THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS 425 



Clausum, then entered upon a lengthy disquisition on the 

 subject. He said the English could prove by authentic docu- 

 ments that they had had possession of the fishery from all 

 time, and that other nations sought their permission to fish ; 

 that the clause in the treaty of 1496 (the Intercursus Magnus) 

 upon which the Dutch relied, was omitted in later treaties ; 

 and that the treaties had expired owing to the subsequent 

 wars between Queen Elizabeth and Spain, and had never been 

 since renewed; they were not the same people with whom 

 the treaties had been made, since they were now alienated 

 from the House of Burgundy. And they could not establish 

 their right by prescription, for by the civil law it required 

 a hundred years for a just prescription, and the States had not 

 existed so long as an independent nation. Moreover, long 

 before the treaty of 1496, licenses for fishing had been sought 

 and granted. Even King Philip II. in Queen Mary's time had 

 asked permission to fish for twenty-one years, and had paid 

 1000 a-year for the privilege. King James, too, had issued 

 a proclamation in 1610 (sic) forbidding unlicensed fishing, 

 while King Charles had demanded and received through the 

 Earl of Northumberland an acknowledgment from their 

 herring-busses. 



To this long argument the deputies replied with arguments 

 as long. With respect to the treaties, they said that the treaty 

 of 1496 was not between prince and prince, but between states 

 and towns, as specified in it ; and that the article which pro- 

 vided for mutual liberty of fishing had been confirmed in later 

 treaties, notably in the treaty of Binche, in 1541, between the 

 Emperor Charles and the King of Scotland; in that of 1550 

 with Queen Mary of Scotland ; and in that between the United 

 Provinces and King James of Scotland in 1594. 1 Moreover, 

 in the treaty between England and Spain in 1630, there were 

 certain words which confirmed the ancient treaties of inter- 

 course and commerce.' 2 They expressed the opinion that Crom- 

 well had not been well informed in saying that licenses for 

 fishing had been granted before the Intercursus Magnus was 

 concluded, because it was doubtful if the invention of the 



1 See pp. 78-81. 



2 Art. xviii. "Antiqui intercursus et commercii tractatus, provisionaliter pris- 

 tinam viin et auctoritatem obtineant." 



