QUAKERS CLEARED OF RECOGNIZANCES. 257 CHAP. XIII. The Court proceeded therevpon as followeth (vidzet) Whereas the Adventure of whale fishing in and about the coast & seas of the Somer Islands hath bin set on foot and carryed on at a very 1664-1668. great charge to the respectiue adventurers, amounting in the whole to £2500, a great part of which Sume through the imprudence & neglect of officers and those whose duty it was with all sedulity and care to have manadged the same, hath bin lost and spent, and that many irregularities haue bin comitted, so that the company haue been greatly abused, and the Country in some sort disquieted and discontented: ffor redress of all which and as well for the better ordering and manadging of the said adventure of whale fishing for the future, as for the gratifying of the country: This Court taking notice of the desires of the Inhabitants of the said Islands to them heretofore represented and now againe renewed. Do order and resolue as followeth. (1) That a Proposition shalbe made for the Company here to the Country of the Somers Islands to & for the manadging of the whale fishing in & about the sayd Islands for & during the tearme of Three years (2) That the psons accepting of such p.positions, and vndertaking the manadgm' of the sayd whale fishing shall for their labor paynes & charges to be had and taken therein haue & receive one full third part of the cleare profitts of the said whale fishing (3) That in consideration of the said one third part of the cleare pfitts as afore said, the said manadgers to pay & beare the whole charge of fishing for manuring the whale (sic), ordering the whale oyle, bone, sperma ceti, or any other the produce of the whale fishing, putting the same vp in caske, & shipping thereof. And also the said manadgers one third parte of the charges of all Boates, cisternes, coppers, harping yrons, lances, warpe, tackle, furniture, caske, instruments, and any other vtensils whatsoeuer, that shalbe prouided & employed from tyme to tyme in & about the said whale fishing. And also the said manadgers are to pay and bear one 3rd parte of the charge for freight of the whale oyle or any other the produce of the said whale fishing for and during the sayd tearme of Three yeares. (4) That for the better encouragement of the sayd manadgers of the whale fishing This company shall & will grant to the said manadgers That they shall haue deliuered vnto them by Inventory & Tally from the Husband or other the officers of the company all such Boats, cisterns, sheds, coppers, kettles, harping Irons, lances, warpe, tackle, furniture, caske, instruments, or any other vtensils whatsoeuer, of and belonging to this Company that are now in the Islands to be employed and made vse 258 СНАР. PROPOSED LEASE OF WHALE FISHERY. of by the said manadgers in the sd whale fishing for and during the stearme of Three yeares, they the said manadgers paying 1664-1668. and bearing one 3rd pte of the charge for repayring & amending the same, when and as often as need shall require, at the end of the said tearme of three yeares deliuering vp all the pticulars afore said by like inuentory & Tally to the said compie their Husband or other officer, in like condicon as they were deliuered, weare & teare & vsage excepted (5) That the Company here shall & will pay & beare two 3rd parts of the charge for making amending or repayring of Boates cisterns sheds coppers harping Irons lances warpe tackle furniture caske instruments or any other vtensils w'euer that by the said manadgers shalbe necessarily prouided & employed in manadging the sayd whale fishing, and also shall & will pay & beare two-3rd ptes of the charge for fraight of the oyle or any other the pr.duce of the sa whale fishing (6) The sd Comple do promise That if they shall find that the sd manadgers shall behaue themselues industriously diligently & faithfully in the p'mises The Company shall & will enlarge their tyme for further employment in the manadging of the said whale fishing (7) Lastly that the comple& manadgers shall joyntly agree that all the whale oyle or other the prduce of the whale fishing that shalbe had or made in & during the said Three yeares shall be shipped and brought to the port of London, and there sold, and of the clear pfitts thereof the sayd compie to haue Two thirds part, and the manadgers one third part. And to the end that proceedings may be regularly had as well in publishing as prosecuting of these proposals This Court do require the Gouernor & Councell in the Sd Islands That imediately vpon receipt hereof they cause a Generall Assembly there to be called, and that these proposals be comunicated vnto them And if the said generall Assembly shall thinke fitt to embrace them Then this Court doth recommend it to the said Generall Assembly to make choice of so many men as they shall think fit, for and on behalfe of the country to manadge the said whale fishing on the termes and conditions aforegoing. THOMAS MARTEN, Secretarie. 