they had secured my people below, and after found me lying on the deck.
One of them said, 'Here is one of the poor fellows dead.' Another made
answer, 'Put the man below.' He answered again, 'What use is it to put a
dead man below?' and so passed on. So I laid there very quiet for near
the space of two hours, hearing their discourse as they walked by me,
the night being very dark on the 30th January, 1788. The commanding
officer gave orders for a lantern to be brought, so they took up one of
my legs as I was lying upon my belly; he let it go, and it fell as dead
down on the deck. He likewise put his hand up under my clothes, between
my shirt and my skin, and then examined my head, and so concluded,
saying, 'The man is so warm now as he was two hours back, but his head
is all to atoms.' The water being ebbing, the vessel (that was grounded)
making a great heel to the shore, so that in the course of a very little
time after, as their two boats was made fast alongside, one of them
broke adrift. Immediately there was orders given to man the other boat
in order to fetch her, so that when I saw them in this state of
confusion, their guard broken, I thought it was my time to make my
escape, so I crept on my belly on the deck, and got over a large raft
just before the mainmast, close by one of the men's heels, as he was
standing there handing the trysail. When I got over the lee-side I
thought I should be able to swim on shore in a stroke or two. I took
hold of the burtons of the mast, and as I was lifting myself over the
side I was taken with the cramp in one of my thighs. So then I thought I
should be drowned, but still willing to risk it, so that I let myself
over the side very easily by a rope into the water. As I was very near
the shore, I thought to swim on shore in the course of a stroke or two,
but soon found my mistake. I was sinking almost like a stone, and
hauling astern in deeper water, when I gave up all hopes of life and
began to swallow some water. I found a rope under my breast, so that I
had not lost my senses. I hauled upon it, and soon found one end fast to
the side just where I went overboard, which gave me a little hope of
life. So that when I got there, I could not tell which was best, to call
to the man-of-war's men to take me in, or to stay there and die, for my
life and strength were almost exhausted. But whilst I was thinking of
this, touched bottom with my feet. Hope then sprang up, and I soon found
another rope, leading towards the head of the vessel in shoaler water,
so that I veered upon one and hauled upon the other, that brought me
under the bowsprit, and then at times upon the send of a sea, my feet
were almost dry. I let go the rope, but as soon as I attempted to run
fell down, and as I fell, looking round about me, I saw three men
standing close by. I knew they were the man-of-war's men seeking for
the boat, so I lay there quiet for some little time, and then crept upon
my belly I suppose about the distance of fifty yards, and as the ground
was scuddy, some flat rock mixed with channels of sand, I saw before me
a channel of white sand, and for fear to be seen creeping over it, which
would take some time, not knowing there was anything the matter with me,
made the second attempt to run, and fell in the same manner as before.
"My brother Charles being there, looking out for the vessel, desired
some Cawsand men to go down to see if they could pick up any of the
men dead or alive, not expecting ever to see me any more, almost sure
I was either shot or drowned. One of them saw me fall, ran to my
assistance, and taking hold of me under the arm, says, 'Who are you?'
So, as I thought him to be an enemy, made no answer. He said, 'Fear
not; I am a friend. Come with me.' And by that time were come two
more, which took me under both arms, and the other pushed me in the
back, and so dragged me up to the town. My strength was almost
exhausted. They took me into a room where were seven or eight Cawsand
men and my brother Charles, and when he saw me he knew me by my great
coat, and cried with joy. So then they immediately stripped off my wet
clothes, and sent for a doctor and put me to bed. The bone of my nose
was cut right in two, nothing but a bit of skin holding it, and two
very large cuts in my head, that two or three pieces of my skull
worked out of afterwards."
He was now hurried off in a chaise to his brother Charles' house,
where he remained for a week. Then as a reward of three hundred pounds
was offered for his apprehension, he was conveyed to a gentleman's
house in Marazion, where he remained concealed for two or three
weeks, and thence was taken to Acton House, belonging to Mr. John
Stackhouse, but only for a while, and shifted back to Marazion. Then
again to the castle. The surgeon who was called in to attend him was
blindfolded by the men sent to fetch him and conducted to the
hiding-place of Henry Carter.
