famous Sir Henry), who led the buccaneers, went to rouse him, and found
he was lounging about in dressing-gown and slippers. Presenting a pistol
to his breast, Morgan called the Governor a coward and a traitor, at
the same time swearing he would shoot him dead if he did not at once
take his place at the head of the forces. The contingent from Nevis had
already gone over to the French quarter near Sandy Point, and, after a
hard struggle, had taken the post, when the Governor at last followed
behind. Coming up late his men fired on the mingled French and English,
indiscriminately slaughtering both. After that everything was confused,
neither party distinguishing friend from foe, with the result that the
Governor, Colonel Morgan, several other officers, and most of the
English, were killed. After that the main body of the French arrived,
driving before them a confused mob of women and children, who ran
shrieking to their friends for help. Nothing remained for the English
now but to fly or sue for quarter, and the French became masters of the
whole island, with a body of prisoners twice as numerous as themselves.
In 1667 a petition was forwarded to Charles the Second on behalf of
several thousand distressed people, lately inhabitants of St.
Christopher's. In this it was stated that the island had been one of the
most flourishing colonies--the first and best earth that ever was
inhabited by Englishmen among the heathen cannibals of America. They
prayed that a colony so ancient and loyal, the mother island of all
those parts, the fountain from whence all the other islands had been
watered with planters, might not remain in the hands of another nation.
Since the surrender they had been continually oppressed, until thousands
had left for other parts. Many had sold their estates for almost
nothing, and had been stripped and plundered at sea of the little they
had saved. If the inhumanities of the French nation were examined, their
bloody and barbarous usage of the Indians, their miserable cruelties to
prisoners of war, all nations would abhor their name. They would make
Christians grind their mills instead of cattle, leave thousands to
starve for want, and send other thousands to uninhabited lands.
In 1666 Lord Willoughby, who had gone back to Barbados on the
restoration of Charles the Second, fitted out an expedition to recapture
St. Kitt's, but his fleet encountered a hurricane, and neither his
vessel nor one of his company was ever heard of again. The following
year his nephew, Henry Willoughby, made an unsuccessful attempt for the
same object. On the 10th of May of the same year a fight took place
between the English and French fleets off Nevis. On the English side
were ten men-of-war and one fire-ship, while the enemy had more than
double that number. One of the English vessels was blown up, but,
undaunted by this disaster, they drove the enemy before them to the very
shores of St. Kitt's, where they took shelter under the guns of
Basse-terre.
Peace was signed at Breda in July, 1667. The gains of territory by any
one of the three nations were not considerable, and the result went to
prove that England could hold her own against the only two powers who
were able to dispute her supremacy. During the war she had captured New
Amsterdam (now New York) from the Dutch, and they in turn had taken
Surinam. As it was agreed with Holland that both parties should retain
what was then in their possession, Surinam was virtually exchanged for
what is now the capital of the United States. Antigua and Montserrat,
which had been taken by the French, were now restored to England, and
St. Christopher's returned to its former condition, but without the
least prospect of the two nationalities ever being again on friendly
terms.
Now that the war was over the trade of the privateers came to an end,
and further efforts were made to make them settle down. Having received
orders to discountenance them, the Governor of Jamaica deputed Colonel
Cary to report on the matter. Cary thought they should not be
discouraged, as already harm had been done to Jamaica by such attempts,
and in the future the want of their help might be prejudicial. On the
news that the commissions against the Spaniards were called in, several
English privateers resolved never to return to Jamaica, unless there was
a war, but in future to carry on their operations from Tortuga. To
divert them from injuring the Spaniards, the Governor had, during the
late war, appointed Cary to treat with them for the reduction of
Curacao, to which they at first consented, but afterwards disagreed. If,
said Cary, they had two of His Majesty's nimble fifth-rate frigates,
they would be able to keep the privateers to their obedience, observe
the enemy's movements, and guard their own coasts from rovers. There was
no profitable employment for the privateers against the French and
Dutch; these fellows, being people that would not be brought to plant,
must prey upon the Spaniard, whether they were countenanced at Jamaica
or not. There was such an inveterate hatred of the English in those
parts by the Spaniard, that he would not hear of trade or
reconciliation, but, on the contrary, inhumanly butchered any of the
islanders he could cowardly surprise. The French interest daily
increased in the Caribbees, Hispaniola, and Tortuga, and if this was
suffered to grow it would in a short time prove of dangerous
consequence.
