America and West Indies: August 1683, 16-31

Pages 473-486

Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 11, 1681-1685. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1898.

Citation:

August 1683



Aug. 16.	1191. Inquiry in to Lord Culpeper's neglect of his government, declaring it to be forfeited by his absence without leave. Latin. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXXXII., pp. 1141–18.]
Aug. 16. Jamaica.	1192. Order from Sir Thomas Lynch to Thomas Martin, the King's Receiver-General. To prepare an exact account of the Revenue to be laid before the Assembly on 5th September; to have the accounts ready for the Governor and Council every six months, on 23rd June and 23rd December, such accounts to be examined and signed by the Deputy Auditor-General, and when passed by the Governor and Council to be remitted in copy to Mr. Blathwayt, the Auditor-General, for the Lords of the Treasury; also to keep exact accounts for the future of all receipts, payments, credits, and debts. Signed, T. Lynch. 1 p. Endorsed. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 59.]
Aug. 17.	1193. Journal of Lords of Trade and Plantations. Order for commission and instructions to be prepared for Lord Howard of Effingham as Governor of Virginia.
	Two letters from Mr. Cranfield of 20th February and 19th June read (see Nos. 954, 1129). The Lords agree to advise that the suspension of Waldern, Martyn, and Gillman be approved, and that Messrs. Elliott and Fryer be appointed to the Council of New Hampshire in their place; that Edward Gove be continued in the Tower, and that the ship which takes Lord Howard to Virginia touch at Boston; also to recommend that Governor Cranfield's leave of absence be granted, and that Mr. Randolph proceed to New England with copies of the King's declaration as soon as may be.
	Edwyn Stede's petition read (see No. 1184). Agreed to recommend the grant of his office to George Hannay. Sir Richard Dutton's paper of proposals read and reserved for further consideration. The question of appeals to be considered on an early day.
	Sir William Stapleton's letter of 15th June read.
	Petition of Richard Brayne read (see No. 1164). Agreed that it be referred to Sir Thomas Lynch for report. Petition of merchants of Jamaica against the African Company referred to the Company for reply (see No. 1187).
	Memorandum of letters sent and received. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. CVII., pp. 177–186.]
Aug. 17. Council Chamber.	1194. Lords of Trade and Plantations to the King. In consequence of Governor Cranfield's displacement of Messrs. Waldern, Martin, and Gillman from the Council (see ante, No. 1024), we recommend Messrs. Fryer and Elliott to be appointed in their place [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXVII., pp. 93, 94.]
Aug. 17.	1195. Proposals of Sir Richard Dutton concerning Barbados. (1) The Governor needs instructions as to allowing appeals from Barbados to England, and (2.) as to the appropriation of the fines at Grand and Quarter Sessions, whether to the King, to the country, or to the expenses of Sessions. (3.) The Statute Laws of England are irregularly received according as each person finds them to his advantage. I beg instructions. May I be permitted to make a collection of the most suitable laws and add them by Act to the laws of Ireland? (4.) The law which secures all owners of ten acres of freehold from arrest should be repealed. It is obsolete and unjust. (5.) The Records of the Courts are often embezzled by the clerks, who are constantly changed and frequently dishonest. I beg for power to appoint a Custos Rotulorum to whom the records of all the Courts may be sent annually, and suggest Richard Seawell, the Attorney-General, for the office. (6.) By the dearness of all things in Barbados my expenses are greater than those of any other Governor. I beg that my salary may be raised to 2,000l., whereby I shall depend entirely for support on the King. (7.) To save the King at least 2,500l. a year I beg for a yacht instead of a frigate to attend me to Barbados. She would be twice as useful as a frigate in every respect, while frigates have to go to Jamaica and Virginia to careen. (8.) We want forty guns for the armament of our forts. (9.) We supplied the King's frigates with sixty barrels of powder, and should be glad if it were repaid. (10.) I beg that my brother John Dutton may be approved as Naval Officer of Barbados, that I may submit his name to the King. (11.) We are in great want of white servants. Would the King grant us some from Scotland, as we find by experience that they are the best? (12.) I beg for extension of my leave to the end of November. Holograph by Dutton. Unsigned. 1½ pp. Inscribed. Read 1 December 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 60, and Col. Entry Bks., Vol. VII., pp. 211–214, and 217–220, and Vol. CVII., pp. 182, 183.]
