A DISCOURSE OF DUNKIRK, With some REFLEXES UPON The late Surrender thereof, etc.  
And other Additions, By a knowing and very worthy Person.  
LONDON: Printed by J. C. for Samuel Speed, at the Rainbow in Fleetstreet. 1664.   

A Discourse of DUNKIRK.  
IT can hardly be parallelld in Story, That any place of such Defence, as Dunkirk pretends to be, had more various turns of Fortune, and change of Masters in so short a revolution of time; For this is the fifth New-Master that Dunkirk hath had in less than the compass of XX years, whereof four of them got Her by Force; Which makes the World much question the strength and tenableness thereof.  
The late Surrender that England made of this Town to the French, though it was a pure Act of State, (therefore not disputable by any) yet being a business of that general concernment, and so open to the Eye of the world, it hath ministered matter of much Talk, and banding of Opinions among the Critics of the Times, as well Forreners as Others.  
The dessein of this small Tract is to set down the Arguments Pro and Contra, relating to this great Action: For according to the Rule of the Schools, Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt; Contraries put cross grow more clear. And as out of the Collision of Flint and Steel, there issues forth Fire, so by confrontation, and clash of Argument, Truth comes to appear more perspicuous.  

The Affirmatif Arguments for detaining of Dunkirk.  
1. IT stood convenient to invade Flanders, France, and some Territories of the Hollanders.  
2. It might have served for a Nursery of training up Soldiers.  
3. It had secured Navigation, and the Traffic of his Majesty's Subjects.  
4. It might have been brought to have been a Porto Franco, a Free Port, and so have advanced Trade.  
5. It had been a Repute for England to have kept it, And a Disparagement to part with it.   
This I believe is all that can be said for the Affirmatif part.  
BEfore Arguments be produced to the contrary, 'tis expedient that this distinction should precede, Viz.  
That there are Foreign Possessions or Places of two sorts.  
1. There are some that are got by the discovery of the Merchant, where finding the Clime temperate, the Soil healthful, and proper, by the help of Industry, to produce some Staple Commodities that may feed Trade, and be fit for Sale or Barter, He takes firm footing, puts in his Spade, and Plants. Such Transmarin Possessions carry many advantages with them; They increase Shipping and Seamen; They disburden the Kingdom of superfluous Peeple; They nourish and improve Mutual Commerce, and all this while consume nothing of the Public Treasure, but are able to subsist of themselves, The Souverain Prince giving only his Royal Protection, encouragement and countenance, with fit Governors thereunto: Virginia, Maryland, the Bermudas, Barbados, with others of the Caribbe Islands, and divers more in the Indies, are places of this nature, as Jamayca, etc. And there are great hopes that in Afric Tanger will prove so, with other extraordinary advantages besides.  
2. But there are other Foreign Possessions which cannot support themselves either by benefit of Trade, or Contributions of the adjacent Country, but are merely maintained by Praesidial Forces or Garrison, and by the exported treasure of the possessing Prince. England in Ages passed hath had divers Foreign places of this quality, But 'twas daily found, That they still Exhausted her Treasure and Armouries; They increased her cares and trouble; They begot Jealousies in her Neighbours; They disturbed her repose and quietude at home, England slept best when she was without any such. And in the procedure of this Discourse, I believe Dunkirk will appear to be a place of that nature.  
This Distinction going before, we will now take the Affirmatif Arguments for keeping of Dunkirk in their order.  
Touching the first three, 'tis true that Dunkirk by the site thereof, stands for a convenient Inlet into Flanders, and the Territories annexd; But for France and the United Provinces, there is another Prince's Country interposed before an Army can enter any of them, but may be interrupted, unless leave be granted; And to force a passage would be an infringement of the peace by the one party; And to permit a passage may be a breach of Article by the other part, being in friendship with both.  
But touching the foresaid Nations, there be choice of other places, and bold coasts far cheaper for England, and more accessible, and easy to be made use of for an Invasion in case of a war, without keeping such a costly Key as Dunkirk, yet not knowing when we should have occasion to make use of it, In regard His Majesty is at present in good terms with the said Nations, and like to continue so for the future, His Inclinations propending naturally rather to Peace then War, according to the Genius of his two blessed Immediate Predecessors. Now the keeping still of Dunkirk would have inevitably drawn a War upon us, and perchance from all the three. And let this surlice for an answer in part to the first three Arguments, till we proceed further.  
