Chapter 2

That all other Englishe trades are growen beggerly or daungerous, especially daungerous in all the Kinge of Spayne his domynions, where our men are dryven to flinge their bibles and prayer bookes into the sea, and to forsweare and renounce¹ their relligion and conscience, and consequently their obedience² to her Majesty³.

Wee are nowe to consider the qualitie and condition of all the trades which at this day are frequented by our nation. And firste, to begynne southwarde, and so come to the northe; leavinge Bresill and Guynea where wee have little to doe, let us firste speake of our trade in Barbarie. Barbary If any of our shippes tradinge thither⁴ be dryven upon the coaste of Spaine, and that proofe may be made that wee have bene there, they make it a very sufficient cause of confiscation⁵ of shippe and goodds, and so they thruste our men into the Inquisition, chardging them that they bringe armour⁶, munition⁷, and forbidden merchandize to strengthen the infidells againste these partes of Christendome; which thinge is comitted to printe and confessed by all our marchants tradinge thither. And thoughe our men escape the Spaniardes tyrannie, yet at the deathe of the prince in Barbary, all our mennes goodds there are subjecte to the spoile, the custome of the contrie permitting the people to robbe and rifle until another kinge be chosen, withoute making any kinde of restitution⁸. Besides that inconvenience, the traficque groweth daily to worse termes then heretofore. I omytt to shewe here howe divers¹⁰ have bene undon by their servauntes which have become renegadoes, of whome by the custome of the contrie their masters can have no manner of recovery, neither call them into justice.46

The Domynions of the Kinge of Spayne. In all the Kinge of Spaines domynions our men are either inforced with wounded consciences to playe the dissemblinge hipocrites, or be drawen to mislike with the state of relligion mainteyned at home, or cruelly made away in the Inquisition. Moreouer, he being our mortall enemye, and his empire of late beinge increased so mightely, and our necessitie of oiles and colours for our clothinge trade being so greate, he may arreste almoste the one halfe of our navye, our traficque and recourse being so greate to his domynions.

For the new trade in Turky, besides the greate expences in mayneteyninge a kind of embassador at Constantinople, and in sendinge of presentes to Selym the Graunde Segnior, and to divers of his insatiable bassoes, our marchantes are faine with large rewardes to gratifie the Knightes of Malta, in whose daunger their shippes must often passe. Moreover that trade is so moche to the detrymente of the State of Venice, and all the other States of Italie, that they are dayly occupied in seekinge howe they may overthrow¹¹ the same. Neither is it the leaste incomoditie that our shippes are contynually assaulted by the corsaries and pirates and gallies of Algiers, by which they had a rich shippe, called the Mary Martin, soncke this yere; and the last yere another was taken at Trypoly in Barbary, and the master with another hanged, and the reste made slaves. Besides, the barke Reynoldes was arrested at Malta, and at lengthe with moche adoe delivered.47

France. To leave the Levant and to come to France, the traficque there of myne owne knowledge48 is growen to such decaye, partely by the impositions and taxes which are daily devised by the kinges partely by their subtil sleights and devices to confiscate¹² our clothes for insufficient¹³ workemanshippe, and partely by their owne labour in makinge more and better clothe then heretofore they were accustomed, that our men for the moste parte are wearye of the contrie, and some of them utterly¹⁴ undone¹⁵ by their subtill and unconcionable wranglinge. Flaunders. As for all Flaunders and the Lowe Contries, these eightene yeres moste cruell civill warres have so spoiled the traficque there, that there is nothinge but povertie and perill, and that which is worse, there is no hope of any spedy amendemente.

Estlande. To come to the Esterlinges and the trades with the cities within the Sounde of Denmarke, they beinge deprived of the olde priviledges of the Stilliarde here in London, have not only offred our men at home many injuries in their cities, but seeke all the meanes they can devise wholy to cutt of all our occupienge that way; and to the same purpose have lately cleane debarred our men of their accustomed and auncient priviledges in all their greate townes. Denmarke. Also the exactions of the Kinge of Denmarke at our passage in and oute by the Sounde to Lubecke, Danske, Elvinge, Rye, Revell, and the Narve, besides the power that he hath to arreste all our shippes within the Sounde at his pleasure, are twoo no small inconveniences and myschefes.

