land. This rested on a reading of some ambiguous clauses in the patent. But no sooner was order restored than the earl obtained an explanatory warrant making it clear that the exemption was solely for his own benefit: the planters were to pay the usual duties, and he was to pocket them instead of handing them on to the state. had learnt a hard lesson by admitted duty-free into Engtheir early misfortunes in Virginia, and in the Caribbees they avoided a repetition of the old mistakes. Jean Baptiste du Tertre, a French priest and historian, who spent many years in the West Indies, records that every party of English emigrants came out well supplied with equipment and foodstuffs to carry them over the period of establishment. Rapid expansion was therefore possible without strain upon the resources of existing settlers, and there was a minimum of hunger and hardship. The French, on the other hand, he says, neglected these precautions and suffered terribly in consequence. As an instance of their carelessness he relates that on one occasion thirty sick men were disembarked from a French ship and left all night on the beach without attention. In the morning only their bones were found: the land-crabs had torn them in pieces and devoured them. Warner kept a firm hand upon his colonists, always with an eye to what, unknown to them, lay ahead. As soon as Carlisle's patent was issued in 1627 Ralph Merrifield came over to proclaim it, and he and Warner had to exert themselves to make the new authority real. There was much grumbling among the planters, who had imagined themselves to be freeholders, and now found that they had to take their lands on lease from the earl. They were pacified by a promise that their tobacco would be Then followed the imposition of taxes for the governor's salary, for fortifications and guards against Carib raids, and for the endowment of the clergy, as well as the quit-rents payable to the proprietor. The planters found under this system that all their labours yielded them a bare subsistence, the cream of the profits going to the capitalists of London, who regulated prices as they chose. Ere many years had elapsed the less fortunate had fallen into debt and mortgaged their holdings to the merchants, who gradually became the absentee owners of much of the land. But Warner at this period was ruthlessly on the side of authority, working hand in glove with the earl for the advancement of their common fortunes. Meanwhile the Barbados affair went forward. Sir William Courteen may or may not have been conscious of the plot against his interest; but he acted at first as though he had nothing to fear. In the spring of 1626 he despatched John Powell with a ship to occupy the island. But war was in and Fonseca, alias St Bernard's. The last-named was a vaguely reported island, which turned out to have no existence in fact. Pembroke may have intended to take a personal interest in Trinidad and Tobago, but concerning Barbados he himself avowed that he allowed his name to be used only as a cloak for that of his friend Courteen, who was to be the real proprietor. progress with Spain, Powell Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, captured a rich prize, and he returned with her without reaching Barbados. Early in 1627 Powell sailed again with his son John and his brother Henry. This time they arrived at the island and established their colony. They found Barbados deficient in useful plants, but Henry Powell went on to Guiana, where he traded with the Dutch on the Essequibo and obtained various roots and seeds, together with a party of Indians to act as labourers. The Powell brothers then returned to England, leaving the younger John Powell in command of the settlement. It was whilst they were still absent that the Earl of Carlisle obtained his proprietary grant. It conveyed the whole of the Caribbee Islands, and also mentioned them severally by name, with the former confusion of spelling between Barbados and Barbuda. We hear of no protest from Courteen. He may have reasoned that as he was in possession of Barbados it was not for him to raise the question; and it was also arguable that since his island contained no Caribs it was not one of the Caribbees. Nevertheless he thought it expedient to look for a noble patron, of rank equal to that of Carlisle. He chose for the purpose the Lord Chamberlain, Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery, and afterwards of Pembroke. In February 1628, Charles I. issued letters patent, creating this nobleman Lord Proprietor of Carlisle, prompted by Warner and the merchants, had no intention of relinquishing his claim upon Barbados. He had, in fact, already allotted 10,000 acres of its soil to his creditors, and he meant to exploit the remainder for his own benefit. He therefore exerted his influence with the king, and obtained, in April 1628, a second grant, which very explicitly indicated both Barbados and Barbuda as his property. The easy-going incompetence of Charles I. would be amusing if it had not entailed so serious an injustice to his subjects: within the space of six weeks he had granted Barbados to two different persons without any explanation or investigation of the circumstances. No doubt the details were ranged by subordinates, but the king was responsible for his word. One cannot imagine a Tudor sovereign placing himself in such a position and being so entirely unconscious of his humiliation as Charles afterwards appeared to be. ar The Carlisle party were satis ance. fied with obtaining the king's signature as a warrant for their proceedings; they were prepared to seize Barbados without further invoking his assistIn April 1628 they despatched Captain Charles Wolverston with an armed force and a friendly letter from Carlisle to the younger John Powell. In this letter the earl recognised Powell as governor and craved admission for his men, promising to requite any civility that might be shown to them. Powell, without instructions from his own principals, did not feel justified in excluding the newcomers. They therefore landed, and began an independent plantation of their own. Within three months Wolverston undermined Powell's authority, and then suddenly produced a commission of his own to act as governor. Powell attempted resistance, but was was disarmed and imprisoned; and Barbados was in the hands of Carlisle, or rather of Carlisle's mercantile creditors. News of these proceedings reached England at the close of 1628. The Courteen interest at once prepared a counterstroke. In January 1629, Captain Henry Powell sailed with a new expedition, landed on the island, arrested Wolverston, and restored his nephew's authority. Then in the summer he returned to England, bringing Wolverston with him in irons. Before this result was known the two