Touching the other Argument, viz. that Dunkirk might have served for a Seminary of Soldiers which England might have made use of in time of need; To this 'tis answered, That the hundred and thirty thousand Pounds Sterling that went yearly to maintain those Soldiers in Dunkirk, (and towards the fortifying thereof) which exported money may be said to be like the Soul of Judas, which never came back again, as the Italian hath it; I say, that huge sum would be far better spent at home within the Land to maintain a Military actual strength for security of Prince and Peeple against any Civil Insurrection, by constant Regiments of Horse and Foot ashore, and a Squadron of Iusty men of War at Sea, both which the Moneys that were transported weekly to Dunkirk, will be able to keep in constant pay.  
Touching the fifth Argument, viz. That the keeping of Dunkirk would have secured Navigation and Traffic; 'tis answered, That the next year after that England had a Garrison and Governor in Dunkirk, the town of Ostend & those of Biscay did us more mischief far then Dunkirk ever had done in so short a time: for the Dunkirk-Men of War going to those places, there were ships of ours of greater bulks, and richer burdens taken then before; the strength and soul of Dunkirk passing as it were by a kind of transmigration into those places. Moreover, observable it is, That when Queen Elizabeth was advisd by the Hollanders to take Dunkirk, the matter being referrd to her Privy Council, after much deliberation it was resolved, That England was better without Dunkirk then with it, and that for divers reasons of State; One whereof was, That it would be a means that English Ships of a greater burden would be built, and cause her Marchant-men to go better armed abroad, and with stouter Vessels, which in case of necessity might serve the Public.  
Touching security of Trade; 'tis well known that England hath Ports and Castles of her own, to make her Seas narrow enough for Her, to check and give Law to any that shall sail in her Channels, and consequently to defend her Merchants and others without the help of Dunkirk: But touching Trade itself, Now that Dunkirk is in Other hands, it will be much more advantageous unto England in point of Trade; for while we kept it, there was scarce any Commerce at all in that Town, or the Country about it; And far less now since the French have had it.  
Touching the making of Dunkirk a Free-Port (or a kind of Sound as that in the Baltik) 'tis but a sandy Conceit, For the Nations round about being but ill inclined unto us in this particular, we should not have been able to have beaten any considerable Trade into the Inland Countries unless we had forced it, which could not have been done without a violation of the Peace.  
Besides, how much this would have prejudicd our so long settled Staples in Dort, and Hamborough, let any man judge: But the truth is, Dunkirk is not a place proper for a Free Port, because 'tis made a Port rather by Chance then by Nature; for 'tis observed that the Harbour which goes from Mardike to Dunkirk, together with the Splinter, is accidentally caused by the great Scour that proceeds from the check, or reverberations and Eadies which the stream receaves that runs from the West 'twixt Dover and Calais, by the Cliffs which jet out from the English shore; And the shore on that side being all sand, was easily in tract of time worn into a Harbour. But such Harbours have been known to alter as the points of the Cliffs did wear out and vary, or as the sands did fill, or were washed away: whereof divers Examples may be produced, as the Port of Stavere● in Friesland, which was once a Town of much Traffik, but now is become a poor place, the Haven being choked up with sand. Add hereunto, that scarce any Boat can come to Dunkirk upon low water, but the Keel will be grating upon the sands all along; nor can any ship of any great burden come near her but upon a Springtide. 'tis also a wild kind of Harbour lying open to the Sea, without any windings or high-land shelter: so that let the wind blow from what point of the Compass it will, the ships riding there are exposed to the fury of it, and upon the dragging of an Anchor, wrecks do commonly follow upon the adjoining strand.  
Touching the punctilios of honour that England may hazard in parting with Dunkirk, 'tis answered, That 'twas nothing dishonourable for England to give away that which she never got: for indeed 'twas the French King who got it; He had a Royal Army of Effectif men both Horse and Foot to beleaguer it; 'twas His Musket that killed Marquis de Leda the brave Governor; there was only a Brigade of English Auxiliaries, who, 'tis true, performed their parts very gallantly, and did contribute much to the service: But 'twas the French King with whom the town did capitulat; 'twas to Him she opened her Gates, and gave up her Keys; 'twas He who did ride Conqueror into the place, where he put up his Standard, caused Te Deum to be sung, and so took full possession of it. 'tis true, a little after, according to private Articles with Cromwell, he left there an English Garrison, and a Scotch Governor, who had then dependence of service upon him, as having been bred in his Court; Now, the Gallican Civilians say, that Cromwell to whom the Article was made being dead, and the Government of England quite altered, (from a kind of Commonwealth to a Kingdom) the French King was not obliged to perform it longer, for in some cases, Pactum moritur cum Persona.  