[Aug. 18.]	1196. Forms of the Oaths of a Councillor of Barbados, as taken on the 28th October 1672, the 7th March 1680, and the 18th August 1683. Endorsed in the handwritting of John Witham. 1½ pp. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., Nos. 61, 61 I. A copy of the Oath of 7th March 1680, with date altered to 16th May 1683, is in Col. Entry Bk., Vol. VII., pp. 207–208.]
Aug. 17. Council Chamber.	1197. Report of Lords of Trade and Plantations to the King. Recommending that a copy of the petition of Richard Brayne (see ante, No. 1164) be sent to Sir Thomas Lynch, with orders to call both parties before him and report to the King. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XXX., p. 163.]
Aug. 18. Jamaica.	1198. Governor Sir Thomas Lynch to the Governor of Havana. I wrote by a ship bound for New York and England, and desired them that if you had any prisoners they might be put on board; also, that you would be pleased to inform me if divers pirates in barcos luengos and piraguas had any orders or commissions to rob and murder the King's subjects as they do. I wrote by the same ship to Don Gaspar de Montes de Oca, and ordered the bearer of my letter to acquaint him of the design of the pirates against Vera Cruz. Whether he was permitted to see Don Gaspar and present his letters I know not. One of our men-of-war at St. Domingo demanded Vanhorn as a rebel and a pirate, to bring him here, where he would have received the reward due to such ruffans; but the President thought fit to protect him, and afterwards released him, having taken twenty thousand pieces of eight from him on pretence of the six patararoes he took in Spain. Notwithstanding this, Don Juan de Castillo, Maestre de la Plata, having come here from St. Domingo, was permitted by me to hire a sloop for his conveyance to Mexico. In April, Don Juan was put ashore at Campeachy for fear of a privateer. She proved to be an armadilla commanded by Don Juan la Cundia, who barbarously fired on Don Juan and forced him to fly into the woods, and plundered the sloop of all she had on board. At Campeachy they kept the seamen in irons twenty-six days, during which time Don Juan was lost and like to have perished. In this way my letter to the Viceroy failed to reach him in time. The master of the sloop has had no satisfaction for his loss of eight hundred pounds, but was sent back to the President of St. Domingo, because Don Juan la Cundia is friend and kinsman to the Governor of Merida. This action led to the loss of Vera Cruz, for apart from the information in my letter, Don Juan de Castillo knew everything, and could have reached the town before the pirates, if the avarice and injustice of this captain had not prevented him. The English King's men-of-war have always protected all merchants of your nation that they have met with. All that have been sent or driven hither have been treated humanely; no force has been put on them, nor presents received from them. I have freed several from pirates and transported them to their homes. I have at my own charge chased out of these Indies all the pirates that prey on us or on your nation. I have done all in my power to serve the Spanish nation. I have ordered a frigate to cruise off St. Domingo, for if Laurens had not killed Vanhorn, he had resolved on an attempt to destroy the city, to be revenged on the President for his twenty thousand pieces of eight; and I have now written to Don Thomas Fonseca that I will send a frigate to St. Jago if the new Governor be arrived and desire it, for the French mean to take revenge for all that Juan Corso has done ashore by your commission. I suppose you know that it imports the whole Indies, both ours and yours, that St. Domingo and St. Jago should not be lost, and that there can be no pretence of trade, for both these cities are ruined and exceeding poor. For all this I have received neither thanks nor civility, nor have the English received any privilege. Not one of our ships, that the Spaniards meet with, will they fail to take and plunder if they can. Not one Governor has given us satisfaction even for the most notorious injury, but has referred our complaint to Spain.
