The French, indeed, during the reign of Louis XIV. had encroached at all points on the English trade, especially on her fisheries at Newfoundland; hence William III. in his declaration of war against that country in 1689, intimated “that whereas not long since the French had been accustomed to take licences from the British governor of Newfoundland for fishing in the seas upon that coast, and to pay tribute for such licences as an acknowledgment of the sole right of the Crown of England to that island, yet of late their encroachments upon his subjects’ trade and fishery there had been more like the invasions of an enemy than of becoming friends who enjoyed the advantages of the said trade only by permission.” But the capture of Nova Scotia at the commencement of this war restored English supremacy in that quarter. The preamble of an Act passed in 1698 for the encouragement of the trade with Newfoundland, declared it to be a beneficial trade to Great Britain, not only in so far as it employed great numbers of ships and seamen in those fisheries, but also in that it procured returns of valuable commodities direct from other countries in exchange for the produce of those fisheries. The prevailing customs at the fisheries were sanctioned expressly in this Act, one of the most important being that the master of any vessel from England who happened first to enter any harbour or creek in the island after the 25th of March should be admiral of the said harbour or creek during the ensuing fishing season, and should see the rules and orders laid down in the Act duly put into execution within the limits of the jurisdiction thus assigned to him. It was also expressly enacted that no subject of any foreign power “shall at any time hereafter take any bait, or use any sort of trade or fishing in Newfoundland, or in any of the adjacent islands;” though this complete exclusion of other rivals was not persevered in. [Sidenote: Greenland fishery.]