\ 
acknowledgment of the King of Eng- 
Jand’s Dominion of the Sea, is included 
in that of having his flag refpeéted. For 
Dominion is furely a matter of tranfcen- 
dantly greater importance than refpect, 
and the lels can never include the greater. 
a 2. We require this falutation from the 
Dutch in the Seas from Cape Finifterre to 
Vanftaten, in the Bay of Bifcay and Sea 
“of Norway, where the crown of England 
claims no dominion: and it would be a 
contradiétion to require from the Durch an 
acknowledgment of the Crown of En- 
gland’s Dominion in thofe Seas, where the 
Crown of England itfelf acknowledges to 
have no Dominion. 
The Britifh Seas found fomewhat like 
the Seas appertaining to Britain, and the 
Dutch, by ftriking their flag, and low- 
ering their topfails, in thofe Seas, feem, to 
fome at leat, to acknowledge as much : 
but what has England to do with the ‘Bay 
of Bifcay, or Sea of Norway? From 
Cape Finifterre to Vanftaten is indeed the 
greater ftride, but then it has weakened 
the ground on which we ftand. 
The limits fixed between the two Capes 
are too wide for a dominion, too narrow 
for arefpect. They are too wide for do- 
minion on this account: becaufe we 
ought not to require an acknowledgment 
beyoud our claim. ‘The former articles re- 
quire the honour of the flag from the 
Dutch in the Britifh Seas, to fupport a 
claim in the crown to the dominion of thofe 
Seas; but, to require it where we pretend 
no dominion, is to defeat our own preten- 
fions. Itis fo far from being a claim, 
that it is rather a difclaim: and as,on the 
one hand, the limits are too large fora do- 
minion, fo, on the other, they are too nar- 
row fora refpeét; for, though the Crown 
of England can claim no dominio..in any 
Sea but the Britifl only, yet it claims a 
refpect every where, and in all Seas. Why 
then confine it within the two Capes? 
Why not require it within the Baltic and 
the aati Why not before the 
ports of Cadiz, Genoa, and Leghorn, and 
all the other ports of Europe? The more 
public and univertal an honour is, the 
greater it 1s. 
Thus, whilft we confound refpect with 
dominion, and extend dominion beyond 
our claim, we are in danger of lofing both. 
It is evident, that all the advantages of the 
laft-mentioned article lean to Holland, and 
not to England, and there is one more not 
yet touched on, which is this—That 
whereas the Dutch were obliged, by for- 
Olfervations on the Dominion of the Sea. 
501 
mer Treaties, to ftrike their flag to the 
fhips of England in the Briti/b Seas, and 
‘the boundaries and dimenfions of thofeSeas 
were never afcertained, this gave occafion 
to fome of our Captains, how juttly I do 
not fay, to require from the Dutch the ho 
nour of the flag wherever they met them, 
and all Seas were Britz/h with them where 
they were ftrongeft. But the matter now 
being reduced to certainty, and the mea- 
fures fixed between Cape and Cape, the 
Dutch are better fecured for the future 
againft caufelefs moleftation. 
By what I have faid, it is eafy to per- 
ceive, that the Dominion of the Seas runs 
higher amongft us in printed books, and 
in ordinary difcourfe, than it does in prac- 
tice, or our public Treaties with foreign 
nations; and yet then is the moft proper 
time toinfit vpon it, if it will abide the 
teft. 
Upon the whole, I think this article in 
the Treaty of 1673 will only entangle us 
in new difficulties, if the example of the 
Dutch is ever to be quoted in fupport of our 
claims, or the quefticn as to the Dominion 
of the Sea ever again agitated. It is 
hard to untie the knot. Shall we cut it ? 
and either wave the queftion of the flag 
on both fides, by mutual agreement, as that 
which carrics more mifchief than benefit; 
or elfe ftate it upon an even footings: that 
the lefs number on each fide ftrike to the 
greater. Cardinal Richelieu, in his Poli- 
tical Teflament, propofes, with regard to 
the French, that they fhould ftrike to us 
on our fide of the Channel, as far as mid- 
fea over, and we, in like manner, to them 
on their fide, But there are many among{t 
us, who would not delay then crying out, 
Ichabod—the glory isdeparted from En- 
gland } ‘ 
The hafty and inconfiderate belief of 
fome late opinions of a plaufible ftrain, 
and foothing to the national vanity, fof- 
tered and fupported by the credit of per- 
{ons in high reputation for learning, will, 
in my opinion, be found, in the end, if 
carried to .the extent propofed, to involve 
the Crown of England in great inconve- 
niences. 
Thefe obfervations. were written fome 
months ago, when the f{ubjeét was more 
immediately before the public eye. The 
daily-expectted Commercial Treaty may, 
however, render them ufeful in guiding an 
opinion, and occafion me to enter intoa 
further and more extenfive difcuffion of 
the fubject. 
Sept, 1802. 
3:82 For 
