THE FIRST DUTCH WAR 379 



the sovereignty of the sea. The necessity of maintaining 

 that sovereignty had always been put forward as a prin- 

 cipal argument for levying the money, and on that ground 

 it was objectionable to many of those opposed to the king. 

 /In a work said to have been presented to the Parliament 

 at its first meeting, forcible opinions were expressed against 

 the pretension. It was doubtful, it was said, whether the 

 sea really belonged to the crown, as the king claimed. Even 

 if it did, it was not apparent that the fate of the land 

 depended upon the dominion of the sea. That dominion 

 might be considered as a right, an honour, or a profit. As 

 a right it was a theme "fitter for scholars to fret their 

 wits upon than for Christians to fight and spill blood about " ; 

 as an honour, by making others strike sails to our ships 

 as they passed, it was " a glory fitter for women and children 

 to wonder at than for statesmen to contend about"; as a 

 matter of profit, to fence and enclose the sea, it was of 

 moment, but not more to us than to other nations : by too 

 insolent contentions about it we might provoke God and 

 dishonour ourselves, and rather incense our friends than 

 quell our enemies. 1 If such sentiments reflected the feel- 

 ing of the Parliament at the beginning of their labours, 

 they were not of long duration. Within a few years a 

 change was wrought, which was probably in large measure 

 due to the part taken by the fleet in the struggle with 

 the king, as well as to the abiding spirit of the people for 

 predominant power on the sea. 



From an early stage in the conflict the control of the 

 fleet passed into the hands of the Parliament. In the 

 summer of 1642, when the Earl of Northumberland, the 

 Lord High Admiral, was laid aside by illness, the Parliament 

 succeeded, with his connivance and assistance, in placing the 

 Earl of Warwick in actual command ; Sir John Penning- 

 ton, the nominee of Charles, having to stand aside. 2 Under 

 the management of its new masters the navy rapidly became 

 a powerful and efficient instrument for the defence of the 



1 The Case of Ship-Money briefly discussed, according to the Grounds of Law, 

 Policy, and Conscience. Presented to the Parliament, November 3, 1640. Stubbe, 

 A Further Justification of the Present War against the United Netherlands, 76. 



2 Gardiner, Hist. Engl. t x. 208. Clarendon, iii. 113. 



