OUR SEA FISHEEIES. 217 



and ling whicli we got thence were enormous, wliUe 

 the Banks formed the best school for sailors we had. 

 Let us see what Mr. Andrews has to say about New- 

 foundland. Quoting from a paper read by him before 

 the Eoyal Society of Dublin, I find the following. 

 Speaking to the same effect that I have, of the im- 

 portance of our fisheries, as a school and training- 

 ground for sailors, he says : — 



" In 1663, a document was issued by Charles the 

 First, and directed to the Lord Treasurer and others, 

 desiring them 'to erect a common fishery for the 

 nursery of seamen,' which contained the first regula- 

 tions for the governing of his Majesty's subjects ' in- 

 habiting in Newfoundland, and trafficking in bays ; ' 

 but from the earliest periods the policies pursued by 

 the Grovemment, especially the Board of Trade, tended 

 much to weaken the position of the original settlers 

 there, and to damp their energy and perseverance in 

 extending the fisheries. The Act, however, of 10th 

 and 11th of WiUiam and Mary, declares the fisheries 

 of Newfoundland a beneficial trade to the kingdom, 

 in the employment of a great number of seamen and 

 ships, by the increase of her Majesty's revenue, and 

 the encouragement of trade and navigation. The 

 same parliament came to a resolution, ' That the 

 fisheries and trade of Newfoundland do very much 



