claims the Indians for his subjects, as if forsooth they also were subject unto him, who are neither under his authority nor protection; yet we maintain, that neither the pope nor the king of Spain is invested with any such power, as either to rob them of their liberty, or us of the privilege of conversing and trading with them, which we have by the law of nature and nations, but especially with those who, as we formerly observed, are not under the power and government of the king of Spain.

Another obstacle to our renewing an alliance with Spain is sufficiently manifest, and at the same time very remarkable; which is this, that any of our ambassadors and public ministers who are sent into that kingdom, either for the sake of cultivating a good understanding, or about any other business, betwixt the two commonwealths, are altogether uncertain of their lives, the king being tied down to such opinions, as hinder him from providing for their safety against murderers, so as they may not be always in the most imminent danger; whose privileges, in order to keep up and preserve friendship between princes and commonwealths, have by the law of nations been always considered as inviolable, and as a thing much more sacred than those altars of refuge, whose privileges, built on the authority of the pope and the church of Rome, have been hitherto applied to elude the force of laws and justice, which we demanded should be put in execution against the murderers of Mr. Anthony Ascham, who was sent by this republic into Spain, to procure and establish friendship betwixt the two nations. For which barbarous murder there has never as yet been any satisfaction made, nor punishment inflicted on the authors of it, nor could this ever be obtained, though it was demanded by the parliament; * and in their name several times urged with the greatest warmth

This is evident from the parliament's letter, signed by the hand of the speaker, to the king of Spain, in the month of January, 1650, the words whereof are as follow:-"We demand of your majesty, and insist upon it, that public justice be at length satisfied for the barbarous murder of ADthony Ascham, our resident at your court, and the rather, that after we have seen condign punishment inflicted on the authors of such a detestable crime, we may be in no fear hereafter to send our ambassador to your royal court, to lay before you such things as may be equally advantageous to your ma jesty and our commonwealth. On the contrary, if we should suffer that blood, the shedding whereof was a thing in many respects so remarkably

by the council of state. And this has been hitherto one continued obstacle, and a very just one too, to the renewing of an alliance betwixt the two nations; nay, if we consider how other nations have frequently acted in like cases, it may be considered as a very just cause for war.

But as to the disputes that have arisen in the West Indies, though we, both in the continent itself, and in the islands, have plantations as well as they, and have as good, nay, a better right to possess them, than the Spaniards have to possess theirs, and though we have a right to trade in those seas, equally good with theirs; yet, without any reason, or any damage sustained, and that when there was not the least dispute about commerce, they have been continually invading our colonies in a hostile way, killing our men, taking our ships, robbing us of our goods, laying waste our houses and fields, imprisoning and enslaving our people: this they have been doing all along till these present times, wherein they have of late engaged in an expedition against them.

For which reason, contrary to what used to be done formerly in the like case, they have detained our ships and merchants, and confiscated their goods almost everywhere through the Spanish dominions; so that whether we turn our eyes to America or Europe, they alone are undoubtedly to be considered as the authors of the war, and the cause of all the inconveniences and all the bloodshed with which it may possibly be attended.

There are a great many instances of the most cruel and barbarous treatment, the English have perpetually met with from the Spaniards in the West Indies; and that even in time of peace, both since the year 1604, when the peace was patched up by king James, till the time that the war broke out again, and since that last peace, which was concluded in the year 1630, to this very day. We shall only mention a few of them.*

horrible, to pass unrevenged, we must of necessity be partakers in that detestable crime in the sight of God, our only deliverer and the eternal fountain of our mercies, and in the eye of the whole English nation; especially if ever we should send any other of our countrymen into that kingdom, where murder is allowed to go quite unpunished. But we have so great an opinion of your majesty, that we will not easily be brought to believe that your royal authority is subjected to any other power superior to it within your own dominions."

• As a ship called the Ulysses was trading along the coast of Guiana, the

After a peace was concluded in the year 1605, a ship called the Mary, Ambrose Birch commander, was trading on the north coast of Hispaniola: the master being allured with promises of a safe and free commerce, by one father John and six of his accomplices, to go ashore to see some goods, twelve Spaniards in the meanwhile going aboard to see the English goods, while the English, suspecting no frauds, were shewing them their wares, the priest giving a signal from the shore, the Spaniards every man drew his dagger, and stabbed all the English that were in the ship, except two who leaped into the sea, and the rest ashore were put to death with an unparalleled cruelty; the master himself stript of his clothes, and fastened to a tree, was exposed naked to be bit by the flies and vermin. And after he had continued in this miserable case for the space of twenty hours, a negro, hearing his groans, came to the place, and as he was just on the point of expiring, stabbed him with a spear. This ship with her goods was valued at 5,4007.

Another ship called the Archer was taken at St. Domingo, and all the sailors put to death. She was reckoned worth 1,3007.

