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CHAPTER II. 



THE FISHERIES. 



IT was with respect to the right of fishery on the British 

 coasts that the claim to maritime sovereignty was revived in 

 the seventeenth century, and with which it was chiefly con- 

 cerned. The " honour of the flag," however gratifying to 

 national pride or important in the international relations of 

 England, was unprofitable, and served at best to stimulate and 

 maintain the spirit of the nation for power and adventure on 

 the sea. But the question of free or licensed fishing touched 

 the profit as well as the " honour " of the king and the pros- 

 perity of the people, and hence the monarchs of the Stuart line, 

 the Commonwealth, and the Protector strove to impose tribute 

 on foreign fishermen for the liberty to fish in the British seas. 

 This policy was in direct opposition to that which had long 

 prevailed in England. It is shown below that the freedom of 

 fishing on the English coast had been guaranteed to foreign 

 fishermen by a series of treaties extending over some centuries, 

 and that in point of fact the fishermen of various nations had 

 immemorially frequented the British seas in large numbers, 

 and there peacefully pursued their business of catching fish 

 without molestation or interruption by the English Govern- 

 ment. In some respects this liberty enjoyed was remarkable, 

 when one considers the practice in many other countries and 

 the value of the fisheries. 



In the early and middle ages the sea fisheries were indeed 

 much more important relatively than they are now. There 

 was a greater demand for fish, and fishermen from various 



o 



countries from France, Flanders, Spain, and England made 

 long and distant voyages, extending to Iceland and even beyond 



