Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/489

 And certeinly he was a good felawe. Ful many a draught of wyn had he drawe From Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapman sleep. Of nyce conscience took he no keep. If that he foughte, and hadde the heigher hand, By water he sente hem hoom to every land. But of his craft to rikne wel the tydes, His stremes and his dangers him bisides, His herbergh and his mone, his lodemenage, Ther was non such from Hulle to Cartage. Hardy he was, and wys to undertake; With many a tempest hadde his berd ben schake. He knew wel alle the havenes, as thei were, From Scotlond to the Cape of Fynestere, And every cryk in Bretayne and in Spayne; His barge y-clepud was the Magdelayne."

It was, however, impossible, even with the aid of such daring and skilful mariners, for England to maintain her position at sea, or her commerce, in the face of the laws we have attempted briefly to describe, and the lawless acts of too many of those of her people engaged in maritime pursuits.

The reign of Henry IV., opening with conspiracies at home and troubles abroad, afforded at first little hope of improvement in the laws affecting English maritime commerce; that monarch, however, was able to make arrangements with Prussia so as to restore the long interrupted commercial intercourse between the two countries; while two years later he concluded a treaty with the Hanse Towns. By this treaty were also settled many claims of those merchants and ship-owners against English cruisers, who, however, in turn, alleged that their property had been captured and destroyed by the Prussians, and