nominated President'. It was resolved in Council that year that negroes and Indians, who were brought to Barbados for sale, should serve for life unless a previous contract had been made to the contrary: this law forms an important era in the history of Barbados, as from the time it came into operation slavery was fully established in the island.

In 1636 Hawley had made ninety-eight new grants of land, comprising nine thousand eight hundred and ten acres ; and during the following year one hundred and thirty-nine were issued, comprising seven thousand six hundred and four acres. He left soon after this (in 1638) for England, and appointed his brother William Hawley Deputy Governor during his absence. On comparing the number of inhabitants and the lands which had been granted with the stated revenue of the island, Lord Carlisle suspected Hawley of embezzlement, as the latter did not bear any proportion to its rapid advancement and prosperity. Hawley, who observed Lord Carlisle's dissatisfaction with his colonial management, returned privately to Barbados for the purpose of strengthening his power. He was speedily followed by Major Henry Hunks, who had a commission from the Earl to supersede Hawley as Governor. Hawley however refused to submit to his authority, and Major Hunks was obliged to withdraw to the island of Antigua.

As soon as the information of this refusal to deliver the reins of government into Major Hunks' hands reached England, Captain Ashton was sent with stringent powers from the King and the Earl of Carlisle to force Hawley to submission. Ashton was accompanied by Peter Hayes, William Powry, Daniel Fletcher, and John Hanmer as joint Commissioners. In pursuance of their instructions, Hawley was arrested and sent prisoner to England, and his estate was confiscated. Major Hunks, on being informed of the change of affairs, returned from Antigua, and was appointed Governor on the 4th of December 1640: he however resigned his government in June 1641, and on his departure (on the 18th of that month) he nominated Captain Philip Bell, who had been Governor of Providence, as his Lieutenant Governor.

Lord Carlisle was so well satisfied with Bell's judicious administration that he appointed him in 1645 Governor-in-chief of the island, with full power to execute the authorities of the Earl's patent. We have already had occasion to allude to the salutary laws which were framed during Governor Bell's administration. The author of the Memoirs states that during this time the first Assembly was summoned. "It is not known,” he continues, "what legal methods were before established to bind the people who by the grant from the King to the Earl of Carlisle were invested with all the liberties, franchises, and privileges of English subjects; and therefore, as is also expressly mentioned in the grant, could

The other members were Fortescue, Holdip, Gibbes, Ellis, W. Hawley, Bowyer, Sandiford, Cranefield, Andrews, and Stevens.

not legally be bound or charged by any act without their own consent." There is little doubt that the arbitrary rule of previous governors rendered this clause in the grant a dead letter; indeed the violent and tyrannical conduct of Hawley, and the support which he received from Lord Carlisle, had nearly alienated the colonists from the authority of the proprietor, who was considered in the light of a common oppressor of their rights. Such an assertion is proved by numerous pamphlets which were published about that time in England.

Philip Bell therefore assiduously endeavoured to restore a better feeling, and one of the most important acts framed during his administration was "An Act for the continuance and observance of all Acts and Statutes not repealed." This Act recites, "that there were divers and sundry good and wholesome laws, statutes and ordinances provided, enacted, and made, assigned, and agreed upon, by and with the assent, consent, and approbation of the Governor, Council and Freeholders out of every parish of the island, intitled 'A General Assembly for that purpose elected, made, and chosen.' And it is thereby enacted, that none of those laws shall be altered, or anything added to them, without the consent of a like General Assembly. And that every parish should have two representatives at least, to be elected by the freeholders." The other great measures during Governor Bell's administration were, the division of the island into eleven parishes1, in each of which a church was built; and an addition to "an Act for settling the estates and titles of the inhabitants," in which it was enacted that those who were in quiet possession of land granted to them by former governors or by virtue of conveyance or other acts in law, should be confirmed in it, and be empowered to dispose of it either in part or in the whole, or it should otherwise descend, or be confirmed to their heirs for ever. Certain fees for public officers were stipulated and fixed upon, to prevent extortions; the island was fortified, and the militia rendered formidable by its numbers.