Moreover, touching point of Honour, It had been (under favour) rather a kind of Dishonour that England should still hold Dunkirk: For first, it had been to continue the Fame of an infamous Rebel, in regard the world held Dunkirk to be an Acquest of His. Add herunto that the Honour of England among the wisest Nations began to be questioned both in point of Prudence and Providence, for her to export and expend such a vast treasure to hold so dry a place, (the Benefit whereof made such poor Returns) and not to accept of 400 thousand pounds Sterling En Argent comptant, specially now that there is such a general complaint of scarcity of Coin in England; whereas Hen. 8. though a high boisterous Prince, had not much above the third part of such a sum for Tournay and Terwyn, and that to be paid in twelve years by the French.  
Furthermore, by the opinion of the knowingst Commanders who had sometimes served in Flanders, & having been quartered a long time in Dunkirk, knew every inch of the unsortifiable and sandy loose instable soil about it; I say, by the Positive Opinion of old experienced English Officers, Dunkirk was not a place Tenable, she was not Leager-proof; for if she had been so, she would not have changed Masters so often in 18 years; I say, Dunkirk was not Tenable in case a numerous storming resolute Army had stood before it, (unless such another numerous Army had been in the town to oppose it) but that half that money which was given for it might have served to have regaind it, and a private sudden League might have been struck to that effect 'twixt the French, Spaniard & Hollander, or any two of them, who would have concurred in hot tertio: For they did all malign us that we kept such footing in Flanders. Nor could there ever have been a perfect Cordial Peace 'twixt us, and any of the said three Nations while we kept Dunkirk, but it would have still ministered matter of Jealousy, of Quarrels about Contributions, of Plottings ever and anon how to make us weary of holding it; which made one say, That the English settling in Dunkirk, was like the Mouse who made her Nest in the Cat's ear.  
Add herunto that 'tis well known (though not by All) that in the late Treary and transactions of Peace 'twixt France and Spain, there was a private Article relating to Dunkirk, which bound both the Kings in reciprocal ties, to the prejudice of England in this particular.  
We know that England hath had from time to time divers Extraneous Possessions of this nature; yet they were but as feathers in her Cap, never any did quit cost, or by any real advantages countervail her trouble, expenses, and hazards in keeping them. Now among all such, the town of Calais bears the nearest analogy and similitude with Dunkirk: But first we will give a touch only at the other in order of time.  
The first Foreign thing that England ever had, was Normandy, which came to be her Inheritance; a rich and copious Country, yet we could never make that Country subsist of itself, but our Money, Men, and Arms went still over to secure it. William the Conqueror, though her Native Duke, did (as an authentic Historian hath it) Angliam deglubere, He did shear England to keep it; Rufus his son did Angliam Excoriare, He did flay England to preserve it; His Granchild did Angliam emulgere usque ad sanguinem, He did milk England till the blood came forth to defend Normandy, being forced to raise 13 Castles to protect it against the Incursions of the confining French; insomuch that when the Duke of York was Regent, a computation being made of the charge in keeping Normandy, 'twas found in the Chamber of Accounts, that the Expenses from the beginning in keeping that Province exceeded the Revenues thereof three hundred forty and eight thousand pounds, which was a prodigious sum in those days.  
The next Foreign Country that came to truckle under England, was Aquitane, Guienne, and Gascony, the most exuberant and fertillst Provinces of all France, yet they could never countervail the cost, but they still drained moneys, and multitudes of men out of England, who at their returns in steed of spoils and wealth, brought nothing but poverty, and so increased the number of Beggars and thief's.  
The town of Bourdeaux herself, though a rich Mercantile City, did hardly defray the Salary of the English Praesidiary forces that were in it; and Fronsack Castle alone did cost 1000 l. per ann. as the Record hath it; As also, that it was delivered in Parliament 7 Ric. 2. that Gascony with other places we held then in France, stood England in above the Revenues thereof, 24000 l. a year.  
The benefit we received by taking footing in Armorica, or little Britain, may appear by a few examples; For 'twas declared in Parliament 3 Hen. 2. That ad defensionem Britanniae non sufficiebat the saurus totius Angliae. The Town and Castle of Breast alone cost Ric. 2, 12000 Marks a year, and the 9 of his Reign it stood in 13118 l. 18 s. 6 d. as the Record hath it.  
Touching Tournay (and Terwya) Hen. 8. spent most of that mighty treasure his parsimonious Father left him, in getting and keeping it: But finding the charge so excessive, he sold it to the French for a far smaller sum than was had for Dunkirk: For he had but 150000 l. for it, and that to be paid in twelve years, whereof some part is not paid to this day. And touching the town of Boulogne, his son Edw. 6. sold it, not many years after, but for 100000 l.  