[Illustration: JOHN CARTER'S HOUSE AT PRUSSIA COVE
_Demolished in 1906_]
In October he sailed for Leghorn, then on the same vessel loaded at
Barcelona with brandy for New York. It was no longer safe for him to
remain in England till the affair was blown over, and he did not return
till October in the year 1790, and was soon again engaged in alternate
preaching in Methodist chapels, and in smuggling brandy from Roscoff. On
one of these excursions in 1793 he was arrested at Roscoff, as war had
been declared between France and England. This was during the Reign of
Terror, at a time when the Convention had decreed that no quarter should
be given to an Englishman, and an English prisoner was placed on the
same footing as a "suspect" or "aristocrat," and stood a great chance of
losing his head under the knife. He does not, however, seem to have been
harshly treated, only moved about from place to place, sometimes in a
prison, at others lodged in a private house; a good many of his French
fellow-prisoners, however, suffered death. In his own words and
spelling: "There was numbers of gent and lades taken away to Brest that
I parssially know, and their heads chopt off with the gulenteen with a
very little notice."
Robespierre was executed on 28th July, 1794; and soon after his death
the Convention decreed the release of great numbers of "suspects" and
other prisoners. It was not, however, till August, 1795, that Henry
Carter got his passport and was able to leave. He arrived at Falmouth
on August 22nd. "Arived on shore aboute three o'clock in the afternoon
with much fear and trembling, where I meet with my dear little
(daughter) Bettsy, there staying with her aunt, Mrs. Smythe, then
between 8 and 9 years old.... I staid that night at Falmouth, the next
morning went to Penryn with my dear little Bettsey in my hand. The next
morning, on Sunday, took a horse and arrived at Breage Churchtown aboute
eleven o'clock, where I meet my dear brother Frank, then in his way to
church. As I first took him in surprise, at first I could harly make him
sensable I was his brother, being nearley two years without hearing
whether I was dead or alife. But when he come to himself as it were, we
rejoiced together with exceeding great joy indeed. We went to his house
in Rinsey, and after dinner went to see brother John (in Prussia Cove).
We sent him word before I was coming. But he could harly believe it. But
first looking out with his glass saw me yet a long way off. Ran to meet
me, fell upon my neck. We passed the afternoon with him, and in the
evning went to Keneggy to see brother Charles."
The autobiography ends abruptly in the year 1795, but the writer lived
on until April 19th, 1829, spending the last thirty years of his life
on a little farm at Rinsey.
In addition to the two authorities quoted, both due to Mr. Cornish,
there is a memoir of Henry Carter in the _Wesleyan Methodist Magazine_
for October, 1831.
FOOTNOTE:
[29] J. B. Cornish in the _Cornish Magazine_, 1898, p. 121.
CAPTAIN RICHARD KEIGWIN
The English East India Company had been founded December 31st, 1600,
and it obtained from Queen Elizabeth the exclusive privilege for
fifteen years of trading with India and all countries to the east of
the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa and in Asia. The first settlement
effected was at Surat in 1612, by Captain Thomas Best, who defeated
the Portuguese in two battles. But through the jealousy of the Dutch
and their encroachments, and the disturbances in England caused by the
Great Rebellion, the East India Company fell to decay. Although
Cromwell in 1657 renewed its privileges, the English made little
headway. On April 3rd, 1661, Charles II confirmed and renewed all the
ancient privileges, and handed over to the Company Bombay, which he
had received from Spain as the portion of Catherine of Braganza.
Dr. Fryer, a surgeon in the service of the Company, travelled in India
between 1673 and 1681, and has left some graphic descriptions of it.
He sailed from Madras to Bombay, passing up the Malabar coast, and
noting how that the Dutch were elbowing the Portuguese out of their
posts. At last he entered the harbour of Bombay, so called from its
Portuguese name Bona-baija. He found there a Government House, with
pleasant gardens, terraces, and bowers; but the place had been meanly
fortified, and the Malabar pirates often plundered the native villages
and carried off the inhabitants as slaves. However, the Company took
the place vigorously in hand, loaded the terraces with cannon, and
built ramparts over the bowers. When Fryer landed, Bombay Castle was
mounted with a hundred and twenty pieces of ordnance, whilst sixty
field-pieces were kept in readiness. The Dutch had made an attempt to
capture Bombay, but had been repulsed.
