In all the series of changes mentioned in this and the previous chapter direct evidence is given that the "commonly called Union Jack" of James was only an "additional" flag; that having been considered the "King's Jack," it had not officially displaced the local national Jacks, and that, although it had superseded them as a single flag on the Royal Navy, it had never been introduced into the paramount and national ensign of the nation. Such, then, was the origin and evolution of the Ensign Red, the national ensign of the British people, and which formed, with the changes made in the Jack in the subsequent reigns of Queen Anne and George III., the basis of the present "Red Ensign" of the British Empire. Our national ensign tells us how from its very origin it signified the progress of constitutional rule. The Royal Standard of Charles I. at the stern was the expression of absolute rule by the King without the control of Parliament; the Commonwealth Ensign told of the absolute rule of Parliament without the King; the Ensign Red at the stern recorded the coming of constitutional government by both King and Parliament; and so our Red Ensign still tells the story of British constitutional rule by sovereign and people, represented in their united power by this Union Ensign flying at the stern of all British ships and over all the British lands which bear it united allegiance. CHAPTER X. _THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS._ THE FIGHT FOR THE FLAG. At the close of the first historic period of the St. George Jack we saw it reigning supreme upon the seas around the shores of England. The great Armada had, in 1588, been met and shattered, and its squadrons so relentlessly pursued around the British Isles that but a remnant remained to struggle back to Spain and tell the story of their defeat. After such a victory as this the red cross flag of the "Navie Royall" sailed the Narrow Seas with more assurance than ever, claiming and receiving the obeisance of all vessels that were passing by. The ancient policy of Alfred and of John had been as much esteemed during this Elizabethan period, and its principles adhered to as earnestly and for the same reason as in the earliest days; but the increase of merchant shipping and the rise of the business fleets of England now gave a new reason for its being maintained beyond the old one of self-defence. With the advent of long-distance voyages riches were now to be found beyond the confines of the Narrow Seas. Sir Walter Raleigh stated the new reason with a terseness which four centuries of phrase-making has not since excelled. Said he: "_Whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself_."