	(1.) About ten years ago a ketch of mine, with about one hundred negroes, was taken on the high seas and brought into Carthagena by two barcos luengos of the Spanish King's; and because they could not condemn her then they remitted the cause to Spain, where, without the knowlege of our ambassador, she was confiscated to the Assientistas, and the proceeds, eighteen thousand pieces of eight, about half of her value, were employed in the payment of the garrison. Thus your King owes it to me, and I hope be will repay it, or that our King will grant me letters of marque. (2.) Since that time the Spaniards have damaged our honest merchants here to the amount of 25,000l. I could produce a list, but I confine myself to what has happened since my return to Jamaica. (3.) On my arrival I sent to demand from the Governor of Carthagena a vessel with her cargo that was stolen away from hence. The Governor aforesaid received and sold all, and sent me word that the matter was one which must await orders from Spain. He gave me the same answer four months ago. (4.) The President of St. Domingo protected Vanhorn against all the rules of justice and prudence. (5.) An English frigate is now on the coast of the Maine to demand a boat belonging to a vessel in distress, which came to beg help at Santa Martha and was seized there. (6.) This present frigate is now on her way to St. Jago to demand some fugitive slaves which the Governor keeps in his house, also an English ketch which was seized by the French at Salt Tortugas, and brought in under your commission to St. Jago. The English were kept till they were almost starved, and then sent away naked and without their ketch. This is contrary to treaty, for the English had committed no fault. (7.) But what concerns the justice of his Catholic Majesty is the issue of commissions to such pirates and thieves as Juan Corso. They are strong desperate rogues, who, having no houses, friends, or relations, can give no security, but rob and murder all they can master, taking ships in the high seas at Caimanos, which is ours, or the Cays where no Spaniards live or come. All this is contrary to treaty, as is also the seizure of ships carrying frutas de las Indias, for we have abundance of the produce of the Indies, or can get it from Curaçoa. (8.) This Juan Corso, or some such villians, have killed Captain Prenar, pretending to come to trade with him in a canoe. (9.) He or some others came aboard one Bodeler and one Wall, when at anchor in an uninhabited bay, killed both of them and several men, and carried the sloops to St. Jago. (10.) The same surprised Captain Banden Claus in an uninhabited bay, and tortured the men to make them confess that they were trading. The Governor, bribed by a share, condemned her. (11.) These pirates constantly rack their prisoners, and the Governors make no effort to stop it. (12.) Corso having captured an English boat with four men, killed one with his own hand because he was sick. (13.) He or others have lately taken a vessel bound for New Providence without cargo. (14.) He has often declared that he will serve us as he served the French, and threatens to come and take negroes from the north side of Jamaica. This is a part of my complaint, set forth in detail, that you may remedy it. I do not pretend to trade, and we have no ships on the coast, though your special friends the Dutch have two, of twenty and thirty guns. The General and every Commander at the sack of Vera Cruz was of that nation, so you owe that calamity to the Dutch and to yourselves. Your treatment of Juan Corso will make all dissolute people break out in spite of all that I can do. If I have been guilty of any breach of the peace or treaty, I am content to receive the greatest punishment in the world, the displeasure of the King my master. Any of your subjects that are aggrieved can obtain redress here; and I cannot but think it would be well if the King of Spain would send out a resident to see the peace kept and justice done, instead of Governors that are neither civil or to be communicated with. If I could send, or you could receive, anybody at Havana, I could much strengthen my case against Juan Corso. (15.) Two of these same people off the Isle of Pines, took two poor New York men, made away with one and robbed the other. They then went into your port, but I know not if you have heard of them or punished them. In future I shall take it as a public violation of the peace and a tacit declaration of war if (1) our honest traders are seized on the high seas, or fishing at the Cays or Caimanas, (2) or murdered, (3) or tortured; (4) if bearers of despatches be seized on their way home through the gulf or robbed; (5) if you give negroes orders to seize our vessels that carry produce of the Indies, for all our ships are laden with it. Copy. 8 pp. Inscribed. Recd. 26 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 62.]
Aug. 18.	1199. Spanish version of the foregoing. 6 pp. Endorsed as the other. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 63.]
Aug. 18. Plantations General.	1200. Presentment of the Commissioner of Customs, (1) for instructions to be given to the Governors of Colonies to take care that all masters of vessels produce their certificates of bonds to the King's Collector as well as to the Naval Officer before they are permitted to load any of the enumerated commodities; (2) for instructions to be given to the Patentees of the Customs officer in Ireland, to send returns of ships clearing for the Colonies, with full description thereof, and all ships entering from Colonial ports. Signed, G. Downing, Ch. Cheyne, And. Newport, Rich. Temple, N. Butler. Copy. 5 pp. Endorsed. Read in Council 12 December 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 64, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XCVII., pp. 96–100.]
Aug. 18. Montreal.	1201. Monsieur Brucy to Major Baxter, commanding at Orange. I hear from Sieur Salvage that you are resolved to bring certain French vagabonds to justice, among others one Villeroy, at present in your territory, who has carried off a considerable sum of money, as you will see by a certified copy signed by the General. I beg you therefore to see justice done. Signed, Brucy. Subscribed in a different hand: This money was paid by my orders. 1½ pp. With address, endorsement, and seal. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 65.]
