CHARLES I. : THE NAVY 263 



Henry Marten, the Judge of the Admiralty Court, with 

 regard to it. Nicholas summed up his own views oracularly 

 in the sentence, "If a merchant fly from men-of-war, it 

 concerns the king's ships to preserve trade." Sir Henry 

 Marten gave a clear opinion. "It is not fit," he said, "nor 

 honourable for the king's ships appointed to guard the Narrow 

 Seas to suffer any men-of-war to fight with each other, or men- 

 of-war with merchants, or merchant with merchant, in the 

 presence of the king's ships within the Narrow Seas, for that 

 the king's ships are set forth to keep peace in those seas 

 for the freer and better maintenance of trade and commerce 

 through the same : and all men trading or sailing within 

 the king's seas do justly take themselves to be in pace Domini 

 Regis ; and since such are in pace Domini Regis, it doth 

 concern the king in honour and justice to protect them from 

 injury and violence." The language of the first part of this 

 statement is the same as in the regulation prepared a little 

 before with respect to hostilities within the King's Chambers 

 (p. 251); but its purport went much further than the recom- 

 mendation of Pennington, and in effect extended the protection 

 afforded by the King's Chambers, and the regulation applying 

 to them, to the whole of the narrow seas. 



The Admiralty approved of the opinion of Sir Henry 

 Marten, and Nicholas was directed to embody it in Penning- 

 ton's instructions. Before doing so, however, it was deemed 

 desirable to get the king's own opinion, and he was asked 

 by Windebank, at the instance of the Admiralty, whether 

 Pennington should be instructed not to permit any man-of-war 

 to fight in the narrow seas in the sight of his Majesty's ships, 

 while he commanded there as Admiral. Pennington had then 

 only two ships and two " Whelps " under his command, a force 

 quite inadequate to enforce an innovation so revolutionary, 

 and Charles apparently did not think the time or circumstances 

 fitting for it, for the Admiral's instructions in 1634 were 

 virtually the same as in 1633, except that the clause about 

 passing by Dutch and Dunkirkers in fight and leaving them 

 : to their fortunes was omitted at the special request of Lord 

 Cottington. 1 But next year, when the imposing ship-money 



1 Windebank and Cottington were two of the three in the confidence of the king 

 as to the secret negotiations with Spain. State Papers, Dom., cclxv. 23; 25, 26, 

 41, 49, 78, 89 ; clvii. fol. 132. 