We are now come to Calais, which notwithstanding the Contributory Territories about it be far more large than those adjoining to Dunkirk, and that the transfretation thence to England be shorter half in half, yet it stands upon good Record, That from Edw. 3. who first got it, to the 2 of Queen Mary who lost it, it cost England 337400 l. 9 s. 4 l.  
Concerning Ireland, which comes in the rank of Foreign Acquests, though it be a fruitful felf-sufficient Country, and as one said, a good fat Goose to pluck, yet the Revenues thereof never counter-balancd the charge till the Earl of Staffords time, who maybe said to be the first which made Ireland a Noun Substantif to stand by itself, without any support of treasure from England. Nor could Queen Eliz. though cried up for a great Housewife, bring it to subsist of itself, no not in time of Peace, but still Moneys were sent over from the Exchequer in Westminster, which may be seen upon exact record: But in time of War, the example of Sir John Perrot may serve for all, who in his two years' Government there, spent England 116368 l.  
The last Foreign places which England had, were the Cautionary Towns of Flushing, Brill, and the Ramakins; But when the 80000 l. for which they were hypothequd or pawned was paid King James, 'twas found that almost the whole sum had been drunk up in paying the English Garrisons all the while.  
From these Premises this Conclusion may be deducd, That no Outlandish or Transmarin Possessions (except those lately in the Indies pointed at before, which are supported by the Merchant) did ever make England thrive, but they were a cause of perpetual issues of treasure, which is the great Artery of any Country, whereby England may be said to have spent her very blood and Vital Spirits upon them from time to time.  
Now, the Reason may well be, that such Excentrique Possessions did not prosper with England, in regard that by the Primitive institution of God and Nature, the I'll of Great Britain is a complete distinct Mass of Earth, and an Empire of itself; She may be said to be as the Spaniard saith of Her, Comola Tortuga en su concha, like a Tortoise in her shell, who is so prodigiously armed, (but for Defence only) and the Divine Providence accordingly hath made Great Britain more apposite and proper to Defend, then to Extend herself further. And to that Defensive end she hath those two properties which the Philosopher requires in a strong self-preserving Country, viz. An easy Egress for the Natives who know her shallows and shelves of sands, her Flats and Rocks, etc. and a hard Ingress for the Stranger who knows them not.  
Moreover, Great Britain hath the advantage of having the best shipping of any other for her own Defence; For no Country hath such tough Oak as she hath for Knee-timber, and for other Naval uses: Her Peeple also have a Natural Dexterity and Aptitude to Navigation, with a courage extraordinary that way.  
Add herunto, that the Position of her Seas, with the straightness thereof in point of distance from her Neighbours, is such, and her Ports upon those Seas are so advantageously situated, that none can pass or repass through her Sleeve or Channels, but she may control them without the help of Dunkirk, or any other coadjuvant place on her opposite Coasts, specially at such a monstrous rate: For according to the cautious old saying, A man may buy Gold too dear.  
To conclude: Whereas some do insist much on point of Honour by parting with Dunkirk, in the judgement of the most serious and well-weighd men, it had been taken rather as a Dishonour for a King of Great Britain to distrust his strength so much, as not to be able to guard his own Seas and Subjects as his Royal Progenitors did, without the adventitious help of a Foreign place got by so notorious a Regicide, with an aim & intent to enable him the more to have still kept him out. And it may be well remembered, that his present Majesty of England appeerd then against the taking of it; to which purpose the Dukes of York and Gloucester were actually in Arms in the field for opposing it; and it was the Duke of York who gave the first charge, and did notable execution.  
Lastly, It may well stand with the reach of true Policy, and the interest of England, to leave the town of Dunkirk like a bone 'twixt France and Spain, as very probably 'tis like to prove in time. Moreover, this so near approach of the French begins already to make some Impressions of Jealousy in the Hollanders, being awakend by the old Proverb, Ayez le Francois pour ton Amy, non pas pour ton Voisin; Have the French for thy Friend, not for thy Neighbour if thou canst choose.  
Thus have we twisted this great Business upon a small bottom, for the satisfaction of every true Child of Reason, and confutation of those who, being transported by Airy Conceits, cry it down for an Unpolitik Act of State.  
Jam. Howell.   

New Additions Concerning the HARBOUR AT DUNKIRK.  
THe Sea retreats upon every ebb and low water at the least one English Mile back from the Harbour, so that the Harbour is all dry, and a man may go along the deepest part of the said Harbour with his shoes dry a Mile towards the Sea.  
And at the highest Springtide there is no deeper water at the coming in, or at the going out of the Harbour at the utmost, but 15 English foot.  