Aug. 18.	1202. Petition of Sir John Hoskyns to the King. Praying for a license to plant the islands of Trinidad, Ascension, Maria d'Agosta, Isla di Martin, Var et dos Picos, situate between latitude 18° and 23° south. On the margin: Order of the King referring the petition to Lords of Trade and Plantations. Windsor, 18th August 1683. Signed, Sunderland. Endorsed. Recd. 23 August. Read 30 Oct. 1683. 1. p. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 66.]
Aug. 20. Windsor.	1203. Pass for Edward Randolph to New England. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XCIX., p. 219.]
Aug. 20. Windsor.	1204. Order of the King in Council, directing the opinion of the Attorney-General on the petition of the inhabitants of Bermuda (see ante, No. 1109) to be sent to the Lords of Trade and Plantations for their report on the whole matter. Signed, Sunderland. [Col. Papers, Vol. L., No. 117.]
[Aug. 20.]	1205. Petition of Samuel Trott to the King. Respecting the loss of his boat through the violence of John Hubbard, Sheriff of Bermuda (see ante No. 840), and requesting satisfaction from the Company. Inscribed below: Order in Council referring the above to the Lords of Trade and Plantations for report. Windsor, 20th August 1683. Signed, Sunderland. 1 p. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 67.]
Aug. 21. Whitehall.	1206. Mr. Blathwayt to the Deputy Governor of the Royal African Company (Sir Benjamin Bathurst). Enclosing copy of the petition of the planters of Jamaica concerning a supply of negroes. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. I., p. 96.]
Aug. 23–24.	1207. Three certificates of Thomas Hinkley as to the limits of Narragansett river and the Narragansett country. ¾ p. Endorsed. Recd. from Mr. Hinkley, 4 June 1684. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 68.]
Aug. 24.	1208. Journal of Lords of Trade and Plantations. Business of Lord Howard's Commission. The clause for the election of burgesses to be altered so as to run thus, "of the inhabitants being freeholders or planters within the Government." A clause for pardon being ultra vires. A clause to validate the Acts of Council, Lord Culpeper having, contrary to his instructions, appointed Mr. Spencer, President, to act in his absence instead of Mr. Bacon. The seventh clause to be amended. Clauses ordering the Governor to take account of public money, and to report as to his predecessor's management. (Mem.—This latter to be a standing instruction in future to all new Governors of Colonies.) The question of quit-rents to Lord Culpeper referred to the law officers. The Lords note that Lord Culpeper received from the Assembly 500l. out of the two shillings per hogshead duty, which was not the Assembly's to dispose of. The instructions respecting appeals to be referred to the law-officers; that concerning a cessation of planting to be omitted. The salary of 2,000l. to be continued to Lord Howard; but in lieu of 150l. for house and plantation, he shall be allowed the rent of a house till a house be built for the Governor. Lord Howard to propose this building to the Assembly in order to raise the necessary funds, and to send home a model of the house.
	Memorandum of documents received. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XCVII., pp. 187–191.]
Aug. 24. Council Chamber.	1209. [William Blathwayt] to Lord Culpeper. Calling for a particular account in writing as to the manner in which he has complied with his instructions. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXXXII., p. 121.]
Aug. 24./Sept. 3. Petit Gouaisne.	1210. The pirate, Laurens, to Governor Sir Thomas Lynch. I am much obliged for your civility, and thank you for the honour which you have been pleased to do me without any merit of my own. I beg you to believe me the most humble of your servants, and to employ me if there be any place or occasion in which I can be of service to you. You will see how I shall try to employ myself. If by chance I should go to your coast in quest of necessities for myself or ship, I beg that my interests may be protected and no wrong done me, as I might do so if the opportunity presented itself for doing you service. Begging you to do me this favour, I remain always your most humble and affectionate servant DE GRASSE. Holograph. French. 1 p. Endorsed. Recd. 26 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 69.]
Aug. 25 Windsor.	1211. Order of the King in Council. That the petition of Richard Brayne (see ante, No. 1164) be sent to Sir Thomas Lynch for his report. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XXX., p. 164.]
Aug. 25. Windsor.	1212. Order of the King in Council. Report of the Lords of Trade and Plantations recommending that the petition of Edwyn Stede (ante, No. 1184) be granted. Ordered accordingly. Secretary Jenkins to prepare the necessary warrant. 1 p. Endorsed. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 70, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol, VII., p. 189.]
