and the ends of private gain are concealed under color of planting a 

 colony." "Shall none," he said in debate, " shall none visit the sea- 

 coast for fishing i This is to make a monopoly upon the seas, wliich 

 wont to be free. If you alone are to pack and dry fish, you attempt a 

 monopoly of tlie wind and sun." 



The Commons i)rcvailed a second time ; but the bill to revoke the 

 cliarter did not receive the royal assent. Still, the council were for- 



*He was born in 1550; he became solicitor general in 1592, and attorney general soon after. 

 His eondtict in the latter capacity, during the trinls of the Earl of Essex, and the celebrated 

 Sir Walter Kalcigh, has been severely and justly condemned. Coke, in l(il3, was appoiQt<'d 

 chief justice of tlie Court of King's Bench. Towards the close of his life, he devoted liiniseif 

 to the cause of the subject, in opposition to the pretensioas of the crown; he died in 1G34. 