Here we have plain speaking. It was not to the interest of England for
the pirates to become too closely connected with the French, as they
would then be helping to build up the prosperity of a nation that might
any day become our enemy. As for the rovers themselves, they cared
little or nothing for the interests of their country; they were willing
to plunder the Spanish possessions because they got something worth
having; with those of the French and Dutch it was another thing. It is
evident that Cary troubled himself but little as to how a cargo was
obtained as long as Jamaica profited by the transaction.
We may here also call attention to the differences between the
characters of the nations which now commenced a great struggle for
mastery in these parts. The Dutch were, above everything else, an
association of traders, and although they could fight on occasion, they
hardly ever went out of their way to pick a quarrel. Their wars with
England were brought about by mercantile disputes, the first two, as we
have already seen, mainly on account of the Navigation Acts. The
English, "the nation of shopkeepers," were naturally rival traders, but
they did not altogether confine themselves to traffic, being rather
inclined to alternate or mix it up with something like piracy. Such
transactions as those of Hawkins were not carried on by any other
nation, the Hollander being more inclined to take advantage of the
swiftness of his fly boat than the metal of his guns. The French were
rarely traders, for even their plantations were largely supported by
buccaneering. When, after a peace, some of the rovers settled down for a
time, they were always ready to abandon their fields at the first rumour
of a war. England thus stood between the two others as a
stumbling-block; she interfered with the trade of the one and offended
the dignity of the other; thus coming in for many blows, which only made
her all the more able to resist and conquer.
The character of the Dutchman is well shown in the curious difficulty
which hastened a third breach of the peace with England in 1672. In 1667
a fleet from the Netherlands captured Surinam, and forced the
authorities of the colony to capitulate on favourable terms. By these
articles the inhabitants were at liberty to sell or transport, when or
where they pleased, all or any part of their possessions. After the
peace, a few went to Barbados, but the majority found it difficult to
dispose of their plantations, and therefore remained in hopes of a
better market on the arrival of new Dutch settlers. At that time the
Dutchmen were few and mostly poor; they had been ruined by the war, and
in many cases driven from their settlements by the English. It followed,
therefore, that there were no buyers, and the plantation owners,
trusting to the capitulation, decided to wait rather than abandon their
flourishing properties.
In June, 1669, the Dutch Governor issued a proclamation calling upon all
the English who intended to leave to give notice within six months,
after which a like term was given them to dispose of their goods, when
they might leave for English colonies under free passes from the
authorities of both nations. In case they were unable to sell their
slaves, the Governor would take them over at the market price, but only
those negroes who had been in their possession at the rendition of the
colony could come under this arrangement.
At first sight this looked very fair, but the English saw at once that
something was wrong. In the first place they understood that under the
capitulation they were free to take away all their property, including
slaves, and at the then market prices they saw that a forced sale would
be a serious loss. Although not expressly intimated, they also
understood that the Governor meant they were not to carry them away, and
this at once caused much dissatisfaction. Things were, however, in such
a critical state that little notice was taken of the proclamation; in
fact, the people had not as yet made up their minds what to do. Such a
sacrifice as was required from those who had flourishing properties,
naturally made them hesitate; and when the English Government inquired
about the matter, they were told by the Dutch authorities that the
people were so well satisfied that they intended to remain.
