412 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



with the usual seasoning of Scriptural and classical quotations ; 

 the historical claims of England to the sovereignty of the sea 

 were treated in a sarcastic and bantering spirit, and the 

 authenticity of some of the records cited by Selden was 

 questioned ; while he said that in many respects the Hollanders 

 were the real lords of the British seas. But he made a personal 

 attack on Selden, accusing him of having written Mare 

 Clausum in order to get out of prison. 1 Selden made a strong 

 reply, explaining the circumstances under which his treatise 

 was written, and entering into a minute description of the 

 documents which Graswinckel suggested he had invented; 

 but on the controversy as to .the dominion of the seas he 

 contributed nothing new. 2 



Stimulated by the war and the dispute which had pre- 

 cipitated it, a number of works were now published in Holland 

 in defence of the freedom of the seas and the liberty of fishing, 

 and opposing the claims of England to any special maritime 

 jurisdiction. Among them was another dissertation by 

 Graswinckel, published before he was aware of Selden's 

 reply to his attack, and apparently containing further extracts 

 from his stillborn treatise. This time the earlier Scottish 

 lawyer, Welwood, was assailed, and his book, De Dominio 

 Maris, was republished in Holland in order to serve, 

 apparently, as a theme and target. Graswinckel was 

 especially severe against any claim to interfere with the 

 herring fishery or to impose tribute on the fishermen. 3 The 

 controversy continued to rage on both sides of the North Sea, 

 but in England it fell for the most part into the incompetent 

 hands of ignorant pamphleteers, who vilified the Dutch in 



1 Cap. vi. p. 118. See supra, p. 367. 



2 Joannis Seldeni vindicice secundum integritatem existimationis suce, per 

 vitium de Scriptione Maris Clausi, petulantissimum mendacissimumque insolentius 

 lessee in Vindiciis Maris Liberi adversus Petrum Baptistam Burgum, Ligustici 

 Maritimi Dominii assertorem. Hagce Comitumjam nunc emissis. London, 1653. 



3 Maris Liberi Vindicate adversus Gulielmum Welwodum Britannici Maritimi 

 Dominii assertorem. Hagse Comitum, 1653. Other works were Mord. von der 

 Reck, Disputatio juridica de Piscatione, 1652 ; Martin Schook, Imperium Mari- 

 timum, Amsterdam, 1653 ; Stephen S. Burman, Mare Belli Anglicani injustissime 

 Belgis Ulata, Helena, 1652. The latter contains a pretty full account of the old 

 " Burgundy " treaties, and of others concluded by England with various countries 

 in the seventeenth century, in which, as the author points out, no claim was made 

 to the sovereignty of the seas. 