In 1649 the African slaves made an attempt to throw off their bondage : the boldest had planned a conspiracy to massacre all the white inhabitants, and to make themselves masters of the island. They kept their secret so close that their masters remained wholly in ignorance of it until the day previous to the one they had appointed for carrying their plot into execution. A servant of Judge Hothersall, his courage failing, or perhaps being actuated by gratitude to his master, revealed the secret; effective measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders, and the scheme was frustrated: eighteen of the principal conspirators were condemned to death, and executed2.

1 See ante, p. 215.

2 Ligon's History of Barbados, p. 45.

CHAPTER II.

PERIOD FROM THE DEATH OF THE EARL OF CARLISLE TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF COLONEL MODYFORD IN 1660.

THE unhappy dissensions which had broken out between the King and his subjects in England had in the commencement no effect upon the prosperity of the new colony. In the turmoil of factions Barbados was forgotten, and left to itself its trade remained unrestricted. This freedom caused the island to prosper, and it was visited both by Dutch and English ships. It is asserted that previous to the revolution the Dutch possessed more interest in the island than the English, which they gained by their liberal spirit in commercial transactions1. On a former occasion, when the new settlers were still struggling for their sustenance, two English ships which touched at Barbados refused them provisions, because they had no goods to give to the English traders in return, who sailed away without relieving the distress of the inhabitants. Some Dutch vessels bound for Brazil which touched shortly afterwards at the island supplied the settlers abundantly, and waited until the following year for a return, by which liberality they greatly ingratiated themselves with the settlers. This unrestricted intercourse increased annually, and the fame of the prosperity of the island was not only carried to England, but spread over Europe. After the death of Lord Carlisle (who left behind him the reputation of being the most accomplished courtier, but not a house or an acre of land that was not mortgaged much beyond its value"), it was found that his Lordship by his will had settled Barbados for the payment of his debts. About the year 1647 his son and heir entered into negotiations with Francis Lord Willoughby of Parham for the fulfilment of his father's wish, in order to pay his numerous debts from the revenue of the island, which he thought might be effected in a short time, and the benefits arising from it would afterwards fall to him as heir.

Lord Willoughby had at a previous period been inimical to the royal party he was in 1642 Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and organized the militia of that county, which drew upon him the King's displeasure. He now openly espoused the popular cause, and distinguished himself in Gainsborough, where he took the Earl of Kingston and others prisoners. During the siege of Newark, when the garrison made a sortie, Sir John Meldrum's regiment was on the point of dispersing and effecting a retreat, when the timely assistance of Lord Willoughby saved it, and he drove 1 An Essay evenly discussing the present condition and interest of Barbados, p. 18. MSS., Phillipps, No. 9728. It is ascribed by Thorp to Sir William Petty.

2 Ibid.

3 It is said in Clarendon's History of the Rebellion that he spent in a jovial life above £400,000, which upon a strict computation he received from the Crown alone.

the garrison back. As an acknowledgement of his numerous services, the Parliament raised him to an earldom in December 1645. In 1647 he was suspected of being connected with the intrigues of the Earl of Suffolk, Lord Hundesden, Lord Maynard, the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Barkley, and the Earl of Middlesex. The Commons by message impeached these lords of high-treason at the bar of the House, and prayed that they might be sequestered from the House and committed.

"Here we may take notice of the uncertainty of worldly favours and affairs. The Lord Willoughby, a person of as much honour and courage as any whom I have known, and one who had ventured as far as any man of his quality to serve the parliament and was deservedly in their high esteem and favour; now, upon the getting up another faction, among them, all his former great services and merits were not at all considered, but he became an object of their ill-will, and accused by them of high treason, to take away his life, fortune and honour ; an ill reward for all his gallant services'."