Such was, however, not the case, and when the year of grace had expired,
and they were virtually prevented from leaving with or without their
negroes, they sent memorials to King Charles the Second asking for his
interference. It was another case of Egyptian bondage; the Dutch would
not let the people go--except a few of the poorest. It can easily be
understood that it was not very pleasant to lose the best colonists and
have nothing left but a lot of abandoned plantations. This would have
been a poor exchange for New York, and it is evident that the Dutch knew
very well what they were doing, and had the welfare of Surinam at heart.
But, in face of the capitulation, they were undoubtedly wrong, and when
they began to oppress the English for claiming their rights, they went a
great deal too far.
When Major Bannister, who had been acting Governor under the English,
protested against this, he was arrested and transported to Holland,
where he obtained his release only by the intervention of the English
ambassador. Then complaints were made to the Dutch Government, but it
was two years before permission was granted for commissioners from
England to go out and transport those who wanted to leave. Even then
secret orders were sent to put every possible obstruction in their way,
which was done by bringing suits for debt, and otherwise putting the
English in positions which made it impossible for them to wind up their
affairs. It followed, therefore, that only a few more went away,
carrying with them the prayers of the more important to be delivered
from such bondage.
Matters now came to a crisis. Other questions had arisen between the two
powers, notably some in connection with the Eastern trade, and the
refusal of Holland to honour the English flag. War broke out in 1672,
and this time the French joined England against the Dutch, who had to
stand alone. French and English buccaneers were let loose to plunder the
colonies, and they made the seas so dangerous that hardly one of the
enemy's vessels could show herself in the West Indies. The Dutch
colonies were thus cut off, and even the settlements of Essequebo and
Berbice had to go without their usual supplies. This deprivation caused
much dissatisfaction among the garrison of the latter colony, and led to
a mutiny, which resulted in the incarceration of the Governor, who was
not released until next year, when the belated supplies arrived.
Spain was also involved in the war the following year, and thus all the
nations interested in the West Indies were fighting at once--Holland and
Spain against France and England. The French buccaneers had already
gained a footing on Hispaniola; now they attempted to get possession of
the whole island, but could not succeed. However, they went on to
Trinidad, which had always been a Spanish island, and plundered it of a
hundred thousand dollars.
The Spanish and Dutch colonies suffered greatly, but Englishmen by no
means escaped altogether. As an example of their treatment by the
enemy, the case of John Darbey is interesting. In April, 1674, he and
six others were taken by a Dutchman from a small English vessel, while
sailing from St. Thomas to Antigua, and carried to Havana. There they
were kept in irons for five weeks, and then set to work as slaves on the
fortifications. After enduring great misery for three months, they were
removed to work on board a ship, which was captured by the French off
St. Domingo, when they were of course released, and finally carried to
Jamaica. Here they told of the sufferings they had endured and
witnessed--the story of which more and more embittered the English
feeling against Spain. On one occasion Darbey had seen eight men brought
in from a New England bark, who afterwards attempted to escape. They
marched along the shore hoping to attract the notice of some friendly
vessel, but the Governor sent a party of soldiers in pursuit, and they
were all murdered at once save the master, who was brought back,
executed, and his head stuck on a pole. He also saw the commander of a
man-of-war bring in a New England vessel and hang five men at the
yard-arm, where the corpses were used as targets by him and his
officers. The same captain wanted himself and several other Englishmen
to sail with them, but because they indignantly refused, he deliberately
stabbed one of them with his sword, killing him at once.
In February, 1674, a treaty was signed at Westminster in which there was
a special clause bearing on the English in Surinam. To the intent that
there might be no more mistakes, the States General agreed that the
articles of capitulation should not only be executed without any more
prevarication, but also that His Majesty of Great Britain should be free
to depute commissioners to examine into the condition of his subjects
and agree with them as to the time of their departure. Also that no
special laws should be made to hamper them in any way in the sale of
their lands, payments of their debts, or barter of their goods, and that
vessels should be as free to go to Surinam, as they and their servants
should also be free to depart.