Russye. Our trade into Muscovye ys the laste, which was so chardgeable in the begynnynge, what with the coste of the discoverie, what with presentes to the Emperour, together with the disorderly dealinge of their factors, that it stoode them in fourscore thousande poundes before they broughte it to any goodd passe. And nowe after longe hope of gayne, the Hollanders, as also the men of Diepe, are entred into their trade by the Emperours permission; yea, whereas at the firste our men paid no custome, of late yeres, contrarie to their firste priviledge, they have bene urged to pay yt. Also the chardges of bringinge the Emperours embassador hither, and mayneteyninge him here, and the settinge furthe of her Majesties¹⁶ embassadour thither with presentes to the Emperour, lyenge all upon the poore marchantes neckes, is no easie burden unto their shoulders. And to encrease the some, the Kinge of Denmarke requireth a tribute of them, thoughe they touche not upon any of his domynions. And nowe the Emperour of Russia beinge late deade,50 yt is greately feared that the voyadge wilbe utterly ouerthrowen, or els become not worthe the contynuaunce.

Thus hauinge regarde unto the premisses, yt behoveth us to seeke some newe and better trade, of lesse daunger and more securitie, of lesse dammage, and of more advauntage; the rather to avoide the wilfull perjurie of suche of our Englishe nation as trade to Spaine and other of Kinge Phillipps domynions, where this oathe followinge ys usually ministred unto the master of our shippes. Firste, he willeth the master to make a crosse with his fore⁹ finger and his thombe, layenge one ouer the other crosswise. This beinge don, he saieth these wordes followinge: You shall sweare to speake the truthe of all thinges that shalbe asked of you, and yf you doe not, that God demaunde yt of you: and the Englishe master muste saye, Amen. You shall sweare by that crosse that you bringe no man in your shippe but suche as are goodd christians¹⁷, and doe beleue as our Catholicke Churche of Rome dothe beleve. Nexte, that you bringe no manner of bookes but suche as are allowed by our Catholicke Churche of Rome; and that you use no manner of prayers but suche as are allowed by our Churche of Rome. What marchandize bringe you; suche and suche. We will and commaunde you and your companie to come on land to masse every Sonday and holy day, upon paine of discommunication. Then they open their chestes, and looke if the master and maryners bringe any bookes with them in their chests. This don, the officers that come with the preestes aske of the master and maryners chese, butter, befe, bacon, and candles, as beggers, and they give it to them for feare they have of them, and so they goe from the shippes with their walletts full of victualls. The master doth pay four ryalls of plate for the barke that bringeth them aboorde to visite them. Thus is wilfull perjurye permitted by the governours if they knowe it. Thus the covetous¹⁸ marchante wilfully¹⁹ sendeth headlonge to hell from day to day the poore subjectes of this realme. The marchant in England cometh here devoutly²⁰ to the communyon, and sendeth his sonne into Spaine to here masse. These thinges are kepte secrete²¹ by the marchantes, and suche as depende upon the trade of marchandize are lothe to utter the same.

1 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

2 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

3 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

4 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

5 confiscation   

n. 没收, 充公, 征收

参考例句：

• Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 没收一切流亡分子和叛乱分子的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Confiscation of smuggled property is part of the penalty for certain offences. 没收走私财产是对某些犯罪予以惩罚的一部分。

6 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

7 munition   

n.军火；军需品；v.给某部门提供军火

参考例句：

• The rebels bombed the munition factory.叛军轰炸了兵工厂。
• The soldiers had plenty of arms and munition!士兵们有充足的武器和弹药！

8 restitution   

n.赔偿；恢复原状

参考例句：

• It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿，这是再公平不过的了。
• The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。

9 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

10 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

11 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

12 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

13 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

14 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

15 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

16 majesties   

n.雄伟( majesty的名词复数 )；庄严；陛下；王权

参考例句：

• Their Majesties will open the new bridge today. 国王和王后陛下今天将为新桥落成剪彩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He beseeched me to entreat your Majesties to hear and see the matter. 他拜托我一定请陛下二位也来看戏。 来自辞典例句

17 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

18 covetous   

adj.贪婪的，贪心的

参考例句：

• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。
• He raised his head,with a look of unrestrained greed in his covetous eyes.他抬起头来，贪婪的眼光露出馋涎欲滴的神情。

19 wilfully   

adv.任性固执地；蓄意地

参考例句：

• Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
• These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒，干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书

20 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

21 secrete   

vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘

参考例句：

• The pores of your body secrete sweat.身上的毛孔分泌汗液。
• Squirrels secrete a supply of nuts for winter.松鼠为准备过冬而藏坚果。