70. Captain Florentius Seymour was superseded by Captain Samuel Whalley in May 1668, to reappear as Governor for a short time in 1681. We have the annexed note of the modest equipment he left to his successor :— A Note of what Goods & Chattells Capt florentius Seymer, FURNITURE OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 259 late Governour left with his Successor, Capt Samuell Whalley CHAP. Governor, In or about the Governors house for the accomodation of succeeding Governours One Bull, and seaven Cowes in the grounds. Three hhds of Corne, but not casked. 4 Corne Barrells. One faire Bedsted over the Governors Chamber, good. One halfe hedded Bedsted in the Cham' at the stares hedd, good. One Trundle Bedsted in the Porch Chamber, good. One whole hedded Bedsted in the Hall Chamber, verie defective. In the Chamber next the Church, One whole hedded Bedsted, good. Sixe new hhds paid for by the publique (made by Capt Asser) for the use of the present Governour Capt Samuel Whalley and his successors. November the 23rd 1668. RICHARD STAFFORD Sheriffe. XIII. 1663-1668. СНАР. 1668-1669. CHAPTER XIV. THE GOVERNMENT OF CAPT. SAMUEL WHALLEY, VERY little can be gathered concerning Captain Samuel 1. Extracts from a General Letter to Captn Samuel Whaley, dated London 6th February 1667. (1) Forasmuch as We have received information that 70 negroes have been taken (as it is said) by Capt Jo: Wentworth from Tortola in the Virgin Islands, and brought into the Somer Islands, 7 of which negroes and a boy, having (as it is said) been secured by you the Governor and Council in the Islands, as the tenths of the whole, belonging to his Royal Highness the Duke of York. We do order and require you the Governor and Council to examine the whole matter of fact, and set forth particularly, by what authority the said 70 negroes were taken from Tortola, and how and in what manner, and by whom. Also how and in what manner they were brought into the Somer Islands, and how disposed of there, and to whom, and upon what terms; and certify the same unto us by this ship. And that you the Governor and Council do take care, that the said Eight Negroes be employed in the Company's Service, and disposed of proportionably as you the Governor and Council shall think fit, into the hands of those public officers of the Islands that are destitute of Servants and there to be and remain until further order from us. And also that you take care, that none of any of the said 70 negroes, or such of them as were A COURT OF CHANCERY PROPOSED. 261 brought into the Somer Islands, do depart from thence until CHAP. like further order. XIV. (2) We have also considered of what is intimated unto us 1668–1669. by a Letter from Capt Florentius Seymer and Mr Henry Tucker. That the Grand Inquest have, at an Assizes held in the Somer Islands 1667 presented the great necessity of having a Court of Chancery erected there, for the relief of person's otherwise not relievable, where the Action is under £5 for which no appeal is to be admitted according to our Order of the 2nd of October 1654. And we have ordered and appointed you the Governor and Council in pursuance of the printed Law Art: 175 to relieve in equity such persons as in the case aforesaid shall make their Appeal upon any verdict at Common Law where the action. is under £5. And this Order to stand good, until we shall provide for the erecting of a Court of Chancery as is desired; the which will require such and so many formalities, as cannot easily or suddenly be passed over. (3) We have been made acquainted with a design set on foot in the Islands for the planting of Indigo, and the great probability of making the same a more profitable Commodity than any hitherto transported from thence, and that the party that made the experiment hath been much obstructed and discouraged therein. And we do require you the Governor and Council to give all encouragement for the planting and making of Indigo there, and that you certify unto us by the next ship the occasion and grounds whereupon the said design hath been so obstructed and discouraged. (4) We are sorry that an occasion is given us to tell you that our Laws and Orders have had but little regard (some of them at least) with you, as witness our Order of the 9th of December 1664, debarring of persons to practice as Attornies, that have not been admitted thereto or licensed by us, which Order hath been proclaimed in the Islands, and upon further complaint reinforced by us, and you the Governor and Council strictly required to put the same into execution, and yet the matter of complaint continues, as if no such Order had been made, insomuch, that we have been constrained to make a new Order, and hereby to debar by name Leonard White and Will Righton, against whom We have directed you how to proceed if you shall find them, or either of them to be contumacious; as also against all other persons that shall be found to be transgressors thereof, as by the Order itself enclosed, will appear, to which We refer you. (5) And for other our Orders as well penal as other, made for the regulating of the Whale fishing Adventure; we stand amazed to behold, that the same have been disregarded, and on |