Another ship, called the Friendship, of London, with her loading, was taken by Lodowic Fajard, admiral of the Spanish fleet, all her goods confiscated, and the merchants and mariners thrown into the sea, except one boy, who was reserved for a slave. This ship with her loading was estimated at 1,500l.

The sailors going ashore out of another ship, called the Scorn, (the Spaniards having solemnly sworn they would do them no prejudice,) were all nevertheless bound to trees and merchants and sailors happened to go ashore, by the persuasion of Berry, governor of that place, who had promised, nay, even sworn that they should receive no hurt; nevertheless there were thirty of them taken and committed to prison. Upon which the governor writes a letter to the merchant, -acquainting him that he had indeed taken thirty of his men, and that be-cause some foreigners, who had come there to trade with them, had defrauded him of 20,000 ducats, which, if he would send him, he swore he would restore all his men, and allow him the liberty of commerce. merchant sent him the sum he demanded, part in ready money, part in goods, which after the governor had received, he ordered all the thirty men to be fastened to trees and strangled, except the chirurgeon, who was reserved to cure the governor of a certain disease. This ransom, together with other damages sustained there, was computed at 7,000l.

The

strangled. The ship with all her goods was seized, and the merchants, to whom she belonged, lost at this time 1,500l.

In the year 1606, a ship called the Neptune, was taken at Tortuga, by the Spanish guarda costas, valued at 4,3007. * The same year, another ship, called the Lark, was taken by Lodowic Fajard, and confiscated, with all her loading, valued at 4,5701.

Another, called the Castor and Pollux, was taken by the Spaniards at Florida, by whom she was confiscated, and all her sailors either killed or made slaves; for they were never heard of afterwards. This vessel with her loading was valued at 15,000/.+

In the year 1608, a Plymouth ship called the Richard, commanded by Henry Challins, fitted out at the expense of Lord Popham, lord-chief-justice of England, Ferdinand Gorges, knight, and others, to go to Virginia, happening to be driven by stress of weather upon the southern part of the Canary Islands, in her way from thence to the coast of Virginia, she chanced to fall in with eleven Spanish ships returning from St. Domingo, who seized her; and though the captain, to rescue himself out of their hands, produced a royal passport, yet the ship with all her goods was confiscated, the captain himself barbarously used by them, and sent to the galleys. This was a damage of more than 2,500/.

A ship called the Aid, was served much the same way by Lodowic Fajard, having been taken under pretence of friendship; she too with her goods was confiscated, and all the sailors sent to the galleys, where some were cudgelled to death for refusing to ply the oars. Which vessel with her goods, by the Spaniards' own estimation, was worth 7,0007.

The same year another ship, called the gallant Anne, William Curry commander, as she was trading at Hispaniola, was likewise confiscated with all her goods, and all the sailors hanged; each of them, by way of ridicule, having a piece of

John Davis lost two ships with all their goods, and the Spaniards slew all the men that were aboard of them, to the entire loss of that voyage, and this was computed at 3,500/.

+ Another ship belonging to some London merchants, John Lock commander, was taken by the Spanish fleet, at the isle of Tortuga, because she had been trading there, and had felled some trees; for this she was confiscated, most of the sailors put to death, and the rest condemned to the galleys. This was esteemed a loss of 5,3001.

paper sewed to his coat, which had these words written upon it, "Why came ye hither?" This ship with her burden was valued at 8,000l. These instances do sufficiently shew what kind of peace the Spaniards maintained with us during the reign of king James, who was always very much afraid of breaking the peace with them. And we may also plainly discover the same acts of hostility and barbarous treatment ever since the last peace, which was made in the year 1630, to this very day. For this end we will first speak a little of those colonies that were planted by some noblemen of this nation, in the isle of Catelina, which they call the isle of Providence, and the island of Tortuga, by them called the island of Association. These islands about the year 1629, being then quite uninhabited, having neither men nor cattle in them, were seized by the English, who at that time were at war with the Spaniards. The year following, when peace was established betwixt the two nations, the Spaniards having made no exception about these islands, king Charles, in a charter under the great seal of England, declared himself master of the isle of Providence and some other islands adjacent to it, which he thought no way inconsistent with this peace, and gave them in possession to some noblemen and their heirs; and next year he extended this grant to the isle of Tortuga.

And though the above-mentioned planters had got possession of these islands by the king's grant, and though this grant was exceeding well founded, first, on the law of nature, since neither the Spaniards, nor any other people whatever, were in possession of these places when they seized them; and secondly, on the right of war, since they were taken possession of in time of war, and were not excepted in the articles of peace, whence it follows from the second article of the last treaty, that the title of the Spaniards to these islands (even supposing they had had one) was made null by their own consent; and though likewise, neither the aforesaid company of planters in general, nor any one of them in particular, by any action of theirs had given any just cause of offence, either to the king of Spain or to any of his subjects, till they had first in a violent manner attacked our ships and colonies, and had slain several of the English, and set fire to their houses; yet the Spaniards, being firmly resolved to break the peace in these places, about the twenty-second of January, 1632, without any the least