ther officer, upon pain of death; and
furthermore, whatsoever he be that shall strike any inferior person, he
shall receive punishment according to the offence given, be it by death
or otherwise."

Most of these articles are still in force; but the first, excellent as
they are, have unhappily too often been set at nought by officers and
men.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

JAMES THE FIRST--FROM A.D. 1567 TO A.D. 1625.

As James the First was totally unacquainted with nautical affairs,
having possessed no fleet when King of Scotland, disputes constantly
arose respecting the honour of the flag, which the English claimed, and
this induced the famous Hugo Grotius to write a treatise, in which he
endeavoured to prove the futility of their title to the dominion of the
sea. England, however, still maintained her right to be saluted by the
ships of all other nations, and the learned Selden supported the
English, asserting that they had a hereditary and uninterrupted right to
the sovereignty of the seas, conveyed to them by their ancestors in
trust for their latest posterity. During this period numerous colonies
were settled, and the commerce of England extended in all directions by
her brave navigators. The navy was not neglected, twenty ships being
added by the king, and 50,000 pounds voted for the maintenance of the
fleet. In the year 1610 the largest ship of war yet constructed in
England was built by order of the king, and called the _Prince_. Her
keel was 114 feet, her cross-beam was 44 feet in length. She carried
sixty-four pieces of great ordnance, and she was of the burden of 1400
tons. She was double built, and adorned most sumptuously within and
without with all manner of curious carving, painting, and rich gilding,
being in all respects the greatest and goodliest ship that ever was
built in England. Raleigh's remarks to Prince Henry on the subject are
worthy of note, though it appears his advice was not followed. He
recommended that the intended vessel should be of smaller size than the
_Victory_, in order that the timber of the old ship might serve for the
new. "If she be bigger," he remarks, "she will be of less use, go very
deep to water, and be of mighty charge (our channels decaying every
year), less nimble, less manageable, and seldom to be used. A
well-conditioned ship should be, in the first instance, strongly built;
secondly, swift in sail; thirdly, stout sided; fourthly, her ports ought
to be so laid t