Aug. 25. Windsor.	1213. Order of the King in Council, approving the drafts of two letters to Sir Richard Dutton and Sir William Stapleton. Draft of the letter follows:—The King to Sir Ralph Dutton. By our letter of 18th March 1680 to Sir Jonathan Atkins, we signified to you that, by proclamation and by letters we had commanded all Governors of our Colonies that no interlopers should be admitted from the coast of Guinea. We were then informed not only that no attention had been paid to our orders, but that obstruction had been offered to the officers and factors of the Royal African Company, to the contempt of our charter and the loss of the Company, which, as it maintains the forts on the coast, should have the advantage of the trade. We therefore instructed Sir Jonathan Atkins to support the Company and enforce the law against interlopers, and called on all our officers, naval and military, to assist him. Nevertheless, we learn that you also, since your entrance in the Government, have not been very active in redressing the grievances of the Company, alleging that you require our particular instructions on that behalf. We now enjoin upon you strict observation of our instructions of March 1680, particularly of that which requires of you from time to time an account of those who have opposed the agents of the Royal African Company in the execution of their duty; the rather for that we hear that there are some, whose position of authority should have made them more dutiful, who have been offenders. We look for greater diligence from you in these matters in future. Signed, Phi. Lloyd. 2 pp. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 71, and Col. Entry Bk. (letter only), Vol. VII., pp. 190–191.]
Aug. 25. Windsor.	1214. Order of the King in Council. That the following letter, addressed to the Governor of the Leeward Islands, be prepared for the Royal signature:—On 18th March 1680 we acquainted you of the complaints made by the Royal African Company of violence offered to their factors and agents by the inhabitants of Nevis, and ordered you to give greater assistance to the Company. We are glad to see that you have obeyed our orders, but the complaints of the Company still continue against the malpractices of interlopers. In our former letter we told you that by information that we had received we understood that Charles Pym, John Eddy, Philip Lee, and Joseph Jory had assisted Richard Cary and Robert Belchamber to land a number of slaves, and had violently opposed the Company's agents; also that a servant of the Company's had been murdered. We desired you to inquire into the case and prosecute these persons, and we now repeat that order, and require a report from you. Signed, Philip Lloyd. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 72.]
Aug. 25. Windsor.	1215. Order of the King in Council. That the answer of the agents for Massachusetts to the petition of Robert Orchard, and his rejoinder, be referred to the Lords of Trade and Plantations for report. Signed, Phi. Lloyd. ½ p. Endorsed. Rec. 31 Aug. Read 3 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 73.]
Aug. 28. Barbados.	1216. Deputy Governor Witham to [Sir Leoline Jenkins]. The matters detailed in the enclosed came to my knowledge on the arrival of Captain Waffe. I am completing the returns in reply to your queries. Holograph. 1 p. Annexed,
	1216. I. An account of the pirates on the Gold Coast. Two days ago arrived one John Waffe, commander of the ship Eaglet in the Royal African Company's service, from Arder in Africa. He told me that the great pirates that plundered so many ships bound for Jamaica are now on that coast, that at the latter end of May, while making Cape Lopus, he perceived two ships making towards him. The night following he thought he had lost them both, but in the morning he found one to windward and one to leeward of him. It was nearly six at night before the windward vessel came up with him. The commander owned himself a Jamaican, and said he had a good plantation there. They robbed him of all his gold, near 500l. in value, of some of his provisions, and many of the ship's stores. The pirate bade him shift for himself in the night, saying that the other was a Frenchman who would take all he had. This I suppose to be the Trompeuse, a great pirate. Waffe tells me further that these two pirates have passed from the Castle of Coromandel all along the coast to Cape Lopus and he believes have not missed a ship of whatever nation except a Spanish interloper from Cadiz, on which was one Peirson, formely an agent of the African Company in Guinea. This ship had forty six guns and one hundred and twenty men, so they durst not attack her; but the pirates told Waffe that they had got more men, and intended to clear the coast a second time, and doubted not to capture this Spaniard. They will not own their names, and punished one of Waffe's sailors who asked the pirate captain's name. They stretched Waffe and his officers, and put screws on their thumbs to make them confess what gold they had. The pirates admitted that since they had been on the coast they had made thirty pound weight of gold a man, and offered 100l. a month to any of Waffe's seamen to join them, or else 50l. down and their chance of shares in future captures; but the men were too honest. The pirates said that, their hands being in, they must go through with it, and intended for the East Indies, and, if they could, for the South Sea. One interloper, of sixteen men, resisted them at Old Calabar. They took her, rifled her, nailed some of the men under hatches and tied the rest to the shrouds, to let the vessel go ashore and the men perish in that manner. The greatest of the pirates has thirty guns and one hundred and twenty men; the other has twenty-four guns and seventy men, but they hope to increase their crews, and when they meet with a fitting ship to make her a third consort. In the handwriting of John Witham. 2½ pp. Endorsed. [Col. Papers, vol. LI., No8. 74, 74 I.]