earls appealed to the king for a settlement of the dispute, and the Lord Keeper Coventry was appointed to conduct an investigation. Thomas Warner, the originator of the plot, was an indispensable witness, and he was called home to assist. Although other issues were raised, the action really turned upon the meaning of Warner's original commission of 1625, and whether the island named in it had been Barbados or Barbuda, for it was agreed that Warner's rights were now incorporated in the Carlisle patent. Warner's evidence carried the day. He asserted that he had always intended to claim Barbados, and he produced the witnesses to whom he had been careful to speak to that effect at the time. Coventry therefore reported that the Carlisle claim prevailed, and the king confirmed the decision (April 1629). It remained to carry it into effect, for shortly afterwards Henry Powell came home with Wolverston as his prisoner. Carlisle at once secured the latter's release, although he did not employ him again. Instead he sent out Captain Henry Hawley with a great ship well armed. Hawley enticed Governor Powell on board, chained him to the mast, and recovered the island without firing a shot. This was final, for Courteen gave up the contest, and Barbados remained in the possession of Carlisle. For Sir William Courteen this was the beginning of the end. He had lost £10,000 in Barbados, and shortly afterwards a still greater venture in the East Indies also miscarried. He died bankrupt and ruined in 1636. Warner reaped the harvest of his audacity. In September 1629, Charles I. knighted him at Hampton Court, and a week later the Earl of Carlisle granted him a commission to be Governor of St Christopher for life with despotic powers, an office subsequently extended to the Lieutenant-Generalship of all the Caribbean colonies. So in a few years the dream of 1624 was on the way to coming true. But in the moment of triumph serious news arrived to dash the victors' exultation. Spain an had awoke to the threat which the new settlements implied to her whole position in the West Indies; and Don Fadrique de Toledo, the commander of the outward-bound plate fleet, had received orders to extirpate the Leeward colonies on his way. The English were quite unsuspecting, but Richelieu in France had gained wind of the plan through his spies. He accordingly despatched armed squadron to protect the French interest in St Christopher. This force on its arrival attacked the English colony on account of its encroachments upon the French quarters, and forced the acting governor, Edward Warner, son of Sir Thomas, to withdraw into his proper boundaries. Then the French admiral, choosing to believe that the Spanish peril was illusory, allowed his squadron to break up and go off on separate privateering cruises. He had made a bad mistake, for the Spanish fleet was then on its way across the ocean. In September 1629 Don Fadrique appeared suddenly off Nevis. The leaders of the little colony, taken by surprise, attempted to put up a defence, but their indentured servants refused to fight. Shouting "Liberty! Joyful liberty! they threw away their arms and dispersed. The planters had perforce to surrender, their houses were burnt and their crops destroyed, and the Spaniards passed on to repeat the exploit at St Christopher. There the defence was stronger, and some warning had been given by boats escaping from Nevis. The colonists dug entrenchments at the landingplaces, and for a week Don Fadrique was checked, contenting himself with taking the shipping in the roads. Among his prisoners was Captain Hawley, just arrived from his successful last seizure of Barbados. At length a Spanish force landed at the Grande Anse in the southern French quarter, and routed the French and English who opposed them. The defence then collapsed in panic and mutual accusations of cowardice. Edward Warner surrendered with most of his men, although a considerable number took refuge in the hills and waited for the storm to pass. A French privateer, one of the dispersed squadron, appeared at Sandy Point and took off d'Esnambuc and some there was great scarcity and some starvation. The French colony had hitherto been much weaker than the English, but the disaster of 1629 had removed this disparity, and henceforward the two nations lived on more equal terms-in a state of armed and vigilant peace. Beyond an occasional raid and a mobilisation of forces there was, however, no actual breach between them until the AngloFrench War of 1666. of the French; the remainder although for several months gave themselves up to the Spaniards. Don Fadrique behaved with humanity. He offered the prisoners the choice of service with him or a free passage home in the captured vessels, taking a few hostages for the return of the latter to Spain. Several hundreds of the English in this way regained their native land, although they suffered great privations on the voyage. The Spaniards, having destroyed all visible property, then departed, leaving the islands tenanted only by the fugitives whom they had been unable to catch. The total loss of life had been very small. After the Spaniards had gone the remnant of Englishmen―not more than a quarter of the original population -resumed possession of their devastated fields, whilst d'Esnambuc landed again and reoccupied the French area. The Leeward colonies had received a damaging but not a mortal blow. Sir Thomas Warner was in England enjoying his newly won honours when the news arrived. It was not at first known that any Englishmen were left in the two islands, but Carlisle and his associates acted without hesitation to retrieve the disaster. Early in 1630 Warner sailed for St Christopher with a strong expedition, and with him went Anthony Hilton, whose mission was to re-establish Nevis. Between them they soon had their colonies in hand once more, Proprietary government became fully developed after 1630. The earl's patent, besides making him Lord Proprietor, created him CaptainGeneral of the Caribbees. This, as the colonists found, was no empty title, for the military rank carried with it the right of enforcing martial law at its owner's pleasure; and Sir Thomas Warner, as LieutenantGeneral, availed himself fully of the privilege. His government was thoroughly autocratic, his only assistants being a council whose members he appointed and dismissed at his Own discretion. There was, in the early years certainly, no semblance of a representative assembly-the first mention of such a body occurs only after Warner's death. He, with the earl's support, maintained the system of taxation already outlined, enforcing it by such punishments as the burning of delinquents' houses, branding, whipping, pillorying, and death. No doubt he had a rough crew to handle, but one cannot help |