Accordingly, in March, 1675, three commissioners were instructed to
proceed there, and were enjoined to see that the provisions of the
treaty were properly carried out, to press for debts owing to the
English, and to endeavour to get over the difficulty of their
obligations to the Dutch. Vessels were provided to carry the settlers
wherever they wished, and provision made for victualling them on the
voyage, as well as for a short time after their landing in their new
homes.
Now at last it might be presumed that the exodus could be freely
managed; yet even then the Dutch authorities tried to put obstructions
in the way. Among the servants of the English were many Indians, some of
whom were nominally free, and these the Dutch Governor demanded should
be put ashore, to prevent the mischiefs and cruelties of the heathen,
their friends, who might avenge themselves for the deportation on those
who remained in the colony. The English claimed that these people went
of their own free will, and that some of them were much attached to
their white masters, which was probably true. Besides these, most of
whom were got off against the Governor's protests, there were ten Jews
with 322 slaves, in preventing the departure of whom he was more
successful. They were not, strictly speaking, British subjects, although
they had lived under the flag for many years, and the commissioners did
not insist on their admission.
Finally, three vessels sailed away for Jamaica in September, 1675,
carrying 1,231 people, including thirty-one Indians, and more negroes
than whites. On arriving at that island they were granted lands in St.
Elizabeth, afterwards known as Surinam quarters, and thus Guiana again
became a factor in the development of the English islands. As for the
Jews, even they were afterwards allowed to depart when they memorialised
the king and got him to press the matter.
Even yet, however, the last had not been heard of this detention, for it
cropped up again in the case of Jeronomy Clifford, one of those who
actually left with the others for Jamaica. He was then a lad, and went
off with his father, returning again to the colony as the second husband
of an Englishwoman who had property there. It appears that, as surgeon
of a Dutch vessel, he was so kind to a dying planter named Charles
Maasman, that his widow went to London and married him in August, 1683.
Not getting on very well in Surinam, Clifford and his wife resolved to
sell out and take their slaves with them to Jamaica, but in this they
were frustrated. The Dutch felt very sore about the former migration,
especially when Jamaica plumed herself on her great acquisition, and
taunted them with the fact that they got little by the transfer of the
colony. When, therefore, Clifford made known his intention, the Governor
told him he could not remove his wife's property because she had
inherited it from a Dutch subject. Clifford had some of that doggedness
which has been observed so often in Englishmen, and was determined to
obtain what he considered his rights. Under the capitulation he might
leave at any time, and he did not consider that this right had been in
any way forfeited.
However, the Dutch Governor said otherwise, and, to prevent the
alienation or removal of his property, put it in trust, and then
endeavoured to set his wife against him so that she might refuse to
leave. By some tittle-tattle about a female cousin of Clifford, her
jealousy was aroused, and she petitioned for a divorce on the grounds of
cruelty and adultery. However, when she found out the object of the
traducers of her husband, she asked that her petition be annulled and
made void, because she had been misled and drawn away by the ill advices
of others--now she was sorry, and well satisfied and content with him.
This having been read before the Court of Justice, a council of Dutch
planters, they showed their animus by deciding that Mrs. Clifford was a
weak and silly woman, and that it appeared to them that her husband, to
the prejudice of his wife and that land, had endeavoured to remove his
goods, which they would willingly prevent. They therefore ordered the
plantation to be appraised and put in commission, forbidding either
Clifford or his wife from diminishing, removing, or making away with the
estate, but only to enjoy the interest and produce as long as they lived
and corresponded well with each other. They also wished the wife much
joy of her reconciliation, and condemned her to pay the costs both
present and future. Finally, considering her frowardness and ill-nature,
and for an example to all other like-natured women, they condemned her
to pay a fine of five thousand pounds of sugar.