Aug. 28. Barbados.	1217. Deputy Governor Witham to Lords of Trade and Plantations. I enclose returns of baptisms, marriages, and burials taken from the parish registers for one year. There are many quakers and other separatists whose marriages and burials are never brought to the notice of our ministers, and whose children are never baptised. Though their numbers are considerable, it is impossible to give any account of them. I have almost finished the parish list of householders, men able to bear arms, &c., and the militia, horse and foot. Holograph. 1 p. Endorsed. Recd. 31 Oct. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 75, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. VII., p. 209.]
Aug. 28.	1218. Minutes of Council of Barbados. Order for payment of rebate of wine duty to Joseph Grove, merchant.
Aug. 29.	John Doughty took the oath of office as Solicitor-General. Thomas Walrond was absent from the Council without reason assigned.
Aug. 30.	"The Council fell upon the business of the day." Henry Walrond absent without reason assigned. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XI., pp. 584a–586a.]
Aug. 29. Curaçoa.	1219. Benjamin Baruch Carvallo to Sir Thomas Lynch. Describing how he left Jamaica in a ship commanded by Captain Robert Glover on 30th June, how they were taken off Curacoa by a Spanish vessel with a commission from the Governor of Havana, and how they were cruelly treated, tortured, and robbed by these pirates, for which he craves the Governor's help for redress. Holograph. 2 pp. Spanish. Endorsed, "The Jew's letter about his cruel usage at Curacoa by Spanish pirates." [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 76.]
Aug. 29./Sept. 8. Castle Amsterdam, Curaçoa.	1220. The Governor of Curacoa to Governor Sir Thomas Lynch. On the 19th a Spanish barco luengo came to anchor here in Caracas bay. The captain, Augustin Alvares, informed me that he has in his ship a Jew called Benjamin Carvallo whom he captured from an English barque. He justifies himself on pretence that Carvallo used to call himself a Christian, and has obliged the Jew to pay him ransom of twenty-two thousand pieces of eight. I was much troubled, and sent officers to examine the matter. Alvares has a commission from the Governor of Havana, and refuses to submit to our jurisdiction in this case. The friends of the Jew have prayed me much to adjust the matter, and it is now adjusted for three thousand five hundred pieces-of-eight. The Jew then claimed compensation for loss of merchandise laden in the ship at Jamaica, but the agreement having been settled, he spoke too late. I have, however, restored the English barque to its owner, and shall send a barque to Havana to complain, which will first wait on you to procure your assistance in extirpating all evil. Signed, Joan van Epelun. Holograph. 2 pp. Endorsed. Recd. 26 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 77.]
Aug. 29. Whitehall.	1221. Order of the King in Council. On petition of Robert Wadleigh, attorney for Jeremy Walford and John Amazeen, praying for an early hearing of George Walton's appeal; Ordered, that the same be referred to Lords of Trade and Plantations for report. Signed, Phi. Lloyd. ½ p. Endorsed. Recd. 12 Nov. Read 13th Nov. 1683. Dismissed by default of the appellant, 22 Jan. 1683–84. [Col. Papers, vol. LI., No. 78, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXVII., pp. 97, 98.]