Bombay itself was an island, with a superb landlocked harbour, but it
had at its back the great and powerful kingdom of the Mahrattas.
But the vast expense of placing Bombay in a position of defence had
been so inadequately met by the revenue derived from it, that the
Company was dissatisfied with its acquisition, and being, moreover,
burdened with debt, it had recourse to the unhappy expedient of
raising the taxation and reducing the officers' pay. It was ordered
that the annual expenses of the island should be limited to £7000; the
military establishment was to be reduced to two lieutenants, two
ensigns, four sergeants, as many corporals and 108 privates. A troop
of horse was to be disbanded, and Keigwin, the commandant, was
dismissed. This was in 1678-9.
Richard Keigwin was the third son of Richard Keigwin, of Penzance, and
of his wife Margaret, daughter of Nicholas Godolphin, of Trewarveneth.
The family was ancient and honourable. His great-grandfather, Jenkin
Keigwin, had been killed by the Spaniards in 1595. Richard entered the
Royal Navy, became a captain and then colonel of Marines, and was
appointed Governor of S. Helena, then a possession of the East India
Company, by grant of Charles II. After that he was transferred to
Bombay, and had the commandantship there.
He was highly offended at being thrust out of his position, and he,
moreover, knew that Bombay was menaced by both the Sambhajee and the
Siddee, both of whom were desirous of gaining a footing on the island,
and each was jealous lest the other should anticipate him in its
acquisition.
In order that he might represent the danger that menaced of losing
Bombay Captain Keigwin resolved on reporting in person to the Company
how matters stood, and he accordingly went to the directors and laid
the case before them with such force that they consented to send him
back to Bombay with the rank of captain-lieutenant, and he was to be
third in the Council. But with singular capriciousness, in the
following year, when Keigwin was at Bombay, they rescinded the order,
reduced his pay to six shillings a day, without allowance for food and
lodging, and made further reductions in the general pay and increase
in the taxes. This embittered the garrison and the natives alike.[30]
"During the greater part of the reign of Charles the Second," says
Macaulay, "the Company enjoyed a prosperity to which the history of
trade scarcely furnishes a parallel, and which excited the wonder, the
cupidity, and the envious animosity of the whole capital. Wealth and
luxury were then rapidly increasing, the taste for spices, the tissues
and the jewels of the East, became stronger day by day; tea, which at
the time when Monk brought the army of Scotland to London had been
handed round to be stared at and just touched with the lips, as a
great rarity from China, was, eight years later, a regular article of
import, and was soon consumed in such quantities that financiers began
to consider it as a fit subject for taxation." Coffee, moreover, had
become a fashionable drink, and the coffee-houses of London were the
resorts of every description of club. But coffee came from Mocha, and
the East India Company had sole right to import that, as it had
absolute monopoly of the trade of the Indian Sea.
Nor was that all; vast quantities of saltpetre were imported into
England from the East for the manufacture of gunpowder. But for this
supply our muskets and cannon would have been speechless. It was
reckoned that all Europe would hardly produce in one year saltpetre
sufficient for the siege of one town fortified on the principles of
Vauban.
The gains of the Company were enormous, so enormous as in no way to
justify the cheeseparing that was had recourse to at Bombay. But these
gains were not distributed among a large number of shareholders, but
swelled the pockets of a few, for as the profits increased the number
of holders of stock diminished.
The man who obtained complete control over the affairs of the Company
was Sir Josiah Child, who had risen from an apprentice who swept out
one of the counting-houses in the City to great wealth and power. His
brother John was given an almost uncontrolled hand at Surat.
The Company had been popularly considered as a Whig body. Among the
members of the directing committee had been found some of the most
vehement exclusionists in the City, that is to say, those who had
voted for the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from any claim to the
crown of England on the decease of Charles II. This was an affront
James was not likely to forget and forgive. Indeed two of them, Sir
Samuel Barnardiston and Thomas Papillon, drew on themselves a severe
persecution by their zeal against Popery and arbitrary power.
The wonderful prosperity of the Company had excited, as already
intimated, the envy of the merchants in London and Bristol; moreover,
the people suffered from the monopoly being in the hands of a few
stockholders, who controlled the market. The Company was fiercely
attacked from without at the same time that it was distracted by
internal dissensions.
