232 THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY QUESTION 



' ' August loth, 1497. Gave to him that found the New Isle, ;£ 10. 



Quoting from the Universal Traveller, we find that, 



"The next expedition was by a certain Canon of St. Paul's, whose name is not 

 known, who went, in 1527, with two ships, one cast away about Labrador, and the 

 other landed not far from Cape Breton, supposed to be in Newfoijndland." 



"In 1536, Mr. Hore, of Ldndon, set out thither with two ships, the Trinity and the 

 Minion, with a company of izo. So great were their sufferings that they slew one, 

 upon whom they repasted, and a French ship accidently came, which they seized, and, 

 being well provided of victuals, reached England. Complaint being made to Henry 

 VIII. , the King,, having found the extremity his subjects had been in, would not 

 punish them, but, out of his own money, paid the French men all they demanded, and 

 sent them home well pleased. In the reign of Edward VI., an Act was passed, 

 exempting the traders to Newfoundland, for fishing, from all duties or taxes to sail 

 thither to fish." 



"In 1597, Chas. Leish axii Abraham Van Hernick, London merchants, fitted out 

 the Hopewell a.nd the Chancewell for an expedition towards Newfoundland," 



"In 1610, Mr. Guy, of Bristol, having writ, in 1609, a treatise toncerning the 

 importance of a Colony in Newfoundland, {vfhere the English had continued Jishin^), 

 prompted the Earl of Northampton to procure a patent from James I. of this island, 

 (signed April 29th, i5io), and that nobleman, in partnership with Guy, and a fleet, 

 sent the projector, who was appointed Governor." 



Afterwards, the same nobleman, the Earl of Pembroke, and others, 

 formed a Syndicate, for the working of the fisheries within the area. 



OLIVER CROMWELL'S ACTION. 



It is well known, that Cromwell, who never lost an opportunity of 

 establishing English power abroad, in 1651, obtained that great Act — 

 which ought never to have been so extensively repealed — known as 

 " The Navigation Laws," obviously, to prevent the occurrence of such 

 claims as France now makes in Newfoundland. One clause is : — 



' ' To prevent for the time to come, and to hinder the carrying over of any such 

 persons as are enemies to the Commonwealth, or that may prove dangerous to any of 

 the English Plantations in America, the Pariiament doth forbid and prohibit all ships 

 of any foreign nation whatsoever to come to, or trade in, or traffic with, any of the 

 Enghsh Plantations in America, or any islands, ports, or places thereof, which are 

 planted by. and in possession of, the people of this Commonwealth, without licence 

 first had and obtained from the Parliament or Council of State." 



Barclay, in his Universal Traveller, says : — 



" We find also, that when Sir Antony Shirley went with his six ships, in 1596, and 

 had taken Cavalos, in the Bay of Honduras, he ' sailed for Newfoundland to get 

 recruits of men and provisions.' " 