Aug. 30. Nevis.	1222. Sir William Stapleton to Lords of Trade and Plantations. On the 18th instant I received yours of 25th May. Your orders shall be obeyed as soon as the hurricane season permits. I sent the original of the King of Denmark's letter to the Governor of St. Thoma as soon as I received it, and that directed to the commander there. The lawful Governor, Nicholas Esmit, has been ejected by his brother Adolph by the little "mobile" of 150 men there. The successor to them both, Jory Everson, is not yet arrived. The difference between Captain Billop and myself is no other than in vindication of my duty, and it is something like the difference that I have with the pirates and the present Governor of St. Thomas. I can see little difference between their acting and Billop's, except that which distinguishes the greater from the less, which does not alter the species. I do not say this with reference to the embezzlement of the Providence or his insubordination towards me. I refer to the vessels which he boarded, and on which he opened chests and took money. But as the jurisdiction to which he is subject believed his statements without regard to equity or to my performance of my duty, why, I have done with him and am happy to stand well in your opinion. Pardon me for asking again for my arrears, and for leave of absence or permission to resign. Holograph. 1½ pp. Endorsed with a long précis. Recd. 10 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 79, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XLVII., pp. 106, 107.]
Aug. 30. Nevis.	1223. Sir William Stapleton to Lords of Trade and Plantations. News has just reached me that Adolph Esmit, pretended Governor of St. Thomas, has seized several English sloops and imprisoned the English. In particular, there is mention of a sloop belonging to this island, which had been dismasted in a storm and was towed into St. Thomas by a Frenchman. This usurper and protector of pirates made the man from Nevis enter into bond of 300l. that he would not go to Crab Island to take off mules and other goods saved from another sloop of Nevis, that ran ashore in the same storm. He asserts a right to all these islands and to the Virgins. Having by the last clause of my new instructions power to assert the King's right to all those islands. I hope that I shall not be blamed for doing so. I shall shun all acts of hostility and bloodshed if I can but take that Governor. If he produces any commission I shall respect the King of Denmark's power. Esmit has sold a sloop to John Hamlin, late captain of the Trompeuse, and sent him away with some of his men. The first news I expect to hear is, that he has surprised some ship or other and gone back to his old trade. It is thought that he is gone to Petit Guavos, where there are enough of that trade to protect him, and from thence to Campeachy to get some good ship. It was there that he took the Trompeuse with two sloops. There is no hope of recovering sloops or anything else from that lawless Governor. The new Governor sent out by the King of Denmark is thought to have been taken by the Algerines or the Sallee men, for he has been expected eight months. I have been solicited by the inhabitants of Anguilla to let them settle Crab Island, the next island to Porto Rico, with a good soil and harbour. I refused, for I feared that the Spaniards and cow-killers of Porto Rico might go and cut them off in one night; but if two or three hundred men could be found to put on it and build a redoubt, there would be no question of this settlement, for Anguilla is fit for little but goats. But I was unwilling to scatter and weaken the people. Holograph. 1½ pp. Endorsed. Recd. 10 Nov. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 80, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XLVII., pp. 104–106.]
Aug. 30.	1224. Minutes of Council of Virginia. Orders for payment for repairs of the sloop Katherine, for prohibition to pilot ships suspected to be privateers, and to prohibit the exportation of corn. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXXXIV., pp. 179–182.]
Aug. 31.	1225. The King to Governor Cranfield. We approve the displacement of Waldern, Martyn, and Gillman from the Council, and order Messrs. Fryer and Elliott to be appointed in their place. We grant you authority also to pardon the accomplices of Edward Gove on such terms as you think best. Mem.—The draft of this letter was approved in Committee 31st August 1683. 1¼ pp. [Col. Entry Bks., Vol. LXVII., pp. 94, 95, and Vol. XCIX., pp. 220–221.]
Aug. 31.	1226. Journal of Lords of Trade and Plantations. Lord Howard's Draft Commission considered. Preamble altered. Clause added, directing obedience to Orders in Council. Draft, thus amended, approved. Secretary Jenkins to ascertain if the King will approve it in Council or not. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. CVII., pp. 192, 193.]
[Aug. 31.]	1227. Petition of Mary Forrester, on behalf of her brother, Thomas Forrester, to the Lords of Trade and Plantations. It is almost a year since a petition from the said Thomas Forrester was referred to you. By the neglect of him that presented it the reference was not taken till now, which has altered the computation in the first petition, so that the rent of the house therein mentioned now amounts to about 600l. I pray consideration. Copy. 1 p. Inscribed, Read 31 Aug. 1683. Annexed,
	1227. II. Petition of Thomas Forrester of Barbados to the King. In the year 1675 the common gaol of Barbados was blown down by a hurricane, and by order of Governor Atkins a new built house of petitioner's was appointed to be the gaol, which it has been ever since, to petitioner's great prejudice. He has not received one farthing for it; the rent is 75l. a year. Prays directions to Sir Richard Dutton to do him justice. 1 p. On one side. A reference to the Lords of Trade and Plantations for their report. Signed, L. Jenkins. Whitehall, October 2, 1682. On the other side. A reference of the petition to Sir Richard Dutton for report. Signed, William Blathwayt. Council Chamber, 31 August 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., Nos. 81, 81 I.]