Captain Keigwin now called upon the inhabitants of Bombay to take an
oath of allegiance to the Crown, and to renounce the Company and
submission to its commands. With this the whole of the garrison,
militia and inhabitants, complied; the troops from expectation of
relief from the grievances of which they had complained, and the
inhabitants from anticipating relief from taxation.
Captain Keigwin and his associates then addressed a letter to His
Majesty and to the Duke of York, expressing their determination to
maintain the island for the King till his pleasure should be known,
and enumerating the causes which had impelled them to revolt--the
principal being to prevent Bombay from being seized by the Siddee, or
Admiral of the Mogul, who with a numerous fleet was lying near, or
else by the Sambhajee, the Mahratta rajah, who was watching his
opportunity to descend on Bombay and annex it.
Captain Keigwin and the conspirators next represented to the Court of
Committee that the selfish scheme of Josiah Child in England, and of
his brother John Child of Surat, had been at the bottom of the whole
mischief which caused the disaffection, and added that both the
garrison and inhabitants were determined to continue in allegiance to
the Crown alone till the King's pleasure should be made known to them.
But Keigwin was no match for the subtle and unprincipled Sir Josiah
Child and his brother John. Josiah had been originally brought into
the direction of the Company by Barnardiston and Papillon, and was
supposed, and he allowed it to be supposed, that he was as ardent a
Whig as were they. He had for years stood high in the opinion of the
chiefs of the Parliamentary opposition, and had been especially
obnoxious to the Duke of York.
There had for some time been interference with the monopoly by what
were called "interlopers" or free traders, to the great vexation of
the Company. These interlopers now determined to affect the character
of loyal men, who were determined to stand by the Crown against the
insolent Whigs of the Company. "They spread at all the factories in
the East reports that England was in confusion, that the sword had
been drawn or would immediately be drawn, and that the Company was
forward in the rebellion against the Crown. These rumours, which in
truth were not improbable, easily found credit among people separated
from London by what was then a voyage of twelve months. Some servants
of the Company who were in ill humour with their employers, and others
who were zealous Royalists, joined the primitive traders."
On December 27th, 1683, Captain Keigwin, assisted by Ensign Thornburn
and others, seized on Mr. Ward, the deputy governor, and such members
of the Council as adhered to him, assembled the troops and the
militia, pronounced the authority of the East India Company as at an
end by formal proclamation, and declared the island to be placed under
the King's immediate protection. Thereupon the garrison, consisting
of one hundred and fifty English soldiers and two hundred native
topasses, and the inhabitants of the island, elected Keigwin to be
governor, and appointed officers to the different companies,
store-keepers, harbour-masters, etc., declaring, however, that the
Company might, if their servants would acknowledge the King's
government as proclaimed, proceed in their several avocations without
molestation. Keigwin then took possession of the Company's ship
_Return_ and the frigate _Huntley_, and landed the treasure, amounting
to fifty or sixty thousand rupees, which he lodged in the fort, and he
published a declaration that it should be employed solely in the
defence of the King's island and government.
But Child looked ahead, and saw that inevitably James, Duke of York, at
no very distant period would be King of England. The Whigs were cowed by
the discovery of the Rye House Plot, and the execution of Lord Russell
and Algernon Sidney. It was high time for Child to turn his coat, and
this he did rapidly and with dexterity. He forced his two patrons,
Barnardiston and Papillon, out of the Company, filled their places with
creatures of his own, and established himself as autocrat. Then he made
overtures to the Court, to the King, and to the Duke of York, and he
soon became a favourite at Whitehall, and the favour which he enjoyed at
Whitehall confirmed his power at the India House. He made a present of
ten thousand pounds to Charles, and another ten thousand pounds to
James, who readily consented to become a holder of stock. "All who could
help or hurt at Court," says Macaulay, "ministers, mistresses, priests,
were kept in good humour by presents of shawls and silks, birds' nests
and attar of roses, bulses of diamonds and bags of guineas. His bribes,
distributed with judicious prodigality, speedily produced a large
return. Just when the Court became all-powerful in the State, he became
all-powerful at the Court."
Against such machinations as these Keigwin was powerless. Whatever
Child asked should be done to maintain the authority of the Company
was granted. Keigwin had appealed to hear the will of the King. The
King's answer was but the echo of the voice of Child.