Clifford, who yet stood by what he considered his right, was now
subjected to a number of petty persecutions. His wife went to England,
leaving him her attorney, and he began to pester the Governor to remove
the illegal arrest on his estate. At last this importunity led to his
arrest, and he was sentenced by this same Court of Justice to be hanged,
as a mutineer and disturber of the public peace. But, being "more
inclined to clemency than to carry things to the utmost rigour of
justice," they commuted this sentence to imprisonment for seven years,
with a fine of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds of sugar.
As may be supposed, this arbitrary judgment only made Clifford more
exasperated. He still went on petitioning and protesting that he was not
a Dutch subject, as he had refused to take the oath of allegiance, and
that therefore he was only standing up for his rights. However, he was
imprisoned in the fort, where every effort was made to prevent his
communicating with England or the English colonies. Notwithstanding
these precautions he managed to send several letters, meanwhile
threatening the Court that if they kept him any longer he would be
forced to use such means of relief as he should be advised. After some
delay his communications reached Barbados, Jamaica, and New York, from
whence they at last reached King William, who soon got him released. But
even then Clifford could not get back his estate, and although he went
to London and petitioned the king, who directed inquiry of the
ambassador at the Hague, he could never get any redress. For seventy
years he, and his heirs after his death, kept up a stream of petitions
and memorials, without result, in the end claiming for illegal
detention, damages, and interest, over half a million pounds.
During the short peace which followed the treaty of Westminster
attention was again directed to the buccaneers, who were now called
pirates, and treated as such even in Jamaica, with the result that many
of them settled down. It has been stated that Charles the Second shared
in their gains even after he had issued proclamations against them, but
this sort of thing now came to an end. The French continued their
depredations up to the year 1680, when the king issued a proclamation,
forbidding the further granting of commissions, and recalling those
which had been issued, at the same time ordering that those who
persisted in the trade should be hanged as pirates. This tended to bring
the less audacious to settle down, but even to the beginning of the
present century piracy was still known in the West Indies.
While Sir Henry Morgan was Acting Governor of Jamaica, in 1681, Everson,
the Dutch pirate, came to Cow Bay on that island, but Morgan captured
him and his crew and sent them off to Carthagena, to be punished by the
authorities there for the ravages they had committed on the Spanish
coasts and shipping. During the ex-buccaneer's administration he also
got an Act passed to restrain privateers, and keep inviolable all
treaties with foreign states. Any British subject who treated a foreign
prince or State in a hostile manner should be punished with death as a
felon.
Peace did not last long, however, for in 1688 the French began to move
against Holland, and the year following King William was also bound to
declare war. Almost immediately the English were again driven out of St.
Kitt's, the French, as on the former occasion, committing outrages quite
unjustifiable among civilised nations even in war. They also took St.
Eustatius from the Dutch.
As if there were not enough pirates in the West Indies, the French
brought some more from their own coast--the celebrated corsairs, who had
held a position in Europe during the wars similar to that of the
buccaneers in America. Some rovers, who had lately settled in Cayenne,
were agreeably surprised at the beginning of the year 1689 by the
arrival of Du Casse, who soon enrolled them under his banner and started
to pillage the Dutch and English colonies.
The first attack was made upon Surinam with nine vessels, but after
three days' fighting the Dutch obliged the corsairs to retire, leaving
one ship aground to be captured. Two of the squadron were, however,
more successful in Berbice, which, after the enemy had destroyed one or
two plantations, was obliged to pay a ransom of twenty thousand guilders
(L1,666), which was settled by a draft on the proprietors in Amsterdam,
and which curiously enough appears to have been afterwards paid. Another
privateer destroyed the small settlement in the Pomeroon river, and
obliged the few inhabitants to fly to Essequebo, and to afterwards
abandon the place altogether. Du Casse then went on to the islands,
where he did much damage to both Dutch and English, finally, in 1697,
Spain being also on the other side, joining De Pointis to attack and
capture Carthagena.