Lord Willoughby escaped to Holland in March 1647, and openly espoused the cause of the Prince of Wales. He was afterwards with Prince Rupert on board the fleet off Yarmouth, where he served as ViceAdmiral, and took one of the ships belonging to Rowland Wilson and Son on her return from Guinea, with nearly twenty thousand pounds sterling in gold on board.

The negotiations between the Earl of Carlisle and Lord Willoughby respecting Barbados had been brought to a close previous to his flight. The King was then in the hands of the army; but with his approbation and consent it was agreed that the Earl of Carlisle should convey to Lord Willoughby a lease of all the profits which should arise out of that colony for the term of twenty-one years, one moiety of which was to be reserved for the use of the Earl. In consequence of this arrangement Lord Willoughby was promised a commission as Governor of Barbados and the rest of the Caribbee islands comprised in the charter granted by the King to the late Earl of Carlisle.

When the fleet returned to the coast of Holland, Lord Willoughby informed the Prince of Wales of this agreement, and as the King had already recommended him to his Highness he approved of it. Charles the First was impeached on the 20th of January 1649, and executed on the 30th of the same month. As soon as this news reached the Hague, the Prince of Wales had himself proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland, under the title of Charles the Second. The American colonies had remained attached to the royalist cause, and when they heard of the King's execution Barbados proclaimed Charles the Second their lawful sovereign3. 1 Memorials of the English affairs, or an historical account of what passed from the beginning of the reign of King Charles I. to King Charles II. his happy restauration: by Mr. Whitelocke. London, 1732, p. 268. p. 327.

2 Ibid.

* Oldmixon, vol. ii. p. 18.

These proceedings attracted the attention of the royalist party to the colonies it was thought an object of great importance to secure the West India settlements to the Crown, and it was even hinted by King Charles' advisers that soldiers might be raised in America to aid him against his rebellious subjects in England. Lord Willoughby was considered particularly qualified to keep the interest in the King's cause alive in Barbados, and the commission as Governor, which had been in agitation previous to the late King's death, was now resumed. With the unanimous advice of the Council, Lord Willoughby was appointed Governor of Barbados and the other Caribbee islands, and proceeded the following year secretly to Barbados, where after many accidents he arrived on the 7th of May 1650 in Carlisle Bay. He considered it prudent to ascertain first the state of affairs in Barbados before he landed, and he kept therefore concealed for eight days' until he had entered into an agreement with the Governor and Council. The author of the manuscript 'On the Present Condition and Interest of Barbados,' asserts that one of the articles stipulated, that for nine months Lord Willoughby should leave the government in the position in which he found it; but that before half the time had expired, his Lordship, having exceedingly endeared himself by his equal and civil demeanour, was desired to take the government into his own hands. Previous to his arrival the island was not without factions and intrigues, and Governor Bell himself was suspected by some of the extreme Royalists of being a Roundhead. The two brothers Walrond, the elder Colonel Humphry Walrond, and the other Edward Walrond a lawyer of the Temple, stood at the head of this party, and through their intrigues Colonel Guy Molesworth had been banished from the island, and Sergeant-Major William Byam, one of their protégés, received the appointment as treasurer.

The inhabitants of Bermuda had sent an agent to Barbados to induce them to enter into a league for mutual protection, and to furnish the Bermudians with arms and ammunition. Colonel Drax, who favoured the Independents, successfully opposed this plan, and the brothers Walrond artfully spread the report that the Independents intended to seize the magazines and to put all who were for the King to the sword. In consequence Colonels Shelly and Read advanced with their regiments towards Bridgetown, for the purpose of seizing the Governor, who was fortunately awakened by the alarm. He had sufficient resolution to take the elder Walrond and Byam prisoners, but so inconsiderable were the Governor's forces, and so weak his councils, that he was persuaded to send Walrond to the besiegers, and certain articles were agreed upon. The Governor however saw that Walrond's object was to usurp the power of government to himself, and desired Colonel Modyford to raise the windward regiment for his restoration to the authority he formerly possessed.

Whitelocke, under July 5th, 1650.