Insomuch, That no Ships or Vessels can go out, or come into the said Harbour, which go deeper than 11 or 12 foot; and when the Ships or Vessels which go deep 11 or 12 foot, that must be just at the highest Springtide, within an hours time before the water begins to ebb or fall, and that the weather and Sea be smooth and calm, otherwise if the Sea be rough and tumbling, the Ships or Vessels by the cappling of the Sea will strike to the ground, and break themselves in an hundred pieces, as very often is seen, if they take not great heed. The Ground within and without the Harbour is hard all over, and the Ships or Vessels within must lie at every ebb of the water upon the hard ground, in danger to crack and break themselves by their own weight, with that of their Ordnance and Lading.  
And every Frigate, Ship or Vessel of about 180 or 200 Tun in burden, with their Cargos, and Ordnance, and Provision in it, goes at the least 12 or 13 foot deep: insomuch that Dunkirk is only a Harbour for small Vessels and Boats, such as their first and former Trade of Fishing and drying of Herrings was; and nothing at all fit for any men of War, or Ships of consequence.  
The Splinter or Schourtien of Mardike, which is a Creek along the Sea there, about an English Mile in length, accidentally occasioned by the current of the Sea all along the shore, or coast, is of a much deeper water, and of more consequence than the Harbour of Dunkirk but it lies so open to the Sea, that by hard winds and stress of weather no ships can possibly ride there in winter but are in danger to break their Cables, and be cast upon the shore by any Westerly Winds.  
The Splinter or Schourtien goes not to the Harbour of Dunkirk, but is by one Mile or more short of the Harbour: but if any Ships will go from thence to Dunkirk, they must pass over a hard s●ndy Bank, where no Ships can go over which go deeper than 8 or 9 foot at the highest Springtide; and that must be with a calm water, or smooth Sea.  
And for to gain two foot deeper, all Ships that are of any considerable burden, must go round about, and backwards by the Sea to come into Dunkirk at the highest Springtide, over the sand-banks, which are a great many, all about, two or three Leagues broad near the said Harbour and Seashore, and very movable, and altering upon every stress of weather, so that most great Ships or Men of War going from thence are put to the trouble to provide themselves with an extraordinary Pilot, or Costerer, as they call him, by reason of the said shelves and banks of sands, between which the Holland's Men of War were used to lie at Anchor, but in Summer only.  
Captain Cadde and others have made several Sea-Maps of the said sandy Banks for their better information, which are printed, and may be had for 6 or 8 d. apiece.  
Dunkirk is not worth the tenth part of the Charges which a Garrison must needs cost to keep the said Town, if the King of England, the King of France, or the States of Holland should possess it.  
And indeed it is not fitting for any to hold, excepting it be for the King of Spain, whose Country lies round about it, being a fit Port for his subjects, & their in ward Commerce, and commodity of Trading, because the King of Spain needs not have any greater Garrison therein then two, three or four Companies of Foot-soldiers to keep the Inhabitants in obedience.  
Moreover, Dunkirk is enclosed, bounded and confined between Gravelling, Bourborgh, Linken, Wynox-Bergen, Honscatey, Furne and Newport: so that the Garrisons in Dunkirk can go no further, nor have any Contribution beyond it out of any Friends or Enemy's Country; being so narrowly encompassed, that it is not possible to maintain and nourish the tenth part of the Garrison with Victuals, if they be not supplied from abroad ever and anon.  
Now, if Dunkirk should have a bold and venturous Enemy coming from or along the Seashore, the said Enemy may lodge himself the first night between the Fort rouge and the Harbour, and be Master of the said Harbour the first night, so that no Vessel can go out, nor come in, or subsist in the said Harbour, but may be be battered in pieces: whereby 'tis no hard matter to destroy also the Brickwall between the Town and the Harbour levelly to the ground, and so take the Town that way by a Ship-bridge over the said Harbour, or at low water, in spite of all their fortifications round about it.  
But to think to make there a kind of Sound, as that in the Baltik Sea between Elsenore and Elsenborg, which are but one League distance the one from the other, is but a shallow imagination: for England could not do it when she had Calis by reason of the great distance the one from the other, which is seven Leagues from Dover; and much less likely is such a thing to be done between Dover and Dunkirk, being twelve Leagues distant the one from the other: besides, the impeachment of the many shallows, and ill-favoured banks under water in the Sea, & the contrary courses of the streams, occasioned by the said banks, make commonly the passage more confused and incertain by many hours difference in sailing.  
J. Haes Donke.  
FINIS.   

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FINIS.