On the 31st January, 1683-4, President John Child from Surat arrived off
Bombay with some commissioners, and met Keigwin with offers of pardon
for his rebellion, but the offer was indignantly refused. Keigwin would
deal with no one but the King himself, and some plain truths were told
to John Child, that it was he and his brother, by their greed after gold
and indifference to the welfare of the settlement, that caused all the
trouble. The consultation lasted till March, 1683-4, and then Child had
to return to Surat, without having effected anything.
In the meantime the Court of Directors sent in a report to the King,
on 15th August, 1684, with a long statement of its grievances, and a
claim for protection, according to the charter of the Society.
Charles II could do no other than order that the island should be
delivered over to the Presidency of Surat, and a Commission under the
Great Seal was issued to President Child and to the commanders of the
Company's ships, empowering them to receive the surrender of Bombay
from Keigwin and his associates and to offer a generous pardon to all,
except the four ringleaders, who should within twenty-four hours after
notice return to their duty.
Captain Tyrell, with H.M.S. _Phœnix_, frigate, was despatched, with
Sir Thomas Graham as admiral, to settle the affair.
But Captain Keigwin had no idea of resistance. It had been further
ordered that if Keigwin and his followers should attempt opposition,
all should be denounced as rebels, and a reward of 4000 rupees should
be paid to any one who should deliver up Keigwin, and 2000 for
Alderton, and 200 for Fletcher.
Sir Thomas Graham arrived in the Bay of Bombay on the 10th November,
1684, and with great promptitude landed without attendants, and had a
conference with Keigwin, who protested that he had only revolted
against the misgovernment of the Company, and to save Bombay from
being seized by one or other of the Indian princes who were aiming to
secure it. He at once accepted the offer made to him of pardon, and
surrendered Bombay. He went on board the vessel of Sir Thomas Graham
and arrived in England in July, 1685.
During his enjoyment of power Captain Keigwin had acted with integrity
and wisely and judiciously. He had relations with the native princes,
and he showed an amount of prudence and clear judgment that eventually
greatly benefited the East India Company. He induced Sambhajee, the
Mahratta rajah, to permit the establishment of factories in the
Carnatic and allow them 12,000 pagodas as compensation for losses
sustained at places plundered by the Mahrattas. Keigwin repressed the
insolence of the Mogul admiral, Siddee, with decision, and would
neither suffer him to keep his fleet at Mazapore, nor even to go
there, except for water. In fact, had the Company known it, they had
in Keigwin an admirable servant, a Clive before the time of that hero.
But the directors were a number of commercial speculators who saw no
further than a few years before them, and were eager at once to be
rich. They cast this man aside, who, had they employed him, would have
made India theirs; and, a disappointed man, he entered the Royal Navy
and died at the taking of S. Kitts, in the West Indies, in command of
H.M.S. _Assistance_, 22nd June, 1689.
It is one of the great mysteries of life and death that men who might
have revolutionized the world are swept aside and hardly anything is
recorded concerning them. Richard Keigwin was one such, full of
self-confidence, vigour of character, restraint, and judgment. But he
lived at a time and under a reign in which there was no appreciation
of merit, and corruption and self-interest bore him down.
FOOTNOTE:
[30] The Company levied a duty of half a dollar upon all ships anchoring
in the harbour, one rupee a year on each fishing-boat, and the same on
every ship. Lastly, with what seems unparalleled meanness, they ordered
that only half of the native labourers' wages should be paid in coin,
the other half in rice valued "at the Company's price," which would give
ten per cent clear profit after all expenses had been defrayed.
THE LOSS OF THE "KENT"
The _Kent_, Captain Henry Cobb, 1350 tons, bound for Bengal and China,
left the Downs on 19th February, 1825, with 20 officers, 344 soldiers,
43 women, and 66 children belonging to the 31st Regiment; 20 private
passengers and a crew, including officers, of 148 men on board, making
in all 641 souls.
A gale came on in the Bay of Biscay, and the ship rolled greatly. On
1st March the dead weight of some hundred tons of shot and shells,
pressed so heavily with the rolling that the main chains were thrown
by every lurch under water; and the best cleated articles of furniture
in the cabin and the cuddy (the large dining apartment) were dashed
from side to side.