[Aug. 31.]	1228. Answer of the Agents for Massachusetts to the petition of Robert Orchard (see ante, No. 1163 I.). No particulars being given as to the complaint of imposition we can give no answer thereto. As to the complaint of being forced to watch, the dangers of the country were such at the time that we had hardly power to avert them. Few were exempt from the duty required of Orchard, and in some towns one-third of the people were on watch every night. He was fined ten shillings, but never complained to the authorities there. There was no violence (as we can prove) offered by the files of musketeers, who were only brought up in consequence of unruliness previously displayed by Orchard, he having beaten one of the clerks of the trained bands when he came to demand the fine. He was not sick at the time, or the excuse would, if offered, have been accepted. As to payment of customs-duties, all the rest of the inhabitants pay them as he does. As to the incident of the boarding of a ship, this was the only case that occurred under the Act, which is now repealed. As to losing his passage in consequence of a fine, we see no proof of it, and we are confident that none in the Government would have hindered him from taking his passage later. As to the regulation of the Indian trade, it has been found necessary to check the sale of munitions of war and spirits to the Indians. Finally, Orchard's fines amount in the whole to but 10l. 10s.; he never applied to the local Courts for relief; on his last arrival with the King's order he kept it for five months, so that the time allowed for answer was not expired when he left. Moreover, the Assembly allowed him to apply to the Court free of cost. Signed, Joseph Dudley, John Richards. 3 pp. Endorsed. Recd. 9 August. Read at Committee 31 August 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 82.]
[Aug. 31.]	1229. Rejoinder of Robert Orchard to the reply of the Agents for Massachusetts. The Agents say I give no particulars, but I did give them. The plea that it was a time of great public danger is false; there was no great danger at that moment, and even so there was no need to take a sick man. I did complain, first to the Council and then to the magistrates, without effect. As to the levying of the fine by files of musketeers, I adduce the evidence of Joseph Emmerson and Sarah Orchard. As to my beating the clerk, I asked him to produce his warrant to collect the fine, and when he refused I turned him out, but I did not strike him. It is untrue, again, that the inhabitants are willing to pay the customs. Even if it were legal (which it is not) they would object to it as unreasonably high. The statement respecting the search of the ship is also untrue. As to my having no proof that I was forced into Virginia to get my passage, I could easily prove it if people were not afraid to give evidence, owing to the authorities. As to the Indian trade, it is notorious that the Indians buy arms and brandy from the persons who monopolise it. Finally, my losses amount to much more than 10l. 10s., and I repeatedly sought justice in the local Courts but could not get it. I delivered the King's order to a magistrate very soon after my arrival and asked him to acquaint the Governor, but I heard nothing of it and had no opportunity to deliver the order before the next General Court. Some days later they abused and threatened me for doing so. The Assembly's order only reached me when my baggage was on board the ship for England. But, indeed, there is no justice there. Signed, Robert Orchard. 4½ pp. Endorsed. Recd. 25 August. Read 31 August 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 83.]
[Aug. 31.]	1230. Testimony of Charles Laurence respecting Robert Orchard. ½ p. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 84.]
[Aug. 31.]	1231. Account of Robert Orchard's damages sustained from the Government of Massachusetts. 320l. in all. I p. Endorsed. 17 Aug. 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 85.]
Aug. 31.	1232. Commission of the Lords Proprietors of the Bahama Islands to Isaac Rush to be Secretary to the Islands. Signed, Craven, Albemarle, Bath (for Lord Carteret), Pr. Colleton. The Secretary's instructions. Two clases. [Col. Entry Bk., Vol. XXII., p. 14.]
August.	1233. List of negroes consigned to Jamaica and Barbados between September 1682 and August 1683. To Jamaica eleven shiploads; total, 3,460 negroes; to Barbados eighteen shiploads, 6,380 negroes. Largest consignment on one ship 650, smallest 150. 1 p. Endorsed. Recd. at the Committee, Aug. 31, 1683. [Col. Papers, Vol. LI., No. 86.]