THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 515 



ceremony of respect, but an absolute acknowledgment of 

 England's sovereignty of the seas, the king granting foreigners 

 a general license to pass through his seas, " paying that obeis- 

 ance and duty, like the services when Lords grant out estates, 

 reserving a rose or peppercorn, the value of which is not 

 regarded, but the remembrance and acknowledging their 

 benefactor's right and dominion." Molloy held that by the 

 treaty of 1674 the dominion of the British seas was "ascer- 

 tained" to extend from Cape Finisterre to Van Staten, in 

 Norway, and similar opinions on this and on the subject 

 generally were expressed by other writers on naval matters, 

 as by Godolphin * and Zouch, 2 and by most writers on Admir- 

 alty affairs during the remainder of the century and well into 

 the next. 



With respect to the fisheries, the failure of the previous 

 attempt to establish a great fishery society did not deter 

 others from being proposed. Efforts were indeed made 

 throughout nearly the whole of the reign of Charles to keep 

 the subject alive. An elaborate report was prepared by Dr 

 Benjamin Worsley, who was Secretary to the Council for 

 Trade and Plantations, on the Dutch fisheries and the best 

 means by which a fishery could be established in this country 

 with good hope of success. He stated that the least valua- 

 tion generally placed on the Dutch herring fishery was 

 3,000,000, and that it was said to employ 1600 busses. De- 

 tailed reasons were given for the belief that success would 

 not attend any attempt to establish a great fishery in England, 

 unless it received the active support of the king and Parlia- 

 ment, and unless we were able to undersell the Dutch in 

 the markets, which he thought by a change of methods we 

 might be able to do. 



Various efforts were made, openly and surreptitiously, to 

 induce Dutchmen to settle at Yarmouth and Dover ; the king 

 even issued a declaration to encourage this in June 1672. 

 But the schemes failed, and Sir Arnold Braems suggested that 

 3000 of the amount expected to be paid by the Dutch for 

 the liberty of fishing should be devoted to bringing over 



1 A View of the Admiral Jurisdiction, <L-c., London, 1661 ; 2nd edition, 

 1685. 



2 The Jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England Asserted, London, 1686. 



